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Bible Quotation For Today/I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled
Luke 12,49-53: "‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

Bible Quotation For Today/Get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.
Acts of the Apostles 26/1-2a.6-10.12-19/: "Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You have permission to speak for yourself.’ Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself: ‘I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defence today against all the accusations of the Jews, And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, your Excellency, that I am accused by Jews! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? ‘Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. ‘With this in mind, I was travelling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads." I asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The Lord answered, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."‘After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

LCCC Latest analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 07-08/15
Doing business with post-sanctions Iran/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/August 07/15
Iran and Its Terror Proxies: A Guide to a Dangerous Future/James Kirchick /Tower Magazine/August 07/15
Sweden: The Defense that Disappeared/Ingrid Carlqvist/Gatestone Institute/August 07/15
Israeli Druze Intellectual, Salman Masalha: The Israel That The Arabs Call 'A False Entity' Is The Region's Most Stable, Advanced Country/MEMRI/August 07/15
Two top Congressional Democrats oppose Iran nuclear deal over inspection inadequacies/DEBKAfile/August 07/15
Defense minister: I'm not responsible for the life expectancy of Iran's scientists/Ynetnews/Ronen Bergman/August 07/15
Diplomats exploring peace options in Syria/Reuters/Ynetnews/August 07/15
ISIS’s war on the state/Abdullah Hamidaddin/Al Arabiyaé/August 07/15
The pretexts behind U.S. protection of Syrian rebels/Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya/August 07/15

LCCC Bulletin titles for the Lebanese Related News published on August 07-08/15
Pope Francis's ‏Tweet For Yesterday
Kaag Meets Salam, Urges Cabinet to 'Deal Quickly with Immediate Concerns' of the People
Environment Minister Pledges to End Trash Crisis in Upcoming Days
AUB Responds to Waste Crisis, Launches Workshop to Exchange Knowledge with Municipalities and NGOs
Reports: Top Diplomats Warn Lebanese Officials against Street Protests
General Security Arrests 2 Suspected Terrorists
Kidnapping-Terrorism Suspect Arrested as Army Searches for Abducted Man
Roumieh Prisoners and Guards Charged over Rioting
FPM Mulling Response after Moqbel's Extensions Decision
Road Blocked to Press for Unveiling Fate of Missing Tripoli Child
How to stop Lebanon’s army from entering a political maze
EU Boosts Humanitarian Funding for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
Battle-scarred Lebanese Teens Reconcile through Theater
Report: Turkey bows to US pressure, expels top Hamas operative
LCCC Bulletin Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 07-08/15

Syrian Observatory: IS Kidnaps 230 Civilians in Central Syria
U.N. Adopts Resolution Setting Up Syria Chemical Weapons Probe
20 Dead in Kabul Police Academy Attack as Truck Bomb Kills 15, Hurts 240
ISIS Abducts Dozens of Christians from Syrian Town
The truth about the Saudi meeting with Assad envoy
ISIS abducts 230 civilians in central Syria
Did Quds chief breach travel ban by visiting Russia?
Two killed in fresh clashes in southeast Turkey
Turkey offers U.S. access to other air bases: diplomat
IAF strikes Hamas target in Gaza hours after rocket fire
If Khamenei could, he would inflict great harm on Israel,' Obama

Pope Francis's ‏Tweet For Yesterday
We learn many virtues in our Christian families. Above all, we learn to love, asking nothing in return.

Kaag Meets Salam, Urges Cabinet to 'Deal Quickly with Immediate Concerns' of the People
Naharnet/August 07/15/United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag urged on Friday the government to “ deal quickly with immediate concerns” of the people, while hoping that the extension of the terms of security officials will contribute to Lebanon's stability. She said after holding talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam: “I expressed the U.N.’s support for his leadership, and his efforts to maintain the unity and effectiveness of the government as it seeks to resolve key issues in the interest of all Lebanese.” “We discussed the latest challenges facing the government, including the need for a well-functioning cabinet to deal quickly with immediate concerns of public sector provision, such as waste management, power supply and public service salaries, while paving the way for long term investments to be made available in the interest of all Lebanese,” she added. “I noted the extension of senior national security positions. I am hopeful this will contribute to maintaining Lebanon’s stability at this critical time,” she continued. Defense Minister Samir Moqbel extended on Thursday the terms of the army commander, chief of staff and the head of the Higher Defense Council despite months of objections by the Free Patriotic Movement, which rejects the extension of the tenures of high-ranking military and security officials. The Movement is scheduled to hold a meeting on Saturday to mull its response to the minister's decision. Turning to the presidential vacuum, Kaag remarked: “The Prime Minister and I shared our concern that the prolonged vacuum in the Presidency of the Republic continues seriously to undermine Lebanon's ability to address economic, social and security challenges facing the country.” “I call once again on parties to show urgency and flexibility in the election of a new president,” she stated. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.

Environment Minister Pledges to End Trash Crisis in Upcoming Days
Naharnet/August 07/15/Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq revealed on Friday that a number of tenders have been made by companies to handle Lebanon's waste disposal crisis. He declared during a press conference: “We will announce our decision over which company will tackle the disposal in the upcoming days.”He explained that these companies will take care of disposing waste in six regions in Lebanon. “We will hopefully reach a long-term solution to the problem,” Mashnouq told reporters. “The state will not abandon this file,” he vowed. “In the end, we will inevitably have to establish a landfill, egardless of the protests,” he said. Lebanon plunged in a waste disposal crisis following the closure of the Naameh landfill on July 17. The government failed to find an alternative to the landfill resulting in overflowing trash dumpsters throughout the capital and Mount Lebanon. A temporary deal was recently reached to collect the waste, although their dump locations were not disclosed. Germany has reportedly proposed to export the waste by sea, a suggestion the cabinet is still studying. It is set to convene next week to continue examining the issue.

AUB Responds to Waste Crisis, Launches Workshop to Exchange Knowledge with Municipalities and NGOs
Naharnet/August 07/15/Confronted with a combustible waste crisis that mainly affected Beirut and Mount Lebanon, AUB faculty members took the lead by forming a taskforce whose aim is to share scientific knowledge among municipalities and NGOs in the hopes that they would be empowered to find optimal solutions to the ongoing crisis. In response to a call launched last week by Dr. Najat Saliba, chemistry professor, AUB professors from all faculties quickly mobilized and met on a regular basis, creating working groups that could address the problem, from its public health, environmental health, and waste management aspects. “The current waste crisis has compelled each one of us to try and find a solution,” said Saliba. “As faculty, we could help by sharing knowledge and building a network among NGOs, municipalities and experts, so that together we could propose evidence-based and effective solutions, as well as propose measures to minimize any negative health impacts.”On August 6, the AUB taskforce organized a half-day workshop, attended by at least 29 municipalities from all over Lebanon, as well as environmental activists and NGOs.“The positive aspect of this waste crisis is that it has the potential to create a real, independent public opinion, for the first time in Lebanon,” said Dr. Tarek Mitri, director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at AUB. AUB experts from the AUB Medical Center shared good practices that would help reduce the spread of disease, whenever garbage is accumulating in the streets and not being collected. Drs. Nesrine Rizk and Hiba El-Hajj overviewed the kind of health problems that could arise from the multiplication of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites as a result of uncollected waste, warning that animals, insects and rodents are high-risk agents for spreading health problems.
Simple measures that would help protect both children and adults from developing health problems involve proper washing of hands before handling food, avoiding raw meats, staying indoors and away from garbage, using mosquito nets on windows and over beds, and using anti-mosquito sprays. “We warn against burning garbage because it often contains, plastics, pesticides, deodorants, and other chemicals, that when burned emit hazardous toxins in the air,” said Dr. Rizk. Meanwhile Dr. Salma Talhouk from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences promoted the use of earthworms among villagers and urban dwellers to degrade organic waste, especially vegetarian waste, in a clean, cheap and effective manner, resulting in high-quality organic fertilizers.
Faculty of Health Sciences Associate Professor May Massoud highlighted the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling waste in order to extend the life of a landfill, in a country that has a shortage of land and whose residents would not accept a landfill in their backyards. AUB faculty members recommended against spraying garbage mounds with toxic pesticides and that the prevalent white calcium carbonate is enough to ward off insects until the waste is collected. However, they told municipal leaders that could control flying insect populations by spraying specific types of safe insecticides only near water sources and in moist areas or marshes. The Sidon municipality along with the waste management plant that handles its waste presented their experience regarding sorting and treating the 250 tons of waste that arise from Sidon and its environs, including 16 municipalities. The result is a small percentage of refuse left over, but a significant amount of electricity and organic fertilizer is produced. Sidon used to throw its waste in a smelly and badly managed dump, which was shut down a few years ago, and turned into a garden, according to Mayor Mohamad Saudi.
Finally, environmentalists called on every single person to assume responsibility of their waste, first by reducing it and then by sorting it in the household into a blue bag for recyclables and a black bag for all organic waste, mixed with a small amount of napkins or newspapers to absorb the fermented juices that are often produced by household waste, knowing that at least 60 percent of Lebanese waste is organic. “Our garbage is very easy to deal with and is not suitable for burning since it’s very moist due to its high organic composition,” said Ziad Abi Chaker, head of Cedar Environmental and an environmental engineer who has been working with waste for a quarter century. Abi-Chaker added that NGOs were working to locate drop-off points where people could leave their blue bags filled with recyclables.Fliers listing the names and phone numbers of NGOs collecting recyclables were distributed.

Reports: Top Diplomats Warn Lebanese Officials against Street Protests
Naharnet/August 07/15/Several top diplomats have advised Lebanese officials to avoid moves that would hit the country's stability over a dispute on the appointment of top military and security officials, local newspapers reported on Friday. Al-Joumhouria daily said that the diplomats, mainly U.S. Ambassador David Hale and Russia's Ambassador Alexander Zasypkin, delivered messages to several Lebanese officials on “the importance of respecting the current stability and not to involve the country in any adventure whose repercussions are not known.” An Nahar newspaper, meanwhile, specified that the “U.S.-Russian” message was delivered to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun. It said that the ambassadors advised Aoun to be “wise” and resort to the political opposition to certain controversial issues rather than to the streets. The diplomats warned him that street protests would jeopardize the country's stability, harm the military institution and paralyze the government. The FPM has been holding intense consultations ahead of an extraordinary meeting for Aoun's Change and Reform bloc on Saturday aimed at issuing a stance from a decision taken by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel to extend the terms of top military officials. The movement has been for months announcing its rejection of extensions, calling for the appointment of new high-ranking military and security officials.

General Security Arrests 2 Suspected Terrorists
Naharnet/August 07/15/The General Security Department said Friday that its officers have arrested a Lebanese and a Syrian suspected of belonging to terrorist groups. General Security has apprehended a Lebanese who belongs to the groups of terrorists Osama Mansour and Shadi al-Mawlawi, said a communique. Mansour was shot dead by security forces in the northern city of Tripoli in April while al-Mawlawi remains a fugitive. The communique said the suspect has coordinated with another Lebanese who was plotting to carry out a suicide bombing in Lebanon, and planning to smuggle an official in the Islamic State extremist group from the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal. General Security also said it arrested a Syrian who is suspected of belonging to al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, recruiting people, and transporting money and fighters to Syria. The detainees have been referred to the judiciary, the communique added.

Kidnapping-Terrorism Suspect Arrested as Army Searches for Abducted Man
Naharnet/August 07/15/The Lebanese army said Friday that it arrested in the eastern district of Baalbek a Lebanese man wanted on kidnapping and terrorism charges as troops searched for an abducted university student. Farhat Ali Farhan Ismail, who was arrested in the town of Brital, has been involved in the detention of several people last year and has participated in terrorist activities, robberies and shootings, said an army communique. The military said troops found in his possession an M4 assault rifle, a gun and ammunition. According to the state-run National News Agency, the army clashed with suspects wanted for several crimes, including the recent kidnapping of a young Lebanese man. The clashes erupted when troops were pursuing the gunmen on the outskirts of Brital, NNA said. Soldiers were able to arrest Ismail and three others, among them a Syrian and Palestinian, the agency added. Marc al-Hajj Moussa, 20, was kidnapped at dawn Thursday on a road in the Metn town of Mazraat Yashouh while on his way home in Bikfaya. His car, a Toyota Land Cruiser, was later found in the area of Majdel Tarshish. Moussa is a student at Balamand University.

Roumieh Prisoners and Guards Charged over Rioting
Naharnet/August 07/15/The State Commissioner to the Military Court charged on Friday scores of prisoners and guards in two riots carried out by inmates in Roumieh in June. Judge Saqr Saqr charged 56 prisoners with forming a gang in one of the prison's blocks, smuggling mobile phones and drug trafficking. The charges also include rioting in the block and assaulting guards. Saqr issued charges against 32 policemen for negligence and for not monitoring the activities of the prisoners in the block. The judge also charged 31 prisoners and four security officers in the juvenile block for respectively carrying out a riot and ransacking the facility, and for dereliction of duty. Roumieh is Lebanon's largest prison and has long been infamous for the poor conditions in some of its blocks, including overcrowding and harsh treatment.

FPM Mulling Response after Moqbel's Extensions Decision
Naharnet/August 07/15/The Free Patriotic Movement of MP Michel Aoun was on Friday holding intense consultations to come up with a strategy to confront a decision by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel to extend the terms of top military officials.
Aoun's Change and Reform bloc is expected to announce its official stance following an extraordinary meeting in Rabieh on Saturday. Moqbel extended on Thursday the terms of the Army commander, chief of staff and the head of the Higher Defense Council despite months of objections by the FPM, which rejects the extension of the tenures of high-ranking military and security officials. Aoun's sources told al-Liwaa daily published Friday that the FPM had been “tricked” through Moqbel's decision. The newspaper quoted an FPM official as saying that the movement's response would be up to par with the “provocative move” made by the defense minister. The same sources did not rule out “unexpected” street protests by the FPM. They told al-Akhbar newspaper that “Aoun will not back off,” stressing that the decision to extend the terms of the army's top brass will be met with “bigger escalation.” The sources accused Moqbel of turning his back at an initiative made by General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to resolve the dispute on the appointments. The initiative, which has allegedly received the blessing of Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, calls for raising the retirement age of the army and security officers for three years. Aoun, who wants his son-in-law Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz to become army chief, told his allies in the March 8 alliance that he aims to lead a huge popular movement next week, the sources added.

Road Blocked to Press for Unveiling Fate of Missing Tripoli Child
Naharnet/August 07/15/A road was blocked Friday evening in the northern city of Tripoli to press for unveiling the fate of a child who has been missing since Thursday. “The Qobbeh-Zgharta road was blocked with burning tires to press security agencies to quickly unveil the fate of 13-year-old child Mohammed Chahine,” state-run National News Agency reported. LBCI television said the protest was organized by the child's family. NNA said Chahine has been missing since 10:00 am Thursday.

How to stop Lebanon’s army from entering a political maze
Nayla Tueni/Al ArabiyaéFriday, 7 August 2015
The Lebanese army marked its 70th anniversary on August 1. The media campaign failed to add joy to this occasion, which is marked with grief this year. The army, which is sacrificing its members to defend the country’s borders, combat terrorism and impose security, is not met with the positive vibes so desperately needed. It has come under political attack by some who hold a grudge against it, or by some who oppose its performance at addressing certain affairs. But their opposition to the army tends to trespass the boundaries of constructive criticism, playing to a sectarian tune in an attempt to harm the military institution’s morale or divide its ranks. So far, however, these attempts have miserably failed. Others try to dictate the military and deprive it of its decision-making capabilities. Meanwhile, the political authority’s decisions also affect appointments within the institution. Such actions aim to push high-level military personnel to resign or to submit to a politician’s will in hopes of attaining a higher ranking position. Some try to exaggerate their “love” for the military by idolizing certain officials and personifying the 70,000-strong institution by limiting it to celebrations of one officer or a few. This is detrimental to the rule of law and the governance of institutions.Whether these stances embody good intentions or not, it’s important to raise awareness that the army should be embraced as a major institution that defends the country. At some point, we forgot about the martyrs who fell from among military ranks as they defended our homeland What does ‘real support’ mean? Real support begins with preventing political interferences in the military institution’s efforts, preventing the army from entering political mazes.Real support is represented by electing a new president who believes in the military institution and provides it with what it needs to confront challenges. Real support must also be provided by a government who holds accountable anyone who insults the army and seeks to weaken it to serve the interests of terrorist groups inside and outside the country. Support must also be through providing the necessary logistic services and materials so the army can always fight back. Finally, support from the judiciary must be implemented through severe punishment of those who assault the army. The judicial authority must not submit to any interference and must stand true to its oath of protecting the country.
At some point, we forgot about the martyrs who fell from among military ranks as they defended our homeland, because we try to avoid reopening old wounds. It is important to remind all Lebanese of the soldiers who were taken captive by armed terrorist groups in Arsal’s outskirts as a result of wrong political and military decisions. These soldiers’ families have been in pain awaiting news of their sons’ fate ever since their capture and it’s been one year without achieving any breakthroughs, despite negotiations.

EU Boosts Humanitarian Funding for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
Naharnet/August 07/15/The European Union announced on Friday an additional €17 million assistance to help Lebanon confront the Syrian refugee crisis, amid growing concerns over the worsening humanitarian situation. “This additional aid will enable the Lebanese secondary health service to treat more refugees. The high cost of health services in Lebanon, which are largely privatized, has made it difficult for refugees to seek the treatment they need,” the EU delegation in Beirut said in a press release.
“Other funds will provide cash assistance for the most vulnerable families, who are struggling to find funds for food and shelter,” it said. “Life for Syrian refugees is getting harder and harder, as they have spent most of what savings they had on food, housing and medical treatment,” said Bruno Rotival, head of office in Lebanon for the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO). “Families are getting deeper and deeper into debt and many Syrian children are forced to work to help the family financially. There is a sense of desperation and people are resorting to dangerous coping mechanisms.”According to the EU, the number of displaced Syrians considered to be severely vulnerable had almost doubled in the past year – rising from 29% in 2014 to 50% in 2015. Lebanon is the country hardest-hit by the Syrian crisis, hosting around 1.5 million Syrian refugees – more than one quarter of the total population. EU humanitarian funding for organizations assisting Syrian refugees in Lebanon has totaled €226.1 million since 2012.

Battle-scarred Lebanese Teens Reconcile through Theater
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 07/15/The young man cowered behind a barrel on the barely lit stage, as his companion pointed a fake weapon towards a roaring audience in a Beirut theater. The amateur actors were re-enacting a familiar scene from their native Tripoli, one of Lebanon's most volatile cities. For decades, but with increasing frequency since the Syrian conflict erupted next door, fighters from the city's mostly Alawite Jabal Mohsen neighborhood and the Sunni-majority Bab al-Tebbaneh have clashed in recurring bouts of violence. Men, young and old, fire at each other from the rooftops of pockmarked buildings. Sheets are hung across streets to stop snipers targeting passers-by. Even during peaceful periods, residents often avoid passing through rival districts. Tensions between the two neighborhoods worsened as Syria's war dragged on, with Sunnis identifying with the Sunni-led uprising in Syria, and Alawites siding with their religious kin of Bashar Assad's regime. It is against that backdrop that a local NGO and director brought together battle-scarred teens from the two districts to perform in "Love and War on the Rooftop: a Tripolitan Tale". For four months, the young residents -- some of them former fighters -- worked with conflict-resolution group March and Lebanese director Lucien Bourjeily to produce a modern-day tale of romance and reconciliation. "I was really hesitant in the beginning because there was something I didn't like -- that there were guys from Jabal (Mohsen)," said Tarek Hebbawi, a 24-year-old from Bab al-Tebbaneh. He saw all young men from Jabal Mohsen as "thugs," he said. "But then I saw that just like there are good people in Bab al-Tebbaneh, there are good people in Jabal Mohsen."
'We've become family'
The play tells the story of a frustrated director attempting to put together his own performance in which Ali, from Jabal Mohsen, falls in love with Aisha, from Bab al-Tebbaneh. The play's debut in Beirut was received with a standing ovation for the actors, who hugged each other tearfully on stage. "It's the world of theater that creates this common space for them to gather, talk, discuss," said Bourjeily, the director. Putting the play together was fraught with challenges. On the day of the first rehearsal, violence broke out in Bab al-Tebbaneh -- where the rehearsals were to be held -- so none of the youth from Jabal Mohsen left their neighborhood. For the second rehearsal, the participants attended but immediately divided themselves into two groups based on their neighborhood, Bourjeily said. Yet when they began sharing their stories as part of the playwriting process, "they saw that they're like each other," said March head Lea Baroudi. "They saw that they have the same problems. They suffer from the same things," Baroudi told AFP. Some of the shared problems -- unemployment, unfair stereotypes -- feature prominently in "Love and War"."I got a job, but as soon as they found out I was from Bab al-Tebbaneh they fired me," one young man said to his nodding companions as they gathered to play cards in one scene. "We've all become family, and thankfully we can all sit together -- we go down (to Bab al-Tebbaneh) and they come to us," said Ahmad Suleiman, a slender 20-year old from Jabal Mohsen.
'We want to work'
Relations between Lebanon's 18 religious communities, mainly Christian and Muslim, are tense and have driven the country to political paralysis. The multi-confessional fabric has been further strained by the spillover from the four-year war in neighboring Syria, sparking violence elsewhere in the country, though not as recurrent and infamous as in Tripoli. Hebbawi said he hoped other young residents of the city might see the value in spending time with each other and laying down their guns. "These weapons aren't for us. They're for thugs," Hebbawi said. The play's organizers say political wrangling and high youth unemployment -- not sectarianism -- drive Tripoli's tensions. "The problem in Tripoli isn't the result of an ideological struggle. The problem is a lack of employment opportunities," Baroudi said. She called on officials to reduce youth unemployment to "get them out of this vicious cycle they're living in." March is considering opening a cafe, run by the cast, between Bab al-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen where teens could build bonds and plan events instead of joining local militias. Baroudi and the actors also blamed Lebanon's political class for aggravating tensions in the city by supporting armed groups. "The first thing I want to say is to all the politicians: 'Don't stir things up like you did before'," said Suleiman. "My message for Lebanon is... why all these wars?" said Hebbawi.

Syrian Observatory: IS Kidnaps 230 Civilians in Central Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 07/15/The Islamic State group abducted 230 civilians, including at least 60 Christians, in a central Syrian town hours after it captured it, a monitoring group said on Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the civilians were taken on Thursday in the town of Al-Qaryatain, which IS jihadists seized late on Wednesday. "Daesh kidnapped at least 230 people, including at least 60 Christians, during a sweep through Al-Qaryatain," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said, using another name for IS. Bishop Matta al-Khoury, secretary at the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus, told AFP he could not confirm what had happened in the town "because it's very hard to reach residents now". "But we know that when IS entered the town, it forced some people into house arrest... to use them as human shields" against regime air strikes, Khoury said. According to Abdel Rahman, many of the Christians had fled from the northern province of Aleppo to seek refuge in Al-Qaryatain. He said those abducted were wanted by IS for "collaborating with the regime," and their names were on a list used by the jihadists as they swept through the town. Families who tried to flee or hide were tracked down and taken by the jihadists, he said. Khoury urged IS to allow residents who want to leave the town to depart. Al-Qaryatain lies at the crossroads between IS territory in the eastern countryside of Homs and areas further west in the Qalamun area. It had a pre-war population of 18,000, including Sunni Muslims and around 2,000 Syriac Catholics and Orthodox Christians. According to a Syrian Christian who lives in Damascus but is originally from Al-Qaryatain, the town's Christian population had dropped to only 300. But by Thursday night, Khoury said, there were only 180 Christians left. In May, masked men abducted Syrian priest Jacques Mourad from the Syriac Catholic Mar Elian monastery in Al-Qaryatain, near the IS-held ancient city of Palmyra. Mourad, who was known to help both Christians and Muslims, was preparing aid for an influx of refugees from Palmyra. In late February, IS jihadists abducted 220 Assyrian Christians from villages in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakeh. At least 19 were released when ransoms were paid.

U.N. Adopts Resolution Setting Up Syria Chemical Weapons Probe
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 07/15/The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to set up a panel to identify who is behind deadly chlorine gas attacks in Syria, which the West blames on the Damascus regime.Russia, Syria's veto-wielding ally, endorsed the measure as did the rest of the 15-member council -- a rare display of unity over how to address the conflict, which has left more than 240,000 people dead. Under discussion for months, the U.S.-drafted resolution sets up a team of experts tasked with identifying the perpetrators of the chemical weapons attacks and paves the way for possible sanctions to punish them. The United States, Britain and France have repeatedly accused President Bashar Assad's forces of carrying out chlorine gas attacks with barrel bombs dropped from helicopters. The three countries argue that only the Syrian regime has helicopters. But Russia maintains there is no solid proof that Damascus is behind the attacks. Both Russia and the United States, divided over the war since it broke out, welcomed the resolution. "We need to bring the same unity to urgently find a political solution," U.S. ambassador Samantha Power said, adding the resolution "sends a clear and powerful message." In a tweet, she called the probe a necessary step toward "eventual accountability."Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the resolution was "a good example of political will, of the will to cooperate and of perseverance to come up with a good product."The investigative panel will be given "full access" to all locations in Syria and allowed to interview witnesses and collect materials, according to the text of the resolution. It mandates the panel to "identify to the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups or governments who were perpetrators, organizers, sponsors or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons" in Syria.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is tasked with assembling a team within 20 days, working with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is based in The Hague. The panel would present its first findings to the council 90 days after it begins its work, which would be for a duration of one year. Questions remain however over whether panel members will be able to travel to sites in a country where war is raging and gain evidence of chlorine attacks that would allow them to assign blame. Getting the panel up and running will require several steps, each of which must be approved by the Security Council, giving Russia the opportunity to stonewall the investigation down the line, diplomats said. Ban said the on-site probe will be an "extremely challenging mission" because of the dangerous security situation. Ban called on all both Syria's rebel forces and government to provide full cooperation. "Holding the perpetrators of the toxic chemical attacks accountable may hopefully alleviate the prolonged suffering of the Syrian people," Ban said in a statement.
Syria's U.N. ambassador Bashar Jaafari said his country's army "has never used and will never use chemical weapons."He said extremist groups linked to al-Qaida have done so, and he questioned the neutrality of previous on-the-ground probes by the U.N. and the OPCW.
Russian shift
Pressure has been mounting on the Security Council to take action in Syria, where the war is now in its fifth year. It tops the U.N.'s list of humanitarian crises. Russian support for the probe is seen by some western diplomats as a shift by Moscow, which has repeatedly shielded the Assad regime at the United Nations. "There is a change of tone," one Council diplomat said this week, while cautioning: "I don't want to overstate it."Diplomats are separately working on a council statement backing a new push for UN peace talks that could yield a plan for a transition that the West insists must lead to Assad's exit from power. Discussions are inching forward on a new tougher UN measure to ban the use of barrel bombs, building on resolutions that have condemned the practice. Syria agreed to a US-Russia plan to dismantle its chemical weapons network and join an international treaty banning their use following a 2013 sarin attack on a Damascus suburb that sparked a global outcry. The United States threatened military action against Damascus over the attack, but backed down and instead worked with Russia to pursue the chemical disarmament agreement. A total of 1,300 metric tonnes of chemical stockpiles have been removed from Syria under the deal. But rights groups and Syrian doctors have since come forward with accounts of dozens of chlorine gas attacks that have in particular targeted Idlib province.

20 Dead in Kabul Police Academy Attack as Truck Bomb Kills 15, Hurts 240
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 07/15/At least 20 Afghan cadets were killed when a suicide attacker blew himself up at the entrance of Kabul Police Academy on Friday, officials said. "The attacker was wearing police uniform... when he detonated his explosives, 20 cadets were killed and 20 more were wounded," a senior Afghan intelligence official told AFP, requesting anonymity. The bomber managed to place himself in a queue as police trainees were waiting to be searched before entering the academy, the official said. The Taliban were behind the suicide attack, the spokesman for the group, Zabihullah Mujahid, told AFP. Another police official confirmed that toll while a third senior security source told AFP that 25 cadets were killed in the attack. The incident, which comes as cadets were returning to the academy after their two-day weekend, marks a serious breach of security at a premier training institute for Afghan security forces. Heavily-armed security officials cordoned off the area and ambulances with wailing sirens were seen rushing to the scene. The academy in west Kabul is a premier training institution for police forces in Afghanistan, with between 2,000 and 3,000 cadets graduating every year. The suicide bombing comes less than 24 hours after a huge truck bomb tore through central Kabul, killing 15 civilians and wounding 240 others in the first major attack in the Afghan capital since the announcement of Taliban leader Mullah Omar's death. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as the Taliban stepped up their summer offensive despite a bitter power transition within the militant movement.
A truck packed with explosives detonated just after midnight near an army base in the neighborhood of Shah Shaheed but rattled homes across the city, ripping off the facades of buildings and leaving scattered piles of rubble. The force of the explosion left an enormous crater in the road, around 10 meters (30 feet) deep, and destroyed the boundary wall of the base although no military casualties were reported. "The killed and wounded include women and children, and labourers of a nearby marble stone company are among the victims. The attack was intended to cause mass murder," Kabul police chief General Abdul Rahman Rahimi said.
Army soldiers erected a security cordon ringing the military base close to Shah Shaheed, a largely middle-class civilian residential area with no major foreign presence. The wounded were overwhelming city hospitals, officials said, with reports emerging of blood shortages and urgent appeals for donors circulating on social media. The carnage comes a day after Taliban insurgents killed nine people in multiple attacks on police targets, including a truck bombing in the eastern volatile province of Logar. The attacks highlight growing insecurity amid a faltering peace process with the Taliban as Afghan forces face their first summer fighting season without full NATO support.
'Contemptible act'
The NATO mission in Afghanistan condemned Friday's bombing as a "contemptible act of violence". Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP he was "unaware" of the Kabul bombing. The militants are known to distance themselves from attacks that result in a large number of civilian casualties. A U.N. report published Wednesday said civilian casualties in Afghanistan hit a record high in the first half of 2015. The report said 1,592 civilians were killed, a six percent fall from last year, but the number of injured jumped four percent to 3,329. Overall, casualties reached their highest level since the UN began issuing its authoritative reports in 2009.
The statistics are a grim indicator of the rising violence as the Taliban insurgency spreads north from its traditional southern and eastern strongholds, with Afghan forces increasingly battling the militants on their own. U.S.-led NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan in December last year, but a 13,000-strong residual force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations. The Taliban face growing internal divisions after Mullah Akhtar Mansour was announced as the new head of the insurgent movement last week. This came shortly after the Taliban's confirmation of the death of Mullah Omar, who led the militant movement for some 20 years. An increasingly bitter power struggle has since broken out, casting a pall over a fragile peace process aimed at ending Afghanistan's long war. The Taliban distanced themselves from the second round of talks that were scheduled for last week but were cancelled after the announcement of Omar's death. The powerful army chief of Pakistan, the Taliban's historic sponsors, said this week that ongoing efforts at talks are the "only credible way" to achieve lasting peace in the region.

ISIS Abducts Dozens of Christians from Syrian Town
At Least 230 People, Including 45 Women and 11 Children, Taken after Heavy Fighting between ISIS and the Syrian Army
08/07/2015 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Islamic State militants have captured dozens of Christian families after seizing a strategically located town in the central Syrian province of Homs, according to a monitor from the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Friday. The monitor said at least 230 people were kidnapped or detained, including dozens of Christians, some of whom were taken from the Dar Alyan monastery in Qaryatain, the town captured overnight after intense fighting with the Syrian army.Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the Observatory, said the Christians were “either kidnapped from checkpoints or raids or from churches.” Among those seized were 45 women and 19 children, including 11 families, some of whom were on a list of persons suspected by the militant group of “collaborating with the regime.” The families of hundreds of Christian and Muslim residents of Qaryatain have lost contact with them since the militants captured the area, according to Abdulrahman. He fears that ISIS may also target other Christian population centers in Hawwarin and Sadad. Towns like Qaryatain are key to ISIS because they are along the Damascus-Homs Highway, a route used to ferry supplies and fighters. The hardline militant group has been gaining ground in the desert areas east and south of Homs after it took over the ancient Roman city of Palmyra last May. The Syrian army has launched a large-scale counteroffensive to recapture the city, which lies in a region where some of Syria’s largest gas fields are located, but so far has made no significance advances. An army statement said its forces had targeted “terrorist outposts” in the area and killed scores of militants but did not confirm the capture of the town by the militants.
An Assyrian Christian group said these abductions were the latest in a string of events that targeted their community, one of the oldest Christian populations in the Middle East. Two priests, Father Yacoub Murad and Monk Petros, who ran two monasteries in the area, went missing last May from the town of Qaryatain, according to the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights, a Christian lobby group. The group said at least 1,400 families had fled the town to safer areas or took shelter in the government-controlled city of Homs.
Islamic State has killed members of religious minorities and Sunni Muslims who do not swear allegiance to its self-declared “caliphate”. They also consider Christians as infidels. Last February, the hardline jihadists abducted at least 250 Assyrian Christians, many of whom were children and women, during raids on villages in northeastern Syria. That mass abduction coincided with an offensive in the same region by Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led air strikes. The fate of many of these civilians is unclear, as is that of a number of other priests who have gone missing and are believed to be held by the militants, according to Christian groups.
Isaac Six, ICC’s Advocacy Director, said, “ICC unequivocally condemns this most recent abduction of Christians in Syria. Coming on top of the kidnapping of 250 Christians last February and Father Yacoub and Monk Petros in May, this latest incident should be a clarion call for the international community to take action. No one, even in time of war, should fear being kidnapped, held for ransom and possibly executed simply for their religious beliefs. We grieve for the families of those who have been abducted even as we call on the United States and other allies to step up efforts to protect Christians and other religious minorities from the barbaric actions of the Islamic State.”

The truth about the Saudi meeting with Assad envoy
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya NewséFriday, 7 August 2015
A Saudi source revealed that the head of the national security bureau of the Syrian regime, Major General Ali Mamlouk, arrived on board of a Syrian plane few days ago in the Saudi city of Jeddah. He was sent by President Bashar al-Assad to meet with Saudi officials in presence of Russian officials according to what was published in the Lebanese Al-Liwaa newspaper. Following the meeting, the Syrian regime informed the pro-Syrian Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar of this visit including details the Saudi source had declined in the al-Liwaa article. These leaks, denied by Saudis, revealed that this meeting with the representative of the Syrian regime aims to form a quadruple alliance involving Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan to fight terrorism. The Saudi source denied those claims clarifying that this meeting was initiated by Riyadh after another Saudi-Russian meeting during which Moscow accused Riyadh of obstructing a political solution and fueling terrorism through supporting the opposition. However, Saudi officials denied these accusations back then and invited the Russians to find a new solution to end the crisis. The Saudi source further said that Riyadh informed Moscow of an initiative aiming to bring peace and satisfy the Syrians or show the true face of al-Assad to its Russian allies.
Not a guarantor
The tripartite meeting was held in Jeddah, and both planes, Russian and Syrian, arrived each alone and not on one single Russian plane as al-Akhbar reported. The Saudi source also stated that the Russian delegation made sure the Syrian delegation does not join them on their plane so Russians do not appear as a guarantor of al-Assad but serve only as a witness. The source said that al-Assad is trying to convince a Gulf state that Saudi Arabia was planning for the meeting without the knowledge of its allies. However, Saudi Arabia had already notified all of its allies beforehand. The Saudis illustrated their initiative as follows: “Saudi Arabia and its allies will stop supporting the Syrian Opposition provided that Iran, Hezbollah and Shiite militias get out of Syria.” This will make “the conflict and the solution strictly Syrian.” Major General answered: “What do we do with Hezbollah? We need time to think!” The Syrian regime allegedly claimed, according to its leaks to Al Akhbar newspaper, that Saudi Arabia requested him to stay away from Iran as a price for a political rapprochement while the source denied that Saudi officials had ever asked that. The Saudi source revealed that al-Assad sent its envoy out of anxiety after international negotiations with its allies, Russia and Iran. It even went on to wonder “Who will accept to host al-Assad?Finally, the Saudi source considered that its country has achieved gains from this initiative and its meeting with the Syrian regime delegation in presence of the Russian delegation. This has shown the true face of al-Assad regime and its lack of credibility and proved that terrorism in Syria is not perpetrated in order to stand in the face of the regime crimes.

ISIS abducts 230 civilians in central Syria
By AFP, Beirut/Friday, 7 August 2015éThe Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group has abducted 230 civilians, including at least 60 Christians, in a central Syrian town hours after it captured it, a monitoring group said on Friday, the same day the U.N. approved a resolution aimed at identifying perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in the war-torn nation which have killed hundreds. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the civilians were taken on Thursday in the town of Al-Qaryatain, which ISIS jihadists had captured late Wednesday. “Daesh kidnapped at least 230 people, including at least 60 Christians, during a sweep through Al-Qaryatain,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said, using another name for ISIS. Many of the Christians had fled from Aleppo province, in Syria’s north, to seek refuge in Al-Qaryatain. He said those abducted were wanted by ISIS for “collaborating with the regime,” and their names were on a list used by the jihadists as they swept through the town. Families who tried to flee or hide were tracked down and taken by the jihadists, he said. Al-Qaryatain lies at the crossroads between ISIS territory in the eastern countryside of Homs and areas further west in the Qalamun area. It had a pre-war population of 18,000, including Sunni Muslims and around 2,000 Syriac Catholics and Orthodox Christians.According to a Syrian Christian who lives in Damascus but is originally from Al-Qaryatain, the town’s Christian population has dropped to only 300. In May, masked men abducted Syrian priest Jacques Mourad from the Syriac Catholic Mar Elian monastery in Al-Qaryatain, near the ISIS-captured ancient city of Palmyra. Mourad, who was known to help both Christians and Muslims, was preparing aid for an influx of refugees from Palmyra.

Did Quds chief breach travel ban by visiting Russia?
Staff writer, Al Arabiya News/Friday, 7 August 2015éQassem Soleimani, the little-seen head of Iran’s elite overseas arm of the Revolutionary Guards who is subject to a United Nations travel ban, has visited Russia, two U.S. security sources said on Friday. The White House said that although it could not confirm reports that Soleimani, who heads up the Quds force, had traveled to Russia, but that the reports were an indication of ongoing concerns with Iran’s behavior. Soleimani has been subject to an international travel ban and asset freeze by the U.N. Security Council since 2007. However, this is not the first time he has reportedly breached his ban. In December last year, the elusive top commander was spotted in Iraq, a U.N. panel said at the time. Fox News reported on Thursday that Soleimani had arrived in Moscow on July 24 and met President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu before departing three days later. A Kremlin spokesman denied any meeting between Soleimani and Putin had taken place, RIA news agency reported. One U.S. security source told Reuters the Fox report was true but it was unclear what was discussed at the meeting. A senior administration official in Washington said U.S. sanctions on Soleimani would remain in place. “We will maintain sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Qods Force, its leadership - including Qassem Soleimani - and its entire network,” the official said. Two officials at the Russian Foreign Ministry said they could neither confirm nor deny a Soleimani visit to Moscow. The Russian defence ministry was not available for comment. Washington designated Soleimani’s Quds Force as a supporter of terrorism in 2007. The European Union did the same in 2011. Western governments and Israel accuse it of arming various militant groups in the Middle East. U.N. member states are required to deny entry to blacklisted individuals.(With Reuters)

Two killed in fresh clashes in southeast Turkey
By AFP, Istanbul/Friday, 7 August 2015éTwo people have been killed in fresh clashes between Turkish police and Kurdish rebel supporters in the restive Kurdish-majority southeast, the local mayor said on Friday. At least 10 people were also injured in the shooting that erupted overnight in the Silopi district of Sirnak near the border with Iraq and Syria, Silopi mayor Seyfettin Aydemir told AFP. Two Kurds, one of them a teenager, died of gunshot wounds in hospital, Aydemir said, adding that the two of the injured were police officers. Ankara has launched a two-pronged offensive to bomb Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in Syria and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq, after a series of attacks in Turkey. So far, the operation has focused largely on the Kurdish rebels. The spiral of violence sparked by the killing of 32 pro-Kurdish activists in a bombing by suspected ISIS jihadists last month has left a 2013 ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK in tatters. According to an AFP toll, 20 members of the Turkish security forces have since died in attacks blamed on the PKK.

Turkey offers U.S. access to other air bases: diplomat
Staff writer, Al Arabiya News/Friday, 7 August 2015éTurkey has offered the United States additional access to its air bases in the southeast after it accepted Washington’s long-pending request to use the Muslim NATO member’s Incirlik base in Adana province to launch airstrikes against Islamist militants, an Ankara-based senior Western diplomat told a Turkish daily in an interview published Thursday. “There is an offer [from the Turkish side] to make use of additional bases,” the diplomat, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, told Today’s Zaman. Military officials from the Turkish and U.S. sides have been examining the offer, he added. Turkey changed its position after a bombing in a border town and killing of a Turkish soldier in cross-frontier clashes. Meanwhile, the Pentagon said on Wednesday the U.S. military had carried out its first drone strike from a base in Turkey against ISIS targets in Syria. Thursday’s statement said the strikes were carried out by fighter planes, fighter-attack aircraft and drones, but did not say where they took off from. Before allowing the U.S. to use Incirlik, U.S. used Turkish bases only to fly surveillance flights over Syria. Also read: The United States and it allies conducted 27 airstrikes against ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq.

Report: Turkey bows to US pressure, expels top Hamas operative
JPOST.COM STAFF/08/07/2015éThe Turkish government has bowed to American pressure and ordered a senior Hamas official whom Israel accuses of organizing terrorist attacks in the West Bank to leave the country, Channel 10 is reporting on Friday. Salah Aruri, a top Hamas operative who was released from an Israeli prison a few years ago, is in charge of rebuilding the Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank a year after Israeli security forces dismantled it prior to the war in Gaza. According to Channel 10, the Ankara government, which has been sympathetic to Islamist organizations like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, agreed to Aruri's ouster, which was one of the prerequisites for Turkey's entry into the Western coalition against the Islamic State. In recent months, Israeli officials approached Turkey and, despite the bitter relations between the two countries, asked Ankara to crack down on Hamas operatives there. The London-based Arab-language daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi quoted Hamas officials as denying an earlier Israeli report indicating that Aruri was asked to leave Turkey. Aruri first came into the Israeli public's consciousness last year when he admitted that Hamas' armed wing, the Kassam Brigades, was behind the kidnapping and murder of Israeli teens Nafatli Fraenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah in the West Bank.
He made the comments during a conference of Islamic clerics in Turkey. He praised the "heroic action of the Kassam Brigades who kidnapped three settlers in Hebron."

IAF strikes Hamas target in Gaza hours after rocket fire
Yoav Zitun, Matan Tzuri/Ynetnews/Latest Update: 08.07.15, 20:40 / Israel News éCode red sirens remained silent earlier as rocket landed less than one kilometer from border fence; second projectile apparently fired, landed inside Gaza. The Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas military post in the central Gaza Strip on Friday night, hours after a rocket fired from the enclave landed in Israeli territory north of Kissufim, just east of the Gaza Strip.

If Khamenei could, he would inflict great harm on Israel,' Obama
By JPOST.COM STAFF/08/07/2015
In his latest attempt to sell the public on the merits of the Iran nuclear agreement, US President Barack Obama told an American news magazine earlier this week that he was not naive about the threats against Israel made by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Republic's supreme leader. “His ideology is steeped with anti-Semitism, and if he could, without catastrophic costs, inflict great harm on Israel, I’m confident that he would,” Obama told journalist Robin Wright of The New Yorker. Nonetheless, the president said that the Iranian government's behavior was not as extreme as its rhetoric suggests. “It is possible for leaders or regimes to be cruel, bigoted, twisted in their world views and still make rational calculations with respect to their limits and their self-preservation," Obama told The New Yorker. "And what we’ve seen, at least since 1979, is Iran making constant, calculated decisions that allow it to preserve the regime, to expand their influence where they can, to be opportunistic, to create what they view as hedges against potential Israeli attack, in the form of Hezbollah and other proxies in the region.”
In the interview, Obama denied that the nuclear agreement negotiated by his administration with Iran is a radical shift in US policy toward the Islamic Republic. “This does not represent a strategic rapprochement between the United States and Iran," the president said. "This is a hardheaded, clear-eyed, calculated decision to take—to seize our best opportunity to lock down the possibility of Iran getting a nuclear weapon.” “There is nothing in this deal that is dependent on a transformation of the character of the Iranian regime.”
When asked how Obama could stomach negotiating with a country that regularly adheres to the mantra of "Death to America," he said: “It’s not appealing to deal with countries that express hatred towards us. It wasn’t easy to negotiate arms agreements with a near military peer [like the Soviet Union] that could blow up every American city.”“But, when it comes to arms-control agreements, or nonproliferation agreements of any magnitude, by definition you’re generally dealing with those folks. I don’t have to negotiate an arms agreement with Great Britain or with France.”Obama said that the idea of using military force against Iran is akin to "smacking around the little guy who mouths off to you in the schoolyard."“Part of the underlying premise of why people don’t feel we should have to put up with that stuff is we’re bigger; if we launch a military strike, we can wipe them out," the president said. "There is a little bit of that schoolyard attitude of, it’s one thing for a guy your own size to mouth off to you. But if there’s a little guy, you should just smack him around. And it’s probably bad advice in the schoolyard. It’s certainly not a good way to run a foreign policy.”

Doing business with post-sanctions Iran
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/Friday, 7 August 2015/With the signing of the nuclear deal, foreign countries and companies appear to be rushing to rekindle business with Iran, which had been cut off from global trade. Tehran has reciprocated the interest in conducting business, in many areas including technology, arms, manufacturing, gas and oil. Within hours of the nuclear deal, several international oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Eni expressed their interest in returning to Iran, which will likely ratchet up OPEC oil production. Among European countries, Germany and France appear to be among the first to rush to rekindle business. Recently, Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s economic minister and vice chancellor, along with a business delegation from Siemens, Linde, Mercedes and Volkswagen, visited Iran. Tehran is planning to strengthen its airplane fleet. After the nuclear deal was reached, Mohammad Khodakarami, the director of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, said: “Iran will buy a total of 80 to 90 planes a year from the two aviation giants [Airbus and Boing] in the first phase of renovating its air fleet.”When it comes to Iran’s economic landscape after the nuclear deal, major questions to address are: What sectors will likely witness foreign investment and flourish the most? Which countries are most likely to rekindle business and gain more? What will Iran invest in the most? What are the opportunities and risks?
Opportunities
The most appealing sector in Iran is energy: oil and gas. Iran has the fourth-biggest proven crude oil and second-largest natural gas reserves in the world. The second most appealing market is the arms industry. When sanctions and the U.N. arms embargo are lifted, deals can usher in billions of dollars for arms corporations. Russia has already lifted its arms ban on Iran. Additional sectors are Iran’s consumer and technology markets. With roughly 80 million people, Iran has the second-largest population in the Middle East, and the 17th largest in the world. What is more intriguing regarding the consumer market is that more than 60 percent of the population are under the age of 30. Iran enjoys a highly educated population, but suffers from a high level of brain drain. Even under economic sanctions, in 2012 Iranians spent more than $75 billion on food, more than $20 billion on clothes, and $18.5 billion on tourism.
Gains
Countries that are currently buying oil from Iran - including China, India, Japan, Turkey and South Korea - are likely to ratchet up their oil purchases. European countries and Western oil corporations will also slowly increase their presence. Ironically, the United States - which pushed for the nuclear deal and the consequent removal of sanctions - will benefit least economically. Due to the U.S. Congress’s opposition to the deal, American companies will not be able to deal with Iran anytime soon. Regarding arms sales, the Russian-Chinese-Iranian axis will remain robust. Russian arms sales to Iran will increase. Moscow, which pushed for the lifting of the arms embargo on Iran, has already announced that it will supply the S-300 missile system. Concerning the consumer market, Western companies will find it much easier to reach Iranian consumers, but the process of doing business with Iran at full speed will take time. When it comes to the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in particular will witness increased trade with Iran. More than 75 percent of Iran’s trade in the Gulf is conducted with the UAE. In addition, Iran is the UAE’s fourth-largest trading and business partner after China. In Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the office of the supreme leader, which have a monopoly over the main economic sectors, will be the major beneficiaries.
Risks
One the major risks of rushing to do business with Iran is linked to the U.N. economic sanctions. If Iran violates the terms of the nuclear deal and sanctions are re-imposed, or if there is political instability in the country, companies will face tough decisions regarding their investments. When it comes to the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in particular will witness increased trade with Iran Secondly, since most of the economic sectors are controlled and owned by the state, doing business will be much more daunting due to the government’s legal trade frameworks and limited labor laws. Thirdly, doing business with the IRGC and some entities that are still blacklisted can impact companies’ credibility. This might alienate those foreign companies from doing business with countries in the region that are negatively impacted by IRGC activities. Fourth, if the U.S. Congress continues its unilateral sanctions on Iran, it will be more difficult for Western companies to rekindle business without fearing American repercussions. Finally, since the state-controlled economy creates a less competitive market and high levels of bureaucracy, foreign companies will find it more challenging to compete and less lucrative to do business with Iran.

Iran and Its Terror Proxies: A Guide to a Dangerous Future
James Kirchick /Contributing Editor at The Tower Magazine
The Tower Magazine/August 2015 edition/07/08/15
In the wake of the nuclear agreement reached in Vienna, Iran will enjoy a huge influx of cash—and so will the terror groups it sponsors. A quick look at what that’ll mean for us.
The deal reached in July 2015 by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany—the P5+1—and Iran, ostensibly to curb the latter’s nuclear program, will have far-reaching consequences beyond the scope of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. One key realm in which the world can anticipate a deeply negative impact concerns the support for international terrorism provided by the Iranian regime.
In exchange for accepting major Western concessions on its nuclear research activities, the Iranian regime will receive significant sanctions relief, readmission to the international financial system, and the gradual easing of a United Nations-imposed arms embargo. Collectively, these steps amount to the lifting of punitive measures levied against Iran over the past decade by the United Nations, the European Union, and a variety of national governments—including the United States—in response to Iranian obstruction over its clandestine nuclear activities. Whether the deal struck in Vienna in July 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will actually prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb remains to be seen. What is indisputable, given the nature of the regime, is that Iran—the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism—will continue and likely increase its support for such nefarious activities.
Senior administration officials, all the way up to the president himself, have conceded this point, which is remarkable given their obfuscations about many other, smaller details of the agreement. At a press conference soon after the JCPOA was announced, President Barack Obama himself acknowledged that the United States and Iran “will continue to have profound differences,” namely over the latter’s “support for terrorism” and “its use of proxies to destabilize parts of the Middle East.” Asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer if Iran’s newfound windfall may lead to increased “support [for] international terrorism,” National Security Adviser Susan Rice responded, “We should expect that some portion of that money would go to the Iranian military and could potentially be used for the kinds of bad behavior that we have seen in the region up until now.” As sanctions ease, there is every reason to believe that such “bad behavior” will not only continue, but that it will increase substantially.
Below are ten points highlighting the adverse effects of the pending deal with respect to terrorism:
1. Sanctions relief. As a result of the JCPOA, Iran is expected to receive some $150 billion in sanctions relief. That Tehran chose to obstruct and obfuscate over its nuclear program over the past nine years, when UN sanctions were first implemented, enduring international isolation and an economic crisis as a result, suggests that the Iranian regime places a priority on the pursuit of illicit activity in general, even to the detriment of the welfare of its own citizens. Given the sacrifices Iran has been willing to endure on behalf of its covert nuclear program, there is no telling how much of the $150 billion Iran will devote to terror, for which it has hardly been punished, but even a small portion would be significant.
2. SWIFT banking system. In 2012, the world’s biggest electronic payments system, known as SWIFT, barred 15 Iranian banks. This resulted in an annual loss of $35 billion worth of trade with Europe alone. A provision of the nuclear deal stipulates that once the International Atomic Energy Agency verifies Iran has implemented certain measures of the JCPOA, however, the European Union must authorize SWIFT to readmit Iran, regardless of its continuing support for terror. This flies in the face of a recent warning by the Financial Action Task Force that Iran’s “failure to address the risk of terrorist financing” poses a “serious threat … to the integrity of the international financial system.”
3. Central Bank of Iran. In 2012, President Obama signed into law punishing sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran, following a Treasury Department finding that Iran’s “support for terrorism,” “pursuit of weapons of mass destruction,” and “deceptive financial practices” rendered the entire country a “Jurisdiction of Primary Money Laundering Concern.” The JCPOA calls on the United States to delist the Central Bank, along with several other banks sanctioned by the United States for their involvement in terrorism. This, combined with the aforementioned readmission of Iran into SWIFT, will make it much easier for Tehran to transmit money around the world—money that could very easily be used to fund terrorist and other illicit activities.
4. Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Among the over 800 individuals and entities listed for sanctions relief is Qassem Soleimani, Commander of the Qods Force, the elite, expeditionary regiment of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Soleimani has been at the forefront of organizing Shi’a sectarian militias in Iraq responsible for the deaths of American soldiers. Several other IRGC senior officers and front groups will also be delisted as a result of the JCPOA.
5. Arms Embargo. Five years after the JCPOA is formally agreed, the United Nations conventional arms embargo on Iran will be lifted, regardless of whether or not Tehran alters its support for terrorism. Iran had long argued for a revocation of the embargo in exchange for its agreement to a nuclear deal, stating that the two issues are not linked, and that the embargo was being used unfairly to pressure Tehran into succumbing to the P5+1’s demands. By that very logic, it is unclear why the P5+1 would concede this point to the Iranians, given the fact that their support for terrorist groups and insurgencies across the Middle East has only increased over the past several years.
6. Conflict in Yemen. As recently as April, Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged that Iran has been sending “a number of flights every single week” to supply arms to Houthi rebels—Shi’a Muslims—fighting an insurgency against the government of Yemen, in spite of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an arms embargo against the uprising. A month earlier, an Iranian cargo ship is reported to have unloaded some 180 tons of weaponry to the Houthis. Military support has included such sophisticated weaponry as surface-to-air missiles, explosives, and rocket-propelled grenades.
7. Conflict in Iraq. Iran, through its IRGC, has long been the prime sponsor of Shi’a militias in Iraq. In the years following the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime, Iranian proxies fueled a sectarian civil war and targeted American and Coalition forces, killing at least 1,100 American soldiers, according to former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey. The IRGC’s presence in Iraq, though officially welcomed by the Iraqi government over a year ago out of desperation in fighting the Islamic State group, has only fueled the country’s sectarian divide.
8. Palestinian Territories. Iran is the most significant sponsor of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that adamantly rejects a two-state solution with Israel, calls for the murder of Jews worldwide, and controls the Gaza Strip by brutal force. Hamas’ Sunni Arab profile attests to the protean nature of Iran’s support for terrorism; the mullahs are perfectly willing to provide aid and succor to organizations that are not Shi’a should such support further the Islamic Republic’s stated goals of destroying the Jewish State and forcing the United States out of the Middle East. The Hamas-Tehran alliance has continued despite differences triggered by the war in Syria, where Iran has helped prop up a minority Alawite regime that has murdered over 100,000 Sunnis and displaced millions more. Over the past year, Iran has sent tens of millions of dollars to Hamas to help the terror group repair the tunnels it had constructed to smuggle weapons into Gaza; many of these passageways were exposed and destroyed by Israel during Operation Protective Edge last summer.
9. Lebanon. Iran extends its influence into Lebanon via the Shi’a militia Hezbollah, whose 1982 founding, and continued sustenance, is largely attributable to Tehran. Through the self-described “Party of God,” which has never disarmed despite repeated United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding that it do so, Iran effectively exercises a veto over Lebanese politics. Hezbollah’s de facto control over the southern part of the country means that Iran has essentially created a terror-statelet on Israel’s northern border. Today, it is feared that Hezbollah has stationed over 100,000 rockets in southern Lebanon—many, if not most, of Iranian provenance—nearly ten times as many as it had at its disposal during the 2006 war it launched against Israel. Five members of Hezbollah have been charged with the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; they are currently being tried for the crime in absentia by a UN Special Tribunal.
10. Latin America and international terrorism. Iranian support for terrorism spreads beyond the Middle East, most alarmingly in Latin America. In 1992, Hezbollah bombed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people. Argentine prosecutors have accused Iran of planning the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish center, also in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were murdered in the single worst anti-Semitic atrocity since the Second World War. Last October, a Hezbollah operative was arrested in Lima, Peru on terrorism charges after police found detonators and TNT in the man’s home. They believe he was planning to attack Israeli and Jewish targets. In 2011, the U.S. Justice Department alleged Iranian involvement in a plot to kill Adel al-Jubair, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States, at a café in Washington, D.C.—an attack that, had it been successful, would have resulted in a bloodbath. In July 2012, Hezbollah, again with Iranian backing, launched a bomb attack upon a busload of Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian resort of Burgas, murdering five of them along with the bus driver, a Bulgarian national.
In selling his Iran deal to the American people, President Obama has waived away complaints that it will embolden Iranian sponsorship for terrorism, stating that a curb to the country’s nuclear ambitions is paramount. “This deal is not contingent on Iran changing its behavior,” he has said. Should this agreement become official, Iran will be let out of its cage, one that was painstakingly erected to contain its malignant and destructive influence on the region and the world.

Sweden: The Defense that Disappeared
Ingrid Carlqvist/Gatestone Institute/August 07/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6287/sweden-military
Translation of the original text: Sverige: Försvaret som försvann
According to a 2013 statement by Sweden's Supreme Commander Sverker Göransson, Sweden can, at best and in five years, defend itself in one place for one week.
"One needs to always be prepared to defend the nation's capital, vital infrastructure, power supply and telecommunications, important airports, import of basic necessities and military reinforcements. ... [Sweden] today does not have that capability. ... The consensus had been that no state in Europe would ever attack another state. But someone just had, and it wasn't just anybody. It was Russia." — Wilhelm Agrell, military historian.
"The idea of defending Sweden as the most important thing was lost." — Owe Wictorin, former Supreme Commander.
"As far as the Russians are concerned, it would be a great advantage to 'borrow' Gotland. ... it's quick and easy and they can say: 'We mean you no harm, you'll get Gotland back in two-to-three months, we just need to get the Baltic states to do what we want.'" — Karlis Neretnieks, former head of the National Defense College.
Parliament demanded many things, but has never given the Armed Forces enough money to do them.
A couple of decades ago, Sweden had a strong military. Its air force was one of the capable in the world, its navy had dozens of ships and submarines, and artillery guarded the coastlines from a multitude of secret mountain hideaways.
Now, after a number of fatal decisions, based on the belief that wars in Europe were a thing of the past, most of its military is gone and Sweden has virtually no means of protecting itself.
According to Sweden's Supreme Commander Sverker Göransson, we can, at best and in five years, defend ourselves in one place for one week.
Sweden is a large country: with 447,435 square kilometers, it is the fifth largest in Europe. It also has one of the longest coastlines in Europe (3,200 kilometers), which not easily defensible.
Four days before the Second World War broke out, then Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson declared that "Sweden's preparedness is good." But that statement was a lie. Sweden's financial preparedness may have been good, but its military preparedness was abysmal. The Swedish Army was outdated. Since the 1920s, Sweden's military had been cut almost in half. Sweden could perhaps have resisted Hitler's Germany for a few hours.
By declaring itself neutral -- and allowing Germany to use the Swedish railway system to transport weapons and personnel to and from Norway -- Sweden was able to avoid the fate of Denmark and Norway, which were occupied by the Germans. During that war, however, Sweden did start mobilizing substantially. By 1943, it had achieved a respectable military strength.
The clever things about Sweden's military doctrine were the draft and the "mobilization repositories." The draft meant that all young men were required to do military service -- a tradition going back to the Viking Age, then known as ledungen, a native army at the king's disposal.
The mobilization repositories were a Swedish innovation. Instead of having a standing military force in centralized bases as in other countries, Sweden went for a military that could be quickly mobilized -- with weapons and other equipment hidden in many small secret stashes out in the woods. According to some sources, there were as many as 6,000-8,000 repositories. Everybody who had served in the military regularly underwent refresher training exercises, and knew exactly where to go in the event of war. If an enemy were suddenly to attack Sweden, hundreds of thousands of fully armed soldiers could be deployed within hours.
This strong Swedish military endured until the mid-1980s. At that time, there were 100,000 active-duty soldiers in Army combat units; and counting local defense units and Home Guardsmen, another 350,000 men were available. The Air Force had over 300 airplanes; the Navy had some 40 warships and 12 submarines, and the Coastal Artillery had 28 battalions.
On April 16, 2015, Swedish public television (SVT) broadcast the documentary, "What Happened to Defense?" It was a complete review of the military that had disappeared.
"Sweden had a home defense, manned by conscripts who could be called upon when needed," Wilhelm Agrell, a military historian, says in the documentary. "You could enhance preparedness and mobilize step-by-step. The potential was huge if you went full throttle, which we never did."
But the upkeep was expensive. When the Cold War ended and the Berlin wall came down in 1989, and when the Soviet Union collapsed shortly thereafter, the quality of the Swedish military began to wane. Why care, the thinking went? The Russian Bear was at peace.
That was when a strange thing happened -- the leaders of the Armed Forces decided to take a "time out." The highest military leaders in the country were convinced that the threat of invasion was all in the past, and that the country's defenses could therefore be shut down. They convinced the politicians that a complete military makeover was the right thing to do; they wanted a "pause" and to come back in ten years -- more modern and stronger than ever.
We now know what happened. "Half of the transformation went very well," Wilhelm Agrell states. "The dismantling of the old structure."
One of the advocates for the military transformation was Army Lieutenant General Johan Kihl. He became Chief Strategy Officer at military headquarters in 1996, and was amazed to find that so many things in the Swedish military were outdated. "For example," Kihl says in the documentary," we had 850,000 flyswatters in stock. We had loads of cars from the 1960s, trucks that ran for only a couple of miles. This wasn't sustainable; we needed to phase that out."
But what should replace it? Ideas flowed. Maybe the wars of the future would be completely different -- maybe fast, agile forces were the way to go? Maybe forces that could use this internet everybody was talking about -- what if everything could just be connected?
In 1994, Kihl spoke of "hacker platoons," sensors that could monitor all of Sweden, unmanned airplanes and balloons that could report on everything that moved.
General Owe Wictorin, Supreme Commander of the military during that period, was just as enthusiastic. In a television interview, he said: "Maybe a future Supreme Commander can use the phone to stave off an attack, instead of bullets and gunpowder. Maybe say: 'I see what you are doing. Stop or we will fight you.'"
In the same period, a severe recession hit Sweden. In 1992, interest rates were raised to a staggering 500%, and politicians were searching everywhere for possible budget cuts. When General Wictorin suggested defense cuts and reform in favor of modern and flexible armed forces, the idea sounded as if it were a Christmas present.
In the fall of 1998, General Wictorin had his plan for the historical transformation all worked out. But his big mistake was that he had not grasped that the politicians had now identified defense as an area ripe for major budget cuts. When the state budget was presented, two days after General Wictorin proposed his plan, the defense budget was 15 billion kronor short (about $1.9 billion USD in 1998 dollars). In the documentary, General Wictorin says: "It demanded magic tricks we could not perform. Our plan went straight in the trash; with these cuts, it was not possible to implement it."
Then everything just unraveled. In 2000, the Swedish Parliament made a new decision on defense -- to cut the budget by half. Compared to 1985, there was now only:
Fifteen percent as many Army combat units
One tenth as many local defense units
Half as many Home Guardsmen
Half of the Air Force
One quarter of the Navy
The modern Swedish military, built up over a hundred years, was scrapped in ten or eleven years. According to the military historian Wilhelm Agrell, the dismantling process was inconceivably vast. Every last item stored in the mobilization repositories was hauled away to central storage bases. The process quickly got out of control, and before long, no one knew where anything was. The whole maneuver also turned out to be quite a bit more costly than expected. Nothing went according to plan, and then it was time for the next big decision on how the military should be handled.
In 2004, more units were scrapped and 5,000 military personnel (25% of the total) were let go.
"The new defense," said Agrell, "was supposed to be in place in 2004, but at this time, everything was a screaming mess. There was no new defense and not enough money. What to do? Well, the politicians once again ordered more cutbacks."
This was what was left:
Six percent of the combat units
No local defense
The Home Guard was once again cut in half
100 airplanes instead of 200
A navy cut in half, with only seven surface vessels and four submarines
The focus of the Swedish military now turned to international operations. Troops were sent to Afghanistan on a mission that dragged on for 13 years. However, conscripts could not be ordered to serve abroad; that mission required professional soldiers. Therefore, in 2010, national service was repealed and professional armed forces were introduced.
Meanwhile, in 2008, the unthinkable happened: Russia invaded Georgia, and a five-day war took place. The Russian bear had awakened.
"Now," according to Agrell, "there was a stone in our shoe. The consensus had been that no state in Europe would ever attack another state. But someone just had, and it wasn't just anybody. It was Russia. It was not supposed to happen, but it had. Suddenly Swedish politicians understood that we need to have some kind of ability to defend ourselves, if we against all odds were to be threatened again."
Armed Forces brass, which until then had pretty much kept quiet, suddenly came to life. In 2011, Russian military aircraft once again started to fly close to Swedish airspace (which was a common practice during the Cold war but had ceased during the 1990s), and there were new reports on foreign submarines sighted along the coasts. In 2013, General Sverker Göransson, Supreme Commander of Sweden's military, made a statement that scared the wits out of the Swedes -- and made the politicians furious. Asked how good the Swedish military was, General Göransson answered, "We can defend ourselves against an attack against a localized target. We're talking about a week on our own."
Was Göransson really allowed to say that, or was this classified information? The Supreme Commander was accused of breaching national security, but he did not waver.
A Russian television news-parody show, joking about Sweden only being able to hold out for a week, aired a parody of the ABBA song "Mamma Mia," mocking Sweden and its female Minister of Defense: "Mamma Mia, Russians coming here, on foot -- oh my God it's scary! ... Defense Minister wears a dress..."
Russian TV mocks Sweden's military capabilities. (Image source: Yesterday Live video screenshot)
Strangely, even though very little remains of the Swedish military, it still costs huge amounts of money. The defense budget has only been cut about 20%. The savings are so meager mainly because professional soldiers are paid more then draftees, but there are other explanations as well.
Alyson J.K. Bailes, a high-ranking British diplomat to several Nordic countries, and former head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), stated in the documentary "What Happened to Defense?":
"Sweden has cut its manpower very, very drastically in recent years, so that it now has almost the smallest forces and smallest army of any Nordic state -- despite being twice as big as any other. I think that when people do see that, they become quite surprised, and I think any external defense expert looking closely at that, would conclude that Sweden does not have the resources to defend itself.
Sweden has such a large defense industry, it has been proud of having heavily mechanized forces. But if you look at how much money it has been spending on equipment and research, for each man in the Armed Forces, that figure turns out to be the highest in Europe. It is four times as high as what Germany pays for the equipment for one soldier. And then you have to ask yourself -- has some of this been about protecting the industry rather than achieving a balanced and effective defense?"
Dazed and confused in the face of the new threats close to Sweden, most political parties now want more money for defense. But they are asking for peanuts. In April, Parliament decided to raise the defense budget by 10.2 billion kronor ($1.2 billion USD) from 2016 to 2020, and appointed a new security policy inquiry into the pros and cons of Sweden's international collaborations such as the UN, OSSE, EU and NATO. That sum is far below what the Supreme Commander requested just to be able to implement what Parliament had ordered five years earlier. Parliament demanded many things, but has never given the mil enough money to do them.
Only the Sweden Democrats demanded a return to the level of defense spending Sweden had in 1999, which would require an additional 40 billion kronor (around $4.6 billion USD) from 2016 to 2020.
Mikael Jansson, defense policy spokesperson for the Sweden Democrats, told Gatestone Institute that after the Cold War ended, it was natural to make defense cutbacks, but he feels that the politicians responsible went much too far:
"If the defense cutbacks had ended in 1999, we would have had a more reasonable situation today. The goal today is to build a tiny military organization, but even though it is minuscule, it is still under-financed. We are about 50 billion kronor short (around $5.8 billion USD). So, even if the defense budget is significantly increased, it is going to take time before Sweden reaches a reasonable defense capability once again. It is easy to see why the defense budget needs to be doubled to achieve the reality the politicians speak of so beautifully: To be able to defend Sweden. We urgently need to order new submarines, to prevent the total number from dropping below eight. It is also important to order a new, modern, long-range air defense system so we can defend Stockholm, Gotland and all our bases. The order for new SAAB 39 Gripen E should be increased to 100 planes. The old Gripen airplanes should be saved for us to increase the number of military aircraft divisions."
So how do Swedish politicians imagine defending the country if the Russians get it into their heads to, say, invade Gotland?
The island in the Baltic Sea is a strategically important outpost, close to the Baltic countries, which are all members of NATO. Joining NATO never appealed to Swedish politicians, but in 2009, the Swedish Parliament suddenly announced a "declaration of solidarity" with the EU. It reads:
"Sweden will not remain passive if a disaster or attack should hit another member state, or Nordic country. We expect other countries to act the same way if Sweden is hit. Our country will thus give and receive support, civilian as well as military."
Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves was not impressed by the declaration. "The problem with the declaration of solidarity," he says, "is that it doesn't contain anything concrete. You could send 10,000 bottles of olive oil and meet the demands of solidarity."
Instead, he puts his faith in NATO, which regularly patrols Estonia's airspace. U.S. President Barack Obama has said that, "the defense of Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn is as important as the defense of Paris, Berlin and London."
NATO is well aware that Swedish territory is important. A NATO drill in the fall of 2014 played out a scenario in which Russia had occupied southern Sweden. This exercise was not at all surprising to Karlis Neretnieks, former headmaster at the National Defense College.
"There will be a race over Swedish territory if a serious crisis should emerge in our close proximity. As far as the Russians are concerned, it would be a great advantage to 'borrow' Gotland. It doesn't cost anything, it's quick and easy and they can say: 'You'll get the island back. We mean you no harm, you'll get Gotland back in 2-3 months, we just need to get the Baltic states to do what we want.' Why would the Russians abstain from this?"
But surely, Sweden has at least made sure that Gotland is well defended? Actually no. The total defense of Gotland now consists of 14 tanks tucked away in a storehouse. The tanks are among the best in the world, and the Swedish Armed Forces have bought 120 of them; but as there are only three tank companies (none of which is stationed on Gotland), there is only enough staff to man 42 tanks -- or about a third of them.
Today, the architects of the lost military are sorry for what they did. Johan Kihl says that due to lack of resources, the Armed Forces are unable to defend the country in any sensible way. In the documentary, Former Supreme Commander Owe Wictorin looks devastated. He says that the direction was right, but the ambition, quantity and pace at which the changes were implemented were wrong. "And the idea of defending Sweden as the most important thing was lost. I still think so."
Military historian Wilhelm Agrell notes that there are several obvious needs that have to be met: "One needs to always be prepared to defend the nation's capital, vital infrastructure, power supply and telecommunications, important airports, import of basic necessities and military reinforcements. ... [Sweden] today does not have that capability."

Israeli Druze Intellectual, Salman Masalha: The Israel That The Arabs Call 'A False Entity' Is The Region's Most Stable, Advanced Country
MEMRI/August 7, 2015 Special Dispatch No.6127
In an article in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, Israeli Druze poet, writer, essayist and translator Salman Masalha wrote that the Arab countries' insistence not to refer to Israel by name, but rather as "the state of gangs," "a false entity," or "an artificial state," shows their disregard for reality and for the fact that Israel, which has developed regional roots and has prospered, is leaving the Arab nations far behind. The article, written on the occasion of Israel's 67th Independence Day, compared the instability in Arab countries in the region – Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine – to the stability of non-Arab countries – Iran, Turkey, and Israel – and wondered if the reason for the Arabs' troubles lay in the Arabs themselves.
The following are excerpts from Masalha's article:[1]
"This week, Israel celebrated its 67th independence day. It is not easy to speak of this event in an Arab newspaper, because the mere mention of Israel's name in the Arab arena arouses many emotions. For the past decades, Israel's name has, in the imagination of Arab peoples, been tied to the name Palestine and [Palestine's] Nakba. So much ink has been spilled, and so many hours of broadcast have been devoted to discussion of the so-called 'primary problem of the Arabs.'
"Uttering the name 'Israel' has not been easy for Arabs, from their leaders to their mouthpieces to their intellectuals. Israel's name is sometimes written in scare quotes, as part of the attempt to ignore the reality that writers see on the ground. Dealing with this reality has become a kind of rhetorical contest in Arab discourse; some have not settled for using scare quotes but have gone so far as to ban mention of that name in Arab writing, replacing it with the term 'the state of gangs.' Later, the Arab rhetoric became even more impassioned, and to this series [of epithets] was added a new term – 'the false entity.' All this arrogant stubbornness in Arab discourse is not ended, and continues to this day, with the addition of such epithets as 'the deviant state' or 'the artificial state.'
"In this context, it should be mentioned that when the state of Israel was established, the number of Arab states could be counted on the fingers of two hands, but that now the region has hatched a substantial number of fledgling Arab countries that are also artificial, and counting them requires the digits of both hands and feet, perhaps even more. Does it not stand to reason that all the countries of this region, and, in fact, all countries of the modern world, are artificial?
"Thus, while the propagators of this Arab discourse kept their heads buried in the sand, Israel continued to deepen its roots in the region – while on the other side, the [Arab] discourse aimed at arousing emotions and at mobilizing [these emotions] to serve those who silence common sense in the minds of people continued. In fact, the discourse on Palestine... was obviously no more than a tool used by the Arab leaders to avoid [admitting] that these Arab entities are just as false... And so the years passed, and here we are some seven decades later, during which we were born, grew up, and got old on this plot of land, and what do we see around us? Undoubtedly, any Arab with a smidgen of understanding finds himself facing the same questions: 'Where are the states of the gangs – and where are the false entities?'
"Just for the sake of inventory, [let us do] some simple math: 'Joyful Yemen'[2] is more miserable today than it was before independence. Libya, another false entity, has returned to its roots and to the tribal divisions that predate its establishment. The 'false Iraqi entity' has [also] broken down to its sectarian and ethnic groups. The 'false Syrian entity' has broken down as well, and has been extinguished in a sea of blood and crimes [perpetrated] by the 'resistance' [axis, i.e. Syria, Iran, and Hizbullah], with no redemption in sight.
"As for Lebanon... This Lebanon, with its tiny territory and large population, cannot [even] choose a president... This entity was born, lives, and will die on a sectarian basis. Every sect there has a leader, and every sect elects its own leader for life.
"As for Palestine – it, like Israel and the rest of the countries in the region, is also a 'false entity'... Many years ago, two entities began establishing themselves on the ground, one in Gaza and one in the West Bank. Today, decades later, the Palestinians are finding that their problem is no longer 'the primary Arab problem' and that their Nakba is no greater than other Arab Nakbas, because Greater Syria [for example] has experienced a far greater Nakba that overshadows their own.
"And so we have reached a situation in which every Arab is concerned with his own problems and everyone talks about what preoccupies him personally – that is, his own troubles. If we look at what is happening around us in this region, we will see that the most stable entities are not Arab, and that they are strong and developed entities – from Iran through Turkey to what Arabs call 'the false entity' and the world calls 'Israel.'
"Therefore, how should we describe our situation? Perhaps in this way: 'Our troubles come from us,' as the popular saying goes."
Endnotes:
[1] Al-Hayat (London), April 23, 2015.
[2] Al-Yemen Al-Sa'id – a common nickname for Yemen.

Two top Congressional Democrats oppose Iran nuclear deal over inspection inadequacies
DEBKAfile Special Report August 7, 2015
The Obama administration’s battle to win congressional backng for the nuclear deal signed last month with Iran took a double hit early Friday, Aug. 7, when two influential Democrats, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is expected to take over as Senate Democratic leader in 2017, and New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the ranking Democrat of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced they would vote against the accord.
Secretary of State John Kerry responded by saying he "profoundly disagrees" with the reasoning behind their decision.
Sen. Schumer cited “serious weaknesses” in the first ten years of the deal. “First, inspections are not ‘anywhere, anytime,’ and the 24 hour delay would hinder the U.S.’s “ability to determine precisely what was being done at that site,” he said, explaining that it would enable Iran to “escape detection of any illicit building and improving of possible military dimensions (PMD) – the tools that go into building a bomb but don’t emit radioactivity.’’
“Even more troubling is the fact that the US cannot demand inspections unilaterally,” Schumer said. “By requiring the majority of the 8-member Joint Commission, and assuming that China, Russia, and Iran will not cooperate, inspections would require the votes of all three European members of the P5+1 as well as the EU representative. It is reasonable to fear that, once the Europeans become entangled in lucrative economic relations with Iran, they may well be inclined not to rock the boat by voting to allow inspections.’’
Rep Engel argued that the inspectors would not be able to “finish their investigation into the potential military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program.’’ He added: “I also view as a dangerous concession the sunset of the international sanctions on advanced conventional weapons and ballistic missiles. I was told that these issues weren’t on the table during the talks. So it’s unacceptable to me that after a maximum of five and eight years, respectively, Iran could repeat past behavior, without violating the accord or being subject to “snapback sanctions.”
Schumer and Engel are influential enough to turn a number of fellow Democrats around to joining Republicans for a majority that could be large enough to override the veto the president has pledged to impose on a negative vote on the nuclear accord.
This defeat would be a crushing blow to President Obama in the last lap of his presidency.
One of the factors contributing to the two lawmakers’ negative decision was the conduct of the International Atomic Energy Agency Director Yukiya Amano. He told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Aug. 6, that he cannot divulge “confidential details” on the arrangements to examine Iran’s nuclear research "for any possible effort to develop a nuclear bomb." Although the inspection arrangements are the linchpin of the nuclear accord, Amano stonewalled on the many questions about its details, saying he was not “authorized to share or discuss confidential information.”
The committee chairman Sen. Bob Corker R-Tenn. commented after the hour-long session with Amano, “I would say most members left here with greater concerns about the inspections regime than they came in with.”
Congress was already fuming after Kerry claimed at a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, in answer to multiple questions, that he had not seen the contents of the two “side agreements” to the Iran nuclear deal reached between Iran and the IAEA.
Pressed for answers, Kerry said he had been briefed on this material but had not seen it himself. The Secretary also said, “I don’t believe Susan Rice, national security adviser, has seen it,” when he was quoted as saying on another occasion that she had seen the document.
In Tehran, senior officials have reiterated that Iran will not authorize intrusive inspections of military sites or “sensitive” sections of its nuclear program.
President Obama, for his part, warned that failure to endorse the nuclear accord would quickly spark a Middle East war, with Israel coming under “a hail of Hizballah rockets.”
The case for the accord was hardly enhanced by the president’s comment Wednesday, Aug. 5, at the American University that the Iranian hardliners who chant “Death to America” and are most opposed to the deal “are making common cause with the Republican Caucus.”
In the statement he issued Friday, Sen. Schumer explained his decision by saying: “After deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval.
Before deciding, the New York senator interviewed administration officials closely connected with the nuclear talks, including senior US negotiator Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman. He also took advice from elder statesman, the still influential Henry Kissinger.
The decision taken by Sen. Schumer and Rep. Eliot Engel go far toward vindicating the all-out battle Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu continues to wage against the Iran nuclear deal.

Defense minister: I'm not responsible for the life expectancy of Iran's scientists
Ynetnews/Ronen Bergman/Published: 8.07.15/ Israel News
Moshe Ya'alon attacks Iran nuclear deal in Der Spiegel interview, calling it 'a historic mistake'; ' There have been certain points in history when people believed that appeasement could bring a solution, but ultimately paid a very high price, and that's exactly the case with Iran today.'Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said he is not responsible for the life expectancy of Iranian scientists in an exclusive interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel to be published early next week.
"I believe many historical studies will yet deal with the question of how the nuclear agreement with Iran was reached, Ya'alon told the newspaper. "My gut feeling is that political leaders in the West preferred to postpone the problem to the next day, the next year, the next term of office. There have been certain points in history when people believed that appeasement could bring a solution, but ultimately paid a very high price, and that's exactly the case with Iran today." "The negotiations managed by the powers led by the United States with the Iranian regime were a historic mistake," continued Ya'alon.
"The deal will allow Iran to now become a country on the threshold of a military nuclear capability. Within a decade, they will be permitted to enrich uranium without any limits. Within a few months, if the deal is indeed implemented, the Iranians will receives hundreds of millions of dollars that they can use not only to improve the economy, but also for 'exporting the revolution', as they call it, give Hezbollah more money, give more money to Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, give more money for the Houthis in Yemen, the Shi'ites in Bahrain, or the Shi'ites in Saudi Arabia. And what about the missiles covering all of Israel and parts of Europe? This subject is not even past of the nuclear deal."
Ya'aon said the only effective strategy against Iran is using pressure "that places a very clear dilemma before the regime: a nuclear bomb or surviving as a regime. This strategy is composed of diplomatic isolation of the regime and paralyzing economic sanctions, The final element of the strategy is a believable military option: If you don't abide by the UN resolution, you are going to be attacked."
The defense minister said Western hopes that the agreement would lead to political reform in the Islamic Republic are misguided and that human rights violations will only increase. "The still use cranes to hang people in markets," he said. "This is not going to be the Iranian Spring. I suggest that everyone forget about McDonald's in Tehran."
Asked whether Iran cannot serve a constructive role in the fight against the Islamic State terror organization, Ya'alon replied; "That is the only constructive role that Iran could possibly fill. In all the other regional conflicts, in Syria, Yemen, or the Gaza Strip, the Iranians are on the wrong side. This is an apocalyptic, messianic regime attempting to form a Shi'ite empire. "
The newspaper then asked Ya'alon a hypothetical question: If the heads of military intelligence and the Mossad were to tell him in the future that Iran had restarted the military aspects of its nuclear project – would he recommend a military strike on nuclear facilities?
"In such a situation, we would have to discuss the issue," said Ya'alon. "Ultimately, it's very clear – one way or another, Iran's military nuclear program must be stopped. We will work in every way and be unwilling to tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran. We prefer that this be done through a deal or sanctions, but ultimately, Israel must be prepared to protect itself."
Regarding Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's comparison between the agreement and opening the ovens at the death camps, Ya'alon said that "we have enough disagreement with the White House about the deal with Iran. The situation is bad enough without requiring such expressions."

Diplomats exploring peace options in Syria
Reuters/Ynetnews/Published: 8.07.15/ Israel News
In the wake of the Iran deal, Syria and its backers Russia and Iran are pushing for a solution to the Syrian conflict, while initiating early contacts with rebel-allied Sunni countries in order to form the basis for negotiations. The first visit of a top Syrian official to a Gulf Arab state in more than four years is the strongest sign yet of a new diplomatic push to end the Syrian war, but there are still huge hurdles to face before any peace process can begin.
Diplomacy has so far been a total failure during a four year civil war that has divided the Middle East, killed a quarter of a million people, driven more than 10 million from their homes and left large swathes of Syria in the hands of Islamic State militants. The mainly Sunni Muslim Arab states that support the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad have had virtually no productive contact with either Damascus or Assad's main backers, Shi'ite Iran and Russia. But since a nuclear deal last month between Tehran and world powers, and in the wake of battlefield losses this year by Syrian government forces, signs have emerged of some of the first real dialogue for years.
Syria's foreign minister met with his Omani counterpart in Muscat on Thursday to discuss the crisis. He was invited by Oman, an Arab Gulf state and US ally that has steered clear of the Syria crisis so far, and has acted as a regional conciliator in the past, with good relations with Iran. "It's inching towards some kind of solution. If Russia, Iran, the United States and Saudi Arabia make a deal, there will be a deal," a diplomat tracking Syria said. But there is no clear idea of what such a solution might be, only that there is broad agreement on the need to try again for one.
The sides still have found no clear resolution to the main dispute: the fate of Assad in any post war settlement. He has said he will not step down while Syria is in turmoil, and his enemies say there can be no peace settlement until he goes. "People are thinking in the right way now, but they are still not giving up their current stances," the diplomat said, referring to recent statements by both sides about Assad. Diplomats say it has been Assad's allies Russia and Iran who are the prime movers behind the latest push for detente, in the wake of Tehran's July 14 nuclear deal. Iran, which like Russia has provided Assad with vital military and financial backing, has said it will soon present the United Nations with its own peace plan for Syria.
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov discussed Syria with his US and Saudi counterparts in Qatar this week, an unusual meeting of such senior figures supporting the opposing sides. A Russian diplomat tracking Syria said Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry "took some homework back from Doha" and needed to work on what steps would come next. Throughout the conflict, Damascus and its allies in Moscow and Tehran have tended to be more optimistic than their enemies about the prospects for diplomacy, making the case that the Assad government could be rehabilitated in its foes' eyes. A Lebanese newspaper affiliated with the Hezbollah movement that supports Assad even reported last week that there had been a secret high level meeting between the spy chiefs of Syria and Saudi Arabia, brokered by Russia.
Riyadh denied this, and Western officials were unable to confirm the details. If a meeting took place at a lower level, this would not necessarily be a breakthrough, since Damascus and Riyadh have quietly discussed technical issues in the past, like exchanging prisoners. Washington has played down the prospect that the latest diplomatic flurry could yield peace, although it has offered its support. "Everybody can hope that perhaps there'll be a turning of the page, but we're preparing for the possibility that that may not happen," Kerry told reporters on Monday in Doha. "I know the United States is prepared to explore a diplomatic option if it presents itself, but at this moment in time, with respect to Syria or elsewhere, it has not." Staffan de Mistura, the third person to take on the post of chief UN peace negotiator for Syria after two predecessors quit, has said he believes the sides are not ready for peace talks.
Russian Logic
The fate of Assad has long been a stumbling block to ending the conflict. The Russian diplomat said this could be resolved if the big powers helped to fashion an overall deal that included uniting rebel and government military forces and establishing a political transition.
"He's not going to disappear by himself. The only way the question of the president could be tackled is by elections," the diplomat said. "It depends on the whole package. They have to get something in return."The past year has seen Assad's government lose control of territory, both to Islamic State and to other rebel groups that enjoy the support of Assad's Arab foes. A major shift in strategy by Turkey in recent weeks could put further pressure on Assad's government to seek a deal. Ankara, a NATO member and staunch Assad opponent, has agreed to let the United States and its allies use its territory for an air campaign against Islamic State. On Wednesday US forces used a base in Turkey for the first time to launch a drone strike into northern Syria, ahead of what Ankara said would soon be a "comprehensive battle" against Islamic State militants there.
But such moves could also hurt the Damascus government. Turkey has called for a protected zone in northern Syria, which could relieve pressure on rebels fighting government forces. Syria has said it supports efforts to combat Islamic State provided they are coordinated with Damascus.

ISIS’s war on the state
Abdullah Hamidaddin/Al ArabiyaéFriday, 7 August 2015
On Thursday, 15 people were killed in a bombing of a mosque in Abha in southern Saudi Arabia. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility. This is the third mosque that ISIS has targeted in Saudi Arabia, and the fourth in the Gulf - in May, two mosques were targeted in the Eastern Province of the kingdom, and one in Kuwait. Those three mosques were used by Shiites - now ISIS targeted a Sunni mosque, yet the underlying motivations are the same. At the time, two opinions were circulating about the motivations of ISIS. The first was that it was targeting Shiites because they were heretics, so the motivation was assumed to be sectarian. This was a simple explanation and easiest to accept, especially in light of the prevalence of sectarian interpretations of the politics of the region, which assumes that there is a Sunni-Shiite war and that this attack is one small battle in that war. There was, however, a second opinion that is more complex and starts with the assumption that ISIS is bloody, radical and extremist, but also rational in its calculations; rational in the sense that its tactics follow cost/benefit logic. This strand of thought concedes that ISIS considers Shiites to be heretics and that its ideal world is one without them, but it did not attack the mosques because Shiites are heretics.
There were no realistic sectarian motives in ISIS’s attack of Shiite mosques. Rather, it was looking for high-impact targets. It wanted to attack the Saudi government while avoiding hurting Sunni citizens. It wanted to delegitimize the government by attacking citizens, and its choice of Shiite citizens was in the hope that it could generate tension between Shiite Saudis and the government. We all know that there are Shiite radicals conveying a discourse of Shiite victimization, claiming that Shiites are targets of a systemic onslaught and marginalization by the Saudi government. So ISIS may have calculated that by targeting Shiite mosques it would legitimize those radical voices among a wider Shiite population, leading to a schism between the government and Shiites.
Radical vs. religious zealots
ISIS, according to this analysis, did not want to target Sunni citizens for fear of losing popularity among Saudi radical zealots. Radical zealots are different from religious zealots. The former are politicized religious extremists who reject the current political order and aim for a caliphate of some sort, and whose principal foes are governments.
This is a war ISIS wants to wage against the Saudi state, but more fundamentally against the idea of a modern state in whatever form. The latter are religious puritans who reject modernity (but embrace technology) and existing lifestyles, and aim for a pious society strictly ruled by sharia and whose principal foes are liberals and secularists. Radical zealots are willing to kill anyone who stands in their way. Religious zealots, however, would only go as far as disrupting social order, which is not pleasant but at least not murderous. ISIS’s main pool of recruits comes from radical zealots, so it is keen to retain its legitimacy among them. This is especially so because radical zealots are a very small minority in the Saudi population, and ISIS cannot afford to lose its legitimacy among a single one of them. Radical zealots have long debated among themselves the legitimacy of targeting individuals who are not government affiliates, so the safer route for ISIS would be to focus its attacks only on those targets that all radical zealots consider legitimate. In Saudi Arabia, those targets are Shiites and security forces. After targeting Shiites, it is now targeting security forces.The underlying logic of the attack on a Shiite mosque and the security forces mosque is that this is a war ISIS wants to wage against the Saudi state, but more fundamentally against the idea of a modern state in whatever form. This is a war being waged against an order, not just a government. It is a war in which all of us will eventually become targets, so all of us need to stand against it.

The pretexts behind U.S. protection of Syrian rebels
Maria Dubovikova/Al ArabiyaéFriday, 7 August 2015
Washington and Moscow have been recently trying to find common ground in resolving the Syrian crisis. Attempts have been made via phone calls between Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, as well as through diplomatic contacts and expert consultations. The two sides have been assessing each other’s positions, limits and flexibility to make concessions.
Following these efforts, Obama decided to authorize air protection for U.S.-trained Syrian rebels fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) by bombing any force that attacks them, including the Syrian army.
Washington is thereby pressing Moscow and Damascus, and showing them how far it is ready to go to achieve a transition in Syria, as it had previously been reluctant to involve U.S. military forces.
The decision to form an international coalition to hit ISIS in Iraq and Syria has caused much anxiety in Damascus and Moscow, as they expected Washington to use this opportunity to target the Syrian army.
By authorizing the protection of rebel forces, Washington is constricting the corridor for negotiations. Remarkably, this decision was announced just before the trilateral meeting in Doha of Russian, American and Saudi officials, whose agenda included Syria.
Little hope of political transition
Moscow and Washington understand the importance of the transition of power in Syria. In Doha, they renewed their call for a managed political transition. The difference between Washington and Moscow is in the perception of when it should be done. Russia considers the highest priority now to be the fight against ISIS, in which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a partner.
However, in a strategy that has not yet produced anything positive, Washington is trying to solve the Syrian internal problem and fight ISIS simultaneously. The problem is that the Syrian army is still one of the forces on the ground containing the spread of ISIS. Without the army, ISIS could spread further and take Damascus.
There is currently little hope for an adequate political transition, with more than 4 million Syrians as refugees, and disagreement over the mechanisms behind such a transition and the figures to be included.
Another problem is that Russia’s influence on the Syrian regime is highly overestimated. Assad is not an easy counterpart to press and to push, and will not leave his post in the near future. By threatening to hit his army if it attacks U.S.-trained rebels, Washington is trying to convince him otherwise.
As U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told lawmakers, only 60 recruits have passed their training. Already half the $500 million budget has reportedly been spent. Washington expects to have 3,000 recruits by the end of the year, so it is easy to see how high expenses will rise. Taking into account the estimated size of ISIS – between 20,000 and 200,000 militants – the number of trained rebels is a drop in the ocean.
By authorizing the protection of rebel forces, Washington is constricting the corridor for negotiations.
With air protection, they will hardly ever be involved in fighting as any battle will be prevented by massive U.S. airstrikes. Another problem is that if they are trained like the post-Saddam Iraqi army was, they will be virtually useless.
Thus announcing air protection for rebels is mostly a pretext for intervening in the Syrian crisis and sending a strong message to Damascus and Moscow. The possibility of a transition of power in Syria remains a distant prospect.

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