LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 06/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.january06.19.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
Baptism Of Jesus/Epiphany
Mark/01/01-11/ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ (the Son of God).As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: 3 "Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.'"John (the) Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. 4 He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit."It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.And a voice came from the heavens, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 05-06/19
Aoun: ‘Internal Cold War’ Behind Lebanon’s Cabinet Deadlock
Aoun: Unacceptable to Waste Security, Stability Achievements in 'Domestic Cold Wars'
Lebanon: Low Crime Rate in 2018
Hariri Not Informed of Bassil’s Efforts to Invite Syria to Economic Summit in Beirut
Bassil: Linking Govt. Formation to Presidential Vote is Shameful
Report: Tehran-Beirut Cargo Flight Sparks Concerns
Nissan executive on leave for tasks related to Ghosn arrest
Lebanese banks sued in US over Hezbollah financing
Lebanese banks accused of aiding and abetting Hezbollah
Driving off the cliff
US doubles down on military aid to Lebanon
A Muslim Goes to Church and Another Storm Erupts in Lebanon

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 05-06/19
US says no timeline for Syria withdrawal as fighting continues
Bolton warns Syria against use of chemical weapons
US Syria pointman to also serve as anti-ISIS envoy
Key Plotter in USS Cole Attack Killed in US Drone Strike
Exclusive - Russia, Turkey, US Allies Divide the Spoils of the Syria War
Exclusive: Egypt Seeks to Confront Threat of Sectarian Strife
Palestinian Fatah closes all its offices in Gaza ‘in anticipation of attack’
January 7 set to be public holiday in Egypt marking Coptic Christmas
Egyptian Authorities Throw Security Dragnet Across Churches
Iran to Deploy Warships to Atlantic, Closer to US Waters
Tests concluded, Iran prepares for launching of satellites

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 05-06/19
Nissan executive on leave for tasks related to Ghosn arrest/Associated Press/January 05/19
Lebanese banks sued in US over Hezbollah financing/Georgi Azar/ Annahar/January 05/19
Lebanese banks accused of aiding and abetting Hezbollah/Georgi Azar/ Annahar/January 05/19
Driving off the cliff/Dan Azzi /Annahar/January 05/19
US doubles down on military aid to Lebanon/Jack Detsch/Al Monitor/January 05/19
A Muslim Goes to Church and Another Storm Erupts in Lebanon/Donna Abu-Nasr/Bloomberg/January 05/19
First anniversary of protests in Iran/Reza Shafiee/Al Arabiya/January 05/18
Tehran the master of fake news in Mideast/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Asia Times/January 05/19
European Court of Human Rights Promotes Human Wrongs/Tommaso Virgili/Gatestone Institute/January 05/19
If the Stock Market Has a Problem, His Job Is to Fix It/Stephen Gandel/Bloomberg/January 05/19

Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 05-06/19
Aoun: ‘Internal Cold War’ Behind Lebanon’s Cabinet Deadlock
Beirut - Nazeer RidaAsharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 5 January, 2019/A cabinet stalemate in the formation of a new government has prompted Lebanese President Michel Aoun to say that a “internal cold war” and “differences in political choices” have hindered the formation of a new government. Aoun underlined on Friday that “differences in political options” continued to impede Prime-Minister designate Saad Hariri’s efforts to come up with a line-up. So, he called on all concerned parties to “assume their national responsibilities and facilitate the formation process.” “We have maintained security and stability in Lebanon in times of heated wars; It is not possible to lose what has been achieved through internal cold wars,” he stated. Sources close to Hariri’s Al-Mustaqbal Movement told Asharq Al-Awsat that the “Shiites in Lebanon” were trying to impose new norms. “The Shiite duo [Hezbollah and Amal Movement] is trying to impose itself as a permanent partner in forming governments, contrary to the constitution that dedicates this role solely to the president of the republic and the prime minister,” the sources said. Attempts to form a government have been stalled due to a crisis over the representation of the Hezbollah-backed March 8 group’s Sunni deputies, or what is known as the “Consultative Gathering of Independent Sunni Deputies.” On a different note, Hariri will likely hold a session for the caretaker cabinet to study the budget law of 2019, according to Al-Mustaqbal official Mustafa Alloush. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Alloush noted that the caretaker government might convene soon to decide on the budget, which is highly important. If Hariri agrees to invite the government for a session, he will be the second prime minister-designate - after the late Rashid Karami who headed the caretaker government in 1969 - to do so. Asked about the constitutionality of such a move, former Minister and Constitutional Expert Ibrahim Najjar told Asharq Al-Awsat that in order for a caretaker cabinet to convene there should be essential factors, namely the urgency and the public interest, noting that such conditions in the general budget law have been met.

Aoun: Unacceptable to Waste Security, Stability Achievements in 'Domestic Cold Wars'
Naharnet/Naharnet/January 05/19/President Michel Aoun lamented Friday that “conflicting political choices are still obstructing the government’s formation,” decrying what he described as “domestic cold wars.”“Conflicting political choices are still obstructing the government’s formation. We preserved security and stability in Lebanon during the era of hot wars, so it is unacceptable to waste those achievements in domestic cold wars,” Aoun tweeted. The president also called for speeding up judicial rulings, noting that “amendments to the penal code would be discussed after the formation of the government.”

Lebanon: Low Crime Rate in 2018
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 5 January, 2019/President Michel Aoun said on Friday that crime rates in Lebanon have remarkably decreased in 2018 in comparison with previous years, lauding efforts exerted by the army and security forces to consecrate security in the country. During a Friday meeting with a delegation of the Higher Judiciary Council headed by Judge Jean Fahed at the Baabda palace, Aoun stressed that "political disputes continue to hinder the formation of the new government", calling on all parties concerned to shoulder national responsibility and facilitate the process of the government formation. "We have maintained the security and stability of Lebanon in times of heated war... Accordingly, it is not permissible to waste what has been achieved through cold internal wars," Aoun insisted. Aoun also urged cooperation between the judiciary and the security services, highlighting the need for speeding up the issuance of verdicts. He said the Penal Code needs fundamental amendments, which will be discussed at the conference to be called forth by the President after the formation of the new government. The head of the Supreme Judicial Council handed the President a report on the current status of the judiciary and the work of 524 judges. The report, which outlined the work of Lebanon’s 524 judges, found that from September 2017 to August 2018, the judiciary had examined 170,572 of the 198,863 legal claims and suits filed over the year - or about 86 percent. Fahed also briefed the president on the status of a special council that had been formed to study court statistics in order to identify “faults that could affect the functioning of any judicial department” and propose solutions to address them. The president expressed his personal interest in the council’s work and called on the judiciary to preserve impartiality and objectivity in Lebanon's courts and judges.

Hariri Not Informed of Bassil’s Efforts to Invite Syria to Economic Summit in Beirut
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 5 January, 2019/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri rejects efforts exerted by caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil to invite the Syrian regime to the 2019 Arab Economic Summit expected in Beirut at the end of January, sources from al-Mustaqbal Movement told Asharq Al-Awsat. “Hariri has not been informed of Bassil’s efforts and does not approve them,” the sources said. On Friday, Bassil’s stances resounded calls made by the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition on inviting the regime of Bashar Assad to the summit. After his visit to Bkirki to meet with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, Bassil said: “Lebanon will host an Arab economic summit… It is not healthy for Syria not to attend it.”A day earlier, Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Bassil has discussed Syria’s attendance with several Arab states, which informed him that the issue should be postponed until next March, when the Arab League summit is expected to be held in Tunis. Like other anti-Assad factions in Lebanon, Hariri’s al-Mustaqbal Movement asserted that the Arab League, and not Beirut, is entitled to decide on the invitations. “Hariri believes that Lebanon is not the side responsible for addressing invitations for the economic summit. Any invitation requires a decision from the Arab League,” the sources said. “It is up to the Arab League to decide on Syria's invitation to the summit,” Caretaker Interior Minister Nohad al-Mashnouk also said Friday following a meeting with Rahi. In 2011, the Arab League suspended Syria's membership.

Bassil: Linking Govt. Formation to Presidential Vote is Shameful
Naharnet/January 05/19/Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil announced Friday that any attempt to link the formation of the new government to the 2022 presidential vote would be “shameful,” as he expressed optimism that the cabinet will be formed soon. Admitting that “there is a political standoff that surpasses the formation of the government,” Bassil announced after talks in Bkirki that “linking the formation process to the presidential election is a shameful insult against the intelligence of the Lebanese.” “How can we obstruct the ideas that we are proposing? Bassil added after meeting Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, while confirming that he has proposed “five new ideas.”“We are carrying out contacts away from the spotlight and we’re awaiting answers and I’m full of hope that a positive result will be achieved,” the FPM chief went on to say. He added: “All these ideas cannot be rejected and the proposed solutions are based on the idea that everyone would be a winner and that a loss would affect everyone.” “What’s important is that we don’t form a government based on political dismay and bickering,” Bassil said. A standoff over Sunni representation in the new government has been delaying its formation since November, following similar months-long bickering over Christian and Druze seats. A recent bid to resolve the deadlock was torpedoed after controversy arose over the political alignment of so-called consensus candidate Jawad Adra.

Report: Tehran-Beirut Cargo Flight Sparks Concerns
Kataeb.org/Saturday 05th January 2019/An Iranian cargo plane has made 72 "suspicious" flights from Tehran since September, stopped for a short layover at the international airport in Damascus, and then continued with a rather irregular flight path to the Beirut international airport, MTV website reported, citing flight data. In September, Fox News reported that an Iranian civil aviation company is suspected of smuggling arms into Lebanon, destined for Hezbollah and Iranian weapons factories. It also quoted western intelligence sources as saying that they've uncovered the unexpected routes that Iran apparently took to try avoiding detection. Thesources said the airplane carried components for manufacturing precise weapons in Iranian factories inside Lebanon.

Nissan executive on leave for tasks related to Ghosn arrest
Associated Press/January 05/19
TOKYO: Nissan Chief Performance Officer Jose Munoz, who oversaw the Japanese automaker’s global strategies, is taking a leave of absence to work on “special tasks arising from recent events,” the company said Saturday, referring to the arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Nissan Motor Co. spokesman Nicholas Maxfield did not offer any other details. Munoz is among several executives media have speculated could be a possible successor to Ghosn. Ghosn, a revered figure in the global auto industry, led Nissan for two decades after being sent in by Renault in 1999 when Nissan was near bankruptcy. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan. Ghosn was arrested Nov. 19 and has been charged with falsifying financial reports in underreporting his income. He has said repeatedly he is innocent, including on the latest allegation that he had Nissan temporarily shoulder investment losses. The income was never decided on, and Nissan did not suffer the losses, according to sources close to Ghosn and his family. Ghosn is scheduled to face a Tokyo courtroom Tuesday, his first public appearance since his arrest, as his lawyers demand to know why his detention is continuing. His detention has been repeatedly extended and now goes through Jan. 11.In Japan, suspects are often held for months before trial. Prosecutors consider Ghosn, a Brazilian-born Frenchman of Lebanese ancestry, a flight risk. Greg Kelly, another Nissan executive charged with collaborating on Ghosn’s underreported income, was freed on bail last month. Kelly, an American, is also asserting his innocence. He has said through his lawyers he will get hospital treatment for a neck ailment. No trial dates have been set for Ghosn or Kelly.

Lebanese banks sued in US over Hezbollah financing
Georgi Azar/ Annahar/January 05/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/70766/10-lebanese-banks-sued-in-us-over-hezbollah-financing-10-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%81-%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%ac%d9%87-%d8%af%d8%b9%d9%88%d9%89-%d9%81%d9%8a/
BEIRUT: Hundreds of US citizens have filed a lawsuit in New York, accusing 11 Lebanese banks of aiding Hezbollah and knowingly providing financial services to the group despite its terrorist designation by the US government, sources told Annahar.
The plaintiffs claimed the banks facilitated Hezbollah’s access to the US financial system, helping the party evade US sanctions, launder money and finance terrorist acts, which caused damages to the plaintiffs or their relatives. A source familiar with the legal proceedings in New York said the plaintiffs sought compensation for terrorist acts that caused them or their relatives harm, as a result of Hezbollah’s actions in Iraq in cooperation with Iran’s revolutionary guards between 2004 and 2011 and during the party’s 2006 war with Israel. The banks being sued are Blom Bank, Bank Audi, SGBL, Jammal Trust Bank, Fransabank, Byblos Bank, Bank of Beirut, Lebanon and Gulf Bank, Banque Libano Francais, MEAB Bank of Lebanon and BBAC. The Association of Lebanese Banks is expected to take on the case and represent the financial institutions in question. The source, who spoke to Annahar on condition of anonymity, also denied that the case is politically motivated. Another senior Lebanese banker downplayed the ramifications of the case, noting that the lawsuit had no political implications. The case is being pursued by “ambulance chasers,” the source said, adding that the main motive behind the lawsuit is financial compensation. Asked about the case, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh told a local TV station Thursday that a law firm is seeking compensation for the losses that Israel suffered during its wars with Lebanon. It wasn't clear whether Salameh was referring to the same case or a separate lawsuit.
Salameh added that a number of Israeli citizens were among the plaintiffs, who are seeking payments from Lebanese banks to compensate Israel for its losses. The U.S designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 1997 while the European Union added its military wing to the terrorism list in 2013. The Iranian-backed militant group has been on the receiving end of a number of U.S sanctions seeking to curtail its fundraising activities and limit the group's global financial network.

Lebanese banks accused of aiding and abetting Hezbollah
Georgi Azar/ Annahar/January 05/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/70766/10-lebanese-banks-sued-in-us-over-hezbollah-financing-10-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%81-%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%ac%d9%87-%d8%af%d8%b9%d9%88%d9%89-%d9%81%d9%8a/
These financial services, the suit alleges, facilitated Hezbollah's "terrorist activities" in Iraq, resulting in the death and injuries of a number of plaintiffs and their relatives. hezbollah
BEIRUT: 11 Lebanese commercial banks have found themselves in hot water for allegedly providing material support to Hezbollah "in the form of financial and banking services" after a group of U.S citizens filed a joint lawsuit in the state of New York seeking unspecified damages.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Brooklyn, accuses the banks of giving Hezbollah access to the "United States financial system through their respective correspondent banking accounts in New York."The suit also alleges that the banks in questions "were (and are) aware of their vital role in assisting Hezbollah in its illicit activities, including money laundering (both cross-border electronic funds transfers and physical bulk-transfers of banknotes), sanctions evasion, arms export violations, drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, and terrorist financing."
The banks being sued are Blom Bank, Bank Audi, SGBL, Jammal Trust Bank, Fransabank, Byblos Bank, Bank of Beirut, Lebanon and Gulf Bank, Banque Libano Francais, MEAB Bank of Lebanon and BBAC. They are all being accused of "purposefully and deliberately" using their New York correspondent banks to “clear” U.S. dollar-denominated transactions on behalf of Hezbollah on an ongoing and recurring basis from 2004 and 2011.  These financial services, the suit alleges, facilitated Hezbollah's "terrorist activities" in Iraq, resulting in the death and injuries of a number of plaintiffs and their relatives.
The banks are cited in providing financial services to Hezbollah's Business Affairs Component, which oversees Hezbollah’s worldwide "criminal and commercial enterprises" through a large number of businesses.  For instance, one bank is listed as maintaining accounts for a wide range of Hezbollah entities including Ovlas Trading (Offshore) SAL, Spectrum International Investment Holding SAL, Teltac World Wide Incorporated (Offshore) SAL, Al-Hadi Institution; and Medical Equipment and Drugs International Corporation SAL (a/k/a MEDIC), among others.
Ovlas Trading (Offshore) SAL was first designated by the U.S. Department of the U.S. Department of the Treasury on December 9, 2010, with its chairman Ahmad Hassan Tajideen is also a Special Designated Terrorist.
Meanwhile, City Pharma SARL, a "Hezbollah-controlled pharmaceutical distributor also involved in counterfeit drug smuggling," is alleged to hold accounts in two of the prominent accused banks. Over 100 families, who suffered losses in Iraq as a result of alleged Hezbollah operations, have launched the lawsuit.
The Association of Lebanese Banks is expected to take on the case and represent the financial institutions in question and released a statement Friday throwing its support behind the embattled banks. "A similar suit was brought forth following the 2006 war with Israel before being rejected by a New York court," the statement read, adding that "the necessary legal proceedings are been taken." In a separate case, a group of U.S. citizens is suing the same banks in New York for also providing similar financial services to Hezbollah. The civil action was brought on behalf of the estate of American national David Martin Lelchook who was killed in Israel during the 2006 conflict with the Iranian backed militant group.
*Annahar publishes the first and second case in their entirety for further reading.

Driving off the cliff
Dan Azzi /Annahar/January 05/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/70766/10-lebanese-banks-sued-in-us-over-hezbollah-financing-10-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%81-%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%ac%d9%87-%d8%af%d8%b9%d9%88%d9%89-%d9%81%d9%8a/
Our leadership has spent eight months bickering over the composition of the government and the latest snag is the so-called pro-Hizbullah Sunnis.
I wrote an OpEd a few weeks ago, on how fragile our system is and how susceptible it is to an external shock; and today, there are market jitters about two lawsuits filed in New York against eleven local banks.
One, consisting of 203 pages, was filed on January 2, by 22 Israeli-American citizens against Lebanese banks and Hizbullah, for "traumatizing" them with rockets launched from Lebanon in 2006. This lawsuit is a bit of a stretch, being that this occurred during an all-out war, in which Israel, despite having precision missiles and smart bombs, destroyed much of the civilian infrastructure of the country, including power plants, killing over 1,000 Lebanese civilians, versus 43 Israeli civilians by these rockets. I think it can fairly be assumed that if they win, say, $1 billion in damages, then a countersuit should win $23 billion (the ratio of civilians killed times damages), assuming the world is fair and human lives are weighted equally.
The other lawsuit, filed the day before, January 1, was over 600 pages, which I skimmed. There were striking similarities between the two, at first making me think that it was written by the same law firm. Then I realized they were totally independent. Let's just say that one of the lawyers was not well-prepared and might have cut some corners, plagiarizing large swaths from the more diligent lawyer, right down to making the exact same distinctive mistake of geographically placing the Dalhamia Country Club in the Beqaa Valley (North-East of Beirut), instead of South in the Chouf province.
Thus, the Jan 2 lawsuit seems to be the "ambulance chaser" type - let's throw some mud (that we copy from someone else in a couple of hours of work) and see what sticks. I see this one summarily dismissed or, if they get a sympathetic judge and it proceeds, won by the banks, nonetheless. The plaintiffs are more likely to make money from suing their own lawyer for malpractice.
On the other hand, the Jan 1 lawsuit is much more tight and detailed, with names, dates, and account numbers, and accurately describing the country's economy and its vulnerabilities, and applying an arguably overreaching law, quite skillfully and effectively. This plaintiff has done his homework and this makes him dangerous. That's the real opponent here. There are various ways how this can end, most probably with a sealed settlement. The main danger, though, is that one of the plethora of US agencies (Treasury, OFAC, DHS etc.) sees a case and decides to jump on the bandwagon and turn it into a criminal case as well.
But that's not what I want to talk about today.
In the old article, I warned that we were walking a dangerous tightrope and not enough thought had been put into the viability of our system, if we stay on this path. In my mind, this development, while annoying and costly, is actually good news, if it wakes people in power up to the real dangers lurking. For example, I have always disputed the claim that some of our leaders have excellent relations with the US Authorities, because there simply is no one point of contact over there that controls all actions against us. Just like this situation. A good relationship with the US Treasury or even President Trump won't make this go away. They don't have a Ghazi Kanaan over there who can fix things for you, in return for appropriate compensation or an ass-kissing session in Anjar.
For those who, erroneously, believe that this move is political, note that one of the defendants had hired John Ashcroft in 2011, at significant cost, I might add, to certify that the client accounts they acquired were "clean" and had been purged of any bad apples. Ashcroft first achieved infamy in 2000 as the only person in history to lose an election to a dead guy. But his fortunes improved shortly thereafter when he was appointed Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration, which was peppered with neocons, some of whom wanted to invade half the world. At the time, it must have been assumed that if this ultra right-wing Republican, in the most conservative administration in the last 50 years, certifies their client accounts, then they basically have the proverbial "get out of jail free card." Except they don't. Nobody in the US can give you that. And that's the mistake that our people keep making over and over again. They presume that it's like dealing with, say, the Syrian regime. You make a deal with Hafez El Assad, and the deal is "till death do us part" - in fact, short of a coup d'état that removes the son, it even outlasts death, as our more sticky politicians know very well. This is in sharp contrast to deals with the US Government, as the Kurds just learned last month, unless you have a vastly powerful lobby that can transcend administrations and political parties.
Our leadership has spent eight months bickering over the composition of the government and the latest snag is the so-called pro-Hizbullah Sunnis. I think the powers that be need to think long and hard about this, because I have a hunch that this time America ain't messin' around. Any representative of a sanctioned organization in the government will quite likely open the gates of hell on the system. If you want to be brave and play chicken with the most powerful nation on earth, that's fine, but at the very least don't make it easy for them to squash you by having their currency fill your bank accounts and by pegging your currency to theirs.
If you don't believe me, read the lawsuit (P:173):
"With its currency tied to the U.S. dollar and its dependence on infusions of U.S. dollars in hard currency from expatriate Lebanese, the entire structure of the Lebanese financial system is dependent on Lebanese commercial banks maintaining access to U.S. dollar-clearing capabilities through the maintenance of correspondent accounts with U.S. financial institutions."
Your opponent understands this. Why can't you?
**Dan Azzi is a regular contributor to Annahar. He has recently been invited to be an Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow at Harvard University, a program for senior executives to leverage their experience and apply it to a problem with social impact. Dan’s research focus at Harvard will be economic and political reform in a hypothetical small country riddled with corruption and negligence. Previously, he was the Chairman and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Lebanon

US doubles down on military aid to Lebanon
Jack Detsch/Al Monitor/January 05/19
Article Summary
The Donald Trump administration is providing Lebanon’s army with more than $100 million in upgrades to tanks and attack helicopters.
The Donald Trump administration is providing the Lebanese army with more than $100 million in upgrades to tanks and attack helicopters in the latest US effort to stem the influence of Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The package includes training for pilots and maintenance crew on MD-530G light scout attack helicopters provided by the Pentagon last year as well as laser-guided rockets, according to Defense Department records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Security Assistance Monitor. Lebanon will receive the equipment through the Defense Department’s Section 333 program, which helps US partners build their military inventories to fight terrorism and handle border security.
The Pentagon has indicated that the upgrades have long been in the works to help the Lebanese army stem the influence of Iran and Hezbollah as the organization’s activity has spread inside Syria. The package will also include sniper rifles, night-vision devices and mortars for infantry units.
“The Department of Defense (DoD) plans Section 333 security cooperation — including the assistance in question — well in advance according to our plans to strengthen the capabilities of key partners in the region,” Pentagon spokeswoman Rebecca Rebarich told Al-Monitor in a statement. “Strengthening the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) advances a range of US interests in the Middle East that includes not only countering the spread of violent extremisms but also stemming the influence of Iran and Hezbollah.”
With al-Qaeda and the Islamic State on the run, top Trump administration officials including national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have called for the United States to take a harder line against Iran. But some experts aren’t sure aid to the Lebanese army fits the emerging American policy in the region.
The Pentagon has provided $1.7 billion in US military assistance to Lebanon since 2006, including tanks and attack helicopters sent over last year. Experts say the United States still holds a good record when it comes to keeping track of the equipment, despite the federal Government Accountability Office finding flaws in the State Department’s monitoring efforts in 2014. But it’s not clear that arming the LAF will help mitigate Hezbollah’s influence in the country.
Lawmakers in Lebanon have failed to agree on the formation of a government since elections in May, which saw Hezbollah make gains over Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Hariri has criticized Hezbollah for impeding the process of forming the Cabinet, which is split by law between the country’s religious blocs.
Iran’s influence has been ascendant in Lebanon since the country faced a brutal 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990. Experts tell Al-Monitor that while US assistance is of limited military significance, only helping on a limited counterterror mission that has little relevance to the nation’s security, it gives the United States some influence at the bargaining table.
“These insurgencies are not an issue anymore,” Hanin Ghaddar, a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute, told Al-Monitor. “It’s more about leverage that the United States would like to keep. It’s the only leverage that the United States has over state institutions.”
While information on Section 333 had long been made widely available through Congress, the Defense Department recently began categorizing the records as “For Official Use Only,” making them more difficult for journalists and members of the public to obtain. During his tenure as secretary of defense, James Mattis sought to limit access to unclassified records and said DoD employees were obligated to report leaks.
Correction: Jan. 4, 2019. This article has been revised to delete an outdated reference to sectarianism within the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Found in: Military Industry
*Jack Detsch is Al-Monitor’s Pentagon correspondent. Based in Washington, Detsch examines US-Middle East relations through the lens of the Defense Department. Detsch previously covered cybersecurity for Passcode, the Christian Science Monitor’s project on security and privacy in the Digital Age. Detsch also served as editorial assistant at The Diplomat Magazine and worked for NPR-affiliated stations in San Francisco. On Twitter: @JackDetsch_ALM, Email: jdetsch@al-monitor.com.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/01/us-military-lebanon-hezbollah-iran-weapons.html

A Muslim Goes to Church and Another Storm Erupts in Lebanon
Donna Abu-Nasr/Bloomberg/January 05/19
Some were outraged as Sunni politician took priest’s blessing
Incident highlights how entrenched sectarianism remains
A Lebanese Sunni Muslim lawmaker attended a New Year’s mass at a Maronite Catholic church, a common courtesy among the country’s 18 religious sects. Then as the television cameras rolled, she approached the priest and received a blessing -- without communion.
Meant as a gesture of tolerance, the event quickly turned into a vicious social-media brawl fueled by the entrenched sectarianism that impedes Lebanon’s progress three decades after its civil war ended. Eight months on from an election, it remains without a government and with billions of dollars in aid untapped as tensions fester. The worsening economy and delay in forming an administration triggered strike action by some workers on Friday.
Some praised Rola Tabsh, a member of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s party, for joining the “peace and love” mass held Jan. 1 in Antelias, a town north of Beirut. Others blasted her for betraying her faith.
Tabsh at first expressed surprise at the criticism, saying she wasn’t the first Muslim to enter a church and that showing respect for others’ rituals doesn’t negate an individual’s faith. But that didn’t silence her opponents. So she then visited Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni authority, where she was photographed listening attentively, a white scarf draped over her blond hair, to an explanation of Islamic principles.
The lawmaker said in a statement she’d confirmed her commitment to Islam and apologized to Allah -- triggering another wave of criticism from those who supported her church visit.
“You’re apologizing because you entered one of (Allah’s) homes?” Dima Sadek, a news anchor and political show host, wrote on Twitter. “I still can’t believe that there’s someone in my country who would publicly apologize for going into a church.”
Christians, Sunnis and Shiites each make up roughly a third of Lebanon’s population, and the Taif accord that ended the 1975-1990 war stipulated equal representation between Christians and Muslims.
“Sectarianism is hampering the emergence of a civil state, is hampering the proper functioning of institutions, is hampering good governance, is hampering democracy,” said Sami Nader, head of the Levant Institute for Strategic Studies in Beirut. “As long as there is sectarianism, Lebanon will not thrive.”
— With assistance by Dana Khraiche
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/a-muslim-goes-to-church-and-another-storm-erupts-in-lebanon

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on January 05-06/19
US says no timeline for Syria withdrawal as fighting continues
Reuters, Washington/Saturday, 5 January 2019/The United States has no timeline to withdraw troops from Syria but does not plan to stay indefinitely, a senior State Department official said on Friday, a strong signal that forces could stay until the fight against ISIS militants ends.
US-backed forces are still retaking territory from ISIS in Syria, Pentagon officials said on Friday, two weeks after Washington said it would withdraw its roughly 2,000 troops there. At the time, President Donald Trump said the troops had succeeded in their mission and were no longer needed there. The administration’s abrupt announcement last month, which took officials in Washington and allies by surprise, contributed to Jim Mattis’ decision to resign as US defense secretary and prompted concern that ISIS could stage a comeback. The State Department official, briefing reporters before a visit to the Middle East next week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, appeared to be seeking to allay that concern. “We have no timeline for our military forces to withdraw from Syria,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. “It will be done in such a way that we and our allies and partners maintain pressure on ISIS throughout and we do not open up any vacuums for terrorists.”The United States did not intend to have an indefinite military presence in Syria, the official added. US officials have told Reuters a withdrawal could take several months, potentially giving time for US-backed forces to deal parting blows to the militant group that once held broad swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria. But a senior administration official traveling with White House national security adviser John Bolton on a trip to the Middle East said Trump had received assurances from his military commanders that their mission “can be done in weeks.”
Trump said on Wednesday the United States would get out of Syria slowly “over a period of time” and would protect US-backed Kurdish fighters in the country as Washington draws down troops. “Bolton will travel to Israel and Turkey to discuss the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, and how the US will work with allies and partners to prevent the resurgence of ISIS, stand fast with those who fought with us against ISIS, and counter Iranian malign behavior in the region,” Garrett Marquis, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said. Marquis said Bolton would be joined in Turkey by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford and US special Syria envoy James Jeffrey. Separately, the State Department said Jeffrey would be taking on the additional role of the special envoy for the coalition to defeat ISIS. Jeffrey will be involved in negotiations on a political process and also assumes the diplomatic role of coordinating with allies and partners on the fight against ISIS. Brett McGurk, the previous special envoy for the global coalition to defeat ISIS, quit last month over Trump’s decision to pull US troops out of Syria.
‘Final blows’
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which include Kurdish fighters, captured the Syrian town of Kashmah on Jan. 2 after retaking the town of Hajin on Dec. 25, Pentagon spokesman Navy Commander Sean Robertson told Reuters. The capture came the same day that Trump stated during a cabinet meeting his strong desire to gradually withdraw from Syria, calling it a place of “sand and death.”Trump also said it was up to other countries to fight ISIS, including Russia and Iran, adding that ISIS was down to its last remaining bits of territory in Syria. “We’re hitting the hell out of them, the ISIS people,” Trump said, using an acronym to refer to ISIS, adding, “We’re down to final blows.”Separately on Friday, the US-led coalition said it carried out 469 strikes in Syria between Dec. 16 and Dec. 29 that destroyed nearly 300 fighting positions, more than 150 staging areas, and a number of supply routes, oil lubricant storage facilities and equipment. ISIS retains control of just a “sprinkle of villages” near the Euphrates river, said Aaron Stein, the Middle East program director at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. “(ISIS) will simply revert to a diffused rural insurgency where it could use just the tyranny of space - the desert is very big - to sort of hide out and be able to launch raiding attacks,” he added. The Pentagon spokesman said coalition forces, which Washington coordinates, were continuing to assist the SDF with close air support and artillery strikes in the Middle Euphrates River Valley. “We will continue to work with the coalition and regional partners toward an enduring defeat of ISIS,” Robertson said. He called the capture of Hajin significant. “This was a milestone, since it was among the largest of the last remaining ISIS strongholds in the Middle Euphrates River Valley.” ISIS declared its “caliphate” in 2014 after seizing large swathes of Syria and Iraq. The hardline Islamist group established its de facto capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa, using it as a base to plot attacks in Europe. Much of the US campaign in Syria has been waged by warplanes flying out of Qatar and other locations in the Middle East.

Bolton warns Syria against use of chemical weapons
Reuters, Tel Aviv/Saturday, 5 January 2019/US National Security Advisor John Bolton warned the Syrian government that it should not see the impending US military withdrawal from the country as an invitation to use chemical weapons. “There is absolutely no change in the US position against the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and absolutely no change in our position that any use of chemical weapons would be met by a very strong response, as we’ve done twice before,” Bolton told reporters on his plane shortly before landing in Tel Aviv, Israel. “So the regime, the Assad regime should be under no illusions on that question.”Bolton added: “As we elaborate how the withdrawal is going to occur and the circumstances, we don’t want the Assad regime to see what we do as representing any diminution in our opposition to the use of weapons of mass destruction.”On Friday, a senior State Department official said that the United States has no timeline to withdraw troops from Syria, but does not plan to stay indefinitely, a strong signal that forces could stay until the fight against ISIS militants ends.

US Syria pointman to also serve as anti-ISIS envoy
AFP, Washington/Saturday, 5 January 2019/America’s Syria pointman James Jeffrey will also serve as the United States envoy to the international coalition against ISIS extremist group, the State Department said on Friday. “With this additional responsibility, Ambassador Jeffrey will lead and coordinate US Department of State relations with the Global Coalition to defeat (ISIS) and Department efforts to implement President Trump’s announcement of a responsible US troop withdrawal from Syria,” spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.
Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, will replace Brett McGurk as anti-ISIS envoy, a post from which he resigned following US President Donald Trump’s controversial decision in December to withdraw American forces from Syria. Critics say the move puts US-allied Kurdish forces at risk of attack by Turkish troops. The US-allied Kurds have played a major role in the war against ISIS, the extremist group that seized swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria but has since suffered major defeats. The December 21 announcement of McGurk’s departure followed that of Jim Mattis, who quit as defense chief over fundamental disagreements with Trump, including over Syria.

Key Plotter in USS Cole Attack Killed in US Drone Strike
Marib (Yemen) - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 5 January, 2019/Jamal al-Badawi, an al-Qaeda commander and one of the main plotters behind the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole off Aden, was killed in a US drone attack in Yemen, Yemeni sources said on Friday. US forces have repeatedly launched drone and air strikes against Yemen’s al-Qaeda branch, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), in eastern and southern provinces. There were conflicting reports on Friday on where Badawi was targeted, with some saying in northeastern Yemen’s Marib province and others in the central Bayda province.
But the US Central Command said in a statement on Friday that the air strike on Jan. 1 was carried out in Marib. "US forces are still assessing the results of the strike following a deliberate process to confirm his death," said Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for US Central Command. On Oct. 12, 2000, two men in a small boat detonated explosives alongside the Navy guided missile destroyer as it was refueling in Aden, killing 17 sailors, wounding more than three dozen others and blasting a gaping hole in its hull. There is a $5 million reward for information leading to Badawi's arrest.

Exclusive - Russia, Turkey, US Allies Divide the Spoils of the Syria War
Al-Hasakeh (northern Syria) – Asharq Al-Awsat//Saturday, 5 January, 2019/The prolongation of the war in Syria has left the country’s economy in tatters as local and foreign powers vie for control of its resources. From the early days of the war, Syria’s oil and gas fields, the majority of which lie in the northeast, eastern and central parts of the country, were a primary target for opposition groups. The extremist ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham groups later set their sights on them, as did Kurdish groups. After eight years of war, an economic survey of Syria showed that the regime, which used to control the country and its resources with an iron grip, has lost the majority of oil and gas fields. Syria’s phosphate mines, agricultural wealth and olive oil production have also fallen prey to local and foreign powers.
Oil
International reports estimate that Syria enjoys a reserve of 2 billion barrels of oil. Media reports said that the regime stopped producing light crude oil in 2012 and heavy oil in 2013.
Before the war, Syria produced some 385,000 barrels per day. The regime’s Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Ghanem said that currently it can produce 20,000 bpd. The International Energy Agency had previously reported that pre-war Syria consumed some 240,000 to 250,000 barrels of oil per day. As the regime continued to recapture territories, it restored control over small oil and gas fields in central Syria. These include the Shaar, al-Hayl, Arak, Hayan and al-Mahr regions in Palmyra. The US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continue to control the oil and gas fields in eastern and northeastern Syria. An SDF field source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the areas the Kurds control in northern and northeastern Syria comprise nearly 30 percent of the country’s territory. The forces have captured some 1,000 wells, some of which are in good condition and can produce oil with ease. Production at others has come to a halt due to a lack of means.
The autonomous Kurdish authority is overseeing production in these areas, said the source. It did not disclose the size of production, but refining processes, it revealed, are meeting the local market needs, as well as the needs of neighboring Syrian areas. It did not specify whether the oil was being sent to liberated or regime-held regions. Economists had in the past speculated that the regime was buying oil from the Kurds because they were selling it at a much lower price than the international market. In addition, the source said that diesel fuel was being sold in Kurdish regions at 35, 50 and 60 pounds per liter. The regime was charging 180 pounds per liter in areas under its control. Before the eruption of the war, the cost stood at 7 pounds.
Gas
One of the largest gas fields, the Conoco field, lies in the eastern Deir Ezzour region under SDF control. It can produce some 10 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. Two years ago, the regime’s Petroleum and Energy Resources Ministry said that before the war, Syria produced 21 million cubic meters of gas per day, but as of 2017 it could only muster 8.7 million cubic meters. Ghanem recently declared that the production has now risen to 16.5 million cubic meters per day. His claims are, however, refuted by the frequent complaints in regime-held regions of the shortage of domestic gas. Long queues of people lining up to receive their daily gas canister are a regular sight in the capital, as well as the west coast and northern Aleppo region. Local media estimated that prior to the war, Syrians consumed 3,000 to 3,500 tons of gas per day, bringing the total to 900,000 tons per year. Syria imported some 500,000 tons of this gas. Before the war, a 9-kilogram gas canister cost 250 pounds. Now it stands at 2,700 pounds. During times of heightened crisis, the figure jumped to 7,500 pounds.
Phosphates
Syria was a major exporter of phosphates, ranking fifth globally before the eruption of the war. It boasted a reserve of 2 billion tons. Phosphates is seen as a prized goal by regime allies Russia and Iran to compensate for the prices they paid for their involvement in the war. They have both competed for control over the reserves. The Palmyra region enjoys the greatest reserves and it has fallen under the control of various powers and factions that have been vying to seize this wealth. It fell under the hands of ISIS, then the regime and its foreign militia allies that are overseen by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. They seized control of the phosphate mines in 2015, but by 2017 the regime finally wrested control of the area and Russia appears to have emerged on top of all other competing powers. An agreement had been reached by the regime and Iran for Tehran to invest in the mines, but Damascus stalled in meeting its pledges and it signed a deal with Moscow in 2017, which drove Iran out of the picture. No sooner had the deal been signed, that Russia began exclusively investing in the phosphate wealth, informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat
Olive oil
Prior to the war, Syria ranked first among Arab countries and third globally in olive and olive oil production, said the International Monetary Fund. Syria was estimated to boast some 100 million olive trees that could produce 1.2 million tons of olives. As the war dragged on, the production collapsed, with official figures saying that it dropped 300 percent. Syria’s olive wealth is centered mainly in the northwestern Idlib province, which is controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and pro-Turkey armed extremist factions. Olive production is also high in Aleppo, which is divided between SDF and pro-Turkey groups.
As the pound collapsed to the dollar with the eruption of the war, the cost of oil olive gradually rose from 190 to nearly 2,500 pounds.

Exclusive: Egypt Seeks to Confront Threat of Sectarian Strife
Cairo - Fathiya al-Dakhakhni/Asharq Al-Awsat//Saturday, 5 January, 2019/Egyptian authorities have been exerting strong efforts to confront sectarian strife which has threatened the country’s security and stability following several attacks targeting Coptic Christians. Last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the formation of a high committee to counter sectarian incidents, headed by his adviser on security and terrorism affairs. The committee’s membership includes representatives from the armed forces, national security and intelligence, and has the authority to invite ministers and concerned officials to attend its meetings. Sisi tasked the committee to come up with a general strategy on confronting sectarian incidents and a mechanism to deal with such attacks, and to issue recommendations in periodic reports. According to observers, through his decision, the president has “officially admitted for the first time that there is a sectarian problem” in the country.
Security Confrontation
Both the executive and legislative authorities, in addition to religious figures, welcomed Sisi’s formation of the committee. Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Allam considered it a “qualitative shift towards citizenship,” while Coptic Orthodox Church official Kamal Zakher described it as a “positive step in confronting sectarian and terrorist incidents.” The committee’s level of representation is a sign that the authorities are willing “to address the problem’s root causes,” Zakher told Asharq Al-Awsat. He said its formation goes in tandem with orders issued by Sisi in July 2017 to form a national council to confront terrorism and extremism. The head of parliament’s defense and national security committee, Kamal Amer, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the committee’s formation was necessary because terrorist plots have aimed at targeting Egypt’s stability, and there have been “conspiracies” to increase the divide among Muslims and Christians during the holidays and to distort facts.
Ideological Confrontation
The Egyptian authorities are also exerting efforts to counter sectarian strife ideologically. The past week, Muslim and Christian religious officials exchanged visits on the occasion of Christmas. Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb visited Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II at the head of a high-ranking delegation, stressing that al-Azhar “teaches its followers that monotheistic religions emanate from a single source and that all prophets are brethren.”The Pope also stressed that “the teachings of Christ call for love and the spread of joy and happiness in society, which means achieving spiritual peace.”Other visits have also taken place in the past week. According to Zakher, “a security solution is not enough” to resolve Egypt’s sectarian problems. He called for cultural and social efforts to change the mindset of Egyptians which took decades to build. So he suggested swift security measures based on intelligence information, in parallel with educating the people on confronting negative thoughts about other confessions, a process that “requires a long time.”
Egyptian Family House
Some observers believe that Sisi’s recent moves in forming committees to combat terrorism and sectarianism have undermined the Egyptian Family House, which has for years settled sectarian problems through reconciliation to avoid resorting to the judiciary. According to Zakher, the actions of the Egyptian Family House, which brings together Muslim and Christian leaderships, have had flaws since its inception in 2011. The House has settled differences by sidestepping the law, he said. Journalist Farida al-Shoubashi, also spoke with Asharq Al-Awsat, saying, “We want a state of law and not a state of religious Fatwas … mainly because the ordinary citizen would not be able to differentiate between al-Azhar’s Fatwas and those issued by extremists.”

Palestinian Fatah closes all its offices in Gaza ‘in anticipation of attack’
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Saturday, 5 January 2019/ Saif said that Fatah decided to close all its offices in Gaza “In anticipation of any attacks on them until further notice.”On Friday evening, armed men raided the headquarters of Palestinian Authority media , causing damage to equipment.No one claimed responsibility for the attack on the media offices, but Palestinian officials blamed Hamas for what happened. “Hamas is deeply involved in this conspiracy,” said Ahmed Assaf, chairman of the Palestininan Broadcast Corporation (PBC), speaking to the channel in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to Reuters. The PBC issued a statement saying the attack was a “clear reflection of the mentality of the Hamas movement and criminal gangs who believe only in their voice, and who seek to suppress freedoms”.Neither Assaf nor the PBC offered any evidence for their accusations, and Hamas officials swiftly condemned the incident. “What happened is rejected, and we condemn it,” Eyad Al-Bozom said in a statement issued by the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza. He urged the station’s officials to cooperate with investigators. It is noteworthy that PBC stopped working completely in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas takeover of Gaza in the summer of 2007, but resumed work partially in 2011. Around 500 radio and television employees work in Gaza Strip. There has long been antipathy between Hamas, which won the last Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 and is opposed to any peace negotiations with Israel, and with Abbas’s more moderate and secular Fatah faction. The two Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas have failed to end the divisions since 2007. Egypt has brokered a Palestinian reconciliation pact that provides for Hamas to cede control of Gaza to Abbas, but a dispute over power-sharing has hindered implementation of the deal.

January 7 set to be public holiday in Egypt marking Coptic Christmas
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Saturday, 5 January 2019/Monday will be a public holiday in Egypt to mark Coptic Orthodox Christmas, state news agency MENA reported on Thursday. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said 7 January will be a paid holiday for employees of the country’s private and public sectors. Coptic Orthodox Christians, who make up a substantial majority of all Christians in the country, celebrate Christmas on 7 January, following the Julian calendar. Christians make up around 10 percent of Egypt’s population. Meanwhile, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi extended on Friday his wishes to Egyptian expatriates on the occasion of Christmas and the New Year. Via a Facebook post, the Egyptian President said: “I am wishing you success and happiness, and that the New Year will bring our beloved Egypt more security, stability, progress and prosperity.” Meanwhile, Egypt’s security forces upped security measures around churches on the eve of the Coptic Orthodox Christmas, according to Asharq al-Awsat. In the Shobra district north of Cairo, where many Copts reside, armed forces blocked a main street near a large church and placed metal barricades to prevent vehicles from parking in the area. This year, Copts will celebrate their Christmas mass on January 6 amid the opening of the “The Nativity of the Christ Cathedral” in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, which lies 60 kilometers east of Cairo. The mass will be attended by Sisi and Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II, the Church said in a statement.

Egyptian Authorities Throw Security Dragnet Across Churches
Cairo - Waleed Abdul Rahman/Asharq Al Awsat/January 05/19/President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi extended on Friday his wishes to Egyptian expatriates on the occasion of Christmas and the New Year. Via a Facebook post, the Egyptian President said: “I am wishing you success and happiness, and that the new year will bring our beloved Egypt more security, stability, progress and prosperity.”Meanwhile, Egypt’s security forces upped security measures around churches on the eve of the Coptic Orthodox Christmas. In the Shobra district north of Cairo, where many Copts reside, armed forces blocked a main street near a large church and placed metal barricades to prevent vehicles from parking in the area. At the St. Mary Church in al-Matariyyah district in the northern region of Greater Cairo, security forces placed a narrow metal gate. “Such measures reflect caution and not fear. They aim to provide worshipers some safety and peace while praying,” a church official told Asharq Al-Awsat. This year, Copts will celebrate their Christmas mass on January 6 amid the opening of the “The Nativity of the Christ Cathedral” in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, which lies 60 kilometers east of Cairo. The mass will be attended by Sisi and Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II, the Church said in a statement.In 2011, 21 people died and another 97 were injured in an attack in Alexandria which targeted Christian worshipers as they were leaving a New Year service. In 2017, attacks in Alexandria and Tanta targeted Coptic churches on Palm Sunday, killing 47 and injuring more than 120. Other attacks have also targeted Christians in Egypt. A security source said that this year, the Egyptian Interior Ministry has drawn airtight security dragnets around churches. In 2015, Sisi became the first Egyptian President to attend Christmas Mass.

Iran to Deploy Warships to Atlantic, Closer to US Waters
London- Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 5 January, 2019/Iran is to send its newest warship to the Atlantic Ocean on a five-month mission -- the navy's longest in a decade, as the Republic seeks to increase the operating range of its naval forces to the backyard of the United States, its arch-foe. "The navy has had a plan to deploy a flotilla to the Atlantic Ocean for a few years and now everything seems prepared to launch the mission," said Fars news agency, which is considered close to Iran's military. Iran sees the presence of US aircraft carriers in the Gulf as a security concern and its navy has sought to counter that by showing the flag near American waters. Rear Admiral Touraj Hassani told the official IRNA news agency on Friday that the mission would start early in the next Iranian year, which begins in late March. “The Atlantic Ocean is far and the operation of the Iranian naval flotilla might take five months,” he said. The flotilla will comprise the new guided missile frigate destroyer escort Sahand, which was unveiled just last month, and the recently upgraded 33,000-ton fuel ship Kharg. The ships are among Iran's largest and both are capable of carrying helicopters. Hassani said in December that Iran would soon send two to three vessels on a mission to Venezuela.

Tests concluded, Iran prepares for launching of satellites
AP/January 05, 2019/Iran usually displays space achievements in February during the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran’s plans for sending three satellites into orbit demonstrate the country’s defiance of a UN Security Council resolution
TEHRAN: Iran’s telecommunications minister says his country’s three new satellites have successfully passed pre-launch tests. In a Saturday tweet, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said: “Last night, Iranian satellites passed tests successfully.” He did not mention a launch schedule. On Tuesday, Iran said it plans to send Payam, a 200-pound (90-kilogram) non-military satellite into a 310-mile (500-kilometer) orbit using an Iranian Simorgh satellite-carrier rocket. Iran usually displays space achievements in February during the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran’s plans for sending three satellites into orbit demonstrate the country’s defiance of a UN Security Council resolution that calls on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran says the launch does not violate the resolution.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 05-06/19
First anniversary of protests in Iran
Reza Shafiee/Al Arabiya/January 05/18
January is the first anniversary of Iran's protests. Massive demonstrations shock Iran to the core. A year passed and the Iranian regime's officials are celebrating their survival. Although supreme leader Ali Khamenei told his followers not to go overboard with joy because in his words" The enemy may have big plans for next year." He is right since the year has been a very difficult one for the regime. It is safe to say that not a day passed without some kind of protest here and there. Khamenei and his accomplices foresaw a quick end to last year protests like all other uprisings in past 40 years.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards top brass predicted that this round of protests which initially were a natural reaction to economic ruin of the country soon would blow off. But Iranian citizens surprise the rulers with successive demonstrations, protests and sit-ins. Simply by not giving in, they decided this time to wear the regime down.
The protests in Iran last January began with demands for food on the tables but they quickly turned into political demands. Because soon the people realized that this regime neither want nor is able to give them what they wanted.
It is not at all far from truth to think that events of last year in Iran draw serious resemblance to that of Arab Spring. The difference is that Iran's protests have not stopped because unlike previous ones which were brutally crushed by the regime, the new rounds have involved all Iranians
Shortly after the initial sparks, the protests mushroomed into 140 cities across Iran. An estimated 8000 protesters were arrested and over 50 were killed by the security forces. A fairly new scheme used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Intelligence Unit for wiping out the most vocal prisoners while in custody was to kill them under torture and then claim they "committed suicide." No one bought it. It is hard to guess exactly how many prisoners were killed in custody but it is safe to say at least 12.
In August, more than 1,000 people were arrested during protests in Tehran and other provinces over deteriorating economic conditions and corruption. A protester was murdered in Karaj, during the week-long protests.
The fifth round of truckers strikes has just begun. In the third round, At least 264 of striking drivers were arrested for allegedly blocking roads and trying to pressure colleagues to join the strike. Since January 2018, 7442 months prison sentences were handed down by the regime's judiciary while giving 2694 lashes for protesters. 263 death sentences were carried out by the security forces last year. All numbers show a sharp upward spike since the previous year.
“Iran spring” underway
It is not at all far from truth to think that events of last year in Iran draw serious resemblance to that of Arab Spring. The difference is that Iran's protests have not stopped because unlike previous ones which were brutally crushed by the regime, the new rounds have involved all Iranians and they are not isolated and limited geographically. What makes it more frightening for the regime, as many of its top officials keep reminding, is that US sanctions are biting hard and this is a recipe for disaster. No matter how hard President Hassan Rouhani tries to imply in his hope therapies sessions, now often given across the country, saying that it is business as usual and the theocratic regime is in complete control, a look into their empty pockets tell them otherwise.
A few days ago, Khomeini's grandson Hassan rose the curtain when he said that we may not be around for long.
“There is no guarantee we will remain and others will go. If we don’t follow the rules, they will take your place,” he said. “We must beware of the day that our posts are changed and roles are completely transformed.”
Keep in mind that Hassan Khomeini still has enough clout in the regime's circles especially among that of so called "reformists." Hassan is the custodian of his grandfather's multi-billion dollar shrine outside Tehran.
Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, said in an interview with a Tehran daily published on December 27 that "intimidation" and "fear" were the main things propping up the Islamic establishment.
"In my view, a breakdown [of principles] has already happened, there hasn't been a physical collapse, but I see that as very likely," Hashemi told Mostaghel newspaper.
Faezeh and his father belong to so-called "reformists" camp.
“Presently, if you look at any domain, some of the activists of that domain are in prison, including workers, teachers, truck drivers, women’s rights activists and environmental activists, students, and economic activists,” Rafsanjani said. “But in content, the collapse has already happened because wherever you look, the system is not working,” Hashemi said.
Ahmad Salak, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), is another insider voicing similar concerns in a recent interview.
“The enemy intends to increase our economic dilemmas and turn them into public protests… We cannot be certain there is not a new sedition in the making. The enemy seeks to constantly claim the country is not functioning correctly and there are vast problems and corruption, all to encourage the public to stop supporting the [mullahs’ regime] and for [them] to come and resolve the people’s dilemmas,” Salak told the paper.
Although it seems that the ruling clerics are still in control but scratching the surface tells us an entirely different story. Iranian people yearn for a democratic change in Iran and that will not happen unless they rid themselves of this regime; something that should have happened a long time ago.
*Reza Shafiee is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). He tweets @shafiee_shafiee.

Tehran the master of fake news in Mideast
حسين عبدالله: طهران هي رائدة وسباقة في فبركة الأخبار الكاذبة في الشرق الأوسط
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Asia Times/January 05/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/70773/hussain-abdul-hussain-tehran-the-master-of-fake-news-in-mideast-%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%B7%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%8A-%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6/
The past year has been notable for the attention “fake news” has received. In the Middle East, however, fake news is old news. And the master of this is not Russia, but Iran.
Indeed, Iran’s mischief making in the region is not restricted to sponsoring foreign militias. It also includes funding, supporting or encouraging dozens of Arab media outlets – satellite TV stations, websites and social-media accounts – that are managed by Tehran’s allies. These outlets do not only push the Islamic Republic’s positions, but create an echo chamber that has become a parallel universe.
Their primary mission is consistently to hail Iran’s victories. As in ancient times, when victory was perceived as a sign of divine reward – and because the Iranian leadership views itself as the shadow of God on Earth – Iran can never stop winning, or at least be perceived to be so.
Thus despite the fact that the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Ruhollah Khomeini, went on TV in 1988 to accept defeat by the Iraqis in their eight-year war, an act he likened to drinking poison, Iran these days celebrates its own vanquishment as the “Holy Defense.”
Pro-Iran Arab media outlets last year reported on Iranian commemorations of the 38th anniversary of the start of that war by taking their cue from Iran. The Iraqi TV station Alitijah quoted Iranian General Yahya Safavi saying that US President Donald Trump was unaware of the Iranian victory over Saddam Hussein, for if he were aware he would not dare think of confronting Tehran.
In Lebanon, the TV stations Almanar and Almayadeen reported on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s speech in which he said America should learn a lesson from Iran’s victory over Iraq. Similarly, the website of the Lebanese Islamic Center for Preaching posted a speech by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in which he reminisced over the war, and called on supporters to write its history lest it be written by “the enemies.”
A common theme in Lebanon’s pro-Iran media is to pretend that the world is now living in a ‘post-dollar era.’ The fact that the Iranian currency has lost half its value since Trump reinstated sanctions last May is a fact that pro-Iran Arab pundits conveniently leave out
And because “Iran always wins,” pro-Iran Arab pundits go out of their way to depict US sanctions on Iran as ineffective. A common theme in Lebanon’s pro-Iran media is to pretend that the world is now living in a “post-dollar era.” The fact that the Iranian currency has lost half its value since Trump reinstated sanctions last May is a fact that pro-Iran Arab pundits conveniently leave out, as did Ahmad Sheaito in his Almanar website article titled “From Iran to a post-dollar world.”
Iranian talking points expand their analysis to argue that the West has proved to be a paper tiger. In one of his Friday sermons, Tehran cleric Kazem Sadiqi saw an opportunity in France’s “yellow vests” protests to push the point that the liberal West has been a failure, and that the only true success is Iran’s Islamic model. France’s gross domestic product per capita stands at US$38,500, compared with Iran’s $5,400, another fact that Tehran’s pundits, both Arab and Iranian, conveniently sweep under the rug.
Pro-Iran Arab pundits also peddle the point that Iran has been a world leader in technology, manufacturing and agriculture. Writing in the newspaper of the Iraqi Islamic Daawa Party, Ali Khayyat argued that “Iran is an industrial and productive country with modern technology.” Despite its bragging, Tehran had to beg foreign companies to develop its energy resources, such as Pars 11, a gas field that French energy giant Total dropped after US sanctions. The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) then took over.
Contradictions also include Iran’s unresolved conflict between its wish to play victor and its attempts to depict itself as the victim of American “arrogance” and “unfairness.”
Right before the last meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Russia in Geneva, Mohammad Javad Zarif said the West had finally conceded and become willing to settle the Syrian conflict along the lines drawn by Iran. By the end of the day, pro-Iran TV Almayadeen and its website were reporting that it was America that obstructed a Syria compromise in Geneva. Hence the West had both conceded to Iran in Syria, while at the same time obstructing a settlement.
In addition to their alternative facts and contradictions, Tehran’s media – both in Arabic and Farsi – selectively recognize news. When the UN Human Rights Council issued a statement denouncing Iran’s “severe” rights violations, Iran’s media outlets ignored it. Then, last month, when a committee at the Iranian parliament responded to the United Nations report, Iran’s Arabic media went ballistic.
Yet they offered no uncomfortable background information that deviated from the standard script, so readers and TV news viewers had to settle for a story in which Iran rebutted a UN statement whose text and context remained unknown.
Like Iran itself, Iran-funded Arabic media live in a parallel universe, often disregarding rules of journalism, disseminating propaganda and offering contradictory reports. The pro-Iran Arabic media outlets might be shinier than their state-run predecessors, but in terms of content, they offer the same controlled message that Tehran wants to spread, not only in Iran, but throughout the Arabic-speaking region.
In a year in which fake news became news itself, Iran has been ahead of the curve. Unfortunately, not nearly enough is being done to counter the corrosive effects of Tehran’s active media distortions.
It would be useful for world powers to resolve this new year to do something about it.
*This article was provided to Asia Times by Syndication Bureau, which holds copyright.
*Hussain Abdul-Hussain is the Washington bureau chief of Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai and a former visiting fellow at Chatham House in London.
http://www.atimes.com/tehran-the-master-of-fake-news-in-mideast//?fbclid=IwAR1zMhXAcQS3dTIxbc5s38LjPex7db54n1TcnnPD2nMGsGTdMx-NZ3zj4d0

European Court of Human Rights Promotes Human Wrongs
Tommaso Virgili/Gatestone Institute/January 05/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13376/european-court-human-wrongs
One might also wonder where, in the European Convention on Human Rights, "feelings" are mentioned. Following the court's logic, would it be appropriate to cover the windows of steakhouses not to hurt the feelings of animal activists? Or only if they threatened to riot? Is the new ruling just a capitulation to extortionistic threats of violence?
The supposition seems to be, "If you had just kept quiet, these bad things (fill in the blank) would not be happening." It is both a false premise -- the "bad things" might have happened anyway, as they did, for example, when the Bataclan Theater in Paris or the Brussels airport were attacked -- and it is a demand for enforced self-censorship. Moreover, who gets to decide who is accountable? Who watches the watchers?
How soon will the public be asked to stop other activities -- drinking alcohol, men and women dancing together, ringing church bells, art that depicts the human image, separation of religion and state, and equal justice under the law for women, to name just a few -- that also might hurt "religious feelings?"
Will the ECHR's Grand Chamber -- the only authority that could reverse the decision -- correct this treacherous path?
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that criticism of Islamic prophet Mohammed constitutes incitement to hatred and therefore is not protected free speech. Pictured: A courtroom of the ECHR in Strasbourg, France. (Image source: Adrian Grycuk/Wikimedia Commons)
October 26 marked a historic day for Ireland, where citizens, in a national referendum, overwhelmingly voted to repeal the country's blasphemy law.
Blasphemy remains a serious offence in many parts of the world, in some Muslim countries even requiring the death penalty.
More astonishing is that even some European countries are criminalizing "defamation of religion".
Recently, an actor was detained in Spain for failing to appear in court where he would face the accusation of "having insulted God and the Virgin Mary".
The outcome of the Irish referendum will entail a modification of the Irish Constitution, which states in Article 40.6.1:
"The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law."
While no prosecution for blasphemy has been recorded in Ireland since 1855, the Irish police in 2015 opened an inquiry into remarks by the British comedian Stephen Fry, who said live on television: "Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world so full of injustice and pain?"
Even the Catholic Church, in conjunction with other Christian groups, declared the constitutional ban on blasphemy "largely obsolete", and called for its removal.
So, removed it was.
Unfortunately, while good news is coming from Dublin, the same cannot be said for Strasbourg, where the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) -- a supranational judicial body entitled to scrutinize the compliance of national pieces of legislation with the European Convention of Human Rights -- recently upheld the criminal conviction of an Austrian woman, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff. Her "crime" was supposedly having defamed the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.
"The offending speech was an offhand comment by Sabaditsch-Wolff that Mohammed was a pedophile because he married his wife Aisha when she was just six or seven years old. Sabaditsch-Wolff's actual words were, 'A 56-year-old and a six-year-old? What do we call it, if it is not pedophilia?'"
She was referring to an official Islamic text which states that Muhammad married Aisha when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine.
The ECHR judgment, which possibly represented the last chance for a conviction that was imposed by Austrian courts to be reversed, was based on Article 188 of the Austrian penal code, containing the "blasphemy law":
"Whoever, in circumstances where his or her behaviour is likely to arouse justified indignation, publicly disparages or insults a person who, or an object which, is an object of veneration of a church or religious community established within the country, or a dogma, a lawful custom or a lawful institution of such a church or religious community, shall be liable to up to six months' imprisonment or a day-fine for a period of up to 360 days."
In particular, the defendant was accused of mentioning -- during a series of small seminars on Islam -- some tendencies of the Prophet Muhammad:
"Because he was a warlord, he had many women, to put it like this, and liked to do it with children...
"The most important of all Hadith collections recognised by all legal schools: The most important is the Sahih Al-Bukhari. If a Hadith was quoted after Bukhari, one can be sure that all Muslims will recognise it. And, unfortunately, in Al-Bukhari the thing with Aisha and child sex is written...
"A 56-year-old and a six-year-old? What do you call that? Give me an example? What do we call it, if it is not paedophilia?..."
The Court found "that the impugned statements can be classified as value judgments without sufficient factual basis". The ECHR did that by recalling and upholding the language used by the domestic tribunals, which distinguished between pedophilia as a general sexual preference and the historic custom of child marriage:
"Even though criticising child marriages was justifiable, she had accused a subject of religious worship of having a primary sexual interest in children's bodies, which she had deduced from his marriage with a child, disregarding the notion that the marriage had continued until the Prophet's death, when Aisha had already turned eighteen and had therefore passed the age of puberty".
On this basis, the ECHR maintained that the applicant's statements went "beyond the permissible limits of an objective debate", constituted "an abusive attack on the Prophet of Islam", and thereby conflicted with "the rights of others to have their religious feelings protected and to have religious peace preserved in Austrian society". Her statements had purportedly "been likely to arouse justified indignation in Muslims", and were "capable of stirring up prejudice and putting at risk religious peace".
No apparent influence on the court's decision to uphold the Austrian courts' conviction had the authoritative opinions of bodies such as the Human Rights Committee, the Venice Commission, the European Parliament or even the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe -- the international organization to which the ECHR belongs. Although the Court cited them in its ruling, it completely disregarded their views on "blasphemy." The essence of those opinions is that criminal laws should not protect religions as such, but believers from hatred and discrimination. Conversely, article 188 of the Austrian penal code explicitly protects "religious doctrines", "objects of veneration" and "dogmas" -- which are the very basis of blasphemy laws.
The Austrian law has been criticized by the European Centre of Law and Justice (third party intervener before the ECHR), which observed:
"...a criminal conviction which pursued the aim of protecting the belief itself rather than the believers' feelings was one of blasphemy – a criminal charge which, according to international law standards, should be abolished. It argued that [the relevant section of the Austrian] Criminal Code served as a deterrent ("chilling effect") obstructing free debate. Having recourse to a criminal sanction rather than a civil law one to protect freedom of religion was not necessary in a democratic society."
Regarding the debate on the word "paedophilia", it should be borne in mind that, in modern criminal codes, sex with a 9-year-old is a sexual assault irrespective of the context. Moreover, even though sexual relations with children may have been more prevalent in the seventh century, there are certain Muslims nowadays who use Mohammad's preference as an excuse, supposedly sanctioned by religion, to assault children.
The new judgment supports the primacy of religion, and qualifies "religious feelings" as "human rights". What about the feelings of people who find it unbearable to see the truth trampled? Or freedom of expression trampled? Does this ruling foretell even more internal repression?
One might also wonder where, in the European Convention on Human Rights, "feelings" are mentioned. Following the court's logic, would it be appropriate to cover the windows of steakhouses not to hurt the feelings of animal activists? Or only if they threatened to riot? Is the new ruling, then, just a capitulation to extortionistic threats of violence?
To protect religious feelings, the ECHR had to disregard its own formulation -- frequently mentioned but overruled -- that freedom of expression "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb."
At bottom, however, speech that does not hurt anyone's feelings does not need protection; it is speech that might run counter to the prevailing spirit of the time, or be considered politically incorrect, that needs a court to protect it from the tyranny of the majority.
While this is not the first time the ECHR has adopted a restrictive view of free speech when religion was involved, its latest judgment is particularly distressing. It endorses the Islamist definition of blasphemy at a time when, even in the West, it is considered a religiously sanctified reason for committing murder and terrorism.
If speaking openly about religion, discredited as "blasphemy," is regarded as "incitement" to creating social unrest, who then is to be held at fault? The victim? Did the editors and cartoonists killed at the offices or the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo "cause" their own murder? Even Pope Francis seemed to imply that this retribution was warranted when he commented on the case: "Curse my mother, expect a punch".
The supposition seems to be, "If you had just kept quiet, these bad things (fill in the blank) would not be happening." It is both a false premise -- the "bad things" might have happened anyway, as they did, for example, when the Bataclan Theater in Paris or the Brussels airport were attacked -- and it is a demand for enforced self-censorship. Moreover, who gets to decide who is accountable? Who watches the watchers?
Do women "provoke" "religious feelings" by wearing a miniskirt? Or gays by kissing in the street? Or apostates by stating their disavowal of Islam? Considering that Sharia law comes from sources of "religious veneration" (to use the words of the Austrian law), where does the reasoning of the ECHR stop? Condemning Quranic verses and hadiths that recommend hudud penalties [for violating the rules of Islam] as "barbarous", for instance, would be tantamount to disparaging religious doctrines? How soon will the public be asked to stop other things -- drinking alcohol, men and women dancing together, ringing church bells, art that depicts the human image, the separation of religion and state, and equal justice under the law for women, to name just a few -- that also might hurt "religious feelings?"
The slope of criticism toward Islam is an extremely slippery one, as many freethinkers and reformers who have given their freedom and lives could testify. The latest news these days is that the ordeal of Asia Bibi is not over. Two months ago, the Pakistani Christian mother of five was acquitted after more than 8 years in prison awaiting a death sentence for allegedly offending the Prophet Muhammad. Violent riots, however, were organized by Islamists baying for her death, and the government, bowing to them, has not only agreed to impose a travel ban that prevents her from leaving the country, but has also threatened to allow a "review" of her trial -- presumably until she is convicted, whether guilty or not. In the meantime, the lives of the supreme court justices who acquitted her have been threatened and her lawyer fled the country to avoid meeting the same "street justice" as Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti - Pakistani politicians who questioned their country's blasphemy laws and who paid with their lives.
At a time when we are celebrating the outcome of the Irish referendum, and when countless alleged "blasphemers" are suffering the consequences of their real or imagined "thought crimes" , the world really did not need a verdict of this kind – especially from a judicial body named the European Court of Human Rights. When an organization such as that starts to protect systems of beliefs and dogmas to the detriment of individual liberties, it has evidently forgotten and betrayed its history and mission. Will the ECHR's Grand Chamber -- the only authority that could reverse the decision -- correct this treacherous path?
*Tommaso Virgili, who holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Constitutional Law, is based in Europe.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

If the Stock Market Has a Problem, His Job Is to Fix It
Stephen Gandel/Bloomberg/January 05/19
It’s harder these days to find reasons for stocks to rise. But the recent 5,000-point market plunge, and seemingly daily swings, when consumers are still spending and the unemployment rate is at historical lows, has more and more people thinking that it’s not the economy that is broken but the market.
Last month, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin blamed high-frequency traders and the Volcker Rule, which restricts trading by large banks, for the market’s volatility. Better Markets, a nonprofit group that advocates for more market regulation and is not normally aligned with officials from the Trump administration, seems to agree. The group has called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to start monitoring for signs the market is being impaired by new trading systems. “Computer-driven, high-frequency algo trading has been driving market drops, swings and volatility for too long. The damage to investors and our economy has been incalculable,” Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher said in a statement.
And even before the recent volatility, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton had linked the drought in initial public offerings to a perception that public markets were essentially rigged against “Mr. and Mrs. 401(k).” Making markets appear more fair, Clayton has said, will bring back IPOs and the economic opportunity they create.
If there is a problem with the stock market, the person in charge of fixing it is a former political science graduate student who once led student efforts against nuclear waste and took a year off from college to travel the world with his guitar. Brett Redfearn, who graduated from Evergreen State College in 1987 and then earned a master’s degree in political science from the New School for Social Research, was named head the SEC’s division of markets and trading in October 2017. Since then, he has become, at least on Wall Street, one of the most divisive market regulators under President Donald Trump.
Investor advocates have hailed Redfearn, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive who has long specialized in market structure, as the first regulator in years who puts individual investors first. “It was a room driven by conflicts of interest,” said former Senator Ted Kaufman of Delaware, who served on a panel on market structure during the Obama administration. “That was not the case with Brett.” Officials from the main stock exchanges, though, have a different view of Redfearn. They contend Redfearn has little care for fairness and is just trying to rewrite the rules to boost the profits of his former employer and other large banks.
Redfearn and the SEC declined to comment.
But even if Redfearn’s proposed reforms come with good intentions, some seem positive they will do little to address the market’s growing volatility or the lack of IPOs. “Market structure is about the 13th most important contributor to the lack of IPOs,” said University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter, an expert on initial public offerings. “It has contributed to perhaps one less IPO a decade.”
Redfearn has long been one of Wall Street’s top experts on market structure. He was laid off from his first job in urban planning at New York’s Port Authority before landing at the American Stock Exchange. “He would take the lead in client meetings even when I was there,” says Sal Sodano, who was CEO of the Amex at the time. Redfearn later went to Bear Stearns and joined JPMorgan when it bought Bear in the run-up to the financial crisis. At JPMorgan, he wrote a widely followed newsletter on market structure.
Now at the SEC, the issues that Redfearn is tackling have been around for a while. In mid-2009, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York called on the SEC to outlaw a technique, called flash orders, that some argued unfairly allowed certain traders to see the buy and sell intentions of others before the rest of the market. It was only one of the techniques that high-frequency traders used, but the name stuck. A few years later, Michael Lewis wrote “Flash Boys” and the controversy over high-frequency went high pitch. Lewis called the market rigged. Mary Jo White, the head of the SEC at the time, pledged to investigate but in the end did little to curtail high-speed traders.
Redfearn, on the other hand, seems intent on taking action. Brad Katsuyama, who founded the upstart exchange IEX Group and is the hero of “Flash Boys,” is a Redfearn fan. “I know the exchanges are pushing the narrative that Brett is conflicted, but it is counterfactual,” Katsuyama said. “The exchanges should be held to a higher standard. Brett has a lot of support and a long-term track record of protecting the interests of investors.”
Redfearn’s most controversial proposal, which would affect the trading of hundreds of stocks for as long as two years, is a pilot program that would limit the incentives — in the form of rebates — that exchanges pay to attract trades. Critics contend the system of access fees and rebates, for which the exchanges typically charge a stock buyer 30 cents for every 100 shares, and rebate as much as 27 cents of that fee to the seller, or vice versa — lead brokers, particularly those who cater to individual investors, to send their trades to exchanges that offer the highest rebates but not necessarily the best price. The difference in price is likely cents or less, but that adds up on millions of trades, which is why many individual investors don’t notice.
A number of large pension funds and mutual fund companies support the pilot program, which has been approved but has no official start date. Others say it’s unnecessary. Virtu Financial Inc., one of the largest high-frequency firms, argues it will be disruptive and that the rebates improve the prices that individuals receive, not the opposite. Brokers say the rebates don’t alter where they send trades. The exchanges say they, like any other company, should have the right to price their products as they like. But at the very least, the access fees that are largely rebated seem like the equivalent of duct tape — a messy and incomplete solution to the real problem, which is that equity markets left largely alone have evolved into a complicated and fragmented mess.
Redfearn has also caught ire from the exchanges for questioning the fees they charge for data, which many contend are too high and a result of the duopoly hold Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange have on stock markets. Redfearn has been a vocal critic of those data fees for years, something that has won him friends even among the high-frequency trading crowd. “He’s invited everyone to the table, and there has been some heated discussions,” said Kirsten Wegner, the CEO of Modern Markets Initiative, a group that advocates for the interests of high-frequency trading firms. “He’s done a great job, but he’s going to have a busy next year.”
The biggest question is whether any of these changes will make markets fairer. With Uber and other prominent private companies considering going public, the IPO market seems to be on the upswing. What’s more, investors pay far less than they did to trade even a decade ago, so it’s hard to argue they’re getting a raw deal. And achieving a truly level playing field between average investors and professionals, who spend millions on data and computing power, is most likely an unrealistic goal. But for markets to appear fair, investors need to have a regulator who is putting in some effort seek it. And whether Redfearn finds the right balance, it’s clear that he is looking. In the end, that could be the most important thing he does.