Why wasn’t Obama at Arlington Cemetery for Memorial Day? It feels like the 90s with the Clintons back in action, stupid tourists travel a ‘Che’ trail, Sarah Palin has a stalker and Obama is selling Israel down the river. All that and more, in this edition of Strictly Right.
Born in Cairo, Bat Ye’or found asylum in London as a stateless refugee in 1957 and became British on marriage, settling in Switzerland. Since 1971 she has written five books and scores of articles on non-Muslims under Islam, including The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude, Islam and Dhimmitude:
Where Civilizations Collide, and Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis, which described the gradual transformation of Europe into “Eurabia”. A highly sought-after speaker, she has presented at dozens of international conferences and symposiums, and given briefings to government legislatures, including the U.S. Congress.
Sam Solomon, a convert to Christianity and an expert on Islam, is a senior lecturer and research coordinator, a human rights activist and an advisor to British as well as European parliamentarians. Sam has authored a number of thought-provoking books and numerous articles on Christian Muslim relations.
“The extraordinary researches of Bat Ye’or on the Euro-Arab Dialogue, and on the growing ‘dhimmitude’ (status of submission) exhibited by the leaders and rulers of Western Europe toward Islam, have been for me an amazing revelation, one that at first I wished to deny myself, but her evidence proved overwhelming.”
La Forza della Ragione -Oriana Fallaci
“Bat Ye’or has traced a nearly secret history of Europe over the past thirty years, convincingly showing how the Euro-Arab Dialogue has blossomed from a minor discussion group into the engine for the continent’s Islamization. In delineating this phenomenon, she also provides the intellectual resources with which to resist it. Will her message be listened to?”
-Daniel Pipes
No writer has done more than Bat Ye’or to draw attention to the menacing character of Islamic extremism. Future historians will one day regard her coinage of the term ‘Eurabia’ as prophetic. Those who wish to live in a free society must be eternally vigilant. Bat Ye’or vigilance is unrivalled.”
-Niall Ferguson
“Such a Euroarabian identity is dangerous for the Jewish people. Here I agree with Bat Ye’or’s argument that Europe has been engaged in a self-capitulation to Islamist demands in the name of a misconceived multiculturalism.”
-Robert Wistrich
“Bat Ye’or is one of the only analysts in the world with the courage and insight necessary to state clearly what is happening in Europe today. Her account of the betrayal by the European powers of their own identity and history will stand for future historians as a cautionary tale of cultural suicide.”
-Robert Spencer
In this installment of Strictly Right Andrew and Ari lament the loss of Arlen Specter, discuss Obama’s latest anti-American comments, reveal yet another instance of anti-Israel rhetoric from the Obama administration, and examine the arrogance of Canadian politicians.
Barack Obama has placed a fluorescent neon “kick me” sign on the United States. It has been the policy of the United States to reserve the right to retaliate to a chemical weapons attack or a crippling cyberattack with a nuclear strike. To those of you who voted for Obama, that is known as a deterrent. In other words, the threat of flattening a city dissuades a country from using chemical weapons or launching a crippling cyberattack against the United States. Welcome to the age of Obama where decisions are made to curry favor with international despots and European losers. The Obama regime’s (H/T el Rushbo) new policy is that the he will only retaliate with a nuclear strike if the United States is hit by a fellow nuclear power. This move invites an attack on the United States.
Sadly, I believe there is another dimension to Obama’s decision. There are currently five declared nuclear states: the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. According to Obama’s new position these are the only countries the United States would consider using nukes on. It is highly unlikely that there would be a scenario in the foreseeable future in which the United States would even consider using nuclear weapons on any of these countries. However, when it comes to Iran some have concluded that the only way to take out the nuclear program is with nuclear weapons. While using nuclear weapons is not in any way a desirable option, it is one that must remain on the table. As I have written about in detail, Obama is willing to accept a nuclear Iran. It would appear as though his new nuclear stance is a further affirmation of the Democrat’s willingness to allow the world’s foremost enabler of international terrorism to acquire the most deadly weapons known to man. Don’t forget that General Petraeus recently told congress that Iran is working with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan; Iran has missiles that can already strike Europe. Iran has threatened to “wipe Israel off the map” and hosts an annual ‘Holocaust didn’t’ happen’ conference. And there’s that little organization financed by Iran called Hezbollah. Now Iran knows for sure that Obama is not serious about stopping them.
In Ronald Reagan’s autobiography he recounts how the Shah of Iran assured his supporters that Jimmy Carter and the United States would come to the rescue and that there was no need to crack-down on the Islamic terrorists lead by Ayatollah Khomeini. The Shah held that despite all his faults, he had been a loyal ally to the United States. We all know how that ended. Sadly, the pathetic Carter administration let the Shah fall. As a direct result of Jimmy Carter’s criminal incompetence, Iran went from being a strategic ally to the world’s foremost enabler of terrorism. 30 years after the Carter debacle America is plagued with an equally incompetent president: Barack Obama.
In a chilling article in The Australian Greg Sheridan details how Obama has accepted the inevitability of a nuclear Iran. Think about what you have just read. General Petraeus recently explained to congress that Iran is training Taliban leaders and is co-operating with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Iran is developing a missile program to carry nuclear warheads that can already strike Europe. Mahamoud Ahmadinijad, the Hitler of the Middle East, has repeatedly threatened to wipe Israel of the map. He hosts a ‘Holocaust didn’t happen’ conference. He is a fanatic supporter of a splinter death-cult that believes the 12th Imam will be revealed only after the world has descended into widespread chaos. Ahmadinijad went so far as to widen the streets of Tehran in anticipation of the return of the 12 Imam. Taking all of that into account, President Obama has decided that he can accept this country obtaining nuclear weapons.
According to Sheridan, Obama was hell-bent on embarrassing Israel, and specifically Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in order to make it impossible for Israel to act unilaterally in defending herself. From Sheridan’s article:
By so isolating Israel, by irresponsibly unleashing a global wave of anti-Israel sentiment, especially in nations which normally support Israel, Obama has made the possibility of Israel considering unilateral action against Iran much more unlikely. The Israelis would weigh such action very carefully. There are many pluses and minuses. By creating the impression of Israel as a besieged, isolated and reckless nation, which the wildly disproportionate reaction to the East Jerusalem apartments accomplished, Obama has made the potential cost to Israel of action against Iran much greater.
The Obama administration no longer says “all options are on the table.” Instead, Obama touts his “I don’t want to meddle in domestic affairs” line (a courtesy NOT granted to Israel when it came to building in the nation’s capital). Hillary Clinton, the darling of the most recent American Israel Public Affairs Committee, will not mention the military option anymore. Instead, Hillary said “our aim is not incremental sanctions, but sanctions that will bite.” However, the Wall Street Journal reported just a week after Secretary Clinton reassured her faithful that “the U.S. has backed away from pursuing a number of tough measures against Iran in order to win Russian and Chinese support for one more U.N. sanctions resolution.” By the time that support arrives there will be a radioactive crater where Israel once was.
Even if, God willing, Obama is replaced by an adult in 2012, his reckless actions in the international sphere will have long-term repercussions. America’s credibility will be shot. Allies, already weary due to the signs of weakness conveyed by the United States, will see that the country let one of her loyalist and most important allies fall in the fruitless and discredited pursuit of appeasement. In December of 2001 Osama Bin Laden said “when people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse.” Will anyone consider Barack Obama’s America the stronger horse?
Barack Obama is Jimmy Carter’s second term. Carter began the disaster in Iran and now it appears as though Obama is going to finish the job. Democrats cannot be trusted. They throw loyal allies under the bus and appease the enemies of freedom. This is what the United Sates used to say about appeasement when the adults were still in charge:
Well folks, I’m finally convinced: Muslims are just misguided well-wishers. The video evidence was too much to simply ignore. In fact, in response to protesters outside a Toronto Palestine House event, one Muslim even financially contributed to the Jewish cause. Oh wait, he actually threw coins at them (before shouting out in a peaceful, meditative tone, “Hezbollah!”) But still, that doesn’t change the fact that another young Muslim acknowledged that the Holocaust actually happened, unlike many Muslim leaders. Okay, I mean he did say that he wishes there would be another Holocaust…but that could just be a coincidence right?
After all, when another Muslim said “We love Jihad; we love killing you! We love killing dogs!” it was clearly just a metaphor. The intent was “We love peace, we hate killing.” See, you people need to stop taking these quotes out of context!
Barack Obama talks a lot about the “spirit of bipartisanship.” Now he’s had a chance to see it for himself, thanks to a series of diplomatic fumbles between the White House and Israel, usually one of America’s closest allies. More than three-quarters of the US House of Representatives signed a letter expressing dismay over the direction of the alliance.
The contents of the letter shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of our readers who have read Ari and I (predominantly Ari) bash Obama on relations with Israel repeatedly since his coronation inauguration. A whopping 327 congressmen and congresswomen signed this letter, recognizing that Obama needs to stop penalizing the allies of the United States to suck up to its enemies:
We are concerned that the highly publicized tensions in the relationship will not advance the interests the US and Israel share. Above all, we must remain focused on the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear weapons program to Middle East peace and stability.
[...]
We recognize that despite the extraordinary closeness between our country and Israel there will be differences over issues both large and small. Our view is that such differences are best resolved quietly, in trust and confidence, as befits longstanding strategic allies. We hope and expect that, with mutual effort and good faith, the United States and Israel will move beyond this disruption quickly, to the lasting benefit of both nations.
The No. 3 House Republican said on Tuesday the Obama administration was “bullying” Israel – and it’s time to stop.
House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana, just minutes before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called the White House’s stance on the Jewish state “absurd,” saying President Barack Obama needs to stop trying to “micromanage” Israel on settlement issues.
Pence’s said he does not see settlement construction in East Jerusalem as an impediment to the peace process. The area in which Israel is building was never disputed, he said, and he has been “astonished” by the administration’s position.
“I never thought I’d live to see the day that an American administration would denounce the Jewish State of Israel for rebuilding Jerusalem,” Pence told reporters.
The Obama administration is the most anti-Israel claque that has ever governed the United States. In order to promote “peace” Obama would rather forge an alliance with the terrorists in Iran and appease ‘Palestinians,’ the people that danced in the streets celebrating 9/11, than support the lone Western-style democracy in the Middle East. At least real leaders, like Mike Pence, have the courage to do what needs to be done and call out the pathetic Obama administration.
In a previous post I documented how the Obama administration is throwing Israel under the bus in favor of a group of anti-American terrorists that danced in the streets on 9/11. In stark contrast to the Obama administration’s disgraceful pronouncements is Rep. Tom McClintock (R-California):
M. Speaker:
I rise to express my great concern over recent statements by Administration officials regarding Israeli housing construction in that nation’s capital city.
History warns us that appeasement of mutual enemies is the surest possible way to destroy alliances and to invite aggression, and yet the rhetoric of this administration is taking us down this very dangerous road.
Israel has every right to allow construction its capital city and throughout the West Bank — over which it exercises rightful sovereignty.
The administration seems to have forgotten that Jordan attacked Israel in 1967 – not the other way around – and the result was the Israeli acquisition of this land.
The Israelis haven’t forgotten that – nor have they forgotten the folly of unilaterally giving up the Gaza Strip, from which rockets are now routinely launched against Israeli civilians.
Imagine the danger to Israel’s capital by repeating that mistake in East Jerusalem.
Appeasement all but guarantees the escalation of conflict.
