LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 07/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Rejoice, you childless one, you who bear no children, burst into song and shout, you who endure no birth pangs; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than the children of the one who is married
Letter to the Galatians 04/21//31/05,01: “Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. One, the child of the slave, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, ‘Rejoice, you childless one, you who bear no children, burst into song and shout, you who endure no birth pangs; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than the children of the one who is married.’Now you, my friends, are children of the promise, like Isaac. But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the scripture say? ‘Drive out the slave and her child; for the child of the slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.’ So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on February 06-07/19
The Futile Lebanese New Government Mere Rhetoric Ministerial Statement
Lebanon's New Government is A mere Iranian Tool
Bassil to Skip Meeting of Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS
Nasrallah: Iran Can Give Army Air Defense, Solve Electricity Problem
PSP Delegation Says Keen on 'Accord' with Aoun, 'Pacification' with Hariri
Aoun: All Indications Suggest that Lebanon Will Rise
Ministerial Panel Finalizes Policy Statement amid LF Reservations
Chidiac Says Bassil Shouldn't be Allowed to Voice Own Stance on Syria Abroad
Al-Hassan Becomes 1st Female Arab Minister in Charge of Security
Berri: Confidence Sessions to be Held Tuesday, Wednesday
Report: Berri to ‘Bridge Gap’ between Hariri, Jumblat
Bassil Says Aoun President Thanks to Hizbullah, FPM Won't Accept 'Syria in Lebanon'
Kouyoumjian: FPM’s Support for Hizbullah Enabled its Domination
Mashnouq Says Acted on 'al-Hassan's Instructions' in Removing Blocks
Two Suspects Arrested on Terror Charges, Links to Nusra Group
Arab Procrastination in Welcoming New Lebanese Government
Heavily indebted Lebanon promises quick reforms - draft policy statement
Now that Lebanon finally has a government, the real work begins
A new presidential deal with Hezbollah's blessing?

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 06-07/19
Trump Vows to Outspend Russia without New Missile Pact
Pompeo reassures allies of US commitments in Syria, Iraq
Top Iraqi cleric rejects Trump’s plan for US troops in Iraq
U.S. Senate Passes Bill Fighting Israel Boycott Movement
Venezuela's Military Blocks Humanitarian Aid Shipment
Italy to Host Venezuela Delegation at Guaido's Request
Aid Reaches Displaced Syrians near Jordan Border
Fresh French Airstrikes against Incursion into Chad from Libya
1.8 Million Remain Displaced in Iraq
Abbas: No One Can Represent Us or Speak on Our Behalf
‘Form’ of Palestinian Government Main Dispute in Cairo’s ‘Reconciliation Talks’
Dozens of Israeli Ministers, MPs Pledge to Settle 2 Million People in West Bank
Gunmen Blow Up Fuel Tanker in Iran, Policeman Killed
Cyber-Attacks Target Foreign Diplomats in Iran
Iran Dismisses EU Concern about Missile Tests as ‘Non-Constructive’
Arab Parliament Holds Conference to Promote Solidarity, Discard Differences

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 06-07/19
The Futile Lebanese New Government Mere Rhetoric Ministerial Statement/Elias Bejjani/February 06/19
Lebanon's New Government is A mere Iranian Tool/Elias Bejjani/February 05/19
Arab Procrastination in Welcoming New Lebanese Government
Mohamed Choucair/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 06/19
Heavily indebted Lebanon promises quick reforms - draft policy statement/Laila Bassam and Tom Perry/Reuters/February06/19
Now that Lebanon finally has a government, the real work begins/Michael Young/The National/February 06/19
A new presidential deal with Hezbollah's blessing/Bassem Ajami/Annahar/February 06/19
President Trump’s State of the Union speech/Agencis/February 06/19
Philippines: Christians Slaughtered, Churches Bombed/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/February 06/19
UK: Landmark First Conviction for Female Genital Mutilation/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/February 06/19
EU: Going Full Orwell/Judith Bergman//Gatestone Institute/February 06/19
Double Standard for Historical Revisionism/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/February 06/19

Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on February 06-07/19
The Futile Lebanese New Government Mere Rhetoric Ministerial Statement
عقم البيان الوزاري الإنشائي لحكومة الحريري في لبنان
Elias Bejjani/February 06/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71882/elias-bejjani-the-futile-lebanese-new-government-mere-rhetoric-ministerial-statement-%d8%b9%d9%82%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%88%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84/
Practically there will be no sense or value what so ever for the new Lebanese “Hariri” Cabinet’s Ministerial Statement.
The statement is definitely going to be a mere rhetoric document as long as it does not address openly, loudly and constitutionally the oppressive Iranian occupation of Lebanon, and at the same time if it does no adopt a clear patriotic and courageous plan to end this occupation in a bid to reclaim both the Lebanese confiscated independence and sovereignty.
None of the Cabinet’s thirty ministers will be free to do any thing that is positive if it does not serve totally the Iran’s devious scheme of terrorism, expansionism, sectarianism, and denominationalism.
The ministers’ conduct with no one exception as well as even their breath of air will be monitored constrained and controlled by Hezbollah, the occupier.
In reality the Iranian Terrorist Hezbollah organization totally runs the governing show and all the rest of the officials on all levels including the thirty new ministers are a mere supernumerary “comparse” who carry verbatim its dictates, املاءات degrees فتاوى and faramens فرمانات.
In this context all the time and effort that is spent in preparing the ministerial statement is futile and shall have no practical value by any means.
Meanwhile it is worth mentioning that twenty of the thirty ministers in the new “Hariri” government are totally affiliated to Hezbollah and accordingly obey happily its dictates, while the other ten represent the three Lebanese political parties (Lebanese Forces Party headed by Dr. Samir Geagea, Progressive Socialist Party headed by Walid Jumblat, Future Movement headed by Saad Hariri) that has already succumbed to Hezbollah’s occupation agenda after abandoning and dismantling the 14th Of March coalition in exchange for marginal personal benefits and trivial local governing and castrated positions.
The current Ministerial Statement and as was the unconstitutional status since 2005 will heretically legitimize the so called “Hezbollah’s resistance” against Israeli in a bold defiance and contempt to all that is constitution and UN Resolutions (1559, 1701,The 1946 Armistice agreement with Israel).
Few ministers, especially the four Lebanese Forces’ Party ones are expected and in a camouflaging and deceiving theatrical show to verbally disagree on the “Hezbollah’s Resistance legitimization” clause of the Ministerial Statement, but will not resign from government while their party’s 15 MP’s will grant it a vote of confidence in the parliament.
In conclusion the New Lebanese “Hariri” Government is not only A Hezbollah one, but actually it is an Iranian mere tool.

Lebanon's New Government is A mere Iranian Tool
Elias Bejjani/February 05/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71825/elias-bejjani-lebanons-new-government-is-a-mere-iranian-tool/
Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, alleged yesterday in a speech aired via his Iranian terrorist organization "Al-Manar TV" that the new Lebanese Government is not controlled by Hezbollah.
Definitely, and without any doubt, Nasrallah's camouflaging rhetoric of denial is not only false, but also deceiving by all means and in all domains.
In reality and based on actual facts that are related to the political, national, and strategic affiliations of the thirty ministers of the newly formed cabinet, we can loudly and freely, say that this New Government is a mere Iranian tool no more no less.
The Government was announced after Hezbollah's on going Iranian Mullah's obstacles, intimidations and procrastinations that went on evilly for nine months in a bid to serve Iran's regional and local terrorist agenda.
There is nothing in this new government that is "Lebanese" by any means except its name.
In reality and actuality it is an Iranian mere governing tool as was the status of the previous one.
It is worth mentioning that the State of Lebanon is an Iranian occupied and oppressed country.
Meanwhile all those politicians and so called corrupted political parties who participated in the new government are practically mere Trojans and have no patriotic or free saying in any matter being major or minor...and espcially in regards to Hezbollah's occupation.
Twenty ministers out of the thirty portfolios that the new government is composed of are filled either by Hezbollah active members, allies or by individuals that are picked and nominated by its leadership.
While the other 10 portfolios are designated to ministers that represent three political parties that has already succumbed to the occupier, Hezbollah, and accepted to recognize its occupation and control in exchange for trivial and marginalized governing power shares.
Sadly this new government is going to be practically like the previous one, just a mask and a cover for Hezbollah's occupation and a tool for Iranian Mullah's expansionism and terrorism schemes that are totally anti-Lebanese, anti-Arab and anti peace..

Bassil to Skip Meeting of Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS
Beirut - Khalil Fleihan/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 06/19/Foreign ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS will meet this Wednesday in Washington, upon the invitation of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The coalition, which groups 79 countries, will conduct a review and assessment of its achievements over the past four years and will seek to develop a plan to defeat ISIS sleeper cells in Iraq, Syria, and other countries. Pompeo called for this conference to coordinate efforts among coalition members following the controversial decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw from Syria.
The United States established this alliance in 2014. Lebanon is among the founding nations but is not involved in military operations. Minister of Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil signed the founding document about five years ago. Bassil, however, will not be present at this global conference and has dispatched Gabriel Issa to represent Lebanon. A source close to the minister told Asharq Al-Awsat that he decided to skip the conference because its agenda included an item on “the voluntary return of refugees”, instead of the clause that he pushed for during the preparatory meetings on the “safe and necessary return of the displaced.”The Lebanese foreign minister has actively engaged in many conferences on the Syrian crisis, including the Vienna Conference, where he persuaded his counterparts to include the expression of “safe return” instead of “voluntary return”, but the US and European states are insisting on the term “voluntary.” According to US diplomatic sources, Washington will focus during the conference on preventing the return of ISIS militants to Iraq and Syria following the withdrawal of American forces. The sources added that the Coalition would continue to seek the establishment of stability in areas that were liberated from ISIS in order to “facilitate the safe and voluntary return of those who were displaced due to violence.”They also emphasized the “voluntary return of the displaced Syrians,” underlining the continued work on drying up the sources of funding of ISIS and its sleeper cells around the world. Pompeo will meet with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Britain, France and Germany before the opening of the plenary session to discuss developments in the wake of Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria, according to the sources.

Nasrallah: Iran Can Give Army Air Defense, Solve Electricity Problem
Naharnet/February06/19/Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced Wednesday that he is willing to ask Iran to provide the Lebanese Army with weapons and air defense systems, while noting that Tehran can “easily” solve Lebanon's chronic electricity problem. “Will the Lebanese government dare to accept the Iranian proposals? Why should Lebanon remain afraid to cooperate with Iran?” Nasrallah said in a televised address marking the 40th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution. “In the military field, wouldn't people make an uproar and accuse Hizbullah of dragging Lebanon into war should the party shoot down an Israeli aircraft attacking Lebanon? I'm a friend of Iran and I'm willing to bring the Lebanese Army air defense systems from Iran to confront Israel,” Nasrallah added, noting that he is also ready to talk to Tehran on supplying the army with any arms and equipment it needs. Hizbullah's leader also said that it would be “very easy” for Iran to solve Lebanon's chronic electricity problem while noting that it can also make a “huge transformation” in Lebanon's pharmaceutical industry that would “help us slash the medical bill of the state and citizens.”Nasrallah also admitted that his party is "affected by the sanctions” slapped on it by Washington, but vowed that it will "overcome the difficulties" through its "firmness, will and resolve."Turning to the region, Nasrallah said that Iran won't be fighting alone in the event the United States launches a war against it. "If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation at all," he said. "The resistance axis is stronger than ever and the U.S. will further withdraw from the region and Israel is heading towards more fear and panic," Nasrallah added. The axis groups the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad, Shiite militias in Iraq, some Palestinian factions and Hizbullah. Nasrallah also said that "claims that there are Israeli-Iranian or Saudi-Iranian wars or conflicts in the region are untrue.” “This is an American war on the Islamic Republic of Iran that has been running since 1979 and Saudi Arabia and some Gulf countries are tools in this war," he added.

PSP Delegation Says Keen on 'Accord' with Aoun, 'Pacification' with Hariri
Naharnet/February06/19/A delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party held talks Wednesday with President Michel Aoun, in the wake of fiery stances that were voiced by PSP chief Walid Jumblat after the formation of the new government. “Over the past period, Walid Jumblat made several visits to Baabda and we believe, on our part, that an accord was established between us. Today we reiterated Jumblat's keenness on it and we heard keenness from President Aoun on this consensus,” Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour of the PSP said. “President Aoun played a major role in deepening and deep-rooting reconciliation, national unity and coexistence in the Mount Lebanon region,” Abu Faour added. “We stressed Jumblat's keenness on the reconciliation and we are still keen on the settlement that was reached with the President,” the minister added, referring to the settlement over the third Druze minister in the new cabinet. “We and President Aoun have put the results of the parliamentary elections behind us and the settlement was held with the President and not with any other political party,” Abu Faour went on to say. Turning to the recent war of words between Jumblat and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the minister said “an agreement has been reached” on ending the exchange of tirades. “We have entered the phase of direct dialogue and there are issues that require discussion but this will not ruin the historic relation between the two men,” Abu Faour said. “Jumblat is keen on contributing positively to the dynamism that was launched with the formation of the government,” the minister added. Responding to a reporter's question, Abu Faour said the PSP believes that Aoun is keen on the Taef Accord.

Aoun: All Indications Suggest that Lebanon Will Rise
Naharnet/February06/19/President Michel Aoun on Wednesday reassured citizens that “all indications suggest that Lebanon will rise.”“Crises have become behind us, the financial situation is improving and interest rates are expected to start decreasing soon,” Aoun said. “The difficulties that faced us were big within a country whose problems stem from the inside. Our problems did not come from abroad... but we wasted a long time on the formation of the government and we lost a year in preparing for the electoral law,” the president added. “All of this created pressure on the economic situation, and what aggravated things was the negative atmosphere that was promoted through 'proselytizing' that there will be a financial and economic collapse. Despite all the reassurances and instructions we gave over the past period to overcome the crisis, there remained insistence on proselytizing about a collapse,” Aoun lamented. He also noted that all efforts are today focused on the financial and economic situations as well as the fight against corruption and the Syrian refugee file.

Ministerial Panel Finalizes Policy Statement amid LF Reservations
Naharnet/February06/19/A ministerial panel tasked with drafting the Policy Statement of the new government finalized the text on Wednesday after a final reading session. “Things were calm and the atmosphere was very positive,” Information Minister Jamal al-Jarrah said after the meeting.
“Minor amendments were introduced without altering the core,” he noted. “We are waiting for President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri to agree on a date for a cabinet session aimed at endorsing the statement and it will likely be held tomorrow,” Jarrah added.
And noting that the meeting did not witness clashes over any point, the minister said the Lebanese Forces voiced reservations over a clause related to “the right of Lebanese citizens to resist” Israel after the panel refrained from adding the phrase “within the state's legitimate institutions” to it. LBCI television meanwhile reported that the Policy Statement will stress Lebanon's “commitment to a harmonious financial and monetary policy that enhances confidence in the national economy, lowers the debt-to-GDP ratio through increasing the economy's size, and slashes the treasury's deficit.” “As of the 2019 state budget, Lebanon is committed to conducting a financial rectification with a rate of 1% over a period of five years through boosting revenues and slashing expenditure, starting by Electricite du Liban's annual deficit which would be eventually totally eliminated,” LBCI quoted the government as saying in the statement.
The government also says that it is “committed the maintaining a fixed national currency exchange rate seeing as it is a priority for social and economic stability.”

Chidiac Says Bassil Shouldn't be Allowed to Voice Own Stance on Syria Abroad
Naharnet/February06/19/State Minister for Administrative Development Affairs May Chidiac on Wednesday said that Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil should not be allowed to voice his own stances on the Syrian issue when representing Lebanon abroad. “We cannot accept that Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil be allowed to express foreign policy stances at international forums without the presence of consensus on them” in Lebanon, Chidiac said after the meeting of a ministerial panel drafting the new Cabinet's Policy Statement. “It is not up to us to call for Syria's return to the Arab League, so let us leave this decision to the League, seeing as so far there is no agreement regarding the Syrian state,” the Lebanese Forces minister added. “We will be outside the government and we won't fulfill this wish to anyone. We will oppose from the inside and we will be the voice of conscience inside the government,” Chidiac went on to say.
Turning to the Policy Statement, the minister said the LF will not accept that its demands be ignored regarding the clause related to resisting Israel. “We are determined to return the strategic decision to the state because this is a strategic goal for the LF,” she added. During the meeting, Chidiac had demanded the addition of the phrase “within the state's legitimate institutions” to a clause related to “the right of Lebanese citizens to resist Israel.”

Al-Hassan Becomes 1st Female Arab Minister in Charge of Security
Associated Press/Naharnet/February06/19/Lebanon's new interior minister Raya al-Hassan has taken office, becoming the country's and the Arab world's first female official in charge of powerful security agencies. Al-Hassan welcomed the challenge, saying Prime Minister Saad Hariri put his trust in her and gave her "this big responsibility." "As the first female minister of interior, I have to prove the woman's ability to assume an exceptional portfolio," she said at the handover ceremony from her predecessor, Nouhad al-Mashnouq, who had been in the post for five years. Al-Hassan, who holds a Masters' degree from George Washington University and is a member of Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement, is one of four women in the 30-member Cabinet -- a record for female political representation in Lebanon. Al-Hassan is used to headlines. She chaired one of Lebanon's major private public partnerships designed to develop the port city of Tripoli and in 2009, she became the first Arab woman finance minister -- a post she kept for two years. As interior minister, she will be in charge of multiple, often competing security agencies, and of maintaining stability in a country that has grappled with militant groups and limited spillover from the war in neighboring Syria. "I will seek to have my own very special touch," al-Hassan said. Lebanon has been making an effort to improve representation of women in politics. In last year's parliamentary election, the first in nine years, six women were elected to the 128-seat parliament, up from four in the previous chamber. Hariri's party also named Violette Safadi as state minister and she successfully campaigned to promptly rename her post from the ministry for women's affairs to ministry for "women and youth empowerment." The post was previously held by a man. May Chidiac, who lost her arm and leg in an assassination attempt in a 2005 bombing, was named state minister for administrative development by the Lebanese Forces party. Nada Bustani, named energy and water minister, tweeted on Tuesday: "A big part of the national economic plans is the responsibility of this ministry and we hope we are up to it."

Berri: Confidence Sessions to be Held Tuesday, Wednesday
Naharnet/February06/19/Speaker Nabih Berri announced Wednesday that Parliament will convene on Tuesday and Wednesday next week to discuss the cabinet's Policy Statement and vote on confidence in the new government.Speaking to MPs during the weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting, Berri said he will call for morning and evening sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday and, if necessary, an afternoon session on Friday. “Parliament will accompany the government's work with a workshop and monthly monitoring and legislative sessions,” Berri added. Expressing his relief over the formation of the government,” Berri said the new cabinet has “a lot of challenges and junctures ahead,” hoping it will manage to “make up for the wasted time.”Separately, the Speaker warned that Israel has “outsourced and exploited a block adjacent to Lebanon's southern maritime border,” noting that “this move represents an attack on Lebanese sovereignty and it targeted against our resources, oil fortune and waters.”“We cannot remain silent over this issue and I will raise it tomorrow with the Italian premier during his visit to Lebanon and with the relevant international officials and sides,” Berri added.

Report: Berri to ‘Bridge Gap’ between Hariri, Jumblat
Naharnet/February06/19/Speaker Nabih Berri has reportedly launched mediation efforts to bridge the gap between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday. The daily said that Berri has dispatched MPs Anwar al-Khalil and Yassin Jaber where they met with Jumblat on Tuesday. Although sources at the Grand Serail--of Hariri- “acknowledged Berri’s efforts,” but they said they had not seen any AMAL Movement official visit the Grand Serail, according to the newspaper. Moreover, AMAL Minister of Finance Ali Hassan Khalil has conveyed a message from Berri to Hariri on the sidelines of the ministerial policy statement meeting a day earlier, it added. However the sources did not elaborate on the message’s content. A war of words erupted lately between Jumblat and Hariri following the formation of the new government. Jumblat had lashed out in recent days at both the Premier and FPM chief MP Jebran Bassil. “The state is not your property,” he told them in a tweet on Monday. “We have noticed unilateralism in the formation of the government as if the premiership was nearly absent and as if Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has laid out the broad lines of the cabinet’s policy statement and the upcoming period. This violates the Taef Accord and is tantamount to playing with fire,” he said on Sunday. Hariri and Bassil snapped back at Jumblat, accusing him of seeking to obstruct the government's work.

Bassil Says Aoun President Thanks to Hizbullah, FPM Won't Accept 'Syria in Lebanon'
Naharnet/February06/19/Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil announced Tuesday that “had it not been for Hizbullah, General (Michel) Aoun would not have become president.”
“And Hizbullah must admit that had it not been for the FPM, it would not have managed to persevere in the face of Israel, terrorism or the isolation attempts,” Bassil added at a Mar Mikhail Church ceremony marking 13 years since the historic “memorandum of understanding” was signed between the two parties. “This agreement was not aimed at isolating anyone. It rather paved the way for national agreements with everyone and there are articles related to sovereignty that have been fulfilled as others remain pending,” Bassil added. “Partnership with Hizbullah protects national unity and the country and it is important. That's why we always return to it,” the FPM chief went on to say. Turning to the thorny issue of Lebanon's relation with Damascus, Bassil said: “The FPM will never accept Syria's presence inside Lebanon but will stand by it, the same as it did over the past eight years, when it is behind the border.”

Kouyoumjian: FPM’s Support for Hizbullah Enabled its Domination
Naharnet/February06/19/Social Affairs Minister Richard Kouyoumjian, of the Lebanese Forces, said on Wednesday that the Free Patriotic Movement has since 2005 provided a “Christian cover” for Hizbullah which enabled its domination in Lebanon, adding that the time has come for the FPM to “lessen” that backing. In remarks he made to VDL radio (93.3), Kouyoumjian said: “The claims that Hizbullah has won over Israel because of the FPM’s support is a questionable issue. The FPM has since 2005 provided a Christian cover for Hizbullah for further dominion at home. Hizbullah is resisting Israel with or without the FPM. “It is time for the FPM to lessen that cover in order to impose its influence at home in favor of the State,” he added. On remarks made by FPM chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday that had it not been for Hizbullah, President Michel Aoun --FPM founder--would not have become president, Kouyoumjian said the Christians support for Aoun is what brought him to power. “Had it not been for the Lebanese Forces’ support for Aoun, we would have been in a (presidential) vacuum until this very day,” he added. The FPM and Hizbullah marked on Tuesday 13 years since the historic “memorandum of understanding” was signed between the two parties.

Mashnouq Says Acted on 'al-Hassan's Instructions' in Removing Blocks
Naharnet/February06/19/Former interior minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced Wednesday that concrete blocks protecting the interior ministry were removed at the request of the new interior minister, Rayya al-Hassan. “To answer everyone's question: I have implemented the instructions of Minister Rayya al-Hassan in the removal of the blocks,” Mashnouq said at a handover ceremony at the ministry. The cement blocks which had obstructed the flow of traffic in Beirut's busy Sanayeh area were removed Tuesday after Mashnouq ordered their placement there in 2014 for security reasons. The National News Agency and TV networks had reported Tuesday that the removal of the blocks took place at al-Hassan's request. Mashnouq's press office for its part said Tuesday that the outgoing minister “asked security officials at the interior ministry to remove the cement blocks after the security reasons pertaining to the threats of the previous period and the anti-terrorism file ceased to exist.”

Two Suspects Arrested on Terror Charges, Links to Nusra Group
Naharnet/February06/19State Security Directorate in the South has arrested two Syrian nationals on terror charges, the State-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday. NNA said one of the suspects, identified as Ahmed R., has admitted to having contacts with Mohammed Khaled Taha, of the rebel group Ahrar al-Sham in Syria’s Idlib. The second suspect has also admitted to having links to al-Nusra Front and to fighting alongside its ranks in 2012. Police found that both suspects were illegally residing on Lebanese soil because their residence permits have expired.

Arab Procrastination in Welcoming New Lebanese Government
Mohamed Choucair/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 06/19
Arab states have been slow in voicing their support to Lebanon’s new government, which was announced last week following a nine-month deadlock, over fears Hezbollah would control its decision-making. “They need to make sure Hezbollah does not control the cabinet and that (Prime Minister Saad) Hariri has a will to achieve a balance inside the government to confront the resistance axis, which claims placing its hands on strategic decisions,” the sources said. The international community believes that a government in Lebanon is a must to address the country’s economic and social problems. However, Lebanon should take concrete steps to place the country on the right track and allow the cabinet to benefit from the funds pledged at the Cedre conference in Paris last April. In other terms, Arab and western states would now offer Hariri’s government a grace period to salvage the country and the term of President Michel Aoun. Therefore, the international community decided to delay its judgement on the intentions of the new cabinet. In this regard, the sources said Paris welcomed the new government as part of its belief that having a cabinet is better than a political void. “France is still waiting to see what achievements the cabinet would make,” the sources said. Asharq Al-Awsat learned from European sources that the expected official visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Beirut was delayed to the second half of 2019. Also, Washington was keen to send a message to concerned parties when it linked welcoming the new government to a state of cautiousness. The US embassy in Beirut welcomed the formation of the new government, but hoped it will uphold its commitments to international resolutions and meet the aspirations and needs of the Lebanese people.

Heavily indebted Lebanon promises quick reforms - draft policy statement
Laila Bassam and Tom Perry/Reuters/February06/19
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon is committed to launching fast and effective reforms that could be "difficult and painful" to avoid a worsening of economic, financial and social conditions, according to a draft government policy statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
The statement sets the main policy objectives of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's national unity government that was finally formed last week after nine months of wrangling over cabinet portfolios. With one of the world's highest public debt burdens, Lebanon says it will carry out reforms that have been put off for years but are now seen as more pressing than ever to put the public finances on a sustainable path.
The draft policy statement commits to bringing down the debt-to-GDP ratio by boosting the size of the economy and reducing the budget deficit.
Echoing a pledge made by Hariri at last year's Paris donor conference, it says the government is committed to a "financial correction" equal to at least one percent of GDP a year over five years, starting with the 2019 budget.
This would be achieved by boosting revenues and cutting spending, starting with transfers to the state-run power company, which the World Bank has said represent a "staggering burden" on the public finances. The draft statement also said the government would freeze state hiring in 2019 in all its forms. State hiring in the four years to follow would be half the number of retirees and only on condition the deficit reduction targets had been met.
Information Minister Jamal al-Jarrah, speaking to journalists, said tax increases were not being considered. He said there were no big points of contention over the statement and it was expected to be approved on Thursday by the government, which includes the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
International donor institutions and foreign governments want to see reforms before releasing some $11 billion in financial assistance pledged at a Paris conference last year.
Hariri aims to use the funds, mostly soft loans, for a capital investment programme that would boost low growth. Lebanon's economy has been hit by factors including years of regional turmoil, including the war in Syria.
The draft policy statement said the government would continue the policy of exchange rate stability, calling it a priority for "social and economic stability". The pound has been pegged to the dollar at the same level for over two decades.
AOUN SAYS FINANCIAL SITUATION IMPROVING
The government would award licences for offshore energy blocks in a second round of tenders by the end of 2019, the draft statement said.
Exploration in the first block by a consortium of France's Total, Italy's Eni and Russia's Novatek began last year.
Lebanon has some of the world's worst debt and balance-of-payments ratios, and its ability to dodge financial disaster has for years confounded critics, whose warnings of debt defaults, balance of payments crises and a collapse of the pound currency, have all failed to materialise.
Its financial system has depended for funding on financial transfers from the diaspora, though questions over the sustainability of the model have grown due to a slowdown in remittance and deposit inflows.
President Michel Aoun said the financial situation was improving. Aoun also said that interest rates were expected to start falling soon. A presidential source said he was referring to high rates offered on bank deposits.
Kevin Daly, Senior Investment Manager in Emerging Market Debt at Aberdeen Standard Investments, said it clearly looked "like an unsustainable story over the medium term".
"Having a government in place, that's extremely important, but they need to address some of the key vulnerabilities and the big one is in the electricity sector which is a big drain on the fiscal finance of the country – that plus no growth."
(Additional reporting by Ellen Francis in Beirut and Karin Strohecker in London; Writing by Tom Perry/Ellen Francis; Editing by Hugh Lawson, William Maclean)

Now that Lebanon finally has a government, the real work begins
Michael Young/The National/February 06/19
Fixing the nation's economy, rebuilding its crumbling infrastructure and reining in Hezbollah will all prove mighty tasks for Prime Minister Saad Hariri
It took Lebanon nine months to form a government, but what arrived was no bouncing baby. Instead, the political forces in the country formed a so-called national-unity government that included all the old faces or their appointees. National unity is precisely what the government will soon need, in order to address Lebanon’s mounting economic and political challenges.
The priority for Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government will be to address the calamitous economic situation, which threatens the stability of the national currency, the Lebanese pound. Lebanon has a large public debt, equivalent to 150 per cent of GDP, caused by high government spending and servicing of the current debt. The government has been unable, or unwilling, to gain control over spending as major cuts could undermine their patronage networks.
Yet reform will be necessary to access some $11 billion in soft loans and grants pledged to Lebanon at an economic conference in Paris held in April 2018. A large share of the loans, just under $6bn, is to go to a capital investment program spread over 12 years, which aims to finance projects in the water, electricity, and waste management sectors, all in urgent need of upgrading.
A major task will be reforming Lebanon’s crisis-ridden electricity sector, which accounts for 40 per cent of the country’s fiscal deficit. Subsidised electricity tariffs have meant losses of between $1.5bn and $2bn a year for the state. One obstacle to this, however, is that many politicians are profiting handsomely from the dysfunctional way the sector is operating today. In other words, they will have little incentive to see a lucrative source of money and patronage disappear.
To get a sense of the government’s irresponsibility, in 2017 it passed a public sector salary raise estimated at just under $1bn, which it paid for by raising taxes. Many economists believed the estimate was low, and there have been reports that the government is having trouble meeting its bill. The move was politically expedient but financially reckless, particularly when no reforms were introduced to heighten public sector efficiency and address unproductive employees. But the government went ahead with it anyway.
Reforming the economy fails to address the high level of corruption in the system. Lebanon was ranked 138 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index. Yet the economic downturn and the cut in regional funding for political allies in Beirut has pushed politicians and parties to plunder the economy more to compensate for those lost funds. For instance, Hezbollah’s takeover of the Health Ministry will very likely be used by the party to medically treat its supporters for free, at the economy’s expense.
The second priority for the Hariri government will be diplomacy, namely walking a tightrope in a dangerously divided Middle East. Tensions between the Gulf states and Israel, backed by the United States, on the one side, and Iran and its allies on the other, risk leading to new wars, with Lebanon the likeliest location. Israel has warned that such a conflict would be devastating to Lebanon, but Mr Hariri will be hard pressed to control Hezbollah, which answers to Iran.
Of particular concern to the prime minister, however, will be avoiding the loss of western support because of Hezbollah’s actions. The recent discovery by the Israeli military of tunnels dug by the organisation into northern Israel damaged Lebanon’s reputation. The caretaker government did nothing to condemn the moves, let alone warn of the perilous consequences of a confrontation with Israel.
Indeed, Mr Hariri has done a poor job of affirming the prerogatives of the Lebanese state – even if only verbally – with respect to the party. While few expect him to get very far in curbing Hezbollah’s alliance with Iran, Mr Hariri and President Michel Aoun have an obligation to protect Lebanon from any new war, and can place the onus on Hezbollah if it provokes one.
The government, or at least that part of the government concerned with Lebanon’s regional standing, should focus on a third objective, namely improving ties with the Gulf states. There are two principal reasons for this. First, Lebanon will invariably need Gulf support if it seeks to seriously address its economic woes. With hundreds of thousands of Lebanese in Gulf countries sending remittances home, it cannot afford to allow relations with these countries to sour.
Second, at a time when Gulf countries are improving ties with Damascus, it won’t be long before Syria tries to leverage this to reimpose a major role for itself in Lebanon. To resist such an outcome, Mr Hariri and those opposed to a Syrian return must ensure that they can secure Gulf backing against this alternative. It is doable, but requires agreement between most major Lebanese parties other than Hezbollah, which gains from cutting Beirut off from the Gulf states.
So, Lebanon’s preoccupation in the coming year and beyond will be the economy and diplomatic gymnastics. In a system riven with competing agendas, success is far from guaranteed. The problem is that the price of failure is potentially so high that the politicians will have to consider the stability of their own position if they fail. These are not crises the Lebanese can tiptoe around, as has been their way.
*Michael Young is editor of Diwan, the blog of the Carnegie Middle East programme, in Beirut

A new presidential deal with Hezbollah's blessing?
Bassem Ajami/Annahar/February 06/19
Perhaps Hariri and Bassil aim at sealing a "presidential deal" similar to the one that Hariri reached with General Michel Aoun in 2016.
Before one may comment on Lebanon's new government, it is useful to address the practices that were employed in the lengthy process of its formation because they provide an indication of things to come. To start with, the designated prime minister, Saad Hariri, played but a minor role in the prolonged labor that preceded the birth of the government. He abdicated much of his authority to the foreign minister, Gebran Bassil. One may argue that Bassil gave a helping hand to Hariri. He helped him undo the many barriers that delayed the formation of the government. But Bassil has his own agenda. He makes no secret of his ambition to become the next president. And to that end, it seems that the foreign minister is prepared to go to almost any length to fulfill his aspiration. Perhaps Hariri and Bassil aim at sealing a "presidential deal" similar to the one that Hariri reached with General Michel Aoun in 2016. This seems the case not only because of Bassil's aggressive role in the formation of the government but also given the foreign minister’s attitude after its formation. The seemingly passive attitude of Hariri toward Bassil's behavior encourages such view. Bassil is already behaving as both president and prime minister. He instructed "his" ministers to hand him their resignations so that he could fire them at will should they step out of line. And what did Hariri do in response to this flagrant insult to the ministers? Nothing. He seemingly let it slide and swept it under the rug. This only reinforces the view that there is indeed a concealed "presidential deal" between the two men.Now, from the outset, there is nothing wrong in reaching such a deal. It is all part of the legitimate political game. It is the terms of the deal that raise objections. The supposed deal seems to be a duplicate of the 2016 deal that brought General Michel Aoun to the presidency and Hariri to the premiership. The junior partner in such deal will be the prime minister, as was the case in the deal with President Aoun. True, Hariri returned to the premiership, but that was only under certain conditions, many of which were in clear violation of the constitution. In short, Hariri returned to the Grand Serail with much of his powers clipped. That was apparent during the two-year function of the previous government, as well as during the formation of the current one. Still, such restrictions were imposed not by Aoun, but by a hidden third party to the deal: Hezbollah. The party's seal of approval was necessary to authorize the deal. It was Hezbollah that effectively banished Hariri from the premiership; actually from Lebanon, in 2009, by issuing him a "one-way ticket."Similarly, a "presidential deal" between Hariri and Bassil must be validated by Hezbollah, presumably with similar restrictions on the prime minister. In such arrangement, both Hariri and Bassil will be the junior partners.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on February 06-07/19
Trump Vows to Outspend Russia without New Missile Pact
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February06/19/President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday that the United States would outspend Russia on missiles without a fresh international accord after he ditched a landmark Cold War treaty. Trump's warning during his annual State of the Union address cemented fears of an emerging arms race, with Russia hours earlier pledging to design new missiles over the next two years. The United States last week started the process of exiting the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, saying that Russia has been violating the pact through a new missile system and ignored repeated complaints. "Under my administration, we will never apologize for advancing America's interests," Trump told US lawmakers assembled in the House chamber. "Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others. Or perhaps we can't –- in which case, we will outspend and out-innovate all others by far," Trump said. While pointing the finger at Russia, US officials have voiced concern that the 1987 treaty does not constrain China, whose rapidly growing military relies on medium-range missiles as a core part of its defense strategy. The INF treaty banned all missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles), a legacy of the end of the Cold War as last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US president Ronald Reagan sought to ease European fears of an arms race that would destroy their cities. Russian President Vladimir Putin -- who has sought a warm relationship with Trump but is widely reviled by the US establishment -- responded Saturday by saying Moscow would also leave the INF treaty. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said earlier Tuesday that Putin had approved plans for new missiles. "During 2019-2020 we have to develop a land-based version of the seaborne Kalibr system equipped with a long-range cruise missile which showed good results in Syria," Shoigu told defense officials. "Over the same period we will also have to create a land-based missile system with a long-range hypersonic missile," he said.
Latvia urges international pact
Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics of Latvia -- for which former ruler Russia looms large as a threat -- voiced hope that Washington and Moscow would work with other powers on a new agreement. "I would advocate -- even if it is going to take a very long period of time, even if it may be a very, sometimes, complex and disappointing, from time to time, process -- it would be good to try to find a way forward on a multilateral arms control agreement in this area," Rinkevics told AFP. "It needs to be more than the United States and Russia because there are more countries that can produce such weapons than 30 years ago," he said in an interview in Washington, where he is taking part in a 79-member conference Wednesday on the fight against the Islamic State group. Latvia, like other members of the NATO alliance, has backed the United States which has charged since the administration of former president Barack Obama that Russia is infringing on the INF treaty with the range of its new 9M729 missile system.But Rinkevics played down the immediate impact of the INF treaty's demise, saying that Russia had already been stepping up military movements since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
He acknowledged that a future pact was unlikely to be as sweeping as the INF treaty. "The difficult answer is that I don't see currently much appetite to do anything in this direction, almost from everyone," Rinkevics said.

Pompeo reassures allies of US commitments in Syria, Iraq
Reuters, Washington/Wednesday, 6 February 2019/US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday reassured allies that the withdrawal of US troops from Syria was not “the end of America’s fight” and called on them to recommit to permanently defeating ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
At the State Department, Pompeo told foreign ministers and other senior officials from 79 countries that have worked alongside the United States in fighting the extremist group in Syria and Iraq that ISIS remained a menace. “The US troops withdrawing from Syria is not the end of America’s fight. The fight is one we will continue to wage alongside you,” Pompeo said in opening remarks. “The drawdown in troops is essentially a tactical change, it is not a change in the mission. It simply represents a new stage in an old fight.”“Our mission is unwavering, but we need your help to accomplish it, just as we’ve had over the past months and years,” Pompeo said, “To that end, we ask that our coalition partners seriously and rapidly consider requests that will enable our efforts to continue. “Those requests are likely to come very soon,” he added, without elaborating. On Tuesday, a top US general warned that ISIS would pose an enduring threat following the planned US withdrawal from Syria. General Joseph Votel, head of the US military’s Central Command, said the extremist group retained leaders, fighters, facilitators and resources that will fuel a menacing insurgency. “We do have to keep pressure on this network. ... They have the ability of coming back together if we don’t,” Votel, who oversees troops in the Middle East as well as Afghanistan, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Top Iraqi cleric rejects Trump’s plan for US troops in Iraq
The Associated Press/Thursday, 7 February 2019/Iraq’s most senior Shiite cleric on Wednesday joined a chorus of Iraqi politicians and clerics criticizing recent statements by President Donald Trump in which he said US troops should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighboring Iran. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said Iraq aspires to have “good and balanced relations” with all of its neighbors “based on mutual interests and without intervention in internal affairs.”Iraq “rejects being a launching pad for harming any other country,” he said during a meeting with U.N. Iraq envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert at the cleric’s base in Najaf. Both Iraq’s president and prime minister have hit back at Trump’s statements to US media this week stating that US troops should stay at a base in Iraq so that America can “watch Iran.”“We spent a fortune on building this incredible base,” Trump said. “We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem.” Trump apparently was referring to the Al-Asad air base in western Iraq, where he paid a brief visit to US forces in December. The base hosts American troops but belongs to the Iraqi army. The comments angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions and further added to concerns in Iraq about America’s long-term intentions, particularly after it withdraws its troops from Syria. Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, at his weekly news conference late Tuesday, reminded Trump that there are no US bases in Iraq and said he doesn’t accept the idea of Iraq becoming an arena for fighting a neighboring country. He called on Trump to retract his statements. Iraqi President Barham Saleh said Monday that Trump did not ask for permission to use Iraqi territory to monitor Iran and said the Iraqi constitution forbids the use of Iraq as a base to threaten the interests or security of neighboring countries. “Don’t overburden Iraq with your own issues,” he said. US forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011, but returned in 2014 at the invitation of the government to help battle ISIS after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the country, including Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. A US-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces regrouped and drove ISIS out in a costly three-year campaign.

U.S. Senate Passes Bill Fighting Israel Boycott Movement
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February06/19/The U.S. Senate has passed a controversial measure designed to shield Israel from boycotts, but its adoption remains uncertain in the Democratically-controlled lower House, where liberal lawmakers warn the approach tramples free-speech rights. The Middle East security bill aims to combat the global BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement that denounces Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and pressures companies that do business with the Jewish state. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, the measure's sponsor, said he is pushing back against what he described as a "campaign of discriminatory economic warfare against Israel."It would allow a state or local government "to divest from entities that engage in" BDS activities targeting Israel or persons or companies doing business in Israel. The text also authorizes arms transfers to Israel, expands military cooperation with Jordan and slaps new sanctions on Syria. It was approved by 77 votes to 23, with all but one Republican voting yes. The Democrats were split, 25 for and 22 against, highlighting an internal party divide on the issue. Notably, all of the Senate's likely Democratic presidential contenders except Amy Klobuchar voted against the legislation. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, where several members of the new Democratic majority have expressed opposition, warning it could suppress constitutionally protected free speech. They include the first two Muslim women to serve in the House, Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, a former Somali refugee. Both were elected in November and are part of an ascendant wing of progressives shaking up the Democratic old guard. Some have used strident language in accusing the pair of supporting a movement critics say is aimed at destroying Israel.  There are Democratic stalwarts who are allies of Israel, like Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who defend Omar and Tlaib against accusations of anti-Semitism but support fighting the anti-Israel boycott. "My sister Rashida and I have been fighting against Anti-semitism, any effort to deny that is a smear," Omar tweeted Tuesday. "We are pro-peace and realize without justice there is no peace!" The American Civil Liberties Union supports the right to boycott, and came out against the measure. "Today, the Senate chose politics over the Constitution and trampled on the First Amendment rights of all Americans," ACLU senior legislative counsel Kathleen Ruane said in a statement.

Venezuela's Military Blocks Humanitarian Aid Shipment
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February06/19/Venezuelan military officers blocked a bridge on the border with Colombia ahead of an anticipated humanitarian aid shipment Tuesday, as opposition leader Juan Guaido stepped up his challenge to President Nicolas Maduro's authority. The opposition-dominated National Assembly had earlier warned the armed forces, which make up much of Maduro's power base, not to cross a "red line" by blocking aid. Guaido, who proclaimed himself acting president on January 23 -- sparking an international crisis -- claims that up to 300,000 people face death if the aid is not delivered. "You know there's a red line, you know well there's a limit, you know that medicines, food and medical supplies are that limit," lawmaker Miguel Pizarro said in a message to the military. Maduro, though, said humanitarian aid would be the forerunner of a US-led invasion, insisting that "no one will enter, not one invading soldier." Venezuelan military officers used a tanker truck and huge shipping container to block access to the Tienditas bridge, which links Cucuta, Colombia to Urena, Venezuela. Franklyn Duarte, an opposition lawmaker from the border state of Tachira, told AFP that troops from the armed forces were blocking the crossing. The aid delivery was being coordinated by Guaido, who has declared himself interim president of the oil-rich country and now enjoys the backing of some 40 countries as Venezuela's legitimate leader. Maduro, 56, has repeatedly accused the United States of fomenting a coup. The US, which has not ruled out a military intervention in crisis-wracked Venezuela, was the first to recognize him as acting president, followed by a dozen Latin American countries. In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Donald Trump reaffirmed US support for Guaido, saying "we stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom."Britain, France, Germany and Spain were among 20 EU nations to side with Guaido this week after Maduro ignored their demands that he announce new presidential elections by February 3
Interference
Guaido is trying to force Maduro from power, set up a transitional government and hold a new presidential poll. He thanked his EU supporters "for supporting all Venezuelans in this struggle we undertake to rescue our nation's democracy, freedom and justice." But key Maduro ally Russia slammed what it called interference in the oil-rich but now poor Latin American country, saying it was an attempt to "legitimize usurped power." Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the EU of trying to "topple the government by violence and ruse," while berating the US for treating Venezuela like "one of your states." Guaido, 35, claims his legitimacy from the constitution and has been ramping up pressure on Maduro by calling his supporters out into the streets. The next mass demonstration is due for February 12. Guaido must still find a way to bring in the humanitarian aid given the military's loyalty to Maduro. He accused the military on Monday of planning to divert aid being stockpiled in Colombia, Brazil and an unidentified Caribbean island, in order to distribute it through the socialist government's subsidized food program for its own supporters. The National Assembly said the military must decide whether it is on the side of the people or "the problem."Guaido knows he needs the armed forces on his side to dislodge Maduro. He was boosted on Saturday by the defection of a top air force general. His fledgling alternative administration will hold talks in Washington February 14 on responding to "the largest hemispheric humanitarian crisis in modern history."
'Confrontation'
Eurasia Group analysts say the humanitarian crisis "represents a lose-lose gambit for Maduro" who will either have to allow the goods to enter the country, further bolstering Guaido, or force the military to block their entry, risking a backlash in the streets. Maduro, though, remains steadfast. "Venezuela doesn't have to beg to anyone," he said. "If they want to help, then end the blockade and the sanctions."Under Maduro's stewardship, oil-dependent Venezuela has plunged into an economic crisis, suffering from hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine.
Eurasia said US oil sanctions are "set to have a broad impact" with the government facing "the prospect of running out of gasoline, which could serve as another social catalyst."
Maduro won't cave
Guaido branded Maduro illegitimate over his reelection in May, which the opposition boycotted after several of its leaders were either jailed, barred or forced into exile. The US and EU dismissed the elections as a fraud. Maduro has flatly rejected demands for new elections, telling Spanish television he would not "cave in to pressure." He has supported plans for a meeting of Latin American and EU states in a "Contact Group" in Montevideo on Thursday, though. The United Nations said 40 people were killed in clashes with security forces in a week of protests last month, coinciding with Guaido's self-proclamation as acting leader. Local NGO Foro Penal said almost 1,000 people were detained between January 21 and 31.

Italy to Host Venezuela Delegation at Guaido's Request
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February06/19/Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is to send a delegation to Italy, where the government is one of few European Union countries not to have backed the self-proclaimed interim president. Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he will meet the team on Monday after Guaido sent a letter requesting talks "as soon as possible" to present "the action plan to relaunch democracy in Venezuela through free and fair elections."Britain, France, Germany and Spain are among 20 EU nations to side with Guaido this week after President Nicolas Maduro ignored their demands that he announce new presidential elections by February 3. But an attempt to muscle up the bloc's common position was vetoed by Italy, with the coalition government in Rome divided over how to handle the Venezuela crisis. Salvini, who heads the anti-migrant League party, has called for fresh elections in Venezuela "because all communist regimes must be wiped from the earth."But coalition partner the Five Star Movement (M5S) has been reluctant to throw its weight behind Guaido. "The amount of democracy people try to export to a country is always directly proportional to how much oil there is there... one has to be strong to remain neutral," said senior M5S member Alessandro Di Battisti. Guaido also sent a request for talks to M5S leader Luigi Di Maio but he did not immediately respond. Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Monday called on Italy to show "responsibility" and "clarity on a common position with our European Union allies and partners."

Aid Reaches Displaced Syrians near Jordan Border
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February06/19/A convoy delivered aid to tens of thousands of displaced Syrians in desperate need of assistance near the Jordanian border on Wednesday, the first such delivery in three months, the Red Crescent and the United Nations said. It was the largest ever humanitarian convoy to reach the makeshift Rukban camp, the U.N. and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent added. The convoy of 133 trucks carried aid including food and children's clothes, a SARC spokeswoman said. "Three months after a first humanitarian aid convoy entered the Rukban camp, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in collaboration with the United Nations is continuing to carry out its duty towards more than 40,000 displaced people in Rukban," SARC said in a statement. The aid also includes healthcare items and medical supplies, it said. "A vaccination campaign will be launched, under the supervision of a medical team, to immunize children against measles, polio, tuberculosis and hepatitis," SARC added. The convoy contained vaccines for nearly 10,000 children under the age of five, the U.N. said in a statement. Wednesday's delivery is the first to reach the camp on the Jordanian border since a smaller convoy from Damascus on November 3.Conditions inside the camp are dire, with many surviving on just one simple meal a day, often bread and olive oil or yoghurt, according to one resident.Last month, the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said eight children had died at the camp due to winter cold. "This large-scale delivery of essential humanitarian supplies to the extremely vulnerable in Rukban could not have happened a moment too soon," acting U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Sajjad Malik said. But he stressed the need for a long-term solution. "While this delivery of assistance will provide much-needed support to people at Rukban, it is only a temporary measure," he said. The camp, home to displaced people from across Syria, lies close to the Al-Tanf base used by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group. Syria's civil war has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since it started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

Fresh French Airstrikes against Incursion into Chad from Libya
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February06/19/French warplanes have carried out fresh attacks against an armed convoy which crossed into Chad from Libya, after initial strikes failed to halt its advance, the French army said. Acting in conjunction with Chad's government, French Mirage jets targeted the convoy again on Tuesday and Wednesday, destroying about 20 of roughly 50 pickup trucks, the armed forces said in a statement.

1.8 Million Remain Displaced in Iraq
Baghdad – Fadel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 06/19/President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer revealed Tuesday that 1.8 million people remain displaced in Iraq more than a year after the end of major combat operations against ISIS. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi had declared military victory over ISIS in December 2017. Maurer said that rebuilding the social fabric in Iraq is key to ensuring that the country can leave its violent past behind. He made his remarks during a four-day visit to the country where he met with Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, President Barham Salih and parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi. “The magnitude of the destruction in Iraq does not get any less shocking, but what is less visible are the social scars that run deep in Iraq today,” Maurer said. “If Iraq is to get back on its feet, then society must work towards reconciliation. Within that process, safe and voluntary returns without discrimination for all displaced Iraqis who wish to go back to their homes need to be ensured,” he added. He also drew attention to the critical need to clarify the fate of a large number of people, thought to be in the hundreds of thousands, still missing from decades of different rounds of conflict. Member of the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights Ali Al Bayati acknowledged the large figures of the displaced revealed by the ICRC. He accused Iraqi authorities and international relief agencies of failing in their duties to return some 2 million refugees to their homes. The Iraqi authorities spoke about returning the displaced during their electoral campaigns last year, but they have since forgotten the issue, he told Asharq Al-Awsat. He blamed a number of factors for discouraging the displaced to return home, such as weak infrastructure, security instability, ISIS-planted landmines and persistent terrorist cells. Spokesman for the Salaheddine elders council, Marwan Jabara said that the ICRC report “very closely” described the reality in Iraq, revealing that the majority of the refugees come from the Nineveh province. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that more than 40,000 destroyed homes have not been reconstructed in Nineveh, leaving some 1 million people to remain in camps or the Iraq Kurdistan Region.

Abbas: No One Can Represent Us or Speak on Our Behalf
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 06/19/Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said no one can represent the Palestinians in negotiating their country’s cause and peace-making. He stressed that the only way to move forward in a political process is through holding an international conference for peace in the Middle East. In a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen in Ramallah, Abbas said it is necessary to hold an international conference and establish a multilateral mechanism to move forward in the peace route. He also affirmed that Palestinians will not agree to participate in an international conference that is not based on international legitimacy. Abbas’s remarks refer to the upcoming US-Polish conference in Warsaw, which is scheduled to convene later this month to discuss issues related to Syria, Yemen, Iran, terrorism, cybersecurity and missiles' development. Palestinian officials have called on Arab countries to boycott the conference because they say it is being held under the pretext of promoting normalization with Israel. Abbas said that Palestinians have not authorized anyone to negotiate on their behalf. “We have the first and last word on the Palestinian cause,” he stressed. “No one can represent us or speak on our behalf.” At the press conference, Abbas said he was working to form a new PA government and prepare for long-overdue parliamentary elections. However, he did not say when the elections would take place. “We hope everyone cooperates with us to hold the elections in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem,” he said. The US is no longer qualified alone to act as a mediator because of its bias in favor of Israel and because of its decisions regarding Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and settlements, PA President noted. “The European Union can play an important role [in the peace process], alongside members of the United Nations Security Council,” he added. The Austrian President, for his part, said his country and the EU continue to support the two-state solution. “The EU has given much for building institutions in Palestine,” he noted. “We will continue to do so.” Austria and the rest of the EU countries are unhappy with the US administration’s decision to cut American funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Van der Bellen noted.

‘Form’ of Palestinian Government Main Dispute in Cairo’s ‘Reconciliation Talks’
Cairo - Sawsan Abu Hussein/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 06/19/Discussions between Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement and officials of Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate were concluded on Tuesday, and the “government’s form” was the heart of the disagreement between the national authority and Fatah from one side and Hamas from the other. While the former insisted on a government that ‘includes all factions’, the latter called for a ‘government of unity’. A source close to Hamas told Asharq Al-Awsat that the authority’s offer to form a government composed of all Palestinian factions – including Hamas- was rejected. Hamas delegation called for a national unity government, according to the source. The national authority responded to this proposal by saying that Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah government was a national unity one and Hamas also refused to be part of it. Hamas delegation, headed by Hamas chief Ismail Haniya, met on Monday head of General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel and asked him to persuade the authority in forming a national unity government of one mission, which is to prepare for the elections, continued the source. The two movements, in a joint statement released following a lengthy meeting between Egyptian officials in the past two days, emphasized that a national unity government must be established in a bid to hold new parliamentary elections. Forming a unity government "is important to achieve a national partnership and rearrange the Palestinian home," they said. Referring to the rallies and protests, known as the "Great March of Return," which broke out in late March last year, the two groups said protests will continue. They also hailed the Egyptian role in backing efforts to restore national unity. Cairo has hosted several rounds on the Palestinian reconciliation. The major one was in 2017 when Hamas deputy political chief Saleh al-Arouri signed a reconciliation deal with senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, during a short ceremony at the Egyptian intelligence complex in Cairo, Egypt.

Dozens of Israeli Ministers, MPs Pledge to Settle 2 Million People in West Bank
Tel Aviv/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 06/19/Dozens of senior Israeli ministers and Knesset members from various right-wing parties signed a declaration pledging to settle 2 million Israelis in the occupied West Bank. The declaration was formed by “Nahal” settling movement, which held over the past two weeks several protests in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home, demanding that the government establish basic guidelines for settlements in the West Bank and annul any declarations of a two-state solution. The commitment was signed Tuesday, the eve of the Likud party primaries to elect the party’s candidates for the Knesset. The document states that the government will immediately begin implementing the settlement plan initiated by former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in the early 1990s. The declaration states: “I pledge to be loyal to the land of Israel, not to give up the land of our grandparents and parents.”“I also commit myself to work towards the plan of settling 2 million Jews in the West Bank in accordance with the plan of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.”It added: “I pledge to work to abolish the declarations of a two-state solution and replace it with an official statement: The Land of Israel – One State for One People!” Likud party chair of Raanana, Rachel Ben Ari, said she was surprised by the rapid response of ministers to the commitment against the two-state solution and the implementation of Shamir's plan. Senior officials who signed the declaration include Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, ministers Israel Katz, Yariv Levin, Ze'ev Elkin, Gilad Erdan, Ayelet Shaked, Naftali Bennett, Miri Regev and Tzachi Hanegbi. The number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank today amounts to 450,000 and 300,000 in occupied East Jerusalem.

Gunmen Blow Up Fuel Tanker in Iran, Policeman Killed
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 February, 2019/A policeman was killed and another seriously wounded after armed men blew up a tanker truck carrying liquified gas in a shootout in northwestern Iran early on Wednesday, Mehr news agency and State TV reported. Police approached two men at a petrol station in the town of Dareh Garm in Lorestan province and the men began shooting, the agency said. A stray bullet hit the fuel tanker, causing it to explode. There was a “horrific explosion” which blew out windows in nearby buildings, Col. Seyed Ali Mirahmadi, Lorestan's deputy police chief was quoted as saying. The news agency gave no information about the identity of the attackers, or what happened to them. But State TV said the assailants fled in a stolen car. It was unclear what sparked the shootout. State TV said the wounded police lieutenant is in "satisfactory" condition after being transferred to a local hospital.

Cyber-Attacks Target Foreign Diplomats in Iran
Jeddah - Khaldoun Ghassan Saeed/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 February, 2019/The Remexi malware began an operation to target foreign diplomats in Iran using locally-produced spyware linked to a Farsi-speaking hacking group named Chafer. The group used Windows-targeting surveillance-ware to monitor figures in the Middle East. A new build of the Remexi software has been spotted lurking on multiple machines within Iran, mostly those located within foreign embassy buildings. Remexi was originally detected in 2015. It has the ability to execute commands remotely and seize screenshots, browser data, including user credentials, login data and history and any typed text. Companies, institutions and diplomatic bodies should use an enterprise-class security solution with capabilities to detect and stop advanced guided attacks by analyzing network data anomalies and giving e-security teams full visibility across the network and automated response. They must then provide security awareness initiatives to enable staff members to master the skill of identifying suspicious messages, such as email, which is a common gateway to targeted attacks. Diplomatic bodies must keep security teams informed of threats to remain up-to-date with the latest methods and tools used by cyber-criminals.

Iran Dismisses EU Concern about Missile Tests as ‘Non-Constructive’
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 February, 2019/Iran dismissed on Tuesday European Union unease about its missile program and rights abuses, calling it "non-constructive", as Europe seeks to shield Iran from US sanctions while containing its regional policies. The European Union said on Monday it was gravely concerned by Iran's ballistic missile tests and called on it to stop activity that deepened mistrust and destabilized the region. The Iranian foreign ministry said Iran’s missile program was "defensive and deterrent" and Iran would never negotiate over it with other countries. "Clear threats against the Islamic Republic is not constructive, efficient and helpful, and it is not in line with regional security and real interests of Europe," Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement published by the Tasnim news agency. The European Union said in its 12-point statement that it was committed to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that US President Donald Trump pulled out of last May. Last week, Britain, France and Germany launched a system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and avoid US sanctions. However, the EU warned that it could no longer tolerate what it said were Iranian assassination plots on its soil. Iran's foreign ministry rejected the warning. “Raising such baseless and hollow accusations while known terrorist and criminal groups are free in Europe, is non-constructive at this stage, and is in line with the goals of enemies who seek to undermine Iran’s relations with Europe," it said. The ministry welcomed the new channel for non-dollar trade, known as the Instrument In Support Of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), but called it "late and inadequate".Iran warned that it would revise relations with Europe if it did not benefit economically from INSTEX.

Arab Parliament Holds Conference to Promote Solidarity, Discard Differences
Cairo - Sawsan Abu Hussein/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 February, 2019/The Arab Parliament will hold on Saturday a conference in which senior leaders will participate at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. The conference will be held as a recognition of the accuracy and seriousness of the current situation and challenges faced by the Arab nation, Speaker of the Parliament Dr. Meshal bin Fahmy al-Salami said in a statement on Tuesday. He said all this necessitates unifying Arab ranks, discarding differences and boosting solidarity to achieve desired security, stability, development and renaissance in the Arab region.Salami pointed out that the participating leaders in the conference aim at developing an Arab document along with the Parliament as they have deep knowledge and great experience in the field of joint Arab action. He added that the document is to be submitted to the Council of the Arab League at the summit level at its next meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Tunisia in March. The conference will be attended by a number of current and former senior officials as well as a number of senior Arab media figures and intellectuals. Among the participants are former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel and Prince Turki Al Faisal, chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Research along with six former premiers, who are Abdulaziz Belkhadem of Algeria, Dr. Iyad Allawi of Iraq, Dr. Mahmoud Jibril of Libya, Dr Hani al-Mulqi of Jordan, Habib al-Seid of Tunisia and Dr. Ahmed bin Dagher of Yemen. Moreover, Abdulhakim bin Chamash, chairman of the Council of Moroccan of Councilors, Mohammed Ibrahim al-Mutawa, Bahrain’s minister of cabinet affairs, Amr Moussa, former Arab League secretary-general, Professor Ibrahim Ghandour, former Sudanese foreign minister and Dr. Saeb Erekat, secretary of the executive committee and head of the negotiation department in the PLO, Dr. Ibtisam al-Ketbi, president of the Emirates policy center and Dr. Ayed al-Manna, Kuwaiti political researcher, will also attend the conference and participate in its activities.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 06-07/19
President Trump’s State of the Union speech
February 06/19
Madam Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and my fellow Americans:
We meet tonight at a moment of unlimited potential. As we begin a new Congress, I stand here ready to work with you to achieve historic breakthroughs for all Americans.
Millions of our fellow citizens are watching us now, gathered in this great chamber, hoping that we will govern not as two parties but as one Nation.
The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda. It is the agenda of the American people.
Many of us campaigned on the same core promises: to defend American jobs and demand fair trade for American workers; to rebuild and revitalize our Nation's infrastructure; to reduce the price of healthcare and prescription drugs; to create an immigration system that is safe, lawful, modern and secure; and to pursue a foreign policy that puts America's interests first.
There is a new opportunity in American politics, if only we have the courage to seize it. Victory is not winning for our party. Victory is winning for our country.
In the 20th century, America saved freedom, transformed science, and redefined the middle class standard of living for the entire world to see. Now, we must step boldly and bravely into the next chapter of this great American adventure, and we must create a new standard of living for the 21st century. An amazing quality of life for all of our citizens is within our reach.
We can make our communities safer, our families stronger, our culture richer, our faith deeper, and our middle class bigger and more prosperous than ever before.
But we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution – and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.
Together, we can break decades of political stalemate. We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America's future. The decision is ours to make.
We must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction.
Tonight, I ask you to choose greatness. Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades, and growing for blue collar workers, who I promised to fight for, faster than anyone else. Nearly 5 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps. The United States economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world. Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in half a century. African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded. Unemployment for Americans with disabilities has also reached an all-time low. More people are working now than at any time in our history –- 157 million.
We passed a massive tax cut for working families and doubled the child tax credit.
We virtually ended the estate, or death, tax on small businesses, ranches, and family farms.
We eliminated the very unpopular Obamacare individual mandate penalty – and to give critically ill patients access to life-saving cures, we passed right to try.
My Administration has cut more regulations in a short time than any other administration during its entire tenure. Companies are coming back to our country in large numbers thanks to historic reductions in taxes and regulations.
We have unleashed a revolution in American energy – the United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world. And now, for the first time in 65 years, we are a net exporter of energy.
After 24 months of rapid progress, our economy is the envy of the world, our military is the most powerful on earth, and America is winning each and every day. Members of Congress: the State of our Union is strong. Our country is vibrant and our economy is thriving like never before.
On Friday, it was announced that we added another 304,000 jobs last month alone – almost double what was expected. An economic miracle is taking place in the United States – and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations.
If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. It just doesn't work that way!
We must be united at home to defeat our adversaries abroad.
This new era of cooperation can start with finally confirming the more than 300 highly qualified nominees who are still stuck in the Senate – some after years of waiting. The Senate has failed to act on these nominations, which is unfair to the nominees and to our country.
Now is the time for bipartisan action. Believe it or not, we have already proven that it is possible.
In the last Congress, both parties came together to pass unprecedented legislation to confront the opioid crisis, a sweeping new Farm Bill, historic VA reforms, and after four decades of rejection, we passed VA Accountability so we can finally terminate those who mistreat our wonderful veterans.
As we have seen, when we are united, we can make astonishing strides for our country. Now, Republicans and Democrats must join forces againto confront an urgent national crisis.
The Congress has 10 days left to pass a bill that will fund our Government, protect our homeland, and secure our southern border.
Now is the time for the Congress to show the world that America is committed to ending illegal immigration and putting the ruthless coyotes, cartels, drug dealers, and human traffickers out of business.
As we speak, large, organized caravans are on the march to the United States. We have just heard that Mexican cities, in order to remove the illegal immigrants from their communities, are getting trucks and buses to bring them up to our country in areas where there is little border protection. I have ordered another 3,750 troops to our southern border to prepare for the tremendous onslaught.
This is a moral issue. The lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety, security, and financial well being of all Americans. We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens. This includes our obligation to the millions of immigrants living here today, who followed the rules and respected our laws. Legal immigrants enrich our Nation and strengthen our society in countless ways. I want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally.
Tonight, I am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border out of love and devotion to our fellow citizens and to our country.
No issue better illustrates the divide between America's working class and America's political class than illegal immigration. Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards.
Meanwhile, working class Americans are left to pay the price for mass illegal migration – reduced jobs, lower wages, overburdened schools and hospitals, increased crime, and a depleted social safety net.
Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate – it is cruel. One in three women is sexually assaulted on the long journey north. Smugglers use migrant children as human pawns to exploit our laws and gain access to our country.
Human traffickers and sex traffickers take advantage of the wide open areas between our ports of entry to smuggle thousands of young girls and women into the United States and to sell them into prostitution and modern-day slavery.
Tens of thousands of innocent Americans are killed by lethal drugs that cross our border and flood into our cities – including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.
The savage gang, MS-13, now operates in 20 different American States, and they almost all come through our southern border. Just yesterday, an MS-13 gang member was taken into custody for a fatal shooting on a subway platform in New York City. We are removing these gang members by the thousands, but until we secure our border they're going to keep streaming back in.
Year after year, countless Americans are murdered by criminal illegal aliens. Not one more American life should be lost because our Nation failed to control its very dangerous border.
In the last 2 years, our brave ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens, including those charged or convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings.
We are joined tonight by one of those law enforcement heroes: ICE Special Agent Elvin Hernandez. When Elvin was a boy, he and his family legally immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. At the age of eight, Elvin told his dad he wanted to become a Special Agent. Today, he leads investigations into the scourge of international sex trafficking. Elvin says: "If I can make sure these young girls get their justice, I've done my job." Thanks to his work and that of his colleagues, more than 300 women and girls have been rescued from horror and more than 1,500 sadistic traffickers have been put behind bars in the last year.
As part of our commitment to improving opportunity for women everywhere, this Thursday we are launching the first ever Government-wide initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries.
To build on our incredible economic success, one priority is paramount – reversing decades of calamitous trade policies.
We are now making it clear to China that after years of targeting our industries, and stealing our intellectual property, the theft of American jobs and wealth has come to an end.
Therefore, we recently imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods – and now our Treasury is receiving billions of dollars a month from a country that never gave us a dime. But I don't blame China for taking advantage of us – I blame our leaders and representatives for allowing this travesty to happen. I have great respect for President Xi, and we are now working on a new trade deal with China. But it must include real, structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce our chronic trade deficit, and protect American jobs.
Another historic trade blunder was the catastrophe known as NAFTA.
I have met the men and women of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Hampshire, and many other States whose dreams were shattered by NAFTA. For years, politicians promised them they would negotiate for a better deal. But no one ever tried – until now.
Our new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement – or USMCA – will replace NAFTA and deliver for American workers: bringing back our manufacturing jobs, expanding American agriculture, protecting intellectual property, and ensuring that more cars are proudly stamped with four beautiful words: made in the USA.
Tonight, I am also asking you to pass the United States Reciprocal Trade Act, so that if another country places an unfair tariff on an American product, we can charge them the exact same tariff on the same product that they sell to us.
Both parties should be able to unite for a great rebuilding of America's crumbling infrastructure.
I know that the Congress is eager to pass an infrastructure bill – and I am eager to work with you on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment, including investments in the cutting edge industries of the future. This is not an option. This is a necessity.
The next major priority for me, and for all of us, should be to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs – and to protect patients with pre-existing conditions.
Already, as a result of my Administration's efforts, in 2018 drug prices experienced their single largest decline in 46 years.
But we must do more. It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place. This is wrong, unfair, and together we can stop it.
I am asking the Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients. We should also require drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to disclose real prices to foster competition and bring costs down.
No force in history has done more to advance the human condition than American freedom. In recent years we have made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Scientific breakthroughs have brought a once-distant dream within reach. My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years. Together, we will defeat AIDS in America.
Tonight, I am also asking you to join me in another fight that all Americans can get behind: the fight against childhood cancer.
Joining Melania in the gallery this evening is a very brave 10-year-old girl, Grace Eline. Every birthday since she was 4, Grace asked her friends to donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. She did not know that one day she might be a patient herself. Last year, Grace was diagnosed with brain cancer. Immediately, she began radiation treatment. At the same time, she rallied her community and raised more than $40,000 for the fight against cancer. When Grace completed treatment last fall, her doctors and nurses cheered with tears in their eyes as she hung up a poster that read: "Last Day of Chemo." Grace – you are an inspiration to us all.
Many childhood cancers have not seen new therapies in decades. My budget will ask the Congress for $500 million over the next 10 years to fund this critical life-saving research.
To help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for America's children. I am also proud to be the first President to include in my budget a plan for nationwide paid family leave – so that every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child.
There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our Nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments before birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth.
To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother's womb.
Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children – born and unborn – are made in the holy image of God.
The final part of my agenda is to protect America's National Security.
Over the last 2 years, we have begun to fully rebuild the United States Military – with $700 billion last year and $716 billion this year. We are also getting other nations to pay their fair share. For years, the United States was being treated very unfairly by NATO – but now we have secured a $100 billion increase in defense spending from NATO allies.
As part of our military build-up, the United States is developing a state-of-the-art Missile Defense System.
Under my Administration, we will never apologize for advancing America's interests.
For example, decades ago the United States entered into a treaty with Russia in which we agreed to limit and reduce our missile capabilities. While we followed the agreement to the letter, Russia repeatedly violated its terms. That is why I announced that the United States is officially withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF Treaty.
Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others, or perhaps we can't –- in which case, we will outspend and out-innovate all others by far.
As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in 15 months. If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea with potentially millions of people killed. Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one. And Chairman Kim and I will meet again on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam.
Two weeks ago, the United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela, and its new interim President, Juan Guaido.
We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom – and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.
Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence –- not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.
One of the most complex set of challenges we face is in the Middle East.
Our approach is based on principled realism – not discredited theories that have failed for decades to yield progress. For this reason, my Administration recognized the true capital of Israel – and proudly opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem.
Our brave troops have now been fighting in the Middle East for almost 19 years. In Afghanistan and Iraq, nearly 7,000 American heroes have given their lives. More than 52,000 Americans have been badly wounded. We have spent more than $7 trillion in the Middle East.
As a candidate for President, I pledged a new approach. Great nations do not fight endless wars.
When I took office, ISIS controlled more than 20,000 square miles in Iraq and Syria. Today, we have liberated virtually all of that territory from the grip of these bloodthirsty killers.
Now, as we work with our allies to destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home.
I have also accelerated our negotiations to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan. Our troops have fought with unmatched valor – and thanks to their bravery, we are now able to pursue a political solution to this long and bloody conflict.
In Afghanistan, my Administration is holding constructive talks with a number of Afghan groups, including the Taliban. As we make progress in these negotiations, we will be able to reduce our troop presence and focus on counter-terrorism. We do not know whether we will achieve an agreement – but we do know that after two decades of war, the hour has come to at least try for peace.
Above all, friend and foe alike must never doubt this Nation's power and will to defend our people.
My Administration has acted decisively to confront the world's leading state sponsor of terror: the radical regime in Iran.
To ensure this corrupt dictatorship never acquires nuclear weapons, I withdrew the United States from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. And last fall, we put in place the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a country.
We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants death to America and threatens genocide against the Jewish people.
Here tonight, we have legislators from across this magnificent republic. You have come from the rocky shores of Maine and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii; from the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona; from the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California. Together, we represent the most extraordinary Nation in all of history.
What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered? I ask the men and women of this Congress: Look at the opportunities before us! Our most thrilling achievements are still ahead. Our most exciting journeys still wait. Our biggest victories are still to come. We have not yet begun to dream.
We must choose whether we are defined by our differences – or whether we dare to transcend them.
We must choose whether we will squander our inheritance – or whether we will proudly declare that we are Americans. We do the incredible. We defy the impossible. We conquer the unknown.
This is the time to re-ignite the American imagination. This is the time to search for the tallest summit, and set our sights on the brightest star. This is the time to rekindle the bonds of love and loyalty and memory that link us together as citizens, as neighbors, as patriots.
This is our future – our fate – and our choice to make. I am asking you to choose greatness.
No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together.
We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls. And we must always keep faith in America's destiny – that one Nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world!
Thank you. God Bless You, God Bless America, and good night!

Philippines: Christians Slaughtered, Churches Bombed
ريموند إبراهيم: المسيحيون في الفلبين يذبحون وكنائسهم تدمر
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/February 06/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71877/raymond-ibrahim-philippines-christians-slaughtered-churches-bombed-%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86%D8%AF-%D8%A5%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%88/
The new terrorism in the Philippines is not merely inspired by political or territorial grievances, real or imagined, but rather is imbued with intrinsic hate for the "other" — for the "infidel."
In May 2017, in the city of Marawi, a civilian bus was stopped by jihadis; when 9 passengers were discovered to be Christian — apparently because they were not able to quote the Koran — they were tied together and shot dead, execution style. The jihadis who took over Marawi during the uprising forced women into sex-slavery and ordered Christian men embrace Islam or be used as human shields against the Philippine Army.
January's deadly church-bombing, which claimed 20 lives and wounded more than 100, is the latest reminder that, as with other nations that have a sizeable Muslim minority, the Philippines is embroiled in the jihad. While the ostensible reason behind it may be political or territorial, the sadistic hate that accompanies attacks on Christians and their churches suggests that ideology is the ultimate cause.
In May 2017, an extremist uprising erupted in the majority-Muslim city of Marawi, Philippines. The jihadis who took over Marawi during the uprising forced women into sex-slavery and ordered Christian men embrace Islam or be used as human shields against the Philippine Army. Pictured: Smoke rises from the scene of fighting in Marawi on May 30, 2017. The Philippine Army was battling the Islamic Abu Sayyaf terrorist group for control of the city.
On Sunday, January 27, extremist Muslims bombed a Catholic cathedral during Mass in the Philippines. At least 20 people were killed and 111 wounded.
At 8:45 am, two explosives were detonated about a minute apart in or near the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo. According to the Associated Press:
"The initial explosion scattered the wooden pews inside the main hall and blasted window glass panels, and the second bomb hurled human remains and debris across a town square fronting the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, witnesses said."
Photographs on social media showed human bodies and remains strewn on the street just outside the cathedral. Last heard, the officiating priest, Fr. Ricky Bacolcol, "was still in shock and could not speak about what happened," said a colleague.
After the first bomb detonated, army troops and police posted outside the cathedral rushed in, at which point the second bomb went off. Fifteen of the slain were civilians, five were military men; 90 of the wounded were civilians.
The cathedral, located in a Muslim-majority area, was heavily guarded; it had been hit before. In 1997, Catholic Bishop, Benjamin de Jesus, was gunned down just outside the cathedral; in 2010, grenades were hurled at it twice, damaging the building.
The Islamic State claimed the most recent attack in a statement, adding that the massacre was carried out by "two knights of martyrdom" against a "crusader temple." A number of Islamic terror groups, including Abu Sayyaf, operating in the southern Philippines, have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Although the Philippines is majority-Christian (chiefly Catholic), about 24% percent of the population of the southern Philippines, also known as Mindanao, is Muslim. For decades, Islamic separatist groups have been waging a war of terrorism — replete with bombings, burnings, and beheadings (including of two Canadian men) — that has left an estimated 150,000 people dead.
As seen in the most recent attack, for some separatists, apparently nothing less than a religiously supremacist State — modeled after the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — where the most severe dictates of sharia are enforced, churches are banned, Christians are subjugated, and sex slaves are openly sold, will do.
In other words, the new terrorism in the Philippines is not merely inspired by political or territorial grievances, real or imagined, but rather is imbued with intrinsic hate for the "other" — for the "infidel."
In May 2017, for instance, an extremist uprising erupted in the majority-Muslim city of Marawi. In one incident, a civilian bus was stopped by jihadis; when 9 passengers were discovered to be Christian — apparently because they were not able to quote the Koran — they were tied together and shot dead, execution style. (Extremists in nations such as Kenya and Nigeria have also been known to separate Muslims from Christians before slaughtering the non-Muslims.) The jihadis who took over Marawi during the uprising forced women into sex-slavery and ordered Christian men embrace Islam or be used as human shields against the Philippine Army.
Churches especially have been targeted. A few examples follow: April 29, 2018: A bomb explosion rocked St. Anthony Parish Church in Mindanao during Sunday mass when he church was packed with people attending a mass christening. Although only two of the parishioners were hospitalized, fatalities could have been significant. Police later described the attack as bearing "the signature of an Islamic extremist group." November 10, 2017: Jihadis desecrated and doused a Catholic chapel with gasoline in an effort to torch it in the Mindanao region. Religious images and icons were destroyed.
May 23, 2017: Extremists inspired by "a demonic ideology," to quote a Catholic prelate, desecrated and torched the St. Mary's Cathedral in Marawi. A video of them shouting Islam's triumphant war cry—"Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is greater!")—while stomping on and destroying Bibles, crosses, icons, and statues, before burning the cathedral, can be seen here.
June 21, 2017: Jihadis vandalized another Catholic church. Describing the desecration as "wicked," the chief police inspector said the "crucifix and images of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ were destroyed while the sacred hosts were thrown all over the floor."
December 24, 2016: A grenade was lobbed at a church during Christmas Eve Mass; 16 celebrants were injured. Violence directed against Christian houses of worship has even prompted churches, such as Marawi's St. Mary's Cathedral mentioned above, to close their doors during Easter 2018.
Anti-Christian violence is expressed in other ways. In 2017, a Muslim who converted to Christianity was found slaughtered in his home by local extremist Muslims for having left Islam. A 70 year-old Irish nun living on the island of Mindanao, who spent more than 30 years serving the Philippines, was gagged and repeatedly punched so badly by a masked assailant that she fell unconscious and required surgery.
January's deadly church-bombing, which claimed 20 lives and wounded more than 100, is the latest reminder that, as with other nations that have a sizeable Muslim minority, the Philippines is embroiled in the jihad. While the ostensible reason behind it may be political or territorial, the sadistic hate that accompanies attacks on Christians and their churches suggests that ideology is the ultimate cause. In this, the jihad in the Philippines is virtually indistinguishable from its many foreign counterparts. Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Follow Raymond Ibrahim on Twitter and Facebook
© 2019 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.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13658/philippines-christians-slaughtered

UK: Landmark First Conviction for Female Genital Mutilation
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/February 06/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13688/britain-fgm-conviction
"Female genital mutilation is a sickening, depraved form of child abuse and we will do all we can to ensure all perpetrators are brought to justice." — British Home Secretary Sajid Javid.
"It is the physical damage and emotional damage as well. It can be very, very damaging. The person who should be protecting them in the first place has usually arranged and facilitated it. How can you rebuild that link to the person that should be protecting you?" — Inspector Allen Davis, the Metropolitan Police Service lead officer for FGM.
"The grooming gang cases are again one of the only near parallels. As a number of official inquiries have revealed, in Rochdale, Rotherham, Oxfordshire and a growing list of other places, there must have been hundreds if not thousands of people who were not perpetrators in the cases but who knew something was going on. People who worked in social services, local police, hotel owners and others... but decided to turn a blind eye... But it had also become a local custom... There is something to be grateful for in the Old Bailey prosecution this week, certainly. But underneath it are deep questions which cannot go unaddressed." — Douglas Murray, The Spectator.
In a landmark ruling, a mother-of-three has become the first person in Britain to be found guilty of female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice that has been outlawed in the country for more than three decades. Pictured: Part of an anti-FGM poster produced in the UK by the Metropolitan Police, in conjunction with community organizations.
Editor's Note: February 6 is International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, a United Nations-sponsored annual awareness day aimed at eradicating the practice.
In a landmark ruling, a mother-of-three has become the first person in Britain to be found guilty of female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice that has been outlawed in the country for more than three decades.
Under British law, anyone found guilty of performing FGM can be imprisoned for up to 14 years. It has been illegal in Britain since 1985 under the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act, later amended in the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
The UK's Serious Crime Act defines FGM as involving "procedures that include the partial or total removal of the external female genital organs for non-medical reasons."
Although more than 100,000 victims of FGM are believed to be living in Britain, only three other cases of FGM — two in London and one in Bristol — have been brought to trial, all of which ended in acquittal. Analysts say that the lack of convictions is partly due to a failure by doctors and police to report FGM for fear of being branded racist.
On February 1, London's Central Criminal Court convicted a 37-year-old Ugandan woman from East London of inflicting FGM on her three-year-old daughter in August 2017. The woman's partner, a 43-year-old Ghanaian man, also from East London, was cleared of all charges. The victim has been placed in foster care with another family.
Police were alerted to the case after the victim, suffering from severe bleeding, was taken to Whipps Cross University Hospital in East London. Doctors subsequently confirmed that her injuries were consistent with being cut with a scalpel.
The two defendants, who were not identified for legal reasons, claimed that the victim sustained her injuries after falling and cutting herself on the edge of a kitchen cupboard while reaching for a biscuit. "It's a big accusation," the mother told the jury. "Someone who would cut a child's private parts, they're not human. I'm not like that."
In a series of videotaped interviews, however, the victim told police that she had been cut by a "witch." Her older brother told officers that he saw his sister crying and "blood dripping on the floor." Medical experts confirmed that the cause of her injuries was consistent with cutting rather than an accidental fall.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry QC told the jury that investigators found evidence that the mother practiced "witchcraft" and had cast dozens of spells and curses to "silence the police and the doctors." She said:
"Two cow tongues were bound in wire with nails and a small blunt knife also embedded in them, 40 limes were found and other fruit which when opened contained pieces of paper with names on them. "The names embedded included both police officers involved in the investigation of the case, the social worker, her own son and the then director of public prosecutions.
"These people were to 'shut up' and 'freeze their mouths.' There was a jar with a picture of a social worker in pepper found hidden behind the toilet in the bathroom. Another spell was hidden under the bed."
Carberry also said that the mother "coached" her daughter "to lie to the police so she wouldn't get caught."The father denied engaging in "voodoo" or "witchcraft" and claimed he was not in the premises at the time his daughter was mutilated. He did, however, admit that his daughter had been cut. Detective Chief Inspector Ian Baker of the Metropolitan Police Service, said:
"This was a complex, sensitive investigation with a harrowing crime committed by this defendant. We cannot lose sight that this case is about a very young girl who was the victim of an illegal, horrific and life-changing act at the hands of her mother....
"An array of evidence — witness accounts, and medical and forensic evidence — which showed that FGM was the cause of the girl's horrific injuries was painstakingly built, and this evidence was presented to a jury who after careful deliberation has found this woman guilty of FGM."
Inspector Allen Davis, the Met's lead officer for FGM, added: "It is significant that this is the first FGM conviction in the UK and I hope this sends out a clear message that the Met and other partner agencies will thoroughly investigate FGM cases and pursue prosecutions, whilst offering full support to victims and affected parties...."
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: "Female genital mutilation is a sickening, depraved form of child abuse and we will do all we can to ensure all perpetrators are brought to justice."
A 2015 report by City University of London estimated that 137,000 women and girls in England have been victims of FGM. London had the highest prevalence rate, at 12.0 per 1,000 population. Manchester, Slough, Bristol, Leicester and Birmingham had prevalence rates ranging 12 to 16 per 1,000. Other authorities, including Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Coventry, Sheffield, Reading, Thurrock, Northampton and Oxford had rates of over 7 per 1,000.
The report noted that although FGM victims in Britain are from across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, "since 2001, the numbers of women from some FGM practicing countries, notably countries in the Horn of Africa and Nigeria, Ghana and other countries in West Africa living in England and Wales have increased considerably."
The report said that many British girls living in minority ethnic communities in the United Kingdom are taken abroad to their family's country of origin during the school summer holidays to be subjected to FGM. The National FGM Center said that FGM laws are being "circumnavigated" by performing the procedure on girls at a much younger age. In Yorkshire, for example, a one-month-old baby girl recently was subjected to FGM. West Yorkshire Police revealed that a quarter of its FGM reports between 2015 and 2017 involved victims aged three or under. FGM expert and attorney Dr. Charlotte Proudman, appearing on BBC Two's Victoria Derbyshire Show, said that there is "a lot of anecdotal data" which shows that FGM is increasingly being performed on babies and infants in the UK. She added that it was "almost impossible to detect" as the girls were not yet in school or at nursery, thus making it difficult for any public authority to become aware of it. "By performing it at such a young age, they're evading the law," she said.
Proudman added that the lack of prosecutions for FGM is due in part to concerns by doctors and police over being accused of racism: "People are concerned about cultural sensitivities, worried about being branded racist, and it's being performed on a very private area."
The BBC reported that 939 calls were made to emergency services to report FGM between 2014 and 2018, but the Crown Prosecution Service only received 36 referrals for FGM from the police since 2010. Inspector Allen Davis, the Met's lead officer for FGM, attributed the lack of prosecutions to traditional honor cultures:
"Many individual of 'honour' based abuse just want to feel safe. This is a massive barrier to people giving evidence against their mum. People do not necessarily want to see their mums go to prison. "This is an issue around honour and shame and we are dealing with communities that be quite closed. It's a real challenge for people to stand up and talk about what's happening in communities when it might mean they face ostracisation.
"It is the physical damage and emotional damage as well. It can be very, very damaging. The person who should be protecting them in the first place has usually arranged and facilitated it. How can you rebuild that link to the person that should be protecting you?" Writing for The Spectator, British commentator Douglas Murray, offered another reason why so few FGM cases have been prosecuted. In multicultural Britain, he wrote, FGM is illegal but accepted as a custom: "Clearly there are some hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who are aware of FGM going on either in the UK or abroad on UK citizens. Mothers who take their children to have the procedure, or do it themselves, either at home or abroad. Fathers who agree. Siblings who know about it and stay quiet. And then the circle out from there. People in positions of some authority who wonder if something isn't up, but don't like to make themselves heard for reasons of their own. So yes, in the UK FGM has been against the law thirty-four years, but it has also been a custom which has to some degree, beyond the reach of the law, been accepted.
"The grooming gang cases are again one of the only near parallels. As a number of official inquiries have revealed, in Rochdale, Rotherham, Oxfordshire and a growing list of other places, there must have been hundreds if not thousands of people who were not perpetrators in the cases but who knew something was going on. People who worked in social services, local police, hotel owners and others. The people who – as the official inquiries discovered – knew that something was happening but decided to turn a blind eye at the very least. In such places, during those periods of time, rape – including the rape of minors – was illegal, as it was everywhere else in the country. But it had also become a local custom...
"When it was passed in 1985 the law against FGM might have seemed like a signal about the destiny of this country: a sign of what sort of country we would be and the sort of country we would not be. And that is why some attention ought to paid to why the sign didn't work. Why were there so few people who cared what the law was, or cared so little about the message that was being given out? There is something to be grateful for in the Old Bailey prosecution this week, certainly. But underneath it are deep questions which cannot go unaddressed."
**Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2019 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.

EU: Going Full Orwell
Judith Bergman//Gatestone Institute/February 06/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13532/eu-full-orwell
The problem is that this professedly noble initiative comes from an organization that has already for several years been censoring free speech in Europe.
The handbook guidelines state that journalists should "Take care not to further stigmatize terms such as 'Muslim' or 'Islam' by associating them with particular acts... Don't allow extremists' claims about acting 'in the name of Islam' to stand unchallenged. Highlight... the diversity of Muslim communities... where it is necessary and newsworthy to report hateful comments against Muslims, mediate the information." In other words, the guidelines ask journalists to disinform the public. This is the same European Commission that most recently expressed its disapproval of the withdrawal of Austria from the UN's "Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration." The Compact stipulates that media outlets that do not support the UN's migration agenda will not be eligible for public funding. How is that for "fully respecting Europe's fundamental principles of freedom of expression, a free press and pluralism"?
The EU has launched a comprehensive Action Plan against Disinformation. Its purpose, according to a recent press release from the European Commission, is apparently to "protect its democratic systems and public debates and in view of the 2019 European elections as well as a number of national and local elections that will be held in Member States by 2020".
In June 2018, leaders of EU member states had met in the European Council and invited the European Commission "to present... an action plan by December 2018 with specific proposals for a coordinated EU response to the challenge of disinformation..." It is this action plan that the Commission presented to the public on December 5.
The Action Plan focuses on four areas: Improved detection of disinformation (the European Commission dedicated 5 million euros toward this project and seemingly expects Member states to contribute on a national level, as well). Coordinated Response -- the EU institutions and Member States will set up a Rapid Alert System "to facilitate the sharing of data and assessments of disinformation campaigns". The Rapid Alert System will be set up by March 2019 and "will be complemented by further strengthening relevant resources".
Online platforms and industry are called on to ensure "transparency of political advertising, stepping up efforts to close active fake accounts, labelling non-human interactions (messages spread automatically by 'bots') and cooperating with fact-checkers and academic researchers to detect disinformation campaigns and make fact-checked content more visible and widespread" in accordance with a previously signed Code of Practice against Disinformation.
Raising awareness and empowering citizens: In addition to "targeted awareness campaigns", the "EU institutions and Member States will promote media literacy through dedicated programmes. Support will be provided to national multidisciplinary teams of independent fact-checkers and researchers to detect and expose disinformation campaigns across social networks". In 2018, citizens are suddenly no longer "media literate" and need to be "empowered" in order to be told how and what to think. Crucially, and as mentioned above, the Action Plan relies on the previously introduced, Code of Practice on Disinformation, which the online tech giants -- Facebook, Google, Twitter and Mozilla -- signed in October 2018. The Code of Practice is necessary, because, according to EU Commissioner for the Security Union Sir Julian King:
"The weaponisation of on-line fake news and disinformation poses a serious security threat to our societies. The subversion of trusted channels to peddle pernicious and divisive content requires a clear-eyed response based on increased transparency, traceability and accountability. Internet platforms have a vital role to play in countering the abuse of their infrastructure by hostile actors and in keeping their users, and society, safe."
In September, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel said about the Code of Practice: "This is the first time that the industry has agreed on a set of self-regulatory standards to fight disinformation worldwide, on a voluntary basis. The industry is committing to a wide range of actions, from transparency in political advertising to the closure of fake accounts and demonetisation of purveyors of disinformation, and we welcome this. These actions should contribute to a fast and measurable reduction of online disinformation. To this end, the Commission will pay particular attention to its effective implementation.
"The Code of Practice should contribute to a transparent, fair and trustworthy online campaign ahead of the European elections in spring 2019, while fully respecting Europe's fundamental principles of freedom of expression, a free press and pluralism."
According to Andrus Ansip, Vice-President responsible for the Digital Single Market, the Code of Practice and the Action Plan against Disinformation are meant "to protect our democracies against disinformation. We have seen attempts to interfere in elections and referenda, with evidence pointing to Russia as a primary source of these campaigns."
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini stated: "It's our duty to protect this space and not allow anybody to spread disinformation that fuels hatred, division, and mistrust in democracy."
It sounds noble: The EU wants to protect citizens from "fake news" and from the interference in national and European democratic processes by foreign powers such as Russia.
The problem is that this professedly noble initiative comes from an organization that has already for several years been censoring speech in Europe, thereby making it difficult to take these stated intentions at face value. This is, after all, the European Commission that in May 2016 agreed with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Microsoft, on a "Code of Conduct on countering illegal online hate speech online" (Google+ and Instagram also joined the Code of Conduct in January 2018). The Code of Conduct commits the social media companies to review and remove, within 24 hours, "illegal hate speech". According to the Code of Conduct, when companies receive a request to remove content, they must "assess the request against their rules and community guidelines and, where applicable, national laws on combating racism and xenophobia..." In other words, the social media giants act as voluntary censors on behalf of the European Union.
In addition to the Code of Conduct, the EU hosts several initiatives aimed at increasing censorship. Recently, for example, the EU had a call out for research proposals on how "to monitor, prevent and counter hate speech online". It also sponsors projects that "guide" journalists on what to write: Under the EU's Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (REC) the EU has financed the publication of a handbook with guidelines for journalists on how to write about migrants and migration. The guidelines form part of the RESPECT WORDS project -- also financed by the EU -- which "aims to promote quality reporting on migrants and ethnic and religious minorities as an indispensable tool in the fight against hate". The handbook guidelines state, among other things, that journalists should:
"Take care not to further stigmatise terms such as 'Muslim' or 'Islam' by associating them with particular acts... Don't allow extremists' claims about acting 'in the name of Islam' to stand unchallenged. Highlight... the diversity of Muslim communities... where it is necessary and newsworthy to report hateful comments against Muslims, mediate the information. Challenge any false premises on which such comments rely".
In other words, the guidelines ask journalists to disinform the public. How, then, should one logically respond to an entire EU-sponsored "Action Plan against Disinformation"?
Finally, this is the same European Commission that most recently expressed its disapproval of the withdrawal of Austria from the UN's "Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration." The Compact stipulates that media outlets that do not support the UN's migration agenda will not be eligible for public funding. How is that for "fully respecting Europe's fundamental principles of freedom of expression, a free press and pluralism"?
What Europe should expect, as this new Action Plan against Disinformation is rolled out, is, in fact -- more censorship.
**Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2019 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.

Double Standard for Historical Revisionism
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/February 06/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13684/henry-ford-history
Henry Ford devoted his life to two passions: making cars and demonizing Jews. When Hitler said, "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration," he wasn't referring to his car manufacturing. He was referring to Ford's anti-Semitic ideology that eventuated in the genocide of six million Jews.
Henry Ford does not deserve to be honored. The question the good people of Dearborn should ask themselves is: What would you do if the performing arts center were named after Jefferson Davis? If the answer is that you would remove Davis's name, then you should remove Ford's.
There cannot be differences between how anti-Black, anti-gay, anti-women and anti-Jewish practitioners of bigotry are treated. There must be a single standard for historical revisionism.
Henry Ford devoted his life to two passions: making cars and demonizing Jews. Pictured: Henry Ford (left) and the May 22, 1920 cover of Ford's anti-Semitic weekly periodical, The Dearborn Independent. Imagine if an American city continued to celebrate a prominent businessman who had published newspapers and books advocating overt racism and racial discrimination against Black people. Imagine if the Grand Wizard of the KKK had a picture of this man in his office and credited him with inspiring him to kill African Americans. Imagine statues and photographs commemorating the life of such a bigot. Imagine if a performing arts center was named after him and African American performers who wanted to appear in the city had to walk into a building bearing the name of this racist. The reaction would be immediate and uncompromising: all glorification of this racist must stop; statues and pictures must be removed; history must treat him as a pariah despite his positive accomplishments as a businessman.
Well, the city Dearborn, Michigan is celebrating such a racist bigot today. But no one is demanding that his images must be removed or his despicable history and ideology publicized. His name is Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company.
Ford devoted his life to two passions: making cars and demonizing Jews. When Hitler said, "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration," he wasn't referring to his car manufacturing. He was referring to Ford's anti-Semitic ideology that eventuated in the genocide of six million Jews. A large photograph of Ford was prominently displayed in Hitler's office. The periodical Ford published weekly -- The Dearborn Independent -- was a polite version of the Nazi newspaper, Der Stürmer. It was circulated throughout the U.S. and around the world.
Hitler believed that the popularity of Ford's anti-Semitic screeds in America would encourage American citizens to support his anti-Semitic policies in Germany and through Europe. Thankfully he was wrong. Although there were anti-Semitic movements in the United States in the run-up to World War II -- advocated by the likes of Father Charles Coughlin and to some degree Charles Lindbergh -- once Pearl Harbor was attacked and the United States declared war on both Japan and Germany, anti-Semitism of the kind advocated by Henry Ford dried up. But Ford himself never changed his dangerous views.
Ford's book, The International Jew, became a bestseller in many parts of the world and was cited at the Nuremberg trials as a work that turned many Germans and Austrians into anti-Semitic Nazi leaders and followers. Ford was the single most influential anti-Semite in the first quarter of the 20th century and beyond. Yet, according to the New York Times, Ford's "name or likeness graces everything from the performing arts center to the manhole covers." Bill McGraw, a historian of Dearborn, has written that "Ford's attacks on Jews were distributed around the world before and after World War II and, alarmingly, they influence budding neo-Nazis today."The New York Times continues: "But Mr. McGraw also included in his report an article on how Mr. Ford's descendants have consistently supported Jewish charities and cultural organizations..." These descendants should be praised for those contributions and not condemned for the sins of their ancestor. But the truth about Henry Ford must be told -- to the residents of Dearborn and to the world.
Many buildings are named after Henry Ford, who remains Dearborn's favorite son. It's difficult to go anywhere in Dearborn without encountering the Ford name. Even buildings carrying the generic name Ford are based on his deeply flawed legacy. There is too much honoring of Henry Ford and too little educating about the horrible influence he had on promoting anti-Semitism and Nazism. I'm not one for destroying or removing statues or other historical works of art, but I strongly believe that these images must be accompanied by contemporary descriptions of the evil deeds committed by those portrayed in the art. Removing the Ford name from Dearborn's Ford Community & Performing Arts Center raises more difficult issues. There is no art, just honoring, in the selection of a name for a center. Henry Ford does not deserve to be honored. The question the good people of Dearborn should ask themselves is: What would you do if the center were named after Jefferson Davis? If the answer is that you would remove Davis's name, then you should remove Ford's. There cannot be differences between how anti-Black, anti-gay, anti-women and anti-Jewish practitioners of bigotry are treated. There must be a single standard for historical revisionism.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School and author of The Case against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump, Skyhorse Publishing, 2019.
© 2019 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.