This space contributed as a public service.

"YES,THERE IS
LIFE AFTER
BREAST CANCER.
AND THAT'S THE
WHOLE POINT:"

—Ann Jillian

A Somber
Capital

JAMES D. BESSER

Special to The Jewish News

I

n Washington, it's difficult to
avoid a sense that the world has
changed in some fundamental,
anxiety-provoking ways in
recent weeks.
The changes
undoubtedly add up
to something less than
the apocalyptic visions
of the Christian fun-
damentalists; advocates
of various sky-is-falling
scenarios will probably
be disappointed.
But the rush of
events does suggest
some urgent challenges
ahead for Jewish lob-
byists and communal
leaders.
The confluence of
events is staggering.
Around the world, the disorder
that has characterized the post-Cold
War era has accelerated wildly.
Iraq, closer than ever to possessing
nonconventional weapons, is thumb-
ing its nose at a timorous administra-
tion in Washington; the nuclear genie
is out of the bottle on the Indian sub-
continent, and tinhorn dictators and
regional tyrants around the world
have been restored in their hope that
they, too, can acquire weapons of
mass destruction. The race for ballis-
tic missile technology is accelerating;
soon North Korea and Iran, among
others, will have the ability to strike
distant enemies, real and imagined.
Despite all the rhetoric about non-
proliferation policy, there is a growing
feeling of impotence in Washington
as the global arms race heats up.
Genocide is the order of the day in
places like Kosovo and in several
African nations, and the civilized
world seems less willing than ever in
taking risks to stop it.
Russia, with its 30,000-plus
nuclear weapons and its fleets of
bombers, submarines and interconti-
nental missiles, is nearing a complete

economic and political meltdown.
Social chaos may not be far behind as
its communists and nationalists
maneuver to take advantage of
President Boris Yeltsin's weakness and
the worthlessness of the ruble.
The implications are ominous for
Russia's million and
a half Jews.
The idea that
Russian military
technology may be
sold on the black
market is chilling,
but experts say it is
all but inevitable,
given the current
chaos.
Pro-Israel
activists keep
repeating the
mantra that U.S.-
Israel relations are
as strong as ever,
and in the narrow-
est sense they may be right.
But ongoing friction over a falter-
ing Mideast peace process and grow-
ing U.S. unhappiness with the poli-
cies of Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu suggest trouble ahead —
trouble that is certain to be magnified
if the region returns to endless spirals
of violence and retaliation.
Israel stands at a dangerous cross-
roads. The current peace process is
unlikely to go much further even if
there is an agreement on the next
Israeli West Bank redeployment, but
the nation can't return to the pre-Oslo
status quo. The rapid development of
nonconventional arsenals throughout
the region and the rapid spread of
radical Islamic fundamentalism mean
that Israel will be in mortal danger if
all hope for peace is extinguished.
The Clinton administration has
declared war on a new breed of inter-
national terrorists, but after a dramat-
ic beginning — the cruise missile
attacks on Afghan and Sudanese sites
associated with Saudi expatriate
Osama bin Laden — it's not clear if
Washington is following through.
One thing is certain: the advocates of

The sense in
Washington is of
fundamental and
worrisome change at
home and abroad.

ANALYSIS

A lot of women are so afraid of
breast cancer they don't want to hear
about it.
And that's what frightens me.
Because those women won't prac-
tice breast self-examination regularly.
Those women, particularly those
over 35, won't ask their doctor about a
mammogram.
Yet that's what's required for breast
cancer to be detected early. When the
cure rate is 90%. And when there's a

good chance it won't involve the loss of
a breast.
But no matter what it involves, take
it from someone who's been through
it all.
Life is just too wonderful to give up
on. And, as I found out, you don't have'
to give up on any of it. Not work, not
play, not even romance.
Oh, there is one thing, though.
You do have to give up being afraid
to take care of yourself.

?AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY®
0 •
Get a checkup. Life is worth it.

9/18
1998

28 Detroit Jewish News

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