RUTHFULLY YOURS

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been in the hostage-taking business since its earliest days, so nobody should be surprised by Tuesday’s news that Iranian warships seized a cargo ship and her crew of 34 in the Strait of Hormuz. But it’s a useful reminder of the kind of regime with which the West is now seeking to strike a nuclear bargain.

The M/V Maersk Tigris, a Marshall Islands-flagged container ship, was transiting the Strait along an internationally recognized maritime route when it was surrounded by gunships of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps. The Iranians ordered the ship to divert into Iranian waters and fired warning shots when the skipper of the Tigris refused, sending out a distress call that was picked up by the destroyer USS Farragut. The Iranians then boarded the ship and steered her toward the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

“Yes, our democracy suffers from excessive secrecy. But given how parlous the world has become, and how many of our most precious secrets are now publicly available for our enemies to ponder and act upon, it is possible that excessive openness is an even greater problem.”….

The U.S. government is the most open in the history of the world—but it still keeps far too many things secret.

It is difficult, if not impossible, for a democratic society to find exactly the right equilibrium between protecting national security and fostering openness. There will be problems no matter how the balance is struck. In “Democracy in the Dark,” Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., chief counsel of the Brennan Center at NYU Law School, argues that we have arrived at a point of ominous disequilibrium—that America has a secrecy problem.

Mr. Schwarz has no difficulty showing that secrecy has long been abused by our government to cover up embarrassment and wrongdoing. He explores J. Edgar Hoover’s depredations at the FBI, Richard Nixon’s antics during Watergate and the many intelligence abuses uncovered by the Church Committee (for which Mr. Schwarz served as chief counsel) in 1975 and 1976. Routine information, he notes, is too often classified as “secret” although it would convey little of value to our adversaries and yet a great deal of value to the American public.

Some government secrets are “worthy of protection,” Mr. Schwarz acknowledges, even if others are not. His project is to outline “possible guidelines with which we can distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate secrets.” He draws from various episodes across American history to make his argument.

One such episode is President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima even after officials learned how devastating the bomb’s effects would be. Secrecy in this instance, Mr. Schwarz maintains, was a bad thing: It allowed officials “to avoid outside pressure to revisit their decision, challenge their preconceptions, or take account of changing facts.” As a result, they went in the wrong direction and annihilated a densely populated city. The United States, Mr. Schwarz argues, “would have been on higher moral ground if it had started with a predominantly military target, coupled with a demand for prompt surrender, and only escalated if the demand were not accepted.” Thanks to secrecy, however, there was remarkably little “analysis, give and take, discussion or debate” about a step of enormous consequence.

The racial diversity of local government doesn’t matter when people want to seize on an excuse to commit crimes.

The racial makeup of city leaders, the police department and other municipal workers in Ferguson, Mo., played a central role in the media coverage and analysis of Michael Brown’s death, which is worth remembering as history repeats itself in Baltimore.

The Justice Department’s Ferguson report noted that although the city’s population was 67% black, just four of its 54 police officers fit that description. Moreover, “the Municipal Judge, Court Clerk, Prosecuting Attorney, and all assistant court clerks are white,” said the report. “While a diverse police department does not guarantee a constitutional one, it is nonetheless critically important for law enforcement agencies, and the Ferguson Police Department in particular, to strive for broad diversity among officers and civilian staff.”

The international media continues to ignore the “plight” of the Palestinians living under the rule of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as a number of Arab countries, especially Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

“The Palestinian Authority does not want democracy.” — Mother of Jihad Salim, assaulted by Palestinian interrogators who asked him why the Islamic Bloc won student elections at Bir Zeit University.

The international community pays attention to Palestinians only when they are “victims” of Israel. The continued obsession of the media with Israel allows the Arab countries, as well as the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, to proceed with their systematic violations of human rights and freedom of speech.

The international community seems to have forgotten that Palestinians live not only in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but also in a number of Arab countries, especially Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

https://www.50millionfaces.org/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=na&utm_campaign=20150428_Ann-Romney-RHD_email-na&utm_content=body_txt_50Million&action=email_click

Last October, I was humbled and honored to help launch the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston. The Center is a medical research hub designed to accelerate treatments, prevention, and cures for five of the world’s most complex neurologic diseases: multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer’s disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), Parkinson’s disease, and brain tumors.

More than 50 million people worldwide—and their loved ones—are living with these devastating neurologic diseases. So today, the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at BWH is launching a social media initiative called 50 Million Faces (50MillionFaces.org) that will bring this community together to share our stories, raise awareness, and increase focus on the need for research and cures. Will you join us?

I invite you to spread awareness of the 50 Million Faces campaign by sharing your story or the story of a loved one at 50MillionFaces.org. Short videos, written messages, and photos are all welcome. I also invite you to help us spread the word by sharing your story with friends and family on your social networks, using the hashtag #50millionfaces.

Let’s join together to raise awareness and build a community of hope.

Ask people in the United States what a dhimmi is and perhaps a handful might know. In Europe, and as far as India and the far east, the number would be higher because of latent memories of battles fought against invading Moslem armies across the span of centuries.

For a while there was the specter of triumphant Islam building a giant mosque mere yards from Ground Zero in New York City where Islamic fanatics, in the name of Allah, destroyed the World Trade Center and brought the two magnificent towers down in a cascade of horror.

The mosque would have risen to thirteen or more stories and overlooked the blasted hole in the ground that was once a symbol of America’s freedom and technical ingenuity.

If this outrage had been built, it would not have been a symbol of Muslim outreach to non-Moslems; it would have been a sickening insult to the victims of Islamic barbarism and a tangible rallying cry to millions more jihadists who would see it as Islam’s victory over a vanquished United States of America.

Ruthie Blum is the web editor of Voice of Israel talk radio (voiceofisrael.com).
According to Wafa, the news agency that serves as the mouthpiece for the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas extended his condolences to the people and government of Nepal on Sunday, and affirmed his willingness “to provide all possible help.”

This statement of sympathy from Abbas on the day after the massive earthquake struck Nepal went largely unnoticed for two reasons. The first is that countries across the world were already mobilizing to send actual help to the scene of the disaster, in which the death toll has now surpassed 4,000 and is still rising. Indeed, assistance of all kinds is being dispatched to the area, including medical supplies and personnel, governmental and volunteer search-and-rescue teams, equipment, food, clothing, blankets and money.

The second reason that Abbas’ words of solace for the quake victims have been drowned out is that his actions are speaking far louder. While Israel is tirelessly trying to locate all of its own citizens in Nepal (to bring both bodies and survivors back home) — and engaged in saving everyone else — the PA is busy promoting and abetting terrorism inside Israel.

The all-too realistic scenarios that will follow if Obama fails to set a red line
for Iranian arms supply to the Houthis.

President Obama has ordered the USS Theodore Roosevelt Aircraft carrier battle group to the shores of Yemen to interdict likely Iranian attempts to resupply their Shiite proxies in Yemen, the Houthis. It has been reported that the Saudi Air campaign has very effectively destroyed over 80% of the Houthis’ weapons supply in a very short time. In respect of the Saudi bravery, Sunni Yemen army elements have begun to side with the Saudis.

Back in January 2003, the Project Daniel Group advised prime minister Ariel Sharon on the issue of Iranian nuclearization. In its then-confidential final report to Sharon, titled “Israel’s Strategic Future,” the group underscored a significant core conclusion: allowing Iran to become a nuclear power can never be construed as an acceptable option. To further support this position legally, as well as strategically, the group referenced a very basic or “peremptory” national right under international law. This prerogative, we counseled, is known formally as “anticipatory self-defense.”

Our jurisprudential message was loud and clear: international law is never a suicide pact. Under no circumstances can a state ever be expected to become complicit in its own annihilation. Indeed, following the authoritative 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, a country may even maintain a limited right to use nuclear weapons.

The Blame Game is not a game. It is serious business, particularly at this point of implosion. We still have the capabilities to think and speak and even act, but they should no longer be regarded as an open-ended proposition.

At this perhaps precious moment, then, it is important not to waste the opportunity to assess blame (and, best case scenario, regroup) in yet another aerobic exercise of venting at the Left (self-congratulation). Especially not when we — our side, not the Left — are to blame.