English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 26/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ."
 First Letter to the Corinthians 02/11-16: For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are discerned spiritually. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ."

Titels For English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 25-26/2022
Rahi discusses with interlocutors general situation
Int'l Support Group urges Lebanon to 'form a government quickly'
Corona - HEALTH MINISTRY: 836 NEW CORONA CASES, TWO DEATHS
Minister of Public Works: Reconstructing Beirut Port is a decision, not an option
Bassil urges Israel to answer Lebanon, warns over Karish ship
Mawlawi tells security forces to stop LGBTQ gatherings
Boushekian visits Domaine de Saint Gabriel winery
Lebanon's Opposition Rejects to Participate in Mikati's New Cabinet
Mikati urges Lebanese to unite and put country on path to recovery
Shutting down Hariri tribunal a reckless move/Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/June 25/2022
Hezb'allah encourages Lebanese theft of Israeli natural gas/Darlene Casella/American Thinker/June 25/2022
Memoirs of Late Lebanese Prime Minister Saeb Salam (Part 1): I Expressed my Objection to Hafez al-Assad to Syria’s Political, Military Role in Lebanon

Titles For Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 25-26/2022
Norway: 2 Killed in Suspected Terror-linked Shooting by Man of Iranian Origin
Borrell Visits Iran to Bring Nuclear Deal Back to Full Implementation
Warnings Made Against Paralyzing UNRWA
'Massive' bombardment from Belarus of Ukraine border region
Russian Missiles Strike Across Ukraine
Ukraine war: 80% of troops killed or injured in elite military unit, says commander - and its future is unclear
Russia pushes to block second strategic city in eastern Ukraine
Turkey wildfire under control, thousands of acres are scorched
Climate pledges abandoned as Putin sparks global coal crunch
Eyes on ‘full normalisation’ of ties as Qatar emir meets Egypt president

Titles For LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 25-26/2022
Under the Biden Administration's Watch, Iran Sanctions are Violated with Impunity/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/June 25/2022
The Latest Currency War May Just Be a Skirmish/Robert Burgess/Bloomberg/June 25/2022
Putin: From Frank Sinatra to Leonid Brezhnev/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June 25/2022
When the past is plundered, everyone pays the price/Jonathan Gornall/The Arab Weekly/June 25/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 25-26/2022
Rahi discusses with interlocutors general situation
NNA/Saturday, 25 June, 2022 
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, received this morning at the patriarchal edifice in Bkerke, the Higher Judicial Council head Suhail Abboud and Finance Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim. Conferees reportedly discussed number of judicial issues and challenges facing the judiciary, in addition to the general situation on the domestic scene. Then the patriarch received MP Salim Al-Sayegh, who indicated that "what is required today is to achieve the desired change. The Patriarch is keen to complete the democratic life cycle and the birth of a government that is able to follow the national recovery plan."

Int'l Support Group urges Lebanon to 'form a government quickly'
Naharnet/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
The International Support Group for Lebanon (ISG) has called on all political actors in Lebanon to "form a government quickly," after Najib Mikati was named PM-designate. "With the severe economic and social challenges it faces, Lebanon and its citizens cannot afford political deadlocks. The ISG also emphasizes that it is important to adhere to the constitutional calendar in order for the presidential election to take place on time," it said in a statement. Accordingly, the ISG urged Lebanese stakeholders, including executive and legislative authorities, to "work quickly on the swift formation of a government that can implement important outstanding reforms in order to relieve the suffering of the Lebanese people." "In particular, the authorities must deliver on commitments made in the 7 April staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including budget laws, capital control, banking secrecy, banking resolution, government and central bank decisions on banking resolution and exchange rate unification, to lay a solid basis for socio-economic relief and a sustainable recovery of Lebanon," the ISG added. "This is best achieved through an agreement with the IMF, supported by the international donors’ community," it went on to say, while stressing that it "continues to stand by Lebanon and its people."The International Support Group has brought together the U.N. and the governments of China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the UK and the U.S., together with the EU and the Arab League. It was launched in September 2013 by the U.N. Secretary-General with former President Michel Suleiman to help mobilize support and assistance for Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty and state institutions.

Corona - HEALTH MINISTRY: 836 NEW CORONA CASES, TWO DEATHS
NNA/Saturday, 25 June, 2022 
In its daily report on the COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health announced on Saturday the registration of 836 new Coronavirus infections, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 1,107,602. The report added that two deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.

Minister of Public Works: Reconstructing Beirut Port is a decision, not an option
NNA/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Ali Hamiyeh, confirmed, in a tweet this evening, that "activating and rebuilding Beirut Port is a decision, not an option.""The port of Beirut, which brings together all the Lebanese, is also - and based on its new master plan - it will be an incubator for all the buildings of the ministries and concerned companies, especially in the fields of import and export, within a reform vision that works to increase revenues and fortify Lebanon's sovereign decision," he indicated.

Bassil urges Israel to answer Lebanon, warns over Karish ship
Naharnet/Saturday, 25 June, 2022 
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has called on Israel to "answer" Lebanon regarding its sea border demarcation proposal or risk facing "dangerous escalation.""The dissolution of the parliament in Israel does not justify for it not to answer regarding the possible solution for sea lines and fields," Bassil tweeted. "The Israeli government can achieve the solution if it wants, or else it has to withdraw the (Greek) ship away from the Karish field, seeing as it is not enough for it to be present south of Line 29," Bassil added. Israel should do this "if it wants to avoid a dangerous escalation," the FPM chief warned.

Mawlawi tells security forces to stop LGBTQ gatherings
Agence France Presse/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
Lebanon's caretaker interior minister has given instructions to security forces to stop gatherings of the LGBTQ community, following pressure from religious institutions. Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi instructed Lebanon's Internal Security Forces and the General Security agency to "immediately take the necessary measures to prevent any type of celebration, meeting or gathering" by the LGBTQ community. The orders followed "calls on social media to organize parties and events promoting homosexuality in Lebanon, and following communication from religious figures rejecting the spread of this phenomenon," he said. Members of the LGBTQ community enjoy more freedom in Lebanon than in most other Middle East countries but still lack rights and face constant harassment. "This phenomenon is contrary to the habits and customs of our society" and religious principles, Mawlawi said, adding that "personal freedoms cannot be invoked." The move sparked anger and sarcasm on social media. "What he (the minister) calls traditions and religious principles are inherited prejudices that repress the rights of thousands of citizens," lawyer Nizar Saghieh said. LGBTQ events in Lebanon are often canceled, usually following pressure from religious authorities, and security forces are known to raid nightclubs and other locations frequented by members of the community. Lebanon's top Sunni Muslim mufti, Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, has said that Dar al-Fatwa, the country's top Sunni religious authority, "would not allow the legalisation of homosexuality."In 2019, a top Lebanese music festival canceled a concert by Mashrou' Leila, arguably the country's best-known band, whose lead singer is openly gay. Clerics had called for the cancellation of the concert in Byblos because some of the group's songs were deemed offensive to Christians.

Boushekian visits Domaine de Saint Gabriel winery
NNA/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
Caretaker Minister of Industry, MP George Boushekian, expressed his pride in "the Lebanese people’s attachment to their land, and his admiration for the individual initiative, the spirit of action and investment in integrated industrial - agricultural - tourism and environmental projects that promote development in the regions and provide job opportunities for their children, open horizons, and encourage expatriates to visit their towns periodically." Bouchkian's position was announced in the town of Ghalboun, which accepted the invitation of its mayor, engineer Elie Gabriel, to visit the Domaine de Saint Gabriel winery, which produces fifty thousand bottles of red, white and rosé wine.

Lebanon's Opposition Rejects to Participate in Mikati's New Cabinet
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati's optimism about the possibility of swiftly forming a new cabinet at the end of next week does not mean that his task will be easy. The distribution of votes in the parliamentary consultations and the positions of the political parties suggest that the government will include parties of the same affiliations. The government could be similar to the current caretaker government headed by Mikati after the opposition blocs announced they wouldn't participate in the new cabinet. Hours after his assignment, Mikati said it would be difficult "to form a government of just one color," asserting: "I do not accept it."He indicated that he would present the new government formation to President Michel Aoun late next week. There’s a general conviction that Mikati will not be able to form a government and will remain the designated prime minister and the head of the caretaker government.
The Lebanese Forces (LF) and the Progressive Socialist Party have rejected to join the government. The Change's MPs and the Kataeb Party also rejected Mikati and nominated the former ambassador, Nawaf Salam, as prime minister. However, it does not appear that the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), which previously preferred not naming any figure, will distance itself from the formation based on what it considers "the president's share." MP Simon Abi Ramia called for the formation of a cabinet of politicians, adding in a televised interview that the FPM supports such a government because the country is in a political crisis. Abi Ramia explained that the current stage doesn't require specialists, stressing that there must be consensus to save the country and ensure political stability. The Secretary of the Democratic Gathering, MP Hadi Abou El-Hassan, had previously announced that the bloc would not participate in the government directly but that the Druze community would be represented. LF sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that they would not participate in any government for the remainder of the president's term. The sources confirm that this stage requires managing the transitional phase with the least possible contradictions in preparation for the presidential elections and then a smooth transition of power. Meanwhile, the Shiite duo represented by Hezbollah and the Amal movement will be a crucial partner in the government. Their sources confirmed to the newspaper that the government would be formed if there is an "honest intention," regardless of the remaining term before the presidential elections. The sources assert that obstructing the formation is not in anyone's interest. They reiterated that Hezbollah and Amal would participate in the government, regardless of its name and form, to help alleviate the people's suffering. The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, said: "Lebanon needs a government that can manage its affairs and interests.” “Crises require pragmatism, providing all opportunities and removing obstacles to form a cabinet to deal with deadlines and developments," he added.

Mikati urges Lebanese to unite and put country on path to recovery
Najia Houssari/Arab News/June 25/2022
PM-designate to meet MPs as first step towards forming new govt
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s newly reappointed prime minister-designate Najib Mikati has called on the Lebanese to leave their differences aside and put the country on the path to recovery. Mikati, currently serving as caretaker PM, was named prime minister-designate by President Michel Aoun on Thursday after binding parliamentary consultations. The billionaire, who has already served in the role three times, received the support of 54 of 128 MPs. However, if he fails to form a new government in the four months before President Michel Aoun’s term ends on Oct. 31, no executive decisions will be able to be taken during that time. Meanwhile, 25 MPs designated Nawaf Salam, a former Lebanese ambassador to the UN and now a judge at the International Court of Justice, while one MP, Jihad Al-Samad, designated former premier Saad Hariri, arguing that “Hariri is the top representative of the Sunni community in Lebanon.”
Forty-six MPs, including Christian MPs affiliated with the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement, in addition to some reformist MPs, refrained from designating anyone. Mikati is expected to hold non-binding parliamentary consultations by Monday or Tuesday to elicit MPs’ opinions, and to see whether the new government will be a government of national unity. Following the binding parliamentary consultations, many MPs stressed the importance of forming a government. MP Sami Gemayel, head of the Lebanese Kataeb Party, said: “I wish MPs would stop saying that there will be no government before the presidential elections. The country cannot wait, and the people cannot wait, nor can the economy or the national currency. Lebanon cannot withstand four more months like this.”Calling on the forces of change to unite to form an opposition force, opposition MP Michel Moawad said: “The dispersal of the opposition is a major obstacle to our ability to achieve change.
“We have a collective responsibility in the opposition to agree on the crucial milestones; otherwise we will bear the responsibility for what is happening in the country.”Hezbollah did not announce its position on participating in the government, but did designate Mikati to form it.
MP Bilal Abdallah, from the Democratic Gathering bloc, told Arab News: “When it comes to forming a government, the current stage is different from the previous ones. Last time, we designated Mikati and participated in his government, but we have a different approach today. We have called on unifying the political position of the opposition, but no one answered our call. The majority remains divided.”
Abdallah said that the FPM did not designate Mikati the last time, but insisted on selecting all the Christian ministers in his government. “Will this happen again this time? That political team’s demands will be even more impossible to meet if it wishes to disrupt the presidential elections. We got so used to seeing this team disrupting political life; how can we trust that it wants to hold presidential elections on time? They have always disrupted government just to have their way. Disruption is their middle name.”Meanwhile, the FPM is continuing its campaign against Riad Salameh, seeking to have the central bank governor replaced before the end of Aoun’s term. Controversial Lebanese judge and Mount Lebanon state prosecutor Ghada Aoun filed another lawsuit against Salameh, his four former deputies, former director-general of the Ministry of Finance Alain Biffany, and several central bank employees in light of a complaint submitted by the People Want Reform group against Salameh and anyone whom the investigations show to be involved in illicit enrichment, money laundering, forgery, counterfeiting and fraud. Aoun, who is affiliated with the FPM, referred the case to the first investigative judge in Mount Lebanon, requesting the arrest of Salameh and the others, and referring them to the Mount Lebanon Criminal Court, while maintaining the travel ban issued against Salameh. Earlier, Aoun personally supervised a raid on Salameh’s home in the Rabieh area. State security officers searched the house and opened safes, only to find that the property had been abandoned and the safes contained only some papers, which were confiscated.

نديم شحادة/ قرار اغلاق المحكمة الخاصة بلبنان، المكلفة محاكمة قتلة رفيق الحريري ، هو قرار طائش
Shutting down Hariri tribunal a reckless move
Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/June 25/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/109607/nadim-shehadi-shutting-down-hariri-tribunal-a-reckless-move-%d9%86%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%85-%d8%b4%d8%ad%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a9-%d9%82%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d8%ba%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%ad/
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon may have performed its final act. Unless an intensive campaign is launched to reactivate it, on July 1 it will move to what is called a “residual phase,” leading to its eventual shutdown. The impact of its closure will go far beyond the tribunal and even Lebanon — it will be felt throughout the region. It is also a blow to the overall effort to establish an international criminal justice system, which is a field that is still in its infancy.
Here is an update for understanding where we are, what the residual phase means and where we can go from here.
On June 16, the tribunal’s court of appeal issued its final sentencing in the Hariri case. The court had reversed a judgment from August 2020 that found one of the defendants in the case guilty and acquitted the other two due to insufficient evidence. These two were found guilty on appeal, with the judgment issued on March 10.
The Appeals Chamber concluded that a network of phones, labeled by the prosecution as belonging to the “Green Network,” was used to coordinate the attack on Hariri. Two of those convicted were members of the network. It also concluded that this network was coordinated by Mustafa Amine Badreddine, who was found to be a Hezbollah military commander during 2004 and 2005 and who was reportedly killed in Syria in 2016.
This concluded the work of the tribunal in the Hariri case itself, but not its mandate. There is another connected case in which the tribunal has issued an indictment and engaged in the pre-trial process, only for it to be suspended last June barely two weeks before the start of the trial. The case involves Salim Ayyash, who has already been found guilty and sentenced in the Hariri case. If Ayyash is involved in both cases, this further strengthens the assumption of a Hezbollah hit squad operating in Lebanon.
The suspension of this case does not make economic sense, as the bulk of the costs have already been met and the incremental costs of the trial itself are justified and minimal in comparison. But given the suspension of the case, the work of the tribunal is considered done and the residual phase will begin as scheduled. The decision to shut down the tribunal is still reversible but, once it happens, the creation of any similar process in the future will be close to impossible.
It is not yet clear what the residual phase will lead to. Technically, the original mandate of the tribunal, which was given by the UN Security Council, is still in effect. Practically, however, it has been in shut-down mode since June last year due to a lack of funds. The most important part of the residual phase will be to make sure the archives are deposited in a safe place and made available to the public. There is also the need for a thorough evaluation of the work of the tribunal and its contribution to the field of international criminal justice. The lessons learned will be valuable for any future endeavor in that field.
If the Special Tribunal for Lebanon cannot be rescued, then its mandate of accountability should be maintained by other means.
There are implications for the region. One of the principal contributions of the tribunal was its definition of the Hariri assassination as an act of terrorism and describing it as a threat to international peace and security. Developments have shown that such political assassinations, which mainly target the critics of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its militias, have spread in the region and are a threat to security. In Iraq alone, there have been more than 36 such assassinations and there is a revolt against them.
The summary of the judgement by the tribunal after this month’s sentencing includes a wording on terrorism with significance beyond Lebanon. It deserves to be quoted in full: The judges found that “terrorism is a particularly heinous crime, an intolerable threat to the peace, safety and harmony of the community. It destabilizes a country and its social and governmental institutions. Terrorism is employed to spread fear or to coerce governmental authorities to do or to refrain from doing that which its perpetrators wish. Terrorism has the potential to disturb international peace and security.”
The most controversial aspect of the tribunal is that it accepted the principle of trials in absentia, which means the possibility of sentencing without actual arrests. But there is another debate that argues that the truth is far more important than the conviction of a bunch of individuals. Indeed, even after the Nazi trials in Nuremberg, the punishment of a few people was not deemed to be sufficient to deliver justice, given the immensity of the crime. The truth itself, established through the rigorous work of such a tribunal, becomes undeniable and an important component of any political process to follow. It can replace or encourage the acknowledgment of the crime, which is important in any political resolution.
The archives of the tribunal, including the case files from its predecessor organization, the UN Independent International Investigation Commission, form an important body of data. The tribunal’s reports and proceedings contain important details that go beyond the case itself. Those included in the judgment of August 2020 are extremely valuable and include a narrative of developments in great detail. Such archives should be made available to researchers just like the Caesar files on Syria or documentation about atrocities and international crimes committed by other non-state actors like Daesh or the IRGC.
Badreddine, who was part of the original indictment in the Hariri case but was taken off after he was killed in Syria, was reportedly a senior member of Hezbollah, which is an organization affiliated with the IRGC. There were crimes committed by IRGC affiliates in Syria, Iraq and Yemen that are also documented and could serve in building cases. There are many Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Germany and other European countries who were witnesses to such crimes. In Syria, the massacres in Baba Amr in Homs and in the Qalamoun region were perpetrated by many of these militias.
There are nongovernmental organizations and UN bodies mandated to investigate war crimes in Syria and these are active in processing archives. They mainly concentrate on crimes by the regime and by Daesh, but they also have the capacity to expand their scope to include other non-state actors. The recent trials of former Assad regime officials in Germany are a case in point, with indictments made under universal jurisdiction for international crimes, and these cases were built on such archives.
Reactivation of the tribunal will require a colossal effort and massive political will on behalf of the international community to push for enough funding to continue with the mission. There is a role that Lebanese civil society can play to raise awareness and put pressure on the Lebanese government, the UN and the sponsors of the tribunal. There can also be cooperation with other regional movements, such as those in Iraq and Syria, to assert the need for accountability and protection from such crimes.
There is a whole minefield of issues embedded in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s project, including the definition of terrorism as an international crime and the possibility of trials in absentia. These will remain controversial among different schools of law, with endless arguments and no agreements reached. But such debates are precisely how a field grows stronger and should not be a reason to shut it down.
Judge Antonio Cassese, the first president of the tribunal, was a pioneer and a giant in that field. He was also the first president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He was generous with his time when I visited him at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in November 2010 and was patient in explaining the complex issues that were at stake. I felt like a student in the presence of a great educator. He accompanied me personally to introduce me to other members of his team.
One of Cassese’s contributions has been in expanding the definition of “culpable negligence” to make it closer to “recklessness” (there are complex and endless debates about these terms among lawyers). But recklessness is such a good word to describe the negligence that can lead to the closure of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. If it cannot be rescued, then its mandate of accountability should be maintained by other means.
• Nadim Shehadi is a Lebanese economist.

Hezb'allah encourages Lebanese theft of Israeli natural gas
Darlene Casella/American Thinker/June 25/2022
The Mediterranean Levant Basin is offshore to Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Cyprus. It could hold 120 trillion cubic feet of gas. This is enough to supply energy for the region and Europe. Israel has two huge gas fields, Leviathan and Tamar, as well as other smaller gas fields, which are part of Israel’s Exclusive
The Karish natural field is one of these. Gas was discovered there in 2016, Karish is owned by Energean Israel. In 2017 the Israeli Minister of Energy approved development.
United Nations international maritime maps, including maps submitted by Lebanon in 2011, show Karish in Israeli territorial waters. In 2019 it was revealed that Karish has recoverable natural gas resources significantly larger than originally expected.
Under pressure from Hezb’allah, Lebanon claims Karish ownership and asserts the maps are wrong. Lebanon demands that drilling be halted until the dispute regarding maritime borders is settled.
Energean installed an exploration platform in the Kadish Field, and announced they would begin extracting gas within three months.
Hezb’allah was founded in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Lebanese voters have given Hezb’allah powerful influence and seats in Lebanon’s Parliament.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezb’allah, gave a televised speech on June 9 about “Israeli provocations” in the maritime area. He threatens to strike the gas rig that Israel is setting up at Karish. Nasrallah thundered that Lebanon has the right to fight militarily to prevent Israel from extracting oil and gas from the Karish area.
Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati invited Biden’s State Department energy envoy Amos Hochstein to mediate "…negotiations to demarcate the southern maritime border and to work on concluding the issue as fast as possible to prevent any escalation that would not serve the state of stability in the region." Is that a threat from the prime minister?
Amos Hochstein served under Obama Administration Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. Neither of these secretaries were known as pro-Israel. In Beirut on June 14, Amos met with Lebanese president Michel Aoun at the Baabda Presidential Palace. It is reported that Hochstein proposed a gas field swap, but Lebanon did not officially agree.
No date is set for Hochstein’s visit to Israel. Diplomacy proceeds tentatively.
Leader of the terrorist Hamas organization, Ismail Haniyeh, went to Lebanon June 23rd for a meeting with Nasrallah. We speculate on what these terrorist haters of Israel might have discussed.
Lebanon and Egypt are expected to sign an agreement for gas supply through a pipeline which will pass from Egypt through Jordon and Syria. Lebanon has a severe energy shortage and many parts of the country have electricity only two hours a day. A Catch-22 is that Egypt gets much of its gas from Israel.
Israel, Egypt, and the European Union (EU) signed a milestone ‘memorandum of understanding’ in mid-June that Israel will export its natural gas to the EU. The goal is to reduce dependence on Russian gas. Gas will flow from Israel to Egypt through a pipeline and then be transported on tankers to Europe. It is anticipated that this will bring $1 billion shekels to Israel.
The importance of gas development to Israel was not always self-evident. Over a decade ago, Israeli cooperative gas development was blocked by Anti-Trust Commissioner David Gilo. Prime Minister Netanyahu declared gas development to be a national security priority and Commissioner Gilo resigned. Houston-based Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek Group became consortium partners.
Leftist member of the Knesset Zehava Galon launched an attack suggesting that American philanthropist Sheldon Adelson had contacted Netanyahu to influence the natural gas issue. Zehava wanted Netanyahu out of gas negotiations. Adelson responded “I never had any discussions, in writing, in person, or by telephone with the Prime Minister regarding any gas company. I hope that Israel becomes energy independent and an energy exporter, but so does every Israeli and every Jew around the world. I don’t even know Noble Energy. This is all a complete fabrication and 100% false.” It was determined that the accusations were completely without merit.
Adelson died in 2021, but he must be elated because his hope for Israel’s energy has come true.
*Darlene Casella is an internationally published writer, a former English teacher, stockbroker, and owner/president of a small corporation. She is active with Republican Women Federated, the Coachella Valley Lincoln Club, the California Republican Party, PEO, Armed Services YMCA-29 Palms Marine Base. She can be reached at darlenecasella@msn.com
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/06/hezballah_encourages_lebanese_theft_of_israeli_natural_gas.html

Memoirs of Late Lebanese Prime Minister Saeb Salam (Part 1): I Expressed my Objection to Hafez al-Assad to Syria’s Political, Military Role in Lebanon
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/109594/%d8%b2%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b0%d9%83%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%b1%d8%a6%d9%8a%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%88%d8%b2%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a7/
Asharq Al-Awsat publishes three episodes of the memoirs of late Lebanese Prime Minister Saeb Salam, covering important stages of the Lebanese crisis, from the entry of Syrian forces into Lebanon in 1976 to the Israeli invasion of the South in 1982.
The memoirs reflect the late premier’s frankness in evaluating the role of Arab and Lebanese leaders and his attempts to bring the views closer, to ensure Islamic-Christian consensus, and to preserve Lebanon’s position as an independent country away from conflicts.
The memoirs are issued in three parts by Hachette Antoine publishing house, and will be available in Lebanon starting June 28 and on the Antoine Online website.
In this episode, Salam presents the circumstances of the election of President Elias Sarkis and the entry of the Syrian forces. He recounts his communication during that period with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and with Lebanese and Palestinian officials.
He recounted that on May 10, 1976, immediately after the election of Elias Sarkis, a meeting was held at his office, in the presence of MPs Raymond Edde, Emile Rouhana Saqr, Jamil Kebbi, Mohammad Youssef Beydoun, Mikhail Al-Daher, Hussein Al-Husseini, Hassan Al-Rifai and Albert Mansour, who had all boycotted the elections.
“After deliberation, we issued a very calm and brief statement calling for patience; it was noticed that Raymond Edde took the loss in a very good spirit, and seemed less affected than others by what happened,” he said, as translated from the official Arabic version.
Salam continued: “But on the following Monday, we decided to step up a bit, so we gathered and issued a statement warning against the continuation of the conspiracy… This is because people have begun to get fed up with the lack of progress since Sarkis was elected, knowing that the general feeling that prevailed after his election - despite the bitterness and oppression - was hope for a breakthrough.”
He said that at that time, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (Abu Ammar) and his comrades in the resistance felt very upset, so they asked for a summit in Aramoun.
“It was decided to send Mr. Musa al-Sadr to Damascus in an attempt to convey to the Syrians our feelings of concern as a result of their military intervention, especially because of what happened in Tripoli,” he stated.
“At the end of the summit meeting, an argument erupted between me and Mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled… I was very harsh on him, especially since I was in pain at his (and Karami’s) flattering stance towards Syria, and at the time of the argument I withdrew from the meeting. This caused an uproar in the newspapers and in public opinion,” Salam recounted.
The Syrian Army in Lebanon
In his memoirs Salam described the entry of the Syrian forces to Lebanon on the first of June 1976, from the north and the east of the country, under the pretext of protecting the Christians.
“Whatever the case, despite the fact that many Islamic and Palestinian parties were looking at the increasing Syrian intervention in recent months with apprehension, considering it a prelude to a massive military presence, the desperate situation led people to wish that any armies would come to stop the mass massacre and achieve salvation. The question today, after what happened, is whether salvation will be at the hands of the Syrian army, or will things escalate in Lebanon, and then in Syria, as some talk about the existence of an American-international conspiracy that aims to tear Lebanon apart, and then implicate the Syrians to tear Syria apart as well?”
Salam noted that when the entry of the Syrian army became a reality, Kamal Jumblatt and the resistance held many meetings, and issued many violent and escalatory statements with threats of confrontation.
“The difficult days were those that followed the entry of the Syrian forces, as the military and political events succeeded… and the ‘Palestinian resistance’ seemed forced to fight many battles, whether on the front with the Syrians, or with the Phalanges and their allies,” he said.
The assassination of Kamal Jumblatt and its repercussions
Salam recounted that on March 16, 1977, Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated on Mukhtara Road in the Chouf region. He said that the event constituted a great shock throughout the country.
“An immediate angry reaction from the Chouf Druze people claimed the lives of more than one hundred Christians, especially in the village of Mazraat al-Chouf, near Mukhtara,” he said.
He added: “It was clear that the country was on the verge of a great strife, perhaps greater than any other strife it knew, due to Jumblatt’s position in Lebanon, and because of the complexity of Lebanese circumstances…”
The late premier said that in view of the escalating tension, he rushed to cooperate with the Phalange Party (Kataeb), in an attempt to quell the fire of sedition.
“We have succeeded in that to the greatest extent. Especially since Walid Jumblatt, son of the late leader, immediately appeared sane and wise, and decided to bury his father the next day, after the National Movement parties had decided to postpone the burial until Sunday, inflaming the reactions,” he remarked.
The visit of Assad and Sadat
Salam recounted details of his meetings with Assad in 1977: “Before the assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, I was determined to go to Egypt to meet President Anwar Sadat, after the delayed response I was waiting for from Syria regarding a meeting I requested with President Hafez al-Assad… Suddenly, as I was preparing to travel to Egypt, I received a telegram from Mr. Abdel Halim Khaddam stating that President Assad will receive us in the Syrian capital on Saturday, March 19.
“As usual, I was frank with President al-Assad, so I explained to him all my complaints about their actions in Lebanon, militarily and politically. He did not hesitate to tell me that he takes this into consideration... However, I had the feeling that he is now acting on the basis of the new reality, that is, his feeling that he has drowned the Syrian army is in the Lebanese swamp, and that this makes him anxious, and thus hardens his stance further.”
As for his meeting with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Salam recounted:
“During the meeting, I felt that Sadat was very optimistic about his upcoming encounter with US President Jimmy Carter. I told him that I, in turn, was optimistic…
Salam said that Sadat told him that they were about to clash militarily with Israel because of its aggression in the Gulf of Suez, and that the battleships and planes were about to collide, but Carter intervened, confirming that the area was and will remain Egyptian.
“Sadat said that he insisted on playing all his cards with the Americans; because he believes that the key to resolving the conflict with Israel is entirely in the hands of America. As for the Soviets, they are only obliged to go along with Washington,” he noted in his memoirs.
“With regard to Lebanon, Anwar Sadat told me, as Lebanese President Elias Sarkis had previously confirmed during my meeting with him a few days ago, that it was the Syrians who assassinated Kamal Jumblatt,” Salam revealed.
He added: “When the meeting ended, and while President Sadat was bidding farewell to me, he warned me again that I might be assassinated, and told me that I should be aware of the Syrians.”
Salam said that the following weeks continued with political maneuvers and instability in the Islamic ranks.
“The ‘Palestinian resistance’ continued to sink into the swamp of the Lebanese situation, in parallel with growing resentment of the citizens... Meanwhile, the Syrian army was strengthening its presence in Lebanon. It was clear that Syria had become the center of gravity in the Lebanese reality. As for Israel, it was interfering from time to time.
“On the Arab level, the situation went in ups and downs... I was getting stricter towards “Abu Ammar” and his group, because I was keen on them as much as I was keen on and Lebanon as a whole, but they did not want to heed my advice.”
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3723531/memoirs-late-lebanese-prime-minister-saeb-salam-part-1-i-expressed-my-objection

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 25-26/2022
Norway: 2 Killed in Suspected Terror-linked Shooting by Man of Iranian Origin
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
An overnight shooting in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, that killed two people and wounded more than a dozen is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, Norwegian police said Saturday, adding that the man was of Iranian origin. In a news conference, police officials said the man arrested after the shooting was a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin who was previously known to police but not for major crimes. They said they had seized two firearms in connection with the attack: a handgun and an automatic weapon. The events occurred outside the London Pub. Police spokesman Tore Barstad said 14 people were receiving medical treatment, eight of whom have been hospitalized. Olav Roenneberg, a journalist from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, said he witnessed the shooting. “I saw a man arrive at the site with a bag. He picked up a weapon and started shooting,” Roenneberg told NRK. “First I thought it was an air gun. Then the glass of the bar next door was shattered and I understood I had to run for cover.” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a Facebook post that “the shooting outside London Pub in Oslo tonight was a cruel and deeply shocking attack on innocent people.""We don't know yet know what is behind this terrible act, but to the queer people who are afraid and in mourning, I want to say that we stand together with you."

Borrell Visits Iran to Bring Nuclear Deal Back to Full Implementation
Berlin - London - Tehran - Raghida Bahnam and Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
EU High Representative Josep Borrell visited Iran as part of the ongoing efforts to bring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) back to full implementation. Borrell arrived in Tehran Friday, accompanied by his deputy Enrique Mora, where he will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials. Senior diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Borrell would not offer any "new initiatives" to Tehran and that the visit aimed to "re-launch negotiations" on the nuclear talks. "Diplomacy is the only way to go back to full implementation of the deal and reverse current tensions," Borrell tweeted ahead of his visit. Borrell met the US envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, Thursday evening in Brussels, accompanied by Mora. After the meeting, Mora tweeted: "In-depth conversation about JCPOA and regional perspectives in the wider Middle East. Malley reiterated firm US commitment to come back to the deal." Mora toured several Gulf and Arab countries in the past few days, during which he discussed Iran, its interference in the region, its nuclear program, and regional developments. Two weeks ago, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna passed a Western resolution condemning Iran's lack of compliance in investigating undisclosed sites. The resolution calls for immediate cooperation after the United States and the three European countries, France, Britain, and Germany, submitted the draft resolution. Iran responded by reducing its cooperation with the IAEA within the Safeguards Agreement and shutting down nearly 20 surveillance cameras that the Agency had installed in nuclear and other facilities. IAEA Director Rafael Grossi warned there is a window of opportunity of three to four weeks to restore at least some of the monitoring that is being scrapped, or the Agency will lose the ability to piece together Iran's most critical nuclear activities. "I think this would be a fatal blow (to reviving the deal)," Grossi said of what would happen if that window went unused. Western diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the European countries and the US "expected" a strong response from Iran and that they will focus on efforts to revive the nuclear agreement, despite knowing that the matter has become more challenging than ever. The past few days witnessed active diplomatic visits, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's trip to Iran.
The Iranian Foreign Minister held telephone consultations on the nuclear agreement with the foreign minister of China, Wang Yi, and his Omani counterpart, Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi. A statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Amir-Abdollahian briefed Wang on the latest progress in the negotiations on resuming the nuclear deal's implementation, saying that Washington's “bullying” actions are the major obstacle to current talks. He added that Tehran will unswervingly safeguard its national interests and is firmly committed to resolving differences through negotiations to achieve an agreement at an early date. Amir-Abdollahian also expressed gratitude to China for its constructive role on the Iranian nuclear issue. At a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is ready to resume the Vienna negotiations soon. He urged the US to be "realistic" in reaching an agreement on reviving the deal. Washington has reiterated that Tehran must abandon its demands "outside the nuclear agreement," in reference to the request to remove the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the list of terrorist entities. Several reports claimed that Tehran waived its demand, hindering the talks' conclusion. The Iranian government is yet to comment on the matter. It is not yet clear whether the re-launch of the nuclear talks that Borrell seeks to achieve in Tehran means bringing back the parties to the negotiation table in Vienna or addressing the contentious points from a distance.

Warnings Made Against Paralyzing UNRWA
Washington - Ali Barada/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has warned against the “chronic underfunding” that threatens the agency with “paralysis.”He stressed that every year, the Agency is forced to operate with a funding gap of around $100 million. “UNRWA cannot be compared to any other UN humanitarian agency,” he said, pointing out that it relies almost entirely on voluntary contributions, essentially from member states. “Today, we have depleted our financial reserves and reached the limits of cost control and austerity measures. Austerity now affects the quality of the services.”To illustrate austerity, Lazzarini called on participants to think of 50 children in one classroom, double shifts within schools, or a medical visit where a doctor spends less than three minutes with a patient. “Our 28,000 staff, most of whom are Palestine refugee teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, or sanitation laborer, are exhausted as we continue to ask them for the impossible: to do more each year with less means and less staff.”He said that fear of being abandoned by the international community permeates all his conversations with Palestine refugees. “For them, UNRWA remains the last standing pillar of the commitment of the international community to their right to a dignified life and their right to a just and lasting solution,” he stressed. Lazzarini further warned that despair and hopelessness are growing in the refugee camps. Political, economic and security conditions across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are deteriorating as Palestine refugees experience high levels of dispossession, violence and insecurity.
He affirmed that Gaza is still struggling to recover from the impact of last year’s conflict. “Despite our progress in rehabilitating and rebuilding damaged homes, another issue will take much longer to rebuild: the psycho-social well-being of Palestinians in Gaza, particularly children.”A 12-year-old child in an UNRWA school has lived through four armed conflicts and lived all her or his life under an economic and social blockade. At a time of so many global crises, from Ukraine to Afghanistan and to the Horn of Africa, Lazzarini urged that relevant parties work together to avert a new crisis unfolding in a part of the world that has already witnessed enough pain and misery. His remarks were made during the pledging conference the UN General Assembly hosted on UNRWA in New York, seeking $1.6 billion in 2022 to support the agency’s lifesaving work. UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres told the same conference on Thursday that investing in UNRWA is also “investing in stability” for the entire Middle East region. “It means investing in the future through education of children and youth, girls and boys, young women and men.” Guterres called on participants to imagine they are not distinguished representatives of member states in the United Nations and that they are a young man or woman Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon, or in Syria, or in Jordan or in Gaza. “The perspective of a political solution for your country is more far away than ever. There is no peace process taking place. The most relevant global actors, the Middle East Quartet, is not able to meet, not even able to meet at ministerial levels.”
The Middle East Quartet includes the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the UN. He affirmed that several countries, even in the region, seem to accept the status quo, while settlements move on, and evictions take place, with no hope for a political solution. At the same time, he pointed out that with the war in Ukraine, and other important events in the world, the Palestinian cause is far from the headlines of the international media, and far from the center of political debates in international fora. He stressed that this vital Agency suffers from chronic underfunding, noting that in the last 10 years, the needs of Palestine refugees have increased, while funds have stagnated. He addressed donors and asked for their solidarity and support. He appealed to them to make pledges that will bridge the gap between the mandate of UNRWA and the budget needed to ensure vital services to Palestine refugees until the end of this year - to bring UNRWA’s current shortfall down to zero. Guterres further called for putting the Agency on a durable financial footing. “That requires a long-term plan to stabilize the financing of UNRWA and together, reach sufficient, predictable and sustainable funding.”He stressed that millions of Palestine refugees are counting on the UN to relieve their suffering and to help them build a better future. He also reiterated the importance of pursuing peace efforts to realize the vision of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States.

'Massive' bombardment from Belarus of Ukraine border region
Agence France Presse/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
Ukraine's northern border region of Chernigiv came under "massive bombardment" from the territory of Russia's ally Belarus on Saturday, the Ukrainian army said. "Around 5:00 o'clock in the morning (0200 GMT) the Chernigiv region suffered a massive bombardment by missiles," Ukraine's northern military command wrote in a statement on Facebook. "Twenty rockets, fired from the territory of Belarus and from the air, targeted the village of Desna," it said, adding that infrastructure had been hit without any reported casualties. Desna, a small village with a pre-war population of around 7,500 people, lies 70 kilometers (43 miles) to the north of Kyiv and a similar distance to the south of Ukraine's border with Belarus. The strikes come as Russian President Vladimir Putin meets his Belarussian counterpart and close ally Alexander Lukashenko in Saint Petersburg on Saturday. Moscow's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to visit Belarus on Thursday and Friday. Belarus has provided logistical support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, especially in the first weeks of the offensive, although it officially remains a non-belligerent at this stage. The country, led by Lukashenko since 1994, has also been targeted by Western sanctions aimed at Russia over its assault on Ukraine.

Russian Missiles Strike Across Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 June, 2022
Russian missiles rained down across Ukraine on Saturday, hitting military facilities in the west and the north as well as a southern city as the biggest land conflict in Europe since World War Two entered its fifth month. Russian artillery and airstrikes pounded the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in the eastern Luhansk region on Friday, smashing into a chemical plant where hundreds of civilians were trapped, a Ukrainian official said on Saturday. Ukraine said on Friday its troops had been ordered to retreat from Sievierodonetsk as there was very little left to defend after weeks of intense fighting, marking the biggest reversal for Ukraine since losing the port of Mariupol in May. News of the withdrawal came four months to the day since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops over the border, unleashing a conflict that has killed thousands, uprooted millions and disrupted the global economy. "48 cruise missiles. At night. Throughout whole Ukraine," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. "Russia is still trying to intimidate Ukraine, cause panic and make people be afraid."The latest Russian advances appeared to bring Moscow closer to taking full control of Luhansk, one of Putin's objectives, and sets the stage for Lysychansk to become the next main focus, Reuters reported. Vitaly Kiselev, an official in the Interior Ministry of the separatist Luhansk People's Republic - recognized only by Russia - told Russia's TASS news agency that it would take another week and a half to secure full control of Lysychansk. Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said Russian forces attacked Sievierodonetsk's industrial zone and also attempted to enter and blockade Lysychansk on Saturday. "There was an air strike at Lysychansk. Sievierodonetsk was hit by artillery," Gaidai said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk and the villages of Synetsky and Pavlograd and others has been shelled. He made no mention of casualties at the Azot plant and Reuters could not immediately verify the information. Gaidai said 17 people had been evacuated on Friday from Lysychansk by police officers, rescuers and volunteers. Kharatin Starskyi, the press officer of a Ukrainian National Guard brigade, said on television on Saturday that the flow of information about the withdrawal from Sievierodonetsk had been delayed to protect troops on the ground. "During the last (several) days, an operation was conducted to withdraw our troops," Starskyi said. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it called a "special military operation", but abandoned an early advance on the capital Kyiv in the face of fierce resistance by Ukrainian fighters with the help of Western weapons.
Since then Moscow and its proxies have focused on the south and Donbas, an eastern territory made up of Luhansk and its neighbor Donetsk, deploying overwhelming artillery. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday that he feared Ukraine could face pressure to agree a peace deal with Russia. Johnson said the consequences of Putin getting his way in Ukraine would be dangerous to international security and a long-term economic disaster. On Saturday, Russia again fired missiles at military and civilian infrastructure in the north near Ukraine's second-biggest city Kharkiv through to Sievierodonetsk in the east, said the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.Several regional governors reported shelling attacks on towns across Ukraine on Saturday.

Ukraine war: 80% of troops killed or injured in elite military unit, says commander - and its future is unclear
Sky news/June 25/2022
A commander of an elite unit of Ukrainian marines has told Sky News the majority of his best trained troops have been injured or killed. Speaking near the frontline, south of the city of Severodonetsk, company commander Oleksandr said a core of experienced soldiers who had been fighting together since 2018 have been lost. "My unit was 100% made up of professional soldiers who have a lot of experience. Now, 80% are incapacitated from serious injuries or death," he says. In comments which will alarm those backing Ukraine in its four-month long war with Russia, he says he does not know how long his unit can sustain such losses. "I don't even know how to answer this question," Oleksandr says."It's hard. It's hard but we have no choice."Citing the number of people who have lost their lives in the defence of Severodonetsk, the governor of Luhansk, Sergey Haidai, says Ukrainians would begin to withdraw from the devastated city amid continuous Russian air and ground assaults. Commander Oleksandr says the loss of battle-hardened troops has taken an emotional toll on his unit where members viewed each other as "one big family".
He now shoulders the responsibility of readying new recruits for battle.
"It's rare that we just sit here," he says. "As a rule, we are always doing shooting practice, tactical training, medicine, engineering practice. "During active combat we have a lot of wounded and dead so new people replace them and new people are less prepared. "We have to train constantly for my unit to be well prepared." Commander Oleksandr claims Russian combat losses are even higher, taking Sky News to the site of major battle near the town of Avdiivka to make his point. He says his unit repulsed repeated attempts by Russian armoured columns to break through Ukrainian lines, destroying 19 vehicles, and killing dozens of enemy soldiers. Next to the burnt-out carcasses of one armoured personnel carrier, he pointed to the shallow graves of two Russian service personnel.
Russia has 'no interest' in removing corpses
When asked how many bodies were still lying in these fields, the commander says it is difficult to estimate. "I can't say exactly," he says. "In this part, around 40 people, approximately... and on that side, where our artillery was firing, around 150 to 200 people."He says these corpses remain because the Russians show no interest in removing them. "Some of them are buried because their commanders didn't want to take them," he adds. "They didn't want to collect them so we've had to deal with it ourselves." Commander Oleksandr's views on Russian casualties are supported by Western officials who question how long the Russians can continue their offensive amidst high losses and modest battlefield gains. Quoting casualty figures published last week by the Donetsk People's Republic, a self-declared autonomous region in Ukraine backed by Russia, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) estimates that the territory has lost 55% of its total force to death or injury. The number of deaths in the Russian military is a highly sensitive secret, although it admitted to the deaths of 1,351 in March. An analysis by the MoD in April put the Russian death toll at around 15,000. NATO officials estimate that up to 40,000 Russian troops have been killed, injured, captured or gone missing in the first month of the war. Heavy losses have triggered a "virtual mobilisation" in Russia itself as recruitment offices use a wide variety of techniques to find new soldiers. In the war-ravaged farmland south of Severodonetsk, Commander Oleksandr thinks the price paid by Russia in terms of personnel and equipment explains why their generals have changed their tactics and focused their operations.
"They have concentrated all forces only in a small number of places now; Avdiivka, Severodonetsk, Kherson Region," he says.
"In general, we shouldn't give them the opportunity to hold territory in valuable positions. We need to hit them in the places where they don't have so many forces." 'I just feel I need to sleep for a few weeks, sleep watching Netflix'
A volunteer combat medic since 2015, Iryna Tsybuh says she has never been more tired than she is now. Iryna is the leader of the medical crew of Ukraine's 5th Hospitalier Brigade. From their base near the Donbas frontline she prefers to speak out of earshot of the other medics. "I am really exhausted and I just feel I need to sleep for a few weeks, sleep watching Netflix, eating fast food, hug my mum," she says. She and her colleagues collect wounded soldiers from frontline positions and provide lifesaving first aid. It's gruelling work. In the previous few days she said they've rescued 22 men - two had died. Some of her crew are clearly very young. The youngest is just 22 years old. These combat medics treat Ukraine's elite forces, "guys who know how to do this war, how to win". The numbers of dead and injured worry her. Iryna says there are plenty of Ukrainians willing to take their place but they lack the skills.
"They are not professional," she says. "They don't know what to do and they are really very scared."Before the war Iryna worked as a media trainer doing occasional rotations on the frontline. Since February 24, she's dedicated her life to care for wounded soldiers. "I hate war," she says. "I would never be here… Russia started this war, so what do we do, this is part of our country that we have to fight for. I don't see another way."
'It's very hard to lose people because we were one big family'
Standing on the steps of simple wooden farmhouse near the frontline, Commander Oleksandr lists the number of soldiers he has lost over the past couple of months. "Well, 26 dead," he says. "I think 40 have been injured, dozens of them seriously. That's what it is like here."The most difficult period, he says, came in the early Spring. Positioned near the town of Avdiivka, his unit was "badly overstretched" as the Russians repeatedly tried to break through his lines. He says: "At the beginning of this invasion we lost the majority of our people and machinery because our battalion was over-stretched across several villages... the distances were so long it was difficult to hold them." This onslaught would also bring dramatic changes to Oleksandr's own job. A deputy commander at the time, he was thrust into the leadership role but when his superior was blown up by a mine. His men were considered to be members of the elite - highly trained professionals who had been fighting as a unit since 2018. He says: "During the years of serving together we became best friends... it's very hard to lose people because we were one big family." Everything is different now and the realities of this war means that Oleksandr never has time to rest. If they are not fighting on the front, he says he has to train his soldiers as many are new and inexperienced. "We won't just sit on our butts because [the Russians] will increase their offensive."

Russia pushes to block second strategic city in eastern Ukraine
DAVID KEYTON and JOHN LEICESTER/ Los Angeles Times./June 25/2022
Russian forces are trying to cut off the strategic city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, the Luhansk regional governor said Saturday, after the relentless assault on nearby Severodonetsk forced Ukrainian troops to begin withdrawing. Russia also launched missile attacks on areas far from the heart of the eastern battles. Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk province, said on Facebook that Russian and separatist fighters tried to blockade Lysychansk from the south. The city lies next to Severodonetsk, which has endured a relentless assault and house-to-house fighting for weeks.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a spokesman for the separatist forces, Andrei Marochko, as saying Russian troops and separatist fighters had entered Lysychansk and that fighting was taking place in the heart of the city. There was no immediate comment on the claim from the Ukrainian side. Lysychansk and Severodonetsk have been the focal point of a Russian offensive aimed at capturing all of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and destroying the Ukrainian military defending it — the most capable and battle-hardened segment of the country’s armed forces.
The two cities and surrounding areas are the last major pockets of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, 95% of which is under Russian and local separatist control. The Russians and separatists also control about half of Donetsk, the second province in the Donbas.
Russian bombardment has reduced most of Severodonetsk to rubble and cut its population from 100,000 to 10,000. Some Ukrainian troops are holed up in the huge Azot chemical factory on the city’s edge, along with about 500 civilians. A separatist representative, Ivan Filiponenko, said forces evacuated 800 civilians from the plant during the night, Interfax reported.
After Haidai said Friday that Ukrainian forces had begun retreating from Severodonetsk, military analyst Oleg Zhdanov said some of the troops were heading for Lysychansk. But Russian moves to cut off Lysychansk will give those retreating troops little respite. Some 600 miles to the west, four Russian rockets hit a “military object” in Yaroviv, Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytsky said. He did not give further details of the target, but Yaroviv has a sizable military base used for training fighters, including foreigners who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine.
Russian rockets struck the Yaroviv base in March, killing 35 people. The Lviv region, although far from the front lines, has come under fire at various points in the war as Russia's military worked to destroy fuel storage sites.
About 30 Russian rockets also were fired on the Zhytomyr region in central Ukraine on Saturday morning, killing one Ukrainian soldier, regional governor Vitaliy Buchenko said. In the north, about 20 rockets were fired from Belarus into the Chernihiv region, the Ukrainian military said.
Ukraine's air command said Russian long-range Tu-22 bombers were deployed from Belarus for the first time. The neighboring country hosts Russian military units and was used as a staging ground before Russia invaded Ukraine, but its own troops have not crossed the border. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko were to meet Saturday in St. Petersburg.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity, on Friday called the Ukrainians’ move out of Severodonetsk a “tactical retrograde” to consolidate forces into positions where they can better defend themselves. This will add to Ukraine’s effort to keep Russian forces pinned down longer in a small area, the official said. Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in the early stage of the invasion that started Feb. 24, Russian forces have shifted their focus to the Donbas, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014. After repeated Ukrainian requests to its Western allies for heavier weaponry to counter Russia’s edge in firepower, four medium-range American rocket launchers arrived this week, with four more on the way.
The senior U.S. defense official said Friday that more Ukrainian forces are training outside Ukraine to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and are expected back in their country with the weapons by mid-July. The rockets can travel about 45 miles. Also to be sent are 18 U.S. coastal and river patrol boats. The official said there is no evidence Russia has intercepted any of the steady flow of weapons into Ukraine from the U.S. and other nations. Russia has repeatedly threatened to strike, or actually claimed to have hit, such shipments.
*This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Turkey wildfire under control, thousands of acres are scorched
NNA/June 25/2022
A suspected deliberate wildfire is under control after burning 4,500 hectares of forest over three days on Turkey's southwest coast, the government said on Saturday. After inspecting the area near the Aegean coastal resort of Marmaris, Forestry Minister Vahit Kirisci praised firefighters who used aircraft to battle the blaze, which started on Tuesday. Reuters footage showed smoke billowing from hills and police water cannon vehicles helping firefighters as the blaze spread through the woodlands in the sparsely populated area. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Thursday that one suspect had been detained in connection with the blaze, adding the person had admitted to burning down the forest out of frustration due to family issues. President Tayyip Erdogan has hinted that anyone convicted of starting the blaze could face capital punishment, which was removed from the Turkish Constitution in 2004. "It needs to be an intimidating punishment, and if that's a death sentence, it's a death sentence," Erdogan said on Friday. The country's first big blaze of the summer conjured memories of last year's fires which ravaged 140,000 hectares (345,950 acres) of countryside, the worst on record. Local officials had warned in recent days that authorities were unprepared for this summer. But Kirisci told reporters on Saturday that planes and personnel "have all increased beyond anyone's imagination" since last year. He said 88% of forest fires in Turkey were started by humans. --- Reuters

Climate pledges abandoned as Putin sparks global coal crunch
NNA/June 25/2022
It has been a striking reversal of commitments. Just seven months ago world leaders convened in Glasgow and decided to “phase-down” coal, marking a landmark agreement in the push to tackle climate change. Now, officials and power company bosses are grappling with the opposite challenge: where can they get more of it? Countries from the UK to China and the Netherlands are scrambling for supplies of the fossil fuel to help keep the lights on this winter as Russia’s war on Ukraine tightens the squeeze on global energy markets. For the first time, the prospect of Russian gas to Europe being cut off is being taken seriously. Yet after years of being told to shut mines in favour of more environmentally friendly energy sources, coal is in short supply globally. Coal prices in Europe hit an all-time high of $430 (£350) per tonne in May, about four times higher than long term averages. There is little sign of cooling, with Russian imports set to be choked off by sanctions and rival exporters beset by their own challenges. --- The Telegraph

Eyes on ‘full normalisation’ of ties as Qatar emir meets Egypt president
The Arab Weekly/June 25/2022
An Egyptian-Qatari business council will meet with the aim of improving trade and investments between the countries. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held talks Saturday with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who visited Cairo for the first time in years. The talks focused on ties between the two nations and a set of other regional and global topics, according to a brief statement from the Egyptian presidency. It did not provide further details. Al Thani arrived at the Itihadiya presidential palace in Cairo for talks with Sisi. Both leaders inspected an honour guard and bands played the national anthems of Egypt and Qatar, a livestream of the welcoming ceremony posted by the Egyptian presidency showed. Egypt’s state-run al-Ahram daily reported that the talks aim at ensuring the “full normalisation” of ties between the two nations after resuming their relations early in 2021. Citing an unnamed source, the newspaper said the two countries will sign agreements that would include Qatari investments in Egypt’s battered economy. During the visit, an Egyptian-Qatari business council will meet with the aim of improving trade and investments between the countries. Qatar announced in March the investment of $5 billion in Egypt’s economy, which was hit badly by the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Many in Egypt are wondering what support Qatar can provide to the country to be able to compete with a long and constructive alliance that binds Cairo with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. What Qatar has offered so far, in terms of investment pledges and promises of major projects, cannot be compared to what has been offered by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, observers said.
They noted that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had supported Egypt politically and economically at a time when the country was going through a raging national and international crisis. This support, they said, provided Cairo with an opportunity to overcome serious challenges that the country faced after the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood regime, which was supported by Qatar. Al Thani landed in Cairo late Friday and was received by el-Sissi at the airport where they greeted each other with a handshake and cheek kisses on the tarmac. The visit, unthinkable just a few years ago, and the warm welcome showed the rapid improvement of ties between the two nations since the end of a boycott of Doha by four Arab states, including Egypt. It came ahead of President Joe Biden’s anticipated trip to the Middle East next month. Both Sisi and Al Thani will attend a Saudi Arabia-hosted summit with the American president. The summit will include the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iraq and Egypt. Egypt’s ties with Qatar deteriorated in 2013 when Sisi, as defense minister, led the military’s overthrow of the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi after his short-lived divisive rule. Morsi, who hailed from the Muslim Brotherhood, was backed by Qatar. In 2017, Egypt joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in a boycott of Qatar in an effort to force Doha to change its policies. The rift finally ended in 2021, when Qatar signed a declaration with the four to normalise relations. Since then, ties have improved, and top officials have exchanged visits.The Egyptian president has since met twice with the emir of Qatar.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 25-26/2022
د. ماجد رفي زاده/معهد جيتستون: بظل مراقبة إدارة بايدن الضعيفة إيران تنهك العقوبات المفروضة عليها دون عقاب
Under the Biden Administration's Watch, Iran Sanctions are Violated with Impunity
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/June 25/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/109601/109601/
The Biden administration's weak leadership -- to hold accountable those who are violating Iran sanctions -- is likely a critical reason the Iranian regime is flamboyantly ignoring the US and forging ahead -- soon, most likely, to become a nuclear state.
Presumably to take even further advantage of the Biden administration's weak leadership, the Iranian regime is also signing long-term agreements with its oil clients to permanently insulate its economy from the US sanctions.
The ruling mullahs are now producing more oil and selling it at levels close to the pre-sanctions era to countries such as China, which desperately needs more oil, while the Biden administration has cut off US oil exploration.
One of its terms [of the deal recently signed between China and Iran] is that China will invest nearly $400 billion in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemicals industries. In return, China will have priority to bid on any new project in Iran that is linked to these sectors. China will also receive a 12% discount and can delay payments by up to two years. China will also be able to pay in any currency it chooses. It is also estimated that, in total, China will receive discounts of nearly 32%.
The Biden administration must impose drastic economic sanctions on Iran's energy and financial sectors: that would threaten the ruling clerics' hold on power, forcing the leadership to recalculate its priorities. The US must hold those who violate the sanctions strictly accountable, and make clear to the ruling mullahs that if they continue advancing their nuclear program, military options are on the table.
Presumably to take even further advantage of the Biden administration's weak leadership, the Iranian regime is also signing long-term agreements with its oil clients to permanently insulate its economy from the US sanctions. Pictured: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and Iran's then Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the signing of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic 25-year partnership agreement on economic and security cooperation, in Tehran, Iran on March 27, 2021.
With total disregard to the Biden administration and the European powers, the ruling mullahs of Iran are defiantly and rapidly advancing their nuclear program to a point where they are now reportedly only few weeks away from manufacturing nuclear weapons according to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the White House.
The Biden administration's weak leadership -- to hold accountable those who are violating Iran sanctions -- is likely a critical reason the Iranian regime is flamboyantly ignoring the US and forging ahead -- soon, most likely, to become a nuclear state.
The US sanctions are not hurting Iran's economy anymore or cutting off the flow of funds to Tehran. The ruling mullahs are now producing more oil and selling it at levels close to the pre-sanctions era to countries such as China, which desperately needs more oil, while the Biden administration has cut off US oil exploration.
Ever since the Biden administration assumed office, Iran's oil exports have been on the rise. During the Trump administration, Iran's oil exports were significantly reduced to 100,000 to 200,000 barrels a day. Iran is currently exporting more than 1 million barrels a day. Roughly 700,000 to 800,000 barrels a day of this oil are being exported to China. "Oil sales have doubled," Iran's hardline President Ebrahim Raisi recently boasted. "We are not worried about oil sales."
Tehran's major revenues come from exporting oil. The Iranian regime reportedly possesses the second-largest natural gas reserves and the fourth-largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, and the sale of oil accounts for nearly 60% of the government's total revenues and more than 80% of its export revenues. Several Iranian leaders have, in fact, hinted at Iran's major dependence on oil exports. "Although we have some other incomes," former President Hassan Rouhani previously acknowledged, "the only revenue that can keep the country going is the oil money."
Iran is also shipping considerable amounts of oil to Venezuela without either country fearing repercussions from the Biden administration. According to Reuters on June 13, an Iran-flagged tanker that was carrying nearly a million barrels of crude "arrived in Venezuelan waters over the weekend, according to a shipping document seen by Reuters on Monday."
"The cargo is the third of Iranian crude supplied by Iran's Naftiran Intertrade Co (NICO) to Venezuela's state-run oil firm PDVSA following a supply contract providing the South American nation with lighter crude. Venezuela has been processing the Iranian oil in its refineries.... Other two Iran-flagged tankers, the very large crude carriers (VLCCs) Dino I and Silvia I, had arrived last month at Venezuelan ports carrying the first cargoes of Iranian crude for Venezuela."
Presumably to take even further advantage of the Biden administration's weak leadership, the Iranian regime is also signing long-term agreements with its oil clients to permanently insulate its economy from the US sanctions. Most recently, Iran also signed a 20-year cooperation agreement with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to expand ties in the oil and petrochemical industries, as well as the military. "We have important projects of cooperation between Iran and Venezuela in the fields of energy, petrochemicals, oil, gas and refineries," Maduro stated.
In addition, China and Iran announced, in January 2022, the launch of the implementation of a comprehensive cooperation plan between the two nations after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian visited China and met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The "comprehensive cooperation" plan refers to the 25-year deal that was reached between Tehran and Beijing. One of its terms is that China will invest nearly $400 billion in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemicals industries. In return, China will have priority to bid on any new project in Iran that is linked to these sectors. China will also receive a 12% discount and can delay payments by up to two years. China will also be able to pay in any currency it chooses. It is also estimated that, in total, China will receive discounts of nearly 32%.
Such agreements will most likely help the Iranian regime to more easily circumvent US sanctions, gain access to funds, empower its militia and terror groups in the region and continue advancing its nuclear program.
The Biden administration must impose drastic economic sanctions on Iran's energy and financial sectors: that would threaten the ruling clerics' hold on power, forcing the leadership to recalculate its priorities. The US must hold those who violate the sanctions strictly accountable, and make clear to the ruling mullahs that if they continue advancing their nuclear program, military options are on the table.
Currently -- thanks to Biden administration's weak leadership and its unwillingness to hold those who violate Iran sanctions accountable, and unwillingness to cut the flow of funds to Iran -- the Iranian regime has no incentive to halt its march towards manufacturing nuclear weapons. The ruling mullahs of Iran and their oil clients are simply having their way without the US.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18631/iran-sanctions-violated

The Latest Currency War May Just Be a Skirmish
Robert Burgess/Bloomberg/June 25/2022
There’s a lot of hand-wringing in the foreign-exchange market about a fresh “currency war” breaking out, with countries and central banks taking action to support their weakening currencies to offset a strengthening US dollar. The last currency war took place a decade ago, but that one was about the opposite — finding ways to reverse the massive appreciation in local currencies because of a rapidly depreciating dollar. Regardless, the latest battle may end before it truly gets started. To understand why, you have to go back even further — before the worldwide pandemic, before Europe’s debt crisis, before the global financial crisis — to the early 2000s, when global monetary policies were calibrated toward actual economic fundamentals rather than keeping economies from collapsing. Back then, a primary driver of exchange rates was the US current-account deficit, and the dollar would routinely rise and fall based on whether the shortfall would contract or expand. To be sure, this metric isn’t on par with unemployment or inflation when it comes to economic importance, but it’s critical for the currency market because by including investment flows on top of exports and imports, it’s the broadest measure of trade. And 20 years ago, the deficit was expanding rapidly, growing from around $50 billion near the end of the last century to more than $200 billion in 2005. As a result, the US needed to attract billions of dollars a day to finance the shortfall. Naturally, this had a negative effect on the greenback, with the US Dollar Index plunging some 33% between July 2001 and late 2004.
The current-account deficit steadily improved from that point on, but then the pandemic hit and global trade was upended. The shortfall has ballooned from around $100 billion at the end of 2019 to $291.4 billion as of the end of the first quarter, the US Commerce Department said Thursday. At 4.8% of current dollar gross domestic product, the deficit is back on par with the period when the dollar was depreciating swiftly. All this wouldn’t matter much if the US was attracting an increasing amount of foreign investment to finance the deficit, but that may no longer be happening. The Treasury Department said last week that foreign holdings of US Treasuries dropped by almost $300 billion in the first four months of the year. Although the amount is a small fraction of the $23.3 trillion in marketable US government debt outstanding, and foreigners still hold some $7.4 trillion of that, it’s the direction that counts. Then there’s the Federal Reserve’s holdings of Treasuries on behalf of foreign central banks and sovereign wealth funds. That account has shrunk from $3.13 trillion in early 2021 to a recent $2.99 trillion. Again, not a huge amount, but the direction is concerning. Most worrisome of all, however, may be the dollar’s eroding status as the world’s primary reserve currency. Although the International Monetary Fund estimates the greenback makes up 58.8% of global foreign-exchange reserves, that’s down from a peak of 72.7% in 2001 and the lowest percentage since 1996.
Demand for haven-like assets amid the pandemic and higher relative interest rates have certainly underpinned the US currency, with the Dollar Index rising about 17% since the beginning of 2021. This has put tremendous pressure on other currencies. For example, the Bloomberg Euro Index has dropped 10%; the Bloomberg British Pound Index is down more than 7% since May 2021; Japan’s yen has plunged 20%; the MSCI EM Currency Index is off 4.61% since late February alone.
True, a weaker currency brings some benefits. For one, it makes a country’s exports more affordable. But that hardly matters when world trade volumes are still incredibly depressed because of supply chain disruptions. Plus, officials are generally more concerned with the speed of currency moves, which can disrupt an economy because companies have little time to adjust. As my Bloomberg News colleagues Amelia Pollard and Saleha Mohsin noted, the European Central Bank’s Isabel Schnabel highlighted a chart in February showing how much the euro had weakened against the dollar. Bank of Canada official Tiff MacKlem then bemoaned the decline of that country’s dollar. Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan then suggested he’d like to see a stronger franc. In the case of the US, a weakening currency could give foreign investors even less incentive to buy dollar-denominated assets, making it harder to finance the record budget and trade deficits. That could mean higher borrowing costs for the government, companies and consumers. It’s been two decades since the US current-account deficit drove global currency markets, but that may be about to change and in a big way.

Putin: From Frank Sinatra to Leonid Brezhnev
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June 25/2022
As the war in Ukraine drags on many commentators wonder where and when Vladimir Putin might decide to call an end to his current aggressive behavior. Digging into Russian history some may assert that even if he does stop it would be a tactical move of the kind that Lenin described as "one step back, two steps forward."Putin’s behavior has its roots in the Russian psyche. From early days of appearing as a distinct people, Russians have always feared that they may become like others while, lacking in natural defenses, their vast territory was vulnerable to foreign invasion. In his novel "What is to be done?" Nikolai Chernyshevki poses the question whether Russia should become European or Asian or remain itself and make Europe and Asia like itself. For Khomiakov and other pan-Slavists, to perform its duty as the Third Rome and the final standard-bearer of True Christianity, Russia should not allow even a parcel of its soil or soul to be lost to others.Thus, when Putin says that Ukraine was, is and must re-become Russian he is expressing a deeply-rooted national conceit that any relationship with the outside world is ipso facto conflictual. Lenin expressed that Old Russian conceit in his own style by using a misunderstood version of Hegelian dialectics. "We would be safe and our victory would be victory only when our cause succeeds in the entire world," he wrote. He accepted coexistence between Socialism and Capitalist in "a period of transition", but insisted that Russia, in its Bolshevik version at the time, wouldn’t be safe "until our cause conquers the whole world."
"It is inconceivable for the Soviet Republic to exist alongside the imperialist states for any length of time. One or other must triumph in the end," he wrote. Lenin made two mistakes in his use of dialectics. First, he assumed that the conflict between thesis and anti-thesis had to be resolved "in the end", an imaginary time-span. Secondly, he couldn’t see that in Hegelian dialectics the conflict ends with a synthesis that both is and is not the thesis and the synthesis while representing a third and new reality. In other words, the conflict between socialism and capitalism isn’t like a boxing match that is set to end after a predetermined number of rounds with a knockout win for one or the other. By the late 1950s after Nikita Khrushchev’s boast about "burying the Capitalist world" by the year 2000 had become a sour joke, his successors rehashed the Khomikov-Lenin pseudo-mystical vision of Russia’s role in history by shedding is Christian and Communist aspects and basing it on preserving Russia’s interests and influence as a state.
That gave birth to the Brezhnev Doctrine under which Russia wouldn’t allow any state that had been in Russian influence zone or had a Communist regime to break away and join "the other side."It was under that doctrine that Russian tanks crushed the Prague Spring and, later, tried to preserve a ramshackle Communist regime in Kabul by invading Afghanistan. The aim was no longer world conquest but hanging on to Russia’s portion of it. By the time Mikhail Gorbachev had risen to the top in the Kremlin, the Afghan disaster and growing discontent across eastern and central Europe had made the Brezhnev Doctrine redundant.
Gorbachev developed his own mini-doctrine by admitting and, in some cases even helping, the so-called People’s Republics in the Russian zone of influence in Europe could go their own way provided they would not totally exclude Russia.
His subliminal message as that the USSR and the "Capitalist world" could share the booty they had won after the Second World War. A new world order could be built based on "universal values" and "shared interests".
Unlike Lenin, who saw all relationships as conflictual, Gorbachev believed that thesis and anti-thesis could join each other in a global synthetic tango. Interestingly, Western democracies wanted the USSR to survive as a pillar of stability in Europe. James Baker III, secretary of state under President George WH Bush, insisted that "instability in eastern Europe isn’t in our interests." The US, France and Great Britain were even maneuvering to delay or sabotage German reunification.
In 1989 Gennady Gerasimov, spokesman for the Soviet foreign ministry, repeated what Politburo member Alexander Yakovlev had quipped a few weeks earlier by asserting that the USSR wanted to be part of a world order based on diversity.
"Today, we have replaced the Brezhnev Doctrine with the Sinatra Doctrine, allowing each country to go its way."The reference, of course, was to American crooner Frank Sinatra’s famous song "I Did It My Way" which Alexander Yakovlev and some other fans of "ole-blue-eyes" in the Politburo loved.
The Sinatra Doctrine remained in force in the Kremlin even after the disintegration of the USSR, keeping alive the hope of finding a proper place for Russia in a new world order free from ideological rivalry, arms race and imperialistic competition for hegemony in the "Third World."
Regardless of who is to blame hopes of finding a proper place for Russia were never fulfilled, partly because Russia always wanted more than it deserved and the Western powers offered less than it merited. Putin’s jingoistic jargon and Quixotic carpet-bagging in Ukraine is a crude response to that reality. He has certainly buried the Sinatra Doctrine but one cannot be sure whether he has fully reverted to the Brezhnev Doctrine. Conflicting signals from Moscow indicate that he may end up adopting a more modest version of the Brezhnev Doctrine by settling for annexing another chunk of Ukraine. Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, says Ukraine "as it was with the same shape on the map and boundaries is finished and will never return." The problem is that if Putin manages to reshape Ukraine into a downsized nation, he might be tempted to revert to the doctrines that, based on their different and yet similar mystical views of Russia’s role in human history, Khomiakov and Lenin advocated. And that could mean other conflicts and even wars in Europe and, perhaps, even in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. In a mystical view of human affairs knowing where to start is often easy. It is where to stop that is always difficult. This is why even a fish-tail end to the war in Ukraine may not be sufficient to restore lasting peace to Europe.

When the past is plundered, everyone pays the price
Jonathan Gornall/The Arab Weekly/June 25/2022
In the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation myth found inscribed on seven clay tablets from the 7th century BCE and excavated at Nineveh in the 19th century, Eridu, in southern Mesopotamia, is named as the world’s first city.
Despite 8,000 years of occupation, today there is precious little to see at the ancient site, isolated on the fringes of Iraq’s southern desert some 35 kilometres southwest of Nasiriyah.
What does remain, however, is extremely precious, including the handful of stones and pottery shards taken from the site by a British tourist who was jailed for the offence this month by a Baghdad court.
Predictably enough, there was uproar in the British media when 66-year-old Jim Fitton, a retired geologist, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. To date, more than 347,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the British government to intervene in Fitton’s case.
It cannot, of course and nor should it. Iraq is a sovereign state with its own laws. Fitton claimed ignorance of the law protecting Iraq’s archaeological treasures, but ignorance has never been a legal defence the world over.
Fitton had faced a maximum penalty of death, a deterrent that owes its existence to decades of looting of Iraq’s ancient treasures, but the court clearly took the view that his offence was not as egregious as the scandalous, industrial-scale stripping of the country’s ancient treasures in the wake of the American military’s 2003 invasion.
Iraq is not the only country in the region with heritage that has fallen prey to war and social upheaval. In 2017, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City spent $4 million on a 2,000-year-old golden sarcophagus from Egypt. Two years later, it was forced to repatriate the coffin after it emerged that it had been looted during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
In short, Fitton should have known better. A geologist by profession and an amateur archaeologist by inclination, he had been on an archaeology tour in Iraq when he decided to pocket the artifacts, an act that surely would have been unthinkable had he been touring an ancient site in Europe. His casual attitude to the sanctity of Iraq’s ancient heritage is an echo of the imperial arrogance that saw so many of the treasures of the Middle East and elsewhere looted during the 19th century by wealthy “gentlemen archaeologists” from Britain.
The vaults and display cases of the British Museum in London, for example, are stuffed with artifacts that by rights belong to the states from whose territory they were taken by entitled adventurers. In 2019, the British government made a great show of returning to Baghdad a recently looted 3,000-year-old cuneiform boundary stone, saluting Iraq’s rich culture and history, which was “at the core of its contemporary national identity.”
However, of the British Museum’s vast collection of 170,000 treasures from Mesopotamia, dug up and shipped out by British archaeologists authorised solely by imperial entitlement, there was no mention. These pieces, as the museum is always at pains to stress, were “acquired,” a term far less pejorative than “looted.”
At Eridu, only traces of a once great civilization remain. Gone are the life-giving tributaries of the Euphrates that flowed around the seven mounds that formed the heart of the city. On the largest of these stood the oldest temple in southern Mesopotamia. But while the palaces and temples have disappeared, the clues are there if one knows where and how to find them.
A few jumbled stones, clearly worked by human hands and a fragment of what appears to be an ancient wall, caught seemingly in the slow-motion act of sliding back under the sands, is all that remains of the former mighty ziggurat, built 4,000 years ago from mud and baked bricks.
A depression in the ground, an echo of a lavish palace, built 5,000 years ago.
Frequently, it is the fragments of pottery found at such sites that offer the only clues to their origins and timeline.
Much of Eridu was discovered and mapped in the 1940s and 1950s by two of Iraq’s most distinguished archaeologists, Fuad Safar and Sayyid Mohammad Ali Mustafa. They were able to compare shards found at Eridu with those from other Mesopotamian sites, which helped to establish trading links and refined understanding of the chronology of the development of civilisation.
At Eridu, these fragments also served as time stamps, helping the archaeologists to identify the existence of several temples, built one on top of the other over hundreds of years. Whether legal or not, picking up and pocketing such evidence is clearly wrong. It is, perhaps, unfair that Jim Fitton should pay the price as a proxy for the looters of empire who came before him and the criminal gangs who followed in more recent times. He will appeal and in this, one wishes him well. After all, as his family has pointed out, 15 years in prison will almost certainly amount to a life sentence.
But the lesson of this case is one that should be taken on board by every museum director in every museum throughout the world that continues, without justification, to hoard treasures stolen at a time when, to most Europeans, the people of the Middle East simply did not count.
The human story belongs to all of us. But the artifacts and remains that articulate that story belong only where they were created. To spirit them away out of self-interest is not only to rob a country of its heritage, but also to deprive everyone of potentially vital chapters in the great, common story of humankind.