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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

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: 'Noodles,' Asian style is a carb sub, sure. But they are also amazingly delicious and colorful

April 19, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When violence seems the only answer

Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama's visit to Israel had no impact on public opinion or government policy

Morgan Housel: Gold collapse: The start of something big?
Harvard Health Letters: Can you die of a broken heart?

Pete Spotts: Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds

Nora Schultz: Oxytocin helps beat booze cravings

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: Middle Eastern cuisine meets Italian delicious with this lentil and eggplant pastitsio

April 17, 2013

Shira Rubin: Too much of a good thing? 'Palestinians' realize downside of foreign aid boom

Geoffrey Mohan: Can computers decode dreams? Researchers take a first step

Morgan Housel: BAD NEWS: EVERYONE IS RIGHT!
Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 heart-healthy eating tips help cut saturated fat but not taste

Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Told your child has sensory processing disorder? Seek a second opinion

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Corn and Curry Add Zing to Chilled Soup

April 15, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Death of Education?

Kristen Chick: Egyptian Christians respond with harsh words to attack -- rocks, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire -- against main cathedral

Marcy Darnovsky and Karuna Jaggar: High Court to decide if you should own your DNA
Howard LaFranchi: US bracing for more Russian blowback after taking action against 18 more human rights violators

Kristin Ohlson : The loneliest fight

The Kosher Gourmet by Dana Velden: A tasty, rich dish that hints at spring's arrival while still anchored in a favorite winter staple


Jewish World Review Dec 13, 2007 / 4 Teves 5768

Congressional indignados exposed

By Bob Tyrrell


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | I can understand why, back in 2005, the CIA destroyed tapes showing its agents using "waterboarding" on notorious terrorists. My guess is that the tapes would reveal them all having a lot of fun. There the Rev. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be seen waterboarding like mad, his baseball hat turned backward, his eyes alight with excitement. There Mr. Abu Zubaydah can be seen having an equally exciting time, possibly gurgling a bit, but riding his waterboard to the limit. And on the sidelines can be seen the dusky chaps' new best friends from the Langley Aquatics and Waterboarding Club, applauding and urging the chaps on.


Does the above paragraph strike you as absurd? Well, it is no more absurd than the indignation vented last week by assorted eminences in Congress. The congressional indignados, led by the Hon. Nancy Pelosi, squeaker of the House of Representatives, affect outrage over the "harsh" interrogation measures used in 2002 against several terrorists, two of whom are manifestly evil anti-Americans. The others have yet to be identified. It now turns out that back then, the Hon. Pelosi and other key members of Congress were fully informed of these interrogation measures, which they approved and with good reason.


One of the terrorists introduced to the delights of waterboarding, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, actually planned Sept. 11. How long it took him to confess to that and to other barbarisms I do not know, but former CIA interrogator John Kiriakou told ABC that after weeks of uncooperative silence, the other identified terrorist, Zubaydah, an al-Qaida kingpin, broke 35 seconds into his waterboarding session. "From that day on, he answered every question," reported Kiriakou, who added that the information offered was critical to protecting America and pursuing terrorists. At the time, we had every reason to anticipate more attacks. That no further Sept. 11s have taken place in six years speaks well for the efficacy of waterboarding.


Unfortunately, in the Democrats' campaign to turn this war into a partisan political issue, the interrogation of some of the most vicious brutes ever to be captured by American forces has become "controversial." Hence Squeaker Pelosi and other members of Congress apparently have completely forgotten that they were briefed on the 2002 interrogations. Were it not for the Washington Post news story Sunday (headlined "Hill Briefed on Waterboarding in 2002") revealing that they were, the histrionics on Capitol Hill would continue. As it is, committee hearings will take place, and CIA operatives will be embarrassed and perhaps indicted.


The congressional indignados' residual complaint is that the CIA destroyed the tapes of their 2002 waterboarding festival. I ask you, which is more reprehensible: destroying those tapes or lying to the American people about one's knowledge of the "harsh" interrogations? Actually, I have understated the misbehavior of the mendacious members of Congress. They not only are deceiving us about their knowledge but also are threatening CIA agents for interrogations that former CIA Director Porter Goss says had their "approval and encouragement."


This is not the first time members of Congress have abandoned the CIA when its actions became controversial. During the Reagan administration, we witnessed a similar display of congressional cowardice and opportunism. In 1984, after it was reported that the CIA had mined harbors in Communist-controlled Nicaragua, leading figures on the congressional intelligence committees played the role of the congressional indignado. They insisted that the CIA actions had taken place without the knowledge of congressional intelligence committees. Some committee members called for CIA Director William Casey's head. Casey responded by reminding them that he had briefed committee chairmen three times in early 1984. Eventually the CIA revealed 11 congressional briefings had taken place.


Not everyone in Congress joined in the melodrama against our own security personnel in 1984. Rep. Henry Hyde wrote a memorable piece wherein he questioned whether Congress was even capable of intelligence oversight once a national security matter had become subject to partisan bickering. Hyde passed away two weeks ago, but wherever he is today, the Hon. Pelosi has answered his question.

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 Bob Tyrrell is editor in chief of The American Spectator. Comment by clicking here.

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