As far as public opinion is concerned, Maj. Nidal Hasan is a terrorist

I believe the burden of proof has shifted to those in and out of government who believe the public should withhold its opinion on whether Major Nidal Malik Hasan was a terrorist or simply deranged. I have concluded that he was a terrorist.

I also believe that the US Army should allow Muslims, who consider fighting other Muslims a violation of their religious beliefs, to opt out and be sent to other regions and combat zones. In Word War II, I believe Japanese American soldiers were sent to the European Theater of Operations. It is noteworthy that Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran have no religious problem in killing each other. They do it every day, sadly in large numbers. Muslim women and children are also injured and killed by Muslim suicide bombers entering local markets before blowing up themselves to wreak the most havoc.

The eight-year war between Iraq and Iran left an estimated million casualties. Sunnis killed Shi'ites and Shi'ites killed Sunnis. They also killed one another on holy Muslim holidays like Ramadan while western countries like the US and Great Britain were importuned to delay their attacks out of respect for Ramadan.

The Times of November 10 pointed out:

The imam whom Major Hasan made contact with is an American citizen born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents. He wrote on Monday on his English-language Web site that Major Hasan was 'a hero.' The cleric said, 'He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people.'"

Finally, the article made the point that the radical imam lied with his comments on prior terrorist acts:

After the September 11 attacks, Mr. Awlaki was quoted as disapproving of such violence and was portrayed as a moderate figure who might provide a bridge between Islam and Western democracies. But since leaving the United States in 2002 for London and later Yemen, Mr. Awlaki has become, through his Web site, www.anwar-alawlaki.com, a prominent proponent of militant Islam."

He surely is not the only terrorist to lie so.

US public opinion is far too intelligent to jump to a conclusion, but it is also intelligent enough to understand when it is being conned by our own government.

It seems to me that political correctness has reached the point where the FBI and the US Army have allowed it to influence their investigations in life and death situations.

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Israel must fulfill its obligations even if Palestinians fail to honor theirs

A secure Israel is a priority for Jews around the world, even for those who have no desire to ever permanently live there.

We Jews who live in the United States appreciate our extraordinary good fortune and are passionate in our love of this
country with a fervor equal to that of the most loyal and thankful citizens.  But we know from experience that when Jews were in enormous danger back in the 1930s in Nazi Germany when Hitler offered to release them to any country that would take them, no country would do so in any significant number and the German Jews were left to ultimately perish, together with the majority of the Jews of Europe, at the hands of the Nazis who murdered 6 million of Europe's Jews. We also know that had there been an Israel -- a Jewish state -- in existence, then it would have taken every Jew -- old, infants, invalid -- no matter who they were or the cost of caring for them. 

That is why Jews are so concerned about the United States government 's attitude toward the State of Israel and the pressures it appears to be bringing to bear upon Israel's government.

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Let's get out of Afghanistan and Iraq now

There was a time when our government under President George W. Bush believed we would never leave Iraq and would retain some kind of permanent base there. Now we have signed agreements with Iraq's government committing us to leave permanently no later than December 31, 2011, and if any referendum in Iraq requires that we leave by June 30, 2010, we have agreed to do so. If I had my way, we would leave at once.

I believe we will gain nothing by delaying our departure from Iraq to equal the inevitable American casualties.  Does anyone think the Iraqis will come to love or even like us? I don't.

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The Iraq model is inapplicable in Afghanistan

President Obama has so far received high marks from the vast majority of his supporters and even from many non-supporters. He has fulfilled, particularly by his cabinet appointments, our hope and belief that he would be moderate in his policies. He has disappointed and antagonized those in the Democratic big tent who were hoping he would support radical left positions.

The New York Times of February 22nd reported, "The Obama administration has told a federal judge that military detainees in Afghanistan have no legal right to challenge their imprisonment there, embracing a key argument of former President Bush's legal team." The argument made by Bush was that federal courts "have no jurisdiction to hear such a case because the prisoners are noncitizens being held in the course of military operations outside of the United States."

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Who has more freedom?

I was truly astonished to read the recent comments of two British experts who, in The New York Times of October 22nd, criticized the United States "for what they described as its overly militaristic approach to fighting terrorism and warned of a further erosion of civil liberties." 

 The two "experts" are Stella Rimington, former director general of Britain's domestic intelligence agency MI5. The other is Ken MacDonald, the top prosecutor for England and Wales who assails what he refers to as the "Guantanamo model, in which the rights of defendants are severely curtailed or eliminated by governments in search of a response to the terrorism threat." According to the Times, Ms. Rimington says "that she hoped the next president would stop using the phrase 'war on terror.' She also said there had been a huge overreaction to the attacks on September 11, 2001, explaining it 'got us off on the wrong foot because it made people think terrorism was something you could deal with by force of arms primarily.'"

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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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