English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 12/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the
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Bible Quotations For today
A bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; not
arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain;
but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and
self-controlled.
Letter to Titus 01/01-09/:”Paul, a servant of God
and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and the
knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness, in the hope of
eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began in due
time he revealed his word through the proclamation with which I have been
entrusted by the command of God our Saviour, To Titus, my loyal child in the
faith we share: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Saviour. I left you behind in Crete for this reason, that you should put in
order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I
directed you: someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are
believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. For a bishop, as God’s
steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or
addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a
lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a
firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so
that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who
contradict it.”’
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on February 11-12/2022
Hochstein Gives Lebanon 4 to 6 Weeks to Respond to
Proposal
Chairing Last Meeting as UNIFIL Head, Del Col Urges Lebanon and Israel to 'Build
on Progress'
IMF Says More Work Needed for Lebanon Aid Deal
Berri Upset from 'Surprise' Appointments, Asks Finance Minister Not to Sign
AMAL Bloc Rejects How Budget was Passed and New Taxes
Corona - Health Ministry: 6954 new Corona cases, 18 deaths
Rahi tackles developments with US Ambassador
Mikati launches “master plan for Beirut port”: We seek rendering it an
attraction for optimal investments
Mawlawi Bans Two Pro-Bahraini Opposition Rallies at Lebanese Hotel
ISG Urges 'Free, Fair and Transparent' Elections in Lebanon
Gas Truck Explodes on Zouk Highway Causing Material Damage
Colombia is tackling the threat of Hezbollah in South America/Alissa Pavia and
Joze Pelayo/Al arabiya/February 11/2022
Lebanese must not lose hope despite Hezbollah’s oppression/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab
News/February 10/2022
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on February 11-12/2022
Canadian Islamic Scholar Bilal Philips: During Operation Desert Storm, We
Persuaded 3,000 U.S. Troops In Saudi Arabia To Convert To Islam; We Took Them To
Watch Beheadings; Some Would Later Use Their Expertise In The Bosnian
Turkey Reportedly Foils Iranian Plot to Kill Israeli Businessman
Iranian President Says Tehran ‘Never Has Hope’ in Vienna Nuclear Talks
Pentagon: Iran’s Ballistic Missiles Designed for Offensive Purposes
US moves F-16 squadron from Germany to Romania as tension spikes over Ukraine
UK Defense Secretary in Moscow amid Ukraine Tensions
Russian Invasion of Ukraine Could Come at Any Time, Says Blinken
Satellite Images Show New Russian Military Deployments Near Ukraine
US, China Lock Horns over Ukraine at UN
Brussels Accuses Moscow of Trying to Divide Europeans
Israel’s Lapid to Visit Turkey Following Secret Visit by Ushpiz
Arab Party Leader in Israel Rejects 'Apartheid' Label
France To Try Syria's War Criminals
Syria's Main Druze City Sees more Unrest, Calls for Friday Protests
Arab League Urges 'Comprehensive Political Process' to Libya Crisis
U.S.-Allied Kurdish Commander Warns of Growing IS Threat
Iraq PM Commends Role of Germany in Fight against Terrorism
Canada/Minister of Foreign Affairs urges Canadians to
leave Ukraine
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on February 11-12/2022
The Middle East: The
US Is All In or All Out/Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute/February 11, 2022
When Russia and Iran Are Your Neighbors/Elias Harfoush/Asharq Al-Awsat/ February
11/2022
Putin’s Game between Friend and Foe/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/ February
11/2022
Question: "How can Jesus be both God and man at the same
time?"/GotQuestions.org?/ February 11/2022
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on February 11-12/2022
Hochstein Gives Lebanon 4 to 6 Weeks to Respond to
Proposal
Naharnet/February 11/2022
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein gave Lebanese authorities a deadline of four to six
weeks to respond to his suggestions regarding a maritime border dispute with
Israel. "There’s no later anymore. This is the later. This is the last minute,"
Hochstein said, pressuring Lebanon to accept what informed sources considered to
be "less than Lebanon's property rights."The sources told al-Joumhouria
newspaper, in remarks published Friday, that Hochstein offered more than the Hof
Line -- a demarcation proposed by Frederic Hof in 2012 -- but less than what
Lebanon considers its property rights. According to the sources, Lebanon’s share
might expand in zigzag lines within a 1430 kilometer area created by the new
demarcation. "There is no return to the Hof Line", al-Akhbar newspaper claimed,
considering the Line 23 a foregone conclusion. The daily said it had learned
that the negotiations have progressed towards Line 24 or Line 25, with no final
agreement yet. Israel and Lebanon had resumed negotiations over their disputed
maritime border in 2020 but the process was stalled by Beirut's claim that the
map used by the United Nations in the talks needed modifying. Hochstein advised
the Lebanese, grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis, to focus on
"what you gain" not "what you may lose." Lebanese politicians hope that
commercially viable hydrocarbon resources off Lebanon's coast could help lift
the debt-ridden country out of its financial crisis branded by the World Bank as
one of the planet's worst in modern times, while Israelis are pushing for
speeding up the negotiations to start drilling for gas in the disputed Karish
field.
Chairing Last Meeting as UNIFIL Head, Del Col Urges
Lebanon and Israel to 'Build on Progress'
Naharnet/February 11/2022
UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col on
Friday chaired this year’s first Tripartite meeting with senior Lebanese Army
and Israeli army officers in Ras al-Naqoura. It was the outgoing UNIFIL head’s
last Tripartite meeting. Addressing both delegations, Del Col reflected on
challenges and opportunities he has seen since taking charge of UNIFIL in early
August 2018, and on the way forward. “We must all play our part to move from the
technical level towards the higher-level goal of a sustainable peace,” he said.
“This is my parting challenge to you all.”Del Col said UNIFIL’s open line of
communications with the parties remains vital, adding that throughout numerous
Blue Line incidents, both the Lebanese and Israeli armies remained engaged,
providing UNIFIL time and space for de-escalation. “It is encouraging that you
both continued to work closely with UNIFIL throughout each of these incidents to
contain the situation and restore stability,” said Del Col. “This demonstrates
the critical contribution of our liaison and coordination channels to
de-escalate and de-conflict, at the heart of which is our Tripartite forum.” The
UNIFIL Head of Mission also called on the parties to resume the technical Blue
Line talks, in order to find agreements on a number of the contentious points
along the Blue Line, and to use the Tripartite forum to “build on past
achievements, and to make progress towards a more stable environment.” Other
issues discussed at the meeting included incidents along the Blue Line, airspace
violations and serious breaches of the cessation of hostilities in violation of
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. Del Col called on the delegations to
extend their “usual support” to his successor, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz of
Spain, emphasizing the need to “maintain the same level of commitment, to build
on the progress to date and finish those outstanding point which the parties
have already agreed on, in line with the expectations of the Security
Council.”“I ask that you continue in this vein of openness and dialogue with my
successor,” he said. Today’s Tripartite meeting was Del Col’s 26th, out of about
150 held since the end of the 2006 war in south Lebanon. These meetings “have
proven essential to manage conflict and build confidence,” UNIFIL said in a
statement. “The Tripartite meetings, convened by UNIFIL’s Force Commander,
serves as the only forum through which Lebanon and Israel have direct contact,”
it added.
IMF Says More Work Needed for Lebanon Aid Deal
Agence France Presse/February 11/2022
After two weeks of talks, the IMF said Friday it has advanced efforts to secure
an aid program to help Lebanon overcome its "unprecedented and complex" economic
crisis, but more work is needed. The country will need fiscal reforms that
ensure it can manage its debt load as well as measures to establish a "credible"
currency system, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement at the
conclusion of its virtual negotiation mission. "During the mission, progress was
made in agreeing on these necessary reform areas, although more work is needed
to translate them into concrete policies," IMF team leader Ernesto Ramirez Rigo
said. The Washington-based lender launched talks last month to pull the Middle
Eastern country out of its deepening economic crisis.In 2020, Lebanon defaulted
on its sovereign debt for the first time in its history. Its currency has lost
about 90 percent of its value on the black market and four out of five Lebanese
now live below the poverty line, according to the United Nations, a situation
made worse by triple-digit inflation. Ramirez Rigo said "strong upfront actions
will be necessary to start turning the economy around and rebuilding
confidence."He also urged that "decisive action by the authorities is needed to
tackle the deep-seated problem of corruption."But any program must include a
fiscal plan that "allows the government to invest in critically-needed social
spending to support the people," he added.IMF Managing Director Kristalina
Georgieva last week described the country's situation as "very, very dire" and
said that a comprehensive program was required.
Berri Upset from 'Surprise' Appointments, Asks Finance
Minister Not to Sign
Naharnet/February 11/2022
Finance Minister Youssef Khalil might not sign two security appointments that
were approved during Thursday's Cabinet session in Baabda, as visitors of Ain
el-Tineh reportedly said that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was "very upset" by
the appointments. Shiite Duo sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks
published Friday, that the Duo considered the appointments as a "backstab."The
topic was raised by Defense Minister Maurice Slim in yesterday's session. Amal
and Hizbullah's ministers objected because they weren't pre-informed and because
the topic was not on the session's agenda.
"Appointments must be made by consensus not by surprise," the sources added,
considering that President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Miqati may have
agreed in advance without consulting the Duo. Amal and Hizbullah will not
boycott upcoming sessions, according to the sources, but they need Aoun's pledge
that such a thing will not occur again.Meanwhile a ministerial source told al-Akhbar
newspaper that Aoun had asked during Thursday's session the Shiite Duo's
ministers to prepare nominations for the Shiite position to be discussed in the
next cabinet session on Tuesday. The source revealed that on Thursday night Amal
and Hizbullah discussed issuing a joint statement regarding the appointments.
Hizbullah preferred to wait, the source added.
AMAL Bloc Rejects How Budget was Passed and New Taxes
Naharnet/February 11/2022
The Development and Liberation bloc of the Amal Movement on Friday stressed its
“rejection of the manner in which the state budget was approved” Thursday in
Cabinet. In a statement issued after a meeting, the bloc also rejected “that the
budget include any new taxes or fees targeting the Lebanese, of whom the vast
majority has become under the poverty line.”It also said that it categorically
rejects maintaining “the approach of exhausting the state’s finances by giving
loans to Electricite du Liban without obtaining electricity and amid the absence
of the sector’s regulatory commission and a clear plan by the relevant
ministry.”
Corona - Health Ministry: 6954 new Corona cases, 18
deaths
NNA/February 11/2022
In its daily report on the COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health
announced on Friday the registration of 6954 new infections with the Coronavirus,
which raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 1006109. The
report added that 18 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.
Rahi tackles developments with US Ambassador
NNA/February 11/2022
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, on Friday welcomed in
Bkerki, US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, with whom he discussed the
current situation. Emphasis was made on the necessity of holding the
parliamentary and presidential elections on their set constitutional dates. The
Patriarch also thanked Ambassador Shea for her country's constant support for
Lebanon to get out of its current crisis, as well as for its support for the
Lebanese army.
Mikati launches “master plan for Beirut port”: We seek rendering it an
attraction for optimal investments
NNA/February 11/2022
Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Friday somberly said that Beirut Port explosion
constituted “painful moments in Lebanon’s history.”“Its effects will not be
erased with the passage of time, no matter how long it takes,” Mikati added.
The PM launched today the "national vision for ports, the master plan for Beirut
port, and the new legal framework for the ports sector", at the invitation of
Minister of Works, Ali Hamieh, and in cooperation with the World Bank. “The
workshop to re-establish Beirut port, rebuild it, and remove the dust of war,
remains a national and economic priority. It’s our priority to give people hope
in the ability of this country to rise again, especially that this port is the
most prominent vital artery in the Mediterranean and to the brotherly Arab
depth,” Mikati said. The PM went on to explain that today’s meeting aimed to
launch the first practical step in the project to restore and rebuild Beirut
Port, through an agreement with the World Bank, and to prepare a study on the
new legal identity of the Port of Beirut and its master plan. “What we are about
today is preparing for a new law for the ports’ sector, including Beirut Port,
to render it an attraction factor for partnership with specialized companies for
optimal investment, provided that the state remains the master of
decision-making, not to mention have the final say in everything that will
happen,” Mikati added. “We want the Port of Beirut to remain the beacon of
this country and its first gateway in cooperation and integration with all the
other Lebanese ports,” affirmed Mikati. In his delivered speech, Saroj Kumar Jha,
the Regional Director of the Mashreq Department (Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Jordan
and Iran), said that it was a wonderful stage to see Lebanon turning a past page
towards a transparent and prosperous future by building a transparent and
developed port sector. “This is a strategic matter and provides tremendous
opportunities for Lebanon to return as it used to be,” Kumar Jha added.
“I’ve worked through my responsibilities at the World Bank with Iran, Syria,
Jordan and Iraq, and I always wondered why some countries failed? It became
clear to me that any country fails, not because of culture, history, and
geography. What differentiates between a prosperous country and a failing
country is good governance and institutions,” maintained Kumar Jha. “The process
that we are launching today is related to the ports sector; it seeks finding a
new law, a new vision, and the means to reconstruct Beirut Port. The best thing
about it is new governance and open and transparent procedures. If we want to
reform all sectors of ports, electricity, and water, there must be independent
regulatory bodies,” Kumar Jha concluded. In turn, the Minister of Works said:
“The new legal framework of the port sector, which we are about to announce its
semi-completion in cooperation with the World Bank, is, in our opinion, the pole
of attraction - so to speak - for all the investments we look forward to in this
facility,” the Minister said. Hamieh went on to explain that the new
framework notes the means to enhance activating investment in all public
utilities, taking into account the principle of the partnership prospects
between the public and private sectors. “We are constantly keen on making
sure that this never comes close to accepting the abandonment of state assets,
in any way,” Hamieh added. “We’re always thankful for the hand of unconditional
foreign aid; no matter its size, it will definitely not be sufficient to
resurrect Lebanon from its stagnation,” he added, noting that Lebanon will keep
mainly relying on its people’s capabilities and energies “in order to cross
again to the space of light, in which it has always been shining.”
Mawlawi Bans Two Pro-Bahraini Opposition Rallies at
Lebanese Hotel
Naharnet/February 11/2022
Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi on Thursday announced that he has banned two
pro-Bahraini opposition rallies that had been scheduled to be held at a Lebanese
hotel. In a statement, Mawlawi said the two events had been scheduled to be held
on February 11 and 14 at the al-Saha Hotel near Beirut airport. He added that
the two rallies would have “addressed insults to the official Bahraini
authorities and the Arab Gulf states” and “therefore would have obstructed the
official efforts that are being exerted by the Lebanese state to strengthen ties
with the Arab Gulf countries,” especially in light of the latest “Kuwaiti
initiative.”The Lebanese state “has committed itself to conducting all measures
that prevent verbal or physical harm against the brotherly Arab state,” Mawlawi
went on to say, noting that his decision was taken following consultations with
Prime Minister Najib Miqati.
He added that he has “addressed two memos to the Directorate General of the
Internal Security Forces and the Directorate General of General Security, asking
them to immediately inform the hotel’s administration not to host the events for
their failing to obtain legal permissions.”
Mawlawi also asked the security agencies to carry out investigations to gather
information about “the organizers, the inviters and the invitees.”
ISG Urges 'Free, Fair and Transparent' Elections in
Lebanon
Naharnet/February 11/2022
The International Support Group for Lebanon (ISG) met in Beirut Friday to review
preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Echoing the U.N. Security
Council press statement on Lebanon of 4 February 2022, and recalling its
previous statements, the ISG reiterated its call for “free, fair, transparent
and inclusive elections, as scheduled on 15 May 2022.”The ISG noted that while
the international community was “deeply committed to and had provided
significant financial, material, technical and political support to Lebanon’s
electoral process,” the elections are first and foremost “a right and
expectation of the people of Lebanon and a sovereign responsibility which is
incumbent on the authorities to deliver on.”With the elections just three months
away, the ISG urged “expeditious preparatory work respecting the existing
legislative framework and the constitutional timelines,” calling on the
authorities to “promptly make available all the necessary resources and
intensify technical and administrative preparations to ensure the timeliness and
integrity of the electoral process.”Specifically, the ISG urged relevant bodies
to “allocate the necessary financial resources to hold the elections in Lebanon
and abroad, enable the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities and the
Supervisory Commission for Elections to be fully functional, and ensure timely
organization for the conduct of the diaspora voting.”The ISG also called on all
political actors to “engage responsibly and constructively in the electoral
process, preserve calm and commit to peaceful elections for the benefit of the
country and all the Lebanese people.”Moreover, the ISG called on all political
stakeholders to take every possible step to “encourage and ensure the inclusion
of women candidates on their electoral lists and strengthen women’s political
representation and participation across the board.”The ISG also said that it
“continues to stand by Lebanon and its people.”The International Support Group
comprises the U.N., the EU, the Arab League and the governments of China,
France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the UK and the U.S. It was launched in September
2013 by the U.N. Secretary-General with former President Michel Suleiman to help
mobilize “support and assistance for Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty and state
institutions.”
Gas Truck Explodes on Zouk Highway Causing Material
Damage
Naharnet/February 11/2022
Cars and houses were damaged when a pickup truck carrying a gas tank caught fire
and exploded on the Zouk highway. Media reports said the blast shook buildings
in the area and echoed across nearby regions. The flames also reached a
residential building near the explosion site as damage to power lines caused a
blackout in the area. The incident also caused a severe traffic jam in the area
as security forces launched an investigation. MTV meanwhile reported that the
truck driver fled the scene before the explosion and was not answering his
phone.
on February 11-12/2022
أليسا بافيا وجوز بيلايو/العربية: كولومبيا تتصدى لتهديد حزب الله في أمريكا
الجنوبية
Colombia is tackling the threat of Hezbollah in South America
Alissa Pavia and Joze Pelayo/Al arabiya/February 11/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106273/alissa-pavia-and-joze-pelayo-colombia-is-tackling-the-threat-of-hezbollah-in-south-america-%d8%a3%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%b3%d8%a7-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d9%88%d8%ac%d9%88%d8%b2-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%84/
Questions surrounding Hezbollah’s presence in South America resurfaced when a
former Israeli official was the target of an assassination attempt in Colombia
in November. In a government report addressed to the government, Israel’s
intelligence agency Mossad linked the effort to Hezbollah. It was part of a plot
to assassinate “a handful of high-profile foreigners,” including US diplomats.
Bogata is worried about Hezbollah’s presence in neighboring countries,
particularly in Venezuela, where the group is said to have strong links to the
regime. The group’s ties to the Chavista “leader” are central to terrorism and
drug trafficking. Colombia has increased its efforts to curb the Iran-backed
militia by escalating its anti-Iran rhetoric and cracking down on Hezbollah
operatives. Defense Minister Diego Molano has described Iran as an “enemy”
common to Israel and Colombia. Hezbollah’s presence in Colombia and South
America at large is not a new phenomenon, with its pervasiveness to the US and
Israeli national security interests long disputed.
One leader to voice concerns was Israeli President Isaac Herzog during Colombian
President Ivan Duque’s state visit to Jerusalem in November. Reports revealed
that Duque and Bennett discussed the possibility of cooperating on common
security challenges, particularly the Iranian threat.
Venezuela remains a haven for terrorists and organizations with political and
financial interests in the region, such as Delnoosh and Varamin, a company owned
by the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). US
sanctions were enforced on the company for its alleged role in ballistic missile
development. With the UN arms embargo on Iran expired, Caracas and Tehran will
sign a 20-year cooperation agreement to expand cooperation. This contract could
include exports of a range of military equipment. Hezbollah has always posed as
a terrorist threat in the region. The attacks on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos
Aires in 1992 and the 1994 AMIA bombing indicate the group’s work. Together,
they left 114 people dead and hundreds more wounded. Despite evidence suggesting
Hezbollah’s involvement, no one has been held accountable. Critics argue that
this lack of accountability emboldens Hezbollah allowing it to grow stronger
militarily and politically.
The terrorist group has grown powerful in Lebanon since the civil war in 1990,
while the international community remains silent. It is now one of the most
influential parties in the Lebanese parliament. Hezbollah’s overseas operations
have often reflected domestic politicking in Lebanon and targeted Israel. Since
the Beirut Port explosion, Hezbollah has been aware that it has entered a new
chapter in Lebanon, where living conditions are poor. Hezbollah’s hands could be
tied, but the Iranian-backed group could decide to escalate through violence
both in and outside the Middle East should, among other things, the JCPOA talks
fail to produce an agreement. As of February 2022, a nuclear deal is getting
closer. However, under a potential agreement, Hezbollah may not see any negative
fallout; on the contrary, this will likely ease pressure on funds and financial
aid to the party coming from Tehran. The recent escalation by the Houthis
against the UAE and Saudi Arabia is the latest proof that Iran and its proxies
will continue to target innocents to project power against Israel—and now
against Gulf countries.
Potentially, another Iran-backed Hezbollah assassination attempt against US or
Israeli diplomats and citizens is present. The conditions for another attack
similar to the AMIA bombing is not missing from the chessboard either. As a
reminder, Hezbollah is turning increasingly anxious amid its impression that
other sects are trying to isolate it. The party may well decide to take action
overseas to make gains at home with its narrative of being anti-imperialist and
the protector against the US and Israel. The current Israeli administration and
the US and Colombia should increase counterterrorism cooperation and combat the
Iran-Hezbollah threat emanating from Venezuela against its interests and
citizens in the region.
President Biden should monitor Hezbollah and the IRGC’s growing presence in the
region by expanding the “Iran watcher” program. The move would make it more
interregional and closer to the nature of the Iran-Hezbollah threat, which aims
to hurt the US and Israeli interests and serve as a sticking point against
Washington’s presence in the Arab Gulf states (both financially and
strategically). The Biden Administration should release the report that Congress
ordered in early 2019 for the State and Treasury Departments to produce on
Hezbollah as part of legislation known as the Hezbollah International Financing
Prevention Amendments Act of 2018. The Biden Administration should also take
coordinated action to limit Hezbollah’s access to financial aid and hard
currency from Iran and ramp up designations under the Global Magnitsky Human
Rights Accountability Act. Reaching a nuclear deal in the next few weeks should
be accompanied by the US and its allies making sure this does not come at the
expense of the Lebanese people. The Biden Administration should continue to push
the European Union to list Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization
to weaken the group and disrupt its unlawful activities in the continent.
خالد أبو زهرة/ارب نيوز: لا يجب على لبنان أن يفقد الأمل
بالرغم من قمع حزب الله
Lebanese must not lose hope despite Hezbollah’s oppression
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/February 10/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106280/khaled-abou-zahr-lebanese-must-not-lose-hope-despite-hezbollahs-oppression-%d8%ae%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af-%d8%a3%d8%a8%d9%88-%d8%b2%d9%87%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a8-%d9%86%d9%8a%d9%88%d8%b2/
I received more criticism than I expected for last week’s column
presenting the advantages of federalism for Lebanon. The criticism revolved
around two main points. The first was a view that the country needs a complete
shift in its political direction, along with a centralized system to bring back
order, and federalism would complicate this process. The second critical view
was more nuanced and opposed it on the basis that the current situation does not
permit positive change and that Lebanon already effectively has a de facto
decentralized system. As an example, some areas allow westernized behavior and
others forbid it. Some areas even allow the production of chemical weapons,
drugs and the launch of missiles.
Both of these views indirectly conclude that, with Hezbollah in control, the
main problems facing Lebanon cannot be solved. The judiciary’s independence, the
country’s foreign policy and the army’s sovereignty — all of these and much more
are decided by Hezbollah and imposed on the state. Hence, for both families of
critics, federalism is not the solution. This description of the state of the
country is true and I agree with it. I would go so far as to add that Lebanon
lives under the occupation and oppression of this group. I would argue that,
with Hezbollah in control, there is no rule of law and the group has total
immunity to act against the interests of the people.
It is also true that the people of Lebanon cannot do much about it on their own.
Those who dare to voice their opposition end up facing threats of violence or
even death. We all recognize this, especially as this month marks the one-year
anniversary of the assassination of Lokman Slim. We are, in fact, reminded of
the situation by death and terror anniversaries every single month of the year.
How many have been assassinated for opposing Hezbollah and the Syrian regime?
This is why it is important for the Lebanese to keep their voice alive and to
keep opposing, in any way they can, the nefarious role Hezbollah plays on the
orders of its patrons in Tehran.
It is also important to voice our concerns over the ongoing nuclear deal
negotiations that could give Iran more money and resources to assert its control
over Lebanon. America is a friend of Lebanon. If you are not convinced of this,
then just look at what the US Justice Department has done to bring down the
networks of Hezbollah and Iran. It has done more for the country than the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon and without costing the Lebanese taxpayer a single
lira. And so we need to let the US and the West know that Lebanon will not be
helped by pragmatism. Was pragmatism ever the solution when facing the Nazis or
other fascists? Was it the answer to any evil force? It is the opposite — evil
forces feed off pragmatism and become stronger. Help for Lebanon does not come
in the form of a consensus that gives Hezbollah legitimate power. It comes from
facing down this evil and forcing it to retreat. The world needs to understand
that Hezbollah is not the color of Lebanon, just as the current regime in Iran
is not the color of the Middle East.
However, the Lebanese should not wait for international help in order to
initiate the idea of change or the idea of a better place for all. It is by
uniting around the dream of a new Lebanon that we can start unifying more
efficiently to oppose this group and its plans. The reaction of Hezbollah and
its allies to the idea of federalism is a good indicator that this is something
positive. This is also why, as much as it controls everything, demanding a
referendum on federalism makes more sense than just accepting useless
legislative elections. It would also be a great way to clarify what federalism
is and show how it is more than simple decentralization.
It is by uniting around the dream of a new Lebanon that we can start unifying
more efficiently to oppose this group and its plans.
We all know that any transparent referendum or truly free election will not be
permitted. We all understand that, for now, Hezbollah will block any positive
change. But this does not mean we cannot start dreaming of building something
new. We are still allowed to dream of a better future.
Once again, the current situation will not last. History tells us that various
external influences take over Lebanese politics and rule over its minorities,
only to eventually fade away. But we also need to reevaluate and ask why these
influences keep succeeding one another. Why does Lebanon keep living in this
vicious circle? It is due to a flawed and imposed political structure that traps
the country under the rule of political gangster families. This is exactly what
needs to be destroyed and why the dream of a new Lebanon starts with federalism.
So there are two separate questions: How do we overcome the oppression of
Hezbollah? And how do we build a new state? Even if change cannot come today,
these two challenges feed off each other. If we have nothing to dream about,
then we become prisoners of the current situation and this is what Hezbollah and
the political families want. If we see that there is hope and a new horizon,
then we will find ways to defeat evil and the world will support us.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the
editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
February 11-12/2022
Canadian Islamic Scholar Bilal
Philips: During Operation Desert Storm, We Persuaded 3,000 U.S. Troops In Saudi
Arabia To Convert To Islam; We Took Them To Watch Beheadings; Some Would Later
Use Their Expertise In The Bosnian War (Archival)
MEMRI/February 11, 2022
Canada | Special Dispatch No. 9767
At the "Peace Conference Scandinavia," which was held in Oslo, Norway in March
2010, Canadian Islamic scholar Dr. Bilal Philips, who currently lives in Qatar,
delivered a lecture titled "Da'wa in Desert Storm." Philips, who lived in Saudi
Arabia in the early 1990s, recounted his proselytization efforts as part of a
group of Muslims who preached Islam to U.S. troops deployed to eastern Saudi
Arabia during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Philips elaborated that he had
even taken troops to watch public executions and shari'a law punishments. "Some
heads were chopped off, some hands were chopped off," he said. According to
Philips, 3,000 U.S. troops converted to Islam as a result of these
proselytization efforts, which he said were conducted with the consent of U.S.
authorities. He then claimed that some of the converted troops moved to Bosnia
after being discharged, and lent their military expertise to the Bosnians in the
Bosnian War. A video of the 2010 speech was posted on Bilal Philips' official
YouTube account on February 6, 2022. According to the description, Peace
Conference Scandinavia was held in Oslo on March 27-29, 2010.
To view the clip of Bilal Philips on MEMRI TV, click here or below.
https://www.memri.org/tv/canadian-imam-bilal-philips-preaching-us-troops-desert-storm-converted
During Operation Desert Storm, We Set Up A 'Saudi Arabian Cultural Information
Tent' For U.S. Troops, Where An Average Of 20 People A Day Converted To Islam;
It Came To Be Known As 'The Conversion Tent'
Bilal Philips: "Desert Storm and 'Da'wa in Desert Storm' addresses a historical
incident which took place back in 1991, 19 years ago. So it's history. What is
represented was the positive side of a negative incident in the history of the
Muslim world.
"The U.S. got together a coalition of Western forces, and itself deposited half
a million American soldiers in Saudi Arabia, mainly in the eastern province.
"The troops while preparing for battle or war with Iraq, were looking for ways
and means to keep themselves occupied, because the nature of war from the
American perspective, when it deposits its troops into any land, then the troops
take advantage of the poverty that is in those lands, and they turn segments of
the population into dens of prostitution, entertainment, and they deposit,
before leaving, a bunch of what they call war babies.
"However, when they came to Saudi Arabia, because Saudi Arabia was not a society
which was poor, that could be exploited in that way, the women were not
accessible. So, they had to find other ways of keeping troops occupied. So, what
that did, what happened from that, is that they were open to uh talks and
lectures on Islam.
"The Americans made this possible and an individual by the name of Ali Al-Shahry,
who was a sergeant in the Saudi military, he, though he had very little English,
used to hang out with the American troops. Staying in their tents, you know,
sleeping along with them, chatting, hanging out. For himself, he was learning
English and at the same time, trying to give some da'wa to these troops.
"And when he got enough of a group together that showed an interest in wanting
to hear something about Islam, with the permission of the American
administration, military administration — he came to see me in Riyadh. I was
living in Riyadh at the time. And [he] invited me to come and give some talks.
So, I went down and began to give lectures and have open forums and discussions
with the troops.
"Then the war broke out, so all of that was put on hold, until after the war was
over. The war didn't last very long. The Americans then had to process all of
these troops out of the country back to the States or back to other bases in
different parts of the world. So they chose an area to keep them called Khobar
Towers.
"We suggested — myself and some of the other brothers interested in doing da'wa
there — suggested that we set up a tent in the middle of all of that, a large
tent for da'wa purposes. The American administration accepted it, and we set up
this huge tent called... and we put a big sign on it saying: 'Saudi Arabian
Cultural Information Tent.' Cultural Information Tent.
"We didn't put on there Islam, because that might scare people, so this was like
a cover. Saudi Arabian Cultural Information Tent — large tent. When you first
come in, on the left-hand side, we had a huge table with all kinds of books
about Saudi Arabia, about the reptiles of Saudi Arabia, the deserts, the
history, technology... A variety of bits of pieces of information, very nice
books, glossy types, and in the midst of it all we also had little pamphlets on
Islam.
"What we did was we took female soldiers, and there were many of them, we took
them into Saudi homes... the homes of Saudis who... they studied in the West or
whatever. Their wives could speak English, you know, they had some education,
etc., and they would enlighten them as to the life of a Muslim woman.
"The tent — though it was originally called the Saudi Arabian Cultural
Information Tent — soon the amount of people who were converting to Islam
averaged around 20 people a day. In the course of the five and a half months, we
had over 3,000 Americans, males and females, accepting Islam.
"So, the tent came to be known as the Conversion Tent. That is the name that
they called it commonly, and many of the chaplains — they tried to shut it down.
But the American administration felt that this was a means of keeping at least
some of the troops occupied, and also they don't end up doing anything crazy...
right? As they like to do.
We Took Groups Of U.S. Troops To See Beheadings; "Many Of Them Said: 'You Could
Never Feel Anything Like This Back Home'"
"Then we took groups of them to some of the executions, because from time to
time, there were executions. Some hands were cut off, some heads were cut off.
And it was interesting, because of course, for many of them they never seen
anyone actually be executed... so they went there. Of course, they bought
popcorn and they came to watch it, eating their popcorn, and somebody's head was
chopped off. But at the same time, you know, they could see from that the impact
in the society, because we used to take them into the town to buy gold jewelry.
"Many of them said, 'We could never feel anything like this back home.' They
were buying gold and wearing gold chains and rings, and you know, bracelets, all
these kinds of things. And [they] said: 'We could never do this back home in
Chicago, New York, Washington, LA. You wear this kind of stuff — your hand would
be chopped off, and they will take that stuff away from you, you know.'
Military Members We Converted To Islam, "Who Originally Had Come To Arabia With
The Intention Of Fighting Muslims In Iraq, Ended Up Fighting On Behalf Of
Muslims In Bosnia"
"Some of the troops who had come back to the U.S., come out of the military, but
were specialists. Groups of them went to Bosnia, because by 1993, the Bosnians
Muslims were being slaughtered by the Serbs, and they needed people with
specialist skills to train them [and] help them in that fight. So, we had two
teams from amongst those who accepted Islam, who went to Bosnia and trained the
Bosnians, fought alongside them, married Bosnians, and remained in Bosnia.
"So people who had originally come to Arabia with the intention of fighting
Muslims in Iraq ended up fighting on behalf of Muslims in Bosnia, and training
and living their lives out as Muslims. So, when I think back to Desert Storm,
there are many, many lessons that remain to be learned.
"I hope that inshallah that you all will take some of the lessons from this
experience, and utilize those lessons, care in Norway. You have a responsibility
to share this message with the people here.
"So you should know that you have been chose by Allah to be here, in order to
convey the message of Islam to the people of this land. This is what justifies
your presence here."
Turkey Reportedly Foils Iranian Plot to Kill Israeli
Businessman
Agence France Presse/Friday, 11 February, 2022
Turkish spies thwarted a plot orchestrated by Iran to kill an Israeli-Turkish
businessman based in Istanbul, a pro-government daily reported Friday. Turkey's
National Intelligence Organization (MIT) discovered a network of nine operatives
dubbed an "Iran assassination team" plotting to kill Yair Geller, the Sabah
daily reported. Geller has businesses in the aviation-defense industry as well
as in technology and software, the daily added. The assassination was supposed
to be in retaliation for the killing of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen
Fakhrizadeh in 2020 which Iran blamed on Israel, Sabah claimed. Turkey at the
time condemned Fakhrizadeh's assassination as an act of "terrorism."Sabah's
story comes as Turkey seeks a rapprochement with Israel after Ankara ordered out
Israel's ambassador over the killing of protestors along the Gaza Strip border
in 2018.
Istanbul police launched an operation to detain the nine men "a few days ago,"
the newspaper said, but the leader of the network is apparently in Iran. Eight
have been arrested on charges including "setting up an organization to commit
crime" and "being a member of a group set up to commit crime," it added. The men
had been watched by MIT agents as they followed Geller at home and at work,
collecting information to prepare the assassination, Sabah said. MIT also met
with Israel's Mossad spy agency in Ankara to inform them of the plot's next step
to kill Geller. He was taken to a "safe house" shortly after, it added. The
newspaper even claimed the plot was an attempt to "derail Turkey-Israel
relations" after "positive steps were taken" to improve ties. There had been
high hopes in Ankara that Israeli President Isaac Herzog would pay an official
visit to Turkey this month but it is now expected by Turkey to be in March.
Turkey and Iran have historically close economic ties but have found themselves
on opposite sides of regional conflicts, including in Syria.
Iranian President Says Tehran ‘Never Has Hope’ in Vienna
Nuclear Talks
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 11 February, 2022
Hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Friday Tehran "never" pins hope
on ongoing talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the country's 2015 nuclear
agreement with world powers. Iran and the United States resumed indirect talks
in the Austrian capital on Tuesday after a 10-day break, but envoys gave little
away as to whether they were closer to resolving various thorny issues. "We put
our hopes on the east, west, north, south of our country and never have any hope
in Vienna and New York," Raisi said in a televised speech commemorating the 43rd
anniversary of Iran's revolution. Raisi, whose election last June led to a
five-month hiatus in the talks, said Iran would rely on its domestic economic
potential rather than expect support from overseas and from the nuclear talks
with world powers. US President Joe Biden's administration publicly pressured
Iran on Wednesday to revive the agreement quickly, saying that it will be
impossible to return to the accord if a deal is not struck within weeks. Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday there was still a long way to go
before the deal could be revived. Raisi said: "Our foreign policy is balanced.
Looking toward the West has made the country's relations unbalanced, we need to
look at all countries and capacities in the world, especially our neighbors."
His speech was frequently interrupted by chants of "Death to America" - a
trademark slogan of the revolution that toppled the US-backed shah in 1979. The
audience also chanted "Death to England" and "Death to Israel." For the second
year in a row, Iranians marked the revolution's anniversary by parading vehicles
in the streets rather than marching on foot in line with regulations aimed at
limiting COVID-19 contagion. State television aired live footage of cars and
motorcycles moving through the streets of dozens of cities and towns where,
before the pandemic, tens of thousands of people would march for the annual
event. In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal -
designed to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon - and reimposed sanctions in a
bid to force Tehran into talks on a broader agreement that would have also
addressed its ballistic missile program and support for proxies in the Middle
East. Iran responded by breaching many of the deal's restrictions and pushing
well beyond them, enriching uranium to close to nuclear bomb-grade and using
advanced centrifuges to do it, which has helped it hone its skills in operating
those machines. Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday the United States had to
make a "political decision" regarding lifting sanctions as Tehran's demand for
their full removal to revive the 2015 deal was non-negotiable.
Pentagon: Iran’s Ballistic Missiles Designed for Offensive Purposes
Washington - Hiba al-Qudsi/Friday, 11 February,
2022
A few hours after Iran unveiled a long-range missile, United States Pentagon
Press Secretary John Kirby said its ballistic missile program is designed for
offensive purposes. “They (Iranians) are advancing a ballistic missile program
that is designed for offensive purposes to inflict harm and damage potentially
lethal so on other states, other peoples, and our allies and partners,” he told
a press briefing on Wednesday. Kirby deemed their “malign activities” as much
more than messages to the US and Israel at the heels of the new round of
negotiations in Vienna. “They are destabilizing in the region. They're
supporting terrorist groups across the region. They are harassing maritime
shipping,” he stressed. Iran unveiled a new domestically-made missile with a
range of 1,450 kilometers on Wednesday, state TV reported, a day after Tehran
and Washington resumed indirect talks to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal. The
missile has high accuracy, is manufactured completely domestically, and can
defeat missile shield systems, according to the Revolutionary Guards’ Missile
Unit. Kirby told reporters the US has continually watched as Iran has improved
their ballistic missile program, adding that it is keenly aware of the regional
threats that ballistic missile program poses. “Which is why we are working so
hard with allies and partners in the region to be able to counter those kinds of
threats and to make sure that we are contributing to their self-defense needs as
well,” he added. Iran’s development and proliferation of ballistic missiles
poses a threat to the international security and remains a significant
nonproliferation challenge, said Deputy Spokesperson of the Department of State
Jalina Porter. “We continue to use a variety of nonproliferation tools to
prevent and – further advancement of Iran’s missile program and its ability to
proliferate technology to others,” she told a press briefing.
US moves F-16 squadron from Germany to Romania as
tension spikes over Ukraine
AFP/11 February ,2022
The US military said Friday it was repositioning a squadron of F-16 war planes
from Germany to Romania, “to reinforce regional security” in the midst of
flaring tensions with Russia over Ukraine. Without specifying how many F-16s
were being moved, the command of the US Air Forces in Europe said the planes
would arrive Friday at the Romanian air base of Fetesti, less than 60 miles (100
kilometers) from the Black Sea, where they will join Italian combat aircraft
that are already deployed there. The aircraft and crews will “work closely with
allies in the Black Sea region to reinforce regional security during the current
tensions caused by Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine,” the US command,
which is based in Germany, said in a statement. They will be responsible in
particular for protecting NATO airspace in the region close to Crimea, which
Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. On Thursday, the US Air Force announced the
arrival in Britain of B-52 strategic bombers for “long-planned” maneuvers, while
the US Navy announced the deployment in the European theater of four destroyers
to reinforce the US Sixth Fleet. US President Joe Biden has sent 3,000 US troops
to Germany, Poland and Romania to bolster allies on NATO’s eastern flank, as
Western states fear a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The move comes as Russia
began large-scale military drills in Belarus, right on the border with Ukraine,
which is at the center of high tensions between Russia and the West, and as
intense diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis appear to be making little
headway.
UK Defense Secretary in Moscow amid Ukraine Tensions
Associated Press/Friday, 11 February, 2022
Britain's defense secretary visited Moscow Friday for talks on easing tensions
amid massive Russian war games near Ukraine. Ben Wallace's trip comes a day
after British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss held talks in Moscow, urging Russia to
pull back over 100,000 troops amassed near Ukraine and warning that attacking
its neighbor would "have massive consequences and carry severe costs." Russia
says it has no plans to invade Ukraine but wants the West to keep Ukraine and
other former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from
deploying weapons there and roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe —
demands flatly rejected by the West. In an interview Thursday with NBC News,
U.S. President Joe Biden repeated his warning that any Americans still in
Ukraine should leave as soon as possible. "It's not like we're dealing with a
terrorist organization. We're dealing with one of the largest armies in the
world. It's a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly," he
said. Asked whether there were any scenarios that would prompt him to send U.S.
troops to Ukraine to rescue Americans, the president said: "There's not. That's
a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another."Amid the
soaring tensions, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Thursday that the
Ukraine crisis has grown into "the most dangerous moment" for Europe in decades.
NATO has stepped up military deployments to bolster its eastern flank, with the
U.S. sending troops to Poland and Romania. Russia's troop concentration includes
forces deployed on the territory of its ally Belarus for massive joint drills
involving firing live ammunition. That entered a decisive phase Thursday and
will run through Feb. 20. The Ukrainian capital is located about 75 kilometers
(47 miles) south of the Belarus border. Continuing its military buildup near
Ukraine, Russia has moved six amphibious assault vessels into the Black Sea,
augmenting its capability to land marines on the coast.
Moscow has announced sweeping drills in the Black and Azov seas in the coming
days and closed large areas for commercial shipping, drawing a strong protest
from Ukraine on Thursday. Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter
conflict since 2014, when Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from
office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing Crimea and then
backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed
over 14,000 people. A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt
large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued and efforts to reach
a political settlement have stalled. The Kremlin has accused Kyiv of sabotaging
the agreement, and Ukrainian officials argued in recent weeks that implementing
it would hurt their country. Foreign policy advisers from Germany, France,
Russia and Ukraine held nearly nine hours of talks in Berlin on Thursday to try
to revive the stalled agreement but made no progress. Russian representative
Dmitry Kozak said Ukraine firmly refused to commit to a dialogue with the rebels
on a political settlement, blocking any further movement. Ukrainian envoy Andriy
Yermak sounded a more positive note, noting that the parties agreed to continue
their discussions and hailed the four-way talks as an "effective and efficient
platform."
Russian Invasion of Ukraine Could Come at Any Time, Says
Blinken
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 11 February, 2022
Russia has sent more forces to its border with Ukraine and could launch an
invasion at any time, including during the Winter Olympics, US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said on Friday. He said Washington was continuing to "draw
down" its embassy in Ukraine and repeated a State Department call to American
citizens in Ukraine to leave the country immediately. "Simply put, we continue
to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving
at the Ukrainian border," Blinken told a news conference in the Australian city
of Melbourne. "As we've said before, we're in a window when an invasion could
begin at any time, and to be clear, that includes during the Olympics." Russia,
which has more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, denies Western
accusations it may be planning to invade its former Soviet neighbor. The Winter
Olympics are being hosted by Beijing until Feb. 20. Britain said on Thursday the
"most dangerous moment" in the West's standoff with Moscow appeared imminent, as
Russia held military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea following the
buildup of its forces near Ukraine. The US State Department urged Americans in
Ukraine to leave immediately because of what it called increased threats of
Russian military action and Blinken said Washington would continue to draw down
its embassy. "We will continue that process and we've also been very clear that
any American citizens who remain in Ukraine should leave now," Blinken said.
Satellite Images Show New Russian Military
Deployments Near Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 11 February, 2022
Commercial satellite images published by a private US company show new Russian
military deployments at several locations near Ukraine, suggesting that Moscow's
force buildup continues amid a flurry of diplomacy aimed at easing the crisis.
Russia is holding joint military exercises in ex-Soviet Belarus as well as naval
drills in the Black Sea, part of a surge of military activity near Ukraine that
has fueled fears of an impending invasion. Russia denies any plans to attack.
US-based Maxar Technologies, which has been tracking the buildup of Russian
forces for weeks, said images taken on Wednesday and Thursday showed significant
new deployments in several locations in annexed Crimea, western Russia and
Belarus. The images could not be independently verified by Reuters. In Crimea,
which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Maxar said it had identified a large
new deployment of troops and equipment at Oktyabrskoye airfield north of the
city of Simferopol, including 550 troop tents and hundreds of vehicles. New
troops and equipment also arrived near Crimea's Novoozernoye, it said, pointing
also to a new deployment near the town of Slavne, on the northwest coast of the
peninsula. In Belarus, the site of major joint drills, Maxar said it had
identified a new deployment of troops, military vehicles and helicopters at
Zyabrovka airfield near Gomel, less than 25 km from the border with Ukraine. In
a statement sent by email late on Thursday, it said a large deployment of troops
and forces had recently arrived at the Kursk training area in western Russia,
approximately 110 km to the east of the Ukrainian border. Russia has not
disclosed how many troops it has deployed and says it has the right to move
forces around on its territory as it sees fit. It insists they pose no external
threat.
US, China Lock Horns over Ukraine at UN
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 11 February, 2022
The US envoy to the United Nations called on Beijing Thursday to encourage
Russia "to do the right thing" in the Ukraine crisis -- drawing a sharp response
from her Chinese counterpart who accused Washington of fanning tensions. "We
would hope that the Chinese would play a role in encouraging the Russians to do
the right thing," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield in an
interview on CNN. Fears are high in Western capitals that Russia is preparing to
invade Ukraine after building up some 100,000 troops around its ex-Soviet
neighbor, AFP said. Russia is rejecting those claims, but demanding sweeping
security guarantees from NATO and the United States. "The Chinese have expressed
a strong concern in the Security Council for protecting the integrity of borders
and sovereignty of states," said Thomas-Greenfield. "This is exactly what the
Russians are doing – they are threatening the integrity of a border, so for
China to deliver that message would be extraordinarily important," she added.
China, the United States, and Russia are three of the five permanent members of
the UN Security Council, with the United Kingdom and France being the remaining
two. China's ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, quickly responded to
Thomas-Greenfield's comments on Twitter. "Our message is consistent and clear:
resolve any differences through diplomacy," he said in a tweet. "Stop hyping up
the tension," Zhang wrote without naming anyone in particular. "Russia's
legitimate security concerns should be seriously addressed. After a tense
meeting at the end of January called by the United States, the UN Security
Council is set to meet again on Ukraine next week. Next week's meeting was
called by Russia, which wants to discuss the implementation of the Minsk Accords
on Ukraine that were signed in 2015.
Brussels Accuses Moscow of Trying to Divide
Europeans
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 11 February, 2022
The European Union on Thursday accused Russia, as the Ukraine crisis churned, of
trying to divide EU members by sending letters to individual countries seeking
clarification of their stance on a principle of international security. The EU's
foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he had responded to the letters sent by
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to several European countries asking them
to give their interpretation of the doctrine of indivisible security. Western
leaders are engaged in intensive talks with Moscow to try to avert what they see
as the threat of Russia invading Ukraine following a massive build-up of Russian
forces near their mutual border. Russia has denied plans to attack its neighbor
while demanding security guarantees from NATO. Moscow says the concept of
indivisible security, enshrined in international treaties, means that the
security of one country is inextricably linked to that of another and that an
enlargement of the NATO defense alliance to include the former Soviet republics
of Ukraine and Georgia would automatically threaten Russia. Borrell said he had
answered on behalf of the entire European bloc. "The EU has a common foreign and
security policy and our aim is to act united on all issues of key common
interest. "This includes also coordinating replies to letters, as called for,"
he said in a statement, saying his move had "unanimous" backing among the EU's
27 members. Lavrov had specifically asked that the countries he approached
replied in their own name and not that of the EU. But Borrell insisted it was up
to EU members to decide how they wanted to respond. "Only those who are
interested in dividing us, would question such a decision," he argued. He said
his letter to Lavrov "addresses the issues raised by Minister Lavrov and
reiterates the EU's and its member states' offer to continue dialogue with
Russia on ways to strengthen the security of all."
Israel’s Lapid to Visit Turkey Following Secret Visit by
Ushpiz
Tel Aviv- Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 11 February,
2022
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will visit Turkey in mid-March to
participate in a forum and meet with several senior officials, said a source in
Tel Aviv on Friday. The source affirmed that Lapid was officially invited to
participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which is scheduled to be held
between March 11-13. He will meet there with government representatives and his
Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. According to the source, Israeli President
Isaac Herzog is expected to arrive in Ankara a few days later. Director-General
of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Alon Ushpiz secretly visited Turkey last month,
the source added. He met with Ibrahim Kalin, chief adviser and spokesperson to
the Turkish president. According to the Ynetnews website, the meeting followed a
series of important talks held between Kalin and the Chargé d’Affairs of the
Israeli Embassy in Ankara, Irit Lillian. Lillian stated that Kalin played a
major role in the release of the Israeli couple, Mordy and Natalie Oknin, last
year. Since then, the relationship with him has been enhanced through the
embassy in Ankara. Ushpiz's visit to Ankara is the first in six years at the
political level by an Israeli official. The Director-General of Foreign Affairs,
Yuval Rotem, visited Turkey in 2016 after the suicide bombing in Istanbul that
killed three Israeli tourists. Ynet said that the Israeli Foreign Ministry
refused to comment on this news. However, well-informed sources confirmed that
Ushpiz's visit was in preparation for Lapid and Herzog’s upcoming visits. A
Turkish official is expected to visit Israel soon as part of the preparations
for the major visit Herzog will make to Ankara, revealed Turkey’s Hurriyet daily
newspaper.
Arab Party Leader in Israel Rejects 'Apartheid' Label
Associated Press/ February 11/2022
The head of an Arab party in Israel who made history last year by joining the
governing coalition said he would not use the word "apartheid" to describe
relations between Jews and Arabs within the country. Amnesty International last
week joined two other well-known human rights groups in saying that Israel's
policies toward the Palestinians within its borders and in the occupied
territories amounts to apartheid. Israel rejects those allegations as
antisemitic, saying that, among other things, they ignore the rights and
freedoms enjoyed by its Arab citizens."I would not call it apartheid," Mansour
Abbas said in response to a question at an online event organized by the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a D.C-based think tank. He noted that
he was in the coalition and could join the government itself if he wanted to. "I
prefer to describe the reality in objective ways," he added, according to the
English translation of his remarks, which he delivered in Hebrew. "If there is
discrimination in a certain field, then we will say that there is discrimination
in that specific field." He did not say whether he thinks the term applies to
the occupied West Bank, where more than 2.5 million Palestinians live under
Israeli military rule alongside nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli
citizenship. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast war, and the
Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. Abbas heads
the United Arab List, known in Hebrew as Ra'am, a small Islamist party that gave
crucial support to the coalition now governing Israel, which includes parties
from across the political spectrum. Arabs make up some 20% of Israel's
population of nearly 9.5 million. They have citizenship, including the right to
vote, and have a major presence in the medical profession and universities,
among other fields. But they face widespread discrimination.
They have close familial ties to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and
largely identify with their cause. Historically, they refused to join coalitions
and were not invited to do so. The rights groups say Israel only grants
citizenship to a minority of the Palestinians under its control in an
overarching system designed to ensure a Jewish majority in as much of the Holy
Land as possible. Israel views such allegations as an assault on its very
existence, saying its policies are designed to ensure the survival and
well-being of the world's only Jewish state. Abbas said he's focused on bringing
Jews and Arabs together to address social and economic challenges. "I'm usually
trying not to be judgmental, I'm not trying to say you're racist or the state is
racist, or this is an apartheid state or not an apartheid state," Abbas said.
"My role as a political leader is to try to bridge the gaps.
France To Try Syria's War Criminals
Paris - Michel Bou Najem/Asharq Al-Awsat/ February
11/2022
France has made an important step in the fight against impunity for the
perpetrators of international crimes committed in Syria and throughout the
world. The National Assembly passed a bill to authorize the approval of the
international judicial cooperation agreement between the French Government and
the United Nations Organization, represented by the International, Impartial and
Independent Mechanism (IIIM) for Syria. The bill was referred to the Senate for
examination. Parliamentary sources ruled out any difficulty in obtaining the
approval of the Senate in the next few days, noting that the French Constitution
stipulated that in case of disagreement, the last say would go to the National
Assembly. The French Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Justice issued a joint
statement, which noted that the agreement “will allow information to be
transmitted from French courts to the Mechanism (MIII), which is not possible
under current law.” “It is thus in keeping with the priority France attaches to
the fight against impunity for the perpetrators of international crimes,” it
stated. The statement read: “In 2015, the Foreign Ministry reported to the Paris
State Prosecutor, on the basis of Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
atrocities likely to have been committed by the Syrian regime... The documents
passed on enabled the Paris Prosecutor’s Office to open a preliminary
investigation into “crimes against humanity”, relying in particular on
photographs taken in military hospitals between 2011 and 2013 by “César”, a
Syrian former military photographer. More than 40 investigations and judicial
inquiries on Syria are currently underway in France.” It added: “In a ruling of
24 November 2021, the Court of Cassation deemed it necessary for the definition
of an offense comparable to that in French law (evidence of “an attack against a
civilian population in fulfillment of a concerted plan”) to exist in Syrian law
in order to recognize French courts’ extraterritorial competence with regard to
international crimes.” The statement noted that the relevant French ministries
would closely monitor forthcoming judicial decisions. “Depending on those
decisions, our ministries stand ready to swiftly set out the changes, including
legislative changes that should be made to enable France to continue resolutely
fulfilling its steadfast commitment against impunity for international crimes,”
it underlined.
Syria's Main Druze City Sees more Unrest, Calls for Friday Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 11 February, 2022
Tens of Syrian protesters gathered on Thursday in the mainly Druze city of
Sweida to protest against worsening economic conditions and subsidy cuts that
came into force last week, residents, activists and local officials said on
Thursday. Sporadic rallies have taken place this week in villages around the
southwestern city, where protesters blocked roads and dozens rallied in the main
square of the city to demand a halt to the cuts in subsidies that followed
gasoline price hikes in recent months, Reuters said. "We have been moved by the
pain of our people and will continue our peaceful protest until our demands are
met," said Hamed Marouf, a protester who had joined the protests since they
first began last Thursday. The government says cuts in a once lavish subsidy
program to ease the burden on the sanctions-hit country's state finances only
affected the wealthiest. But many protesters say the move worsened the plight of
ordinary Syrian who survived a decade of devastating war and are now struggling
to afford food and basic supplies amid rampant inflation and eroding incomes.
Residents blame growing discontent within the ranks of those who stood with
President Bashar al Assad during the conflict on rampant corruption and
worsening inequalities. Sweida city remained in government hands during the
conflict, that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced and uprooted
millions. Witnesses said hundreds of security forces were seen arriving in buses
from Damascus as activists urged people to take to the streets on Friday. "We
want to live with dignity," chanted protesters with some carrying banners
saying, "There is nothing left for the poor" and waving the Druze community
flag. State media made no mention of the protests. A senior presidential
advisor, Bouthiana Shaaban, wrote in a leading state-owned newspaper on Monday
the pro-democracy protests in 2011 that were violently crushed by security
forces and spiraled into the over decade-old conflict were foreign-inspired to
wreck the country. Religious elders of the Druze community have said peaceful
protests against unfair government measures were justified. Protests are rare in
Assad-controlled territory and the Druze minority have long resisted being drawn
into the civil war that pits mainly Sunni rebels against Assad's family rule.
Arab League Urges 'Comprehensive Political Process' to
Libya Crisis
Cairo - Jamal Gawhar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 11 February, 2022
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Thursday stressed the
importance of achieving a national consensus in Libya. He expressed concern that
the recent developments in the country could lead to "a state of polarization".
"Libya's political leaders should work on achieving national consensus and set
aside any narrow interests," Aboul Gheit said in a statement. A comprehensive
political agreement that ensures national elections aimed at restoring the
legitimacy of state institutions is the only way to end the long transitional
period and head toward stability, development, and construction, he added. At
the same time, he underlined the need to safeguard the stability Libya has been
experiencing since the ceasefire agreement was signed. The hope is to reach a
national position that is in line with the path to support a political process
and implement international and regional pledges, especially those made at both
Berlin conferences, he added. The Arab League backs all sincere efforts to
maintain the stability of Libya with no foreign intervention, Aboul Gheit
stressed. Furthermore, he noted the importance of limiting arms to the official
authority alone in the country, unifying the military, security, and economic
institutions, and fully supporting any authority in Libya that puts these goals
into practice.
U.S.-Allied Kurdish Commander Warns of Growing IS Threat
Associated Press/Friday, 11 February, 2022
The Islamic State is a growing threat to northeast Syria, and the group will
again flourish unless immediate action is taken, the Kurdish-led region's
security chief said in the wake of last month's deadly prison attack. Mazloum
Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, said immediate
security measures were taken to contain active IS sleeper cells, but the group
is proving to be a resilient insurgency. The threat remains high, he said,
despite the death of the group's leader in a U.S. commando operation last week.
"We are surrounded by the Islamic State," Abdi said during a wide-ranging
interview with the Associated Press on Thursday night. "We have said this many
times. If we don't strive to fight IS now, they will spread again." A tenuous
calm has prevailed in northeast Syria since the Jan. 20 attack by IS on Gweiran,
or al-Sinaa prison — a Kurdish-run facility in Syria's northeast where over
3,000 militants and juveniles were held. The attack on the prison led to 10 days
of fighting between U.S.-backed fighters and IS militants that left nearly 500
people dead. U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters brought the situation under control
eventually. Abdi said immediate security measures were taken to contain IS
sleeper cells after the assault. Faulty detention centers prone to similar
attacks have been emptied, security sweeps are ongoing and curfews limit
night-time movements.
But, the threat remains.
Last week, a raid by U.S. commandos led to the death of IS leader Abu Ibrahim
al-Qurayshi in the Idlib region in Syria's northwest. Abdi said the SDF had
assisted in the operation by facilitating passage and logistics for the U.S.,
but did not participate with fighters on the ground. "We provided safety and
security for personnel who went in, that's all I can say," he said. While the
morale of IS may have been temporarily hit by al-Qurayshi's death in the
aftermath of the prison attack, Abdi said he did not believe it would lead to
the group's decline. "They depend on decentralization," he said, behaving
differently depending on local conditions and dynamics. Abdi shared blame for
the prison attack — the biggest and bloodiest since IS lost the last sliver of
territory it held in 2019, bringing a formal end to it's self-declared
"caliphate" over large parts of Syria and Iraq. At least 121 SDF fighters were
killed in the battles around the prison that raged for nearly two weeks. "We
didn't execute our responsibilities well," Abdi says. The prison, located in
Syria's Hassakeh province, was a known threat. Abdi said on two occasions last
year the SDF received intelligence that IS sleeper cells were plotting to launch
an attack and free their comrades inside. One attack was even thwarted. But not
enough operations to root out IS cells were conducted in the areas around the
prison, where militants are believed to have been clandestinely plotting the
attack for months, he said. "There was intelligence before that they wanted to
attack, and we took procedures, but then we failed," he said. But he also said
the international community shares the burden, and should assume responsibility
for the thousands of foreign nationals in prisons and camps overseen by the SDF,
who continue to pose security risks.Searches are being conducted across the 27
detention facilities housing IS detainees to identify security weaknesses. Three
prisons have been emptied, their inmates scattered to different facilities. Abdi
declined to name the facilities, but said two were close to the Turkish
frontier, where bombardment is frequent. Another was found to have similar
shortcomings as in Gweiran.
Iraq PM Commends Role of Germany in Fight against Terrorism
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 11 February, 2022
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi commended on Thursday the role played by
Germany in the fight against terrorism. Kadhimi and German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz spoke by telephone on Thursday, discussing security and intelligence
coordination in the fight against terrorism, according to a statement by PM’s
office. They also tackled bilateral relations between their countries. Kadhimi
expressed his hope that “relations between both countries would witness further
progress and prosperity.”Scholz hailed Iraq's growing role in the region where
it has emerged as mediator in various crises.
He welcomed the economic reforms implemented by Iraq, saying it will boost the
opportunities of cooperation between their countries. Among other issues
discussed were potential German investment in Iraq, as well as the conditions of
Iraqi migrants in Germany, according to the statement.
Canada/Minister of Foreign Affairs urges Canadians to leave
Ukraine
February 11, 2022 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the
following statement:“As we continue to work closely with our partners and
monitor the situation, I urge all Canadians in Ukraine to make the necessary
arrangements to leave the country now. “Since February 1, we have been urging
Canadians to avoid all travel to Ukraine because of the ongoing Russian threats
and the risk of armed conflict. We have also been asking Canadians already in
Ukraine to leave while commercial means are still available. Our highest
priority remains the safety and security of Canadians.
“Our diplomatic and consular staff remain on the ground and stand ready to
provide consular assistance to Canadian citizens as required. However, our
ability to do so could become severely limited. “Canadians in need of emergency
consular assistance can contact the embassy by email at KYIV-Consular@international.gc.ca.
At any time, Canadians can also contact Global Affairs Canada’s 24/7 Emergency
Watch and Response Centre by phone at 1 613 996 8885, by email at sos@international.gc.ca
or by SMS at 1 613 686 3658. “I also urge all Canadians in Ukraine to sign up
with the Government of Canada’s Registration of Canadians Abroad service, so
that we can directly notify them of changes to the situation and share crucial
information on how we can help them. “Canadians should also frequently check the
Travel Advice and Advisories for Ukraine for up-to-date information and advice.”
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
February 11-12/2022
The Middle East: The US Is All In or All Out
Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute/February 11, 2022
Despite multiple attacks on Abu Dhabi, which include an air base that hosts
American military personnel, the current American administration seems unwilling
to designate the Houthis as the terrorist organization it is. At the same time,
however, it wants to put constraints on the use of weapons the U.S. might sell
to the United Arab Emirates, whose civilian population has been targeted by the
Houthis... For Yemen, this is no longer acceptable.
While the Biden administration has made clear its desire to restart nuclear
talks with Iran, why not try doing it from a position of strength, for instance
deterrence? One of the pillars of strength would be presenting a united front
against Iran, with our Gulf allies and Israel at its core. Iran recognizes and
responds to strength. It also recognizes weakness and responds by taking
advantage of it.
It is vitally important the Biden administration stabilize relationships with
key U.S. allies in the Middle East before Iran and Russia destabilize them, or
it will justly receive the blame for the chaos that will ensue. The Middle East
is one area where the U.S. is a dominant power-influencer, and we must make
clear to our friends that we will stand by them and to our enemies that they are
endangering only themselves.
We are seeing our adversaries exploiting perceived U.S. weakness and lack of
resolve in other parts of the world. We cannot let that happen in the Middle
East. We must have a long-term, strategic plan that does not rely on hope but
instead on determination and strength. Let us go all-in: anything less will be
perceived as not being in at all.
The Middle East is one area where the U.S. is a dominant power-influencer, and
we must make clear to our friends that we will stand by them and to our enemies
that they are endangering only themselves. Pictured: U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen.
Joseph T. Guastella Jr. (left) speaks with Chief Master Sgt. Shawn L. Drinkard
at Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, on January 15, 2020. (USAF photo by Tech.
Sgt. Kat Justen)
It is time for the Biden administration to come to terms with the challenging
situation in Yemen. It seems that the administration is trying to pick a middle
ground, but the Houthis' ongoing terrorist attacks and the massive scale of the
humanitarian crisis rules out staying the course of strategic compromise.
Despite multiple attacks on Abu Dhabi, which include an air base that hosts
American military personnel, the current administration seems unwilling to
designate the Houthis as the terrorist organization it is. At the same time,
however, it wants to put constraints on the use of weapons the U.S. might sell
to the United Arab Emirates, whose civilian population has been targeted by the
Houthis. As so often happens when you fail to identify a clear direction, the
status quo is maintained. For Yemen, this is no longer acceptable.
Recently on these pages I argued for the U.S. State Department to redesignate
the Houthis as a terrorist organization. While hopeful, I am not optimistic that
the decision will be forthcoming. Even though it is not a strategy, hope, not
deterrence, is exactly what the Biden administration seems to be hanging its
decision-making on -- hoping the Houthis will stop civilian attacks and hoping
the Iranians will help President Joe Biden complete his campaign promise to
reenter the disastrous 2015 Obama-era nuclear deal.
Now another big decision is looming on the horizon. Shortly before the end of
the Trump administration, the U.S. finalized an agreement with the UAE for $23
billion worth of U.S.-made weapons. The sale included F-35s, the latest drone
technology, and other miscellaneous equipment. Recently the UAE suspended
finalizing the agreement due to its belief the restrictions being placed on the
deal by the U.S. government would infringe on its national sovereignty.
The Biden Administration needs move swiftly to remove these obstacles and enable
the arms sale to move forward. While most of the sales of advanced weapons will
not happen for several years, it is important to signal to the UAE and other
players in the region, most notably Iran, that the relationship between the U.S.
and UAE is ironclad. The UAE and its leadership have, unlike Iran, demonstrated
strong support for the U.S. and stability in the Middle East by embracing people
from other cultures and other religions. The leaders of the UAE, should be
recognized and rewarded for it, instead of rewarding countries that call for the
death of America and other democracies. Otherwise the message being sent, as the
late historian Bernard Lewis wrote, is that it is far better to be America's
enemy than its friend.
While the Biden administration has made clear its desire to restart nuclear
talks with Iran, why not try doing it from a position of strength, for instance
deterrence? One of the pillars of strength would be presenting a united front
against Iran, with our Gulf allies and Israel at its core. Iran recognizes and
responds to strength. It also recognizes weakness and responds by taking
advantage of it.
It is vitally important the Biden administration stabilize relationships with
key U.S. allies in the Middle East before Iran and Russia destabilize them, or
it will justly receive the blame for the chaos that will ensue. The Middle East
is one area where the U.S. is a dominant power-influencer, and we must make
clear to our friends that we will stand by them and to our enemies that they are
endangering only themselves. Having stood along the Damascus Road and talked
with people in this region, I can attest that they have long memories. This is
the time to strengthen the modernizing, stabilizing relationships and solidify a
foundation that will enable them to survive for decades. The U.S. and its allies
can stand strong against Iran, which is not only a disruptive and dangerous
player in the region, it also is one of the few countries there forging
increasingly strong ties with Russia and China.
As Russia and China challenge America's status as the global superpower --
politically, economically, and militarily -- in Europe with Ukraine, in Asia
with Taiwan, India and Japan, and throughout east Asia and Africa with China's
Belt and Road Initiative -- now is not the time to open a window of opportunity
for them to exploit in the Middle East.
At the moment, the U.S. has a chance effectively to slam the door shut on Russia
and China in the Middle East for the foreseeable future. Agreeing to provide the
UAE with some of the most advanced, American-made military technology sends a
strong signal that the U.S. is fully committed to having a long-term, strategic
relationship with a great ally, the UAE. Delaying, or perhaps even potentially
having the entire sale collapse, signals the exact opposite.
We are seeing our adversaries exploiting perceived U.S. weakness and lack of
resolve in other parts of the world. We cannot let that happen in the Middle
East. We must have a long-term, strategic plan that does not rely on hope but
instead on determination and strength. Let us go all-in: anything less will be
perceived as not being in at all.
*Peter Hoekstra was US Ambassador to the Netherlands during the Trump
administration. He served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives
representing the second district of Michigan and served as Chairman and Ranking
member of the House Intelligence Committee. He is currently Chairman of the
Center for Security Policy Board of Advisors.
© 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.
When Russia and Iran Are Your Neighbors
Elias Harfoush/Asharq Al-Awsat/ February 11/2022
Nothing is more complicated than distressing neighbors. If they live near your
home, you have no choice but to leave, moving to take up residence elsewhere,
whatever the cost.
However, what would you do if you lived next to an aggressive country, given
that moving your country elsewhere isn’t an option? If you reside in Eastern
Europe, for example, you would have countries like Russia and Belarus nearby -
countries led by leaders like Putin and Lukashenko, who are obsessively pursuing
to export ideologies, revolutions and old delusions of grandeur. Maybe you
reside in the Middle East. Next to you is Iran, a country spreading its
missiles, the missiles of its “vassals,” and fighters across the region. It is
proud of seeking to export its “revolution” to various places of the region.
How could you plan for the future of your country safely? How could you use your
economic and scientific capacities to improve the living conditions of your
people and not divert your resources to enhance your ability to face this daily
threat on your border?
On the surface, it seems far-fetched to compare Russia’s project in Ukraine,
Crimea and Donbas with the Iranian project in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. On
the surface, it could also be said that one would have to be over the top to
find similarities between what Western countries seek to achieve through their
attempts to contain Vladimir Putin’s muscle-flexing and what these same
countries seek from containing Khamenei and his entourage’s nuclear dreams
through the negotiations in Vienna.
Nonetheless, a realistic assessment of these comparisons would inevitably reach
the same conclusion, that the West faces the same difficulty with Putin as it
does with Iran’s leaders. Western countries seek to avoid confrontation and are
pushing in the direction of negotiations, while its rivals on both camps
(Iranian and Russian) view as an indication of the West’s weakness, and they
build delusions of victory on this assumption.
Putin is following the Western delegations coming to Moscow and desperately
trying to invoke sympathy for the Ukrainians, asking him to kindly not invade
their territory and satisfy himself with the share he had already taken during
his previous invasion. And Ebrahim Raisi and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian are
following the efforts Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, and Robert Malley are making to
conclude an agreement with the Iranians, aiming to persuade them to contain
their nuclear activity.
Commenting on that activity, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General
Rafael Grossi said it had reached a critical point: describing it with these
words: “There’s no other country other than those making nuclear weapons
reaching those high levels [of uranium enrichment]!”
Putin knows that Biden, under the pretext that it is not a NATO member, is not
prepared to deploy forces to defend Ukraine. Putin also knows that Macron cannot
take any useful military steps while drowning in his economic concerns and
electoral preparations. Putin knows as well that Boris Johnson is overwhelmed
with scandals, having to deal with a new accusation as soon as he addresses a
previous one. Meanwhile, the German Chancellor is concerned about his country’s
supply of gas, which, if interrupted, would make things colder and frostier in
the Alpine villages and the Black Forest.
In short, Ukraine may be a concern for those running television stations because
transmitting images of military preparations lures viewers and improves ratings,
and it may be an opportunity for politicians to appear like leaders. However, it
is not a concern for everyday Europeans, who could hardly locate Ukraine on the
map. As for the ongoing negotiations with Iran, Tehran’s leaders are also aware
that the Biden administration has made a return to the nuclear deal its top
priority in the region, leaving no other options on the table. Thus, we find
that the Iranians are the ones setting the terms, as they understand the sense
of urgency with which the Biden administration is seeking to conclude an
agreement. Among their latest conditions is that Washington ensure that any
future administration would abide by the agreement and not reimpose sanctions on
Iran as the Trump administration had done (terms no administration has the
ability to impose on its successors).
The Americans admit that the negotiations have reached a critical point and that
failure to reach an agreement that halts the Iranian nuclear program’s
development before the end of February would be futile and render this agreement
worthless. The US lead negotiator, Robert Malley, has not shied away from saying
that concluding an agreement with Iran is “in Washington’s interest,” without
clarifying how Washington and its allies in the region have an interest in Iran
maintaining its current capacities.
Since it resumed uranium enrichment three years ago, it has increased purity to
60 percent, which is the purity needed, according to experts, to develop a
nuclear bomb. Moreover, the agreement being promised does not address Iran’s
missiles and the threats they pose to its neighbors. Even at this stage of the
negotiations, Iran has announced the development of surface-to-surface missiles
with a 1,450 km range.
Faced with such a state of affairs and such neighbors, countries have no choice
but to depend on themselves and their capacities.
The Ukrainians had realized this and began developing their military
capabilities after 2014 when Russian forces managed to annex Crimea and invade
parts of Eastern Ukraine through their local agents. And the countries of the
region neighboring Iran find themselves faced with no choice but to prepare to
confront its aggression while simultaneously affirming their desire to establish
good relations based on neighborliness and respect for borders. That desire,
however, is conditioned on Iran avoiding interference and expressing that same
desire for good relations.
Putin’s Game between Friend and Foe
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/ February 11/2022
In his lightning trip to Beijing last week Russian President Vladimir Putin
signed a "Strategic Partnership" treaty with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The event coincided with the 20th anniversary of another "Strategic Partnership"
deal that he had signed in 2002 with the then US President George W Bush.
So, did the Beijing signature represent a reversal of course in Russian foreign
policy that, since Russia’s admission into the G7 club (later G8), had been
focused on forging closer ties with the United States?
Putin’s recent behavior, notably his efforts to portray the United States as a
barrier to Russia’s global ambitions may indicate such a development. More
significantly, what may be seen as Putin’s Ostpolitik comes at a time that China
is flexing its muscles against the United States in a good chunk of the
Asia-Pacific region. Finally, Putin may see Xi Jinping’s saber-ratting over
Taiwan as echoing what he himself is doing over Ukraine.
More importantly, perhaps, does Putin’s Beijing pirouette represent a radical
shift of Russia attitude towards China - something that could lead to the
emergence of what Thomas Fichy and Jean-Marie Holzinger in their 2013 book,
called "A New Mongol Empire" led by China with Russia as its bridgehead to
Europe and Iran as its Trojan horse in the Middle East.
However, as far as Russian perception of the world is concerned transforming
China from "foe" to "friend" wouldn’t be easy. In Russian perception, as
reflected in culture and literature, China, often taken to represent all
"Asiatic" peoples including Mongols, Tatars and Nipponese is often seen as the
"foe" (vrag) along with Germans, Poles, Swedes and Lithuanians in Europe.
This fear of the "Yellow Peril" is reflected in Russian music, literature and
cinema. Boris Pilniak’s "Diary of China", Ivan Goncharev’s "The Fregate Pallas",
and Andrei Rogozina’s "A Russian Woman in China" are some examples, not to
mention Tchaikovsky’s "The Swan Lake" and Eisenstein’s "Ivan the Awe-inspiring"
(Grozny).
As the largest country in the world, Russia has numerous land and sea neighbors
from the Arctic to the Caspian Basin and from the Pacific to the Black Sea and
has been at war with all of them except one: the United States, a neighbor
through Alaska. This is why, ever since he Russians discovered or imagined their
America, the United States has often had a positive image in Russian literature
and culture. Even the advent of Bolshevism as the standard-bearer of
anti-Imperialism did not lead to radical changes in that imagines.
Lenin’s missives to the Politburo after launching his New Economic Policy (NEP)
clearly indicate the influence of American styles of management and production
methods as he understood or misunderstood them. Lenin and others in the early
leadership of the Bolsheviks, including Kamenev and Zinoviev, dreamed of a
socialist society that, inspired by the American "can-do" spirit can produce
economic prosperity without political freedom, an illusion that has also
dominated Chinese politics since Deng Xiaoping.
During the Second World War America was cast as an ally of the Soviet Union. It
fed and armed the Red Army to fight the Nazis and, in the process, impressed
Russians with America’s unique productive and logistic prowess.
American agricultural machinery reached thousands of kolkhozes, helping increase
food production, and stop a repeat of the 1930s famines. American tractors,
threshers; combine-harvesters became iconic objects. However, film-maker
Pudovgin had to re-shoot several scenes of one of his propaganda features to
have the Hammer and Sickle emblem stuck on US-made farm machinery which
supposedly made Russian peasants happy thanks to Stalin.
America’s sympathetic image cut across ideological barriers. Communist Ilya
Ehrenburg admired America as did anti-Communist Ivan Bunin. Vladimir Nabokov who
transformed himself from an old-Russian into an American writer and Edward
Limonov, author of "The Russian Poet prefers Tall Negroes" reflected the mixture
of grudging admiration and painful envy vis-à-vis their imaginary America.
The only war that Russia fought against the US was the Cold War. But even then
the US was never designated as "foe" or "hostis" (vrag or vrazhesky), a label
used at different times and contexts, for Germans, Swedes, Poles, Lithuanians,
the French and the Chinese. Soviet Cold War propaganda labeled the US
"adversary" (protivinik). According to Carl Schmidt’s classification an
"adversary" could be transformed into a partner if not a friend whereas a "foe"
must be defeated or even eliminated.
It is unlikely that Putin is unaware of the difficulties he faces in trying to
transform the US from rival and/or adversary into a mortal foe for his dreamed
Russia. He uses a set of bogus claims that won’t stand at closer examination.
The other day in Moscow he told French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia is
"concerned about European security" when it is Russia that has assembled a war
machine with 120,000 men posed for invading Ukraine.
He also told Macron that Europe needs a framework for ensuring its security. But
such a framework already exists in the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) of which Russia is a founding member, and not to mention the
Helsinki Accords.
Putin’s other claim that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a
potential threat to Russia is equally hard to sustain. NATO did nothing when
Putin invaded and snatched territory from Georgia and Ukraine or when he
militarily intervened in Syria to obtain an aero-naval base on the
Mediterranean.
Three other points: First, Russia already has a partnership accord with NATO
that, if used effectively, could iron out all discord through consultation and
compromise. Next, NATO members account for almost 70 percent of all
direct-foreign investment in the Russian economy and provide 80 percent of the
market for Russian energy exports. Last year Russia was the largest exporter of
crude oil to the United States. Finally, the bulk of Russia’s foreign currency
reserves are lodged in banks and financial instructions located in NATO
countries.
So, why is Putin playing the drums of war when he knows that he does not have
the military and economic stamina and the popular backing at home without which
no major conflict could produce victory if such a thing has any meaning these
days.
Putin also feigns concern about NATO powers trying to sabotage Russian elections
through Russian "Trojan horses" and cyber-attacks. Right now, however, it is he
who is fielding an army of over 1,500 lobbyists, including a former German
Chancellor, a French and an Austrian former prime ministers, to peddle his bill
of goods in NATO countries. May be he craves attention. Or maybe, sensing that
his star is no longer rising at home, he is looking for a diversion. Whatever
the case, the most prudent thing to do is not to dance to his tune and take part
in dramatizing the crisis he has conjured This is why Macron’s dramatic visit to
Moscow was a wrong move.
Question: "How can Jesus be both God and man at the same
time?"
GotQuestions.org?/ February 11/2022
Answer: The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is both God and man. Many Christians
are understandably confused when it comes to understanding how Jesus can be God
and man at the same time. How could our divine Creator become a human? Could a
first-century Jewish man really be God? While a certain amount of mystery will
always accompany this issue, both Scripture and, to a lesser extent, church
tradition provide for us important distinctions to help us make sense of this
matter.
While previous church councils had deliberated over issues pertaining to the
nature of Christ and His relationship to the Father, it was the Council of
Chalcedon (AD 451) that affirmed that Christ is “the same perfect in divinity
and perfect in humanity, the same truly God and truly man.” This statement is
not true simply because the council taught it. Rather, the council’s declaration
was authoritative only insofar as it aligned with what the Bible teaches on the
subject. Scripture is clear that Jesus is God (John 20:28; Titus 2:13; Hebrews
1:8), and it is equally clear that He is truly human (Romans 1:2–4; 1 John
4:2–3). Jesus claimed the divine name (John 8:58) and did things that only God
can do (Mark 2:1–12; Luke 7:48–50). But Jesus also displayed the weaknesses and
vulnerabilities common to humanity (Luke 19:41; John 19:28).
The belief that Jesus is both God and man is of fundamental importance. The
apostle Paul wrote that an affirmation of the divinity of Jesus is required to
be saved (Romans 10:9), and the apostle John provided a sober warning that those
who deny Christ’s true humanity are promoting the doctrine of antichrist (2 John
1:7).
The Triune God of the Bible has existed and reigned from all eternity, and the
second Person of the Trinity, the Son, took on human flesh at a particular point
in time (Luke 1:35; Hebrews 1:5). God the Son added a sinless human nature to
His eternally existent divine nature. The result was the Incarnation. God the
Son became a man (John 1:1, 14). Hebrews 2:17 gives the reason that Jesus had to
be both God and man: “He had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in
order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to
God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” The Son of
God took on human flesh to provide redemption to those under the law (Galatians
4:4–5).
At no time did Jesus ever cease to be God. Although He was made fully human,
there was never a point when He abrogated His divine nature (see Luke 6:5, 8).
It is equally true that, after becoming incarnate, the Son has never ceased to
be human. As the apostle Paul wrote, “For there is one God, and there is one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5, emphasis
added). Jesus is not half-human and half-divine. Rather, He is Theanthropos, the
God-man. The Lord Jesus Christ is one eternally divine Person who will forever
possess two distinct yet inseparable natures: one divine and one human.