Bush is one of the few who really understands

We are now getting down to the homestretch as we wrap up the Democratic primary and begin the race to the November general election. We will be electing the next president of the United States, and almost everyone expressing an opinion, informed or uninformed, believes the Democratic candidate will be Barack Obama.

I am a supporter of Hillary Clinton, but I too believe the odds of her defeating Barack Obama are overwhelmingly against her.  It looks as if Senator Obama will prevail in the Democratic primary before or at the Democratic convention.

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How far is Obama prepared to go?

Senator Barack Obama won the North Carolina primary by 14 percentage points. Senator Hillary Clinton won the Indiana primary by a narrower margin of two percent. Neither candidate scored a knockout punch, but Obama came out ahead.

Clearly Senator Obama who had the most to lose - it would have been considered a huge loss if Indiana went big for Hillary - also had the most to gain. The race goes on and will go on until a decision is made at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The fat lady here is Hillary, and she won't sing. I'm part of her primary campaign until she wins or withdraws. I simply do not trust Senator Obama's judgment.

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The questions asked about Obama

Barack Obama's speech last week addressing his 20-year relationship with his radical pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, was very well done, yet unconvincing.

Obama sought to explain that relationship and why he could not end this close association, despite the minister's hate-filled rhetoric. He said, "There will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Rev. Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church?"

Yes, those are the questions that people are asking.

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Using Israeli militias

Hamas-governed Gaza is fighting a war of attrition against Israel. According to the New York Times of January 19th, "Hamas resumed firing Kassam rockets toward the Israeli border town of Sderot, along with other militant groups like Islamic Jihad and Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, which is affiliated with Fatah. On Thursday, at least 40 rockets were launched, half of them landing in Israel, hitting two houses in Sderot and lightly wounding four Israelis, with a dozen more treated for shock. On Friday, at least 31 more rockets were fired toward Israel and 16 landed, but no one was wounded, the Israeli Army said. One rocket landed within 40 yards of a nursery school, which was open, said David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman. Since Tuesday, the army said, 130 Kassams have been launched; about half have landed in Israel and the remainder in Gaza."

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Failure of intelligence

A recent National Intelligence Estimate claims that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. According to President Bush, the NIE claim is based, on "a great discovery by American intelligence agencies." However, the President would not elaborate.

Current and former American and foreign officials say the new findings are based on intercepted communications and accounts provided by individuals with access to information about Iran's nuclear program.

Has Iran really dropped its nuclear weapons program? We would do well to recall the CIA’s recent track record.

The CIA was wrong when it advised President Bush that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, referring to chemical and biological weaponry, and that Iraq was developing a nuclear capability that would be available in a short period of time.

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Civilized behavior

The Israel-Palestine peace meeting in Annapolis, Maryland was a success in at least one respect. It brought together every Arab state involved, including Saudi Arabia and Syria. According to many Middle East experts, the coming together of Arab nations at the request of President Bush indicates that Arabs are in such fear of Iran and its efforts to dominate the region that they are willing to cooperate with the United States more than ever before. In a New York Times op-ed article, author Michael B. Oren writes: "participants in the conference were above all motivated by their fear of a radical and relentlessly aggressive Iran."

He went on to point to "the success of the Iranian proxies, Hizbullah and Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as the expansion of Iranian influence westward into the Iraqi vacuum." That analysis reinforces my belief that the United States could get these same Arab states to recognize that they must help us in Iraq or suffer the consequences of an ultimate Iranian victory when we leave.

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