LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

August 27/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For Today

‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.’"
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17/31-37/:"On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.’ Then they asked him, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.’"

Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Letter of James 02/14-26/:"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 26-27/16
Victims of attacks in Israel lose US appeal vs Lebanese bank /Reuters/August 26/16
What is the purpose of dialogue in Lebanon/Nayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/August 26/16
Iranian Ayatollah: The 'Hidden Imam' Will Arrive In A Vessel 'Like A Spaceship/MEMRI/August 26/16
Witnesses to years of US isolationism/Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran/Al Arabiya/August 26/16
In its nexus with Russia, Iran violates its own Constitution/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/August 26/16
The Middle East Prepares for US Elections/Ynetnews/The Media Line|/Ynetnews/August 26/16
All of a sudden, Abbas wants democracy/Ronni Shaked/Ynetnews/August 26/16
Look Who Is Gutting the First Amendment/Johanna Markind/ Gatestone Institute/August 26/16
Analysis: PM-Putin tango doesn’t replace US-Israel romance/Herb Keinon/Jerusalem Post/August 26/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on August 26-27/16
Report: Geagea Wants Good Ties with Army Leadership, He Tells FPM
Report: Berri Says Preserving the Cabinet's Work Saves the State's Face
Army Refers Lebanese IS Militant to Judiciary
Ibrahim Says to Visit Country that Can Help Free IS-Held Captives
Civil Defense Volunteers End 12-Day Protests
Two Bomb Makers Arrested in Koura
Army Intelligence Arrests IS Smuggler North Lebanon
Makari visits Berri: Cabinet's existence essential
Foreign Ministry offers condolences on Italy's earthquake victims
Pharoun kicks Family Festival, underscores need for preserving heritage
Amal Abou Zeid demands true Christian partnership that starts with just electoral law
One child shot by mistake in brawl at Ain Hilweh Palestinian camp
Sami Gemayel winds up visit to Russia
Ibrahim on General Security Day: Security situation is under control
Machnouk, Saliba discuss general situation

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 26-27/16

Anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker Wilders calls for ban on Muslim migrants
French top court overturns burkini ban
US ship fired warning shots at Iran vessel
Rebels, civilians to evacuate Syria’s Daraya following deal
Barrel bombing kills 11 children in Syria’s Aleppo
U.N.: Aid Access in Syria 'Unacceptable'
Turkey PM Denies Syria Operation Singling Out Kurds
Deadly blast hits police HQ in southeast Turkey
Deal or no deal? Kerry, Lavrov in anti-ISIS talks
Turkey vows long fight in Syria against terrorists
Trump, Clinton exchange angry charges of racism
Kuwait arrests government employee over ISIS online postings
Toronto crossbow deaths: Brett Ryan, 35, faces 3 murder charges
NCRI Iran News/IRAN: PMOI activists pay tribute to political prisoners buried in mass grave in Mashhad
Scotland's The National: Calls for justice over Iran’s 1988 massacre of political prisoners from leader of resistance council
11 Civilians Killed in Airstrikes in Northern Yemen

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on August 26-27/16
Muslim maintained contact with jihadis in Iran while plotting attack in Canada
Clash of civilizations: Iranian in Canada attacks wife’s boss for saying hello
Pakistan: Hindus flee Muslim mobs after burned Qur’an found
Video: Robert Spencer on the West’s Absurd Polices Toward Islam
Hugh Fitzgerald: Should Germans be Forced to Study Arabic?
Florida Muslim charged with supporting Islamic State, lawyer says he just had “some strange fantasy”
Global Dawah Day Unveiled — Anni Cyrus’ “Unknown”
Raymond Ibrahim: Are Nonstop Muslim Atrocities the “New Norm”?
Australia police: “No radicalization” in Muslim who stabbed woman while screaming “Allahu akbar”

Latest Lebanese Related News published on on August 26-27/16

Report: Geagea Wants Good Ties with Army Leadership, He Tells FPM
Naharnet/August 26/16/Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea emphasized that he is keen on maintaining good relations with the army leadership and asked the Free Patriotic Movement not to “embarrass” him with threats to resort to the street if the term of the Army Commander was extended, al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday. The daily said that Geagea had told FPM officials that he is keen not to “strain relations with the Army Command for a demand that will not be achieved which is embodied in the appointment of a successor to Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji.”According to the daily, the LF chief had asked the secretary of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc Ibrahim Kanaan during the latter's visit to Maarab “not to embarrass him in two things: resorting to street protests and demanding the appointment of a successor to Qahwaji.”Ministers of the Free Patriotic Movement and the Tashnaq Party boycotted Thursday's cabinet meeting in protest at the government's handling of the thorny issue of military appointments. FPM chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil had warned that the FPM would resort to “the judiciary and street protests” if the cabinet passes decrees in the absence of the movement's ministers. Last week, Defense Minister Samir Moqbel postponed the retirement of Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir after no consensus was reached over three candidates that he had proposed, angering the FPM which says that it opposes term extensions for all senior officers. The movement fears that the extension of Kheir's term could pave the way for a new extension of the tenure of Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji next month. Qahwaji's retirement had been postponed in September 2013 and his term was instead extended for two years. Geagea had endorsed founder of the FPM Michel Aoun for the post of presidency.

Report: Berri Says Preserving the Cabinet's Work Saves the State's Face
Naharnet/August 26/16/Speaker Nabih Berri said that boycotting the cabinet's sessions reaps no benefits other than obstructing the people's daily interests, as he stressed that the cabinet is the last chance to save the State's face, An Nahar daily reported on Friday. “Tell me. What is the benefit that can be derived from obstructing the cabinet's work other than hindering the citizens' daily interests which are not being addressed properly because of the differences?” asked Berri. “The cabinet is the last chance to save the face of the State,” the Speaker told the daily. Berri emphasized that as long as he rejects vacuum at the leadership of the army, then it is rather better to maintain the government's work so it would be capable of implementing the minimum tasks and responsibilities required. Ministers of the Free Patriotic Movement and the Tashnaq Party boycotted Thursday's cabinet meeting in protest at the government's handling of the thorny issue of military appointments. PM chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil had warned that the FPM would resort to “the judiciary and street protests” if the cabinet passes decrees in the absence of the movement's ministers. Last week, Defense Minister Samir Moqbel postponed the retirement of Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir after no consensus was reached over three candidates that he had proposed, angering the FPM which says that it opposes term extensions for all senior officers. The movement fears that the extension of Kheir's term could pave the way for a new extension of the tenure of Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji next month. Qahwaji's retirement had been postponed in September 2013 and his term was instead extended for two years.

Army Refers Lebanese IS Militant to Judiciary
Naharnet/August 26/16/A Lebanese member of the terrorist Islamic State group was referred Friday to the judiciary, an army statement said. “Lebanese national Alaa Mohammed Ammoun has been referred by the Intelligence Directorate to the relevant judicial authorities,” the statement said. Ammoun is accused of “belonging to the terrorist IS group, staging attacks with this group on the army's unity in Arsal, taking part in the assassination of a Lebanese citizen, and setting up explosive devices,” the army added. The military launched an unprecedented crackdown on suspected extremist cells in the country in the wake of the multiple suicide bombings that rocked the Christian border town of al-Qaa. Militants from the IS and Fateh al-Sham Front – formerly known as al-Nusra Front -- are entrenched in rugged areas along the undemarcated Lebanese-Syrian border and the army regularly shells their posts while Hizbullah and the Syrian army have engaged in clashes with them on the Syrian side of the border. The two jihadist groups briefly overran the town of Arsal in August 2014 before being ousted by the army after days of deadly battles.

 Ibrahim Says to Visit Country that Can Help Free IS-Held Captives
Naharnet/August 26/16/General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim revealed Friday that he intends to visit a country that can help Lebanon secure the release of the nine Lebanese servicemen who are being held hostage by the extremist Islamic State group. “We are searching for a serious negotiator in the case of the IS-held servicemen, because unfortunately we have not found a serious mediator until the moment,” Ibrahim said in a phone interview with OTV. He however disclosed that he is preparing for “a brief visit to a country that can help in this case.”“I will leave no door unknocked in order to resolve this case and we must wrap up this file,” Ibrahim stressed. Media reports had in early August said that efforts to secure the servicemen's release had been resumed. “Qatar's mediator Ahmed al-Khatib has reportedly arrived in Lebanon anew to seek negotiations with the IS militants in Syria's Qalamoun over the nine captive Lebanese army troops,” MTV reported. Hassan Youssef, the father of captive soldier Mohammed Youssef, also told al-Jadeed television that “an unofficial channel of communication has been opened with the group.”The fate of the nine servicemen has been shrouded with mystery for several months now and the families are demanding to know whether their sons are alive or dead. The troops were among more than 30 servicemen who were abducted during the deadly 2014 battle between jihadists and the Lebanese army in and around the northeastern border town of Arsal. While al-Nusra Front released 16 captives as part of a swap deal in December 2015, nine hostages remain in the captivity of the IS group and Lebanese officials have vowed to exert efforts to secure their release. Separately, Ibrahim reassured Friday that the security situation in the country is “under control and better than the situation in a lot of neighboring countries.” “It will remain like this as long as we have this spirit and determination,” he said. “The calm that Lebanon is witnessing can be mainly attributed to the efforts of the security agencies,” he added.

Civil Defense Volunteers End 12-Day Protests
Naharnet/August 26/16/Civil Defense volunteers ended a 12-day protest on the Lebanese-Palestinian border on Friday after receiving vows from officials that their longtime demand for full-time employment will be met, the National News Agency reported. The campaigners ended their protest and dismantled tents that they had erected on the border, NNA added. They plan to hold a press conference on Saturday in Martyrs Square in Beirut. The volunteers escalated measures in mid August and erected a tent along the border protesting the government’s delay in granting them full-time employee status.
Late in 2015 the cabinet adopted decrees for the appointment of the head and members of the Civil Defense Directorate. However it failed to pass decrees related to the full-employment of volunteers although it vowed to address the issue in coming meetings.

Two Bomb Makers Arrested in Koura
Naharnet/August 26/16/The Army Intelligence arrested on Friday two Syrian men accused of preparing explosive bombs in the northern district of al-Koura, the state-run National News Agency reported. The two men, whose names were not identified, planned to carry out the bombing on the outskirts of Deddeh in Koura. They were accused of mixing explosive materials together for the purpose. NNA said the accused were referred to the related judiciary for interrogations.

Army Intelligence Arrests IS Smuggler North Lebanon
Naharnet/August 26/16/The Army intelligence arrested an Islamic State group firebrand suspected of leading smuggling operations, LBCI reported on Friday. The suspect is a Syrian national known as Abou Bilal al-Qabbout, it added. He was detained in the northern region of Wadi Khaled.

Makari visits Berri: Cabinet's existence essential
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri met on Friday noon at Ain el Tineh Deputy Speaker, Farid Makari. Discussions touched on the current situation in the country. "The cabinet's existence at this stage is very vital as its work is linked to the people's livelihood issues," he asserted. "It is normal to meet with Speaker Berri and discuss the political situation in the country, particularly the absence of FPM's ministers from yesterday's cabinet session," Makari said following the meeting. Makari called on the MPs to go to parliament and elect a president to end the ongoing crises and the current stalemate in the country.Separately, Berri met with Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin and discussed the developments in Lebanon and the region.

Foreign Ministry offers condolences on Italy's earthquake victims
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - Foreign and Expatriates Ministry expressed in a statement on Friday its "sincere condolences and sympathy to the Italian Republic, government and people, on the victims of the earthquake that hit the Lazio region in central Italy, which claimed the lives of many innocent people and the injury of dozens. The Ministry wished the injured speedy recovery, and voiced affinity with the friendly Italian people to overcome the effects of such a natural disaster."The Ministry affirms its stand by the Italian people at these difficult circumstances," statement said.

Pharoun kicks Family Festival, underscores need for preserving heritage
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - Tourism Minister, Michel Pharoun, heaped praises on the extraordinary movement demonstrated by the civil society and non- governmental organizations in the promotion of tourism in the country, indicating "whenever violence amplifies in the region, we see this society more challenged to preserve civilization, culture and heritage."Minister Pharoun's words on Friday came during a press conference at the Tourism Ministry, where he launched "Family Festival" in its first edition, organized by the United Nations Information Centre in Beirut in collaboration with "Design Pillars" Private and Public Events' Management Company. The press conference was attended by scores of concerned touristic, municipal, trade and media dignitaries."Tourism Ministry accords special importance to the family festival and its related activities that would bring families together, given its complementary role to the ongoing tourism movement which took place in Lebanon this summer living under one festival notably dialogue civilization and life," Pharoun remarked.

Amal Abou Zeid demands true Christian partnership that starts with just electoral law
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - "Change and Reform" bloc member, Deputy Amal Abou Zeid confirmed on Friday "we are actual and real partners in the country. We are open to communications with all the political factions . He called on the politicians to approve a new and just electoral law that would give the Christians 64 MPs. He stressed that his bloc's stances were not against persons but against the political approach which was practiced. "Abolishing a sect means the abolishment of the nation," he told Sawt el Mada radio. "Today the rights of Christians are being violated in the government," the MP stressed, adding that the actual participation in the decision would lead to proper governance and proper constitutional logic. Regarding the fate of September 5 dialogue session, he said "All issues are open and Deputy Michel Aoun is the only person who decides this issue".

One child shot by mistake in brawl at Ain Hilweh Palestinian camp
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - One child was shot by mistake in a personal brawl that erupted in the Tahtani Street in Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian camp, NNA reporter said on Friday. The child was transferred to a local hospital for treatment.

Sami Gemayel winds up visit to Russia
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel winded up on Friday his visit to Russia by meeting with a number of Russian officials over the current situation in the region and its repercussion on the Lebanese arena. Gemayel also met with Moscow President Dean for Middle Eastern Studies, whereby they exchanged viewpoints on the ongoing events in the region.

Ibrahim on General Security Day: Security situation is under control
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - Director General of the General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim stressed that "the security situation in Lebanon is under control and is better than the security situation of the surrounding countries". "We are doing our duty in order to provide security to the Lebanese, we believe to serve Lebanon and we have promised to be loyal to this nation," he told OTV on the occasion of the General Security Day. Ibrahim called on the Lebanese to unite to be able to confront all the regional changes. Ibrahim said that there was always regional and international coordination with foreign security apparatuses. "We exchange security information with the outside. We believe in security and coordination exchange," he asserted. Regarding the file of the servicemen held by Daesh, Ibrahim said "we are looking for a serious negotiator at Daesh. Unfortunately so far there isn't a serious negotiator. We are working to visit a state that could help us in this file".He promised to end this file regardless the outcomes. On the other hand, he touched on the Palestinian file and said "Palestinians are not a security file but they are our guests and should be treated as the owner of the right. I think the Palestinian issue is under control".He said that coordination with the Palestinians has led to the handover of some wanted individuals to the Lebanese apparatuses.

Machnouk, Saliba discuss general situation
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - Interior and Municipalities Minister, Nouhad Machnouk, received on Friday Syriac Orthodox bishop of Mount Lebanon, Bishop George Saliba, with talks reportedly touching on the general situation.

Victims of attacks in Israel lose US appeal vs Lebanese bank
Reuters/August 26/16
NEW YORK - A US court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by victims of Hezbollah rocket attacks in Israel who sought to hold Lebanese Canadian Bank SAL liable for financing Hezbollah through its New York account with American Express Bank. By a 3-0 vote, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said it lacked jurisdiction over the Lebanese bank because customary international law immunized corporations from liability from claims under the federal Alien Tort Statute (ATS). Circuit Judge Richard Wesley said the panel was bound by a December ruling from another 2nd Circuit panel upholding the dismissal of a similar case against Arab Bank Plc . The court is deeply divided over whether it should adhere to its 2010 ruling barring ATS lawsuits against corporations. Several of its judges urged unsuccessfully in May that the Arab Bank case be re argued.
Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB) has been sued by dozens of American, Canadian and Israeli citizens injured by Hezbollah rocket attacks in 2006, or who had family members killed in those attacks.
The plaintiffs said LCB, which has no US offices or employees, made it easier for Hezbollah to attack Jewish civilians in Israel by wiring millions of dollars on behalf of the group's Shahid (Martyrs) Foundation affiliate. The US statute lets non-US citizens seek damages in US courts for human rights violations abroad. But the US Supreme Court in 2013 narrowed its reach in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum, saying claims must sufficiently "touch and concern" the United States to displace the presumption that the ATS does not cover foreign conduct. Wesley said the claims against the bank did so. He said its wire transfer services in New York had "a substantial effect on Hezbollah's actions insofar as they 'enabled' and 'facilitated' terrorist rocket attacks harming or killing plaintiffs and their decedents."But he said "we are not free" to reconsider the Arab Bank panel's conclusion that banning ATS lawsuits against corporations, adopted in an earlier part of the Kiobel case, remained good law. Robert Tolchin, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he plans to appeal. "It is plain that the panel is not happy with the decision of the Arab Bank panel," he said. "Every other circuit court has ruled that corporations can be sued under the Alien Tort Statute."

**Douglas Mateyaschuk, a lawyer for LCB, declined immediate comment.
The case is Licci et al v. Lebanese Canadian Bank SAL, 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 15-1580.

Deluded and debased
The Daily Star/August 26/16
Just when we think the Free Patriotic Movement has exhausted every kind of innuendo, insinuation, misinformation and fabrication, it appears to have developed its tactics into a certain kind of culture, boasting a sophisticated art of spin. Indeed, one only need visit villages with wide FPM support to hear PA systems blaring their tinny martial tunes, warning of the party’s impending success. Regardless of its stated goals, and the promises of the songs invading Lebanese homes, the FPM is in fact truly marching to one tune – that Michel Aoun must be president. Compared to much of the region Lebanese laws are rather modern, with a Constitution that safeguards the sectarian balance. And for the past 70 years Lebanon has adhered to the unwritten National Covenant to help ensure the country’s stability – until the FPM decided to reinterpret it. The party may by now even believe its own delusions that are forcing the country into a quagmire, but its supporters should ask themselves that if the FPM, along with the Lebanese Forces, represent 90 percent of Christians, then what of the municipal polls when the allies won just 40 percent of the vote? And if the party is the true champion of Christian rights, then why has it allowed the sect’s top post to be vacant for the past two years? The FPM’s naval gazing will not do, and Lebanese are realizing the party will pursue Aoun’s goals regardless of the consequences. It is no coincidence that Aoun is increasingly resembling a certain dictator, about whom his supporters sing, “It is Assad, or we burn the country.”

What is the purpose of dialogue in Lebanon?
Nayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/August 26/16
What is the point of the dialogue that has been ongoing for more than a year now between the Future Movement and Hezbollah, or the point of the expanded national dialogue sessions? What is the point of all that amid the presence of the Resistance Brigades – a militant group affiliated with Hezbollah – which consists of some 50,000 members, almost the same number as Lebanese army personnel? We will not say more than what Interior Minister Nohad al-Machnouq said when he described the Resistance Brigades as the brigades of strife and occupation. What is the purpose of organizing, arming and deploying its members across Lebanon? Is there legitimacy or legality to the Resistance Brigades? Let us assume that resistance against Israel called for legislating resistance within consecutive governments. What about the Resistance Brigades, which is being used to impose well-known sectarian and partisan orientations on others for the purpose of taming them and completely controlling Lebanon by intimidation and the power of arms? People are asking where the state, army, security institutions and ministries are amid all this. It is a shock that dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement is ongoing without knowing what it has achieved or what it will achieve, while the Resistance Brigades is expanding
Delayed response
Why do they only speak out or take a stance after it is too late? Where was everyone following the devastating events of May 7, 2008? What have they done to address the dangerous consequences, and the fact that arms used to resist Israel were used locally to incite sectarian strife? These events have led to sectarian divisions from which Lebanon still suffers today. If the deployment of these brigades in the reported magnitude is true, this is a shock to everyone. However, more shocking is that dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement is ongoing without knowing what it has achieved or what it will achieve, while the Resistance Brigades is expanding.
**This article was first published in an-Nahar on Aug. 22, 2016.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on August 26-27/16

Anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker Wilders calls for ban on Muslim migrants
The Associated Press, The Hague, Netherlands Friday, 26 August 2016/Anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, whose Freedom Party has led opinion polls in the Netherlands for months, has published a one-page election manifesto calling for a ban on all asylum seekers and migrants from Islamic nations, and for the country to leave the European Union. Hammering home themes that have made him one of this nation's most popular and divisive politicians, Wilders also calls for banning the Quran and closing all mosques and Islamic schools. Wilders’ manifesto was the first published by a major political party ahead of elections for the lower house of Dutch parliament which are due by March 15 next year. His hard-line positions on Islam and the EU will likely make it difficult for him to form a majority coalition if he wins the election.

French top court overturns burkini ban
By AFP, Paris Friday, 26 August 2016/France’s highest administrative court on Friday suspended a ban on the Islamic burkini swimsuit brought by a French Riviera town after it was challenged by rights groups. In a judgement expected to set a precedent, the State Council ruled that local authorities could only restrict individual liberties if there was a “proven risk” to public order. The case before the court concerned the French Riviera resort of Villeneuve-Loubet, one of around 30 towns which have passed burkini bans. The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) hailed the ruling as “a victory for common sense”. Police have fined Muslim women for wearing burkinis on beaches in towns including in the renowned Riviera resorts of Nice and Cannes.

US ship fired warning shots at Iran vessel
Agencies Thursday, 25 August 2016/A US Navy ship fired warning shots toward an Iranian fast-attack craft that approached two US ships, a Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday, in the most serious of a number of incidents in the Gulf area this week. "They did feel compelled ultimately to fire three warning shots and the reason for that is... they had taken steps already to try and de-escalate this situation," spokesman Peter Cook told reporters. Tensions have increased in the Gulf in recent days despite an improvement in relations between Iran and the United States.
Iran’s naval forces will warn or confront any foreign ship entering the country’s territorial waters, the Iranian defense minister said Thursday, remarks that came after an incident this week involving a US warship. The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Gen. Hosein Dehghan as saying that “if any foreign vessel enters our waters, we warn them, and if it’s an invasion, we confront.” He added that Iranian boats patrol to monitor traffic and foreign vessels in its territorial waters. Dehghan’s comments came after four Iranian small boats sailed near the guided missile destroyer USS Nitze on Wednesday in the Persian Gulf. The US Navy described the incident as “unsafe and unprofessional” and said it occurred in international waters in the narrow Strait of Hormuz. US Navy video of the incident obtained by The Associated Press shows American sailors on the Nitze firing flares and sounding the warship's horn as the Iranian boats approached. Earlier, US Adm. John Richardson said the incident involving the Nitze reflects the greater competition the US is facing at sea and underscores the naval tensions with Tehran, which include other similar incidents. (With AP, Reuters)

Rebels, civilians to evacuate Syria’s Daraya following deal
AFP, Daraya, Syria Friday, 26 August 2016/Ambulances and Red Crescent vehicles entered Syria’s besieged town of Daraya as thousands of rebels and civilians prepared to evacuate on Friday ahead of its takeover by government forces. It was unclear exactly when residents and fighters would start leaving the devastated town near the capital Damascus that has been under rebel control since 2012. An estimated 8,000 people remain in the town, despite a government siege lasting four years and regular regime bombardment. Daraya is located just 15 minutes drive from Damascus and is even closer to the government’s Mazzeh air base. On Thursday, Syrian state news agency SANA announced a deal had been struck for the evacuation of civilians and fighters in the town. The agreement is seen as a major defeat for the opposition and has provoked anger among its supporters. “Seven hundred armed men with their personal weapons will leave Daraya to head to the (rebel-controlled) city of Idlib, while thousands of men and women with their families will be taken to reception centres,” SANA said. The rebels would have to surrender other armaments to the army. The rebels who control the town belong to two Islamist groups: Ajnad al-Sham and the Martyrs of Islam. A Syrian source on the ground said Thursday that the evacuation could take four days to complete. A military source told AFP the army would enter Daraya, which was one of the first towns in Syria to erupt in anti-government protests in March 2011. “The civilians will go to regions under regime control around Damascus, rebels will go to Idlib “or sort out their situation with the regime”, a rebel official told AFP. Most of Idlib province, in northwest Syria, is held by the powerful Army of Conquest rebel alliance.

Barrel bombing kills 11 children in Syria’s Aleppo
AFP Friday, 26 August 2016/Eleven children were killed on Thursday in a barrel bomb attack carried out by government forces on a rebel-held neighborhood of Syria’s Aleppo city, a monitor said. “Fifteen civilians, among them 11 children, were killed in a barrel bomb attack on the Bab al-Nayrab neighborhood” in the south of Aleppo city, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. The group also reported eight civilians, including two children, were killed on Thursday in rebel fire on the government-held west of the city. An AFP journalist in Bab al-Nayrab saw rescue workers and civilians digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings. One man carried out the lifeless body of a baby no bigger than his forearm. Its eyes were closed and its body was white with dust except for speckles and smears of blood. Nearby, a civil defense worker protected the face of another dead child as his colleagues scraped away the rubble encasing the rest of the child’s body. Syria’s regime has been accused of regularly using barrel bombs - crude, explosive devices - on rebel-held areas that are home to civilians, and other parties to the conflict are not known to have used the weapons. President Bashar al-Assad and his government deny using barrel bombs. Once Syria’s economic powerhouse, Aleppo city has been ravaged by the conflict that began with anti-government protests in March 2011. The city has been roughly divided between rebel control in the east and government control in the west since mid-2012, with each side bombarding the other and causing civilian casualties. Fighting for Aleppo city has intensified since regime troops seized control of the last supply route into rebel-held areas in mid-July. After a nearly three-week siege, rebels early this month linked up with opposition-held neighborhoods via a new road from the city’s south, in a major blow to fighters loyal to Assad. But fighting has continued near the new supply line, which has been bombarded almost daily in recent days, affecting supplies coming into the city’s opposition-controlled neighborhoods. An AFP correspondent in the city’s rebel-held east said on Thursday that vegetables and meat were becoming more scarce than in days after the siege was broken. A litre of fuel had risen from 700 Syria pounds ($3.25, 2.90 euros) earlier this month to 1,200 Syrian pounds, he said. Around 250,000 people live in the city’s eastern districts, while another 1.2 million live in its western neighbourhoods. More than 290,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began, according to the Observatory.

U.N.: Aid Access in Syria 'Unacceptable'
Humanitarian access to Syria's besieged areas is "wholly unacceptable", the UN said Friday as it announced that just one aid convoy had completed deliveries this month. The United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said a convoy with life-saving supplies finished its delivery on Thursday to Al-Waer, a besieged area of the district of Homs. "While we welcome yesterday's convoy, the level of access to besieged areas this month is wholly unacceptable," an OCHA statement said. The two-part delivery to Al-Waer, which included food and medical items, was "the first full completed" convoy to reach a besieged area in August, OCHA further said. The initial Al-Waer delivery happened on Tuesday. A total of 75,000 people were reached over the two days. Top UN officials including envoy Staffan de Mistura have blasted Syria's warring parties in recent weeks for blocking civilians from accessing aid. Much of the blame has been directed at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who are responsible for most of the sieges of the country's 18 besieged areas. Meanwhile, de Mistura joined Friday's meeting at a Geneva luxury hotel with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The talks were expected to centre heavily on the UN's push to restart Syria peace talks. The UN's outgoing humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Yacoub El Hillo, said it was "a good thing" that the U.S. and Russia were meeting but accused world powers of shying away from such urgently-needed diplomacy for far too long. Asked in a BBC interview aired Thursday what could have helped avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, El Hillo said: "Political guts and courage on the part of the international community, including the Security Council."

Turkey PM Denies Syria Operation Singling Out Kurds
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 26/16/Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Friday denounced as a "bare-faced lie" suggestions in Western media that Ankara's military operation in Syria was singling out Kurdish people rather than jihadists. "They either know nothing about the world, or else their job is to report a bare-faced lie," Yildirim snarled when asked to comment on claims the operation was not targeting Islamic State (IS) jihadists but Kurds. He had been asked to respond to an article in German weekly Der Spiegel -- which frequently riles the Turkish authorities -- with the headline "Turkey's Syria operation -- IS is the pretext, the Kurds the target."Yildirim said: "Our soldiers' mission is to ensure our border security and the life and property of our citizens. The news apart from that is just a lie."
"You tell lies that Turkey is weak in the fight against ISIS (IS) but when we save innocent lives from ISIS you go and write this," he fumed. Ankara has said it will act in the operation against the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia who it accuses of seeking to carve out an autonomous region in northern Syria. Turkey regards the organizations as terror groups who represent neither the Kurdish nor the Syrian people. The YPG are allies of the United States in the fight against IS but Akara argues this is a dangerous error.

Deadly blast hits police HQ in southeast Turkey
Reuters, Istanbul Friday, 26 August 2016/A car bomb at a police headquarters in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast killed at least 11 and wounded dozens on Friday, ministers said, two days after Turkey launched an incursion against ISIS and Kurdish militia fighters in Syria. The state-run Anadolu news agency blamed the attack on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a militant group which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy and has been involved in almost daily clashes with security forces since a ceasefire collapsed more than a year ago. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The bombing, the latest in a series of attacks in the southeast, comes as Turkey tries to recover from a failed July 15 military coup. Large plumes of smoke billowed from the site in Cizre, located in Turkey's Sirnak province bordering both Syria and Iraq, footage on CNN Turk showed. The broadcaster said a dozen ambulances and two helicopters had been sent to the scene. Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, speaking on broadcaster NTV, said 11 police officers were killed and 78 were wounded. Health Minister Recep Akdag said four of them were critical. Photographs broadcast by private channel NTV showed a large three-storey building reduced to its concrete shell, with no walls or windows, and surrounded by grey rubble.

Deal or no deal? Kerry, Lavrov in anti-ISIS talks
Reuters Friday, 26 August 2016/US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, will try to hammer out final details of a cooperation agreement on fighting ISIS in Syria during talks in Geneva on Friday. The hope is that a deal will lead to a cessation of hostilities across Syria and relaunch talks on a political transition in the country. While Kerry said this week that technical teams from both sides were close to the end of their discussions, US officials indicated it was too early to say whether a deal was likely. When Kerry launched the Syrian cooperation talks in July on a visit to Moscow, the proposal involved Washington and Moscow sharing intelligence to coordinate air strikes against ISIS and grounding the Syrian air force to stop it from attacking moderate rebel groups. Kerry believes the plan is the best chance to limit the fighting that is driving thousands of Syrians into exile in Europe and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching tens of thousands more, as well as preserving a political track. The talks take place just days after Syrian rebels backed by Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes entered Jarablus, one of ISIS’s last strongholds on the Turkish-Syrian border. By reaching a deal with Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Washington hopes that it will help launch talks on a political transition in Syria.

Turkey vows long fight in Syria against terrorists
By Reuters, Istanbul/Karkamis, Turkey Friday, 26 August 2016/Turkish forces will remain in Syria for as long as it takes to cleanse the border of ISIS and other militants, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday, after a truck bombing by Kurdish militia killed at least 11 police officers. The suicide bombing at a police headquarters in a province bordering Syria and Iraq came two days after Turkey launched its first major military incursion into Syria, an operation meant to drive ISIS out of the border area and stop Kurdish militias from seizing ground in their wake. Turkey, a NATO member and part of the US-led coalition against ISIS, has seen a series of deadly bombings this year blamed on the radical Islamists. But it also fears Kurdish militias in Syria will seize a swathe of border territory and embolden Kurdish insurgents on its own soil. President Tayyip Erdogan said the bombing in Sirnak province would increase Turkey’s determination as it fights terrorist groups at home and abroad. Yildirim said there was no doubt the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy, was responsible. “From the beginning we have been defending Turkey’s territorial integrity. We are also defending Syria’s territorial integrity. The aim of these terrorist organisations is... to form a state in these countries... They will never succeed,” Yildirim told a news conference in Istanbul. “We will continue our operations (in Syria) until we fully guarantee security of life and property for our citizens and the security of our border. We will continue until Daesh (ISIS) and other terrorist elements are taken out.”After he spoke, the PKK claimed responsibility for the attack on the police headquarters, according to a website affiliated to the group. Syria has condemned the Turkish operation, codenamed “Euphrates Shield”, as a breach of its sovereignty. Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes launched the incursion in support of Syrian rebels, mostly Turkmen and Arab, who quickly took the border town of Jarablus from ISIS on Wednesday. Turkish military vehicles shuttled in and out of Syria on Friday, Reuters witnesses said, including a construction machine that helped to flatten the route for a tank. Controlled explosions rang out around the Karkamis border crossing as Turkish security forces removed mines and booby traps left by
ISIS. Ismail Metin, the commander of Turkey’s second army responsible for the borders with Syria and Iraq, visited Jarablus on Friday, local sources said.
Weeks or months
Turkey has shown little sign so far of a quick withdrawal. US Vice President Joe Biden, who met Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday, said Turkey was ready to stay in Syria for as long as it takes to destroy ISIS. A Syrian rebel commander in charge of one of the main groups involved in the Turkish-backed operation told Reuters the forces now aimed to move westward after taking Jarablus, an advance that could take weeks or months to complete. Colonel Ahmad Osman, speaking to Reuters from Jarablus, said the priority was now to advance about 70 km (40 miles) west to Marea, a town where rebels have long had a frontline with ISIS. Turkey has long lobbied for a “buffer zone” in northern Syria controlled by what it regards as moderate rebels, potentially in border territory currently held by ISIS and stretching about 80 km (50 miles) west of Jarablus. Sweeping out ISIS would deprive the group of a smuggling route taken by foreign fighters joining its ranks, and could also create a safe area for displaced civilians and help to stem the flow of refugees, Turkish officials have said. They argue the proposal has become all the more urgent since Ankara began implementing a deal with the European Union to stop illegal migration earlier this year. “The situation in Syria and Iraq is getting worse,” Yildirim told a joint news conference with the visiting prime minister of Bulgaria, which has also been struggling to slow migrant flows. “We’re cleansing ISIS and other terrorist elements (in northern Syria) so people living there are not forced to leave their homes. But the problem has to be comprehensively handled at the EU level. Solutions are needed quickly.”Syria’s five-year conflict has killed at least a quarter of a million people and forced almost five million to flee the country, many of them to Turkey. The United Nations estimates that 6.5 million are internally displaced. An agreement was reached on Thursday to evacuate around 4,000 civilians and 700 fighters from the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya, ending one of the conflict’s longest stand-offs. Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) vehicles entered the area to prepare for the evacuation on Friday. Syria’s army has surrounded rebels and civilians and blocked food deliveries in Daraya since 2012, regularly bombing the area, one of the first places to see peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad.
Overlapping interests
The suicide bombing in Turkey’s southeastern town of Cizre is another reminder of the risks Ankara faces as its gets drawn ever more deeply into Syria’s conflict, with the threat of reprisals from both ISIS and Kurdish militias. The provincial governor’s office said 11 police officers were killed and 78 people, three of them civilians, wounded. Large plumes of smoke billowed from the blast site. Photographs showed a large three-storey building reduced to its concrete shell, with no walls or windows, surrounded by rubble. Turkey views the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, as closely linked to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. Washington, however, has backed the YPG in a separate campaign against ISIS in northern Syria. Turkish troops fired on YPG fighters south of Jarablus on Thursday, highlighting the cross-cutting of interests of two pivotal NATO allies. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Twitter that ISIS, the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia were all attacking to take advantage of the failed coup. Last week Erdogan accused followers of a US-based Islamic cleric he blames for the coup attempt of being complicit in attacks by Kurdish militias.The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, has denied any involvement in and denounced the coup plot. (Edited by Al Arabiya)

Trump, Clinton exchange angry charges of racism
AFP, Washington Friday, 26 August 2016/The tone of the US presidential campaign turned darker on Thursday, with Hillary Clinton skewering Donald Trump as a man who flirts with racism and paranoid ideas, while he in turn labeled her a racist whose family foundation was a “criminal enterprise.”Speaking at a campaign event in Reno, Nevada, Clinton employed unusually tough language as she detailed a history of what she said were the Republican real estate mogul’s discriminatory actions. He had been sued as a young developer for failing to rent to black and Latino tenants, and by black employees of his casinos, the Democratic presidential candidate said. The Republican nominee’s recent choice of Steven Bannion, a firebrand conservative, as his new campaign chief showed Trump was embracing the extremist white nationalist stances of the so-called “alt-right” movement, she said. “A man with a long history of racial discrimination who traffics in dark conspiracy theories drawn from the pages of supermarket tabloids and the far dark reaches of the internet should never run our government or command our military,” Clinton said. Her speech came on a day when one poll showed her support reaching an important threshold -- backing from just over half of all respondents. The survey by Quinnipiac University gave her a 51 to 41 percent lead over Trump in a head-to-head race. Trump has recently attempted to enlarge his tiny base of support among blacks – it has been as low as 1 percent – arguing that African Americans have “nothing to lose” by voting for him. He met with a group of black and Latino supporters at his Trump Towers in New York early on Thursday. Speaking in New Hampshire later, Trump lashed out at Clinton, saying she was accusing “the decent Americans who support this campaign, your campaign, of being racists, which we’re not.”Calling it “a tired, disgusting argument,” he said it was Clinton who was being a “racist” by viewing minorities merely as a source of votes while doing nothing for them. Trump also sought this week to moderate his earlier comments on immigration. As president, he would focus on deporting the “bad” immigrants without uprooting the “good” ones, he said -- a sharp shift from his early insistence that all undocumented immigrants be deported. Somewhat confusingly, however, he insisted again on Thursday that he would build a wall on the southern border and make Mexico pay for it. Giving in to the persistent urging of party leaders, Trump has begun relying more on a TelePrompter, allowing for fewer troublesome off-the-cuff remarks.

Kuwait arrests government employee over ISIS online postings
The Associated Press, Kuwait City Friday, 26 August 2016/Kuwait’s Interior Ministry says a government employee has been arrested for spreading ISIS ideology and hacking social media pages of “some friendly and sister countries.”The ministry identified the man arrested as Osman Zebn Naif, born in 1990, and said he confessed to being part of the Cyber Army of the Khilafah. That’s a known group of hackers supporting the extremists in Iraq and Syria. The ministry says it had monitored Naif for months and his statements led to the arrest of two people in Iraq and one in Jordan on Thursday night. It says he used his work computer for the hacking. It wasn’t clear Friday if Naif had a lawyer. The ministry made the announcement late Thursday, without identifying which agency Naif worked for.

Toronto crossbow deaths: Brett Ryan, 35, faces 3 murder charges
CBC/August 26, 2016/A Toronto man faces three first-degree murder charges in connection with the deaths of three people in an incident Thursday involving a crossbow in Scarborough. Brett Ryan, 35, was arrested Thursday and is appearing in court this morning.  On Thursday, just before 1 p.m. ET, police responded to a call of a stabbing in the area of Lawndale Road and Knowlton Drive in suburban Scarborough. Police arrived to find two men and a woman with life-threatening injuries. They died at the scene. The injuries appeared to have been caused by a crossbow bolt, said police, who have not released the names of the victims. A source with knowledge of the investigation told CBC News it's believed all three are related. About four hours after the incident, police said there was a link between the deaths and a suspicious package found in downtown Toronto. They said the downtown scene, which was near a building housing a daycare, was declared safe by 5 p.m ET.

NCRI Iran News/IRAN: PMOI activists pay tribute to political prisoners buried in mass grave in Mashhad
Friday, 26 August 2016/NCRI - Activists of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) have paid tribute to political prisoners who were mass executed and buried in a mass grave in the city of Mashhad, north-east Iran. The following is the transcript of the remarks by a PMOI activist who filmed the tribute at the mass grave in Behesht-e-Reza cemetery:
In the name of God
It is August 1, 2016. Here is Behesht-e-Reza in city of Mashhad (northeast Iran), adjacent to section 22. Here is where the PMOI (MEK) martyrs from years 1981 to 1988 were buried.
We have come here to commemorate the memory of 30,000 red roses who were martyred by the anti-human clerical regime. Following drinking the “chalice of poison” and accepting the cease fire in the Iran-Iraq, this regime resorted to massacre of PMOI political prisoners and other activists who did not succumb to Khomeini. The martyrs were buried in mass graves. About 70 of these martyrs are buried in these two rows. On the 28th anniversary of the massacre of martyrs, we vow to bring to justice all the masterminds and perpetrators of this genocide against the PMOI, so justice would prevail, humanity would find out what we went through and the repetition of this crime be prevented. At the end, we repeat that we neither forget, nor forgive this crime.

Scotland's The National: Calls for justice over Iran’s 1988 massacre of political prisoners from leader of resistance council
Friday, 26 August 2016 /NCRI - The Scottish daily The National published on Friday the call by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran. The following is the text of the article published by The National: Calls for justice over Iran’s 1988 massacre of political prisoners from leader of resistance council ALMOST three decades after more than 30,000 so-called political prisoners were executed by order of a “death committee” in Iran, the leader of the country’s opposition in exile is calling for the international community to pursue those responsible – some of whom are still in government – for crimes against humanity. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), made the call as the row continued in the country about an audio recording of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, from a meeting in August 1988, weeks after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering the massacre of all political prisoners. In the recording, of which The National has a transcript, Montazeri appears to plead with Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, and a number of judiciary officials to stop the killings. He criticises the hangings of teenagers, pregnant women and those whose only crime was to read the newspaper of the People’s Mujahidin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK). He said: “The greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you. Your (names) will in the future be etched in the annals of  history as criminals. Killing is the wrong way to resist against a thought, an idea. "Responding to a process, a logic – even a faulty logic – with killing will solve nothing. It will make it worse.
“We will not be in power forever. In the future, history will judge us.”
Montazeri, who died in 2009, was favourite to succeed Khomeini, but after the recorded meeting, and his opposition to secret political trials, he was ostracised and between 1997 and 2003 he was placed under house arrest. The recording emerged on a website maintained by his supporters, but the day after it came into the public domain, the Iranian ministry of intelligence ordered his son Ahmad, a moderate cleric, to remove it. He was summoned to a special court of clergy, where he was interrogated for three hours. Ahmad Montazeri said he was also in possession of other documents which he might reveal later.
Several members of the “death committee” are still in senior positions in the current regime of Hassan Rouhani.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who in 1988 represented the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, is now justice minister. Former Sharia judge Hossein-Ali Nayyeri is the current head of the Supreme Disciplinary Court for Judges. Ebrahim Raeesi, then deputy prosecutor general, was the regime’s prosecutor general. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently appointed him head of the Astan Qods-e Razavi foundation, a multi-billion dollar religious, political and economic body that uses public funds to support some of the regime’s policies. NCRI leader Rajavi said the recording was “irrefutable evidence” that leaders of the mullahs’ regime were responsible for crimes against humanity and unprecedented genocide. Khomeini, who died in 1989, had openly declared his support for the mass executions that started the year before, and was “a mastermind of these atrocities”. Rajavi said Montazeri’s statements confirmed the illegitimacy of the ruling regime from the 1980s and the people’s abhorrence for the velayat-e-faqih (absolute rule of the clergy). The recorded acknowledgement by officials that they were in the process of massacring the Mujahidin political prisoners left no room for doubt that their actions and those of many other leaders of the regime were a crime against humanity. She added: “The international community, therefore, is obligated to bring them to justice. “In particular, because these individuals and the others who carried out the massacre of political prisoners referred to in this meeting have, from the beginning of this regime to the present day, held posts at the highest levels of the judicial, political and intelligence apparatuses. “Montazeri’s statements, such as his description of the execution of a 15-year-old girl and of a pregnant woman in Isfahan, as well as the statements by the executioners in the meeting, reveal the extent of the ruling regime’s ruthlessness and vengeance against the Mujahidin women.”However, the regime remained defiant. Mullah Ali Razini, a judiciary official, said: “The security that we have now in Iran… is because Imam Khomeini did not neglect on carrying out the sentence.” A grandson of Khomeini, Mullah Ali Khomeini, said: “What was the regime supposed to do with these people? It had to fight, and had to fight hard. Praise be to Allah, it did happen and the country saw peace.”

11 Civilians Killed in Airstrikes in Northern Yemen
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 26/16/Yemen's rebel-run news agency says airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition have killed 11 civilians and wounded others in the northern city of Saada. The agency, SABA, which is under control of the Shiite rebels known as Houthis, reported on Friday that the airstrikes destroyed two houses located in the district of Baqam in the city of Saada — a Houthi stronghold. It says women and children are among the dead, and that subsequent flyovers of coalition planes delayed the rescue operation. Some of the wounded are in critical condition, which may lead to a higher death toll. The strikes came a day after the United Nations demanded an international investigation in the killings of civilians in Yemen.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on August 26-27/16

Iranian Ayatollah: The 'Hidden Imam' Will Arrive In A Vessel 'Like A Spaceship'
MEMRI/August 26/16
Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi recently answered questions about the arrival of the Mahdi – the Hidden Imam who is the equivalent of the Messiah in Shi'ite Islam. Answering the question "When the Mahdi is revealed, will he arrive with a sword?" he explained at length how the Mahdi's arrival will be high-tech, as befits the modern age.
The following are excerpts from Shirazi's response: [1]
"It was said by Imam Sadegh [the Sixth Shi'ite Imam, circa. 700–765 C.E.]: 'When our Lord arrives, the land will be illuminated by divine light, and [God's] creations will no longer require sunlight.' The interpretation of this saying is that the issue of light and energy is expressed in that both in daytime and nighttime powerful lights can replace sunlight.
"Should we see this as a miracle? Daily life should be conducted according to the ongoing laws of nature, and not according to miracles – because miracles are extraordinary and are for [times of] need and exceptional circumstances..."Another hadith states: With regards to [the Mahdi], God elevates low places and lowers high places, so that the entire world is visible to him like the palm of his hand...'"Today we use satellites [and by means of them] cover extensive areas, so that anyone with a receiver can use them... In the time of the Mahdi's arrival, there will be a powerful apparatus, that may be difficult for us to imagine today, for transmitting images so that the entire world is visible like the palm of a hand. Without worldwide control by an intelligence [apparatus], there can be no unified global regime [as foretold that there will be when the Mahdi arrives], and no peace, security, and decency... Therefore, God grants him this tool... Once again I stress that this is a routine matter, and that it is inconceivable that it will come about based on a miracle; rather [it will come about] by means of ordinary tools that are based on scientific and industrial advances. "Another hadith states: 'A bestial vessel is reserved for your Lord and Friend [the Mahdi]. What is the meaning of 'bestial vessel'? A cloud that is loud as thunder and fast as lightning, upon which he rides. Be aware that soon he will [appear] riding on clouds, and ascending to seven heavens and seven lands.' This does not refer to an ordinary cloud, as clouds are not vessels that can be sailed upon in outer space. [Clouds] travel near the atmosphere that is close to the earth, and they cannot attain great altitudes. Therefore, the meaning here is an extraordinary and very swift vessel that looks like a dense cloud in the sky; its sound is that of thunder and its power and speed is that of lightning. When it moves, it slashes the heart of the sky with extraordinary force, and in this way it can advance to any point in the firmament. Therefore, this is a super-modern vessel, and there is none like it today. It is like a spaceship and like other swift and amazing space vessels that are found [only] in stories today, but nobody knows how close [these vessels] come to truth and reality. Maybe it will be like [a spaceship] but in any case it is not a spaceship…"When the Mahdi rules, the pure will have the height of freedom, and the criminals will be monitored – maybe so much so that soundwaves will be detected from the walls of their houses, and when necessary it will be possible to understand what they say at home. "Perhaps a century ago, this statement [about detecting soundwaves] would have seemed like an unimaginable miracle. Yet today, some countries monitor traffic on the roads using radar, with no police present. Therefore, it is clear that during the global revolution of the Mahdi... there will be an unprecedented expansion of industry and technology."
[1] Fars (Iran), July 29, 2016.

Witnesses to years of US isolationism
Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran/Al Arabiya/August 26/16
In his foreword in Fouad Ajami’s book “The Syrian Rebellion,” Charles Hill, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, quotes historian Arnold Toynbee as saying: “Syria is the roundabout in which all the forces face one another and spin off consequences - for good or ill – around the compass.”
The photos of Omran Daqneesh and Aylan Kurdi, and the diplomatic chaos that has accompanied developments in Syria, have become the topic of prominent American intellectuals and observers. Ajami has criticized the White House’s tiredness, and considers the administration of President Barack Obama “hopeless” because there is no international community without a US role.Not intervening in crises worldwide threatens the global order itself. Obama reluctantly intervened in Libya, describing it as “leading from behind.” However, there has been nothing like the Syrian massacre since those in Rwanda, Cambodia and Srebrenica. It is not America’s role to be the world’s policeman, but it has to perform its role in maintaining global order. This cannot be achieved by isolationism. Obama has diminished the US role. In his book “The Dispensable Nation,” esteemed expert Vali Nasr narrates an account of his work as senior advisor to the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP), Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. Nasr presents his opinion and that of Holbrooke - godfather of the Dayton Agreement, which ended the Bosnian war - on how Obama managed the withdrawal from Iraq.
He also discusses issues related to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Taliban, and evaluates the US stance toward several countries. He provides detailed lessons from the Balkan massacres, and talks about the extraordinary roles that Holbrooke played. He compares them to what resembles submission to crises worldwide, particularly regarding dialogue with Iran.
Obama never met with Holbrooke alone, and did not give him much of his time. This reminds us of Ajami’s joke that a young speechwriter such as Benjamin Rhodes is more important to Obama than a high-ranking counsellor such as Zbigniew Brzezinski. It is not America’s role to be the world’s policeman, but it has to perform its role in maintaining global order. This cannot be achieved by isolationismThe opinions of Nasr, Ajami and Holbrooke all pronounce the demise of US power, which intimidated those who attacked civil peace worldwide. Regarding the Balkan conflict, Nasr said Holbrooke intentionally conveyed threats of US force to stubborn Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. According to Nasr, Holbrooke walked out of a frustrating meeting, sat alone with his military advisor, and asked him to send B-52 bombers to an airbase in Britain, and to ensure that CNN broadcasts footage of this. Nasr said the result was that the Bosnian war ended shortly after. During all the affairs he handled, Holbrooke believed that military power was the most important thing in diplomacy. This is how the Vietnam war ended. Nasr attributes US diplomatic failure in the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan to Obama transferring foreign policy files to the Pentagon and CIA. Nasr says if it had not been for Hillary Clinton’s stubbornness and ability to impose herself, the State Department would have lost all its influence. The White House handled most foreign policy files, including that of Iran, Arab states and Israel. Pakistani and Afghan affairs were an exception due to Holbrooke’s speed in forming the SRAP mission. This is consistent with Ajami’s complaint of Secretary of State John Kerry, who he considers a mere White House employee as he cannot even come up with a plan for Syria. This was one of the major reasons behind Ajami’s hopelessness of any salvation for the Syrian revolution.
Repercussions
The scenes resemble one another, from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Iran, Iraq and Syria. The possibility of US withdrawal from the region has stirred heated debate. In an article in Foreign Policy, Clinton defended the idea that the United States must shift its interests away from the Middle East toward Asia. Nasr, who worked with Clinton, responded to this disastrous idea and to the squandering of U.S. regional interests. He said if Americans believe that leading the world is getting out of their control, it is not due to the economic inactivity from which they have suffered for the past four years, but to their unawareness of their real global role. Nasr added that the US adoption of a military approach to foreign policy has destroyed its reputation in the eyes of allies and friends. He said contradictions in how the US pursues its interests have raised suspicions about its worthiness to lead the world. Ajami’s opinions are similar, as he thinks US abandonment of Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq would have been disastrous. American public opinion under former President Franklin Roosevelt was against intervention in World War II, but he intervened - a decisive decision that proved its worthiness. The Arab and Muslim communities have known the United States as an aide and supporter that shares deep common interests. Its withdrawal will turn the region into a gathering of mafia-style countries with scarce cultural and moral insights, and no mutual interests. The positive influence of Western civilization, as represented by the United States, would no longer remain as American values are the era’s values and system. When isolationism dominates upcoming US policy, and when the necessity to intervene is ignored, there will be more regional unrest. There is a huge difference between American values and those of Russia, China and other such countries. Years ago, philosopher Jean Baudrillard said: “America is an ideal and integrated world. It’s like a woman like no other. It’s a cinematic town, it’s the end of the world. It’s the disaster… It’s the destruction of meaning and its disappearance.”
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Aug. 25, 2016.

In its nexus with Russia, Iran violates its own Constitution
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/August 26/16
Iran Constitution's article 146 stipulates “The establishment of any kind of foreign military base in Iran, even for peaceful purposes, is forbidden.”Nevertheless, Iranian leaders appear to have violated this crucial article of the Constitution the Islamic Republic. No foreign power has used Iran’s soil and territories as a base for military operations since the second World War. But, this week, Russia revealed that it has used Iran’s territory, Hamadan air base, as a military base to bomb Syria. According to Reuters, video footage and images were released by Russia’s Defense Ministry on August 18, 2016. These images show a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber that is based at Iran’s Hamadan air base, dropping bombs in Syria. Iranian leaders immediately responded with fury, first denying the move, and later issuing statements chiding Russia for publicizing this military deal. Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan characterized Moscow’s move as boasting and a “betrayal of trust.” What does this military deal mean? And more importantly, why has Iran made this historic move of allowing a foreign power to use its bases, why did Iran want to keep it confidential and why did Russia made it public?Iran is reaping the economic benefits of dealing with the West, but when it comes to the underlying pillars of its domestic and foreign policy, Tehran is not going to rearrange its alliances or make fundamental shifts
IRGC desperate to keep Assad in power
Iranian leaders attempted to keep this agreement confidential because one of the core revolutionary values and principles of the Islamic Republic has been independence, self-reliance, and opposition to interference of foreign powers in Iran including Eastern or Western powers. One of the well-known mottos of the Islamic Republic is, “Neither the East, nor the West, but only the Islamic Republic”. But Iranian leaders have been desperate during the recent battles in Aleppo to defeat the opposition groups. Whenever Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as the senior cadre of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sense that the Syrian rebel or opposition groups are making major advances, or that Assad’s hold-on-power and control over major cities is being threatened, Tehran has manifested the trend of immediately turning to Russia. For example, in mid-2015, when Assad’s army and the Quds Force experienced setbacks, mainly due to the rise of ISIS and the rebel groups’ advancements, this issue propelled Qassem Soleimani, head of the Quds Force, to visit Putin and ask for military help. The Islamic Republic pushed for Russia’s military assistance and involvement in Syria. Russia followed up with airstrikes while Iran put boots on the ground and made territorial advances. In other words, the increasing Russian airstrikes are coordinated with the rising deployment of IRGC fighters on the ground.
Russia using Iran as a puppet
Iran needs Assad more than Russia does and Iran has used the Russian air forces to keep Assad in power. But this time Russia decided to score points and use Iran. Russia seems to have utilized Iran’s military request to project Moscow’s power to the West, regional countries, and to project Moscow’s increasing influence in the Middle East. Being able to use Iran’s base is indeed a fundamental milestone in Russia’s foreign policy and it is considered a critical success for Putin. Russia was not going to be silent about this foreign policy achievement. Moscow needed to make such a great strategic and tactical military move public. For Moscow, the fact that Russia has set military feet in Iran for the first time since 1917, is an indication of the notion that Russia remains the indispensable global power. Putin is sending a message to the West and the Russian people that Moscow is still the superpower in the same manner that the Soviet Union was. Russia is also sending several messages to other Middle Eastern countries that Moscow is a more reliable partner than the United States; that Moscow comes to the assistance of its allies and friends by cooperating with regional nations, by using advanced military equipment, and by launching military strikes to defeat whoever endangers the power of its allies. Putin is also signaling to other countries in the region that if Iran has allowed Russian military to use it territories, other countries should not be concerned about doing the same and they can allow Russia assist them. Moscow is telling other regional powers that they can trust Russia as well; and that Russia is geographically and strategically positioned in better place than the United States to conduct military operations in their interests. That is why Russian leaders, despite Iranian leaders objection, immediately depicted this military operation as a successful one. “The Russian military aircraft involved in launching airstrikes from the Iranian Hamadan base against terrorist sites in Syria successfully accomplished the tasks they had set out to complete…All aircraft involved in this operation are now on Russian territory,” Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
Obama silent as usual
Finally, as usual, President Obama and his administration do not want to deal with this issue in order not to criticize Iran. They deny that they even knew anything about this military action. This tactical military deal clearly scuttles President Obama and the West’s argument that Iran is moving closer to the West and opening up politically to the West. Iran is reaping the economic benefits of dealing with the West, but when it comes to the underlying pillars of its domestic and foreign policy, Tehran is not going to rearrange its alliances or make fundamental shifts. In fact, Iran has moved closer to Russia and China geopolitically and strategically speaking. Finally, although Iran can also send a message to its rivals that Russia is still with Iran rather than with them, the revelation of this military deal by Moscow is a blow to the Islamic Republic’s nationalistic slogan of “independence”. But, since Iran cannot afford to lose Assad, its staunchest ally, Tehran is doing everything it can, even violating its own Constitution and ideals – by allowing foreign countries use its soil for military purposes – in order to keep Assad in power.

The Middle East Prepares for US Elections
Ynetnews/The Media Line|/Ynetnews/August 26/16
As the US elections enter their final stretch, Israeli citizens and those of Arab, Middle Eastern countries begin to reach their own conclusions as to which candidate would be better for their people, struggles and way of life.
From Jerusalem to Beirut to Cairo, the upcoming US elections are being closely followed, their entertainment appeal but also as the US remains crucial for its role in the Middle East.
“Partly because of the characters involved, there has been a lot of media coverage here,” Tamir Sheafer, a professor of political science at Hebrew University told The Media Line. “But Israelis do care quite a lot about US elections, and certainly more than any other elections outside the country.”
The fact that the US and Israel are in the last stages of a ten-year deal that will give Israel an estimated $3.7 billion in US aid per year, adds to Israeli interest. Republican nominee Donald Trump’s brash confrontational style, along with his hardline statements that he would limit Muslim immigration to the US resonates with some hardliner Israelis. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who has spoken in favor of an independent Palestinian state, should appeal more to the lefties in Israel. In regard to Clinton’s appeal, it should be noted that her husband, former president Bill Clinton, was an incredibly popular figure in Israel. “One of Hillary’s main problems—not only in the US but also in Israel—is that Bill’s charisma does not extend to her,” said Sheafer.
There are an estimated 200,000 dual US-Israeli citizens living in Israel, who are eligible to vote. One organization in Israel called, iVoteIsrael, is pushing the message that it does not matter who you vote for, as long as you make sure to vote.“IvoteIsrael is a nonpartisan NGO whose single goal is to appeal to as many Americans residing in Israel to engage in the American political process in order to demonstrate to American politicians that they have a serious constituency here that they need to pay attention to,” Eitan Charnoff, the national director of the group told The Media Line.
The organization plans to set up stands in large cities, where the largest number of potential US voters live, to help them fill out the forms for an absentee ballot. In previous elections, an estimated 50 percent of eligible voters in Israel cast absentee ballots. “There are enough actual voters here from key swing states to not just impact the presidential election, but Congressional and Senatorial races, as well.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians with US citizenship are also eligible to vote. Palestinian officials said that they are not taking a stand on which candidate they prefer, calling it an “internal matter.”
However, Hosom Zomlot, a strategic advisor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said he hopes the US President will take a more active role in trying to get Israel to return to the negotiating table.
“We hope there will be a new chance for the peace process and the American election will produce a president that will take stock of the past and what went wrong,” Zomlot told The Media Line. “We would like them to take lessons from the experience of other issues around the world.”
Zomlot described how the US, along with the international community, had already affected the Middle East dynamics by making Iran curtail its nuclear program http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4679591,00.html . “Iran was given a choice between a prosperous Iran and a nuclear Iran,” he said. “Israel has been allowed to talk peace while building settlements and confiscating land.” He also said that the success of the Iran deal was due to the fact that it not just the US, but a multilateral coalition of the P5+1 that insisted on it.
Though candidate Donald Trump has pledged to cooperate with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to combat terrorism in the region, Egypt has officially retained a diplomatic silence on the US elections. Officials from the Foreign and Defense Ministries have also expressed disappointment on Trump’s proposal to bar Muslims from moving to the US—a policy that many saw as Islamophobic.
“Under Obama, there’s generally been more understanding and support for President al-Sisi from Republicans than Democrats, who tend to have more ideological difficulties with the role the military plays in Egyptian politics,” said Ziyad Kelani, a political science instructor at Cairo University. “But Trump’s campaign to bar Muslims from entering the United States has caused real damage. Like most people in the world, a visit, a chance to study or work in America is a widely-held aspiration. ”
While Egyptian officials will not publicly slam Trump, they are well aware that their best GOP friends on Capitol Hill including Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R-FL and Chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee and Jeff Fortenberry R-NE, a ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, have distanced themselves from their party’s presidential nominee.
With the Washington-based IMF posed to give Egypt a $12 billion loan, officials in Cairo are confident their GOP allies in congress will continue to have al-Sisi’s back with the election of either Trump or Clinton.
At the same time, the subtleties of American politics are not widely appreciated at the popular level.” People in this region do not remember very fondly the Republican president George W. Bush, who destroyed Iraq and destabilized the entire area,” said Sherif Aref, Editorial Secretary at “Al Masry Al Youm,” who has expressed his support for Clinton’s candidacy.
“Mr. Trump is opening the gates of hell for the Americans, and his policies seem designed to provoke the feelings of the Muslims,” Aref told The Media Line. “If the Republicans are serious about building bridges of credibility and trust, they need to rethink what kind of rhetoric they allow.”
But while a Trump presidency sends waves of apprehension down many-a-spine in the region, the Syrian regime can barely contain its enthusiasm for such a scenario.
“Assad hears Trump say the main enemy is ISIS, and his warm words for Russia’s president Putin, and he knows that if Trump captures the White House there will be even less pressure on his regime than there has been under Obama,” said Ayman Abdul Nour, publisher of Kulna Sharakna, the largest independent opposition Syrian news portal. “They are even going so far as to direct Syrian Americans to contribute to the Trump campaign and attend his rallies,” Abdul Nour told The Media Line. “It’s well understood that when it comes to Syria, there is more of a difference between Obama and Hillary Clinton than there is between Obama and Trump.”
Nour is referring to the public policy fissure over Syria in the Obama administration, with Clinton and the security establishment clashing with the president on the need and potential efficacy of a US attack on Assad.
In Lebanon, analysts said the country’s focus is on the war in neighboring Syria. Close to two million refugees have fled Syria, straining Lebanon’s ability to handle them. When it comes to the elections, the most popular person is a man who is not even currently on the running.
“The Bernie Sanders campaign was really inspiring, because he was challenging the establishment,” said Carmen Geha, Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the American university in Beirut. She added that “So many of my students were fans of this message,” and that “They think he is a very cool guy.”

All of a sudden, Abbas wants democracy
Ronni Shaked/Ynetnews/August 26/16
Op-ed: Mahmoud Abbas is insisting on holding democratic municipal elections in October, despite the devastation this move is set to cause if forecasts prove accurate and Hamas wins decisively; if and when Hamas wins, Abbas may not only lose control of the West Bank, but also the Palestinians' allies around the Western and Arab worlds. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently made the decision to mark October 8th as the date on which Palestinian municipal elections in Gaza and the West Bank will be held. This decision comes at a time in which his popularity in the Palestinian territories is low and Palestinian society is experiencing deep division and despair. And Abbas is choosing this point in time to become a guardian of democracy and run against his hated rivals from Hamas, with all signs pointing to a Hamas victory. The Fatah leadership, which is worried about the predicted election hit, are blaming the PA president of handing the West Bank over to Hamas on a silver platter. Abbas is repeating his mistake from 2006, when he was forced by US leadership – President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice – to conduct democratic elections. Hamas' decisive victory led to Abbas' and Fatah's eviction from Gaza and to the destruction of Palestinian society, not to mention the freeze in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership. The Palestinian people have been paying a heavy price ever since.
But this time, the US, the West, and the Arab world aren't taking part. This is Abbas' personal decision, over which his partners in the Palestinian leadership are puzzled. Abbas is insisting that the Palestinian people need democracy, but it appears that such a form of rule has a hard time living under the same roof as fundamentalist Islam.
Even though the polls show that Hamas would gain strength from this act, and even though he's aware of the fact that his own Fatah party is at a very low point, Abbas is sticking to his guns on this one. Even Hamas' landslide victory in the student council elections at Birzeit University – where Palestinian high society studies – has not dissuaded him. A Hamas victory in these elections could be devastating to Palestinian society which could be dragged into internal struggles, eroding its strength and solidarity. The Palestinians may also lose international support. Jordan, Egypt, and even Saudi Arabia, which stand beside Abbas, may take a step back from their unwavering support of the Palestinians when it comes to peace negotiations with Israel. Let's not delude ourselves: These elections will not lead to a reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Abbas treats the Gaza-based terror organization as an enemy. He doesn't think twice about arresting Hamas political activists in the West Bank, and has even arrested the Hamas representative to the general election commission. Hamas sees Abbas the same way: He's hated by the organization's leadership, and their treatment of Fatah people in Gaza is no better than Abbas' treatment of their people. This rivalry is a zero sum game, and Hamas is currently poised to win big and politically conquer the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ministers Lieberman, Bennett, and the rest would actually welcome a Hamas victory, in contrast to the PA president. As far as they're concerned, Abbas' fall would be an opportunity to keep the campaign of fear mongering the Israeli public going. After all, "Hamas and ISIS are the same." This victory would be another justification of the "we have no partner for peace" mantra that's been serving them well for so long. The PA president still has time to climb off his high horse. If he desires the good of his people, he should find reasons to stifle Hamas' attempts at "democracy" and cancel these upcoming elections – or at least postpone them to an unspecified date. He shouldn't have a hard time finding cause for such a move: A Hamas victory would harm the few connections Israel and the PA still have, as well as the PA's relationships with the more moderate elements of the Arab world. It would also strike a blow against the Palestinians' image as victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which would force Abbas to push out the municipal victors from Hamas anyway. He'd be better served stopping this mess from happening in the first place.
**Dr. Ronni Shaked is a researcher at the the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Look Who Is Gutting the First Amendment!
Johanna Markind/ Gatestone Institute/August 26/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8753/aba-first-amendment
The [American Bar Association] wants to do exactly what the text calls for: limit lawyers' expression of viewpoints that it disapproves of. ... state courts and state bars should resist the pressure to adopt it." — Eugene Volokh, UCLA law professor and Washington Post columnist.
The language of Resolution 109 is "so broad it could mean anything... a kind of a speech code that restricts perfectly acceptable speech... anything you say might offend someone and therefore you can be punished for it." — Ilya Shapiro, Cato Institute.
The ABA declined to answer questions for this article, as did the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU, which calls itself "our nation's guardian of liberty," and touts itself as fighting for "your right... to speak out – for or against – anything at all," has not issued any statements or press releases about the model rule revision.
The struggle between free speech and speech codes that are intended to prevent harassment and discrimination appears set to leap from college campuses to law offices around the United States.
On August 8, 2016, the American Bar Association (ABA) approved resolution 109, which curtails freedom of speech. The approved resolution amended its model rule of professional conduct 8.4. It prohibits
"conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or socioeconomic status in conduct related to the practice of law."
The official comment explains:
"discrimination includes harmful verbal or physical conduct that manifests bias or prejudice towards others. Harassment includes sexual harassment and derogatory or demeaning verbal or physical conduct."
The model rule is non-binding, but has potentially great influence on professional conduct rules that state courts require lawyers to follow. Should state courts adopt the change, lawyers found to violate it could be sanctioned and possibly disbarred. Because professional rules are legally binding on lawyers, the prospect that states may regulate "verbal conduct" implicates First Amendment concerns.
The ABA declined to answer questions for this article, as did the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU, which calls itself "our nation's guardian of liberty," and touts itself as fighting for "your right... to speak out – for or against – anything at all," has not issued any statements or press releases about the model rule revision.
Ilya Shapiro, Cato Institute's senior fellow in constitutional studies and editor-in-chief of Cato's Supreme Court Review, views the ABA resolution as "a kind of a speech code that restricts perfectly acceptable speech. It's like safe spaces on college campuses, where anything you say might offend someone and therefore you can be punished for it."
Many American colleges, motivated at least partly by a desire to protect members of growing minority populations on campus, have adopted speech codes. The codes have arguably fostered a culture chilling free speech, enabling people who claim offense to shut down dissenting voices. The past two years, for example, have witnessed members of a student government impeached for wearing mini-sombreros to a tequila-themed party, a college master hounded into resigning for publicly disagreeing with a college's cautionary note not to don offensive Halloween costumes, and a professor accused of racism and pressured into taking a sabbatical for supporting the state of Israel's fight against a recognized terrorist organization.
Paul Kazaras, assistant executive director and staff counsel to the professional guidance commission of the Philadelphia Bar Association, agrees that college speech codes are problematic, but says:
"I think this [ABA resolution] is something fundamentally different. We are talking about a profession having ethical rules that already restrict lawyers, and what's more, Pennsylvania's Constitution gives its Supreme Court the authority to regulate the practice of law. There needs to be a way to make sure lawyers act ethically."
Kazaras believes the change is needed to address bias that is still pervasive in some places, which has "no place in a professional world." By adding an affirmative duty to lawyers' ethical obligations, Kazaras says, junior lawyers and other law office employees have a needed tool to cope with special hardships they face in rectifying harassment. According to Kazaras,
"In most workplaces, if a senior manager harasses someone below him/her, the victim can complain through HR [human resources]. HR will then approach the manager and explain, 'You can't do this anymore.' That doesn't fit within law firm culture. It's hard for a woman, person of color, person with disabilities, etc., to say, 'You can't treat me that way.'"
Laws already exist regulating the work environment, Kazaras notes, and adds, "I think compliance with the new ethics rule should in fact lower the instances of litigation by employees against law firms, and that is a good thing."
Ilya Shapiro acknowledges that lawyers are already restricted by special rules -- for instance, rules limiting lawyers' speech by requiring them to be courteous to opposing counsel and parties -- but believes the proposed model rule change "goes far beyond any existing ethical guidelines. I think it's a much bigger step" than existing rules, says Shapiro, "like boiling a frog."
Shapiro believes the revision also "goes far beyond existing employment laws barring harassment." Workplace harassment, Shapiro explains, "is limited to conduct so offensive and pervasive that it creates a hostile work environment." By contrast, the language of Resolution 109 is "so broad it could mean anything." If someone believes he or she is being harassed, Shapiro argues, that person might be able to make a colorable claim under the model rule.
Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who authors a Washington Post column on free speech issues, has written that the new model rule is significantly broader than existing workplace harassment laws, both in terms of what statements are covered, and in what settings they may be prohibited. For example, he fears that a lawyer presenting at a continuing legal education (CLE) program, who makes a statement critical of, say, homosexuals or Muslims in the course of the program, may thereby violate professional rules based on the new ABA guideline.
Kazaras, a longtime ethics consultant for the Philadelphia Bar Association, doubts statements made for the purpose of instruction during a CLE program could lead to liability.
Regardless of how that particular issue plays out, Volokh infers from the fact that the ABA moved ahead and adopted the new model rule, despite the many objections raised, "that the ABA wants to do exactly what the text calls for: limit lawyers' expression of viewpoints that it disapproves of." State courts and state bars, Volokh writes, "should resist the pressure to adopt it."
**Johanna Markind is an attorney who writes about public policy and criminal justice.
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Analysis: PM-Putin tango doesn’t replace US-Israel romance
Herb Keinon/Jerusalem Post/August 26/16
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sudden hyperactivity in the Middle East is turning him into a regional Energizer Bunny.
His hands are everywhere: one day he’s reconciling with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the next he’s bombing targets in Syria from bases in Iran. One day he’s telling Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that he wants to host Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the next he’s talking to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about that very idea.
The Kremlin put out a two-sentence statement on Wednesday saying that Netanyahu called Putin to discuss the diplomatic process and regional issues. The Prime Minister’s Office made no mention of the call.
And this was not the first time. In fact, there is a pattern developing here. Every few weeks the Israeli public learns of a phone call their leader had with the Russian president not via a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, but rather because the Kremlin announced the call.
Moscow, it seems, is keen on underlying these regular contacts, while Jerusalem does not want to cast a spotlight on them. And there is a reason for both courses of action.
Russia is eager to signal to everyone that it is now a key player in the region with good ties and open communications with everyone, from the Iranians to the Israelis, the Syrians to the Egyptians.
And Jerusalem is not keen on highlighting the frequency of the calls because it does not want to create the wrong impression regarding the nature of its relationship with Moscow.
Yes, Netanyahu has met face-to-face with Putin four times since last September, contrasted with only one meeting he has had during this same period with US President Barack Obama.
And, yes, Netanyahu speaks by phone more with the Russian leader than he does with the American president.
But don’t conclude from the frequency of that personal contact that Israel is cozying up to Putin because of tense ties between Obama and Netanyahu, or that Jerusalem is casting its eyes toward a Russia looking to become more involved in the Middle East, rather than an America eager to distance itself from the troubled region.
Israel, as Netanyahu says in private meetings, is looking to form new relationships all over the world: in Africa, with as many countries as possible; in Asia, with the Chinese, Japanese and Indians; and in South America, with Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay. It is not looking to replace America with these relationships, but rather to augment its own position in the world by diversifying its relationships.
“We are diversifying our alliances,” Netanyahu said recently in a private meeting.
“Not as a replacement to our alliance with the US, but as an addition.”
Nowhere is this more true than with the relationship with Russia. Like it or not, Russia in now a very muscular force in the region, militarily involved right on Israel’s front porch in Syria.
That presence there demands constant consultation between Netanyahu and Putin to ensure that there are no “accidents” between Israeli and Russian forces.
The deconfliction mechanism set up in September to ensure that Israeli and Russian pilots do not inadvertently shoot each other down over Syrian skies needs to be maintained. Close consultation is essential.
But that type of consultation – even if held often at the very top levels – comes nowhere near the type of intimate cooperation and consultation that exists, at all levels, between Washington and Jerusalem. In fact, it doesn’t even compare.