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May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

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


Jewish World Review January 26, 2009 / 1 Shevat 5769

Justice delayed: This could get interesting

By Paul Greenberg


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It took years of wrangling, negotiation, rebuffs and reconsiderations, majority and minority opinions, and general bad feelings. But at last Congress, the courts and the chief executive had come up with a way to redesign the traditional military commissions to deal with the challenge presented by illegal combatants in this new, asymmetrical war on and with terror.


Now, on his first day in the Oval Office, with a stroke of the pen on an executive order, a new president and commander-in-chief has made it clear what he thinks should be done about that whole, long laborious process: Forget it.


The military commissions now have been canceled, or at least suspended. The detention center at Guantanamo will be shut down by presidential order. How simple it all turned out to be.


Too simple. Just closing Guantanamo was always the easy part. That was the goal of the previous administration, too, which sought to achieve it over the years by releasing, relocating, repatriating and generally diminishing the number of prisoners held there — despite the objections of those crying Rendition!


The now former administration continued to move prisoners out of Gitmo even as some of those released have had to be recaptured on the battlefield or have been caught in new terror plots. See the curious case of Said Ali al-Shihri, a Saudi freed from Guantanamo only to emerge as deputy leader of al-Qaida in Yemen. He's now a suspect in the deadly bombing of the U.S. Embassy there.


By now Guantanamo's prison population has been reduced from 775 to 245. But those detainees who remain include the hardest cases. And governments in their home countries may be too savvy to accept many of them.


How to deal with the ringleaders who freely admit their guilt, and even insist on "martyrdom," at least in their public statements and pleadings? What's to be done with them when there is no offshore prison in which to house them?


Shall the Khalid Sheikh Mohammeds be turned over to ordinary criminal courts in this country, with all rights and privileges appertaining thereto, and the government proceed to stage a whole new series of circus trials like that of Zacarias Moussaoui over the next couple of years or decades? Or shall it seek willing executioners abroad? Or just forget the whole thing and hope for the best? Once Guantanamo is shuttered, what's the country to do about these clear and present dangers?


The Hon. Barack Obama's answer: Nothing. At least for now. Close Guantanamo but not yet. Do it in a year. Our own Mr. Micawber, he seems confident something will turn up. For now his decision can best be described as no decision. Call it justice delayed, which as usual is justice denied. Not just for the prisoners but for the survivors of September 11th, which properly should include the whole country and civilized world.


In place of justice, Counselor and President Obama has granted a continuance. One begins to discern how he perceives his place in presidential history — not as the great dissenter from the previous administration but the Great Temporizer. When in doubt, order a high-level study, which now is to be undertaken in the cases of the government's most prominent guests at Hotel Gitmo.


Happily, the United States stands on the verge of a strategic victory in Iraq, which finally has a legal government of its own and a status-of-forces treaty that limits American responsibility for terrorists/suspects taken prisoner there. There is no longer a full-scale, raging war to deal with on that front, however dangerous and uncertain the fortunes of war remain there and certainly in Afghanistan.


Thanks to the previous occupant of the White House, the vision of a general named David Petraeus, and the devotion and self-sacrifice of those in uniform and out who have been defending this country for the past eight years, Guantanamo has stopped filling up and is now emptying. But even after all these years, the hard cases there have not grown any easier.


It was a good photo-op, this brave new president's signing that executive order closing Guantanamo, but is it good policy, or even a policy at all? For this presidential decision won't have to be put into effect for a year, and, by then, who knows what new executive orders will be needed to reverse the old? To sum up this president's non-policy: When in doubt, appoint a Cabinet-level study commission.


At the same time, the new president is moving to treat all the illegal combatants being held at Guantanamo as legal ones, that is Prisoners of War under the Geneva Conventions, even if that body of law specifically excludes those who do not follow the laws of war.


The legal line between honorable warriors and those who arrange for passenger planes to crash into skyscrapers with all too predictable and ghastly results may have just been erased. Or maybe not. It's not always easy to tell with our new president. Never fear: If he appears untested, he soon will be. Doing away with deterrents like military commissions will help assure that much.


Let's hope all this doesn't get too interesting, remembering that hope is no substitute for vigilance. The president and commander-in-chief who just left office managed to defend this country for 2,686 days without a successful terrorist attack on these shores. It's a streak that needs to remain unbroken.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Send your comments by clicking here.

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