English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 13/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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Bible Quotations For today
‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is,
their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing
secret that will not become known
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Luke 12/01-05/:”Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered in thousands, so that they
trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, ‘Beware of
the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that
will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore
whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have
whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops. ‘I tell
you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do
nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has
killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on February 12-13/2023
Lebanese religious leader slams politicians’ abuse of ‘power, influence’
over election of new president
Al-Rahi says others to blame for presidential void, not only Christians
Bishop Aoudi: Building the state begins with electing a president and forming a
government that works according to a reform plan
Finance Minister bound for UAE to partake in World Government Summit
34 Lebanese are missing in Turkey
Turkey earthquake kidnaps a Lebanese family!
Economy Minister at the League of Arab States' Assembly: For extending a helping
hand to Lebanon in light of its unprecedented economic, financial...
Bou Habib during the "Quds Conference": We hope that this conference will
provide real protection for Jerusalem and the Jerusalemites
Arrival of a Lebanese aid convoy presented by Independent Nasserites & Nasserist
Organization to help earthquake-affected people in Aleppo
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 12-13/2023
Pope asks for prayers and solidarity for quake victims in Turkey
UN Relief Chief: Türkiye-Syria Quake Deaths to Top 50,000
Earthquake diplomacy: Greek foreign minister visits Turkey
Quake death toll tops 33,000; Turkiye starts legal action against builders
An anonymous donor reportedly walked into the Turkish Embassy in the US and gave
$30 million to aid victims of the devastating earthquake
Turkey detains 12, issues arrest warrants for 113 over collapsed buildings
Iranian terror is a clear and present danger to the UK
Opposition groups rally in France demanding EU list Iran's Guards as terrorist
group
Iranian President Raisi to visit China to shore up ties
3 suspicious objects have been downed across North America this week. Officials
have no idea where 2 of the UAP came from and the pilots who shot them down
can't agree on what they even look like.
Zelenskiy: too early to declare victory after repairs to power system
Russia continues to shell Ukraine amid grinding push in east
Russia has likely suffered its highest rate of casualties since the beginning of
the war in the past 2 weeks, UK Defense Ministry says
US surveillance data crucial for Ukraine, top commander says
Ukraine, U.S. defence heads talk "priorities" for allies' meeting
Israel's president urges Netanyahu to delay legal overhaul
Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Boy in West Bank
Titles For
The Latest
English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on February 12-13/2023
They Are Russians Fighting Against Their Homeland. Here's Why/Michael
Schwirtz/The New York Times/February 12, 2023
This earthquake could be the end of Erdogan/Mark Almond/The Telegraph/February
12, 2023
America Escalates Against Adversaries/Robert Ford/Asharq Al Awsat/February
12/2023
The Crimes of Man Are Worse/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/February 12/2023
Why Is America Desperate to Talk to China After Balloon Intrusion?/Gordon G.
Chang/2023 Gatestone Institute/February 12, 2023
The US needs a firm policy on Iran/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/February 12,
2023
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on February 12-13/2023
Lebanese religious leader
slams politicians’ abuse of ‘power, influence’ over election of new president
Najia Houssari/Arab News/February 13, 2023
BEIRUT: A Lebanese religious leader on Sunday accused politicians of an abuse of
their “power and influence” in obstructing the election of a new president and
the work of state institutions. In his Sunday sermon, Maronite Patriarch Bechara
Boutros Al-Rahi said the Arab and international communities condemned their
“corruption,” adding that parliament should convene as soon as possible and
decide on a new presidential head. He said: “Yes, the president is a Maronite,
but the voters are not all Maronites and Christians. “Indeed, Christian leaders
are responsible for the presidential vacuum, but the greater responsibility
rests with others. Christians cannot agree over the identity of the president
while others cannot agree over the identity of the republic. “We are thus keen
not to harm the identity of neither the president nor the republic because they
are a guarantee of Lebanon’s unity.”Referring to the parliamentarians, he added:
“Are you respecting your top constitutional responsibility of electing a
president who legislates the work of parliament and the government? Are you
carrying out the internationally required reforms?“Are you letting the judiciary
carry out its duties and investigate the Beirut port explosion to reveal the
truth and implement justice? “Are you implementing the measures expected from
the International Monetary Fund and the international community? “Are you
achieving the state of law and eliminating chaos, the proliferation of illegal
weapons, and the law of the jungle? “Are you consolidating Lebanon’s sovereignty
over all its lands and establishing its independence?”Al-Rahi’s comments came
after a meeting held in Paris last week of officials from France, Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, Qatar, and the US, to discuss developments in Lebanon.
The French Foreign Ministry urged Lebanese officials to take the initiative to
elect a new president and carry out the reforms needed to secure international
support for the country. Political parties loyal to Hezbollah want to hold a
legislative session to approve a capital controls bill and extend the term of
Lebanon’s director general of security, Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who is due to
retire. But 46 opposition and reformist MPs have rejected the move claiming it
would be a violation of the constitution. Meanwhile, MPs Melhem Khalaf and Najat
Saliba are in the fifth week of a parliament sit-in in protest over the
presidential election stalemate. They are demanding that Speaker Nabih Berri
keeps holding voting sessions until a new president has been agreed upon. In a
separate development, security services working to combat illegal money changers
have arrested Ali Nimr Al-Khalil, a member of the Amal movement and an MP’s
guard.
Al-Rahi says others to blame for presidential
void, not only Christians
Naharnet/February 12/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/115692/%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%b7-%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%88-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%87%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b0%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d8%b1%d8%a3%d8%b3%d9%87-%d8%a7%d9%84-3/
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday commented on the reports that the
Maronite patriarchate intends to launch a presidential initiative. “They talk
about dialogue and about a certain initiative from the patriarchate. The
patriarchal seat, which has never hesitated to shoulder responsibility, urges
all political forces to frankly and clearly share it the responsibility, so that
we can all achieve success,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon. He added:
“If the president is Maronite, not all electors are Maronite and Christian,” al-Rahi
noted. “If part of the responsibility for Christian vacuum falls on Christian
leaders, the biggest responsibility falls on others, because Christians are
divided over the president’s identity while others are divided over the
republic’s identity,” the patriarch added.
Bishop Aoudi: Building the state begins with electing a
president and forming a government that works according to a reform plan
LCCC/NAA/February 12/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/115692/%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%b7-%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%88-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%87%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b0%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d8%b1%d8%a3%d8%b3%d9%87-%d8%a7%d9%84-3/
Bishop Aoudi stressed in his sermon today that "Everything around us calls us to
repentance, yet our officials find no way to repent. The devastating earthquake
that struck Turkey and Syria, and Lebanon was not spared from its frequencies,
destroyed many regions and left thousands of victims, wounded, missing and
displaced persons. Doesn't this catastrophe invite all those responsible to
reflect?" What would have happened to Lebanon and its people if Lebanon had been
prolonged? Lebanon miraculously survived because of God's mercy, which removed
this cup from us, and we were forced to drink many cups, and we could no longer
bear it. What happened constitutes a warning that calls on everyone to realize
the smallness of man and his helplessness in the face of nature's wrath and its
power. And to think about how to deal with such disasters and develop the
necessary plans to resist earthquakes, storms and torrential rains, and mitigate
their damage.Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the positions of the
politicians, leaders, and leaders of this country, and they have not awakened
from their slumber or felt the terror that the Lebanese are living through,
especially the residents of old, cracked buildings, and many of them. In
Lebanon, they did not come to the aid of their people who are worried about
their fate from the wrath of nature and from the mismanagement of their rulers.
Shouldn't they reconsider their behavior and positions and work to build a state
capable of embracing and protecting its people? It begins with the election of a
president and the formation of a government that strives to run state
administrations based on a comprehensive rescue reform plan. And if they are
unable to do so, let them make room for those who can.”He concluded, "We called
on us today not to distinguish ourselves, thinking that others are like the
prodigal son. Each of us is intelligent, until that blessed moment comes when he
returns to himself, remembering the beauty of his life near his heavenly
Father."
Finance Minister bound for UAE to partake in
World Government Summit
NNA/Sunday, 12 February, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Finance, Youssef Al-Khalil, and the Director General of
Finance, George Al-Maarawi, headed today to the United Arab Emirates to
participate in the World Government Summit 2023, which is attended by finance
ministers and is taking place in Dubai between February 13 & 15. The summit
meetings are held this year within the framework of the Seventh Public Finance
Forum in the Arab Countries, with the support of the Arab Monetary Fund and the
participation of the International Monetary Fund, under the headline: “Fiscal
Sustainability in the Arab World after the Corona Pandemic - Challenges and
Opportunities and the Role of Tax Policy in Advancing Global Growth, Prosperity
and Climate Action.”
34 Lebanese are missing in Turkey
Lebanese MTV/February 12/2023
The search continues for survivors of the Turkish earthquake, and the
Lebanese-Turkish Friendship Committee reported that the number of Lebanese
survivors has so far reached 40, the deceased 19, and the missing 34.
Turkey earthquake kidnaps a Lebanese family!
Lebanese MTV/February 12/2023
The fate of the Lebanese Khalaf family, whose members were killed in the Turkish
earthquake, was revealed, and all five bodies were pulled from under the rubble.
MTV reported that the bodies of Alia Al-Marouq and Ibrahim Khalaf were pulled
from under the rubble in Turkey, and later the body of Deniz Khalaf.In the
morning, the bodies of Omar Khalaf and Muhammad Khalaf were taken away.
Economy Minister at the League of Arab States' Assembly:
For extending a helping hand to Lebanon in light of its unprecedented economic,
financial...
NNA/Sunday, 12 February, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Economy and Trade, Amin Salam, sent out a cry on behalf of
the Lebanese at the League of Arab States's assembly in Cairo today, calling for
"extending a helping hand to Lebanon in light of an unprecedented economic and
financial crisis in its history, which has led to almost complete destruction of
its infrastructure, economy, service and human resources, and emptied Lebanon of
its citizens and human capabilities."
Salam thanked the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States for its
"ongoing efforts to overcome obstacles between the brotherly Arab countries at
all levels, especially with regards to following-up on the Greater Arab Free
Trade Zone."
He added, "I would also like to extend my condolences over the victims of the
tragic earthquakes that struck both Syria and Turkey, leaving thousands of
casualties and tens of thousands displaced, and here I take this opportunity to
call on the Arab countries to overcome differences and provide all available
means of support to the peoples affected by the earthquakes, particularly since
Lebanon feels such suffering as it is still recovering from the effects of the
August 4 explosion that destroyed half of the city of Beirut, leaving hundreds
of victims, thousands of wounded, and losses of tens of billions."
Salam continued to consider that the Arab League Council "bears significant
responsibility in establishing cooperation and dedicating joint efforts to serve
our Arab society, which carries within its entities huge capabilities that must
be directed in the right and constructive direction."
"Our agenda today reflects many vital issues, especially what affects the
completion of the Arab Free Trade Zone and facing the challenges of Arab food
security, through which we are supposed to establish the Arab strategy for food
security, as well as the maintenance of our Arab societies in the fields of
health, education and women empowerment," Salam emphasized.
He added, "Lebanon is one of the founders of the Arab League, and it has had
contributions over the years to the development of Arab action and the adoption
of a policy of brotherhood and cooperation with all our Arab brothers without
exception." However, he regretfully pointed to the many crises that Lebanon and
the Lebanese have endured during the past decade, and still are facing a dead
end that renders them in dire need for support and assistance. "I seize this
opportunity, and my presence in this Assembly among my brothers and sisters, to
cry out on behalf of the people who are eager to rebuild their country,
establish their constitutional authorities, and introduce order to political and
administrative work," Salam said, launching Lebanon's appeal to its Arab
brethrens to extend a helping hand to it, in light of an unprecedented economic
and financial crisis in its history. He concluded by underlining that "the path
of social and economic development and building institutions is an obligation
and duty for all Arab countries, as they are entrusted with safeguarding it
since it denotes the path of tomorrow and the hope of generations to come."
Bou Habib during the "Quds Conference": We hope that this
conference will provide real protection for Jerusalem and the Jerusalemites
NNA/Sunday, 12 February, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Abdallah Bou Habib,
delivered Lebanon's address at the Jerusalem Conference at the League of Arab
States in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
Bou Habib conveyed the greetings of Prime Minister Najib Mikati who was not able
to partake in the conference, thanking the League's General Secretariat for its
exerted efforts to hold this conference in the best manner possible. "As the
convening of the Jerusalem Support Conference coincides with a new and dangerous
development in the Israeli occupation policy against our people in Jerusalem,
which warns of more crimes, this confirms the correctness of the summit's
decision and the wisdom in hastening to implement it," Bou Habib said.
He pointed out that "the most important issue, today, with regard to protecting
and preserving Jerusalem, lies in doubling efforts to ensure that its people
stay there and encourage them not to leave it despite all the pressures and
threats."For this reason, he went on, "support for the Palestinian brethrens in
Palestine must be focused not only on the political level, but also through
support for developmental, vital and social projects, particularly in Jerusalem,
from schools, universities and clubs to investments that create new job
opportunities for the younger generations." Bou Habib also underlined that
"adherence to the Hashemite Custodianship over the holy places is also of great
importance, as respecting and activating this Custodianship would enhance the
confidence of Palestinian youth in their ability to protect their sanctities and
their land."
Arrival of a Lebanese aid convoy presented by Independent Nasserites & Nasserist
Organization to help earthquake-affected people in Aleppo
NNA/Sunday, 12 February, 2023
Damascus - A Lebanese aid convoy arrived in Syria today through the Jdeidet
Yabous border crossing, presented by the Movement of the Independent Nasserites
- Al-Mourabitoun and the Nasserite Popular Organization, including four trucks
loaded with various relief materials, foodstuff, clothing, civil defense
equipment, and others to support the earthquake-affected people in the city of
Aleppo.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on February 12-13/2023
Pope asks for prayers and
solidarity for quake victims in Turkey
NNA/Sunday, 12 February, 2023
Vatican - Pope Francis renewed his appeal for concrete help and prayers for all
those affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria. He
also prayed for war-ravaged Ukraine, calling on responsible parties to have the
courage to walk the path of peace. Speaking during the Angelus address in St.
Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Francis renewed his appeal for concrete acts of
solidarity and for prayers for the quake-struck people in Turkey and Syria. His
call for action came as the death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and
northwestern Syria surpassed 29,000 amidst continuing rescue efforts.
Specialized search and rescue teams from across the world have joined forces in
the affected areas and stories of extraordinary rescues, almost a week after the
quake, continue to emerge. But humanitarian agencies are warning of a “second
disaster” as scores of people left homeless in the freezing cold struggle to
survive. --- Vatican News
UN Relief Chief: Türkiye-Syria Quake Deaths to
Top 50,000
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 12 February, 2023
The death toll from a massive earthquake in Türkiye and Syria will "double or
more" from its current level of 28,000, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths has
said. Griffiths arrived on Saturday in Türkiye's southern city of Kahramanmaras,
the epicenter of the first 7.8-magnitude tremor that upturned millions of lives
in the pre-dawn hours of Monday, AFP said. He said of the death toll in an
interview with Sky News on Saturday: "I think it is difficult to estimate
precisely as we need to get under the rubble but I'm sure it will double or
more.""We haven't really begun to count the number of dead," he said. Officials
and medics said 24,617 people were killed in Türkiye and 3,574 in Syria. The
confirmed total now stands at 28,191. Tens of thousands of rescue workers are
scouring flattened neighborhoods despite freezing weather that has deepened the
misery of millions now in desperate need of aid. The United Nations has warned
that at least 870,000 people urgently need hot meals across Türkiye and Syria.
Up to 5.3 million people may have been made homeless in Syria alone. Almost 26
million people have been affected by the earthquake, the World Health
Organization (WHO) said as it launched a flash appeal on Saturday for $42.8
million to cope with immediate health needs. Türkiye's disaster agency said more
than 32,000 people from Turkish organizations are working on search-and-rescue
efforts. There are also 8,294 international rescuers. "Soon, the search and
rescue people will make way for the humanitarian agencies whose job it is to
look after the extraordinary numbers of those affected for the next months,"
Griffiths said in a video posted to Twitter.
Earthquake diplomacy: Greek foreign minister
visits Turkey
ATHENS, Greece (AP)/Sun, February 12, 2023
Greek foreign minister Nikos Dendias visited the earthquake-stricken areas of
Turkey Sunday, accompanied by his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu. The
visit was part of a new round of so-called “earthquake diplomacy” between the
two uneasy allies, whose relations have often been frosty, if not downright
hostile. Something similar happened in 1999, three years after the two countries
almost went to war over two uninhabited islets in the Aegean Sea. In August
1999, a 7.6 magnitude tremor had struck Turkey, resulting in about 18,000 dead;
the following month, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Greek, capital,
Athens, killing 143 people. In both cases, the two countries sent rescuers to
assist in each other's efforts. The warming of bilateral relations had been
widely covered in the international media. Cavusoglu recalled a letter that he,
as a private citizen, had sent to TIME magazine at the time. “Back then, I said
that we should not wait for another earthquake to improve our relations. I
repeat this now, as Turkey's foreign minister. We must make efforts to improve
our relations,” Cavusoglu said. “I want to totally sign on on to what Mevlut
said: that we should not wait for natural disasters to improve our relations,”
Dendias said later. The two countries are at odds over research for natural
resources in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey has also accused
Greece of militarizing some Aegean islands, in violation of international
treaties, a charge Greece has strongly denied. Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has often threatened Greece that Tukish troops will come "suddenly one
night,” and has mentioned that Turkey's new Tayfun missiles can reach Athens.
Such rhetoric has, at least for the moment, been put aside. Erdogan has spoken
on the phone with Greece's President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with whom he had had declared he would not speak ever
again. The two Greek officials called Erdogan to express their condolences for
the earthquake's victims and assure him of Greek support. Publicly, and on
social media, Greek people have expressed their support for Turkey, except for
some on the far nationalist fringe. Greek unions have taken the lead in
collecting aid for the displaced. At all sports events held on Saturday, a
minute of silence was observed for the victims. Cavusoglu and Dendias visited
the Operations Centre in Antakya, where they were briefed on the latest
developments concerning the evacuation and rescue effort, as well as on the
humanitarian needs that have arisen. They also saw the extent of the devastation
from the air, in a helicopter trip. Dendias and Cavusoglu also visited the camp
where Greek and other international units, units are based. Rescuers from EU
countries have pulled a total of 205 survivors from the ruins, Dendias said in a
joint appearance with Cavusoglu. “The Greek effort will not stop here.,” Dendias
said. “Greece will do everything to support Turkey, either bilaterally or as a
member of the European Union.”Cavusoglu especially thanked the Greek rescuers
for their “superhuman efforts, round the clock, for the past week.” “We noted
that all Greeks, and not just the rescuers, were elated after each rescue...Good
neighborly relations show in those difficult days," he said.
Quake death toll tops 33,000; Turkiye starts
legal action against builders
AFP/February 12, 2023
ANKARA: Rescuers pulled more survivors from the rubble on Sunday, nearly a week
after one of the worst earthquakes to hit Turkiye and Syria, as Turkish
authorities sought to maintain order across the disaster zone and began legal
action over building collapses. With chances of finding more survivors growing
more remote, the toll in both countries from Monday’s earthquake and major
aftershocks rose above 33,000 and looked set to keep growing. It was the
deadliest quake in Turkiye since 1939. In a central district of one of the worst
hit cities, Antakya in southern Turkiye, business owners emptied their shops on
Sunday to prevent merchandise from being stolen by looters. Residents and aid
workers who came from other cities cited worsening security conditions, with
widespread accounts of businesses and collapsed homes being robbed. Facing
questions over his response to the earthquake as he prepares for a national
election that is expected to be the toughest of his two decades in power,
President Tayyip Erdogan has said the government will deal firmly with looters.
In Syria, the disaster hit hardest in the rebel-held northwest, leaving homeless
yet again many people who had already been displaced several times by a
decade-old civil war. The region has received little aid compared to
government-held areas. “We have so far failed the people in north-west Syria,”
United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths tweeted from the Turkiye-Syria border,
where only a single crossing is open for UN aid supplies. “They rightly feel
abandoned,” Griffiths said, adding that he was focused on addressing that
swiftly. More than six days after the first quake struck, emergency workers
still found a handful of people clinging to life in the wreckage of homes that
had become tombs for many thousands.A team of Chinese rescuers and Turkish
firefighters saved 54-year-old Syrian Malik Milandi after he survived 156 hours
in the rubble in Antakya. On the main road into the city the few buildings left
standing had large cracks or caved-in facades. Traffic occasionally halted as
rescuers called for silence to detect signs of remaining life under the ruins. A
father and daughter, a toddler and a 10-year-old girl were among other survivors
pulled from the ruins of collapsed buildings Sunday, but such scenes were
becoming rare as the number of dead climbed relentlessly. At a funeral near
Reyhanli, veiled women wailed and beat their chests as bodies were unloaded from
lorries — some in closed wood coffins, others in uncovered coffins, and still
others just wrapped in blankets. Some residents sought to retrieve what they
could from the destruction. In Elbistan, epicenter of an aftershock almost as
powerful as Monday’s initial 7.8 magnitude quake, 32-year-old mobile shop owner
Mustafa Bahcivan said he had come into town almost daily since then. On Sunday
he sifted through the rubble searching for any of his phones that might be still
be intact and sellable. “This used to be one of the busiest streets. Now it’s
completely gone,” he said.
DETENTION ORDERS
Building quality in a country that lies on several seismic fault lines has come
into sharp focus in the aftermath of the quake. Turkish Vice President Fuat
Oktay said 131 suspects had so far been identified as responsible for the
collapse of some of the thousands of buildings flattened in the 10 affected
provinces. “We will follow this up meticulously until the necessary judicial
process is concluded, especially for buildings that suffered heavy damage and
buildings that caused deaths and injuries,” he said. The earthquake hit as
Erdogan faces presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for June. Even
before the disaster, his popularity had been falling due to soaring inflation
and a slumping Turkish currency. Some affected by the quake and opposition
politicians have accused the government of slow and inadequate relief efforts
early on, and critics have questioned why the army, which played a key role
after a 1999 earthquake, was not brought in sooner. Erdogan has acknowledged
problems, such as the challenge of delivering aid despite damaged transport
links, but said the situation had been brought under control.
SYRIA AID COMPLICATED BY YEARS OF WAR
In Syria, the hostilities that have fractured the country during 12 years of
civil war are now hindering relief work. Earthquake aid from government-held
regions into territory controlled by hard-line opposition groups has been held
up by approval issues with Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) which
controls much of the region, a UN spokesperson said. An HTS source in Idlib told
Reuters the group would not allow any shipments from government-held areas and
that aid would be coming in from Turkiye to the north. The UN is hoping to ramp
up cross-border operations by opening an additional two border points between
Turkiye and opposition-held Syria for aid deliveries, spokesperson Jens Laerke
said. The foreign minister of US ally the United Arab Emirates met Syrian
President Bashar Assad on Sunday in the first high-level visit by an Arab
official since the quake. Several Arab countries have provided support to Assad
in the quake’s aftermath. Western countries, which sought to isolate Assad after
his crackdown on protests in 2011 and the outbreak of civil war, are major
contributors to UN relief efforts across Syria but have provided little direct
aid to Damascus during the civil war. The first shipment of European earthquake
aid to government-held parts of Syria also arrived in Damascus on Sunday.UN
Syria envoy Geir Pedersen said in Damascus the United Nations was mobilizing
funding to support Syria. “We’re trying to tell everyone: Put politics aside,
this is a time to unite behind a common effort to support the Syrian people,” he
said. The quake ranks as the world’s sixth deadliest natural disaster this
century, its death toll exceeding the 31,000 from a quake in neighboring Iran in
2003. It has killed 29,605 people in Turkiye and more than 3,500 in Syria, where
tolls have not been updated for two days. Turkiye said about 80,000 people were
in hospital, and more than 1 million in temporary shelters.
An anonymous donor reportedly walked into the
Turkish Embassy in the US and gave $30 million to aid victims of the devastating
earthquake
Isobel van Hagen/Insider/Sun, February 12, 2023
A Pakistani living in the US went to the Turkish Embassy to anonymously donate
$30 million to earthquake victims. The prime minister of Pakistan said he was
"deeply moved" by the act. The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake
surpassed 28,000 people this weekend. A Pakistani living in the United States
went to the Turkish Embassy to anonymously donate $30 million to those affected
by a massive and deadly earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria earlier this week,
according to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. In a tweet on Saturday,
Sharif said he was "deeply moved" by the act. "These are such glorious acts of
philanthropy that enable humanity to triumph over the seemingly insurmountable
odds," he said. Pakistan's government formed a committee on Thursday to collect
funds and provide supplies for Turkey and Syria, Anadolu Agency, Turkey's
state-run media agency, reported. On Saturday, the Pakistan National Disaster
Management Authority said on Twitter that two more relief consignments were
flying to "the sister and brothers" of Turkey to provide aid. The death toll
from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake surpassed 28,000 people this weekend, and
thousands more are still reported missing as rescue efforts continue. Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the earthquake "the disaster of the
century." As millions face displacement from the disaster, donating money is the
most efficient way to support survivors, and the organizations are providing aid
in the region, Insider reported.
Turkey detains 12, issues arrest warrants for
113 over collapsed buildings
Agence France Presse/February 12, 2023
Turkish police have detained 12 people over collapsed buildings in the
southeastern provinces of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa, local media reported,
following the huge quake that hit Turkey. Those taken into custody included
contractors, DHA news agency said. At least 6,000 buildings collapsed after a
7.8-magnitude tremor hit the region, killing more than 25,000 people, sparking
anger over the poor quality of housing. There are expected to be more detentions
after Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay told reporters late Saturday that
prosecutors issued 113 arrest warrants over the buildings. One of those detained
Saturday was a contractor for a building in Gaziantep, the agency said, adding
he was found by police in Istanbul. Prosecutors have launched a wave of
investigations in provinces impacted including Kahramanmaras where Pazarcik
district was at the epicenter of the quake. Turkey's justice ministry has
ordered prosecutors in the 10 provinces to establish special "earthquake crimes
investigation offices."On Friday, Turkish police apprehended a contractor of a
block of high-rise luxury flats that toppled over in Hatay province. He was
detained at Istanbul airport after reportedly trying to flee the country.
Turkey arrests 48 for looting, defrauding quake victims
Agence France Presse/February 12, 2023
Turkish authorities have arrested 48 people for looting or trying to defraud
victims after a powerful earthquake hit Turkey, state media reported. The
suspects were held in eight different provinces as part of investigations into
looting after Monday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the region, news agency
Anadolu said. It later reported that 42 suspects were held for looting in
southern Hatay province, while six were arrested over defrauding a victim in
Gaziantep by telephone. The tremor and its aftershocks killed nearly 26,000
people in Turkey and Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday announced
a three-month state of emergency in the 10 provinces in southeastern Turkey
impacted by the tremor. Prosecutors can now detain people for an extra three
days from four days previously for looting crimes as part of extended powers
under the state of emergency, according to a decree published in the official
gazette Saturday. Erdogan earlier Saturday vowed Turkey would crack down on
looters. "We've announced a state of emergency," he said during a visit to the
quake-affected province of Diyarbakir. "This means that, from now on, people
involved in looting or kidnapping should know that the state's firm hand is on
their backs," Erdogan said.
Iranian terror is a clear and present danger to the UK
Stephen Crabb/The Telegraph/February 12, 2023
As it clings on to power with ever greater desperation, deploying unimaginable
violence against its own citizens for daring to call for greater freedoms, the
brutal regime in Tehran has just marked the 44th anniversary of the Iranian
revolution. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been the enforcers and
exporters of this revolution since 1979, and in so doing have become the world’s
pre-eminent terror organisation. There is no terror group in the world which can
boast such a formidable reputation for destabilisation and thirst for bloodshed.
Possessing a multi-billion dollar business empire across the Iranian state, the
IRGC’s resources are plentiful and it uses them to deadly effect. It is a
principal protagonist in some of the world’s most bloody conflicts. Its terror
franchises Hezbollah and Hamas are the de-facto rulers of Lebanon and Gaza
respectively, inflicting immeasurable suffering. Violence targeting Israel can
be sanctioned at the behest of the Iranian regime at any point, as we have seen
with deadly effect. Hezbollah’s accumulation of an estimated 150,000 missiles
wouldn’t have been possible without the IRGC. It is now fastidiously seeking to
upgrade this arsenal with precision-guided systems to ensure maximum destructive
capabilities. Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has been aided by Iran’s
provision of hundreds of deadly suicide drones to President Putin, and now,
reportedly, ballistic missiles. The IRGC is also the key actor in Iran’s march
towards developing a nuclear weapon. There is also a growing understanding about
the depth and breadth of the IRGC’s involvement in the international drugs
trade. The UK has subjected the IRGC (and the Iranian regime) to an escalating
set of sanctions over the last few months. This is welcome but it is the very
least the group’s activities deserve. The continuing failure to proscribe it is
indefensible. This inaction has led to an emboldened IRGC. It is now brazenly
conducting ever more activities in the UK, presenting a clear and immediate
threat. Its involvement in the attempted kidnap and killing of UK-based
individuals was dramatically revealed by MI5 last year. A ring of steel was
erected by police to protect London-based journalists covering Iran’s heinous
repression of human rights protests across the Islamic Republic. A number of
Islamic centres in the UK have also been publicly linked to the IRGC. Photos
appearing to show British children celebrating arch-IRGC terror leader Qassem
Soleimani as a “martyr” are particularly chilling. UK security services have
done an outstanding job of preventing an IRGC-backed attack in the UK, but the
group only needs to be lucky once. One such attempted bomb attack back in 2015
by the IRGC’s Hezbollah proxy was sufficient to lead to that group’s
proscription, and yet the wait goes on for decisive action against the
organisation that likely signed it off in the first place: the IRGC. The
benefits of proscription are many. Criminalising the IRGC would decisively
curtail its activities in the UK – disrupting funding streams, and ending its
attempts to promote home-grown extremism. There is near unanimous support for
proscription in Parliament. It has united members in a way that precious few
issues do. It is not lost on British parliamentarians that the IRGC was behind a
recent foiled plot to kill cross-party MPs at an opposition rally in Paris. A
Government’s number one duty is to protect its citizens. It is time that the
Government got on with that task.
Opposition groups rally in France demanding EU list Iran's
Guards as terrorist group
Michaela Cabrera and Noemie Olive/Sun, February 12, 2023
PARIS (Reuters) - Thousands of opponents of Iran's ruling authorities rallied
for a second day in Paris on Sunday to pressure European Union states to list
Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation in response to a
crackdown in the country.
Tehran has been engaged in a violent crackdown on protesters since September,
including carrying out executions, and it has also detained dozens of European
nationals. The EU has become increasingly critical of its actions. Ties between
EU members and Tehran have also deteriorated in recent months as efforts to
revive talks on Iran's nuclear programme have stalled and the country has
transferred drones to Russia to help it in its war against Ukraine. Sunday's
rally in Paris, organised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
and which followed a similar rally on Saturday by European-based Iranians, aimed
to highlight the IRGC's role in cracking down on protesters, but also its
activities outside Iran. "This will be a revolution... The youth know there is
no future under this regime. They say they are better off dying in the streets
than living in this country with this regime," said Ela Zabihi, a university
lecturer in London. Widespread anti-government demonstrations erupted in Iran in
September after the death of young Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who had
been detained by morality police for allegedly flouting the strict dress code
imposed on women.
While some EU member states and the European parliament have pushed for the IRGC
to be listed, others have been more cautious fearing that it could lead to a
complete break in ties with Iran, harming any chance of reviving nuclear talks
and jeopardising any hope of getting their nationals released. Designating the
IRGC as a terrorist group would mean that it would become a criminal offence to
belong to the group, attend its meetings and carry its logo in public. Set up
after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling
system, the Guards have great sway in the country, controlling swathes of the
economy and armed forces and put in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile and
nuclear programmes. "The IRGC must be added to the list of designated terrorist
organisations by the European Union," Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI
told the rally of several thousand people.
"The valiant youth have the right to defend themselves against the IRGC, covert
agents, and the barrage of bullets that pierce their eyes, heads, and
hearts."The People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran is the main component of
NCRI. The group, also known by its Persian name Mujahideen-e-Khalq, was once
listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union
but not since 2012. Tehran has long called for a crackdown on the NCRI in Paris,
Riyadh and Washington. The group, whose level of support is unclear, is
regularly criticised in state media.
Iranian President Raisi to visit China to shore up ties
BEIJING (AP)/Sun, February 12, 2023
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit China for a three-day trip starting
Tuesday at the invitation of his counterpart, Xi Jinping. China's Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the announcement on Sunday. She did not
elaborate on Raisi's itinerary.
The two leaders met last September in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, when Xi underscored
China's support for Iran. In December, Raisi pledged to remain committed to
deepening the strategic partnership during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier
Hu Chunhua in Tehran. China is a major buyer of Iranian oil and an important
source of investment in the Mideast country. In 2021, Iran and China signed a
25-year strategic cooperation agreement that covered major economic activities
from oil and mining to industry, transportation and agriculture. Both countries
have had tense relations with the United States and have sought to project
themselves as a counterweight to American power alongside Russia. Washington has
accused Iran of selling hundreds of attack drones to Russia for its war in
Ukraine and has sanctioned executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer. At that
same time, ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown stronger.
3 suspicious objects have been downed across North America
this week. Officials have no idea where 2 of the UAP came from and the pilots
who shot them down can't agree on what they even look like.
Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert/Business Insider/February 12, 2023
US fighter aircraft shot down an object threatening airspace over Alaska
yesterday. F-22 pilots who saw the object said it "interfered with their
sensors" and had no propulsion system.
On Saturday, another unknown object, described as "cylindrical," was shot down
over Canada. A week after shooting down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that
floated over the country, F-22 jets shot down an unidentified object threatening
flights over Alaska on Friday. Reports offer conflicting details about the
object's capabilities and origins, and US intelligence officials have released
limited information about its design or intended purpose. Recently, Unidentified
Anomalous Phenomena have been observed not just over the United States, but
floating above Canada, Colombia, and Costa Rica. It's been an extraordinary week
for UAPs in North America. In addition to the first surveillance balloon seen
over the country beginning January 31, a second balloon was spotted floating
over Latin America on February 4, while another unidentified object was shot
down over Canada on Saturday.
Airspace over Montana was also briefly restricted on Saturday after reports of
radar anomalies in the region, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said
in a statement posted to Twitter, but after an investigation, no additional
object was found.
US officials say China has a global operation of surveillance balloons
collecting data on military bases, including the balloon downed last week, but
the object shot down Friday has not been confirmed to be linked to Chinese
officials — or anyone else. Here is what we know about the object shot down on
Friday. The object over Alaska was at an altitude that conflicted with
commercial flights
"I can confirm that the Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude
object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours," White House National Security
Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at a Friday briefing. "The object
was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the
safety of civilian flight."
The balloon seen floating above the country last week hovered at around 60,000
feet, according to the Pentagon — which is well out of the general cruising
altitude of commercial aircraft, which normally operate between 33,000 and
42,000 feet.
We don't know the origin of objects shot down on Friday or Saturday
Kirby said officials first became aware of the item on Thursday night, but even
after shooting it down could not confirm its origin, saying: "We do not know who
owns it, whether it's state-owned or corporate-owned or privately owned. We just
don't know."
"If it was another Chinese spy balloon, that indicates that China is either
incompetent in operating these platforms or potentially deliberately provoking
the US," Michael P. Mulroy, a former Pentagon official, told The New York Times.
"It is also important for the US and China to maintain direct communications
during times like this. Especially between the militaries."
Officials confirmed the origin of last week's Chinese surveillance balloon two
days after it was first sighted. Chinese officials have acknowledged the first
balloon came from their country, but maintain it was a civilian airship used
mainly for "meteorological research."
China has not made any claims regarding the objects shot down in Canada and
Alaska. "We're calling this an object because that's the best description we
have right now," Kirby said.
There may be surviving evidence in the debris
Officials are working to recover the debris from the unknown object shot down on
Friday, which landed on frozen water off the Alaskan coast near the Canadian
border. CBS News reported the object was downed near Prudhoe Bay. The object
shot down on Saturday was spotted in the Northern Canadian territory of Yukon.
Reuters reported Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadian officials would
recover and analyze the debris. The Yukon high-altitude object was described by
Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand as cylindrical in shape, Reuters reported,
though no other details have yet been released. It is unclear if the object shot
down off the Alaskan coast was of similar size or shape. The debris field in the
Atlantic Ocean after the first balloon was shot down measured "15 football
fields by 15 football fields," with a depth of around 50 feet, General Glen
VanHerck, commander of NORAD and US Northern Command, told reporters on Monday.
He added that the balloon was about 200 feet tall with a payload the size of a
"jet airliner" and estimated it weighed a few thousand pounds.
Conflicting reports from pilots
Prior to shooting down the object, Kirby told reporters, the pilots of the F-22
jets that took it down circled it and determined it was unmanned and lacked the
ability to maneuver midair and change its speed like previous balloons have been
seen doing.
He did not share additional details about the object. While official government
sources are quiet on the object, others are sharing reports from the pilots who
tracked it. "Some of the F-22 Pilots who Tracked the Aircraft that was downed
over Alaska yesterday said that it 'Interfered with their Sensors' and that
'They could see No Propulsion Systems on the Aircraft not knowing how it could
possibly be staying in the Air,'" according to the public military and
intelligence scanner, Open Source Intelligence Monitor. Some of the pilots, OSIM
reported, did not experience interference with their systems and could not agree
on a description of the object.
Open Source Intelligence Monitor did not immediately respond to Insider's
request for comment.
CNN reported an anonymous source with knowledge of the briefing said the pilots
shared conflicting observations about the object, including that it had
interfered with their systems and that they could not explain how it stayed in
the air.
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena are showing up in more places than the sky
In December, the Department of Defense established the All-domain Anomaly
Resolution Office to identify "unidentified anomalous phenomena" — in space, in
the air, on land, or in the sea — that may threaten national security. The term
UAP replaces the traditional "unidentified flying object" or UFO designation, as
officials expect to evaluate anomalies "across all domains."While it is unclear
if unknown terrestrial objects have been seen recently, former Navy pilots David
Fravor and Alex Dietrich told CBS News in 2021 about an encounter with an
unknown object while conducting pre-deployment training in 2004. The pair
described flying their aircraft over the ocean, and seeing an area of roiling
whitewater on the surface below. Just above the whitewater was a "white Tic Tac
looking" object with "no predictable trajectory.""It was unidentified," Dietrich
said. "And that's why it was so unsettling to us. Because we weren't expecting
it. We couldn't classify it."Footage released by the Pentagon in 2020 also
revealed unknown objects speeding across the ocean surface that had been spotted
by Navy pilots. "Dude, this is a f--king drone, bro," CBS News reported one of
the pilots exclaims in the video. Another person says "there's a whole fleet of
them.""They're all going against the wind," the first pilot said. "The wind's
120 knots to the west. Look at that thing, dude! It's rotating!"A 2021 report
from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said "in 18 incidents,
described in 21 reports, observers reported unusual UAP movement patterns or
flight characteristics. Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft,
move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without
discernable means of propulsion. In a small number of cases, military aircraft
systems processed radio frequency (RF) energy associated with UAP sightings."The
2022 report noted that, among the 171 uncharacterized incidents, "some of these
uncharacterized UAP appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics
or performance capabilities, and require further analysis."Representatives for
the Pentagon and US Northern Command did not immediately respond to Insider's
request for comment. Officials have acknowledged surveillance balloons have been
seen floating in US airspace several times over the last few years, though they
have not always been immediately identified — three devices spotted during the
Trump administration were initially classified as UFOs.
Zelenskiy: too early to declare victory after
repairs to power system
Reuters/Sun, February 12, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday hailed efforts to restore
power generation systems damaged by Russian attacks but warned the population it
was too early to declare victory on the energy front. Zelenskiy said power
workers had done such a good job repairing the damage caused by Russian missile
and drone strikes on Friday that most people had not had to face too many
outages on Saturday and Sunday. "The very fact that ... after a massive missile
strike this week, we can have such peaceful energy days proves the
professionalism of our energy workers," he said in an evening video address.
"We have to realize: this is not yet a decisive victory on the energy front.
Unfortunately, there may be new terrorist attacks from Russia. There may be new
restrictions if there is further destruction or growth in consumption."
Zelenskiy said scheduled energy outages would once again be in place when the
working week started on Monday. Russia has carried out repeated waves of attacks
on Ukrainian energy facilities in recent months, at times leaving millions of
people without light, heating or water supplies during the cold winter. Energy
Minister German Galushchenko said the power deficit after the attacks had been
significantly reduced thanks to "an ultra-fast repair program" which ensured
that all nine nuclear power units on Ukrainian controlled territory were working
and connected to the grid. "This is the best response of Ukrainian energy
workers to enemy shelling," he said in a statement.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editi
Russia continues to shell Ukraine amid
grinding push in east
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)/SUSIE BLANN/Sun, February 12, 2023
Russian forces over the weekend continued to shell Ukrainian cities amid a
grinding push to seize more land in the east of the country, with Ukrainian
officials saying that Moscow is having trouble launching its much-anticipated
large-scale offensive there.
One person was killed and one more was wounded on Sunday morning by the shelling
of Nikopol, a city in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Gov. Serhii Lysak
reported. The shelling damaged four residential buildings, a vocational school
and a water treatment facility.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, one person was wounded after three
Russian S-300 missiles hit infrastructure facilities overnight, regional Gov.
Oleh Syniehubov said. The Russian military said they hit armored vehicle
assembly workshops at the Malyshev machinery plant in the city. Ukrainian forces
also downed five drones — four Shahed killer drones and one Orlan-10
reconnaissance drone — over the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk
regions on Saturday evening, Kyiv's military reported. Overall, Russian forces
carried out 12 missile and 32 air strikes in Ukraine over the past 24 hours, as
well as over 90 rounds of shelling from multiple rocket launchers, Ukraine's
General Staff reported in its daily update. The attacks come as Russian forces
push to take over more land in the eastern industrial heartland of Donbas,
comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukrainian and Western officials
have warned that Russia could launch a new, broad offensive there to try to turn
the tide of the conflict as the war approaches the one-year mark. But Ukrainian
officials say that Moscow is having trouble mounting such an offensive. “They
are having big problems with a big offensive,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of
Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told Ukrainian television on
Saturday night. “They have begun their offensive, they're just not saying they
have, and our troops are repelling it very powerfully. The offensive that they
planned is already gradually underway. But (it is) not the offensive they were
counting on,” Danilov said. A U.S.-based think tank noted that it is also
Russia’s pro-Kremlin military bloggers who question Moscow’s ability to launch a
broad offensive in Ukraine. They “continue to appear demoralized at the
Kremlin’s prospects for executing a major offensive,” the Institute for the
Study of War said in its latest report. Earlier this week the owner of the
Russian Wagner Group private military contractor actively involved in the
fighting in Ukraine said that the war could drag on for years. Yevgeny Prigozhin
said in a video interview released late Friday that it could take 18 months to
two years for Russia to fully secure control of Donbas. He added that the war
could go on for three years if Moscow decides to capture broader territories
east of the Dnieper River. The statement from Prigozhin, a millionaire who has
close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was dubbed “Putin’s chef”
for his lucrative Kremlin catering contracts, marked a recognition of the
difficulties that the Kremlin has faced in the campaign, which it initially
expected to wrap up within weeks when Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Russia suffered a series of humiliating setbacks in the fall when the Ukrainian
military launched successful counteroffensives to reclaim broad swaths of
territory in the east and the south. On Sunday, Prigozhin said that Wagner
fighters have taken over the Krasna Hora settlement north of Bakhmut, a
strategic city at the epicenter of the fighting in recent months.
Russia has likely suffered its highest rate of casualties
since the beginning of the war in the past 2 weeks, UK Defense Ministry says
Alia Shoaib/Business Insider/February 12, 2023
In the last 2 weeks, Russian casualties are likely the highest since the war
began, the UK said. The Ukrainian General Staff estimated that the mean average
for the last seven days was 824 Russian casualties. Western officials estimate
that Russia could be approaching nearly 200,000 casualties. In the last two
weeks, Russia has likely suffered its highest rate of casualties since the first
week of its invasion of Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. The
Ukrainian General Staff said that the mean average for the last seven days was
824 Russian casualties per day, which is over four times the rate reported in
June and July 2022, the UK ministry said in an intelligence update on Sunday.
While the department said it could not verify Ukraine's methodology, it said
that the trends are likely accurate. The reason for the increase in Russian
casualties is due to various factors, including a lack of trained personnel,
coordination, and resources across the front, which the ministry notes can be
seen in Bakhmut and Vuhledar. The Ministry of Defence noted that Ukraine has
also suffered high losses. Ukraine claimed on Tuesday that 1,030 Russian troops
had been killed in the previous 24 hours, which would have marked the deadliest
day for Russian forces in the war so far. While it is difficult to accurately
track the death toll of the war, Western officials estimate that Russia could be
approaching nearly 200,000 casualties. That toll, in less than a year of the
war, is eight times higher than all American casualties in two decades of war in
Afghanistan.
In recent months fierce fighting has been raging in the eastarn Ukraine, with
Russia trying to take the city of Bakmut in Donetsk Oblast. Mercenaries from the
Russian private military company Wagner Group have played a large role in the
war in Ukraine, particularly in Bakhmut and its surrounding areas. Yevgeny
Prigozhin, the head of Wagner Group, said in a video published on Friday that he
believed the fighting in Ukraine could continue for several years, Reuters
reported. He said that it could take one and a half to two years for Russian
forces to completely capture the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, which
Moscow last year claimed as "republics" of Russia in an internationally
condemned move. However, if the goal was to occupy territory up to the Dnipro
River, this could take about three years, he said. Although Prigozhin does not
speak for the Russian military, his comments provide insight into Russian
expectations of the war.
Read the original article on
US surveillance data crucial for Ukraine, top commander
says
ABC News/February 12, 2023
Lt. Gen. Serhiy Nayev, one of the most senior commanders of the Ukrainian Armed
Forces, believes that the data surveillance the United States has collected is
crucial in Ukraine's efforts amid the ongoing war. Nayev is in charge of all
troops based in the north of Ukraine which guard 600 miles of border with
Belarus and Russia. In an exclusive interview with ABC News, he gave rare
on-camera details about intelligence provided by the U.S., which has allowed the
Ukrainian military to destroy key Russian targets in occupied parts of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian commander confirmed that the U.S. provides "surveillance data,"
allowing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to more accurately pinpoint Russian targets
within Ukraine's borders. "This help is crucial for us," he told ABC News. Nayev
said he was in "constant contact" with American generals stationed in other
parts of Europe. He said an exchange of data between the Ukrainians and
Americans helped the Ukrainian military to pinpoint targets using U.S.-supplied
HIMARS rocket systems. "This work goes perfectly in real-time," he said. Nayev
spoke with ABC News at a series of Ukrainian military exercises held Saturday in
the Rivne region of northern Ukraine, approximately 40 miles south of the border
with Belarus. During the military exercises, Ukrainian forces simulated how they
would defend a major nuclear power plant situated in that region in the event of
a fresh Russian invasion from the north. When Russia launched its full-scale
invasion of Ukraine in February of last year, Russian troops quickly seized the
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine. Russia's control of the
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant presents a high-stakes challenge for Ukrainian forces
in that part of the country and the Kremlin has often made ominous warnings
about the potential for a wartime nuclear disaster at the plant. Nayev said
Ukraine had a "good understanding" of the threat of a Russian assault from the
north, underlining that Ukrainian forces are "not just waiting for them." "This
is the toughest phase of war because the enemy strengthened its forces thanks to
new mobilization and their forces are much bigger now," Nayev said. "If we
compare the beginning of the war, the number of their infantry troops was around
160,000-180,000 people. Now, it is more than 350,000. Their forces are much
bigger and it makes the combat situation more difficult because of the larger
number of men." He said Ukraine had increased the number of land mines in the
border region by tenfold. However, the overall commander of Ukrainian forces in
the north played down the likelihood of a Russian assault from Belarus in the
near term. Nayev also stressed the need for western partners to supply Ukraine
with longer-range missiles so that Ukraine can hit Russian ammunition depots and
military command and control centers in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukraine, U.S. defence heads talk "priorities" for allies'
meeting
Reuters - U.S./Sun, February 12, 2023
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov
discussed "priorities", including air defence and artillery, for upcoming
meetings of Kyiv's allies in Brussels, both sides said late on Saturday. After
securing a promise of scores of modern battle tanks, including the U.S. M1
Abrams, German Leopard 2 and British Challenger 2, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
and other Kyiv officials have been urging allies to send fighter aircraft. The
Ukraine Defense Contact Group will meet on Tuesday at the NATO headquarters,
following upon a Jan. 20 conference at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany that was
key for the decisions to send tanks. Austin and Reznikov discussed the
importance of delivering promised capabilities as quickly as possible, the
Pentagon's chief spokesperson, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, said in a
statement. After the call, Reznikov tweeted that "the United States is
unwavering in its support of Ukraine," adding that the two also discussed the
situation on the front line.
Israel's president urges Netanyahu to delay legal overhaul
The Associated PressSun, February 12, 2023
Israel's president on Sunday appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to
delay a contentious plan to overhaul the country's judicial system and instead
seek a compromise with his political opponents. President Isaac Herzog issued
the appeal in a prime-time nationwide address a day before Netanyahu's coalition
is to take its first steps toward implementing the plan in a parliamentary vote.
The proposed reforms have triggered mass demonstrations, opposition from wide
swaths of Israeli society and even drawn a veiled warning from President Joe
Biden. “I feel, we all feel, that we are in a moment before a collision, even a
violent collision, a barrel of explosives before a blast,” Herzog said. Herzog's
job is largely ceremonial. But the president is meant to serve as a unifying
force and moral compass for a country that is deeply divided. Netanyahu and his
supporters say the changes are needed to rein in a judiciary that wields too
much power. But his critics say the plan, which include proposals to weaken
Israel's Supreme Court, will damage the country’s fragile system of democratic
checks and balances. They also say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for
corruption charges, is motivated by a personal grudge against the legal system
and that he and has allies have a deep conflict of interest. “They want to
destroy the system because the system wasn’t nice to them,” said Eliad Shraga,
chairman of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel. “This is a hostile
takeover by a bunch of crooks.”The movement has planned a mass demonstration
outside the Knesset, or parliament, on Monday, when Netanyahu's coalition is
expected to present the first legislation for its sweeping overhaul. Tens of
thousands of people are expected to attend. Herzog urged Netanyahu to put off
Monday's vote and instead begin dialogue with his opponents. Saying that both
sides have valid points, he offered a five-point plan as a basis for dialogue.
There was no immediate response from Netanyahu's office.
Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Boy in West
Bank
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 12 February, 2023
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager Sunday in the occupied West Bank,
the Palestinian health ministry said, with the army reporting they came under
fire during a raid. The ministry reported 14-year-old Qusai Radwan Waked died
"as a result of being seriously wounded in the abdomen by live fire from the
occupation (Israel)" in Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank. The army said
Israeli forces were shot at while they were trying to arrest an alleged
Palestinian militant, while "explosive devices and rocks" were also thrown at
them. "We are aware of the reports regarding a number of armed individuals who
got injured during the exchange of fire," an army statement said, adding that no
troops were hurt. An AFP photographer saw the teenager's body wrapped in a sheet
and being carried on a stretcher. Elsewhere in the northern West Bank on Sunday,
Palestinian mourners gathered for the funeral of a 27-year-old man shot dead
allegedly by an Israeli settler. Mithkal Suleiman Rayyan was shot in the head
Saturday near the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, where the army reported "heavy
clashes between dozens of Palestinians and Israeli civilians". Attia Asi, who
witnessed the killing, said the shooting happened before soldiers arrived. "In
the beginning it was in the air, then it turned towards the (Palestinian) guys,
aiming to kill," he told AFP at the funeral.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on February 12-13/2023
They Are Russians Fighting
Against Their Homeland. Here's Why.
Michael Schwirtz/The New York Times/February 12, 2023
DONBAS REGION, Ukraine — The soldier knelt in the snow, aimed a rocket launcher
and fired in the direction of Russian troops positioned about 1 mile away. He
was set up at a Ukrainian firing position and looked just like the other
Ukrainian troops fighting south of the city of Bakhmut in one of the most brutal
theaters of the war. But he and his comrades are not Ukrainian. They are
soldiers in a Ukrainian military unit made up entirely of Russians who are
fighting and killing their own countrymen. They have taken up arms against
Russia for a variety of reasons: a sense of moral outrage at their country’s
invasion, a desire to defend their adopted homeland of Ukraine or because of a
visceral dislike of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. And they have earned
enough trust from Ukrainian commanders to take their place among the forces
viciously fighting the Russian military.
“A real Russian man doesn’t engage in such an aggressive war, won’t rape
children, kill women and elderly people,” said one Russian fighter with the
military call sign Caesar, ticking off atrocities committed by Russian soldiers
that motivated him to leave his native St. Petersburg and fight for Ukraine.
“That’s why I don’t have remorse. I do my job, and I’ve killed a lot of
them.”Nearly a year into the war, the Free Russia Legion, as the unit is called,
has received little attention — in part to protect the soldiers from reprisals
by Russia, but also because of reluctance within the Ukrainian military to
highlight the efforts of soldiers whose home country has done so much harm to
Ukraine. Several hundred of them are concentrated in the area around Bakhmut, in
eastern Ukraine, officials said; they are always grouped with their own but are
overseen by Ukrainian officers. In interviews, some Russian soldiers said they
were already living in Ukraine when Russian forces invaded last year and felt an
obligation to defend their adopted country. Others, often with no military
experience, crossed into Ukraine from Russia after the war began, moved by a
sense that the Kremlin’s invasion was profoundly unjust. “We haven’t come here
to prove anything,” said one soldier with the call sign Zaza. “We’ve come here
to help Ukraine achieve the full withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian
territory and the future de-Putinizaton of Russia.”
Fearing retaliation against relatives and themselves, none of the soldiers
interviewed agreed to be identified by name or to provide specific details about
their biographies. Last week, the Russian prosecutor general’s office filed a
suit with the country’s supreme court to have the Legion declared a terrorist
organization. Zaza, a skinny blond who looks barely out of high school, would
not even give his age, saying only that he was under 20. After Russian forces
invaded, he said, he could not keep his mouth shut. His outspokenness and
anti-war posts on social media got him in trouble with his university’s
administration, then with police. When officers from Russia’s security service
showed up at his front door in the fall, he said, he decided it was time to
leave.
He said he walked across the border into Ukraine and signed up to fight. “At
such a young age, it is a little early for me to talk about my political
opinions and worldview, because these are just forming now,” he said. “But when
your country has been taken over by one bad man, you need to take things into
your own hands.”At the start of the war, Ukrainian law prevented Russian
citizens from joining the armed forces. It took until August to finalize
legislation that would allow the Legion to legally join the fight, Andriy Yusov,
a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence service, said in a statement.
“There was a large number of Russians who because of their moral principles
could not remain indifferent and were searching for a way to enter the ranks of
the defenders of Ukraine,” Yusov said, explaining the military’s motivation to
create the unit. “All legionnaires have come with a huge desire to stop Putin’s
horde and free Russia from dictatorship.”The group operates under the umbrella
of Ukraine’s International Legion, a fighting force that includes units made up
of American and British volunteers, as well as Belarusians, Georgians and
others.
It is not easy to join, Russian soldiers said. They have had to submit an
application and undergo an extensive background check that includes polygraph
tests. Only then can they enter basic training. As Russian passport holders,
they are inevitably met with distrust. There have been several attempts by
Russian spies to infiltrate the Legion, Yusov said. In a pine forest in the Kyiv
region last week, a group of new Russian recruits nearing the end of a
three-month basic training course practiced tactical retreats, firing mortars
and basic combat medicine. They exemplified the international hodgepodge that
has come to define much of Ukraine’s war effort: Russian soldiers trained on a
French-made 155 mm mortar and carried American-made M16 rifles.
“It’s better than a Kalashnikov,” one of the soldiers said of the M16. “I’ve
fired about 1,000 rounds and haven’t had any problems yet.”
The sounds of small-arms fire and heavy artillery echoed through the forest, and
an instructor threw a dummy grenade near a small group of soldiers to gauge how
they would react. Most of the soldiers will occupy positions back from the front
lines, working in artillery or air reconnaissance units using drones.
Though the instructors were all Ukrainian, all spoke in Russian. In interviews,
some of the recruits tried to speak a few words of Ukrainian but quickly
switched back to their native language.
“After about one or two months as they’ve settled in, they start to use small
phrases like ‘thank you’ or ‘fire,’” said one of the instructors, who declined
to provide his name.
The soldiers said they struggled to explain their decision to family back in
Russia. Reports of atrocities committed by Russian troops, including the
butchering of civilians in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha and Irpin, are dismissed as
foreign propaganda in their homeland.
“They don’t understand the whole truth,” said a 32-year-old soldier with the
call sign Miami, who said his parents had urged him to fight on the Russian
side. “They’re told that bad people live here, and they believe it. They don’t
believe that the second-biggest army in the world could kill regular
people.”Back at the front in eastern Ukraine, the shelling never stops for long.
Russian forces have been hammering away at Ukrainian positions, trying to
dislodge them around Bakhmut in advance of an expected offensive push to take
all of the eastern region known as the Donbas. On a recent visit to a firing
position, the precise location of which The New York Times is withholding for
security, the ground rumbled, and artillery shells crisscrossed a clear sky.
That day, Russian forces had launched a volley of grad rockets that blanketed
the area, wounding several civilians but sparing the soldiers.
“They’re striking everywhere,” a panting Russian soldier said as he took cover
in a dugout in a neighborhood of small, snow-covered cottages. Soldiers in the
Legion said that they were continuing to hold the line, but some have already
begun to think beyond the immediate battle, and even beyond the war in Ukraine,
to what comes next. “My task is not just to protect the people of Ukraine,” said
Caesar, 50. “If I remain alive after this phase and all Ukrainian territory is
liberated, I will absolutely continue fighting, with a weapon in my hand, to
overthrow this Kremlin regime.”
Caesar, who has earned a reputation as a kind of eccentric sage within the
Legion, said he was an avowed Russian nationalist. Yet he nonetheless believes
that modern Russia has gone off the rails, particularly when it comes to
invading Ukraine, he said.
He was once a member of the Russian Imperial Movement, which the United States
has declared a violent extremist group, but said he broke with it in part over
its support for Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. A senior
Ukrainian military official involved with overseeing the Legion said that Caesar
“had spent a long time searching for a path he felt was ideologically correct,”
adding that Ukrainian officials had found no reason to distrust him. Caesar, who
moved his wife and four children to Ukraine over the summer, said he did not
believe he was fighting against fellow Russians, but “scoundrels and murderers”
who have no nationality. “I’m sitting before you, an example of a Russian man,
and an example of a man that Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky wrote about,” he said.
“That’s the kind of man I am. Not them. They aren’t Russian.”
This earthquake could be the end of Erdogan
Mark Almond/The Telegraph/February 12, 2023
Turkey straddles key geopolitical tectonic plates as well as nature’s cruellest
geological fault line. The country is at the core of the vortex of tensions
involving Russia to the north, Nato to the west, the Middle East to the south
and Iran to the east.
Given the apocalyptic scale of the human losses and physical damage caused
across the region by last week’s mega-quake – over 25,000 killed, and rising –
rightly calls for politics to be put on hold while humanitarian aid takes
priority are understandable. But earthquakes, not least in Turkey, have
political consequences too.
Opposition politicians have blamed President Erdogan’s autocratic style for
hindering relief work and actually permitting shoddy construction projects by
firms allegedly owned by his political cronies. These allegations are political
poison ahead of an election on 14 May. Everyone in Turkey remembers how the last
mega-quake in 1999 paved the way for Erdogan’s electoral victory in 2002, when
the ruling secularists were booted out by voters enraged by lax building
standards and corruption.
Turkey turned to Erdogan’s Islamists because of his reputation as an excellent
mayor of Istanbul, which he literally cleaned up a generation ago by removing
mounds of uncollected rubbish. The secular government’s removal of Erdogan from
the mayoralty for reciting an Islamist nationalist poem simply increased his
popularity as the underdog. Few in the West remember now the wave of optimism
that Erdogan’s early years in power generated abroad. He was seen as a Muslim
Democrat along the lines of Germany’s Christian Democrats, and his authoritarian
tendencies were treated as a decisive break with the old politics rather than a
warning that should have shattered those illusions. Since the outbreak of the
Syrian civil war, Erdogan’s forked-tongue approach to his allies in Nato has
become apparent. He has used membership of the alliance as a cover for his own
assertion of Turkish military power in the region, and cosied up to Vladimir
Putin’s Russia, conniving with Moscow to break Western sanctions following the
invasion of Ukraine.
Barely 24 hours before the quake, playing the nationalist card looked as though
it would carry Erdogan to another presidential term. His Interior Minister,
Suleyman Soylu – the voice of anti-Americanism – refused U.S. condolences after
a recent terrorist attack in Istanbul. Now Mr Soylu is in charge of coordinating
relief with the very donor countries he and Erdogan have abused. Countries
Ankara has sought to label sympathisers with Kurdish terrorism – Erdogan’s
excuse for blocking Sweden’s entry into Nato – are pouring in an impressive
flood of aid, undermining the scapegoating of “allies” as Turkey’s real enemies.
Putin, meanwhile, has little to offer, and what he does may well go to Assad’s
Syria.
This could well have an impact on political attitudes inside Turkey, triggering
a popular reconsideration of where the countries true friends and allies are.
However, this is not inevitable, nor is it inevitable that any such change would
be allowed to be expressed at the ballot box.
The imposition of a state of emergency is understandable after the quake’s
havoc, and the disorder and looting in ruined regions. But Erdogan’s censorship
of the media and his threat that the Turkish state’s “heavy hand” will come down
on anyone disrupting law and order could enable cancelling the polls, or
massaging their results. As a devout Muslim Erdogan has deflected blame for the
catastrophe onto God’s will rather than his government’s lax standards. Many
Turks are wondering if he would equally accept electoral defeat as sanctioned by
God. To the south, Syria’s civil war and refugee crisis present ominous
reminders of what such a social breakdown could mean for the rest of us. If
Turkey descends into a political crisis after a disputed election amid the
rubble and hardship left by the earthquakes, the shock waves will surely spread
West.
Erdogan has found himself in a rare vulnerable position. Nato and the West in
general need to provide aid both to bandage wounds, and also to draw Turkey
towards us as their terrible tragedy plays out. If we do not, we may find that
troubled Turkey is set towards an an even darker path.
*Mark Almond is Director of the Crisis Research Institute, Oxford. He was
formerly a Visiting Professor at Bilkent University, Ankara
America Escalates Against Adversaries
Robert Ford/Asharq Al Awsat/February 12/2023
From Washington’s point of view, its adversaries appear weak and this is the
moment to be more aggressive, from Asia to Ukraine to Iran. The strange dispute
about the Chinese spy balloon is the latest example. It is worth noting that
Beijing issued a statement of regret about the balloon entering American skies
among other signs that China wants to stop the downward spiral in bilateral
relations.
The former Chinese ambassador to Washington, soon to be Foreign Minister, in his
last speech in America in December called for mutually advantageous cooperation,
not confrontation. The Chinese worry about their ailing economy after the covid
pandemic and severe American trade restrictions. It is no coincidence that their
Vice Premier was in Davos last month to stress that globalization must continue
and China welcomes foreign investment. Meanwhile, some Chinese companies are
moving to Mexico to keep their access to markets in America.
In reality, the spy balloon should not be a crisis. We live in an age of
satellite and cyber spying, and of course America spies on China. An American
military official told The Washington Post last week that the spy balloon could
not in reality discover any important military secrets. Washington acknowledged
that other spy balloons came over American territory before, although this one
was more visible and so it became a political issue.
After trying to manage the issue quietly in diplomatic channels for two days,
the Biden administration cancelled Secretary Blinken’s trip at the last minute
because of the uproar in the American capital. The Chinese, who had indicated
that Blinken would meet President Xi, reacted with a quiet statement that simply
said it was an American decision.
The Americans are doing more than cancelling visits. Late in January the Biden
administration convinced Japan and the Netherlands to instruct their companies
to apply the same American restrictions on exports of semiconductor
manufacturing technology to China. Now Washington is pressuring the government
in South Korea to also restrict computer chip technology exports to China.
Meanwhile, last week the Biden administration reached an agreement with India to
increase cooperation in the field of high technology and advanced weapons. The
purpose of this agreement and the trade restrictions is to enable America to
surpass Chinese high-technology capabilities. And at the same time, the American
Defense Secretary announced an agreement with the Philippines for the Americans
to build four new military sites in the northern island of Luzon near Taiwan.
More than the Trump administration, the Biden administration exploits America’s
traditional network of alliances and partners to convince, and if needed, to
pressure other states to help contain China. Beijing lacks a similar list of
allied states.
Likewise, the Biden administration escalated its intervention in the Ukraine war
last month. The decision to send tanks, and to convince Germany to send tanks,
was a step no capital had expected a year ago. In addition, the Biden
administration is providing Ukraine with new artillery that can hit targets
twice as far away as the previous artillery systems provided; they will be
better able to hit targets with artillery inside Russia. Washington is not so
worried as before about a Russian nuclear weapons response. And at the same
time, under pressure from Washington the Turkish airport service provider Havas
has finally informed Russian aviation companies that it will stop servicing
commercial airplanes with America parts to comply with American sanctions.
Turkey is an extremely important outlet for Russian travelers because of
sanctions at airports throughout the West. Like China, Russia so far has been
unable to respond to the escalations in American pressure. Finally, America’s
third big enemy, Iran, also appears weak in the face of escalations from
America’s ally Israel. The drone attack on Esfahan resulted only in an Iranian
letter to the Secretary General at the United Nations. This is the smallest
possible diplomatic response, and the Palestinians can advise Tehran from their
experience of the anticipated result.
Similarly, the Israelis last week destroyed an Iranian military convoy at
Albukamel in eastern Syria and Iran again did nothing. Despite weekly Israeli
strikes, including some that now violate Iranian sovereignty, Iran is avoiding
military responses, especially when it watches the biggest American-Israeli
joint military exercises in history. Unlike Washington, Tehran is ready to work
gradually and the steady advances in Tehran’s nuclear weapons program are
increasing the likelihood of American-Israeli military attack.
Is Biden restoring American military power to rule the world? The short answer
is not like Bush the son. He won’t send an army into Iran or Ukraine. But
Washington is becoming more belligerent. I worry that Washington will by mistake
cross a red-line and trigger an angry response from a weak but desperate
adversary. And we know from the experience of 2003 in Iraq that Washington can
overestimate its capabilities.
The Crimes of Man Are Worse
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/February 12/2023
There can be no doubt that the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria last week was
tragic. Its effects will remain in the memory and minds of the victims’
families, those who were affected, and anyone with a conscience, be they from
the region or not.
Nonetheless, this tragedy is not the only one we have seen in our region.
Indeed, while it is true that the earthquake is the worst in 100 years, the
numbers (and I mention numbers because there is no way to measure pain and how
people feel) tell us that we have seen, and are seeing, worse. Today, some of
those talking about this calamity are doing so in an attempt to “whitewash” the
Assad regime. This is a catastrophe and a tragedy in itself. According to the
United Nations' figures, the earthquake has killed over 25,000 people in Türkiye
and Syria and displaced over 5 million Syrians.
This is painful. No reasonable person could accept it, but what are the figures
of Assad and Iran’s crimes in Syria? According to the statistics for the year
2021, not those of today, they killed around 400,000 people in Syria. According
to the United Nations, more than 6 million Syrians have been displaced inside
the country due to the violence of the Assad regime and Iran and Russia’s
interventions, while 5.5 million have been displaced outside Syria.
Moreover, chemical weapons have been used 38 times in Syria since the revolution
erupted, according to the United Nations. Thirty-two of them are attributed to
the Assad regime, and just two weeks ago, the Organization for the Prohibition
of Chemical Weapons condemned the Assad regime for using chemical weapons in
Douma, Eastern Ghouta, in 2018. Thus, per the numbers, the scale of the
disasters and suffering caused by people, specifically the Assad regime, the
Iranian militias in Syria, and the Russian forces that intervened in the
country, is greater than that left by the earthquake.
The regime’s crimes were committed using barrel bombs and chemical weapons,
which are added to its torture and executions. All of this has been documented,
and they are the reason why the Caesar Act sanctioning the regime was passed. We
also have the use of ISIS, the intervention of Iranian militias, and Russian
airstrikes, which killed around 9,000 Syrians alone.
Here, the reader will ask: What is your point? I am making two points. The first
is addressed to the international community, which has spoken of its regret over
the earthquake, specifically its ramifications in Syria. Now, it wants help,
while the crimes that Assad and Iran committed in the country wreaked more havoc
than the earthquake, and their hell was continuous and systematic; it was not a
single event. Nonetheless, nothing was done to help defenseless Syrians.
The other point I want to make is that those who are trying to “whitewash” the
Assad regime after its crimes in Syria, as well as those that Iran committed,
are making a grave mistake. They have always been hurting the victims of the
Assad regime, and now they are hurting the victims of the earthquake.
I do not say these things lightly. Indeed, the Assad regime did not allow aid to
enter opposition areas until five days after the earthquake, and we will soon
see proof. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also called for
an “immediate ceasefire” in Syria to facilitate the delivery of aid to the
earthquake victims. To conclude, we cannot toy with people’s emotions and make
them forget. We cannot accept the solutions for a real tragedy that come at the
expense of larger, ongoing tragedies engendered by the Assad regime and Iran.
Why Is America Desperate to Talk to China After Balloon
Intrusion?
Gordon G. Chang/2023 Gatestone Institute/February 12, 2023
There are many things wrong about Austin's attempts to communicate with Wei. As
an initial matter, Wei's rank is far below Austin's.
Our defense secretary should insist, when he talks, to talk to the people in
charge. Americans are big on "dialogue." They believe as an article of faith,
that there must be communication to maintain relations. In fact, communication
with China has over the course of decades made matters worse. How so? American
attempts at dialogue empower the worst elements in the Chinese political system
by showing everyone else that bad conduct works. The cycle is well known in
Beijing: China engages in belligerent conduct and America then tries to placate
the hostile regime. Desperate attempts to talk make America look like a
supplicant. Austin, if he were to call, should have done so as the craft
approached U.S. airspace in late January. The People's Liberation Army has
continued to ignore communication mechanisms.
No agreement can get Chinese officials to engage in dialogue when they consider
dialogue to not be in their interests. In short, China will talk only when it
wants to.
America should reverse the dynamic and break off communication with China.
Severing dialogue could intimidate Chinese leaders and officials. What will
Beijing think when normally eager-to-talk Americans do not call and even refuse
to answer their phone?
Moreover, the U.S. can up the pressure by ordering Beijing to close its
remaining four consulates and to strip down its overly large embassy to just the
ambassador. Ordering the closures and expulsions now will, among other things,
emphasize that America is no longer willing to tolerate dangerous behavior.
If these steps do not work, Washington can end other ties — trade, investment,
technical cooperation — that China needs for its struggling economy, something
the U.S. should do anyway.
[T]he riskiest policy of all is to continue with an approach that created this
perilous situation in the first place. American attempts at dialogue empower the
worst elements in the Chinese political system by showing everyone else that bad
conduct works. China engages in belligerent conduct and America then tries to
placate the hostile regime. Desperate attempts to talk make America look like a
supplicant. Pictured: US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping
meet at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia on November 14, 2022.
"We believe in the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between
the United States and the PRC in order to responsibly manage the relationship,"
declared Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, in a February 7 statement.
"Unfortunately, the PRC has declined our request. Our commitment to open lines
of communication will continue."Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had tried to
arrange a telephone conversation with China's Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe,
after the February 4 shoot-down of the Chinese spy balloon, but the Chinese
official refused to take the call.
Austin must now be accustomed to being rebuffed by Wei. In November in Cambodia
at a meeting of defense ministers, Austin proposed reopening communication
channels that Beijing had ended after then Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to
Taipei. The Chinese so far have not replied. "Since the US's irresponsible
wrongdoings failed to create an atmosphere for communication between the
militaries of the two countries, China does not accept the US's proposal for a
defense chiefs' call," said Defense Ministry spokesperson Tan Kefei in the words
of China's semi-official Global Times.
Good. The United States should stop trying to talk to China.
There are many things wrong about Austin's attempts to communicate with Wei. As
an initial matter, Wei's rank is far below Austin's. As defense minister, he is
a central government official with little or no authority over the Chinese
military. The People's Liberation Army does not report to the Chinese
government. It reports to the Communist Party. The Communist Party official with
the comparable rank to Austin is Xi Jinping, in his role as chairman of the
Party's Central Military Commission. Our defense secretary should insist, when
he talks, to talk to the people in charge.
Americans love to talk. "I do hope that the United States and China can find a
way to have a dialogue on these issues," said Leon Panetta, a defense secretary
during the Obama years, to Andrea Mitchell on February 9 on her MSNBC show,
referring to the spy balloon incident.
As evident from Panetta's comment, Americans are big on "dialogue." They
believe, as an article of faith, that there must be communication to maintain
relations. In fact, communication with China has over the course of decades made
matters worse.
How so? American attempts at dialogue empower the worst elements in the Chinese
political system by showing everyone else that bad conduct works. The cycle is
well known in Beijing: China engages in belligerent conduct and America then
tries to placate the hostile regime. Desperate attempts to talk make America
look like a supplicant.
Austin unfortunately reinforced that image after the shoot-down. As James Fanell
of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy told Gatestone, if Secretary Austin was
going to call anyone in Beijing, it should not have been after the balloon
shoot-down, thereby making it look like America was trying to justify its
action. Austin, if he were to call, should have done so as the craft approached
U.S. airspace in late January. Americans are focused on making sure that
everyone understands each other. "I think it's important that we try to avoid a
miscalculation," Panetta told Mitchell. "It's important that the United States
and China at least develop a process to try to work together on these kinds of
issues to avoid what could be an instance that could have us in a war."
A "process"? Americans already have many consultative processes with the Chinese
military, such as those established in a 2008 agreement on a
military-to-military hotline and the September 2015 Memorandum of Understanding
on the same topic. The People's Liberation Army has continued to ignore
communication mechanisms. "The People's Republic of China cannot be trusted to
comply with any agreement they sign," notes Fanell, also a retired U.S. Navy
captain who served as director of Intelligence and Information Operations of the
U.S. Pacific Fleet. Chinese leaders do not want to have communications with
foreigners until they settle on their positions after internal bargaining and
deliberations. They are, in the words of the Associated Press, "suspicious" of
Americans "talking their way out of repercussions for a U.S. provocation." No
agreement can get Chinese officials to engage in dialogue when they consider
dialogue to not be in their interests. In short, China will talk only when it
wants to.
What should Washington do now?
America should reverse the dynamic and break off communication with China.
Severing dialogue could intimidate Chinese leaders and officials. What will
Beijing think when normally eager-to-talk Americans do not call and even refuse
to answer their phones?
Moreover, the U.S. can up the pressure by ordering Beijing to close its
remaining four consulates and to strip down its overly large embassy to just the
ambassador. Ordering the closures and expulsions now will, among other things,
emphasize that America is no longer willing to tolerate dangerous behavior.
If these steps do not work, Washington can end other ties — trade, investment,
technical cooperation — that China needs for its struggling economy, something
the U.S. should do anyway.
Are these steps risky?
Yes, but after decades of misguided policy every option is risky, and the
riskiest policy of all is to continue with an approach that created this
perilous situation in the first place. China's officials say that America no
longer deters them. Americans need to take them at their word and try something
different to reestablish deterrence. The brazen balloon intrusion shows the
utter disrespect of the United States by China's regime. We do not know why the
Chinese thought they could get away with such an act, but attempts at dialogue
cannot solve the problem. In any event, Americans may wonder what is the point
of talking with a Chinese regime that is not prepared to deal with their country
in good faith.
The Chinese are masters in the art of getting what they want by not talking.
Americans need to learn this skill as well.
Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China, a Gatestone
Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
The US needs a firm policy on Iran
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/February 12, 2023
The US ought to take a firmer Iran-Russia policy, one which will adequately
address the rapidly growing partnership between the Iranian regime and Russia on
multiple fronts, including military, strategic, nuclear and economic ones.
Unfortunately, the Biden administration’s policy regarding Iran-Russia ties
appears to have emboldened, or facilitated the way for, Tehran and Moscow to
become closer. For example, recently, the Biden administration renewed a series
of sanctions waivers; these sanctions will allow the theocratic establishment of
Iran and Russia to cooperate with each other concerning Tehran’s nuclear program
at Iranian enrichment facilities. Apparently, the waivers were authorized by US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken “on Jan. 31, but Congress was not notified of
the decision until late on Feb. 3, after the Free Beacon began making inquiries
about the exemptions. Senior congressional sources said that the Biden
administration is trying to sweep the sanctions waivers under the rug amid
renewed concerns about Iran and Russia’s military alliance,” according to the
Beacon.
It is worth noting that Tehran and Moscow previously worked together to
construct several nuclear reactors in Iran and advance the regime’s nuclear
technology.
The Biden administration is sending a message to the Iranian leaders and Russia
that Washington is indeed in favor of reviving the new nuclear deal. Iran’s
staunch ally, Russia, plays a key role in Biden’s Iran nuclear deal. The deal
will reportedly allow Moscow to cash in on a $10 billion contract to expand
Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Blinken previously made it clear to US lawmakers
that the Biden administration would not stand in the way of Russia cashing in on
the $10 billion contract as well as Russia-Iran nuclear cooperation. And the
State Department spokesman, Ned Price, formally reiterated the Biden
administration’s stance by pointing out: “We, of course, would not sanction
Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full
implementation of the JCPOA.”
The Biden administration needs a firmer policy to counter the growing military
and nuclear ties between the Iranian regime and Russia.
Furthermore, other than the nuclear issue, the Biden administration is yet to
adopt a stronger policy with respect to the growing military ties between Iran
and Russia. As British Defense Minister Ben Wallace pointed out to the UK
Parliament regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict: “Iran has become one of
Russia’s top military backers.”Instead of just shipping its drones, Iran is
planning to set up a drone assembly line in Russia to help Moscow in its war
against Ukraine. A high-level Iranian delegation recently visited Russia, which
was led by Brig. Gen. Abdollah Mehrabi, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps Aerospace Force Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, and
Ghassem Damavandian, the chief executive of Iran’s Quds Aviation Industry.
According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, the Iranian regime and
Russia are moving ahead “with plans to build a new factory in Russia that could
make at least 6,000 Iranian-designed drones for the war in Ukraine, the latest
sign of deepening cooperation between the two nations, said officials from a
country aligned with the US. As part of their emerging military alliance, the
officials said, a high-level Iranian delegation flew to Russia in early January
to visit the planned site for the factory and hammer out details to get the
project up-and-running.”
Militarily speaking, Russia is also moving to provide advanced military
equipment to the Iranian regime, including air defense systems, fighter jets and
helicopters. This will likely make the regime, which is the world’s leading
state sponsor of terrorism, a stronger, more belligerent and expansionist state.
Russians will be reportedly training Iranian pilots on how to use the Su-35
fighter jet. Even White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby
recently acknowledged that Russia was offering Iran “an unprecedented level of
military and technical support that is transforming their relationship into a
full-fledged defense partnership.” Regarding Russian Su-35 fighter jets, Kirby
warned that these fighter planes would “significantly strengthen Iran’s air
force relative to its regional neighbors.”
Hit by draconian financial sanctions, the Iranian regime is also attempting to
evade sanctions, increase its revenues and create a sanction-proof economy by
strengthening its relationship with Russia. According to a recent report by
Bloomberg: “Russia and Iran are building a new transcontinental trade route
stretching from the eastern edge of Europe to the Indian Ocean, a 3,000-km
(1,860-mile) passage that is beyond the reach of any foreign intervention. “The
two countries are spending billions of dollars to speed up delivery of cargos
along rivers and railways linked by the Caspian Sea. Ship-tracking data compiled
by Bloomberg show dozens of Russian and Iranian vessels — including some that
are subject to sanctions — already plying the route.”
In a nutshell, the Biden administration needs a firmer policy to counter the
growing military and nuclear ties between the Iranian regime and Russia.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political
scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh