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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review June 14, 2006 / 18 Sivan, 5766

One death could bring a stable Iraq, even as opportunity and room to shape War's outcome is diminishing

By Robert Robb

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | After being justifiably criticized for excessively rosy assessments of developments in Iraq, the Bush administration underplayed the significance of the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Things will still be tough in Iraq, everyone was careful to say. The insurgency will continue.

And that's undoubtedly true. Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that Zarqawi's death will be a milestone in bringing a degree of stability to Iraq, and mark the beginning of the end of the U.S. involvement there regardless of whether it actually does.

The argument for Zarqawi's death having a minimal effect is the nature of the insurgency. Foreign terrorists, whom Zarqawi led, are a fraction of it. Most estimates put the active insurgency forces at about 20,000. Foreign terrorists are thought to be, at most, about a tenth of that number. The bulk consists of Iraqi Sunnis with various motivations.

Nevertheless, the foreign terrorists are thought to be primarily responsible for the more heinous acts of terror, including the suicide bombings. And Zarqawi was a particularly toxic force in the Iraqi situation.

Zarqawi felt that the majority Shia were a more important enemy in Iraq than the United States. In a letter to al-Qaida's leadership before pledging loyalty to it in 2004, he wrote: "The danger from the Shia is greater and their damage is worse and more destructive to the Islamic nation than the Americans."

Attacking the Shia, not Americans, was his primary strategy. He is thought to be responsible for the bombing of the Shiite mosque that triggered the escalation of sectarian violence and reprisals in Iraq.

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Al-Qaida's leadership appears to have disagreed with this strategy. A letter intercepted last fall from the terror outfit's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, certainly indicated as much.

Zarqawi's brutality and attacks on Shiite civilians and worshipers were costing the insurgency the popular support needed to establish an Islamic caliphate in Iraq, Zawahiri worried.

While the insurgency will continue, the removal of the most dedicated, brutal and cruel agent and promoter of civilian sectarian violence and conflict will make a difference. It improves the chances, perhaps dramatically, of stability coming to Iraq.

The key to true stability in Iraq is acceptance by the Sunnis of a minority role and status in a Shia-majority led Iraq.

In the final analysis, that is the best outcome the Sunnis can hope for.

Without Saddam's monopoly on force, a Sunni restoration is not going to happen. The real options for the Sunnis are an independent status without oil revenues, or a minority status (albeit with substantial autonomy) with some share of oil revenues.

The United States, however, is running out of room and opportunity to shape the outcome in Iraq. Unfortunately, President Bush is among those unwilling to see or acknowledge this.

The U.S. military is clearly ready for a reduced role in Iraq. American troops are increasingly taking a backup role in security operations and commanders consistently talk about the possibility of reducing the number of troops in Iraq before the end of the year.

At his Iraq war strategy retreat, however, Bush convened a panel of outside experts who advocate an increased direct role for U.S. forces in Iraqi security operations. He then flew to Iraq to tell the new prime minister that the United States' keeps it word, clearly an indication of a willingness to keep U.S. forces engaged, as the president often puts it, for as long as it takes.

That's not necessarily the reassurance that is most important in Iraq. There is a concern among Iraqis that the United States will pull out before security is assured. There is also, however, a concern that the United States will never leave.

According to a poll in January, 80 percent of the Iraqi people believe that the United States wants a permanent military presence in Iraq. Only 23 percent, and just 5 percent of Sunnis, believe that the United States would leave Iraq even if asked to do so by the Iraqi government.

U.S. domestic politics will probably settle the issue. There is simply no patience for the unlimited commitment Bush wants to make to the Iraqi enterprise. The death of Zarqawi will increase the desire by the American people to see the beginning of the end.

The bet here is that the combination of domestic politics in the United States and in Iraq, and the military's clear preference, will result in an announcement of U.S. troop reductions before the November American election.

And if it doesn't, that the American people will choose a Congress that will force that decision on Bush.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Robert Robb is a columnist for The Arizona Republic. Comment by clicking here.

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