English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 04/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.december04.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Saint
Barbara the Martyr (235)
Saint Barbara Annual Day is is celebrated on the 4th of December
Saint Barbara was born in Baalbek, Lebanon. Her father Dioscorus was rich and a
fanatical pagan. He raised her well with science and literature, and brought her
the most famous teachers, among them Valentianos, who taught her the secrets of
the Christian religion. Her father felt her inclination to the Christian faith,
so he imprisoned her in a fortified tower, and established idols around her to
worship. As for her, she kept receiving Christian teachings from behind the
walls at the hands of Valentianus. She began to practice prayer, fasting and
meditation, after which she asked her servants to destroy the statues placed in
the tower. Her father knew about it, so he got angry, insulted her, beat her,
and threw her into a dark basement. The next day, he summoned her before the
governor, Marcianus, so that she might fear and return to worshiping the pagan
gods. He ordered her to be flogged, so her body was torn apart and her blood
gushed out while she was patient, silent, and submitting her matter to God. And
at night, Christ appeared to her and healed her wounds. The next morning, the
governor summoned her and saw her well, and said to her: “The gods took pity on
you and healed you.” She replied: “It is Christ Jesus who healed me, and he is
the master of life and death.” So he ordered her to be flogged again, then to
cut off her head. Barbara received the crown of martyrdom in the year 235.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on December 03-04/2022
Video Report From The Washington Institute/Hezbollah Turns 40: Implications of
the Group’s Internal, Regional, and Strategic Shifts/Participants: Hanin Ghaddar, Matthew
Levitt, Mona Fayad, Akeel Abbas/
Al-Rahi presides over Mass at the invitation of "Risalat Salam" Association,
marking the "International Day for People with Special Needs"
Al-Rahi slams those blocking president election pending 'foreign' instructions
Mikati expects 'broad' participation in cabinet session by 'patriotic' ministers
Mikati faces row over Lebanese Cabinet meeting on Monday
UN refugee agency chief calls for sustained support to Lebanon’s most vulnerable
Lebanese PM opens 64th edition of Beirut int'l and Arab book fair
Qassem: We won't agree to a president who would stir strife
EU-TAF support project to Lebanese companies concludes work with ceremony in
Beirut
Agriculture Minister during his inauguration of “Mouneh Day” in Baalbek Citadel:
We will attend Monday’s cabinet session, for we believe that...
UN: Iraq Christians were victims of Islamic State war crimes
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on December 03-04/2022
Pope Francis addresses a message to participants in the “Rome Conference for
Dialogues between Mediterranean Countries”
Iranian state media: Construction begins on nuclear plant
Ukraine welcomes Russian oil price cap agreed by EU, G7
Putin not sincere about peace talks now, says top U.S. diplomat
African former rebels recruited as mercenaries by the Kremlin-linked Wagner
Group have been abandoned in Ukraine, a report says
The death of an American soldier fighting in Ukraine exposes chaos and
dysfunction in the foreign legion
Turkish strikes on US Kurd allies resonate in Ukraine war
Gaza militants fire rocket into Israel amid West Bank
Macron caps US visit with New Orleans trip, meetup with Musk
Biden, Prince William meet in chilly Boston
Titles For The
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on December 03-04/2022
Here’s Why Ukraine’s Independence Vote Exposes Putin’s Lies/Joshua D.
Zimmerman/The Daily Beast/December 3, 2022
Khamenei Focusing on “External Threats,” Not Protest Demands/Omer Carmi//The
Wasington Institute/December 03/2022
Iran Team’s Ambivalent Approach to Protests During the World Cup/S. Houseini/The
Wasington Institute/December 03/2022
Biden Administration Turns a Blind Eye to Iranian Regime's Brutal Crackdown/Dr.
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute./December 3, 2022
Can a ‘Paris moment’ be delivered for nature?/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/December
04, 2022
on December 03-04/2022
فيديو ندوة
نقاش من معهد واشنطن تلقي الأضواء على حزب الله بعد مرور 40 سنة على
تأسيسه..المشاركون هم حنين غدار ووماثيو لفت ومنى فياض وعقيل عباس
Video Report From The Washington Institute/Hezbollah Turns 40: Implications of
the Group’s Internal, Regional, and Strategic Shifts/Participants: Hanin Ghaddar, Matthew
Levitt, Mona Fayad, Akeel Abbas/
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113822/audio-report-from-the-washington-institue-hezbollah-turns-40-implications-of-the-groups-internal-regional-and-strategic-shifts-participants-hanin-ghaddar-matthew-levitt-mona-f/
December 03/2022
Al-Rahi presides over Mass at the invitation of "Risalat
Salam" Association, marking the "International Day for People with Special
Needs"
NNA/December 03, 2022
Jbeil - Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, presided today
over a festive Mass at the “Priest's Home” in Maad, at the invitation of the "Risalat
Salam" Association marking the “International Day for People with Special
Needs.”In his sermon on the occasion, the Patriarch spoke about the launch of
the association and its importance in the Lebanese society, saluting its
founder, Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar, and its members for
their valuable humanitarian work. He reminded that "15 percent of the world's
population includes people with special needs, and 180 countries have signed the
Bill of Rights for these needs,” deeming this “a good sign of human
progress."“All people are called upon to live in mercy, especially Christians
who believe in Christ. They have to be more and more merciful and loving, for
this is our identity. The world cannot live without mercy, neither in the
family, nor in the state, nor in the homeland, because the bond between people
is called mercy, and our world today needs mercy more than ever before," al-Rahi
underlined. The Patriarch called for raising prayers to the Lord Almighty for
the sake of our state and country, “so that He may get us out of this crisis we
are living in today, starting with the election of a president of the republic,
all the way to the constitutional institutions, so that Lebanon takes
responsibility for itself, and officials and institutions alike...in order to
safeguard our people against disability in wake of the prevailing disabilities
of poverty, deprivation and migration.”
Al-Rahi praised the association's efforts in helping people with special needs,
calling on those capable to provide it with the necessary support to continue
its mission.
Al-Rahi slams those blocking president election pending
'foreign' instructions
Naharnet/December 03, 2022
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has called on those casting blank votes in
the presidential election sessions to declare the name of their candidate. “Who
is your candidate? Why don’t you declare his name and vote for him? If there are
names you can negotiate on you would call for negotiations,” al-Rahi said in an
interview from Rome with Radio Free Lebanon. “Why are you doing this only to the
Maronite Christian president, whereas the parliament speaker gets elected in one
session and the premier gets designated immediately after the parliamentary
consultations, as if you are saying that you can without a president,” the
patriarch added. “If you are keen on the (National) Pact, where is the Christian
element while you are blocking the president’s election and where is the
separation of powers? This is all against the constitution and tyranny and
oppression against Lebanon,” al-Rahi decried. Responding to a question, the
patriarch said: “If they were able to resolve the presidential issue
domestically, they would have elected a president, and this indicates, week
after week, that they are awaiting the keyword from abroad, unfortunately.” “The
Christian majority has proposed a candidate for the presidency, so let others
propose a name instead of saying that Christians have not agreed yet. Until now,
it seems that there is no consensus over a candidate pending foreign
instructions… but the Lebanese officials must hold consultations and vote,
seeing as this is how the pope and the patriarch get elected,” al-Rahi said.
“Should we seek an agreement prior to election, we will have neither a pope nor
a patriarch,” the patriarch added. “I say that Lebanon has the right to have a
president and no one has the right to block this election, because the absence
of a president means that there is a body without a head and also stands for the
disintegration of the state,” al-Rahi went on to say.
Mikati expects 'broad' participation in cabinet session by
'patriotic' ministers
Naharnet/December 03, 2022
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday defended his call for a
cabinet session on Monday -- the first to be held amid a presidential vacuum
that followed the end of Michel Aoun’s six-year term. “We will only approve the
matters that we and the ministers believe are necessary,” Mikati said after his
inauguration of the Beirut International and Arab Book Fair 2022. He added that
the session’s main objective is approving a decree related to dialysis and
cancer patients. Dismissing accusations suggesting that his cabinet is
“dismembered,” Mikati stressed that the government is “complete” and “what it is
doing is acting in caretaker capacity with the aim of serving the
citizen.”“Whoever has an alternative should come forward,” he added. “I’m
carrying out my full duty by calling for the session, and based on my relation
with the ministers throughout the past period, they enjoy the same patriotic
sense and mayve more, that’s why I believe that there will be broad
participation,” Mikati went on to say. Lamenting that some are depicting his
call for the session as being “sectarian” or “targeted against a certain group,”
Mikati underlined that “offerings and assistance do not discriminate between a
patient and another.”Told that some are accusing him of being “the Shiite Duo’s
ruler,” Mikati said “let him remember how much he flexed his muscles when the
Shiite Duo was supportive of him,” in reference to Free Patriotic Movement chief
Jebran Bassil. Mikati's decision to convene cabinet has reignited his standoff
with the FPM, which refuses that any session be held amid the ongoing
presidential vacuum. In a statement, the FPM has warned that such a session
would “violate the constitution,” stressing that it will not “bow to any
blackmail.” And in a tweet overnight, FPM MP Ghassan Atallah warned that "Mikati's
violation of all norms and constitutions and the attempt to challenge a main
party are rejected and shall not pass."
Mikati faces row over Lebanese Cabinet meeting on Monday
Najia Houssari/Arab News/December 03, 2022
BEIRUT: Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for a Cabinet
meeting on Monday to deal with urgent matters in the country. He announced the
move during a speech at the inauguration of the International Arab Book Fair in
Beirut. The move has outraged Christian blocs in the Lebanese ruling class which
consider it an unconstitutional step and an attempt to bypass the priority of
electing a new president. Some eight electoral sessions have failed to procure a
new president and the leadership vacuum has entered a second month. Mikati
confirmed that he had called the Cabinet to convene to try and tackle problems
which, he said, were deemed important by ministers. An agenda comprising 65
items has been issued, although Mikati pledged in a parliamentary session held
about a month ago not to call a Cabinet session amid the presidential vacuum,
unless everyone agreed to the move.
The decision raised concerns among members of the Free Patriotic Movement. The
party denounced the invitation, fearing that the resigned government will carry
out prerogatives reserved for the president. In an attempt to reassure those who
are skeptical, Mikati said more than 40 items could be excluded from the agenda.
He said: “We will only approve the matters that are deemed important and urgent
by ministers. “It disappoints me when some people consider the meeting a
sectarian move or an attempt that targets a specific group. “Do we discriminate
when we provide assistance? What is being said is unacceptable.”Mikati added:
“There’s a file related to cancer and dialysis patients that should be approved.
“What our Cabinet does is perform governmental duties to serve the citizens.
Whoever has an alternative can propose it.” Mikati said he hoped no one would
boycott the meeting as ministers had a sense of patriotism. He added he was
hopeful of a broad participation on Monday. He also called on those responsible
to accelerate the process of electing a president. He said: “What is required
first and foremost is the political will of the various political forces and
blocs to complete the convening of constitutional institutions by electing a new
president as soon as possible.”He added that the adoption of reform laws must
take place before the final agreement with the International Monetary Fund, in
order to secure the opportunity for the promised economic recovery. The urgent
item that prompted Mikati to call the Cabinet session is related to the
settlement of amounts due to hospitals.
It includes the approval of a request to cover the purchase of medicines for
incurable and cancerous diseases using $35 million from the Central Bank over
three months. Ministers from the FPM announced that they will boycott Monday’s
session. However, it has been reported that Mikati’s move received the support
of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, despite the strong alliance between
Hezbollah and the FPM. The Syndicate of Hospitals in Lebanon said that using
people’s health for political sparring was unacceptable. It said patients were
not responsible for the presidential vacuum, nor for the governmental status and
the prerogatives of the caretaker Cabinet.
It has been reported that Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Tourism
Minister Walid Nassar, Justice Minister Henri Khoury, Social Affairs Minister
Hector Hajjar, Energy Minister Walid Fayad and Defense Minister Maurice Slim
will not attend Monday’s meeting.
However, despite the boycott, the quorum will still be met, as two-thirds of the
members and Christian ministers from other blocs will attend it. Meanwhile,
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi has criticized the inability of parliament to
elect a president after eight electoral sessions. He described the unsuccessful
parliamentary sessions as “comical.” Addressing the deputies of Hezbollah and
the FPM, who keep casting blank votes, he added: “Why don’t you announce your
candidate’s name? “Why would you secure the quorum in the first round, then
leave in the second round? Isn’t this disrespectful to the Lebanese people and
the presidency? “Why do you act like this when it comes to the Maronite
Christian president, while you elect the parliamentary speaker in one session
and the prime minister is designated immediately following parliamentary
consultations? “It is as if you are saying that you can do without a president.
If you were keen on respecting the national pact, how is the Christian element
represented when you keep missing the chance to elect a president?”
UN refugee agency chief calls for sustained support to
Lebanon’s most vulnerable
AFP, Beirut/03 December ,2022
The United Nations’ refugee agency chief called Saturday for sustained support
for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and vulnerable Lebanese citizens, three years
after the country’s economy began collapsing. “We must stand with Lebanon,”
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said at the end of a three-day visit to Beirut. He
urged the international community to help the country as it faces “one of its
hardest moments” and hosts “one of the largest refugee populations per capita in
the world.”Since late 2019, Lebanon has been in the throes of an economic crisis
dubbed by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern history, dealing an
especially heavy blow to vulnerable communities, including refugees. Hundreds of
thousands of Syrians fled to Lebanon after the country’s civil war began in 2011
with the brutal suppression of anti-regime protests. Authorities say Lebanon
hosts around two million Syrian refugees, while nearly 830,000 are registered
with the UN. In a statement, Grandi said sustained support for Lebanon was
needed “now more than ever... both to support Lebanese in need and the hundreds
of thousands of refugees that they have generously hosted for so many
years.”During his visit, Grandi met with officials including caretaker Prime
Minister Najib Mikati “to discuss how to better support vulnerable Lebanese and
refugees,” the statement added. Lebanese authorities have long pushed for Syrian
refugees to return to their home country, and have made several repatriation
efforts they describe as voluntary, but human rights groups have branded the
returns as forced. “The government reiterated its urgent appeal for an end to
the refugee crisis,” Grandi said, adding that UNHCR was working toward this goal
“despite the complex and challenging situation.”Since the Damascus regime
regained control of most of Syria, some host countries have sought to expel
refugees from their territories, citing a relative end to hostilities. But
rights groups say some refugees have faced prosecution, and reject the idea that
refugee returns to Syria are safe.
Lebanese PM opens 64th edition of Beirut int'l and Arab
book fair
BEIRUT, Dec. 3 (Xinhua)/03 December ,2022
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati inaugurated the 64th edition of the Beirut
International and Arab Book Fair on Saturday. The book fair, which will last
until Dec. 11, has attracted around 133 publishing houses and will include 24
symposiums for people to interact and discuss various topics. In a statement
released by the Council of Ministers, Mikati highlighted the broad participation
of Arab publishers in the fair, describing it as a cultural landmark where
writers can interact with readers. "People from Lebanon and Arab countries wait
for the opening of this event to witness this warm and direct meeting between
the reader and the book, and most of the time, between the reader and the
writer," he said. The first edition of the book fair was held in the mid-1950s,
making it one of the oldest book fairs in the Arab region.
Qassem: We won't agree to a president who would stir
strife
Naharnet/03 December ,2022
Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Friday stressed that the country’s
next president must have two main concerns: “rescuing the country economically
and cooperation with all parties.”“As for the controversial political issues,
they should be referred to a calm dialogue, including the defense strategy,”
Qassem tweeted. He added: “We will not agree to a president who would stir
strife and who wouldn’t appreciate the blessing of liberation and the martyrs’
blood.”We will not agree to a president who would “serve the American-Israeli
scheme,” Hezbollah number two emphasized.
“Say what you want about us but we will not surrender Lebanon to the
foreigners,” Qassem went on to say.
EU-TAF support project to Lebanese companies concludes
work with ceremony in Beirut
Naharnet/03 December ,2022
The closing ceremony of the Technical Assistance Facility for the Lebanese
Private Sector (EU-TAF) project in Lebanon funded by the European Union and
implemented by DAI was held on December 1. The ceremony took place in the
presence of Alessia Squarcella, Deputy Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to
Lebanon, European Commission and Sinisa Djuric, DAI Project Director along with
more than 20 companies in the agri-food, creative ICT and healthcare sectors who
benefitted from the 34-month support program to realize their commercial
potential. Launched in February 2020, the EU-TAF initiative came at a critical
juncture in Lebanon’s history, as it began struggling with one of the world’s
worst economic and social crisis in 150 years. Developing the productive sectors
is crucial to support the country’s early recovery and future sustainable
growth, and will contribute to create job opportunities, especially for women
and youth in disadvantaged areas. “The private sector has an important role to
play, namely advocating for reforms and engaging in public-private dialogue with
decision makers, but also by being ready to abide to the reforms, for the
benefit of the entire country. Lebanon cannot wait," Squarcella said. "Delivered
through a systematic, strategic support process, by excellent local and
international experts, the companies were assisted in building local and
international competitiveness, and market development through innovation,
enhanced processes, improved quality, and productivity, in all elements of their
value chains. This included such areas as market profiling, & validation,
operations, compliance & standards, distribution & channel partners, strategy,
international, exports market & action planning in and their implementation," a
press release said. “The EU-TAF wasn’t one the largest DAI’s projects in terms
of the volume, but we believe it is one of the most impactful and important ones
as it is seen as being an exemplar for how private sector development support
could be implemented in future,” Siniša Djurić, EU-TAF project Director, said.
19 participant companies have, through the project, developed new products and 9
of them are already in export markets and, in November 2022, 13 companies
traveled to their respective target markets, namely, France, Spain, Netherlands,
Belgium, Germany, Turkey, & the UAE, after buyers saw potential in their
products and accepted to meet with them. "Lebanon’s Manufacturing and ICT
Creative sectors represent the best opportunity for its future wealth, increased
local economy value add and job creation, to overcome the current economic
crisis and enable the building of a viable defensible position within the global
cohort of developing, growth countries," the press release added. “Today, it is
the private sector in Lebanon that is holding the country together. We need
regulatory reforms to strengthen the industry and attract the talented Lebanese
individuals who left the country, giving them incentive to come back," said
Sleiman El Haddad, Head of Administration Division at Crown Flour Mills. The
event concluded with the closing remarks of Declan Gordon Carroll, EU-TAF
project Team leader, who reminded that the EU-TAF was a project which set out to
create an "exemplary approach" for how private sector development (PSD), in
Lebanon, can be better supported. "It highlighted the need, not only for
financial resources, but access to, world class commercial expertise,
strategically, and operationally," the press release said. "We hope that such
services and expertise become a prime of intervention of future government and
donor initiatives to support," it added.
Agriculture Minister during his inauguration of “Mouneh
Day” in Baalbek Citadel: We will attend Monday’s cabinet session, for we believe
that...
NNA/Sat, December 3, 2022
Caretaker Minister of Agriculture, Abbas Hajj Hassan, affirmed today, "We, as a
political team, will attend the cabinet session next Monday, God willing,
because we believe that managing the affairs of the state and public facilities
that directly concern people's livelihood in all branches is a basic national
duty that cannot be abandoned...away from all constitutional and
non-constitutional interpretations that might obstruct matters.” He added:
“Interpretations do not benefit the country, we need to work and combine all
efforts to facilitate and unite, not to complicate, obstruct and cause
disharmony.”
"We are continuing to implement our plans and strategies for the Ministry of
Agriculture, and no obstruction will stop us, and we will hold any perpetrator
accountable, because playing with food security is national treason par
excellence," he maintained. The Minister’s words came during his inauguration of
the “Mouneh Day” event held at Baalbek’s Castle earlier today in presence of
dignitaries from the region. Hajj Hassan referred to today's event, which begins
today from Baalbek and will be in various Lebanese regions in the coming days,
as being a “message to the inside and outside, confirming our capabilities in
terms of cooperative work, in participating in an economic renaissance whose
starting points are agricultural, industrial and economic."“The centrality of
cooperatives in the agricultural sector is essential, and we want them to be
more effective in order to be the regulator of the relationship between farmers
and the Lebanese consumer, and we also want Lebanese production to compete in
foreign markets," he asserted. Announcing the launch of “Mouneh Day” from
Baalbek, Hajj Hassan said: "We will have a station in every region of Lebanon,
specifically in the castles, because we need to link the present with the past,
because our history is very honorable...and this castle, how I wish it would be
a destination for visitors and that a permanent agricultural and
non-agricultural exhibition would be held in it.”He thanked the Minister of
Culture for facilitating the holding of today’s launching from Baalbek’s
historic castle, hoping for further cooperative work in support of Lebanese
farmers.
UN: Iraq Christians were victims of Islamic State war
crimes
Associated Press/Sat, December 3, 2022
Evidence collected in Iraq strengthens preliminary findings that Islamic State
extremists committed crimes against humanity and war crimes against the
Christian community after it seized about a third of the country in 2014, a U.N.
investigative team said in a report circulated Thursday. The report to the U.N.
Security Council said crimes included forcibly transferring and persecuting
Christians, seizing their property, engaging in sexual violence, enslavement and
other "inhumane acts," such as forced conversions and destruction of cultural
and religious sites. In addition, the team said it has identified leaders and
prominent members of the Islamic State extremist group who participated in the
attack and takeover of three predominantly Christian towns in the Nineveh plains
north of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, in July and August 2014 --
Hamdaniyah, Karamlays and Bartella. It also started collecting evidence on
crimes committed against the Christian community in Mosul. Islamic State
fighters seized Iraqi cities and declared a self-styled caliphate in a large
swath of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014. The group was formally declared
defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year bloody battle that left tens of
thousands dead and cities in ruins, but its sleeper cells continue to stage
attacks in different parts of Iraq. The 26-page report was submitted by the U.N.
Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes committed by the Islamic
State group, also known as IS, ISIL and Daesh.
The team updated its investigations into the extremists' development and use of
chemical and biological weapons, attacks on the Yazidi and Sunni communities,
the mass execution of prisoners and detainees at Badush prison near Mosul in
June 2014, and crimes in and around Tikrit. In December 2021, the head of the
U.N. team, Christian Ritscher, told the Security Council that Islamic State
extremists committed crimes against humanity and war crimes at the prison in
Badush. In May 2021, Ritscher's predecessor, Karim Khan, told the council that
investigators had found "clear and compelling evidence" Islamic State extremists
committed genocide against the Yazidi minority in 2014. He also said the
militant group successfully developed chemical weapons and used mustard gas. The
new report said Ritscher's team found evidence of payments to the families of
Islamic State members killed deploying chemical weapons and records of payments
for training senior operatives on the use of chemical weapons and devices to
disperse such weapons.
The team said it is still assessing evidence of the use of agents.
"Evidence suggests that ISIL manufactured and produced chemical rockets and
mortars, chemical ammunition for rocket-propelled grenades, chemical warheads
and improvised explosive devices," the report said. "Furthermore, the ISIL
program involved the development, testing, weaponizations and deployment of a
range of agents, including aluminum phosphide, chlorine, clostridium botulinum,
cyanide, nicotine, ricin, and thallium sulphate."As for the destruction of
cultural and religious sites by Islamic State fighters, the team said it
expanded its investigations into different Iraqi communities and focused on
several areas in Nineveh and Mosul. This has led to a preliminary inventory of
over 150 Kaka'i, Shabak and Shia Turkmen sites "suspected of having been
destroyed by ISIL, along with enforced displacements, disappearances and
sometimes killings of members of those communities," the team said. It also
identified places of worship and heritage sites in Tikrit that were severely
damaged or destroyed by ISIL. "The evidence obtained thus far shows that
religious and cultural sites were either intentionally destroyed or taken over
and occupied by ISIL, sometimes for military purposes, which resulted in their
severe damage or destruction," it said. "While the motives and methods adopted
by ISIL are still being reviewed, it appears that explosives and heavy equipment
were used to destroy many of the sites."With regard to attacks on the Yazidi
community in Sinjar, the team said it has expanded the list of identified
perpetrators to currently include the names of 2,181 individuals, including 156
foreign fighters. "In-depth case files have been developed in relation to 30
primary persons of interest," it said. The team said it has expanded its
investigation into crimes by Islamic State against the Sunni community in Anbar,
citing progress in its probe of the execution of hundreds of members of the Albu
Nimr tribe between 2014 and 2016. The U.N. investigation of the mass execution
of detainees at Badush prison on June 10-11, 2014, continues, the team said,
including interviews with additional witnesses and survivors. This yielded "new
and corroborative evidence on the circumstances under which approximately 1,000
predominantly Shia prisoners were targeted and executed by ISIL inside the
prison and in various other locations," it said. The team said it has also
continued investigating crimes against civilians in Tikrit and Alam in 2014 and
2015, and is gathering further evidence on the mass killing of unarmed military
cadets and personnel from the Tikrit Air Academy in June 2014. In the coming
months, the investigators said they plan to focus on transitioning from
investigations to building cases and sharing information with Iraq to spur
prosecutions and accountability.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on December 03-04/2022
Pope Francis addresses a message to
participants in the “Rome Conference for Dialogues between Mediterranean
Countries”
NNA/Sat, December 3, 2022
Rome - Pope Francis stressed the importance of dialogue, cooperation and
confronting problems, in his message addressed to the participants in the 8th
session of the “Rome Conference for Dialogues between the Mediterranean
Countries”, in which Lebanon’s Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah
Bou Habib is partaking. The Pope touched on several important issues such as
immigration and the war in Ukraine and other topics, in his message during the
conference organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation and the Italian Institute for International Political
Studies for shared policies in the Mediterranean region. The Supreme Pontiff
highlighted the significance of the conference in its commitment to dialogue and
joint reflection in search of coordinated solutions or approaches for the common
interests of the peoples bordering on the Mediterranean Sea with their diverse
cultures. The Pope spoke in his message of the capacity of the Mediterranean Sea
to connect three continents, a bond that has been very fruitful historically,
and also through migration. He said: “With this sea, Africa, Asia and Europe
converge, but unfortunately we often forget that the lines that delineate
borders are also those that connect.”Pope Francis continued to consider that
through such an intersection of humanity, many opportunities await us and we
must therefore restore the culture of encounter from which we have benefited so
much...”Thus, a sense of fraternity can be rebuilt by developing more just
economic relations and also more humane relations, including with immigrants,”
he asserted. His Holiness underlined the importance of the diverse topics
offered for reflection during the conference, revealing that social and ethical
issues cannot be separated from the multiple situations of a geopolitical crisis
or from environmental issues. “From this perspective, the notion of facing
individual issues separately while ignoring other issues is a misleading method
because it carries the risk of reaching partial and dysfunctional solutions that
do not solve the problems at stake, but rather make them chronic,” deemed the
Pope. "Intertwined subjects require collective study through a coordinated
vision in the broadest possible way, which emerged strongly during the crisis
resulting from the pandemic, and which was an additional confirmation that no
one can survive alone," he maintained. The Pope stressed the need for all people
to gain greater awareness that the cry of our poorly treated planet is
inseparable from the cry of suffering humanity. “This goal is also the horizon
of commitment for men and women of good will,” he told the participants, adding,
“Let this also be the horizon of your dialogues,” as he wished them a fruitful
work session.
Iranian state media: Construction begins on
nuclear plant
CAIRO (AP)/Sat, December 3, 2022
Iran on Saturday began construction on a new nuclear power plant in the
country's southwest, Iranian state TV announced, amid tensions with the U.S.
over sweeping sanctions imposed after Washington pulled out of the Islamic
Republic's nuclear deal with world powers.
The announcement also comes as Iran has been rocked by nationwide
anti-government protests that began after the death of a young woman in police
custody and have challenged the country's theocratic government. The new
300-megawatt plant, known as Karoon, will take eight years to build and cost
around $2 billion, the country’s state television and radio agency reported. The
plant will be located in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province, near its western
border with Iraq, it said. The construction site’s inauguration ceremony was
attended by Mohammed Eslami, head of Iran’s civilian Atomic Energy Organization,
who first unveiled construction plans for Karoon in April. Iran has one nuclear
power plant at its southern port of Bushehr that went online in 2011 with help
from Russia, but also several underground nuclear facilities. The announcement
of Karoon’s construction came less than two weeks after Iran announced it had
begun producing enriched uranium at 60% purity at the country’s underground
Fordo nuclear facility. The move is seen as a significant addition to the
country’s nuclear program. Enrichment to 60% purity is one short, technical step
away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Non-proliferation experts have warned in
recent months that Iran now has enough 60%-enriched uranium to reprocess into
fuel for at least one nuclear bomb. The move was condemned by Germany, France
and Britain, the three Western European nations that remain in the Iran nuclear
deal. Recent attempts to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, which eased sanctions
on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, have stalled. Since
September, Iran has been roiled by nationwide protests that have come to mark
one of the greatest challenges to its theocracy since the chaotic years after
its 1979 Islamic Revolution. The protests were sparked when Mahsa Amini, 22,
died in custody on Sept. 16, three days after her arrest by Iran’s morality
police for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women. Iran’s
government insists Amini was not mistreated, but her family says her body showed
bruises and other signs of beating after she was detained
In a statement issued by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency on Saturday, the
country’s national security council announced that some 200 people have been
killed during the protests, the body’s first official word on the casualties.
Last week, Iranian Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh tallied the death toll at more than
300.
The contradictory tolls are lower than the toll reported by Human Rights
Activists in Iran, a U.S.-based organization that has been closely monitoring
the protest since the outbreak. In its most recent update, the group says that
469 people have been killed and 18,210 others detained in the protests and the
violent security force crackdown that followed. The United States unilaterally
pulled out of the nuclear deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action, or JCPOA — in 2018, under then-President Donald Trump. It reimposed
sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to start backing away from the deal’s terms.
Iran has long denied ever seeking nuclear weapons, insisting its nuclear program
is peaceful.
Ukraine welcomes Russian oil price cap agreed by EU, G7
Agence France Presse/December 3, 2022
Ukraine on Saturday welcomed a $60 price cap on Russian oil agreed by the EU, G7
and Australia, saying it would "destroy" Russia's economy. The price cap,
previously negotiated on a political level between the G7 group of wealthy
democracies and the European Union, will come into effect with an EU embargo on
Russian crude oil from Monday. Poland had refused to back the price cap plan
over concerns the ceiling was too high, before its ambassador to the EU
confirmed Warsaw's agreement on Friday evening. The embargo will prevent
shipments of Russian crude by tanker vessel to the EU, which account for two
thirds of imports, potentially depriving Russia's war chest of billions of
euros. "We always achieve our goal and Russia's economy will be destroyed, and
it will pay and be responsible for all its crimes," Ukraine's presidential chief
of staff Andriy Yermak said on Saturday on Telegram. But a cap of "$30 would
have destroyed it more quickly", he added. The G7 said it was delivering on its
vow "to prevent Russia from profiting from its war of aggression against
Ukraine, to support stability in global energy markets and to minimize negative
economic spillovers of Russia's war of aggression." The White House described
the deal as "welcome news", saying a price cap will help limit Russian President
Vladimir Putin's ability to fund the Kremlin's "war machine."
Infrastructure strikes 'inevitable'
After suffering humiliating defeats during what has become the largest armed
conflict in Europe since World War II, Russia began targeting Ukrainian energy
infrastructure in October, causing sweeping blackouts. Putin said Russian
strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure were "inevitable", in his first conversation
with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz since mid-September. "Such measures have
become a forced and inevitable response to Kyiv's provocative attacks on
Russia's civilian infrastructure," Putin told Scholz, according to a Kremlin
readout of the telephone talks. The Kremlin leader referred in particular to the
October attack on a bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian
mainland. During the hour-long call, Scholz "urged the Russian president to come
as quickly as possible to a diplomatic solution, including the withdrawal of
Russian troops", according to the German leader's spokesman. But Putin urged
Berlin to "reconsider its approaches" and accused the West of carrying out
"destructive" policies in Ukraine, the Kremlin said, stressing that its
political and financial aid meant Kyiv "completely rejects the idea of any
negotiations." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had ruled out any talks
with Russia while Putin is in power, shortly after the Kremlin claimed to have
annexed several Ukrainian regions.
Talks off the table
The Kremlin also indicated Moscow was in no mood for talks over Ukraine, after
U.S. President Joe Biden said he would be willing to sit down with Putin if the
Russian leader truly wanted to end the fighting. "What did President Biden say
in fact? He said that negotiations are possible only after Putin leaves
Ukraine," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding Moscow was
"certainly" not ready to accept those conditions. The White House, meanwhile,
sought to pour water on the idea of talks as well on Friday, saying Biden
currently has "no intention" of sitting down with Putin. Russia's strikes have
destroyed close to half of the Ukrainian energy system and left millions in the
cold and dark at the onset of winter. In the latest estimates from Kyiv,
Mykhaylo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, said as many as 13,000 Ukrainian
soldiers have died in the fighting. Both Moscow and Kyiv are suspected of
minimizing their losses to avoid damaging morale. Top U.S. general Mark Milley
last month said more than 100,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or
wounded in Ukraine, with Kyiv's forces likely suffering similar casualties. The
fighting in Ukraine has also claimed the lives of thousands of Ukrainian
civilians and forced millions to flee their homes. Those who remain in the
country have had to cope with emergency blackouts as authorities seek to relieve
the pressure on the energy infrastructure.
Putin not sincere about peace talks now, says top U.S.
diplomat
KYIV (Reuters)/December 3, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not sincere about peace talks with Ukraine
at this time, a top U.S. diplomat said on Saturday after meeting President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior Ukrainian officials in Kyiv. U.S. Under
Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland visited Ukraine to show support
at a time when Russia is trying to destroy the country's energy infrastructure.
"Diplomacy is obviously everyone's objective but you have to have a willing
partner," she told reporters. "And it's very clear, whether it's the energy
attacks, whether it's the rhetoric out of the Kremlin and the general attitude,
that Putin is not sincere or ready for that." U.S. President Joe Biden said on
Thursday he was prepared to speak to Putin if the Russian leader was interested
in ending the war. But the idea died quickly when the Kremlin said the West must
recognize Moscow's declared annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
This reaction from Russia, Nuland said, showed "how not serious they are".
Nuland also met Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskiy's office, who expressed
thanks for the billions of dollars worth of aid Washington has committed to
Ukraine. "Ukraine's victory, which we are sure of, will be our joint victory,"
Zelenskiy's office quoted him as telling Nuland.
African former rebels recruited as mercenaries by the
Kremlin-linked Wagner Group have been abandoned in Ukraine, a report says
Alia Shoaib/Business Insider/December 3, 2022
Kremlin-linked Wagner Group recruited mercenaries from the Central African
Republic to fight in Ukraine.
Sources told The Daily Beast that the African fighters were left without money,
food, or ammunition.
The abandoned fighters are allegedly desperate and have to "steal from
civilians" to survive.
Former rebels from the Central African Republic who were recruited by Wagner
Group to fight in Ukraine have been left without money, food, or ammunition,
according to a report by The Daily Beast.
Around 100 former rebels from the Central African Republic, also known as CAR,
were recruited by the shadowy Kremlin-linked private military contractor and
sent to the front lines in the Donbas region of Ukraine eight months ago
alongside Russian soldiers. They since have now lost contact with their Russian
counterparts, two sources told the outlet. One source – a CAR former rebel
fighter working for the Wagner Group but was not sent to Ukraine – told The
Daily Beast that his colleagues in Ukraine said they had been left to fight on
their own and are having to "steal from civilians" to survive.
"They haven't been paid for months and they can't even feed themselves," the
source said. A second source, also from a CAR Wagner Group recruit, told the
outlet that his fellow soldiers-for-hire in Ukraine said they'd been abandoned
by their Russian commanders and were fearful for their lives. "They've told me
that they don't even have ammunition to fight," he said. "Some of them have not
been seen by their colleagues for months."The Daily Beast said it did not name
its sources in order to protect them from possible retribution.
The Wagner Group, which was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of
Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been recruiting fighters from
unconventional sources, including convicts from Russian jails, Syrian fighters,
and former rebels in the Central African Republic who fought for the Union for
Peace (UPC) militant group. The Russian mercenary group has been accused of
being responsible for deadly attacks and rights violations across the globe. It
is active in the Central African Republic, where it works with the country's
military and helps to combat rebel groups.
Hundreds of rebels from the UPC surrendered last December after the CAR
government and Wagner group promised incentives and further military work if
they switched sides, The Daily Beast said.
In February, more than 200 of the former UPC rebels were sent by the Wanger
Group for military training in Moscow. Half of the group, who are often referred
to as "Black Russians" in the CAR, were deployed to Ukraine, while half returned
to the Central African Republic, according to The Daily Beast.
Those who returned to the Central African Republic have also had trouble working
with the Wagner Group. Sources told The Daily Beast that fighters have not been
receiving payments from either the government or from Wagner, despite being
promised monthly wages.
The former rebels speaking to The Daily Beast also said that dozens of their
colleagues have mysteriously disappeared in the Central African Republic. "For
two months now, up to 50 of our colleagues have mysteriously disappeared," one
source said. "No one knows where they are, and the Russians aren't answering
questions regarding their whereabouts."He said that there are suspicions that
they may have been sent to Ukraine but that no one is sure where they are.
"There are also a few people who are suspecting that they may have been sent on
a dangerous mission at home or abroad and have been killed in the process," he
said. "No one may ever know the truth because these Russians do everything in
secret."
The death of an American soldier fighting in Ukraine
exposes chaos and dysfunction in the foreign legion
Sophia Ankel/Business Insider/December 3, 2022
Bryan Young, a US Army veteran who volunteered in Ukraine's foreign legion, died
in July.His partner told Insider that she believes Young's death in Ukraine was
preventable. he widow, alongside other soldiers, told Insider about
mismanagement and dysfunction in the legion.
When Maria Lipka called her partner Bryan Young, she was shocked to find that he
was already on his way to Ukraine. A week earlier, the pair, who lived in
Tbilisi, Georgia, got into a heated argument after Young said that he wanted to
go to Ukraine to defend the country from a full-scale Russian invasion.
The 51-year-old Army veteran from California said he needed to go because it was
his duty to protect the free world, Lipka told Insider in a series of
interviews. "I told him that I absolutely don't understand why he should do it,"
she said. "We didn't speak for a week."
"I didn't even have an opportunity just to say goodbye," she added.Four months
later, he would be dead. Young traveled to Kyiv, via the Turkish capital of
Istanbul, in March — roughly a month after Russia's invasion of Ukraine started
on February 24. The 51-year-old served as a US infantryman between November 1990
and April 2003, before being forced to retire due to injury. After a lonely two
years in lockdown, the news of a war in Ukraine — only a few thousand miles away
— gave Young a new sense of purpose. However, joining the fight against Russia
would plunge the former infantryman into a scary new reality.
International defense legion of Ukraine
When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the formation of the
international legion on February 27, thousands lined up to volunteer outside
Ukrainian embassies worldwide. Some came with extensive combat experience,
having previously fought in countries like Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan, while
others came with nothing more than a burning desire to defend a country in need.
In total, almost 20,000 legionnaires from 52 nations answered the call to arms
in the first weeks of the war, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at
the time. Around 3,000 of them were US citizens, a top defense official at the
Washington DC embassy said in March. A spokesperson for one branch of the
legion, which Young was not part of, told Insider that since the start of the
war they have had a "steady influx of people" coming in, but that it has
fluctuated depending on the time of year.
"I knew someone was going to die"
After his arrival in Ukraine, Lipka said she received concerning messages from
Young, who complained about the lack of organization and equipment in the
legion, adding that much was done "like in the old days."Young was a part of the
517th battalion of the Ivan Bohun Brigade, which was overseen by the GUR Legion,
run by Ukrainian Intelligence. "The GUR part of the legion is led by Ukrainian
officers and usually includes veterans or people who have experience on the
battlefield," Kacper Rekawek, a research fellow for the Center for Research on
Extremism at the University of Oslo, told Insider.
Rekawek added that soldiers in this section are often highly skilled and
deployed in smaller groups that operate right on the front. Still, the legion
appeared anything but professional. In June, Young texted Lipka: "It has been a
mess where I am, most of the foreign volunteers left. There are only a few of us
left."
In the early hours of July 18, Young and his unit were deployed to Hryhorivka, a
village in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region that had been under heavy Russian
attacks. They were tasked with clearing out a ravine that Russian soldiers were
using to cross a small river, in an effort to slow their advance, according to a
situation report published by Politico. Another American soldier, who was with
them at the time and goes by the alias AJ, told Insider that their mission was a
disaster from the start, adding that the group had narrowly escaped death
multiple times in the days before.
"When we were told to go out again, in my mind I knew someone was going to die,"
AJ told Insider.
The GUR did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
As the men went to find cover in an underground cellar, Russian troops targeted
them with artillery fire, AJ said. The first blast injured Luke "Skywalker"
Lusyszyn, another US citizen and medic who had accompanied the battalion that
day. During a brief pause in the firing, Young, and two other soldiers —
Emile-Antoine Roy Sirous from Canada and Edvard Selander Patrignani from Sweden
— rushed to his side to evacuate him before they too were killed. Young took a
piece of shrapnel to the head, the upper left chest, the legs, and the stomach,
a soldier who was with him when he died, told Lipka in messages seen by Insider.
The 51-year-old's machine gun, which he had named after Lipka, was by his side.
"I know he didn't feel any pain," the soldier wrote to Lipka. "I watched him
when it happened and I could do nothing, but I know it was painless."
"It is impossible [to stay safe]. Our commander will get us killed here," the
soldier added.
A preventable death
Lipka told Insider she believes Young's death was preventable.
Messages sent to her from soldiers in Young's unit — seen by Insider — reveal
that many thought their commander, Ruslan Miroshnichenko, was reckless, and
often drunk. "No one trusts Ruslan, he is a lying piece of shit," one soldier
told Lipka in a text message seen by Insider. "Ruslan has pissed off everyone in
the company, especially the Ukrainians. He is a dead man."They also claimed that
Miroshnichenko was a heavy drinker who often encouraged others to drink before
going out on missions. At one point, Young's battalion destroyed a local bar,
and police had to get involved, Lipka says. When Miroshnichenko called Lipka to
discuss funeral arrangements on the phone, the commander sounded drunk, she
said. Lipka also said she never found out about Young's death from official
channels. Instead, she was informed by Young's daughter, who had seen the news
on Facebook. Miroshnichenko has since been fired from his post as the
battalion's commander, Lipka said. Insider was unable to confirm his
whereabouts, but his LinkedIn profile shows he's still working for the legion,
in a different department.
Poor organization and reckless commanders
Lipka isn't the only person who has raised questions over the way some foreign
fighters were treated in Ukraine, and the dangers they were put in, even while
knowing the risks. Foreign volunteers leaving Ukraine due to poor organization,
lack of equipment, and reckless commanders have already made headlines. In
April, Insider talked to two Germans who had gone to Ukraine to volunteer to
fight and ended up with a different outfit: the Georgian Legion made up of
volunteers mostly from the ex-Soviet country. They described arriving at
barracks that were barren and disorganized and an overall sense of chaos. "Katastrophe,"
Tobias, one of the men, told Insider. "There's no organization, no organized
training. Everyone just wants to kill the Russians." Neither had any military
experience, unlike people like Young.
"My helmet saved my life"
Meanwhile, an investigation published by The Kyiv Independent in August found
that some commanders in the GUR were sending men on "suicide missions", sexually
harassing female medics, and threatening soldiers with a gun. One commander, a
Polish ex-criminal named Sasha Kuchynsky, was also a heavy drinker, and
sometimes forced soldiers in his troops to help him loot shops, The Kyiv
Independent reported. "A bunch of wannabes, playing with people's lives," one
soldier, who has since left Ukraine, said of the legion's leadership.In a
follow-up article, foreign fighters accused some of their commanders of stealing
small arms and light weapons that they said went missing from the Legion's
armory rooms, with some saying they witnessed arms being loaded into what they
described as civilian SUVs. Another foreign fighter, who goes by the military
alias Mavericks, told Insider he joined the GUR unit in September but decided to
leave a month later because of how badly it was run. (Mavericks' identity is
known to Insider). "My last mission, I lost a colleague," he said. "The
intelligence services told us we needed to be somewhere, so we went and … on our
way, we were ambushed."Russian troops launched a missile 10 meters away from the
unit, killing one Ukrainian soldier and injuring others. "For two days I
couldn't hear anything," Mavericks told Insider. "My helmet saved my life."
Mavericks is back home in Spain and does not plan to return to Ukraine.
Commanders are not always the "creme-de-la creme"
Young wasn't the last American to die fighting in Ukraine. On November 8, Trent
Davis, a 21-year-old US Army veteran from Kansas, was killed on his first
mission with the legion, near the southern city of Kherson, according to The
Military Times.
Davis was at least the tenth American to die fighting in the conflict, the
outlet reported. The University of Oslo's Rekawek told Insider that while
Ukraine has been "extremely accommodating" to foreign soldiers who came to
fight, they had some "teething problems" in the first months of the war. "The
legion first started largely as a PR exercise three days after the war, when
Ukraine was in need. So it's only natural that they had some issues at the
beginning," he said.
Rekawek said that while many of the international volunteers were highly
skilled, they are not always the priority.
Also, not all of the commanders appointed by the military were the "creme-de-la-creme"
of the crop, Rekawek said, adding that in a case like Young's, it seems like "a
lot of it also came down to bad luck."
For Young's partner, this is little consolation.
"How everything was handled, especially after his death, was scandalous," Lipka
told Insider. Those who survived also bear the scars. Mavericks told Insider he
suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and still mourns the deaths of his
comrades. "I decided to leave because seeing your colleagues die makes you
think," he told Insider. Despite reports of disarray and confusion, the
international legion has grown in strength and importance over the months of the
conflict, and has proven to be "tactically and operationally" very handy to the
Ukrainian Army, said Rekawek. "To some extent, this [also] means that the legion
is maturing, and is being accepted," he added.
Additional reporting by Sam Tabahriti
Turkish strikes on US Kurd allies resonate in Ukraine
war
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)/December 3, 2022
Biden administration officials are toughening their language toward NATO ally
Turkey as they try to talk Turkish President Recep Erdogan out of launching a
bloody and destabilizing ground offensive against American-allied Kurdish forces
in neighboring Syria.
Since Nov. 20, after six people died in an Istanbul bombing a week before that
Turkey blamed, without evidence, on the U.S. and its Kurdish allies in Syria,
Turkey has launched cross-border airstrikes, rockets and shells into U.S.- and
Kurdish-patrolled areas of Syria, leaving Kurdish funeral corteges burying
scores of dead. Some criticized the initial muted U.S. response to the
near-daily Turkish bombardment — a broad call for “de-escalation” — as a U.S.
green light for more. With Erdogan not backing down on his threat to escalate,
the U.S. began speaking more forcefully.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called his Turkish counterpart on Wednesday
to express “strong opposition” to Turkey launching a new military operation in
northern Syria.
And National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday made one of the
administration's first specific mentions of the impact of the Turkish strikes on
the Kurdish militia, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, that works with the
United States against Islamic State militants bottled up in northern Syria.
How successfully the United States manages Erdogan’s threat to send troops in
against America's Kurdish partners over coming weeks will affect global security
concerns far from that isolated corner of Syria.
That's especially true for the Ukraine conflict. The Biden administration is
eager for Erdogan's cooperation with other NATO partners in countering Russia,
particularly when it comes to persuading Turkey to drop its objections to
Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
But giving Turkey free rein in attacks on the Syrian Kurds in hopes of securing
Erdogan's cooperation within NATO would have big security implications of its
own.
U.S. forces on Friday stopped joint military patrols with the Kurdish forces in
northern Syria to counter Islamic State extremists, as the Kurds concentrate on
defending themselves from the Turkish air and artillery attacks and a possible
ground invasion.
Since 2015, the Syrian Kurdish forces have worked with the few hundred forces
the U.S. has on the ground there, winning back territory from the Islamic State
and then detaining thousands of Islamic State fighters and their families and
battling remnant Islamic State fighters. On Saturday, the U.S. and Kurds resumed
limited patrols at one of the detention camps.
“ISIS is the forgotten story for the world and the United States, because of the
focus on Ukraine,” said Omer Taspinar, an expert on Turkey and European security
at the Brookings Institution and the National War College. ISIS is one widely
used acronym for the Islamic State. “Tragically, what would revive Western
support for the Kurds ... would be another ISIS terrorist attack, God forbid, in
Europe or in the United States that will remind people that we actually have not
defeated ISIS,” Taspinar said.
Turkey says the Syrian Kurds are allied to a nearly four-decade PKK Kurdish
insurgency in southeast Turkey that has resulted in the deaths of tens of
thousands of people on both sides. The United States' Syrian Kurdish allies deny
any attacks in Turkey.
U.S. Central Command, and many in Congress, praise the Syrian Kurds as brave
comrades in arms. In July, Central Command angered Turkey by tweeting
condolences for a Syrian Kurdish deputy commander and two other female fighters
killed by a drone strike blamed on Turkey.
In 2019, a public outcry by his fellow Republicans and many others killed a plan
by President Donald Trump, which he announced after a call with Erdogan, to
clear U.S. troops out of the way of an expected Turkish attack on the Kurdish
allies in Syria.
Then-presidential contender Joe Biden was among those expressing outrage. “The
Kurds were integral in helping us defeat ISIS — and too many lost their lives.
Now, President Trump has abandoned them. It’s shameful,” Biden tweeted at the
time.
The measured U.S. response now — even after some Turkish strikes hit near sites
that host U.S. forces — reflects the significant strategic role that Turkey, as
a NATO member, plays in the alliance's efforts to counter Russia in Europe. The
State Department and USAID did not immediately answer questions about whether
the Turkish strikes had hindered aid workers and operations that partner with
the United States. Turkey, with strong ties to both Russia and the United
States, has contributed to its NATO allies' efforts against Russia in key ways
during the Ukraine conflict. That includes supplying armed drones to Ukraine,
and helping mediate between Russia and the United States and others. But Turkey
is also seeking to exert leverage within the alliance by blocking Finland and
Sweden from joining NATO. Turkey is demanding that Sweden surrender Kurdish
exiles that it says are affiliated with the PKK Kurdish insurgents. Turkey’s
state-run news agency reported that Sweden extradited a member of the PKK and he
was arrested Saturday upon arrival in Istanbul.
Turkey is one of only two of the 30 NATO members not to have signed off yet on
the Nordic countries' NATO memberships. Hungary, the other, is expected to do
so. At a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest, Romania, this past
week, NATO diplomats refrained from publicly confronting Turkey, avoiding giving
offense that might further set back the cause of Finland's and Sweden's NATO
membership. Turkey's foreign minister made clear to his European counterparts
that Turkey had yet to be appeased, when it came to Finland or Sweden hosting
Kurdish exiles there.
“We reminded that in the end, it’s the Turkish people and the Turkish parliament
that need to be convinced,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told
reporters on the sidelines.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to talk Thursday with
Finland's and Sweden's foreign ministers on dealing with Turkey's objections to
their NATO accession. Experts say the Biden administration has plenty of
leverage to wield privately in urging Erdogan to relent in the threatened
escalated attack on Syrian Kurds. That includes U.S. F-16 fighter sales that
Turkey wants but have been opposed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Chairman Robert Menendez and others in Congress. There's a third big security
risk in the U.S. handling of Turkey's invasion threat, along with the possible
impact on the Ukraine conflict and on efforts to contain the Islamic State.
That's the risk to Kurds, a stateless people and frequent U.S. ally often
abandoned by the U.S. and the West in past conflicts over the past century. If
the U.S. stands by while Turkey escalates attacks on the Syrian Kurds who were
instrumental in quelling the Islamic State, “especially in the aftermath of
Afghanistan, what message are we sending to the Middle East?" asked Henri J.
Barkey, an expert on Kurds and Turkey at the Council on Foreign Relations and at
Lehigh University.
“And to all allies in general?" Barkey asked. An ethnic group of millions at the
intersection of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria, Kurds lost out on a state of their
own as the U.S. and other powers carved up the remnants of the Turkish Ottoman
Empire after World War I. Saddam Hussein and other regional leaders used poison
gas, airstrikes and other tools of mass slaughter over the decades to suppress
the Kurds. As under U.S. President George H.W. Bush in 1991 after the Gulf War,
the United States at times encouraged popular uprisings but stood by as Kurds
died in the resulting massacres. On Nov. 28, hundreds of Syrian Kurds gathered
for the victims of one of the Turkish airstrikes — five guards killed securing
the al-Hol camp, which holds thousands of family members of Islamic State
fighters. Relatives of one of the Kurdish guards, Saifuddin Mohammed, placed his
photo on his grave.
“Of course, we are proud,” said his brother, Abbas Mohammed. “He defended his
land and his honor against the Turkish invading forces.”
Gaza militants fire rocket into Israel amid West Bank
AFP/December 04, 2022
JERUSALEM: Palestinian militants fired a rocket from Gaza into Israel Saturday
without causing any casualties, the army said, as a surge in violence grips the
occupied West Bank.There was no immediate claim for the attack, the first in a
month according to the army.However, one of Gaza’s larger armed factions,
Islamic Jihad, had threatened to retaliate after Israeli troops killed two of
its leaders in the West Bank town of Jenin on Thursday. Witnesses said the
Israeli army swiftly riposted by firing on two observation posts east of Gaza
City, operated by the territory’s Islamist rulers Hamas.
The rocket attack came as a surge in bloodshed in the occupied West Bank sparked
international criticism of the Israeli army for its use of lethal force against
Palestinian civilians. Criticism has focused on the killing of Ammar Hadi Mufleh,
22, in disputed circumstances in the town of Huwara, just south of Nablus, on
Friday. United Nations Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland said he was
“horrified” by the killing “during a scuffle with an Israeli soldier.” The
European Union said it was “greatly concerned about the increasing level of
violence” which had seen 10 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in
recent days. “Such unacceptable facts must be investigated and there must be
full accountability,” EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borell said. “Under
international law, lethal force is only justified in situations in which there
exists a serious and imminent threat to life.”According to the Israeli version
of events, Mufleh tried to force open the door of an Israeli couple’s car before
stabbing a border policeman. A senior border police officer then shot Mufleh
dead, saying that the Palestinian had made a grab for his weapon. Palestinian
municipal official Wajeh Odeh told AFP the shooting followed “a quarrel.”“An
Israeli soldier pushed the Palestinian to the floor and shot him from zero
distance,” Odeh said. The Israeli foreign ministry responded angrily to the
criticism. “This reaction is a total distortion of reality,” it tweeted in
English. “This is NOT a ‘scuffle’ -this is a terror attack!“ Outgoing Israeli
Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he fully supported the border police officer’s
decision to open fire “to save lives.”“Our security forces will continue to act
resolutely against terrorism,” he said. At least 145 Palestinians and 26
Israelis have been killed in violence in Israel and the West Bank, including
annexed east Jerusalem, this year, the heaviest toll since 2015.
Macron caps US visit with New Orleans trip, meetup with
Musk
Agence France Presse/December 04, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday visited New Orleans, a city
emblematic of historic Franco-American ties, to promote the French language and
conclude his state visit to the United States. The French president, on the
third day of a U.S. trip that included a lavish reception at the White House a
night earlier, strolled New Orleans's historic French Quarter -- and held an
unannounced face-to-face meeting with Twitter owner Elon Musk. Macron said the
two had a "clear and honest" discussion during an hour-long meeting, and that he
conveyed to Musk his -- and Europe's -- concerns about content moderation on the
influential platform. "Transparent user policies, significant reinforcement of
content moderation and protection of freedom of speech: efforts have to be made
by Twitter to comply with European regulations," Macron tweeted after the
meeting. Macron arrived in the iconic Louisiana city to a colorful welcome by a
jazz band on the tarmac at the airport, before walking the French Quarter's
lively streets with his wife, Brigitte. Removing his jacket, Macron strolled
beside New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, clasping the hands of well-wishers and
beaming widely. He spoke briefly with women holding signs in support of protests
in Iran. During an impromptu press briefing, he praised "a land of creolization"
where "French is loved," and later announced a program to broaden access to
French language training. He had said in Washington that he wanted to renovate
the image of French in the United States, where it is "sometimes seen as
elitist."Before taking off from Washington earlier Friday, Macron attended a
breakfast with representatives of digital companies during which he, according
to the Elysee, recalled "all the efforts" made since his first term to "make
France the leading European country in tech."Once a French colonial city, New
Orleans was sold to the United States by Napoleon as part of the Louisiana
Purchase of 1803, and Macron has called it "the quintessential francophone
land."
- Energy and climate -
Besides celebrating French-American ties, Macron paid tribute to the victims of
Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people in and around New Orleans
and caused billions of dollars in damage in 2005. Accompanied by French film
director Claude Lelouch and dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, Macron
met local artists and prominent cultural figures of New Orleans, known as the
birthplace of jazz. Shortly after his arrival, Macron and European Affairs
Minister Catherine Colonna met with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. As
Macron looked on, Colonna and Edwards signed an accord to promote and carry out
joint clean energy initiatives. The visit came on the heels of a lavish dinner
hosted by President Joe Biden at the White House, headlined by master jazzman
Jon Batiste, who comes from a family of New Orleans musicians. Macron's state
visit -- the first such formal occasion since Biden took office in January 2021
-- symbolized how Washington and Paris have buried last year's bitter spat over
the way Australia pulled out of a French submarine deal in favor of acquiring
U.S. nuclear subs instead. The visit featured a full military honor guard for
Macron, including service members from the marines, army, air force and even a
detachment of soldiers in 18th-century Revolutionary War garb.
Biden, Prince William meet in chilly Boston
Agence France Presse/December 04, 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden met briefly with Britain's Prince William in Boston
where the two quickly hit on the most British of conversation topics -- the bad
weather. As the heir to Britain's throne strode up outside the John F. Kennedy
Library and Museum without an overcoat, Biden remarked that it was "freezing."Prince
William chuckled and later could be heard informing the president that "when we
got in Wednesday, it was pouring with rain."The less than hour-long meeting took
place while Prince William was in Boston with his wife Kate for their Earthshot
Prize Awards ceremony, which promotes solutions to environmental challenges.
Biden, coincidentally, was in the city to attend a Democratic Party fundraiser.
Strolling a short distance together along the edge of Boston harbor outside the
library, Biden jokingly asked if they "were going to jump in" and Prince William
suggested a "quick swim." They then entered the JFK library complex to finish
off the encounter in presumably more comfort. White House Press Secretary Karine
Jean-Pierre said Biden, who was up late Thursday hosting a dinner for French
President Emmanuel Macron at the White House, "looks forward to spending time
with Prince William."Biden knows the JFK Library well, having gone there in
September to launch his "cancer moonshot" strategy to bring the disease under
control in the United States."We expect that they will discuss their shared
climate goals, prioritization of mental health issues and decreasing the burden
of the disease," Jean-Pierre told reporters.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on December 03-04/2022
Here’s Why Ukraine’s Independence Vote Exposes Putin’s Lies
Joshua D. Zimmerman/The Daily Beast/December 3,
2022
In its twisted road to independence, one that began over a century ago with many
failed attempts, the Ukrainian referendum that took place on Dec. 1, 1991,
stands out as a great turning point.
In the days leading to the vote, even the most ardent Ukrainian supporters of
independence were uncertain, concerned about the large numbers of ethnic
Russians in Soviet Ukraine, particularly in Crimea and eastern regions. But when
the votes were tallied 31 years ago today on Dec. 3, 1991, the results surprised
even the most optimistic of observers—over 90 percent of the population of
Soviet Ukraine voted for independence.
With an 84 percent voter turnout, people from all regions participated,
including Ukraine’s estimated 17 percent of ethnic Russians who had made up
considerable portions of the country’s eastern provinces. Exceeding
expectations, every one of Ukraine’s 25 administrative regions voted for
statehood. What’s more, the people of Ukraine voted for their president on the
same day in which all six candidates favored independence.
The 1991 national referendum results shed light on today’s brutal and inhumane
Russian war in Ukraine. For it is a war based on the old Russian contention that
Ukraine is less a nation than a collection of disparate regions, divided by
religion and nationality and linked to Russia.
Seven months into his unprovoked war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir
Putin formally annexed the four eastern regions of Ukraine on Sept. 30, 2022, on
the basis of an erroneous argument that Russia was merely granting these regions
their rights to self-determination, to return to Mother Russia as allegedly
desired. Using the same arguments that Adolf Hitler had made to justify the
annexation of Western Czechoslovakia in 1938—to restore self-determination to
the area’s ethnic Germans—Putin in 2022 condemned the loss of large swaths of
ethnic Russians to breakaway republics in the wake of the Soviet Union’s
dissolution in 1991. Attributing the desire of these countries for independence
entirely to outside Western influence, Putin attempted a historical rewrite of
the recent past on the basis of false claims, stating, “It was the so-called
West that trampled on the principle of the inviolability of borders, and now it
is deciding, at its own discretion, who has the right to self-determination and
who does not, who is unworthy of it.”
In eastern Ukraine, Putin continued, the ethnic Russians in 1991 had been
forcefully incorporated into Ukraine against their will: “In 1991… without
asking the will of common citizens, representatives of the then-party elites
decided to destroy the Soviet Union, and people suddenly found themselves cut
off from their motherland. This tore apart and dismembered our nation, becoming
a national catastrophe… I want everyone to remember this: the people living in
Luhansk and Donetsk, in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have become our citizens,
forever!”
But to mark today’s anniversary, we should remember the actual truth about the
people of eastern Ukraine and their aspirations. When the results of the
December 1991 national referendum were counted, the inhabitants of the four
eastern Ukrainian regions Russia annexed voted overwhelmingly with Ukraine for
independence: 83.9 percent in the Donetsk region, 73 percent in the Luhansk
region, 90.66 percent in the Zaporizhzhia region, and 86.33 percent in the
Kherson region.
The December 1991 national referendum in Ukraine had built upon the momentum for
separation that had begun on Aug. 24, 1991, when the Ukrainian parliament took a
vote on separation—only two of 353 MPs voted against independence.
Enough! A No-Fly Zone Over Ukraine Is Necessary and Overdue
The first constituent Soviet republic to declare independence had been Lithuania
in March 1990—an act that Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev opposed by sending
in Soviet tanks to Vilnius in January 1991, leading to the death of 11
Lithuanians and the injury of hundreds.
Although appalled by the Soviet crackdown in Lithuania, President George H.W.
Bush backed Gorbachev’s opposition to separatist movements, ones that could lead
to instability and social unrest in regions of Soviet Russia that shared nuclear
weapons such as Ukraine.
In his speech in Kyiv on August 1, 1991, President Bush stood before the
Ukrainian parliament and warned against independence. With hundreds of
demonstrators waving Ukrainian flags and chanting “freedom for Ukraine” outside
the parliament building, the American president expressed his support for
Gorbachev’s efforts to keep the Soviet Union intact. “Freedom is not the same as
independence,” Bush said. “Americans will not support those who seek
independence in order to replace a far-off tyranny with a local despotism.
[Americans] will not aid those who promote a suicidal nationalism based upon
ethnic hatred.” The New York Times columnist William Safire famously belittled
Bush’s Kyiv appearance, dubbing it Bush’s “Chicken Kiev speech” in an August
1991 op-ed piece. At the time, the Ukrainian leadership was divided over
independence, and the majority of Kyiv MPs actually applauded Bush on that day.
The turning point came three weeks later when, on Aug. 19, 1991, Soviet
hard-liners placed Gorbachev under house arrest at his seaside home in Crimea
and declared a military coup in Moscow. But with the help of Boris Yeltsin in
Moscow—the then first president of the Russian Federation who stood on the
streets of Moscow condemning the coup—the plotters were defeated in less than 72
hours and Gorbachev returned to Moscow.
The short-lived hardliners’ coup had the effect of destroying Gorbachev’s
proposal for a new union of Soviet states with broad internal autonomy. In the
immediate aftermath of the failed coup, three Soviet republics declared
separation—the Estonian, Latvian and Ukraine parliaments voted for independence
from the Soviet Union between Aug. 20–24, 1991. The future of the Soviet Union
was in peril. “Communism is dead. The Soviet empire is breaking up,” a jubilant
William Safire commented in the pages of The New York Times on Aug. 29, 1991.
“This is a glorious moment for human freedom.”
When, on Dec. 3, 1991, the Ukrainian national referendum returned a decisive
vote for independence, the collective voice of the estimated 51.8 million
inhabitants of Ukraine dealt the Soviet Union the final blow.
By the middle of December 1991, 11 constituent members of the Soviet Union had
proclaimed independence. When Gorbachev tendered his resignation as president of
the Soviet Union in a farewell address on Dec. 25, 1991, the Soviet Union was
finished.
Khamenei Focusing on “External Threats,” Not Protest
Demands
Omer Carmi//The Wasington Institute/December
03/2022
In an attempt to rally Iranians around the flag, he focused his latest speech on
supposed “Western plots,” indicating that he has no imminent plans to make
significant concessions to protesters.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei often uses his speeches to signal both domestic and
foreign audiences about his approach to current events. On November 26, he spoke
before an audience of Basij—the paramilitary branch of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) responsible for enforcing internal security and promoting
Islamic and “revolutionary” culture. Lately, the Basij have played a prominent
role in suppressing the mass protests that have rocked the country since
September, leading many to assume that Khamenei’s remarks to them would focus on
the unrest. Instead, he dedicated most of his speech to promoting “Basiji
values” in Iranian society and reiterating claims of a “Western conspiracy”
against the country. He made only a few passing remarks about the unrest,
describing protesters as “rioters” and “mercenaries” who are trying to help the
United States pressure Iran.
External vs. Internal Threats
Obviously, this theme of a global battle between the Islamic Republic and its
main enemy, America, has marked many of Khamenei’s speeches over the years. This
time, however, his overriding focus on external threats contrasted sharply and
atonally with the deep internal unrest undeniably manifesting on Iran’s streets.
In the Supreme Leader’s view, Iran is fighting a multifaceted Western plot to
establish and maintain dominance in the Middle East. Accordingly, much of his
speech was dedicated to listing the history of Iranian grievances against the
United States and its allies, starting from the days of President Truman. These
include “unfulfilled promises” that Washington has made on several occasions,
such as the 1981 Algiers Accords (which ended the embassy hostage crisis) and
the 2015 nuclear deal (aka the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA). In
light of this claimed U.S. unreliability, Khamenei concluded that Washington
will only settle disputes if Tehran pays “ransoms” that cross its redlines.
For example, he accused U.S. negotiators of repeatedly moving the goalposts for
uranium enrichment: “First, they say stop 20 percent enrichment, then 5 percent
enrichment, then they demand a halt to the entire nuclear industry.” Yet he is
more concerned about alleged U.S. demands that extend beyond the nuclear issue,
such as changing Iran’s constitution, canceling the regime’s unelected Guardian
Council, and shutting down its “defense industries.” Referring to the prospect
of future negotiations with Washington, he argued that a “JCPOA 2” would result
in Iran “completely abandoning its regional presence,” while a “JCPOA 3” would
force the regime “not to produce any strategic or important weapons.” He
concluded that no patriotic Iranian—even citizens who oppose the
government—would submit to such payoffs.
Khamenei’s notion that making concessions will only increase the U.S. appetite
for more concessions is not new. For example, when reformist parliamentarians
suggested negotiating a nuclear deal as far back as 2003, he publicly lashed out
at them, asserting that Washington will not stop pressuring Iranian officials
until they renounce Islam, the Islamic Republic, and popular governance,
essentially giving the West control over the country. He has repeated this idea
time and time again since then.
Knowing and Countering the Enemy
Elsewhere in the speech, Khamenei argued that because the Islamic Republic lies
at the epicenter of the geopolitically crucial Middle East, its revolutionary
nature hinders Western “colonial policies.” Therefore, the United States has
concluded it must weaken Iran by targeting the regime’s regional allies in Iraq,
Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria, with the ultimate goal of destroying
“Iran’s strategic depth” and overthrowing the regime. Khamenei’s answer to these
claimed Western plots is “resistance” and “steadfastness,” which he emphasized
by citing the late general Qasem Soleimani’s track record of defeating
Washington’s hegemonic efforts in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria.
To fully counter the West, however, Khamenei believes Iranians must first know
the enemy and identify its tactics. Hence, his speech briefly circled back to
the protests, reminding the audience of Basij members that the demonstrators
they are fighting on the streets are just agents of the “global arrogance,” the
regime’s codename for the United States and its allies. In other words, Iranians
who unsuccessfully pushed for wider compromises with the West in the past are
now trying to “create riots and chant slogans.” He urged his audience to
understand how the enemy attempts to “dominate the minds” of Iranians so that
they will “gladly hand over the country.” Specifically, he claimed that
“presenting fake news in satellite channels and social media” has become one of
the enemy’s main strategies.
Real Indifference or Just a Facade?
As a religious leader, Khamenei often uses Islamic references to support his
claims. In this speech, he closed by quoting a Quran verse that rejects
compromise: “Do not falter or grieve, for you shall have the upper hand if you
are believers” (Surah al-Imran, 139). According to tradition, this verse was
meant to encourage the Prophet Muhammad’s army after its defeat in the Battle of
Uhud. Iranian officials have often cited the battle to illustrate the need for
remaining vigilant against enemies and not giving in to temptation, as elements
of the losing army did when they ignored the Prophet’s orders and left their
posts to find loot. In a 1997 speech, Khamenei declared “our entire life is like
the Battle of Uhud,” explaining that if Iran “moves well,” the enemy will be
defeated, but if it lets down its guard and goes looking for booty, it will
lose. The analogy holds for today’s situation as well.
Does Khamenei truly believe that today’s internal situation is manageable and
that no reform in foreign or domestic policy is needed? It is difficult to say
with certainty, but his latest rhetoric suggests the answer is yes. The regime
continues to use a “more of the same” strategy to meet the current challenge on
the ground—not intensifying its already harsh tools of suppression, but not
suggesting meaningful concessions either.
Yet the country is fast approaching a series of important anniversaries that may
intensify the protests and require the regime to rethink its approach. The first
is Student Day on December 7, followed by several revolutionary commemoration
days starting on January 9, when Iran honors the 1978 Qom uprising against the
shah. One thing is sure: the emphasis on patriotic and nationalist themes will
continue as the regime attempts to rally the public around the flag and
highlight the perils of weakening the state at a time of external “colonialist”
plots.
*Omer Carmi is a former visiting fellow at The
Washington Institute.
Iran Team’s Ambivalent Approach to Protests During the World Cup
S. Houseini/The Wasington Institute/December
03/2022
Iran's loss at the World Cup coincides with controversy and tensions both back
home and around the globe.
Iran finished their run at the World Cup in Qatar with a loss to the United
States, ending an unsatisfactory performance there and following numerous
controversies. Although the team had a higher chance to advance into the second
round of the World Cup than in past years, the team’s performance represents a
loss in the important battle of the public eye. Facing unprecedented
dissatisfaction from its Iranian fan base, the team had been under severe public
pressure to take a position regarding the recent wave of protests in Iran during
their time in Qatar.
With Iranian celebrities adopting a more widespread engagement of the “woman,
life, freedom” movement in Iran in recent months, the public’s expectations had
grown that Iranian top-tier soccer players would use the international platform
of the World Cup to convey similar messages to the world.
Inside Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has remained as forceful and
unapologetic as ever in the face of the current protests, but he is well aware
of the movement’s deeper roots. In a recent speech, despite his bitter accounts
about foreign involvement in the current “anarchy”, he acknowledged the failure
of the system to maintain the bare minimum of economic growth under his watch in
the last decade.
Without any signs that the state will back down, protestors are thirsty to see
the fruition of their efforts moving into the third month of protests. This is
especially true after more leaked files were circulated following a massive
cyber-attack against Fars, the IRGC-ran news agency. Publicized this week, some
of these files show the IRGC’s real perception and evaluation of the protests
and the consequences of Iran’s presence in the world cup. Documents, including
confidential bulletins shared with high-ranking commanders, show statistics
about the approval ratings for the protests, public opinions about the hijab
mandate, and reactions from the political elite. With the government showing
signs of stress and concern, protestors might feel more energized and become
more strategic now that they know the real perceptions of the state.
Given these tensions, the Iranian National team failed in attracting the massive
support it used to enjoy during previous World Cup appearances. Before the first
game even began, photographs circulated showing the team meeting with President
Ibrahim Raisi, and what was meant to be a respectful gesture on behalf of the
Iranian soccer players fueled the flames of agony and anger of the Iranian
people in the streets.
Emphasized by media outlets such as Iran International and Manoto, this massive
failure of team publicity could not even be remedied in the eyes of the people
by the team’s subsequent refusal to sing the national anthem in their first game
against England, or by their lack of emotional response to their victory against
Wales. Tensions within the team’s fan base only increased after videos went
viral showing a group of Iranians expressing happiness in response to Iran’s
loss to England. In response, police forces inside Iran intentionally displayed
a festive mood with Iranian flags in the streets following the team’s victory
against Wales.
The politicization of Iran’s presence at the World Cup has also extended beyond
the borders of Iran on a number of occasions. Case in point, the use of a
pointedly incorrect Iranian flag—one lacking the emblem of the Islamic Republic
of Iran—in a tweet by U.S. Soccer caused outrage in Iran and only raised
tensions. This situation peaked at a pre-match press conference with the U.S.
Team Captain, Tyler Adams, when Iranian reporters asked him about his stance on
the wrong representation of the Iran flag and his own incorrect pronunciation of
‘Iran’. Iran’s Portuguese coach, Carlos Queiroz, was also not immune to
politicization after he fell into an online argument with Jurgen Klinsmann—a
former German soccer star and current FIFA official— when Klinsmann made racist
comments about Iranian culture and Queiroz.
Nevertheless, the Iranian government seems to have benefited to some degree from
its good relations with Qatar during the games. After Iran’s first game, Qatari
security forces actually removed Iranian fans from the stadiums who had held
protest signs. This week’s leak of a recording of a high ranking IRGC commander
confirmed this claim. More specifically, a deputy commander of an IRGC branch,
Qasim Qurayshi, revealed to an IRGC-backed journalist that Iran had expressed a
demand for Qatar’s cooperation in favor of the Iranian government during the
World Cup.
The Iran team’s difficulty at the world cup—both in terms of performance and
reputation—comes at an already challenging time for the Iranian people.
Struggling against an oppressive government that is unwilling to make any
domestic or international compromises and facing the consequences of crippling
U.S. sanctions, the people have long felt desperate and agitated. Of course, the
last drop in the bucket of this agony was the death of Mahsa Amini. From day one
of the protests, it was clear that “Woman, Life, Freedom” was just the surface
of deeper issues and grievances in Iran. That these issues have spilled into the
World Cup is unsurprising, but the team’s ambivalent position highlights the
complicated relationship between national identity and sports, as well as the
depth of issues inside Iran.
Biden Administration Turns a Blind Eye to Iranian Regime's Brutal Crackdown
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute./December
3, 2022
The Biden administration appears to be repeating Obama administration's policy
of choosing to be silent in the face of the Iranian regime's bloodshed, human
rights violations, and crackdowns that kill and wound peaceful protesters -- and
has the same policy regarding brave Chinese protestors as well.
One hospital staff member wrote in a message to CNN about a female detainee:
"When she first came in, [the officers] said she was hemorrhaging from her
rectum... due to repeated rape. The plainclothes men insisted that the doctor
write it as rape prior to arrest...." -- CNN Special Report, "How Iran's
security forces use rape to quell protests," November 21, 2022.
Will the Biden administration ever stop appeasing the regime of Iran, called by
the US Department of State "the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism"?
Will the Biden administration ever start standing with Iranian -- and Chinese,
Brazilian and Venezuelan -- men and women asking only for what we purport to
care about -- liberty and freedom -- but who suffer brutality and suppression
from their own governments?
The Biden administration appears to be repeating Obama administration's policy
of choosing to be silent in the face of the Iranian regime's bloodshed, human
rights violations, and crackdowns that kill and wound peaceful protesters.
Pictured: An anti-regime protest at Amirkabir University in Tehran, Iran on
September 20, 2022. (Image source: Darafsh/Wikimedia Commons)
When millions of citizens poured into the streets of Iran in June 2009 to
protest against the country's regime, the Obama administration was silent as
many people in Iran cried out, "Are you with us, or are you with them [the
ruling mullahs]?" Now, the Biden administration appears to be repeating Obama
administration's policy of choosing to be silent in the face of the Iranian
regime's bloodshed, human rights violations, and crackdowns that kill and wound
peaceful protesters -- and has the same policy regarding brave Chinese
protestors as well.
More than 2,000 academics from universities across the United States, including
10 Nobel laureates, signed a letter to President Joe Biden calling for "urgent
attention to a dire situation in Iranian universities," and taking "further
tangible actions." These include ending diplomacy, ending nuclear talks, and
continuing punitive sanctions "until all violators of human rights in Iran are
held accountable."
Among the human rights violations committed by the Iranian authorities is
targeting children and unarmed university students who voice their opposition to
the theocratic establishment.
Many Iranians have started calling the government the "child-killing regime" and
calling Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the "Child-Killing Khamenei". So
far, 35 children killed by the regime's security forces, have been identified.
They include a two-year-old boy in Zahedan, Kian Pirfalak, a 10-year-old boy,
and two teenage girls, Nika Shakamari and Sarina Esmailzadeh, who were
reportedly beaten to death for protesting.
Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) have reported that 46 boys and 12 girls
under 18 have so far been killed. Amnesty International posted in tweet:
"As the world's attention is turned to the #ENGIRN; game, let's remember the
faces of children killed by Iran's security forces during the popular uprising
Since September. Let's use #WorldCup2022 to amplify the voices from Iran calling
for a better future."
Iran's security forces are resorting to rape and sexual assaults to quell
protesters, particularly women. As the slogan "Women, Life, Freedom" continues
to reverberate across the nation, female detainees have reported rape and sexual
assaults while in the custody of the security forces. Several healthcare workers
have leaked information about this abuse. One hospital staff member wrote in a
message to CNN about a female detainee:
"When she first came in, (the officers) said she was hemorrhaging from her
rectum... due to repeated rape. The plainclothes men insisted that the doctor
write it as rape prior to arrest... After the truth became obvious to all, they
changed the whole script... To make it short, they screwed up... They screwed up
and they don't know how to put it together again."
The regime is increasing arrests, as nearly 14,000 people, including children,
have so far been detained. It is worth noting that 227 lawmakers from Iran's
290-seat parliament voted to impose the death penalty against the protesters.
"We ask the judiciary to deal decisively with the perpetrators of these crimes,"
the lawmakers wrote in a statement, "and with all those who assisted in the
crimes and provoked rioters". The regime has already handed down death sentences
to protesters.
The Biden administration is undoubtedly aware that this is a regime known for
committing the 1988 massacre, in which it secretly carried out the mass
execution of thousands of imprisoned dissidents and opposition activists,
dumping the victims' bodies in unmarked mass graves. Ultimately, an estimated
30,000 people were killed in that slaughter. The human rights group Amnesty
International released a comprehensive 200-page report on it. The victims,
according to the report, "were mostly young men and women, some just teenagers,
unjustly imprisoned because of their political opinions and non-violent
political activities."
Will the Biden administration ever stop appeasing the regime of Iran, called by
the US Department of State "the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism"?
Will the Biden administration ever start standing with Iranian -- and Chinese,
Brazilian and Venezuelan -- men and women asking only for what we purport to
care about -- liberty and freedom -- but who suffer brutality and suppression
from their own governments?
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated
scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and
president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has
authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at
Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 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.
Can a ‘Paris moment’ be delivered for nature?
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/December 04, 2022
The world’s biodiversity crisis is “flashing red,” yet as representatives from
almost every country gather in Montreal from Dec. 7 for the UN COP15 summit,
agreement is far from certain.
COP15 is the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological
Diversity, a treaty originally drafted in 1992. The forum was originally set to
take place in China in 2020, but was postponed several times due to the
pandemic.
The convention has been moved to Canada to avoid further delay, with China
retaining the presidency. The first phase was held last year, with ministers
from more than 100 countries pledging to reach agreement on what has been billed
as a global biodiversity framework, but falling short of committing to specific
targets. The goal in Montreal is to develop a post-2020 biodiversity framework
to tackle the crisis in the natural world, potentially until mid-century for
most countries, with the exception of the US, which has yet to sign up. This
will include key targets to be met by 2030.
If this can be agreed, the meeting could be as consequential for stemming
biodiversity loss as the landmark 2015 Paris agreement still might be for action
on climate change. The need is particularly pressing since countries have failed
to meet a single target set for the previous decade.
The warning lights are flashing red in what has been described by some
scientists as the sixth great extinction facing the planet, with an estimated
million plant and animal species threatened with extinction. Monitored wildlife
populations have plummeted by an average of 70 percent in the past 50 years, and
vast swathes of forest are being lost every minute. Clearly, this cannot go on.
Today, at least half of global economic output is estimated to be dependent on
healthy functioning ecosystems. This is either directly — from the use of
resources such as water, processes such as pollination, or conditions such as
soil health — or via indirect activities — retail, for example — that rely on
those natural processes. There are more than 20 targets in the draft agreement
created by a UN working group in the years leading up to COP15 to replace an
agreement from the last major biodiversity summit held in Japan in 2010. Getting
through this mammoth task will require painstaking negotiation in Montreal, and
only a handful of the targets and around one-fifth of the text in the framework
has so far been agreed.
One of the key targets is a commitment to protecting at least 30 percent of land
and water around the globe by 2030. More than 100 countries have joined a
coalition in support of this “30 by 30” goal, which would represent a
significant increase in land and ocean protected, but is seen by many NGOs as
too little, too late. While the event is not centered around climate change per
se, this topic is critical to the discussion. Global warming is accelerating
biodiversity loss, and the loss of key ecosystems, including biodiverse forests,
may well be a death knell to the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature goal in the
Paris treaty.
With the stakes so high, one striking feature of the event is that few heads of
state and government will be present, with exceptions including Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. This is despite pressure on world leaders to attend.
In the UK, for instance, dozens of MPs, including Conservatives from the ruling
party, wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asking him to attend COP15 and
warning that lack of high-level political buy-in could spell failure. Former
prime minister Liz Truss had committed to attend.
UK Environment Secretary Therese Coffey will be there, but the lesson from
successful climate summits, such as Paris in 2015, is that it often takes the
top political players to make the difference between success and failure in what
can be exhausting, marathon negotiations. The letter to Sunak, rightly, warns
that there is a danger Montreal could replicate the 2009 Copenhagen climate
summit, where the process almost collapsed.
With the Montreal COP about to start, the world is at a crossroads. Failure
would be a disaster, yet success could still see a welcome and powerful new
framework for nature that becomes a foundation stone of sustainable development
for billions across the world in the 2020s and beyond.
• Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.