Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 06-07/2023
The Fate Of Those Who Lack Faith and Worship Perishable Earthly Riches/Elias Bejjani/October 06/2023
Tenenti to NNA: UNIFIL continues working to create the space for a permanent political and diplomatic solution
UAE reopens embassy in Lebanon as MBZ hosts Mikati in Abu Dhabi
Nearly 4 million people in Lebanon need humanitarian help
Riot sparks deadly fire in Zahle Prison, leaving four dead
Report: Presidential vote may not take place before US elections
Mawlawi follows up on Zahle prison fire, calls on Army Chief to protect prison's surroundings
Le Drian returns soon, Doha says continuing its mediation
Qatari envoy meets for second time with Franjieh
Kataeb Party: Pressure on judges reflects authorities intimidation tactics across all sectors
Lebanese Army detains 27 Syrians in Dora after Thursday's altercation
Snowballing crisis: Syrian refugees and Lebanon's struggle
LBCI sources confirm detention of illegal Syrian nationals in Dora altercation, here are the details
MP Sami Gemayel discusses presidential candidates, Hezbollah, and Syrian refugee crisis
Sarkozy charged with tampering Franco-Lebanese witness Takieddine
Lebanese, Syrians clash in Dora amid growing anti-refugee sentiment
Mikati, UAE leader agree to reopen embassy, ease visas
Army rescues 125 persons on board an illegal immigration boat that set sail from Tripoli's Al-Mina this afternoon
Finance Minister, Customs Director General tackle issue of lithium battery containers at Beirut's Port
L’Oréal – UNESCO “For Women In Science” program celebrates a decade of empowering exceptional women scientists, honors six researchers from...
FPM condemns aggression against Military College in Homs
Lebanon’s presidential vacuum puts the onus on parliament/Meray Maddah/The Arab Weekly/October 06/2023
Anti-migrant hostility mounts in Lebanon amid Syrian refugee surge
Lebanon’s War Before the War/Issam Kayssi/Carnegie/October 06/2023
The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy (AMCD) Urges Congress to Investigate the “Iran Experts Initiative” Lobbying for the Regime

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 06-07/2023
Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General - on Syria
Death toll rises to 112 in drone strike at Syria military academy
Carnage in Syrian military academy after unprecedented drone attack
Syria buries dead after military academy drone attack
Turkey hits Kurdish militia sites in Syria after US downs Turkish drone
Turkish drone downed over Syria ‘was 500 meters from US forces’
American tourist arrested for smashing ancient Roman statues at Israel museum
The US Navy turned the tables on Iran, sending drones that look like speedboats to spy on its warships and troublesome gunboats
Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins 2023 Nobel peace prize
Iranian, Saudi FMs stress boosting mutual cooperation
4 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in fresh West Bank violence
Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her ‘fight against oppression’
NGO rescue ship saves 258 migrants off Libya in two operations
EU leaders clash again on how to handle migration
KSA in lead and maybe alone in race shaped by FIFA to host 2034 World Cup
Who might replace McCarthy as House speaker?
Russia to move toward revoking ratification of nuclear test ban treaty — speaker
Deadly new strike as Ukraine mourns dozens killed at wake
Russia says downed eight Ukrainian drones

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 06-07/2023
Peace With Saudi Arabia Is Transformative But Requires Choices/Dennis Ross/The Washington Institute/October 06/2023
US should align its Syria policy with Turkiye’s interests/Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/October 06, 2023
America’s shameful neglect of its Afghan friends and allies/Luke Coffey/Arab News/October 06, 2023
What the ‘Pivot to Asia’ signifies for regional geopolitics/Ehtesham Shahid/Arab News/October 06, 2023
Israel must rely only on itself when it comes to existential threats/Jacob Nagel/ Israel Hayom/October 06/2023
Question: “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?”/GotQuestions.org/October 06/2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 06-07/2023
The Fate Of Those Who Lack Faith and Worship Perishable Earthly Riches
Elias Bejjani/October 06/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/43601/elias-bejjani-who-are-you-are-you-yourself/
Matthew 6/24 “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon”.
Many people do not recognize consciously who they really are, and willingly with a vicious mind hide behind fake faces, or let us say they put on deceiving masks. Why do they so? It is definitely because they hate themselves, and are mostly burdened with devastating sickening inferiority complexes.
These chameleon like-people do not trust or respect themselves, have no sense of gratitude whatsoever, lack faith in God and worship Perishable Earthly Riches.
In general we know that the majority of these faithless were initially poor, but suddenly became rich. Instead of investing their – God graces riches in helping others and making them happy, especially their own family members. They alienate themselves from every thing that is related to human feelings, forget what is true love, and deny that Almighty God is love.
They still fall into temptation, live in castles of hatred, ruminate on grudges and contemplate revenge. Not only that, but they venomously and destructively envy everyone who is happy, respected and decent. They go astray and misuse their riches and influence to inflict pain and misery on others.
These faithless people become mere sadists who satanically enjoy pain, misery and the suffering of others, especially inflicting them on their own family members who refuse to succumb to their twisted mindset and become evil like them. No matter where we are, when we look around, it is very easy to identify many people who possess this evil nature.
The Question is, how will they end?
Definitely, they will end up paying for all their destructive and vicious acts, if not on this earth, then definitely on God’s Day Of Judgment. May Almighty God safeguard us from such evil people.

Tenenti to NNA: UNIFIL continues working to create the space for a permanent political and diplomatic solution
NNA/October 06/2023
Responding to a question from the National News Agency about the serious violations of the Blue Line in the past week and what was UNIFIL’s role, UNIFIL spokesperosn Andrea Tenenti said: “UNIFIL’s presence and deconfliction along the Blue Line has helped maintain an unprecedented seventeen years of security and stability. We have seen clear examples of this last week, where a new dirt road built by the Israel Defense Forces that crossed the Blue Line near Bastarra was removed, and just yesterday, when a structure that had been built by Lebanese individuals south of the Blue Line near Ayta ash-Shaab was removed. Both violations were promptly solved through effective coordination by UNIFIL.”He added, “In both incidents, despite their differences, the parties recognized the problem and worked through UNIFIL to resolve it. This show both Lebanon and Israel’s respect for the sanctity of the Blue Line, their desire to avoid escalation, and their willingness to work with UNIFIL to resolve difficult issues.”“Through our liaison and coordination mechanisms and our peacekeepers monitoring and reporting from the ground, UNIFIL continues working to create the space for a permanent political and diplomatic solution,” said Tenenti.

UAE reopens embassy in Lebanon as MBZ hosts Mikati in Abu Dhabi
Beatrice Farhat/Al-Monitor/October 6, 2023
BEIRUT — The United Arab Emirates on Thursday announced plans to reopen its embassy in Beirut, which has been closed since 2021, the Emirates' state-run WAM news agency reported. The announcement came during a meeting in Abu Dhabi between Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. According to WAM, the two sides agreed to "take the necessary steps to reopen the UAE Embassy in Beirut and establish a joint committee to develop a mechanism to facilitate the issuance of entry visas for Lebanese citizens to the UAE.”
In October 2021, several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, recalled their ambassadors to Beirut following critical comments on the Yemeni war made by a Lebanese minister. At the time, then-Information Minister George Kordahi said in a TV interview that Yemen's Houthi rebels were defending themselves against foreign aggression, hinting at Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In August of this year, the UAE joined other Gulf nations in urging their nationals to avoid traveling to Lebanon and those already in the country to remain vigilant. The warning came amid heavy fighting in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp in the south between rival groups.Gulf countries have long been traditional allies of Lebanon, but support has waned in recent years amid the rising influence of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in the country. Emirati-Lebanese relations have been particularly affected, as dozens of Lebanese nationals, mostly Shiite Muslims, have been detained in the UAE in the past years over their alleged links to Hezbollah, designated as a terrorist organization. During their Thursday meeting in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed and Mikati also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties in various fields and the latest developments in Lebanon. Sheikh Mohammed “expressed his wishes for Lebanon to enjoy stability, security and prosperity, and achieve development that meets the aspirations of its people,” WAM reported. Lebanon has been without a president for nearly a year since the term of former head of state Michel Aoun ended on Oct. 31, 2022. Political bickering has hindered urgent reforms required to unlock much-needed international aid as the country battles a four-year devastating economic and financial crisis.
Surge in refugee influx
On another note, Lebanon is also witnessing a surge in the number of Syrians attempting to enter the country, which officials say is straining the tiny country’s resources. The Mediterranean nation already hosts more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees who fled the war there, making Lebanon the country with the highest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometer. Lebanese security forces have launched a wide crackdown against Syrians in recent weeks, arresting thousands who attempted to enter the country illegally and deporting many others. Rights groups have repeatedly warned against the repatriation of Syrians, claiming that conditions are not safe yet in Syria where the returnees face arrest and torture by regime forces. Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Lebanese army of arbitrarily arresting Syrians and summarily deporting them. “Syrians in Lebanon are living in constant fear that they could be picked up and sent back to nightmarish conditions, regardless of their refugee status,” HRW said in a July report. Despite the criticism, anti-Syrian sentiment is growing in the country while officials are fueling hatred and xenophobia, alleging that many Syrians are armed and threaten internal security. A major clash erupted Thursday evening between Lebanese and Syrian nationals in the Dora suburb northeast of Beirut, leaving several injured. Local reports say the brawl began after a road accident between two Lebanese nationals and quickly evolved after the intervention of Syrians. The Lebanese army deployed to break up the fight and, according to local reports, surrounded a building where Syrian nationals were holed up. Security sources told the local LBCI news network that eight Syrians were arrested in relation to the brawl. The army and police have yet to comment on the reports.

Nearly 4 million people in Lebanon need humanitarian help
Associated Press/October 06/2023
Lebanon faces one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with nearly 4 million people in need of food and other assistance, but less than half getting aid because of a lack of funding, a U.N. official said Thursday.
Imran Riza, the U.N. humanitarian chief for Lebanon, adds that the amount of assistance the world body is giving out is "much less than the minimum survival level" that it normally distributes. Over the past four years, he said, Lebanon has faced a "compounding set of multiple crises " that the World Bank describes as one of the 10 worst financial and economic crises since the mid-19th century. This has led to the humanitarian needs of people across all population sectors increasing dramatically, he said.
Since the financial meltdown began in October 2019, the country's political class — blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement — has been resisting economic and financial reforms requested by the international community.
Lebanon started talks with the International Monetary Fund in 2020 to try to secure a bailout, but since reaching a preliminary agreement last year, the country's leaders have been reluctant to implement needed changes. Riza noted Lebanon has been without a president for almost a year and a lot of its institutions aren't working, and there is still no political solution in Syria. The U.N. estimates about 3.9 million people need humanitarian help in Lebanon, including 2.1 million Lebanese, 1.5 million Syrians, 180,000 Palestinian refugees, over 31,000 Palestinians from Syria, and 81,500 migrants.
Last year, Riza said, the U.N. provided aid to about a million Syrians and slightly less than 950,000 Lebanese. "So everything is on a negative track," Riza said. In 2022, the U.N. received more or less 40% of funding it needed and the trend so far this year is similar, "but overall the resources are really going down and the needs are increasing.""In a situation like Lebanon, it doesn't have the attention that some other situations have, and so we are extremely concerned about it," he said. According to the U.N. humanitarian office, more than 12 years since the start of the conflict in Syria, Lebanon hosts "the highest number of displaced persons per capita and per square kilometer in the world.""And instead what we're seeing is a more tense situation within Lebanon," Riza said. There is a lot of "very negative rhetoric" and disinformation in Lebanon about Syrian refugees that "raises tensions, and, of course, it raises worries among the Syrian refugees," he said. With some Lebanese politicians calling Syrian refugees "an existential threat," Riza said he has been talking to journalists to get the facts out on the overall needs in Lebanon and what the U.N. is trying to do to help all those on the basis of need — "not of status or a population."

Riot sparks deadly fire in Zahle Prison, leaving four dead
LBCI/October 06/2023
Four people have died, and several cases of suffocation have been reported in Zahle Prison, which houses 650 inmates, due to a fire that broke out inside. Initial information suggests that the fire resulted from a riot. Ambulances belonging to the Red Cross and Civil Defense are working to transport several injured individuals to the Elias Hrawi Governmental Hospital for treatment.

Report: Presidential vote may not take place before US elections
Naharnet/October 06/2023 |
Lebanon’s presidential vote may not take place anytime soon, a media report said on Friday. “Western diplomats expect that there will not be a breakthrough prior to the U.S. (presidential) election, which will take place in around a year,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported. “The U.S. administration is preoccupied with the domestic battles and is focused on making a sole achievement in the region: Saudi-Israeli normalization,” the daily quoted the diplomats as saying.

Mawlawi follows up on Zahle prison fire, calls on Army Chief to protect prison's surroundings
NNA/October 06/2023
Caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, continued to follow up this afternoon on the Zahle Prison situation, after a number of prisoners set fire inside the prison premises which spread to the building's upper floors.
To this end, Mawlawi contacted Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, asking for support in protecting the prison’s surroundings. He also contacted Civil Defense Director General, Brigadier General Raymond Khattar, calling for reinforcement to the civil defense units that are working to extinguish the fire and evacuate prisoners from inside the rooms. Mawlawi also received a call from the Internal Security Director General, Major General Imad Othman, who kept him updated on the latest developments inside the prison.
Meanwhile, the Interior Minister commissioned the Bekaa Governor, Judge Kamal Abu Jaoude, to follow up on field procedures and on-ground developments, especially in terms of evacuating prisoners and treating the injured.

Le Drian returns soon, Doha says continuing its mediation
Naharnet/October 06/2023
French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian will return soon to Lebanon and preparations are underway to ensure the success of his visit, media reports said. Qatari envoy Jassem bin Fahad Al-Thani meanwhile told the Tajaddod bloc that Doha will continue its presidential initiative in a bid to reach an agreement over a “third candidate,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday. “He clarified that the five-nation committee is working in a unified manner to achieve its mission in Lebanon and that this is manifested in the firm ties between Qatar, Saudi Arabia and France,” the daily said. “He also emphasized the importance of finalizing the presidential juncture as soon as possible for the sake of achieving Lebanon’s interest and addressing its crises,” the newspaper added. The members of the bloc for their part stressed that “time should not be wasted in Lebanon, as long as Hezbollah is obstructing the presidential juncture to allow Iran to enter into the file at the time it deems appropriate in order to fulfill its interests.”“Qatar, which succeeded in its latest mediation between Washington and Tehran, is capable of working with the Iranian regime on facilitating the mission of the five-nation committee in Lebanon, and the same as Iran facilitated the sea demarcation file between Lebanon and Israel, it is capable of granting a presidential green light,” the MPs added, according to Nidaa al-Watan.

Qatari envoy meets for second time with Franjieh
Naharnet/October 06/2023
No date has been set yet for Qatari State Minister Mohammed al-Khulaifi’s visit to Lebanon amid futile meetings in Beirut by Qatari envoy Jassem bin Fahad Al-Thani, media reports said. Al-Thani “has met for a second time with Marada Movement chief Sueliman Franjieh, who was decisive in informing him that he will not withdraw his nomination and that he will continue in the presidential race with the support of a firm bloc consisting of 51 MPs,” the reports said. The Shiite Duo meanwhile told the Qatari envoy that it “will not ask Franjieh to withdraw.” And pending the announcement of a date for a new visit by French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian to Beirut, the ambassadors of the five-nation group for Lebanon are expected to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri over the next few days to discuss the difficulties of the presidential file, the reports added.

Kataeb Party: Pressure on judges reflects authorities intimidation tactics across all sectors
Kataeb.org/October 06/2023
The Kataeb Party issued the following statement:
The Kataeb Party rejects the unjust decision of the Justice Minister Henry Khoury to refer the 'Judges' Club' to judicial inspection. The Party sees this step as an arbitrary act towards judges who are known for their integrity and voicing their advocacy for judicial reforms, saying that these judges have been in charge of significant cases such as the Beirut blast, stood in support of small depositors, and championed human rights causes. The Kataeb Party considers the attempts to intimidate judges by subjecting them to investigations or imposing restrictions on them, areactions that transcend the judicial body. These actions reflect the renewed pattern of intimidation extending to various fields, particularly issues related to freedoms and anti-corruption efforts. It emphasizes the illegality of the referral, since the Judges' Club enjoys independent legal status and does not fall within the jurisdiction of judicial inspection, asserting that matters related to freedom of speech, liberties, judicial reforms, and advocacy for rights do not contradict the obligation of discretion that the minister claims. On the contrary, these issues are related to preserving whatever remains of the judicial system and impartial judges in Lebanon. The Kataeb Party urges the Justice Minister to reconsider his decision and focus on more pressing matters, such as addressing the dire state of the judiciary, pressing for the completion of the investigation into the crime of the century at the Beirut port, addressing the deplorable life conditions of judges, filling vacancies, resolving jurisdictional conflicts, and expediting court proceedings. —

Lebanese Army detains 27 Syrians in Dora after Thursday's altercation
LBCI/October 06/2023
LBCI sources confirmed that the Lebanese Army arrested 27 Syrians in the Dora area on Friday following the altercation that occurred on Thursday. Tensions prevailed in the Dora region due to a dispute between Lebanese and Syrian individuals. It was reported that the altercation occurred due to an incident between a motorcycle rider and the owner of a tailoring workshop who employed Syrian workers in the workshop.

Snowballing crisis: Syrian refugees and Lebanon's struggle
LBCI/October 06/2023
Like a snowball, the problem of Syrian refugees continues to grow and branch out.  There have been municipal, ministerial, and even cabinet-level administrative decisions, but they were never sufficient. This issue has regional and international dimensions, as well as humanitarian and economic aspects, burdening Lebanon and its people. The military conflict in Syria has largely receded. Still, displacement persists and has even escalated in recent months, manifesting through legitimate crossings with the involvement of Lebanese-Syrian gangs, networks, and mafias. Observers believed that the Syrian regime benefits from this displacement, as it eases the burden on it and contributes to bringing hard currency into the country, especially since it struggles to secure food and fuel due to the sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act and its consequences.
Furthermore, the regime aims to shift the blame onto the international community, pressuring them to lift the siege. However, with its porous borders, fragmented state, and inadequate security and military apparatus, Lebanon cannot adequately address the crisis.
The statement by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah calling not to stand in the way of ships carrying refugees to Europe can also be seen as a way to pressure the European Union to find a solution to the displacement issue and lift the sanctions on Syria. On the other hand, the international community has a different perspective, urging the Syrian regime to initiate constitutional reforms, make governance changes, end compulsory conscription, and assure frightened refugees of their right to return, all before providing any support for reconstruction or allowing international companies to operate within Syrian borders, which would create many job opportunities. Two contrasting approaches are being pursued on the Syrian refugee issue, and economically strained Lebanon is paying the heaviest price amid fears of emerging security problems. Even if Lebanon obtains the data and decides to repatriate illegal refugees and succeeds, despite the task's difficulty, around nine hundred thousand refugees will remain on its soil, and the problem will not be fully resolved. Thus, a comprehensive solution to the displacement problem is needed, requiring Syrian, Arab, and international efforts for success. But unfortunately, there is no clarity in the picture so far, and Lebanon is paying the highest price.

LBCI sources confirm detention of illegal Syrian nationals in Dora altercation, here are the details
LBCI/October 06/2023 |In the altercation that took place in Dora between Lebanese and Syrians, LBCI security sources confirmed that eight Syrians who were in the country illegally have been detained by the Lebanese Army and will be referred to General Security for further action.
According to security information, the altercation began around 5 p.m. Thursday between a Lebanese woman and a Lebanese man when she hit him with her car and broke his phone.

MP Sami Gemayel discusses presidential candidates, Hezbollah, and Syrian refugee crisis
LBCI/October 06/2023
The head of the Lebanese Kataeb Party, MP Sami Gemayel, emphasized that the security measures surrounding him are due to security threats and advice, along with an analysis of the current situation, without disclosing the nature of the threats or their source.
In an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper "Al-Rai," conducted at his home in Bikfaya, Gemayel mentioned that when Hezbollah announces that it is no longer committed to its presidential choice and is willing to discuss alternatives, all possibilities open up for dialogue and discussion of candidates. He added, "We don't have a camouflage candidate; we have a genuine candidate. Our main candidate is Michel Moawad, and we accepted Jihad Azour as a step towards accommodating the other team. However, they didn't meet us halfway. We went for a compromise candidate, Jihad Azour because he was a consensus choice among most opposition parties and was supported by the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM)." Gemayel questioned the insistence on negotiations while everyone knows each other's stances and why candidates are not publicly presented. He mentioned that there is no issue among Christians, as Maronite leaders have reached a consensus on Jihad Azour. Regarding the Syrian refugee crisis, Gemayel noted that Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is a close friend of Bashar al-Assad, who is responsible for border control and preventing the return of refugees to Syria.
Gemayel stated, "Nasrallah wants them to return. Assad's regime is responsible for receiving its citizens in their homeland. Nasrallah is using his country and manipulating his suffering people as a card to pressure the international community to lift sanctions."
He concluded by explaining the proposal carried by the Qatari envoy, which included three presidential candidates, stating, "We are still considering the consensus list of names. At the beginning of the crisis, under the initiative of Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, there was a proposal with 11 names, and we excluded three because they belonged to parties that disqualify them from being compromise candidates (Sleiman Frangieh, Ibrahim Kanaan, and Michel Moawad)."

Sarkozy charged with tampering Franco-Lebanese witness Takieddine
Agence France Presse/October 06/2023
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was on Friday charged as part of an investigation into possible witness tampering, adding to his long list of legal woes, including over illegal campaign financing. Following 30 hours of questioning over nearly four days, investigating magistrates decided they had grounds to charge Sarkozy with benefitting from witness tampering and conspiring to pervert the course of justice, a judiciary source told AFP. The case against Sarkozy, still an influential figure in French conservative politics, is linked to allegations that he took money from late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi to fund one of his election campaigns, for which he is to stand trial in 2025. A key witness in that case, Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, had claimed he delivered three suitcases stuffed with a total of five million euros ($5.3 million at current rates) in cash in 2006 and 2007. But in 2020 Takieddine suddenly retracted his incriminating statement, raising suspicions that Sarkozy may have put pressure on the witness to change his mind. The 68-year-old has already been convicted twice for corruption and influence peddling in separate cases involving attempts to influence a judge and campaign financing. Sarkozy, who ran France from 2007 to 2012, has appealed against both judgements. On Friday, his lawyers said in a statement sent to AFP that their client would "defend his honor" in the latest case, too. At least nine other people are under suspicion of participating in the alleged conspiracy, which investigators said may have involved payment to Takieddine. Some of the suspects are also believed to have attempted to bribe a Lebanese judge to obtain the release of Gadhafi's son held in Lebanon -- in the hope of getting the Libyan leader to help Sarkozy persuade the French judiciary of his innocence.
In a transcript of Sarkozy's statements during questioning, seen by AFP, the former president said there was "no material evidence or any wiretap to incriminate me in this craziness". Should the case go to trial, it will be the third looming court date for Sarkozy. In addition the 2025 Libyan financing trial, which relates to Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign, he is scheduled to stand trial next month for alleged violation of campaign financing rules in his 2012 bid for re-election, which he lost to Socialist Francois Hollande.

Lebanese, Syrians clash in Dora amid growing anti-refugee sentiment
Naharnet/October 06/2023
Army troops were deployed overnight around a sewing factory where a major clash erupted between Lebanese and Syrian men. The clash erupted on Thursday night near the Saint Maron Church in Dora after a road accident between a motorcyclist and a woman driving an SUV. The woman called the owner of a sewing factory, who's apparently a friend or a sibling. When the fight broke out, The factory's Syrian workers rushed to help their boss, witnesses said. The region's residents said they intervened after the Syrian workers insulted the Lebanese man. After searching the factory Friday, the army found no weapons. Eight Syrians who were involved in the fight were arrested and handed over to General Security. They had no residency papers. "Around 600 residents encircled the factory's building where the Syrian workers were and tried to break the door before the army arrived and stopped them," a Dora resident said. "Imagine what could have happened, had we managed to open the door!"Lebanon has seen anti-Syrian sentiment soar recently as some officials seek to blame refugees for the country's woes. The crisis-hit country hosts some 805,000 registered Syrian refugees, whose official status in theory protects them — although those who fail to keep their residency papers up to date can face deportation. The actual number of Syrians living in Lebanon after fleeing their country's 12-year-old civil war is believed to be much higher. Government officials have given varying estimates of the number of Syrians in the country, ranging from 1.5 million to more than 2 million. Since Lebanon's economic meltdown began in 2019, officials have increasingly called for a mass return of Syrians, saying they are a burden on the country's scarce resources and that much of Syria is now safe. Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Wednesday warned that the Syrian presence in Lebanon has become a “security threat,” calling for strict measures.

Mikati, UAE leader agree to reopen embassy, ease visas
Naharnet/October 06/2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has met in Abu Dhabi with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.During the meeting, Sheikh Mohamed expressed his wishes for Lebanon to “enjoy stability, security, and prosperity and achieve development that meets the aspirations of its people,” UAE’s state news agency WAM reported. The two sides also discussed the relations between the two countries and ways to enhance ties in various fields, including development and economy, to “serve the interests of both countries,” the agency said. “Both sides discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and efforts to identify solutions to current challenges. The two sides also agreed to take the necessary steps to reopen the UAE Embassy in Beirut and establish a joint committee to develop a mechanism to facilitate the issuance of entry visas for Lebanese citizens to the UAE,” the agency added. Moreover, Mikati and Sheikh Mohamed also “exchanged views on various Arab and international issues,” with the UAE leader emphasizing “the strength of relations binding the UAE and Lebanon” and noting that the UAE “has continued to stand by the Lebanese people since the era of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.”

Army rescues 125 persons on board an illegal immigration boat that set sail from Tripoli's Al-Mina this afternoon
NNA/October 06/2023
The Army Navy boats rescued 125 persons who were on board an illegal immigration boat off the shores of Al-Mina Port, near the Palm Islands in Tripoli this afternoon. The boat had set off from Abda Beach, when its engine broke down and the passengers began calling for help, at which instant the army naval forces came to their rescue. The boat and passengers aboard (124 of Syrian nationality and one Lebanese) were towed to the port of Tripoli and first aid was provided to them. Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, thanked the army and naval forces for their speed in rescuing the passengers, and gave his directions to Tripoli Port Director, Ahmad Tamer, to provide all assistance to the passengers and facilities for the army’s naval forces.

Finance Minister, Customs Director General tackle issue of lithium battery containers at Beirut's Port
NNA/October 06/2023 |
Caretaker Minister of Finance, Youssef Al-Khalil, followed up today with the Director General of Customs, Raymond Khoury, on the issue of containers carrying lithium batteries at the port of Beirut. Al-Khalil asked Khoury to puruse this matter with those concerned at the port, so as to find a quick solution to prevent any possible risks or threats to public safety.

L’Oréal – UNESCO “For Women In Science” program celebrates a decade of empowering exceptional women scientists, honors six researchers from...
NNA/October 06/2023
L’Oréal - UNESCO “For Women in Science” celebrates a decade of empowering accomplished female scientists from the Levant region, honoring six young promising scientists from Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Palestine.
The award ceremony took place on Thursday, October 05 2023, at the Middle East Airlines Training Center in Beirut, under the patronage and in the presence of caretaker minister of information in Lebanon Mr. Ziad Makary.
The L’Oreal -UNESCO "For Women in Science" Levant young talents program was launched in Lebanon in 2014, in partnership with the National Council for Scientific Research. Its primary objective is to acknowledge the pivotal role women from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraqand Palestine, are playing in advancing the development of the Levant region, while also serving as an inspiration to future generations of women, particularly those who may be hesitant about pursuing a career in science. Since its inception, the program has annually honored six young female researchers, highlighting their achievements and providing them with the necessary support to facilitate the completion of their groundbreaking scientific studies."
Throughout the last ten years, the program has extended its support to more than 60 young female researchers at doctoral postdoctoral levels, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to empowering women in the realm of science. By recognizing, promoting, and encouraging outstanding young women in their scientific journeys, the program remains steadfast in its mission to enhance the presence of women in the scientific arena, foster their advancement into leadership roles, and actively contribute to decision-making processes
The Levant regional program is part of the international "For Women in Science" program, launched in 1998 by the L'Oréal Foundation in partnership with UNESCO. This initiative is built on a deep convictionthat “the world needs science, and science needs women”. Over the past 25 years, the program has honored more than 4,100 distinguished female researchers and awarded 127 laureates from over 110 countries. Among these 127 laureates, 5 have subsequently received the Nobel Prize, and 2 others have recently been honored with the Nobel Prize, bringing the total to 7.
The Levant regional program is part of the L'Oréal - UNESCO “For Women in Science” international program, launched by the L'Oréal Foundation in partnership with UNESCO in 1998, driven by their strong belief that "the world needs science, and science needs women." Over the past 25 years, the program has honored more than 4,100 outstanding female researchers, including 127 recipients of theinternational awards, in over 110 countries. Among these 127 laureates, 5 have subsequently been awarded the Nobel Prize, and 2 others have recently been honored with the Nobel Prize, bringing the total to 7. On this occasion, H.E. minister Ziad Makary delivered a speech in which he stated "This prestigious annual award elevates women in the field of research, encouraging them to advance and make pioneering scientific achievements that offer effective solutions to health, environmental, and social challenges, both locally and globally".Makary praised the remarkable success of the Lebanese female researchers, highlighting their ability to succeed and excel despite alldifficulties faced over the past four years. He emphasized that Lebanon’s success proves the country's strong resilience and its ability to overcome challenges, and make an outstanding performance. He concluded “This award represents a beacon of hope, innovation, and a vision for the future”.
From her end, Ms. Emilie Wahab Harb, Managing Director of L'Oréal Liban, extended her congratulations to the winners, and stated: "The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science program has built a strong foundation in the Levant region over the past decade, but this is just the beginning. 60 young women scientists were rewarded for their exceptional achievements, and this is a source of pride for us.” She concluded by confirming “As we move into the next decade, we are committed to drive systematic change, promote organization success,further empower women and break barriers for our female researchers, championing their aspirations and enabling them to tackle pressing challenges, to take the lead and inspire generations to come.”
Dr. Tamara El Zein, Secretary-General of the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Head of Jury, emphasized that: "Beyond numbers and percentages, we should keep in mind that unlocking the full potential of Science requires including the talents and creativity of women scientists. Equal representation is mandatory to bring diversity of visions, which is the cornerstone to build a more balanced scientific capital conducting research with positive impact on the whole society.”
The event was presented by journalist Rita Pia Antoun, and attended by prominent political, diplomatic, and social figures, in addition to representatives of academic, scientific and research institutions, as well as NGOs and media outlets.
About the 2023 winners: in this year’s edition, six promising female scientists were selected from a pool of 100 candidates. The program’s dedication to showcasing their achievements and its strong conviction that they serve as role models for countless future generations, ensure a promising future for Science in the Levant region and the world.
“Postdoctoral Researchers”
• Dr. Cybel Mehawej, from Lebanon: Assistant Professor at the Lebanese American University. Awarded for her project that aimsto uncover new genes responsible of Inborn Errors of Immunity IEI.
• Dr. Dereen Najat, from Iraq: Assistant Professor at SulaimaniaUniversity. Awarded for her project on non-invasive specific blood tests for early detection of endometriosis.
• Dr. Sana Bardaweel, from Jordan: Professor at the University of Jordan. Awarded for her project on developing new treatments for lung cancer, through selective targeting of proteins that encourage tumor growth.
“PhD Students”
• Mme Hiyam Ibrahim, from Palestine: PhD student at the Lebanese University. Awarded for her PhD project on developing immersive exergames for postural and balance dysfunction in patients with multiple sclerosis.
• Mme Joy Elian El Hayek, from Lebanon: PhD student at Saint-Joseph University of Beirut. Awarded for her PhD project on implementing digital dentistry into pediatrics.
• Mme Rim Wehbe, from Lebanon: PhD student at the American University of Beirut. Awarded for her PhD project on understanding the effects of the bacterial flora on gut cell renewal and immunity in local mosquito species, in order to develop effective and new control strategies.

FPM condemns aggression against Military College in Homs
NNA/October 06/2023 |
The Media and Communication Committee of the Free Patriotic Movement issued the following statement: The aggression against the Military College in Syria is nothing less than a war crime and a crime against humanity, according to all standards. We condemn it and condemn terrorism and those who protect and employ it to destroy societies and dismantle countries in our region. Confronting terrorism and divisive projects is the responsibility of us all. As we stand in solidarity with Syria in the face of dangers, mainly the demographic manipulation through the displacement of civilians, we extend our condolences to the Syrian people. May mercy be upon the martyrs, and may the wounded heal fast.

Lebanon’s presidential vacuum puts the onus on parliament
Meray Maddah/The Arab Weekly/October 06/2023
While the country requires a new president, the more urgent need is a parliament capable of filling the leadership vacuum.
For nearly a year, Lebanon’s parliament has repeatedly tried, and failed, to elect a successor to former President Michel Aoun, who stepped down at the end of October 2022. Lebanon’s political vacuum is not the cause of the country’s myriad problems, but the uncertainty has done little to ameliorate a crippling financial crisis compounded by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Beirut port explosion.
Why has parliament been so inept during Lebanon’s time of need, and can it turn things around?
Immediately after parliamentary elections in May 2022, many observers hoped that the arrival of new, independent members would bring positive changes to the institution. Empowered by emerging political factions galvanised by the October 17 protest movement, the new MPs capitalised on anti-establishment sentiment and sought to craft a different political discourse that appealed to many voters.
The presidential power void has stalled these reforms.
Parliament’s inability to move Lebanon forward has become almost insufferable. In June, the chamber failed for the twelfth time to agree on a president, as the two leading contenders, Jihad Azour, a former finance minister, and Suleiman Frangieh, the incumbent leader of the Marada Movement, split the vote. The latest stalemate resulted from a broken quorum and the lack of consensus over voting procedure.
Newly-elected “opposition” MPs might have been expected to rally around Azour, a respected economist and director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department. After all, it is the IMF that claims to have the blueprint for fixing Lebanon’s economic woes. The fund has called on parliament and the caretaker government to enact structural reforms to the country’s central bank and to improve the transparency of state-owned enterprises. But in the end, Azour, who temporarily “relinquished” his responsibilities at the IMF to mitigate any conflict of interest, received only 59 votes, 27 votes less than the two-thirds majority of 86 deputies required to force a second round.
Meanwhile, Azour’s opponent, Frangieh, has been part of Lebanon’s political landscape for decades. Yet his candidacy is also contentious (he received 51 votes in June). Frangieh’s nomination is heavily backed by the Shia blocs of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement in parliament. He is also known for his strong ties to the Syrian regime. To many, Frangieh’s nomination is a painful reminder of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon and its institutions, which ended only in 2005 after the withdrawal of the last Syrian troops from the country.
Adding to the intrigue is Frangieh’s son, MP Tony Frangieh, who won a seat in the previous parliamentary elections. While family political dynasties are common in Lebanon, one can easily envision the conflicting interests that may arise in the executive-legislature relationship if Suleiman Frangieh were to succeed in his presidential bid. Parliament’s role is to keep the government in check while scrutinising its actions, but in the convoluted confessional politics of Lebanon, where blood can be prioritised over public interest, a father-son duo portends trouble.
To be sure, a new president, even one with a majority consensus, will not be able to solve all of Lebanon’s problems. Aoun left office amid deepening political polarisation and waning public support, challenges that remain today. But in countries like Lebanon, which Freedom House describes as “partly free,” and where corruption is an ever-present challenge, it is the legislature that is best positioned to serve the interests of the public. With weak rule of law and poor standards for public accountability, Lebanon’s legislators have long been among the only leaders doing the people’s work. The prolonged presidential vacuum is taking attention away from this duty. Today, poverty is rising and most Lebanese are unable to meet their basic needs. Public services are scarce and inflation continues to rise. Thus, rather than squabble over who will lead, parliament should focus on reforming the banking sector, securing the financial position of the National Social Security Fund and ending the current devaluation of the currency. While international humanitarian aid is helping to mitigate the country’s financial collapse, this is not a long-term solution. Parliament must focus on more concrete policies concerning Lebanon’s political economy against the background of its caretaker administration. Lebanon’s presidential impasse appears likely to continue, for how long is anyone’s guess, but the people’s pain should not. While the country requires a new president, the more urgent need is a parliament capable of filling the leadership vacuum.
*Meray Maddah is a doctoral candidate at the University of Konstanz, in Germany, a researcher in the “National Legislators in International Politics” working group, and a non-resident Global Fellow at Brown University’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies.

Anti-migrant hostility mounts in Lebanon amid Syrian refugee surge
Arab News/October 06, 2023
BEIRUT: A surge in Syrian refugees entering Lebanon has ignited anti-migrant hostilities in the country, with some municipalities calling for a boycott of Syrian-operated shops and the expulsion of undocumented workers.
In regions with Christian majorities, municipalities shut down Syrian-operated shops, demanding the government enforce Lebanon’s labor laws. Amid concern over public hostility against Syrian refugees, the Lebanese Army organized a media tour of the northern border to examine illegal crossings in Wadi Khaled.
Hundreds of Syrians cross into Lebanon through the area with the help of highly organized smuggling networks. During the tour, the army gave a detailed presentation on the reality of border infiltration. Pictures and videos documented how Syrians were entering the country.
The visuals showcased the professionalism of smuggling networks and the danger faced by Syrians fleeing to Lebanon. Clips showed young Syrians hiding between piles of stones and enduring humiliation from smugglers. Brig. Gen. Elias Aad said: “The plain landform in the region facilitates the movement of smugglers and makes it harder to catch infiltrators sneaking in through the hundreds of gaps they have created.” The First Land Border Regiment is deployed along a 110 km section of the northern border and a section of the eastern border between Lebanon and Syria. About 1,200 members are stationed at 31 posts on Lebanese territory. The posts include 10 watchtowers equipped with modern cameras and night-vision sensors. Army command says that 10 times more personnel are required to protect the border, as well as an additional 1,050 members to carry out the regiment’s duties. According to the army’s data, the section where the regiment is deployed includes 57 towns inhabited by about 90,000 Lebanese people, as well as about 80,000 Syrian refugees and 15 refugee camps. The watchtower on the outskirts of the town of Chadra alone has captured information on at least 100 Syrians entering the country each day. Lebanese security and political authorities estimate that there are almost 2 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
The figure includes registered Syrians, legal workers, Syrian families residing legally, and refugees who illegally entered Lebanon. The Lebanese-Syrian border has witnessed a surge of illegal migration in recent weeks. Economic factors are the main driving force behind the mass movement of Syrians. One source told Arab News that public anger and media propaganda against Syrian refugees has intensified over the past year. In recent weeks, reports, statements, political programs and daily newspaper headlines in high-profile Lebanese outlets have added fuel to the fire. The propaganda targets refugees and international organizations, such as the UNHCR. Information Minister Ziad Makary ignited controversy on Friday by calling for Lebanese to “unite to face the threat” of Syrian refugees. He said: “Things have reached their limit when it comes to the Syrian refugee case, and Lebanese should unite to face this threat.”
Makary’s remarks came as a car accident on Thursday night in Dawra, about 8 km east of Beirut, led to a dispute between a number of Lebanese and Syrian men, resulting in calls to expel all Syrians from the area. A military source said that loudspeaker announcements urged locals to gather and protest against Syrian workers living in the industrial zone. The workers had shown support for their compatriots involved in the accident. Security forces intervened and took control of the situation after arresting eight Syrians. Their documents were found to be illegal and were handed over to General Security. Some protesters in Lebanon are demanding the eviction of Syrian refugees from apartments. On Friday, some Syrians closed their shops out of fear of being targeted. The mayors of the Jdeide, Bauchrieh, and Al-Sad areas — located east of Beirut — sent a letter to the General Directorate of General Security, asking the body to “close all illegal shops operated by non-Lebanese people, taking it upon themselves to inform them.” The three mayors also offered to provide information about Syrian-owned shops. UNHCR spokeswoman Dalal Harb said: “The number of Syrian refugees officially registered with UNHCR in Lebanon is 795,332, while the Lebanese state, according to its response plan to the Syrian crisis, estimates their number to be 1.5 million, in addition to 2 million vulnerable Lebanese and around 200,000 Palestinian refugees, all of whom receive international aid.”The commission highlighted its “very close work with the Lebanese government and the international community in all its programs in Lebanon, which benefit the Lebanese and refugees alike.”The UNHCR said: “Under these programs, the commission cooperates with the Lebanese government with the aim of finding solutions for refugees, including resettling refugees in third countries. “Since 2011, the UNHCR alone has invested more than $372.9 million in institutions and infrastructure in Lebanon to support public institutions and infrastructure by responding to multiple crises.”

Lebanon’s War Before the War
Issam Kayssi/Carnegie/October 06/2023
What was happening in the country during the October 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict, whose 50th anniversary begins today?
Fifty years ago, on October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a daring attack against Israel on two fronts, seeking to reclaim territories lost during the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. This was a pivotal moment in the history of the modern Middle East as Israel was caught off guard.
The attack took place on Yom Kippur in Israel, on the tenth day of Ramadan in Egypt and Syria, and pushed the world to the brink of a nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After it became clear that Moscow was resupplying the Arab states with weapons, then president Richard Nixon dispatched massive weapons shipments to bolster Israel’s defenses. After more than two weeks, the Israelis managed to move to within striking distance of Cairo and Damascus, securing a substantial military victory.
Despite this, a deep-seated uneasiness festered in Israel, which had hitherto regarded itself as militarily invincible. Simultaneously, a renewed sense of dignity was perceptible in Egypt, playing a role in Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s decision to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. But the repercussions of the 1973 war extended far beyond the immediate conflict, leaving a lasting impact on the region, including Lebanon, which had a front-row seat to what was going on.
During the war, Lebanon was both witness to the conflict’s impact and was experiencing its own set of challenges. The year 1973 had started off eventfully for the country. In May, the Lebanese armed forces launched an offensive against Palestinian guerrillas, employing jet aircraft and tanks, resulting in a two-day confrontation. The root cause of this clash lay in Lebanon’s distinctive situation as the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), while hosting tens of thousands of disenfranchised Palestinian refugees. Lebanon had signed the Cairo Agreement of 1969, which allowed the PLO to arm and govern itself within the refugee camps, establishing a de facto state within the Lebanese borders. While Lebanon did not participate in the 1973 war, it was entangled in the regional dynamics that the war brought to the forefront. This was partly due to the fact that the country’s southern and eastern regions had been transformed into corridors by Israel’s air force to raid Damascus and other cities in Syria.
On the war’s first day, the Arabic-language daily Al-Nahar reported that Lebanon’s president, Suleiman Franjieh, expressed his support to Syrian president Hafez al-Assad. A day later, the PLO leader Yasser Arafat, who was based in Lebanon, told Sadat and Assad that Palestinian forces controlled the western side of Mount Hermon. The early days of the war seemed surreal to the Lebanese. On October 8, Al-Nahar ran a story stating that many residents of Beirut didn’t believe a war was happening. However, this perception gradually shifted as Palestinians in the refugee camps went on high alert, and Syrian and Israeli aircraft began crashing into southern towns, from where people could watch aerial dogfights in the skies above.
While the state wasn’t directly involved in the conflict, many of its citizens were deeply engaged in it. On the third day, the Lebanese Press Syndicate called for the “unification of Arab media efforts” in the war, and a communique issued by “intellectuals and journalists” expressed their backing for the Arab forces. The PLO and other leftist groups organized demonstrations in solidarity with Cairo and Damascus, while American University of Beirut students went on strike in support of the struggle and administered first aid lessons on October 11. There were blood donation drives across the country, and medical teams from the American University Hospital went to Syrian hospitals to provide aid. Meanwhile, warplanes continued to crash in Lebanese territory, while an unidentified object fell off the Beirut coast, which the army investigated on October 13.
The government rationed fuel because of the war and introduced a traffic regulation system, so that those with even and odd license plate numbers could only circulate on alternative days (a practice that would be echoed nearly 50 years later during the COVID-19 outbreak). Complaints abounded regarding the perceived unfairness and constitutionality of the measure. The war halted a heated parliamentary debate over reforms to Lebanon’s municipal laws and the holding of municipal elections. It wasn’t until 1977 that parliament passed the legislation, and municipal elections wouldn’t resume until 1998!
However, the most remarkable incident during the war involved a bank heist. On October 18, a small left‐wing guerrilla group called the Revolutionary Socialist Organization seized control of the local branch of Bank of America, taking several people hostage and making audacious demands, including the release of jailed Palestinian guerillas held in Lebanon, a $10 million ransom to help finance the war effort, and safe passage to Algeria. The following day, police raided the bank after the kidnappers executed a hostage—an American bank employee. The operation ended with four fatalities, including a police officer and the group’s leader. The episode foreshadowed the violent times that lay ahead for Lebanon.
The country’s internal divisions persisted during this tumultuous period. In the south, residents fled their towns due to the perilous security situation, leading southern lawmakers to condemn the government’s handling of the situation. Border towns bore the brunt of the conflict as battles raged between Israelis, Syrians, and Palestinian guerrillas, resulting in numerous attacks and infiltration attempts by the PLO. Meanwhile, amid the chaos, the Lebanese football federation still had time to declare Nejmeh Football Club winners of the 1972–1973 championship, marking its first-ever victory. This announcement came just two days after the passage of Security Council Resolution 338, which called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire by all parties in the war.
However, Lebanon did not participate in any post-ceasefire negotiations with Israel, despite some encouragement by lawmakers, such as Raymond Eddeh, to do so (in order to guarantee security on Lebanon’s southern borders). The 1973 war also reinforced the relationship between the Lebanese and Syrian presidents. In January 1974, Franjieh and Assad held a summit meeting—a significant event as it marked the first visit by a Syrian head of state to Lebanon in eighteen years. All the while, Beirut was gradually losing control over its borders and its ability domestically to dictate matters of war and peace.
A year and a half after the October war, Lebanon would descend into civil war in April 1975. Subsequently, in 1976, the Syrian army would enter Lebanon, under the pretext of preventing a PLO victory, which would very likely have led to a new confrontation between Syria and Israel. In 1978, and again in 1982, Israeli forces would also invade Lebanon. Lebanon, which had stood on the sidelines of the Arab-Israeli wars, would very soon become the centerpiece of Arab-Israeli hostilities.
Despite the eventual withdrawal of the Israeli and Syrian armies in the first decade of the new century, Lebanon has yet to fully recover from the tumultuous events of the 1970s, including the October 1973 war. The early 1970s began to magnify the challenges the country faced in a violent neighborhood. As the October 1973 war raged, Lebanon held a unique position in the midst of the region’s turmoil. Yet many Lebanese often chose to ignore what was going on, despite the echoes of fighter jets and the sights of falling aircraft. This attitude would soon change.
One could argue that Lebanon’s civil war began much earlier than 1975. The war of 1973 was both a reminder of the country’s ability to skirt the disasters taking place all around it, but also a forewarning that sooner or later what happens in the Middle East usually finds its way to Lebanon’s doorstep. Five decades later, the echoes of the 1973 war continue to resonate in the country and across the region.
*Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy (AMCD) Urges Congress to Investigate the “Iran Experts Initiative” Lobbying for the Regime
EINPresswire.com/October 06/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/122922/122922/
As is well-known among the foreign policy community, both China and Iran run well-oiled influence operations within the U.S., with tentacles reaching deep into the Departments of State and Defense.
The Biden Administration appointed Iran nuclear deal promoter Robert Malley as “special envoy to Iran.” Malley lost his position and security clearance last April and remains under FBI investigation, though the scandal has been little reported in the media
One of the Islamic Republic’s initiatives within the U.S. is the so-called Iran Experts Initiative (IEI) established in 2013, which was staffed with three of Malley’s close associates who had regular contact with Iran’s Foreign Office: Dina Esfandiary, Ali Vaez, and Ariane Tabatabai. Tabatabai seems to have taken direct instruction from Iranian officials according to newly released emails. In addition, records show Ali Vaez visited the White House 5 times in the last two years for high-level meetings, including with Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor.
The IEI harmed not only the Iranian people but the Lebanese, Iraqis, Syrians and Kurds through their influence operations in the U.S. and Europe pushing the interest of the Iranian regime.
Now comes the revelation that Ms. Tabatabai has been given a sensitive job in the Pentagon as Chief of Staff for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. The House Committee on the Armed Services and the Subcommittee on Intelligence was so alarmed, Chairman Mike Rogers and Subcommittee Chairman Jack Bergman sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin demanding an explanation. How did someone with Tabatabai’s history, and in the midst of the Malley scandal, receive security clearance for such a sensitive position? And last but not least, 30 members of the US Senate have requested a full investigation of this “information operation” conducted by the Iran regime inside US defense and diplomacy institutions.
“Coming on the heels of the release of six billion dollars to the Iranian regime, this latest revelation of the Biden administrations incompetence strains credulity,” said AMCD co-chair Tom Harb. “America’s present weakness in the face of the enemy is on full display.”
“The Iranians have been stewing over the assassination of Qassem Soleimani ever since President Trump took action,” added AMCD co-chair John Hajjar. “One can’t help but wonder if placing this operative in this position with Special Operations has something to do with that. And whosoever approved Ms. Tabatabai’s security clearance is guilty of treason and must be held accountable.”
“Our American defense and intelligence institutions have been targeted by the regime for infiltration and penetration for years,” said AMCD co-chair Hossein Khorram, “but this revelation is of the greatest magnitude so far. It has shocked the Iranian American and the Middle East American communities.”
“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” explained AMCD advisor and foreign policy analyst Walid Phares. “Iran has been running influence operations in the U.S. and Europe for years. Some target the public through the media, others specifically target our foreign policy officials. It is not surprising, to me, at least, to find their operatives within the U.S. government, even the Defense Department. Many other government agencies, including the Department of State, have been subject to Iranian influence operations for decades.”
The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy (AMCD) is a non-partisan, grass-roots organization.
Rebecca Bynum
The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy
+1 615-775-6801
rebecca@americanmideast.com

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 06-07/2023
Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General - on Syria
UNIC/October 06/2023 |
The following is a statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General- on Syria: "The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the attack on 5 October on a military academy graduation ceremony in Homs, which reportedly resulted in over one hundred casualties, including civilians. The Secretary-General is also alarmed over reports of retaliatory shelling on multiple locations in northwest Syria and emerging reports of heavy casualties. The Secretary-General deplores the loss of lives. A nationwide ceasefire is essential for a meaningful political process to implement resolution 2254 (2015).The Secretary-General strongly condemns all violence in Syria and urges all parties to respect their obligations under international law. He also recalls that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law at all times."-- UNIC

Death toll rises to 112 in drone strike at Syria military academy
Agence France Presse/October 06/2023
An attack Thursday on a Syrian military academy killed 112 people, a war monitor said, with state media blaming "terrorist organisations" for the drone strike in government-held Homs.
Separately, Turkish air raids in the country's Kurdish-held northeast killed at least 11 people, according to Kurdish forces, after Ankara had threatened retaliation for a bomb attack. In the central city of Homs, "armed terrorist organisations" targeted "the graduation ceremony for officers of the military academy", an army statement carried by official news agency SANA said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, reported "112 dead including 21 civilians, 11 of them women and girls". It said at least 120 people were wounded. Health Minister Hassan al-Ghobash told state television the "preliminary" toll was 80 dead "including six women and six children" and around 240 wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The attack was carried out with "explosive-laden drones", according to the military statement, vowing to "respond with full force". The government declared three days of mourning starting Friday. In the rebel-held Idlib region, residents reported heavy bombardment by government forces in apparent retaliation. The Observatory said eight people had been killed and some 30 wounded. Swathes of Idlib province are controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch. The jihadist group has used drones to attack government-held areas in the past. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres was "deeply concerned" over the drone attack and the retaliatory shelling, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, said in a statement: "Today's horrific scenes are a reminder of the need to immediately de-escalate violence, towards a nationwide ceasefire and a cooperative approach to countering Security Council-listed terrorist groups." Overnight, Syrian shelling killed an elderly woman and four of her children in a rebel-held area of Aleppo province, rescue workers and the Observatory said.
- Turkish drone shot down -
Turkey's defence ministry said in a statement Thursday evening that Ankara forces had carried out air strikes in northern Syria, destroying 30 targets, including "shelters, depots and storage sites". The Kurds' internal security forces said Turkey had carried out 21 strikes in the area, killing "11 people, including five civilians and six" security personnel. Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters that US F-16 warplanes over Syria had shot down a Turkish drone on Thursday, deeming it "a potential threat" after it approached "less than a half kilometre from US forces" near Hasakeh. Turkey has carried out repeated strikes on targets in Syria's Kurdish-held northeast. On Wednesday, Ankara warned it would step up its cross-border air raids, after concluding that militants who staged a weekend attack in the Turkish capital had come from Syria. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces led the battle that dislodged Islamic State group fighters from their last scraps of territory in Syria in 2019. Turkey views the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) that dominate the SDF as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. Turkey has launched strikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq since Sunday's attack in Ankara, which wounded two Turkish security officers and was claimed by the Kurdish group. AFP correspondents in northeastern Syria saw smoke rising from oil sites near Qahtaniyeh, close to the Turkish border. Two power stations in the area were also hit, as well as the vicinity of a dam.
- 'Worsening' -
Farhad Shami, spokesman for the SDF, the Kurds' de facto army, said the strikes had targeted military and civilian sites. "There has been a clear escalation since the Turkish threats," he said. In the market of the city of Qamishli in Hasakeh province, vendors voiced concern. "The situation is worsening every day. Turkey doesn't let us breathe," said Hassan al-Ahmad, a 35-year-old fabric merchant. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi denied Wednesday that the Ankara assailants had "passed through our region". "Turkey is looking for pretexts to legitimise its ongoing attacks on our region," he said. The Kurdish administration urged "the international community" to "take a stand capable of dissuading" Turkey from its attacks. The United States, Russia and Turkey all have troops in the country. Between 2016 and 2019, Turkey carried out three major operations in northern Syria against Kurdish forces. The conflict in Syria has killed more than half a million people since it began in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests, spiralling into a devastating war involving foreign armies, militias and jihadists.

Carnage in Syrian military academy after unprecedented drone attack
AFP/October 06/2023
An attack Thursday on a Syrian military academy killed 112 people, a war monitor said, with state media blaming “terrorist organisations” for the drone strike in government-held Homs. In the central city of Homs, “armed terrorist organisations” targeted “the graduation ceremony for officers of the military academy”, an army statement carried by official news agency SANA said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, reported “112 dead including 21 civilians, 11 of them women and girls”. It said at least 120 people were wounded. Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghobash told state television the “preliminary” toll was 80 dead “including six women and six children” and around 240 wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The attack was carried out with “explosive-laden drones”, according to the military statement, vowing to “respond with full force”. The government declared three days of mourning starting Friday. The attack occurred minutes after Syria’s defence minister left a graduation ceremony there. It was one of the bloodiest attacks ever against a Syrian army installation, and unprecedented in its use of weaponised drones in a country which has faced 12 years of civil war. Syria’s defence and foreign ministries vowed to respond “with full force”. Syrian government forces carried out heavy bombing attacks on the opposition-held zone of Idlib throughout the day. Syria’s defence minister attended the graduation ceremony but left minutes before the attack, according to a Syrian security source who spoke to Reuters and a security source in the regional alliance backing the Damascus government against opposition groups. “After the ceremony, people went down to the courtyard and the explosives hit. We don’t know where it came from, and corpses littered the ground,” said a Syrian man who had helped set up decorations at the academy for the occasion. Footage showed people – some in fatigues and others in civilian clothes – lying in pools of blood in a large courtyard. Some of the bodies were smouldering and others were still on fire. Amid the screaming, someone could be heard shouting “put him out!” A spray of gunfire could be heard in the background. The city of Homs is deep in government-held territory, far from front lines where government and rebel forces routinely skirmish. In the rebel-held Idlib region, residents reported heavy bombardment by government forces in apparent retaliation. The Observatory said eight people had been killed and some 30 wounded. Swathes of Idlib province are controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch. The extremist group has used drones to attack government-held areas in the past. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned” over the drone attack and the retaliatory shelling, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, said in a statement: “Today’s horrific scenes are a reminder of the need to immediately de-escalate violence, towards a nationwide ceasefire and a cooperative approach to countering Security Council-listed terrorist groups.”Syria’s conflict began with protests against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 but spiralled into an all-out war involving foreign powers and Islamic extremist groups. The conflict has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. The Syrian army has been gutted by the fighting, and relied heavily on military support from Russia and Iran as well as Tehran-backed fighters from Lebanon, Iraq and other countries. Assad subsequently regained most of the country, but a swathe in the north bordering Turkey is still held by armed opposition groups, including hardline jihadist fighters.

Syria buries dead after military academy drone attack
AFP/October 06, 2023
Strike on Homs Military Academy killed scores of people, including 31 women and at least five children.
Russia's Putin sends condolences to Syria following the attack
Syria began burying its dead Friday after a drone attack on a military academy graduation ceremony in Homs killed dozens, while Damascus pummelled opposition-held areas in response to the assault by “terrorist organizations.”Separately, Turkiye staged new raids on the Kurdish-controlled northeast, targeting energy infrastructure, with the death toll rising to 15 over two days, Kurdish officials said. In one of the bloodiest single attacks on the army since Syria’s war began in 2011, Thursday’s assault came just after the ceremony attended by officers and their families, killing and wounding both military personnel and civilians. State media said Friday 89 had died, including 31 women and five children, with 277 others wounded. Dozens of distraught relatives gathered outside the Homs military hospital early Friday, an AFP correspondent said. One woman was overwhelmed with grief at the loss of her son.“Do not go, my beloved,” she cried. “This sleep does not befit you.”The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, reported a heavier toll of 123 dead, including 54 civilians, 39 of them women and children. It said at least 150 were wounded.
In a rare move since the war began, the government declared three days of mourning from Friday, with flags flying at half-mast. Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas attended the first funerals for around 30 people, both military and civilians. Military personnel saluted as caskets draped in Syrian flags were carried one by one to ambulances for transportation for burial. Syria’s conflict has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions since 2011, spiralling into a devastating war involving foreign armies, militias and jihadists.
“Martyrdom, dignity and national pride come at a great cost,” Abbas told victims’ families, according to a statement broadcast on state television. The blood of those who died “is dear, but the nation is dearer,” he added. Abbas attended the graduation ceremony but left just minutes before the attack, an eyewitness and the Observatory said. At the military hospital, Khawlah, 33, was searching among the coffins for her brother. “Amjad did not die, I died,” she told AFP, grief-stricken. No group has claimed responsibility, but the Syrian army accused “armed terrorist organizations” for the attack with “explosive-laden drones,” vowing to “respond with full force.”The military on Thursday began bombing opposition-held areas in the northwest in apparent retaliation. The Observatory said Friday 19 civilians had been killed, including four on Friday evening in the center of Idlib city.
It added that warplanes of government ally Russia continued air strikes late Friday in the Idlib area, after earlier leaving a child dead.
An AFP correspondent at a hospital in the city said staff appeared overwhelmed by the influx of wounded.
Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said President Bashar Assad and other family members trained at the Homs academy, meaning the attack “hits close to home” and “the very strong official reactions need to be seen in that context.”Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the attack, expressed his condolences to Assad, and pledged “to keep up our close cooperation” against “terrorism,” the Kremlin said. Homs province was an opposition stronghold early in Syria’s conflict but has been in government hands for several years. Swathes of Idlib province and areas bordering Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces are controlled by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch. HTS and the Islamic State jihadist group have used drones to attack government-held areas and Syrian and Russian military targets, according to the Observatory. Thursday’s attack came as Turkiye began strikes in northeast Syria, hitting military and civilian targets including energy infrastructure, according to officials in the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that controls the area. Ankara had threatened retaliation for a bomb attack Sunday in the capital that wounded two security officers and was claimed by a branch of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkiye and its Western allies view as a terrorist organization. The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Friday 15 people had been killed in the northeast Syria strikes over two days, including eight civilians. Turkiye views the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) that dominate the SDF as an offshoot of PKK. On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call that “Turkiye’s counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and Syria will continue with determination,” a Turkish diplomatic source said. His comment came a day after the Pentagon said US warplanes shot down a Turkish drone deemed a threat to American forces in Syria. Turkiye’s defense ministry said Friday that a soldier had died following a rocket attack on a Turkish military base in the northern Syrian town of Dabiq.

Turkey hits Kurdish militia sites in Syria after US downs Turkish drone
Associated Press/October 06/2023
Turkish warplanes have carried out airstrikes on sites believed to be used by U.S.-backed Kurdish militant groups in northern Syria after the U.S. military shot down an armed Turkish drone that came within 500 meters (yards) of American troops. A Turkish defense ministry statement said the Turkish jets targeted some 30 sites in the Tal Rifat, Jazeera and Derik regions, destroying caves, bunkers, shelters and warehouses used by Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, or its affiliated Kurdish militia group in Syria, which is known as People's Defense Units, or YPG. Turkey has been carrying out strikes on Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria following a suicide attack outside the Interior Ministry building in the Turkish capital earlier this week. The PKK claimed the attack in which one attacker blew himself up and another would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police. Two police officers were wounded. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the two assailants had arrived from Syria, where they had been trained. He said PKK and YPG positions in Iraq and Syria had now become legitimate targets. Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria said Thursday evening that Turkish bombing had struck 21 sites and 11 people were killed by the "Turkish aggression" — five civilians and six members of the local government's Internal Security Forces. The U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria have denied any relationship to the Ankara attack and accused Turkey of using the attack as a pretext for a new military incursion. In Washington, the Pentagon said Thursday that the Turkish drone bombed targets near the U.S. troops in Syria, forcing them to go to bunkers for safety. Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said the decision to shoot down the drone of a NATO ally "was made out of due diligence and the inherent right of self-defense to take appropriate action to protect U.S. forces." There was no indication that Turkey was intentionally targeting U.S. forces, he said.
Both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the new Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. CQ Brown, spoke with their Turkish counterparts quickly after the incident to emphasize the value they place on their relationship with Turkey — but also the need to avoid any similar incidents in the future and ensure the safety of U.S. personnel. The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria conducting missions to counter Islamic State group militants. The incident occurred on the same day as a drone attack killed at least 89 people in the Syrian government-controlled city of Homs, where explosive-laden drones were detonated during a military graduation ceremony attended by young officers and their families. An additional 277 people were injured, according to Syria's health ministry. Syria's military blamed insurgents "backed by known international forces," without naming any particular group, and threatened to respond with "full force." The Turkish defense ministry said Thursday's aerial operation in Syria was aimed at securing Turkey's borders from threats from the PKK and YPG. Separately, the ministry said Turkey had retaliated to an attack by militants on a Turkish base in the Dabik region late on Thursday, "neutralizing" 26 militants. The PKK has led a decades-long insurgency in Turkey and is considered a terror organization by Turkey's Western allies, including the United States. Tens of thousands of people have died since the start of the conflict in 1984. The U.S., however, regards the YPG as a key partner in the fight against the Islamic State group in northern Syria and does not believe the group presents a threat to Turkey.

Turkish drone downed over Syria ‘was 500 meters from US forces’
Arab News/October 06, 2023
JEDDAH: The US and Turkiye held high-level talks on Friday to de-escalate growing tension in northeast Syria between the two NATO allies. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken a day after a US fighter jet shot down a Turkish combat drone that was targeting Kurdish forces backed by Washington. The Pentagon said the drone had been less than 500 meters from US troops, and was deemed a threat. Tension has soared since a suicide bomb attack in Ankara last Sunday by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK. Turkiye said the two bombers came from Syria, and that Kurdish assets in northeast Syria were therefore legitimate military targets. Ankara launched a wave of airstrikes on oil facilities and other infrastructure in Syria controlled by the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, a Kurdish militia that is the main component of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Turkiye says the YPG is an offshoot of the PKK. Most Western countries designate the PKK as terrorists, but not the YPG. The Syrian Democratic Forces led the battle to dislodge Daesh militants from the region in 2019, and USsupport for its fighters has strained Ankara’s ties with Washington ever since. The Turkish presidency said on Friday that foreign support for the YPG was “a colossal folly.”Fidan told Blinken on Friday that despite the downing of the Turkish drone, Ankara’s operations in Syria would “continue with determination," a Turkish diplomatic source said. The two men reached an agreement on ways to de-escalate future conflicts in the region, the source said. Meanwhile Turkiye continued its wave of attacks on Kurdish targets on Friday. The military said they had killed 26 Kurdish militants in northern Syria overnight, and destroyed 30 militant targets elsewhere in northern Syria, including an oil well, a storage facility and shelters. “All the capabilities and revenue sources developed by the terrorist organization in Syria will continue to be destroyed in a systematic way,” the Foreign Ministry said.In Turkey, two PKK militants were killed in eastern Agri province in a clash with commandos during an operation with combat drone and attack helicopter support, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

American tourist arrested for smashing ancient Roman statues at Israel museum
Associated Press/October 06/2023
Israeli police have arrested an American tourist at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem after he hurled works of art to the floor, defacing two second-century Roman statues. The vandalism late Thursday raised questions about the safety of Israel's priceless collections and stirred concern about a rise in attacks on cultural heritage in Jerusalem. Police identified the suspect as a radical 40-year-old Jewish American tourist and said initial questioning suggested he smashed the statues because he considered them "to be idolatrous and contrary to the Torah."The man's lawyer, Nick Kaufman, denied that he had acted out of religious fanaticism. Instead, Kaufman said, the tourist was suffering from a mental disorder that psychiatrists have labeled the Jerusalem syndrome. The condition — a form of disorientation believed to be induced by the religious magnetism of the city, which is sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims — is said to cause foreign pilgrims to believe they are figures from the Bible. The defendant has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Officials did not release his name due to a gag order. With religious passions burning and tensions simmering during the Jewish holiday season, spitting and other assaults on Christian worshippers by radical ultra-Orthodox Jews have been on the rise, unnerving tourists, outraging local Christians and sparking widespread condemnation. The Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the harvest festival, ends Friday at sundown. The prominent Israel Museum, with its exhibits of archaeology, fine arts, and Jewish art and life, described Thursday's vandalism as a "troubling and unusual event," and said it "condemns all forms of violence and hopes such incidents will not recur." Museum photos showed the marble head of the goddess Athena knocked off its pedestal onto the floor and a statue of a pagan deity shattered into fragments. The damaged statues were being restored, museum staff said. The museum declined to offer the value of the statues or cost of destruction. The Israeli government expressed alarm over the defacement, which officials also attributed to Jewish iconoclasm in obedience to early prohibitions against idolatry.
"This is a shocking case of the destruction of cultural values," said Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "We see with concern the fact that cultural values are being destroyed by religiously motivated extremists."The vandalism appeared to be the latest in a spate of attacks by Jews against historical objects in Jerusalem. In February, a Jewish American tourist damaged a statue of Jesus at a Christian pilgrimage site in the Old City, and in January, Jewish teenagers defaced historical Christian tombstones at a prominent Jerusalem cemetery.
On Friday morning, about 16 hours after the defacement at the museum, the doors opened to the public at the regularly scheduled time.

The US Navy turned the tables on Iran, sending drones that look like speedboats to spy on its warships and troublesome gunboats
Jake Epstein/Business Insider/October 6, 2023
The US Navy revealed an operation last month involving drone boats that tracked Iranian ships. The drone boats photographed Iranian speedboats, which constantly harass ships in the Middle East. A Navy official said on Friday that the integration of unmanned systems helps monitor the region. US forces sent naval drones to keep tabs on Iranian warships and gunboats around key Middle Eastern waters for several days last month, the US Navy revealed on Friday as Washington looks for ways to deter Tehran from consistently harassing foreign military and commercial ships in the region.
The operation, which consisted of a dozen different unmanned platforms and manned ships, saw US assets track vessels belonging to Iran's two maritime forces — its regular navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) — over several days in September. US Naval Forces Central Command, or NAVCENT, said that the mission occurred "during routine patrols" in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. "This operation bolstered presence in and around a critical chokepoint that in recent months has seen Iran unlawfully seize internationally flagged merchant ships," NAVCENT said in a statement, adding that unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were all included.
One USV known as the Arabian Fox MAST-13, which is similar in looks and size to a standard speedboat, captured photographs of Iranian fast-attack boats, drones, and helicopters. These fast-attack boats, which are armed with guns, routinely come out to monitor foreign activity in the area and are often called out for harassing American military ships and internationally flagged commercial vessels. In May, for instance, drone video shared by the US Navy showed a dozen of these speedboats swarm and seize a Panama-flagged oil tanker. Looking for more ways to surveil and patrol the Middle Eastern waters, the US Navy has turned to a fleet of drone boats — operating both above and below the surface — for the job. In August 2022, the US Navy said it prevented the IRGC from trying to capture one of its USVs in the in the Persian Gulf. The following month, an Iranian ship managed to briefly seize two American drone boats and even tried to hide them by placing them under a tarp. Tehran eventually released the systems the next day following US military intervention, and nothing of the sort has happened in the year since.
"We have been operating UAVs and UUVs in the region for years," said Capt. Joe Baggett, director of maritime operations for NAVCENT and US 5th Fleet, in the statement. "Adding our new USVs, and then integrating all of these platforms into fleet operations, is how we expect to fly and sail well into the future."An unmanned US Navy drone boat, a MAST-13, sailed through the Strait of Hormuz for the first time in April with the Iranians watching closely as it did.
Other images from the September operation that were released by the US Navy on Friday showed an IRGCN warship and an Iranian Navy frigate. The IRGCN ship was photographed by a MARTAC T-38 Devil Ray USV, which looks similar to the Arabian Fox, while the frigate was captured by an Aerovel Flexrotor — a small UAV that is capable of vertical take off and landing."The integration of new, multidomain unmanned platforms into routine fleet operations provides more 'eyes on the water,' enhancing maritime domain awareness and increasing deterrence in the region," said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of NAVCENT and US 5th Fleet, adding that all these systems will help support the transit of goods around the Strait of Hormuz, which is considered to be one of the world's most important oil chokepoints and where scores of Iranian harassment incidents have taken place in recent years. "This enhanced maritime security serves as a deterrent against malign activity and strengthens regional stability, which is good for everybody," Cooper said.
Beyond the naval drones, the Pentagon has also dispatched a collection of fighter jets and warships to provide a firepower boost and added means of deterrence in the region. This includes the recent deployment of over 3,000 US sailors and Marines with the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, the commander of US Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT), said this week that the added American military presence in the region — a mix of naval and airpower — "has deterred Iran from taking any actions against maritime shipping." "My view is that deterrence is temporal," Grynkewich said at a Defense Writers Group event on Wednesday. He explained that the US is trying to message that the surge in forces is in response to a specific threat but even if the American force presence were to shrink and Iran steps up its activity again, they'll come right back.
"So my hope is that they've seen that message and that they remain deterred over the longer term, but it has had good effects in the meantime," Grynkewich said, according to a transcript of his remarks.

Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins 2023 Nobel peace prize
Agencies/NNA/October 06/2023 |
Narges Mohammadi, the most prominent jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, has won the 2023 Nobel peace prize for fighting the oppression of women in the country. “The Norwegian Nobel committee has decided to award the 2023 Nobel peace prize to Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” the committee said in its citation. Mohammadi is one of Iran’s leading human rights activists, who has campaigned for women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty and an improvement of prison conditions inside Iran.-

Iranian, Saudi FMs stress boosting mutual cooperation
Agencies/NNA/October 06/2023 |
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart have underlined the need to accelerate the development of bilateral cooperation in various fields, including economy and tourism. During a telephone conversation on Thursday night, Amir-Abdollahian and Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud exchanged viewpoints on multiple areas of common interest, highlighting that relations between the two countries are improving in all areas. They emphasized the need to speed up joint cooperation in various fields, including economy, commerce, investment, and tourism. Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart also noted the significance of bilateral cultural and sports cooperation in order to improve the atmosphere of friendship between the two nations. The two foreign ministers also agreed to advise their respective sports institutions to resolve the dispute over the recent cancellation of the AFC Champions League 2023/24 Group C match between Saudi professional football club Al-Ittihad and Iran’s Sepahan through mutual respect, dialogue, and understanding. They underscored the importance of continued football matches between the two countries in order to strengthen all-out cooperation. Elsewhere in the conversation, the Saudi foreign minister invited his Iranian counterpart to attend the first football match between Iranian and Saudi football clubs in Saudi Arabia. —

4 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in fresh West Bank violence
Associated Press/October 06/2023
Israeli troops have killed three Palestinian gunmen in West Bank violence on Thursday, Palestinian health officials said, in the latest deaths in a monthslong surge of violence in the occupied territory. In video circulated on social media, a lone gunman opened fire at an Israeli car in broad daylight on a busy street in Hawara, a flashpoint town in the northern West Bank. The gunman fired at least 10 shots, pursuing the car as it tried to escape by driving over a barrier in the middle of the street. No one in the car was injured, the army said. It said troops hunted him after the attack and shot him. The identity of the gunman, whose death was confirmed by Palestinian officials, wasn't immediately known. Hawara has seen repeated attacks, including a deadly shooting early this year that triggered a rampage by Jewish West Bank settlers who torched Palestinian property. Early Friday, dozens of Israeli settlers entered Hawara, and clashes erupted with Palestinian residents, the Israeli military said. Both sides threw stones at one another before troops moved in to disperse the crowds. The army said it opened fire at a man who threw a block at an Israeli vehicle. Palestinian health officials said a 19 year old Palestinian man was shot in the chest and killed. The army said Israeli settlers also vandalized Palestinian property. No further details were immediately released. Earlier Thursday, the Israeli military said its troops carried out a raid in the Tulkarem refugee camp. It said that soldiers came under fire and that troops shot Palestinian gunmen. Five members on the paramilitary border police unit were wounded in the clashes, it said. Two Palestinian militants were killed by the Israeli gunfire, Palestinian health officials said. The Hamas militant group later claimed the two men as its members. A spiral of violence has gripped the occupied territory for more than 18 months. The Israeli military has mounted near-nightly raids into Palestinian towns, often prompting deadly clashes with residents. Militancy has surged among young Palestinians who have lost hope in their leadership and in the prospect of a political resolution to the conflict. Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire this year in the West Bank, according to a tally by The Associated Press — the highest death toll in years. Israel says most of those killed have been militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting incursions as well as innocent bystanders have also been killed. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed more than 30 people this year. Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future independent state.

Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her ‘fight against oppression’
AFP/October 06/2023
Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. One of Iran’s leading human rights activists, Mohammadi has campaigned for women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty. Hailing Mohammadi as a “freedom fighter”, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee started her speech by saying, in Farsi, the words for “woman, life, freedom” – one of the slogans of the peaceful protests against the Iranian government. “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” Berit Reiss-Andersen said in the citation. Mohammadi is currently serving multiple sentences in Tehran’s Evin Prison amounting to about 12 years imprisonment, according to the Front Line Defenders rights organisation, one of the many periods she has been detained behind bars. Charges include spreading propaganda against the state. She is the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, a non-governmental organisation led by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the 122-year-old prize and the first one since Maria Ressa of the Philippines won the award in 2021 jointly with Russia’s Dmitry Muratov. The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or around $1 million, will be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.

NGO rescue ship saves 258 migrants off Libya in two operations
Associated Press/October 06/2023
A nonprofit rescue ship operating off the coast of Libya saved 258 migrants in two separate operations in the early hours of Friday morning. The first of the two rescues involved a a 7-meter (23-foot) -long wooden boat filled with 162 migrants, including 17 women and 29 minors, many of them in a cramped area below the deck. The boat had an engine but no system of navigation on it, according to Flavia Conte, rescue coordinator for the Doctors Without Borders rescue ship Geo Barents. The group had spent hours at sea with the boat low in the water. The migrants on board were Syrians and Egyptians. "Many of them were below deck, in the belly of the boat, a place that is even more unsafe as far as ventilation is concerned and the Geo Barents has found people who have died in this part of boats," Conte told The Associated Press. The second rescue involved 96 people on a similar wooden boat, including nine children, mainly Syrians. The Italian Maritime Authority has told the Geo Barents to take the rescued people to the port of Salerno, near Naples, 400 kilometers (250 miles) from their current location, according to Conte. She said the assigning of a far-off port keeps rescue ships out of the area where they are needed for long periods of time. "It means to have probably more people crossing in a very unsafe way of or even dying or disappearing or being intercepted and then brought back to Libya."In a recent statement, the aid group denounced "the scandalous inaction of the governments that sentence to death thousands of people every year."According to Italian Interior Ministry statistics, as of Oct. 6, nearly 136,000 people had arrived in Italy this year, compared with 72,000 in the same period in 2023. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who has vowed to take "extraordinary measures" to deal with the surging flux of migrants, is in Granada, Spain, for a summit where she has been discussing migration with other European leaders, pushing for more help from other countries as Italy struggles to cope with the arrivals.

EU leaders clash again on how to handle migration
Associated Press/October 06/2023
Despite a breakthrough in negotiations earlier this week, the leaders of the European Union immediately clashed again Friday on how to handle the human drama of migration that has tested their sense of common purpose over the past decade.
The world's largest club of wealthy countries remains split between those that support Brussels' initiatives focused on distributing migrants between members in an act of solidarity and those countries, like Hungary or Poland, whose far-right governments consider the influx of outsiders a threat. Italy is even going outside the EU to establish links with the United Kingdom to crack down on unwanted arrivals. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was blunt about how far Europe's leaders still are from reaching a consensus before they met in Granada, Spain. Orbán, who has pushed back against EU policy repeatedly and taken a hard-line approach against migration, said that he won't sign off on any deal at any point in the foreseeable future. He went as far as to compare the situation to being "legally raped" by Hungary's fellow EU members.
"The agreement on migration, politically, it's impossible — not today (or) generally speaking for the next years," Orbán said. "Because legally we are, how to say it — we are raped. So if you are raped legally, forced to accept something what you don't like, how would you like to have a compromise?"
The dispute is over an agreement struck on Wednesday that, if it becomes policy, would involve setting up processing centers on the EU's outside borders to screen people as they arrived. The deal, agreed by a majority of the EU's interior ministers, will now go to the European Parliament, where further negotiations will take place before it can become binding. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also bashed the deal, maintaining his government's position that it keeps migrants out for security reasons. Both Poland and Hungary flatly refuse any shared responsibility for migrants arriving to other member states. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, however, remained optimistic when she took her turn before the microphones just moments after Orbán. She called the deal a "big success." "Now the probability is very high and I'm confident that we will it over the finish line," Europe's top executive said. Neither Hungary or Poland could veto a final pact, but their refusal to comply with European policy in the past has bordered on provoking institutional crises, and the bloc would be eager to avoid similar tensions with its eastern members.
The EU has been trying to forge a new common policy on migration ever since it was overwhelmed in 2015 by well over 1 million arrivals, mostly refugees fleeing war in Syria. Since then it has focused on paying countries like Turkey, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco to do the dirty work of stopping migrants before they embark on the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea, where nearly 30,000 people have died since 2014, according to the UN migration agency. A draft of a New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which has been criticized by human right groups as conceding ground to more hard-line approaches, was touted as the answer to the EU's migration woes when it was made public in September 2020. For the scheme to enter into force, officials and lawmakers say, an agreement must be reached between a majority of member countries and parliament by February before EU elections in June.
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola said she was hopeful this would finally get done. "I remain optimistic because what had kept us behind in the past was that there was no political will," Metsolas said. "There is no silver bullet, but let's not kill this pact before we adopt it. We owe it to ourselves and to our citizens."Migration flows into the EU have been on the rise this year, even if they are down from the 2015-16 peak. From January to October, some 194,000 migrants and refugees reached Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus by boat, compared to 112,000 in the same period last year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The issue of migration was not going to be a priority of this informal meeting, where leaders already had the prickly question of how to continue with expansion to include the Balkan countries and a Ukraine that is immersed in battling Russia's invasion. But migration was put on the agenda by Italy's far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni. Italy has seen an influx of people arriving in recent months, including the arrival of 7,000 people to the tiny fishing island of Lampedusa on a single day last month. Meloni and Britain's conservative prime minister, Rishi Sunak, announced Friday in an op-ed article published in Corriere della Sera and The Times of London newspapers that they were forming an alliance against illegal migration in a bilateral move beyond Brussels' sphere of influence. The one-day summit in the picturesque city of Granada is just an hour's drive from Spain's southern coast, where boatloads of people fleeing violence or poverty in Africa wash up regularly. Spain's marine rescue service reported Friday it had intercepted another 500 migrants in six boats approaching the Canary Islands located off the northwest coast of Africa. Previously this week, the archipelago's tiny El Hierro island, pop. 10,000, took in 1,200 migrants arriving in open wooden boats that are believed to have departed from Senegal on the hazardous journey northward.

KSA in lead and maybe alone in race shaped by FIFA to host 2034 World Cup
Associated Press/October 06/2023
If Saudi Arabia could have designed a process for choosing future World Cup hosts, it might look similar to what FIFA unveiled this week for the 2030 and 2034 men's soccer tournaments. The Saudi Arabian soccer federation became the favored — and possibly only — candidate to host the biggest event in the world's favorite sport in 2034. A key decision that fell Saudi Arabia's way came on Wednesday when FIFA united Europe, Africa and South America around a sole bid for 2030 in an unprecedented co-hosting team of Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, Paraguay and inaugural 1930 World Cup host Uruguay. Those continents are now removed from the 2034 picture, even though the three South American countries accepted just one game each. That also let FIFA president Gianni Infantino deliver another surprise by fast-tracking the hosting contest to open immediately. Only FIFA member federations from Asia and Oceania will be able to apply for hosting in 2034 — a tournament with 48 teams playing 104 games over nearly six weeks. Saudi Arabia declared its long-expected interest on Wednesday within hours of the FIFA decision. Focus also turned to Australia, maybe in a potential reunion with 2023 Women's World Cup co-host New Zealand. FIFA gave potential bidders until the end of the month to express interest and a Nov. 30 deadline to submit "completed bidding agreements." That gives potential bidders only eight weeks to provide documents typically needing approval by the federal government. A state-backed bid in the Saudi political system faces fewer challenges than in a democracy like Australia. Then there is FIFA's demand for stadiums of at least 40,000-seating capacity to host the now-enlarged men's tournament. Qatar needed only eight stadiums for the 32-team, 64-game World Cup last year. "As part of their bid, the member association(s) must propose a minimum of 14 suitable stadiums, of which at least seven must be existing stadiums," FIFA said Wednesday in the "Overview of the Bidding Process" document. Saudi Arabia already meets the FIFA target with at least seven already built or under construction stadiums ahead of hosting the 2027 Asian Cup. In Australia, some have already started questioning whether the country has seven football stadiums ready to go. Smaller venues were accepted for the Women's World Cup. The circular Melbourne Cricket Ground, which also stages Aussie Rules football, was the centerpiece of Australia's ill-fated bid 13 years ago for the 2022 World Cup. However, it is not so popular with football fans. So is Australia in for a multi-billion dollar hosting project that is short on advance notice and long on FIFA demands? "As stated previously, Football Australia is exploring the possibility of bidding for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup and/or the FIFA World Cup 2034," Australian football federation CEO James Johnson said in a statement Thursday. Those comments could be interpreted as leverage in a play to get a decent compensation prize from FIFA in the form of the 32-team club tournament — a prestige event that must be played in June-July 2029 to fit Europe's football calendar and so is unsuited to the extreme summer heat in Saudi Arabia. A World Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2034 would likely be played in November-December, as it was in Qatar, and FIFA has prepared for that.
"The timing of the competition is a matter that is formally approved after the appointment of the host member association," the governing body stated in bidding documents. Johnson, a former senior executive at FIFA and Manchester City, also is a lawyer who will have noted the rapid reaction Wednesday coming from the Asian Football Confederation. The 47-nation AFC has included Australia for nearly two decades after it moved from Oceania to seek a higher level of competition for its teams. Australia and Saudi Arabia are, in fact, teammates in the Asian football governing body.
"The entire Asian football family will stand united in support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's momentous initiative," said AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who is a member of the royal family of Bahrain. It is an ally of Saudi Arabia. Infantino's closeness to Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on frequent visits to the oil-rich kingdom has been clear since before the 2018 World Cup. Back then, Infantino was pushing Qatar to share hosting of a 48-team World Cup with its regional neighbors despite the country being subject to a Saudi-led diplomatic and economic boycott. That plan was resisted. The longer term goal has been awarding Saudi Arabia its own World Cup.

Who might replace McCarthy as House speaker?
Associated Press/October 06/2023
For Republicans, it's a question with no clear answer: Who becomes House speaker after Kevin McCarthy? It's not at all certain that any of the GOP candidates will be able to round up enough votes — 218, if all lawmakers are present and voting — to ascend to one of the most powerful positions in government, second in line to the presidency. Two longtime party stalwarts and hard-liners, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, have begun making their case though phone calls and texts to colleagues. With the House trying to pick a new leader as soon as next week, others are waiting in the wings, including Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, who as chair of the Republican Study Committee leads the largest faction of Republicans in the chamber. McCarthy's chaotic election as speaker in January took 15 punishing rounds and left him in a weakened position that contributed to his unprecedented downfall. Now, top Republicans want party members to work it out behind closed doors before a floor vote. "Look, just like in January where you had all the circus on the House floor, I think this is circus-like and chaotic right now," said Rep. Garret Graves, R-La. "It just doesn't make sense."Republicans on Tuesday plan to kick off the process, in private, at an evening forum where candidates can address their colleagues. Republicans would vote on an endorsement, with only a majority tally needed. But a decision could be delayed. Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2024, endorsed Jordan on his Truth Social platform just after midnight Friday. Trump had been in talks to visit Capitol Hill next week, most likely for that candidate forum, according to three people familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity before an official announcement. The real contest could come as soon as Wednesday when the House next convenes. But that attempt to elect a speaker could easily be delayed if there is no consensus choice by then. Democrats will also vote, but Republicans have a slim majority and hold the power to choose the next speaker. Don't expect a crossover or nonpartisan candidate. A look at the lawmakers vying to be speaker and the demands they are already facing from some Republicans:
Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana
Scalise, now the top-ranking Republican in the House, is seen as an ardent conservative. He would be a logical pick for many Republicans. He brings years of experience in leadership. Scalise was majority whip from 2014-2018 and minority whip from 2019-2022. He is dealing with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, and undergoing chemotherapy treatment. The toll of the treatments has been obvious as he makes his way around the Capitol. That is raising questions for some about whether Scalise can take on the demanding role of speaker, which usually entails a nearly nonstop schedule of fundraisers and campaign events. But Scalise has a reputation as a fighter and has told reporters he feels great. He was shot and suffered an injury to his hip in 2017 when an attacker fired on lawmakers on a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia. Scalise endured lengthy hospitalizations, multiple surgeries and a painful rehabilitation.
"I firmly believe this Conference is a family. When I was shot in 2017, it was Members of this Conference who saved my life on that field," he wrote in a letter announcing his bid for speaker. Both moderate Republicans, such as Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, and far-right lawmakers, including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, have spoken favorably about the potential of Scalise leading the House, creating the possibility that his candidacy could unite the party's feuding factions. Looming large over the race for speaker is a possible endorsement from Trump. Scalise has hewed closely to Trump's lies about the presidential election being stolen from him, and was among the 147 Republicans who voted against certifying Democrat Joe Biden's election win. He's also long faced scrutiny over a 2002 speech to a Louisiana gathering of white nationalists — a decision that in 2014 Scalise said he was misinformed about and regretted.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio
Jordan, a founder of the House Freedom Caucus, is likely to be the favored choice of the hard-line conservatives now driving the Republican Conference. The Judiciary Committee's leader has played a key role in Republicans' impeachment inquiry of Biden. The Ohio Republican, first elected in 2007, had tried to help McCarthy's ultimately doomed effort to hold Republicans together. Jordan had been a key McCarthy advocate since Republicans regained the majority. Jordan, 59, was also one of Trump's closest allies when Trump was president. Trump even awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom five days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. "I feel like I can unite the conservative voters across the country and reach out to the moderates in our conference as well," Jordan told reporters Wednesday. He is leading the push against the "weaponization" of the Justice Department, which has brought several cases against Trump. Jordan was one of Trump's chief defenders on the Judiciary Committee during Trump's two impeachments. Perhaps most significantly, Jordan worked closely with Trump and White House aides in the weeks and days before the Capitol riot, strategizing about how Congress could help Trump overturn his loss to Biden. Jordan also refused to comply with subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack as lawmakers tried to gather more information about his role. Jordan once coached wrestling at Ohio State, and former wrestlers said in 2018 that he turned a blind eye to complaints that a now-dead team doctor was sexually abusing the athletes. Jordan has denied those allegations.
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla.
Hern leads the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative group in the House, and has a reputation as a policy-focused lawmaker. Compared with Scalise and Jordan, Hern, 61, has not been in the House for long, elected in 2018. But he points to his experience in the business world — he made millions as a McDonald's franchisee and was part of its national leadership team — as an asset. "I think you have to have a different set of skill sets," Hern told reporters this week. He added: "Strife is something that's common when you have people working together and finding common solutions for it takes experience." During the January speaker contest, Hern was one of the alternatives nominated by holdout conservatives as an alternative to McCarthy. Hern was one of the 147 Republicans to vote against certifying the 2020 election. Republicans are digging in for a long contest to choose a speaker. Democrats are uniting around Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York as their choice for speaker, just as they did in January. Several far-right Republicans have pointed out that the speaker does not have to be a House member and suggested naming Trump or one of his close allies to the job. Such a move would be without precedent, and Trump has made it clear he's focused on winning the presidency.
What demands are Republicans making to the candidates?
One of the many factors that led to McCarthy's downfall was the multitude of promises — some seemingly conflicting and contradictory — that he was forced to make as he tried to pass legislation and hold together the party's narrow majority. So the promises made by the next speaker will be closely watched. Gaetz singlehandedly set in motion McCarthy's ouster by filing a "motion to vacate" under a change to House rules. Some Republicans say the one-person threshold was a grave mistake and want the rule set at a higher number before the next speaker takes charge. But changing House rules in the middle of a session could prove a tall order and hard to accomplish without Democratic support. Other hard-line Republicans are readying their demands as well. Some were eyeing steep spending cuts as well as targeting some federal agencies and officials, including defunding special counsel Jack Smith's prosecutions of Trump.

Russia to move toward revoking ratification of nuclear test ban treaty — speaker
Reuters/October 06, 2023
MOSCOW: Russia on Friday indicated it was moving swiftly toward revoking ratification for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty after President Vladimir Putin held out the possibility of resuming nuclear testing. A resumption in nuclear tests by Russia, the United States or both would be profoundly destabilising at a time when tensions between the two countries are greater than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin on Thursday said Russia’s nuclear doctrine did not need updating but that he was not yet ready to say whether or not Russia needed to resume nuclear tests.
The Kremlin chief said that Russia should look at revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as the United States had signed it but not ratified. Just hours after Putin’s words, Russia’s top lawmaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the legislature’s bosses would swiftly consider the need to revoke Russia’s ratification for the treaty. “The situation in the world has changed,” parliament peaker Volodin said. “Washington and Brussels have unleashed a war against our country.”“At the next meeting of the State Duma Council, we will definitely discuss the issue of revoking the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,” Volodin said. Putin’s words, followed by Volodin’s, indicate that Russia is almost certain to revoke ratification of the treaty, which bans nuclear explosions  by everyone, everywhere. Russia, which inherited the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons, has the world’s biggest store of nuclear warheads. In the five decades between 1945 and the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, more than 2,000 nuclear tests were carried out, 1,032 of them by the United States and 715 of them by the Soviet Union, according to the United Nations. The Soviet Union last tested in 1990. The United States last tested in 1992. Since the CTBT, 10 nuclear tests have taken place. India conducted two in 1998, Pakistan also two in 1998, and North Korea conducted tests in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016 (twice) and 2017, according to the United Nations. Putin said on Thursday that Russia had successfully tested a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile — the Burevestnik — whose capabilities he has called unmatched. The Burevestnik, whose name translates as “storm petrel,” is a ground-launched, low-flying cruise missile that is not only capable of carrying a nuclear warhead but is also nuclear-powered. Putin first revealed the project in March 2018. A 2020 report by the United States Air Force’s National Air and Space Intelligence Center said that if Russia successfully brought the Burevestnik into service, it would give Moscow a “unique weapon with intercontinental-range capability.”

Deadly new strike as Ukraine mourns dozens killed at wake
AFP/October 06, 2023
KHARKIV, Ukraine: A 10-year-old and his grandmother were killed on Friday when Russian missiles smashed into Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, just hours after another attack left dozens dead at a wake in a nearby village. Rescue workers in Kharkiv were extinguishing fires next to charred vehicles, and twisted missile fragments lay in a deep crater in the center of the city, an AFP journalist at the scene said. Multiple-story buildings surrounding the debris-strewn blast site were scarred by the impact of two cruise missiles, with dozens of windows blown out. Dazed residents walked beneath the skeletal housing blocks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack had killed a 10-year-old boy and described the strikes as another example of “Russian terror” in a statement offering condolences to the child’s family. Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov said later that municipal workers had retrieved another body.
“Rescue workers found the body of a 68-year-old woman — the grandmother of the killed 10-year-old boy and his injured 11-month-old brother,” he said. Another 28 people had been wounded, he added. In an earlier statement, Synegubov described how two Russian missiles had landed in the city. One hit a road in the center of the city; the other slammed into a three-story building, causing a fire that sent plumes of black smoke into the sky. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that lies in a region bordering Russia, has been under persistent Russian shelling since Moscow’s forces invaded in February last year.
The strikes there came as Synegubov updated the death toll from Thursday’s missile strike on a village in the Kharkiv region that had killed dozens of people less than 24 hours earlier. “Fifty-two people have died as a result of this missile attack because one more person died in a medical facility,” Synegubov told state-run television, raising the toll by one. The Kremlin, responding to questions from reporters on the village strike, again insisted that Russian forces do not target civilians in Ukraine. “Strikes are carried out on military targets, on places where military personnel are concentrated,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. Those killed in the village of Groza had gathered at a cafe for the wake for a fallen Ukrainian soldier. The strike provoked outrage from Western leaders while the United Nations said the attack could amount to war crime.
The soldier being commemorated was killed a month after Russia invaded in February last year. He had been buried in the central city of Dnipro — away from his home village, which was then under Russian occupation. He was reburied in Groza on Thursday morning. His wife and son, also a soldier, were both killed in the strike, officials said. Around 20 rescuers from Kharkiv city were cleaning the rubble from the destroyed cafe and nearby shop on Friday morning. Oleksiy and some of his family came to the cemetery to mark out graves for his sister and brother-in-law killed in the attack — their bodies had been taken by police to Kharkiv. “I don’t know when we will be able to bury them,” he told AFP. “My brother’s body was preserved, but his wife’s head was missing.”Nearby in the cemetery, a recently dug grave was covered with fresh flowers and a Ukrainian flag. It was the grave of 49-year-old Andriy Kozir, the soldier that villagers had gathered to pay hommage to when a missile hit their cafe. “Everyone at the wake died,” said 73-year-old Valentyna Koziyenko, who lived opposite the destroyed cafe. “The strike happened just after people went in,” she told AFP, adding that the blast from the strike had torn the roof off her building. “How did the Russians know that so many people were in there?” said Koziyenko. “Maybe someone told them.”Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday described the Kharkiv attacks as “atrocities” that “prove that global support for Ukraine must be sustained and increased.”
Swathes of the Kharkiv region were captured by Russian forces in the early days of their invasion, launched in late February 2022. Ukrainian forces clawed back much of that territory in a lightning offensive late last year.

Russia says downed eight Ukrainian drones
AFP/October 06, 2023
MOSCOW: Moscow said Friday it had destroyed eight Ukrainian drones in western Russia, following a deadly Russian strike on a village across the frontline. The Russian defense ministry said the attempted drone attacks on Belgorod and Kursk took place late Thursday.
“Kyiv regime’s attempt to carry out a terrorist attack by an aircraft-type UAV on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted,” it said on Telegram. It said one drone was destroyed over Kursk at around 8:30 p.m. (1730 GMT), and seven were shot down over Belgorod and the surrounding region a few hours later. Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov initially spoke of six drone strikes in his region, saying on Telegram that “according to preliminary data, no victims.”“Operational services are clarifying information about the consequences on the ground,” he wrote.
Since Ukraine launched its counter-offensive in June, Russia has weathered waves of drone attacks that have sporadically damaged buildings, including in Moscow. Russian officials have downplayed their significance. On Wednesday, Russia said it downed 31 Ukrainian drones in the same region, as well as in Bryansk, further north. Friday’s announcements came after a Russian strike killed at least 51 people gathered for a wake in a Ukrainian village on Thursday, in an attack described by President Volodymyr Zelensky as “absolute evil.”The village of 330 people is around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the frontline town of Kupiansk, an area Russian forces have been pushing to recapture after they lost territory to Ukrainian troops last year.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 06-07/2023
Peace With Saudi Arabia Is Transformative But Requires Choices
Dennis Ross/The Washington Institute/October 06/2023
Riyadh understands that immediate Palestinian statehood is not an option, but it still needs Israel to take steps that demonstrably improve daily life in the West Bank and curtail settlement growth.
There is much speculation about the Biden Administration’s brokering of Saudi-Israeli normalization, and for good reason. President Biden has made it clear he would like to achieve this. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks of his hopes for it. And Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has publicly said that it is getting closer.
Make no mistake, Saudi normalization with Israel would represent a geopolitical transformation in the Middle East and beyond, especially because of what the Saudis and Americans would be committing to each other—commitments that would bind Saudi security to our own, while also setting boundaries to the Saudi-Chinese relationship. The Saudi-Chinese commercial relationship will remain significant, but would be limited where it crosses into sensitive security areas—not surprising in the context of the security relationship that the Saudis want formalized with the United States.
For Israel, normalization with Saudi Arabia has enormous implications for normalizing Israel’s relationship with Muslim majority countries in the region and internationally. After all, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques would be making peace with Israel. For especially Sunni Muslims, who make up close to 85% of all Muslims, the putative leader of Sunni Muslims would be reconciling with Israel, the state of the Jewish people. It is hard to exaggerate the meaning of that in terms of greatly reducing the religious nature of the historic conflict between Arabs and Jews. It is also hard to exaggerate the significance of such a breakthrough for what it is likely to do for building coalitions between those countries in the region who are seeking to build modern, resilient societies. Their prospects for dealing with climate change, pandemics, and disruptive technologies will improve—unlike those failed or failing states who won’t be able to cope with increasing food, water, and health security challenges and will offer their publics only hopelessness because “resistance” remains their raison d’etre.
So such a breakthrough is likely to be enormously significant. Of course, it will not simply happen.
It is being brokered by the Biden Administration, and its bilateral parts—defense treaty, access to weapons and nuclear partnership—do have implications for Israel and need to be part of the US-Israel bilateral discussion. But the Saudis do have one other condition for normalizing: there have to be steps taken for the Palestinians. From the Saudi perspective, they want to show when they do this deal, others like Indonesia and Malaysia will follow their lead. For that to happen, the Saudis believe that they cannot settle only for preventing a negative (e.g. no Israeli annexation) like the UAE. Instead, they must be able to point to achieving something positive and meaningful for the Palestinians.
A measure of the Saudi seriousness in this regard is that they are focused on practicalities, not impossibilities. They are not pressing for a state now, recognizing that there are two different leaderships in the West Bank and Gaza and understanding a Palestinian state now would be a failed state. They are not talking about the dimensions or attributes of a future Palestinian state, understanding those must be negotiated and such negotiations at this time are not possible.
But they do have two requirements: first, life gets better for Palestinians in a demonstrable way so that they see something is clearly different after this deal than it is before. Second, there are tangible moves on the ground that preserve two states as an outcome. They don’t want to do a deal that cements a one state reality and outcome. (I say outcome and not solution because one state will perpetuate endless conflict. The Palestinian national identity is not simply going to disappear in one state.)
What does this mean in practical terms? It means Palestinian economic life and movement improve. (That will require more economic access to area “C,” investment in water and road infrastructure, and the kind of contiguity that will make it possible for Palestinians to travel more directly between different points in the West Bank, so what should be a 10 minute drive no longer takes 45 minutes.) As for tangible moves that preserve the possibility of two states, that will require some combination of settlements not expanding territorially so land is left for a Palestinian state and some increased territorial responsibility for the Palestinian Authority as a way of enhancing the basis for two states over time. (For the latter, any such transfer of territory would require the PA performing their security responsibilities—something I suspect the Saudis understand.)
Putting all the pieces together may be a bit like dealing with a Rubik’s cube, to include what the Saudis will ask on the Palestinians. Significantly, they are not focused on slogans or mythologies but practical steps. Yes, those steps will stress Israel’s government, but what can be achieved is historic in its implications for Israel (and the US). Leadership requires recognizing historic moments and having the courage and wisdom to take advantage of them.
*Dennis Ross is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute. This article was originally published on the Jerusalem Post website.

US should align its Syria policy with Turkiye’s interests
Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/October 06, 2023
There is a new phase in the Syria crisis, which has been a point of contention in Turkish-American relations since the civil war began in 2011. Although Ankara and Washington shared a common goal of ousting the Assad regime, they diverged in their visions and the policies they have implemented throughout the conflict. This has led them to cooperate with different groups in accordance with their own security interests.
The breaking point in relations happened when the US administration started to cooperate in the fight against Daesh with the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, which Turkiye views as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK. It also insisted on continuing its partnership despite Turkiye’s grievances. However, last Sunday’s suicide bomb attack in Ankara, the first by the PKK inside Turkiye since 2016, appears to have influenced the balances in Syria, the US-YPG partnership, and Turkish-Syrian normalization talks.
Turkiye said the two attackers who carried out the bombing in front of government buildings in Ankara had come from Syria, and that all Kurdish militant facilities in Syria and Iraq were therefore now legitimate military targets. Significantly, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned “third parties” to stay away from the targeted areas, which was a clear message to the US forces working with the YPG in Syria.
It was evident from Fidan’s statement that Turkiye intended to respond to this attack militarily. The ministermet Syrian opposition leaders on Tuesday, which indicated preparation for this. Turkiye has been a significant military and political ally of the Syrian opposition groups who control the last rebel-held bastion in the country, in northwest Syria near the Turkish border. Ankara’s response to the bombing came initially with airstrikes on Kurdish targets in Iraq, followed by further strikes on Thursday on the Kurdish-held zone of northeast Syria, during which for the first time the US show down a Turkish drone.
All this came about shortly after Damascus repeated its demand for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Syria as a condition for normalizing relations. Turkiye, despite its readiness to resume normalization talks with Syria, refuses to withdraw from areas under its control in northern Syria. Ankara is skeptical over the ability of the Syrian army to protect the borders, knowing that the YPG works with Assad’s forces in some areas, while claiming official status under the regime. There has always been an expectation in Ankara that the US would someday abandon the Syrian Democratic Forces in favor of the Syrian opposition. Russia, meanwhile, wants a return to the Adana Agreement, signed in 1998, which allows Turkish forces to penetrate 5 km into Syrian territory when faced with threats. But Turkiye now insists on a distance of 30 km. Iran is pushing for the withdrawal of Turkish forces. So far, however, Turkiye’s partners in the Astana process, namely Russia and Iran, which have both used the Kurdish card against Turkiye in the past, have failed to convince the Syrian regime or address Turkiye’s security concerns.
However, Turkiye’s primary interlocutor in Syria is not Russia, Iran or the Syrian regime, but Washington. The US has conflicting interests with Turkiye when it comes to Syria. Ankara views the YPG, which dominates the Washington-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, as a national security threat, while the US sees the SDF as a key partner in the fight against Daesh and does not categorize it as a terrorist group, although it does acknowledge the PKK as such. It is crystal clear that if US special forces pulled out of Syria the SDF would be unable to sustain itself. It is also evident that, since 2014, the YPG’s ambitions are beyond fighting Daesh or protecting the territory it controls. Rather, it aims to achieve security and political control over northern Syria and a key role in shaping the political future of the country.
However, the Biden administration has ruled out a withdrawal, saying the US-led coalition will continue to partner with the SDF. Despite eradicating Daesh’s stronghold more than four years ago, the US forces are still there, lacking a clear withdrawal plan or an endgame for their operation in the country. While there are voices in the US questioning the necessity of maintaining the partnership with the SDF at the expense of Turkiye, the latter being a traditional US and NATO ally and a key player in regional and global issues, including Ukraine, the US House of Representatives in March voted against a resolution directing the Biden administration to withdraw all US troops from Syria.
The conventional reading of US policies suggests that there has never been a predictable and consistent American policy in the region when it comes to addressing the concerns of its allies. America’s partnership with the SDF is not based on norms or principles, nor does it seek to bring peace to the region or Syria. There has always been an expectation in Ankara that the US would someday abandon the SDF in favor of the Syrian opposition. Turkiye has repeatedly proposed viable options for cooperation with the US in Syria.
However, Washington’s unwillingness to pursue a concrete plan that addresses Turkish concerns is the primary reason Ankara is approaching this matter from a hard power perspective. Furthermore, US consistency in this policy is pushing Turkiye to collaborate with Russia and Iran and, more importantly, to approach Damascus for normalization. In this new phase in Syria, the US should find ways to converge its policies with Turkiye’s security interests, rather than alienating Turkiye while Iran and Russia increase their sphere of influence.
**Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkiye’s relations with the Middle East. X: @SinemCngz

America’s shameful neglect of its Afghan friends and allies
Luke Coffey/Arab News/October 06, 2023
Since the Taliban returned to power there has been no shortage of crises facing Afghanistan.
A humanitarian disaster is affecting millions of Afghans. Food insecurity is a major concern. Young girls are not allowed into schools. Transnational terrorist groups are operating across most of the country with impunity. Ethnic and religious minorities are routinely under attack.
However, there is another problem with Afghanistan that deserves more attention. After entering Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban promised not to seek retribution against those who fought for the Afghan government or supported international forces over the years. Unsurprisingly, they have not lived up to this commitment. For example, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan: “Between Aug. 15, 2021,and June 30, 2023, the country’s de facto authorities were responsible for 218 extrajudicial killings, 14 enforced disappearances, over 144 instances of torture and ill treatment, and 424 arbitrary arrests and detentions.”
The US has not lived up to its commitments either. It left tens of thousands of Afghan partners at risk in Afghanistan after promising to get them out of the country. When the Taliban took over President Joe Biden said: “We’re going to do everything, everything that we can, to provide safe evacuation for our Afghan allies, partners, and Afghans who might be targeted because of their association with the United States … the United States stands by the commitment it made to these people.” Leading up to the withdrawal, US military chief Gen. Mark Milley said: “We must remain faithful to those Afghans who risked their lives to help the United States troops and personnel.”
During the chaos of 2021, it is estimated that the US brought only 124,000 Afghan partners out of the country. Of these, only 90,000 have since made it to the US. The rest are in third countries such as Qatar. Of these, only 21,000 have been issued a special immigrant visa that provides much-needed clarity on their legal status and right to remain and work in the US.
The remaining Afghans are in the US under a process known as humanitarian parole. This is authorized by the Department of Homeland Security and allows Afghans to legally reside in the US while their visaapplications are considered. Because Congress has failed to pass legislation to offer a faster way to make the status of Afghans in the US permanent, any new president can remove the humanitarian parole with a stroke of a pen. This leaves tens of thousands of Afghans who escaped Taliban rule in a state of legal limbo. The US has not lived up to its commitments. It left tens of thousands of Afghan partners at risk in Afghanistan after promising to get them out of the country.
According to the State Department’s inspector general, Diana Shaw, another 152,000 visa applicants are stillin Afghanistan. Including family members, the total number of Afghans eligible to come to the US is in thehundreds of thousands. In addition to the visa applicants, there are also tens of thousands of more Afghans who helped the US but do not qualify for protection.
For example, between 20,000 and 30,000 Afghan special forces remain in Afghanistan. Some have joined resistance groups such as the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan. Most are in hiding.
There are also thousands of Afghan prosecutors who were trained by the US and its allies over the years, and fear for their lives in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. It is thought that more than 50,000 Taliban members were prosecuted and imprisoned over the years. Now the lawyers, magistrates and judges who administered that judicial system face retribution from the Taliban.
Finally, several thousand journalists in Afghanistan fear for their lives. Within a year of the Taliban takeover, 60 percent of the nearly 12,000 Afghan journalists had ceased operating in the country.
In addition to America’s promise to help its Afghan partners, there are practical benefits for the US in doing so. In addition to America’s promise to help its Afghan partners, there are practical benefits for the US in doing so. For example, according to the NGOs Upwardly Global and Evacuate Our Allies, more than 10,000 Afghans brought to the US are thought to have at least a college education. It is estimated that 28.5 percent of these have master’s degrees, and 5.8 percent have advanced medical training. The same report estimated the potential annual earnings of Afghan newcomers to the US at $1.71 billion. This sum could generate $227 million a year in federal tax revenue annually. Afghans brought to America could also provide indirect humanitarian aid in the form of remittances to Afghanistan. At their height in 2019, personal remittances sent to Afghanistan comprised 4.4 percent of the country’s GDP.
In December 2021, despite economic sanctions against the Taliban, the US Treasury Department issued a general license authorizing banking transactions allowing Afghans in the US to send remittances home. With more Afghans earning money in the US and sending remittances back to Afghanistan, this could play a part in alleviating the dire humanitarian situation there.
When the US retreated from Afghanistan, it left behind an estimated $7 billion in military equipment. There has been a lot of media attention on this in the US. Since 2021 most of this kit has fallen into the hands of the Taliban or ended up on the black market around the region. However, this hefty price tag pales in comparison to the moral cost of leaving behind tens of thousands of Afghans who sacrificed so much over 20 years. Where is the media outcry regarding this?
The US needs to honor its commitments.
**Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. X: @LukeDCoffey

What the ‘Pivot to Asia’ signifies for regional geopolitics
Ehtesham Shahid/Arab News/October 06, 2023
The word “pivot” typically refers to the central point on which a mechanism turns. While apt for machinery, it might not wholly capture the essence of a geopolitical shift. President Barack Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” initially seemed more perplexing than illuminating regarding US foreign policy. Intriguingly, its repercussions resonated more in the Middle East than Asia, highlighting the methods over the actual objective. In retrospect, “rebalancing” might be a more apt descriptor.
Since nomenclature is critical in geopolitics, it also applies to the Middle East’s so-called Pivot to Asia, which has captured attention recently. A 2022 Asia House report claims this will have a profound global impact over the next decade. The implication is that the Gulf countries are increasingly aligning with Asian rather than Western perspectives when making critical domestic and international decisions.
“Rapidly expanding ties between the Gulf and Asia are creating a fundamental global shift that will have far-ranging implications for international trade, business and politics,” the report stated, adding that GCC economic and social reform is accelerating and driving the pivot. The hypothesis understandably transcends the use of one word.
Moreover, the fundamentals on which the pivot is projected to operate are noteworthy. The report highlights that the cooperation between Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council states in terms of renewables and sustainability is set to become a vital component of the pivot, as collaboration is growing in developing renewable energy and alternative energy sources. It foresees more significant bilateral political exchanges and cooperation, making this relationship “a significant pillar of global politics.”
The merits of this argument suggest a decisive shift backed by empirical evidence. However, the premise remains fixated on the US or the West’s strategic reorientation toward the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on addressing the rise of China and its growing influence. It is still about reallocating the military, economic and diplomatic resources to foster and secure American interests there.
It is in no one’s interest to ignore the Middle East’s strategic importance, oil reserves and security challenges.
Observers agree that redirecting resources and attention toward the Asia-Pacific region has sometimes led to a perceived reduction in US engagement and influence in the Middle East. Notwithstanding the facts behind such a claim, this has had implications for regional dynamics, with local and regional actors reassessing their strategies and alliances, considering changing American priorities and adjusting accordingly. Russia’s expanding military footprint and China’s economic partnerships in the Middle East have also substantiated this theory.
However, it is critical to understand that the Pivot to Asia — whether of the US or the Middle East — implies a shift in focus. It does not mean the US would not continue to maintain significant interests and a substantial presence in this region. It is in no one’s interest to ignore the Middle East’s strategic importance, oil reserves and the ongoing conflicts and security challenges.
On the other hand, the relationships between the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions are multifaceted and include economic, energy and diaspora connections. Therefore, their respective policy implications are interconnected and not confined to a single sphere of influence or interest. In other words, the Middle East’s Pivot to Asia cannot be at the cost of the region’s traditional Western allies.
There is no denying that the Middle East is undergoing a geopolitical churning. The Saudi Arabia-Iran fault line defined these geopolitics for a long time. With a rapprochement on that front well and truly on and the spirit of reconciliation spreading far and wide, the region’s hope of a prosperous future appears set to transform into a reality. Interestingly, another Middle East fault line — the Palestine-Israel conflict — also finally seems to be gravitating toward some resolution. If achieved anytime soon, it would be as much about a growing Chinese interest in it as a US administration looking to win another election.
With the spirit of reconciliation spreading, the region’s hope of a prosperous future appears set to transform into a reality.
The circumstances in the Middle East have made countries of different shapes and sizes comfortable in asserting their geopolitical weight to safeguard their interests and make a difference. In the succinct words of a leading think tank, “sculpting a new geopolitical positioning through diversification may update the regional identity necessary to navigate a multipolar world.”
A combination of factors makes regional geopolitics pregnant with possibilities. These factors give rise to permutations and combinations that were unimaginable just a few years ago. The cascading effect leads from one positive development to another. The Abraham Accords led to the I2U2 (made up of India, Israel, the UAE and the US), while the expansion of BRICS and the G20 birthed the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.
Perhaps what remains to unfold is a genuinely regional geopolitical brainwave detached from the Middle East’s constant thrust to balance East and West. Only a regional geopolitical alignment can neutralize the echo chamber of global realpolitik, where regional perspectives set the agenda and priorities.
Returning to the pivot versus rebalance debate, it is arguable that Middle Eastern countries are adjusting their diplomatic stances, establishing stronger ties with Asian nations and occasionally counterbalancing East-West relations. This does not entail a wholesale shift but it does indicate a diversification of partnerships as these nations maneuver through the intricate maze of global geopolitics, aiming to equilibrate their interests and alliances in a multipolar world. It is perhaps time to pivot toward counterbalancing.
*Ehtesham Shahid is an Indian editor and researcher based in the UAE. X: @e2sham

Israel must rely only on itself when it comes to existential threats
Jacob Nagel/ Israel Hayom/October 06/2023 |
Nuclear enrichment on Saudi soil, and an American-Israeli "defense treaty," as part of normalization with the Saudis, are incompatible with Israeli's National Security Strategy (NSS), especially when the agreements are likely to come at the expense of preventing Iran from dashing toward the bomb.
One of the cornerstones of Israel’s National Security Strategy, from Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1923, to Ben Gurion in 1953 and Netanyahu in 2018, is the determination that Israel will defend itself by itself without any outside help, even from the United States. In 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added to the strategy another cornerstone clarifying that Israel must prepare itself for the scenario in which there is one or more nuclear-armed states in the region while doing everything within its power to prevent this.
There is no doubt that signing an agreement with Saudi Arabia that will include normalization is a task of the highest priority, which justifies taking many risks, so as not to miss the opportunity; but not all risks and not at any price. The reports on a potential deal, under the auspices of the Americans, raise substantial questions regarding some core issues and the required cost.
What is so problematic with the apparent nuclear concessions (in both Saudi Arabia and Iran) and how is this linked to an Israel-US defense treaty and to the certainty of this resulting in a nuclear arms race in the Middle East?
The Saudi demands that Israel can accept on the assumption that it will maintain its qualitative military edge (QME) are as follows: a defense treaty, mainly against Iran; expansion of arms deals; and a free-trade zone.
The problematic Saudi demand is the wish for a complete nuclear fuel cycle on its own soil. The “civilian excuse” is that they need these capabilities in order to exploit their natural resources: mining uranium; converting it to “yellowcake;” and then converting it to gas (UF6) and enriching it to the level required to produce fuel rods for power reactors (to generate electricity) for internal use as well as for export.
The Palestinian issue is of less interest to the Saudis, but it is being pushed very hard by the US. I think that dealing with this problem will be less problematic, as it is not an existential threat to Israel, so a solution will be incorporated into the agreements in some way. What is important is to make sure that it will not take center stage and divert attention away from the truly important and dangerous aspects of the deal.
The Saudi demands stem from the Iranian nuclear deal in 2015, which granted independent enrichment and advanced centrifuge R&D to the Iranians, on their own soil. One can understand where the Saudis are coming from without agreeing with them. The cheating Iranians received this, so why not also them? This argument will, of course, also be used by other countries such as Egypt, the UAE, Turkey, and Algeria and will start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Raising the faulty and misleading argument that if the Saudis do not receive these capabilities from the US under a controlled mechanism, they will receive them from other countries such as China, is not legitimate, as China has offered the Saudis only a controlled power reactor and not an enrichment program.
The main argument for allowing the enrichment on Saudi soil is based on Saudi Arabia’s agreeing to any oversight and management requested by the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which will prevent a future conversion of these capabilities to military purposes. But that is false. Teams of American and Israeli experts have reportedly found technical ways to “square the circle” but this does not change the basic cornerstone that a country cannot roll the dice when it comes to nuclear capabilities.
An examination of the “intrusive and unprecedented supervision” as part of the Iranian nuclear agreement from 2015 and the Iranian advances under its auspices shed light on the limits of supervision and any other oversight mechanism that will be invented. On the day that there will be a need to activate these measures, there is a significant risk – which cannot be ignored when it comes to nuclear capabilities and the cost of being mistaken – that political circumstances and the technical limitations that will accumulate over the years will prevent the activation of such measures.
The prospect of an Israel-US defense treaty was brought up before (most recently during the 2019 election campaign in Israel) only to be forgotten, but now it has returned to the forefront as part of the negotiations. The main disadvantage of the treaty is the fact that it is being raised, and in the message it sends: that Israel does not believe in its own strength and ability to defend itself on its own. Regardless of whether the treaty would be limited to existential threats, this in and of itself is causing most of the damage.
As part of the formulation of the treaty, the cornerstone of Israel’s NSS will certainly be breached; namely, American soldiers will not be asked to die defending Israel. The treaty will certainly include cases where the US will be called upon to defend Israel, even if only in Israel’s region and in extreme circumstances, which will be subject to interpretation. The treaty will include a provision that an attack on one of the members will be considered an attack on its allies, with everything that this implies.
Even under the defense treaty among NATO members, which is stronger than the one the US will offer Israel, the US is not obligated to defend its allies if they launch a pre-emptive attack. That means that if Israel or Saudi Arabia take out Iran’s nuclear facilities, the US will not be obligated to defend the two nations if there is retaliation.
The treaty will not prevent Iran’s continued aggressive behavior; it will send the wrong message that Israel is accepting Iran as a nuclear threshold state; and it will become a double-edged sword with the potential to severely damage Israeli deterrence and freedom of action.
The claim by the treaty supporters that Israel will not lose its freedom of action – including the ability to attack Iran, supposedly knowing that the US will come to its aid – is fundamentally mistaken and a simple logical analysis will show the opposite. The treaty will give the IDF and the civilian echelon another reason not to attack Iran – or even to strike the infrastructure and facilities that Hezbollah has built in Lebanon, including the sites used to manufacture precision-guided munitions (PGM), with support and funding from Iran.
It would be a grave mistake to link the very important agreement with Saudi Arabia to a defense treaty. The US needs Israel now more than ever to get the Saudi agreement passed in Congress. Israel will get almost everything it wants without a treaty. Why give the US the feeling that this is the price Israel is asking? Signing a defense treaty will almost certainly undermine the support on fundamental issues that the US has been giving to Israel for years, under the reasoning that the treaty makes them redundant or that it is possible to reduce or weaken their importance. Why would Israel need a comprehensive and longer-term Memorandum of Understanding? Why would an expanded Qualitative Military Edge be required? There would be no need for large-scale pre-positioning of American systems and for expanding cooperation in R&D and technology. Under the alliance, there is a real risk that the prevailing notion would be as such: The US will provide Israel with a full defense umbrella but every other form of support would no longer be necessary.
The alliance will cause the US to exert pressure to prevent escalations and clashes that could require US intervention. Even if it is written that Israel will not need to consult or receive approval, the reality will be different and the freedom of action will have been lost.
Those in favor of the treaty base their arguments mainly on the claim that our Big Sister will stand by Israel and that harming Israel is tantamount to attacking the US, and therefore deterrence and freedom of action will be strengthened. According to them, the treaty will motivate the US to prevent escalation, and therefore Israel will receive everything it needs to prevent clashes that would obligate the US to intervene.
The disadvantages of the treaty are much greater than the advantages, and it is better not to push toward signing it, especially not as the “currency” for supporting the US-Saudi deal in Congress.
There is no doubt that reaching an agreement between Israel and the Saudis is very important and Israel should take some risks in order to secure such a deal, but there is one way to promote a deal with normalization, cancel Riyadh’s request for an independent fuel cycle and cancel the need for a defense treaty while ensuring that the first priority remains preventing an Iranian nuclear program. The US must insist upon the activation of a snap-back mechanism that will restore all UN Security Council sanctions, including an absolute ban on uranium enrichment in Iran. Skeptics will claim that this is an unrealistic demand, perhaps, but an American demand is sufficient to pull the rug from under the Saudi nuclear demands and allow progress towards a three-way US-Saudi-Israel deal, which will create an opening for joint action against the Iranian nuclear program.
**Brigadier General (res.) Jacob Nagel is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a professor at the Technion. He previously served as Prime Minister Netanyahu’s national security advisor and the head of Israel National Security Council (acting).

Question: “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?”
GotQuestions.org/October 06/2023 |
Answer: This question is similar to its opposite: "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" Both questions refer to what seems to be the perplexing injustice we witness every day. The 73rd Psalm is our answer to the very same questions that also tormented the psalmist. Finding himself in terrible distress and agony of soul he writes, “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:2-3).
The writer of this Psalm was a man named Asaph, a leader of one of the temple choirs. Obviously, he was not a wealthy man, but rather one who had dedicated his life to serving God (see 1 Chronicles 25). But, like us, he had experienced some difficulties and questioned the injustice of it all. He watched the evil people around him living by their own rules, enjoying all the wealth and pleasures of the world and collecting riches. He complains, "They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills" (Psalm 73:4-5).
Asaph was looking at these people who didn’t have problems. They could pay their bills. They had plenty to eat and plenty of luxuries. But poor Asaph was stuck with directing the choir and trying to live godly. And to make things worse, his choice to serve God didn’t seem to be helping him. He began to envy these people and even to question God as to why He would allow such a thing to happen!
How often do we find ourselves relating to Asaph? We dedicate our lives to serving God. Then we witness the wicked, ungodly people around us get new possessions, luxurious homes, promotions, and beautiful clothes, while we struggle financially. The answer lies in the rest of the psalm. Asaph envied these evil people until he realized one very important thing. When he entered the sanctuary of God, he fully understood their final destiny: “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies” (Psalm 73:16-20). Those who have temporary riches on earth are in reality spiritual beggars because they do not have true riches—eternal life.
There are many times when we do not understand what is happening to us, nor do we understand how providence works. When Asaph entered the sanctuary of God, he began to see that there was no need for him to be envious of the prosperity of the wicked because their prosperity is an illusion. He began to comprehend that the ancient deceiver, Satan, had used lies to distract him from the reality of God. Upon entering the sanctuary, Asaph realized that prosperity is a fleeting fulfillment, like a pleasant dream that pleases us only for a little while but, when we awaken, we realize it was not real. Asaph rebukes himself for his own stupidity. He admits to being “senseless and ignorant” to envy the wicked or to be jealous of the perishing. His thoughts then returned to his own happiness in God when he realized how much more joy, fulfillment, and true spiritual prosperity he had in the Creator.
We may not have everything we want here on earth, but we will one day prosper for all eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord. Whenever we are tempted to try the other road, we should remember that the other road is a dead end (Matthew 7:13). But the narrow road before us through Jesus is the only road that leads to eternal life. That should be our joy and our comfort. “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge . . .” (Psalm 73:25, 27-28)
We need not concern ourselves when good things seem to happen to bad people. We only need to keep our focus on our Creator and enter into His presence every day through the portal of His holy Word. There we will find truth, contentment, spiritual riches, and eternal joy.