English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 17/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.february17.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 05/21-26/:”‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.”But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 16-17/2022
Justice and Truth are inseparable/Abu Arz-Etienne Saqr/February 16/2022
Hizbullah Posters Spark Clash outside LAU's Beirut Campus
Hizbullah Releases Video Featuring Mountain Commandos Performing Elaborate Shooting Drills, Praying In The Snow
Judge Aoun Slams 'Political Protection' for Salameh, Asks Othman for 'Explanation'
Questioning Session Set for Othman as Mustaqbal Lashes Anew at Aoun
'Shut Up', Miqati Reportedly Tells Fayyad in Electric Exchange
Nasrallah: Hizbullah Making Precision Missiles, Drones inside Lebanon
Tel Aviv Says Israeli Gas Will Reach Lebanon Through Egypt, Jordan
Jumblat Says Salameh's Arrest Not Best Solution for Halting Collapse
Political Leader Warns of 'Civil War' if Salameh Arrested
Divisions rock Lebanon over questioning of central bank chief
When will Sheikh Darian utter the word of truth?/Ali Sarraf/Arab News/February 16/2022
Lebanese trust army — not Hezbollah — to secure stability, poll shows/Najia Houssari/Arab News/February 16, 2022
Hollowing Lebanon Out!/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 16/2022

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 16-17/2022
France Says Macron and China’s Xi Agreed to Step up Efforts on Iran Nuclear Deal
Decision on Iran Nuclear Deal Days Away, Ball in Tehran’s Court, Says France
2015 Nuclear Deal Has Become an ‘Empty Shell’, Iran’s Top Security Official Says
Pelosi Arrives in Israel, Vows Support on Iran
Kremlin Says 'Positive' that Biden Wants to Continue Talks
NATO Says Russia's Military Build-Up Continuing around Ukraine
Key Ruling Fuels Tensions between Baghdad, Kurdish Govts
Pelosi in Jerusalem: U.S. Support for Israel is 'Ironclad'
17 Israelis Arrested over Attack on Palestinian Village
Human rights lawyers in bid to bring Syrian, Iranian war-crime cases to court
Canada/Minister Joly to travel to Germany and France

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 16-17/2022
GCC holds first meeting with Afghanistan’s de facto rulers/Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/February 16, 2022
Will Xi Jinping's 'End of Days' Plunge China and the World into War?/Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/February 16, 2022
Iran’s Strategy Following a Deal with the US/Camelia Entekhabifard/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 16/2022
Helpless Europe/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 16/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 16-17/2022
Justice and Truth are inseparable
Abu Arz-Etienne Saqr/February 16/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106387/%d8%a3%d8%a8%d9%88-%d8%a3%d8%b1%d8%b2-%d9%8a%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%82-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ad%d9%82%d8%a9-%d9%81%d9%82%d8%b7-%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b6-%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%d8%a9/
The judicial decision in occupied Lebanon to charge and prosecute Riad Salameh, the Central Bank Governor only among the other corruption lords responsible for the country’s ruin and bankruptcy, is a selective and retaliatory decision.
This judicial track does not fall within the framework of the anti-corruption campaign sought by the people, but rather within the framework of covering up the corrupted officials and politician prosecuted internationally and locally.
The aim of this vindictive persecution aims to have a scapegoat who will be held accountable for all the thefts, suspicious deals, brokerages and organized looting that the ruling gang has perpetrated over many decades.
We do not defend any of the members of this satanic gang, but we affirm that the fight against corruption starts vertically from top to bottom, and is comprehensive or not... because justice and truth inseparable
Long Live Lebanon

Hizbullah Posters Spark Clash outside LAU's Beirut Campus
Naharnet/February 16/2021
A clash erupted Wednesday outside the campus of the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut’s Qureitem area. Al-Jadeed TV said the clash pitted LAU students belonging to Hizbullah and the Amal Movement against supporters of al-Mustaqbal Movement who came from outside the university. The clash broke out as Hizbullah’s students were marking their party’s so-called Martyr Leaders Day by displaying posters of Hizbullah’s slain leaders and blaring partisan anthems from loud speakers. The rally was organized in the street outside the university’s campus seeing as LAU’s administration bans political party activities inside the university. Media reports said the army intervened and contained the clash, which involved the use of fists and batons. LAU’s administration meanwhile issued a statement clarifying that the clash occurred outside and not inside the university and that all political events are banned at the university’s campuses in Beirut and Jbeil.“The university urges the various media outlets to seek accuracy in this difficult period that Lebanon is going through, especially as to preserving the reputation of Lebanon’s university institutions and students,” the statement added.

Hizbullah Releases Video Featuring Mountain Commandos Performing Elaborate Shooting Drills, Praying In The Snow
MEMRI/February 16/2021
Source: The Internet - "central-media.org (Hizbullah – Lebanon)"
On February 16, 2022, Hizbullah released a video showcasing the combat capabilities of its mountain commando unit. The commandos are shown in white uniforms and balaclavas, and their weapons are also camouflaged in white and other light colors. They are shown shooting at targets with the Israeli flag painted on them, as well as shooting from bipods and while skiing or riding snowmobiles. They used a variety of weapons, including light machine guns, handguns, and rifles, some of which had optical sights. In addition, the video shows the commandos training in hand-to-hand combat and praying together in the snow. Some of the shooting drills performed by the commandos involved shooting at targets while other soldiers stand next to the targets or march back and forth between the shooter and the target. The video concluded with a statement by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah, which was subtitled in Arabic and Hebrew: "Hizbullah has a characteristic about it that horror walks before it."
According to a caption on the video, the exercises were performed in southern Lebanon at an altitude of 1370 meters (4495 ft) and a temperature of -2 Celsius (28.4 Fahrenheit). The video was published on central-media.org (Hizbullah – Lebanon).
Click on the below link to view this clip on MEMRI TV
https://www.memri.org/tv/hizbullah-mountain-commando-snow-camouflage-shooting-drills-praying-south-lebanon

Judge Aoun Slams 'Political Protection' for Salameh, Asks Othman for 'Explanation'
Associated Press/February 16/2021
Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun has said that she may sue Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman, accusing him of preventing a State Security force from bringing in for questioning the central bank governor, who is accused of corruption.
Judge Aoun told The Associated Press that Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh failed to show up for questioning for a fourth time on Tuesday. She alleged that the banker was defying judicial orders because he has political protection.
Salameh, who is accused of corruption and dereliction of duty during Lebanon's historic economic meltdown, is facing a lawsuit filed by a Lebanese anti-corruption group. The value of the national currency has plunged, foreign reserves are running low and the highly indebted government has been unable to agree on an economic recovery plan.
Many hold Salameh partly responsible for the financial crisis, blaming him for policies that only drove national debt up and caused the currency to tumble. Salameh, 71, has been in the post for nearly three decades and enjoys backing from most politicians, including the country's prime minister.
Salameh is also being investigated in several countries including Switzerland, Luxembourg and France for potential money laundering and embezzlement. Local media reported in recent months that Salameh, his brother and an aide have been involved in illegal businesses, including money transfers abroad despite the informal capital controls imposed at home. Judge Aoun had issued an order to appear to Salameh earlier this month. But Salameh dismissed the lawsuit against him as political, saying it lacked evidence. It was filed by a group of lawyers known by the name "The People Want to Reform the Regime." Salameh has called for Judge Aoun to be dismissed from the case and accused her of bias. Salameh's case revealed divisions within Lebanon's security agencies after a force from State Security, an intelligence department, went to his home and office to bring him in for questioning and no one answered when they knocked on the door.Aoun said she then told the force to break in after he failed to show up for questioning for a fourth time. At that point, she said, members of the Internal Security Forces, or police, warned State Security agents that they cannot go in by force otherwise "there will be a confrontation."
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi denied there were divisions within the two security agencies, saying they are both carrying out their duties, according to the state-run National News Agency. Aoun said she has sent a formal letter to ISF chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman, asking for an explanation regarding the incident. "I have asked for an explanation, and I am considering filing a lawsuit against him," Aoun said about Othman. "What he did is considered to be an offense, which is fighting authorities and preventing the implementation of a judicial order."The ISF issued a statement later saying the force did not prevent State Security from bringing in Salameh, adding that the force's mission is only to protect the central bank governor and does not have the authority to prevent the implementation of official memorandums. The statement added that the matter was discussed between Othman and State Security chief Maj. Gen. Tony Saliba. The division between the two security agencies mirrors the rivalry between the country's politicians. Othman is considered close to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who quit politics last month, and was a main opponent of President Michel Aoun, who backs Saliba.
The judge has been also been blamed of being close to the president. They are both from the same family but not related.

Questioning Session Set for Othman as Mustaqbal Lashes Anew at Aoun
Naharnet/February 16/2021
Judge Nicolas Mansour on Wednesday scheduled a session for the interrogation of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman in the lawsuit filed against him by Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun, LBCI TV reported.
The TV network said Othman has been informed of the date through the Interior Ministry and that Mansour has also asked the Directorate General of State Security to provide him with information about what happened with its patrol when it headed to Central Bank chief Riad Salameh’s house on Tuesday. Judge Aoun’s lawsuit accuses Othman of “preventing a security patrol from enforcing a subpoena” she had issued against Salameh. Al-Mustaqbal Movement meanwhile issued a new statement in which it blamed President Michel Aoun for the judge’s measures against both Salameh and Othman.
Accusing Aoun of “taking part in the Free Patriotic Movement’s battles” and “undermining legitimate state institutions,” Mustaqbal added that Aoun has founded for his political movement “a private Justice Palace led by Ghada Aoun.”“Targeting the ISF’s command after Banque du Liban’s governorship in this blatant and suspicious manner is something rejected in all standards, especially that it comes after the announcement of major achievements for the ISF’s command in busting sabotage and terrorism networks and arresting kidnap, robbery and smuggling gangs,” the Movement added.
“Judge Aoun is not acting on her own and the Lebanese must search for the masterminds who are plunging the country into further chaos in the halls of the palace in which General Aoun resides,” Mustaqbal went on to say, while stressing that “the attempt to target Maj. Gen. Imad Othman shall not pass, no matter how much they rally their forces.

'Shut Up', Miqati Reportedly Tells Fayyad in Electric Exchange
Naharnet/February 16/2021 
Tuesday’s Cabinet session witnessed a heated exchange between Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Energy Minister Walid Fayyad over the electricity plan, media reports said on Wednesday. “Miqati thanked the Energy Minister for his presentation (in Cabinet about the electricity plan), stressing the need to implement Law 462, especially as to the creation of a regulatory commission,” al-Joumhouria newspaper reported. “He linked tariff rectification to increasing supply hours, demanding a fast implementation. He then told Fayyad, ‘We can no longer wait until 2023, we must begin the work, especially the reform steps, and the World Bank is waiting for answers from us. We want electricity, hurry up and see what you can do,’” the daily added. That prompted Fayyad to “fiercely defend his plan and raise his voice, which prompted Miqati to shout him and ask him to ‘shut up,’” al-Joumhouria said. President Michel Aoun then adjourned the session and the debate over the electricity plan was postponed to a session whose date was not scheduled, the daily added. Al-Joumhouria reported that Miqati and Fayyad “reconciled at the hall’s door after the session” and that the Energy Minister “showed cordiality towards Miqati, who regretted the word he said.”Ministerial sources meanwhile told the newspaper that Miqati lost his temper because “he has become embarrassed towards the World Bank and its (regional) director Saroj Kumar Jha with whom he will meet soon.”“He wanted to carry something in his hands before heading to Munich on Thursday on a visit that might involve a German proposal for the Energy Ministry,” the sources added.

Nasrallah: Hizbullah Making Precision Missiles, Drones inside Lebanon
Naharnet/February 16/2021
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday announced that his group now possesses the ability to transform its ordinary rockets into precision-guided missiles, adding that Hizbullah has also been manufacturing drones for several years now.
“I tell the Israelis that what they call a ‘battle between wars’ has turned the threat into an opportunity for the resistance,” Nasrallah said in a televised address, referring to Israel’s recurrent strikes on Hizbullah-bound arms shipments inside Syria. “We now possess the ability to transform our thousands of rockets into precision-guided missiles,” Nasrallah added, noting that such missiles are spread throughout Lebanon and are not stored in a single place. Hizbullah’s leader also boasted that his group has been manufacturing drones for several years now, adding that it is willing to start selling such aircraft. He also warned Israel against carrying out any landings or airborne operations inside Lebanon. “Should the enemy dare to carry out a certain operation in search of our missiles, it might face an ‘Ansariyeh 2’ operation,” Nasrallah said, referring to Israel’s 1997 botched landing on Ansariyeh’s shore in which 12 of its troops were killed.Nasrallah also said that Hizbullah has been working on improving its military capabilities, revealing that last summer, Hizbullah fighters conducted the largest training exercise since the group was formed in 1982. Stressing that Hizbullah will continue to “protect Lebanon” through the so-called army-people-resistance equation, Nasrallah added that his party does not fear any national dialogue over the fate of its weapons. “Our strategy is clear and let them demonstrate their strategy to us instead of insults and slurs,” he said. “We insist on strengthening and equipping the army and we also insist that the assistance should not come from a single side,” he added, referring to Washington’s support for the Lebanese Army. As for the upcoming parliamentary elections, Nasrallah emphasized that “all electoral rounds in Lebanon are important and critical” and underscored that Hizbullah supports holding the elections on time.
Nasrallah also commented on Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi’s banning of two events for the Bahraini opposition in Lebanon and his criticism of a rally that was held at a pro-Hizbullah venue. “Those who met yesterday in the Risalat Hall are the ones who consolidated Lebanon’s identity and the Bahraini opposition has the right to celebrate the anniversary of its revolution,” Nasrallah stressed. “Lebanon has always been the refuge of political oppositions in the Arab world. Who wants to transform it into an oppressive country? Lebanon is the country of freedoms and this is its real identity,” he said.

Tel Aviv Says Israeli Gas Will Reach Lebanon Through Egypt, Jordan
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
The Israeli Minister of Energy, Karine el-Harar, confirmed that "Israeli gas will reach Lebanon," an announcement denied earlier in Lebanon. Several official Lebanese sources denied this news in the past weeks, asserting that the gas supply agreement states that the gas is Egyptian and not Israeli. However, when asked about the possibility of Israeli gas exported to Egypt and Jordan making its way to Lebanon, Harrar said, "so be it."
Harar participated in Egypt Petroleum Show 2022 (EGYPS) at the head of a large Israeli delegation. Harar added, "I don't care about that. We sell gas to Egypt," and Cairo sells it to others. The Israeli energy economy is a bridge for consolidating relations with regional countries, she said, adding that she is pleased to have the opportunity to represent Israel in EGYPS, hoping it will be another step on the road to achieving peace. Harrar, who uses a wheelchair due to a disease that left her unable to stand, cried when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi treated her in a special way.
Sisi was seen walking to the other side of the hall to welcome the Israeli Minister. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praised Sisi for his special greeting. Bennett retweeted video footage of the moment and wrote that he was "touched" by the gesture. "President al-Sisi, you've touched us all," tweeted Bennett. The Ministry of Energy issued a statement announcing that this is the first time Israeli officials have participated in the conference. The Israeli delegation included the Ministry's Director-General, Lior Schillat, senior officials, and representatives of various Israeli companies producing gas and electric power. Meanwhile, Egypt's petroleum minister Tarek el-Molla told the same event that the timeline for sending gas to Lebanon is flexible as it depends on Jordan and Lebanon. He added that the technical aspects of supporting gas exports to Lebanon would be finished by February.
Jordanian Minister of Energy Saleh al-Kharabsheh announced that exporting electricity to Lebanon will start next month after finalizing a funding agreement with the World Bank. The editor of Arab affairs in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Israelis know that Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah did not object to the gas deal. She claimed that he turned a blind eye to the deal because there isn't any serious alternative, neither from Iran nor any other party. The arrival of gas from Jordan is the shortest and fastest way to solve the energy crisis in Lebanon. The gas reaches Jordan from Israel and Egypt.

Jumblat Says Salameh's Arrest Not Best Solution for Halting Collapse
Naharnet/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Wednesday said Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh’s arrest would not be the best solution for halting the financial and economic collapse in the country. “What would be better: the arrest of the central bank governor by the State Security agency and putting the institution under judicial guardianship or devising a program that would preserve depositors’ rights in collaboration with the IMF in order to halt the collapse?” Jumblat asked in a tweet. Separately, the PSP leader wondered about the reason behind “the sudden objection against the U.S. aid for the Lebanese Army.”“Has the issue been a secret (throughout the past years?)” he asked, apparently referring to recent remarks by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Political Leader Warns of 'Civil War' if Salameh Arrested
Naharnet/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
A political leader has warned that the arrest of Central Bank chief Riad Salameh “in a confrontational way might lead to a civil war,” cautioning against “underestimating the consequences that might arise from such a behavior,” sources close to the leader told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.Sources informed on Salameh’s case meanwhile told the daily that “this issue cannot be settled without agreements on a comprehensive deal that would include other vital topics that are still unresolved.”
“The balances of the domestic situation do not allow for incomplete solutions,” the sources added. According to media reports, a standoff erupted Tuesday between the State Security agency and the Internal Security Forces when a State Security force arrived at Salameh's residence to enforce a subpoena issued by Judge Ghada Aoun. The standoff between the two security agencies mirrors the rivalry between the country's politicians. ISF chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman is considered close to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who quit politics last month, and was a main opponent of President Michel Aoun, who backs Saliba.Judge Ghada Aoun has been also been blamed of being close to the president. They are both from the same family but not related.

Divisions rock Lebanon over questioning of central bank chief
AFP/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
An investigative judge said Tuesday she may sue Lebanon’s police chief, accusing him of preventing a security force from bringing in for questioning the central bank governor, who is accused of corruption. Judge Ghada Aoun said that Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh failed to show up for questioning for a fourth time on Tuesday. She alleged that the banker was defying judicial orders because he has political protection. Salameh, who is accused of corruption and dereliction of duty during Lebanon’s historic economic meltdown, is facing a lawsuit filed by a Lebanese anti-corruption group.
The value of the national currency has plunged, foreign reserves are running low and the highly-indebted government has been unable to agree on an economic recovery plan. Many hold Salameh partly responsible for the financial crisis, blaming him for policies that only drove national debt up and caused the currency to tumble. Salameh, 71, has been in the post for nearly three decades and enjoys backing from most politicians, including the country’s prime minister. He is also being investigated in several countries including Switzerland, Luxembourg and France for potential money-laundering and embezzlement.
Local media reported in recent months that Salameh, his brother and an aide have been involved in illegal businesses, including money transfers abroad despite the informal capital controls imposed at home. Judge Aoun had issued an order for Salameh to appear before her earlier this month. But Salameh dismissed the lawsuit against him as political, saying it lacked evidence. It was filed by a group of lawyers known by the name “The People Want to Reform the Regime.”Salameh has called for Judge Aoun to be dismissed from the case and accused her of bias. Salameh’s case revealed divisions within Lebanon’s security agencies after a force from State Security, an intelligence department, went to his home and office to bring him in for questioning and no one answered when they knocked on the door.
Aoun said she then told the force to break in after he failed to show up for questioning for a fourth time. At that point, she said, members of the Internal Security Forces, or police, warned State Security agents that they cannot go in by force otherwise “there will be a confrontation.”
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi denied there were divisions within the two security agencies, saying they are both carrying out their duties, according to the state-run National News Agency. Aoun said she has sent a formal letter to Internal Security Force chief Major General Imad Osman, over the incident.
“I have asked for an explanation and I am considering filing a lawsuit against him,” Aoun said of Osman. “What he did is considered to be an offence, which is fighting authorities and preventing the implementation of a judicial order.”ISF issued a statement later saying the force did not prevent State Security from bringing in Salameh, adding that the force’s mission is only to protect the central bank governor and does not have the authority to prevent the implementation of official memorandums.The statement added that the matter was discussed between Osman and State Security chief Major General Tony Saliba. The division between the two security agencies mirrors the rivalry between the country’s politicians. Osman is considered close to former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who quit politics last month and was a main opponent of President Michel Aoun, who backs Saliba.
The judge has been also been accused of being close to the president. They are both from the same family but not related.

When will Sheikh Darian utter the word of truth?
Ali Sarraf/Arab News/February 16/2022
Muslim clerics do not usually stand with their people. They rarely do. They usually stand with tyrants, out of fear or greed. They find excuses and justifications for tyranny. They claim that “an unjust ruler is better than a lasting sedition." But both the ruler and the sedition usually continue. Such a theory has no roots in the Holy Qur’an, nor in the Sunnah nor any interpretation of the faith. The Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdellatif Darian is not one of these clerics. It is still hoped that he will play his role in standing by the Lebanese, not only in the face of the “unjust ruler” but also in the face of “the lasting sedition”.Sheikh Darian does not meddle in politics. This is to his credit. But supporting the Lebanese against a system of corruption, injustice, oppression, discrimination and foreign allegiance is not politics. It is the essence of religion. I do not want to compare Sheikh Darian to Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai, for this noble patriot leads his own battle within his own house. And he is fighting his battle not simply for the sake of the Christians who have fallen into the grip of the corrupt, the arrogant, the tyrannical, the hypocritical and the greedy. He is fighting it for the sake of all Lebanese.
Nothing is louder than the moaning of the Lebanese. They are not just starving. They are shedding tears over a country that has ended up in the hands of criminals who killed the motherland and danced on its corpse. A cleric who does not hear the sound of moaning has no religion. Whoever hesitates to say the word of truth in the face of the oppressors has nothing to do with religion. The crisis in Lebanon is not just economic. Nor is it a political crisis. It is a crisis of a system that is no longer suitable in any aspect of life or religion. It must crumble and fall on the heads of those who drove the country into the precipice. This system needs to be overhauled, from its foundations, constitutional rules, electoral regulations, government type, institutional roles and the work of its political parties.
This system will fall if Muslims stop providing support for its survival and renewal through parliamentary elections. If they call a halt, they will find in Christians real brothers and partners. This system will fall if one of its main columns is pulled from underneath its structure.
Chaos will erupt, but it will be the kind of chaos that opens the way for hope, including the hope that the country's resources would not go to the corrupt. Is it, in any case, going to be a form of chaos worse than that which the Lebanese endure today? Is there a more violent crime than that of a country without services, electricity, medicine or wages that are sufficient to buy bread? I do not know how Sheikh Darian eats, under which light he reads his books nor how he sleeps. But I dare surmise he is probably in pain. But he has not yet uttered the cry of truth that all the Lebanese have been waiting to hear from him.
It is quite noble of him not to meddle in politics, but it would be more noble of him to meddle in religion. Because the state of Lebanon today is one of utter blasphemy. It would be sufficient for him to say he has nothing to do with those who stand for elections in the name of the Sunnis. It would be sufficient for him to say that nothing in the Sunnah will justify partnering with an oppressive regime or being an accomplice to corruption. It would be enough for him to tell the Shia drug dealers: your religion is not mine. And to the corrupt Christian: your religion is not mine. It would be enough for him to tell them: the system you endorse is not mine. The issue is not about disrupting elections. The issue is to utter the word of truth about the regime, its nature and its institutions. This regime, which has been able to renew itself, with or without elections, must fall. The members of the Sunni sect's participation in the elections must be made conditional upon change. Change has been necessary since the civil war stopped in 1990. The regime itself should have fallen by now so the Lebanese could build a new constitutional, moral, social and political edifice.
More than thirty years have passed since then. And Lebanon has continued to revolve around the same vicious cycle of corruption. Eventually, the Lebanese paid ten times the cost of building electrical generating stations that would have been enough to light ten countries the size of Lebanon.
Preventing this system from regeneration and ending its cycle of corruption needs the word of truth to be uttered by Sheikh Darian, even if he is already thirty years late.

Lebanese trust army — not Hezbollah — to secure stability, poll shows
Najia Houssari/Arab News/February 16, 2022
BEIRUT: Eighty-nine percent of respondents in a recent poll said they trusted the Lebanese Armed Forces to ensure the country’s stability, while 80 percent felt the same way about the religious leadership and 75 percent about the judiciary. In contrast, just 19 percent of those polled — regardless of their religious beliefs — thought political parties could be trusted to ensure stability. On Hezbollah, opinions were divided. The poll, conducted by Zogby Research Services, found that 48 percent of respondents had confidence in it to secure Lebanon’s stability, while 52 percent did not.
Almost two-thirds of those polled expressed the belief that the “weapons and forces of the resistance should be under the control of the LAF and this includes a majority of respondents in every sectarian community.”
The poll was carried out in September, 10 days after the formation of Najib Mikati’s government. The respondents were adults from various Lebanese regions and sects, and all said they were optimistic about the future despite the current situation being worse than it was five years ago.
A total of 869 people were asked their opinions on the economic crisis in Lebanon, how it has affected citizens and how far they trust state institutions. They also gave their views on Lebanon’s relations with other countries, the political regime and their hopes for the upcoming legislative elections.
Speaking at an event organized by the AUB Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, also attended by Arab News, James Zogby, who owns the polling company, said: “The developments Lebanon has faced of late led to breaking the existing regime which needs reform, but the ruling political elite does not want to admit that.”
Zogby, who is also the founder and president of the Arab American Institute, said the poll showed that respondents had been seriously affected by shortages of fuel (97 percent), electricity (89 percent) and drinking water (74 percent). More than a third of people reported having to go without food on some occasions, with one in five from poor backgrounds saying they or members of their families had “very often gone without meals because of a lack of money or available food.”“Almost two-thirds said they don’t have enough income to make ends meet. And when asked to identify the most pressing economic problems facing the country, far and away the two issues they pointed to were the collapse of the lira (Lebanese pound) and corruption. Given this dire situation, almost two-thirds of all respondents said they would emigrate if given the opportunity,” Zogby said. He added that about 65 percent of respondents thought the “Oct. 17 revolution was beneficial for the country’s stability, while 29 percent said parliament does not ensure stability.”
Seventy-six percent of respondents under the age of 30 were more confident in the revolution ensuring Lebanon’s stability.
When asked whether Lebanon should strengthen or weaken its ties with other countries, only France scored well, with respondents supporting strengthening ties with Paris by a ratio of two to one. On the US and Iran, a third of people said ties should be strengthened, a third said they should be weakened and a third said they should remain as they were. Zogby said that respondents, “seemed optimistic of change in the next legislative elections,” with almost 60 percent expressing some confidence that they would “bring the political change Lebanon needs.”
That attitude may be due to the fact that two-thirds of respondents said they would be voting for the “new alternative parties, with this holding true for all demographic groups. Only one in five said they will vote for the traditional parties.”This rejection extends to the Taif agreement, with almost 60 percent saying Lebanon should dispose of the Taif formula and “adopt a new constitutional model of governance.”
The results of the poll — which Dr. Fadlo Khoury, president of the American University of Beirut, said was based on reliable sources, and which was praised by Dr. Joseph Bahout, director of the Issam Fares Center for Public Policy and International Affairs at AUB — also raised a number of questions.
Dr. Brigitte Khoury, founding director of the clinical psychology training program at AUH, said: “People need food and health security, in addition to security itself. Every day brings new challenges to the Lebanese, which prevents them from planning for the future or from dreaming of a better future.”
She added that after the explosion of the port of Beirut, “people became more desperate and depressed, while the level of tension rose and people lost their power and control, and this is the hardest thing that a human being could face, and it could acquire a violent tendency especially among people who live through shocking events.”
Khoury said that if the “elections do not take place then I fear that people will further lose their power and control especially if there is no justice or a sound judiciary.”Dr. Jamil Mouawad, a political scientist, expressed his fear that the “institutions which the Lebanese still trust might be a target for the untrustworthy political powers. We see how the judiciary and the military institutions are getting besieged by the politicians.”He was skeptical about the “possibility of the next parliamentary elections producing promising changes if the parties in power revert to confessional polarization and to using money.”
The Lebanese “should agree on a political plan to get out of the crisis and this is something that is not clear. And the question that needs an answer is what is the political regime that the Lebanese want, and what are we protesting against?”Mouawad said that “the ones who participated in the Oct. 17 revolution lack experience and should have history lessons to see what has happened.”

Hollowing Lebanon Out!
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 16/2022
The news from Afghanistan is genuinely heartbreaking; it is an affront to everything human in contemporary human beings. Loaves of bread are, in the literal sense, lacking. Hoards of people are flocking to embassies as they search for a way out of their country. However, only four and a half months ago, it was said that Afghanistan had attained a resounding victory, humiliating the Americans who withdrew from the country like mice.
This victory resembles a joke that has become a cliche: the surgery was successful; unfortunately, however, the patient has died.
Something similar is demanded in Lebanon: Western ambassadors and diplomatic missions are not wanted in Beirut. The multinational forces in the south are undesirable as well. NGOs are not wanted anywhere in the country. All of them are condemned and threatened on a daily basis.
The factions that want them all to disappear, threatening them after condemning them, are those who offer the Lebanese the Afghan or perhaps North Korean option: the West, in all its forms, should not come close to us. Why? Because this is among the prerequisites for attaining victory similar to that attained by Afghans and the one under whose shadow the North Koreans live.
Of course, they do not speak in these exact terms, but that is literally what they are saying: closing our country off from most of the Arab world but also most of the world as a whole, especially Western countries, and putting out every source of illumination in the country, its economy, culture, educational institutions, and so on.
The fact is that the West, whose expulsion is demanded, is not just political. The dollar, which, amid our economic crisis, we need like a desert needs rain, will also be undesirable. That is because the dollar being in a place where all of those are banned is unimaginable.
Those who oppose it forget that the West now extends to encompass everything from particular ways of eating, appearing, and dressing to all forms of technology to producing images, be it through cinema or any of the many other mediums. And all of this, with the sensitivities they refined and the imaginations they sharpened, has no competition, neither in China, Russia, or - of course - in Iran.
What is demanded is taking us back to where we had been before coming in contact with the West and learning from it. That is, they want us to go back to the isolated and crumbling model adopted by regimes of one party, one opinion, and one group placed above a weak people. In fact, we have already gone a long way along this path.
The truth is that the majority of the Lebanese, maybe the overwhelming majority, do want this model even if it were a requisite for the total, uncompromised liberation of Palestine. This majority may be sectarian, and its leaders may be corrupt; nonetheless, it has chosen a life of freedom for itself, one that is open to the world and welcomes its influences. As for dragging it to this cemetery in the name of fighting America or pushing back against Israel, all that remains is to hollow Lebanon out and issue a death sentence for the ambitions of its people.
Let us say that it is the first time that the Lebanese’ disputes are so imbued with an ideological position that has implications for how to understand developments worldwide, from here to Ukraine and Taiwan. Today’s dispute concerns just about everything: the Arabs versus Iran. The West versus Russia and China, as well as Iran. Freedom versus tyranny, prosperity versus starvation...
In each side of this dispute is an affiliation that has never been this clear and unequivocal: the majority of the Lebanese, who may quarrel among themselves over an array of issues, want Western embassies to stay in their country, they want to feel safe and secure in it, and they want the multinational forces to stay in the south. They want these forces to remain an impediment to another war, which this majority opposes. They want Western educational institutions to take root and educate greater numbers of students and for NGOs to provide what is one of the very few sources of income for the Lebanese, in addition to their role, however modest, in creating small development projects and expanding freedom of expression.
On the other hand, is the isolationist model, which is concerned only with politics in the narrowest sense of the world- politics that bring destruction, isolation and self-imposed bareness regardless of whether those behind this politics are victorious or vanquished.
As for the call to defend the model that the majority of Lebanese have clung to, it is fair and just; heeding it is urgently needed if we are to avoid seeing one of us write what the German priest and poet Martin Niemoller had once written:
‘‘First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.’’

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 16-17/2022
France Says Macron and China’s Xi Agreed to Step up Efforts on Iran Nuclear Deal
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 16/2022
French President Emmanuel Macron and China's President Xi Jinping both agreed on Wednesday on the need to step up their joint efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, said a statement from Macron's office on Wednesday.
The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council had said earlier on Twitter on Wednesday that the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers had become an "empty shell." Iran and major world powers are currently in Vienna to revive the nuclear deal that former-US President Donald Trump left in 2018 by imposing crippling sanctions on Iran's economy. France's foreign minister said on Wednesday that a decision on salvaging the deal was just days away, but that it was now up to Tehran to make the political choice. Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the tattered agreement resumed last week after a 10-day hiatus and officials from the other parties to the accord - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - have shuttled between the two sides as they seek to close gaps. Western diplomats previously indicated they hoped to have a breakthrough by now, but tough issues remain unresolved. Iran has rejected any deadline imposed by Western powers.

Decision on Iran Nuclear Deal Days Away, Ball in Tehran’s Court, Says France
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
France's foreign minister said on Wednesday that a decision on salvaging Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers was just days away, but that it was now up to Tehran to make the political choice. Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the tattered agreement resumed last week after a 10-day hiatus and officials from the other parties to the accord - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - have shuttled between the two sides as they seek to close gaps. Western diplomats previously indicated they hoped to have a breakthrough by now, but tough issues remain unresolved. Iran has rejected any deadline imposed by Western powers. "We have reached tipping point now. It's not a matter of weeks, it's a matter of days," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told parliament, adding that the Western powers, Russia and China were in accord on the outlines of the accord. "Political decisions are needed from the Iranians. Either they trigger a serious crisis in the coming days, or they accept the agreement which respects the interests of all parties." The agreement began to unravel in 2018 when then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States and reimposed far reaching economic sanctions on Iran, which then began breaching the accord's limits on its uranium enrichment activity. Diplomats and analysts say the longer Iran remains outside the deal, the more nuclear expertise it will gain, shortening the time it might need to race to build a bomb if it chose to, thereby vitiating the accord's original purpose. Tehran denies it has ever sought to develop nuclear arms.Western diplomats say they are now in the final phase of the talks and believe that a deal is within reach.
'Moment of truth'
"We are coming to the moment of truth. If we want Iran to respect its (nuclear) non-proliferation commitments and in exchange for the United States to lift sanctions, there has to be something left to do it," Le Drian said. Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday it was "in a hurry" to strike a new deal as long as its national interests were protected and that restoring the pact required "political decisions by the West". Ali Shamkhani, hardline secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, underlined Iranian wariness in saying on Wednesday that the 2015 accord had become economically worthless for Iran and he blamed the United States and European powers. "The United States and Europe failed to meet their obligations under the (deal). The deal has now become an empty shell for Iran in the economic sphere and the lifting of sanctions. There will be no negotiations beyond the nuclear deal with a non-compliant America and a passive Europe," he tweeted. China's envoy to the talks said on Wednesday Iran was being constructive by putting everything on the table in response to US approaches. "They have not only adopted this straightforward approach but also made a political decision based on give and take," Wang Qun told Reuters. Key bones of contention remain Iran´s demand for a US guarantee of no more sanctions or other punitive steps in future, and how and when to restore verifiable restrictions on Tehran's nuclear activity. The agreement curbed Iran's enrichment of uranium to make it harder for Tehran to develop material for nuclear weapons, in return for a lifting of international sanctions. Iran has since rebuilt stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity, close to weapons-grade, and installed advanced centrifuges to speed up enrichment.

2015 Nuclear Deal Has Become an ‘Empty Shell’, Iran’s Top Security Official Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
The 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers has become an "empty shell", the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said on Twitter on Wednesday. "The United States and Europe failed to meet their obligations under the JCPOA. The deal has now become an empty shell for Iran in the economic sphere and the lifting of sanctions. There will be no negotiations beyond the nuclear deal with a non-compliant America and a passive Europe," Shamkhani said. Iran and major powers are currently in Vienna to revive the nuclear deal that former-US President Donald Trump left in 2018 by imposing crippling sanctions on Iran's economy. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Monday during a call with EU's Borrell that "a lack of serious will on the part of the West to reach a good and credible agreement in Vienna has led to unnecessary prolongation of the talks". The talks, with European intermediaries shuttling between the two, have been held in Vienna since April amid growing Western fears about Tehran’s accelerating nuclear advances, seen by Western powers as irreversible unless a deal is struck soon.

Kremlin Says 'Positive' that Biden Wants to Continue Talks
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
The Kremlin said Wednesday it was "positive" that U.S. President Joe Biden wanted to continue talks on the Ukraine crisis, as Moscow said it was pulling back some troops from its neighbor's border. "It is positive that the U.S. president is also noting his readiness to start serious negotiations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. A day earlier Biden had vowed to push for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. But he also warned that a Russian invasion remained "very much a possibility" and that retaliatory sanctions were primed and ready. "We can welcome that the president of the United States, one of the most powerful countries, thinks about the Russian nation," Peskov said. "Of course, we would rather not hear the threats about what will happen to us if we do something or not do something," he added. "We are tired of these threats." The Kremlin spokesman said negotiations would be "very complex and will require flexibility on both sides." Russia this week announced the end of some of its massive military drills on Ukraine's borders. But Biden said that despite Russian claims, Washington and its allies had yet to verify the withdrawal of any of the 100,000 troops he says Moscow has now mustered along Ukraine's border.

NATO Says Russia's Military Build-Up Continuing around Ukraine
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said Russia's military build-up seemed to be continuing around Ukraine despite Moscow announcing the pullback of more forces. "We have heard the signs from Moscow about readiness to continue diplomatic efforts, but so far, we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground," Stoltenberg said ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers. "On the contrary, it appears that Russia continues their military build-up," he said. Stoltenberg said "it remains to be seen whether there is a Russian withdrawal. "We are of course monitoring very closely what Russia does in and around Ukraine. What we see is that they have increased the number of troops and more troops are on their way." Russia on Wednesday said military drills in Moscow-annexed Crimea had ended and that soldiers were returning to their garrisons, a day after it announced a troop pullback from Ukraine's borders. Germany's Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said the Russian troop build-up on the border "continues to be a cause for concern". "There are signals that at least give us hope. But it is important to observe closely whether these words are followed by deeds," she said. Stoltenberg said Moscow still maintained the ability to launch a major attack on Ukraine and said NATO remained "prepared for the worst." He urged Moscow to carry out a sustained withdrawal of its forces from the border and cautioned that Moscow "always moves forces back and forth." "If they really start to withdraw forces, that's something we will welcome. But that remains to be seen," he said. "Just that we see movement of forces, of battle tanks doesn't confirm a real withdrawal."

Key Ruling Fuels Tensions between Baghdad, Kurdish Govts
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
A surprise ruling by Iraq's high court cast doubt on the legal foundations of the independent oil policy of Iraq's Kurdish-run region and threatened to drive a political wedge between the two governments, officials warned Wednesday. Iraq's Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down the legal justifications for the semi-autonomous region's oil policy, effectively calling into question the future of the region's oil contracts, exports and revenues. The ruling comes during a politically sensitive time, as efforts have stalled in Iraq to form a government. “At a time when Iraq is passing through a turbulent political period, it is unfortunate that the ruling of the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq deems the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law unconstitutional, causing the Kurdistan region great concern,” said region President Nechirvan Barzani on Wednesday. The ruling “will further exacerbate the disputes between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government on the issues of oil and gas,” he said. Last week, Iraq's Supreme Court barred the presidential candidate from the Kurdistan Democratic Party — the Kurdish-region's main ruling party — from running for the post. The court ruled that Hoshyar Zebari was not eligible to run amid corruption allegations. It was a blow to populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the biggest winner in the October election, who vowed to speedily push through a new government excluding Iran-backed parties. Under Iraq's governing system adopted in 2005, the prime minister must be a Shiite, the speaker a Sunni and the presidency held by a Kurd. The process to select candidates is typically set back by political deadlock. It was not immediately known why the ruling, which comes after nearly a decade of delays, came this week. Tuesday's decision cast into doubt the future of the region's main revenue source. The region averaged $750 million per month in oil exports via Turkey in 2021, according to Iraq Oil Report, a media outlet that covers Iraq and its oil sector. The region also relies on budget transfers from Baghdad to pay for salaries and debts to traders. The Kurdish region said the ruling itself was “unjust, unconstitutional” and “unacceptable” in a statement. The region has historically relied on the absence of a federal oil and gas law to justify its independent oil policy. Iraq's constitution says regions and provinces can have a modicum of independence over oil but that the specifics should be spelled out in a separate law. Such a law has never been passed. Baghdad filed a lawsuit challenging the region's claims in 2012. The case was suspended in the last known hearing in September 2019 after the judge requested that then-Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi sign off on continuing the legal battle.

Pelosi in Jerusalem: U.S. Support for Israel is 'Ironclad'
Associated Press/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
American support for Israel remains "ironclad," U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told members of Israel's parliament Wednesday, despite deep differences between the nations on Iran, peace with the Palestinians and other issues. Pelosi stuck to what the U.S. and Israel have in common, particularly on their desires to rein in Iran's nuclear capabilities and find a path toward peace with the Palestinians. "The U.S. remains ironclad, I keep using that word, in our support of Israel's security and its regional stability," Pelosi said with her counterpart, Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy, standing nearby. The face-to-face diplomacy came at a tense time in the nations' relationship as talks about a deal to rein in Iran's nuclear capabilities drag on in Vienna. U.S. President Joe Biden campaigned on renewing and expanding the Iran nuclear deal after former President Donald Trump, with strong encouragement from then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew the United States in 2018. Since then, the U.S. has reimposed sanctions and Iran has stepped up its nuclear activities, amassing a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that goes well beyond the bounds of the accord.
Israel has said it will not be bound by any international agreement concerning Iran's nuclear program, and says it is prepared to take military action if needed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms. Iran insists its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
Standing before a vibrant mural in the Knesset's Chagall Hall, Pelosi said Israel and the U.S. remain concerned about the same threat from Iran and its proxies. "We are together in the fight against terrorism posed by Iran, both in the region and also its nuclear development," she said. "The nuclear threat of Iran is a global one...Israel's proximity to Iran is of concern to all of us."Pelosi, 81, also raised the Biden administration's commitment to Palestinian statehood at a time when Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett opposes the idea. "Our delegation is also here to reaffirm America's commitment to a just and enduring two state solution, one that embraces, enhances stability and security for Israel, Palestinians and their neighbors," Pelosi said. Pelosi has faced turmoil in her own Democratic caucus over Israel, including a brief and unsuccessful revolt by progressives against funding for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system last fall. The House passed it and Pelosi said she hopes the funding passes the Senate "soon."The congressional delegation included Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, appropriator Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., chairwoman of the subcommittee on foreign operations and Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., who chairs the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Mideast.

17 Israelis Arrested over Attack on Palestinian Village
Naharnet/Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
Seventeen Israelis have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in a racist attack on a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank last month, police said Wednesday. Police said Jewish Israelis armed with stones, clubs and "other objects" wounded one Palestinian and vandalized shops, vehicles and property in the northern West Bank village of Hawara on January 24. The suspects -- who live in the West Bank, Jerusalem and northern Israel -- are under investigation for perpetrating "an attack, participation in a prohibited gathering and destroying property with a racist motive," police said. Human rights groups say that West Bank Palestinians face frequent attacks by Jewish Israelis and that perpetrators often go unpunished as Israeli security forces rarely take action. Israel's B'tselem rights group, which closely monitors West Bank violence, said in November that it had documented 451 incidents of Jewish settler violence on Palestinians since early 2020. In 66 percent of cases in which settlers attacked Palestinians, Israeli security forces did not visit the scene, B'tselem said. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded 410 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the first 10 months of 2021, compared to 358 in 2020. The Israeli army said it documented 100 attacks by Palestinians against Jewish settlers in the West Bank last year. Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967. Since then, some 475,000 Jewish settlers have moved into the territory, living in communities considered illegal under international law alongside nearly 2.9 million Palestinians.

Human rights lawyers in bid to bring Syrian, Iranian war-crime cases to court
Arab News/February 16, 2022
LONDON: An attempt has been launched to bring cases of war crimes allegedly committed by Iranian and Syrian military officials to the International Criminal Court, it was reported on Wednesday. The US-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, working with British barrister Haydee Dijkstal, is bringing evidence gathered from Syrians forced to flee into Jordan as a result of attacks and intimidation by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and Iranian-backed militia groups, the Guardian reported. According to the IHRDC evidence, the Syrian victims — who include journalists — were targeted between 2011 and 2018 on the grounds of their professional activities, which were deemed by the Syrian regime as “opposition activities.”The evidence being presented in The Hague says the Syrian civilians felt forced to flee in the face of bombardments, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, and detention, along with other civil liberty abuses. It adds that Iranian-backed militias, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, attacked their towns and cities with the help of armed factions of the Syrian government. The case would mark the first time Iranian officials had been made to answer for their actions in Syria, and forms part of an increased push for them to be held accountable for their alleged crimes in international courts. Ongoing efforts at the UN have stalled in the face of stiff opposition from Russia. Gissou Nia, a lawyer on the legal team bringing the case, said: “Up until now, little public attention has been paid to the legal responsibility of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the decade-long Syrian conflict, despite the significant intervention of Iranian officials in Syria and perpetration of atrocities. “Iran has provided a vast range of military and non-military support to achieve its objectives, chiefly to prevent the fall of disgraced Syrian President Bashar Assad at any cost. “Unfortunately, that goal has been fought at the cost of hundreds of thousands of killed, injured, and displaced Syrian civilians,” she added. Syria is not a signee of the ICC’s Rome Statute, but the IHRDC said the court has jurisdiction in the case because the victims, who are predominantly Sunni Muslims and at odds with the Alawite Assad regime backed by Shiite Iran, fled into Jordan — a state party to the treaty.In a previous case in 2018, the ICC was ruled to have jurisdiction over the Rohingya people after they were forced to flee into Bangladesh, a party to the ICC, from Myanmar, which is not a party. The ICC will now have to make a preliminary decision prior to launching any investigation. There is no deadline by which the court must decide.

Canada/Minister Joly to travel to Germany and France
February 16, 2022 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
Canada has played a significant role in the creation and the upholding of the rules-based international order. When these rules are challenged, Canada must stand up and work with its allies to prevent their deterioration. Russia’s aggression and destabilizing activities in and around Ukraine are deeply concerning and Canada will continue to engage with partners and allies to pursue a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing crisis. The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that she will travel to Germany and France to reiterate Canada’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity with international partners.In Germany, the Minister will attend the Munich Security Conference, the world’s largest conference on security. There, she will reinforce Canada’s key foreign policy priorities, including our unwavering support to NATO and Ukraine. She will meet with Canada’s partners and allies to discuss efforts to resolve the current crisis in Ukraine diplomatically and the swift, severe consequences Russia will face should the Russian military further invade Ukraine. She will also meet with counterparts to discuss pressing global issues, including the protection of democracy against the rise of authoritarianism and transatlantic cooperation on security and defence issues.
In France, the Minister will meet with French Foreign Minister Le Drian, to discuss their work to ensure the stability and security of Ukraine. She will also attend an EU-sponsored forum on cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. The forum will provide an opportunity to deepen our engagement with the European Union and regional stakeholders and to promote effective cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
The Minister will depart Canada on Thursday, February 17, and return on Tuesday, February 22. All COVID-19-related public health rules and guidelines will be followed before, during and after the Minister’s trip.
Quotes
“International collaboration is a cornerstone of Canada’s foreign policy. By working with our allies to address the challenges in Eastern Europe, we make clear our intention to uphold the security and human rights across the globe.”
- Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Quick facts
Since Russia’s attempted annexation and illegal occupation of Crimea in 2014, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 440 individuals and entities, many in coordination with our allies.
On January 26, 2022, Canada extended Operation UNIFIER until March 2025. UNIFIER is the Canadian Armed Forces’ military training and mentorship mission to Ukraine’s security forces.
Canada also announced $50 million for development and humanitarian assistance.
On February 14, 2022, Canada announced additional contributions to support Ukraine’s security and economic resiliency:
An offer of a loan of up to $500 million to the Government of Ukraine through the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act (BWRAA). This is in addition to Canada's offer for a loan up to $120 million, announced on January 21, 2022.
A donation of over $7 million of lethal weapons and assorted support items to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This equipment includes machine guns, pistols, carbines, 1.5 million rounds of ammunition, sniper rifles, and various related equipment.
The Munich Security Conference is one of the world’s largest gatherings of its kind and is recognized as an important independent forum for the exchange of ideas on international security policy.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 16-17/2022
GCC holds first meeting with Afghanistan’s de facto rulers
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/February 16, 2022
A Gulf Cooperation Council delegation on Monday met for the first time with representatives from the de facto authorities in Afghanistan, aka the Taliban, in Qatar. Previously, representatives from individual GCC member states had met with the group in various capacities, mostly to discuss the delivery of humanitarian assistance, security and logistics. While the mere fact that a meeting such as the one that took place in Doha was an event in itself, the participants managed to exchange valuable information and get important messages across. Paradoxically, since the war in Afghanistan ended, the country has descended into a humanitarian crisis because of economic isolation, the drying up of financial resources and the inability to provide basic government services. At the Doha gathering, GCC representatives stressed the importance of addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of Afghanistan, as international reports depict a grim reality. According to the UN World Food Programme, Afghanistan is becoming the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with its needs surpassing those of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Tens of millions of lives are at stake. The WFP found 22.8 million people could face acute risk, while 8.7 million face emergency levels of hunger, indicating a serious risk of widespread famine. The UN estimates that 97 percent of Afghans could fall into poverty during 2022.
GCC countries have been at the forefront of humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan. The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center has maintained a regular flow of aid to the country, as have relief agencies in other GCC countries. At the Doha meeting, GCC representatives expressed their readiness to contribute further to mobilizing international and regional resources to provide humanitarian assistance and improve economic conditions in Afghanistan. They also addressed some of the challenges facing humanitarian work, including ensuring the security of aid convoys to enable them to deliver aid to their intended recipients.
While there is consensus on addressing humanitarian needs, the political side of things is more problematic, as the new rulers of Afghanistan lack diplomatic recognition by any country, including the GCC states. Despite that fact, it is important to respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity, which means that Afghans decide their own future — a message that was delivered very clearly by the GCC representatives at the Doha gathering. The GCC previously publicly stated its position on Afghanistan in the communique issued after its December 2021 summit. After more than 40 years of strife, it is for the benefit of the country to seek national reconciliation and a consensus political solution that fulfills the aspirations of the people of Afghanistan, takes into consideration the interests of all components of its society, and respects basic freedoms and rights, including women’s rights to work and education. Combating terrorism and drug trafficking in Afghanistan is of the utmost importance for the GCC and the rest of the world. Afghanistan has, for too long, been plagued by terrorism and extremism. Al-Qaeda, for example, set up its base there a long time ago and plotted attacks from the country, with ruinous results. The GCC representatives condemned all terrorist attacks, which have targeted civilians and civilian structures in Afghanistan. They stressed the GCC’s solidarity with Afghanistan as it aims to enhance security and combat terrorism and organized crime. But they also expressed concerns that terrorist groups may be able to launch attacks against other countries from Afghan territory. They emphasized the need for the de facto authority to ensure that Afghanistan’s territory is not used by terrorist groups for any reason or exploited by traffickers to export drugs.
The Gulf representatives stressed the importance of addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of Afghanistan. Another issue that the GCC representatives communicated was the need for Afghanistan to remain closely engaged with the international community and to listen to its expectations and concerns. This applies especially to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, UN bodies, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, whose political, security and economic advice can be instrumental in getting Afghanistan the help it needs. If there is any delay in living up to the international community’s expectations and dealing with its concerns or in carrying out the obligations the de facto authority has made regarding combating terrorism and respecting human rights, including the rights of women and children, Afghanistan’s troubles may intensify. The meeting stressed the importance of continued engagement in contributing to preserving Afghanistan’s security and stability and meeting the humanitarian needs of the country’s people. However, this engagement did not imply political recognition of the new order in Afghanistan. It provides for cooperation on practical issues, especially humanitarian assistance and combating terrorism, while getting first-hand insights into developments on the ground and progress made in the different issues discussed in Doha.
*Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the GCC Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs & Negotiation, and a columnist for Arab News. The views expressed in this piece are personal and do not necessarily represent GCC views. Twitter: @abuhamad1

Will Xi Jinping's 'End of Days' Plunge China and the World into War?
Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/February 16, 2022
Xi Jinping, China's mighty-looking leader, has an "enormous array of domestic enemies." — Gregory Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association and editor-in-chief of Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy, to Gatestone Institute, February 2022.
Xi created that opposition. After becoming China's ruler at the end of 2012, he grabbed power from everyone else and then jailed tens of thousands of opponents in purges, which he styled as "anti-corruption" campaigns.
Beijing is panicking, adding nearly a trillion dollars in total new credit last month, a record increase.... When the so-called "hidden debt" is included, total debt in the country amounts to somewhere in the vicinity of 350% of gross domestic product.
Not surprisingly, Chinese companies are now defaulting. The debt crisis is so serious it can bring down China's economy—and the country's financial and political systems with it.
In the most recent hint of distress, "Fang Zhou and China"... wrote a 42,000-character essay titled "An Objective Evaluation of Xi Jinping." The anti-Xi screed, posted on January 19 on the China-sponsored 6park site, appears to be the work of several members of the Communist Party's Shanghai Gang faction, headed by former leader Jiang Zemin. Jiang's faction has been continually sniping at Xi and now is leading the charge against him.
Xi's problems, unfortunately, can become our problems. He has, for various internal political reasons, a low threshold of risk and many reasons to pick on some other country to deflect elite criticism and popular discontent.
The Communist Party of China has always believed its struggle with the United States is existential—in May 2019 the official People's Daily declared a "people's war" on America—but the hostility has become far more evident in the past year.
Virulent anti-Americanism suggests Xi Jinping is establishing a justification to strike America. The Chinese regime often uses its media to first warn and then signal its actions.
America has now been warned.
Xi Jinping, China's mighty-looking leader, created his opposition. After becoming ruler at the end of 2012, he grabbed power from everyone else and then jailed tens of thousands of opponents in purges, which he styled as "anti-corruption" campaigns. Xi's problems, unfortunately, can become our problems. Virulent anti-Americanism suggests Xi is establishing a justification to strike America. Pictured: Xi at the Great Hall of the People on May 28, 2020 in Beijing. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
When truckers took over Canada's capital, Ottawa, and shut down border entry points to America, some called it a "nationwide insurrection." Mass demonstrations have occurred across the democratic world. People have had enough of two years of mandates and other disease-control measures.
Not so in the world's most populous state, which maintains the world's strictest COVID-19 controls. There are no known popular protests in the People's Republic of China against anti-coronavirus efforts.
Yet China is not stable, and Xi Jinping is facing his "End of Days," as a recent essay by opposition figures (see below) puts it. The revolt is not in society at large but at the top of the Communist Party. As Gregory Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association, told Gatestone, Xi Jinping, China's mighty-looking leader, has an "enormous array of domestic enemies."
Xi created that opposition. After becoming China's ruler at the end of 2012, he grabbed power from everyone else and then jailed tens of thousands of opponents in purges, which he styled as "anti-corruption" campaigns.
Xi also used the disease to great advantage. As Copley, also the editor-in-chief of Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy, points out, "Xi's 'zero COVID' policy is, indeed, less about stopping the spread of COVID and more about suppressing his internal enemies, both in the public and in the Party."
The "enormous array" is now starting to strike back. Xi is most vulnerable on his handling of the country's stagnating economy. For one thing, the draconian campaign against COVID—massive testing, meticulous contact-tracing, strict lockdowns—have of course undermined consumption, which Beijing has touted as the core of the economy.
Beijing is panicking, adding nearly a trillion dollars in total new credit last month, a record increase. Chinese technocrats have also become sneaky, embarking on what the widely followed Andrew Collier of Global Source Partners terms "shadow stimulus"—stimulus provided by local governments and their entities in order to allow the central government to avoid reporting spending.
China needs a vibrant economy to service enormous debts, largely run up as Beijing overstimulated the economy, especially beginning in 2008. When the so-called "hidden debt" is included, total debt in the country amounts to somewhere in the vicinity of 350% of gross domestic product.
Not surprisingly, Chinese companies are now defaulting. The debt crisis is so serious it can bring down China's economy—and the country's financial and political systems with it.
For three decades, a Chinese leader was essentially immune to criticism because all decisions of consequence were shared by top figures in the Communist Party. Xi Jinping, however, as he took power also ended up with accountability—in other words, with no one else to blame. With things not going China's way in recent years, Xi, often called the "Chairman of Everything," is taking heat.
There are signs of intensifying discord among senior leaders. In the most recent hint of distress, "Fang Zhou and China"— "Fang Zhou" is a pseudonym meaning "ark"—wrote a 42,000-character essay titled "An Objective Evaluation of Xi Jinping." The anti-Xi screed, posted on January 19 on the China-sponsored 6park site, appears to be the work of several members of the Communist Party's Shanghai Gang faction, headed by former leader Jiang Zemin. Jiang's faction has been continually sniping at Xi and now is leading the charge against him.
Fang's piece incorporates previously voiced criticisms but does so in a comprehensive fashion. Fang blames Xi for, among other things, ruining the economy.
"Xi will be the architect of his own defeat," writes Fang at the end of the rant, in a section titled "Xi Jinping's Denouement" or "End of Days." "His style of governance is simply unsustainable; it will generate even newer and greater policy missteps."
Fang notes that Xi was able to take advantage of a feeble opposition but has not been able to accomplish much. "Xi's policies have been retrogressive and derivative, his successes minor and his blunders numerous," writes the Asia Society's Geremie Barme, who translated the essay, summarizing Fang's thoughts. Fang believes Xi "deserves a score of less than zero."
Xi is not one to let a decade of zero scores get in the way of his continued rule. Communist Party norms require him to step down at the 20th National Congress, to be held sometime this fall if tradition holds. He obviously wants a precedent-breaking third term as general secretary so that he can become, as outsiders say, "Dictator for Life." Most observers expect he will get that new term.
Maybe. Fang Zhou's essay shows Communist Party leaders are risking stability by airing disagreements in public. Xi Jinping therefore, now realizes he is in the fight of his life.
Xi's problems, unfortunately, can become our problems. He has, for various internal political reasons, a low threshold of risk and many reasons to pick on some other country to deflect elite criticism and popular discontent.
In 1966, Mao Zedong, Communist China's first ruler, started the decade-long Cultural Revolution to vanquish political enemies in Beijing. Xi is doing much the same thing now, especially with his "common prosperity" program, which could return China to the 1950s.
Unlike Mao, however, Xi has the power to plunge the world into war, and he has reason to lash out soon.
Xi is targeting the United States. On August 29 of last year, People's Daily, China's most authoritative publication, accused America of launching "barbaric" attacks on the Chinese nation. On the 21st of that month, Global Times, a tabloid controlled by People's Daily, insinuated the U.S. was working with China's "enemies."
The Communist Party of China has always believed its struggle with the United States is existential—in May 2019 the official People's Daily declared a "people's war" on America—but the hostility has become far more evident in the past year.
Virulent anti-Americanism suggests Xi Jinping is establishing a justification to strike America. The Chinese regime often uses its media to first warn and then signal its actions.
America has now been warned.
*Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China, a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.
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Iran’s Strategy Following a Deal with the US
Camelia Entekhabifard/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 16/2022
News coming from the nuclear talks in Vienna shows that the topic of a prisoner exchange between Iran and the US has taken priority over the talk on monitoring Iran’s nuclear program. According to the officials of the Iranian regime, these two topics are now being negotiated at the same time.
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson directly pointed this out on Monday. Speaking at a press conference, Saeed Khatibzadeh said this issue was being discussed in parallel to nuclear talks, but that the US was still undecided.
What Khatibzadeh is speaking about is the haggling over the cost of releasing Iranian-American hostages. The list of these hostages is long, but the US has put some of them in a Class A of hostages and the hostage-takers who know this are demanding a higher cost for their release.
Amongst the prisoners, four people are mentioned the most: Siamak Namazi, Baqer Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Sharqi. It seems like these are the four prisoners for whom Iran requests in exchange for the release of a major part of its cash holdings.
A few months ago, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s new foreign minister, spoke about the US having released “10 billion dollars of Iranians holdings to show good faith.” According to South Korea, 7 billion dollars of the Iranian holdings have been frozen in South Korean banks due to sanctions.
The US could easily release this amount with a simple order; this is a presidential prerogative. But it looks like it’s an additional 3 billion dollars of Iranian holdings which are being discussed between Iranian and US officials in Vienna.
"Prisoner exchange" is a misleading concept since no Iranian has been held hostage in the US. But the Biden administration, which badly wants to reach a deal with the Iranian regime, uses this term to refer to what is, in reality, paying a fee for a deal.
Amongst the dual-citizens Iranians who are imprisoned in the US, we can point to Mansour Arbabsiar, easily the most notable Iranian prisoner in the US. He was arrested and accused of working with the IRGC and planning to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington (then, Adel al-Jubeir). In the court, and in front of a jury, he admitted his guilt.
In 2015, he was not on the list of prisoners Iran asked for, and he is not being mentioned now either. Those Iranian prisoners in the US which the Iranian regime mentions are usually lower-level figures charged with money-laundering and breaking the sanctions regulations of the US Treasury to the benefit of the Iranian regime. The crimes they’ve committed was not done out of patriotism or love of Iran but based on greed and hope that they can get bribes and make an easy buck.
Ironically, some of the prisoners who were released or whose federal offenses were pardoned following the 2015 Iran deal didn’t even return to Iran. For instance, Ahmad Sheikhzadeh, a professor at NYU, who, according to the FBI, worked for a hostile government (i.e. the New York-based permanent representation of Iran to the UN) without license and received cash for consultancy and other services rendered to Iran, without reporting them to tax authorities.
Sheikhzadeh, who had a friendship with Iran’s former foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, didn’t leave the US soil following his release.
Among those released in 2015, the ones who returned to Iran were those without dual citizenship who had to leave the US. But Iranian-Americans jailed in Evin (Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, Nustarullah Khosravi and Saeed Abdeini) were sent to Switzerland on a special flight, with planes full of cash going to Iran to assure their release. Iran got 1.7 billion dollars of cash in their return. The Obama administration claimed that this was not linked to the prisoner’s release and this was 400 million dollars that Washington owed to Iran due to military deals in the 1970s. But the simultaneity of the two events makes this doubtful. The Iranian regime is now attempting to magnify the plight of imprisoned Iranians in the US to ride a humanitarian wave and portray this as a basic attempt to free its own citizens. Meanwhile, it is trying to get a big cash bonanza in exchange with hostages it is holding in Tehran.
If the Iranian regime is so humanitarian and so worried for its own citizens around the world, why doesn’t it show its good will by releasing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe? This young woman is spending the best years of her life, that could have been spent with her husband and daughter, in detention and under psychological and emotional torture. An entire world is heart-broken at the sight of the sad eyes of Nazanin’s young daughter. Have the officials looked at the situation of this family who has been destroyed because the Iranian regime heartlessly turned her into a bargaining chip with the UK?
The coming deal, just like the original 2015 pact, won’t make a difference in how the regime behaves or the general well-being of the Iranian people. But the money the regime is so hard after could be injected to the market and bring about a short-term and relative psychological calm among the people and thus prevent a national explosion and a hunger revolt.
But we all know that Iran’s disorders won’t be solved so easily and with receiving of ransom or limiting the nuclear program. While the regime is negotiating in Vienna, it is also threatening the neighboring countries via its militias and their missiles.
What matters most to the Biden administration is a return to the 2015 deal and control of the Iranian regime so that it can’t build an atomic bomb. Recent threats by Iran are lucrative for the arms industry in the US that are busy selling equipment and missile defense systems to countries of the region.
Last week, the US issued a license for new arm deals with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. In one deal with Jordan, the US will receive 4 billion dollars to supply Amman with F-16 and guided missiles. Similar deals on a lower level have been signed for selling advanced air-defense systems, such as Patriot, Hawk and THAAD, with the UAE. The Saudis, who recently signed a 650-million-dollar deal with the US to buy surface-to-air missiles, have also inked a new 24 million dollar to receive parts for air-defense.
Biden’s strategy is the same as the 2015 strategy of the Obama administration, but the Iranian regime has changed its approach. It no longer seeks a relationship with the West and attraction of foreign investment.
Lack of social and political stability and security in Iran means that large commercial and economic concerns won’t invest in the country. The dominant strategy of the Iranian regime is the Look East policy aimed at expanding ties with China and Russia. The deal will help them assuage their economic worries for a while to keep the Iranian people at bay. Following their deal with the West over the nuclear program, the Iranian regime will pursue new relations with countries of the region.

Helpless Europe
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 16/2022
While our region was expecting an active European role in the Iranian nuclear file in Vienna, in order to “rationalize” the American rush, as well as to assume a pivotal task in the process of soothing the crisis in some Arab countries, such as Libya or Lebanon, it became clear to us that the Old Continent is incapable of resolving its own problems. Europe as a whole is unable to address the Russian-Ukrainian dispute, amid an escalation that suggests that we are facing an upcoming war. Instead, we see the United States issuing statements and warnings, despite the fact that any military confrontation or gas crisis would not concern Washington.The US administration is intensely managing two dangerous files. In Vienna, Washington is hastening to conclude a deal, at any price, with Iran. In Ukraine, it is acting in a way that suggests that it wants the Russians to get involved there, but without any plan for the “next day” for both crises.
The “next day” is always the dilemma of the United States, whether after the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as during what was known as the Arab Spring in our region, or now in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis… As Washington always stumbles on the details.
We watched how the US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, spoke about the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, as if he were the spokesman for the Russian forces, where he actually caused panic, without giving any clear US commitment to the security of Ukraine. Note that the Pentagon spokesman contradicted most of Mr. Sullivan’s information!
Accordingly, while hopes were pinned on the Europeans to help rationalize American positions, it has become clear that Europe itself is in a crisis, as it is incapable of assuming an effective role in easing the tension.
Moreover, Europe is incapable of acting, even if the crisis developed into a war. Despite the European threat to impose sanctions on Russia, the Old Continent is in dire need of Russian gas, to which it can’t find an alternative at the present moment.
As long as Europe cannot prevent a possible war on its territories, how can it contribute to rationalizing the US position on the Iranian nuclear file in Vienna, or putting an end to Iranian ballistic missiles or drones targeting our region?!
It is certain that the French president is unable to do anything in this regard. We have seen how he was dealt with during his visit to Moscow and his meeting with President Putin. The British are also powerless: the British prime minister is fighting his own party, not even his foes, to stay on the political stage.
Therefore, we are facing a European helplessness and an American rush forward, which means that there is a real international crisis, from which only China will benefit, as the Russians cannot sustain their own military and political ambitions, while the Iranians are facing significant internal challenges. The two countries will try in vain to take advantage of the situation: Iran’s power is subversive, and Russia’s is tactical, but hard to sustain.
Everything suggests that instability will persist. It is now important to think carefully about the power vacuum that awaits us amid the absurd American rush to deal with Iran, or to push Russia into getting involved in Ukraine, as well as to deal with the obvious European helplessness.