English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 22/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.march22.22.htm
News
Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our
Lord, come!
First Letter to the Corinthians 16/15-24:”Now, brothers and
sisters, you know that members of the household of Stephanas were the first
converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the
saints; I urge you to put yourselves at the service of such people, and of
everyone who works and toils with them. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and
Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence; for they
refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give recognition to such people. The
churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in
their house, greet you warmly in the Lord. All the brothers and sisters send
greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with
my own hand. Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord,
come! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with all of you in
Christ Jesus.”.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on March 21-22/2022
Values That We Can We Learn From "The Lost Son" Parable/Elias Bejjani/Saturday,
19 March, 2022
Al-Rahi Meets Abul Gheit, Says 'Ill' Lebanon Must Turn to Arab Friends
Reports: Vatican Urged al-Rahi for Direct Dialogue with Hizbullah
Pope Tells Aoun Lebanon has 'Special Place in His Prayers'
In Rome, Aoun Calls for Vatican-Backed Lebanon Support Fund
Lebanon discusses with Kuwait efforts to restore ties with Gulf countries
On UNIFIL's 44th Establishment Day, Lázaro Urges Meaningful Steps for
Sustainable Peace
Israel Arrests Hezbollah Cell Plotting to Kidnap Israelis
Israel Approves Air Defense Plan amid 'Growing Threats' from Hizbullah, Iran
Judge Aoun Files Charges against Salameh Brothers and Ukrainian Citizen
Lebanese Judge Charges Salameh with Illicit Enrichment
Miqati Stresses Need to Halt All Lebanon-Based Anti-KSA Activities
Miqati Welcomes French-Saudi Fund Initiative, Says KSA Donated $36 Million
Mikati Hopes for Breakthrough in Efforts Aimed at Mending Lebanese-Gulf Ties
Geagea Says Hizbullah are 'Hariri Killers' after Nasrallah's Tayyouneh Remarks
Nasrallah Says Allying with LF is Allying with 'Tayouneh Martyrs Killers'
Geagea Says LF Can Replace FPM as Leading Christian Party
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on March 21-22/2022
Bennett Meets Sisi in Cairo amid Reports of Tripartite Summit with Bin
Zayed
Bennett: Iran's Revolutionary Guard Is World’s Largest Terrorist Organization
Iran's Khamenei Hopes for Economic Upturn
Turkey to Pull Out Hundreds of Soldiers from Syria to Fight PKK in Iraq
What are hypersonic missiles? Russia's newest weapon in Ukraine war.
Ukrainians Briefly Told to Shelter after Ammonia Plant 'Leak'
Zelensky Calls on Europe to Halt All Trade with Russia
U.N. Says Nearly 3.5 Million Ukrainians Have Fled the Country
War in Kyiv, Ukraine Refuses to Surrender Mariupol
Russia's Central Bank Reopens Bond Trading
KSA Says Not Responsible for High Oil Prices after Huthi Attacks
U.S. Official Says Biden Fortified Saudi's Patriot Missile Supply
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on March 21-22/2022
The Revolutionary Guard… Afghanistan 2.0/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/March,
21/2022
Europe, the ‘Dark Continent,’ Is the Stage for Another Great Migration/Peter
Gatrell/The New York Times/March, 21/2022
Putin Can't Lose/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 21/2022
It’s Now Putin’s Plan B in Ukraine vs. Biden’s and Zelensky’s Plan A/Thomas L.
Friedman/The New York Times/March, 21/2022
The Houthis, Iran's 'Weapon of War' and Iran's IRGC Must Be on US Terrorist
List/Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute/March 21/2022
on March 21-22/2022
Values That We Can We Learn From "The Lost
Son" Parable
Elias Bejjani/Saturday, 19 March, 2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73276/elias-bejjani-values-that-we-can-we-learn-from-the-lost-son-parable/
In our Maronite Catholic Church’s rite, on the Fourth Lent Sunday we recall and
cite the biblical Lost Son’s parable that is known also as The Prodigal Son.
(Lost Son) This impulsive, selfish and thoughtless son, as the parable tells us,
fell prey to evil’s temptation and decided to take his share of his father’s
inheritance and leave the parental dwelling.
He travelled to a far-away city where he indulged badly in all evil conducts of
pleasure and corruption until he lost all his money and became penniless. He
experienced severe poverty, starvation, humiliation and loneliness.
In the midst of his dire hardships he felt nostalgic, came back to his senses
and decided with great self confidence to return back to his father’s house,
kneel on his feet and ask him for forgiveness.
On his return his loving and kind father received him with rejoice, open arms,
accepted his repentance, and happily forgave him all his misdeeds. Because of
his sincere repentance his Father gave him back all his privileges as a son.
This parable is a road map for repentance and forgiveness. It shows us how much
Almighty God our Father loves us, we His children and how He is always ready
with open arms and willing to forgive our sins and trespasses when we come back
to our senses, recognize right from wrong, admit our weaknesses and wrongdoings,
eagerly and freely return to Him and with faith and repentance ask for His
forgiveness.
Asking Almighty God for what ever we need is exactly what the Holy Bible
instructs us to do when encountering all kinds of doubt, weaknesses, stumbling,
hard times, sickness, loneliness, persecution, injustice etc.
Matthew 07/07&08: “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find.
Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who
seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened”
All what we have to do is to pray and to ask Him with faith, self confidence and
humility and He will respond.
Matthew 21/22: “All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will
receive.”
We are not left alone at any time, especially when in trouble, no matter how far
we distance ourselves from God and disobey His Holy bible. He is a Father, a
loving, caring and forgiving Father.
What is definite is that in spite of our foolishness, stupidity, ignorance,
defiance and ingratitude He never ever abandons us or gives up on our salvation.
He loves us because we His are children.
He happily sent His only begotten son to be tortured, humiliated and crucified
in a bid to absolve our original sin.'
God carries our burdens and helps us to fight all kinds of Evil temptations.
Matthew11/28-30: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.”
God is waiting for our repentance, let us run to Him and ask for forgiveness
before it is too late
The Parable Of The Lost son
Luke15/11-32: He (Jesus) said, “A certain man had two sons. The younger of them
said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his
livelihood between them. Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of
this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with
riotous living. When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that
country, and he began to be in need. He went and joined himself to one of the
citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He
wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him
any. 15:17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my
father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! I will get up
and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of
your hired servants .”’ “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was
still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and
fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on
him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. Bring the fattened calf,
kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate; for this, my son, was dead, and is alive
again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate. “Now his elder son
was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. He
called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on. He said to him,
‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he
has received him back safe and healthy.’ But he was angry, and would not go in.
Therefore his father came out, and begged him. But he answered his father,
‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment
of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes,
you killed the fattened calf for him.’ “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always
with me, and all that is mine is yours. But it was appropriate to celebrate and
be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and
is found.
Al-Rahi Meets Abul Gheit, Says 'Ill' Lebanon Must Turn
to Arab Friends
Naharnet/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Monday, after meeting with Arab League
chief Ahmed Abul Gheit in Egypt, that he wants Lebanon to be an active member of
the Arab League. "Today, Lebanon is suffering from a disease. It must in its
illness turn to friends and this is what we are doing today,” al-Rahi added. Al-Rahi
had met on Sunday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo. He said
he discussed with him the thorny issue of Hizbullah’s weapons, and said he
sensed in Sisi an interest in Lebanon and a keenness on holding the Lebanese
parliamentary elections on time.
Reports: Vatican Urged al-Rahi for Direct Dialogue with
Hizbullah
Naharnet/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Far from the limelight, a meeting has been arranged between Hizbullah chief
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and delegates of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, al-Akhbar
newspaper reported Monday. "The meeting aims at relaunching dialogue and forming
a committee to arrange upcoming meetings between the two parties," the daily
said. These developments came after the visit of the Vatican's foreign minister,
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, to Beirut. According to the daily, Gallagher had
urged for direct dialogue with Hizbullah, during his visit in February, and al-Rahi
had promised to take practical steps in this direction. While Hizbullah leaders
support the dialogue and consider it "a national need", prominent Maronite
bishops are divided between supporters and opponents, al-Akhbar said.
Pope Tells Aoun Lebanon has 'Special Place in His
Prayers'
Naharnet/Monday, 21 March, 2022
President Michel Aoun re-invited Monday Pope Francis to visit Lebanon, urging
him to continue supporting Lebanon, during a visit to the Vatican city. "Lebanon
is in dire need for support," Aoun said in a meeting with the Pope, adding that
he does not want Lebanon to "pay the price" for the region's conflicts. Aoun had
arrived on Monday morning in Rome, and met with Pope Francis and the Vatican
Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. “I await with impatience for the
Pope’s visit to Lebanon, as a message of hope,” Aoun said. For his part, Francis
promised to visit Lebanon soon and affirmed that Lebanon has "a special place in
his prayers" and is at the center of his concerns, despite the critical
international situation. He stressed the necessity of preserving the Christians'
presence in the East, as well as preserving coexistence in Lebanon, a country
that he considers as a "message" and a "model."
In Rome, Aoun Calls for Vatican-Backed Lebanon Support
Fund
Naharnet/Monday, 21 March, 2022
President Michel Aoun on Monday called, from Rome, for setting up a
Vatican-sponsored Lebanon support fund and for boosting aid programs for
Lebanon, the Presidency said. The head of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture
Organization, Qu Dongyu, and the head of the U.N.’s World Food Program, David
Beasley, both said that Aoun’s suggestion will be taken into consideration, the
Presidency added.
Lebanon discusses with Kuwait efforts to restore ties
with Gulf countries
AFP/The Arab Weekly/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati discussed in a phone call with Kuwait’s
Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah, efforts to return
Lebanese-Gulf relations to normal, Mikati’s office said in a statement on
Saturday. Sheikh Ahmad expressed “satisfaction” towards “[the Lebanese
government’s] initiatives to restore ties between Beirut and the Gulf” during
the phone call, the statement added. He “hoped that things return soon to the
way they were” and Mikati thanked Kuwait “for its support, notably during
difficult times” and Sheikh Ahmad for his “efforts.”Gulf Arab relations with
Lebanon have suffered over Iran-backed Hezbollah’s growing power in Beirut and
the region, and hit new lows last year when Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states
expelled Lebanese ambassadors and recalled their own. In January, Kuwait led a
diplomatic mission to Beirut on behalf of Gulf states with the support of
Western powers. The Kuwaiti foreign minister at the time delivered a set of
trust-building proposals during his visit, which included Hezbollah’s
disarmament, a condition that Lebanon’s foreign minister said would be
impossible to meet. Kuwait was one of several members of the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC), including Saudi Arabia, which responded to the then Information
Minister George Kordahi’s remarks on Yemen by expelling the Lebanese ambassador
and recalling its envoy to Beirut. After initially demurring, Kordahi
subsequently resigned. The leaders of Hezbollah, the country’s most powerful
armed group with affiliated ministers in the cabinet, regularly attack Arab Gulf
states’ policies in the region and accuse its leaders of serving Washington’s
interests. Gulf states accuse Hezbollah of lending military support to the
Houthis in Yemen.
On UNIFIL's 44th Establishment Day, Lázaro Urges
Meaningful Steps for Sustainable Peace
Naharnet/Monday, 21 March, 2022
UNIFIL on Monday marked the 44th anniversary of the U.N. mission’s establishment
with its newly-appointed head and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro,
calling on the parties to make “meaningful steps” towards a sustainable peace.
Addressing a ceremony in the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura, Lázaro said that
while the end-goal of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 is “a permanent
ceasefire and a sustainable peace,” the efforts of the parties should be geared
towards the same end-goal. “That means courage. It means political will. It
means mutual understanding and compromise, on both sides,” he continued. “As we
have done for the past 44 years, UNIFIL will continue to work to create the
conditions for this to happen, together with government authorities, the
Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), local leaders, and the people in the communities in
which we live and work.”
The UNIFIL head also paid tribute to thousands of peacekeepers who have served
for the cause of peace in south Lebanon since 1978, and especially the 324
peacekeepers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of peace. “Every
day, each one of us honors their memories through our continued and unyielding
efforts toward a permanent peace,” he said. “These efforts have made a real and
lasting difference.” On 19 March 1978, the U.N. Security Council established
UNIFIL to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, restore international peace
and security and assist the Lebanese Government in restoring its effective
authority in the area. Following the 2006 war, the Council significantly
enhanced UNIFIL’s mandate and capacity and assigned it additional tasks working
closely with the Lebanese Army in south Lebanon. Today, UNIFIL has more than
10,000 military personnel from 46 countries, including the Maritime Task Force,
the only naval force in U.N. peace operations -- and some 900 civilian national
and international staff. At today’s ceremony, a total of 41 peacekeepers were
awarded U.N. medals for their service in furthering peace in south Lebanon.
Israel Arrests Hezbollah Cell Plotting to Kidnap
Israelis
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Four Arab Israelis arrested last month were indicted on Sunday over their ties
to Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Four of them are residents of northern Israel's Galilee,
the Shin Bet security service and the police disclosed. According to the Shin
Bet, they were asked to smuggle weapons into Israel and to establish a terror
cell to kidnap Israelis, provide information on targets for missile attacks, and
locate possible locations for crossing the border from Lebanon into Israeli
territory. Israeli officials have pointed toward a senior Hezbollah official by
the name of Hajj Khalil Harb as the one responsible for coordinating weapons
smuggling attempts into northern Israel. Harb is accused of personally directing
a Hezbollah operative who met with two of the suspects in Turkey in November.
“This affair illustrates the efforts of Iranian and other terror elements to
exploit the Arab and Druze citizens of Israel,” a senior Shin Bet official said.
“Citizens who receive inquiries from terror elements are called upon to report
this to authorities and to avoid a situation in which they find themselves
involved in serious security activities.”The military said in a separate
statement that “Israel’s security forces will continue to operate to maintain
security in the region and act against any attempt to violate the sovereignty of
the state of Israel." “During the past year, the Shiite axis led by the Iranian
regime and its terrorist proxies across the Middle East has been actively
promoting attacks and weapons smuggling into Israel,” it added.
Israel Approves Air Defense Plan amid 'Growing Threats'
from Hizbullah, Iran
Naharnet/Monday, 21 March, 2022
An Israeli ministerial committee has approved a laser air defense system to
protect Israel against rockets and UAVs. “We are taking an important step
towards a change in the battlefield, amid the growing threats on our border from
Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, under the auspices of Iran and terror organizations,”
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, last week. Hizbullah chief Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah had announced that his group now possesses the ability to
transform its ordinary rockets into precision-guided missiles, adding that
Hizbullah has also been manufacturing drones for several years now.
Hizbullah is believed to maintain 130,000 rockets, missiles and mortar shells
while Israel operates a multi-tiered air defense array, made up of the
short-range Iron Dome, the medium-range David’s Sling and the long-range Arrow
and Patriot systems. Meanwhile, the Times of Israel online newspaper said that
Israeli military officials have also seen a growing trend in Iranian use of
drone attacks in recent years, dubbing it Iran’s “UAV terror.”
Judge Aoun Files Charges against Salameh Brothers and
Ukrainian Citizen
Associated Press/Agence France Presse
Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun on Monday filed charges against
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, accusing him of illicit enrichment and money
laundering, TV networks said. She also filed charges against Salameh’s brother
Raja, who is in custody, and against Ukrainian national Anna Kosakova for
interfering in the alleged offenses. The file and the only detainee in the case
have been referred to Mount Lebanon First Examining Magistrate Nicolas Mansour.
Al-Jadeed TV said charges were also filed against brokerage firm Forry
Associates Ltd, which is owned by Raja Salameh and suspected of having laundered
money for Riad Salameh. The central bank governor had again failed to appear
before Judge Aoun on Monday. Speaking to Reuters in the wake of the charges,
Salameh noted that he had asked an international firm to carry out an audit
which showed that no public funds were a source of his wealth, denying the
illicit enrichment charges. Judge Aoun had earlier in the day frozen all the
real estate properties of Raja Salameh. The charges on Monday came as the
banking sector went on a two-day strike to protest recent moves by Lebanon's
judiciary against local lenders. Lebanon's economic crisis erupted in 2019 --
the worst in its modern history. Judge Aoun told The Associated Press that the
Salameh brothers and the Ukrainian woman had formed three illusive companies in
France to buy property there. Aoun said last week that Riad Salameh had used his
brother to buy real-estate in France worth nearly $12 million. Kosakova, who
lives in France, reportedly has a daughter from Salameh. Kosakova also jointly
owns a company with Raja Salameh. Judge Aoun is investigating whether a number
of residential apartments in Paris belong to Riad Salemeh, according to a
judicial source. His brother had previously claimed the flats belong to the
central bank, the source added. Raja Salameh, who was detained on Thursday, will
remain in custody. The suit against the Salamehs was filed by a group of lawyers
who accuse the governor of corruption. In January, Aoun imposed a travel ban and
froze some of the assets of the 71-year-old governor who is also being
investigated in several European nations, including Switzerland and France, for
potential money laundering and embezzlement. Riad Salameh had steered Lebanese
finances since 1993, through post-war recovery and bouts of unrest. Once praised
as the guardian of Lebanon's financial stability, he has drawn increasing
scrutiny since the small country's economic meltdown began in late 2019.
Lebanese Judge Charges Salameh with Illicit Enrichment
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 21 March, 2022
A Lebanese judge charged central bank governor Riad Salameh with illicit
enrichment on Monday, the judge told Reuters, days after she ordered his brother
Raja arrested in the same case. Judge Ghada Aoun said Riad Salameh, governor for
nearly three decades, had not attended a hearing scheduled for Monday, and she
had charged him in absentia. She said the charge related to the purchase and
rental of Paris apartments, including some to the central bank, Aoun told
Reuters. But Salameh said that he had ordered an audit which showed that no
public funds were a source of his wealth, denying the charge. "This audit report
was submitted to the relevant authorities in Lebanon and abroad," Salameh said
in response to a question sent by text message from Reuters. On Friday, Raja
Salameh's lawyer said allegations of illicit enrichment and money laundering
against his client were unfounded, calling the evidence "media speculation
without any evidence".
Miqati Stresses Need to Halt All Lebanon-Based Anti-KSA
Activities
Naharnet/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Monday called for putting an end to “all the
Lebanon-based political, military, security and media activities that harm the
sovereignty, security and stability of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation
Council countries.”Noting in a statement that “the government is committed to
restoring the normalcy of ties between Lebanon and the GCC nations,” Miqati
pointed out that his recent phone call with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh
Ahmed al-Nasser was part of his efforts in this regard. Stressing that Lebanese
authorities will seek to prevent the smuggling of narcotics to KSA and the Gulf,
the premier added that the government will work on “barring the use of Lebanese
financial and banking channels to conduct any financial transactions that might
harm the security of Saudi Arabia and the GCC countries.”Miqati also underlined
“commitment to the articles of the Kuwaiti initiative.”
Miqati Welcomes French-Saudi Fund Initiative, Says KSA
Donated $36 Million
Naharnet/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Prime Minister Najib Miqati has said Lebanon can not be isolated from its
neighboring Arab countries, welcoming a humanitarian French-Saudi initiative. A
French-Saudi fund had been decided in a meeting between Saudi Foreign Minister
Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, Miqati
told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, in remarks published Monday. He said that KSA
has donated $36 million, through the King Salman Relief Center, for humanitarian
aid to Lebanon. In his remarks, Miqati praised the Gulf countries and KSA, and
also praised Paris for its role in restoring the Lebanese-Gulf relations.
Mikati Hopes for Breakthrough in Efforts Aimed at
Mending Lebanese-Gulf Ties
Beirut - Mohammed Choucair/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati is hoping that a breakthrough can be
reached in efforts aimed at mending relations between Beirut and Gulf countries.
He held telephone talks with Kuwait Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser
Al-Mohammed Al Sabah. Kuwait had last year delivered to Lebanon a Gulf
initiative aimed at resolving the rift. Mikati told Asharq Al-Awsat that the
Lebanese government "is open" to the initiative that Sheikh Ahmed had delivered
to Beirut. "The government is positively dealing with the proposal and is
assured by the Saudi initiative to set up a fund to support non-government
organizations," he added. The fund aims to provide education, health and
humanitarian support given the state's inability to do so in wake of the
crippling economic crisis gripping Lebanon. Mikati also noted the establishment
of the Saudi-French fund aimed at helping Lebanon. The fund was announced during
a meeting between the Saudi and French foreign ministers earlier this year. The
Kingdom has also donated 36 million dollars to Lebanon through the King Salman
Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief). The PM stressed his government is
fully committed to preserving the best relations with Gulf countries, starting
with Saudi Arabia, in order to mend relations and activate and bolster
cooperation, while Lebanon commits to respecting all Arab and international
resolutions. "The government is fully aware that Lebanon should not be a
platform to launch any political, military, security or media activities that
could threaten its stability or destabilize its historic ties with the Gulf,
leading with Saudi Arabia," he remarked. Moreover, he said the government is
"extremely" keen on taking all measures to prevent the smuggling of banned
products, especially drugs, to the Gulf. Mikati added that the government,
through its concerned security agencies, was ready to combat drug smuggling,
especially capatagon pills, to the Gulf. Furthermore, he stated that his
government was serious in combating money laundering, especially operations
aimed at funding terrorist activities that destabilize the region and threaten
the Gulf. He stressed that his contacts with Kuwait are ongoing and he was
closely monitoring French efforts aimed at mending Lebanese-Gulf relations. Gulf
countries, he continued, will continue to support Lebanon's stability and
provide aid to its people. It is not in Lebanon's interest to be transformed
into a platform to send messages to Arab brothers and to meddle in other
countries' affairs, he went on to say. Lebanon is in no way prepared to live
isolated from its Arab environment, he declared.
Geagea Says Hizbullah are 'Hariri Killers' after
Nasrallah's Tayyouneh Remarks
Naharnet/March 21/2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea snapped back Monday at Hizbullah chief
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, after the latter said that “anyone who allies with the
LF would be allying with the killers of the Tayyouneh ambush martyrs.” “These
remarks are wrong, seeing as all of the Military Court’s preliminary and
complementary investigations have so far proven that there was no ambush in
Tayyouneh. Unfortunately, Sayyed Nasrallah and his group are the ones who
objected against the judge and obstructed the investigation, the same as they
did in the port crime. I wish they would let the probe continue in order to
unveil all the facts,” Geagea said. “Sayyed Nasrallah is the person who knows
the most about what happened in Tayyouneh, and therefore it is unacceptable to
launch arbitrary accusations and to continue to deceive his own popular base,”
the LF leader added. Accusing Nasrallah of “exploiting what happened in
Tayyouneh for electoral motives,” Geagea said that “if anyone is responsible for
the blood of the young men who were killed in Tayyouneh, it would be the camp
who sent them and caused them that incident in which they were killed without
any reason.”Moreover, the LF leader added: “With a very clear conscience, truth
and facts, we tell anyone allying with Hizbullah in the upcoming electoral
juncture that they are allying with the killers of martyr premier Rafik Hariri,
based on the high-level international judicial ruling that has been issued over
this crime.”Geagea also reminded Hizbullah of “all the martyrs of the Cedar
Revolution” and “the martyrs of the Beirut port blast crime,” noting that
“Hizbullah is still insisting on obstructing the investigations into this
blast.”“Accordingly, it is very important, even if we are currently in the
middle of electoral campaigning, to enjoy the least level of objectivity,” the
LF leader urged.
Nasrallah Says Allying with LF is Allying with 'Tayouneh
Martyrs Killers'
Naharnet/March 21/2022
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah slammed anyone who would ally with the
Lebanese Forces in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He considered any LF's
ally to be allied with the "killers" of "the Tayouneh martyrs."In a meeting of
Hizbullah's cadres in Bekaa, Nasrallah urged voters for heavy participation.
"These elections are more politicized than any previous elections," Nasrallah
said. Last week, LF chief Samir Geagea had said for his part that any vote for
the Free Patriotic Movement is a vote for Hizbullah, in response to Nasrallah's
"our battle is our allies’ battle." Hizbullah chief had made it clear last week
that Hizbullah will fight for the success of its allies. Hizbullah will be
running on a joint list with the FPM and Amal. The group with its allies
currently hold majority seats in the 128-member legislature.
Geagea Says LF Can Replace FPM as Leading Christian
Party
Naharnet/March 21/2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said in an interview that his party has
the ability to replace the Free Patriotic Movement as the leading Christian
group in the country through the upcoming parliamentary elections. “On the
Christian level, I will say it like this for the first time: is the LF a
substitute to the FPM? Yes! And I openly and loudly say it. Yes it is an
alternative because the LF’s practices are totally opposite to the practices
that we saw from the FPM while in power,” Geagea told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Asked whether a parliamentary majority consisted of around 65 out of 128 MPs
would have the ability to elect a new president in late October, Geagea said:
“No, but what’s certain is that the others will not be able to elect a president
and this is what’s important. You start by preventing any harmful thing and you
keep trying to do beneficial things.”Responding to a question about Lebanon’s
“clear isolation” in the Arab arena, the LF leader noted that Gulf countries
would reevaluate their stances on Lebanon “within a few minutes” should power in
the country shift from “untrusted, rival, hostile and corrupt hands” to
“Lebanese and white hands that want to build.”“The Gulf countries are certainly
not interested in the current Lebanon, the Lebanon of Qassem Soleimani, but the
Lebanon of Charles Malek, Camille Chamoun, Rafik Hariri and Bashir Gemayel is
certainly of interest to them,” Geagea noted.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
March 21-22/2022
Bennett Meets Sisi in Cairo amid Reports of
Tripartite Summit with Bin Zayed
Naharnet/March 21/2022
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held talks Monday in Cairo with Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after arriving in the country on a previously
unannounced visit, Israeli and Arab media reports said.
Israeli media reports meanwhile said that Bennett will also hold a tripartite
summit with al-Sisi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. And as
Israeli reports said the tripartite summit is “targeted against Iran,”
Al-Jazeera reported that Bennett’s visit comes after a new treaty was reached
with
Bennett: Iran's Revolutionary Guard Is World’s Largest
Terrorist Organization
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 21/2022
As the Biden administration is considering removing Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Corps from a terror blacklist, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on
Sunday that his country will continue to fight this group as a terrorist
organization. “If the US decides to delist the IRGC, Israel will continue to
treat it like a terrorist organization,” Bennett said at the start of Sunday’s
cabinet meeting. The PM said that Israel will also continue to act against it as
it does against terrorist organizations. “As usual, our future will be
determined by our actions, not words,” the PM stressed.
He added that “unfortunately, there is determination to sign a nuclear agreement
with Iran at almost any cost, including saying that the world’s largest
terrorist organization is not a terrorist organization.”“This is not just an
Israeli problem. Other countries – allies of the United States in the region –
face this organization day in and day out,” he stressed. The Israeli PM also
recalled that in recent years, Iran’s IRGC has fired missiles at peaceful
countries and launched UAVs at Israel and other countries. “Even now, the IRGC
terrorist organization is trying to murder certain Israelis and Americans around
the world,” Bennett added. Two months ago, Israel learned that the US delegation
to the Vienna negotiations had received approval from the Biden administration
to discuss with the Iranian delegation its demand that the US remove the IRGC
from a blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations as a condition for a nuclear
deal. When Tel Aviv first learned about the US plans to remove the Iranian group
from the black list, it tried to protest the US decision quietly. However,
during the weekend, Israel turned its refusal into an open battle. Bennett and
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid appealed directly to Washington in a statement,
listing the connections between Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and terrorism.
On Friday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said “There’s an ongoing
negotiation. I’m not going to get into specifics of it. But I would just note
that the status quo where we stand has done nothing to make us safer in any
regard. In fact, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has only been strengthened." US
General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of the Central Command covering the Middle
East, called the IRGC "the principal malign actor" in the Middle Eastern region.
"As to what the effect delisting them would have, I really don’t know that." "In
terms of the way we think about them, in terms of the way we think about the
threat and what they do on a daily basis across the theater, I don't think much
would change as a result of that."
Iran's Khamenei Hopes for Economic Upturn
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei expressed on Sunday hopes for the improvement
of his country's economy during a speech to mark Nowruz. Iran's economy has
suffered under stringent sanctions that were reimposed by the US in 2018 after
it unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world
powers. "These economic problems are curable and we hope that some of them will
disappear this year," Khamenei said during his televised speech. The problems
"will not all disappear at once but gradually", AFP quoted him as saying.
Khamenei said the toughest problems encountered last year were due to "rising
prices and inflation.” Iran has been holding direct talks in Vienna to revive
the 2015 nuclear deal with Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. The
United States has been participating indirectly. Various actors have recently
suggested that an agreement is close. "One of the most important happy events of
the last year was that the Americans themselves admitted that they suffered a
shameful defeat in their maximum pressure policy against Iran," Khamenei said on
Sunday. Former US president Donald Trump had used the term "maximum pressure
campaign" to describe his administration's policy towards Iran, including the
strict sanctions regime. Khamenei said that the Iranian New Year, which began on
Monday, will focus on production and the creation of jobs. "National production
is the key route to overcoming the economic difficulties and challenges in the
country," he said.
Turkey to Pull Out Hundreds of Soldiers from Syria to Fight
PKK in Iraq
Ankara - Saeed Abdulrazek/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Some 400 Turkish forces deployed in the de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria
would likely redeploy in northern Iraq to fight the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
reliable sources told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday. “Four
hundred Turkish troops have packed up and finished their preparations to
withdraw from the de-escalation zone as part of an initial batch that will exit
the area,” the sources said. There are more than 13,500 Turkish soldiers
deployed in 60 military points across the de-escalation zone in Idlib and the
countryside of Aleppo, Hama and Latakiya.
Last year, the Turkish army carried out ground and air raids against the PKK in
northern Iraq. Meanwhile, Syrian regime forces have targeted areas in Al-Fatirah,
Safuhan, Fulayfil and Baynnin in Jabal Al-Zawiyah in the southern countryside of
Idlib and they fired heavy artillery shells on Al-Ankawy and Al-Fatatra villages
in Sahl Al-Ghab area. Also in the past three days, the Turkish military and the
Syrian National Army (SNA) factions, loyal to Ankara, escalated their attacks on
the countryside of Tal Tamr in the north of Hasakah, an area controlled by the
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The shelling damaged cables and caused
electricity outages in the area. The SNA factions carried out intense artillery
shelling on the villages of Dardara, Tal Shanan and Tal Jumaa in the Tal Tamr
countryside, with no reports of casualties. The Observatory reported that a
Turkish drone targeted a military vehicle in the vicinity of Hoshan village,
west of Ain Issa, in the northern countryside of Raqqa, while Turkish forces
bombed the village.
What are hypersonic missiles? Russia's newest weapon in
Ukraine war.
Niamh Cavanagh/Yahoo News/Mon, March 21, 2022
Russia’s military has claimed to have twice unleashed hypersonic missiles in its
invasion of Ukraine, apparently destroying an arms depot in the process, during
its monthlong onslaught. On Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed it
had struck an underground missile and ammunition warehouse in a village that
borders Romania, and on Sunday, that it had destroyed a fuel depot near the
southern city of Mykolaiv. Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov
claimed the attack used its newest Kinzhal, or “dagger,” hypersonic missile, in
Ukraine. “The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic
missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and
aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region,”
Konashenkov claimed. RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency, said the attacks
were the first time the next-generation weapons have been used since Russian
troops were deployed to Ukraine on Feb. 24. However, on March 9, Ukraine’s
National Guard shared a picture of an unexploded hypersonic missile in the city
of Kramatorsk in the breakaway region of Donetsk. Reports did not verify whether
it was a “dagger” missile.
‘Ideal weapon’
The advanced missile, which Russian President Vladimir Putin previously
described as an “ideal weapon,” was one of several new weapons he unveiled in
his state of the nation address in 2018. During that speech, Putin boasted that
the missiles could hit almost any point across the world and evade the United
States’ missile defense shield. It is believed that Russia first used the
hypersonic weapon in support of Bashar Assad during the Syrian civil war in
2016, although it has not been confirmed if it was the exact Kinzhal model. The
missile, designed to be launched from a MiG fighter jet, can fly at 10 times the
speed of sound, and unlike other missiles can change course during its flight,
making it impossible for air-defense systems to shoot it down. The Kinzhal
missile can also be used to deliver nuclear weapons. In comparison, while the
U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile can travel as fast as 550 mph, the Kinzhal can
travel at 7,672 mph. The French Navy and the U.K.'s Royal Navy have since 2011
been jointly developing their own hypersonic missile, which is expected to be
completed in 2030. Ukrainian officials have confirmed Russia’s attacks over the
weekend but said the type of missile used was not confirmed. According to
reports, doubts have swirled over Russia’s use of the ballistic missile. One
report suggested that the lack of secondary explosions from the attack at an
ammunition warehouse in western Ukraine is suspicious. “There’s also a distinct
lack of secondary explosions as one would expect when rocket fuel and explosives
cook-off,” the online magazine the War Zone noted on Saturday. The magazine also
questioned how an Orlan-10 — an unmanned aerial vehicle, commonly known as a
drone — was able to fly over the targeted area to film the strike. If a
maneuverable hypersonic missile was needed for the attack due to Ukraine’s
air-defense systems, then how could a drone manage to film the strike and get
away safely? Russian analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said the missile would change
little on the ground in Ukraine beyond “giving a certain psychological and
propaganda effect.” He added that its use may suggest that the Russian
military’s weapons are drying up. Defense strategy researcher Joseph Henrotin
reiterated Felgenhauer’s point, suggesting on Twitter that Russia could be
running out of weaponry. Henrotin also claimed that Putin might have used the
nuclear-capable missile in a bid to raise the stakes of the war.On Saturday, the
U.N.’s human rights office said at least 847 civilians had been killed since
Feb. 24, including 155 men, 119 women, 21 boys and seven girls, but said it’s
believed the actual figures are “considerably higher.”
Ukrainians Briefly Told to Shelter after Ammonia Plant
'Leak'
Agence France Presse/Monday, 21 March, 2022
Residents of the northern Ukrainian town of Novoselytsya were told Monday to
temporarily take shelter after an ammonia leak at a nearby chemical factory,
amid intense fighting with Russian forces in the area. Sumy regional governor
Dmytro Zhyvytsky said there had been an "ammonia leakage" at the Sumykhimprom
facility, affecting an area within 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) of the plant,
which produces fertilizers. The extent and cause of the incident was not
immediately clear and residents were told to seek refuge in basements or on
lower levels of buildings to avoid exposure. At 0745 GMT, Ukrainian rescue
services announced on Twitter that the accident was "finished." According to
Sumykhimprom's website the facility produces a range of chemical fertilizers.
Sumy, located about 350 kilometers (220 miles) east of Kyiv with a pre-war
population of around 250,000, has experienced weeks of heavy fighting. In recent
days the Russian government has intensified propaganda and disinformation
efforts alleging Ukraine is preparing to use improvised chemical weapons and has
been developing a clandestine WMD (weapons of mass destruction) program. The
Russian Ministry of Defense claimed late Sunday that "nationalists" had "mined"
ammonia and chlorine storage facilities at Sumykhimprom "with the aim of mass
poisoning of residents of the Sumy region, in case of entry into the city of
units of the Russian Armed Forces". Russia has repeatedly denied helping Syria
use chemical weapons in multiple attacks against its own citizens during the
country's 11-year-old civil war. Moscow has also denied using chemical weapons
against Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as well as former Russian spy
Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Zelensky Calls on Europe to Halt All Trade with Russia
Agence France Presse/March, 21/2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on European leaders Monday to
cease all trade with Russia in an effort to pressure Moscow to halt its nearly
month-long military assault on his country. "Please do not sponsor the weapons
of war of this country, of Russia. No euros for the occupiers. Close all of your
ports to them. Don't export them your goods. Deny energy resources. Push for
Russia to leave Ukraine," Zelensky said in a video address. Addressing Germany
directly, he said: "You have the strength. Europe has the strength." His appeal
comes as several countries in the EU, including the Baltic states, have called
for an embargo on Russian oil and gas imports. Germany has opposed an outright
halt on Russian energy imports. EU foreign ministers are meeting Monday to
discuss Ukraine and a possible tightening of sanctions. The Kremlin earlier
Monday cautioned against a European oil embargo, saying the move could "hit
everyone". "Such an embargo would have very serious consequences for the world
energy market. It will have a very serious negative impact on Europe's energy
balance," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. The United States this month
announced a ban on Russian oil and gas, while Britain has said it will cut out
Russian oil imports by the end of this year.
U.N. Says Nearly 3.5 Million Ukrainians Have Fled the
Country
Agence France Presse/March, 21/2022
Nearly 3.5 million Ukrainians have now fled the country following Russia's
invasion, the United Nations said Monday, praising neighboring countries for
showing overwhelming compassion towards their "extreme plight." More than 10
million people -- over a quarter of the population in regions under government
control -- are now thought to have fled their homes, including the millions of
internally displaced people. UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, said 3,489,644
Ukrainians had fled the country since Russia invaded on February 24 -- a figure
up 100,600 on Sunday's update. "Over the last four weeks, the world has watched
in disbelief. Countless lives have been lost while millions of others have been
completely upended," UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said. "As if to counter the
despair, we have also witnessed overwhelming acts of welcome and compassion as
neighboring countries, particularly local responders, have opened their hearts
and homes to Ukrainians. "Millions around the world were rightly moved by the
extreme plight of the Ukrainian people," he said, citing their "pain and
sorrow... loss and anguish," and "relief at finding safety and trepidation of an
uncertain future." Women and children account some 90 percent of those who have
fled. Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are eligible for military call-up and cannot
leave. UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, said more than 1.5 million children
are among those who have fled abroad. The U.N.'s International Organization for
Migration (IOM) said 186,000 people from third countries had fled Ukraine to
neighboring states. As of Wednesday, some 6.48 million people were estimated to
be internally displaced within Ukraine, according to UN and related agencies,
following an IOM representative survey. "Millions more may be affected if the
war does not end," IOM said. Before Russia invaded, Ukraine had a population of
37 million in the regions under government control, excluding Russia-annexed
Crimea and the pro-Russian separatist regions in the east.
Here is a breakdown of neighboring countries that have welcomed Ukrainian
refugees, according to UNHCR:
Poland
Six in every 10 Ukrainian refugees -- 2,083,854 so far -- have crossed the
Polish border, according to UNHCR's latest figures. Many of those heading west
from Ukraine into Poland, Hungary and Slovakia then travel further on into other
countries in Europe's Schengen open-borders zone.
"We estimate that a large number of people have moved onwards to other
countries," UNHCR said. Before the crisis, around 1.5 million Ukrainians lived
in EU member Poland, the vast majority of them working. Some 264,000 people have
crossed the frontier in the opposite direction, Polish border guards said. They
are mostly those returning to fight but also others seeking to care for elderly
relatives or to bring their families out to Poland.
Romania
UNHCR said 535,461 Ukrainians had made their way into EU member Romania,
including a large number who have crossed over from Moldova, wedged between
Romania and Ukraine. The vast majority are thought to have made their way onto
other countries further into Europe.
Moldova
The Moldovan border is the nearest to the major port city of Odessa.
UNHCR said 365,197 Ukrainians had crossed into the non-EU state, one of the
poorest in Europe. Most transit through the small nation, en route westwards to
Romania and beyond.
Hungary
The number of Ukrainian refugees who have crossed into Hungary has reached
312,120, UNHCR said.
Slovakia
A quarter of a million people have made it across Ukraine's shortest border into
Slovakia, the UNHCR said, at 250,036 Ukrainian refugees.
Russia
Some 231,764 refugees have sought shelter in Russia since the invasion began. In
addition, UNHCR said 50,000 people had crossed into Russia from the
separatist-held pro-Russian Donetsk and Lugansk regions of eastern Ukraine
between February 21 and 23.
Belarus
And 3,765 refugees have made it north to Belarus, UNHCR says.
War in Kyiv, Ukraine Refuses to Surrender Mariupol
Associated Press/March, 21/2022
Ukraine rejected a Russian ultimatum to surrender the besieged port city of
Mariupol on Monday, as overnight Russian strikes destroyed a shopping mall in
the capital Kyiv, killing eight people. Almost 350,000 people are trapped
without water and electricity in the southern city of Mariupol, which has been
bombarded by Russian troops for almost a month in what EU foreign policy chief
Josep Borrell described as a "massive war crime."Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian
bombs struck targets overnight, allegedly damaging a chemical plant in the north
of the country causing an "ammonia leakage."Nearly a month after Russia launched
its full-scale invasion on February 24, troops pressed on despite sweeping
unprecedented sanctions imposed by Western allies. Russian strikes, likely a
missile, laid waste to a shopping mall in Kyiv, whose mayor announced a new
curfew from 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Monday until 7:00 am (0500 GMT) on Wednesday.
AFP reporters saw six bodies covered by black sheets laid out on the ground at
the complex called "Retroville"."My apartment shook with the force of the
explosion, I thought the building would collapse," said Vladmir, 76, who lives
nearby. "It's the biggest bomb to have hit the city until now," said Dima
Stepanienko, 30. He found himself flung to "the foot of his bed" by the
explosion, he added. An Orthodox priest walking through the wreckage muttered
prayers while cursing "Russian terrorists". Ukraine's President Volodymyr
Zelensky urged Europe to significantly dial up pressure on Moscow to halt its
invasion, saying the continent must cease all trade with Russia.
'Completely destroyed'
"No euros for the occupiers. Close all of your ports to them. Don't export them
your goods. Deny energy resources. Push for Russia to leave Ukraine," Zelensky
said in his latest video address. Ukrainian leaders also stressed they were
standing firm against invaders in Mariupol, which is suffering a critical
humanitarian crisis. Defenders of the port city have "played a huge role in
destroying the enemy's plans and enhancing our defense," said Ukraine’s Defense
Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. "Today Mariupol is saving Kyiv, Dnipro and Odessa.
Everyone must understand this." The Kremlin's military command had warned
authorities in Mariupol had until "5am... on March 21" to respond to eight pages
of demands, which Ukrainian officials said would amount to a capitulation.
Rejecting the ultimatum by Russia, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna
Vereshchuk said Moscow should instead allow the trapped residents to escape.
Mariupol is a pivotal target in Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine -- providing a
land bridge between Russian forces in Crimea to the southwest and
Russian-controlled territory to the north and east. A Greek diplomat, believed
to be the last EU diplomat to leave the city, said the devastation would rank
alongside history's most ruinous wartime assaults. "Mariupol will be included in
a list of cities in the world that were completely destroyed by the war, such as
Guernica, Stalingrad, Grozny, Aleppo," said Manolis Androulakis, as he arrived
back in Athens late Sunday.
Oil prices surge
In the north, Ukrainians were told to temporarily take shelter after an ammonia
leak at a nearby chemical factory, before an all-clear was sounded mid-morning.
At the port city of Odessa, known as the pearl of the Black Sea, shelling by
Russian warships damaged several houses. No casualties were reported, an
official in the Ukrainian city said.Away from the frontlines, leaders of the
United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy were once again in urgent
talks on the war. Separately, foreign ministers of the European Union were
gathered in Brussels to mull fresh sanctions against Russia.
Some members within the bloc are pushing for a complete embargo on Russian oil
and gas, but Germany has so far rejected the call, warning it could spark social
instability. The Kremlin on Monday heaped on the warnings against such a ban.
"Such an embargo will have a very serious impact on the world energy market, it
will have a very serious negative impact on Europe's energy balance," said
spokesman Dmitry Peskov. World oil prices, already sky-high over the Ukraine
conflict, on Monday surged again as top producer Saudi Arabia warned that
attacks by Yemeni rebels on the kingdom's oil facilities posed a "direct threat"
to global supplies. Energy prices and supply security issues will be on the
table at an EU summit on Thursday in Brussels, to be attended by President Joe
Biden. The US leader will also join in a NATO summit and G7 talks, before
travelling on Friday to Poland, which has seen more than two million Ukrainians
cross its border to flee the war.
Moscow furiously hit out against Biden after he branded Putin a "war criminal".
Specter of famine
"Such statements by the American president, which are not worthy of a
high-ranking statesman, have put Russian-American relations on the verge of
rupture," the foreign ministry said. Kyiv meanwhile turned to another major
world power, China, urging it to "play an important role in" ending the
conflict. Humanitarian conditions continued to deteriorate in the mostly
Russian-speaking south and east, where Russian forces have been pressing their
advance, as well as in the north around Kyiv. Aid agencies are struggling to
reach people trapped in besieged cities. Around 10 million Ukrainians have fled
their homes, roughly one-third going abroad, the U.N. refugee agency said. The
repercussions of the war are spreading far beyond the region, with famine feared
in parts of the world because Russia and Ukraine are both major agricultural
exporters. "Sudan is in a particularly vulnerable position because 86-87 percent
of its wheat imports is coming from Russia and Ukraine combined," warned David
Wright, chief operating officer at charity Save the Children. Signs of strain
are also appearing in Russia, where scenes of panic buying at supermarkets
prompted authorities to urge the public not to stockpile. "I want to calm our
citizens: we are fully self-sufficient when it comes to sugar and buckwheat,"
deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko. "Panic-buying only destabilizes the
distribution network," she said.
Russia's Central Bank Reopens Bond Trading
Associated Press/March, 21/2022
Russia’s central bank has cautiously reopened bond trading on the Moscow
exchange for the first time since the country invaded Ukraine. The price of
Russia’s ruble-denominated government debt fell Monday, sending borrowing costs
higher. Stock trading has remained closed, with no word on when it might reopen.
The central bank bought bonds to support prices. It has imposed wide-ranging
restrictions on financial transactions to try to stabilize markets and combat
the severe fallout from Western sanctions that have sent the ruble sharply lower
against the U.S. dollar and the euro. Ratings agencies have downgraded Russia’s
bonds to “junk” status. Russia’s finance ministry last week flirted with default
by threatening to pay foreign holders of dollar bonds in massively devalued
rubles before sending the money in dollars. Stocks last traded on Feb. 25, the
day after the invasion started and sent the main stock index sharply lower.
KSA Says Not Responsible for High Oil Prices after Huthi
Attacks
Associated Press/March, 21/2022
Saudi Arabia said on Monday that it "won't bear any responsibility" for a
shortage in global oil supplies after a fierce barrage of attacks by Yemen's
Houthi rebels affected production in the kingdom, the world's largest oil
exporter. The unusually stark warning marked a departure from the giant oil
producer's typically cautious statements, as Saudi officials remain aware that
even their smallest comments can swing the price of oil and rattle global
markets. The statement comes as the kingdom remains lockstep with OPEC and other
oil-producing countries in a deal limiting increases in production and as energy
prices rise higher amid Russia's war on Ukraine. Already, Americans have had to
pay record-breaking prices at the pump for gasoline. The state-run Saudi Press
Agency quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying that "the international community
must assume its responsibility to maintain energy supplies" in order to "stand
against the Houthis."The repeated Houthi attacks will affect "the kingdom's
production capacity and its ability to meet its obligations," the statement
added, threatening the "security and stability of energy supplies to global
markets."Benchmark Brent crude oil stood at over $112 a barrel in trading
Monday. On Sunday, Yemen's rebels launched a series of attacks targeting the
kingdom's oil and natural gas production. The Saudi Energy Ministry had said the
attacks at the Yanbu petrochemicals complex on the Red Sea coast led to a
temporary drop in oil output. The drone and missile strikes ignited a fire at a
tank at a petroleum distribution in the Saudi port city of Jiddah and affected
production at the gas facility in Yanbu. The overall extent of damage at the
installations remained unclear. The Saudi government condemned the attacks as
posing a threat to the security of oil supplies "in these extremely sensitive
circumstances" in the global energy market. The relentless wave of strikes on
Sunday marked one of the most intense Houthi barrages on the kingdom, exposing
Saudi defense vulnerabilities and recalling the dramatic September 2019 attacks
on two key oil installations that knocked out half of Saudi Arabia's total oil
production. The White House sharply condemned the strikes and pledged to support
Saudi Arabia's defense. Late Sunday, a senior administration official confirmed
that the United States has transferred a significant number of Patriot
antimissile interceptors to help Saudi Arabia defend against drone and missile
attacks.
U.S. Official Says Biden Fortified Saudi's Patriot Missile
Supply
Associated Press/March, 21/2022
The U.S. has transferred a significant number of Patriot antimissile
interceptors to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks as the Biden administration looks
to ease what has been a point of tension in the increasingly complicated
U.S.-Saudi relationship. A senior administration official confirmed Sunday night
that the interceptors have been sent to Saudi Arabia. The official, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity to discuss a decision that has not been formally
announced, said the decision was in line with President Joe Biden's promise that
"America will have the backs of our friends in the region." White House national
security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday condemned Houthi forces in Yemen after
they unleashed one of their most intense barrages of drone and missile strikes
on Saudi Arabia's critical energy facilities, sparking a fire at one site and
temporarily cutting oil production at another. The Associated Press reported in
September that the U.S. had moved its own Patriot defense system from Prince
Sultan Air Base outside of Riyadh even as the kingdom faced continued to face
air attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels. The kingdom has insisted that the
interceptors are critical to their defense against Houthi attacks. The Saudis
have been locked in a stalemate war with the Houthis since March 2015. At the
time the U.S. Patriot systems were moved out of the kingdom, administration
officials said the shift in defense capabilities was made in part due to a
desire to face what American officials see as the looming "great powers
conflict" with China and Russia. Pentagon officials noted that the U.S.
maintained tens of thousands of forces and a robust force posture in the Middle
East representing "some of our most advanced air power and maritime
capabilities."The decision to fortify Saudi Arabia's supply of interceptors was
first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The U.S.-Saudi relationship has been
strained since Biden took office. The president has refused to deal directly
with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and has removed the Houthis from a list of
designated terrorist groups. The Biden administration last year released a
declassified intelligence report concluding that the crown prince, son of the
aging King Salman and known as MBS, had authorized the team of Saudi security
and intelligence officials that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October
2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The killing of Khashoggi, a critic of
MBS, drew global condemnation. The crown prince insists he was not involved in
the operation carried out by Saudi operatives. In a recent interview with The
Atlantic, the crown prince was asked whether Biden misunderstands something
about him. He responded, "Simply, I do not care" and that it was up to Biden to
think "about the interests of America" when weighing his dealings with the Saudi
monarchy. The White House dispatched Brett McGurk, the National Security
Council's Middle East coordinator, and the State Department's energy envoy, Amos
Hochstein, to Riyadh last month to talk to Saudi officials about a range of
issues — chief among them the ongoing war in Yemen and global energy
supplies.The Saudis have thus far declined to pump more crude to alleviate a
spike in global oil prices that's been spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
March 21-22/2022
The Revolutionary Guard… Afghanistan 2.0
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 21/2022
We have started seeing leaks in the media that the US administration is
considering removing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps from its foreign
terrorist organization blacklist in return for Iranian assurances of reining in
the IRGC, which, in turn, is also in return for reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.
If the United States actually does remove the IRGC from the foreign terrorist
organization blacklist against the backdrop of the nuclear deal in Vienna, the
step could only be described as a withdrawal from Afghanistan 2.0. Removing the
IRGC from the blacklist now would be a replication of the disappointing US
withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, and our region would then have two dates
to remember as the major turning points that undermined security and stability
in our region.
The first date would be the day a French plane brought Khomeini from France to
Tehran, and the second date would be the day the Biden administration removed
the IRGC from the foreign terrorist organization blacklist. In the event that
this happens, we would be faced with a genuine American screw-up. The step would
be as big a blunder as the management of the Iraq invasion or the glaring
strategic mistake of withdrawing from Afghanistan.
While it is true that the United States wants to withdraw from the region and
free itself up for China, by taking this step, Washington would be granting
China, Russia and Iran unprecedented strength and freedom. How can Washington
announce its hostility to the Russians, devote itself to China, and then give
the IRGC free rein in the region?
If this is not a blunder, what would you call it? By removing the IRGC from the
foreign terrorist organization blacklist, Washington would be granting Iran the
freedom to roam and behave as it likes in the region within an
Iranian-Russian-Chinese alliance. China is the obvious winner from the war in
Ukraine. Russia will be its main ally, and the latter’s most prominent ally at
the moment is the Iranian regime, and so we will see a refortified axis of
resistance, especially amid the sanctions imposed on Russia. The matter doesn’t
end there. By lifting sanctions on the IRGC, the US administration would achieve
former President Barack Obama’s vision for sharing control of the region with
Iran, as explained in his notorious interview with the Atlantic headlined “The
Obama Doctrine.”
Obama said it at the time: “The Saudis have to share control of the region with
their Iranian rivals.” But Saudi Arabia, in total contrast to Iran, does not
want to control but to ensure that they are stable and independent.
The question here is: Would it be tenable, for example, to assert that European
countries should share control of the continent with Russia? Would the current
US administration accept that? Would it even float the idea in the media, let
alone propose it politically?
And so, removing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps from the sanctions list
is akin to a conspiracy against the region as a whole, not a particular country
in our region, especially after the IRGC claimed responsibility for 12 ballistic
missiles launched on Iraq.
Lifting the sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards while Hezbollah ravages
Lebanon and Syria freely, Iranian militias wreak havoc in Iraq, and as Iran
continues to provide the Houthis in Yemen with support, is nothing less than a
crime against our region and those who lost have lost their lives to Iran and
its so-called Revolutionary Guards.
Europe, the ‘Dark Continent,’ Is the Stage for Another
Great Migration
Peter Gatrell/The New York Times/March, 21/2022
Another great migration is underway.
At least two and a half million Ukrainians have fled Russia’s merciless
bombardment to countries across Europe, while roughly another two million have
been internally displaced within Ukraine. It is a tragic upheaval: families have
been split apart, homes abandoned, lives upended. What’s happening is a horror,
a human travesty.Yet the situation, however bleak, is not without precedents. At
the height of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, one million people fled
their homes. By the time the war ended in late 1995, half of the population had
been displaced, many of them internally. Over the course of the 20th century,
Europe — the “dark continent” in Mark Mazower’s memorable phrase — was the stage
for numerous refugee crises.
To the people seeking shelter and security amid a brutal war, that’s of little
comfort. But there’s something significant in the fact that Europe — and the
world — has risen to the challenge of accommodating and protecting great numbers
of refugees before. What’s more, large movements of refugees have spurred the
development of more humane and just approaches to refugee settlement.
In an imperfect world, where at least 82.4 million people were forcibly
displaced by the end of 2020, it’s worth remembering these efforts. In the past,
calamity has often been the crucible of change. And today, in the welcome
extended to Ukrainians across the continent, we might see the glimmers of a
better future.“The word ‘refugee,’” wrote the renowned journalist and war
correspondent Martha Gellhorn, “is drenched in memories.” In Europe, those
memories cast a long shadow, none more so than World War II. And with good
reason: In the war’s aftermath around 10 million ethnic Germans — men, women and
children — were expelled from East-Central Europe. And more than half a million
Ukrainians and at least one million Poles were displaced when the border between
Poland and the Soviet Union was redrawn.
World War I caused similar upheaval. Before, during and after the war, refugees
moved in great numbers across the continent, maybe as many as 15 million during
the war itself. The rapid flight of civilians from the enemy invasion of Belgium
in 1914 and Serbia in 1915, for example, bears comparison with the situation in
today’s Ukraine. The population loss was staggering: Between one-fifth and
one-tenth of their respective populations sought refuge abroad until it was safe
to return.
Nor should we forget the scale and pace of displacement beyond Europe. In South
Asia, the numbers beggar belief. Between 14 and 18 million people were displaced
by the Partition of India. The situation in Punjab was particularly intense:
Eight million refugees fled across the new border separating West Pakistan from
India in the space of three months in late 1947. A couple of decades later, the
war that led to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 displaced around three
million refugees within a matter of weeks.
These historical episodes help us to understand the present. But the numbers
tell only half the story. Alongside some of the great upheavals in the past have
come collective, international responses. In many cases, as with the refugees
fleeing Franco’s Spain during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, these
have been, first and foremost, the provision of emergency humanitarian aid in
the form of food, shelter and temporary settlement. Countries around the world,
including Russia, have contributed to such efforts.
But refugee crises have also led to more durable, institutional solutions. In
fact, it was events in Russia and East-Central Europe that first led politicians
and diplomats to hammer out some formal protections for refugees. The Russian
Revolution and the ensuing civil war prompted the League of Nations to create
the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in 1921, the first
international institution to support refugees.
The arrangements were not universal — they did little or nothing for the victims
of interwar fascism, or for non-European refugees such as Ethiopians who
suffered at the hands of Italy’s occupation in 1935 — but they did represent a
new departure. In interwar Europe, nearly two million Russian and Armenian
refugees were provided with travel documents and an organization to which they
could appeal for recognition and protection of their basic rights.
The aftermath of World War II prompted another institutional innovation, mainly
to support the victims of Nazism who had been forcibly recruited from occupied
Eastern Europe during the war. When in 1946 significant numbers — including
numerous Ukrainians, Poles and Balts — refused to return to their original homes
now firmly under Communist control, the United States, Britain and France
created an International Refugee Organization to protect and assist individuals
who claimed a “well-founded fear of persecution.” Five years later it was
replaced by the U.N.H.C.R. Together with the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which
obliges signatory states not to return refugees to their country of origin
against their will, this remains the cornerstone of international refugee
protection.
It’s far from perfect, of course. For one thing, the convention applies only to
people who have crossed an international frontier, effectively barring the
internally displaced or those who can’t leave their homes from international
legal protection. What’s more, the emphasis on persecution has led to a
prohibitively narrow interpretation of who constitutes a refugee, especially
when compared to the broader provisions of the convention adopted by the
Organization of African Unity in 1969.
In recent years, the architecture of refugee protection has been found severely
wanting. The nearly seven million Syrians fleeing the country’s civil war,
together with close to three million Afghan refugees — not to mention Rohingya
refugees from Myanmar, refugees in Yemen, South Sudan and elsewhere — face
enormous hardship and threats to life. Not only are these people cast adrift
from any substantive institutional help but they also often disappear from the
world’s media, as if they are irredeemably remote.
This time the response has been different. Europe has been overwhelmingly
hospitable to the Ukrainians escaping the war. European Union member states have
agreed to provide them with the right to live and work within the bloc, as well
as access to social welfare and education. This instant recognition is, of
course, deeply welcome. But it’s strikingly more generous protection than is
available to Syrian and other asylum seekers incarcerated in squalid camps in
Greece. Likewise, the warmth extended to Ukrainian refugees contrasts starkly
with the racist hostility experienced at Ukraine’s western borders by Africans
and Asians trying to escape violence. Yet it’s possible to spy in the outpouring
of sympathy for Ukrainians an opportunity to push for better treatment for all
refugees. Can Europe’s leaders, so long at odds over the question of migration,
be persuaded to enlarge their responsibility to safeguard the lives of people
who flee violence, no matter where they come from? Could the current crisis in
Ukraine actually be a catalyst for substantially improving the rights of
refugees around the world?
These might seem like utopian, even naïve, questions. But the history of Europe
suggests otherwise. In dire circumstances, bold and creative thinking has
produced a better, more humane world. It can happen again. Will anyone rise to
the challenge?
Putin Can't Lose
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 21/2022
The world stands in shock at a dangerous juncture it hasn't seen in decades.
This not an exaggeration. The war has returned to Europe by a permanent member
of the UN Security Council.
The images of the Russian war on Ukraine has raised numerous difficult
questions. Will we be confronted with the redrawing of some maps? Will we
witness a coup against the world of the single major power? Are we on the way
towards a new world order? An order with multiple poles, with each pole allowed
to make unilateral moves against the fate of a neighboring country.
Where does China stand in this new world that is born with the sound of
artillery fire and the severing of economic, diplomatic and cultural lines? Are
we confronted with a new heated arms race that preoccupies the world from the
concerns of diseases, climate change and masses of impoverished people, dreaming
of migrating from their miserable broken countries? What will the world reap
from the Ukraine war that has endangered gas pipelines, wheat and supply chains?
A man called Vladimir Putin has dealt a deafening blow to the world that carried
the hallmarks of his predecessor Mikhail Gorbachev and the world that the
victorious United States failed to manage.
We can say that the Ukraine war is more dangerous than all other conflicts
witnessed in the world of the two camps. It is more dangerous than the Korean
War, Vietnam War and the wars that exhausted the Middle East. It is more
dangerous because the world of the two camps had at its disposal the ability to
activate the safety valve that was an agreement between Washington and Moscow to
contain or put out any fire. The world today can't speak of any such safety
valve. The Security Council looks like an aging organization, which is weak and
ineffectual, that has only retained its ability to speak and hand out bandages.
A leader usually goes down in history with his war or for taking a major
decision at a major juncture. History usually leaves a place for those who deal
heavy blows to maps and balances of power and whose victims outnumber their
supporters. The history books judge and re-judge these leaders. These books are
often written by the victors.
The leaders of the Kremlin have an interesting story. They are destined to be
strong leaders. The Soviet Union was born out of the Russian Empire. Moscow
could not coexist with weakness because that would eat away at the empire. Amid
the inevitable power, fear of the West seeped into the Kremlin in the 20th
Century. Peter the Great had traveled to the West in disguise in order to
discover the sources of its strength and use its expertise.
Fear of the West was a constant presence for the czars who succeeded Lenin. The
names of the majority of his successors were tied to major crises and massive
decisions. The "Ukrainian peasant", Nikita Khrushchev was at the helm when the
Hungarian uprising threatened to break away from the Soviet Union. Soviet tanks
advanced on Budapest and the betrayers of the party were taught a lesson they
would never forget. Chance would have it that the Soviet ambassador, Yuri
Andropov, would be present at the Budapest banquet. He would soon lead the KGB
empire and later the Soviet Union. Khrushchev was again at the helm during the
Cuban Missile Crisis that put him in a direct duel with John Kennedy and on
brink of a nuclear confrontation. Putin was ten years old at the time.
Leonid Brezhnev's name would be tied with other major events. In 1968, the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, led by Alexander Dubček, committed the sin of
calling for the establishment of "socialism with a human face". Moscow realized
the danger of change and Brezhnev ordered that the Prague Spring be crushed and
so it was. Brezhnev's name would also be tied to an unwise decision: The Soviet
Union's first intervention outside Eastern Europe. The Red Army marched into
Afghanistan and would only leave it defeated during Gorbachev's term.
Putin emerged in 1990s Russia after a former Soviet leader changed the world. It
was Gorbachev. He opened the window and in came the storm. His name will be tied
to two historic events: The fall of the Berlin Wall and suicide of the Soviet
Union.
During the negotiations over the unification of Germany, he did not try to
obtain pledges from NATO leaders that the alliance would stay clear of Russia.
He made do with oral pledges, which strong players are not in the habit of
respecting. He did not try to secure written pledges because, according to him,
that would mean acknowledging the death of the Warsaw Pact, which was still
alive.
As for his successor, Boris Yeltsin, his name would be tied to Russia's
deepening sense of loss and defeat, especially after it became victim of
history's greatest theft by mafias.
The project of revenge will be born in the military-intelligence backrooms and
carried by Putin to the Kremlin. NATO did not pay attention to the dangers of
humiliating Russia. It moved its weapons towards it borders or close to them. It
ignored the fragmentation taking place in Ukraine over the past two decades.
Kazakhstan is one thing, Ukraine is another. Putin will never forgive Slavic
Ukraine for celebrating jumping off the Soviet train. He will never forgive its
Orange Revolution or its expulsion of its pro-Moscow president. He punished it
for its betrayal. He reclaimed Crimea and supported separatist pockets.
Neither the West, nor Ukraine grasped the messages. Putin dealt his major blow
to the world that treated Russia as a second rate force. And so the current war
is upon us.
The most difficult thing about this war is that its architect cannot retreat
from it. The West believes that his victory would whet his appetite in
reclaiming other "stolen territories". As for him, he's like a very intelligent
man who suddenly gambled everything he has and cannot turn back and lose. He
cannot go back defeated to an isolated Russia even if it means gambling with
expanding the war. His defeat would threaten to tear the Russian Federation
apart.
The world that is worried about gas, grains, security and stability must come up
with a rescue plan. The behavior of the Chinese president implies that the
circumstances for resolving the crisis are not available yet. China's
calculations are very complicated. On the one hand, abandoning Russia is costly,
while fully joining the coup against it would be even more. The master of the
Kremlin cannot lose.
It’s Now Putin’s Plan B in Ukraine vs. Biden’s and
Zelensky’s Plan A
Thomas L. Friedman/The New York Times/March, 21/2022
After a confusing month, it is now clear what strategies are playing out in
Ukraine: We’re watching Vladimir Putin’s plan B versus Joe Biden’s and Volodymyr
Zelensky’s plans A. Let us hope that Biden and Zelensky triumph, because Putin’s
potential plan C is really scary — and I don’t even want to write what I fear
would be his plan D.
I have no secret source in the Kremlin on this, only the experience of having
watched Putin operate in the Middle East over many years. As such, it seems
obvious to me that Putin, having realized that his plan A has failed — his
expectation that the Russian Army would march into Ukraine, decapitate its
“Nazi” leadership and then just wait as the whole country fell peacefully into
Russia’s arms — has shifted to his plan B.
Plan B is that the Russian Army deliberately fires upon Ukrainian civilians,
apartment blocks, hospitals, businesses and even bomb shelters — all of which
has happened in the past few weeks — for the purpose of encouraging Ukrainians
to flee their homes, creating a massive refugee crisis inside Ukraine and, even
more important, a massive refugee crisis inside nearby NATO nations.
Putin, I suspect, is thinking that if he cannot occupy and hold all of Ukraine
by military means and simply impose his peace terms, the next best thing would
be to drive five or 10 million Ukrainian refugees, particularly women, children
and the elderly, into Poland, Hungary and Western Europe — with the purpose of
creating such intense social and economic burdens that these NATO states will
eventually pressure Zelensky to agree to whatever terms Putin is demanding to
stop the war.
Putin probably hopes that although this plan most likely involves committing war
crimes that could leave him and the Russian state permanent pariahs, the need
for Russian oil, gas and wheat — and for Russia’s help in addressing regional
issues like the impending Iran nuclear deal — would soon force the world to go
back to doing business with “Bad Boy Putin” as it always has in the past.
Putin’s plan B seems to be unfolding as planned. The French news agency, Agence
France-Presse, reported from Kyiv on Sunday: “More than 3.3 million refugees
have fled Ukraine since the war began — Europe’s fastest growing refugee crisis
since World War II — the vast majority of them women and children, according to
the UN Another 6.5 million are thought to be displaced inside the country.”
The story went on to say: “In an intelligence update late Saturday, Britain’s
Defense Ministry said Ukraine was continuing to effectively defend its airspace,
forcing Russia to rely on weapons launched from its own airspace. It said Russia
had been forced to ‘change its operational approach and is now pursuing a
strategy of attrition. This is likely to involve the indiscriminate use of
firepower resulting in increased civilian casualties, destruction of Ukrainian
infrastructure, and intensify the humanitarian crisis.’”
Putin’s plan B, though, is running headlong into Biden and Zelensky. Zelensky’s
plan A, which I suspect is playing out even better than he hoped, is to fight
the Russian Army to a draw on the ground, break its will, and force Putin to
agree to Zelensky’s terms for a peace deal — with only minimal face-saving for
the Kremlin leader. For all the barbaric bloodshed and bombings by Russian
forces, Zelensky is — wisely — still keeping one eye on a diplomatic solution,
always pushing for negotiations with Putin while rallying his forces and people.
The Times reported on Sunday that “the war in Ukraine has reached a stalemate
after more than three weeks of fighting, with Russia making only marginal gains
and increasingly targeting civilians, according to analysts and US officials.
‘Ukrainian forces have defeated the initial Russian campaign of this war,’ the
Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research institute, said in
an analysis. Russians do not have the manpower or the equipment to seize Kyiv,
the capital, or other major cities like Kharkiv and Odessa, the study
concluded.”
Biden’s plan A, which he explicitly warned Putin of before the war started in an
effort to deter him, was to impose economic sanctions on Russia the likes of
which have never been imposed before by the West — with the aim of grinding the
Russian economy to a halt. Biden’s strategy — which also involved sending arms
to the Ukrainians to pressure Russia militarily as well — is doing just that. It
is succeeding probably beyond Biden’s expectations because it was amplified by
hundreds of foreign businesses operating in Russia also suspending their
operations there — voluntarily or under pressure from their employees.
Russian factories are now having to shut down because they cannot get microchips
and other raw materials they need from the West; air travel to and around Russia
is being curtailed because many of its commercial planes were actually owned by
Irish leasing companies, and Airbus and Boeing won’t service the ones that
Russia owns outright. Meanwhile, thousands of young Russian tech workers are
voting against the war with their feet, and just leaving the country — all
within only a month of Putin starting this misbegotten war.
“More than half of the goods and services flowing into Russia come from 46 or
more countries that have levied sanctions or trade restrictions, with the United
States and European Union leading the way,’’ The Washington Post reported,
citing the economic research firm Castellum.ai.
The Post story added: “In a televised speech Thursday, a defiant Russian
President Vladimir Putin seemed to acknowledge the country’s challenges. He said
the widespread sanctions would force difficult ‘deep structural changes in our
economy’ but vowed that Russia would overcome ‘the attempts to organize an
economic blitzkrieg.’ Putin added: “It is difficult for us at the moment.
Russian financial companies, major enterprises, small- and medium-sized
businesses are facing unprecedented pressure.”
So, there you have the question of the hour: Will the pressure on NATO countries
from all the refugees that Putin’s war machine is creating — more and more each
day — trump the pressure being created on his stalled army on the ground in
Ukraine and on his economy back home — more and more each day?
The answer to that question should determine when and how this war ends —
whether with a clear winner and loser or, maybe more likely, with some kind
dirty compromise tilted for or against Putin.
I say “maybe” because Putin may feel he cannot tolerate any kind of draw or
dirty compromise. He may feel that anything other than a total victory is a
humiliation that would undermine his authoritarian grip on power. In that case,
he could opt for a plan C — which, I am guessing, would involve air or rocket
attacks on Ukrainian military supply lines across the border in Poland. Poland
is a NATO member, and any attack on its territory would require every other NATO
member to come to Poland’s defense. Putin may believe that if he can force that
issue, and some NATO members balk at defending Poland, NATO could fracture. It
would certainly trigger heated debates inside every NATO country — especially in
the United States — about getting directly involved in a potential World War III
with Russia. No matter what happens in Ukraine, if Putin could splinter NATO,
that would be an achievement that could mask all his other losses. If Putin’s
plans A, B and C all fail, though, I fear that he would be a cornered animal and
he could opt for plan D — launching either chemical weapons or the first nuclear
bomb since Nagasaki. That is a hard sentence to write, and an even worse one to
contemplate. But to ignore it as a possibility would be naïve in the extreme.
بيت هوكسترا معهد كايتستون: من الضرورة بمكان وضع الحوثيون واسلحة إيران الحربية
وحرسها الثوري على قوائم الإرهاب الأميركية
The Houthis, Iran's 'Weapon of War' and Iran's IRGC Must Be on US Terrorist List
Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute/March 21/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/107200/107200/
The Houthis are a dangerous and deadly terrorist group based in Yemen. Recently,
senior Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi went on an antisemitic tirade in
support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine stating, "It is because its President is
Jewish. Any country run by a Jew ends up going to war."
Does the Biden administration find such racist, slanderous statements
acceptable? Will the Biden administration refute it? Or will they passively
accept such slander the same way they passively accepted the Taliban taking over
Afghanistan or Putin invading Ukraine?
The Biden administration would do well to make sure that something comes at a
cost. It is this backwards and hateful way of thinking that underpins the
atrocities being committed by the Houthis in Yemen every day.
The Houthis need to be put back on the List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
immediately -- instead of the US taking Iran's rapacious Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) off it. The IRGC, which just claimed credit for attacking the
Kurds in Erbil, will simply, while the world is looking the other way, take over
Erbil and the rest of Iraq.
"[S]aying that the world's largest terrorist organization is not a terrorist
organization... This is too high a price" for "empty promises from terrorists"
on a nuclear deal, according to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
If the US allows Iran to acquire nuclear weapons capability, you can kiss peace
in the region goodbye. That will be President Joe Biden's legacy.
America's allies in the Middle East -- Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE -- are
raising serious concerns about any new agreement between the U.S. and Iran. They
see that embracing Iran comes from a false hope that it will lead to better
behavior on the part of its regime and terrorist proxies.
Those statements by one of the Houthis' top officials give us a clear insight
into what we can expect from Iran and its proxies. We should take them at their
word.
Let us not make the same mistake the U.S. and Europe made by embracing Russia,
or the mistake made in Asia by embracing China. We must recognize the Islamic
Republic of Iran for the evil it is and redesignate the Houthis, who operate as
a weapon of war for the Iranian regime, as the terrorist organization they are.
The strategy of hope did not work for Russia or China, and it will not work with
Iran.
The Houthis are a dangerous and deadly Iran-backed terrorist group based in
Yemen. We must recognize the Islamic Republic of Iran for the evil it is and
redesignate the Houthis, who operate as a weapon of war for the Iranian regime,
as the terrorist organization they are. Pictured: Houthi gunmen in Sanaa, Yemen
on October 18, 2021.
Too often the West finds itself hoping for and seeing a positive outcome when
reality presents something very different. Think about the West's response to
the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, where we promoted Western values of
openness as a replacement for Communism. Consider the vote by Congress in 2000
to grant China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status, a status I voted
against when in Congress. Reflect on President Barack Obama negotiating the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran in 2015. None of these
major deals has worked the way the West and the United States had expected or
hoped.
Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the West embraced the new Russia. Europe
and the U.S. built strong economic ties with Russia, fueling a growing economy
and funding Russia's military build-up. Europe became reliant on Russian energy,
with Germany, Europe's largest economy, dependent on Russia for up to 40% of its
oil and gas. With construction of Nord Stream 2, Europe's dependency was set to
grow even further, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused its halt. Look at
the results of the West's embrace of Russia.
In 2008, Russia invaded the Republic of Georgia; in 2014 it invaded eastern
Ukraine and seized Crimea; and now in 2022, it invaded the rest of Ukraine.
Russia also conducted radiological and chemical nerve agent attacks against
opponents of Vladimir Putin in the U.K. Instead of reacting with sanctions and
boycotts, the West's response was muted, almost non-existent. For inexplicable
reasons, the West believed these incursions did not cross any meaningful red
lines that would have necessitated a strong response.
The glass the West kept seeing as half-full, despite all evidence to the
contrary, was completely empty. Today the people of Ukraine are paying the
horrendous price of the West's unwillingness to see and respond to the evil
reality of Russia and Putin. Today, Ukraine faces the indiscriminate bombing of
its cities by the Russians; the Russian military is targeting civilians and even
shelters marked with the word "children" in Russian. The reality is a calamity
of unprecedented proportions not seen in Europe since WWII.
When Congress passed PNTR for China, the hope was that China would enter the
rules-based system of global trade. Markets would open to China and China's
market would open to the rest of the world. The reality ended up being extremely
different.
China's trade practices are one-sided. Markets opened to China, but the Chinese
market remains an incredibly restricted opportunity for its trading partners.
China does not play by the rules of free trade, and it engages in intellectual
property theft and other unfair trade practices. As a result, it has developed
huge trade surpluses with the West, and the world has become dependent on China
as a linchpin in global supply chains.
With the outbreak of a deadly pandemic, China was not transparent with what it
knew and when it knew it. This resulted in untold thousands of unnecessary
global deaths. It used its dominant position in the production of medical
personal protective equipment to both hoard supplies and as a weapon of
political influence. It has used the prosperity brought about by its massive
trade surpluses to fuel an arms buildup. Meanwhile, it has crushed freedom in
Honk Kong, menaces Taiwan, and most significantly, it is engaging in genocide
against a minority within its borders, the Uyghurs.
Even as China's behavior did not meet the West's expectations after 2000, the
West did not change how it treated China. The half-full glass that the West saw
for 20 years should now also be recognized as just another empty glass. The
Chinese Communist Party is committed to destroying the West and our way of life.
While we still have time to act, we must ensure the U.S. and West do not repeat
the same mistake with Iran. After the JCPOA was signed in 2015, Iran continued
to run a covert nuclear weapons program, develop its ballistic missile
capabilities, and fund regional terrorism in hopes of destabilizing its
neighbors. Among the terrorist groups funded by Iran are the Houthis, who
continue to launch attacks targeted at civilians in Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates.
The Houthis are a dangerous and deadly terrorist group based in Yemen. Recently,
senior Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi went on an antisemitic tirade in
support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine stating, "It is because its President is
Jewish. Any country run by a Jew ends up going to war."
Does the Biden administration find such racist, slanderous statements
acceptable? Will the Biden administration refute them? Or will they passively
accept them the way they passively accepted the Taliban taking over Afghanistan
or Putin invading Ukraine?
The Biden administration would do well to make sure that something comes at a
cost. It is this backwards and hateful way of thinking that underpins the
atrocities being committed by the Houthis in Yemen every day.
The Houthis need to be put back on the List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
immediately -- instead of the US taking Iran's rapacious Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) off it. The IRGC, which just claimed credit for attacking the
Kurds in Erbil, will, while the world is looking the other way, simply take over
Erbil and the rest of Iraq.
"[S]aying that the world's largest terrorist organization is not a terrorist
organization... This is too high a price" for "empty promises from terrorists"
on a nuclear deal, according to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
If the US allows Iran to acquire nuclear weapons capability, you can kiss peace
in the region goodbye. That will be President Joe Biden's legacy.
With Russia and China, it was the U.S. and our allies who embraced the false
hope for a new era of prosperity and peace. It did not turn out that way.
America's allies in the Middle East -- Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE -- are
raising serious concerns about any new agreement between the U.S. and Iran. They
see that embracing Iran comes from a false hope that it will lead to better
behavior on the part of its regime and terrorist proxies.
Biden and his team need to put away the rose-colored glasses with which they
keep looking at Iran, and see the empty glass set before them. Those statements
by one of the Houthis' top officials give us a clear insight into what we can
expect from Iran and its proxies. We should take them at their word.
Let us not make the same mistake the U.S. and Europe made by embracing Russia,
or the mistake made in Asia by embracing China. We must recognize the Islamic
Republic of Iran for the evil it is and redesignate the Houthis, who operate as
a weapon of war for the Iranian regime, as the terrorist organization they are.
The strategy of hope did not work for Russia or China, and it will not work with
Iran.
*Peter Hoekstra was US Ambassador to the Netherlands during the Trump
administration. He served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives
representing the second district of Michigan and served as Chairman and Ranking
member of the House Intelligence Committee. He is currently Chairman of the
Center for Security Policy Board of Advisors, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow
at the Gatestone Institute.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.