Sometimes, one has to kill those guilty of grotesque crimes.

One of my greatest parental challenges was to get my kids functional in English. My late parents were terrified that they would not be able to understand their grandkids. And the challenge existed because their mother, local grandparents, friends, and teachers were all Hebrew-speaking Israelis. I tried to speak to them in English and received, "Say it in Hebrew!" as their reply. Assistance came in the way of video games, Apple devices, U.S. driver's license tests, and Tintin.

We had a couple of Tintin books in Hebrew, but the gold was the entire TV series of Tintin cartoon movies in English. The kids loved them, they were clean, and with them, they learned a lot of words in English. The author, Herge, was an antisemite as well as a virulent anti-Communist. Some of his work is brutal in its treatment of the Soviet Union and its satellites. Others involve going to the moon or running around the world with Tintin and his friends. In one episode ("Tintin and the Picaros"), based in a fictional South American country, Tintin helps his friend General Alcazar get back into power. He takes control from his archenemy, General Tapioca. A dejected Tapioca demands that Tintin kill him, as such is the fate of all failed coup leaders. Tintin, being Tintin, refuses. Tapioca is livid—the embarrassment would be too much to bear. But Tintin refuses to kill him. Tintin's lesson should not apply much beyond the cartoon movie.

The revolution in Iran would appear to be in the sixth inning. Many are beginning to believe that the good guys might just win; everyone agrees that there is no going back to what once was. Most here in Israel believe that Donald Trump will follow through on this threat of kinetic action, and the country is quietly preparing for possible Iranian ICBMs. Just as Iraq flung 39 SCUDs at Israel........

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