by Gary Gerofsky

This is the speech that Obama ought to make to Israelis during his visit to their country:

Prime Minister Netanyahu, Knesset members, the people of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide: It is an honor and privilege to be here today in Jerusalem, Israel, the undivided capital of Israel and the land of the Jewish people from the time before the establishment of the first temple of Solomon, destroyed by the Babylonians, followed by the second temple which Antiochus desecrated, Pompey looted and the Romans destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem. Throughout history invaders and superpowers have attempted to extinguish the Jewish people and their symbols. Today is no different as we have an empire of Islamists using whatever means they can to wipe out all traces of Israel and Judaism. They too will not succeed.

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by Alexander H. Joffe*

Why exactly is President Obama going to Israel? A variety of theories have been advanced as to why he is making the trip now and what might be accomplished.

Some have suggested that Obama needs to reassure Israel, to hold their hands and tell them that the US-Israeli relationship is special. This suggests that Obama cares about Israeli feelings, at least in the sense that positive sentiments advance policy goals, and that Israelis might be thus comforted by his presence. But the record of bad relations between Obama and Netanyahu is too long, and the fact that Obama is on record saying that Israelis don’t know what is best for them, whereas he does, has mitigated whatever good vibrations he might spread now.

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by Yoram Ettinger, The Ettinger Report

Twenty eight years of unilateral and multilateral US-led sanctions, accompanied by diplomatic pressure and cyber sabotage, have failed to deter Iran’s Ayatollahs from approaching nuclear capabilities.

Fifty years of proliferated sanctions — since the 1962 military coup in Burma — have been largely unsuccessful in changing policies of rogue regimes.

In fact, the US focus on sanctions and engagement — rather than confrontation — has facilitated Iran’s nuclear drive. It has provided Teheran with more time to develop and acquire critical nuclear capabilities.

Sanctions have effectively eroded Iran’s economy. Sanctions have been ineffective in diverting Iran from its nuclear path.

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By Jonathan Spyer

The diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks earlier this week confirm that the key strategic process taking place in the Middle East is the push for regional dominance by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The documents show that the Iranian nuclear program is only the most worrisome element of a broader effort, as there is additional evidence of Iranian involvement and interference in political processes across the region.

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By Barry Rubin

What will the United States and the world going to do about an act of aggression by North Korea on South Korea, the deliberate unprovoked firing of mortars at civilians? And what are the lessons of this situation for other world problems?

First, nobody is going to do anything real in response to this attack. Indeed, the South Koreans are lucky that they aren’t being investigated and condemned for something or other.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

North Korean “fearless leader” Kim Jong-il seems to be planning another missile “test” — aka a plan for harassment and/or extortion against the West — this time taking aim at Hawaii. Kim will probably get away with it again… and be offered some kind of concessions to placate his lunacy (see below). From the AP:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

North Korea is controlled by a very dangerous regime: It threatened today to “reduce everything… [in South Korea] to debris.” North and South Koreans are the same people, with many family and friends separated by a line in the sand, and yet the North Korean leadership would destroy its own kindred, all because of a very minor, perceived “offense” committed by a Southern group opposed to the North’s Fearless Leader, Kim Jong-Il. From AFP:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

…[South Korean President] Roh later witnessed one of the North’s typical mass games extravaganzas, complete with goose-stepping soldiers, dancing schoolgirls and a large flip card animation section that promotes unification under the North’s communist banner.

The spectacle however was tailored for Roh, and cut back on items seen in other shows — such as depictions of the North’s soldiers bayoneting those from the South.

- Reuters, 10/3/07

Now isn’t that special. That Fearless Leader Kim Jong Il can muster such spectacles while his people are starving to death is not unusual, for a Stalinist megalomaniac. That the democratically-elected president of South Korea can lend credibility to such insanity for the sake of personal aggrandizement verges on criminal.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

…[South Korean President] Roh has not given any specifics about what he will propose or seek [during his visit to North Korea], prompting criticism from conservatives at home that the summit is an ego trip for the South Korean leader to establish a legacy for his unpopular administration, which ends in February. …

- AP, 10/2/07

I too see Roh’s visit as a cynical PR stunt. (Of course, this “summit” was set up on North Korea’s terms). In an ominous twist, “Both Roh and [North Korean dictator] Kim also hope to keep the surging conservatives from winning South Korea’s December presidential election.” If Roh can find such common cause with Kim, a Stalinist megalomaniac, then there’s something terribly wrong with the South Korean president. Fearless Leader Kim has already poured cold water all over the North/South summit, giving Roh a “chilly” welcome. After today’s opening ceremony for Roh, Kim has “showed scant enthusiasm and seldom smiled.” As a further slap in the face to the South, Kim won’t even meet with Roh today, instead letting his deputy “deal with the South Koreans for the rest of the day.”

Good thing that cooler heads are prevailing in South Korea:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

North Korea test-fired a long-range missile and five shorter-range rockets on July 4, 2006. It tested a nuclear bomb in October 2006. Today, Kim Jong-il’s workers’ paradise “fired several short-range guided missiles into the sea that separates it from Japan.” The North has a 1.1-million-man army, the fourth-largest in the world. This is downright alarming, unless you’re some kind of politically-correct sissy “analyst:”

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

So North Korea isn’t such a paradise after all (I’m being sarcastic). Even the select few, the apparatchiks that Kim Jong-il considers loyal, don’t want their kids to grow up in the “People’s Paradise.” Two to three million North Korean citizens have starved to death because their government spends more money on weapons per capita than any nation on earth. From the Beeb:

North Korean diplomats stationed overseas are reportedly refusing an order to send their children home, according to South Korean media.

The order was issued earlier this year in an apparent attempt to stop defections from the hardline regime. …

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by Jonathan Winer*

How do you get an evil dictator who starves his people to understand that you really mean business when you say he has to stop his nuclear proliferation program?

Treasury has decided you do it by taking away his iPods, sports cars, and booze.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Oh, so now North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has “expressed regret” over shooting off a nuclear weapon? The only reason he’s being contrite is because his trigger-happiness has hurt his little ol’ wallet:

Also Friday, employees of Chinese banks said they have suspended financial transactions to North Korea under orders from Beijing. China is the North’s main trading partner, and the step could be a serious blow to its frail economy.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Very rarely, but sometimes, can you find truth in the words of dictators — in this case: North Korea:

…we will deliver merciless blows without hesitation to whoever tries to breach our sovereignty and right to survive under the excuse of carrying out the UN Security Council resolution.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Even after what we knew about North Korea, and after Stalinist “fearless leader” Kim Jong-il’s detonation of a nuclear device, shooting missiles near Japan, and collusion with Iran… China and Russia are still hedging on sanctions against this most dangerous of Asian rogue states. From Reuters:

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