You Tell 'Em Mr. President!

In one of his first foreign policy moves, President Obama told the Islamic world, specifically the bad guys, “the Americans are not your enemy.” Thank you, Mr. President, for clearing that up. I'm glad we got that straight. Do you think any one was listening?

I have a question for the President, "What are you going to do when its clear that the Islamic world isn't listening, tell them again?"

An what will you do when the next wave of attacks occurrs on American soil or against American interests? Will you keep the pressure up until the terrorists want to talk or will you give them time to regain strength while we talk and they catch their breath?

I think asking the terrorists to talk is a noble idea, but do you think its effective against an enemy who's belief system doesn't allow bargaining with their faith? Negotiating takes two active participants, otherwise its called a monologue. If you're interested in giving a monologue I'd rather listen to Jerry Seinfeld.

Open Letter to the Leaders of Congress

To the Speaker of the House and he Senate Majority Leader:

You lead this country at an historic time. We face a deep depression, fight two wars far from our borders, and are unpopular with many abroad. How do you repair the "American" brand? President Obama is open to addressing problems in new ways and has promised the change we need. How are you going to work with him to solve the challenges facing this country?

Yes. You're going to have to work with the President. Last time I checked, the President was the acknowledged leader of the country.

I hope you're going to look forward and address the problems of the future rather than what you interpret as the problems of the last eight years. This talk of investigation the Bush Presidency to see if he broke the law is foolish. You will never uncover the evidence necessary to do what you want. You have bigger problems to tackle. Put aside your petty personal grievances and get today's job done.

And you have little time to accomplish this monumental list of work. History shows (I hope you're a student of history) Presidencies that start with a legislative majority soon lose that convenience at the mid term election. I think it has to do with the normal dissatisfaction we feel with the Presidency (why would anyone ever want that job?). So get to work. I'm surprised you haven't finalized the Economic Stimulus Bill, yet. What are you waiting for?

Sincerely,

AJ

P.S. Don't you think its a little greedy to take an automatic pay raise this year when economic times are so tough? Why don't you repeal that one and save us some money.

What do you see?

This weekend, Hamas agreed to a one-week cease fire in the latest battle of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. I was reading several articles about the conflict and wondering at the Israeli's restraint.

What do I mean? Imagine yourself in a country surrounded on three sides by enemies. Israel is surrounded by Hezbollah in south Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the Fatah controled West Bank, Gaza (controlled by Hamas) and Egypt. Hezbollah is backed financially and militarily by Iran. Iran on its own wants Israel to be a smoking hole in the ground, but finds it more convenient to pay Hezbollah to fight its battle. Hamas gets military and financial help too from the Sunni branch of the Arab world. The only truely friendly neighbor is the Mediteranean Sea.

So imagine yourself sitting in the middle of this snake pit and one of your neighbors considers it their 'right' to indiscriminately lob rockets into your country. Please note, these rockets aren't aimed at military targets. The target is Israel, so like a good jihadist all you need to do it aim in an easterly direction and fire.

Israel is willing to negotiate with Hamas. Hamas was negotiating with Israel via Egypt. At the same time, Hamas sanctioned continued rocket attacks. Hamas is both the government of Gaza and a terrorist group.

So what do you do?

There is no way Israel can stop the rocket attacks directly. Israel already tried to negotiate and that just wasn't working. Israel's only real hope if to make the situation in Gaza so dire that the Palestinian people sue for peace. They made a good start of it, but I don't think they've gone far enough. The Hamas leadership does not have the self restraint to stop the rocket attacks. Only when the Palestinian people living in Gaza decry 'Enough!' will Hamas find the capacity to stop. And if they don't stop they may just find themselves alone in the street where the people used to welcome them indoors.

I don't believe that the indiscriminate killing of civilians is right however, Israel has shown restraint and was taken advantage of by Hamas. The law of war, yes, the law of war, says that both sides must comply. If one commits a barbarous act, then his enemy is allowed to retaliate.

Hamas is pushing the conflict towards total war. I think Israel is better equiped to wage a total war. Hamas may just die for their beliefs. I hope it doesn't come to that. I hope there is some sense in Hamas. We shall see.