July 24, 2008 Rabbi Berel Wein: On the road again --- and again and again Richard Z. Chesnoff: Mideast Refugees --- Failure vs. Success JWisdom:: Word power is about more than vocabulary by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky July 23, 2008 Jonathan Tobin: The Mufti of Jerusalem's Nazi ideology lives on among contemporary Islamists The Kosher Gourmet by Joe Gray: Smoked paprika turkey meatballs simmered in red wine and tomato sauce JWisdom:: 'Routine' doesn't need to mean ‘rote’ By Rabbi David Aaron July 22, 2008 Yossi Klein Halevi: Dear Barack Obama Elliot B. Gertel: Eli Stone: Self-indulgent, arrogant corporate attorney as modern-day prophet JWisdom:: Three Weeks - Nine Days - One Purpose by Rabbi Mordechai Becher July 21, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Spending your kids' money Mitch Albom: A grim exchange illustrates a key difference JWisdom:: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Hammered on the Anvil --- Severed by the Sickle by Rabbi Nosson Scherman July 18, 2008 Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: The Sanctification and Importance of Time Caroline B. Glick: US wants it absolutely clear it has no intention of attacking Iran's nuclear installations Mona Charen: What can you say about a people who welcome a child murderer as a hero? JWisdom:: Living a dog's life, dawg? by Rabbi Dovid Gross July 17, 2008 Steven Emerson: Deals with devils Libby Lazewnik: One Step at a Time JWisdom:: Leader the follower? by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky July 16, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Poaching humans The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Meaty pasta salad with summer berries perfect for warm evenings JWisdom:: Keeping A Secret by Rabbi Mordechai Becher July 15, 2008 Dennis Prager: False Equation: Opposing Same-Sex Marriage and Opposing Interracial Marriage Joel Greenberg: Researchers look to Israeli circumcision program to help combat AIDS 'Alternatives' to Logic Won't Work JWisdom:: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part V: Why Judaism ISN'T Spiritual by Rabbi David Aaron July 14, 2008 Jonathan Rosenblum: A warning from Canada to those who value life Jonathan Tobin: 'Alternatives' to Logic Won't Work JWisdom:: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Poland's Unique Antisemitism, Part II July 11, 2008 Rabbi Francis Nataf: It's hard to be humble when you're great Caroline B. 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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 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 Nov. 3, 2006 / 12 Mar-Cheshvan, 5767 Just plain stuck By Diana West http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | John Kerry's "joke" about losers getting stuck in Iraq added zilch, obviously, to any debate. But it triggered political adrenaline pundits say could boost GOP (Kerry-disgusted) turnout. This, in turn, could boost Democratic (Hate-Bush) turnout. Which makes the electorate sound like opposing flocks of geese, irritably voluble and confused. Emphasis on confused. Americans are confused about Iraq. They are confused about Iraq because Republicans, from the White House on down, haven't figured it out, haven't girded themselves to burst through the PC filters to grasp that Islam is the insurmountable obstacle to remaking Iraq as a Western-style state, and to shift our strategy in the region from being emphatically pro-democracy to being emphatically anti-jihad — the best strategy for all fronts in the "war on terror." Since it's the GOP, in effect, that wages war (contemporary Democrats are hopeless at it), Republican confusion about Iraq explains why Republican control of Congress is slipping. It also explains why a sinking feeling is the emotion that best characterizes this election. In a way, conservative disgust at John Kerry, the embodiment of utter Democratic ineptitude when it comes to national security, is a welcome overlay. Meanwhile, the American experience in Iraq becomes surreal. U.S. military trainers tell The Washington Post they have trained an Iraqi police force of which 70 percent is infiltrated by militias, mainly from the so-called Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr. And who in Iraq cares? The police chief of Baghdad is likely a Mahdi Army man, while the minister of the interior belongs to Moqtada al-Sadr's political bloc. In other words, it's High Noon in Baghdad, 24-7. There's more. "The American soldiers and civilians who train the Iraqis are constantly on guard against the possibility that the police might turn against them," the Post reports. "Even in the police headquarters for all of western Baghdad, one of the safest police buildings in the capital, the training team will not remove their body armor or helmets. An armed soldier is assigned to protect each trainer." This isn't just surreal, it's insane. As one trainer put it: "We don't know who the hell we're teaching. Are they police, or are they militia?" Good question, fella. But no one Stateside has an answer — unless Condoleezza Rice's prattle about "the ideology of hate" (her vacuous phrase for Islam's more violent manifestations) ultimately losing to "the ideology of hope" (the stuff we're supposed to provide) constitutes an answer. She makes it sound as if what Sadr City really needs is a good Head Start program — only don't forget the body armor. Oh, for the days when Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur successfully ordered enemy commanders to disarm 250,000 vanquished troops on mainland Japan. But Iraq is not Japan, a historical example the Bush administration has used to show the beneficial results of American occupation on a former enemy — namely, an enlightened constitution underlying an enduring democracy. What goes unmentioned is that before Gen. MacArthur basically wrote that enlightened constitution, Japan was completely devastated, with more than 1.2 million Japanese killed in action in the final years of fighting, with 670,000 civilians perishing in Allied bombings. Islam aside, Iraq's relatively carnage-free liberation (and unsecured borders) made for a dangerously adversarial occupation. So what is Iraq like? Not South Vietnam — or not in the way Henry Kissinger is reportedly counseling the president. (There is a disastrous resemblance to Vietnam in Iraq's porous borders to terrorist sanctuaries in Iran and Syria.) When Kissinger says victory is the only meaningful exit strategy, it's as if he's reliving an American defeat in Vietnam suffered ultimately at the hands of a Congress that would no longer fund our Saigon ally. But does the United States have in Iraq a pro-American ally like South Vietnam for whom to stay the course — or, for that matter, to pull the plug on? No. We have Al Qaeda-sympathizing Sunnis and Iran-sympathizing Shi'ites, which sounds like an eminently exploitable Sino-Soviet-style split in the making. This is hardly to suggest we have no strategic interests in the region — a condition that would justify Democratic plans for speedy withdrawal. But Democrats, both by temperament and philosophy, seem incapable of figuring out what they are. And when it comes right down to it, not getting it at all (Democrats) is worse than not getting it right (Republicans). Which is probably one of the odder reasons to vote Republican. But it's better than being stuck with the party of John Kerry, in Iraq or anywhere else. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Diana West is a columnist and editorial writer for the Washington Times. Comment by clicking here. Archives © 2006, Diana West