Facts in Fiction, Daniel Silva Should be Taken Seriously

Over the years I've blogged a few times about the very true lessons we can learn from the movie The Siege, Fact and Fiction, "The Siege." Recently I've been reading quite a few Daniel Silva books, and even though I have no idea what his politics are, I see some important lessons there, too.

In pretty much all of Silva's spy, adventure novels I've read, there's a foul up caused by American "help," interference and demand for control. Just like in The Siege, there's an inherent American incompetence and built in leaks. Of course I don't know what percentage of these repeated foul ups/disasters are based on fact, but from my vantage point in Shiloh and the fact that I've been a longtime political observer, they ring very true.

It's no secret that the American State Department is anti-Israel and antisemitic; it has always been. Israel isn't treated fairly, fact not fiction.

Right now I'm reading Daniel Silva's The Messenger, and I came across a line that rings so true.

"The sooner we stop worrying about being liked, the better off we'll be."Daniel Silva's The Messenger,

This is a major problem in Israeli policy, the quest to be liked. Unfortunately, there isn't any form of or tactic in hasbara-information campaigns or "rebranding" which can delete or even reduce the inherent anti-Israel and antisemitism that exists in NGOs, other countries, diplomats, accademia etc. Internationally, there's more antisemitism than had existed as the Nazi Final Solution was reaching its crescendo.

And the feeling of national guilt which had existed in Germany and parts of Europe post-World War Two has ended. The Nazis' grandchildren and great-grandchildren are leading the anti-Israel pro-Palestine movements. Unlike their parents, they won't even fund memorials.

So we here in Israel must forget about being liked; it just won't happen. Let's just take off the gloves and destroy our enemies. That's the only way to bring peace.

Neighboring Arab Countries in Violent Turmoil

As most newscasts should show, there is an awful lot of violence and fighting going on in neighboring Arab countries.

Thirteen of the strikes were near the Iraqi cities of Ramadi, Baghdadi, Bayji, Fallujah, Makhmur, Mosul, Sinjar and Tal Afar. (Jerusalem Post)

Theological Questions

In all honesty, I can't keep track. And watching one of the international news channels, I caught a clip about one of the "armies" in which they explained that although that group had originally been anti-American, something in their position/policy recently changed, and now they are overjoyed to be getting support, training and weapons from the USA. I have no doubt that within a short period of time, things will change again and they'll use their new-found knowledge against the USA and western allies, just like in the movie The Siege.

The only alliance that seems to be holding is between Hamas and Fatah which proves that the claim that Fatah is moderate as totally false.

Fatah's leader Mahmoud Abbas meets with Hamas leader
Khaled Meshaal in Doha. (photo credit:REUTERS)

Right From Wrong: Happy first Fatah- Hamas anniversary!
by Ruthie Blum
It has been a year since the swearing-in of the national unity government of Fatah and Hamas, agreed upon by the warring Palestinian factions two months earlier. At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his displeasure with the merger. He said it showed that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had chosen terrorism over peace.
Since Abbas has never opted for the latter – rejecting all direct Israeli overtures and those brokered by the United States – the Israeli leader’s words rang hollow. But they were made necessary by the conventional myth that something resembling a “peace process” had been going on between Israel and the Palestinians for more than two decades. It was this “peace process” that led to the signing of the Oslo Accords, which have done nothing but perpetuate war.
Nevertheless, the lie lives on, as does the lip service enlisted in its embellishment...(Jerusalem Post)

Don't Arm and Train the Syrians!!! The USA is Making a Tragic Mistake

It's a very Leftist and Obama-fallacy to believe that arming one group of Syrians will be good.

U.S. Congress approves arming Syrian rebels, funding government(Reuters) - The U.S. Congress gave final approval on Thursday to President Barack Obama's plan for training and arming moderate Syrian rebels to battle Islamic State, a major part of his military campaign to "degrade and destroy" the militant group.
The Senate voted 78-22, in a rare bipartisan show of support for one of Obama's high-profile initiatives. With the House of Representatives approving the legislation on Wednesday, the measure now goes to Obama to sign into law.
Ten Senate Democrats and 12 Republicans voted no.
Obama thanked Congress for the speed in which it acted to back the plan, which he announced on Sept. 10, and said the strong bipartisan support showed Americans were united in the fight against Islamic State. (Reuters)

I keep going back to the movie "The Siege" in which, sorry for the spoiler, it's discovered that the Arab terrorists terrorizing the United States were trained by the Americans themselves.

Anyone who thinks that only "good Syrians" will use the weapons and skills taught and donated by the Americans is worse than naive. How will the Americans "test" the candidates for their training courses?

And as an Israeli, I'm very, totally opposed to the plan, because none of the Syrian factions want to live in true peace with Israel. So any weapons, training etc can and will be used against the State of Israel. There's no doubt in my mind.

I was born and raised in the states and went to American public schools. I'm still in touch and visit, read and follow the media and politics. To put it simply, not only don't I think that the United States President Barack Hussein Obama is doing what's best for the USA, I don't think he has a clue of  the implications, ramifications and fallout of  his policies.

I don't consider him my president, and I don't vote in American elections, even though I do have a legal right to cast a ballot.

Obama has stated that he won't send in American troops to fight ISIS Islamic State, so his solution is to arm and train what he calls "rebel" Syrians. This plan is a dangerous time bomb which will cause even more damage to world peace.