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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
April 28, 2009
/ 4 Iyar 5769
Contortion a day: Our ever flexible president
By
Paul Greenberg
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
How many Barack Obamas are there, anyway?
One day Monday before last, to be specific President Obama No. 1 is telling the CIA what a terrific job it's doing. He certainly needs to, since morale in those precincts has grown shaky of late, mainly because the president has been doing the shaking.
By now his administration has revealed in detail just how the CIA interrogated high-level al-Qaida types at Guantanamo with, shall we say, less than exquisite tact. The only thing that may have been blacked out was any mention of how effective such techniques proved in preventing more terrorist attacks on these shores.
The president's own director of national intelligence, Admiral Dennis C. Blair, wrote a memo to his staff just the other day noting that "high value information came from interrogations in which these methods were used," but somehow that observation was omitted when his memo was first made public. That omission surely would have been called politicizing intelligence if George W. Bush were still president. But now not even the war on terror is called the war on terror any more but "Man Caused Disasters" and "Overseas Contingency Operations." The newspeak in Washington keeps getting thicker.
It must all be rather demoralizing if you have the misfortune to be a CIA agent in this new tell-all era. And informing the enemy how far the CIA may now go and no further when questioning suspects doesn't make its job any easier, either. Or Americans any safer.
So the president hopped across the river to CIA headquarters at Langley to buck up our terrorist-hunters. And he did. He got cheers from the assembled CIA officers when he told them he was with them all the way. ("I know the last few days have been difficult. You need to know you've got my full support.") His pep talk would have done credit to Knute Rockne at halftime. "You don't get credit when things go good," the president observed, "but you sure get blame when things don't." Truer words were seldom spoken. He said he understands why CIA agents sometimes feel they have to protect the country with one hand tied behind their backs. Of course he does, having done more than his part to tie them.
The president assured all present that he was not going to prosecute those agents who'd waterboarded three top al-Qaida prisoners, and garnered life-saving information in the process. After all, they had every reason to believe they were acting legally and properly. The Justice Department had told them so.
The president, was clear: Those lawyers in the Justice Department who reached conclusions that it's now fashionable to denounce weren't going to be penalized for expressing their honest opinions. A fair and prudent decision on the president's part: Why criminalize legal advice?
If government lawyers are going to be prosecuted for their opinions, you can easily imagine the chilling effect that would have on any government lawyers asked for their counsel in the future. Why risk offering it if you're just going to be prosecuted for it later?
But the Monday of the president's pep talk to the CIA was followed by a Tuesday, as happens with some regularity, and President Obama No. 1 was immediately replaced by President Obama No. 2, who announced that his Justice Department might just prosecute officials in the previous administration after all, including those who had advised the CIA. And who'd concluded it would be legal to use harsh measures when interrogating prisoners who might have valuable information about the next pending terrorist attack on these shores. For prime example, one Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who had organized the 9/11 attacks and boasted of having personally beheaded American reporter Daniel Pearl.
When asked when and where the next series of attacks on this country would take place, a pre-waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, less formally known as KSM, would only say, ominously: "Soon, you will know."
But the post-waterboaded KSM was a different man. He could not have been more cooperative, revealing al-Qaida's plans for a "Second Wave" of assaults that would use "East Asian operatives to crash a hijacked airliner into a building in Los Angeles." A scheme that was duly thwarted, thank goodness. All this is according to one of those revealing Justice Department memos President Obama has just released. But none of that prevented him from accusing Americans of having lost "our moral bearings" during the war on terror.
Within a day, the reasonable President Obama No. 1 had vanished, along with his promise not to start a vendetta against his own intelligence agency. In his place was President Obama No. 2, who was now washing his hands of the whole touchy question of whether to prosecute officials of the previous administration. Passing the buck to his Justice Department, he now explained that such a decision was not his responsibility; he's only president. Knute Rockne had suddenly been replaced by Pontius Pilate.
Would the real Barack Obama stand up, if there is one? Is he the stalwart leader who appeared at Langley to give his "full support" to the country's hard-pressed and much-maligned intelligence agents? Or is he just a bystander who's going to leave the really tough questions to his attorney general, or maybe the more vendetta-minded members of his party in Congress?
The CIA agents he'd bucked up the day before must have been feeling let down 24 hours later and awfully alone. They've been left to wonder how long before indictments, or at least congressional inquisitors, appear at their door.
Harry Truman used to have a sign on his desk that said The Buck Stops Here. This president is passing it like the salt and pepper. Or at least Barack Obama No. 2 is while No. 1 has disappeared.
What does Barack Obama really think, or does he just reflect the opinion of whatever audience he's addressing at the time, whether at Langley or in the leftier reaches of his own party?
There are times, like now, when our still new but not quite as young, and no longer quite as thrilling, president seems just a slighty confused, wavering young man out of his depth. Here's hoping he can decide just which Barack Obama he is, and soon. Before it gets any later. Our challenges in this dangerous world do not grow less, nor our enemies any kinder.
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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