English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 11/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and
anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.
Letter of James 05/13-20/:”Are any among you
suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.
Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have
them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer
of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has
committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and
pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is
powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed
fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not
rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth
yielded its harvest. My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from
the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings
back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will
cover a multitude of sins.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on
September 10-11/2021
Names of the Trojan Lebanese Government ministers headed by Puppet Mikati/A
pile of related reports
Aoun, Mikati sign new government formation decree
Declaration of new Lebanese Cabinet
New Lebanese Government Finally Formed
Lebanon agrees new government after months of deadlock
Tearful Miqati Vows Efforts to Halt Country's Economic Collapse
Mikati says will communicate with all Arab leaders
Diab receives phone call from Aoun and Mikati
Rahi hopes new government will enact reforms
EU Urges Lebanon's New Govt. to 'Implement Long Overdue Reforms'
Wronecka says pleased at announcement of new government
Egypt's Foreign Ministry welcomes formation of new Lebanese government
Salam congratulates Mikati on government formation, wishes him success in
national rescue mission
Hariri Supports Miqati in 'Vital Reform Mission'
Sami Gemayel: Government formed with Iranian green light
President Aoun tackles with Minister Ghajar quadripartite talks in Amman on
bringing Egyptian gas to Lebanon
President Aoun discusses educational affairs with delegation from Syndicate of
Private School Teachers
Akar meets chairman of EU's military committee
MEA Statement: Hotel Quarantine no longer required for passengers arriving to
Lebanon starting September 10, 2021
Timeline: The Agonies of Crisis-Hit Lebanon
Mes larmes et celles de Mikati/Jean-Marie Kassab/September 10/2021
Stability over reform/Nicholas Frakes/Now Lebanon/September 10/2021
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
September 10-11/2021
Israel’s PM: Iran is ‘lying’ to world about its nuclear program, time to
act is now
Israel Arrests More Relatives of Palestinian Jail Breakers
Taliban kill former Vice President Saleh’s brother: Report
As Flights Resume, Plight of Afghan Allies Tests Biden's Vow
Qatar Top Diplomat in Iran to Discuss Afghanistan
Ukraine President: War with Russia possible, Moscow: He’s ‘divorced from
reality’
Iraq’s PM to discuss energy, Saudi Arabia ties with Iran's president
Canada thanks Qatar for securing safe departures of Canadians from Afghanistan
Libyan Dictator's Son Saadi Gadhafi in Turkey
Defeat of PJD in Morocco deals severe blow to Muslim Brotherhood
Tunisia may change political system via referendum
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC
English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
September 10-11/2021
Biden Must Move Fast to Replace WHO’s Tedros/Anthony Ruggiero/Foreign
Policy/September 10/2021
The IAEA’s Iran NPT Safeguards Report – September 2021/David Albright/Sarah
Burkhard/Andrea Stricker/Institute for Science and International
Security/September 10/2021
The Islamic State’s expansion into Congo’s Ituri Province/Caleb Weiss and Ryan
O’Farrell/FDD's Long War Journal/September 10/2021
How Pakistan Won the War in Afghanistan/Eli Lake/Bloomberg/September 10/2021
Economic reality-check forces Tebboune to adjust anti-corruption drive/Saber
Blidi/The Arab Weekly/September 10/2021
PJD’s defeat closed the Brotherhood’s parenthesis/Farouk Yousef/The Arab
Weekly/September 10/2021
Accountability for Afghanistan/Pete Hoekstra and John Shadegg/Gatestone
Institute/September 10/2021
Iran's Nuclear Weapons Weeks Away/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September
10/2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 10-11/2021
Names of the Trojan Lebanese Government ministers
headed by Puppet Mikati/A pile of related reports
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/102265/%d8%a3%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%86%d9%83%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%b2%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%b3%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d9%88%d8%b2%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%ad%d9%83%d9%88/
Aoun, Mikati sign new government formation decree
NNA/September 10/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, and Prime Minister-designate,
Najib Mikati, signed the decree of the new government formation, in the presence
of House Speaker, Nabih Berri.
Declaration of new Lebanese Cabinet
NNA/September 10/2021
The Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Mahmoud Makkieh, on Friday
read out the decree pertaining to forming the new Cabinet, which includes the
following Messrs:
- Najib Mikati as Prime Minister
- Souad Al-Shami as Vice Prime Minister
- Abbas Halabi as Minister of Education and Higher Education
- Youssef Khalil as Minister of Finance
- Georges Kallas as Youth and Sports Minister
-Abdullah Bou Habib as Foreign Minister
- Georges Boujekian as Minister of Industry
- Bassam Mawlaoui as Minister of Interior and Municipalities
- Maurice Selim as Minister of National Defense
- Georges Kordahi as Minister of Information
- Ali Hamieh as Minister of Public Works and Transport
-Walid Nassar as Minister of Tourism
- Henri Khoury as Minister of Justice
- Amine Salam as Minister of Economy and Trade
- Firas Abiad as Minister of Health
-Mustapha Beyram as Minister of Labor
-Hiktor el-Hajjar, Minister of Social Affairs
- Najla Riachi as Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs
- Abbas Hajj Hasan as Minister of Agriculture
- Johnny Corm as Minister of Communications
- Nasser Yassine as Minister of Environment
- Issam Sharaf Eddine Shuhayeb as Minister of the Displace
- Mohammed Wissam Murtada as Minister of Culture
-Walid Fayyad as Minister of Energy and Water
New Lebanese Government Finally Formed
Associated Press/September10/2021
The new Lebanese government was formed on Friday, more than a year after the
resignation of Hassan Diab’s cabinet and 45 days after Najib Miqati was tasked
with putting together a new government. President Michel Aoun and PM-designate
Najib Miqati “have signed the decree of the new government’s formation in the
presence of Speaker Nabih Berri,” the Presidency announced. Earlier in the day,
Miqati said that the line-up does not contain a blocking one-third share for any
camp. Al-Jadeed TV meanwhile reported that an agreement was reached on naming
Najla Riachi and Georges Debekian as two independent Christian ministers. In the
previous hours, Miqati agreed with President Michel Aoun on naming Amin Salam as
economy minister.
Miqati, who has been prime minister twice before and is the country's richest
man, was designated on July 26 to form a government after his two predecessors –
Mustafa Adib and Saad Hariri -- threw in the towel.
Lebanon has been run by a caretaker government since August 10, 2020 when Diab
and his cabinet resigned en masse following the catastrophic explosion at Beirut
port. The new government announced Friday faces a mammoth task that few believe
can be surmounted, including undertaking critically needed reforms. Among its
first jobs will be overseeing a financial audit of the Central Bank, and
resuming negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a rescue package
to stem the country's collapse. The new Cabinet is also expected to oversee
general elections scheduled for next year.
Miqati, a businessman tycoon from the northern city of Tripoli and one of the
richest men in Lebanon, was tasked with forming a new government in July. He is
widely considered to be part of the same political class that brought the
country to bankruptcy. He served as prime minister in 2005 and from 2011 to
2013. It was not immediately clear what last-minute compromise resulted in the
breakthrough Friday. The announcement of a new government comes after recent
U.S. and French pressure to form a Cabinet, after Lebanon's economic unraveling
reached a critical point with crippling shortages in fuel and medicine
threatening to shut down hospitals, bakeries and the country's internet. The
currency has lost 90 percent of its value to the dollar since October 2019,
driving hyperinflation and plunging more than half the population in poverty.
Miqati became a favorite for the post after he was endorsed by most of Lebanon's
political parties, including the powerful Iran-backed Hizbullah. Miqati was also
endorsed by former Sunni prime ministers including former Prime Minister Saad
Hariri, who abandoned efforts to form a government earlier this year after
failing to agree with Aoun on the Cabinet's makeup.
International calls have mounted for Lebanese leaders to form a new government,
but the international community has refused to help Lebanon financially before
wide reforms are implemented to fight widespread corruption and mismanagement.
Lebanon agrees new government after months of deadlock
The Arab Weekly/September 10/2021
Lebanese leaders agreed a new government led by Najib Mikati on Friday after a
year of feuding over cabinet seats that has exacerbated a devastating economic
collapse, opening the way to a resumption of talks with the IMF. The
breakthrough followed a flurry of contacts from France which has led efforts to
get Lebanon’s fractious leaders to agree a cabinet and begin reforms since last
year’s catastrophic Beirut port explosion, senior Lebanese political sources
said. There was no immediate comment from the French Foreign Ministry. In
televised comments, Mikati’s eyes welled up with tears and his voice broke as he
described the hardship and emigration inflicted by the crisis, which has forced
three quarters of the population into poverty. The biggest threat to Lebanon’s
stability since the 1975-90 civil war, the crisis hit a crunch point last month
when fuel shortages brought much of the country to a standstill, triggering
numerous security incidents, adding to Western concern and warnings of worse to
come unless something is done. Mikati and President Michel Aoun, a Maronite
Christian, signed a decree establishing the government in the presence of Nabih
Berri, the Shia speaker of parliament, the presidency said. Mikati said divisive
politics must be set to one side and that he could not go for talks with the
International Monetary Fund only to encounter opposition at home.He pledged to
seek support from Arab countries, a number of which have shunned Lebanon because
of the extensive influence wielded in Beirut by the heavily armed, Iran-backed
Shi’ite Islamist group Hezbollah. Lebanon could no longer afford to subsidise
goods such as imported fuel, he said, adding the country did not have the hard
currency reserves for such support. Addressing the daily hardships, he described
how mothers had been forced to cut back on milk for their children.“If a
mother’s eldest son leaves the country and she has tears in her eyes, she can’t
buy a Panadol pill,” he said, referring to medicine shortages.
Elections on time
Mikati also said parliamentary elections scheduled for next Spring would go
ahead on time. Like the outgoing cabinet of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, the new
one comprises ministers with technical expertise who are not prominent
politicians but have been named by the main parties. Youssef Khalil, a senior
central bank official and aide to Governor Riad Salameh, was named finance
minister in the proposed new cabinet line-up. The heavily armed, Shia Hezbollah
movement, a political ally of Aoun which is designated a terrorist group by the
United States, named two of the 24 ministers. The crisis, which came to a head
in late 2019, stems from decades of corruption in the state and unsustainable
financing. The steadily deteriorating situation worsened precipitously in August
when the central bank announced it could no longer finance fuel imports at
heavily subsidised exchange rates. The failure to agree a cabinet has left
Lebanon without any effective government as the country has sunk deeper into a
crisis which the World Bank has described as one of the sharpest implosions of
modern times. Mikati, a politician-businessman who was designated prime minister
in July, has previously said he would seek to re-start negotiations with the IMF
once his government was formed. Mikati was the third prime minister-designate to
attempt to form the government since the government resigned over a year ago
after the port explosion. Mikati was designated after Saad al-Hariri, a former
prime minister, abandoned his efforts.
Hariri traded blame for the failure with Aoun. Aoun’s political adversaries have
accused him and his political party, the Free Patriotic Movement, of seeking
effective veto power in the new government by demanding a third of the seats.
Aoun has denied this repeatedly. Mikati said there was no blocking third in the
government line-up.
Tearful Miqati Vows Efforts to Halt Country's Economic
Collapse
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/September
10/2021
Lebanon's new Prime Minister Najib Miqati pledged Friday to do everything in his
power to halt the country's dramatic economic collapse, urging fractious
politicians to work together after a new government was announced -- the first
in over a year. Holding back tears, Miqati, one of the richest men in the
country, spoke about Lebanese mothers who cannot feed their children, and
students whose parents can no longer afford to send them to school. "The
situation is difficult but not impossible to deal with if we cooperate," Miqati
told reporters at the presidential palace, where the new government was
announced. The agreement breaks a 13-month deadlock that saw the country slide
deeper into financial chaos and poverty over the past year. Mikati, a
businessman tycoon from the northern city of Tripoli, was tasked with forming a
new government in July. He is widely considered to be part of the same political
class that brought the country to bankruptcy. He served as prime minister in
2005 and from 2011 to 2013. "I hope we can fulfill people's aspirations and at
least stop the collapse," he said Friday. He said the government will launch a
rescue plan for the country. "We will make use of every second to call
international bodies and ensure the basic everyday life needs," he said, adding
his government would also turn to Arab countries for help.
Mikati says will communicate with all Arab leaders
NNA/September 10/2021
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday that he will communicate with all
Arab leaders, stressing that he will ask for the support of the Gulf Cooperation
Council. "We can't but be on excellent terms with the Arab states," Mikati told
Saudi Arabia's al-Sharq News Channel. "I will communicate with all of the Arab
states' presidents, and I will demand help to curb the meltdown of Lebanon,
which can never be detached from its Arab surrounding," he underlined. He also
revealed that contacts with the International Monetary Fund would kick off as of
next week, adding that foreign talks will intensify after the government gains
the Parliament's vote of confidence. Moreover, Mikati vowed to redress the
ailing livelihood situation. "Contacts have already started in that respect," he
said. "We will solve the crises in the nearest time possible." On the government
lineup, he indicated that no party holds a veto power inside the Cabinet. "Our
goal is to rescue, build, and cooperate together," he stressed.
Diab receives phone call from Aoun and Mikati
NNA/September 10/2021
Former Prime Minister Hassan Diab received Friday a phone call from President
Michel Aoun, who thanked him for his cooperation throughout his premiership.
He was also contacted by Premier Najib Mikati, who hailed his predecessor's
efforts.
Rahi hopes new government will enact reforms
NNA/September 10/2021
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Rahi on Friday hoped that the newly-formed
government will succeed in rescuing the country and enact the needed reforms.
Speaking from Budapest, the prelate congratulated President Michel Aoun, Prime
Minister Najib Mikati, and the appointed ministers on the formation of the new
government.
EU Urges Lebanon's New Govt. to 'Implement Long Overdue
Reforms'
Agence France Presse/September 10/2021
The European Union was quick to remind Lebanon’s new government of its
priorities on Friday, a few hours after its long-awaited line-up was announced.
The bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell emphasized the need for the new
government to "implement long overdue reforms." On the streets of Beirut, the
announcement of a new cabinet seemed to do little to lift the spirits of a
population broken by one of the steepest economic declines the world has seen in
decades. "I am not optimistic, neither about this government nor about the whole
country," said Rony, a 18-year-old student. "I am willing to leave the country
if I get a chance."Billionaire Najib Miqati, Lebanon's prime minister for the
third time, made an emotional statement from the presidency vowing to leave no
stone unturned in efforts to save the country from bankruptcy. Miqati, who was
designated as prime minister in July after his two predecessors failed to clinch
an agreement on a new line-up, unveiled his list of ministers. The newcomers
include many technocrats but each minister was endorsed by one or several of the
factions that have dominated Lebanese politics since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Sami Nader, a Lebanese political analyst, argued there was little hope of a
breakthrough if the dynamics that prevailed during the cabinet line-up
negotiations remained in place. "The continuation of quota politics and
bickering over every reform and decision would mean no departure from what the
caretaker government was able to do," he said. "It was the same cooks who formed
this government," he said. "The new government will have to prepare legislative
elections and ensure they are held on time," Nader added. Parliamentary polls
are due next year, with many pinning their hopes on the ballot bringing in fresh
blood but others doubtful a vote could yield game-changing results without a
revamp of the electoral system. "There is practically only one door on which to
knock for this government and that is the International Monetary Fund's, because
there is no other way out of the crisis," Nader said. Notable in the 24-minister
lineup was the inclusion of only one woman and the appointment as health
minister of Firass Abiad, a doctor who rose to public prominence in the battle
against the Covid-19 pandemic. The appointment of George Kordahi, a star TV
presenter known in the region as the host of the Arabic version of "Who Wants to
Be a Millionaire", in the government headed by Lebanon's richest man drew heavy
sarcasm on social media.
Wronecka says pleased at announcement of new government
NNA/September 10/2021
United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, said in a tweet
on Friday that she was "Pleased at the announcement of a new government. This is
a first step. Swift, courageous moves are now needed in the public interest to
get governance and economic reforms underway and to prepare for timely
elections. It is time to ease the burdens on the people of Lebanon and deliver
on their aspirations for a promising future."
Egypt's Foreign Ministry welcomes formation of new
Lebanese government
NNA/September 10/2021
Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed, in a statement on Friday, the
formation of the new Lebanese government, hoping it will "enact economic reforms
and dissociate the country from regional conflicts. The Ministry also
highlighted the necessity to "allow the new government to achieve its goals and
lead Lebanon out of the crisis under its constitutional powers."
Salam congratulates Mikati on government formation,
wishes him success in national rescue mission
NNA/September 10/2021
Former Prime Minister, Tammam Salam, on Friday congratulated Prime Minister,
Najib Mikati, on the formation of the new government, wishing him and his
working team success in his national rescue mission.
Hariri Supports Miqati in 'Vital Reform Mission'
Naharnet/September 10/2021
Ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Friday announced his support for new Prime
Minister Najib Miqati in “his vital mission to stop the collapse and launch
reforms.”“Finally, our country has a government after 12 months of void,” Hariri
said in a tweet. A new government was formed earlier in the day, ending a
13-month impasse as the country grapples with one of the worst crises in its
history. Holding back tears, Miqati said he recognized the pain of the Lebanese
and pledged to gain control of one of the world's worst economic meltdowns.
Lebanon has been without a fully empowered government since the catastrophic
Aug. 4, 2020 explosion at Beirut port, which forced the resignation of then
Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government.
Sami Gemayel: Government formed with Iranian green
light
NNA/September 10/2021
Kataeb party leader Sami Gemayel said Friday that the new government has been
formed "with an Iranian green light" and to clinch "Hezbollah's control of the
Lebanese decision.""This not a political moment but a continuity of the work of
the system and quotas," he added. "The political moment is in the hands of the
Lebanese in May," he stressed.
President Aoun tackles with Minister Ghajar
quadripartite talks in Amman on bringing Egyptian gas to Lebanon
NNA/September 10/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met Energy Minister, Dr. Raymond
Ghajar, today at Baabda Palace. The President was briefed about the talks held
in Amman, on leasing gas from Egypt to Lebanon, through Jordan and Syria.
Statement:
After the meeting, the Energy Minister made the following statement:
“I briefed His Excellency, about the talks which took place in Amman during the
quadripartite meetings between, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Syria, with an escort
from the World Bank regarding the import of Egyptian gas through Syria and
Jordan to Deir Ammar power plant in northern Lebanon.
Deliberations were very fruitful and it was agreed on a specific timeline for
reactivating the agreements signed between the four countries in 2009 after
their evaluation and completion of all technical procedures related.
It was also agreed on the following:
-Conducting a survey by each country on its facilities to ensure safety, ability
to absorb gas and readiness for cooperation, in addition to submitting a report
in this regard within a three-week period.
-Initiating discussions with the World Bank and the Arab Republic of Egypt to
evaluate contracts and agreements and to determine quantities, prices and time
periods for each agreement.
-Asking the World Bank to help find solutions to the issue of financing through
a guarantee of payments for a short period.
-Requesting the World Bank to assist in obtaining necessary exceptions from the
US administration to facilitate the progress of this project.
Questions & Answers:
In response to a question about the time period required to start implementing
this project, Minister Ghajar clarified that it takes around three weeks to
verify technical matters. “On our part, we have to make sure that Deir Ammar
plant is ready for reception. After a period of 3 weeks, each country submits a
report and determines whether it needs a longer period for processing. On the
other hand, as Lebanese Energy Ministry, we will start working with the Egyptian
Energy Ministry, as well as with the World Bank so that we can prepare the
agreement which is still valid” Ghajar said. “However, there is a difference in
prices and in quantities required as well as in the time period. The issue of
financing remains the most important, that is, how will the payment be made?
Because gas is a product which is priced in US dollars, and the World Bank is
helping in this issue. It is possible between 2 or more months to come up with
proposals for solution, which the Lebanese government must approve. So, it may
take about two or three months to prepare for this issue, depending on the
conditions of gas lines” the Energy Minister continued.
Question: It is said that the Lebanese market will run out of gasoline, and no
credits have yet been opened, so what do you think about this issue?
Answer: “All fuel kinds are present, and we are still trying to use the
remaining balance of 225 million dollars to price the quantities of gasoline at
the official price. Gasoline will not be cut off within a week. We are
discussing with the Central Bank to reach the possibility of opening credits in
the next stage. Exchange platform, or on the dollar rate?, This matter has not
yet been decided”.
On the issue of lifting fuel subsidies, which has become an obsession for the
Lebanese citizen, especially in how to secure generator electricity bills in the
event it occurs, Minister Ghajar pointed out that lifting the subsidy is not
taken by the Ministry of Energy, but rather is a governmental decision. “And the
last exceptional decision taken was to open all the credits in a way that the
citizen pays the value of the dollar at the price of 8000 pounds per dollar, and
the Ministry of Finance bears the price difference, and the exchange rate of the
dollar in this case is estimated at approximately 16,000 pounds. The Central
Bank finances the credits according to this figure”. Moreover, Minister Ghajar
stressed that the rise in prices affects citizens due to the deterioration of
their purchasing power, pointing out that the issue of support and exchange rate
determination does not belong to the Ministry of Energy, but rather based on a
government decision that says that fuel credits are at this or that price. “As a
ministry, our role is limited to pricing based on an agreement that defines the
method of subsidy” Ghajar concluded. -- Press Office
President Aoun discusses educational affairs with
delegation from Syndicate of Private School Teachers
NNA/September 10/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met a delegation from the
Syndicate of Teachers in private Schools, headed by Rodolph Abboud, today at the
Presidential Palace. The meeting addressed teacher conditions in private
schools, and the problems which they suffer from in light of the current
financial crisis which Lebanon is witnessing. Mr. Abboud stated the most
prominent problems which the sector suffers from in light of the current
conditions “Which motivated thousands of teachers to emigrate from the
educational sector or to emigrate the homeland in search of job opportunities
which meets some of the needs of a normal life, especially after the promises
received”. “The teachers’ crisis extended even after their retirement, and those
who retired among them were deprived of their rights in Law 46 and in the six
grades, and the suffering continues” Abboud added.
In addition, Abboud also pointed out the teachers’ suffering in terms of their
inability to obtain hospitalization after the high financial cost of doing so,
indicating that the educational officials of private schools should implement
Law 46 and give six grades to all teachers and professors, as well as pay the
arrears resulting from the non-application of this law, give additional
financial incentives to teachers and apply the new transportation allowance.
Abboud also pointed out that “Political officials should form a government
capable of restoring the country’s advancement to be able to carry out its
national duties under difficult circumstances, curb the insane rise of the
dollar, return what was possible to return from the purchasing value of our
national currency and carry out the necessary reforms, in addition to securing
fuel for teachers to move to schools via monthly vouchers, the issuance of the
financing card as an integral part of the correction of salaries and wages, the
approval of the 500 billion Lebanese pound bill for education in the public and
private sectors, the approval of the student support law in public and private
schools at one million Lebanese pounds, in addition to the support of the
guarantor institutions, in addition to pressuring the BDL and the Association of
Banks to release the salaries of serving teachers and the salaries and
compensations of retired teachers”.
Statement:
After the meeting, Abboud made the following statement:
“We were honored to meet His Excellency the President, who gives priority to
finding solutions to the problems that Lebanon suffers from, especially the
problems of the educational sector and teachers. In fact, we leave our meeting
with His Excellency the President assured that the problems we presented to him
will receive sufficient attention and effective solutions.
We hope that the formation of the government will facilitate the implementation
of the required reforms and that the entire educational sector will cooperate in
what between them”.
Questions & Answers:
Asked about the fate of the school year, Abboud indicated that “Our efforts are
focused on returning to the implementation of the attendance return, and this is
our desire and will. We also know that this return saves the families the
problems that they have suffered during the past two years. But there are simple
obstacles that need to be resolved by a will”.
“Teachers are part of the society and their needs are increasing today in light
of these conditions. Therefore, in order to be able to go to their schools and
return from them, it is known what is the solution as well as what is the
problem. We put President Aoun in the midst of these problems and the
Syndicate’s endeavors, and our constant readiness to meet with private
educational institutions, on the background of our keenness on them, because
they include more than 70 or 80 percent of the Lebanese society” Abboud added.
-- Press Office
Akar meets chairman of EU's military committee
NNA/September 10/2021
Former Defense Minister, Zeina Akar, met Friday with chairman of the European
Military Committee, General Claudio Graziano, and an accompanying delegation.
Talks reportedly touched on the relations between Lebanon and the European
Union, especially in the military fields, in addition to the aids the EU is
working on providing to Lebanon and the Lebanese army.
MEA Statement: Hotel Quarantine no longer required
for passengers arriving to Lebanon starting September 10, 2021
NNA/September 10/2021
In reference to the circular issued by the Lebanese General Directorate of Civil
Aviation on 9 September 2021 regarding the required procedure for passengers
arriving in Lebanon as of 10 September 2021, Middle East Airlines-Air Liban
announces the following:
1. Hotel Quarantine is no longer required for passengers arriving to Lebanon
from countries that were subject to the mandatory possession of a hotel
reservation starting 10/9/2021
2. All Passengers wishing to come to Lebanon, except children under 12 years
old, must perform PCR test in a Lab. certified by the countries Local
authorities latest 96 hours between the test result and the date of arrival to
Lebanon and to show the test result which must include a QR code at check-in
counters.
Passengers not having negative PCR test result with a QR code are not allowed to
board the plane departing to Lebanon, but the PCR tests issued from: USA,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and all European countries
are accepted without QR codes.
3. All passengers arriving to Lebanon, except Children under 12 years age and
UNIFIL, shall perform a PCR test upon their arrival to BRHIA.
Exemptions:
l. Passengers wishing to travel to Lebanon and who have received the second dose
of Covid-19 vaccine, or a complete dose of Covid-19 vaccine (which is formed of
one dose only), minimum 2 weeks before their departure to Lebanon or passengers
who were infected and cured from Covid-19 within 90 days before their departure
date after showing an official document confirming that, are exempted from
performing a PCR test at the countries of departure, and shall perform a PCR
test upon their arrival at BRHIA.
2. Passengers who travelled out of Lebanon and will return within one week, that
is, who travelled during one day of the week and will return on the same day
during the following week, will be exempted from doing PCR test in the countries
of departure, but shall perform a PCR test at BRHIA upon their arrival to
Lebanon.—MEA
Timeline: The Agonies of Crisis-Hit Lebanon
Agence France Presse/September 10/2021
Mired in what the World Bank calls one of the worst economic crises since the
mid-19th century, Lebanon finally got a new government Friday after 13 months of
deadlock.
Here is a recap of the country's escalating crisis:
Dollar shortages -
Protesters take to the streets of central Beirut against economic hardship on
September 29, 2019.
Among the worst hit are petrol station owners who need dollars to pay their
suppliers. But media reports say banks and exchange offices are limiting dollar
sales for fear of running out of the U.S. currency on which the country relies.
Last straw
Mass protests follow a government announcement on October 17 of a planned tax on
voice calls made over messaging services such as WhatsApp.
Many see the tax as the last straw, with some demanding "the fall of the
regime".
The government of prime minister Saad Hariri scraps the tax the same day.
But protests continue over the ensuing weeks, culminating in huge demonstrations
calling for the overhaul of a ruling class in place for decades and accused of
systematic corruption.
Hariri's government resigns in late October.
Eurobond default -
Lebanon, with a $92 billion debt burden equivalent to nearly 170 percent of its
gross domestic product, announces in March 2020 that it will default on a
payment for the first time in its history.
In April, after three nights of violent clashes, then-prime minister Hassan Diab
says Lebanon will seek International Monetary Fund help after the government
approves an economic rescue plan.
But talks with the IMF quickly go off the rails.
Catastrophic explosion -
A massive explosion on August 4 at Beirut port devastates entire neighborhoods
of the capital, kills more than 200 people, injures at least 6,500 and leaves
hundreds of thousands homeless. The government says the blast appears to have
been caused by a fire that ignited tons of ammonium nitrate left unsecured in a
warehouse for six years. Popular anger -- kept on hold by the Covid pandemic --
erupts.
Top officials are investigated over the explosion, but no politicians are
arrested.
Political impasse
Diab's government resigns in August after just over seven months in office.
Diplomat Mustafa Adib is named new premier but bows out after less than a month,
and Hariri, already prime minister three times, is named in October.
One of worst crises -
Authorities announce in February 2021 that bread prices will rise by around a
fifth.
In June, the World Bank says Lebanon's economic collapse is likely to rank among
the world's worst financial crises since the mid-19th century.
Later that month protesters try to storm central bank offices in the northern
city of Tripoli and Sidon in the south after the Lebanese pound plunges to a new
record low on the black market. As the currency has lost 90 percent of its
value, entire sections of society have sunk into poverty. Days later the
government hikes fuel prices by more than 30 percent.Medicine importers say in
July they have run out of key drugs.
New government
After nine months of horse-trading, Hariri steps aside on July 15, saying he is
unable to form a government.Billionaire Najib Miqati, Lebanon's richest man and
already twice prime minister, is tasked with forming a new cabinet on July 26,
sparking both protests and skepticism. A new government is announced Friday
ending a 13-month vacuum.
Mes larmes et celles de Mikati
Jean-Marie Kassab/September 10/2021
Celles de Mikati etaient essentiellement des larmes de joie, ne vous leurrez
pas: il est enfin à nouveau premier ministre et a vaincu là où Hariri a echoué.
En étant PM, il pourra nettoyer son dossier, élargir son empire, s'acheter un
nouveau yacht, et surtout aller à nouveau au resto. De son aveu, la thawra l' en
avait privé. Il pourra aussi grâce à son nouveau salaire de PM aider ses fils à
rembourser leurs dettes en millions de dollars empruntés à la banque de
l'habitât. Les temps sont durs ,il faut s'entraider...
De joie aussi puisqu'il a réussi une fois de plus: La fois passée c'etait les
"chemises noires " qui l' ont amené , cette fois c'est carrément les Iraniens
eux mêmes qui l'ont soutenu et peut-être les Français comme le prétendent
certains. Cette promotion mérite bien ce show larmoyant sur le podium de Baabda.
Quant à moi j'ai pleuré parce que je ne vois pas comment Mikati pourrait nous
sauver. Il l'a d' ailleurs indirectement et inconsciement insinué en citant
précisement deux analgésiques qui manquent sur le marché: Panadol et Aspro. Il
compte s'y substituer. Or nous avons besoin de remèdes et non de calmants.
En réponse à un journaliste il repondu en ricanant: plus de subsides parce que
nous n'avons plus un rond. Au même moment presque toutes les voies routières du
pays étaient bloquées par les files de voitures aux réservoirs secs. Les larmes
se séchèrent par miracle.
J'ai pleuré moi aussi .
J'ai pleuré parce qu'il s'est engagé de mendier auprès des arabes qui sûrement
lui fermeront la porte au nez. Tant que les Iraniens tes maîtres Iraniens seront
là, pas un sous Najib.
Nous sommes devenus un peuple mendiant grâce à votre clan monsieur dont les deux
criminels qui ont contresigné votre nomination et al monsieur Mikati.
Je sais que je pleurerai de rage quand la déclaration ministèrielle sera publiée
avec une mention claire quant aux armes de la Moukawama Iranienne.
Je ragerai autant quand ce même putain de parlement va octroyer sa confiance à
ce gouvernement fantoche.
Mais maintenant les larmes brouillent mon regard car sachant tout ça, le peuple
Libanais ne fait rien du tout. Que pas un fils de pute sache dire merde à ces
salauds et prenne le pouvoir par la force et les chasse du temple.
Stability over reform
Nicholas Frakes/Now Lebanon/September 10/2021
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati was able to announce a 24-person
government after 13 months, but analysts say it looks to create stability rather
than pursue any serious reform.
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati announced on Friday that he has agreed
with President Michel Aoun on the formation of a new government consisting of
mostly insiders of Lebanon’s political factions leaderships, despite calls from
both Lebanese civil society and international donors to form a technocratic
cabinet.
The new cabinet, seen as a breakthrough after a 13-month deadlock following
caretaker PM Hassan Diab’s resignation in the wake of the August 4 Beirut Port
explosion, is the third attempt by a designated PM to reach a consensus with the
country’s political factions. Before Mikati, who was appointed in July, Mustapha
Adib and former PM Saad Hariri both failed to form governments.
Mikati cried on live television after sealing the deal with President Aoun on
Friday.
“My tears came from the heart; let’s leave politics aside, and we want to work
to secure the minimum required for people,” Mikati said after leaving his
meeting with Aoun and Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri. “I hope that we will
rise with this government, stop the current collapse, and restore Lebanon to its
glory and prosperity.”
But despite some politicians celebrating the end of Lebanon’s political crisis,
analysts point out that the composition of the new government looks to stabilize
a crisis-ridden Lebanon, rather than seek any actual changes to put in place a
functional reformed government. Mikati just bought time until the 2022
elections, they say.
“At this point and at this stage of the economic crisis, the most important
thing is to have at least a kind of steering wheel to take things somewhere,”
Mohanad Hage Ali, director of communication at the Carnegie Middle East Center,
told NOW.
“I think when it comes to reforms, we have to understand the reality that this
political class could not be reformed but it will negotiate a sort of middle
ground between what is required from the international community.”
Same old
For the last 3o years, Lebanon’s governments have consisted of politically
connected insiders who either got their positions in the government based on
their political affiliations, or in exchange for their loyalty.
In Mikati’s new government, little has changed despite the presence of
technocrats like Firas Abiad, the manager of Rafik Hariri University Hospital.
Due to the lack of real change in the government, Makram Rabah, lecturer in
history at the American University of Beirut, says he has low expectations.
“The presence of some names who are competent and have a good record in their
personal and professional lives does not give this cabinet any chance of being
able to pass any reforms,” Rabah told NOW.
“This cabinet is incapable of doing any serious reforms. And many of the names
embedded in this government are actually the reason why this collapse is
happening, starting with the head of the cabinet Najib Mikati who is accused of
corruption.”
In addition to this, Aoun was able to get his blocking third in the cabinet,
something that Hariri refused to give any party or bloc ultimately leading to
his downfall as PM-designate. This means Mikati’s tenure as prime minister is at
the mercy of the President’s party, the Free Patriotic Movement and its
political allies.
“The blocking one-third veto is in the hands of President Aoun and Hezbollah,
thus any chances of any real change and any negotiations with the international
community have to go through Hezbollah which means that there are no real
chances of success,” Rabah stated.
He was not alone in his critique of the new government. Many civil society
activists and analysts have taken it to social media to show criticism for the
fact that out of the 24 seats only one went to a woman. Najla Riachi, who took
the portfolio of Administrative Development, is the former Permanent
Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and is known
to be close to PM Mikati.
Firas Maksad, director of strategic outreach at the Middle East Institute, was
also quick to point out that the government was nowhere close to being a
reformist one but would still receive the approval of the international
community, which has become desperate to see a stable Lebanon.
“But make no mistake about it, this is no reformist government, but a defeat for
those calling for genuine political and economic reform in Lebanon. It is the
victory of the old entrenched system over the new attempting to be born. It is
Lebanon’s version of ‘either us or we burn the country.'”
Firas Maksad, Middle East Institute
“Fearing large scale instability and total state failure, many in the West will
welcome today’s announcement as the lesser evil and work with it out of
necessity – particularly on an IMF rescue package & international aid,” he
tweeted. “But make no mistake about it, this is no reformist government, but a
defeat for those calling for genuine political and economic reform in Lebanon.
It is the victory of the old entrenched system over the new attempting to be
born. It is Lebanon’s version of ‘either us or we burn the country.'”
Maksad also urged the international community not to allow what is taking place
to turn into support for a corrupt government just to preserve stability in the
country.
“It is understandable for the US, France & others to take necessary steps to
prevent total state failure in Lebanon, but this must not morph into supporting
a cabinet fronting for a deeply corrupt political establishment, co-opted by
Hezbollah and rejected by most Lebanese and Arab allies,” he wrote.
He also said that the West must insist on free and timely voting next year,
vocalize support for genuine reform and threaten sanctions on those in power
with the purpose to enrich themselves. “Otherwise, aid or rescue packages are
but a temporary bandaid. Iran and instability will continue to carry the day, as
they did in Beirut today,” he pointed out.
Damage control
According to Haj Ali, there are limits to what this new government can and
cannot do.
Due to Lebanon’s various crises, the political game in Lebanon has changed, and
Haj Ali believes that the political elite will have to find a new way to
continue with the system they created, as the old one can no longer function in
the current climate.
“The Ponzi scheme is over,” he argued. “I think that they are searching for new
ways and I think that they will partially figure out a replacement.”
“The presence of some names who are competent and have a good record in their
personal and professional lives does not give this cabinet any chance of being
able to pass any reforms.”
Makram Rabah, History lecturer, AUB
Haj Ali says that they are going to need to try to create a new system in which
they can continue thriving as they have been for the last three decades, but
they also need to appease the international community in order to prevent them
from applying too much pressure on them to reform the country. Along with this,
politicians now have new “red lines” that they need to pay attention to if they
want to receive any international aid.
“Now it’s all about mitigating for them what losses that they’ve suffered as the
old system goes away and how they can make up for it,” Haj Ali said. “And, at
the same time, trying to reach a middle ground with the international community
and I think that there are some red lines that they cannot cross which makes any
negotiations with the IMF difficult.”
According to Haj Ali, the first red line appears at the audit of the country’s
finances, as any serious audit would expose the corruption that has thrived
among Lebanon’s political class.
The second one is when it comes to redundancies in the public sector.
“They prefer to keep the current system with low pay and let it drag out,” Haj
Ali explained. “The security services and the military have already lost 10,000
people to desertion. And I think that they will let it drag out and do the
redundancies on its own due to the low pay and difficult conditions.”
“There will be no painful measures of cutting off public jobs, organizing
procurement, fighting corruption, etc.”
Mohanad Hage Ali, Carnegie Middle East Center
If they let people leave due to the conditions and pay, then, while there might
be some political repercussions, it will allow them to thin out the public
sector all while receiving some level of acceptance by the international
community.
“There will be no painful measures of cutting off public jobs, organizing
procurement, fighting corruption, etc,” he added.
While there is little enthusiasm from the public about the new government, after
over a year without one and with the situation worsening, the prospect of any
government at all has been welcomed.
After the announcement of the new government, the black market rate for the
dollar in Lebanon dropped from around 17,000 to 15,500.
With Lebanon’s national debt reaching around $97.3 billion as of March 2021
according to Bank Audi, the possibility of there being some economic relief is
appealing.
“We have a government that can make relief possible,” Haj Ali stated. “For
instance, the distribution of the IMF support that we have already in place
which I think is $900 million. Also, paving the way for reconstruction of the
port and maybe some support from Arab states.”
After announcing the new government, Mikati promised to take action to help the
country that was facing an “exceptional situation today” and said that “we must
hold each other’s hands, and we confirm that we will be a one-hand team that
will work with hope and determination.”
He added that he would work with the international community to help Lebanon.
The new government is set to hold its first meeting on Monday, September 13.
*Nicholas Frakes is a multimedia journalist with @NOW_leb. He tweets @nicfrakesjourno.
https://nowlebanon.com/stability-over-reform/?fbclid=IwAR3oMY8gQX30X_3TxBcoqhtHH3sFkGyUy3k1AkYWlIZ7zJI8N02AwkWB_ME
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on September 10-11/2021
Israel’s PM: Iran is ‘lying’ to world about its
nuclear program, time to act is now
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/10 September ,2021
Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Iran of “lying to the world”
about its nuclear program, days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
released a report criticizing Tehran’s lack of cooperation.
“Israel views with utmost gravity the situation reflected in the report, which
proves that Iran is continuing to lie to the world and advance a program to
develop nuclear weapons, while denying its international commitments,” Bennett
said in a statement. “I call for an appropriate and rapid international reaction
to the severe actions of Iran. The IAEA report warns that the time to act is
now; therefore, the naive expectation that Iran will be prepared to change its
path via negotiations has been proven to be baseless,” he added. “Only a
vigorous stand by the international community, backed up by decisions and
actions, will be able to lead to a change by the regime in Tehran, which has
lost all restraint. Israel will do everything to prevent Iran from attaining
nuclear weapons.”The IAEA reported to its members that there had been no
progress on two central issues: explaining uranium traces found at several old,
undeclared sites and getting urgent access to some monitoring equipment so that
the agency can continue to keep track of parts of Iran's nuclear program. Iran’s
hardline President Ebrahim Raisi warned the West against taking action based on
the IAEA report. “In the event of a counterproductive approach at the IAEA, it
would not make sense to expect Iran to react constructively. Counterproductive
measures are naturally disruptive to the negotiation path also,” he said. The
agency’s report will likely be another complication in the nuclear talks between
Iran and the US which stalled while Raisi has taken office. Israel strongly
opposes the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and doesn’t want
Washington to return to it under Joe Biden’s presidency. Last month, Bennett met
with Biden in the White House and discussed Iran. Biden told the Israeli PM that
if diplomatic negotiations failed regarding Iran’s nuclear deal then Washington
was prepared with other options. Israeli diplomats said Bennett presented Biden
with what Tel Aviv officials described as a “death by a thousand cuts” strategy
against Iran. With Reuters
Israel Arrests More Relatives of Palestinian Jail Breakers
Agence France Presse/September 10/2021
The Israeli army made more arrests Friday of relatives of six escaped
Palestinian prisoners, an advocacy body said, as troops kept up a massive
manhunt in the occupied West Bank. Israel has poured troops into the Palestinian
territory since Monday's breakout by six militants from the high security Gilboa
prison in northern Israel through a tunnel dug beneath a sink in a cell. Two
brothers and a sister of suspected mastermind Mahmud Ardah were arrested on
Friday morning in the village of Arraba near Jenin in the northern West Bank,
the Palestinian Prisoners Club said.
Ardah, a member of militant group Islamic Jihad, has been imprisoned for life
since 1996 over his role in deadly attacks. Other relatives of the six
fugitives, all from the Jenin area, were arrested on Wednesday and are being
held in detention, according to the Palestinian advocacy group. The Israeli army
had no immediate comment on the Friday arrests. On Thursday, Public Security
Minister Omer Bar Lev said he and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had agreed to
form a commission of inquiry led by a retired judge. Palestinians have been
celebrating the breakout with demonstrations in both the West Bank and the
Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, some of which have been accompanied by rioting.
More were scheduled for Friday. An Israeli injunction is in effect against
publishing details of the jailbreak investigation, even as Israeli media report
on the scramble to recover from the embarrassing lapse.
Taliban kill former Vice President Saleh’s brother:
Report
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/10 September ,2021
The Taliban killed Rohullah Azizi, brother of former Vice President of
Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh, Aamaj News reported on Friday. Sources told Aamaj
that Azizi was arrested and shot on Thursday in Rokha district in Panjshir. His
brother Saleh did not flee from the country like former President Ashraf Ghani.
He became one of the leaders of resistance against the Taliban. His exact
location remains unknown. The Taliban announced this week that Panjshir, the
last stronghold of the anti-Taliban resistance movement National Resistance
Front of Afghanistan (NRF), was under the group’s control. However, resistance
leader Ahmad Massoud insisted the fight continued and called for a national
uprising. Massoud’s calls were met with protests across the country in support
of his movement. But the Taliban outlawed the protests, and the UN said the
group was violent in its efforts to disperse them. UN rights spokesperson,
Ravina Shamdasani, said the Taliban responded with live ammunition, batons and
whips and caused the deaths of at least four protesters.
As Flights Resume, Plight of Afghan Allies Tests Biden's Vow
Associated Press/September 10/2021
Evacuation flights have resumed for Westerners, but thousands of at-risk Afghans
who had helped the United States are still stranded in their homeland with the
U.S. Embassy shuttered, all American diplomats and troops gone and the Taliban
now in charge. With the United States and Taliban both insisting on travel
documents that may no longer be possible to get in Afghanistan, the plight of
those Afghans is testing President Joe Biden's promises not to leave America's
allies behind. An evacuation flight out of Kabul on Thursday, run by the Gulf
state of Qatar and the first of its kind since U.S.-led military evacuations
ended Aug. 30, focused on U.S. passport and green card holders and other
foreigners. For the U.S. lawmakers, veterans groups and other Americans who've
been scrambling to get former U.S. military interpreters and other at-risk
Afghans on charter flights out, the relaunch of evacuation flights did little to
soothe fears that the U.S. might abandon countless Afghan allies. A particular
worry are those whose U.S. special immigrant visas — meant for Afghans who
helped Americans during the 20-year war — still were in the works when the
Taliban took Kabul in a lightning offensive on Aug. 15. The U.S. abandoned its
embassy building that same weekend. "For all intents and purposes, these
people's chances of escaping the Taliban ended the day we left them behind,"
said Afghanistan war veteran Matt Zeller, founder of No One Left Behind. It's
among dozens of grassroots U.S. groups working to get out Afghan translators and
others who supported Americans. An estimated 200 foreigners, including
Americans, left Afghanistan on the commercial flight out of Kabul on Thursday
with the cooperation of the Taliban. Ten U.S. citizens and 11 green-card holders
made Thursday's flight, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. Americans
organizing charter evacuation flights said they knew of more U.S. passport and
green-card holders in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and elsewhere awaiting
flights out. In the U.S., National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne
said Thursday's flight was the result of "careful and hard diplomacy and
engagement" and said the Taliban "have shown flexibility, and they have been
businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort." But
many doubt the Taliban will be as accommodating for Afghans who supported the
U.S. In Mazar-e-Sharif, a more than weeklong standoff over charter planes at the
airport there has left hundreds of people — mostly Afghans, but some with
American passports and green cards — stranded, waiting for Taliban permission to
leave.
Afghans and their American supporters say the Taliban are blocking all
passengers in Mazar-e-Sharif from boarding the waiting charter flights,
including those with proper travel papers.
Zeller pointed to the Taliban appointment this week of a hard-line government.
It includes Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is on the FBI's most-wanted list with a $5
million bounty for alleged attacks and kidnappings, as interior minister, a
position putting him in charge of granting passports.
The Trump administration all but stopped approval of the Afghan special
immigrant visas, or SIVs, in its final months. The Biden administration, too,
was criticized for failing to move faster on evacuating Afghans before Kabul
fell to the Taliban.
The U.S. had also required some visa-seekers to go outside the country to apply,
a requirement that became far more dangerous with the Taliban takeover last
month. "There are all of these major logistical obstacles," said Betsy Fisher of
the International Refugee Assistance Project, which provides legal services to
SIV applicants. "How will people leave Afghanistan?" She said with no clear plan
in place, the U.S. government could wind up encouraging people to go on risky
journeys.
In July, after Biden welcomed home the first airlift, he made clear the U.S.
would help even those Afghans with pending visa applications get out of
Afghanistan "so that they can wait in safety while they finish their visa
applications."Since the military airlifts ended on Aug. 30, however, the Biden
administration and Taliban have emphasized that Afghans needed passports and
visas. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday the administration was
looking at steps like electronic visas. Hundreds of Afghans who say they are in
danger of Taliban reprisals have gathered for more than a week in Mazar-e-Sharif,
waiting for permission to board evacuation flights chartered by U.S. supporters.
Among them was an Afghan who worked for 15 years as a U.S. military interpreter.
He has been moving from hotel to hotel in Mazar-e-Sharif and running out of
money as he, his eight children and his wife waited for the OK from the Taliban
to leave. "I'm frightened I will be left behind," said the man, whose name was
withheld by The Associated Press for his safety. "I don't know what the issue is
— is it a political issue, or they don't care about us?"
The interpreter's visa was approved weeks before the last U.S. troops left the
country, but he could not get it stamped into his passport because the U.S.
Embassy shut down. He said Thursday that he doesn't trust Taliban assurances
that they will not take revenge against Afghans who worked for the Americans.
Biden, already criticized for his handling of the evacuation, is being pushed by
Democrats and also on both sides by Republicans, with some saying he's not doing
enough to help America's former allies and others that he's not doing enough to
keep potential threats out of the U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Mike Waltz,
both Republicans, said in a statement that hundreds of those at-risk Afghans and
U.S. residents remain "trapped behind enemy lines." The Biden administration
"must provide Congress and the American people ... with a plan to get them
safely out of Afghanistan." The Association of War Time Allies estimates tens of
thousands of special immigrant visa applicants remain in Afghanistan. An
American citizen in New York is trying to get two cousins out of the country who
applied for SIVs late last year and were still waiting for approval when the
U.S. Embassy shut down. She said both cousins worked for a U.S. aid group for a
combined eight years and are frightened the Taliban will find them. "They're
scared, they feel abandoned. They put their entire lives at risk, and when the
U.S. was exiting, they were told they would get out," said the American, Fahima,
whose last name and the name of the aid group are being withheld to protect her
cousins. "Where is the helping hand?"
Qatar Top Diplomat in Iran to Discuss Afghanistan
Agence France Presse/September 10/2021
Qatar's foreign minister met his Iranian counterpart in Tehran on Thursday to
discuss developments in Afghanistan, the Qatari diplomat and Iranian media said.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani held "talks on regional and
international issues" with Iran's Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, reported Iran's ISNA
news agency. Sheikh Mohammed, who this week met US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken in Doha, tweeted that he and Iran's foreign minister met "to discuss the
developments in Afghanistan". "The State of Qatar believes in the effectiveness
of having a unified vision to ensure a comprehensive solution for Afghanistan,"
he added. The two men also discussed improving trade relations, including by
speeding up visa issuance for business travelers, Iran's official IRNA news
agency reported. Qatar is close to the US and hosts Washington's largest
military base in the region, but it also enjoys strong ties with Tehran, with
which it shares the world's largest gas field. Iran, worried about the Taliban's
return to power, on Monday "strongly" condemned its assault on Afghanistan's
Panjshir Valley, which had been the last stronghold of resistance. The region's
dominant Shiite Muslim power, Iran had until now refrained from criticizing the
Taliban since the Sunni group seized Kabul on August 15. Qatar has long acted as
a mediator on Afghanistan, hosting the Taliban's talks with the United States
under former president Donald Trump, and then with the now deposed Afghan
government of president Ashraf Ghani. Iran, which shares a 900-kilometre (550
mile) border with Afghanistan, did not recognize the Taliban during their 1996
to 2001 stint in power. Already hosting nearly 3.5 million Afghans, and fearing
a new refugee influx, Tehran has however sought to reach a rapprochement with
the Taliban since their lightning seizure of Kabul amid the US withdrawal last
month.
Ukraine President: War with Russia possible, Moscow:
He’s ‘divorced from reality’
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/10 September ,2021
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday an all-out war with
Russia was a possibility, to which Moscow responded by saying he was “divorced
from reality.”Asked at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) summit on the
possibility of war with Russia he said: “I think it may happen. It's the worst
thing that could happen, but unfortunately there is that possibility,” according
to Ukrainian state news agency Urkinform. He added that if that were to happen,
it would be “Russia’s biggest mistake”. Meanwhile, Spokeswoman for Russia’s
Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said: “Zelensky's statements are becoming more
and more divorced from reality. Phrases that are not connected by a single logic
and do not express any conceptual approach,” according to Russian state news
agency TASS. She added: “It’s a superficial fragmented response. A set of
aggressive, accusatory words and cliches that are not united into a single
thought.”Tensions between Ukraine and Russia heightened this year when Moscow
massed troops near the border and fighting intensified in eastern Ukraine. The
two countries' relations have soured over the years since Russia’s annexation of
Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014.
Moscow accused Kyiv of losing interest in peace talks, while Zelenskiy pushed in
vain for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the conflict zone.
With Reuters
Iraq’s PM to discuss energy, Saudi Arabia ties with
Iran's president
AFP/10 September ,2021
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi will meet Iran's president on Sunday in
Tehran to discuss issues including energy and Iran-Saudi relations, a government
source said Friday. The visit will mark Kadhemi's first meeting with Ebrahim
Raisi since the ultra-conservative president took office last month, and comes
ahead of Iraq's October 10 legislative polls. Kadhemi will raise “issues of
security, energy, and relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran” with Raisi, a
government source said, requesting anonymity. Oil-rich Iraq has been caught for
years in a delicate balancing act between its two main allies, the United States
and neighboring Iran. Iran exerts major clout in Iraq through allied armed
groups within the Hashed al-Shaabi, a powerful state-sponsored paramilitary
network. Iraq is highly dependent on Iranian imports, and Iran supplies a third
of Iraq's gas and electricity needs. However, Baghdad currently owes Tehran six
billion dollars for energy supplied. Baghdad has also been brokering talks since
April between US ally Riyadh and Tehran on mending ties severed in 2016. Last
month Iraq hosted a summit of regional leaders, attended by the foreign
ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as French president Emmanuel Macron.
Sunday's meeting is also expected to address the issue of visas for Iranian
pilgrims travelling to Shia holy sites in Iraq. Iraqi authorities late Thursday
announced new quotas for foreign pilgrims for the Arbaeen pilgrimage in the Shia
shrine city of Karbala later this month.
Kadhemi's office said that 60,000 Iranian pilgrims would be allowed to attend,
up from 30,000 previously announced. Arbaeen marks the end of the 40-day
mourning period for the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet
Mohammed, by the forces of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD. The number of visas
issued to foreign pilgrims permitted has dropped sharply in the past two years
due to the coronavirus pandemic. Kadhemi, who came to power in May last year
after months of unprecedented mass protests against a ruling class seen as
corrupt, inept and subordinate to Tehran, had called for early parliamentary
elections in response to demands by pro-democracy activists.
Canada thanks Qatar for securing safe departures of
Canadians from Afghanistan
September 9, 2021- Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the
following statement:
“We can confirm that today 43 Canadian citizens were on board a special flight
organized by the Government of Qatar, which departed from Kabul, Afghanistan,
for Doha. They will be repatriated to Canada in the coming days.
“Canada has been working closely with Qatar to ensure safe passage for Canadian
citizens still in Afghanistan who are seeking to leave, and we thank them for
their continued support.
“We are working tirelessly, including through close cooperation with our
international partners, to bring home remaining Canadian citizens, permanent
residents and their families and the vulnerable Afghans who have supported
Canada’s work in Afghanistan.”
Libyan Dictator's Son Saadi Gadhafi in Turkey
Agence France Presse/September 10/2021
Saadi Gadhafi, a son of Libya's late dictator Moammar Gadhafi who was killed in
a 2011 uprising, has moved to Turkey after being freed from jail, the family
spokesman said Friday. Saadi -- the strongman's third son now aged 47 -- was
known for his playboy lifestyle and briefly played as a professional footballer
in Italy. He was freed along with several other prisoners, including Gadhafi's
former cabinet and intelligence chief, Ahmad Ramadan, last weekend. Turkey's
foreign ministry has refused to comment on reports that Saadi has moved to
Istanbul. But Moussa Ibrahim, a former Libyan information minister who still
serves as a Gadhafi family spokesman, told Turkey's Haberler.com news site that
Saadi was in Turkey with his family. "Egypt said it would welcome Saadi, and so
did Saudi Arabia. And there was Turkey," the spokesman was quoted as saying.
"A common decision of all the parties involved was also in favor of Turkey,
since it was easier logistically. Saadi also wanted to go to Turkey, and it was
arranged." Saadi fled to Niger following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising, but was
extradited to Libya in 2014. He was held in a Tripoli prison, accused of crimes
committed against protesters and of the 2005 killing of Libyan football coach
Bashir al-Rayani. In April 2018, the court of appeal acquitted him of Rayani's
murder. Since the 2011 uprising, Libya has sunk into chaos, with an array of
rulers and militias vying for power. A 2020 ceasefire ended the factional
fighting and paved the way for peace talks and the formation of a transitional
government this March, ahead of elections set for December. But preparations are
marred by disputes over when to hold elections, what elections to hold and on
what constitutional grounds.
Defeat of PJD in Morocco deals severe blow to Muslim
Brotherhood
The Arab Weekly/September 10/2021
RABAT--The bitter defeat of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) in
Morocco dealt a severe blow to the project of political Islam, in the region and
the world. This development, experts say, indicates that the weight of the
Muslim Brotherhood has become rather insignificant following the fall of their
rule in Egypt and the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi by the June
30, 2013 revolution.Regardless of the local reasons that led to the defeat of
the PJD in Morocco, the major scale of this debacle shows that the current of
political Islam, which dominated the political scene in the aftermath of the
so-called Arab Spring, has failed to leverage the influence it once boasted.
Crushing defeat
Morocco’s liberal parties dealt a crushing blow to Morocco’s long-ruling
Islamists in parliamentary elections, preliminary results on Thursday showed.
The Justice and Development Party (PJD), which had headed the governing
coalition for a decade, saw its support collapse from 125 seats in the outgoing
assembly to just 12, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit told reporters after
Wednesday’s vote. Following its demise, the PJD leadership, including current
chief and outgoing premier Saad-Eddine El Othmani, resigned on Thursday, the
party said. The PJD will now return to its “natural” role in the opposition, a
statement said, adding that it will hold an emergency congress as soon as
possible. The PJD was far behind its main rivals, the National Rally of
Independents (RNI) and the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), with 97 and
82 seats respectively and the centre-right Istiqlal party with 78 in the
395-seat assembly. The Istiqlal (Independence) party, Morocco’s oldest, made a
remarkable comeback, adding 32 seats. The magnitude of the Islamists’ defeat was
unexpected. Despite the absence of opinion polls that are banned near election
time, the media and analysts had believed the PJD would still come first.
Swept to power in the wake of the 2011 uprisings around the Middle East and
North Africa, the PJD had hoped to secure a third term leading a ruling
coalition. Political scientist Ismail Hammoudi said internal PJD policy
squabbles after ex-PJD leader Abdelilah Benkirane was ousted as party leader
contributed to its defeat. He said that even the party’s religious arm “did not
urge its members to vote PJD.” Analyst Mustapha Sehimi said the fact that
Othmani’s position was seen to be a compromise greatly weakened the Islamists’
appeal. Days before the vote, the PJD blamed its slim chances of scoring a
sweeping victory in elections on a new voting system. The Islamist party,
however, stopped short of admitting the decline in its popularity, following the
failure of its leaders to fulfill the promises they made to voters during
previous electoral campaigns. Sources in Morocco said that the PJD, which failed
to efficiently run the country during its ten-year rule, lost an important share
of its seats in various regions, including where it traditionally held sway.
Many Moroccans blame the PJD for its failure to formulate ideas and programmes
that could respond to people’s demands. The PJD, like other political Islam
parties in the Arab world, has been heavily relyiant on mere slogans, such as
“Islam is the solution,” experts say. However, when it comes to the exercise of
power, the PJD and Islamist political parties in general, usually failed to
bring about real change.
Decline of political Islam
These parties, experts argue, have drained their moral and religious capital and
adopted practices, generally marked by pragmatism and opportunism, to
infiltrate, dominate and control state institutions. The voters, who were
enthusiastic about the rule of Islamists in more than one Arab country in the
hope that they would be honest and upright, gradually lost their trust in
political Islam and those who represent it, experts say. Islamists, most
observers agree, have neither the ideas nor the alternatives to bring about real
change, relying mostly, in their pursuit of power, on polorisation and
mobilisation. Amina Maelainine a PJD leader reacting to her party’s resounding
decline in a Facebook post, said: “The people felt the party has abandoned key
battles and relinquished politics, with its leadership remaining mostly idle,
silent and hesitant on crucial issues. Feeling abandoned, the people abandoned
the party.” Sami Brahem, a Tunisian researcher, commented in a tweet, saying
that the end of political Islam movements is the result of their failure “to
produce programmes and devise new visions and perceptions. This failure concerns
other political movements, but the Islamists’ failure is double; firstly,
because they held senior positions within governments and secondly, because they
added to the political failure a moral one, by accepting and working with
corruption lobbies.”
Moroccan elections are quite significant because they rocked one of the last
bastions of Islamist rule and demonstrated the waning influence of political
Islam. Now, parties of so-called democratic Islam are reduced to the margins of
political life in most of the region. Instead of serving their people, experts
say, Islamist parties, such as the PJD in Morocco and the Ennahda Movement in
Tunisia, spent time and energy trying to convince the West that they were no
longer religious groupings that might spread radicalism. The situation of the
Ennahda is similar to that of the PJD. The Tunisian Islamist party began to lose
popularity gradually following the 2014 elections. In the 2019 legislative
polls, it regressed remarkably, losing nearly a million voters.
Ennahda, in particular, monopolised power, controlling successive government and
running the risk of being exposed directly to the public’s anger. Recent polls
in Tunisia have showed, on multiple occasions, that Ennahda’s leader Rached
Ghannouchi ranks first as the most unpopular political figure in the country.
The anger at the poor performance of the Ennahda and the failures of the
governments it supported reached its climax on July 25, when Tunisians took to
the streets, prompting President Kais Saied to suspend parliament and dismiss
the government. Despite having pragmatic leaders such as Ghannouchi and
Abdelilah Benkirane, the two Islamist parties in Tunisia and Morocco have lost
power and saw a sharp decline in their influence. Other Islamist political
groups, which are more conservative and puritanical, risk a more crushing
decline, experts say. In Algeria, Islamist groups have been going through a
state of chaos and schism that led to their marginalisation compared to the
liberal parties, which are described as being close to the regime. In the
absence of ideas and programmes, the struggle for leadership among Islamists
themselves has turned into a permanent battle that weakened and divided
political parties and led some of the Islamists to ally with the regime.
Although the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi succeeded in dealing the
most severe blow to the Muslim Brotherhood movement, some affiliated groups have
managed to outlive the crisis in other Arab countries, including in Libya.
The Muslim Brotherhood in that North African country, experts say, has survived
the predicament but is now dependent on foreign support, which made it
completely subservient to Turkey. The Libyan Brotherhood, hence, is not seen as
an influential offshoot locally and regionally and its role does not go beyond
the task of providing funding and assisting the rest of the Muslim Brotherhood
movements in the region. In Arab Gulf states, the influence of the Muslim
Brotherhood has dwindled significantly, especially after the movement was
classified as a terrorist group in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Analysts believe
that the PJD’s defeat in Morocco will be turning point for the Muslim
Brotherhood, determining the end of one stage and the beginning of another: from
rise to decline and from mere slogans, to no capital at all. Amin Sossi Alaoui,
a Moroccan researcher in geopolitical issues, stressed that the defeat of the
Justice and Development is an earthquake that will break the back of the Muslim
Brotherhood in the Islamic world. “The sharp Moroccan experiment, that enabled
the political Islam movement to have two (successive) government mandates after
the revolutions that swept the Arab world in 2011, allowed the Moroccan voter to
discover the treachery of the PJD’s populist slogans, usually used to control
state institutions,” Moroccan researcher Sossi Alaoui told The Arab Weekly.
Hichem Amiri, a Moroccan researcher in political science, agreed, saying, “all
Islamist attempts to govern have failed in the Arab region.” “The way political
Islam is dealt with in the region varies in nature according to the nature of
each society. The Moroccan people exercised their right through the ballot box
to eject Islamists. In other countries, there were other approaches to counter
political Islam,” Amiri told The Arab Weekly.
Tunisia may change political system via referendum
The Arab Weekly/September 10/2021
Tunisian President Kais Saied plans to suspend the constitution and may amend
the political system via a referendum, one of his advisers said on Thursday in
the first clear indication of the president’s plans. More than six weeks after
Saied seized governing powers, dismissed the prime minister and suspended
parliament on July 25, he has still not appointed a new government nor made any
broader declaration of his long-term intentions. “This system cannot continue …
changing the system means changing the constitution through a referendum,
perhaps … the referendum requires logistical preparation,” said Walid Hajjem, an
adviser to president Saied. He added that this was the president’s plan, which
was at the final stage and was expected to be formally unveiled soon, but he did
not expand on what changes Saied was contemplating. The president’s July
intervention has enjoyed broad public support so far, with the majority of
Tunisians expressing their relief after more ten years of Islamist rule, marred
by endless political disputes, instability and widespread corruption. Saied has
been widely expected to move to a presidential system of government that would
reduce the role of the parliament, something that has been frequently discussed
during years of gridlock since the 2014 constitution was agreed. He has defended
his moves as necessary, insisted they were in line with the constitution,
promised to respect Tunisians’ rights and said he will not become a dictator.
New government
Both domestic and international forces have pushed for Saied to appoint a
government and demonstrate how he means to exit the current constitutional
crisis.
The head of Tunisia’s human rights league was quoted in a Tunisian newspaper on
Thursday saying that Saied had informed him that a new government would be
appointed this week. Tunisia faces grave economic problems and a looming threat
to public finances. It had just started talks with the International Monetary
Fund for a new loan programme when Saied ousted the prime minister. Any further
IMF talks could not take place until a new government was installed that could
credibly discuss fiscal reforms wanted by foreign lenders. Years of economic
stagnation and declining public services, worsened by political paralysis, have
soured many Tunisians on the form of democracy they adopted after the ouster of
former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. This week ambassadors from the
G7 group of rich democracies urged Saied to appoint a government and return
Tunisia to a constitutional order in which an elected parliament played a
significant role. Tunisia’s powerful labour union, the UGTT, has also urged him
to appoint a government and start dialogue to change the political system. UGTT
officials were not immediately available for comment. Officials from the largest
party in parliament, the Islamist Ennahda, which has been the most vocal
opponent of Saied’s moves, were also not immediately available for comment.
Ennahda, in particular, fears a change of the political system, which could
diminish its chances to make a strong comeback that would allow it to monopolise
power again and control state institutions through alliances, coalitions and
political manoeuvres against their opponents and friends.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials published on
September 10-11/2021
Biden Must Move Fast to Replace WHO’s Tedros
Anthony Ruggiero/Foreign Policy/September 10/2021
It will take an all-out diplomatic blitz to block the director-general’s
impending reelection.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is
up for reelection. After repeatedly endorsing the Chinese Communist Party’s slow
and secretive response to the COVID-19 pandemic and helping it conceal the
origins of the outbreak, he is asking the United States and other WHO member
nations to support his bid. U.S. President Joe Biden must now decide whether to
support a candidate who habitually defers to Beijing or back another candidate
who can steer the WHO in the direction of much-needed reform.
But there’s a big hitch: Although the election of the next director-general
won’t take place until the May 2022 World Health Assembly, nominations are due
later this month. All indications are that Tedros, formerly Ethiopia’s foreign
affairs and health minister, will stand unopposed for a second five-year term.
It’s a glaring failure of the Biden administration not to have prepared an
alternative. But if Washington focuses its energies, it may yet prevent Tedros’
reelection—and with it, a victory for the broken status quo that harms both U.S.
interests and global public health.
Since the earliest days of the pandemic, Tedros has been pandering to Beijing
and helping it cover up its failures. In January 2020, he said that China’s
“cooperation and transparency is very, very commendable, and we really
appreciate [it].” That praise came three weeks after the Wuhan Public Security
Bureau detained eight whistleblowers for trying to sound the alarm to the world
about the unknown disease spreading in the city. One of the whistleblowers, a
Wuhan doctor named Li Wenliang, died soon after his release from police
detention after contracting the virus from his patients.
Tedros also failed to push for transparency at his meeting with Chinese
President Xi Jinping in late January 2020. The day after he talked to Xi, Tedros
said, “I was very encouraged and impressed by [his] detailed knowledge of the
outbreak and his personal involvement in the response. This was for me a very
rare leadership. … The fact that to date we have only seen 68 cases outside
China and no deaths is due in no small part to the extraordinary steps the
government has taken to prevent the export of cases. For that China deserves our
gratitude and respect and they’re doing that at the expense of their economy and
other factors.
“I will praise China again and again,” Tedros added, “because its actions
actually help in reducing the spread of coronavirus to other countries.”
The WHO needs a leader from a democratic nation who does not accommodate
authoritarians.
Tedros’ public praise was presumably a carrot to convince Beijing to provide
additional information it was hiding. But an Associated Press investigation
revealed that WHO staff knew in early January that China was not sharing
critical data. For example, Beijing did not share detailed data on patients and
cases for several weeks, unnecessarily delaying analysis of the outbreak. What’s
more, Chinese scientists at multiple institutions decoded the virus’s genome in
early January, but China’s leadership prevented publication. Finally, a Chinese
researcher published the sequence without authorization. The next day his lab
was temporarily shut by the authorities, but at least the rest of the world had
what it needed to develop desperately needed tests and start working on
vaccines.
Tedros also urged the rest of the world not to restrict travelers from
China—even after Beijing had already placed a lockdown on domestic travel.
Tedros also allowed Beijing to have veto power over the contents of the March
2021 joint WHO-Chinese report on COVID-19’s origins. The lead WHO investigator
revealed in a Danish documentary released last month that China only allowed the
report to mention the possibility that the virus originated in a Wuhan lab if
the report also downplayed the theory as “extremely unlikely” and concluded it
warranted no further pursuit.
Tedros deserves some credit for contradicting the report at a press conference,
saying the lab accident theory warrants investigation. It was a response to
Western pressure as much as a show of integrity. After Biden publicly stated
that a lab accident was a “likely” scenario, Tedros confessed there had been a
“premature push” to dismiss the theory. But the damage was already done: The
flawed report perpetuates China’s disinformation campaign and has done more harm
than good.
Beijing has firmly rejected Tedros’ requests to participate in a second phase of
the origins investigation. China has also amplified its state-led propaganda
that the virus originated in the United States.
Tedros’ leadership failures extend to the WHO’s efforts to cover up sexual
assault allegations during its mission to combat Ebola outbreaks in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. In separate cases, two WHO contractors offered
lucrative jobs on the Ebola response team to women in exchange for sex. In one
case, the contractor impregnated a woman, and the WHO was aware of a payment
scheme to cover up the pregnancy. The WHO allowed the two perpetrators to
complete their contracts with the organization. And it even promoted the senior
official in charge of the outbreak response, who was aware of the allegations.
The Biden administration must find an alternate candidate for director-general
and then spearhead an all-out diplomatic blitz to secure support for that
candidate from a majority of WHO member states. Director-general nominations may
be due as early as next week. If it isn’t doing so already, the Biden team
should quickly consult with likeminded countries—including Australia, Britain,
Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, and South Korea—to put forward an
alternate candidate. In 2016, Britain, France, and Italy submitted nominations.
The first qualification for a candidate should be standing up to China and
pledging to clean house within the WHO to fix its leadership problems. The WHO
also needs a leader from a democratic nation who does not accommodate
authoritarians.
And submitting a nomination is only the first step. Biden should lead the
diplomatic effort, including directly engaging other heads of government, to
ensure the nominee is elected in May 2022.
The Biden administration pledged it would fix the WHO when it reversed the Trump
administration’s withdrawal from the organization. The director-general race is
the time to put this promise into action. The United States—and the world—would
be better off with new leadership at the WHO as it recovers from this pandemic
and works to prevent the next one. We’ll never know for sure, but it’s safe to
say that many people might still be alive had Tedros acted more forcefully
against the virus instead of working so hard to please Beijing.
*Anthony Ruggiero is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies and a former senior director for counterproliferation and biodefense
on the U.S. National Security Council during the Trump administration. Twitter:
@NatSecAnthony. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute
focusing on national security and foreign policy.
The IAEA’s Iran NPT Safeguards Report – September 2021
David Albright/Sarah Burkhard/Andrea Stricker/Institute for Science and
International Security/September 10/2021
“The Director General remains deeply concerned that nuclear material has been
present at undeclared locations in Iran and that the current locations of this
nuclear material are not known to the Agency. The Director General is
increasingly concerned that even after some two years the safeguards issues…in
relation to the four locations in Iran not declared to the Agency remain
unresolved.”
-IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi
This analysis summarizes and assesses information in the International Atomic
Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) periodic safeguards report, NPT (Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty) Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of
Iran, the most recent of which was issued on September 7, 2021. The IAEA report
presents a picture of near total Iranian stonewalling of the IAEA’s
investigation into Iran’s undeclared nuclear material and activities, an inquiry
that began anew in 2018. Since the last report, Tehran continues to obfuscate or
not respond to IAEA requests for documentation, information, and explanations.
As a result, the IAEA again issued a condemnation of Iran’s cooperation: “The
lack of progress in clarifying the Agency’s questions concerning the correctness
and completeness of Iran’s safeguards declarations seriously affects the ability
of the Agency to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear
program.”
The IAEA Board of Governors will next meet from September 13 to 17. Since June
2020, the Board has not passed a new resolution demanding Iran’s cooperation,
which would provide the IAEA with needed support to pursue Tehran’s compliance
with its legal non-proliferation obligations. The Director General underscores
this, noting the Board’s previous support in the report and adding: “More than
one year later, Iran has still not provided the necessary explanations for the
presence of the nuclear material particles at any of the three locations
(Locations 1, 3 and 4) where the Agency has conducted complementary accesses.
Nor has Iran answered the Agency’s questions with regard to the other undeclared
location (Location 2), or clarified the current location of natural uranium in
the form of a metal disc.” Director General Grossi also sought to engage Iran
prior to the release of this safeguards report, but Iran denied his request to
travel to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials.1
New Developments
The IAEA describes its repeated attempts to engage Iran during the summer of
2021 to resolve outstanding questions related to its detection of undeclared
uranium particles at three Iranian sites and its questions about activities at a
fourth site. Locations 1, 2, 3, and 4 are described below.2
In June, the IAEA expressed desire to continue discussions with Iran and
finalize a date for a new meeting in Tehran, but Iran did not reply. At a
meeting in Vienna on June 26 to discuss “arrangements for future technical
discussions,” Iran proposed that the agency conduct additional verification
activities at a declared facility related to uranium particles found at Location
2. Iran demanded that the agency close the probe relating to Location 2
“regardless of the outcome of the additional verification activities,” but the
IAEA countered that it “could not accept such a condition.”
The IAEA wrote a letter to Iran dated July 9, expressing “regret that the Agency
and Iran had not held further technical discussions” since May 26. At this
meeting, Iran had provided the IAEA with unsubstantiated, written information
relating to Location 4. In a letter dated August 24, Iran finally responded to a
series of IAEA questions from the May meeting “aimed at substantiating that
written statement.” In the letter, Iran “included reference to activities
conducted at Location 4 in the past by an organization from another Member
State.” The report does not explain which member state or organization Iran was
referencing. Iran told the agency that “there was no activity at this location
[second area] between 1994 and 2018.” Iran further insisted that “the IAEA is
highly expected to announce that the issue is resolved and no further action is
required.”
The IAEA replied in a letter dated August 27 that it would analyze the
information Iran provided and reminded Iran that it had yet to provide
explanations for the presence of anthropogenic uranium particles at Location 4.
In a letter dated September 2, the IAEA informed Iran that it had conducted a
preliminary assessment of the information Iran provided on August 24, and found
it to be “inconsistent with other safeguards relevant information…including
commercial satellite imagery…” The agency provided Iran with technical details
of the inconsistencies and asked for explanation and reminded Tehran that it had
yet to answer the agency’s original questions relating to Location 4.
Overall, Iran has shown a consistent unwillingness to comply with its safeguards
obligations. Moreover, the evidence of the existence of undeclared materials and
equipment has continued to increase, as have the IAEA’s statements of concern.
Instead of showing a willingness to compromise, Iranian government officials
have now issued threats to the IAEA and to the Board if it takes action, steps
that have been routinely applied to other member states which violate their
safeguards obligations or refuse to cooperate with the IAEA.
Before discussing a course of action, we first summarize new developments at the
four sites.
Andrea Stricker is a research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of
Democracies (FDD). Follow Andrea on Twitter @StrickerNonpro. FDD is a
Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national
security and foreign policy.
Notes
Laurence Norman, “Iran Blocking IAEA Access to Nuclear-Related Sites,” The Wall
Street Journal, September 8, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-blocking-u-n-atomic-agency-access-to-nuclear-related-sites-iaea-says-11631033269.
For fuller descriptions of these four locations and their relationship to today,
see David Albright with Sarah Burkhard and the Good ISIS Team, Iran’s Perilous
Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Science and
International Security Press, 2021).
Analysis: The Islamic State’s expansion into Congo’s Ituri Province
Caleb Weiss and Ryan O’Farrell/FDD's Long War Journal/September 10/2021
Graphs made by Caleb Weiss using attack data from the Kivu Security Tracker and
ACLED.
Over the last few months, the Congolese branch of the Islamic State’s Central
African Province (ISCAP), known locally as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF),
has sustained a large-scale offensive in southern Ituri Province. This marks a
significant shift from its normal areas of operation in the neighboring Beni
territory of North Kivu province.
Based on numbers from the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), the ADF has been
responsible for 66 attacks in southern Ituri which have left at least 207 people
dead since June 1. Additionally, the group kidnapped at least another 171 people
during these raids. The strikes have targeted both civilians and uniformed
members of the Congolese security forces, or FARDC.
These numbers account for nearly 60% of all ADF operations in the last three
months. In contrast, ADF’s Ituri operations only accounted for just 33% of its
overall activity between March (when the KST began tracking incidents in Ituri)
and May.
These numbers represent an 82% increase in Ituri-based activity since June 1.
For its part, the Islamic State has claimed 20 operations in Ituri since June in
addition to releasing 81 photos and 2 videos from the attacks. Ituri-based
attacks have accounted for 72% of all Islamic State claims in the DRC since
June.
The ADF’s current Ituri offensive fits into the ADF’s larger expansion in both
Ituri and North Kivu in recent years. In utilizing the KST’s data, there has
been a stark increase in the group’s frequency of attacks, lethality, and areas
of operation.
Since 2017, which represented the nadir of ADF operations and the group’s first
confirmed contact with the Islamic State, there has been an 838% increase in
attacks conducted by the ADF. Additionally, the overall square mileage of the
group’s area of operation has likewise increased by 364% in the same timeframe.
And perhaps most worryingly, the ADF has already committed 28 double-digit
massacres in just eight months of 2021 while the group carried out 22
double-digit massacres throughout all of last year.
Two Simultaneous Offensives
The ADF’s Ituri operations have primarily been concentrated in two distinct
areas of Ituri’s southern Irumu territory: along Route Nationale 4 (RN4) and
near the town of Boga. The RN4 is a strategic road that links much of
northeastern Congo with Uganda.
Much of the group’s attacks along the road have been between the locales of
Eringeti and Komanda, which sits just south of the territory’s administrative
center of Irumu town. Its northernmost documented attack, a July 7 raid on
Pinzili village, occurred just a few kilometers south of Komanda.
The violence along the RN4 has primarily manifested in attacks on civilians. For
instance, mass beheadings were reported along the road in both July and earlier
this month. On July 13, local media reported that at least 18 bodies, most of
them decapitated, were found in several villages close to the town of Idohu –
though exact details of the attack remain murky. While on Aug. 3, an additional
16 people were found killed near the same town.
Other incidents explicitly targeting civilians include a July 30 ambush on a
convoy of commercial vehicles, also just outside of Idohu. For its part, the
Islamic State has directly mentioned the targeting of “Christians,” a catch-all
term it uses for civilians in the area, just three times in Ituri since June. It
has largely maintained that its battles have been against FARDC troops stationed
along the highway.
As RN4 is one of the area’s main arteries, the jihadist group has likely
prioritized targeting settlements and military positions along this route in
order to take advantage of the relatively lighter presence of Congolese military
forces and UN peacekeepers. Both FARDC and the UN’s MONUSCO forces have heavily
deployed to Beni and other parts of Ituri, but the comparatively lighter
deployments in Irumu territory offer an attractive opportunity for the ADF to
assault vulnerable towns and villages along the RN4.
Performing Da’wah in Neighboring Communities
At the same time, the ADF has also focused its efforts near the town of Boga,
where it perpetrated a massacre of 55 civilians in May. In addition to its
normal assaults against civilians and FARDC positions, it has taken a slightly
different approach to its Boga operations, by incorporating da’wah activities,
or proselytizing, to civilians to adopt the Islamic State’s version of Islam.
The implementation of da’wah in eastern Congo is a new phenomenon for ISCAP and
a significant shift in the ADF’s historical modus operandi.
For example, videos emerged on Congolese social media earlier this month
purporting to show a group of Banyabwisha civilians near Boga pledging bay’ah,
or allegiance, to ISCAP. The Banyabwisha community are a Kinyarwanda-speaking
Hutu minority in Congo with long- standing disputes with other communities over
land rights and are often accused of being foreigners and therefore ostracized.
Since 2015, significant numbers have migrated into Irumu territory,
precipitating disputes with resident communities and accusations of Banyabwisha
involvement in Ituri’s other intercommunal conflicts.
As these disputes have escalated, the ADF has inserted itself on the side of the
Banyabwisha against their local rivals, providing military support and seemingly
seeking to build the kind of domestic constituency that the ADF — long-dominated
by Ugandans — have historically lacked in eastern Congo.
It is likely the bay’ah videos came after the Islamic State’s men conducted
outreach activities in order to bring the community under its fold. There is
evidence of this occurring elsewhere near Boga, which has been documented by the
Islamic State’s own central media apparatus.
On Aug. 9, the Islamic State said that its men took over two villages in
southern Ituri close to Boga, Malibongo and Mapipa. Attached to the communique
was a photo purporting to show an ADF fighter “inviting Christians in Mapipa
village to the Islamic religion.” The picture marked the first time that any
jihadist da’wah activity has been explicitly shown taking place inside eastern
Congo.
While the ADF has in the past cultivated cooperative relationships with local
communities — in particular significant intermarriage with prominent ethnic Vuba
families, recruitment of Vuba combatants, and providing support to Vuba chiefs
in land disputes with other groups during the early 2000s — it has not
previously framed such outreach as da’wah.
These recent claims of proselytizing to the Banyabwisha thus constitute the
first time the group has been publicly shown explicitly proselytizing in
Christian villages and a major shift in the ADF’s behavior towards Congolese
civilian communities since its evolution into an Islamic State affiliate began
in 2017.
Such a model of outreach to nearby communities and potential voluntary
recruitment from them has major implications for the ADF’s future trajectory,
and one largely determined by the ADF’s unique context as compared to other
Islamic State affiliates on the continent.
Unlike most Islamic State affiliates, which typically recruit from and seek to
govern – albeit brutally – local Muslim communities, the ADF operates in a part
of Congo whose Muslim community represents only a tiny fraction of the
population.
Instead, much of the ADF’s manpower is composed of foreign recruits who enter
Congo to voluntarily join the ADF or who are tricked through false promises of
employment. Within the group, Congolese form the second largest nationality
after Ugandans — the nationality of most of the leadership — but Congolese
members are typically press-ganged into the group following kidnappings.
This significantly restricts the ADF’s ability to expand outreach to local
communities, much less govern them according to its interpretations of Islamic
law.
This recent outreach to Banyabwisha communities – framed by the Islamic State as
seeking the conversion of Christians – is thus the ADF’s first foray into
circumventing that unique hurdle to its adoption of the Islamic State’s typical
strategy of embedding itself in local communities.
Geolocating the Islamic State’s Claims
As mentioned, the Islamic State has heavily documented the ongoing Ituri
offensive in its propaganda. In geolocating the Islamic State’s media, it is
possible to further corroborate some of its claims. In particular, three
examples released by the Islamic State from recent ADF raids in Ituri illustrate
aspects of the ADF’s communications with the Islamic State and confirm its
accounts of those Ituri-based incidents.
On June 27th at around 4pm Central African Time (CAT), ADF fighters attacked
Manyala village along the RN4, which was reported in local media outlets some 18
hours later as an attack on nearby Manzobe village. Just 8 hours after these
first reports in local media emerged, Islamic State propaganda claimed that
ISCAP had killed two FARDC soldiers in an attack on a barracks in Manyala.
Almost a day later, IS media published several photos of the attack, enabling
confirmation of the location claimed in their statements through the geolocation
of prominent cell phone towers in the town. IS’s propaganda releases accurately
identified the location of the attack before local outlets and quickly published
exclusive media identifiably taken at the claimed location.
Geolocation of IS photos in Manyala village, Ituri
On June 29, IS’s media channels released a statement claiming an attack on Ofai
village, stating that government buildings were burned. Photos published the
next day showed ADF fighters occupying Ofai, and pictures of Walese Vonkutu
Chefferie’s administrative headquarters being burned could be geolocated to the
northern outskirts of the town.
Geolocation of IS photos in Ofai village, Ituri
While local media had been reporting on attacks along the RN4, the burning of
the administrative headquarters in Ofai was not specifically mentioned in local
reporting until June 30th, around 15 hours after IS’s first claim of the attack
was published. This demonstrated that ADF were not only sending specific,
accurate information about their attacks to IS’s media apparatus, but that in
some cases, IS’s propaganda claims were the first publicly available reports of
the attacks at all.
On July 5, IS media claimed an attack on a “Christian village” in Ituri, posting
a photo of burning buildings two hours later with a caption that they were in
Ndimo, also along the RN4. The photo can be geolocated to the village, but no
local media outlets specifically reported an attack on the village on July 4.
Geolocation of IS photo in Ndimo, Ituri
A Facebook post by a local resident, however, stated that an attack had occured
in Ndimo on July 4, burning several construction vehicles. IS media thus
accurately claimed an attack that local outlets had missed and quickly published
photos confirming the location claimed in its propaganda release.
In all these cases, it is clear that the ADF are rapidly relaying battlefield
updates to the Islamic State’s central media apparatus, as well as sending
pictures and videos of its attacks.
By geolocating photos posted by the Islamic State and cross-referencing
propaganda releases with the timelines of local media reporting, we can confirm
not only that the ADF is sending exclusive media to the Islamic State
documenting the ADF’s attacks, but that the ADF is relaying accurate geographic
information about those attacks to the Islamic State before that information is
accessible through monitoring of local reporting.
This serves to illustrate close communication between the Islamic State’s
central apparatus and its local wing, capable of issuing accurate reports as
quickly as within 11 hours of the attack taking place, and in one case, more
than 15 hours before the first reports of the attack began to appear in local
media.
The frequency, accuracy, and exclusive nature of ADF media content published by
the Islamic State’s media apparatus clearly demonstrates the close-knit
relationship between the two organizations, and one whose trajectory is towards
tighter integration.
And while much of its recent focus in the last three months has been in Ituri,
the ADF has continued to attack in its normal areas of operation in the Rwenzori
sector of Beni territory. The Islamic State, for its part, has chosen to largely
focus on highlighting the group’s Ituri-based operations – and relaying accurate
and often expedient claims of responsibility therein. But given recent shifts in
the ADF’s tactics, however, the group’s expansion into Ituri may not just be a
propaganda ploy.
*Caleb Weiss and Ryan O’Farrell are senior analysts at the Bridgeway Foundation,
a philanthropic organization dedicated to ending and preventing mass atrocities.
How Pakistan Won the War in Afghanistan
Eli Lake/Bloomberg/September 10/2021
As Washington ponders how the U.S. lost its longest war in Afghanistan, it’s
worth considering another question: Who won the war?
There is the Taliban, of course, the fanatics who have formed an interim
government featuring several wanted terrorists. But an even bigger winner may be
the Taliban’s primary patron: Pakistan.
Most U.S. allies expressed shock, sadness and anger at the Taliban’s victory
last month in Kabul. But Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan celebrated the rout
of Afghanistan’s elected government, saying the Taliban had “broken the shackles
of slavery.”
For much of the war on terror that began after 9/11, Pakistan played a double
game. It occasionally helped track and detain al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders. In
2010, Pakistani and U.S. special operations forces arrested Mullah Abdul Ghani
Baradar in Karachi. All the while, however, elements of the Pakistani military
and intelligence services provided sanctuary, funding and training for the
Taliban and its allies in the lethal terrorist group known as the Haqqani
network.
For the first 10 years of the Afghanistan war, this was an issue that the U.S.
and Pakistan preferred to debate in private. After the Haqqani network
orchestrated a truck bombing at a NATO outpost near Kabul and an assault on the
U.S. embassy there in September 2011, Admiral Mike Mullen, then the chairman of
the joint chiefs of staff, broke the silence. “The Haqqani network acts as a
veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency,” he said.
Mullen’s accusation should have surprised no one. A few months earlier, the U.S.
had killed Osama bin Laden, who was then living comfortably in Abbottabad, home
of the Pakistan’s equivalent of West Point. There is a reason Mullen didn’t give
his Pakistani counterparts advance notice of that raid.
Between 2001 and 2011, the U.S. provided Pakistan with more than $20 billion in
military assistance. That subsidy began to decrease after 2011. In 2018, with a
few narrow national-security exceptions, the U.S. suspended security assistance.
The restrictions and eventual suspension of military aid were really the only
ways the U.S. ever tried to punish its ostensible client. By his second term,
President Barack Obama was looking for a way to get out of Afghanistan. And
while there was a modest surge of forces in President Donald Trump’s first year
in office, his administration ended up negotiating the surrender that President
Joe Biden just completed.
So it’s no wonder that Pakistan is celebrating the Taliban’s victory. A faction
of its deep state had been working to return the Taliban to power since 2001.
So far, the Biden administration has kept silent about Pakistan’s betrayal.
Remarkably, a remnant of Afghan patriots has not. On Tuesday, protesters in
Kabul demanded that Pakistan not intervene in their sovereign affairs.
It would be nice if there were some official show of U.S. support for these
courageous protesters. But it’s unlikely. As Biden has said many times in the
last several months, the post-withdrawal plan is for the U.S. to retain an “over
the horizon” capability to target terrorists in Afghanistan. That means the U.S.
will need Pakistan’s approval for flights over its airspace.
America’s “forever war” in Afghanistan may be over. But just across the border,
in Pakistan, America’s former client still holds leverage over the superpower it
helped defeat.
Economic reality-check forces Tebboune to adjust
anti-corruption drive
Saber Blidi/The Arab Weekly/September 10/2021
ALGIERS--Algeria is moving to ease the measures it has used so far in the fight
against corruption and the recovery of embezzled and smuggled funds. The purpose
of the move is to create propitious conditions to allow social and economic
initiatives by government officials and local elected officials, especially
considering the scarcity of financial resources. It also aims to steer the
anti-corruption drive away from score-settling between influential groups in
society. Instructions have been issued by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to the
judicial and security authorities, to seek prior approval from the central
authorities before launching any graft probes.
The government’s programme, which is expected to be presented to parliament next
week, will include a clause providing for “amicable settlement” between the
government and businessmen accused of corruption. It seems that the Algerian
government, which faces severe financial and economic troubles and the threat of
social unrest, is seeking the help of financial providers, even if this involves
controversial figures. The need is even more pressing in light of the
deteriorating purchasing power of Algerians and the worsening socio-economic
crisis they face. Nevertheless, the new initiative by the authorities is viewed
with suspicion by the Algerian street and the opposition, given that financial
corruption was one of the factors that sparked popular protests in February 2019
and led to the overthrow of the regime of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The new authorities led by Abdelmajid Tebboune failed to fulfill their pledge to
rid the country of corruption and recover pilfered public treasury funds.
With the exception of an amount estimated at $850 million, in the form of
banking deposits, real estate and property seized by the state, according to the
Algerian judiciary, the authorities have not been able to meet the demands of
the popular movement, to hold the corrupt accountable and recover looted funds,
which President Tebboune himself estimated at “billions.”
A book published in France, in 2015, talked of the illicit transfer of $50
billion from Algeria to France during the fifteen years of Bouteflika’s rule
from 2000. President Tebboune has also ordered a halt to the use of anonymous
tip-offs as a base for the opening of investigations but stressed that “legal
texts guarantee protection for whistleblowers.” He told the media that
“anonymous tips cannot be used as a justification for opening any security or
judicial investigation, as these led in many cases to settling political and
even personal scores.” There are new mechanisms expected as part of the
government programme. They include amicable settlements between the authorities
and businessmen imprisoned on corruption charges. The latter would regain their
freedom or see their sentences reduced in exchange for returning the looted
money, property and real estate to the state. Tebboune’s instructions stipulated
that, “As we wait for the relevant legal provisions to be adapted to our
economic realities”, the minister of justice and security officials should not
“launch any investigations or judicial proceedings against local officials
without taking into account the opinion of the minister of interior and local
authorities.” . Fearing prosecution over legal and administrative procedures,
many local officials have failed to expedite approved projects, the instructions
explained.
PJD’s defeat closed the Brotherhood’s parenthesis
Farouk Yousef/The Arab Weekly/September 10/2021
The Muslim Brotherhood organisations, whatever their names, found the dubious
and ambiguous victory achieved by the Taliban movement an occasion for hope.
Whatever the extent of that hope behind which stands huge financial support,
which is behind all this Brotherhood hype, there has been no compensation for
the great loss caused by Egypt’s survival and its freedom from the Brotherhood’s
hegemony. With the loss of Egypt, the Brotherhood lost both history and
geography. Egypt was for the Brotherhood the base without which every
achievement remains incomplete and even prone to collapse. Its history began
there, and on the day it reaped the fruits of the popular movement that
overthrew the regime of Hosni Mubarak, it believed that the wave that was to
sweep the Arab world had begun from the right place. And they were right. Egypt
is the heart of the Arab world. He who controls that heart can expand easily if
he has someone in the outside ready to answer his call. The “Arab spring” was in
its heyday when the Muslim Brotherhood ruled Egypt. Therefore, the forces that
supported the Brotherhood, financed them and sponsored their cells thought that
it was only a matter of time. This made the Brotherhood throw to the wind its
usual caution and take off its mask so as to announce its real programme based
on subjugating and reshaping society, limiting personal freedoms, which in their
view are the source of moral decay. They also started reconsidering nationalist
concepts.
On that day, the Brotherhood lifted the veil of deception. It presented its true
self, as an advocate of ignorance and material, spiritual, mental and aesthetic
impoverishment. It manifested itself in all its hostility to the most basic
human rights and opposition to the nation-state.
On the day the Egyptians were liberated from the Brotherhood, it was clear that
aftershocks of the earthquake would spread. This prompted countries in the East
and West to mobilise its media outlets to defend the so-called legitimacy of
Muhammad Morsi and denounce what it referred to as the coup of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Satellite channels and international newspapers were recruited for this purpose.
Their noise has not subsided until now, despite the fact that reality imposed
its well-established facts that confirm that Morsi was not a president, but
rather a Brotherhood operator that ruled Egypt by the foreign diktat of
countries bankrolled by the Brotherhood.
Egypt survived and the “Arab spring” was stark naked. Today, as the Moroccan
Justice and Development Party (JDP) was defeated in the legislative elections in
a manner that involved a certain degree of humiliation by the people to the
ruling party, Morocco closed the parenthesis that Egypt had opened. The
Islamists’ spring, dubbed the “Arab spring,” came to an end. Terrorist
organisations were defeated in Syria, and the Libyans eventually reached
agreement after they realised that leaning on Islamist groups means endless war.
As for Rached Ghannouchi and his faction within Tunisia’s Ennahda movement, they
were removed from the political map by a single decision of President Kais
Saied. Likewise, Sudan has reached a path where no single brother dares to
tread. There were those who dreamed of being the heirs to the “Arab spring” in
Morocco. Their dream would not have posed a threat to democratic life there as
long as the dreamers were committed to the law and content with the available
margin of political freedom. From this point of view, the Brotherhood in Morocco
found a rare opportunity to manage the affairs of a state governed by law and
which has its weight in international relations. However, down deep their inner
self the Brotherhood tendency continued to rage. It expressed that by receiving
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, as if he were a head of state.The
Brotherhood’s experience in ruling Morocco was a failure on all fronts, and had
the constitution been less strict in defining prerogatives, and had the Moroccan
state been less impervious to infiltration, the results of the Brotherhood’s
rule would have been disastrous. Its rule ushered in the most corrupt phase in
Morocco’s political history.
The happy news came from Morocco. The Moroccans have closed the parenthesis of
the Brotherhood’s spring. The Brotherhood’s media, which are buttressed by an
able and dominant global network, say that the counter-revolution to the “Arab
spring” has triumphed insinuating that the peoples’ struggles have been
defeated. British colonisers promoted the notion that “the peoples of the region
can be governed only by religious beliefs.” That notion was later inherited by
the United States which acted as the spearhead of the West.
If French President Emmanuel Macron had the freedom to say it, he would have
admitted that the United States stood behind Hezbollah’s hegemony over Lebanon.
In Yemen, the envoys of the secretary-general of the United Nations have
collided with the American wall that shielded the Houthis. In Iraq, the equation
is most tragic. The United States gave the country away unconditionally, with
everything in it, to Iran.
Doesn’t what happened mean that the Brotherhood’s defeat is in fact a defeat for
an old Western project?
Accountability for Afghanistan
Pete Hoekstra and John Shadegg/Gatestone Institute/September 10/2021
The disappointing fact is that there is a long and rich list of potential
targets. It begins with President Joe "The Buck Stops Here" Biden as the obvious
choice. The President bears ultimate responsibility for making the decisions
that led to America's surrender and leaving our citizens behind. The President
should be held accountable.
Also, near the top of the list of those who must be held accountable are those
individuals who hold Senate-confirmed positions. They were the architects of
this disaster: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd
Austin, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. Together, these
individuals either counseled the President that they would execute his direction
effectively and safely, or they developed and implemented a strategy that they
knew would not work. Either scenario would demand that they also be held
accountable.
Some may legitimately ask, what about Jake Sullivan, Susan Rice and others? In
other attempts to hold people accountable (think recent impeachment actions) the
efforts were seen as overreach. The results, partisan bickering and nothing
happening.
The alternative is the path we already seem to be heading down, no one being
held accountable.
Near the top of the list of those who must be held accountable for America's
debacle in Afghanistan are those individuals who hold Senate-confirmed
positions. They were the architects of this disaster: Secretary of State Antony
Blinken (left), Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (center), and Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley (right). Together, these individuals either
counseled the President that they would execute his direction effectively and
safely, or they developed and implemented a strategy that they knew would not
work. (Blinken photo by Jonathan Ernst/Pool/AFP via Getty Images); Austin &
Milley photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
America has just experienced perhaps its greatest foreign policy debacle in
modern history by surrendering to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The enemy that the
U.S. held accountable for harboring the al-Qaeda terrorist group that attacked
us on 9/11 once again governs Afghanistan. The Taliban now holds the keys to
whether, how, and when Americans left behind will be returned home safely. The
question today is who will be held accountable for this debacle, a debacle in
both strategy and execution.
There is really no debate about whether the exit plan from Afghanistan failed
miserably. Americans left behind, our military equipment left behind, and the
Taliban are victorious and now in power while our wartime allies were left
blindsided and furious. We lost 13 U.S. service members along with nearly 200
Afghans killed. Who will be held accountable?
The disappointing fact is that there is a long and rich list of potential
targets. It begins with President Joe "The Buck Stops Here" Biden as the obvious
choice. The President bears ultimate responsibility for making the decisions
that led to America's surrender and leaving our citizens behind. The President
should be held accountable.
Also, near the top of the list of those who must be held accountable are those
individuals who hold Senate-confirmed positions. They were the architects of
this disaster: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd
Austin, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. Together, these
individuals either counseled the President that they would execute his direction
effectively and safely, or they developed and implemented a strategy that they
knew would not work. Either scenario would demand that they also be held
accountable.
There is broad bipartisan consensus that these four individuals bear much of the
responsibility for recent events. Now is the opportunity for rational and cooler
heads in Washington to demonstrate that Congress can respond appropriately to
the tragic recent events. Here are our recommendations -- a simple but effective
and achievable proposal.
Holding the President accountable will be difficult. Congress has the tools —
impeachment and censure — to hold a President accountable. The impeachments of
Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump were an overreach by those in Congress
hell bent on attacking a sitting President. It was always clear that in those
cases impeachment would fail, and to many that the actions of Clinton and Trump
did not meet the test of treason, high crimes or misdemeanors. As in those
cases, the most appropriate action at this time is use the censure process.
Congress can and should send a definitive statement that President Biden's
actions in regard to Afghanistan have been unacceptable. A censure would be a
vote of disapproval of the President's actions in Afghanistan. As awful as
Afghanistan has been, poor decision making does not legitimize the overturning
of an election.
Blinken, Austin, and Milley should be held accountable and forced to resign from
office. These three individuals do not carry an election mandate with them into
their positions. Congress has the tools to formally remove them from office
through impeachment, and they have other tools to achieve the same result.
Simply by strongly stating that they have lost the confidence of the Congress,
it would be obvious that they would have to leave their positions. Congress's
real or threatened public shaming of Blinken, Austin, and Milley would be
powerful leverage for getting them to do the right thing — resign.
Some may legitimately ask, what about Jake Sullivan, Susan Rice and others? In
other attempts to hold people accountable (think recent impeachment actions) the
efforts were seen as overreach. The results, partisan bickering and nothing
happening. This is a responsible proposal, holding accountable those with an
electoral mandate or Senate confirmation for their gross negligence and
performance in this national disgrace. This makes a strong statement. The
alternative is the path we already seem to be heading down, no one being held
accountable.
The censure of the President, and three Cabinet members removed from office
would send a clear message to the American people, our allies, and our enemies
that we have recognized the serious errors that were made in Afghanistan. It
would make clear that the decisions that were made are not the launch of a new
Biden doctrine, but were serious miscalculations in American foreign policy. It
also will send a clear message that Congress intends to exert its power as an
independent branch of government to influence policy and exercise its War
Powers. At this moment of weakness and vulnerability, this is the kind of signal
of strength and resilience we need to send to our allies and enemies alike.
*Pete Hoekstra is a former Representative in Congress from Michigan. He served
as the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. More recently he was U.S.
Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
*John Shadegg is a former Representative in Congress, representing Arizona's 3rd
Congressional District from 1995 until 2011.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Iran's Nuclear Weapons Weeks Away
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 10/2021
Apparently desperate to revive the nuclear pact, the Biden administration at
once began appeasing the ruling clerics of Iran.
From the perspective of Iran's mullahs, Biden's desperate efforts to resurrect
the nuclear deal manifested his weak leadership and therefore a delectable
opportunity for Tehran to buy time, get more concessions, advance its nuclear
program and become a nuclear state.
Notwithstanding all these policies of incentives and appeasements, Iran's
mullahs continued to make excuses seemingly to drag out the nuclear talks. One
of the latest overtures was that the world powers ought to wait until Iran's
newly elected president, Ebrahim Raisi, took office before resuming the nuclear
talks.
By now, Raisi has been president of Iran for more than a month but there has not
been the slightest effort by the Islamic Republic to restart any talks; in fact,
all the while, the regime appears to have accelerated its enrichment of uranium
to weapons-grade.
At the moment, the Iranian regime is reportedly 8-10 weeks away from obtaining
the weapons-grade materials necessary for a nuclear weapon.
From the perspective of Iran's mullahs, US President Joe Biden's desperate
efforts to resurrect the nuclear deal manifested his weak leadership and
therefore a delectable opportunity for Tehran to buy time, get more concessions,
advance its nuclear program and become a nuclear state. (Image source: iStock)
Since the Biden administration assumed office, the nuclear talks with Iran have
gone nowhere. Six rounds of negotiations have been concluded with no results. In
contrast, two other issues have gone too far: the Biden administration's
appeasement policies towards the Iranian regime, and the advancement of the
mullahs' nuclear program.
When the Biden administration took office, it announced that it would curb
Iran's nuclear program by returning to the 2015 nuclear deal -- known as the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which by the way Iran never signed
-- and by subsequently lifting sanctions against the Iranian government.
Apparently desperate to revive the nuclear pact, the Biden administration at
once began appeasing the ruling clerics of Iran. The first concession was
delivered when the administration changed the previous administration's policy
of maximum pressure toward Iran's proxy militia group, the Houthis. Even as the
evidence -- including a report by the United Nations -- showed that the Iranian
regime was delivering sophisticated weapons to the Houthis in Yemen, the Biden
administration suspended some of the sanctions against terrorism that the
previous administration had imposed on the Houthis.
Soon after, the Biden administration revoked the designation of Yemen's Houthis
as a terrorist group. In addition, in June 2021, the Biden administration lifted
sanctions on three former Iranian officials and several energy companies. Then,
in a blow to the Iranian people and advocates of democracy and human rights -- a
few days after the Iranian regime handpicked a mass murderer to be its next
president -- the Biden administration announced that it was also considering
lifting sanctions against Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
From the perspective of Iran's mullahs, Biden's desperate efforts to resurrect
the nuclear deal manifested his weak leadership and therefore a delectable
opportunity for Tehran to buy time, get more concessions, advance its nuclear
program and become a nuclear state.
Notwithstanding all these policies of incentives and appeasements, Iran's
mullahs continued to make excuses seemingly to drag out the nuclear talks. One
of the latest overtures was that the world powers ought to wait until Iran's
newly elected president, Ebrahim Raisi, took office before resuming the nuclear
talks.
By now, Raisi has been president of Iran for more than a month but there has not
been the slightest effort by the Islamic Republic to restart any talks; in fact,
all the while, the regime appears to have accelerated its enrichment of uranium
to weapons-grade. This escalation has even caused concerns among some European
leaders and has, surprisingly, led the EU to pressure Tehran immediately to
return to the negotiating table. "We vehemently ask Iran to return to the
negotiating table constructively and as soon as possible. We are ready to do so,
but the time window won't be open indefinitely" a ministry spokesperson from
Germany warned.
After stating that they would resume talks when Raisi assumed office, Iran's
leaders are now saying that they are not likely to restart the nuclear
negotiations for another 2-3 months. "the... government considers a real
negotiation is a negotiation that produces palpable results allowing the rights
of the Iranian nation to be guaranteed," Foreign Minister Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian said during an interview broadcast by Iran's state television.
He added that the nuclear talks are "one of the questions on the foreign policy
and government agenda... the other party knows full well that a process of two
to three months is required for the new government to establish itself and to
start taking decisions."
As Iran's nuclear policy, however, is not set by the president or its foreign
minister, this declaration sounded like just another excuse by the regime to buy
time and advance enrichment. It is, of course, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei who enjoys the final say in Iran's nuclear and foreign policy
issues.
At the moment, the Iranian regime is reportedly 8-10 weeks away from obtaining
the weapons-grade materials necessary for a nuclear weapon. "Iran has violated
all of the guidelines set in the JCPOA and is only around 10 weeks away from
acquiring weapons-grade materials necessary for a nuclear weapon," Israeli
Defense Minister Benny Gantz told ambassadors from countries on the United
Nations Security Council during a briefing at the Israeli Foreign Ministry in
Jerusalem on August 4, 2021. "Now is the time for deeds – words are not enough.
It is time for diplomatic, economic and even military deeds, otherwise the
attacks will continue."
Once again it seems that the mullahs of Iran are masterfully playing the Biden
administration and the EU by stalling the nuclear talks, buying time to get more
concessions, and accelerating their enrichment of uranium and nuclear program to
reach a weapons-grade nuclear breakout.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated
scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and
president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has
authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at
Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
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