Iran's Nine-Point Plan
How deep does this administration's animus toward Israel run? I believe it runs deep and we got more evidence of it this week. On Sunday, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, released a nine-point plan. Was it a plan to grow the Iranian economy? A plan to modernize his nation or introduce greater political freedom? No. It was a plan to eliminate the state of Israel. Obama has written repeated letters to Khamenei, including one last month, expressing his desire to establish better relations. At the same time a high-level administration official referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "chickensh-t."
It was easy for the West to dismiss Hitler's Mein Kampf as the rantings of a mad man, especially before he seized power. We have no excuses to ignore such threats today from the Hitler admirer Khamenei, who has power and is seeking the very weapons that would enable him to annihilate the Jewish state.
Yet negotiations over Iran's nuclear program continued as usual this week. There was no outrage over Khamenei's plan. American diplomats did not boycott the meetings in disgust. Silence reigned. As you can imagine, these developments are astonishing and demoralizing to Israelis. How can fellow democracies beg the mullahs for a deal while Iran regularly reminds the world that its ultimate goal is the destruction of the state of Israel?
This is a very dangerous time, my friends, dangerous for Israel, the United States and peace.
National Cathedral Offers Prayers To Allah
This Friday prayers to Allah will be echoing throughout the Washington National Cathedral as this historic venue hosts its first Muslim prayer service. Organizers of the event hope it will promote tolerance and dialogue -- as if America is lacking in tolerance and dialogue. Anyone have any ideas on how to promote tolerance in Mecca, Damascus or Gaza?
I couldn't help being struck by the irony of this news coupled with headlines around the world. While the most recognizable church in Washington, if not all of America, welcomes Muslims, radical Islamists blew up a church in Syria dedicated to memorializing the slaughter of nearly 1.5 million Armenian Christians. Yesterday in Nigeria scores of schoolchildren were blown up by people who will also be offering noon time prayers to Allah.
As Islam advances all over the world, it treats Christians as second class citizens while radical Islamists tell them to convert or die. It converts churches into mosques to make it clear which faith is dominate.
While the Washington National Cathedral is a national symbol, it is part of the Episcopal Church, which is confused about a great many things, including God's institution of marriage. So it's no wonder they are confused about how to handle the Islamic revival that is sweeping the Middle East and Africa, leaving dead Christians and Jews in its wake.
Rather than fretting about Islamophobia in America, perhaps the folks at the National Cathedral should redouble their efforts to defend fellow believers around the world from jihad.
Honoring Our Heroes
Today is Veterans Day -- a day set aside to recognize the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who have served our country in uniform. There is a big concert in Washington tonight that is expected to draw 800,000 people.
Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day, marking the cessation of fighting that ended World War I on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian soldier and doctor, wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields" to commemorate the death of a close friend during the second battle of Ypres. Below is the text:
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
To the millions who have always been there to stop the tyrant, protect the weak and preserve the peace -- we have not forgotten you. A grateful nation thanks God for giving us men and women like you.
Let me leave you with this great video featuring Ronald Reagan reciting the pledge of Private Martin Treptow, who died fighting in World War I. Share it with friends, family members and veterans you know.