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Dec. 2, 2008

Melanie Phillips: The Mumbai atrocity is a wake-up call for a frighteningly unprepared world

Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Strategic Motivations for the Mumbai Attack

Dec. 1, 2008

Max Freidlander, as told to Jacklyn C. Wadler: India Inkings

Mark Steyn: Whodunit!?

Nov. 28, 2008

Rabbi Ahron Rapps: An evil seed that didn't have to be

Melanie Phillips: Carpe diem --- or can we all relax now?

Nov. 26, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet the Orthodox Jew who laid groundwork for scientific development of ordnance that undergirds America's current world leadership

Andrea Simantov: Shades of life

Nov. 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Getting Emotional For Influence

The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman : Thanksiving feast!

Nov. 24, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: 'I just Became a grandchild!'

Barry Rubin: Don't flatter your enemies, protect your friends

Nov. 21, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Money matters?

Caroline B. Glick: Civilization walks the plank

Nov. 20, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bronfman's blindness

The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: Portobellos add a hearty flavor to pasta with pesto

Nov, 19, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Spread the wealth? Jewish tradition and income equality

Elliot B. Gertel: 'Mad Men': Tackling prejudices or reinforcing them?

Nov, 18, 2008

Dr. Debby Schwarz Hirschhorn: The End of the Age of Reason

Jonathan Tobin: Does Barack + Bibi = Disaster?

Nov, 17, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The End of the Age of Reason

Diana West: Gulling Americans into making terror legit?

Nov, 14, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The Power of Spiritual Inertia

Caroline B. Glick: The perils ahead

Nov, 13, 2008

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: How Bush and Obama together could change the Middle East dynamic

The Kosher Gourmet by JeanMarie Brownson: Sweet and savory, crispy and meltingly tender bestilla

Nov, 12, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Tyrannical Co-Workers

Michael Doyle: High Court to consider today donated monuments that may have religious messages in public parks

Nov, 11, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Will Obama stop government officials considering institutionalizing financial jihad?

Jonathan Tobin: They Will Decide Their Own Fate

Nov, 10, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: $8 billion, modern-day Tower of Babel being built?

Barry Rubin: A letter to the president-elect from a Middle East realist

Nov, 7, 2008

Rabbi Francis Nataf: Of Children and Immortality

Caroline B. Glick: Livni's Obama strategy

Nov, 6, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: How I tricked a classroom of apathetic students into grasping the fallacy of moral relativism

The Kosher Gourmet By Gina Kim: Tips for making the perfect soup --- includes recipes

Nov, 5, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Destitute Debtors

Bruce Weinstein: 'Religulos': Bad title,even worse movie

Nov, 4, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Treasury Dept. submits to Shariah law

Frida Ghitis: A surprise for Obama in the Middle East

Nov, 3, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Who says Jews are Smart?

Jonathan Tobin: Was He Wrong About Everything?

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 July 24, 2008 / 21 Tamuz 5768

U.S. gets song and dance instead of real promise

By Cal Thomas


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | As an inveterate "stage-door Johnny," I have hundreds of song lyrics floating around in my head and can produce them at a moment's notice. Sometimes they jump out at the most appropriate time to describe a current event.


In the case of the Iraq War, Sen. Barack Obama has said that even though the military surge ordered by President Bush and backed by Sen. John McCain has worked, he still opposes it. Would he have preferred all-out defeat or an endless quagmire, which was where things appeared to be heading before the surge?


During the primary campaign, Obama said, if he were elected president, he would pull most - if not all - U.S. troops out immediately. He later added that before ordering a retreat, he would first consult commanders on the ground. Then he said he might have to "adjust" his timetable, which he said was 16 months. When the left went berserk over what it regarded as a broken promise to unilaterally withdraw, Obama said he was sticking to his 16-month timetable and had not changed his position.


Now to the song lyric, which characterizes Obama's decision-making process:


"You say yes, then it's no;
You say you'll stay, then you go
You're undecided now, so what are you gonna do?


Yes, it's about a fickle lover, but doesn't it apply to Obama and his "leadership" by focus group and political expediency?


First you say you do, and then you don't,
And then you say you will, and then you won't,
You're undecided now, so what are you gonna do?


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Democrats have been critical of President Bush for what they regard as his stubborn refusal to admit mistakes in the war. They are less interested in confession than they are in using such statements to advance their own political agenda. They seem less concerned with promoting ultimate U.S. interests, which would, for now, be a stable and democratic Iraq. They say they want to win only the war in Afghanistan but have less to say about how to prevail in the much longer war against the radical Islamic extremists of which Iraq and Afghanistan are only a part. Instead of leadership, Obama gives us politics and this:


Now you want to play, and then it's no,
And when you say you'll stay, that's when you go
You're undecided now, so what are you gonna do?


There's more:


I've been sittin' on a fence, and it doesn't make much sense,
Cause you keep me in suspense, and you know it.


And suppose that after the pullout things deteriorate? The song covers that too:


You promise to return; when you don't I really burn,
Well, I guess I'll never learn, and I show it!


There is another possibility that the surge may be masking. It is that the enemies of democracy and America are lying low, knowing that if the surge appears to be working, U.S. forces are likely to withdraw more quickly. Then, after substantial numbers have left, the terrorists, backed by Iran, might flood back in, or come out of hiding and strike again. This could require a return of American forces at even greater cost in lives and money.


In a July 2 interview with Military Times, Obama said: "If current trends continue and we're in a position where we continue to see reductions in violence and situations and stabilizations and continue to see improvements on the part of the Iraqi army and Iraqi police, then you know my hope would be that we could draw down in a deliberate fashion in consultation with the Iraqi government, at a pace that is determined in consultation with Gen. Petraeus and the other commanders on the ground and it strikes me that that's something we can begin relatively soon after inauguration. If, on the other hand, you've got a deteriorating situation for some reason then that's going to have to be taken into account."


After all that, he still says before visiting Iraq that 16 months remains his timetable.


(Cue music.)


A drawdown of troops is now becoming a possibility, thanks to the surge and President Bush's refusal to buckle under political and media pressure. But that's no credit to Obama. He's undecided.

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Cal Thomas Archives

JWR contributor Cal Thomas is co-author with Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic Party strategist, of "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America". Comment by clicking here.

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