If the Iran Deal was so good for the world and those living in the Middle East why is Obama rushing and/or feels the need to allocate more arms to Israel, Saudis, Egypt.
For Israel to have a friend in The White House again they will have to wait for a Republican to be elected. Demwits mouth the words but their actions speak louder.
The biggest problem Israel faces, I believe, is that eventually America will become tired and exhausted messing with the Middle East and the mood to desert Israel will heighten because Obama has basically withdrawn America from the region and we no longer have the same level of interest there. Russia will eventually fill the vacuum Obama has created as ISIS did after his withdrawal from Iraq.
Another war seems inevitable. Peace in our time remains an echo associated with weakness.
Arrogance, weakness, ignorance and empty threats are the tools Obama employs to frighten Putin, Iran's Ayatollah and radical Islamists. Listening to military advisors is not something Obama has the interest or patience for because he knows better.
After all, he is the silver tongued leader of the free world . A free world that no longer has confidence in American leadership, America's word and America's will, and soon ability, to defend its foreign interests as it draws down its military and incurs a crushing debt that restrains its flexibility.
These are the gifts Obama will leave the next president and were they to be either Bernie or Hillarious, rest assured we will be seriously disadvantaged.(See 1 and 1a below.)
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Thoughts from our recent speaker, Robbie Friedmann, with respect to The Jewish New Year. (See 2 below.)
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Dick
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1)
| Pres. Obama implies to Jews: that imposing Palestinian state is expression of commitment to Israel's security |
| Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Here's the concern: When someone says that they are committed to Israel's security AND that the most important thing for Israel's security is cutting a deal with the Palestinians then the very real concern is raised that they think that they can express that commitment by forcing the Jewish State into doing things "for its own good". This is nothing new. All the people who have had it wrong for the last two decades are still confident that they know better than us. They still embrace a childish notion that somehow everything will be fantastic if we just retreat before or after signing some papers on the White House Lawn.] ============== Obama tells rabbis he plans to meet soon with Netanyahu WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Barack Obama told rabbis in a pre-Rosh Hashanah phone call that security talks with Israel had resumed and he hoped to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by early next month. On Thursday, in his annual pre-High Holidays call to the rabbis, Obama said that he was ready to meet with Netanyahu during the United Nations’ General Assembly opening session, which starts next week and runs through Oct. 6. Netanyahu until now has rebuffed such overtures because of his disagreement with the U.S. leader over the Iran nuclear deal. “Our consultations have already begun with Israeli military and intelligence officials,” Obama said. “My hope is to have a long discussion with Mr. Netanyahu about these issues when he comes to the United Nations during the General Assembly of the United Nations, or immediately after that,” he said. Netanyahu, who adamantly opposes the sanctions relief for nuclear restrictions deal reached in July between Iran and six major powers, has suspended U.S.-Israel discussions on security cooperation until he was certain that opponents of the deal in the U.S. Congress could not defeat it. Congress has yet to vote on the deal, but it became clear late last week that Obama had garnered enough voters to head off any bid to kill the deal, and on Thursday, Senate Democrats successfully killed the legislation that would have rejected the agreement. The Iran deal was the main focus of the call, which rabbis use to help plan their High Holidays sermons. “Acknowledging the vigorous debate that has occurred within the American Jewish community and in Israel, the president explained that the deal is consistent with his unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, and he expressed his willingness to discuss additional ways to enhance Israel’s security and further strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship as the deal is implemented,” the White House said in its readout of the phone call, which drew 500 rabbis from across the denominational spectrum. Obama fielded questions after his opening statement and addressed issues including the Voting Rights Act, combating anti-Semitism worldwide, climate change and Israeli-Palestinian peace. He praised the Jewish community for its work in advancing civil rights. “There’s a long recognition based on religious traditions and the memory of what it’s like to be a stranger,” he said. The president also said that he was still dedicated to advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace despite the collapse last year of U.S.-brokered talks. “Israel’s long-term security does depend on somehow resolving the Palestinian issue,” Obama said. “We’re going to have to work on these issues, and they’re going to be messy and challenging in the years to come.” Obama said he would stand by Israel on matters of security, but called on U.S. Jews as well as Israel to closely consider the Palestinian question. “There’s going to have to be some soul searching in Israel and the American Jewish community because they’re tough questions,” he said. 1a)
Yesterday 42 Senate Democrats voted to filibuster a resolution of disapproval of the Iran nuclear deal. That unprincipled partisan move not only deprived the Senate of a vote on the deal that the body had granted itself by a 9 8-1 vote earlier this year. It also seemed to close off any chance that Congress could block the implementation of the pact championed by President Obama. Indeed, the filibuster engineered by the Democrats ensured he would not even have to veto the resolution that was passed by the House today. Understandably, that has caused most observers to stop talking about the failure of the deal’s critics to stop it and instead to start discussing exactly how quickly Iran will start getting the money and sanctions relief President Obama has promised it. But some opponents are not giving up.
In Politico today, Senator Ted Cruz writes that the fight isn’t over. Cruz echoes the defiance of House Republicans who correctly point out that as long as the text of a side deal between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency is kept secret, the administration hasn’t complied with the Corker-Cardin bill and can’t be put into effect. He says that mean any implementation of the agreement will be illegal and that Congress can act in such a way as to make that position stand up. That raises two questions. The first is whether his stance is correct. The second is whether opponents of the president’s policy believe further resistance is not only futile but also counter-productive. Though Congressional leaders are inclined to view anything Cruz says as ill-advised, he might not only be right but his plan of action could lay the foundation for Obama’s successor to throw the deal out.
Let’s concede up front, as Cruz does himself, that nothing the House or the Senate does at this point will prevent President Obama from putting the deal into effect. The administration doesn’t concede that the Iran-IAEA agreement is part of the actual deal and will, on the strength of the Senate filibuster treat it as if Congress has approved it.
Yet as I noted earlier this week, House Republicans such as Rep. Mike Pompeo, who have raised the question of the side deal, are exactly right. The text of the Iran Nuclear Review Act of 2015 put forward by Senators Bob Corker and Ben Cardin was clear that every aspect of any nuclear deal signed by the West with Iran had to be disclosed to Congress before the 60-day review period during which a resolution of disapproval might be put forward could be triggered. Since the Iran-IAEA deal about inspection of the Parchin military site has not been divulged to Congress, the review period did not begin when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action embraced by the president was presented to Congress in July.
A majority of the House has embraced this stand, and Cruz asks House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to jointly endorse that position. He also would like McConnell to schedule a symbolic sense of the Senate resolution that would state that the deal would not have been ratified had it presented, as it should have been, as a treaty and had to follow the Constitutional process that would have required 67 votes for approval.
Lastly, Cruz wants the Congressional leadership to issue a formal warning to banks that are currently holding the billions in frozen Iranian assets that the deal would have to release to Tehran. They would be told that if they listen to President Obama and let the funds go to the Islamist regime they risk being hauled into court and face onerous civil and perhaps even criminal penalties once a new administration is sworn in.
Some Republicans — especially Boehner and McConnell — are inclined to view anything Cruz says as self-serving and a recipe for endless and pointless strife. He has made a lot of enemies on his own side of the aisle since entering the Senate in January 2013. McConnell is still smarting over Cruz calling him a liar in July during their dispute about the renewal of the Export-Import Bank. Nor has the GOP leadership forgiven him for helping to push Congress into the 2013 government shutdown or his threats about another one this year about defunding Planned Parenthood.
Yet in spite of their hard feelings, they should be listening to him on this issue.
While Congress can’t actually stop Obama from acting as if the deal is legal, it should be taking all appropriate steps to defend its rights as it fights a rear-guard action against a nuclear agreement that is a dangerous act of appeasement. Congress can sue the president over this and should. As it happens, earlier this week a Washington D.C. federal judge ruled that the much-mocked Congressional lawsuit against the president for rewriting the ObamaCare law without proper legislative authority can move ahead. That means a similar suit that might be pursued about the illegal implementation of the Iran deal is also viable.
The president gained a victory when Senator Corker foolishly allowed himself to be gulled into writing a bill that created a reverse ratification process that let the deal be passed with only 42 Senate votes rather than Constitution’s mandate of 67. But that also means that it does not have the force of law and can be thrown out with legal impunity by his successor. Even if it takes years to win in court, a suit that points out the illegal nature of the implementation will make it easier for a Republican president to do that. That will make the threats of legal consequences for the banks that deliver money to Iran even more credible. Congress should also move ahead with legislation toughening the sanctions on Iran and making it difficult if not impossible for Obama to move forward with his goal of détente with the Islamist regime.
Though it feels like the fight over Iran is over, Cruz is right that it doesn’t have to be that way. It can’t be stopped, but it can still be fought. For now, Obama will have his way but by not conceding the battle, Boehner and McConnell will be preparing the way for this appalling betrayal of principle by the president to be eventually discarded as it should have been had not Congressional Democrats valued partisan loyalty over their responsibility to defend the U.S. and its allies. Establishment Republicans can roll their eyes at Cruz, but he’s right about this. Democrats now own Iran and its crimes for the foreseeable future and the GOP as well as friends of Israel should not be shy about pointing who are the guilty men and women who backed appeasement. Not giving up isn’t a waste of time. It’s actually the prudent and the politically smart thing to do.
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Partnerships Teach Society Lessons
By Robbie Friedmann | Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange Founding Director
Writing from Israel (attending the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s 15th annual counterterrorism conference) on the eve of the new year of 5776, I actually reflect on the Haggadah, which says: “In every generation they rise up against us to destroy us.”
Regardless of one’s position on the Iran deal, it is hard to ignore the truism of this saying, as seen with the constant Iranian threats to annihilate Israel and similar threats from Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaida, Islamic State, scores of other nonstate organizations, and even Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel (Egypt and Jordan).
These threats were part of Jewish communal existence the past 2,000 years and are now directed against the Jewish state, expressed in vile rhetoric, military preparations, terrorist acts, and the political BDS movement, which is working incessantly to undermine Israel’s moral right to exist.
Against these odds Israel has made remarkable and unparalleled achievements and continues to do so with vigorous energy, know-how and determination.
Israel has a political system that renders it ungovernable, and tremendous and valuable resources are wasted on internal political feuds and lack of unity even under times of war. Yet the people’s strong spirit of living beyond surviving is evident in every aspect of life in Israel. From science to medicine, from industry to culture, from agriculture to art, and from R&D to export, Israel wants to play at the center of the world and not merely on the cusp of it.
In many metrics Israel is an amazing success story. Israelis would want nothing more than being in the news for all these and not for terrorist acts, security tensions, threats of war and actual war.
Indeed, this proactive spirit is evident and is perhaps worthy of acknowledging. Even as the Middle East is decaying and disintegrating, Israel is seeking not only to protect itself, but also to forge new alliances — some unfathomable until now (Saudi Arabia).
Being proactive is important not only against military threats and terrorism, but also against crime. It is not merely the opposite of being passive. Rather, being proactive means a concentrated effort at understanding what and how a problem is created and therefore focusing on minimizing the likelihood of the problem from developing in the first place.
To a large extent, this is the role of public health agencies, and for the past 20 to 25 years police agencies have adopted this approach, albeit with variable success.
The Israel Police is undergoing a leadership crisis after the forced resignation of several top commanders because of sexual abuse and corruption and is still leaderless because the new commissioner-designate became embroiled in a major public controversy. Yet the organization is strong enough to weather this storm and come out even stronger.
Israel has one national police force that is charged with fighting crime and handling terrorist incidents. Its officers are well trained as versatile public servants and are dedicated and capable.
The Israel Police has accumulated professional and organizational knowledge to make it one of the best police forces around the world. It works in partnerships with many sister agencies in many countries, and it has a great deal to contribute to better policing and is eager to do so.
GILEE is proud to play a role in bringing law enforcement agencies into closer partnerships — not only between Israel and other agencies, but with many countries and many states as well.
The lessons of strong partnerships can and should be adapted from police practice to civil society. Partnerships offer an effective way not only to serve citizens better, but also to display fortitude and resoluteness against looming threats.
Perhaps just as important, being proactive through building partnerships also provides a moral compass that reinforces our well-being and sends a message to those who wish us harm that we are more than ready not to be taken for granted.
With best wishes for a shana tova. May it truly be a good year.
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