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May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: 'Noodles,' Asian style is a carb sub, sure. But they are also amazingly delicious and colorful

April 19, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When violence seems the only answer

Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama's visit to Israel had no impact on public opinion or government policy

Morgan Housel: Gold collapse: The start of something big?
Harvard Health Letters: Can you die of a broken heart?

Pete Spotts: Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds

Nora Schultz: Oxytocin helps beat booze cravings

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: Middle Eastern cuisine meets Italian delicious with this lentil and eggplant pastitsio

April 17, 2013

Shira Rubin: Too much of a good thing? 'Palestinians' realize downside of foreign aid boom

Geoffrey Mohan: Can computers decode dreams? Researchers take a first step

Morgan Housel: BAD NEWS: EVERYONE IS RIGHT!
Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 heart-healthy eating tips help cut saturated fat but not taste

Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Told your child has sensory processing disorder? Seek a second opinion

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Corn and Curry Add Zing to Chilled Soup

April 15, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Death of Education?

Kristen Chick: Egyptian Christians respond with harsh words to attack -- rocks, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire -- against main cathedral

Marcy Darnovsky and Karuna Jaggar: High Court to decide if you should own your DNA
Howard LaFranchi: US bracing for more Russian blowback after taking action against 18 more human rights violators

Kristin Ohlson : The loneliest fight

The Kosher Gourmet by Dana Velden: A tasty, rich dish that hints at spring's arrival while still anchored in a favorite winter staple


Jewish World Review Nov. 19, 2007 / 9 Kislev 5768

Is ‘Surrender’ Not an Option?

By Jonathan Tobin



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Bolton memoirs give chilling insight on Iran threat and the path to Annapolis


http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Late in 2006, as the pro-Israel community in Washington was still making its last-ditch efforts to secure John Bolton's confirmation to the post of ambassador to the United Nations, the object of their affection was beginning to change his mind about the post.


The initial attempt to give the job to Bolton had been blocked by hostile members of the Senate, who saw the veteran Washington lawyer and diplomat as too critical of the world body to represent the United States there.


But after a "recess" appointment in August 2005 that allowed him to stay in office until the end of the current congressional session in December 2006, Bolton earned bipartisan applause for his forthright advocacy of America's positions on human rights, Darfur and his ardent support of the U.S.-Israel alliance.


That won him new allies among Democrats when the administration attempted again to have the Senate ratify his appointment. But in the fall of 2006, with the Democrats retaking control of Congress, and with renegade liberal Republicans such as Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island opposing him specifically because of his pro-Israel stands, Bolton was again turned away.

TIME TO LEAVE
At that point, he writes in his new memoir, Surrender Is Not An Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad, the administration considered keeping him in place via another temporary appointment.


But Bolton had had enough and left quietly.


Was it because he was tired of the task of trying to affect change at a place that is a miasma of cynicism, corruption and anti-Semitism?


Not really. A tough-minded man who led the successful fight during the administration of the first president Bush to repeal the "Zionism is Racism" resolution, Bolton doesn't appear to have lost his stomach for rhetorical combat.


But, he writes, the most important reason for getting out was his growing disillusionment with the administration.


"I didn't like the direction of our policy on too many issues, particularly Iran, North Korea and Arab-Israeli issues," he says. Under the ascendancy of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, things would, in his opinion, "only get worse."


That's a sobering reflection from one of George W. Bush's strongest supporters.


This autobiography is not the easiest read. Though the majority of the book's 456 pages are devoted to the United Nations, the author asks us to wade through the details of his early life, as well as his considerable legal, political and diplomatic résumé, before we finally get to the office that put him in the spotlight.


Once there, he does illuminate the problems of a deeply flawed institution. But insightful as it is, his prose does not compare to the wit that characterized two other classic memoirs of life at the United Nations that share Bolton's jaundiced view of the place: William F. Buckley's 1974 United Nations Journal: A Delegates Odyssey and Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 1978 A Dangerous Place.


But to fall short of such a high standard is no disgrace. The comparison is also a reminder that Bolton's brash though effective style in office was nothing less than a direct throwback to Moynihan, who, while serving as America's U.N. ambassador, denounced the passage of "Zionism is Racism," in 1975 by declaring "The United States … does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act."

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Like Moynihan and a later U.N. ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Bolton didn't seek to blend into the culture of the U.N. He was there to challenge it and to try by diplomacy, if possible, but by blunt talk, if necessary, to effect change.


Yet the real value of this book is not so much his contribution to the lengthy body of literature documenting the U.N.'s shameful record, but his unraveling of how the Bush administration has gone wrong on issues such as coping with the threats from Iran and North Korea.


The chief villains in his account are secretaries of state Rice and Colin Powell. During Bush's first term, when Powell was in charge, the drive to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions lost critical ground. Rather than seek to lead our European allies into a coalition that would impose serious sanctions on that Islamic republic, Powell left "the driving to the European Union." That meant years — when Tehran's program was still far from success — were wasted. This convinced the Iranians that nothing would or could stop them.


Even though the threat of an Iran with the nuclear wherewithal to make good on its call for Israel's eradication became even more clear during the watch of Powell's successor, Rice continued on his feckless path. Again, the Euros were allowed to take the lead, which led to delays and more ineffective measures, the implications of which left Bolton "sick."


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Similar foolishness also let the North Koreans off the nuclear hook, a debacle that was made plain by the discovery of their involvement in a Syrian nuclear venture that was quashed by an Israeli raid.


Bolton points out what is by now obvious: "The fact is that Iran will never voluntarily give up its nuclear program, and a policy based on the contrary assumption is not just delusional but dangerous. This is the road to nuclear holocaust."

FEARS CONFIRMED
Another point on which Bolton makes it clear that Rice is failing is the Arab-Israeli conflict. Rice's decision to push recklessly ahead with a summit at Annapolis in the vain hope of advancing America's interests elsewhere in the region is exactly what he feared when he left office a year ago. The fact that the Palestinians are still in the grip of terror movements in the form of Hamas and Fatah, renders discussions with them pointless.


"Given this reality, there is no rationale for the United States to pressure Israel into 'peace agreements' … or to believe that 'dialogue' on such issues will have any material effect on the Middle East's numerous other conflicts," writes Bolton.


The former ambassador dismisses the myth that sacrificing Israel would solve America's problems. "Even if [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad got his fondest wish, and Israel disappeared, these conflicts would continue abated," he concludes.


The author's prescription is to reform the State Department by changing its bureaucratic culture and rejecting its embrace of the "disease" of "moral equivalency" that equates Palestinian terror with Israeli defensive responses. The alternative is a "surrender" to forces that we must vanquish if we are to preserve our civilization.


Rather than change it, Rice has been absorbed by the State Department and the administration's critics. The result is a an America left with a grim choice that as Bolton says "is not between the world as it is today and the use of force. The choice is between the use of force and Iran with nuclear weapons." That is the grimmest possible verdict on the failure of our diplomacy.


It is one that the negotiators at Annapolis later this month — and our representatives at the United Nations and elsewhere — ignore at our peril.

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JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. Let him know what you think by clicking here.

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© 2007, Jonathan Tobin