Judaism was a violent, corrupt religion. It is thousands of years old, and the facts about its perfidies are relegated to scholars. It reformed itself.

Christianity was a corrupt, violent religion, too. The Crusades (which are not entirely a one-sided affair) were violent and not something to celebrate. Regardless of who was right and who was wrong, the Crusades were not something that Christ would have advocated. Many Christians say that military ventures engaged in by the United States go against the teachings of Christ, too. There is some validity to this. Naked power exercised in the name of Christ has the ring of perversion. This book, however, is an attempt to explain through history that to fail to maintain strength, often out of deference to the placid teachings of Christ, is precisely what the Horned One would have us do.

Catholicism became an international political organization, far removed from the teachings of Christ. Even today, the Catholic Church is demonstrating that it is in need of major reform. Christianity always has responded to its crises, and it will continue to do so. It has earned its place among that short list of Great Religions. Islam is not there yet. It is a relatively young religion, however, and it is a fervent prayer of mine that it will become a great religion. I am hope I live to see it.

When that happens, the Middle East can be the place everybody has always hoped it could be. Arabs who live there think that the West would have it convert to Christianity or, worse, Judaism. Nothing could be further from the truth. It must convert to Islam. Too much of it is not now real Islam.

Getting back to Israel, which has the right to exist, there remains a sticky little question. What if we could use that same time machine, the one that transported Bill Clinton to the 19th Century and made him Ambassador of Native American Relations, and go back to 1948? Would Harry Truman, knowing then what we know now, still transfer the Mandate of British Palestine into the hands of a small group of Holocaust survivors, and call it the Jewish State of Israel? Considering all the horrors, the wars, the terror, hatred and lack of humanity that exists in that part of the world, has it been worth it?

God bless Israel. They are our friends. They are there now and there is no turning back, but if we could, would we? Throughout history, there have been "movements" that killed millions. It is almost as if there is a beast living in our larger, unseen humanity. The beast has an appetite for destruction. It manifests itself through wars, pestilence and genocide. This beast found itself hungry and living in the Middle East, every day getting hungrier with hate and a desire to kill. The United States, through sheer power and resolve, has caged this beast. It never fed in that part of the world. If let loose, it would go on a frenzy of mass murder that makes the Peloponnesian War look like an Irish rugby match. Through a combination of power and love, the beast is still hungry but, through starvation, slowly dying. It never really dies, of course. It does move around. It is in Africa, too. The power of America and the miracle of love seem to be the only hope in Africa.

In the Middle East, however, there is still that hunger to kill. Something bloodthirsty has always run rampant in the human existence. Only the slaughter of thousands, then millions, seems to satisfy this craving. The Arab world has been denied the "opportunity" to kill millions. In its place is the desire to. This is quite a philosophy, but is there truth to it? Is it possible that Germany and Russia had such a killing desire, and it was only after they went on a bloody spree that they "sated" this desire? Is this a desire that curdles the blood of so many Arabs until it is given "expression?" Will it never go away? Why would some countries have this desire, but not others? Why has it never infected America, or Canada, or Australia, just to name a few? Christianity cannot be the only answer. Russia was Christian. Germany is Christian. 

What would the Middle East look like if Israel had never existed? Interestingly, Truman's decision to officially create a Jewish state might not be the bottom line regarding this question. After World War I, many Jews escaped the pogroms of the Czar's and, finally, the bigger terror, Communism. They immigrated to Palestine. The place was a cesspool of nothingness. The Arabs who lived there had accomplished little of any consequence in the previous 1,500 years. The Jews who moved there were Russian schtetl dwellers. They were not the "Harvard Jews" of Norman Mailer's America.

Nevertheless, they quickly demonstrated that, well, they were…is there any way to say this?…better than the Palestinians. They built things. Schools. Businesses. Economy. Trade. Morality. Through sheer excellence, within less than 20 years, they were the largest employers of Palestine. This meant the "old money" Palestinians worked for the Jews, which was to them like post-Civil War black freemen employing most of the white folk of Savannah in 1877.

Houston, we have a problem.

This is the situation that existed when World War II began. The Holocaust then created a political sympathy for Jews that had never existed before, not in America and surely no place else. The Chosen People were not the Popular People. Hitler's ovens had not made them popular, but it did make them a Cause.

Increased immigration from Europe in response to the Nazis had made them a majority population. It was an unusual situation, not unlike the American West. Throughout history, especially within the framework of empires, armies had conquered territories, and the populations followed. In the U.S., the Army did not conquer the West. Ordinary people did. They moved there, succeeded there, and like the Jews of 1930s Palestine, became the dominant culture through sheer excellence. No Jewish army had taken over Palestine. Hard-working people did. The exuberance of these kinds of people, who make up Western Civilization and Judeo-Christianity, is a hard movement to put down. Some of the other cultures of the world ought to give it a try some time.

Eventually, the Palestinians took to guerilla warfare. Compromise and joining in on the new economic boom times was just too painful. By the end of World War II, the British were utterly exhausted. They had no more desire to put down uprisings from Indians, Palestinians, or any other savages. The world had turned, and the Sun was setting. The Jews looked to the United States.

Roosevelt had appeared sympathetic, but he had made a secret deal with Saudi Arabia before he died, promising to protect them from themselves in return for Big Oil. He ended up assuring the Arabs that the U.S. would not intervene. President Truman was also sympathetic. He was naturally pre-disposed to the "little guy," the "underdog," and saw the Jews in that light. Of course, from the standpoint of smarts, work ethic and morals, the Jews were the Yankees and the Palestinians the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Recently, some of Truman's diaries shed some light on his attitude. Being a Kansas City Protestant, he was not of that generation of people who naturally sympathize with the Hebrew persuasion. His diaries further reveal his irritation with the vaunted "Jewish lobby," who he said pestered and hounded him mercilessly until they got their way. Truman felt that the Jews were selfish, advocating their position with little regard for its effect on other people. 

Nevertheless, he accepted the Balfour Declaration. He felt it was in line with Woodrow Wilson's "self determination" principle. The War and State Departments advised that if the U.S. did not make a play, a Soviet-Arab oil connection would fill the existing geo-political gap.

In 1946, the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry submitted recommendations that Palestine not be majority Arab or Jewish. Looking back, if these recommendations had been fulfilled to the letter, a secular state might have been better. The hope was to avoid civil strife. Two autonomous states were to be established with a strong central government to control Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the Negev, the southernmost section of Palestine. The idea was based a bit on the current split between Pakistan and India, although that is not exactly a success story.

Hard line Jews committed acts of terror in Palestine, which antagonized the British. By February of 1947, a virtual state of war existed. Britain asked the U.N. to intervene, an unheard of scenario in the old British Empire but a sign of the new times. The U.N. General Assembly set up the Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP). The recommendation was that the British mandate end, replaced by two partitioned states. Most Jews wanted all of Palestine, but the general reaction was to accept compromise. The Arabs bluntly said no to the UNSCOP plan. The Arab League Council directed troops to the Palestine border. President Truman told the State Department to support the U.N. plan.

The 1947 U.N. Partition divided the area into three entities: A Jewish state, an Arab state (Transjordan), and an international zone around Jerusalem. On May 14, 1948, the Provisional Government of Israel was proclaimed. The next day, Arab armies invaded Israel. The following is a time-line of major events in Israel's history:

Time-line of major events in Israel's modern history

JULY 1882 -  Beginning of First Aliyah, BILU pioneers arrive in Palestine.

1883 -  Baron Edmond de Rothschild begins support of Jewish settlement in Palestine; Founding of Hovevei Tzion movement in Odessa.

FEBRUARY 1896 - Theodor Herzl's Der Judenstaat, The Jewish State, is published

AUGUST 1897 - First Zionist Congress convenes in Basle, Switzerland; Creation of World Zionist Organization.

1904 - Beginning of Second Aliyah; Death of Theodor Herzl.

1909 - Founding of Tel Aviv - the first modern all-Jewish city.

1910 - Founding of Degania - the first Kibbutz.

NOVEMBER 1917 - British issue Balfour Declaration, recognizing the right to a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

DECEMBER 1917 - British conquest of Palestine.

1919 - Beginning of Third Aliyah.

APRIL 1920 - British Mandate over Palestine issued.

JULY 1922 - Churchill White Paper separates Transjordan from area designated for creation of Jewish homeland and links Jewish immigration to "economic capacity of the country."

1924-1932 - Fourth Aliyah.

AUGUST 1929 - Arabs riot in Jerusalem; Massacres of Jews in Hebron and Safad.

OCTOBER 1930 - Passfield White Paper limits Jewish immigration to Palestine and forbids Jewish land purchases.

1931 - Founding of Jewish underground organization, Irgun Zva'i Leumi.

1933-1939 - Fifth Aliyah.

1936-1939 - Arab revolt.

JULY 1937 - Peel Commission report recommends partition of Palestine.

MAY 1939 - MacDonald White Paper limits Jewish immigration and prohibits Jews from purchasing Arab land.

MAY 1941 - Creation of Palmach - early Jewish defense force.

MAY 1942 - At Biltmore Conference, American Zionists call for a "Jewish Commonwealth" in Palestine.

DECEMBER 1945 - Arab League Boycott established.

JULY 1946 - Irgun attacks King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

FEBRUARY 1947 - Britain refers Palestine issue to United Nations.

NOVEMBER 1947 - United Nations votes to partition Palestine into independent Jewish and Arab states.

MAY 1948 - Creation of the State of Israel; U.S. and Soviet Union extend recognition; Creation of Israel Defense Forces.

SEPTEMBER 1948 - Assassination of U.N. Mediator Count Folke Bernadotte by extremist Jews.

JANUARY 1949 - Israel War of Independence ends; Israel's first national elections.

FEBRUARY 1949 - Egypt and Israel sign an Armistice Agreement.

MARCH 1949 - Lebanon and Israel sign an Armistice Agreement.

APRIL 1949 - Transjordan and Israel sign an Armistice Agreement.

MAY 1949 - U.N. votes to accept Israel as a member state.

JULY 1949 - Syria and Israel sign an Armistice Agreement.

JANUARY 1950  - Transjordan annexes West Bank and renames area Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

JULY 1950 - Israel passes Law of Return.

JULY 1951 - Assassination of Jordanian King Abdullah by Palestinian extremists.

JULY 1956 - Egyptian President Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal.

OCTOBER 1956 - Israel, Britain and France attack Egypt.

MARCH 1957 - Israel withdraws from Sinai and Gaza.

OCTOBER 1959 - Creation of Fatah terrorist group under direction of Yasser Arafat.

MAY 1962 - Following his capture and a trial, top Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann is executed in Israel.

JANUARY 1964 - Creation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), with Fatah as its main faction.

JANUARY 1965 - First PLO terrorist attack against Israel.

MAY 1967 - Nasser orders the withdrawal of U.N. forces from the Egyptian-Israeli border and initiates a blockade of Israeli shipping through the Tiran Straits.

JUNE 1967 - Six-Day War, Reunification of Jerusalem under Israel.

SEPTEMBER 1967 - At summit meeting, Arab states reject peace and negotiations with Israel.

NOVEMBER 1967 - U.N. passes Resolution 242, the basis for Israeli-Arab negotiations.

APRIL 1968 - Reestablishment of Jewish settlement in Hebron.

JULY 1968 - First act of air piracy against Israel; El Al airliner hijacked en route from Rome to Tel Aviv by PLO terrorists.

MARCH 1969 - Start of War of Attrition.

SEPTEMBER 1972 - PLO massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich, Germany.

OCTOBER 1973 - Yom Kippur War.

DECEMBER 1973 - Geneva Peace Conference.

JANUARY 1974 - Israeli-Egyptian Disengagement Agreement.

MAY 1974 - 23 children die in PLO terrorist attack against school in Ma'alot; Israeli-Syrian Disengagement Agreement.

OCTOBER 1974 - Arab recognition of PLO as representative of Palestinians.

NOVEMBER 1975 - U.N. General Assembly passes "Zionism equals Racism" resolution

JULY 1976 - Israel rescues hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda.

MAY 1977 - Likud comes to power led by Menachem Begin.

NOVEMBER 1977 - Anwar Sadat visits Jerusalem and addresses Israeli Parliament.

SEPTEMBER 1978  - Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt.

MARCH 1979 - Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty.

JULY 1980 - Basic Law on Jerusalem passed.

JUNE 1981 - Israel disables Iraqi nuclear reactor in Osiraq.

OCTOBER 1981 - Anwar Sadat assassinated by Islamic extremists.

DECEMBER 1981 - Israel officially extends Israeli law to Golan Heights.

APRIL 1982  - Israel completes withdrawal from Sinai.

JUNE 1982  - Attempted assassination of Israeli Ambassador to London; Israel invades Lebanon in Operation Peace for Galilee.

SEPTEMBER 1982  - PLO completes evacuation from Lebanon.

JUNE 1985  - Israeli troops withdraw from Lebanon; creation of security zone in southern Lebanon.

DECEMBER 1987 - Start of Palestinian intifada.

DECEMBER 1988 - Arafat begins process of renouncing terrorism and recognizing Israel.

AUGUST 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait.

JAN-FEB 1991 - Gulf war; Scud missiles fall in Israel.

OCTOBER 1991 - Arab-Israeli peace conference opens in Madrid.

DECEMBER 1991 - U.N. repeals "Zionism equals Racism" resolution

JUNE 1992 - Labor Party leader Yitzhak Rabin elected Prime Minister.

JANUARY 1993 - Israel repeals ban on contacts with the PLO.

AUGUST 1993 - Announcement of secret agreement reached in Oslo between Israel and the PLO.

SEPTEMBER 1993 - Signing of Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles on White House Lawn.

DECEMBER 1993 - Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations.

FEBRUARY 1994 - Jewish extremist kills 29 Muslim worshippers in Hebron.

APRIL 1994 - Hamas suicide bus bombings in Afula and Hadera.

MAY 1994 - Israel withdraws its forces from Jericho and Gaza.

OCTOBER 1994 - Kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldier Nachshon Waxman; bombing of bus in Tel Aviv; Signing of Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty.

DECEMBER 1994 - Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

SEPTEMBER 1995 - The Interim, or "Oslo II," Agreement signed in Washington between Israel and the Palestinians.

NOVEMBER 1995 - Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by a Jewish extremist.

FEB-MARCH 1996 - Islamic extremist suicide bombings in Jerusalem, Afula and Tel Aviv kill 59.

MAY 1996 - Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu elected Prime Minister.

SEPTEMBER 1996 - Palestinian violence erupts in response to Israeli opening of an exit to the Western Wall tunnel.

JANUARY 1997 - Hebron Redeployment Agreement signed.  

1967 Six-Day War

In May of 1967, Egypt and Syria took aggressive action that convinced Israel that they were about to be attacked. On May 16, Egyptian President Nasser ordered a withdrawal of the United Nations Emergency Forces (UNEF) stationed on the border with Israel. This was the last bit of security between Egypt and Israel. This "buffer" state had been in place since 1957. On May 22, Egypt began a blockade of ships carrying vital goods to and from Israel through the Straits of Tiran. Israel had known for years that such an action would put them in grave danger ("is there any other kind"), and that it would require military action to free the access to the port of Eilat. Syria clashed with Israeli border forces. On the Golan Heights, mobilization began.

The Johnson Administration asked Israel to keep their powder dry, hoping to effectuate a diplomatic solution. On May 23, Johnson said that the Gulf of Aqaba was an international waterway, which meant that blockading Israeli ships was illegal. The Israelis agreed to withhold military action.

The U.S. lobbied for international forces to pressure Egypt to open the waterway. President Nasser and King Hussein signed a mutual defense pact. Nasser then signed a similar pact with Baghdad. Arab states were poised to strike, amid vile rhetoric that promised Israel's complete ruin.

Israel, its very existence on the line, mobilized and called up 80 percent of their reserves. A tiny country, this brought the nation to virtual standstill. Israeli leaders had a decision to make. The nature of their existence and a tacit agreement with the U.S. had created an unofficial "no first strike" policy. But if the Arabs struck, the civilian population lived only miles from the borders. The Arabs planned not only to strike strategic military targets, but to effectuate the greatest amount of terror possible by killing civilians. Their public utterances left no doubt that the military action was designed not just to take out the military, but to eliminate the country from the face of the Earth.  

Israel decided they did not wish to be eliminated from the face of the Earth. In order to avoid this scenario, they launched a pre-emptive strike against Egypt on June 5. Israel proved to be as superior militarily as they had economically and morally in prior years. The result was a quick victory and capture of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. They all but begged Jordan to keep clear, knowing that if forced they would have to kill a lot of Jordanians that they did not want to. Jordan attacked and Israel killed a lot Jordanians. Jordan lost control of the West Bank and the eastern sector of Jerusalem. Israel captured the Golan Heights and declared victory.

The result of the Six-Day War was an extraordinary change in the balance of global power. Rarely has a short war in a limited geographical area had such wide-ranging effect. Israel demonstrated that they had a world class military, and were led by world class strategists. As America's stalwart ally, this made a great impression on the Soviets. They had to re-think their Middle East strategy. A formidable enemy would meet any attack or attempt to take over in the region.    

The war also revealed fissures in international support. Gamal Nasser demanded that the U.N. withdraw from the Sinai, and the U.N. went along. The United States and Britain tried to get the Security Council to do the right thing. The U.N. proved itself to be a tool of America's enemies. Somewhere, Alger Hiss might have smiled to himself.  Even after three Egyptian army divisions and 600 tanks rolled into the Sinai, Israel was left to fend for themselves. The U.N. did zero, despite such charming pronouncements as "All Egypt is now prepared to plunge into total war which will put an end to Israel" on Cairo Radio's "Voice of the Arabs."

The 1967 war served several other purposes. It left no doubt that enemies surrounded Israel. The Arab world played their hand and hit Israel with everything they had. A certain of amount of doubt - about Arab intentions, capabilities and Israeli strength - were answered. Arab rhetoric gave away all their cards. They said things they would only say if they were sure they would win.

On May 18, encouraged by the U.N.'s complete silence, "Voice of the Arabs" announced, "As of today, there no longer exists an international emergency force to protect Israel. We shall exercise patience no more. We shall not complain any more to the U.N. about Israel. The sole method we shall apply against Israel is a total war which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence."

The U.N. responded with strong action, sending peacekeeping forces to keep the region from exploding into Apocalypse. Not!

  President Johnson and Israel were more moral than the U.N. and the Arab world combined. Johnson identified Nasser's actions as arbitrary and dangerous, pledging American support. That was all the Israeli's needed to hear.

Syria's defense minister was the great statesman Hafez el-Assad. He announced that, "Our forces are now ready not only to repulse the aggression but to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland. The Syrian Army, with its finger on the trigger, is united ..." The U.N. did nada.

"Our basic objection will be the destruction of Israel," said Nasser. "The Arab people want to fight." Later he added, "The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel." The U.N. did nothing.

On May 30, Jordan's King Hussein signed a five-year defense pact with Egypt and the two set up a joint command. The U.N. did not condemn it.

On May 31, the Egyptian newspaper Al Akhbar, a real pillar of journalistic integrity, wrote "Under terms of the military agreement signed with Jordan, Jordanian artillery, coordinated with the forces of Egypt and Syria, is in a position to cut Israel in two ..." The U.N. had no response.

"This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948," said Iraqi President Rahman Aref on May 31. "Our goal is clear - to wipe Israel off the map." No U.N. representatives trekked to Baghdad to ask him to pray to Allah for peace.

As May turned into June, Nasser aligned with Syria, Jordan and Iraq, as if Israel were Napoleon's Grand Army and he were a Muslim Wellington. The U.N. Security Council responded by demanding that Israel accept a cease-fire demand. By this time, Israelis might have started believing Hitler's ghost was running the United Nations.

"Never in human history can an aggressor have made his purpose known in advance so clearly and so widely," wrote Samuel Katz in "Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine".  "Certain of victory, both the Arab leaders and their peoples threw off all restraint. Between the middle of May and fifth of June, world-wide newspapers, radio and, most incisively, television brought home to millions of people the threat of politicide bandied about with relish by the leaders of these modern states. Even more blatant was the exhilaration which the Arabic peoples displayed as the prospect of executing genocide on the people of Israel…those three weeks of mounting tension people throughout the world watched and waited in growing anxiety - or in some cases, in hopeful expectation- for the overwhelming forces of at least Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq to bear down from three sides to crush tiny Israel and slaughter her people."

            Maybe the lies, immorality and violence of Arabs and their U.N. enablers are a good thing. After all, by seeing so utterly despicable they are, they help the U.S. and Israel, who are so utterly honorable, What would be the use of being so superior to others if everybody was this way? Just a thought.

Having kicked the Arab world's collective butts, Israel was then subject to intense international criticism, on the U.N. floor and in the so-called "media" that exists in various Arab hellholes. The thrust was that they had initiated the Six-Day War. This made as much sense as blaming the U.S. for starting World War II if Roosevelt had done something about what he knew, ordering Kimmel and Short to knock the approaching Jap fleet out of the water before they attacked Pearl.

The Golan Heights, 3,000 feet above the Galilee, had been a staging area for shelling innocent Israeli farmers and villages for years. When Nasser ordered UNEF to withdraw after years of ineffective "presence," it was as if Patton had told the Big Red One to save the "bloody fighting bastards of Bastogne."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Nasser, we're right on it, we're outta here. Come on, fellows, it's Chardonnay time."  

The use of the word "extermination" at least showed that these fine Arabs had been catching up on their "Mein Kampf" and researched PR from that great publicist Joseph Goebbels. As for the good ol' "religion of peace," Muslim leaders said absolutely NOTHING! (with the exception of enthusiastic support for any and all mass murder of Jews).

"Our forces are now entirely ready...to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland....The time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation," was Hafez Assad's statement before the war. Iraq joined the alliance, while Damascus had used language indicating that their mission was a holy completion of the Final Solution that Hitler never had a chance to complete.

"...an apparently strong conviction that the struggle with Israel is no mere political or territorial dispute, but rather a clash of destinies affecting the fate and future of the Middle East," Ahmed S. Khalidi and Hussein Agha said. Syria remains "bound up with the view that force, whether active or passive, is the final arbiter of the conflict with Israel and the ultimate guarantor of any settlement in the area."

Amid all of this rhetoric, Israel was considered the "aggressor." Still, criticism in the post-1967 period led Golda Meir to choose not to exercise the lawful option of anticipatory self-defense in 1973. Israel almost paid for that decision with its very existence, not to mention the loss of 2,326 Israelis, nearly 10,000 injuries and hundreds of prisoners in the Yom Kippur War. The A'man's (Military Intelligence Branch) failed in 1973 to predict the Arab attack. This Mechdal, a Hebrew term meaning "omission", "nonperformance" or "neglect," caused the nation to up-grade their intelligence until it was the best in the world.

After all the things Arab "leaders" said about exterminating Israel, they were left completely exposed as terrorists and moral midgets, not to mention humiliated in every way, shape and form. The unfortunate part about this is that in the Muslim culture, such humiliation cannot be accepted. All lies, murders, and acts of terror are apparently "justified" in "avenging" such humility. There appears no way to avoid this fact of life in the Middle East. The Muslim religion is much different from Buddhism. The Japanese accepted their humiliation as a fait accompli after World War II. Christianity allows for the same process. While nobody likes to lose, the Japanese and the Germans realized the benefit of moving on. There is a mechanism with Islam and the Arab world that somehow does not. Understanding this is the key to the region, but knowledge of it offers very few solutions.  

1973 Yom Kippur War

Anwar Sadat replaced Nasser as Egypt's President. In 1971, he began the process that changed the nature of the Middle East, when he spoke of possible peace and recognition of Israel. While Sadat's conciliatory tone raised hackles among despots and the Arab street, it was also an example of realpolitik. 1971 was a year of great change. Henry Kissinger was involved in the Paris peace talks, discussing détente with the Soviets, and preparing for the recognition of Red China. It was a new era of diplomacy. Sadat, to his credit, decided at first to get on the winning side of it. Sadat was looking for a way to get the occupied territories returned by the Israelis. The Israelis refused. Sadat then found himself drawn into the vortex of war and hate that envelops the Arab world. He said war was inevitable, and that he was willing to sacrifice 1 million soldiers. Think about that! 

Using the United Nations, which had continued to be an anti-Israel forum, Sadat made threats in an effort to get the Nixon Administration to force Israel's acceptance of the Arab interpretation of Resolution 242, calling for complete Israeli withdrawal from the pre-1967 territories.

Sadat maintained diplomatic aggressiveness on this issue with European and African states. He invited the Soviets to exert influence in the region. It is very important to understand the implications of this "invitation." Had Israel not demonstrated that they were a major military power, the Soviets likely would have already had tanks rolling through the area, exerting their unique form of "hegemony." The Soviets contemplated providing offensive weapons to cross the Suez Canal. Since Kissinger had them tied up with arms reduction talks, they had to scale their efforts back. Kissinger's ability to maintain the "10 ring circus" of multi-triangulated diplomacy, each deal affecting other deals, all in the best interests of the United States, remains the greatest act of pure diplomatic achievement in modern history. Thanks to the Nixon/Kissinger approach, the Soviets rejected Sadat's demands for arms. Sadat expelled about 20,000 Soviet advisers.

Sadat continued to threaten, but the Kissinger plan created complacency in U.S.-Israeli circles. In October, 1973, during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar - Egypt and Syria attacked. Thousands of Israeli soldiers and civilians, fasting as part of the ritual and in peaceful contemplation, were rousted into action. The Egyptian-Syrian forces equaled all of NATO's manpower. They massed on borders. 180 Israeli tanks faced 1,400 Syrian tanks on the Golan Heights. 80,000 Egyptians at the Suez Canal attacked fewer than 500 Israeli defenders. The Yom Kippur War was a modern version of David vs. Goliath.

Nine Arab states and four non-Middle Eastern nations aided the Egyptian-Syrian attack. Iraq transferred a squadron of Hunter jets to Egypt while deploying a division of 18,000 troops with hundreds of tanks in the central Golan. On October 16 they attacked from there. Iraqi's Soviet-supplied MiGs flew over the Golan Heights.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait underwrote the operation and committed troops, including brigade strength of 3,000 sent to Syria, "defending" the literal "road to Damascus." Violating international law, Libya sent French Mirage fighters to Egypt. For two years prior, Moamar Qhadafi had provided Cairo generous funds to pay for Soviet weapons.

Algeria sent fighters and bombers, an armored brigade, and 150 tanks. 1,000-2,000 Tunisian soldiers occupied the Nile Delta. Sudan stationed 3,500 troops in southern Egypt. Morocco sent three brigades to the front lines, including 2,500 men to Syria.

Lebanese radar aided Syrian air defenses while letting Palestinian terrorists shell Israeli civilians. Palestinians joined the Southern Front with the Egyptians and Kuwaitis.

Jordan's King Hussein was an honorable man. Unfortunately, this is a rarity in Arab politics. He had been kept in the dark by his neighbors, but was "forced" to send the 40th and 60th Armored Brigades to Syria or face charges of "treason." If only that word, without the "t," carried weight in this part of the world. Alas.

 Assisting the "road to Damascus," Jordan routed Israeli positions along the Kuneitra-Sassa road on October 16. Three Jordanian artillery batteries participated in the assault, spearheaded by 100 tanks.

For two days, Israel mobilized and repulsed the invaders, in the process counter-attacking deep in Syria and Egypt. The Arabs were re-supplied by the Soviets. Despite Kissinger's warnings, they thought the Arab attackers were sure winners and wanted in on the fun. This miscalculation is one of the most concrete, identifiable landmarks in the anatomy of their eventual loss in the Cold War. Golda Meir begged Nixon for help. The U.S. responded with an airlift of vital supplies and weaponry for their ally. This turned the tide. In the aftermath, Egypt's ally, the United Nations, did everything in their power to maintain the integrity of Egypt as a functioning diplomatic entity in the wake of defeat that could have made it something less; a rogue state, an anarchist state, or even an extension of Israeli territory.

The Soviets took a hard line when it looked like the Arabs would win. So did U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, who was a war criminal serving as a Nazi officer in the Balkans during World War II. The U.S. barred him from entering America. The U.N. loved him.

Res ipsa loquiter.

 On October 22, with the Israelis now in a position to wipe out their enemies, the Security Council adopted Resolution 338 calling for "all parties to the present fighting to cease all firing and terminate all military activity immediately." Israeli forces had just cut off the Egyptian Third Army. The only thing saving the lives of thousands of Egyptian soldiers was the pure benevolence and goodwill of the State of Israel. Despite holding back even while fighting a defensive war, Israel achieved complete victory. For the Arab world, it was not just about the political ramifications. Israel is a tiny country that occupies a fraction of the Middle East. The small amount of land captured in 1967 and 1973 hardly makes much real difference. Palestinians are all-but despised by their Muslim brethren as stupid, lazy and incompetent nomads. They had achieved nothing for over 1,000 years in Palestine. In a little over 10 years Jewish refugees from Russia had become their overseers.

What infuriates the Arabs is that they have been shown to be inferior time and again, forced to wallow in their incompetence. Their great need to kill has been foiled by their superiors. It does not take Sigmund Freud to see why a confluence of events, circumstance and the nature of some men combine to make this place such a cauldron.       

The Yom Kippur War is thought to be a victory, but in many ways it was not. Israel was no longer the "underdog," a role of great position in the international community. The United Nations would spend the next 15 years doing everything in its power to bring it down. Arab desire to achieve peace was virtually eliminated.

Menachem Begin, sixth Prime Minister of Israel

Menachem Begin, writer Sidney Zion noted in 1983, “was run out of Poland by the Nazis, imprisoned by the Soviets, hunted by the British and nearly murdered by the Jews. To have survived was impressive enough. To have flourished - Begin led the first [Jewish nationalist] revolution in nearly 2,000 years [and] signed the first peace treaty in Israeli history - ranks as something of a miracle.”

He was an oppositionist and underground leader. To this day, some call him a terrorist. Not all of the "accusers" are enemies of Israel. The explanation of why Begin is not a terrorist goes to the heart of moral politics. Begin cannot be compared to non-violent revolutionaries like the abolitionists, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Those people inherently knew that those who opposed them were not evil, they just could not get past entrenched evil things. They knew that, within the very systems that oppressed them, were laws, religious morals, and a common sense that, if addressed correctly over time, would yield. They were right.

Begin was dealing with close to 2,000 years of Arab and Muslim hatred. In the belly of that beast he saw no Thomas Jeffersons, no Winston Churchills, no Abraham Lincolns. History will only determine whether the Arab world, like the American South, will someday discover the better angels of its nature. He knew, just as Lincoln knew, that peace and conciliation were not part of the agenda when he was dealing with them. He knew that this implacable world could no more be reasoned with than Hitler or Stalin. So he fought.

For close to 30 years, he was party leader, overseeing eight Knesset election defeats. He eventually became Israel’s sixth Prime Minister. His strength proved to be what his little nation needed. Begin died in 1992 at the age of 78. His last wish was to be treated as a simple man.

 Vice-President Dan Quayle, former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, were all planning to make state visits, but Begin's specific wishes were that his passing not be a thing of pomp and circumstance. The trips were canceled.

“His historic role in the peace process will never be forgotten,” President Bush said. It shall not. 75,000 mourners closed traffic. Even Palestinians paid their respects. Begin had said he recognized their legitimate rights at a time when it was impolitic to say such a thing in Israel.

Begin guided Herut and Likud, the parties that he founded, on the precepts of Ze’ev Jabotinsky's Zionist Revisionist movement. He was the son of a Jewish timber merchant in Czarist Russia. He saw Communism and he saw the Holocaust, and forged Israel out of enmity for both. He signed Israel’s first peace treaty with an Arab neighbor, in 1979. He also led his country into an unpopular war, the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

He was a native of the symbolic town of Brest-Litovsk, where the Russian-German peace treaty of World War I had been signed. Begin's parents and brother had died in the Holocaust after 5,000 Brest Jews were rounded up by the Nazis at the end of June, 1941, for forced labor. Most were immediately shot or drowned in a river. His mother died in a Jewish hospital, but there was never any record of his brother Herzl's fate. The entire ghetto he grew up in was completely liquidated by October of 1942.

He received a law degree in 1935 from the University of Warsaw. Begin had joined the Socialist Zionist youth movement of Hashomer Hatzair at 16. He embraced the ideas of the Revisionist Zionist Vladimir Ze’ev Jabotinsky and the Betar Zionist youth movement in Poland. He was very militant, and clashed with Jabotinsky. In 1938, at the Betar convention, he advocated “conquest of the homeland by force.”

In 1939, when the Nazis invaded, Begin fled to the Soviet Union, but was arrested in 1940 as a spy. He was sentenced to eight years in a Soviet gulag, but the Soviets freed him as part of an agreement with Poland, allowing the freeing of some 1.5 million Polish exiles.

Begin found his sister, who had survived. Together they illegally immigrated to Palestine. He joined the Free Polish Army, serving in Iran and Palestine. He learned English listening to the BBC and served in the British Army in Palestine as an interpreter until 1943.

At that time, he became the leader of the liberation movement Irgun Tzvi Leumi-Etzel, whose means were more violent than the mainstream Haganah, with which he disagreed over how to push the British out of Palestine.

In 1946, he organized the Irgun in a bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, where the British were headquartered. Approximately 90 people - Jews, Arabs, and British - were killed. This event has clouded Begin's life. Many are unable to get past this act, branding him a terrorist who was no better than those he fought against. The fact that his own people and the English died in the blast is not reconcilable. It was a terrorist act. That said, Begin's organization had warned ahead of time of the bombing. He had hoped to make it a symbolic act with no loss of life, intended to push for Jewish independence. He had failed. The British branded him a terrorist. Begin escaped by disguising himself as a bearded Orthodox rabbi.

Over the next two years, the political atmosphere in Palestine altered enough for Begin to emerge from the shadows. He helped found the Herut party in 1948, the year of Israel's "birth." Until 1967, he was the opposition leader in the Knesset. In 1969 he was named minister-without-portfolio in a national unity cabinet.

In 1977, the Labor Party lost its nearly three decade old grip. Begin’s Likud won a surprise election. Begin was viewed by the populace as a cultured European lawyer. He became very popular. His opponents thought he was punctilious and fanatical. Begin had opposed David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister. He eventually became as influential in Israel as Ben-Gurion. He referred to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria, considering them integral. He declared the West Bank settlement of Ekon Moreh to be part of “liberated Israel.” Jews began to move into the territories. Begin had no illusions about Arab intentions. He dealt with them as politicians who had interests at stake. He did not wax poetic idealism about "friendship" with the Muslims who wanted him dead.

In June of 1981, Begin discovered that Iraq under their dictator, Saddam Hussein, had built a nuclear reactor. He ordered that reactor, at Osirak, to be bombed. On Shavuot, Israeli planes flew below radar detection through Arab airspace and destroyed the facility. It was a beautiful move.

Begin visited Jimmy Carter in the United States, as well as Romania, which was communicating an invitation to Anwar Sadat to come to Jerusalem. Sadat did, making a historic visit in November, 1977.

Egypt initially demanded return of the Sinai and autonomy for the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. For 12 days, from Camp David, Maryland, where he was the guest of President Carter, Begin presented the peace treaty to the Knesset. Only 29 of Likud’s 43 representatives were among the majority that approved the accords. In 1978, Begin and Sadat were honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. Begin developed actual friendship with Sadat, who was assassinated by Muslim Fundamentalists (who are opposed to general acts of peace) in October of 1981.  Begin attended the funeral in Cairo, another historic act.

Begin's invasion of Lebanon was staged to root out Palestinian terrorists in Southern Lebanon. From their enclaves, they had been shelling northern Israel. Begin asked his countrymen to “show tolerance, rid themselves of hatred and show understanding of each other.” He said that “differences of opinion were legitimate and should not lead to physical confrontation.” Violence led to the killing, by Jewish demonstrators, of Emil Grunzweig, a Peace Now protester and perceived Lebanese sympathizer. Begin's wife, Aliza, died during the war, adding to his stress. In 1983, Begin stepped down as Prime Minister, and lived the rest of his life in near-seclusion.

Golda Meir

            Golda Meir was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev (Ukraine) in 1898. She moved to the Promised Land - the United States - at age eight, growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she joined the Zionist youth movement and married Morris Myerson. In 1921, after the Russian Revolution had created an exodus of Jews to Palestine, she joined a Kibbutz Merhavia in Palestine.

In 1924 they moved to Jerusalem, where she became an official of the Histadrut - General Federation of Labor. She became a leading figure and held several positions in the organization for the next 30 years, involving herself in trade union and welfare programs, the labor movement, and important foreign fund-raising. Over time, she became less a functionary and more of a political figure, charged with increasing Jewish immigration. In 1946, the British authorities interned most of the political leadership, which put Golda Meir in a position to replaced Moshe Sharett as acting head of the political department until 1948. After the birth of the new nation, she was involved in internal labor issues and diplomatic efforts. She attempted to reach a secret deal with Jordan's King Abdullah prior to the 1948 Arab invasion of Israel, but the deal fell through and the war took place. The Israelis repelled the Arab advance and were able to maintain their fragile stability. 

Meir was Israel's first Ambassador to the Soviet Union, for one year, before election to the Knesset in 1949 elections. She was Minister of Labor and National Insurance from 1949 to 1956, a period of growth and unrest in the young country. Huge numbers of Jews immigrated into Israel during this period. There were not enough jobs to go around. Her social welfare policies provided subsidized housing for immigrants and husbanded integration of the economy. 

For 10 years she was Minister of Foreign Affairs, during which time Israel developed a cooperative relationship with recently de-colonized African nations, which is the model for policies that are in place today. She developed strong personal and national relations with the Johnson and Nixon Administrations. The Jewish refugee Henry Kissinger was enamored with her intelligence, and the two became a diplomatic force. Meir extended Israeli diplomatic overtures to Latin America at a crucial time, when Castro and Che Guevara were attempting to export Communism. She was Secretary-General first of Mapai and then of the newly formed "Alignment" (made up of three Labor factions). Meir was a symbolic figure in addition to her substantive accomplishments. Israel represented an oppressed minority, Jews, but the fact that they were aligned with the U.S. was important in demonstrating America to be a friend of minorities. This flew in the face of Castro/Communist assertions that the U.S. was nothing more than a rich, white, racist nation. As a woman, Meir represented another "minority." Her strong friendship with Kissinger and the U.S. was helpful to the American image, too.

Levi Eshkol died in 1969. Meir became the "consensus candidate" to succeed him. She led her party to victory, but inherited the  "War of Attrition," which was low-level military activity along the Suez corridor, all an aftermath of the Six-Day War of 1967. Increased belligerence occurred until a cease-fire agreement with Egypt was reached, but Sadat broke the agreement consistently. Egypt placed missiles on the Suez front, and in 1973 the Yom Kippur War was fought. Thanks to a strong Israeli military, skilled military and political leadership, Kissinger's triangulated diplomacy and Nixon's supply of weaponry, the Israelis repelled the Arabs, leaving the Muslim world angry and utterly humiliated - again.

Prime Minister Meir was a skilled artisan of personal diplomacy, but broke new ground in the area of media manipulation. Margaret Thatcher's successful "Iron Lady" leadership in England was modeled in part on Meir. By the same token, Golda Meir was the Ike of Israel, a grandmother figure who spoke with gentle firmness. She oversaw Israel's rise from a Third World refugee camp to a world military power and economic superstatus. It is true Israel has always been helped greatly by American aid, which has allowed it to maintain such status. But the Israel economy, fueled by a phenomenal education system and a populace of highly intelligent citizens, has propelled the nation to a place among the world's elite. This has occurred next to floundering Arab states that, despite the advantage of thousands of years of tradition in the region, have stagnated and remained part of the Third World or barely better. This stark fact has further inflamed anger and resentment from the Arab street, humiliated by the sheer obviousness of their inferiority in comparison to the Israelis. This is, of course, inflammatory language, which does not change the fact that it is true. 

Meir's strong hand during the Yom Kippur War has been immortalized in books and films, elevating her from a position as diplomatic and domestic maven to world leader. She stood firm in the aftermath of the war, when the United Nations tried to undo the victory through a series of measures, eventually even attempting to enact a law equating Zionism with racism. Again proving that all politics are local, Meir met a fate similar to Churchill in 1946 and George H.W. Bush in 1992, when internal inquiries examined her "failure" to prepare for or foresee the Yom Kippur War. Her party prevailed in the 1973 elections, but Meir resigned, ironically, around the same time that Nixon did, in mid-1974. Like Begin, she stayed out of the public eye, preferring to write her memoirs. She did come to the Knesset to greet President Sadat on his visit to Jerusalem in 1977, and died a year later at 80.

Ariel Sharon

Ariel "Arik" Sharon was born in 1928 in Kfar Malal. He served in the IDF for more than 25 years, retiring with the rank of major-general. He holds an LL.B in law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, awarded in 1962.

Sharon joined the Haganah at 14. During the 1948 War of Independence, he commanded an infantry company in the Alexandroni Brigade. In 1953, he founded and led the "101" special commando unit which carried out retaliatory operations. Sharon was appointed commander of a paratroop brigade in 1956, fighting in the Sinai Campaign. In 1957 he attended the Camberley Staff College in Great Britain.

He served for four years as an infantry brigade commander and then Infantry School Commander. He was appointed Head of the IDF Northern Command in 1964 and Head of the Army Training Branch in 1966. He participated in the 1967 Six-Day War as commander of an armored division. In 1969 he was appointed head of the IDF Southern Command.

Sharon resigned his commission in 1973, but no sooner had he done this than he was re-activated to command an armored division in the Yom Kippur War. He boldly crossed the Suez Canal, leading Israel to the victory that convinced Sadat peace with Israel was the only option.

Based on his military fame from three major wars against Arab invaders, Sharon was elected as a hero to the Knesset in December, 1973, on the heels of the Yom Kippur victory. He resigned after a year to become security adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin from 1975-76, and again was elected to the Knesset in 1977 on the Shlomzion ticket. Menachem Begin made him Minister of Agriculture from 1977-81, during which time he pursued agricultural cooperation with Egypt.

In 1981 Ariel Sharon was named Defense Minister. He led forces in Lebanon which destroyed Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist infrastructure there. Sharon, picking up where Meir left off, counter-balanced Soviet efforts at African insurgency through diplomatic relations with the African nations. Ties had broken off during the Yom Kippur War and were all but lost to the West by Jimmy Carter's inept handling.  Sharon was instrumental in repairing the damage done by the unholy alliance of Communism, the U.N. and Carter. In November of 1981, he brought about the first strategic cooperation agreement with the U.S. and widened defense ties between Israel and many nations. He helped free thousands of Ethiopian Jews through the Sudan.

From 1983-84, Sharon served as Minister without Portfolio, and from 1984-1990 as Minister of Trade and Industry. In this capacity, he concluded the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. in 1985.

From 1990-1992, he served as Minister of Construction and Housing and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Immigration and Absorption. After the Soviet Union fell, he ushered in enormous immigration from Russia, resulting in the construction of 144,000 apartments. From 1992 to 1996, he served as a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. In 1996, Sharon was appointed Minister of National Infrastructure. In this capacity, he husbanded joint ventures with Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinians. He also served as Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Bedouin advancement.

In 1998 he was named Foreign Minister and headed the permanent status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, meeting with U.S., European, Palestinian and Arab leaders to advance the peace process. He advanced the Flagship Water Project to find a long-term solution to regional water needs, furthering cooperation between between Israel, Jordan, the Palestinians and other Middle Eastern countries.

With Ehud Barak's election as Prime Minister in 1999, Sharon became interim Likud party leader. In September of that year he was elected Chairman of the Likud. He served as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

On February 6, 2001, Sharon was elected Prime Minister. Sharon has presided over Israel during a crucial point in Israeli and Middle East history. The 1987 Intifada was followed by near-peace in 1993, but talks broke down. Eventually, another Intifada followed, and Bill Clinton desperately tried to cement his legacy with a peace agreement.

Clinton's policies favored Yasser Arafat. An increasingly dovish Israeli electorate seemed to be on board. Eventually, security concerns were too strong to give the okay to the agreements. After 9/11, terror concerns increased, and a new conservative tide swept the U.S. and Israeli approach to Palestinian autonomy. Sharon, elected earlier in the year, refused to acknowledge Arafat, one of the world's most notorious terrorists. He was criticized roundly for his hard-line approach, but working with President George W. Bush, Arafat has strengthened his country and somewhat weathered a terrible storm of Palestinian terror.

Thanks in large part to Arafat, the Palestinian's shelved Arafat in favor of a moderate, Mahmoud Abbas, who negotiated with Sharon. Abbas, however, was upended by elements influential through Arafat. Despite constant setbacks, the latest round of negotiations is likely to result in a peace agreement granting Palestinian independence. Sharon, in the tradition of George Washington, Abraham, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan, is as good an example as any figure in the past 200 years that a conservative approach to peace via strength is the only viable one to avoiding the suicide of capitulation. 

Benjamin Netanyahu

            Netanyanhu is a man who has built his career on the exact principles that Sharon has. He is a genuine international hero. Born in Tel-Aviv on October 21, 1949, Netanyahu grew up in Jerusalem, but was educated in the United States. His father was professor Benzion Netanyahu, who taught history in America. He returned to Israel in 1967 and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, serving in an elite commando unit.

Netanyahu served in an anti-terror unit of the Israel Defense Forces from 1967-72, participating in dangerous missions during the "war of attrition," which included the Beirut Airport operation. He helped rescue hijacked Sabena Airlines hostages at Ben Gurion Airport, getting wounded in the process. He was highly decorated for his service, and left the IDF in 1972. He returned for the Yom Kippur War, reaching the rank of captain.

Mr. Netanyahu earned a B.Sc. in Architecture and an M.Sc. in Management Studies from MIT. He also studied political science at MIT and Harvard. He worked in the American private sector, joining the senior management of Rim Industries in Jerusalem.

In 1979 he organized an international conference against terrorism through the Jonathan Institute, an Israeli organization not unlike America's Rand Corporation. It was named after his brother Jonathan, who died leading the rescue party at Entebbe.

He became associated with George H.W. Bush and George Shultz. Through this connection, Netanyahu established conservative political credentials in association with the Reagan Administration. He became an internationally recognized expert on combating terror.

In 1982, Ambassador Moshe Arens asked Netanyahu to become Deputy Chief of Mission in the Israeli Embassy in Washington. In 1984 he was appointed Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, serving for four years. He helped open the U.N. Nazi War Crimes Archives in 1987, returning to Israel in 1988, where he was elected to the 12th Knesset under the Likud banner, leading to his appointed as Deputy Foreign Minister.

During the Gulf War he was Israel's principal media spokesman, a role he was well suited for. Handsome, charismatic, well spoken with a touch of accent, he speaks perfect English. His military panache and heroic record have given the imprimatur Plato's "warrior spirit," mixed with erudite political instincts honed on a conservative worldview. Netanyahu has a love not just for Israel, but for his "adopted" second country, America, where his popularity is not colored by domestic political obfuscation.

 In October of 1991 he was a senior member of the Israeli delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference, initiating direct negotiations between Israel and Syria, Lebanon, and a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. Years of tough militarism had forced the Arabs to accept the reality of Israel. In 1993, he was elected Likud Party Chairman and the party's candidate for Prime Minister. In 1996 he was elected Prime Minister. He held this position for three years, but in the wake of Clinton's Presidency and a liberalization effort in Israel, was beaten in the 1999 elections. Netanyahu was seen as an obstructionist because he insisted on Israel's security instead of giving in to Palestinian demands. Eventually, even his liberal colleagues agreed, and a criminal's agreement between Arafat and Clinton was thankfully averted early in 2001. After 9/11, Netanyahu's and Sharon's hawkish policies have proven to be the only way to get the terrorists to accept their fate. When Palestine achieves independence it will be because of men like Netanyahu, not Clinton. In November 2002, Sharon appointed Netanyahu as Minister of Foreign Affairs, but with youth and a record on the winning side of history in his favor, he is likely to become Prime Minister again.

Anwar al-Sadat

Sadat is a man who history has bestowed greatness to. Much of his legacy is based on his position as a martyr for peace, although he is revered in Western circles as much or more than Arabic circles. It was, after all, the Arabs who killed him, which unfortunately says much about Arabs and their desire for peace. Gandhi was killed by a fellow countryman, as was Yitzhak Rabin and John Kennedy. Viewing Sadat as an exception to the Arab Muslim rule exception reflects negatively on Arabs.

Much of the citizenry of Arab Muslim countries desires peace. Islam is a religion of great potential, as is the entire region. As we enter the 21st Century, one of, if not the leading question, is whether freedom and Democracy can take hold in the region. There are optimists, mostly of a conservative bent, who believe it can and it will. It requires great vision, a very long vision, to embrace this concept. It will require recognition that victories are incremental in this process. Individual political figures must cede great glory in the realization that progress will be slow and setbacks many. A U.S. President like George W. Bush, for instance, may in eight years oversee replacement of the Taliban in Afghanistan followed by security, victory in Iraq followed by security, an independent Palestinian state, and uncertain American hegemony in the Middle East. That said, this accomplishment would be the result of many years of incrementalism prior to his term in office. It will ultimately be part of a bigger picture that, hopefully, will flower into a real victory for freedom long after he departs.

On the other hand, history sometimes surprises us. A turn of the tide could create a Cold Ware-style landslide that tips the balance quickly toward the Democratic forces. This is the hopeful vision, but not one that can be counted on.

This book has detailed, and shall continue to detail, lies and terror committed by Arabs. By going back a few thousand years, it has tried to show that these traits are part of a pattern that has permeated Arab culture so thoroughly that the ready-made excuses do not fly. Those excuses, part of the moral relativism that must continually be exposed as a lie, include falsehoods that say Arab perfidy is an understandable backlash against the Crusades, the British Empire, Big Oil, and something that Communists liked to call American Imperialism.

The fact that the prophet Mohammed led terrorist raids is something that can lead to a death sentence if uttered by a Muslim in a Muslim country. Arabs have presided over many great events in history, and are part of a cultural history that explains much of who and what we are as a civilized people. Exposition of their worst faults is not done to inflict pain on them or to besmirch their image. But in light of historical revisionism, and the importance of understanding history so as to learn from it and make better decisions in our future, it becomes absolutely necessary to be brutally honest.

There remains a great hope that Arabs will, to use Lincoln's words, discover the "better angels" of their nature. Islam is a relatively young religion. The great religions are those that address themselves. Christians reformed themselves, led by Martin Luther, and the Catholic Church addressed its abuses during the Spanish Inquisition, achieving "victory" over its sins in order to be better Christians. Just as America ended slavery using laws written and enacted by Americans (not because a foreign power ordered us to do so), Christianity has "won" by living up to its own creed. The current scandals embroiling Catholicism will result in more self-improvement. Judaism overcame a violent history, but they have had thousands of years to "mature." Islam has yet to achieve this. Until it does it will not be a great religion. It is my hope and belief that someday it shall.

"Victory" is a word that is often associated with Western Civilization. Very often the losing side has been part and parcel of the Arab world. This has had a cumulative effect. Victory is not a bad thing as long as the right people, nations and causes are the victors. After thousands of years of anarchy and genocide, the Almighty imbued this nation we live in with the power to see to it that this is precisely what happens. This not uncoincidentally is that with which has happened ever since America came to be. Therefore, consequentially, and as a result thereof, various evils such as slavery, nationalism, Nazism, Communism and terrorism have been, or are in the process of being, vanquished from the Earth. As each of these events is ticked off God's laundry list, various among his Christian soldiers, like Churchill and Ike (not to mention the USC Trojans after beating Notre Dame) will put two fingers together in a "V for Victory" sign. Victory is what is occasionally required. Thank God the right people have been achieving it in the past 200 years, with a few exceptions. Every time I see footage of John Lennon imitating Ike with a "peace sign" while singing "Imagine", I think, "Image Pol Pot."

The strong language attached herein, regarding the actions of Arabs, is by no means a blanket indictment of this race. It is not condemnation of them as being a hopeless case for all future times. It is also not an attempt to cartoonishly paint all right in the world as being the work of the West, and all wrong being the work of the "East." But official Arab doctrine has tried to paint this kind of portrait, only reversing the roles in their favor. An enormous portion of their citizenry buys this view.

The Information Superhighway, thought to be the conduit of enlightenment, has so far proven to be a tool of deception in the Middle East. The Internet and cable television in that part of the world have demonstrated that Hitler's Big Lie is alive and well. Until Truth seeps into the consciousness of this massive population, peace will be elusive. America will be forced to use a heavy hand to protect the innocent, sometimes from themselves.

Anwar Sadat was an Egyptian political and military figure. Egypt has a special "relationship" with the Jews, since it was the Pharaohs who enslaved them. Where America has owned up to its atrocious behavior towards blacks, vis a vis slavery and its aftermath, Arabs do not. The average Egyptian probably could not tell you anything about this history. Turkey still does not acknowledge Armenian genocide during World War I!

This was the culture Sadat grew and rose to power in. He did not rise up as a reformer. He came through the ranks, determined to consolidate Egyptian power as best he could, with little concern for the moral truths of the world he lived in. But God gives humans the capacity to grow, and with a little help from Henry Kissinger, realpolitik and Jimmy Carter, Sadat came to a place that few Arab pols arrive at.

He was born into a family of 13 children in 1918, in the average Egyptian village of Mit Abul Kom, 40 miles to the north of Cairo. Sadat's father worked as a clerk in a military hospital. Egypt was a British colony after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. In order to pay off a huge debt, they sold its interests in the French-engineered Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean, to the British. The Suez had been the key to political control in the region.

A man named Zahran came from a small village. The British hanged him for instigating a riot in which a British officer had been killed. Zahran showed courage in the face of death, which Sadat admired. When Kemel Ataturk created modern Turkey after Ottoman rule, Sadat took notice of the fact that despite defeat in the Great War, Turkey had avoided becoming another British colony. Ataturk's civil service reforms were revolutionary by Arabic standards. Sadat made a mental note of this.

 In 1932, Mohandas Gandhi toured Egypt, preaching non-violence in combating injustice. Gandhi influenced Sadat. Just when you are ready believe Sadat was the Arabic Jesus, get a load of this. His role model was Adolf Hitler, who controlled his country with an iron resolve that Sadat felt was necessary in the affairs of state. The fact that one of the Arab world's biggest influences were both Hitler and Gandhi is a microcosm of this utterly Byzantine place.

In 1936, the British and the Wafd party create a military school in Egypt. Sadat was in its first class. He trained in math and science, learning how to analyze battles. Sadat's specialty was the Battle of Gettysburg, where Lee had been paralleled by the Union forces into taking his stand north of his goal, Washington. Sadat learned from Gettysburg about the importance of alliances. A battle not fought was better than a lost battle. While this may have been drummed unto him in his studies of Robert E. Lee, the lesson goes back to "The Art of War".

Upon graduation, Sadat was sent to a distant outpost where he met Gamal Abdel Nasser. An alliance was formed. Nasser formed an officer's rebellion to overthrow the British. For his part in this coup, Sadat went to jail twice. While incarcerated, Sadat taught himself French and English. After prison, Sadat acted before entering business. He met his wife, Jihan and got back in touch with Nasser. The revolution had taken root and on July 23, 1952, the Free Officers Organization staged another coup to successfully overthrow the monarchy. Sadat became Nasser's public relations minister during the overthrow and abdication of King Farouk.

A period of nation building ensued, all under the cloud of Cold War rivalry. The debate amongst the Arabs was whether to align with the West, the Communists, or pursue an independent track. Arab self-determination was easier said than done, since alignment with the West meant tacit recognition of Israel. There was no such thing as real partnership with the Soviets, only enslavement. Egypt declared itself "non-aligned" in a manner like India, hoping it could play its best hand depending upon self-interest. Nasser's first test of post-colonialism was over the Suez. He nationalized it in 1956, drawing coordinated British, French, and Israel attacks in an effort to re-establish control over the profitable canal. Hostilities ended when Dwight Eisenhower told his old allies to withdraw. Eisenhower hoped to give Egypt and Nasser a sense of pride, hoping that American benevolence would be rewarded with friendship. Ike's plan was not a total failure, but not a total success, either. America was so rich, so successful and so powerful that small countries could not help but view it with jealousy, a very powerful and difficult human emotion to deal with. Alliance with Israel would make it worse.  

Nasser was featured as a modern day Saladin until the Six-Day War, when the "lowly Holocaust refugees" proved to be the new military power in the world. The Egyptian air forces were destroyed on the ground. While Sadat may have studied Gettysburg, he should have studied Pearl Harbor and warned his boss not to keep his planes wingtip to wingtip. They were left as sitting ducks against fire from above. From the Sinai to the Suez Canal, Israeli forces routed his army and killed 3,000 soldiers. Devastation and near-bankruptcy was Egypt's post-war fate, leading to internal Arab arguments over Palestinian. Amid all of this, Nasser died in September of 1970.

Sadat was a mystery to the West, and considered untested by his countrymen. His first big move indicates that he should have learned more from Gettysburg. Lee should have ceded defeat then and there, saving the South from utter devastation and possibly avoiding occupation. Instead, he continued a rearguard action, always threatening to the Union, and eventually General Sherman advanced on Georgia and turned it into a killing field.

Sadat acted as if Lee should have re-grouped and attacked the Federal city of Washington. By instigating the Yom Kippur War, he left Egypt vulnerable to a brutal defeat that could have turned much of his country into Greater Israel. Political considerations and Israeli benevolence prevented Sadat from succumbing to this fate. That being said, Sadat was rushed into the Yom Kippur War by the tide of events. Arab rhetoric was shrill, and the need to maintain a strong face with his fiery neighbors was something he could not easily have avoided.

Sadat impressed Golda Meir and Henry Kissinger after the war, however. He showed, to use a Hebrew word, a lot of chutzpah.  Sadat offered the Israelis a peace treaty in exchange for the return of the Sinai. He was playing to the goodwill of the West. Had the tables been turned, the Arabs gladly would have turned Israel into a re-enactment of Auschwitz. The West chose to overlook this and give peace, to give Lennon (not Lenin) his due, a chance. 

The Egyptian economy was in shatters, but overtures towards the Soviets did not result in relief because Kissinger and Nixon had Brezhnev tied up with d'etente. Sadat basically said, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," expelling the Soviets to the delight of the Americans and Israelis. The Muslim Egyptians had never been enamored with the atheist Soviets, and the move was popular internally. Better yet, normalization with the West offered much more economically than with the ass-backward Communists.

Sadat began to think the unthinkable. Peace with Israel would provide a "peace dividend." Speaking to the Egyptian parliament in 1977, he affirmed a desire for peace. He invited himself to the Israeli parliament, if they would have him. In terms of impact, Sadat's intent was momentous, like the fall of the Berlin Wall would be momentous. Certainly, it can be compared, on its own scale, to Gorbachev's perestroika. The Israeli's, God bless 'em, immediately invited him to the Knesset. President Carter played a major role in bringing the parties together, culminating in the 1978 Camp David Accords and a 1979 peace.

Sadat won the Nobel Prize for Peace, one of the times in which the committee got it right. All politics being local, however, Sadat faced hatred at home from Fundamentalist Muslims. For two years, Sadat negotiated loans to support improvements in domestic life, hoping to alleviate criticism. He was forced to outlaw protest, declaring the Shari'a to be the basis of all Egyptian law. On October 6, 1981, Sadat died at the hands of Fundamentalist assassins during a military review celebrating the 1973 Suez crossing.

While it must not be forgotten that Sadat expressed a willingness to sacrifice 1 million Egyptians in order to destroy Israel, and no doubt would have burned Israel to the ground given the chance, he did reverse course. He could have just reverted to terrorism and jealousy like so many of his Arab brethren. The fact that he did not, and died for his efforts, places him among the more heroic figures of the 20th Century.

Black September: Yasser Arafat's murderers kill Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics

It is true that Menachem Begin planted a bomb at the King David Hotel, then warned the hotel of it so they could evacuate. The bomb exploded. There is no excuse for this action. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

            It is true that Yasser Arafat made his career as a terrorist. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

            In 1936, Adolf Hitler hosted the Berlin Olympics. He used it as a showcase for his New Order, a launching pad, if you will, for World War II. In 1945, his Thousand Year Reich went down after 12. Under the enlightened leadership of Konrad Adenaur and Willie Brandt, West Germany worked its way back into the family of nations, as did its Axis partner, Japan. Tokyo felt comfortable enough in its skin to successfully host the 1964 Olympics. It was a great celebration and a chance for the world to get together and see the success of Democracy.

            Germany wanted in, too. They were proud of the way they had rebounded to become a thriving economy, with tolerant racial and religious views, free elections, and partnership with the U.S. They were awarded the 1972 Games. The 1968 Olympics had been held in the thin air of Mexico City, with mixed results. Student uprisings shortly before the Games had to be put down. Revolution was in the air. It was not just Che Guevara's ghost or Castro's minions who made their presence known. It was the American Black Man.

            Harry Edwards, a black sociology professor at San Jose State, organized a boycott of the Games by African-American athletes, protesting the exploitation of blacks in the land of the free. Among those who did not participate as a result were Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), the All-American basketball star at UCLA.

            Many blacks did not choose to go, but boxer George Foreman won the Gold medal, then paraded around the ring with an American flag. He became an instant hero for not telling the world that he hated the White Man.

            A couple of black sprinters had a different opinion. After placing one-two, they donned black gloves and lifted their fists in a head-down "black power salute" while the National Anthem played.

The Germans wanted nothing to do with politics four years later at Munich. They wanted to show the world happy, drunk Bavarians, as if to confirm that the Nazis really were an army full of Sergeant Schultzes. The last possible thing they wanted anybody to think about were Nuremberg rallies, Swastikas, and for God sake, not those pesky death camps.

Let the Games begin.

Munich was star-crossed. An America Jewish swimmer named Mark Spitz hailed from Carmichael, California and the University of Indiana. He had the looks of the Marlboro Man, and also happened to be the greatest swimmer in the history of swimming. He entered seven races, won seven Golds, and set seven world records. But strange things were happening. Another California swimmer, Rick DeMont had his Gold taken away because he had asthma. There was a mix-up over whether his medication was legal or not, and after he was tested his medal was confiscated. Another sprinter slept through his qualifying heats because his coach had not told him the proper starting time.

The American basketball team had their Gold medal stolen from them. A bunch of college kids, they faced the Soviets, who paid their players by making them officers in the Red Army, when all they did was practice and play basketball. The U.S.S.R. drew from the entire Soviet Empire. Excellent players were available from Lithuania, the Ukraine, the Baltic's, the Balkan's, you name it. Still, it was inconceivable that they could beat an American Olympic squad. Basketball was America's game, just like football and baseball. A guy named Hank Iba, however, coached the U.S. team. Iba looked like Dr. Naismith had taught him the game. Blessed with players of speed, agility and marvelous athleticism, he completely eliminated all those traits from his arsenal in favor of a four-corner stall.

The Soviets came out firing on all cylinders, blasting to a large early lead. In the second half, it looked as if all hope was lost, but the Americans did not have the foggiest interest in losing to a bunch of commies. They fought back in that way Americans fight back. Slowly but surely, they inched their way back into the game. With a few seconds on the clock, down by a point, All-American Doug Collins was fouled. In the most political two free throws in the history of sport, Collins sunk them both to give the U.S. a 50-49 victory.

There was about a second left on the clock, however. The Soviets positioned a man down by the basket and tried a desperation pass to him, but it went for naught, the buzzer sounded, and the U.S. had their Gold medal. A giant celebration followed. The boys headed off the floor.

Then a Bulgarian official stepped forward. He said the game was not over. The game was as over as over ever is over, but the people in charge of official decisions that day were Communists. You guessed it. It was not over.

The Soviets placed their man down by the basket again and attempted another long pass. First the Soviet fouled one American defender by pushing him the way Dick Butkus tackled ball carriers. He caught the ball. The buzzer sounded, ending the game. He pushed another American the way Lawrence Taylor tackled ball carriers. About two seconds after the buzzer sounded to end the game, with both Americans lying on the ground after having been fouled, the Soviet dropped the ball through the hoop.

The Communist officials in charge said the Soviets had "won," 51-50. It was the single worst moment in the history of sports. The Americans never accepted the Silver medals, and if you ever want to get a charge out of someone, go talk to one of those players and bring up the subject of Munich '72.

This was the situation on September 5. Politics and bad feelings, which is what the Games were supposed to avoid. It was too bad, but as Frank Sinatra said, "that's life." 

At 4:30 A.M. on September 5, five Arab terrorists wearing tracksuits climbed the six and one-half foot fence surrounding the Olympic Village. Once inside, three others who had gained entrance with credentials met them. Within 24 hours, 11 Israelis, five terrorists, and a German policeman were dead.

Just before five in the morning, the terrorists knocked on the door of Israeli wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg. He opened the door, realized immediately something was wrong and shouted a warning. Weinberg and weightlifter Joseph Romano attempted to block the door while their members escaped. They were killed by the terrorists. The Arabs then rounded up nine Israelis to hold as hostages.

At 9:30 A.M., the terrorists announced that they were Palestinian Arabs, sent by the PLO terrorist Yasser Arafat. They demanded that Israel release 234 Arab prisoners in Israeli jails and Germany release two German terrorist leaders imprisoned in Frankfurt. They demanded their own safe passage out of Germany. Negotiations were struck with German authorities, who were willing to do anything to end the nightmare of Jewish hostages on German soil. A trip to the NATO air base at Firstenfeldbruck, by bus and then two helicopters was arranged, in order to board a plane for Cairo. German sharpshooters were standing by with orders to simultaneously kill all the terrorists without harming the hostages.

The plan did not work. The result was a bloody shootout between the Germans and Palestinians. At 3:00 A.M., the Palestinians set off a grenade in one helicopter, killing all aboard. Terrorists in the second helicopter shot to death the rest of the blindfolded Israelis. Three Palestinian were captured and held in Germany.

On October 29, a Palestinian who demanded that the Munich killers be released hijacked a Lufthansa jet. The Germans freed them, and they walked out with shit eating grins on their Arab faces. There are different ways to do things. There is the American way. There is the Israeli way.

Then there is the European way.

Arafat and Fatah, Arafat's faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), called themselves Black September, as if that hid the fact it was Arafat and Fatah. Munich has receded in memory, but the next time you see Arafat's reprehensible self (better yet, footage of Arafat's reprehensible self partyin' it up with Bill Clinton), remember this story. Clinton received Arafat as if he was a hero. No Republican ever did that before or after Clinton. Only after sidelining Arafat has a chance for peace become real. Recent events have demonstrated that Arafat refuses to cede power among the Palestinian political structure. Until he is permanently sidelined, real peace and independence for his people will not happen.

 Salah Khalaf (aka Abu Iyad) officially headed Black September. The press played along, as if they really were separate. Abu Iyad’s book, "Stateless", explained that Black September was tied to Fatah, but not part of it, as if these terrorist organizations have some kind of official capacity.

"Black September was not a terrorist organization," Abu Iyad said, "but was rather an auxiliary unit of the resistance movement, at a time when the latter was unable to fully realize its military and political potential. The members of the organization always denied any ties between their organization and Fatah or the PLO. I myself am personally acquainted with many of them, and can state with conviction that most of them belong to various Fedayeen organizations."

Hollywood responded to Munich with a nice little movie called "The Little Drummer Girl", starring Dianne Keaton. It tried to make terrorism look idealistic, like an ACLU lawyer defending a black couple from housing discrimination.  

Abu Daoud admitted that he masterminded the massacre in "Memoirs of a Palestinian Terrorist", published in 1999. The press tried to say they were shocked that the PLO had actually been behind Munich. They had been promoting Arafat for the Nobel after he and Clinton put their act together beginning in 1993. What a pair.

In truth, Daoud told Jordanian police in 1972, "There is no such organization called Black September. Fatah announces its own operations under this name so that Fatah will not appear as the direct executor of the operation." 

Golda Meir had her agents hunt down and kill those behind it. The U.N. condemned her for it. The Mossad initiated "Wrath of God" units operating through the Mossad channels while another unit recruited trained specialists, using covert means. The "normal" assassination teams failed in their mission, exposing the operation. The second team, however, killed five of the terrorists. Three were eliminated in joint Mossad-IDF operations, and got four more associated with other crimes against Israel.

Abu Daoud escaped, eventually claiming the terrorists did not mean to harm the athletes. He used the tried and true "blame the Germans" defense. They were "stubborn," he said. Daoud was awarded the Palestine Prize for Culture in 1999 for his book.

Amin al-Hindi, who heads Arafat's General Intelligence Service, is still at large. Arafat attempted to name Munich terrorist Mustafa Liftawi (Abu Firas) as Palestinian Authority police chief in Ram'Allah in 1995.

In 2000, the official newspaper of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida) begged Arab delegations to boycott the Olympic Games in Australia because a moment of silence was planned in memory of the 11 dead Israelis.

Res ipsa loquiter.