LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

April 09/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.april09.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

"The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 22/41-46:"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question:‘What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’He said to them, ‘How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, "The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’ "? If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?’No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions."

Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.
First Letter of Peter 02/11-17:"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge. For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honour everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honour the emperor."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 09/16
Total recall/Michael Young/Now Lebanon/April 08/16
Demagoguery does not serve any cause/Nayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/April 08/16
Inconvenient Genocide/Jerusalem Post/Caroline Glick/April 08/16
Iran warns the US: Stay away from our red lines/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/April 08/16
Savage wolves assassinate Hammadi/Turki Al-Dakhil/Al Arabiya/April 08/16
The invincible Izzat al-Douri/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/April 08/16
Fighting in the Caucasus: Implications for the Wider Region/Brenda Shaffer/Washington Institute/April 08/16
The US Presidential Election – the Show is Not Over Yet/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on April 09/16

Between Exportation… and Dominance
Source: Hollande to Make 'Commitments' during Beirut Visit
Order of Physicians Bars for Life Riyad al-Alam from Practicing Medicine
Security Forces Free Two Girls from Human Trafficking
Lebanese Politicians Hail Samaha Jailing and Praise Court
Samaha Sentenced to 13 Years in Jail with Hard Labor over Terror Charges
Asharq al-Awsat Cartoon Protesters to be Released on Bail
Report: Western Interest in Lebanon to Counter Iranian Role
Total recall
2 Syrians Burn to Death in Bekaa Depot Blaze
Demagoguery does not serve any cause
Nayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/April 08/16

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 09/16

Two dead in shooting at Texas air force base: sheriff
Several arrests made in relation to Brussels attacks
Paris Attacks Suspect Mohamed Abrini Arrested
Saudi, Egypt Agree to Build Bridge over Red Sea
Ankara: Turkey, Israel near Normal Relations
U.S. Citizen Freed by Syrian Regime
Israel Pledge to Admit Ethiopians Defuses Political Row
U.S.: IS Group Doubles Number of Fighters in Libya
Kerry Vows to up Pressure on IS during Iraq Visit
Yemen Truce Raises Hope of Ending Conflict
Italy recalls ambassador to Egypt in protest over slain student

Links From Jihad Watch Site for April 09/16
Australia to cancel citizenships of up to 110 Muslims who’ve joined the Islamic State.

Hamas-linked CAIR files suit claiming terror watch list discriminates against Muslims.
“Staggering number” of Muslims from Europe embraced jihad, many returning home.
UK: Hijabbed Muslima worries that “people will start to look at me in a funny way”.
Robert Spencer, FP: DHS: Airport Workers Suspected of Terror Ties Have All Been Vetted.
Malaysia: Muslim lawyers says Muslims have no right to leave Islam.
Norway: Leftist feels guilty that Muslim who raped him was deported.
The Unknown: Driven to End Life to Escape Sharia.
Raymond Ibrahim on Newsmax Prime: ISIS’ new hit list targeting Americans.
Former Indonesian President: Pay Muslims to stop being jihad terrorists.
UK: Muslim medical student was recruiter for the Islamic State.
No notion of superiority among men or women in Islam, says Pakistan’s first lady.

Between Exportation… and Dominance
Ahmad El-Assaad/April 08/16/The Iranian regime has informed us that it intends to “forcefully defend Hezbollah in Lebanon”, and to “improve the situation” of this party in the region in the upcoming period. Meanwhile, the leaders of the party that was supposed to stand in Hezbollah’s face in Lebanon informed us that they disagree on everything, from municipal elections… to presidential elections! The Iranian regime is working, according to one of its officials this week, to “develop regional circumstances in the interest” of the so-called ‘Iranian Revolution’, since “preserving the regime’s ability inside Iran is directly linked to regional circumstances”.As for our revolution, the Cedar Revolution, the regional circumstances reached an apex, but its leaders weren’t able to benefit from them. They missed their chance, and squandered it. They conceded, weakened and fought, allowing the Iranian regime to gain time, and tip the scale of regional circumstances to its benefit. For almost four decades now, the Iranian regime has been strategically exporting its revolution. It has now reached the “third stage”, according to the Iranian official. Its agreement with the West is providing it with all the necessary tools to that end.
As for the Cedar Revolution, it barely lasted a single decade. It didn’t reach stage three, nor did it stabilize. It instead shook at the very first real test, because its leaders did not work on exporting it. Instead, they each tried to dominate it!

Source: Hollande to Make 'Commitments' during Beirut Visit
Naharnet/April 08/16/French President Francois Hollande does not carry with him a solution to Lebanon's political deadlock but will make several “commitments” during his upcoming visit to Beirut this month, a French source in the Lebanese capital has said. The source told An Nahar daily published Friday that Hollande will stress during this visit on April 16 to support Lebanon's security stability and back the country in confronting the repercussions of the Syrian war. The French president will also send a message of support for coexistence in Lebanon and call for the functioning of state institutions, mainly the presidency, said the source. Hollande hopes his visit would contribute to stronger international support for Lebanon, he added. The Elysee presidential palace announced on Thursday that Hollande will embark on a tour to Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan on April 16-19. The statement issued by the Elysee said that the French president will visit Beirut “to express French solidarity” with it. French Ambassador Emanuel Bon also said via Twitter that Hollande last visited Beirut in 2012. But he is returning because “France always stands by Lebanon's side.”

Order of Physicians Bars for Life Riyad al-Alam from Practicing Medicine
Naharnet/April 08/16/The doctor who confessed to performing abortions to some 75 Syrian victims of a human trafficking ring has been barred for life from practicing medicine. The Lebanese Order of Physicians announced that Dr. Riyad al-Alam has been prohibited from practicing medicine after he performed over 200 abortions in the case. The decision was made after the Order listened to his testimony on Thursday. Anesthesiologist George Avakian, who is also involved in the case, made his testimony as well. Last week, the Internal Security Forces announced that it had busted Lebanon's largest known sex trafficking ring and freed 75 mainly Syrian women. "This is the largest sex trafficking ring we've uncovered since the outbreak of the Syrian war," a Lebanese security source told AFP. Ten men and eight female workers were arrested. Two of the ring's masterminds are still on the run. Even before the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, Syrian women had been pushed into the illicit sex trade in neighboring Lebanon. The Health Ministry earlier this week sealed off al-Alam's office with red wax, barring him from practicing medicine.

Security Forces Free Two Girls from Human Trafficking
Naharnet/April 08/The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau announced on Friday the liberation of two girls who were abducted and forced into prostitution, it said in a communique. Two Syrian girls were freed and a Syrian man was arrested in an operation carried out by the security forces in the Khaldeh region south of Beirut on Thursday. The girls were led to believe by the suspect that they were to be employed as singers. They arrived in Khaldeh on March 13 where their passports were seized and they were kept locked in an apartment. The victims were then forced into prostitution. One of the girls managed to telephone the security forces, which led to the raid that resulted in their liberation. The detained suspect has a record in drug related offenses. Last week, the ISF announced that it had busted Lebanon's largest known sex trafficking ring and freed 75 mainly Syrian women. "This is the largest sex trafficking ring we've uncovered since the outbreak of the Syrian war," a Lebanese security source told AFP. Ten men and eight female workers were arrested. Two of the ring's masterminds are still on the run. Even before the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, Syrian women had been pushed into the illicit sex trade in neighboring Lebanon. A doctor who carried out abortions for the victims recently confessed to his actions and the Health Ministry earlier this week sealed off his office with red wax, barring him from practicing medicine.

Lebanese Politicians Hail Samaha Jailing and Praise Court
Naharnet/April 08/Al-Mustaqbal movement chief MP Saad Hariri hailed on Friday the jailing of former Information Minister Michel Samaha over terrorism charges. “The verdict against terrorist Michel Samaha rectifies a former lighter sentence which we have all disapproved and announced that we won't accept,” said Hariri via Twitter. “Terrorist Samaha will return to jail today. It is the normal place for anyone who plans to kill innocent people or tries to drag the country to sedition and civil fights,” added the MP. A military court sentenced Samaha to 13 years in prison with hard labor on Friday for attempting to carry out "terrorist acts", a judicial source said. The minister had previously served four-and-a-half years in jail as part of a lighter sentence that had shocked the country and which saw his release from prison earlier this year. For his part Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said: “The sentence of the military court of cassation demonstrates our righteous trust in the court and its members.” Health Minister Wael Abou Faour hailed the verdict dubbing it as “just” saying: “The sentence restores the people's trust in the judiciary and respect for the state. It directs a blow against the criminality of the terrorist regime in Syria.”“The judiciary has started moving in the case of Michel Samaha ... will it carry on in other corrupt files?” asked the Democratic Gathering bloc chief MP Walid Jumblat via Twitter. Samaha was convicted of transporting explosives to carry out attacks and assassinations of political and religious figures in Lebanon with the help of Syrian security services.

Lebanon sentences ex-minister Samaha to 13 years in prison
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Friday, 8 April 2016/Lebanese court sentences ex-minister Michel Samaha, considered close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to 13 years in prison on Friday for plotting attacks. Samaha was earlier this year released on bail after being sentenced after serving a jail term for smuggling explosives into Lebanon from Syria and planning attacks, prompting days of protests from angry citizens. The decision to release him drew criticism from Assad's opponents in Lebanon including former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. Samaha, a close friend to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was serving a jail term for smuggling explosives into Lebanon from Syria and planning attacks, the national news agency said. The country’s former Prime Minister Saad el-Hariri posted to twitter saying, “The terrorist Samaha returns to his rightful place in prison today for plotting to kill innocent citizens and drag Lebanon into civil discord.”

Samaha Sentenced to 13 Years in Jail with Hard Labor over Terror Charges
Naharnet/April 08/16/Former Information Minister Michel Samaha was sentenced to 13 years in jail over terrorism charges. The official will serve his sentence in al-Rihannieh jail with hard labor with his civil rights being stripped. He may be transferred to another prison at a later time. He was charged with the possession of explosives for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks. The verdict cannot be appealed. The minister had previously served four-and-a-half years in jail as part of a lighter sentence that had shocked the country and which saw his release from prison earlier this year. The military court of cassation's sentence on Friday ordered that he serve 13 years in jail knowing that nine months make up a single year in jail, said MTV. The years Samaha already served will be deducted from the new sentence. The court rejected claims that the former minister was lured into devising the terrorist plot by informant Milad Kfouri. Samaha had said he was a victim of entrapment because he was not aware that his co-conspirator was a Lebanese security services informer. The presiding judge said that Samaha already had the intent to carry out his terrorist attacks and the only reason he was stopped was because Kfouri had reported him to the authorities. Video recordings of Samaha and Kfouri in which he discusses his plot emerged as damning evidence against the official. Samaha, 67, was arrested in August 2012 and charged with attempting to carry out "terrorist acts" over allegations that he and Syrian security services chief Ali Mamluk transported explosives and planned attacks and assassinations of political and religious figures in Lebanon. Samaha was sentenced in May 2015 to four-and-half years in prison, but in June the Military Court of Cassation nullified the verdict and ordered a retrial. In January this year, he was released on bail from prison under a controversial ruling that has sent shockwaves across the country.

Asharq al-Awsat Cartoon Protesters to be Released on Bail
Naharnet/April 08/16/Beirut Judge Wael Sadeq ordered on Friday the release on bail of the protesters who stormed the offices of pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat last week, their lawyer said. The state-run National News Agency quoted the lawyer of the seven activists, Hassan Bazzi, as saying that Sadeq decided to release them on a LL800,000 bail each. “The prosecutor's office reviewed the decision and approved it,” said the attorney. “The daily will be informed about it. If it doesn't appeal the decision, then it will enter into effect tomorrow (Saturday) morning,” he stated. “But their release will be postponed until next Monday if the decision was appealed,” said Bazzi. The seven suspects accused of storming the offices of Asharq al-Awsat to protest a cartoon published in the newspaper were charged on Tuesday. The cartoon depicted the Lebanese state as an April's fool joke, printing the Lebanese flag with the words "April's Fool" over it. The cartoon in the Saudi-owned daily deemed insulting provoked a storm over social media, with many, including politicians, demanding an apology. Local internet celebrity Pierre Hashash is among the seven suspects. He was arrested by police last Saturday while his accomplices turned themselves in.

Report: Western Interest in Lebanon to Counter Iranian Role
Naharnet/April 08/16/The growing American and western role in Lebanon is thriving recently in a bid to confront the Iranian role that has been exacerbating lately in the country, a well-informed diplomatic source told As Safir on Friday. “There is a western and American role that has been increasing lately in Lebanon in an attempt to counter the growing Iranian role,” the source told the daily on condition of anonymity. It added that the U.S. embassy in Beirut has increased the number of diplomats, security, media and political personnel due to the expansion of its role in monitoring the situation in Lebanon and the region particularly the latest developments in neighboring Syria and its impact on the Lebanese situation. French President Francois Hollande is expected to visit Lebanon between April 16 where he will send a message of support for coexistence in Lebanon and call for the reactivation of the state institutions and an end for the vacuum at the top state post. Early this month, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond visited Lebanon where he held a series of meetings with Lebanese officials. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also visited Lebanon recently where he focused on the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon and the refugee burden. A close ally of Iran-backed Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun is a candidate for the post of presidency. His endorsement and the adamant stances to elect him as president have kept the post vacant for around two years now. Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea withdrew his candidacy and yielded to Aoun in a move that is now likely to anchor Iran's influence in Lebanon. MP Henri Helou is also a candidate for the post. Lebanon top Christian post has been vacant since the term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014.

Total recall
Michael Young/Now Lebanon/April 08/16
What are Hezbollah’s objectives in maintaining a vacuum in the presidency? This question has preoccupied analysts for almost two years now, but none of the answers are entirely convincing. The first is that the party is seeking leverage to fundamentally transform the Lebanese political and constitutional system. Its ultimate aim, the argument goes, is to expand Shiite representation, protect Hezbollah’s weapons and ensure a structural majority that keeps Sunnis at a disadvantage. However, amending the constitution is no easy task in Lebanon, and in the absence of a consensus it is virtually impossible. So, while Hezbollah may ultimately wish to modify the constitution, it is unrealistic to imagine this today, at a moment of sharp sectarian polarization in the region. That means falling back on a more modest interpretation of what the party hopes to achieve. To many observers this centers around the objectives of bringing in a friendly president and putting in place an election law that weakens two problematic politicians, Saad Hariri and Walid Jumblatt, while sparing Hezbollah. This means, by most accounts, scrapping the 1960 law and enacting one based on proportional representation.
Hezbollah can plainly see that the vacuum has done damage to Lebanon, increasing its own leverage over outcomes. With the situation in Syria apparently turning to its advantage, the party may be in a position to bring in a president on its own terms. With Hariri and Samir Geagea having, each, endorsed presidential candidates close to March 8, Hezbollah has no reason to feel that this is unachievable.
In this regard Sleiman Franjieh remains an ideal candidate. What disturbed Hezbollah about Hariri’s support for him was that it came with an implicit package deal that would have seen Hariri return as prime minister. The party will only bring Franjieh in on its own conditions, and one of these will be that Hariri not lead a government. Hezbollah can see that the former prime minister is struggling financially and that his Saudi sponsors are taking positions that, effectively, are undermining his status. Their desire is to sideline him permanently.  How realistic are the party’s objectives? Certainly the election of a friendly president is feasible. Not only have Hariri and Geagea implicitly acknowledged this, but March 14 never took Geagea’s candidacy seriously, understanding that it was a red line for Hezbollah. And if Franjieh or Aoun are now palatable, so too are all others—at least with regard to the deeper divide between what remains of March 8 and March 14.
What about a proportional election law? This is more complicated as it goes to the heart of the system of political leadership and patronage in Lebanon. Proportionality means that the traditional political leaders must accept that candidates from outside the lists they lead or sponsor can enter parliament, in proportion to their share of the vote. This neutralizes the politicians’ main instrument of control over their areas. It would mean, for instance, that Hariri in Beirut and Jumblatt in the Shouf and Aley would likely lose representation, because there are sizable electorates in all three that will not vote for their candidates. On the other hand, Hezbollah’s and Amal’s domination of the Shiites is so complete that any Shiite “third way” would struggle to win even a seat in most constituencies.  But if Hariri and Jumblatt, both of whom represent major parliamentary blocs, refuse to go along with a proportional law, how might it pass? When one does the math, Hezbollah, Amal and the Aounists alone don’t have a majority to approve a proportional law. However, if all the smaller pro-Syrian and pro-Hezbollah parliamentarians are counted, as well as Tashnag and some independents who might see an advantage in such a law, plus (and this is a key factor) the Lebanese Forces bloc, there may be just enough votes for an absolute majority.
But even if that were to work in theory uncertainty prevails. For instance, now that the Aounists and the Lebanese Forces represent a potentially powerful alliance in Christian districts, they would have no incentive to back a proportional law that eats into their domination. In other words if Hezbollah regards a proportional law as a way of undercutting its rivals, there is no guarantee that such a law would win majority support. If so then what does the party want? If Hezbollah has maintained a debilitating two-year void merely to introduce a friendly president, with no certainty as to whether it can fulfill its other ambitions, then we’re talking about paltry returns. The most likely explanation is that the party is taking a broader view of the situation. Prevailing in Syria and the nuclear deal with Iran have allowed Hezbollah to imagine a different future in which it can advance a number of key pieces in the Lebanese power game. It already has a veto power on most policies with which it disagrees. It seeks national validation of its independent weapons arsenal. It wants a friendly president who, with the friendly speaker of parliament, would allow it to control a majority in the ruling triumvirate, giving it a decisive say over future legislation. In effect the party may, quite simply, fantasize about re-creating what the Syrians enjoyed after 1990, namely total hegemony over the Lebanese system. Can it work? Given the incompetence of the foes of such a project, yes. A foundation of Hezbollah’s strategy has long been to discredit the Lebanese state. With all the corruption taking place today, that’s not difficult. People are disgusted with a political class that is all gangrene. Any changes to the system may not meet much popular resistance. Hezbollah, alas, may be thinking big, while those opposed to it remain very small.
**Michael Young is a writer and editor in Beirut. He tweets @BeirutCalling.

Demagoguery does not serve any cause
Nayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/April 08/16
We at An-Nahar newspaper were the first to voice rejection of Asharq al-Awsat’s April 1 caricature depicting the Lebanese state as an “April fool.” We rejected it because it insulted our flag, country, and thus all of us. The Lebanese people still adhere to our identity, country, flag, Arabism, relations with Arab brotherly countries, and openness with the West. We have paid a high price defending freedom of speech, as Lebanese journalists have been assassinated. We have struggled to remain free, independent and purely Lebanese. Our objection to Asharq al-Awsat’s caricature is based on our right of freedom of expression. However, based on our belief that freedom of expression is sacred, we think that attacking its office in Beirut and raising an insulting banner against Saudi Arabia in the area of Jal al-Dib are mob acts. They do not harmonize with Lebanon’s history, which is linked to freedom and particularly freedom of expression. This characteristic once made our country the center of the Arab press and a refuge for Arab opposition figures.
Bilateral ties
Lebanon sorely needs to restore its ties with brotherly Arab countries that have never failed it, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In the past, banners that read “Thank you Qatar” were raised in Lebanese areas, particularly southern Beirut, to commend it on its efforts to help Lebanon. This is in addition to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other countries in support of Lebanon’s renaissance. We have the right to object to a certain act or statement, but demagogic practices, even by a limited number of people, deprive us of this right and turn us into defendants and assaulters. Statements made against Arab countries by some Lebanese parties do not improve people’s livelihoods or provide for them. These parties’ practices inside Lebanon are worse than what they accuse some Arab countries of. We have the right to object to a certain act or statement, but demagogic practices, even by a limited number of people, deprive us of this right and turn us into defendants and assaulters.

2 Syrians Burn to Death in Bekaa Depot Blaze
Naharnet/April 08/16/The charred remains of two Syrians killed in a fire were found early Friday at a warehouse in the eastern Bekaa Valley, the state-run National News Agency reported. NNA said firefighters from the Civil Defense Department doused a blaze at the depot in the Bekaa town of Jalala around 5:40 am. The firefighters found the charred bodies of the Syrians and transported them to the Elias Hraoui State Hospital in the city of Zahle, the agency said.The warehouse was used to store eggs and furniture, NNA added.

Two dead in shooting at Texas air force base: sheriff
AFP, Washington Friday, 8 April 2016/Two people were killed Friday in a shooting on an air force base in Texas, authorities said, in what US media said appeared to be a murder-suicide. Bexar County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Rosanne Hughes confirmed to AFP that two people at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio were killed, without offering details about the circumstances of the incident. Hughes added that the situation -- which sparked a temporary lockdown at the facility -- was now under control. The Air Force Times, citing initial internal Pentagon communications, said an airman shot the commanding officer of a training squadron, before apparently turning the gun on himself. Other US media cited local law enforcement as saying it was a murder-suicide. Schools and daycare centers in the area were also placed on lockdown, according to a Facebook post from Joint Base San Antonio, which includes Lackland as well as other military bases in the area. The deadliest shooting at a US military base took place in Fort Hood, Texas in 2009, when army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others before being overpowered by police.

Several arrests made in relation to Brussels attacks
The Associated Press, Brussels Friday, 8 April 2016/Belgian authorities say several arrests have been made in relation to the Brussels attacks. The prosecutor’s office said Friday it made “several arrests” Friday, one day after it called on the public to help look for a key suspect in the March 22 attacks that killed 32 people. The prosecutor’s office refused to provide more information. Belgian broadcaster VRT, citing sources it did not identify, said Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini was among those arrested.

Paris Attacks Suspect Mohamed Abrini Arrested
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 08/16/Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini was arrested Friday, a police source told AFP after a Belgian television station said he was detained in a Brussels district. At the same time prosecutors said police made several arrests in connection with the deadly Islamic State attacks on Brussels airport and metro last month. The police source gave no details about the location or circumstances of Abrini's arrest but VRT television said it took place in the Anderlecht district of Brussels, home to several other suspects linked to the Paris attacks. Abrini, a Belgian of Moroccan origin, was seen at a petrol station north of Paris two days before the attacks with key suspect Salah Abdeslam, who drove one of the vehicles used in the November 13 assaults across Paris that killed 130 people. Abdeslam was supposed to have blown himself but did not do so, fleeing instead back to Brussels. He was arrested in Brussels on March 18 following a four-month manhunt and is being held in a high-security prison in the northern Belgian city of Bruges while awaiting his extradition to France. The Belgian federal prosecutor's office said they would provide more details later about the arrests in connection with the Brussels attacks. "The federal prosecutor confirms that there have been several arrests in the course of the day in connection with the attacks on the airport and metro," a statement said. The attacks killed 32 people and wounded hundreds more.

Saudi, Egypt Agree to Build Bridge over Red Sea
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 08/16/Saudi King Salman on Friday announced plans to build a bridge over the Red Sea to Egypt, in a lavish show of support for the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The 80-year-old monarch is on a rare five-day trip to Egypt, a country that Riyadh views as a cornerstone to its ambitions in the changing region. Saudi Arabia has been the key backer of Sisi since 2013, when the then-army chief overthrew his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement was viewed with suspicion by Riyadh. Salman, who touched down in Cairo on Thursday to a lavish welcome, made the announcement after meeting Sisi at the president's Ittahidiya Palace. "I agreed with my brother his excellency President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to build a bridge connecting the two countries," Salman said. "This historic step to connect the two continents, Africa and Asia, is a qualitative transformation that will increase trade between the two continents to unprecedented levels," he added. A beaming Sisi, who minutes earlier had presented the king with the ceremonial Nile Collar, suggested naming the structure the "King Salman bin Abdel Aziz Bridge". The idea of a causeway between the two countries had been floated before, especially by ousted Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak, but never made it past the planning stage. Thousands of Saudi tourists visit Egypt annually, and thousands of Muslim Egyptians visit Saudi Arabia each year for pilgrimage. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians work in the oil-rich kingdom and send home much-needed remittances.Following Salman's announcement, representatives of both countries signed 17 investment deals and memorandums of understanding. A government official had said the deals agreed with Saudi Arabia throughout Salman's visit would amount to about $1.7 billion (1.5 billion euros). They included an agreement to set up a university and homes in South Sinai, as well a power plant. The Saudis are expected to make another major announcement on Saturday, according to the kingdom's ambassador to Egypt.
"The investment deals that will be signed on Saturday evening will be a surprising amount that will please everyone," Ahmed Qattan wrote on Twitter. On Friday, both leaders lavished praise on each other's country and their relationship. "This visit comes as a confirmation of the pledges of brotherhood and solidarity before the two brotherly countries," Sisi said in a televised speech. "I believe that the special nature of the Saudi-Egyptian relationship... will enable us to confront together shared challenges and to deal seriously with whoever tries to harm Arab national security," Sisi said. The visit follows months of reports in both Saudi and Egyptian newspapers of strained ties over Cairo's unwillingness to participate fully in the Saudi-led war against Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen. Egypt had announced it would back Saudi Arabia with ground troops if needed, but appears to have balked at the prospect of becoming mired in the conflict. Sisi's close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who militarily backs Syrian leader Bashar Assad against Saudi-supported rebels, has reportedly also caused friction with Riyadh. However, Saudi Arabia has played a key role in propping up Egypt's economy, whose vital tourism industry has been devastated by years of political turmoil and jihadist attacks. For Saudi Arabia, which is in competition with regional rival Iran, keeping Egypt under its aegis is crucial.

Ankara: Turkey, Israel near Normal Relations
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 08/16/Turkey and Israel are on the brink of restoring their ties after a bitter falling-out five years ago, the Turkish foreign ministry announced early Friday after talks in London. NATO member Turkey was a key regional ally of Israel until the two countries cut ties in 2010 over the deadly storming by Israeli commandos of a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza, which left 10 Turkish activists dead. After years of bitter accusations and inflammatory rhetoric the two sides held secret talks in December to seek a rapprochement, with another round taking place in February in Geneva.
"The teams made progress towards finalizing the agreement and closing the gaps, and agreed that the deal will be finalized in the next meeting which will be convened very soon," the Turkish ministry said in a statement after the fresh round of talks Thursday. An Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity that "the gaps are getting narrowed," without elaborating. Ankara said the latest talks in London brought together powerful Turkish foreign ministry official Feridun Sinirlioglu, Joseph Ciechanover, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israeli National Security Advisor Jacob Nagel. In an interview with Turkish newspaper Vatan on Friday, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said "significant progress has been made", adding that the two sides were hoping to reach "a final stage" in the talks soon.
Turkey had already said in February that the former allies were "close to concluding a deal". But they had yet to agree on all of Turkey's conditions, with the main hurdle appearing to be the lifting of Israel's blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israel apologized to Turkey in 2013, in what many thought would trigger a warming in ties, but tensions soared again the following year when Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza. Turkey's other condition is that victims of the Mavi Marmara be compensated, and has said that talks have advanced in this regard. The Mavi Marmara was one of six ships which headed to Gaza in May 2010 carrying humanitarian supplies in a bid to break the blockade of the Strip which has been in place since 2007, shortly after the Islamist militant group Hamas won elections there. The blockade has been branded cruel and inhumane by rights groups, although Israel argues it is necessary to stop weapons smuggling. Turkey is a key backer of Hamas, and Erdogan has accused Israel of being "genocidal" in Gaza. Analysts have suggested that Turkey's desire for a rapprochement has been accelerated by the drastic worsening in ties with Moscow since the shooting-down of a Russian warplane wrecked several joint projects. Ankara relies on Russia for more than half its natural gas imports and Turkey now has its eyes on Israeli gas reserves. In a highly symbolic encounter, Erdogan last week met representatives of Jewish organizations in the U.S. to discuss the fight against terrorism and racism. "Unfortunately, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, xenophobic movements have been shifting from the periphery to the center of politics. We have to struggle against them together," he said. Another sign of a thaw in relations came when Israeli President Reuven Rivlin phoned Erdogan to thank him for his compassion after a suicide bombing in Istanbul last month left three Israelis dead.

U.S. Citizen Freed by Syrian Regime
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 08/16/A U.S. citizen who was held in Syria has been freed by Bashar Assad's regime, the State Department said Friday, after a report that a missing journalist is coming home. "We can confirm and welcome the news that a U.S. citizen was released by Syrian authorities," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Kirby would not provide more details because of U.S. privacy laws, but the Washington Post reported that 33-year-old freelance photographer Kevin Dawes had been freed. According to the Post report, Dawes was abducted in Syria in 2012 and was recently permitted to call his family and to receive a care package. An FBI missing persons report says Dawes traveled to Syria in September 2012 from Turkey and has not made contact since October of that year. The United States has no diplomatic relations with Syria, believing that Assad lost legitimacy after his crackdown on opposition protests triggered a civil war. But Washington is in close touch with Assad's key ally Russia and has been working with other partners to try to ensure the safety of missing Americans. "We continue to work through our Czech protecting power in Syria to get information on the welfare and whereabouts of Austin Tice and other U.S. citizens missing and detained in Syria," Kirby said. "We appreciate the efforts of the Czech mission on behalf of U.S. persons."Tice is another American photojournalist who has missing in Syria since August 2012. According to the Post report, officials seeking Tice's freedom see Dawes' release as a positive sign.

Israel Pledge to Admit Ethiopians Defuses Political Row
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 08/16/Israel is to admit hundreds more Ethiopian migrants with family in the Jewish state, the ruling party said, resolving a political crisis that had threatened to bring down the government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party said on Thursday night it had agreed with its partners in the vulnerable coalition government that 1,300 Ethiopians would come this year and more would be considered later. Ethiopian Israelis staged a protest march in Jerusalem last month after the government canceled plans to allow their relatives to join them, citing budgetary constraints. The people in question are members of a community known as Falash Mura, descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity, many under duress, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Two Likud lawmakers had announced that in protest they would no longer vote for the government in the Knesset, where it already held only a knife-edge majority of one seat in the 120-member legislature. Since then the government has postponed several draft bills for fear that they would be voted down. But the boycott by Ethiopian-born lawmaker Avraham Neguise and parliamentary interior committee chairman David Amsalem threatened its very survival. Failure to win a majority in this summer's budget debate would automatically trigger its resignation. The maverick parliamentarians on Friday welcomed the coalition's change of heart. "We are very pleased. The prime minister has carried out an act of historic justice," Neguise told Israeli public radio. "We are very happy that our brothers will arrive." Amsalem said Netanyahu's previous decision was based on misinformation about the true scale and cost of resettling the Falash Mura. "When we sat down and explained to him and showed him the real data he understood that the issue is a just one and doesn't exactly cost what was said," he told the radio. "It's a matter of bringing fewer than 9,000 Jews." He did not answer when asked if Netanyahu had relented purely as a matter of political survival, but commentator Yuval Karni, writing in Hebrew daily Maariv, had no doubt. "As soon as he realized that these two MPs were serious ‎he realized that his seat was in danger and gave them everything," he said. "If necessary he would have brought all of Addis Ababa to Israel." Israel's Ethiopian community numbers around 135,000 people. Most of them arrived between 1984 and 1991 under the Law of Return, which guarantees citizenship to all Jews. It does not, however, apply to the Falash Mura.

U.S.: IS Group Doubles Number of Fighters in Libya
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 08/16/The number of Islamic State group fighters in Libya has doubled to up to 6,000 in as little as a year, the head of U.S. forces in Africa warned Thursday. Despite the vast increase the IS group is not likely to settle and seize swathes of territory inside Libya, as it has done in Syria and Iraq, said General David Rodriguez, head of the U.S. Africa Command. According to the U.S. intelligence community, about 4,000 to 6,000 IS fighters are now in the country, a number that has doubled in the last 12 to 18 months, Rodriguez said. The Islamic State group has exploited the turmoil in Libya since the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi five years ago, raising fears that it is establishing a new stronghold on Europe's doorstep. But Rodriguez said it is significantly harder for IS extremists to grab large areas of Libya and then consolidate. "It's possible but right now I am not concerned about it," he said, citing "significantly different conditions" in Libya. Among them is the fact that the IS group does not "have the homegrown people that know as much about Libya like they did in Iraq and Syria," Rodriguez said. And the Libyan people "don't like external influences." The IS group last year seized control of Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and has been fighting to expand to other areas. Rodriguez said that Libyan militias "are contesting the growth of ISIS in several areas across Libya." "In the east, in Benghazi and Derna, they have fought back against the Islamic State and made it much tougher for them to operate."Libya has a new U.N.-backed unity government, which is being led by Fayez al-Sarraj, who arrived in the capital only a week ago. Libya has had two rival administrations in place since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognized parliament to flee to the country's east. Any possible international intervention against the IS group in Libya, Rodriguez said, "is going to be driven by their leadership and what they want us to do."

Kerry Vows to up Pressure on IS during Iraq Visit
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 08/16/U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry vowed Friday to turn up the heat on the Islamic State jihadist group as he visited Baghdad to show support for Iraq's crisis-hit government. Kerry, on his first visit to Iraq since 2014, met with senior officials including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to discuss the fight against the extremist group. He told journalists that the U.S.-led coalition and Baghdad would "turn up the pressure even further" on IS, which has suffered a string of territorial losses in recent months in both Iraq and Syria. The coalition is carrying out air strikes against IS, and is also providing training and arms to Iraqi forces. Kerry said that retaking Mosul -- the largest Iraqi city under the jihadists' control -- remained "at the top of the list in terms of priority". The Iraqi army said last month that its troops and allied paramilitaries had begun what was expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake Iraq's second city. Iraq is battling IS, which overran swathes of territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014, while it grapples with a financial crisis caused by plummeting world prices for oil, on which it relies for the vast majority of its revenues. Abadi is seeking to replace his current cabinet with a government of technocrats, a move that has faced opposition from powerful parties and politicians that rely on control of ministries for patronage and funds. "What we have signaled very clearly today... is we support Prime Minister Abadi and his government as it addresses these very complex security, economic and political challenges," Kerry said during his visit that lasted several hours.
"We urge everybody to work together. We urge everybody to put the interests of Iraq, writ large, ahead of personal interests or sectarian interests," he said. Abadi has announced a series of reform measures aimed at curbing government waste and corruption, and improving abysmal public services. But he has faced significant opposition behind the scenes, and little in the way of real, lasting change has been accomplished. In February, the premier called for "fundamental" change to the cabinet so that it would include technocrats and academics, as opposed to the current lineup of party-affiliated ministers.
Abadi presented the names of proposed candidates to parliament last week, but some of the nominees have faced significant pressure to withdraw, and at least one has already done so. "In terms of the political wrangling in Iraq, it's certainly an issue that concerns us," a U.S. State Department official said. Kerry will "encourage the Iraqis, while they're dealing with the cabinet reshuffle, not to lose sight of the need to stay focused on the fight against (IS)," the official said. Iraqi forces have regained significant ground north and west of Baghdad, including the cities of Ramadi and Tikrit. Baghdad's forces are now fighting to retake the town of Heet from the jihadists, and have already regained control of some areas. Apart from the city of Fallujah, Heet was one of the largest population centers in Anbar province still held by IS, and losing it would be the latest in a string of setbacks for the jihadists. "Daesh is unequivocally losing ground, losing leaders, losing fighters, losing cash, and not surprisingly, members of its rank and file are also now losing hope," Kerry said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. But while IS is losing territory, it is still able to carry out frequent bombings in government-held areas against both civilians and security forces -- a fact referenced by Kerry on Friday. "Daesh is on the defensive, that is clear. But its capacity to inflict suffering regrettably still remains," he said. The jihadists still control much of Nineveh province in northern Iraq, parts of Anbar to the west of Baghdad, and swathes of territory in neighboring Syria.
Kerry traveled to Iraq after visiting the small but strategic Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, where he held talks with Gulf Arab foreign ministers on the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. He called on Iran to help end the wars raging in Yemen and Syria, where Tehran and its Gulf Arab rivals are backing opposing sides.

Yemen Truce Raises Hope of Ending Conflict
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 08/16/A new ceasefire enters into effect in Yemen midnight Sunday, with the United Nations hoping it can be the cornerstone of a long-lasting peace deal at upcoming talks in Kuwait. Analysts are optimistic after mediation efforts have largely silenced the guns along the border with Saudi Arabia, which is leading a pro-government coalition that has bombed Huthi rebels and their allies since March 2015. "For the first time, the groups that can end major military operations, particularly the Saudis and the Huthis, appear to be more willing to do so," said April Longley Alley, a Yemen specialist at the International Crisis Group. The Iran-backed Huthis and Saudi Arabia exchanged prisoners in March after unprecedented talks mediated by tribes along the frontier, where dozens have been killed in cross-border shelling. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir confirmed Monday that a Huthi delegation was in Riyadh for talks.And Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam announced Tuesday "an agreement on the continuation of the lull at the border and on stopping military operations in some provinces of Yemen." This agreement may "lead to a total cessation of military actions in the country and open up clear prospects for inter-Yemeni dialogue in Kuwait," Abdulsalam said. - Heavy civilian losses -The Saudi-led intervention against the rebels has drawn strong criticism over heavy civilian casualties and prompted discreet Western pressure on Riyadh to find an exit from the deadly conflict. The United States has even seen the intervention as limiting the participation of its Gulf partners in the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria and Iraq. "We recognize that the focus on Yemen over these last months has detracted in some sense from the ability of the Gulf states to participate in the military components of the coalition," a U.S. official said Wednesday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Bahrain for a visit.
A presidency statement on Tuesday expressed a "sincere desire to make peace", announcing the arrival in Kuwait of representatives in a "de-escalation committee" set up by the United Nations to oversee the ceasefire. The Saudi-led coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri had already announced in an interview with Agence France Presse in March that it was nearing the end of "major" military operations in Yemen. This was quickly welcomed by Washington, which like humanitarian organisations has been voicing concern over the human cost of a conflict that the UN says has killed about 6,300 people -- nearly half of them civilians. - International pressure -Despite bouts of fierce fighting and frequent air raids, neither the coalition-backed loyalists, nor the rebels allied with troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, appear to have made significant advances on the ground.Loyalists pushed the rebels out of five southern provinces including Aden last summer with air and ground support from the coalition, but have since failed to secure the port city and other parts of the south where jihadists have gained ground. Huthis, meanwhile, continue to control the capital Sanaa as well as large parts of the country's north and west. "Strong international pressure has been put on parties in the Yemeni conflict and their regional allies to cease hostilities and move towards a political settlement," said Riad Kahwaji, director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA). Kerry on Thursday urged Iran to help end wars in Yemen and Syria. Kahwaji added that, in attending talks in Riyadh, the Huthis have opted for a "unilateral settlement," ignoring their ally Saleh. The marginalization of Saleh, who was ousted in 2012 after 33 years in office following nationwide protests, is likely to please Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his Saudi backers, but the veteran leader could still hinder a political process. Hadi himself is in an awkward position after his surprise sacking of deputy president and prime minister Khaled Bahah, who slammed the measure as a "coup d'etat" and accused the president of "abusing and obstructing the work of his government". Ongoing fighting and the cabinet reshuffle just before negotiations kick off on April 18 "are only a few obstacles that could undermine the Kuwait talks", said Alley. "Even if major combat ends, the road to peace in Yemen will be long and difficult and internal conflict is likely to continue for some time," she said. A senior Saudi officer acknowledged the challenges ahead. "Waging war is one thing. Stabilizing a country is another. It doesn't happen in a day. It's not a football game," he said.

Italy recalls ambassador to Egypt in protest over slain student
By AFP Rome Friday, 8 April 2016/Italy on Friday recalled its ambassador to Egypt for consultations in protest over the lack of progress in a probe into the fate of slain student Giulio Regeni. The move came after two days of talks between Egyptian and Italian investigators in Rome ended without a resolution of tensions between the two countries over the fate of Regeni, whose tortured body was discovered outside Cairo on Feb. 3. A statement by the Rome prosecutor in charge of the case said that the Egyptians had handed over phone records of two of Regeni’s Italian friends who were in Cairo at the time of his disappearance, as well as photos taken on the day his body was discovered. The statement made no mention of CCTV footage of the neighbourhood from which Regeni disappeared on January 25, which the Italians had asked to see. The Egyptian team indicated that they were still considering the possibility Regeni was abducted by an anti-foreigner criminal gang whose members all died in a police shootout last month. The Italian prosecutor “reiterated his conviction that there are no elements to directly link the gang to the torture and death of Giulio Regeni,” the statement said.

Inconvenient Genocide
Jerusalem Post/Caroline Glick/April 08/16
The Christian communities of Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon are well on the way to joining their Jewish cousins. The Jewish communities of these states predated Islam by a millennium, and were vibrant until the 20th century. But the Arab world’s war on the Jewish state, and more generally on Jews, wiped out the Jewish populations several decades ago. And now the Christian communities, which like the Jews, predate Islam, are being targeted for eradication. The ongoing genocide of Middle Eastern Christians at the hands of Sunni jihadists is a moral outrage. Does it also affect Israeli national interests? What do we learn from the indifference of Western governments – led by the Obama administration – to their annihilation? True, after years of deliberately playing down the issue and denying the problem, the Obama administration is finally admitting it exists.
Embarrassed by the US House of Representatives’ unanimous adoption of a resolution last month recognizing that Middle Eastern Christians are being targeted for genocide, the State Department finally acknowledged the obvious on March 25, when Secretary of State John Kerry stated that Islamic State is conducting a “genocide of Christians, Yazidis and Shi’ites.”
Kerry’s belated move, which State Department lawyers were quick to insist has no operational significance, raises two questions. First, what took the Obama administration so long? Persecution of Christians in Iraq began immediately after the US-led coalition brought down Saddam Hussein in 2003. With the rise of Islamic State in 2012, the process of destroying the Christian community went into high gear. And now these ancient communities are on the brink of extinction.
In Iraq, Christians comprised 8 percent of the population in 2003. Today less than 1% of Iraqis are Christians. In Syria, the Christian community has lost between half and two-thirds of its members in the past five years. One of the appalling aspects of ISIS’s deliberate, open targeting of Christians for destruction is how little resistance it has received from local Sunni populations. As Raymond Ibrahim from the David Horowitz Freedom Center has scrupulously documented, the local Sunnis have not stood up for their Christian neighbors, who have lived side-by-side with them for hundreds of years. Rather, in areas that have been conquered by ISIS, the local Sunnis have collaborated with their genocidal masters in raping and murdering Christian neighbors, plundering their property, destroying their churches, and driving them from their ancestral homes.
Although precise data is hard to come by, it is clear that thousands of Christians have been slaughtered. Thousands of Christian women and girls have been sold as sex slaves in ISIS slave markets, subjected to continuous, violent rape and beatings. Nuns and priests have been enslaved, crucified, mutilated, kidnapped and held for ransom, as have lay members of Christian communities. Christians have been burned alive. For years, the administration said that the persecution doesn’t amount to genocide because according to ISIS’s propaganda, Christians are allowed to remain in their homes if they agree to live as dhimmis – that is, without any human rights, and subjected to confiscatory taxation.
But as Nina Shea from the Hudson Institute has reported, these claims were shown to be false in Mosul, Nineveh and other places where ISIS has claimed that such practices were instituted. The jihadist genocide of Christians isn’t limited to Iraq and Syria. Boko Haram – ISIS’s affiliate in Nigeria – is undertaking a systematic campaign to annihilate Christianity in Africa. ISIS’s affiliates in Sinai and Libya have similarly targeted Christians, staging mass beheadings and other monstrous acts. And of course, a region needn’t be under direct ISIS control for Christians to be targeted for destruction. The Easter massacre in Pakistan was further evidence that wherever radical Islamists gain power, they use it to murder Christians.
And as Larry Franklin from the Gatestone Institute noted in a recent article, the exodus of Christians from the Palestinian Authority is the direct consequence of deliberate persecution of Christians by the PA. Given the prevalence of Christian persecution, why is the West – which is overwhelmingly Christian – so reticent about mentioning it? And why are Western leaders loathe to do anything to stop it? There are two ways to end genocide. First, you can defeat those conducting it on the battlefield.
If you destroy the forces conducting the genocide, then the genocide ends.
The second way you can stop genocide is by evacuating the targeted population and providing its members with refuge.
After stipulating that ISIS is carrying out a genocide, Kerry made clear that the US will not defeat ISIS to end it. Instead, Kerry said, “We must bear in mind… that the best response to genocide is a reaffirmation of the fundamental right to survive of every group targeted for destruction. What Daesh [ISIS] wants to erase, we must preserve. That requires defeating Daesh, but it also requires the rejection of discrimination and bigotry.”
Kerry then explained that the US’s plan is to cultivate the formation of a multicultural society in Syria. Given the brutal nature of the war, Kerry’s plan is tantamount to saying the US intends to defeat ISIS and rescue those it is currently exterminating by bringing unicorns and leprechauns to the slave markets of Raqqa. Substantively, Kerry’s plan is to deny Christians refuge, and to abandon them to the mercy of their murderers.
While delusional, Kerry’s statement was in line with the Obama administration’s timid, feckless military campaign against ISIS. Everyone knows that the US military could take down ISIS in a matter of weeks if Obama ordered it to do so.
But rather than act decisively, the US has limited its operations to timorous aerial bombing.
By conducting a barely there campaign, Obama tells the world that although he will be happy to take credit for any defeat ISIS suffers, he will not allow the US to lead the fight against the jihadist death machine.
As for providing refuge to the populations targeted with genocide, the raw data make clear that Obama does just the opposite. He is providing refuge for Sunni Muslims, who are not being targeted for genocide, which is being conducted by Sunni Muslims.
As Ibrahim has documented, although Christians made up 10% of the Syrian population in 2011, they comprise a mere 2.7% of the Syrian refugees the Obama administration has allowed into the US. And when presidential hopeful Senator Ted Cruz called for the US to provide refuge to Christians, who pose no security threat and are targeted with genocide and persecution while banning Muslim immigration, Obama accused him of bigotry.
Despite the fact that FBI Director James Comey told Congress that the US lacked the capacity to effectively screen Muslims from Syria for ties to jihadist groups, Obama said that a policy of saving those marked for extinction over those who come from the population conducting the genocide is “shameful,” and “not American.”
Beyond refusing to take the necessary steps to ensure that persecuted Christians are rescued from annihilation, the State Department has been rejecting visa requests from Christian activists and leaders from persecuted communities to visit the US to share information about their suffering with the American public. This, at the same time that the administration has welcomed Muslim jihad sympathizers, including Muslim Brotherhood members, to Washington.
For instance, last May, the State Department denied a visa to Sister Diana Momeka, an Iraqi nun and ISIS survivor. Momeka was the only Christian member of a delegation of persecuted minorities. Representatives of every other group received visas. It took a public outcry to force the State Department to reverse its decision.
Also last year, the State Department gave visas to all Muslim regional governors in northern Nigeria to participate in a conference sponsored by the US Institute of Peace. They denied a visa to the region’s only Christian governor, Jonah David Jang. Christian activists alleged that Jang was denied a visa because he spoke up to US officials about anti-Christian persecution in 12 states in northern Nigeria that have instituted Sharia law.
What accounts for this behavior? The answer is not ignorance, but ideologically- motivated bigotry. The Aid to the Church in Need organization explained in its 2015 report on Christian persecution, “Christians have been targeted [because]… Christianity [is seen] as a foreign ‘colonial’ import. Christians are seen as linked to the West, which is perceived as corrupt and exploitative.”
In another report, the group explained that the Western media has avoided covering the story of the Islamic genocide of Middle East Christians because of “misplaced embarrassment about the 19th-century colonial powers evangelizing ‘the natives’ in far flung places.”
In other words, Middle Eastern Christians, whose communities predate Islam, are targeted because they are perceived as Western implants.
And the West ignores their suffering, because the Left in the West perceives them as Western implants.
In both cases, prejudices, rooted on the one hand in jihadist Islam, and on the other hand in Western self-hatred and post-colonialism, reach the same bigoted conclusion: the only “authentic” people in the Middle East are Muslims.
Everybody else is a colonial implant. And as such, they deserve what they get.
This then brings us back to Israel, and the Jews.
The same ideological prejudice that refuses to recognize that the Islamic State is Islamic, refuses to recognize that jihad is unique to Islam, refuses to recognize that Christians as religious minorities are being targeted for annihilation, and refuses to recognize that the Christians of the Middle East are ancient peoples who have lived in their communities since the dawn of Christianity, also refuse to recognize the rights of the Jewish people as the indigenous people of the land of Israel.
This is the reason that Western governments, led by the Obama administration, are unwilling to defeat ISIS. This is why they are giving preference to Muslim asylum-seekers, who they are incapable of screening, over Christians, who it is unnecessary to screen.
This is the reason that the same governments are far more willing to attack Jews for living beyond the 1949 armistice lines, in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria – the cradle of Jewish civilization and the heartland of the land of Israel, than they are willing to end their support for the PA which sponsors and celebrates terrorism. This is why the same governments eagerly embrace every allegation of Israeli racism, real or imagined, while they ignore, or even fund racist Palestinian efforts to deny Jewish history, a history which leads to the inevitable conclusion that the Jews are the indigenous people of the land of Israel.
The reason Obama refuses to protect Middle East Christians from extinction is because he cannot rescue them – either on the ground or by ensuring they can flee to safety – without abandoning his ideological faith that the only “natives” of the Middle East are the Muslims.

Iran warns the US: Stay away from our red lines
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/April 08/16
There used to be a time when the Islamic Republic showed some discretion with regards to its regional hegemonic and ideological ambitions, as well as breaching international laws. At least the ruling clerics of Iran were more covert about these issues. But not anymore.Iran’s discretion was limited to the period before the nuclear deal was reached between P5+1 and the Islamic Republic, and before President Obama began pursuing appeasement policies with the ruling clerics. Currently, Iran’s blatant aggression and provocative attitude has reached an unprecedented level, ranging from launching ballistic missiles in the middle of the day, to publicly supporting Bashar Al Assad, militarily and financially, and galvanizing the Shiite proxies to engage in war. In addition, more recently, Iranian Deputy Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Maassoud Jazzayeri was quoted by the Fars News Agency as warning the United States to stay away from Iran’s redlines – one of which is Iran’s ballistic missiles. Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh was also quoted by the ISNA agency as stating, “The reason we designed our missiles with a range of 2000 km is to be able to hit our enemy the Zionist regime from a safe distance.”
Iran has increased its short and medium-range ballistic missiles, and currently has the largest ballistic missile stockpile in the Middle East. But what will Obama’s response to these threats be? Most likely there would be more bowing to the ruling clerics of Iran and giving them more carrots.
Concession means weakness! It is a simple rule that if you reward a student or your kid for bullying and breaking the rules, you will be encouraging his/her intransigent behavior which can ultimately become dangerous for everyone around that person. In addition if you show some students your weakness- such as being willing to give them extra points so that they give you good reviews at the end of the year- they will take advantage of that, or as the Persian proverb goes; they will milk you to the end.
And this is exactly what Iran is doing and how President Obama is encouraging the Islamic Republic. Iranian leaders have become cognizant of the fact that intransigence absolutely works with the White House, and that threatening Obama that Iran will pull out of the nuclear deal, or warning that a statement Obama has said, or that an American law is violating the nuclear deal, will lead to Obama offering more concessions to Iran. Obama’s weakness is that he fears his so-called crowning foreign policy legacy (the nuclear deal) might fall apart, and this has led to Iran’s bullying.
This is a basic rule in Iran’s politics and in Iran supreme leader’s philosophy: concessions means weakness. Once someone shows you his/her weakness, you have to speed up getting more concessions until there is nothing is left to get out of them. Here is a chain of events that can help us understand how we got here with Iran, and to project how President Obama and the White House will respond to Iran’s recent aggression and threat to the US, Israel and other countries in the region. When the nuclear negotiations were initiated, Obama announced his terms. Iran’s supreme leader, Khamenei, gave an inflammatory speech, lashing out at the US. Obama’s response was to increase the number of centrifuges that Iran can hold and give Tehran more leverage in uranium enrichment. Obama also agreed not to include topics such as Iran’s ballistic missiles, the issue of human rights or the fate of those Americans imprisoned in Iran during the negotiations.
Khamenei mastered the game; he used another shrewd tactic by giving another speech threatening the US that he will pull out of the negotiations if certain conditions were not met. Obama’s response was to immediately allow the Islamic Republic to receive all sanctions relief (including the removal of United Nations Security Council’s sanctions) even before Iran finished its 10 year obligations. Obama also gave Iran a green light to become a nuclear state by enriching uranium at a level that they desire, spinning as many centrifuges as they like, and buying arms with no limits, after the 10 year period.
Khamenei and the IRGC leaders wanted to milk the cow more, as the Persian proverb goes. Iran launched its ballistic missiles – in violation of the JCPOA (UNSCR 2231 Annex II, paragraph three), which states that Iran should not undertake any ballistic missiles activity “until the date eight years after the JCPOA Adoption Day or until the date on which the IAEA submits a report confirming the Broader Conclusion, whichever is earlier.”
President Obama ignored it. Iran launched ballistic missiles couple of times more. President Obama issued a superficial statement criticizing Iran. Khamanei immediately gave his Nowruz speech heavily lashing out at the United States, the “Great Satan”, and implying that he will pull out of the nuclear deal.
Then to appease the ruling clerics of Iran, Obama immediately backed off his statements by breaking the promises that he made to the Congress when he was trying to get his crowning nuclear deal through. In other words, he is preparing to give Iran access to the US banking and financial system, and he has already lifted sanctions against Iran which are not related to the nuclear program, but to Iran’s ballistic missiles, terrorism and human rights violations. Iran was also removed from the list of countries for which there is travel ban, although it is prominent sponsor of terrorism.
Iran has a history which spans over 2,500 years and it goes without saying that its politicians are among the most astute and shrewd. They can smell weakness from thousands miles away and they know how to exploit it. Obama’s weakness is that he fears his so-called crowning foreign policy legacy (the nuclear deal) might fall apart, and this has led to Iran’s bullying, and resulted in his carrots-but-no-stick policy towards Tehran. It appears that Obama is indeed so focused on scoring superficial achievements in his name – such as the nuclear deal with Iran or visiting Cuba. But there is no doubt that his so-called “accomplishments” will be forgotten soon in the dust of history. The things that are important are the lives which have been lost, the human rights violations, and escalations of regional conflicts at the hand of Iranian leaders, and due to the repercussions of Obama’s decisions.

Savage wolves assassinate Hammadi
Turki Al-Dakhil/Al Arabiya/April 08/16
“As long as you do good deeds, you will be rewarded.” This was the last thing Saudi Colonel Kitab Majed al-Hammadi sent to his friends on WhatsApp at 8:24 a.m. on Tuesday. At 8:30 a.m., he was shot dead by assailants from a savage terrorist organization. In the past three decades, some people have sought to demonize security forces’ work and image. Hammadi nobly served his country, which he wanted to be secure and stable. Security apparatuses have been frequently targeted. For example, there were the assassination attempts against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and General Abdulaziz al-Hoireny.
Fooling nobody
The attack against Hammadi came a day after the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attacked a police station in Al-Kharj. Fortunately, society is fully aware of what these violent organizations are trying to do. Fortunately, society is fully aware of what these violent organizations are trying to do. In the past, Al-Qaeda tried and failed to convince society of the legitimacy of its April 21, 2004 attack in Riyadh, which killed at least four and injured hundreds. May God have mercy on the soul of the hero and martyr Hammadi.

The invincible Izzat al-Douri
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/April 08/16
Former Iraqi Vice President Izzat al-Douri might be the most fortunate person in the world. His death was announced several times in the last 12 years, most recently a year ago by Iraqi officials, but he has reappeared. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Douri became more important than when the late president was in power. During Saddam’s reign, Douri was a vice president with no powers, but after the American occupation he became the only symbol of the former regime, because he was the only who was still alive and free.
Rumours
A lot has been written about Douri’s leadership in the Iraqi resistance, but none of it can be confirmed. He reportedly tried to mediate the release of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but the terrorist group burned the captive alive in a most heinous crime. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Douri became more important than when the late president was in power. Then it was rumored that Douri had led the attack by Iraqi militants on the city of Mosul, a massive operation that surprised the world and changed the policies of major powers. It turned out, however, that it was an invasion by ISIS that had nothing to do with Douri’s fellow Baathists or his Naqshbandi militant group, which is against ISIS. The situation got more complex when ISIS captured 12 Baathist leaders. Douri was forced to issue a statement commending the group, in a desperate attempt to save his comrades. ISIS had stipulated that he issue a statement in exchange for their release, but then breached the agreement and killed them. The group justified this by saying Douri’s statement did not include a pledge of allegiance to ISIS. Rumors that the group and Baathists were in cahoots have since stopped. To this day, Douri remains a symbol of opposition to the Iraqi government.
 

Fighting in the Caucasus: Implications for the Wider Region
Brenda Shaffer/Washington Institute/April 08/16
As Moscow continues its pattern of fomenting conflict and carving up countries in its near-abroad, the United States and regional players such as Iran, Israel, and Turkey will once again feel the ripples.
This week, mediators will reportedly attempt to defuse the recent outbreak of intense conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Whether or not the fragile, uncertain ceasefire lasts, the implications of the fighting go far beyond the damage to homes and lives in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The conflict zone lies at the epicenter of Russia, Iran, and Turkey, directly affecting both Moscow's regional ambitions and U.S. policy and standing in the greater Caspian region. If the hostilities continue to widen, they could also create threats for neighboring Turkey and Iran, and also for Israel's activity in the region and closer to home.
BACKGROUND
The conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region first emerged on the eve of the Soviet breakup. Located in the Republic of Azerbaijan, the region is mainly populated by ethnic Armenians. Following the Soviet collapse, the new states of Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war for control of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992-1994, leaving over 30,000 dead and creating close to a million refugees. The bulk of the refugees (860,000) are Azerbaijanis -- Armenia captured not only Nagorno-Karabakh, but seven additional districts of Azerbaijan, driving residents out of the once densely populated region.
Although the international community still regards Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijan's territory, Armenia refers to it as a separate legal entity. Yet no UN member recognizes the independence of this "entity" -- Armenian regular forces have long been deployed there, and no border regime separates it from Armenia proper. Moreover, they use the same currency and postal system, and the current and previous presidents of Armenia hail from Nagorno-Karabakh. In a 2015 speech, President Serzh Sargsyan called the region "an inseparable part of Armenia." That said, authorities in the self-proclaimed "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" do not always fully align with their counterparts in Yerevan, and they maintain some institutional autonomy.
Meanwhile, Moscow has been selling weapons to both sides. The several billion dollars in Russian arms delivered to Baku in recent years have significantly strengthened Azerbaijan's position, making Armenia even more dependent on implicit Russian security guarantees. The Kremlin has stronger influence in Armenia than in most of the former Soviet republics due to its significant military presence there and its control of major energy and other infrastructure.
CURRENT CLASHES
While Baku and Yerevan blame each other for the outburst of renewed fighting on April 2 -- one of the most extreme eruptions since the first war ended in 1994 -- Moscow is the major benefactor of the escalation. The fighting began immediately after the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan attended the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, where Secretary of State John Kerry met with each leader separately to discuss potential resolution of the long-simmering conflict, among other issues. Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev's visit was a milestone: this was his first trip to Washington since becoming president in 2003. In addition to Kerry, he held bilateral meetings with Vice President Joe Biden, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, and others. The visit promised to strengthen cooperation between Washington and Baku after two years of rocky relations.
The timing of the new hostilities -- on the heels of the Washington visit and while Aliyev was out of the country -- strongly indicates that Moscow was the instigator. If so, the message is clear: Washington should stay out of Russia's backyard, and Baku should think twice about strengthening its relationship with the United States.
Moreover, despite attempting to claim the role of peacemaker, Moscow has publicly blamed Azerbaijan for the fighting. A spokesman for the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) declared that "the current Azerbaijani actions led to the escalation of the situation and the conflict." Russian government-sponsored media have echoed this message, with the official news agency TASS hinting that the fighting could lead Moscow to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state -- bringing to mind the outcome of the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia, when Moscow recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries.
RUSSIA'S PATTERN OF AGGRESSION
The similarities between the previous major flare-up in July 2014 and the current clash are striking. That summer, President Vladimir Putin pressured a number of bordering states to refrain from joining the EU-sponsored Eastern Partnership Agreement and instead join Russia's Eurasian Customs Union. After Armenia complied, Putin sought a similar agreement with Azerbaijan, but President Aliyev refused his offer. Days later, while Aliyev and his defense minister were out of the country, an unprecedented escalation took place in four spots along the line of contact between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, including in areas not adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, leading to over forty deaths on both sides.
This track record is especially troubling because each former Soviet state that attempted to strengthen ties with the West over the past decade lost major pieces of territory to Russia. Georgia lost Abkhazia and South Ossetia following its bid to join NATO in 2008. And after Ukraine and Moldova joined the Eastern Partnership Agreement, Russia took Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine from Kiev, and reinforced its deployments in the Moldavian region of Transnistria, which it now occupies.
IMPLICATIONS FOR TURKEY, IRAN, AND ISRAEL
The current escalation could also draw in actors beyond the Caucasus, including in the Middle East. As mentioned previously, Armenia shares a close alliance with Russia, which has forces deployed in the country and runs its air defenses. Moscow recently increased its forces in the Armenian town of Gyumri on the border with Turkey, which shares a military alliance with Azerbaijan. While Ankara and Moscow will likely take steps to prevent direct clashes between their forces (see PolicyWatch 2599, "Is Armenia the Next Turkish-Russian Flashpoint?"), the close proximity of these rivals at a time of active combat between their allies could lead to unintentional contact.
Iran likewise borders Armenia and Azerbaijan and is in close proximity to the lines of contact. Thus far it has expressed neutral calls for "restraint" on both sides, and Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif has offered to serve as mediator. Despite its common Shiite Muslim background with Azerbaijan, Tehran generally does not share any special solidarity with the country. Since the latest fighting began, a mortar shell has fallen into Iranian territory, underscoring how easily the conflict could widen. The unfolding situation also poses new security challenges for Israel, which is a major supplier of arms to Azerbaijan. Given that these arms are likely being used in the current fighting, Russia could pressure Israel to abstain from sending spare parts and further supplies. Moscow successfully applied similar pressure during the 2008 war with Georgia; granted, Russian troops are not directly involved this time, but the Kremlin now has more means at its disposal to coerce the Israelis given its ongoing intervention in neighboring Syria.
MORE FIGHTING IS LIKELY
A formal ceasefire was declared on April 5 after Moscow hosted the chiefs of staff of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Mediators from various countries are now jockeying to play a role in further negotiations. Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev discussed the issue with the Armenian leadership in Yerevan today and will travel to Baku tomorrow (both visits were scheduled prior to the latest outbreak). Yet both sides have reasons to continue the fight. Azerbaijan was able to change the status quo on the ground in its favor over the past week, so Armenia will want to restore its previous positions; Azerbaijani forces will in turn challenge any such operations. At best, mediators will probably achieve a mere timeout until the next round of fighting. **Brenda Shaffer is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies. She has also provided energy research and analysis to various governments and companies, including in Azerbaijan and the wider Caspian region.

The US Presidential Election – the Show is Not Over Yet
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/16
Norman Muller is a white-collar worker in Illinois who is sure about at least one thing: he has never voted and intends never to vote in his life. And, yet, by a quirk of fate he is chosen by a super-computer as the only representative of the American electorate in that year’s presidential election which is held according to a new scientific system. In the new system, a computer works out all the wishes, hopes, fears, prejudices and desires of the electorate and establishes the lowest common denominator representing the point at which all those eligible to vote are in agreement. It then finds one citizen who represents that lowest common denominator, in this case the hapless Muller, “hero” of the master of science-fiction Isaac Asimov’s short story “The Franchise”, and tasks him to choose among the candidates.
Those who follow American presidential campaigns, however, know that things are never as neat as Asimov imagined. This year’s campaign is even less so.
For a long time, nominees were chosen by conclaves of political barons coming in smoke-filled rooms in half a dozen big cities. Later, nominees were produced by party machines that were in turn, controlled by big business, organized labor and, yes, influence peddlers sailing close to the wind of law.
This year’s campaign has revealed a dramatic weakening of the party machines and the rise of “insurgent” groups within both the Republican and Democrat parties that still handle the transfer of the “franchise”. The process had already started with the emergence of the Tea Party within the Republican camp and the “watermelon” groups (green outside with ecological talk but red inside with Marxist beliefs) on the Democrat side.
Outside the US, much of the interest in the current campaign is due to the presence of Donald Trump, front-runner for the Republican nomination, and Bernie Sanders who has broken the “socialist” taboo by using that label in his quest for becoming the Democrats’ nominee.
There is no doubt that Trump has added a shade of color to a dull campaign. The more he plays the ordinary guy the more his audience thinks he is extraordinary. I don’t think Trump is anti-Semite, anti-Islam or even a xenophobe in general any more than his European versions that also represent a tiny slice of opinion. Only he is at his most convincing when he is just making it up as he goes along. As for Sanders he makes much of his role as an anti-Israeli Jew while that species is a dime a dozen even in Israel itself.
The Europeans have had a field day mocking Trump as a vulgar billionaire who thinks everything, including the presidency, is up for sale. They forget that Europe has already has its own versions of Trump, including Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, serving as Prime Minister in four governments, and France’s Bernard Tapie who was a “super minister” under the Socialist Pierre Beregovoy. As for Sanders who has frightened the horses in the stable of the European Right, people forget that the American “socialist” is still to the right of such leaders of the European Left as Gerhard Schroeder, not to mention Jeremy Corbyn.
Despite unprecedented media hype much of it due to the mainstream media’s visceral dislike of Trump and, to a lesser extent, Hillary Clinton, the exercise, known as “the primaries” has attracted relatively few Americans. Latest estimates put the US population at around 330 million of which some 260 million are eligible to vote. So far, however, around 6.2 per cent of those eligible have cast votes in the Republican and Democrat primaries. Because around half of those eligible often do not vote in the general election, that figure could be raised to around 13 per cent, still not a huge turnout.
Equally puzzling is the fact that the primaries did not tackle any of the big problems, including the management of diversity that modern American democracy has to face. On the Republican side, the focus has been on personal vilification, sometimes dragging the wives of the candidates into the mud as well.
On the Democrat side, Sanders has promised “good health care, good housing and good jobs” plus free education, a new version of apple pie and motherhood consensus. For her part, Mrs. Clinton has pinned her hopes on convincing voters that it is time for a woman in the White House, a laudable objective but not much of a program.Interestingly, the latest opinion polls show that a majority of American voters would choose Ohio’s Governor John Kasich over all other candidates, Republican or Democrat. Trouble is that, apart from his own state of Ohio, Kasich has not won a single state in his own party’s primaries.
Almost a year ago in a column on the coming election I dismissed the common belief that the final duel next November will be between Mrs. Clinton and Jeb Bush, inviting readers to expect surprises. At the time neither Trump nor Sanders registered on the radar. Today, the possibility of surprise (s) is still there.
On the Democrat side, we cannot rule out the possibility of Ms. Clinton hitting a bad patch formed by shady deals attributed to her on the road to convention.
As for Republicans, the party’s Star Chamber is caressing the magic hat out of which it could produce a new rabbit in Cleveland; maybe in the shape of Paul Ryan, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives. Trump’s defeat in the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, also increases the chances of his principal rival Senator Ted Cruz. In fact, all American presidential elections are open to surprises because small but significant events, or a dash of shady shenanigans, could alter the results. We now know that the “changing” of a few thousand votes in Chicago, America’s most politically corrupt metropolis at the time, and Houston, then a Democrat stronghold, ensured the victory of the Democrat nominee John F. Kennedy. Imagine if Nixon, and not Kennedy, had won. It is possible that the US would not have staged a coup against the Diem gang in Saigon and thus would not have stepped on the slippery slope that led to involvement in the war in Indochina. Imagine if the late Ayatollah Khomeini had released American hostages in 1980, three months earlier. President Jimmy Carter, who had been consistently topping the opinion polls, might have been re-elected. There would have been no President Ronald Reagan and no “Mr. Gorbachev! Pull down that Wall!”
Again, imagine if the billionaire Ross Perot, having made his fortune in Iran, had not entered the race as an independent candidate in 1992 taking away votes from Republicans, ensuring Bill Clinton’s election. Dull George HW Bush would have become president and colorful Monica Lewinski wouldn’t have secured a place in US history. Finally, imagine if there had not been 312 more votes for George W Bush in Florida. The Democrat Al Gore, who had won a majority of votes nationwide, would have become president, launching a global program to save the butterflies in the Andes rather than invading Afghanistan and Iraq. Does Norman Muller vote in the end? Well, let’s keep the answer secret so that the exercise doesn’t lose all its interest.