WAR WITHOUT END - Part II

the War on Terror from the perspective of an Israeli soldier.

Continued from Yesterday.

When Israel, representing the Jewish People, came back to the Temple Mount in June 1967, the Western World was electrified, the Islamic world dumbfounded, terrified, and confused. The Israelites returned to their ancestral homeland. Something monumental was happening. Western Reporters during the Six Day War could barely contain their emotions. Everyone was waiting for some kind of universal message to come flowing out of the Temple Mount like Isaiah or something.

This is the scene where 1,900 years earlier in the year 70, a crazed war-hardened suicidally determined Jewish People almost beat the entire Roman army defending the Second Temple. The Greeks at Thermopylae were a close second. Josephus speaks about how Titus had to bring in Legions all the way from England to finally crush the Jews, who even then kept on fighting after the Temple was destroyed.

And then, 1,900 years later in 1967, we got it back against our will. We didn’t even want it. Levi Eshkol, at the time the Israeli Prime Minister, was literally begging King Hussein of Jordan to stay out. He didn’t of course. So Israel had to take back Judea and Samaria, today sadly referred to as the “West Bank” to hide Jewish association with it. And then we came back to the Mount.

And everyone looked at us. What are they going to do? Their ancestors fought like rabid dogs there, they had a Temple, twice, that still is the very beating heart of what would later become Western civilization. “Do something!” the Western world screamed. They ached for some kind of Messianic message.

Of course, we had no idea what to tell them. Jews can’t stand all this responsibility. We don’t want to speak in the name of God. It makes us nauseous. We’re a stiff-necked people. The Temple Mount was too much for us, so we just gave it right back and did nothing. Now we think some wall that Herod, that evil king built, is holy. The Wailing Wall, we call it. Ha. What fools we are. Now the world sees us as occupiers in the “West Bank,” a land that isn’t ours. We showed everyone we didn’t want it, so why are we complaining?

When we left that Mount, the War on Terror began, in June 1967. Not September 2001. Why? Because the inspiration, the possibility for terrorism, began when they saw that the spiritual center and founder of Western civilization – the Jewish People – lacked spiritual direction, which we refused to provide the world when we had the opportunity. We were too scared to speak in the name of God. That’s when the other side realized the West is spiritually weak. That yes, maybe the West can destroy you militarily, but in the end, they’ll just retreat in confusion about why they fought you in the first place.

How do we turn this around?


To be continued . . .


The author is a former Israeli soldier. Born and raised in America for 24 years, he moved to Israel in 2007. Here he shares his view of the War on Terror from the perspective of a religious Israeli soldier.


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WAR WITHOUT END - Part I

The War on Terror from the perspective of an Israeli soldier.


I’d like to thank STORMBRINGER for giving me the opportunity write down my thoughts. I was never a combat soldier, so I’m not writing from a combat perspective, but rather from a philosophical one.

The battlefield that America and Israel are on is a very dangerous one. The war we are fighting is identical. It might be surprising, but neither America nor Israel understands the enemy against which they are fighting. There is one reason for this. Both America and Israel do not know what they should be fighting for.

Sections of the Dead Sea Scrolls on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in 2008. Photograph by Baz Ratner, Reuters

Western civilization as we know it was founded by two nations: America and Israel. America is the muscle behind the West. It is the best country that has ever existed on Earth. Israel is the brain of the West. Not the State of Israel, as it is quite new in its third version, but rather the People of Israel, which goes back three millennia. We gave the world the Bible, the Judeo-Christian values of ethical monotheism, hard work, and faith, which are what inspired the Founding Fathers to establish the great force of freedom that is America.

Whatever happens to America and Israel will determine what happens to the West. To calm you down, I have no doubt whatsoever that we will win in the end. What I fear is how much we will both have to lose before we do.

Whether the Jews or the State of Israel likes it or not, the world watches us for spiritual direction. The People of Israel don’t really like this fact, we don’t want the attention, and we don’t even acknowledge it as a People. When Israel conquered the Temple Mount in 1967 after destroying the entire Egyptian Air Force in minutes, conquered the entire Sinai Peninsula in a day, and then took Judea, Samaria, and the Golan, the war ended on the Temple Mount.

Israeli soldiers at the recapture of the Temple Mount in 1967.

A few days later, when the Jews left that Mount, the entire idea of terrorism and the war against the West was born. How is that?

Israeli soldiers raise the Israeli flag over the Western Wall June 7,1967 alongside the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel on the day of its capture from Jordanian forces in the June 1967 Middle East War. Photo: Getty Images

To be continued . . .


The author is a former Israeli soldier. Born and raised in America for 24 years, he moved to Israel in 2007. Here he shares his view of the War on Terror from the perspective of a religious Israeli soldier.



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PRESIDENTIAL VEHICLES

A progression?


President Truman in the Lincoln made for President Roosevelt




1950 Lincoln with first bubble top - Eisenhower's idea




1961 Continental X100 - Kennedy was shot in this vehicle





1972 Lincoln - Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan




1983 Cadillac – Reagan




1989 - Used by President George H. W. Bush




1993 Cadillac - President Clinton




2001 Cadillac DTS - President George W. Bush




GUESS WHO ? ? ?




I can't lay claim to this piece of ingenuity: a friend & Charter Member of Team STORMBRINGER; Code Name CLADIDDLEHOPPER sent this in response to my piece on Racial Profiling:


I sent this in recognition of your post dealing with racial profiling. Of course, the Bernardine Dohrn questioning addresses a different aspect of profiling such as its fallacy but, oh well . . .

I think that like so many other things in life, profiling is a great thing in moderation. In Israel for instance, its highly depended upon for "initial assesments".


To those of you who like to throw the tired, old "racist" stereotype out there - be advised: CLADIDDLEHOPPER is an old comrade-in-arms going back to the early 90's, at one point he was the Equal Opportunity NCO for the US Army Special Operations Command, and without getting too personal I can tell you there is no way on God's Green Earth is he a racist - and neither is this post. In fact I bet right now there's a whole pack of soul brothers out there laughing their asses off because it's just . . . plain . . . FUNNY ! ! !


SEAN LINNANE SENDS


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CHINESE HOROSCOPE

There was a story from China many years ago . . . The first US President to visit China was Richard M. Nixon in 1972. He asked a great Chinese writer, Guo Moruo, a riddle: "There are 12 items you can give to 1.2 billion Chinese and everyone gets one. Do you know what they are?"

Mr. Guo knew the answer right away, of course: The twelve animals of the Chinese Lunar Zodiac!


The Twelve animals (十二生肖 shí'èr shēngxiào, "twelve birth emblems" or colloquially 十二屬相 shí'èr shǔxiàng, "twelve signs of belonging") representing the twelve Earthly Branches are, in order, the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep (or goat), monkey, rooster, dog, and pig (or boar).






A legend explains the sequence in which the animals were assigned. Supposedly, the twelve animals fought over the precedence of the animals in the cycle of years in the calendar, so the Chinese gods held a contest to determine the order. All the animals lined up on the bank of a river and were given the task of getting to the opposite shore. Their order in the calendar would be set by the order in which the animals managed to reach the other side. Cat wondered how he would get across if he was afraid of water. At the same time, Ox wondered how he would cross with his poor eyesight. Calculating Rat suggested that he and Cat jump onto Ox's back and guide him across. The Ox was steady and hard-working so that he did not notice a commotion on his back. In the meanwhile, Rat sneaked up behind unsuspecting Cat and shoved him into the water. Just as Ox came ashore, Rat jumped off and finished the race first. Lazy Pig came to the far shore in twelfth place. And so Rat got the first year named after him, Ox got the second year, and Pig ended up as the last year in the cycle. Cat finished too late to win any place in the calendar, and so vowed to be the enemy of Rat forevermore.



Cat, lifelong enemy of Rat.



2010 is the year of the metal Tiger. The metal Tiger is mood swinging, vigorous and hard-working, passionate, honest and modest. The Tiger like his animal sign is naturally forgiving and rarely holds grudges for long. The Tiger symbolizes eternal family values, high support and care of friends.





I am the delightful Paradox.
All the world is in my stage.
I set new trails ablaze;
I seek the unattainable,
And try the untried.
I dance to life's music
In gay abandon.
Come with me on my carousel rides
See the myriad colors,
The flickering lights.
All hail me the unparalleled performer.

I am the Tiger.



Year : 1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022
Greatest Affinity : Dog, Horse
Greatest Enmity : Monkey


Tiger Careers Guidance

People born in this year are urgent creatures and always in a hurry to get things done right, they usually choose to operate alone. Tigers are hard-working and dynamic by nature. If you assign a task to a Tiger, the job will be undertaken and accomplished with enthusiasm and efficiency. Optimism, determination and initiative are their strong points. While some projects may succeed because the Tiger has the drive to see them through to the end, the other will be left in a half, because of the tiger's inability to deal well with failure. A Tiger person becomes flustered when colleagues discover that he orshe have misjudged a situation.

In spite of enormous energy and commitment, Tigers must be able to sustain their optimism and drive or they can dissipate their efforts. Other people should hold the purse strings, budget for the unforeseen and direct the Tiger to do what they are best at. The most important ingredient in a partnership with a Tiger is always to be focused on an objective.


Ideal Jobs for the Tiger

Entrepreneur, Military officer, Politician, Musician, Writer, Poet, Designer, Theater Director, Stockbroker, Athlete, Film star, Trade Union Leader, Company Director, Stunt Person, Explorer, Teacher.








Some Famous Tigers

Sir David Attenborough, Natalie Wood, Tom Berenger, Agatha Christie, H.G. Wells, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Dickinson, Isadora Duncan, Roberta Flack, Frederick Forsyth, Jodie Foster, Stevie Wonder Sir Alec Guiness, Hugh Hefner, William Hurt, Dylan Thomas, Marilyn Monroe, Demi Moore, Beatrix Potter, Diana Rigg, Lionel Ritchie, Kenny Rogers.

MY FAVORITE DEMOCRAT

Harry Truman: Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 32 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.


The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.


When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year..


After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.


When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."


Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."


As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.


Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale. (sic. Illinois )


Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!”


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