English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 17/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
First Letter of John 02/01-11: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him’, but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, ‘I abide in him’, ought to walk just as he walked. Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says, ‘I am in the light’, while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 16-17/2021
Amer Fakhoury Foundation Tweet
Shea Meets Aoun and Miqati, Urges 'Reform-Focused Govt.'
Shea: Every day without government is a day in which already dire situation slides further into humanitarian catastrophe
Lebanese President Aoun: We are on the brink of forming a new government
Aoun Hopes for Govt. in Few Days, Says Won't Resign
Miqati Meets Aoun, Says Discussions Have Entered Names Phase
Crisis-Hit Lebanon Reels from Tragic Akkar Explosion
Burns, Tears as Beirut Medics Treat Fuel Blast Victims
Anger in Lebanon after Fuel Tank Explosion Kills 28
Ravaged Lebanon in complete darkness as electricity grid disintegrates/George Azar/Arab News/August 16, 2021
Pressure builds for new Lebanon government as chaos deepens
Lebanese direct anger at Aoun after Akkar fuel tanker blast

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 16-17/2021
Taliban in Control of Afghanistan, Panic in Kabul
Taliban Spokesman Mohammad Naeem: It Is Unreasonable To Deny Afghanistan Of Foreign Aid If The Taliban Implements The Shari'a – Islam Is The Faith Of The People
Taliban Takeover is World's Failure, Says UK
Afghan refugees could give Erdogan leverage with Europe
Shia cleric lashes out at Iran’s interference in Iraq
Attempts to destroy Egypt were thwarted, says president
First Rocket Fired into Israel from Gaza since May
Air raid sirens sound in Israel after rocket fired from Gaza
Four Turkish soldiers killed in northern Iraq: Defense ministry
Residents of Syria’s Tel Tamr celebrate Assumption of Mary amid Turkish bombardment

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 16-17/2021
The Taliban Are The Future/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/August 16/2021
The Taliban Victory – Made In USA/Yigal Carmon and Tufail Ahmad/MEMRI/August 17/2021
Iran and Israel are on the brink of catastrophe/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/August 16, 2021
Afghanistan Is a Failure of Military Intelligence—and Common Sense/Thomas Joscelyn/FDD's Long War Journal/August 14/2021
After lengthy siege, Lashkar Gah is taken by the Taliban/Bill Roggio and Andrew Tobin/August 16/2021
This Week in History: Constantinople Saves Western Civilization from Islam/Raymond Ibrahim/August 16/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 16-17/2021
Amer Fakhoury Foundation Tweet
Amanda Fakhoury Iskandar/August 16/2021
This year has been the hardest to say the least. When I thought the hardest part was waiting for your return home safely after being unjustly taken little did i know what was coming afterwards. We waited in agony for 6 months working relentlessly for your return home safely only to lose you shortly after.
A year ago today we got the call to come say our goodbyes. A year ago today i sat by your bedside ,prayed and asked God to take some of my years and add them to yours if it meant keeping you here with us. This day last year is on replay in my mind. It broke my heart watching God take you away. No amount of words can describe the pain of not hearing your voice ,not being able to hug you and the list goes on. I know you’re watching over us and protecting us but I would give anything to see you walk through that front door again.  I love you so much

Shea Meets Aoun and Miqati, Urges 'Reform-Focused Govt.'
Naharnet/August 16/2021
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea on Monday offered her country's "sincere condolences over the loss of life and grievous injuries suffered in yesterday's explosion in Akkar.""Earlier today, I met with Prime Minister-Designate Miqati, and we discussed the status of Lebanese efforts to form a government quickly. And I just now concluded a meeting with His Excellency President (Michel) Aoun, in which we discussed the same topic," Shea said after talks with Aoun in Baabda. "I reiterated the absolute urgency of the situation. The Lebanese people are suffering. The economy and basic services have reached the precipice of collapse. Every day that goes by without an empowered government committed to and able to implement urgently needed reforms is a day in which the already dire situation slides further into humanitarian catastrophe," Shea warned. She added that the United States and the international community are "partnering to provide direct support to the people of Lebanon," and "will continue to do so." "As I stand here, I have colleagues urgently working on the aid that President Biden recently announced to help where basic, sometimes lifesaving, services have failed. This is the government’s responsibility, but we know the people of Lebanon cannot wait," Shea said. "In parallel, we urge those who continue to block government formation and reform to put aside partisan interests," the ambassador added. She also said that Washington welcomes the EU’s new sanctions framework to "promote accountability and reform in Lebanon," adding that the United States "will continue to coordinate with our partners on appropriate measures." "Lebanon needs its leaders to take urgent rescue action, and that can’t happen without an empowered, reform-focused government that begins to address the needs of the people and begins the hard work of economic recovery. It’s not going to happen without leadership, but it can happen," Shea went on to say.

Shea: Every day without government is a day in which already dire situation slides further into humanitarian catastrophe
US ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea said on Monday that “every day that goes by without an empowered government in Lebanon that is committed to and able to implement urgently needed reforms is a day in which the already dire situation slides further into a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Shea’s comments were made from the Baabda Presidential Palace after meeting with President Michel Aoun. “Earlier today, I met with Prime Minister-designate [Najib] Mikati and we discussed the status of Lebanese efforts to form a government quickly and I just now concluded a meeting with his Excellency President Aoun in which we discussed the same topic,” she added. Shea reiterated “the absolute urgency of the situation,” saying that the Lebanese people are suffering. “The economy and basic services have reached the precipice of collapse,” she noted. On another note, Shea urged those who continue to block government formation and reforms “to put aside their partisan interests.”“We welcomed the European Union’s sanctions framework on accountability and reforms in Lebanon and the United States will continue to coordinate with our partners on appropriate measures,” Shea concluded by saying.

Lebanese President Aoun: We are on the brink of forming a new government
Reuters/August 16, 2021
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Aoun said in a statement on Monday that a new government was on the brink of formation, “God willing in the next couple days.”

Aoun Hopes for Govt. in Few Days, Says Won't Resign
Naharnet/August 16/2021
President Michel Aoun on Monday hoped that the new government will be formed in the “next few days,” as he stressed that he will not resign. Noting that he is a “partner” with the PM-designate in the formation process, Aoun said he has the right to choose from the proposed candidates.“I will not resign and I will perform my duties until the end,” the President emphasized. “I hope that the phase of rebuilding Lebanon psychologically and materially will start with me before being completed by the new president,” Aoun went on to say. He added: “We hope to be able to curb the crisis through the formation of a new government in the next few days, despite the efforts by some to obstruct this formation.” Aoun also said that the new government would start “structural reforms and negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to rebuild Lebanon and re-organized it administratively and politically at the various levels.”

Miqati Meets Aoun, Says Discussions Have Entered Names Phase
Naharnet/August 16/2021
Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati announced Monday that the cabinet formation negotiations have entered the phase of picking candidates, signaling that an agreement has been reached on the distribution of ministerial portfolios. “We are trying to resolve the issue in a manner that is convenient for everyone,” Miqati said after meeting President Michel Aoun in Baabda.Adding that there will be further meetings this week, the PM-designate confirmed that the discussions have entered the names phase.Responding to a reporter’s question, Miqati said: “The chances of forming a government are higher than those of stepping down. There is no specific deadline but the time frame is not open-ended.”

Crisis-Hit Lebanon Reels from Tragic Akkar Explosion
Agence France Presse/August 16/2021
Lebanon reeled Monday from a deadly explosion that burned alive people desperate to fill plastic containers with fuel in a country sinking ever deeper into darkness and chaos. At least 28 people were killed when the fuel tank, which was swarmed by residents clamoring to fill their vehicles amid crippling shortages, blew up early on Sunday in the northern region of Akkar. The latest deadly disaster comes as Lebanon grapples with an economic crisis described by the World Bank as one of the world's worst since the 1850s. Nearly 80 people were also injured in the blast, many of them with burns that further overwhelmed hospitals struggling to function without electricity, medics said. On Monday, foreign countries and U.N. agencies were scrambling emergency aid to help exhausted health workers cope with the new influx of serious injuries and run DNA tests on the charred remains of the dead.
Shortages of key commodities have accelerated and compounded one another in recent days, leaving much of Lebanon struggling to source fuel, gas and even bread, with buying power pummeled by the currency losing more than 90 percent of its value on the black market. The country's six million inhabitants now fear the internet and drinking water will be next to disappear. The blast in Akkar, one of the most impoverished parts of the country, was a deadly direct consequence of a vicious cycle fast turning the region's erstwhile beacon of modernity into a failed state.
The scenes of horror piled trauma on a country still coming to terms with last year's cataclysmic Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people and disfigured the city. Nobody has been held to account for the port blast, caused by the poor storage of enormous quantities of ammonium nitrate that had languished there for years.
'Need to leave'
Across the country, with no more than two hours a day of mains electricity supply, many shops and restaurants remain closed, unable to source fuel for their generators. Many private and public sector employees have been told to stay home and most of the rest have often ended up doing the same for lack of transport options. Stuck in an endless queue of cars at a Beirut petrol station, Mohammed, who did not want to give his full name, said he could see no light at the end of the tunnel. "We need to leave Lebanon. We all need to get out," said the 30-year-old engineer. "I've started working on it, and God help those who stay." His six-month-old baby had cried through the sweltering night, and his family was being forced to spend hard-earned savings on operating a private generator to keep his grandmother's oxygen concentrator running. "There's no more hope," he said. The state has declared a national day of mourning over the Akkar blast, a move unlikely to offer much solace to a population that blamed those very authorities for the tragedy. Angry protesters on Sunday torched the home of the landowner on whose plot the tragedy unfolded, accusing him of involvement in a hoarding and smuggling scheme allegedly covered up by top officials. The exact circumstances of the explosion, which happened at night and as a huge crowd of people swarmed the tank, have yet to be fully established.
'Massacre'
Gas station owners have been accused of hoarding fuel ahead of an expected price hike, causing crippling shortages and spawning a ruthless black market that is enriching a small cartel and choking the rest of the country. The central bank last week warned it could no longer afford to subsidize fuel imports. A few dozen people protested on Sunday in front of the Beirut home of Najib Miqati, who was recently appointed prime minister-designate. The country's richest man is the third person to attempt to form a government since the last one resigned in the aftermath of the Beirut port blast last August. Sahar Mandour of Amnesty International called the Akkar blast "a massacre resulting from an economic crisis caused by massive corruption that has been going on for years." "The latest economic crisis didn't close the door to corruption... it aggravated it to an extent that it is now deadly," she told AFP on Monday.
The lack of a government is freezing international assistance that could help dig Lebanon out of the abyss. As every aspect of daily life unravels, sometimes deadly scuffles have broken out at petrol stations and residents across the country fear for their safety. "I feel like crying about everything," said Farah, a 21-year living in the mountainous Chouf region. "I'm scared we'll get to the point where we can't leave this country, even from the airport... We only have the sea left. I feel we'll drown trying to get out," she said.

Burns, Tears as Beirut Medics Treat Fuel Blast Victims
Agence France Presse/August 16/2021
Anger and grief collided in a crowded Beirut hospital Sunday as relatives of burn victims from a fuel tanker explosion in north Lebanon waited breathlessly for news of loved ones. Geitawi hospital, which has one of the country's two burn centres, saw an influx of patients injured in the overnight blast that killed at least 28 people in the Akkar district village of Al-Tleil. Dozens of people had flocked to the village to get petrol, a scarce and increasingly costly resource the army was distributing after confiscating it in efforts to combat stockpiling by distributors. The official National News Agency said the explosion followed scuffles between residents clamouring to get some petrol, but the exact cause of the blast remains unclear. The burns unit in Beirut, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the blast site, was seen as a last hope for families turned away from overstretched medical facilities in the north. Sawsan Abdullah tracked down her son, a soldier, as he was transferred from one hospital to another for treatment after being caught up in the explosion. She burst into tears at Geitawi hospital when a doctor informed her that her son was in a critical condition. "You told me he was okay! I want to see him, I only have him, he's my only son!" she yelled, falling to the floor as relatives rushed to help her. Speaking to AFP afterwards, she said her son had only been looking for petrol so he could go to his work in the army.
'A failed state'
"We live in a failed state, which loves neither its people, nor its soldiers," said Sawsan, whose husband, who was also a soldier, died in clashes with an Islamist group in north Lebanon in 2000. Lebanon is grappling with an economic crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the planet's worst in modern times, and has been hit by severe fuel shortages since the start of summer. These have aggravated power cuts which now last more than 22 hours a day, threatening hospitals and businesses with closure.
Sawsan's 26-year-old daughter Sandy blamed the country's leaders for negligence that led to her brother ending up in hospital. "He is my only brother, my only support... I have already been denied a father since I was five," she said. At the entrance to the hospital's emergency room, doctors, nurses and even police tried to restrain relatives clamouring to enter. One man in military fatigues was searching for his brother-in-law, who was still missing in the wake of the blast. "What am I going to tell my sister?" he yelled. Another person waiting at the hospital cried: "There are people who have lost two of three relatives." Marwa al-Sheikh, 33, had two male relatives caught up in the explosion. Her brother was being treated for burns in Geitawi, but her brother-in-law, a retired army officer, was still missing. She could barely hold back her tears.
"My brother-in-law has four children, the eldest is only five years old. We don't know if he's dead or if he's still alive," she said.
'My son is burning'
Marwa said some bodies had been charred beyond recognition, so relatives could not determine whether he was among the dead. "We'll have to wait for DNA tests," she told AFP. The latest tragedy drew inevitable comparisons to last summer's monster explosion at Beirut port that killed more than 200 people and devastated swathes of the capital. On August 4, 2020, a stock of carelessly stored ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded in one of the world's largest non-nuclear blasts. Authorities from customs and port officials to senior members of parliament and government had all been accused of being aware of the threat from the cache but had failed to take action. On Sunday, Geitawi hospital director Pierre Yared said the state was completely absent in the aftermath of the Akkar blast. "The authorities are not responding to our complaints... the hospitals are in critical condition, we lack everything," he said.
Uday Khodr, another soldier, ended up in Geitawi after being taken to three other facilities that were unable to treat him. He was badly burned in the blast. His father Mamdouh waited anxiously in the emergency room for news. "My son paid a heavy cost for the scarcity of fuel," he said. "Where is the country going? Why can't we live comfortably?" Mamdouh blamed Lebanon's leaders for what had happened.
"My son is burning while they destroy this country. I hope their hearts burn too."

Anger in Lebanon after Fuel Tank Explosion Kills 28
Agence France Presse/August 16/2021
A fuel tank explosion in Lebanon killed 28 people and injured 80 on Sunday as a crowd clamored for petrol, authorities and medics said, the latest catastrophe to spark outrage in the crisis-hit country. The tragedy in the impoverished north overwhelmed medical facilities and heaped new misery on a nation already beset by an economic crisis and severe fuel shortages that have crippled hospitals and caused long power cuts. It also revived bitter memories of a massive blast at Beirut port last August that killed more than 200 people and destroyed swathes of the capital. The health ministry said the explosion in Al-Tleil village in the Akkar region killed 28 people and wounded 80. Caretaker premier Hassan Diab's office declared a national day of mourning for Monday. Anger boiled over as protesters attacked the Beirut home of premier-designate Najib Mikati to demand his resignation, with rocks thrown and clashes with anti-riot forces, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported. The military said a fuel tank that "had been confiscated by the army to distribute to citizens" exploded just before 2:00 am (2300 GMT) on Sunday. Two soldiers died, 11 were critically injured and four are missing, it added. The military began raiding petrol stations Saturday to curb hoarding after the central bank scrapped fuel subsidies. The NNA said the blast followed scuffles as people crowded to get petrol. Hospitals in Akkar, one of Lebanon's poorest regions, and in the northern port city of Tripoli said they had to turn away many injured because they were ill-equipped to treat severe burns.
'Don't leave us!
"The corpses are so charred that we can't identify them," employee Yassine Metlej at an Akkar hospital told AFP. A security source said that DNA testing to identify victims had begun. AFP correspondents at several hospitals saw remains covered in white shrouds. At Tripoli's Al-Salam hospital, emergency rooms quickly filled. "Don't leave us!" cried one mother beside her burned son as a man wept and prayed for his own son. Akkar residents torched an empty house thought to belong to the owner of the land where the explosion took place, the NNA reported. The army tweeted that the owner had been arrested. Health Minister Hamad Hassan said he was in contact with several countries to evacuate serious cases abroad. A Turkish plane arrived in Beirut on Sunday evening to transport four soldiers who had suffered serious burns, the NNA reported. Ismail al-Sheikh, 23, burned on his arms and legs, was driven by his sister Marwa to Beirut's Geitawi hospital, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) away. "We were informed that the army was distributing gasoline... so people flocked to fill it in plastic containers," Marwa told AFP. She said some witnesses said a lighter sparked the blast; others claimed shots were fired. The explosion was widely seen as a direct consequence of official negligence that had pushed the country deeper into free fall.
"The dead are victims of a careless state," Marwa told AFP.
Political wrangling
Sawsan Abdullah burst into tears at Geitawi hospital when a doctor told her that her soldier son was in critical condition. "He's my only son!" Abdullah yelled, falling to the floor. Lebanon, hit by a financial crisis, has been grappling with soaring poverty, a plummeting currency and dire fuel shortages. The central bank this week said it could not afford to fund fuel subsidies because of dwindling foreign reserves, and accused importers of hoarding fuel to sell at higher prices on the black market or in Syria. Fuel shortages have left many with just two hours of electricity a day, and several hospitals have warned they may have to close due to power outages. President Michel Aoun ordered a probe into the blast and chaired an emergency defence council meeting, his office said in a statement. It that hospitals would be provided with diesel to power generators. The council also called on the government to task security forces with monitoring the storage and distribution of fuel to prevent further incidents. Sunday's blast comes less than two weeks after Lebanon marked the first anniversary of the Beirut port explosion. Despite the economic crisis, political wrangling has delayed the formation of a new government after the last cabinet resigned in the wake of that blast. Vital international aid pledges remain contingent on a new government being formed to spearhead reforms, and on talks restarting with the International Monetary Fund. Russia called for a "thorough investigation" into Sunday's blast and Jordan urged a "comprehensive plan" for Lebanon.

Ravaged Lebanon in complete darkness as electricity grid disintegrates
George Azar/Arab News/August 16, 2021
DUBAI: Lebanon has been plunged into total darkness after its electric grid crumpled, piling further sorrows on a country teetering on the edge of collapse. In a statement late on Sunday, the state-owned Électricité Du Liban announced that it had entered the stage of a complete blackout after “feeding reached an extremely low level.”EDL had been supplying around one hour of electricity per day in the crisis-torn country with private generators struggling to fill the gaps, leaving residents with more than 15 hours of blackouts. Eight feeding stations, which transfer power from Lebanon’s four main power plants onto its grid, have also been seized by angry residents, diverging electricity solely to their towns and villages. The stations, located in southern Lebanon and Baalbek, have been seized for the better part of a week, with EDL calling on security forces to restore order. “We’re in no man’s land, it’s simply not safe for employees to go to work anymore,” an EDL manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Arab News. With these stations effectively being run by untrained residents, the danger of an overload on a circuit becomes a possibility. “It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” he said. To make matters worse, public-sector employees including EDL workers are expected to go on a full-fledged strike starting this week, he said. “How do you expect an employee, living on $40 a month, with no gasoline, no medicine and no sense of security, to go to work,” he asked. Acute fuel shortages have led the small Mediterranean country to the brink of a humanitarian disaster, with hospitals across the country sounding the alarm. As dwindling diesel stocks threatened the lives of “40 adult patients and 15 children living on respirators” and another 180 others who are receiving dialysis treatment, one of Lebanon’s foremost university hospitals pleaded with concerned stakeholders for help. These patients would die “within a matter of days,” the American University of Beirut’s Medical Center said on Saturday, before issuing a statement saying that it had replenished its stock for a week.
“After many calls that went unheeded, the AUB administration finally managed to get through to those who saw the dangers and were willing to take the initiative and help. Fuel suppliers, companies and citizens have stepped up, and AUBMC and other hospitals began to receive a resupply of fuel,” it said Sunday.
“AUBMC is gradually building back up its fuel supply and by tonight should have around a week of reserves,” it added.
The impending catastrophe comes on the heels of a tragic accident in the northern Akkar district that killed 28 people and injured scores of others. At least 28 people were killed and 79 injured when a fuel tanker exploded in northern Lebanon early on Sunday, the health ministry said, after a seized fuel tanker exploded while residents flocked to replenish makeshift tanks. Accounts varied as to what caused the explosion, from gunfire from the disgruntled tanker owner to reports that it was caused by a person who ignited a lighter. With the country’s hospitals running on fumes and unable to care for patients amid fuel and medicine shortages, officials turned to friendly neighbors for help.Three patients with severe burn wounds were airlifted to Turkey while Kuwait and Egypt sent over 10 tonnes of medical aid to Lebanon. Speaking to his supporters Sunday evening, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his Iran-backed party will begin importing fuel from Tehran. The militant chief had previously said his group would be able to import fuel from Iran while bypassing Lebanon’s central bank to evade US sanctions. “We will go to Iran and negotiate with the Iranian government… and buy vessels full of petrol and fuel oil and bring them to Beirut port,” he said, defying the “Lebanese state (to dare) to prevent the fuel and gasoline from reaching the Lebanese people.”

Pressure builds for new Lebanon government as chaos deepens
Tom Perry and Nafisa Eltahir/BEIRUT, Aug 16 (Reuters)
- Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said he hoped a new government to be formed within the next couple days, as the country's descent into chaos spurred by a financial meltdown prompted renewed efforts to come to an agreement.
The two-year crisis hit a new crunch point in the past week, with shortages of imported fuel forcing hospitals, bakeries and other essential services to scale back or shut down. At least 28 people were killed over the weekend when a fuel tanker exploded as people desperate for gasoline scrambled to get a share.
President Michel Aoun, the Maronite Christian head of state, is due to meet Najib Mikati, the Sunni Muslim prime minister-designate, on Monday. "We are about to form a new government," Aoun said in an audio statement on Monday, specifying later it would be "within a couple days, God willing". "It's evolving positively. (There are) some issues to be tackled, mainly names," a senior political source told Reuters. "The whole situation is deteriorating, the whole system is collapsing," the source added, explaining the impetus. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the heavily armed, Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah, on Sunday urged the government to be formed in two or three days, saying this was the only way to prevent anarchy which had already begun. He also said Hezbollah would begin bringing diesel and gasoline from Iran and the timeline would be announced soon. Speaking after meeting Aoun, U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said basic services had "reached the precipice of collapse". "Every day that goes by without an empowered government committed to and able to implement urgently needed reforms is a day in which the already dire situation slides further into humanitarian catastrophe," she said.The culmination of decades of state corruption and mismanagement, the crisis entered a new phase last week when the central bank said it would no longer finance fuel imports at subsidised exchange rates. With its currency reserves depleted, the bank has said new legislation is needed to allow use of the mandatory foreign reserve for such imports. The government demanded prices be left unchanged. There has been no resolution to the standoff. The crisis has sunk the currency by more than 90% and sent more than half the population into poverty. Despite that, the ruling elite has failed to agree a rescue plan, or to form a new government since Prime Minister Hassan Diab's cabinet quit last August after the Beirut port explosion. Mikati, a businessman-politician, was designated to form the government after Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri abandoned his attempts, saying he could not agree with Aoun. Each blamed the other. *Reporting by Tom Perry and Nafisa Eltahir; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Alison Williams

Lebanese direct anger at Aoun after Akkar fuel tanker blast
The Arab Weekly/August 16/2021
BEIRUT--Lebanese President Michel Aoun has been a magnet for Lebanese anger as the deadly fuel tank blast in Al-Tleil village in the Akkar region was seen as illustrating the inability of his regime to protect the Lebanese and prevent the collapse of the Lebanese state.
Ongoing political feuding has paralysed the country and led to the unravelling of the banking system and the failure to form a cabinet for more than a year since the Beirut port bombing.
The tragedy in the impoverished north overwhelmed medical facilities and heaped new misery on a nation already beset by an economic crisis and severe fuel shortages that have crippled hospitals and caused long power cuts.
The explosion was widely seen as a direct consequence of official negligence that had pushed the country deeper into free fall.
Lebanese politicians and clerics directed harsh criticism at Aoun, calling for his resignation so as to allow others to save Lebanon. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri told Aoun, “You will not soon find an embassy to shelter you,” referring to the asylum received by Aoun in the early nineties of the last century at the French embassy. At least 28 people were killed and dozens injured when a fuel tank exploded in Akkar. The army had seized the tank on property belonging to a well-known fuel smuggler, after the tank was discovered by youths in the area.
The Lebanese army announced the death of two of its members and the injury of 18 others, 11 of whom are in “critical conditions”, while four are still missing. Addressing Aoun, Hariri said, “Akkar stirred the pain of all the Lebanese and there were no tools of sedition involved. You see people’s pain as sedition and we see it as a cry in your face. Leave, Mr President, leave.”He asked, “How does the President of the Republic allow himself to ignore the people’s pain in Akkar to speak at a meeting of the Defence Council and talk about the activities of extremist groups that aim to create a situation of chaos and lawlessness … Akkar is not Kandahar … Akkar has been oppressed by you and your era. The fire has been ignited in its heart before it was ignited in the smuggling tanks.”
Earlier on Sunday, Aoun held a special meeting of the Supreme Defence Council at Baabda Palace, during which he reviewed “the activities of extremist groups aimed at creating a situation of chaos and lawlessness in the north.”
The confusion of the Aounist movement after the Akkar explosion was in clear evidence, with the president’s son-in-law and head of the “Free Patriotic Movement”, Gibran Bassil, expressing the view that Akkar should be declared a military zone so as to ensure the security and protection of its residents.
“We have warned two weeks ago that Akkar has virtually drifted outside the country, because of the fuel gangs that block roads and stations and hijack fuel tanks,” Bassil tweeted.
Bassil called for cancellation of the decision of the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, which, he said, causes “chaos and sparks strife.”
On Wednesday, the Central Bank had announced that it would stop subsidising fuel imports, which will lead to a fivefold increase in fuel prices in the Lebanese market.
Since Saturday, many Lebanese regions have witnessed security raids on fuel stations and storage tanks whose owners are hoarding quantities of fuel (petrol and diesel) in order to sell them later at high prices or smuggle them to Syria, which has been experiencing a fuel crisis of its own for months now.
The Mufti of Baalbek-Hermel, Sheikh Khaled Al-Solh, said, “This heinous crime jolts thrones and therefore you must resign in order to bring relief to the country and the people if there is still an ounce of humanity or conscience left in anyone.”
He added, “We have confidence today only in the army to curb hoarding and collapse. We call upon it to assume control of the affairs of this country and hopefully alleviate the brunt of the catastrophe.”
Because of a severe economic crisis, Lebanon has been for months witnessing a shortage of fuel, medicines and other basic commodities, due to a shortage of foreign currency reserves at the Central Bank, needed to cover imports.
As a result of the severe economic crisis, which was ranked by the World Bank as being among the worst in the world since 1850, no less than 78 percent of the Lebanese now live below the poverty line, according to United Nations statistics.
The Lebanese hold the ruling class responsible for the economic collapse and the crises that have befallen the country during the past two years. On top of these crises, has been the Beirut Port blast on August 4, 2020, as a result of the combustion of huge quantities of ammonium nitrate stored there for seven years with the knowledge of many political, security and military officials who made no effort to prevent the catastrophe.Since the resignation of Hassan Diab’s government after the port explosion, differences between the political factions have prevented the formation of a government. The international community wants such a government to introduce far-reaching reforms in exchange for financial support that would help Lebanon overcome its economic crisis.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 16-17/2021
Taliban in Control of Afghanistan, Panic in Kabul
Agence France Presse/August 16, 2021
Victorious Taliban fighters patrolled Kabul on Monday after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. President Ashraf Ghani flew out of the country on Sunday night as the insurgents encircled the capital, capping a military victory that saw them capture all cities in just 10 days. "The Taliban have won with the judgement of their swords and guns, and are now responsible for the honour, property and self-preservation of their countrymen," Ghani said afterwards. Government forces collapsed without the support of the US military, which invaded in 2001 after the September 11 attacks and toppled the Taliban for its support of Al-Qaeda. But the United States ultimately failed to build a democratic government capable of withstanding the Taliban, despite spending billions of dollars and providing two decades of military support. After police and other government forces gave up their posts in Kabul on Sunday, Taliban fighters took over checkpoints across the city and entered the presidential palace. Militants with rifles slung over their shoulders also walked through the streets of the Green Zone, the formerly heavily fortified district that houses most embassies and international organisations. The Taliban sought to reassure the international community that Afghans should not fear them, and said they will not take revenge against those who supported the US-backed alliance. In a message posted to social media, Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar called on his fighters to remain disciplined after taking control of the city. "Now it's time to test and prove, now we have to show that we can serve our nation and ensure security and comfort of life," he said. The Taliban's capture of the capital had occurred, as in many other cities, without the bloodshed that many had feared.
'We are afraid'
But there were desperate scenes at Kabul's airport on Monday as people tried to board the few flights available. "We are afraid to live in this city," a 25-year-old ex-soldier told AFP as he stood among huge crowds on the tarmac. "Since I served in the army, the Taliban would definitely target me." The United States has sent 6,000 troops to the airport to ensure the safe evacuation of embassy staff, as well as Afghans who worked as interpreters or in other support roles. Other governments, including France, Germany and Australia, also organised charter flights. The US government said Monday it had secured the airport, but there was still chaos with witnesses reporting soldiers firing shots into the air to ward off crowds. Authorities then cancelled all remaining commercial flights, citing the threat of looters. The United States had earlier released a statement with more than 65 nations urging the Taliban to let Afghans leave the country, warning of accountability for any abuses. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the Taliban and all parties to "exercise restraint" and said the rights of women and girls must be protected. The Taliban imposed an ultra-strict interpretation of sharia law during their 1996-2001 rule. This included banning girls from schools and women from working, while people were publicly stoned to death for adultery. Muska Dastageer, a lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, which opened five years after the Taliban were ousted, said Kabul residents felt "frightened and helpless". "The fear just sits inside your chest like a black bird. It opens its wings and you can't breathe," she wrote on Twitter.
US credibility 'diminished'
The UN Security Council was set to hold an emergency session on Afghanistan on Monday, with the Taliban looking for formal recognition. China was the first major nation to flag support for the Taliban, stating it was ready for "friendly relations". Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan planned to meet with the Taliban on Tuesday, with recognition to be determined on how they govern the country in the near future, a foreign ministry official in Moscow said. The US government has insisted in recent days that its two decades of war in Afghanistan was a success, defined by quashing the Al-Qaeda threat. President Joe Biden said there was no choice but to withdraw American troops and he would not "pass this war" onto another president. But Washington was left shocked by the rapid collapse of the Afghan government, and critics have said the United States' reputation as a global power has been badly tarnished. "America's credibility as an ally is diminished," said Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States.

Taliban Spokesman Mohammad Naeem: It Is Unreasonable To Deny Afghanistan Of Foreign Aid If The Taliban Implements The Shari'a – Islam Is The Faith Of The People
MEMRI/August 16, 2021
Mohammad Naeem, the Spokesman for the Taliban's Political Bureau and a member of its negotiations delegation in Qatar referred to a quote by German Foreign Minister stating that Germany would deny Afghanistan of aid if the Taliban implements the Islamic shari'a in the country, saying that this was "unreasonable." He made his remarks in an interview that aired on Russia Today TV on August 12, 2021. Naeem said that Islam is the "faith of the people" and that even according to international principles and democracy, the rule should be compatible with the will and values of the people.
Denying Afghanistan Foreign Aid If Shari'a Is Implemented Is "Unreasonable... Shouldn't The Rule Be Compatible With The People's Will And Values?" Journalist: "[The German FM] said: 'If the Taliban takes over and implements the Islamic shar'ia, we will not give Afghanistan a single cent.' Will the Taliban insist in implementing the Islamic shari'a, even if it leads to the denial of international aid, and to international boycott and isolation?" Mohammad Naeem: "I think that a high-ranking official must not say such things. It is not certain whether he said this or not. In any case, this is unreasonable, because Islam is the faith of the people. It is the most important principle of the Afghan people, of whom, more than 99% are Muslims. Even if we examine international principles... Take democracy, which they advocate – shouldn't the rule be compatible with the people's will and values? Refusing To Give Aid If Shari'a Is Implemented "Is Like Refusing To Help A Certain Country Unless Its People Renounce Their Faith, Their Will, And Their Identity" "It is like refusing to help a certain country unless its people renounce their faith, their will, and their identity. This is not something that a reasonable person would say."

Taliban Takeover is World's Failure, Says UK
Agence France Presse/August 16, 2021
The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan is a "failure of the international community", Britain's Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Monday, assessing that the West's intervention was a job only half-done. "All of us know that Afghanistan is not finished. It's an unfinished problem for the world and the world needs to help it," he told BBC television. He maintained the 20-year intervention by U.S.-led forces "wasn't a waste, it wasn't for nothing" but accused Western powers of being politically short-sighted. "If it's a failure, it's a failure of the international community to not realize that you don't fix things overnight," he said. HR McMaster, the former U.S. national security adviser sacked by ex-president Donald Trump in 2018, accused his country of "willful ignorance" for its failure to realize the Taliban would swiftly take control. Both Wallace and McMaster have criticized a deal secured by former U.S. president Donald Trump that would have seen the U.S. withdraw all its troops by May 2021 in exchange for security guarantees from the Islamist militants. The deal weakened the Afghan government and security forces and strengthened the Taliban, McMaster said, adding: "We stood idly by and we turned a blind eye. This was utterly predictable."John Bolton, who replaced McMaster as national security adviser before also being sacked by Trump, said the withdrawal made the United States look like "suckers" in Beijing, Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang.
'Humiliating moment
Britain last month withdrew most of its 750 remaining troops but is now sending 600 soldiers back to help with repatriation. Officials are aiming to take 1,200 to 1,500 people from Afghanistan a day, with the first flight having landed at a British air force base on Sunday night. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Britain would help some 3,000 nationals to leave but questions are being asked why he did not do more to oppose Washington's withdrawal. He has convened another meeting of his emergency and contingencies group -- the third in four days -- and parliament has been recalled. Former NATO secretary general George Robertson, who in 2001 invoked the alliance's collective defense clause, said he was "sad and sickened" by the scenes from Afghanistan. "I find it ironic at best but tragic at worst that the anniversary of 9/11 is going to be commemorated in a few weeks' time with the Taliban back in control of Kabul," he told BBC radio. The Times newspaper called the rapid pullout "unforced and unnecessary" and said it was becoming "the greatest disaster in American foreign policy for almost 50 years." NATO's former top civilian representative in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, called it a "humiliating moment for the West."

Afghan refugees could give Erdogan leverage with Europe
The Arab Weekly/August 16/2021
LONDON--The Taliban’s rapid advance into Kabul is not only causing concern about Afghanistan’s future but also about the impact on other countries in the region and their economies. Iran and then Iraq lie to the west of Afghanistan. Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are to the north. But the immediate focus for financial markets and investors is Pakistan to the east. Pakistan has a large public debt, a sizeable equity market and is dependent on a $6 billion IMF programme. The prospect of years of violence and waves of refugees will add pressure to its fiscal repair plans. “It is a very troubling situation and unfortunately has set the region back many years,” said Shamaila Khan, head of emerging market debt at AllianceBernstein. “I think the neighbouring countries will have to deal with an influx of refugees in the coming months/years”. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR estimates 400,000 Afghans have already fled their homes this year. Only a few hundred of these displaced persons are known to have fled Afghanistan itself but the UNHCR estimates there are 2.6 million Afghan refugees worldwide, with 1.4 million in Pakistan and a million in Iran. Kay Van-Petersen, a global macro strategist at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore, said the impact of the crisis in Afghanistan could ultimately spread far wider. Many Afghan refugees could seek refuge in Europe, he said, following an earlier influx of migrants, mostly fleeing war or persecution in Syria, other Middle Eastern countries and Afghanistan. If the refugees travel via Turkey, he said, they could help Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan make political or financial demands of the European Union. “Basically it’s a lever for Erdogan to pull with the European Union … ‘Pay us to take care of these refugees or we are just going to let them through’,” he said.
This could weigh on the euro and lift Turkey’s lira , he said.
Pakistan’s bond prices have already fallen nearly 8% this year, though many financial analysts think this has probably had more to do with delays in it obtaining its latest tranche of IMF money than with the security situation. “Another influx of refugees and the spillover of violent groups motivated to destabilise urban areas and infrastructure, particularly, on the western side of Pakistan … could set Pakistan’s recovery and reform story back,” said Hasnain Malik, an analyst at research firm Tellimer. Nearly 10,000 Pakistani civilians were killed in attacks between 2010 and 2015 South Asia Terrorism Portal figures show. Those numbers have fallen since then but there are concerns they will now rise again. Pakistan’s IMF programme is its thirteenth in 30 years and is needed to help the government tackle a public debt of about 90% of GDP. Any Taliban attacks inside Pakistan could raise security concerns and make it harder for Islamabad to meet targets set by the IMF. At the same time, some investors say, they could increase Pakistan’s strategic important for the West. “The IMF is carefully watching the fast-moving situation on the ground in Afghanistan,” a Fund spokesperson said on Friday, adding that it was premature to speculate about what impact the security situation could have on Pakistan. “If the Taliban takes control (of Afghanistan), Pakistan becomes even more strategically important to the US,” said Kevin Daly, a portfolio manager at ABRDN. This, he said, could help keep IMF money flowing. Emerging market watcher Tim Ash at BlueBay Asset Management said that the Taliban’s advances as NATO troops withdrew had damaged US credibility and fed into the growing rivalry between Washington and China. “Comparisons with Vietnam abound,” Ash said, recalling the evacuation of the last Americans and many South Vietnamese via from the roof of the US embassy as Saigon fell in 1975. “With that feeling of a Saigon moment and the last US helicopter out.”

Shia cleric lashes out at Iran’s interference in Iraq
The Arab Weekly/August 16/2021
BAGHDAD--An Iraqi Shia cleric close to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani launched a veiled criticism of Iranian influence in the country, sparking a backlash Sunday from a senior pro-Iran figure. Iran has bolstered its influence over its neighbour in recent years. Iraq’s state-sponsored Hashed-al-Shaabi paramilitary network, which is dominated by pro-Iran groups, now wields major political and military sway in the country. Critics have accused the Hashed of being Iran’s armed wing in Iraq, and protesters who took part in a popular uprising in late 2019 blame it for a wave of assassinations and kidnappings of activists. During a religious event on Saturday, Sheikh Hamid al-Yassiri appeared to lash out at the Hashed, without naming it or Iran directly. Revered Shia figure “Imam Hussein taught us that whoever is not loyal to his homeland is a traitor and an imposter,” Yassiri said. All counsel, all voices and positions that come from beyond the borders have nothing to do with the doctrine of Imam Hussein.” The comments sparked the ire of Qais al-Khazali, who heads a powerful Hashed faction known as Asaib Ahl al-Haq. Khazali in a tweet accused “certain religious figures who hide behind nationalism” of “trying to pass off their projects by linking their ideas to Imam Hussein.” Sistani, the highest religious authority for Iraq’s Shia Muslims, is highly reclusive and rarely breaks his silence to intervene in politics. In June 2014, he issued a historic edict calling on Iraqis to take up arms against the Sunni jihadists of the Islamic State (ISIS) group who had swept across swathes of the north, a ruling that spawned the creation of the Hashed al-Shaabi. Iraq, long an arena for bitter rivalry between the US and Iran despite their shared enmity towards ISIS, has seen growing numbers of attacks and assassinations in recent months. Iraq researcher Hamdi Malik of the Washington Institute said recent attacks by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Eastern Syria were a way of bolstering support. Pro-Iranian groups suffered a heavy blow in January last year with the US killing of Iran’s revered commander Qasem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. “By not acting when more of their people are killed, (pro-Iran groups) risk losing their credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of their own bases,” Malik said. They were also cautious of “losing respect in the eyes of other components of the ‘axis of resistance’ in other countries in the region,” he said, referring to pro-Iranian forces in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Attempts to destroy Egypt were thwarted, says president
Arab News/August 16, 2021
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said attempts to destroy the country had been thwarted. In a speech at an event on Saturday, El-Sisi said that this outcome was thanks to the Egyptian people who had “confronted attempts to sabotage the country.” “We were expected to reach the stage of ruin and fight amongst each other,” he told the audience. “Those who were fighting us did not know that they were a tool for destroying the country, and the Egyptians were the ones who confronted these with their sons who were martyred in defense of the homeland, and contributed to the process of correction and change.”He addressed the people present and said: “Through you, I salute the whole Egyptian people. “I am always frank and honest, and I speak according to my understanding and knowledge and to the honesty that I need to talk to people.”
He said there was a need to rearrange and distribute the package of support measures provided to people in light of the state’s orientation toward development and progress. I am addressing issues that no one has addressed. I am taking the difficult path and not the easy one. The value of annual support measures was more than EGP275 billion ($17.5 billion) and such support would reach around EGP3 trillion within 10 years, he added. “I am addressing issues that no one has addressed. I am taking the difficult path and not the easy one. The government is working with the aim of developing the state.”
He stressed that any state official was required to make the greatest effort to change the current situation. He also said that the development of the Egyptian countryside would cost the state from EGP700 billion to EGP800 billion in three years.

First Rocket Fired into Israel from Gaza since May
Agence France Presse/August 16/2021
Militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into Israel on Monday, the army said, the first since a fragile ceasefire in May ended deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas. The "Iron Dome" missile defense system intercepted the rocket, an army statement said, noting that warning sirens sounded in Sderot and other towns nearby. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The rocket was fired after four Palestinians were killed earlier Monday in clashes with Israeli security forces at Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. An army spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that it was the first rocket fire since a ceasefire on May 21 ended 11 days of battle between the Jewish state and armed groups in the enclave. Israeli strikes killed 260 Palestinians in Gaza, including fighters, while munitions fired from Gaza killed 13 people in Israel including a soldier, the police and army said. Since then, Israel has launched several strikes on Gaza in response to incendiary balloons sent across the border, which sometimes started fires in Israel. Israel has enforced a blockade on the Gaza Strip for nearly 15 years. Last week it eased some trade restrictions on Gaza, including allowing 1,350 vaccinated merchants and businesspeople into Israel for the first time since the pandemic began more than a year ago. The military also permitted the export of goods from the territory into Israel, and expanded the limited list of goods allowed to be imported into Gaza. COGAT, the Israeli military body that administers civilian affairs in occupied Palestinian areas, said the relaxation was "conditional on the continued preservation of the region's security."

Air raid sirens sound in Israel after rocket fired from Gaza
AP/August 16, 2021
JERUSALEM: Air raid sirens sounded in southern Israel on Monday after a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip, the first since the 11-day war between Israel and Palestinian militants in May. The Israeli military said in a statement that it identified one rocket launch that was intercepted by aerial defense batteries.
Amateur video footage appeared to show the rocket being intercepted over the southern town of Sderot. The rocket fire could jeopardize three months of relative calm since Israel and the militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip struck a cease-fire. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire. It came hours after Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian gunmen during a late-night arrest raid in the occupied West Bank, killing four Palestinians in one of the deadliest battles in the area in years. The fighting erupted in Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank where tensions have been high since a man was killed in fighting with Israel earlier this month. Israel’s paramilitary border police said its forces were attempting to arrest a suspect when they “came under heavy fire from close range” by a number of gunmen. It said Israeli forces returned fire, and none of its officers were injured.
The official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said four men were killed by Israeli fire and a fifth was seriously wounded. Amateur footage from the scene appeared to show an intense exchange of gunfire in the streets of Jenin. Senior Palestinian official Hussein Al Sheikh accused Israel of “a heinous crime” and tweeted that “the international community should be ashamed of its silence about this and its failure to provide protection to the Palestinian people from this oppression.”During the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s, Jenin experienced some of the heaviest fighting with Israel, though the area has generally been quiet in recent years. According to the Israeli military, there have been at least eight clashes between troops and Palestinian gunmen over the past two months.
The West Bank has experienced an uptick in deadly violence in recent months, with over two dozen Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in recent weeks, including children and Palestinian protesters. Israel’s war in May in the Gaza Strip, driven by friction in at a contest Jerusalem holy site and attempts by a settler group to evict Palestinians in east Jerusalem, and the recent establishment of a West Bank settlement outpost have contributed to the tensions. Last week, Israel’s military chief urged troops to follow professional regulations and “act with discretion” in light of the complexity of the situation. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and in the decades since has established dozens of settlements where nearly 500,000 settlers reside. The Palestinians seek the West Bank as part of their future state and view the settlements as a major obstacle to resolving the conflict.

Four Turkish soldiers killed in northern Iraq: Defense ministry
AFP/August 16, 2021
ISTANBUL: Four Turkish soldiers have been killed in two separate incidents in northern Iraq where they are battling Kurdish militants, the defense ministry said Monday. Three soldiers died and two were injured when an improvised explosive device went off Sunday in an area where Turkish forces have been conducting an operation against fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the ministry said. Another soldier was killed and one wounded in a shootout with Kurdish fighters near a Turkish military base, it said. Turkish forces routinely conduct operations against PKK bases in rugged mountains in northern Iraq. The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. Turkish troops have maintained a network of bases in Iraq since the mid-1990s under security agreements struck with Saddam Hussein’s regime. The PKK has waged a rebellion in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey since 1984 that has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The PKK’s pan-Kurdish agenda — for a homeland straddling parts of Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran — has often put it at odds with Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish government, which has sought to maintain good relations with Ankara.

Residents of Syria’s Tel Tamr celebrate Assumption of Mary amid Turkish bombardment
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press)/August 16/2021  
On Sunday, hundreds of Assyrian residents in the Tel Tamer town, north of Hasakah, northeastern Syria, celebrated the Assumption of Mary in the Church of Virgin Mary in the town, amid the escalation of the Turkish bombardment on the area. The Assumption of Mary is one of the various Marian feasts celebrated by Christian churches around the world, and the rituals of celebration vary according to parishes, sects and countries. The celebration was limited to the town’s church only due to the dangers of bombing. A night after dozens of shells by the Turkish army and the armed opposition factions, the Church of the Virgin Mary in Tel Tamr was crowded with hundreds of celebrating Assyrians. The arrivals to the church, including displaced persons who came for the occasion, performed the prayers and religious rituals of this holiday. After the mass, Yulia Odisho, who is visiting the area after eight years of war in Germany, said she had celebrated several religious occasions during her visit. She expressed her happiness that the Assyrians gathered to celebrate despite the bombing. Odisho wished that peace would prevail in Syria and that the displaced and refugees would return to their homes and lands.
For more than a month, Tel Tamr town and its countryside have been subjected to shelling, which has resulted in injuries, material losses and the displacement of residents to safe areas. Last night, more than 50 mortar and artillery shells fell on the countryside of Tel Tamr, in addition to the Turkish forces firing light bombs at different times of the night.
Reporting by Delsoz Youssef

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials published on August 16-17/2021
ألبرتو أم. فرنندس/موقع ميمري: الطالبان هم المستقبل
The Taliban Are The Future
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/August 16/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/101466/%d8%a3%d9%84%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%88-%d8%a3%d9%85-%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%86%d9%86%d8%af%d8%b3-%d9%85%d9%88%d9%82%d8%b9-%d9%85%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b7%d9%84%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%87%d9%85/
After the sudden collapse of the Afghan government and military and the victory of the Taliban, some experts have warned of the danger of a failed state run by a Salafi-jihadi group closely allied with Al-Qaeda. Perhaps a bigger concern may be the danger of a not-failed state, possibly even a successful authoritarian one, run by a Salafi-jihadi group closely allied with Al-Qaeda.
The Taliban's victory is a triumph for them and Al-Qaeda's biggest victory in a generation. It was their upstart rivals, the Islamic State, which astounded the world in 2014 with their proto-state in Syria and Iraq (with outposts elsewhere) and their Caliphate. In 2019, ISIS lost both its state at Baghouz and, later that year, its Caliph elsewhere in Syria.
Al-Qaeda, which had for so long seemed to be on the sidelines as ISIS hogged all the glory of media attention will have a new lease on life, and Afghanistan could become a safe haven and laboratory for jihadi toilers worldwide – much like ISIS-land or Saudi Arabia or Pakistan have been for some Salafis in the past and Turkey is today for various breeds of foreign Islamists. The Taliban model seems much more successful and appealing to extremists, and a more likely wave of the future for them than the once terrifying, but now outlandish, ISIS model.
Afghanistan becoming some sort of jihadi Wild West, that America can and will have to occasionally strike, is the easier more comfortable scenario. A more concerning one may be a state that is better run, where jihadis are less blatantly obvious and overt in their actions; a place where all sorts of informal connections and symbiotic relationships can be formed in low-key, informal ways, where a new Islamist illiberal version of a nation state can inspire new generations of foreigners – political pilgrims looking for the next big exotic thing.
Almost 20 years since September 11, 2001, some scholars have speculated on how much the Taliban may have changed since they were last in power. The consensus is that they have changed – in terms of ideology and governance – very little and I think that is true. But they have changed somewhat in terms of their exposure to the world. They may not be worldly, but they are more seasoned and confident in the ways of the outside world. They use social media (of course, so do all jihadi and Islamist groups); they negotiated with the Americans. They certainly showed excellent diplomatic and intelligence skills in turning and suborning large sections of the former Ashraf Ghani regime, as generals and provincial governors negotiated their surrender or switched sides. We can say that the Taliban have evolved to a certain extent tactically but remained the same strategically, a little more polish but the same brutality. A more sophisticated and capable Taliban that is still implacably hostile to the West would be a qualitative leap forward.
But if the Taliban may have changed a little, 20 years later we in the West have changed a lot and not for the best. While the Taliban way of war and way of ideology have stayed more or less the same, it is precisely in those two areas that the West, particularly the U.S., has deteriorated.
As far as a way of war, it clear that the expensive, tech heavy American way of war seen in Afghanistan and Iraq, while still formidable, has its limitations. Relying on contractors and local staff, outsourcing vital support functions, the interagency decision-making process, the intelligence community process, building up local proxies – all of these have a certain logic but have had a rough two decades.
And while the U.S. military is showing some flaws, it is still a supremely powerful force that can do some things that few others can. The Western way of ideology, however, is under extreme pressure. It is not clear that we know who we are, what we stand for, and what we want to do.
To be blunt, the liberal democratic model as vehemently preached by the West for years – often in triumphant tones after the fall of the Soviet Union – is showing very real fissures under repeated ideological assault internally. Our adversaries among the Taliban have convictions. One can see it in the Al-Jazeera footage of Taliban fighters overcome by emotion as the Quranic Sura "An-Nasr" (The Divine Support) was recited on August 15 as they occupied the presidential palace in Kabul.
Our other adversaries in Communist China are also firm in their beliefs and in their vision of the future. Our convictions at times seem to be passionate, while becoming increasingly fractured along tribalist, racialist and gender lines. We prate about American democracy and greatness, while we are in hock to China and seem incapable of doing anything about it. Patriotism and national pride seem to have become dirty words, while the history of the West and its heritage seem to have precious few defenders. Our past is being deconstructed brick by brick. And as for democracy, it can mean, as often as not, an alliance of Big Tech with a predatory ruling class that more and more resembles a hereditary oligarchy.
Much can still go wrong among the Taliban. They are less united than they seem to be, and Afghanistan, no matter who rules it, is notoriously fractious. They face a small but bloody insurgency from their rivals at the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP) faction. The Taliban should be able to win out relatively easily, but it is still a challenge.
But they are likely to be far less isolated than they were in 1996-2001, when they were recognized by just three countries. If they play their cards right, they will likely have productive relations with China, Turkey, Iran, Qatar, and Azerbaijan, in addition to their patron Pakistan. Russia and the Central Asian states are wary but also likely to look for a modus vivendi with Taliban-ruled Kabul. There is, at least not yet, no viable Northern Alliance-type rebel opposition to the Taliban for foreign powers to support. Recreating one is not out of the question, but the Taliban have learned from the past and focused their most recent campaign in prioritizing those areas in the country's north, where such an opposition could logically emerge. And while some in the West may want to punish Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, the more that it is punished, the greater the stream of Afghan migrants and refugees there will be heading west to Europe, joining other streams of millions of desperate souls emerging from the Middle East and Africa.
The Afghanistan debacle should serve as an alarm bell for Western countries such as the U.S. warning that the old ways of liberal foreign interventionism seem perilously frayed, and the old nostrums and rhetoric shopworn and exhausted. It is likely that the U.S. will never again spend two trillion dollars in foreign misadventures as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan (even if a considerable amount of that money went to American companies and contractors rather than to nation-building in Mesopotamia and the Hindu Kush). But while foreign enthusiasms seem less likely, it is still horrifying to contemplate that the next counter-extremist crusade being generated seems to aim at the American heartland. It is almost as if we have learned nothing from two decades of conflict.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.

ياكل كرمن وطوفيل أحمد/موقع ميمري: الإنتصار الطالباني في افغانستان صنع في أميركا
The Taliban Victory – Made In USA
Yigal Carmon and Tufail Ahmad/MEMRI/August 17/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/101473/%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%83%d9%84-%d9%83%d8%b1%d9%85%d9%86-%d9%88%d8%b7%d9%88%d9%81%d9%8a%d9%84-%d8%a3%d8%ad%d9%85%d8%af-%d9%85%d9%88%d9%82%d8%b9-%d9%85%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%86%d8%aa/
The fall of the democratically elected government in Afghanistan is an American betrayal of democracy. The fall did not begin yesterday – it began with the Doha agreement signed in February 2020. The U.S. and other Western powers were pretending hard to push forward a non-option in Kabul, a power-sharing agreement between the Taliban and the democratically elected government of President Ashraf Ghani. This option never existed.
The United States itself dumped this option in Doha, Qatar, when it made the Doha agreement with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Afghan Taliban organization), banishing the democratically elected government totally from the talks.[1] The United States killed this option the moment it authored in the agreement the release of 5,000 Taliban jihadi terrorists, bowing to this Taliban demand.[2]
Subsequently, as per the Doha pact, even on occasions in which the democratic government was allowed to participate in the intra-Afghan talks, the Taliban demanded that Afghan government officials would merely be one part of many prominent Afghans who formed the Afghan delegation. The U.S. abided by it, acting as if there had never been elections in Afghanistan.
The reason this Western dream of a power-sharing pact between the Taliban and the democratic government was a non-option from the beginning is because the Taliban never recognized the elected Afghan government, nor had they ever intended to. Their singular goal was to remove the democratic government in order to bring back their rule from 2001. Everything that has happened since the American invasion is regarded by the Islamic Emirate as illegitimate. And the way to achieve their goal is through jihad as declared by Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman who clarified that even Muslims will be killed for aiding non-Muslims.[3]
There are numerous examples of the ways in which the Taliban always dismissed the democratically elected government of President Ghani. During June-August 20201, when the Taliban began seizing Afghan districts and provincial capitals, Zabihullah Mujahid gave a wide-ranging interview to the Afghan television channel ToloNews in which he noted that "the current regime has been imposed through force," completely disregarding the fact that the governments in Afghanistan came to power through proper democratic elections supervised by the international community, unlike the Taliban, who seized power in 1996 without elections and have now seized Afghan cities by force.[4]
The ToloNews interview gives a good insight into the ideology of the Islamic Emirate. In that interview, Zabihullah Mujahid also made it clear that a woman is not permitted by Islam even to sing and certainly cannot be the president of Afghanistan – a proposition that made the democratic government unacceptable to the Taliban. He told the ToloNews journalist: "No, she cannot (sing). In Islam, she cannot. This is not our view; this is Islam's view. If you don't know it, you should know it... You should ask a scholar."[5]
Such religious views made the Taliban reject the democratic government in Kabul, or any form of democracy. It is also for this reason that the Islamic Emirate called for "a pure Islamic government" in Afghanistan, meaning that the current system of democracy and elections will never be acceptable to the Islamic Emirate whenever it assumes power.[6]
In July 2021, Zabihullah Mujahid referred to President Ashraf Ghani merely as "the head of the Kabul administration" – denoting that the Islamic Emirate will never recognize the democratic government and making clear that at best he was head of the government limited to Kabul.[7] Although the U.S.-Taliban talks, preceding the Doha agreement, created misconceptions in the minds of the Western public that the Taliban could be persuaded to take part in the government, the Islamic Emirate had never given such a view.
In January 2020, weeks before the Doha agreement was signed, the Islamic Emirate dubbed the Ghani government as "the stooge administration" of the foreign powers.[8] Six months later, in July 2020, it again dismissed the Ghani government as "the stooge Kabul administration."[9] A month later, the Taliban website published a statement saying that "the Kabul administration itself is illegitimate."[10] In March 2021, an article published on the Taliban website called the government officials the "puppets of the foreigners in Kabul."[11]
In fact, the Islamic Emirate was so emboldened by the 2020 Doha agreement that within weeks of the pact being signed, it threatened to "seize Kabul in 48 hours" and kill President Ghani.[12] This was not an unconsidered view of the Taliban. In February of this year, as the Doha agreement turned a year old, the Islamic Emirate reiterated this view that it planned to hang President Ghani in Kabul much like the Taliban had hanged the then Afghan President Dr. Najibullah, who had taken shelter at the United Nations office in Kabul in 1996.
In an article published on its website, the Islamic Emirate clarified: "The communist regime in Kabul, led by Najibullah, which was under heavy attacks by the mujahideen, was counting the last moments of its survival like today's authoritarian regime led by Ashraf Ghani. After the withdrawal of Soviet forces, both regime officials and the international community saw the fall of Najibullah's government in the face of mujahideen onslaughts after three years [and the hanging of Najibullah by the mujahideen]."[13] That article warned that "slaves" like Ashraf Ghani could meet the fate of Dr. Najibullah: "God willing, the fate of every invader and slave will be the same as that of the Soviets and their slaves."[14]
The question is this: Who enabled the Islamic Emirate, a jihadi terror group, to become so strong and to act at international diplomatic levels as a legitimate force? The answer is the U.S. which, led by its ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, signed the Doha agreement. In an interview, former Afghan lawmaker Shukria Barakzai discussed "the role of U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in creating an opportunity for Taliban" and noted: "I believe he, as the U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, committed a historically unforgivable mistake toward the Afghanistan and its people."[15]
In a tweet, former Indian Navy chief Prakash Katoch wondered if Zalmay Khalilzad, who also holds Afghan citizenship, will be rewarded by the Taliban for his role in Doha by being appointed as the new Afghan ambassador to the U.S.[16] Worried over the Doha agreement's role in bolstering the Taliban's rise, liberal Pakistani writer Dr. Syed Akhtar Ali Shah recently demanded that the United Nations quash the Doha agreement, stating: "The UN must impose restrictions [on the Afghan Taliban] and rescind the Doha Agreement."[17]
The Islamic Emirate has always stood for a Sunni theocratic state.[18] Even Al-Qaeda, a continuing ally of the Afghan Taliban, celebrated the Doha agreement.[19] The Taliban feared when Joe Biden took over as U.S. president because he had promised to aid democracies, saying: "During my first year in office, the United States will organize and host a global Summit for Democracy to renew the spirit and shared purpose of the nations of the free world. It will bring together the world's democracies to strengthen our democratic institutions, honestly confront nations that are backsliding, and forge a common agenda."[20]
For Biden, who had expressed clear support for democracies, to allow Zalmay Khalilzad to remain in his position, despite having negotiated the pro-Taliban deal in Doha, was seen by the Taliban as an American surrender – one of the landmark victories before the final victory in seizing Kabul. As the Taliban were galloping toward Kabul, President Biden said that Afghan leaders "have got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation" – speaking as if the fighting in Afghanistan was merely between two sections of Afghans, not a fight between democratic tenets and jihadi terrorism.[21] The Taliban spokesman spoke more clearly: "The obligation of jihad remains and shall continue to remain until the 'word of Allah' reigns supreme [and] an Islamic government is established."[22]
* Yigal Carmon is President of MEMRI; Tufail Ahmad is Senior Fellow for the MEMRI Islamism and Counter-Radicalization Initiative.
[1] MEMRI Daily Brief Series No. 215, Handing Afghanistan Over To The Taliban – The Menacing Brinkmanship In Kabul As Ashraf Ghani Government Is Badgered By Both The U.S. And The Taliban, April 21, 2020.
[2] MEMRI Daily Brief Series No. 215, Handing Afghanistan Over To The Taliban – The Menacing Brinkmanship In Kabul As Ashraf Ghani Government Is Badgered By Both The U.S. And The Taliban, April 21, 2020.
[3] MEMRI JTTM Report, Afghan Taliban Spokesman Justifies Killing Of Muslims For Aiding Non-Muslims, Says: '[First Caliph Of Islam] Abu Bakr Siddique Waged Jihad In Spite Of The Fact That These People Professed Their Faith [In Islam]', October 28, 2020.
[4] MEMRI Special Dispatch Series No. 9449, Afghan Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid Declares That Women Are Not Permitted To Sing Or Become President Of Afghanistan, Refuses To Denounce Al-Qaeda: 'The Relation Between Muslims In The World Is In Faith; [To Cut Ties With Al-Qaeda] Is Not Logical At All', July 19, 2021.
[5] MEMRI Special Dispatch Series No. 9449, Afghan Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid Declares That Women Are Not Permitted To Sing Or Become President Of Afghanistan, Refuses To Denounce Al-Qaeda: 'The Relation Between Muslims In The World Is In Faith; [To Cut Ties With Al-Qaeda] Is Not Logical At All', July 19, 2021.
[6] MEMRI JTTM Report, At Intra-Afghan Talks In Qatar, Afghan Taliban Demand A 'Pure Islamic Government' In Afghanistan And Release Of 8,000 Taliban Prisoners, September 14, 2020.
[7] MEMRI JTTM Report, Afghan Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid Condemns U.S. Airstrikes, Says: 'In The Next Six-Month Period, The Responsibility For All Military Developments Will Fall On The Leaders Of Kabul Administration', July 27, 2021.
[8] AlemarahEnglish.net (Afghanistan), January 20, 2020.
[9] AlemarahEnglish.net (Afghanistan), July 17, 2020.
[10] AlemarahEnglish.net (Afghanistan), August 5, 2020.
[11] AlemarahEnglish.net (Afghanistan), March 17, 2021.
[12] MEMRI JTTM Report, Urdu Daily: Afghan Taliban Threaten To 'Seize Kabul In 48 Hours' And To Kill Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, March 17, 2020.
[13] MEMRI JTTM Report, Afghan Taliban Envision Execution Of President Ashraf Ghani As They Hanged Dr. Najibullah At United Nations Office In Kabul In 1996, February 18, 2021.
[14] MEMRI JTTM Report, Afghan Taliban Envision Execution Of President Ashraf Ghani As They Hanged Dr. Najibullah At United Nations Office In Kabul In 1996, February 18, 2021.
[15] MEMRI Special Dispatch Series No. 9492, Former Afghan MP Shukria Barakzai: U.S. Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad 'Committed A Historically Unforgivable Mistake' And 'For Afghan Public Opinion, Mr. Khalilzad Is The Person Primarily Responsible For The War', August 11, 2021.
[16] Twitter.com/KatochPrakash, August 12, 2021.
[17] MEMRI Special Dispatch Series No. 9494, Pakistani Writer Syed Akhtar Ali Shah Urges United Nations To Quash The U.S.-Taliban Pact, Says: 'The UN Must Impose Restrictions [On Afghan Taliban] And Rescind The Doha Agreement', August 12, 2021.
[18] MEMRI Daily Brief No. 272, The Afghan Taliban's Goal Is To Establish A Sunni Islamic Theocratic State – They Do Not Believe In Power-Sharing With A Democratically Elected Government, April 22, 2021;
[19] MEMRI JTTM Report, Al-Qaeda Calls U.S.-Taliban Agreement 'Humiliating Defeat' For America, Allies, Urges Afghan People To Support Taliban, Advises Mujahideen Not To Break Deal, March 12, 2020.
[20] Foreign Affairs (U.S.), March/April 2020.
[21] AlJazeera.com (Qatar), August 11, 2021.
[22] MEMRI JTTM Report, Afghan Taliban Spokesman Justifies Killing Of Muslims For Aiding Non-Muslims, Says: '[First Caliph Of Islam] Abu Bakr Siddique Waged Jihad In Spite Of The Fact That These People Professed Their Faith [In Islam]', October 28, 2020.

Iran and Israel are on the brink of catastrophe
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/August 16, 2021
It seems that the Iranian regime has provided Israel with the perfect excuse to take military action against Tehran. This opportunity came after the Islamic Republic was implicated in the drone strike on an oil tanker, owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, off the coast of Oman. Two crew members, a Briton and a Romanian, died in the attack.
This has led to heated exchanges between Israeli and Iranian leaders that have reached dangerous levels. Israel’s Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, warned of an armed response and urged to international community to stand with Israel, saying: “We are at a point where we need to take military action against Iran. The world needs to take action against Iran now.”
Iranian leaders, meanwhile, have made no attempt to ease tensions. For Tehran, backing down in the face of Israeli threats is a sign of weakness. That is why the Islamic Republic immediately signaled that it is prepared to respond to any potential military action carried out by Israel.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted: “We state this clearly: Any foolish act against Iran will be met with a decisive response. Don’t test us.”
Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, warned in his address to naval forces on a visit to Iran’s southern coast: “Those who speak against us with a language of threats, including the Zionist regime’s prime minister and other officials of that regime, must be mindful of the dangerous consequences of their comments and exercise the necessary caution in their calculations.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett indicated that his country might “act alone” against Tehran. Although Iran boasts that it could easily annihilate its rival, Israel’s overall military capacity is superior to Iran’s. The Israeli air force is one of the best in the world, partially due to the combat experience of its pilots. Israel’s technologically advanced fighter jets, such as the F-4 Phantom II, F-15, and F-35 Lightning II, are much superior to Iran’s aircraft, which were either bought from the US before the 1979 revolution or obtained from Russia. While Iran has recently obtained the Russian-made S-300 system, Israel relies on three sophisticated anti-missile responses: Iron Dome, the US-made Patriot defense system and Magic Wand. Israel is also thought to have about 80 nuclear warheads, which can be delivered through ballistic missiles, drones or combat aircraft.
The Iranian regime has been setting up weapons factories abroad, and manufacturing advanced ballistic missiles and weapons in foreign countries
But it is important to point out that in the event of war, Iran would probably deploy its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, to inflict damage on Israel. The IRGC has equipped Hezbollah with sophisticated missiles that are capable of striking Israel. Salami also famously told the state-run IRIB TV: “Today, more than ever, there is fertile ground for the annihilation, the wiping out and the collapse of the Zionist regime. In Lebanon alone, over 100,000 missiles are ready to be launched. If there is a will, if it serves our interests, and if the Zionist regime repeats its past mistakes due to its miscalculations, these missiles will strike at the heart of the Zionist regime. They will prepare the ground for its great collapse in the new era.”
Tehran can also employ its militia groups in Syria and Iraq to target Israel. The Iranian regime has been setting up weapons factories abroad, and manufacturing advanced ballistic missiles and weapons in foreign countries, including Syria. These include precision-guided missiles with advanced technology to strike specific targets. Iran’s foreign-based weapons factories give it an advantageous military capability for waging wars or striking other nations through third countries such as Syria.
In such a scenario, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Palestine would be dragged into the conflict. In addition, one should not exclude the possibility of the Iranian regime lashing out and wreaking havoc in the Gulf as well. Tehran has repeatedly threatened that it can shut down the Strait of Hormuz, used for almost a third of the world’s maritime oil trade. Former foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi previously warned Iran’s Arab neighbors against putting themselves in a “dangerous position” by aligning themselves with the US.
Furthermore, a war between Iran and Israel would probably drag in the US since Washington would be forced to back its ally Israel militarily. This means that other global powers, such as Russia and China, would view support for the Iranian regime as critical in order to secure their influence in the region as well as prevent the balance of power in the Middle East tilting toward the US and its allies.
In a nutshell, as tensions between Israel and Iran escalate, it is important to point out that any war between the two would probably turn the region into a conflagration, dragging global powers into the conflict as well.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Afghanistan Is a Failure of Military Intelligence—and Common Sense
Thomas Joscelyn/FDD's Long War Journal/August 14/2021
Wars are not fought on paper.
On July 8, President Joe Biden thought it was necessary to defend his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan once again. The president had announced America’s retreat from its longest war less than three months earlier.
Whether President Biden knew or not, the Afghan government was teetering as he spoke in mid-July. He placed the onus squarely on the shoulders of Afghanistan’s security forces.
“Together, with our NATO Allies and partners, we have trained and equipped … nearly 300,000 current serving members of the military—of the Afghan National Security Force, and many beyond that who are no longer serving,” President Biden said. “Add to that, hundreds of thousands more Afghan National Defense and Security Forces [ANDSF] trained over the last two decades.”
The president went all-in on the ANDSF, arguing that America’s partners had the capacity and capability to defend their country, which America was leaving behind. “We provided our Afghan partners with all the tools—let me emphasize: all the tools, training, and equipment of any modern military,” the president elaborated. “We provided advanced weaponry. And we’re going to continue to provide funding and equipment. And we’ll ensure they have the capacity to maintain their air force.”
A reporter asked: “Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?”President Biden pressed his case, saying the Afghans have “300,000 well-equipped” troops, who are “as well-equipped as any army in the world,” with an air force the Taliban lacked. And they were going up “against something like 75,000 Taliban.”“It is not inevitable,” the president said. On paper, President Biden may have appeared correct. The Afghans should have enjoyed a numerical and technical advantage. That was the analysis Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave Biden. Later in July, even as the insurgency was racking up wins, Milley claimed that the Afghans “have the capacity to sufficiently fight and defend their country.”The U.S. military has repeatedly reported—again, on paper—that there are hundreds of thousands of Afghans ready to defend their country. While U.S. generals have expressed reservations at times, they’ve also portrayed the ANDSF as a much more capable force—one that certainly wouldn’t be routed within just a few short months.
It was all a mirage. Wars aren’t fought on paper.
The Taliban and al-Qaeda unleashed an unprecedented campaign in the weeks that followed Biden’s July 8 remarks, and have since overrun much of the country. In the past week alone, the jihadists have seized 16 Afghan provincial capitals. More will fall in short order.
As should be obvious by now, the Afghans did not have “300,000 well-equipped troops” ready to counter the jihadists’ offensive. Nor did the Taliban have just 75,000 men. As the jihadists threaten to take over much of the country, it is obvious that Biden and Milley grossly miscalculated. The paper estimates offered by the U.S. military’s leadership, as well as some former military analysts, were worthless. They had no idea what they were talking about. In these dark hours, as the jihadists maraud across Afghanistan, we should remember that tens of thousands of Afghans fought and died in an attempt to save their country from totalitarian sharia rule. There are many who dismiss their sacrifice. We shouldn’t. Still, it is crystal clear that the Afghan forces were not ready to defend their country.
There were plenty of warning signs. According to the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), an oversight body that reports to Congress, the U.S. has disbursed more than $75 billion to Afghan security forces. This should have been enough to pay for a more competent fighting force.
But SIGAR has documented the ANDSF’s many problems. Corruption, attrition, poor management and the issue of “ghost soldiers”—or troops who were on the payroll, but didn’t really exist—have plagued the ANDSF. Reading through SIGAR’s reporting these past several years, it was clear that the ANDSF was not ready to take the lead—as Biden and Milley claimed. SIGAR said as much, warning that “Afghan security forces are not yet capable of securing their own nation.”
The Afghan political leadership in Kabul deserves blame, too. America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has been as poorly managed as possible. Across administrations, the U.S. wasted much time in servile diplomacy with the Taliban, which undermined Kabul’s legitimacy and puffed up the jihadists’ cause. But at some point, the Afghans needed to be better prepared to defend themselves—at least better than what we’ve witnessed in recent months. The Taliban and al-Qaeda are fighting for the resurrection of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Afghan government has never had such a unified purpose.
Which brings us to one of the other major failures here: The U.S. and Afghan governments apparently did not see the jihadists’ offensive coming.
The Defense and State Departments were heavily invested in the idea that a negotiated political settlement was not only possible, but also the only path forward. This was rubbish. While American officials were prattling on about how there is “no military solution” for the war, the Taliban and al-Qaeda were planning their conquest –their own military solution.
My colleague, Bill Roggio, has described it as the biggest military-intelligence failure since the Tet offensive in 1968. It is that, but as Bill would agree, it was also just a failure of common sense.
America never understood who it was fighting in Afghanistan. To this day, the U.S. military cannot even accurately describe the relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, an issue I’ve written about at great length. The military would have us believe there is nothing “strategic” about their unbroken alliance. Meanwhile, consider just some basic facts: The head of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has sworn a blood oath of allegiance to the Taliban’s “Emir of the Faithful,” Haibatullah Akhundzada. That oath is unbroken. Akhundzada’s top deputy is Sirajuddin Haqqani. Siraj is an al-Qaeda man. And as we’ve repeatedly documented at FDD’s Long War Journal, al-Qaeda doesn’t have just a few hundred fighters, as the U.S. intelligence community and military claim. Al-Qaeda and its various arms are fighting throughout the country.
President Biden claimed last month that “the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.”
He was wrong—not just about the Taliban’s chances of total victory in the original 9/11 war, but also al-Qaeda’s.
*Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD’s Long War Journal. Follow Tom on Twitter @thomasjoscelyn. FDD is a nonpartisan think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues.

After lengthy siege, Lashkar Gah is taken by the Taliban
Bill Roggio and Andrew Tobin/August 16/2021
Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, fell to the Taliban after a lengthy seige. With Helmand and Kandahar provinces in the hands of the Taliban, the rest of the south will go under Taliban control in short order.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi announced the fall of Lashkar Gah in a statement that touted the Taliban’s victories in the provinces Kandahar, Herat, Helmand, and Badghis over the span of 24 hours.
“The most important provinces of the country, Kandahar, Helmand, Herat and Badghis were totally conquered,” Ahmadi stated.
The collapse of Lashkar Gah is the latest in a string of defeats for the Afghan government. Over the past week, the Taliban seized control of 12 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces and 14 of its provincial capitals. Southern and western Afghanistan are firmly in the hands of the Taliban. Tarin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan, and Qalat, the capital of Zabul, are expected to go under Taliban control shortly.
Al Qaeda and its regional branch, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, has maintained an extensive network in Helmand province over the years. Al Qaeda is currently operating a training camp Baramcha in Disho district in Helmand province [FDD’s Long War Journal reported the existence of these camps in 2015.] The U.S. and Afghan militaries have launched numerous strikes and raids against Al Qaeda’s network over the past decade. The most significant operation took place on Sept. 23, 2019 in the district of Musa Qala. During a joint U.S. and Afghan operation, Asim Umar, the head of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, was killed. Several Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders were also killed alongside Umar, including the courier to Al Qaeda’s emir, Ayman al Zawahiri.
The Battle of Lashkar Gah
Since the beginning of its campaign to restore the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan by force in May 2021, the Taliban has set its sights on Helmand’s capital. The Taliban prepared the battlefield by launching attacks against military outposts on the outskirts of the city. Afghan Commandos were sent to the city on May 25 to ensure its security after the city’s security forces began to cede ground to Taliban forces. These Commandos, along with limited American airstrikes, were able to successfully stave off the insurgents through June.
In July, fighting intensified, as the Taliban detonated a bomb within the city on July 11 that killed three civilians. This was followed by an increased Taliban focus on the siege of Helmand’s capital, with local officials fearing for the city’s collapse in the middle of July. By July 22, the Afghan military was pulling troops from southern Helmand in order to garrison Lashkar Gah, yet the Taliban continued its offensive, working its way towards the city’s center. The city’s Police District 5 was conquered by the Taliban on July 29, signaling the security forces’ increasing inability to repel the assault and assert control of the key city.
By the start of August, the United States had ramped up its airstrikes in order to support the beleaguered Afghan forces. However, the Taliban continued to advance throughout the city. By Aug. 2, the Taliban fighters had captured all but one of the city’s police districts and were fighting within 200 meters of the provincial governor’s compound at the center of the city.
The increased U.S. airstrikes, launched from B-52s, AC-130s, and drones, were killing Taliban fighters, but failed to blunt the stunning Taliban blitzkrieg through Afghanistan’s fourth largest city. Not even the massive influx of Commandos that Kabul poured into Helmand could fend off the Taliban offensive in Lashkar Gah, as its fighters restricted security forces to small sections of the city with the help of their elite Red Units.
Government forces urged civilians to evacuate the city as airstrikes from the United States and Afghan Air Force, as well as Taliban rocket attacks, intensified. Even as the Taliban advanced to the gate of the Helmand police headquarters and dozens of Afghan soldiers surrendered, the Afghan government continued to funnel hundreds of Commandos into the city in a futile attempt to prevent its collapse. On Aug. 11, the Taliban detonated a massive car bomb outside Lashkar Gah’s police command, paving the way for their conquest of this crucial choke point of the ANDSF’s defense of the city. On Aug. 12, after weeks of intense fighting, Taliban followers claimed the group took control of the Bost airport as well as the governor’s office. The battle was over.
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This Week in History: Constantinople Saves Western Civilization from Islam
Raymond Ibrahim/August 16/2021
The siege of 717-718, as depicted in a Bulgarian manuscript
This week in history, a large fleet transporting tens of thousands of jihadists across the Sea of Marmara was either drowned in a vicious sea-storm or engulfed in flames from a volcanic eruption.
Far from dying in anguish, one year earlier, in August 717, these selfsame jihadists were part of one of the largest (200,000 fighters) and most confident Islamic armies ever to invade and seek to conquer Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Christendom.
Although the caliphs had conquered thousands of square miles of Christian territory—from Syria in the east to Spain in the west—they were discontent; for their prophet, Muhammad, had, in the guise of a “prophecy,” personally called for the conquest of Constantinople—promising paradisiacal rewards beyond imagination (which is saying much) for the one who would accomplish it.
While headed towards Constantinople, and devastating every other Christian village on the way with, to quote a chronicler, “both sword and fire,” emir Maslama, the caliph’s brother, vowed that he would “enter this city knowing that it is the capital of Christianity and its glory; my only purpose in entering it is to uphold Islam and humiliate unbelief.”
Due to a succession crisis and the jihadist storm approaching Constantinople, the people acclaimed Leo the Isaurian, a seasoned war veteran, as emperor. For a while, this proved to be a smart move; the emperor—who knew Arabic and Muslims well, having fought them for years along the frontier—ably defended the city. But the determined Muslims would not let up and bombarded Constantinople’s walls day and night. One year later—after its walls were much crumbled, and after Maslama’s vast fleets had completely blockaded the city through the Bosporus—the emir began to make preparations for a final, all-out assault.
But then, right before he could do so, on August 15, delivery came—and from the least expected source: the crews manning the caliphate’s fleets were not Arab Muslims but Egyptian Christians (Copts). Because the caliphate’s fighting men had been spread thin, with many dying including from starvation over the past year of the siege, the caliph had no choice but to rely on forced infidel conscripts.
Much to Maslama’s chagrin, these Egyptian sailors “took counsel among themselves, and, after seizing at night the skiffs of the transports, sought refuge in the City and acclaimed the emperor; as they did so,” the chronicler continues, “the sea appeared to be covered with timber.”
Not only did the Muslim war galleys lose a significant amount of manpower, but the Copts provided Leo with useful information concerning Maslama’s imminent plans and formations. With this new intelligence, Leo ordered the ponderous chain that normally guarded the harbor cast aside, and before long, “the ministers of destruction were at hand”: the emperor had sent forth the “fire-bearing ships” against the Islamic fleet, which was quickly set “on fire,” writes the chronicler: “some of them were cast up burning by the sea walls, others sank to the bottom with their crews, and others were swept down flaming.”
Before long, Maslama had no choice but to lift the siege and flee aboard the remainder of his fleet with the remainder of his men. But, as seen, the Muslims’ troubles were far from over: a terrible storm swallowed up many ships in the Sea of Marmara; and the ashes from a volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini set others aflame.
Indeed, of the 2,560 ships retreating, only ten survived—and of these, half were captured by the Christians, leaving only five to reach and tell the tale to the caliph.
Having failed to subdue the infidels across the way, the vindictive caliph was quick to project his wrath on the infidels under his authority. According to another chronicler, he “set about forcing the Christians to become converted; those that converted he exempted from tax [jizya], while those that refused to do so he killed and so produced many martyrs.
That Constantinople was able to repulse the hitherto unstoppable forces of Islam—which six years earlier had conquered Spain and were planning on reaching Constantinople from the west, thereby placing it in a pincer movement—is one of Western history’s most decisive moments. As historian John Julius Norwich once explained, “Had the Saracens captured Constantinople in the seventh century rather than the fifteenth, all Europe—and America—might be Muslim today.”
The earliest chroniclers knew this and referred to August 15, the day the siege was lifted, as an “ecumenical date”—that is, a day for all of Christendom to rejoice.
Muslims also knew this and never forgot the disgrace. More sieges were forthcoming, until May 29, 1453, when Muhammad II, the Ottoman sultan, finally conquered Constantinople, for long, eastern Europe’s bastion against Islam.
As an inspiring reminder of Islam’s destiny to rule the world, that supreme jihadist victory—which, as a reflection of how Islam bides its time, came more than seven centuries after Leo and his people were confident they had seen the last of the jihad—continues to be celebrated in Turkey till this day.
Meanwhile, in the West, which suffers from an acute bout of historical amnesia—particularly concerning those things that demonstrate continuities it seeks to deny—Constantinople’s victory against the jihad in 718 is at best a footnote in a meaningless history.
The above account was excerpted from and is documented in Raymond Ibrahim’s book, Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West.