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June 19, 2013

Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all

Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions

Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak
Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

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


Jewish World Review Dec. 30, 2008 / 3 Teves 5769

Will Obama ‘go to’ defense?

By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Presidents have discovered that the surest way to make history is by playing against type. The paradigmatic example occurred in 1972 when anti-communist Richard Nixon decided to go to Red China. Liberal Democrat Bill Clinton is remembered for helping to "end welfare as we know it" some two decades later.


We should all hope Barack Obama too will recognize the need for a role reversal by deciding early that - despite his campaign promises and past predilections - he must strengthen, not savage, our national security posture.


To be sure, this would be a breathtaking departure given the commitments Mr. Obama recently made on the hustings. For example, he undertook to reduce defense spending (inspiring one of his congressional allies, Rep. Barney Frank, to offer an opening bid of a 25 percent cut), abolish nuclear weapons, and end funding for "unproven" missile defenses. He also pledged to repeal the prohibition against homosexuals serving in the military. And he promised to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq within 16 months, irrespective of conditions on the ground.


It is no exaggeration to say the cumulative effect of these commitments would be devastating to our security. The U.S. military has been waging two wars for most of the last seven years. Though the defense budget has grown dramatically over that period, necessary modernization of the armed services has been substantially deferred in favor of meeting the immediate requirements to fund combat and support operations and maintenance. Under these circumstances, even modest military spending cuts, let alone those contemplated by Mr. Frank, risk another "hollowing-out" of the armed forces of a kind not seen since another "progressive" Democrat, Jimmy Carter, occupied the White House in the late 1970s.


A failure to address the deteriorating condition of our nuclear deterrent and its supporting human and industrial infrastructure - to say nothing of pursuing a deliberate policy of eliminating these pillars of our national security posture - would be reckless. Like it or not, we live in a world in which all of the other declared nuclear powers (and a few undeclared ones) are busily upgrading their arsenals. The combination of such armaments with ever-expanding capabilities to deliver them via ballistic missiles makes U.S. anti-missile systems, even less-than-perfect ones, more needed than ever.


For the foregoing reasons, among others, the nation's all-volunteer military is already under considerable stress. Changing the basis on which those volunteers enlisted - namely, that they would not have to live and work in settings of forced intimacy with people of the same sex who might find them attractive - would have a traumatic effect on recruitment, retention and morale. In time of war, it would not be merely reckless but the height of folly to jeopardize the good order and discipline of the armed forces.


Speaking of war, we are in the process of winning the one in Iraq. In the years to come, Mr. Obama may be able to withdraw U.S. forces from there in a way that does not imperil that victory. But to do so, he will, as a practical matter, have to be flexible and guided by conditions on the ground - not an artificial timetable. The repercussions of getting the Iraqi end-game wrong will extend far beyond that nation, Iran and the rest of the Middle East. Potential adversaries from Russia and China to North Korea and Hugo Chavez's Venezuela will become emboldened and more dangerous should we be defeated in Iraq, especially if that defeat is seen as part of a more comprehensive collapse of American power and will.


As it happens, there is another compelling reason for investing in a stronger defense posture, rather than weakening it. As a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan, Martin Feldstein, noted in the Wall Street Journal last week, government spending through the national and homeland security agencies can contribute powerfully to economic revitalization. He estimates that, for example, an increase of $20 billion in defense procurement and research and of $10 billion in operations and maintenance could translate into an additional 300,000 jobs.


I have long believed it is a mistake to use the defense budget as a jobs program. We should buy military hardware because it is needed for our security, not to boost employment. That said, where increased employment follows from making necessary investments in our armed forces' capabilities to fight today's wars - and, no less important, tomorrow's - it would be absurd not to include the Pentagon in an economic stimulus package. The same basic principle should apply to the homeland security and intelligence organizations, as well.


During the campaign, Vice president-elect Joe Biden warned that the world would test his running mate early in his presidency. That is almost certainly true, even though we cannot be sure what form that test will take or from which quarter. Mr. Obama is far more likely to pass that test - on his own behalf, and ours - if he confounds expectations by "going to Defense" as Nixon went to China: Resetting the force with necessary modernizations, as well as maintenance; increasing the robustness of our nuclear deterrent and missile defenses; preserving the good order and discipline of the military; and winning in Iraq.


Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many 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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