English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 01/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?
Romans 07/04-25/Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law worked in our members to bring out fruit to death. But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting unless the law had said, “You shall not covet. But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. The commandment which was for life, this I found to be for death; for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, righteous, and good. Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was producing death in me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin. For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do. But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good. So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good. For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice. But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the law that, while I desire to do good, evil is present. For I delight in God’s law after the inward person, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, sin’s law.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 31-February 01/2022
Israel carries out missile strike on Hezbollah sites near Damascus
'Casualties' in Israeli Strike on Hizbullah Posts in Syria
Kuwait studying Lebanon’s reply
Hezbollah expects vote on time, Rai warns against postponement
Cabinet Approves Social Aid to Public Sector, Pensioners
Cabinet Studies EDL Loan, Customs Dollar in New Session
Aoun Orders Complaint against Israel over Air Breach as Spy Networks Busted
Berri Hails Busting of Israeli Spy Network
Lebanon pleased with Gulf reaction to Kuwaiti initiative
Report: U.S. Congress to Study Plan Dividing Lebanon into 'Two Security Zones'
Geagea Accuses FPM and Hizbullah of Seeking to Postpone Elections
Decrypting the State/Ghida Tayara/Carnegie/January 31/2022

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 31-February 01/2022
UAE intercepts Houthi ballistic missile as Israeli president visits
Israeli president’s UAE visit underlines 'common vision' towards Iranian threat
Revolutionary Guard Kills Gunman in Attack in Southern Iran
Russia, U.S., Ukraine to Square off at U.N. Security Council
UK Threatens Sanctions on Kremlin-Linked People over Ukraine
Russian Navy Holds Anti-submarine Drills in Norwegian Sea
Russia, US, Ukraine to Square Off at UN Security Council
UN: Over 100 Ex-afghan Forces, Officials Slain since August
Australia to Host ‘Quad’ Meeting of Foreign Ministers
Israel's Top Arab Police Officer Resigns amid Investigation
Blinken discusses Palestinian Authority reform with Mahmoud Abbas
U.S. Urges Allies to Repatriate IS Detainees after Syria Prison Attack
N.Korea Says Tested Most Powerful Missile since 2017, Took Pictures from Space
Japan Starts Mass COVID Boosters as Omicron Cases Soar
UK Vows 'Brexit Freedoms Bill' to Scrap EU Laws
Canada imposes additional sanctions on individuals associated with Myanmar’s military regime
Canada/Statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the 30th anniversary of Canada-Armenia diplomatic relations

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 31-February 01/2022
"It Is No Secret that the Current US Administration Is Encouraging the Houthis to Be More Aggressive"/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/January 31, 2022
Militias, Drones… and Drugs/Ghassan Charbel/ Asharq Al-Awsat/January 31/2022
US Isn’t Ready for Nuclear Rivalry With China and Russia/Hal Brands/Bloomberg/January 31/2022Putin Has the US Right Where He Wants It/Fiona Hill/The New York Times/January31/2022
Iran Nuclear Talks in Vienna Won’t Result in a Better Deal/Jacob Nagel and Mark Dubowitz/Newsweek/January 31/2022
Terrorists Benefit from Qatar’s Goodwill and Charity/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Insight/January 31/2022
The threat over free political debate in Turkey/Alexandra de Cramer/The Arab Weekly/January 31/ 2022
Iran has no choice but to back down in Vienna/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/January 31/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 31-February 01/2022
Israel carries out missile strike on Hezbollah sites near Damascus
AFP/January 31/2022
Syrian air defences intercepted an Israeli missile barrage targeting the vicinity of the capital Damascus, state media said early on Monday, citing a military source. The source was quoted as saying that the interception resulted in some material damage. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Israeli strikes hit a military outpost and weapons depot operated by Lebanon's Hezbollah militant movement near Damascus. "Sites operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah group ... in the east Qalamoun region, northeast of Damascus, were hit by Israeli strikes at dawn," said the war monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria. It added that the attack sparked fires "in military outposts and arms depots belonging to Hezbollah". The Observatory said there were believed to be casualties but it did not offer a toll. Official Syrian state media said the attack caused only material damage, without elaborating on its intended target. "At 3:05 am today, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial assault with a volley of missiles ... targeting some points on the outskirts of Damascus," SANA news agency said. "Our air defences responded to the attack and intercepted some" of the missiles, it added. Asked about Israeli strikes near Damascus, the Israeli army said: "We do not comment on reports in the foreign media." Israel rarely comments on the air strikes it carries out in Syria but has said repeatedly it will not allow its archfoe Iran to extend its footprint in Syria. Since the civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian territory, targeting government positions as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters.

'Casualties' in Israeli Strike on Hizbullah Posts in Syria
Agence France Presse/January 31/2022
Israeli strikes early Monday hit a military outpost and weapons depot operated by Hizbullah near the Syrian capital Damascus, a war monitor reported Monday. "Sites operated by the Lebanese Hizbullah group... in the east Qalamoun region, northeast of Damascus, were hit by Israeli strikes at dawn," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The war monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria, said that the attack sparked fires "in military outposts and arms depots belonging to Hizbullah". The Observatory said there were believed to be casualties but it did not offer a toll. Asked about Israeli strikes near Damascus, the Israeli army told AFP: "We do not comment on reports in the foreign media."Official Syrian state media said the attack caused only material damage, without elaborating on its intended target. "At 3:05 am today, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial assault with a volley of missiles... targeting some points on the outskirts of Damascus," SANA news agency said. "Our air defenses responded to the attack and intercepted some" of the missiles, it added. Israel rarely comments on the air strikes it carries out in Syria but has said repeatedly it will not allow its archfoe Iran to extend its footprint in Syria. Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian territory, targeting government positions as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hizbullah fighters.

Kuwait studying Lebanon’s reply
GDN Online/January 31/2022
Kuwait has said that a Lebanese response to a list of suggested measures to ease a diplomatic rift with Gulf countries is currently under review. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Shaikh Ahmed Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah said that receiving the response was a 'positive step by the Lebanese authorities'.
“We received the response... it will be studied by the relevant authorities in Kuwait and in the Gulf to determine what the next step is with Lebanon,” Shaikh Ahmad said. He was speaking during a news conference following a meeting of Arab foreign ministers, which was attended by Lebanon’s top diplomat Abdallah Bou Habib. Shaikh Ahmed visited Beirut last week and handed Lebanese leaders a list of suggested measures to ease a diplomatic rift with Gulf countries. In October, Saudi Arabia and its allies suspended diplomatic ties with Lebanon after the airing of comments by then information minister Georges Kordahi on Yemen. Kuwait recalled its ambassador from Beirut and also asked Beirut’s charge d’affaires to leave the emirate. Kordahi resigned in November, in a bid to ease the standoff and French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris and Riyadh had agreed to fully engage to restore diplomatic ties.
“It is now up to the relevant parties in Kuwait and in the Gulf states to study this response in order to find out what will be Lebanon’s next step,” Shaikh Ahmed said. The measures presented by Kuwait are part of wider efforts to restore trust between Lebanon and its Gulf neighbours as Beirut grapples with an unprecedented financial crisis. Despite Kordahi’s resignation, tensions between Lebanon and Gulf states have persisted, mainly over the powerful Lebanese Hizbollah movement, which is backed by Iran. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Beirut called on Lebanese political parties to 'end Hizbollah’s terrorist hegemony over every aspect of the state'.

Hezbollah expects vote on time, Rai warns against postponement
Reuters/The Arab Weekly/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said on Sunday it saw no reason to delay May’s parliamentary elections, days after politics was turned on its head by Saad al-Hariri’s withdrawal from public life. Hariri, Lebanon’s leading Sunni Muslim politician and three-times former prime minister, declared on Monday he would boycott the vote, adding to the uncertainties facing a country grappling with a devastating financial crisis. “All indications are that the parliamentary elections will take place on time,” Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy leader of the heavily-armed Hezbollah, according to a copy of his speech.
Rai warns against postponement
Maronite Christian patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, a Hezbollah critic, said on Sunday Hariri’s move must not be used as an excuse to call for a delay. Rai said he was surprised by Hariri’s decision and said he hoped Sunnis would still take part so the election “expresses the position of all Lebanese. Given the importance of this parliamentary (election), we must all confront attempts to circumvent it,” Rai said, noting the new parliament would elect President Michel Aoun’s replacement. Referring to Hariri’s decision, he said “it is not allowed for some to invoke the new reality and promote the postponement of the parliamentary elections”. He did not say to whom he was referring. Rai is a critic of Hezbollah, saying it has harmed Lebanon by dragging it into regional conflicts. Hezbollah, designated a terrorist group by Washington, is part of an Iran-led alliance vying for regional influence with US-allied Gulf Arab states.
Between crisis and elections
Western states want the vote to go ahead on time. While none of Lebanon’s main parties has called for an election delay, many observers believe this may well suit a number of influential players, though not adversaries of Hezbollah, such as the Christian Lebanese Forces party. Hezbollah’s rivals hope to overturn the majority won by the group and allies including President Michel Aoun’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement in 2018. Since then, the financial crisis has plunged the bulk of Lebanese into poverty. The meltdown came to a head in late 2019, when economic grievances ignited protests against the ruling elite over decades of corruption and mismanagement. Despite this, Hezbollah does not expect the election to yield a result very different from 2018, Qassem said, dismissing what he described as expectations of parliament being turned “upside down.” Hezbollah opinion polls across Lebanon showed “the results of the election will be close to the make-up of the current parliament, with slight changes that do not affect the general make-up”, he said. “Therefore we say to those who have high hopes: ‘put your feet on the ground’,” said Qassem. Hariri leaves behind him a fractured Sunni community where analysts believe Sunni allies of Hezbollah may be able to win more seats. Hariri’s brother, Bahaa, announced on Friday he is entering politics. A fierce critic of Hezbollah, he plans to support candidates but will not be running himself.

Cabinet Approves Social Aid to Public Sector, Pensioners
Naharnet/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Cabinet approved Monday an increase of social contributions for the public sector and for social welfare institutions, while no agreement was reached regarding the electricity treasury loan and the customs dollar.A social contribution of 75% of the salary basis will be given for the public sector, as well as the pensioners. As for the state's contribution to social welfare institutions, Cabinet decided to increase it to LBP 400 billion, acting Information Minister Abbas Halabi said. Halabi explained that, during the session, Cabinet asked Energy Minister Walid Fayyad for further clarifications regarding an electricity treasury loan that his ministry had requested as a funding for Électricité du Liban. The talks, including the electricity loan topic, will resume in two sessions on Wednesday, before Cabinet moves to studying all ministries' budgets, Halabi said. For his part, Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar announced that today, Monday, is the last day for registration on Daem platform -- a program that aims to financially support struggling families in Lebanon. He said he will hold a press conference to give detailed information about the topic.

Cabinet Studies EDL Loan, Customs Dollar in New Session
Naharnet/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Cabinet convened Monday at the Grand Serail to continue the discussion of the draft state budget. The session will focus today on social welfare to families in need as Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar is expected to submit a proposal today. The customs dollar will also be studied today as no agreement has been reached yet concerning the LBP to USD exchange rate that will be used to calculate customs on imports. The current rate is 1,500 Lebanese Lira to 1 dollar. Cabinet will also discuss today a treasury loan to purchase fuel for power generation. On Saturday, Cabinet had asked Energy Minister Walid Fayyad to justify a treasury advance that his ministry had requested as a funding for Électricité du Liban. The topic was postponed for today for further study. Cabinet has been meeting since Tuesday to discuss the 2022 draft budget, a prerequisite to unlock the International Monetary Fund aid. It will resume its meetings on Wednesday morning.

Aoun Orders Complaint against Israel over Air Breach as Spy Networks Busted
Agence France Presse/Monday, 31 January, 2022
President Michel Aoun on Monday asked Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib to file a U.N. Security Council complaint against Israel over its violation of Lebanon’s airspace to carry out an overnight strike on Syria. Aoun made the request during a Cabinet session in Baabda, in which Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi briefed the conferees on the busting of “17 spy networks that were working for the Israeli enemy” inside Lebanon. “It turned out that the role of these networks is domestic and regional,” Mawlawi told Cabinet. Prime Minister Najib Miqati for his part hailed “the Intelligence Branch of the Internal Security Forces over this major achievement.”“Busting these networks once again proves the importance of preemptive security and strong coordination among the various security agencies concerned with protecting Lebanon,” the premier added. Al-Akhbar newspaper reported the busts on Monday, calling it the largest operation against suspected Israeli agents in the country for 13 years. It said that the ISF's intelligence unit started the crackdown four weeks ago and had so far detained around 20 people, including Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian nationals -- some of whom were later released. The al-Akhbar report claimed that at least 12 of the suspects in detention were aware they working for Israel, while the rest believed they were providing information for global companies or non profit organizations. Israel and Hizbullah fought a 33-day war in Lebanon in 2006. Between April 2009 and 2014, Lebanese authorities detained more than 100 people accused of spying for Israel, most of them members of the military or telecom employees. The rate of arrests, however, had declined in recent years.

Berri Hails Busting of Israeli Spy Network
Naharnet/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday hailed “the special achievement made by Lebanese security forces, especially the Intelligence Branch (of the Internal Security Forces) for busting a spy network working for the Israeli enemy inside Lebanon.”“Once again, we salute and applaud the Lebanese security forces and their vigilant eyes for protecting Lebanon’s security and immunizing its civil peace,” Berri added. Lebanon said Monday it has busted at least 17 suspected Israeli spy networks, in one of the largest nationwide crackdowns in recent years. Interior minister Bassam al-Mawlawi informed Cabinet that security forces had "clamped down on 17 spy networks working for Israel," acting information minister Abbas Halabi said after the meeting. Halabi said the rings operated both "locally and regionally," without elaborating. Al-Akhbar newspaper said that the ISF's intelligence unit started the crackdown four weeks ago and had so far detained around 20 people, including Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian nationals -- some of whom were later released.

Lebanon pleased with Gulf reaction to Kuwaiti initiative
Najia Houssari/Arab News/January 31/2022
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants believes the country’s response to the Kuwaiti initiative proposing confidence-building measures to end a diplomatic rift with Gulf states had a “positive impact” during Sunday’s Arab League consultative meeting in Kuwait.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib attended Sunday’s meeting, at which Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah once again stressed his country’s “keenness to maintain Lebanon's stability and the welfare of its people.”
He noted that Kuwait will keep trying to mend the relationship, adding: “The concerned authorities in Kuwait and the Gulf countries will discuss the Lebanese response to decide on the next steps with Lebanon.”The Lebanese response stressed Beirut’s commitment to respect all international resolutions in a manner that guarantees domestic peace and stability, and the government’s commitment, in word and deed, to the policy of neutrality, so the country is not turned into a platform for attacks against Arab countries. The response did not mention specific international resolutions or steps to implement them, such as UN Security Council resolution 1559 — which was adopted in 2004 and calls for the disarmament of armed militias in Lebanon. Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf countries cut diplomatic ties with Lebanon in October 2021 after Information Minister George Kordahi offended the Kingdom. Kordahi then resigned in November in an attempt to ease the situation, but the crisis persisted amid hostility from Hezbollah. The Lebanese Cabinet resumed discussions for the 2022 budget on Monday, while a speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, scheduled for Monday, was postponed. Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced Lebanon’s support for the UAE “against attempts to target Arab legitimacy, which we are keen to preserve and strengthen,” adding: “We have been, and will remain, unified in the fight against harm and evil of all kinds.”Mawlawi also briefed the Cabinet on busting 17 spy networks in Lebanon, allegedly working for Israel. The Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces was able to uncover the networks, arresting at least 10 suspects.
A security source stated: “Over a month ago, specifically after the bombing that shook the Burj Al-Shemali Palestinian refugee camp in Tyre, southern Lebanon, the branch obtained information about a person close to Hamas being linked to the bombing. “The Information Branch was able to uncover multiple unconnected networks after monitoring the suspect’s movement and communications,” said the source, adding that a number of suspects were arrested and were currently under investigation. Two suspects are allegedly from the city of Sidon, with another employed at a commercial center in the city of Tyre. Other suspects live inside and around Sidon. One was arrested in Tyre, and his house and the house of another suspected agent were raided simultaneously. Large quantities of gift boxes, perfumes and computers were confiscated. The spy networks are thought to be distributed throughout Lebanon and include agents from different sects, initial investigations reportedly revealed. These agents were apparently recruited through social media, with most unaware that they were working for Israel, while others knew and were asked to buy burner phones. On Monday, President Michel Aoun asked the foreign minister to file a complaint in the UN Security Council against Israel for “using Lebanon’s airspace” to attack Syria, with the Cabinet condemning the “Israeli breach that took place at 3 a.m., when Israeli planes bombed the Syrian territory from the airspace of Riyaq in the Bekaa.”The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported “human losses resulting from the Israeli bombardment, which targeted Hezbollah sites and warehouses, northeast of Damascus.”

Report: U.S. Congress to Study Plan Dividing Lebanon into 'Two Security Zones'
Naharnet/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Steps and Ideas to implement the U.N. resolution 1559 have started in Washington, according to Middle East expert and former Donald Trump foreign policy advisor Walid Phares. Al-Liwaa newspaper quoted Phares as saying that the U.S. Congress will study a "security plan prepared by Lebanese groups" for "dividing Lebanon into two security zones."The first zone includes the South, the southern suburb of Beirut and eastern Bekaa, and will be under the control of Hizbullah. The second zone will be under the control of international forces and legitimate Lebanese forces, including the army and internal security forces, according to Phares. The project is a prerequisite for Arab and international aid. He also revealed that the project will be presented at the U.N. Security Council for approval, al-Liwaa said, as a transitional stage before the congressional elections in November.

Geagea Accuses FPM and Hizbullah of Seeking to Postpone Elections
Naharnet/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday accused the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah of seeking to postpone the parliamentary elections scheduled for May. “They are preparing a new plan to delay or postpone the elections through raising the issue of expat voting,” Geagea said in a press conference to announce the party’s candidates for parliamentary elections in the Metn district -- Melhem Riachi and Razi al-Hajj. Geagea added that the sought postponement would happen through an urgent draft law that would be submitted by the FPM-led Strong Lebanon bloc and backed by Hizbullah.

Decrypting the State
Ghida Tayara/Carnegie/January 31/2022
Investing in Lebanon’s first digitized e-governance platform would greatly benefit citizens, and accountability.
The multiple crises that have hit Lebanon since 2019 are the result of years of incompetent governance and flagrant corruption. And while many elements have contributed to the problems faced by the Lebanese state, the lack of accountability and transparency in the public administration and in governmental policies are fundamental ones. One way to overcome this is by moving toward a digitized government, whose benefits would include more transparency, less chaos, and greater accountability.
In March–April 2020, the Lebanese Central Inspection Agency launched IMPACT, or the Inter-Ministerial and Municipal Platform for Assessment, Coordination, and Tracking. IMPACT is an e-governance platform—the first of its kind in Lebanon—that caters to citizens, government employees, and nongovernmental organizations.
The idea of IMPACT began with the need for a platform that provided inspectors of the Central Inspection Agency with up-to-date data from different sectors of the government in a digital format. The project was developed by Siren Associates, a not-for-profit company specializing in public-sector reform, and funded by the British Embassy in Beirut.
Although it was initially built to collect data for audit purposes, IMPACT soon expanded its role with the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, to a crisis management tool used by central and local government bodies and the Lebanese Red Cross. Furthermore, with the instillation of a nationwide lockdown, IMPACT provided the platform needed to manage citizens’ mobility permits. Most recently, the platform has been used to manage Covid-19 vaccine distribution efforts in coordination with the Ministry of Health.
The Covid-19 situation was not the only case in which IMPACT was used as a crisis management tool. The Beirut Port explosion of August 4, 2020 led to the development of a damage assessment module to map the damage sustained in government institutions and to estimate the cost of reconstruction.
Today, IMPACT offers an open data source to citizens, researchers, and media outlets enabling them to hold local and central authorities accountable for their policies. Additionally, it provides government employees and decisionmakers with tailored data to enhance the decisionmaking process, allowing them to make need-based decisions rather than arbitrary assessments. For example, parliamentarians have access to a specialized platform with metrics on different sectors, including, but not limited to, health, infrastructure, and the economy.
Moreover, the platform offers internal governmental modules such as the General Inspection Module, an up-to-date database on the public administration, allowing Central Inspection Agency inspectors to accurately detect challenges and opportunities for reform in the public administration. Other internal modules include the Administrative Acts Module, which records all decisions and circulars issued by ministries and public administrations. The advantage of this digitized archive is that notification alerts that can be sent out by the uploader to the relevant institutions through IMPACT. And finally, the Human Resources Module maps all positions in the public sector and identifies skills and qualification needs for appropriate resource allocation.
As part of its national rural development strategy, the Ministry of the Displaced has used IMPACT to digitally map all Lebanese towns and villages using a rural and local development survey. The survey publishes the demographic, industrial, agricultural, infrastructural, health, educational, touristic, sociocultural, and commercial characteristics of each village. It creates a data set enabling decisionmakers to design policies based on the needs of each area.
In April 2020, an aid distribution portal was launched on IMPACT with collaboration of the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, municipalities, governors, local authorities, and civil society organizations, under the oversight of the Central Inspection Agency. The process consisted of mapping the needs, validating and cross-checking the data, filtering the recipients, and finally distributing the aid with measures to prevent digital fraud.
Given the effectiveness of IMPACT in identifying economically vulnerable households, it has also served as the registration platform for the ration card aid initiative. DAEM, or the ration card registration platform, allows citizens to register to receive aid. However, given that the poorest segments of the population might not have access to the internet or a mobile phone, and to ensure that the aid arrives to those who are most deserving, IMPACT is collaborating with local nongovernmental organizations by giving them training sessions on how to register families in need.
It is worth mentioning that the modern design of the IMPACT platform, unlike other government related websites, has played a role in its success thus far. The user interface is straightforward and easy to navigate. The different sites are easy to access and are evident on the main page. As for data visualisation, IMPACT showcases the data using responsive dashboards that highlight trends and patterns. Users are also able to export some of the data available. The model is accompanied by a strong and active social media presence, with a responsive team answering queries on Twitter and through creative visual content on Instagram. The efficiency of IMPACT highlights the importance of collaboration between the private and public sectors. While IMPACT is owned by the Central Inspection Agency, its technological dimension is run by Siren, a private company. The private sector commonly has better resources than the public sector in terms of budget, technology, and human capital. As a result, private companies could complement the shortcomings of the public sector when given the opportunity to do so.
IMPACT is a significantly beneficial multipurpose digital tool. The platform pushes forward interministerial collaboration as well as close cooperation between the central government and local authorities. The platform is also a valuable decentralization tool that should be used more by the government. The transparency of the data collected and availability on the website enables citizens to take on accountability roles, and the data that is aimed at governing bodies enhances these bodies’ decisionmaking. Digitizing governmental processes can help reduce corruption, consolidate development efforts, and help reform the public administration. This aligns with the three main roles of the Central Inspection Agency—oversight, guidance, and development.
The Lebanese government should invest in the IMPACT platform by including more services that benefit citizens. By moving more of its operations into the digital world, the state would be better placed to reclaim the trust of its citizens.
*Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 31-February 01/2022
UAE intercepts Houthi ballistic missile as Israeli president visits
Agencies/The Arab Weekly/Monday, 31 January, 2022
The United Arab Emirates shot down a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi militias during a visit by Israel’s president Monday, the latest attack to rattle the Middle East financial hub.Nobody was hurt in the early-hours attack, the third in consecutive weeks on the wealthy Gulf nation that is part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-backed militias. “Air defence forces … intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi terrorist group at the UAE,” the ministry said, according to the official WAM news agency. It said fragments of debris fell “outside of populated areas”, without giving further details. The ministry said it responded by destroying the missile launch site in Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf region, releasing black-and-white footage of the explosion. The latest Houthi missile was fired as Isaac Herzog makes the first visit to the UAE by an Israeli president, after the countries established diplomatic ties under the 2020 Abraham Accords. Herzog, who met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on Sunday, visited Dubai’s Expo 2020 site on Monday. He was also due to hold talks with the UAE prime minister and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. Herzog will “continue his visit as planned”, his office said, as the United States condemned the Houthi attack. “While Israel’s president is visiting the UAE to build bridges and promote stability across the region, the Houthis continue to launch attacks that threaten civilians,” State Department spokesman Ned Price Tweeted.
Series of attacks
Monday’s attack was the latest in a series against the Emirates. Three oil workers were killed in a drone-and-missile attack on Abu Dhabi on January 17, the first deadly assault in the UAE claimed by the Houthis. Two ballistic missiles were intercepted over the capital a week later. The attacks, which follow a spike in hostilities in Yemen, have raised Gulf tensions further at a time when international talks over Iran’s nuclear programme are floundering and have helped push oil prices to seven-year highs. The Iran-backed Houthis began attacking UAE interests after a series of defeats on the ground in Yemen, inflicted by the UAE-trained Giants Brigade militia. In early January, the Iran-backed militias seized a UAE-flagged ship in the Red Sea, saying it was carrying weapons, a claim denied by the Emirates.
Warning of more assaults
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the militias targeted Abu Dhabi with a number of ballistic missiles and Dubai with multiple drones. He also warned, “citizens, residents and companies to stay away from … vital facilities as they are at risk of being targeted in the coming period.” The UAE’s defence ministry said it blew up the launch site at 12:50 am UAE time (2050 GMT), exactly 30 minutes after the missile was intercepted. The Emirates affirms its “full readiness to deal with any threats” and will “take all necessary measures to protect the UAE from any attacks,” it added. The UAE authorities said that the incident had no impact on air traffic, with flight operations proceeding normally.A senior Emirati  official last week vowed that Houthi attacks will not become a “new normal” for the Gulf country, a trade, business and tourism centre and a major oil exporter. The UAE withdrew its troops from Yemen in 2019 but remains an influential player. It also hosts American troops and is one of the world’s biggest arms buyers. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sana’a, prompting Saudi-led forces to intervene to prop up the government the following year. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people directly or indirectly and left millions on the brink of famine, according to the United Nations which calls it the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.

Israeli president’s UAE visit underlines 'common vision' towards Iranian threat
AP/The Arab Weekly/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Coming amid continued attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Abu Dhabi, the ongoing visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the UAE has further underlined Emirati resolve to join hands with the Jewish state based on a "common vision" towards the security threat posed by Tehran and its regional proxies. The United Arab Emirates intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels, early Monday, in the third attack by the Iran-backed militias in recent weeks.The Israeli president had insisted he would continue his UAE visit as planned. "The president has been briefed on the details of the incident. There was no danger posed nor is there danger posed to the president and his delegation," said a statement from Herzog's office. The Iran-backed rebels fighting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have claimed drone and missile attacks against Abu Dhabi in recent weeks, killing three workers at an industrial area. The missile attacks targeting the UAE come as the Houthis face pressure and are suffering heavy losses on the battlefield. En route to the UAE President Herzog’s plane flew over Saudi Arabia, which he said was “truly a very moving moment”.
During a meeting he held Sunday in Abu Dhabi with Herzog, Sheikh Mohamed thanked the Israeli president for his position and that of his country towards "the recent terrorist attacks on civilian facilities in the UAE".
"Your position embodies our common vision towards the necessity of addressing the sources of threats to regional stability and peace, foremost of which are the militia and terrorist forces and the importance of adopting a firm international stance against them," Sheikh Mohamed said. The Israeli president said he was ready to back the UAE in meeting the current security challenge. “I wish to emphasise that we completely support your security requirements and we condemn in all forms and language any attack on your sovereignty,” Herzog told Sheikh Mohammed, according to his office.
" We are here together to find ways and means to bring full security to people who seek peace in our region," added the Israeli leader. According to the Emirati official news agency WAM, the Abu Dhabi crown prince discussed with the visiting Israeli leader "aspects of cooperation under the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement, signed by the two nations in 2020, in addition to a number of regional and international issues of interest." The meeting also "dealt with a number of regional and international issues of mutual concern, especially the efforts made to achieve peace, stability and development in the Middle East region for the common good and prosperity of its peoples," it added. Sheikh Mohamed pointed out, "Our region is one of those that has suffered the most from wars and conflicts. Through peace, we, in the UAE, Israel and the entire region, can direct resources and energies to serving our peoples and paving the way for a better tomorrow."He also emphasised that reaching a permanent settlement to the Palestinian cause would represent "a strong impetus for peace in the entire region". Sheikh Mohamed stressed that the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement is "a major turning point in history that embodies the UAE’s belief in peace and in opening fresh prospects for establishing bilateral partnerships, especially in areas of technology, innovation, health, energy and other fields." Herzog visited Dubai's Expo 2020 world's fair on Monday. From the site’s centrepiece dome, he delivered a brief speech extolling Israel’s innovations, its presence at the fair and economic cooperation with the UAE since the nations normalised relations. Herzog's visit was also an occasion for both countries to continue strengthening bilateral economic ties. The heads of the Manufacturers Association of Israel and of the Israel Export Institute, travelling with the Israeli president discussed a $10 billion fund set up under the Abraham Accords and how the UAE might help Israel find new Middle Eastern and Asian markets, the Association said. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in December had made his first official visit to the Gulf Arab state and discussed strengthening relations on a number of fronts with Sheikh Mohammed.

Revolutionary Guard Kills Gunman in Attack in Southern Iran
Associated Press/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard killed an unidentified gunman who attacked its intelligence office Monday in southern Iran, near the Pakistani border, the country's state-run IRNA news agency reported. The report said the attack happened in the town of Saravan, in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, about 1,360 kilometers (850 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. According to the report, a local citizen was also wounded during the shootout. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and the report did not say whether the attacker acted alone or provide any further details. It said the case is under investigation. Sistan and Baluchistan, one of the least developed parts of Iran, has been the scene of occasional clashes between Iranian forces and various militant groups. The relationship between the predominantly Sunni residents of the region and Iran's Shiite theocracy has long been fraught. The province, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, is also where a Sunni separatist group affiliated with al-Qaida and known as Jeish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, operates. nSecurity forces have also clashed with drug traffickers in the province, located along a major smuggling route for Afghan opium and heroin. In March 2021, an explosion killed one person and wounded three in Saravan. Last month, the Guard and an armed criminal gang clashed in the province, leaving three Guard members and "at least five bandits" dead in the district of Kourin. And in July, armed bandits shot and killed four Guard members in the province.

Russia, U.S., Ukraine to Square off at U.N. Security Council
Associated Press/Monday, 31 January, 2022
The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to meet Monday for the first time on Russia's troop buildup and threatening actions against Ukraine at the request of the United States, and all key players are expected to square off in public over the possibility of a Russian invasion and its global impact.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia's actions pose "a clear threat to international peace and security and the U.N. Charter." Council members "must squarely examine the facts and consider what is at stake for Ukraine, for Russia, for Europe, and for the core obligations and principles of the international order should Russia further invade Ukraine," she said Thursday in announcing the meeting. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky responded angrily, tweeting: "I can't recall another occasion when a SC (Security Council) member proposed to discuss its own baseless allegations and assumptions as a threat to intl (international) order from someone else. Hopefully fellow UNSC members will not support this clear PR stunt shameful for the reputation of UN Security Council." Polyansky's reaction indicated that Russia may start the meeting asking for a procedural vote on whether it should go ahead. To block the meeting, Russia would need support from nine of the 15 members. A senior official in the Biden administration said the United States is in regular contact with council members and is "confident" that there is "more than sufficient support" to hold the meeting. "It goes right to the heart of the role of the Security Council itself," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. "This preventive diplomacy is exactly what the council is supposed to be doing, and I think member states understand that."
Russia's massing of an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine has brought increasingly strong warnings from the West that Moscow intends to invade. Russia is demanding that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine to join the alliance, and to stop the deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe. NATO and the U.S. call those demands impossible. Assuming the meeting goes ahead, the council will first hear a briefing by a senior U.N. official followed by statements from its 15 members including Russia, the United States and European members France, Ireland, United Kingdom and Albania. Under council rules, Ukraine will also speak. China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun, whose country has close ties to Russia, indicated Beijing supports Moscow in opposing a council meeting. "Both sides have shown willingness to continue their negotiations," he told several reporters on Friday. "Let them settle the differences through dialogue, through negotiations.""Russia has said clearly they have no intention to have a war" and the Security Council should "help to deescalate the situation instead of adding fuel to the fire," Zhang said. The head of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Sunday rejected Western warnings about an invasion. "At this time, they're saying that Russia threatens Ukraine — that's completely ridiculous," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass. "We don't want war and we don't need it at all." Thomas-Greenfield said of the U.S. and the other council members on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday: "We're going into the room prepared to listen to them, but we're not going to be distracted by their propaganda." "This is a period when we want to see calm," said Ireland's U.N. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, whose country is serving a two-year term on the council. "We want to see deescalation, diplomacy and dialogue. That's what we favor in relation to the current set of circumstances."

UK Threatens Sanctions on Kremlin-Linked People over Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Britain said on Monday it would impose sanctions on companies and people with the closest links to the Kremlin if Russia takes action against Ukraine, drawing a warning from Moscow that it would respond if its businesses were "attacked". Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, London has become the pre-eminent global center for a vast outflow of money from former Soviet republics. Opponents of President Vladimir Putin, who has massed troops near Ukraine, have repeatedly called on the West to get tough. Oligarchs and Russian officials continue to flaunt their wealth at Europe's most luxurious destinations. "We are very clear that if Russia takes further action against the Ukraine, then we will further tighten the sanctions regime targeting those businesses and people with the closest links to the Kremlin," Simon Clarke, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the threat of sanctions would amount to an attack on Russian businesses. He said such actions would backfire by hurting British companies and warned that Russia would respond. The United States, the European Union and Britain have warned Putin against attacking Ukraine.
Russia denies planning to attack Ukraine and is demanding security guarantees including a promise by NATO never to let Kyiv join the alliance. Russian officials say the West is gripped by Russophobia and has no right to lecture Moscow on how to act after NATO's eastward expansion since the Cold War ended. The British government will introduce new legislation this week to broaden the scope of sanctions it can apply to Russia to try to deter aggression towards Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Sunday.
Britain has imposed sanctions on about 180 people and 48 entities since Russia annexed Crimea form Ukraine in 2014. On the sanctions list are six people Britain says are close to Putin: businessmen Yuri Kovalchuk, Arkady Rotenberg and Nikolai Shamalov, former KGB officer Sergei Chemezov, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Federal
The sanctions allow Britain to freeze individual assets and ban individual from entering the United Kingdom. They also prohibit any individual from dealing with a post-2014 transferable security or money market instrument of a maturity over 30 days issued by Sberbank, VTB bank, Gazprombank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), Rosselkhozbank, OPK Oboronprom, United Aircraft Corporation, Uralvagonzavod, Rosneft, Transneft or Gazprom Neft.

Russian Navy Holds Anti-submarine Drills in Norwegian Sea
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Vessels of Russia's Northern Fleet have completed anti-submarine drills in the Norwegian Sea, the Russian defense ministry said on Monday, part of a broader naval exercise amid a stand-off with the United States and NATO. Russian military moves are being closely watched by the West at a time when a troop build-up near its border with Ukraine has sparked fears of a conflict. Moscow has denied it plans to launch an attack on Ukraine. The ministry said in a statement a Russian missile cruiser and a frigate aided by a specially equipped helicopter practiced various ways of locating submarines during the drills, Reuters reported. Russia is carrying out drills involving more than 140 vessels from all of its fleets in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the North, Okhotsk and Mediterranean seas.

Russia, US, Ukraine to Square Off at UN Security Council
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 31 January, 2022
The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet Monday for the first time on Russia´s troop buildup and threatening actions against Ukraine at the request of the United States, and all key players are expected to square off in public over the possibility of a Russian invasion and its global impact. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia´s actions pose "a clear threat to international peace and security and the UN Charter." Council members "must squarely examine the facts and consider what is at stake for Ukraine, for Russia, for Europe, and for the core obligations and principles of the international order should Russia further invade Ukraine," she said Thursday in announcing the meeting. Russia´s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky responded angrily, tweeting: "I can´t recall another occasion when a SC (Security Council) member proposed to discuss its own baseless allegations and assumptions as a threat to intl (international) order from someone else. Hopefully fellow UNSC members will not support this clear PR stunt shameful for the reputation of UN Security Council."Polyansky´s reaction indicated that Russia may start the meeting asking for a procedural vote on whether it should go ahead. To block the meeting, Russia would need support from nine of the 15 members. A senior official in the Biden administration said the United States is in regular contact with council members and is "confident" that there is "more than sufficient support" to hold the meeting. "It goes right to the heart of the role of the Security Council itself," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. "This preventive diplomacy is exactly what the council is supposed to be doing, and I think member states understand that."Russia´s massing of an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine has brought increasingly strong warnings from the West that Moscow intends to invade. Russia is demanding that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine to join the alliance, and to stop the deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe. NATO and the US call those demands impossible. Assuming the meeting goes ahead, the council will first hear a briefing by a senior UN official followed by statements from its 15 members including Russia, the United States and European members France, Ireland, United Kingdom and Albania. Under council rules, Ukraine will also speak. China´s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun, whose country has close ties to Russia, indicated Beijing supports Moscow in opposing a council meeting. "Both sides have shown willingness to continue their negotiations," he told several reporters on Friday. "Let them settle the differences through dialogue, through negotiations.""Russia has said clearly they have no intention to have a war" and the Security Council should "help to deescalate the situation instead of adding fuel to the fire," Zhang said. The head of Russia´s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Sunday rejected Western warnings about an invasion. "At this time, they´re saying that Russia threatens Ukraine - that´s completely ridiculous," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass. "We don´t want war and we don´t need it at all." Thomas-Greenfield said of the US and the other council members on ABC´s "This Week" on Sunday: "We´re going into the room prepared to listen to them, but we´re not going to be distracted by their propaganda.""This is a period when we want to see calm," said Ireland's UN Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, whose country is serving a two-year term on the council. "We want to see deescalation, diplomacy and dialogue. That´s what we favor in relation to the current set of circumstances."

UN: Over 100 Ex-afghan Forces, Officials Slain since August
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 31 January, 2022
The United Nations has received “credible allegations” that more than 100 former members of the Afghan government, its security forces and those who worked with international troops have been killed since the Taliban took over the country Aug. 15, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says.
In a report obtained Sunday by The Associated Press, Guterres said that “more than two-thirds” of the victims were alleged to result from extrajudicial killings by the Taliban or its affiliates, despite the Taliban’s announcement of “general amnesties” for those affiliated with the former government and US-led coalition forces. The UN political mission in Afghanistan also received “credible allegations of extrajudicial killings of at least 50 individuals suspected of affiliation with ISIL-KP,” the ISIS extremist group operating in Afghanistan, Guterres said in the report to UN Security Council.
He added that despite Taliban assurances, the UN political mission has also received credible allegations “of enforced disappearances and other violations impacting the right to life and physical integrity” of former government and coalition members. Guterres said human rights defenders and media workers also continue “to come under attack, intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and killings.”Eight civil society activists were killed, including three by the Taliban and three by ISIS, and 10 were subjected to temporary arrests, beatings and threats by the Taliban, he said. Two journalists were killed — one by ISIS — and two were injured by unknown armed men. The secretary-general said the UN missions documented 44 cases of temporary arrests, beatings and threats of intimidation, 42 of them by the Taliban. The Taliban overran most of Afghanistan as US and NATO forces were in the final stages of their chaotic withdrawal from the country after 20 years. They entered Kabul on Aug. 15 without any resistance from the Afghan army or the country’s president, Ashraf Ghani, who fled.
The Taliban initially promised a general amnesty for those linked to the former government and international forces, and tolerance and inclusiveness toward women and ethnic minorities. However, the Taliban have renewed restrictions on women and appointed an all-male government, which have met with dismay by the international community. Afghanistan’s aid-dependent economy was already stumbling when the Taliban seized power, and the international community froze Afghanistan’s assets abroad and halted economic support, recalling the Taliban’s reputation for brutality during its 1996-2001 rule and refusal to educate girls and allow women to work. Guterres said: “The situation in Afghanistan remains precarious and uncertain six months after the Taliban takeover as the multiple political, socio-economic and humanitarian shocks reverberate across the country.”
He said Afghanistan today faces multiple crises: a growing humanitarian emergency, a massive economic contraction, the crippling of its banking and financial systems, the worst drought in 27 years, and the Taliban’s failure to form an inclusive government and restore the rights of girls to education and women to work. “An estimated 22.8 million people are projected to be in 'crisis’ and 'emergency' levels of food insecurity until March 2022,” the UN chief said. “Almost 9 million of these will be at 'emergency' levels of food insecurity – the highest number in the world. Half of all children under five are facing acute malnutrition.” On a positive note, Guterres reported “a significant decline” in the overall number of conflict-related security incidents as well as civilian casualties since the Taliban takeover. The UN recorded 985 security-related incidents between Aug. 19 and Dec. 31, a 91% decrease compared to the same period in 2020, he said. The eastern, central, southern and western regions accounted for 75% of all recorded incidents, he said, with Nangarhar, Kabul, Kunar and Kandahar ranking as the most conflict-affected provinces. Despite the reduction in violence, Guterres said the Taliban face several challenges, including rising attacks against their members. “Some are attributed to the National Resistance Front comprising some Afghan opposition figures, and those associated with the former government,” he said. “These groups have been primarily operating in Panjshir Province and Baghlan’s Andarab District but have not made significant territorial inroads” though “armed clashes are regularly documented, along with forced displacement and communication outages.”Guterres said intra-Taliban tensions along ethnic lines and competition over jobs have also resulted in violence, pointing to armed clashes on Nov. 4 between between Taliban forces in Bamyan city. In the report, the secretary-general proposed priorities for the UN political mission in the current environment, urged international support to prevent widespread hunger and the country’s economic collapse, and urged the Taliban to guarantee women’s rights and human rights.

Australia to Host ‘Quad’ Meeting of Foreign Ministers
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 31 January, 2022
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to Australia in February to meet counterparts from Japan, India and Australia to discuss Indo-Pacific coordination, the Australian government said on Monday. The two-day meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) foreign ministers comes amid the Biden administration's concerns about China, even as tensions with Russia over Ukraine ratchet up in Europe. China has previously denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and a clique "targeting other countries". Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne did not specify a date for the meeting, but said in a statement she looked forward to welcoming the Quad foreign ministers to Australia in coming weeks."We are a vital network of liberal democracies cooperating to give our region strategic choices, with a focus on practical steps to build the resilience and sovereignty of all states," Payne said. The government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison is deepening Australia's partnerships in the region amid "strategic competition, threats to liberal international order and increasing uncertainty", she added. Japanese media had previously reported the Quad meeting could be held virtually because of pandemic restrictions surrounding international travel. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a tweet on January 27 he has tested positive for COVID-19. Canberra officials hope the timing of the February meeting will allow Jaishankar to recover and return a negative test. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is also expected to attend. The Quad grouping has previously discussed boosting the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to the region, supply chains for semiconductors and technology cooperation. It has also held joint naval exercises.

Israel's Top Arab Police Officer Resigns amid Investigation
Associated Press/Monday, 31 January, 2022
The highest-ranking Arab Muslim officer in Israel's police force has resigned, according to a statement Monday — a week after a video emerged showing him tripping over the body of a stabbing victim as he left the scene of a crime in 2020. Police said in a statement that Maj. Gen. Gamal Hakroosh tendered his resignation on Sunday, and that it would take effect Monday. Hakroosh, 64, was appointed deputy commissioner in 2016 to lead outreach efforts to Israel's Arab minority, a historic appointment. Last week, security camera footage obtained by Israel's Haaretz newspaper showed Hakroosh leaving the scene of a crime in 2020. He had gone to a factory office in his hometown of Kfar Qana on business, when a fight broke out between two men, one of whom stabbed the other in the chest. The security camera footage shows Hakroosh walking down a stairwell and tripping over the stabbed man, likely by accident, before heading out the door. He ignored the assailant, who was barricaded in another room, and did not provide first aid to the stabbed victim, Haaretz said. Public Security Minister Omer Barlev, who is in charge of the police, thanked Hakroosh for his 44 years of service and said his resignation was appropriate. He said the police team investigating the incident would continue its work. Israel's current government, the first to include an Arab party, has redoubled efforts to fight crime in the community. Violent crime within the community has soared in recent years, fueled by organized crime and family feuds. Arab citizens make up around 20% of Israel's 9.4 million people and face discrimination, with community leaders accusing authorities of ignoring crime in their communities. At the same time, distrust of Israeli police has hindered cooperation.At least 125 Arabs were killed in attacks in 2021, making it the deadliest year on record, according to the Abraham Initiatives, a nonprofit that promotes Jewish-Arab coexistence.

Blinken discusses Palestinian Authority reform with Mahmoud Abbas
AGENCIES/Reuters and AP/February 01, 2022
WASHINGTON: In a further step to strengthen bilateral relations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the need for reform in the Palestinian Authority in a phone call on Monday with President Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department said. President Joe Biden has sought to repair ties weakened when his predecessor, President Donald Trump, slashed aid to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza and closed a US consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem. The Biden administration has restored aid and pledged to reopen the consulate over Israeli objections, while urging Abbas, 86, to change several policies including payments his self-rule authority makes to Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Briefing reporters on Monday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price did not mention the prisoner stipends but said Blinken and Abbas discussed “the need for reform within the Palestinian Authority.”
The two also discussed “the need to improve quality of life for the Palestinian people in tangible ways,” Price said. In a readout of the phone call, Abbas’ office did not mention any discussion of reform within the authority, which exercises limited self-rule in West Bank territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Abbas told Blinken that Israel must “stop the abuse of prisoners and ... the withholding of taxes.” Israel in 2018 began deducting the value of the prisoner stipends from taxes it collects on the Palestinian Authority’s behalf and transfers to it monthly. Israel and the US say the stipends, dispersed monthly to prisoners, their relatives and the families of Palestinians killed for allegedly carrying out attacks, encourage further violence.
The Palestinians consider them a form of welfare for inmates and families they regard as national heroes. Meanwhile, two members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation asked the Biden administration Monday to investigate how a Palestinian-American who lived in Milwaukee before moving back to his home village died at a West Bank checkpoint. Omar Assad, 78, died after Israeli troops stopped him at a checkpoint in his native village of Jiljilya during the early morning hours of Jan. 12, according to family members and media reports. Assad’s nephew, Assad Assad, said others who were detained at the checkpoint told family members that the soldiers dragged Assad out of his car, threw him to the ground and shackled his hands and feet with zip ties, then fled after he died on the spot. The Israeli military has said Omar was detained after resisting an inspection and later released, implying he was alive. It’s unclear exactly when he died. An autopsy performed by Palestinian doctors that became public on Thursday determined the cause of death was a heart attack brought on by “external violence.”Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler, an Israeli military spokesman, said Assad’s death remains under investigation and that “actions will be taken if wrongdoing is found.”
Assad was born in Jiljilya but spent about 40 years in the United States. He became a US citizen before he returned to his home village in 2009 to retire with his wife, Nazmia, his nephew told The Associated Press. US State Department officials have said they’re seeking clarification about the events leading up to Assad’s death.US Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Rep. Gwen Moore sent a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking him to launch an investigation into Assad’s death and whether the soldiers involved used equipment procured with American aid. “We strongly support human rights and the rule of law as the foundation of United States foreign policy,” Baldwin and Moore wrote. “As a Palestinian American, Mr. Assad deserves the full protections afforded US citizens living abroad and his family deserves answers.”State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday that he hadn’t seen the request from Baldwin and Moore and the agency hasn’t seen a final report from Israeli officials. “We continue to support an investigation that is thorough and comprehensive into the circumstances of the incident and we welcome receiving additional information as soon as possible,” Price said. Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six Day War in 1967. Assad Assad said his uncle and aunt left Jiljilya for Chicago in 1969 in hopes of finding jobs. They moved to Milwaukee in 1974 and prospered, opening convenience stores and a restaurant, he said. They were among dozens of Jiljilya residents who have returned to the village over the years to build retirement homes, Assad Assad said.

U.S. Urges Allies to Repatriate IS Detainees after Syria Prison Attack
Associated Press/Monday, 31 January, 2022
The United States on Monday urged its allies to repatriate suspected Islamic State-linked nationals detained in northeast Syria, after the jihadist group launched an attack on a prison to free its fighters. Washington called on its partners in the international coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS), also referred to as ISIS, "to improve the secure and humane detention of ISIS fighters, support rehabilitation initiatives, and urgently repatriate their nationals and other detainees remaining in northeast Syria," in a statement from State Department spokesman Ned Price. IS fighters on January 20 launched their biggest assault since the loss of their "caliphate" nearly three years ago, attacking the Ghwayran prison in the Kurdish-controlled northeast Syrian city of Hasakeh to free fellow jihadists, sparking battles that left over 370 dead. After six days of intense fighting, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Wednesday they had recaptured the prison, but intermittent clashes continued until Saturday between Kurdish fighters and jihadists near the jail. Senior IS leaders were captured or killed during the fighting, Price said, praising the SDF "for their heroic and effective response to the sustained ISIS attack."Most nations have been reluctant to repatriate their IS suspects from northeast Syria, preferring to leave them in the custody of Kurdish authorities. But the Kurdish administration has long warned it does not have the capacity to hold, let alone put on trial, all the IS fighters captured in years of operations. Authorities say more than 50 nationalities are represented in Kurdish-run prisons holding more than 12,000 IS suspects. The Kurdish administration's foreign policy chief Abdulkarim Omar said it was up to the international community to put foreign jihadists on trial or repatriate them. The IS threat is "like a fireball, it gets more dangerous and complicated with time," he told AFP. The self-declared IS caliphate, established in 2014, once straddled large parts of Iraq and Syria, a country wracked by civil war since 2011. After five years of military operations conducted by local and international forces, IS' last rump was eventually flushed out on the banks of the Euphrates in eastern Syria in March 2019.

N.Korea Says Tested Most Powerful Missile since 2017, Took Pictures from Space
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 31 January, 2022
North Korea confirmed on Monday it had tested a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), state media reported, as US and South Korean officials warned Sunday's launch could lead to resumed testing of long-range weapons and nuclear bombs. It was the seventh conducted by North Korea this month and the first time a nuclear-capable missile of that size had been launched since 2017. The launch was first reported by South Korean and Japanese authorities on Sunday, who condemned it as a threat to regional security. "The inspection firing test was conducted for the purpose of selectively inspecting the ground-to-ground mid-range long-range ballistic missile Hwasong-12 and verifying the overall accuracy of this weapon system," North Korean state news agency KCNA said. North Korea has previously said the Hwasong-12 can carry a "large-size heavy nuclear warhead."KCNA said the missile launch was conducted in such a way as to ensure the safety of neighboring countries, and that the test warhead was fitted with a camera that took photos while it was in space. Photos released by state media showed space-based images of North Korea and the surrounding areas through a round camera lens. North Korea first took such photos in 2017, analysts said. Leader Kim Jong Un was not reported to have attended the test, which was at least the seventh launch in January, one of the busiest ever for North Korea's advancing missile program. On Sunday South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the launch takes North Korea a step closer to fully scrapping a self-imposed moratorium on testing its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Kim has said he is no longer bound by that moratorium, which included a stop to nuclear weapons tests and was announced in 2018 amid a flurry of diplomacy and summits with then-US President Donald Trump. North Korea suggested this month it could restart those testing activities because the United States and its allies had shown no sign of dropping their "hostile policies."
Bigger missiles
The United States shares the concerns that North Korea's escalating missile tests could be precursors to resumed tests of nuclear weapons and ICBMs, a senior US official said on Sunday night, while urging Pyongyang to join direct talks with no preconditions. "They are looking to take actions, which we believe are fundamentally destabilizing, as a way to increase pressure," the official told a briefing of journalists in Washington. "I think that there probably is a component that is also to validate the systems that they've developed and further refine them." It is unclear if IRBMs such as the Hwasong-12 were included in Kim's moratorium, but those, too, have not been tested since 2017. That year North Korea flight-tested the Hwasong-12 at least six times, achieving three successful flights and three failures. Controversially, in two of those tests North Korea launched the missile over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. In Sunday's test, North Korea said it fired the missile on an elevated trajectory "in consideration of the safety of neighboring countries." The test "confirmed the accuracy, safety, and operational effectiveness of the produced Hwasong-12 type weapon system," KCNA said. The Hwasong-12 has an estimated range of 4,500 kilometers (2,796 miles), which would put the US territory of Guam and the far western tip of Alaska's Aleutian Islands chain within reach, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). By comparison, the largest, most powerful missile North Korea has tested to date is the Hwasong-15 ICBM, with an estimated range of 8,500-13,000 km, which could threaten anywhere in the United States, CSIS said. The Hwasong-15 was tested once, in November 2017.

Japan Starts Mass COVID Boosters as Omicron Cases Soar
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 31 January, 2022
Tokyo has launched a mass inoculation drive for COVID-19 booster shots at a temporary center operated by the military as Japan tries to speed up delayed third jabs to counter surging infections. Japan began administering booster shots to medical workers in December, but has only provided such inoculations to 2.7% of the population after delaying a decision to cut the interval between the first two coronavirus shots and a booster to six months from the initial eight, AFP said. Demand for the shots is intense: Online reservations that started on Friday resulted in all slots for about 4,300 doses to be given at the center this week being filled within 9 minutes. The center is providing the vaccine made by Moderna, Inc. On a smaller scale, people 65 and older can get booster shots elsewhere. The center run by the Self-Defense Force in downtown Tokyo reopened Monday after closing down in late November. It will be vaccinating about 720 people aged 18 or older per day this week, ramping up to more than 2,000 a day next month. Another military-run center will begin booster shots next week in Osaka. The omicron variant has been spreading quickly, pushing new reported infections to much higher than earlier waves of coronavirus. Tokyo reported 15,895 new cases Sunday, a new high for a Sunday. Nearly half of its hospital capacity is filled. Nationwide, Japan recorded some 78,000 cases for an accumulated total of 2.68 million, with about 18,700 deaths. A male resident in his 50s said in an interview with Japanese media that vaccination rollouts in his area were slow and he was relieved to get his shot. Another, in his 40s, said he was anxious to be vaccinated because omicron infections were spreading at his son’s elementary school. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the Tokyo vaccination center on Monday and said most cities are expected to finish providing booster shots for Japanese over 65 by the end of February. Younger Japanese are next in line, but many haven't received the coupons required to apply for the shots and are unlikely to get boosters until March or later. Kishida said a decision to close Japan's borders to most new foreign travelers in late November had helped to slow the latest upsurge in infections. The government has resisted imposing strict lockdowns to curb the pandemic, largely relying on requests to restaurants to shorten their opening hours and exhorting the public to wear face masks and observe social distancing. Even though such practices kept the number of cases relatively low in most parts of Japan, and contributed to a sharp drop in infections in the autumn, the pandemic is taking a long, steady economic toll. “Japan’s overwhelmingly slow booster shots are very likely to significantly delay its economic recovery compared to many other countries,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, a chief economist at the Dai-Ichi Life research Institute. Pandemic restrictions are now in effect in much of Japan, including Tokyo and other big cities like Osaka and Kyoto, for the first time since September. The government has faced harsh criticism over delays in its pandemic response, especially the slow start for the initial first two COVID-19 shots last year amid a shortage of imported vaccines. The inoculation rate reached nearly 80% after Kishida's predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, set a goal of providing 1 million jabs daily to finish inoculating most of the elderly population before last year's Tokyo Olympics.

UK Vows 'Brexit Freedoms Bill' to Scrap EU Laws
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 31 January, 2022
The UK government will introduce new legislation allowing it to change or scrap retained European Union laws, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday to mark two years since Brexit. The new "Brexit Freedoms Bill" will make it easier to amend or remove what he called "outdated" EU laws that London has kept on its statute books as a "bridging measure" after leaving the bloc. It will be part of what the British leader dubbed a "major cross-government drive to reform, repeal and replace" the European laws retained and cut red tape for businesses, AFP said. "The plans we have set out today will further unleash the benefits of Brexit and ensure that businesses can spend more of their money investing, innovating and creating jobs," Johnson said in a statement. "Our new Brexit Freedoms Bill will end the special status of EU law in our legal framework and ensure that we can more easily amend or remove outdated EU law in future." The move is part of a flurry of announcements expected imminently from the government in key policy areas, as it also grapples with the growing international crisis over Russia's military build-up near Ukraine. However, critics have accused Johnson of rushing out half-baked plans and so-called "red meat" policies to shore up support among his own increasingly disgruntled Conservative MPs. That follows persistent calls for him to resign over claims of lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street and several other recent scandals. Britain left the EU on January 31, 2020, but continued to abide by most of its rules and regulations until the start of 2021 under the terms of its withdrawal deal. Although it then left the 27-member bloc's single market and customs union, it kept many European laws on the books, pledging to change or repeal them individually post-Brexit. Meanwhile the government insists it has made "huge strides" outside the EU, striking some trade deals with countries and forging a new independent foreign policy built around a "global Britain" mantra. But it has also been beset by issues blamed on Brexit, with the increased paperwork needed causing delays and even shortages of products while some industries complain of growing labor shortages. Meanwhile special arrangements agreed for Northern Ireland, aiming to avoid a "hard" border on the island of Ireland, have proved highly contentious there and led to increased political instability.

Canada imposes additional sanctions on individuals associated with Myanmar’s military regime
January 31, 2022 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
As we reach the 1-year anniversary of the coup in Myanmar, the country’s political and humanitarian situation continues to have significant impacts on the most vulnerable throughout the entire region and remains a threat to international peace and security.
Following reports of appalling violations of humanitarian law, escalations in violence, and the lack of tangible progress being made toward a peaceful resolution, Canada is taking coordinated action with its international partners and allies to bring human rights violators in Myanmar to account.
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced additional sanctions against three individuals under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations in response to the Myanmar military’s continued disregard for the human rights of the people of Myanmar and their calls for democracy. These sanctions target senior members of the regime who are using their respective roles to abuse the rule of law and remove political opposition, thus contributing to a grave breach of international peace and the deteriorating security situation.
A year after the coup, the military regime has shown no sign of reversing course. Canada’s announcement of additional measures is being coordinated with those of the United Kingdom and the United States and underscores the international community’s collective resolve to put increased pressure on the military to initiate genuine and inclusive political dialogue to end the crisis. They also reinforce Canada’s call to all countries to suspend all operational support for Myanmar’s military and to cease the transfer of arms, material, dual-use equipment and technical assistance to Myanmar’s military and its representatives. Taken together, these measures will hinder the military leadership’s ability to operate.
The imposition of these measures is consistent with Canada’s support for the rules-based international order and international peace and security, as well as with its continued commitment to supporting democracy and ending impunity in Myanmar as requested by its people.
With today’s announcement of additional measures, Canada now has 73 individuals and 58 entities listed under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations, for a total of 131 listings.
Quote
“A year has passed since the February 1 coup, and Canada continues to unequivocally condemn the regime and its actions against the people of Myanmar, including recent attacks on civilians by the military regime. We continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and support their tenacity, resilience and efforts to restore democracy and defend human rights in their country.”
- Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Canada/Statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the 30th anniversary of Canada-Armenia diplomatic relations
January 31, 2022 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement:
“Canada and Armenia enjoy a close relationship. As we mark the 30th anniversary of our diplomatic relations, we are reminded of the shared interests, common priorities and warm people-to-people ties that serve as the foundation of our friendship. The dynamic Armenian diaspora within Canada serves as an important bridge that connects our societies and help make Canada the prosperous, vibrant, and open country it is today.
“Our countries have worked side by side in the promotion of women’s empowerment, inclusive governance, and the values of La Francophonie across the globe. Not only that, but our continued collaboration in international fora, like the United Nations and OSCE, demonstrates a mutual commitment to strengthening the rules-based international order and democracy in the Caucasus region.
“Canada is deeply invested in the continued progress of Armenia’s democratic institutions, notably though the Arnold Chan Initiative for Democracy in Armenia, launched by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2018, and the important work of Canada’s Ambassador to Germany and Special Envoy to the European Union and Europe, Stéphane Dion. We look forward to working with our Armenian partners to help the country fully realize its democratic ambitions and reinforce our collaboration further in the years to come.
“My best wishes to the people of Armenia on the anniversary of this important milestone.”

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 31-February 01/2022
خالد أبو طعمة: ليس سراً أن الإدارة الأميركية الحالية تشجع الحوثيين على ممارسة المزيد من العنف
"It Is No Secret that the Current US Administration Is Encouraging the Houthis to Be More Aggressive"
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/January 31, 2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/105979/105979/
The Arabs say that the Biden administration made a mistake when it decided last year to remove the Houthis from the international terrorist list. The Biden administration's move, they noted, has emboldened one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the Middle East and endangered international peace and security.
Ultimately, the terrorism of Iran and its terrorist groups will reach the US, and, as with Afghanistan, it is the Biden administration that will justly be blamed.
The 22 members of the Arab League urged the Biden administration to re-classify the Iran-backed Houthi militia as a terrorist organization. The attacks "constitute... a real threat to... energy supplies and the stability of the global economy.... harm international peace and security, and pose a threat to international commercial shipping lines." — Asharq Al-Awsat, January 24, 2022.
"What is the Biden administration waiting for in order to re-evaluate its position? Does it want to continue being a spectator?" - Atef Saadawy, Egyptian strategic and international affairs expert, Sky News Arabia, January 18, 2022.
The re-designation of the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization "will... facilitate the process of establishing peace in Yemen and a political solution that preserves its unity and territorial integrity and the security and stability of neighboring countries." — Atef Saadawy, Sky News Arabia, January 18, 2022.
The time has come for the US administration... "to end its contradictory positions and flabby handling of the Yemeni crisis, which has exacerbated matters even more." — Atef Saadawy, Sky News Arabia, January 18, 2022.
"What is happening now in Yemen is the responsibility of the US.... The first decision of the Biden administration... was to remove the Houthis from the list of terrorism, and this is a big mistake. Iran wants to use the Houthis to pressure the Americans to revive the nuclear deal." — Emad Adin Adib, prominent Egyptian writer, journalist and businessman, El Watan News, January 25, 2022.
"[T]he Biden administration needs to show that it knows what is happening in the Middle East....Iran invested every dollar [from the Obama administration] in the service of its expansion project [in the Arab countries] and the empowerment of its militias in the region." — Khairallah Khairallah, Lebanese writer and political analyst, Alraimedia.com, January 22, 2022.
"Moreover, it is no secret that the current US administration is encouraging the Houthis to be more aggressive. They [the Houthis] are more hostile towards the US itself. A few weeks ago, the Houthis stormed the US embassy in [the Yemeni capital of] Sana'a.... It seems that the US administration is still convinced that Iran wants an agreement in Vienna and that the Houthis are still searching for a peaceful solution in Yemen." — Khairallah Khairallah, Alraimedia.com, January 22, 2022.
Re-designating the Houthi militia as an international terrorist organization is "a step in the right direction." — Eyad Abu Shakra, Lebanese journalist and political commentator, Reuters, January 20, 2022.
[M]any Arabs have lost confidence in the US because it has chosen to align itself with Iran, whose forces and militias are occupying Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon and are now targeting the UAE and Saudi Arabia -- not to mention positioning themselves in America's soft underbelly in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. In the eyes of these Arabs, the Biden administration is inflicting massive damage on US interests and allies and helping Iran export its terrorism throughout the world.
It now remains to be seen whether anyone in the Biden administration will wake up to the magnitude of the Iranian threat and actions, redesignate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and attempt to salvage the credibility of the United States.
Many Arabs say that they cannot understand why the Biden administration still has not re-designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization, especially in the wake of the recent missile and drone attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The 22 members of the Arab League have urged the Biden administration to re-classify the Iran-backed Houthi militia as a terrorist organization. Pictured: An Arab League meeting of foreign ministers in Doha, Qatar, on June 15, 2021. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images)
Yesterday, January 30, 2022, the Iran-backed militia, the Houthis in Yemen, launched a missile at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for the third time in as many weeks.
Many Arabs say that they cannot understand why the Biden administration still has not re-designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization, especially in the wake of the recent missile and drone attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The Arabs say that the Biden administration made a mistake when it decided last year to remove the Houthis from the international terrorist list. The Biden administration's move, they noted, has emboldened one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the Middle East and endangered international peace and security.
Some Arabs believe that the Biden administration's lenient approach towards the Houthi militia is designed to appease the mullahs in Iran with the hope that they will sign a new nuclear deal with the US and the other world powers.
The main message several Arab countries and political commentators and journalists are sending to the Biden administration: The Arabs have lost faith in the Americans because of their policies towards Iran and its terrorist proxies, including the Houthi militia in Yemen.
A second message the Arabs are sending to the Biden administration: There are no "good" and "bad" terrorists. The Arabs see no difference between the Houthis, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State (ISIS), Hezbollah and Hamas.
The third message from the Arabs to the Biden administration: Ultimately, the terrorism of Iran and its terrorist groups will reach the US, and, as with Afghanistan, it is the Biden administration that will justly be blamed.
The 22 members of the Arab League urged the Biden administration to re-classify the Iran-backed Houthi militia as a terrorist organization. The appeal was issued after an emergency meeting of the Arab League to discuss the "brutal and vicious terrorist attack on civilians and civilian targets."
"[The attacks] constitute a violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and a real threat to vital civilian facilities, energy supplies and the stability of the global economy. They also constitute a threat to regional peace and security, undermine Arab national security, harm international peace and security, and pose a threat to international commercial shipping lines."
Undersecretary of the Yemeni Ministry of Information Najeeb Ghallab said that the Iranian-backed Houthi militia poses a danger to the world, and not only to Yemen.
"The Houthis are more dangerous than ISIS and Al-Qaeda because they are agents of a state (Iran) that is a member of the international community, and this state exports terrorism through its agents... The international community needs to take a deeper look at Iran and its export of terrorism through the proxies it supports in the Arab region, including the Houthi militia."
The Yemeni official warned that Iran's terrorism will spread to other parts of the world, including the US. He further warned that failure to take action against Iran and its terrorist groups would allow the Iranians to continue "spreading spread chaos, sabotage and terrorism."
Atef Saadawy, an Egyptian strategic and international affairs expert, said he could not understand Biden's reluctance to reconsider his decision last year to remove the Houthi militia from the terrorist list.
"What is the Biden administration waiting for in order to re-evaluate its position?... Does it want to continue being a spectator? Does it need more evidence of this group's terrorism after what happened in the past few days? The [Houthi] terrorism has reached the depth of the most important Arab capitals, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi."
Saadawy also asked whether the Biden administration was waiting for the establishment of a terrorist entity in Yemen on the borders of its most important allies in the region.
Addressing the Biden administration, he went on to ask: "Are you waiting until the maritime navigation in the Red Sea becomes under the control and mercy of an armed militia?"
The time has come for the US administration, Saadawy added, "to end its contradictory positions and flabby handling of the Yemeni crisis, which has exacerbated matters even more."
The re-designation of the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization, the Egyptian expert said, "will contribute to putting an end to the actions of this terrorist militia and its supporters, neutralize its danger and end the serious violations it is carrying out against the Yemeni people. This will also facilitate the process of establishing peace in Yemen and a political solution that preserves its unity and territorial integrity and the security and stability of neighboring countries."
Yemeni researcher Najeeb Al-Samawi added his voice to those of the Arabs, who are increasingly disillusioned and frustrated with the Biden administration's ongoing attempts to placate Iran's mullahs and their terrorist puppets.
The US administration is not serious about protecting its Arab allies, Al-Samawi said, noting that he does not expect the Americans to re-designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization as long as Washington proceeds with its efforts to bring the mullahs back to the 2105 nuclear deal. "The US is not honest with its [Arab] allies," he lamented.
Prominent Egyptian writer, journalist and businessman Emad Adin Adib said that the Biden administration made a mistake by lifting the Houthis from the list of terrorist organizations.
The Middle East is experiencing "a state of great confusion" as a result of the policy of the Biden administration," Adib cautioned.
The Biden administration, he recollected, was part of the team that negotiated the first nuclear agreement with Iran during the Obama administration.
"They [the Biden administration] feel that they are the godparents of the first agreement... What is happening now in Yemen is the responsibility of the US because the Trump administration had classified the Houthi militia as terrorists. The first decision of the Biden administration, however, was to remove the Houthis from the list of terrorism, and this is a big mistake. Iran wants to use the Houthis to pressure the Americans to revive the nuclear deal."
Echoing the disappointment of the Arabs with the Biden administration's failure to stand with America's allies, veteran Lebanese writer and political analyst Khairallah Khairallah reminded the Americans of the Houthi's slogan: "Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam."
Khairallah said that US condemnations of the Houthi missile and drone attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia are not enough.
"The condemnations remain condemnations in the absence of a practical position by the US administration towards Iran, which recently used its Houthi proxy to attack the UAE... It is certain that the UAE can defend itself, but it is also certain that the US should stand with its allies when they are subjected to an aggression. The Biden administration is supposed to call things by their [true] names, especially with regard to the Houthis and their behavior; the Biden administration needs to show that it knows what is happening in the Middle East, and that it is not a continuation of Barack Obama's administration, which signed an agreement with Iran regarding its nuclear file in the summer of 2015. That agreement, which provided the Iranian treasury with billions of dollars, was a gift to the Islamic Republic. Iran invested every dollar in the service of its expansion project [in the Arab countries] and the empowerment of its militias in the region."
According to the Lebanese writer, it has become clear that just as the Obama administration ignored the menacing and murderous nature of the Iranian regime, "the Biden administration appears to be more passive in dealing with its [Arab] allies with regard to the Yemen crisis."
It is no secret, Khairallah stated, that the Houthis do not want peace in Yemen and that is why they are attacking Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
"Moreover, it is no secret that the current US administration is encouraging the Houthis to be more aggressive... They [the Houthis] are more hostile towards the US itself. A few weeks ago, the Houthis stormed the US embassy in [the Yemeni capital of] Sana'a. Not only did they search the embassy offices, but they also detained 20 local employees. It seems that the US administration is still convinced that Iran wants an agreement in Vienna and that the Houthis are still searching for a peaceful solution in Yemen."
Khairallah's advice to the Biden administration: There is no point in trying to appease Iran or the Houthis because they will not change. The Biden administration, therefore, needs "to start getting to know the region from a realistic angle if it wants its allies to start taking it seriously."
Eyad Abu Shakra, another Lebanese journalist and political commentator, said that Biden's recent announcement that he is considering re-designating the Houthi militia as an international terrorist organization is "a step in the right direction."
Abu Shakra pointed out that the actions and policies of all US administrations since 2003 have been on the assumption that Iran was part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
"Within the Democratic Party, as well as within Washington's lobbies and its research and intelligence centers, there is hostility towards the Gulf Cooperation Council states, specifically Saudi Arabia... This spontaneous hostility always leads to mistrust of Gulf intentions and to ignoring the presence of any aggressive intentions; and in the case of Yemen, it's the Iranian regime."
The administration of Joe Biden inherited its Middle Eastern staff almost entirely from the administration of Barack Obama, Abu Shakra wrote.
"It is known that the Obama administration adopted new concepts in its dealings with Middle Eastern issues, from Iran to Israel, passing through political Islam and other economic, political and security issues. These concepts were accompanied by the growing Russian and Chinese challenges in the region and Tehran's acceleration of the pace of its occupation [of Arab countries]."
Yemeni Minister for Legal Affairs and Human Rights Ahmad Arman also stressed the need to punish the Houthi militia, classify it as a terrorist group and dry up its funding and sources of arming.
In a message directed to the Biden administration and the international community, Arman pointed out that the crimes of the Houthis have exceeded those committed by ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
"The classification of the Houthi militia as a terrorist group is based on the provisions of international laws and agreements that define actions that constitute crimes of a terrorist nature and are classified as terrorist acts... It is time for the international community to take a serious and practical stance towards this terrorist group by drying up its sources of funding and cutting arms smuggling lines from any side, including the Iranian regime."
He criticized the international community's "indifference" towards Houthi terrorism and for keeping a terrorist group that is more extremist and criminal than Al-Qaeda and ISIS off the terrorism list, which contributed to the escalation of its attacks.
"The inaction of the international community and its failure to take a serious stance towards the crimes committed by the Houthi militia contributed to the group's persistence and targeting of international trade routes,... The international community has failed to fulfill its duty to prevent and prosecute the Houthi group and its leaders, who are terrorists committing brutal violations and crimes that undermine international peace and security."These disturbing voices from the Arab world should serve as an alarm bell to the Biden administration and prompt it to quickly distance itself from Iran and its terrorist proxies in the Middle East. Clearly, many Arabs have lost confidence in the US because it has chosen to align itself with Iran, whose forces and militias are occupying Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon and are now targeting the UAE and Saudi Arabia -- not to mention positioning themselves in America's soft underbelly in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. In the eyes of these Arabs, the Biden administration is inflicting massive damage on US interests and allies and helping Iran export its terrorism throughout the world. It now remains to be seen whether anyone in the Biden administration will wake up to the magnitude of the Iranian threat and actions, redesignate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and attempt to salvage the credibility of the United States.
**Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
**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.

Militias, Drones… and Drugs
Ghassan Charbel/ Asharq Al-Awsat/January 31/2022
It is difficult for an Arab journalist to conceal his anger and sadness at the scenes and news coming from capitals that he has been visiting for many years. He feels that part of the Arab world has been afflicted with diseases from which recovery seems impossible or delayed.
It’s not surprising to see a visitor falling in love with cities like Baghdad, Damascus, Sanaa and Beirut. The journalist’s fear is compounded by his feeling sometimes that these capitals are almost destined to the painful conclusion that their history may be better than their future.
Scenes and news poured the screens… A shell targeting a civilian aircraft at Baghdad airport… Jordan’s announcement of the killing of 27 smugglers from Syria, who were trying to take advantage of the snow storm to pass a shipment of drugs through Jordanian territory. The announcement came at a time when ISIS was resuming its bloody activities in some Iraqi provinces and in and around Hasakah prison on Syrian territory. That was days before the Iraqi authorities announced the killing of three Lebanese, who were fighting in the ranks of ISIS. A third scene was the answer paper that Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Abu Habib carried to the Arab ministerial meeting, after his country was accused of being an exporter of drugs...
In parallel, the Houthis’ spokesperson confirmed that the arsenal of missiles and drones was capable of expanding the circle of violation of other countries’ airspace, disregarding the consequences of such acts on the Yemenis.
The brutal attack on Baghdad airport is not the first of its kind. It was preceded by a series of plots aimed at crushing the project to restore the state. It was not simple to use the drones in the attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. The attack on the airport was clearly intended to awaken fears of civil war and the re-isolation of Baghdad.
The missiles were, in fact, targeted against the achievements of the past two years in terms of restoring the idea of the state, and transforming Iraq into a bridge and a place for dialogue instead of making it an arena for strife and regional quarrels. I recalled the statements of an Iraqi politician years ago. He said that his country was unfortunately heading towards difficult years. I asked him for a clarification, he replied: “I took part in many meetings and listened to arguments and disagreements. What I heard and witnessed leads me to conclude two things: First, the idea of the state is very weak among the forces that occupy the leading position in the political and security scene. Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, many forces saw an opportunity to split the state rather than build it. Forces that believe that sectarian or ethnic calculations prevail over the language of institutions and the voice of the ballot boxes... Forces that do not trust in the rule of law and the rotation of power and despise being part of the opposition…”
He continued: “The other matter is the lack of awareness of the importance of the economy and the mechanisms for its advancement. They believe that Iraq is capable of selling oil to finance the state and the people forever, without paying attention to what happened to the oil commodity and the need to rely on non-oil revenues as well. I heard words that define the economy as a servant that obeys orders, without reflecting at mechanisms, efficiency, competition and conditions for stability, and the consolidation of exchange relations with countries away from the language of tension and axes.”
The politician’s words help us understand what is happening in the countries from which the news and scenes poured, albeit in a different way. You cannot live without a state. It is not possible to achieve progress without a state. What is meant here is a modern state that accommodates all its citizens and engages them in a project of advancement to combat poverty and compensate the lost time. The partnership between quasi-states and militias is a recipe for a terrible collapse. It is enough to see the devaluation of the citizen and the national currency. It is enough to see the amount of people living below the poverty line…In the past, the visiting Arab journalist could sense problems resulting from states falling in the custody of men who had never acknowledged political, economic and cultural changes and the balance of power in the world. It also happened that the decision fell into the hands of cruel men, who considered residency in power a duty worth defending by shedding rivers of blood. Tyrants who saw that their mandate is sacred, and that the role of the people is only to bow to the saviors. Those policies were very costly, as the structure quickly cracked as soon as the internal winds or the outside storms blew. Today, the journalist can worry about forces that only believe in the rule of guns, missiles and drones, and reject the state’s right to control them. Those forces also refuse to respect the results of fair elections or to recognize the right of a court to pronounce a ruling. The role of non-state forces has weakened the decision-making, and the contempt for laws was considered a normal and natural practice.
It is no longer surprising to see dark forces like ISIS re-emerging in the capitals and the world, wiping out international borders and slaughtering livelihoods. What’s strange is seeing the violations turning into a normal scene and abandoned borders opening the way for the movement of “small armies.”
In this time of leniency, drug trafficking has become permissible. Governments are unable to confront it, and perhaps have found in it someone who reaps its revenues. With militias keeping pace with technological advancement, drones are put at the service of drug dealers in a clear imitation of the experiences of cartels in Mexico and Latin America. We will not head to the future except under the rule of law and institutions. The time of militias, drones and drugs promises nothing but hell.

US Isn’t Ready for Nuclear Rivalry With China and Russia
Hal Brands/Bloomberg/January 31/2022
Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. His latest book is "American Grand Strategy in the Age of Trump."As vice president in January 2017, Joe Biden gave a speech endorsing the idea of a “world without nuclear weapons.” Last year, he took office pledging to reduce America’s reliance on those weapons — perhaps with a promise that Washington would never use nuclear weapons first in a conflict, or perhaps by cutting, even eliminating, the country’s intercontinental ballistic missile force. Biden’s first year has been a reality check. The threat of Russian aggression in Eastern Europe has reminded American allies of the role that US nuclear weapons might play in their defense. Thanks to a dramatic Chinese nuclear buildup, America will soon confront a nuclear peer in the Pacific. North Korea keeps expanding its arsenal. Some American allies in Europe and Asia have lobbied against a no-first-use pledge or cuts in the US arsenal.
Biden may want a future in which nuclear weapons fade into irrelevance, but that simply isn’t where the world is headed. The US is facing a new nuclear age: an era of fierce, multisided competition, one that is both reminiscent of and far more complex than the Cold War. It has only begun to grapple, strategically and intellectually, with this challenge.
The US does have lots of experience with nuclear statecraft, as I discuss in my new book, “The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us About Great-Power Rivalry Today.” During the Cold War, US conventional forces were mostly outmatched in Europe and other key theaters. The threat of nuclear escalation was the ultimate guarantee of the free world’s security, and the nuclear balance shaped risk-taking and decision-making on both sides of the East-West divide.
Yet because the use of nuclear weapons would be so horrific, nuclear strategy involved stark dilemmas. How could Washington balance the need to avoid nuclear war with the imperative of being able to win it? Should the US use nuclear weapons overwhelmingly at the outset of a contest, in hopes of prevailing rapidly, or should it escalate gradually, in hopes of limiting the resulting damage? Most fundamentally, how could it credibly threaten to use nuclear weapons if doing so might shatter civilization?
Different presidents offered different answers to these questions. Some of the problems were simply insoluble. But the resulting debates were usually rich and thoughtful; America produced a vast community of individuals — Bernard Brodie, Thomas Schelling, Herman Kahn and Andrew Marshall were some of the standouts — who understood the challenges of the nuclear age. Nuclear war was both unthinkable and all too plausible, so a global superpower had little choice but to prepare for that eventuality as thoroughly as possible.
That changed when the Cold War ended. The threat of Armageddon receded drastically. The US became so militarily dominant that it hardly needed nuclear weapons. Dangers persisted, but they were primarily posed by nuclear terrorism, loose nukes and the weapons programs of relatively weak states such as North Korea. The post-Cold War era saw continuing reductions in the Pentagon’s nuclear arsenal, often codified in agreements with Russia. In 2009, President Barack Obama called for the eventual abolition of the weapons; he flirted with a no-first-use declaration, even as he approved a costly modernization of America’s existing forces. There was also an intellectual drawdown, as nuclear strategy went out of style. Ambitious policy wonks and military officers gravitated toward other issues. America’s strategic nuclear arsenal was so far from mind that the 2002 National Security Strategy contained no mention of it at all.
Biden’s speech in January 2017 captured the residual optimism of an era in which great-power nuclear competition seemed like an anachronism. By that point, however, a new nuclear age had already begun.
The New Nuclear Age
If nuclear weapons became less relevant after the Cold War, not everyone got the memo. India and Pakistan pushed their way into the nuclear club, with dueling tests in 1998. North Korea made its small arsenal ever-more menacing. Iran crept toward the nuclear threshold. And it wasn’t just lesser powers improving their capabilities. Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia reversed the nuclear atrophy of the post-Soviet era. As part of a years-long modernization program, Putin’s regime drastically upgraded most of its nuclear missile forces. It invested in “non-strategic” nuclear weapons — torpedoes, short-range missiles and others — and is experimenting with exotic capabilities such as autonomous underwater vehicles and nuclear-powered cruise missiles. Not least, Russia expanded the range of circumstances in which it might use nuclear weapons, making them more central to its military strategy, just as the US was headed in the opposite direction. Then there is Beijing’s buildup. China may once have possessed a “minimal deterrent” — a small, relatively vulnerable arsenal, designed solely to deter nuclear attack on China itself — but that’s no longer the case. The Chinese test of a fractional orbital bombardment system (in essence, a nuclear-weapon delivery system that orbits the earth before plunging toward its target) is only part of a much larger endeavor. China is now building a more secure and sophisticated “nuclear triad” — a combination of nuclear-capable bombers, ground-based intercontinental missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Its ICBM force is expanding rapidly. The Pentagon predicts that China will have more than 1,000 deliverable warheads by 2030 — an arsenal worthy of a superpower.
The return of great-power competition has brought with it the return of nuclear rivalry. Meanwhile, conventional weakness is making nuclear weapons even more important to US strategy. Over the past two decades, Russian and Chinese conventional buildups have dramatically altered the balance of power in Eastern Europe and the Western Pacific. Washington and its allies might struggle to defeat a determined Russian attack on Estonia or a Chinese assault against Taiwan. An old question is becoming newly relevant: Would the US start a nuclear war to avoid losing a conventional one? The likelihood of a great-power war going nuclear is significantly higher than most Americans probably realize. If China attacked Taiwan, it would probably use its conventional missiles to maul America’s air and naval assets in the Pacific. Within days, the US might face a choice between seeing Taiwan defeated or using low-yield nuclear weapons against Chinese ports, airfields or invasion fleets.
Alternatively, if a US-China war turned into a bloody stalemate, American leaders might be tempted to use nuclear threats or strikes to batter the Chinese into conceding defeat. Does this sound crazy? Washington repeatedly considered nuclear strikes against China the last time the two countries fought a stalemated war, in Korea. China might also have incentives to go nuclear. Starting, and then losing, a war against the US could be a fatal mistake for President Xi Jinping. If an invasion of Taiwan faltered, Beijing could try to turn the tide, or simply convince America to quit, by firing nuclear-tipped missiles at or near Guam or another important US military facility in the region. Such coercive uses of nuclear weapons may be what China has in mind in enlarging its arsenal today. Nukes would also loom large in a conflict between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Moscow can conquer territory in Eastern Europe, but it probably can’t win a long war against NATO. The scenario that worries American planners is known as “escalate to de-escalate”: In essence, Russia grabs some land and then threatens to use nuclear weapons, or perhaps even fires a warning shot, to compel NATO to make peace on Putin’s terms.
These possibilities began to influence US strategy under President Donald Trump. That administration touted “limited” nuclear options — the ability to conduct a small number of strikes to defeat Chinese or Russian conventional aggression or to deter their threats of nuclear escalation. It invested in submarine-launched cruise missiles and ballistic missiles that could be equipped with low-yield nuclear warheads. “If you want peace,” wrote one recently departed Pentagon official in 2018, “prepare for nuclear war.”
Credibility Trap
Biden is now facing the same problems. Nuclear weapons are becoming more, rather than less, important; the scope for responsible reductions in the size or role of America’s arsenal is shrinking fast. Yet the dilemmas surrounding nuclear statecraft are as vexing as ever.
First, the fact that it may be necessary to threaten nuclear escalation to defend far-flung US friends does not automatically mean that such threats are credible. During the Cold War, Washington could semi-plausibly threaten to unleash the apocalypse to stop Moscow from conquering Europe and Asia. Today, the idea of starting even a “limited” nuclear war over Taiwan might well strike most Americans as farcical, especially as China’s ability to inflict catastrophic retaliation on the US increases. A second dilemma pertains to missile defense. US missile defenses can’t blunt an all-out Russian or Chinese attack, but they could complicate the sort of limited strike that Moscow or Beijing might try in a conflict. Or those defenses could simply give America’s rivals incentive to keep building more and better offensive missiles. As of now, there is no consensus in Washington on whether missile defenses will provide crucial strategic advantage or just encourage a costly arms race. Third, the US has barely begun to wrap its head around the problem of tripolar nuclear competition. During the Cold War, America had only one nuclear peer, the Soviet Union. Soon it will have two.
That could leave some strategists wanting a significantly larger nuclear arsenal, at a time when the Pentagon’s continuing nuclear modernization is already behind schedule and many US conventional forces also desperately need an upgrade. And the dynamics of nuclear deterrence, crisis stability and arms control are likely to grow more complicated with three roughly equal actors involved.

Putin Has the US Right Where He Wants It
Fiona Hill/The New York Times/January31/2022
We knew this was coming.
“George, you have to understand that Ukraine is not even a country. Part of its territory is in Eastern Europe and the greater part was given to us.” These were the ominous words of President Vladimir Putin of Russia to President George W. Bush in Bucharest, Romania, at a NATO summit in April 2008.
Mr. Putin was furious: NATO had just announced that Ukraine and Georgia would eventually join the alliance. This was a compromise formula to allay concerns of our European allies — an explicit promise to join the bloc, but no specific timeline for membership.
At the time, I was the national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia, part of a team briefing Mr. Bush. We warned him that Mr. Putin would view steps to bring Ukraine and Georgia closer to NATO as a provocative move that would likely provoke pre-emptive Russian military action. But ultimately, our warnings weren’t heeded.
Within four months, in August 2008, Russia invaded Georgia. Ukraine got Russia’s message loud and clear. It backpedaled on NATO membership for the next several years. But in 2014, Ukraine wanted to sign an association agreement with the European Union, thinking this might be a safer route to the West. Moscow struck again, accusing Ukraine of seeking a back door to NATO, annexing Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and starting an ongoing proxy war in Ukraine’s southeastern Donbas region. The West’s muted reactions to both the 2008 and 2014 invasions emboldened Mr. Putin.
This time, Mr. Putin’s aim is bigger than closing NATO’s “open door” to Ukraine and taking more territory — he wants to evict the United States from Europe. As he might put it: “Goodbye, America. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
As I have seen over two decades of observing Mr. Putin, and analyzing his moves, his actions are purposeful and his choice of this moment to throw down the gauntlet in Ukraine and Europe is very intentional. He has a personal obsession with history and anniversaries. December 2021 marked the 30th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when Russia lost its dominant position in Europe. Mr. Putin wants to give the United States a taste of the same bitter medicine Russia had to swallow in the 1990s. He believes that the United States is currently in the same predicament as Russia was after the Soviet collapse: grievously weakened at home and in retreat abroad. He also thinks NATO is nothing more than an extension of the United States. Russian officials and commentators routinely deny any agency or independent strategic thought to other NATO members. So, when it comes to the alliance, all of Moscow’s moves are directed against Washington.
In the 1990s, the United States and NATO forced Russia to withdraw the remnants of the Soviet military from their bases in Eastern Europe, Germany and the Baltic States. Mr. Putin wants the United States to suffer in a similar way. From Russia’s perspective, America’s domestic travails after four years of Donald Trump’s disastrous presidency, as well as the rifts he created with US allies and then America’s precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan, signal weakness. If Russia presses hard enough, Mr. Putin hopes he can strike a new security deal with NATO and Europe to avoid an open-ended conflict, and then it will be America’s turn to leave, taking its troops and missiles with it.
Ukraine is both Russia’s target and a source of leverage against the United States. Over the last several months Mr. Putin has bogged the Biden administration down in endless tactical games that put the United States on the defensive. Russia moves forces to Ukraine’s borders, launches war games and ramps up the visceral commentary. In recent official documents, it demanded ironclad guarantees that Ukraine (and other former republics of the U.S.S.R.) will never become a member of NATO, that NATO pull back from positions taken after 1997, and also that America withdraw its own forces and weapons, including its nuclear missiles. Russian representatives assert that Moscow doesn’t “need peace at any cost” in Europe. Some Russian politicians even suggest the possibility of a pre-emptive strike against NATO targets to make sure that we know they are serious, and that we should meet Moscow’s demands.
For weeks, American officials have huddled to make sense of the official documents with Russia’s demands and the contradictory commentary, pondered how to deter Mr. Putin in Ukraine and scrambled to talk on his timeline.
All the while, Mr. Putin and his proxies have ratcheted up their statements. Kremlin officials have not just challenged the legitimacy of America’s position in Europe, they have raised questions about America’s bases in Japan and its role in the Asia-Pacific region. They have also intimated that they may ship hypersonic missiles to America’s back door in Cuba and Venezuela to revive what the Russians call the Caribbean Crisis of the 1960s.
Mr. Putin is a master of coercive inducement. He manufactures a crisis in such a way that he can win no matter what anyone else does. Threats and promises are essentially one and the same. Mr. Putin can invade Ukraine yet again, or he can leave things where they are and just consolidate the territory Russia effectively controls in Crimea and Donbas. He can stir up trouble in Japan and send hypersonic missiles to Cuba and Venezuela, or not, if things go his way in Europe.
Mr. Putin plays a longer, strategic game and knows how to prevail in the tactical scrum. He has the United States right where he wants it. His posturing and threats have set the agenda in European security debates, and have drawn our full attention. Unlike President Biden, Mr. Putin doesn’t have to worry about midterm elections or pushback from his own party or the opposition. Mr. Putin has no concerns about bad press or poor poll ratings. He isn’t part of a political party and he has crushed the Russian opposition. The Kremlin has largely silenced the local, independent press. Mr. Putin is up for re-election in 2024, but his only viable opponent, Aleksei Navalny, is locked in a penal colony outside of Moscow.
So Mr. Putin can act as he chooses, when he chooses. Barring ill health, the United States will have to contend with him for years to come. Right now, all signs indicate that Mr. Putin will lock the United States into an endless tactical game, take more chunks out of Ukraine and exploit all the frictions and fractures in NATO and the European Union. Getting out of the current crisis requires acting, not reacting. The United States needs to shape the diplomatic response and engage Russia on the West’s terms, not just Moscow’s.
To be sure, Russia does have some legitimate security concerns, and European security arrangements could certainly do with fresh thinking and refurbishment after 30 years. There is plenty for Washington and Moscow to discuss on the conventional and nuclear forces as well as in the cyber domain and on other fronts. But a further Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s dismemberment and neutralization cannot be an issue for US-Russian negotiation nor a line item in European security. Ultimately, the United States needs to show Mr. Putin that he will face global resistance and Mr. Putin’s aggression will put Russia’s political and economic relationships at risk far beyond Europe.
Contrary to Mr. Putin’s premise in 2008 that Ukraine is “not a real country,” Ukraine has been a full-fledged member of the United Nations since 1991. Another Russian assault would challenge the entire UN system and imperil the arrangements that have guaranteed member states’ sovereignty since World War II — akin to the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990, but on an even bigger scale. The United States and its allies, and Ukraine itself, should take this issue to the United Nations and put it before the General Assembly as well as the Security Council. Even if Russia blocks a resolution, the future of Ukraine merits a global response. The United States should also raise concerns in other regional institutions. Why is Russia trying to take its disputes in Europe to Asia and the Western Hemisphere? What does Ukraine have to do with Japan, or Cuba and Venezuela?
Mr. Biden has promised that Russia “will pay a heavy price” if any Russian troops cross Ukraine’s borders. If Mr. Putin invades Ukraine with no punitive action from the West and the rest of the international community, beyond financial sanctions, then he will have set a precedent for future action by other countries. Mr. Putin has already factored additional US financial sanctions into his calculations. But he assumes that some NATO allies will be reluctant to follow suit on these sanctions and other countries will look the other way. UN censure, widespread and vocal international opposition, and action by countries outside Europe to pull back on their relations with Russia might give him pause. Forging a united front with its European allies and rallying broader support should be America’s longer game. Otherwise this saga could indeed mark the beginning of the end of America’s military presence in Europe.

Iran Nuclear Talks in Vienna Won’t Result in a Better Deal
Jacob Nagel and Mark Dubowitz/Newsweek/January 31/2022
The nuclear negotiations in Vienna continue. The Iranians are setting the tone and pace while the Americans struggle to keep alive the possibility of a deal. The Israelis—for whom these talks will have severe national security implications—are distracted by COVID surges and domestic politics.
There are two parallel paths out of Vienna. One is a return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, although it should be clear by now that this outcome is near impossible. The other is an interim arrangement in which Tehran agrees to a limited freeze on some of its nuclear activities in exchange for billions in sanctions relief.
Israeli leaders have requested that Washington put a stop to the Iranian strategy of slowing down the negotiations. That strategy only allows Tehran to develop its capabilities and draw closer to “nuclear threshold state” status. Once that occurs, no country will be able to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. So far, the American response is feckless dialogue.
Biden’s Iran envoy, Robert Malley, is so eager to reach an agreement that he refuses to punish the Iranians for their violations of the 2015 agreement and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Nor will he punish them for their lack of cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. His top deputy Richard Nephew and two others reportedly left the team over disagreements with Malley’s strategy.
While the focus of the negotiations now is a return to the JCPOA, there is no going back to the deal that only temporarily kept Iran 12 months from a bomb’s worth of weapon-grade uranium, and then allowed its nuclear program to expand further. Today, even that 12-month target is no longer possible given the clerical regime’s nuclear advances. Tehran has shattered all temporary restrictions and can easily return to nuclear weapons development after key constraints in the 2015 agreement expire.
Most of that nuclear expansion—including the development of fissile materials, uranium enrichment up to 20 and then 60 percent, the operation of advanced centrifuges and the development of uranium metal for use in a nuclear warhead—have occurred since President Biden abandoned the pressure campaign of his predecessor.
A recent interim agreement proposed to the Iranians by Russia, with Mr. Malley’s consent, included a cessation of 60 percent enrichment (close to weapons grade) and the dilution or export to Russia of those enriched materials. The proposed deal permitted 20 percent enrichment to continue with no accumulation of new uranium material but permission to maintain existing stockpiles. The advanced centrifuges, installed in violation of the 2015 agreement, would not be destroyed and probably not even dismantled. It’s more likely they will remain installed under IAEA seals, ready to resume operation.

Terrorists Benefit from Qatar’s Goodwill and Charity
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Insight/January 31/2022
On Monday, President Joe Biden will have a busy meeting at the White House with Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad. Qatar hosts one of the biggest U.S military bases in the Gulf region and has been instrumental in resettling Afghan refugees forced to flee their country last year. While giving credit where credit is due, Biden should not shy away from the sensitive question of whether Doha’s lavish support for foreign Islamist charities winds up putting millions of dollars in the hands of terrorists.
In November, the Middle East Forum uncovered documents showing that Qatar’s Eid Charity has offered 46,000 grants to 391 groups from all corners of earth. The groups were overwhelmingly Islamist, with a considerable number of ultra conservative Salafists among them.
The Eid Charity is a quasi-governmental organization established in 1995 by Muhammad Al Thani, a member of the ruling family and a cabinet minister who named his charity after his late father Eid. On its website, Eid Charity describes Qatar’s state-owned Al-Jazeera TV and Qatar Airlines as “partners.”
Between 2004 and 2019, the foundation spent $770 million, mainly to buy food and clothing for the poor and to sponsor teaching and preaching of Islam, mostly in the austere Wahhabi rite. Eid Charity also funded political organizations, including $2.7 million for the Jerusalem International Charity (JIC), which the Treasury Department sanctioned in 2012 “for being controlled by and acting for or on behalf of Hamas.” The Beirut-based JIC remains active, although it is not clear from the documents whether Doha continues to bankroll the group. The Eid Charity’s last known contribution was in 2019.
Funding for JIC hasn’t even made it friendly to its benefactor. On its website, the group attacked Qatar for allowing 13 Israeli athletes to participate in a 2021 Judo World Masters tournament in Doha. JIC also thrashed the government of Qatar for suppressing “the popular Qatari voice that opposes normalization” with Israel. In 2020, JIC said the Doha government was “maintaining ties with the Zionist occupation.” While JIC is unlikely to change its views, it is hard to understand why Doha would pay millions to a terrorist entity, let alone one that thrashes Qatar.
To be fair, JIC is one of the few explicitly political organizations on the list of recipients of the Eid Charity. Most other organizations active in predominantly Arab countries seem focused on social work. Yet Hamas, Hezbollah, and similar organizations reject the notion that warfare and welfare are separate missions. Rather, they are part of a single struggle against Israel, the United States, and other purported enemies of Islam.
Accordingly, Hamas and Hezbollah routinely leverage the personnel and funding of social welfare organizations for political and military purposes. Of course, open acknowledgements of such activity are rare. Hamas and Hezbollah appreciate the value of letting others believe they distinguish between charity work and armed conflict. Charity organizations also serve as a useful vehicle for spreading radical ideologies and recruiting potential operatives.
Two examples from Gaza show how the organizations that receive Qatari funding promote intolerance or even violence. The Association of Young Muslim Women received a total of $1.3 million from Eid Charity, a sizable amount in the highly impoverished strip. On its Facebook page, the association emphasizes its efforts to prevent drug abuse and domestic violence.
Scrolling down its Facebook page, one discovers that the group offers courses that teach women to “know your enemy.” The courses train women on how to store information, hide it, and stay vigilant against Israeli attempts to steal any information about Gazans.
The Association of Young Muslim Women also warns against “celebrating with Christians on Christian holidays,” a theme that another Gazan organization, the Ibn Baz Charity Association, also promotes aggressively. The latter received $3.5 million in grants from the Eid Foundation.
Ibn Baz was the late Saudi Grand Mufti who favored very strict interpretations of Islam. In a post on its Facebook page, the Ibn Baz Association opposes “tolerance toward peaceful infidels,” meaning Christians. The association says it is okay to interact with infidel Christians, but Muslims should never wish them happy holidays or share with them their worship activity. “We are not ashamed of our Islam,” the post concludes.
While Qatar’s funding of charity and social work is commendable, President Biden should whisper in the ear of Sheikh Tamim to rethink where Qatari money goes. Extensive due diligence is necessary to distinguish between legitimate charities and those that mix social work with radical ideology or even direct support for terrorism. Evidence from the Eid Charity files suggests Doha needs to try harder.
*Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Hussain, please subscribe HERE. Follow Hussain on Twitter @hahussain. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

The threat over free political debate in Turkey
Alexandra de Cramer/The Arab Weekly/January 31/ 2022
When Turkey’s political elite square off next year in the country’s general election, one element of the democratic process is almost certain to be absent: political debates. The televised airing of ideas and differences, ubiquitous in many Western democracies, has not been a feature of Turkish politics since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was first elected prime minister in 2002.
In Erdogan’s “New Turkey,” the lack of political debating has absolved leaders from working for people’s votes and disenfranchised an already sceptical electorate. Put another way, the longer politicians stay away from the lectern, the shallower Turkey’s democracy becomes.
The spectator sport is known as political debating first appeared on Turkish television in 1983. At the time, millions were drawn to their screens to watch as politicians defined and defended party platforms. The primetime tradition of watching public servants duel with words got so popular that it trickled down from national politics to the local level. As elsewhere, debates have made (or destroyed) Turkish politicians’ careers. Erdogan himself rose to national prominence on the debate stage. In the 2002 campaign for prime minister, a primetime debate on TV propelled the then-Istanbul mayor and Justice and Development Party (AKP) chairman to the country’s highest office, as Erdogan bested the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal. In 2007 a debate sank the aspirations of AKP vice-chairman Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, who resigned from his post two months after his 95-minute debate with CHP parliament member Kemal Kılıcdaroglu. Kılıcdaroglu, who was later made chairman of CHP after trouncing Ankara mayor Melih Gokcek in another debate, accused Firat of corruption. It was political theatre at its most informative and entertaining.
Since then, it has been quiet at the podium. Despite several invitations from challengers, Erdogan, a skilled orator, has stayed away from the debate stage. Former editor-in-chief of Hurriyet Daily News, Murat Yetkin, says Erdogan even banned other AKP members from appearing in televised debates themselves. The prohibition on debates is yet another erosion of Turkey’s democratic freedoms and further evidence of Erdogan’s political consolidation.
The ban on politicians debating on screen is especially domineering in Turkey, where television is the main source of information and news. For instance, KONDA, an Istanbul-based polling company, found that 67 percent of Turks first learned about the 2016 coup attempt from television. Indeed, Turks spend most of their free time watching TV. A 2020 report from the TV Audience Research Company estimated that Turks spend four hours and 33 minutes a day watching television. Of course, not everyone is tuned into news 24/7, but the amount of time spent watching television demonstrates how central the small screen is in most households. And yet, news coverage in Turkey is decidedly partisan. Ilhan Tasci, the CHP party representative on Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), exposed the fact that opposition parties get almost no airtime. During the 2018 election campaign, which ran from April 17 to May 6, public broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television Company gave no airtime to the Kurdish-linked Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), three hours and four minutes to the CHP, and 36 hours to AKP.
Compounding these concerns, half of all eligible voters for the upcoming general election will have little or no memory of ever seeing a televised political debate. Members of Generation Z, some five million people born after 1997, 16 percent of the electorate, will cast their first vote in a national election next year, while Millennials, born after 1981, make up 33 percent.
The last time Turkey’s voters saw anything resembling a political debate was in 2019, a staid and stiff on-screen meeting between AKP’s Binali Yıldırım and CHP’s Ekrem Imamoglu campaigning to be the mayor of Istanbul. Neither man engaged directly with the other. There was no hard talk, no substance, nothing that would have influenced the outcome of the mayoral election.
Given this two-decade decline in Turkey’s debate scene and evidence from other countries that such events have little impact on election outcomes, it is worth asking whether the demise of Turkey’s on-screen political sparring even matters. Worth asking, but hardly worth answering.
Put simply, the disappearance of transparent political discourse has excluded entire generations of voters from the political process and prevented young people from fully grasping their rights and responsibilities as citizens. Millions of voters have come of age never witnessing a politician work for their vote or being publicly called out for their wrongdoings. Subconsciously, Turkey’s young voters have been trained not to expect politicians to deliver on their promises, or to even make them.
Turkey’s lack of political “liyakat” (competence) and the eradication of public accountability are perhaps the biggest shifts in the country’s political landscape since AKP came to power. Voters have grown accustomed to Turkish politicians avoiding public scrutiny or engaging with the opposition. Today in Turkey, politics are a black box.Unfortunately, what that has produced is a monolithic narrative empowering a single opinion at the expense of many voices. Erdogan’s position on public debates is a key cause of this trend. As candidates get ready to do battle in next year’s general election, voters will need to cast their ballots based on what is said in public, but even more importantly, on what is not.
*Alexandra de Cramer is a journalist based in Istanbul. She reported on the Arab Spring from Beirut as a Middle East correspondent for Milliyet newspaper. Her work ranges from current affairs to culture and has been featured in Monocle, Courier Magazine, Maison Francaise and Istanbul Art News.

Iran has no choice but to back down in Vienna
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/January 31/2022
Since the Iranian parliament approved the so-called Strategic Action Plan to Lift Sanctions and Protect the Iranian Nation’s Interests bill in December 2020, Tehran has insisted on rejecting direct negotiations with the US until all sanctions are lifted.
In the meantime, the Biden administration has insisted on proceeding with the negotiations according to a step-by-step approach. After Ebrahim Raisi’s government took office in Tehran last summer, the nuclear negotiations resumed in Vienna and Iran arrived with a completely new team, which took a harder line than its predecessor. Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have genuinely begun to execute the conditions of Iran’s hard-liners. This was reflected in Tehran announcing that it would not let the US return to the nuclear deal unless all sanctions were lifted. Despite this Iranian demand, the American negotiating team remained committed to participating in the talks being held in Vienna. And, in a sudden shift, Amir-Abdollahian last week said that Tehran would not ignore dialogue with the US if it led to an agreement that involved considerable guarantees.
This position, which suggests a desire to negotiate with the US even if the sanctions are not lifted, is not Iran’s first contradictory stance. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the regime’s ultimate head, said in January that the negotiations and interactions with the enemy at any given time do not mean capitulating to it. The significance of such a reversal and the hint at the possibility of engaging in negotiations with the US lies in the fact that the supreme leader had a completely different opinion in the past, especially after America’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal under Donald Trump. In one of his speeches, Khamenei said: “Can a wise man enter into negotiations again with a country that had reneged on all agreements?”
Even if we assume that Iran considers the Biden administration to be different from Trump’s and that President Joe Biden has, since the start of his election campaign, expressed a desire to return to the nuclear deal, this is refuted by the previous comments made by the supreme leader. The last of these comments were made in August last year, when he declared the Biden and Trump administrations to be the same.
This shift in the Iranian position has been dictated by a host of factors, but primarily the regime concluding that the Vienna talks could fail to resuscitate the nuclear deal and that Washington could refuse to meet its condition of lifting the sanctions. Therefore, the only way to end this deadlock is to engage in a face-to-face dialogue between Iran and the US. There is another factor that prompted Iran to shift its position: The return of protests at home due to worsening socioeconomic conditions, against the backdrop of low wages and swelling inflation.
The only way for Tehran to end the deadlock in the nuclear deal talks is to engage in a face-to-face dialogue with the US. To prevent the domestic situation from deteriorating further, the Iranian regime found itself compelled to reverse its irrational positions and take practical steps to reassure the Iranian street and instill hope. The US warning Iran against wasting time and congressional voices opposing the negotiations also played a role in Iran hinting at the possibility of direct talks with Washington. US officials have also recently warned that the window for negotiations aimed at reviving the nuclear deal could close in late January or early February. In light of Iran facing stifling crises and popular discontent due to its dire economic situation, it has no alternative but to back down to ensure the continuation of negotiations.
To sum up, it could be said that Tehran — which set negotiating conditions such as lifting all the US sanctions imposed on it and pursued the approach of engaging in indirect negotiations with the Americans as a means to exert pressure and extract more concessions — is now backing down without any of its conditions being met and with the Vienna talks showing no signs of reaching an agreement. This indicates a genuine admission of Iran’s failure in the face of the US sanctions.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is President of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami