English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 15/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
Very truly, I tell
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a
single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit
John 12/20-28: “Among those who went up to worship
at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in
Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus. ’Philip went and told
Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The
hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless
a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and
those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever
serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever
serves me, the Father will honour. ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I
say “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come
to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have
glorified it, and I will glorify it again.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on
September 14-15/2021
A Message Of Reproach To Father Georges Hobeika: The
Lebanese dialect does not make a Saint Paul Context sermon/Elias
Bejjani/September 15/2021
Ministry of Health: 706 new infections, 8 dead
First meeting of new cabinet discusses rescue plan for Lebanon
Strong Lebanon: Granting government confidence depends on contents of
ministerial statement
Army Commander meets new Minister of Defense prior to handover ceremony
Al-Bitar refers to Public Prosecution subpoena against Diab
Mikati chairs ministerial statement committee's second meeting
Miqati Chairs Second Policy Statement Meeting
Akar Regrets Lack of Women in Govt., Slim Vows to Boost Army Readiness
Chaotic Scenes as Akar Clashes with Top Foreign Ministry Official
STL Schedules Appeals Hearing in Merhi-Oneissi Case for October
Lebanese Cancer Patients Face Frantic Search for Medication
Nasrallah Says Transport of Fuel from Syria to Lebanon Begins Thursday
Bitar Questions Former Army Chief Qahwaji
Honorez son âme en suivant ses pas./Jean-Marie Kassab (Nino)
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
September 14-15/2021
Pope to meet Slovak Roma in trip to impoverished region
Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross
Washington D.C. Shi'ite Imam Dr. Sulayman Ali Hassan: May Allah Allow All Of Us
To Enter Paradise Through The Gates Of Jihad; When Islam Is Under Attack,
Muslims Must Wage Physical, Intellectual, Financial, Or Martial Jihad
Sisi-Bennett meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh reflects change in bilateral, regional
outlook
Putin meets Assad in Moscow, takes swipe at Turkish forces in Syria
Putin to Self-Isolate Due to COVID Cases among Inner Circle
Blinken Tells Irate Lawmakers the U.S. was Ready on Afghanistan
Afghanistan withdrawal raises questions about US reliability in the region
Qatar won't take 'responsibility' for Kabul airport without Taliban agreement
Iraq’s Hashed reinstates former members ahead of elections
Morocco backs Libya elections to end crisis of legitimacy
Greece Probes Crash that Killed Witness in Netanyahu Trial
Pentagon Chief Still Hopes to Meet Saudi Crown Prince
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC
English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
September 14-15/2021
Giving the Taliban International Legitimacy Would Be a Disastrous
Mistake/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/September 14/2021
When 9/11 Was a Day of Victory and Pride/Raymond Ibrahim /PJ Media/September
14/2021
Search for solutions in Sharm el-Sheikh/Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab
Weekly/September 14/2021
Hydrogen unlikely to replace fossil fuel in Gulf region any time soon/Vanand
Meliksetian/Weekly/September 14/2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 14-15/2021
A Message Of Abomination To Father Georges Hobeika: The
Lebanese dialect does not make a Saint Paul Context sermon...
We miss the active role of our monks. They are the salt, conscience and
inspiration of Lebanon, and without their active resistance and leadership role
in confronting Iran’s occupation, Lebanon’s existence will be in real danger.
Elias Bejjani/September 15/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/102436/102436/
We were waiting with high hopes and expectations to hear what Father George
Hobeika would say in his sermon during Martyr President Bashir Gemayel's annual
mass prayers in Bkfaia. Sadly the outcome was not what we expected and hoped
for.
We were eager to hear a sermon that would raise and ignite the morale and
strengthen the sovereign and patriotic Lebanese who are subjected to a
systematic misleading campaign aiming to thwart their zeal and weaken them in
encountering the ongoing plot to change the civilized face of Lebanon, for which
martyr Bachir gave his life in order to achieve it.
Father Hobeika's sermon was in the Lebanese dialect, which Bashir adored and
proudly used in his speeches, but its content was flatulent and void of Bashir’s
strength in confrontation, will of steadfastness and determination to liberate
Lebanon from all occupation.
The sermon was merely rhetoric and focused on philosophers' quotations
describing the character and qualities of the statesman which Bachir strongly
possessed and used. Meanwhile the most important quality that a statesman should
enjoy is his capability to translate his words into actions, an opportunity that
was not provided to Bashir to achieve.
What we actually needed from Father Hobeika, the philosopher, is to loudly and
courageously present a different creative reading of Bashir’s heroic resistance
path, in a bid to solidify and strengthen our determination and courage in
confronting the occupier from within, as well as to remain standing tall in
facing the international conspiracy against our independence; the two acts that
Bashir, and the "Lebanese front" persisted on doing in defeating sovereignty,
while the whole world conspired against our beloved country.
I, personally wonder what makes a brave and highly educated monk
like Father George Hobeika patriotically back off, and not witness for the truth
at a time when we are in the greatest need of confrontation and steadfastness.
Is this the policy of the Lebanese Maronite monastery,
which, according to our knowledge, prohibits its monks from interfering in
public affairs and politics, in order to preserve its interests with the ruling
authority, on the Vatican request, and a tacit approval of Bkerke?
Or is it a personal request from the Gemayel family, who are preparing to
restore their past glories in the upcoming parliamentary elections?
What myself and many others fear the most, is that this very low patriotic
profile sermon might be related to calculations that have to do with the
monastic elections that will take place a year from today.
Dear Father Hobeika, please note that your sermon is frustrating and lacking the
needed patriotic stances, exactly like the void created by your monastery
through confining and isolating itself within its monasteries and institutions,
while our people are in dire need of its leadership, help, guidance and
directions.
It is worth mentioning that the current Iranian occupation is more dangerous
than the “statoko” that existed between the 1969 Cairo Agreement and the 75th
War.
Don't you think that the time has come to go back to Abbot Charbel al-Kassi’s
saying: “Our people will blame us if we leave them alone, and want us to go with
them"?
Dear father George Hobeika, Lebanon's salt is the monks, and without them,
openly, loudly and courageously playing their heroic role that they have
historically played, Lebanon's independence, sovereignty and existence will be
in danger.
In summary, what we need at this present time is sermons that inspire
hope, steadfastness, faith, perseverance, and at the same an active leading role
for our monks who are Lebanon's salt.
We miss the active role of our monks. They are the salt, conscience and
inspiration of Lebanon, and without their active resistance and leadership role
in confronting Iran’s occupation, Lebanon’s existence will be in real danger.
Ministry of Health: 706 new infections, 8 dead
NNA/September 14/2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced 706 new
coronavirus infection cases, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases
to 614,688.
Eight deaths have been recorded.
First meeting of new cabinet discusses rescue plan for
Lebanon
The Arab Weekly/September 14/2021
BEIRUT--Lebanon’s newly-formed government held its first meeting Monday to
discuss ways of rescuing the country from one of its worst ever economic crises.
The meeting opened in the presence of President Michel Aoun. Aoun said in a
statement he hoped the committee tasked with drafting the statement would
include the pursuit of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. “We
need the help of the IMF, the World Bank, regional and international funds,”
Aoun, who approved the new government after months of bargaining, told the
cabinet. “What is required are urgent, decisive steps to start reforms.”Talks
with the IMF on financial assistance are key to rescuing Lebanon, which
defaulted on its debt last year and has since been sliding into poverty. More
than three out of four Lebanese are now considered to be under the poverty line,
mains electricity is only available a handful of hours a day while petrol, bread
and medicine shortages are sowing chaos across the country. “We will tackle
solutions to the fuel and medicine shortages in order to end the humiliation” to
the population, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said during the meeting. State
electricity is available for a few hours a day, if at all, and most Lebanese
homes and establishments increasingly rely on private generators. A generator at
a dentist’s clinic in Tyre exploded on Monday leaving seven people injured, a
reflection of the safety hazards of relying heavily on the alternative source of
power.
“Magic wand”
Mikati said there was no time to lose and no easy path to tackle one of
history’s worst economic meltdowns. “It is true that we don’t have a magic wand.
The situation is very difficult,” Mikati told the cabinet, according to a
statement published after the government’s first meeting. Lebanese hope the new
administration will plot a path out of a crisis that has sunk the currency by
some 90% since late 2019 and forced three quarters of the population into
poverty. The new lineup was unveiled by Mikati after protracted horsetrading, 13
months after the previous government resigned following the deadly explosion at
Beirut port in August 2020. In the interim, the economic collapse in Lebanon has
become one of the worst on record worldwide, with the currency losing more than
90 percent of its value and foreign partners seeing no sign of political change.
Mikati, a third-time premier, succeeded where his two predecessors failed in
clinching a political agreement for a new lineup. His team was met with
scepticism if not scorn by many in Lebanon who argue that the same parties and
political barons that have ruled for decades were unlikely to deliver major
change. However, Western governments, including the United States and France,
have welcomed the cabinet formation, while urging it to quickly implement
reforms that international lenders have demanded before loans can flow. Mikati
has previously said resuming IMF talks would be a priority. On Friday, he said
divisive politics must be put to one side and that he could not go to IMF talks
if he faces opposition at home. In a boost to the government, the finance
ministry said Lebanon would receive a total of $1.135 billion in IMF Special
Drawing Rights (SDRs), more than the $860 million’s worth that had been expected
as part of an IMF general allocation. In addition to the $860 million from 2021,
the sum includes $275 million dating from 2009, the ministry said, adding the
sum would be deposited with the central bank on September 16.
Talks with IMF
IMF talks broke down last summer, with politicians and banks disputing the scale
of vast losses mapped out by a government financial recovery plan which the Fund
endorsed. Aoun urged the government to include that financial recovery plan in
its policy programme, as well as reforms set out by a French roadmap last year.
The previous government failed to implement structural reforms which donors have
been urging for years, including measures to address state corruption and waste
at the root of the crisis. “IMF talks won’t be a walk in the park,” a former
Lebanese negotiator in the IMF talks said. “It will be very difficult to meet
the pre-conditions.”
Many of the reforms concern the financial and banking system, the epicentre of
the meltdown that took hold in late 2019, largely paralysing Lebanon’s banks.
The root cause was decades of borrowing by a state riddled with corruption, much
of it from the banks which depended on a steady flow of dollars from abroad to
keep the system going. The crisis spiralled when those inflows slowed. Multiple
exchange rates have sprung up in place of the fixed dollar peg that had
underpinned the system for two decades. IMF recommendations include bringing
public finances into order, rehabilitating the banks and restructuring public
debt. It has also recommended recognising upfront losses at private banks and
the central bank in a way that protects smaller depositors, and establishing a
credible monetary and exchange rate system including the unification of multiple
exchange rates, and accompanied by formal capital controls. “The size of Banque
Du Liban’s (BDL) losses is a critical matter: you cannot do any financial
programming or plan any financial package for Lebanon without knowing the size
of the BDL’s losses. These issues were brought up last year but were not
resolved,” Nasser Saidi, a leading economist and former minister, said. “They
are the elephant in the room.”Donors also want to see reforms to improve
transparency and combat corruption. One focal point is the energy sector which,
despite being one of the main drains on state coffers, has failed dismally in
providing electricity. Many of the reforms were set out in a French roadmap last
year, including an audit of the central bank.
Will Mikati succeed?
With some state officials sounding the alarm about Lebanon’s collapse or
fragmentation, some believe that the gravity of the crisis should encourage
politicians to make decisions they previously resisted. Yet the time it took
them to agree on the Mikati government – a deal only clinched after intensive
French contacts – shows the factional interests remain a priority and point to
the political minefield he will face. A billionaire, Mikati has political and
financial muscle. One of the main issues he must tackle is the central bank’s
objections to the distribution of losses in the financial system, the former
negotiator said. If Mikati’s government begins a successful negotiation with the
IMF now, it would probably not receive any funds before the turn of the year,
the negotiator said. Newly-appointed finance minister Youssef Khalil was a top
central bank official and is close to its veteran governor Riad Salameh. He was
picked by Nabih Berri, the Shia Muslim Parliament Speaker, a pillar of the
system for decades. “Restructuring the banking system for example, there is
nitty gritty work that has to be done at a certain level for each individual
bank, there’s a tonne of work that hasn’t been done,” Mike Azar, a Beirut-based
financial adviser said. In the past two years, public sector losses have grown
with the economy continuing to shrink making its ability to absorb shocks
weaker, Azar notes, adding that central bank losses and government debt to GDP
have hit more than 700%.
Strong Lebanon: Granting government confidence depends
on contents of ministerial statement
NNA/September 14/2021
The Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc expressed in a statement, after its
periodic meeting headed by MP Gebran Bassil, "its satisfaction with the
formation of the government through a constitutional path in which the
PM-designate committed himself to his partnership with the President of the
Republic, so he respected his powers and the principles of formation."The bloc
affirmed that giving confidence to the government was linked to the contents of
its ministerial statement, and the commitment to achieve the following:
On the financial, monetary, and economic level:
Execute the contract signed with Alvarez and Marsal regarding forensic audit.
Work to return the funds transferred abroad and approve the Capital Control Law.
Develop and negotiate a financial recovery plan with the International Monetary
Fund, as the central bank governance commits to the government’s policy and the
monetary and credit law.
Develop a budget for 2022 that includes all the required financial reforms.
Launch the wheel of a productive economy and encourage it with low debt
interest.
On the social, living, educational, and health levels:
Issue and distribute the ration card and strengthen programs to support the
poorest groups, in exchange for the gradual lifting of subsidies.
Provide fuel, prevent its smuggling and storing, and provide the largest
percentage of electricity supply through the Electricité du Liban.
Implement a safe and dignified return plan for the displaced Syrians.
Launch the school year and support the educational sector through the available
aid and through the educational card.
Make all medicines available and enable hospital institutions to provide all
necessary services.
In terms of restoring trust:
Take all measures to combat corruption, apply the necessary laws, and proceed
with the disclosure of the accounts and properties of those engaged in a public
service. Improve the independence of the judiciary, support the investigation of
the port explosion, and set the legal framework and necessary procedures for its
reconstruction. Develop an energy plan that provides electricity through gas and
renewable energy, and proceed with the implementation of gas contracts at sea,
and the demarcation of maritime borders while preserving Lebanese rights.
Confirm Lebanon's sovereignty and independence and do everything possible to
preserve and strengthen its international and Arab relations.
Hold the parliamentary elections on their constitutional date, while affirming
the right of expatriates to vote.
Army Commander meets new Minister of Defense prior to handover ceremony
NNA/September 14/2021
Armed Forces Commander, General Joseph Aoun, welcomed this Tuesday the new
Minister of Defense, Maurice Slim, prior to the handover ceremony witnessed held
at the Ministry of National Defense between former Minister Zeina Akar and the
newly appointed minister.
Al-Bitar refers to Public Prosecution subpoena against Diab
NNA/September 14/2021
The National News Agency correspondent reported that the judicial investigator
in the Beirut port explosion crime, Judge Tarek Al-Bitar, referred to the Public
Prosecution a subpoena against former Prime Minister Hassan Diab, after the
formation of the new government, thus amending Diab's place of residence, i.e.
the Grand Serail, included in the first subpoena. In turn, Judge Ghassan Al-Khoury
referred the memorandum to the General Directorate of the Internal Security
Forces for implementation, knowing that Al-Bitar had scheduled an interrogation
session for Diab on the twentieth of September.
Mikati chairs ministerial statement committee's second
meeting
NNA/September 14/2021
Prime Minister Najib Mikati chaired Tuesday at the Grand Serail the second
meeting for the ministerial committee tasked with drafting the state policy
statement. It is to note that the committee comprises of Deputy Prime Minister
Saadeh Chami, Ministers George Kordahi (Information), Henry Khoury (Justice),
Youssef Khalil (Finance), Najla Riachi (Administrative Development), Bassam
Mawlawi (Interior), Walid Fayyad (Energy), Mohammad Mortada (Culture), Mostafa
Bayram (Labor), Abbas Hajj Hassan (Agriculture), Hector Hajjar (Social Affairs),
and Essam Charfeddine (Displaced), alongside Secretary General of the Council of
Ministers Mahmoud Makkieh, Director of the Presidency of the Republic Antoine
Choucair, and Mikati's Office Director Jamal Karim.
The committee is scheduled to hold a third meeting tomorrow. Separately, Mikati
met respectively with Ambassador Anne Grillo of France, Ambassador Martin
Yttervik of Norway, and U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Michaels.
He also held talks with central bank governor, Riad Salameh.
Miqati Chairs Second Policy Statement Meeting
Naharnet/Naharnet/September 14/2021
Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Tuesday presided over a meeting for the
ministerial committee tasked with drafting the new government's policy
statement. The National News Agency said the committee discussed ministers'
remarks over the draft and it was decided to hold a third meeting on Wednesday.
Miqati also met Tuesday with French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo, Norwegian
Ambassador Marten Yttervik, U.S. Embassy chargé d'affaires Richard Michaels and
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh. Information Minister Georges Kordahi had
announced Monday after the committee's first meeting that the drafting of the
ministerial statement was expected to be completed on Tuesday. The Minister of
Public Works Mustafa Bayram -- one of two Hizbullah-appointed ministers -- said
that the draft ministerial statement is "good" and that "the main concern is
people's pain." "We will come up with a new language to address people," Bayram
added.
Akar Regrets Lack of Women in Govt., Slim Vows to
Boost Army Readiness
Naharnet/Naharnet/September 14/2021
Outgoing Defense Minister Zeina Akar on Tuesday thanked the army officers who
worked alongside her at the Ministry, noting that the army "maintained its high
readiness and preserved security" in the country during her tenure. "I carried
out foreign visits to rally support for it," Akar added, during a handover
ceremony at the Ministry. "I wish women's share was bigger in the new
government," she lamented. Najib Miqati's government contains one woman --
Administrative Development Minister Najla Riachi -- in contrast to Hassan Diab's
government, which comprised six women ministers. The new defense minister,
Maurice Slim, meanwhile hailed the army's "professional performance" in the face
of threats and difficulties. "We will seek with all our capabilities to up the
level of readiness of the units, so that the army remains the country's immune
shield," Slim added.
Chaotic Scenes as Akar Clashes with Top Foreign
Ministry Official
Naharnet/Naharnet/September 14/2021
The Foreign Ministry building witnessed pandemonium on Monday after the
Ministry’s secretary general, Hani Chemaitelly, tried to bar the outgoing deputy
PM and defense and foreign minister, Zeina Akar, from entering a department
containing the telegrams that come from abroad. Sources close to Akar told local
newspapers that the outgoing minister “wanted to bid farewell to the employees
there and to thank them.”“But Chemaitelly demanded the closure of doors in her
face and asked her not to take to the employees except in his presence, arguing
against a so-called constitutional violation,” the sources added. “He rejected
her request to open the door three times, which prompted the minister to ask her
bodyguards to open the door and not break it as has been claimed, knowing that
the door was already damaged by the blast explosion,” the sources explained.
Sources close to Chemaitelly meanwhile said that he was beaten up along with two
ministry employees at the hands of Akar’s bodyguards, who are army personnel.
“The secretary general was personally assaulted and there are visible bruises on
his body. He later received an apology from the army personnel who were
accompanying Akar and he forgives them, but he is preparing to file a direct
lawsuit against Akar over the unprecedented attack at the Foreign Ministry,” the
sources added, noting that Chemaitelly was transferred to the Clemenceau Medical
Center for treatment. Akar later commented on the controversy and noted that she
was still the country’s acting foreign minister when the incident happened,
seeing as no handover had been made with the new foreign minister, Abdallah Bou
Habib. “He insisted on intercepting me and then started filming,” Akar added,
noting that it was normal for her bodyguards to refuse that she be filmed.
“Everything Chemaitelly did was illegal, starting by the interception of the
tour at the ministry to the filming, which turned out to be premeditated, the
thing that points to his intention to stir a problem,” Akar went on to say.
STL Schedules Appeals Hearing in Merhi-Oneissi Case
for October
Naharnet/Naharnet/September 14/2021
The Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has scheduled an
appeals hearing to take place from 4 to 8 October 2021 in the case of Prosecutor
v. Merhi and Oneissi, the STL said on Monday. The case relates to the 14
February 2005 attack in Beirut that killed 22 people including former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri, and injured 226 others. In a Scheduling Order issued on
12 July 2021, the Appeals Chamber stated that it will hear oral arguments from
the Prosecutor, Defense Counsel for Hizbullah suspects Hassan Habib Merhi and
Hussein Hassan Oneissi (the Parties), and the Legal Representatives of the
Victims (LRV), or may invite them to clarify arguments developed in their
written submissions and observations in relation to the Appeal filed by the
Prosecutor against the Trial Judgment. The Chamber authorized the LRV to attend
the Appeal hearing and to make oral submissions in relation to issues that
affect the victims’ personal interests. Following the conclusion of the hearing,
the Judges will withdraw to deliberate and will render their Judgment on Appeal
in due course, the STL said, noting that the Judgment shall be pronounced
publicly at a later stage.
Lebanese Cancer Patients Face Frantic Search for
Medication
Associated Press/Naharnet/September 14/2021
Saydi Mubarak and her mother share a bond that goes beyond a close
mother-daughter relationship: They were both diagnosed with breast cancer a year
ago and underwent months of chemotherapy at a Beirut hospital, together facing
the anxiety, the hair loss and the uncertainty for the future.
Now they share the fear of not being able to get the medication they need to
complete their treatment because in Lebanon, where a devastating economic crisis
has upended daily life, there are almost no drugs to be found.
The small Mediterranean country - once a medical hub in the Middle East -- is
grappling with severe shortages in medical supplies, fuel and other necessities.
The economic crisis, described as one of the world's worst of the past 150
years, is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by a political class
that has accumulated debt and done little to encourage local industries, forcing
the country to rely on imports for almost everything. But those imports are hard
to come by since the Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value since
2019, and the Central Bank's foreign reserves are drying up. The crisis was
worsened by a massive explosion that destroyed the country's main port last
year.
For months, pharmacy shelves have been bare, exacerbated by panic buying and
suppliers holding back drugs, hoping to sell them later for higher prices amid
the uncertainty. Hospitals are at a breaking point, barely able to secure diesel
to keep generators and life-saving machines operating day to day.
The drug shortages threaten tens of thousands of people, including cancer
patients. In desperation, many have taken to social media or turned to travelers
coming from abroad. Visitors and Lebanese expats these days often arrive with
suitcases full of pills, vials and other medical supplies for relatives and
friends.
Mubarak, a 36-year-old high-school teacher and mother of two boys, says the
feeling of not being safe never leaves her. She was diagnosed with breast cancer
in July last year, a few weeks before her mother, Helen Akiki, discovered a lump
in her breast. After months of chemo, Mubarak had a mastectomy in December. She
is now undergoing a therapy that's supposed to take 10 years, consisting of a
daily pill and a monthly hormone injection to make sure the cancer doesn't
return.
As the shortages grew more dire and Mubarak was unable to find the hormone, the
family posted her story on Instagram along with Mubarak's cell phone number.
For the next day and a half, the phone didn't stop ringing -- Lebanese from all
over the world offered to send her the medication. Six days after she was due
for an injection, a traveler from neighboring Jordan hand-delivered her the
drug.
"It was very emotional," Mubarak recounted, sitting in the garden of her
single-story house in Qleiat, a mountain town north of Beirut, as her sons ran
about, feeding chicken and rabbits. She said the traveler refused to accept
payment.
Getting the medicine is not the last hurdle for Mubarak and her mother. Because
of Lebanon's fuel crisis, they worry about whether they will find enough
gasoline each time they need to drive into Beirut for treatment. On a recent
day, Akiki was told that the hospital couldn't find the medicine used in the
serum for her therapy. They replaced it with an injection she said was more
painful.
Akiki says the two have found strength in facing the battle together, though she
struggles with feelings of guilt that she became ill herself when her daughter
needed her most. "This is not the time for me to be sick," Akiki said. "I tell
myself what is important is her. A mother stops thinking of herself in this
moment."
Issam Shehadeh, head of the cancer department at Beirut's Rafik Hariri
University Hospital, said the situation has deteriorated significantly in the
past three months. The Health Ministry's stockpiles of critical medicine are now
empty, and many hospitals are unable to secure supplies from importers who are
holding back. "We reached a point when we told the patients that 'we have run
out of ways to treat you,'" said Shehadeh. Doctors are often left with no
recourse but to advise patients to try to get the medicine from abroad, a
difficult task for anyone but especially the poor, whose ranks are swelling in
the economic crisis. More than half of Lebanon's 6 million people now live in
poverty. One of Shehadeh's patients, Wahiba Doughan, who has lung cancer,
reached out to relatives in France who sent enough medicine for two sessions of
chemotherapy. The relatives refused to be reimbursed, but Doughan worries about
having to pay for future medicine: A government-subsidized dose for one session
in Lebanon costs $40 - a 10th of the price in France. "I live in anxiety," said
Doughan, a 60-year-old civil servant. "I found the dose now but maybe later I
will not." In late August, dozens of cancer patients gathered outside the main
U.N. offices in Beirut demanding international help. "We refuse to have a life
countdown," read one banner. Another one said: "Our government is killing
us."Najat Rochdi, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, broke into
tears as she listened to the patients speak about their situation. She said her
office is in contact with potential donors, including the World Bank, to find
solutions. A new government has promised to get control of the economic
meltdown. But with the Lebanese state absent, calls on social media have
mobilized the country's large diaspora, as in Mubarak's case.
Mubarak says she doesn't know how to compensate those who sent her a three-month
supply of medication. "I mention them in my prayers every day," said Mubarak, a
devout Christian. "God willing, people will continue to help each other."
Nasrallah Says Transport of Fuel from Syria to
Lebanon Begins Thursday
Naharnet/September 14/2021
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced Monday that a ship carrying
diesel from Iran has arrived in Syria’s Banias and that the transfer of fuel by
land to Lebanon would begin on Thursday. “In order not to embarrass the Lebanese
state, we restored to the other option, which is for the ship to dock in Banias,
and the Syrian state facilitated the movement at the Banias port and provided
tankers for the transport of fuel products,” Nasrallah said in a televised
address. “We thank Syria for receiving the fuel ship … The transport of fuel
from Syria to the Bekaa begins Thursday and it will be stored in specific tanks
and a second ship will arrive in Banias within a few days,” Nasrallah stated. “A
third ship started loading gasoline today and we have agreed to bring a fourth
ship carrying diesel and it is expected to arrive in October,” Hizbullah’s
leader added. He said the diesel will be distributed to all Lebanese components
and to those who want it without “sectarian or regional discrimination.” “We
will offer a one-month diesel donation to state-run hospitals, nursing homes,
orphanages, disability centers, state-run water institutions, municipalities
that have water wells, the Civil Defense and the Lebanese Red Cross,” he added.
“We will cover the needs of bakeries, medicine factories, coops and foodstuffs
and agricultural factories for a one-month period,” he said, noting that “the
sides that provide electricity to the people through generators will get the
biggest share of diesel.”Nasrallah added that the Hizbullah-affiliated Al Amana
Company will distribute the fuel in Lebanon “because it is already on the
sanctions list.” “Phone numbers will be distributed to all Lebanese regions for
communication and placing orders,” he said. He added that the fuel will be sold
in Lebanon for below cost price. “We will consider the difference a gift from
Iran and Hizbullah to the Lebanese people. The price will be specified in the
coming days and will be acceptable, will take people’s situations into
consideration and will be in Lebanese lira,” Nasrallah went on to say. As for
the formation of the new government in Lebanon, Hizbullah’s secretary-general
welcomed the step and thanked “everyone who contributed to this
achievement.”“Let no one expect drastic solutions during the term of this
government,” Nasrallah added, while noting that “this government can alleviate
the burden of the Lebanese people.”“The priorities of this government are clear,
which are the needs of the Lebanese people. We are looking forward to a
government that rescues Lebanon from its collapse,” he said. Nasralla also
called for holding the parliamentary elections on time, insisting that the vote
should not be postponed.
Bitar Questions Former Army Chief Qahwaji
Naharnet /September 14/2021
The lead investigative judge into the Beirut port blast case, Tarek Bitar, on
Monday interrogated former army chief General Jean Qahwaji, who appeared before
him as a suspect. The questioning session was held in the presence of Qahwaji’s
lawyer, Antoine Toubia, and the claimant team that represents the families of
the victims. Al-Jadeed TV said Bitar scheduled a new questioning of Qahwaji for
September 28. It added that the claimant team requested that Qahwaji and ex-army
intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Camille Daher be interrogated together to
determine the responsibility of each of them and in light of “the presence of
contradiction between their testimonies.”
Honorez son âme en suivant ses pas.
Jean-Marie Kassab (Nino)
Lisez ses mots écrits en lettres rouge sang. Lisez les bien et inspirez vous en.
Tirez en courage et sagesse. Ils sont clairs et limpides comme l'eau d'une
source fraîche et tranchants comme une lame d'epée. L'eau est la vie. L'epée est
pour défendre cette vie.
Il a su, voulu, prévu tout sauf sa destinée, et la notre aussi.
Vous ne savez quoi faire, il vous dira.
Vous ne savez comment faire et il vous apprendra.
Vous manquez de courage, d'outre tombe il vous en donnera.
Déifier un mortel? Non non et non.
Bachir était il un demi-dieu ? Loin de là car les demi-dieux n'existent pas.
Bachir était un simple mortel, fait de chair et de sang. Comme nous tous , avec
ses anxietés et ses moments, ses joies et ses frayeurs.
Mais où serait la sagesse dans tout ça? La sagesse est qu'un nouveau Bachir
pourrait renaître , devrait renaître . Que n'importe lequel d'entre nous
pourrait l'être. Il suffit de décider et de s'y mettre et faire preuve de
détermination et de courage. De s'exposer sans peur et rendre l'impossible
possible. De dire non la tête levée et le poing tendu et être prêt à rendre les
coups. A défier l'occupant dans son arène , quite à mourir pour que les autres
vivent . Il l'a même dit et maudit le peuple qui ne saurait engendrer mille
Bachir si lui mourrait.
Sauf que moi et entre temps, vivant dans une époque qui n'est pas la mienne, je
me contente aujourd' hui de faire mon deuil qui dure depuis trente neuf ans, je
médite et lance à ceux qui l'ont tué et detruisent encore le Liban: Maudits,
maudits soyez vous jusqu'à la treizième génération.
Jean-Marie Kassab (Nino)
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on September 14-15/2021
Pope to meet Slovak Roma in trip to impoverished
region
AFP/September 14/2021
Pope Francis will meet with members of the 400,000-strong Roma minority in
Slovakia on Tuesday during his visit to the impoverished Lunik IX housing estate
in Kosice. The 84-year-old Argentine pontiff, who regularly calls for assistance
to the world's poorest communities, is on his first foreign trip since a colon
operation in July. During the trip so far, the pope has called for Europe to
show "solidarity" as its economy recovers from the pandemic and issued a
powerful call against anti-Semitism. In Lunik IX, nearly 4,500 residents are
squeezed into a space meant to accommodate half that number. Many blocks have no
electricity, heat, gas or running water as utilities were cut due to unpaid
bills. "It is great that the Holy Father is willing to come to a place where no
one wants to go," said Peter Besenyei, leader of the local Salesian community at
Lunik IX, responsible for the pastoral care of the Roma in the Kosice
Archdiocese. "It is difficult to find teachers at Lunik IX, it is difficult to
find priests who would be willing to work there, and the pope comes there in
this difficult environment," Besenyei told AFP. In the weeks ahead of the visit,
city authorities got busy fixing a road in the area and cleaning up. Lunik IX
resident Rudolf Mosorov, 66, said the pope's visit was a "miracle". "He will
bring us God's blessing," he said. Nearly 20 percent of Slovakia's Roma live in
abject poverty, in more than 600 shanty towns mostly in the south and east of
this eurozone country of 5.4 million people. Eastern Slovakia has one of the
lowest GDP per capita levels in Europe. The Roma have big communities in Central
and Eastern Europe and are considered the largest ethnic minority in Europe.
Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross
Alberto Fernandez/September 14/2021
Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross today, marking when St. Helena, mother of
Constantine the Great, found the True Cross in Jerusalem. Also when the 4th
century churches built by Constantine were dedicated on the site of the Holy
Sepulchre and Mount Calvary; and the 7th century restoration of the True Cross
to Jerusalem by the emperor Heraclius. Love this 1605 painting of the
"Exaltation of the True Cross" by the Rome-based German artist Adam Elsheimer.
Elsheimer, a convert to Catholicism, sadly died at the age of 32 but left some
astonishing works, including miniatures. Despite his youth, he was quite
influential at the time although mostly forgotten today. In this work (part of a
triptych) the glorification of the cross by saints, prophets and angels is
shown. On the right, are four patriarchs including Moses, Abraham and King
David. Jonah is sitting on the fish, looking up towards the cross, and St
Catherine and Mary Magdalene are in a sisterly embrace. In the foreground is a
disputation between St Sebastian and four Fathers of the Church, Pope Gregory
the Great, St Jerome, St Ambrose and St Augustine, with the first Christian
martyrs St Stephen and St Laurence.
Washington D.C. Shi'ite Imam Dr. Sulayman Ali Hassan:
May Allah Allow All Of Us To Enter Paradise Through The Gates Of Jihad; When
Islam Is Under Attack, Muslims Must Wage Physical, Intellectual, Financial, Or
Martial Jihad
MEMRI/September 14, 2021
Washington D.C. area Shi'ite Imam Dr. Sulayman Ali Hassan said that all Muslims
should strive to wage jihad and be prepared to defend Islam when it is attacked.
He made his remarks in a Friday sermon delivered on August 27, 2021, at the
Shahe Najaf Islamic Center in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington D.C.,
which also aired on the Islamic Center's YouTube channel. Dr. Hassan said: "May
Allah allow all of us to enter Paradise through the gates of jihad."
He said that if Islam is under physical attack, one should prepare with "martial
training," but if Islam is under an intellectual attack, Muslims should wage
jihad with the "weapons" of intellect and reasoning. Dr. Hassan added that jihad
can be through funding or "struggling in person." He then went on to say that
according to the hadith, a person who is al-ghazi, waging jihad on the
battlefield, must be important to all Muslims, and that they must care for the
families and dependents of those waging Jihad on the battlefield. Dr. Sulayman
Ali Hassan is an American-born Shi'ite imam, and he spent ten years studying at
a religious seminary in Qom, Iran.
To view the clip of Imam Dr. Sulayman Ali Hassan on MEMRI TV, click here or
below.
https://www.memri.org/tv/washington-dc-shiite-sulayman-ali-hassan-jihad
"May Allah Allow All Of Us To Enter Paradise Through The Gates Of Jihad...
If There Is A Physical Attack [On Islam], Then We Should All Be Ready With
Martial Training And Self-Defense Training"
Dr. Sulayman Ali Hassan: "Islam has emphasized that we should all be mujahid[een].
When the time calls for one type of sacrifice, we should be ready for that type
of sacrifice.
"If Islam is under attack, then we should make sure that all of us are preparing
and readying ourselves to be able to defend Islam in the way that it is being
attacked.
"If there is a physical attack, then we should all be ready with martial
training and self-defense training so that we can stand up for our rights and
our dignity. If it is an intellectual attack, then all of us should be armed
with the weapons of intellect and reasoning.
"May Allah allow all of us to enter Paradise through the gates of jihad. "Jihad
can be through funding and jihad can be through struggling in person. Both of
them are needed and both of them are important.
The Sacrifice Of Those Who Wage Jihad, Particularly On The Battlefield Should Be
Important To You; "Try To Make Their Life Easier By Helping Their Family"
"Somebody who is al-ghazi, who is doing jihad, in particular on the battlefield
– you should consider their sacrifice and their struggle to be something that is
important to you and pray for them and try to make their life easier, by helping
their family, by helping those dependents of theirs, who may not have their
father, their husband, or their person present for them. "According to the
hadith, jihad is one of those things that brings a special grace of Allah, a
mercy of Allah, and a fulfillment of prayers. This hadith is particular to
those, who are in a military battle for defense of Islam, but that principle
applies in general to all forms of jihad. "May Allah make us among the
mujahideen for the sake of Allah, with our possessions, and with ourselves."
Sisi-Bennett meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh reflects change in bilateral, regional
outlook
The Arab Weekly/September 14/2021
CAIRO--The summit meeting held Monday between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett signalled a change in the two
sides’ visions that is pushing them closer on security and economic issues as a
basis for future political processes. The talks also indicated that the two
countries potential common ground goes beyond the issue of Gaza and recent
arrangements to stop the hostilities between Hamas and Israel. Analysts said the
choice of Sharm el-Sheikh, the traditional site of previous regional summits,
was heavy on symbolism as it suggested that Egypt is able to activate
long-stalled processes and is ready and willing to cooperate with Israel for the
purpose of securing calm in the region.
The analysts believe that both Egypt and Israel have changed their perspectives.
This reflected on the character of the bilateral relationship and the way of
thinking of Cairo and Tel Aviv about addressing certain issues. Cairo feels
compelled, by virtue of the transformations in the region, to seek coordination
with Israel. Common interests start in Gaza but also extend to eastern
Mediterranean gas fields where investments requires calm while disagreements
mean trouble for both parties.
Experts add that the Israelis have found it difficult to develop their relations
in the Arab region as long as their peace with Cairo remained cold while the
Egyptians were uneasy about a normalisation process that overpassed them.
Former Egyptian ambassador to Washington, Abdel-Raouf El-Reedy, told The Arab
Weekly that bringing Egyptian-Israeli coordination into the open would lead to a
new approach on a number of regional crises, as Tel Aviv has an influence over
various issues in the region and believes that Cairo’s attitude could also have
a bearing on developments as well. He added that the success of joint
understandings depends to a great degree on progress regarding the Israeli
government’s position on the Palestinian issue. Egypt sees this as a crucial
dimension in its national and Arab security outlooks. There is no change
according to the experts in the fundamentals of Egyptian or Israeli strategies.
What has changed is the regional environment where transformations force each
side to rearrange its priorities and overcome latent hostility and look to
common interests.
The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that the Sisi-Bennett meeting was to
“deal with a number of bilateral issues … and efforts to revive the peace
process, as well as developments on the regional and international scene.”Cairo
and Tel Aviv find economic peace an appropriate starting point for developing
relations between them. Major breakthroughs have been achieved there as economic
cooperation does not carry the same sensitivities as political questions. The
Israel right-wing government finds this focus convenient as it spares it the
embarrassing quandary posed by dealing with the Palestinians, an issue that
ruffles the feathers of extremist factions that are part of Israeli government
coalition.
The development in relations has led to closer security coordination. Economic
cooperation between the two sides reached the point where Egypt imported natural
gas last year from Israel to re-liquefy it and export it to Europe from the Idku
and Damietta stations on the Mediterranean in northern Egypt, under a 15-year
$15 billion agreement. The deterioration of the economic situation in Gaza is of
great concern to Egypt, which fears an explosion near its borders. Cairo has
endeavoured to carry out a reconstruction plan that has faced many obstacles on
the part of Hamas movement which controls the Strip. It also faces obstacles
from Israel, which insists on continuing its siege of the Gaza but without
objecting to easing the restrictions it has imposed there, provided that a
reconstruction mechanism is found that deprives Hamas of achieving great
benefits from the aid or having access to open crossings where Israel sees a
threat.
Israel’s foreign minister proposed over the weekend improving living conditions
in Gaza in exchange for calm from the enclave’s Hamas Islamist leaders. The
plan, which includes infrastructure and employment benefits, aims to show
Palestinians in the Israeli-blockaded enclave that Hamas’s campaign of violence
against Israel is “why they live in conditions of poverty, scarcity, violence
and high unemployment, without hope”, Yair Lapid said Sunday. He stressed that
he was not calling for negotiations with Hamas, as “Israel doesn’t speak to
terror organisations who want to destroy us”. In the first stage of the plan,
the infrastructure in Gaza, an impoverished territory of two million people,
would receive a sorely-needed upgrade, Lapid said in a speech at the Reichman
University in Herzliya.
“The electricity system will be repaired, gas will be connected, a water
desalination plant will be built, significant improvements to the healthcare
system and a rebuilding of housing and transport infrastructure will take
place,” he said. “In exchange, Hamas will commit to long-term quiet,” he added,
noting the international community would play a role in the process, especially
Egypt, to Gaza’s south. If the first stage were to go smoothly, Gaza would see
the construction of an artificial island off its coast that would allow the
construction of a port and a “transportation link” between Gaza and the West
Bank would be created. Lapid said he had presented the plan to “partners in the
Arab world,” as well as to the United States, Russia and the European Union.
“There is still work to do, we’re still on the drawing board, but if this plan
has a chance to succeed and gains widespread support, I’ll propose it to the
government as the official position,” he said. Lapid’s focus on the Gaza Strip
while ignoring the West Bank carry a political message that strengthens Hamas’
authority in Gaza, which means the continued existence of two separate
Palestinian bodies, a situation which seems to serve Israeli interests, even if
Egypt is trying to bring back the Palestinian Authority to the fore, as
illustrated by the recent Egyptian-Jordanian-Palestinian summit in Cairo.
Putin meets Assad in Moscow, takes swipe at Turkish
forces in Syria
The Arab Weekly/September 14/2021
MOSCOW--Foreign forces being deployed in Syria without a decision by the United
Nations are a hindrance to the country’s consolidation, Russian President
Vladimir Putin told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday. The Kremlin said
the comments came during a meeting of the two men in the Russian capital, after
Putin congratulated Assad on his win in Syria’s presidential election.
“Terrorists had sustained a very serious damage and Syrian government, headed by
you, controls 90% of the territories,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin
statement.
The two leaders have held talks in Moscow on the cooperation between their
armies and how to continue operations to gain control of rebel-held areas in
Syria, state media in Damascus reported on Tuesday. The meeting between the two
presidents was the first since they held a summit in the Syrian capital in
January last year. Syrian state TV described it as a long meeting but did not
specify when it took place. The TV said the two were later joined by Syria’s
foreign minister and Russia’s defence minister to discuss mutual relations and
fighting terrorism.
Russia joined Syria’s ten-year conflict in September 2015, tipping the balance
of power in favour of Assad, whose forces now control much of the country.
Hundreds of Russian troops are deployed across Syria and they also have a naval
and air base along Syria’s Mediterranean coast. “I am happy to meet you in
Moscow, six years after our joint operations to fight terrorism,” Syrian TV
quoted Assad as saying.
Putin’s statement were seen as a swipe at Turkish military forces, who are now
present in much of the north and northwest, helping to shore up the last major
bastion of anti-Assad rebels, while US forces are supporting Kurdish-led
militias who control parts of the east and northeast. Putin said the main
problem in Syria was the presence of foreign forces without permission or a UN
mandate, “which clearly runs counter to international law”, the Kremlin said on
Tuesday. This “undermines your ability to use your best efforts to consolidate
the country and promote recovery at a pace that would have been possible if the
legitimate government controlled the entire country”.The Syrian state views the
US and Turkish forces as occupiers, while Russian forces and Iranian-backed
militias are there at the government’s invitation. “Terrorists sustained very
serious damage and the Syrian government, headed by you, controls 90% of the
territories,” Putin said, according to the Kremlin. However, according to other
assessments, Assad holds less than this. Issuing its latest report on Syria on
Tuesday, the UN Commission of Inquiry put the portion under Assad’s control at
just 70%. In recent weeks, Syrian opposition activists said that Russian
warplanes have been carrying out strikes on the northwestern province of Idlib,
the last major rebel stronghold in the country. Assad thanked the Russian leader
for humanitarian aid to Syria and for his efforts to halt the “spread the
terrorism”. He lauded what he called a success of Russian and Syrian armies in
“liberating occupied territories” of Syria. He also described as “anti-human”
and “illegitimate” the sanctions some nations imposed on Syria.
Putin to Self-Isolate Due to COVID Cases among Inner
Circle
Agence France Presse/September 14/2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin is going into self-isolation because of
coronavirus cases in his inner circle, the Kremlin said Tuesday, adding that he
tested negative for COVID-19. The announcement came in the Kremlin's readout of
Putin's phone call with Tajikistan's president. Putin has been fully vaccinated
with the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, receiving his second shot in
April. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin is "absolutely
healthy," but will self-isolate after coming in contact with someone who
contracted the virus. He didn't clarify for how long Putin would remain in
self-isolation, but assured that the president will continue working as usual.
Asked if Putin tested negative for the virus, Peskov said "definitely, yes."
Peskov didn't say who among Putin's contacts were infected, saying only that
there were several cases. On Monday, the Russian president attended several
public events. He greeted Russian Paralympians, attended military exercises
conducted in coordination with Belarus, and met with Syrian President Bashar
Assad. During the meeting with the Paralympians, Putin mentioned that he "may
have to quarantine soon.""Even in my circle problems occur with this COVID," the
Russian leader was quoted by the state RIA Novosti news agency as saying. "We
need to look into what's really happening there. I think I may have to
quarantine soon myself. A lot of people around (me) are sick." Asked why Putin
proceeded with public events on Monday, even though he already knew that there
were coronavirus cases around him, Peskov said that the decision to self-isolate
was made after "doctors completed their testing, their procedures." Peskov
assured that "no one's health was endangered" at Monday's events. Russia's daily
new coronavirus infections in recent weeks have plateaued around 17,000-18,000,
with the daily death toll remaining just under 800, the highest level in the
pandemic. Nevertheless, hardly any virus restrictions are currently in place in
Russia. Russia's state coronavirus task force has reported a total of 7.1
million confirmed coronavirus cases and 194,249 deaths. However, reports by the
government's statistical service Rosstat that tally coronavirus-linked deaths
retroactively reveal much higher numbers.
Blinken Tells Irate Lawmakers the U.S. was Ready on
Afghanistan
Agence France Presse/September 14/2021
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has insisted the Biden administration had
prepared for worst-case scenarios in Afghanistan, as irate lawmakers accused the
White House of presiding over a historic disaster. The famously even-tempered
top US diplomat stayed cool as he faced the toughest grilling of his career at
the first congressional hearing on President Joe Biden's end to the 20-year war,
which brought a swift victory by the Taliban. As rival Republicans raised their
voices, waved pictures of slain soldiers and occasionally demanded he resign,
Blinken repeatedly noted that former president Donald Trump had set the
withdrawal from Afghanistan. "We inherited a deadline; we did not inherit a
plan," Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. After Trump's February
2020 deal with the Taliban and drawdown of US troops, the Islamist movement was
in the "strongest military position it had been since 9/11," the attacks 20
years ago that prompted America's longest war, Blinken said. Blinken said the
Biden administration was "intensely focused" on the safety of Americans and had
been "constantly assessing" how long the Western-backed government could
survive. "Even the most pessimistic assessments did not predict that government
forces in Kabul would collapse while US forces remained," Blinken said.
"Nonetheless, we planned and exercised a wide range of contingencies," he added.
"The evacuation itself was an extraordinary effort -- under the most difficult
conditions imaginable -- by our diplomats, by our military, by our intelligence
professionals."
'Unmitigated disaster'
Republican lawmakers, seeing a vulnerability for Biden, have portrayed the
pullout as chaotic and accused the president of abandoning Americans to the fate
of the Taliban. "This was an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions," said
Representative Mike McCaul, the top Republican on the committee.
"I never thought in my lifetime that I would see an unconditional surrender to
the Taliban," he added. Accusing the administration of "betrayal" of Afghan
allies, McCaul pointed out that the Taliban's caretaker government included
figures such as Sirajuddin Haqqani, whose arrest is sought by Washington on
terrorism allegations. "We are now at the mercy of the Taliban's reign of
terror," McCaul said, warning of a "dark veil of sharia law" as the Taliban
reinstitute their draconian treatment of women. Republicans noted that last
year's agreement with the Taliban -- signed in the presence of Blinken's
predecessor Mike Pompeo -- had set conditions for the withdrawal. "You can't
blame the Trump administration for your failure," said Representative Greg
Steube. "Your administration in the White House was seeing in real time what was
happening in Afghanistan and you did absolutely nothing to stop it," he said.
Blinken, however, suggested that the Taliban violated the accord through their
"relentless march," even as the Trump administration pressed the former Afghan
government to free battle-hardened militants. Blinken said that the new
administration's planning made it possible to draw down the embassy within 48
hours, and secure the airport and start evacuations within 72 hours. The United
States and its allies ultimately evacuated 124,000 people out of Afghanistan,
one of the largest airlifts in history. The administration says only around 100
U.S. citizens remain and that all had been contacted repeatedly by U.S.
diplomats, with some leaving after the withdrawal in line with promises by the
Taliban. Blinken said there was "no evidence that staying longer would have made
the Afghan security forces or the Afghan government any more resilient or
self-sustaining.""If 20 years and hundreds of billions of dollars in support,
equipment and training did not suffice, why would another year, another five,
another 10?" Representative Gregory Meeks, the Democrat who led the committee,
accused Republicans of having been silent when Trump and Pompeo pursued the same
policies on Afghanistan. "Disentangling ourselves from Afghanistan was never
going to be easy," Meeks said. "I would welcome hearing what exactly a smooth
withdrawal from a messy, chaotic 20-year war looks like," he said. "I don't
believe one exists."
Afghanistan withdrawal raises questions about US
reliability in the region
The Arab Weekly/September 14/2021
LONDON–-The United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has left many
questions swirling in the Gulf region and the Middle East about US reliability
as an ally. US partners in the Arab region fear that the Taliban’s return and
the vacuum left by the West’s disorderly departure from Afghanistan fits a
pattern of disengagement with no real exit strategy nor measured moves. Many
fear losing the US security shield and being left to fend for themselves in
front of Iranian threats and the risk of reemergence of extremist groups such as
al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS), that have been buoyed by what they see as
the defeat of “Western crusaders”. There is wariness that the victory of Taliban
will allow militants from al-Qaeda to regain a foothold in Afghanistan 20 years
after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. “Afghanistan is an
earthquake, a shattering, shattering earthquake and this is going to stay with
us for a very, very long time,” a Gulf Arab official tol Reuters, Monday, on
condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
“Can we really depend on an American security umbrella for the next 20 years? I
think this is very problematic right now … really very problematic.” “If there
is a geopolitical struggle over Afghanistan, we will see Pakistan and China on
one hand and we will see India, Iran and Russia on the other hand,” the official
said. “And I don’t think the Americans are going to be a part of the
geopolitical struggle over Afghanistan.” While tens of thousands of American
forces remain across the Arabian Peninsula as a counterweight to Iran, Gulf Arab
nations worry about the US future plans as its military perceives a growing
threat in Asia that requires those missile defences. US disengagement is helping
shape new Gulf policies and alliances including a new momentum for regional
reconciliation set in motion during the Al Ula summit in Saudi Arabia last
January. It is also triggering a move towards diversification of sources of
armament and military support by Arab Gulf countries. Riyadh has recently signed
a military cooperation agreement with Moscow. But tensions with Tehran remain
high as negotiations appear stalled in Vienna over Iran’s collapsed nuclear deal
with world powers, raising the danger of future confrontations in the region.
The US has removed its most advanced missile defence system and Patriot
batteries from Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, even as the kingdom faced continued
air attacks from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, reported The Associated
Press last week. But Riyadh reiterated that the Saudi military “is capable of
defending its lands, seas and airspace and protecting its people.”The US is also
scaling down in military presence in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East.
Qatar won't take 'responsibility' for Kabul airport
without Taliban agreement
AFP/September 14/2021
Qatar warned Tuesday it would not take responsibility for Kabul airport without
"clear" agreements with all involved, including the Taliban, about its
operations. Doha has become a key broker in Afghanistan following last month's
withdrawal of US forces, helping evacuate thousands of foreigners and Afghans,
engaging the new Taliban rulers and supporting operations at Kabul airport. "We
need to make sure that everything is addressed very clearly otherwise... we are
not able to take any responsibility of the airport (if) all these things are not
addressed," Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said at a
press briefing. Qatar warned Tuesday it would not take responsibility for Kabul
airport without "clear" agreements with all involved, including the Taliban,
about its operations. Doha has become a key broker in Afghanistan following last
month's withdrawal of US forces, helping evacuate thousands of foreigners and
Afghans, engaging the new Taliban rulers and supporting operations at Kabul
airport. "We need to make sure that everything is addressed very clearly
otherwise... we are not able to take any responsibility of the airport (if) all
these things are not addressed," Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin
Abdulrahman Al-Thani said at a press briefing. "Right now the status is still
(under) negotiation because we need to have an agreement that's clear for
everyone for all the parties and who is going to take care of the technical
(side), who's going to take care of the security aspects.
"There is a possibility for collaboration with other countries if needed, but
until now the discussion is only among us and Turkey and the Taliban."Since the
US pullout, Qatar Airways planes have made several trips to Kabul, flying in aid
and Doha's representatives and ferrying out foreign passport holders.
Iraq’s Hashed reinstates former members ahead of elections
The Arab Weekly/September 14/2021
BAGHDAD--At least 30,000 former members of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular
Mobilisation Forces-PMF) are to be reinstated and receive their salaries, the
paramilitary coalition announced Monday. The announcement, which came weeks
before the country’s October 10 parliamentary elections, follows months of
demonstrations by ex-members whose jobs had been terminated. Faleh al-Fayyad, a
senior Hashed official, said on television that the organisation would use its
own funds to finance the rehiring operation and urged the government to re-enrol
others who had been laid off. Observers said the move comes at a crucial timing
as Iraq prepares for the October 10 elections and just a few days after the
government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi approved a draft law for
compulsory military service, 18 years after its abolition, in attempt to end
sectarian polarisation caused by such powerful groups as the Hashed. The Hashed
decision to reinstate former members, observers added, is a direct message to
Kadhimi, who has been struggling to restore the government’s control over the
security file, something that the Hashed does not accept and sees as a threat to
the militias’ influence.
Over the last few years, pro-Iran militias in Iraq have succeeded in
infiltrating the state’s security and military institutions, creating what some
experts described as a state within a state, though more powerful and with close
links to Iran.
Statements by Kadhimi last week seem to have raised new concerns among Hashed
leaders, with the Iraqi premier taking a series of actions to limit election
fraud, increase voter security during the elections and implement tactics to
push for higher voter turnout. Kadhimi held a cabinet meeting on September 11
and discussed the procedures and preparations required to secure fair elections.
“We have provided all the needs of the Electoral Commission at the highest
levels of financing, insurance and support, to ensure that the polls are
conducted in a manner that achieves the aspirations of the people,” the Iraqi PM
said.
Kadhimi, observers said, is seeking a formula that does not provoke Iran but
maintains stability, especially by guaranteeing the prerequisites of the
electoral process and its integrity in the eyes of international monitors.
Baghdad hopes to put in place strict security measures to prevent the
infiltration of the voting system by rogue elements who could contemplate
irregularities and fraud. The Hashed and other pro-Iran political groups and
militias, however, think that such measures would reduce their chances of
scoring a victory in the upcoming elections.
The reinstatement of 30,000 former Hashed members is therefore viewed with a lot
of suspicion as observers believe that the move sends a clear message to the
government. Through their move, observers say, the Hashed forces want to show
they are ready to resort to violence in order to preserve their interests and
those of Iran. The Hashed factions have links with pro-Iran political parties
that are running in the country’s elections for the second time since joining
the political arena. The number of Hashed members, before the reinstatement of
the former members, stood at more than 160,000. Ahmad Assadi, a leader of the
Hashed block in parliament, said in a statement the finance ministry had given
the green light for the reintegration of 30,000 members into the force, which
operates formally under the umbrella of Iraq’s security apparatus. Most of them
had been sacked between 2015 and 2018, Assadi said, with absenteeism the most
common cause. The PMF was formed in 2014 to counter the Islamic State group,
following a fatwa from Iraq’s top Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani, and was later
brought under the government’s fold. Its growing influence in Iraqi affairs has
alarmed the US officials who accuse it of orchestrating attacks on the American
Embassy in Baghdad.
Iraq’s general election was due to be held in May next year but has been brought
forward to October 10 in response to the demands of a mass protest movement that
broke out in October 2019. Protesters called for changes to the country’s
election law, which Parliament passed in late 2019.
The new law allows voters to elect individual politicians instead of choosing
from party lists, and have each member of Parliament represent a specific
electoral district, instead of groups of legislators representing entire
provinces. Iraq has a population of 40 million across 18 provinces. Turnout for
the country’s last parliamentary election held in 2018 was 44.5 percent, amid
electoral fraud claims.
The one million Iraqi citizens living abroad will be excluded from voting.
Kadhimi promised to address the demands of the protesters when he took office in
May last year, after months of political turmoil. The youth-led protest movement
was triggered by anger over endemic corruption, high unemployment, foreign
interference and poor public services. Kadhimi also promised to bring to justice
those responsible for the killing of hundreds of protesters who took to the
streets in Baghdad and many southern cities, although no one has been charged.
Morocco backs Libya elections to end crisis of
legitimacy
The Arab Weekly/September 14/2021
RABAT--Morocco renewed on Monday its support for Libya elections that are set
next December, in a move that champions the political process in the
neighbouring country and puts an end to the protracted crisis of legitimacy.
In a news conference with the UN envoy to Libya Jan Kubis in Rabat, Moroccan
Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said that the solution in Libya is via elections
that need to be held on time, saying his country is trying to engage Libyans in
dialogue.
“We must build on the progress made at the military, institutional and political
levels to succeed in these elections,” Bourita said. Bourita added that because
the Libyan crisis is related to legitimacy, the solution can only by democracy
and respect of the High National Elections Commission, calling for adopting all
the progress for successful elections. The Libyan crisis, which is a crisis of
legitimacy, “can only be resolved through a democratic exercise in which all
Libyans must participate,” he noted. The Moroccan top diplomat also hailed the
role of the UN and its envoy that have been seeking to reach political and
military solutions, noting that his country has no agenda or initiative for
Libya but only supports the UN, wants to open dialogue channels among Libyans
and rejects foreign intervention.
Kubis, on his part, said that elections will be part of the solution for Libya’s
conflict and that they must be held on time, thanking Morocco for its support of
the political process in the neighbouring country.
“The country will have new institutions and authorities, a strong democracy and
legitimacy to overcome several challenges facing not only Libya but many
countries in the region,” Kubis said. Earlier in September, the Speaker of the
Libyan House of Representatives Aguila Saleh said that “there will be no
solution to the unrest in Libya, without a democratic election. Saleh stressed
the importance of building a democratic state according to transparent and fair
elections, through which Libyans choose their leaders “with their free will and
without anyone’s interference.”
Saleh spoke of what he described as a state of “great resentment among Libyan
citizens,” saying that “the solution today will only be reached after the
election of a president who will reconcile and unify the military and civil
institutions.”
Saleh was speaking after he held talks with Bourita in Rabat.
The Moroccan top diplomat stressed Morocco’s determination to continue to
support Libyans to find a peaceful solution to end the Libyan conflict, by
ensuring the democratic elections take place in the best circumstances possible.
“The crisis will not be solved through conferences, but through a democratic
process, and a democratic election, that will see install a president all
Libyans voted for,” Bourita said. Morocco has previously hosted five rounds of
talks between Libyan rivals, the last of which was in January 2021, during which
Libyans reached an agreement on most criteria for sovereign positions. Since
last March, Libya has taken its first steps on the path to ending the sharp
political and military divisions, when it was agreed to form a government of
national unity to prepare for presidential and legislative elections.
The peace process in Libya has faltered since the formation of the national
unity government, amid differences over the elections’ organisation, and plans
to unify the budget. These factors have further exacerbated uncertainties,
triggering fears that the December elections will not be held on time.
Greece Probes Crash that Killed Witness in Netanyahu Trial
Associated Press/September 14/2021
Authorities in Greece Tuesday opened an investigation into the crash of a
private plane from Israel that killed a prosecution witness in the corruption
trial of former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Haim Geron, a former
senior official at Israel's ministry of communications, and his wife Esther were
killed in the crash late Monday off the island of Samos. The Israeli Foreign
Ministry identified the victims, both aged 69, adding that consular officials
and the ministry were working with the family to return the bodies. Geron was
one of more than 300 witnesses that prosecutors listed for Netanyahu's trial on
corruption charges. He is on trial for allegedly accepting expensive gifts from
wealthy associates, allegations he denies. Greece's Air Accident Investigation
and Aviation Board is investigating the causes of the crash, officials said
Tuesday. The single-engine Cessna 182 took off from Haifa, Israel, and crashed
near Samos Airport. "Shortly before landing, communication with the control
tower on Samos was lost and the Civil Aviation Authority informed the search and
rescue center about the loss of communication," the authority said in a
statement. The bodies of the two Israeli occupants were recovered by the Coast
Guard several hours later with the help of divers. Netanyahu, now the opposition
leader in Israel's parliament, has denied all the accusations and mocked the
size of the witness list.
Pentagon Chief Still Hopes to Meet Saudi Crown Prince
Agence France Presse/September 14/2021
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who traveled to the Gulf last week but
did not visit Saudi Arabia, still hopes to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, the Pentagon said Monday. Austin traveled to the Gulf to thank U.S.
allies for their support during the massive airlift set up after the fall of the
Afghan government and the Taliban capture of Kabul on August 15. He visited
Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait -- but with relations with Saudi Arabia considerably
cooler since Joe Biden became U.S. president, a planned stopover in Saudi Arabia
did not take place. The trip "didn't happen for some scheduling issues that we
understood were on the Saudi side," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
Nevertheless Austin is "absolutely" willing to meet the crown prince. "He is the
defense minister for Saudi Arabia and we have a strong defense partnership with
Saudi Arabia ... We fully expect that we'll get a chance to get this
rescheduled. It was postponed, it wasn't canceled forever," Kirby said. When
running for president Joe Biden vowed to make the Saudi leaders "pay" for their
role in the murder of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Once president Biden
declassified an intelligence report that found that the crown prince -- also
known as MBS -- ordered the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a contributor to The
Washington Post who was lured into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. But the U.S.
government did not sanction the crown prince in order to avoid an open crisis
with the Gulf oil kingdom.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials published on
September 14-15/2021
Giving the Taliban International Legitimacy Would Be a
Disastrous Mistake
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/September 14/2021
European plans to forge closer ties with Kabul are, though, being severely
undermined by the conduct of the new Taliban regime which, rather than living up
to its promise to mend its ways, instead appears to be reverting to its old,
uncompromising approach.
Recent reports claim that at least four elite Afghan counterterrorism agents
have been hunted down and killed by the Taliban during the past three weeks, in
one case pulling out all the victim's fingernails before shooting him.
"We have to stop pretending that the Taliban have changed," warned Mr McMaster .
"Our self-delusion has led many to embrace an Orwellian reversal of morality in
which they view jihadist terrorists as a partner.... The Taliban are determined
to impose a brutal form of sharia on the Afghan people and are intertwined with
terrorists determined to continue their jihad..." — HR McMaster, former US
National Security Advisor, The Sunday Times, September 12, 2021.
Naïve attempts by a number of leading Western powers to foster relations with
the newly-installed Taliban regime in Kabul are being undermined by the
uncompromising attitude the new Islamist regime. Pictured: Taliban gunmen
organize a pro-Taliban demonstration by burqa-clad women, aimed at improving the
regime's image in the foreign media, in Kabul on September 11, 2021. (Photo by
Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)
Naïve attempts by a number of leading Western powers to foster relations with
the newly-installed Taliban regime in Kabul are being undermined by the
uncompromising attitude the new Islamist regime.
Following the Taliban's dramatic seizure of control of Afghanistan last month, a
number of prominent Western leaders have indicated their willingness to work
with the new Afghan regime, following claims by some Taliban leaders that they
want to establish a more moderate form of government than the former Taliban
regime that terrorised the country in the late 1990s.
In the aftermath of the Islamist movement's takeover of the country, Taliban
leaders were at pains to stress their plans to establish a more moderate
approach. In their first press conference after seizing control of the country,
the movement's leaders promised to protect women's rights, guarantee media
freedom, and offered a nationwide amnesty for government officials and military
personnel in the former government of President Ashraf Ghani, which collapsed in
disarray following US President Joe Biden's decision to end US military support.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the armed group's spokesman, also said the Taliban wished
for peaceful relations with other countries, and that no group will be allowed
to use Afghan territory for attacks against any nation.
"I would like to assure the international community, including the United
States, that nobody will be harmed," Mujahid said. "We don't want any internal
or external enemies."
The more moderate tone adopted by Taliban leaders has prompted a number of
prominent Western leaders to indicate their willingness to work with the
newly-established Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, prompting fears that the
Taliban will soon achieve their goal of winning international acceptance from
the world's major powers.
While Mr Biden has been ambivalent on the issue of recognising the new Islamist
regime, saying it was up to the Taliban to decide whether it wanted
international recognition, some of Washington's key allies have demonstrated
more enthusiasm for establishing relations with the new regime in Kabul.
The last time the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, beginning in the 1990s, the
militants received recognition from just three nations: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates.
Now the movement's prospects of gaining wider international acknowledgement have
improved considerably after a number of prominent European politicians have
signalled their willingness to work with the new regime.
At a news briefing held in the aftermath of the Taliban's takeover of
Afghanistan, Josep Borrell, the European Union's top diplomat, said the bloc was
ready to give serious consideration to establishing relations with the Islamic
Emirate. "The Taliban have won the war, so we will have to talk with them," he
declared. "It's not a matter of official recognition. It's a matter of dealing
with (them)."
The EU's apparent enthusiasm for establishing relations with the Taliban was
echoed in Germany, where Armin Laschet, the candidate from Angela Merkel's
Christian Democratic Union who hopes to succeed her as chancellor, noted that
"the art of good foreign policy" is finding solutions with states whose goals
and ideals other societies reject.
By contrast, France and Britain have been more ambivalent about establishing
ties with the Taliban, with a spokesman for the French foreign ministry saying
the issue of recognizing the Taliban "is not currently of relevance for France,"
while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that "it would be a
mistake for any country to recognize any new regime in Kabul prematurely or
bilaterally."
Nevertheless, the close cooperation that took place between the Taliban and
Western forces at Kabul airport during the recent evacuation of foreign
nationals means that a number of senior European politicians still maintain the
view that it may soon be possible to provide the new regime with official
recognition.
European plans to forge closer ties with Kabul are, though, being severely
undermined by the conduct of the new Taliban regime which, rather than living up
to its promise to mend its ways, instead appears to be reverting to its old,
uncompromising approach.
Having appointed a number of prominent militants to senior positions in the new
Taliban administration, the Taliban has now been accused of sending death squads
to capture and kill former members of the Afghan security forces.
Recent reports claim that at least four elite Afghan counterterrorism agents
have been hunted down and killed by the Taliban during the past three weeks, in
one case pulling out all the victim's fingernails before shooting him.
The victims are said to have been members of Units 011 and 041, British and
American-trained units that were responsible for finding and interrogating the
Taliban, and had formerly been based at the headquarters of the Afghan
intelligence service, the National Directorate for Security (NDS) in Kabul.
The Taliban's ruthless conduct in pursuing its former enemies has prompted
former US National Security Advisor HR McMaster to warn against Western nations
establishing diplomatic relations with the new regime.
Writing in the London Sunday Times, Mr McMaster issued a stark warning to
Western leaders not to be taken in by the Taliban's claims that they are a more
moderate movement than their forebears.
"We have to stop pretending that the Taliban have changed," warned Mr McMaster .
"Our self-delusion has led many to embrace an Orwellian reversal of morality in
which they view jihadist terrorists as a partner.
"We know who they are, how they are recruited and why they are dangerous. The
Taliban are determined to impose a brutal form of sharia on the Afghan people
and are intertwined with terrorists determined to continue their jihad against
all who do not conform to their perverted interpretation of Islam."
Certainly, to judge by the Taliban's increasingly uncompromising behaviour since
seizing power last month, there is little evidence to suggest that the Islamist
militants are prepared to adopt a more conciliatory approach to governing the
Afghan people, an attitude that must be taken into account before European
leaders make the disastrous mistake of providing Afghanistan's new Islamist
regime with international legitimacy.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a
Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 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.
When 9/11 Was a Day of Victory and Pride
Raymond Ibrahim /PJ Media/September 14/2021
Another 9/11 anniversary has just passed. It was an especially painful one,
considering that those implicated in the attacks that killed more than 3,000
Americans two decades earlier are not only free, but back in power—and armed to
the teeth with U.S. weaponry—in Afghanistan, namely, the Taliban.
The gloating from millions of Muslim sympathizers around the world has also
never been greater than on this 20th anniversary of 9/11.
But it wasn’t always like this on September 11. Accordingly, and since we
apparently cannot look to the present for solace or satisfaction on this date,
let us look back. As it happens, a major jihadist terror campaign was defeated
before—and celebrated on—September 11: the Ottoman siege of the Mediterranean
island of Malta.
Even more ironically, the situation was the exact opposite of today: Those
defending the tiny island were immensely weaker and outnumbered in comparison to
their Islamic foe; but, through a superhuman effort, they actually prevailed.
After declaring jihad in the spring of 1565, 30,000 Turks, armed to the teeth
and with all sorts of heavy artillery, descended on the tiny island of Malta,
which was defended by a few thousand shabbily armed Maltese men, under the
leadership of the Knights of Saint John (formerly the Knights Hospitallers), the
Turks’ bane.
And here is where the difference lay: If the Europeans were vastly outnumbered,
they also had much manlier leadership than we are familiar with. Enter Jean
Parisot de Valette (1494–1568), the Grand Master of the Knights: “His
disposition is rather sad,” wrote a contemporary, but “for his age
[seventy-one], he is very robust” and “very devout.” As the Muslim sails
approached, he explained to his men what was at stake: “A formidable army
composed of audacious barbarians is descending on this island,” he warned;
“these persons, my brothers, are the enemies of Jesus Christ. Today it is a
question of the defense of our Faith as to whether the book of the Evangelist
[the Gospel] is to be superseded by that of the Koran? God on this occasion
demands of us our lives, already vowed to His service. Happy will those be who
first consummate this sacrifice.”
Once the Turks arrived, they subjected the tiny Mediterranean island to what was
then the heaviest nonstop bombardment any locale had been subjected to in
history. “With the roar of the artillery and the arquebuses, the hair-raising
screams, the smoke and fire and flame,” a chronicler wrote, “it seemed that the
whole world was at the point of exploding.” The vastly outnumbered and soon
wearied defenders, who were ordered to “fight bravely and sell their lives to
the barbarians as dearly as possible,” did just that; and for every Christian
killed defending the fort, numerous Muslim besiegers fell.
After reducing to rubble and storming the fort of St. Elmo, the Turks
sadistically slaughtered all 1,500 of its defenders: the Knights of Saint John
“were hung upside down from iron rings . . . and had their heads split, their
chests open, and their hearts torn out.” The Muslim commander, Mustafa, ordered
their mutilated corpses (along with one Maltese priest) nailed to wooden crosses
and set adrift to deride and demoralize the other onlooking defenders.
The terror tactic failed: The seventy-one-year-old Valette delivered a
thundering and defiant speech before the huddled Christians, beheaded all Muslim
prisoners, and fired their heads from cannon at the Turkish besiegers.
The Ottomans continued to subject the rest of the island to a sustained
bombardment (some 130,000 cannonballs were fired in total). “I don’t know if the
image of hell can describe the appalling battle,” wrote a contemporary: “the
fire, the heat, the continuous flames from the flamethrowers and fire hoops; the
thick smoke, the stench, the disemboweled and mutilated corpses, the clash of
arms, the groans, shouts, and cries, the roar of the guns . . . men wounding,
killing, scrabbling, throwing one another back, falling and firing.”
Although the rest of the forts were reduced to rubble, much Muslim blood was
spilled for each inch gained; for “when they got within arms’ reach the scimitar
was no match for the long two-handed sword of the Christians.” Desperate
fighting spilled into the streets, where even Maltese women and children
participated.
It was now late August and the island was still not taken; that, and mass Muslim
casualties led to mass demoralization in the Ottoman camp. Embarrassed talk of
lifting the siege had already begun when a Sicilian relief force finally arrived
with nearly ten thousand soldiers at St. Paul’s Bay. There, where the apostle
was once shipwrecked, the final scene of this Armageddon played out as the fresh
newcomers routed the retreating Ottomans.
They finally fled, and Malta was liberated, on September 11, a day which for
years thereafter was celebrated.
And that’s the difference between September 11, 1565, and September 11, 2001—or,
worse, September 11, 2021. Then, outnumbered and outmatched men fought tooth and
nail against the jihad. Now, the most powerful nation in the world remembers
September 11 as when insult was added in 2021 to the injury of 2001.
As the historian Alan G. Jamieson once observed, “At a time when the military
superiority of the West—meaning chiefly the USA—over the Muslim world has never
been greater, Western countries feel insecure in the face of the activities of
Islamic terrorists…. In all the long centuries of Christian-Muslim conflict,
never has the military imbalance between the two sides been greater, yet the
dominant West can apparently derive no comfort from that fact.”
Such is the great “riddle” of our age. Until solved, nothing will change and
likely only get worse.
Note: All quotations in the above account were excerpted from and documented in
the author’s book, Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam
and the West.
Search for solutions in Sharm el-Sheikh
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/September 14/2021
Regional and international developments dictated that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi
received Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Sharm El-Sheikh. This is the
first meeting of its kind between an Egyptian president and an Israeli prime
minister in more than ten years. The encounter explains why it was necessary for
Israel to move beyond the era of Benjamin Netanyahu, who acted with disregard
towards both Egypt and Jordan, ignoring the fact that they were the first two
Arab countries to sign a peace treaty with Israel.
Bennett went to Sharm el-Sheikh shortly after Israeli Foreign Minister Yair
Lapid came out with a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip and provide better living
conditions for the two million Palestinians who are subjected there to the
authority of Hamas.
The militant movement shows every day that it does not know what it wants except
to be affiliated with the international organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood
and Iran at the same time.
It is certain that Bennett and Lapid do not look at things in the same way and
from the same angle, but they know that the new Israeli government, which came
into power less than five months ago, is fragile and risks collapsing any day.
However, it is also obvious that it is looking for solutions, to protect itself
first. It is not looking for new confrontations, in the way Bibi did.
The visit of the Israeli prime minister to Egypt took place from the perspective
of looking for solutions. Although Bennett belongs to the Israeli extreme right,
many developments in the region and the world made necessary the resumption of
contacts with Egypt and before that with Jordan.
The Israeli premier had previously made a secret visit to Amman, where he met
King Abdullah II before the Jordanian monarch’s visit to Washington where he met
President Joe Biden, whom Bennett visited later at the White House.
Last May, Bibi was still Israel’s prime minister. The Gaza war broke out after
Hamas took advantage of the uprising of the people of Jerusalem who faced off
with the Israeli occupation authorities which wanted to remove the inhabitants
of Sheikh Jarrah district from their homes.
Hamas’ rockets came from Gaza as an attempt to keep Netanyahu afloat. The
missiles failed to do that as it became clear that the new US administration
under Joe Biden is totally different from that of Donald Trump in nature and in
the way it deals with Israel. There is no interest in Washington in any Middle
East initiative. At the same time, however, the current administration refuses
to issue a blank cheque to Israel, as used to be done by Donald Trump, allowing
the Israelis to continue their settlement policies aimed at emptying Palestinian
lands of their people.
Perhaps the most important result of the recent Gaza war, besides inflicting
more destruction and misery on the inhabitants of the Strip, is that is that it
showed the Palestinians to be one people. It is not possible to defeat this
people, who number more than seven million in an area extending from the
Mediterranean to Jordan. In the long run, there is no escaping a political
solution. This is despite the void embodied by the Palestinian National
Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and despite the fact that there is
no desire on the part of Hamas for Palestinian reconciliation… or for dealing
with reality and relying on reasonable political discourse as the one used by
Hamas strongman in Gaza, Yahya al-Sinwar, during the last war and immediately
afterwards.
From this standpoint, Bennett’s visit to Egypt was more than natural, especially
since the US administration will be absent from the region in the wake of its
disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Above all, there is no indication, until
further notice, that the US grasps Iran’s designs nor that it is aware of the
danger of Tehran’s expansionist project. There is only an American desire to
rely on diplomacy with the hope that Iran will agree to recommitting to the
nuclear agreement signed in the summer of 2015 with the P5+1 (the five permanent
members of the Security Council and Germany).
Gaza will be a test for Israel and Egypt at the same time. So far, Egypt has
proven its ability to control the situation in the Strip, at least to a certain
extent. In the future, it will have to open the Gaza crossings so that life
there becomes normal and people can free themselves from Hamas’s stranglehold.
Since mid-2007, Hamas has established an Islamic emirate there, Taliban style.
In a region that seems to be undergoing major changes after US disengagement, it
is useful that the Egyptians and Israelis meet, at least to try to understand
developments in Gaza and prevent a new disaster. Egypt knows better than anyone
else that there are Gazan families who have been homeless since war erupted at
the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009. Gaza has all the prerequisites of a
prosperous region and to become the nucleus of a peaceful Palestinian state with
a special relationship with Egypt.
There is no doubt that the Egyptian-Israeli talks dealt with many issues,
including the situation in southern Syria, where Iran is trying to establish a
foothold. But what is certain is that the question of Gaza was extremely
important to both sides in a region going through arduous labour and in a world
where the Biden administration seems to have become even more confused. This is
an administration that preferred to withdraw from the whole region and not from
Afghanistan alone. This is an administration that, for the foreseeable future,
will only think of how to help Joe Biden regain some of the popularity he lost
in Afghanistan.
Hydrogen unlikely to replace fossil fuel in Gulf region any
time soon
Vanand Meliksetian/Weekly/September 14/2021
As the world accelerates its transition to renewable energy from fossil fuel,
oil and gas producers in the Middle East face a defining moment: How to pivot
away from an economy still heavily dependent on fossil fuel? One option is to
see the green transition as an opportunity. A strategy to come out of this and
which has been much talked about lately, is to leverage gas reserves and ample
sunlight into the production of hydrogen gas. But caveat venditor, so to speak.
With the industry and market for sustainable products fundamentally different
from that for fossil fuel, there is no certainty that oil and gas can be
entirely substituted by “green molecules.”
Currently, oil and natural gas prices are comfortably high from the perspective
of exporters. Conventional wisdom would imply that there is little incentive to
increase investments in alternatives. According to the International Energy
Agency, global oil demand will reach pre-pandemic levels before the end of this
year. Demand, furthermore, is likely to grow in the coming years. However, that
hasn’t comforted Gulf producers who look at a horizon beyond the medium term.
On the one hand, the current fleet of cars and power plants will indeed see
higher utilisation of fossil fuel as economic activity rebounds from a COVID-19
induced slowdown. But decarbonisation is happening at such a great speed that we
will likely see much of current fossil-fuel reserves left in the ground, with
demand in the further horizon being mostly from poorer countries unable to make
the investment in sustainable-energy production.
The EU’s Green Deal aims for the bloc to have no net emissions of greenhouse
gases by 2050 and its European Commission recently proposed policies aimed at
reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by the end of the
decade. The US is negotiating a wide-ranging infrastructure bill that, if it
passes anywhere near its current form, will radically reduce its dependence on
fossil fuel. Next, China has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. And
then there are the smaller economies of East Asia, from Singapore to Taiwan and
South Korea and all the way up to Japan. Thus, demand for Middle East oil and
gas, particularly from Europe and East Asia, will be sharply reduced.
Just as importantly, the transition to sustainable energy is a demand-side
development. Whereas Opec and non-Opec oil producers hold the levers to oil
prices (though much less so today than in the 1970s), it is end users of
sustainable energy that will dictate the fortunes of suppliers. Thus, the demand
side is shaping the long-term industrial policies of today’s fossil-fuel
producers. Indeed, from the current perspective, it would seem eminently
sensible for fossil-fuel producers to use their resources, which would otherwise
offer diminishing returns, to supply green-energy needs.
In the Gulf region, substantial natural-gas reserves are an opportunity to
produce “blue hydrogen” derived from methane. In this process, methane is
separated into hydrogen and carbon and the latter then is captured and stored.
In addition, the sparsely populated deserts of the region are ideal for massive
solar farms to generate electricity that can be used for “yellow hydrogen”
production through the electrolysis of water.
For now, the UAE has invested in a strategy focused on blue hydrogen. Oman’s
main goal is its future green hydrogen factory in Al Wusta governorate, worth
$31 billion. Saudi Arabia plans to invest $5 billion in the futuristic city,
NEOM, in the northwest to produce “green hydrogen” from both wind- and
solar-powered electrolysis by 2025.
However, it is unlikely that hydrogen will be a substitute entirely for the oil
and gas industry of the Gulf region due to three reasons.
First, the level of import dependence in end-user countries is uncertain. While
there is a necessity for imported oil and gas, the scale of imports for hydrogen
is uncertain as it can be produced anywhere as long as there is electricity. The
possibility of the revival of the nuclear industry to power electrolysis for the
production of “pink hydrogen” cannot be completely discounted (nor for that
matter that nuclear-powered electricity will obviate the need for hydrogen in
the first place). For while fossil fuel is geology dependent, hydrogen is
technology driven. Recall that, after all, hydrogen is the most plentiful
element in the universe. Second, the Gulf region does not have a monopoly on
climate suitable for green hydrogen. Countries such as Chile, Australia and
Spain, to name some, are lining up to become exporters of hydrogen.
Lastly, Russia’s Gazprom and Rosatom intend to repurpose the extended pipeline
infrastructure with Europe to export blue and pink hydrogen in the near future.
Thus, while oil and gas will inevitably become less valuable, there is no
certainty that alternative forms of energy from the Gulf’s current fossil-fuel
producers can offer as much value on an industry basis. It is for this reason
that large Gulf oil producers have sought to pump as much oil as possible today
to stock up sovereign wealth funds, while concurrently investigating various
forms of economic diversification. In this scenario, hydrogen, which has
captured the imagination of many, is only one strategy in an arsenal that will
require many elements.
It was never useful to try to understand the Middle East mostly through the lens
of oil; it will be equally fruitless to do so through the hype over hydrogen.
Copyright: Syndication Bureau