Will Israel strike without U.S. support?

Martha Raddatz, ABC’s Chief Foreign Correspondent, was on tonight’s “Washington Week” on PBS. She said that Israel is in a bad neighborhood and that they will attack Iran within six months unless they see evidence that Iran is backing off on intentions to build a nuclear weapon.

From “The Week” magazine dated February 17, 2012:

“If one is to believe the threats that are ramping up at warp speed, Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities before spring,” said Gideon Levy in the Tel Aviv Ha‘aretz. The best-case scenario is that the repeated warnings of imminent war from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are “mere pressure tactics.” But even if that’s true, it’s a dangerous game. “Threats of this scale take on a life of their own” and could create an irreversible momentum toward war. If Israelis don’t want this war, we have to speak up loud and clear so Netanyahu and Barak get the message. “We can no longer depend on the United States to stop it.”

President Obama is certainly downplaying the threats, said Kaveh L. Afrasiabi in the Hong KongAsia Times. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently conceded that Israel had a plan to attack Iran “within months,” and National lntelligence Director James Clapper said Iran was planning terror attacks on the U.S. Yet Obama, in an interview this week, contradicted both those officials, saying pointedly that Israel had not yet decided whether to attack and denying Iran’s capacity to hit U.S. soil. With that, Obama sent “an important signal to Iran and the rest of the world” that he is seriously committed to continued diplomacy and to avoiding war.

There’s certainly “no chance that the U.S.will attack Iran,” said Gershon Baskin in The Jerusalem Post. But the U.S. would “probably be relieved by a successful Israeli attack.” Even if, in public, Obama would have to express disapproval, “behind the scenes Washington would be sending congratulatory messages to Jerusalem.” Besides hampering Iran’s nuclear program, an Israeli attack would likely have other repercussions that benefited the U.S. IrIternational pressure would surely push Israel to compromise with the Palestinians. And the U.S. would be in a stronger position to insist that Israel “enter the nonproliferation treaty and place its nuclear facilities under international inspection.”

It’s not just the Israelis who are talking about striking first, said Dudi Cohen in Ynetnews.com. Last week, Iranian media gave lots of attention to an Iranian blogger who urged an all-out Iranian assault on Israel. Alireza Forghani, a former member of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij militia, claimed that Iran could “annihilate all population centers” in under 10 minutes with a barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles. Forghani argued that targeting civilians was justified to defend the Palestinians, under late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s ruling that Muslims must wage a jihad against an enemy who attacks an Islamic nation. Some analysts believe the attention given to Forghani’s blog signals the “dawn of public discourse about a pre-emptive strike on Israel.” Just last Friday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Israel “a cancerous tumor” and said “it will be removed.” If Iran acts, as it well could, the entire debate over an Israeli strike will be moot.

My opinion is Martha Raddatz is correct.

South Korea Embraces the Talmud

Just when you thought that you saw it all in the Jewish world.

Talmud Study is now Mandatory in South Korea.

The following fascinating article was translated by The Muqata from YNET.

Close to 50 million people live in South Korea, and everyone learns Gemara (Talmud) in school.
“We tried to understand why the Jews are geniuses, and we came to the conclusion that it is because they study the Talmud,” said the Korean ambassador to Israel. And this is how “Rav Papa” became a more well known scholar in Korea than in Israel.

It is doubtful if the Aramaic scholars, Abbaye and Rava, imagined their discussions of Jewish law in the Beit Midrash in Babylon would be taught hundreds of years later in East Asia. Yet it turns out that the laws of an “egg born on a holiday” (“ביצה שנולדה ביום טוב”), is actually very interesting to the South Koreans, who have required that Talmud study be part of their compulsory school curriculum.

Almost every home in South Korea now contains a Korean-translated Talmud. But unlike in Israel, the Korean mothers teach the Talmud to their children. In a country of close to 49 million people who believe in Buddhism and Christianity, there are more people who read the Talmud-or at least own their own copy at home- than there are in the Jewish state of Israel. Much more.

“So we too will become geniuses”

“We were very curious about the high academic achievements of the Jews,” explains South Korea’s Ambassador to Israel, Young Sam Mah, who was recently a host on the program “Culture Today.”

“Jews have a high percentage of Nobel laureates in all fields: literature, science and economics. This is a remarkable achievement. We tried to understand what is the secret of the Jewish people? How they-more than other people-are able to reach those impressive accomplishments. Why are Jews so intelligent? The conclusion we arrived at is that one of your secrets is that you study the Talmud.”

“Jews study the Talmud at a young age, and it helps them, in our opinion, to develop mental capabilities. This understanding led us to teach our children as well. We believe that if we teach our children Talmud, they will also become geniuses. This is what stands behind the rationale of introducing Talmud Study to our school curriculum.”

Young says that he himself studied the Talmud at a very young age: “It is considered very significant study,” he emphasized. The result is that more Koreans have Talmud sets in their homes than do the Jews in Israel.

“I, for example, have two sets of the Talmud: the one my wife bought me, and the second was a gift from my mother.”

Groupies of Jews

Koreans don’t only like the Talmud because they see it as promoting genius, but because they found values that are close to their hearts.

“In the Jewish tradition, family values are very, very important,” explains the South Korean Ambassador.

“You see it even today in your practice of the Friday evening family meal. In my country we also focus on family values. The respect for adults, and respect and appreciation for the elderly, parallels the high esteem in my country for the elderly.”

Another very significant issue is the respect for education. In the Jewish tradition, parents have a duty to teach their children, and they devote to it lots of attention. For Korean parents, their children’s education is a top priority.

David Bancroft

Thailand Flooding is Beyond Belief

Posted on October 25, 2011 on a Pentax camera web site. The devastation is everywhere. It was an event that is still impacting manufacturing in that nation. Nikon/Sony camera/lens manufacturing was affected by flooding in Thailand.

Edging Towards War

Iran threatens Strait of Hormuz

US warns Iran against closing Hormuz oil route

Oil price falls as Saudis trump Iran threat

Is it saber rattling or is Iran and the United States moving towards war? All of this is the consequence of American opposition to nuclear weapons development in Iran. American politics is also pushing the Obama administration towards more assertive behavior when Republican candidates say that Brack Obama is too timid and apologetic when addressing the Iranian threat.

This is not the only place in the world where the United States has become more militarily assertive. This past November at an economic Asian conference President Obama announced that “ About 250 U.S. Marines will begin a rotation in northern Australia starting next year, with a full force of 2,500 military personnel staffing up over the next several years.” This is confrontation with China. “Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said that the goal of the new security pact is to signal that the U.S. and Australia will stick together in face of any threats.” What threats have there been?

America’s military-industrial complex couldn’t be happier. More war means more weapons. The factories that hire thousands or people will be humming. What a great way to boost our economy.

ISRAEL’S PECULIAR POSITION

THIS WAS WRITTEN IN 1968. 43 years ago – Astonishing!

You probably don’t remember the name Eric Hoffer.

He was a longshoreman who turned into a philosopher, wrote columns for newspapers and some books.

He was a non-Jewish American social philosopher.
He was born in 1902 and died in 1983, after writing nine books and winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

His first book, “The True Believer”, published in 1951, was widely recognized as a classic.

Eric Hoffer was one of the most influential American philosophers and free thinkers of the 20th Century. His books are still widely read and quoted today. Acclaimed for his thoughts on mass movements and fanaticism, Hoffer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983. Hopewell Publications awards the best in independent publishing across a wide range of categories, singling out the most thought provoking titles in books and short prose, on a yearly basis in honor of Eric Hoffer.

Here is one of his columns from 1968 — 43 years ago! Some things never change!

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

ISRAEL’S PECULIAR POSITION…by Eric Hoffer – Los Angeles Times 26/5/1968.

The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews.

Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it, Poland and Czechoslovakia did it.
Turkey threw out a million Greeks and Algeria a million Frenchman.

Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese and no one says a word about refugees.

But in the case of Israel , the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.

Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single one.

Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis.

Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms.

But when Israel is victorious, it must sue for peace.

Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world.

Other nations, when they are defeated, survive and recover but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.

Had Nasser triumphed last June [1967], he would have wiped Israel off the map, and no one would have lifted a finger to save the Jews.

No commitment to the Jews by any government, including our own, is worth the paper it is written on.

There is a cry of outrage all over the world when people die in Vietnam or when two Blacks are executed in Rhodesia .

But, when Hitler slaughtered Jews no one demonstrated against him.

The Swedes, who were ready to break off diplomatic relations with America because of what we did in Vietnam , did not let out a peep when Hitler was slaughtering Jews.

They sent Hitler choice iron ore, and ball bearings, and serviced his troops in Norway .

The Jews are alone in the world.

If Israel survives, it will be solely because of Jewish efforts. And Jewish resources.

Yet at this moment, Israel is our only reliable and unconditional ally.

We can rely more on Israel than Israel can rely on us.

And one has only to imagine what would have happened last summer [1967] had the Arabs and their Russian backers won the war, to realize how vital the survival of Israel is to America and the West in general.

I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes with Israel so will it go with all of us.

Should Israel perish, the Holocaust will be upon us all.

Appeasement

Mitt Romney accused President Obama of appeasement of America’s enemies. Immediately we think of Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler prior to the start of WWII. Britain and France pursued a policy of appeasement in the hope that Hitler would not drag Europe into another world war. It was the surrender of Sudeten to Germany from Czechoslovakia. We all know how that ended. The start of the war is generally held to be September 1, 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland.

The facts do not support the Romney accusation.

1. Obama increased the number of troops in Afghanistan from 30,000 to 100,000 in his first year in office. While a draw down has started the forces are still larger than 30,000.

2. Many high-profile Al-Qaeda leaders have been killed. Among them are Osama bin-Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki.

3. As recently as Wednesday of this week a U.S. spy drone crash landed in Iran.

4. The United States will be deploying 2,500 military personnel to the north coast of Australia as a message to China that they do not control the Western Pacific region.

5. There has been no draw down of American troops anywhere in the Far East. Nor has there been any withdrawal of forces from any nation in the world.

6. The United States did turn back an effort by Palestinians to gain nationhood status in the U.N.

7. The United States provided the military power that removed Muammar Gaddafi from power in Libya.

The real problem is that Mitt Romney seems to believe that if he repeats a lie enough times it will be believed. Barack Obama should not waste a moment of time defending his decisions in foreign affairs.

Pakistani model Veena Malik’s nude photo causes fury

This article appeared in the Toronto Canada newspaper, Toronto Star.

ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press

ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani actress who posed in the nude for an Indian magazine with the initials of Pakistan’s feared and powerful intelligence agency on her arm has triggered fury across this conservative nation.

Veena Malik’s photo on the website of FHM India, in advance of its publication in the magazine’s December issue, has been lighting up social network websites since earlier this week.

Many here anticipate a backlash, as nationalists and Islamists regularly stage rallies against anything they deem an insult to Islam or to the national honor. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency or ISI has been accused of sponsoring terrorist attacks inside India.

Malik has broken Pakistani religious and national taboos in the past. She is a target for conservative ire and a heroine to some Pakistani liberals.

Conservative cleric Maulana Abdul Qawi declared on Aaj TV on Saturday that her latest venture into controversy was a “shame for all Muslims.”

In an interview with Pakistani Geo television broadcast Saturday, however, Malik said the nude photo was published in violation of her agreement with FHM India and she was considering legal action against the magazine.

Malik acknowledged having been photographed for a “bold but not nude shot.” She said the editor of the magazine had promised that he would cover most of the photo with the ISI initials.

The photo was intended to poke fun at the Indian fear of Pakistani spies, she said, adding “whatever happens (in India), people say ISI is behind that.”

Magazine editor Kabeer Sharma said Malik had given full consent for the shoot and the picture.

“We have all the record(s),” he told the Pakistani television station. “Veena was very excited about that ISI idea.”

Zubair Khan, a 40-year-old shopkeeper in the northwestern city of Peshawar, agreed, saying the photo had given rival India another opportunity to insult Pakistan.

“She has earned a bad name for the entire Pakistan nation,” he said.

Others questioned the authenticity of the photo.

“It seems to be an Indian attempt to malign Pakistan by faking her nude pics, or she might have done it to get a cheap publicity,” said Lubna Khalid, 38, a housewife in the southern port city of Karachi.

Twitter commentator Umair Javed however called on Pakistanis to “make copies of the picture and bury it in your backyard. This way, our grandkids will know there were some amongst us who lived free!”

Asked by reporters whether Pakistan would “pursue the matter” legally, the country’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday, “First, let us see whether it is real or fake.”

Malik does most of her work in India. The entertainment sector there is booming, while Pakistan’s is moribund. Her ties to Pakistan’s archrival have landed her in controversy in the past.

During a much-publicized talk show appearance early this year, she lashed out her nemesis Abdul Qawi, who criticized her for having a scripted love affair with an Indian actor on an Indian reality show.

“What is your problem with me?” an angry Malik demanded of the scholar, who had accused her of insulting Islam.

THE PRICE OF WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

Total U.S. military deaths in Operation Enduring Freedom as of Sept. 30:

1,777

Total Taliban deaths:

10,000 -20,000

Total Afghan National
Security Forces killed through July:

5,681

Total Afghan civilian deaths:

12,500 -14, 700

Total cost through 2012:

$557.1 billion

SOURCES FOR THIS DATA IS NEWSWEEK: THEY COLLECTED THE DATA FROM MULTIPLE RELIABLE SOURCES (October 11, 2011 edition)

Arab Spring Will Not Bring Democracy

Look for new dictators!

Americans have based their Middle East involvement on the idea that we could change those countries into western democracies if we would just stick to that goal. The argument is that once they are democracies they will be less likely to provide sanctuary to terrorist. In the end we would see the change that would bring peace and stability to that region. It was George Bush’s Freedom Agenda. While the objective is worthy, the likelihood of it occurring is remote. With the exception of Turkey there are no Islamic democracies.

It was the United States that supported the idea of free elections in Gaza. The consequence of that election is Hamas, a terrorist group according the United States, that won 75 out of the 118 seats, with Fatah, the alternate party winning 39 seats. No elections have occurred since the Hamas gained power on 2006.

In Egypt we saw the Arab Spring, at it finest hour, drive Hosni Mubarack from power. There were promises of a new democracy with elections by November. What we have seen is a military crack down and no lifting of “emergency powers.” There is no indication of any elections at any time.

Iraq was freed from the dictatorial Saddam Hussein within three weeks of our invasion. Today the country is split among its three primary religious/ethnic groups and the government barely functions.

In Tunisia there is an election scheduled for October 23 but there is a concern that the turnout will be small. This is the country most likely to have a successful democracy.

Libya has the financial resources to become a democracy but it is a tribal nation. The tribes wanted Moammar Gadhafi out of power. There is little to indicate that a democracy can become a reality.

Turkey is the one nation that can help develop democracies within the Arab world. The United States needs to enlist the participation in an effort to bring good government to the Arabs. Notice I say “good government” not democracy. Arab people do not have any experience with this form of government. There is little in the news to indicate they will adopt a western system.