Memorial Day

We thank those servicemen and women of the armed forces for giving their all, protecting us and our liberties here and all around the world.

"Auschwitz" Borders are the New Norm

It didn't take long and we see the face of Israel's only true friend as a result - Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada.

Alone among G8 leaders, the Canadian Prime Minister refuses to embrace the U.S. President’s plan to begin peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of a return to Israel’s de facto borders as they existed before its 1967 war with neighbouring Arab countries....

Mr. Harper made his opposition to that position clear through a spokesperson shortly after Mr. Obama’s Middle East speech last week in a pre-G8 briefing, making him the lone leader in the G8 not to back the U.S. preconditions.

G8 leaders, with the exception of Canada, had been prepared to push for pre-1967 borders as a precondition for Israel's negotiations with the Palestinians. Ten days later and the "Auschwitz" Borders are now the new "norm". The taboo is gone.

Now it's just a matter of time before the "right of return" to Israel by the "Palestinian refugees" is acceptable - and Jerusalem will be on the chopping block before we know it.

Taboo Subjects go Mainstream

President Obama's Middle East foreign policy speech about a week ago was notable for two comments regarding Israel. The first - telling Israel that the 1967 cease-fire lines will be the basis for a "Palestinian" state.

The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.

The second - the fate of the so called 'refugees'.

Two wrenching and emotional issues remain: the future of Jerusalem, and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

There was quite a hue and cry this last week about those two statements. Many said that Obama did not fully understand the nature of the Israel-Arab situation and therefore did not mean what he said.

The more I have thought about this, the more I disagree. I believe that President Obama truly did understand what he was saying and meant every word. Obama is a committed leftist and as we know from his associations over the years that he is pro-Palestinian. He believes that his extreme liberal agenda is more important than even being President of the United States. We know this from his fight to get ObamaCare through Congress. He was willing to lose (which he did) the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate (which came close) in order to get his healthcare bill passed not caring about those Democrats who fell on their sword to vote for a very unpopular piece of legislation.

If Obama knew that there was going to be such outrage over his 1967 borders statement and the return of "Palestinian" refugees, why did he go ahead and make those comments? I believe it was a brilliant idea on his part. Whenever there is an idea or concept that is taboo in normal society - the first time that it's made public or spoken about it is a big deal. The second time - it's still a big deal, but the reaction isn't as severe. The third time and so on, it's no longer a big deal and it can be spoken about as part of normal discussion.

Return to 1967 borders and the return of the refugees have been "taboo" subjects when discussing the Middle East "peace" talks. By bringing them up, Obama has begun the process of legitimizing the concepts - resulting in the hue and cry that we mentioned before. But it is certainly not an accident. It was done on purpose. It will only be a matter of time when return to 1967 borders and return of the Arab refugees en masse will be part of the discussion. Just wait and see.

Two State Solution is a Final Solution

My initial reaction to the speech this afternoon was how strange. It was full of contradictions and grand ideas. Grand ideas are okay if they are somewhat realistic and hopefully jive with American policy and security - I'm not sure that they did.

At the moment I do not have the time to do a proper job analyzing the speech, but hopefully within the next couple days I'll find a few moments. What I did notice - as did many others - that Obama called on Israel to return to 1967 borders with a contiguous "Palestinian" state as a neighbor. That's insane. Without Judea/Samaria (aka the West Bank) Israel is 9 miles wide at its narrowest point. That's damn scary. So is a "contiguous" Palestine. How exactly does that work when half that state is in Gaza along the Mediterranean coast and the other half is along the Jordan river? Will there be a road that connects the two? Doesn't that split Israel in half? A security nightmare.

Oh yeah, he did mention that unity agreement between Hamas and the PA - but blew it off as seemingly no big deal. What the heck!? It's a terrorist organization. I thought that we don't deal with terrorists. Whatever, it's Israel. Jewish blood is cheap.

And of course with all these Arab revolts going on across the Mid-East, it's a perfect time to start making changes in Israeli security. The Muslim Brotherhood isn't going to be excluded from Egypt's upcoming elections. The Brotherhood is involved in the Syrian protests... and we still don't know who the rebels are in Libya. But now is obviously the best time to make territorial compromises in the name of peace.

There's more to say, but suffice it to say this is what comes to mind at the moment. I've leave you all with a link to my last response to President Obama's speech in Cairo a couple years ago: A Good Jew is a Dead Jew.

Not much has changed.

President Obama and the Arab Spring Fling

President Obama is due to give a Middle East policy speech tomorrow. I'm sure he'll address the pro-democracy movements sweeping the region. As the law professor he was before becoming president, he may want to give them a few "do"s and "don't"s of how freedom works.

* Do have majority rule in a democracy but don't forget that religious minorities are to be protected and respected.
*Don't burn down Coptic churches and kill members of their community.

* Muslims do believe that Mohammed was a prophet and had the "final and definite words of Allah".
*If you want to have freedom of expression - don't - riot when you see your prophet poked fun at through newspaper cartoons.

* Oh yes, we also know that Muslims don't supposedly believe in compulsion in religion and do understand the concept of freedom of religion. If so, then the Pew poll that found that the death penalty was appropriate for those who wished to convert out of Islam is a big DON'T in a freedom loving culture that is known to be found in the Middle East these days.

Such minor details. I hope Obama mentions those sorts of things.

However, such hopes aside, I rather expect him to bang on the "peace-talk" drum once again. Once again we must pressure Israel to bow to the wishes of American foreign policy and make concessions and sacrifices in the name of "peace". Never mind that there is now a unity deal between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Not that Hamas has renounced terrorism or violence against Jews - they haven't. And the Palestinian Authority continues to name streets and camps after their own "martyrs" and contributes monies to the families of those "martyrs". I'm still waiting to hear about Hamas and the PA's own concessions and sacrifices in the name of this elusive "peace".

Ultimately, I expect President Obama's speech tomorrow night to be a bust. He will continue along the wrong road. He will pressure the wrong people, and will expect those who believe that minorities are to be abused and murdered to be more than just thugs stuck in the 7th century. It isn't going to happen.

Happy 63rd Birthday Israel!

This should be a year full of blessing and peace for all her inhabitants.

Yom HaZikaron 2011

Today in Israel is Yom HaZikaron, Remembrance Day. A day where we remember all those who gave their lives in order to keep the Jewish State in existence and her citizens safe.

22,867 soldiers have been killed in the line of duty and another 3,971 civilians have been victims of terror.

A siren is sounded and the entire State of Israel comes to a standstill in remembrance.

Take a moment to visit One Family Fund - a great organization that helps the many terror victims of Israel. Make a donation in honor of those lost.

Senator Orrin Hatch is my Hero for the Day

The United Nations is wondering if the United States did the right thing by killing Osama bin Ladin, master terrorist. Watch as Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) tears into them as 'nicely' as he's able on live television.

Clueless on Television

Osama bin Ladin is dead. Killed by the United States military. Watching 'Inside Washington' this morning, one would think that it was no big deal.

Instead they debated whether the Bush administration should be congratulated on setting up the infrastructure which made it possible to find him. Nope, one commentator said - if we do that we should congratulate Bill Clinton for helping with that too. Are you serious? Bill Clinton who had the opportunity to take out bin Ladin years ago and refused to do it because bin Ladin was walking with civilians? Mind you, if those civilians were all that innocent they shouldn't have been walking and talking to a known terrorist.

Another commentator discussed about the country has over-"securitied" since 9/11. He obviously has no clue what he's talking about. What over-security is he possibly talking about? That we're not allowed to take tweezers or nail clippers on the plane? Or keeping liquids to a 3 ounce maximum? That we're always two steps behind the terrorists is over-security?

Anybody who understands real security knows that there are so many "soft" targets in this country is thankful to the Lord above for keeping us safe and secure. Anytime you can walk into a mall, bank or post office without having to have your purse or backpack checked through, please realize that over-security has not come into play.

I'm not sure how it's possible to be so clueless. Security is serious business. Unfortunately, I'm sure that these commentators aren't the only clueless ones out there.

Osama bin Ladin Dead... Good Riddance

Osama's dead. I'm happy. Congratulations to President Obama and the United States Military who tracked him down and killed him, making the world a safer place to live.

To repeat: Osama bin Ladin is dead. To be a tad cynical for a moment - if this were a conspiracy to boost Obama's poll numbers it was done too early in the election cycle. It's not. Any boost he gets will not last until November 2012.

The problem that the Obama Administration has now is not about the release of the photos (I have mixed feelings about those) is that the narrative continues to change. Was Osama armed - or not? Did he use one of his wives as a human shield - or not? Truth be told, it doesn't matter. But what matters is that the story keeps changing - and as a result it takes away from the accomplishment by the military.

What irks me most is the question about whether Osama was armed. Does it matter? We know he murdered 3000+ Americans in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania as well as bombing the USS Cole and the African Embassies. He was a mass murderer. Mercy shown for a man such as Osama is misplaced to say the least. There was no mercy shown for any of his victims - there should be none shown for him. The fact that those SEALS attacking his compound killed no one unnecessarily shows everyone that this was done with professionalism, the professionalism that comes with being from the military of the United States of America.

Justice was done.

Excellent article: Assassinating Osama bin Laden was not only legal, it was right – and President Obama should man up and admit this was a 'kill operation'

Another great article: Obama bungles his Osama opportunity