LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

July 27/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.july27.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12/32-34/:"‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

"It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today."
Acts of the Apostles 24/1-2a.5-6.9//13/.17-21/:"Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney, a certain Tertullus, and they reported their case against Paul to the governor. When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: ‘Your Excellency, because of you we have long enjoyed peace, and reforms have been made for this people because of your foresight. We have, in fact, found this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, and so we seized him. The Jews also joined in the charge by asserting that all this was true. When the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul replied: ‘I cheerfully make my defence, knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation. As you can find out, it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem. They did not find me disputing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd either in the synagogues or throughout the city. Neither can they prove to you the charge that they now bring against me. Now after some years I came to bring alms to my nation and to offer sacrifices. While I was doing this, they found me in the temple, completing the rite of purification, without any crowd or disturbance. But there were some Jews from Asia they ought to be here before you to make an accusation, if they have anything against me. Or let these men here tell what crime they had found when I stood before the council, unless it was this one sentence that I called out while standing before them, "It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today."
 

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 26-27/16
Coptic Bishop: Egypt’s Christians Attacked ‘Every Two or Three Days’/Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/July 26/16
Department of Homeland Security Targeting the Wrong Enemy/A.J. Caschetta/Gatestone Institute/July 26/16
Fear of change and the Turkish coup attempt/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya 26/16
Germany: Christian Names for Muslim Migrants/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/July 26/16
How We Honor Muslims Who Stand Up to Terror/Robert Satloff/ The Washington Institut/July 26/16
The Saudi FM’s response to Iranian slander/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya 26/16
Trump-Putin 2016: Russia plunges into US elections/Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya 26/16
Is the Arab League failing to fight the phantom enemy/Dr. John C. Hulsman/Al Arabiya 26/16
Reasons why Turkish ‘deep state’ should be dismantled/Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya 26/16
What’s next for Al-Nusra if they sever ties with Al-Qaeda/Haid Haid/Now Lebanon/July 26/16
Analysis: With his back against the wall, Netanyahu goes on the offensive/Yossi Melman/Jerusalem Post/July 26/16
 

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on July 26-27/16

Activists From Armenian Parties, Aoun’s Movement Fight in Syria along Regime Forces
Lebanon Voices Reservations on Summit's Hizbullah Text, GCC 'Dissociates' Itself from Solidarity Clause
Al-Rahi 'Did Not' Ask Franjieh to Withdraw in Aoun's Favor
Report: IS 'Emir' in Ain el-Hilweh Plotting Major Attacks across Lebanon
Future bloc renews rejection of refugee settlement
Ahmad Assir moved to Roumieh jail under custody of Information Department, mediator says
Hezbollah condemns beheading of French priest
Geagea: Hezbollah not serious in nominating Aoun to presidency
Jumblatt voices solidarity with France
Change and Reform bloc after periodic meeting: For voluntary return of Syrian refugees
Terror Groups Seeking to 'Smuggle Arms to North, Murder Arsal Figures'
LF continues to support Aoun for presidency: Geagea

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

Muslim Mob Attacks Copts In A Beni Suef Village In Egypt Following Rumor About Church Construction
Priest Slaughtered in IS Hostage-Taking Attack on France Church
Security issues dominate Arab League summit
‘Islamist terrorism has arrived in Germany’: official
Israel: Aircraft strikes in Syria after errant fire
Kerry Says U.S.-Russia Talks on Syria 'Making Progress'
U.S. Rejects Claim that IS Downed Military Plane in Iraq
Syrian army texts residents to leave rebel-held Aleppo
UN aid chief urges Security Council to push Aleppo aid accessCarter: Russia, U.S. Not on Carter: Russia, U.S. Not on Same Page on Syria
Syria Regime Advances on Rebels in Aleppo
2 Turkish Generals Serving in Afghanistan Held in UAE after Coup
W. Sahara Separatists Want U.N. Council to Press Morocco
Trump says he would consider alliance with Russia over ISIS

Links From Jihad Watch Site for July 26-27/16

France: Church where priest was beheaded was on jihadi hit list of Catholic churches
France: Muslims who beheaded priest were screaming “Allahu akbar”
France: Muslim who beheaded priest known to police, wore ankle bracelet to track movements
France: Muslims screaming “Islamic State” behead priest, authorities search for motive
Raymond Ibrahim: When It Comes to Islam, Western Leaders Are Liars or Idiots
BBC, Reuters paint jihad suicide bomber as “Syrian Migrant Killed in German Blast”
Democrats never mentioned ISIS, jihad, or terrorism on Day One of DNC
Robert Spencer in Breitbart: Does Islam Convert Social Losers into Time Bombs?
Juncker: No matter how bad migrant crisis, jihadi terrorism get, we’ll never give up on open borders
Angela Merkel and her lackeys scramble to save face after a week of jihad attacks
Islamic State and al-Qaeda jihadists both threaten Brazil Olympics

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

Activists From Armenian Parties, Aoun’s Movement Fight in Syria along Regime Forces
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 27/16/Beirut- A video posted by an activist from Deputy Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement drove a wave of criticisms on Monday, for including interviews conducted with a group of Armenian fighters in the city of Aleppo calling on other Armenians to join their ranks in support of the Syrian regime. The video also upset the Syrian opposition who said that such behaviors would widen the gap in the future relations between Lebanon and Syria, adding that the propaganda used by this group is similar to the one used by ISIS. FPM activist Tony Orian had posted on his Facebook page some photos and video footages, which he said were taken in Aleppo. One of the footages shows a group of fighters wearing military uniforms. Orian had written next to the footages: “A group of Armenian fighters from Al-Quds Brigade, with a group of people who had left behind all sectarian differences and had joined the most important battle in our modern history facing the entire devils of the world.” Orian had also criticized the disassociation policy that Lebanon officially took in dealing with the crisis in Syria. The FPM activist also posted on his Facebook page a video footage showing young Armenian fighters participating in one of the battles. Another footage shows a fighter saying: “I am proud to be a Syrian… I am proud to be an Armenian. However, I stress on the fact that we should not escape, because if we do so, the Armenian genocide will be repeated.” Ossama Abu Zeid, the Free Syrian Army’s legal advisor told Asharq Al-Awsat that Al-Quds Brigade was established in 2013 by the Syrian regime. He said the Brigade first included mainly Palestinian fighters, but had later expanded to include other nationalities and sects such as the Shiites of Iran and Lebanon, Afghans and Armenians. “We do not think there is a high number of Armenians in their ranks, however, the regime is trying to inflate their number to suggest that the Brigade incudes fighters from several sects and nationalities,” Abu Zeid said. Abu Zeid refused to say that the majority of Armenians in Aleppo support the regime, asserting that a large number of them are helping the opposition by offering humanitarian services and aid.

Lebanon Voices Reservations on Summit's Hizbullah Text, GCC 'Dissociates' Itself from Solidarity Clause
Naharnet/July 26/16/Lebanon voiced reservations over a phrase in the closing statement of the Arab League Summit that labeled Hizbullah “terrorist,” as the majority of Gulf states “dissociated themselves” from endorsing a clause expressing “solidarity with Lebanon.”The Lebanese reservations were over two clauses condemning “Iranian interference” in the affairs of some Arab countries. The two clauses refer to Hizbullah as a “terrorist” organization. The member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council – except for Kuwait and Oman -- meanwhile “dissociated themselves” from a clause voicing “solidarity with the Lebanese republic”, as Bahrain went a step further and expressed reservations over the text.The solidarity clause urges the international community to push for the implementation of U.N. resolutions related to ending Israel's occupation of the Shebaa Farms and the northern part of the Ghajar village. Saudi Arabia has recently led the Arab League, the GCC and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in labeling Hizbullah “terrorist” over alleged militant activities in some Gulf states and Yemen.

Al-Rahi 'Did Not' Ask Franjieh to Withdraw in Aoun's Favor
Naharnet/July 26/16/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi did not ask Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh to withdraw from the presidential race in favor of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun during their meeting on Monday, patriarchate sources have said. “The patriarch calls on the Maronite leaders and all Lebanese leaders to reach an agreement over the election of a new president,” the sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Tuesday. The overnight meeting in Diman was followed by a meeting between Franjieh and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard in Bnashii on Tuesday. The Bnashii talks tackled “the current situations,” state-run National News Agency said. During a closed-door meeting in Diman overnight, Franjieh and al-Rahi discussed “the local developments, especially the issue of the presidential vacuum,” NNA said. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Report: IS 'Emir' in Ain el-Hilweh Plotting Major Attacks across Lebanon
Naharnet/July 26/16/Imad Yassine, the so-called emir of the Islamic State group in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, has received orders from IS foreign operations chief Abu Khaled al-Iraqi to stage major Iraq-like bombings across Lebanon, a media report said on Tuesday. “The Lebanese army has obtained dangerous information and learned that Imad Yassine is plotting for major terrorist attacks in Lebanon, from Sidon to Beirut and the rest of the Lebanese regions,” al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted an unnamed senior security official as saying. “The army will never allow these terrorist groups to tamper with Lebanon,” the official added. “This dangerous situation prompts us to once again warn the camp's residents and the Palestinian factions that negligence in this regard might have severe repercussions on the camp, its residents and its neighbors, and this requires the factions and the camp's residents to shoulder the responsibility and expel the terrorist elements from it,” the official urged. And citing “credible sources,” the newspaper said terrorist groups have recently “formed a number of terrorist cells and recruited terrorists and would-be suicide bombers in the Ain el-Hilweh camp.”“These groups have prepared a dangerous plan involving a number of targets, the first of which is attacking the army units that are deployed around the camp and attempting to cut off the army's supply routes and most importantly the vital roads that the Lebanese army uses to reach its barracks,” the sources said. “Another objective for these groups is cutting off the road to the South, especially the Sidon-Ghazieh and Sidon-Zahrani highways, seeing as the severing of these key routes would pressure Hizbullah and its popular base,” the sources added. The terrorist groups are also seeking, according to the newspaper, to “create major chaos, destruction and terror in the various Lebanese regions, especially in Beirut and its southern suburbs, through targeting gatherings and densely-populated areas.”Ad-Diyar newspaper meanwhile quoted unnamed sources as saying that the IS and the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front are plotting for “displacing the camp's residents and turning it into a military zone that has an exceptional geographic sensitivity.”In this regard, it quoted a senior Palestinian officials as saying that “measures are being taken and additional measures will follow, not only to rein in the terrorist elements in the camp, but also to 'cut off their hands.'”By long-standing convention, the army does not enter the twelve Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, leaving the Palestinian factions themselves to handle security. That has created lawless areas in many camps, and Ain el-Hilweh has gained notoriety as a refuge for extremists and fugitives. But the camp is also home to more than 54,000 registered Palestinian refugees who have been joined in recent years by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the fighting in Syria. More than 450,000 Palestinians are registered in Lebanon with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA. Most live in squalid conditions in 12 official refugee camps and face a variety of legal restrictions, including on their employment.
 

Future bloc renews rejection of refugee settlement
Tue 26 Jul 2016/NNA - Future parliamentary bloc renewed on Tuesday utter rejection of any plan, attempt, and threat of refugee settlement in Lebanon. "Amid intimidation campaigns leveled by those seeking to invest in Syrian migration, we highlight the obligation to hold onto the unanimously agreed provisions of the Constitution in terms of rejecting settlement," the bloc said in a statement following its weekly meeting. "This is key to protect Lebanon and the Lebanese," it added. Accordingly, conferees called to double efforts to reach solution to the ordeal of the Syrian people, spurning hatred among Syrians and Lebanese. On the 27th Arab summit in Nouakchott, the bloc wished participants shone light on the Palestinian Cause, in addition to the means to confront the factors that had led to warfare sweeping the region, not failing to blame Israeli threats and Iran interventions.

Ahmad Assir moved to Roumieh jail under custody of Information Department, mediator says
Tue 26 Jul 2016/NNA - Coordinator of the Civil Islamic Alliance in Lebanon, Ahmad Ayoubi, indicated on Tuesday that Interior Minister Nohad Mashnouq officially notified him that Ahmad al-Assir had been moved from Rayhnieh jail to Roumieh prison, and that he was now under the custody of the Information Department, "thanks to the efforts of the alliance."Ayoubi also thanked Minister Mashnouq and MP Bahiya Hariri for their efforts to end "injustice" against al-Assir, calling for a fair trial.

Hezbollah condemns beheading of French priest
Tue 26 Jul 2016/NNA - Hezbollah sternly condemned, in a statement on Tuesday, "the horrific crime perpetrated by terrorist ISIS thugs, who beheaded a French priest inside his church and took other hostages.""Hezbollah expresses condolences to the victim's family and the French and world church family, as well as the entire French people," the party said. "This horrific crime drives us to stand in the face of the states and governments that have backed, financed, and covered terrorists," it underlined, calling for a unified serious position against terrorism and "regional and international sponsors."

Geagea: Hezbollah not serious in nominating Aoun to presidency
Tue 26 Jul 2016/NNA - Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, told MTV on Tuesday that Hezbollah was not serious in nominating General Michel Aoun to the presidential election. Regarding his efforts in this regard with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and MP Walid Jumblatt, he said "We are not losing hope yet. Consultations are underway...So what does it mean to keep waiting?" Geagea said that the Syrian custody was over. "However, the custodianship still holds the reins of power. The Presidency of the Republic is still in custody and we are sparing no effort to liberate it." He noted that Iran wanted presidential vacancy. "It believes along with Hezbollah that Gulf countries and the world have interests in Lebanon."

Jumblatt voices solidarity with France
Tue 26 Jul 2016/NNA - Head of the Democratic Gathering, MP Walid Jumblatt, condemned on Tuesday the attack on a French church earlier today, voicing solidarity with France "and other countries facing terrorism and programmed destruction."In a statement to al-Anbaa news site, Jumblatt blamed what he termed as "sick Arab Islamist mentality," which he accused of rejecting openness, development, and knowledge, but glorified tyrants instead. He also depicted this factor as sapping "West moderation, that is represented by Hollande and Merkel, as well as sowing racism against Muslims and Arabs."

Change and Reform bloc after periodic meeting: For voluntary return of Syrian refugees
Tue 26 Jul 2016/NNA - Change and Reform bloc stressed the need for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, saying "Prime Minister Tammam Salam pointed out in Nouakchott summit the safe places in Syria, and we await the crystallization of an advanced position in this regard.""What is required is the coordination with the Syrian authorities in cooperation with the United Nations, particularly in light of the statement by the recent UN presidency," the bloc said on Tuesday in the wake of its periodic meeting in Rabieh, under the chairmanship of bloc head MP Michel Aoun. Conferees dwelt on an array of hour issues. On the presidential dossier, the bloc categorically refused any likely path to "internationalize" a solution in this regard; yet, the bloc voiced optimism about the presence of hopes to surpass personal calculations and build the state project, long advocated by the bloc. Turning to the fuel and gas dossier, Free Patriotic Movement head, Minister Jibran Bassil, assured all the Lebanese that Lebanon's natural wealth shall not be defied and the and people and the state shall receive their full rights in this regards. "We shall not be lenient at all in wasting opportunities in our economic zones," Bassil stressed, noting that agreement over this dossier is positive and good.

Terror Groups Seeking to 'Smuggle Arms to North, Murder Arsal Figures'
Naharnet/July 26/16/Terrorist groups are seeking to “smuggle arms” to the North region and to assassinate a number of prominent figures in the northeastern border town of Arsal, a media report said on Tuesday.“There are suspicious movements that the Islamic State group and other terrorist groups are plotting for the North region, amid credible reports about attempts to smuggle arms to the region,” al-Joumhouria newspaper reported. Terrorist groups are also seeking to “strike the town of Arsal through assassinating and liquidating its dignitaries, the members of the new municipal council and the mayors whom the terrorist group considers to be enemies,” the daily added. On Sunday, two brothers of IS official Hamza al-Jibbawi were arrested in army raids in the town, state-run National News Agency reported. “Hand grenades, ammunition, arms and an IS flag were found in their house,” NNA said. Also on Sunday, the army arrested the “private doctor” of the so-called “emir” of the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front in the Syria-Lebanon border region. “The Lebanese army has managed to arrest in Arsal the Syrian national J. Sharafeddine, who is the private doctor of Abu Malek al-Talli,” al-Nusra's leader in the border region, NNA said. The army has been implementing strict security measures in and around Arsal since Saturday, in the wake of the attempted assassination of a mayor and reports that Syrian and Lebanese militants have prepared a “hit list” that includes the names of ten people in Arsal that the group intends to liquidate. Ever since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011, Arsal has served as a key conduit for refugees, rebels, extremists and wounded people fleeing strife-torn Syria. Militants from al-Nusra and the IS are entrenched in rugged mountains in the town's outskirts and along the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Lebanese army regularly shells their positions while Hizbullah and the Syrian army have engaged in clashes with them on the Syrian side of the border. IS and al-Nusra briefly overran the town of Arsal in August 2014 before being ousted by the army after days of deadly battles. The retreating militants abducted more than 30 troops and policemen of whom four have been executed and nine remain in the captivity of the IS group.

LF continues to support Aoun for presidency: Geagea
The Daily Star/July 26/16/BEIRUT: The Lebanese Forces will continue to push for the election of Change and Reform bloc head MP Michel Aoun for the presidency, Samir Geagea said Tuesday, accusing Iran and Hezbollah of exacerbating the presidential vacuum. "We had one of two options, either to convince Iran and Hezbollah to lift the siege [off the presidency], which was impossible after they invested a lot in Syria to ensure [President Bashar] Assad stays, and I assure he will not remain, or endorse Aoun for the presidency," Geagea said during a ceremony at his residence in Maarab. Aoun, head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, is supported by his wartime foe Geagea and Hezbollah. The other presidential candidate, Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh, is mainly backed by the Future Movement. The endorsements of Aoun and Frangieh by their longtime rivals have shifted the traditional alliances in the country and created deep divisions within the March 8 and March 14 coalitions. "Iran is seeking to garner the West and Gulf States' approval to keep Assad in Syria in return for lifting the siege off Lebanon's presidency." Geagea said that "Iran and Hezbollah cannot [prolong the vacuum] without Aoun, who is convinced that he deserves the presidency." He called on the Lebanese not to lose hope in the country. "Even though we are without a president, and the Cabinet is semi-paralyzed and the Parliament is locked, two month ago we staged perfect municipal elections as if no conflicts are surrounding us and ISIS isn't along our border." "Western countries had considered Lebanon to be the weakest in the (Middle) East, but it turned out that it's the strongest."The presidency in Lebanon, which has been vacant since May 2014, is reserved for a Maronite Christian.

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

Muslim Mob Attacks Copts In A Beni Suef Village In Egypt Following Rumor About Church Construction
The Middle East Media Research Institute/July 26/16
A video, which was posted on YouTube on July 22 and and which circulated on social media, shows a Muslim mob throwing stones at families in the village of Saft Al-Kharsa in the Beni Suef governorate. The video was shot from the balcony of one of the Coptic families. According to reports, the attacks followed the Friday sermons at the local mosques and were instigated by rumors that Copts had converted their homes into churches. albawaba.com reported that the tension started when security forces apprehended Ishaq Fahim, a Copt whose home was used as a church since the nearest church is in another village, 10 km away. The security forces warned Fahim against using his home as a church. Following the attacks, Fahim was arrested along with the Muslim rioters, and the security forces demanded that he sign a commitment that he would not turn his home into a church.
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5589.htm

Priest Slaughtered in IS Hostage-Taking Attack on France Church
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 26/16
The Islamic State group said Tuesday that two of its "soldiers" had attacked a French church, slitting a priest's throat in a country stunned by a series of jihadist attacks. The hostage drama in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray comes with France already shaken to the core after a massacre in the French Riviera city of Nice less than two weeks ago, which left 84 people dead and was also claimed by IS. President Francois Hollande said the two men who stormed a church before killing the elderly Catholic priest had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group before being shot dead by police. Shortly afterwards the IS-linked Amaq news agency, citing a "security source", said the perpetrators were "soldiers of the Islamic State who carried out the attack in response to calls to target countries of the Crusader coalition."The two attackers stormed the church during morning mass, taking the five people inside hostage, including the priest, interior ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet said. He said the church was surrounded by police from the elite BRI unit, which specializes in kidnappings, and that "the two assailants came out and were killed by police." The priest died after his throat was slit, sources close to the investigation told AFP. The archbishop of the nearby city of Rouen, Dominique Lebrun, named him as 84-year-old Jacques Hamel, although the website of the archdiocese states he was born in 1930. Three of the hostages were freed unharmed, and another was fighting for their life, said Brandet.
- Hollande urges unity -
France remains on high alert after Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Tunisian national, plowed a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice on July 14, killing 84 people and injuring over 300. Hollande appealed for "unity" in France, where political blame-trading has poisoned the aftermath of the truck attack, the third major strike in the country in 18 months. "The threat remains very high," said Hollande. "We are confronted with a group, Daesh, which has declared war on us," Hollande said, using an alternative name for IS. "We have to wage war by every means, (but through) upholding the law, which is because we are a democracy." The Paris prosecutor's office said the case was being handled by anti-terrorism prosecutors. Pope Francis voiced his "pain and horror" at the "barbaric killing" of the priest. France has been a prime target of IS, which regularly calls for supporters to launch attacks against the country, a member of the international coalition carrying out air strikes against the jihadist group in Iraq and Syria. Attacks in Belgium in March, and in Germany this week, have also increased jitters across Europe. After Nice, France extended a state of emergency giving police extra powers to carry out searches and place people under house arrest for another six months until January. It was the fourth time the security measures have been extended since IS jihadists struck Paris in November, killing 130 people in a wave of bombings and shootings at restaurants, a concert hall and the national stadium.
- Fears over church attacks -

Valls had warned earlier this week that France will face more attacks as it struggles to handle extremists returning from jihad in the Middle East and those radicalized at home by devouring propaganda on the internet. France has been concerned about the threat against churches ever since Sid Ahmed Ghlam, a 24-year-old Algerian IT student, was arrested in Paris in April last year on suspicion of killing a woman who was found shot dead in her car, and of planning an attack on a church. Prosecutors say they found documents about al-Qaida and IS at his home, and that he had been in touch with a suspected jihadist in Syria about an attack on a church. As part of beefed up security operations in France, some 700 schools and Jewish synagogues and 1,000 mosques are under military protection. However with some 45,000 Catholic churches, and thousands more Protestant and evangelical churches, protecting all places of worship is a massive headache for security services. The Nice massacre triggered a bitter political spat over alleged security failings, with the government accused of not doing enough to protect the population. French far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen wrote on Twitter that the "modus operandi obviously makes us fear a new attack from terrorist Islamists."

Security issues dominate Arab League summit
Saudi Gazette, Nouakchott Tuesday, 26 July 2016/Security issues pressing Arab nations were the focal point of discussion during the Arab League summit held in Nouakchott, Mauritania on Monday. The Nouakchott Declaration stressed Arab states’ commitment to “use the most effective means to protect Arab national security by developing mechanisms to fight terrorism in all its forms, promoting peace and security, encouraging dialogue and fending off hatred and extremism.” Arab leaders expressed their desire to create environments free of extremism and violence by instilling values of solidarity among Arab states as well as by promoting human skills, fostering Arab scientific research and offering proper job opportunities for citizens. The Nouakchott Declaration also voiced Arab leaders’ support to international and Arab humanitarian relief efforts aimed at assisting residents of war-stricken countries, as well as refugees, displaced persons and emigrants. It also called for developing modern mechanisms to meet urgent humanitarian needs and assist countries that are receiving refugees. On the nuclear level, Arab leaders reiterated the need for Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and impose international control over its nuclear program. On the Palestinian issue, Arab leaders said that the Palestinian case should be at the core of their efforts, reiterating their commitment to support the struggle against the Israeli methodical aggression and deploying all efforts towards the establishment of fair and sustainable peace that would be based on the Arab Peace Initiative, the Madrid Peace Conference and the relevant international resolutions. Arab leaders have welcomed the French initiative that called for holding an international peace conference that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian sovereign state with East Jerusalem as its capital within a specified timeframe. They also called on the international community to implement international resolutions that would end the Israeli occupation and achieve the Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the entire Arab occupied territories, including the Syrian Golan Heights and occupied areas in South Lebanon. On the situation in Libya, the Nouakchott Declaration called on the conflicting parties to deploy all possible efforts to rebuild the country and face terrorist groups. Arab leaders have also urged the warring parties in Yemen to reach positive solutions at the ongoing Kuwait peace talks. They added that the current meetings held in Kuwait should be an opportunity to promote peaceful dialogue that would hopefully result in the establishment of stability and security in the war-torn country. The Nouakchott Declaration also hoped that a peaceful solution would be reached in Syria to restore the country’s sovereignty, unity and the dignity of the Syrian people. It also expressed Arab leaders’ commitment to support Iraq in preserving its unity and security and in facing extremist groups and liberating territories controlled by ISIS.
**This article first appeared in the Saudi Gazette on July 26, 2016.

‘Islamist terrorism has arrived in Germany’: official
Staff writer, Al Arabiya EnglishTuesday, 26 July 2016 /Islamist terrorism has arrived in Germany and politicians must address the public's concerns about security and immigration, Bavaria state premier Horst Seehofer said on Tuesday. “Each attack, each act of terrorism, is one too many. Islamist terrorism has arrived in Germany,” Seehofer told a news conference. A spate of attacks in Germany since July 18 have left 11 people dead and dozens injured, fuelling public unease about Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door refugee policy. More than a million migrants entered Germany last year, many fleeing conflict in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. This month, four brutal attacks have taken place in the south of the country. A Syrian asylum seeker blew himself up outside a music festival and wounded 15 other people in Ansbach on Sunday, six days after four passengers on a train and a passer-by were wounded in an axe attack by an Afghan refugee in Wuerzburg.
ISIS claimed both attacks.
On Friday, nine people were killed in a shopping center shooting spree in Munich by a German-Iranian teenager with a history of psychological problems. Although authorities initially claimed the 18-year-old gunman had no links to militants, Bavarian officials said on Monday that the 18-year-old gunman had been in touch with the Afghan ax attacker over WhatsApp. And a Syrian refugee killed a 45-year-old Polish woman with a large kebab knife Sunday at a snack bar in the southwestern city of Reutlingen. Police concluded that the incident, in which three others were injured, was likely a “crime of passion”.

Israel: Aircraft strikes in Syria after errant fire
ReutersTuesday, 26 July 2016/Israeli aircraft attacked a target in Syria on Monday after errant fire from fighting among factions in Syria struck inside Israel, Israel’s military said. The Syrian fire had hit an open area near the border causing no injuries, and in retaliation the air force “successfully targeted the source of the fire in Syria”, said an army spokeswoman. The Syrian army said two missiles from Israeli reconnaissance planes hit a residential building in Baath City in the Syrian Golan Heights, near the border with Israel. The army statement, carried on state news agency SANA, said the strikes on the city caused “material damage” and said they were aimed at “raising the morale of terrorist groups it (Israel) supported” after losses inflicted by the Syrian army. The town is held by pro-Syrian government forces, including the army and Hezbollah fighters. The al Qaeda offshoot the Nusra Front, Western-backed rebels, and groups which have pledged allegiance to ISIS also operate in the region. Though formally neutral in the civil war, Israel has targeted Hezbollah officials and arms convoys inside Syria several times during the conflict. Syrian rebels and a monitoring group said two explosions that struck the same town on Wednesday were caused by an Israeli air strike but Lebanon’s Hezbollah blamed rocket fire by al Qaeda-linked militants. Israel declined to comment at that time. Israel captured the western Golan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it, a move not recognized internationally.

Kerry Says U.S.-Russia Talks on Syria 'Making Progress'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 26/16/U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday talks with Russia about cooperation in Syria were "making progress", adding he hopes next month to announce new steps aimed at ending the fighting. Russia and the United States support opposing sides in Syria's five-year war, which has left 280,000 people dead and forced half the population to flee their homes. Moscow and Washington co-chair a 22-member contact group working to end the war but a truce brokered by the pair in February has faltered amid heavy fighting. Kerry held marathon talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow last week. They agreed "concrete steps" to revive the ceasefire and tackle jihadist groups in Syria, although details have not been made public. Speaking after fresh talks on Tuesday with Lavrov on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Laos, Kerry said discussions were edging forward. "I think we are making progress," he told reporters. "If we do our work as effectively as it's been done over the last days since I was in Moscow my hope would be that somewhere in early August... we would be in a position to be able to stand up in front of you and tell you what we're able to do," he said. "In simple terms... what we're trying to do is strengthen the cessation of hostilities, provide a framework which allows us to actually get to the table and have a real negotiation." On Monday U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter struck a different note, saying Russia and America remained far from finding common ground on how to end the war. Repeated rounds of international negotiations to end the conflict, which erupted in 2011 after Assad's regime unleashed a brutal crackdown on a pro-democracy revolt, have run aground. Russia backs Assad's regime but the United States supports moderate rebels seeking to unseat the Syrian leader.

U.S. Rejects Claim that IS Downed Military Plane in Iraq
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 26/16/The jihadist-linked Amaq agency claimed Monday that the Islamic State group had shot down an American aircraft in Iraq, but the U.S. military said the claim was false.
"The crew of an American plane, which was shot down by Islamic State fighters near the Ain al-Asad base, was killed," Amaq said in an online statement, referring to a base where American personnel are stationed in Anbar province, west of Baghdad. But a spokesperson for the U.S. Central Command rejected the Amaq claim. "There is no truth to reports of (IS) downing (a) U.S. aircraft in the vicinity of Anbar. All U.S. and coalition aircraft are accounted for at this time," Captain Michele Rollins told AFP. A U.S.-led coalition is carrying out strikes against IS in Iraq, and also providing training and other assistance to the country's forces. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by coalition support have since regained significant ground from the jihadists.

Syrian army texts residents to leave rebel-held Aleppo
Reuters, BeirutTuesday, 26 July 2016 /The Syrian army sent text messages to residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo saying it will grant safe passage to people wishing to leave the area, which has been effectively besieged by pro-government forces, state media said on Tuesday. The army called on residents to push “mercenaries” out of the city - a reference to rebel fighters - and said it would give safe passage and temporary accommodation for anyone wishing to leave the area, state news agency SANA said. The messages also called on armed groups to lay down their weapons, SANA said. Concern has been growing for at least 250,000 people who have been trapped in rebel-held eastern Aleppo since heavy fighting effectively closed the last supply route, the Castello Road, in early July. Syria’s most populous city before the war, Aleppo has been divided for years between rebel and government-held zones. Full control of Aleppo would be a significant prize for President Bashar al-Assad. On Monday, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the UN Security Council that by day people in the eastern areas of Aleppo can move to the western part of the city, “where the situation is significantly better”.
Churkin’s comments came in a session during which the United Nations aid chief asked the Security Council to push for a weekly 48-hour humanitarian pause in fighting to allow food and other aid to be delivered to eastern areas of the city.

UN aid chief urges Security Council to push Aleppo aid access
Reuters, United NationsTuesday, 26 July 2016 /The United Nations aid chief asked the Security Council on Monday to push for a weekly 48-hour humanitarian pause in fighting to allow food and other aid to be delivered to eastern areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Around 250,000 to 275,000 people in rebel-held eastern Aleppo have been cut off since fighting closed the last supply route, the Castello Road, on July 7. UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien said the United Nations and partners had pre-positioned stocks in “sad but all too real anticipation of such developments.”“But food in east Aleppo is expected to run out by the middle of next month,” O’Brien told the 15-member council. “The international community simply cannot let eastern Aleppo city become yet another, and by far the largest, besieged area.”He said any humanitarian pause needed to be 48 hours because the Castello Road was so damaged that only smaller trucks could be used, taking longer to deliver the assistance needed. O’Brien’s call for a weekly 48-hour pause was backed by the United States, Britain, France and others. Britain is drafting a council statement, diplomats said. Such statements have to be agreed by consensus. Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho, council president for July, said there was “overwhelming support” for the request. US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said Russia and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces must halt their attacks on Aleppo and reopen the Castello Road. Russia began supporting Assad’s troops in September with air strikes. Power added that attempts to broker an end to the five-year war “requires a period of reduced violence and if Aleppo remains under siege it is hard to see how this is going to work.” UN Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura is scheduled to meet senior US and Russian officials on Tuesday in Geneva. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the Castello Road was used to supply “terrorists with weapons and armaments, as well as for the passage of extremist mobiles with suicide bombers.”

Carter: Russia, U.S. Not on Same Page on Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 26/16/Russia, now discussing a military cooperation agreement with the United States in Syria, is still far from American positions, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Monday. Talks led by Secretary of State John Kerry are aimed at seeing if "it's possible... for the Russians to begin to do the right thing in Syria," Carter said. In other words, Russia's policies that have prolonged the war should end, he said. "We had hoped that they would promote a political solution and transition to put an end to the civil war which is the beginning of all this violence in Syria," Carter said referring to the regime of President Bashar Assad. But "they're a long way from doing that," Carter stressed. "But that's what Secretary Kerry's trying to promote. And getting the Russians to do the right thing." Russia and the United States back opposing sides in Syria's five-year war, which has left 280,000 people dead and forced half the population to flee their homes. Multiple rounds of international negotiations to end the war, which erupted in 2011 after Assad's regime unleashed a brutal crackdown against a pro-democracy revolt, have so far failed. Kerry held marathon talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow last week, striking an agreement on "concrete steps" to salvage a failing truce and tackle jihadist groups in Syria. Details of the deal have not been made public but some U.S. officials have voiced concerns about the effort.
U.S. intelligence chief James Clapper was quoted in a Washington Post story on Thursday as saying: "I've expressed my reservations about, for example, sharing intelligence with (the Russians)... which they desperately want, I think, to exploit, to learn what they can about our sources and methods and tactics and techniques and procedures," he said. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford said Monday, "we're not entering into a transaction that's founded on trust. "There will be specific procedures and processes in any transaction we might have with the Russians that would -- that would account for protecting our operational security."Damascus-backer Russia and the United States, which supports moderate rebels seeking to unseat Assad, co-chair a 22-member group working to end the war in Syria. A ceasefire they brokered in February -- which did not include the Islamic State group or Syrian al-Qaida branch al-Nusra -- has since all but collapsed amid continued heavy fighting. U.S. President Barack Obama has insisted on keeping dialogue with Moscow open on Syria, Kerry has said.

Syria Regime Advances on Rebels in Aleppo
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 26/16/Syrian government forces on Tuesday seized a rebel-held neighborhood on the northwest outskirts of Aleppo, tightening their siege of the opposition-held parts of the city, a monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said loyalist troops had full control of the Leramun district after heavy clashes, and reported fighting for neighboring Bani Zeid, which is also held by rebels. The two areas have been used by rebels to launch rockets into government-held districts in the west of the city. Aleppo has been roughly divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east since mid-2012. In recent weeks, regime advances around the city's outskirts have severed the only remaining route into the rebel-held eastern neighborhoods, effectively placing them under siege. Opposition forces have responded by firing barrages of missiles into government districts, killing scores of civilians. "The importance of capturing Leramun and Bani Zeid is to stop the missile fire and also to further tighten the siege," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. He said government forces had now surrounded Bani Zeid, reporting heavy air strikes in the area and ongoing clashes. The monitor had no immediate toll in the fighting. Government forces effectively severed the opposition's Castello Road supply route on July 7, when they advanced to within firing range. They have tightened the encirclement of the rebel-held east since then, taking parts of the road itself and prompting food shortages and spiraling prices in opposition neighborhoods. Syria's Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, also reported advances in Leramun, an industrial area that once housed scores of factories. Government forces have also continued to pound opposition areas of the city, with the toll in barrel bomb attacks on Monday in the al-Mashhad neighborhood rising to 18, the Observatory said. The group had earlier given a toll of 12.The dead included two women and a child, as well as a rebel commander who was killed with four members of his family, the monitor said. It added that the toll was expected to rise further because bodies were still thought to be trapped under the rubble 24 hours after the devastating attacks. More than 280,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests that were met with a regime crackdown.

2 Turkish Generals Serving in Afghanistan Held in UAE after Coup
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 26/16/Two Turkish generals serving in Afghanistan have been detained in Dubai on suspicion of links to the July 15 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Turkish official said Tuesday. Major General Mehmet Cahit Bakir, the commander of Turkey's task force in Afghanistan, and Brigadier General Sener Topuc were detained at Dubai airport, said the official, who asked not to be named. The detentions followed cooperation between the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the UAE authorities, the state-run Anadolu news agency added, without giving further details. These are the first detentions of senior army figures serving outside Turkey as part of the investigation into the coup, which Ankara blames on the U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen. In a separate development, the former governor of Istanbul Huseyin Avni Mutlu was detained in the coup investigation, Anadolu said. More than 13,000 people, including over 100 generals, have been detained so far in a vast sweep in the wake of the July 15 military coup bid, prompting anxiety abroad over the scope of the crackdown.

W. Sahara Separatists Want U.N. Council to Press Morocco
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 26/16/Western Sahara's separatist Polisario Front urged the UN Security Council on Monday to boost pressure on Morocco to allow expelled UN staffers to return to their mission in the disputed territory. The council is due to discuss Western Sahara on Tuesday to follow up on a resolution adopted in April that calls for the mission known as MINURSO to be fully restored. The Polisario Front's U.N. representative, Ahmed Boukhari, told reporters that "the resolution has not been implemented" and sent a letter urging the council to obtain "a commitment from Morocco to respect MINURSO's mandate."Morocco this month allowed 25 .UN. staffers to return to Laayoune, where the MINURSO mission is headquartered, but this represents only about a third of the personnel expelled in March. Morocco unilaterally cut back the U.N. staff in angry retaliation over U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's use of the term "occupation" to describe the status of the territory it claims as its own. Boukhari said the council must send a strong message to Morocco to allow more UN staff to return to Western Sahara and to agree to political talks on the future of the territory. The U.N. envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, has been trying for weeks to set a date for a visit to the region, but no firm date has been announced. Boukhari argued that inaction was not an option for Western Sahara, which is located in a volatile region with nearby Libya and the Sahel region in turmoil. "Business as usual is the wrong answer to the Western Sahara case," he said. MINURSO was established in 1991 after a ceasefire ended a war that broke out when Morocco sent troops to the former Spanish territory in 1975 and fought Sahrawi rebels of the Algerian-backed Polisario Front. Morocco maintains that Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom despite U.N. resolutions that task MINURSO with organizing a referendum on self-determination. The U.S.-drafted resolution backed by 10 of the 15 council members in April stressed "the urgent need" for the mission to return to "its full functionality" after Rabat unilaterally ordered the U.N. staff to leave. The resolution stated that if the mission was not fully functioning by the end of July, the council would "consider how best to facilitate the achievement of this goal".

Trump says he would consider alliance with Russia over ISIS
Reuters, Winston-SalemTuesday, 26 July 2016/Republican nominee Donald Trump said on Monday that if elected US president he would weigh an alliance with Russia against ISIS militants but rejected any suggestion Russian President Vladimir Putin might be trying to help him win. Speaking at a rally in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Trump dismissed any suggestion that Putin’s intelligence services might have had a hand in hacking the Democratic National Committee’s email system. Emails leaked last week disclosed that some party officials had been in favor of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton winning the Democratic presidential nomination over US Senator Bernie Sanders and sought ways to thwart Sanders. The uproar over the WikiLeaks revelations prompted Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign as DNC chairwoman, and Trump eagerly injected himself into the controversy. Trump dismissed a charge from Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook that Russian hackers might have stolen the emails and leaked them to embarrass Democrats and help Trump defeat Clinton in the Nov. 8 election. “I don’t think it’s coincidental that these emails were released on the eve of our convention here, and I think that’s disturbing,” Mook told CNN’s “State of the Union.” Trump dismissed what he called “one of the weirdest conspiracy theories” he said he had heard. He said he had never met Putin. But over the course of his year-long campaign, Trump has praised the Russian leader and one of his top foreign policy advisers, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, had dinner with Putin last December. “When you think about it, wouldn’t it be nice if we got along with Russia?” Trump said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we got together with Russia and knocked the hell out of ISIS?” he added, using another name for ISIS. As it happens, skeptics in the US government, European allies in the anti-ISIS coalition and the main Syrian opposition, distrustful of Russia’s intentions, are questioning Secretary of State John Kerry’s own latest proposal for closer US-Russian cooperation against militant groups in Syria.

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

Coptic Bishop: Egypt’s Christians Attacked ‘Every Two or Three Days’
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/July 26/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/07/26/raymond-ibrahim-coptic-bishop-egypts-christians-attacked-every-two-or-three-days/

After the latest round of attacks on Egypt’s Christian minority—which saw at least one Copt stabbed to death and many Christian homes and a church burned—Coptic Bishop Makarious of al-Minya, the region where many of the attacks on Christians take place, was interviewed on television. Although Church authorities in Egypt are regularly diplomatic and sensitive to what they say—more elements in Egypt, including in the government, can seek “retribution” if Christians openly complain and make them look bad—Makarious made many revealing comments.
Bishop Makarious (center) stands with 70-year-old Christian woman who in an earlier attack was stripped naked, beat, and paraded in front of 300 jeering Muslims.
Although only Christians, no Muslims, were killed and hurt, he wondered why the government and media continue to describe these incidents as “clashes”—which suggests two quarrelling parties—when the reality is always that one side attacks the other: “Within minutes [of the start of one of the attacks], 100 Muslims instantly appeared, fully armed, as if ready for war.”
His grandest point was that the attackers know that they will never be punished, so they continue to grow more and more emboldened:
As long as the attackers are never punished, and the armed forces are portrayed as doing their duty, this will just encourage others to continue the attacks, since, even if they are arrested, they will be quickly released.
When the host asked questions about who is released and why, suggesting that perhaps those released are in fact innocent of any wrongdoing against the Christians, the bishop replied:
Well what do you think when the actual attackers themselves are arrested, with complete proofs and evidences against them, but then they are still declared innocent and released?… this happens every single time.
When asked what the government did regarding this incident, he said it did what it always does: taking its time, “security comes after all the damage is complete, after the rioters have had their fill of plunder, then it stays in the area for a couple days, and once it leaves, the area again falls under the sway of certain elements.”Bishop Makarious ultimately held the government responsible for the repeated attacks on the Coptic Christians of Minya. After he pointed out that “some of the authorities always smile at what is happening,” the surprised host asked him to explain, to which the bishop responded: “Of course I don’t assume that all authorities have the interest of the nation at heart and are sincere, because if they did, these attacks would not happen time and again, at a rate now of every two or three days.”

Department of Homeland Security Targeting the Wrong Enemy
A.J. Caschetta/Gatestone Institute/July 26/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8549/dhs-rightwing-extremism

President Obama has surrounded himself not with military strategists but rather with fiction writers, wide-eyed diplomats whose strategy is "don't do stupid shit," and law enforcement officials who believe that "Our most effective response to terror and hatred is compassion, unity and love."
Only "rightwing extremism" is obvious to the Obama Administration. Everything else is apparently too complex and nuanced for labels. Even Micah Xavier Johnson, who said that he was motivated by "Black Lives Matters" rhetoric and hatred of white people, is a conundrum to the president, who bizarrely asserted that it is "hard to untangle the motives of this shooter."
The Obama era is one of willful blindness to the jihadist movement that has declared war on America. CIA Director John Brennan purged the word "jihad" from the agency's vocabulary. Obama's two Attorneys General have done the same at the Department of Justice.
The federal government has spent the last 8 years pretending that "rightwing extremists" are more numerous and dangerous than the careful and intelligent jihadist attackers, whom it insists are just "madmen" or "troubled individuals."
Anyone surprised by President Barack Obama's recurring attempts at exploiting jihadist attacks in his efforts to restrict gun ownership should read the earliest known document concerning terrorism assembled by his administration. The unclassified assessment by Department of Homeland Security (DHS), titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," is dated April 7, 2009 -- a mere 77 days after Obama's inauguration.
The document was leaked shortly after its release to law enforcement officials across the country and made public by Roger Hedgecock on April 13, 2009. It laid out the new president's legislative and executive priorities on terrorism, guns and immigration. Uniquely combining these three issues would become a predictable, coordinated pattern during Obama's two terms in office.
The assessment boldly delineated the Tom Ridge and Janet Napolitano eras at the DHS. As Eli Lake wrote the day after the document was leaked, "Since its inception in 2003, the department has focused primarily on radicalization of Muslims and the prospect of homegrown Islamist terrorism." Under Obama's leadership, attention was directed away from Muslims and Islamist terrorism and redirected towards limiting the Second Amendment, scrutinizing military veterans and expanding both legal and illegal immigration.
Contrary to criticism of the Obama administration as uninterested in the plight of military veterans, the DHS assessment shows that vets were very much a priority. The document's authors, in fact, were worried that "military veterans facing significant challenges returning into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists."
The only significant acts of domestic terrorism perpetrated by veterans lately have not been inspired from the right, however: Micah Xavier Johnson and Gavin Long are products of a "left wing," anti-police, anti-establishment ideology. The assassinations they carried out fit the pattern of the so-called "New Left" wave of terror carried out in the 1970s by the Weather Underground and the Black Panthers.
The language of the document also foretells the Obama story. In its brief seven pages of text there are 25 references to gun control, weapons and ammunition-hoarding. Terrorists motivated by "anti-immigration" and "white supremacist" ideologies are mentioned 11 times, and veterans returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq are mentioned 9 times. Variations of "extremism," which would become Obama's preferred euphemism, occur 42 times.
Timothy McVeigh is the model terrorist in the document. DHS spokeswoman Sara Kuban said a goal of the report was "to prevent another Tim McVeigh from ever happening again."
The 1990s figure prominently in the DHS prognostication, meriting 17 references. The "poor economic climate," the Clinton "assault weapon" ban and "a perceived threat to US power and sovereignty by other foreign powers" are envisioned as parallel to the situation in 2009. Looking back at the 1990s and predicting similar troubles in the age of Obama, Napolitano's DHS made no mention of the most significant development in the evolution of political violence to occur in the 1990s: the rise of Al-Qaeda.
Military strategists worth their pay will recognize the DHS version of "preparing to fight the last war," but then Obama has surrounded himself not with military strategists but rather with fiction writers, wide-eyed diplomats whose strategy is limited to "don't do stupid shit," and law enforcement officials who believe that "Our most effective response to terror and hatred is compassion, unity and love."
In a passage about "the historical election of an African American president and the prospect of policy changes," there is a reference to "the shooting deaths of three police officers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 4 April 2009." The shooter in question was Richard Poplawski, who ambushed the police called to his home to investigate a domestic disturbance. The DHS concludes that "his racist ideology and belief in antigovernment conspiracy theories" led to his "radicalization," though years later, after Poplawski was convicted and sentenced to death, reporters and even the jury were still unsure of his motives.
The Poplawski shooting occurred just three days before the date on the document. Compare that remarkably speedy conclusion to the way the Obama Administration has handled jihadist attacks. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's November 5, 2009 attack in Fort Hood, Texas, and Alton Nolan's September 24, 2014 ritual beheading of a coworker at the Vaughan Foods plant in Moore, Oklahoma, are described as "workplace violence."
FBI Director James Comey expressed confusion over Omar Mateen's motives for the recent Orlando jihad attack, even though Mateen's attack was accompanied by the jihadist's battle cry "Allahu Akhbar" and a pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Caliph of the Islamic State during a 911 call. Before that it was the San Bernardino husband-wife jihadist team whose motives were ostensibly a mystery to the FBI.
Only "rightwing extremism" is obvious to the Obama Administration. Everything else is apparently too complex and nuanced for labels. Even Micah Xavier Johnson, who told Dallas police that he was motivated by "Black Lives Matters" rhetoric and hatred of white people, is a conundrum to the president, who bizarrely asserted that it is "hard to untangle the motives of this shooter."
Left: The 2009 Department of Homeland Security assessment titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." Right: Micah Xavier Johnson, who murdered five Dallas police officers and injured nine others, said that he was motivated by "Black Lives Matters" rhetoric and hatred of white people.
After the 2009 DHS assessment was widely and rightly criticized, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) complained that the administration "let its team devoted to non-Islamic domestic terrorism fall apart in the aftermath of... [the] controversial leaked report." But while the "Extremism and Radicalization Branch, Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division" may have been dropped, but the principles that led to the document were not.
Even more so than the Bush era, the Obama era is one of willful blindness to the global jihadist movement that has declared war on America. CIA Director John Brennan purged the word "jihad" from the agency's vocabulary. Obama's two Attorneys General have done the same at the Department of Justice.
The federal government has spent the last eight years pretending (maybe even believing) that "rightwing extremists" are more numerous and dangerous than the careful and intelligent jihadist attackers, whom it insists are just "madmen" or "troubled individuals."
**A.J. Caschetta is a Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum and a senior lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
© 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.

Fear of change and the Turkish coup attempt
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya 26/16
When Cairo’s streets overflowed in July 2013 with people protesting against then-President Mohammad Mursi, there were more fears than when people filled Tahrir Square two years earlier. There is a huge difference between the two events in the same capital. Fears increased due to clashes in and outside the protest area, and for the first time it seemed that Egypt’s Jan. 2011 revolution could go the same way as Libya, Syria and Yemen. The months following Mursi’s ouster were full of clashes and threats to Egypt’s stability. Regardless of the debate over his legitimacy, maintaining stability - especially in such a large country - is considered an acceptable justification for his overthrow. In Turkey the situation is different. The country is stable, its regime democratically developed over three decades. The current government was elected by a huge majority. There are no large movements demanding regime-change. It is amid this political stability that the coup attempt suddenly took place a week ago. The attempt aimed to obstruct the civil system and take power. We felt like the world suddenly stopped during these dangerous hours.
Regional repercussions
I do not deny that some are angry at the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, almost all regional governments and politicians must have been worried that night about possible chaos, given that the wars in Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Syria are bigger than any power’s ability to control them or prevent them spilling over. People have become used to Syria’s tragedy, and are tired of watching news of it every night. However, the situation there pains the heart. The most recent tragedy there was two days ago, when the regime shelled four hospitals and a blood-donation center in Aleppo. Had the coup succeeded, Turkey would have been doomed to unrest. No one in the region wants the list of stricken countries to grow. We do not know the number of victims, and few details have emerged. The world was busy with the crime of a German of Iranian descent, who opened fire on civilians in a mall in Munich. Less than two days later, a Syrian migrant killed a woman with a machete. Who can imagine how the region would have been affected if another big country such as Turkey suffered from a similar situation? It is a very scary prospect for the world. Had the coup succeeded, Turkey would have been doomed to unrest. No one in the region wants the list of stricken countries to grow. No one in Europe wants Turkey to become a gateway for terrorists, immigrants and chaos. Regardless of disputes between countries, politicians realize the wide-ranging consequences of uncalculated adventures. I think even Iran, which is igniting the region with problems, is afraid of the repercussions of change in Turkey. The same applies to Russia. Meanwhile, some of the region’s governments are working on major concessions to put out the fires raging in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and to a certain extent Libya. God alone knows what would have happened to Turkey had the coup succeeded and the country been divided.
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on July 26, 2016.

Germany: Christian Names for Muslim Migrants?
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/July 26/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8547/germany-muslims-names

"The United States is full of anglicized German names, from Smith to Steinway, from Miller to Schwartz. The reason: integration was made easier. ... I think that German citizens of foreign origin should also have this possibility." — Ruprecht Polenz, former secretary general of Germany's ruling Christian Democratic Union.
Non-Muslim immigrants generally choose traditional German names for their children to facilitate their integration into German society. By contrast, Muslim immigrants almost invariably choose traditional Arabic or Turkish names, presumably to prevent their integration into German society. A 2006 study found that more than 90% of Turkish parents give their German-born children Turkish first names.
A 2016 study found that 32% of ethnic Turks in Germany agree that "Muslims should strive to return to a societal order such as that in the time of Mohammed." More than one-third believe that "only Islam is able to solve the problems of our times." One-fifth agree that "the threat which the West poses to Islam justifies violence." One-quarter believe that "Muslims should not shake the hand of a member of the opposite sex."
Muslim migrants in Germany who feel discriminated against should be given the right to change their legal names to Christian-sounding ones, according to a senior German politician.
The latest innovation in German multiculturalism is being championed by Ruprecht Polenz, a former secretary general of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He believes the German law which regulates name changes (Namensrecht) should be amended to make it easier for men named Mohammed to become Martin and women named Aisha to become Andrea.
German law generally does not allow foreigners to change their names to German ones, and German courts rarely approve such petitions. By custom and practice, German names are only for Germans.
According to Polenz, who served as a member of parliament for nearly two decades, the law in its current form is "ignorant" and should be changed:
"An ignorant law: the United States is full of anglicized German names, from Smith to Steinway, from Miller to Schwartz. The reason: integration was made easier. It no longer appeared as though a family was not from the USA. I think that German citizens of foreign origin should also have this possibility."
Polenz elaborated:
"The desire to adopt a German name is solid evidence that you feel German and would like to be seen as a German. In the context of integration this is entirely desirable. It simply does not make sense to prohibit this....
"In everyday life we ​​unfortunately often see that naturalization or possessing a German passport is not enough to be regarded as a German."
Muslims with foreign-sounding names often find it difficult to find a job, Polenz said, and the possibility of a name change might prevent discrimination and promote integration.
Indeed, academic studies (here and here) have found that immigrants with Arab or Turkish last names are less likely to be invited to job interviews than equally qualified migrants with non-Muslim sounding names.
Ruprecht Polenz, a former secretary general of Germany's CDU party, believes the German law which regulates name changes should be amended to make it easier for Muslim migrants to change their legal names to Christian-sounding ones. (Image source: stephan-roehl.de/Flicker)
The former president of the Constitutional Court in North Rhine-Westphalia, Michael Bertram, has called for German courts to allow a name change if "a foreign-sounding name makes it difficult to integrate into the economic and social life in this country."
He was referring to a case in which a court in Braunschweig rejected a petition by a German-Turkish family to change their surname. The parents had complained that in school their German-born children were being treated as "educationally disadvantaged migrants" and that teachers were addressing them in Turkish, a language they did not understand because they only speak German at home.
The court insisted on the principle of "name continuity" (Namenskontinuität) because there is "a public interest in maintaining the traditional name to enable social orientation and identification for security purposes."
In a precedent-setting case in May 2012, a court in Göttingen ruled that neither the fear of discrimination, nor the desire for integration, are sufficient legal grounds for migrants to change their names to German ones.
The case involved a family of asylum seekers from Azerbaijan who wanted to adopt German first and last names to prevent possible discrimination and to avoid being linked to a particular ethnic or religious group.
The court ruled that although discrimination due to a foreign-sounding name was always a possibility, it is not within the purview of the law that regulates names to "counteract a social aberration" (gesellschaftlichen Fehlentwicklungen), i.e., discrimination.
The court added that the plaintiff's names were not any more or less unusual than those of the majority of other migrants living in Germany. Moreover, although the children had Muslim-sounding names, it would not pose a big problem because others would not necessarily associate them with active religious practice.
Even if the existing German law were changed, it is unlikely that many Muslim migrants would adopt Christian names. Muslims who have children in Germany are already free to give them German first names, but they rarely do.
According to the Center for Onomatology (the study of the origin of names) at the University of Leipzig, Muslim and non-Muslim immigrants differ substantially in the way they choose names for their German-born children.
Non-Muslim immigrants generally choose traditional German names for their children to facilitate their integration into German society. By contrast, Muslim immigrants almost invariably choose traditional Arabic or Turkish names, presumably to prevent their integration into German society.
While non-Muslim immigrants name their children Sophie or Stefan, Muslim immigrants — including those whose families have been living in Germany for two, three or four generations — overwhelmingly give their children Muslim names such as Mohammed, Mehmet or Aisha.
A 2006 study produced by the University of Berlin found that more than 90% of Turkish parents give their German-born children Turkish first names; fewer than 3% give them German names.
A 2012 study found that 95% of ethnic Turks living in Germany believe it is absolutely necessary for them to preserve their Turkish identity. Nearly half (46%) agreed with the statement, "I hope that in the future there will be more Muslims than Christians living in Germany." Only 15% consider Germany to be their home.
A 2016 study found that 32% of ethnic Turks in Germany agree that "Muslims should strive to return to a societal order such as that in the time of Mohammed." More than one-third (36%) believe that "only Islam is able to solve the problems of our times." One-fifth (20%) agree that "the threat which the West poses to Islam justifies violence." One-quarter (23%) believe that "Muslims should not shake the hand of a member of the opposite sex."
Some politicians believe that giving Muslim migrants the right to adopt Christian-sounding names will ease their integration into German society. But empirical evidence shows that most Muslims in Germany do not want German names and many have no desire to integrate into German society.
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter. His first book, Global Fire, will be out in 2016.
© 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.

How We Honor Muslims Who Stand Up to Terror
Robert Satloff/ The Washington Institut/July 26/16
At a time when examples of Islamist terrorism and intimidation appear with numbing frequency, efforts to recognize the extraordinary heroism of many ordinary Muslims are more important than ever.
Nice, on France's Mediterranean coast, now joins a long list of cities, on four continents, where Islamist terrorists have perpetrated gruesome attacks, mercilessly killing hundreds of innocents. And those are just where some of the highest-profile outrages have occurred, the ones that attract headlines. The fact that millions of people, mostly other Muslims, survive under the daily brutality of violent Islamists in large parts of Syria, Iraq, Libya, Gaza, Nigeria and elsewhere is so routine as to barely be newsworthy.
Most people recognize that Islamist terrorists who kill and maim in the name of God do not represent the other billion-plus Muslims in the world today. But still, there is a widespread, if not always articulated, view that huge percentages of Muslims are enablers, cheerleaders or at least passive shoulder-shruggers at what the terrorists do. No doubt a certain number are -- probably fewer than feared but more than one would hope.
This is why what took place last Friday, just across the Mediterranean, on the grounds of the Italian Embassy in Tunis, is so important. That is where people of various faiths, nationalities and ethnicities came together to consecrate a "Garden of the Righteous" to honor the memory of Muslims who risked -- and in some case, gave -- their lives to save others from the horror of terror.
The concept of a Garden of the Righteous draws from the example of the sacred space at Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to victims and heroes of the Holocaust, dedicated to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during humanity's darkest hour. More than 26,000 people -- men and women of all faiths (and none at all) -- have so far been recognized. Given that this constitutes but a tiny percentage of non-Jews who had the opportunity to protect Jews during their hour of need, the honorees showed a particularly unique brand of courage displayed by ordinary people doing extraordinary deeds.
Taking this idea and applying it to Muslims who risked or gave their lives in the face of terror is the brainchild of the Italian historian Gabriele Nissim, founder of the Milan-based organization Gariwo, which stands for Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide. For years, Nissim and his colleagues have worked to tell the stories of "righteous" -- not just those who saved Jews but those who, more generally, put themselves in harm's way on behalf of "the other" -- as a way to open new channels of understanding among peoples chained by conflict.
Several years ago, I was privileged to speak in front of 500 enthusiastic Italian high school students at a Gariwo conference highlighting brave women and men who crossed ethnic lines to save "the other" at atrocious times throughout the last century, from the Armenian genocide to the Balkan Wars. My own contribution was to talk about Arabs who saved Jews during the Holocaust.
To his great credit, Nissim has taken this idea out of Europe and brought it to Tunis, deep in the heart of an Arab Muslim society that is on the front lines of the great civilizational battle raging between enlightenment and fanaticism. In 2011, Tunisia was the first Arab country to throw off its ossified, autocratic leadership in the much-too-optimistically named Arab Spring. Ever since, it has labored to protect its nascent democracy from both the allure of Islamist politicians promising simplistic answers to complex problems and the brutal violence of Islamist terrorists keen to bring the whole country to its knees.
Working with the brave Tunisian human rights activist Abdessattar Ben Moussa, winner of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, and the forward-thinking diplomats in the Italian foreign ministry, Nissim and his colleagues have created a sacred space on Arab soil where people of goodwill, from around the world, can honor Muslims whose courage transcends faith, nationality and ethnicity.
Who are these remarkable Muslims? Of the honorees, the earliest story is from the Nazi occupation of Tunisia in 1943, when Khaled Abdul Wahab, a wealthy nobleman, protected nearly two dozen Jews on his farm outside the seaside town of Mahdia and risked his life to prevent a German officer from raping a young Jewish woman.
The most recent story is from Bangladesh, where Faraaz Hussein, a young Muslim man, could have saved himself during the recent ISIS attack in Dhaka by reciting Quranic verses but instead demanded the release of his non-Muslim friends and heroically died alongside them.
These stories are moving and inspiring; in a world in which Islamist terror is a fact of numbing frequency, they also remind us of the extraordinary heroism of many ordinary Muslims. Eventually, when a peaceful Tunisia emerges from its current travails, it will be a welcome step to move the garden from the secure, fenced-in grounds of the embassy to public space, on sovereign Tunisian soil. And when it does, the organizers should make sure there is room for many more honorees than the inaugural five.
That is because stories of Muslims facing down hate and terror, especially perpetrated by violent Islamists who claim to speak in their name, are both important to tell and more common than we realize.
**Robert Satloff is executive director of The Washington Institute and author of Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands.

The Saudi FM’s response to Iranian slander
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya 26/16
The Iranian consul in Belgium tried to tamper with history. He wanted to throw dust in the eyes when he spoke of Saudi Arabia’s supposed involvement with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). However, the only proof he found is that Al-Qaeda’s late leader Osama bin Laden was Saudi. It is akin to the consul accusing Britain, France, Germany and the United States of supporting ISIS because their citizens are among its ranks. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir’s response was to concisely narrate Iran’s history of terrorism, and how it harbored Al-Qaeda leaders and supported the organization. The Sept. 11 hijackers passed easily through Iran. Jubeir reminded the world of historical facts: “Didn’t Iran attack more than a dozen embassies in Iran in violation of all international laws? We didn’t attack them. Iran did. Didn’t Iran manage, plan and execute the 1996 Khobar Towers attack against American marines? Yes it did… The top three leaders of the plot escaped and have been living in Iran ever since.”Iran shelters senior Al-Qaeda figure Saif al-Adel. In a letter published on May 26, 2005, Adel - who gave orders from Iran to carry out the Al-Hamra explosions in Riyadh on May 12, 2003 - narrated the story of fleeing from Afghanistan: “We began to arrive to Iran one after the other. Brothers in the Arabian Peninsula, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates [UAE], who were outside Afghanistan, had arrived there before us. They had plenty of money. The absence of wisdom from Iranian politics has worsened regional problems. Tehran thinks if it tells the same lies again and again, people will eventually believe it
“We formed a central command and [other branches], and began to rent apartments to house the brothers and some of their families. The brothers in the [Hezb-e-Islami] group of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar provided good help to us. They provided apartments and some of the farms they owned.” In a letter by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in June 2005 and published by the United States in October that year, he wrote: “Shiite Iran harbors around 100 Al-Qaeda members.”Tehran’s reaction to Jubeir’s response was harsh. “It will take time to subjugate you,” said Iranian Ambassador Hamid Aboutalebi, “The depletion of oil revenues and financial pressures will benefit in stopping your financial support of terrorism, extremism and genocide.”
State relations
Iran does not understand the language of states. Kneeling and submitting are not concepts to be proposed for relations between countries. Crises are resolved by agreements, initiatives, dialogue and negotiation. The absence of wisdom from Iranian politics has worsened regional problems. Tehran thinks if it tells the same lies again and again, people will eventually believe it. Meanwhile, genocide is being committed by its Revolutionary Guards against Syrians, and by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
A saying by Persian poet Saadi al-Shirazi applies to Iran’s current government: “Shame on me and an aggression against people, if I preach when my heart is a harsh boulder.”
*This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on July 26, 2016.

Trump-Putin 2016: Russia plunges into US elections
Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya 26/16
The events of the last few days in the US presidential race should leave no room for doubt that Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively emerged as a manipulator in US politics, helping to elect his like-minded right wing populist Republican nominee Donald Trump to the White House. With the FBI coming close to confirming the Russian government’s direct role in hacking the server of the Democratic National Committee last June, and releasing thousands of emails on the eve of the convention to nominate Hillary Clinton, the Kremlin’s is seeking to sow discord within Democrats' camps and therefore help elect Trump.
Trump, the Kremlin’s favorite
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Donald Trump is a fan of Vladimir Putin, and Russia's strongman favorite horse to win the White House. Trump has showered Putin with praises, even prefers him to America’s President Barack Obama, saying last September that Putin “ in terms of leadership, he’s getting an ‘A’ and our president is not doing so well.”
This is the same Trump that hired Paul Manafort -known for his thick Russian ties- as campaign manager back in March. Manafort’s last client was former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych now exiled in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. While this could be a mere coincidence, actions that the Trump campaign has taken since Manafort took office indicate otherwise. Trump’s rise and rhetoric is music to Moscow’s ears, while seeing him in the White House would be a sweet revenge for Putin, the former KGB operative. The GOP platform was gutted from any anti-Russia stance on Ukraine ahead of the convention, hours before Trump backtracked on a major commitment to NATO refraining from defending Eastern European allies if they were to face Russian aggression. Added to the Republican’s nominee isolationist policy on trade, threats to Latin American and European partners, praise for the Brexit vote, Trump is an ideal candidate for the Russian government whose priority is weakening Europe and dismantling NATO. Trump’s rise and rhetoric is music to Moscow’s ears, while seeing him in the White House would be a sweet revenge for Putin, the former KGB operative, to flex his muscle and promote a Russian-driven agenda in Washington.
Trump the opportunist
For an opportunist like Trump, appeasing Putin to win the White House in November fits the narrative and style of his campaign. So far Trump has refrained from condemning the hack into the DNC, and instead dug deeper to exploit the emails in a fashion that would deepen divisions between the Democrats. Opportunism and winning at any cost is Trump’s signature of this campaign, flip flopping on policy positions to sway the polls, and shifting attacks and alliances against his rivals to score victories. Trump’s son even offered his former rival John Kasich a pledge to make him “the most powerful Vice President”, knowing that such ticket (now declined) could secure the father the presidency. Even with mounting evidence that the Russian government hacked the DNC to break the ranks within the Democrats, Trump sees such claim as a simple “joke”. Reports that one of DNC officials was hacked by a “state-sponsored actor” while doing opposition research on Manafort, exposes the depth of the Trump-Putin network and promises an expanded FBI investigation. The Russian scheme to prop up Donald Trump also involves the media where a deliberate positive coverage of Donald Trump is prevalent on Russia’s global network RT. General Michael Flynn, one of Trump’s advisers is a frequent guest on RT. Pro- Russia lobbyists in Washington are seen more active in the Trump campaign with interests aligned in weakening NATO and bringing forth a more anti-immigration agenda.
Putin’s meddling in the US elections serves two purposes, one as a payback time against Clinton and the Obama administration that rallied Europe to put sanctions against Russia after it annexed Crimea. And the second purpose is to display a more defiant Russia on the global stage, while helping a right wing pro-Kremlin persona in reaching the White House. As the polls draw closer between Clinton and Trump, Russian involvement will only increase in the US race. It’s a win-win situation for Moscow to meddle in Washington’s politics and prop up the rise of its new anti-NATO rightwing ally.

Is the Arab League failing to fight the phantom enemy?
Dr. John C. Hulsman/Al Arabiya 26/16
Most summits come and go, causing barely a ripple on the international waters. They usually have some high-minded theme that is supposed to thematically unite the gathering—global warming, non-proliferation, helping along the global economy and human rights issues are stock choices—but generally precious little is practically accomplished to take on such intractable policy issues. Yesterday’s Arab League summit in Mauritania was such a case. At best, summits function as a networking exercise, allowing regional figures to hobnob, spending time getting to know one another, which might prove handy if leaders have to make quick decisions about some future crisis. Summits tend to be about setting the stage for cooperation in the future, rather than dealing with the present. Part of the problem with the Arab League meeting in Mauritania was the general theme to be discussed, terrorism, is so vague and open to so many interpretations the word has practically lost any real meaning. Last year’s ambitious plans to establish a joint Arab League military force have stalled, precisely because of the vagueness of what it would be use to do, and against whom. Further, in the specific last minute absence of Egypt’s President Sisi and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, the strategic heavyweights of the Arab world, the meeting in Mauritania was poised to accomplish little, certainly nothing so ambitious as crafting a common regional prescription for combatting this scourge.
First the bad news
One of the reasons terrorism is so hard to combat is because many people cannot even agree on its meaning, as it has become little more than a political epithet. As they used to say in Ireland, at the height of ‘The Troubles,’ “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” If terrorism only means acts of violence perpetrated by people we don’t really like, it has become so subjective a term as to have lost all true meaning at all. This makes crafting a policy to take on this intellectual phantom practically impossible. Treating the problem of terrorism more holistically at the region-wide level might just help ameliorate the many crises presently buffeting the region today. The worry in a clunky organisation like the 22-member state Arab League, which represents the whole of the region, is that an already diverse and numerous group of countries will simply be unable to decide who are the terrorists out there, the order of priority they should be dealt with, and the common strategy for doing so. In choosing this nebulous theme at last year’s Arab League meeting in Egypt, its members took a significant intellectual gamble that the summit in Mauritania would amount to nothing.
Then the worse
Worse, the bad news is that the other basic factor generally determining the success or failure of summitry—how highly placed are the assembled delegates within their countries—must make outside analysts highly pessimistic that the Arab League members can soon craft a common position to deal with terrorism. The right people were simply not in the room to craft a deal in taking on terrorism region-wide that just might stick, even if such a deal had been on offer, which it was not. However, for all that it amounts to little, the Mauritanian intellectual theme of the moment actually snugly fits the world we find ourselves in. There is little doubt the Middle East is on fire: From Libya to Syria, Iraq to Palestine, Turkey to Sinai. One of the few common threads running through this seeming chaos is that there is a terrorist element in all these all-consuming problems. Treating the problem of terrorism more holistically at the region-wide level might just help ameliorate the many crises presently buffeting the region today. Surely it is safe to intellectually say that looking at these various crises in isolation has failed to work. That makes the summit in Mauritania that rarest of birds; a intellectually substantive effort. Its failure is all the more galling.
Perhaps there is a silver lining
It is also surely true that while terrorist networks in the region have internationalised themselves, becoming more flexible and supple, able to traverse regional and national boundaries with increasing ease, those states combatting the scourge have had a harder time keeping up with this increasing transnational approach. Simply by placing a greater and sustained focus on the problem, the Arab League summit might jar loose greater regional cooperation, allowing for the increased intelligence sharing across the region that is the unsexy but vital way the dramatic rise in terrorist activity can be best fought. For this lowly practical reason, the seeming failure of the summit in Mauritania might just amount to more than meets the eye.

Reasons why Turkish ‘deep state’ should be dismantled
Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya 26/16
The free world must support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he implements his decision to dissolve Turkey’s “deep state” in order to restore peace and democracy in his country. His actions will make Turkey a successful model in our distressed Muslim world, since democracy cannot survive in a deep state or a secret organization - neither respect its rules, and both are willing to overturn it. Coups are not the answer. After the failed coup attempt, Erdogan gained great domestic popularity along with the support of his party and other democratic civil movements, making it the right time for him to prove himself. Even his rivals condemned the coup attempt, and warned against the violation of innocents’ human rights. The large number of citizens being held for investigation and laid off from their jobs should not be taken lightly, but neither should the events of July 15. The dangerous coup attempt against the Turkish people was deadly, during which coup leaders claimed they were only protecting and defending democracy! However, while the frightened news anchor read their statement on public TV, military jets struck parliament, police headquarters and the intelligence without taking into account the lives of innocent citizens. Tanks even drove over bodies, and militants fired directly at them. It was then that the bad intentions of the deep state were revealed. The coup plotters did not tolerate the democratic reforms that the elected government had undertaken during the last decade, especially the ones that gave Turkey back its Islamic identity. The plotters, just like a suicide bomber, killed everyone in their way, making this coup attempt the ugliest in Turkey’s history.
Historical context
After the fall of the Ottoman empire, a new republic was born in Turkey. Kemal Ataturk, the national hero who founded the modern republic, forced a new identity on Turkey, hanging anyone who opposed his agenda. At the time, the liberal elites of Istanbul welcomed his decisions. That was the first step taken to creating fake liberalism, the repercussions of which Turkey still suffers. It is necessary to support Erdogan’s pursuit to dissolve Turkey’s deep state, not out of love for him - but for the strength of Turkey. After the end of Ataturk’s dictatorship, the liberal elites who participated in the founding of the republic allowed the creation of a democratic regime, assuming that the people would always choose them. However, after 10 years of losing elections, the elites turned against the system and formed a new false democracy with empty institutions to control the country and its people. That gave birth to the deep state composed of the military, judiciary, businessmen, intellectuals, university professors and media figures, all promoted for their loyalty. The deep state was very powerful and ruthless, but this time the people took action and strongly rejected the coup attempt. Similar deep states exist in Arab republics such as Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Yemen, all of which were ruled or colonized by the Ottoman empire or European countries. It was inevitable that such corrupt systems would be challenged, and this is what happened with the Arab Spring. However, these deep states were able to resist and maintain power and control. This led to civil wars, coups, increased arrests, an economic crisis and loss of hope. It is thus necessary to support Erdogan’s pursuit to dissolve Turkey’s deep state, not out of love for him - after all, he is just an elected president - but for the strength of Turkey, and to not allow a repeat of what happened on July 15. If the coup had succeeded, Turkey would have experienced chaos, weakness and disintegration. No smart Saudi would want
**This article first appeared in Al-Hayat on July 23, 2016.

What’s next for Al-Nusra if they sever ties with Al-Qaeda?
Haid Haid/Now Lebanon/July 26/16
In the event of a public split with Al-Qaeda, “the group’s aims and principles will remain the same,” a Nusra member tells NOW
Fighters from Al-Qaeda
High-level Islamist figures and sources close to Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria have confirmed over the past few days that the group will soon cut ties with Al-Qaeda. Multiple reports also have confirmed that the group’s consultative council (Majlis as-Shura) has recently voted to break away from the terror organization. The sources justified the delay of the announcement due to unresolved issues within the group and opposition from some leaders over the move, as well as external pressure being applied by Jund al-Aqsa, a jihadist group operating in Syria. Although similar claims about Al-Nusra’s intention to sever ties with Al-Qaeda have been circulating since late 2013, experts familiar with this topic agree that unlike previous claims, there is growing circumstantial evidence that the group might actually follow through with the move. “We’ve heard such claims before, but this one comes after Abu Mohammed al-Maqdisi (an influential Jordanian-Palestinian Salafist) effectively gave his permission for such a move,” Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, tweeted yesterday in response to these reports. However, it is still not clear when this split might be announced and what impact the move will have on Al-Nusra in particular and on the dynamics of the conflict in Syria in general.
Jabhat al-Nusra was established in Syria in late 2011 and quickly gained notoriety for its military exploits against the Assad regime. In December 2012, the group was designated a terrorist organization by the US due to its affiliation with Al-Qaeda in Iraq, whose members would later go on to form the core of ISIS. Nonetheless, Al-Nusra continued to increase its influence and root itself within Syrian society while suspected ties between the group and Al-Qaeda remained unconfirmed speculations. However, Syrian opposition groups began pressuring Al-Nusra to distance itself from Al-Qaeda after the former pledged its allegiance to Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in April 2013. Regional countries, namely Turkey and Qatar, were also reportedly involved in attempts to persuade Al-Nusra to sever ties with Al-Qaeda, but the group remained loyal. However, it seems that recent developments in Syria may be finally changing the group’s calculus. “Al-Nusra may distance itself from Al-Qaeda because it feels that the creation of the proposed US-Russian air coalition to specifically target them is imminent. The group is also trying to regain the community support it has been losing in Syria by transforming itself into a Syrian group,” wrote Syrian journalist Manhal Barish on the activist website Al-Modon. Another source close to the group confirmed to the author that “although talks on breaking with Al-Qaeda have been ongoing for a long time now, the launching of the proposed US-Russian air coalition to target Nusra has played a significant role in the timing of the decision. The Al-Shura Council and the high and mid-level leaders all agreed on the break, with the blessing of Al-Qaeda leadership, due to the threats the group is facing,” said Mohamed Raed, a local activist in Idlib.
It is not clear how the split will take place or whether it will also be conditioned on certain guarantees and steps taken by rebel groups. According to a member of Jabhat al-Nusra who spoke on condition of anonymity, “Al-Nusra will change its name but the group’s aims and principles will remain the same.” Although the source did not refer to any conditions that will come with such a decision, experts familiar with the group stated that Al-Nusra’s decision to split from Al-Qaeda will likely be in exchange for the formation of a new fighting coalition comprosing Al-Nusra members and various rebel groups. “Suggestion seems to be that no decision has been made, but that Jolani (Al-Nusra’s leader) will offer a proposition to opposition groups to accept/reject,” Charles Lister wrote in a tweet. Similarly, Hassan Hassan, a resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, stated that Al-Nusra will only change its name, with its agenda in Syria remaining the same. One sticking point in a future Nusra-rebel coalition could be Al-Nusra’s stated goal of forming an Islamic emirate in Syria, per ‪ Zawahiri's proposal in May 2016. A senior figure in Ahrar al-Sham, who spoke to the author under condition of anonymity, stated that “I am aware of Al-Nusra’s attempt to break from Al-Qaeda, which is something we have long been asking for. However, there are no ongoing negotiations with Al-Nusra on forming a new coalition as a condition to that.”
The impact of any imminent Al-Nusra split from Al-Qaeda will depend on how the move is carried out and the reaction from local and international actors. Jabhat al-Nusra is trying to change the rules of the conflict in Syria by forcing other rebel groups to increase their strategic cooperation with it. The rebel alternative would be to continue opposing the group, which could lead to their own isolation and increase communal support for Al-Nusra. Al-Nusra is also trying to use the threat of a potential US-Russian air coalition to its advantage. “We hope that this move will stop the cooperation between the US and Russia, or at least delay it. Even if the new coalition goes forward and they begin targeting us, people will know that it is not happening because of our name or affiliation, which will be a victory for us and our religion. It will also bring us closer to other [rebel] groups and show us who we can trust and who we cannot,” stated the same anonymous source in Al-Nusra. Similarly, Abu Mohammed al-Maqdisi also indicated that those who do not change their position towards Al-Nusra will be exposed. “Al-Nusra has the right to ask those who asked it to break from its leadership to distance themselves from their backers.” Notably, Maqdisi did not comment on the possible consequences for group’s that continue to oppose Nusra. Nusra’s previous attempts to eliminate US-backed groups in northern Syria, such as the Hazem Movement and the Syrian Revolutionary Front, may offer some indication on how the group could respond to future rivals. Many experts predict that Al-Nusra will have a tough time benefiting from any public split with Al-Qaeda. “Even if Jabhat al-Nusra breaks from Al-Qaeda today, that won’t stop it from being targeted or labeled as a terrorist group. That was possible two years ago but not anymore. However, we still hope that Al-Nusra will take a genuine decision to become part of the revolution by changing its aggressive project, which is rejected by the community and other [armed] groups,” wrote Ahmed Abazeid, a Syrian journalist. Any decision by Al-Nusra to break away from Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda is also unlikely to occur without internal dissent. “If Al-Nusra goes ahead with the decision to break with Al-Qaeda, the group is likely to be divided and it may even split. The announcement has not yet been made publicly due to strong internal opposition, and as a result, not all of those who strongly oppose it are expected to remain,” said, Hani al-Ahmed, a media activist in rural Aleppo. Moreover, Al-Nusra will find it difficult to win over other rebel groups. “Nusra’s attempts to trick opposition groups into supporting them will not work, especially after the former’s attacks against Free Syrian Army groups. When the US-Russian coalition starts targeting Nusra, other opposition groups, especially those who receive support from the US, will not even dare to condemn those attacks,” wrote Manhal Barish. Although it may be difficult to persuade rebel groups to change their position towards Al-Nusra, the recent increase in the group’s local popularity indicates that communal support for Al-Nusra would likely increase as a result of any joint US-Russian targeting campaign.
Attempts by Jabhat al-Nusra members and supporters to explain and justify the group’s decision to break with Al-Qaeda, instead of denying it, strongly indicates that such a scenario is likely to happen, although it will take some time before it is announced publicly. If the move happens, Al-Nusra will likely change its name while retaining its long-term goal of establishing an Islamic emirate in Syria. However, if the split does not happen, Al-Nusra might face the risk of massive internal fracture between members of the group who supported breaking away from Al-Qaeda and those who wished to remain under the umbrella of the global terror movement.

Analysis: With his back against the wall, Netanyahu goes on the offensive
Yossi Melman/Jerusalem Post/July 26/16
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not only concerned, he is worried and angry, which has led him to go on the offensive. He is concerned by the request of most of the bereaved families of Operation Protective Edge (50 out of 67) to establish a commission of inquiry into the government's functioning before and during the 2014 Gaza war. In addition to this request, which came as a surprise to the prime minister, the state comptroller's report on the war is expected to be published soon. A leaked draft of the report suggests that it will be critical of the government's and the IDF's preparations for the war. Netanyahu and his aides fear that the bereaved families' demand for an inquiry and the comptroller report will be used by ministers and MKs in the coalition and the opposition in order to attack him and undermine his authority and position, in particular when he also has a police investigation into corruption allegations hanging over his head. Therefore, the prime minister held a nearly three-hour briefing with military reporters and analysts on short notice Monday. He laid out before us his strategic viewpoint on Israel's situation, the challenges facing the country, the threats against it and its capabilities to face these threats.However, the bulk of the conversation was spent on the prime minister's attempts to deflect the bereaved families' criticism. As a bereaved brother himself, Netanyahu understands how sensitive an issue it is to argue with such families and to thwart the comptroller report and similar criticism voiced by ministers such as Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman.
Convening the military correspondents was a smart move by Netanyahu. It was intended to give more "professional" weight to his claims than they would have had if they were conveyed through political or diplomatic correspondents. The prime minister spoke at times with excitement and at times in anger, accompanied by fist-banging on the table. He presented data and quotes which sought to prove that the government, the cabinet and he personally took the Hamas tunnel threat seriously, as well as the group's other military capabilities - rockets, naval commandos and aerial vehicles.
In the seven months prior to the war, between November 2013 and July 2014, the cabinet met eight times, almost a third of all of the forum's meetings in that period, to discuss the tunnel threat. The prime minister also toured the frontlines and held discussions with Gaza division commanders. The cabinet heard situation reports from IDF commanders and senior Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officials on the subject. At the conclusion of some of the meetings, decisions were made and orders were given, including by Netanyahu himself to the IDF and the defense establishment to prepare militarily for the tunnel threat and to develop technology to thwart it.
In these cabinet meetings, as well as in other forums, there was an intelligence-based estimate that Hamas had dug at least 20 tunnels into Israeli territory. In The Jerusalem Post's sister publication, Ma'ariv Sofshavua, I published in October 2013 that the IDF had even estimated that there were some 30 tunnels (during Operation Protective Edge 31 tunnels were uncovered and destroyed). If I knew about the threat, then the IDF and the cabinet definitely knew about it. Therefore, in this respect, the prime minister is right. The claims that the cabinet was not informed, or that the IDF did not know, are baseless. It is true that the defense establishment (and this is also Netanyahu's responsibility) could have prepared better technologically and started to more quickly look for a solution if they would have listened years ago to the warnings of the geologist Col. (Res.) Yossi Langotsky. The solutions that are now being applied to the fight against tunnels are exactly what Langotsky suggested ten years ago, but nobody listened. The prime minister, (and then-defense minister Moshe Ya'alon) managed the war in the correct manner - carefully and calmly, while setting reasonable goals that took into account an exit strategy for the war. Netanyahu's strategy was to avoid mass casualties on the Israeli side and to minimize the harm done to the civilian population in Gaza, while delivering a harsh and painful blow to Hamas without agreeing to any of the group's demands. If the prime minister will be wise enough now to make the decision to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza - the establishment of a seaport is the required step - chances are that the danger of another war will be pushed back several more years, and in retrospect, we will be able to say that Operation Protective Edge achieved good results for Israel.