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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 April 14, 2009 / 20 Nisan 5769

No work here for Mr. Nice Guy

By Wesley Pruden


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Barack Obama doesn't have much time to bask in the success of the Navy's rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama. The pirates vow to inflict brutal vengeance, all to put the fear of Allah into the civilized seafaring nations of the West.


The pirates may be on to something. The early evidence suggests that the president is not necessarily pleased with the implications of the Navy's spectacular feat of small arms.


"We must continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks," the president said Monday.


This is the recipe for delay and dawdling that adds up to timidity in the face of taunting. Any call to the Europeans will, as usual, be a wrong number. A pirate with a sharp knife could behead an entire crew before the president could get a speech programmed into his teleprompter and the diplomats at the United Nations, or whoever Mr. Obama might imagine are our willing "partners," could agree on a resolution urging the pirates to be nice.


The U.N. is already on the case. The Security Council adopted a resolution in December alleging that - are we ready for this? - piracy on the high seas is not nice. If that wasn't enough to frighten a pirate into submission, the vote was ... unanimous! Not only that, the U.N. measure led to the formation of an "action group" of representatives of 28 nations - count 'em, 28 - to coordinate hard-hitting diplomatic, tough legal and harsh military efforts. This was meant to provoke paralyzing fear and uncontrollable trembling in the pirate lair in Somalia, but the boarding of the Maersk Alabama by undaunted brigands followed. Only three well-aimed shots by Navy marksmen ended the confrontation at hand.


Now comes the hard part. The pirates, who have a good thing going, will be tempted to think that Mr. Obama's unaccustomed toughness is a one-time deal, that the usual forces of wimpery at the highest levels of government will soon reassert primacy and further military action will not be kosher. The pirates are counting on the diplomatic option that Mr. Obama is so fond of to miscarry the day. The pirates, illiterate and uneducated, may not know what "diplomats" are, but they are often shrewd judges of men and easily recognize weakness and irresolution when they see it.


U.S. military planners are said to be drawing up an order of battle to take out the pirates' base, presumably in the Somali port of Eyl. Military planners have contingency plans for a lot of things - things like an invasion of Scotland, an assault of Higgins boats on Nova Scotia, a sweep of the brothels of Juarez - that are never going to happen, and a scheme to demolish Eyl and slay the pirates, however well-plotted, must be approved by an enthusiastic president willing to brave the sneers and the scolding of the milk legs in the chanceries of Europe. Most of the security experts agree that the task of eradicating wholesale piracy would be easier if seafaring nations could get their act together, but most agree that it's not likely to happen.


"As long as governments don't come together and defeat it, it goes on like the plague," says Charles Heyman, a one-time British army officer and defense specialist on maritime risks. "People have to be very, very tough on this."


Being "very, very tough" is a lot to ask from a president who frequently says the way to peace and serenity is to curry the good opinion of those who want to kill us, even from a president who gets high marks for his willingness to defer to the professionals in the rescue of Capt. Phillips. But he's already getting advice from the usual suspects at the State Department who urge, as usual, the soft approach in dealing with hard enemies. Their prescription is more groceries for the pirates, not more Navy marksmen.


Any land-based operation would probably be assigned to the U.S. African Command, which sounds a lot more exciting than it is. Africom, as the Pentagon calls it, has no military units. But it does have a lot of bureaucrats from the Departments of State, Treasury and even Health and Human Services (the latter to help pirates applying for Medicaid benefits) at Africom headquarters in Djibouti.


The alternative to "being very, very tough" is to encourage the anarchy on the high seas that was the norm two centuries ago. Mr. Obama has presidential guidance in the precedent established by Thomas Jefferson, who dispatched a naval squadron to clean out the North African bases of the Barbary pirates extorting ransoms from American merchant ships off the coast of Libya. The Somali pirates are even now waiting for his answer.

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

JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor emeritus of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.

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