Get Thee To a Nunnery!

Sam Nunn was deemed wrong by most Georgians when he failed to vote in favor of The Gulf War. Knowing he would have serious competition and have to raise serious money he resigned his Senate seat among other reasons. To his credit Sam left the Senate not a wealthy man so he also left to earn more.

I believe Sam has erred again because you cannot restore credibility by supporting someone who is quickly losing theirs. As for moral authority, Sam conveniently skips over Obama's remaining silent for twenty years while his minister damned our nation and racially charged white citizens with "crimes against humanity." Obama's own wife certainly has some explaining to do as well and I do not see anything moral about her becoming my First Lady. Then we have a variety of radical associations which Obama has limply explained.

Any incoming president has an opportunity to accomplish. However, it takes talent and experience to succeed. France is already moving to our side, Germany as well. Europe is no longer as ardent against our efforts having witnessed its own Muslim backlash.

Is Obama going to get Iran and N Korea to become non-nuclear pussy cats? Will Putin renounce his bellicosity as he seeks to restore Russia's influence? Will China, all of a sudden, cease attacking Tibet because Obama is president? Will Syria cave and Hamas and Hezballah lay down their arms and agree Israel has a right to exist simply because Obama is in The White House? Perhaps, if these nations and terrorist "tag alongs" are able to extract much of what they desire and we are dumb enough to succumb.

Nations and/or terrorist outcasts accommodate when either they extract more than they give or lose the opportunity to possess what they desire, knowing they have no choice. What can Obama offer N Korea, Iran, China and/or Russia or terrorist organizations that accords with our own self-interests? We can pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan in exchange for Iran's promise. We can allow Russia to throw its weight around Europe and among its former aligned satellites if we want to reduce NATO to paper tiger status, which it pretty much already is without us. We can let China spread its influence in Asia and Africa by moving out of its way. We can tell Israel row your own boat which it must do in any event. And we can accomplish all of these retreats by sitting down and talking till the cows come home but we will get little in return if we allow our various adversaries to conclude we are playing a weakened hand because we proceed from a position lacking strength.

When it comes to N Korea even GW seems willing to look the other way to stitch together some spurious arrangement.

I once asked Sam what he thought President Carter would most be remembered for and he said making "human rights" part of our diplomatic initiative(s). Since that time, Jimmy has hobnobbed with a variety of dictators (from Castro to Mashaal) and put his imprimatur on a lot of national votes that have yet to bring freedom to those who voted - most recently Chavez and Venezuela. Recently Carter suggested dictators spoke for the people. Is this the kind of moral authority Nunn believes Obama offers? As for Obama, he sees religion and guns as the refuge of the frustrated. A rather demeaning conclusion as to why people place faith in a higher being or even hunt.

Perhaps Sam's loyalty to his beloved Party, whose wheels seem to be flying off, could be what is driving him to support Obama. He is a loyal Democrat through and through. Having served in The Coast Guard perhaps Nunn is trying to right Obama's sinking ship.

Perhaps he is interested in re-entering government service as Sec. of State or Defense.

For sure Sam Nunn is one of the most talented, honorable and far sighted Senators to ever serve. That said, I don't think he needed to support Obama. (See news blurb in 1 below.)

More Israeli soldiers injured as Hamas heats up attacks on Israel's border. If Olmert had guts he would shut off all food, medical, fuel and power supplies to Gaza and tell the world to rant and rave about Israeli over-reaction but he will not because he too, like Obama, believes willingness to talk and evidence of weakness convinces terrorist thugs to see the light of reason.(See 2, 3 and 4 below.)

Even a writer for The New York Times fears Democrats are, once again, about to pull, defeat from the jaws of victory. (See 5 below.)

Have a nice weekend and for my Jewish readers Happy Pesach!

Dick


1)Nunn, who recently flirted with his own possible White House bid, said Obama has "a rare ability to restore America's credibility and moral authority and to get others to join us in tackling serious global problems."

2)Thirteen Israeli soldiers injured in Palestinian car bomb-shooting attack on Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing early Saturday


The wounded men have been taken to hospital. The Israeli population in areas abutting the Gaza Strip has been told to stay indoors under cover for fear of further terrorist incursions. This was the first time Palestinians had managed to spirit a bomb vehicle from Gaza to the Israel side – according to a Palestinian source, through one of the secret bomb tunnels they have burrowed under the border. As it blew up, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the soldiers. The entire area is under dense mist.

Two days ago, Palestinians opened fire on the dozens of Israeli trucks bringing food and essential supplies to the Kerem Shalom goods crossing for the Palestinian population, forcing them to turn back.

3) 'Most ambitious attack since pullout'

Hamas's attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing, in which 13 soldiers were wounded, is one "the likes of which we have not seen since the disengagement," OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen Yoav Galant said Saturday - referring to Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

In saying so, Galant cited the well-coordinated nature of the attack, and Hamas's attempt "to execute mass-killings and abductions" through it.

The Gaza commander said that a potential disaster had been prevented thanks to the quick response of the soldiers at the scene.

Galant added that Hamas was "harming the interest of the Palestinians themselves, by attack crossings which are the humanitarian lifelines of Gaza."

Former deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh said the incident "reveals the true face of Hamas, which is [itself] creating the blockade on Gaza's people." He said the attack exposed the fact that the organization could not provide for the needs of Gaza's population and was thus a temporary ruler only.

Israel must prevent the Egyptians from opening the Rafah crossing, Sneh stated, as it would become a "weapons freeway for Hamas."

"At some point there will be no choice but to enter the Gaza Strip militarily, but only when we have an exit plan," he added.

4) Security and Defense: Blue, white, red alert all over
By YAAKOV KATZ

For the Israeli security establishment, it is not a question of if, but rather of when and where, Hizbullah will retaliate for the February assassination of arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh.

As it does before every holiday, this week the Counter terrorism Bureau in the Prime Minister's Office issued a severe travel advisory against vacationing in the Sinai.

Egypt claims that there are four-to-five terror cells roaming the peninsula with plans to target tourist sites. But this warning is not directly connected to the Mughniyeh alert which Israel has maintained since the Hizbullah chief operations officer was assassinated in downtown Damascus.

Indirectly, however, the Mughniyeh assassination has succeeded in setting a security precedent in this country. Throughout Israel's 60 years of existence, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Mossad and Military Intelligence have joined hands - most recently during the Second Lebanon War, when the deputy head of the Mossad set up an office on the floor of the IDF Operations Directorate in the Kirya in Tel Aviv; and then surrounding the September bombing of what foreign media reports have claimed was a North Korean nuclear reactor under construction in Syria. But what is unique in Mughniyeh's case, senior officials explained this week, is that the interagency teams have been established not only to share intelligence but also to continuously analyze and assess the threat level, dividing regions and countries into different categories.

The establishment of these teams indicates just how important Mughniyeh was to Hizbullah. He was not only the commander of all military forces in Lebanon, but also the mastermind behind the 2006 abduction of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, as well as the head of all of the group's overseas operations. He personified what can be described as a nexus of terrorism encompassing the Middle East and possibly the world, serving as a link between Hizbullah and Iran, Syria, al-Qaida, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

AT A military base in the center of the country, the Shin Bet has a facility where it trains security guards who are later stationed on El Al airplanes or in embassies and consulates around the world. While it looks completely ordinary, one of the buildings there contains a long room built to replicate the interior of a passenger airliner. It is there that the security guards train, with live fire, to thwart hijacking attempts.

Down the road, in another building, the agency has built a replica of the inside of an Israeli embassy abroad. This is where the security guards are trained to deal with an infiltration.

Since Mughniyeh's assassination, in which Israel has denied involvement, the Shin Bet has dramatically increased its security worldwide - on civilian flights and in diplomatic missions and other institutions.

Flights from India, for example, no longer take off during the day, since shoulder-fired missiles are harder to lock on a target at night. In addition, civilian flights to Europe and Southeast Asia are also being escorted by helicopters upon takeoff and landing. Ministers who travel abroad on family vacations this Pessah will be accompanied by security guards, a "perk" they have until now only received when on government trips.

Hizbullah is known to have infrastructure, including sleeper cells, overseas - particularly in Africa and South America - which could be utilized in an attack against an Israeli or Jewish target. The inter-agency team is charged with being in constant contact with these countries' intelligence agencies to assess the threat and issue recommendations.

Israel is also concerned that Iran or Syria might provide logistical support for an attack. According to intelligence information, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards maintain at least 50 "branches" around the world, although none as active as the one in Lebanon, which works closely with Hizbullah.

According to the latest assessment, chances of an attack against a Jewish institution - like Hizbullah's 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires - are low on the list. More likely is an attack against an Israeli mission, the assassination of an Israeli representative abroad or an attack along the northern border.

BUT, WHILE waiting for the Mughniyeh retaliatory attack, the IDF is already fighting a war in the Gaza Strip, against Hamas, which is beginning to look more and more like Hizbullah.

OC Gaza Division Brig.-Gen. Moshe "Chico" Tamir knows both enemies well. He was commander of the elite Egoz unit and the Golani Brigade, and spent much of his career deep inside Lebanon. In 2005, he wrote a book called Undeclared War on the IDF's experiences and mistakes during its 18-year presence inside the southern Lebanon security zone.

Following Wednesday's attack - during which three Givati soldiers were killed in an ambush across from Kibbutz Be'eri - officers in the Gaza Division could be heard comparing Gaza to Lebanon and talking about a "Hizbullah-land" that was being created just minutes south of Ashkelon. The combination of Kassam rocket fire and borderline attacks, like this one, and the infiltration into the Nahal Oz fuel depot last week, is a tactic Hamas has adopted from its northern mentor.

After Operation "Hot Winter" in March, Hamas cut back its Kassam fire while increasing its activity along the border by beefing up its forces and fortifying its positions. And the border attacks are having an effect: Since the beginning of the year, eight soldiers have been killed in Gaza, in comparison to three in all of 2007.

Tamir, together with OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant, has asked for permission to escalate operations in Gaza, and move from a "defensive mode" of repelling Hamas from the border to an "offensive mode" - a long-term widespread operation with the goal of hitting Hamas at its core.

At the moment, however, Defense Minister Ehud Barak does not believe the time has come for such an operation. In closed talks, he compares the Kassam barrage on Sderot to the second intifada's suicide-bomb onslaught in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. In the end, he explains, Gaza is not a strategic threat, like Iran or Syria, and therefore needs to be put into proper perspective.

A self-described history buff, Barak sees that throughout the country's six decades, the government never went to war because one of its enemies was amassing weapons and an army. This was true with Egypt and Syria in the 1960s and '70s, and most recently with Hizbullah, during the six years between the unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon and the war in 2006.

This, so far, has also been true regarding Hamas in Gaza, which the IDF has refrained from invading since its unilateral withdrawal almost three years ago. The IDF, however, is preparing for the possibility that additional Hamas attacks will change this pattern, and that Israel will find itself drawn into Gaza whether it likes it or not.

5) Road Map to Defeat
By BOB HERBERT

The Democrats are doing everything they can to blow this presidential election. This is a skill that comes naturally to the party. There is no such thing as a can’t-miss year for the Democrats. They are truly gifted at finding ways to lose.



Jimmy Carter managed to win the White House in 1976 by looking pious and riding a wave of anti-Watergate revulsion. After four hapless years, he dutifully handed the keys back to the G.O.P.

Bill Clinton tried hard to lose, with sex scandals and whatnot, during the 1992 campaign. But Ross Perot wouldn’t let him. Mr. Clinton won with a piddling 43 percent of the vote. For eight years, Mr. Clinton tried to throw the presidency away (with sex scandals and whatnot), but he was never able to succeed.

That’s been it for the party for the past 40 years. The Democrats have become so psychologically battered by these many decades in the leadership wilderness that they consider the Clinton years, during which the president was impeached and they lost control of both houses of Congress, to have been a period of triumph.

Now comes 2008, a can’t-lose year if there ever was one. A united Democratic Party should be able to win this election in a walk. The economy is terrible and getting worse. The Republicans are demoralized. John McCain is no J.F.K. And the country wants to elect a Democrat.

So what are the Democrats doing? The Clintons are running around with flamethrowers, gleefully trying to incinerate the prospects of the party’s leading candidate, Barack Obama. As Bill Clinton put it last month: “If a politician doesn’t want to get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office.”

Senator Obama, for his part, seems to have lost sight of the unifying message that proved so compelling early in his campaign and has stumbled into weird cultural predicaments that have caused some people to rethink his candidacy.

While some of those predicaments raise legitimate concerns (his former pastor, his comments in San Francisco) and some do not (stupid questions about wearing a flag pin), he has allowed them to fester unnecessarily. The way for a candidate to eventually change the subject is to offer policy prescriptions so creative and compelling that they generate excitement among the electorate and can’t be ignored by the press.

Voters want more from Senator Obama. He’s given a series of wonderful speeches, but he has to add more meat to those rhetorical bones. He needs to be clear about where he wants to lead this country and how he plans to do it. That’s how a candidate defines himself or herself.

Instead, Mr. Obama is allowing the Clintons and the news media to craft a damaging persona of him as some kind of weak-kneed brother from another planet, out of touch with mainstream America, and perhaps a loser.

Wednesday night’s debate in Philadelphia may have been a sorry exercise in journalism, but even many of Senator Obama’s own supporters were disappointed with his lackluster performance.

The big issues of our time are being left behind as pettiness and mean-spirited partisanship carry the day.

Voters across the country seem disgusted with this state of affairs. George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson of ABC News are being pilloried for the way they conducted Wednesday’s debate. Hillary Clinton’s disapproval ratings have climbed into a zone that makes it legitimate to wonder whether she could defeat Senator McCain. And much of the excitement and enthusiasm surrounding Mr. Obama’s candidacy has cooled.

That raucous laughter you hear in the background is coming from the likes of Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, President Bush and Senator McCain. They can’t believe their good fortune.

The issues still favor the Democrats. More and more Americans are losing their jobs, and many of those still employed are working fewer hours and cashing smaller paychecks. Vacation plans are being curtailed because of declining family income and sky-high gasoline prices. The value of the family home is eroding.

Instead of capitalizing on the political advantages presented by these issues, the Democrats, with their increasingly small-minded approach to this election, are squandering them.

There was always going to be resistance in the U.S. to putting a black person or a woman of any color in the White House. To overcome that built-in resistance, three things are crucially important: new voters have to be brought into the process; the nominee must have an exciting and compelling message; and the party has to be extraordinarily unified behind its standard-bearer.

It’s not too late for the Democrats to pull this off. But there’s already blood on the floor from the nomination fight, and the fight ain’t over. The G.O.P.’s fondest wish is that the Democrats keep doing what they’re doing.