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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 Sept. 18, 2007 / 6 Tishrei 5768

First, do no harm

By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Sen. Jim Webb is a serious guy. A decorated Vietnam veteran, a Navy Secretary in the Reagan Defense Department, the Virginia Democrat is also the father of a veteran of the conflict in Iraq. And Mr. Webb is seriously opposed to the U.S. military campaign there. So when he decides to try to end that campaign, it would be advisable to take him and his legislative initiatives, well, seriously.


That is particularly true given the seemingly unobjectionable nature of an amendment he proposed earlier this year and is expected to offer anew this week. It would afford troops who have been pulling repeated, exhausting and dangerous combat tours guaranteed respite between deployments. To add to its appeal, the Webb Amendment affords the president the latitude to waive its requirements in response to "an operational emergency posing a threat to the vital national security interests of the United States." For these reasons, those in the know think it may be able to command the 60 votes needed to cut off debate.


Unfortunately, the Webb requirement is so fraught with logistical and administrative problems that it would be devastating for the very people it is intended to help — the troops and those responsible for safely leading and successfully managing them in time of war. As one of the most thoughtful military strategists of our time, Fred Kagan, put it recently in National Review:


"[The original Webb amendment] specified not only that a particular unit had to spend basically a day at home for every day it spent deployed, but that every member of the armed forces had to receive such 'dwell time,' as the period between deployments is called. The problem is that when a unit returns from a deployment, its personnel are often reassigned to other units and other assignments. Brigades don't stay together forever. So this amendment would actually require the Army and Marine Corps staffs to keep track of how long every individual service member had spent in either Iraq or Afghanistan, how long they had been at home, how long the unit that they were now in had spent deployed, and how long it had been home, and somehow find units to deploy that had been home for the specified time and all of whose personnel had also been home for the required period.


"Since that would be patently absurd, the alternative would be to pull people out of units that were going to deploy if those individuals did not have enough 'dwell time,' breaking up leadership and soldier teams the formation of which is the express purpose of the Army and Marine training system. Requiring the president to issue a certification to Congress to waive this requirement for every individual soldier who might be affected is even more absurd."


Now, everyone should be sensitive to the needs of U.S. servicemen and -women. Unquestionably, they and their loved ones are bearing a disproportionate burden in this War for the Free World. It is wearing them out, threatening to break an all-volunteer force and to render wholly unsustainable its combat equipment.


This reality is, of course, contributing to actions by the Commander-in-Chief at the recommendation of Gen. David Petraeus to begin withdrawing 5 brigades from Iraq before it may actually be prudent to do so. Indeed, under present circumstances, force structure limitations are another form of "artificial deadline." Despite talk about conditions on the ground determining the number of troops in Iraq, the enemy knows that we may not be able to sustain the fight.


Another consideration is that we may need U.S. forces for fights elsewhere. Indeed, the probability of conflict with Iran is growing as we fail to take steps that might make unnecessary the use of the military against the regime in Tehran — notably, by depriving it of money (for example, via "terror-free investing") and legitimacy (through the use of Reagan-style political warfare techniques). This prospect is made likelier by the increasing offensive capability of Iran, thanks in no small measure to help provided by Russia, China and North Korea.


Legislators legitimately troubled about these facts have a responsibility not to make matters worse by adopting the Webb Amendment. If they wish to help, rather than hurt, our national security, they need to address not the symptoms but the cause of our present difficulties: We need a larger military.


It was predictable — and predicted by the Center for Security Policy — during the early 1990s that the ill-advised desire to cash in the so-called "peace dividend" would inevitably bring us to such a pass. As with similar draw-downs in the past, we wound up cashiering force-structure we need to deter aggression against us or our interests and to contend with its perpetrators.


The costs of rectifying this mistake are huge. But they will be vastly larger if we wait to increase the size of our Army and Marine Corps under far worse circumstances down the road. In the latter case, one such unwanted cost may be the need for conscription to meet our military requirements.


If we truly desire more rest for our troops and time with their families amidst a global war, without sacrificing the nation's security — and who doesn't? — we must achieve those objectives in ways that won't hamstring the Pentagon. We must instead use all appropriate techniques to minimize the tasks assigned to America's military and to assure it is properly sized and equipped for those it will have to perform, both today and tomorrow.


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 Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. heads the Center for Security Policy. Comments by clicking here.

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"War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World"  

America has been at war for years, but until now, it has not been clear with whom or precisely for what. And we have not been using the full resources we need to win.

With the publication of War Footing, lead-authored by Frank Gaffney, it not only becomes clear who the enemy is and how high the stakes are, but also exactly how we can prevail.

War Footing shows that we are engaged in nothing less than a War for the Free World. This is a fight to the death with Islamofascists, Muslim extremists driven by a totalitarian political ideology that, like Nazism or Communism before it, is determined to destroy freedom and the people who love it. Sales help fund JWR.

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