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July 8, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Duty to save gullible from themselves?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Islamists have the West just where they want us

JWisdom:: Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality, Part 3: The Fully Loaded Human Being by Rabbi Dovid Gross

July 3, 2008

Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget (TOUCHING!)

Jeff Jacoby: Israel still paying for its defeat

JWisdom:: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part IV by Rabbi David Aaron

JWisdom:: The Moses Method by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

July 2, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Appeasers Make Poor Patriots

The Kosher Gourmet By Kathleen Purvis: Slaw, y'all: For BBQs or Sabbath dinner, these southern recipes are something else!

JWisdom:: Rabbi Mordechai Becher: Jewish Rx for A Simpler Life

July 1, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. I think it's important to leave a legacy to my children. How much should I save towards this end?

Paul Greenberg:A President who is history deficient?

JWisdom:: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Poland's Unique Antisemitism

June 30, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Remembering the architect of Torah Judaism for the modern world

Abe Novick: Hulk: Still a Jew?

JWisdom: : Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality, Part 2: The Abandoned Child

June 26, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Quantum leap to evil

Caroline B. Glick: Victimized families must not be allowed to dictate policy

June 25, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Today in Biblical History: King Jeroboam of Israel prevents pilgrimage to Jerusalem

Jonathan Tobin: Real Friends and Real Enemies

JWisdom: Raping of reason By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 25, 2008

Steven Emerson: Kristof: Never Mind the Terrorists

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: Mediterranean Flyover: Telegraphing an Israeli Punch?

JWisdom: Rabbi David Aaron: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part III

June 24, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: What were they thinking!?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Guilty knowledge

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Warping Innocence

June 23, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Diploma dilemma

Jeff Jacoby: A world without children

JWisdom: Rabbi Dovid Gross: Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality --- Introduction

June 20, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Man: The Crowning Glory of Creation

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's darkest week

JWisdom: We aren't worthy? by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 19, 2008

Rabbi Elazar Meisels: The saints who don't come marchin' in

Chris Christoff: Muslim woman demands an apology from Obama after camera snub

June 18, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Still Dancing Around Jerusalem

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: Chilled fruit and vegetable soups

JWisdom: Souls Need A Check Up? by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 17, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Baby Einstein

Caroline B. Glick: Bush's rhetoric, Bush's policies

JWisdom: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part II by Rabbi David Aaron

June 16, 2008

Varda Branfman: Bob Dylan, won't you please come home?

Diana West: Academic dares to question the 'religion of peace'

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Positive Backfire

June 13, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Trading manna for whine

Caroline B. Glick: Peace with friends

JWisdom: From the mouths of … by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 12, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet Paul Revere's pal, the Orthodox Jew who played a key role in laying Boston's cultural and business infrastructure

The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: No need to be tempted by Wendy's mandarin chicken salad

JWisdom: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part I by Rabbi David Aaron

June 11, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: What would Hillel say?

Jonathan Tobin: UNRWA and NGOs: The Real U.N. 'Insult'

JWisdom: Sara Yoheved Rigler: Greatness Made Simple: How a momentary decision shifted life's course and destination

June 6, 2008

Rabbi Pinchas Stolper: Revelation: The basis of faith

Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Mere hours after becoming Israel's new 'best friend' Obama backtracks on status of Jerusalem

Caroline B. Glick: UN choosing to protect rogue nuclear programs

JWisdom: Sameness in difference by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 5, 2008

David Lightman: Now Obama wants to be Israel's newest 'best friend'

Obama's remarks to AIPAC policy conference

The Kosher Gourmet By Ethel G. Hofman: Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Lokshen Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread

JWisdom: Why a Jewish Jerusalem makes so many nervous by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 4, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: A different sort of 'religious broadcaster'

Jonathan Tobin: Misgivings on the Road to Damascus

JWisdom: 44 Years Without An Argument? by Sara Yoheved Rigler

June 3, 2008

Daniel Pipes: Obama vs. McCain on the Middle East

Everything's Relative: There is a crisis growing in Orthodox synagogues worldwide, reveals Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel

JWisdom: White Facades; Black Secrets by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: Lie to outsmart discriminator?

He writes the songs that make our souls sing:Gavriel Aryeh Sanders interviews Jewish music legend Ben Zion Shenker; includes stirring, uplifting song

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Of laws and lives

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Feb. 12, 2008 / 6 Adar I 5768

Pelosi still needs a reality-check on Iraq

By Jack Kelly

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared again on CNN's "Late Edition" program Sunday that the troop surge in Iraq is a failure.


Ms. Pelosi's timing was unfortunate for what shreds remain of her credibility. Her statement coincided with the release by U.S. forces in Iraq Saturday of the diary of Abu Tariq, an al Qaida leader around the northern city of Balad. The diary was captured in a raid in November. It apparently had been written the month before. Abu Tariq once had nearly 600 fighters under his command, but his force has dwindled to no more than 20. The chief reason for this, he wrote, was the decision of most Sunni tribes to throw in with the Americans.


"There were almost 600 fighters in our sector before the Tribes changed course under the influence of the so-called Islamic Army (Deserter of Jihad) and other known believer groups," Mr. Tariq wrote in the beginning of his diary. "Many of our known fighters quit and some of them joined the deserters."


"We were mistreated, cheated and betrayed by some of our brothers," Mr. Tariq wrote. "We must not have mercy on those traitors until they come back to the right side or get eliminated completely in order to achieve victory at the end."


Al Qaida attacks on the Sunni tribes have doubled since October, U.S. Army Maj. Winfield Danielson told the Washington Post. But the capture of Mr. Tariq's diary makes it even harder for al Qaida to make the comeback Mr. Tariq desires. He provided detailed information — including the names of key individuals — about al Qaida's support network, which is now being rolled up.


Mr. Tariq's pessimism was echoed in a long letter written by an al Qaida chieftain that was captured in a raid in Samarra.


"(Al Qaida) is faced with an extraordinary crisis, especially in al-Anbar province," wrote this al Qaida "emir," who has not been named. "Al Qaida's expulsion from Anbar created weakness and psychological defeat. This also created panic, fear and an unwillingness to fight."


The Washington Post interviewed two al Qaida leaders in Anbar for a story which was printed Feb. 8. One, Riyadh al-Ogaidi, said the number of al Qaida fighters in Iraq has declined from about 12,000 last June to around 3,500 today. The U.S. military says that in 2007, U.S. and Iraqi forces and their Sunni tribesmen allies killed about 2,400 al Qaida members, and captured an additional 8,800 suspects.


Abu Ayub al Masri, the al Qaida leader in Iraq, has told his subordinates to cool their thirst for revenge against their former colleagues. Mr. al Masri recognizes that al Qaida's indiscriminate brutality is the chief reason why the Sunni tribes have turned against the terror group.


"Dedicate yourself to fighting the true enemy only, in order to avoid opening up new fronts against the Sunni Arabs," Mr. al Masri said in a Jan. 13 communique to his dwindling forces.


There are only a few areas left in Iraq where al Qaida can attempt to reorganize in relative safety. The biggest concentration is in and around Mosul, near the Syrian border in northwestern Iraq (and to where Abu Tariq is thought to have fled), and in the mountainous regions of northern Diyala province.


Al Qaida in Iraq is losing, but is not yet defeated. "The terror group possesses enough capacity to conduct at least one mass casualty suicide attack per month," said Bill Roggio, whose Webzine, the Long War Journal, is the best source of information for what's happening in Iraq. (On Sunday, an al Qaida car bomb killed 23 and wounded 39 at a market in Balad.)


It isn't only in Iraq where al Qaida's fortunes are waning. Islamist parties are expected to get drubbed in Pakistan's parliamentary elections Feb. 18, Reuters reported Sunday.


Osama bin Laden's popularity in Pakistan is plunging, the AP said in a story Monday. It's down to 24 percent in a poll conducted last month, from 46 percent in August. Backing for al Qaida fell from 33 to 18 per cent during the same period.


"That means the al Qaida has gone from being less popular than George Bush is in America, to being less popular than Congress," the AP noted.


The decline in the popularity of the Islamists in Pakistan followed the assassination by al Qaida of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and a rash of suicide bombings. Apparently Pakistanis are no more fond of people who blow them up than Iraqis are. Ms. Pelosi should take note.

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JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration. Comment by clicking here.

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