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July 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The hallmark of a person

Abe Novick: Up, up, and aliya

July 1, 2009

Rabbi Avi Shafran: The Road Taken

The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta: Get into the holiday spirit with these Star-Spangled desserts

June 30, 2009

Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg: What makes a great parent?

Caroline B. Glick: Ideologue-in-Chief

June 29, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Beware of 'Caveat Emptor'

Steven Emerson: ACLU pushing for more money for Hamas

June 26, 2009

Rabbi Yoni Posnick: Learn the secret to a healthy marriage from a scriptural villain

Caroline B. Glick: Barack Obama vs. International Law

June 25, 2009

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf: The Absurd Power of Truth

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 24, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Advancement of technology is a wake-up call for humanity

The Kosher Gourmet by Andrea Weigl: Summer on a stick: Making frozen treats can be easy, creative and fun

June 23, 2009

Martin M. Bodek: 'On Surnames': And so, We Begin

Caroline B. Glick: The Obama Effect

June 22, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Working for a corrupt firm

N. Richard Greenfield : Where are American Jews?

June 19, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Emotion v. intellect

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's rare opportunity

June 18, 2009

Jonathan Rosenblum: Sometimes it is more essential to define the nature of evil than good

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 17, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Language of Confusion

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Nothing pleases Dad more than a thick, juicy onion-smothered steak. Add home-Baked Potato Chips and …

June 16, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Career v. Careersism

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's losing streak and Israel

Richard Z. Chesnoff: ‘Palestinians’: Never Missing an Opportunity …

June 15, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: How Judea and Samaria can become 'Palestine'

Daniel Pipes: Where Netanyahu's speech failed

June 12, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Some big thoughts about not acting so big

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's High Commissioner

June 11, 2009

Victor Davis Hanson: Our historically challenged President

Mitch Albom: Beware the True Believers

Lewis Grossberger: What we learn from the new Hitler photos

June 10, 2009

Mort Zuckerman: What Obama and his advisors won't -- or refuse to -- grasp about Israel and the Muslim world

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky Lotsa pasta: Tips, techniques and (amazing) taste

June 9, 2009

Anne Bayefsky: Obama's stunning offense to Israel and the Jewish people

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: America's first Muslim president?

June 8, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Merchant must take responsibility for careless shopper?

Mark Steyn: A superpower that feeds on mediocrity cannot survive for long on leftovers from the past

Richard Z. Chesnoff: How do you say 'kumbaya' in Arabic?

June 5, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: In quest of spirituality

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's Arabian dreams

Charles Krauthammer: The Settlements Myth

June 4, 2009

Paul Greenberg: The War Comes to Little Rock

The Kosher Gourmet by Judy Hevrdejs: Splash it on! Tap your inner jazz musician and improvise when stirring up a vinaigrette

June 3, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Should terrible teacher be exposed?

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Israel Lobby: Missing in Action

June 2, 2009

Dennis Prager: The Speech President Obama Won't Dare Give in Egypt

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Pressure on Israel raises war risk

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

Jewish World Review June 10, 2004 / 22 Sivan, 5764

How would Reagan end the Muslim madness?

By Gal Luft


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http://www.jewishworldreview.com | President Reagan's death brought to the fore his outstanding accomplishment of ending the Cold War. Like American presidents before him he led the U.S. in the charge against the "evil empire" by forging alliances and sending troops to remote theaters at high cost in blood and treasury. What makes Reagan's vision for victory particularly remarkable is that it stemmed from the belief in the power of technology as both a force multiplier and a game changer.


For the three and a half decades that preceded Reagan's presidency, Americans lived in the ominous shadow of a thermonuclear war that threatened to bring destruction to the planet. Two years into his first term, Reagan invited some of America's leading scientists to "give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete." The result was a radical decision to develop a new system, which became known as "Star Wars," to reduce the threat of nuclear missiles by destroying them from space. The decision was met with a mixture skepticism and ridicule. Critics pointed to the technological barriers and the huge costs involved. But Reagan did not falter and insisted on pursuing the project. His gambit worked. The Soviets, already burdened by poor economy, proposed to eliminate all nuclear weapons over 15 years, contingent on the U.S backing off the project. Reagan declined and within a year the two superpowers began negotiations toward nuclear disarmament and permanent peace.


Thus ended the Cold War.


In mobilizing technology to win a world war President Reagan emulated the success of President Franklin Roosevelt who had decided during World War II to develop the nuclear bomb as the ultimate weapon against which no conventional weapons could compete. Both presidents led the free world in a war against a ruthless enemy determined to change the existing world order and bring an end to the west's way of life. Both presidents used America's ingenuity and the power of technology to bring about the final defeat of the challenger.


Today we are again at war, a war of ideas against militant Islamists who want to destroy America's society, its allies and its core values. It is a war against a creed of violence, intolerance and zeal. But unlike previous global conflicts the U.S. is dependent on the part of the world where its enemies reside. Consuming a quarter of the world's oil while holding only three percent of global reserves, the U.S. is more dependent than ever on oil imported from the Middle East. Corrupt dictators whose power is derived from oil control more than 70 percent of the world's reserves and with it the power to manipulate global economy and sponsor an education system that teaches hatred and intolerance.

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With oil reserves outside the Middle East depleting faster than those in the region our dependence on Middle East oil will only increase and with it the power wielded by our enemies.


The war on terror can be fought for many more years but defeat of the radicals cannot be achieved as long as we continue to transfer money to those who wish us harm. The legacy of Reagan and Roosevelt is that technology can win global wars and ensure peace, prosperity and stability. If President Bush wants to achieve similar success, he should follow their footsteps and initiate a national effort in the scale of the Manhattan Project and Star Wars aimed at ending U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Only by removing the yoke of our energy dependence can we deny countries that "don't particularly like us," to use President Bush's words, the wealth which enables them to fuel terror and spread hatred toward our nation.

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Gal Luft is executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), a Washington energy policy think tank, and publisher of Energy Security. Comment by clicking here.

© 2004, Gal Luft