The UK Election Results; What Happened And What It Means

The UK elections are over, with just one constituency(parliamentary seat) remaining to be counted, in Kensington. The end results? A hung parliament, a resurgence of the hard Left under Jeremy Corbyn and a huge slap in the face for the Conservatives and PM Theresa May:

• Conservative Seats: 318; Change in seats: −12
• Labour Seats: 261; Change in seats: +29
• Liberal Dem Seats: 12; Change in seats: +4
• UKIP Seats: 0; Change in seats: −1
• SNP Seats: 35; Change in seats: −21
• Other Seats: 23

The Tories went from having a workable majority of 17 seats to being 8 seats short of a majority in an election called by Theresa May that didn't need to be held at all. That has to go down as one of the worst political blunders in British history.

In order to get legislation through, the Conservatives will now have to rely on an alliance with the Democratic Union Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland and their 10 seats. Since the Unionists normally vote with the conservatives anyway, it isn't a big stretch but still amounts to a lessening of stability and cohesion when it comes to governing. That's especially ironic when you think of Theresa May's often repeated mantra that 'this country needs stability.' Her political blunder just made things a lot less stable.

So how did this happen? How did the Tories go from being 20 points ahead in the polls to losing their majority. And what does it tell us about Britain?

Theresa May ran a poor campaign and Jeremy Corbyn ran Bernie Sander's. May presented herself as a strong leader but came across as anything but. She alienated a key Tory constituency by proposing that the elderly pay more for their healthcare, something she later had to do a U-turn on. She  was seen as remote and unconcerned, rarely campaigning actively. She refused to participate in debates and was also seen (correctly) as weak on terrorism and national security.

Or as I put it earlier:

The point I’m making here is that when it comes to national security and the two major parties, we’re dealing with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Neither the Tories or Labour really want to fight Islamist terrorism. The conservatives are just merely a bit less dum, if you take my meaning…

Unlike Labour’s Corbyn, who actually sympathizes with jihadis like Hamas and Hezbollah, PM May at least understands in some way that the current situation is not good at all and most be dealt with..albeit in some politically correct way, she’s not quite sure how, that doesn’t result in anyone calling her racist or the Leftist press mauling her.

Jeremy Corbyn essentially ran Bernie Sander's campaign, promising free goodies for everybody without any concrete plans for paying for it except 'tax the rich.' Like Sanders, he also promised the kiddies free college. This resulted in a larger than average turnout as young voters flocked to him. In some of the constituencies in the North and in the Midlands the Tories were counting on flipping, it made the difference.

Unlike May, Corbyn campaigned actively. And his openly anti-semitic and anti-Israel stance, something he's been unapologetic about for a long time brought in the Muslim vote as well without him having to dwell on it overmuch.Overall it appears to have been a plus numbers wise. And it obviously wasn't a problem for a lot of Labour's voters in general either. Here's a Labour campaign poster tying May in with Israel and that old, familiar anti-semitic theme of the Jews running things behind the scenes:



While Britain's Jews mostly deserted their old home in Labour (it likely cost Corbyn four seats in London in districts with a high Jewish population), Labour still got something like 13% of the Jewish vote. And based on the favorable coverage Corbyn is now getting in the Leftist press worldwide, his success can definitely be seen as mainstreaming his anti-semitic and anti-Israel views not just in the UK, but elsewhere.

The election became essentially a return to two party politics, and those ex-third party voters didn't break the way the Tories figured they would. One of Theresa May's reasons for calling a needless election was her theory that the pro Brexit UKIP voters would now vote Tory since their main issue was no longer in play. Instead, those voters went back to their former parties and split a lot more evenly. The Scottish National Party had a similar meltdown, losing 21 of the seats it won in 2015. And their voters also split among the two major parties.

The appeal of socialism and anti-semitism is a rising tide on the UK's left, especially among young voters. As I mentioned, Jeremy Corbyn's friendship for jihadists, enmity for Israel and general views on Jews didn't stop Labour from getting 40% of the vote compared to the Tory's 42.4%. And a number of those voters were young voters. The 18-24 year-old demographic is one of the only ones where Labour had a significant lead, and those votes made the difference in a number of places. Many of the Labour politicos that disagreed with Corbyn's views are going to have to come to terms and support him, or leave the party.

Theresa May's leadership has been severely compromised. She made it plain that she has no intentions of resigning and has already received the Queen's Commission to try and form a government. But at this point, many of her own party despise her for taking a gamble like this and losing, especially after many of them advised her not to. And their disapproval is mild compared to what the Left has in store for her.

A party leadership election at this point would make things even more chaotic, especially with the Brexit negotiations just a few days away so that's unlikely. But she's basically governing crippled at this point. And I wouldn't be surprised if she either resigns as Prime Minister or is forced out by a vote of no confidence in the future.

Anniversary Of A Miracle - Israel's Victory In The Six Day War

Today is the anniversary of a modern miracle, the Israeli victory of the Six Day War, מלחמת ששת הימים, or Milhemet Sheshet Ha Yamim in Hebrew. It saw an outnumbered Israel beat back an attempt at destruction and genocide, reunite Jerusalem, bring the strategic Golan and the historic Jewish homelands of Judea and Samaria back under Israeli sovereignty. It's worth recounting 47 years later, when Israel's mortal enemies once again gather to attempt to destroy her.

Egyptian leader Gamal Abdul Nasser had formed a military alliance with Syria, the United Arab Republic (UAR) and with the aid of the Soviet Union, both countries had built up a substantial military force, vastly outnumbering Israel in tanks, planes and manpower.

After the 1956 war,the Israelis had agreed to withdraw from Sinai based on President Eisenhower's guarantees that provided for a UN peacekeeping force to be stationed there to prevent feydayeen terrorist raids on Israel, the main cause (at least from the Israeli standpoint) of the '56 war.

Another part of the ceasefire agreement that ended the 1956 war concerned the Straits of Tiran, a waterway connecting the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea and Israel's sole Red Sea outlet for the port of Eilat.



According to the ceasefire ratified by the UN, the Straits of Tiran were to be considered an international waterway with full access to Israeli shipping.

On May 17th, 1967, after a huge amount of rhetoric about annihilating every Jew in Israel, Nasser demanded an immediate withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping troops from the Sinai. Secretary General U Thant immediately complied in less than 24 hours without informing the Israelis until Egyptian forces had already reentered the Sinai.

Nasser subsequently deployed a huge force of troops,tanks and artillery in the Sinai. The Egyptians massed over 100,000 troops in the Sinai, including all of its seven divisions (four infantry, two armored and one mechanized), four independent infantry brigades and four independent armored brigades. At least one third of them were veterans of Egypt's intervention into the Yemen Civil War, and the Egyptian forces included 950 tanks, 1,100 APCs and more than 1,000 artillery pieces, many of them of the latest Soviet models.

On May 23rd, Nasser announced a blockade of the Straights of Tiran, saying in a speech to his troops in Sinai:

... Yesterday the armed forces [of Egypt] occupied Sharm el-Sheikh. What does this mean? It is an affirmation of our rights, of our sovereignty over the Gulf of Aqaba, which constitutes Egyptian territorial waters. Under no circumstances can we permit the Israeli flag to pass through the Gulf of Aqaba. The Jews threaten war. We say that they are welcome to war, we are ready for war, our armed forces, our people, all of us are ready for war, but under no circumstances shall we abandon our rights. These are our waters ...

At the same time, the Syrians began massing 75,000 troops, artillery and armor on the Golan Height to the north of Israel, where they held the high ground and were dug in.

Jordan, to Israel's east signed a mutual defense pact with the UAR on May 30th and moved 55,000 troops and 300 tanks to the border.

Documents captured by the Israelis from the Jordanians show that contrary to popular belief, the Jordanians always intended to go to war against Israel - it was by no means a last minute decision. The Arab Legion's Hashemite Brigade had orders to capture the Israeli town of Ramot Burj Bir Mai'in in a night raid, codenamed "Operation Khaled". This was to be the base of operations for the capture of Lod and Ramle. The "go" codeword to be was "Sa'ek" and end was "Nasser". The Jordanians also planned for the capture of Motza and Sha'alvim in the strategic Jerusalem Corridor. Motza was the target of Infantry Brigade 27 camped near Ma'ale Adummim: "The reserve brigade will commence a nighttime infiltration onto Motza, will destroy it to the foundation, and won't leave a remnant or refugee from among its 800 residents"

Along with these forces, at Jordan's invitation the Iraqi army sent 100 tanks and an infantry division to join in the fighting along with two squadrons of fighter aircraft.

The Israeli troops even with their available reserves were out numbered by more than two to one, and in tanks and combat aircraft by more than three to one.

Efforts to try and resolve the crisis in the UN came to absolutely nothing as the Soviets and the European nations who found Arab oil far more valuable than Jewish blood combined to torpedo any meaningful settlement as Israel's economy began to falter and the Arabs continued to mass troops and equipment for an obvious coming attack meant to wipe out every Jew in Israel, a goal the Arabs made no secret of.

The final push towards war came when Israel chief arms supplier, President DeGaulle of France abruptly informed the Israelis on June 1st that he would no longer sell them arms or spare parts for French-made equipment like Israel's Dassault Mirage and Super Mystère jets or even fill existing orders.



Surrounded and outnumbered, the Israelis now also had to contend with the problem of resupply in a combat situation. They literally had no choice but to throw the dice and gamble on a quick and decisive victory before their equipment broke down for lack of spare parts and components.

So the decision was made to launch Operation Focus ( in Hebrew, Moked), a massive attack on the Egyptian Air Force.

The Egyptians had by far the largest and best air force among the Arab armies. They had 420 combat aircraft, all of them Soviet-built and many of them the latest MiG-21s capable of attaining Mach 2 speed. The Egyptians also had 30 Soviet Tu-16 "Badger" bombers,which were a particular target of Operation Focus because of the danger to Israeli civilian areas.

The IAF had been training for this mission for quite some time. In particular, they had become adept in training their ground crews to rapidly refit planes returning from combat so that multiple sorties per day could be flown. The IAF had things wired to the point that their combat aircraft were capable of flying four sorties per day while the Arab pilots were only able to fly one or two at most.

The Israelis also had excellent intel on their targets and trained their pilots to memorize them until they were second nature, and every contingency that could be taken into account was planned for.

But in the end,it still came down to a roll of the dice, with the Israelis sending all but 12 of their 200 combat aircraft into the skies and gambling their lives on the outcome.

On the morning of June 5th, 1967, the Israeli planes attacked their targets. Most of them evaded the Egyptian radar by flying in low over the Mediterranean, well below the point where the Egyptian SA-2 surface-to-air missile batteries could hit them and then hooking left to hit the Egyptian air bases, while the rest flew in over the Red Sea.

They caught the Egyptians completely by surprise with most of their planes on the ground. The Israelis attacked in successive waves. Some 338 of the Egyptian aircraft were destroyed and over 100 pilots killed, while the runways were made unusable by bombing runs utilizing special explosives designed to penetrate and fragment tarmac. The Egyptians lost all 30 the Tu-16 bombers, 27 out of 40 Il-28 bombers, 12 Su-7 fighter-bombers, over 90 brand new MiG-21s, 20 MiG-19s, 25 MiG-17 fighters, and around 32 assorted transport planes and helicopters, plus the Egyptian radar and SAM missile bases. The only Egyptian planes that survived were the handful that were in hangers being serviced and a small contingent based at El Arish in Sinai, which the IAF decided not to attack because they wanted it as a strategic base.The Israelis lost just 19 planes, including two destroyed in air-to-air combat and 13 hit by anti-aircraft fire.

The victory in the air was so devastating that at first no one in the western press, particularly in Europe believed it. They continued to cite the Egyptian propaganda reports of 70 Israeli planes downed. It only became apparent that Egypt's Soviet supplied air force had been destroyed when Egyptian planes failed to make any appearance during the rest of the war.

Retaking Sinai

The Egyptian forces in Sinai were deployed based on Soviet tactics of massed depth. In addition they were tied to dugouts and fortresses, a mistake the IDF themselves would make 6 years later in the Yom Kippur War with the Bar-Lev line.

The Israelis had deployed to the border the night before the war,  camouflaged themselves and remained hidden until they advanced. Rather than attack the fortified Egyptian positions head on, the IDF attacked the Egyptian positions from the flanks



The Israelis understood that if the Egyptians suffered a military defeat that the UN would move quickly to implement a cease fire to protect Nasser's armies. Therefore, a primary objective was to make as many strategic gains as possible in the shortest time period, especially when it came to Sharm al-Sheikh, the choke point for shutting down Israeli shipping through the Straits of Tiran.

Because of the need for speed,  the initial battles involved attacking entrenched positions in Sinai without air support, because the IAF was still involved in dealing with Egypt's air armada.

The IDF attacked with three divisions. The first, under General Israel Tal had the mission of attacking the fortified Rafah/El Arish sector, near the Mediterranean coast. The Egyptians had large minefields in place in front of well dug in infantry, anti-tank weapons in reinforced bunkers and over 100 tanks and supporting artillery at the ready.

Tal's solution was to avoid the mine fields entirely,  and swing around and attack from the rear through Khan Unis. After Khan Unis was taken, General Tal launched a pincer attack on Rafah from the rear, commanding one arm personally while the other was commanded by the brilliant then-Colonel Rafael Eitan, later the IDF's Chief of Staff. The Egyptians, with most of their defensive positions facing the wrong way, were taken by surprise and routed. By June 6th, El Arish was in Israeli hands and the race to the Canal along the Mediterranean coast was on.

The second division under General Arik Sharon had the job of breaking through the center and assaulting the heavily fortified Kusseima/Abu Agheila strongholds.This was a particularly difficult mission because the Egyptians expected the IDF to concentrate on attacking this area head on, as they had in 1956. However, General Sharon's modus operandi, as usual,  was to do the unexpected, Here's what he did, in his own words:

Since 1956 the Egyptians had completely rebuilt the Abu Agheila fortifications according to the latest Soviet concepts of linear defense. About fifteen miles from the Israeli border the Ismalia road crossed a long swell of sand known as Um Cataf. There the Egyptians had constructed three parallel trench systems intersecting the road. Anchored in the north by high soft dunes and in the south by jagged ridges and broken foothills, each line was several miles long and each encompassed an array of gun positions, storage depots, and lateral communications trenches. In the front of the first line was a thickly laid mine field. With the trench system manned by a full infantry brigade and with its flanks secured on either end by the terrain, this position itself constituted a major defensive obstacle.

A mile or so behind the trenches the Egyptians kept a mobile reserve of over eighty tanks ready to move in any direction, the sword that complemented their defensive shield. Just to the south of the tanks was their artillery deployment – eighty 122- and 130-mm guns whose range far outmatched my own guns. Perimeter outposts screened this concentration of forces on the approaches to the east and especially in the north, where the flank was guarded by an infantry battalion supported by tanks and artillery in a fortified position which we code-named Oakland.

To destroy Abu Agheila it would be necessary to identify and exploit the position’s inherent vulnerability. Here we would be up against good defensive fighters whose numerical strength was not much less than ours, and whose firepower was in some ways greater than ours – a far cry from the offensive-defensive ratio of three to one usually considered minimal for an attack against prepared positions. So the plan of battle would have to emphasize concentration of forces, surprise, and maneuver. And the action would have to take place at night, our traditional method of reducing the odds and negating the advantages of prepared fortifications …

What I had in mind was a closely coordinated attack by separate elements of our forces on the Egyptian trench lines, tanks and artillery … [with the attacks developing] from the north, from the west (at the rear of Abu Agheila), and from the east (at the front of the position) in a continuous unfolding of surprises, each force securing the flank of its neighbor …

In my overall approach the first order of business would be to create a deception against Kusseima with a brigade under Uri Baidatz. Then I would isolate the battlefield. In the south a screening force of tanks, half-tracks and mortars under Arie Amit would block any reinforcements from Kusseima. This force would also give us a lodgement once we were ready to move in that direction. In the north I would launch a reinforced armored battalion, including my best tanks, the British Centurions under Natke Nir, against Oakland, the position that guarded Abu Agheila’s northern flank. Once Natke took Oakland, he would then circle around to the rear of Abu Agheila, setting up blocking forces as he went on the road to Jebel Libni, where the Egyptian reserves were. The Centurions would then be in a position to assault the base from behind.

Once the field was isolated, we would attack the entire depth of the Egyptian positions simultaneously. That would be the “taboulah,” the shock that would unbalance the defenders. Kuti Adam’s infantry brigade would come down on the northern end of the trench lines through the ostensibly secure dunes. At the same time my artillery commander, Yakov Aknin, would concentrate all the division’s artillery fire on the trenches just in front of Kuti’s attack, making life hell for the defenders as they tried to respond to the unexpected assault. To the right of Kuti’s brigade, helicopters would land Danny Mat’s paratroop brigade, which would strike into the artillery positions, preventing the Egyptian long-range guns from hitting our own forces. Once the infantry had disrupted the trenches, our tank brigade under Mordechai Zippori would move through the mine fields in a narrow frontal assault. At the same time, Natke’s Centurions would hit the Egyptian tanks from behind and come in on the rear of the trenches. And all of this would happen at night, compounding the Egyptians’ confusion as they struggled to piece together what was happening to them. (Warrior, Ariel Sharon, p. 188-190)

That's pretty much exactly what happened. Many of the Egyptian troops were so anxious to retreat that they actually took their shoes off to be able to run more effectively in the desert sand.The Israelis even captured a number of Soviet tanks in perfect condition with the keys still in the ignitions. Sharon's losses were limited to 40 killed and 140 wounded, and by June 6th the way forward for Sharon's forces to the Canal was wide open.

 

The third IDF division was under Brigadier-General Avraham Yoffe. Their target was Egyptian forces near Bir Lahfan junction, who were attempting to aid the Egyptian forces at Rafah and Abu Agheila.

There was a point between Rafah and Abu Agheila called Wadi Haridin, large sand dunes that were supposedly impassible to vehicles. Because of that, Wadi Haridin was left completely undefended by the Egyptians.

But the Israelis had scouted the area during the 1956 war and discovered that the Wadi was a rough slog, but it was passable. General Sharon had remembered an old report on this during the run up to war that had been filed away and decided to make use of it.

Yoffe's division split into two, each with 100 tanks. The first half trekked over the Wadi and took the Egyptian forces by surprise who were attempting to come to the aid of the Egyptians at Rafah and Abu Agheila. After making short work of them, Yoffe's troops linked up with General Tal's forces to attack the Egyptian Third Division, who were attempting to hold the Egyptian line near Bir Lahfan.

The other half of Yoffe’s division went through Sharon’s lines while fighting was still going on at perimeter of Abu Agheila, and attacked the rest of  Third Egyptian Division who were dug in at high ground of Jebel Libni, southwest of Bir Lahfan. This was another pincer attack that caught the Egyptians between the hammer blows of Tal and Yoffe. The Third division collapsed and by sundown on June 6 all of the Jebel Libni bases and the surrounding areas had fallen.

The Egyptian state media at this point was still broadcasting that Egyptian forces were advancing into Israel and that Tel-Aviv had been bombed, In fact, Nasser had already given King Hussein this same information,pressing him to bring his forces into the war.

However, Egypt's military chief, Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer had seen first hand what was happening to his army. According to eyewitness accounts, after the fall of Abu Agheila he issued immediate orders for a wholesale retreat across the Suez Canal to Egypt rather than trying to get his army to regroup and shore up a new line of defense.

What was left of the Egyptian forces engaged in what was essentially a race for the Mitla and Gidi passes through the the mountainous area of West Sinai and the retreat turned into a rout.

By this time, the Israeli air force had finished with decimating Egypt's Soviet supplied air force, had total control of the skies and were able to devote attention to the Egyptian ground forces as they fled for the passes.

The Egyptian tanks and fleeing infantry units were caught between massive bombardment from the air and ground attacks from Sharon's forces and those belonging to the 8th Armored Brigade under Colonel Albert Mandler, fresh from taking out the fortified areas of Kuntilla. The entire Egyptian Sixth Division was trapped what amounted to a box and soon ceased to exist as a cohesive unit.

At the same time, Yoffe and Tal's forces were racing towards the Sinai passes in an attempt to cut off the Egyptian units fleeing for the Canal. Sharon's division advanced southward then westward via An-Nakhl to Mitla Pass, where it hooked up with parts of Yoffe's division, while other units under Yoffe's command blocked the Gidi Pass. These passes became killing grounds for the Egyptians, who ran right into the waiting Israeli positions and suffered heavy losses.

While Egyptian casualties were heavy, the blocking of the passes was only partially successful and many got through to the Canal, (especially through the the Khatmia pass) although they abandoned literally tons of armaments and equipment along the way. Many died in the desert from hunger, thirst and raids by hostile Bedouins.

Others surrendered to the victorious Israelis, but about four days into the Sinai offensive Israel's capacity for holding prisoners was exceeded and the Israelis concentrated on high ranking officers, disarming the other, giving them aome food and water and and pointing them in the direction of the Canal.

At the same time, an Israeli naval force launched an attack on Sharm el-Sheik, the Egyptian base used to enforce the blockade on the Straits of Tiran. When they landed, the base was deserted,because its garrison had fled. Sharm el-Sheik fell without a shot being fired, the Israeli flag once more flew over ships in the Straits of Tiran and after 96 hours the war in Sinai was over.

The Fight For Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria

The battle for Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria was very different from the war in Sinai.Instead of open country suitable for mobility and tank battles, the area of Judea and Samaria that abuts what was then the 1948 ceasefire lines between Israel and Jordan are mountainous and densely populated, especially in the Old City of Jerusalem, and the large cities of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron. And the Jordanian Arab Legion held the high ground.Aside from fortifying the area, they had an army of 11 brigades on Israel's borders, plus an Iraqi infantry division, 100 Iraqi tanks and Iraqi Soviet supplied aircraft at their disposal.The Israelis opposite them had only three infantry brigades and an armored brigade.

Jordan's Arab Legion were the most competent soldiers among the Arab armies.They were a professional force armed and trained by the British, equipped with over 300 modern Western tanks and a force of 24 British-made Hawker Hunter fighters, six transports, and two helicopters.

The Israelis, who were concentrating on the Egyptians and Syrians made a concerted effort to avoid a war with Jordan. They had signaled previously to King Hussein via the UN and Norwegian General Odd Bull, commander of the UN observer force that Israel had no hostile intentions towards Jordan. As King Hussein himself related in his book Hussein of Jordan: My War with Israel:

It was now 9 A.M. on Monday, June 5, and we were at war.

Riad [the Egyptian general who commanded Jordanian forces] increased our fire power against the Israeli air bases by directing our heavy artillery – long-range 155's – on the Israeli air force installations within our line of fire. Our field artillery also went into action, and our Hawker Hunters [British-supplied fighter jets] were ready to take part in the combined operation with the Iraqi and Syrians.

At this point the Jordanians were actually shelling civilian and military targets within Israel. But the Israeli government was still hopeful that the Jordanian attacks were just a demonstration of solidarity and held off any retaliation. In the King’s own words:

... we received a telephone call at Air Force Headquarters from U.N. General Odd Bull. It was a little after 11 A.M.

The Norwegian General informed me that the Israeli Prime Minister had addressed an appeal to Jordan. Mr. Eshkol had summarily announced that the Israeli offensive had started that morning, Monday June 5, with operations directed against the United Arab Republic, and then he added: “If you don’t intervene, you will suffer no consequences.”

By that time we were already fighting in Jerusalem and our planes had just taken off to bomb Israeli airbases. So I answered Odd Bull:

“They started the battle. Well they are receiving our reply by air.”

Three times our Hawker Hunters attacked the bases at Natanya in Israel without a loss. And our pilots reported that they destroyed four enemy planes on the ground, the only ones they had seen.

On their side, the Iraqis bombed the airport at Lydda. And a little later, the Syrians finally headed for the base at Ramad David and the refineries in Haifa.

At 11:15 am, Jordanian howitzers began a 6,000-shell barrage at the Israeli half of Jerusalem. The Jordanians initially targeted kibbutz Ramat Rachel in the south and Mount Scopus in the north, then began firing into the city center and outlying neighborhoods. The Prime Minister's Residence, and the Knesset compound were also targeted. Israeli civilian casualties totaled 20 dead and about 1,000 wounded.Among the many buildings fired on by Jordan was Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.The Jordanian Arab Legion also launched an offensive on the ground and occupied Government House, the UN headquarters on the Biblical “Hill of Evil Counsel” in the no-man’s land between the two countries, a direct threat to threatening Israeli positions in southern Jerusalem.

Finally, realizing that Jordan had no intention of merely sitting out hostilities the Israelis struck back. It is one of the ironies of history that those Arabs whom identify themselves as Palestinians have never blamed King Hussein for what followed. If not for him, East Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria would have remained Jew free and under Arab control, just the way they liked it.

The Israelis quickly moved to deploy additional forces into the area. They took a division under Major General Elad Peled from the Northern front and a paratroop brigade under Colonel Motta Gur from Sinai, and moved them to the new front in Jerusalem.

But first, the Israeli air force went into action.They caught all of King Hussein's Hawker Hunters on the ground at their bases in Amman and Mafraq refueling for another raid on Israel and destroyed all of them, including the helicopters and transport aircraft as well as taking out the runways. Jordan effectively no longer had an air force.

Jordan's radar facility at Ajloun was also destroyed.

The IAF also flew sorties against H-3, the Iraqi Air Force base in western Iraq where raids had been flown against Israel. During the attack, 12 MiG-21s, 2 MiG-17s, 5 Hunter F6s, and 3 Il-28 bombers were destroyed on the ground or shot out of the air.

In the meantime, the Arab Legion had attacked Ramat Rachel, where  four civilians including the wife of the director defended their homes,  armed with old Czech-made weapons from WWII, remnants from the 1948 War.

The Israelis immediate objective was to retake Government House and its strategic ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Asher Dreizin and the Jerusalem Brigade's Reserve Battalion 161were given the task. Dreizin had two infantry companies and eight tanks under his command, five of which broke down or became stuck in the mud at Ramat Rachel, leaving three for the attack. The entrenched Arab Legion troops knocked out two more.

Nevertheless, the Israeli reservists somehow broke through. They continued to advance, taking out Jordanian trenches held by the Hittin Brigade. At the evening's end, the Arab Legion had retreated to Bethlehem, all but ten of Dreizin's soldiers were killed or wounded and Dreizin himself was wounded three times.

During that same day, the armored Harel Division under Col. Uri Ben-Ari together with Gur's paratroopers moved down from Latrun and headed for Jerusalem from the north.

The Harel Division fought for control of the Ramallah Ridge, a strategic area known throughout history as a key point for control of Jerusalem. The Arab Legion had done a professional job of fortifying the ridge, including laying a minefield in front of their positions.

Because a tank couldn't be spared, Israeli sappers cleared a path through that minefield by hand while they were under fire. The cost was high, but somehow they managed it. Ben-Ari's tanks rumbled up the ridge, taking the Jordanian strong points of Radar Hill, Sheikh Abed El-Aziz, and Beit Iksa, then taking the fortified village of Biddu and Nehi Samuel to the east.

The next morning, the village of Sur Baher fell, giving the IDF control of the main road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and Hebron. The Jordanian forces to the south near Hebron were now cut off.

A combined force of tanks and paratroopers entered Jerusalem near the Mandelbaum Gate. One of Gur's paratroop battalions attacked the Arab Legion troops in the heavily fortified Police Academy, using explosives to blast their way through barbed wire while exposed and under heavy fire. With the aid of two tanks borrowed from the Jerusalem Brigade, they captured the Police Academy. They then received reinforcements and fresh ammunition and mounted a fierce assault up Ammunition Hill.




It was a bloody fight.The Jordanians were heavily dug in and had the advantage of high ground. The battle lasted 4 hours, and was mainly fought at close quarters in trenches and bunkers.During the battle, 36 Israeli and 71 Jordanian soldiers were killed, including all of the Israeli officers except for two company commanders.

To this day in Israel, Ammunition Hill is one of the focal points of the ceremonies on Yom Yerushalyim, the day Israel celebrates the re-unification of Jerusalem and remembers what it cost.

By mid morning on June 6th, the battle for Ammunition Hill was over, and Gur's paratroopers linked up with another force that had taken the Jordanian positions around the American Colony near the northern edge of the Old City. But Gur’s paratroopers were not yet able to enter the Old City because the Arab Legion still held the Augusta Victoria Hill, a position on high ground that overlooked  the city from the east.

General Moshe Dayan had originally ordered the IDF not to enter the Old City. While of course there had been no 'international reaction' to Jordan illegally occupying East Jerusalem nineteen years before and ethnically cleansing it of Jews, Dayan was fearful of the reaction both at the UN and in Israel if Israelis had captured the Old City and then were faced with demands to turn it back over to the Jordanians.

However, sometime on the night of June 6th, he reversed himself and gave the order to take the Old City back.

Gur's paratroopers attacked 8:30 in the morning on June 7 – one battalion attacked August Victoria Hill from Israeli-held Mount Scopus, another battalion attacked August Victoria by climbing up the valley between it and the Old City, and a third battalion, led by General Gur himself,  broke into the Old City proper via the Lion's Gate. Arriving at the gate, Gur’s halftrack plowed through and into the Old City. The Jordanians were defeated, and Gur made for the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount. When he got there he famously radioed to his commanders, “The Temple Mount is in our hands.”



Afterwards, the paratroopers proceeded to the Western Wall, the Kotel...where the Shofar was blown for the first time in years.



The Jerusalem Brigade continued on, capturing Judea and Gush Etzion and Hebron. In Hebron , where the Arabs were afraid that the IDF would behave the way their own soldiers would have and take revenge for the horrific 1929 massacre of the city's Jews, Hebron's Arab residents flew white sheets from their windows and rooftops, and voluntarily surrendered. The Harel Brigade proceeded eastward, continuing to the Jordan River. The Arab Legion attempted to regroup with battles in Jenin and Nablus, but facing Jewish armor and air power rather than unarmed civilians they crumpled and fled across the river. Israeli sappers blew up the Abdullah and Hussein bridges on the river with captured Jordanian mortar shells while elements of the Harel Brigade crossed the river and occupied positions along the east bank to cover them, but the Israelis quickly pulled back afterwards to the other side of the Jordan, reportedly due to pressure from Dean Rusk and the Johnson Administration.

As of 8 PM on June 7th both sides accepted a ceasefire, leaving Israel in complete control of Judea and Samaria.And Jerusalem was united again.

The Syrian Front

Like the Jordanians, the Syrians believed Nasser's propaganda about a crushing Egyptian victory. From their positions in the Golan Heights, the Syrians began shelling Northern Israel and sent a dozen of their Soviet Mig fighters to attack Israeli towns in the Galilee.

The Israeli Air Force scrambled and went after the Migs, shooting down three of them and driving off the rest. Later that day, June 5th, the IAF launched a major raid on Syria' air bases, destroying 32 MiG 21s, and 23 MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters, and two Ilyushin Il-28 bombers. The few Syrian planes that were left retreated to bases far from the border and were not seen again during the war.

The Syrians also attempted an offensive aimed at Kibbutz Tel Dan, which was repulsed with heavy losses. The Syrians stayed put after that, counting on the larger Egyptian forces to do heavy work of defeating Israel's forces and reckoning that their built up defensive positions on the Golkan Heights would be enough to deter any Israeli attack.

The Syrians accepted a UN ceasefire on June 8th. It lasted all of 5 hours, after which the shelling of Israel began again and Hafez Assad's state radio announced that Syria was no longer bound by the cease fire.

On the morning of June 9 the Israeli air force began an intensive bombing of the Syrian positions in the Golan, and Israeli forces under the command of Major General David Elazar crossed the cease fire line into Syrian territory.

The Syrians held the Golan with around 75,000 men grouped in nine brigades, They were  supported by artillery and armor.

The Israeli forces were led by Colonel Albert Mandler's 8th Armored Brigade and the Golani Brigade who were to attack from one point near Givat HaEm in the north, and another two infantry brigades and and one of General Peled's brigades summoned up from Jenin to the central Golan.

Elazer decided to launch a number of coordinated attacks, starting with an armor assault on the town of Q’ala, where the terrain most favored the Syrians, the Israelis were not expected to attempt an attack and where the defenses were least fortified.Another advantage is that if Q'asla could be taken, it was a mere two and a half miles from there to the strategic Quneitra Road, which would allow the Israelis to attack the Syrian defensive positions from the rear. Not only that, but Quneitra was the regional HQ of Syria's army and a depot through which all roads passed, including the one to Damascus.

First, the IAF launched waves of attacks on the Syrian positions, which caused heavy casualties and some desertions, but still left much of the defenses in place.Then the Israeli offensive began.

It is still chilling to read of how the attacks were made and imagine what it was like to participate.

The Q’ala attack was led by sappers under fire to clear the mine fields by hand, followed by armored bulldozers to create a road up the mountain, because there wasn't one. Immediately following were tanks and infantry. The Israeli armored brigade moved up in single file, which meant that the Syrian guns took a horrible toll. But foot by foot, the Israeli armor continued to attack, and moved up the mountain. When they were about half way up, the brigade split its forces, half moving to flank the Syrian defenders, the rest continuing directly upwards towards the target. After five and a half hours of bloody fighting the brigade had covered the three miles to the Syrian positions  and assaulted the actual bunkers and trenches, with the tanks firing at what amounted to point blank range.

At the same time as the armored assault, the Israeli infantry brigade with some supporting tanks attacked about a mile to the north, aiming to protect the flanks of the armored attack by taking Syrian positions on and around the fortified  hill position of Tel Fakhir.

That fight raged for more than seven hours In the end, the Israelis won through sheer guts and determination, taking Tel Fakhir.The first Israelis to reach the perimeter of laid their bodies down on the barbed wire to allow their fellow soldiers to vault over them. Much of the fighting at that point was hand to hand and at close quarters. The Syrian positions in Dardara and Tel Hilal also fell after hard fighting and the entire Syrian position became untenable, causing entire units to abandon their positions and simply disappear.

The Israelis continued to advance, and on June 10th fresh IDF brigades approached Quneitra. To their surprise, Syrian government radio announced that the city had fallen while the IDF was still en route. There's some speculation that this was designed to provoke Soviet intervention to protect their client, but it backfired. Hearing from their own radio that Quneitra had fallen, the remaining Syrian defenders panicked and fled, afraid they would be cut off and unable to escape.

That was the end of both the Syrian campaign and the war.

The Aftermath

The Six Day War was unique in that it was one of the few wars fought since WWII that had definite goals and a definite conclusion. Democracies are noted for not seeking out war,and Israel was no exception in 1967. It was a war they did not want that was forced upon them, and a war they had to win if they were going to continue as a nation.

Israel's victory over such overwhelming odds without a major power 'sponsor' meant that they were there to stay, that they would prevail. Less than three years after the victory of the Six Day War, President Richard Nixon dropped the American stance of neutrality and formally embraced Israel as an ally, defying the Europeans and bringing them into the camp of free nations.

Israel's Labor government made what many would consider a foolish gesture after Israel's victory. They openly offered the Arab nations back the territory taken in the war...and all they wanted in exchange was recognition of Israel's right to exist as a nation and a real peace.

The Arab response was the famous Three No's of Khartoum, the site of the next Arab League conference - no peace, no recognition and no negotiation.

In spite of all the concessions by the Israelis in the ensuing years, the Arab position remains essentially the same, even in the two countries that supposedly have a peace treaty with Israel. Israel's relations with the Arab world are clandestine and tinged with hostility where they exist at all.

This proves something that I've had occasion to say many times...that real, lasting peace comes from victory.

After the Six Day War, The Israeli government's willingness to cede some of the fruits of that victory sent a signal to the Arab world that it was worth trying aggression again. In the Arab mentality, only losers cede territory after a war. To this day, the Egyptian government continues to tell its people that Egypt defeated Israel in 1973, because Israel yielded to pressure from the US and the UN  to allow the trapped Egyptian Third Army to go free with its weapons intact and survive to march through Cairo to a hero's welcome. The subsequent ceding of Sinai by Israel to Egypt in exchange for what amounted to a temporary armistice underlined that lesson for the Egyptians and the Arab world, although there are signs that the relationship between Israel and some Sunni states may be thawing, at least superficially under the shadow of a major threat from Iran.

But there is this. In 1967, a besieged, outnumbered free people only a generation removed from the reeking ovens of Auschwitz drew a line in the sand and said 'no further'. They prevailed against huge odds over totalitarian barbarism and provided an example to the world of what heroism is made of.

It was indeed a modern miracle, just as Israel itself is.

And that is no small thing to reflect on in these times.

(reposted by request)

Forum: How Would You Fix The Problem Of North Korea?

Every week on Monday, the WoW! community and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question: How Would You Fix The Problem Of North Korea?


 Don Surber: Not really sure what to do. I was in South Korea over Easter (Passover) when Matt Drudge had us on the brink of war. Nobody told the South Koreans who continued to do what they always do: build things and bow.

China buying more American coal from my home state of West Virginia could starve the North Koreans, but Kim Jong Un has years of blubber left and cares not about his people. Our proxy war with the Chinese is a bad tooth that occasionally aches.

Perhaps the South Koreans know what they are doing. I mean they are there are they not?

 Rob Miller: I think there are a couple of solutions.

China has always used the Kims as pit bulls, with the idea of having them act up whenever a distraction for the West is needed. The problem now is the same one that occurs if you encourage a dog to be vicious. Eventually, the dog starts behaving that way on his own.

That's pretty much where things are now.  Kim Jong-um is doing this on his own without consulting China per se.

My preferred solution would be a secret protocol with Russia, China, The U.S. and perhaps South Korea based on the following principles:

1) The Kims and their cronies would be given a choice - to relocate to a pleasant asylum in China or to face total sanctions on everything from China and Russia. North Korea cannot feed itself, and is dependent on China for a great many things besides foodstuffs.

2) Korea would become a unified country...but would disavow any formal security treaties with the West although they would still be free to have commercial ties, etc. This is similar to the arrangement Finland had with the Soviets and now has with Russia. China has only ever fought wars on its 'near abroad', the lands bordering it.. A neutral Korea would give the Chinese  confidence in the arrangement.

3) The Yong-biyon  reactor would be deactivated along with all other nuclear facilities, and North Korea's ballistic missile program would be ended. Technicians and inspectors from all 4 countries would oversee this.

The Chinese have already signaled that they're getting tired of Kim's antics and the necessity of  U.S. anti-missiles THAAD batteries to counteract them. Given the vastly improved diplomatic climate created by President Trump and SecState Rex Tillerson, I think this is a definite win win for all concerned except the Kims. And frankly I don't care about them at all.

The second solution is military. We would have to knock out North Korea's nuke facilities, missile sites, air force and navy. An important part of that would be assuring the Chinese that we had no intention of moving U.S. forces beyond the DMZ.

In this scenario, it would also be important to kill off the Kims to slow up North Korea's large conventional army. In a totalitarian regime like North Korea, military people in particular are reluctant to make that first move without orders from up high. That delay would prove extremely useful.

We would also have to be prepared to beef up our conventional forces at the DMZ and have our air power ready to strike if the North Korean army tried moving south.

There are a number of drawbacks to this solution, the most poignant being the amount of civilian casualties involved. But given a choice between civilian casualties here and civilian casualties there, I'd reluctantly say 'there.'

 Laura Rambeau Lee : The only way the North Korean problem can be fixed would be to eliminate Kim Jong-un. He has kept his country and the people so isolated and so indoctrinated it seems unlikely that anyone within the country would stage a coup. His mental instability and notorious purges and executions of his enemies keep the population in fear and paralyzed to act. Perhaps our best hope at this point is to engage China to put economic pressure on the Supreme Leader to stop his increasingly aggressive actions in missile testing and nuclear threats. If that fails and he continues to saber rattle we will have no option but to act militarily to protect our allies South Korea and Japan from his warmongering.


Well, there it is!

Make sure to drop by every Monday for the WoW! Magazine Forum. And enjoy WoW! Magazine 24-7 with some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere. Take from me, you won't want to miss it.

Memorial Day: Heroes And Hypocrites

Today is Memorial Day, a day when we honor men and women fallen in the service of their country.

Back when America was more of a piece, such a day was universal it what it meant. Oddly enough, the holiday itself started from division after the Civil War, a conflict over 600,000 Americans never returned from.

Southern women, putting flowers on the graves of their fallen also decided to decorate the graves of the fallen Union soldiers as well, and the custom spread across the Mason-Dixon line. From such a great,painful division came unity.

In America today, we are now in the midst of another great division. And increasingly, we lack the common bonds of our ancestors.

Let's examine something.

At the present time, we have a volunteer military. What that means is that some young men in our society made a choice to restrict their own freedom and risk their lives to defend the rest of us.Increasingly, there is a socioeconomic and geographical divide between those whom chose to serve and those who don't. In the past, most Americans knew someone who was serving or had served in our military...vets like Dad, your uncle or grandpa, somebody's niece or nephew, the neighbors kid or perhaps your own. That's no longer true.

The fact is, most self-styled progressives despise the sort of people who serve in our military. Oh, they'll pay lip service to 'supporting the troops' because, you know, it sounds patriotic and provides them a fig leaf, but the attitude is fairly obvious. A few Memeorial Days ago, MSNBC host and Nation editor Chris Hayes had this to say



CHRIS HAYES: Thinking today and observing Memorial Day, that'll be happening tomorrow. Just talked with Lt. Col. Steve Burke, who was a casualty officer with the Marines and had to tell people [inaudible]. Um, I, I, ah, [Steve] Beck, sorry, um, I think it's interesting because I think it is very difficult to talk about the war dead and the fallen without invoking valor, without invoking the words "heroes." Um, and, ah, ah, why do I feel so comfortable [sic] about the word "hero"? I feel comfortable, ah, uncomfortable, about the word because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war. Um, and, I don't want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that's fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism: hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

To people like Chris Hayes, the people that go into the military are suckers and dupes, and more than one of his comrades on the left have shown that this is exactly how they see it...especially when they think no one's listening too closely.



Chris Hayes isn't alone. And people like him don't understand this. Not only don't most of them not know anyone who has ever served, but to them, it seems like anyone who would volunteer for the military is someone beneath them socially and intellectually,someone who had no other option. Especially for patriotic motives, which they also think of as borderline neanderthal. I mean, why would someone risk his life at minimal pay for such a deeply flawed country like America if they were, you know, smart?



Today, I saw photos of Bill and Hillary Clinton marching in a Memorial Day parade in their home town Chautauqua, New York. Since Mrs. Clinton and her friends are now preparing the ground for a 2020 run, I suppose they though it made good optics, you know. A nice photo op.

Just yesterday, an Obama-appointed judge threw a lawsuit out of court against Mrs. Clinton for willful negligence in the death of their sons by the Benghazi families. Judge Amy Berman Jackson set aside their claims that her use of an illegal private server to send confidential intel out unprotected helped cause the death of their sons. Not to mention ignoring repeated pleas for more security from Ambassador Stevens.

The judges verdict? That Mrs. Clinton's activities, even the clearly illegal ones were, and I quote "that Secretary Clinton was acting in the scope of her employment when she transmitted the emails that are alleged to give rise to her liability,”

And here you have these people marching and smiling in a Memorial Day Parade.

Our last president actually attempted to charge our wounded warriors for the medical care they were receiving for free via the VA. He also used there were the Obama Department of Justice to disenfranchise military votes overseas during the 2010 midterms.

And he further showed his feelings about the kind of people whom serve in our military by using dead military bodies being flown back to American soil as a political photo-op in defiance of Department of Defense regulations,the wishes of the families and simple common decency.

Yet in spite of all that, we still breed men here in America who answer the call of freedom. They understand something far more important than the contempt of the elites, and the smug platitudes uttered on this day. It is these men and women who define patriotism.

They knew that our beloved republic is worth fighting, and sometimes dying for. They put their lives on the line for our homeland. And they know how much many of us honor their bravery and sacrifice, even if it's s simple gesture like flowers on a grave. They showed up and gave their all. That's what we really honor on Memorial Day. And recent events may signify that we have indeed turned the corner as a nation, back towards the values we once held in common.

Those heroes, dead and alive will live forever in our hearts and always have our deepest gratitude and respect. The Chris Hayses, and their ilk never will.

The UK Left: 'Europe Needs To Just Get Used to Attacks Like Manchester"

Apparently children are just meant to be sacrificed for the greater goal of multiculti according to Britain's Left. Can't do anything about it you know, just like the weather.

Katty Kay is a well known BBC anchorwoman, and she pretty much said exactly that in an interview with far Left MSNBC personality Mike Brzezinsky.

Here's a partial transcript:


MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MORNING JOE: Katty Kay, your reaction and also tell us about this part of the country.

KATTY KAY, BBC: Manchester is about three hours northeast of Britain. It's Britain's second biggest city. It has, of course, as do most British cities, a large immigrant, and large Muslim population. It is the kind of place where Ariana Grande would go and play up in the north of the country.

And now the investigation will try to be on whether this person acted alone or whether there is some kind of cell behind it. It's particularly awful, this one, because it was girls. My daughter is 11. Her greatest wish in life is to go to an Ariana Grande concert. Ariana Grande is coming to play in Washington, D.C. in September and she really wants tickets for it. And those are the kinds of kids that were at this concert. It was families. And the heartbreaking news that we're getting from the Manchester police this morning, the statements they're putting out of mothers they found who are still looking for their daughters and daughters they found still looking for their mothers and they can't find the rest of their families.

And I think that's what's making -- Europe is getting used to attacks like this, Mika. We have to because we are never going to be able to totally wipe this out. As ISIS gets squeezed in Syria and Iraq, we're going to see more of these kinds of attacks takes place in Europe. And Europe is starting to get used to that. None of us are used to having children targeted in this way, young girls targeted in this way.

Here's the full interview:



This, by the way, is pretty much what French President Macron said, that attacks like Bataclan and Nice were simply the price to pay for 'a truly multicultural society.'

This woman has already surrendered. She's prepared to become a dhimmi, a 'protected person' with no real rights except what her overlords decree. Perhaps someone ought to clue her in as to how many girls like her daughter fare in a number of Muslim dominated countries like Egypt and Pakistan. Non-Muslim girls there are routinely kidnapped, 'converted' to Islam and 'married' to their kidnappers, after which they are not even allowed contact with their families except on the whim of their new owner.

Her nonsense about the cause being pressure on ISIS in places like Iraq and Syria is ridiculous. Perhaps if the UK and other European countries weren't letting these people in, things like this just might not happen. You think? Even a child who touches a hot stove and gets burned has the brains to figure out that it's a bad idea to repeat the behavior.

And that goes for native born jihadis too. There's no reason not to have them face a deportation tribunal.And no reason not to subject jihadist Mosques and Imams to surveillance.

Salman Abedi, the suicide bomber who was actually set off the nail bomb at the Manchester auditorium, wasn't from Iraq or Syria. He was British born, and actually a so-called 'known wolf' who was already on the radar of British police with known ties to Islamist terrorism. Yet there the was, free as a bird.

Did I mention the weather earlier? Well there's little control over that. But what happened at Manchester could have been controlled and avoided, provided Britain's government wants it so.

The British Left in general is pretty much taking the same position Katty Kay is. Because there's a national election coming up in a week or two in which Labour is already trailing badly. So the spin is necessary.

And Katty Kay isn't alone here. The far Left Guardian is equally spinning the narrative, but in a more subtle, evil way. Prominent columnist George Monbiot's shtick is that we have to submerge our outrage and remember what he calls our common humanity:

The terrorists want to drive us apart, to sow suspicion and fear, to oblige us to replace liberty with security and answer them with bombs and bullets of our own. For a terrorist organisation any of this, if implemented, would mean mission accomplished. So we should do the opposite. We defy them by proving that this is not what we are. And the proof is everywhere. [...]

This is why terrorism happens: those who perpetrate it know that an attack on one is an attack on all. People are killed or injured in order to maximise the distress suffered by a far greater number – and to induce us, blinded by outrage, to forget our humanity and to lash out. This then cultivates a political environment in which terrorists prosper: a nation dominated by fear, a cycle of revenge, and the escalation of conflict.

Altruism and empathy are what binds us together, and what defines us. We should let no one distract us from this central fact of our nature: neither terrorists nor those who, in response to them, demand that we slam our doors in the faces of an entire community or an entire religion.

What a fine, humanitarian human being! Ummm, except when it comes to Jews and especially Israel. He's a prominent supporter of BDS and a pal to Labour's anti-semitic leader Jeremy Cobyn. He also was a founder of George Galloway's Hamas and Hezbollah friendly Respect Party.

Obviously, nail bombs in pizza parlors that kill and maim Jewish children aren't something to condemn at all for Mr. Monbiot. After all, it's the Jew's fault isn't it? Always is.

If the European Left has its way, Europe's people will simply be limited to the options Mohammed told his followers to give them in Qur'an 9:5, also known as 'The verse of the Sword'; to become corpses, Muslims,or tribute paying slaves.

The Brits, the French, all of the free people of Europe are going to have to decide whether what they believe in is worth fighting for.

Forum:What Would You Say To President Trump if You Had His Ear For A Few Minutes?

Every week on Monday, the WoW! community and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question: What Would You Say To President Trump if You Had His Ear For A Few Minutes?


Fausta Rodriquez Wertz: First and foremost, Pres. Trump needs to STOP TALKING. He can do it – think of the press conference with Peña Nieto in Mexico. He walked in and was pitch-perfect.

The White House staff must focus its message and drive it through as many outlets as they can find, including Pres. Trump’s own Twitter feed, as the news cycle will be dominated by all sorts of Special Counsel scuttlebutt.

The Republican legislators must, at this point, legislate all the Republican agenda items that got them elected, especially tax reform. Our country needs growth now.

Form the Testudo, guys. Get your act together.

The battle’s on.

 Rob Miller:   Mr. President, It's an honor to meet you and to speak with you. Since we seem to have a few minutes, I hope you won't mind if I share a few things with you.

First off, I want to say how proud I am of you and all you've accomplished so far.  You have Mar-a-Lago, Melania, your children and grandchildren, and you could have chosen to sit back  to enjoy them and a pleasant life. Instead, like the patriot you are, you saw the country in grave danger and chose to answer that call.  George Washington made a similar decision, but at a younger age and a bit more risk of his own neck. But you showed up, and no one can take that away from you.  The hatred you and your family have reaped as a result should be a badge of honor considering where it comes from, and some day more Americans will realize that, just as they did with Ronald Reagan. Don't let the naysayers on your own side distract you from achieving what you set out to do. Thomas Paine in Common Sense had a few words to say about people like that. This is usually what happens in any revolution when things look dark. Some people expect quick results and forget you are dealing with  undoing a quarter century of American decline, not to mention a whole infrastructure of people who want to continue it for their own selfish reasons.

Remember that you are the president and were elected against all odds because G-d, who rules over nations willed it so. You are part of His divine plan. Take strength from that realization.

Practical stuff?  OK. Remember how successful you were with the media when you held them in open contempt? Go back to what worked. There's no need for so many press conferences or even so much access. Most of the American people realize what liars they are. Court your allies in the press and the media. Make sure you drive the news cycle rather than them.  If you are going to have a press secretary, you need to find something else for Sean Spicer to do. He lacks the moxie and self-confidence to deal with these swine. Remember what Ben Rhodes,  Obama's spinmeister said about the average reporter, that  they're 27 and know nothing? You need someone who can show them exactly how little they know when necessary.

The leaks? Well, first off we both know a lot of this stuff is made up. 'Sources say' is the giveaway. But you can use that to your advantage. Anyone who reveals classified information or conversations between you, your staff  or world leaders is breaking the law. Don't be afraid to throw a few reporters in jail as accessories for awhile until they reveal where they got their information. Remember Judith Miller? At the least, it will reveal a lot of Fake news when the reporters confess they have no source, while at best it will show these people you mean business, and make them think twice before doing it again. At the optimum, it will allow you to put some leakers in jail.

Cleaning house is a necessity. Don't make the same mistake you did with Comey. Fire the Obama appointees or move them to positions where they can't do any damage until you can dump them. And you might think about a new Chief of Staff. Reince Pribus is a good political strategist and a hard worker but he lacks the fear factor. You need someone who can communicate top the troops that he's someone who can literally ruin their career in DC. And an FBI director who will apply the law and work with you to achieve your agenda. Oh, and one thing...find someone who knows a great deal about civil service and the laws governing it. Aside from the vast amount of money to be saved there, a trusty, knowledgeable advisor can show you how to reform the arcane laws to make it easier to get rid of people or at least move them somewhere they can't do any harm.

Please don't forget why people elected you. It was to stop our economic decline, get rid of ObamaCare and other facets of Obama's failed policies and get rid of a substantial number of illegal migrants. You've made a good start on the first, and a decent beginning on the second and on the third.  Eventually people will see that, but unfortunately the media isn't reporting it.  So you need to cultivate acolytes and advocates to help spread the news of what's actually going on. Your website is a fine idea. Publicize it. And think about the allies you have in the blogosphere. Utilize them and finance them. Learn from George Soros.

Foreign Policy? A few quick ideas, if you don't mind. Your speech today was magnificent. At first I thought you were simply appeasing the Arabs again, but you built the thing and  in the middle, you made it quite clear that it is their responsibility  to combat terrorism based on Islam in their own countries, to deny them financing, support and havens. And it appears that the Saudis are on board. They lack the old oil weapon these days, and they need us far more then we need them. But you were gracious in welcoming them  and their cooperation,  you saved their face, and you put out a vision of what could be.

All the economic deals that got made and the jobs they will create wasn't too bad either.

The focus on Islamist terrorism and on Iran  is welcome. We'll see how much the Sunni Arabs really cooperate.

Keep in mind that the Sunnis are being cooperative only because they are petrified of the Iranians, and need U.S. support badly.  That's no guarantee of future behavior or of actual military support, except maybe by Egypt.  You'll recall that George H.W. Bush found that out in the first Gulf War with his 'coalition.'. The Arabs like the infidels to do their fighting for them. The only real allies we have in the region are Israel and al-Sissi in Egypt, which is one more than we had when you took over.

Also, realize  that Mahmoud Abbas has neither the desire or ability to  deliver peace. He's a corrupt, 82-year-old Soviet-trained dictator and anything he agrees to will not be accepted by Hamas, PFLP, Palestinian Islamic Jihad or most of the Arab inhabitants of Judea and Samaria. And that he's been imbuing his people with hatred and making terrorism profitable for three generations. You understand deal making. While the Israelis have a lot Abbas wants, he has nothing to give them that they don't have  already or don't need.

We have allies in Europe, and it makes sense to concentrate of them. But we also have enemies. Be aware that the Germans are livid about anyone attacking the EU, the scam by which they have been able to dominate Europe in a way Hitler never did. The German press is about as fair and balanced where you are concerned as MSNBC. On the other hand, I see real promise  in our relationship with the UK.

Your balancing act with Russia and China is exactly what you should be doing. Take Dr. Kissinger's advice on that.

Please make sure that you take care of your health. And remember that you could be Jesus incarnate and the same people would still hate you,spread lies and slander and try to obstruct you at every turn. There's no sense getting angry or upset about how these creatures behave or complaining about it. Concentrate on fighting them and destroying them. As I'm sure you know, victory is the best revenge.

May the Almighty watch over and protect you and our beloved Republic in accordance with His Divine will.

 Don Surber: My advice to The Donald is simply this:

Keep on truckin', baby. Draining a swamp is hard, messy work. The stench would knock out the best of men, and you smell it every day when they deliver the Washington Post. The mud is deep and quite a bit of the mud isn't mud at all. But nothing worthwhile happens without a lot of sweat, blood, toil, and tears. They lie all the time. You divulged no secrets to the Russians. Comey wrote no memo. And the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. is still in the Oval Office.

Keep talking -- directly to your people. They are called Americans. They see through the lies. Keep talking to them. Make the media pay for its lies.

 Mike McDaniel: Mr. President, keep draining the swamp, never relent. But as you do, keep these things in mind:

You are fighting the last political battle for America. If you lose, there will be no future peaceful transfers of power, and America is lost.

You are hearing a great many “conservative” commentators complaining about what you say--actually about what the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, etc. claim you might have said. They think you’re destroying your presidency. They’re wrong.

Even so, you would be wise to remove “I” from your vocabulary. That’s what Barack Obama’s presidency was all about. Speak instead about the principles that put you in office. You’re the symbol, but it’s those principles--lower taxes, limited government power, the rule of law, the Constitution, all men are equal and all lives matter, our military is our salvation and not a vessel for social experimentation--you know the rest--that have Democrats, the media and many republican plotting a coup against you. Relentlessly identify and call out those that are the very lifeblood of the swamp.

Be very careful what you say, even in private, and to whom you say it. Record everything. Set traps to expose leakers. As Shakespeare--through Octavius--said in Julius Caesar:

“For we are at the stake, and bayed about with many enemies. And some that smile have, in their hearts, I fear, millions of mischiefs.”

Of course the Media will merely make things up, but there’s nothing to be gained in helping them.

Immediately fire every federal bureaucrat--starting with the head of the IRS--that is disloyal to the Constitution. They will also, by their very nature, be disloyal to you--they would be disloyal to any Republican. If they’re a member of The Resistance, if they have resistance sympathies, fire them. They are working against America and Americans. They are working against the peaceful transfer of power and republican ideals that make America possible. If you lose, if you’re run out of office, they win, and there will never again be a Republican president, at least not in principles. America will be a one-party dictatorship with Venezuela’s future.

Congressional Democrats are not only your enemy, but America’s enemies. Know them for what they are and act accordingly.

If you thought by handing Hillary Clinton the olive branch of no prosecution, she would be grateful and leave America alone--well, you see how that worked out, don’t you? Bill Clinton and she are not good people. She is helping the coup. She is working against America. Unleash the Justice Department. If she and her toadies broke the law, prosecute them. If not, you’ve done your duty.

Mr. President, abandon any hope of brokering a Middle East Peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. The Israelis are God’s chosen people. Only a fool stands against God. They are our allies. You’ve already done great work in treating them as such, but do not waver. The Palestinians have poisoned their people, and their children. It will take three generations, if they begin with perfect intentions right now, to purge the hate they’ve bred into their bones, their very DNA. They have no intention of doing anything but murdering every Jew. They have played us for suckers and spent billions of our dollars on terrorism for decades. Remember this above all: If the Palestinians lay down their arms: peace. If the Israelis lay down their arms: genocide.

One final thought: Barack Obama is a traitor. Even now, he is plotting against America--against you. You will have to use overwhelming military force against Iran. Be smart enough to do it on our timetable, rather than at the last minute to try to stave off the genocide of the Jews, and nuclear attacks on our people. The Iran deal does nothing to prevent Iran from terrorism and developing nuclear weapons they will use against our allies and America. There is no deterrence. Anyone telling you differently is not advocating for America.

America is behind you Mr. President, and we know many Republicans and The Resistance aren’t. We don’t believe anything the Media says. Help us make supporting you, and frightening the hell out of them, easy. We’d rather do it peacefully and politically, but we’re ready if that fails. God bless the United States of America.

Oh yes: when Jerry Brown declares California a sanctuary state, when he spits in the face of America, in your face, and then demands billions of taxpayer dollars for high speed rail to nowhere…do I really have to tell you what to say to him? Give the Secret Service practice and let them launch him out the front door.

 Dave Schuler: I'd give him two short, simple pieces of advice:

1. Fire the Obama appointees. All of them. Now. Until you do they will be a continuing source of leaks and fighting a within-the-administration insurgency against you. Have your subordinates put together a plan for replacing them within 30 days.
2. You were hired to reduce the number of illegal immigrants. If you don't you'll be fired. That simple.

Laura Rambeau Lee : If I had his ear for a few minutes I would say: President Trump, find the leakers within your administration and prosecute them for their crimes. This must not be tolerated. And please make sure everyone is on the same page with the messaging coming out of the White House.

Bookworm Room : That's a good question. In no particular order, I would say the following:

1. Get rid of Obama-era holdovers in your administration. Better to be understaffed than to be staffed with a Fifth Column determined to undermine your presidency by undemocratic means.

2. Speak more to the American people and less to the media.

3. Give yourself a ten minute cooling period after writing a tweet before you publish the tweet.

4. If you can manage the balancing act, assume everything you do is being watched by political enemies . . . but do so without becoming paranoid. This is a variation, perhaps, on Reagan's "trust but verify" expression. D.C. is filled with sharks and, if it will keep them safe, even your closest friends and advisers will turn on you. Comporting yourself with dignity will provide some protection. And perhaps you might want to pull a Comey and memorialize or record everything.

5. Focus hard on the economy. People who are seeing a light at the end of an economic tunnel are inclined to view favorably the president in office at the time. That will give you breathing room.

6. Be careful about the appearance of impropriety when it comes to Ivanka and Jared Kushner. Leftists are convinced they're using their access to you to enrich themselves. Conservatives are concerned that these young people hew Left and will drag you away from your core principles.

7. Don't forget that the American people, not the media or the elite, elected you. If you stay true to the People, the People will stay true to you.


 Well, there it is!

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Why Appointing A Special Counsel Will Backfire On The Left; The Real Story

 

Today’s big story is that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein installed George W. Bush-appointed ex-FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel Wednesday to oversee the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Rosenstein got to name the special counsel because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation earlier based on incredibly flimsy grounds. Rosenstein’s decision came after the Washington Post and the New York Times came out with breathless stories that a “Comey Memo” showed that President Trump had suggested in a private conversation that now-ex-FBI Director James Comey “go easy on Micheal Flynn” after Flynn was fired back in February. The media is using what amounts to hearsay evidence to try to make the case that Trump was guilty of obstruction of justice.

According to Rosenstein’s press release,“unique circumstances” led to his appointment of a special counsel was required:

My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command.

Needless to say the Democrats, their media and some renegade Republicans are celebrating this big time. Their joy is likely turn to anguish, their worst nightmare and just in time for Nov. 2018 elections. Keeping this ‘scandal alive is one thing, but an actual special counsel? The ‘resistance’ may very well have overstepped itself, a euphemism for a quaint Brooklynism my father (Z”l) used to use.

Rosenstein may even have been told by Trump to appoint a special counsel. It puts this garbage on the back burner somewhat, and will hopefully shut it down. That’s because there’s nothing for Mueller to find on the president and no crime. But just look at Mueller’s actual brief! To supervise the investigation of:

“(i) any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and (ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and (iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. §600.4(a).”
Regulation 28 C.F.R. §600.4(a) is part of the federal regulations that authorize appointing a special counsel. It expands a special counsel’s jurisdiction to all crimes, such as perjury or obstruction of justice, that interfere with his original responsibility.To wit, (ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and (iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. §600.4(a).”

Think of the ground that could cover! It could definitely include investigating Seth Rich’s murder* and reopening the investigation of the Clinton Foundation that FBI Director Comey closed on Obama AG Loretta Lynch’s orders after she met will Bill Clinton on that plane. It could include compelling testimony from Loretta Lynch herself. It could expand to exploring President Obama’s surveillance of the Trump campaign by President Obama and the clear violations of FISA laws that took place. Imagine some of these juicy scandals coming to light just in time for the midterms…talk about a total reversal of fortune.

In any event, the supposed ‘Comey memo’ if it even exists amounts to hearsay evidence no judge would take seriously. And even if Trump suggested Comey ‘go easy on Flynn’ after he had been fired, that is not obstruction of justice. That crime involves actual overt actions like destroying evidence, perjury, inducing other people to commit perjury, you know, the sort of felonies the Clintons did routinely.

And recall that both ranking member Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Richard Burr (R-NC),the chairman both said that Trump was not under investigation based on the classified briefing they were given.

Another thing to consider. Comey is a lawyer. As such, he is an officer of the court who is legally obligated to report a crime like obstruction of justice. Yet he did not…until now. That could be grounds for disbarment.

In a way, this entire mess is Trump’s own fault. As I pointed out before, Comey was seriously incompetent and deeply tied to the Clintons. Trump should have known better than to leave someone like that in a sensitive position and canned him on January 20th.

Although one thing that must be said is that the president at least fired Comey in exactly the right way.He knew Comey likely had a real treasure trove of confidential, classified intel, perhaps even personal dirt not just on people in the administration but on both sides of the political spectrum. So the president changed Comey’s passwords and all the locks and fired him when he was out of town. Any attacks on the administration or plans Comey may had had to use this stuff as leverage for his own personal gain are history. Think of Comey as this year’s Joe Wilson of Valerie Plame fame. He’ll get a few brief moments of media adulation and a chance to testify in congress perhaps, but then he’ll be flushed like used toilet paper.

Trump’s real problem is that the Democrats and a certain number of genuinely stupid Republicans like the swamp just fine and don’t want it drained. But I don’t see the GOP going along with impeachment…it would destroy them as a party and alienate their base forever. And I doubt most of them are that stupid, although John McCain…

At the end of the road, there is indeed a crime here. It is an attempted coup d’état that has been underway since November 9th. The 2016 presidential election has been rejected by the left, and every day they demonstrate their contempt for our democracy. They have said so repeatedly, with the Democrat’s demanding for ‘resistance’. They attempted to intimidate the electors immediately after the election – remember those death threats? They have attacked this president and his family mercilessly, and they have knowingly lied and slandered. The Democrats in congress have indulged in juvenile tantrums and obstruction at every turn in an attempt to sabotage the new administration, something unheard of before. They have co-opted for their own use what should be an independent,ethical press, thus destroying an essential part of a free republic.

These are heinous crimes committed against our country, and for the most part the worst punishment that can be meted out to those who have committed then is defeat.

I have confidence in the American people that ultimately, the perpetrators will fail utterly. But the damage that has been done will take a long time to repair.

* Seth Rich was a DNC staffer and a Bernie Sanders supporter. On Sunday, July 10, 2016, Rich was shot about a block from his home in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C. He reportedly talked to several people about his disgust with the way the DNC had fixed the primaries for Hillary Clinton. 

 According to a new report from Fox News, it was Seth Rich who supplied 44,000 DNC emails to WikiLeaks.

According to Fox News, via an anonymous FBI source, Rich made contact with WikiLeaks through Gavin MacFadyen, an American investigative reporter and director of WikiLeaks who was living in London at the time. According to Fox News sources, federal law enforcement investigators found 44,053 emails and 17,761 attachments sent between DNC leaders from January 2015 to May 2016 that Rich shared with WikiLeaks before he was gunned down on July 10, 2016.

On July 22, just 12 days after Rich was murdered, WikiLeaks published internal DNC emails that showed how top party officials conspired to stop Bernie Sanders from becoming the party’s presidential nominee.

According to Rod Wheeler, a former DC homicide detective hired by Rich’s family to investigate the murder, there’s a number of things quite suspicious about the whole affair:

 “My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks,” Wheeler told Fox News. “I do believe that the answers to who murdered Seth Rich sits on his computer on a shelf at the DC police or FBI headquarters.” 
 
“My investigation shows someone within the D.C. government, Democratic National Committee or Clinton team is blocking the murder investigation from going forward,” Wheeler told Fox News. “That is unfortunate. Seth Rich’s murder is unsolved as a result of that.” 


The botched robbery theory, which police have stuck with for nearly a year, isn’t panning out, Wheeler said. Two assailants caught on a grainy video tape from a camera posted outside a grocery mart, shot Rich twice in his back, but did not take his wallet, cell phone, keys, watch or necklace worth about $2,000.

Julian Assange of Wikileaks has offered a $130,000 reward for information of Seth Rich’s killer.

The usual suspects have been doing their best to bury this and debunk this as a conspiracy theory in the rare instances they even mention it. And the DNC went into action, getting one of their spokesmen Democrat crisis PR consultant Brad Bauman from the Pastorus Group to to ‘represent the family’ and help quash this.

Definitely something a special counsel might look into