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Sept. 5, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: What does 'doing the right thing' entail?

Caroline B. Glick: The master strategist

Sept. 4, 2008

Ron Kampeas: Biden, Palin take lead in clash on Mideast issues

Bruce Dancis: With humor as their weapon, the Three Stooges took on Hitler

Sept. 3, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: Productive school years don't just happen

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Quick lamb stew serves up flavors of India

Sept. 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Costly Advice

Caroline B. Glick: Calling Israel's bluff

JWisdom: Wandering in Wonder by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 29, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: 20/20 sightlessness

Caroline B. Glick: When history is not repeated

JWisdom: Blessed or Cursed: It's Really Up to You by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 28, 2008

Steve Lipman: A Comeback for the 'Jewish Jordan'

Jeffrey Weiss: Researcher reports 'intriguing' diabetes breakthrough

August 27, 2008

Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald: Removing the perfectionist's mask

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Nunn: Summer harvest linguine

JWisdom:: The Missing Link in Spiritual Life by Rabbi David Aaron

August 26, 2008

Yaffa Ganz: Grandma gets lessons in staying cool

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Dems' 'soft' jihadist

JWisdom:: Today: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Plague of indifference

August 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: A friend is bearing a silly grudge from a supposed wrong. What recourse do I have?

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes

JWisdom:: The knowledge you need to overcome your insecurities by Malka Schulman

August 22, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Life's essential ingredient

Caroline B. Glick: Dominos anyone?

JWisdom:: Actually, Do Sweat the Small Stuff! by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 21, 2008

Today in Biblical History by Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Popularization of Kabbalah: 20 Menachem-Av 1558 CE

Jonathan Rosenblum: Lessons from the Beyond

JWisdom: : The Olympian within is rooting for you -- yes, you! –- to go for the gold

August 20, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Misleading Platform Platitudes

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: America's Defense of the Jews --- Until WWII by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

August 19, 2008

Dennis Prager: If the Almighty doesn't exist

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Obama's Islamist problem has nothing to do with his upbringing

JWisdom: Think your life is messed up? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 18, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Business with Friends

Diana West: Roars About Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam

JWisdom: Relationship agony: The real cause by Malka Schulman

August 15, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: To love the Divine

Caroline B. Glick: Georgia, Israel, and the nature of man

JWisdom: The Truly Righteous Don't Demand Entitlements by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 14, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Confessions of broken spirit

Libby Lazewnik: The Numbers Game

JWisdom: Six Questions You'll Be Asked in Heaven? - Uh - Let's Just Take One for Now! by Gavriel Aryeh Sanders

August 13, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Georgia should be on their minds

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Go Greek: Pair flavorful lamb kebabs with a hearty salad

JWisdom: Human hybrids aren't science fiction by Rabbi David Aaron

August 12, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bless us

Daniel Pipes: The West's Islamist Infiltrators

JWisdom: From Sadness to Gladness: The Route from Tisha b'Av to Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 11, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: A Jewish view on fair pricing

Caroline B. Glick: Ignoring failure in Gaza

JWisdom: 'Communication' Is Not The Answer! by Malka Schulman

August 7, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Continuing Story With a Sustaining Goal

Rabbi Berel Wein: Mourning and morning

JWisdom: Yes, we are still in exile by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 6, 2008

David Ashenfelter: Government made military engineer's life a living hell because of his faith, Defense Department report documents

Jonathan Tobin: Speak the Truth; Defeat the Lies

JWisdom: Jewish Spirituality: Fusion or Confusion? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 5, 2008

Chris Leppek: Church/state wall beginning to crumble?

Paul Greenberg: Exit Olmert (no encore, please)

JWisdom: Serenity: Make the commitment by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Read by Gavriel Sanders)

August 4, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Am I taking advantage of another's psychological quirk?

Andrew Silow-Carroll: A black and a Jew walk into the White House…

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Edward R. Morrow visits the ‘living dead’ by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

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 Dec. 5, 2006 / 14 Kislev, 5767

If U.S. invites Iran, Syria to the table, region will pay in blood

By Jonathan Gurwitz


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Rule No. 1 in the Middle East is that the rational desire for peace is often perceived as weakness. Rule No. 2 is that weakness guarantees aggression.


To understand how these two rules work, consider the events of the past two weeks. In the United States, a key recommendation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group reached the public domain: launch an aggressive diplomatic initiative to stabilize Iraq that includes direct talks with Syria and Iran.


Iraq shares two large and porous borders with its neighbors to the east and west. Syria and Iran have important confessional and ethnic ties with Iraq. Leaders in both nations ought to have an economic and political interest in halting Iraq's slide into anarchy.


In some sense, therefore, it seems perfectly rational that the United States should set aside the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, embassy hostages, support for international terrorism and nuclear proliferation in pursuit of regional stability.


But that's not the way the leaders of Syria, Iran and the Iraqi insurgency see it. The desire to entreat the mullahs in Tehran and the dictator in Damascus is a sign of weakness. The code of the bazaar is that the more someone wants something, the higher the price one can exact for it.


So it's no coincidence that once the trial balloon of diplomacy had been floated and Syrian and Iranian cooperation had been identified as crucial to solving the Mesopotamian security puzzle, Iraqis endured the bloodiest week of violence since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.


Then Syrian and Iranian proxies went to work in Lebanon to roll back the clock on the Cedar Revolution. Assassins with suspected links to Syrian intelligence murdered prominent anti-Syrian government minister Pierre Gemayel. And Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader and Iran's ventriloquist, began agitating to bring down the pro-Western government unless it ceded more power to his party.


And the diplomatic talks haven't even started yet.


The same rational principles that make Syria and Iran the keys to stability in Iraq also suggest a course of action in Afghanistan. Why not launch an aggressive diplomatic initiative to stabilize the Karzai regime by engaging in direct talks with al-Qaida?


If that suggestion seems absurd, so should the idea that Bashar Assad, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ali Khamenei would help stabilize Iraq because some deep thinkers in the United States believe it would be in their rational self-interest.


The extremist regimes in Syria and Iran have their own agendas for the Middle East. And bleeding the United States and driving American forces and influence out of the region top the list.


These are non-negotiable. The United States will receive no diplomatic dividend in Iraq without indemnifying the anti-U.S. stakeholders. The intensification of violence in Baghdad and Beirut were unequivocal confirmations of the new perception of American weakness and a new commitment to aggression. The next target on the regional hit list will be Israel.


Yes, of course we must communicate with our enemies. There's no hope of reaching any kind of accord with an opponent, short of annihilation, unless some modicum of understanding exists.


But understanding does not necessarily entail diplomatic initiatives of the first order. There are more ways to communicate than only through ambassadors. And the code of the bazaar imposes severe retribution for negotiation in bad faith.


Thus far, the grand diplomacy of Iraq has only managed to spell out what Syrian and Iranian cooperation will cost the United States. To be successful, at some point the United States will need to assess the price of Syrian and Iranian intransigence.

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 Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.Comment by clicking here.

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© 2005, Jonathan Gurwitz

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