Dear Friend of FLAME:

Last week's HOTLINE highlighted the appalling silence on the part of leftist protesters in response to the tragedy that occurred in Libya, in which four United States citizens lost their lives to an act of terror.

Unfortunately, our own government here in the United States has also had some difficulty calling the attack what it was: Terrorism (most likely committed by al Qaeda or another Islamist organization).

We would like to remind you that though we at FLAME do NOT support one candidate over another, we do have firm opinions about policies of our government with regard to Israel and the Middle East, and we will continue to boldly articulate them.

As President Obama and the State Department demonstrated in the aftermath of the Libyan terrorist attack, they continue to have difficulty admitting that the United States is at war with Islam. In fact, even in the face of ample evidence in countries like Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, and Iran, and the many claims by Islamists clearly stating their intentions regarding the West, the President flatly denies that this war exists.

In this week's FLAME Hotline, Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn points out President Obama's fear of using the word "war" to describe the conflict between the United States and Islamism. In strikingly direct words, McGurn points out that "radical Islam's anti-Americanism did not begin with George W. Bush" and that "second, this anti-Americanism has not abated despite Mr. Obama's promise of love and understanding, the stunningly naïve foundation of his 2009 Cairo speech."

President Obama continued his refusal to use the term "war" in his subsequent speech at the United Nations last week. Rather, Obama informed us that "today, we must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among our United Nations."

Does this mean that the UN should pass a strongly worded resolution to stop the perpetrators of this violence and intolerance? Would this actually stop future terrorist attacks?

The time has come to let radical Islamists know that acts of terrorism will NOT be tolerated, whether against Israel, the United States, or any country, for that matter. The first step towards doing so would be to acknowledge that we are indeed at war.

William McGurn's article below should inspire each of us to rise to this occasion by increasing our support of Israel, the United States' only true ally in the Middle East. I urge you to pass these powerful thoughts along to friends, colleagues, and fellow congregants using the "send to a friend" button at the bottom of this email, or using the buttons above to share it via social media.

Thanks for your continued support of Israel, and thank you for your support of FLAME.

Best regards,

Dave Nogradi
FLAME Hotline Contributor

P.S.

In a world turned upside down by outrageously false Arab propaganda---which contends Israel is responsible for most of the world's ills---FLAME has been fighting with facts and logic to publicize the truth in mainstream media. A great example is our recent hasbarah (public relations) effort published in the wake of the outrageous attempt by CBS's "60 Minutes" to blame the flight of Christians from the West Bank on Israel. We promptly published a refutation, "Why Are Christians Disappearing from the Middle East?," in media reaching more than 10 million people, and delivered it to all U.S. Senators and Representatives. It's one more example of FLAME's determined efforts to tell the truth about the enemies of Israel (and the U.S.). Ask yourself: If FLAME doesn't tell the truth in mainstream media about the Arab persecution of Christians, who else will do it? If you agree that these kinds of outspoken advocacy efforts on behalf of Israel and the U.S. are essential, I urge you to support us. Remember: FLAME's ability to influence public opinion comes from individuals like you, one by one. I hope you'll consider giving a donation now, as you're able---with $500, $250, $100, or even $18. (Remember, your donation to FLAME is tax deductible.) To donate online, just go to http://www.factsandlogic.org/make_a_donation.html. Now more than ever we need your support to ensure that Israel gets the support it needs---from the U.S. Congress, from President Obama, and from the American people.

P.P.S.	As of today, nearly 10,000 Israel supporters receive the FLAME Hotline at no charge every week. It keeps them up to date on the top news of the week and gives them greater confidence in discussing Middle East issues with friends and colleagues. Won't you join us to start receiving these timely updates: Just go to free subscription.

Mr. Obama's 'War' Game
by William McGurn, The Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2012

The grave for Maj. Thomas Kennedy is so fresh that it lacks a headstone. In its place are flowers, flags and mementos left by people who knew this Army officer as a classmate, as an instructor, as a neighbor. Such is the terrible beauty of West Point, where even on a sun-kissed football Saturday it is impossible to forget America is at war.

That sounds like a platitude, it is so obvious. Then again, maybe it's not so obvious—at least to this White House. In the week since our ambassador to Libya was murdered along with three others from our consulate in Benghazi, the president has studiously avoided using the "w" word to describe what was plainly an attack on the United States.

That approach was on full display at Andrews Air Force Base Friday, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton welcomed home the bodies of the four slain Americans. The president and his secretary of state spoke well and warmly about these men, about their families, about the good work they were doing. Still, someone who had only their remarks to go by could be forgiven for coming away with the impression that these were people killed in some senseless shooting—not Americans targeted and murdered by enemies who are at war with us and act accordingly.

In his Rose Garden remarks delivered the morning after the killings became news, the president's lone reference to war was to Libya as a country "striving to emerge from the recent experience of war." In Saturday's radio address, war went completely unmentioned. The president had also left it unmentioned during the solemn ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base the day before.

What does it say about a president's foreign policy when Americans who represent him are killed overseas—and the only reference to the glaring fact of war comes from the Army chaplain, who asked the Almighty to help us defeat these agents of terror?

Perhaps it bespeaks a man who finds casual talk about war undignified. The difficulty here is that when it comes to politics, the president shows no hesitation. At the campaign fundraiser in Las Vegas to which he jetted off after his Rose Garden remarks, for example, the word "war" was reduced to a political punch line—as when he criticized Republicans for "tax cuts when we are at war," or declared his policy is to "turn a page on a decade of war."

This is no accident. Mr. Obama delivered the same lines the next day at another campaign rally in Colorado. Then again on Monday in Ohio.

The idea seems to be that war exists only during Republican administrations. Call it the Carney Doctrine, named for White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who informed America that the attacks that began in Egypt and Libya and have now spread to U.S. Embassies from Iran to Indonesia "are not directed against the United States." We heard a similar denial a year ago, when Harold Koh, the antiwar Yale Law School dean turned State Department adviser, asked us to believe the War Powers Resolution didn't apply to Libya because, well, the fighting there isn't really war.

We may laugh at these explanations, but it is the logical consequence of the Obama political logic. The alternative is to acknowledge two points the White House can never concede: First, that radical Islam's anti-Americanism did not begin with George W. Bush; second, that this anti-Americanism has not abated despite Mr. Obama's promise of love and understanding, the stunningly naïve foundation of his 2009 Cairo speech.

In his remarks before those four flag-draped caskets at Andrews, Mr. Obama vowed that "the United States of America will never retreat from the world." In fact, the central promise of his administration has been retreat. If our enemies now attack our embassies and our friends are reluctant to stand up, it's because both rightly see us as disengaging.

There's an opening here for Mitt Romney. With all due respect to the wisdom of the NPR water cooler, the Republican presidential contender was right to attack the apologetic tweet that came from a U.S. Embassy under siege. The media storm he provoked comes for a simple reason: The images now coming out of the Islamic world bring home the weakness of a foreign policy based on pretending that people who are at war with us aren't.

When a suicide bomber in Afghanistan took the life of Maj. Kennedy a month ago, he became the 90th West Pointer to give his life for his country since 9/11. Here at his alma mater, young men and women barely out of high school have come, willing to take his place. Is it too much to ask that they—and we—be led by a commander in chief who calls war by its rightful name?