English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 17/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today

Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.
First Letter of Peter 02/11-17:”Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge. For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honour everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honour the emperor.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 16-17/2021

Elias Bejjani/Visit My LCCC Web site/All That you need to know on Lebanese unfolding news and events in Arabic and English/http://eliasbejjaninews.com/

MoPH: 2008 new coronavirus cases, 45 deaths
Abiad Says Drop in Virus ICU Patients Doesn’t Mean Covid is Defeated
President Aoun discusses with the Displaced Minister launch of form “Town” to collect data
Presidency Media Office deplores smear campaign that targeted Aoun
Aoun Invited to Attend Armenian Genocide Anniversary
Hariri winds up Russia visit by meeting Lavrov
Interior Minister, UK Chargé d'affaires sign MoU in support of ISF
Report: Rahi Likely to Visit Gulf Region, Vatican in May
Abdel Samad to MCU students: Media is a major partner in crisis management
Foreign Minister meets Greek counterpart in Athens: Burden of refugees in Lebanon entails support of entire international community
Alwaleed Philantrophies Foundation announces vaccination campaign targeting prisoners, Interior Ministry employees
Jumblat Says ‘Arbitrary’ Subsidies Depleting Foreign Reserves
Report: Diab to Visit Qatar Sunday
Ghajar Says Smuggling to Syria behind Gasoline Shortage Crisis
Lebanon/Tony Badran/Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
Ambassador Hicham Hamdan: Open letter to Ambassador David Hale Under Secretary Of State for Political Affairs

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 16-17/2021

Iran-Israel ‘shadow war’ risks running out of control
First-time drone attack in Erbil seen as Iranian test of US, Kurdish response
Ukraine top security official believes Iran downed Ukrainian plane
Russia to expel 10 US diplomats, ban several Biden administration officials
Former US Secretary Pompeo and wife violated ethics rules at State Department: Report
Raul Castro confirms he's resigning, ending long era in Cuba
Kremlin says ‘good’ that Biden, like Putin, wants dialogue
Iran Starts Enriching Uranium at 60%, its Highest Level Ever
Shooting Kills 8 in U.S. City of Indianapolis
Israeli Airstrikes Hit Gaza after Rocket Attack
Media Freedom Coalition statement concerning media freedom in Myanmar
FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker for April 16/2021

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 16-17/2021

Posturing is No Policy on Iran/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 16/2021
Question: "Is Jesus the only way to Heaven?"/GotQuestions.org?/April 16/2021

Region may soon have to counter Iran’s threat alone/Dr. Hamdan Al-ShehriI/Arab News/April 16/2021

Iran opens Pandora’s box with attacks against rivals in Iraq/Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/April 16/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 16-17/2021

MoPH: 2008 new coronavirus cases, 45 deaths
NNA/April 16, 2021
2008 new coronavirus cases and 45 deaths have been recorded in Lebanon during the past 24 hours, as announced by the Ministry of Public Health on Friday.

Abiad Says Drop in Virus ICU Patients Doesn’t Mean Covid is Defeated
NaharnetFDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
Director of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Firass Abiad, said although the number of coronavirus cases needing ICU has dropped, faster vaccination remains a need in crisis-wracked Lebanon. “The decrease, over the past week, in the number of Covid patients admitted to the ICU, and in the reported test positivity rate, is good news. In a country passing through multiple crises, good news is much needed. However, other related issues remain worrisome,” said Abiad in a tweet. “Despite the decrease in Covid hospitalizations, the number of daily new Covid cases remains high. The test positivity rate still exceeds 10%. The virus retains strong community presence. As we ease restrictions and open schools, a rebound in cases would not be surprising.” he added. Abiad said that authorities in Lebanon have taken several steps to improve the process of vaccination, and more vaccine types are now available, but “concerns about safety have increased the vaccine hesitancy,” he said. “The number of available vaccines remains low, resulting in a slow vaccination drive. Worldwide, the main Covid concern remains the spread of new variants. The astronomical resurgence of Covid in countries such as Brazil and India, despite prior high levels of infection, is a stark warning. Countries with open borders, like Lebanon, cannot afford to be complacent,” emphasized Abiad. Although the drop in Covid hospitalization is welcome news, “faster vaccination drive and more support to hospitals and their staff are a must, before variants arrive. Covid has not been defeated yet,” he concluded.

President Aoun discusses with the Displaced Minister launch of form “Town” to collect data
NNAFDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, held developmental and diplomatic meetings, today at Baabda Palace.
President Michel Aoun met Displaced Minister, Mrs. Ghada Shreim, and was briefed on the framework of the project which the Ministry began implementing in terms of data collection of Lebanese towns, by launching the form “Town” through the impact platform of the Central Inspection Unit.
This form aims to establish a comprehensive and unified electronic data bank, which could be a project to establish a Ministry for Planning and Development, in the near future.
Statement of Minister Shreim:
“I was honored to meet His Excellency the President. I briefed the President on the files of the Ministry of the Displaced, especially after it was announced in a previous press conference that the ministry, apart from the fund, and after it was able to mechanize all its files, such as restoration and reconstruction, still has 6,400 existing files.
Despite all the people appeals, the communications and the announcement through the media, mayors and municipalities, we were unable to transfer more than 140 files to the fund, for many reasons. The ministry has become a ministry from the past whose page must be folded, and unfortunately there is a divergence of papers and people do not care about the sums that are they will get, especially with its low value, and therefore, I insist that this ministry turn into an interest in order to facilitate the affairs of the citizens and start working in another way, in terms of planning and development. I also briefed President Aoun about this issue, and he expressed his keenness to achieve it.
The Ministry of the Displaced has also prepared the so-called “Town” form through its work in the Ministerial Committee for Rural Development. This form includes all sectors: industry, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, demography, and education. It was placed on the impact platform of the central inspection, and sent to 1297 municipalities. 88% of these municipalities, which filled out the questionnaire, responded, but they still need to be analyzed. We hope the rest of the municipalities will respond to this project.
The importance of the questionnaire lies in the fact that it constitutes data for the first time in Lebanese history and is comprehensive, unified and electronic. It may also constitute a building block for the Ministry of Planning which we need in Lebanon, or for the Ministry of Rural and Local Development. This project is the nucleus of data, which is supposed to be updated in a regular way. It is permanent and therefore opens the way to future planning, and most importantly, given the difficult economic conditions that Lebanon passes through, any donor would be able to use it as facts about these towns and their needs.
In addition, there will be a user name and password at the disposal of all ministries in the Ministerial Committee to benefit from the information contained in this data. I wish all mayors to fill out the form electronically, and in case the government is formed, God willing, this data will be officially in the central inspection. Through this project, we will have followed the right line in terms of planning and clarity towards everyone who wants to help people in small industries, agriculture, domestic tourism and reserves, and with everything that the Lebanese people think about to get out of the current economic crisis since no one can offer his help in the right place, in the absence of references. Most of the time the help goes to the wrong place due to a lack of clarity of vision. By that, we will turn the page on the past of the displaced and turn the page to the future in terms of data, development and planning.
His Excellency the President is the main sponsor of this project, because when we talk about numbers and data, we are talking about science and the foundations of the modern state. It is unfortunate in the year 2021 that we are still talking about this issue, while it was more appropriate today to update this data and not create it. There are numerous data in Lebanon, but there is no official, comprehensive, and unified data unit for all sectors that concerns all ministries”.
Armenian Ambassador:
The President received Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon, Vahagn Atabekian, who conveyed him an official invitation to attend the memory of the “Armenian Genocide”, which will be held by Armenia on the 24th of April. The memorial will include a series of activities on the occasion.
For his part, President Aoun thanked the Armenian Ambassador and informed him that he had assigned Youth and Sports Minister, Mrs. Vartinee Ohanian, to attend and represent him in the ceremony.
Congratulatory Cable:
The President received additional Ramadan congratulatory telegrams, most notably from his Algerian counterpart, Abdel Majid Tebboune. -- Presidency Press Office

Presidency Media Office deplores smear campaign that targeted Aoun
NNA/April 16, 2021
The media Office of the Presidency of the Republic regrets the focused smear campaign that targeted the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, with false statements about the President’s refusal to receive a delegation of the families of the firefighting regiment martyrs.  In fact, the director of the president’s office, retired Brigadier General Milad Tannous, called the person who requested the appointment , Mrs. Antonella Hitti, to inform her that developments occurred on the president’s appointments that urged delaying the appointment of the families. The presidency was surprised by an unfair media campaign that proves it was prepared in advance, as evidenced by what was stated in the memo that was to be read before the president and was circulated to the media. We leave the public opinion to judge it. The President of the Republic, who is following up on the file of the martyrs and victims of the port explosion, confirms his sympathy, and is making every effort to accelerate the release of the truth, determine responsibilities, conduct fair trials and complete compensation, but it is absolutely unacceptable that accusations be brought against The President for responsibility for the explosion, as stated in the released statement, which is more like a list of interrogation questions for that the judicial investigator should ask those who are under interrogation. It is not permissible in any way, or by any party, to distort the facts and open accusations in deference to the souls of the martyrs and victims, and it is for the media to inform the public opinion of the facts. The Information Office of the Presidency of the Republic reiterates that the date for receiving the families is set and they will be informed of it. The presidency calls on the families not to allow anyone to exploit their pain and the just cause of the martyrs to implement other goals.-- Presidency Press Office

Aoun Invited to Attend Armenian Genocide Anniversary
Naharnet/April 16/2021
President Michel Aoun received an invitation from his Armenian counterpart to attend the anniversary of the Aremnian genocide on April 24, the National News Agency reported on Friday. NNA said Aoun received at Baabda Palace Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon Vahagn Atabekyan.
Atabekyan conveyed an invitation to Aoun from the Armenian President to attend the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which will be held in Armenia on April 24, 2021.

Hariri winds up Russia visit by meeting Lavrov
NNAFDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, on Friday concluded his visit to Russia by meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, in the presence of Russian Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov, Hariri's Special Envoy to Russia, George Shaaban, Advisor Bassem el-Shab, and other dignitaries. A statement issued by Hariri's Press office said the meeting tackled the developments in Lebanon in detail, especially the obstacles facing the formation of the government and the economic crisis.
Discussions also covered the issue of the displaced Syrians and the possibility of Russia providing Lebanon with vaccines to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Minister Lavrov affirmed Russia's support for PM-designate Hariri's efforts to form a government as soon as possible, capable of addressing the crisis and gaining Arab and international support.

Interior Minister, UK Chargé d'affaires sign MoU in support of ISF
NNA/April 16, 2021
The Internal Security Forces said in a statement on Friday that the 7th meeting of the Strategic Project Management Committee of the British Policing Support Project (BPSP) was held at the ISF General Directorate in the presence of Caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Mohammad Fahmi, British Chargé d'affaires, Martin Longden, and senior security officials. Both sides signed an MoU on supporting the ISF strategy and discussed the progress that has been made in projects that had been previously approved. The MoU comprises the second part of the support that will be provided to the ISF and includes strategic objectives such as strengthening security and stability, activating social partnership, communicating with the local community, raising the level of efficiency, as well as professionalism and institutional effectiveness.

Report: Rahi Likely to Visit Gulf Region, Vatican in May
Naharnet/April 16/2021
Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi prepares to make a tour to Gulf countries and the Vatican in mid May, al-Markazia news agency reported on Friday. The Patriarch will reportedly visit the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and the Arab League. At the Vatican, Markaziya said he will visit Pope Francis to discuss his initiative on the neutralization of Lebanon and the calls for an international conference on Lebanon.
The tour comes as a continuation of Rahi’s meetings with Arab, international and local delegations, that met the Patriarch earlier this year at the patriarchal edifice in Bkirki. After these discussions, Rahi considered that his initiative needed an international decision, the agency stated.
According to unnamed sources, the Russian position aligns with the calls to neutralize Lebanon and so do the Arab, European, French and American stances. The sources pinned significance on Rahi’s trip to the UAE being as a “decision-maker” in the Gulf as a whole.
“This matter will not happen overnight,” said the sources on condition of anonymity. “The late Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir proposed a project for the exit of the Syrian army in September 2000, but the matter was not achieved until 2005. Today, Patriarch Rahi is working hard to achieve neutrality in Lebanon and seeks an international conference to discuss the intractable Lebanese crisis, where friendly countries contribute to finding solutions,” said the sources.

Abdel Samad to MCU students: Media is a major partner in crisis management
NNA/April 16, 2021
Caretaker Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, on Friday considered in a dialogue with MUC University students that the media has become a fundamental partner in crisis management. “The media that covers an event often becomes the event itself, let alone the enormous pressure it is usually subjected to. The most surprising thing of all is that according to several studies, a media person is exposed to more pressure in normal places than on a battlefield,” the Minister explained. She went on to indicate that the media could build or destroy, as it could reflect the same image in a useful way or in a harmful and useless way. “Public opinion is the most important court to judge whether a journalist is a professional or not,” she added. Abdel Samad then called on students to build for themselves a classy professional image because they are “the face of the country and contribute to crafting its image.”
“The current media law regulates this sector, but unfortunately it is old and needs change and development; the last media law dates back to 1994. We’ve worked at the Ministry of Information on proposing a law that simulates change, technology, principles, and new concepts," she added, highlighting the importance of establishing a framework for the media that takes into account freedom of opinion and expression and remains the basis for self-censorship. “We have been keen on working with international organizations whilst launching awareness campaigns on the Coronavirus and the vaccination process. We’ve organized training courses for media professionals, which opened up opportunities for them to get to know colleagues and prominent local and international professors with vast experience in the field of media,” Abdel Samad added.
She finally stressed that the doors of the directorates of the Ministry of Information — the National News Agency, Radio Lebanon, the Directorate of Lebanese Studies and Publications, and Tele Liban — were wide open to media students who had any project or idea they wished to present.

Foreign Minister meets Greek counterpart in Athens: Burden of refugees in Lebanon entails support of entire international community
NNA/April 16, 2021
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Charbel Wehbe, on Friday met with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, in Athens, on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting between Lebanon, Greece, and Cyprus, which reportedly focused on strengthening trilateral political and economic cooperation – including the response to the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic and Lebanon-EU cooperation – as well as on regional developments. Wehbe thanked the Greek government and people for their “sympathy and solidarity” with Lebanon in the wake of the devastating Beirut port blast. Touching on the mounting challenges facing Lebanon in the wake of the explosion and in light of the dire economic crisis, Wehbe expressed hope that Lebanon would be able to learn from the Greek experience recovering from a massive economic meltdown. “Lebanon looks forward to the tripartite summit in a bid to put all matters on the negotiating table,” Wehbe added, pointing out that discussions with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts, Dendias, and Nikos Christodoulides, have taken stock of common affairs at the tripartite security and stability levels, as well as the means to combat terrorism and curb the influx of refugees in the eastern Mediterranean. “The challenges that we have been facing together in the eastern Mediterranean region are enormous, and they may affect Lebanon’s fate. Therefore, the country needs a radical treatment, not painkillers,” stressed Wehbe, hoping for the United Nations’ participation helping Lebanon out of this crisis. “Lebanon has hosted more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees and approximately five hundred thousand Palestinian refugees since 1948. This burden endured by Lebanon cannot be compared to any other country in the world, and it requires the support of the entire international community. The two closest countries to Lebanon are Cyprus and Greece, and we must thank them for their understanding of Lebanon's situation,” Wehbe concluded. For his part, Dendias said, "We would like to adopt a positive agenda in the region, and on such basis, we are forming tripartite and multilateral cooperation plans, based on mutual respect, common values, and possible areas of cooperation between Greece, Cyprus, and Lebanon.“

Alwaleed Philantrophies Foundation announces vaccination campaign targeting prisoners, Interior Ministry employees
NNA /April 16, 2021
Caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Brigadier General, Mohammad Fahmi, and Vice President of Alwaleed Philantrophies Foundation, former Minister Leila Al-Solh Hamadeh, on Friday held at the Interior Ministry's headquarters a ceremony during which the pair announced the Foundation's initiative to vaccinate all prisoners, security personnel, and the medical staff in charge of their health care. “We are in the process of constructing a floor for military emergencies at the request of Lebanese Armed Forces Commander, General Joseph Aoun. Yesterday, we set up the first vaccination center at the Hariri Governmental Hospital, which witnessed the launch of the first campaign in the presence of some senior officials (...). We will, God willing, start vaccinating prisoners and security personnel in the following stages.” Al-Solh regretted that prisoners were “deprived of health rights, as they are forced to live with each other (...) some of them are also deprived of general amnesty, which they deserve.”In turn, Minister Fahmi addressed Al-Solh and said, “In light of your public statement that prisoners have the right to vaccination to protect their lives from this vicious pandemic that has spread all over the countries of the world, and in light of your assurance that you are ready to fund these vaccines, I am certain that this humanitarian gesture is one that words fail to describe.” “I assure your Excellency that the work of the security forces and the medical staff in charge of caring for prisoners have suffered a lot; they faced incalculable difficulties in a bid to protect prisoners and secure a decent life for them,” Fahmi added. The Minister of Interior and Municipalities went on to affirm that prisoners would be vaccinated before the security forces and medical staff, upon completion of the required logistical work, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health. “This humanitarian gift is not the first offered by your foundation to prisoners. We have not forgotten the assistance provided by Alwaleed Philantrophies Foundation to rehabilitate most prisons and equip them with the aim of teaching prisoners how to use computers,” Fahmi added, thanking the Foundation for its support to the Internal Security Forces, Public Security, and Civil Defense, in addition to municipalities and many other state institutions. Minister Fahmi then handed Al-Solh a memorial shield in appreciation of the Foundation.

Jumblat Says ‘Arbitrary’ Subsidies Depleting Foreign Reserves
Naharnet/April 16/2021
Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat on Friday warned that Lebanon's “arbitrary” subsidization on basic products amid the nation's economic crisis is depleting the country's foreign currency reserves. Jumblat said that subsidies –on wheat, medicine and fuel--are largely “benefiting big merchants and mafias,” instead of poor Lebanese families who have been driven into poverty by a crippling economic crisis. “The indiscriminate and ill-considered subsidies from which major merchants and mafias benefit from will blow away the foreign reserves and the basic foundations of existence,” said Jumblat in a tweet. Lebanon's central bank governor warned in August that the bank cannot continue using its foreign currency reserves to finance trade, signaling he may soon be unable to sustain subsidies on basic goods. Jumblat also commented on the halted sea border demarcation talks between Lebanon and Israel, and the controversy over Lebanon's overlapping maritime northern border with Syria. “As for the maritime wealth, it may become common and exploited by Israel and Syria,” he said.

Report: Diab to Visit Qatar Sunday
Naharnet/April 16/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab is to visit Doha later this week, in his first travel abroad since taking office, al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday. According to the daily, Diab is flying Sunday to Doha accompanied by his adviser, Khodr Taleb, and Lahoud Lahoud, Chief of Protocol and public relations at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, in addition to security figures. The caretaker PM surrounds the visit with secrecy, it said. Diab’s trip to Qatar is his first since taking office, after canceling his visit to Cairo months ago, and a postponed visit to Baghdad last week.The outgoing government of premier Hassan Diab resigned in the wake of an August 4 explosion at Beirut's port that killed more than 200 people and sparked protests against the entrenched ruling class.

Ghajar Says Smuggling to Syria behind Gasoline Shortage Crisis
Naharnet/April 16/2021
Caretaker Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar announced Thursday that smuggling to Syria is behind Lebanon’s gasoline shortage crisis. “We demonstrated the reasons of the gasoline crisis, and it turned out to us that the main reason for the current scarcity is the smuggling to outside Lebanon due to the difference in prices between Lebanon and Syria,” Ghajar said after a meeting on the crisis that was chaired by Caretaker PM Hassan Diab. “The price of 20 liters of gasoline in Lebanon is LBP 40,000 while the official price in Syria is 140,000 Syrian pounds,” Ghajar added. “The demand for gasoline in the Syrian market is pushing Lebanese smugglers to smuggle gasoline to Syria to achieve hefty gains, knowing that this substance is subsidized by the Lebanese state for Lebanese citizens,” the minister went on to say. He added that the solution lies in “controlling the price of this substance,” noting that “subsidization won’t be lifted before approving ration cards as part of the rationalization plan.”Addressing citizens, Ghajar said there is no need to hoard gasoline, because the government “will not lift subsidization in the near future.”He also called on the army and security forces to “boost inspection on the official and unofficial borders to curb smuggling.”

FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
Tony Badran/April 16, 2021
Lebanon/Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale arrived in Beirut this week as part of a last regional tour before leaving his post. Hale’s visit comes against the backdrop of a stalled government-formation process in Lebanon. Hale expressed the Biden administration’s readiness to provide help once there is a “Lebanese partner” – a new government – even when there is no doubt such a government would still be Hezbollah-dominated. Hale arrived after a decision by Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister to press ahead with a decree expanding Lebanon’s exclusive economic zone by 1,430 square kilometers, which would include Israeli offshore gas fields. Israel warned this would torpedo the already-frozen talks to resolve the maritime border dispute between the two countries, which the previous administration unwisely launched in its final months. Lebanon’s president has not yet signed the decree. Should the cabinet adopt it, Beirut would submit it to the United Nations as Lebanon’s official position. Hale amplified the warnings of the U.S. ambassador in Beirut against this move and expressed continued U.S. willingness to facilitate negotiations. He dangled the prospect of financial gain from potential offshore gas findings, even as he alluded to Hezbollah’s continued stockpiling of Iranian-supplied precision-guided munitions, which could provoke the next conflict with Israel. In short, the administration appears to be doubling down on the ill-advised maritime issue while also acquiescing to the likelihood of a future Hezbollah-led government in Lebanon, and without so much as a request to address the threat from the terror group’s increasingly lethal weaponry.

Ambassador Hicham Hamdan: Open letter to Ambassador David Hale Under Secretary Of State for Political Affairs
US Department of State

Texas April 16th, 2021
Dear Mr. Hale
I send you a letter from an American citizen From my residence in Texas reminding you of the principles you have learned and learned in our country's constitution. Our country's history paved the way for a new world based on Justice, Human Rights, Democracy, and freedoms. We established the League of Nations and the United Nations. Remembering all this would remind you that justice to the American citizen is sacred and can't be sold in an auction of interests, no matter who the stakeholder is. You and I have accepted the rules of the constitution and the law to govern among us. Consider that a person violates your rights; no matter who is a friend to you, what would take you to plea for your rights? The Lebanese are good people. Thousands of Lebanese were helping growth in our country. They opened their country to promote our homeland's values, basically the rules of democracy and human rights that we preach to peoples. Our academic edifice in Beirut was a beacon for the leaders of that region around it. They worked closely with our leaders when drafting the United Nations Charter, the Declaration of Human Rights, and all civilized international organs that protect human dignity.
You call on the people of Lebanon to be flexible. What flexibility do you mean? Do you mean that the people of Lebanon accept bargaining over their rights in their territorial waters? Were we willing, as Americans, Mr. Hale, to bargain for our rights in an inch of our territorial waters? Do you threaten them with the force and tyranny that millions of immigrants have contributed to our country? Is it not more appropriate for us to help them obtain their rights and prevent unfairness from them and create their hatred against us? Whose interest do we do that? Is it in the interest of Israel? Doesn't injustice set off wars again between Isreal and its neighbors? Have you forgotten that we are the ones who imposed the armistice agreement on Israel and Lebanon in the Security Council? Is it not better for us to help them find solutions based on this agreement that we signed with them to ensure peace and security between them? Lebanon wants to live in peace and tranquility with no more wars and sufferings. Shouldn't we help it with that? Suppose it does not agree with its neighbors on a solution through peaceful dialogue. Should we let them go into war? Why not help them settle their dispute through other mechanisms, such as arbitration, the International Court of Justice, or the Court of the Law of the Sea?
We know that you, like every American citizen, are committed to the results of the recent general elections in our country. How can we not let the people of Lebanon freely choose their representatives and establish an authority that matches their aspirations? How can you advise them of any government when they have spent more than a year and a half on the streets rejecting this authority and accusing it of corruption and of stealing their money? Wouldn't it be more appropriate for us to help them realize their free aspirations and be honest with the people we promised the arrival of spring in their home countries?
Mr. Hale,
The Lebanese citizens, everywhere, are asking us to help them get rid of the terror of the weapons that exist in the hands of the Iranian party in their country. How can we close our eyes to this reasonable request when we say about this party and those who supply it with weapons, money, and missiles that they are terrorists?
Lebanese deserve to help them out of turmoil and rebuild their shattered country to retain its historical role as an open space where different sects live together in harmony and peace. We have churches, schools, and universities built and operated there since the Nineteenth century. Adopted the free liberal economic free system and made the dollar a base for their commerce and trade. Trained their army and security forces at the US military schools and cooperated with us in our struggle against terrorism. Is it not our duty to help them get out of the game of regional and international conflicts around?
We remind you, Mr. Hale, that President Bush said in 2007 that Lebanon is a need for us. We recall what President Bill Clinton said in a letter from Dallas, Texas, in 2015, to the White House administration. He said: Exercising wise leadership in Washington also means helping this friendly and distinguished country in the Middle East to restore its stability.
Stop taking advantage of the suffering of these people. Lebanese corrupt politicians afraid of our sanctions will give you what you want. But the people will not forget our attitude and will continue to remind us of it and our children and grandchildren for centuries to come. And our successor will tell them they deceived us, and no one has deceived us. No, Mr. Hale. We do not want injustice inflicted on them to continue. They only want justice from you and us, and this is a reasonable, moral, and noble request that we ought to listen to it.
With due respect,
Hicham Hamdan Ph.D.
Ambassador (R)

Carta abierta al Embajador David Hale
Subsecretario de Estado de Asuntos Políticos
Departamento de estado de los Estados Unidos
Estimado Sr. Hale
Le envío una carta de un ciudadano estadounidense de mi residencia en Texas recordándole los principios que ha aprendido y aprendido en la constitución de nuestro país. La historia de nuestro país allanó el camino para un nuevo mundo basado en la justicia, los derechos humanos, la democracia y las libertades. Establecimos la Liga de Naciones y las Naciones Unidas. Recordar todo esto le recordaría que la justicia para el ciudadano estadounidense es sagrada y no se puede vender en una subasta de intereses, sin importar quién sea la parte interesada. Tú y yo hemos aceptado las reglas de la constitución y la ley para gobernar entre nosotros. Considere que una persona viola sus derechos; no importa quién sea tu amigo, ¿qué te llevaría a defender tus derechos? Los libaneses son buenas personas. Miles de libaneses estaban contribuyendo al crecimiento de nuestro país. Abrieron su país para promover los valores de nuestra patria, básicamente las reglas de la democracia y los derechos humanos que predicamos a los pueblos. Nuestro edificio académico en Beirut fue un faro para los líderes de la región que lo rodeaba. Trabajaron en estrecha colaboración con nuestros líderes al redactar la Carta de las Naciones Unidas, la Declaración de Derechos Humanos y todos los órganos internacionales civilizados que protegen la dignidad humana.
Pide al pueblo del Líbano que sea flexible. ¿A qué flexibilidad te refieres? ¿Quiere decir que el pueblo del Líbano acepta negociar sus derechos en sus aguas territoriales? ¿Estábamos dispuestos, como estadounidenses, señor Hale, a negociar nuestros derechos en una pulgada de nuestras aguas territoriales? ¿Los amenaza con la fuerza y la tiranía que millones de inmigrantes han aportado a nuestro país? ¿No es más apropiado que los ayudemos a obtener sus derechos y evitar la injusticia de ellos y crear su odio contra nosotros? ¿De quién es el interés que hacemos eso? ¿Es de interés para Israel? ¿No vuelve la injusticia a desencadenar guerras entre Israel y sus vecinos? ¿Ha olvidado que somos nosotros quienes impusimos el acuerdo de armisticio sobre Israel y el Líbano en el Consejo de Seguridad? ¿No es mejor para nosotros ayudarlos a encontrar soluciones basadas en este acuerdo que firmamos con ellos para garantizar la paz y la seguridad entre ellos? El Líbano quiere vivir en paz y tranquilidad sin más guerras y sufrimientos. ¿No deberíamos ayudarlo con eso? Supongamos que no está de acuerdo con sus vecinos en una solución a través del diálogo pacífico. ¿Deberíamos dejarlos ir a la guerra? ¿Por qué no ayudarlos a resolver su disputa a través de otros mecanismos, como el arbitraje, la Corte Internacional de Justicia o la Corte del Derecho del Mar?
Sabemos que usted, como todo ciudadano estadounidense, está comprometido con los resultados de las recientes elecciones generales en nuestro país. ¿Cómo no permitir que el pueblo del Líbano elija libremente a sus representantes y establezca una autoridad que coincida con sus aspiraciones? ¿Cómo se les puede avisar de algún gobierno cuando llevan más de año y medio en las calles rechazando esta autoridad y acusándola de corrupción y de robar su dinero? ¿No sería más apropiado para nosotros ayudarlos a realizar sus aspiraciones libres y ser honestos con las personas a las que les prometimos la llegada de la primavera a sus países de origen?
Sr. Hale,
Los ciudadanos libaneses, en todas partes, nos piden que los ayudemos a deshacerse del terror de las armas que existen en manos del partido iraní en su país. ¿Cómo podemos cerrar los ojos a esta solicitud razonable cuando decimos de este partido y de quienes le suministran armas, dinero y misiles que son terroristas?
Los libaneses merecen ayudarlos a salir de la confusión y reconstruir su país destrozado para conservar su papel histórico como un espacio abierto donde diferentes sectas conviven en armonía y paz. Tenemos iglesias, escuelas y universidades construidas y operadas allí desde el siglo XIX. Adoptó el sistema económico libre liberal e hizo del dólar una base para su comercio y comercio. Entrenó a su ejército y fuerzas de seguridad en las escuelas militares de Estados Unidos y cooperó con nosotros en nuestra lucha contra el terrorismo. ¿No es nuestro deber ayudarlos a salir del juego de los conflictos regionales e internacionales?
Le recordamos, Sr. Hale, que el presidente Bush dijo en 2007 que el Líbano es una necesidad para nosotros. Recordamos lo que dijo el presidente Bill Clinton en una carta de Dallas, Texas, en 2015, a la administración de la Casa Blanca. Dijo: Ejercer un liderazgo sabio en Washington también significa ayudar a este amistoso y distinguido país del Medio Oriente a restaurar su estabilidad.
Deja de aprovecharte del sufrimiento de estas personas. Los políticos libaneses corruptos temerosos de nuestras sanciones te darán lo que quieres. Pero la gente no olvidará nuestra actitud y seguirá recordándonos a nosotros ya nuestros hijos y nietos durante los siglos venideros. Y nuestro sucesor les dirá que nos engañaron, y nadie nos engañó. No, Sr. Hale. No queremos que continúe la injusticia que se les inflige. Solo quieren justicia de usted y de nosotros, y esta es una petición razonable, moral y noble de que debemos escucharla.
Con el debido respeto,
Hicham Hamdan Ph.D.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 16-17/2021

Iran-Israel ‘shadow war’ risks running out of control
The Arab Weekly/April 16, 2021
TEL AVIV/LONDON - Arch-foes Israel and Iran have long fought an undeclared shadow war across the Middle East, landing blows in Lebanon, Syria and inside the Islamic republic itself. More recently, the battle has moved to the high seas, with a series of mysterious attacks and sabotage incidents mainly in the Red and Arabian Seas. Analysts now fear the tit-for-tat attacks could escalate and are warning that the protagonists are “playing with fire”. Israel has vowed to stop Iran, whose leaders have threatened to “wipe it off the map”, from acquiring a nuclear bomb — a goal Tehran denies pursuing. The Islamic republic meanwhile has provided arms, training and money to allied militias in a regional “axis of resistance” encompassing Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and other places, seeking to destabilise Arab Gulf rivals as well as antagonise the Jewish state and its ally the United States. In the latest attack Iran blamed on Israel, a blast hit Iran’s enrichment facility in Natanz Sunday, complicating diplomatic efforts to salvage a tattered 2015 deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme. Then on Tuesday, an Israeli-operated ship, the Hyperion Ray, was attacked near the Emirati port of Fujairah, the latest in a string of off-shore attacks.
– Multi-level war –
Israel has often fought Tehran’s allies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the militant movement Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, and pro-Iran fighters in Syria. The Jewish state has also launched cyber-attacks and spy missions, such as a 2018 Mossad operation that netted a treasure trove of Iranian nuclear documents from a Tehran warehouse. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent years relished having a White House ally in Donald Trump, who waged a hard-line “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. Trump in 2018 ripped up the 2015 agreement that had granted Iran sanctions relief in return for limits on its nuclear activities, a deal Israel always rejected as inadequate. Under Trump, the US also killed revered Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in a Baghdad drone strike early last year, a move that brought Tehran and Washington to the brink of war. But Tehran eventually limited itself to token retaliatory moves.Israel was then blamed for the assassination in Tehran last November of Iran’s top nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the latest Iranian atomic scientist to meet a violent death. But the dynamic has shifted since US President Joe Biden took power and started efforts to revive the nuclear deal, while taking a cooler stance towards Netanyahu.
— Chain of events —
Sima Shine of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies said it was debatable when the shadow war started. But she described a chain of events relating “to the nuclear sphere and … the attempt of Iran to establish itself in Syria and the attempt of Israel to stop it.” “In the last couple of weeks we also saw the maritime war come out publicly, after it was secret for two years, between Iran and Israel,” she said. Iran first hinted at attacks on its tankers in the Red Sea in 2019, as Israel sought to curb its alleged arms transfers and oil shipments to allies. Then on February 25, an Israeli cargo ship, the MV Helios Ray, was hit at sea. Attacks have since multiplied, often involving mines attached above the water line, where they disable rather than sink ships. The Iranian ship Shahr-e-Kord was hit near Syria, followed by the Israeli container ship Lori in the Arabian Sea and the Iranian cargo ship Saviz in the Red Sea.
— Low intensity —
“Thus far, the maritime conflict between Iran and Israel has remained at a low-intensity, grey-zone level, below the threshold of declared hostilities,” wrote researcher Farzin Nadimi of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He said it appeared both sides are “seeking to avoid escalation that might disrupt their respective shipping lanes and economies”. But, he added, “both countries have substantial special naval warfare capabilities and experience, so neither is likely to settle for anything less than maritime superiority.” Nadimi warned that the pace of attacks could “accelerate further, while also expanding to a larger geographical area” and using new means such as submarines, longer-range drones and fast-attack vessels. While “both sides have sought to keep their tit-for-tat maritime attacks under control,” he said, “they pose a substantial risk of miscalculation and escalation that could jeopardise international shipping.”Menahem Merhavy, an Iran specialist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, agreed that neither side wants escalation. But, he warned, “things can get out of hand. Both Israelis and Iranians are aware of the possibility of that and they are trying to avoid it.”He said Iran’s hand is weakened by sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic, but also by the desire to “come as clean as possible to the table” of new diplomatic efforts over its nuclear activities. “On Israeli side,” he told AFP, “the greatest risk is actually its relation with the US.”With a shadow war on the high seas and operations such as the alleged Natanz attack, he said, “we are playing with fire here.”
 

First-time drone attack in Erbil seen as Iranian test of US, Kurdish response
The Arab Weekly/April 16, 2021
BAGHDAD – The strike on US military base at Erbil airport with the use of a drone is a cunning test by Iran and its allied militias in Iraq of the willingness of the US to step up its response after such assaults, analysts say. The drone attack which late Wednesday hit a previously safe area far from the reach of the pro-Iranian militias’ missiles, is also seen as a test of the Kurds, and specifically whether they themselves will respond to the strike. Kurdish officials said that a drone dropped explosives near a base where US forces are stationed at Erbil airport in northern Iraq. Another missile attack killed a Turkish soldier at the nearby Bashiqa base.Although it is the first time that pro-Iranian militias have used a drone in an attack, analysts and experts believe that the goal behind the strike was to send a clear message to Washington the gist of which is that these militias are able to target US presence anywhere in Iraq. Another message is that these Iranian proxies can ratchet up and diversify their attacks in ways the United States does not expect. Analysts believe Iran wants to show the US its ability to manoeuvre and refuse to submit to outside pressure while trying to improve its position during the Vienna nuclear talks.
Observers wonder about the US response. The question is whether the United States will widen the scope of its reactions to attacks that are aimed at pressuring it to withdraw from Iraq or whether it prefers to leave the matter in the hands of the Kurds. The drone strike also raises questions about the Kurds ability to defend their province and shakes the image that the Peshmerga forces try to project of themselves as a major actor in terms of protecting Kurdish territory and engaging in the war on terror.
In their use of drones, mainly Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), pro-Iran militias have drawn the lessons of the Houthis’ experience of the war in Yemen against government forces and Saudi positions. A US military official said that the militias “now have drones capable of launching missiles and flying a distance of 1,200 to 1,500 km, if they have fuel tanks attached. They can also reach a programmed destination through the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Iraqi academic and political analyst Rahim al-Kaabi believes that the aim of the militias is to drag the Kurdistan region and its security forces into an open military confrontation in which Iran would like to turn Iraq into a battleground between its forces and those of the United States.
Kaabi told The Arab Weekly, “The Kurds have understood, since the first bombing of Erbil airport, that the goal is not security or military as much as it is an attempt to reshuffle the cards by escalating tensions in that part of the region, undermining the sense of security that Americans have had there and unsettling the relationship between the Kadhimi government and Iraqi Kurdistan.” Two months ago, a foreign contractor working for the international coalition and an Iraqi civilian were killed in a missile attack on Erbil. A pro-Iran faction claimed at the time responsibility for “attacking a Turkish base.”However, the Kurds are unlikely to be lured by Iran into a showdown that is not in their interest. Most likely, they will deal with what happened on their territory as a proxy war in which they have no direct interest, even if the Americans ask them to respond to the source of the attacks. It is possible that Kurdish silence will satisfy the United States, considering that Iran’s intent is to try to disperse Western and Israeli pressures around it over the nuclear issue and to spread tensions on more than one front.
But the Kurds will not accept that the security situation could spin out of control in their areas, as that scenario would jeopardise the stability of the region as well as their plans for independence. Kaabi says that Iran would be antagonised by Kurdish patience and refusal to be dragged into into a confrontation as Tehran is currently short on time in the current negotiations with world powers over its nuclear programme. Accordingly, it is tempted to play all its cards even at the risk of losing them all. Ali al-Faili, a leader in the Kurdistan Democratic Party, says that the militias, who follow a pre-ordained foreign agenda, are not happy with the stability of the Kurdistan region. Therefore, they continue to target Erbil airport and Bashiqa base, in order to disrupt the stability of the Kurdistan region and Iraq. Talking to The Arab Weekly, Faili urged the Kurdistan government to intensify its cooperation with the Iraqi government in order to curtail these moves “that are driven by foreign agendas”. Kurdish political researcher Kifah Mahmoud says that Iran is trying to turn the Kurdistan region into another battlefield for its wars. He sees this attempt as a lost bet for a number of reasons including the lack of support for Iran in the Kurdish region, both ideologically and politically, especially after Tehran’s involvement in the incursion by the Popular Mobilisation Forces in disputed areas and their attempts at converting the Sunni population to Shiism . Talking to The Arab Weekly, Mahmoud pointed out that the solidarity of Arab and European nations as well as the US with Kurdistan is “evidence of the resilience and credibility of the Kurdish position in combating terrorism in all its forms”.

Ukraine top security official believes Iran downed Ukrainian plane
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/16 April ,2021
Ukraine’s security chief said he believes the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane by Iran’s military over Tehran in January 2020 was an intentional act rather than an accident as claimed by the Iranian regime. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, told Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail in an interview published on Friday, that he believes the incident was a “conscious attack.” “When they say this was accidental … I don’t buy that,” Danilov told The Globe and Mail. “It was intentional. This was a conscious attack.” He said that Iran’s refusal to allow international investigators full access to the evidence has led him to believe that Tehran downed the plane intentionally. “Iran does not allow anybody to examine this tragedy, and they postpone or slow down any investigations. The fact that they are investigating themselves is rather surprising, to put it politely,” Danilov said.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board. The majority of passengers were Iranian. Citizens from Canada, Ukraine, Britain and Afghanistan were also among the passengers.
After denying responsibility for three days, Iran admitted to downing the plane, declaring it a “disastrous mistake.” Danilov’s hypothesis is that Iran was looking for a way to prevent a tit-for-tat situation with the United States. Hours before the plane was shot down, Iran had struck US military bases in Iraq in response to the US killing of the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani days earlier. Iran wanted to make sure there would be no US response to its attack on American military bases in Iraq, according to Danilov.
“Since January 8 of last year, the question has remained in my head: ‘Why do they do this?’ If you remember MH17, which the Russians shot down on the order of military authorities … active military actions came to a halt after this crash, because the whole world was focused on understanding what happened,” he said, referring to the downing of flight Malaysia Airlines in 2014. “If you project this logic onto what happened on January 8, there was the Soleimani assassination, after which total war was expected. After shooting down the plane and killing our citizens, among others, this [total war] went from first priority to 10th priority,” Danilov added. Through these remarks, Danilov, as Ukraine’s security chief, is representing the Ukrainian government, Ukraine’s deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin told The Globe and Mail. “We don’t believe the version of human error until we see the evidence.” Yenin said, according to the newspaper. Rehana Dhirani, whose father Asghar Dhirani died in the crash, wrote on Twitter on Friday: “We’ve always known #PS752 was intentional, the excuse of ‘human error’ is a pathetic attempt to cover the actions of the regime.”Last month, Iran published its final report into the incident. “The plane was identified as a hostile target due to a mistake by the air defence operator...near Tehran and two missiles were fired at it,” the report said, according to the website of Iran’s civil aviation body. Commenting on the Iranian report, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described it as, “nothing more than a cynical attempt to hide the true reasons for the downing of our plane.”“We will not allow Iran to hide the truth, we will not allow it to avoid responsibility for this crime,” Kuleba wrote on Facebook. In December, Canada’s former foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne had also said he does not believe Iranian claims that the plane was shot down as a result of “human error.”
Iran denies
Iran’s foreign ministry rejected Danilov’s accusations on Friday.“It is unfortunate that, despite all the explanations and expert reports, some Ukrainian officials continue to make vague political statements and present their own personal hypotheses in the media,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Last month, Iran published its final report into the incident. “The plane was identified as a hostile target due to a mistake by the air defence operator...near Tehran and two missiles were fired at it,” the report said, according to the website of Iran’s civil aviation body. Commenting on the Iranian report, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described it as, “nothing more than a cynical attempt to hide the true reasons for the downing of our plane.”“We will not allow Iran to hide the truth, we will not allow it to avoid responsibility for this crime,” Kuleba wrote on Facebook. In December, Canada’s former foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne had also said he does not believe Iranian claims that the plane was shot down as a result of “human error.”
 

Russia to expel 10 US diplomats, ban several Biden administration officials
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/16 April ,2021
Russia’s foreign minister announced Friday that 10 US diplomats would be asked to leave the country and eight current and former American officials would be sanctioned. Sergei Lavrov also said that Russia would proceed with “painful measures to America” and that it would halt the operation of “American funds and organizations that are directly trying to meddle in Russia’s domestic political life.” On Thursday, the US issued several sanctions on Russian agencies and officials for their alleged interference in last year’s presidential election. Speaking during a joint news conference with his Serbian counterpart, the Russian diplomat admitted that the sanctions imposed on Russia’s banking system and its national debt could not be easily reciprocated. “We don’t have the same leverage,” he said, but claimed that Russian experts said the sanctions would be “quite manageable.” Among the officials banned from Russia are US Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Director of the Domestic Policy Council Susan Rice. Others on the list are the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons Michael Carvajal, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former CIA chief Robert Woolsey. It was also revealed that Moscow ‘advised’ the US ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, to return to Washington for ‘detailed consultations’ during a meeting earlier in the week. Russia's ambassador to the US has not been in Washington for the better part of a month after Biden said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was a killer. Other moves Russia will respond to the latest sanctions with include limiting the number of non-US staff at its consulates and embassy in Russia. Russia will also limit the number of what Lavrov called visas for 'short-term trips' of US diplomats to Moscow for unclear reasons.
 

Former US Secretary Pompeo and wife violated ethics rules at State Department: Report
The Associated Press/16 April ,2021
The State Department’s internal watchdog has concluded that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife violated federal ethics rules by asking staffers to run personal errands and perform non-official work such as making restaurant reservations, shopping and caring for their dog. In a report released on Friday, the department’s inspector general concluded that those requests were “inconsistent” with the regulations. But, because Pompeo is no longer a federal employee and not subject to federal disciplinary or other measures, it did not call for any action against the former secretary who left office on Jan. 20 at the end of the Trump administration. Instead, it recommended that the State Department clarify its policies to better define tasks that are inappropriate for staffers under the ethics rules and make it easier to report alleged violations. The department accepted all of the recommendations in its response to the report.
Pompeo and his attorney strongly denied the allegations contained in the inspector general’s report, which said the former secretary and his wife, Susan, “made over 100 requests to employees in the office of the secretary to conduct work that appeared to be personal in nature.” Pompeo’s lawyer noted that the report identifies only a handful of questionable requests and that those did not amount to violations of the rules. The report identified inappropriate tasks as including “picking up personal items, planning events unrelated to the department’s mission, and conducting such personal business as pet care and mailing personal Christmas cards.” Many of those requests were directed to a long-time assistant of the Pompeos who was hired by the State Department as a senior adviser to the secretary.
It said it had found evidence that Susan Pompeo had “on several occasions” instructed the adviser to plan events for groups with which the Pompeos had nongovernmental relationships. It said it had identified at least 30 instances in which either the secretary or his wife told staffers to make restaurant reservations for personal lunches and dinners. The inspector general “found that such requests were inconsistent with department ethics rules and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch,” the report said. In an interview with investigators in late December, Pompeo said he had not paid that staffer or others separately for work that he either considered to be related to government business or to be minimal favors that long-time acquaintances would routinely do for each other, according to the report.
The inspector general, however, noted that there was no exception in the ethics rules for minimal personal favors. “Rather, the standards prohibit any use of a subordinate’s time to perform personal activities unless compensation is paid,” it said.In a response appended to the report, the lawyer, William Burck, alleged that the report was biased and unfit for publication. Pompeo had shaken up the inspector general’s office by firing its former chief in a move that critics alleged was aimed at halting potentially embarrassing investigations into his tenure at the department. “The poor quality of the report bespeaks not merely unprofessionalism in its drafting but also bias, which we are concerned may be politically motivated,” Burck said. He said the report was “not fit for publication” and demanded evidence to support the investigators’ claims that the Pompeos had made more than 100 inappropriate requests of staffers. In its response to the report, the State Department made no judgement on the findings but did accept the recommendations. “The department appreciates the work of the Office of Inspector General, and, as the report notes, concurs with all the recommendations and will proceed to implement them,” it said.

Raul Castro confirms he's resigning, ending long era in Cuba
The Associated Press/16 April ,2021
Raul Castro said Friday he is resigning as head of Cuba’s Communist Party, ending an era of formal leadership by he and his brother Fidel Castro that began with the 1959 revolution. The 89-year-old Castro made the announcement Friday in a speech at the opening of the Eighth congress of the ruling party, the only one allowed on the island. He said he was retiring with the sense of having "fulfilled his mission and confident in the future of the fatherland."Castro didn’t say who he would endorse as his successor as first secretary of the Communist Party. But he previously indicated that he favors yielding control to 60-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel, who succeeded him as president in 2018 and is the standard bearer of a younger generation of loyalists who have been pushing an economic opening without touching Cuba's one-party system. His retirement means that for the first time in more than six decades Cubans won't have a Castro formally guilding their affairs, and it comes at a difficult time, with many on the island anxious about what lies ahead. The coronavirus pandemic, painful financial reforms and restrictions imposed by the Trump administration have battered the economy, which shrank 11% last year as a result of a collapse in tourism and remittances. Long food lines and shortages have brought back echoes of the “special period” that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Discontent has been fueled by the spread of the internet and growing inequality. Much of the debate inside Cuba is focused on the pace of reform, with many complaining that the so-called “historic generation” represented by Castro has been too slow to open the economy. In January, Diaz-Canel finally pulled the trigger on a plan approved two congresses ago to unify the island’s dual currency system, giving rise to fears of inflation. He also threw the doors open to a broader range of private enterprise — a category long banned or tightly restricted — permitting Cubans to legally operate many sorts of self-run businesses from their homes. This year’s congress is expected to focus on unfinished reforms to overhaul state-run enterprises, attract foreign investment and provide more legal protection to private business activities. The Communist Party is made up of 700,000 activists and is tasked in Cuba's constitution with directing the affairs of the nation and society. Fidel Castro, who led the revolution that drove dictator Fulgencio Batista from power in 1959, formally became head of the party in 1965, about four years after officially embracing socialism. He quickly absorbed the old party under his control and was the country's unquestioned leader until falling ill inh 2006 and in 2008 handing over the presidency to his younger brother Raul, who had fought alongside him during the revolution. Raul succeeded him as head of the party in 2011. Fidel Castro died in 2016

Kremlin says ‘good’ that Biden, like Putin, wants dialogue
NNA/AFP/April 16, 2021
The Kremlin on Friday said it was “good” that US President Joe Biden was seeking dialogue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after Biden called for de-escalation. Biden on Tuesday suggested he and Putin meet for a summit on neutral ground to discuss escalating tensions between Russia and US ally Ukraine, and on Thursday said that it was also “time to de-escalate” for Moscow and Washington. “President Putin has spoken about the appropriateness of building relations, normalising relations and de-escalating relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday. “He has repeatedly said that we are ready to develop our dialogue to the degree that our counterparts are ready for this,” he added. “In this regard, it is indeed good that the points of view of the two heads of state coincide on this”.

Iran Starts Enriching Uranium at 60%, its Highest Level Ever
Associated Press/April 16/2021
Iran began enriching uranium up to 60% purity Friday, its highest level ever, after an attack targeted its Natanz nuclear site, the country's parliament speaker said. The comment by Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, quoted by state television, did not elaborate on the amount Iran planned to enrich. However, it is likely to raise tensions even as Iran negotiates with world powers in Vienna over a way to allow the U.S. back into the agreement and lift the crushing economic sanctions it faces. The announcement also marks a significant escalation after the sabotage that damaged centrifuges, an attack this past weekend suspected of having been carried out by Israel. While Israel has yet to claim it, the country is widely suspected of having carried out the still-unexplained sabotage at Natanz, Iran's main enrichment site. "The will of the Iranian nation is a miracle-maker and it will defuse any conspiracy," state television quoted Qalibaf as saying. He said the enrichment began just after midnight Friday. The move could inspire a further response from Israel amid a long-running shadow war between the nations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon and his country has twice preemptively bombed Mideast nations to stop their atomic programs.

Shooting Kills 8 in U.S. City of Indianapolis
Agence France Presse/April 16/2021
At least eight people were killed in a shooting in the US city of Indianapolis by a gunman who is believed to have then killed himself, police said. The victims were all found at a Fedex facility near the international airport where the shooting took place late Thursday, police spokeswoman Genae Cook told a news conference, adding several others had been taken to hospital. One man who said he works at the plant told local broadcaster WISH-TV he saw the gunman start shooting and heard more than 10 gunshots. "I saw a man with a sub-machine gun of some sort, an automatic rifle, and he was firing in the open. I immediately ducked down and got scared," Jeremiah Miller said. Cook told reporters officers had responded to an "active shooter incident," adding they believe the gunman died by suicide.She said authorities judged there was no longer an immediate threat to public safety. A Fedex spokesperson confirmed to AFP that its facility was the scene of the shooting, and said the company was cooperating with authorities. "We are aware of the tragic shooting at our ground facility near the Indianapolis airport," the company said in a statement. "Safety is our top priority, and our thoughts are with all those who are affected." The facility for the delivery company is reported to employ more than 4,000 people. Timothy Boillat, another employee at the facility, told WISH-TV that he saw around 30 police cars arriving at the scene as he witnessed the shooting unfold. "After hearing the shootings, I did see a body on the floor," he said. "Luckily, I was far enough away to where he [the shooter] didn't see me."
Spate of shootings
Live video showed police tape at the scene of the incident, which follows several mass shootings in recent weeks. At the end of last month, four people, including a child, were shot dead in an office building in southern California. On March 22, 10 people were killed in a shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado. That came less than a week after a man shot and killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent, at spas in Atlanta, Georgia. Nearly 40,000 people in the United States die each year from guns, more than half of those being suicides. The issue of gun regulation in the United States is politically fraught. President Joe Biden this month announced six executive measures he said would help stem the gun violence crisis. "It's an international embarrassment," Biden told Congress members and gun control activists at a White House ceremony. "Enough prayers," the Democrat said. "Time for some action."The move was immediately attacked by Republicans, with the party's senior leader in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, warning of "unconstitutional overreach."

Israeli Airstrikes Hit Gaza after Rocket Attack
Agence France Presse/April 16/2021
The Israeli army early Friday said it had carried out airstrikes on military targets in the Gaza Strip after rockets fired from the Palestinian enclave hit southern Israel. Fighter jets and attack helicopters struck a "weapons manufacturing site, a weapon smuggling tunnel and a military post" operated by Hamas, the armed Islamist ruling party in Gaza, the Israeli Defence Force said in a statement. "We will not tolerate any threat to Israeli civilians," it added. Israelis in the southern city of Sderot took cover late Thursday after a rocket was fired from Gaza. The rocket landed in an open area and caused no injuries or damage, according to a spokesman with the Shaar Hanegev local council. Israel imposed a blockade of Gaza's maritime and land border after Hamas seized control in 2007. Hamas and Israel have since fought three wars. A fragile truce has held in recent years despite occasional flareups, with Palestinians firing rockets at Israel and the Jewish state responding with air strikes on the coastal enclave. This year, Israel marked a decade since it deployed the Iron Dome missile defence system that intercepted hundreds of rocket attacks from Gaza and Syria.
Gaza's two million residents endure extreme poverty under the Israeli blockade. Conditions have worsened as Hamas issued lockdown orders to counter the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
 

Media Freedom Coalition statement concerning media freedom in Myanmar
April 16, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition express their deep concern with the continued efforts by Myanmar’s military and police to crack down on media freedom.
Media freedom is a cornerstone of democratic societies. It is essential to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Access to information is vital and journalists must be free to report on the developments in the country, including the protests, without fear of reprisal or intimidation. Independent reporting is all the more important in the current context, helping to counter the disinformation campaigns in Myanmar, both online and offline, and to provide the public with factual accounts of events taking place in the country. The importance of the work of journalists, particularly in remote areas, cannot be underestimated. Since the military coup on February 1, 2021, attacks against media professionals by the security forces and their offices have increased significantly. At least 60 journalists have reportedly been detained and some of these now also face charges. The military has revoked the licences of five news organizations, suspended access to local and international news networks, and imposed draconian measures that repress free speech and the diffusion of reliable and verified information. Internet shutdowns have also been used to restrict news coverage, communications and access to information.
We strongly condemn the military coup and the ongoing violence and call for the restoration of Myanmar’s democratically elected government and parliamentary assemblies elected in November 2020.
We call on the military to immediately and unconditionally cease attacks on, and intimidation and harassment of, journalists and media workers, and to release all those who have been arbitrarily detained.
We call for the perpetrators of violations and abuses, including attacks on journalists and media workers, to be held accountable.
We demand that the military respect the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, refrain from the use of force, and respect the media’s freedom to report protests independently, safely and without fear of violence or arbitrary detention.
We call for the end of all Internet restrictions in Myanmar that suppress media freedom and violate the right to freedom of expression, including freedom to seek, receive, and impart information.
Signed
Australia/Austria/Bulgaria/Canada/Costa Rica/Cyprus/Czech Republic/Denmark/Estonia/Finland/France/Germany/Greece/Honduras/Iceland/Italy/Japan/Latvia/Lithuania/Luxembourg/Netherlands/New Zealand/North Macedonia/Republic of Korea/Slovakia/Slovenia/Switzerland/Ukraine/United Kingdom/
United States

FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker for April 16/2021
Sunni Jihadism
Bill Roggio
FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
The Biden administration will withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. The Taliban rejected a U.S. peace plan and said it would consider allowing the United States to extend its presence only if the U.S.-aligned Afghan government frees 7,000 prisoners and the United Nations lifts sanctions against the terror group’s leaders. The withdraw will leave the country in chaos. Al-Qaeda is operating in at least 21 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces despite Taliban claims that the group left the country in 2001. Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Intelligence recently killed a senior al-Qaeda military commander who plotted major attacks with the Taliban. The Biden administration has also agreed to withdraw the remaining U.S. troops from Iraq, but no timeline has been established. This comes as the U.S. military continues to target the Islamic State in Iraq. The Islamic State is growing more violent in Mozambique, while al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, conducted suicide attacks in Mogadishu and Baidoa and launched assaults on two Somali bases outside the capital. Sunni jihadism appears set to expand, even in places where it had been largely contained. One area to watch is the White House response to Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist who heads an al-Qaeda-allied group in Syria, who is lobbying to get removed from the U.S. and UN sanctions lists.
Syria
David Adesnik
FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
Secretary Blinken made his first significant remarks about Syria during a UN Security Council meeting on March 29. Blinken called on the Council to extend its authorization for delivering aid to northwest Syria from across the Turkish border, a route that prevents interference by authorities in Damascus. Russia has threatened to veto a new authorization, even though there are 2.7 million displaced persons in northwest Syria, many living in camps or abandoned buildings, where they also must contend with Russian bombing runs and artillery strikes by Assad regime forces. The question the secretary left unanswered was how the United States and its allies would bring pressure to bear on Moscow to prevent it from vetoing any resolution to reauthorize cross-border aid. In his remarks, Blinken did not even identify Russia as the main obstacle to reauthorization, instead urging the Council as a whole to act responsibly. On April 6, the United States announced an additional $596 million worth of aid for the Syrian people, including refugees. There is also an urgent need to reform how the United Nations delivers aid paid for by the United States and other donors, since the Assad regime diverts substantial amounts. The administration’s inclination to engage in diplomacy with the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the likelihood of sanctions relief, is likely to provide the regime with additional cash to fund its war efforts in Syria – thus perpetuating a conflict that the administration is looking to mitigate or even resolve.
Turkey
Aykan Erdemir
FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
President Biden is holding Turkey to account for its actions. He is giving Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the cold shoulder”; the two have not talked since Biden took office. Biden’s first Turkey-related statement on March 21 was a rebuke of Erdogan for withdrawing Turkey from an international convention on combating violence against women. Secretary Blinken referred to Turkey as a “so-called strategic partner” and criticized Ankara for aligning with Moscow by acquiring Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system. On April 7, the Federal Register published sanctions the State Department imposed last December on Turkish officials involved in the S-400 sale. The State Department strongly refuted accusations by the Turkish interior minister that America was behind a 2016 failed coup in Turkey. The U.S. government filed an amicus brief with a Washington, DC, appeals court in a case against Erdogan’s bodyguards who attacked demonstrators outside the Turkish Embassy. The State Department can still build on these tougher policies by imposing its new “Khashoggi Ban” visa restrictions on Turkish officials who repress dissidents abroad. How strongly the administration implements the S-400 sanctions will be another important indicator of the White House’s commitment to holding Erdogan to account.
Iran
Richard Goldberg
FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
On the eve of indirect nuclear talks between the United States and Iran, the Biden administration reportedly collapsed on two major negotiating positions that date back to the 2020 presidential campaign – handing Iran strategic victories before talks even commenced. President Biden had vowed not to provide Iran with sanctions relief prior to Iran’s return to “strict compliance” with the 2015 nuclear deal, yet his administration reportedly offered Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for only modest nuclear concessions. Additionally, while Secretary Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January that it was not in the U.S. interest to lift terrorism sanctions on Iran – specifically terrorism sanctions imposed on the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) – the Biden administration is reportedly offering Iran sanctions relief for both the CBI and NIOC. The administration now claims that many sanctions imposed on Iranian entities for supporting terrorism are not “legitimate,” and that any terrorism, human rights, or missile sanctions deemed “inconsistent” with the nuclear deal will be lifted – a stunning change to the terms of the agreement, which the Obama administration claimed allowed the United States to impose sanctions for non-nuclear reasons.
Israel
Jonathan Schanzer and David May
FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker/April 16/2021
Reports in Israel suggest that American officials could be leaking information to the press about Israeli strikes against Iranian vessels, thus endangering the operations of Washington’s Israeli ally. The Biden administration further irked officials in Jerusalem by stating its view that the West Bank is occupied, and by contributing $150 million to UNRWA, the corrupt UN refugee agency that perpetuates the falsehood that there are 5 million Palestinian refugees. The White House restored funding without demanding any reform. Similarly, the administration is demanding little of the Palestinian Authority, which is scheduled to hold elections on May 22 with participation by the Hamas terrorist group. Should Hamas win seats, it could trigger a cut-off of American funding and spark a crisis with Israel. The White House’s silence is stunning. Finally, after the administration initially stood up to the International Criminal Court for targeting Israel (which does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and has a functioning judiciary), the White House withdrew sanctions against the Court. On the positive side of the ledger, the White House is advancing a Trump-era $23 billion F-35 deal with the United Arab Emirates, which should help keep the Abraham Accords on track. Also, Secretary Austin visited Israel, marking the administration’s first cabinet-level visit. Austin conveyed that America’s “commitment to Israel is enduring and ironclad.” Still, tensions remain high over Iran. On April 13, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben Shabbat, convened a second round of Iran strategy talks, with few signs of alignment

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 16-17/2021

Posturing is No Policy on Iran
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 16/2021
Two months or nine months? This is the question making the rounds with regards to the latest “incident” at Natanz nuclear center where Iran is engaged in a massive uranium enrichment program. Attributed to Israeli secret services, the incident disabled some 5,000 centrifuges put in full operation two months ago as a means of exerting pressure on the new administration in Washington.
Iranian experts say the infernal machine could be back in full gear within two months. Western experts say nine months is a likelier time-span. The “incident” came at a time that Tehran’s envoys were engaged in indirect talks with US diplomats on a possible deal for Iran to reduce its enrichment program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions imposed by Washington, the UN and the European Union.
The question is whether Israel, if it were indeed behind the “incident” had coordinated it with the new Biden administration, something that Tehran regards as impossible. If there was coordination we must assume that Israel was doing its bit to help Biden soften the mullahs in new negotiations, a pas-de-deux that US and Israel have performed in the Middle East many times before. However, if Israel acted alone we must assume that its assessment of the Iranian threat is different from the Biden administration’s.
A nuclear armed Islamic Republic might be no more than a nuisance for the US, as is North Korea for example, while it would be an existential threat to Israel.
One thing is certain: as The Washington Post editorialized last week the Biden administration believes that while Israeli “incidents” might delay Tehran’s program only the US can stop it through diplomacy.
But what if the whole nuclear issue, built by former President Barack Obama as the core of the “Iran problem”, is a diversion designed to put real or imaginary foes on a wrong trajectory?
Does the Islamic Republic have a nuclear policy?
The ayatollah and his aides claim they do and that it is aimed at producing electricity for which they need enriched uranium.
However, 42 years after seizing power, they still have only one semi-derelict nuclear power station which is often shut and produces less than two percent of the electricity Iran needs. Even then Iran has no need of enriching uranium domestically as the fuel needed for its sole power plant is supplied by its Russian builders until the end of its life-span in 2032.
So, is Iran enriching uranium to build a bomb?
Obama was adamant that this was not the case.
He cited a “fatwa” by “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei that forbids Muslims from building the bomb. (Needless to say possibly apart from Obama no one has seen the fatwa.)
If we assume that Biden shares Obama’s conviction or that he, too, has seen and believed the fatwa, we would wonder why he should bother to stop the mullahs from wasting resources on something for which they have no obvious use. As for the mullahs, what they offer is simple: a promise not to do something that they claim they have never done, are not doing, and would never want to do.
What if what many see as the Islamic Republic’s nuclear policy is a posture, not to say an imposture, not a policy? That posture serves the Khomeinist regime’s interests by shifting the focus away from the real mischiefs and crimes it has been committing inside and outside Iran for four decades.
The current diplomatic “initiative”, concocted by the Europeans may end in a compromise with the US lifting at least some of its sanctions in exchange for Tehran agreeing to slow down its uranium enrichment program. The Biden administration could add a diplomatic feather to its cap while the mullahs, starved of cash since 2019, would get the money needed to keep their other mischiefs going on the old or perhaps even grander scale.
The Khomeinist regime isn’t hurting anyone by enriching 20 percent uranium that it does not need, and, for technical reasons, wouldn’t be able to use even if it decides to build a bomb. But it is hurting many by fomenting terror and instability in large chunks of the Middle East and beyond.
Its “exporting revolution” has already contributed to triggering and prolonging the war in Yemen. Without its involvement, the Syrian civil war may not have led to what is the greatest tragedy the world has seen in the new century. By creating Hezbollah, the mullahs have led Lebanon to the brink of ungovernability not to say systemic collapse. By supporting the most radical rejectionist groups, the mullahs have also helped block the road to an Israeli-Palestinian coexistence accord.
Inside Iran, the Khomeinist regime has comitted crimes against almost every section of society by massacring peaceful protesters, persecuting religious minorities and political dissidents and damaging the nation’s key institutions with corruption, mismanagement and, as we witness in the current Covid-19 pandemic, sheer incompetence.
To forget all that, not to mention the seizing of scores of hostages and the killing of hundreds of US, British and French soldiers with roadside bombs and terror attacks in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan, and over 100 terror operations in 22 countries across the globe, would be the height of naiveté and a sure sign of moral decadence.
At the same time, the mullahs have provided an “Islamic” cover for the crimes that Russia and China have committed in Chechnya and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The fakeness of their Islamic pretentions is highlighted in other domains. They have endorsed the annexation by Russia of the Muslim enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the stationing of Russian troops in Syria and Azerbaijan (former Soviet) Republic. The mullahs have blocked joint action in support of more than a million Muslim Rohingya driven out of their homes by the Burmese military. It is also interesting that, taking the clue from Moscow, a regime that casts itself as champion of “true Islam” refuses to recognize Kosovo, the latest Muslim majority nation to gain independence.
No, the so-called Iran problem cannot be summed up in the grade agreed for enriching uranium. Nor is the problem limited to Tehran’s behavior, as Obama claimed. Posturing is no substitute for policy.

Question: "Is Jesus the only way to Heaven?"
GotQuestions.org?/April 16/2021
Answer: Yes, Jesus is the only way to heaven. Such an exclusive statement may confuse, surprise, or even offend, but it is true nonetheless. The Bible teaches that there is no other way to salvation than through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He is not a way, as in one of many; He is the way, as in the one and only. No one, regardless of reputation, achievement, special knowledge, or personal holiness, can come to God the Father except through Jesus.
Jesus is the only way to heaven for several reasons. Jesus was “chosen by God” to be the Savior (1 Peter 2:4). Jesus is the only One to have come down from heaven and returned there (John 3:13). He is the only person to have lived a perfect human life (Hebrews 4:15). He is the only sacrifice for sin (1 John 2:2; Hebrews 10:26). He alone fulfilled the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17). He is the only man to have conquered death forever (Hebrews 2:14–15). He is the only Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). He is the only man whom God has “exalted . . . to the highest place” (Philippians 2:9).
Jesus spoke of Himself as the only way to heaven in several places besides John 14:6. He presented Himself as the object of faith in Matthew 7:21–27. He said His words are life (John 6:63). He promised that those who believe in Him will have eternal life (John 3:14–15). He is the gate of the sheep (John 10:7); the bread of life (John 6:35); and the resurrection (John 11:25). No one else can rightly claim those titles.
The apostles’ preaching focused on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Peter, speaking to the Sanhedrin, clearly proclaimed Jesus as the only way to heaven: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Paul, speaking to the synagogue in Antioch, singled out Jesus as the Savior: “I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin” (Acts 13:38–39). John, writing to the church at large, specifies the name of Christ as the basis of our forgiveness: “I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name” (1 John 2:12). No one but Jesus can forgive sin.
Eternal life in heaven is made possible only through Christ. Jesus prayed, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). To receive God’s free gift of salvation, we must look to Jesus and Jesus alone. We must trust in Jesus’ death on the cross as our payment for sin and in His resurrection. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22).
At one point in Jesus’ ministry, many of the crowd were turning their backs on Him and leaving in hopes of finding another savior. Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:67, ESV). Peter’s reply is exactly right: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68–69, ESV). May we all share Peter’s faith that eternal life resides only in Jesus Christ.
*What’s new on GotQuestions.org?

Iran opens Pandora’s box with attacks against rivals in Iraq
Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/April 16/2021
A drone attack on Irbil airport in northern Iraq, where US forces are stationed, and a rocket attack on a military compound in the nearby town of Bashiqa, where Turkish troops are deployed, took place on Wednesday. The latter resulted in the death of a Turkish soldier and injured a child, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, who informed him about the attacks and extended his condolences.
Although no one has claimed responsibility, Iran-backed Shiite militias have, in the past, threatened action against Turkish troops at the military base in Bashiqa, which Turkey established in March 2015. It is close to the Iraqi city of Mosul and is used to train local forces to fight against Daesh. The presence of about 500 Turkish troops there has long been a heated topic between Ankara and Baghdad, with the issue turning into a serious political crisis and even talk of war in 2015. At that time, the two neighbors summoned their respective ambassadors after Baghdad described the Turkish troops in the country as “hostile occupying forces” and the Iraqi parliament called for their withdrawal.
Turkey’s presence in Iraq — through its base and its military operations against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which uses Iraqi territory as its main headquarters and has been trying to expand its influence in the Sinjar district — is not only a matter for the central government in Baghdad, but also for Ankara’s historic enemy and natural competitor in the region: Iran.
Geography is the first principle that can’t be changed in international relations, and it is obvious that Iran, Iraq and Turkey are central to each other’s strategic calculations. Besides the existence of the PKK, which is a fundamental threat for Ankara, the issue of Iranian influence in the region, particularly in Syria and Iraq, is a serious concern that Turkey keeps an eye on. Turkey’s once-strained relationship with Iraq was playing into the hands of Iran, which has great influence on Iraqi politics. Therefore, Ankara sees Iraqi politics through the lens of its own national security structure. Its key interest in Iraq is to limit Iranian influence, which has been powerful since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
In mid-February, when Turkey was targeting PKK camps on Gara Mountain in northern Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Units — an Iranian-backed collective of Iraqi militias also known as Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi — deployed three brigades to Sinjar, which lies to the west of Mosul close to the Syrian border. Militia commanders made it clear this deployment was meant to counter Turkish actions in the region. This was when the Turkish-Iranian rivalry for influence in oil-rich Mosul was refueled. Meanwhile, the US-designated terrorist group Harakat Hezbollah Al-Nujaba published a statement threatening to attack Turkey if Ankara did not change its position. Another Shiite militia controlled by Iran, Asaib Al-Khayf, published a video of the launch of a missile targeting the Turkish military base at Bashiqa. From time to time, Turkey has accused Iraq of giving refuge to its Kurdish nemesis, the PKK.
Meanwhile, this week’s drone attack was not the first time the Shiite militias, which have gained significant strength and influence, have attacked Irbil airport. In February, a civilian contractor was killed in an attack, while nine others were injured, including a US service member. That was the first time US military personnel had been targeted in Iraq after President Joe Biden took office.
The issue of Iranian influence in the region, particularly in Syria and Iraq, is a serious concern that Turkey keeps an eye on.
According to many observers, Iran is using its loyalist armed militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen as bargaining chips to gain more leverage in the nuclear negotiations with Washington. Needless to say, US policy has had the side-effect of empowering Iran in Iraq, which is now used by Tehran to threaten Turkey and other regional actors. In the current picture, Iranian proxies pose disquieting threats to three main regional countries: Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Competition over Syria has refreshed Iran’s historic rivalry with these countries and has also expanded to other countries, from Yemen to Iraq.
Acting against Iran’s regional vision, Turkey has a presence in parts of Syria, has increased its influence in Iraq and is pushing back against Tehran in both Damascus and Baghdad. Wednesday’s attacks send a direct message to both Ankara and Washington. The US has recently rolled up its sleeves ahead of the Afghanistan peace talks that will take place in Istanbul in the coming days. The attacks are also a message to the KRG, which enjoys close relations with Ankara, despite it walking a thin line in its relations with Tehran. There is an increasingly anti-Iran stance within some parties in the KRG. Tehran has had an uneasy relationship with the main ruling parties in the KRG over the security of the border areas since the Kurds obtained their de facto autonomy in 1992.
In this context, the latest attacks most likely carried out by Iran-backed militias are likely to push the KRG even closer to Turkey’s regional path at a time when the new US administration is shaping a new regional vision.
*Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkey’s relations with the Middle East. Twitter: @SinemCngz

Region may soon have to counter Iran’s threat alone
Dr. Hamdan Al-ShehriI/Arab News/April 16/2021
Many in the region and around the world are closely following the negotiations that are taking place in Vienna on the Iranian nuclear file, after the US returned to the negotiating table under the leadership of President Joe Biden. These negotiations have so far been conducted indirectly. As usual, Tehran came to the negotiations boasting that it is about to increase its uranium enrichment rate, this time to 60 percent purity, even though it was not supposed to exceed 3.67 percent according to the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Tehran benefited from the previous US administration’s withdrawal from the flawed agreement to operate freely and stop dealing with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It continues to evade the rules, in addition to activating other facilities.
Iran’s negotiators came to Vienna only to negotiate the full lifting of US sanctions, but we do not know on what basis. Was it their good behavior or their commitment to the purity percentage stipulated in the 2015 agreement? Tehran keeps maneuvering until it gets what it wants, while not giving others what they want.
There is no doubt that, while there are negotiations taking place at the table, as in Vienna, there are also negotiations taking place on the ground. When Iran declared that it had operated centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility that would enable it to enrich to 50 times the purity of the old devices, a swift response was forthcoming. That was Sunday’s explosion at Natanz. Two days later, Tehran announced it would raise the enrichment rate to 60 percent — this represents a real challenge to the entire agreement. Decisive measures should be taken to tackle this Iranian tampering, which could drag the entire region into a nuclear arms race.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday said that Tehran could increase its uranium enrichment rate to the point of 90 percent, which would enable it to build a nuclear weapon. “We are not looking for a nuclear bomb,” he said, but we know that Tehran and its officials say one thing and the truth is always the opposite when it comes to facts on the ground.
Tehran keeps maneuvering until it gets what it wants, while not giving others what they want.
The region’s countries would be the first victims of Iran and its nuclear project. Therefore, they have the right to tell the IAEA and the nuclear deal’s signatory states that they are not interested in any new agreement with Tehran unless they can participate in it as a primary party. The nuclear deal is not valid unless Iran’s ballistic missile file is added to it, along with its terrorist activities vis-a-vis its regional proxies. Iran’s terrorist militias have expanded and set up camp in four Arab countries. The region’s countries are the ones most concerned with this Iranian threat, as they are the ones affected by it, so they are the ones who must be present during talks with Tehran. Otherwise, all options are available for them to protect their security and stability from Iran’s nuclear file, its interference in the region and its affiliated terrorist militias, as well as from the threat of its ballistic missiles, which it continues to supply to its militias, such as the Houthis, who have used them hundreds of times against civilians, oil installations and global energy sources in Saudi Arabia.
The entire world is facing a test and all eyes are on the Vienna talks to see if the international order will ultimately be preserved, or whether a failure of the talks pushes Iran’s neighbors to protect their interests directly and go it alone.
*Dr. Hamdan Al-Shehri is a political analyst and international relations scholar. Twitter: @drhamsher7