LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 04.2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
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Bible Quotations For today
Presenting Jesus In The Temple &
The Righteous-devout Simeon,
Luke
02/25-35/Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and
devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on
him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before
he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple
courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the
custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss[d] your servant in
peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the
sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of
your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said
about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is
destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign
that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be
revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News published on January 03-04/2020
Soleimani Faced The righteous Justice/Elias Bejjani/January 03/2020
No For Arresting & Imprisoning Dr. Issam Khalefe/Elias Bejjani/January 03/2020
The Great Loss of the Journalist Najwa Kassiem /Elias Bejjani/January 03/2020
Aoun Condemns Soleimani Killing, Urges New Govt. 'Next Week'
Foreign Ministry Urges Sparing Lebanon Any Fallout from Soleimani Killing
Nasrallah to Speak during Dahieh Rally Commemorating Soleimani
Hizbullah Denies Lebanese Killed in Airstrike in Iraq
Raad Says Up to Iran, Iraq Leaders to Decide How to Respond to Soleimani Killing
U.S. Embassy Urges Americans in Lebanon to be Highly Vigilan
Israel on Alert for Fallout after U.S. Killing of Soleimani
Tear Gas inside Halba Bank as Security Forces Clash with Protesters
Ghosn to Be Summoned by Lebanese Judiciary
Avenging Soleimani responsibility of ‘resistance’ worldwide: Hezbollah
Lebanon needs a $20-$25bn bailout, says former economy minister
Turkish Jet Firm Says Employee Falsified Ghosn Records
Ghosn's last stop in Japan: a low-profile private airport lounge
Dramatic Case of Carlos Ghosn Continues to Unfold
Soleimani dead, shadows do bleed/ Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/January 03/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
January 03-04/2020
Statement from Canadian FM, Mr. Champagne In Regards To US Airstrike On Iranian
commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq
Soleimani should have been taken out years ago, says Trump
Iraqi TV Reports Strike Kills Powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander
Report: Iran's Top General Qassem Soleimani Killed in Airstrike on Iraqi Base
Iran vows 'harsh' response to US killing of top general
US to designate Iraqi militia group Asaib Ahl al-Haqq as terrorist entity
Iran and ‘free nations of region’ to avenge general’s killing: Rouhani
Iran summons Swiss envoy over Soleimani death
Pompeo, Iraqi parliament speaker agree on need to lower tensions
US sending 3,000 more troops to Mideast as reinforcements
Iran names deputy commander of Quds force to replace Soleimani after killing
Iraqi militia commander Amiri calls for expelling foreign troops: state TV
US strike on Baghdad airport ‘violation of Iraqi sovereignty’: Iraq’s Sistani
Iraqi PM says US killing of Iranian commander will “light the fuse” of war
Iran supreme leader vows ‘severe revenge’ for Soleimani killing
Iran says US accountable for consequences of Soleimani’s killing
New York mayor says city bracing for Iranian retaliation after Soleimani killed
UN chief: ‘World cannot afford’ another Gulf war after killing of Soleimani
Killing of militia commander Mohandes a clear breach of US troop mandate: Iraqi
military
Tens of thousands rally in Iran capital against US 'crimes'
Bahrain, Jordan airlines cancel Baghdad flights
France calls on Iran to refrain from provocation after US airstrike
Israel defends US killing of Iranian commander, puts military on alert
Egypt’s foreign ministry calls for avoiding further escalation after US strike
Iraq president calls for restraint after deadly US strike
Syria condemns killing of Iran’s Soleimani: state news agency
Iraqi civil aviation authority: No delays to flights from Baghdad airport
Iraq’s Sadr mourns Soleimani, says followers ready to defend Iraq: statement
Iraq Hashed al-Shaabi commander calls all fighters to 'be ready' after US strike
Netanyahu Hurries Home after Hizbullah Calls for Revenge
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on January 03-04/2020
Analysis/By Assassinating Soleimani, U.S. Takes Another Step Toward War With
Iran/Amos Harel/Haaretz/January 03/2020
Trump 'saved American lives' by ordering killing of Iranian general Soleimani,
expert says/By Charles Creitz/|Fox News//January 03/2020
Iran's Schizophrenia Heats Up the Debate/Amir Taheri/January 6, 2019
U.S. Kills Qassem Soleimani/Donald Trump cuts off Iran’s terror arm in Iraq,
while Israel braces for Iranian retaliation/Tony Badran/Tablet Magazine/January
03/2020
A more dangerous world': Iran killing triggers global alarm/John
Leicester/Associated Press/January 03/2020
The United States Has Killed Qassem Suleimani, the Head of the Quds
Force/Michael Young/Carnegie MEC/January 03/2020
Trump Calls the Ayatollah’s Bluff and ups the ante/Matthew Continetti/ Free
Beacon/January 03/2010
Would Israel still need US bunker busters for attacking Iranian nukes?/Yonah
Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/January 03/2020
Palestinian 'Moderates' Celebrate Terror/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone
Institute/January 03/2020
The Unthinkable: The Unthinkable: Soleimani Killed in Iraq/Seth Frantzman/The
Jerusalem Post/January 03/2020
Qassem Soleimani: He will kill no more/Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/January 03/2020
Soleimani’s death leaves Iran’s strategy in tatters/Baria Alamuddin/Arab
News/January 03/2020
Qassem Soleimani’s death is a severe blow to Iran’s leadership/Dr. Majid
Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 03/2020
Libya foray is another sign of Ankara’s shift from soft to hard power/Sinem
Cengiz/Arab News/January 03/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News published on January 03-04/2020
Soleimani Faced The righteous Justice
Elias Bejjani/January 03/2020
Killing of Kassem Soleimani is actually the killing and exposure of the false,
paper-based Mullah's Military aura and prestige. Meanwhile the joy of the Arab
people for Soleimani's assassination demonstrates their deeply rooted hatred and
contempt for the hostile terrorist and expansionist Mullah's stone age
oppressive regime.
No For Arresting & Imprisoning Dr. Issam
Khalefe
Elias Bejjani/January 02/2020
The biased judiciary arrest verdict against Dr. Issam Khalefe is an insult and
contempt for each and every sovereign, independent, honourable, and free
Lebanese citizen. In summary the Lebanese regime officials from top to bottom
are corrupt, The country is occupied, The politicians are mere puppets, and the
Judiciary is biased and politicized
The Great Loss of the Journalist Najwa
Kassiem
Elias Bejjani/January 02/2020
The sudden death of the distinguishable journalist and reporter, Najwa Kassim
this morning was an extremely sad news. We pray for the eternal rest of her soul
and offer our deeply felt condolences to her family and friends. Her death is a
great loss of a truly distinguished media talent.
Aoun Condemns Soleimani Killing, Urges New Govt. 'Next Week'
Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
President Michel Aoun on Friday condemned the U.S. strike that killed top
Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi paramilitary leader
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Aoun’s condemnation came in cables that he sent to the
presidents of Iran and Iraq. In his cable to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani,
Aoun said he “painfully” learned of the news of the assassination of Soleimani
and his companions, warning that the attack comes at a “very critical timing in
the Middle East region.”“Lebanon condemns the crime that led to the death of
Maj. Gen. Soleimani and his companions… and we hope God will grant you the
wisdom to face the repercussions of this incident,” Aoun added, addressing
Rouhani. He also wished “stability, peace, security and prosperity” for Iran and
its people. Separately, Aoun hoped the formation of a new government in Lebanon
will “enhance the positive atmosphere, especially with countries willing to help
Lebanon.” He also hoped the government will be formed “next week,” saying its
presence would “boost confidence inside and outside the country.”“Efforts are
underway to form it of expert figures… and the McKinsey economic plan represents
a realistic vision for developing the productive sectors in Lebanon and
consequently creating jobs and slashing imports,” the president said. “We will
immediately start working according to it,” Aoun announced.
Foreign Ministry Urges Sparing Lebanon Any Fallout from
Soleimani Killing
Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry on Friday expressed concern over the killing of
top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad overnight, describing
the U.S. strike that eliminated him along with a senior Iraqi paramilitary
leader as “a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and a dangerous escalation against
Iran.”The attack “will aggravate tensions in the region,” the Ministry warned in
a statement. “The Foreign Ministry stresses that Lebanon has always encouraged
the approach of dialogue, restraint and wisdom to resolve problems instead of
the use of force and violence,” the statement said. “It also calls for sparing
the region the assassination’s repercussions and keeping Lebanon away from the
fallout of this dangerous incident, because it direly needs security and
political stability so that it can overcome its suffocating economic and
financial crisis,” the statement added. The Ministry also extended condolences
to Iran and Iraq over the deaths.
Nasrallah to Speak during Dahieh Rally Commemorating
Soleimani
Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will make a speech Sunday during a rally
that will be held in Beirut’s southern suburbs to commemorate slain top Iranian
general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Hizbullah’s al-Manar TV said the rally will be held at 2:30 pm. In a written
statement issued earlier in the day, Nasrallah said that "meting out the
appropriate punishment to these criminal assassins... will be the responsibility
and task of all resistance fighters worldwide.""We will carry a flag on all
battlefields and all fronts and we will step up the victories of the axis of
resistance with the blessing of his pure blood," Nasrallah added. Soleimani and
al-Muhandis were killed late Thursday in a U.S. drone strike on Baghdad airport.
Iran has warned of "severe revenge" and said arch-enemy the United States bore
responsibility for the consequences.
Hizbullah Denies Lebanese Killed in Airstrike in Iraq
Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
Following the US strike in Iraq that killed an Iranian commander, Hizbullah
slammed as “totally untrue” reports that Lebanese nationals were killed in the
attack. “Rumors circulated in the media and social networks that Lebanese
nationals were killed in the US criminal attack on Iraq. Hizbullah media
relations office assures that these reports are only baseless rumors,”
Hizbullah’s media relations office said in a statement. Iranian Gen. Qassim
Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, has been killed in an airstrike
at Baghdad’s international airport on Friday.The strike also killed Abu Mahdi
al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular
Mobilization Forces.
Raad Says Up to Iran, Iraq Leaders to Decide How to Respond to Soleimani Killing
Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
The head of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad on Friday said the
U.S. assassination of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and senior Iraqi
militant Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is a “cowardly attack” that “will not go
unpunished.”
But he noted that “it is up to the leaderships of these two great figures to
determine the level of the response.”“Although everyone who belongs to the axis
of resistance sees himself concerned with taking part in the response, because
they (Soleimani and al-Muhandis) don’t represent themselves but rather every
drop of blood that runs in our veins,” Raad added. “The days are coming and war
is several rounds and our nation shall be satisfied,” the lawmaker went on to
say. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said that "meting out the
appropriate punishment... will be the responsibility and task of all resistance
fighters worldwide." Soleimani and al-Muhandis were killed late Thursday in a
U.S. drone strike on Baghdad airport. Iran has warned of "severe revenge" and
said arch-enemy the United States bore responsibility for the consequences.
U.S. Embassy Urges Americans in Lebanon to be Highly
Vigilant
Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Friday urged U.S. citizens in Lebanon to “maintain
a high level of vigilance” after Iran vowed a "harsh retaliation" for a U.S.
strike in Iraq that killed Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general who had been
the architect of Iran’s interventions across the Middle East.
“Due to heightened tensions in Iraq and the region, the U.S. Embassy urges U.S.
citizens in Lebanon to maintain a high level of vigilance and practice good
situational awareness,” the Embassy said in a security alert published on its
website. The Embassy urged Americans to monitor the website and local and
international media for updates and to “stay alert in locations frequented by
Westerners.”Iran's top security body vowed Friday to retaliate to Soleimani’s
killing in the "right place and time.""America should know that its criminal
attack on General Soleimani has been the country's biggest mistake in west Asia,
and America will not avoid the consequences of this wrong calculation easily,"
the Supreme National Security Council said in a statement. "These criminals will
face severe vengeance... in the right place and time," it added after holding an
extraordinary meeting following Soleimani's death.The council described
Soleimani as a "glorious general" who was the "pride not only for Iranians but
all Muslims and downtrodden... across the world."
Israel on Alert for Fallout after U.S. Killing of Soleimani
Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
Israel held emergency security talks Friday and Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu cut short a foreign visit as the Jewish state braced itself for
fallout from the assassination of a top Iranian military commander in a U.S. air
strike. Defense Minister Naftali Bennett chaired a meeting of security chiefs,
including the heads of the army, the National Security Council and the Mossad
intelligence agency, his office said. Netanyahu broke off an official visit to
Greece and flew home, expressing support for the overnight U.S. strike that
killed General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad. "Just as Israel has the right of
self-defense, the United States has exactly the same right," Netanyahu said as
he boarded his flight from Athens. "President (Donald) Trump deserves all the
credit for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively," he said. "Israel stands
with the United States in its just struggle for peace, security and self-defense."
On the ground, the Israeli army closed Mount Hermon ski resort on the annexed
Golan Heights, a disputed territory which borders Syria and Lebanon. Fighters of
the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite group Hizbullah, Israel's bitter foe with which
it fought a devastating war in 2006, are deployed on the other side of the
armistice line. Although an Israeli military source said there were no new troop
deployments, tanks and soldiers sealed off access to the Hermon site, while an
AFP correspondent also spotted a battery of the Iron Dome missile defense
system. The heightened state of alert came after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei vowed "severe revenge" for Soleimani's killing, the biggest
escalation yet in a feared proxy war between Iran and the U.S. on Iraqi soil. He
was echoed by the leader of Lebanon's Hizbullah. "Meting out the appropriate
punishment to these criminal assassins... will be the responsibility and task of
all resistance fighters worldwide," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said. Soleimani,
head of the Quds Force in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, had long also been
in Israel's sights for his alleged links to attacks on Israeli and Jewish
targets worldwide. Among them, Israel's Haaretz daily said, were the 1994
bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires and an attack on an Israeli
tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria in 2012.
'Hizbullah could act from Syria'
Yossi Mansharof, an expert on Iran and Shiite militias at the Jerusalem
Institute for Strategy and Security, said Hizbullah was unlikely to seek a
showdown in Lebanon given the country's current economic and political crisis.
Hizbullah's forces in Syria, however, could make a move, he said.
"Hizbullah can act against Israel from the Syrian side," he told AFP. "They
would not dare to drag Lebanon into a military escalation."In addition to
Hizbullah forces in Syria, the Quds Force and "many, many militias which
Soleimani has fostered" are also stationed in the war-torn country, he pointed
out.
He said Hizbullah had a worldwide network of operatives, and an attack on
American officials, high-ranking military officers or other interests was also
possible. The powerful organization has boasted in the past that it "can target
New York and Washington," Mansharof said.
In the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules the
territory condemned Soleimani's killing but did not make any overt threat.
"Hamas sends its condolences to the Iranian leadership and people," it said in a
statement. "Hamas condemns this American crime which raises tension in the
region." The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said the
Baghdad strike called for "a coordinated, comprehensive and continuous response
from resistance forces" against "American and Zionist interests."
Tear Gas inside Halba Bank as Security Forces Clash with
Protesters
Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
Security forces on Friday used tear gas inside a bank in Akkar’s Halba in a bid
to eject protesters following clashes, the National News Agency said. NNA said
the bank and the area outside it witnessed scuffles, stone-throwing and gunshots
that were fired in the air. An army force meanwhile arrived on the scene to
assist riot police in containing the situation. The Federation of Syndicates of
Banks Employees in Lebanon on Thursday warned that it might stage a new strike
amid the ongoing protests in the country that have increasingly targeted banks
in recent days. In a statement, the federation said “bank branches witnessed
organized attacks in late 2019 by individuals claiming to represent the popular
protest movement.”A grinding liquidity crunch has hit Lebanon, where
unprecedented protests since October 17 have railed against the political class
and a deepening economic crisis. Since September, banks have restricted the
amount of dollars that can be withdrawn or transferred abroad. Although no
formal policy is in place, most have arbitrarily capped withdrawals at around
$1,000 a month, while others have imposed tighter restrictions. With ordinary
depositors bearing the brunt of these measures, bank branches have transformed
into arenas of conflict. Fistfights, shouting and tears are becoming more
frequent, as cash-hungry clients haggle tellers to release money trapped under
informal capital controls.
Ghosn to Be Summoned by Lebanese Judiciary
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
Former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, who skipped bail in Japan and fled to
Beirut, is due to be summoned by Lebanon's public prosecutor next week, an
official said Friday. The Lebanese authorities have already stressed that Ghosn
-- who holds the French, Lebanese and Brazilian nationalities -- had entered the
country legally and that Beirut had no extradition agreement with Japan. An
official speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity said a summons was expected
to be handed to Ghosn next week, as a result of Interpol issuing a "red notice"
against him. "The Lebanese judiciary is obliged to hear him. But it can still
decide whether to arrest him or let him remain free," the official said, adding
that Ghosn could be heard on January 7 or 8. Ghosn, once Japan's best paid
corporate executive, was arrested in November 2018 and has been under house
arrest since April, facing multiple charges of financial misconduct.
Claiming the Japanese judiciary was "rigged" and that he would not receive a
fair trial, Ghosn skipped bail on December 30 and flew to Beirut on a private
jet. The exact circumstances of his escape remain unclear. The 65-year-old is
due to talk to the press in Beirut next week. "I have not fled justice -- I have
escaped injustice and political persecution," said Ghosn in a December 31
statement. An Interpol 'red notice' is a request to law enforcement across the
world to provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar
legal action. It is not an arrest warrant.
Japan is probing how Ghosn was able to slip out and Turkey has also detained
seven individuals over Ghosn's transit through Istanbul, where he changed
private jets on his way to Lebanon. Ghosn, who was born in Brazil, is well
connected in Lebanon, where he owns stakes in several major business ventures
and firms.
Avenging Soleimani responsibility of ‘resistance’
worldwide: Hezbollah
AFP, Beirut/Friday, 3 January 2020
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group called Friday for the death in a US
strike of top Iranian commander Major General Qasem Soleimani to be avenged.
“Meting out the appropriate punishment to these criminal assassins... will be
the responsibility and task of all resistance fighters worldwide,” Hassan
Nasrallah said in a statement. “We who stayed by his side will follow in his
footsteps and strive day and night to accomplish his goals,” the leader said.
“We will carry a flag on all battlefields and all fronts and we will step up the
victories of the axis of resistance with the blessing of his pure blood,”
Nasrallah said. The “axis of resistance” is a term that refers to an alliance
formed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah to fight against Israel and the Western
military presence in the region. The heavily armed Hezbollah group controls
whole neighborhoods in Beirut and most of the south of Lebanon, including the
area bordering Israel. It also has fighters deployed in Syria and Iraq who were
operating under Soleimani’s command.
Lebanon needs a $20-$25bn bailout, says former economy
minister
Al Jazeera/January 03/2020
Lebanon needs a $20-$25bn bailout including International Monetary Fund (IMF)
support to emerge from its financial crisis, former Minister of Economy Nasser
Saidi told Reuters news agency on Friday. Lebanon's crisis has shattered
confidence in its banking system and stoked concerns among investors that a
default could loom for one of the world's most indebted countries, which has a
$1.2bn eurobond due in March. Meanwhile, bank depositors and investors say that
they have been kept in the dark about the country's dire financial situation.
President Michel Aoun said on Friday that he hoped a new government would be
formed next week. But analysts say the cabinet to be led by Hassan Diab may
struggle to win international support because he was nominated by the
Iranian-backed Hezbollah group and its allies. Saidi said time was running
short, and that $11bn in previously pledged support from foreign donors was now
roughly half of what was needed to mount an economic recovery.
"The danger of the current situation is we're approaching economic collapse that
can potentially reduce GDP [gross domestic product for 2020] by 10 percent,"
Saidi said in an interview.Economists have said 2020 is likely to register
Lebanon's first economic contraction in 20 years, with some saying the economy
will contract by two percent. Others have predicted a long depression unseen
since independence from France in 1943 or during the 1975-90 civil war. Lebanese
companies have laid off workers and business has ground to a halt. A hard
currency crunch has prompted banks to restrict access to dollars and the
Lebanese pound trades a third weaker on the parallel market, driving up prices.
"Our policymakers are not willing to recognise the depth of the problems we have
... They need the courage to tell the Lebanese population that difficult times
are coming," said Saidi. Credit-rating agencies have downgraded Lebanon's
sovereign rating and the ratings of its commercial banks on fears of default.
Saidi said a $20-$25bn package could guarantee payment on some of the country's
public debt, enabling it to restructure in a way that would extend maturities
and reduce interest rates. He said that would need support from the IMF, World
Bank, and Western and Gulf states. Hariri last month discussed the possibility
of technical assistance from the IMF and World Bank, but there has been no
public mention of a financial package.
Turkish Jet Firm Says Employee Falsified Ghosn Records
Associated Press/Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
A Turkish airline company whose jets were used to fly former Nissan Chairman
Carlos Ghosn from Japan to Lebanon said an employee falsified records and that
Ghosn's name did not appear on any documentation related to the flights. Ghosn
earlier this week jumped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon rather than face
trial on financial misconduct charges in a dramatic escape that has confounded
and embarrassed authorities. How he was able to flee Japan, avoiding the tight
surveillance he was under while free on 1.5 billion yen ($14 million) bail, is
still a mystery, though Lebanese authorities have said he entered the country
legally on a French passport. Ghosn's daring escape spanned three continents and
involved private planes, multiple passports and international intrigue. Turkey
detained seven people Thursday as part of an investigation into how he passed
through the country, and they were appearing in court Friday. The private DHA
news agency reported that those detained were four pilots, a cargo company
manager and two airport workers. Also Friday, Istanbul-based MNG Jet said it had
filed a criminal complaint in Turkey concerning the illegal use of its jet
charter services.
It did not say who the complaint was against, but it said one company employee,
who was under investigation by the Turkish authorities, admitted to falsifying
records and "confirmed that he acted in his individual capacity" without MNG
Jet's knowledge. The company said it had leased two separate private jets: one
private jet from Dubai to Osaka , Japan, and Osaka to Istanbul and another
private jet from Istanbul to Beirut. "The two leases were seemingly not
connected to each other. The name of Mr Ghosn did not appear in the official
documentation of any of the flights," MNG Jet said in a statement. The statement
did not say who the jets were leased to. On Thursday, Interpol issued a wanted
notice for Ghosn. Lebanese Justice Minister Albert Serhan told The Associated
Press in an interview that Lebanon "will carry out its duties," suggesting for
the first time that the automotive titan may be brought in for questioning. But
he said Ghosn entered the country on a legal passport, and he appeared to cast
doubt on the possibility Lebanon would hand Ghosn over to Japan.
Shortly after the Interpol notice, Ghosn issued a statement — his second this
week — seeking to distance his Lebanese wife and family from any role in his
escape. "The allegations in the media that my wife Carole and other members of
my family played a role in my departure from Japan are false and misleading. I
alone organized my departure. My family played no role," he said. Ghosn, who is
Lebanese and also holds French and Brazilian passports, was set to go on trial
in Japan in April. He arrived in Lebanon on Monday via Turkey and hasn't been
seen in public since. In a statement Tuesday, he said he fled to avoid
"political persecution" by a "rigged Japanese justice system." His lawyer in
France, Francois Zimeray, told Japanese public broadcaster NHK TV that he was in
frequent contact with Ghosn since he arrived in Lebanon, and Ghosn appeared to
be filled with "a fighting spirit." Ghosn was eager to start clearing his name
at the news conference next week, Zimeray said. Ghosn, who grew up in Beirut and
frequently visited, is a national hero to many in this Mediterranean country
with close ties to senior politicians and business stakes in a number of
companies. People take special pride in the auto industry executive, who is
credited with leading a spectacular turnaround at Nissan beginning in the late
1990s and rescuing the automaker from near-bankruptcy. Ghosn, who is charged in
Japan with under-reporting his future compensation and breach of trust, has
repeatedly asserted his innocence, saying authorities trumped up charges to
prevent a possible fuller merger between Nissan Motor Co. and Renault.
Ghosn's last stop in Japan: a low-profile private airport
lounge
Al Jazeera/January 03/2020
Turkish firm MNG Jet said one of its workers admitted to not putting Ghosn on
official documentation.
A quiet lounge in a corner of Japan's third-largest airport was likely the last
stop for Carlos Ghosn before he fled the country, transforming the former Nissan
chairman into one of the world's most famous fugitives. Ghosn departed on a
private jet from Kansai International Airport in the western city of Osaka, the
plane's operator said, meaning he would have left from the small lounge area
used exclusively for private flights. The aircraft operator, Turkish firm MNG
Jet, said one of its employees has admitted falsifying records by not including
Ghosn's name in the official documentation.
Ghosn faces charges relating to alleged financial crimes in Japan and was able
to orchestrate his departure despite being under strict surveillance by Japanese
authorities, with his movements and communications curtailed. He denies the
financial misconduct charges.
"He would have had to go through as a passenger; perhaps [he was] in disguise,"
airport spokesman Kenji Takanishi told Reuters.
The slightly-built former Nissan boss has concealed his identity before: when
first released on bail in March, he walked out of the detention centre disguised
as a workman to avoid media attention. After landing in Turkey, Ghosn switched
planes and flew on to his childhood home, Lebanon. His escape capped a year-old
saga, which has gripped the global auto industry. Kansai airport spokesman
Takanishi said privacy was a big attraction for wealthy travellers at the
300-square-metre Premium Gate Tamayura used for private jets ("tamayura"
translates as "fleeting moment").
Passenger in disguise?
Private jet owners pay 200,000 yen ($1,850) to use the private airport gate,
where normal immigration and baggage procedures apply. Luggage too large for the
X-ray scan is opened and examined, Takanishi said, meaning it was unlikely Ghosn
could have been smuggled on board.
Yet immigration officials have no record of him leaving, public broadcaster NHK
has reported. The former auto executive holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese
citizenship. "I think I would recognise Ghosn if I took a good look at his face,
but we don't really look at people's faces," said a security guard at the
private gate. "It would be harder to spot him if he was wearing a disguise or
was in a group."One airport official, who also declined to be identified, said
airlines often outsource security and luggage checks to private security
companies in Japan, unlike other countries where government or military
officials usually perform these checks. Outside the terminal entrance, a
dedicated car park stands less than 100 metres away, allowing a degree of
privacy not afforded to commercial jet passengers.
Dramatic Case of Carlos Ghosn Continues to Unfold
Associated Press/Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn fled Japan while awaiting trial on
financial misconduct charges. He escaped to Beirut, where he grew up and is
considered a national hero by many. Here's a look at the unfolding case of the
fallen auto industry superstar:
WHERE IS GHOSN?
Ghosn, who is Lebanese and also holds French and Brazilian passports, arrived in
Lebanon on Monday after a stop in Turkey. Lebanese caretaker Justice Minister
Albert Serhan told The Associated Press that Ghosn entered the country with a
legal passport. Ghosn, who has not appeared in public, issued a statement saying
he left to avoid a "rigged Japanese justice system." He issued a second
statement saying his family members played no role in his escape and that he did
it alone. He said he will talk to reporters next week. Serhan said Lebanese
prosecutors will question Ghosn, but there are no charges pending against him in
Lebanon.
ESCAPE DESPITE HEAVY SURVEILLANCE
Little is known about how Ghosn was able to leave Japan. He picked a time where
security lapses are more likely -- government offices are closed all week for
New Year holidays. But his whereabouts were closely monitored, including by
24-hour security cameras, and his lawyers supposedly had all of his passports.
He was able to use the internet only in his lawyer's office, and he was
forbidden from seeing his wife, Carole. They were recently allowed video calls,
but only in the presence of his lawyer. Ghosn's chief lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka,
said he had no knowledge of the escape and was stunned by it.
HOW DID GHOSN GET OUT?
The dramatic disappearance has set off wild speculation, including that Ghosn
was carted off inside a musical instrument case, though Japanese broadcaster NHK
reported Friday that surveillance video showed him exiting his home alone
shortly before he left Japan. A Turkish charter airline company said its jets
were used in the escape and blamed an employee who falsified records. MNG Jet
said Ghosn's name did not appear on the official documentation for a flight from
Dubai to Osaka and then on to Istanbul or another for a flight from Istanbul to
Beirut. It's not known how Ghosn might have traveled to Osaka to get on the
flight.
GHOSN AS FUGITIVE
Interpol issued a wanted notice Thursday for Ghosn. Lebanon, which does not have
an extradition treaty with Japan, must now decide how to respond. Expectations
are low that Lebanon would hand over Ghosn. Interpol's Red Notice is a
non-binding request for law enforcement agencies to locate and provisionally
arrest a fugitive. The notice is not an arrest warrant. Legal experts say
Ghosn's ability to travel will be restricted.
JAPAN'S RESPONSE
Japanese prosecutors, who had opposed Ghosn's release on bail, raided his Tokyo
home on Thursday. Turkey made several arrests as part of an investigation into
how he passed through the country. Japanese government officials have not said
anything publicly about Ghosn's escape but they revoked the 1.5 billion yen ($14
million) bail. Trying someone in absentia is rare in Japan. A trial dealing with
allegations against Nissan as a company and Greg Kelly, another Nissan
executive, will continue. A date has not been set.
THE CHARGES
Ghosn, who was first arrested in November 2018, has repeatedly denied the
charges against him. Part of the allegations center around his failure to report
compensation that was promised to him. Ghosn has said those payments were never
decided on. Nissan filed additional papers concerning the compensation after his
arrest. Other charges of breach of trust involve Nissan money allegedly diverted
to Ghosn for personal gain, including payments in Oman and Saudi Arabia. Ghosn
has said those payments were for legitimate services. Prosecutors have released
few specifics, saying they will do so at the trial. If convicted on all counts,
Ghosn could face the maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. The conviction rate
in Japan is higher than 99%.
GHOSN AS STAR
Ghosn built a stellar reputation for his managerial acumen in transforming
Nissan over the last two decades from near-bankruptcy to one of the biggest
global auto brands. Several of his books on management were translated in
Japanese, and one depicts him as a manga comic book character. Especially in his
early years, he was cheered as a celebrity, admired for his hard work, and
dubbed "7-11" after the convenience-store chain for the hours he kept. He still
has close ties to senior politicians in Lebanon. After his arrest, he has become
a symbol of protest against Japan's so-called "hostage justice" system, which
human rights advocates have long criticized as unfair and too reliant on
confessions. Ghosn was held in detention for 130 days before posting bail.
OTHER TWISTS
Two Lebanese lawyers have submitted a report to the Public Prosecutor's Office
in Beirut against Ghosn, saying he violated Lebanese law by visiting Israel. The
two countries are in a state of war. Ghosn visited Israel in 2008 to launch
electric cars, and met with the prime minister and the president. Journalists,
including those from Japan, have flocked to Ghosn's rose-colored residence in
Beirut's affluent neighborhood of Ashrafieh. A Lebanese lawyer who said he
worked for Nissan told reporters the building belongs to Nissan, which Ghosn
also confirmed. Nissan officials have pointed to Ghosn's extravagant lifestyle,
including expensive chandeliers and a sarcophagus buried beneath transparent
walkways at the Beirut residence.
NISSAN'S FUTURE
Nissan's brand has been seriously tarnished, and its sales and profits are
tumbling. Ghosn was such a key figure for the brand in Japan, where foreign
executives are still relatively rare, that it would be a challenge for anyone to
fill his shoes. His successor, Hiroto Saikawa, resigned in September after
financial misconduct allegations related to a dubious income surfaced against
him. Nissan picked Makoto Uchida, who used to head its China business, as its
new chief executive.
What happens to Nissan's alliance with Renault SA of France, engineered by Ghosn,
is a bigger question. Experts say the alliance is irreversible because so much
is shared between the automakers, including model development, manufacturing
sites and vehicle parts. Ghosn has said his arrest was prompted by those who
opposed a fuller merger between Nissan and Renault. Renault owns 44% of Nissan,
but in recent years, until Ghosn's downfall, Nissan had grown more profitable
than Renault. Nissan has been historically closely associated with Japanese
pride. Uchida has affirmed the importance of the alliance and promised to
restore Nissan's credibility.
Soleimani dead, shadows do bleed
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/January 03/2020
Donald Trump has been branded by many as a mere Twitter tiger who roars but
never turns his often absurd and impetuous statements into actions. Despite
adopting a hawkish demeanor, Trump has always dragged his feet when it came to
authorizing military action against the traditional enemies of the United
States, particularly Iran and its many subsidiaries – Hezbollah, the Popular
Mobilization Units (PMU) militias or any of their fellow travelers.
This perception was shattered on the early hours of Friday January 3 when news
broke out that the Iranian commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)
– Quds Force Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi PMU militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes
were assassinated as they made their way from Baghdad International Airport.
The US drone strike against this valuable and infamous target is not really much
of surprise as Soleimani and his breed of men with their elaborate killing
careers are not destined to die in their beds, but rather perish as he did
gruesomely and dramatically.
However, the real surprise was the timing of the attack and Trump’s decision to
authorize lethal action against one of the US’s most notorious enemies – one
that former Presidents such as Bush and Obama both decided to spare so as to
avoid the spillover of such a perilous but needed act. The definite consequences
of Soleimani’s slaying did not deter Trump as the Pentagon blatantly announced
that the operation was a preemptive strike against an enemy combatant who was
planning future strikes against US targets in the region.
For the numerous opponents of Iran, Soleimani’s assassination was met with a mix
of fearful joy and dread as everyone was trying to predict Iran’s reaction to
losing one of its most effective and lethal assets, and one whose death is a
direct blow to his immediate superior, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
While Soleimani’s killing might come as a clear act of war against Iran, the
latter’s retaliation will take on an asymmetric shape which will surely avoid
taking on the United States in an open and guaranteed losing battle.
Accordingly, all eyes have now turned towards Iran’s prime operator in the
region: Hezbollah, who are expected to avenge their field marshal and try to
repair what remains of Iran’s shattered stature.
Allegedly, the drone attack this morning also targeted three other Lebanese
nationals who are reported as Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem,
Muhammad al-Kawtharani, head of Hezbollah Iraqi file, and Samer Abdallah, head
of external operations and the son-in-law of the infamous Imad Mughniyeh.
While the three Hezbollah senior members have not yet been confirmed dead, their
presence at Soleimani’s side is much expected, and their role in Iran’s regional
expansionist project is beyond pivotal and thus the expectancy of their eminent
retaliation grows higher.
The question remains, will Hezbollah punch back using Lebanon and implicate the
region in a war with Israel, or will it lay dormant and wait for the right
moment to attack one of the many targets on their own kill list?
As it stands Hezbollah, like many of Iran’s proxies, are stretched out and under
tremendous pressures locally – be it in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. While Hezbollah
has proven its might in sabotage and military operations, its unheeded
activities and overreaching has exposed its host body to US financial sanctions
which has exasperated and augmented the already existing system of corruption in
these respective states and thus pushed their economy into the abyss.
As for Iran’s other assets, particularly the PMU militias, the Iraqi popular
uprising and resolute stand of the Iraqi people have proven that Iran has no
real Shi'ite supporters in Iraq but mere followers, and thus any type of
retaliation against American positions will not be tolerated by local US allies.
Soleimani was not only a seasoned military leader but was the quasi Iranian High
Commissioner who would make unannounced visits to politicians across the region
and sweet-talk, convince, and even bully them to into accepting the terms of
Iran even if it came at the expense of their own people.
The sight of his riddled and mutilated body on the tarmac in Baghdad cannot be
swept away by any theatrical military operation from Hezbollah or its junior
partners, and shows that Iran’s self-perception of being a mighty empire and its
weak economic and military reality do not gel.
Soleimani’s killing is a watershed moment in America’s war against Iran as the
drone and its missiles did not only end the life of two people but it also
marked the end of an appeasement policy that successive US administrations have
followed by distinguishing the so-called Sunni brand of terrorism from the Shia
one.Above all, the recent events in Lebanon and Iraq, and the popular uprisings that
followed, exposed the weakness of Iran and its various militias who still think
that the Obama doctrine and the unwillingness of Trump to go to war protects
them from harm.
Soleimani’s fame was not only acquired on the battlefield, but also through
clueless promotion by western media who drew him as a heroic/villainous figure
and termed him as Iran’s “shadow commander.” While he might have indeed been a
shadow to Khamenei, recent events have proved that shadows do bleed and
eventually can be killed.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on January 03-04/2020
Statement from Canadian FM, Mr.
Champagne In Regards To US Airstrike On Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in
Iraq
January 3, 2020 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today
released the following statement on the airstrike carried out by the U.S. on
Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq:
“Canada is in contact with our international partners. The safety and well-being
of Canadians in Iraq and the region, including our troops and diplomats, is our
paramount concern.
“We call on all sides to exercise restraint and pursue de-escalation. Our goal
is and remains a united and stable Iraq.
“Canada has long been concerned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods
Force, led by Qasem Soleimani, whose aggressive actions have had a destabilizing
effect in the region and beyond.”
Soleimani should have been taken out years ago, says Trump
Arab News/Agencies/January 03/2020
JEDDAH: In his first comments since the strike against the head of Iran’s elite
Quds Force, US President Donald Trump said Qassem Soleimani “should have been
taken out many years ago.” He said the targeted killing was ordered because
Soleimani was “plotting to kill” many Americans.The UAE’s Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash called for “wisdom and moderation” rather than
“confrontation and escalation.”Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said it was following
developments in Iraq with great concern and appealed against any further
escalation. French President Emmanuel Macron urged all parties to avoid any new
escalation. In a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Macron
said there should be no “new dangerous escalation of tensions” and “called on
all the parties to act with restraint.”Germany urged restraint and
de-escalation. “We are at a dangerous point of escalation. It is now important
through prudence and restraint to contribute to de-escalation,” said Chancellor
Angela Merkel’s spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer. China said it is “highly concerned”
and called for all sides, especially the US, to exercise “calm and restraint.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned.
“The secretary-general has consistently advocated for de-escalation in the Gulf.
He is deeply concerned with the recent escalation,” said his spokesman, Farhan
Haq. “This is a moment in which leaders must exercise maximum restraint. The
world cannot afford another war in the Gulf.”Republican lawmakers quickly spoke
out in strong support of Trump’s attack. “In a display of resolve and strength,
we struck the leader of those attacking our sovereign US territories,” top House
Republican Kevin McCarthy said. “Wow — the price of killing and injuring
Americans has just gone up drastically,” Senator Lindsey Graham, a close
confidant of Trump, wrote on Twitter. Former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley
also praised the attack. “Qassem Soleimani was an arch terrorist with American
blood on his hands,” Haley said on Twitter. “His demise should be applauded by
all who seek peace and justice. “Proud of President Trump for doing the strong
and right thing.” Trump’s former adviser John Bolton praised the killing of
Soleimani and “congratulated” those involved.
Iraqi TV Reports Strike Kills Powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander
By Falih Hassan and Alissa J. Rubin/The New York Times/January 02/ 2020
The death of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani was reported in Iraqi and Lebanese
official media.
BAGHDAD — Iraqi state television reported Friday that the powerful commander of
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, was killed in a
strike on the Baghdad International Airport early Friday. Iranian and American
officials have not confirmed the death of General Suleimani. The strike killed
five people, including the pro-Iranian chief of an umbrella group for Iraqi
militias, Iraqi television reported and militia officials confirmed. The militia
chief, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was a strongly pro-Iranian figure. The public
relations chief for the umbrella group, the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq,
Mohammed Ridha Jabri, was killed as well.The attack appears to have been an
airstrike that hit two vehicles, the officer said.The strike was the second
attack at the airport within hours. An earlier attack, late Thursday, involved
three rockets that did not appear to have caused any injuries. The attack came
at a moment of high tension between the United States and Iran. The United
States said that an Iranian-backed militia fired 31 rockets into a base in
Kirkuk Province, last week, killing an American contractor and wounding several
American and Iraqi servicemen.The Americans responded by bombing three sites of
the Khataib Hezbollah militia near Qaim in western Iraq and two sites in Syria.
Khataib Hezbollah denied involvement in the attack in Kirkuk. Pro-Iranian
militia members then marched on the American Embassy on Tuesday, effectively
imprisoning its diplomats inside for more than 24 hours while thousands of
militia members thronged outside. They burned the embassy’s reception area,
planted militia flags on its roof and scrawled graffiti on its walls. They
withdrew late Wednesday afternoon.
Report: Iran's Top General Qassem Soleimani Killed in Airstrike on Iraqi Base
Reuters and The Associated Press Jan 03, 2020
'The American and Israeli enemy is responsible for killing the mujahideen Abu
Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qassem Soleimani,' spokesperson for Iraq's Popular
Mobilization Forces says
Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi
militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed late on Thursday in an air
strike on their convoy in Baghdad airport, an Iraqi militia spokesman told
Reuters.
Their deaths are a potential turning point in the Middle East and are expected
to draw severe retaliation from Iran and the forces it backs in the Middle East
against Israel and American interests.
"The American and Israeli enemy is responsible for killing the mujahideen Abu
Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qassem Soleimani," said Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesman for
Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces umbrella grouping of Iran-backed
militias.Earlier, Reuters reported that Katyusha rockets landed near the air
cargo terminal, burning two vehicles, killing and injuring several people. Iraqi
paramilitary groups said five of their members and two "guests" were killed in
the airstrike on their vehicles inside Baghdad International Airport, militia
sources reported on early Friday.
The militia members were hosting "important guests" at Baghdad airport who were
being driven in two militia vehicles that were struck by two rockets, said the
militia sources. Two militia sources said the two guests were also killed in the
attack but declined to identify them.Police and health sources said that at
least five people were killed and nine wounded. Shi'ite Popular Mobilization
Forces (PMF) said in a post on Facebook that its director of public relations
was killed in what it described as "cowardly U.S. bombing."There was no
immediate claim of responsibility.
The attack came amid tensions with the United States after a New Year's Eve
attack by Iran-backed militias on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The two-day
embassy attack which ended Wednesday prompted President Donald Trump to order
about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East.The breach at the embassy
followed U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed
militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. military said the strikes were
in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket
attack on an Iraqi military base that the U.S. blamed on the militia.
Iran vows 'harsh' response to US killing of top general
Associated Press/January 3/2020
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran has vowed “harsh retaliation” for a U.S. airstrike near
Baghdad's airport that killed Tehran's top general and the architect of its
interventions across the Middle East, as tensions soared in the wake of the
targeted killing.
The killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, marks
a major escalation in the standoff between Washington and Iran, which has
careened from one crisis to another since President Donald Trump withdrew from
the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions.
The United States urged its U.S. citizens to leave Iraq “immediately." The State
Department said the embassy in Baghdad, which was attacked by Iran-backed
militiamen and other protesters earlier this week, is closed and all consular
services have been suspended.
Around 5,200 American troops are based in Iraq, where they mainly train Iraqi
forces and help to combat Islamic State militants.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that a “harsh retaliation is
waiting” for the U.S. after the airstrike, calling Soleimani the “international
face of resistance.” Khamenei declared three days of public mourning for the
general’s death, and appointed Maj. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani's deputy, to
replace him as head of the elite Quds force.
Iran also summoned the Swiss charges d'affaires, who represents U.S. interests
in Tehran, to protest the killing. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
called the strike “an act of state terrorism and violation of Iraq’s
sovereignty."The killing, and any forceful retaliation by Iran, could ignite a conflict that
engulfs the whole region, endangering U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria and beyond.
Over the last two decades, Soleimani had assembled a network of heavily armed
allies stretching all the way to southern Lebanon, on Israel's doorstep.
However, the brazen killing may itself act as a deterrent, with fears of an
all-out war leading Iran and its allies to delay or restrain any potential
response.
Oil prices surged on news of the killing and markets were mixed.
The Defense Department said it killed Soleimani because he “was actively
developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and
throughout the region." It also accused Soleimani of approving the orchestrated
violent protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.
The airport strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of
Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. A PMF
official said the strike killed a total of eight people, including Soleimani's
son-in-law, whom he did not identify.
Trump was vacationing on his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, but sent out a tweet
of an American flag.
The dramatic attack comes at the start of a year in which Trump faces both a
Senate trial following his impeachment by the Congress and a re-election
campaign. It marks a potential turning point in the Middle East and represents a
drastic change for American policy toward Iran after months of tensions.
Tehran shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone and seized oil tankers last
year. The U.S. also blames Iran for a series of other attacks targeting tankers,
as well as a September assault on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry that temporarily
halved its production.
The tensions are rooted in in Trump’s decision in May 2018 to withdraw the U.S.
from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, struck under his predecessor, Barack
Obama.
The 62-year-old Soleimani was the target of Friday's attack on an access road
near the airport, which was conducted by an armed American drone, according to a
U.S. official.
A senior Iraqi security official said the airstrike took place near the cargo
area after Soleimani had disembarked from a plane arriving from either Syria or
Lebanon. PMF officials said the bodies of Suleimani and al-Muhandis were torn to
pieces. A senior politician said Soleimani's body was identified by the ring he
wore.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to talk to reporters.
It’s unclear what legal authority the U.S. relied on to carry out the attack.
American presidents claim broad authority to act without the approval of the
Congress when U.S. personnel or interests are facing an imminent threat. The
Pentagon did not provide evidence to back up its assertion that Soleimani was
planning new attacks against Americans.
US to designate Iraqi militia group Asaib Ahl al-Haqq as
terrorist entity
Ismaeel Naar, Al Arabiya English/Friday, 3 January 2020
The United States has announced it will designate Iraqi militant group Asaib Ahl
al-Haqq, also known as AAH, as a foreign terrorist entity in addition to the
group’s leaders Qais and Laith al-Khazali, according to a statement by the US
State Department. “AAH and its leaders are violent proxies of the Islamic
Republic of Iran,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
“Acting on behalf of their masters in Tehran, they use violence and terror to
further the Iranian regime’s efforts to undermine Iraqi sovereignty,” he added.
AAH is extensively funded and trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, an entity that was part of the IRGC designation as an
FTO in April 2019. Earlier in the day, Iran-backed Iraqi militia commander Qais
al-Khazali ordered his fighters to be on high alert for an upcoming battle and
said that US military presence in Iraq would end soon. “All fighters should be
on high alert for upcoming battle and great victory. The price for the blood for
the martyred commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is the complete end to American
military presence in Iraq,” local TV channel al-Ahd which is close to his Asaib
Ahl al-Haqq militia quoted him as saying. (With Reuters)
Iran and ‘free nations of region’ to avenge general’s killing: Rouhani
AFP, Tehran/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iran and the “free nations of the region” will take revenge on the United States
for killing Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani and the deputy
commander of Iran-backed militias Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, President Hasan Rouhani
said Friday. “There is no doubt that the great nation of Iran and the other free
nations of the region will take revenge for this gruesome crime from criminal
America,” Rouhani said in a statement posted on the Iranian government website.
The Pentagon confirmed that strikes killed eight people, including Soleimani and
al-Mohandes.
Iran summons Swiss envoy over Soleimani death
AFP, Tehran/Friday, 3 January 2020
Tehran on Friday summoned an official from the Swiss embassy, which represents
US interests in Iran, to condemn the killing of one of its top commanders,
Qassem Soleimani, by American forces. “Following the assassination of General
Soleimani by US forces, the Swiss charge d’affaires was summoned and Iran’s
serious condemnation was conveyed to him,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman
Abbas Mousavi tweeted. “He was told that this is a clear instance of America’s
state terrorism and America’s regime will be fully responsible for its
consequences,” he added.
Pompeo, Iraqi parliament speaker agree on need to lower
tensions
Reuters, Washington/Friday, 3 January 2020
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Iraq’s Speaker of Parliament
Mohammed al-Halbousi on Friday and they agreed on the need to lower tensions in
Iraq and the region in the wake of a US airstrike that killed Iran’s most
powerful general, the US State Department said.
“The secretary expressed his appreciation for al-Halbousi’s continued
partnership with the United States,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus
said in a statement. “Secretary Pompeo and Speaker al-Halbousi agreed on the
importance of reducing tensions in Iraq and the region.”In another development,
the US State Department announced it will designate Iraqi militant group Asaib
Ahl al-Haqq, also known as AAH, as a foreign terrorist entity in addition to the
group’s leaders Qais and Laith al-Khazali.
US sending 3,000 more troops to Mideast as reinforcements
The Associated Press, Washington/Friday, 3 January 2020
The United States said Friday it is sending nearly 3,000 more army troops to the
Mideast in the volatile aftermath of the killing of an Iranian general in a
strike ordered by US President Donald Trump. Defense officials, who spoke on
condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not yet announced by the Pentagon,
said the troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North
Carolina. They are in addition to about 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne who
deployed to Kuwait earlier this week after the storming of the US Embassy
compound in Baghdad by Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters. The
reinforcements took shape as Trump gave his first comments on the strike,
declaring that he ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani because
he was “plotting to kill” many Americans. “He should have been taken out many
years ago,” he added. The strike marked a major escalation in the conflict
between Washington and Iran, as Iran vowed “harsh retaliation” for the killing
of the senior military leader.The United States urged its citizens to leave Iraq
“immediately” as fears mounted that the strike and any retaliation by Iran could
ignite a conflict that engulfs the region.
Iran names deputy commander of Quds force to replace
Soleimani after killing
Reuters, Dubai/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iran's supreme leader appointed the deputy commander of the Quds Force,
Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, as the replacement for Qassem Soleimani, the
former head of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was
killed in a US air strike on Friday, state media reported. Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei said in a statement that program of the Quds Force, the military unit
responsible for projecting Iran's influence via proxies across the Middle East,
“will be unchanged from the time of his predecessor.”Ghaani became deputy
commander of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, in
1997 when Soleimani became the Force's chief commander. Ghaani was quoted by
Iranian media as saying in 2017 that US President Donald Trump's “threats
against Iran will damage America ... We have buried many ... like Trump and know
how to fight against America.”
Iraqi militia commander Amiri calls for expelling foreign troops: state TV
Reuters, Baghdad/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iraqi militia commander Hadi al-Amiri called on all Iraqi factions to unite and
expel foreign troops, hours after the US killed Iranian Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi
al-Mohandes in an air strike on Baghdad airport. “We call on all national forces
to unify their stance in order to expel foreign troops whose presence has become
pointless in Iraq,” state TV quoted Amiri, who leads the powerful Iran-backed
Badr Organization militia and fought on Iran's side in its 1980-1988 war with
Iraq.
A Farsi speaker who spent more than two decades fighting Saddam Hussein from
exile in Iran, Amiri also leads a political bloc representing militia groups
that has the second-largest number of seats in parliament.
US strike on Baghdad airport ‘violation of Iraqi sovereignty’: Iraq’s Sistani
Reuters, Baghdad/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemned on Friday a US
air strike on Baghdad airport that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem
Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes and called on all
parties to practice restraint.
“The vicious attack on Baghdad international airport last night is an insolent
breach of Iraqi sovereignty and international agreements. It led to the killing
of several commanders who defeated (ISIS),” Sistani’s office said in a
statement. “These events and more indicate the country is heading towards very
difficult times. We call on all concerned parties to behave with self restraints
and act wisely,” he said.
Iraqi PM says US killing of Iranian commander will “light the fuse” of war
Reuters/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iraq’s prime minister condemned on Friday the US killing of Iranian Quds Force
commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes and
said it would “light the fuse” of war.
The United States killed Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force and architect
of Iran’s spreading military influence in the Middle East, in a strike at
Baghdad airport. Mohandes, an adviser to Soleimani, was also killed. “The
assassination of an Iraqi military commander who holds an official position is
considered aggression on Iraq ... and the liquidation of leading Iraqi figures
or those from a brotherly country on Iraqi soil is a massive breach of
sovereignty,” Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi said. Abdul Mahdi, whose
government has the backing of Iran, said in a statement the US air strike was “a
dangerous escalation that will light the fuse of a destructive war in Iraq, the
region, and the world.”The prime minister resigned in November due to
anti-government protests, but remains in office in a caretaker capacity. At
least 450 people have been killed in the unrest, some which was driven by anger
at Iranian influence in Iraq. The prime minister said the US strike violated
terms of the US military presence in Iraq, adding that US troops were
exclusively in Iraq to train Iraqi security forces and fight ISIS within the
framework of a global coalition. Abdul Mahdi called on parliament to convene an
extraordinary session to “take legislative steps and necessary provisions to
safeguard Iraq’s dignity, security and sovereignty.” He did not specify what
those provisions would entail, but some officials and parliamentarians have
called for steps to expel US troops from Iraq. Abdul Mahdi, whose government has
support from Iran’s and Tehran-backed Iraqi allies, described Soleimani and
Mohandes as “huge symbols of the victory against (ISIS) terrorists.”Iraq’s
Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a grouping of mostly Iran-backed Shiite
militias led by Mohandes, helped security forces retake a third of Iraq from
ISIS. The grouping’s troops were later incorporated into Iraq’s official armed
forces.
Iran supreme leader vows ‘severe revenge’ for Soleimani
killing
AFP, Tehran/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei said the assassination of Iran Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani would double the motivation of the
resistance against the United States and Israel, state television reported. “All
Enemies should know that the jihad of resistance will continue with a doubled
motivation, and a definite victory awaits the fighters in the holy war,”
Khamenei said in a statement carried by TV, in which he called for three days of
national mourning. Khamenei also vowed “severe revenge” and that Soleimani’s
work will continue on. “Martyrdom was the reward for his ceaseless efforts in
all these years,” Khamenei said on his Farsi-language Twitter account in
reference to Soleimani, also declaring three days of mourning. “With him gone,
God willing, his work and his path will not be stopped, but severe revenge
awaits the criminals who bloodied their foul hands with his blood and other
martyrs’ in last night’s incident.”Iran often refers to regional countries and
forces opposed to Israel and the United States as a "resistance" front.
Iran says US accountable for consequences of Soleimani’s
killing
Reuters/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iran’s top security body said on Friday the United States would be held
accountable for killing Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, saying
Washington’s action was its worst mistake in the region, Iranian media reported.
“The US regime will be responsible for the consequences of this criminal
adventurism,” the Supreme National Security Council said in a statement carried
by media outlets. “This was the biggest US strategic blunder in the West Asia
region, and America will not easily escape its consequences.”Earlier on Friday,
Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei said the killing of Soleimani would double
the motivation of the resistance against the United States and Israel, vowing
“severe revenge” and that Soleimani’s work will continue on. US President Donald
Trump on Friday said that theIranian commander killed in a US airstrike, Qassem
Soleimani, was planning to kill Americans.
New York mayor says city bracing for Iranian retaliation
after Soleimani killed
Reuters/Friday, 3 January 2020
New York City security officials went on heightened alert for possible Iranian
retaliation in response to a US airstrike in Baghdad on Friday that killed
Qassem Soleimani, Tehran’s most prominent military commander, Mayor Bill de
Blasio said. The city is constantly vigilant against possible terrorist attacks
given its history but the mayor said the threat has changed significantly given
the resources that a state such as Iran has compared to non-state organizations
like al-Qaeda or ISIS. “It’s just a world of difference,” de Blasio told a news
conference. “We have to assume this action puts us in a de facto state of war,”
the mayor said. De Blasio and senior police officials called the news conference
as Iran promised vengeance in response to a US air strike in Baghdad on Friday
that killed Soleimani, the architect of Iranian influence in the Middle East.
The New York Police Department has intelligence and counterterrorism divisions
and officers stationed at 14 foreign posts, all of which have been well-funded
since the attacks of September 11, 2001, that destroyed the Twin Towers of the
World Trade Center. New York officials consider the city the most enticing
target for a terrorist attack in the US and police go on heightened alert
whenever there is political violence against civilians in the United States or
abroad. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said officers were already on
“heightened vigilance” and that New Yorkers could expect to see more uniformed
officers, some heavily armed with long guns, at sensitive areas.
He did not specify what those were but a heavy police presence is typically seen
on the subway, other mass transit, and tourist attractions when police go on
heightened alert.
UN chief: ‘World cannot afford’ another Gulf war after
killing of Soleimani
AFP, United Nations/Friday, 3 January 2020
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Friday the “world cannot afford”
another Gulf war, following the killing of Iran’s top military commander by a US
strike. “The secretary-general has consistently advocated for de-escalation in
the Gulf,” a spokesman for Guterres said in a statement. “This is a moment in
which leaders must exercise maximum restraint. The world cannot afford another
war in the Gulf.”The United States announced early Friday that it had killed
Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, in a strike on
Baghdad’s international airport.
Killing of militia commander Mohandes a clear breach of US
troop mandate: Iraqi military
Reuters, BaghdadFriday, 3 January 2020
Iraq's military condemned on Friday the killing of militia commander Abu Mahdi
al-Mohandes by US forces in an air strike on Baghdad airport and said it was a
clear breach of their mandate in Iraq. “The Joint Operations Command mourns the
hero martyr ... who was martyred last night in a cowardly and treacherous attack
carried out by American aircraft near Baghdad international airport,” it said in
a statement. “We affirm that what happened is a flagrant violation of Iraqi
sovereignty and a clear breach by the American forces of their mandate which is
exclusively to fight Islamic State and provide advice and assistance to Iraqi
security forces.”The air strike also killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander and architect of its growing military
influence in the Middle East, and several Iraqi militiamen.
Tens of thousands rally in Iran capital against US 'crimes'
AFP, Tehran/Friday, 3 January 2020
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran to protest against
American “crimes,” an AFP correspondent reported, after US strikes killed a top
Iranian commander in Baghdad Friday.Chanting “Death to America” and holding up
posters of the slain commander, Qasem Soleimani, the demonstrators filled
streets for several blocks in central Tehran after Friday prayers.
Bahrain, Jordan airlines cancel Baghdad flights
The Associated Press/Friday, 3 January 2020
Two Mideast airlines say they have suspended flights to and from Baghdad as the
killing of Iran’s top general in a targeted US airstrike in Iraq inflamed
geopolitical tensions. Gulf Air, the flag carrier of Bahrain, suspended flights
to and from Bagdad and the city of Najaf in southcentral Iraq. Jordan’s flagship
carrier, Royal Jordanian, said in a statement on Friday that it halted all
service between Amman and Baghdad “in light of the security situation in the
Iraqi capital and at Baghdad International Airport, the target of the strike
that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani.”
Royal Jordanian operates 18 weekly scheduled flights between Baghdad and Amman.
The airline said its regularly scheduled flights to Najaf and the Iraqi cities
of Basra, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah are operating as usual.
France calls on Iran to refrain from provocation after US airstrike
Reuters, Paris/Friday, 3 January 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that Iran should refrain from
any provocation, speaking after a US airstrike that killed a top Iranian
commander in Iraq. Macron also said in his statement that he had held talks with
Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation in Iraq. Iran promised
harsh revenge on Friday after the US strike in Baghdad killed Qassem Soleimani,
commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force and architect of its growing military
influence in the Middle East.
Israel defends US killing of Iranian commander, puts
military on alert
Reuters/Friday, 3 January 2020
Israel’s prime minister defended a US decision to launch an airstrike on Friday
that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and the Israeli military was put
on high alert, after Iran threatened revenge. Senior defense officials in
Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East and Iran’s top regional foe,
also met to assess the situation after the killing of Quds Force chief Soleimani
and an Iraqi militia commander in the strike. “Just as Israel has the right of
self-defense, the United States has exactly the same right,” Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office. “Qassem
Soleimani is responsible for the death of American citizens and many other
innocent people. He was planning more such attacks,” he said, speaking at an
airport in Greece before heading back to Israel after cutting short his trip.
Israel’s Army Radio said the military was on a heightened alert, and officials
said Defense Minister Naftali Bennett met military and intelligence chiefs for a
“situational assessment.” Israel has long regarded Soleimani as a major threat.
The military said in August it had foiled a Quds Force attack, masterminded by
Soleimani that involved multiple drones operating from Syria.
Netanyahu said in his statement on Soleimani’s killing that US President Donald
Trump “deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively.
Israel stands with the United States in its just struggle for peace, security
and self-defense.”Israel has also accused Soleimani of leading Quds Force
efforts to establish a precision-guided missiles program for Hezbollah, the
Lebanese movement that is backed by Tehran. Israel is concerned about
retaliation from Iran’s proxies and allies in the region, such as Hezbollah and
Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Yair Lapid, an
Israeli opposition lawmaker, echoed Netanyahu’s comments, congratulating Trump
on Twitter for killing those responsible for “murderous terrorist acts from
Damascus to Buenos Aires.”Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said the
Mount Hermon ski resort, which is in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights lying
close to the fortified frontier with Syria, had been closed “following an
assessment of the situation.”“There are no further instructions to the residents
of the Golan Heights area and routine activities continue as normal,” Adraee
added. In Gaza, Hamas, which has long enjoyed financial and military support
from Tehran, condemned Soleimani’s killing and offered its “dearest condolences”
to Iran. Gaza-based Hamas official Bassem Naim wrote on Twitter that the
assassination “opens the doors of the region to all possibilities, except calm &
stability. USA bears the responsibility for that.”Iranian-backed Palestinian
militant group Islamic Jihad, which is also based in Gaza, praised Soleimani as
a leader “who always brought horror into the hearts of America and Israel.”“The
alliance of resistance will not be defeated, will not be broken and its
integrity will become stronger in confronting the Zionist-American project,” Abu
Hamza, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, said on Twitter.
Egypt’s foreign ministry calls for avoiding further
escalation after US strike
Reuters/Friday, 3 January 2020
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday it was following developments in Iraq
with great concern and appealed against any further escalation. The statement
came after a US air strike that killed the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force,
Qassem Soleimani. “The Foreign Ministry is following with great concern
accelerating developments in Iraq, which augur an escalation it is important to
avoid,” the statement said. “For this reason, Egypt calls for containing the
situation and avoiding any escalation.”
Iraq oil ministry confirms US oil workers leaving Basra
Reuters, Basra/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iraq's Oil Ministry said on Friday that some US citizens working for foreign oil
companies in the Iraqi oil city of Basra were leaving. The US embassy in Baghdad
urged all citizens to depart Iraq immediately, hours after the US killed Iranian
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi
militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes in an air strike. Some US oil workers
were leaving Basra at the request of their government, Iraq oil ministry said in
a statement. Total says its four French refineries Donges, Feyzin,
Normandie-Gonfreville, and Grandpuits are functioning and producing output. All
oilfields across the country were operating normally and production and export
was not affected, the ministry said in a statement, adding that no other
nationalities were departing.
Iraq president calls for restraint after deadly US strike
Agencies/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iraqi President Barham Salih called on Friday for restraint after the deadly US
strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi
militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes. He said Iraq must avoid the tragedies
of armed conflict that have plagued it for over four decades.
Syria condemns killing of Iran’s Soleimani: state news agency
Reuters, Beirut/Friday, 3 January 2020
Syria strongly condemns the “treacherous, criminal American aggression” that led
to the killing of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander
Qassem Soleimani, state news agency SANA cited a foreign ministry source as
saying on Friday. The source said the attack constituted a “serious escalation”
and reaffirmed US responsibility for instability in Iraq, according to SANA.
Iraqi civil aviation authority: No delays to flights from
Baghdad airport
Reuters, Baghdad/Friday, 3 January 2020
Iraq's civil aviation authority said on Friday there would be no delays to any
flights from Baghdad international airport, state TV reported, hours after the
United States carried out an air strike on the airport. The United States killed
Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Qassem Soleimani in a strike
on Friday in Baghdad.
Iraq’s Sadr mourns Soleimani, says followers ready to defend Iraq: statement
Reuters, Baghdad/Friday, 3 January 2020
Populist Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr mourned on Friday the killing of
Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani and
Iraqi militia leaders in a US air strike in Baghdad and said his militias were
ready to defend Iraq. “As the patron of the patriotic Iraqi resistance I give
the order for all mujahideen, especially the Mehdi Army, Promised Day Brigade,
and all patriotic and disciplined groups to be ready to protect Iraq,” he said
in a statement. Sadr, who positions himself as a nationalist rejecting both US
and Iranian interference in Iraq, called on all sides to behave with “wisdom and
shrewdness” however.
Iraq Hashed al-Shaabi commander calls all fighters to 'be ready' after US strike
AFP, Najaf/Friday, 3 January 2020
A commander in Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi military force called its fighters to be
on alert Friday following a US strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani. “All resistance fighters must be ready,
as an upcoming conquest and a great victory await us,” said Qais al-Khazali,
leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq Iran-backed Iraqi militia, in a handwritten note
seen by AFP.
Netanyahu Hurries Home after Hizbullah Calls for Revenge
Naharnet/January 03/ 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a visit to Greece and flew
home Friday as Lebanon's Hizbullah demanded revenge for the killing of a top
Iranian commander in a US strike. A source in Netanyahu's office said that the
premier was returning from Athens but did not elaborate.
Following Friday morning's killing of Major General Qasem Soleimani, Lebanon's
Iran-backed Hizbullah movement called for the missile strike by Israel's closest
ally, to be avenged. "Meting out the appropriate punishment to these criminal
assassins... will be the responsibility and task of all resistance fighters
worldwide," Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah said in a statement. The Israeli
army on Friday closed a ski resort in the annexed Golan Heights, which border
Lebanon and Syria. "Following a security assessment, it was decided to close
Mount Hermon to visitors today," an army spokeswoman told AFP.
"There are no further instructions for civilians in the area."
The ski resort on Mount Hermon lies in the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan
Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later
annexed in a move still not recognised by most of the international community.
Across the armistice line sits the Shiite Hizbullah, Israel's bitter foe with
which it fought in 2006. There has so far been no official Israeli comment on
the killing of Soleimani. Israel's security cabinet was to hold an emergence
session Friday, Israeli media said. The papers reported that Netanyahu had
ordered ministers not to comment on the killing. Yair Lapid, a senior member of
the Blue and White alliance seeking to unseat Netanyahu, was however quick to
congratulate President Donald Trump in a Facebook post. "He who led murderous
terrorist attacks from Damascus to Buenos Aires and was responsible for the
deaths of thousands of innocents got the end he deserved. "The Iranian regime is
a terror regime and, against terror, determination and strength are required,"
Lapid wrote. In the Gaza Strip, the Islamist Hamas movement which rules the
territory, condemned Soleimani's killing but did not make any overt threats.
"Hamas sends its condolences to the Iranian leadership and people," a statement
said. "Hamas condemns this American crime which raises tension in the region."
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on January 03-04/2020
Analysis/By Assassinating Soleimani, U.S. Takes Another
Step Toward War With Iran
Amos Harel/Haaretz/January 03/2020
عاموس هاريل/هآرتس: باغتيالها سليماني أميركا تأخذ خطوة متقدمة للحرب مع إيران
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81992/%d8%b9%d8%a7%d9%85%d9%88%d8%b3-%d9%87%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%87%d8%a2%d8%b1%d8%aa%d8%b3-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%ba%d8%aa%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%87%d8%a7-%d8%b3%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a3/
The violent Iranian response could last a long time on a number of fronts and
rope in Israel, which is already threatened by Iran’s presence in Iraq.
The American assassination of Quds force chief Qassem Soleimani is like betting
all you’ve got in the Middle East poker game.
The elimination of the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force was an
attack on the man whose symbolic and practical value to the Islamic regime was
second only to that of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was Soleimani’s mentor.
A violent Iranian response is on the way – and it could last a long time and
happen on a number of fronts. The assassination brings the United States and
Iran closer to a war that neither really wants, a head-on collision that could
also complicate things for Israel.
Soleimani was a terrorist with a great deal of blood on his hands. The old
saying that the world became a slightly better place without him is justified.
His murderous role the region, and further afield, was no less than that of
Osama bin Laden (killed by the Obama administration in 2011) or that of Islamic
State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (killed by the Trump administration in
October).
In a long New Yorker article in September 2013, Soleimani was compared to Karla,
the Soviet master spy in John le Carré’s novels. But Karla kept a much lower
profile.
In the past few years, because of Iran’s successes – whose greatest achievement
was guaranteeing the survival of the Assad regime in Syria – Soleimani became a
sort of national hero, someone who operated on the main stage as well as behind
the scenes.
Soleimani didn’t just give orders from far away, from the operations rooms and
on the screens, he went out to the front with Iranian fighters and their
partners – and made sure to publicize it.
Iran’s involvement in the fighting in Syria, Iraq and Yemen contributed to the
deaths of tens of thousands of people. Soleimani was the spearhead of this
effort.
His true importance was so much greater than his official titles. Some observers
saw him as a potential leader of Iran. Western intelligence agencies and the
international media had an intense interest in him, bordering on obsession. The
political leadership, in Israel and elsewhere, wolfed down every profile written
about him.
Over the years, a debate raged over whether to kill Soleimani. There were the
good ramifications: a severe blow to Iranian objectives in the region, and the
bad ones: Iranian acts of revenge, even as much as a war. In 2008, according to
American media reports, Israel and the United States jointly killed Imad
Mughniyeh, the man described as Hezbollah’s military chief.
Mughniyeh was killed in a car-bomb blast after he left a reception at the
Iranian Embassy in Damascus. Soleimani escorted him to the car. According to
U.S. media reports, at the last moment the Americans vetoed an Israeli proposal
to kill them both.
Trump’s favorite kind of move
The snowballing events that led to the killing, which happened just a bit after
midnight Friday morning, began a week ago. The Shi’ite militias in Iraq, which
receive funding and orders from the Quds force, fired around 30 rockets at an
Iraqi army base in Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
An American civilian, an employee of an American contractor, was killed – the
first direct hit on an American in Iranian attacks that began in May and largely
targeted oil-industry sites in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In response, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on bases of the
pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias in Iraq and Syria, killing at least 25 fighters.
The Iranians then sent the militias to attack the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in
what was supposedly a spontaneous protest.
The chain of events has come to an end, for now, with the deaths of Soleimani
and senior militia leaders who were killed when they arrived to greet Soleimani
after his plane landed at Baghdad International Airport.
According to the Arab and other foreign media, Israel made its own contribution
to increasing the friction with airstrikes against the Shi’ite militias last
summer in western Iraq and eastern Syria. The attacks raised tensions between
the Iraqi government and the United States, which still has some 5,000 troops in
Iraq, the last remnant of the 2003 Iraq War.
An initiative in the Iraqi parliament to remove the American troops from Iraq
was launched following these attacks. It’s likely that this will be debated once
again now even more enthusiastically.
At the end of the year, Israeli military chief Aviv Kochavi said the chances of
an Israeli-Iranian conflict this year in the north had risen. In his speech,
Kochavi said a number of times that the developing threat stemmed from Iran’s
actions in Iraq.
The first Iranian response is expected to come soon. The obvious battlefield
will be Iraq and certainly American targets. Saudi Arabia too, as Tehran’s most
immediate enemy, could see itself attacked.
The worrying question for Israel is whether Iran will try to involve it via
revenge attacks. Last year, Soleimani tried to get Hezbollah to act against
Israel.
It seems Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the
idea – and Soleimani was forced to base his efforts on the militias, some of
them Lebanese, that the Iranians had sent to southern Syria. It’s likely that
the Iranians will also respond with further violations of the nuclear agreement,
a step they planned anyway – but now they’ll probably accelerate it.
In the next few days, the Iranians will also probably accuse Israel of
involvement in the killing. Not a week passes without a senior Israeli official
threatening Iran, or the Israeli media reporting new details on covert Israeli
operations against Iranian interests in the region. In this case, Israeli
politicians should forgo any unwarranted gloating. Israel has every reason to
try to remain outside the developing conflict, though the regime in Tehran will
try to involve Israel because of its ideological hatred of us.
Trump will receive a great deal of praise in Israel, as well as in other
countries in the region – unlike the relative coolness with which the killing
has been received by the Democrats. As with the killing of Baghdadi, the
assassination of Soleimani was something Trump loves: a precise and resounding
attack on someone Americans identify almost instinctively as the embodiment of
evil.
But the administration hasn’t shown any continuity or planning in its foreign
policy. Trump has changed his mind more than once; it’s doubtful he would have
made Friday’s move if the Iranians hadn’t insisted on stretching the Americans’
patience to the breaking point.
After almost three years in the White House, Trump has met his first major
crisis in foreign policy. With all due respect to Trump’s strike on the largest
exporter of terrorism in the Middle East, it’s possible to say we’d sleep better
if someone more stable and experienced were sitting in the Oval Office.
Trump 'saved American lives' by ordering killing of Iranian
general Soleimani, expert says
By Charles Creitz | Fox News
President Trump saved American lives and the lives of U.S. allies when he
ordered the military strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in
Baghdad, according to Fox News foreign affairs analyst Walid Phares.
"What happened tonight is stunning," Phares told Raymond Arroyo on "The Ingraham
Angle.""This is a really preemptive national security strike by the United
States against a network headed by Soleimani, who is in charge of Iran
operations in four countries at least if not beyond," he said.
Phares claimed Soleimani and his shadowy Quds Force were preparing "a series of
attacks" against the United States diplomatic and military assets.
TRUMP ORDERS ATTACK THAT KILLS IRANIAN GEN. QASSIM SOLEIMANI
Sean Hannity on Baghdad airstrike: Massive win of US military, President
TrumpVideo
He said the dead terrorist was also in the process of coordinating activities
with pro-Tehran militias throughout the region, including in Lebanon and Iraq.
"So, what we have done tonight ... after the orders of the president and the
commanders was to save American lives and interests and allies in the region
from what was [being] prepared by these organizations," Phares said. Arroyo
characterized Soleimani as a "spymaster" and a designated terrorist, adding the
Obama administration had blocked any "intervening or assassination attempts" on
his life. During the interview, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., added:
"President Trump took incredibly decisive action to take out this head of this
major organization. IRGC [The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] has been a bad
organization." "Soleimani is responsible for the deaths of over 600 of our men
and women in uniform. This guy has been one of the major terrorists, worst, most
brutal terrorists in the world, this is on the same level of, you know, you can
go down the line by al-Baghdadi of course the most recent, even when you look at
where this ranks, this is right up there as one of the major attacks," Scalise
added. In the early hours of Friday morning Arabian Time, Trump ordered the
game-changing military attack that killed Soleimani, among other military
officials at the Iraqi capital's international airport. The Pentagon later
confirmed the action. In April 2019, the State Department announced Iran was
responsible for killing 608 U.S. troops during the Iraq War. Soleimani was the
head of the Iranian and Iranian-backed forces carrying out those operations
killing American troops. According to the State Department, 17 percent of all
deaths of U.S. personnel in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 were orchestrated by
Soleimani.
Fox News' Frank Miles contributed to this report.
Iran's Schizophrenia Heats Up the Debate
Amir Taheri/January 6, 2019
The Khomeinist revolution in Iran has failed to "export" its model to a single
country, while making Iran poorer and more vulnerable than it had been under the
Shah.
The political schizophrenia gives the impression that one is dealing with two
Irans: one Iran as a state and another as a revolution. The good news is that,
perhaps out of necessity, a new political culture is taking shape inside Iran,
one that instinctively links politics to concrete issues of real life rather
than abstract notions linked to revolutionary utopias.
What millions of Iranians demand is a restoration of the authority of their
state which, in turn, requires, the closure of the revolutionary chapter.
Over the past two years, Iran has witnessed more than 100 strikes by people from
virtually all walks of life. It has also been shaken by two nationwide uprisings
mobilizing millions of protesters. Pictured: Anti-regime protestors in
Kermanshah, Iran, on December 29, 2017.
As the leadership in Tehran prepares to mark the 40th anniversary of the
Khomeinist revolution, a growing number of Iranians are wondering whether the
time has come for their country to close that chapter and resume its historic
path as a nation-state.
The need for Iran to move beyond the Khomeinist revolution was the theme of a
seminar last month at Westminster University in London where the return of Iran
as a nation-state was highlighted as an urgent need for regional peace and
stability.
The Khomeinist revolution in Iran has failed to "export" its model to a single
country, while making Iran poorer and more vulnerable than it had been under the
Shah.
The main reason for this is that the Khomeinist revolution failed to create a
new state structure with credible and efficient institutions. Unable to destroy
the Iranian state as it had developed over some five centuries, the new
Khomeinist rulers tried to duplicate it by creating parallel organs for
exercising power.
The aims and interests of those parallel organs, not to mention their modus
operandi, differ sharply from those of the Iranian state, leading to almost
continuous tension between the two.
The argument finding a growing echo in Iran is that time has come to dismantle
the parallel organs and allow the state apparatus to regain its full authority
as a vehicle for pursuing national, as opposed to ideological, interests and
ambitions.
"As long as Iran has parallel authorities, decision-makers and executants, no
one could be held responsible," says journalist Nader Sadiqi. The result is that
those who have power have no responsibility while those who are held responsible
have no power.
The fact that Iran under the Khomeinist regime is suffering from political
schizophrenia is also recognized by the so-called "reformist" faction within the
regime.
Saeed Hajjarian, one of the leading theoreticians of the "reformist" action of
the regime. is now preaching "civil disobedience" as a means of restoring the
dignity and authority of state institutions as opposed to parallel revolutionary
organs. The method he is peddling is almost identical with that promoted by
Prince Reza Pahlavi, the exiled heir to the Iranian monarchy.
Another leading "reformist" figure, Abbas Abdi, warns his fellow Khomeinists
that their regime is in deep crisis and may even have reached "the edge of
implosion". Once again, the solution he suggests is to close the chapter of the
revolution and allow Iran to reorganize its life as a nation-state.
Classical Iranian historians identify five phases in the emergence of a new
state in a country that has seen countless upheavals in its long history.
The first stage is conquest when a new force, often a warrior tribe, manages to
seize a chunk or the whole of the nation's territory.
That is followed by a second stage dubbed "domination", when the new conquering
force succeeds in establishing itself as primus inter pares. The third stage is
known as "control" when the new force is universally recognized as the ultimate
arbiter in any power struggle. That leads to the fourth stage which is known as
"governance" in which the new force operates as the ultimate arbiter of national
life. In the fifth and highest phase, the new force creates a "state" of its own
with institutions needed to ensure its perennity and advance its interests and
ambitions on a long-term basis.
Based on that model of analysis, the Khomeinist revolution, as a new force, has
stopped at the fourth stage, which means it has failed to destroy the old state
and create a new one capable of developing a synthesis of national and
revolutionary interests and ambitions.
The result is the already mentioned schizophrenia that gives the impression that
one is dealing with two Irans: one Iran as a state and another as a revolution.
Iran's political schizophrenia is also affecting the opponents of the Khomeinist
regime. Consciously or unknowingly, most of them also behave as revolutionary
forces, albeit against the regime, rather than political movements capable of
managing a normal nation-state and solving the problems facing a complex society
trying to exit from four decades of crisis.
The good news is that, perhaps out of necessity, a new political culture is
taking shape inside Iran, one that instinctively links politics to concrete
issues of real life rather than abstract notions linked to revolutionary
utopias.
Over the past two years, Iran has witnessed more than 100 strikes by people from
virtually all walks of life. It has also been shaken by two nationwide uprisings
mobilizing millions of protesters.
The important point here is that all those strikes and the two uprisings were
prompted by demands that only a normal nation-state and not a revolutionary
outfit can understand and satisfy. Therefore, at least implicitly, what millions
of Iranians demand is a restoration of the authority of their state which, in
turn, requires, the closure of the revolutionary chapter.
"Other countries are also facing the kind of problems we face in Iran," says
Ali-Reza Shoja'i Zand, a Tehran analyst. "But that does not delegitimize the
established order or lead to its implosion."
What Zand misses is that "other countries" do not suffer from political
schizophrenia. They are nation-states, and as such can always mobilize the
resources needed for solving the problems of real life, while in Iran the
Islamic Republic pursues its phantomatic fantasy of world conquest in the name
of a weird ideology.
*Amir Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from
1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for innumerable publications,
published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987.
© 2020 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.
U.S. Kills Qassem Soleimani/Donald Trump cuts off Iran’s
terror arm in Iraq, while Israel braces for Iranian retaliation
Tony Badran/Tablet Magazine/January 03/2020
طوني بدران/أميركا تقتل قاسم سليماني..ترامب يقطع ذراع إيران الإرهابية في العراق
في حين تستعد إسرائيل للإنتقام من إيران
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81995/%d8%b7%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%a7-%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%aa%d9%84-%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%b3%d9%85-%d8%b3%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d8%b1/
The Pentagon has confirmed that, at the direction of President Donald Trump, the
United States military struck a convoy near Baghdad airport killing Maj. Gen.
Qassem Soleimani, the notorious commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards
Corps’ Quds force, and his Iraqi lieutenant, who is known by his nom de guerre
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
At one stroke, the U.S. president has decapitated the Iranian regime’s chief
terror arm and its most prominent extension in Iraq, where the U.S. Embassy was
set on fire last week. Strategically, the killing of Osama bin Laden and, more
recently, of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, pale by comparison. In addition
to being responsible for killing hundreds of U.S. soldiers during the Iraq War,
Soleimani directed a larger state project, which has shaped the geopolitics of
the region.
Soleimani, who arguably was the second most important man in the Iranian power
hierarchy, led Iran’s military campaigns throughout the Middle East—campaigns
that resulted in the lengthening of Iran’s shadow across Iraq, Syria, and
Lebanon. The armies, militias, and terrorist groups that Soleimani directed,
supported, trained, and equipped have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent
civilians, devastated civilian infrastructure, and turned millions of people
into refugees.
Soleimani’s main job was commanding a network of Shiite militias subordinate to
the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which have served as the foot
soldiers for his military campaigns. His subcommander in Iraq was al-Muhandis,
an old Iranian asset who headed the Hezbollah Brigades and oversaw the so-called
Popular Mobilization Units, the umbrella structure under which
Iranian-controlled Iraqi militias were grouped. Over much of the previous
decade, many of these militias were deployed in Syria, alongside the IRGC’s
Lebanese unit, Hezbollah, to defend Iran’s interests there in support of the
genocidal regime of the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Soleimani’s militias, which are integrated formally into the Iraqi security
apparatus, have long been the real power in Baghdad. They also have taken
advantage of U.S. support, especially during the Obama years, as part of the
anti-ISIS campaign, to take control of large sections of the Iraqi border with
Syria, which allowed Soleimani to move missiles, personnel, and other materiel
across the border and point them at Israel’s head. Recent Israeli strikes along
the Iraqi-Syrian border and inside Iraq are testament to Iran’s use of Iraqi
territory in its broader geopolitical play, which includes the positioning of
missiles on Iraqi and Syrian soil after having turned Lebanon into a forward
missile base.
Israel is hardly the only target. Soleimani also used Iraq as a forward base to
target another U.S. ally, Saudi Arabia. This is the kind of strategic threat
that only a state with large resources could pose, and which terror group
leaders bin Laden and al-Baghdadi could only dream of while hiding in caves.
Despite the size of the threat Soleimani posed, two U.S. presidents shied from
taking him out. Even as Soleimani was harvesting American soldiers in Iraq with
antitank missiles and roadside IEDs, President George W. Bush and his military
commanders were too afraid to pull the trigger. Gen. Stanley McChrystal revealed
a year ago how, when he was serving as the head of the Joint Special Operations
Command in 2007, he had an opportunity to kill Soleimani, and very good reason
to do so: “At the time, Iranian-made roadside bombs built and deployed at his
command were claiming the lives of U.S. troops across Iraq.” But he didn’t, in
order “to avoid a firefight, and the contentious politics that would follow.”
A year later, another opportunity to kill Soleimani was wasted. During the
operation to assassinate Hezbollah’s senior military commander, Imad Mughniyeh,
in Damascus in 2008, Soleimani was present with Mughniyeh. “At one point, the
two men were standing there, same place, same street. All they had to do was
push the button,” a former U.S. official disclosed in 2015. “But the operatives
didn’t have the legal authority to kill Soleimani … There had been no
presidential finding to do so.”
Seemingly immune from U.S. retaliation, Soleimani spent the Obama years
strutting around Iraq and Syria like a peacock in ’70s-style turtleneck sweaters
and an array of tailored military style jackets like an IRGC version of Al
Pacino in Scarface, while garnering admiring magazine profiles.
This nauseating treatment started at the top. Under President Obama, the U.S.
was realigning with Iran, which meant providing its regime with billions of
dollars, some of it hand delivered by U.S. officials in the form of large
pallets of cash. The U.S. also provided direct military support to Soleimani’s
Iraqi militias as part of the anti-ISIS campaign. It was important not to cross
Iran’s red lines, administration officials regularly leaked at the time, so as
not to jeopardize the safety of U.S. soldiers while they killed Iran’s enemies
in Iraq and Syria–a strategy that was variously labeled as “counterterrorism” or
“the fight against Al Qaeda” or “the war against ISIS,” and which invariably
involved aligning with Iran to kill Sunni Arabs, who form the majority of the
region’s population.
Taking the red-carpet treatment for granted, Iran appears to have badly
miscalculated with President Trump. The Trump administration had made clear last
week that it would hold Iran directly accountable for any attack by its assets
that harmed American personnel. The president personally tweeted that “Iran will
be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our
facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a
Threat. Happy New Year!”
Not only did Iran and its militias kill an American in one such attack, but they
then orchestrated an attack on the U.S. Embassy designed for maximum public
humiliation. Al-Muhandis and other senior Iranian assets took part in the
attack. Graffiti on the embassy walls declared Soleimani to be the attackers’
commander.
There were no pretenses as to who was responsible for the attack. Iran’s head of
state, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is often pictured with
Soleimani at his side, publicly mocked the U.S., declaring that “You can’t do
anything.” The stage was set for a replay of the Iranian U.S. Embassy takeover
of 1979 in Tehran.
Apparently, Khamenei, who according to Iranian regime doctrine exercises the
authority of the missing 12th Shiite imam on earth, didn’t imagine what was
coming next.
After 15 years of Iran spreading its power throughout the region while degrading
the U.S. strategic architecture in the Middle East and killing tens of thousands
of people with impunity, President Trump attempted to stop the merry-go-round by
disentangling the U.S. from Obama’s deal and reimposing sanctions on Iran. But
the administration left some waivers in place, and there have been some mixed
signals about negotiating a new nuclear deal with Iran. Apparently, neither
Khamenei nor Soleimani was impressed.
Now, Trump has shown that the U.S. is willing to strike back at Iran, and strike
hard. What comes next is anyone’s guess, including possible Iranian strikes on
Israel or on Saudi Arabia, Iranian strikes on U.S. troops in Iraq, anti-Iranian
unrest inside Iraq, and anti-regime unrest within Iran itself, but one thing is
already clear beyond any doubt: Iran can no longer expect to kill U.S. citizens
and strike U.S. embassies with impunity.
*Tony Badran, Tablet magazine’s Levant analyst, is a research fellow at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He tweets @AcrossTheBay.
A more dangerous world': Iran killing triggers global alarm
John Leicester/Associated Press/January 03/2020
PARIS (AP) — Global powers warned Friday that the world became a more dangerous
place after the U.S. assassinated Iran’s top general, urging restraint on all
sides. Britain and Germany also suggested that Iran shared some blame for
provoking the targeted killing that dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the
Mideast.
China, Russia and France, all permanent members of the U.N. Security Council,
took a dim view of the U.S. airstrike near Baghdad’s airport early Friday that
killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani and several of his associates. The 62-year-old
ledIran's elite Quds Force, responsible for the country's foreign campaigns.
The White House justified the strike with a tweet alleging that Soleimani “was
actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in
Iraq and throughout the region."
Oil prices surged on news of the killing, reflecting investor jitters about
Mideast stability, and there were immediate threats of vengeance from Iran.
Social media flooded with alarm, with Twitter users morbidly turning “WWIII”
into the top trending term worldwide.
“We are waking up in a more dangerous world. Military escalation is always
dangerous,” France's deputy minister for foreign affairs, Amelie de Montchalin,
told RTL radio. "When such actions, such operations, take place, we see that
escalation is underway.”
Russia likewise characterized the deadly U.S. strike as “fraught with serious
consequences.” A Foreign Ministry statement warned that “such actions don’t help
resolve complicated problems in the Middle East, but instead lead to a new round
of escalating tensions.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested that in ordering
the killing, U.S. President Donald Trump had one eye on his re-election
campaign.
“The U.S. military were acting on orders of U.S. politicians. Everyone should
remember and understand that U.S. politicians have their interests, considering
that this year is an election year,” Zakharova said in a TV interview.
Trump's election opponents characterized the killing as reckless, with
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden saying the U.S. president “tossed a
stick of dynamite into a tinderbox."
China described itself as “highly concerned.”
“Peace in the Middle East and the Gulf region should be preserved,” Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. "We urge all parties concerned,
especially the United States, to maintain calm and restraint and avoid further
escalation of tensions.”
But while echoing the concerns of other Security Council members about spiraling
tensions, Britain and Germany broke ranks, voicing qualified understanding for
the U.S. position.
German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer described the U.S. strike as “a
reaction to a whole series of military provocations for which Iran bears
responsibility,” pointing to attacks on tankers and a Saudi oil facility, among
other events.
“We are at a dangerous escalation point and what matters now is contributing
with prudence and restraint to de-escalation," she said. Germany currently sits
on the U.N. Security Council but is not a permanent member.
The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said “we have always recognized the
aggressive threat posed by the Iranian Quds force led by Qasem Soleimani."
“Following his death, we urge all parties to de-escalate," he said. “Further
conflict is in none of our interests.”
There were also warnings that the killing could set back efforts to stamp out
remnants of the Islamic State group. A top European Union official, Charles
Michel, said "the risk is a generalized flare up of violence in the whole region
and the rise of obscure forces of terrorism that thrive at times of religious
and nationalist tensions."
Italy also warned that increased tensions “risk being fertile terrain for
terrorism and violent extremism.” But right-wing Italian opposition leader
Matteo Salvini praised Trump for eliminating "one of the most dangerous and
pitiless men in the world, an Islamic terrorist, an enemy of the West, of
Israel, of rights and of freedoms.”
Trump also won the support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “for
acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively.”
Behind the scenes, the strike triggered urgent flurries of diplomatic activity.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo worked phones, calling world capitals to
defend Trump’s decision. He said the U.S. is committed to de-escalating tensions
that have soared since Iranian-backed militia killed an American contractor and
the U.S. responded with strikes on the militia. That set off violent pro-Iran
protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which in turn set the stage for
the killing of Soleimani.
The United States Has Killed Qassem Suleimani, the Head of
the Quds Force
Michael Young/Carnegie MEC/January 03/2020
Early in the morning of January 3, the United States carried out the targeted
assassination at Baghdad Airport of Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Quds Force
of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, effectively its foreign operations
unit. Also killed in the attack was Abou Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leading figure in
the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces and the head of Kataeb Hezbollah, which
the U.S. targeted in air attacks last week, as well as others.
According to U.S. officials quoted by the New York Times, the assassination was
authorized by President Donald Trump. The Pentagon declared that “General
Suleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service
members in Iraq and throughout the region.” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah
‘Ali Khamenei was quoted by pro-Iranian media as saying that “all resistance
supporters will ask to take revenge for [Suleimani].”
Why Does It Matter?
The Americans had ample reason to kill Suleimani, given that he had spearheaded
Iran’s operations against the United States and its allies in the region.
Nonetheless, the decision to assassinate him was a remarkable escalation, both
against Iran and the Iraqi state. Not only was it carried out at Baghdad
airport, humiliating the Iraqis, but in indirectly highlighting that Suleimani
came and went as he pleased in Iraq, Washington underlined that the country was
a mere playground in the U.S.-Iranian rivalry. That may have been obvious to
many people beforehand, but it will have implications for the U.S. presence in
Iraq in the future, with the uneasy coexistence there between Iranians and
Americans effectively at an end.
Suleimani was also the most public face of Iran’s regional ambitions. He was
active from Iraq to Syria to Lebanon to Yemen. Therefore, Iran will be keen to
show that his death has not affected its regional plans, and it has a menu of
possible responses to the killing. U.S. diplomats, military personnel, and even
citizens around the region, not to mention key U.S. allies, may face Iranian
retaliation. For Iran, the imperative is to display a strong deterrence
capability at a time when the country is facing what it views as unnerving
opposition from popular movements in Iraq and to a lesser extent Lebanon, and
when its influence in Syria is being quietly challenged by Russia.
The urgency to hit back hard will be especially important at a moment when
domestic displeasure with Iran’s regime has never been greater. This has been
due primarily to the economic impact of U.S.-imposed sanctions and accusations
from many Iranians that their leadership is devoting valuable resources to
regional affairs at the expense of its own population. Therefore, by striking
hard against the Americans and their partners in the Gulf or Israel, the regime
will aim to send a signal at home that the Islamic Republic will not be
intimidated into curtailing its regional agenda.
From the perspective of the Trump administration, the message is more uncertain.
President Donald Trump has said that he does not want a war with Iran, but in
escalating so dramatically he has shown that he is willing to engage in one.
This is a continuation of his “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran, and
from a U.S. point of view the idea is to compel Iran to accept Washington’s
conditions on curbing its nuclear program and its interference in Arab
countries. However, Iran considers its regional sway nonnegotiable, and will
increase regional instability to bring that message home.
What Are the Implications for the Future?
We appear to be caught in a logic of war between Iran and the United States, as
well as their respective allies. Washington and Tehran may not want it, but by
killing Suleimani the Trump administration showed that it was willing to
confront Iran’s regional policies, using force if necessary. The only Iranian
exit from this situation is to escalate in so sharp a way that it would show the
Americans the monumental cost of such a path. Given Donald Trump’s reluctance to
go to war with Iran, and his forthcoming reelection campaign, the Iranians are
wagering on the fact that the U.S. president’s willingness to push all the way
in containing them is, in fact, limited.
However, the Iranian regime will also have to be very careful. Were the
Americans, perhaps in coordination with Israel, to organize massive retaliatory
strikes on Iran and its economic infrastructure, they could do serious damage to
an already vulnerable Iranian economy and rally Arab states opposed to the
Islamic Republic. This could create openings for a reduction in Iranian power
throughout the Arab world. While Russia and China may back Iran diplomatically,
Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to benefit from Iranian reversals by
expanding Russian power in the region.
What ensues is likely to be very messy. However, Iran’s preferred method has
been to advance its pawns on the margins of Arab states, exploiting their
dysfunctional political systems while keeping Iran away from the fray. This has
given it a major disruptive capacity on the ground, but has also worried Arab
governments that have seen the emergence of pro-Iranian militias outside their
control. The attempted destruction of Iran itself may force these governments to
take a clearer line against Iran’s methods and regional networks.
We’re not there yet, but Suleimani’s assassination opens many doors that
previous U.S. administrations had hesitated to open. Washington and Tehran will
have to calculate carefully in what is an explosive new phase in their conflict.
Both risk a great deal if something goes wrong, which means it is also possible
that they will pull back from the brink in order to avoid a horizon of
destructive uncertainty.
Trump Calls the Ayatollah’s Bluff and ups the ante
Column: And scores a victory against terrorism
Matthew Continetti/ Free Beacon/January 03/2010
The successful operation against Qassem Soleimani, head of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard, is a stunning blow to international terrorism and a
reassertion of American might. It will also test President Trump’s Iran
strategy. It is now Trump, not Ayatollah Khamenei, who has ascended a rung on
the ladder of escalation by killing the military architect of Iran’s Shiite
empire. For years, Iran has set the rules. It was Iran that picked the time and
place of confrontation. No more.
Reciprocity has been the key to understanding Donald Trump. Whether you are a
media figure or a mullah, a prime minister or a pope, he will be good to you if
you are good to him. Say something mean, though, or work against his interests,
and he will respond in force. It won’t be pretty. It won’t be polite. There will
be fallout. But you may think twice before crossing him again.
That has been the case with Iran. President Trump has conditioned his policies
on Iranian behavior. When Iran spread its malign influence, Trump acted to check
it. When Iran struck, Trump hit back: never disproportionately, never
definitively. He left open the possibility of negotiations. He doesn’t want to
have the Greater Middle East—whether Libya, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, or
Afghanistan—dominate his presidency the way it dominated those of Barack Obama
and George W. Bush. America no longer needs Middle Eastern oil. Best keep the
region on the back burner. Watch it so it doesn’t boil over. Do not overcommit
resources to this underdeveloped, war-torn, sectarian land.
The result was reciprocal antagonism. In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States
from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated by his predecessor. He
began jacking up sanctions. The Iranian economy turned to shambles. This
“maximum pressure” campaign of economic warfare deprived the Iranian war machine
of revenue and drove a wedge between the Iranian public and the Iranian
government. Trump offered the opportunity to negotiate a new agreement. Iran
refused.
And began to lash out. Last June, Iran’s fingerprints were all over two oil
tankers that exploded in the Persian Gulf. Trump tightened the screws. Iran
downed a U.S. drone. Trump called off a military strike at the last minute and
responded indirectly, with more sanctions, cyber attacks, and additional troop
deployments to the region. Last September a drone fleet launched by Iranian
proxies in Yemen devastated the Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia.
Trump responded as he had to previous incidents: nonviolently.
Iran slowly brought the region to a boil. First it hit boats, then drones, then
the key infrastructure of a critical ally. On December 27 it went further.
Members of the Kataib Hezbollah militia launched rockets at a U.S. installation
near Kirkuk, Iraq. Four U.S. soldiers were wounded. An American contractor was
killed.
Destroying physical objects merited economic sanctions and cyber intrusions.
Ending lives required a lethal response. It arrived on December 29 when F-15s
pounded five Kataib Hezbollah facilities across Iraq and Syria. At least 25
militiamen were killed. Then, when Kataib Hezbollah and other Iran-backed
militias organized a mob to storm the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, setting fire to
the grounds, America made a show of force and threatened severe reprisals. The
angry crowd melted away.
The risk to the U.S. embassy—and the possibility of another Benghazi—must have
angered Trump. “The game has changed,” Secretary of Defense Esper said hours
before the assassination of Soleimani at Baghdad airport. Indeed, it has. The
decades-long gray-zone conflict between Iran and the United States manifested
itself in subterfuge, terrorism, technological combat, financial chicanery, and
proxy forces. Throughout it all, the two sides confronted each other directly
only once: in the second half of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. That is about to
change.
Deterrence, says Fred Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute, is credibly
holding at risk something your adversary holds dear. If the reports out of Iraq
are true, President Trump has put at risk the entirety of the Iranian imperial
enterprise even as his maximum pressure campaign strangles the Iranian economy
and fosters domestic unrest. That will get the ayatollah’s attention. And now
the United States must prepare for his answer.
The bombs over Baghdad? That was Trump calling Khamenei’s bluff. The game has
changed. But it isn’t over.
*Matthew Continetti is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
and founding editor of the Washington Free Beacon. The author of The K Street
Gang: The Rise and Fall of the Republican Machine (Doubleday, 2006) and The
Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising
Star (Sentinel, 2009), his articles and reviews have appeared in the New York
Times, Atlantic, and Wall Street Journal. He lives in Virginia.
Would Israel still need US bunker busters for attacking
Iranian nukes?
Yonah Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/January 03/2020
At the very least, there are question marks about what Israel can do going at it
alone.
Tensions are going into overdrive between Israel, Iran and the US, and Tehran
has been creeping closer to a nuclear weapon since it started violating the 2015
nuclear deal in May 2019.
If “judgment day” comes in late 2020, and Israel believes it must preemptively
strike the Islamic republic’s nuclear facilities to prevent Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei from having nuclear weapons, will it be able to effectively do so
alone?
Or would Israel need either direct US involvement or at least a transfer of key
US weaponry that Israel still does not possess?
As of late 2016, and likely at least until Israel’s F-35 aircraft became
operational in December 2017, Israel did not have a full answer to striking
Iran’s nuclear facilities.
A survey of top Israeli officials and some US officials by The Jerusalem Post
about how far Israel’s capabilities have advanced by 2020 did not give a
definite answer – though at the very least there are question marks about what
Israel can do going it alone.
As of late 2016, former prime minister Ehud Barak was still criticizing Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to get “bunker buster” bombs from the
US, which would enable an Israeli solo attack on Iran’s key underground nuclear
facility of Fordow.
In 2020, bunker busters can actually mean a range of options: from the US’s
Massive Ordinance Penetrator “MOP,” to its Mother of All Bombs “MOAB,” to
variations of those weapons.
But the bottom line is these weapons combine using a delayed fuse explosion to
occur underground and a massive ordinance to be able to destroy even facilities
that are deep underground like Fordow.
Without striking Fordow, it is debatable about how effective an Israeli strike
would be.
Since the F-35 aircraft became operational in late 2017, Israel has publicly
presented new weapons, such as the Rampage (1,200 pounds) and updated Spice
bombs (2,000 pounds), both of which can penetrate some underground facilities.
Another weapon that can strike underground is known as the Rocks, but its weight
class is undisclosed.
The Post has also been told in the past that Israel may have upgraded other
kinds of weaponry to be able to destroy underground facilities.
A top Lockheed Martin official told the Post in mid-2019 that the F-35 can carry
about 18,000 pounds of ordinance, including multiple 5,000-pound-class weapons.
Israel Aerospace Industries’ Rampage missile, which can penetrate underground
compounds, can be carried and unleashed not only by the F-35, but also by the
F-16 and F-15.
Is that enough?
The MOP and MOAB weapons weigh between 21,000 to 30,000 pounds.
Based on public pronouncements, the F-35 could not carry these bunker busters.
The US can use B-52s or B-2s, which Israel does not possess.
The question then becomes whether a 5,000-pound or similar weapon referred to by
Lockheed Martin, or possibly multiple coordinated uses of that bomb, or a
rampage missile or spice bomb, would be enough to destroy Fordow.
The IDF was unwilling to officially comment on these issues, and a US State
Department official told the Post, “as a matter of policy we decline to comment
on potential or pending arms transfers before they are formally notified to
Congress.”
Top current or former officials who have commented on the issue mostly implied
Israel still does not possess the capability to strike Fordow on its own. But
some surprisingly said the opposite.
Those who disagreed with conventional wisdom said Israel has so significantly
upgraded its capabilities that it could potentially strike Fordow even without
US bunker busters.
Alternatively, following the US strike on Iranian-affiliated militias in Syria
and Iraq earlier this week, some top officials expressed greater optimism that
the US would participate with Israel in such a preemptive strike, including
using its bunker busters.
Netanyahu’s most recent former national security council chief, Yaakov Nagel,
told the Post this week that Israel must be ready to guarantee on its own Iran
does not get a nuclear weapon, but that the US and the EU should assist, as they
are equally threatened.
Asked if he believed the US would participate with Israel if a preemptive strike
on Iranian nuclear facilities was eventually needed, he expressed qualified
optimism.
Sources close to Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, who is close to and in regular
touch with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have recently told the Post it is
likely that if the cards were down, the US might assist Israel with such a
preemptive strike.
In contrast, former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin has regularly said the US
likely would not help Israel with such a preemptive strike.
In a series of tweets this week following US President Donald Trump’s decision
to strike Iranian-backed militias, Yadlin said though the attack might represent
a shift it just as well might be a one-off and Israel still must be ready to
guarantee its own safety.
Likewise, former national security council chief Yaakov Amidror told the Post
this week he is not sure whether the US would assist with such a preemptive
strike, even following the US strike on Iranian-backed militias.
Prior to this week, Amidror had said US hesitancy to act after several Iranian
shows of force proved that Israel was on its own with any potential preemptive
strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
This week, Amidror said he would welcome if the US strike was a sign of a major
shift toward the US being ready to use force against Iran, but Israel must still
be ready to act alone and could not necessarily rely on Trump to solve the
nuclear issue.
Asked why the US has not provided Israel publicly with bunker busters to deter
Tehran and to get itself off the hook from having to strike Fordow, Amidror said
he did not know.
Former Mossad director Danny Yatom, who has previously called on the Trump
administration to give Israel bunker busters, also said he did not know why this
had not occurred.
In late 2017, CIA director Michael Hayden told the Post he would likely support
giving Israel bunker busters to deter Iran and to calm Jerusalem, even though he
had not supported this in the past.
Although the US defense establishment was skeptical about giving Israel bunker
busters prior to the Trump era, since Trump has tried so hard to satisfy many
Israeli requests, it is surprising that he has not made a point to give Israel
these bombs. Once again, giving Israel these bombs could also give the US an out
from having to take action itself.
It is unknown whether Trump has withheld the weapons because he shares the
traditional US fear that Israel might act against Iran before the US believed it
was necessary, or whether it is because Israel is closer to its own capability.
While there is a presumption that Netanyahu would seek to strike Iranian nuclear
facilities before Khamenei has operational nuclear weapons, the Blue and White
party, which may be running the country later in 2020, has less of a track
record.
A careful review, however, of Benny Gantz’s speeches, at a conference in Munich
and before the Jewish Agency, indicate that he also would not accept a nuclear
Iran.
His speeches indicate he is highly familiar with the Iranian threat from his
time as IDF chief until 2014, and he believes the IDF can deal with every
possible threat or scenario.
Like Netanyahu, he would prefer a diplomatic resolution of the issue, but he
would say he is ready for Israel to go solo if needed.
Gantz would not comment specifically about whether Israel currently has the
capability to destroy Fordow.
Blue and White No. 2 Yair Lapid said: “The US, just like Israel, has the
absolute right to defend itself against Iran’s aggression in the region and
further afield. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our closest strategic ally.”
“Whatever happens in the region, Israel will always maintain the right and
ability to protect itself by itself,” he said. “That includes the option of
taking military steps against Iran’s nuclear facilities,”
Israel may be closer to a bunker-buster-type capability than in the past and
there is cautious optimism that the US might assist in a preemptive strike. But
even going into 2020, there are more question marks than answers.
*Anna Ahronheim and Omri Nahmias contributed to this report.
Palestinian 'Moderates' Celebrate Terror
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/January 03/2020
It is worth noting that the published statements made in the past few days by
the Fatah group in the Gaza Strip are almost entirely consistent with the Hamas
ideology [of replacing Israel with an Islamic state through violent jihad (holy
war)].
"We will continue the struggle until the liberation of the entire Palestine
lands from the filth of the Zionist occupation." – Fatah, Kataeb Shuhada Al-Aqsa
- Liwa' Al-Shaheed Nidal Al-Amoudi, November 13, 2019.
Those who continue to refer to Fatah as a "moderate" Palestinian faction need to
take into account that it speaks in different voices in Arabic and English and
sends conflicting messages as to its true intentions.
Either... Fatah members in the Gaza Strip are convinced that the talk about a
two-state solution is purely a ploy to gain international funding and sympathy,
or because they want to ensure that Abbas continues to provide them with
financial aid....
One thing remains clear... Abbas and the Fatah leaders who are talking about a
two-state solution are at the same time endorsing the strategy of their military
wing to destroy Israel.
The Palestinian ruling Fatah faction is celebrating the 55th anniversary of its
first terrorist attack against Israel by reminding everyone that it remains
committed to the "armed struggle as the only way to liberate Palestine."
Pictured: Fatah supporters in Gaza City at a rally marking the 55th anniversary
of its first terrorist attack against Israel.
The Palestinian ruling Fatah faction, headed by Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas, is celebrating the 55th anniversary of its first terrorist attack
against Israel by reminding everyone that it remains committed to the "armed
struggle as the only way to liberate Palestine."
Thousands of Fatah supporters took to the streets in the Gaza Strip on December
29, 2019 to celebrate the anniversary. The celebration was organized by the
armed wing of Fatah, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – Nidal Al-Amoudi Battalion, a
rogue Fatah splinter group. Hundreds of masked Fatah gunmen dressed in military
uniforms marched through the streets of Gaza City. Some carried rocket-propelled
grenades and other weapons.
The military parade could not have taken place without the consent of Hamas, the
Palestinian Islamist movement that has been ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007,
when its members overthrew the regime of the Fatah-dominated Palestinian
Authority (PA). Since then, Hamas and Fatah have been at each other's throats –
a fight that has resulted in the emergence of two separate Palestinian entities
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Hamas, it appears, perceives Fatah as a major threat to its rule over the Gaza
Strip, which is presumably why it arrests and harasses Fatah members there on a
regular basis. Similarly, the PA security forces and Fatah seem to consider
Hamas a real threat to their rule over parts of the West Bank; they, too, have
long been cracking down on Hamas members and supporters there.
Why did Hamas allow Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades to hold a military parade
in the Gaza Strip? The Fatah group operating in the Gaza Strip shares the
ideology of Hamas, which defines itself as the "Palestinian branch of the Muslim
Brotherhood." Both Hamas and the PA seek to replace Israel with an Islamic state
through violent jihad (holy war). The Hamas covenant, published in 1988, defines
jihad as its highest priority for the liberation of Palestine and the
establishment of an Islamic Palestine "from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan
River."
It is worth noting that the published statements made in the past few days by
the Fatah group in the Gaza Strip are almost entirely consistent with the Hamas
ideology.
One statement by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – Nidal Al-Amoudi Battalions,
boasted that Fatah was the first Palestinian group to launch a terrorist attack
against Israel, on January 1, 1965. Then, Fatah members attempted to bomb the
Israeli National Water Carrier. "Fatah launched the armed struggle and triggered
the Palestinian revolution," the statement read. "We greet our people on the
anniversary of the launching of the glorious revolution, and we promise to
follow in the footsteps of the revolutionaries and freedom fighters until the
liberation of Palestine."
Abu Ahmed, one of the commanders of the Fatah group, said in a speech during the
military rally in the Gaza Strip that "the time will prove that the armed
struggle is our path to liberate Palestine." He added:
"We are proud of the history of Fatah and the glories of its leaders. The
reality requires all of us to stand together behind a Palestinian leadership
that believes in the confrontation and maintains the flame of the conflict with
the Zionist enemy."
For Hamas, any Palestinian who talks about the destruction of Israel and refers
to Israel as the "Zionist enemy" is a friend and ally. Hamas leaders, who often
demonstrate severe intolerance towards anyone who disagrees with their ideology
or dares to challenge their policies, seem to embrace the Fatah members who
operate in the Gaza Strip. The words of these Fatah members sound as if they are
taken directly from the Hamas covenant, particularly regarding the "liberation
of all Palestine."
Another reason Hamas appears to be satisfied with its friends in Fatah is the
involvement of the Fatah military wing in terrorist attacks against Israel.
In the past few years, the Gaza-based Fatah group has repeatedly claimed
responsibility for firing rockets at Israel. The most recent attacks took place
in November 2019, following Israel's targeted assassination of senior
Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu al-Ata.
According to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – Nidal Al-Amoudi Battalions, three of
its senior members were killed by the Israel Defense Forces after they fired
rockets at Israel. The group identified the three as Wael Abdel Nabi, Rani Abu
Nasr and Jihad Abu Khater – all members of its "rocket unit" in the Gaza Strip.
The three men were killed in Israeli airstrikes while they were "carrying out
their national duty," the Fatah group said in a statement. "We will continue the
struggle until the liberation of the entire Palestine lands from the filth of
the Zionist occupation."
For the sake of clarification: "national duty" is the term Palestinian groups
use to label their terrorist attacks against Israel. Targeting Jewish civilians
with rockets, in other words, is seen by Hamas and its allies as a "national
duty" for Palestinians.
Fatah is often described by some Westerners as "the more moderate Palestinian
party, particularly because some of its leaders continue to say that they
support the two-state solution. "The only game in town is the two-state
solution," senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub was quoted as saying in 2017.
Fatah officials such as Rajoub, however, do not represent the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades in the Gaza Strip, an organization that seems to have forged an
alliance with Hamas. The two-state solution term does not exist in the lexicon
of the Fatah armed group in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The only solution this
Fatah group and its members espouse is one that would see the annihilation of
Israel.
Those who continue to refer to Fatah as a "moderate" Palestinian faction need to
take into account that it speaks in different voices in Arabic and English and
sends conflicting messages as to its true intentions.
The Fatah group in the Gaza Strip makes it clear through its statements that it
remains loyal to Abbas and the Fatah leadership in the West Bank despite its
reported commitment to the two-state solution.
Why? Either because the Fatah members in the Gaza Strip are convinced that the
talk about a two-state solution is purely a ploy to gain international funding
and sympathy, or because they want to ensure that Abbas continues to provide
them with financial aid, notwithstanding their alliance with Hamas.
One thing remains clear, Abbas and the Fatah leadership in the West Bank have
never uttered a word against their own loyalists in the Gaza Strip. By keeping
silent Abbas and the Fatah leaders who are talking about a two-state solution
are at the same time endorsing the strategy of their military wing to destroy
Israel.
*Bassam Tawil, a Muslim Arab, is based in the Middle East.
© 2020 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.
The Unthinkable: The Unthinkable: Soleimani Killed in Iraq
Seth Frantzman/The Jerusalem Post/January 03/2020
ما كان لا يمكن تصوره قد حدث وهو أن يُقتل قاسم سليماني في العراق
سيث فرانتمن سيث/الجيروساليم بوست
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/82003/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%85-%d8%a8%d9%88%d8%b3%d8%aa-%d9%85%d8%a7-%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%84%d8%a7-%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%83%d9%86-%d8%aa%d8%b5%d9%88%d8%b1%d9%87-%d9%82/
Qasem Soleimani, the “shadow commander,” Israel’s “most dangerous enemy,” has
been killed in Iraq alongside his key disciple Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. An
airstrike near or at Baghdad International Airport targeted a motorcade with the
men in it just days after their followers stormed the US Embassy compound and
scrawled “Soleimani is our leader” on its walls. US President Donald Trump
approved the airstrike. The Pentagon confirmed the US killed the Iranian Quds
Force leader. The US said Iran was responsible for killing 608 US troops during
the Iraq war.
The unthinkable has happened. The man behind Iran’s drive for regional hegemony,
who commanded the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has been
targeted. This time, unlike all the previous times where he got away, he has met
his end.
Reports emerged after four in the morning, Iraqi time. A mysterious airstrike
near the airport had led to rumors of its closure hours earlier. Two flights
were inbound at the time. A Pegasus and Iraq airways flight. Three or four
rockets impacted near the airport. US helicopters were reported buzzing in the
distance.
Soleimani was a key architect of Iran’s drive for regional hegemony.
It appears a cryptic tweet from US Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced the US
policy to begin pre-emptive strikes against Iranian adversaries or their
proxies. “To Iran and its proxy militias: We will not accept the continued
attacks against our personnel and forces in the region. Attacks against us will
be met with responses in the time, manner and place of our choosing. We urge the
Iranian regime to end malign activities.”
It is not known if the US acted alone or who else may be responsible for the
airstrike. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had called Middle East leaders in
the last days to firm up support and discuss strategy. He called Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Crown
Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia. He also phoned Iraqi leaders and
Qatar. He warned Muhandis as well as Qais Khazali, a Shi’ite militia leader the
US had sanctioned. He then warned the leaders of the Iranian-backed Popular
Mobilization Units, Hadi al-Amiri and Faleh al-Fayed.
Muhandis was responsible for the attack on US forces at K-1 on December 27 that
resulted in a US contractor death. He has been responsible for attacks on
Americans since the 1980s. Qais Khazali has also been responsible for attacks,
and was held at Camp Cropper in 2007. But it is Muhandis who was always the head
of the powerful Iranian support for a network of militias in the region that
helped guide this policy. Muhandis was key to supporting Hezbollah and worked
closely with Imad Mughniyeh of Hezbollah in the past. Mughniyeh was killed in
2008.
It is difficult to estimate Iran’s response but the regime will want to respond
not only to this attack but also the initial US attack on December 29 that
killed two dozen members of Kataib Hezbollah. That series of five airstrikes in
Iraq and Syria is now overshadowed but it was important because it showed the US
would act against Iran’s attacks. Since May of 2019, Iran has been attacking not
only the US but also Israel, Saudi Arabia and oil tankers in the region. It
downed a US drone and sent proxies inn Iraq to fire rockets at least 12 times at
US bases. These rocket attacks targeted key facilities including the Green Zone,
Camp Taji, Assad and Balad base and Qayarrah. Iran also fired rockets at Israel
in January, September and November of 2019. It attacked Iran’s Abqaiq facility
in September with a drone swarm. It also sent Kataib Hezbollah to attack Saudi
Arabia in May and to establish bases and arms trafficking networks across Iraq.
In Syria Iran built a new base called Imam Ali at the Syrian border with Iraq.
Iran’s foreign minister responded on Twitter.
In short: Iran’s activities in 2019 were accelerated and represented an
increasing threat to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, as well as a threat along
3,000 miles of frontline from the Lebanese border with Israel to the Gulf of
Oman and Yemen. Soleimani was a key part of constructing Iran’s threats along
this line. Muhandis was, as his name suggests, the engineer who helped to build
up Iran’s role in Iraq and also into Syria.
These men, Soleimani, Muhandis and their network, were personally austere and
frugal. They dressed in almost everyday clothing without chests festooned with a
salad of medals. They went among the civilian populace and among their men as
one of them. They were often mild in their manners. Videos of Muhandis show him
relaxing, laying on the ground for to catch a few seconds nap and speaking
softly. These men represented a dangerous threat not because of their boasts but
because of their practicalities and decades honing their abilities.
Soleimani was born in 1957. Muhandis in 1954. They were in their twenties during
the Iranian Islamic Revolution. That made it a formative moment in their lives
and the revolution guided their lives from then on. For them the US and Israel
were the main enemies. They were the “resistance.” Also, Saudi Arabia and other
countries were their enemies. But they focused zeal towards removing Western
powers and advancing Iran’s interests and the interests of a wider
Iranian-aligned Shi’ite community.
In the 1980s, Muhandis and those like him supported terrorism against US
diplomatic facilities from Kuwait to Lebanon. This was their field of
operations. It took them a while but they built up franchises like Hezbollah in
Lebanon and Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq. Only after 2010 could their dreams finally
be realized. In the wake of the Arab spring and the chaos unleashed they
mobilized men to confront the ISIS threat and filled its vacuum with their own
bases and fighters. This is how Kataib Hezbollah of Iraq ended up in Syria with
Hezbollah.
It was only in the last two years that their dream of a Middle East dominated by
Iran was reached. They were arrogant. They had the kind of arrogance they
accused the West of. No longer in the shadows those like Soleimani and Muhandis
came into the open. They acted like the heads of state. Their militias in Iraq,
called the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) appeared to dominant not only the
security forces but also the parliament. They had the second largest party in
Iraq and access to 300,000 men they had recruited. Most of these were just young
Shi’ites who wanted to fight ISIS. A smaller cadre of men in PMU brigades were
what mattered. They stockpiled munitions and since August 2018 moved Iranian
ballistic missiles across Iraq to Syria. In Syria they built a network of bases
from Imam Ali to T-2, T-4 and others. This network sought to move precision
guided munitions to Hezbollah in Lebanon. It also sought to import air defense,
the 3rd Khordad system, in April 2018. Israel carried out more than 1,000
airstrikes against Iranian entrenchment in Syria and Israel’s Chief of Staff
Aviv Kochavi said in December that Israel would act against Iranian entrenchment
in Syria and Iraq.
Soleimani did not believe the US would respond decisively to Iranian
provocations.
For Soleimani and Muhandis, all was well in December even as US rhetoric
increased. They did not believe the US would decisively respond, as Pompeo
threatened. They had seen national security adviser John Bolton and other Iran
hawks go. They judged US President Donald Trump an isolationist. They tried to
push the US, via attacks in the Gulf and against Saudi Arabia and then against
US forces. The US said 11 attacks targeted bases since October.
Finally, after the killing and wounding of Americans on December 27 the US
acted. Kataib Hezbollah responded on December 29 with the attack on the US
embassy. Working with Badr Organization commander Hadi al-Amiri who plays a role
in the PMU and parliament, they opened the gates to the Green Zone and PMU
members in fatigues assaulted the embassy. They wrote “Soleimani is my leader”
on the guardhouses. It was a symbol. They were saying Soliemani runs Iraq and
Baghdad, not the US.
Forty-eight hours later Soleimani and Muhandis were targeted in an airstrike
near the airport. It is a fitting end to men who believed there would be no
response to provocations. It will be a blow to their organizations and network
as killing Mughniyeh was a blow. But they still have cadres and loyalists. Qais
Khazali, Hassan Nasrallah and Hadi al-Amiri are still in Iraq and Lebanon.
Iran’s IRGC has powerful people in charge of it and it has developed new drone
and missile technology. The US has sent a powerful message that killing
Americans will not be forgotten or tolerated.
*Seth Frantzman, a Middle East Forum writing fellow, is the author of After
ISIS: America, Iran and the Struggle for the Middle East (2019), op-ed editor of
The Jerusalem Post, and founder of the Middle East Center for Reporting &
Analysis.
Qassem Soleimani: He will kill no more
Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/January 03/2020
In the end, he died as he had lived; amid violence and bloodshed, this time
brought about by a hand other than his own.
Let no one be in any doubt that the death of Qassem Soleimani, targeted by a US
airstrike on Baghdad airport in the early hours of Friday, is as significant in
its own way as those of Osama bin Laden, the head of Al-Qaeda, and Abu Bakr
Al-Baghdadi, the leader of Daesh.
Like those two killers, Soleimani brought death and destruction to a vast swath
of the Middle East and beyond. And like them, the more publicity his vile deeds
attracted, the better he liked it.
It was not always thus with Soleimani. For at least 15 years, in his role as
head of the Quds Force, the foreign operations unit of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps, he did Iran’s dirty work in the shadows, spreading the malign
influence of the mullahs and their revolution to anyone foolish enough to
listen.
Then, about five years ago, he seemed to start believing his own publicity, and
the real Soleimani emerged — arrogant, preening and boastful of his personal
power.
Since then, wherever there has been death and mayhem in this region, you will
find a glossy photo or a slick video of Soleimani, his arm round the shoulder of
some hapless militiaman recruited to the cause of Iranian supremacy — the people
Lenin called “useful idiots.”
And what a price this region has paid for Soleimani’s bloodlust and vanity. In
Iraq, hundreds of coalition troops killed in thousands of attacks by Soleimani-trained
militias in the quagmire that followed the removal of Saddam Hussein; and more
recently, when Iraqis took to the streets in protest against the corruption and
ineptitude of their Iranian puppet government, Soleimani, as Arab News reported,
flew to Baghdad to take personal charge of the brutal crackdown in which at
least 450 unarmed Iraqi civilians were killed.
So let there be no tears shed for Qassem Soleimani; he must have known that he
could not get away with these crimes forever, and that he would not die in his
bed
In Syria, when Bashar Assad required assistance in butchering his own people,
where did he turn? To Soleimani, of course, to his Quds Force, and to his
trained Hezbollah thugs next door in Lebanon.
The result is that Soleimani has the blood of half-a-million Syrians on his
hands, not to mention the plight of millions who do not know if they will ever
see their homes or families again.
In Yemen, the Houthi militias would have long since returned to their northern
redoubt were it not for Soleimani. Instead, supplied with his weapons, equipment
and training, they continue to fight a war they can never win, and target Saudi
civilians with missiles built from parts supplied by Iran. So let there be no
tears shed for Qassem Soleimani; he must have known that he could not get away
with these crimes forever, and that he would not die in his bed. The questions
now are, what lessons can be learned, and where do we go from here?
The first lesson, apparently learned neither by Europe in the 1930s nor by the
Obama administration 80 years later, is that no good comes of appeasing bullies
and tyrants. It is no coincidence that Qassem Soleimani’s emergence into the
public consciousness around 2015 coincided with Obama’s ill-fated agreement to
try to curb Iran’s nuclear program by easing sanctions.
Soleimani saw the nuclear deal as a victory, and it is to Donald Trump’s credit
that he has done everything in his power to snatch that victory from the
Iranian’s grasp — including, on Friday, the ultimate sanction.
As to the future, the doomsayers have already seen it; Iran will retaliate, they
say, matters will escalate, and we are on the path to a Third World War. The
pessimists, however, forget two things. First, that Iran has been at war with
the civilized world for 40 years, and the principle sufferers have been the
Iranian people themselves. Second, nothing is inevitable.
No sane person wants a war; this region has already buried too many of its sons
and daughters for that. As Saudi Arabia said on Friday, this is a time for
self-restraint, not for actions that will serve only to make a tense situation
worse.
Qassem Soleimani suffered from an excess of pride, and sometimes it appears that
Iran does too. It is time to swallow that pride and come to the negotiating
table to reach an agreement on the future, whereby Iran retains its dignity,
but, in a spirit of peace and reconciliation, also regains its place among the
community of nations.
• Faisal J. Abbas is the editor in chief of Arab News.
Soleimani’s death leaves Iran’s strategy in tatters
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/January 03/2020
The killing of Quds Force Commander Qassim Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary
leader Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis changes everything. With one fell blow Trump has
taken out the two dominant figures exporting Iranian militancy across the
region.
Although the furious regime in Tehran will seek a devastating riposte, this
operation liquidates the man who for three decades masterminded its regional
terrorist strategy. The death of Soleimani — lauded by Iranian leader Ali
Khamenei as his “living martyr of the revolution” and believed by many to be
Khamenei’s likely successor — leaves a gaping vacuum in Iran’s power to mobilize
militants across the region.
Soleimani acquired the nickname Wazir Al-Mustawtanat (minister of colonies) in
reflection of the pivotal role he played in orchestrating Iran’s quest for
regional dominance. Iran in 2003 initially sought to appease President George W.
Bush, believing it could be next after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. It
was Soleimani who forcefully advocated and spearheaded the policy of bogging the
US down in the bloody Iraqi quagmire by building a new generation of
paramilitary forces which staged thousands of attacks against coalition troops,
killing around 600. When the US unsuccessfully sought to arrest Soleimani by
attacking his convoy in Kurdistan in early 2007, he responded days later with
one of the most audacious militant operations of the conflict, penetrating the
coalition’s Karbala headquarters in broad daylight, and abducting and killing
several US soldiers.
By late 2011 most diplomats were predicting that Bashar Assad would be driven
out of power within weeks. Instead, Soleimani flew to Damascus and embarked on a
massive campaign to bankroll the dictator and establish sizeable militia forces
(using many of his Iraqi proteges).
Soleimani’s strategy ultimately achieved the impossible, with his forces wading
their way through rivers of civilian blood to retake much of the country. Russia
stepped up its own involvement only after Soleimani had personally overseen the
recapture of Aleppo. Soleimani was also the architect of Iran’s intervention in
Yemen, incorrectly arguing that Tehran could give Gulf states a bloody nose
without them ever daring to respond.
Talking to senior Iraqis and Iraq-based diplomats, it never failed to astonish
me how active Soleimani was, rarely delegating activity to his subordinates.
Soleimani was on the frontlines and in the operations rooms during all the key
battles against Daesh. In 2017, he bribed and threatened Kurdish politicians
into ordering the Peshmerga’s withdrawal from all of central Iraq, with Iran’s
proxies occupying the vacuum.
As arguably the second-most powerful Iranian after Khamenei, nobody can fit into
Soleimani’s outsized shoes. His designated successor as commander of the Quds
Force, Esmael Ghani, is a much lower-profile figure who will lack his late boss’
encyclopedic network of personal contacts and knowledge of a generation of
Iranian militancy.
By killing Soleimani, the US has decapitated the principal agent of Tehran’s
strategy for regional hegemony.
Parts of Iraq’s protest movement were quick to celebrate Soleimani’s death as an
unexpected New Year gift from the Americans. Soleimani was responsible for the
deaths of hundreds of protesters, personally ordering the deployment of snipers
and deploying paramilitary units to confront demonstrators with lethal force. He
pressured Iraq’s leaders to be even more aggressive in crushing the protests.
Even if paramilitaries flood the streets to condemn the death of their idol,
protesters must seize the momentum in demanding that Tehran doesn’t use their
nation as an arena for a bloody confrontation with the US. This is a golden
opportunity for Iraqis to begin regaining their stolen sovereignty.
In an Iraqi context, the loss of Al-Muhandis, Soleimani’s principal deputy for
mobilizing militancy in Iraq, is almost as significant.
Al-Muhandis was the effective head of the Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi paramilitary
coalition, a dominant force across much of Iraq, militarily and politically. He
marginalized moderate and non-sectarian elements of the Hashd, creating a
movement wholly subject to Iranian authority. He was also commander of the
Hezbollah Brigades, which the US targeted with airstrikes a few days ago.
Iraqi leaders who have long endured Soleimani’s reign of terror, including many
who owe their positions to him, were quick to issue shrill declarations of
condemnation. Al-Muhandis’ paramilitary ally, Hadi Al-Amiri, declared that the
price of these assassinations must be the immediate and full departure of the US
from Iraq. Iraqi politicians will come under immense pressure to support this
goal.
Tehran knows that it cannot afford to appear weak. Given the crippling impact of
US sanctions on Iran’s economy, Tehran’s principle strategy in recent months —
masterminded by Soleimani himself — has been to use attacks against regional
targets to compel Trump to retreat from his maximum pressure strategy; knowing
the president’s desire to avoid overseas military commitments. Iran’s failure to
respond to this devastating assassination in a manner that is comparably
deleterious to US regional interests will be tantamount to acknowledging that it
is a paper tiger.
The Tehran regime is like a bag of angry cats. They are capable of lashing out
painfully, yet this operation could goad them into a succession of rash, foolish
and self-defeating actions that will fundamentally undermine the regime itself.
Soleimani was widely despised by Iranians for squandering the nation’s wealth on
overseas terrorism. There will be little sympathy among citizens if the regime
plunges the region into a futile and costly war over his death.
By killing Soleimani, the US has decapitated the principal agent of Tehran’s
strategy for regional hegemony, bringing an end to a long phase of
Tehran-branded militancy dominated by the Quds Force commander personally. No
other global terrorist boasts Soleimani’s longevity in overseeing thousands of
paramilitary and terrorist attacks over at least four decades. He lived by the
sword and died a fitting death. His passing should not be mourned.
We are in uncharted territory. How Tehran’s regime chooses to respond in the
coming days — either lashing out or withdrawing to lick its wounds — will have
reverberations in the region for years to come.
*-Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.
Qassem Soleimani’s death is a severe blow to Iran’s leadership
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 03/2020
The unexpected death of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the
elite Quds Force, should be viewed as a severe blow to Iran’s leadership,
particularly its military apparatuses.
When it comes to authority in the Islamic Republic, Soleimani was considered
Iran’s second man, after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Being a
staunchly loyal confidante to Khamenei, Soleimani had great influence over
dictating the Iranian regime’s foreign policy.
In fact, Soleimani was not bragging when he famously wrote in a message to US
General David Petraeus: “You should know that I … control policy for Iran with
respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Afghanistan. The ambassador in Baghdad is a
Quds Force member. The individual who’s going to replace him is a Quds Force
member.”
Soleimani rose from being a construction worker in Kerman to the second most
powerful man in the Islamic Republic by exploiting Iran’s 1979 revolution, and
by proving his loyalty and determination to advance its revolutionary principles
by any means — including brute force or war.
Almost two decades ago, Soleimani was appointed by Iran’s supreme leader to be
the head of the Quds Force, a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Quds Force is tasked with exporting Iran’s ideological, religious and
revolutionary principles beyond the country’s borders.
As the leader of the Quds Force, Soleimani was in charge of extraterritorial
operations, including organizing, supporting, training, arming and financing
predominantly Shiite militia groups; launching wars directly or indirectly via
these proxies; fomenting unrest in other countries to advance Iran’s ideological
and hegemonic interests; attacking and invading cities and countries; and
assassinating foreign political figures and powerful Iranian dissidents
worldwide.
As the leader of the Quds Force, Soleimani was in charge of extraterritorial
operations, including organizing, supporting, training, arming and financing
predominantly Shiite militia groups.
Under his leadership, the Quds Force was accused in 2011 of failed plans to
assassinate Adel Al-Jubeir, then Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, and to
bomb the Saudi and Israeli embassies in the US.
An investigation also revealed that the Quds Force was also behind the
assassination of Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon’s influential Sunni politician and former
prime minister, in 2005.
Soleimani soon became well-known as the Middle East’s deadliest, and Iran’s most
dangerous, man. He prioritized offensive tactics and operations over defensive
ones, and rejoiced in taking overconfident selfies with his troops and proxies
in battlefields in many countries, including Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon.
He was previously sanctioned by the US, Switzerland and the UN Security Council
via Resolution 1747. He was also on America’s Specially Designated Global
Terrorists list.
He ruled over roughly 20,000 Quds Force members. However, he could also deploy
forces from the IRGC and Basij in case of emergencies. In addition, Soleimani
technically commanded fighters from militias that Iran supports and helped
create. He also hired fighters from many countries, including Afghanistan, to
fight as proxies.
Soleimani’s modus operandi was anchored in creating instability in other
countries in order to achieve Tehran’s hegemonic and ideological objectives.
He once declared that the unrest and uprisings in the Middle East and North
Africa “provide our (Iran’s) revolution with the greatest opportunities … Today,
Iran’s victory or defeat no longer takes place in Mehran and Khorramshahr. Our
boundaries have expanded, and we must witness victory in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon
and Syria. This is the fruit of the Islamic revolution.”
While some Iranian politicians believe their country should wield power via its
ideology, Soleimani believed that it should spread its ideology via hard power.
His strategies and military tactics included influencing the sociopolitical and
socioeconomic processes of Arab countries via the Quds Force — by supporting and
assisting in establishing militias in several countries.
Under his leadership, the Quds Force also infiltrated top security, political,
intelligence and military infrastructures in several countries, including Syria
and Iraq.
Soleimani exercised control over which foreign leaders and politicians came to
power and he had operatives and agents worldwide.
In almost every country and conflict in the region, Soleimani appeared to play a
destabilizing role in order to tip the regional balance of power in Iran’s favor.
Many people see the blood of innocents — including Syrian, Yemeni, Lebanese,
Bahraini and Iraqi children and women — on Soleimani’s hands. He was considered
to be responsible for deaths in many countries in the region and beyond.
Reports suggest Soleimani was killed, along with Iraqi militia commander Abu
Mahdi al-Muhandis, on Friday in an airstrike near Baghdad airport.
The Islamic Republic will most likely attempt to retaliate against the US and
its allies.
Iran’s supreme leader will also try to appoint someone like Soleimani - an
ideologue and revolutionary general who frequently expresses support for, and
loyalty to, Iran’s revolutionary Shiite values and the supreme leader - as the
head of Quds Force. Insofar as the Iran’s leadership struggles to find a
replacement for Qassem Soleimani, his death will deal a major blow to Iranian
ambitions in the region.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and
president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of the
Harvard International Review, the Harvard International Relations Council and
the US-Middle East Chamber for Commerce and Business.Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Libya foray is another sign of Ankara’s shift from soft to hard power
Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/January 03/2020
Turkey has stationed troops in several countries in the Middle East and the Horn
of Africa in recent years, and has been carrying out cross-border operations for
decades.
Turkish troops are usually stationed in foreign countries after agreements have
been reached with host governments. With a parliamentary motion requesting a
one-year mandate to deploy troops in Libya newly approved, it is important to
remember that other mandates have been passed by the Turkish Parliament in
previous years that allowed Ankara to deploy forces and carry operations beyond
its borders.
The Turkish Parliament recently ratified a motion to extend a military mandate
for operations in Syria and Iraq until Oct. 30 this year. It also approved an
extension to the deployment of Turkish troops in Lebanon until Oct. 31, which
marks the twelfth time it has been extended since it was first approved in
September 2006. The Turkish forces are part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon,
also known as UNIFIL, which includes 10,600 troops from 40 countries. It was
established in 1978, when Israel withdrew from Lebanon, to provide security and
help the Lebanese government reestablish its authority.
In Syria and Iraq, the presence of Turkish troops is directly related to the
threat in both countries from the separatist PKK to Turkey’s national interests.
Although the Turkish military presence in Syria is staunchly opposed by the
embattled Syrian regime, Turkey has carried out three major military operations
in northern Syria since 2016: Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch and Peace Spring.
In Iraq, the Turkish army regularly conducts cross-border counterterrorism
operations in the north, where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which
they carry out attacks on Turkey. These anti-terror efforts intensified after
July 2018 and have become routine in an attempt to eliminate the terrorist
threat in the area. However, the presence since March 2015 of about 500 Turkish
troops in Bashiqa, near Mosul, to help train local forces to fight Daesh began
to cause friction between Ankara and Baghdad in January 2017, sparking a serious
political crisis and even talk of war between the two neighbors.
Turkey began the new year by approving the parliamentary motion to deploy troops
in Libya. Recent history reveals that hard power is replacing soft power in
Ankara’s dealings with some countries in the Middle East.
The extension of the authorization for cross-border army operations in Syria was
backed by all parties in Turkey, except for the pro-Kurdish HDP. Libya is a
different matter, however. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition
Republican People’s Party, has strongly criticized the government’s willingness
to send Turkish soldiers there. The justification given for deployment is that
developments in the North African country pose threats to Turkish business
interests and vessels in the Mediterranean.
Details such as the timing of a Libyan deployment, the range of the mission and
number of the troops will be decided by the president, according to the
parliamentary motion. It is obvious from the wording of the motion that the
deployment has both long-term and short-term objectives. Time will tell how
Turkey’s campaign evolves in Libya, how long it lasts and whether it will
achieve the desired outcome. What is important at this stage is how Ankara will
garner support for a potential Libya campaign.
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has expressed hopes of resolving the ongoing
disagreement with Russia over the issue through discussions and negotiation.
Noting the close relationship between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Akar said: “We also have
military-to-military dialogue. Our wish and expectation is to resolve the
(Libya) problem through dialogue.” He also underlined the fact that it is
impossible for the two countries to remain indifferent to Libya.
The strategic dialogue about Syria between Russia and Turkey, with Iran, through
the Astana process is significant but is a different situation that cannot be
compared with Libya; the stakes, actors, processes and context reveal the
differences. The meeting on Jan. 8 between Erdogan and Putin will give us a
better idea about any possible Turkish-Russian deal or, most likely, whether
they will “agree to disagree” about Libya.
The EU is the party most concerned about the possibility of a Turkish-Russian
deal on Libya. “Any deal between Turkey and Russia would push the EU out,”
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Dec. 12. “We must be united; we
cannot allow actors much more distant from Libya to position themselves, settle
their role in the Libyan scenario and claim the primacy for any solutions.”
Unity within the EU will be difficult to achieve, however, as the members are
divided over which side to support in Libya.
Turkey began the new year by approving the parliamentary motion to deploy troops
in Libya. Recent history reveals that hard power is replacing soft power in
Ankara’s dealings with some countries in the Middle East. This is a result of
increasing conflicts in the region, the perceived threats to Turkish national
interests, and regional rivalries.
*Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkey’s
relations with the Middle East. Twitter: @SinemCngz