LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 11/17
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias/english.october11.17.htm 

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Bible Quotations
You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12/16-21/:"Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?" Then he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. "But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?"So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 10-11/17
U.S. Believes Hezbollah Determined to Develop Attack Capability Inside U.S./Haaretz and Reuters Oct 10/2017
Israel's Defense Minister: Lebanon's army 'an integral part' of Hezbollah/Jerusalem Post/October 10/17
A regional power': How fighting Assad's war transformed Hezbollah/Ali Harb/Middle East Eye/October 09/17
It's Time to Mobilize a Global Response to the Terrorist Group Lebanese Hizballah/Thomas Bossert/October 10/17
Why Trump is right to re-think the nuclear deal/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Monday 09 October/17
Viewing Enemy Regimes as They Are, Not as We Wish They Were
Peter Huessy/Gatestone Institute/October 10/17
CNN and Qatar Airways: Taking Fake News to New Heights/Bruce Bawer/ Gatestone Institute/October 10/17
Why Did the US Even Get Involved in Syria/Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/October 10/17
Saudi Arabia’s Armament Policy/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 10/17
Independence for Kurdistan/John R. Bolton/Gatestone Institute/October 10/17
Saudi Arabia: The armament policy/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 10/17
Saudi women in the driver’s seat/Lojain Saati/Al Arabiya/October 10/17
A red carpet for Moscow in the Middle East/Christian Chesnot/Al Arabiya/October 10/17
The myth surrounding ‘angry Muslims/Mamdouh AlMuhaini/Al Arabiya/October 10/17

Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on October 10-11/17
U.S. Believes Hezbollah Determined to Develop Attack Capability Inside U.S.
Israel's Defense Minister: Lebanon's army 'an integral part' of Hezbollah
Aoun Says Economic Achievements Complement Reform and Fighting Corruption
UNIFIL Force Commander Meets Hariri in Beirut
Aoun signs judicial appointments' decree
Druze Sheikh Akl meets French Ambassador
Makhzoumi, Richard tackle overall situation
UNIFIL: Beary meets PM Hariri in Beirut
Kanaan after bloc weekly meeting: Salary scale and revenues secure financial and social stability
Kataeb: Political class imposed random taxes once again
Mustaqbal Warns over Nasrallah's Anti-Saudi Rhetoric
Sarraf from South: Army Vigilant to Repel Any Aggression
Report: U.S. Sanctions against Hizbullah 'Neutralize Army, Banks'
Woman Found Slaughtered in Aramoun
Asmar Says Efforts Outset to Ask Private Sector for Pay Raise
The next war will be waged against Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, says Lieberman
A regional power': How fighting Assad's war transformed Hezbollah
It's Time to Mobilize a Global Response to the Terrorist Group Lebanese Hizballah

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 10-11/17
Syrian rebels hand border crossing to opposition government
French media cast doubts over Qatari bid to grab top UNESCO position
Israel to advance plans for nearly 4,000 settler homes: Official
US envoy to Turkey says duration of visa services suspension depends on talks
Erdogan: Turkish officials to boycott meetings with US ambassador
Egypt condemns eight to death over police station attack
Russian warplane crashes at air base in Syria, ‘crew didn’t eject in time’
Brainwashed by a cult: French priest offers therapy to ‘reclaim’ Yazidi captives
Catalan Leader Steps Back from Declaring Immediate Independence

Latest Lebanese Related News published on October 10-11/17
U.S. Believes Hezbollah Determined to Develop Attack Capability Inside U.S.
Haaretz and Reuters Oct 10/2017
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=59436
U.S. counterterrorism director announces multi-million dollar reward for information leading to arrest of two Hezbollah officials. The United States believes that Hezbollah is determined to give itself an option to carry out attacks inside the United States, Nicholas J. Rasmussen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said on Tuesday. "It is our assessment that Hezbollah is determined to give itself a potential homeland option as a critical component of its terrorism playbook," Rasmussen said during a briefing.
Rasmussen noted that before September 11, 2001 Hezbollah was responsible for more American deaths than any other foreign terrorism group. Rasmussen announced a multi-million dollar reward for tips leading to the arrest of two Hezbollah officials: Talal Hamiyah and Fu'ad Shukr.
Hamiyah is the head of coordinating and executing attacks outside of Lebanon, the State Department said. Hamiyah was Mughniyah's protege and served as his deputy in the "Jihad" network, a unit for special missions. Hamiyah, according to reports from Lebanese sources, went to Iraq quite often and was in contact with the leaders of the Shi'ite militias there, who are fighting the U.S. Army and the coalition forces. Shukr played a central role in the 1983 attack on the U.S. Marine corps barracks in Beirut, the State Department said. The Marine headquarters was destroyed at 6:22 A.M. when a truck rigged with around 10 tons of explosives and fuel exploded, killing 241 people. Minutes later, 58 French soldiers were killed in an explosion at their base in Ramlet al-Baida. According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Shukr serves on Hezbollah's highest military body and played "a vital role" in Syria by helping Hezbollah fighters and forces loyal to the Assad regime fight insurgents. "With all the focus on ISIS and Al-Qaida, I can assure you that those of us who have focused on terrorism for the entire period since 9/11 have never taken our eye off of the Hezbollah threat," he said.
Rasmussen's announcement came just hours after Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned that Israel's next war will be fought on two fronts, with Hezbollah along the northern border and Gaza in the south.
Speaking to a group of soldiers at the Israeli army's headquarters in Tel Aviv, Lieberman also accused the Lebanese army of being co-opted by Hezbollah. “The Lebanese army has become an integral part of the Hezbollah force and under its command. The Lebanese army has lost its independence and become an inseparable part of the Hezbollah force,” Lieberman said.

Israel's Defense Minister: Lebanon's army 'an integral part' of Hezbollah
Jerusalem Post/October 10/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=59436
"Whoever wants peace must prepare for war, and I hope that our enemies on the other side will think carefully about every step taken against the State of Israel," says Defense Minister Liberman.
Lebanon’s army has become an integral part of Hezbollah’s network, Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman stated on Tuesday, warning that the next war on Israel’s northern border will not be confined to one front but will see conflict with both Syria and Leanon.
Addressing IDF soldiers during a celebratory event marking the festival of Sukkot at his sukka in the military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Liberman warned that preparation for the next war was of great importance, as it will likely include the Lebanese military along with Hezbollah.
“We’re talking about Hezbollah and about the Lebanese military, and unfortunately this is the reality,” Liberman said, adding that the “Lebanese army has lost its independence and has become an integral part of Hezbollah’s network.”
“Even if the next campaign develops, and it does not matter where it develops, in the north or the south, it will immediately become a battle on two fronts,” the defense minister said.
"We are supposed to prepare for every possible scenario, and the new reality also prepares new challenges for us. If we once talked about the Lebanese sector, then there is no longer such a sector, there is a northern sector in every development,” he continued.
Senior officials from Israel’s defense establishment have repeatedly stated that while the chance of escalation on the border is low, the smallest incident or a miscalculation by either side would have the possibility to lead to conflict.
"Our entire effort is to prevent the next war, but in the new 'Middle East,' the assessments we previously made are simply irrelevant. The reality now is fragile, it can change from moment to moment, from today to tomorrow,” he said.
"Whoever wants peace must prepare for war, and I hope that our enemies on the other side will think carefully about every step taken against the State of Israel, so that we will not have to demonstrate the full strength and capabilities of the IDF.”
Israeli officials, including Liberman, have repeatedly voiced concerns about the smuggling of sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah and the growing Iranian presence on its borders, stressing that both are red-lines for the Jewish State.
Both France and the United States have provided Lebanon with advanced weaponry, and this past summer, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) received 50 armored vehicles, 40 artillery pieces and 50 grenade launchers from the United States as part of an aid package to bolster the Middle Eastern country against the threats posed by militant groups.
Saudi Arabia in March halted its military aid program to Beirut after Lebanese President Michel Aoun defended Hezbollah’s arsenal in an interview with an Egyptian TV channel, calling it “an essential component” of the means to defend Lebanon.
“Hezbollah weapons are not contradictory to the state, but are an essential part in defending the country,” Aoun told the Egyptian TV network CBC satellite channel. “As long as a part of the territory is occupied by Israel, and as long as the army is not powerful enough to fight Israel, we feel the need to maintain the weapons of the resistance to complement the army.”
Israel and Hezbollah fought a deadly 33-day war in 2006, which came to an end under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanon, the deployment of the Lebanese army and an enlarged UN force in the south.
According to IDF assessments, Hezbollah has increased its military capabilities due to its fighting in Syria, and has spread its troops across the entire Middle East. In addition to a massive arsenal of rockets and missiles, Hezbollah is able to mobilize close to 30,000 fighters and has flouted its tunnel system, complete with ventilation, electricity and rocket launchers.
Some 200 villages in south Lebanon have also been turned into “military strongholds” from which Hezbollah militants are able to watch Israeli soldiers at any moment.
On Saturday, Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar news website reported that security services had arrested three men who were allegedly gathering intelligence on Hezbollah and transferring it to Israel’s spy agency, the Mossad.

Aoun Says Economic Achievements Complement Reform and Fighting Corruption
Naharnet/October 10/17/President Michel Aoun confirmed on Tuesday during a meeting with a delegation of the General Labor Union that the recent “economic achievements will complete reform and the fight against corruption,” the National News Agency reported. “The achievements at the economic level so far will be complemented with reform, combating corruption, and restoration of balance to the country's production sectors,” NNA quoted Aoun as saying. Aoun had also met with Minister of Trade and Economy, Raed Khoury at the Presidential Palace.

UNIFIL Force Commander Meets Hariri in Beirut
Naharnet/October 10/17/UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Michael Beary on Tuesday met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Beirut, UNIFIL said.Beary congratulated the Prime Minister on “the success of the Lebanese Government and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in recent military operations and commended the LAF and its leadership,” a UNIFIL statement said. During the meeting, Beary also briefed Hariri on the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate, welcoming the unanimous decision by the U.N. Security Council through Resolution 2373, which extends the mandate through August 31, 2018. The Head of UNIFIL and the Prime Minister also discussed the “strengthened collaboration” between UNIFIL and LAF. "I appreciate the recent deployment of the Rapid Intervention Regiment as a first step towards the accelerated and durable deployment of the LAF in southern Lebanon and its territorial waters,” said the UNIFIL Force Commander, noting that it will help to further enhance efforts in patrolling the Area of Operations. “The area south of the Litani River until the Blue Line has experienced an unprecedented 11-years of stability,” the UNIFIL statement noted. “Together with the LAF we need to build on the relative calm and further increase coordination to respond to incidents and prevent hostile activities especially along the Blue Line in a timely manner,” said Major General Beary. He also thanked Hariri for his continued support to the Mission, as well as for championing efforts towards a permanent ceasefire: “I was encouraged to hear from the Prime Minister very strong words of support to UNIFIL and the work we are doing on the ground, as well as reaffirmation of his government’s commitment to the implementation of Resolution 1701. The support and involvement of the government of Lebanon are essential for the success of UNIFIL’s mission.”Later in the day, Beary met with the Director General of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, in Beirut.

Aoun signs judicial appointments' decree
Tue 10 Oct 2017/NNA - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on Tuesday signed a decree related to judicial transfers and appointments. The decree was forwarded by the presidential departments for publication in accordance with laws in effect.
The decree also carried the signatures from Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, Justice Minister Selim Jreissati, National Defense Minister Yaacoub Sarraf and Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil.

Druze Sheikh Akl meets French Ambassador
Tue 10 Oct 2017/NNA - Druze Community Sheikh Akl, Naïm Hassan, received on Tuesday French Ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno Foucher. Sheikh Hassan underlined the paramount importance of international cooperation in addressing the challenges facing inter-religious relations through the revival of dialogue and communication. Sheikh Akl categorically deplored the attacks on France, stressing that terrorism shall not deter peoples' will for rapprochement and openness.

Makhzoumi, Richard tackle overall situation
Tue 10 Oct 2017/NNA - "National Dialogue" Party head, Fouad Makhzoumi, met on Tuesday with US Ambassador to Lebanon, Elizabeth Richard, with talks between the pair reportedly touching on most recent developments on the local, regional and international arena.

UNIFIL: Beary meets PM Hariri in Beirut
Tue 10 Oct 2017/NNA - In a press release by UNIFIL, it said: "UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Michael Beary today met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Beirut. Major General Beary congratulated the Prime Minister on the success of the Lebanese Government and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in recent military operations and commended the LAF and its leadership. During the meetings, Major General Beary also briefed the Prime Minister on the renewal of UNIFIL's mandate, welcoming the unanimous decision by the UN Security Council through Resolution 2373, which extends the mandate through 31 August 2018. The Head of UNIFIL and the Prime Minister also discussed the strengthened collaboration between UNIFIL and LAF. "I appreciate the recent deployment of the Rapid Intervention Regiment as a first step towards the accelerated and durable deployment of the LAF in southern Lebanon and its territorial waters," said the UNIFIL Force Commander, noting that it will help to further enhance efforts in patrolling the Area of Operations. The area south of the Litani River until the Blue Line has experienced an unprecedented 11-years of stability. "Together with the LAF we need to build on the relative calm and further increase coordination to respond to incidents and prevent hostile activities especially along the Blue Line in a timely manner," said Major General Beary. He also thanked the Lebanese leader for his continued support to the Mission, as well as for championing efforts towards a permanent ceasefire: "I was encouraged to hear from the Prime Minister very strong words of support to UNIFIL and the work we are doing on the ground, as well as reaffirmation of his government's commitment to the implementation of resolution 1701. The support and involvement of the government of Lebanon are essential for the success of UNIFIL's mission." Later in the day, Major General Beary met with the Director General of Lebanon's General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, in Beirut."

Kanaan after bloc weekly meeting: Salary scale and revenues secure financial and social stability
Tue 10 Oct 2017/NNA - Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan hailed the approval of the revenues' law and the salary scale as one of the long-awaited financial and social vital achievements. "The salary scale and the revenues secure financial and social stability," MP Kanaan said in the wake of the "Change and Reform" bloc weekly meeting on Tuesday. Kanaan stressed that there couldn't be reforms in the country without monitoring, stressing that the bloc seeks a better stable life for all citizens. The Lawmaker also assured that the Economy Ministry shall spare no effort to protect consumers and prevent any chaos in this regard.

Kataeb: Political class imposed random taxes once again
Tue 10 Oct 2017/NNA - Kataeb Party pointed out that the current political class has once again imposed same taxes in a random way, in the aim of funding its electoral campaigns. Kataeb's fresh words on Tuesday came in a statement issued in the wake of its politburo weekly meeting, chaired by Party chief MP Sami Gemayel. The meeting tackled most recent developments on the local arena. The Party accused the combined political class of circumventing the economic and social interests of the Lebanese. "The political class has again imposed taxes in a random way in order to finance its electoral campaigns," the bloc said. The bloc also deprecated the method in which the recent judicial appointments were made. Kataeb also warned from Hizbollah's insistence on further implicating the country into the simmering regional crises, deeming the silence of the political class in this regard "unprecedented yielding."

Mustaqbal Warns over Nasrallah's Anti-Saudi Rhetoric
Naharnet/October 10/17/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday “strongly” condemned Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest anti-Saudi remarks. “Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is continuing his campaign against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf countries in an appalling and rejected manner,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting. It warned that this might lead to “harming the interests of Lebanon and the Lebanese and straining their relations with their Arab brothers, especially the Arab Gulf countries.”“Regional peace and security can be achieved when Saudi Arabia stops backing Wahhabist groups... Saudi Arabia is preventing security and peace in Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq and Pakistan,” Nasrallah had charged on Sunday.

Sarraf from South: Army Vigilant to Repel Any Aggression
Naharnet/October 10/17/Defense Minister Yaacoub al-Sarraf on Tuesday stressed that the Lebanese Army is on the watch to repel “any aggression,” during a visit to south Lebanon. Hailing “the joint efforts between the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL forces,” Sarraf said “the stability that south Lebanon is enjoying is a natural outcome of this special cooperation.” The minister voiced his remarks during a visit to the Italian military training center in the al-Samaiyeh area in the Tyre district. “Lebanon rejects the continuous Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty and (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1701, whose persistence would jeopardize stability in Lebanon,” Sarraf said. “The army's mission is to defend Lebanon,” the minister “We are against any attack on Lebanese sovereignty, especially from the Israeli enemy and terrorism, and together with the army we will be vigilant to repel any aggression,” Sarraf went on to say.

Report: U.S. Sanctions against Hizbullah 'Neutralize Army, Banks'
Naharnet/October 10/17/Concerns linger that Lebanon might be harmed by the US sanctions that will be “officially approved against Hizbullah in three weeks,” but the visits of parliamentary and banking delegations to Washington last spring succeeded at “neutralizing key and important” sectors from the sanctions, al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Tuesday. Informed diplomatic sources on Lebanon-US relations do not deny the sanctions' effect on the country. They told the daily that contacts with Washington have succeeded at “neutralizing important sectors primarily the banks, aid to the Lebanese army, and the Shiite community in general as a major community involved in Lebanese society. Even some names that were leaked as being subject to sanctions are no longer targeted,” they said. According to the sources, “the law in principle will have repercussions on Lebanon, but the most important goal of the delegations that visited Washington was, which actually happened, neutralizing the relations of the banking sector with correspondent banks, because all the deliberations in Lebanon are in the US dollar.” The U.S. Congress is seeking new ways to tighten sanctions against Hizbullah.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, chaired by Republican Representative Ed Royce, passed a bill late in September to further sanction the party. Royce had argued that “Hizbullah and Iran are reportedly introducing game-changing facilities into the region – independent factories that can produce rockets to be used against Israel and our allies. We also have reports of missile factories opening up in Lebanon near mosques, homes, hospitals, and schools,” said Royce. He said the Committee is “taking action against Hizbullah and its sponsor Iran, by passing legislation that tightens the screws on Hizbullah’s financial operations globally,.” Lebanese media reports said that the bill authorizes US President Donald Trump to freeze the assets of “high-ranking Lebanese political figures who deal with Hizbullah.”One bill will reportedly target Hizbullah's ability to raise funds and deprives it of access to the international financial system and the financial institutions.It also increases pressure on Lebanese and foreign banks that deal with Hizbullah and its leadership. A second bill slaps sanctions on Hizbullah for “violating human rights in the July 2006 war through using civilians as human shields,” reports said.

Woman Found Slaughtered in Aramoun
Naharnet/October 10/17/A woman has been found dead with her throat slit in the Aley District town of Aramoun, 22 kilometers south of Beirut, state-run National News Agency reported. “Lebanese citizen N.H.A., who was born in 1961 in Beirut, was found slaughtered inside her house in Aramoun,” NNA said. It said the woman's body was discovered by her lone son after he returned home around midnight. “The Aramoun police station launched an investigation, as members of Judicial Police's Criminal Evidence Bureau arrived on the scene and lifted fingerprints,” the agency said. “A number of witnesses are being questioned following an authorization from the public prosecution, especially her son and neighbors,” NNA added.

Asmar Says Efforts Outset to Ask Private Sector for Pay Raise
Naharnet/October 10/17/Head of Lebanon's General Labor Union Beshara al-Asmar rejected the latest tax hikes approved by the parliament on Monday announcing that efforts will kick-off in order to get raises for the private sector employees and workers. In an interview to VDL (93.3), Asmar said that the newly approved tax hikes law targets low-income workers. He noted that “direct contacts and meetings have started to impress upon the private sector to give employees salary increments.”He said private sector employees will be paying for the new wage scale but they will not benefit from it. Business and political editor at An Nahar daily Sabin Oueiss told MTV on Tuesday that Economic Committees, which includes leading bankers, businesses, industrialists and merchants, are inclining to consent to increases in private sector salaries after formerly rejecting the issue. Turning to the tax effect on the prices of goods, Asmar stressed on the State's role in controlling consumer products prices after the increase in the value added tax. He said: “A specialized committee of the General Labor Union and Economy Ministry observers will be formed and will tour the market to monitor the prices of goods.”On Monday, the parliament approved a revised tax law to fund a new wage scale for civil servants after a previous law was revoked by the Constitutional Council over procedural and financial violations. The taxes approved in the morning session included hiking VAT from 10 to 11%; hiking the prices of financial stamps; hiking taxes on imported alcoholic beverages; hiking fees charged by notaries; LBP 2,500 on landline phone bills and LBP 250 on mobile phone recharge cards; LBP 6,000 on cement production; LBP 250 on every cigarette pack, a 10% increase on every cigar and LBP 2,500 on every kilogram of hookah tobacco; an LBP 5,000 fee on non-Lebanese travelers entering Lebanon by land; an LBP 50,000 tax on economy class travel tickets, LBP 150,000 on first class travel tickets and LBP 400,000 on every traveler on a private jet. In the evening, the legislature approved taxes on imported containers, annual fines on seaside properties, a tax hike on lottery prizes, additional fees on firms' income tax and fees on real state sale contracts as it hiked taxes on the profits of financial firms from 15% to 17% and taxes on banks' interests and revenues from 5% to 7%.

The next war will be waged against Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, says Lieberman
MEM/October 10/17/Israel’s Defence Minister has said that the next war waged on Israel’s northern front will not only be against Hezbollah in Lebanon, but also Syria, and hostilities will also include the Gaza Strip. Avigdor Lieberman made his comments in a speech to army officers at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv on Monday on the eve of the Yom Kippur holiday. “The next war in the north will not only be the Lebanese front, but rather a united front made up of Syria and Lebanon,” Lieberman explained. “The Lebanese army has lost its independence and has become an integral part of Hezbollah.” He added that Israel will not have a war on a single front. “The next war will be fought on both fronts [north and south].” This, obviously, implies that Gaza will again be a target for an Israeli military offensive. “We are trying our best to prevent the next war,” claimed the extreme right-wing minister, “but in this ‘new’ Middle East, it is no longer predicted that war is unlikely, like in the past.” Such predictions, he suggested, do not reflect the sensitive reality in the region; war may occur from one moment to the next, or overnight. “Everything suggests that we must plan for a serious ground invasion, and there is no invasion without strong fire. Our tanks must provide such strong fire, just as the air defence must prevent great losses for Israel.” The minister concluded that Israel must prepare for any potential scenario, as the new reality holds challenges for everyone.

A regional power': How fighting Assad's war transformed Hezbollah
Ali Harb/Middle East Eye/October 09/17
The group has gained extensive battlefield experience in Syria, and it says it is prepared for another war with Israel if necessary
It was formed as a resistance group against Israel, and operated on the country's southern borders. But after years of war in Syria, hardened by battle experience and holding new territory, Hezbollah in 2017 is a wholly different beast. The Lebanese Shia group's victories in Syria have initiated a new era for its fighters in which they are not restricted by geography, but fight where they need to be, their leader has proclaimed. "Everyone is dealing with Hezbollah as a regional power," a Hezbollah political official who wished to remain anonymous told Middle East Eye. Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organisation by Washington, has gained extensive battlefield experience in Syria, and it claims it is prepared for another war with Israel if necessary. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah recently warned Israel of "heavy losses" if it underestimates his organisation's capabilities.
If it weren't for Hezbollah's intervention in Syria, the country would have fallen, and Nusra and Daesh would have been fighting us in our towns and villages in Lebanon
Hezbollah military official
The official said the Iran-backed group's "decisive and essential" role in Syria has turned it into a major military force in the Middle East. "That was not our aim when we intervened in Syria," he said. "All we wanted is to defend the resistance and defend a state that has stood by and supported the resistance since its inception in 1982 until now.
"The resistance" is what Hezbollah calls itself. The group was founded with Iranian help primarily to fight the Israeli army in Lebanon. But in Syria, it has taken on a new enemy - Syrian rebels, whom it accuses of being takfiris, a term referring to hardliners who proclaim other Muslims to be infidels.
Militarily, the political official said, Hezbollah acquired valuable fighting experience in war-torn Syria. The group has learned offensive tactics, whereas in past wars it had been arrayed mostly in a defensive posture against Israeli troops.
The organisation also fought on different types of terrain in Syria, a change from the hilly battlefield of south Lebanon.
"Now, we have fought in urban settings in al-Qusayr, in the mountains in Qalamoun and in the desert in Palmyra, and this has given Hezbollah great military experience," he said.
"We also fought alongside traditional armies, which has given Hezbollah an ability to develop battle tactics," he continued, adding that Israel is well aware of Hezbollah's new abilities.
What comes after Syria?
Besides fighting, Hezbollah has consistently called for a political solution to the conflict in Syria and encouraged dialogue publicly and behind the scenes to end the war, the official said."So how long will we stay in Syria?" he asked. "That boils down to two points. Since we have intervened in Syria at the request and with the cooperation of the legitimate government, our exit from Syria will be in cooperation with that government.
"Secondly, we will leave Syria when the reasons for our intervention disappear - when Syrian affairs return to normal and when the conspiracy that targeted the regime in Syria and the resistance in Lebanon and the axis of resistance in the region fails."
Hezbollah, like the Syrian government, views the war resulting from a 2011 internal uprising as an international plot to destroy the state because of its alliance with Iran.
Still, the Hezbollah official denies that the group has become a fully fledged cross-border military power.
Lebanon's mission is to establish a conscious, responsible environment for co-existence between sects. If Lebanon can't fulfill this mission, the nation has no meaning
Rajeh Al Khoury, analyst
While acknowledging that Hezbollah was involved in a limited capacity in training fighters against the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq, he said it was not directly involved in the conflict in Yemen.
But Kassem Kassir, a journalist and the author of the book Hezbollah between 1982 and 2016, said the organisation now must balance its Lebanese presence with its newly found role outside the country.
"Hezbollah is no longer an internal Lebanese power," Kassir said. He added that Hezbollah leaders' assertion that the group's fighters will return to Lebanon after the war is an oversimplification.
He said the group was grappling with a new reality in becoming a regional power, though the dynamics of its role going forward are still unclear. "Hezbollah after the Syrian war is not the same and will not be the same as before the Syrian war," Kassir said.
'We will be where we need to be'
Before Hezbollah fully committed to the Syrian civil war, the party gave cautious rationales for its intervention.
It began with a need to protect border communities under threat by hardline militants. Then it was about protecting Shia shrines, especially the Sayyida Zeinab mosque in Damascus, from fundamentalist rebels who vowed to destroy them.
About two months after Hezbollah's first public involvement in the war, in the battle of Qusayr in May 2013, Nasrallah pledged to fight across Syria and beyond to pursue his group's objectives.
His words in a June 2013 speech stretched the militant organisation's area of operation: "We will be where we need to be," he said.
The quote became a sort of motto of what seems to be a new Hezbollah that is not confined within Lebanon's borders. It now appears on posters across Hezbollah's strongholds and has even been turned into a song.
As Hezbollah became more visibly involved in the Syrian war, indiscriminate bomb attacks began targeting the mainly Shia southern Beirut suburbs, known as Dahiye.
The bombings, claimed by al-Qaeda and IS, were condemned across the Lebanese political spectrum. However, they ignited a chicken-or-egg debate about the motive behind them. While Hezbollah critics accused the group of making Lebanon a target for Syrian militants, the party maintained that its fighters safeguarded the country from what was an inevitable confrontation with militants on Lebanese soil.
A Hezbollah military source, who requested anonymity, reiterated that argument to MEE.
"If it weren't for Hezbollah's intervention in Syria, the country would have fallen, and Nusra and Daesh would have been fighting us in our towns and villages in Lebanon," he said, referring to IS and al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, which now operates under the name of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Lebanon's Shia
The argument that IS was destined to violate Lebanon is often used by local leaders and imams in Shia areas.
The military source cited attacks by IS across European capitals that he said were supportive of the Syrian opposition.
The rise of IS also serves as justification for Hezbollah's casualties in Syria.
The group has lost hundreds of fighters in the war. There is no official count of its losses but they are estimated to be between 1,300 and 1,500, the military source said.
Hezbollah was able to increase recruitment during the war using the same philosophy of martyrdom that it employed in the fight against Israel.
Pictures of fighters killed in battle over the past three years are reverently displayed across Dahiye, often with a background of Sayyida Zeinab's shrine in Damascus.
Both Kassem and the military source said that while the loss of fighters in Syria had obvious painful effects on Lebanese Shia society, it had not swayed public opinion against the group.
The military source claimed that foreign and local media had tried to contact families of fallen fighters to get them to publicly criticise Hezbollah, but to no avail.
Kassem agreed that there is little sign of immediate family members of those killed in Syria blaming Hezbollah for their losses.
He said the group has maintained a direct relationship with its supporters and even praised it for taking care of the families of dead fighters.
The organisation has also used theology to glorify the deaths.
For example, at the funeral of a 17-year-old fighter killed in Syria earlier this year, the group's deputy chief Naim Qassem linked his death to the concept of fate, which is predestined by God and therefore unchangeable.
Shia society has become gradually more supportive of Hezbollah's war efforts as the danger of militant groups in Syria became more real, Kassem said.
"After these groups, especially Daesh and Nusra, started showing their true faces, there were only a few opponents to Hezbollah's role in Syria left," Kassem told MEE.
The military source said 95 percent of Shia in Lebanon have full confidence in Hezbollah's leadership and in Nasrallah personally, while conceding that the group was never going to win over some Shia dissenters.
He described them as the "Shia of the embassy", a derogatory term stemming from US diplomatic cables made public by Wikileaks that revealed meetings between anti-Hezbollah Shia activists and the US ambassador in Lebanon.
Rajeh al-Khoury, a veteran political analyst who writes for the Annahar newspaper, said the Syria intervention had not hurt the organisational homogeneity of Hezbollah.
He said it is an ideological party, and that Nasrallah has publicly committed to the strategic leadership of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei via Wilayat al-Faqih, a theological concept that gives the Iranian ayatollah political custodianship over his followers.
When fighters join Hezbollah, they know that they are a part of this larger system, so internal dissent is not likely, he said.
Still, Hussein Itany, a Beirut-based communications specialist, said there is more than religion and ideology to Hezbollah's ability to minimise opposition within its base.
"They're betting on a winning horse," Itany said of the Lebanese Shia community. "Everything Hezbollah has promised, they delivered. If they say something will happen, it does. If they say it won't, it doesn't."
Sectarian tensions
The Hezbollah political official said, however, that there has been an ongoing effort to use of sectarianism to undermine the group. Hezbollah, he added, also operates from a political standpoint, citing the group's relationship with resistance movements in Palestine.
But there is no denying that Hezbollah's involvement in Syria has been largely perceived through a sectarian lens. Hezbollah's main political opponents in Lebanon are Sunni. Its patrons in Iran are Shia. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is from Syria's Alawite community, while most rebels and their regional backers are Sunni.
Unfortunately, because we were weak, neutrality was imposed on us. Hezbollah, because it was strong, did not respect the policy of neutrality and sent thousands of fighters to Syria
Ashraf Rifi, former justice minister
Furthermore, Sunni politicians have told MEE that they feel frustrated by Hezbollah's dominance over Lebanon's strategic affairs.
Khoury said Lebanon is witnessing deep and dangerous sectarian divisions that reflect the state of the Arab world. He added that the sectarian standoff is also what gave birth to IS.
Hezbollah's role in Syria has intensified sectarian tensions in the country and the region, he said.
"At the beginning of the war, Sayyed Hassan [Nasrallah] used to say there were legitimate demands of the Syrian people that the regime must consider," Khoury told MEE. "He doesn't say that anymore."
Lebanese divisions
When Hezbollah went to war in Syria, large sections of the political establishment in Lebanon were vocal in supporting of the rebels there.
The Syrian government had even accused Lebanese politicians of arming opposition groups that it described as "terrorists."
Ashraf Rifi, a former justice minister and a vocal Sunni opponent of Hezbollah, said the Lebanese government had established a policy of neutrality to protect the country from a spillover of the war.
"Unfortunately, because we were weak, neutrality was imposed on us. Hezbollah, because it was strong, did not respect the policy of neutrality and sent thousands of fighters to Syria," Rifi told MEE.
'A feeling of defeat': Lebanon's Sunnis frustrated in face of Hezbollah power
Khoury said the balance of power in Lebanon has been tilted in favour of Hezbollah, which will inevitably diminish the role of the state.
He referred to September clashes between IS militants and the Lebanese army near the Syrian border, when Hezbollah took the initiative in the fighting and struck a deal to evacuate the militants.
"There's fear over rebuilding the role of the state," Khoury said. He added that establishing a capable government in Lebanon would require Hezbollah to come under the umbrella of the state, without unilaterally dragging the country into regional wars.
"Lebanon's mission is to establish a conscious, responsible environment for co-existence between sects. If Lebanon can't fulfill this mission, the nation has no meaning," he said.

It's Time to Mobilize a Global Response to the Terrorist Group Lebanese Hizballah
Thomas Bossert/October 10/17
http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/10/09/tom-bossert-les-etats-unis-continueront-a-isoler-l-iran-et-son-allie-le-hezbollah_5198222_3232.html
Sunday, October 8 marked the twentieth anniversary of the United States’ official designation of Hizballah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Hizballah, originally formed as a violent union of Iranian-backed extremists in Lebanon, has terrorized the Middle East and the world since its inception thirty-five years ago. Hizballah remains a threat to the United States and to the security of nations across the Middle East and beyond. It is time for more nations around the world to join the United States in exposing this murderous organization for what it is, in confronting its networks and its sponsors, and in mobilizing a global response to counter the threat it poses to the civilized world. Hizballah kidnaps soldiers and civilians, fires rockets on Israeli families and children, and plans terrorist attacks around the world. Hizballah’s 1983 and 1984 bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, and its 1983 attacks on the U.S. and French barracks in Beirut, killed hundreds of American, Lebanese, and French citizens. In recent years, law enforcement has thwarted attempted Hizballah terrorist attacks on nearly every continent—in countries such as Thailand, Cyprus, Kuwait, Peru, and Nigeria. In 2012, Hizballah operatives conducted a successful suicide bombing attack in Bulgaria. We also believe that Hizballah has been operating inside the United States. The FBI recently arrested two U.S. persons for allegedly operating on behalf of Hizballah’s international terrorism unit. For decades, this terrorist organization has tried to disguise its murderous intentions under the guise of political legitimacy. Hizballah first competed in Lebanese national elections in 1992. Today, Hizballah and its political allies hold half of the seats in Lebanon’s Cabinet and nearly half of the seats in its National Assembly.  Hizballah’s political cover cannot mask its true intentions. The same Hizballah officials responsible for its political apparatus oversee its terrorist planning. Hizballah has built its political power at the expense of its victims, including former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and dozens of other Lebanese officials. The Lebanese people can never be truly free to express their political will under the constant threat of Hizballah’s violence and coercion.  There is no difference between Hizballah’s terrorist wing and its supposed political wing. Hizballah is one organization—a global terrorist organization. That is why the United States will continue to recognize the entire group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and the Trump Administration will aggressively target its terrorism infrastructure and financial support networks. None of this, of course, will affect our ongoing support for Lebanon’s legitimate state institutions. We are encouraged that nations around the world are increasingly joining the United States in recognizing Hizballah’s true terrorist nature. In August, the United Nations Security Council reached agreement on a series of reforms to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. These will improve its visibility into what is happening on the ground and its capacity to identify and report on Hizballah’s illegal activity. Additionally, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Arab League, Canada, and the Netherlands have each joined the United States in designating the entirety of Hizballah as a terrorist organization, and in 2013, the European Union sanctioned its “military wing.” Still, more action is needed. The United Nations and countries across Europe, South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia—all areas where the organization continues to operate—have not yet sanctioned the entirety of Hizballah. This complacency about an organization whose purpose is to terrorize and kill around the world must end. The Trump Administration will also continue to lead the effort to isolate Hizballah’s benefactor—Iran. The Iranian regime does not respect the sovereignty of its neighbors or the dignity of its people. Iran takes oil profits—resources that should benefit the Iranian people—and uses them to fund Hizballah and other terrorist organizations. The regime employs Hizballah as a surrogate to violate the sovereignty of nations across the greater Middle East. The United States condemns Iran’s destabilizing actions and calls on all nations to stand against this murderous dictatorship in Tehran and its junior partner Hizballah.  The international community must send an unequivocal and united message that Hizballah is not a legitimate political party. The safety and security of the American people and of people all around the world depends on our cooperation in confronting this threat. Today, we renew our unwavering commitment to standing against Hizballah’s terrorist actions in the Middle East and around the world. We urge our partners to join our efforts to hold Hizballah accountable. Together, we can prevent this malicious terrorist organization from threatening the peace and security of the world.
Originally published in Le Monde on October 9, 2017. To read the original, click here.
http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/10/09/tom-bossert-les-etats-unis-continueront-a-isoler-l-iran-et-son-allie-le-hezbollah_5198222_3232.html
Thomas Bossert is Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 10-11/17
Syrian rebels hand border crossing to opposition government
Reuters, Beirut/10 October 2017 /A rebel group in northern Syria handed control of a major border crossing to a Turkey-backed Syrian opposition government on Tuesday, a senior rebel official said. By handing over the Bab Salama crossing at the Turkish border, the Jabha Shamiya rebel group aims to strengthen the opposition government and help put an end to factional rivalries, the head of its political office Khaled Aba said. He urged other rebels to follow Jabha Shamiya’s example by handing over other crossings at the Turkish border. “The interim government is the solution for the liberated areas to put an end to terrorism, to put an end to factionalism and the state of division in the liberated areas,” said Aba, a member of the opposition delegation to Geneva peace talks. The Bab Salama crossing is the main gateway into an opposition-held area of the north where neighboring Turkey carved out a de facto buffer zone during a military incursion targeting Islamic State and Kurdish groups last year. Efforts have been underway in that area to merge and organise a plethora of rebel groups whose rivalries have led to factional fighting that has weakened the Syrian opposition throughout the conflict.
Jabha Shamiya, a major force in Aleppo until the Syrian government and its allies defeated the opposition there last year, has joined a “national army” operating under the authority of the interim government’s defense ministry, Aba said. It has also handed control of its training camps to the defense ministry, he said. The opposition government is based out of the town of Azaz, a short distance from the Turkish border.Launched last year, Turkey’s “Euphrates Shield” operation drove Islamic State out of a swathe of territory including the cities of al-Bab and Jarablus, preventing any further territorial gains by Kurdish groups deemed a threat by Ankara.

French media cast doubts over Qatari bid to grab top UNESCO position
Staff writer, Al Arabiya EnglishTuesday, 10 October 2017/Qatar’s candidate to head UNESCO is leading a preliminary vote held in Paris on Monday. But French media outlets are casting doubts over the 19 votes Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari received in the first round of voting. Kawari is a palace adviser and was his country’s culture minister from 2008 to 2016. He has also served as the ambassador to France, the United States, UNESCO and the UN. “French media report that Qatar recently invited several members of the UNESCO executive board on an all-expenses-paid trip to Doha,” according to a France 24 report. It added: “Qatar’s candidacy, which has been promoted with the help of lobby groups such as Portland and ESL & Network, is also seen as controversial in light of the current crisis in the Gulf, which has seen Doha’s neighbors accuse it of sponsoring terrorism.” UNESCO’s 58-member Executive Board cast secret ballots for seven candidates to replace the organization’s director-general Irina Bokova, whose eight-year tenure expires at the end of December. Also in the running was Audrey Azoulay of France, who received 13 votes in the first round and Egyptian human rights advocate Moushira Khattab, who garnered 11 votes. The board will vote over a maximum of five rounds, in a process expected to last about a week. The winning nominee will then be presented to the agency’s general assembly for final approval.

Israel to advance plans for nearly 4,000 settler homes: Official
AFP, JerusalemTuesday, 10 October 2017/Israel is to advance plans for nearly 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank as part of a push to greatly boost settlement growth, an Israeli official said Tuesday. The approvals are to include units in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron for the first time in years. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that “3,736 housing units will be approved at different stages of planning and construction”. He did not give a timeframe or a precise breakdown, but said the homes would be located throughout the West Bank, including in Hebron and at the Migron and Beit El settlements near Ramallah. “In total, about 12,000 housing units will be approved in 2017, at various stages of planning and construction, four times the number in 2016,” the official said. Israel faced heavy criticism of settlement construction from US president Barack Obama’s administration, but that has not been the case with his successor Donald Trump. Israeli media say that a planning council is expected to meet next week to approve at least some of the plans. Haaretz daily said that if the Hebron housing is approved it would be the first time for the southern West Bank city since 2002. Hebron is home to around 200,000 Palestinians, with about 800 settlers living under Israeli army protection in several heavily fortified compounds in the heart of the city. It is holy to both religions, with Old Testament figures including Abraham believed to be buried there. The 1994 massacre of 29 Muslim worshippers in Hebron by Israeli-American Baruch Goldstein led to an agreement three years later giving the Palestinian Authority control over 80 percent of the city. The settlers and about 30,000 Palestinians living adjacent to them fall under Israeli military rule.Last month, Israel gave the settlers there the authority to manage their own municipal affairs in what critics denounced as reminiscent of “apartheid”. About 430,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.6 million Palestinians in the West Bank, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Settlement building in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem is considered illegal under international law. It is also seen as a major obstacle to peace as the settlements are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government leans heavily on settlers and their supporters to maintain its thin parliamentary majority.

US envoy to Turkey says duration of visa services suspension depends on talks
Reuters, IstanbulTuesday, 10 October 2017 /The US ambassador to Turkey said on Monday the duration of a suspension in visa services in Turkey would depend on talks between the two governments regarding the detention of Turkish staff at the US embassy.
In a written statement, Ambassador John Bass said the length of the suspension would also depend on "the Turkish government’s commitment to protecting our facilities and personnel here in Turkey", noting it was not a visa ban on Turkish citizens.He said the embassy had been unable to learn the reasons for the arrest of a Turkish staff member last week and or what evidence exists against the employee.

Erdogan: Turkish officials to boycott meetings with US ambassador
AFPTuesday, 10 October 2017/Turkey will boycott meetings with the US ambassador to Ankara as it no longer recognises the envoy as the US representative in the country, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday, stepping up a diplomatic row.
“We have not agreed and are not agreeing to this ambassador making farewell visits with ministers, the parliament speaker and myself,” Erdogan said of US ambassador John Bass, who is shortly to leave Turkey after being nominated the US envoy to Afghanistan.
“We do not see him (Bass) as the representative of the United States in Turkey,” he said at a news conference with President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade.

Egypt condemns eight to death over police station attack
AFP, CairoTuesday, 10 October 2017/An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced eight people to death for allegedly killing three officers during the storming of a Cairo police station in 2013, a judicial official said. The court also handed life sentences to 50 other defendants, the official said, and jail terms of between five and 10 years to 10 more. The incident at the centre of the trial took place on August 14, 2013 as security forces violently dispersed two protest camps in Cairo, in an operation following the military’s ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi that left more than 700 people dead.
Prosecutors said the defendants marched on Helwan police station in a southern suburb of Cairo and fired at police inside from behind barricades, killing three and wounding scores. They were then alleged to have torched the building and 20 police vehicles parked nearby.
The verdicts -- which can be appealed -- also saw defendants ordered to pay some 2.8 million pounds ($160,000, 135,000 euros) in damages for destroyed property and as compensation to the interior ministry. Egyptian courts have sentenced hundreds of Morsi supporters to death since his overthrow, but many have appealed and won new trials. Morsi and other top figures of his Muslim Brotherhood have also faced trial.

Russian warplane crashes at air base in Syria, ‘crew didn’t eject in time’
AFP, MoscowTuesday, 10 October 2017/A Sukhoi military jet crashed while trying to take off from Russia's Hmeimim base in Syria on Tuesday, killing the crew, Russian news agencies quoted a military spokesman as saying. "The Su-24 plane rolled off the runway and broke up while accelerating for takeoff... The plane's crew did not have time to eject and died," the spokesman said. He did not clarify how many people died, but the Su-24 usually has a crew of two. "According to a report from the scene of the accident, the reason could be a technical failure," he added. Russia has staged air strikes in Syria in support of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad since 2015. On Tuesday, the defense ministry said Russian planes are currently carrying out 150 strikes per day in eastern Syria against ISIS. The latest casualties put the toll of Russian servicemen officially reported killed in Syria at 37.Last month a Russian general was killed near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where Russian special forces are participating in the regime's ground offensive.

Brainwashed by a cult: French priest offers therapy to ‘reclaim’ Yazidi captives
Reuters, LondonTuesday, 10 October 2017/It was a lucky haircut that opened the doors of Iraq to Father Patrick Desbois.
In 2015, the French priest was trying to find a way to get into Iraq and help the Yazidi people fleeing Islamic State militants, after watching their suffering on TV for months. One winter’s day, as he was in Brussels for a meeting and in need of a haircut, he stepped into the first open barber’s shop and found himself being attended to by an Iraqi man. “I told him I was very concerned about what was happening to the Yazidis and he told me: ‘I am Yazidi, my father is teaching English in the (refugee) camps,’“ Desbois, 62, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The barber helped him with contacts to go to northern Iraq, setting off a two-year journey that would see Desbois open two centres to help women and girls enslaved for sex and traumatized Yazidi children transition back into society. Many of the women had to provide for themselves for the first time, having lost their husbands and fathers to Islamic State and so one of his projects is to teach women how to sew. French priest Patrick Desbois stands on the side of a street in Iraq in an undated handout photo. (Credit: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Yahad In-Unum/Emmanuelle Foussat) Every two months, 25 former ISIS captives are trained to make clothing in a sewing workshop where they are flanked by psychologists who help them cope with their ordeal.“We try to help them to reestablish their confidence in the future and even to think about the future,” said Desbois.
More than 5,000 Yazidis were rounded up and slaughtered and some 7,000 women and girls forced into sex slavery, when ISIS militants assaulted the community’s heartland in Sinjar, northern Iraq in August 2014. Desbois said his organization, Yahad In-Unum, which mixes the Hebrew and Latin words for “together in one”, has so far trained 125 women in a refugee camp in northern Iraq. For the boys, many of whom struggle to get back to a normal life after being separated from their families and brainwashed into violence by the jihadist group, there are professional psychologists who provide support.
In some cases, the first step is to teach the boys their mother tongue again, as many were forbidden to speak anything but Arabic by the militants, said Desbois. Then they must be persuaded to accept family members who they may not recall or have been taught to reject. “It is quite literally a process akin to reclaiming someone who has been brainwashed by a cult,” he said. 
Fresh trauma
ISIS militants were driven out of the last part of the Yazidi homeland in May but most Yazidis have yet to return to their villages. For many women and girls, the trauma is still too fresh. “So many women and so many Yazidi in general were such in a bad condition psychologically,” said Desbois. Yazidi women reported being sold over more than 25 times to different militants for sex, with devastating effects on their mental health, he said.Others were kept as servants, beaten, forced to carry suicide belts or used as human shields. “If you have been treated like an animal and sold over and over again it means you are nothing... you are nobody, so they are really reduced to poor slaves,” he said. “They are not at a step to (re)enter into society. They are in a refugee camp alone in a tent crying all day.”UN experts have said the Islamic State’s campaign against the religious minority amounted to genocide. Desbois is an expert in the field, having dedicated part of the past 15 years to documenting and uncovering mass killings of Jews and Roma by the Nazis in eastern Europe - an undertaking that won him France’s highest award, the Legion d’honneur.His work in Iraq has mirrored that done by Yahad In-Unum in Europe. In his first year, the Frenchman methodically collected hundreds of harrowing testimonies of Yazidi women and children to gather evidence of ISIS atrocities.
Nearly 3,000 women and children are believed to remain in Islamic State captivity. And even after the militants’ retreat in Iraq and Syria, Desbois said he was worried Yazidis were being forgotten. “We really have to worry about them,” he said. “Suffering stays long time after a genocide”.

Catalan Leader Steps Back from Declaring Immediate Independence
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 10/17/Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said Tuesday he had accepted the "mandate of the people" for his region's independence from Spain but suspended the declaration to allow more time for talks with Madrid.
In a speech to regional lawmakers in Barcelona, Puigdemont stopped short of declaring an outright split but left the door to secession open, leaving some political rivals scratching their heads. "I assume the mandate of the people for Catalonia to become an independent republic," he said. But the 54-year-old asked the Catalan parliament to "suspend the effects of the independence declaration to initiate dialogue in the coming weeks." The central government fired back, with a spokesman rejecting what Madrid termed Catalonia's "tacit" independence declaration. Political leaders in Catalonia, Spain and Europe have come out against an independence declaration, concerned over the country's biggest upheaval since its transition to democracy in the 1970s. EU nations are watching developments closely amid concern that Catalan independence could put further pressure on the bloc still dealing with the fallout from Britain's shock decision to leave.
Police deployed en masse around the regional parliament, blocking public access to a park that houses the building as crowds watched the session on giant screens, waving Catalan flags and some brandishing signs reading "democracy." Reaction among those who had hoped to witness a historic moment for a region deeply-divided over independence was mixed. "In essence we're happy but I was expecting more," said 66-year-old Pere Valldeneu. Merce Hernandez, a 35-year-old architect, said: "I am very emotional, this is a historic day. I'm satisfied." Madrid has repeatedly said it would not negotiate on Catalonia's independence. "We call on Puigdemont not to do anything irreversible, not to pursue a path of no return and not to make any unilateral independence declaration," government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo told reporters earlier Thursday.
A source from the central government's representative office in Catalonia said security had been tightened at Catalan airports and railway stations in anticipation of possible protests at Puigdemont's possible independence announcement.
'Dialogue impossible'
At stake is the future of a region of 7.5 million people deeply divided over independence, one of Spain's economic powerhouses whose drive to break away has raised concern for stability in the European Union. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to use everything in his power to prevent independence and has even refused to rule out imposing direct rule over the semi-autonomous region -- an unprecedented move many fear could lead to unrest. EU President Donald Tusk also urged Puigdemont against making a decision that would make "dialogue impossible." But the Catalan president says the independence referendum that took place on October 1 despite a court ban justifies splitting from Madrid. Around 90 percent of those who cast ballots voted for independence but the poll was poorly monitored and many Catalans opposed to secession boycotted an illegal plebiscite that was witnessed a violent police crackdown.
Anger on both sides
On Monday, Ada Colau, the popular mayor of Barcelona, warned that a unilateral declaration of independence would put "social cohesion" at risk. Pro-unity and pro-independence supporters have staged mass rallies in Barcelona over the past week, highlighting divisions in Catalonia. Anger over the police violence during the referendum swung some Catalans over to the independence camp. But both Madrid and the Catalan executive have come under fire for their dogged response to the crisis and a lack of dialogue. Carolina Palles, a 53-year-old flower vendor in Barcelona's popular La Ramblas boulevard, said it was "a sad day", almost two months after the seaside city was hit by a deadly terror attack. Against independence, she was angry at both camps.
"Rajoy's government handled things very badly," she said, accusing the separatists "of persisting until the very end, like martyrs."
Stocks slide
The crisis has also caused deep uncertainty for businesses in one of the wealthiest regions in the eurozone's fourth largest economy. Spain's stock market shed nearly 1.0 percent ahead of Tuesday's session and a string of companies have already moved their legal headquarters -- but not their employees -- from Catalonia to other parts of the country. Demands for independence in Catalonia, which has its own language and cultural traditions, date back centuries. But a 2010 move by Spain's Constitutional Court to water down a statute that gave Catalonia additional powers, combined with a deep economic meltdown in Spain, sparked a surge in support for independence.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 10-11/17
Why Trump is right to re-think the nuclear deal
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Monday 09 October/17
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1175121#.Wdvb2Ifb8Xg.twitter
The Trump White House has been a purveyor of very well-founded criticism of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Countering the narrative about the agreement curtailing progress toward a nuclear weapon, administration officials contend that the JCPOA actually paves Iran’s way to becoming a nuclear power.
But this is not the sole or even the primary focus of the criticism, nor should it be. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley have instead focused on the broader intentions behind the JCPOA, as outlined in its preamble, which states that the signatories “anticipate that full implementation of this JCPOA will positively contribute to regional and international peace and security.”
Nearly 22 months after the deal was implemented, this has not come to pass. Quite the contrary, the Iranian regime has only been emboldened in areas far beyond the nuclear sphere by newfound sanctions relief and a softening of European attitudes.
Those broader activities have apparently fortified the Trump administration’s argument in favor of decertifying Iranian compliance, which the president may do this month. Trump has repeatedly emphasized that Iran is violating the spirit of the nuclear deal, meaning that persisting provocative and destabilizing activities have undermined global peace and security, instead of contributing to it.
The JCPOA’s preamble aside, the congressional ratification also stipulates that the President must certify not only that Iran is fulfilling its basic obligations, but also that the continued suspension of nuclear-related sanctions is in the vital national security interest of the United States. This is a difficult argument to make, and it is getting more difficult all the time, as the wealth Tehran has accumulated from sanctions relief and newly expanded oil exports continues to be overwhelmingly dedicated to a military buildup and the expansion of Iran’s regional interference.
Each time the US has sought to constrain Iran’s provocative activities, the Iranian regime has responded with defiance. When President Trump signed into law a new sanctions package targeting terrorist sponsorship, cybersecurity threats and ballistic missile activity, the Iranian parliament immediately responded by dedicating hundreds of millions of dollars to the country’s ballistic missile program and Quds Force, the terrorist special operations wing of the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Since the agreement has clearly failed to contribute to regional peace and security, as it promised, decertifying Iranian compliance is an essential first step in forcing Tehran to keep those promises.
The following month, in September, the Iranian regime paraded a new ballistic missile during Defense Week, claiming that it was capable of carrying several warheads over a distance of more than 1,700km. This was paired with footage on Iranian state television of a supposed test launch. And although it was later revealed that that footage was several months old and depicted a launch that was ultimately unsuccessful, the fact remains that Tehran is plainly committed to developing nuclear capable missiles.
The only way the JCPOA could have improved international peace and security is if Iran’s acceptance of it had been accompanied by actual change in Tehran’s regional ambitions and behavior. It did not, and there is no reason to believe that such change will emerge over time.
One chief criticism of the JCPOA is that it allows Iran to continue relevant research and development — some of it openly and some of it clandestinely in places not immediately accessible to international inspectors. This could leave the Islamic Republic poised to sprint toward nuclear weapons capability as soon as the deal expires or is broken. Meanwhile, the ongoing missile program provides an essential foundation for weaponization.
In September, an NGO called the International Committee in Search of Justice published a report detailing the possible military dimensions of the Iranian nuclear program. Drawing upon intelligence gathered by the Iranian opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, it pointed out that the institutions associated with weaponization appear to remain fully functional.
The bottom line of that report, and of much of the well-founded criticism of the JCPOA, is that the nuclear agreement has not resolved the issue of Iran’s past and potentially future nuclear weapons work. Furthermore, the nature of the regime is such that even if its nuclear projects are delayed, a more broadly assertive global policy would still be needed to achieve the JCPOA’s goal of making Iran “positively contribute to regional and international peace and security.”
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Viewing Enemy Regimes as They Are, Not as We Wish They Were
Peter Huessy/Gatestone Institute/October 10/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11121/enemy-regimes
Experience has shown that soft rhetoric and so-called "smart diplomacy" have served only to enable North Korea and Iran to produce more nuclear weapons and better ballistic missiles.
Not only has the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEAE) been prevented from monitoring Iranian compliance, but it is not pushing the issue for fear that "Washington would use an Iranian refusal as an excuse to abandon the JCPOA."
During his first press conference after taking office in January 1981, US President Ronald Reagan called détente a "one-way street that the Soviet Union has used to pursue its own aims." Echoing this remark while addressing reporters later the same day, Secretary of State Alexander Haig said that the Soviets were the source of much support for international terrorism, especially in Latin and Central America.
The following day, both Reagan and Haig were criticized for their remarks, with members of the media describing the president's words as "reminiscent of the chilliest days of the Cold War," and appalled that the administration's top diplomat was accusing the Russians of backing terrorist activities.
Nearly four decades later, in spite of the successful defeat of the Soviet empire, the White House is still frowned upon when it adopts a tough stance towards America's enemies. Today's outrage is directed at President Donald Trump's warnings about -- and to -- North Korea and Iran. The Washington Post called his recent "fire and fury" threats to Pyongyang a "rhetorical grenade," for example, echoing top Democrats' attacks on his remarks for being "reckless" and "irresponsible."
Critics of Trump's attitude towards Tehran go equally far, describing his opposition to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- the nuclear deal with Iran -- as "rushing headlong into war."
Trump's detractors, however, are just as wrong as those who berated Reagan in 1981. Experience has shown that soft rhetoric and so-called "smart diplomacy" have served only to enable North Korea and Iran to produce more nuclear weapons and better ballistic missiles.
Although the JCPOA stipulates that Iran is not permitted to produce more than a certain quantity of enriched uranium or to enrich uranium beyond a certain level, not only has the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEAE) been prevented from monitoring Iranian compliance, but it is not pushing the issue for fear that "Washington would use an Iranian refusal as an excuse to abandon the JCPOA."
Furthermore, among its many other flaws, the JCPOA does not address Iran's ballistic-missile capabilities or financing of global terrorism.
Nevertheless, it is the administration's rhetoric that is under attack. Isn't it high time for the media and foreign-policy establishment to wake up to the reality that seeing regimes as they are, rather than as we wish them to be, is the only way to confront our enemies effectively, and with the least number of casualties?
**Peter Huessy is president of GeoStrategic Analysis, a defense consulting firm he founded in 1981.
© 2017 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.

CNN and Qatar Airways: Taking Fake News to New Heights
Bruce Bawer/ Gatestone Institute/October 10/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11131/cnn-qatar-airways
For many years, commercial time on CNN International has been filled largely with advertisements for the tourist boards and state-owned airlines of various Muslim countries. Given CNN's unusually friendly coverage of these countries, and its disinclination to mention Islam when covering such topics as jihadist terrorism and immigrant crime in Europe, it is hard not to view CNN's willingness to run these commercials with a jaundiced eye.
The TV commercial begins with a shot of the sky, above the clouds, and with the voice of a British male:
"The sky. There should be no borders up here. Only horizons. As an airline, we don't believe in boundaries. We believe in bringing people together."
We cut to pictures of people hugging at airports, showing affection for one another.
"The world's better that way. It is a right for all of us to go where we need to go. To feel the things we want to feel. To see the people we want to see."
A shot of an airplane, and views of the earth from the sky.
"That's why we'll continue to fly the skies. Providing you with everything we can. And treating everyone how they deserve to be treated. We do this because we know that travel goes beyond borders and prejudice."
Back to shot of people together, smiling, walking here and there, in the city and countryside.
"That travel teaches compassion. That travel is a necessity. That travel is a right for all. Remember that this world is all of ours to explore. And it's a strange thing for us to be apart."
The commercial is in heavy rotation on CNN International, which I've been watching more than usual lately because of the coverage of hurricanes.
It is a commercial for Qatar Airways, which is, not surprisingly, owned by the government of Qatar.
The airline posted the commercial on YouTube on June 18. The timing is noteworthy. In March, the U.S. banned electronic devices on flights from several cities in Muslim countries, including Doha, the capital of Qatar and the hub of Qatar Airways. In early June, six Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the Maldives, Yemen, and Libya -- cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, citing its government's support for al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorist groups, not particularly known for "compassion." President Trump's temporary travel ban also came into effect in June; although Qatar is not one of the six Muslim countries affected by the ban, its government may well fear that it may later be added to the list.
It does not seem coincidental, then, that Qatar Airways chose this time to start running a commercial that criticizes "borders" and "boundaries," and suggests that everybody should be free to go everyplace.
As for CNN -- well, in a sense, this commercial is nothing new. For many years, commercial time on CNN International has been filled largely with advertisements for the tourist boards and state-owned airlines of various Muslim countries. Given CNN's unusually friendly coverage of these countries, and its disinclination to mention Islam when covering such topics as jihadist terrorism and immigrant crime in Europe, it is hard not to view CNN's willingness to run these commercials with a jaundiced eye.
One is reminded, for example, of how Lyndon B. Johnson, during his years in Congress, bought Texas radio and TV stations and pressured companies that needed political favors to advertise on them. It was an out-and-out quid pro quo, and it made LBJ rich. Of course, what CNN has to offer is not political favors but positive coverage.
Still, CNN's readiness to run the new Qatar Airways commercial takes the network's shamelessness to a whole new level. This is -- or is supposed to be -- a news network, and yet it is regularly running an ad in which Qatar Airways, and consequently its owner, the government of Qatar, profess to believe that it is "a right for all of us to go where we need to go" and "feel the things we want to feel." The airline, and the government, claim to oppose "prejudice" and to like "compassion."
You would never know from this commercial that it was paid for by a government that follows sharia law. In Qatar, apostasy from Islam is punishable by death. Adultery between a Muslim woman and an infidel male is punishable by death. Homosexuality is punishable by up to five years in prison. The consumption of alcohol is punishable by flogging (although luxury hotels are permitted to sell drinks to foreigners). Tourists who do not dress modestly, or who engage in displays of public affection, risk ending up in prison. The testimony of female witnesses is often refused in court -- and when permitted, is considered to be worth half the testimony of a man.
There is more, much more, about Qatar that makes the Qatar Airways commercial a masterpiece of hypocrisy. CNN is aware of every last bit of it. And yet, CNN International is currently exposing its viewers on a regular basis to a commercial that is nothing short of grotesquely mendacious propaganda.
Or, as a certain president would put it, very fake news.
**Bruce Bawer is the author of the new novel The Alhambra (Swamp Fox Editions). His book While Europe Slept (2006) was a New York Times bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.
© 2017 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.

Why Did the US Even Get Involved in Syria?
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/October 10/17
A candid memoir by former US Defense Secretary Ash Carter provides a rare opportunity to better understand President Barack Obama’s Syria strategy before it recedes into the historical distance. His many valuable insights raise one big question, however: Why did the US even get involved?
The apparent goal of Carter’s detailed reminiscences is to establish his role in the defeat of ISIS. The former defense secretary asserts that effective operations against ISIS and a specific battle plan, which Carter claims US and allied forces still follow (the two “red arrows” pointing toward Mosul and Raqqa), only took shape after his appointment in February 2015. But, the self-serving part aside, Carter’s 45-page report describes an effort that had few supporters in the region it affected.
Carter blames the US withdrawal from Iraq for the emergence of ISIS. But even after the terror militia set up its “state,” “the people of the region did not want invasion-sized forces to return,” the ex-secretary recalls. Throughout his two-year tenure, Carter had to “ease [Iraqi] Prime Minister [Haider al-]Abadi into accepting more US forces (which was controversial for him at home).” The Iraqi forces, too, initially were reluctant to fight, to the open irritation of Carter and US generals who had to keep prodding the Iraqis into action.
Obviously, the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad was even less welcoming of US intervention, even when the US administration’s idea was to set up local anti-ISIS forces from scratch “by recruiting individual fighters, forming them into units, providing them training and equipment in Turkey and Jordan, and re-inserting them into the fight in Syria.” Even though, as Carter explains, the idea was that these fighters wouldn’t get involved in the Syrian civil war, Assad was well aware of what the US thought of him. Then, Carter came in and changed the plan, switching US support to existing paramilitary formations. “Almost all the real fighters were already part of ad hoc groups and all wanted to fight Assad as well as ISIS,” he explains.
It was after the US decided that this was OK that Assad made his case to Russian President Vladimir Putin. What Putin saw was US interference in the civil war, an attempt at regime change — something he had vehemently opposed in Libya, even quarrelling with then-President Dmitri Medvedev, who had allowed the Western interference there to go unchallenged. By arming and training anti-Assad groups, the Obama administration — and Carter personally if indeed it was he who brought about the change of strategy — drew Russia into the conflict.
After Putin began the Russian operation in September 2015, Carter recalls persistent Russian efforts to establish a pattern of cooperation with the US “From that first moment, Russia sought to associate us and the counter-ISIS campaign with what they were doing in Syria — constantly telling the world of their desire to coordinate and cooperate with us, asking to share targeting and intelligence information,” Carter wrote. He rebuffed these advances for three main reasons. First, coordinating with Russia, which was closely allied with Iran in Syria, could have weakened Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi’s resolve to work with the US Next, it could link the US to the “inhuman” Russian campaign (a questionable reason at best given the multiple civilian casualties inflicted by the US-led coalition). Finally — and I think most importantly for the Obama administration — “it would naively grant Russia an undeserved leadership role in the Middle East.”Unsatisfactory interactions with Russia, and Carter’s struggle to stop John Kerry’s State Department from making a deal with Putin that would involve military coordination rather than mere deconfliction, are described in a chapter about “spoilers and fence-sitters.” Apart from Russia and Iran, these include Turkey — which, according to the ex-secretary, “caused the most complications for the campaign” — and the Arab neighborhood, the Gulf states, which, Carter writes, “were active in lobbying and PR that somehow never translated into battlefield action.”
To sum up, US interests weren’t clearly aligned with: Iraq, Iran, Russia, Turkey, the Assad government in Syria and the Gulf states. Did the US have any enthusiastic allies at all?
Well, there were some of the anti-Assad rebels (except the ones wedded to Islamist causes) and, most of all, the Kurds. US support of them, of course, was the main reason Turkey turned from an ally into a “spoiler.” But at least someone really wanted the US to be involved, if for reasons that had less to do with ISIS than with the Kurdish dream of a sovereign state. Now, the Kurds of Iraq have voted for independence, justifying all the misgivings Abadi had about the US anti-ISIS operation.
In fighting ISIS, the US managed to step on everybody’s toes in a battered, short-fused region that was already leery of US interference after the Iraq and Libya adventures. Carter’s account sheds light on how that happened, as much as into the mechanics of defeating ISIS. It explains why peace in the region won’t be a given even after ISIS is gone: Carter himself writes that he’s concerned “the international community’s stabilization and governance efforts will lag behind the military campaign.” The account also raises the question whether a more lasting solution could have been achieved if Assad and his allies on the one hand and Turkey on the other had been left to deal with the ISIS problem without US interference.
Counterfactuals, however, are useless. The US involvement has only intensified after the Obama administration left, and political stability in Syria and Iraq is ever more elusive as Middle Eastern nations and armed groups try to get used to the US/Russia/Turkey triangle of power brokers. Carter can proudly claim a part in bringing about this new, volatile configuration.

Saudi Arabia’s Armament Policy
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 10/17
After Saudi King Salman’s visit to Moscow ended with serious talks over two major military agreements, it seemed more pressing than ever to delve into the why behind Riyadh gravitating closer towards importing all sorts of arms deals in an unprecedented manner. The matter of the fact is that Saudi Arabia faces considerable foreign threats emerging from the growing Iranian menace and America’s receding commitment to defend it. Iranian threats increased across all Saudi borders. From the north, Tehran expanded its influence in Iraq and Syria in the north, while on the southern front has meddled with Yemen’s civil war.
Tehran would have tightened its grip on the entire region had the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule in Egypt lasted under the presidency of Mohammed Mursi.
As for the regressive American protection policy, the Obama administration bluntly dashed the “Saudi Arabia’s security is part of the US’ security” notion in the sense of serving America’s higher interest. Henceforth, Saudi leadership was put up before a single option: enhancing national defensive capabilities.
For Western governments, there is always a close relationship between arms’ sales and foreign policies. This relation links deals to conditions and it may restrain them for political considerations. US former President Obama’s administration had suspended its supplies of ammunition to Saudi Arabia and deprived it of intelligence cooperation due to disputes over the war in Yemen. It is not strange that some American state institutions and some Congressmen opposed deals with Saudi Arabia or other countries. Many deals struggle due to opposition figures lobbying against them. There are hostile groups working against Saudi Arabia and some that accuse it of carrying out military operations against civilians in Yemen.
In addition, there are lobbyists doing the bid of anti-Saudi powers. Despite all this, it is the president who makes decisions based on American interests. The military deal with Russia is not an alternative to US weapons and it does not aim to distance the kingdom from the US, as some people had suggested in their analogies. King Salman’s visit to Moscow was the first official visit by a Saudi monarch to Russia. It was critical in terms of Saudi efforts in stabilizing oil market and mitigating Moscow’s Iran policy. Iran’s growing threat that is forcing Riyadh to be stronger than it ever was, buying Russian and Chinese weapons will liberate it from US pressure. In case the US suspends its supply of ammunition or prevents it from using its weapons in any upcoming war, Riyadh will have other options. The arsenal that Saudi Arabia will have two alternative missile defense systems that stand against Iranian attacks or any other attack: the American THAAD and the Russian S-400. After possessing several resources, Saudi Arabia will not go through what it went through two years ago in Yemen. Gulf countries, whose neighbors lurk in resourcefulness, must strengthen defense policies, not just by buying more weapons but also by improving military institutions performance and developing scientific and industrial work. Truth be told, this is what Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has effectively put in action. Crown Prince Mohammed is reformulating the concept of Saudi military might away from media spotlight. It is the Gulf countries’ fate to live in a region swamped with wars and chaos. Saudi Arabia is forced to think that military superiority is more than sealing arms deals as it is also a doctrine that relies on science, discipline and developing industries. It is a comprehensive system. This is what Israel, which is the largest importer of weapons, also believes. The peak of excellence is for armament not to become a burden on the state, a reason for bankruptcy or a weak point– as it must be a path for development, growth and peace.

Independence for Kurdistan
John R. Bolton/Gatestone Institute/October 10/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11134/kurdistan-independence
Iraqi Kurdistan's recent referendum on whether to declare independence from Baghdad garnered only slight attention in the U.S. Even the overwhelming vote (93 percent favored independence) and America's long involvement in the region did not make the story more prominent. Nonetheless, we would be badly mistaken to underestimate its importance for U.S. policy throughout the Middle East. Protecting American interests in that tumultuous region has never been easy. Not only does Iran's nuclear-weapons threat loom ever larger, but the struggle against terrorism, whether from Hezbollah, ISIS, al-Qaida or any number of new splinter groups, seems unending. Less visible but nonetheless significant forces are also at work. Existing state structures across the Middle East are breaking down and new ones are emerging, exacerbating the spreading anarchy caused by radical Islamic terrorism. Non-ideological factors such as ethnicity and cultural differences are enormously powerful and best understood as movements in the region's "tectonic plates," stirring beneath the surface of the more apparent threats of terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
None of these tectonic plates has more immediate implications for America's Middle East policy than the Kurdish people's long-standing determination to have their own nation-state. Modern-era Kurdish aspirations for statehood emerged during the Ottoman Empire's post-World War I collapse, as European powers redrew the region's map. The Kurds were unsuccessful in pressing their case, however, and their lands were split among Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Nonetheless Kurdish longing for a separate state never dissipated, leading to considerable conflict, most visibly in Turkey. The West largely was unsympathetic in recent years because separatists in Turkish Kurdistan channeled their major efforts through the Marxist Kurdistan Workers' Party. Obviously, during the Cold War, Washington and the West generally had no interest in weakening Turkey and its critical geostrategic role as NATO's southeast anchor against Soviet adventurism.
Outside Turkey, however, especially in Iraq, Kurds played a much more constructive role, helping the United States in both Persian Gulf wars.
Iraqi Kurdistan became de facto independent from Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 1991, protected by the U.S-led operation known as "Northern Comfort," which included massive humanitarian assistance and a no-fly zone over northern Iraq. Saddam's 2003 overthrow opened the prospect of reunifying the country, but Iranian subversion, using Iraq's Shia majority to turn the country into its satellite, refueled Kurdish separatism. Iraq's Sunni Arabs were also unwilling to be ruled by a Baghdad regime dominated by Shia adherents, who were little more than Iranian puppets. The rise of ISIS in Iraq occurred in part from this hostility, just as in Syria, ISIS capitalized on the anti-Assad feelings of Sunni Arabs, who felt excluded and oppressed by the dominant Alawite elite in Damascus. With the destruction of the ISIS caliphate in Syria, the question of what comes next is unavoidably before us. The United States needs to recognize that Iraq and Syria as we have known them have ceased to exist as functioning states. They are broken and cannot be fixed. This disintegration reflects the Middle East's broader, spreading anarchy, and it provides the context for Kurdish Iraq's overwhelming support for independence from Baghdad.
I have previously suggested that disaffected Sunni Arabs in Iraq and Syria might combine to form their own secular (but religiously Sunni) state, which the Gulf Arabs could help support financially. Indeed, while substantial issues remain about allocating the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Kirkuk between Kurds and Arabs, the Kurds themselves are largely Sunni, which suggests considerable confluence of interest with their Arab fellow Sunnis. Helping a new Kurdistan and a new Sunni state might overcome the current split among the Arabian peninsula's oil-producing monarchies and focus their attention on Iran, the real threat to their security. Unfortunately, but entirely predictably, our State Department opposed even holding the referendum and firmly rejects Kurdish independence. This policy needs to be reversed immediately, turning U.S. obstructionism into leadership. Kurdish independence efforts did not create regional instability but instead reflect the unstable reality.
Independence could well promote greater Middle Eastern security and stability than the collapsing post-World War I order. Recognizing that full Kurdish independence is far from easy, these issues today are no longer abstract and visionary but all too concrete. This is no time to be locked into outdated strategic thinking. Pictured: Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani speaks to the media at a press conference on September 24, 2017 in Erbil, Iraq. President Barzani announced that the referendum will go ahead as planned. The KRG held an independence referendum on September 25. **John R. Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, is Chairman of Gatestone Institute, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and author of "Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad".
**This article first appeared in The Pittsburgh Tribune Review and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author.
© 2017 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.

Saudi Arabia: The armament policy
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 10/17
The question that must be asked before discussing the two military deals sealed during Saudi King Salman’s visit to Moscow last week is: Why does Riyadh seem to be more interested in importing advanced weapons in greater quantities?
Saudi Arabia is actually facing the worst potential foreign threats due to two factors: the Iranian threat has increased and America’s commitment to defend it has declined.
Iran’s threats increased on all Saudi borders. Tehran extended its influence on Iraq and Syria in the north. It is also threatening it on the south and on the borders with Yemen. Iran would have tightened control on the region if the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule lasted under the presidency of Mohammed Mursi in Egypt. The other reason is the regression of American protection. During his presidential term, Barack Obama bluntly said the concept that “Saudi Arabia’s security is part of the US’ security” within the context of serving America’s higher interest is no longer valid. The Saudi command thus had one path to pursue; enhance its defensive capabilities. For western governments, there is always a close relationship between arms’ sales and foreign policies. This relation links deals to conditions and it may restrain them for political considerations. Obama’s administration has previously suspended its supplies of ammunition to Saudi Arabia and deprived it of intelligence cooperation due to disputes over the war in Yemen. It is not strange that some American state institutions and some Congressmen opposed deals with Saudi Arabia or other countries. Many deals were barely sealed due to opposition figures lobbying against them. There are groups that are hostile to Saudi Arabia and others that accuse it of carrying out military operations against civilians in Yemen.
This is in addition to lobby groups that work for powers that oppose Saudi Arabia. Despite all this, the president is the one who makes decisions according to American interests.
The military deal with Russia is not an alternative to US weapons and it does not aim to be distanced from the US, as some people described
Visit to Moscow
King Salman’s visit to Moscow was the first official visit by a Saudi monarch to Russia. It is very important in terms of Saudi Arabia’s efforts in responding to the oil market and politically neutralizing Moscow away from Iran.
The visit also sought to expand military options. The military deal with Russia is not an alternative to American weapons and it does not aim to be distanced from the US, as some people have described it to be.
As I said in the beginning, it is the growing threat that is forcing Riyadh to be stronger than it earlier was. Buying Russian and Chinese weapons will liberate it from US pressure. In case the US suspends its supply of ammunition or prevents it from using its weapons in any upcoming war, Riyadh will have other options. The arsenal that Saudi Arabia will receive will includes two missile defense systems that will be directed against Iranian attacks or any other attack and they are the American THAAD and the Russian S-400. After possessing several resources, Saudi Arabia will not go through what it went through two years ago in Yemen. Gulf countries, whose neighbors are lurking due to their rich resources, must strengthen their defense policies, not just by buying more weapons but also by improving the performance of their military institutions and developing their scientific and industrial work. Truth be told, this is what we have seen Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman do. He is reformulating the concept of Saudi military power away from the media.
It is the Gulf countries’ fate to live in a region swamped with wars and chaos. Saudi Arabia is thus forced to think that military superiority is more than sealing arms deals as it is also a doctrine that relies on science, discipline and developing industries.
It is a comprehensive system. This is what Israel, which is the largest importer of weapons, also thinks. The peak of excellence is for armament not to become a burden on the state and a reason behind its bankruptcy or weakness as it must be a path for development, growth and peace.

Saudi women in the driver’s seat
Lojain Saati/Al Arabiya/October 10/17
Following the announcement of the royal decree of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman lifting the ban on women driving in the Kingdom, people now wake up to a different Saudi Arabia. The news of allowing women to apply for a driver’s license by June 2018 has created a new sense of hope, independence and empowerment for women in the Kingdom. Allowing women to drive as of the summer of next year means that women will be in control of their daily lives and are no longer restricted or dependent on the availability of a male driver to take them around.
In alignment with Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman’s Vision 2030, boosting the economy relies on diversification and the contribution of citizens, both male and female, for a brighter, stronger and modernized Saudi Arabia of tomorrow. Reforms will not be possible without providing more control and autonomy for women, allowing them shared responsibility and leadership in their respective communities. Throughout the years, many women have missed opportunities for employment due to the struggle they faced in securing transportation. Now women will be able to drive themselves to work, thereby creating a chance to increase the number of employed women, especially in the private sector. Also, job creation in the transportation industry is another benefit; soon we will witness rideshare apps offering employment opportunities for female drivers.
It is time for society to accept the concept of men and women sharing the road equally as responsible drivers and begin experiencing the flexibility of being a much more mobile community
Household finances
Moreover, women who are forced to pay the salaries of expat drivers will now be able to cut down on such costs and manage their household finances with much more strength and independence. Despite humor and sarcasm on social media as to the driving skills of Saudi women, many well-traveled Saudi females who have had the chance to obtain a driving license during their years of living abroad can now experience sovereignty and freedom in their own country. The months to follow will be life-changing for a society depicted as male dominant on the roads; many should learn to tolerate diversity and accept women’s ability and right to drive while trusting both genders to follow Shariah and social customs. Finally, this remarkable change took the world by storm showing that the Kingdom is adapting with changing times and that its people are ready for reform. It is time for society to accept the concept of men and women sharing the road equally as responsible drivers and begin experiencing the flexibility of being a much more mobile community working side by side for a better future.

A red carpet for Moscow in the Middle East
Christian Chesnot/Al Arabiya/October 10/17
The historic visit of King Salman to Moscow further emphasizes Russia’s central role in the Middle East. The announcement of the purchase of the S-400 Russian anti-aircraft defense system by Riyadh caused anger in Washington. Before the Saudis, the Turkish NATO members also commissioned the same system. A sacrilege for the Westerners! Beyond the purely military aspect of these contracts, this is a new sign of Russia’s growing role in the Middle East. Is Russia in the process of ousting the United States? No, but it is reaping the fruits of a constant and effective diplomacy which no longer leaves anyone indifferent. On the other hand, Americans have accumulated errors of appreciation since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and, above all, appear versatile and hesitant since the Arab Spring of 2011.
Without a state of mind, but with a blurry and uncertain US policy, regional actors no longer hesitate to intensify their relations with Moscow
Worse, they seem to have no strategic vision. “The United States has no idea what they will do after the fall of ISIS in Syria and Iraq,” a senior French army officer told me recently, expressing his surprise at the lack of ideas in his American interlocutors. In front, the Russians build their regional influence. The civil war in Syria was an opportunity for them that they did not fail to grasp. Finally, with little military resources on the ground, they saved the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. The results of their intervention are flattering. They recorded little human loss in their ranks. They flaunted in real combat conditions the full extent of their military panoply. They now have a permanent maritime base in the Mediterranean at Tartous.
The diplomatic front
At a diplomatic level, it is the Russians who have the keys to the negotiations between the Syrian regime and the opposition. In short, it is fair to say that Moscow will be in Syria for a long time. But more fundamentally, Russia has delivered an extremely powerful message to all the countries of the region: it does not abandon its allies in the turmoil! What about the Americans? During the Arab Spring, they “dropped” Hosni Mubarak in a few weeks. Also read: King Salman: We are determined to push Saudi-Russian ties to greater heights. With the strategic pivot to Asia adopted by Barack Obama, US diplomacy in the region seems to be reduced to two postures: protect Israel and obsess about Iran: protecting the Hebrew state at any price and doing everything to block Tehran. With Donald Trump, American power today is both unpredictable and contested. It is questioned in any case: what is its vision for the Middle East? What are its priorities? State Department diplomats are hardly pressured to respond in a clear and coherent way.
Looking at Moscow
As a result, the big powers of the region are looking more and more at Moscow. Iraq and Egypt multiplied contacts with Russia as well as Marshal Hafter in Libya. The Syrian Kurds have set up a representative office in the Russian capital and one of their Afrin cantons welcomes Russian soldiers.
Even in the Gulf, the leaders now see Russia as a significant partner, which was not necessarily the case a few years ago. One can regret it or rejoice, but the Russian leadership “does what it says and says what it does”. Without a state of mind, but with a blurry and uncertain US policy, regional actors no longer hesitate to intensify their relations with Moscow. Obviously, the Russians do not have the financial and economic power of the United States, which remains dominant. Russia has to deal with Washington. And then, the more diplomatically and militarily Russia is involved in the region, the more it is exposed to security risks. The terrorist threat from the Middle East and Central Asia is growing. But it is also the fight against terrorism that justifies the policy of Vladimir Putin, which for once allied both Americans and Europeans in this file. For Moscow, the challenge today is to consolidate and perpetuate its presence in the center of the Middle East.

The myth surrounding ‘angry Muslims’
Mamdouh AlMuhaini/Al Arabiya/October 10/17
The “angry Muslims” excuse, which has often been used to intimidate others, is insulting because it puts all Muslims in one category and suggests that they are all angered and pleased by the same things. It is even more insulting because it assumes that it is easy to manipulate the feelings of these Muslims and treat them like children who are cannot be independent thinkers that can have different feelings about the same matter. What hurts me and angers me differs from what hurts and angers my friend or brother. Assuming otherwise means we are characterless people with no opinion or self-worth.
I remember how a teacher said something during a lecture once and then apologized to all Muslim students “for harming their feelings.” This was the most humiliating apology I have ever heard because it put us all in one basket as if we are a herd of sheep where no one is different.
Perhaps it is time to annul this insulting false argument. I am a Muslim, and I am not angry and it is not possible to easily manipulate my mind
Collective excuses
What is more humiliating is that he would not have said the same thing about followers of other faiths or people from different cultures because he is aware that what may anger one of them may not anger another. He therefore does not need to utter these collective excuses that are worthy of fools.
This excuse is also used in the western media, which also adopts this same view. Politicians and journalists who claim to defend Muslims use this excuse to serve their own vested interests and harm reputation by distorting the image of Islam and Muslims.
What is strange is that enlightened Muslim figures in the West are attacked by the media and accused of being allied with bigoted right-wing movements. It’s a strange position to take. They intimidate Muslims who see things differently or have opposing views by describing them as racist and fascist.
Dangerous dimension
There is a deeper and more dangerous dimension, which fanatics in our countries use as they promote and deepen some fears for obvious reasons. They want to picture Muslims as one massive category so they can control it and achieve the following three objectives: use it in their negotiations with the West, under the excuse of controlling this fierce beast, isolate the latter and deepen hostility and isolation toward other cultures and achieve personal benefits on the social and financial levels by controlling the keys of power and money.
Perhaps it is time to annul this insulting false argument. I am a Muslim, and I am not angry and it is not possible to easily manipulate my mind and emotions. And there are millions of Muslims like me!