I'm Home, Guys!

Yes, I am!

I flew in on a Nefesh B'Nefesh flight as a journalist. Olim kept asking me what I write for; I said "internet stuff" and Voices Magazine and National Jewish Post and Opinion and a few other things.

This is the first I've written since I got back home.

And what a greeting! 15 IDF soldiers fell in battle in southern Lebanon on Wednesday (9 Aug). All of the dead were reserve duty soldiers. Hashem Yishmor! G-d please watch over us!

In America, the news from Israel was bad, very bad. It's bad enough that our cities are being bombed, innocent civilians killed, injured and fleeing their homes. It's bad enough that our soldiers are being attacked, killed, kidnapped and wounded.

But even worse, I could hear the questioning and even mocking of our government when I listened to the news reports in New York. There are some people with common sense in this world, even though none of them seem to be in power in Israel, and none of them are even in the opposition in Israel, oops! What opposition?

I asked the first person I could, if anything is being heard here opposing Olmert and gang. Just a soldier or two who refuse to serve in the Olmert Army, since he is promising to expell us, transfer us from our homes and give it all away to the terorists, G-d forbid. I was hoping that maybe there are things going on, which I hadn't heard about in New York or even in New Jersey, or the New York Times or Fox News.

People really do want to see a strong and smart Israel, and they're confused that Israel is acting so awfully "wimpy." It was really embarrassing when the whiny-voiced Izak Herzog just talked of "diminishing" the terrorists, not wiping them out, not destroying them.

And why should Israel "clean up" southern Lebanon and then hand it over to the totally ineffective Lebanese Army, anti-Israel European armies or UN "Peace-keeping" Force? Everyone knows that their track record is horrendous in protecting us.

At the same time, the United States is getting more and more bogged down, mired in Iraq. The idea that all they had to do was "free them of Sadam Husein" and announce "democracy has come to Iraq," and then they'd all live happily ever after really was rediculous. OK, naive, stupid... It's almost as ludicrous as the theory that the "Palestinians" would become a responsible member of "the family of nations" if only they were given a "state of their own."

Yes I'm home, and not only hasn't anything changed, it has only gotten worse! We have lots of hard work to do, so let's start!