LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 28/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.august28.16.htm
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Bible Quotations For Today
The Parable of the Judge Who Neither
Feared God Nor Had Respect for People and The Perseverant & Strong will Widow
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 18/01-08/:"Jesus told them a
parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a
certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for
people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant
me justice against my opponent."For a while he refused; but later he said to
himself, "Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because
this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not
wear me out by continually coming." ’
And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant
justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in
helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when
the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’
No one can tame the tongue a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we
bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the
likeness of God.
Letter of James 03/01-12/:"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers
and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater
strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in
speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we
put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole
bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to
drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the
pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great
exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a
fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains
the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by
hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be
tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue a
restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and
with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth
come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water?
Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No
more can salt water yield fresh."ad."
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials
from miscellaneous sources published on August 27-28/16
Deceptive Leaders/Samir Atallah/Asharq
Al Awsat/August 27/16
Obama Administration's Pro-Islamist
Foreign Policy/Slater Bakhtavar/Family SEcurity Matters/August 27/16
Israel and the Alliance of the Imperiled/Ethan Seletsky/The Jewish
Advocate/August 27/16
Europe: The Substitution of a Population/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone
Institute/August 27/16
Two Opposing Views of the Islamist Threat/Daniel Pipes/Cross-posted from
National Review Online, The Corner/August 27/16
Iran's Aggressive Naval Intercepts Serve Foreign and Domestic Purposes/Farzin
Nadimi/The Washington Institute/August 27/16
Vocal Europe: Iranian Leadership Holding the World to Ransom/Struan Stevenson/NCRI/August
27/16
A junkyard brawl, a retreat and a calamity/Hisham Melhem/Al ARabiya/August 27/16
How many chemical attacks will Assad get away with/Brooklyn Middleton/Al ARabiya/August
27/16
Burkini ban is the culture war desired by extremists on both sides/Dr. Azeem
Ibrahim/Al ARabiya/August 27/16
For sustainable development, look at the faces not numbers/Ehtesham Shahid/Al
ARabiya/August 27/16
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on
August 27-28/16
Qahwaji: No Major Security
Breaches, Military Institution Immune to Disputes
Berri: FPM Ministers Wise Enough not to Resign from Cabinet
Khalil: Truthful Intentions Will Facilitate Budget Approval
UNIFIL Head of Mission Hosts Local Authorities and Religious Leaders
Ibrahim on General Security anniversary: Our mission has always been to protect
Lebanese entity
Kataeb, civil activists to form emergency committee over Bourj Hammoud waste
dump
Bassil urges top leaders to promote for citizenship reclaim
Mashnouq in front of Democratic Elections Association: For holding parliamentary
elections on schedule
Foreign Ministry offers condolences on Italy's earthquake victims
Palestinian of Bilal Badr Group in Ain Helwe hands himself over to Amry
Intelligence
Yaziji begins a visit to Cyprus
Security Forces: Captagon smuggler arrested in Bekaa
Pharaoun: maintaining government, dialogue leads to cabinet's success
Old bomb found in Baalbeck river watercourse
Aoun , Mrad discuss national, regional developments
Hajj Hassan: Oil, gas sectors key solution to economic crisis
Jreij honored in Jordan Arab Media festival
Deceptive Leaders
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
August 27-28/16
Pledging allegiance to ISIL like
pledging allegiance to the devil, judge says of convicted Ottawa terror trio
US seeks to soothe ties with Turkey
Barrel Bombs Kill at Least 15 Civilians in Syria's Aleppo
Fighters Evacuated from Besieged Syria Town Reach Rebel City
UN demands answers on 48-hour Aleppo ceasefire by Sunday
Turkey Sends More Tanks into Syria after IS-Held Town Capture
U.N. Council Condemns N.Korea Missile Launches, Vows New Measures
Kurdish-led Syrian Forces Report Turkish Air Raids on Bases
Tunisia Parliament Approves New Unity Government
Egypt Court Orders Release of Lawyer who Defied President
This morning 12 individuals were executed by Iran regime
Ensuing her heroic resistance and Iran regime’s fear of public unrest, Sahar
Beheshti was released.
IRAN, URGENT: The fate of Sahar Beheshti still unknown
Iranian commander accuses Western diplomats of spying for ISIS
Death penalty failing to deter drug trafficking in Iran
Links From Jihad Watch Site for
on August 27-28/16
Canada jihadi: Police “scared. Because they know what our
religion says about killing and stuff.”
Iran expands jihad terror network in Latin America, using embassies as
intelligence centers
Australia: Muslim who screamed “Allahu akbar” as he killed woman said he wanted
to “kill everybody”
Oklahoma: Muslim charged in terrorism hoax after sending white powder to mosque
Mali: Muslim pleads guilty to destroying cultural sites in Timbuktu
Survivor of Minnesota bridge collapse used settlement money to finance trip to
Islamic State
France: Israeli soccer fans greeted with Palestinian flags, Israeli flags banned
UK: Five Muslims arrested on terror charges, bomb disposal team called in
US lost track of hundreds of thousands of weapons given out in Iraq and
Afghanistan
Afghan President: Jihad attack at American University in Kabul orchestrated from
Pakistan
Immigration fraud: Muslim Minnesota House candidate married her brother; no
investigation
Soros bought favorable coverage of Iran deal and “Islamophobia”
smears, aided anti-Israel groups
on August 27-28/16
Qahwaji: No Major Security Breaches,
Military Institution Immune to Disputes
Naharnet/August 27/16/Army Commander Chief General Jean Qahwaji said on Saturday
that the security situation is “relatively” calm in Lebanon as he expressed
confidence that it is under control, As Safir daily reported. “The relative calm
does not negate the potentials for security breaches,” Qahwaji told the daily in
an interview, “but those will not be great breaches,” he added. “The army, with
all their means and capabilities, will always be on the lookout for terrorists.
We will not tolerate them but at the same time will choose the right time and
place to nail them down,” Qahwaji pointed out. He expressed satisfaction with
the popular “incubating” environment of the Lebanese army and its operations
against terrorism starting from the northern region of Akkar to Naqoura in the
south, passing through the capital, Sidon, Bekaa and Mount Lebanon. He stressed
that protecting the border and internal stability are a priority for the army
institution. On the thorny issue of military appointments and the political
differences over the term extension of security officials, he said: “the
military is immune to political bickering. The military institution is at its
best.”
Berri: FPM Ministers Wise
Enough not to Resign from Cabinet
Naharnet/August 27/16/Speaker Nabih Berri expressed certainty on Saturday that
ministers of the Free Patriotic Movement will not resign from the cabinet
because they are “wise enough” to realize that the country is passing through a
critical stage that requires preserving the government, al-Akhbar daily
reported. “The FPM (ministers) have not lost their wisdom to the point of
resigning from the cabinet. They are still aware of the seriousness of the
current stage and the need to preserve the government,” Berri told the daily in
an interview. When I prevent the fall of the government and support its
survival, I would be protecting the FPM from themselves and protecting Lebanon
in light of the difficult regional circumstances,” he added. Berri pointed out
that the FPM will reap no benefits from boycotting the cabinet sessions.
Ministers of the FPM boycotted the latest cabinet meeting linking their move to
the thorny issue of military appointments. 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. “Extending the term of Qahwaji
seems to be sole the option for all political blocs, including Hizbullah…had the
appointment of a successor been possible, Hizbullah would have supported its
ally, Aoun, in appointing an alternative. As long as appointing an substitute is
not possible, then Hizbullah will not trigger a problem in the country in vain,”
added Berri. “We have done what we can to respect the FPM…in light of the
insistence of Prime Minster Tammam Salam to hold the meeting and the counter
demands of the FPM to postpone it, the government has therefore refrained from
discussing controversial issues,” although there are a number of important
issues that should have been discussed.
Khalil: Truthful Intentions
Will Facilitate Budget Approval
Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said that Lebanon’s state budget, which he
referred a day earlier to the cabinet, will be approved by the government if the
intentions of political factions were truthful, al-Joumhouria daily reported on
Saturday. “I referred the state budget for the year 2017 to the cabinet within
the constitutional due date, that is before August 30, to pave way for
discussions and hence its referral to the parliament before the normal
legislative session opens in October,” Khalil told the daily in an interview.
“If the intentions inside the cabinet were sincere, then all political parties
must shoulder the responsibility and approve it before the due date,” he added.
“It would be an unprecedented step in Lebanon’s history,” Khalil remarked. The
Minister referred the state budget to the cabinet on Friday. Due to conflicts
between the rival political parties, Lebanon has not approved a state budget
since 2005 and its public debt has amounted to around $70 billion.
UNIFIL Head of Mission Hosts
Local Authorities and Religious Leaders
Naharnet/August 27/16/UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major-General
Michael Beary on Saturday hosted local authorities, religious leaders and
Lebanese Armed Forces representatives from south Lebanon at the UNIFIL
Headquarters in Naqoura to convey his profound appreciation for their strong
support and to discuss issues of common concern to UNIFIL and the local
communities, a UNIFIL press release said. Beary expressed his gratitude to the
leaders for their continued cooperation and friendship they have unwaveringly
demonstrated to UNIFIL peacekeepers and to the mandate of the Mission. “Your
cooperation is paramount to UNIFIL and it is vital for the implementation of
Resolution 1701,” he said. “I assure you that your hospitality and support are
very significant elements in UNIFIL’s success.” “I am aware of the great needs
the people of south Lebanon have and UNIFIL does its best to address some of
these through different means, within its mandate,” he added. “I pledge to
continue working with the Lebanese Armed Forces in order to maintain a safe and
stable environment, in which the people of south Lebanon can grow more
prosperous. I will also spare no effort in personally reaching out to you, on
bilateral meetings or in occasions we might have to discuss our common goals
and, hopefully, to celebrate our many achievements.”LAF South Litani Sector
Commander Brigadier-General Charbel Abou Khalil and the Mufti of Tyre and Jabal
Amel Sheikh Hassan Abdallah also addressed the ceremony respectively on behalf
of the Lebanese Army, local community and religious leaders. In their speeches,
they strongly emphasized their heartfelt appreciation for the work carried out
by UNIFIL in support of the local communities and in preserving stability in
south Lebanon. UNIFIL currently has over 10,000 peacekeepers from 40 troop
contributing countries. Since 1978, UNIFIL has shown a strong humanitarian
disposition that has been demonstrated on a daily basis. So far in 2016, UNIFIL
has undertaken several thousand CIMIC (Civil-Military Co-operation) and Civil
Affairs initiatives aimed at improving the living conditions of the people of
south Lebanon. The Mission has carried out an average of around 400 activities
per day between patrolling in close coordination with the LAF and assistance to
local communities. In 2016, the Mission has provided free medical, dental,
veterinary assistance in large numbers. Over 20,000 people have been treated by
UNIFIL doctors and dentists. UNIFIL veterinaries have taken care of around
35,000 herds throughout the area of operations.
Ibrahim on General Security
anniversary: Our mission has always been to protect Lebanese entity
Sat 27 Aug 2016/NNA - General Security - General Director, General Brigadier
Abbas Ibrahim said on Saturday that the General Security has always been
contributing to the progress of the state and to the protection of its
democratic parliamentary system, stressing "our main mission was, is and will
always be to protect the Lebanese entity." Ibrahim's words came during a
symbolic celebration held today under his chairmanship at the General
Directorate headquarters to mark 71st anniversary of the General Security in the
presence of a number of officers. "We have decided this year to make the Day's
motto: Lebanon will stay and terrorism will be defeated," Ibrahim said ,
stressing the need to have the diversified Lebanon prevail amid suspicious
settlements on the account of the geography and the entities."Addressing the
attendees, Ibrahim said , "your mission is to preserve Lebanon and defeat
Israeli and Takfiri terrorism without being affected by circumstantial political
polarizations which fill the Lebanese atmosphere due to presidential vacuum and
constitutional paralyses."He confirmed that the successes of the General
Security - General Directorate are Lebanon's in all its components, stressing
that "their (the General security members ) loyalty is only to the capable
strong and fair state."
Kataeb, civil activists to
form emergency committee over Bourj Hammoud waste dump
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - A meeting was held at the sit-in tent in front of Bourj
Hammoud waste dump on Friday, upon the invitation of Kataeb party, to discuss
the measures that should be adopted to end the trash crisis in the locality.
Civil Society activists and locals joined the meeting, during which conferees
agreed to form an emergency committee that would start meeting as of next
Monday.
Bassil urges top leaders to
promote for citizenship reclaim
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil dispatched a memo on Friday
to the Lebanese spiritual and parties' leaders, as well as to the diplomatic
missions abroad, hereby calling for promoting for his Ministry's campaign on
citizenship reclaim. In the memo, Bassil wished "everybody's participation in
promoting for this campaign, by giving required instructions to the officials
abroad," reminding those of Lebanese origins to apply for nationality
restitution before 24/11/2025. "The Foreign Ministry launched an electronic
website (www.lebanity.gov.lb; www.lebano.gov.lb) in Arabic, French, English,
Portuguese, and Spanish, devoted to those of Lebanese origins, in order to
facilitate their registration and application," the memo indicated.
Mashnouq in front of
Democratic Elections Association: For holding parliamentary elections on
schedule
Fri 26 Aug 2016/NNA - Interior and Municipalities Minister, Nuhad Mashnouq, met
at his ministerial office with a delegation of the "Lebanese Association for
Democratic Elections", led by Association President Zeina el-Helo. Minister
Mashnouq stressed before the delegation the holding of upcoming parliamentary
elections as scheduled, pointing out that the Ministry counts on the
accomplishment of recent municipal elections last May for the sake of holding
forthcoming parliamentary elections, with the most favorable terms which would
ensure promotion of freedom of expression, respect of voters' choices and
supporting democracy in Lebanon. Mashnouq underlined "the importance of
cooperation with the civil society associations concerned with the elections,"
saying that he has given directives to the Ministry officials "to strengthen
communication with all these associations in the framework of preparations for
the upcoming elections."
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.
Palestinian of Bilal Badr
Group in Ain Helwe hands himself over to Amry Intelligence
Sat 27 Aug 2016/NNA - Palestinian Hussein Mohamad Hamdan of the Bilal Badr group
in Ain el-Helwe Refugee Camp handed himself over to the Army Intelligence in the
South, NNA correspondent reported on Saturday.
Yaziji begins a visit to
Cyprus
Sat 27 Aug 2016/NNA - Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and the Levant, Yuhanna X
Yaziji, arrived in Cyprus on Saturday heading an ecclesiastical delegation, upon
an invitation by Cypriot Archbishop Chrysostomos II. Yaziji began his visit by
meeting with Chrysostomos at the headquarters of the Archbishopric in Nicosia,
in presence of several bishops. In a press conference following the encounter,
Patriarch Yaziji said the visit was "proof of the strong relations shared
between the two countries.""The visit of the Archbishop of Cyprus to the Church
of Antioch and Damascus, in particular, was of great significance in wake of the
Syrian events," he added. The Patriarch is expected to preside over a Mass
service with the participation of a group of Orthodox youth from various
countries of the Middle East. Yaziji will also meet President Nicos Anastasiades
and visit a number of monasteries.
Security Forces: Captagon
smuggler arrested in Bekaa
Sat 27 Aug 2016/NNA - Central drug fighting Bureau at the Judicial Police Unit
arrested in coordination with concerned Security Forces in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia at the Bekaa region the Lebanese R.D born in 1977 while smuggling big
amounts of captagon tablets to the Gulf countries in unprecedented methods,
Interior Security Forces - General Directorate, Public Relations Branch said in
a communiqué issued on Saturday. The communiqué added that the K.S.A.
authorities have confiscated lately a big amount of captagon pills (600,000
pills) inside a truck body which the detained sent to the Kingdom.
Investigations are ongoing under the supervision of concerned judiciary to
detain all involved persons.
Pharaoun: maintaining
government, dialogue leads to cabinet's success
Sat 27 Aug 2016/NNA - Minister of Tourism, Michel Pharaoun, stressed on Saturday
the need to maintain the government and to keep dialogue ongoing in order to
achieve success in cabinet sessions. The minister underscored during his
patronage to the opening of Barouk Tourism Festival's the importance to elect a
new president and to agree over a new electoral law. "I praise the work of the
army and the security forces in preserving security and stability in the
country," he concluded.
Old bomb found in Baalbeck
river watercourse
Sat 27 Aug 2016 /NNA - Some of Baalbeck municipality employees found a grenade
in Baalbeck river watercourse while cleaning it, NNA correspondent reported on
Saturday. The field reporter added that the bomb was found in the river waterway
off Sun Tower building in the down town. Security forces and Military expert
attended the place and checked the bomb which was found to be an old one.
Aoun , Mrad discuss national,
regional developments
Sat 27 Aug 2016/NNA - "Change and Reform" parliamentary bloc head MP General
Michel Aoun welcomed on Saturday at his Rabieh residence Former Minister Abdel
Rahim Mrad with discussions reportedly featuring high on Lebanese and regional
affairs, especially current situation. In the wake of the meeting, Mrad hoped
the dialogue table would seek to approve a fair parliamentary electoral law, as
MP Michel Aoun said , provided that it adopts proportionality --whether in one
or many electoral circles-- to have equality among all citizens.Mrad added that
they also discussed the need to elect a new president to end the suffering that
the country is passing through due to the power void situation.
Hajj Hassan: Oil, gas sectors
key solution to economic crisis
Sat 27 Aug 2016/NNA - Minister of Industry, Hussein Hajj Hassan considered that
the key solution for the current economic crisis is to invest in oil and gas
sectors, adding that the U.S. pressures in this context for Israel's sake and
contributes in delaying this matter. Hussein Hajj Hassan's words came during
graduation ceremony for CNAM students in Baalbek. The main problem that
Lebanon's economy is facing is the absence of a clear economy policy set by the
government while spending is based on debt a fact that represents the
government's failure, Hajj Hassan added. Hajj Hassan concluded by saying that
the Trade deficit amounts to 30% of the total Lebanese gross domestic
production, accusing the government of being careless in dealing with this
matter.
Jreij honored in Jordan Arab
Media festival
Sat 27 Aug 2016/NNA - Minister of Information Ramzi Jreij has been honored
during the Arab Media festival in Jordan - Amman in confirmation on "the
Lebanese efficient and effective role amid current delicate circumstances which
the Arab world and the region are confronting." Rola Badr received on behalf of
Jreij the honorary shield from the Jordanian Media committee head Amjad Al-Kadi
and the General Director of the Jordanian Saudi Company for Satellite
broadcasting Ziad Khodr. It is worth to note that "Jordan Festival of Arab Media
3" was opened on 21 August and lasted till 26 August 2016 under the patronage of
the Arab League and Princess Rim Ali. The festival included seminars and
lectures which discussed the Arab Media challenges including Tourism issues and
the impact of technology on the Media content. The festival concluded the works
of its third session on Friday at Crown Plaza hotel in Amman by honoring
Information Minister Ramzi Jreij represented by Rola Badr.
Deceptive Leaders
Samir Atallah/Asharq Al Awsat/August 27/16
In the west disgrace afflicts those who deceive their own people, not those who
are defeated. The Chilcot report on the Iraq war does not condemn Tony Blair
because he lost the war, but rather because he, along with George W. Bush, was
involved in one of the worst examples of deception in history. The report was
issued sixty years after Anthony Eden was defeated and met his political end in
the Suez War. Eden was defeated because he lied to his people and his most
important ally, America. The tripartite aggression against Egypt was planned so
that Israel would attack and then Britain and France would interfere under the
pretext of resolving the conflict between the two countries, eventually removing
Gamal Abdel Nasser from power.
US President Eisenhower was the first to be alarmed and said “Bombs, by God.
What does Anthony think he’s doing? Why would he do that to me?” Eisenhower had
warned Eden of using force because it would support the position of the Soviet
Union in the Cold War. It was only after Eisenhower warned Eden and told him
that he would not help him with money and oil that he began to withdraw from the
adventure and ordered his troops to quickly withdraw in a humiliating way.
Ownership of the Suez Canal then returned to the Egyptian government.
The defeat of Israel, the United Kingdom and France in Suez led to the
strengthening of Abdel Nasser’s position, marked the beginning of the decline of
the European colonial period as a whole and led to the rise of Soviet influence
in the Arab and third worlds.
When military aggression against Iraq was decided on, there was not a man of
Eisenhower’s balance in the White House. Rather, the president was a a deceitful
one.
The Chilcot report is neither sufficient nor satisfactory, but it fulfils a
legal obligation that states must undertake irrespective of whether there has
been a change in governments or time has passed. Despite the report that was
produced by the inquiry into the death of John F. Kennedy not solving anything,
it is still the only authorised document according to America. What is important
here is that Tony Blair, Anthony Eden and Guy Mollet have been convicted not
only in the history of our peoples, but more importantly in the history of their
peoples.
An official report on the reasons for the setback of 1967 has not been issued
despite there being a thousand official narrations. There are hundreds of
personal testimonies and certificates but no responsibility has been taken.
There are a thousand explanations for the earthquake that shook the roots and
trunks of the Arab conscience and consciousness, but there was not a single
committee that held anyone accountable. Therefore, writing Arab history will
remain impossible.
Latest LCCC
Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
on August 27-28/16
Pledging allegiance to ISIL like
pledging allegiance to the devil, judge says of convicted Ottawa terror trio
Gary Dimmock, Ottawa
Citizen/August 26, 2016
The dark and rapid descent into Islamist extremism for three young Ottawa men
who plotted to leave the country to fight for the Islamic State ended on Friday
with the homegrown terrorists pleading guilty to crimes inspired by an
organization the sentencing judge likened to the devil.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Colin McKinnon, in handing down sentences for the
surprise guilty pleas, said homegrown terrorism is a virulent form of cancer
that needs to be aggressively eradicated, and that the terrorist plans of the
three men were a betrayal of the teachings of Islam.
“It is now hoped that they learn the error of their ways and the utter futility
of pursuing jihadist terrorist causes, which constitutes a one-way street to
inevitable disaster,” the judge told court. McKinnon said pledging allegiance to
the Islamic State is like pledging allegiance to the devil.
Ashton Larmond, the 25-year-old “director” of Ottawa’s cluster network, seemed
the most confident in the prisoner’s box, standing up straight away, saying he
takes full responsibility, that he’ll learn from his mistakes and that it will
never happen again.
Larmond, clean-cut and wearing a suit, was sentenced to 17 years for instructing
a person to carry out a terrorist activity. When he walked out of Court Room 30,
he smiled and waved to friends in the gallery, then shook his lawyer’s hand
firmly. Joseph Addelman wished him good luck.
Addelman told Postmedia that the sentence reflects Larmond’s degree of
responsibility, and his guilty plea allowed his followers, twin brother Carlos
Larmond and Suliman Mohamed, 23, to get more favourable sentences. Carlos
Larmond and Mohamed were each sentenced to seven years.
Carlos Larmond was arrested in January 2015 at a Montreal airport as he was
boarding a flight overseas with plans of joining ISIL. He sold his belongings on
the Internet before taking a train from Ottawa to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau
International Airport. His descent into extremism was quick and came at the
behest of his dominant twin brother. In RCMP wiretaps, Carlos expressed hatred
for Imams who preach modern Islam. He said they’re worse than infidels because
they tell Muslims to sharpen pencils instead of knives.
Ashton Larmond gave up his street life in Vanier in 2011 when he converted to
Islam. He went from ecstasy parties and hip hop to studying an extreme form of
Islam, and when his passport was revoked days before a scheduled flight overseas
to join ISIL, he grew increasingly frustrated and instead spent his time
recruiting others — including and unbeknownst to him, an undercover RCMP agent.
The RCMP’s case against the three men involved wiretap and informant-provided
body-wire evidence. That evidence revealed, in particular, disturbing thoughts
and plans by the Ottawa network’s director, Ashton Larmond:
On the day Michael Zehaf-Bibeau unleashed homegrown Islamist terrorism in Ottawa
on Oct 22. 2014, Ashton Larmond said he had bigger plans for his jihadist crew,
saying a better strike on soldiers would be to storm Fort Bragg in a cement
truck loaded with enough assault rifles and explosives to wage a three-day war
against U.S. troops.
After seeing a soldier at Tim Hortons, he said he wanted to slit his throat.
He is heard telling his twin brother how the attack in a Sydney, Australia, café
should have gone down: “You take the head off one of them, then you’re in
control.”
He tells his twin brother that he knows the police are “afraid of them .. they
know our religion very well, this is why they’re scared. Because they know what
our religion says about killing and stuff.”
He met the undercover police agent in the parking lot of an Ottawa mosque to
give him $1,300 in an envelope to book a flight overseas to join ISIL.
Mohamed was the only terrorist who showed emotion in the prisoner’s box, and
when asked if he wanted to say anything in court, he wiped away tears as he read
a handwritten statement. It was written in pencil and Mohamed’s hands shook as
he read.
“It is something I am not proud of and I would like to make amends. My time in
custody has reminded me of my Canadian values and who I really am. It has shown
me that I do not agree with extremism in any way,” Mohamed told court.
The dark and rapid descent into Islamist extremism for three young Ottawa men
who plotted to leave the country to fight for the Islamic State ended on Friday
with the homegrown terrorists pleading guilty to crimes inspired by an
organization the sentencing judge likened to the devil.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Colin McKinnon, in handing down sentences for the
surprise guilty pleas, said homegrown terrorism is a virulent form of cancer
that needs to be aggressively eradicated, and that the terrorist plans of the
three men were a betrayal of the teachings of Islam.
“It is now hoped that they learn the error of their ways and the utter futility
of pursuing jihadist terrorist causes, which constitutes a one-way street to
inevitable disaster,” the judge told court. McKinnon said pledging allegiance to
the Islamic State is like pledging allegiance to the devil.
Ashton Larmond, the 25-year-old “director” of Ottawa’s cluster network, seemed
the most confident in the prisoner’s box, standing up straight away, saying he
takes full responsibility, that he’ll learn from his mistakes and that it will
never happen again.
Larmond, clean-cut and wearing a suit, was sentenced to 17 years for instructing
a person to carry out a terrorist activity. When he walked out of Court Room 30,
he smiled and waved to friends in the gallery, then shook his lawyer’s hand
firmly. Joseph Addelman wished him good luck.
Addelman told Postmedia that the sentence reflects Larmond’s degree of
responsibility, and his guilty plea allowed his followers, twin brother Carlos
Larmond and Suliman Mohamed, 23, to get more favourable sentences. Carlos
Larmond and Mohamed were each sentenced to seven years.
Carlos Larmond was arrested in January 2015 at a Montreal airport as he was
boarding a flight overseas with plans of joining ISIL. He sold his belongings on
the Internet before taking a train from Ottawa to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau
International Airport. His descent into extremism was quick and came at the
behest of his dominant twin brother. In RCMP wiretaps, Carlos expressed hatred
for Imams who preach modern Islam. He said they’re worse than infidels because
they tell Muslims to sharpen pencils instead of knives.
Ashton Larmond gave up his street life in Vanier in 2011 when he converted to
Islam. He went from ecstasy parties and hip hop to studying an extreme form of
Islam, and when his passport was revoked days before a scheduled flight overseas
to join ISIL, he grew increasingly frustrated and instead spent his time
recruiting others — including and unbeknownst to him, an undercover RCMP agent.
The RCMP’s case against the three men involved wiretap and informant-provided
body-wire evidence. That evidence revealed, in particular, disturbing thoughts
and plans by the Ottawa network’s director, Ashton Larmond:
On the day Michael Zehaf-Bibeau unleashed homegrown Islamist terrorism in Ottawa
on Oct 22. 2014, Ashton Larmond said he had bigger plans for his jihadist crew,
saying a better strike on soldiers would be to storm Fort Bragg in a cement
truck loaded with enough assault rifles and explosives to wage a three-day war
against U.S. troops.
After seeing a soldier at Tim Hortons, he said he wanted to slit his throat.
He is heard telling his twin brother how the attack in a Sydney, Australia, café
should have gone down: “You take the head off one of them, then you’re in
control.”
He tells his twin brother that he knows the police are “afraid of them .. they
know our religion very well, this is why they’re scared. Because they know what
our religion says about killing and stuff.”
He met the undercover police agent in the parking lot of an Ottawa mosque to
give him $1,300 in an envelope to book a flight overseas to join ISIL.
Mohamed was the only terrorist who showed emotion in the prisoner’s box, and
when asked if he wanted to say anything in court, he wiped away tears as he read
a handwritten statement. It was written in pencil and Mohamed’s hands shook as
he read.
“It is something I am not proud of and I would like to make amends. My time in
custody has reminded me of my Canadian values and who I really am. It has shown
me that I do not agree with extremism in any way,” Mohamed told court.
He denounced extremism and said he hopes to come out of prison a better person….
In the RCMP interview, Ashton Larmond said he’d never harm a Canadian citizen or
anyone else because that would be against Islam.
Plus, he told them: “I’m not an idiot like the Toronto 18 guys.”
US seeks to soothe ties with Turkey
Reuters, Istanbul Saturday, 27 August 2016/The last time US Vice President Joe
Biden flew to Turkey, in January, he had a stern message for President Tayyip
Erdogan: his model of Islamic democracy was setting a bad example by
intimidating media and threatening academics.
But his tone was markedly different when he arrived in Ankara on Wednesday,
weeks after a failed coup in Turkey that has strained relations between the two
countries, and he appeared to be in diplomatic damage-limitation mode. Turkish
officials have been incensed by the concerns expressed by Washington and
European capitals about Ankara’s subsequent crackdown on suspected plotters, but
what they perceive as indifference to the coup attempt itself. A weakening of
the US-Turkish alliance is a concern for the United States, which is counting on
support from Turkey - which has NATO’s second-biggest military - in the battle
against ISIS. American worries may have been compounded by Erdogan restoring
ties with Russia and even discussing military cooperation with President
Vladimir Putin. Meeting with Erdogan and Turkey’s prime minister in Ankara on
Wednesday, Biden delivered a message of alliance and conciliation. “Let me say
it for one last time: The American people stand with you ... Barack Obama was
one of the first people you called. But I do apologize. I wish I could have been
here earlier,” Biden said. He said US officials would cooperate in investigating
evidence against Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric Erdogan has blamed for
masterminding the coup bid with his followers. Erdogan has demanded that
Washington hand over Gulen, who has denied any involvement in the coup, but US
authorities have said Turkey must first provide evidence of his wrongdoing.
Syrian offensive
Hours before Biden arrived, in a timely illustration of the role Turkey plays in
the fight against ISIS, Turkish forces backed by US-led coalition jets launched
a major push across the border into northern Syria to drive the extremist group
out of the frontier town of Jarablus. Former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO,
Admiral James Stavridis, said the key to US ties with Turkey was balancing
realist and idealist tensions, between the need for a strong, regional NATO ally
and drawing attention to human rights. “The vice president’s visit is an effort
to find the right setting on the dial, and will somewhat disappoint those who
want a more black-and-white stance on human rights,” said Stavridis, now dean at
the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. “But given the huge
geopolitical issues at play, my sense is he hit the right notes.”Since the
attempted coup - in which more than 240 people were killed - Turkish authorities
have dismissed or suspended tens of thousands of military personnel, civil
servants and judges suspected of ties to Gulen’s network. Around 40,000 people
have been formally arrested for links to the coup. Turkey’s ties with the
European Union have also been strained by the reaction to the government
crackdown. EU officials, like Washington, have expressed concerns about the
scale of the purge and urged Ankara to uphold the rule of law. The rift has
increased tensions over an EU deal with Turkey to help tackle Europe’s migrant
crisis - the other powerful piece of leverage Erdogan holds with the West.
Ankara has warned that Turkey could walk away from its promise to stem the flow
of illegal migrants to Europe if the European Union fails to grant Turks
visa-free travel in October. European officials have in the past often chided
Erdogan for what his opponents say is creeping authoritarianism and an
intolerance of dissent, including the jailing of critical journalists - charges
denied by the Turkish leader. But those who have visited Turkey over the past
two weeks have, like Biden, taken a more conciliatory tone.
Barrel Bombs Kill at Least 15
Civilians in Syria's Aleppo
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 27/16/At least 15 civilians were killed in
a barrel bomb attack on a rebel-held district of Syria's Aleppo city on
Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. The
Britain-based group said the strikes hit Maadi district in eastern Aleppo, near
a tent where relatives of people killed in a barrel bombing earlier this week
were receiving condolences.
Fighters Evacuated from Besieged
Syria Town Reach Rebel City
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 27/16/A first group of rebels and their
families evacuated from the Syrian town of Daraya after four years of government
siege have reached opposition-held territory, a monitor said on Saturday. At
least five buses carrying fighters and their families arrived in the rebel-held
city of Idlib in the northwest, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The arrivals were the first since the evacuation of the town just outside
Damascus began on Friday under an agreement between the government and the
rebels. Daraya had been ravaged by constant bombardment by the army and the long
years of siege that saw just a single food aid convoy reach the town since late
2012. Civilian residents of the town, believed to number around 8,000, are also
being evacuated. They are being taken to government-run reception centres
pending resettlement elsewhere. Some 300 fighters and their families were
evacuated during the first part of the operation on Friday, according to a
military source, with the departures expected to continue on Saturday. Some
other civilians were also evacuated but no figures were immediately available.
Daraya, just 15 minutes from Damascus, was one of the first towns in Syria to
rise up against President Bashar al-Assad's government and became a symbol of
the uprising. It was surrounded by loyalist forces in late 2012. The rebels said
they were forced to agree to evacuate the town because of deteriorating
humanitarian conditions. In recent months, government forces have made a number
of advances outside the capital. Long sieges have prompted the rebels to abandon
several areas, prompting activists to accuse Damascus of using "starve or
surrender" tactics. Rebel fighters pulled out of Syria's third city Homs last
year under a similar evacuation deal. More than 290,000 people have been killed
and over half the population displaced since the conflict erupted in 2011.
UN demands answers on 48-hour Aleppo
ceasefire by Sunday
The Associated Press, Geneva Saturday, 27 August 2016/The United Nations Syria
envoy urged warring parties to state by Sunday whether they will commit to a
48-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the embattled city of Aleppo. Staffan de
Mistura has led global calls for the pause that the UN and aid groups like the
Red Cross say is desperately needed by civilians trapped in the midst of brutal
fighting between regime and opposition forces. Russia, which backs Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, has endorsed the plan. De Mistura said in a
statement Saturday that he “regrets” some opposition camps have expressed
reluctance to agree to the plan, without detailing the nature of their concerns.
“The special envoy calls for all concerned to exert every effort so that, by
this Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, we know where we stand,” de Mistura’s office said in
a statement.
He added that the initial delivery of life-saving aid must be carried out
through the strategically crucial Castello Road, which the regime took control
of in July, cutting off the last supply route to rebel-held Aleppo. The UN has
“pre-positioned” aid that is ready to go to the city, it said. The first
delivery would benefit 80,000 people in the rebel-held east as well as people in
the government controlled west, the statement said. “The UN is ready to move,”
it added. “People are suffering and need assistance. Time is of the essence. All
must put the civilian population of Aleppo first and exert their influence now.”
According to de Mistura, Russia “has engaged” its ally Assad on the plan. The
brutal fight for Aleppo, Syria’s second city, intensified two months ago. After
a nearly three-week siege by regime troops, rebels early this month linked up
with opposition-held neighbourhoods via a new road from the city’s south, in a
major blow to forces loyal to Assad. But fighting has continued near the new
supply line, which recently has been bombarded almost daily, affecting supplies
coming into the city’s opposition-controlled neighbourhoods. 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 more than five years ago.
Turkey Sends More Tanks into Syria
after IS-Held Town Capture
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 27/16/Turkey on Saturday sent six more
tanks into Syria as pro-Ankara forces pressed on with de-mining work in a town
captured from Islamic State (IS) jihadists this week, an Agence France Presse
correspondent said. The Turkish military on Wednesday launched an operation
codenamed "Euphrates Shield" inside Syria to oust IS from the border region and
also counter advances by a Kurdish militia detested by Ankara. An AFP
photographer in the village of Karkamis on the Turkish side of the border
watched six Turkish tanks roll over the frontier into Syria on Saturday. The
Hurriyet daily had reported earlier that the Turkish armed forces had 50 tanks
and 380 personnel on the ground in Syria after three days of operations. Turkish
troops are supporting an even larger force of hundreds of Syrian rebels. The
photographer said that sporadic explosions were audible on the Turkish side of
the border as the rebels carried out de-mining work in the town of Jarabulus
seized from IS on Wednesday. The state-run Anadolu news agency confirmed in a
story datelined from Jarabulus that the rebels were working to destroy
explosives left behind by IS militants.
It said that on Friday alone 20 different sets of explosives had been destroyed.
Turkey's leadership has made clear that the offensive is also aimed at ensuring
that the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which has led the
fight against IS in the area, stay east of the Euphrates River.
Ankara says that the YPG has failed to stick to a promise made by its US allies
that the militia would move back east across the Euphrates following the seizure
of the town of Manbij from IS earlier this month. On Thursday, Turkey shelled
positions of the YPG near Manbij but there have been no reports of further
activity against the group since then. Hurriyet said that the Turkish armed
forces had been given an order to "strike immediately" should the YPG be seen to
make any move towards Jarabulus. Turkey sees the YPG militia and its Democratic
Union Party (PYD) political wing, which have links to Kurdish rebels in Turkey,
as "terror groups" bent on carving out an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria.
U.N. Council Condemns N.Korea
Missile Launches, Vows New Measures
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 27/16/The U.N. Security Council on Friday
strongly condemned North Korea for test-firing ballistic missiles and agreed to
take "significant measures" in response the latest series of launches. The
15-member council issued the toughly-worded condemnation in a unanimous
statement drafted by the United States and backed by China, Pyongyang's main
ally. Council members agreed to "continue to closely monitor the situation and
take further significant measures," said the statement, without elaborating.
North Korea has been hit by five sets of U.N. sanctions since it first tested a
nuclear device in 2006. In March, the council adopted the toughest sanctions
resolution to date, targeting North Korea's trade in minerals and tightening
banking restrictions. The council met behind closed doors on Wednesday after
North Korea launched a missile from a submarine towards Japan, the latest
provocation from Pyongyang. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the missile
breached his country's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and condemned what
he called an "unforgivable, reckless act" and a grave threat to Japan's
security. The council condemned that launch as well as another on August 2 that
for the first time fell in Japanese controlled-waters and two other missile
tests on July 9 and 18, saying these were all "in grave violation" of U.N.
resolutions. North Korea is barred under UN resolutions from any use of
ballistic missile technology, but Pyongyang has carried out several launches
following its fourth nuclear test in January. The council statement was adopted
after several rounds of negotiations with China, which has insisted over recent
weeks on the need to avoid an escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula. A
previous bid by the council to condemn North Korea for firing a ballistic
missile directly into Japanese-controlled waters on August 2 ran aground after
China sought changes to the text. The council was unable to agree after Beijing
pressed for language in a statement opposing the THAAD missile defense system
that the United States plans to deploy in South Korea. In Friday's statement,
the council expressed serious concern that North Korea carried out the latest
series of missile launches despite repeated appeals to Pyongyang to reverse
course. North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un on Thursday boasted that the latest
submarine-launched missile test was the "greatest success", putting the US
mainland and the Pacific "within the striking range."Council members again
demanded that North Korea "refrain from further actions, including nuclear
tests, in violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions".
Kurdish-led Syrian Forces Report
Turkish Air Raids on Bases
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 27/16/Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria say
Turkish airstrikes have hit their bases near Jarablus, a town seized by
Turkey-backed rebels earlier this week. The Jarablus Military Council says the
airstrikes Saturday on their bases in Amarneh village marked an "unprecedented
and dangerous escalation" and came after Turkish artillery shelled the positions
the day before. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed
the airstrikes. Turkish officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Jarablus Military Council is supported by the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led
Syria Democratic Forces. Turkey sent tanks across the border to help Syrian
rebels capture Jarablus from the Islamic State group. The incursion was partly
aimed at containing Kurdish-led forces. Turkey says the Kurds must withdraw to
the east of the nearby Euphrates River.
Tunisia Parliament Approves New
Unity Government
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 27/16/The new unity government of Youssef
Chahed won resounding support from parliament Friday, approving a new cabinet
line-up which must tackle the country's pressing socio-economic and security
challenges. After a long day of debate, the country's legislature overwhelmingly
approved Chahed's line up, with 167 votes in favor, 22 against and five
abstentions. According to parliament's spokesman Hassen Fathalli, the new
cabinet is set to take office Saturday. The handover between Chahed and his
predecessor, former prime minister Habib Essid, will happen on Monday, Fathalli
said. At 40, Chahed will become the country's youngest prime minister since it
won independence from France in 1956. But as Tunisia continues to find its
bearings after the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine
Ben Ali, Chahed would also be the North African nation's seventh premier in less
than six years. In a rousing speech ahead of the vote, Chahed stressed the
"necessity" of his proposed unity government to address mounting economic
challenges not resolved since the 2011 revolution. "We have until now been
unable to realize the objectives of the revolution. Our youth have lost hope,
the trust of citizens in the state has decreased," he said. "We are all
responsible" and "will all have to make sacrifices", he added. Chahed, whose
speech was met with resounding applause, said his government would give priority
to fighting corruption and "terrorism". While Tunisia is considered a rare
success story of the Arab Spring, the authorities have failed to resolve the
issues of poverty, unemployment, regional disparities and corruption that
preceded Ben Ali's fall. Chahed will also have to address security after a wave
of jihadist attacks, including two that killed dozens of foreign tourists last
year.
-- Diverse cabinet --The parliamentary vote of confidence for the unity
government brings to an end some three months of intense negotiations. President
Beji Caid Essebsi said in June that he would support a government of national
unity, faced with rising criticism of the government of Habib Essid.
Chahed was appointed prime minister-designate by Essebsi early this month after
lawmakers passed a vote of no confidence in then-premier Habib Essid's
government following just 18 months in office. Chahed, a member of Essebsi's
Nidaa Tounes party and a liberal who was local affairs minister before his
nomination, has already overcome numerous reservations about his team -- even
among several allied parties. His 27-strong cabinet is a diverse mix, drawing
members from all sides of the political spectrum, including the Islamist Ennahda
party, and includes eight women "in important" positions and "14 young"
ministers. The diversity should stand him in good stead, but it remains to be
seen whether he will be able to overcome the country's pressing economic and
security challenges. Many Tunisians have welcomed the nomination of a
comparatively young premier -- especially compared with other leaders since
2011. President Essebsi is 89 years old, and ex-premier Essid is 67. But even
so, his government will have no grace period. Growth is sluggish, public
finances are a concern, and the country in January witnessed its worst social
unrest since the 2011 uprising.
Egypt Court Orders Release of Lawyer who Defied President
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 27/16/An Egyptian court has ordered the release
of a rights lawyer who had been held without charge in solitary confinement for
over 100 days after defying President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The Saturday ruling
in favor of Malek Adly, who was incarcerated on a rolling series of
administrative detention orders, rejected an appeal by prosecutors after a court
ordered Adly's release on Thursday. Adly's supporters say he has been targeted
by authorities over a televised interview in which he objected to el-Sissi's
decision in April to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. He was not
formally charged with a crime. Adly's lawyer, Mahmoud Belal, says he should be
released soon.
This morning 12 individuals were
executed by Iran regime
Saturday, 27 August 2016 09/NCRI
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/08/27/this-morning-12-individuals-were-executed-by-iran-regime/
Despite repeated calls from UN expert and
Special Rapporteur on Iran Human Rights. Mr. Ahmed Shaheed to halt these
executions, today 12 individuals were executed in Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr)
Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran. Families of the prisoners who rallied in
front of prison yesterday, also were urging Iran regime to halt the executions.
“It is regrettable that the Government continues to proceed with executions for
crimes that do not meet the threshold of the ‘most serious crimes’ as required
by international law, especially the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, to which Iran is State party. It is also troubling that courts
continue to issue death sentences in trials that not only breach international
fair trial standards but even domestic due process guarantees,” Mr. Shaheed
stressed. The Special Rapporteur renewed his call on the Government of Iran to
immediately institute a moratorium on executions and to restrict use of the
death penalty for the “most serious crimes” (i.e. intentional killings). He also
repeated his calls on the Iranian authorities to adhere to international
standards guaranteeing fair trial and due process for those facing the death
penalty.
The names of 9 out of 12 individual who were executed are as follows: Alireza
Madadpour, Bahman Rezai, Arman Bahrami, Alireza Asadi, Mohsen Eslami, Hosein
Bayrami (transferred from Ghezelhesar prison) Mehdi Rostami, Amir and ALireza
Sarkhah.
Ensuing her heroic resistance and
Iran regime’s fear of public unrest, Sahar Beheshti was released.
Saturday, 27 August 2016/NCRI – As mentioned in Previous reports, on Friday
August 26, Iran suppressive security forces raided the family home of martyr
Sattar Beheshti, who was arrested in November 2013 and martyred under brutal
torture. The purpose of attack was the refusal of Sahar to stop the remembrance
ceremony of his brother, Sattar, in which his family and friends were gathering
to mark his birthday. During the attack, the regime’s agents harshly beat Ms.
Sahar Beheshti, Sattar’s sister and her husband, and arrested them and a number
of participants in the event. Sahar Beheshti who had courageously fought back in
return, was transferred to an unknown location. A number of detainees including
her husband were subsequently released with a summons to be called by repressive
organs. Today afternoon, fearing more public outrage and subsequent to her
heroic resistance and firm stance against security agents, they were forced to
release her by reducing the heavy bail. it is important to mention that
following Sahar’s arrest, Ms. Eshqi had said: “My son was sacrificed for Iran,
and I’m prepared to lose my daughter in the path of Iran’s freedom as well.”
IRAN, URGENT: The fate of Sahar
Beheshti still unknown
Saturday, 27 August 2016/NCRI – There is still no news about the fate of Iranian
human rights activist Sahar Beheshti who was arrested yesterday at a ceremony
remembering her brother, a dissident blogger who was killed under torture by the
mullahs’ regime. On Friday August 26, suppressive forces raided the family home
of martyr Sattar Beheshti, who was arrested in November 2013 and was martyred
under brutal torture. His family and friends had gathered at a ceremony to mark
his birthday. During the attack, the regime’s suppressive forces harshly beat
Ms. Sahar Beheshti, Sattar’s sister and her husband, and arrested them and a
number of participants in the event. Sahar Beheshti was transferred to an
unknown location. A number of detainees including her husband were subsequently
released with a summons to be called by repressive organs. Last night the mother
and husband of Sahar Beheshti went to various police stations and jails in
search of her. The authorities in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison told other
members of their family and friends that Sahar was not being kept there. The
regime’s judiciary and prison service in Robat Karim, Parand and Tehran are
failing to accept responsibility for her arrest. Sahar’s mother, Ms. Gohar Eshqi,
is believed to be in a very poor state of health and is suffering from a heart
condition. Following Sahar’s arrest, Ms. Eshqi said: “My son was sacrificed for
Iran, and I’m prepared to lose my daughter in the path of Iran’s freedom as
well.”The Iranian Resistance on Friday called on international human rights
authorities to take immediate action to release Sahar Beheshti. The religious
fascism ruling Iran in fear of an outburst of public anger and disgust, cannot
even tolerate the martyrs’ memorial ceremonies.
Iranian commander accuses Western
diplomats of spying for ISIS
By Staff writer Al Arabiya News English Saturday, 27 August 2016/The commander
of the Iranian Basij forces, Major General Mohammad Reza Nagdi, has been accused
of fabricating claims that his country’s intelligence officers have arrested two
British diplomats and another Frenchman, on charges of “spying on Iranian
military centers for the benefit of ISIS,” according to Iranian Fars news
agency. But a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry has denied the claims.
Adding that the visit to “the areas have been officially authorized and
coordinated by the ministry.”He said: “These people’s car has been stopped by
the concerned in the province authorities, but after verification of their
documents, they continued their way.”But later Nagdi insisted in comments quoted
by “Tasnim” news agency that “the arrests took place in Kurdistan, west Iran,
after they have been caught taking pictures of sensitive military centers to the
benefit of ISIS”. Meanwhile, Fars news agency quoted Russian media outlets as
claiming that the recent visit by the French and British diplomats to Kermanshah
province in Western Iran was aimed at gathering intelligence on the country’s
airbase in Hamadan from which the anti-terrorism flights of the Russian fighter
jets in Syria have been carried out for the last few days. It added that
Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed last Tuesday that it had deployed Tu-22M3
bombers and Su-34 strike fighters in Iran and these have already carried out
airstrikes against terrorists in Syria.
Death penalty failing to deter drug trafficking in Iran
By Reuters, Dubai Saturday, 27 August 2016/The death penalty has failed to
reduce drug trafficking in Iran, a senior Iranian judiciary official said on
Saturday shortly before the scheduled execution of 12 people for
narcotics-related offences. His criticism was unusual in a judiciary that has
long been a bastion of the hardline security establishment in the Islamic
Republic, which carries out more executions per capita than any other country.
Nearly 1,000 prisoners were put to death in 2015, most of them for drug
trafficking. Most narcotics are smuggled into Iran along its long, often lawless
border with Afghanistan, which supplies about 90% of the world’s opium from
which heroin is made. “The truth is, the execution of drug smugglers has had no
deterrent effect,” Mohammad Baqer Olfat, deputy head of judiciary for social
affairs, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. “We have
fought full-force against smugglers according to the law, but unfortunately we
are experiencing an increase in the volume of drugs trafficked to Iran, the
transit of drugs through the country, the variety of drugs, and the number of
people who are involved in it,” Olfat said. He said he had suggested to the
judiciary chief that rather than the death penalty, traffickers should serve
long prison terms with hard labor. Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the secretary of
Iran’s Human Rights Council and a brother of the powerful judiciary chief, said
in 2015 that more than 90% of executions in the country were for drug-related
crimes. He said the death penalty has not led to a significant fall in
drug-related crimes and that the policy must be re-evaluated.
The Islamic Republic seized 388 tons of opium in 2012, around 72% of all such
seizures globally, but says it has lost many security personnel in skirmishes
with drug traffickers in volatile regions bordering Afghanistan and also
Pakistan. The United Nations has repeatedly praised Iran’s battle against
narcotics trafficking but opposed its death penalty. The United Nations special
rapporteur on human rights in Iran urged Tehran on Friday to halt the execution
of 12 people on drug-related offences scheduled for Saturday. “It is regrettable
that the (Iranian) government continues to proceed with executions for crimes
that do not meet the threshold of the ‘most serious crimes’ as required by
international law,” Ahmed Shaheed said in a statement. Given Iran’s large number
of executions, some countries including Britain and Denmark have stopped
providing funding for the United Nations drug control program in Iran.
August 27-28/16
Obama Administration's Pro-Islamist
Foreign Policy
Slater Bakhtavar/Family SEcurity Matters/August 27/16
As we near the end of President Barack Obama's administration, it becomes
fitting to review his global policies during his time in office and determine
whether he was an effective leader who left the US and the world in a better
place than it found itself when first he took office. Unfortunately, any such
review cannot help but reveal that his foreign policy has been a series of
unmitigated disasters, especially as it relates to the highly volatile Middle
East.
Right from the start, Obama has done next to nothing right in this delicate
arena. With the nation of Iran, which is ruled by an absolute Islamist regime
but filled with people on the brink of turning their country into a beacon of
freedom and friendship for the US, he has failed miserably. Not only has he
failed to materially and morally support the Iranian people in their agonizing
quest to win liberty and self-determination from their brutal government (which,
again, could only benefit themselves and the West), but he has entered into a
disastrous nuclear deal with that government that will all but guarantee it is
able to acquire nuclear weapons at some point in the future. This, if and when
it does happen, will be a catastrophe.
But his bad foreign policy goes beyond even his abandonment of the good people
of Iran. By failing to oppose - and in many ways supporting - the Muslim
Brotherhood, Obama has empowered that brutal movement. It is as if in his quest
to preach acceptance and tolerance of all ideologies (even, apparently, those
determined to destroy Western democracy), he forgets that radical terrorism is
based in the Middle East and intimately aligned with organizations such as the
Muslim Brotherhood. To be sure, most Muslims in the world are good, peaceful
people - but we coddle those who are not at our own great peril.
Obama has also allowed what began as an unstable situation in Syria to mushroom
into a full blown humanitarian catastrophe. Really, he has taken next to no
action concerning the rebellion against the Assad dictatorship, and once again
his failure to act has had negative consequences, resulting in waves of
displaced refugees overwhelming Europe and even the United States as they
desperately seek a safe place to live. The disaster has also tarnished US
prestige, as in the wake of American inaction, Russia has taken the lead in the
region.
Although Obama did take action in the Libya instability, he essentially just
attacked the Ghaddafi regime, and this was actually a case in which less action
may have been preferable. Ghaddafi was, essentially, a progressive who had
instituted various social reforms and strengthened ties with the US. By
undermining him, Obama paved the way for various radical Islamic factions to
take hold in Libya, including, again, the Muslim Brotherhood. The nation remains
unstable, which has (among other undesirable effects) spreadwaves of uncertainty
through the important and unbalanced oil market.
The Muslim Brotherhood that Obama's policies and failures to act have done so
much to strengthen is bolstered by a number of friends within the Middle East,
and one of these has certainly been Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey.
Erdogan has allowed Ankara, Turkey's capital, to essentially become the central
hub for meetings of the Brotherhood, and has even been implicated in supplying
weapons and personal to the dangerous organization. Nevertheless, Obama has
spoken publicly in support of the Erdogan government, even as it was the target
of a recent Turkish military coup that attempted to unseat the country's leader.
The try failed, but it became clear whose side Obama is on.
Of course, no discussion of the Middle East or US involvement in the region is
complete without mention of Iraq and American handling of the aftermath of its
disastrous invasion of that country. In this respect, at least, Obama shares
only part of the blame, as he did inherit the catastrophic blunder that had been
former President George W Bush's unfortunate decision to attack Iraq, but
Obama's handling of that situation has been a nightmare. It is clear now that
military force never should have been used, but by precipitously withdrawing
troops after it already had been when he took office, Obama fundamentally
destabilized a region that was already barely holding on. The absence of both
the brutal Hussein regime and American military forces to maintain order in the
countryside led to the rise of the terrorist group ISIS, which has spread like a
plague through Iraq and Syria since the beginning of Obama's administration and
been responsible for countless murders around the world. In many ways, the rise
of ISIS was responsible for most of the other issues in the Middle East that
Obama has proven so poor in addressing, and it all but owes its existence to
him.
There has been scarcely a single political victory in the Middle East to
celebrate since Barack Obama took office, and it is easy to look forward to his
eminent departure. Once he leaves however, whomever his successor may ultimately
be will have quite a job on their hands: a turbulent region, never stable in the
best of times, now a hotbed of terrorist activity and its supporters, and often
of animosity towards the West. Obama has done virtually nothing to ameliorate
and much to exacerbate this enflamed situation; the world can only hope that the
next American President is able to reverse this disastrous course.
*Slater Bakhtavar is an attorney, journalist, author and political commentator.
He is author of “Iran: The Green Movement”. He has appeared on hundreds of
network radio shows, including G Gordon Liddy, Crosstalk America, Les in the
Morning, NPR, Jim Bohannon Show and VOA.
Israel and the Alliance of
the Imperiled
Ethan Seletsky/The Jewish Advocate/August 27/16
http://www.meforum.org/6224/israel-alliance-of-the-imperiled
Excerpt
Israel, despite constant existential threats and its history as a terror target,
has kept its people relatively safe, earning a 2015 Global Terrorism Index
impact rank of 24th. This rank is not only better than most Middle Eastern
countries, but also is better than the likes of China, Russia and India.
Israel, through decades of thought and investment in counterterrorism, maintains
security by reducing its areas of vulnerability and proactively targeting
terrorist infrastructure and operatives. Israel has not suffered a major attack
on its airports since the 1972 shooting at Ben Gurion Airport. Israel uses
checkpoints and physical barriers in order to limit vulnerability and the
activities of terrorists. Targeted strikes aggressively pursue those that seek
to spill innocent blood.
The Israeli company Cyberark won Best Advanced Persistent Threat (APT)
Protection at the SC Awards Europe 2014.
The private sector contributes as much as the government to the strength and
innovation of Israeli counterterrorism. Israeli companies areactively involved
in creating technologies designed to increase security for individuals and
nations.
These include a GPS based mobile security network aimed at increasing response
times to terrorist attacks, medical emergencies, and other time-sensitive
emergencies; software that can suppress background noise to seek out speech
related to terrorist activities; and a programthat can seek out and identify
those showing signs of online radicalization.
As neighboring nations face the increasingly rabid Islamic State, the security
tactics and expertise of Israel are extremely valuable international
commodities. Israel, in turn, could gain a large amount of international favor
and begrudging cooperation from nations that have historically been enemies to
the Jewish state by acting as a teacher and security expert.
There are precedents for this. Israeli officials regularly host American
security officials and law enforcement officers in order to teach
counterterrorism and security tactics. This helps to cement the relationship
between these two allied democracies and provides insight into the pressures and
realities faced by Israel. According to David C. Friedman of the Anti-Defamation
League, officers who return from these visits "understand Israel and its
security needs in ways a lot of audiences don't."
Israel has already used military aid as a tool for foreign relations,
particularly in Africa and Latin America. This allowed Israel to build
relationships outside of the hostile Middle East.
Israel is now poised to make new allies in the region to unify against the
common enemy of Islamic fundamentalism. Israeli intelligence, technology, and
expertise have already proven themselves in the war against Islamic extremism.
Egypt and Israel combat Islamic State affiliates in the Sinai Peninsula. Israel
is already working with Jordan against Levantine Islamic State threats.
It is one thing to be secure against one's rivals; it is quite another to be
something they need.
As a result, relations between the three nations have improved, in what has been
described as a "unity of the threatened."
The Saudis and the Turks, who have seen a dramatic increase in Islamic State
attacks, are in prime position to join this alliance of the imperiled. In the
wake of Iran, which stands upon the threshold of nuclear capabilities, this
alliance of the imperiled is all the more vital for the future of peace in the
Middle East.
This is an opportunity for Israel to rebuke its critics and demonstrate its
ability to cooperate and seek out peace. It is one thing to be secure against
one's rivals; it is quite another to be something they need.
Of course, some nations will decline this opportunity. The French have
stubbornly refused to utilize Israeli technology in the past for fear of
negative publicity. As terror threats proliferate in the years to come, however,
the price of such obstinacy will be far too high.
**Ethan Seletsky is a research intern at the Middle East Forum.
Europe: The Substitution of a
Population
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone
Institute/August 27/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8761/europe-population-substitution
In one generation, Europe will be unrecognizable.
Eastern Europe now has "the largest population loss in modern history", while
Germany overtook Japan by having the world's lowest birth rate.
Europe, as it is aging, no longer renews its generations, and instead welcomes
massive numbers of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, who are going
to replace the native Europeans, and who are bringing cultures with radically
different values about sex, science, political power, culture, economy and the
relation between God and man.
Deaths that exceed births might sound like science fiction, but they are now
Europe's reality. It just happened. During 2015, 5.1 million babies were born in
the EU, while 5.2 million persons died, meaning that the EU for the first time
in modern history recorded a negative natural change in its population. The
numbers come from Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Union), which
since 1961 has been counting Europe's population. It is official.
There is, however, another surprising number: the European population increased
overall from 508.3 million to 510.1 million. Have you guessed why? The immigrant
population increased, by about two million in one year, while the native
European population was shrinking. It is the substitution of a population.
Europe has lost the will to maintain or grow its population. The situation is as
demographically as seismic as during the Great Plague of the 14th Century.
This shift is what the British demographer David Coleman described in his study,
"Immigration and Ethnic Change in Low-Fertility Countries: A Third Demographic
Transition." Europe's suicidal birth rate, coupled with migrants who multiply
faster, will transform European culture. The declining fertility rate of native
Europeans coincides, in fact, with the institutionalization of Islam in Europe
and the "re-Islamization" of its Muslims.
In 2015, Portugal recorded the second-lowest birth rate in the European Union
(8.3 per 1,000 inhabitants) and negative natural growth of -2.2 per 1,000
inhabitants. Which EU country had the lowest birth rate? Italy. Since the "baby
boom" of the 1960s, in the country famous for its large families, the birth rate
has more halved. In 2015, the number of births fell to 485,000, fewer than in
any other year since the modern Italy was formed in 1861.
Eastern Europe now has "the largest population loss in modern history", while
Germany overtook Japan by having the world's lowest birth rate, when averaged
over past five years. In Germany and Italy, the decreases were particularly
dramatic, down -2.3% and -2.7% respectively.
Out with the old, in with the new... Europe, as it is aging, no longer renews
its generations, and instead welcomes massive numbers of migrants from the
Middle East, Africa and Asia, who are going to replace the native Europeans, and
who are bringing cultures with radically different values about sex, science,
political power, culture, economy and the relation between God and man.
Some businesses are no longer even interested in European markets.
Kimberly-Clark, which makes Huggies diapers, has pulled out of most of Europe.
The market is simply not cost-effective. Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble, which
produces Pampers diapers, has been investing in the business of the future:
diapers for old people.
Europe is becoming gray; you can feel all the sadness of a world that has
consumed itself. In 2008, the countries of the European Union saw the birth of
5,469,000 children. Five years later, there were nearly half a million fewer,
5,075,000 -- a decrease of 7%. Fertility rates have not only fallen in countries
with aching economies, such as Greece, but also in countries such as Norway,
which sailed through the financial crisis.
As Lord Sacks recently said, "falling birth rates could spell the end of the
West". Europe, as it is aging, no longer renews its generations, and instead
welcomes massive numbers of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, who
are going to replace the native Europeans, and who are bringing cultures with
radically different values about sex, science, political power, culture, economy
and the relation between God and man.
Liberals and secularists tend to dismiss the importance of demographic and
cultural issues. That is why the most important warnings come from some
Christian leaders. The first to denounce this dramatic trend was a great Italian
missionary, Father Piero Gheddo, who explained that, due to falling birth rates
and religious apathy, "Islam would sooner rather than later conquer the majority
in Europe". He was followed by others, such as Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai,
who leads the Eastern Catholics aligned with the Vatican. Rai warned that "Islam
will conquer Europe by faith and birth rate". A similar warning just came from
yet another cardinal, Raymond Leo Burke.
In one generation from now, Europe will be unrecognizable. People in Europe now
largely seem to feel that the identity of their civilization is threatened
primarily by a frivolous libertarianism, an ideology under the guise of freedom,
that wants to deconstruct all the ties that bind man to his family, his
parentage, his work, his history, his religion, his language, his nation, his
freedom. It seems to come from an inertia that does not care if Europe succeeds
or succumbs, if our civilization disappears, drowned by ethnic chaos, or is
overrun by a new religion from the desert.
As a paper in the Washington Quarterly explains, the fatal meeting between
Europe's falling birth rates and rise of Islam has already had significant
consequences: Europe has turned into an incubator of terrorism; formed a new
poisonous anti-Semitism; seen a political shift to the far right; undergone the
biggest crisis in European authoritarian unity and witnessed a refocusing of
foreign policy since Europe's withdrawal from the Middle East.
Demographic suicide is not only experienced; it appears to be wanted. The
xenophile European bourgeoisie, which today controls politics and the media,
seem imbued with a snobbish and masochistic racism. They have turned against the
values of their own Judeo-Christian culture and combined it with a
hallucinatory, romanticized view of the values of other cultures. The sad
paradox is that Europeans are now importing young people in large numbers from
the Middle East to compensate for their lifestyle choices.
An agnostic and sterile continent -- deprived of its gods and children because
it banished them -- will have no strength to fight or to assimilate a
civilization of the zealous ad the young. The failure to counter the coming
transformation seems to come down on the side of Islam. Is what we are seeing
the last days of summer?
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and
author.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Two
Opposing Views of the Islamist Threat
Daniel Pipes/Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner/August 27/16
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2016/08/two-opposing-views-of-the-islamist-threat
"Hugh
Fitzgerald" posted a 3,300-word piece at JihadWatch.com responding to a news
item about Thomas Strothotte, president of Kühne Logistics University in
Hamburg, Germany, advocating that all school children learn Arabic until 12 or
13 years of age; Fitzgerald called this a sign of "civilizational surrender."
But I went to the source of the news item in Die Welt and tweeted the news item
in exactly the opposite way, noting that 94 percent of respondents answered
negatively to a straw poll asking, "Should the Arabic language become a
compulsory subject in Germany?" ("Sollte Arabisch in Deutschland zum Pflichtfach
werden?")
"Should the Arabic language become a compulsory subject in Germany?"
That the mildly-conservative Welt-reading public with near-unanimity rejected
Strothotte's suggestion seems to me far more newsworthy than the original
suggestion.
More neatly than anything else I can think of, this contrast between
Fitzgerald's and my reporting points to the divergence between two fundamentally
different ways of seeing the West's evolution vis-à-vis Islamism: one focuses on
the statements and actions of a diminishing elite appeasement faction; the other
follows the increasingly strong negative response by the population at large.
Yes, Islamism is making advances. But anti-Islamism is growing more rapidly and
so, I predict the latter will prevail. (August 26, 2016)
Iran's Aggressive Naval Intercepts Serve Foreign and Domestic Purposes
Farzin Nadimi/The Washington Institute/August 27/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/08/27/farzin-nadimithe-washington-institute-irans-aggressive-naval-intercepts-serve-foreign-and-domestic-purposes/
The IRGC
will likely continue using such incidents as a way to signal its domestic
rivals, justify its large budget, and meet other goals, so Washington should
remain vigilant and consider seeking an official channel for emergency
communications.
The strategic Strait of Hormuz has once again been the scene of close encounters
between U.S. Navy vessels and speedboats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps Navy (IRGCN), leaving observers to guess at the motivations behind the
Iranian moves. The multiple incidents that occurred this week raised the risk of
miscalculation in a sovereignly cramped part of the world.
On August 23-24, several IRGCN speedboats aggressively approached American
warships as the latter were reportedly transiting international waters in or
approaching the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with maritime law. On each
occasion, the Iranians conducted what the U.S. Navy called "unsafe intercepts,"
crossing the bows of the American ships at high speed and close range without
any attempt to establish radio contact. In at least one of the incidents, they
even reportedly uncovered their weapons. During yet another incident on August
25, the USS Squall fired several warning shots well in front of the Iranian
boats to warn them off.
These events are only the latest example of provocative encounters between
American and Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf -- especially by the IRGCN,
which is much more prone to such behavior than Iran's regular navy. It is
certainly not a new thing for IRGCN boats to harass Western and American ships
crossing the strait. They have also made it a habit to conduct surprise live
rocket fire exercises in proximity to U.S. Navy vessels in the international
waters of the Persian Gulf, most recently on August 15 according to Defense
News.
The nature and timing of the latest incidents provide some clues about the
intentions of the IRGC's high-risk behavior. In particular, the provocations may
have a domestic political dimension, aimed at those within President Hassan
Rouhani's government who advocate better relations with the West. The IRGC is
closely aligned with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's hardline circle and
frequently takes actions in accordance with his spoken or unspoken policies.
During an April 16 appearance before U.S. service members in the United Arab
Emirates, Defense Secretary Ash Carter characterized America's military role in
the Gulf as "part of the system of deterrents and countering Iran's malign
influence in the region." IRGCN admiral Ali Fadavi responded to those words on
August 11 -- according to the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency, he took them as
both a sign of American weakness and an opportunity to lash out at domestic
rivals: "That statement shows the U.S. and its allies have not been able to
deter us in the region...[T]his is a very important revelation because it shows
they are still on the defensive...But while the IRGCN has been on the forefront
of the confrontation with the Americans in the past thirty years, there are
people in our own country who fail to believe in the potential of such power.
This is a huge injustice to the Islamic Republic and its people. Those people
seek entente with the Satan while ignoring the power of the Islamic Revolution
and the vulnerability of our enemies."
Fadavi made similar remarks on July 26, reiterating the good-versus-evil nature
of the U.S.-Iranian confrontation, according to Tasnim News. He has been more
vocal in general recently, in an apparent attempt to re-rationalize the United
States as the main enemy despite the (narrow) diplomatic window opened by the
Rouhani-brokered nuclear deal.
Such a mindset may help the IRGCN justify its recent naval provocations, casting
them as Iran's primary means of curbing U.S. naval movements near its
territorial waters. The hardliners might also need to refresh their
confrontation with America in order to justify the substantial budgetary
allocations they receive each year for operational and R&D purposes. Another
possibility is that the regime hopes to stimulate global oil markets by causing
problems in the Gulf; for example, Reuters reported yesterday that oil prices
rose by 1 percent as a direct result of this week's incidents.
Whatever the case, the IRGC needs to understand that if Iran is to alleviate the
international pressures and other constrictions that are still hampering its
long-term economic and diplomatic progress, it will need to behave more
responsibly and adhere to a more professional and nonconfrontational stance in
the Persian Gulf region. In the meantime, observers should not be surprised if
the naval harassment continues in the coming weeks. Washington should therefore
be especially vigilant, and perhaps seek a direct means of communication with
Iranian authorities during such incidents. While diplomatic lines of
communication such as the one between Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are useful in defusing potential escalation in the
region, Washington needs a more reliable emergency communication channel that
can stand the test of time.
**Farzin Nadimi is a Washington-based analyst specializing in the security and
defense affairs of Iran and the Persian Gulf region.
Vocal Europe: Iranian Leadership
Holding the World to Ransom
Struan Stevenson/NCRI/August 27/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/08/27/struan-stevensonncri-vocal-europe-iranian-leadership-holding-the-world-to-ransom/
The
revelation that the Obama administration paid Iran a ransom of almost half a
billion dollars in cash for the release of 5 American hostages has caused
shockwaves around the world. Despite repeated denials by the White House that
this was a ransom, Iranian Brigadier General Reza Naqdi told the Fars News
agency, a mouthpiece of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that:
“This money was returned for the freedom of the U.S. spies and it was not
related to the [nuclear] negotiations.” The five Americans included a Christian
pastor, a former US-marine and a Washington Post journalist. Some of the
hostages had duel US/Iranian citizenship.
The White House has repeatedly claimed that the planeload of $400 million in
Swiss Francs and Euros loaded on wooden pallets, was the first payment on a $1.7
billion debt arising from an abandoned arms deal dating back to the fall of the
Shah in 1979 and in no way was related to the freeing of the US captives,
although they have conceded that the payment provided helpful ‘leverage’ in the
hostage deal. Pastor Saeed Abedini, one of the freed hostages, has told Western
journalists that on the eve of their release they were held for hours in an
airport near Tehran, awaiting the arrival of the plane from Switzerland bearing
the $400 million. Their guards told them that if the plane did not arrive they
would never leave Iran.
The Obama administration’s policy of appeasement to the theocratic Iranian
regime has provoked widespread criticism. The signing of the deeply flawed
nuclear pact is already beginning to unravel as Iran routinely breaches many of
the key conditions in a flagrant display of anti-American hostility. But the
paying of ransom money to a regime that excels in human rights abuse has added a
whole new dimension to Obama’s failed Middle East strategy. There is no doubt
that the success of their ransom demands will simply encourage the Iranian
mullahs to seize more hostages.
Indeed only last week the Tehran prosecutor told the Iranian media that a person
of dual Iranian-UK nationality had been arrested and accused of spying for the
‘British espionage service.’ He did not give the name or gender of the accused.
Iran has a history of hostage-taking dating back to the creation of the
theocratic dictatorship in 1979, when revolutionary students stormed the US
Embassy in Tehran, kidnapping 60 hostages and holding them for a total of 444
days. It is widely believed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who later became President
of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was one of the student kidnappers.
The gangster Iranian regime has also repeatedly kidnapped US sailors who have
strayed inadvertently across the country’s maritime borders. The most recent
incident was in January this year when 10 US sailors were seized and humiliated
by the IRGC. They were released after 15 hours.
Iran’s mafia-like activities have not been restricted to its own territory. US
and UK citizens have regularly been kidnapped in neighboring Iraq and
transported back to Iran. Five British men were taken from a government ministry
building in Baghdad in 2007 by the Iranian Quds Force, a branch of the IRGC that
specializes in foreign operations. Both the IRGC and the Quds Force are on
international terrorist blacklists. According to one of the survivors, the men
were held in Quds Force prisons in Iran for two and a half years and three of
them were murdered by the Iranians after – “the British government refused to
take ransom demands seriously.”
Encouraged by Western complacency and America’s groveling appeasement policy,
the fascist Iranian regime has now ramped up its oppression. In early August 28
Kurdish political prisoners were hanged in a mass execution. An Iranian nuclear
scientist who had fled to America but was subsequently lured home and executed
joined them on the gallows. Iran has now become the world-leader, per-capita, in
executions. Over 3,000 of its citizens have been hanged, often in brutal public
displays to terrorize the population, since the so-called ‘moderate’ President
Rouhani took office in August 2013.
But desperate for cash to feed the venal corruption that characterizes this
gangster regime, the mullahs have now seized a British-Iranian charity worker
called Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. The young mother of a two year-old baby girl
called Gabriella has been held in solitary confinement without access to lawyers
since April, in an unknown detention center in Kerman Province.
Reports now state that she has been accused of spying. She had been on a
two-week holiday in Iran with her baby daughter and husband Richard when she was
seized by the IRGC at Tehran’s International Airport as she tried to check in
for her flight home. Her daughter is being cared for by her parents, but has now
not seen her mother or father for 4 months. The Iranian regime has admitted that
it is holding the young British citizen and claims that she has signed a
confession of plotting the “soft overthrow” of the regime, a charge that could
certainly lead to the death penalty. The Obama administration’s secret
capitulation to Iranian ransom demands can only spell trouble for Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe. The UK government has a strict rule of never paying
kidnappers. Obama’s policy of appeasing the mullahs has sadly created a new
paradigm, which may have disastrous consequences.
*Struan Stevenson was a Member of the European Parliament representing Scotland
(1999-2014). He was President of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with
Iraq (2009-2014) and Chair of Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup from 2005-2014.
He is now President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA).
A junkyard brawl, a retreat and a
calamity
Hisham Melhem/Al ARabiya/August 27/16
On Friday August 26, 2016, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump continued their
junkyard brawl, exchanging barbs and insults, with the Democratic nominee all
but saying that her opponent is cavorting and sleeping with racists and
therefore he is infested with racism, and the Republican nominee, an obtuse man
who has never experienced or tried a moment of nuance, calling his opponent a
“bigot.” Americans were watching a new low in the ugliest presidential campaign
in memory. A few thousand miles away, across the Atlantic, through bucolic
Switzerland and to a posh hotel in graceful Geneva, an obscene scene was being
repeated for the duo John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov have just brought their
traveling show to town to add a new act to their never ending monologues and
soliloquies on Syria. The Russian foreign minister gave his usual snake oilman’s
pitch, demanding more concessions and giving promises he never intends to keep,
as he has been doing for five years. The American secretary of state, an eternal
believer in turning words into miracles, spoke about achieving incremental
progress and more “clarity” toward the last act in the play when peace is
achieved in Syria, before the fall of the final curtain. It was classic Kerry in
denial. It was another classic retreat, for a diminishing administration intent
on marking time until the end of its term, oblivious to the desolation brought
about by the pulverizing death machines of Assad’s regime and his Russian and
Iranian accomplices and their proxy marauders to Syrian cities and almost to
every Syrian heart and soul. Moving eastward, we find Darayya, a suburb of
Damascus that has been ravaged systematically and brutally by the Assad regime
for five years. Here, a few thousand civilians and hundreds of fighters, after
enduring a medieval style siege, decided to accept exile, or more accurately
were ethnically cleansed. Women and children stood in the rubble strewn streets
crying and hugging each other, wondering what will become of them, or what the
fate of their fathers, brothers and sons will be. In previous such evacuations,
many men disappeared. The calamity happening in Darayya was a universe away from
the theatre of the absurd in Geneva, and the ugly American presidential junkyard
brawl where those exchanging poisonous stabs never mentioned Darayya.
A Syrian Dresden
It was emblematic of the war in Syria that the cleansing of Darayya was taking
place without the presence or supervision of international organizations such as
the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross and without
written and binding agreement. Valerie Szybala, a researcher working for a
non-profit group, captured the chilling reality of those leaving Darayya when
she told Roy Gutman, the intrepid reporter of the Daily Beast, “you know the
situation is bad when you hope that it is ethnic cleansing, and that the
population will be safely moved elsewhere instead of killed, arrested, and
abused, as we have seen in past forcible surrender situations.” One hopes that
her guarded observation - that those being evacuated from Darayya will indeed
escape collective punishment or worse – comes true.
It was ironic that the Assad regime achieved a tactical victory in Darraya mere
days after a yearlong investigation by the United Nations and the Organization
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons accused Syrian government troops of
carrying out bombing raids using toxic gas The battle for Darayya was both epic
and savage. The fighters defending the sprawling suburbs that were once home to
more than 200,000 inhabitants belonged to the Free Syrian Army and their
resistance was fierce against the relentless land and aerial assaults. The
Syrian regime’s barrel bombs and artillery turned Darayya into a Syrian Dresden,
with row after row of demolished buildings and dwellings, schools and hospitals
ruined as testimony to a despot’s cruelty. But unlike Dresden and other German
cities firebombed and eviscerated by the allies in the Second World War, which
were relatively quickly rebuilt, it is unlikely that Darayya, and its pulverized
sister cities like Aleppo and Homs, will be rebuilt and resettled any time soon.
It was ironic that the Assad regime achieved a tactical victory in Darraya mere
days after a yearlong investigation by the United Nations and the Organization
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons accused Syrian government troops of
carrying out bombing raids using toxic gas. Once again, Assad has crossed
Obama’s mythical “Red Line” with impunity.
The father of the roses
Twenty-one years ago, during the Balkan war, Serb forces stormed the Bosnian
city of Srebrenica and massacred 8,000 Muslim men. The massacre, the largest in
Europe since the Holocaust, horrified the world and led an embarrassed Clinton
administration to intervene militarily and lead a NATO aerial campaign against
Serbia. The Syrian despot was careful not to commit a single large massacre on
the scale of Srebrenica, but many a times the harvest of bloodshed in a month
would be equal to one Srebrenica or more. Assad has committed many small-scale
Srebrenicas in Syria in the last five years. There was a cunningly rational
method to Assad’s mass murders. He began to militarize the response to the
peaceful demonstrations through the gradual escalation of brutality while
initially keeping a wary eye on the American president. Assad took measure of
President Obama and immediately realized that Washington will only throw sharp
words at him. The machine guns gave way to heavy artillery and the use of Scud
missiles gave way to the use of fixed wing bombers until the regime settled on
its preferred military grinder; barrel bombs unleashed from high flying Russian
made helicopters.
Despite all the savagery of the war, the mass killings of the regime, the
depredations and the brutality of ISIS and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra
Front against civilians, one can always find a rose in the desolation, affirming
life and love, passion and compassion. In besieged cities and small hamlets,
local Coordination Committees thrived and were very creative during the first
phase of the uprising, stressing peaceful ways of resistance and organizing the
local communities to cope with the social, economic and political imperatives of
the struggle. Artists, musicians, cartoonists and journalists became an integral
part of an active civil society fighting on multiple fronts. Some of Syria’s
best and brightest belonged to these groups, which explains the regime’s harsh
repression. The regime’s henchmen kidnapped, killed and tortured these symbols
of resistance.
There were also plenty of ordinary individual warriors who fought the good fight
in their own way. The always eloquent columnist Roger Cohen of the New York
Times wrote a moving column on August 25th titled “America’s retreat and the
agony of Aleppo.” He covered the same terrain that some of us cover regularly,
albeit he did it more lyrically and more effectively. Who talks about Aleppo at
dinner parties in London, Paris, Berlin or even in Washington he asks? He
lamented the short attention span of the world which is usually moved when it is
forced to see Syria’s children drowning in the Mediterranean Sea when they
leave, or dying by barrel bombs if they stay.
Towards the end of his column, Cohen introduces us to the last florist in Aleppo
and his teenage son, interviewed in a moving television report by Britain’s
Channel 4. The florist is nicknamed Abu al-Ward the father of the roses who runs
the last garden center in Aleppo with his 13-year-old son Ibrahim. Abu al-Ward
plants and sells roses as a way of affirming life in the middle of devastation.
Even the ugly sounds of bombing raids are transformed by Abu al-Ward into music.
He points to a sapling that was cut by a shrapnel but survived saying that it
“will live, and we will live despite everything.” Last May, the barrel bombs
claimed the father of the roses and the garden is no more. Ibrahim is lost not
knowing what to do other than visit his father’s grave to pray. Desolation
claimed the last rose in Aleppo. Three scenes, on three continents on the same
day; a junkyard brawl in America, a retreat in Geneva and a calamity in Syria.
It all unfolded simultaneously and tells us in a variety of ways that the arc of
death and dying in Syria has a long way to go before bending towards life, peace
and the return of roses.
How many chemical attacks will Assad get away with?
Brooklyn Middleton/Al ARabiya/August 27/16
Investigators from the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition
of Chemical Weapons have reportedly found Bashar al-Assad’s regime guilty of
carrying out at least two chlorine bombing attacks over the course of the last
two years, marking the first such time the UN has identified parties responsible
for continued chemical weapon attacks in Syria. Notably, the New York Times
further reported that the same investigation, which focused on nine chemical
weapon attacks, confirmed ISIS was guilty of using mustard gas in Marea on
August 21, 2015. Now that the UN has begun to confirm precisely what Syrians who
have actually lived through such horror have repeatedly alleged, the report
presents an opportunity to hold the regime responsible for this specific type of
brutality being committed against the Syrian people. CNN reported that US
National Security Council spokesman Ned Price issued a written statement noting
“it is now impossible to deny that the Syrian regime has repeatedly used
industrial chlorine as a weapon against its own people.” It is likely that those
who have lived through chlorine barrel bombings did not need confirmation of
which party – the only one with an airforce – was ultimately determined to be
responsible by the UN. Also, chlorine attacks are no more horrifying than using
starvation as a weapon or systematically bombarding health care facilities. That
said, the US and Russia brokered a deal that would ostensibly lead to the end of
chemical weapon attacks in Syria. Such a reality never came into existence of
course and now both parties must confront the truth presented in this report:
The regime has continued to use chlorine gas as a weapon since the agreement
regarding the country’s chemical weapons program was implemented.
Thus far, no report – by the UN itself or any other aid organization - has
prompted any action or the serious threat of action against the regime
Since the chemical weapons deal, which was struck after the regime executed a
major Sarin attack in Eastern Ghouta on August 22, 2013, reports have
periodically surfaced indicating Damascus has either held onto some of its
chemical weapons or failed to disclose the location of sites possessing such.
One of the most astonishing facts about the deal was that the regime was allowed
to self-report its own inventory of chemical weapons; thus, the entire deal was
predicated on the supposed honesty of a regime that had just massacred its own
people with Sarin. Meanwhile, the regime has continually executed chlorine
attacks against civilians with total impunity, including as recently as this
month when a mother and her two children suffocated to death in Zebdiya. Thus
far, no report – by the UN itself or any other aid organization - has prompted
any action or the serious threat of action against the regime. Shamefully, this
latest report – like the myriad others that have documented atrocities carried
out by the Assad regime – will likely be filed away and possibly viewed at a
date when better geopolitical circumstances permit. It is possible that in the
long term, the report will pave the way for formal war crime charges against the
regime. But in the meantime, it could be that the regime will continue carrying
out chlorine attacks with no fear of being punished for doing so. If this
apparent confirmation of the regime’s culpability in chemical warfare does
indeed go ignored, it will further reiterate to Damascus that the Syrian
military has no reason to ever fear any previously set red lines and that no
outside party will act to protect Syrian civilians.
Burkini ban is the culture
war desired by extremists on both sides
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al ARabiya/August 27/16
The latest Islam-related hysteria in Europe is the ban on burkinis in several
cities in France. Extremists, both of the European white-supremacist kind and of
the Islamist kind, are rubbing their hands together in glee. Ordinary Muslims in
European societies are made to feel that much less welcome because of their
religion. Meanwhile, most of the rest of are thinking, “oh, for Heaven’s sake,
don’t we have bigger problems on our plate?”The justification given by the
French mayors who have instituted these bans in their cities is that overtly
religious clothing can be seen as provocative in the wake of the many Islamist
attacks in the country. And perhaps there is something to that. Given that the
Front National and other French nationalist extremist groups are riding high in
the country’s political sphere these days, these people may feel “provoked” into
assaulting those who are visibly Muslim. There is a public order concern here.
But it is baffling that the conclusion that these French politicians, of the
left as well as of the right, have arrived at is that therefore the police
should be involved in the public humiliation of Muslim women. This is the
perverted logic of blaming the victim. Somehow it is obvious to us that a woman
who dresses in a certain way on a night out was not “asking for it” from any
rapist who happens to be walking along. But at the same time, we have no problem
with the notion that Muslims being visibly Muslim in public “are asking for it.”
Surely the public order threat comes from the extremists who would feel
“provoked” by people just being Muslim, rather than the people who just happen
to practice a certain religion.
A disappointment
This is rather disappointing coming from a country like France, in particular.
This kind of reactionary nonsense would perhaps not be all that surprising in
the less than liberal Eastern Europe or southern United States. But France, on
top of its tradition for secular republicanism, holds itself up as a shining
light of liberalism. Yet this is profoundly illiberal. What the Islamists want
more than anything is to have a proper culture war between Islam and the West.
And more than illiberal, it is incredibly dangerous. For decades, the
fundamental argument put forward by Islamist radicals has been that Islam is
incompatible with Western culture, and that the West is waging a culture war
against good Islamic values. For most of that period, that was patent nonsense
that only ever appealed to those Muslims who already found themselves on the
margins of society for other reasons in the West or to those who found
themselves at the receiving end of poorly executed Western foreign policy in the
Middle East. Yet what the Islamists want more than anything is to have a proper
culture war between Islam and the West. And, as the events of the past few years
have demonstrated, that is what the racist, ultra-nationalist fringes of Europe
want too. In both cases, such a culture war would legitimise their respective
world views and prejudices. What we have with the burkini ban is a move into the
mainstream of politics of just this kind of culture war: “Are you a Muslim? Then
be aware that your culture is not welcome in our country. Your burkini is not
‘an outfit respecting good morals and secularism’.” What these moves do is
legitimize the very ‘Us vs Them’ world-view which feeds extremism of both kinds.
This drives ever more Muslims toward the conclusion that Islamist propaganda may
have been right all along: maybe the West does hate Muslims simply for being
Muslims after all. Thankfully, French courts have so far demonstrated that they
still have their heads properly screwed on their shoulders, unlike some of the
pandering local and national politicians. In one test case involving the ban in
the city of Villeneuve-Loubet, the ban on the burkinis imposed by the mayor was
overturned by the country’s high administrative court. But as things stand now,
it looks like this political fight will continue for some time. Here’s to hoping
that the voice of reason will prevail.
For sustainable development, look at the faces not numbers
Ehtesham Shahid/Al ARabiya/August 27/16
Beginning January 1, 2016, the United Nations set 17 Sustainable Development
Goals as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With these new
universal goals in place, it was agreed that, over the next 15 years, countries
will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle
climate change. The basic idea was to ensure that no one is left behind. This is
indeed easier said than done. Remember, this means dealing with the future of
836 million people living in extreme poverty around the world, 795 million (one
in nine people) undernourished and 65.3 million people who have been forced away
from their homes. Unfortunately, while numbers give us the scale of the misery
surrounding us and the need for us to do something about it, they hardly shake
us out of our slumber. That is why we need to routinely remind ourselves of the
human faces that become victims of conflict, calamity and callousness, rather
than rely on mere statistics. Inequality in today’s day and age is manifested in
several other ways. The United Nations admits that corruption, bribery, theft
and tax evasion cost developing countries around $1.26 trillion every year. This
money could be utilized to help, for at least six years, those living on less
than $1.25 a day. Unfortunately, while numbers give us the scale of the misery
surrounding us and the need for us to do something about it, they hardly shake
us out of our slumber. Floods and other water-related disasters still account
for 70 percent of all deaths related to natural disasters. Almost, 1,000
children die every day due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrheal
diseases. These are colossal tragedies of our times yet we fail to respond to
them unless they stare us in the face. Sustainable development has been defined
as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. It is true that we cannot address these
development needs without grappling with these mammoth numbers, yet the numbers
can also cloud the reality beneath.
Quantifying
It always helps to set clear objectives and to make relentless efforts to get
stakeholders around the world to comply. However, it is impossible to quantify a
displaced family’s horror, a poverty-stricken child’s appetite for food and an
ailing elderly person’s need for health service.
We in the media must also take the blame for obsessively seeking figures that
sizzle as headlines. Even when the focus shifts to human interest, it seldom
goes beyond sensationalism. Policymakers and government officials routinely get
caught up in the deluge of numbers. Officials under pressure to address failure
often hide behind figures to escape responsibility. Those trying to put their
best foot forward also have a task at hand. So when the UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon travels to Sri Lanka next week he would do well to shine a spotlight on
the victims of the country’s 37-year conflict, which has claimed at least
100,000 lives. When he travels to Myanmar, the challenge will be to highlight
the plight of the Rohingyas, around 120,000 of whom have been living in camps
while thousands have been displaced. We cannot take our eyes off the fact that
they are humans of flesh and blood and anyone else in their situation would feel
the same pain. Sustainable development is ultimately about human beings and
their environment. Numbers may give us a sense of where we stand but beyond that
it is our empathy that counts. To put it differently, in order to make
development sustainable, we must humanize welfare programs instead of reducing
them to mere numbers.