By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –This is a story that benefitted from the weekend; much of Friday’s rush to judgment was wrong. First reports had the printer cartridge as a fake causing several experts to claim it was a “dry run” for later bombs; the addressees were synagogues and Jewish organizations in Chicago, which some [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM– More than any other national leader, Barack Obama has a global constituency. The world does not vote in American elections, but his capacity to fulfill his obligations depends on the cooperation of other national leaders, and the opinions of publics that have at least a minimum of influence on them. Balancing [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The issue of the New York City mosque near ground zero has awakened discussion of that big gorilla in the American living room. Despite all the platitudes slung back and forth about religious freedom and the separation of church and state, and the assertion that the problem of terror is not Islam, [...]
-Reprinted from Summer 2010 issue of inFocus Quarterly- On May 27, inFOCUS editor Matthew RJ Brodsky interviewed Michael Chertoff, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security from 2005-2009. As secretary he developed and implemented border security policy, homeland security regulations, and a national cyber security strategy. He also served periodically on the National Security [...]
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, in the wake of the killing of an IDF officer inside Israel by Lebanese Armed Forces personnel, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) announced that Congress would block the disbursement of $100 million in U.S. military aid to Lebanon. Lowey chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee that authorizes such funds. Similarly, [...]
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WJC) — The United States government is set to sell Saudi Arabia 84 Boeing F-15 fighter jets worth US$ 30 billion over a ten-year period, despite Israeli “reservations” to the deal, the ‘Wall Street Journal’ reports. However, the package would not include on-board targeting systems as advanced as those used in US or [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The dismissal of General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan is not as seismic as some are contending, but it is significant. The comparison with Truman and MacArthur is not appropriate. MacArthur acted against presidential policy, and helped create the military and political disaster of Chinese entry into the Korean War. McChrystal and his [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–It is appropriate to ponder the significance of one hundred thousand ultra-Orthodox demanding independence from the Israeli judiciary. While the Sephardim suffer discrimination in the ultra-Orthodox communities, only a few of their leaders made that point. It was more common for prominent Sephardi rabbis and politicians to join hands with the Ashkenazim, [...]
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (Press Release)—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday visited Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the invitation of UAE Minister of the Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, to meet with her counterparts from the Middle East region and officials from the International Civil Aviation Organization [...]
WASHINGTON, D.C (Press Release)–Following is a speech that Daniel Benjamin, coordinator of the counter-terrorism office in the U.S. State Department, gave on Friday to members of the Washington Institute: Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure to be back at the Washington Institute and see so many familiar faces in the room. Thanks to Matt [...]
