English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 26/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.april26.22.htm
News Bulletin Achieves
Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the
disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’
“Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
John 20/11-18: “Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over
to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body
of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to
her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my
Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’When she had said this, she
turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was
Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you
looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have
carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him
away.’Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’
(which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have
not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am
ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’Mary Magdalene
went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them
that he had said these things to her.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on April 25-26/2022
A Tribute Of Pride & Dignity to The Armenian People/Elias Bejjani/April
24/2022
Lebanon Buries Dead in Migrant Boat Sinking That Killed 7
Death Toll in Lebanon Migrant Shipwreck Rises to Seven as Search Continues
Body found as Lebanon rescue teams search for boat disaster survivors
Corona - Health Ministry: 56 new Corona cases, 3 deaths
UNIFIL statement on rocket and return fire on 25 April 2022
Israel bombs targets in south Lebanon in response to rocket fire
Army Command: Search continues for survivors of smuggling vessel that sank off
Tripoli
Army: British helicopter participates alongside the Lebanese Army in search &
rescue operations off Tripoli's coast
Pope Francis appoints a Lebanese missionary as a judge at the Rota court
The agreement of the Saudi-French Fund that aims to support the Lebanese people
will be signed tomorrow..and this is what it will include
Cabinet to hold extraordinary session tomorrow to discuss sinking boat incident,
security situation
Vatican Committee Visits Beirut to Complete Preparations for Pope's Visit
UNHCR, IOM: Boat tragedy off Lebanon underscores need for continuing support to
Lebanon
Energy minister assaulted by activists outside restaurant
Lebanon is imploding/Charles Elias Chartouni/April 26/2022
There’s Hope for a More Peaceful Lebanon/Toni Nissi/WSJ/April 25/2022
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 25-26/2022
IRGC Seizes Foreign-Flagged Vessel for ‘Smuggling’ Fuel
Iranian Advisor: Ukraine War Will Eventually Push US to Agree to an Agreement
State TV Says Iran Foiled Cyberattacks on Public Services
US defense and state secretaries meet Zelensky in Kyiv
Russia Warned United States against Sending More Arms to Ukraine
Egypt Celebrates Sinai Day by Announcing Security, Development Victories
Jordan’s King Agreed with Biden on Need to Defuse Jerusalem Tension
Egypt, Jordan, UAE Call for Restoring Calm in Jerusalem
Leading Sadrist Member Slams Turkey, Iran for Attacking Iraq
Last-Minute Dispute Leads to Delay of First Flight as Part of Yemen Truce
World leaders welcome Macron's French election win
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 25-26/2022
France: Emmanuel Macron Reelected...The Nationalists Become a Minority in
Their Own Country/Yves Mamou/Gatestone Institute./April 25/2022
A Mostly Wind- and Solar-Powered U.S. Economy Is a Dangerous Fantasy/Francis
Menton/Gatestone Institute./April 25/2022
Syria’s Idea, from Unity to Freedom/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 25/2022
America’s Era of Free-Lunch Politics Is Over/Matthew Yglesias/Bloomberg/April,
25/2022
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 25-26/2022
A Tribute Of Pride & Dignity to The
Armenian People
Elias Bejjani/April 24/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/54563/elias-bejjani-a-tribute-of-pride-dignity-to-the-armenian-people%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a8%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d8%ad%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a5%d9%83%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d9%88%d8%a5/
Genuinely, with pride, and loudly we pay tribute to the Armenian
People and to its courageous and blessed martyrs. A tribute to the Armenian
people who are steadfast and stubborn in defending its religious faith,
existence, history and civilization. Every year on April 24th the Armenian
people renew their holy vows to be who they are no matter what and to hold on to
their existence, holy cause and faith.
Lebanon Buries Dead in Migrant Boat Sinking That Killed
7
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Funerals were held across northern Lebanon on Monday for seven people killed
when a boat packed with migrants sank over the weekend as the Lebanese navy
tried to force it back to shore. The small vessel was carrying nearly 60 people
- many times its capacity - when the disaster struck Saturday night. The tragedy
was the latest in a growing trend involving mostly Lebanese and Syrians trying
to travel to Europe from Lebanon in search of better lives. The navy rescued 47
people and some are still missing. In a rare move, the British military assisted
in search and rescue operations off the coast by deploying a helicopter to
assist Lebanese forces. Among those laid to rest Monday were Sarah Ahmed Talib
and her 4-year-old daughter from the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood of Tripoli,
Lebanon’s second-largest city. "My brother and his wife are missing. We have
seven people missing. And this is the funeral of the wife of my nephew and my
nephew’s daughter,” said Abo Mohmoud, a relative. "The rest are still missing."
Women wailed from balconies in Tripoli as bodies were carried to the mosque and
bursts of gunfire rang out in mourning. A weeping man carried the body of a
child wrapped in white. Dozens attended the funerals while Lebanese army
personnel stood guard nearby. The migrant vessel had set off from the coastal
town of Qalamoun on Saturday night, Lebanese officials have said, adding that no
precautionary measures were taken and no one was wearing life vests when the
boat meant to carry only six people capsized later that night. Survivors blame
the Lebanese navy for sinking the ship, saying a naval vessel rammed the vessel
while trying to force it back to shore. An extraordinary Cabinet session was
scheduled for Tuesday focusing on the boat incident and security situation in
different parts of the country. Angry residents attacked a main army checkpoint
in Tripoli on Sunday, throwing stones at troops who responded by firing into the
air. Some shops closed as angry men blocked several streets in Tripoli,
Lebanon’s most impoverished city. There were no reports of injuries. Since
Lebanon's economic meltdown began in October 2019, hundreds have left on boats
hoping for a better life in Europe, paying smugglers thousands of dollars. Many
have made it to European countries, while others have been stopped and forced to
return home by the Lebanese navy. Several have lost their lives on the way to
Europe over the past three years.
Death Toll in Lebanon Migrant Shipwreck Rises to Seven
as Search Continues
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
The Lebanese army found another body from a migrant shipwreck in the sea off
Lebanon's northern coast overnight, a port official told Reuters on Monday,
bringing the death toll up to seven as rescue efforts continue. Late on Saturday
a small dinghy carrying around 60 people sunk off the coast near the port city
of Tripoli. The authorities say more than 45 have already been rescued. The head
of the Tripoli's port authority Ahmad Tamer told Reuters that search operations
were ongoing. "The rescue operations went all night and the Lebanese army was
able to find the body of a woman. The total number of victims is now seven,"
Tamer said. Those on board were Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians, Tamer said.
The army has said the dinghy capsized due to being overcrowded. Lebanon's
economic crisis has seen the local currency lose more than 90 percent of its
value and pushed waves of Lebanese as well as Syrian refugees to try the
dangerous sea journey to Europe on small dinghies. Over the weekend relatives of
the victims gathered in agitated crowds outside hospitals in Tripoli where the
injured were being treated. On Monday morning, a few men waited outside the port
on Monday morning in the hope of finding out about missing loved ones.
Body found as Lebanon rescue teams search for boat
disaster survivors
Agence France Presse/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Lebanese rescue teams searched the Mediterranean for survivors Monday after an
overloaded people-smuggling boat capsized while under pursuit by naval forces,
with dozens unaccounted for still missing at sea. At least seven people died as
a result of the disaster, which occurred late Saturday and ignited widespread
rage just three weeks before May 15 parliamentary elections. The body of a woman
was retrieved from the water on Monday morning, bringing to seven the number of
confirmed deaths in Lebanon's worst such disaster in years. "The body of a woman
from the al-Nimr family was recovered today from the Tripoli beach," the
director general of Tripoli Port Ahmed Tamer told AFP, adding that rescue
efforts were ongoing. The Lebanese army said on Sunday
that 48 people had been rescued, but it was not immediately clear exactly how
many would-be asylum seekers were crammed onto the boat when it set sail. The
United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said the boat was carrying at least 84
people when it capsized, about three nautical miles off the coast of Tripoli.
According to UNHCR figures, that means potentially some 30 people are still
unaccounted for. The passengers included Syrian and Palestinian refugees but
most were Lebanese, the army said. The circumstances
that led the small overloaded craft to sink were not entirely clear, with some
survivors claiming the navy rammed into their boat, and officials insisting the
smuggler attempted reckless escape maneuvers. Lebanon was once a transit point
for asylum seekers from elsewhere in the region who were hoping to reach the
shores of European Union member Cyprus by sea, an island 175 kilometers (110
miles) away. However, an unprecedented economic crisis that has caused
hyper-inflation and plunged millions into poverty is driving growing numbers of
Lebanese to attempt the perilous crossing. The U.N.
says more than 1,500 would-be asylum seekers tried to leave Lebanon illegally by
sea since the start of 2021. "Lebanon's economic
crisis has triggered one of the largest waves of migration in the country's
history," said Mathieu Luciano, Lebanon head of the International Organization
for Migration.
Corona - Health Ministry: 56 new Corona cases, 3 deaths
NNA/Monday, 25 April, 2022
In its daily report on the COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health
announced on Monday the registration of 56 new Corona virus infections, which
raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 1,096,462. The report
added that 3 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours.
UNIFIL statement on rocket and return fire on 25 April
2022
NNA/Monday, 25 April, 2022
During the night of 24 to 25 April, UNIFIL detected a rocket being launched from
south Lebanon toward Israel. Head of Mission and Force
Commander Major General Aroldo Lázaro was in immediate contact with authorities
on both sides of the Blue Line to urge restraint. Nonetheless, the Israel
Defense Forces fired back several dozen shells into Lebanon. Major General
Lázaro called on all parties to avoid further escalation, expressing his
concerns about the disproportionate response. Once the shelling ended, UNIFIL
began an investigation to determine the facts. Peacekeepers are also working
with the Lebanese Armed Forces to strengthen security throughout UNIFIL’s area
of operations and reduce the risk of further provocative acts.
Israel bombs targets in south Lebanon in response to
rocket fire
Associated Press/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Israeli tanks fired into southern Lebanon early Monday in response to a rocket
fired from the country, the Israeli military said. In
a statement, the Israeli army said the rocket landed in an open area in northern
Israel early Monday, causing no damage or injuries. Shortly after, the military
said it struck "the sources of the projectile launched and an infrastructure
target in southern Lebanon." It said "routine activity" in northern Israel was
continuing and there were no special precautions being asked of civilians in the
area. There was no immediate claim of responsibility
for the rocket fire, but Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav, the military spokesman, told
Israeli Army Radio that he assumed the rocket was launched by Palestinian
militants in Lebanon spurred on by the recent events in Israel, the West Bank
and Gaza. He said Israel's response was meant "to make
clear to all who are on the other side, whether it is Palestinian factions,
Hamas, the government of Lebanon or Hizbullah that we won't allow Israeli
sovereignty to be violated." Israel and Lebanon's
Iran-backed Hizbullah are bitter enemies that fought an inconclusive monthlong
war in 2006. The border area has remained tense but mostly quiet since then.
Small Palestinian groups are also active in Lebanon and have been suspected in
several rocket attacks in recent years. The incident
along Israel's northern border comes at a time of heightened tensions between
Israelis and Palestinians. Recent weeks have seen a string of deadly attacks
inside Israel, lethal arrest raids by Israel in the occupied West Bank and
rocket attacks into Israel launched from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, as
well as clashes in a key Jerusalem holy site. It has
been the worst violence to shake the region since an 11-day war between Israel
and Gaza militants last year.
Israel Retaliates after Projectile Fired from Lebanon
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
A projectile was fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, prompting a
retaliation, the Israeli Army said early Monday.The projectile fell in an open
field near a kibbutz, Israel's army said in a statement, which made no mention
of casualties. "In response to the projectile launched from Lebanon into
northern Israel earlier tonight, Israeli Artillery forces are currently
targeting the source of the launch in Lebanon," the military said. The attack
was not immediately claimed by any group. Aroldo Lazaro, head of the United
Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL), has urged "calm and restraint in this
volatile and ongoing situation", the mission said on Twitter. Israel's northern
border has been mostly quiet since a 2006 war against Hezbollah.
Army Command: Search continues for survivors of
smuggling vessel that sank off Tripoli
NNA/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Army Command said, on Monday morning, via its account on Twitter, that "the
search and rescue operations carried out by the army are continuing, by land,
sea and air, after the boat carrying dozens of people sank off the shores of
Tripoli."
Army: British helicopter participates alongside the
Lebanese Army in search & rescue operations off Tripoli's coast
NNA/Monday, 25 April, 2022
The Lebanese Army announced on Twitter that a British helicopter, CH-146
Griffon, belonging to the British 84th Squadron, is participating alongside the
Lebanese Army in search and rescue operations off the coast of Tripoli.
Pope Francis appoints a Lebanese missionary as a judge at
the Rota court
NNA/Monday, 25 April, 2022
The Catholic Media Center indicated today that "his Holiness Pope Francis has
appointed the Lebanese missionary, Father Anthony Choueifati, as a judge in the
Roman Rota Court,” adding that Choueifati was serving as a “Public Prosecutor”
in the same court.
The agreement of the Saudi-French Fund that
aims to support the Lebanese people will be signed tomorrow..and this is what it
will include
LCC/April 25/2022
Saudi Ambassador Walid Al-Bukhari held an iftar in honor of the heads of
religious sects in Lebanon and the rest of the East. After the breakfast ended,
Al-Bukhari said: "The banquet embodies Saudi Arabia's role in spreading the
culture of peace and its quest to enhance ways of coexistence. There is a
Saudi-French partnership that has translated into the establishment of a joint
fund, and the agreement will be signed tomorrow." It will be signed tomorrow to
support the Lebanese people, including 35 projects in Lebanon related to the
health, education and energy sectors."
Cabinet to hold extraordinary session tomorrow to discuss
sinking boat incident, security situation
NNA/Monday, 25 April, 2022
The Council of Ministers will hold an extraordinary session at 11:30 a.m.
tomorrow, Tuesday, 26/4/2022, at Baabda Palace, to discuss the issue of the
sinking boat off the coast of Tripoli and its repercussions. Talks will also
tackle the security situation in various Lebanese regions.
Vatican Committee Visits Beirut to Complete Preparations
for Pope's Visit
Beirut - Paula Astih/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Pope Francis' visit to Lebanon on June 12-13 is of great importance to many
Lebanese who see it as a gateway to hope after all the difficulties that the
country has experienced since 2019. Preparations are underway for the Pontiff's
visit, in coordination between Lebanese and Vatican officials. In mid-April, the
cabinet assigned Tourism Minister Walid Nassar to chair a ministerial committee
to prepare for the Pope’s visit. The Maronite Patriarchate appointed Archbishop
Michel Aoun to represent the Catholic Church in the committee. Asharq Al-Awsat
learned that the Papal Ambassador to Lebanon sent the Vatican a draft of the
visit program established by the executive body of the Council of Patriarchs
with the Papal Embassy, in coordination with the Presidential Palace. According
to Nassar, a Vatican committee will visit Lebanon on April 27 to closely review
the program and visit the sites that the Pontiff will tour. Nassar told Asharq
Al-Awsat that he will have completed the formation of the media, financial,
logistical, and security committees that will organize the visit. He revealed
that the Pope wants his visit to Lebanon to be "modest and simple," considering
that it will be "national and spiritual," as he will call for a culture of
dialogue, peace, and love. After all the turmoil they went through in the past
few years, the Lebanese people proved that they are strong, and the Pope's visit
will be a positive shock after all the adverse shocks, most notably the
explosion of the Beirut Port, said the Minister. Archbishop Aoun stresses that
the visit "gives hope to the Lebanese people.” The Pontiff will stress the
importance of Lebanon and its role, said Aoun, adding that the international
community must not abandon it as a country of coexistence and interaction of
civilizations. He asserted to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Vatican resorts to
diplomacy to urge countries to help Lebanon. The Archbishop reveals that the
Pope's visit program includes "a public mass in Beirut, a meeting with President
Aoun and officials at the Presidential Palace, and a meeting with spiritual
authorities and heads of sects." The Pope will also meet Lebanese youth and hold
a prayer at the Beirut port without public attendance. Pope Francis, 85,
expressed his desire to visit Lebanon and sent several messages of support to
Lebanon and its people over the recent months. During his visit to Cyprus last
December, he expressed "grave concern" about the Lebanese crisis. In a speech
delivered to the Maronite Church officials, the Pope said he was "greatly
concerned" over the situation in Lebanon, adding: "I am sensitive to the
sufferings of a people wearied and tested by violence and adversity." "I carry
in my prayer the desire for peace that rises from the heart of that country."
Last August, Pope Francis called on the international community to provide
concrete initiatives for Lebanon, a year after the Beirut port explosion, which
killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,500 others. Pope Paul VI was
the first pope to visit Lebanon in 1964. He stopped for fifty minutes at Beirut
International Airport on his way to Bombay. He expressed his concern for
Lebanon, hoping that it would remain safe. In 1997, Pope John Paul II visited
Beirut to deliver the "Apostolic Exhortation" entitled "A New Hope for Lebanon."
The visit was described as "historic," given the large popular reception, during
which the Pope declared "Lebanon the Message." The last visit of a Pontiff to
Lebanon was in 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI visited Beirut, calling for
religious freedom across the Middle East.
UNHCR, IOM: Boat tragedy off Lebanon underscores need
for continuing support to Lebanon
Naharnet/Monday, 25 April, 2022
UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration
(IOM) have said that they are “deeply saddened by the latest tragic incident at
sea in which a boat reportedly carrying 84 people capsized off the coast of
Tripoli, Lebanon, yesterday.”
Forty-five people have been rescued, six others, including a 40-day-old baby,
have been confirmed as deceased while many remain missing. The passengers
included children, women, men, and a number of elderly people. The nationalities
of the passengers have not yet been confirmed.
“UNHCR and IOM are following up with the relevant authorities and are ready to
support survivors and bereaved families. UNHCR and IOM will continue to work
with the refugee, migrant and host communities to warn people of the dangers and
risks of irregular onward movements,” they said in a statement.
“This tragic event underscores the shockingly high risks that many people are
resorting to out of desperation. Shipwrecks, tragic deaths and further suffering
could be avoided, but it is crucial that continuous support is mobilized to help
Lebanon as living conditions worsen for refugees and Lebanese alike,” said Ayaki
Ito, UNHCR Representative. “Lebanon’s economic crisis
has triggered one of the largest waves of migration in the country’s history,”
said Mathieu Luciano, Head of IOM Lebanon. “Driven by increasingly desperate
economic circumstances, a growing number of people are leaving Lebanon through
unsafe means. Safe and legal alternatives to irregular migration are urgently
needed, including support to local livelihoods and improved access to services
in communities at risk.”Lebanon has been witnessing an increase in sea
departures since 2020 when 38 boats with over 1,500 passengers attempted
dangerous onward journeys, over 75 percent of which were intercepted or
returned. In addition to the yesterday’s incident, so far this year, at least
three boats departed Lebanon, carrying 64 passengers. Two were intercepted
before departing Lebanese waters. “UNHCR and IOM
advocate for the safe disembarkation of people in distress at sea and respect
for the principle of non-refoulement. Individuals rescued at sea or sent back to
Lebanon are provided with medical and psychosocial support and emergency
assistance,” the statement said.UNHCR and IOM also called for “continuous
solidarity from the international community to ease conditions for the host
community as well as refugees and migrants hosted in Lebanon.”
Energy minister assaulted by activists outside
restaurant
Naharnet/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Energy Minister Walid Fayyad was physically assaulted by activists outside a
restaurant on Sunday night. An online video shows an activist saying “this is a
message from all the Lebanese people” before violently pushing Fayyad to a wall.
You need to “wake up,” he tells the minister.
Another man is meanwhile seen telling Fayyad that his mother “has no
electricity” and that “a massacre happened in Tripoli” whereas he was “having a
drink.”A female activist meanwhile tells the minister that she was interrogated
at a State Security center along with other female activists due to his “corruption.”This
is not the first time Fayyad has been intercepted by activists at a restaurant
since he was appointed as minister. He is often seen at public places without
bodyguards.
شارل شرتوني: لبنان ينهار من
الداخل
Lebanon is imploding
Charles Elias Chartouni/April 26/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/108241/charles-elias-chartouni-lebanon-is-imploding-%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%b4%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%8a%d9%86%d9%87%d8%a7/
The cascading humanitarian tragedies, the deliberate sabotaging of financial
reforms since 2019, the skewed electoral process, the vocal promotion of civil
war by Hezbollah and its knaves, and the unleashing of mundane violence are of
bad omen. The successive shadow cabinets attest their subsidiary nature and
highlight their mere instrumentalisation by the criminal power brokers who are
in control.
The state of obstruction is no accident, it’s an intentional policy course aimed
at breaking down Lebanese Statehood, upend political, socio-economic,
demographic and urban dynamics and usher the rise of a new political era
controlled by Shiite Islamist politics mandated by the imperial agenda of the
Islamic regime in Iran. There is no argument or pretext that justify two and a
half years of political stonewalling, circumventing negotiations with
multilateral financial institutions and evading the mandated reforms of
governance. The only rationale behind this calculated obstruction wrench is to
oversee the progressive unraveling of the country, induce massive migration, and
destroy the social capital and the operational infrastructures built over the
centennial.
Hezbollah’s agenda is no more mystery and is openly flaunted through its
rhetoric (challenge Lebanon’s national legitimacy, consensual political culture,
geopolitical, institutional and financial stability…,. ). Its structured
relationships with the oligarchic power configuration and strategic
commonalities are based on: the plundering of private and public resources
through the rigged Ponzi Scheme, the transmogrification of the Lebanese economy
into a criminal one, the discretionary use of power and the patrimonialization
of the public domain. The hermetic foreclosures on the levers of governance is
no hazard, it’s a premeditated plan which aims at dismantling democratic
institutions, and setting the path of political and legal disenfranchisement and
ultimate control of power.
Lebanon has no chance to extricate itself from this tangled web of domination
strategies, destructive oligarchic entrenchments and competing regional power
politics, unless the internationalization of its compounded crises takes over
and helps Lebanese recover their political prerogatives, plundered public and
private treasuries, and address the monumental tasks of reconstruction. The
implementation of international resolutions (1559, 1680, 1701, 2591) are,at this
juncture, preludes to the enforcement of the UN chapter 7 and its ancillaries 8
and 9, if Lebanon is ever to restore its battered sovereignty, and the Lebanese
regain their moral and political autonomy usurped by thirty two years of
overlapping internal and external political arrogation of power and moral
dispossession. The political interims are no more functional in our case, there
is need for a renegotiated Social Contract, if this country is ever to survive
and avoid its transformation into a surrogate landscape for proxy conflicts, an
extension to the bolting strategic voids of an imploding Middle East, and an
auxiliary threat to European and Western security and World peace.
طوني نيسي/ولستريت جورنال/الأمل الدائم بلبنان السلام
والإستقلال
There’s Hope for a More Peaceful Lebanon
Toni Nissi/WSJ/April 25/2022
Hezbollah dominates the country’s politics, but activists are trying to reclaim
the title ‘Switzerland of the Middle East’ for their country.
Billions of dollars in Iranian support and a menacing military-media machine
have allowed Hezbollah, a creature of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to
dominate Lebanese politics and wage war as if it were a state. This has brought
the country to economic disaster, but it has emboldened a new wave of activists
determined to upend this status quo. Their demand: Restore Lebanon’s historical
posture of neutrality toward regional conflicts, which spawned generations of
balanced foreign policy and open society and earned it the moniker “Switzerland
of the Middle East.” Among the new movement’s champions is Bechara Boutros Al
Rai, patriarch of Lebanon’s ancient Maronite Christian sect.
On Saturday in the town of Harissa, near Beirut, my organization, the
International Committee of the United Nations Resolutions for Lebanon, convened
a conference of notables from across the world and representing the country’s
religious and ethnic spectrum: Shiites and Sunnis, Druze and Arabs, and Lebanese
Christian sects. Broadcasting live on Lebanese television, we gathered under the
patronage of the patriarch. The plans that emerged from this conference should
give hope to those who want peace and development in Lebanon.
In a morning panel, Father Bassem Rai, a priest and professor of political
philosophy, made mincemeat of Hezbollah’s attempts to stigmatize neutrality
through propaganda by showing how the principle is enshrined in Lebanon’s
founding National Pact, reinforced in the 1949 Armistice Agreements and
reiterated in major U.N. resolutions to which our government has committed.
Shiite speaker Jad Akhawi took Father Rai’s remarks to their logical conclusion.
On the one hand, he said, Lebanon’s present war footing is an imposition by a
foreign power. On the other, “the call to peace and the principle of neutrality
are part of our DNA.” Carlos Abadi, an American philanthropist with Lebanese
Jewish roots, stressed that Lebanese neutrality has the potential to “pave the
way for an investment-fueled recovery.”
Other remarks breached the taboo around the question of normalization with
Israel. Yousef Salameh, a former Lebanese government minister, noted that Israel
is now officially at peace with numerous Arab countries and forming partnerships
under the table with others, making it “effectively part of a broader alliance
of Arab states.” Sirouj Apikian, a prominent lawyer and activist, said that
Lebanon’s “antinormalization laws”—prison or worse for the slightest contact
with an Israeli citizen, even a text exchange—are incompatible with neutrality
because they block one of the principle’s central tenets: the idea of an open
society. “To be clear,” he said, “I am not calling for normalization in the
sense of government-to-government relations.” Instead he laid out the harm that
restricting person-to-person encounters inflicts on Lebanon and for civic action
to repeal these laws.
Consider that 300,000 Lebanese citizens in the United Arab Emirates, now teeming
with Israelis, face legal jeopardy if they come home, and many of these citizens
are withdrawing their assets from Lebanon. Meanwhile, many other Lebanese fear
working with multinational companies because these companies don’t honor such
exclusionary laws. In prepared remarks, he asked, “Has the ban on human contact
with our neighbors, whatever their faith and creed, enabled us to truly support
the Palestinian people in their legitimate aspiration to statehood, or helped us
contribute to a culture of peacemaking on any land? . . . Has the ban on
religious pilgrimage to the mosques and churches of Jerusalem made us
spiritually stronger, and better morally equipped to grapple with the problems
of our nation and region, whether in war or in peace?”
The final panel aimed to develop the vision of neutrality into an
internationally coordinated plan of action. As moderator, I raised the question
of whether greater American assistance would come as more Lebanese stand up for
nonviolent change in the face of the most powerful terrorist organization in the
world. It was heartening that in response Joel Rayburn, a former deputy
assistant secretary of state for Levant affairs, said that while serving in
government he had seen cause for frustration about Lebanon’s prospects to muster
strong leadership, he felt “astonished at the very brave speakers I’ve heard in
your room today.”
Riyadh Qahwaji, a Lebanese military-affairs specialist, laid out a vision for
the Lebanese armed forces that would merit greater American support. “The army
should not designate countries as inherent enemies,” he said, “but rather define
the enemy as whoever threatens our country’s sovereignty, regardless of its
religion, ethnicity and so on.”
Those of us who labored long and hard to bring this event to fruition are
bracing for a response by those in the country who do not place the interests of
the Lebanese people first. We feel emboldened, however, by the expressions of
support we have received from both sides of the aisle in the U.S. In remarks
made via video, Rep. Mike Waltz (R., Fla.) said that he was praying for us and
stands united with Republicans and Democrats in Washington who “truly hope and
pray that we see a Lebanon at peace.” In the same spirit, former House Foreign
Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, a Democrat, affirmed that “those of us
who believe in growing American support for peace and development in Lebanon and
elsewhere see, in gatherings like yours, a cause for hope and a case for
perseverance.”
Buoyed by our loved ones and placing our faith in God, we look forward to
hastening a bright new era for our country.
Picture Enclosed: A panel at International Committee of the United Nations
Resolutions for Lebanon Conference in Harissa, Lebanon, April 23.
*Mr. Nissi is president of the International Committee of the United Nations
Resolutions for Lebanon.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 25-26/2022
IRGC Seizes Foreign-Flagged Vessel for ‘Smuggling’
Fuel
London - Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Iran’s Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced Sunday that it has seized a
foreign vessel in Gulf waters for allegedly smuggling 200,000 liters of fuel, in
the third such incident this month. Colonel Gholam Hossein Hosseini, the head of
the public relations department of the second naval zone of the IRGC, told Fars
news agency that the vessel was seized in the northern part of the waterway. He
said its eight crewmembers were taken to the southern Iranian port city of
Bushehr, where they will be handed over to the judicial authorities for complete
investigation and legal proceedings. Five other boats that intended to refuel
the foreign-flagged vessel were also taken into custody for further
investigation, according to Hosseini. This is the third time this month that
Iranian officials announce the seizure of ships for smuggling fuel in the Gulf.
On April 9, the IRGC said it seized a foreign vessel carrying 220,000 liters of
smuggled fuel and arrested the entire 11 crewmembers. Six days later, the Guard
seized a vessel carrying 250,000 liters of smuggled fuel in and detained seven
of its crewmembers. In September 2018, the Iranian Hamshahri newspaper said 30
million to 35 million liters of gasoline were being smuggled across Iran’s
borders per day, compared to 15 million to 20 million liters of diesel. In
October 2018, between 20 million and 40 million liters of fuel was smuggled of
the country on a daily basis. Last January, the Washington Post quoted analysts
specializing in the energy industry and regional security as saying that the
smuggling from Iran involves elements of the Iranian state, notably the IRGC,
and private shipping companies based in countries neighboring Iran. They said
the IRGC detains or hijacks vessels when shipping companies seek to smuggle
petroleum products without its permission.
Iranian Advisor: Ukraine War Will Eventually Push US to
Agree to an Agreement
London - Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
The growing problems of the Ukraine war will eventually push the US to agree to
an agreement with Iran, announced a senior Iranian expert. The political advisor
of the Iranian negotiating team, Mohammad Marandi, told the official news agency
IRNA that the failure to reach an agreement was due to US internal problems.
Marandi reiterated Iran's determination to reach a good and lasting agreement.
"According to the Americans, Iran has been able to gain significant concessions
in Vienna, so during the talks, some members of the American delegation resigned
and left the team in protest," Marandi said. The expert referred to the
"negative reactions" in Congress after the statement of the US envoy to Iran,
Rob Malley. Marandi was among the new members that joined the nuclear
negotiating team after the hard-liner, Ali Bagheri Kani, took over the team's
presidency instead of the former deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. He
reported that things were moving fast during the last days of the negotiations,
but the US team stopped working at once on various issues, including
verification, lifting of sanctions, guarantees, and the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC). Experts say that the current team did not discuss beyond the
issues stipulated in the 2015 Vienna agreement regarding Iranian nuclear steps,
but the government insists on removing the IRGC from the list of Foreign
Terrorist Organizations (FTO). Tehran's demands to ease pressure on the IRGC
came while the government refused to discuss its ballistic missile program or
regional activities in the nuclear negotiations. Marandi said that "there is no
problem in European capitals and all other parties have no problem finalizing
the deal, but "it remains to be seen what Biden will do to go on." Marandi
stressed Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian's discussions with the EU
foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who is represented by EU coordinator
Enrique Mora in the Vienna talks. A statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry
stated that the phone call between the officials dealt with the nuclear
negotiations. Abdollahian said the consultations would continue to lift the
sanctions, adding that there is no doubt about the determination of the Iranian
government to reach a "good, strong and lasting agreement." He added that the
White House must put aside excessive demands and hesitation and take a step
towards realism and propose solutions. The EU foreign policy chief said the
prolongation of the break in the talks is not constructive and suggested that
talks between the EU envoy and Iran's chief negotiator be resumed closely.
Borrell also referred to the war in Ukraine, describing it as a global crisis
that could have negative consequences. The European official said, "We believe
that Iran wants an agreement and that there have been various initiatives which
still exist and continue." Earlier, IRGC commander Ali Reza Tangsiri said that
Iran would not abandon plans to avenge the 2020 US killing of al-Quds Force
commander Qassem Soleimani, despite "regular offers" from Washington to lift
sanctions and provide other concessions in return. A State Department
spokesperson told Reuters that if Iran wanted sanctions relief beyond the 2015
nuclear deal, it must address US concerns beyond the pact. "If Iran wants
sanctions lifting that goes beyond the JCPOA, they will need to address concerns
of ours beyond the JCPOA," the US spokesperson said, referring to the deal known
as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "Conversely, if they do not
want to use these talks to resolve other bilateral issues beyond the JCPOA, then
we are confident that we can very quickly reach an understanding of the JCPOA
and begin reimplementing the deal.""Iran needs to make a decision," the
spokesperson added.
State TV Says Iran Foiled Cyberattacks on Public Services
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Iran’s state television said authorities have foiled massive cyberattacks that
sought to target public services, both government and privately owned. The
report late on Sunday said Iran thwarted the attacks that planned to target the
infrastructure of more than 100 public sector agencies. It did not elaborate or
name specific examples of public sector agencies, organizations or services but
said the incidents happened in recent days. The report said that unidentified
parties behind the cyberattacks used Internet Protocols in the Netherlands,
Britain and the United States to stage the attacks. Tehran occasionally
announces cyberattacks targeting Iran as world powers struggle to revive a
tattered nuclear deal with it. In October, an assault on Iran’s fuel
distribution system paralyzed gas stations nationwide, leading to long lines of
angry motorists stranded in long lines and unable to get subsidized fuel for
days. In July, a cyberattack on Iran’s railway system caused chaos and train
delays. Iran disconnected much of its government infrastructure from the
internet after the Stuxnet computer virus - widely believed to be a joint
US-Israeli creation - disrupted Iranian centrifuges in the country’s nuclear
sites in the late 2000s.
US defense and state secretaries meet Zelensky in Kyiv
Agence France Presse/Monday, 25 April, 2022
The United States believes Ukraine can win the war against Russia if it has the
"right equipment", Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Monday, following a landmark
trip to Kyiv alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The visit comes as the
war entered its third month, with thousands dead and millions displaced. The
conflict has triggered an outburst of support from Western nations that has seen
a deluge of weapons pour into Ukraine. "The first step in winning is believing
that you can win. And so they believe that we can win," Austin told a group of
journalists after he and Blinken met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "We
believe that we can win, they can win if they have the right equipment, the
right support." Austin went on to say that the US hoped the Russian military
would be exhausted in Ukraine, preventing it from launching further invasions in
the future.
"We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of
things that it has done in invading Ukraine," said Austin. For months, Zelensky
has been begging for heavy weapons -- including artillery and fighter jets --
from western countries, vowing his forces could turn the tide of the war with
more firepower. The calls appear to be resonating, with a host of NATO countries
pledging in recent days to provide a range of heavy weapons and equipment to
Ukraine, despite protests from Moscow. The US has been a leading donor of
finance and weaponry to Ukraine and a key sponsor of sanctions targeting Russia,
but had not yet sent any top officials to Kyiv, while several European leaders
had travelled there to underscore their support. Austin and Blinken said US
diplomats will begin a gradual return to Ukraine this week and announced $700
million (653 million euros) in additional military aid.
Call for talks
The highly sensitive trip by two of President Joe Biden's top cabinet members
came as fighting continued to rage in Ukraine, casting a long shadow over Easter
celebrations in the largely Orthodox country. As
Ukrainians marked a somber Easter, with many braving bombardment for blessings,
Russian forces showed no sign of easing their attacks. Five civilians were
killed and another five wounded in Donetsk on Sunday, the besieged eastern
region's Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Authorities also reported a death in
northeastern Kharkiv. The day before, a missile strike on the southern city of
Odessa left eight dead and at least 18 wounded, according to Zelensky, who said
five missiles hit the historic city. Russia's defense
ministry said it had targeted a major depot stocking foreign weapons near
Odessa. Zelensky accused Russia of being a terrorist state, one that has
devastated the port city of Mariupol with weeks of unrelenting bombardment. And
with thousands of its fighters and civilians in Mariupol facing increasingly
dire conditions, Kyiv said Sunday it had invited Moscow to talks near the
sprawling Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian soldiers are still holding out.
"We invited Russians to hold a special round of talks on the spot, right
next to the walls of Azovstal," the last Ukrainian stronghold in the strategic
port, said Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych.
There was no immediate response from Russia. Its president, Vladimir
Putin, had ordered his forces not to assault the plant, but the Ukrainians say
the attacks continue unabated.
- 'Pause to save lives' -
On Sunday, the United Nations' Ukraine crisis coordinator Amin Awad called for
an "immediate stop" to fighting in Mariupol to allow trapped civilians to leave.
"The lives of tens of thousands, including women, children and older people, are
at stake in Mariupol," Awad said in a statement. "We need a pause in fighting
right now to save lives." The call came a day after the latest attempt to
evacuate civilians from Mariupol failed. In a message posted on social media
Sunday, Sviatoslav Palamar -- deputy commander of the far-right Azov Regiment,
which is sheltering in a warren of tunnels under the steel plant -- said Russian
forces continued to rain down fire on Azovstal.
Another Ukrainian commander Sergey Volyna described the situation in the complex
as "very difficult" and reiterated calls for the international community to help
those remaining escape. "We will not have time to wait
for a military solution to the situation, the situation is very critical. Very
heated. I don't know how much time we have," he said in an interview. Mariupol,
which the Kremlin claims to have "liberated", is pivotal to Russia's war plans
to forge a land bridge to Russian-occupied Crimea -- and possibly beyond, as far
as Moldova. The latest fighting followed an announcement earlier this week from
a senior Russian military officer, who said Moscow aimed to take full control
over the eastern Donbas region and southern Ukraine.
Easter Sunday
Even as fighting raged on, Ukrainians took time to observe a solemn Orthodox
Easter. Near the frontline in the eastern city of Severodonetsk, Ukrainian
troops had hidden their small stock of supplies, including Easter treats, under
a bridge after Russian mortar rounds struck overnight. While others have fled
the country, some Ukrainians have stayed in place -- either bound to the land,
too old or ill to travel, or simply lacking other options.
"I must work," farmer Vassili Kushch, 63, said in the village of Mala
Tokmachka in southern Ukraine, standing near rubble left by a bomb. "I don't
have anywhere else to go."
Russia Warned United States against Sending More Arms to
Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Russia has warned the United States against sending more arms to Ukraine,
Moscow's ambassador to Washington told Russian state television. "We stressed
the unacceptability of this situation when the United States of America pours
weapons into Ukraine, and we demanded an end to this practice," Anatoly Antonov
said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel. Antonov said an official
diplomatic note had been sent to Washington expressing Russia's concerns. He
said such arms supplies from the United States would further aggravate the
situation and raised the stakes of the conflict. Washington's top diplomat and
its defense secretary met Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv late
on Sunday, pledging new assistance worth $713 million for Zelenskiy's government
and other countries in the region fearing Russian aggression. Earlier in April,
US President Joe Biden announced an additional $800 million in military
assistance to Ukraine, expanding the scope of the systems provided to include
heavy artillery. Zelenskiy has been pleading with US and European leaders to
supply Kyiv with heavier arms and equipment. Thousands have been killed and
millions displaced since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it
calls a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" its neighboring country.
Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, displaced
millions and raised fears of a wider confrontation between Russia and the United
States - by far the world's two biggest nuclear powers. President Vladimir Putin
says the "special military operation" in Ukraine is necessary because the United
States was using Ukraine to threaten Russia and Moscow had to defend against the
persecution of Russian-speaking people. Ukraine and the West say Russia began an
unprovoked war of aggression.
Egypt Celebrates Sinai Day by Announcing Security,
Development Victories
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Egypt is preparing to celebrate the anniversary of Sinai Liberation Day from
Israeli occupation, announcing several security and development achievements.
Egypt celebrates Sinai Liberation Day on April 25 every year to commemorate the
completion of the withdrawal of all Israeli military forces from the Sinai
Peninsula in 1982. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday laid a wreath on the
Unknown Soldier Memorial in Cairo's district of Nasr City on the occasion. He
was accompanied by Minister of Defense and Military Production
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Lt-Gen Mohammed Zaki and Chief of Staff
of the Armed Forces Lt-Gen Osama Askar. Sisi then paid his respects at the tomb
of late President Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat. The government announced development
projects in Sinai, with investments worth billions of Egyptian pounds.
Military spokesman Colonel Arkan Harb Gharib Abdel Hafez said the armed forces
had taken it upon themselves to develop the Sinai Peninsula, according to
presidential decrees and in cooperation with the concerned authorities. In
televised statements, he stressed that the armed forces have combated terrorism
over the years and made sacrifices to restore normal life in Sinai. He stated
that developing and changing the lives of the citizens in Sinai was done as the
military was also cracking down on terrorism. The success has been attested in
international reports. Abdel Hafez referred to a UN report that touched on the
state's strategy in combating terrorism on the security, social, and development
levels. He noted that controlling the border is one of the most critical issues
of interest to any country, especially Egypt. The spokesman said the region
suffers from instability, adding that border guards played a significant role in
securing Sinai. He stressed that achieving security and stability guarantees the
development process and preserves Egypt's interests. Meanwhile, the cabinet's
press office issued a report on Sunday announcing state efforts to develop
Sinai. The report outlined a comprehensive plan to achieve development on the
peninsula, including massive national projects in different fields. It reviewed
ventures to connect Egypt's eastern gate with the Delta region to make Sinai,
together with the Canal cities, a natural extension of the Nile Valley. The
Sinai and Canal Cities development plan includes investments worth over EGP700
billion. The projects in the Sinai Peninsula and Canal cities will be developed
over eight years. Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Khaled
Abdel Ghaffar, stated that Egypt will implement 37 projects in higher education
in Sinai, worth EGP13 billion. He revealed that the King Salman International
University comes at the forefront of the national projects for higher education
in Sinai, at EGP10.5 billion.
Jordan’s King Agreed with Biden on Need to Defuse Jerusalem
Tension
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Jordan's King Abdullah agreed with US President Joe Biden on the need to prevent
a repeat of recent confrontations in Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites that sparked
concerns of wider conflict, state media said. In a phone call on Monday, King
Abdullah was quoted as saying the cornerstone of peace was a comprehensive Arab
Israeli settlement based on a two-state solution whereby a Palestinian state
would emerge alongside Israel. The two leaders also discussed bilateral
relations and strategic partnership ways to bolster them in various fields,
reported the kingdom's state news agency (Petra).
Egypt, Jordan, UAE Call for Restoring Calm in Jerusalem
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE have stressed the importance of respecting the legal
and historical status quo at al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, calling for
sustained efforts to restore calm. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received at
the Federal Palace King of Jordan Abdullah II and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss recent developments. The presidential
spokesman, Bassam Rady, said Sisi hosted an Iftar for the leaders, during which
they exchanged congratulations on the occasion of the blessed Eid al-Fitr. Sisi
expressed appreciation for the close and historical relations that bring the
three countries together, stressing Egypt's aspiration to enhance cooperation
among them. He also urged moving towards broader horizons of a strategic
partnership that establishes "extended relations, achieves common interests, and
boosts joint Arab action."
The Egyptian President highlighted the significance of cooperation and
partnership in light of the challenges facing the region and the economic and
social crises resulting from regional and international developments. According
to the statement, King Abdullah II and Sheikh Mohamed voiced their countries'
keenness to bolster cooperation with Egypt for the benefit of the three states.
Both leaders also urged maximizing the benefits of collaborative opportunities
between the three countries, saying "these ties represent a cornerstone for
maintaining regional security and stability and restoring balance to the
region." Rady added that the meeting addressed cooperation between Egypt,
Jordan, and the UAE, and the leaders agreed to continue coordination and
consultation on all issues of mutual interest. The meeting dealt with
strengthening joint Arab action and mutual coordination in light of the
challenges and crises besetting the Arab region and threatening its security and
stability. The talks reviewed the latest developments of the peace process in
the Middle East, and the coordination between the three countries in this
context, in light of the escalations in Jerusalem, stressing the importance of
sustaining efforts to restore calm. The statement added that the Arab leaders
called for respecting the role of the historical Hashemite custodianship in
protecting the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. They also
underscored the importance of stopping all Israeli measures that undermine the
two-state solution and the need to find a political horizon for resuming
"serious and effective" negotiations to resolve Israeli-Palestinian tensions
under international law. The Arab leaders exchanged views on several
international issues, particularly the latest development in the
Russian-Ukrainian war and the Arab world's role in resolving the conflict
through the recently formed Arab League's Liaison Committee. The meeting
stressed the importance of prioritizing dialogue and diplomatic solutions and
endeavors that would accelerate the political settlement of the conflict in a
manner that preserves international security and stability. It reaffirmed the
need to prevent any escalation and deterioration to avoid the aggravation of the
humanitarian and economic situation and thereby its regional and international
impact.
Leading Sadrist Member Slams Turkey, Iran for Attacking
Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
Iraq's First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hakim al-Zamili accused on Sunday Iran
and Turkey of exploiting his country's weakness to launch military attacks and
operations on its territories. Zamili, who is a leading member of the Sadr
movement of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, noted that the violations by Ankara and
Tehran had increased in recent weeks.He made his remarks at a meeting at
parliament aimed at addressing the repeated Turkish and Iranian attacks. The
meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and head of the Sadrist
parliamentary bloc Hassan al-Athari. Athari said the violations pose a threat to
Iraq and undermine its diplomacy. Addressing Hussein, he asked what Iraq was
doing to address the violations. He also wondered whether there was any
credibility to reports that spoke of an agreement between Iraq and Turkey that
allows Turkish forces to enter 30 kilometers deep into Iraqi territory. Last
week, Turkey announced the start of a new ground and air campaign in northern
Iraq, targeting Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants. Dubbed Operation
Claw-Lock, Ankara says the offensive is a measure to prevent the PKK from using
Iraq as a base to carry out attacks in Turkey.
Last month, Iran fired 12 ballistic missiles at Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi
Kurdistan Region. Iran said the barrage was retaliation for an Israeli strike in
Syria that killed two members of the Revolutionary Guards that month. Iranian
state media said the Guards had launched the attack against Israeli "strategic
centers" in Erbil. Global media professor Dr. Ghaleb al-Daami told Asharq Al-Awsat
there was a difference between what Turkey was doing in Iraq versus what Iran
was doing. He explained that Ankara had informed the Iraqi and Kurdish
governments that internationally designated terrorist groups were operating in
Iraq and so it moved to attack them. He criticized Turkey for deploying forces
to Iraq under the pretext of fighting these groups, describing their presence
there as a form of occupation and violation of Iraqi sovereignty. As for Iran,
he said it also has alleged that an armed Iranian opposition group was operating
in Iraq and so it shelled their positions. Tehran, however, failed to inform the
Iraqi government that it was going to attack Erbil, he added. That attack was
politically-motivated, al-Daami charged. That sort of meddling is categorically
rejected. Turkey and Iran must understand that their meddling in Iraqi affairs
and violations against its territories is illegal. They must be deterred, he
urged. The Iraqi government must purge Iraqi territories from armed groups,
whether they are Turkish or Iranian, so that neighboring countries no longer
have an excuse to meddle in Iraq's affairs, he remarked.
Last-Minute Dispute Leads to Delay of First Flight as Part of Yemen Truce
Aden - Ali Rabih/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 April, 2022
A dispute between the Yemeni legitimate government and Iran-backed Houthi
militias over details of the two-month truce agreement led to the delay of the
first scheduled flight out of Sanaa on Sunday. The flight was set to fly to the
Jordanian capital, Amman. The government accused the Houthis of violating the
truce and attempting to add travelers, whose identity could not be confirmed, on
to the flight. It charged that they were holding illegal passports. Information
Minister Moammar al-Iryani said the Houthis did not adhere to the agreement
because they wanted dozens of passengers to board using illegal passports. He
said the government allowed the travel of 104 passengers on the Sanaa-Amman
flight but the Houthis insisted on adding 60 more passengers "with unreliable
passports." He cited reports that said the Houthis were planning to use the
flights to smuggle out dozens of their leading members and experts from the
Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanese Hezbollah party. He called on the
international community, UN and UN envoy Hans Grundberg to pressure the Houthis
to cease their meddling in this humanitarian file and to stop using citizens
living in areas under their control as hostages to achieve their interests.
The Houthis, for their part, criticized the failure to operate the flight,
saying it was a violation of the truce. The militias have been increasingly
violating the truce on the ground for days. As of the weekend, the Yemeni
military had confirmed 2,000 field violations since the announcement of the
truce on April 2. The truce had called for the operation of two flights per week
to and from Sanaa airport from Amman and Cairo. The truce also called for a
nationwide ceasefire, the possibility of opening crossings and ending the Houthi
siege on Taiz, and allowing 18 fuel ships to unload at Hodeidah port.
Grundberg urged both sides to "work constructively" with the UN to address the
challenges that delayed the flight.
"The Truce is meant to benefit civilians including through reducing violence,
making fuel available, and improving their freedom of movement to, from and
within their country,” he said on Twitter.The envoy's office said Grundberg
began mediation efforts to address differences between the two sides on flight
procedures when a disagreement arose on Thursday. It did not elaborate. The
legitimate government stressed its keenness on carrying out everything that
would ease the humanitarian suffering of the people. It said it had taken all
the necessary measures to ensure the operation of the Sanaa flights in line with
the truce agreement. It added that it only recognizes passports that are issued
by the legitimate authorities, meaning the Yemeni government alone. It accused
the Houthis of shutting the Sanaa ticket sales offices of the Yemenia airlines
and of issuing passports to the travelers. "Out of its keenness on the safety of
procedures and commitment to the international community and destination
countries, the government had, through the UN envoy's office, requested that the
Houthis commit to the truce and drop the names of travelers who do not hold
recognized passports," said the government. The militias rejected the request
and the flight was consequently delayed until they abide by the agreement. The
government stressed that it had provided facilitations to people living in
Houthi-held regions to obtain passports from liberated regions.
World leaders welcome Macron's French election win
Agence France Presse/Monday, 25 April, 2022
World
World leaders rushed to congratulate France's centrist President Emmanuel Macron
on his re-election and defeat of far-right leader Marine Le Pen in elections
Sunday.
Here are some of the main reactions:
- European Union -
"I am delighted to be able to continue our excellent cooperation," tweeted
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"We can count on France for five more years," European Council President Charles
Michel wrote on Twitter.
- United States -
"France is our oldest ally and a key partner in addressing global challenges,"
U.S. President Joe Biden tweeted. "I look forward to our continued close
cooperation -- including on supporting Ukraine, defending democracy, and
countering climate change."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also congratulated Macron.
"We look forward to continuing close cooperation with France on global
challenges, underpinning our long and enduring Alliance and friendship," he
wrote.
- Germany -
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said French voters "have sent a strong vote of confidence
in Europe today. I am happy that we will continue our good cooperation."
- Britain -
Prime Minister Boris Johnson called France "one of our closest and most
important allies" and said he looked forward "to continuing to work together on
the issues which matter most to our two countries and to the world."
- Ukraine -
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has spoken with Macron several times since
Russia's invasion on February 24, called Macron a "true friend of Ukraine."
"I wish him further success for the sake of the (French) people. I appreciate
his support and I am convinced that we are moving together towards new common
victories," he wrote in both Ukrainian and French.
- Russia -
Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in a telegram: "I sincerely wish you
success in your state activities, as well as good health and well-being,"
according to a statement from the Kremlin.
- China -
China President Xi Jinping said he would "like to continue working with
President Macron to maintain diplomatic relations based on independence, mutual
understanding, foresight and mutual benefit," according to a readout from state
broadcaster CCTV.
- Australia -
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Macron's victory was a "great
expression of liberal democracy in action in uncertain times."
"We wish you and France every success, in particular your leadership in Europe
and as an important partner to Australia in the Indo-Pacific," he tweeted.
In November, Macron accused his Australian counterpart of lying over a
multibillion-dollar submarine contract that Canberra scrapped without warning.
- Canada -
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was "looking forward to continuing our
work together on the issues that matter most to people in Canada and France --
from defending democracy, to fighting climate change, to creating good jobs and
economic growth for the middle class."
- India -
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated his "friend" on being re-elected and
said "I look forward to continue working together to deepen the India-France
Strategic Partnership."
- Japan -
Tweeting in French, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wrote: "We will
strengthen our close cooperation with President Macron in various areas, such as
the Indo-Pacific region and the Russian aggression against Ukraine."
- Italy -
Prime Minister Mario Draghi described Macron's victory as "great news for all of
Europe".
- Spain -
"The citizens have chosen a France committed to a free, strong and fair EU.
Democracy wins. Europe wins," tweeted socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
"Congratulations Emmanuel Macron."
- Belgium -
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said French voters had made a "strong choice",
opting for "certainty and Enlightenment values".
- U.N. bodies -
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi sent his "warm
congratulations" and said his organization would continue to count on Macron's
support on the European and world stage "as humanitarian challenges and refugee
crises become more serious and complex every day."
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he
looked forward to "continuing the important partnership" with France "for a
healthier, safer, fairer world."
- Ireland -
Prime Minister Micheal Martin hailed Macron's "principled and dynamic
leadership" as "important not only for France, but for Europe."
- Switzerland -
President Ignazio Cassis said he looked forward to "continuing our good
collaboration," stressing the close ties between the two neighboring countries.
- Sweden -
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson sent her "warmest congratulations.""Let's
continue our close cooperation - bilaterally and for a competitive, green and
resilient European Union," she tweeted.
- African Union -
African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat congratulated Macron over
"his brilliant re-election," saying he hoped to continue building "mutually
beneficial relations between Africa and France."
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 25-26/2022
France: Emmanuel Macron
Reelected...The Nationalists Become a Minority in Their Own Country
Yves Mamou/Gatestone Institute./April 25/2022
This French presidential election is a good illustration of the conflict that
runs through all Western societies, namely the fight between the mobile and the
rooted, between globalists and nationalists, between progressive elites and
common citizens, between those who feel good everywhere and those who feel good
where they were born.
Since the late 1980s, all French political life has been built on a fiction. In
France, anyone who opposes the progressive establishment, anyone who opposes
immigration policy, anyone who criticizes, say, the violence -- or the
suppression of women and free speech -- in Islam, is considered the equivalent
of Adolf Hitler's nephew.
During the two weeks preceding the second round of the just-concluded
presidential election, all observers had the feeling that in France, a titanic
metaphysical battle was taking place between Good and Evil.
The public service radio certified every five minutes that Marine Le Pen was
"extreme right" (meaning "racist" and "Nazi").
[T]he exhibition of voting intentions in favor of Macron "was kind of a farce".
All these personalities who express themselves on the vote, do not seek to
"share an opinion... but to exhibit their perfect morality". For these people,
"to think right is to think well. And to think well means to think like them". —
Julia de Funes, author, Le Figaro, April 15, 2022.
In France there is "a single party and if you are not part of it, you are a
fascist, a racist, a xenophobe!" — Michel Onfray, author, Twitter, April, 21,
2022.
The globalists have won. Emmanuel Macron was re-elected President of the French
Republic on April 24, 2022 with an estimated 58% of the votes. Marine Le Pen,
his challenger, got only 42% of the votes. Pictured: Macron speaks at a rally
during election night, April 24, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jeff J
Mitchell/Getty Images)
The globalists have won. Emmanuel Macron was re-elected President of the French
Republic on April 24, 2022 with an estimated 58% of the votes. Marine Le Pen,
his challenger, got only 42% of the votes.
This French presidential election is a good illustration of the conflict that
runs through all Western societies, namely the fight between the mobile and the
rooted, between globalists and nationalists, between progressive elites and
common citizens, between those who feel good everywhere and those who feel good
where they were born.
But in France, this classic conflict between the top and the bottom of society
is not perceived as such. Since the late 1980s, all French political life has
been built on a fiction. In France, anyone who opposes the progressive
establishment, anyone who opposes immigration policy, anyone who criticizes,
say, the violence -- or the suppression of women and free speech -- in Islam, is
considered the equivalent of Adolf Hitler's nephew.
This strange situation was created in the late 1980s by France's socialist
president, François Mitterrand. To divide the right and prevent them from
returning to power. Mitterrand promoted, through the state-owned radio and
television corporations, a microscopic far-right party, the National Front, the
first that actually dared to speak out against immigration.
From the middle of the 1980s until now, the media and the "left" together
manufactured an industrial-strength shame machine to stigmatize as "racist" and
"Nazi" anyone who dared to raise his voice on issues of immigration or the
arguably less-sympathetic aspects of Islam.
During the two weeks preceding the second round of the just-concluded
presidential election, all observers had the feeling that in France, a titanic
metaphysical battle was taking place between Good and Evil.
The daily Le Monde sought out veteran sociologists such as Edgar Morin to assert
that France was facing a "historic risk" if its citizens were losing their minds
and voted for Marine Le Pen. In another article, Le Monde quoted Prefects
(representatives of the state in all regions of France) who "themselves draw
parallels" between a possible election of Marine Le Pen and the invasion of
France by the Nazis in 1940.
Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin explained that with Marine Le Pen, "the
rich may lose weight, but the poor may die".
Some left-wing media outlets, such as L'Obs, raised the spectre of nuclear war.
"If Marine Le Pen were elected, "48,000 Hiroshimas" would become possible.
The public service radio certified every five minutes that Marine Le Pen was
"extreme right" (meaning "racist" and "Nazi").
And the leftists of the Canard Enchainé headlined, "neither Marine, nor Le Pen".
Even Charlie Hebdo featured on its cover, "Sunday, let's get rid of that"
(meaning Le Pen)
NGOs of course were on deck. The Licra, an anti-racist NGO, declared that the
victory of Le Pen would mean "the liberation of xenophobia and racism". The
League of Human Rights called for "demonstrations against the extreme right".
And the NGO SOS Racism added that Le Pen's victory would mean "the establishment
of a French-style apartheid".
The Archbishop of Strasbourg called for a vote for Macron, although the French
Bishops' Conference magnanimously left Christians free to "vote according to
their conscience". The Protestant Federation of France warned against the Le
Pen's National Rally Party, while Jewish organizations (Representative Council
of Jewish Institutions of France and the rabbis of the Consistory) called to
"put up a barrier" against Le Pen.
The Rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, of course, called for voting in favor
of Macron in the name of the fight against "malicious forces that call for the
banishment of Muslims" and the Rassemblement des Musulmans de France (close to
Morocco) explained that "only a vote for Emmanuel Macron allows our country to
preserve the principles of the republic".
About 50 sports stars -- all those athletes who see no problem in going to the
Winter Olympics in Beijing or kicking a ball in Qatar ,where thousands of
workers died while building of air-conditioned stadiums -- signed a vibrant call
to block the National Rally Party and to defend "Republican values".
After the athletes, came the artists. Nearly 500 actors, singers, directors,
producers and dancers called to "block Marine Le Pen... whose program remains
that of xenophobia and inward-looking attitude.
The unions followed. While Le Pen came out on top in the first round of the
presidential election in all blue-collar area, while she was the candidate of
the Yellow Vests and the French working classes, the two largest trade union
organizations, CFDT and CGT, called to "make a barrage" against Le Pen. The
leaders of these two unions even signed an op-ed together, explaining that
"Marine Le Pen is a danger for all workers."
The environmentalist and feminist Alice Coffin tweeted that Le Pen was preparing
to "assassinate" all feminists.
The author Julia de Funes was astonished in Le Figaro by this outpouring of
opinions, and remarked that the exhibition of voting intentions in favor of
Macron "was kind of a farce". All these personalities who express themselves on
the vote, do not seek to "share an opinion... but to exhibit their perfect
morality". For these people, "to think right is to think well. And to think well
means to think like them".
Another author, Michel Onfray, noted on Twitter that in France there is "a
single party and if you are not part of it, you are a fascist, a racist, a
xenophobe!"
These debates prevented -- but perhaps it was their function -- the real
problems from being covered by the media and politicians – such as Muslim
mass-immigration (2 million more Muslim immigrants under the Macron presidency);
the creeping Islamization of the suburbs ; the rampant lawlessness and lack of
security (an assault occurs every 44 seconds and the police are confronted with
refusals to comply every 30 minutes); the abuse of power by the European Union's
courts of justice; the authoritarian drift of the European Commission; Macron's
authoritarian and terrorizing management of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the
violence he wielded against the Yellow Vests --none of these subjects was ever
addressed during the presidential campaign.
Now that the results of the presidential election are known, the media bubble
may revert to how it was before the titanic metaphysical battle. The first
observation that can be made is that the French political landscape is now
entirely upended. The classic parties were swept away. The Socialist Party,
which dominated the political scene since the 1980s, got only 1.75% of the votes
at the first round of the presidential election and Les Républicains, on the
right, won only 4.78% of the votes.
From now on, three new political formations share the electoral terrain, all
three around a central figure: the La République en Marche is Macron's party
(the largest number of voters: 9.8 million voters, 27.8% of the votes in the
first round). It was created in 2016 and its electorate is composed of the
beneficiaries of globalization, some of the French Muslims and retirees who
usually vote for the party in power.
The second largest party in France is the National Rally, centered around Le Pen
(8.1 million votes, 23.15% of the vote in the first round of the presidential
election). The RN is the party of the non-Muslim working class, the party of the
poor people and the middle classes who are attached to the croissant-baguettes
"French way of life". The RN represents the "somewheres" fighting against the "anywheres".
If we add to the RN, the votes collected by Éric Zemmour (2.4 million votes,
7%), the RN equals the party of Macron.
The third party in France is La France Insoumise, built around the thundering
personality of Jean-Luc Mélenchon (7.7 million votes; 21.95% of the vote on the
first round). Mélenchon is a former socialist who wanted to ban the Islamic veil
and who, in 2015, in the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attack that year on
the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, denounced Islamic
fanaticism as his main enemy. Less than five years later, however, in 2019,
Mélenchon made an about-face and demonstrated on the side of Islamic
organizations. Since then, he has multiplied his attacks against police officers
accused of "racist behavior", against secularism which "must not be a state
atheism" -- ether against the "persecution of Muslims" or for "the freedom to
wear the veil". Today, the main collaborators of Mélenchon are Islamists,
leftists and Woke personalities. A recent IFOP poll confirmed that 70% of French
Muslims voted for Mélenchon.
On the evening of his elimination from the first round of the presidential
election, Mélenchon called several times not to vote for Le Pen. Perhaps he was
heard. The Islamists who carried Mélenchon might have joined forces with the
globalists who carried Macron. Both defeated the nationalists who supported Le
Pen.
The nationalists, the French "somewheres", have become a minority in their own
country.
*Yves Mamou, author and journalist, based in France, worked for two decades as a
journalist for Le Monde.
© 2022 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.
A Mostly Wind- and Solar-Powered U.S. Economy Is a
Dangerous Fantasy
Francis Menton/Gatestone Institute./April 25/2022
When President Biden and other advocates of wind and solar generation speak,
they appear to believe that the challenge posed is just a matter of currently
having too much fossil fuel generation and not enough wind and solar; and
therefore, accomplishing the transition to "net zero" will be a simple matter of
building sufficient wind and solar facilities and having those facilities
replace the current ones that use the fossil fuels.
They are completely wrong about that.
The proposed transition to "net zero" via wind and solar power is not only not
easy, but is a total fantasy. It likely cannot occur at all without dramatically
undermining our economy, lifestyle and security, and it certainly cannot occur
at anything remotely approaching reasonable cost. At some point, the ongoing
forced transition... will crash and burn.
[I]t doesn't matter whether you build a million wind turbines and solar panels,
or a billion, or a trillion. On a calm night, they will still produce nothing,
and will require full back-up from some other source.
If you propose a predominantly wind/solar electricity system, where fossil fuel
back-up is banned, you must, repeat must, address the question of energy
storage. Without fossil fuel back-up, and with nuclear and hydro constrained,
storage is the only remaining option. How much will be needed? How much will it
cost? How long will the energy need to remain in storage before it is used?
There should be highly-detailed engineering studies of how the transition can be
accomplished.... But the opposite is the case. At the current time, the
government is paying little to no significant attention to the energy storage
problem. There is no detailed engineering plan of how to accomplish the
transition. There are no detailed government-supported studies of how much
storage will be needed, or of what technology can accomplish the job, or of
cost.
It gets worse:.... Ken Gregory calculated the cost of such a system as well over
$100 trillion, before even getting to the question of whether battery technology
exists that can store such amounts of energy for months on end and then
discharge the energy over additional months. And even at that enormous cost,
that calculation only applied to current levels of electricity consumption....
For purposes of comparison, the entire U.S. GDP is currently around $22 trillion
per year.
In other words: we have a hundred-trillion-or-so dollar effort that under
presidential directive must be fully up and running by 2035, with everybody's
light and heat and everything else dependent on success, and not only don't we
have any feasibility study or demonstration project, but we haven't started the
basic research yet, and the building where the basic research is to be conducted
won't be ready until 2025.
Meanwhile the country heads down a government-directed and coerced path of
massively building wind turbines and solar panels, while forcing the closure of
fully-functioning power plants burning coal, oil and natural gas. It is only a
question of time before somewhere the system ceases to work.... [I]t is easy to
see how the consequences could be dire. Will millions be left without heat in
the dead of winter, in which case many will likely die? Will a fully-electrified
transportation system get knocked out, stranding millions without ability to get
to work? Will our military capabilities get disabled and enable some sort of
attack?
No sane, let alone competent, government would ever be headed down this path.
The Biden Administration's proposed transition to "net zero" via wind and solar
power is not only not easy, but is a total fantasy. It likely cannot occur at
all without dramatically undermining our economy, lifestyle and security, and it
certainly cannot occur at anything remotely approaching reasonable cost. At some
point, the ongoing forced transition will crash and burn. (Photo by VCG via
Getty Images)
With or without Congressional support, President Joe Biden has determined to
move the U.S. as quickly as possible toward an economy predominantly powered by
wind- and solar-sourced electricity. In his earliest days in office, Biden
issued multiple Executive Orders directing the federal bureaucracy to bend all
efforts to achieve this goal. One of those early Executive Orders, dated January
27, 2021 and titled "Tackling the Climate Crisis At Home and Abroad," stated:
"It is the policy of my Administration to organize and deploy the full capacity
of its agencies to combat the climate crisis to implement a Government-wide
approach that reduces climate pollution in every sector of the economy..."
When burned to generate energy, fossil fuels -- coal, oil and natural gas -- all
emit carbon dioxide, otherwise known in Biden-speak as "climate pollution."
Thus, under Biden's directive, they are all to be suppressed. The alternative of
expanding nuclear power has meanwhile equally been made impractical by
regulatory obstruction; and our potential hydro-electric capacity is already
mostly in use. That leaves as the principal remaining option the generation of
more electricity from wind and solar facilities; and indeed, the wind/solar
electricity option is currently the subject of great regulatory favor, including
extensive government subsidies and tax benefits.
On last year's Earth Day, April 22, 2021, Biden issued a press release expanding
on his Executive Orders and setting specific goals for the elimination of fossil
fuels from the U.S. economy. Although Congress has not acted on any such
proposals, the Earth Day press release supposedly committed the United States by
unilateral executive action to "100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by
2035," and to a "net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050."
We are thus as a country embarked on a government-ordered crash program to
eliminate our fossil fuel electricity generation within a very short 13-year
period, and to eliminate all usage of fossil fuels within a not-much-longer 28
years. When Biden and other advocates of wind and solar generation speak, they
appear to believe that the challenge posed is just a matter of currently having
too much fossil fuel generation and not enough wind and solar; and therefore,
accomplishing the transition to "net zero" will be a simple matter of building
sufficient wind and solar facilities and having those facilities replace the
current ones that use the fossil fuels.
They are completely wrong about that.
The green energy advocates, including our President and his administration,
entirely misperceive the challenge at hand. The proposed transition to "net
zero" via wind and solar power is not only not easy, but is a total fantasy. It
likely cannot occur at all without dramatically undermining our economy,
lifestyle and security, and it certainly cannot occur at anything remotely
approaching reasonable cost. At some point, the ongoing forced transition,
should it continue, will inevitably hit physical and/or financial limits, and
will crash and burn. But the circumstances under which the crashing and burning
will occur are currently unknown. Thus, worse than being a mere fantasy, the
attempt to accomplish a "net zero" transition is a highly dangerous fantasy,
putting the lives, health, and security of all Americans at risk as the
attempted transition proceeds to its inevitable failure.
The root of the mostly-unrecognized problem is that wind and solar generation
facilities produce something fundamentally different from what fossil fuels
produce. Fossil fuels produce energy that is reliable and dispatchable, that is,
available when wanted and needed. The wind and sun produce energy that is
intermittent, that is, available only when weather conditions permit, which
often does not correspond to consumer demand.
Here is something that ought to be blindingly obvious, but unfortunately goes
largely unmentioned in discussions of the green energy transition: No amount of
incremental wind and solar power generation on their own can ever provide a
reliable 24/7 electricity grid. Electricity gets produced the moment it is
consumed, and therefore a reliable grid must provide electricity to meet
consumer demand at all hours. To take just the most obvious example, wind
turbines produce nothing when the wind is calm, and solar panels produce nothing
at night; and therefore, a combined wind/solar system produces nothing on a calm
night. Unfortunately, peak electricity demand often occurs in the evening,
shortly after sunset, when the wind is calm or close to it. Without full back-up
from some source, an electrical grid powered by the wind and sun will
experience, as just this one example, a full blackout on every calm night. And
it doesn't matter whether you build a million wind turbines and solar panels, or
a billion, or a trillion. On a calm night, they will still produce nothing, and
will require full back-up from some other source.
Fossil fuels, and particularly natural gas, are fully capable of providing the
back-up needed by a principally wind/solar electricity generation system. But
our President now directs that fossil fuel back-up is "carbon pollution" and
must be eliminated. The remaining option is storage of the energy from the time
when it is produced (e.g., in the case of a wind/solar system, at noon on a
windy June day) until the time when it is needed for consumption (e.g., 7 PM on
a calm December night).
Which brings us to blindingly obvious statement number two: If you propose a
predominantly wind/solar electricity system, where fossil fuel back-up is
banned, you must, repeat must, address the question of energy storage. Without
fossil fuel back-up, and with nuclear and hydro constrained, storage is the only
remaining option. How much will be needed? How much will it cost? How long will
the energy need to remain in storage before it is used? And, do storage systems
exist that can store the energy for that period of time and return it without
significant loss and at the rate required to keep the lights on?
If our government officials were remotely competent, while proposing a green
energy transition for the country over a short period of years -- and with
hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, being spent on the imminent
transition -- these questions should be at the forefront of their attention
every day. Long before the U.S. ever got committed to transition to an energy
system based mostly on wind and sun, it should quite obviously have been far
down the road toward demonstration of the feasibility and cost of the energy
storage systems that are capable of enabling the transition.
There should be highly-detailed engineering studies of how the transition can be
accomplished. The requirements for amounts of batteries measured in gigawatt
hours should be known at a high level of precision. The amounts of materials
needed to produce the batteries should be known with an equally high level of
precision. The technological capabilities of the batteries should be known with
an also equally high level of precision (e.g., What is the optimum chemistry of
the batteries to be used in the system? What will be loss of energy between
input into the battery and consumption? How much in the way of additional
generation facilities must be built to provide for this loss? How long can the
batteries hold the charge? If charge added in June needs to be stored until
December, do the proposed batteries have that capability? Do the proposed
batteries need expensive climate control systems to enable them to hold the
charge before it is used? And so on, and so on.)
Indeed, by this time, supposedly only 13 years from when we will have a
carbon-free electricity system, there should be existing demonstration projects
showing clearly what technology will be used, and that the proposed technology
works and can be deployed at grid scale and at reasonable cost.
But the opposite is the case. At the current time, the government is paying
little to no significant attention to the energy storage problem. There is no
detailed engineering plan of how to accomplish the transition. There are no
detailed government-supported studies of how much storage will be needed, or of
what technology can accomplish the job, or of cost.
It gets worse: In the absence of any serious government effort to address the
engineering challenge of energy storage necessary to back up a predominantly
wind/solar electricity system, the task has instead fallen to a small number of
volunteer amateurs, mostly retired engineers of one sort or another. Several
such people have produced credible calculations indicating that backing up a
predominantly intermittent wind/solar electricity system using only battery
storage will require storage in the range of approximately 30 days of average
usage to avoid significant risk of the batteries running out of charge and the
system crashing. The high amounts of storage required are largely a consequence
of the seasonality inherent in either wind or solar generation, e.g., solar
facilities produce far more electricity in the summer than the winter.
One example of a serious effort to determine how much and what type of energy
storage would suffice to back up a fully wind/solar electricity system was
produced in 2018 by a man named Roger Andrews, a retired engineer then living in
Mexico. Andrews's work appeared on a website called Energy Matters in November
2018. Andrews considered two cases, one for California and the other for
Germany, and obtained detailed data of electricity usage and of production by
existing wind and solar facilities in those places in order to make his
calculations.
Andrews's spreadsheets, and charts appearing in his post, demonstrate that,
largely due to seasonality of production from both the sun and wind, it would
take approximately 30 days of stored electricity usage to get through an entire
year with a wind/solar system. Andrews showed that batteries to hold that amount
of charge would cost in excess of a full year's GDP for either California or
Germany, although, based on existing technology, batteries even at such enormous
cost would not have the capability to hold the charge for sufficient months to
fulfill their task. At the end of his post, Andrews concluded: "[B]attery
storage is clearly not an option for a low-cost 100% renewable future."
In a more recent example, in January 2022, a man name Ken Gregory -- a retired
engineer living in Calgary, Canada -- undertook to produce a spreadsheet
calculating storage requirements and costs for backing up a wind/solar
electricity system for the case of the entire United States. Gregory's work is
accessible at this link. Gregory's spreadsheet is based on detailed (in this
case, hourly) data for actual consumption and generation from existing wind and
solar facilities, with their wildly fluctuating output.
Gregory's principal result is that full back-up by storage of the U.S.
electricity system at current levels of consumption, and assuming all generation
comes from wind and solar, would require something in the range of 250,000
gigawatt hours of battery capacity. Some of that energy would need to remain in
storage for over six months, and be discharged over the course of months. Since
U.S. electricity consumption is currently in the range of 3.7 million GWH per
year, the 250,000 GWH storage requirement calculated by Gregory represents about
24 days of average usage, a result in the same range as the result reached by
Andrews. Gregory calculated the cost of such a system as well over $100
trillion, before even getting to the question of whether battery technology
exists that can store such amounts of energy for months on end and then
discharge the energy over additional months. And even at that enormous cost,
that calculation only applied to current levels of electricity consumption. The
Biden "net zero" plan for 2050 involves the approximate tripling of electricity
consumption, which by Gregory's calculations would drive the cost of the
necessary storage up to the range of some $400 trillion. For purposes of
comparison, the entire U.S. GDP is currently around $22 trillion per year.
Obviously Gregory's calculations could be questioned or modified as to many of
his assumptions, and perhaps his calculation of the cost of such a system is too
high -- or maybe, too low. The fact remains that if the U.S. government were
even slightly competent, it would have its own detailed engineering studies of
how to accomplish its coerced energy transition, let alone, at this late date,
demonstration projects for small cities or towns establishing the feasibility
and cost of what is being proposed. None of that exists. Indeed, none of it is
even in the works.
To fully understand the depths of incompetence with which the U.S. government is
approaching this energy transition, consider the current effort of the federal
Department of Energy called the Energy Storage Grand Challenge. Under this
program, the DOE proposes to hand out grants to study the challenges of creating
batteries to back up the electricity grid when the grid has gone almost fully
wind/solar, and particularly to study the subject of the "long duration"
batteries that will clearly be needed to store and then discharge massive
amounts of energy over the course of months on end to deal with the issue of
seasonality.
According to a piece that appeared in Energy Storage News in September 2021,
here is the status of that effort: "The DOE is also helping to get a US $75
million long-duration energy storage research centre built at Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory, which is expected to open by or during 2025." In other
words: we have a hundred-trillion-or-so dollar effort that under presidential
directive must be fully up and running by 2035, with everybody's light and heat
and everything else dependent on success, and not only don't we have any
feasibility study or demonstration project, but we haven't started the basic
research yet, and the building where the basic research is to be conducted won't
be ready until 2025.
Meanwhile the country heads down a government-directed and coerced path of
massively building wind turbines and solar panels, while forcing the closure of
fully-functioning power plants burning coal, oil and natural gas. It is only a
question of time before somewhere the system ceases to work. It is impossible to
predict exactly when and where that will occur. But it is easy to see how the
consequences could be dire. Will millions be left without heat in the dead of
winter, in which case many will likely die? Will a fully-electrified
transportation system get knocked out, stranding millions without ability to get
to work? Will our military capabilities get disabled and enable some sort of
attack?
No sane, let alone competent, government would ever be headed down this path.
*Francis Menton is the President of the American Friends of the Global Warming
Policy Foundation, and blogs at manhattancontrarian.com
© 2022 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.
Syria’s Idea, from Unity to Freedom
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 25/2022
Syria has historically been associated with the idea of unity- just as Algeria
has been associated with the idea of revolution, Palestine with resistance, and
Lebanon with freedom. The late Algerian President, Ahmed Ben Bella, is said to
have claimed, when the Syrians welcoming him in Damascus chanted: “Unity, unity”
during his visit there, that the country was intoxicated by unity.
Syria, in its nominal present form, is the result of the unity of the states
established by the French mandate. The political consciousness of the many
nationalist intellectuals Syria has produced over the past century revolved
around unity. Some of their critics saw this as an aggrandizement of Syria
through the “reclamation” of Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. Unity with Iraq was
a hot topic in 1950s Syria. At the end of that decade, Syria dissolved itself
into a larger, united state that brought it together with Egypt.
The centrality of unity has rendered this country terrifying to its neighbors,
who are horrified at the prospect, as well as great powers, who had assumed that
the world, in its current configuration of states, was stable. This centrality
also compelled isolation enthusiasts to dub Damascus “the beating heart of
Arabism.” The scourge of Baathist rule that emerged in 1963 was justified as a
response to the 1961 secession from Egypt that was needed to reestablish unity.
The goal of reestablishing unity obviously never materialized, but the
predictable implications of armies and security forces advocating nationalism
did. After a while, the military-security establishment born out of this
obsession with unity swallowed its father, taking an independent trajectory that
needs neither ideologies nor ideologues.
Nothing links Syria with this concept any longer. Toxicity and frivolity have
left the concept totally chewed up: “the beating heart of pan-Arabism” now pumps
Captagon and things of that sort. The Assad regime, with its exceptionally
vicious butchery, has left the country itself in need of unity to bring the many
different spheres of influence that make up its territory together and retrieve
the millions of its former inhabitants scattered inside the country and across
the globe.
However, new ideas that the Russian war on Ukraine brings to mind have begun
latching on to Syrians. This recollection came in two forms: some recalled the
regime and the old idea of unity, likening the relationship between Russia and
Ukraine to that between Syria and Lebanon. As for those who remembered the
Syrian people and the post-unity era, they were shocked by the all too familiar
pain, scorched earth, demolished cities, and weapons that both Syrians and
Ukrainians know well.
The new Syrianism, because the people dared to confront this terrifying regime,
represents standing up to tyranny. It also represents discovering the world and
its potential after an extended period of isolation governed by and enforced in
light of a security regime and the idea of unity. The harsh and widespread
experience of becoming a refugee left those forced to flee their homes feeling
like they had been let out of a bottle: the suffering that comes with
experimentation, failure, and engaging with values and relationships that
Syrians had been forbidden from for decades, including justice, the rule of law,
gender equality, and freedom of expression and movement… And in their many host
countries, the idea of a new Syria took its position in opposition to
nationalist and populist fanaticism, while Syrians represented the victims of
this fanaticism. This reality contrasts sharply with the image that the old
Syria, the Syria of unity, wanted to convey.
Syria has become a rock thrown into the over-extended pool of stagnation our
region is drowning in, a rock that terrifies those clinging to power after it
once terrified the region’s peoples. It reassures the neighboring peoples who
want to see a different future after having reassured only their oppressors
previously.
Nevertheless, Syria’s new idea is brimming with bitterness. Besides the
viciousness of the regime and living in exile, the consensus around the new idea
remains weak among Syrians. As for the reaction of the world to their hardships,
it fluctuates between lukewarm and cold, cynicism and impotence. In any case,
the world looked upon Aleppo from the Kyiv balcony. Additionally, troubled
neighbors often have in mind the Syria of unity when it is the emerging image of
freedom they are looking at. Some of the Lebanese, for example, are still
incapable of distinguishing the new image of Syrianism from the security-service
agent image of old. Thus, you see them choose one of two behaviors: either
cruelty with Syrians as revenge for the legacy of its terrifying security
officers or going along with the security officer because he is, as the Lebanese
remember him, a terrifying being. Some Palestinians entrenched Syria’s
affiliation with the idea of unity, ignoring the great debt they owe the Syrian
people, who had always been immersed in the liberation of Palestine.
Still, the bitterness that stems from the impossibility of unifying the nation
while preserving the path of freedom is strongest: Either the crystallization of
the new Syrian idea outside its borders or a nation where freedoms are trampled
on.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, speculating about the outcome of this metamorphosis
is difficult. For an idea to crystalize outside of the country it is intended
for after a massive calamity, it would necessarily be accompanied by a lot of
conflicts, schisms, and hardships.
However, we can be certain that pursuing this change requires a parallel
transformative process that involves radical and painful reassessments of the
narrative of the country’s history and the values that emerged during the era of
insolation. A final settlement of accounts with the idea of a Syria of unity
would inevitably be at the forefront of such a reassessment.
America’s Era of Free-Lunch Politics Is Over
Matthew Yglesias/Bloomberg/April, 25/2022
The return of inflation for the first time in my lifetime also means the return
of difficult short-term tradeoffs in economic policy for the first time in the
21st century. To put it another way: The era of free-lunch politics is over —
and it’s Republicans, even more than Democrats, who will have a hard time
adjusting.
When George W. Bush was president, it was commonplace to hear Democrats complain
about the irresponsibility of waging two wars while enacting two large tax cuts
and an expansion of Medicare benefits. But the alleged problems with Bush’s
largess were set to occur in the future, with debt burdening our children and
grandchildren. In the near term, economically at least, everything was fine.
During Barack Obama’s presidency, political hysteria about budget deficits
reached a fever pitch, but the failure to address them never generated any
real-world problems. By the time of Donald Trump’s presidency, both parties had
basically stopped worrying about tradeoffs. Trump cut taxes and raised spending,
and disavowed any reforms to Social Security and Medicare.
Now President Joe Biden eschews any rhetoric about fiscal responsibility and
simply proposes new taxes in order to finance new spending. Even though interest
rates remain relatively low, inflation will bring an end to this kind of
free-lunch policymaking.
For starters, it’s not clear how long rates can or will stay low — they are
rising, and the US Federal Reserve is going to keep increasing them for a while.
Beyond the green-eyeshade aspect of it, the difficulty is that the US economy is
now constrained by real resources. Policies such as student-loan relief, which
could have been useful stimulus a few years ago, have become inflationary. Even
tax cuts, unless offset by spending cuts that take money out of someone’s
pocket, would fuel inflation. By the same token, new spending on social benefits
that puts cash in pockets will be inflationary unless it’s taxed away from
somewhere else. While a few years ago Biden could have argued that his tough
“Buy America” provisions for infrastructure projects were necessary to create
jobs, today there is an excess of job openings.
To be clear: That strong labor market is a signature achievement of the Biden
administration. But the nature of achievements is that, once you achieve them,
you don’t need to keep on achieving them.
This administration, whatever its other shortcomings, has cured a chronic demand
shortfall that has plagued the US for decades. Now it needs to pivot from
progressive dreamscapes and toward a universe of hard tradeoffs. Deficit
spending and protectionist regulations can no longer be justified as stimulus —
and it’s not practical to fund programs by taxing the wealth or unrealized
capital gains of billionaires.
In other words: Spending more in one area will require spending less in another.
That can be done with taxation to reduce private spending — it can even be done
with taxing the rich — but the base would need to be larger than the tiny groups
targeted by these kinds of ideas.
If the end of free-lunch economics is bad news for the progressive left,
however, it’s worse news for Republicans.
Both former President Bill Clinton and Obama successfully practiced forms of
austerity politics, dramatizing for voters the tradeoffs between conservative
tax policy and the stability and security of Medicare, Medicaid and Social
Security. Bush’s political standing imploded when he tried to privatize Social
Security, and Trump’s effort to pare back Medicaid likewise ended in tears.
Indeed, Trump was lucky to be president at a moment when much of the
establishment had wrongly concluded that the US was at full employment. Under
the circumstances, the mix he delivered — increased spending, lower taxes, and
more restrictions on trade and immigration — led to mostly good results. But
deploying the same policies in today’s radically altered situation would be
extremely destructive.
Yet rising Republican stars have not come up with anything better. Successful
Republican governors such as Florida’s Ron DeSantis and Virginia’s Glenn
Youngkin are practicing free-lunch politics — tempering their culture-warrior
schtick with increases in school funding and teacher salaries. They can do that
because, perversely, the Democrats’ American Rescue Plan gave so much money to
states and localities over Republican objections.
Six years into the Trump era, however, there’s been no new synthesis of economic
thinking among Republicans, no meat on the populist bones. When National
Republican Senate Campaign Committee Chair Rick Scott decided to write down some
policy ideas, they were so politically toxic that Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell has been disavowing them at every opportunity.
Yet all that stuff that former House Speaker Paul Ryan used to say about
entitlement spending remains true. With the population aging, the price of
keeping a constant set of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits in
place is rising over time. Post-Trump Republicans, meanwhile, are more wedded
than ever to a political approach that requires higher spending on the military
and related matters like policing and border security.
Democrats actually have an answer to the question of how to pay for all that —
raise taxes, mostly on rich people — even if they don’t have a realistic
strategy for a transformation of American society. But Republicans really don’t
have an answer. Ever since George H.W. Bush broke his “no new taxes” pledge and
the party rebelled against him, the conservative movement has been coasting on
free-lunch politics. Democrats have driven themselves batty complaining about
the intellectual dishonesty of it, but in practice the economic situation has
validated the Republicans’ refusal to make responsible fiscal choices.
Those days are coming to an end. For now, that’s Joe Biden’s problem. But it’s
the GOP that has no solution.