Yom Kippur War

Conservative republicans may feel more sympathetic towards Netanyahu's leadership style, but it would be foolish to lose liberal Americans by playing up partisan differences by publicly undercutting Obama's call for direct negotiations with Abbas.

Today, the situation in Egypt is not so dissimilar to that of October 6, 1981 at 1 pm. Back then, Mubarak was vice president and Anwar Sadat was president. Now, nearly 30 years later, it's Mubarak's turn.

In the 37 years since this "victory," the Arabs have been unable to persuade Israel to agree to the Arab Peace Initiative and have become absolutely impotent to prevent it from continuing the construction of settlements.

If Ashraf Marwan was murdered, then his death could help us figure out whether Marwan was a loyal Israeli spy, a double Egyptian-Israeli spy or a spy with shifting loyalties.

It's a charged time of year, in a prickly piece of real estate. But this is Sinai. Ma feesh mushkila. (No problem.)

Today the curious traveler can get a government tour after securing an easy permit in Damascus. It is perhaps the best and most disturbing example of disaster tourism in the Middle East.

While feeling angry is justified in a crisis, the governments would be best advised not to get mad at Russia but to get more secure in energy supplies and smarter in energy usage.