ISRAEL AND PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST (audio interview)

Daniel Mariaschin, Executive Vice-President, B’nai B’rith International

In light of the terrorist Iranian proxy, Hamas, killing 1400 Israelis and taking over 200 people hostage on October 7, 2023, I decided to air again one of my still-timely interviews with insightful Daniel Mariaschin, Executive Vice-president of B’nai B’rith International (25-minute audio of interview follows at the bottom of this introduction…click on the blue “play” button) because Israel and the Middle East are still in conflict with no end in sight and Mr. Mariaschin held the position, skills and experiences that enabled him to have keen insight and perception into the issues surrounding this ongoing tragedy.

While I interviewed Mr. Mariaschin years ago, almost everything we discussed is relevant to the situation today and therefore is still valuable.   At the time of my interview, Daniel Mariaschin had been working for B’nai B’rith for 24 years but had worked in the Jewish community in Jewish organizations for an additional 15 years, for a total of 39 years.  He holds an undergraduate degree in history from Columbia University and a graduate degree in Jewish studies from Brandeis University.  Mr. Mariaschin was born in the New York-New Jersey area and grew up in New Hampshire.  At the time of my interview, he was the Executive Vice President of B’nai B’rith International and the Director of B’nai B’rith’s Center for Human Rights and Public Policy.

The interview focuses on Israel and peace in the Middle East.  Because of his experience in foreign affairs, national defense, Israel, and articles he’s written for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, the Chicago Tribune, the  Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and others, he has demonstrated that he knows what he’s talking about.

In the interview, Mr. Mariaschin discusses many aspects of:

  1. Israel and the Middle East, including insights into Hamas.
  2. The  prospects for peace
  3. The growing Iranian threat including its nuclear reactor in Bushere
  4. The “ground zero” mosque, life in Israel
  5. The book on Israel, Start-up Nation,
  6. The origins and mission of B’nai B’rith, and more.

To listen to Mr. Daniel Mariaschin’s interview, please click on the blue or red link  below.

MR. Daniel Mariaschin-Israel Audio

Interview by Mike Russo

ORIGIN OF IRAN’S TERRORIST GOVERNMENT & ITS PROXIES

For additional information about Iran

How did the current terrorist government get control of Iran and become a serious threat to the entire Middle East and the world?  That’s what this post is about, along with how the U.S. inadvertently facilitated this.

The Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi)
came into power in 1954. He was a good friend of the United States.  In 1964 he exiled radical Muslim  extremist, Ayatollah Khomeini.  Widely reported in the news  was that President Jimmy Carter persuaded/coerced the Shah to allow Khomeini to return to Iran.  The Shah complied and Khomeini returned in February 1979.The Shah then came to the United State in October 1979 for cancer treatments.  Shortly thereafter, while the Shah was still in the U.S., Khomeini led a revolution in Iran and overturned the Shah’s pro-western government.

The Khomeini government, as part of its revolution, subsequently held 52 hostages from the U,S. embassy in Iran for 444 days and only released them 30 minutes after President Ronald Reagan assumed office on January 20, 1981.  Iran began its terrorist activities by funding various client terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad.  It also began working on developing nuclear weapons as well as the missies capable of delivering warheads to its hated enemies, Israel (the “Little Satan”) and the United States (the “Big Satan”).

President Obama thought he could delay Iran’s nuclear ambitions and began negotiating with it and signed the “Iran nuclear deal” (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – “JCPOA”) with Iran in 2015, allegedly to delay it from developing a nuclear weapon.  It wasn’t a treaty because the Senate would not ratify it, but the “deal” cost the U.S. $150 billion and probably cost many lives because much of the money was used to fund Iran’s terrorist operations around the world.

When Donald Trump became President, his foreign policy advisors reviewed the deal and deemed it to be worse than worthless for many reasons, including: 1) no restrictions on the development of ballistic missiles, 2) no inspections allowed of military sites, 3) no cessation of proxy wars in the Middle East.  Trump gave Iran an opportunity to revise the agreement, but Iran refused and Trump consequently withdrew the U.S. from the deal in 2018 and also imposed sanctions on its sale of oil, keeping it poor and unable to fund any serious terrorist activities through its surrogates, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad.

When Joe Biden became President, he had negotiations re-started to get the U.S. back into the original agreement.  The new negotiations, however, appeared worse than the first, with Russia negotiating on behalf of the the United States and offering even more billions to Iran, in addition to removing the sanctions imposed by President Trump.  The short expiration dates in the deal remained the same as the original deal even though 7 years had elapsed since that deal was made (2015). In addition, the Biden Administration was eager to enter into the disastrous deal with Iran which says in order to delay its development of a nuclear bomb. However, Iran has cheated and hid some of its nuclear sites under the former deal and continued to develop missiles that could reach the United States.  I believe former president, Trump, had the right idea in keeping Iran poor with sanctions so it could not afford to sponsor many of its terrorist activities around the world nor develop a nuclear bomb or ICBMs.

This absurd “deal” was bad for the United States, Israel, and world peace and thankfully is now dead.  However, Iran can still produce nuclear bombs very quickly and the billions of dollars it made from the U.S. not enforcing the sanctions on its sale of oil has put it financially “back-on-its-feet” and now fully capable of funding large-scale terrorism once again (Iran sold 400,000 barrels/day of oil in 2020, 3 million barrels/day in 2023 and has made $40by-$80 billions of dollars from its sale of that oil, enabling it to fund the vicious 10/7/23 attack by Hamas on 1,400 mostly Israeli citizens).

CONCLUSION

Iran is the chief sponsor of terrorism in many countries.  Giving them billions of dollars facilitates this.  Iran currently sells missile-firing drones to Russia, which is using them in its war against Ukraine.  Moreover, it funds middle-eastern terrorist organizations such as Hamas, which on October 7, 2023, tortured and slaughtered 1,400 Israeli citizens and 32 Americans, as well as 232 hostages.  At government-sponsored rallies in Iran (and even on American college campuses), “Death to America” is chanted.  Iran has missiles capable of reaching its hated enemy, Israel and soon the United States as well.  Most Iranians are good people and many are even pro-western, much different that the fanatical leaders of the Iranian government.  Any funds the U.S. gives to Iran or money that Iran makes from the U.S. not enforcing its oil sanctions, is used to develop missiles that will be used against Israel and the U.S.

On October 18, 2023, President Joseph Biden, during his visit to Israel in the middle of war, just gave a $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollars) for Palestinian humanitarian relief, almost all of it will surely end up in the hands of Hamas who controls Gaza, and will fund terrorist activities in the Middle East. God help Israel, the Palestinians, and the United States!

CHAOTIC EVACUATION FROM AFGHANISTAN

For more detailed information…

There was detailed coverage of the disaster in Afghanistan, however, most people couldn’t spend much time following the events, so I  kept track of all of the significant happenings, as listed below:

  1. In April of 2021 President Biden announced that the U.S. departure from Afghanistan would not be “conditions-based,” which was the cornerstone of the agreement the Trump Administration made with the enemy, the Taliban.  The “conditions-based” provision in the agreement made the Taliban very compliant because it wanted the US to leave Afghanistan ASAP (as soon as possible).  Consequently, there were no American soldiers killed by the Taliban for the previous 18 months.
  2. President Biden changed the May 1, 2021, departure date to August 31, 2021 which is significant because  it is the “fighting season” when the Taliban returns to Afghanistan from Pakistan where they spend the winter.  In other words, President Biden changed the departure date to the middle of the Taliban “fighting season” and did it so that he could boast this on the upcoming 9/11 anniversary.
  3. Against the advice of his military advisors, President Biden ordered the US military to leave before the civilians had departed and the billions of dollars worth of expensive bases and buildings (including our Embassy in Kabul) secured and the planes, helicopters, weapons, etc. returned to the US.  Instead, the military was ordered out first, $85 billion in military equipment abandoned, and our seven military bases abandoned, relinquishing our military capability from preventing the Taliban from hurting Americans and killing many of our Afghan interpreters, drivers, etc. .
  4. As of 8/26/21 there were still about 1-4,000 Americans and tens of thousands of Afghani interpreters and helpers in Afghanistan.  Most Americans should have been able to eventually get out by August 31 but not most of our Afghani allies since the Taliban went door-to-door searching for them.
  5. As of 8/26 France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands had retrieved their citizens from Afghanistan.  The US had not, but has instead had told everyone to get to the Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul though it was surrounded by the Taliban who were denying access to many.  On August 26 a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. soldiers and over 100 Afghanis around the perimeter of the airport.
  6. China and Russia, working with the Taliban, reverse-engineered our Black Hawk helicopters and our other American military equipment, in order to copy it.
  7. Though President Biden blamed the Afghan military for not fighting, over 54,000 have been killed by the Taliban in the last few years defending their country. They began deserting in large numbers only after we abandoned our military bases, knowing that the
    U.S. could not provide air cover for their military operations.
  8. President Biden did not even notify, let alone consult with, the leaders of other countries that had troops in Afghanistan prior to his decision to depart.
  9. Our adversaries, like Russia and China, were emboldened, which was very bad for Taiwan and Ukraine.
  10. President Biden stopped all flights with Americans and allies from Kabul airport on August 31.

Weakness invites aggression. After this fiasco, China took over Hong Kong and began seriously threatening Taiwan, Russia invaded Ukraine, and North Korea speeded up its development and testing of missiles that could reach the United States.

COULD NORTH KOREA DESTROY THE U.S.?


North Korea (NOKO) currently has three satellites circling the earth, possibly containing a super-EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) weapon.  NOKO also has dozens of submarines and at least a dozen intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching America.  How did NOKO develop an EMP nuclear bomb?  NOKO (accidentally?) received EMP technology from Russia around 2004 and its nuclear tests have the signature of EMPs. Moreover, NOKO in January ’22 alone tested seven missiles, including hypersonic missiles, and many more since then.

Could the United States go from being the world’s only superpower to being impoverished, like most previous great powers through the ages?  Anything is possible, but I believe that an Electric Magnetic Pulse (EMP) would seriously cripple the United States unless the U.S.  hardens its electric generation and transmission infra-structure (at a cost of at least about $4 billion).

If you saw the most recent version of the movie, “Godzilla,” you know a little about what EMPs can do.  EMPs are one of the greatest threats to the United States today and have even been caused naturally in the past, and are likely how the U.S. might be destroyed by NOKO, Iran, etc. with 90% of our population starving to death the first year following a major EMP attack.

If what I say is true, why haven’t you heard of it?  What are EMPs?  And is there anything that can be done to protect the United States from them, both those caused by nature and those caused by terrorists?

Electro-Magnetic Pulses can be caused naturally by Solar Sun Spots and Flares or by people using nuclear bombs exploded high above the ground.  A lightning strike is a small EMP.  There were EMP’s in 1859, when there was little electricity in use, and therefore just telegraphs were affected; in 1989, in Quebec; and a near-miss in 2012 when the earth was just missed by a major coronal ejection of the Sun that would have devastated the earth’s electronics.

A nuclear bomb detonated high over the U.S. could cause EMPs of such magnitude that all electronics (in phones, computers, autos, TVs, radios, etc.) would be “fried” and the U.S. would revert to stone-age existence with 90% of Americans dead within one year from starvation and people killing each other over food.  Because the U.S. has submarines with nuclear weapons on rockets, the U.S. can retaliate against aggressors, but some religious terrorists (like those in Iran) don’t care about retaliation.  In addition, to be effective in creating an EMP, a nuclear bomb would have to be detonated at least 25 miles above the earth, about in the middle of the United States.  Getting there undetected should be difficult, unless a “lost” plane gets into terrorist hands (and therefore could be disguised and used to carry a nuclear bomb above 25,000 feet altitude).

The effort by the Federal government to harden facilities in the U. S. from an EMP attack was reported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on September 3, 2020, and titled, “Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Program Status Report”.  I couldn’t discover whether this DHS program is still ongoing or whether the Biden Administration cancelled it. Take this threat seriously!

PEACE IN UKRAINE?

Putin explains his thoughts on Ukraine in this book

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, had 200,000 Russian troops invade Ukraine on three sides beginning on February 24, 2022.  Why did Putin invade Ukraine and what did he want? He has said that he really wanted assurances that Ukraine would never be admitted as a member of NATO.  The U.S. had told him that decision was up to NATO and Ukraine, not the United States, and also signed a November 10, 2021, agreement to protect Ukraine.  However, Putin also said that he wanted to reconstitute the former Soviet Union and allegedly had a military second only to the United States (so his threat needed to be taken seriously).  Moreover, Putin saw how a weak President Biden left behind in Afghanistan hundreds of Americans, tens of thousands of Afghans that assisted the U.S., $85 billion in military equipment, a huge military base close to China… and therefore could invade Ukraine without concern that the United States would intervene.

Ukrainians have been courageously and fiercely defending their country against overwhelming odds using American Javelin missiles to destroy Russian tanks and American Stinger missiles to destroy Russian helicopters and planes.  In 1994, the U.S and Russia guaranteed Ukraine that it would be protected if it gave up its nuclear weapons.  It unwisely gave them up.  Civilians have been given weapons and taught how to make Molotov Cocktails.  Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has rallied many countries in the world to assist Ukraine with weapons, cash, and volunteers to defend themselves against the Russian military.  The United States, however, is Ukraine’s largest defender with over $118 billion being given thus far.  Ukraine is still being slowly destroyed every day with constant artillery, missiles and bombs.

President Biden demonstrated weakness and incompetence, but also, in the time that Joe Biden has been President, a barrel of oil increased in price from about $40/barrel to about $100/barrel. This has enriched huge-oil-exporter Russia to the extent that it could afford to have Russia’s military attack Ukraine with expensive missiles and bombs. The huge increase in the price of oil that enabled Russian aggression was due to: Biden preventing any new leases on Federal lands for oil and gas exploration and drilling; Biden stopping the Keystone and other oil and gas pipelines; Biden stopping any oil and gas exploration and drilling in Alaska; Biden significantly increasing fees for drilling on existing leases on Federal lands; Biden stopping off-shore drilling; Biden stopping fracking. However, the world is not technologically ready to cease using fossil fuels.  It might be in about 40 years.  The U.S. has “jumped the gun” and is paying the price in massive inflation as well as some of our adversaries, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, being enriched by the high price of oil.

CAN PEACE BE ACHIEVED?

If the United States began arming Ukraine when Russia began moving troops to the Ukraine border in April 2021, the war might have been prevented.  Now, a negotiated settlement is probably the most likely end of the war.  However, things could get a lot worse first, with poison gas and tactical nuclear weapons. It’s in everyone’s interests to end this war since 100,000 Ukrainians and 200,000 Russians have been killed as I write this post.  In addition, Ukraine is running out of fighters with old men and young teenagers joining the war.

Is peace even possible since Ukraine wants all of the Ukrainian land back and Russia wants to keep Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. It might be possible if each gets enough of what they want to compromise and strike a deal.  This is unacceptable to Ukraine…it wants all of its land back.  Moreover, it might be a very bad message to send to dictators, allowing Russia to keep their ill-gotten gains.  So what’s to be done?

Americans are currently supporting the war, but this will most likely will change if the war continues too long, so perhaps it’s time to give Ukraine the weapons it wants and needs to go on major offensives and push the Russians back into Russia.  The U.S. hasn’t done this thus far…it says for fear of  pushing Russia into using tactical (battlefield) nuclear weapons.  Since China appears likely to support the  war by providing lethal aid (weapons) to Russia, I believe it’s time to get serious about winning. The fact that the war is a political winner for the President portends that it will continue on at least until the 2024 Presidential election.

If it turns out that Ukraine cannot push Russia completely out of its country, then the U.S. should push it to negotiate peace with Russia, most likely giving Russia some Ukrainian land.  The fastest and least provocative way to end this war is for the U.S. to become energy independent again.  This would drive down the world price of oil to about $40-45/barrel, at which point Russia could no longer afford to continue the war.  

WILL CHINA OVERTAKE AMERICA SOON?

Read how China has been at war with us…

Prior to China being admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO), it simply had blind ambition, as well as big plans (see Michael Pillsbury’s book, “The Hundred-Year Marathon”), but after becoming a member with all of its trade advantages, China’s growth grew very rapidly to the extent that its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was only  a few trillion dollars less than the United States.

With its large GDP (about $18 trillion/year in 2022), China now has the financial resources to continue building a world-class military, and is in the process of closing the gap in its attempt to surpass the world’s number one superpower, the United States. In October of 2021, China demonstrated its hypersonic missile which is so fast and maneuverable and flies so close to the ground that it can’t be shot down by our current anti-ballistic missile system.  This, of course, means that China now has a first strike capability which is catastrophic for the West when it puts nuclear warheads on its supersonic missiles.

Aside from its large military build-up, China has already surpassed the U. S. in manufacturing and exports to the extent that many countries, including America, are now dependent on China for basic commodities, including numerous medicines.  In addition, it has engaged in many nefarious activities, such as developing covid-19 in its Wuhan Virology lab and not giving a “heads-up” about it to the world when it “escaped”.  Moreover, it has enslaved about a million Uyghurs, an Islamic group that live in northwest China in Xinjiang Province.  Also, it was instrumental in stealing the 2020 Presidential election because President Trump imposed hundreds of billions in tariffs and feared he would thwart China’s ambition of overtaking the U.S. as the world’s superpower.

China’s huge telecommunications company, Huawei, is currently in the process of developing the world’s first  5G (fifth generation) communications network. This is important because other countries will follow the 5G leader, the U.S. or China, and 5G doesn’t simply allow you to download much faster, it will enable autonomous cities and appliances and the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to spy on everyone.

China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” had about 80 countries participating as of August 2018.  It provides financial assistance for railways, ports, highways, airports, pipelines and information networks.  It is entrapping many countries in unsustainable debt and is promoting China’s interests.  This initiative is not being done from a desire to help other countries, but instead to ingratiate countries to China so they will comply with its wishes.

I believe it’s clear that China is overtaking the United States, and when it does, the U.S.  and the world will be worse off.  What can be done to prevent this?  Many things, but they all have one thing in common: they require someone at the helm, in charge, who recognizes the threat and is tough enough to stand up to China and then do what is necessary for America to successfully compete with it.  I’m talking about re-electing former President Trump, who has already stood up to China with tariffs and other significant actions.  China is frightened of Trump.  They can’t bully him. The U.S. needs him.  See Newt Gingrich’s book, Trump vs. China.  To be fair, Governor DeSantis might also be strong against China, but he’s unproven on the International stage.  Donald Trump is the “Big Dog” but he’s America’s Big Dog and the U.S. needs him.

WHY PUTIN & RUSSIA RESPECT PRESIDENT TRUMP: CHINA!

Why in the world would Vladimir Putin be a Trumpster?  Putin used to want a weak America, an appeaser.   Trump is not a weak leader so why would Putin want Donald Trump to become President of the United States?  “China” is the answer to that question!

China is on the move.  Its economy routinely grows at about 10%/year (compared to less than 2%/year for the 8 “Obama” years in the U.S.).  Its military is expanding exponentially and China has nuclear weapons.  It also has approximately 1.3 billion people, about 4 times the population of the United States (Russia’s population is 143 million).  On the other hand, Russia and China share a border of thousands of miles,  Mother Russia needs a big, strong friend in the event its neighbor to the south becomes aggressive towards it, which China’s phenomenal military build-up makes a distinct possibility.  Moreover, China is concerned about Russia, especially after Russia militarily annexed Crimea.  President Trump is making the U.S. very strong again which I believe Putin believes he might need at some point, a very strong America, to counter the Chinese threat to Russia.  On the other hand, Hillary Clinton’s base (her voters) would not have allowed her to strengthen the military, even if she wanted to do just that.  To place each country in perspective, it’s important to know where each country stands insofar as military spending.  Here’s the stats on annual military spending (for 2016) by the three players:  U.S.: $596 billion;  China, $215 billion; Russia, $66 billion. For the next two years the U.S. is spending $700 billion this year and $716 billion next year.

When you look on the globe at military conflicts around the world, the common denominator is between countries that share a common border.  Russia and China share about 3,000 miles of border, therefore, even though the U.S. and Russia have not been friends in the past, they now share a common cause (fear of China) which I believe is causing Russia to want closer ties with a strong United States.

While both Russia and China are communist countries and they both have been behaving aggressively (China by building islands in the South China Sea and placing military installations on them),  they have had disputes over their common border.  Beginning March 2, 1969, border skirmishes began and lasted for months with thousands killed.  In the early seventies, President Nixon visited and befriended China to counter the Soviet Russian threat.  It worked and from then until now, China and the United States, though competing economically, were on relatively good terms.  Russia, on the other hand, has been an adversary.  President Trump knows that, so when he compliments Putin by saying that he is a strong leader, he means that he puts his country first.  Many people believe President Obama often did not put America first.  President Trump and President Putin appear to have gotten off to a good start in Helsinki, Finland.  If their relationship grows even better, both the U.S. and Russia will be a lot better off.

SINGAPORE: KIM JONG UN and PRESIDENT TRUMP MAKE PEACE


North Korea (NOKO) tested 9 missiles in 2017 but none in 2018.  The United States successfully tested one of its SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) missiles on May 30, 2017, launching it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.  It shot down a missile that was launched from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.  In the recent past it was successful only about 50% of the time, however, with recent improvements, it looks like it’s successful all of the time.  This is very important to the security of South Korea, Japan, and Hawaii, all of which are currently within reach of NOKO’s missiles.  Very shortly, the U.S. mainland will also be within reach of NOKO’s missiles.  Were it not for President Ronald Reagan, the U.S. would not have this “star wars” capability today.  Russian General Secretary Gorbachev pressed Reagan at their nuclear summit in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1986, but Reagan walked out of the talks rather than give up his Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed “starwars”.  The Democrat Congress tried to stop its development back then, as well as it and Democrat presidents up to the present, giving the Democrat Party the nickname the “Treason Party”.

NOKO has thousands of conventional artiliary aimed at Seoul,South Korea, many in hardened bunkers.  If the U.S. tried to destroy NOKO’s missile facilities, NOKO could kill at least a million South Koreans before all of their arsenal was obliterated by the U.S..  NOKO has the third largest army, after the U.S. and China. The U.S. recently tried to deploy its one-billion-dollar THAD anti-missile system in South Korea, as well as three aircraft carriers in the waters surrounding North Korea.

Ninety percent of NOKO’s trading is with China, making China very influential over NOKO.  President Trump pressured China to coerce NOKO to stop testing its missiles and meet with President Trump.  China, plus strong trade sanctions, convinced NOKO.  Previous presidents tried bribing NOKO, but NOKO did not keep any of its agreements with the U.S.

Life in North Korea, with the exception of its capitol, Pyongyang, is a living hell, with little food and electricity and government overwhelmingly horrible, similar to life depicted in George Orwell’s book, 1984, as explained in Barbara’s Demick’s  book on NOKO, Nothing to Envy.  However, North Koreans have been brainwashed to the extent that they worship Kim Jong-un, his father and grandfather as gods and believe all of the propaganda that the government presents.  Pyongyang sounds like a chapter out of the book, Stepford Wives.  To live there, a North Korean and his/her family must live an impeccable life, 100% loyal and obedient.

What will happen as a result of the Singapore Summit and the agreement Trump and Kim signed that NOKO will denuclearize?  No one can know for sure because NOKO has previously lied and cheated, however, I believe that President Trump’s unique personality  and the strong team he has assembled makes him and his administration distinctly capable of guiding the U.S. through these dangerous times.   

YOUNG WOMEN: AVOID ARUBA…PLEASE!

Robyn Garner is gone.  Natalee Holloway is gone.  Many others, whom you’ll rarely hear about from the media,  are gone as well.   Aruba is known as a center for human trafficking and date-rape drugs.  Incompetence of  law enforcement, the Aruban legal system, and Aruba’s location are mostly to blame.  But I find it inconceivable that any young woman would even travel there…and if for some reason she had to vacation there, not to take special precautions, like not getting drunk or taking drugs, by being accompanied by someone whenever she left her hotel,  by being careful whom she befriended in Aruba, etc., etc., etc.

Few knew about the Aruban problem prior to Natalee disappearing and Joran Van der sloot being implicated in her disappearance.  But now the world knows.  Perhaps it is Gary Giordano who is responsible for Ms. Gardiner’s disappearnce, but listening to his being interviewed and answering tough questions, I think he’s telling the truth and is not responsible for Robyn’s disappearance, but I don’t know that for sure.  I believed Bill Clinton when he told the entire country, via TV, that he “did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinski,” so perhaps I’m not a good judge of determining who’s lying.

Men abuse and con women.  Women do likewise to men.  So who can you trust?  Trust is developed over time as you observe someone react to various situations.  But then there’s about 5-10% of the population that has something called “Intermittent Explosive Disorder” or IED.    Something sets off  people afflicted with IED and they lose all control of their emotions.  A good example of IED is in the first “Godfather” movie where a woman receives a phone call from her husband’s mistress and learns that he is cheating on her and she consequently throws a fit of fury and attempts to destroy everything in her home.

You may never see a significant other with this problem display such a fit of rage until after the wedding.  That’s why you need to be around someone for a sufficient amount of time so you  can witness any really bad behavior prior to making any committment.  Was Robyn around Gary long enough to see if  he was sane,  was she kidnapped into a lifetime of multiple daily rapes, or did she simply drown?  Of course I can’t know for sure, but if you’re a young woman, you really should consider vacationing somewhere other than Aruba.