Israelated - English Israel blogs - 45 new articles:Your Tax Dollars At Work & More

"Israelated - English Israel blogs" - 45 new articles more on the Rosenblum article :: Life in Israel Could We Be Being Duped By An International Shell Game over Tibet? :: Wake up America Syria preparing for war :: Israel Matzav Schools and Universities Close After Threats Are Made :: Wake up America Your tax dollars at work: USAID tries to create a 'Palestinian' economy :: Israel Matzav Winning Guerrilla Asymmetric Wars :: ZioNation: Progressive Zionism and Israel Emunah Paths Podcast #12 - Passover After Shabbos - Part 2 :: Mystical Paths Coming :: Mystical Paths J Street Launch Tomorrow :: Tikun Olam: Make the World a Better Place 22 Israel-related technology headlines from the week of April 6, 2008 :: Innovation Israel 2.0 Ex-first lady Rosalyn Carter to assume bodyguard duties for snubbed husband :: Judeopundit Middle America Tells Barack Obama What They Think Of His Words :: Wake up America Kolko Trial Over! Sentenced to 3 Years Probation. :: The Life-Of-Rubin Blog Not Yet Eviction - update on today's activities :: O C C U P I E D Freedom's Cost :: Gentile Warrior IDOL GIVS BAKE :: frgdr.com Blog Rose-Colored Foreign Policy :: Docstalk The Other Obama :: Docstalk Take That, Tibi! :: Israellycool "Annapolis" is all about ending the occupation. :: Docstalk You'll Know It's Passover in Israel Because... :: Jerusalem Diaries:In Tense Times The Unwanted Visitor :: Israellycool Max Romeo in Zion :: things.co.il Suspicions about Islamic University unfounded :: FresnoZionism.org What is "criminal" about Jimmy Carter :: Elder of Ziyon How do we win a religious war without religion? :: Gentile Warrior Authentic Judaism :: The Jewish Press Blog What Am I? :: Mystical Paths Follow Up: Blue Watch event on April 11, 2008 :: Clear. The Official Blog of Zalul Environmental Association. Phylacteries? :: Jewschool Chinese Citizens Fascinated By Jews? :: IsraGood Concert Query. :: The Life-Of-Rubin Blog How Israel can win the symbolic war :: Elder of Ziyon Troublemakers Photographed at MBD/Shwekey Concert! :: The Life-Of-Rubin Blog Britain in even worse shape than I realized :: Elder of Ziyon Separated at Birth: Evil Dudes Edition :: Israellycool The Biggest Threat to Judaism today... :: Life in Israel Pesach Cleaning Will Never Be the Same Again :: the big felafel Microsoft CEO To Visit Israel :: IsraGood Sad News: No Israel Baseball This Year :: IsraGood The Virus of Tolerance :: Sultan Knish Eviction now in Jaffa, people needed :: O C C U P I E D Pakistani lawyers clashing - natural selection at work :: Simply Jews Carter to visit Hamas leader, further Saudi goals :: FresnoZionism.org Mishegaas :: Jewschool More Recent Articles Search Israelated - English Israel blogs more on the Rosenblum article :: Life in Israel Read this article on the community site Rabbi Yakov Horowitz wrote a thought provocative response to the same Jonathan Rosenblum article.. • Email to a friend • Related • Could We Be Being Duped By An International Shell Game over Tibet? :: Wake up America Read this article on the community site The Dalai Lama, speaking today in Silicon Valley in California, has announced that there will be no more concessions made in dealing with China, and has threatened to resign his leadership of Tibet's government in exile if violence escalates. From the 17th century until 1951, Tibet has been ruled by the Dalai Lama's and their regents from the traditional capital of Lhasa. In 1911, Tibet declared it's independence from China at the fall of the Qing dynasty. From that time until 1941, it remained an independent state until the formal formation of the People's Republic of China, at which time the government in Beijing (formally Peking) launched an armed invasion of the region in 1950. The unprepared Tibetan army of 5,000 was routed by 40,000 Communist Chinese forces near the city of Chamdo. In 1951, Tibet and China signed the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, recognizing the rule of China over Tibet. In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India with his government, going into exile, and repudiated the agreement. The Dalai Lama is more than just the leader of the government for the people of Tibet. Tradition holds that the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of a line of Buddhist Masters who have become so enlightened that they have been able to become exempt from the wheel of life, death, and rebirth, and have chosen by their own free will to be reborn on this plane to teach mankind. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the 14th Dalai Lama and has proclaimed that he will be the last. The Dalai Lama is currently on a visit to the United States, and has issued a statement today from Silicon Valley in California concerning the violence and protests over the Olympics in Beijing. "If violence becomes out of control then my only option is to resign," the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader told reporters on the sidelines of a five-day conference on compassion in Seattle. "If the majority of people commit violence, then I resign," the 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate said on his first visit to the U.S. since the recent Chinese action in Tibet. The Dalai Lama said he was fully committed to his "middle way" approach to Tibet's relationship with China. "I am fully committed to the middle approach; further more concessions, I don't know," he said. "Our struggle is with a few in the leadership of the People's Republic of China and not with the Chinese people," he said in a statement. However, he expressed fears that suppression in Tibet may increase if the present situation continued. "I am very much concerned that the Chinese government will unleash more force and increase the suppression of Tibetan people," he said. The Dalai Lama also indicated that there have been ongoing private conferences between his government and Beijing since the eruption of protests last month, adding that he had had no direct contact with Beijing, but that talks were being conducted through "private channels," giving no indication as to nature of the talks or the means of communication. He also expressed his support for the Olympics in Beijing, expressing that he was "saddened" by recent anti-Chinese protests surrounding the arrival of the Olympic torch in San Fransisco. Beijing, however, has accused the Dalai Lama of "masterminding" the protests in an attempt to stir unrest and split Tibet from China, and ruin the Olympics. At the weekend, Chinese President Hu Jintao defended the action in Tibet and dismissed the claims that the riots in Lhasa were linked to human rights. "Our conflict with the Dalai clique is not an ethnic problem, not a religious problem, nor a human rights problem," Mr. Hu told Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The human rights controversy is and has been at the center of the protestation of China's occupation of Tibet for several years. Actor Richard Gere has been a long time advocate for human rights in Tibet. For now, the violence and unrest, the protests and demonstrations, are what are taking center stage as the Olympics prepare to begin in Beijing. It does give pause to consider, in stepping away for a moment to look at the entirety of the situation, who benefits from a disrupted, politicized Beijing Olympics? Who suffers? And what will be the final outcomes once the Olympics are past for China? There is something to be said for timing. China accuses the Dalai Lama of stirring unrest, the Dalai Lama expresses his regrets that the Olympics are being overshadowed by the unrest, so the question remains, who has sparked it? Is the Dalai Lama truly behind the protests, while claiming denial on the international stage, or is it possible that China, itself, has staged the demonstrations as some way of discrediting the Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetan government. Somewhere, there is truth that has yet to be brought to light. In the meantime, the athletes of the world gather under the taint of political and social disharmony. Once and Always, an American Fighting Man . • Email to a friend • Article Search • Related • Syria preparing for war :: Israel Matzav Read this article on the community site Let's just say that it's a lot more likely that Syria will attack Israel than that either Israel or the US will attack Syria. The Syrians are preparing for war. • Email to a friend • Related • Schools and Universities Close After Threats Are Made :: Wake up America Read this article on the community site "Be prepared to die on 4/14" That message was scrawled in a bathroom at the St. Xavier University and it caused enough concern for the the University to shut the campus down as off 4/11/08 and cancel classes. Two adjoining high schools and two elementary schools closed down as well as a precaution. Today, a similar threat caused Malcolm X College to evacuate over 1,000 people from the school and to cancel day time classes. After police searched and determined no bombs or immediate threats, Malcolm X College resumed their classes about 4:30pm. Michigan's Oakland University was also closed today because of threatening graffiti mentioning April 14, 2008. Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the threat at Malcolm X was "similar in nature" to the threats at St. Xavier, but declined to provide specifics.St. Xavier spokesman Joe Moore said Monday morning that no decision has been reached about when to re-open the school, which has campuses on the Southwest Side of Chicago and in suburban Orland Park. "University administrators have been meeting ever since this situation began last week a couple times a day, and that will continue," Moore said. "Administrators are relying heavily on law enforcement personnel to inform decision making." The superintendent of Evergreen Park Elementary District 124, which operates Southwest Elementary, Craig Fiegel said, "We never felt there was any threat to our schools, but as a precautionary measure we thought we would be safe and do that for that day." All four nearby schools were expected to re-open tomorrow. Several students from Malcolm X express that they are in agreement with the schools decision to evacuate the school as a precaution, some citing the recent shooting at Northern Illinois University earlier this year where earlier threats had been discovered on campus. One student says she won't be attending the night classes even though the school has been reopened and another student, Angel Brown, said, "We could have been in there and everything could go 'kaboom." All the threats similar in nature and all mentioning the date of 4/14/08, was reason enough for officials and authorities to be concerned. According to the St. Xavier University website, in a statement from President Judith A. Dwyer, Ph.D, the threats were found on April 5 and April 10, 2008, in Regina Hall. She explains in her statement that the message found on April 10, was the moist specific and contained the direct threat of "Be prepared to die on 4/14." As part of the closure of the campus we ask that students leave campus by noon, Saturday, April 12. Students who may not be able to easily return home or afford transportation should call (773) 341-5060 for assistance. On Saturday and Sunday, Student Affairs personnel will be on hand to assist students and answer questions. The University will take every action possible to ensure that students' academic careers are disrupted as little as possible. The latest update from the St. Xavier University website was today, April 14, 2008, and tells students that the school will be closed until further notice. It is also disturbing that the threats to the Chicago school which very well could have been the work of some prankster, is the fact that the school in Michigan mentioned the same date as the threats in the other Universities. The Oakland University in Michigan held messages on their website to inform students of what was going on. The first was on April 12, 2008: The Oakland University Police Department (OUPD) is investigating a written message placed on a restroom wall in one of the academic buildings. The message was discovered on Saturday, April 12, 2008. The brief message may be interpreted by some as being somewhat disturbing, but it is quite vague and contains no specific threat of any kind. Over the next several days we are asking members of our campus community to remain alert and report any suspicious behavior or occurrences to the OUPD by campus telephone at 911, or by cell phone at (248) 370-3331. The second alert was more troubling because it informed students that two additional threats had been found on campus at separate locations. Instances of threatening graffiti were found Saturday, April 12 in men's restrooms in O'Dowd Hall, Kresge Library, and the Oakland Center. The Oakland County Field Office of the FBI has been made aware and is monitoring the situation. No word as of yet on who wrote these threats or if it was the work of more than one individual, but the schools are preferring to err on the side of caution although some of the students are naturally expressing concern about the danger still presented. These closures happened just two days before the anniversary of the Virginia Tech killings and exactly two months after the deadly rampage at Northern Illinois University. . • Email to a friend • Article Search • Related • Your tax dollars at work: USAID tries to create a 'Palestinian' economy :: Israel Matzav Read this article on the community site After seeing billions of dollars thrown at the 'Palestinians' with no result, USAID - a Federal government agency - is now trying to set up a 'Palestinian' economy itself. You will note that some of the businesses cited in the briefing below are to be set up in 'east' Jerusalem - why bother to negotiate when everything has been decided already?Here's more from Eli Hertz of Myths and Facts. • Email to a friend • Related • Winning Guerrilla Asymmetric Wars :: ZioNation: Progressive Zionism and Israel Read this article on the community site • Email to a friend • Related • Emunah Paths Podcast #12 - Passover After Shabbos - Part 2 :: Mystical Paths Read this article on the community site Please join us for a very special podcast, Emunah Paths Podcast #12 - Learning the Halacha of Passover After Shabbos w/Rabbi Lazer Brody, shlita, Part 2. This is truly a special learning session with Rabbi Brody and Rabbi Nati. (25 minutes, MP3, English) Direct MP3 Download: HERE - - Subscribe to Your iPod: Play it Now: Let us know what you think! Click the Comments button below. Posted at Mystical Paths, MPaths.com. • Email to a friend • Article Search • Related • Coming :: Mystical Paths Read this article on the community site Due to our readers generosity and chesed (kindness), we're able to help people with empty tables make Passover this year. Helping the poor and Kimcha d'Pischa is everyone's responsibility. See our videos & donate on the sidebar over there --> or click here. RIGHT NOW is the time to make a difference THIS PASSOVER. Thank you! And may Hashem bless you! * by Reb Nati at Mystical Paths Within the coming days there are great changes coming, to the world at large, especially for the Jewish nation, and for all of those who believe and serve Hashem. As we go forth to spread the call to wake up from our spiritual slumber, the forces of evil have come out against the servants of Hashem. But we know as it is written "that it is not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says Hashem of Hosts". We also know that there is no weapon against the Almighty, for it says "no weapon will prosper and every word raised against us you shall condemn". For Hashem, He is the Master of the righteous. Hashem willing, the days of the Geulah are coming close. And, even you and I have a part to play. Posted at Mystical Paths, MPaths.com. • Email to a friend • Article Search • Related • J Street Launch Tomorrow :: Tikun Olam: Make the World a Better Place Read this article on the community site I attended a private dinner here in Seattle last week at which J Street co-founders Jeremy Ben Ami and Daniel Levy spoke about tomorrow's launch of the new Jewish peace lobby group. It will finance federal campaigns of candidates who support Israeli-Palestinian peace and it will promote a robust U.S. policy to advance this [...] SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "J Street Launch Tomorrow", url: "http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2008/04/14/j-street-launch-tomorrow/" }); • Email to a friend • Article Search • Related • 22 Israel-related technology headlines from the week of April 6, 2008 :: Innovation Israel 2.0 Read this article on the community site Once again, IBM gets the top mention in the Israel Innovation 2.0 Israel-related technology headlines. This time resulting from its announcement during the week of April 6 that it plans to purchase data protection and recovery company, FilesX. IBM also announced its usage of water cooling to create an energy efficient supercomputer. It wasn't the only green friendly news though; Jonathan Shapira (author of the Cleantech Investing in Israel blog) and Gene Dolgin, both of Israel Cleantech Ventures, recently created the Cleantech Israel group on Meetup.com and held its first event, which was informative and well-attended by Israelis and Israeli companies trying to break into the field. For more on these, the headlines related to major moves in IT and the full 22 Israel-related technology headlines from this past week, check out the list below. Cleantech Inter-ministry disputes hold up solar power plant Cleantech industry networks in Israel (Feature) Solar balloons to power remote areas? Indian and Israeli Industries to Collaborate on Renewable Energy Technologies C leantech Group Reports Cleantech Investments Up 42 Percent in1Q08 From Prior Year, Despite Recent Peak of Ethanol, Wind and ThinFilm Solar Waves M&A IBM Picks Up Remote Data Backup Help Amdocs buys Jacobs Rimmell for $45 million in cash Kodak Completes Acquisition of Intermate A/S Meter firm buys Israeli technology Investments IVC Research Center: Capital Raised by Israeli VCs Imperva Raises $20m in Financing Storewize Secures $19M Information Technology Eglue launches new CIM suite Aternity Named ''Cool Vendor'' in IT Operations by Leading Industry Analyst Firm Cisco leads coming out party for FCoE (Mellanox) InstallFree promises easy desktop virtualization In Israel Toll-free numbers reach cell phones New regulations expected to drive bank IT spending Survey: weak dollar set to drive 15,000 technology-based job cuts in Israel Miscellaneous OpenSpan and Malam Team Enter Strategic Agreement to Build Enterprise Customer Care Solutions IBM Uses Water Cooling to Create Energy Efficient Supercomputer blinkx Draws Users in With aniBoom's Original Animations About the author: Lisa Damast is the MembershipManager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions orinquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can bedirected to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and Israel-related headlines and topics. • Email to a friend • Related • Ex-first lady Rosalyn Carter to assume bodyguard duties for snubbed husband :: Judeopundit Read this article on the community site Israeli leaders shunned former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during a visit because of his plans to meet Hamas and Israel's secret service declined to assist U.S. agents guarding him, U.S. sources said on Monday. "They're not getting support from local security," one of the sources said, on condition of anonymity. The anonymous source went on to explain that a little-known tradition of first-lady firearm expertise allowed ex-first lady Rosalyn Carter to capably take on security responsibilities. Asked to confirm her gun-toting role and the tradition of first-lady sharp-shooting, Mrs. Carter replied, "Yes, it's true. Hillary thinks she's Annie Oakley, but you should have seen Lady Bird. Anyone who started up with her would have been pumped full of lead in a Texas minute." Crossposted on Soccer Dad Source: Reuters, additional reporting by Yitz • Email to a friend • Related • Middle America Tells Barack Obama What They Think Of His Words :: Wake up America Read this article on the community site Many reactions were shown after Barack Obama uttered the words that have been heard around the world now about "middle America" and how they "get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." I wrote about it here and then followed up with some reactions from around the blogosphere here. Those reactions are one thing, but the reactions that count in this particular case, are the voters and the numbers don't look good for Barack Obama. Pennsylvania Democrats Mar 7-8 Mar 26-27 Apr 5-6 Apr 11-13 Clinton 52% 51% 45% 57% Obama 41% 39% 45% 37% Someone else 1% 2% 4% 2% Undecided 6% 8% 6% 4% In one week Obama went from being neck to neck with Hillary Clinton in the minds of Pennsylvania voters to being 20 percentage points behind Hillary Clinton. That is a very large nose dive. Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 48% to 44% among men (45% of likely Democratic primary voters). Among women, Clinton leads 64% to 31%. Clinton leads 64% to 29% among white voters (82% of likely Democratic primary voters). Obama leads 79% to 18% among African American voters (14% of likely Democratic primary voters). Clinton leads 52% to 43% among voters age 18 to 49 (50% of likely Democratic primary voters) and Clinton leads 62% to 31% among voters age 50 and older. 10% of all likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Hillary Clinton in the primary and 24% of likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Barack Obama in the primary. 23% of likely Democratic primary voters say that excessive exposure to Obama's advertising is causing them to support Clinton. That is not the only poll showing the reaction from the voters to Obama's words. Rasmussen shows that 56 percent of voters nationwide disagree with his assessment and his words. As we have pointed out before, this reaction will be seen far stronger in the general election that it will in the Democratic primaries. Forty-five percent (45%) say that Obama's comments reflect an elitist view of small town voters. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree. Republicans overwhelmingly say that the statements are elitist and most Democrats disagree. Among unaffiliated voters, 40% say they represent an elitist view while 34% disagree. The problem this leaves for the Democratic party as a whole is that Obama has the delegate lead over Hillary Clinton and when all is said and done, it will be the superdelegates that end up being the determining factor in which candidate will be nominated to run against John McCain in the general election in November. Hillary's argument is that Obama will not stand as much of a chance as she will going into November against McCain and from the latest controversy surrounding Obama, with Rezko, his NAFTA debacle, the Jeremiah Wright issue and now his own words caught on audio about the "middle America" voters, she may have a point and it is something the superdelegates are going to have to seriously take into consideration. . • Email to a friend • Article Search • Related • Kolko Trial Over! Sentenced to 3 Years Probation. :: The Life-Of-Rubin Blog Read this article on the community site Wow, I am shocked, this must have just happened, the only place I see it is on 1010 wins website. Here is the original story from JPost for those who don't about this story."Brooklyn Rabbi Sentenced in Sex Abuse CaseNEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A Brooklyn Rabbi pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn prosecutor said.Rabbi Joel • Email to a friend • Related • Not Yet Eviction - update on today's activities :: O C C U P I E D Read this article on the community site The flat is tiny, windowless and stuffy in today's very hot weather. People are sitting all around, on the couches and on the floor; Activists, community leaders, caring neighbours, friends, everyone and of course the mother and her young children. The family is about to be evicted. The little curly-haired girl sits on my lap, crying. She's stressed, scared of loosing her home any minute now. Two weeks ago, she already spend 2 nights in a public garden with her mother and 7 young sisters and brothers. I try to comfort her while holding 2 phones, while the third phone, on my lap, keeps ringing, i find it difficult : on one phone the media, on the other one Ms. Vered Sued, the priminister's counsellor for welfare: Reps from welfare services, the ministry of housing, but nothing really moves. Nothing, well hardly anything. The housing ministry took away the mother's rent subsidy 7 months ago, a bureaucratic mistake, which we managed to repair, the new rent subsidy eligibility form arrived today by fax, the ministry are willing to pay her back the money she missed out all those long seven months during which she did not receive rent subsidy (and could not pay her rent, which led to her being evicted from her privately rented apartment 3 weeks ago) We managed to find her another apartment, but the place will become available only towards the end of the month and the family doesn't have that time. We try to convince the public housing company (Halamish) to allow the mother and her children to stay for 15 more days in the flat, until they will be able to move into another rented flat. Halamish do not want to hear about it. Unless, unless we deposit a guarantee of 100.000 NIS . None of us have that kind of money, if we did,we would solve the problem with it. We continue to update the police outside, informing them we are trying to work out a solution and can they plrease wait a little longer, to give us time to find an acceptable alternative. Over time it becomes obvious they don't like this job, they'd rather not kick the family out into the streets. If the family will be evicted, welfare threaten to take the family's children away. The children become so scared, one of the young children runs off, to hide from the welfare services. The family is poor and they have no other options. But taking away the children is inhumane. Why should children pay for the mistakes of the housing ministry? For the stubbornness of the public housing company, Halamish? As of now, the family are still in their home, but a real solution is not in sight, so the mother has started to wrap up the family's few belongings, ready to at least save a few things when the police will arrive, as we all know they will, perhaps tonight, maybe tomorrow. Jaffa, almost Passover, but there is little freedom in Jaffa. Over 200 families are on the waiting list for public housing. About 500 families stand to be evicted from their homes and they will need public housing too. Yet over the last 10 years not even one public flat has been constructed. • Email to a friend • Related • Freedom's Cost :: Gentile Warrior Read this article on the community site To those of you who also read the Blog "Freedom's Cost", the ISP he was using has changed and with it, the url. The new address is:http://www.freedomscost.net/To any who may have blogrolled Freedom, make the appropriate changes. • Email to a friend • Related • IDOL GIVS BAKE :: frgdr.com Blog Read this article on the community site This evening Israeli Channel 10 News covered Brad Pitt's microphone malfunctioning on Fox's Idol Gives Back and stage manager Debbie McVickers shining as she came to the rescue. Channel 10's fluffy-issues correspondent Haim Etgar dubbed the incident 'a huge screw-up', right before using a caption that seemed like it was spelled by an 11 years old 'Idol' fan: Huge screw-up indeed! Thanks for attending mandatory English class in school, Haim. Related posts If You Change Your Logo, They Will Come Shameless Plagiarism by Lior Shlein: Tonight on Israel Channel 10 John's Not Mad – Alin and Shani Aren't Either Everyone Is Talking About modu – But What Is modu Talking About? Top Israeli Advertisement Campaign Fiascos • Email to a friend • Article Search • Related • Rose-Colored Foreign Policy :: Docstalk Read this article on the community site Michael Rubin Wall Street Journal April 14, 2008 http://www.meforum.org/article/1881 As Iraqis marked five years since Baghdad's fall on April 9, Democrats – including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama – grilled Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Before the testimony, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned Gen. Petraeus and Mr. Crocker to avoid undue optimism: "We have to know the real ground truths of what is happening there [in Iraq], not put a shine on events." Among Democrats, it is conventional wisdom that the Bush administration rushed to war, botched planning and ignored dissent. "Whether out of hubris or incompetence," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid explained, "the president and his men willfully ignored the experts and sent our troops to battle unprepared for the consequences." . Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid have a point. When it comes to national security, it behooves us all to plan for the worst even as we hope for the best. But now it appears that it is Democrats who are making the mistake of being too optimistic. On Iran, North Korea, China, Russia and Venezuela, they dismiss realism and embrace the most optimistic assessments of our adversaries. In regards to Iran, they exculpate Tehran for shipping shaped charges to Iraq, sending weapons to the Taliban, and harassing U.S. ships in international waters. Mr. Obama – embodying his party's naïve optimism – assumes Iran's good faith on just about everything. Last week, he called for a "diplomatic surge" against Iran on the same day that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boasted that Iran's nuclear advance marked "the beginning of the collapse of the great powers." In regards to North Korea, 15 years of good-faith diplomacy has destabilized East Asia. And now South Korea and Japan live under a nuclear shadow. The problem is not a lack of diplomacy, but refusing to consider objective assessments. In January, U.S. Special Envoy for Human rights in North Korea Jay Lefkowitz questioned Pyongyang's adherence to nuclear agreements it has made with Washington. In response, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had his remarks erased from the State Department's Web site. Not that policymakers should rush to embrace military action. Attacking Iran isn't a viable option because it would likely only delay, not eliminate, Tehran's nuclear program. Risking the blowback from an attack would only be productive if there was a strategy to use the interim period to end the threat posed by the regime's ideology. Until there is a regime-change strategy, a military strike would merely allow politicians to put off conducting a serious national security debate. An attack on North Korea would likely achieve little even while risking the loss of Seoul in a counterattack. But if military action is risky, the idea that planners should build policy on the assumption of an adversary's sincerity is more dangerous. Even if the recent National Intelligence Estimate on Iran is correct and that country halted its nuclear program in recent years, it's still clear that so-called "reformist" governments in Iran invested billions of dollars in a covert military nuclear program. And they did so at the very time when Europeans and the U.S. officials were engaging the country in diplomacy and easing trade barriers. Failing to prepare for the worst leads Western officials to sequence diplomacy and military planning, rather than conduct both simultaneously, which adversaries exploit. As national security adviser in the run-up to the Iraq war, Ms. Rice blocked postoccupation planning from occurring alongside prewar diplomacy. This hampered efforts to organize Iraq immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Tehran had no such qualms, and broadcast Arabic-language television in Iraq months before the U.S. did. Ideally, diplomatic and economic coercion will force Iran and North Korea to comply with international norms. But as Democrats conflate analysis with advocacy, they shortchange military preparations, a stick that would make it more likely that diplomacy will succeed. By projecting good will onto our adversaries, Democrats also undermine containment and deterrence, the very strategies necessary to prevent war. After all, both are military strategies, consisting of deployments, arms sales to allies, and the long-term basing of U.S. troops abroad. Deterrence, as in the Cold War, requires that an adversary know beyond any doubt that using a nuclear weapon will result in a nuclear counterattack. Containing Iran requires military outreach to the moderate Arab states, Israel and Azerbaijan. Containing China and deterring North Korea requires embracing – militarily, economically and diplomatically – Japan, Taiwan, India and Australia. Countering a resurgent Russia will require providing Poland, Romania and the Baltics the same support once given to West Germany. Realism requires embracing Colombia's recognition that Venezuela strongman Hugo Chávez's bark may foreshadow his bite. Democrats may be right to criticize the Bush administration for being too optimistic in setting its foreign policy. The irony is that many Democrats in Congress are now making that very mistake themselves. Mr. Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and editor of the Middle East Quarterly. span> • Email to a friend • Related • The Other Obama :: Docstalk