The "Anti-War" crowd is the enemy

Amir Taheri has an excellent piece in the Jerusalem Post, making it clear - as if there had been any doubt - that the self-proclaimed "peace camp" is as cynical as it is inhumane:

The organizers want Iraq destroyed so they can claim they were right to oppose the toppling of Saddam Hussein

An Early Christmas Wish

The West has a chance for survival. It just so happens to be the last.

Europe's continuing descent into oblivion

Karl Zinsmeister has an excellent piece in the current American Enterprise Magazine, with the very apt title "Europe learns the wrong lessons". The closing paragraph is especially good:

So we must support our natural allies across Europe, and wish that one day they may again lead their societies toward the same freedoms and individual virtues that Europeans once cherished in concert with Americans. And meantime, as we work and wait, many citizens of the United States will experience a private pang of agreement with balladeer Guy Clark—who, in his song “Immigrant Eyes,” thanks his grandfather foremost because “he gave me the gift of this country” by leaving an older one behind.

Music from Heaven

With the exception of Bright Eyes' (and Desaparecidos') Conor Oberst, there is not a single musician on this planet who can rival Ryan Adams' talent, versatility, artistic depth and incessant desire for new, surprising directions. His latest piece, Cold Roses, shows Ryan and his friends at the pinnacle of their creed.

How fortunate we are...

"The death of memory"

Caroline B. Glick's latest piece is, as ever, a must-read:

We are a people with a mission in the world. Our mission as Jews and as the Jewish state is predicated on our preservation of our national memory and the actualization of that memory in our lives and in the lives of the generations that come after us.

Simon Wiesenthal, R.I.P.

One of the most marvelous human beings of all time has left us. His legacy and his quest for justice will be remembered forever:

Wiesenthal once spent the Sabbath at the home of a former Mauthausen inmate, now a well-to-do jewelry manufacturer.

After dinner his host said, "Simon, if you had gone back to building houses, you'd be a millionaire. Why didn't you?"

"You're a religious man," replied Wiesenthal. "You believe in God and life after death. I also believe. When we come to the other world and meet the millions of Jews who died in the camps and they ask us, 'What have you done?', there will be many answers.

You will say, 'I became a jeweler',

Another will say, I have smuggled coffee and American cigarettes',

Another will say, 'I built houses',

But I will say, 'I didn't forget you'."

Never Forget

"Freedom itself came under attack today"
- George W. Bush, September 11th, 2001


"We will not falter, we will not tire, and we will not fail"
- George W. Bush, September 20th, 2001


In Memory of all those who were murdered on September 11th, 2001, in New York City, at the Pentagon in Virginia, in Pennsylvania, and in the air above the greatest country on Earth.

We wil never forget.

May God Bless Them.

May God Bless America.

Let the "Palestinian" Civil War begin

What a friendly way of celebrating the first part of their own "state":

Israeli security forces reported Wednesday that Manhal Arafat, the son of General Moussa Arafat who was shot to death Tuesday night, was kidnapped and killed by his abductors.

The best part? No Israelis, Americans or other Westerners are affected. Keep the gates closed, and let them celebrate!

"Two very different societies"

Mentioning that an article posted at VDH's website is a must-read verges on a truism, but Gaza and Victory? is a very good reminder that these are indeed "two very different societies":

Both sides fight, but not for the same reasons. Israel fights to preserve its democracy; Hamas fights to establish theocracy. Israeli politicians seek public support by promising solutions and calm; Palestinian leaders do so by pledging struggle and martyrdom. Israelis are saddened when their army causes injury to innocent Palestinians and prosecute their soldiers who violate the law. Palestinians greet atrocities carried out in their honor with cheers, rationalization, and fireworks (or, as on 9/11, they hand out sweets). If Israelis march in the streets, they brandish placards; if Palestinians pour into the streets, expect automatic weapons.

He closes his piece as follows:

For disengagement cannot bring peace; the withdrawal is from the land, not the struggle. Nothing can bring Israel peace until Palestinian terrorism is routed. Victory precedes peace, and it is on victory that Israel must now concentrate.

Indeed it must. And all friends of Israel should thank him for this moral clarity and courage. Given that Joey Tartakovsky is the Assistant Editor of the outstanding and irreplaceable Claremont Review of Books, one would expect no less.



(Cross-posted at Students Supporting a Secure Israel)