I Am Not Conspiratorial But Have My Reasons and Personal Experiences For Often Being Suspicious.

 
     Trumps assertions about pap Cruz.                           Ice cream tastes good anytime but                                                                                                                  particularly at 4 years                                                                                                                                                                                                                 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++                                                                                                                                                                 Everyone is making fun of Trump for believing Castro had Kennedy killed and Cruz's father had his picture taken with Oswald.

Personally I have always believed Kennedy was assassinated and Oswald was put up to do it.

The CIA was ordered by Bobby Kennedy to get some exploding cigars sent to Castro. Castro found out, did not smoke them and never forgave the president. I am no conspiracy theorist but would not surprise me if Oswald was directed/assisted by Castro to kill Kennedy.

I do not believe Trump said Cruz's father was involved, simply that he knew Oswald and that Cruz's father was somehow close to Castro until he fled Cuba and came to America.

Nothing surprises me any more because assassinations are commonplace these days.  Russia poisons spies, Arabs kill each other quite frequently. We just seldom hear about it and , I am sure, we do likewise.

One of my closest friends was our air attache in our Greek Embassy.  He replaced a man who was killed by the October 19 crowd.  He subsequently became head of The Pell Institute, drove the same Volvo he used when he was stationed in Greece and which he had steel plated etc.  He was killed in a car accident in Rhode Island. Peter seldom drank, was a graduate of The Air Force Academy, straight as an arrow, probably was undercover CIA and I can now state he told me he flew a MIG 17, I believe that was the number, when it was just off the assembly line while he was attached to our Greek Embassy.

When I heard Peter was killed in an auto accident I was stunned and to this day find it hard to believe it was not caused by the long reach of terrorists.

Peter also visited us in Atlanta after his embassy days and came dressed in jeans, sporting a beard with a pony tail and he was accompanied by another equally dressed "agent." Where were they going?  To Columbia. Peter was ram rod straight, spit and shine kind of guy and yet came to our home dressed totally out of character.

Peter left a beautiful daughter and lovely wife. I met Peter when he applied for a slot as a White House Fellow. Peter was very Edwardian.  A man for all seasons type.  A linguist, an author, a Lt. Col. in the Air Force and also a committed liberal.  I presented his name to St John's College for a position as a tutor but he was turned down for reasons I never understood.

I have read all of his books and he won several awards for his poetry. For my 65th birthday, Peter gave me a first edition of Death in The Afternoon knowing I loved Hemingway.  Peter taught at The Naval War College before heading The Pell Institute, located on Salve Regina's Campus and arranged, with the Sec of The Navy, for me to be invited to attend courses at The War College.

I shall always cherish my years of knowing Peter and still am in touch with his wife who now lives in North Carolina.

Peter's auto accident and death was not widely reported.

My Arab Israel journalist friend writes about the internal strife between Hamas and Abbas and the potential assassination plots that persist. (See 1 below.)
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My Australian cousin has cleared up our co-ordinated strategy. (See 2 below.)
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Politicians say many things and then proceed in the opposite direction but I suggest when Netanyahu says one Holocaust is enough he should be believed.  (See 3 and 3a below.)
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Our son, Daniel, personally petitioned  Sen.Toomey not to vote for the Iran Deal. Toomey did not and now recognizes the relationship and common bond we have with Israel. I would ask Democrats who voted to support Obama's Iran Deal to explain the common bond we have with Iran? Must be the desire to destroy the world. (See 4 below.)
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Dick
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1)

Palestinians: Preparing Their People for Statehood?

• The internecine strife in Fatah no longer appears restricted to the loyalists of Dahlan and Abbas. It is threatening to erupt into an all-out war between contesting camps. Some Palestinians see the internal strife as the most serious challenge to Abbas's rule over Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, especially in wake of growing criticism among Palestinians against Abbas's policies and autocratic regime.
• The criticism has escalated following last week's humiliating defeat of Fatah to Hamas at the student council election of Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah.
• Hamas is thriving on the mayhem among the top brass of Fatah and disgust with Abbas and the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank. Rather than striving to improve the lives of Palestinians, Fatah leaders spend their time playing at being gangsters, settling scores. Meanwhile Abbas continues his charade of lies with the international community that he and his Fatah faction are ready for a sovereign state.

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction is supposed to be preparing its people for statehood. But it seems to be busy with other business.

According to sources in the Gaza Strip, Hamas security forces recently uncovered a scheme to assassinate a number of senior Fatah officials living there.

The sources claimed that ousted Fatah operative Mohamed Dahlan, who has been living in the United Arab Emirates for the past five years, was the mastermind of the alleged scheme. Dahlan's men in the Gaza Strip were planning to assassinate Fatah officials closely associated with his rival, Abbas, the sources revealed.

Dahlan's hit list included Ahmed Abu Nasr, Jamal Kayed, Emad al-Agha and Mamoun Sweidan.

After the alleged plot was uncovered, Hamas summoned a number of top Fatah officials in the Gaza Strip and asked them to take precautionary measures to ensure their safety.

Abbas and Dahlan have, for the past five years, been at each other's throats. The two were once close allies and had worked together to undermine the former Palestinian Authority president, Yasser Arafat.

But the honeymoon between Abbas and Dahlan, a former security commander in the Gaza Strip and an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), ended several years ago.

Abbas woke up one morning and discovered that his erstwhile ally and friend, Dahlan, was an in fact a bitter enemy. On instructions from Abbas, Palestinian security officers raided Dahlan's residence in Ramallah and confiscated documents and personal belongings. Dahlan fled the West Bank and has not set foot since in Ramallah or any other Palestinian city.

Next, Abbas had Dahlan dismissed from Fatah on charges of murder and financial corruption. Since then, Dahlan, who has become an “advisor” to the rulers of the United Arab Emirates, has been waging a fierce smear campaign against Abbas and his Fatah loyalists.

Now, the sources in the Gaza Strip are claiming that Dahlan was behind a plot to eliminate those loyalists.

The claim came after clashes erupted between Dahlan and Abbas supporters in parts of the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (left) and Mohamed Dahlan (right), a former Fatah commander and minister, have, for the past five years, been at each other's throats. The two were once close allies and had worked together to undermine the former PA president, Yasser Arafat. (Image sources: U.S. State Dept., M. Dahlan Office)

Last week, the Fatah leadership expelled from its ranks nine Dahlan supporters. They were accused of attacking the home of Abdullah Abu Samhadanah, a senior Fatah official and Abbas loyalist.

Earlier, loyalists to Abbas and Dahlan were busy hurling chairs and stones at each other. The incident took place at a rally to commemorate slain PLO leader Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), assassinated by Israeli commandos in Tunisia in 1988. On May 1, another scuffle broke out between the two sides, this time in the Gaza Strip's Jebalya refugee camp. That incident occurred during a rally held on the occasion of International Workers' Day.

This internecine Fatah strife no longer appears restricted to the loyalists of Dahlan and Abbas. It is threatening to erupt into an all-out war between contesting camps. Some Palestinians see the internal strife as the most serious challenge to Abbas's rule over Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, especially in wake of growing criticism among Palestinians against Abbas's policies and autocratic regime.

The criticism has escalated following last week's humiliating defeat of Fatah to Hamas at the student council election of Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah. Many in Fatah hold Abbas and his veteran old guard leaders personally responsible for the defeat.

In a move that shows that the plot inside Fatah is thickening, sources close to Hamas claimed this week that another senior Fatah official in the West Bank was behind a plan to liquidate top members of the faction in the Gaza Strip.

According to reports published on a number of Hamas-affiliated websites, the former head of the General Intelligence Force in the West Bank, Tawfik Tirawi, was the mastermind behind the alleged scheme. The reports claimed that Hamas summoned Ahmed Nasr, a top Fatah official, and informed him of Tirawi's purported plan to kill other Fatah leaders as well as Nasr himself. Nasr has confirmed that he was asked by Hamas to take precautionary measures to avoid any attempt on his life.

Hamas claims that Tirawi's alleged plot was uncovered during the interrogation of Marwa al-Masri, a senior Fatah member. Hamas security forces arrested her as she was about to leave the Gaza Strip for Ramallah.

Dahlan and Tirawi, who were once viewed by many Palestinians as potential successors to Abbas and promising new leaders representing the “young guard,” apparently had different motives behind their alleged schemes.

While Dahlan may have sought revenge against Abbas and his loyalists, Tirawi apparently wanted to create instability in the Gaza Strip by blaming Hamas for the assassination of top Fatah officials.

Dahlan sought revenge against Abbas for expelling him from Fatah and making him into a “refugee” in the United Arab Emirates. Tirawi, for his part, wished to undermine Hamas's rule in the Gaza Strip by killing some of his own colleagues in Fatah.

Tirawi and al-Masri, who has since been released from dentition by Hamas, have vehemently denied that they were plotting to eliminate senior Fatah officials in the Gaza Strip.

Whether true or not, Fatah's credibility is crumbling, not only among the Palestinian public, but also among its own supporters. Hamas is thriving on the mayhem among the top brass of Fatah and disgust with Abbas and the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank. Rather than striving to improve the lives of Palestinians, Fatah leaders spend their time playing at being gangsters, settling scores. Meanwhile, Abbas continues his charade of lies with the international community that he and his Fatah faction are ready for a sovereign state.

Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist, is based in Jerusalem.

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2) I was confused about ISIS and Shiites and Sunnis and Allawites but this cleared it all up

A highly restricted briefing document on Syria....

President Assad (who is bad ) is a nasty guy who got so nasty his people rebelled and the Rebels (who are good ) started winning (Hurrah!).

But then some of the rebels turned a bit nasty and are now called Islamic State (who are definitely bad!) and some continued to support democracy (who are still good.)

So the Americans ( who are good ) started bombing Islamic State ( who are bad ) and giving arms to the Syrian Rebels ( who are good ) so they could fight Assad ( who is still bad ) which was good.

By the way, there is a breakaway state in the north run by the Kurds who want to fight IS ( which is a good thing ) but the Turkish authorities think they are bad, so we have to say they are bad whilst secretly thinking they're good and giving them guns to fight IS (which is good) but that is another matter.

Getting back to Syria.

So President Putin ( who is bad, cos he invaded Crimea and the Ukraine and killed lots of folks including that nice Russian man in London with polonium poisoned sushi ) has decided to back Assad ( who is still bad ) by attacking IS ( who are also bad ) which is sort of a good thing?

But Putin ( still bad ) thinks the Syrian Rebels ( who are good ) are also bad, and so he bombs them too, much to the annoyance of the Americans ( who are good ) who are busy backing and arming the rebels ( who are also good).

Now Iran ( who used to be bad, but now they have agreed not to build any nuclear weapons and bomb Israel are now good ) are going to provide ground troops to support Assad ( still bad ) as are the Russians ( bad ) who now have ground troops and aircraft in Syria.

So a Coalition of Assad ( still bad ) Putin ( extra bad ) and the Iranians ( good, but in a bad sort of way ) are going to attack IS ( who are bad ) which is a good thing, but also the Syrian Rebels ( who are good ) which is bad.

Now the British ( obviously good, except that nice Mr Corbyn in the corduroy jacket, who is probably bad ) and the Americans ( also good ) cannot attack Assad ( still bad ) for fear of upsetting Putin ( bad ) and Iran ( good / bad) and now they have to accept that Assad might not be that bad after all compared to IS ( who are super bad).

So Assad ( bad ) is now probably good, being better than IS ( but let’s face it, drinking your own wee is better than IS so no real choice there ) and since Putin and Iran are also fighting IS that may now make them Good. America ( still Good ) will find it hard to arm a group of rebels being attacked by the Russians for fear of upsetting Mr Putin ( now good ) and that nice mad Ayatollah in Iran ( also Good ) and so they may be forced to say that the Rebels are now Bad, or at the very least abandon them to their fate. This will lead most of them to flee to Turkey and on to Europe or join IS ( still the only constantly bad group).

To Sunni Muslims, an attack by Shia Muslims ( Assad and Iran ) backed by Russians will be seen as something of a Holy War, and the ranks of IS will now be seen by the Sunnis as the only Jihadis fighting in the Holy War and hence many Muslims will now see IS as Good ( Doh!.)

Sunni Muslims will also see the lack of action by Britain and America in support of their Sunni rebel brothers as something of a betrayal ( mmm.might have a point.) and hence we will be seen as Bad.

So now we have America ( now bad ) and Britain ( also bad ) providing limited support to Sunni Rebels ( bad ) many of whom are looking to IS ( Good / bad ) for support against Assad ( now good ) who, along with Iran ( also Good) and Putin ( also, now, unbelievably, Good ) are attempting to retake the country Assad used to run before all this started?

So, now you fully understand everything, all your questions are answered!!!!

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3)

Netanyahu vows: There will not be a second Holocaust

"I have one mission: One Yad Vashem is enough. One time. There will be no second time," says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Holocaust survivors ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Wednesday evening.

 By Yair Altman, Yori Yalon, Shlomo Cesana, Daniel Siryoti, Mati Tuchfeld and Zeev Klein

Photo credit: GettyImages [Archive]

<< 1 2 3 >>

Each year, Israel stops for one day to remember the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust and to tell the stories of the survivors.

On Wednesday, the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, there will be a state memorial ceremony at Warsaw Ghetto Square at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will both speak at the ceremony, where Holocaust survivors will light six torches as part of the memorial service.

A Knesset memorial ceremony titled "Every Person Has a Name" is set for Thursday. During the ceremony, which will be held in the Chagall Lounge, Knesset members will read out the names of the Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Rivlin, Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Supreme Court President Justice Miriam Naor will all be present for the ceremony.

The Jewish heart in Krakow

Meanwhile, dozens of delegations from around the world are now touring through the remnants of Jewish life in Krakow, Poland, which was once home to one of the most vital Jewish communities in Europe.

At the Nuremberg Symposium in Krakow on Wednesday, marking 70 years since the Nuremberg Trials, participants will discuss what lessons, if any, have been learned in the years since and what steps can be taken to prevent genocide. The conference was organized by the March of the Living organization and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights. Legal specialists from around the world have arrived in Poland to participate.

At the same time, ahead of the March of the Living participants' memorial ceremony at Auschwitz-Birkenau on Thursday, a delegation of Knesset members arrived in Warsaw Tuesday to lay a wreath at the Ghetto Heroes Monument. There, Habayit Hayehudi MK Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli read Professor Asa Kasher's poem "Bakashot," which was originally written following the 1997 Israeli helicopter disaster.

Netanyahu: One Yad Vashem is enough

Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, met on Tuesday with the six Holocaust survivors who will light the memorial torches at Yad Vashem on Wednesday evening.

"I have one mission: One Yad Vahem is enough. One time. There will be no second time," Netanyahu said to the survivors. The meeting with the survivors who will participate in the ceremony was the first of its kind and was organized by Sara.

Netanyahu went on to say that "the hatred of Jews has not disappeared in 70 years, and it is now directed at the Jewish state. But the state is very, very strong -- and its strength is your strength."

Later on, Sara met with Holocaust survivors at Yad Ezer La'haver community center in Haifa. She had emotional conversations with them and listened to their stories. Yad Ezer La'haver CEO Shimon Segev named Mrs. Netanyahu as the Social Justice Defender of the Year, in recognition of her years of efforts to improve the welfare of Israel's Holocaust survivors. Sara then laid the cornerstone for what will be a museum commemorating Holocaust victims.

Also on Tuesday, Rivlin and his wife, Nehama, hosted the Zikaron Basalon ("Memory in the Living Room") organization, which helps survivors share their stories. The event was the first of its kind at the President's Residence, and some 40 guests arrived to hear the testimony of 87-year-old Meir Ginossar, who was born in Poland and survived the horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

"We are proud to have the privilege to hear today from one of the amazing people who has gone through everything, from the Holocaust to heroism to the rebirth of the Jewish people -- a person who understands that an Israeli flag flying at full mast should not be taken for granted," Rivlin said at the event.

Meanwhile, the Knesset Finance Committee, chaired by United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni, approved Tuesday an allotment of 98 million shekels (about $26 million) to benefit Holocaust survivors. The petition for the funds was made by Zionist Union MK Mickey Rosenthal, who said, "It is our responsibility to avoid any delays on matters pertaining to Holocaust survivors.

3a)

'Decrease of violent attacks against Jews, but rise in institutional anti-Semitism in 2015' By DANIEL J. ROTH The report said that there was a 46% drop in instances of anti-Semitic violence compared with last year.

Violent attacks against members of the Jewish community dropped significantly worldwide in 2015 despite an increase in institutionalized anti-Semitism, an annual report released Wednesday found. According to the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, recorded cases of anti-Semitic violence decreased substantially throughout the world by 46 percent. The report said that during 2015, 410 violent cases were recorded, compared to 766 in 2014. “The year began and ended in a sea of blood and terror, with the massacres at the Charlie Hebdo offices and the Hyper Cacher in Paris during January and the slaughter of 130 people in Paris during November,” Dr. Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress and the report's sponsor, said during a press conference at Tel Aviv University Wednesday. “However, the number of violent anti-Semitic incidents worldwide decreased quite dramatically during 2015, especially after the first months of the year, in comparison to 2014.” The report attributed the drop to a "massive amount of security around Jewish institutions" in the wake of the January attacks in Paris.  The report noted, however, that in "countries in Central Europe and Scandinavia where there was little increase in security, the number of incidents did not markedly decrease." Kantor continued by stating that "institutional anti-Semitism" and "slander against the Jewish People as a whole" remained at the same level and perhaps higher. Kantor highlighted the recent controversy seizing the UK Labor party as the latest example of anti-Semitism rearing its ugly head. "The recent events in the British Labor Party and the UK National Union of Students demonstrates that the Jews are once again targeted, this time by so-called progressive forces, when actually they uphold the most ancient and regressive of views and policies."  "I have long argued that the political spectrum is far more cyclical than we think and more and more elements of the far-Left have a lot in common with the far-Right, fascism and intolerance, especially regarding the Jews,” said Kantor. Earlier this week, former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was suspended from the Labor Party for claiming that Nazi ruler Adolf Hitler was a Zionist. He made the remarks in defense of Labor lawmaker Naz Shah, who was suspended from the party last Monday over a Facebook post in 2014 suggesting Israelis should be moved en masse to the United States.  One way of combating the phenomenon of anti-Semitism, Kantor suggested, was to first define the term's parameters so law enforcement could fight with both legal and punitive measures.  “Today we have an absurd situation where what constitutes anti-Semitism is defined by the anti-Semites,” Dr. Kantor said. “Before combating anything, the challenge first has to be defined. We will never be able to truly fight back against anti-Semites and significantly lower the levels of this newer insidious form of anti-Semitism until we define it.” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

4)

The U.S. and Israel: Shared Culture, Common Destiny

By Senator Pat Toomey
inFocus Quarterly Spring 2016

The United States and Israel share a unique strategic partnership and friendship. This relationship started in the early years of the Jewish State when President Harry Truman proudly recognized the State of Israel. As Truman's White House counsel Clark Clifford declared:

In an area as unstable as the Middle East, where there is not now and never has been any tradition of democratic government, it is important for the long-range security of our country, and indeed the world, that a nation committed to the democratic system be established there, one on which we can rely. The new Jewish state can be such a place. We should strengthen it in its infancy by prompt recognition.

This relationship blossomed during the Cold War, as the U.S. military relied on Israeli intelligence to gain the upper hand against the Soviet Union. And today, as the Middle East disintegrates into violent chaos, this relationship grows all the more important.

Today, the U.S. uses Israel's expertise and ingenuity to help deter internal and external threats to our homeland. All levels of the U.S. military participate in joint exercises with Israel, from the Navy, to the Army, to the Air Force. U.S. police officers travel to Israel to train and learn new counter-terrorism techniques. Advanced military weaponry, such as the Iron Dome and the Arrow missile defense systems, benefit both countries. The U.S. repeatedly coordinates with Israel for intelligence support, advice on urban warfare and airport screening techniques, and the development of cutting-edge weaponry. It should come as no surprise that we employ many Israeli-made weapons, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which have played a crucial role in America's counter-terrorism activities.

The U.S.–Israel relationship goes beyond military cooperation. Israel may be a tiny country, but it is a leader in technology, medicine, business, agriculture, and many other fields. Every day, citizens of the globe benefit from Israeli inventions, including the cell phone, Internet phones, voicemail technology, the drip irrigation system, the first ingestible video camera, the most secure flight security system in the world, and countless other products and services. Israel has the second highest number of start-up companies in the world and the third largest number of NASDAQ companies listed.

U.S. companies manufacture many Israeli weapons, creating jobs here in America, while many major American companies have developed incubators in Israel to take advantage of its high-tech industry. Microsoft, Google, Apple, 3M, and GE all have research and development facilities in Israel.

Israel is a Moral Ally

This strategic relationship pays dividends to both countries. But it is just as important to remember that Israel is a moral ally. Our two countries are joined by an unwavering commitment to democratic ideals. Free speech, open elections, and religious freedom are values found on the streets of Pittsburgh and Jerusalem alike.

Israel's unique status in the world was born of its urgent necessity – a homeland for an oppressed people built on the most natural of rights: The right to exist, to practice religion freely, to have a voice, to be an equal citizen of the world.

If anyone can appreciate this necessity, it is the United States – a country considered new by the yardstick of history, born out of religious persecution and political oppression. We call the American birth a revolution – not just because we are a country forged in battle, but because creating a brand new nation is truly revolutionary – if not miraculous.

So it is with Israel. Over the centuries, the Jewish people have managed to maintain a permanent presence in the Holy Land, despite enduring hardship. Still, no one gave much credence to the idea of a Jewish homeland. When the early wave of European Jews settled in a malaria-infested Palestine in the late 19th century, a betting man would have gambled against the early Zionists. In 1897, Theodor Herzl, one of the founding fathers of Zionism, declared: "At Basle, I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today, I would be answered by universal laughter. If not in five years, certainly in 50, everyone will know it."

Indeed, 67 years after the declaration of an independent Jewish state, Israel stands as a testimony to the universal ideals of human rights and democracy. Not unlike the American Declaration of Independence, the Israeli version declares: "The State of Israel... will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture." This commitment to Western values has produced a flourishing country the size of New Jersey. Out of the desert, the Jewish people built world-class companies and schools, revived an ancient language, created a formidable military, and welcomed new citizens from around the world. It is understandable that many religious Jews recite the prayer called "Hallel" – or "praise" on Israel Independence Day every year – because the birth of the Jewish State is truly a miraculous occurrence, unparalleled in the archives of history. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's George Washington, said it best: "In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles."

The fact that Israel has paved this path in the face of constant attack is all the more remarkable. Israel remains a moral necessity for the nations of the world. No other democracy flourishes in the Middle East. No other people have employed industry and intellect with such success and in the face of so many odds. Nor has any nation so thoroughly embraced other groups, so readily conferred citizenship to other nationals as the State of Israel.

In 1948, in the midst of attacks from its Arab neighbors, the Israeli founders extended a hand of friendship and a guarantee of citizenship to Arabs living there. They appealed to Arab residents to join in "the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions."

Together in the Face of Danger

This mutual commitment to Western ideals binds us in history, but it also binds us in the new and dangerous challenges we face on the global stage. Western civilization has so much to be proud of – a standard of living that surpasses the rest of the globe; respect for minority rights; personal freedom; and self-governance. But these ideas are under attack. We should be proud to rise up in defense of western civilization and its ideals. We should be proud to defend Israel because she is part of us.

Today, radical terrorists in Iraq and Syria have their targets aimed on both Israel and the United States. The tragic events of Paris and San Bernardino are shattering reminders that we cannot and should not isolate ourselves from the world.

At the same time, Iran's goal of building a nuclear arsenal is approaching the point of no return. Thanks to President Obama's nuclear deal, Iran has been relieved from the shackle of global sanctions, and billions of dollars are pouring into a country that continues to call for "death to America."

In a dangerous actualization of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, we can fully expect Iran to violate this latest deal just as it has violated numerous international agreements in the past. Only a few months ago, in December of last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report stating that Iran has been lying about its nuclear program for years. In the fall of 2015, Iran tested nuclear capable missiles – directly violating U.N. Security resolutions.

The Iran nuclear agreement is so dangerous because of the pretense that underlies it: That a theocratic oligarchy grounded in an all-or-nothing worldview will somehow behave reasonably if international pressure is relieved. The truth is the opposite. An enemy emboldened does not become a friend, only a more dangerous enemy.

As strategic partners and moral cousins, Israel and the U.S. are bonded by a shared history and the prospect of dangerous future. We are brothers in arms, political comrades. We are friends. We are allies. We are each other's hope for a free and safe world where people of all nationalities and all faiths can live without fear. Our mutual hope for security is only possible when we join together in strategic alliances, but also in the moral certainty that our values and our way of life are worth defending.

Pat Toomey is a Republican Senator from Pennsylvania. He can be followed on Twitter @SenToomey