Taliban Leader Warns Obama: "The Flames of this Fire will Blow Up on Washington"

from Gateway Pundit

But, what about hope and change?
There is no terror threat. It's Bush's fault. Bush is the warmonger.
You're not supposed to threaten Obama.
That's not in the script.

Mullah Omar and the Taliban have released a letter to Barack Obama prior to Inauguration. The Islamist leaders already warned Obama to cut-&-run or face the consequences. MEMRI provided the translation:

In advance of Barack Obama’s upcoming inauguration as U.S. President, the Taliban in Afghanistan led by Mullah Omar have released an open letter. Entitled "An Open Letter to the White House from the Peaks of Tora Bora," the letter notes that Obama has created history by becoming the first African American to control the White House.

The letter, dated December 27, 2008, urges him to create another history by accepting Islam. The letter was issued by Maulawy Anwarulhaq Mujahid, whose designation reads as the Chief of the Tora Bora Battlefield. It was simultaneously published in Pashtu, Urdu and English languages on the Pashtu language website, www.toorabora.com.

Following are some excerpts from the letter translated from the Urdu version:

"As Long as Baitul Muqaddas Remains in a State of Occupation, Israel and its Supporters will not Remain in Peace"

"President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama!

"First of all, you must know that protection from the wretchedness in the world and the fire of Hell is only available in Islam. Islam is the only religion that guarantees success in this world and in the Hereafter.

"You are the first black in the U.S. history who has established control on the White House; you should also cause one more addition to the U.S. history by becoming the first president to accept the Truth and by adopting the true faith of Islam....

"Do you know that your nation has been pushed into a war against such an Ummah that is like a single body; there is a beginning to this war, but there is no end.

"America thinks that an attack on an Islamic country is just an attack on a single country; this view is wrong; this is why the war has been longer than your expectation, supplies [to troops] have been more than estimated, and loss [of soldiers’ lives] several times more than you thought of. This is not our claim; it is accepted by [George] Bush....

"The people voted you because they expect that you will restore the status of America [that was lost during George Bush’s times], that you will restore the deteriorating U.S. economy and peace; and you will free their beloved children from this war. You can gauge from this how dangerous waves have drowned the Americans that in order to find salvation they are trying to catch every weak straw.

"If you want to keep all your promises to your nation, to give the Americans humanity instead of savagery, peace instead of war, and a successful economy instead of poverty, you should quickly declare the policies of the U.S. and [George] Bush as false."

"Immediately, Withdraw all Troops from Afghanistan and Other Islamic Nations"

"Immediately, withdraw all your troops from Afghanistan and other Islamic nations, apologize to the oppressed nations and own up the responsibility for all of their losses.

"Every incident has a cause and until these causes are eliminated, no incident can be prevented [against the U.S.]. The 9/11 attacks in the U.S. and all attacks have some or the other causes. In order to bring peace to your nation and benefits to America, you should try to find and eliminate these causes; which is about America’s failed policy on Israel. Israel is a source of mischief and conflict not only for the Middle East but for the entire world.

"The U.S.’s support to Israel can prove to be costly for the U.S. It will be the extreme folly to consider the issue of Baitul Maqdis [Jerusalem] as a problem of Palestine or the Arab world alone; it is the issue of the entire Islamic Ummah. As long as Baitul Muqaddas remains in a state of occupation, Israel and its supporters will not remain in peace... You know that Israel has always attempted to demolish the Baitul Muqaddas and it is trying even now to pull down the Baitul Muqaddas from different sides; and in such a situation supporting Israel will be a challenge and an offer of war to the Islamic Ummah whose dreadful consequences can be seen.

"Barack Obama!

"... [We have] heard that you have decided to withdraw your troops from Iraq. To end others’ freedom, to trample upon their rights, to make people cry, to kill them and destroy their countries, [these] can call the world against the United States.

"You should also take a similar decision about Afghanistan; as soon as possible withdraw your troops from our beloved nation. Perhaps you have not studied carefully the geographic location of Afghanistan.... It is impossible that Afghanistan will be subdued by [your decision to] send more troops. Do not take wrong steps like those of [George] Bush; otherwise the results will be similar...."


"Situations like Those in Helmand and Fallujah will Visit in the Cities Like New York and Washington"

"You have technological [Sic.] enemies here [in Afghanistan] who can never bear your occupation... Do you remember the defeat in Vietnam? You have once tested [your strength in] this place; it will be meaningless to try it again. But if you want to make this mistake again be prepared that the flames of this fire will blow up on the White House too, and one day situations like those in [the Afghan province of] Helmand and [the Iraqi town of] Fallujah will visit in the cities like New York and Washington.

But, but... What about the hope and change, guys?
This is a joke, right?
There is no terror threat.

In related news... A leading democrat announced that he is interested in revealing the origins and sweep of the Bush administration's controversial interrogation program and is willing to sponsor legislation if necessary to release many of the documents about the program.
The Taliban and Al-Qaeda can sleep peacefully tonight.
There's a new team running the show now.

Obscuring Gaza

by Charles Krauthammer

WASHINGTON -- Israel's leaders have purposely obscured their war aims in Gaza. But there are only two possible endgames: (A) a Lebanon-like cessation of hostilities to be supervised by international observers, or (B) the disintegration of Hamas rule in Gaza.

Under tremendous international pressure -- including from an increasingly wobbly U.S. State Department -- the government of Ehud Olmert has begun hinting that it is receptive to a French-Egyptian cease-fire plan, essentially acquiescing to Endgame A.

That would be a terrible mistake.

It would fail on its own terms. It would have the same elements as the phony peace in Lebanon: an international force that abjures any meaningful use of force, an arms embargo under which arms will most assuredly flood in, and a cessation of hostilities until the terrorist side is rearmed and ready to initiate the next round of hostilities.

The U.N.-mandated disarmament of Hezbollah in Lebanon is a well-known farce. Not only have foreign forces not stopped Hezbollah's massive rearmament. Their very presence makes it impossible for Israel to take any preventive military action, lest it accidentally hit a blue-helmeted Belgian crossing guard.

The "international community" is now pushing very hard for a replay in Gaza of that charade. Does anyone imagine that international monitors will risk their lives to prevent weapons smuggling? To arrest terrorists? To engage in shootouts with rocket-launching teams attacking Israeli civilians across the Gaza border?

Of course not. Weapons will continue to be smuggled. Deeper and more secure fortifications will be built for the next round. Mosques, schools and hospitals will again be used for weapons storage and terrorist safe havens. Do you think French "peacekeepers" are going to raid them?

Which is why the only acceptable outcome of this war, both for Israel and for the civilized world, is Endgame B: the disintegration of Hamas rule. It is already under way.

This is not about killing every last Hamas gunman. Not possible, not necessary. Regimes rule not by physically overpowering every person in their domain, but by getting the majority to accept their authority. That is what sustains Hamas, and that is what is now under massive assault.

Hamas' leadership is not only seriously degraded but openly humiliated. The great warriors urging others to martyrdom are cowering underground almost entirely incommunicado. Demonstrably unable to protect their own people, they beg for outside help, receiving in return nothing but words from their Arab and Iranian brothers. And who in fact is providing the corridors for humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians? Israel.

In the first four minutes of this war, the Israel Air Force destroyed 50 targets, taking down practically every instrument and symbol of Hamas rule. Gaza's Potemkin leaders were marginalized and rendered helpless, leaving their people to fend for themselves. At such moments, regimes are extremely vulnerable to forfeiting what the Chinese call the mandate of heaven, the sense of legitimacy that undergirds all forms of governance.

The fall of Hamas rule in Gaza is within reach, but only if Israel does not cave in to pressure to stop now. Overthrowing Hamas would not require a permanent Israeli reoccupation. A transitional international force would be brought in to immediately make way for the return of the Palestinian Authority, the legitimate government whose forces will be far less squeamish than the Europeans in establishing order in Gaza.

The disintegration of Hamas rule in Gaza would be a devastating blow to Palestinian rejectionists, who since the Hamas takeover of Gaza have been the ascendant "strong horse" in Palestinian politics. It would be a devastating blow to Iran as patron of radical Islamist movements throughout the region, particularly after the defeat and marginalization of Iran's Sadrist client in Iraq. It would encourage the moderate Arab states to continue their U.S.-allied confrontation of Iran and its proxies. And it would demonstrate Israel's irreplaceable strategic value to the U.S. in curbing and containing Iran's regional ambitions.

Olmert had such an opportunity in Lebanon. He blew it. He now has a rare second chance. The one-step-from-madness gangster theocracy in Gaza -- just four days before the fighting, the Hamas parliament passed a Sharia criminal code, legalizing, among other niceties, crucifixion -- is teetering on the brink. It can be brought down, but only if Israel is prepared -- and allowed -- to complete the real mission of this war. For the Bush State Department, in its last significant act, to prevent that with the premature imposition of a cease-fire would be not just self-defeating but shameful.

Another Great Depression?

by Thomas Sowell

With both Barack Obama's supporters and the media looking forward to the new administration's policies being similar to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's policies during the 1930s depression, it may be useful to look at just what those policies were and-- more important-- what their consequences were.

The prevailing view in many quarters is that the stock market crash of 1929 was a failure of the free market that led to massive unemployment in the 1930s-- and that it was intervention of Roosevelt's New Deal policies that rescued the economy.

It is such a good story that it seems a pity to spoil it with facts. Yet there is something to be said for not repeating the catastrophes of the past.

Let's start at square one, with the stock market crash in October 1929. Was this what led to massive unemployment?

Official government statistics suggest otherwise. So do new statistics on unemployment by two current scholars, Richard Vedder and Lowell Gallaway, in their book "Out of Work."

The Vedder and Gallaway statistics allow us to follow unemployment month by month. They put the unemployment rate at 5 percent in November 1929, a month after the stock market crash. It hit 9 percent in December-- but then began a generally downward trend, subsiding to 6.3 percent in June 1930.

That was when the Smoot-Hawley tariffs were passed, against the advice of economists across the country, who warned of dire consequences.

Five months after the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, the unemployment rate hit double digits for the first time in the 1930s.

This was more than a year after the stock market crash. Moreover, the unemployment rate rose to even higher levels under both Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, both of whom intervened in the economy on an unprecedented scale.

Before the Great Depression, it was not considered to be the business of the federal government to try to get the economy out of a depression. But the Smoot-Hawley tariff-- designed to save American jobs by restricting imports-- was one of Hoover's interventions, followed by even bigger interventions by FDR.

The rise in unemployment after the stock market crash of 1929 was a blip on the screen compared to the soaring unemployment rates reached later, after a series of government interventions.

For nearly three consecutive years, beginning in February 1932, the unemployment rate never fell below 20 percent for any month before January 1935, when it fell to 19.3 percent, according to the Vedder and Gallaway statistics.

In other words, the evidence suggests that it was not the "problem" of the financial crisis in 1929 that caused massive unemployment but politicians' attempted "solutions." Is that the history that we seem to be ready to repeat?

The stock market crash, which has been blamed for the widespread suffering during the Great Depression of the 1930s, created no unemployment rate that was even half of what was created in the wake of the government interventions of Hoover and FDR.

Politically, however, Franklin D. Roosevelt could not have been more successful. After all, he was the only President of the United States elected four times in a row. He was a master of political rhetoric.

If Barack Obama wants political success, following in the footsteps of FDR looks like the way to go. But people who are concerned about the economy need to take a closer look at history. We deserve something better than repeating the 1930s disasters.

There is yet another factor that provides a parallel to what happened during the Great Depression. No matter how much worse things got after government intervention under Roosevelt's New Deal policies, the party line was that he had to "do something" to get us out of the disaster created by the failure of the unregulated market and Hoover's "do nothing" policies.

Today, increasing numbers of scholars recognize that FDR's own policies were a further extension of interventions begun under Hoover. Moreover, the temporary rise in unemployment after the stock market crash was nowhere near the massive and long-lasting unemployment after government interventions.

Barack Obama already has his Herbert Hoover to blame for any and all disasters that his policies create: George W. Bush.

Defense Spending Would Be Great Stimulus

(Compiler's note: Unfortunately, the good professor doesn’t realize that there are four military services. He even talks about the junior service, the Air Force, but then talks of three services. I insist that the Air Force be included! Semper Fidelis)

All three service branches are in need of upgrade and repair.

By MARTIN FELDSTEIN

The Department of Defense is preparing budget cuts in response to the decline in national income. The DOD budgeteers and their counterparts in the White House Office of Management and Budget apparently reason that a smaller GDP requires belt-tightening by everyone.

AP/USAF

We could use some more F-22s.

That logic is exactly backwards. As President-elect Barack Obama and his economic advisers recognize, countering a deep economic recession requires an increase in government spending to offset the sharp decline in consumer outlays and business investment that is now under way. Without that rise in government spending, the economic downturn would be deeper and longer. Although tax cuts for individuals and businesses can help, government spending will have to do the heavy lifting. That's why the Obama team will propose a package of about $300 billion a year in additional federal government outlays and grants to states and local governments.

A temporary rise in DOD spending on supplies, equipment and manpower should be a significant part of that increase in overall government outlays. The same applies to the Department of Homeland Security, to the FBI, and to other parts of the national intelligence community.

The increase in government spending needs to be a short-term surge with greater outlays in 2009 and 2010 but then tailing off sharply in 2011 when the economy should be almost back to its prerecession level of activity. Buying military supplies and equipment, including a variety of off-the-shelf dual use items, can easily fit this surge pattern.

For the military, the increased spending will require an expanded supplemental budget for 2009 and an increased budget for 2010. A 10% increase in defense outlays for procurement and for research would contribute about $20 billion a year to the overall stimulus budget. A 5% rise in spending on operations and maintenance would add an additional $10 billion. That spending could create about 300,000 additional jobs. And raising the military's annual recruitment goal by 15% would provide jobs for an additional 30,000 young men and women in the first year.

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An important challenge for those who are designing the overall stimulus package is to avoid wasteful spending. One way to achieve that is to do things during the period of the spending surge that must eventually be done anyway. It is better to do them now when there is excess capacity in the economy than to wait and do them later.

Replacing the supplies that have been depleted by the military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan is a good example of something that might be postponed but that should instead be done quickly. The same is true for replacing the military equipment that has been subject to excessive wear and tear. More generally, replacement schedules for vehicles and other equipment should be accelerated to do more during the next two years than would otherwise be economically efficient.

Industry experts and DOD officials confirm that military suppliers have substantial unused capacity with which to produce additional supplies and equipment. Even those production lines that are currently at full capacity can be greatly expanded by going from a single shift to a two-shift production schedule. With industrial production in the economy as a whole down sharply, there is no shortage of potential employees who can produce supplies and equipment.

Military procurement has the further advantage that almost all of the equipment and supplies that the military buys is made in the United States, creating demand and jobs here at home.

Increased military spending should involve more than just accelerated replacement schedules. Each of the military services can identify new equipment and additional quantities of existing equipment that can improve our fighting ability in Afghanistan and our ability to protect our military forces while they are in combat.

Military planners must also look ahead to the missions that each of the services may be called upon to do in the future. Additional funding would allow the Air Force to increase the production of fighter planes and transport aircraft without any delays. The Army could accelerate its combat modernization program. The Navy could build additional ships to deal with its increased responsibilities in protecting coastal shipping and in countering terrorism. And all three services have significant infrastructure needs.

Although some activities like ship building cannot be completed in the two year stimulus period, the major part of the expenditures can be brought forward in time by acquiring components and materials quickly and holding them in inventory until they are needed in the ship building process. Such a departure from just-in-time inventory management would be wasteful under normal conditions, but makes economic sense when there is temporary excess capacity.

Now is also a good time for the military to increase recruiting and training. Because of the current very high and rising unemployment rates among young men and women, it would make sense to depart from the military's traditional enlistment rules and bring in recruits for a short, two-year period of training followed by a return to the civilian economy. As a minimum this would provide education in a variety of technical skills -- electronics, equipment maintenance, computer programming, nuclear facility operations, etc. -- that would lead to better civilian careers for this group. It would also provide a larger reserve force that could be called upon if needed by the military in the future.

The budgets for homeland security, for intelligence activities, and for the FBI have increased substantially during the past decade. The greater terrorist threat fully justifies these additional funds. The current two-year stimulus period provides an opportunity for additional temporary spending increases with high payoffs.

Investments in port security would reduce a major homeland vulnerability. Expanding the government's language training programs for new intelligence community recruits would provide more translators who can monitor the terrorist communications that we are able to intercept. Additional infrastructure for the FBI would remove an important constraint on the number of new FBI agents.

The Obama team's goal of sending a stimulus package to Congress before the end of January may not leave enough time to work out the details of expanded military and intelligence budgets. If so, the stimulus plan should ask the Congress to provide a total of at least $30 billion a year of increased outlays in these budget categories. A substantial short-term rise in spending on defense and intelligence would both stimulate our economy and strengthen our nation's security.

Mr. Feldstein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan, is a professor at Harvard and a member of The Wall Street Journal's board of contributors.

MICHELLE OBAMA ON "COURT ORDERED INACTIVE STATUS"

by Pamela Geller

First off, the media refers to Michelle Obama as a "Distinguished Attorney" despite the fact that Michelle Obama has been"inactive" since 1993.

Click here: ARDC | Lawyer Search

ARDC - Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois

Click to enlarge image. Everyday another Obama skeleton comes careening out of the closet.

This ADRC is for disciplinary reasons...not for those volunteering to stop practicing. It is COURT ORDERED...not "Michelle Obama ordered." Their website is very clear about their function and why they step in. (see below)

If this was a Republican, the Democrooks would have her up on charges already.

Schmoo, an attorney, points out, "sounds more to me like she was drummed right out of the practice of law. I am just dying to know what she did... she ran to have a court ordered inactive status done...and then no malpractice report needed to be provided.

She wanted this to 'go away" fast and furious and the details not come out in depositions, courtroom documents, rulings for the client/plaintiffs...etc..

I would love to know what she did. I believe barack obummer himself was also disciplined--I know that his law license is now "inactive". He lied about ever going by any other names when he applied for bar application. He also failed to state any prior drug use...(which he admitted in his books...and he had outstanding tickets that were never paid)."

Michelle Obama on court ordered inactive status with the Illinois State Attorney hat tip schmoopett

huh?

Michelle Obama is on COURT ORDERED INACTIVE STATUS--order said since she has been placed INACTIVE that "no malpractice record required."

WHAT DID SHE DO THAT in 1993 -- AFTER only 4 YEARS -- HER LICENSE to PRACTICE LAW WAS REVIEWED AND PUT ON INACTIVE by a DISCIPLINARY AGENCY?

What Is the ARDC? (this is NOT the Illinois Bar-where one can voluntarily be inactive) As our name implies, the ARDC is the agency of the Supreme Court of Illinois which registers attorneys and investigates complaints of misconduct filed against attorneys holding a license to practice law in Illinois.

Our principal purpose is to assist the Supreme Court to determine a lawyer's fitness to practice law in Illinois. If a complaint is made that an attorney, licensed to practice law in Illinois, has engaged in illegal, unethical or dishonest conduct, we will investigate and, if warranted, bring formal disciplinary charges. The Supreme Court of Illinois will then ultimately decide if a lawyer should be censured (publicly rebuked), suspended (having the law license to practice either taken away for a certain period of time or placed on a probationary period) or disbarred (having the law license taken away indefinitely).

We cannot impose fines, imprison, obtain monetary damages, enforce remedies between the lawyer and client, or seek civil or criminal relief against a lawyer as part of the disciplinary process. We can affect only the lawyer's ability to practice law in Illinois.

We are not funded by taxpayers' money. We are funded entirely by the annual registration fees paid by attorneys authorized to practice law in Illinois.

What Is a Request for an Investigation of an Attorney?

It is a request to us that we look into the conduct of an attorney who you believe has acted improperly. We will review your request to determine if an investigation is warranted.

In most cases, we will initiate an investigation where the information you provide us suggests that the attorney engaged in illegal, dishonest or unethical conduct. Filing a request accusing an attorney of unethical conduct is a serious matter to the lawyer. We recommend that, whenever practical, you try to resolve any differences or disputes that do not concern claims of unethical conduct directly with the lawyer.

How Do I Request an Investigation of an Attorney?

By mailing to our office, either in Chicago or Springfield, a request that you want an attorney to be investigated by our office. Your request should be in writing. No special form is necessary. For your convenience, you may download a Request for Investigation form. Please return the Request by postal mail or hand-delivery. The ARDC does not accept an e-mail transmission of a Request for Investigation.

UPDATE: Scmoo the attorney adds:

as an attorney I am telling you that people can "choose" to not pay their registration fees or take their continuing education of the bar and therefore go on "suspension...or inactive status
that goes thru the CAL BAR--the California Bar association

UPDATE: What was little Michelle from the Southside of Chicago doing in 1993?

1993: Public Allies Chicago with 30 Allies is launched by founding Executive Director Michelle Obama. President Clinton names Public Allies a model for national service. First Lady Hilary Clinton hosts Rose Garden reception for Public Allies at the White House.

Say what? Michelle and Hillary go back that far?

Shmoo finds more:

In 1992 Michelle Obama left her job at Sidley Austin to launch a career in public service, serving as an assistant to Mayor Daley and then as the assistant commissioner of planning and development for the City of Chicago.

(ask yourself how did a 2-3 year attorney...just wound up being Mayor Daleys "assistant" just like that...and what did she do as an "assistant" what does that even mean when you are a harvard trained attorney?)

Too close for comfort. Coincidental?

Bernardine Dohrn, Bill ayers wife was at Sidley Austin--- a law firm in Chicago from From 1984 to 1988. Dohrn was employed by the law firm Sidley Austin although her criminal record has prevented her from being admitted to either the New York or Illinois bar. (source: wikipedia)

Posted by Pamela Geller on Thursday, December 25, 2008 at 10:23 PM in Obama's Corruption Eruption | Permalink

Let's Be Worthy Of Their Sacrifice

(Compiler's note: A must read item.)

'The wounds I received I got in a job I love.'

By Karl Rove

This holiday season, home in Texas and surrounded by close friends and family, I often found myself thinking about virtual strangers.

I met them this fall when I spoke at the Naval Special Warfare Foundation (NSWF) dinner. The NSWF supports naval commandoes with scholarships and assistance for families of Navy Seals killed or wounded in combat or training.

During my White House years, I came to know of the heroic actions of the Seals and other special operators in the global war on terror. These men willingly follow evil into dark and perilous places. They volunteered to be on the front edge of the conflict whose outcome will shape this century.

The highlight of the NSWF dinner was a video of "snatch and grab" operations in Afghanistan. It showed helicopters lifting off to pounding music, night footage of Seals jumping onto roofs and rappelling into dusty fields, the breathtakingly destructive power of American missiles and machine guns, and compound doors blowing open and terrorist suspects being rounded up.

The Seals who prepared the video had carefully mined President Bush's speeches, using his voice and words as narration. I was touched by this and knew the president would be, too. So when I met the Seal who'd produced the video, we exchanged email addresses. Later, before he left for Afghanistan for his umpteenth deployment, I asked for a copy of the video to show the president.

He was happy to supply one but had a request in return. Could the wives and children of his unit's members see the White House Christmas decorations while their husbands and fathers were deployed?

The First Lady readily agreed and with NSWF's help, 75 Seal family members were greeted at the White House just before Christmas by the president and Laura Bush. It was one of the high points of Mr. Bush's last holiday in Washington.

On Christmas Eve, I received an email from Afghanistan, with thanks for helping to facilitate the tour. Attached was a picture of the videographer and his team, ready for that night's mission. Bearded and scruffy, covered with weapons and standing in a rude shelter, they were all wearing bright red Santa Claus hats. It was the best gift I received this Christmas.

I met another Seal at that NSWF dinner. He'd been shot eight times in Iraq and had undergone nearly two-dozen operations. One bullet had taken off part of his cheek and nose. He was destined for reconstructive surgery in a few days.

Yet he didn't feel sorry for himself. He was full of charisma, confidence, cockiness and joy. After all, he confided, when you're a wounded Seal, the world's best doctors want to operate on you so they can brag about it. Besides, he explained, he was just showing that a Seal really could catch bullets with his teeth.

He said that after a couple more procedures, he'd "be back in the game." I asked what he meant. He was amused and said he was going back into action. "My team needs me," he said before letting out a laugh. But you knew he meant it, and you knew his team did need him.

He went off to get a drink for his wife. I didn't want to pry, but I asked her how she felt about him going back into action. She said she was all for it because that's what he was made for. I had to fight back tears.

The next day, I got an email from the retired Navy Seal buddy who'd talked me into speaking at NSWF. He shared a picture of the sign the wounded Seal put on his Baghdad hospital door.

On it, the Seal had scrawled that visitors shouldn't "feel sorry" for him. "The wounds I received," he wrote, "I got in a job I love, doing it for people I love, supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough." And on his sign he promised "a full recovery" and wrote that his hospital room was a place of "fun, optimism, and intense rapid regrowth. If you are not prepared for that, GO ELSEWHERE." He signed it "The Management."

I keep this picture with me so I think every day about those I met this fall. And I thought about them often during the holidays.

When I did, I felt awe that such men and women exist, and gratitude that they put themselves in harm's way for our nation. I hope America continues to be worthy of such staggering service and sacrifice.

May the New Year bring safety to all who wear our country's uniform, success in the missions they so passionately believe in, peace and comfort to their families, and reunion with all whom they love.

Mr. Rove is the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush. NSWF can be found at nswfoundation.org.

Watch Your Wallet

by Newt Gingrich

Welcome to 2009. Now watch your wallet.

With the economy in the deepest crisis since the Great Depression, higher taxes are precisely what we don’t need to restore jobs and growth. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that President-elect Obama seems to understand this and is proposing tax cuts as part of his stimulus package. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that some of the nation’s governors don’t seem to get it. They’re still eager to take more of your money, recession or no recession.

If you live in New York, Governor David Patterson (D) wants new taxes on everything from the soda you drink to the clothes you buy and the movies you see.

New York is proposing to nickel and dime its tax-payers with a total of 137 new taxes and so-called “fees.” For a complete list, go to www.americansolutions.com.

The New York Times (Still) Wants to Raise Your Taxes

If you live in California, your politicians are proposing a whopping 39 cents per gallon gas tax, more than doubling the already staggering tax Californians pay when they fill up.

And of course, not to be outdone, the New York Times (still) wants Washington to raise your taxes.

In an editorial last weekend, the Times lamented that President-elect Obama seems to be having second thoughts about raising taxes in the midst of the economic crisis. The newspaper urged the incoming President to stick to his original plan to tax the “rich,” if not this year, then soon.

Some things never change.

Albany, Sacramento and Washington Need Reform as Much as General Motors and Chrysler

But here’s a fact that Governor Patterson, Democrats in the California legislature, and the editorial writers of the New York Times might find hard to swallow: The governments in Albany, Sacramento and Washington, that are eager for more of our money, need reform at least as much as General Motors and Chrysler need reform. More tax-dollars to these monstrosities is throwing good money after bad.

Our state and federal governments need to be smaller and more effective, not larger and less efficient. As I’ve argued before and will argue again big government isn’t just expensive and inefficient; it’s corrupting.

Add to the recent Rod Blagojevich (D) and Ted Stevens (R) scandals this latest news: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) asked the taxpayer-rescued insurance giant AIG for a donation to a school being built in his honor at the same time his committee was considering legislation that would save AIG millions of dollars a year.

Like I said, big government breeds big corruption.

The Four Things to Look for in the Stimulus Package

As Congress and the President move forward to pass an economic stimulus package later this month, here are four things to watch for:

1. How does it affect small businesses and the self-employed? Small businesses are the job creation engines of our economy. Any stimulus package should focus first and foremost on them.

2. How are entrepreneurial start-ups supported and encouraged? We should have our economic eye on the General Motors of the next thirty years, not the last thirty years.

3. Does the plan maximize the rate of investment in U.S. companies? By making the United States the best place to invest, we will make it the best place to create new jobs.

4. Does the package encourage growth in productivity? Making American workers more productive not only increases our ability to compete with foreign competitors, it also increases incomes.

Will Congress Display Lincoln’s Bible in the Capitol Visitors Center When Obama’s Done With It?

I was happy to hear that President-elect Obama is planning on using Abraham Lincoln’s Bible to take the oath of office when he is sworn-in as president. Barack Obama placing his hand as president on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible is a wonderful symbol of how far our nation has come in the ensuing 148 years.

It’s ironic to note, however, that Congress has refused to include the very same Bible in its display in the new Capitol Visitors Center.

As Rick Tyler of Renewing American Leadership notes in his ground-breaking report on the new Visitors Center, although the designers of the center include in their display the table that Lincoln used to hold his Bible, the Bible itself is conspicuously absent.

Will Congress return Lincoln’s Bible to its place in the Capitol Visitors Center? Or is President-Elect Obama more respectful of religious belief than the members of the House and Senate?

What Would You Do If Someone Was Firing Missiles Into Your Neighborhood?

I want to end today by asking those who are criticizing Israel for attacking Hamas terrorists in Gaza this simple question:

What would you do if someone were firing missiles into your neighborhood?

Those critics who claim that Israel’s response to years of sustained missile launches deliberately aimed at its civilians is “disproportionate” have it exactly wrong. The problem is not that Israel is doing too much; the problem is that it’s doing too little.

No peace is possible -- no diplomatic solution is reachable -- as long as Hamas maintains its capacity to launch missiles at Israeli civilians. And anyone who is not willing to demand that Hamas immediately and permanently stop this aggression has no moral standing to judge Israel.

Just ask yourself: What would you do?

A Letter from Israel

Source: A friend -- Please forgive me for sending you such a long letter. Take a few minutes to read it, and if you agree with Dr.Zinder, please share it to some of your friends who are shocked at the Israeli response. I think Oren took time to explain the Israeli position quite clearly and it needs to be read in addition to what you read in the local papers and hear on TV .

Dear family and friend,

I feel that events are such I should once again try and relay to you my thoughts, in order that you will be able to have a better understanding of the situation here. Again, as in many times before, I am dismayed at the lack of proportions in the in-depth information from Israel as opposed to that coming from other sources. Due to this unfortunate state of events, the international community is too frequently exposed to communications which are far from being "even-handed" or fair.

As in my former reports to you, I will try to be as fair as possible, in portraying the very sad situation here. This is the first report I will be sending you, and I would welcome any comments or questions, and would certainly be happy if you thought that this was something you would like to pass on to your friends.

First some questions:

When was the last time you ran for your life to a shelter to avoid being bombed?

When was the last time your children were terrorized to the point w here they wet their beds even at ages of 6 and 7?

When was the last time your child demanded that the light stay on all night, and even then told you of his nightmares the next morning - all this on a daily basis?

When was the last time you realized that your child will need a psychologist to help overcome his/her fears of loud noises and sirens?

When was the last time your house had a near miss of a rocket fired at you, or worse, had your house crumble under the impact of a mortar shell?

When was the last time that you could not tend to your crops, because the last time you went out to your fields you were fired on by snipers?

When was the last time you lost your job because you wanted to stay at home with your family when your town was under attack?

When was the last time that your child saw your neighbor lying in a pool of blood?

When was the last time you checked to see if your child's kindergarten had a bomb shelter, and if not you took the child to another kindergarten which had one?

When was the last time you went with friends to have a drink at a pub and had a suicide bomber blow himself up in front of you?

When was the last time you made sure your child had an armed escort when he/she went on a school outing?

When was the last time your government decided to spend over 400 million dollars on bomb shelters for your town?

When was the last time your neighboring country swore to wipe you off the face of the earth, and does not recognize your right to exist?

When…..

Now some facts:

For the last 8 years (yes… eight whole years, which are 96 straight months) , the southern part of Israel (population around 250,000) has had over 22,000 rockets and mortar shells fired into its cities and villages. This is an average of approximately 2500 per year (since January 2008, we have counted over 3000). This means an average of approximately 8 (!!) rockets a day. Can you even imagine such a number?

There is no child in Sderot under the age of 10, who knows any other existence than that of daily fear of a bomb landing on his home, school, or shopping mall. How would you feel if this happened in your town and to your children?

Over three years ago, we unilaterally left the Gaza Strip, removed all vestiges of our army, uprooted all the civilian population which lived there, and abandoned all the homes, fields, and industrial complexes. All this without a reciprocal agreement on the side of the Palestinians to cease all hostilities. This action was intended to allow the Palestinians to fulfill their own dream of a sovereign state, without any interference on our part.

Since June 2008, there has been a "cease-fire" agreement brokered by the Egyptians. The only trouble is that we have "ceased" while the Hammas has "fired" an average of 6 rockets a week (this is their understanding of an agreement). Besides trying to spot the launchers, and pinpoint attacking them if we were able to do so with 100% certainty, and only then, we did not reciprocate in any other way.

During this period, we restrained ourselves not to hit back. The only recourse we had, when words, agreements, unilateral restraint and requests did not work, was to warn the Hammas government that if they did not stop the rock et attacks which totally disrupted any sort of "normal" existence for our citizens in the region, we would reduce the entry of supplies to the Gaza Strip. However, out of humane considerations, we continued to send urgent supplies, even under fire.

To this day, we supply 70% of all the electricity in Gaza, and have never stopped this supply, except for one day when the electric plant in Ashdod, which supplies the "juice" to Gaza, was attacked by a suicide bomber. There is no "darkness" in Gaza, whatever is said or shown to the contrary.

During the three days prior to our attack in Gaza over 200 rockets were fired at southern Israel, mainly at the city of Sderot, but also to many of the agricultural settlements around the Gaza strip – all inside Israel's international borders. This was the response of Hammas to our willingness to sit and discuss the continuation of the so-called "cease-fire" between us.

Every such attack has had the entire civilian population of these towns and agricultural settlements running as fast as they can for a shelter - women, children, the elderly, sick people, in short, the whole civilian population.

These rocket and mortar attacks are aimed specifically at civilian concentrations, to kill and injure as many innocent people as possible.

Countless times over this period, and before, we have deliberated how to combat this situation, and each time we have opted for another concession towards peace, and have responded infrequently and even then at a very specific location from which the rockets were launched

The fact is that of the hundreds of Palestinians killed over the past 2-3 years, 95% have been terrorists either setting up their rocket launchers , or on their way to an attack on one of the settlements in the region

Sgt. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was abducted to Gaza by the Palestinian terrorists over 920 days ago, has not been allowed to send or receive letters, the Red Cross has not been allowed to visit him, and he has spent the whole time, close to three years, in a hole somewhere in the Gaza Strip. This is outrageously inhumane.

During the past ten years, we have signed at least five agreements, in which we requested the same demands that were initiated by the "Quartet" (The USA, Russia, the U.N., and the European Community), namely:

· Recognition of the State of Israel (which all countries of the world have done)

· Cessation of all terrorist activities

In return we would be willing to negotiate for a fair settlement to all the problems between us

Even though the Palestinian leaders, first Arafat then Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen), signed the agreements, the attacks continued unabated

Now to some comments:

When we left Gaza, with all the small industrial works and the very modern and sophisticated greenhouses intact, at the request of the world community so that the Palestinians will have the ability to support themselves, they destroyed all of these down to rubble. This has to mean that they had little intention of trying to help their population to self-reliance and the country to some income.

How can the world sit back for so many years and look upon what was going on in our towns and villages around Gaza, and only become outraged when we finally say: "enough is enough" and hit back?

What is this nonsense about "excessive force"? For years we have restrained ourselves, we have made every effort to find peaceful solutions, such as those we have in our peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, while we are being shelled on a daily basis. How long can any country stand this? I bet not even Norway, which has grave concerns about our intentions, would stand for this for even one month without retaliating

As to excessive force, should we send our kids out to throw stones at passing Arab vehicles, as Arab kids do on our roads? Should we sporadically shell cities in the Gaza Strip, just so that our response is "measured" against theirs? Should we recruit maniacs who are willing to commit ritual suicide in Arab restaurants? What are we, as a normal and democratic country, supposed to do? Continuously "understand" that the Palestinian demands should be met so that the world community can finally have some peace in the Middle East? These "salami" tactics will find us in the Mediterranean within five years!

No. As in any country you are familiar with will do, we will use whatever means we have to achieve peace and quiet for our citizens. If we do not, then are failing our duty as a country to its citizens.

In addition, since we do not intend to carry out such actions on a regular basis, then on the one time we do strike back, we will do so until the Hammas does not have the will to continue its policy. We have attacked only Hammas installations, and if there was a fair reporting of the events, you would notice that over 90% of all the Palestinian casualties were wearing uniforms. We have tried to be as accurate as possible in our attacks so that we spare the civilian population. We have NEVER targeted civilians, as they have ours

No one asked Joe Louis to fight all comers with one hand behind his back because he was stronger than his opponents, and no one has asked Michael Jordan to shoot only with his left hand, because he was so much better than all other basketball players.

We are a country, and we have an army to protect its citizens. Our army has been carefully built so as to be able to answer any threat to our existence. We will use all measures necessary, once all other avenues have been blocked, to thwart this threat.

· The Hammas does not recognize us or our borders.

· The Hammas has sworn to continue to attack us until we drop

· The Hammas gets its weaponry and orders from Iran and the extremist Islam leaders of the world, and will not listen to anyone or any other voice

We cannot allow this to happen, and cannot allow another Holocaust to our people What would you and/or your government do if your border towns were shelled on a regular basis? Sit and wait for the world community to give your neighbor a slap on the hand? I would venture to say that in any Western country, you would hit back after the second or third rocket attack, whether there were casualties or not, irrespective of what the world community says or requests. We have been holding ourselves in restraint for years! Barak Obama, when he visited Sderot a year ago, said that if his house, and his girls, were attacked by rockets, he would not stand for it and retaliate The Hammas, as part of the radical Islamic groups, is a serious threat not only to Israel, but perhaps even more so to the moderate Arab countries, as well as the Western world. It is inflaming the minds of the Islamic youths, teaching them to hate while not giving them any hope for a future During these last few days, we have heard the Egyptian foreign minister and the editor of the official Saudi newspaper, say that the Hammas can only blame itself for what is happening to it now. The other moderate Arab countries have the same sentiments. The Hammas, as the representative of the extremist Islamic groups, is a real and present danger to them and their countries What are the ultimate goals of the Hammas? If it is to establish a sovereign state, then three years ago when we left Gaza they had the opportunity to show themselves and the world, that they can do so. We opened all the crossing points to Palestinian workers, assisted Palestinian officials in all the professional activities that a country needs (agriculture, medicine, sanitation, education, etc), and what we got back were suicide bombers and rocket attacks. In this situation, what does any "normal" country do? It closes the border crossings and discontinues its open policy. Would you shake your neighbor's hand, if on a daily basis his dog attacks your child despite your requests from him to rein in his dog? If the goal is not to establish a state, then it seems as if is their only aim is the annihilation of Israel. We will not stand for this

In order not have this report become unwieldy and long, I will stop here for the moment, and I promise to continue.

With very best wishes,

Oren