RUTHFULLY YOURS

“Israel has been proving even its sharpest critics wrong for nearly 70 years. Here’s betting its light outshines Mr. Cohen’s dim bulb.”
Worse than the book’s derivative history is Richard Cohen’s undiminished need to patronize Israelis and supporters of the Jewish state.

Can a reviewer go on strike? Though I am not a member of any union, there were moments while reading Richard Cohen’s book when I was tempted to throw up a literary picket line. Mr. Cohen, a longtime Washington Post columnist, originally titled his book “Can Israel Survive?” but renamed it “Israel: Is It Good For the Jews?” for final publication. He fails to answer either question. Yet that’s far from the only problem with this well-meaning volume that flirts too often with outright illiteracy.

Consider the following sentences: “Anti-Semitism is a prejudice of the zeitgeist. It is now situated in the Middle East, in the Arab world. It stirs in Europe and elsewhere, but the noxious stink of the Hitlerian abattoir clings to it still, so it is a sotto voce sort of thing.”

Reading these lines—the remainder of the paragraph is even worse—you get the sense that Mr. Cohen thinks this is writing of a high order. Does it occur to him that something with a “stink” to it cannot be “sotto voce”? Or that “the zeitgeist” cannot have a prejudice? Or that a prejudice cannot be “situated” in the Arab world, as if it were a pyramid or a mosque? Or that anti-Semitism is hardly a “sotto voce sort of thing” in certain neighborhoods of Paris or London?

Yes, the reader more or less gets the point. But as George Orwell warned in 1946, the English language “becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.” Mr. Cohen’s book is a case study in Orwell’s timeless lament.

A sense of déjà vu all over again descends as Congress debates President Obama’s commitment to fight the Islamic State terrorists in Iraq, or ISIS. If the United States ever loses its status as global superpower, historians in search of the triggering event can start with the Vietnam War.

After Vietnam, the belief took hold in some quarters—Democrats, midtown New York media, northeastern law schools—that the military and presidency could no longer be trusted with the war-making powers. Notwithstanding that “commander in chief” is embedded in the Constitution, Washington for some 40 nonstop years has defaulted repeatedly to the same, wrong solution: Send in the lawyers. The law is about many things, some of them good. Taking action isn’t one of them.

Listen to the ISIS debate closely, and what you’ll notice is not the sound of U.S. soldiers planning how to defeat the people who killed James Foley, Steven Sotloff and thousands of others but the language of lawyers.

On Tuesday, two newsmaking statements emerged about the U.S.’s mindset in the war—or whatever it is—to defeat the Islamic State terrorists.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Joint Chiefs Chairman testifying to Congress, said that “if we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I will recommend that to the president.” The White House pushed back, calling Gen. Dempsey’s remark a “hypothetical.”

The first statement was the voice of a soldier. The second was the sound of lawyers.

The David H. Koch Plaza in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art has finally been unveiled and it is a beautiful addition to New York’s premier cultural attraction. Mr. Koch, a trustee of the museum, financed this roughly 65 million dollar project himself, his gift to the general public as well as to the museum. Many environmental considerations went into the landscaping of the trees – allowing both greater sun in the winter and increased shade in summer. The plantings were also designed to soften noise pollution at a plaza that attracts so many thousands of people each day. Given the very successful completion of this project in a timely fashion, as opposed to other urban projects that have labored under decades of delay and mammoth cost over-runs, we can only scratch our heads at how the city has defiled it.

Bordering the architectural beauty of the new fountains, the handsome red umbrellas, the stone benches, the portable cafe style seating and the verdant glory of approximately 100 additional trees is a veritable wall of about 20 food carts with hardly breathing space between them. Anyone who wants to step off the curb to hail a cab has to navigate between the hot dogs and the shwarma. The odors, fumes and litter attendant to these carts gives this elegant residential stretch of Fifth Avenue the atmosphere of a third-world bazaar. Apartment dwellers who previously enjoyed incomparable views of the museum facade now have this framed by the offensive view of the backs of street carts; neighborhood residents have the omnipresent flashing of the neon crawl advertising the type of food available.

“No religion condones the killing of innocents.” — U.S. President Barack Obama, September 10, 2014.

“Islam is a religion of peace.” — U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, September 13, 2014.

“There is a place for violence in Islam. There is a place for jihad in Islam.” — U.K. Imam Anjem Choudary, CBN News, April 5, 2010.

Regrettably it is impossible to re-interpret the Qur’an in a “moderate” manner. The most famous modern interpretation by Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966), the Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, leads the reader again and again into political territory, where jihad is at the root of action.

If they deviated from the true faith — as we are seeing in the Islamic State today — “backsliders,” like pagans, were to be fought until they either accepted Islam or were killed.

In India alone, between 60 and 80 million Hindus may have been put to death by Muslim armies between the years 1000-1525.

Last week, before the Islamic State beheaded its third Westerner, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that, “ISIL is not Islamic. No religion condones the killing of innocents.”

Well, not exactly.

How often — despite the current spectacle of the Islamic State [IS, ISIL or ISIS] in Syria and Iraq — do we hear politicians and church leaders say that Islam is a religion of peace; that Islamic extremism is a modern innovation, a profound deviation from some imagined “true” Islam, and even that its very name, the word “Islam,” means peace?

It is not just Muslims who say that Islam is a religion of peace: some Western politicians and churchmen repeat it too.

Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, emphasized it last week on BBC on Sept 13, in response to the beheading by ISIS of the British aid worker, David Haines.

Americans must first extricate themselves from the claws of statism before they can begin to credibly address peripheral issues such as immigration.

The debate over immigration and open borders or open immigration continues.

A British correspondent argued with a reader of Andrew Bernstein’s “Immigration and the Welfare State” about the pros and cons of open borders or open immigration, vis-à-vis Muslims and Mexicans.

The reader’s position on the matter is confusing, as he seems to want it both ways: a total ban on all Muslim immigration into Western countries, and a selective or discriminating ban on Muslims who advocate violence to impose Islam on others or a whole country (in conformance with the official Ayn Rand Institute position).

So he isn’t clear on his own position at all. He also contradicts himself when he says that Islam is both a criminal organization and a religion. But a genuine criminal organization, such as the Mafia or a drug cartel, is not moved by an ideology of any kind; these organizations are merely opportunistic gangs taking advantage of irrational laws. Islam, however, is a totalitarian ideology moved by the agenda of supremacy over all other religions and political systems, even though it has little ideational content, and little such content in its “jurisprudence,” Sharia law, other than the “prophet’s” say-so or the pretzel-like logic of its judges.

The only thing he’s right about is that the Koran is a prescription for conquest and committing criminal acts, criminal per Western concepts of individual and civil rights, which Islamic spokesmen deny the validity of, because Islam doesn’t recognize individual rights or the civil liberties of Western nations. However, Muslims do avail themselves of them to advance Islam; they have adopted Lenin’s assertion that capitalists will hang themselves with the rope they sell to the Reds; it’s much the same thing.

Frankly, I think the open borders “faction” on this issue is guilty of a severe dropping of context. This is not the early 20th century when hundreds of thousands of Jews and Italians and other ethnic/religious groups immigrated to this country. The overwhelming majority of them were not trying to impose Judaism or Catholicism or the Mafia on everyone else. Their personal religious convictions were not a threat to anyone else. True, some Jews and Italians who came here were gangsters, or became gangsters. In many instances, when they were identified and apprehended, they were either deported or imprisoned after a trial for their crimes.

But Islam isn’t the same thing. Jews and Italians did not pose a peril to everyone else, native-born or not. Whether or not your average Friday-go-to-prayers Muslim is active in propagating or proselytizing Islamic doctrine or engages in criminal actions based on Islamic scripture, such as terrorism, they’re still culpable and indirectly responsible for the actions of their more consistent brethren, who engage in violence per the diktats of the Koran. On that point, I agree with Leonard Peikoff 100%. My policy would be: Either repudiate Islam altogether, or leave for and/or return to a country where your ideology is implemented, but you’re not implementing it here.

Most prosecutors would be all over emergent evidence that culpable actors had obstructed justice. Yet the House Select Committee investigating the Benghazi Massacre under the direction of South Carolina Republican and former prosecutor Trey Gowdy is not exactly tripping over itself to probe such evidence – at least not publicly.

Earlier this week, a retired high-ranking State Department official publicly revealed that former Secretary Hillary Clinton’s top aides hid damaging documents from her hand-picked investigative panel. Subsequently, that panel, the vaunted “Accountability Review Board” (ARB), did not even bother to interview Mrs. Clinton despite her pivotal roles in (a) the appalling security lapses prior to the terrorist attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans; (b) the administration’s response on the night of the attack; and (c) Obama officials’ fraudulent claim that the attack was caused by spontaneous reaction to an anti-Muslim video, rather than by entirely predictable jihadist terrorism.

Yet, as Chairman Gowdy’s select committee finally convenes its first hearing later today – four long months after being established, ostensibly to press urgently for truth and accountability regarding an act of war by al Qaeda affiliated terrorists on the second anniversary of the 9/11 attacks – obstruction of justice is not the focus. Nor are allegations leveled just two weeks ago by members of the Annex Security Team in Benghazi. In a new book, 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi (profiled in a Fox News special and in this review by the American Spectator’s Ross Kaminski), three team members recount the official reluctance and indecision that delayed their response to the attack – a delay they believe cost the lives of Ambassador Stevens and Mr. Smith.

This morning’s hearing is likely to be the last word the public will hear from the select committee for many weeks, if not months, as Congress glides towards its midterm election recess. Gowdy is nonetheless giving Democrats – who initially threatened to boycott the committee – an opportunity to use it as a showcase for the Obama administration’s implementation the ARB recommendations.

The Chairman’s decision was popular at the hard Left Mother Jones, which pronounced this hearing “Actually Worth Having.” It is nonetheless a disappointment for those of us hoping the select committee would focus on real accountability: Why did our government change sides in Libya for the benefit of anti-American jihadists? What exactly was our government doing in Benghazi – what mission was worth assigning U.S. personnel to one of the most dangerous places in the world for Americans? Who is ultimately responsible for the appalling lack of security at the American compound? Where was President Obama, and what exactly was he doing, during the hours Americans were under siege? Why did the commander-in-chief and the military-chain-of-command take no meaningful action taken to respond to the attack? What role did election-eve politics – Obama’s repeated claims to have “decimated” al Qaeda – play in the administration’s misleading decision to portray the video, rather than al Qaeda-tied terrorists, as the culprit?

It can not be denied or ignored any longer. Islamic terrorists such as ISIS, Boka Harram, Hamas etc, have declared war on all infidels ( non-Muslims) world-wide.

I pray that every American man, woman and child finally accept the fact that there are millions of Muslims dedicated to eliminating freedom and taking over the world in the name of Allah.

This article presents the preaching of Islamic leaders and actions of their fanatic followers. They make their fanatic obsession very clear. One world. One religion, ruled by Islamic law.

My question to you: How many times must you hear their own words before you realize that hoards of barbaric fanatic Muslims will joyously slaughter you and your family?

According to Army Col. Kenneth King, the commanding officer of Camp Bucca, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, now leader of ISIS, an extremely brutal Islamic terrorist group, was released from the U.S. detention camp in 2009, uttered the chilling comment. “I’ll see you guys in New York.”

The fanatic Pakistani cleric, Qari Hitzur, told The Sun of his chilling dream to turn the world Muslim – by force if necessary. He spoke openly of imposing Islamic law’s stoning and beheading in Britain. He said “We want Islamic law for all Pakistan and then the world. “We would like to do this by preaching. But if not then we would use force.”

In August 2013 Australian Muslim Cleric, Sheikh Sharif Hussein, posted a video saying “Oh Allah, count the Buddhists and the Hindus one by one. Oh Allah, count them and kill them to the very last one.”

Unprecedented terror raids underway after reports a ‘beheading or mass shooting’ may have been planned for Australia

Over 800 police officers have descended on homes in Sydney and Brisbane this morning in the largest terror raids in Australian history.

Sources in Canberra have told 9NEWS that a terrorist cell was close to launching an attack on Australian soil that could have included a beheading or mass shooting.

Police executed search warrants on 12 properties in Sydney at Beecroft, Bellavista, Guildford, Merrylands, Northmead, Wentworthville, Marsfield, Westmead, Castle Hill, Revesby, Bass Hill and Regents Park

Guildford resident Mark Anderson told Fairfax Media he heard police officers on a loudspeaker for up to 15 minutes during the raids.

Fifteen people have been taken into custody following the raids and one has been charged.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said he had “committed a lot of staff” to the raids.

“This has been a big operation and it reflects what we’re dealing with right now,” Commissioner Scipione said.

It’s believed those arrested could have links to a Brisbane man now facing terrorism related charges.

Raids have also taken place in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt East, Logan and Underwood.

Higher Education Act Reform Title VI Must Include Accountability to
Stop Misuse of Funds, Strengthen National Security

WASHINGTON and SAN FRANCISCO, CA. – With Congress considering the
reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) in several
individual bills, leading organizations focused on education policy,
the Jewish community, and civil rights announced today a coordinated
effort to provide lawmakers with solutions to prevent misuse of
federal funds under HEA Title VI.

Enacted by Congress as part of the 1965 HEA, Title VI provides federal
funds to 129 international studies and foreign language centers at
universities nationwide. Title VI has the mandate to strengthen U.S.
security by training security specialists and educating the public. In
the absence of congressional oversight, however, these programs have
devolved into hotbeds of anti-American and anti-Israel activity,
disseminating falsehoods both in universities and (through the
congressionally mandated “public outreach” programs) to K-12 teachers
and to the general public.

Mark Twain once said, “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Unfortunately, this quote could be used by terrorist organizations that, contrary to the claims of the administration, are alive, growing and seeking our demise.

During the last presidential campaign, the Obama administration simplistically claimed, “Bin Laden is dead and GM is alive” as a campaign slogan. The administration refused to use the word terrorists and terrorism. The harsh reality is that while artful use of language may help win elections and convince (deceive) the American people to accept what should be unacceptable “solutions” to problems, semantic games do not actually solve problems or protect America or Americans from the threats posed by terrorist groups, such as ISIS, and transnational criminal organizations.

While the president and politicians from both the Republican and Democratic political parties have found all sorts of bogus excuses to implement Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the reality is that failures of the immigration system imperil national security and public safety, and present a host of other threats and challenges for America.

Bowing to pressure of their constituents, some politicians, who, not atypically, attempt to be in two opposing positions on the same issue simultaneously, have demanded that the border be secured first to prevent the entry of terrorists. These are the very same politicians who have been openly supportive of providing “DREAMERS” with lawful status, pathways to citizenship for illegal aliens who join the military and a host of similar proposals that would do irrevocable damage to national security.

Obviously our borders must be truly secured to prevent the entry of aliens engaged in terrorism or aliens who would otherwise be problematic for America. However, while the southwest border must be secured, so too we must understand that terrorists can and have gained entry into the United States through ports of entry by committing visa fraud. They may enter by stowing away on ships or running the northern border. We are, indeed, a country of 50 border states.

On September 3, I was a guest on the NewsMax-TV program, “America’s Forum” hosted by JD Hayworth, to discuss yet another troubling story about yet another screw-up by DHS, an agency I have long referred to as the Department of Homeland Surrender.