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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Between Catholics and Jews

Before he was murdered by Islamic terrorists, journalist Daniel Pearl said, "My father is Jewish; my mother is Jewish; I am Jewish." After he spoke those words, his captors decapitated him.

I believe Pearl's words should become part of the Jewish prayer book and recited every day by Jews. I am not an observant Jew. But I love God and I believe God loves me. I attend synagogue on special occasions and always on the high holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. I have had Pearl's last words carved into the tombstone which will adorn my grave upon my death, which I hope won't be for another eight to ten years.

My tombstone will also have etched upon it the most important prayer in the Jewish religion, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." For good measure, my tombstone will carry that brief prayer in Hebrew and in English, as well as in transliteration, so that those unable to read Hebrew will be able to chant along with those who do.

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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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Torture as a counter-terrorism tool

For several years, Democrats in Congress have been denouncing the Bush administration for defending the use of torture to get information from terrorists. Then Democrats were denounced for not attempting to pass legislation barring torture and, in particular, waterboarding.  Finally, both houses of Congress, having passed the controversial legislation, sent the bill to the White House for signature. President George W. Bush, true to his word, vetoed the bill on March 8.

The Democratic Congress has done its job on this issue. They don't have the votes to override the veto.  Their only recourse now is to make the use of torture one of the major issues in the general election in November. Surprisingly, Senator John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee who was one of the first members of Congress to denounce the use of torture supported the President's veto. His support of the President on the legislation is in contradiction to his statement, according to The New York Times on October 27, 2007, calling waterboarding "very exquisite torture."  Heretofore, McCain was unalterably opposed to torture, no ifs, ands or buts.  Now that he will be the Republican candidate, he apparently has weakened in his resolve.

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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Pakistan a weak and unstable ally

The tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto is further proof that Pakistan is a weak reed and an unstable partner for the United States to rely on.

Musharaf himself is in constant danger of assassination and has survived at least three attempts on his life by Islamic terrorists. I believe Musharaf sincerely wants to help the United States prevail against the Islamic terrorists. However, he is largely unable to pursue the terrorists who apparently are everywhere in Pakistan, including within the Pakistani army. In Pakistan today, there are those who believe it was those elements in the Pakistani armed forces that killed Benazir Bhutto.

We can be sure that the kind of conspiracy theories that appeared after the assassination of President Kennedy are swirling in even larger numbers in Pakistan today. Those theories are being aided by the Pakistan government's initial refusal to allow an independent investigation of the assassination and the Pakistani government's initial accounts of how Bhutto was killed. First, the government announced that Bhutto was shot. They then changed their story to say she was not shot, but suffered a fractured skull as a result of striking her head on the car's sunroof as she dropped back into the vehicle when the shooting began, which in turn was followed by the suicide bomber and gunman blowing himself up.

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