I intended to take a break from beating on my reduce oil consumption/reduce terrorism/save Israel/help the environment drum. Actually, I really wanted to follow up my last blog on the Dalai Lama with another one.

I attended his Gold Medal Gala sponsored by International Campaign for Tibet. I was impressed with the Jewish representation there, especially Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Cal.), who is an Hungarian Holocaust survivor. Jews, of all people, should be leading the international effort to allow Tibetans religious freedom in their homeland.

But on the way to writing about that, too many other things have happened:
•      Turkey’s army and Iraqi-based Kurds fighting for an independent Kurdistan began a dangerous build up to war;
•      An analysis came out that the Iraqi war will cost the U.S. $2.4 trillion;
•      A defiant Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iran;
•      The Bush administration imposed additional sanctions on Iran;
•      Oil futures hit $90 a barrel;
•      Vice President Dick Cheney gave signals the U.S. may bomb Iranian targets before the Bush-Cheney administration leaves office.

Where to start? While I’m in favor of taking tough measures to keep Iran from going nuclear, I’m getting tired of Mr. Bush’s same two policies – war and economic sanctions.

Ironically, now that we impose additional sanctions on Iran, oil prices are surging, giving the Iranians an even larger war chest to destroy Israel and target other U.S. friends. And, we’ve seen what a mess we’ve created in Iraq. It’s not enough that we caught between flying bullets in an Iraqi civil war, but now we’re watching as the war is moving across the Turkish and Iranian borders. Clearly, a military strategy is not working. There’s no real democracy in Iraq and we can’t seem to stabilize the Mideast oil supplies.

I don’t mind carrying a big stick. But, we need other approaches to get oil below $90 a barrel. What if we invested a fraction of that on creating an engine that didn’t run on oil? It worked for John F. Kennedy.

If we could do that, I believe we would bring all of Israelis enemies to their knees and save the polar bears at the same time. It’s a solution even the Dalai Lama would approve.

The United States is in a bit of political tough spot these days. We have had to make some tough choices, and they’re particularly vexing for American Jews.

One situation is Congress’ upcoming important, yet toothless vote on whether to officially proclaim the Ottoman-Turks’ murder of 1.5 million Armenians during World War I a “genocide.” This is prickly issue for Jews because we like to think our Holocaust is unique. But many Jews of conscious speak out against all systematic slaughter. Normally this would be no-brainer for the U.S. and the majority of Jews, but this resolution would anger Turkey, a key ally in the war in Iraq. The United States cannot afford to alienate them right now. The Turks also have specifically warned that the vote could harm Turkish-Israeli ties. Meanwhile, Turkish Jews are nervous about their fate. Where, as American Jews, are we supposed to stand? Against all mass extermination or for the current war on terror or for the State of Israel and Turkey’s Jews?

The other tough choice of late concerns the Dali Lama, who just received the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Nobel Prize winning Buddhist spiritual leader is despised by China for his push for an autonomous Tibet. Now Jews know a little about living in the Diaspora while advocating for a safe religious homeland. Again, it’s a non-issue.

The challenge for the U.S. becomes how do we stand up for the Tibetan Buddhists and not alienate China? After all, that country is a huge trading partner, can help pressure the Iranians and can be useful in other ways. For certain, with more than 1.6 billion people it cannot be avoided. At the same time, many Americans and Jews are concerned about China’s relationship with Sudan. The Chinese government is quenching its tremendous thirst for oil directly from Sudan, whose roving janjaweed gangs of murderers have slaughtered some 400,000 people and displaced as many as 2.3 million. We need to ensure we can work with China to get of Sudan.

American policy is caught between condemning China for its acts against the Tibetan people and trying to stop a current genocide.

These issues make for delicate maneuvering for the U.S. and challenging stances for American Jews.

My husband & I have eaten at the Sunday brunch a few times with my husband’s large family. We were treated well, the food was good & plentyful. We are very satisfied with this restaurant.