The Republican Club of Sun City NEWSLETTER
October 2014 Everett Schmidt, Editor Sun City Texas

SENATOR SCHWERTNER TO ADDRESS CLUB

State Senator Charles Schwertner, representing Senate District 5, will address the club during its dinner meeting scheduled for Wednesday, October 1 in the ballroom of the Social Center in Sun City. (Note: The October meeting has been scheduled for a Wednesday night because a Thursday night – the club’s usual meeting night – was not available.)

Inasmuch as the Texas Legislature will soon be convening to take legislative action for the next biennium, his comments will be extremely pertinent. In addition to learning of the coming legislative battles, attendees can also learn of changes which are likely to come about because of a change in personnel for the positions of Governor and Lt. Governor.

The Social Period, Dinner and Program. A social period will begin at 6:00 PM. The dinner will begin at 6:30 PM and will be followed by the program. The dinner will consist of beef and chicken fajitas, Spanish rice and charro beans, fiesta salad, chips and salsa, guacamole, salsa, sour cream and cheese.

Cost. Cost is $16 per person. Checks made out to The Republican Club of Sun City should be mailed to: The Republican Club of Sun City, 1530 Sun City Blvd., Suite 120, Box 227, Georgetown, TX 78633. The deadline for payment or reservations is Thursday, September 25. (Note that the deadline for payment is one day earlier than the usual Friday deadline.)

Club treasurer John Congdon has set up a special collection box on his front porch at 610 Farm Hill Drive for individuals wishing to hand-deliver payments, with the proviso that the Thursday deadline has been met. For information about reservations, contact John at 512-686-1676 or johnsctx@gmail.com

VISITORS ARE WELCOME!

PROJECT TO REGISTER SC RESIDENTS TO VOTE CONCLUDES New Project to Energize Republicans to Vote Now Underway

Several months ago, the club’s Executive Committee, believing the number of unregistered voters in Sun City – then estimated to be around 2000 – was too high and could (and should) be reduced, embarked on an elaborate plan to reduce on a non-partisan basis that number. The plan began in March when, under the general direction of Bill Harron, who had been appointed Voter Registration Coordinator, volunteers were obtained to periodically man tables set up at the Social Center and the Cowan Creek Amenity Center for the purpose of distributing voter registration materials and providing whatever assistance the residents wished. A table was also set up for new resident orientation meetings for those purposes. A registration form was also included with one of the issues of the Sun Rays.

The voter registration drive came to a conclusion with a “block walk” scheduled on Saturday, September 13 when a host of volunteers went to the homes of those Sun City residents who were shown to be not registered to vote. This time the residents not only received voter registration materials, they could also have their completed forms certified by a Volunteer Deputy Registrar who was a member of the team which went to the homes. Some of the work was completed prior to September 13.

The “block walk” effort was carried out under the general direction of Meredith Chiles (ch., pct. 394), and Joy Putnam (pct. 396). Total voter registration efforts were impressive: at the inception of the plan months ago, the number of unregistered voters was around 2000, a number reduced to around 900 in March and then to around 706 when the “block walks” began – thanks to the efforts of numerous volunteers; the number of volunteers why manned tables at the Social Center, the Cowan Creek Center and at New Resident Orientation meetings was 8; the total number of volunteers who participated in the “block walk” of September 13 and earlier was 38; the number of volunteers who took the special training course at the Elections Office to be certified as a Volunteer Deputy Registrar was 38; the total number of residences visited by volunteers was 534.

Special recognition should be given to several individuals for the successful outcome of the project. Among them are (1) vice president Bill Chiles who, in addition to maintaining the club’s web site, provided to the precinct leaders constantly updated printouts which showed names and addresses of unregistered voters, (2) the precinct leaders who organized the “block walks” and provided training for the volunteers, and (3) each of the 38 volunteers who became a Volunteer Deputy Registrar to facilitate the registration process. Special recognition should be given to Judge Bill Gravell who arranged for speakers for the September 13 program, and who was the initiator of a plan based on “an idea whose time had come.”

But the work of many of the volunteers is not yet over, that being said because a voter turnout effort –

this time on a partisan basis – for the purpose of energizing Republican voters in the coming general election, will soon get underway.

That effort will also be carried out under the general direction precinct leaders, and will consist of, first, stuffing plastic bags with campaign literature, and, second, placing the stuffed bags on the door handles of prospective Republican voters. To volunteer, contact Barbara Mabray (381), Meredith Chiles (394) or Joy Putnam (396).

OTHER CLUB NEWS
Membership Renewals for 2015 Now Underway. Membership dues ($15 per person) are now

payable. Dues may be paid at the November meeting or they may be mailed in to the address shown above. Nominations and Election for 2015. President Fears has announced that, pursuant to Article VIII of club bylaws, he has appointed the following club members to the Nominating Committee: Bill Chiles, June Phillips, Bill Killebrew, Lydia Rives, and Robert Fears. This committee will make its recommendations for next

year’s officers during the October meeting.
Elections will be held during the November meeting. Nominations from the floor are allowed; however,

bylaws prescribe that “prior consent of the nominee shall have been obtained and written information on the nominee shall be furnished the president before the meeting.”

Rules for the Question-Answer Period Announced. President Fears announced the following rules established by the Executive Committee will be in effect when there is a question-answer period during a program: (1) only questions will be accepted – no statements or accusations, and (2) only one question will be allowed per person.

NEWS OF THE COUNTY PARTY

County party chairman Bill Fairbrother announces the office hours of the Georgetown GOP Headquarters at 716 S. Rock Street, Georgetown, TX 78626, 512-863-8481, as follows:

Mondays Tuesdays Thursdays Fridays

10a.m.-2p.m. 10a.m.-2p.m. 1St &3rd:10a.m.-4p.m. 10a.m.-2p.m. 2Nd & 4th: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Fairbrother needs help. If interested, contact Brenda Yoder, club coordinator, or the headquarters.

WHAT IS ISLAM?
A Survey of Islam for Patriots

Foreword.

There are many questions about Islam for which reliable answers seem lacking, for example:

•   Is Islam a religion of peace, as some presidents have claimed?
•   Is Islam a religion of violence?
•   Can the brutal treatment of women as called for in the Koran be justified?
•   Will America experience the same problems as England in dealing with its Muslim population? There is evidence that America, like England and other European countries, is not facing the realities of dealing with a growing militant Muslim population which continues to have a belief system based on the past.This report, while unusually long, attempts to fill that void.SOME IMPORTANT HISTORICAL FACTS

  Biblical History

  Abraham fathered two sons: one, Ishmael, by an Egyptian slave girl, Hagar, and the other, Isaac, by his wife, Sarah. Author Amanda Roraback reports that “Muslims believe that they are the descendants of Ishmael who was outcast with his mother to Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia.”

  She also report that around 622, Muhammad declared that there is no god but Allah and that he was his Prophet, thus beginning the Muslim era. The Jews, however, rejected his claim, and Muhammad, in turn, renounced them – thus exacerbating whatever enmity that then existed.

  Author Walid Phares notes that today’s battles are a direct continuation of millennia of confrontation, and that a main characteristic of the jihadist movement is its synchronic view of history. For example, when Israel was formed in 1948, Muslims shouted in Arabic a chant reminding them of a glorious battle, centuries ago, against Jews at the city of Khaibar: “Remember Khaibar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad is coming back.”
  The Crusades.

Islam originated in Arabia in the seventh century when Egypt, Libya and all of North Africa were Christian

and had been so for hundreds of years. So were Palestine, Lebanon and Asia Minor (now Turkey) as well as Greece. In other words, these were Christian lands which preceded the origin of Islam. The First Crusade was in the year 1098.

Author Robert Spencer makes the point that if Westerners had no right to invade these putative places, then Muslims had no right to conquer them to begin with. (Note that Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 638.)

Nevertheless, virtually all Westerners have learned to apologize for the Crusades, and terrorists like bin Laden have, for their cause, cited the Crusades in their edicts.
World War I

World War I and its aftermath have had huge ramifications on developments in the mid-east, thus

necessitating the following lengthy excerpt from Rorabeck’s book, Israel in a Nutshell:
At the onset of the First World War, the Turks decided to shift allegiances from the Empire’s traditional allies,

Britain and France, to the Germans – in part to counter the Russian forces. By joining the Central Powers (Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary) against the Allies (Britain, France and Russia), the Turks gave the British the excuse they needed to finally overtake the Ottoman Empire.

In order to bring that Empire to a swift end, the British urged the already disaffected Arabs to stage a revolt against their Turkish rulers with the implication that they would be granted independence once the Empire had collapsed. To help coordinate the rebellion, the British called on T. E. Lawrence, better known as “Lawrence of Arabia.”

. . .[For] the last 1300 years, the Muslim community has been more or less unified under the Caliphs or Sultans who ruled over vast empires. But with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and the European mandate that

followed, the Islamic community became disjointed . . . some Muslim countries assimilated with their European occupiers . . .some enforced the ancient traditions of the Prophet. . .

Both the terms of the Balfour Declaration [advocating a home for Jews in Palestine] and Sykes-Picot agreement [creating British and French spheres of influence] were reaffirmed in 1920 at the San Remo conference which decided the final fate of the former Ottoman-ruled Arab lands of the Middle East. As a result, Britain received the mandate for
for Palestine (including the area that would be called “Transjordan”) and present-day Iraq, while France would have authority over Syria and Lebanon.

The Status of Former Muslim Lands

Author Walid Phares explains that, to Islamists, every land that was once conquered or opened under a legitimate Islamic authority cannot revert back to the infidels. This is the case in regard to other nations and countries once invaded by Muslim armies, including Spain, most of France, and parts of India and Russian. Division of the Former Ottoman Empire

Roraback contends that in 1917, by dividing the Ottoman Empire into small, unstable states, European powers were in a position to exercise great economic, political and military control over the Middle East. The deceptions and occupations of those divisions “left a lasting sense of bitterness within the Arab community and fueled the determination of nationalists to reunite the Arab world into a powerful state that could again counter the West. This ideology became the basis for modern pan-Arab movements led by the Ba’ath Party of Syria and Iraq, Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt, and others.”
A Caliphate Without a Caliph

With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, Islam had no caliph who, as a successor to Muhammad, was to establish a caliphate where the legacy of the Prophet would be carried on in accordance with Allah’s will. A consequence of that void was that both lower level clerics (such as Iran’s Mullahs) and non- clerics (such as Osama bin Laden) have been issuing edicts of violence based on language in the Koran.
The Establishment of Modern Israel

In 1917, before the war ended, the Balfore Declaration, which indicated British support for the establishment of a national home in Palestine for the Jewish people, was approved. Roraback contends that with this declaration, the British hoped to win support of world Jewry in the war efforts.

Once the Central Powers had been defeated, the spoils of war were divvied up among the victors. In 1918, the Allies under the League of Nation (which the U. S. did not join), granted the British administrative authority over Palestine. Then, in 1922, as a mandate, the British established in Palestine a “national home for the Jewish people.”

A cycle of violence than ensued and continued for the duration of the occupation. By February of 1947, the British had grown weary of the Palestine situation and turned to the UN for help. The UN recommended an end to the British mandate and a partitioning of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. Violence broke out immediately after the UN announced the partition on November 29, 1947.

In the midst of rioting on May 14, 1948, Ben-Gurion and other Israeli leaders signed Israel’s Declaration of Independence. The modern state of Israel was thus born.

THE DRIVING FORCE: THE KORAN

In 610 A.D. (still commemorated yearly during the holy month Ramadan), Muhammad, who claimed to be the last in a long line of prophets began to receive divine communications from Allah, communications that would eventually be compiled into the Koran.

Shariah Law

From the Koran and other writings came Shariah Law – about much of which is heard today. Shariah Law, according to Wikipedia, “deals with all aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, banking, business law, contract law, sexuality, and social issues.” In other words, it is more that a religion and is therefore sometimes referred to as an ideology.

Following is a sampling of Shariah laws shown to illustrate the myriad subjects addressed. Each subject emanates from an identifiable verse in the Koran:

Criticizing or denying any part of the Koran is punishable by death
Criticizing or denying Muhammad as a prophet is punishable by death
A Muslim who becomes a non-Muslim is punishable by death
A non-Muslim man who marries a Muslim woman is punishable by death
A man can marry an infant girl and consummate the marriage when she is 9 years old

The Koran and Women

Special mention should be made of the harsh treatment to be accorded to women by Shariah Law. Following is a sampling of those laws with a sura number shown in parenthesis:

*Women are inferior to men, and must be ruled by them: “Men have authority over women because God had made the

one superior to the other” (4:34)
*It declares that a woman’s testimony is worth half that of a man. (2:282)
*It allows men to marry up to four wives (4:3)
*It rules that a son’s inheritance should be twice the size of that of a daughter. (4:11)
*It tells husbands to beat their disobedient wives (4:34)
*According to Spencer, “Nothing is easier than divorce for a Muslim male: All he has to do is tell his wife, ‘I divorce you,’

and the divorce is consummated.”

Why these brutal laws have not changed is discussed in a section below titled, “Why Has Islam Remained Mired in Antiquity?”

THE KORAN AND VIOLENCE

The Koran

The Koran contains the word of the Islamic God as revealed to the Prophet Mohammad by the angel Gabriel. Following are some selected verses from the Koran which use the terms “kill,” “slay” or other terms commanding or condoning violence:

•   Fighting is prescribed upon you, and you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows and you know not . . .(surah 2:216-17)
•   But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them, in every stratagem of war (surah 9:5)
•   Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book [Jews and Christians], until they pay compensation with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (surah 9:29)
•   I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers. (surah 8:12) The Absence of a CaliphThe reader will recall hearing in current newscasts reference to the territory now occupied by ISIS (or ISIL) as being a caliphate, which is territory normally under the control of a caliph. But Trifkovic points out that the highest ranking Muslim, the caliph, who is one of the successors to Muhammad, has not been in existence since 1924. It is the caliph who “commands and demands authority on the basis of apostolic succession from the last of the apostles. Obedience to him is not less obligatory than that to the Prophet.”What is the result of this void of leadership? Phares contends that post-Ottoman jihadists are “out of control.” The ruling clerics have a free hand in promulgating legal rulings. For example, note the bellicosity which flows from that situation in the following excerpts from a jihad issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, a cleric, known for his role in the takeover of the American Embassy in 1997:

  But those who study Islamic Holy War will understand why Islam wants to conquer the whole world . . . Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those [who say this] are witless. Islam says:
  Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all . . .Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! The sword is the key to Paradise, which can be opened only for the Holy Warriors!

  It was he – to the horror of a watching world – who issued a jihad which roused thousands of Iranian zealots – including many children – to become martyrs during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s by walking as human waves straight into the line of fire, clearing minefields with their bodies to make a path for Iranian tanks. Non-Clerics and the Koran

  Non-clerics have also issued orders – and with devastating effect. Bin Laden was not cleric; he was an engineer! Reflect on his actions which eventually led to the 9-11 attack on America.

Phares reports that on February 22, 1998, bin Laden appeared on television and issued a full-fledged declaration of war against America, the crusaders, and the Jews. But it was met with total dismissal by Washington, and with little coverage and no analysis by the media. Although bin Laden is dead, his writing can still provide some insight into the belief system of Muslims. Said bin Laden:

In compliance with Allah’s orders, we issue to following fatwa to Muslims: “The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies – civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which is it possible . . . This is in accordance with the words of Almighty Allah, ‘and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together,’ and ‘fight them until there is no more tumult or oppressions, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah . . .’

WHY HAS VIOLENCE NOT BEEN REPUDIATED?

Spencer contends, “The unpleasant fact is that violent jihad warfare against unbelievers is not a heretical doctrine held by a tiny minority of extremists, but a constant element of mainstream Islamic theology.” He continues: “It is a commonly accepted principle in the Islamic world that . . .free inquiry into the Koran and Islamic tradition in order to discover Allah’s ruling [has] been closed for centuries.”

He reports that “Where Muslims do coexist peacefully with non-Muslims, as in Central Asia and elsewhere, it is not because the teachings of jihad have been reformed or rejected; they have simply been ignored.” But ignoring the jihad may not be possible with the involvement of militants, this being said because the text of the Koran is on the side of militants, leaving the moderate Muslim in the difficult position of having to explain why the word of Allah as found in the Koran should not be followed.

THE SUNNI – SHIITE SPLIT

The Succession Factor

Some understanding of the background of the Sunni-Shiite dispute which began with the death of the Prophet Mohammad in 632 is necessary. Although the dispute began well over 1000 years ago, it continues unabated, perhaps even with increased intensity – as today’s news can verify.

The basis of that dispute was (and is) who should succeed the prophet Mohammad as the spiritual leader of the Muslims. The Shiites wanted the successor to be blood-related to the prophet; the Sunnies were not bound by that requirement and had their own selection process. The two factions accepted to one extent or another the first four selections, but then there was a Shiite rebellion in the year 680 which resulted in the massacre of the Shiite rebels. This massacre sealed the division.

Upon the division, the Shiites recognized separate spiritual leaders called “Imams,” of which there was a succession of 12. The twelfth Imam, in 941, at the age of 5, was, for his protection, placed in hiding in a well in Qom in Iran. Most Iranians believe that this twelfth Imam will reemerge one day as the Mahdi, a religious leader who will lead the entire world to Islam. Further, his return can be hastened by a calamitous event, such as a nuclear warfare. Can this belief provide Iranian Muslims incentive to begin hostilities?
The Ethnicity Factor

There is also a division between Muslims of Persian ethnicity and Muslims of Arab ethnicity. According to Roraback, that division was a factor contributing to the Iran-Irag war of the 1980s. Evans explains: “Iran’s fascination with rabid anti-Semitic ideology goes back to World War II. Reza Shah Pahlavi changed the name of the country from “Persia” to “Iran” because “Iran” in Farsi signifies “Aryan,” referring to the proto-Indo-European lineage that Nazi racial theorists and Persian ethnologist both embraced.”

There are other stark differences between the two factions. While Arabs speak Arabic and the Koran is to be heard only in Arabic, in Iran (formerly Persia) 51% of the population is ethnically Persian and the predominant language is Persian.

LYING AS A VIRTUE

Duplicity, such as that which might emanate from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) when falsely explaining that Islam is a peaceful religion, is not only permitted but encouraged under the Islamic doctrines Taqiyya and Kithman. Author Brigitte Gabriel explains:

“Moderate” Muslims, and apologists and propagandists for Islam, will attempt to deny or obscure the real meaning, nature, and intent of jihad. Some will say that jihad means only a Muslim’s “inner struggle” to be a better person, and that jihad has no military meaning whatever. Others will acknowledge that Muslims have a religious duty to spread Islam throughout the world, but insist that it is to be spread only peacefully.

However, all of these assertions are examples of a tactic that Islam encourages in waging Jihad . . .Muslims are encouraged to lie if, in the opinion of the liar, telling the lie will be “good” for Islam.

It should be noted that this doctrine is synonymous with one of Saul Alinski’s rules, one which states that an organizer “does not have a fixed truth – truth to him is relative and changing.” And it is consistent with the propensity of Obama to lie for his purposes. (See January 2014 club newsletter)

WHY HAS ISLAM REMAINED MIRED IN ANTIQUITY?

Author Robert Spencer attempts to answer the question as to why Islam remains mired in antiquity, particularly in regard to science. He contends that the Koran portrays Allah as absolutely sovereign and bound by nothing. In contrast, Jews and Christians believe that God created a universe according to rational laws that can be discovered, making scientific investigation worthwhile. Saint Thomas Acquinas explains:

Since the principles of certain sciences – of logic, geometry, arithmetic, for instance – are derived exclusively from the formal principles of things, upon which their essence depends, it follows that God cannot make the contraries of the principles; He cannot make the genus not to be predictable of the species, nor lines drawn from a circle’s center to its circumference not to be equal, nor the three angles of a rectilinear triangle not to be equal to two right angles.

But Allah has no such limitations. Al-Ghazali, an Islamic scholar, and others took issue with the very idea that there were laws of nature. That would be blasphemy, a denial of Allah’s freedom. Thus modern science developed in Christian Europe rather than in the House of Islam. In the Islamic world, Allah killed science. Islam remains mired in antiquity.

Author Herbert Meyer, a former member of the CIA and the first to forecast the collapse of the Soviet Union, contrasts Islam with another operating system, Western Civilization, as follows:

•   Islam is a different system from that of Western Civilization. Church and state are combined. It’s a political structure as well as faith, and the individual is subservient to the church-state combination. You do not have the option to opt out. Islam does not unleash the entrepreneurial talents of its people. It discourages intellectual curiosity. That’s why there hasn’t been a scientific breakthrough for the Islamic world in a thousand years. And it treats women as though they were property. Very simply put, it’s incompatible with the modern world.
•   Our operating system is Western Civilization. It’s who were are. It started in the ancient world and took off in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries when Judaism and Christianity reconciled with the modern world. That ignited the greatest scientific revolution of all time. Shakespeare, Bach, Michelangelo provided the greatest explosion of art and literature in world history. Western Civilization means the individual is at the center. Church and state are separate. The rule of law, the idea of property rights, economic liberty, individual rights, human rights, women’s rights. We encourage intellectual curiosity, unleash the entrepreneurial talents of our people, endless struggle for equality among the races and the sexes. That’s Western Civilization.DOES AMERICA SUFFICIENTLY UNDERSTAND ISLAM?There are indications of which the reader is aware that the administration doesn’t understand – much less know how to cope with – Islam. Either that or it has sympathies with the Muslim cause. For example, shortly after the video showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff, John Kerry gave speech saying that Islam is a “peaceful religion based on the dignity of all human beings,” and that ISIS is not “the real face of Islam.”

  And shortly after Kerry made his comments, president Obama, during a prime-time speech to the nation, stated that “ISIL (sometimes shown ISIS) is not Islamic” and that, “No religion condones the killings of innocents.”

  Because Obama and leftists tend to avoid confrontation and, instead, engage in negotiations, it might be helpful to consider the comments of author and Fox News commentator Ralph Peters who contends the old model of negotiating with hostile powers will not work with Muslim terrorists. He explains:

  In the past we have certainly faced grave dangers from our enemies, but we have never before faced enemies who regarded death as a promotion. You hear calls, “Can’t we just get along, let’s talk, we can reason with these people.” No, you cannot. In the glory days of the late 20th century, when you dealt with political terrorists who had mundane, secular, earthy goals, you could often reason with them, sometimes you had to kill them, sometimes you could compromise, sometimes they had legitimate complaints . . .We’re not in a war of ideas. We’re in a war of beliefs, vastly more dangerous. World War II, the Cold War, those were wars of ideas. Now we’re dealing with beliefs and with enemies with whom you cannot compromise. Many Americans still have not got it through their heads that this enemy must be killed or locked up forever.

  ARE ISRAEL AND TRADITIONAL AMERICA BEING ABANDONED BY OBAMA AND THE LEFT?

  In the eyes of Muslims there is oneness between Israel and America, one indication of which is the fact that Israel is known by Muslims as the “Little Satan” while America is called the “Great Satan” – and not only because of our support for Israel. Theologian Michael Brown, in explaining why Muslims use the term “Great

Satan,” points out that “We are seen as the champion of Western decadence, the chief exporter of immorality to the rest of the world.” He adds what we should expect: that radical Muslims in Egypt cite America’s high divorce rate, its high crime rate and drug use and America’s preoccupation with sex and then contend, “You will never find these things where true Islam exists,” a contention from which Muslims can receive a lot of “mileage” for their cause.

It should be noted that up until the beginning of the Obama administration, there had been a close alliance between America and Israel, but the relationship is changing. Some examples come from the widely reported Cairo speech made several years ago in which Obama proposed “a contiguous Palestinian state . . . which could only be accomplished by cutting Israel in half.”

But the most stunning symbolic message – one which is considered an insulting act in the Middle East – took place during Obama’s telephone conversation with Netanyahu when the only picture released of Obama talking on the telephone of that event in the oval office was one in which Obama was seen with his feet propped up on the desk with the soles of his shoes in clear view. It is considered an insult in the Middle East to show someone the soles of one’s feet.

In response to the clear threat made by Iranian Muslims to use nuclear weapons to wipe Israel off the may, Israel has sworn “never again.” Reasoning that the Holocaust occurred in part because European Jews did not resist, the Israelis have determined that never again will Israel be passive in the face of its enemies.

Consequently, since the late 1940s, first strikes have characterized Israeli’s foreign policy. Two examples: (1) the highly effective Israeli first-strike air assault on June 5, 1967, destroyed the entire Egyptian air force on the ground at the start of the Six-day War, and (2) more parallel to the urgency of a situation of Iran having nuclear weapons, was the June 1981 air attack that took out Iraq’s Isirak unclear reactor.

Israel has had to reassess its options in view of the possibility that it may have to defend itself alone. Those options include the “Sampson Option,” which means that Israel would be willing to attack Iran even if the result of an Israeli preemptive strike ended with Israel’s destruction.

THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE MUSLIMS

For years predating this nation’s independence, Muslim pirates had been engaging in piracy of shipping that entered the Mediterranean. Up until the time of American independence, colonial shipping had enjoyed some protection, first by the British and then later by the French; however, after the U. S. won its independence, its shipping no longer had the protection of those nations. Initially, having no navy, the U. S. paid handsome ransoms to those pirates who operated out of ports in Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, an area known as the Barbary Coast, to obtain the freedom of the captured American sailors the Muslims had enslaved.

When he was ambassador to France, Jefferson asked a Muslim diplomat from Tripoli by what right were the Muslim pirates extorting money and taking slaves. The response of this diplomat was subsequently reported by Jefferson to Secretary of State John Jay and to the Congress. Following is an excerpt of that report:

The ambassador answered us that [the right] was founded on the Laws of the Prophet [Mohammad], that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman [Muslim] who should be slain in battle was sure to go to heaven.

It should be noted here, as an aside, that, although that description was penned more than 200 years ago, it is perfectly consistent with recent utterances by Osama bin Laden, Iran’s president, and other Muslims.

Jefferson was opposed to America paying ransom to free its captured sailors, so when he became president he refused such payment to the ruler of Tripoli who then, in retaliation for Jefferson’s refusal, declared war on the U. S. by the symbolic act of cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U. S. Consulate. Morocco, Algiers and Tunis soon followed the lead of their ally in Tripoli.

According to Wikipedia, Jefferson, in turn, sent a group of frigates to defend American interests in the Mediterranean, and so informed Congress. As was the case when Congress of recent years dealt with Iraq and the 9/11 attack, the Congress of Jefferson’s day never voted on a formal declaration of war. It did, however, authorize the president to instruct the commanders of armed vessels of the U. S. to seize all vessels and goods of the Pasha of Tripoli. Further, again in language similar to that used by Congresses of recent years, the Congress of 1801 authorized Jefferson “to cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify.”

Under that grant of authority, the U. S. did engage in hostilities which, by and large, ended after a daring overland attack against the city of Derna in Tripoli by a force of Marines and mercenaries under the command of Americans. This was the action memorialized in the line in the Marines Hymn, “to the shores of Tripoli.”