English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 13/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the
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Bible Quotations For today
You
fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you
have prepared, whose will they be
Luke 12/13-21:"Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to
divide the family inheritance with me.’But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me
to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on
your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the
abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man
produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, "What should I do, for I have no
place to store my crops?" Then he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my
barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years;
relax, eat, drink, be merry." But God said to him, "You fool! This very night
your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will
they be?" So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not
rich towards God."
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on
October 12-13/2021
Thanksgiving Day: Obligations Prayers & Wishes/Elias Bejjani/October 11/2020
Guila Fakhoury to Dima Sadek (Tweeter)
Hezbollah pressure pays off with new suspension of Beirut blast probe
Beirut Blast Probe Frozen Again as Judge Issues Arrest Warrant
Port Probe Suspended as Bitar Issues Arrest Warrant for Khalil
Lebanon’s former fin. minister says Beirut blast arrest warrant against him not
legal
'Parody, Smear Campaign': Rights Groups Slam Political Moves against Bitar
Cabinet Session Suspended after 'Heated Debate' on Bitar
US diplomat expected to push IMF plan during Lebanon trip: Sources
Bassil: FPM Not Part of the Govt. but Will Help It Out in Reforms
Under-Pressure Taliban Meet EU-U.S. Delegation in Push for Support
Army Says Arsal Nitrates Agricultural as Charges Filed in Iaat Case
EU Urges No Political Interference in Beirut Port Probe
Lebanon Stadiums in Sorry State
Lebanon perpetual crisis is Iran’s ploy/Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/October
12/2021
Kingdom Come/Michael Young/Carnegie/October 12/2021
AMCD Meets with Guila Fakhoury of the Amer Fakhoury Foundation
Jonathan Spyer: Iran and Hezbollah "Swallowing Up Lebanon"/Marilyn Stern/Middle
East Forum Webinar/October 12/ 2021
From Lebanon to Afghanistan!/Tariq Al-Homayed/ Asharq Al-Awsat/October, 12/2021
Shattered yet resilient/Sally Abou AlJoud/Now Lebanon/October 12/2021
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
October 12-13/2021
Head of Pro-Iran Fatah Alliance Rejects as ‘Fabricated’ Results of Iraq
Elections
Pro-Iran blocs in turmoil while Sadr emerges as Iraqi elections’ winner
Saudi Arabia wants action, not words on ties reset with Iran
Israeli Minister Sees No Compromise on US Palestinian Mission in Jerusalem
Israel Plans to Bring 500,000 Jewish Immigrants from Rich Countries
Jordan's Cabinet Reshuffle Includes 9 Portfolios
‘Trump’ Settlement in Occupied Golan Heights Is a Plan to Double Settlers
Attacks against Pro-Turkey Factions Escalate in Northern Syria
Pro-Iran Groups Denounce Iraq Election as 'Scam'
Israel PM Urges U.N. to Hold Iran to Account for Nuclear Moves
Algerian Prosecutors Seek 7 Years Jail for Bouteflika Brother
Wide Arab, Int’l Condemnation of Aden Attack
Yemen’s Floods Cause Massive Destruction, Displace Hundreds of Families
Algerian President Rejects Mediation to End Row with Morocco
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC
English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
October 12-13/2021
Confronting a Financial Assault on America's Future/Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone
Institute/October 12/2021
Biden Must Continue the Bipartisan Nuclear Consensus/Anthony Ruggiero/The
National Interest/October 12/2021
Florida Businessman Indicted in Nader Mohamad Farhat’s Money Laundering Case/Emanuele
Ottolenghi/| Policy Brief-FDD/October 12/2021
Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan (TTP) consolidates power in tribal
areas/Bill Roggio/longwarjournal/October 12/2021
How Israel blocked Iraq’s political reform/Farouk Yousef/The Arab News/October
12/2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on October 11-12/2021
Thanksgiving Day: Obligations Prayers &
Wishes
الياس بجاني/عيد الشكر في كندا: واجبات وصلاة وتمنيات
Elias Bejjani/October 11/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/67920/elias-bejjani-thanks-giving-day-obligations-prayers-wishes-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a8%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d9%83%d8%b1-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d9%83%d9%86/
Let us never forget that we have a holy obligation
to always no matter what to happily keep on thanking Almighty God For His
generosity, love and Graces.
This Year, Our beloved Canada celebrates on the 11th of October The Thanksgiving
Day.
A blessed day by all means that is welcomed and cherished with joy,
gratefulness, Hope and faith.
All principles and values of humility and gratitude necessitates that each and
every one of us with faith, and hope thank Almighty God for all that we have no
matter what.
To appreciate what we have it is a must to look wisely around and observe the
millions and millions of people all over the world who are totally deprived from
almost every thing that is basic and needed for a safe and descent life.
While celebrating the “Thanksgiving Day” Let us be grateful and thank Almighty
God genuinely and with full reverence.
On this very special day we have to focus on praying and combine both faith and
acts together.
We need to train ourselves to witness for the truth and to be humble and
generous in giving what we can to all those who are in need.
We must recognise and understand with no shed of doubt that the only weapons
that a peaceful believer can use to fight hardships of all sorts are faith,
honesty, self trust, righteousness and praying.
Let us all Lebanese Canadians pray and ask Almighty God for what ever we are in
need for ourselves, for others and for our beloved both countries, Canada and
Lebanon.
Almighty God definitely will hear and respond in case we are genuine in our
prayers and praying with confidence, faith and trust, but His responses shall be
mostly beyond our understanding or grasping.
Let us Pray for on going peace and prosperity in the hospitable and great Canada
that gave us a home when we needed it.
Let us pray for peace in our beloved original country, Lebanon and for freedom
of its persecuted and impoverished people.
Let us pray that all Families will get together on this day to support each
other and mend all differences among their members.
Let us pray that all parents will be appreciated today by their family members,
honoured and showed all due respect.
Let us pray for the souls of Lebanon’s martyrs that fell while defending
Lebanon’s dignity and independence.
Let us pray that Jesus Christ shall grant, our mother country, Lebanon, the Land
Of the Holy Cedars with faithful clergymen and brave political leaders who fear
him and count for His Day Of Judgment.
Let us pray for peace and tranquility in our beloved Canada, and for all
countries and people over the world, especially in the troubled and chaotic
Middle East
Happy Thanksgiving Day.
Guila Fakhoury to Dima Sadek (Tweeter)
We say, Amer is more patriotic than you will ever be. Amer and his fellow
southerners fought against Hezbollah and the PLOs. All the false accusations
that your government fabricated in order to attack the USA are proven false in
court. Get your facts straight!
Hezbollah pressure pays off with new suspension of
Beirut blast probe
The Arab News/October 12/2021
BEIRUT--A probe into the catastrophic Beirut port explosion was frozen on
Tuesday for the second time in less than three weeks after the leader of the
powerful Shia Hezbollah movement announced on Monday it wanted Bitar removed
from the case. Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday the lead
investigator into the disastrous Beirut port blast was biased and politicised,
his strongest criticism of the judge since his appointment. “The targeting is
clear, you are picking certain officials and certain people, the bias is clear,”
he said in a televised address, adding that Judge Tarek Bitar would never reach
the truth if he continues with the probe. “The current judge is using the blood
of the victims to serve political interests,” he said, without elaborating.
Tuesday’s suspension of the probe came after two politicians wanted for
questioning filed a new complaint against the lead investigator Judge Tarek
Bitar.
Enormous pressure
The investigation has been facing obstacles since Bitar sought to question some
of the most powerful people in Lebanon on suspicion that they knew about the
chemicals but did nothing to avert the disaster. Bitar is under enormous
pressure from groups that have accused his probe of political bias and mounting
a smear campaign against him. The August 4, 2020 blast, one of the biggest
non-nuclear explosions on record, killed more than 200 people and devastated
swathes of Beirut. Apart from the suspension, senior politicians called for
questioning have refused to show up and arrest warrants are not being served.
The probe was suspended in late September on the basis of a complaint
questioning Bitar’s impartiality. A court rejected the complaint on procedural
grounds, allowing him to continue. Bitar is the second judge to lead the probe
since Fadi Sawan was removed from the case in February on the basis of a similar
complaint filed by the politicians who are now challenging Bitar’s neutrality.
“For the first time, the judicial system wants to function, but it is suffering
under the political pressure and interventions,” said Paul Morcos, lawyer and
professor of international law.
Arrest warrant
Shortly before being informed of the latest complaint, Bitar had issued an
arrest warrant for one of the politicians who filed it, former finance minister
Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior politician close to Hezbollah. Khalil, a senior
member of the Shia Amal movement, was not immediately reachable for comment. The
second politician was ex-public works minister Ghazi Zeiter, also a Hezbollah
ally, who is due for questioning on Wednesday. In a televised address on Monday,
Nasrallah voiced the harshest criticism yet of Bitar. The remarks came weeks
after Wafik Safa, a senior Hezbollah official, was said to have warned Bitar the
group would remove him from the inquiry, according to a journalist and a
judicial source. Khalil’s arrest warrant is the second for an ex-minister
arising from the investigation. The first was issued for ex-public works
minister Youssef Finianos, another Hezbollah ally, in September when he
repeatedly failed to show for questioning. Bitar had issued multiple requests in
July to question several top officials, including former prime minister Hassan
Diab, several ex-ministers and the country’s top security chief about
negligence. All have denied wrongdoing. But Bitar’s requests were met with
resistance and legal complaints questioning his impartiality. While Bitar has
sought to question several politicians who are allied to Hezbollah, including
Khalil and Zeiter, he has not tried to question any members of Hezbollah itself.
Beirut Blast Probe Frozen Again as Judge Issues Arrest
Warrant
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
The probe into the catastrophic Beirut port explosion was frozen on Tuesday for
the second time in less than three weeks after two politicians wanted for
questioning filed a new complaint against the lead investigator, a judicial
source said. It marks another blow to Judge Tarek Bitar’s efforts to hold senior
officials accountable for the Aug. 4, 2020, blast, one of the biggest
non-nuclear explosions on record, which killed more than 200 people and
devastated swathes of Beirut. Bitar is under enormous pressure from groups that
have been accusing his probe of political bias and mounting a smear campaign
against him. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced on Monday he wanted
Bitar removed from the case. The probe was suspended in late September on the
basis of a complaint questioning Bitar’s impartiality. A court rejected the
complaint on procedural grounds, allowing him to continue. Bitar has been
leading the probe since Judge Fadi Sawwan was removed from the case in February
on the basis of a similar complaint filed by the politicians who are now
challenging Bitar’s neutrality. Shortly before being informed of the latest
complaint, Bitar had issued an arrest warrant for one of the politicians who
filed it, former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior politician close
to Hezbollah. The arrest warrant was issued after Khalil failed to show up for
questioning. Khalil, a senior member of the Amal movement, was not immediately
reachable by Reuters for comment. The second politician was ex-public works
minister Ghazi Zeiter, also a Hezbollah ally, who was due for questioning on
Wednesday. Nasrallah voiced his harshest criticism yet of Bitar on Monday when
he called for his replacement in a televised address, saying he was biased and
politicized. The remarks came weeks after Wafiq Safa, a senior Hezbollah
official, was said to have warned Bitar the group would remove him from the
inquiry, according to a journalist and a judicial source. Khalil’s arrest
warrant is the second for an ex-minister arising from the investigation. The
first was issued for ex-public works minister Youssef Finianos, another
Hezbollah ally, in September when he too repeatedly failed to show for
questioning. Finianos has not been arrested yet despite the warrant. Bitar had
issued multiple requests in July to question several top officials, including
former prime minister Hassan Diab, several ex-ministers and the country’s top
security chief about negligence.
All have denied wrongdoing. But Bitar’s request were met with resistance and
legal complaints questioning his impartiality.While Bitar has sought to question
several politicians who are allied to Hezbollah, including Khalil and Zeiter, he
has not tried to question any members of Hezbollah itself.
Port Probe Suspended as Bitar Issues Arrest Warrant for
Khalil
Naharnet/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Lead investigator in port blast case, Judge Tarek Bitar, issued Tuesday an
in-absentia arrest warrant against ex-minister and MP Ali Hassan Khalil after
the latter failed to appear this morning as a defendant before the Judge for
interrogation. Bitar reportedly accused Khalil of committing the crimes of
murder, vandalism and arson, coupled with possible intent and professional
negligence. Bitar's probe into the case was suspended in the wake of the
session, after the judge was notified of a second recusal lawsuit filed against
him by Khalil and ex-minister Ghazi Zoaiter. This is the second time that
Bitar's investigation gets suspended due to challenges filed by politicians.
Judge Janet Hanna of the Civilian Court of Cassation had on Monday rejected a
request from Khalil and Zoaiter -- also accused of negligence -- to dismiss
Bitar. Head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Suheil Abboud, later referred
a second dismissal request to the First Chamber of the Court of Cassation headed
by Judge Naji Eid. Media reports said that Khalil’s defense attorney is also
intending to file a lawsuit against the state before the judiciary, which will
not reverse the effects of the arrest warrant in absentia.
Lebanon’s former fin. minister says Beirut blast arrest
warrant against him not legal
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/12 October ,2021
Lebanon’s former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil said on Tuesday the arrest
warrant issued against him by the lead investigator of the Beirut port blast was
illegal. “I consider it illegal and not to be taken into account,” Khalil told
Lebanese pro-Iranian TV channel al-Mayadeen in an interview. He added that the
investigation ignored the ministers who are directly involved with details of
the case and focused instead on the minister of finance as a formality. Khalil
also accused the lead investigator of being “politicized”, adding that the probe
will be the topic of discussion at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting. “There will be
political escalation or another type of escalation if the direction of this case
is not corrected,” Khalil said. The probe into the deadly August 2020 Beirut
blast has been suspended again after two politicians wanted for questioning
filed complaints against the case’s lead investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar. The
influential Shia political movement Hezbollah, who Khalil is close to, called on
Monday for Bitar to be removed from the case. And some ministers pushed for
Bitar’s removal in Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, according to Reuters’ sources. The
cabinet decided to continue discussions of the Beirut blast probe on in a
session on Wednesday, according to the state news agency NNA. Bitar is the
second judge to handle the investigation into the blast after Fadi Sawan was
removed from the case in February following similar complaints by politicians
about his impartiality.
'Parody, Smear Campaign': Rights Groups Slam Political Moves against Bitar
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
The Lebanon judge leading the investigation into last year's huge Beirut port
blast was forced to suspend its work Tuesday after what human right groups have
condemned as an attempt by politicians to evade justice.
It is the second time Bitar has had to suspend the investigation in the face of
lawsuits filed by former ministers he had summoned on suspicion of negligence,
and comes amid growing calls from top officials, including Hizbullah chief
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, for him to be replaced.
Bitar's predecessor, Fadi Sawwan, was forced to suspend his probe for the same
reason before he was finally removed in February in a move widely condemned as
political interference. Human rights groups and relatives of blast victims fear
that the latest suspension is a prelude to Bitar's removal, which would further
derail the official inquiry into the country's worst peace-time tragedy.
Speaking to AFP on Tuesday, a court official said Bitar had been forced to pause
the probe pending a ruling by the Court of Cassation on a lawsuit filed by
former ministers Ghazi Zoaiter and Ali Hasan Khalil, both of whom Bitar had
summoned for interrogation this week.
'Parody'
Shortly before he was notified of the latest lawsuit, Bitar had issued an arrest
warrant against Khalil, a former finance minister and member of the Hizbullah-allied
Amal movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a court official said. The
warrant was issued after Khalil failed to show up for questioning on Tuesday,
with his attorney appearing in his place to request more time to mount a
defense, the court official added. The arrest warrant is the second to be issued
by Bitar after one last month against former public works and transport minister
Youssef Fenianos, who also failed to attend a hearing.
Bitar was also scheduled to question Zoaiter, a former public works minister,
and former interior minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq within the next 24 hours before
the suspension came into force. The investigator was hoping to complete a series
of interrogations before parliament begins its session on October 19, after
which several suspects will benefit from parliamentary immunity. "The course of
action taken by the politicians in the Beirut blast case is becoming a parody of
itself," said Aya Majzoub of Human Rights Watch. "The accused politicians are
case shopping, filing all the complaints they can think of to suspend the
investigation, in every court available to them, hoping that something sticks,"
she told AFP. "It is a ludicrous attempt to evade justice."
'Smear campaign' -
The August 4, 2020 explosion at Beirut port killed more than 200 people, wounded
thousands more and destroyed swathes of the capital. The Lebanese investigation
into the tragedy has yet to identify a single culprit. Calls have grown for an
international probe but they have been rejected by the authorities. Since taking
up the case, Bitar has summoned an array of former premiers and ministers, and
top military and security officials for questioning on suspicion of criminal
negligence. Nasrallah accused Bitar on Monday of bias and working towards
political objectives. "Things cannot go on this way," he said in a televised
speech. Other politicians have accused the judge of partiality in his choice of
suspects to question. "There is a political decision to prevent Bitar from
proceeding with his work, it's not just a case of stalling," said lawyer and
activist Nizar Saghieh. "Nasrallah's remarks are proof that patience has run
out," Saghieh added. The lawyer dismissed the criticism directed towards Bitar
as "unfounded." "It is part of a systemic smear campaign that aims to tarnish
Bitar's reputation," with the aim of facilitating his removal or undermining any
findings he may make. Sahar Mandour of Amnesty International condemned what she
called "repeated excuses to suspend the probe." Lebanese authorities, she said,
"are not only dodging accountability but also undermining the expectation of
accountability."
Cabinet Session Suspended after 'Heated Debate' on Bitar
Naharnet/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
A Cabinet session was suspended Tuesday and adjourned to Wednesday, after it
witnessed a heated debate over a demand by the ministers of Hizbullah, Amal
Movement and Marada Movement for a stance on Beirut port blast investigator
Judge Tarek Bitar, TV networks said. LBCI television said the ministers of
Hizbullah and Amal demanded replacing Bitar with another judge. “During
discussions in Cabinet, it turned out that, due to the separation of powers,
Cabinet cannot recuse or change the investigative judge, and that all it can do
is withdrawing the port blast case from the Judicial Council, something that the
government does not intend to do,” LBCI added. Al-Jadeed TV meanwhile said that
the session was adjourned to 4pm Wednesday. Prior to the session’s adjournment,
the council approved the appointments of a president for the Lebanese
University, two members for the Constitutional Council, a director general for
the Justice Ministry and five members for the Council of Decorations. It also
took notice of the appointment of four new members of the Higher Judicial
Council, following a suggestion from the Justice Minister and the approval of
the President and the Prime Minister.
The adjournment of the Cabinet session came a few hours after Bitar's probe was
suspended due to recusal motions filed by ex-ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and
Ghazi Zoaiter, and after the judge issued an in-absentia arrest warrant for
Khalil for failing to attend an interrogation.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had on Monday escalated his criticism of
the Bitar, calling on authorities to replace him with a "truthful and
transparent" investigator. Bitar was appointed in February by a government body
to lead the investigation. A court ruled to remove Bitar's predecessor after he
faced similar accusations of bias from former officials.
Bitar has been the recipient of heavy criticism from Nasrallah, who has
repeatedly accused him of politicizing the probe. On Monday, Nasrallah spent
nearly a quarter of his one-hour speech meant to address the country's multiple
crises to criticize almost every decision Bitar has made. He accused him of
politicizing the probe and targeting mainly officials who are allies of
Hizbullah while failing to even question others. "I am addressing the Higher
Judicial Council. What is happening has nothing to do with justice or the law
and you must resolve this," Nasrallah said. If the government-appointed council
doesn't, the Cabinet must interfere, he said. "We have a big problem. What is
happening is a very big, big, big, big, big mistake that won't lead to justice
or truth."There was no immediate response from Bitar, who has not publicly
responded to accusations against him and has kept the investigation secret so
far. On Aug. 4, 2020, hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive
material used in fertilizers, exploded, killing at least 214 people, injuring
over 6,000 and devastating part of the city. The material had been improperly
stored in the port for years. Independent media and rights groups revealed that
most of Lebanon's senior political and security leadership knew of the
explosives stored at the port, but did nothing to take precautions or warn the
public. Addressing the families of the victims killed in the blast, Nasrallah
said: "If you are expecting to reach justice and truth with this judge, I say
you won't."
The relatives and rights groups have been protesting against what they consider
to be political interference and efforts to stall the probe. Some politicians
have challenged Bitar in court, accusing him of violating the constitution or of
showing bias. There were also reports of a threat leveled against the judge by a
senior Hizbullah official and the government has vowed to increase his security.
Most of the lawsuits have so far been shelved but they have caused the probe to
stop for at least a week. Nasrallah criticized the courts that have refused to
take on cases against Bitar. Some Lebanese have pointed the finger at Hizbullah,
saying it may have stored explosives at the port, a charge the group denies. No
evidence has emerged that links Hizbullah directly to the blast and none of its
members are defendants in the case.
Bitar's removal, if it happens, will be a major blow to the investigation.
US diplomat expected to push IMF plan during Lebanon
trip: Sources
Nuland will also voice Washington’s support for PM Najib Mikati and his
government if they carry out the necessary reforms to help Lebanon’s economy.
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/12 October ,2021
A senior US diplomat set to visit Lebanon this week will focus on the need to
commit to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) plan meant to help the
crisis-struck country avoid an all-out collapse, sources familiar with the trip
said. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, currently in Russia, will travel
to Beirut on Thursday. She will meet with civil society groups and government
officials to discuss economic reforms and the elections slated for next year,
the State Department said ahead of her trip. Sources briefed on her trip believe
during her meetings with Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Najib
Mikati, Nuland will highlight the need for quick engagement with the IMF. The US
diplomat, the most senior to visit Lebanon under the Biden administration, is
expected to carry an IMF brief on what is needed from the Lebanese government.
Nuland will also voice Washington’s support for Mikati and his government if
they carry out the necessary reforms to help Lebanon’s economy. Mikati is a
two-time former premier and has been criticized for amassing a large portion of
his wealth from Lebanon’s corrupt economic sector. Although many of the faces in
his cabinet are new to the political scene, the country’s traditional political
parties appointed them with sectarian and self-interests as a priority. On
Tuesday, during a cabinet meeting, officials were heard shouting over the
insistence of Hezbollah and Amal ministers to dislodge the judge investigating
the Beirut blast. Officials have refused to cooperate with Judge Tarek Bitar,
the second judge to take on the investigation after his predecessor was relieved
due to similar pressure from the political class. Nuland is not expected to
press on the issue of Hezbollah - a terrorist organization under US law - during
her meetings with Lebanese officials, but she will voice the Biden
administration’s readiness to sanction any individual from any group that blocks
progress on reforms. It is unclear whether the US diplomat tasked with mediating
the Lebanese-Israeli maritime border dispute will travel with Nuland this week.
US officials previously told Al Arabiya English that Amos Hochstein would visit
Beirut this month before heading to Israel to revive stalled talks on the
dispute. Israeli-born Hochstein had a similar role under former President Barack
Obama.
Bassil: FPM Not Part of the Govt. but Will Help It Out in Reforms
Naharnet/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Head of Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil said Tuesday that even though the
bloc “is not part of the new government,” the FPM will do what it can to help
the government overcome the crisis. He pointed out that “we were handed a
country that is occupied, under (Syrian) tutelage and lacks sovereignty” and
that “we are working to give it back its freedom and independence.”“We were
handed a destroyed, corrupted and bankrupt country, and we should free it of
corruption, make its economy productive, and its finances profitable,” Bassil
added. He affirmed that “we should study ideas, projects and laws that help us
get out of our ordeal” and that “we have the solutions, plans and laws, but
unfortunately we alone do not have the ability to implement them.”“Today we are
not part of the government,” he said, “but we should help it to get out of these
crises, whenever we can.”
He stressed that the most important way to help is by issuing reform laws in
Parliament.
Under-Pressure Taliban Meet EU-U.S. Delegation in Push for Support
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
The Taliban held their first face-to-face talks with a joint EU-U.S. delegation
Tuesday in Qatar as the hardline Islamists pursue their diplomatic push for
international support. Afghanistan's new rulers are seeking recognition, as well
as assistance to avoid a humanitarian disaster, after they returned to power in
August following the withdrawal of U.S. troops after 20 years of war. U.N. chief
Antonio Guterres urged the world to donate to Afghanistan to head off its
economic collapse, but also slammed the Taliban's "broken" promises to Afghan
women and girls. The direct talks in Doha were facilitated by Qatar which has
long hosted a Taliban political office. EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said the
meeting would "allow the U.S. and European side to address issues" including
free passage for people wanting to leave, access for humanitarian aid, respect
for the rights of women and preventing Afghanistan becoming a haven for
"terrorist" groups. "This is an informal exchange at technical level. It does
not constitute recognition of the 'interim government'," she said. The Taliban
badly need assistance as Afghanistan's economy is in a parlous state with
international aid cut off, food prices rising and unemployment spiking. The
regime, still yet to be recognized as a legitimate government by any other
country, is also facing a security threat from the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K)
group, who have launched a series of deadly attacks. "We want positive
relationships with the whole world," the Taliban's acting foreign minister Amir
Khan Muttaqi said at an earlier event in Qatar. "We believe in balanced
international relations. We believe such a balanced relationship can save
Afghanistan from instability," said Muttaqi, who led the Taliban delegation
Saturday for the first in-person talks with U.S. officials since the American
pullout.
Staving off 'collapse'
Ahead of Tuesday's talks, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc
was looking to bolster its direct aid to the Afghan people in an effort to stave
off "collapse". "We cannot 'wait and see'. We need to act, and act quickly,"
Borrell said after discussions with EU development ministers.
The international community is facing a tough balancing act trying to get
urgently needed aid to Afghans without endorsing Taliban rule. G20 leaders were
to hold a virtual summit on Tuesday to discuss the humanitarian and security
situation following the Taliban takeover.
It was not clear if all the leaders of the G20 economic powers, which include
the United States, EU, China, Turkey, Russia and Saudi Arabia among others,
would join the meeting organized by Italy. But an Italian government official
said it would be "mostly heads of state and government". Guterres underscored
discontent with the Taliban over its treatment of women despite vows it would
not repeat its earlier hardline rule. "I am particularly alarmed to see promises
made to Afghan women and girls by the Taliban being broken," he told reporters
Monday. Afghanistan's boys were allowed to return to secondary schools three
weeks ago, but girls have been told to stay at home along with women teachers in
much of the country, though they can attend primary school. Asked about the
exclusion of girls, Muttaqi said schools had been closed because of Covid-19 --
a threat he said had lessened. "Covid... has been controlled and incidences are
very few, and with the reduction of that risk, opening of schools has already
started and every day it is increasing," he said. Muttaqi also insisted
there was no discrimination against the Shiite community and claimed that IS-K
was being tamed. "Whatever preparations they had made have been neutralized 98
percent," he said. IS-K claimed a bombing of a Shiite mosque that killed more
than 60 people on Friday, the deadliest attack since the U.S. pullout.
Underlining the shaky security situation, the U.S. and Britain warned their
citizens on Monday to avoid hotels in Afghanistan. Spain was to organize a
second evacuation flight for Afghans Tuesday after flying 84 from Pakistan to a
base near Madrid on Monday.Madrid evacuated more than 2,000 people, most of them
Afghans who had worked for Spain and their families, during the Western
withdrawal from Kabul in August but the flights had to stop once the last
American troops left.
Army Says Arsal Nitrates Agricultural as Charges Filed in
Iaat Case
Naharnet/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Army Says Arsal Nitrates Agricultural as Charges Filed in Iaat Case
The army on Tuesday announced that a quantity of ammonium nitrate seized in the
eastern border town of Arsal is not explosive, as charges were filed in the case
of the ammonium nitrate truck confiscated in the Bekaa town of Iaat. “As a
result of lab tests conducted on the specimens taken from the warehouse, it
turned out that the quantity contains fertilizers that are free of any chemical
substances related to the manufacturing of explosives,” the army said in a
statement. Separately, Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim charged Maroun Sakr,
Ahmed al-Zein and Saadallah al-Solh with “smuggling and monopolizing goods,
money laundering and violating the customs law,” referring the file to acting
First Examining Magistrate of the Bekaa Amani Salameh. Sakr, Zein and Solh had
been arrested in connection with 20 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been
seized in Iaat. Importing ammonium nitrate requires an official permission from
the Economy Ministry with the approval of the Defense Ministry and the Council
of Ministers. Any quantity with a nitrogen concentration higher than 33.5% is
considered explosives rather than fertilizers.
EU Urges No Political Interference in Beirut Port Probe
Naharnet/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
The lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the EU, Peter Stano, said
Tuesday that the Beirut port blast investigation has to be “completed as soon as
possible,” and that it should be impartial, credible and transparent. “The
European Union recalls that the investigation into the Beirut Port blast should
be completed as soon as possible, and that it should be impartial, credible,
transparent as well as independent,” Stano said in a video message. “The
investigation should be allowed to proceed without any interference in legal
proceedings and those responsible for this tragedy should be held accountable,”
he added. Stano also said that it is up to the Lebanese authorities to “enable
the investigation to continue with all the necessary human and financial
resources, so it can finally shed light on what happened in August last year and
provide credible answers to the pressing questions from the Lebanese people
about why it happened and how it happened.”
Lebanon Stadiums in Sorry State
Associated Press/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Lebanon's top football stadium once hosted some of the world's best players, but
today it has become a neglected, explosion-hit arena at times used as a cereal
warehouse. Stray dogs roam around its abandoned facilities, the walls are
water-damaged and ceilings have caved in.
The Beirut stadium is just one of several nationwide to have fallen into
disrepair as Lebanon faces an economic collapse of historic proportions. Playing
surfaces are in such bad shape that the national team has been forced to play
its qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup abroad. Lebanon is to play Syria in the
Jordanian capital Amman on Tuesday. Built in 1957 and named after Lebanon's
second president, the Camille Chamoun Sports City enjoyed a brief period of
glory before it was heavily bombed during the 1975-1990 civil war. It was then
rebuilt in time to host the 1997 Pan-Arab Games, the 2000 Asian Football
Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup and the 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie. In 2017,
Brazil's Ronaldinho featured among an array of stars in a showdown between
"legends" Real Madrid and Barcelona. But in August 2020, like swathes of the
capital, the stadium was ravaged in a deadly explosion at Beirut port that has
been largely blamed on government neglect.
'Crying shame'
The country's worst peace-time disaster killed more than 210 people, wounded
thousands and devastated the wheat siloes on the dockside.
In the aftermath, donated bags of wheat and flour were stored at Sports City.
"We had to find an alternative ground for the national team," Hashem Haidar,
head of the Lebanese Football Federation, told AFP.
They decided on the stadium in the southern city of Sidon, but even that needs
considerable repair. Until it's ready, "we've reached a deal with the
federations of opposing teams to play the first-leg games" away from Lebanon, he
said. They aim to have Sidon stadium ready to face Iran on November 11, then the
United Arab Emirates five days later. Even before the 2020 monster blast,
Lebanon's football grounds had been going downhill for years. The seaside
stadium in Sidon, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the capital, was one of three
Lebanese venues for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup finals. But visiting in 2018, the
then manager of South Korea's football team, German coach Uli Stielike, was
shocked. "Call this a football pitch?!" he reportedly said. Lebanon's coach from
2015 to 2019, Miodrag Radulovic, was once overheard deploring the state of the
Beirut Municipal Stadium, a short walk away from Sports City.
"It's a crying shame to be playing on such pitches," the Montenegrin was
reported as saying.
- 'Shortens a player's career' -
To avoid the expense of real grass, those in charge of Lebanon's football
stadiums have rolled out astroturf across the country. National team captain
Hassan Maatouk said artificial grass might cost less, but it was affecting
players' health and performance. It "shortens a player's career", said the
34-year-old player with Ansar FC. "This season alone, five players with
different clubs have injured their cruciate ligaments," he said, referring to a
ligament in the knee joint. "Artificial pitches are directly responsible."Riyadh
al-Sheekha, head of Lebanon's Public Organization for Sports, Youth and Scouts,
said stadiums had been neglected for years. "The government's priorities are in
other sectors," he told AFP. "The budget we get is tiny and not even enough to
cover the bare minimum."Politicians across party lines have also blamed
corruption and incompetence for the stadiums' lack of upkeep. Sheekha called for
more private sector funding as well as state support. But it was tough to find a
"private partner to take on the responsibility, especially with the economic
crash and coronavirus pandemic".
Lebanon perpetual crisis is Iran’s ploy
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/October 12/2021
Iran has supported multiple countries in the Middle East in the past, and they
always fall apart as a result.
One can draw a clear line between the increase of Hezbollah’s power in Lebanon
and the consequent increase in economic and other crises affecting the country.
It is true that not every time two things coincide there is necessarily a
correlation. However, it appears that Hezbollah’s role is the key to the
hollowing out and destruction of Lebanon. There are several facts here. Lebanon
recently went days without power, and the army is now supplying fuel. However,
that doesn’t solve the long-term energy problem and the country’s debts. Lebanon
has trouble importing fuel supplies, and the power stations are out of fuel.
This has set Lebanon on the path to constant and increasing crises. Yet it is
not some blockaded country, such as the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. It’s worth
considering this fact: Hamas, like Hezbollah, is backed by Iran and has been
encouraged to fight Israel at the cost of harming the people it governs. That
means the destruction of Lebanon and Gaza is in Iran’s interests. However,
whereas Gaza is indeed under blockade and has a constant fuel and electricity
crisis, there is no excuse for why Lebanon has become an economic basket case.
There are Lebanese who are incredibly wealthy abroad, and there is evidence that
many have simply sent their money abroad, not investing in the failing state.
At the same time, Hezbollah has sponged up what remains in Lebanon, grabbing
political power and leveraging it to have a stranglehold on the presidency and
other parts of government, conducting its own foreign policy and involving
Lebanon in the troubles of Syria’s civil war. It’s not clear what effect the
destruction of the Syrian economy has had on Lebanon. But it appears that the
Syrian crisis has been outsourced to Lebanon, with Syria using Lebanon as an
outlet for its problems as Damascus increasingly came under US and other
sanctions. This is a reversal from the period when Syria sent its army to occupy
Lebanon. In those days, Syria was ostensibly the stronger player. But after
2005, when Syria left in the wake of Hezbollah assassinating former prime
minister Rafic Hariri, things went from bad to worse. Hezbollah launched a war
against Israel in 2006 and then fought street fights with the opposition in
Beirut in 2008. Eventually, Hezbollah robbed Lebanon of a functioning presidency
and was likely behind the massive explosion in Beirut Port last year, leading to
a political crisis that robbed the country of a functioning prime minister as
well. But this was good news for Hezbollah. The wealthier Sunni and Christian
communities might have once opposed Hezbollah, which is backed by the Shi’ite
minority. But now, Hezbollah is winning as Lebanon becomes poorer. Iran’s
proxies always win when countries are bankrupt and poor. That is why wherever
Iran sends its support, the country falls apart.
Consider Yemen, Iraq, Syria, the Palestinians and Lebanon. In each case, Iran’s
goal was to weaken institutions and replace them with corrupt, murderous
militias. Bankrupt the country and siphon off its wealth back to Tehran. Iran is
a political-military version of junk bonds and corporate raiders that were
popular in the US in the 1980s. Iran raids a country with proxies, holds it
hostage through buying up some shares and then saddles it with debts and lets it
stumble on like a zombie company, hollowing it out of good assets and selling
them all off. That is Iran’s strategy in a nutshell. It uses a strategy borrowed
from corporate raiding to destroy places such as Lebanon and bankrupt them.
Lebanon can’t be bailed out though, because all the bailing will go back to
Tehran.
In essence, this is the message of the recent electricity crisis. There is no
way to fully help Lebanon, and its continuing crises will risk spreading worse
problems across the region.
Kingdom Come
Michael Young/Carnegie/October 12/2021
Saudi Arabia’s refusal to deal with Lebanon represents a political opportunity
cost in its rivalry with Iran.
October 12, 2021
One of the subplots of Middle Eastern politics today is the way that Saudi
Arabia has stubbornly refused to have anything to do with Lebanon. For years,
the kingdom has cut the country off, considering it to be an Iranian outpost.
The Saudis have especially avoided engaging with the country’s politics, despite
the United States’ and France’s repeated insistence that they reconsider their
position.
What is intriguing is not the reason for the Saudis’ behavior. Many things can
help to explain the kingdom’s antagonism toward Lebanon these days. This
includes Hezbollah’s domination of the country, President Michel Aoun’s and his
son in law Gebran Bassil’s support over the years for Hezbollah’s political
agenda, and the sheer imbecility of some officials in Beirut. There is also the
fact that the Saudis feel they have poured billions of dollars into Lebanon over
the decades, only to see that this has had little positive impact on the
attitudes of many Lebanese toward the kingdom.
Rather, the question is why are the Saudis ignoring the basic rules of power
politics by casually surrendering all their cards in Lebanon? It makes more
sense to retain alliances there and create the means to push back against
Hezbollah’s and Iran’s decisions when necessary. Hezbollah and the Shia
represent a minority nationally, and Sunnis are roughly equal to them
demographically, if not more numerous. Iran’s ability throughout the region to
transform their minority proxies into potent political actors—the Houthis in
Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq—is a
testament to the rewards of exploiting the advantages you have to the fullest.
Why won’t the Saudis play a similar game in Lebanon?
There are many explanations for this, but none is particularly convincing. Some
argue that Saudi Arabia’s effective ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
doesn’t have the experience of a previous generation of Saudi leaders, who knew
the region inside out. Experience is important, but Prince Mohammed is
definitely sensitive to the ways of power, and the kingdom’s willingness to
enter into a dialogue with Iran shows it. If the Iranians have been able to
bring the Saudis to the table because the United States is no longer willing to
defend the kingdom, then the Saudis are surely capable of determining what might
bring Iran to the table on Saudi terms.
Another explanation is that the Saudis have lost all faith in their leading
Lebanese ally, former prime minister Saad al-Hariri. There doesn’t seem to be
much doubt there, and Hariri has been a major disappointment, both politically
and in his business affairs. But personalizing one’s relationship with an entire
country is never a good idea, and the Saudis have plenty of ways of dealing with
the Sunnis and giving them direction without passing through Hariri. And let’s
assume they have to work with the former prime minister, so what? They can
interact with him if needed, and look elsewhere when required. Why deny
themselves that latitude?
Hariri has sensibly avoided a major clash with Hezbollah, fearing the
repercussions for Sunni-Shia relations. Perhaps his error in the past has been a
failure to mobilize his communal backing to bolster his political strategy—even
if the main problem today is that Hariri has not betrayed any discernible
strategy at all. His efforts in recent years have been focused solely on
securing his political survival, reversing the ruinous consequences of the
downfall of his Saudi Oger company, and retaining regional and international
backing. Furthermore, on all these fronts he has come up short.
Hariri may not be to the Saudis’ taste, nor to that of all Lebanese Sunnis, but
surely they must realize that when he is marginalized politically, or
discredited, the impact is felt by the community at large. The Saudis’ arrest of
Hariri in November 2017 was not only humiliating, it was politically
incomprehensible. Once Hariri was shown to be dispensable, his domestic
political rivals—Aoun and Bassil, but also Hezbollah—considered him a dead man
walking. They could see that he had lost his regional sponsor and therefore was
infinitely vulnerable, giving them more leverage over him. The Sunnis lost much
in the process, but so too did Saudi Arabia.
That is not to say that the Saudis’ quarantine of Lebanon has left them with
nothing. The fact that Riyadh’s refusal to deal with Lebanon has prompted other
Gulf states to do the same has been very damaging for the Lebanese economy, not
least its agricultural sector. But what is the ultimate purpose of this, other
than to increase the misery of the population? If the Saudis want to reinforce
those forces in Lebanon that reject Hezbollah’s political impositions, then
targeting everyone indiscriminately is hardly the most promising way of doing
so. All it does is undermine Lebanese society across the board, creating
opportunities for Hezbollah to implement its preferences.
The shortcomings of outside pressure have persuaded Egypt and Jordan to adopt a
different attitude toward the countries that Iran dominates. Neither one nor the
other takes Tehran’s political aims lightly, but they appear to have come to the
conclusion that the only way to challenge Iran is to build up their alliances in
those countries—notably Syria and Lebanon—in order to show that they too can
demand a say in shaping developments on the ground. This may well be a useful
model for the Saudis to consider.
The maximalist Saudi position with regard to Lebanon is not only a case of
political opportunity cost, it is creating a situation that is only bolstering
Hezbollah’s and Iran’s hegemony. What is most disturbing is that such an
approach hews closely to the line of conservative politicians and think tanks in
Washington, who cannot see that their harsh recommendations for Lebanon will
lead to the very outcomes they purportedly want to avoid. Politics is about
acquiring leverage, not killing the baby. Lebanon’s ties to Saudi Arabia are
essential, but Riyadh should recognize that the best way of making this clear is
to compel Iran and Hezbollah to give the kingdom a seat at the table.
*Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the
views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily
reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
AMCD Meets with Guila Fakhoury of the Amer Fakhoury
Foundation
October 12, 2021
التحالف الأميركي الشرق أوسطي
للديموقراطية استضاف السيدة غيلا فاخوري ابنة الشهيد عامر فاخوري
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/103290/amcd-meets-with-guila-fakhoury-of-the-amer-fakhoury-foundation-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%81-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%83%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%a3%d9%88/
On October 7, 2021, members of AMCD met with Guila Fakhoury, daughter of Amer
Fakhoury, an American citizen who was lured back to Lebanon, detained and
tortured in September of 2019 on the orders of Hezbollah. He was denied medical
care, beaten and forced to sign a “confession” which was then used to detain him
for a further 7 months. He was accused of having an Israeli passport. He had
been part of the South Lebanese Army (SLA), which was established by the
Lebanese government in the late 1970s and salaries were paid till early 1990's
to protect Southern Lebanon from the Palestinian militias attacking civilians.
The SLA cooperated with Israel during that time.
After to tremendous pressure from the US, Amer was finally released in March of
2020. On his return, he was found to have the Epstein-Barr virus and stage four
lymphoma. The family suspects that he was injected with a chemical that induced
the cancer. He died shortly after his release on August 17, 2020.
Amer’s family responded by starting the Amer Fakhoury Foundation to bring
attention to the plight of political prisoners being held in the Middle East and
worldwide. They have also filed a lawsuit against Iran which controls Hezbollah.
The prosecutor in Lebanon told the family that if Hezbollah wants someone
detained, there is nothing the judicial system can do about it. Iran’s proxy,
Hezbollah, is in full control of Lebanon. The family also believes Amer was
targeted for being a Christian American.
Members expressed concern about Iranian agents in the US infiltrating many
levels of government, law enforcement, academia and private sector companies,
not only to engage in espionage, but to promote Iranian propaganda and attempt
to silence those opposing the mullahs.
Other members expressed concern about targeted assassinations which are made to
look like accidents and another member confirmed that it is possible to induce
cancer by injecting prisoners with carcinogens.
We at AMCD support the work of the Fakhoury family to help political prisoners
worldwide. Visit the Foundation’s website and donate here.
http://www.americanmideast.com/custpage.cfm?frm=219707&sec_id=219707&fbclid=IwAR1cJy1u9hnmWSk5qqc3utqrBkhP_S4X-KKdlmDshMzOhKLdocW_El7m_c0
Jonathan Spyer: Iran and Hezbollah "Swallowing Up
Lebanon"
Marilyn Stern/Middle East Forum Webinar/October 12/ 2021
Jonathan Spyer, founder and executive director of the Middle East Center for
Reporting and Analysis and writing fellow at the Middle East Forum, spoke to an
August 17 Middle East Forum Webinar (video) about Lebanon's economic, social,
and political collapse and the security implications for Israel.
Spyer began with a "whistle-stop tour" of the "very, very dire, social and
economic situation in Lebanon." The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value in
the last 18 months. Chronic shortages of fuel have reduced the capital to about
two hours of electricity per day, forcing businesses and even hospitals to
"scale back or shut down." According to UN figures, 77% of Lebanese households
are unable to purchase sufficient food. "It's about as bad as it could possibly
be."
Once considered the "Paris of the Middle East," Lebanon's deterioration began
with the arrival of Palestinian refugees and fighting organizations from Jordan
in the 1960s, which helped precipitate the outbreak of a 15-year civil war in
1975, followed by a 15-year occupation by Syria. There was a glimmer of hope
after Syrian troops withdrew in 2005 with rise to power of prime minister Saad
Hariri and the pro-Western March 14 movement, but it was extinguished by what
Spyer called a "hostile takeover bid" by the Shi'a Hezbollah movement, a
franchise of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC).
Scenes from Lebanon's economic, social, and political collapse.
Since 2008, when Hezbollah fighters challenged and defeated March 14 forces on
the streets of Beirut, Hezbollah has positioned itself "at the center of the
largest parliamentary faction" and moved toward "open control of the Lebanese
state." Officially, Lebanon as a state, economy, and political system continues
to exist only to provide cover for Hezbollah and Iran in using the country as a
base to destroy Israel.
The structural roots of Lebanon's current calamity lie in its massive government
debt, the world's third largest as a percentage of GDP, and endemic corruption.
These problems were manageable so long as outside actors – particularly Saudi
Arabia and other Gulf states – pumped money into the Lebanese economy. In recent
years, however, the Gulf states have withdrawn funding of the Lebanese Armed
Forces and removing their bank holdings.
Additional factors compounding Lebanon's economic collapse include the decline
in tourism, U.S. sanctions, the influx of 1.8 million refugees from Syria as a
result of that country's civil war, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the destruction
of much of Beirut's port by a massive explosion of ammonium nitrate last year.
In March 2020, Lebanon defaulted on its debt for the first time by failing to
pay a maturing $1.2 billion Eurobond. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
offered a bailout, but the Lebanese political class refuses to enact the reforms
the IMF required. Lebanon has had a caretaker government for nearly a year
because the political class cannot agree on the formation of a new cabinet.
Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, recently said he will be bringing
Iranian oil into Lebanon to deal with fuel shortages. Spyer sees this as "the
next stage" in Iran and Hezbollah "swallowing up Lebanon."
The thinking in Israel's security circles presumes that Hezbollah and Iran have
their hands full "trying to hold up a collapsed system" and as such "don't
really have the bandwidth or the time" for tangling with Israel.
However, this assumption was challenged by the unclaimed launching of three
rockets at Israel from Lebanon on August 4, followed by another 20 in response
to retaliatory Israeli air strikes. Claims that Hezbollah was not responsible
for the initial rocket launches fall flat, Spyer said, because nothing happens
in south Lebanon without the direction of the Hezbollah and the IRGC. Spyer
believes that Hezbollah and Iran are not "looking for war," but the incidents in
August point to the potential for escalating border tensions to "set off a ...
large fire" that neither side desires.
Lebanon is a "colony" of Iran and "it would be better if that were to be openly
known."
Some in Israel believe that the removal of ambiguity about Iranian and Hezbollah
domination of Lebanon is a good thing. "Lebanon is already an owned colony of
the Iranian regional empire, and it would be better if that were to be openly
known." The polite fiction of a nominal government ruling over Lebanon, works to
the advantage of Iran and Hezbollah
During the 2006 war Hezbollah waged against Israel, Lebanon's "ineffectual prime
minister," Fouad Siniora, went to the U.N. General Assembly and "burst into
tears at the fact that the nasty Israelis are bombing his infrastructure and
Israel then suffer[ed] a great deal of diplomatic pressure from the Americans
... [and] Europeans to desist in its war effort."
"The usual fate of brutal dictatorships, eventually, is to fall."
Hezbollah is financially and insulated from U.S. sanctions and the lack of an
IMF bailout because it has its own financing from Iran and "underground economy"
centered around smuggling and other illicit activities. Hezbollah is not
invulnerable, as evidenced by the massive street demonstrations prior to the
pandemic, but its grip on the country is not yet in serious danger.
Hezbollah will be destroyed when the Islamic Republic of Iran falls, which Spyer
believes is inevitable in the long term. "The usual fate of brutal
dictatorships, eventually, is to fall."
*Marilyn Stern is communications coordinator at the Middle East Forum.
From Lebanon to Afghanistan!
Tariq Al-Homayed/ Asharq Al-Awsat/October, 12/2021
Some news can only be understood when seen as part of the broader picture, even
if that news comes from geographically distant places and deals with different
issues. Today, we are facing two pieces of breaking news, which outlets reported
on the same day, that sum up the absurd path we have been put on by the causes
that have preoccupied us for a long time.
The first report came out Saturday from Lebanon, where “Electricity of Lebanon
has totally stopped operating.” “It is unlikely to resume operations before next
Monday or several days,” and there are reports of using the army’s fuel oil
reserves, but that will not happen anytime soon.
The second breaking news came out that same day; the Taliban’s foreign minister
met with an American delegation in Doha. The Taliban’s delegation asked the US
to lift its ban on the Afghan Central Bank’s reserves.
A Taliban official also announced that Washington would send vaccines against
the coronavirus to Afghans and that the Taliban’s delegation focused on
humanitarian aid during their meeting with the Americans, as well as “turning a
new page” on relations between the two countries.
All right, with the first piece of news, we are facing a state that had been
radiant until Iran interfered. It has left the Hezbollah militia, which has
become above the state, free to carry out its criminal and terrorist activities,
and not just in Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s crimes and terrorism are not perpetrated in Lebanon alone, where it
is destroying the state and assassinating rivals, alone. Indeed, it has carried
them out in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Africa and South America, where it has launched
terrorist attacks and trafficked drugs.
The outcome of all the havoc Iran has wreaked in Lebanon through Hezbollah is
that “Lebanon’s electricity grid has totally stopped operating...” This is the
same Lebanon Iran depicts as a country of resistance and a front for resistance
that will wipe Israel off the map!
As for the news from Afghanistan, it leaves us dealing with those who claim to
be “jihadists.” They have harbored terrorists, have not evolved, and have
returned to power under the name of an Islamic Emirate. Now, they are begging
for help from the United States!
The Islamic Emirate, today, after all this “jihad,” which was nothing but civil
wars, violence, terrorism and the repression of Afghans, suddenly wants to “turn
a new page” with the US. It is negotiating with Washington, after all those wars
it waged and empty slogans it raised, to receive American humanitarian aid. It
is also negotiating to have the ban on the central bank reserves lifted and have
Washington send vaccines against the coronavirus to Afghans.
Is there hardship worse than that facing these two countries? Do they have
anything to show for the lives, time and resources they have squandered,
Hezbollah and the Taliban, in the name of religion and resistance?
One might say that Afghanistan and Lebanon would be better off if we had helped
them. The same is said about Hamas in Gaza, but it is simply not true. These
groups are not interested in building states, preserving lives, or ensuring
stability and national cohesion. They are not concerned with development,
education or the state fulfilling its minimal responsibilities. All they care
about is reaching power and implementing their destructive agenda, which leaves
the countries in a state that not even the members of these groups accept to
live under, and when they do, they live in a different world than that which
ordinary citizens live in. And so, the rational must wake up. We should say that
enough is enough, and we cannot continue to tolerate or cajole these lunatics.
Shattered yet resilient
Sally Abou AlJoud/Now Lebanon/October 12/2021
Most of the heritage buildings affected by the Beirut port blast are sustained
more than a year later, resuscitating the cultural and social fabric. Yet,
inadequate funding threatens the rehabilitation of remaining historical
establishments.
Construction workers lean on the scaffolding erected against Rmeil 722, an
Ottoman-era building being rehabilitated by Beirut Heritage Initiative after
being shattered by the Beirut port blast last year. Photo: Sally Abou al Joud,
NOW.
On the street level of a 19th-century triple-arched building cocooned in erected
scaffolding and debris netting, a group of elderly men huddled together as they
sipped their morning coffee and swapped stories about the mundane day-to-day.
The ancient establishment and those gentlemen, who lived and owned businesses in
the quaint neighborhood of Gemmayze for decades, both carry a sliver of the past
and were markedly shattered by last year’s Beirut port blast when tonnes of
ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse detonated on Aug. 4, killing at least 218
and destroying or inflicting severe damage to approximately 8,000 buildings,
including 640 historic buildings – 60 of which faced the peril of collapse.
Leading cultural organizations promptly intervened and coordinated emergency
measures to safeguard Beirut’s heritage homes while other local experts
established fresh networks to respond to the urgent need to consolidate and
rehabilitate those structures.
More than a year later, most buildings have been saved except those which are
abandoned, but the core coalition of cultural organizations faces inadequate
funding stymying the progress of further necessary rehabilitation plans.
A sign that reads "Mayor Bchara Gholam's office" points to a building in the
Gholam cluster on Sept. 30, 2021. The cluster, formerly named after the Gholam
family more than a century ago, comprises five residential buildings conceived
during the Ottoman Empire. Photo: Sally Abou al Joud, NOW.
Rehabilitation and revitalization
The Gholam cluster, formerly named after the Gholam family more than a century
ago, is a congregation of five residential buildings conceived during the
Ottoman Empire and adjacent to a public set of staircases, a nexus between the
historic Gouraud Street and the hills of the Lebanese capital’s eastern
Ashrafieh district that overlook Beirut’s port. The family legacy was passed
down to the current neighborhood’s mayor, Bchara Gholam, whose office,
temporarily relocated due to destruction, remains in one of the historic five
buildings till this day.
The cluster’s close proximity to the port was the rationale behind its initial
development. When the current port was founded at the end of the 19th century,
the city’s center shifted to the eastern flank and Beirut gained an edge in
maritime trade and economic growth, making headway toward rapid urbanization in
the area surrounding the port. More than a century later, this proximity almost
resulted in a tragic obliteration of these heritage buildings when the port
blast sent shockwaves across the city and pulverized both past and present.
In response, Beirut Heritage Initiative (BHI), an independent and inclusive
collective, was launched on Aug. 26, 2020 to rehabilitate and protect structures
bearing the Ottoman Empire’s and the French Mandate’s architectural expressions,
as well as apartment buildings belonging to Beirut’s early Modernist period, an
era from 1955 to 1975.
The Initiative collaborates with other relief organizations, one of them being
Together Li Beirut, who joined forces with BHI to resurrect the Gholam cluster.
BHI has received funding from the French Ministry of Ecological Transitions, who
financed the Gholam staircase’s restoration, and the International Alliance for
the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH), the principal donor for
the execution of their emergency works.The restoration’s first phase embodied
emergency works where sheltering and consolidation took place. Sheltering, which
involved replacing the blown-away red brick-tiled rooftop with a polyester
cover, was crucial for these buildings before winter. Partially damaged rooftops
did not require sheltering and were instead recovered straight away. Then, the
buildings were propped up to prevent them from collapsing further.
When more funding started coming in, the next step comprised of rehabilitating
the buildings’ facades. “The area that was affected the most by the explosion is
the area with the highest concentration of heritage buildings in Beirut,” said
Yasmine El-Majzoub, BHI’s Field Operation Manager. “Heritage buildings are more
vulnerable than concrete buildings because they’re made out of sandstone and
marble columns.”The historic quarters of East Beirut, shattered yet resilient,
are a metaphor for its dwellers. The social fabric, which has been nurtured for
ages, was dismantled in this area when the explosion displaced at least 300,000
people.
The Initiative’s work is people-centered.
“Not only do we want to restore the heritage buildings but we want to restore
the social and cultural fabric of the city,” El-Majzoub said. “We work in
clusters. The cluster strategy is very important because when you rehabilitate
several heritage buildings next to each other, their residents come back to live
in them and you revive the whole neighborhood.”A polyester cover shelters a
heritage building affected by the Beirut blast from potential rain on Sept. 30,
2021. The building, which is situated across from Électricité du Liban and
Beirut's port, awaits rehabilitation. Photo: Sally Abou al Joud, NOW.
The peril of being demolished
BHI’s founding members and executive committee have been fighting for decades to
shield heritage buildings from the “greedy” and “vulturous” contractors who
swoop up historic establishments only to demolish and replace them with city
towers, El-Majzoub said. “This changes the skyline and the cultural identity of
the city.” The Beirut Governor, Judge Marwan Abboud, said he banned the selling
and demolition of heritage buildings immediately after the port explosion with
no legal backing. Months later, an official law prohibiting those actions for
one year was actualized.
“Since my first day in office, I declared that I would rather cut my hand off
but not sign a permission to demolish a heritage building and I am still
committed to this promise,” Abboud asserted.
Abboud expressed pride in the fact that the reconstruction following Beirut’s
port blast preserved the urban fabric, individual proprietorship, and Beirut’s
splendor and cultural identity as opposed to the post-civil war rebuilding, and
has been “faster, easier, and at a lower cost”.
Due to a lack of state funds, Lebanese officials had delegated the post-civil
war rebuilding of Beirut’s Central District to Solidere, a private firm where
former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri was a principal shareholder.
Pleased with the restoration of his home where history is etched on every wall
and elegant motifs adorn the balcony’s wrought-iron balustrade, Joseph Chaoul,
who owns one of the buildings in the Gholam cluster, said this is the first time
the building experiences destruction on this level. Its triple arch, marble
columns, and balcony were leveled and the red-tiled rooftop was blown out. “It
even survived the war. The building was still standing during that time and I
only had to rehabilitate the facade.”
The shockwave from the port explosion arrived from the north, unfortunate for
most triple arches, a resplendent characteristic of the Ottoman era traditional
Lebanese home, which are one of the weakest points in the building and are
always analogous to the north, El-Majzoub said.
“The house is my life. I was born in it and I almost died in it when I nearly
bled out to death after the explosion,” Chaoul said.
The red brick-tiled rooftop of the historic building, Rmeil 812, is
re-established after being pulverized last year due to the Beirut port blast on
Sept. 30, 2021. Photo: Sally Abou al Joud, NOW.
Inadequate funding
Taking a stroll in the Ashrafieh vicinity, it’s impossible to ignore the
omnipresent eerie, yet heartening, scene of unrelenting construction works.
Though construction appears incessant, inadequate funding threatens the
consummation of rehabilitation plans for the remaining unsustained heritage
buildings.
Over the course of one year, most of the historic buildings from different eras
have been sustained excluding those which are deserted, their rehabilitation
disputed, and a couple of homes facing Électricité du Liban as their restoration
requires more financing due to being more severely ravaged.
“The abandoned houses rarely get funded because funding bodies are mostly
concerned with the humanitarian side of the issue: to bring back the inhabitants
to their homes,” El-Majzoub said. The reconstruction of a heritage building is a
big-budget project compared to a modern-day building because some construction
materials are imported, others are hard to find, she added. Abboud said he is
endeavoring to draw in more funding from the international community, namely the
World Bank, to rehabilitate 70 to 80 more buildings. “I found that the best way
to handle these disasters is cooperating with the domestic sector which is free
from the administrative routine and bureaucratic obstacles and has proven
effectiveness,” Abboud said. The governor, along with the Directorate General of
Antiquities – who strictly demands the restoration of heritage houses into their
original state – facilitated the procurement of concessions, mandatory to
commence any rehabilitation works on traditional Lebanese houses. The cultural
initiative, BHI, is keen on working with contractors and consultants who follow
traditional restructuring methods, where each stone taken out is numbered and
then placed in the same spot and in an agreeing orientation as before upon
reconstruction, to preserve the building’s historic wholeness.“We are trying to
do interventions where we are not affecting the authenticity of the structure,”
said Maroun Khadra, an architect restorer and Associated Consulting Engineers
(ACE) site engineer. “Our goal is not to modernize but rather to rehabilitate.”
“And not to add or change,” El-Majzoub blurted. The Gholam cluster
rehabilitation project started in April and by the end of Oct., upon the last
rehabilitation phase’s completion, which involves wall painting and installing
windows, inhabitants will be able to return to their reinvigorated ancient
residence.
“Our work is an eternal activism – it doesn’t end when restoration of historical
buildings ends,” Khadra said. “There’s another battle: to safeguard them for as
long as we can.”
*Sally Abou AlJoud is a multimedia journalist with @NOW_Leb. She is on Twitter
@JoudSally.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on October 12-13/2021
Head of Pro-Iran Fatah Alliance Rejects as ‘Fabricated’
Results of Iraq Elections
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Hadi al-Ameri, head of the pro-Iran Fatah alliance, has rejected the results of
Iraq’s elections as “fabricated”, according to the Baghdad-based pro-Iranian TV
channel al-Aahd. “We will not accept these fabricated results, whatever the
cost,” the channel cited him as saying on Tuesday on its Telegram messaging
account. Iran-backed parties with links to militia groups accused of killing
some of the nearly 600 people who died in mass protests in 2019 took a blow in
the election, winning less seats than in the previous vote, in 2018. Influential
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s party was the biggest winner in the election held on
Sunday, according to initial results.
Pro-Iran blocs in turmoil while Sadr emerges as Iraqi
elections’ winner
The Arab News/October 12/2021
The results of the elections showed that the Shia public in Iraq no longer
trusts religious parties.
BAGHDAD--Preliminary results of the Iraqi legislative elections have thrown the
political scene into turmoil as differences between Shia blocs and parties are
expected to exacerbate. The vote also highlighted the broad boycott of the
elections by Iraqis, especially young people.
The Electoral Commission added to the rising tensions by delaying its
announcement of the turnout rates and the election results. Political and
judicial sources attributed this delay to pressure from political blocs trying
to infleunce the electoral outcome. The leader of the Sadrist bloc, Muqtada al-Sadr,
who is emerging as the biggest winner in the elections, cautioned against
“external and regional” interferences in the results of the parliamentary
elections. “Let it be clear to everyone that we are closely monitoring all the
illicit internal and external interference that is likely to undermine Iraq’s
standing and independence,” he said. Preliminary results showed the Sadrist
movement to be winning the highest percentage of seats. It could garner up to 73
seats in the 329-member parliament (compared to 54 in 2018), followed by
Taqaddom (progress) coalition headed by the current parliament speaker, Muhammad
al-Halbousi, then the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani, and
then the Rule of Law coalition headed by the head of the Islamic Dawa Party,
Nuri al-Maliki. Shia factions of Al-Fatah Alliance, headed by the leader of the
Badr Organisation Hadi Al-Amiri, and the Huquq (rights) movement headed by the
leader of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, Hussein Al-Muhammadawi, obtained meagre
results that were not expected even in the most pessimistic projections.
Preliminary results in the governorates of southern Iraq revealed that the
October uprising activists won up to ten seats in Dhi Qar, Najaf and Diwaniyah.
It is expected that the independents, who reject the influence of the dominant
parties in the political scene, will form an influential bloc within the Iraqi
parliament that could face off with the dominant blocs.
The results of the elections, which were boycotted by more than 60 percent of
Iraqi voters, according to the figures of the High Elections Commission, showed
that the Shia public in Iraq no longer trusts religious parties. It also showed
that the call of Supreme Leader Ali al-Sistani to come out and vote was not
heeded. Sistani had called on Iraq’s estimated 25 million voters to choose
between more than 3,200 candidates. But the initial turnout rate was put at
about 41 percent of the more than 22 million registered voters, according to the
High Elections Commission figures.
But the spokesman for the Iraqi opposition forces, Bassem Al-Sheikh, doubted the
accuracy of these figures.
Sheikh told The Arab Weekly that “the commission illegally raised the turnout
rates after political interventions. Its aim was to conceal the level of popular
rejection of the political process and to mislead public opinion in order to
contribute to the continued suffering of Iraqis under traditional forces and the
mafias of political parties that want to bestow on the process a form of false
legitimacy.” The announced turnout rate reflected nonethless a record boycott of
the elections, the fifth in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in
2003 following an US invasion.
In Baghdad, the participation rate ranged between 31 and 34 percent, according
to the commission. The Sadrist movement, which holds the highest number seats,
seems closer to an agreement with Halbousi and Barzani, and is supported by the
Alliance of National State Forces, led by the cleric Ammar al-Hakim and former
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. It could form the largest bloc in the Iraqi
parliament and would be tasked with heading the government. News reports talked
Monday about a secret visit to Baghdad by the commander of Quds Force in the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Ismail Qaani, with the aim of containing disputes
between parties loyal to Iran and helping negotiate the formation of a bloc
capable of shaping the outcome of consultations about the future goverment.
However, Mashreq Abbas, political adviser to Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi,
denied any foreign official’s visit to Iraq during the past two days. Iraqi
political sources revealed that the Shia forces face a complex stalemate with no
quick settlement prospect. They rule out the possibility of a Sadr alliance with
Maliki and Amiri. The sources told an Arab Weekly correspondent in Baghdad, that
“a meeting that included senior leaders of the Shia blocs, with the exception of
Sadr, was held at Maliki’s home on Monday evening to examine the election
results.”No news transpired about of the results of the meeting . But the Fatah
movement, which includes major pro-Iran militias, is not expected to accept
defeat easily. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres congratulated the Iraqi
people “for the way the elections took place.” He appealed for calm as the
results are announced and for political discussions on the formation of a new
government to be carried out in “an environment of peace, security and of
tranquility.”Analysts said that pro-Iranian blocs will need to put their
differences aside in order to be able to form a common front that is able to
hold consultations with other blocs. The process may take several weeks or even
months. 3,249 candidates representing 21 alliances and 109 parties, along with
independents, competed for 329 seats in parliament. At least 1,249 international
observers, in addition to thousands of local observers monitored the vote,
according to the commission.
Saudi Arabia wants action, not words on ties reset with
Iran
The Arab News/October 12/2021
Iran and Saudi Arabia, two bitter regional rivals, have been taking steps toward
mending ties following several years of heightened tensions, but experts warn
more work is needed to ease tensions. In 2016, Saudi Arabia and Iran cut ties
after protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic republic
following the kingdom’s execution of a revered Shia cleric. In recent weeks,
officials from both countries, on opposing sides in multiple Middle East
conflicts, have spoken positively about breakthrough talks held in Baghdad since
April. The discussions were launched under Iran’s former moderate president
Hassan Rohani and have continued under his ultraconservative successor, Ebrahim
Raisi. A foreign diplomat stationed in the kingdom who is privy to the
negotiations said that the two sides “were on the verge of agreeing … to ease
tensions between them and the (diplomatic) proxy war in the region” during the
last round of talks. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has
confirmed a fourth round took place in September and said he hoped they would
“lay the foundation” to address issues between the countries.
His Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has said the discussions are
“on the right track.”“We have achieved results and agreements, but we still need
more dialogue,” he said earlier this month. The foreign diplomat said the two
sides would “most likely put the final touches to an agreement” in a new round
of talks that could come within days. “They, in principle, have reached an
agreement to reopen consulates … and I think an announcement of normalisation of
ties may come in the next few weeks,” the diplomat said on condition of
anonymity.
Positive atmosphere but challenges remain
Saudi media have toned down their rhetoric towards Tehran, with the state-run
Al-Ekhbariya television last week reporting “direct and honest” discussions that
would “achieve stability in the region.” It also cited Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman bin Abdulaziz’s statement this year that Riyadh wants “a good and special
relationship” with Tehran. Despite the talk about a positive atmosphere, Riyadh
continues to see an emboldened Iran acting in a negative manner around the
Middle East, endangering shipping, arming Yemen’s Houthis and contributing to
political deadlock in Lebanon. Last month, Saudi King Salman said he hoped that
talks with Iran would “lead to tangible outcomes to build trust” and revive
bilateral cooperation. However, he also called on Tehran to cease “all types of
support” for armed groups in the region, referring particularly to Yemen’s
Houthi militias, who have ramped up missile and drone attacks on the kingdom.
Riyadh views negotiations with Tehran as essential for a solution in Yemen, a
view based on the conviction that the Houthis have so far been intransigent in
order to serve a broader strategy that Iran is pursuing to score wins on
different fronts, whether in its disputes with Saudi Arabia, or differences with
other countries in the region or in nuclear negotiations. With this in mind,
observers consider that the Kingdom has become increasingly convinced that
dialogue with Iran is the best way to resolve current crises, including the
Yemeni conflict. Since 2015, Riyadh has led a military coalition to support the
government against the Houthi militias after they seized the capital Sana’a.
Riyadh accuses Iran of supporting the Houthis with weapons and drones, but
Tehran says it only provides the militias with political support. “Saudi Arabia
is interested in ending the conflict in Yemen … which has cost it billions of
riyals,” the foreign diplomat said. But Tehran also seeks economic opportunities
with Riyadh as it looks to revive its sanctions-battered economy, according to
the diplomat.
Talk is no substitute for action
Saudi government adviser Ali Shihabi said that while the atmosphere was
positive, Tehran would have to take “substantive” action, particularly on Yemen,
before Riyadh would agree to measures like the reopening of embassies. “Iran
needs to take real steps, not just (engage) in nice talk,” Shihabi said. Yasmine
Farouk, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Saudi Arabia
wants attacks on the kingdom to stop as it diversifies its economy away from oil
and spends billions on ambitious megaprojects to attract tourists and investors.
“There is a greater chance for an agreement now, because Saudi Arabia is sure
there will be no US military response to Iran attacking” the kingdom, she said.
Farouk was referring in particular to a 2019 Houthi-claimed assault that
temporarily knocked out half of the kingdom’s crude production and drew
international condemnation, but no action. Despite signs of a “positive
atmosphere,” Farouk warned the dialogue lacked assurances that Iran would
“commit to what is agreed upon, as well as the international support for such
negotiations.” Hussein Ibish, a Washington-based Middle East expert, said
indications of warming ties were mostly coming from Iran and Iraq, which has
been positioning itself as a regional mediator. “Now that the whole region has
entered into an era of de-confliction, it’s not that hard to imagine a process
leading to the reversal of the rupture … but it’s going to take considerably
more progress in my view,” he said.
According to Iranian journalist Maziar Khosravi, Riyadh and Tehran will likely
never see eye to eye, but the two have “reached an impasse in their regional
rivalry.”“Both sides realise they have no choice but to reach a compromise,” he
said.
Israeli Minister Sees No Compromise on US Palestinian Mission in Jerusalem
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Israel will remain opposed to Washington's plan to reopen a US consulate in
Jerusalem that has traditionally been a base for diplomatic outreach to the
Palestinians, even if political conditions change, an Israeli cabinet minister
said on Tuesday. The consulate was subsumed into the US Embassy that was moved
to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in 2018 by then-US president Donald Trump, steps
hailed by Israel and condemned by Palestinians. President Joe Biden wants to
reopen the consulate to rebuild relations with the Palestinians, who seek parts
of Jerusalem, as well as the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, for a hoped-for
state. "No way, no way," Justice Minister Gideon Saar told a conference hosted
by the Jerusalem Post newspaper when asked if the consulate reopening might go
ahead - perhaps in the event of this or a future Israeli government yielding to
US pressure. "It needs Israeli approval," he added, speaking in English. "We
will not compromise on this issue" for generations to come.The US Embassy had no
immediate comment. The issue is likely to come up during a visit to Washington
on Tuesday by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. Israeli Prime Minister
Naftali Bennett, a nationalist atop a cross-partisan coalition, opposes
Palestinian statehood, and Lapid has said that reopening the consulate could
unsettle the government. But Israeli media have speculated that Bennett could
relent if Washington holds off until after his government secures more domestic
stability by passing a long-delayed national budget, with ratification votes due
next month. Saar ruled out such a scenario, saying: "I want to make it very
clear - we oppose it. We won't oppose it now and ... have a different opinion
after the budget. We are 100% opposed to it."
Israel Plans to Bring 500,000 Jewish Immigrants from
Rich Countries
Tel Aviv- Asharq Al-Awsat/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Israel’s goal for the coming decade is to bring half a million Jewish immigrants
from the United States, South America and France, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett
said on Sunday. “It is doubtful whether there are more important issues for our
future and the essence of both Israel and Israeli society than the Jewish
immigration matter,” he said during his opening address to a conference marking
Immigration and Absorption Week, organized by Yediot Aharonot newspaper. The
newspaper had published reports on the situation of Jews in the world. It said
there are about 14.5 million, including 6.8 million in Israel, about 5.4 million
in the United States, and about 460,000 in France. The rest are present in many
countries, mostly in Western Europe, while their numbers dropped in Eastern
Europe and Latin America. Ethiopia’s Jews have slammed Bennett’s focus on
bringing Jews from developed countries. About 15,000 citizens have been waiting
for years in tents near Addis Ababa for Jewish Agency planes to come and pick
them up, but Israel refrains from bringing them because the Orthodox religious
establishment does not recognize them as Jews. In response to the criticisms,
Bennett said reports by the Jewish Agency indicated that more than 92 percent of
the Jews in the world live in developed countries. Columnist and political
analyst for Maariv newspapers Ben Caspit said these developed countries have a
higher standard of living compared to Israel, and people’s lifestyle is
influenced by it, especially in modern values and openness. They have social and
democratic freedoms that are immeasurably higher than that in Israel, which
constitutes an obstacle to Israel and the Zionist movement to achieve their
goal, he stressed. The number of Jews across the world is constantly dropping,
except in Israel. This drop is due to marrying and shifting into other
religions, Caspit explained. Some have even stopped identifying themselves as a
Jew, he added, noting that the Orthodox Jewish religious leadership recognizes
the Jew only if he is born to a Jewish mother.
Jordan's Cabinet Reshuffle Includes 9 Portfolios
Amman - Mohammed Kheir Rawashdeh/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh announced on Monday a fourth
government reshuffle that included nine ministerial portfolios. According to a
royal decree, Dr. Wajih Awais was appointed as Minister of Education, Dr. Saleh
Al-Kharabsheh was named Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, while Yousef
Mahmoud Al-Shamali became the new Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply. Faisal
Yousef Awad Shboul was appointed as Minister of State for Information Affairs,
Haifa Yousef Fadel Hajjar Al-Najjar, Minister of Culture, and Wafaa Saeed Yaqoub
Bani Mustafa, Minister of State for Legal Affairs. The Jordanian prime minister
also named Dr. Muawiya Khaled Muhammad Al-Radaydah as Minister of Environment,
Eng. Khairy Yasser Abdel Moneim Amr, Minister of Investment and Nayef Istitieh,
Minister of Labor. Al-Khasawneh had asked his ministers on Sunday to submit
their resignations ahead of the cabinet reshuffle, in parallel with the
government’s preparations to face the Parliament with the launching of its
upcoming regular session in mid-November. Shboul, the new minister of State for
Information Affairs, succeeded to Sakhr Dodin, whose statements over the past
few months sparked local controversy, and wide comments. Shboul has extensive
experience in the local and Arab press and had assumed senior positions in the
Jordan News Agency (Petra) and the Radio Television Corporation over the past
twenty years. He was also a media spokesperson at a number of summits hosted by
Amman. Bisher Al-Khasawneh was designated to form the government around a year
ago. He previously assumed a position at the office of Jordan’s King Abdullah
II, following a diplomatic experience as the kingdom’s ambassador to Cairo and
Paris.
‘Trump’ Settlement in Occupied Golan Heights Is a Plan
to Double Settlers
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Syria’s occupied Golan Heights are
strategic for his government, which is working to double the number of Jew
settlers there. The government will hold an extraordinary session in Golan in
November to ratify “a national plan” for the area, the PM said.
“We are determined to double the Israeli population, establish two new
settlements there, provide industrial facilities that create job opportunities
and inject more investments.”The government is providing the necessary resources
to realize this vision, he stressed, adding that he will ensure his agenda is
fulfilled in this regard. The Israeli Prime Minister shed light on what is
happening, east of the Golan and in Syria in general. “We are closely following
what is happening in Syria and its ties with Iran, which seeks to send its
proxies and establish another army in the Golan Heights to encircle Israel.” “We
will continue to work wherever and whenever necessary, proactively and on a
daily basis, in order to wind down the Iranian presence in Syria,” he warned.
Bennett further stressed that Israel’s position on the Golan Heights issue is
not only related to the situation in Syria.
The “atrocities” that have been taking place there for a decade now have
convinced many around the world that Israel should take over to maintain its
beautiful nature rather than being turned into another battlefield. “The Golan
Heights is Israeli. Point,” he stressed. In mid-June 2019, the “Trump Heights,”
a new settlement in the occupied Golan Heights named after former president
Donald Trump was unveiled, in a gesture of appreciation for his recognition of
Israeli sovereignty over the territory. Since its occupation of Golan in 1967,
Israel has established a city called Katzrin and 32 other settlements, inhabited
by 27,000 settlers.
Attacks against Pro-Turkey Factions Escalate in Northern Syria
Ankara, Idlib - Saeed Abdulrazzak, Firas Karam/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12
October, 2021
Six people, including civilians, were killed on Monday in a car bomb explosion
in the city of Afrin in northern Syria, at a time when the Turkish army
continues to incur more losses as Kurdish factions step up their attacks in the
area. From time to time, Afrin and other cities controlled by Turkish forces and
loyalists from Syrian opposition factions in northern Syria witness car and
bicycle bomb explosions. No party claims responsibility for these attacks.
However, Ankara often blames Kurdish fighters, whom it labels as “terrorists,”
for being behind the assaults. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a
UK-based war monitor, said that “the car bomb explosion took place near the
headquarters of the Jaysh al-Islam faction and close to a vegetable market” in
Afrin. According to the Observatory, the bombing killed three civilians, at
least one Jaysh al-Islam fighter, and two unidentified individuals. Also, 12
civilians and fighters, including two children, were wounded. More so, the
Observatory reported that the local police had arrested two young men “suspected
of being involved in carrying out the bombing.” It is noteworthy that thousands
of opposition fighters and civilians who were evacuated from several Syrian
areas where regime forces took control currently reside in Afrin. The region of
Afrin was predominantly Kurdish and constituted the third Kurdish Autonomous
Administration region before the Turkish forces, along with allied Syrian
factions, took control of it in March 2018. Since 2016, Turkey and Syrian
factions have taken control of large border areas in northern Syria after
several attacks they launched against Kurdish fighters and ISIS. During
September alone, the Observatory had documented four car bombings in Afrin. The
bombings resulted in several deaths and injuries among civilians and Syrian
opposition fighters.
In one of the explosions, a leader from the Ankara loyalist Al-Hamza faction was
killed alongside two of their companions.
Pro-Iran Groups Denounce Iraq Election as 'Scam'
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Two days after Iraq's legislative election, pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim parties
and armed groups on Tuesday denounced early poll results suggesting waning
support as "manipulation" and a "scam". Sunday's parliamentary election -- the
fifth in the war-scarred country since the US-led invasion and overthrow of
dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003 -- was marked by a record low turnout of 41
percent. Parties representing Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority have dominated Iraqi
politics since the aftermath of the invasion, but early results from Sunday's
vote deepened a rift between powerful factions within that camp.
According to preliminary results from the electoral commission, the biggest
winner appeared to be the movement of Shiite cleric and political maverick
Moqtada Sadr, which increased its lead to 73 of the assembly's 329 seats. Losses
were booked by pro-Iranian Shiite parties with links to the armed groups that
make up the paramilitary network known as Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular
Mobilisation forces. The Fatah (Conquest) Alliance, previously the second
largest bloc in parliament, suffered a sharp decline from 48 to only about a
dozen seats, according to observers and results compiled by AFP.
"We will appeal against the results and we reject them," said a joint statement
by several of the Shiite parties, including the Fatah Alliance. "We will take
all available measures to prevent the manipulation of votes," added the
statement also signed by the party of former prime minister Haider al-Abadi, who
served from 2014 to 2018.
'Scam and rip-off' -
One of Hashed's most powerful factions, the Hezbollah Brigades, rejected the
election as "the biggest scam and rip-off the Iraqi people have been subjected
to in modern history.""The Hashed al-Shaabi brothers are the main targets," its
spokesman Abu Ali al-Askari charged. The Hashed was formed in 2014 and went on
to play a major role in the defeat of the Sunni-extremist Islamic State group,
which had expanded its self-declared "caliphate" centred in Syria and taken over
a third of Iraq. The Hashed has since been integrated into Iraq's state security
apparatus, and many lawmakers linked to it were elected to parliament in 2018.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi brought forward the vote from 2022 to appease
a youth-led protest movement that erupted two years ago against graft,
unemployment, crumbling public services and Iranian influence in politics. Iraq
is a major oil producer but nearly a third of its almost 40 million people live
in poverty, according to UN figures, and the Covid pandemic only deepened a
long-running economic crisis. The protest movement ended after hundreds of
demonstrators were killed. More activists have since been targeted in bloodshed
and abductions which the movement blames on pro-Iran armed groups. Kadhemi's
political future is now uncertain, with few observers willing to predict who
will emerge as leader after the usual haggling between factions that follows
Iraqi elections. Another notable trend in the election were gains by the
pro-Iranian State of Law Alliance of former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, who
served from 2006 to 2014. His party can count on about 30 seats. The EU observer
mission said it saw the low voter turnout as a "clear political signal", hoping
that it would be "heard by the political elite".
Israel PM Urges U.N. to Hold Iran to Account for Nuclear Moves
Associated Press/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called Tuesday on the United Nations
Security Council to take action against Iran over its escalating nuclear
program. Bennett spoke at a conference in Jerusalem, where he suggested that
Iran's conduct is every nation's problem, and subject to global accountability.
After talks between Tehran and world powers on reviving the nuclear deal stalled
earlier this year, Iran has breached limits set by the accord. It has been
enriching small amounts of uranium to its closest-ever levels to weapons-grade
purity as its stockpile continues to grow.
Bennett said he has made the case to other leaders, including President Joe
Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that Iran is violating basic
international commitments in the shadow of the now-tattered 2015 nuclear deal.
Merkel, who visited Israel on Sunday in her final official visit, said that
Germany remains committed to reviving the deal — a step Israel opposes. The
Biden administration is also trying to revive the nuclear deal.
Bennett said he expects global powers to "bring (Iran) to the U.N. Security
Council, hold Iran accountable for it." That, he added, "would be the peaceful
route" forward. Bennett spoke as Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid traveled to
Washington, where he was expected to detail Israel's message on Iran in meetings
with Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and
congressional leaders in both parties. Bennett last month met with Biden for the
first time as prime minister and president, with Iran topping the agenda. "We're
putting diplomacy first and seeing where that takes us," Biden said. "If
diplomacy fails, we're ready to turn to other options." Israel has vowed to act
unilaterally against Iran if need be. Iran says its nuclear program is only for
peaceful purposes.
Earlier this year, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Fox News that
Israel was still working on its strike plans against Iran.
And just last month, Israel's recently-retired navy chief told The Associated
Press that the military has stepped up its activities in the Red Sea
"exponentially" in the face of growing Iranian threats to Israeli shipping.
Vice Adm. Eli Sharvit stopped short of confirming a series of attacks and
mishaps on Iranian ships that have been attributed to Israel. But he described
Iranian activities on the high seas as a top Israeli concern and said the navy
is able to strike wherever necessary to protect the country's economic and
security interests. Bennett's message on Tuesday underscored that he was pushing
diplomacy first. "There are other routes," he warned, "but that's the right
thing to do. And I'm going to continue pursuing that over the next few weeks and
months."
Algerian Prosecutors Seek 7 Years Jail for Bouteflika Brother
Algeria/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Algerian prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for Said
Bouteflika, advisor and brother of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on
corruption charges, one of his lawyers told AFP. Said Bouteflika's defense
lawyer Salim Hadjouti told AFP that "there is nothing in the case file. It's
empty, a political file, not a legal one."The Casablanca Criminal Court in the
western suburb of Algiers began the trial session of Bouteflika, former Justice
Minister Tayeb Louh, business tycoon Ali Haddad, and other defendants. Hadjouti
said the prosecution had also sought at least ten years behind bars Louh and
seven for Haddad, both close to the former president, as well as jail terms for
other defendants. They were charged with "abuse of office," "obstructing of
justice," "inciting prejudice, and forging official documents." Bouteflika, 63,
was arrested in May 2019. He appeared before a military court with three other
defendants and was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of conspiring
against the authority of the state and the army. In January, he was acquitted by
the Court of Appeal and transferred to the civil prison to be prosecuted in
other cases. Meanwhile, according to a human rights organization, the Court of
Appeal confirmed a two-year prison sentence against activist Chemseddine Allame.
The National Committee for the Release of Detainees announced that the Bordj Bou
Arreridj Judicial Council confirmed the Court of First Instance ruling. The
committee explained in its Facebook post that Allame was on trial in three cases
and was convicted of two years in prison, with a fine of 200,000 dinars, after
being accused of spreading "hate speech," "insulting a statutory body,"
"spreading false news," and "inciting an unarmed gathering."The Tamanrasset
Court of Appeals in southern Algeria sentenced journalist Rabah Karach to one
year in prison on charges of "spreading false news," his lawyer told AFP. Lawyer
Zubaida Asoul expressed the defense's "shock" at the ruling, noting that the
journalist only reported the facts, saying the sentence was a political
decision, not judicial.
Wide Arab, Int’l Condemnation of Aden Attack
Aden – Ali Rabih/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
The horrendous terrorist attack that targeted a convoy transporting the Yemeni
agriculture minister, Salem al-Suqatri, and Aden Governor Ahmed Lamlas has drawn
broad Arab and international condemnation. Sunday’s failed assassination attempt
resulted in the death and injury of 13 people, including civilians.
Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf
strongly condemned “the cowardly terrorist attack.” The GCC member states
maintain their supportive stance towards Yemen and reject vehemently such acts
of terrorism that run counter to all religious, moral and humanitarian values,
said Al-Hajraf in a statement. He voiced sincere condolences to the brotherly
people of Yemen and the families of the victims, wishing the wounded a quick
recovery. He called on all Yemeni parties to stand united in the face of
terrorism and work together to restore security and stability to Yemen. The EU
Mission in Yemen said in a statement it strongly condemned the “horrific”
attack. “Yemenis have the right to live in peace all over the country,” it said
while emphasizing that the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement is paramount.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the attack and affirmed
the firm position it holds against terrorism in all its forms and motives. It
stressed the need to unify Yemeni ranks to confront terrorism and achieve the
aspirations of the Yemeni people for security and stability.
Yemen’s Floods Cause Massive Destruction, Displace Hundreds of Families
Aden - Mohammed Nasser/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Torrential rains over Yemen have caused widespread floods that have damaged
large swathes of agricultural land and civilian infrastructure in the war-torn
country, forcing the evacuation of residents in the governorates of Aden and
Hodeidah. Floods had swept away several homes, but weather reports confirm that
the wave of heavy downpour will soon stop. Residents and local officials told
Asharq Al-Awsat that the torrents swept away and severely damaged many houses,
especially in southern Hodeidah, where most of the residents - who were
displaced by the Houthi militia - live in houses made of mud and straw. This has
left hundreds without Shelter.In the Najd neighborhood of al-Misrakh district, a
house collapsed on a family of five. More so, the highway connecting between the
governorates of Taiz and Aden was also closed due to damage caused by the rain.
It is noteworthy that this highway is vital for Taiz as it is the main route
connecting the governorate to its surroundings. In Abyan governorate, warnings
were issued of a disaster that might occur after torrential rains flowed into
the governorate in very large quantities, threatening to sweep away barriers and
agricultural lands. Traffic stopped and farms were washed away.
Residents of Al-Musaimeer District in Lahij Governorate reported that rainwater
that recently flowed from the Wadi Tuban valley to the district had washed away
agricultural lands and fruit trees. Residents appealed to Governor Ahmed Al-Turki,
and organizations working in the farming sector to intervene quickly to save
their agricultural lands. They explained that the floods destroyed the crops on
which they depend to provide for their lives and support their families. More
so, floods had buried several wells located near the course of Wadi Tuban. These
wells are vital for the local population procuring potable water and watering
their farmlands.
Algerian President Rejects Mediation to End Row with
Morocco
Algiers - Boualem Goumrassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 12 October, 2021
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune confirmed that his country would reject
any mediations to restore diplomatic relations with Morocco. Tebboune gave a
lengthy interview on national television, in which he discussed the dispute with
Rabat and Algiers’ decision to sever relations.
In response to a question about alleged mediations, which countries may offer to
bring the two Maghreb neighbors closer, Tebboune said: “We cannot put on the
same footing, the aggressor and the aggressed.”“We reacted to an aggression,
constant since our independence in 1962, and of which we are not at the origin,”
added Tebboune, describing Morocco’s actions as “hostile and repeated.”Tebboune
claimed that his country did not “utter anything that affects the territorial
integrity of Morocco.”“Whoever searches for us will find us. We are a resistant
people, and we know the value of war and gunpowder and the value of peace.
Whoever assaults us will regret the day he was born,” warned the president.
Observes described Tebboune’s statements as unusually firm since the dispute
with Morocco intensified and led to the severing of diplomatic ties.
Furthermore, Tebboune demanded France’s “total respect,” following a row over
visas after Paris decided to drop the number of visas granted to Algerians from
70,000 to less than 35,000 annually. French President Emmanuel Macron’s
statements about the descendants of the 1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence
were considered “offensive to Algeria’s reputation and history,” added Tebboune.
Macron said Algeria was ruled by a “political-military system” and described the
country’s “official history” as having been “totally re-written” to something
“not based on truths” but “on a discourse of hatred towards France.” Algeria
withdrew its ambassador from Paris after these developments and barred French
warplanes from using its airspace. Tebboune said: “We forget that it (Algeria)
was once a French colony... History should not be falsified.”In reference to the
French colonial past, he remarked: “We can’t act as though nothing happened.”
Asked about the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline, whose fate remains uncertain, the
president announced that his country would supply Spain with gas through Medgaz
until the contract expires at the end of October. “If there is any malfunction,
all our ships will go to Spain to deliver liquefied natural gas.” He said that
there is no decision regarding the supply of gas to Morocco, knowing that Rabat
receives 97 percent of its natural gas needs from Algeria.
The Latest The Latest LCCC
English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on October 12-13/2021
Confronting a Financial Assault on America's Future
Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone Institute/October 12/2021
Far more destructive that most Americans could ever imagine, the nation's multi
trillion dollar deficit now being advocated by progressive socialists in
Congress would place our future on a collision course with catastrophic
bankruptcy.
Which may just be the outcome some in Congress are seeking to achieve.
Democratic Senator Joseph Manchin told Associated Press he won't support even
half of Biden's multi-trillion dollar progressive wish list. He has been joined
by fellow Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema in seeking to avert Washington's
march to become a global pauper. Theirs is a courageous stand and one that will
be recorded by historians as last ditch actions taken by a literal handful to
prevent America's self-directed destruction.
We would be wise to... recognize that America's deficit is more than a number.
It is a nation-destroying weapon.
If the tragic day ever comes when America's global leadership is but a distant
memory it will not be because of a nuclear strike, a searing pandemic, or even a
crippling cyberattack.
No.
It will be from a self- inflicted mortal wound called "the deficit."
Far more destructive than most Americans could ever imagine, the nation's
multi-trillion dollar deficit now being advocated by progressive socialists in
Congress would place our future on a collision course with catastrophic
bankruptcy. Such an event would destroy the very foundation of our financial
system, the savings of every hard-working middle class family, and our country's
very ability to defend democracy.
Which may just be the outcome some in Congress are seeking to achieve.
History provides ample evidence of what occurs to nation states that run their
economies into a ditch. While post-World War I Germany is the historic
cautionary tale, given that its economic instability opened the door to Nazism,
it was the economic fiction of communism that ultimately destroyed the Soviet
empire not so very long ago. Not a shot needed to be fired. The Soviets
collapsed from within from an economy that was unsustainable.
Apparently there are any number in Washington who didn't get that message.
Or, far more ominous, maybe they did.
Consider the enormity of the Senate's recent action to forestall our
government's descent into bankruptcy. They needed to approve legislation to
temporarily raise the federal government's $28.4 trillion debt limit and thereby
avoid the risk of a devastating default. But that was just a temporary fix as a
new deadline looms at the end of the year. This all occurs against the backdrop
of a Biden agenda that places his crushing progressive social agenda on the
backs of American taxpayers.
The numbers are staggering. The Tax Foundation reports that Biden's budget would
increase federal spending by some $4 trillion over a decade.
There are those in Washington willing to put their political lives on the line
to confront this financial assault on our nation's future. Democratic Senator
Joseph Manchin told Associated Press he won't support even half of Biden's
multi-trillion dollar progressive wish list. He has been joined by fellow
Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema in seeking to avert Washington's march to
become a global pauper. Theirs is a courageous stand and one that will be
recorded by historians as last ditch actions taken by a literal handful to
prevent America's self-directed destruction.
There have been those throughout our nation's history who have sought to betray
our principles, our freedoms, and our future. They have done so by providing our
enemies with valuable military assets, insight, or intelligence. But never could
we imagine a calculated assault on our nation that would undermine the very
financial bedrock upon which this proud democracy stands. Our enemies have read
their history. We would be wise to do the same and recognize that America's
deficit is more than a number. It is a nation-destroying weapon.
*Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute and was
witness to an era when the song of the land was "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?"
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Biden Must Continue the Bipartisan Nuclear Consensus
Anthony Ruggiero/The National Interest/October 12/2021
A nuclear arms race is underway, but so far, the only participants are Russia
and China. The United States, for its part, is barely treading water.
Editor’s note: In late September, The National Interest organized a symposium on
nuclear policy, nonproliferation, and arms control under the Biden
administration. A variety of scholars were asked the following question: “Should
Joe Biden seize the opportunity of his administration’s Nuclear Posture Review
to redefine the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security planning? How should
U.S. policy change to address the proliferation threats that the United States
is facing?” The following article is one of their responses:
A nuclear arms race is underway, but so far, the only participants are Russia
and China. The United States, for its part, is barely treading water. For the
first time in our nation’s history, we must simultaneously deter two peer
nuclear-capable competitors. President Joe Biden must reject calls from within
his political party to unilaterally disarm and to reduce funding for nuclear
modernization programs.
The rapidly changing threat environment should be the driving force of Biden’s
Nuclear Posture and Missile Defense Reviews, which will guide America’s nuclear
policies and should be completed by early 2022. Last month, Admiral Charles
Richard, commander of United States Strategic Command, called China’s nuclear
activities “breathtaking,” equating them to a “strategic breakout.” Richard
warned that in a crisis, Beijing could use its arsenal to coerce the United
States to limit its decision space. China, he added, could escalate to a point
where the United States would not be able to defend its allies.
In April, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report
stating that Beijing is engaged in the “most rapid expansion and platform
diversification of its nuclear arsenal in its history.” China’s arsenal, the
report noted, will at least double in the next decade.
The report also said that Moscow is expanding and modernizing its nuclear
capabilities while increasing the capabilities of its strategic and
non-strategic weapons. Russia is developing a nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed
underwater vehicle and a nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed cruise missile. Some
observers have dubbed the missile the “flying Chernobyl.” Richard warned that
Moscow could use these weapons to “deter us and our allies and offset perceived
conventional inferiority.”
The United States must deter both countries today and plan for an unknown future
that is likely to be more dangerous. The threat from North Korea is growing as
Kim Jong-un diversifies his arsenal. In addition, the Biden administration’s
misguided effort to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers
opens the possibility of an Iranian nuclear weapons program in the next decade.
In May, Charles Verdon, acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA), cautioned that America’s infrastructure for producing and
maintaining the nuclear stockpile has “reached a tipping point.” He added,
“approximately 60 percent of NNSA’s facilities are more than 40 years old and
more than 50 percent are in poor condition.” Admiral Richard warned, “We’re at a
point where end-of-life limitations and cumulative effects of underinvestment in
our nuclear deterrent and supporting infrastructure against the expanding threat
leave me no operational margin.”
Thus, while China and Russia are modernizing and expanding their arsenals, the
United States is still using weapons built during the Cold War, with many
nearing the end of their expected lifetime. The Minuteman III intercontinental
ballistic missile is more than fifty years old and is a core element of the
land-based leg of the nuclear deterrent. Richard noted that we “need a weapon
that can fly and make it to the target. Minuteman III is increasingly challenged
in its ability to do that. There is almost no possibility of an upgrade on that
relative to the threat.”
Nevertheless, Senator Edward Markey and twenty-one other Democrats recommended
in a July letter to Biden that the president should look at extending the life
of the Minuteman III rather than fund its replacement. And House Armed Services
Committee Chairman Adam Smith urged Biden in an August letter to “review the
size and/or necessity of the land-based leg of the triad.” Last month, the House
of Representatives in a bipartisan vote overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to
extend the life of Minuteman III and pause funding for its replacement.
The July letter also recommended that Biden should embrace former President
Barack Obama’s 2013 suggestion of a one-third reduction in the number of
deployed strategic nuclear weapons negotiated with Russia in the New START
Treaty. This idea is a non-starter; Without any verifiable reduction in the
threat from Beijing’s and Moscow’s nuclear arsenals, Russia and China would just
pocket the unilateral reduction in the U.S.-deployed nuclear force. Arms control
negotiations with China and Russia have bipartisan support, and any reductions
must be verifiable and not allow either country to subvert the intent of arms
control by expanding its non-strategic weapon systems.
In March, Biden said his administration is committed to “ensuring our strategic
deterrent remains safe, secure, and effective and that our extended deterrence
commitments to our allies remain strong and credible.” To achieve that
bipartisan call, he must reject calls from his party for unilateral disarmament
and for the reduction of funds for our modernization plans.
*Anthony Ruggiero is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies. He previously served as deputy assistant to the president and
National Security Council senior director for counterproliferation and
biodefense. Follow Anthony on Twitter @NatSecAnthony.
Florida Businessman Indicted in Nader Mohamad Farhat’s Money Laundering Case
Emanuele Ottolenghi/| Policy Brief-FDD/October 12/2021
Florida’s Southern District Court in Miami indicted Florida businessman Elias
Daher last week on money laundering charges, making him a co-defendant in the
Mohamad Nader Farhat money laundering case. U.S. prosecution of Farhat’s alleged
network, part of which is being tried separately in New York, promises to reveal
the intricacies and magnitude of trade-based money laundering in the Tri-Border
Area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay — including the possible role of
Lebanese Hezbollah.
Farhat used to run a money-exchange business out of two tiny storefronts in
Ciudad del Este, on the TBA’s Paraguayan side. Despite the storefronts’
unassuming size, in criminal complaints filed for this case, investigators
describe him as “the leader of an extensive money laundering organization.”
Paraguayan authorities arrested Farhat at his home in May 2018 and, after a
year-long legal battle, extradited him to Miami to face money laundering
charges. He is also a co-defendant in two other money laundering cases in the
Eastern District of New York.
Although the Farhat investigation is not formally a Hezbollah terror-finance
case, U.S. officials have referred to Farhat as a “Hezbollah supporter.” Court
documents describe Farhat as a “known money launderer for narcotics
organizations and other illicit organizations.” According to a Department of
Justice press release, the Farhat network participated in “an international
money laundering scheme relying on the complexities of global trade, and the use
of … businesses here in New York and in Florida, to launder millions of dollars
for transnational drug traffickers and other bad actors.”
During their raids on Farhat’s offices in Ciudad del Este, investigators seized
a hard drive containing terabytes of data — much more than a typical personal
computer can store. Court documents indicate that the trove of information
included a chart “that purportedly shows how the money -laundering scheme was
organized.” With that chart in hand, investigators could confirm how Hezbollah’s
money laundering schemes operate in the United States, and could expand Farhat’s
initial indictment to include his suspected associates.
Key to Hezbollah operations are dozens if not hundreds of small import-export
companies that launder money under cover of trade, fraudulent transactions, and
cash deposits. To move money generated by illicit activities such as drug
trafficking, these companies issue false invoices for nonexistent transactions,
underprice or overprice merchandise they trade, and make multiple cash deposits
under $10,000. Trade often includes triangulating among Far East commodities
providers, U.S. intermediaries, and TBA businesses, as exemplified by the case
of Ali Kassir, convicted in Florida in 2019 on similar charges, where the U.S.
companies acted as pass-throughs for trade transactions between the Far East and
the TBA.
Since Farhat’s extradition to Miami in June 2019, prosecutors have also indicted
Diya Salame — a fellow Floridian and a social media contact of Daher — and
Houssam Hachem, from Dearborn, Michigan, as accomplices in the Farhat case. Last
week it was Daher’s turn. According to the new indictment, released on September
30, Daher, like his co-defendants, allegedly laundered proceeds from illicit
activities and used his companies as an unlicensed money transmitting business —
utilizing fraudulent commercial transactions to move ill-gotten gains.
Farhat, Daher, Hachem, and Salame stand trial on November 8. Those concerned
with U.S. vulnerability to illicit financial schemes and Hezbollah’s malign
activities should watch this case closely.
*Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD’s Center on Economic and
Financial Power (CEFP) and Iran Program. For more analysis from Emanuele, CEFP,
and the Iran Program, please subscribe HERE. Follow Emanuele on Twitter @eottolenghi.
Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP and @FDD_Iran. FDD is a Washington,
DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and
foreign policy.
Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan (TTP) consolidates
power in tribal areas
Bill Roggio/longwarjournal/October 12/2021
Member of the Shehryar Mehsud Group swear alligiance to the Wali Noor Mehsud,
the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Image from TTP website.
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan (TTP) is consolidating its power in
Pakistan’s volatile tribal areas.
With increased muscle, backing and resources, the TTP – which sent thousands of
fighters into Afghanistan to help the Afghan Taliban conquer the country over
the summer – can now refocus its efforts on relaunching its insurgency in order
to overthrow the Pakistani state.
The Shehryar Mehsud Group rejoined the the TTP this month and its leaders
pledged allegiance to Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, according to two statements
released on the group’s website.
In total, nine Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked groups have sworn allegiance to Wali
and taken up the banner of the TTP since July 2020 (see groups listed below).
Many of these groups have close ties to Al Qaeda and the constellation of
Pakistani jihadist groups. These groups likely will aid Wali and his TTP in
relaunching its insurgency against the Pakistani state.
The Shehryar Mehsud Group was one of several Pakistani Taliban factions that
split from the TTP after the TTP named Mullah Fazlullah its emir in Nov. 2013.
Fazlullah replaced Hakeemullah Mehsud, the popular TTP leader from South
Waziristan who waged a successful and deadly insurgency against the Pakistani
state during his tenure as the second emir of the TTP. As emir of the TTP from
2009 until his death in late 2013, Hakeemullah engineered the deaths of
thousands of Pakistani civilians, soldiers, and policemen. Taliban fighters
under his command launched suicide attacks and assaults in mosques, shrines,
hospitals, markets, hotels, police stations and military bases.
Fazlullah’s appointment led to divisions within the TTP. The terror group, which
was founded in Dec. 2017 by Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan, was
traditionally led by Mehsud tribesmen. Fazlullah, who hailed from Swat in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province, was an outsider of the traditional TTP leadership circles,
and his leadership style was unpopular. Coupled with Pakistan’s offensive
against the TTP, the group splintered. [See LWJ reports, Discord dissolves
Pakistani Taliban coalition and Mehsud faction rejoins the Movement of the
Taliban in Pakistan.]
Fazlullah was killed in U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan in 2018. He was
replaced by Mufti Wali Noor Mehsud. Also known as Abu Mansoor Asim, Wali is a
veteran jihadist who fought alongside the Afghan Taliban against the Northern
Alliance and against the U.S. and its allies after the Oct. 2001 invasion. Wali
has served as a military commander and has led the TTP in the Pakistani city of
Karachi. More importantly, Wali is a religious scholar who rose to the rank of
judge within the TTP. His credentials gave him the needed clout to reorganize
the TTP.
While opposed to the Pakistani military, the TTP has some cards up its sleeve in
its efforts to overthrow the country and impose an Taliban regime. Its main
allies, the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda, were victorious in Afghanistan and the
country is now a terror safe haven. The Taliban played a key role in helping
conquer Afghanistan, and it will expect support, even if covert, from the Afghan
Taliban. Wali, the TTP emir, swore allegiance to the Taliban’s emir in Aug.
2019, just days after the Taliban took over Afghanistan.
The Pakistani military, its Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate and powerful
elements of the state handcuff themselves by continuing to play both sides of
the jihadist coin. The Pakistani state also played a key role in supporting the
Afghan Taliban by providing safe have, support, weapons, cash, and other forms
of support. The Afghan Taliban and other groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba are
considered “good Taliban” by the state, as they help promote the foreign policy
goals of Pakistan – primarily strategic depth against India and jihad in the
Indian territory of Kashmir and Jammu.
However, the so-called “good Taliban” are allied with groups like the TTP and Al
Qaeda, the so-called “bad Taliban” which actively seek to overthrow the
Pakistani state. The good Taliban provide shelter, support, manpower, and such
to the bad Taliban, which attacks the state. This is the “Wheel of Jihad.”
Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked groups that have joined the TTP since July 2020
*The Amjad Farooqi Group joins the TTP.
The Amjad Farooqi Group, led by Muneeb Bhai, joined the TTP in July 2020.
According to the TTP, Bhai was “a close associate of Ustad Ahmad Farooq.” Farooq
was a deputy emir of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, Al Qaeda’s branch in
south and central Asia. The U.S. killed Farooq in a drone strike in early 2015.
Amjad Farooqi was a Pakistani jihadst and member of Jaish-e-Mohammad. He was
involved in the assassination attempt on former Pakistani president Pervez
Musharraf. Farooqi served as a close aide to Qari Saifullah Akhtar, the leader
of the Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. He also served as the group’s representative
to al Qaeda’s International Islamic Front. He is thought to have been involved
in the Indian airliner hijacking that led to the release of both Maulana Masood
Azhar, the future leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Sheikh Omar Saeed, a
senior al Qaeda and Jaish-e-Mohammed operative involved in the death of U.S.
journalist Daniel Pearl. Farooqi was killed by Pakistani forces in 2004. Al
Qaeda lionized Farooq after he was killed.
*The Hakeemullah Mehsud Group rejoins the TTP.
In July 2020, Mukhlis Yar Hifazullah, who led a Taliban faction that was loyal
to Hakeemullah Mehsud, swore allegiance to Wali and rejoined the TTP. While
little is known of Mukhlis Yar Hifazullah, his previous patron Hakeemullah was
integrally linked to Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and the host of Pakistani and
South and Central Asian jihadist groups operating in the region.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Hizb-ul-Ahrar rejoin the TTP.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Hizb-ul-Ahrar (HuA) rejoined the TTP in Aug. 2020.
However, both groups, along with Lashkar-e-Islam, had previously reconciled with
the TTP in 2015. It is possible that JuA emir Omar Khalid Khorasani and HuA emir
Omar Khorasani renewed their allegiance to the TTP and swore their oath to Wali.
JuA was listed by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization in 2016. Omar
Khalid al Khurasani is closely linked to Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s emir, and
has called for the imposition of sharia law and the establishment of a global
caliphate. Khurasani has also said that a primary goal of the Pakistani Taliban
is to obtain nuclear weapons. [See LWJ reports, Taliban commander wants
Pakistan’s nukes, global Islamic caliphate, and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar celebrates 9/11
attack.]
*The Amir Usman Saifullah Kurd Group joined the TTP.
In Aug. 2020, Maulvi Khush Muhammad Sindhi swore allegiance to Wali, and his
Amir Usman Saifullah Kurd Group joined the TTP. The Amir Usman Saifullah Kurd
Group was part of Lashkar-e-Jhanghvi, the virulent anti-Shia terror group with
ties to Al Qaeda and a host of terror organizations. Sindhi previously served as
the emir of Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, (HUJI), another Al Qaeda ally in
Pakistan. Previous leaders of HUJI include Ilyas Kashmiri, who served as Al
Qaeda’s military commander, and Qari Saifullah Akhar, who was directly linked to
Osama bin Laden and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. The U.S.
killed Kashmiri in Pakistan in 2011, and the Afghan NDS killed Akhar in
Afghanistan in 2017.
*Maulavi Aalim Khan Ustad and Commander Ghazi Umar Azaam joined the TTP.
In Dec. 2020, Maulavi Aalim Khan Ustad and Commander Ghazi Umar Azaam swore
bayat to Wali, and their groups joined the TTP. Aalim Khan Ustad previously
served as a commander under Hafiz Gul Bahadar, an influential Taliban commander
in North Waziristan who is not aligned with the TTP. Bahadar is the consummate
“good Taliban” leader. While he has not joined the TTP, he supports it while
maintaining good relations with the Pakistani state. Khan had previously
negotiated with the Pakistani government and formed a group called Jaish-e
Muttaqi. Ghazi Umar Azaam, also from North Waziristan, is the leader of a group
known as Musa Shaheed Karvan.
*Ustad Aslam’s group joins the TTP.
In Aug. 2021, a group of Taliban fighters led by Ustad Aslam joined the TTP.
Aslam, who is also known as Qari Yasin, is an Al Qaeda commander from Punjab who
operates in North Waziristan. Aslam was “involved in several high-profile
terrorist attacks, including the assassination attempt on former president Gen.
Pervez Musharraf, the attack on the GHQ, the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket
team and a bomb blast at Data Darbar in Lahore.” He was rumored to have been
killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2017, but the reports were never confirmed.
*The Shehryar Mehsud Group joins the TTP
In Oct. 2021, the Shehryar Mehsud Group, along with leaders Maulana Sher Alam,
Commander Asad and Dr. Hamid Akhir, joined the TTP. The Shehryar Mehsud Group
had split with the TTP after Mullah Fazlullah was appointed emir. The group was
founded by Shehryar Mehsud, who was killed in a bombing in Afghanistan in Kunar
province in 2020. Shehryar is said to have made many enemies amongst Pakistan’s
various jihadist groups. The Shehryar Mehsud Group is now led by Maulana Wali
Muhammad.
*Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and
the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.
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How Israel blocked Iraq’s political reform
Farouk Yousef/The Arab News/October 12/2021
With ready-made sentences, Arab politicians cover up their corruption,
ignorance, reprehensible behaviour and lack of political experience.
Sayyed Muqtada al-Sadr, the fiery Iraqi cleric said that Israel is the party
behind the obstruction of political reform in his country. Of course, there are
those in Iraq who are tempted to believe him. Just as some Syrians are tempted
to believe that Israel is the one preventing Bashar al-Assad’s regime from
opting for democracy, there are Palestinians who are tempted to believe that
Israel is behind the corruption of the Palestinian Authority and the one that
encourages Hamas to launch its wars from time to time.There are countless
instances of this kind of talk. Such examples unfortunately reflect the type of
relationship that some politicians have with politics. Some Arab politicians
have no problem losing credibility as long as they cannot be legally held
accountable. Sadr, for instance, is a man beyond suspicion, even though he runs
one of the biggest corruption machines in Iraq. He is also a religious leader
who has inherited infallibility from his father, even though he cannot utter a
single Arabic sentence without insulting or belittling his listeners. In
addition, all his conversations reveal the limits of his thinking and the
modesty of his intellectual abilities, not to mention his shallow political
knowledge.
All this is not an exaggeration. However, as soon as you criticise the man who
is directly responsible for the collapse of the electricity and health sectors,
you are met with one of two responses. Either you are accused of
anti-sectarianism, a ready-made charge behind which hide many thieves,
murderers, scammers and fraudsters. As I said, there are those who will be
satisfied if I tell them that “Israel is the reason”. Here, we must remember the
myth of the US ambassador to Baghdad who supposedly encouraged Saddam Hussein to
invade Kuwait. Many believed this myth, although then-Deputy Prime Minister
Tariq Aziz, who was close to the late Iraqi president, denied any knowledge of
this kind of incident. That denial did not mean anything to those who took
comfort in absolving Saddam Hussein from any responsibility in the catastrophe
that destroyed the country and people of Iraq. This means that those who accept
to be the laughing stock of others are the ones who contribute to the spread of
the political blindness that breeds the ready-made sentences through which Arab
politicians cover up the tracks of corruption, ignorance, reprehensible
behaviour and lack of political experience. What’s more important is that they
do not care if their lies are exposed or if their devious ploys are uncovered as
long as no one can hold them accountable.
“Israel is the reason,” that sounds logical. Nobody asks how. No one has the
strength to summon Sayyed Moqtada, not to prosecute him for misleading and
untruthful statements, but to benefit from the gift that allows him to uncover
the hidden threads that point to Israel’s ability to disrupt all attempts at
reform in Iraq. And if we go beyond the question of how and ask the question of
what, such as, “what were the attempts made by Sayyed Moqtada and his political
movement in pursuit of reform before Israel aborted them?” Then, ask what is
reform from the point of view of Sayyed Moqtada and his followers? And what
needs to be fixed in order for Iraqis to enjoy a comfortable life, or at least
live together? All of these questions and others cannot be answered by Sadr,
just as Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah cannot not answer a question of the type: “Who
are you resisting, and why do you bear arms in the name of the resistance while
controlling the fate of Lebanon and the lives of its people?” He would answer,
“Israel”. We can, then, only nod our heads in agreement as the unwitting
laughing idiots with guns pointed at their heads.