Reprieve !
–
“A Sclerotic Goes to War”
will continue till January 2014.
I thank all who contributed and/or sent letters of support.
While it’s still a small number compared to the number who visit the site on a daily basis, the sincerity and true appreciation of my work could not have been more evident.
The main reason I simply felt I couldn’t stop doing the site was because of two emails that I received, in particular. They made me realize how I had been underestimating the impact my work was having on the underlying ideals that motivated me to begin it in the first place.
I reproduce below, redacted and edited versions of the letters. The editing was necessary to protect the senders’ anonymity; both for their safety and to preserve the effectiveness of their good works.
Dear Joseph,
I and my colleagues are really very sorry to hear that you have not been able to raise enough funds to make continuation worthwhile. It is very surprising, given both the quality of your selection and the number of people who look at your site. We certainly value your work highly. It seems extraordinary to us that others do not.
We shall all miss you. Your site is very popular here. We do however understand your position very well. What really impresses us is how you manage to pick out just the right sort of stuff for those who are interested in, and who support, Israel. We know from our own work just how demanding that selection can be. Computer based web mining systems help but they are no match for a good, Mark1, human brain. Like yours, Sir.
You have done a great job over the last years for Israel and you have our warm and genuine congratulations for your efforts, which have been considerable, and your own contributions which have been both witty and erudite, in the fine tradition of your father.
Please do not even think about returning our modest contribution, made after your recent plea. Look on that rather as a very small thank you for all the help and pleasure over the last few years that you have given us.
Perhaps, I should explain, briefly if I can, and discreetly, what we do in this organisation. There is a reason, which I will come to later.
We give advice. Much of the advice we give relates to strategic, military and political matters and, being as totally independent as we are, we can be as frank as we like. And believe me, we are!
Therefore, one of the things that we do, because we believe it is in the interests of this country, is to promote the view that Israel should be treated much more as a valued and valiant ally, rather than criticised constantly, in certain quarters, for actions that would go unremarked, were they made by other nations.
Further than that, we believe that Israel is holding the line for us in one of the two great threats that face the world. That threat is Iran and its dash for nuclear bombs. We constantly and robustly argue that Iran cannot be trusted to negotiate honestly and we endeavour to make sure that our arguments, backed by intelligence and analysis, reach the right quarters.
We very strongly support the Israeli position that a realistic military option, rather than one of President Obama’s movable red lines, must be there on the table and we were mightily impressed by Mr Netanyahu’s powerful speech at the UN on the subject. Israel has judged this matter correctly. The US and the EU have not and their pathetic and naïve trust in more talks is endangering the world, we believe.
We should perhaps add here that we frequently challenge the official views of intelligence organisations, where these are published and in the public domain, and where we feel that necessity. We do this very vigorously at times. We have long argued, for instance, that we believe that Iran may well have made, and certainly intends to go on making, nuclear weapons, when the US, in particular, with the massed consensus view of all its 16 intelligence organisations has, by contrast, long taken a much more complacent view, implying no immediate or imminent threat. We disagree.
The other major threat that we see, is one that is only too obvious to our Israeli friends. The threat from fundamental, terrorist Islamism, expressed as Jihadism, and very different from the more tolerant strands of Islam. The West generally still does not understand fully the drive, the ferocity and the danger from this quarter. We have forecast what we believe will be the absolute inevitability of an attack, on the pattern of Mumbai or Nairobi, on this country, sooner or later. This would be a very poor way of ensuring minds are concentrated on the threat but it may be the only way that the message is brought home.
Now why am I telling you all this and why now?
Because Joseph, although quite clearly you are exhausted by your long tour of duty, and disappointed by the lack of support, we expect that you, like all those of us who study such matters, can never really give it up. If the time comes, when you have regained your breath and eased up a little, knowing now what we do, and how we support Israel, if you ever see or hear something of note that you think could help Israel’s case, feel free, without putting yourself out at all, or wasting your time, to send a link to me. If we can use it in one of our briefing papers and if it will help Israel, that would be good.
Absolutely no problem if you never send us a thing but I put the thought there in your mind for more relaxed days.
Sorry to inflict such a screed on you but, unless you know just what we really do, my suggestion would have made no sense.
Many thanks again, Joseph, for all you have done over the years. We salute you, Sir!
Kind regards and our very best wishes
L’éminence grise.
Joseph,
Your information I gleaned rom your site on the theft of chemicals from Libya going to Gaza and Syria was a very deep deep worry for me when I travelled to Libya for the elections two years ago.
I had no idea what would come across my path that trip. After Nato left, nothing was done by Nato about all the mind boggling stores of weapons Quadaffi collected absolutely terrified top military officials. Putin was right, Nato left the job undone and every Waco with a pick up truck was bent on sociopathic plunder.
This included unexploded cruise missles found a year later.
There were over 150 warehouses of weapons that could burn Africa for the next 30 years.By divine opportunity I met the military official in charge of dealing with this out of control situation.
I really personally suffered with the knowledge I learned from my meeting. I was sure 100% that it could be dealt with.
(Paragraph omitted)
So there I was alone with some very bad knowledge and the contacts from Libya kept around my neck so I would never lose it.
(Paragraph omitted)
That fall I contacted the cleaners in _____. Last spring the job was completed in Libya.
I cried.
You are my eyes Joseph. I am just me, one average guy by himself.
How can you see the effect you have. You did not send aircraft carriers, marines seals, destroyers, congress etc from eliat. You just made hidden knowledge open to the world.
There will be no Libyan chemicals coming to eliat. You Joseph played a significant part in that. No child will breath their last in Israel because of rogue Libyan chemicals.
You can quit if your want Joseph.
(Paragraph omitted)
When I left for that meeting with the Colonel in Misrata late one evening I changed all my clothes from white to black. I walked out on my arab hosts and guests. I said nothing where I was going and this was silently offensive to them by not letting them know where I was going. I could not endanger my friend of decades if where I was going went sideways.
What I did was normal. If your neighbours house is on fire you do something. My neighbour is your country Joseph. I went into the fire and phoned 911.
Nobody answered the 911 for a long time.
_____ answered immediately.
______ got it done.
(Paragraph omitted)
I cannot tell you how ______ did it. I have no clue. But Libya is clean of chemicals.
You Joseph Wouk did your part.With your site or without your site I am going on.
You are a special man.My job is to be a normal citizen.
Regards,
I was gratified, humbled and truthfully shocked by these emails. I have to tell you it made me ashamed to have ever considered ending the site before the Iran/Israel conflict was settled one way or the other.
The way I see it, Obama’s interest in working with Rouhani will produce either a diplomatic solution or a war within the next few months. In January I will be going to the States to take care of my father for a while. By then the situation should be a lot clearer.
There’s no justification for my ending this site before then.
Please don’t stop sending contributions and support. They mean more to me than you can imagine and they make it so much easier for me to slog through the daily effort of keeping this site the way you expect it to be.
Thank you for understanding.
Joseph Wouk
October 10, 2013
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WarSclerotic 
October 10, 2013 at 6:50 PM
Wow! I’m totally speechless.
October 10, 2013 at 6:52 PM
So was I, Steve. It’s why it took me all day to post it.
October 10, 2013 at 7:14 PM
thank you dear jw.well done ad please go on.
October 10, 2013 at 7:15 PM
That shows you how important your site is and that it makes a real difference. You’re not fighting in the IDF. You are fighting here for your country and by extension for the West for which I’m grateful.
I’m contributing in my own small way by commenting in the hope that I can give useful ideas to the right people.
That’s the beauty of the internet. You never know who is reading your stuff.
October 10, 2013 at 7:21 PM
Thank you, Artaxes for your comments here and for your own work for Israel.
Do you live here too? If so, maybe we should get together.
October 10, 2013 at 7:34 PM
I’m a Greek living in Germany.
Once very critical of Israel, I’ve come to realize that Israel is on the right side (morally and legally).
I admire the Jewish people and Israel and I want to see a strong Israel prosper and living in peace.
I’m also a strong supporter of America and I want the West and the Western civilisazion, of which the Jewish civilisation is a pillar to be strong and prosperous and I want to see the great values of liberty revived as well as a moral revival.
October 10, 2013 at 7:37 PM
Well, come visit. You gotta place to stay. A really NICE PLACE !
October 10, 2013 at 7:38 PM
Thank you Joseph.
October 10, 2013 at 7:37 PM
Maybe one day I will spent my holidays in Israel.
If that happens I will be glad to visit you, if you don’t mind.
October 10, 2013 at 7:23 PM
JW thank you for keeping the site going . best news I heard all week .
October 10, 2013 at 7:34 PM
You are welcome, Tom.
Thank you for caring!
October 10, 2013 at 7:33 PM
I found two points in the above two letters above quite scary JW….
“We have long argued, for instance, that we believe that Iran may well have made….nuclear weapons…”
“Nato left the job undone and every Waco with a pick up truck was bent on sociopathic plunder.”
Makes you wonder who the heck is minding the store so to speak.
October 10, 2013 at 7:36 PM
Putin was right about Libya. Total negligence on the part of the west. The PM was kidnapped there today!
October 10, 2013 at 7:45 PM
Probably because he was a bit too complacent in the capture of al-Qaeda suspect, Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai by US forces.
October 10, 2013 at 8:33 PM
Just so you folks understand….
It’s not all appreciation and support for yours truly. Every day I’m bombarded by ignorant, viscous “hate” comments like the one I just received now.
__________________________________
“Watch your step or we will fucking cook you no shit,we mean shut you down properly just one shot,your in no position to threaten a major power were not America when we hit we don’t leave anything left,and thats official it will be the end of israel without the uks consent you wont get any f35s and no resupply,and your army navy and air force turned to dust,next step were going to remove your nukes your not responsible and remove you from the banking system.”
________________________________
Perhaps that helps explain why I’m so particular about keeping the comments here civil. I really hate reading this kind of excrement.
October 11, 2013 at 1:33 PM
I can only imagine what it must be like to be constantly bombarded, either by rockets, or by such vile ignorance. At a glance, one can see that your arm is over ½ a million strong out of a world population of 7 billion. Considering that many of our fellow inhabitants of this planet have no access to the internet, that is no inconsequential number. That being said, many of your soldiers need to take a long hard look at themselves, don’t buy a burger, donate a dollar. It’s money where your mouth is time people! It is high time people tried to emulate our esteemed host and shouldered a bit of responsibility. Joseph is like Atlas, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Some folk simply don’t know they’ve been born, DON’T TAKE JOSEPH FOR GRANTED!!!
Shalom.
October 10, 2013 at 8:45 PM
Great you are back in business!!!
Since I am very busy at my new work now you I still can continue to en-light the Swedish people thanks to you Joseph!
I use lots of your work and translate the headings to Swedish on my site so people can find thins they need to read in English.
Forgive me for being curious Joseph, but could you tell us from what countries your readers are?
Go to: “Statistics / Views by Country / Summaries” and choose last year: “Top Views by Country for 365 days ending 2013-10-10”
This statistics is form my small site with only 60-100 daily readers
Country: Views:
Sweden 26 669
Hungary 1 336
Finland 1 151
Norway 759
United States 539
Israel 181
Germany 151
United Kingdom 126
Denmark 110
Canada 76
Italy 71
Spain 60
Turkey 57
France 55
Thailand 44
Netherlands 42
India 40
Poland 40
Saudi Arabia 35
Australia 33
United Arab Emirates 32
and so on.
Next time I come to Israel with my wife I will come to Eilat and thank you personally for your important work.
God Bless You!
October 10, 2013 at 9:02 PM
Here ya go…..
Top Views by Country for 365 days ending 2013-10-10 (Summarized)
7 Days |
30 Days |
Quarter |
Year |
Since February 25, 2012
Country Views
United States FlagUnited States 295,364
Germany FlagGermany 67,747
United Kingdom FlagUnited Kingdom 60,776
Israel FlagIsrael 39,455
Canada FlagCanada 38,137
Australia FlagAustralia 25,799
France FlagFrance 14,576
Brazil FlagBrazil 10,991
Finland FlagFinland 9,913
Belgium FlagBelgium 9,580
Netherlands FlagNetherlands 9,176
India FlagIndia 7,155
Switzerland FlagSwitzerland 6,713
Philippines FlagPhilippines 5,861
Malaysia FlagMalaysia 5,849
Romania FlagRomania 5,690
Poland FlagPoland 5,611
Italy FlagItaly 5,531
Sweden FlagSweden 5,267
Japan FlagJapan 4,903
Panama FlagPanama 4,887
Lebanon FlagLebanon 3,917
Mexico FlagMexico 3,682
South Africa FlagSouth Africa 3,412
Saudi Arabia FlagSaudi Arabia 3,292
Russian Federation FlagRussian Federation 3,286
Singapore FlagSingapore 3,239
New Zealand FlagNew Zealand 2,994
Ireland FlagIreland 2,939
Austria FlagAustria 2,703
Argentina FlagArgentina 2,688
Luxembourg FlagLuxembourg 2,661
Ukraine FlagUkraine 2,377
Serbia FlagSerbia 2,370
Egypt FlagEgypt 2,163
Croatia FlagCroatia 2,061
Thailand FlagThailand 2,056
Kenya FlagKenya 1,884
Aruba FlagAruba 1,777
Hungary FlagHungary 1,716
Spain FlagSpain 1,714
Qatar FlagQatar 1,537
Slovenia FlagSlovenia 1,333
Portugal FlagPortugal 1,274
United Arab Emirates FlagUnited Arab Emirates 1,239
Korea, Republic of FlagRepublic of Korea 1,222
Bahrain FlagBahrain 1,194
Nigeria FlagNigeria 1,041
Turkey FlagTurkey 1,040
Denmark FlagDenmark 962
Greece FlagGreece 916
Uganda FlagUganda 904
Papua New Guinea FlagPapua New Guinea 832
Cyprus FlagCyprus 788
Maldives FlagMaldives 786
Indonesia FlagIndonesia 664
Norway FlagNorway 662
Angola FlagAngola 656
Bulgaria FlagBulgaria 590
Pakistan FlagPakistan 588
Venezuela FlagVenezuela 571
Malta FlagMalta 563
Dominican Republic FlagDominican Republic 551
Taiwan, Province of China FlagTaiwan 549
Latvia FlagLatvia 499
Tanzania, United Republic of FlagUnited Republic of Tanzania 458
Czech Republic FlagCzech Republic 362
Virgin Islands, British FlagBritish Virgin Islands 318
Jordan FlagJordan 286
Bangladesh FlagBangladesh 217
Kuwait FlagKuwait 203
Hong Kong FlagHong Kong 192
Sri Lanka FlagSri Lanka 165
Palestinian Territory, Occupied FlagPalestinian Territory, Occupied 162
Honduras FlagHonduras 162
Trinidad and Tobago FlagTrinidad and Tobago 151
Slovakia FlagSlovakia 150
Viet Nam FlagViet Nam 149
Lithuania FlagLithuania 135
Bosnia and Herzegovina FlagBosnia and Herzegovina 130
Zimbabwe FlagZimbabwe 125
Ghana FlagGhana 120
Oman FlagOman 116
Tunisia FlagTunisia 115
Syrian Arab Republic FlagSyrian Arab Republic 95
Morocco FlagMorocco 91
Albania FlagAlbania 89
Estonia FlagEstonia 87
Colombia FlagColombia 85
Iraq FlagIraq 81
Algeria FlagAlgeria 79
Chile FlagChile 78
Peru FlagPeru 75
Costa Rica FlagCosta Rica 72
Ethiopia FlagEthiopia 68
Jamaica FlagJamaica 66
Malawi FlagMalawi 64
Azerbaijan FlagAzerbaijan 60
Cambodia FlagCambodia 58
Mauritius FlagMauritius 57
Armenia FlagArmenia 57
Iceland FlagIceland 56
Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of FlagMacedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic 54
Uruguay FlagUruguay 54
Barbados FlagBarbados 54
Bahamas FlagBahamas 50
Puerto Rico FlagPuerto Rico 48
Antigua and Barbuda FlagAntigua and Barbuda 47
Virgin Islands, U.S. FlagVirgin Islands 47
Georgia FlagGeorgia 42
Brunei Darussalam FlagBrunei Darussalam 41
Ecuador FlagEcuador 38
Myanmar FlagMyanmar 34
Iran, Islamic Republic of FlagIran, Islamic Republic of 33
Namibia FlagNamibia 32
Yemen FlagYemen 32
Botswana FlagBotswana 31
Sudan FlagSudan 31
Montenegro FlagMontenegro 29
Lao People’s Democratic Republic FlagLao People’s Democratic Republic 27
Afghanistan FlagAfghanistan 26
Fiji FlagFiji 26
Nepal FlagNepal 23
Senegal FlagSenegal 22
Réunion FlagRéunion 20
Zambia FlagZambia 19
Guatemala FlagGuatemala 18
Côte d’Ivoire FlagCôte d’Ivoire 17
Libya FlagLibya 17
Moldova, Republic of FlagMoldova 16
El Salvador FlagEl Salvador 14
Paraguay FlagParaguay 14
Gibraltar FlagGibraltar 14
Faroe Islands FlagFaroe Islands 13
Bolivia FlagBolivia 12
Belarus FlagBelarus 12
Benin FlagBenin 12
China FlagChina 12
Nicaragua FlagNicaragua 11
Guyana FlagGuyana 11
Rwanda FlagRwanda 10
Guernsey FlagGuernsey 10
Belize FlagBelize 9
Jersey FlagJersey 9
Haiti FlagHaiti 9
Macao FlagMacao 9
Cuba FlagCuba 8
Guam FlagGuam 8
Togo FlagTogo 8
Mali FlagMali 8
Isle of Man FlagIsle of Man 8
Madagascar FlagMadagascar 7
Mozambique FlagMozambique 7
Djibouti FlagDjibouti 7
Cameroon FlagCameroon 7
Liberia FlagLiberia 6
Gambia FlagGambia 6
Kazakhstan FlagKazakhstan 6
Suriname FlagSuriname 6
Guadeloupe FlagGuadeloupe 5
Sierra Leone FlagSierra Leone 5
Cayman Islands FlagCayman Islands 5
Mongolia FlagMongolia 4
Grenada FlagGrenada 4
Somalia FlagSomalia 4
Congo FlagCongo 4
Dominica FlagDominica 3
French Guiana FlagFrench Guiana 3
Monaco FlagMonaco 3
Saint Lucia FlagSaint Lucia 3
Swaziland FlagSwaziland 3
Marshall Islands FlagMarshall Islands 3
Solomon Islands FlagSolomon Islands 3
Northern Mariana Islands FlagNorthern Mariana Islands 3
Burkina Faso FlagBurkina Faso 3
Tonga FlagTonga 3
Tajikistan FlagTajikistan 3
Martinique FlagMartinique 2
Lesotho FlagLesotho 2
Kyrgyzstan FlagKyrgyzstan 2
Mauritania FlagMauritania 2
Comoros FlagComoros 2
Cape Verde FlagCape Verde 2
Micronesia, Federated States of FlagMicronesia, Federated States of 2
American Samoa FlagAmerican Samoa 2
Saint Kitts and Nevis FlagSaint Kitts and Nevis 1
Anguilla FlagAnguilla 1
Bhutan FlagBhutan 1
Andorra FlagAndorra 1
San Marino FlagSan Marino 1
New Caledonia FlagNew Caledonia 1
Central African Republic FlagCentral African Republic 1
Uzbekistan FlagUzbekistan 1
Gabon FlagGabon 1
Seychelles FlagSeychelles 1
Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of FlagDemocratic People’s Republic of Korea 1
Bermuda FlagBermuda 1
Burundi FlagBurundi 1
October 10, 2013 at 9:48 PM
October 10, 2013 at 9:58 PM
JW,
Thanks for keeping this site going.
As far as I’m concerned Obama and Rouhani will reach a diplomatic solution when pigs fly,
And besides Ali Khamenei is still the one calling the shots and we all know this. Rouhani is merely his new spokesman.
And as Caroline Glick explained last week, Qassem Suleimani is the second most important man in Iran (again not Rouhani).
October 10, 2013 at 10:01 PM
Welcome to the “War club,” Mark.
I hope you’re wrong and the Mullahs will back down before…
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let’s make it a world worth living in….
October 11, 2013 at 1:15 AM
So happy to see you continuing this awesome website!
October 11, 2013 at 1:45 PM
Israel has carried out a long range flight drill. A final warning if you will.
Time is short.
Godspeed to all.
October 11, 2013 at 2:51 PM
It is TAO