 |
|
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon With its colorful cache of purples and oranges and reds, COLLARD GREEN SLAW is a marvelous mood booster --- not to mention just downright delish
April 18, 2014
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Clarifying one of the greatest philosophical conundrums in theology
John Ericson: Trying hard to be 'positive' but never succeeding? Blame Your Brain
The Kosher Gourmet by Julie Rothman Almondy, flourless torta del re (Italian king's cake), has royal roots, is simple to make, . . . but devour it because it's simply delicious
April 14, 2014
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer: Passover frees us from the tyranny of time
Eric Schulzke: First degree: How America really recovered from a murder epidemic
Georgia Lee: When love is not enough: Teaching your kids about the realities of adult relationships
Gordon Pape: How you can tell if your financial adviser is setting you up for potential ruin
Dana Dovey: Up to 500,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-related liver disease. New Treatment Has Over 90% Success Rate
Justin Caba: Eating Watermelon Can Help Control High Blood Pressure
April 11, 2014
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Silence is much more than golden
Susan Swann: How to value a child for who he is, not just what he does
Susan Scutti: A Simple Blood Test Might Soon Diagnose Cancer
Chris Weller: Have A Slow Metabolism? Let Science Speed It Up For You
April 9, 2014
Jonathan Tobin: Why Did Kerry Lie About Israeli Blame?
Samuel G. Freedman: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Jessica Ivins: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Matthew Mientka: How Beans, Peas, And Chickpeas Cleanse Bad Cholesterol and Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
April 8, 2014
Dana Dovey: Coffee Drinkers Rejoice! Your Cup Of Joe Can Prevent Death From Liver Disease
Chris Weller: Electric 'Thinking Cap' Puts Your Brain Power Into High Gear
April 4, 2014
Amy Peterson: A life of love: How to build lasting relationships with your children
John Ericson: Older Women: Save Your Heart, Prevent Stroke Don't Drink Diet
John Ericson: Why 50 million Americans will still have spring allergies after taking meds
Sarah Boesveld: Teacher keeps promise to mail thousands of former students letters written by their past selves
April 2, 2014
Dan Barry: Should South Carolina Jews be forced to maintain this chimney built by Germans serving the Nazis?
Frank Clayton: Get happy: 20 scientifically proven happiness activities
Susan Scutti: It's Genetic! Obesity and the 'Carb Breakdown' Gene
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Jan. 13, 2006
/ 13 Teves, 5766
An open letter to Germany's chancellor
By
Diana West
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Good morning, Madame Chancellor.
Here you are, Germany's Angela Merkel, on your first trip to Washington, D.C., preparing for your meeting with President Bush. As you look out of your Blair House window over Lafayette Square toward the White House, consider the historicity of the era: the beginning of Mr. Bush's fifth year leading his country, and the beginning of your first year leading your country in the so-called War on Terror. Or is that the War on Guantanamo Bay? I get them confused.
That's because in just about every account of your American trip — biggish news in Europe — it is prominently mentioned that Guantanamo Bay is prominently high on your list of, well, prominent concerns. Trouble spots. Global things you lose sleep over.
This is, with due respect, bizarre. Iran is going nuclear, Europe is going Islamic, Russia is going off the reservation, China is a fearsome thing, and your big concern is sending what is called a "clear message" to Mr. Bush about Guantanamo Bay, the tropical jail where the United States keeps jihadis on ice — and keeps the rest of the world safer as a result. But that's not what you say. "An institution like Guantanamo can and should not exist in the longer term," you told the German news magazine Der Spiegel this week. "Different ways and means must be found for dealing with these prisoners."
I have a suggestion: How about if we ship all these guys — unflushed Korans and all — to Germany? Maybe "72 Virgins" Airlines would cut us a deal. Then you — Germany — can parole them to Lebanon.
That, of course, is just what you did just before Christmas with Muhammad Ali Hammadi, the convicted Hezbollah killer of Petty Officer Robert Dean Stethem. In case you didn't know, Mr. Stethem is one of our American heroes, a courageous young Navy diver who became an early casualty of the war on Islamic terror. In 1985, at age 23, he was beaten to an unrecognizable pulp by Hammadi and his gang, shot through the head and dumped onto a Beirut runway during the Hezbollah hijacking of TWA Flight 847.
But, as his brother Kenneth reminded President Bush in a letter this week posted by Michael Ledeen at National Review Online, "He wouldn't give in to the demands of the terrorists," who wanted him to scream into a transmitter for airplane fuel. "He would not allow the honor and dignity of America to be intimidated by the fear and pain that Hammadi and terrorists everywhere represent."
Such is the Hezbollah terrorist that you, Madame Chancellor, set free. And funny thing: Shortly after, your own German hostage in Iraq, Suzanne Osthoff, was released from captivity. Which is quite a coincidence. But so was the fact that after the hostage-takers said Ms. Osthoff would be killed unless Germany stopped training Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi government announced, according to the news Web site Deutsche Welle, that Iraq would be seeking security training elsewhere. And there was more. Osthoff says Germany paid a ransom to secure her freedom, maybe as much as $5 million, according to a German wire service report translated online by Transatlantic Intelligencer. In other words, despite your refusal to be "blackmailed" over Ms. Osthoff's release, Germany seems to be a country terrorists can do business with — including, very possibly, Robert Stethem's killer, and his Hezbollah masters with Iraqi terror connections.
But doing business with terrorists doesn't buy peace. It just buys more business. I'm guessing that publicly confronting President Bush over Guantanamo is, along these same lines, business as usual — doing jihadists' bidding in a craven bid to spare Germany a 9/11, a 3/11 or a 7/7. It's just a hunch; but it fits a dispiriting pattern of surrender.
Such a pattern never marked Robert Stethem, as his brother's letter reminded the president: "You have truly said that 'We are in a fight for our principles, and our responsibility is to live by them,'" Kenneth Stethem wrote. "Robert lived by them. Robert also died by them. ... I hope that his example, and the example of the other heroes like him, can inspire you to understand why allowing Germany to release Hammadi was a wrong. Justice was not done. Robert was not honored and Americans are not safer by allowing Hammadi to return to Lebanon and Hezbollah."
Of course, Germany isn't safer either, nor is any other Western nation. This is the "clear message" I certainly hope you hear from President Bush.
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 Diana West is a columnist and editorial writer for the Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
Diana West Archives
© 2005, Diana West
|
|
Columnists
Toons
Lifestyles
|
