Bibi’s Choice
Only morally serious people like Prime Minister Netanyahu can make the tough decisions that can save Israel from disaster. (Also read Claudia Rosett: Ahmadinejad’s Real Reason for Denying the Holocaust?)
Benyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu has a fearful choice to make today, like Sophie in William Styron’s novel Sophie’s Choice (made into a movie with Meryl Streep). The young Sophie of Styron’s novel was forced to choose which of her two young children were to be murdered in a Nazi concentration camp.
I have known real Sophies in my life, among Holocaust survivors. They were literally forced to choose which toddlers to save from death and to single out those who could not be saved. The Nazis sent an estimated 1.2 million Jewish children to be killed in concentration camps, along with thousands of Gypsy and handicapped children.
Those choices scarred all the Jews who were forced to be involved for the rest of their lives. The nation of Israel was created by all the Sophies and Benyamins of a previous generation to make sure there would be a real choice if another Hitler ever rose again. Today, Ahmadinejad armed with nukes is about as close to Hitler and the Nazi killing camps as can be imagined.
So the moment for which the nation of Israel was founded has come.
Bibi’s choice is deeply understood by all Israelis across the political spectrum. His defense minister, Ehud Barak, may disagree on a hundred political issues, but not on this one. Barak’s military and family background is almost exactly the same as Bibi’s.
Bibi’s choice is either to destroy the danger from Ahmadinejad and his fellow Armageddon cultists in Tehran before they get a nuclear bomb, or to hide his head in the sand in the hope that every screamed threat from the Tehran regime for the last three decades was only a bluff. The bluff theory is clung to by wishful liberals around the world, including those in the Obama administration. But their necks are not on the line — not yet. The United States will not be within range of Iranian nukes and missiles for several years.
Liberals are evasive by nature; they dodge all the difficult moral questions and love to beat up on real adults who have to face them. They are moral cowards.
When Jimmy Carter allowed Ayatollah Khomeini to take over Iran in 1979, our diplomats in Tehran were taken hostage for almost a year. That humiliation was enough to defeat Jimmy Carter and bring Ronald Reagan to the presidency. But in the Iran-Iraq war that followed, a million people died. Jimmy Carter still denies any responsibility for that calamity. But had Carter supported the pro-American Shah, a million Iranians and Iraqis would still be alive. Presidents have to face such choices.
Americans have never held Jimmy Carter accountable for his ignorance, arrogance, and moral cowardice. Jimmy can still twist the history of his administration and most people won’t know the difference. After all, Iran and Iraq are so far away. More Americans know about American Idol contestants than about Iran’s Armageddon cult.
But that fact is about to change.
With the North Koreans exploding a Hiroshima-sized nuclear bomb, the American homeland will soon be in reach of rogue nuclear regimes run by madcap dictators. Long before the end of the Obama administration we will be facing a realistic prospect of nuclear attack, either by missile, or by intercontinental airplanes, or by other means like some innocent-looking shipping freighter with a nuclear bomb on board. The Iranians will have a nuclear bomb in one to three years. They already have long-range missiles, and they will soon be intercontinental in range. North Korea sells nuclear and missile technology to Iran and Syria. Venezuela and Bolivia are selling uranium to Iran. Nuclear proliferation has not been halted. Rather, it is accelerating as more and more murderous rogue regimes get more powerful weapons.
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James Lewis is a scientist by trade, and carps as a hobby about the passing parade of human fraud and folly.
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34 Comments
1. WhyamInotsurprised?:Very good piece Mr. Lewis.
As for why the public is asleep at the wheel, I attribute it to several things that have coalesced to make the perfect storm:
Blame our ridiculously inept public education system
Blame the undying efforts of communists to subvert the systems of our government, including education
Blame the republican glory over the fall of the Soviet Union. This did not mean the death of communism, only a state.
Blame the co-opting of the democrat party by the far left
Blame the leaders of our country for placing self above country
Finally, blame the electorate, those few who actually vote, for electing a bunch of selfish, greedy idiots whose planning horizon was only the next election.
Israel is at “point” for the world and will no longer take the first bullet fired in anger. Anyone who condemns them for taking “preemptive” action is an idiot, ignorant, or both.
Our Dear Leader is delaying or ignoring existing contracts for military purchases by Israel (sound familiar?), while promising its’ enemies to provide them with the tools to “defend” themselves. This is black comedy. A lot of people will have a rude awakening one day soon when they realize they have been living in a dreamworld where they can be “cool” for opposing war, condemning the military, and electing a thug to be our President. Seems like Israel (the Jews) and the world are doomed to repeat history because humanity is ignorant about the existence of evil. Hope is that history raises the right men/women who are up to these dire challenges and are willing to fight the good fight for those who are too stupid to care.
Jun 4, 2009 - 3:27 am 2. davidingeorgia:Godspeed to the Israelis who are truly the world’s only hope in this matter. I hope they can pull it off if they try it.
At least Obama’s climbing into bed with the Muslims who want Israel destroyed might help accomplish one thing – that is, make the choices clearer to the Israelis since they should be able to clearly see that he’s going to throw them under the bus anyway, whether they “behave” themselves or not.
I’m not hopeful this will turn out well (well = anything short of utter catastrophe), however it plays out. The Iranian nuke program is now much more well-dispersed throughout the country and hardened to a fair-the-well. It should have been reduced to so many smoking holes in the ground years ago, but the “war monger” Bush had his spine removed about halfway through his term in office. The guy in the office now doesn’t have one to remove, at least not where standing up to America’s real enemies is concerned (he stands up to American citizens who don’t kiss up to him just fine, it seems).
Jun 4, 2009 - 3:48 am 3. Adina Kutnicki,Israel:Wow, and double wow. Straight talk from a non-delusional writer. Not surprised at all that he is a scientist by trade. Most logical thinkers-scientists/engineers-do not suffer fools lightly.
That being said, as little expectations that I generally have in the capability of Israel’s leaders to think outside the box, on the issue of Iran they appear surprisingly on the same page.
That page is clear – Israel will NOT allow its people to be obliterated in a second Holocaust.Even though its leaders have a (dangerous) penchant for delusional thinking, they understand that the mullahs mean what they say.
Hence, the clock is indeed ticking…..
Jun 4, 2009 - 4:43 am 4. Carl:“Can you hear the clock ticking?”
BOOM!!
Jun 4, 2009 - 4:52 am 5. Another Chuck:Game over America. You lose.
Here’s an alternate theory which takes us to the same place only more slowly. Israel is more useful to Iran alive than dead. Israel gives Iran something to lead and unite the Muslim world against. After Iran has made itself the regional superpower, dominating all the mid-east, then it can deal with those pesky Jews. As for nukes, they make Iran unattackable while it pursues its imperial project in safety. It’s a cat& mouse game, assuming Israel is willing to keep playing the mouse.
Anyway, that’s my theory.
Jun 4, 2009 - 5:09 am 6. Old Soldier:Dempsey Liberal politicians never mean what they say. Does anyone think Obama meant it when he promised fiscal responsibility and tax-cuts? Lying is as natural to them as breathing.
The problem is that Obama believes tyrants like Ahmadinejad are also lying to the idiot masses. I, and the Israelis, have no reason to believe Ahmadinejad is lying when he threatens Israel. He is a radical religious zealot and life-long enemy of the west and is now close to having the ultimate weapon with which to wage holy war.
Why wouldn’t he use it? So what if the Israeli nuclear counter-strike kills millions of Iranians?
Israel is the front line of a war between freedom and tyranny.
Jun 4, 2009 - 5:40 am 7. "progressive"watch:Good little smiling Jimmy,not only Iran but four other major world trouble spots go directly back to his colossal ignorance and arrogance,which like the trouble spots we still have with us. He is a prime example of liberals being moral cowards. This moral cowardice is the reason that liberal are unable to answer real moral questions and flounder in relativism.
Barak Obama is one of these moral cowards claiming the moral high-ground and is “ego-tripping,” and his ego knows no bounds.
Israel might be able to defend itself,in spite of Barak Obama,although for him Israel does not exist outside his ego. All Israel is on a suiside mission.
Not only is the clock ticking for Isarel,it is ticking for America,us. Besides the Israeli clock,we have the Obama clock ticking,and we don’t have long on it either.
Jun 4, 2009 - 6:12 am 8. njcommuter:We can also blame the media, and we can blame parents who left the teaching of history, politics, and their moral dimension to the schools. And, sadly, the blame falls first, if not heaviest, on The Greatest Generation.
Jun 4, 2009 - 6:48 am 9. uburoisc:Pithy Carl, you are too ineffectual to even make even the smallest contribution to a conversation. Lazy, glib, and stupid is no way to go through life, son. The right formulation is: BOOM, game over Iran and BOOM, game over North Korea.
Jun 4, 2009 - 6:52 am 10. seven:Cowards of the left. GHW Bush removed Iraq from Kuwait. To honor the coard UN wishes to not go rather and take out saddam, he left the gulf war. His son had to do what dad did not finish. I am 100% convinced we would never have gone back to iraq if we had finished the deed with Hussein the first encounter. cockroaches need boundaries. If Israel doesn’t act decisively, it will be nastier later and more work. The also need to evacuate the country including the west bank and Gaza from musslims. They can go live in Jordan or elswhere.
Jun 4, 2009 - 7:21 am 11. The Wizard:You can’t reach a middle ground and peace with a grizzly bear.
God bless Irael. Obama has turned his back on our only ally in the Middle East – why? Because he prescribes to world domination by the Muslim and Islamic world.
Obama is a traitor to the United States of America and to the free countries of the world. He needs to be impreached.
Jun 4, 2009 - 7:43 am 12. Carl:Re: 9. uburoisc:
You must mean for Benyamin Netanyahu to take Iran and North Korea out. No one in your political party is going to do it.
That is the way it has been since May 15th, 1948. While the rest of the world is speechless and frozen with fear Israel fixes the problem. Nothing has changed.
What defines “contributing to the conversation” here? Slinging slop accomplishes nothing.
Jun 4, 2009 - 8:07 am 13. Another Chuck:NJ,
“Greatest generation” How so?
Jun 4, 2009 - 8:36 am 14. Jerry:The “right” decision for Bibi is take out the nuclear capacity of Iran. However, there are consequences that can devastate Israel following the righteous act. Iran’s Shia population will hold a grudge forever. Please recall that Shia belief is premised on losing the fight for who would replace Mohammed on his death. To this day Iranians beat themselves bloody on the anniversary of that defeat. That Jews lived in Persia prior to the advent of Islam (Book of Esther) will mean nothing. No Jew will be able to safely set foot there again. Because Israel will have to live with eternal Iranian hostility, it is preventing the proper action.
It may be that Israel, having been told by the United States not to bomb Iran, will have consequences devolve upon them at the UN. The United States may use the attack as reason to withdraw all support. It would be an easy spin.
Each time Israel has gone to war, it has required a resupply of armament that was used. The United States may simply refuse to resupply anything. That would leave Israel with only its atomic weapons standing between it and oblivion.
Finally, Israelis are off-handed about their war experiences on the face of it, but even if they survive the conflicts, they become traumatized, hurting family life or even preventing its inception. If a substantial portion of their population is missing, gone, lost, dead, or non-functional, they will be forced to withdraw from Judea and Samaria (West Bank), bringing them less, not more, security.
Frankly, it is the rest of the world that needs to stand up to the menace of Iranians inclined to seek broader hegemony. Failure on the part of Russia to join the West is the most anomolous situation and is premised on the short-term gain of trade with Iran. Russia’s true long-term interest lies in reducing the power of triumphalist Islam. They are facing Israel’s situation in spades. Their country is enormous and they are losing indigenous population. Western Europe chose to import Muslims from their former colonies to fill in the societal holes, but Russia will never make such a choice, being as xenophobic as they are. Vodka alone may not have the power to kill Russia; vodka and invasive Islam may be able to do the job.
Jun 4, 2009 - 8:57 am 15. Sibyl:Israel must now come to the rescue of the USA.
Jun 4, 2009 - 9:49 am 16. RV:Good job placing lots of blame on Carter, while leaving out all the little tidbits, like how our CIA helped overthrow Iran’s democratically elected leader who was, my goodness, trying to westernize the country! Oh, and Carter botched it on Iran, but I noticed you decided to leave out the major amount of support and friendship that Reagan gave to Saddam, even while he was gassing his own people.
Jun 4, 2009 - 9:58 am 17. karlstro1:Excellent. I agree totally and we must defend Israel at all cost. Obama is playing a foolish and very dangerous game. His lack of experience will cost a lot of lives while he plays Hollywood and tangos the night away. I just find it so hard to believe that he has no regard for history and the lessons you can learn from it.
Jun 4, 2009 - 10:57 am 18. Jerry:Re RV # 16: So what if you make good points! So what is you are right! It does not remove one iota of responsibility from Carter’s shoulders. Diversion of arguments is good in a debate, but I sure would not want to be responsible for getting anything done in this world if diversion was the only path my thinking could take. Carter was the POTUS, but was not up to the position by dint of his personal inclinations, including but not limited to inability to make decisions in a timely fashion, fundamentalist and unbending beliefs that interferred with flexible thinking, willingness to sell his soul to the Saudis for money, and poor economics background.
Obama seems similar in his application of principles of belief in the face of nasty facts that would be off-putting to a more flexible person. Either Obama is blind to the facts of economics or he wants the coming debacle to take place. The multi-trillion dollar debt will never be overcome once it is acquired. Perhaps we should read more about the Cloward-Piven maneuver, where massive obligations of government cannot be met and so instigate a people’s revolution, violence and all.
Jun 4, 2009 - 11:43 am 19. Paul -Indiana:I think that Israel will not only attack the nuke sites, but will also strike at the leading Mullahs. Israel can’t hope to get all the development sites, but with enough of the insane leaders vaporized, there will be some breathing room.
Jun 4, 2009 - 12:04 pm 20. Brian Richard Allen:“” The North Koreans exploded a “Hiroshima-sized bomb” on May 25. “”
Good piece except for that one, important, point of departure.
Should read: The North Koreans announced they’d exploded a “Hiroshima-sized bomb,” on May 25.
But they did no such thing.
And they did the world a favor, to boot.
The explosion was equivalent to around four kilotons — or about one third that of the Hiroshima bomb.
The poor result revealed to the world that their “weapons grade” plutonium, is of such poor quality that in order to have increased the explosive force of their first bomb, which was about 0.5 kilotons, they were required to pack several tons of very high-density explosives around the plutonium and have contained all of that in and extra heavy and thick shell.
That they cannot produce high-quality weapons-grade plutonium at this stage of the game, after years of trying, indicates that they likely never will. Certainly not in the foreseeable future. And to have employed the methods they had to in order to have increased the force of their bomb from half a kiloton to the about four kilotons this one measured, the whole thing likely weighed in at around fifteen thousand pounds.
And, given that their missiles to date have proven unable to deliver even their second stage beyond a relatively few mile, let alone a payload of seven tons, the much-vaunted North Korean “bomb” will have to be delivered by ship. And even a clinically-Narcissistic sail-eared simpleton empty-galabia glove-puppet posing as a training-wheels fuhrer can have one of his brownshirt gangs keep an eye out for North Korean boats.
And meanwhile the North Korean “Missile Threat” will be but the delusional fantasy of Kim Jong-il.
Brian Richard Allen
Jun 4, 2009 - 12:10 pm 21. Snake eater:Los Angeles Califobambicated 90028
And the Far Abroad
The shame of this is that the IAF will have to do the job the USAF and USN should have done years ago. Our global hegemony has been cowed and eroded by the moral cowardice, political opportunism, and outright anti Americanism of the left in this country. Thanks to them and now Obama the Jews are going to have to make the world safe for the Americans. Go Bibi!
Jun 4, 2009 - 3:32 pm 22. Mike2:Why is any of this a surprise to any one? Did no one hear Obama say to the crowds in Berlin, “we are the ones we have been waiting for”? And didn’t people understand what he was saying? And haven’t people seen that anti-Semitism has become one of the tenets of the far left world wide? Hasn’t everyone seen the unholy alliance between the far left and the Muslim extremists that had been developing the last few decades?
Israel and Jews world wide are in for some very rough times. But, remember, many have tried to destroy God’s people and all have failed. They will fail this time too because God’s promises are eternal and unchanging.
Jun 4, 2009 - 4:04 pm 23. DoubleTapper:Obama is on a clear mission. To Islamitize the USA and destroy Israel.
How is this a surprise to anyone other then the most delusional of his most liberal followers?
DoubleTapper
Jun 4, 2009 - 10:20 pm 24. Tim Marshall. London:DoubleTapper@gmail.com
DoubleTapper, blogging on
Guns Politics Defense from Israel
Agree on the choice – but not ‘today’. Obama says he’ll have to deal with it ‘in his 1st term’ – there are several technological red lines still to be crossed before its too late. Now – what if Bibi Twittered?
Jun 5, 2009 - 2:13 am 25. Suztours:http://blogs.news.sky.com/foreignmatters
While everyone is “blaming” the lack of good education, lack of parental responsibility in teaching their children the truth, lack of American resolve, etc. etc. etc., let’s stop the “blame game” and actually start doing something!
We can start by changing the American education system which follows the leftist NEA, promoting bad teachers and higher salaries for those who spout anti-American, pro-Islamic, pro-leftist rhetoric. Cut out the NEA and hire teachers that promote America and American values… that would, at least, be a start.
Jun 5, 2009 - 3:23 am 26. WhyamInotsurprised?:#24 Suztours – I see, it is that simple. Just cut out the NEA! That is a novel idea. I’m sure no one has thought about that.
You show your ignorance by that statement. When someone points out (blames education) it is understood to be the unions that are the problem. But it is not that simple, you don’t just “cut them out.” Unless of course you invest in private education or home school, both of which liberals and Democrats are fighting against, i.e. vouchers.
I still waiting for a solution smart ass! Give us details, not a wish.
Jun 5, 2009 - 4:21 am 27. WhyamInotsurprised?:#14 Jerry – I like what you write but have one small nit to pick. You say that Bibi and Israel would suffer “consequences” because “Iran’s Shia population will hold a grudge forever.” Really? So what? That situation exists today without a nuke attack. So the consequences are not an issue because they will exist with or without an attack.
Israel should, as they always have, be wise and sneaky, in strategy and planning in pulling off their own self defense. Bibi is the right man for the job. God bless him and the country of Israel against the Satan of the middle east.
Jun 5, 2009 - 4:31 am 28. Paul M Hupf:The clock is ticking! The President is simple minded and naive in believing that his position (ill defined, if defined at all) expressed in his speeches will change the mind of Ahmadinejad, Putin, Chavez or any other tyrant. They encourage him to gain time. Obama appears to be ignorant of the events leading up to WWII. Appeasement of Hitler only encouraged Hitler. Israel must not be sacrificed nor will its sacrifice, if that occurs, achieve anything different than the sacrifice of Czechoslovakia at Munich in 1938. It is very doubtful that Israel will acquiesce in any solution which threatens its sovereignty. And if not what then? Continuing the analogy of Munich; what followed was the invasion of Poland. And what followed the invasion of Poland was WWII, with the loss of millions of lives, devastation, famine and ruin. The United States no longer has the luxury of being beyond reach. Militant Islam is within our borders and the capacity to deliver long range atomic missiles, if not yet in the hand of potential enemies, will soon be. If President Obama does not recognize the stupidity of his position; if he thinks he can by ambigous speeches deter Ahmadinejad, he is playing with fire and gravely jeopardizing Israel, Western Europe and the very country, the United States of America, he has sworn under oath to defend.
Jun 5, 2009 - 11:41 am 29. Brian:I tried very hard for Mccain to win.I wrote a pretty good piece about AL-quaida and how they have “demonized” american leadership.I thought it wouldve been a no brainer for most americans.But that was not the case.Now these american idol worshippers will have to face reality in the real world whether they like it or not.
Jun 5, 2009 - 3:33 pm 30. no name:America is indeed a right of center country.This is why the Islamic world hates america ,being christian and all.This is why commies and socialists hate america,even though some were born here.Brainwashed by leftist educational institutions.Well their leftist ideology didnt work on me.An ideology that believes in nothingness is doomed to fall on its face.This is why i say the left lied to me.Go figure, a teenager was able to see right through their bullshit ,28 years ago.Even now,my family sees through it too.
mr. lewis, you asked “can you hear the clock ticking” sir you have sorely over estimated the intelligence of the amerikan public. they can hardly think, let alone think critically. and then you expect them to be able to tell time also? what need have idiots of watches? amerikans cannot and will not think beyond their ABC’S -airconditioning,booze,and color t.v. mess with any of those three and you just might get someones attention until then forget it! case in point- Venezuela- when their t.v. stations were shut down then,and only then,did the public get angry and take to the streets. sir think about it,in a truly hedonistic society devoid of any and all morals, when mediocrity and irresponsibility are the preferred and accepted norm can and will we ever recover our great nation? America of old is in the toilet,the coriolis effect has taken hold and the public is to stupid to comprehend that the handle has been pushed down. Israel must face the fact that she now stands alone. amerika on the other hand must face the coming wrath of gods’ anger. in closing, keep this always in mind, don’t ever under estimate the stupidity of the amerikan public.
Jun 5, 2009 - 4:51 pm 31. no name:22. mike2 well put. let those who comprehend pray for the peace
Jun 5, 2009 - 5:00 pm 32. Danny:of Israel!
RV, firstly Mossadeq wasn’t democratically elected and he wasn’t the leader of Iran. That would be the Shah.
Secondly, the amount of aid that the US gave to Sadam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war is insignificant. Maybe you are confusing the US with the USSR and France? The people the US was arming – via Israel – were the Iranians. So almost exactly wrong.
Finally, even if what you said was true – which it isn’t – that doesn’t absolve Carter of blame for what he did. No Carter = No Iranian revolution = no Iran-Iraq war = no invasion of Kuwait = no US presence in Saudia Arabia = no founding of Al-Qaeda. Oh and did anyone mention the setup where the funding of the Mujahedin in Afghanistan was controlled by the ISI and Saudia Arabia was decided by Carter? And that he let Pakistan get away with stealing enrichment technology which then was sold to North Korea and Iran – amongst other hot spots.
Jun 6, 2009 - 12:05 pm 33. Chas N-B:This is such a great article. I hope – and believe – that Bibi will make the right choice.
Jun 7, 2009 - 6:13 am 34. Will:A great article. Wake up America!!!!!
Jun 7, 2009 - 4:04 pm