English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 19/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.october19.21.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Parable Of The The Widow & The judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people
Luke 18/01-08: “Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 18-19/2021
Hezbollah Latest Devious Ploy is a war Against Lebanon & The Lebanese/Elias Bejjani/October 17/2021
Nasrallah to LF: Be Polite because Hizbullah Has 100,000 Fighters
Hezbollah’s Nasrallah says Beirut violence was a dangerous event
Nasrallah: Lebanese Forces real agenda is civil war, Hezbollah has 100,000 fighters
Defense minister : ‘Unfortunate incident, not ambush’ caused Beirut protest violence
Hezbollah Vows to Hold Lebanese Forces Accountable for Last Week’s Clashes
Miqati Won't 'Resign', Says Cabinet Won't Meet before 'Finding Solution'
Daryan Condemns Tayyouneh Clashes, Warns against Port Case Politicization
Army: Israel Expects 2,000 Rockets a Day in Any War with Hezbollah
Lebanon: Daryan Says Latest Clashes Remind of Civil War Onset
A disintegrating myth/Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/October 18/2021
Beirut violence shows the Taif Agreement is dead/Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/October 19, 2021
Living with the Elephant in the Room/Sam Menassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/October, 18/2021
Où sont-ils disparus ces obsédés d’élections?/Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 18/2021
Nom et prénom: Berry Nabih./Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 18/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 18-19/2021
Report: Israel not yet ready to attack Iran
Colin Powell, military leader and first Black US secretary of state, dies
Former President Bill Clinton released from hospital
Libya’s feuds spills over to US as Dbeibah backs prosecution of Haftar in Virginia case
Syrian government, opposition agree on drafting constitution
F-16s consolation prize to Turkey after ouster from F-35 programme
Foreign Ministers of US, India, UAE, Israel to Meet on Monday
Sisi Pledges to Improve Religious Rhetoric
1,200 People Poisoned from Drinking Polluted Water in Damascus Countryside
4 Dead, 19 Missing in Tunisia Migrant Boat Shipwreck
Sadr Says May Form Iraq Govt that Is Open to US
Losing Powers in Iraq Elections to Stage Street Protests
US Slams Houthis over Disregard for Civilian Protection, Humanitarian Access in Yemen’s Abdiya

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 18-19/2021
The Jihadist Genocide of Christians in Nigeria Intensifies/Raymond/Gatestone Institute/October 18/2021
A Sinking Ship of State Drowns Everyone/Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone Institute./October 18, 2021
Sanctions campaign against Iran has proven its effectiveness/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/October 19, 2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 18-19/2021
Hezbollah Latest Devious Ploy is a war Against Lebanon & The Lebanese
Elias Bejjani/October 17/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/103432/elias-bejjani-hezbollah-latest-devious-ploy-is-a-war-against-lebanon-the-lebanese/
The terrorist Hezbollah evilly and boldly has declared an armed and psychological Jihad war of intimidation, exudes, humiliation, and domestication, against the Christians in occupied Lebanon, and through them, against all the peaceful, free and brave Lebanese from all religious denominations, foremost the Shiites who are refusing and resisting its barbaric Persian hegemony and occupation.
All patriotic Lebanese from all denominations and walk of life are now cornered and have no option, but to confront Hezbollah’s challenges with force, the only language that its Iranian Leadership understands.
This force confrontation with the terrorist Iranian militant proxy, Hezbollah is supposed to be the sole duty and obligation of the Lebanese Army.
Hopefully the army will execute its duties and save Lebanon and its people.
Long Live Free Lebanon

Nasrallah to LF: Be Polite because Hizbullah Has 100,000 Fighters
Naharnet/October 19, 2021
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday reassured Lebanon’s Christians that his group is not a “threat” to them, as he accused the rival Lebanese Forces party of seeking civil war and warned it that Hizbullah has “100,000 trained and armed fighters.” “A certain party and leader want residents in Ain al-Remmaneh, Hadath and Furn el-Chebbak to fear their neighbors in Dahiyeh,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech, commenting on Thursday’s deadly clashes in Tayyouneh. “The latest incidents were important, dangerous and very different than similar incidents that might have recently happened,” Nasrallah added, noting that “the objective behind stirring these fears is for this party to present itself as the main defender of Christians.”“Over the past years, the Lebanese Forces party started inventing an enemy in Lebanon… Although Thursday's martyrs belonged to Hizbullah and Amal Movement, the LF leader focused on Hizbullah,” Nasrallah said. He alleged that “there is a combatant militia for the LF party that is being armed and organized” and that “the real program for the Lebanese Forces is civil war, in order to confine Christians demographically in a certain area.”
“All proofs confirm that the LF party was behind killing the Tayyouneh martyrs,” he said.
Commenting on LF leader Samir Geagea’s latest interview, Nasrallah said that the "Christian mini May 7" phrase “condemns Geagea and the LF no matter how it is interpreted.”“Everything that they said contained full endorsement of the massacre,” he added. Five Hizbullah and Amal Movement members, a woman and a delivery worker were killed and dozens of people were injured in Thursday's fierce clashes in the Tayyouneh-Ain al-Remmaneh area. Hizbullah and Amal have accused the LF party of "deploying snipers on rooftops" and opening fire on "peaceful protesters." The Lebanese Forces has meanwhile denied using snipers while noting that it was Ain al-Remmaneh’s residents who "defended themselves" in the face of an "invasion" by the supporters of the two groups. Geagea also said that one of the protesters opened fire from a handgun, injuring four people, before any shots were fired from Ain al-Remmaneh.
Reassuring that “Hizbullah, Amal Movement and Shiite Muslims in Lebanon are not enemies of the Christians” and that their “decision” is “coexistence,” Hizbullah’s leader charged that “the biggest threat to Christian presence in Lebanon is the Lebanese Forces party.”
Accusing the LF of providing “a cover for takfiris in Lebanon and Syria” during earlier years of the Syrian conflict, Nasrallah reminded that Hizbullah had “defended Christians and Muslims in Baalbek-Hermel.”
“Wherever the LF party becomes present, a war breaks out and Christians get displaced,” he charged, reminding of several civil war battles.
“I advise the LF and its leader to abandon the idea of civil war and internal strife forever,” Nasrallah added, telling Geagea that he is “making wrong calculations” as he “has always done.”
“You are mistaken about Hizbullah's status in the region… You are very mistaken by saying that Hizbullah is weaker than the Palestine Liberation Organization,” Nasrallah went on to say, claiming that Geagea had said that in a meeting with former allies in which he encouraged them to fight Hizbullah alongside the LF. Noting that Hizbullah has supporters, various departments and allies, Nasrallah warned Geagea that the Iran-backed group also has “100,000 trained and armed fighters.” “Do not make wrong calculations. Sit still, be polite and draw lessons from your wars and our wars,” he added, addressing Geagea and the LF.Nasrallah also said that Hizbullah wants “a serious and quick probe” into the Tayyouneh incidents. “We will not abandon the blood of our brothers and sisters,” he vowed. Turning to the issue of the Beirut port blast investigations, Nasrallah said that Hizbullah is “very, very keen on knowing the truth.”
“When the course of justice gets deviated and turns into selectivity and political targeting, we do not have the right to remain silent,” he said. “A false witness appeared on a known TV and the judge added his remarks to the file and we knew that a file is being fabricated against us,” Nasrallah added, referring to Imad Kishli, who said on MTV that he had twice transported ammonium nitrate from Beirut port to south Lebanon. Nasrallah noted that the man’s family knows that he is mentally disturbed. He also ridiculed the claims by reiterating that Hizbullah has its own “trucks, men and warehouses” across Lebanon.
“Is our demand for the change of a judge intimidation while the U.S. threat is not intimidation?” Hizbullah’s leader wondered. He also charged that “those who bear the biggest responsibility for the port bombing are the judges who authorized the nitrates to enter the port.”

Hezbollah’s Nasrallah says Beirut violence was a dangerous event
Reuters/October 19, 2021
BEIRUT: The leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah said on Monday that last week’s Beirut violence in which seven Shiite Muslims were shot dead was a dangerous development and marked a new phase in the country’s internal politics.
In his first remarks since the worst street violence in over a decade, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah lashed out at the Christian Lebanese Forces party and its head Samir Geagea, repeating accusations that they were responsible for the killings on Thursday. “The real agenda of the Lebanese forces is civil war,” Nasrallah said in a live televised speech. Heavy gunfire erupted in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiya, a Hezbollah stronghold, to celebrate the start of Nasrallah’s speech, which came amid tensions over the investigation of last year’s devastating explosion at the capital’s port. Nasrallah said Hezbollah was not the enemy of Lebanese Christians. “The biggest threat to the Christian presence in Lebanon is the Lebanese Forces party and its head,” Nasrallah said. The bloodshed, which stirred memories of the 1975-1990 civil war, added to fears for the stability of a country that is awash with weapons and suffering an economic meltdown. The Lebanese Forces party (LF) has denied it started the fighting last week. It blamed the violence on Hezbollah “incitement” against Tarek Bitar, the lead investigator in an investigation into the port explosion.

Nasrallah: Lebanese Forces real agenda is civil war, Hezbollah has 100,000 fighters
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/18 October ,2021
Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah accused on Monday the Lebanese Forces party of seeking to ignite a “civil war” in the country after last Thursday’s violence. “The real agenda of the Lebanese Forces party is the civil war because it leads to the displacements of Christians and confines them to a certain area, and thus the establishment of a Christian canton dominated by the Forces party where there is no room for anyone else,” Nasrallah said in his first remarks since the bloody street violence. Nasrallah stressed that his Iran-backed militia has never been stronger and added that it has 100,000 “trained and armed” fighters armed with weapons at its disposal. This was the first time Nasrallah disclosed the size of his militia. “I advise the Lebanese Forces party to give up this idea of internal strife and civil war. You are wrong one hundred percent, your calculations are wrong. The region has never seen Hezbollah as strong as it is now,” he said. He also demanded an investigation into the events of last Thursday to hold those responsible accountable for their actions, adding that Hezbollah would take action if the judiciary did not. Tensions over the investigation into the Beirut blast ignited street violence which led to seven deaths, all of whom were Shia. They were killed in what the powerful Shia militia Hezbollah called an ambush by the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party led by Samir Geagea. The Lebanese Forces denied the accusation and pointed the finger of blame at Hezbollah for provoking trouble by sending supporters into the Christian neighborhood of Ain al-Remmaneh where it says four residents were wounded before a shot was fired. The street violence, the worst in over a decade, began as supporters of Hezbollah and its Shia ally, Amal, began gathering for a protest to demand the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar, who is investigating the blast that killed more than 200 people. Nasrallah said Hezbollah was not the enemy of Christians in Lebanon, and added: “The biggest threat for the Christian presence in Lebanon is the Lebanese Forces party and its head.”“Christians in Lebanon, everyone who wants to present you the Shia and Muslims as an enemy, that is injustice, slander and a huge mine in the country,” Nasrallah said.With Reuters

Defense minister : ‘Unfortunate incident, not ambush’ caused Beirut protest violence
Najia Houssari/Arab News/October 19, 2021
BEIRUT: The bloody gun battles that took place last week in the streets of Beirut were caused by an “unfortunate incident, not an ambush,” the country’s Defense Minister Maurice Selim said Monday. Last Thursday’s clashes killed seven people and wounded 32, after a protest against the judge leading the investigation into the Beirut Port explosion turned violent. Supporters of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, who want Judge Tarek Bitar removed from the case, carried out the protest. Hezbollah has accused the Lebanese Forces party, which backs Bitar, of firing on the people at the protest.
But Selim told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation: “The demonstration deviated from its course and clashes broke out. The circumstances of what happened remain to be determined by the ongoing investigation, which relies on facts and evidence to hold those responsible accountable.”
The site of the armed clashes was between the Shiite-dominated neighborhood of Shiyah and the Christian neighborhood of Ain Al-Rummaneh, with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades used. Security footage at one of the entrances to the Ain Al-Rummaneh neighborhood went viral, upending claims about demonstrators being subjected to deliberate sniper fire from the rooftops of residential buildings.
The footage showed a member of the Lebanese army shooting at a person who insisted on bypassing the military checkpoint and entering Ain Al-Rummaneh. There was chaos when this person was shot down. People threw stones and there was an exchange of fire.
Army command said: “The soldier who fired the shots is under arrest and is being investigated by the competent judiciary.”So far, 20 people from both sides of the violence have been arrested.Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan accused the Lebanese Forces of “committing a massacre” against peaceful demonstrators, despite the video showing a soldier shooting at them. “Hezbollah believes the criminal and killer to be the Lebanese Forces. But the resistance, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement will not be drawn into a civil war, as they are aware of this malicious conspiracy implemented by the Lebanese Forces,” he added. The incident has turned into a political as well as judicial dilemma.
Ministers from Hezbollah and the Amal Movement are abstaining from Cabinet sessions until Bitar is taken off the probe and until “the perpetrators and those involved in the Tayyouneh incident, the gunmen, snipers, their operators, their commanders, their chiefs, and everyone who has anything to do with this matter are brought to justice,” Hajj Hassan said. Lebanon’s administration has been inoperative since last Friday. Friday was a national day of mourning, followed by the weekend. All institutions will resume their work on Tuesday including parliament, which is holding a plenary session and restoring the immunity of MPs, especially those that Bitar had called for questioning. MP Qassem Hashem, from the Development and Liberation bloc, denied news about an expedited draft law to establish an exceptional judicial body whose jurisdiction would look into the decisions, procedures and arrests carried out by Bitar, with the exception of the indictment he issued to reach the public trials before the Judicial Council. “This matter contradicts the constitutional principles that we are keen to abide by. The draft law needs a constitutional amendment and this is not on the table,” Hashem said. President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati have insisted on the independence of the judiciary and have called for non-interference in judicial affairs. It is not within the power of the Supreme Judicial Council to dismiss Bitar or to force him to take a certain course in the investigation.
However, Bitar’s course of investigation is still subject to pressure.
On Monday, Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian expressed his fear over coexistence, the National Accord Document, and the constitution.
“We should adhere to justice, but according to a clear path so that people are not divided over justice, as well as over politics” he said and warned of this “suicidal path” which everyone was “enthusiastically” jumping at.  He called it an atmosphere that reminded people of the beginning of the civil war. “Every sane Lebanese should refrain from engaging in suicidal actions, and insist on the constitution, coexistence, and civil peace. Fighting in the street is forbidden, whatever the reason. Solutions can be reached through peaceful means, not by using uncontrolled weapons in the streets, especially in the capital, killing people and violating their sanctities.” On Sunday, Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai said that harming national peace and neighborliness was unacceptable, regardless of its source. “We refuse to go back to arbitrary accusations, sectarian mobilization, attempts to isolate, compromise settlements, fabricate files against this group or that, choose scapegoats, and replace justice with revenge.”He stressed the need to abide by the law and the judiciary, and avoid political, sectarian and partisan interference. “We need to respect the judiciary’s independence and let it correct what must be corrected by its judicial methods.”Al-Rai called on the Cabinet to convene, as every minister should respect judicial authority, and exercise their responsibility in the name of the Lebanese people, not in the “name of influential figures.”“Force does not frighten the believers in Lebanon. There is no weak party in Lebanon. We are all strong by our right to exist freely and our loyalty to the homeland without any interference.”

Hezbollah Vows to Hold Lebanese Forces Accountable for Last Week’s Clashes
Beirut - Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
Hezbollah officials have continued to hold the Lebanese Forces responsible for last week’s clashes in Beirut’s Tayyouneh area that left seven people dead and dozens wounded. The LF, headed by Samir Geagea, has denied its involvement. Head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad vowed on Sunday that the LF will be held accountable for the unrest. Raad spoke of “LF deceit that was behind Thursday’s massacre,” vowing that they will be held to account. “We will not be dragged towards civil war,” he stressed, however. “We will not threaten civil peace, but will not allow this blood to be shed in vain.”The state, he urged, must investigate the unrest and hold the perpetrators accountable. “We will wait and see what the state does, but we will not forget the innocent blood of our people,” he added. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is set to deliver a speech on Monday that will likely tackle last week’s violence that erupted when party supporters and their allies in the Amal movement were staging a protest against Judge Tarek Bitar, who is probing last year’s cataclysmic Beirut port explosion. The judge has sought to question a number of senior politicians and security officials, including Hezbollah allies, suspected of negligence that led to the port explosion, which caused by a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate. All have denied wrongdoing. Thursday’s protesters were demanding Bitar’s removal from the case. The LF condemned Thursday’s events and blamed the violence on Hezbollah’s “incitement” against Bitar. LF MP Fadi Saad told Asharq Al-Awsat that the confrontation between his party and Hezbollah revolves around their opposite visions for Lebanon.
The LF, he explained, believes in the country’s freedom, sovereignty and independence, while Hezbollah is following an Iranian agenda. “We do not want a return of the dark [civil war] days, knowing that we were the first group to hand over our weapons and support the Taif Accords. Meanwhile, Hezbollah acts as though it is the supreme guide of Lebanon. We do not want Lebanon to turn into another Syria or Yemen,” stressed the MP. Asked whether the LF possesses weapons to retaliate to Hezbollah should the confrontation turn violent, he replied: “We are not an organized armed group. We are an organized party. However, if Hezbollah or another party chooses to violate our dignity, then they will not like our response.” “Hezbollah is dealt a setback whenever it thinks of using its weapons inside Lebanon and it is drawing closer to its end as an armed group. The developments in Tayyouneh are best evidence of that. They are blaming all sides while they should be the ones held to account because they were the ones who incited and called for the protest,” said Saad. Pro-Hezbollah political analyst Kassem Kassir ruled out the possibility of a military confrontation erupting between the rival parties, while still acknowledging the tensions in the country. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hezbollah may file a complaint against the LF and Geagea and demand that the case be referred to the judicial council. The confrontation will be limited to the political, media, popular and judicial arenas. He said Nasrallah’s speech will outline how the confrontation will next unfold. On Sunday, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah slammed the clashes as “criminal aggression.”He accused the aggressors of committing a “bloody massacre that will have major implications.”“We know how to defend our blood,” he warned, accusing the LF of seeking to drag Lebanon towards civil war. Moreover, he raised questions over the role of the security forces on Thursday. “Why is it when we place our security in the hands of official security forces, we have martyrs fall on the streets?” he wondered. “This is a legitimate question, one that we will follow up on with the security agencies.”He urged the security forces to act fast to arrest the suspects because the people are angry and want justice.

Miqati Won't 'Resign', Says Cabinet Won't Meet before 'Finding Solution'
Naharnet/Monday, 18 October, 2021
Prime Minister Najib Miqati has noted that he does not intend to resign and that Cabinet will not convene before a solution is found for the dispute over Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar. “The security situation is stable and there are no fears,” Miqati said in an interview, referring to the deadly Tayyouneh clashes. “But, politically, I won’t call for a Cabinet session before finding a solution to the problem and I don’t want to provoke any party,” he added. Asked about a possible solution to the judicial dilemma, Miqati said: “I won’t interfere in the work of the judiciary… The judiciary must fix itself by itself and there are laws and a constitution that cannot be bypassed.”The premier also noted that the Higher Judicial Council “does not have the right” to ask Bitar to step down, noting that the issue needs time to be resolved. Asked about the meeting he held with the Justice Minister and the head of the Higher Judicial Council, Miqati said he was briefed by them on the course of the investigations into Thursday’s incidents while telling them that he “will not interfere in Bitar’s work.”Commenting on the Tayyouneh clashes, Miqati said: “What happened happened and it must be addressed and the solution is political. As long as I’m present, I will not allow injustice against any party and Lebanon is the country of balances which should be respected by everyone.” Asked whether he might step down as premier, Miqati said: “This is not on the table and the country can’t be abandoned in these circumstances. Vacuum should not engulf all authorities and we have essential and clear missions: devising an economic reform plan and holding the parliamentary elections, and I’m committed to these two missions.”

Daryan Condemns Tayyouneh Clashes, Warns against Port Case Politicization
Naharnet/Monday, 18 October, 2021
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan condemned Monday the Tayyouneh clashes, describing what happened as “disgraceful.”“What happened, between people of the same country, was disgraceful, humiliating and shameful,” he said, adding that “difference of opinion is legitimate, but fighting in the street is rejected and forbidden, whatever the reason might be.”“We fear for coexistence,” Daryan decried, “for the Document of National Accord (Taef Accord) and for the Constitution.”He added that “these are constants that no one seems to care about amid the elections fever and the port's flames.”“Who said that we do not care about justice?” Daryan asked. “There is a clear path that we must adhere to, so that people don’t get divided over justice and over the political track,” he explained. Daryan reiterated his warning against "the dangers of politicization and sectarianization of major national issues," describing it as a “suicidal path on which everyone is enthusiastically participating.”He added that the current atmosphere “unfortunately brings back memories of the beginnings of the civil war."

Army: Israel Expects 2,000 Rockets a Day in Any War with Hezbollah
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
Israel does not want war with Lebanon's Hezbollah but is prepared to face about 2,000 rockets a day from the armed group if conflict breaks out, a senior Israeli military official told AFP. In May this year, the Israeli army fought an 11-day war against Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip, who fired around 4,400 projectiles towards the Jewish state. Israel says its Iron Dome defense system, which has been in use for around a decade, intercepted around 90 percent of the rockets headed for populated areas, while just under 300 hit inhabited districts. The rate of fire surpassed that seen in Israel's 2006 war against Hezbollah, when a similar number of rockets were launched from Lebanon -- but over the course of around a month -- the Israeli army said. In May, cities like Tel Aviv and Ashdod experienced the "highest number of fire towards them in the history of Israel", said Uri Gordin, chief of the army's Home Front Command. "We saw a pace of more than 400 rockets fired towards Israel on a daily basis." He said that in the case of "conflict or a war with Hezbollah, we expect more than five times the number of rockets fired every day from Lebanon to Israel". "Basically we are looking between 1,500 and 2,500 rockets fired daily towards Israel," he told AFP. Set up in 1992 after the first Gulf War, Gordin's Home Front Command is in charge of civil defense, meaning it is responsible for readying the country in case of threat, conflict or disaster. The unit was criticized for its response to the 2006 war with Hezbollah, which killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, the majority of them soldiers.
That war was a "wake-up call" for the Home Front Command, Gordin said, adding that it had since beefed up its liaison units, which are now active across 250 Israeli municipalities to provide assistance in case of any attack. The Home Front Command uses computer projections to predict a rocket's trajectory after it has been launched, and advises the public, within a specific range, to head to bomb shelters. During the Gaza conflict in May, this allowed emergency services to "go to every incident within less than five minutes", Gordin said from the control room of the unit's headquarters in Ramla, near Tel Aviv. He said preparations had been made for any incidents on the border with Lebanon. An Israeli security source said the Israel army hoped for "stability" in its northern neighbor, which is mired in a crippling economic crisis and on Thursday saw deadly sectarian clashes in the capital Beirut that left seven dead, including Hezbollah members. Iran-backed Hezbollah was "the source of instability in Lebanon", the security source said, adding that the group "exploits the state's resources for Iranian interests". Iran is "closer to creating fissile material for nuclear weapons than they ever were in the past" but would still need two years to obtain a bomb, the source said, echoing a timeframe cited by other Israeli officials. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes. "We are preparing for all options and scenarios, including military capabilities," the security source said. Israel has been staunchly opposed to the revival of a nuclear deal agreed between Tehran and world powers in 2015. The agreement has been on life support since then president Donald Trump withdrew the US in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions. But Israel could accommodate a new deal if it ensured Tehran would never obtain a nuclear bomb, some Israeli officials have suggested recently, as top Israeli ally the US seeks to push Iran back to the negotiating table after months of suspended talks. However, US President Joe Biden's administration also hinted on Wednesday that it could resort to force if diplomacy fails, rallying more closely than ever behind Israel warnings on the possibility of military action.

Lebanon: Daryan Says Latest Clashes Remind of Civil War Onset
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan described the latest deadly clashes in Beirut’s Tayyouneh area as “humiliating and shameful.”The Mufti likened the incidents, which left six dead and several others wounded, to the flicker that ignited Lebanon’s civil war.
“The suicidal path, which everyone is enthusiastically approaching, is an atmosphere reminiscent of the beginnings of the civil war,” the National News Agency quoted Daryan as saying. He categorically rejected all forms of violence and armed fighting, saying it was “legitimate to express differences in opinion in a peaceful manner away from street fighting and killing people.”“Armed fighting only ignites strife and sectarianism, which we allow no one to awaken,” he said, according to the German news agency (dpa). Warning against the repercussions of politicizing major national issues, he said the “Lebanese must stress adherence to the constitution and civil peace.”Last week, clashes erupted in Tayyouneh between Hezbollah supporters and their allies in the Amal movement one one side, and LF supporters on the other during a protest against Judge Tarek Bitar. Bitar, the lead investigator into Beirut's 2020 port explosion, has sought to question a number of senior politicians and security officials, including Hezbollah allies, suspected of negligence that led to the port explosion, which was caused by a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate. All have denied wrongdoing.

A disintegrating myth
Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/October 18/2021
Hezbollah may be working hard to pin the October 14 clashes solely on the Lebanese Forces, but the Party of God may have lost more than it’s ready to admit – the legend of its glory.
Still, Hezbollah remains the biggest problem.
Imagine Thursday’s events the other way around: hundreds of boys bussed by Lebanese political party X (regardless of sect) to Dahiyeh to ask for an official’s dismissal. An obviously organized event, burning Iranian flags and pictures of the Iranian ambassador. Or maybe just putting up a banner with “End the Iranian occupation”. They don’t even have to start throwing rocks and smashing shop windows. The problem with that scenario is that everyone knows it would be a suicide mission. It’s already a generalized idea that stepping into Hezbollah territory even with a camera may get you in trouble. For many years, that may have been Hezbollah’s victory over Lebanon. A sort of negative soft power: the fear that if anyone moves, Hezbollah would crush them. It may have seemed on Thursday, October 14, that the group’s strategy was to reinforce that fear and intimidate opponents. It may have seemed to many, from afar, on Thursday that Hezbollah and Amal supporters were under attack at a protest. In fact, they were surprised and enraged by the fact that someone, it doesn’t even matter who, actually fought back. There was nothing glorious or dignified in Thursday’s clashes. It was sheer testosterone, flexing muscles and weapons. Beirut’s streets were filled with thugs, not soldiers.
The provocation
Hezbollah and Amal supporters did not take to the streets out of the conviction that the Beirut blast investigation was politicized. They wouldn’t have mobilized by themselves in defense of MPs Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter. It was a political decision of the polit-bureaus to bring people to an organized rally. The supporters weren’t exactly coerced either. Hezbollah and Amal, like all Lebanese sectarian factions, control social networks and build on the excitement of young men to be part of a cohesive group doing things together. Nothing works better than the impression that you’re in a brotherhood, that you’re “one of us” fighting against “them”. Hezbollah may be an Iran-backed Shiite Islamist organization, but it is also a faction that had to build on the Lebanese political fabric in order to survive, become part of the system, and eventually dominate it. It has negotiated its political space in Lebanon by using its weapons and strengthened it by building on the social fabric of its community. It created a culture of “warrior brotherhood” and planted the dream of the warrior in teenagers’ minds. It was a centralized strategy, the result of a long-term education policy to shape generations of followers. Every authoritarian regime’s dream.
Armed and loose on the streets
Only 19 people were arrested so far in relation to the clashes on October 14, although there were hundreds of young men marching on the streets of Beirut carrying heavy weapons. Hundreds of gunmen marched through the streets of Beirut brandishing their RPG launchers and their ammunition vests, feeling cool and empowered. They filmed themselves, they had fun shooting at walls, friends calmly having a smoke and watching the show. It was like a real-life video-game, wasn’t it? Yes, whoever shot at the protesters, even if the protesters were violent and threw the rocks first, should be arrested and charged with murder. It is murder, even if the guy killed was carrying an RPG with confidence and was ready to fire. No one is arguing with that. Innocent people died. The snipers were not defending the Beirut blast probe, they were defending their fief.
The problem is that Hezbollah’s people do not go to jail regardless of what they do. The Lebanese Forces lost some credibility after Thursday’s clashes, no doubt. But it will take much less for LF to recover politically after the clashes, than it will take Hezbollah to rebuild the myth of the Resistance.
Samir Geagea did not resist investigations and law enforcement and he answered questions. Nor did the arrested snipers in Ain el-Remmaneh fight the army when they came in to arrest them.
Hundreds of its fighters fired at inhabited buildings with heavy weapons, chanting sectarian slogans, destroyed within a few hours all the efforts the Party of God’s polit-bureau had put in for years.
The problem is that Hezbollah’s people do not go to jail regardless of what they do. The clashes in Khaldeh in July between Hezbollah and Sunni Arab tribesmen happened because one man decided to take matters into his own hands and kill the Hezbollah member who had killed his brother two years before. Nothing had happened to the killer in all that time because he was “protected”. This was not a politically motivated murder, no one politicized it, the US embassy did not interfere. It was a petty murder. Yet, no one arrested the Hezbollah member and, two years later, it led to armed clashes. That’s what impunity does.
The threat of weapons vs the use of weapons
Hezbollah’s weapons were always more effective as a threat than as actual tools in battle. They were quite successful as a threat, both domestically and regionally. That threat allowed it to negotiate its political role and become part of the government. After Thursday’s clashes, when its militia was marching on the streets like it was its national day, Hezbollah has lost that mythical Resistance aura it worked so much on for so many years. That constant threat helped Hezbollah turn into a regional force. No one in the world talks about Lebanon’s fate without talking about Hezbollah. Because of that threat, political forces in the Lebanese Parliament classify into allies of Hezbollah and enemies of Hezbollah. Hezbollah shapes the political narrative in Lebanon and somewhat regionally. But when Hezbollah sent gunmen on the streets of the Lebanese capital, in May 2008, to fight other Lebanese, back then it was the Future Movement supporters, the party’s propaganda machine had to work for years at reshaping public opinion, recalibrating public image and re-building the myth of Resistance that defends the country. After Thursday’s clashes, when its militia was marching on the streets like it was its national day, Hezbollah has lost that mythical Resistance aura it worked so much on for so many years. The war in Syria was hard to justify, but war inside Lebanon against other Lebanese, hurting other Lebanese, is not justifiable. That is why the only defense the group has is to point at the Lebanese Forces and say “they shot first” instead of sharing the responsibility.
Intimidation
The spokesman of the August 4 explosion victim’s families, Ibrahim Hoteit, released a video in the middle of the night on Friday, asking judge Tarek Bitar to resign. It came hours after he declared his devoted support for the investigator in the aftermath of the clashes. On Saturday he told AFP that he resigned from his post and that he was never intimidated. But letting go of accountability leads to more murder. Most families of the victims of the Beirut blast want to go on fighting for justice. Because they know it’s the first step forward and if they back off, it’s doom. After Thursday’s clashes more than ever.
*Ana Maria Luca is the managing editor of @NOW_leb. She tweets @AnaMariaLuca79.

Beirut violence shows the Taif Agreement is dead
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/October 19, 2021
The Beirut Port blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, was the horrific climax to successive failures of the Lebanese state. Last week, as a judicial probe into the oversights that led to the disaster continued to condemn those responsible, violence erupted in the Lebanese capital. Responding to alleged sniping by Maronite Christian militia, armed supporters of Hezbollah and Amal responded with live fire. With children taking refuge under desks at school, the army back on the streets, and a curfew in most of the capital, the scenes were an uncomfortable reminder of Lebanon’s sectarian fault lines.
Central to the violence is the investigation into the Beirut blast. From the outset, the probe has been hindered by the absence of a functioning government, undue pressure from Hezbollah and allegations of bias against consecutive judges. Leading judge Fadi Sawwan, although a Christian, had a reputation for being nonpartisan and apolitical, but this did not save him from accusations of bias following legal challenges by Lebanese officials belonging to the Shiite Amal movement whom he had previously accused of “negligence.”
The move, widely condemned, led to the appointment of Tarik Bitar, another judge said to be “without bias or affiliation.” However, it was Bitar’s supposed bias that led to this week’s violence after the investigation again highlighted that only an incompetent government could have turned a blind eye to the 2,750 tons of weapons-grade ammonium nitrate stored at the port, and that the militia who guarded the site, unaccountable and loyal to private fiefdoms, were symptomatic of the wider political malaise in Lebanon.
It is unsurprising, therefore, that families of those who died in the blast are no closer to holding those responsible to account, while Bitar, somewhat bizarrely, has had lawsuits filed against him. The former ministers involved have refused to appear in court, with last week’s violence being the culmination of months of pressure by Hezbollah and its allies to halt proceedings. Just last month, the militant group sought to end the country’s fuel crisis by unilaterally importing diesel from Iran on trucks driven across the Syrian border, without any inspection or duties paid. Najib Mikati’s fledging government ignored this, just as it has ignored the ongoing court case, twice failing to show a united front in support of justice. With the proceedings ending in armed skirmishes, it is likely that this emotionally charged situation will result in the collapse of this government also.
The continued weakness of successive Lebanese governments, coupled with the influence of religious fiefdoms concerned only with retaining populist support at the expense of national unity, has resulted in the shambles at court.
Lebanon’s 15-year civil war led to the deaths of 120,000 people and the displacement of a further million. The bloody struggle continues to shape the country today. The 1989 National Reconciliation Accord, commonly known as the Taif Agreement, secured “mutual coexistence“ between the country’s groups, providing for some semblance of power sharing. However, in highlighting the “proper political representation” of each group, it inadvertently reinforced the separation between different communities instead of focusing on national unity. Since the “disarmament of all national and non-national militias” has failed to take place, Lebanon is arguably just as divided and unstable as it was three decades ago. Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi’s account of last week’s events itself is in dispute. Shiite reports of an ambush by Christian snipers have been rejected by Maronites, who claim that they acted in self-defense as armed militia threatened their community outside the Palace of Justice. Recent events should have been sufficiently reminiscent of Lebanon’s civil war to encourage some sort of positive change. The escalation in itself is indicative of the myriad problems Lebanon faces — a weak government, the absence of any form of social justice, and ever stronger militia whose first loyalty is to their communities and not to the progress of Lebanon. The drama surrounding the blast investigation has shown that the government — when there is one — is unable to impose any sort of oversight and scrutiny. Against a backdrop of state collapse, the inquiry has highlighted a need to find a solution to Lebanon’s woes outside the Taif framework. Recent events should have been sufficiently reminiscent of the country’s civil war to encourage some sort of positive change. However, even this specter of the bloody conflict does not seem to figure in the calculations of Lebanon’s militia leaders as the country heads closer to the brink.
*Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator, and an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Twitter: @Moulay_Zaid

Living with the Elephant in the Room
Sam Menassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/October, 18/2021
Lebanon’s October 17 movement’s second anniversary passed amid dangerous and violent divisions in the streets and elite political circles over the investigation into the Beirut blast and the Shiite duo’s (Hezbollah and the Amal Movement) demand that Tarek Bitar step aside as had his predecessor, Fadi Sawan.
In this vein, the Shiite duo organized a protest, which it was claimed had been peaceful, demanding that Tarek Bitar be removed. But it ended with clashes that left seven dead from one side and several injuries.
In the minds of the Lebanese, October 14 will be firmly rooted as the day the so-called October 17 revolution was hit with a bullet of mercy. Before that date, for many reasons that will not be delved into here, it had been brain dead.
Was the October 17 revolution really the seed of an uprising against the state the country finds itself in? The answer today is, of course, not. What had transpired is more akin to a revolt launched during a particular phase in which many problems dating back to over 50 years had accumulated.
We have not missed the fact the Lebanese launched an unprecedented revolt on March 14, 2005, demanding that the Syrian army leave the country after the Syrian regime and its allies had been blamed for Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination.
The October 17 movements, especially the protest of November 22, 2019, tried to replicate the protest of March 14. However, both movements were unfortunately nullified, and the political forces in power and in the oppositions returned to the language of weapons.
Of course, it was the obnoxious provocations typical of Hezbollah and its allies that sparked the events of October 14. Still, it is difficult to determine who is responsible for what happened, as it would be naive to disregard the possibility that internal and external intelligence apparatuses may have infiltrated and created unforeseen problems. The question that preoccupies many remains: why did the first movement in 2005 and the second in 2019 fail, leaving us in the state we find ourselves in today, with the country almost on the brink of armed civil conflict?
We have neither the time nor the facts that would allow us to allocate responsibilities and give out lessons. However, the dangerous events that transpired and their potential implications push us to say that this outcome could have been avoided if those responsible and political officials, whether in power or the opposition, as well as the various committees and groups that sprung from the October 17 movement, had taken a different approach to Hezbollah and it allies’ arsenal and policies.
All of us are with Judge Bitar and his genuine effort to reveal the truth about the Port of Beirut blast. However, the people and the majority of political forces pin those hopes on an assumption that is misguided in the first place, that some state institutions and apparatuses are functioning soundly at a time when the state is absent. Its wealth, resources and decision-making have been seized. So how can we believe in an independent judiciary that is capable of implementing its rulings while all the executive tools have been hijacked and subordinated by non-state actors?
The time has not come for the Lebanese to forget the disputes about referring the crime of Rafik Hariri and his companions to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon or all the violence and assassinations that followed.
The country was left reeling, and even after the Tribunal was formed, Hezbollah refused to recognize it, claiming it was politicized. It ignored its rulings and decisions. It is also useful to remember that its rulings only accused one person, Salim Ayyash, and it did not address the party to which he belongs, demonstrating the significance of the regional political dimension of the party’s role and international fears of pointing fingers at it. The same certainly applies to the Beirut port blast, with transferring the case to the international judiciary rejected and the internal investigation painted as politicized.
The second misguided assumption is seeing that sharing power with the party and its axis is a viable option and that it would thus be better not to abstain from taking part in the government entirely. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt had referred to this matter and advised Saad Hariri to “leave them to govern.” However, he soon retracted his advice despite its prudence.
It would have been better for those opposed to Hezbollah and its politics to allow the party to govern with its allies. Sharing power with this axis translates to nothing more than providing it with political cover and opening the door, though just a little, to international ties and economic and financial aid, as Najib Mikati’s government is doing. His government’s formation was strongly welcomed by the Europeans, and now we find it stumbling after the first problem it has faced because of Hezbollah’s despotism. It is threatened with continuing to be a sticking duck; either it accepts what the party wants or it accepts it. There is no second option. Hezbollah won’t venture to bring the government cover because it will inevitably subordinate it as it had gotten used to hollowing out the constitution’s principles, like sovereignty, separation of powers and the judiciary’s independence. Or, it could resort to its “black shirts.”
Prime Minister Hariri and his government had struggled with the same problems, and the struggles peaked with the last government formed through the agreement with the Free Patriotic Movement and de-escalation with Hezbollah until it fell with the eruption of the October 17 revolution in 2019. Before that, RafikHariri had taken the same approach when he allowed the Syrian regime to take charge of security and political matters while he kept the economy, and when he revolted against that formula, he was killed.
The third misguided assumption is that of the October 17 movement, and it led to fatal mistakes being made by its factions. The first was describing the movement as one making particular demands rather than a political movement. When they realized that the central problem is political par excellence, they made another; they focused on the ruling clique’s corruption, replacing it, and taking its place. By the time they realized that there had been an elephant in the room, that the problem was the Iranian occupation being enforced by Lebanese, and that the focus should be to retrieve the state and work on confronting this danger looming over Lebanon, they had become scattered groups without a shared vision.
They focused their minds on intellectual acrobatics and studies on the crisis’ consequences, such as electricity problems, the banking crisis, and the plummeting exchange rate. It would have been more fruitful to look into the reason behind these problems, the state’s absence in Lebanon since 1969, when Palestinian armed groups were allowed to move and work freely on the borders, after which came the Syrian occupation, and today we have the Iranians’ occupation.
The fourth false assumption is considering the upcoming legislative elections a path to salvation that does not require changing the internal balance of power and while they are held amid Hezbollah’s control. Amid the current conditions, the movements’ groups could win some seats, but Hezbollah and its allies will undoubtedly manage to form a majority in parliament and turn the ongoing occupation into law, with hypocritical and naive recognition by the international community granted merely because elections were held. That is the most dangerous thing that could happen to Lebanon, as it would imply the opposition’s acceptance of the status quo and leave it searching for shares within the regime dominated by Hezbollah; their concerns will be to compete for power within its state, and it will then exploit them to further its project to change the face of the country.
To conclude, a single, united opposition front without partisan or personal ambitions, one that leads a peaceful, unarmed civil movement that uses all means available to it to drag Hezbollah to the negotiating table, is the only solution. Choosing anything else would be choosing to go on a highway to suicide.

Où sont-ils disparus ces obsédés d’élections?
Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 18/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/103442/%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d9%83%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%a8-%d8%a3%d9%86%d8%b6%d8%ac%d9%88%d8%a7-%d8%a3%d9%8a%d9%87%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d8%b5%d8%af%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%a1%d8%8c%d9%86%d8%ad/
Mais oú sont-ils passés ces obsédés d’elections? Oú sont passés ces naifs, ces non-voyants qui tenaient à changer soi-disant le cours de l’histoire en votant. Que faisaient-ils jeudi passé ? N’ont il pas de télé pour suivre les événements? Pas un parent ou un copain qui passait par Tayyouné ou AinRemmané qui aurait pu leur raconter comment des hordes de barbares armés jusqu’aux dents risquaient d’envahir ces quartiers?
Ces agités, ces watsapistes, ces amateurs de la politique virtuelle ou même irréelle croient-ils que les voyous de Nabih Berry et ceux de l’Iranien Nasrallah n’auraient pas lancé leurs hordes à l’ assaut en cas de victoires électorales ?
Réveillez vous les amateurs, ouvrez les yeux: nous sommes en guerre contre l’occupant. Tenez en compte. Résistez. Portez les arnes quand il le faudra. Fautes d’armes changez votre discours et soutenez ceux qui se battront. Murissez les amis, nous sommes en guerre.
Vive la Résistance.
Vive le Liban.
Jean-Marie Kassab

Nom et prénom: Berry Nabih.
Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 18/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/103442/%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d9%83%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%a8-%d8%a3%d9%86%d8%b6%d8%ac%d9%88%d8%a7-%d8%a3%d9%8a%d9%87%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d8%b5%d8%af%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%a1%d8%8c%d9%86%d8%ad/
Profession: Chef éternel du parlement Libanais.
Chef de la milice AMAL ( dont 60 mille sont employés auprès de l’État Libanais sans pointer).
Chef de la milice (officielle) de la garde du parlement ( aux frais du contribuable).
Les deux milices étant lourdement armées et strictement soumises à ses ordres.
Résidence principale : Ain Tineh( au frais du contribuable).
Résidence secondaire : Moussailha,
Enorme palace ( fruit d’heures supplémentaires?)
Revenus :Enormes, grâce à la Caisse du Sud+Dividendes reçus par son épouse qui est actionnaire dans la plupart des business du Sud Liban. Ces rentrées sont considérées comme la contribution de l ‘épouse au budget du couple. Mme Berry est l’associée de sa soeur, femme d’ affaires ayant réussi grâce aux multiples contrats avec l’Etat Libanais uniquement (!🤣).
Projets en vue: Profiter très largement des ressources pétrolières du Liban).
Monsieur Berry est secondé par Ali Hassan Khalil, actuellement hors-la-loi et intermédiaire avec Bashar Assad.
Fortune: Estimée à plusieurs centaines de millions de dollars ou plus (fruit de labeur).

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 18-19/2021
Report: Israel not yet ready to attack Iran
Arutz Sheva Staff/October 18/2021
Iran is dragging its feet, the US seems uninterested in taking action - and Israel isn't ready to attack Iran on its own.
Unless something changes dramatically in the near future, Iran will soon become a nuclear threat. Although it may not have a nuclear bomb immediately, it will have the capacity to produce one, the moment it decides to. Meanwhile, in the past few months Iran has made significant progress towards achieving nuclear capacity, and now has over 120 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20%. It is estimated that if no one intervenes, within a few weeks, Iran will have enough enriched uranium to produce one nuclear bomb. The raw materials are not enough, however, and Iran will need to continue developing its reactor, as well as conduct experiments and complete the long-range missile project so that it can launch its nuclear warheads. According to Israel Hayom, if the status quo continues, Iran could complete these processes within a year or two. Sources in Israel noted that Iran's progress has been slow and step-by-step so as not to infuriate the West and prompt a reaction - such as heavy sanctions or a real military threat - that may endanger the nuclear program. At the same time, Iran has been dragging its feet on the issue of returning to nuclear talks, and the Biden administration is caught: It does not want to return to Trump-era sanctions, but has no power to force Iran to come to the table. Israel is very worried about the current situation, which it defines as "treading water," although some in the government are slightly encouraged by the fact that the US is listening to Israel's estimates and concerns. Frustration is great, however, due to the fact that it seems Washington does not intend to take any steps, and certainly not harsh steps, in order to pressure Iran into rejoining the nuclear deal and ceasing its progress towards a nuclear weapon. Foreign reports claimed that Israel took steps to interfere with and delay the Iranian plans, among other things by harming the electricity at the Natanz facility. However, it is expected that this action only delayed Iran by several weeks or months. It is for this reason that the IDF is now pulling out its plans for attacking Iran, and working to prepare for the possibility that Israel will need to attack directly. The IDF has already secured funding for its new operational plans, by means of agreements with the Finance Ministry. The issue, Israel Hayom emphasized, is that the military plan is complex and complicated, and its efficacy is shadowed in doubt. In addition, it will take a significant amount of time before it can be executed, and during that time, Iran's nuclear capacities may be significantly improved. Meanwhile, Israel Hayom added, Israel is still hoping for a process which integrates the diplomatic, economic, and operational aspects and which will pressure Tehran at least enough to return it to the previous agreement, so as to buy Israel enough time to prepare for the attack. At the same time, Israel is planning to continue its efforts to rally the West, especially Washington, to act in a more determined fashion to block Iran's race to nuclear weapons.

Colin Powell, military leader and first Black US secretary of state, dies
CNN/October 18/2021
Colin Powell, the first Black US secretary of state whose leadership in several Republican administrations helped shape American foreign policy in the last years of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st, has died from complications from Covid-19, his family said on Facebook. He was 84.

Former President Bill Clinton released from hospital
CNN/October 18/2021
Former President Bill Clinton has been released from a California hospital after being treated for an infection that spread to his bloodstream. Clinton had been admitted last week to the University of California Irvine Medical Center's intensive care unit for a urinary tract infection that spread to his bloodstream. The former President had been treated in the ICU for privacy and safety, not because he needed intensive care, according to his doctors.

Libya’s feuds spills over to US as Dbeibah backs prosecution of Haftar in Virginia case
The Arab Weekly/October 18/2021
TUNIS/ TRIPOLI--The relationship between the Tripoli-based government and the Libyan National Army (LNA) leadership is souring even further after Abdulhamid Dbeibah, head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), who is also the minister of defence, involved himself in a case brought by prosecutors in the US state of Virginia against the Commander-in-Chief of the LNA, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The lawsuits allege Haftar committed “atrocities” in his country’s civil war. Dbeibah sent a memorandum to Minister of Foreign Affairs Najlah al-Mangoush, asking her to file a complaint against Haftar before the Virginia court on charges of fraud, misrepresentation of justice and forgery of official documents. This would support the claims contained in a letter addressed by head of the consultative State Council Khaled al-Mishri to the Federal Court in Virginia, denying assertions Haftar’s defence that their client is prevented by Libyan law from disclosing military secrets to outside parties and could be sentenced to death if he did. Dbeibah’s note said that the documents submitted by Haftar’s attorneys were not issued by the competent Libyan authorities. Mishri had sent a letter to the US court, in which he claimed that the disclosure of military secrets is not punishable by law in Libya and that those who disclose military secrets do not risk the death penalty.
Libyan experts say that the confusion over the authenticity of the documents submitted by Haftar’s attorneys stems from the absence of a unified military institution in Libya. The ministry of defence, held by Dbeibah himself, has not been reunified. The prime minister has previously rejected calls by the Presidency Council, the House of Representatives (parliament) and the Joint Military Committee to appoint a “neutral minister” to manage the defence portfolio. This has created a situation where there are bodies still operating in the name of the ministry of defence on behalf of the former interim government and still exercising their functions in the east of the country but which are not part of the GNU. Analysts point out that Dbeibah’s memorandum in support of Mishri’s position further confuses the situation and shows there are ongoing attempts to block all efforts to unify the army as long as it is still under the command of Haftar.
The case could also provide legal, political and constitutional justification to prevent Haftar from running in the upcoming presidential elections, while involving the US judiciary in Libya’s internal conflict. The analysts expect this new entanglement to exacerbate domestic divisions in the oil-rich North African country possibly leading to the postponement of the elections, scheduled for this December and thus keeping the current political leadership in power indefinitely. The Virginia court had ruled last July that Haftar could not claim head-of-state immunity as a defence in lawsuits accusing him of atrocities in his country’s civil war. Once a lieutenant to Libya’s Muammar Gadhafi, Haftar had defected to the US during the 1980s and spent many years living in northern Virginia. He is now a defendant in three separate federal lawsuits filed in US District Court in Alexandria. Plaintiffs allege relatives were killed or tortured by Haftar’s forces.
The lawsuits seek millions of dollars in damages that could be recovered from property that Haftar, a dual US and Libyan citizen and his family still own throughout northern Virginia. In court papers, Haftar asserted that he is immune to lawsuits because he is head of state. He also said the judge should dismiss the cases because a lawsuit that seeks to assert blame in the country’s civil war is a “political question”. But US District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Haftar could not claim either head-of-state immunity nor the political-question argument as a defence in the lawsuits. She noted that she twice asked the State Department if it wanted to assert an interest in the case, once during the former President Donald Trump’s administration and once during President Joe Biden’s administration, but that it declined to do so on both occasions.
Plaintiffs will still have to prove their claims at trial. And Brinkema is allowing Haftar to argue a different defence: that those who were killed were armed combatants in the civil war, as opposed to innocent civilians. “If the alleged victims were in fact engaged in armed hostilities, that changes. the nature of the beast, in my opinion,” Brinkema said. The Libyan government’s ambassador to the US Muhammad Abdullah said last week that judge Leonie Brinkema of the Virginia Court had ordered Khalifa Haftar to comply with the plaintiff’s request to give statements within two weeks.

Syrian government, opposition agree on drafting constitution
The Arab Weekly/October 18/2021
GENEVA--Syria’s government and opposition in the war-torn country have agreed to start drafting constitutional reforms, the UN Syria envoy announced on Sunday, a major step after a nine-month hiatus in talks and several fruitless earlier rounds. UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen did not say what was behind the agreement nor offer details of what comes next. The drafting sessions formally begin on Monday. On Sunday Pedersen met the co-chairs of a committee which includes figures from fourth-term President Bashar al-Assad’s government, as well as exiles and civil society representatives. The two sides sat together for the first time to discuss how to proceed and plan for the week ahead, Pedersen said. Pedersen said its Syrian co-chairs had agreed to “prepare and start drafting constitutional reform.”The drafting committee talks, the sixth round in two years and the first since January, will discuss “clear principles”, he told reporters in Geneva, without elaborating. The decade-old war, which spiralled out of an uprising against President Assad’s rule, sparked the world’s biggest refugee crisis. Syria’s neighbours host 5.6 million refugees and European countries more than a million. After support from ally Russia, Assad has recovered most of Syria, but significant areas remain outside his control. Turkish forces are deployed in much of the north and northwest and US forces are stationed in the Kurdish-controlled east and northeast. In January Pedersen, a veteran Norwegian diplomat, said that Assad’s representatives had rejected proposals by the Syrian opposition as well as the envoy’s own ideas for moving the process forward. “Since then close to nine months I have been negotiating between the parties, trying to be able to establish a consensus on how we are going to move forward. And I am very pleased to say that we have reached such a consensus,” he said on Sunday. Western diplomats say Russia had prodded Damascus in recent weeks to show flexibility in the talks and Pedersen has made two trips to Moscow in recent months. “The Syrian Constitutional Committee is an important contribution to the political process but the committee in itself will not be able to solve the political crisis,” he said on Sunday.

F-16s consolation prize to Turkey after ouster from F-35 programme
The Arab Weekly/October 18/2021
ISTANBUL--President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said Turkey was in talks with the United States to buy F-16 fighters after it was kicked off the F-35 programme for purchasing a Russian missile defence system. Washington excluded Ankara from NATO’s F-35 stealth fighter jet programme in 2019 after Turkey purchased Russian S-400 defence air systems in defiance of warnings from its Western allies. The acquisition has imperilled Turkish-US relations and blocked Turkey’s plans to purchase about 100 of the F-35 fighters. Turkey is now seeking compensation for its ouster from the US-led programme, including for a $1.4 billion payment it had made before its removal. Turkey’s purchase of F-16 jets from America is “of course linked to the F-35s issue”, Erdogan told reporters at an Istanbul airport before embarking on an Africa tour. He said the US had offered in return to sell Turkey F-16s to upgrade its air force fleet. “We have said we’ll take whatever step is needed to meet our country’s defence needs,” Erdogan said, adding that Turkey was working to modernise its warplane fleet. Any such sale by the Americans however would need to be approved by Congress, where anti-Turkey sentiments are on the rise. Last month, Erdogan said Turkey still planned to buy a second batch of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia. The US warned Turkey of further risks to bilateral ties if it bought more weapons from Russia. Erdogan on Sunday said Washington needed to compensate Turkey for its $1.4 billion payment. “We raised this issue in our talks. We attach importance to dialogue for a solution to this problem,” he said. “We are working to further develop our fleet from the modernisation of the F-16s in our possession to new additional F-16 purchases,” the Turkish leader said.

Foreign Ministers of US, India, UAE, Israel to Meet on Monday
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
The foreign ministers of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, India and the US plan to hold a meeting on Monday evening to bolster coordination. The office of Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said the minister will hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in West Jerusalem on Monday, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan will participate through a Zoom call. The meeting is part of the Israeli government’s efforts to build strong international relations that should strengthen its position in the region and in the world and contribute in offering a strong and smart push for the peace process between Tel Aviv and its neighbors, said the statement. Meanwhile, Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde was visiting Tel Aviv and Ramallah to push forward the peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis. Early this month, Lapid had kicked off efforts to restore contacts with Sweden, after relations between the two sides hit a low in 2015 when Stockholm recognized the State of Palestine. Political sources said that Sweden has not changed its position, which will be reflected in Linde’s scheduled visit on Tuesday to Ramallah, where she will hold talks with Palestinians President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. Linde told Israel’s Yediot Aharonot: “I think my country’s government does want to promote a two-state solution.”She said Sweden’s relations with Israel are important and that her government wants to have good ties with it. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has expressed its desire to improve relations with Stockholm. However, it noted that “opening the file of the permanent settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not viable at this stage, although we very much want a settlement.”

Sisi Pledges to Improve Religious Rhetoric
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has stressed that Egypt remains committed to its mission to improve religious rhetoric. "This is a collaborative responsibility that requires concerted efforts so that we build together a bright and wise intellectual path … to face challenges and build the future state," Sisi said Sunday. In a speech marking the Prophet’s birthday, the president urged religious authorities to double their efforts to spread tolerance and correct religious misconceptions. Sisi noted that the message of Islam values knowledge and science, and that the first word in Quran is “read.”He further underlined that awareness is a key factor for a nation’s stability and progress. The president stressed the importance of confronting individuals who take the holy words out of context and those who seek to stray people away from performing "the divine commands of reconstruction and reform of the world in what is good for humanity as a whole." For his part, Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb shed light on the importance of saving Muslim communities from the inhumane conditions that have been imposed by "some people who claim they abide by the instructions of the Prophet, and his religion and jurisprudence, while they kill innocents."Tayyeb slammed those individuals who "turn Allah's mosques to arenas for war where lives are lost, blood is shed, bodies shattered, and sanctities violated.”

1,200 People Poisoned from Drinking Polluted Water in Damascus Countryside
Damascus – Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
The General Establishment for Drinking Water and Sanitation in Damascus revealed on Sunday that water pollution has led to the poisoning of more than 1,200 residents in the Najha, Khirbet al-Ward and the police housing complex in the capital’s countryside. In a statement on Sunday, it said private cars were filling water containers from a polluted private wellspring that is not licensed by the establishment. The polluted water was then sold to residents in those areas, causing the poisoning. The Establishment said it took sample of water from the wellspring and analyzed it, and later found it was polluted. “The wellspring was permanently closed. Samples were also taken from the water reaching the water networks in Najha, to ensure its safety,” it added. The Establishment had previously announced that maintenance work was being carried out on the main water lines feeding the city of Damascus, which necessitated cutting off water to the capital on Sunday and Monday. Syria has been suffering from major water crises for years. In the Damascus countryside, the majority of cities and towns have suffered from water cuts for several days and even weeks, forcing the residents to rely on water tankers, which are filled from unknown sources, and sold at high prices. The price of a barrel of water ranges between 2,000 and 4,000 Syrian pounds, and may reach 8,000 in days of severe heat and high demand. A Syrian family needs at least 40,000 liters of drinking water per week.

4 Dead, 19 Missing in Tunisia Migrant Boat Shipwreck
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
Four Tunisian migrants died and 19 were missing after their boat capsized, a judicial source told AFP, the latest deadly mishap in waters off North Africa. A total of 30 Tunisians, most of them young men, had set off in the small vessel, said Farid Ben Jha, spokesman for the Mahdia and Monastir court on the country's east coast. One of them managed to swim to shore and raise the alarm after their boat sank at dawn off the coast of Mahdia governorate, which is only around 140 kilometers (87 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa. "Seven were able to be rescued" and four bodies were found, Ben Jha said, adding that the other passengers were missing. "The boat was too small to carry 30 people," he said. Those rescued did not say where exactly the boat had set off from. Four people were arrested for helping to organize the attempted sea crossing, Ben Jha added. He said an investigation had been opened to identify those responsible. Also Sunday, the defense ministry in neighboring Algeria said that country's coastguards had recovered four bodies from the Mediterranean Sea and rescued 13 migrants after a boat capsized in its waters. On Tuesday the United Nations refugee agency said 15 migrants drowned after two boats capsized off Libya, adding to the toll on the perilous sea route to Europe. Libya is a major point of departure for desperate migrants seeking to reach Europe, many of them from sub-Saharan African countries.

Sadr Says May Form Iraq Govt that Is Open to US
Baghdad – Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
Head of the Sadrist movement in Iraq, influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, surprised observers when he displayed an openness to cooperating with the United States as he now tackles the formation of a new government. Sadr had emerged as the victor in the recent parliamentary elections, giving him sway over the appointment of a new prime minister. He announced a number of conditions that may persuade the new government to work with Washington – in a move that may be the final nail in the coffin of his losing Shiite opponents. The rivals were banking on Sadr announcing his rejection of working with the Americans. In statement on Saturday, Sadr said the elections results demonstrated that the Sadr bloc won the most votes and enjoys the greatest popular support. “We will seek national alliances - not sectarian or ethnic ones – that will be keen on protecting the nation’s security and sovereignty,” he added. He called on all Iraqis to help in “reforming the nation and ridding it of corruption, occupation, normalization, terrorism and subordination.”On the possibility of cooperating with the US, he said Washington should approach the Iraqi government “in kind, through serious and effective dialogue.” The dialogue would cover the remaining American troops in Iraq, as well as its meddling in its affairs. “Popular revolts and protests are internal affairs that do not concern the US, so is keeping Iraq away from regional conflicts,” he continued. He underlined the independence of Iraq’s decisions, away from “western and eastern” influence. Sadr voiced a readiness to cooperate economically with the US, as well as in other fields, “should the abovementioned points be respected.”“Otherwise, we will not succumb to pressure and subordination,” he stressed. “Should the above fail to be implemented then it [the US] will be viewed as a hostile state to Iraq that does not seek its stability,” he remarked.

Losing Powers in Iraq Elections to Stage Street Protests
Baghdad – Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
The so-called Iraqi resistance announced that it will stage demonstrations in rejection of the results of the recent parliamentary elections which saw the victory of the Sadrist movement of influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and a surprise defeat of other Shiite powers. The losing Shiite groups have since formed the Coordination Framework that has declared its rejection of the results, saying it would appeal them.Member of the Hikma movement – one of the losing parties – Fahd al-Jabbouri stated that the blocs of the Coordination Framework have reviewed the results of the polls, saying: “We have enough evidence that proves that foreign forces have conspired with internal ones to eliminate important Shiite parties.”He said the Coordination Framework has recordings that can prove these plans. Moreover, he revealed that supporters of the groups of the Coordination Framework will take to the streets this week to protest the results and “demand their rights that were usurped during the vote.” The demonstrations ultimately aim for the government to annul the results of the polls, the Coordination Framework had said in a statement on Sunday. Also on Sunday, the “coordinative of armed faction” warned it may resort to violence should the peaceful protesters, who are opposed to the elections results, be attacked. “The Iraqi resistance has and will always be a deterrent force against all deceitful projects that target our people,” it stressed, underscoring the rights of the Iraqi people to “protest against everyone who wronged them and usurped their rights”. “We severely warn against any attempt to attack or violate the dignity of our people as they defend their rights,” it added. On Saturday, the Coordination Framework had held the Independent High Electoral Commission “completely” responsible for the “failure of the elections”. It accused it of mismanaging the polls, “which will negatively impact the democratic path and social consensus” in Iraq. Chairman of the Iraq Advisory Council (IAC), Farhad Alaaldin told Asharq Al-Awsat that the elections sprung a surprise in Iraq. “Away from all the doubts over the results, the elections have created a new reality that cannot be denied by the political forces,” he noted. The forces need to seriously review why their supporters chose to boycott the elections, he added. The electoral commission said the voter turnout reached 43%. “The results were a shock to some traditional Shiite parties that had dominated the political scene for the past two decades,” continued Alaaldin. In wake of the results, two main rival Shiite camps have emerged: The Sadrist movement and the State of Law coalition, headed by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, he remarked. New faces that represent the youth protesters of the 2019 uprising have also emerged.

US Slams Houthis over Disregard for Civilian Protection, Humanitarian Access in Yemen’s Abdiya
Washington - Muath Alamri/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 18 October, 2021
The United States warned on Saturday the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen against undermining the safety of civilians in the war-torn country through their impeding of the delivery of humanitarian relief. It also urged the Houthis to immediately cease their escalation in Yemen’s Marib and listen to international calls for peace. In a statement, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said: “The United States condemns the Houthi escalation around Marib, which demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the safety of civilians.” “The Houthis are obstructing movement of people and humanitarian aid, preventing essential services from reaching the 35,000 residents of Abdiya. Their actions add to an already dire humanitarian situation and have caused even more Yemenis to become internally displaced,” he added. “The United States urges the Houthis to immediately permit safe passage for civilians, life-saving aid, and the wounded. As the UN stated last week, it stands ready with its partners to provide this much needed assistance to the people of Marib,” he stressed. “We call on the Houthis to stop their offensive on Marib, and listen to the urgent calls from across Yemen and the international community to bring this conflict to an end and support a UN-led inclusive peace process,” Price continued. The spokesman made his call at a time when US special envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking was meeting with Yemeni and Saudi officials during a tour of the region aimed at reaching a ceasefire and the Houthis’ return to the negotiations table. Since his appointment earlier this year, the envoy has made over ten trips to the region. The international community is seeking to persuade the Houthis to accept a ceasefire and return to political negotiations. These efforts have so far failed as the Houthis pursue their attack on Marib.
The province is home to over a million civilians, with many displaced from other parts of the country. The offensive has led to civilian casualties with the Houthis attacking residential districts and displacement camps, drawing international calls for a ceasefire. Throughout the year, the Houthis have persistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, including Saudi Arabia’s initiative that it had announced earlier in 2020. Accepting the ceasefire could have averted further bloodshed in the country and what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 18-19/2021
The Jihadist Genocide of Christians in Nigeria Intensifies
Raymond/Gatestone Institute/October 18/2021
What several international observers have for years characterized as a “pure genocide” of Christians in Nigeria has reached new levels.
Since the Islamic insurgency earnestly began in July 2009—first at the hands of Boko Haram, a professional Islamic terrorist organization, and later by the Fulani, Muslim herdsmen also radicalized and motivated by jihadist ideology—over 60,000 Christians have either been butchered or abducted during raids, never to return and believed to be dead by their loved ones. About 20,000 churches and Christian schools have also been torched and destroyed during the same timeframe.
These are among some of the findings published in an Aug. 4, 2021 report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, also known as “Intersociety,” a human rights nonprofit based in Nigeria. Although the entire report is worth reading, some notable excerpts follow:
The total number of ‘direct’ Christian deaths … from July 2009 to July 2021 … is independently put at no fewer than 43,000…. The killings had emanated from the propagation of radical Islamism in Nigeria…
…[T]he Islamic Jihadists and their ‘esprit de jihad’ in the Nigerian security forces have been responsible for at least [an additional] 18,500 Christian deaths arising from enforced disappearances, or those abducted and most unlikely to return alive… While most of the Muslims abducted by Jihadists in Nigeria are later released unconditionally to their families, most of their Christian counterparts are killed in captivity or forcefully converted to Islam….
The atrocities of the Jihadists primarily directed at Christians … include: massacres, killings, mutilations, slitting of throats and wombs, beheadings, torture, maiming, abductions, hostage-taking, rape, girl-child defilements, forced marriages, disappearances, extortions, forceful conversions and destruction or burning of homes and sacred worship and learning centers as well as forceful occupation of farmlands, destruction and forceful harvesting of farm crops and other internationally prohibited acts…
In the past twelve years … at least 17,500 churches and 2,000 Christian schools and other learning centers have been attacked by the Jihadists and destroyed in part or in whole, or burned or razed down. In the past seven months of 2021, for instance, the number of churches threatened or attacked and destroyed or burned down has risen to over 300….
In the same past twelve years, it was also independently found that no fewer than 30 million Christians especially in Northern Nigeria [which is Muslim-majority] and their ethno-religion were threatened and ten million of them have been uprooted, six million forced to flee their homes or geopolitical locations to avoid being hacked to death and over four million displaced and became IDPs [Internally Displaced Persons]….
Although the last month to be included in Intersociety’s reporting period was July 2021, the massacres and atrocities have relentlessly continued since. A few examples from just August, 2021, follow:
In one area of Plateau State, Fulani terrorists “killed 70 Christians, displaced 30,000 others and burned 500 homes [and 1,000 farms]” in just the first three weeks of August, according to an Aug. 25 report.
“Unceasing tears have continued to roll in our eyes as a nation and people,” lamented Davidson Malison, a local Christian leader from one of the affected areas: “The terror being unleashed by Fulani herdsmen on Irigwe Christians has continued unabated and without any sign of remorse or regret.”
The Rev. Ronku Aka, another regional leader, noted that “While the Fulani herdsmen were attacking my communities, the soldiers and other security agents were around. As the Fulani invaders were carrying out the attacks, we expected them to confront the invaders and stop the destruction going on, but that did not happen.” When he confronted the soldiers about their failure to act, they responded that they “had not received orders to repel the attackers.”
Elishi Datiri, another area Christian leader whose flock was slaughtered in this round of jihad, explained the situation more unreservedly:
Sadly, this carnage, genocide and wanton destruction of properties are being carried out in the very eyes of the security personnel whom the government spends billions of taxpayers’ money on in their operation to protect lives and properties of all Nigerians. In many instances, the military collaborates with the Fulanis to carry out these dastardly acts. The military’s direct participation in the destruction of Christians’ farmlands and properties has at many times generated many petitions, press conferences/releases and in some instances physical demonstrations by the Christian communities demanding the removal of the military…. There’s a continued onslaught on Christians which is being championed by the Fulanis and aided by the security agencies saddled with the responsibility to protect lives and property…. We wish to note with deep concern the unacceptable plundering of our land under the direct watch of constituted authorities charged with the responsibility of upholding all people’s rights as entrenched in the Nigerian Constitution.
According to another report from Aug. 30, the Islamic herdsmen butchered another 36 Christians—often to distinctly Islamic cries such as “Allahu Akbar”—during several unchecked raids in the separate Nigerian state of Kadu throughout the month of August.
During the funeral for 17 of these Christians, the Rev. Jacob Kwashi, an Anglican bishop who had presided over many other funerals for massacred Christians in recent weeks and months, unloosed his tongue:
We have never seen an evil government in this country like the one of today. The government is fully in support of the bloodshed in Nigeria. We are being killed just because we are not Muslims. These evil Fulani jihadists are enjoying the backing of the government to go about killing people, destroying their houses and farmlands, yet when we try to defend ourselves, the government will go about arresting our people. What kind of justice is this?
On the night of Aug. 24 in Jos North, “jihadist Fulani herdsmen” entered yet another Christian village where, according to another report, they “went house to house killing residents.” When they were finished, 37 more Christians lay murdered.
During the predawn of Aug. 3, Fulani terrorists raided another four Christian majority villages where they butchered between 22 and 27 people, torched hundreds of homes, and systematically destroyed the farming villages’ crops and grains. Discussing that attack, the Hon. Jonathan Asake, a former member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, said,
[T]here is an ongoing genocide in Southern Kaduna targeted at the indigenous Christians population and the aim is to force or intimidate us to abandon our faith or leave our ancestral lands for the armed herdsmen. Some of the attacked villages … have been attacked at least three times in the past six years with mass graves where scores were buried standing as a testimony of what we are saying. Not a single church or school is left standing. Not a single herdsman has been apprehended all these years. It is unfortunate that while Kaduna State government and the Federal Government is playing blind to it, the larger world, especially the western media do not believe that our lives are worth any news.
On Aug. 5, governmental authorities demolished a church in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State in north Nigeria, which is Muslim-majority. The pastor’s son, Ezekiel Bitrus Tumba, 29, was shot and killed for trying to intervene and prevent the demolition of his church. On Aug. 8, the following Sunday, Christians gathered around the ruins of their church and held service. One Christian wrote on Facebook: “They demolished the building, thinking it is the Church. [But] the Church is Forever unstoppable and indestructible.”
Possibly in response, four more local Christian churches were torn down, all on the pretext that they did not have proper permits, which are nearly impossible to acquire in the Muslim majority state of Borno. As one local Christian leader explained, “If you want to build a church, they will not give you a permit, because the government will [fire] anyone who proposes/signs a document to build a church.”
According to another report from Aug. 10:
Sunni Muslim Fulani Herdsmen invaded the Christian orphanage in Miango, Nigeria and burned every building. The 147 children and staff evacuated a few hours before the August 2, 2021 attack. The children were made orphans in previous attacks by Sunni Muslim terrorists such as Boko Haram.
As Fulani herdsmen advance in the Miago and Jos areas they destroyed 500 homes, 5 churches and killed 68 Christians. Many were wounded. Nigerian law prohibits anyone from owning a firearm in Nigeria, but oddly the Fulani had weapons exactly like those of the army.
The government under President Muhammadu Buhari naturally denies any wrongdoing. It has also long insisted that none of these massacres have anything to do with religion—neither with the Fulani perpetrators’ Muslim faith nor with their slain victims’ Christian faith. The violence and bloodshed, rather, is a byproduct of land disputes, poverty, and inequality.
Although the Western mainstream media—and any number of Western politicians—have only been too happy to follow suit and present what is, in fact, a jihadist-fueled genocide of Christians as a matter of economics—few Nigerian Christians are fooled.
“Since the government and its apologists are claiming the killings have no religious undertones,” the Christian Association of Nigeria once asked, “why are the terrorists and herdsmen targeting the predominantly Christian communities and Christian leaders?
The Christian Association of Nigeria has similarly wondered:
How can it be a [secular or economic] clash when one group [Muslims] is persistently attacking, killing, maiming, destroying, and the other group [Christians] is persistently being killed, maimed and their places of worship destroyed?
In short and in the words of Sister Monica Chikwe, “It’s tough to tell Nigerian Christians this isn’t a religious conflict since what they see are Fulani fighters clad entirely in black, chanting ‘Allahu Akbar!’ and screaming ‘Death to Christians.’”

A Sinking Ship of State Drowns Everyone
Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone Institute./October 18, 2021
To be clear, the spending bill is actually the creation of a national debt so massive that it has the means to destabilize a democracy dependent on a functioning economy.
For the Chinese Communist Party, seeking to master the 21st Century as the one global superpower, it represents a strategic victory without so much as firing a single bullet. They know that an economically weakened America cannot possibly sustain its military leadership when it is burdened with paying down a massive debt. Our allies and unaligned nations recognize this threat as well, and will reinvent their relationship with China if they believe America's best days are in the past.
What makes the Administration believe that Corporate America would not respond with massive restructuring to avoid a confiscatory tax bill -- or passing the added cost on to the consumer, or moving the company's headquarters offshore to a country with a lower corporate rate -- to avoid the threat of losing its international competitive edge? Corporations have good accountants, too.
Few debate the idea that our nation's infrastructure is in need of serious attention but the level of political dishonesty in characterizing the Biden plan as "infrastructure" has even made many in his own party queasy. Significant portions of the bill are earmarked for "environmental" agendas and seeming favors to campaign donors, such as billions in subsidies for electric vehicles. The proposed bill cries out for more sunlight and vast quantities of disinfectant.
This recipe for an economic apocalypse comes at a time when new job creation has stagnated and the specter of a serious inflation has begun to emerge.... As historians will tell you if we have the wisdom to listen, no one escapes the devastation of a debtor nation. No one.
This article is being re-printed in response to numerous requests from our readers. — The Editors
One suspects that historians and economists will consistently agree on one irrefutable fact: nations that allow their economies to bathe in red ink are destined to fail. This failure takes many roads and differs in timing, but massive, uncontrolled national deficits eventually reduce a nation state to being a pauper, a pariah -- and pathetic.
Enter Joe Biden's "American Jobs Plan," a $2.3 trillion spending scheme that takes some Americans' most fevered fantasies and wraps them inside an "infrastructure" label in an effort to convince Capitol Hill that the spending is all about roads and bridges. An analysis by the Wharton School places plenty of caution flags on this initiative.
To be clear, the spending bill is actually the creation of a national debt so massive that it has the means to destabilize a democracy dependent on a functioning economy.
For the Chinese Communist Party seeking to master the 21st Century as the one global superpower, it represents a strategic victory without so much as firing a single bullet. They know that an economically weakened America cannot possible sustain its military leadership when it is burdened with paying down a massive debt. Our allies and unaligned nations recognize this threat as well, and will reinvent their relationship with China if they believe America's best days are in the past.
Even the White House acknowledges that their spending debt would take 15 years to pay off, providing that Biden's proposed corporate tax hikes generate the projected revenue – itself highly questionable. What makes the Administration believe that Corporate America would not respond with massive restructuring to avoid a confiscatory tax bill -- or passing the added cost on to the consumer, or moving the company's headquarters offshore to a country with a lower corporate rate -- to avoid the threat of losing its international competitive edge? Corporations have good accountants, too.
Few debate the idea that our nation's infrastructure is in need of serious attention but the level of political dishonesty in characterizing the Biden plan as "infrastructure" has even made many in his own party queasy. Significant portions of the bill are earmarked for "environmental" agendas and seeming favors to campaign donors, such as billions in subsidies for electric vehicles. The proposed bill cries out for more sunlight and vast quantities of disinfectant. Sadly, the bill suggests a clumsy political strategy to prevent open debate and an honest review of the Biden agenda.
This recipe for an economic apocalypse comes at a time when new job creation has stagnated and the specter of a serious inflation has begun to emerge. Biden's spending spree is far beyond Washington's traditional pork. It is creating a level of unsustainable debt in pursuit of a social agenda that could literally sink everyone, drowning all, regardless of which political party they claim.
As historians will tell you if we have the wisdom to listen, no one escapes the devastation of a debtor nation. No one.
*Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
© 2021 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.

Sanctions campaign against Iran has proven its effectiveness
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/October 19, 2021
Perhaps the most important basis on which to assess the effectiveness of the maximum pressure campaign against Iran are the comments made by Iranian officials themselves — despite their routine distortions of the truth.
Any Iranian official speaking about the problems besetting the country, whether economic or social, or other crises, will cite the US sanctions as a reason one way or another. This also brings with it the worn-out propaganda parroted by Iranian media about how the country is engaged in steadfastness, resilience and resistance “in order for the US sanctions to be lifted.” Even though the US embargoes have had a limited impact when it comes to changing Iran’s regional behavior, they have created many economic challenges and forced Iran to grapple with its domestic woes, which have affected all economic sectors without exception. In September 2020, Hassan Rouhani, the then Iranian president, estimated the total losses resulting from US sanctions imposed on the country since mid-2018 at $150 billion, while his vice president, Eshaq Jahangiri, said in July 2021 that oil revenue losses alone had hit $100 billion. All losses were suffered in the form of “direct revenues.”
If we also take into consideration the fact that Iran’s oil sector is the essential locomotive of the country’s economic growth, the indirect losses, such as those involving businesses and jobs, could be much greater than the announced figures. It is certain that US sanctions have had a negative impact on all the economic and living indicators in Iran.
In broader terms, we can point to inflation surging to almost 50 percent — with the rate much higher when it comes to food and housing prices — and an economic recession that has dragged on for two years. In addition, Iran has experienced capital flight worth billions of dollars in investments; increasing unemployment rates, reaching 40 percent among university graduates; foreign trade that has been cut by nearly half, with the regime banning imports of thousands of items and products as the national currency has lost 75 percent of its value against hard currencies; a widening budget deficit; and, on top of all this, a crisis concerning the woeful handling of the coronavirus pandemic due to the shortage of funds, vaccines and medicine.
Even before the actual announcement of the sanctions, major industrial companies decided to leave Iran or suspend investment agreements with the country primarily in the industrial sector, including the automotive, oil and petrochemical segments. The industrial sector alone accounts for 34 percent of the Iranian workforce (almost 9 million Iranians). Makers of European cars, which enjoy widespread popularity in Iran, have left the country, with hundreds of thousands losing their jobs, leading to car prices skyrocketing. This is in addition to the termination of contracts worth hundreds of billions to develop the country’s aging aviation and oil sectors.
When the nuclear deal was signed in 2015, Iran’s then oil minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh announced a major plan to develop and revive the country’s outdated oil and petrochemical industries, which had fallen behind its global peers and not seen any development since the imposition of sanctions in 2012 under former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The estimated cost of these investments amounted to $200 billion, with Iran signing the first agreements with European countries as part of its upgrade plan in 2012. These contracts were subsequently terminated in 2018 as a result of the sanctions. Today, the need to develop and upgrade Iran’s most important industry has become even more urgent. Iran remains shackled by the US sanctions.
This prompted Javad Owji, the oil minister in the government of Ebrahim Raisi, to announce a new Iranian plan for bartering or exchanging oil and gas condensates with any investor in return for goods or investments in the oil sector.
In light of the aforementioned, how can anyone claim that the sanctions have been ineffective when the Iranian situation has deteriorated to this extent?
Perhaps the greatest challenge for the Iranian regime resulting from the sanctions has been the massive decline in value of the national currency and the subsequent collapse in purchasing power, dealing severe blows to Iranian society, as well as causing the prices of all goods and services to surge. In early 2018, the US dollar traded at 4,500 tomans; as of October 2021, this has spiraled to more than 27,000 tomans.
A new report from the Iranian government’s Planning and Budget Organization provides a grim analysis of government debt, warning that without a “fundamental overhaul of the country’s unhealthy economic structure,” the Iranian government will face bankruptcy in the near future. The report, prepared in the summer but only recently published, examines the outlook for the Iranian government’s debt with two scenarios: Lifting or continuing sanctions. It warns that with continued sanctions, the government will be on the brink of bankruptcy by 2024.
Besides the various economic and social consequences stemming from the sanctions, there is no doubt that there are also security consequences, such as the many protests that have flared over the past three years. It could also be argued that there are psychological consequences, an issue that requires deeper analysis; certainly, the international isolation that the regime has imposed on the Iranian people must have had a damaging psychological effect on some parts of society, especially among the young.
Perhaps the greatest challenge for the Iranian regime resulting from the sanctions has been the massive decline in value of the national currency and the subsequent collapse in purchasing power. There are still some who question the effectiveness of the sanctions, citing the Iranian regime’s continued survival despite the economic crises gripping the country. While this analysis may hold some truth, the regime remains in power at the expense of a crushed people who have borne the brunt of the embargoes.
The regime is gambling that its blind adherence to a policy of infinite patience and resilience will pay dividends. However, while Iran’s regional approach has not changed in concept or ideology, its financial and military support for its overseas militias has been curbed to some extent due to a lack of financial resources, while its apparatuses, the most important being the IRGC, experienced a budget cut by 17 percent in 2019. According to Brian Hook, the former US special representative for Iran, Tehran’s support for foreign militias has declined due to US sanctions.
Keeping the sanctions in place, addressing the loopholes exploited by Iran to circumvent them, and hunting down the companies that bypass the curbs in order to force the Iranian regime to the negotiating table is the least harmful solution for the region and the world — certainly in comparison with other options that are much more difficult and dangerous for everybody.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is President of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami