English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 24/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.february24.22.htm
News
Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they
neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not
clothed like one of these
Luke 12/22-31: “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I
tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body,
what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor
barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And
can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you
are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you,
even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so
clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into
the oven, how much more will he clothe you you of little faith! And do not keep
striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep
worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things,
and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and
these things will be given to you as well.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on February 23-24/2022
President Aoun briefed by PM Mikati on Munich Conference and
deliberations related to electricity strategy
President Aoun meets Ministers of Tourism, Youth and Sports, International Ski
Federation Chairman, awards Asian Weightlifting Champion Joya...
Cabinet to Discuss Waste Plan, Electricity Debate 'Postponed' Again
Mikati meets UNIFIL’s Del Col, Australian Ambassador, to chair Cabinet session
this afternoon
Mikati signs budget referral decree
Finance Minister signs decree referring budget draft to Council of Ministers
Berri hails uncovering of terrorist networks by ISF
Berri signs 13 laws approved by Parliament, refers them to Council of Ministers
Cabinet convenes at Grand Serail
ISF Foils Three IS Bombings on Shiite Worship Places
Finance Minister signs decree referring budget draft to Council of Ministers
Sami Gemayel announces candidacy of Rita Ajil in West Bekaa district of Rashaya
Siniora says state held “hostage”, no longer decision-maker
Ahmed Hariri Hits Out at Saniora in Veiled Tweet
Top Mustaqbal Official Says No IMF Deal in Sight
Lebanon: the European Union deploys an Election Observation Mission
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on February 23-24/2022
Alleged Israeli strike targets sites near border in Syria
Sadrist committee returns over 120 properties to Iraqi Christians
Iran seems ready to swap prisoners with US as talks approach 'finish line'
Putin 'Highly Likely' to Attack Kyiv, UK Says
Ukraine Mobilizes Reserves as Moscow Doubles Down on Demands
U.N. Ends Iraq's Requirement to Pay Victims of Kuwait Invasion
US says Russian force ‘near 100 percent’ for Ukraine invasion
Russia-Ukraine latest: UN head urges Ukraine ceasefire as world body watches for
abuses
Critics Say Mild UK Sanctions on Russia Don't Match Promises
Wall St. points toward higher open, global markets rebound
Ukraine's Economy is Another Victim of Russia's 'Hybrid War'
Israel Supports Territorial Integrity of Ukraine
Syria supports Russia’s position on Ukraine
Omani FM in Tehran as Nuclear Talks in Vienna Continue
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on February 23-24/2022
To Stop Iran’s Proxy Terrorists, Stop Iran
....The U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, and UAE must do more to stop Tehran
together./Bradley Bowman/Joe Truzman/Ryan Brobst/Defense One
The Pros and Cons of ‘Deterrence by Disclosure’/Eric S. Edelman/The Dispatch
Video From FDD/The Islamic Republic’s Proxy War Against Israel: The Gaza Battle
of 2021
Why Arabs Do Not Trust the Biden Administration/Khaled Abu Toameh/consent of
Gatestone Institute.
The lessons for Israel from a new Iran nuclear deal - analysis/Herb Keinon/Jerusalem
Post
on February 23-24/2022
President Aoun briefed by PM Mikati on Munich
Conference and deliberations related to electricity strategy
NNA/February 23/2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met Prime Minister, Najib Mikati,
today at Baabda Palace.
PM Mikati briefed the President on the conference held in Munich, and the
results of the meetings he held with a number of heads of state and
participating delegations.
PM Mikati also addressed the deliberations related to the electricity strategy
in light of the meetings held in this regard, which will be completed and
submitted to the Cabinet.
The meeting also tackled other public affairs. -- Presidency Press Office
President Aoun meets Ministers of Tourism, Youth and
Sports, International Ski Federation Chairman, awards Asian Weightlifting
Champion Joya...
NNA/February 23/2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, devoted part of his interests
today to the sports issue, and to following up on the international competitions
hosted by Lebanon, in addition to examining the conditions of Lebanese athletes
who achieved impressive results in the competitions in which they participated.
Asian Figure Skating Championships:
President Aoun met Chairman of the International Ski Federation, Mr. Johan
Eliasic, the President of the Lebanese Ski Federation, Mr. Freddy Kayrouz, the
Vice President of the Asian Ski Federation, Mr. Youssef Shamil Khalil, the Vice
President of the Lebanese Ski Federation, Mr. Naji Khalil and Salim Kayrouz, and
member of the Lebanese Federation, Mr. Raymond Sukkar.
Minister of Tourism Walid Nassar and Minister of Youth and Sports George Kallas
also attended the meeting
President Aoun discussed with the delegation Lebanon's hosting of the Asian Ski
Championship, which will be held today and will continue until the 25th of
February month in Kfardebian.
For his part, Minister Nassar, welcomed Mr. Eliasicin this "model country,
distinguished by its nature, known in the region for its winter tourism,
especially skiing. Minister Nassar also expressed his pleasure to host and
organize the 30th Asian Alpine Ski Championship in Lebanon with the Lebanese Ski
Federation, considering that the visit of the President of the International
Federation is an opportunity to get acquainted with the elements that Lebanon
enjoys, especially at the environmental level, including rural tourism.
In addition, Minister Nassar wished everyone success, and hoped to carry out
more joint activities in the future.
Then Minister Kallas welcomed Mr. Eliasic to Lebanon, and stressed the
importance of this visit and what it means in terms of Lebanon's re-emergence on
the international scene.
Minister Kallas also expressed his hope that Lebanon, through sports and
tourism, would look whiter on the world, noting the role played by Mr. Eliasic
in the fields of sports and the environment alike.
Afterwards, Mr. Kayrouz thanked the President for the efforts he is making and
his desire to help athletes in general in Lebanon, and pointed to the promising
results achieved by the Lebanese skaters in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
For his side, Mr. Eliasic, expressed his happiness and pride for his presence in
Lebanon, especially in light of the challenges that this country has been facing
for some time, and stressed that for him and the International Ski Federation,
the goal is to promote this sport outside Central Europe, and Lebanon is an
ideal country for such a goal because Lebanon enjoys several aspects, as no
other country in the world can allow the ease of practicing two sports at the
same time (swimming and skiing) in a very short time that takes less than 45
minutes.
“I think that with time, Lebanon can be an important tourist destination, and
with the development of this sport in it. I am sure that the Lebanese
contestants will achieve honorable results and raise the name of their country
high in international forums. Personally, I am a great friend of this region,
and I am interested in promoting it for the sport of skiing in it, and I come
from Dubai, which I visited, where they have a closed ski facility and they want
to host ski races, which we will agree to. We also want to hold many
competitions in Lebanon” Mr. Eliasicsaid.
On the other hand, President Aoun welcomed Mr. Eliasic and the delegation, and
considered that the presence of the President of the International Ski
Federation encourages this sport in general in Lebanon, and the Lebanese runners
in particular, especially in light of the nature that Lebanon provides for such
competitions. “I hope that the visits of international sports officials to
Lebanon will continue, that the borders of this country will remain open to all
activities, especially sports, and that its Lebanese players and competitors
will achieve advanced positions in the sports in which they participate” the
President concluded.
Joya Khairallah:
President Aoun, received the athlete JoyaKhairallah, winner of the Asian
Weightlifting Championship for the "Junior" category, which was held in Turkey
after she won four gold medals. Khairallah was accompanied by her mother, Ms.
Hala Farhat Khairallah and Mr. Faris Farhat, in the presence of MP Cesar Abi
Khalil. President Aoun listened to the young champion about the circumstances of
her participation in the Asian Championship, and the stages she went through to
win the four medals. The President also congratulated Joya Khairallah, praising
her spirit and perseverance in achieving success in a tough sport that requires
great strength, considering that she is a successful example for every athlete,
young woman and woman who desires to achieve honorable results in regional and
international forums. Moreover, President Aoun said that despite all the
difficulties that Lebanon suffers from, the Lebanese youth remain a sign of hope
on which all Lebanese depend, and the main pillar for re-establishing and
overcoming obstacles of any size, and looking forward to a bright and prosperous
future. In appreciation of her efforts and success, President Aoun awarded
Khairallah the Lebanese Silver Medal of Merit, wishing her to continue on the
same path and success in her sports career.It is noteworthy that Khairallah won
many championships in Lebanon and is one of the youngest young champions. --
Presidency Press Office
Cabinet to Discuss Waste Plan, Electricity Debate
'Postponed' Again
Naharnet/February 23/2022
Cabinet will discuss today, Wednesday, the management of solid waste and the
strategies of the Environment Ministry, while the electricity file will not be
discussed, according to Environment Minister Walid Nassar. Nassar told al-Anbaa
news portal, in remarks published Wednesday, that two imminent sessions will
discuss the electricity plan and the increase of the telecom tariffs. A Cabinet
session last week witnessed a heated exchange between Energy Minister Walid
Fayyad and Prime Minister Najib Miqati who reportedly told Fayyad to “shut
up.”The session got adjourned and the electricity debate was again postponed.
Fayyad's plan aims to secure nine hours of electricity daily while increasing
the tariffs. Former Director General of Investment at the Energy Ministry
Ghassan Baydoun considered the plan to be "mysterious" and "delusive." Baydoun
told al-Anbaa that the plan recycles old plans like the plan of former Energy
Minister Jebran Bassil. "It brings nothing new to the table," he added. Baydoun
said that Fayyad's plan depends on four "unguaranteed" sources, citing the
Jordanian gas, the Iraqi oil, the treasury loan and the Egyptian electricity.
Mikati meets UNIFIL’s Del Col, Australian Ambassador, to
chair Cabinet session this afternoon
NNA/February 23/2022
Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, will chair a Cabinet meeting at 3:00 p.m. this
afternoon at the Grand Serail.
On the other hand, Premier Mikati received at the Grand Serail “UNIFIL"
Commander, General Stefano Del Col, with an accompanying delegation, who paid
him a farewell visit marking the end of his mission in Lebanon. During the
meeting, Mikati hailed "the role played by UNIFIL in close cooperation with the
army." The PM also thanked General Del Col for the efforts he made during his
tenure, wishing him success. Premier Mikati also received Australian Ambassador
to Lebanon, Rebekah Grindlay, who paid him a farewell visit marking the end of
her diplomatic mission in Lebanon. Premier Mikati also welcomed at the Serail
Lebanon's Ambassador to the Holy See, Farid Elias Al-Khazen. Later, Mikati met,
in the presence of Minister of Youth and Sports George Kallas and Minister of
Tourism Walid Nassar, the President of the International Ski Federation, Johan
Eliasch, accompanied by the President of the Lebanese Ski Federation, Freddy
Kayrouz, on top of a delegation. Following the meeting, Minister Kallas said
that discussions dwelt on cooperation in the fields of sports and sports
tourism, indicating that the President of the International Ski Federation
promised to assist Lebanon in all tourism sectors, especially in the ski
tourism.
Mikati signs budget referral decree
NNA/February 23/2022
Prime Minister Najib Mikati has signed the referral decree of the 2022 state
budget draft, ahead of sending it to the Presidency of the Republic, our
correspondent reported on Wednesday.
Finance Minister signs decree referring budget draft to
Council of Ministers
NNA/February 23/2022
Minister of Finance Youssef Khalil on Wednesday signed a decree referring the
2022 state budget draft to the Council of Ministers ahead of its referral to the
Parliament.
Berri hails uncovering of terrorist networks by ISF
NNA/February 23/2022
House Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday saluted the Internal Security Forces and its
Information Branch, which have uncovered earlier today a terrorist network
planning to target Lebanon's security and civil peace.
Berri signs 13 laws approved by Parliament, refers them
to Council of Ministers
NNA/February 23/2022
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Wednesday signed the 13 laws that had been
approved by Parliament on February 21, 2022, and referred them to the Presidency
of the Council of Ministers.
Cabinet convenes at Grand Serail
NNA/February 23/2022
The Cabinet convened at the Grand Serail on Wednesday under the chairmanship of
Prime Minister Najib Mikati, to look into an agenda of 18 items, topped by the
solid waste file and a request by the Interior Ministry to approve the necessary
procedures relevant to holding the 2022 parliamentary elections.
ISF Foils Three IS Bombings on Shiite Worship Places
Agence France Presse/February 23/2022
The Internal Security Forces have thwarted a plan by the Islamic State group to
carry out three suicide bombings targeting Shiite religious compounds in
Beirut's southern suburbs, the interior ministry said Wednesday. "A terrorist
group had recruited young Palestinian men in Lebanon to carry out major bombing
attacks using explosive belts" and other munitions, Interior Minister Bassam
Mawlawi told a press conference. "Three separate targets were to be hit at the
same time," the ministry said, in an operation Mawlawi said would have caused a
large loss of life. Lebanon's Internal Security Forces (ISF) said the
instructions for the bomb plot came from an IS operative based in the
Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, who is in touch with fellow Sunni
extremists in Syria. The instructions were passed to an undercover ISF agent who
had successfully managed to infiltrate IS networks in Lebanon. On February 7,
the ISF agent was instructed to prepare attacks on a Shiite religious compound
in the al-Laylaki neighborhood, the Imam al-Kazem compound in Haret Hreik and
the al-Nasser mosque in Beirut's Ouzai suburb, the ISF said. He was given three
explosive vests and other weapons to conduct the attacks on February 16, the ISF
added. Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of Hizbullah, saw a wave of
bombings in 2013 and 2014 carried out by Al-Qaeda linked militants in
retaliation for Hezbollah's intervention in the civil war in neighboring Syria
on the side of the Damascus government According to the ISF, the planned
attack by IS was meant to "pay homage" to the group's slain leader Ibrahim al-Hashimi
al-Qurashi, killed in a U.S. raid on his home in rebel-held northwestern Syria
last month.
Finance Minister signs decree referring budget draft to
Council of Ministers
NNA/February 23/2022
Minister of Finance Youssef Khalil on Wednesday signed a decree referring the
2022 state budget draft to the Council of Ministers ahead of its referral to the
Parliament.
Sami Gemayel announces candidacy of Rita Ajil in West
Bekaa district of Rashaya
NNA/February 23/2022
Kataeb Party Leader, Sami Gemayel, on Wednesday said in a press conference, "We
are continuing with the nomination process in all regions, and the Political
Bureau has taken a decision to nominate Rita Ajil in the West Bekaa district of
Rashaya.""We will fight the battle alongside the honorable people of Lebanon,
and those who believe in change and Lebanon's sovereignty will fight the battle
of the Lebanese in parliament,” Gemayel added.
Siniora says state held “hostage”, no longer decision-maker
NNA/February 23/2022
Former Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, on Wednesday said during a press
conference that Lebanon was facing a major national crisis, fearing that the
Lebanese state is being held “hostage” and is no longer a decision-maker.
"Iranian influence prevents the state from restoring its authority and
sovereignty; it prevents its establishment through its arms," Siniora
said,recalling that Maronite Patriarch, Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, had
expressed the depth of the crisis and demanded the liberation and neutralization
of the state. The former Prime Minister went on to express belief that former
Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, had clashed with the Iranian influence that was
preventing the state from restoring its role and influence and inhibiting its
establishment through its proxy militia’s arms. “These groups are working hard
to disrupt democratic work and are now controlling the state’s law, order, and
the constitution,” Siniora added.
He went on to consider that it was not possible to rebuild the state for as long
as Hezbollah continued to control the state -- strengthened by its weapons –
yet, it couldn’t be eliminated from the Lebanese equation. Siniora finally
pointed out that all the positions that supported Lebanon's sovereignty and the
implementation of international resolutions were an outright reflection of the
vast majority’s wish to salvage Lebanon out of its current crisis, “especially
after a party interfered in Lebanon’s affairs with Arab countries, isolated it,
and began threatening with precision missiles."
Ahmed Hariri Hits Out at Saniora in Veiled Tweet
Naharnet/February 23/2022
Al-Mustaqbal Movement Secretary-General Ahmed Hariri on Wednesday commented on
ex-PM Fouad Saniora’s press conference without mentioning him. “Only your stance
represents me,” Ahmed Hariri wrote in a tweet accompanied by a photo of al-Mustaqbal
Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri. In his press conference, Saniora called on
the Sunni community in Lebanon to take part in the upcoming parliamentary
elections, despite ex-PM Saad Hariri’s decision to boycott the vote along with
his al-Mustaqbal Movement. At a press conference, Saniora stressed the
importance of “engaging in the elections by all Lebanese, especially Sunni
Muslims who believe in Lebanon’s sovereignty.”He accordingly called on them not
to boycott the polls and to “participate actively, both in terms of nominations
and voting.”
Top Mustaqbal Official Says No IMF Deal in Sight
Naharnet/February 23/2022
There will be no solutions in Lebanon in the near future, senior al-Mustaqbal
Movement sources have said. “What we know is that there will be no solutions.
There will be neither an agreement with the International Monetary Fund nor
solutions in the coming days and months,” the sources told al-Joumhouria
newspaper in remarks published Wednesday, when asked whether ex-PM Saad Hariri’s
withdrawal from politics was related to any expected negative developments.
“From the Presidency camp’s conflicts with each of the central bank governor and
the director general of the Internal Security Forces, it is clear that things
are headed for further problems and to a worse situation,” the sources added.
Asked whether there might be “chaos, war, partitioning or a new social
contract,” the sources said that “such an analysis is not new” and that “it is
still plausible.”
“Anything might happen in the presence of fragmented institutions, a failed
state and postponed solutions,” the sources added.
Lebanon: the European Union deploys an Election
Observation Mission
NNA/February 23/2022
In response to the invitation by the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and
Municipalities, the European Union has decided to deploy an EU Election
Observation Mission to observe the parliamentary elections scheduled on 15 May
2022.
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and
Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell has appointed György
Hölvényi, Member of the European Parliament, as Chief Observer of the Mission.
High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell said: “The EU has been
committed to assisting Lebanon’s electoral process by providing significant
financial, technical and political support for their preparation. The holding of
elections is first and foremost a right and an expectation of the people of
Lebanon, as well as a sovereign responsibility that the Lebanese government must
follow through. A constructive participation of all political forces in the
upcoming elections will be of key importance for the country and all the
Lebanese people. The EU is a long-standing partner of Lebanon in supporting
peace and democracy, and the presence of an Election Observation Mission is
another example of this commitment. I believe the work of the EU mission will
contribute to an inclusive and transparent election process and to further
reinforce the democratic path and reforms in Lebanon”.
The Chief Observer György Hölvényi said: “The European Union has supported
Lebanese Parliamentary elections by sending election observation missions in
2005, 2009 and 2018. This will be the fourth time that the EU deploys an
Election Observation Mission in Lebanon and I am truly honoured to have been
entrusted with the responsibility of leading this important mission. My hope is
that our work can help to foster confidence and further reinforce the democratic
process in the country with a view to a genuine and Lebanese-led reform process,
and that these elections will contribute to the security and stability of the
country. I look forward to working with all Lebanese stakeholders, including
state authorities, political parties, candidates, religious leaders and
representatives, civil society organisations as well as both national
international election observers, with the goal of promoting and defending
democratic values.”
The 2022 EU Election Observation Mission to Lebanon will be made of different
groups of observers.
The Core Team of election analysts, based in Beirut, will arrive end of March
and consist of 10 election experts covering the different aspects of the
electoral process. Mid-April 30 long-term observers will join the mission and
will be deployed in the regions to follow the political campaign. Thereafter, 40
short-term observers will join the mission around Election Day to observe the
polling, voting and counting. Some of these will also cover the Out of Country
voting in a number of countries where there is a significant presence of the
Lebanese diaspora. Other short-term observers recruited within the EU diplomatic
community in Lebanon would also reinforce the mission on Election Day. The EU
Election Observation Mission will remain in the country until the completion of
the electoral process.
In line with the EU methodology on election observation, the mission will hold a
press conference in Beirut 48 hours after Election Day to issue its preliminary
statement of findings. Once the entire electoral process is concluded, the
mission will publish a final report, which will include a final assessment of
the electoral process and a set of recommendations for reforms to improve future
elections.
An administrative arrangement setting out the commitments and responsibilities
of its signatories in the framework of this election observation mission will
have to be signed between the EU Delegation in Lebanon and the Supervisory
Commission for Elections and the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities of
Lebanon. Once signed, this document will be publicly available.—EU Commission in
Lebanon
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on
February 23-24/2022
Alleged Israeli strike targets sites near border in
Syria
Jerusalem Post/February 23/2022
Independent reports indicated that the targets of the strikes were near Madinat
al-Baath and Rwihinah, both located near the border with Israel.
Syrian state media reported early Wednesday morning that Israel had fired a
number of surface-to-surface missiles from the Golan Heights towards sites in
Quneitra near the border, causing some material damage. Independent reports
indicated that the targets of the strikes were near Madinat al-Baath and
Rwihinah, both located near the border with Israel. The strikes are the second
alleged Israeli attacks in Syria in a week. On Thursday, a number of sites were
targeted by surface-to-surface missiles near Zakyah, south of Damascus.
According to the Syrian Capital Voice site, Iranian militias control sites and
warehouses at the sites that were targeted. Two weeks ago, an anti-aircraft
missile fired from Syria set off rocket sirens in and near Umm al-Fahm in
northern Israel, as Syrian state media reported an alleged Israeli airstrike
near Damascus. According to Syrian state news agency SANA, a Syrian soldier and
five civilians were killed in the alleged Israeli airstrike. One of the sites
targeted was the Scientific Studies and Research Center in Jamraya, according to
the Capital Voice. A large explosion was reported at the site after it was hit,
according to the report. The IDF confirmed afterward that it hit Syrian air
defense sites in response to the anti-aircraft missile which flew into Israeli
airspace. The targets included a Syrian radar and air defense batteries. On
Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov condemned Israeli strikes on
Syria, warning that these attacks could lead to an escalation. Syrian Foreign
Minister Faisal Mikdad warned that Syria would respond to Israeli attacks.
Sadrist committee returns over 120 properties to Iraqi
Christians
Baghdad/AsiaNews/February 23/2022
Since its formation in January 2021, the body wanted by the Shiite leader
Muqtada al-Sadr has facilitated the return of part of the assets and properties
expropriated by the "real estate mafia". The return took place after a review of
documents. The hope for a "prompt return" of the displaced.
In little more than a year more than 120 properties and buildings originally
belonging to Christians and Sabeans, previously expropriated by force or
deception by mafias or local gangs, have returned to the hands or under the
control of their legitimate owners, according to the Committee for the
Restitution of Christian and Sabaean Property, which, in collaboration with the
Mahdi Army [the former Saraya al-Salam Peace Brigades, ed], both under the
orders of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, supervised the restitution process.
The property was returned to Christians "after the completion of the review of
the documents that proved permission" and the subsequent expropriation by gangs
or groups linked to the "land mafia". The official act of restitution took place
on 21 February in the presence of some members of the committee including Awn
Al-Nabi (a close collaborator of al-Sadr), the first vice president of
parliament Hakim al-Zamili and Hassan al-Kaabi, vice president of the Sadrist
bloc. The handover, those in charge explain, involved a number of houses, land,
factories and shops that were meticulously restored before being returned to
their owners.
Early last year, al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist faction that represents the main
bloc in parliament and won the last general election in 2021, created a
committee to collect and verify news and complaints about the expropriation of
Christian property. Property scattered in different parts of the country and
expropriated from its legitimate owners in recent years. The Shiite leader
himself described the initiative as aimed at restoring justice and putting an
end to violations of the property rights of his "Christian brothers". The
phenomenon of the illegal theft of Christian homes and property by organised
mafias supported by corrupt officials is a consequence of the exodus of a large
part of the Christian community following the 2003 US invasion to remove Rais
Saddam Hussein from power. This phenomenon has reduced the Christian population
by a third (today less than 500,000) and has left the field open for "legalised"
expropriation and theft of property, as denounced by the highest Catholic
authorities in the country.
In his pastoral letter sent to the faithful on the occasion of Christmas 2015,
Chaldean Patriarch Card. Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Chaldean Patriarch of
Chaldea, described the phenomenon in a broad and widespread manner, listing it
among the evils that "afflict society", some of which affect "Christians in
particular". His Beatitude had spoken of "families subject to targeted attacks
and expropriation by thugs and extremist groups", appealing to the authorities
for greater security and protection. In April 2017, former Christian MP Yonadam
Kanna, leader of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, returned to the issue and in
an interview with AsiaNews spoke of "criminals who make false documents and
forged certificates in order to claim the property, homes or activities of
Christians who have emigrated from the country in recent years because of war
and violence". A mafia," he explained, "that operates according to a pattern:
they falsify the certificates, go to court and before the judges claim
possession of property that is not theirs. And the judges end up giving in".
Today, at least some of these assets and properties have returned to their
rightful owners. Al-Zamili spoke of the "real estate mafias" that have "taken
advantage of the precarious security conditions" to "get their hands on
property", but minorities will not be "left without support". Finally, the
Committee for the Restitution of Christian and Sabean Properties expressed hope
for 'a prompt return' of all displaced Iraqis, whether Christian, Sabean or
others, after completing 'the restitution' of all their properties 'within legal
parameters and the improvement of security conditions'.
Iran seems ready to swap prisoners with US as talks
approach 'finish line'
Reuters/February 23/2022
Talks on restoring a deal to curb Iran's nuclear programme and ease sanctions
are near a conclusion, a Russian envoy revealed on Tuesday and sources close to
the negotiations said a prisoner swap between Iran and the United States is
expected soon. "Apparently the negotiations on restoration of JCPOA are about to
cross the finish line," Mikhail Ulyanov said on Twitter, using the 2015
agreement's full name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. There were
reports last week that a US-Iranian deal was taking shape in Vienna after months
of talks between Tehran and major powers to revive the nuclear agreement,
abandoned in 2018 by then-US President Donald Trump, who also reimposed
extensive sanctions on Iran. A draft text of the agreement alluded only vaguely
to other issues, diplomats said, adding that what was meant by that was
unfreezing billions of dollars in Iranian funds in South Korean banks and the
release of Western prisoners held in Iran. On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister
Hossein Amirabdollahian said the Islamic Republic was ready for an immediate
prisoner exchange with the United States. "Iran has always and repeatedly
expressed its readiness to exchange prisoners. Months ago we were ready to do it
but the Americans ruined the deal," a senior Iranian official in Tehran told
Reuters, without elaborating. "Now I believe some of them will be released,
maybe five or six of them. But those talks about prisoners are not linked to the
nuclear agreement, rather associated with it. This is a humanitarian measure by
Iran."US negotiator Robert Malley has suggested that securing the nuclear pact
is unlikely unless Tehran frees four US citizens, including Iranian-American
father and son Baquer and Siamak Namazi, whom Washington says Tehran is holding
hostage."Six years ago the Iranian government arrested Baquer Namazi and they
still refuse to let him leave the country," Malley Tweeted on Tuesday. "The
Iranian government can and must release the Namazis, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz,
and other unjustly held US and foreign nationals."
Dozens detained
Iran, which does not recognise dual nationality, denies taking prisoners to gain
diplomatic leverage. However, in recent years, the elite Revolutionary Guards
have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on espionage and
security-related charges. The detainees are described by experts as pawns in a
game of blackmail and ransom that Iran continues to play with Western nations.
Britain has been seeking the release of British-Iranians Anousheh Ashouri,
jailed on espionage charges and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager
with the Thomson Reuters Foundation who was convicted of plotting to overthrow
the clerical establishment. Tehran has sought the release of over a dozen
Iranians in the United States, including seven Iranian-American dual nationals,
two Iranians with permanent US residency and four Iranian citizens with no legal
status in the United States.Most were jailed for violating US sanctions against
Iran. In the latest comments on the final phase of ten months of nuclear
negotiations, the talks' coordinator, Enrique Mora, Tweeted that "key issues
need to be fixed" but the end was near. Several Iranian officials said some
minor technical issues were being discussed in Vienna and that a deal was
expected before the end of the week, though adding that "nothing is agreed until
everything is agreed". Separately, hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told
gas exporter countries on Tuesday to avoid any "cruel" sanctions imposed by the
United States on Tehran. "The members of this forum should not recognise those
sanctions ... (because) in today's world we see that the sanctions are not going
to be effective," Raisi told a gas exporters conference in Doha. The 2015 deal
between Iran and world powers limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium to make it
harder for it to develop material for nuclear weapons, if it chose to, in return
for a lifting of international sanctions against Tehran. Since 2019, following
the US withdrawal from the deal, Tehran has gone well beyond its limits,
rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity
and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.
Putin 'Highly Likely' to Attack Kyiv, UK Says
Agence France Presse/February 23/2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin is highly likely to launch a full-scale
invasion of Ukraine and attack Kyiv, UK foreign minister Liz Truss said
Wednesday. The UK and U.S. have repeatedly over the last weeks cited
intelligence as indicating that Russia is planning an invasion of Ukraine.
"We think it's highly likely that he (Putin) will follow through on his plan for
a full-scale invasion of Ukraine," Truss told Sky News. Asked if the Russian
leader would move on the capital Kyiv, she said: "We think it's highly likely
that that is in his plans."While Putin has said he is sending troops, "we don't
yet have the full evidence that that has taken place", Truss said, calling the
current situation "ambiguous."Truss held frosty talks earlier this month with
her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on
Tuesday announced the first tranche of UK sanctions targeting five Russian banks
and three billionaire oligarchs.Truss said Wednesday that the UK needed to
"retain some sanctions in the locker" and had "more individuals that we will
target in the event of a full-scale invasion."
Ukraine Mobilizes Reserves as Moscow Doubles Down on
Demands
Agence France Presse/February 23/2022
Ukraine mobilized its military reserve Wednesday and urged its citizens to leave
Russian territory as Moscow sharpened its demands, increasing fears of all-out
war. Kremlin chief President Vladimir Putin has defied an avalanche of
international sanctions to put his forces on stand-by to occupy two rebel-held
areas of eastern Ukraine. In response, Kyiv's President Volodymyr Zelensky has
put Ukraine's more than 200,000 reservists on notice that they will receive
summons to return to their units. Ukraine's security council also on Wednesday
called for a state of emergency in the country -- a measure that still needs to
be formally approved by parliament. Meanwhile, Ukraine urged its approximately
three million citizens living in Russia to leave, as the crisis deepened despite
intense international pressure on Moscow, backed by new economic sanctions.
Western capitals say Russia has amassed 150,000 troops in combat formations on
Ukraine's borders with Russia, Belarus and Russian-occupied Crimean and on
warships in the Black Sea. Ukraine has around 200,000 military personnel and
Wednesday's call up could see up to 250,000 reservists aged between 18 and 60
receive their mobilization papers. Moscow's total forces are much larger --
around a million active duty personnel -- and have been modernized and re-armed
in recent years.
High cost of war
But Ukraine has received advanced anti-tank weapons and some drones from NATO
members. More have been promised as the allies try to deter a Russian attack or
at least make it costly. Shelling has intensified between Ukrainian forces and
Russia-backed separatists, and civilians living near the front are fearful.
Dmitry Maksimenko, a 27-year-old coal miner from government-held Krasnogorivka,
told AFP that he was shocked when his wife came to tell him that Putin had
recognized two Russian-backed separatist enclaves. "She said: 'Have you heard
the news?'. How could I have known? There's no electricity never mind internet.
I don't know what is going to happen next, but to be honest, I'm afraid," he
said. Washington and Britain say Russia's force is poised to strike Ukraine and
trigger the most serious war in Europe for decades, but Putin says he is open to
negotiation -- within limits. Russia has demanded that Ukraine be forbidden from
ever joining the NATO alliance and is seeking to roll back the advance of
Western influence in eastern Europe since the Cold War. "The interests of
Russia, the security of our citizens, are non-negotiable for us," Putin
declared, in a video address to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day, a
public holiday. On Tuesday, the Federation Council, Russia's upper house, gave
him unanimous approval to deploy troops to two breakaway Ukrainian regions now
recognized by Moscow as independent, Donetsk and Lugansk. Russia said it had
established diplomatic relations "at the level of embassies" with the separatist
statelets, which broke away from Kyiv in 2014 in a conflict that cost more than
14,000 lives.
Moscow also said it would evacuate diplomatic personnel from Ukraine to "protect
their lives." Speaking to journalists, Putin on Tuesday set out a number of
stringent conditions if the West wanted to de-escalate the crisis, saying
Ukraine should drop its NATO ambition and become neutral.
U.S. President Joe Biden later announced tough new sanctions against Russia for
"beginning" an invasion of Ukraine, but said there was still time to avoid war.
Japan and Australia followed suit early Wednesday with their own stringent
penalties for Moscow and individuals connected with the aggression against
Ukraine.Biden announced what he called the "first tranche" of sanctions,
including steps to starve Russia of financing and target financial institutions
and the country's "elites."But he left the door open to a final effort at
diplomacy to avert a full-scale Russian invasion. "There's no question that
Russia is the aggressor, so we're clear-eyed about the challenges we're facing,"
the U.S. leader said. Biden's address followed a wave of sanctions announced by
Britain and the European Union, after Putin recognized the self-declared Donetsk
and Lugansk separatist regions this week. Germany also announced it was halting
certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.
'Full-scale invasion'
Kremlin officials have responded scornfully to the sanctions, and observers
point out that energy-rich Russia has huge reserves of $639 billion and an
$182-billion sovereign wealth fund to see it through a crisis. Putin's plans
remain unclear, but Western officials have been warning for weeks he has been
preparing an all-out invasion of Ukraine, a move that could spark a catastrophic
war in Europe. The White House signaled it no longer believes Russia is serious
about avoiding conflict, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelling a
meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov scheduled for Thursday.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Putin said that Moscow had recognized the
independence of Ukraine's separatist regions within their administrative
borders, including territory still controlled by Kyiv -- raising the specter of
a clash. He added that Western-brokered peace agreements on Ukraine's conflict
no longer existed and stressed that the deployment of Russian troops would
"depend on the specific situation... on the ground."NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg
said the alliance had "every indication" that Moscow "continues to plan for a
full-scale attack on Ukraine." British foreign minister Liz Truss told Sky News
it was "likely" that Putin would "follow through on his plan for a full-scale
invasion of Ukraine."
U.N. Ends Iraq's Requirement to Pay Victims of Kuwait
Invasion
Associated Press/February 23/2022
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to end Iraq's requirement to
compensate victims of its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, with Baghdad having paid out
more than $50 billion to 1.5 million claimants. Michael Gaffey, Ireland's
ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva and president of the governing board of the
U.N. Compensation Commission, whose fund decided on the claims, told the council
after the vote that the body's work was a "historic achievement for the United
Nations and for effective multilateralism.""Ultimately, 2.7 million claims were
submitted to the commission seeking $352 billion in compensation," he said, and
the $52.4 billion awarded to 1.5 million claimants "represents approximately 15%
of the total claims."Under a Security Council resolution adopted in April 1991
after a U.S.-led coalition routed Saddam Hussein's forces and liberated Kuwait
in the first Gulf War, Iraq was required to set aside a percentage of proceeds
from its oil exports for the fund to compensate victims of the conflict. That
share was 5% in 2013, when the council voted to end the possible military
enforcement of several requirements imposed on Iraq after the invasion in
recognition of improved relations with Kuwait. The level stood at 3% for Iraq's
final payment on Jan. 13. Gaffey said the governing council adopted its final
decision on Feb. 9 declaring that Iraq's government had fulfilled its
international obligations to compensate for losses and damages suffered as a
direct result of its unlawful invasion of Kuwait.
He said the fund's governing council gave priority to claims by individuals who
were forced to leave Iraq or Kuwait, to those who suffered injuries or whose
spouse, child or parent died, or who suffered personal losses of up to $100,000.
He said this humanitarian decision "marked a significant step in the evolution
of international claims practice."But there were also companies and businesses
that received funds. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation successfully claimed $14.7
billion for oil production and sales losses resulting from damage to the
country's oil fields during the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion and occupation.
The Security Council resolution adopted Tuesday affirms that Iraq has fulfilled
its international obligations, that "Iraq is no longer required to deposit a
percentage of proceeds from export sales of petroleum, petroleum products and
natural gas into the fund," and that the commission's claims process "is now
complete and final and that no further claims shall be made to the
commission."The council terminated the commission's mandate under the 1991
resolution and ordered it to conclude outstanding matters so it can close by the
end of 2022. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told the council that his
country has concluded "an important 30-years-long chapter and embarks on a new
chapter in its diplomatic, political and economic journey.""This will be an era
of a more prominent regional and international role, commensurate with Iraq's
historical and cultural significance for the region and the world, an era during
which Iraq will be an active member committed to the aspirations and goals of
the international community," he said. Kuwaiti Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi
welcomed the resolution's unanimous adoption and commended "such a historic
achievement by the council in relation to its work on compensation."
"We are fully aware that the aim of compensation is not to punish the aggressor
but rather to ensure accountability" and to hold the aggressor liable for
damages and bring "trust to affected governments and individuals," he said. Al-Otaibi
said the world should not forget that establishing compensation and addressing
the impact of aggression "are key to building trust, reconciliation and clearing
any remaining issues that might in the future stand in the way of restoring and
forging relations and achieving common interests of the states concerned."
US says Russian force ‘near 100 percent’ for Ukraine
invasion
Reuters/23 February ,2022
The US said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “as ready as he
can be” for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with nearly 100 percent of the
necessary military forces already in place. “We assess today that he is near 100
percent of all the forces that we anticipated that he would move in. He is dang
near at 100 percent,” a US defense official told reporters on grounds of
anonymity. The official said that 80 percent of the estimated 150,000-plus
Russian forces along the Ukraine border are in “ready positions” spread out in
attack formation within a few kilometers of the frontier. “He is as ready as he
can be,” the official said. “Whether they actually go or not is really up to Mr.
Putin ... They could go at any hour now.”While US President Joe Biden said
Tuesday the invasion is “beginning,” administration officials say that do not
yet have evidence that Russian forces have crossed the border into Ukraine. “We
still cannot confirm that Russian military forces have moved in the Donbas
areas,” the defense official said.
Russia-Ukraine latest: UN head urges Ukraine ceasefire
as world body watches for abuses
The National/23 February ,2022
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on UN members for 'swift,
concrete and resolute actions'. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called
for a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and said UN monitors would keep track of
abuses against civilians in the turbulent region. Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba has called on UN members for “swift, concrete and resolute
actions” to deter Russia from any further incursion on to his country's
territory. He urged UN members not to recognise Ukraine’s pro-Moscow breakaway
regions as independent. Follow the latest developments here:
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for a ceasefire in eastern
Ukraine and said UN monitors would keep track of abuses against civilians in the
turbulent region. Addressing the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Mr Guterres
again criticised Russia’s decision to recognise the independence of Ukraine’s
breakaway pro-Moscow regions and called for “restraint, reason and
de-escalation”. “It is high time to establish a ceasefire and return to the path
of dialogue and negotiations to save the people in Ukraine and beyond from the
scourge of war,” Mr Guterres told the 193-nation body in New York.
The UN chief said an escalation of the conflict would lead to humanitarian
suffering on “a scale and severity of need unseen for many years” and said UN
monitors would track abuses in Ukraine and its rebel-held enclaves. “Our Human
Rights Monitoring Mission has seven offices throughout the country — on both
sides of the contact line documenting civilian casualties, monitoring freedom of
movement, and reporting on allegations of human rights violations,” he said.
Critics Say Mild UK Sanctions on Russia Don't Match
Promises
Associated Press/February 23/2022
Britain promised to hit Russia with "powerful" sanctions over its military
confrontation with Ukraine. But the slim sheaf of measures announced by Prime
Minister Boris Johnson has disappointed allies and critics alike. The U.K. has
slapped asset freezes and travel bans on three wealthy Russians and sanctioned
five Russian banks in response to President Vladimir Putin's decision to
recognize two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine and to authorize sending in
what he called "peacekeeping" troops. Johnson says there will be more to come if
there is a "full-scale" Russian invasion. But many say the current measures are
too little, and further sanctions will come too late. "If not now, then when?"
opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer asked the prime minister on
Wednesday. Conservative lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith, a former party leader, said
that "if we are going to hit them with sanctions, we need to hit them hard and
hit them now."The U.K. says it's coordinating its sanctions with the European
Union and the United States, but both of those have gone further than Johnson's
government. The 27-nation EU has sanctioned the 351 Russian legislators who
voted in favor of recognizing the separatist regions in Ukraine, as well as 27
other Russian officials and institutions from the defense and banking world.
Johnson's spokesman said Britain was "finalizing the evidence" to sanction the
351 Russian lawmakers in the near future. U.S. President Joe Biden imposed
sanctions on members of Putin's inner circle and their families, sanctioned
Russian banks and said the U.S. would effectively "cut off Russia's government
from Western finance."U.K.-based financier and anti-corruption campaigner Bill
Browder said that of all the international sanctions announced so far, only the
American ones would have "stung Putin."
"To put the Russian central bank, the Russian Ministry of Finance and the
Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund on the sanctions list, and to put three oligarchs
whose fathers are government officials on the sanctions list is good," he said.
"Thank God for the U.S, because nobody else is doing anything of any value.
"Putin is banking on the fact that we won't be able to agree with each other,
we're not going to be bold, we're all going to do the same things we've done in
previous times," Browder added. In another blow to Putin, Germany on Tuesday
halted certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.
The British government has been one of the loudest in calling for Europe to
reduce its dependence on Russian oil and gas, which accounts for only a tiny
fraction of the U.K. supply. It hasn't been so quick to wean Britain off Russian
money which has flowed into Britain for years, soaking up properties, businesses
and sports teams. In a 2020 report, Parliament's Intelligence and Security
Committee said that since the 1990s Britain has "welcomed Russian money, and few
questions — if any — were asked about the provenance of this considerable
wealth.""There are a lot of Russians with very close links to Putin who are well
integrated into the U.K. business and social scene, and accepted because of
their wealth," the report said. Transparency campaigners say the governing
Conservatives have received 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) in donations from
people linked to Russia since Johnson became prime minister in 2019. The party
says all its donors are registered U.K. electors, as the law demands. The U.K.
has recently given itself legal tools to root out the dirty money that has led
to London being dubbed a "laundromat" for ill-gotten gains. But experts say it
has scarcely used them. Further powers are planned in an Economic Crime Bill,
but that won't come before autumn at the earliest. Thomas Mayne, a visiting
fellow at the international affairs think-tank Chatham House, said Britain's
anti-corruption powers meant that "anybody involved in bribery, misappropriation
of assets or human rights abuses can be sanctioned.""But I think to have a
genuine effect, we really need to see dozens and dozens of names, and not just
three," he said. Johnson promised Wednesday that "there is more to come," saying
the next wave of sanctions would stop "all Russian banks, all oligarchs, all
Russian individuals raising money on London markets."
"That will hit Putin where it hurts," he said.
Wall St. points toward higher open, global markets
rebound
Associated Press/February 23/2022
Global stock markets and Wall Street futures rebounded Wednesday from jitters
over Western sanctions on Russia in response to President Vladimir Putin's
authorization to send soldiers into eastern Ukraine.In New York, futures for the
benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.8% and the same for the Dow Jones Industrial
Average was up 0.7%. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai, Hong Kong and
Seoul advanced. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Oil prices dipped
slightly following increases stoked by unease about possible disruption to
Russian supplies.
Global stocks sank Tuesday after Washington, Britain and the 27-nation European
Union imposed sanctions on Russian banks, officials and business leaders.
"Current U.S. sanctions on Russia are less-than-feared by the market," Anderson
Alves of ActivTrades said in a report. Alves noted Western governments have more
"acute options" including reducing Russia's access to the SWIFT system for
global bank transactions. In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.5% and
Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.8%. The CAC in Paris added 1.2%. On Tuesday, the S&P
500 lost 1%. That put it 10.3% below its Jan. 3 all-time high and into a
correction, or a decline of at least 10% but less than 20%. The Dow lost 1.4%
and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.2%. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rose
0.9% to 3,489.15 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.6% to 23,660.28.
The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.5% to 2,719.53 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added 0.6%
to 7,205.70. India's Sensex opened up 0.2% at 57,425.96. Singapore and Indonesia
gained while Bangkok declined. Global stocks already had given up some of their
gains due to uncertainty about the impact of plans by the Federal Reserve and
other central banks to withdraw ultra-low interest rates and other economic
stimulus. Markets were rattled after Putin recognized the independence of
rebel-held areas in Ukraine and sent in troops in defiance of U.S. and European
pressure.
Shares of Stellantis gained 6% in off-hours trading after the automaker reported
profits of 13.4 billion euros ($15.2 billion) in its first year after forming
from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group. The software maker
Cadence Design Systems jumped more than 10% after it topped Wall Street's sales
and profit expectation and raised sales guidance well above analysts' consensus
for the first quarter of 2022. Wheat prices rose on concern about supplies from
Russia and Ukraine being disrupted. Prices of nickel and aluminum, for which
Russia is a major supplier, also rose.
European gas prices jumped after Germany withdrew a key document needed for
certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia. In energy markets,
benchmark U.S. crude fell 86 cents to $91.49 per barrel in electronic trading on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.28 on Tuesday to $92.35.
Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, slipped 28 cents to $93.57
per barrel in London. The dollar edged up to 115.08 yen from Tuesday's 115.07
yen. The euro rose to $1.1341 from $1.1334.
Ukraine's Economy is Another Victim of Russia's 'Hybrid
War'
Associated Press/February 23/2022
One by one, embassies and international offices in Kyiv closed. Flight after
flight was canceled when insurance companies balked at covering planes arriving
in Ukraine. Hundreds of millions of dollars in investment dried up within weeks.
With Russian troops encircling much of the country, Ukrainian businesses large
and small no longer plan for the future — they can barely foresee what will
happen week to week. It is Ukraine, not Russia, where the economy is eroding the
fastest under the threat of war. Even before Russian troops rolled into
rebel-held areas in the country's east and Russian President Vladimir Putin
recognized the independence of the separatist region, Ukraine was the biggest
loser in the agonizing, slow-motion aggression. "Why is it that we are suffering
consequences already? And Russia, who is actually threatening the whole world,
in Europe, is not suffering any consequences?" asked Andrey Stavnitser, CEO of
the port operator TIS Group.
The squeezing of Ukraine's economy is a key destabilizing tactic in what the
government describes as "hybrid warfare" intended to eat away at the country
from within. The Ukrainian president is also juggling state-sponsored
cyberattacks, a Russia-backed separatist movement and the threat of 150,000
Russian soldiers surrounding his country on three sides. The economic woes
include restaurants that dare not keep more than a few days of food on hand,
stalled plans for a hydrogen production plant that could help wean Europe off
Russian gas and uncertain conditions for shipping in the Black Sea, where
container ships must carefully edge their way around Russian military vessels.
Stavnitser said the Black Sea ports are operating as usual for now, but it's
only a matter of time before the same insurance problems that cut off commercial
flights start to hit the shipping industry. Ukraine is one of the world's top
grain exporters, loading container ships that carry 12% of the world's wheat
supply and 16% of its corn. Alex Riabchyn is a former member of Ukraine's
parliament who now spearheads a project to set up hydrogen plants for the
national Naftogaz energy company. The idea is to give Europe — and especially
its largest economy, Germany — a stable new source of hydrogen, which can be
used to produce low-emission energy for transport, industry and other uses.
What he hears from European investors now is "we can buy everything that you can
produce, but to come and invest to build these plants, it's too risky."German
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock over the weekend acknowledged that the
constant threat against Ukraine is "having very real effects — on investments,
on air traffic, on jobs and on the daily life of people."She said the Group of
Seven ministers of leading industrial nations promised to ensure Ukraine gets
help for financial stability. Since the beginning of the crisis in January, the
national currency, the hryvnia, has steadily lost value, and it plunged 1%
Tuesday after Russia recognized the two breakaway regions led by Russia-backed
separatists. The United States last week offered a $1 billion loan guarantee,
and the European Parliament approved $1.3 billion in loans for Ukraine to cover
financing needs this year.
But by late January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that $12.5
billion had been withdrawn from accounts in the country. Last week, he called on
members of parliament and businessmen who had fled to return. More than 20
charters and private jets left Kyiv last week, carrying some of the country's
most prominent executives. "The more the government urges not to panic, the more
nervous businesses are," said Volodymyr Sidenko, an analyst with the Razumkov
Center.In Russia, Margarite Simonyan, the head of the state-owned Russian RT
news network, gloated last week that "Kyiv's economy is in tatters," calling it
"a small but pleasant thing."But Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna said
the destabilization of Ukraine's economy isn't a side effect of the Russian
threat, but the point. It saps faith in the government, and it forces Ukraine to
divert attention and resources from needed reforms. It is, she said, an
essential pillar of the "hybrid war" Russia is waging. "It's really important
that we are resilient as we have never been before and we do our best to
preserve the stability. But the longer this tension and escalation is taking
place, the weaker Ukrainian economy can become," she said.
The Centre for Economics and Business research estimated this month that the
conflict with Russia cost Ukraine $280 billion in lost gross domestic product
between 2014 and 2020 — with those loses expected to climb this year. The United
States and Europe worked out a series of limited sanctions on Tuesday, including
targeting several Russian officials and banks financing the Russian armed
forces, and putting limits on Moscow's access to EU capital and financial
markets. Additional plans to target trade from the breakaway regions are
unlikely to have much of an effect on them or Russia as they've been largely
isolated from the international community since 2014. Daniel Fried, a former
U.S. diplomat who helped write sanctions in 2014, said the challenge in
designing any new sanctions is that Russia is already succeeding in what he
called "the slow strangulation of Ukraine." "When we saw the airlines pull out
of Kyiv — they're not pulling out of Russia. They're pulling out of Kyiv. Putin
is getting something that he wants without war." Kyiv restaurateur Ievgen
Klopotenko said he keeps just a few days worth of stock in his kitchens, to
avoid having his money literally rot away if the crisis worsens. Planning more
than a year into the future, he said, is folly. "If something happens, I don't
know, I will be open," he said, gesturing outside the window overlooking one of
Kyiv's broad sunlit streets as though imagining a day when they would be filled
with soldiers, not families looking for brunch. "If I need to cook for the army,
I will cook for the army."
Israel Supports Territorial Integrity of Ukraine
Associated Press/February 23/2022
After keeping a low profile in the military and diplomatic standoff between
Moscow and Kyiv due to its close ties with both, Israel says it supports the
territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Ukraine. A statement Wednesday from
Israel's foreign ministry expressed concern about the "serious escalation" in
eastern Ukraine, where Moscow is formally recognizing the independence of two
pro-Russian breakaway regions. The statement made no mention of Russia, which
the United States and its NATO fear is poised to launch a full-blown attack on
Ukraine. The statement said Israel "hopes for a diplomatic solution which will
lead to calm, and is willing to help if asked."The foreign ministry voiced
concern about the welfare of its citizens in Ukraine and the country's Jewish
community. Israel is home to a large population of immigrants from the former
Soviet Union, including Ukraine.
Syria supports Russia’s position on Ukraine
Reuters/February 23/2022
Syria supports the decision of its ally Russia to recognise two breakaway
regions in eastern Ukraine, describing it as a step “toward defending world
peace”, Syrian state TV quoted the Syrian foreign minister as saying on Tuesday.
Faisal Mekdad spoke during a visit to Moscow. He said that “we have been
cooperating with the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk for a long time and we
believe that these current conditions will help increase this cooperation,”
Syria’s state news agency SANA reported. The United States and its European
allies were set to announce fresh sanctions against Russia on Tuesday after
Putin recognised the two breakaway regions, deepening Western fears of a new war
in Europe. EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday this first
package of sanctions “will hurt Russia and it will hurt a lot.”"Syria supports
President Vladimir Putin's decision to recognise the republics of Luhansk and
Donetsk," the state TV quoted Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad as saying during an
event in Moscow. "What the West is doing against Russia is similar to what it
did against Syria during the terrorist war," said Mekdad. Syria has been a
staunch ally of Moscow since Russia launched a military campaign in Syria in
2015 that helped to turn the tide in a civil war in favour of President Bashar
al-Assad. President Assad’s office put out a statement on Tuesday saying that
the Syrian president had in December 2021 received a delegation of Russian
legislators, including representatives from the Donetsk region and told them at
the time that Damascus “is ready to recognise the Republic of Donetsk and an
agreement was reached to start relations with it.”"Syria affirms that it is
ready to work on building relations with the republics of Luhansk and Donetsk
and to strengthen them with regard to mutual interests," the statement added.
Omani FM in Tehran as Nuclear Talks in Vienna Continue
Associated Press/February 23/2022
Oman's foreign minister arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for talks with his
Iranian counterpart, state media reported, as nuclear talks between Iran and
world powers continue in Vienna. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein
Amirabdollahian welcomed Sayyid Badr Albusaidi upon his arrival, with the visit
scheduled to focus on bilateral and international affairs, the IRNA news agency
said. Oman has often acted as a go-between to help facilitate back-door
diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran, sometimes involving the release of
prisoners. Negotiations in Vienna aim to restore a 2015 nuclear deal that saw
Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting
of economic sanctions. The diplomatic visit raised speculation that Oman may get
involved as an intermediary in the ongoing nuclear talks, or deliver a U.S.
message to Iran. The U.S. has participated indirectly in the ongoing talks
because it withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden has signaled that he wants to rejoin the deal. Trump later
re-imposed crushing sanctions on Iran.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
February 23-24/2022
برادلي بومان/جو تروزمان/رايان بروبست/موقع
ديفينس ون: للسيطرة على اذرع إيران الإرهابية يجب أولاً السيطرة على إيران ووضع حداً
لإرهابها، وفي نفس السياق فإن المطلوب من إسرائيل والسعودية والإمارات العمل أكثر
للجم إيران
To Stop Iran’s Proxy Terrorists, Stop Iran
....The U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, and UAE must do more to stop Tehran
together.
Bradley Bowman/Joe Truzman/Ryan Brobst/Defense One/February
23/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106527/to-stop-irans-proxy-terrorists-stop-iran-the-u-s-israel-saudi-arabia-and-uae-must-do-more-to-stop-tehran-together-%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%84%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d9%88%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%86/
The United States sent F-22 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates on Feb. 12,
following last month’s Houthi missile attack on an Emirati base hosting American
troops. While the added firepower is a welcome development, such deployments
will not deter the Houthis or other Iranian proxies unless the hardware is
reinforced by coordinated action by the United States, Israel, and Arab
partners.
Recognizing that Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis have the same benefactor and
share many of the same goals, methods, and weapons is an essential prerequisite
for developing a more cooperative and effective regional response. That response
should include the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and UAE sharing
technical information on Iranian weapons, especially the rockets, missiles, and
drones that all three proxies operate. This could include sharing intelligence
about the smuggling routes Tehran uses to deliver weapons to proxies and the
financial vehicles Iran uses to fund its proxies. Israel and Gulf Arab states,
along with U.S. Central Command, should also build on recent progress related to
combined military exercises. There are specific opportunities associated with
the recurring Noble Dina, Blue Flag, and Iron Union exercises.
Tehran has long used terrorist groups to attack, undermine, and control other
regional governments, such as with Hamas, in Gaza, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, and
the Houthis, in Yemen. Iran would rather its adversaries remain divided and
distracted, attempting to respond unilaterally and without holding Tehran
accountable for the actions of its proxies. To be sure, the origins and
attributes of the three terrorist groups vary. They also come from various
religious backgrounds, be it Sunni like Hamas, Twelver Shiite like Hezbollah, or
Zaydi Shiite like the Houthis. But they share many similarities thanks to their
links to the ultra-radical regime in Tehran, to which the three terrorist groups
owe much of their resilience and lethality.
Consider, for example, the fact that Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are
united in their desire to kill Americans, Israelis, and often other Arabs.
The Houthis have attacked U.S. forces on at least two occasions. In 2016, the
Houthis fired anti-ship cruise missiles at the USS Mason, a Navy destroyer
operating in international waters near Yemen. The Houthis attacked American
forces again last month by launching ballistic missiles at the Al Dhafra Air
Base, which houses U.S. forces. Notably, Hezbollah and Hamas praised that Houthi
attack, while Israel condemned it and expressed support for Abu Dhabi.
Hamas and Hezbollah, both U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations, have
been more successful than the Houthis in killing Americans. Indeed, Hamas has
killed dozens of U.S. citizens, while Hezbollah is responsible for the deaths of
hundreds of Americans.
Israelis, of course, have suffered at the hands of Iranian-supported terrorist
groups Hamas and Hezbollah, too. That hostility is not surprising given that the
founding principles or documents of both groups call for the destruction of
Israel. The Houthi slogan of “Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews,
Victory to Islam” aligns with Hamas, Hezbollah, and their common patron, Iran.
Lately, the Houthis have been particularly prolific in attacking Saudi Arabia,
more than doubling their attacks against the kingdom in the first nine months of
2021.
The longer Washington and its partners fail to effectively address the flow of
Iranian weapons to the Houthis, the more they will fight, refuse to negotiate in
good faith, conditions in Yemen will worsen, and the group will become a more
significant regional threat. Last month’s Houthi missile attacks suggest this is
already happening.
The weapons Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis use reveal their connections to
Iran. Iran has supplied or attempted to supply each group with the 9M133
anti-tank guided missile, the C-704/802 anti-ship cruise missile, and 122mm
Katyusha rockets. They also all use variants of the Iranian Ababil-T drone and
the Fajr-3/5 rockets.
In May 2021, Hamas publicly thanked Iran for supplying military support during
the terror group’s war with Israel earlier that month. The support enabled Hamas
and other Iran-backed factions in Gaza to launch more than 4,360 rockets at
Israelis civilians during the 11-day conflict. If it were not for Israel’s Iron
Dome air defense system and bomb shelters, those attacks could have killed
thousands of civilians.
But that barrage pales in comparison to what Hezbollah could unleash on Israel;
thanks to Tehran, Hezbollah is estimated to have at least 150,000 rockets and
missiles.
Iran’s additional efforts to provide its terrorist proxies with anti-ship cruise
missiles are particularly worrisome. Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis each
operate near vital military and commercial waterways. Hamas has recently
experimented with undersea drones to threaten offshore infrastructure and
vessels in the eastern Mediterranean not far from the Suez Canal. Hezbollah
damaged the INS Hanit in 2006, and the group could easily target other vessels.
Houthis have already targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Combined with Iran’s own capabilities in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz,
Tehran and its proxies can threaten several of the world’s most important
maritime chokepoints.
The three terrorist groups also have shown a disdain for human rights, emulating
Iran’s example. Hamas and Hezbollah commonly use torture to interrogate
Palestinians and Lebanese they detain, while the Houthis maintain an extensive
prison network rife with abuse. All three organizations recruit child soldiers
to fight their battles, with Hamas operating military training camps for minors
and Houthi commanders openly bragging about their use of children.
Revealing their disregard for other Arabs, the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah
each use innocent neighbors as human shields. Each group habitually hides
weapons caches and offensive weapons in or near apartment buildings, schools, or
other civilian areas.
During the May 2021 conflict, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which Tehran
also supports, made extensive use of human shields. In one example, footage
shared by pro-Hamas channels shows rockets being launched at Israel from
neighborhoods in Gaza.
By using terrorist proxies, the regime in Iran is attempting to attack its
neighbors while concealing where the blow came from and escaping the
consequences. Washington, Jerusalem, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and other regional
partners should recognize that these terrorist attacks all bear Tehran’s
fingerprints. Better to address the puppet master together than fight its
puppets alone.
*Bradley Bowman is senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power
at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, or FDD. Joe Truzman is a research
analyst at Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal. Ryan Brobst
is a research analyst at the Center on Military and Political Power at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow Bradley and Joe on Twitter @Brad_L_Bowman
and @JoeTruzman. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute
focusing on national security and foreign policy.
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2022/02/22/to-stop-irans-proxy-terrorists-stop-iran/
The Pros and Cons of ‘Deterrence by Disclosure’
Eric S. Edelman/The Dispatch/February 23/2022
Analyzing the Biden administration’s policy of making information about Russia’s
movements and intentions public.
Since November, the Biden administration has pursued a policy regarding Russia
and Ukraine that can best be described as “deterrence by disclosure.” The policy
has operated on several levels. First and foremost has been the disclosure of
Russian troop movements and dispositions as well as the plans for provocations
and false flag operations that could serve as a pretext for Putin’s war against
Ukraine (and, more broadly, the West and the existing regional and global
order). It has also been accompanied by leaks about interagency deliberations
about sanctions and disclosures about agreements being negotiated with allies to
suggest the more traditional “deterrence by punishment” to come should Russia
recklessly launch a premeditated and unprovoked war in the center of Europe.
“Deterrence by disclosure” suggests that the administration is playing a weak
hand but hoping to play it deftly. To be fair, the Biden team’s weak hand is a
function of both difficulties it inherited (geography dictates that the fate of
Ukraine will always matter more to Russia than to the U.S.) and those that its
own actions created or exacerbated (rolling over the New START Treaty without
any conditions, waiving Nord Stream 2 sanctions, granting Putin a summit with
the president in the wake of serious cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure
conducted by Russian hackers, the disastrous Afghan withdrawal, and Biden’s own
gratuitous comments about not sending Americans to fight in Ukraine and “limited
incursions” by Russia into Ukrainian territory). By the time you read this, an
assessment of the administration’s effort at “deterrence by disclosure” may be
moot. Still, it seems worth taking a crack at evaluating the pros and cons of
endeavoring to deter an adversary like Russia with public disclosures like the
ones we have seen coming out of the current administration these past few
months.
In the first instance, disclosure of Russian troop movements had some positive
outcomes. It alerted the American and European publics to the fact that a
political and military crisis was brewing. It signaled to Moscow that “we are
watching you,” hopefully inducing some cautionary notes into internal Kremlin
deliberations. Publicizing information about possible plots or provocations to
provide a pretext or bogus casus belli had the impact of disrupting operational
planning by the adversary (a lesson U.S. policymakers have learned over the past
20 years of disclosing plotting by violent Islamist extremists as part of U.S.
counterterrorism policy). It also forced Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov, and other senior Russian officials to “deny” any intention of invading
Ukraine. These denials serve several purposes in their own right. They heighten
the costs for Putin in the ongoing information warfare between the U.S. and
Russia by highlighting his mendacity if he commences military operations by
increasing his reputational costs (not that he and his compatriots care much
about reputation, given the transparent nature of many of these efforts and the
insouciance with which he has treated revelations about the poisonings of
Alexander Litvinenko, the Skripals, and Alexi Navalny). Moreover, they help in
the battle for public opinion in allied countries, help ease the work of
diplomats working on putting together an agreed-upon package of biting sanctions
if deterrence fails, and will create a presumption of disbelief in Russian
official statements once Putin’s war is underway.
Perhaps most important, deterrence by disclosure has bought time for the
administration’s “relentless” and virtually non-stop diplomatic effort (for
which it has gotten and generally deserves good grades). Moreover, there are
some indications that U.S. disclosures have created some consternation in Moscow
and, at the very least, produced the carefully stage-managed meetings of Putin
with Foreign Minister Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu via which the
Russians hoped to signal an intention to de-escalate and reinvigorate diplomatic
efforts. That transparently false effort was quickly exposed by both Washington
and its allies at NATO and in capitals.
This persistent diplomatic effort may turn out to be meaningless if, as
President Biden has suggested, Putin has now made up his mind on war as the
solution to the problems he had created by instigating the current crisis. But
the efforts have allowed more lethal weapons to be transferred to the Ukrainian
forces and some training to go on, making Ukraine a less inviting target than it
might otherwise have been (although the decision to withdraw U.S. trainers has,
sadly, undercut much of the administration’s deterrent messaging). Those steps
have been accompanied by disclosure of the potential Ukrainian strategy of
irregular warfare that would follow any initial Russian “victories” on the
battlefield since most observers assume the better equipped and trained Russian
army will make quick work of Ukraine’s military forces (an assumption that may
or may not be warranted). Communicating the dangers of protraction, of the
difficulties of waging a counterinsurgency war in a place that it took the USSR
almost a decade to pacify after World War II can, perhaps, puncture the bubble
of false optimism—what one political scientist has called “the strategist’s
curse”—that may have inclined Putin to believe that a quick and splendid little
war in Ukraine will bring him the same kind of political benefits that the
largely bloodless seizure of Crimea did in 2014.
There are, however, very serious negative consequences to relying so heavily on
deterrence by disclosure. First, making public information gleaned from
sensitive intelligence inevitably runs the risk of giving away sources and
methods. Although policymakers may judge that it is a worthwhile gamble to give
away future intelligence in exchange for stopping a war now, it is impossible to
calculate the potential costs for crisis management in the future. The constant
warnings also run the risk of appearing to “cry wolf” too often. There already
have been visible cracks in the alliance as both Ukrainians and some Europeans
have offered less dire assessments. To this point, the administration has
handled this complication reasonably well, but if this turns out to be a longer
crisis in which Putin pursues a “no war, no peace” strategy of managed tensions,
there could well be a price to be paid in allied unity over time. The
disclosures also sometimes seem to be playing into Russia’s hands in the
information/political warfare space. The constantly ringing alarms allow Putin
to play the “strongman” card to the hilt and remind the Russian populace, “Look
how much the West fears me” (with the subtext “and so should you!”). It also
cedes the initiative to him and allows him to set the tempo of the crisis by
dialing the military pressures up or down (and seeking to accentuate the
administration’s discomfort when it lowers the temperature by pointing out that
the U.S. and its spokespeople are “hysterical.”). Finally, by emphasizing that
Putin has chosen war, disclosing the array of forces that have been positioned
along the border and speculating about a multidirectional assault on Ukraine
with a possible long-term occupation of significant parts of the country, the
Biden administration has, perhaps, desensitized some proportion of the American
and European public to any kind of land grab or “minor incursion” that is less
than the full Monty. If, as it turns out, Putin’s objectives in this crisis are
more in line with what he has done in the past than the large-scale operation
that many are now forecasting, it may be harder to mobilize opposition in the
West than it otherwise would have been.
Deterrence by disclosure may be the form of deterrence that seems safest when
one is playing a weak hand. But what Thomas Schelling described as “the
diplomacy of violence”—the competition in risk-taking that accompanies coercive
diplomacy—always requires “the risk that leaves something to chance.”
Inculcating in the mind of the adversary that starting down the road of
conventional aggression creates the potential that things will get out of hand
and escalating to a level that nobody wants is essential to successful
deterrence. Putin’s recent decision to hold a massive exercise of Russia’s
nuclear forces is just that kind of invocation of prospective dangers. Against
that background, deterrence by disclosure seems like weak tea indeed.
*Eric S. Edelman is former U.S. ambassador to Finland and Turkey and was the
under secretary of defense for policy (2005-2009). He is counselor at the Center
for Strategic and budgetary assessments and practitioner in residence at the
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). FDD is a
Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national
security and foreign policy.
Video From FDD/The Islamic Republic’s Proxy War Against
Israel: The Gaza Battle of 2021
https://www.fdd.org/events/2022/02/22/the-islamic-republics-proxy-war-against-israel-the-gaza-battle-of-2021/
Introductory remarks:
Clifford D. May, Founder and President, FDD
Speakers:
Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice President for Research, FDD
Catherine Herridge, Senior Investigative Correspondent, CBS News
About
Last year’s conflict between Hamas and Israel generated headlines around the
world – most of which ignored critical components of the history, funding, and
political dynamics at play. Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of
War, the first book published on the May confrontation, provides crucial context
and overlooked details of this war. The Islamic Republic of Iran provides Hamas
with financial assistance, as well as training and weapons, and regards Gaza as
part of its expanding empire. Given Iran’s significant influence on this
territory, more intense violence in the Gaza strip is a foregone conclusion.
Thereby, Gaza has become ground zero in a struggle for the future stability of
the Middle East. Amidst the ongoing nuclear negotiations in Vienna, it is
important to examine that nuclear diplomacy will yield Tehran massive sanctions
relief, only furthering its funding of terrorism in Gaza and for its proxies
across the Middle East. What role would Iran play in any future conflict? Who
are the other patrons of Hamas? Why did Hamas ignite a fourth armed conflict
against Israel last year? What did the media get right at the time —and what was
missed? To discuss these critical questions and more, FDD hosts a conversation
with Jonathan Schanzer, FDD Senior Vice President for Research moderated by CBS
News Senior Investigative Correspondent Catherine Herridge. FDD Founder and
President Clifford D. May provides introductory remarks.
Why Arabs Do Not Trust the Biden Administration
Khaled Abu Toameh/consent of Gatestone Institute./February 23,
2022
Prominent Arab political analysts, commentators and journalists are continuing
to express fear about Iran's "expansionist" schemes in the Arab countries,
especially Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. They say that they are worried that a
return to the JCPOA would further embolden the mullahs in Tehran and the
Iranian-backed terrorist groups.
To many, the hesitation of the Biden administration is incomprehensible. The
White House and the National Security Council are apparently open to
redesignating the Houthis as a "foreign terrorist organization" while the State
Department supports targeting specific Houthi leaders with sanctions. The
question is why? One could do both.
Another question is: Has the Yemen crisis become a political issue rather than a
humanitarian one?
Moreover, why are aid organizations insisting on aid coming through Hodeidah
port when there are six ports... plus aerial deliveries via Marib?
Isn't this a "humanitarian" political position in favor of the terrorists, the
Houthis?
Judging from the Houthis' recent heightened aggression, many in the Arab world
are asking: why are the Houthis not immediately being designated as a "foreign
terrorist organization" again?
The Arabs are also warning that Biden's decision last year to delist the Houthis
as a "foreign terrorist organization" has only encouraged the militia to pursue
its aggression against the Yemeni people -- the very people about whom the Biden
administration is claiming to have "humanitarian" concerns – as well as the
neighboring countries.
[T]he failure of the Biden administration to designate the Houthi militia as a
terrorist organization poses "a threat to regional peace and security and harms
international peace and security." — Dr. Amal Al-Haddabi, Emirati political
analyst, Al-Ain, February 8, 2022.
"The Biden administration has forgotten that militias are an arm of external
forces that use them to achieve their own agendas, and they are not concerned
with the interests of the Yemeni people...." — Dr. Amal Al-Haddabi, Al-Ain,
February 8, 2022.
"This move [reclassifying the Houthis as a terrorist organization] will not harm
efforts for reaching a peaceful settlement in Yemen. On the contrary, it will be
a decisive and firm message from the international community that it will not
accept this terrorist behavior from the Houthis." — Dr. Amal Al-Haddabi, Al-Ain,
February 8, 2022.
"Tehran views the negotiations only through a unilateral perspective -- to lift
the economic sanctions imposed on it without making any serious concessions." —
Professor Mohammed Mufti, Saudi communist, Okaz, February 10, 2022.
"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has come to consider himself the president of
Lebanon, Syria and other Arab countries, and this is because he relies on 90,000
[members of] forces affiliated with Tehran." — Former Jordanian Minister of
Culture Saleh Al-Kallab, Asharq Al-Awsat, February 10, 2022.
If and when the Biden administration signs a new deal with Iran, the sense of
betrayal in the Arab world is extremely likely to broaden.
The US may then find out that it is the Americans who have been delisted as
untrustworthy friends and allies by the people of the Middle East.
To many, the hesitation of the Biden administration to re-designate Yemen's
Houthi militia as a terrorist organization is incomprehensible. The question is
why? Has the Yemen crisis become a political issue rather than a humanitarian
one? Pictured: Houthi forces in Yemen's capital Sanaa on April 8, 2021.
As the Biden administration and other world powers continue to negotiate with
the Iranians about reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),
there is growing concern in the Arab world about the destructive actions and
policies of Iran and its proxies, especially the Houthi militia in Yemen.
Prominent Arab political analysts, commentators and journalists are continuing
to express fear about Iran's "expansionist" schemes in the Arab countries,
especially Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. They say they are worried that a
return to the JCPOA would further embolden the mullahs in Tehran and the
Iranian-backed terrorist groups.
The Arabs are saying that they cannot understand the Biden administration's
reluctance to re-designate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization,
particularly after the recent drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates (UAE).
To many, the hesitation of the Biden administration is incomprehensible. The
White House and the National Security Council are apparently open to
redesignating the Houthis as a "foreign terrorist organization" while the State
Department supports targeting specific Houthi leaders with sanctions. The
question is why? One could do both.
Another question is: Has the Yemen crisis become a political issue rather than a
humanitarian one?
Moreover, why are aid organizations insisting on aid coming through Hodeidah
port when there are six ports (Aden, al-Mukalla, al-Salif, Nishtun, and al-Shihr);
land border inflows via al-Wadiah and al-Khadra (on the Saudi border) and Shahan
and Serfit (on the Omani border); plus aerial deliveries via Marib?
Judging from the Houthis' recent heightened aggression, many in the Arab world
are asking: why are the Houthis not immediately being designated as a "foreign
terrorist organization" again?
Isn't this a "humanitarian" position really a political choice in favor of the
terrorist organization, the Houthis? Should the US instead not be finding the
best means to deliver aid to the suffering people of Yemen?
The Arabs are also warning that Biden's decision last year to delist the Houthis
as a "foreign terrorist organization" has only encouraged the militia to pursue
its aggression against the Yemeni people -- the very people about whom the Biden
administration is claiming to have "humanitarian" concerns -- as well as the
neighboring countries.
"Biden's decision to remove the Iranian-backed Houthis from the list of
terrorist organizations has encouraged the militia to expand its terrorist
operations, especially against the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen,
wrote Emirati political analyst Dr. Amal Al-Haddabi.
Al-Haddabi argued that the terrorist attacks of the Houthis against Emirati
civilian facilities during the past weeks, and the ongoing crimes against the
people of Yemen and Saudi, "constitutes conclusive evidence of the nature of
this terrorist militia."
"However, international moves aimed at classifying the Houthi militia as a
terrorist organization are still slow and disproportionate to the [Houthi]
militia's crimes, which constitute a flagrant violation of international law and
a real threat to civilian facilities, energy supplies and economic stability."
Al-Haddabi warned that the failure of the Biden administration and the
international community to designate the Houthi militia as a terrorist
organization poses "a threat to regional peace and security and harms
international peace and security."
The Houthi terrorist attacks, she added, prove that the Biden administration's
assumption that the militia can be dealt with as if it were partner for a
peaceful settlement of the conflict in Yemen is wrong.
"The Biden administration has forgotten that militias are an arm of external
forces that use them to achieve their own agendas, and they are not concerned
with the interests of the Yemeni people or their need for peace and
development," Al-Haddabi said, noting that Biden recently stated that his
administration was considering the possibility of putting the Houthis back on
the terrorism list.
"All the requirements and conditions for designating the Houthis as a terrorist
organization are available, and Biden sees them clearly... In Yemen, it is
difficult to list all the crimes committed by these militias against civilians.
According to statistics and data announced by the Arab Coalition Forces to
support legitimacy in Yemen, the Houthi militia launched 372 ballistic missiles
and 659 booby-trapped drones towards Saudi Arabia by the end of January 2022.
These are just examples of Houthi crimes. The international community in
general, and the US in particular, has become fully aware of the terrorist
nature of the Houthi militia, and therefore this awareness must be accompanied
by a serious and quick move to classify this militia as a terrorist
organization. This move will not harm efforts for reaching a peaceful settlement
in Yemen. On the contrary, it will be a decisive and firm message from the
international community that it will not accept this terrorist behavior from the
Houthis. The inclusion of militias on terrorist lists will limit Iran's
financial and military support for the Houthis."
Egyptian political scientist Ali Al-Din Hilal said that he, too, cannot
understand why the Biden administration has still not redesignated the Houthis:
"How much time," he asked , "does the Biden administration need to make a
decision [to reinstate the Houthis to the terrorism list]?" he asked.
Hilal noted that Biden removed the Houthis from the terrorism list one month
after taking office on the pretext that he wanted to contain the organization
and open channels of communication with it.
"The removal of the organization from the list of terrorism did not result in a
change in the Houthi militia's behavior," he wrote.
"It continued to reject all initiatives and proposals for a ceasefire and the
start of political negotiations to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict [in
Yemen]. The Houthis rejected and blocked all initiatives from the United Nations
and the US. Then there are the Houthis' attempts to disrupt navigation in the
Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait [in the Red Sea, between Yemen to the east
and Africa to the west] and threaten ships."
The Egyptian political scientist also noted that the Houthis attacked the US
embassy building in Sana'a last November, looting its contents and detaining a
number of Yemeni workers.
"The Houthi militia is one of Iran's arms in the region and a tool for
implementing its policy, and the attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE are not
limited to destabilizing security in the region, but also aim to pressure
Washington and influence its positions in the Vienna talks on the Iranian
nuclear issue... The civilian targets that were attacked are close to populated
areas, which makes the attack on them a terrorist act. The seriousness of this
matter increases as the Houthi militia may expand its attacks."
Emile Amen, another Egyptian writer and researcher, urged the Biden
administration not to waste more time. According to Amen, Biden wasted a whole
year believing that he could extend the olive branch to Iran's mullahs by
removing the Houthis from the terrorism list as a way of paving the way for a
nuclear deal with Tehran.
"The current situation is no longer bearable for new American diplomatic
approaches with the Houthis," he said.
"The Biden administration must quickly characterize the Houthi militia as one of
the major terrorist forces of evil. Afterwards, the Biden administration should
return to supporting the path of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition Forces...
"The great and original sin of the Democratic Party today is the harmful role
played by the left-wing Democrats who are pressuring Biden not to designate the
Houthis as a terrorist organization."
Amen said that Biden did not learn the lesson from Barack Obama's experience
"because the infamous agreement with Iran in 2015 did not lead to Iran's retreat
from supporting its proxies in the region and its growing terrorism, especially
after it received billions of dollars that were frozen in the US."
"The Biden administration cannot argue by saying that it does not want to get
involved in Yemen. This is a version that takes us back to the philosophy of
Barack Obama, known as the 'leading from behind,' which led to the exacerbation
of the crises in Syria, Yemen and other places. The Biden administration should
quickly and without any delay classify the Houthis as a terrorist group."
Saudi columnist Professor Mohammed Mufti stressed that the "rogue regime" in
Iran does not seem to be deterred by the talk about economic sanctions because
anyway it does not care about the welfare of its people.
"On the contrary, the Iranian regime is good at exploiting the weapon of
sanctions imposed by Western countries to further humiliate its people... At a
time when Western countries -- through the Vienna negotiations -- are desperate
to reach an agreement that would ensure Iran's nuclear restraint, the Iranian
regime, through its proxies and military arms, continues to attack the
sovereignty of many neighboring countries, including, of course, some Gulf
countries. This clearly shows Iran's indifference to what is happening at the
negotiating table and proves that Tehran views the negotiations only through a
unilateral perspective -- to lift the economic sanctions imposed on it without
making any serious concessions."
Mufti noted that Iran has continued to develop its nuclear activities unabated
and without interruption despite the ongoing negotiations in Vienna.
"With each new round of negotiations, Iran consolidates its gains and
accelerates its destructive project [in the region]. With each new round of
negotiations, the situation deteriorates more and more until it appears as if
there is no solution."
Former Jordanian minister of culture Saleh Al-Kallab, also warned against Iran's
dangerous ambitions in Arab countries:
"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has come to consider himself the president of
Lebanon, Syria and other Arab countries, and this is because he relies on 90,000
[members of] forces affiliated with Tehran...
"Unfortunately, Iran has actually achieved some of its colonial aspirations,
especially in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Iran has also tried to create
unrest in other Arab counties. It has become a very dangerous occupation state.
It has become more dangerous to the Arabs than the 'Zionist enemy.' When Iran's
Supreme Leader is described as the 'Hitler of the Middle East,' this is not a
departure from the truth. Iran is no longer a neighboring and brotherly border
state as some believed. It has become an authoritarian and tyrannical state in
this region. The problem is that Iran has infiltrated some Arab countries in the
political, security and military fields."
Sawsan Al-Sha'er, a prominent journalist and author from Bahrain, warned that
any attempt to deal with the Iranian regime on a rational basis is doomed to
failure. "They [the Iranians] are exporting assassination squads, weapons and
drugs to any part of the world," Al-Sha'er wrote.
Yemeni politician Mujib Al-Maqtari said that designating the Houthis as a
terrorist organization will isolate the militia and stifle its foreign funds and
Iranian support. He pointed out that the crimes committed by the Houthis since
2014 amount to crimes of international terrorism, including the recruitment of
children and targeting civilian facilities with ballistic missiles.
"Categorizing the Houthi militia as a terrorist group will paralyze its
movements, and freeze internal support or local financiers," Al-Maqtari said.
"It will place all groups and individuals who support them under sanctions by
freezing their assets and property."
These voices from the Arab world articulate a profound concern on the part of
Arabs about the Biden administration's attitude towards Iran and the Houthi
terrorist militia. For these Arabs, the Biden administration cares little for
the security and stability of its friends and allies in the Arab world. If and
when the Biden administration signs a new deal with Iran, the sense of betrayal
in the Arab world is extremely likely to broaden. The US may then find out that
it is the Americans who have been delisted as untrustworthy friends and allies
by the people of the Middle East.
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
The lessons for Israel from a new Iran nuclear deal -
analysis
Herb Keinon/Jerusalem Post/February 23/2022
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is lobbying US administration against de-classifying
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
On what appears to be the eve of Washington entering into a new nuclear deal
with Iran, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid urged organizational leaders of the
American Jewish community on Monday to lobby the US administration not against
entering into what according to all reports seems to be a shorter and weaker
deal, but rather against de-classifying Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
as a terrorist organization.
The IRGC is the “roof organization of Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Houthis in
Yemen and a terrorist organization per se. We are talking to them [the US
administration] about this and I think everybody in their right mind should talk
to the administration about them and tell them this is just wrong – don’t do
this,” he told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations meeting in Jerusalem.
In other words, as the Biden administration is about to sign on to something
that Israel believes is a clear and present danger, the Israeli government has
gone from screaming bloody murder against it from every rooftop and platform – à
la former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu – to urging the US not to remove
sanctions from the Iranian organization spreading bedlam throughout the Middle
East.
Lapid brought up the IRGC issue in the context of the dialogue that Israel was
having with the US about Iran, contrasting that with the lack of dialogue – and
even animosity – that existed when Netanyahu was leading the charge against the
Iranian deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2015.
“They [the Obama administration] did the JCPOA, and they ignored the fact that
Israel was so much against it,” Lapid said. “And we almost lost the bipartisan
status of Israel in Washington, which we cannot afford.”
Netanyahu fought the JCPOA tooth and nail, lost the fight, and in the process
badly damaged Israel’s bipartisan support in Washington – at least in Lapid’s
telling.
Fast forward seven years, and there is a new government in Israel whose
representatives maintain that they have learned the lessons of the past: They
will not fight the US in public against an Iranian nuclear deal so as not to
jeopardize critical bipartisan support.
And, indeed, they have not fought the US in public even as the Biden
administration has made it clear it is keen on entering a new deal. Prime
Minister Naftali Bennett and Lapid have made various public comments – here and
there – about the danger of the emerging new deal, but to say they have waged
any kind of public campaign against it would be a gross overstatement. As a
result, according to Lapid, Israel’s bipartisan support on Capitol Hill has been
restored.
The current government, according to its spokesmen, is not working against the
Americans on Iran, as Netanyahu did, but rather with them to impact it.
Except that this does not seem to have worked either, and the deal that appears
to be emerging from Vienna looks like something that will have Iran on an open
track to nuclear capabilities within a few short years.
Netanyahu’s in-your-face opposition did not work in preventing the Americans
from entering a deal – though it surely had something to do with Donald Trump
leaving the deal three years later. And Bennett and Lapid’s
lets-work-quietly-together -behind-closed-doors approach does not seem to have
worked either. So if neither approach works, there are key lessons to be
learned.
The first is rather sobering: What Israel has to say on this issue does not
matter all that much.
Israel and the US, though close friends, are different countries with different
interests. At the end of the day, Washington is going to do what it thinks is in
the best interest of America, even if that may severely complicate matters for
Israel.
And currently, with Ukraine about to explode, with the rivalry with China only
getting more intense, and with the US economy not at its healthiest, Washington
believes its interest is to shove the Iranian issue to the side and concentrate
on other issues – regardless of what Israel says, or – even more importantly –
how it says it.
Israel can express its opposition politely, as the Bennett-Lapid team has done,
or express it rudely, as Netanyahu did, but at the end of the day, it really
does not matter. Israel is a small country a long way away from America and its
ability to impact US policy on matters that the US believes touch on its
national interests is limited.
This is a humbling lesson to be learned from both Jerusalem’s failure to keep
the US from entering the deal in 2015, and its apparent failure to keep the US
from reentering the deal today.
The second lesson is that when push comes to shove, Israel will, as it has in
the past, need to act on its own – no one else is going to do its work for it.
While a nuclear Iran poses a threat to the US, and the world, they do not view
that threat as real or as immediate as Israel – their eagerness in re entering a
badly flawed deal is proof of that.
Both Bennett and Lapid have said over the last three days that Israel reserves
the right to take action, even if a deal is signed. Obviously, taking action
against Iran – overt or covert – will be much more difficult after the US has
reentered a deal.
More difficult, but not impossible if Israel genuinely believes that the deal
paves the path for an Iranian nuclear bomb – something that Jerusalem views as
an existential threat.
Israel has shown in the past that when it feels its back is against the wall,
and it has no other choice, it will act – even against America’s express wishes.
It showed this in 1948, when it declared independence, despite State Department
demands that it not do so.
It showed this in 1963, when it rebuffed John F. Kennedy’s demands that US
inspectors be given access to the nuclear reactor in Dimona.
And it did so again in 1967, when it took preemptive action against the
Egyptians, even though Lyndon Johnson wrote on June 3, 1967, to then-prime
minister Levi Eshkol what he told Israel’s ambassador to Washington Abba Eban
earlier: “I must emphasize the necessity for Israel not to make itself
responsible for the initiation of hostilities. Israel will not be alone unless
it decides to go alone. We cannot imagine that it will make this decision.”
Yet Israel made that decision because it felt it had no other choice.
Whether it takes action against Iran after a deal is signed, and what kind of
action it takes, will be a true indication of how existential a threat it truly
believes an Iran with a path to nuclear capability genuinely is, and whether it
feels that now – as at other critical moments in its past – it really has no
other choice.