LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 13.2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.january13.20.htm

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

Bible Quotations For today
I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14/08-14/:”Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 12-13/2020
Nasrallah Is A Gowned King Of delusions, nightmares, and hallucinations/Elias Bejjani/January 12/2020
The Cancerous Hezbollah Is The Main Problem In Lebanon/Elias Bejjani/January 11/2020
The Presence Of Iran & It Proxies In The Region Will End Very Soon/Elias Bejjani/January 10/2020
Soleimani's assassination is the beginning of a new history in our region," says Nasrallah
Hezbollah says payback for US strike has just begun
Nasrallah: 'Blood' to Show Americans World Not Safer Post Soleimani
Hezbollah leader warns US troops will have to leave region dead or alive
Report: Govt. Formation Returns to Square One after Aoun-Diab Exchange
Salameh Wants to 'Unify' Capital Controls, Not Slap New Ones
Report: Govt. Formation Returns to Square One after Aoun-Diab Exchange
Protesters Rally across Lebanon as Crisis Deepens
Sit-in outside Shukair's residence in protest against extending contracts with cellphone companies
Adwan: Our judgment on the PM-designate will be upon his declaration of the government formation
Murad: To stop importing any agricultural commodities piled in our warehouses
Abu Faour: How can the dollar be available to money changers and not to banks?
Hmayid after meeting Larijani: Iran will stand by the Lebanese
Al-Rahi Slams Caretaker Govt. Inaction, Those Blocking New Govt.
Rahi calls on authorities to listen to the youth
Ghosn's Japan Lawyer: Questioning Averaged 7 Hours a Day
Lebanon Central Bank Seeks Extra Powers, Wants Controls Standardized
Lebanon’s Exchange Markets Control Dollar Rate, Central Bank Only Monitors/Paula Astih/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 12/2020
The Lebanese Carlos/Sawsan al-Abtah/Asharq Al Awsat/January 12/2020
The DEA’s (Drug Enforcement Administration) Targeting of Hezbollah’s Global Criminal Support Network/John Fernandez/The Washington Institute/January 12/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 12-13/2020
Apologize and resign, Iranians tell Khamenei
Both sides in Libya conflict accept ceasefire
Iranians Burn UK Flag outside Embassy after British Envoy's Arrest
Trump tweets support for Iranian protesters after Tehran admits to unintentionally shooting down Ukrainian plane
Trump Warns Iran Not to Kill Protesters as U.S. Says Door Open to Talks
Qatari Emir Visits Iran, Says Agreed with Tehran that De-escalation is 'Only Solution'
Both Sides in Libya Conflict Accept Ceasefire
Scores of Iranians Protest for Second Day against Ruling Authorities
Israeli Intelligence Helped US Locate Soleimani before his Killing
Shiite Cleric Ponders Running to Succeed Iraqi PM
Iraqi Servicemen Wounded by Rocket Attack on Air Base
King Salman Receives Japanese PM
Israel foreign minister postpones Dubai visit over security concern diplomats

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 12-13/2020
Ceasefire or Escalation in Libya?/Ben Fishman/The Washington Institute/January 12/2020
Turkey's No Longer Best-Kept Secret: Islamized Christians/Vasileios Meichanetsidis/Gatestone Institute/January 12/2020
The General's Death Upsets Iran's Plan/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 12/2020
Iran: “ Death to the Dictator/Charles Elias Chartouni/January 12/2020
Oman after Qaboos/Salman Al-Dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/January 12/2020
Wages Are Based More on Productivity, Less on Exploitation/Michael R. Strain/Bloomberg/January 12/2020
Tehran plane crash was a crime against humanity/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 12/2020
Why the Tehran regime’s warmongering is hastening its own demise/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/January 12/2020

Details Of The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorial published on January 12-13/2020
Nasrallah Is A Gowned King Of  delusions, nightmares, and hallucinations
Elias Bejjani/January 12/2020
Sadly Sayed Nasrallah lives in a world of his own grandiose delusions and accordingly he is totally detached from reality. In this sickening realm comes his 'One Thousand Nights and One Day,' Tale stylish speech of today that was mere fabrications lies, fantasies. Definitely he himself does not believe a word of his inflated threats, allegations and lies. In reality, this man and his mercenary terrorist Iranian party, the so called Hezbollah, are a cancerous catastrophe that is destroying Lebanon and every thing that is Lebanese

The Cancerous Hezbollah Is The Main Problem In Lebanon
Elias Bejjani/January 11/2020
No solutions could ever take place in occupied Lebanon before the total eradication of the cancerous Hezbollah and the burying for ever its two big devastating lies the so evilly and falsely called resistance and liberation.

The Presence Of Iran & It Proxies In The Region Will End Very Soon
Elias Bejjani/January 10/2020
Could the So Falsely Called "Resistance and Liberation Axis" Leadership Explain how they are going to force the American's military out of the region while, their topnotch figure Sayed Nasrallah is still living underground since 14 years because of his fear from them?. In Conclusion no one can offer what he does not own.

Soleimani's assassination is the beginning of a new history in our region," says Nasrallah
NNA/January 12/2020
"The response to the American crime is not a single operation, but rather a long path that must lead to removing America from our region," said Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on Sunday.
"The days will reveal that after the assassination of Soleimani the world will be different. It is the beginning of a new history in our region," he underscored. "What happened at Ain al-Assad base is not a response, but a mere blow [in the face of America] along this long path, and it is a first, strong, and earth-shattering step on the road of this crime committed by America," vowed Nasrallah. "What happened restored the true image of America that does not want stability for our region," he said. In his delivered speech marking one week of memorial for the assassination of al-Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani and Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi Deputy Chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and their companions, Nasrallah said: "Soleimani was a partner in the 2000 victory and it is our duty, following his martyrdom, to declare this fact."
"Soleimani represented the Islamic revolution in Iran, and was the best messenger and carried its flag to our peoples and resistance movements in our countries," he said.
Eulogizing Soleimani and outlining his contributions and support to the resistance movement, Nasrallah indicated that Soleimani shared the same notion that after liberation, Lebanon would remain in the Israeli threat circle, the reason for which the capabilities of the resistance had to be developed to prevent any Israeli aggression against the country. "Here the stage of developing missile capabilities began," he said, noting that Soleimani encouraged them to continue further, saying, "You do not have the luxury of time!"
"Qasem Soleimani insisted on being present in Beirut's suburbs during the aggression period in the summer of 2006, and he remained with us throughout the war," Nasrallah went on, commending as well the Iranian contribution to Lebanon's reconstruction at the end of the Israeli aggression in August 2006.
Referring to the Daesh terrorist group, Nasrallah considered that "if ISIS had not been defeated in Homs and other regions, it would not have been eradicated from Lebanon's eastern mountain chain on the border with Syria," pointing herein to "Soleimani's presence, in person, in these battles."He recalled the past Israeli claims that Lebanon was a "weak link", up until the years 2000 and 2006, when Lebanon became "a strategic threat to it, leading to Israel's characterization of the resistance as being a direct and existential peril."
"All of this occurred with the blessing of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the dedication of Hajj Soleimani," Nasrallah confirmed gratefully.
Referring to Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, Nasrallah said, "His relationship with Soleimani was a spiritual relationship, for he was a student of his, and Al-Muhandis was honest, humble, and stood by Soleimani during the stage of fighting ISIS, and it is no coincidence that God has chosen for them to die as martyrs together and that this martyrdom would have its great dimensions in the nation."
Nasrallah reiterated his assertion of the role of Soleimani and the popular mobilization [Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi] in defeating ISIS, "which means that they defended all the peoples of the region," he said. "We are faced with the example of an Islamic leader who is never tired or bored, who is modest and works for God. This is Hajj Qasem Soleimani," he corroborated.
On the Islamic Republic's support to the resistance movement, Hezbollah Secretary-General said: "Iran deals with us and the Palestinian resistance as allies and not Iranian tools as some accuse us, because this is political Islam, which they are working to distort with the support of organizations like ISIS."
"ISIS in Iraq is an American creation, supported by some Gulf countries with money, arms, media coverage and sectarian incitement, and ISIS is one of the most dangerous projects witnessed in Iraq. Here was the role of Hajj Qasem until his martyrdom, accompanied by Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi, in purifying Iraq from ISIS," Nasrallah indicated."If ISIS had not been defeated in Iraq, it would have taken control of Iraq and would not have been defeated in Syria. If ISIS had not been defeated in Iraq and Syria, the Gulf States and Turkey would be in danger and the poison would have turned against its owners," he underlined. Nasrallah concluded by vowing to "continue along the path towards achieving our goals.

Hezbollah says payback for US strike has just begun
Associated Press/January 12/2020
The leader of Hezbollah, which is closely aligned with Iran, said the strikes were the “first step down a long path” that will ensure U.S. troops withdraw from the region.
BEIRUT: The leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Sunday that Iran’s missile attacks on two bases in Iraq housing U.S. forces was only the start of the retaliation for America’s killing a top Iranian general in a drone strike. Hassan Nasrallah described Iran’s ballistic missile response as a “slap” to Washington, one that sent a message. The limited strikes caused no casualties and appeared to be mainly a show of force. The leader of Hezbollah, which is closely aligned with Iran, said the strikes were the “first step down a long path” that will ensure U.S. troops withdraw from the region.
“The Americans must remove their bases, soldiers and officers and ships from our region. The alternative ... to leaving vertically is leaving horizontally. This is a decisive and firm decision,” Nasrallah said. “We are speaking about the start of a phase, about a new battle, about a new era in the region,” he added.
His 90-minute televised speech marked one week since the killing of Iran’s Gen. Qassim Soleimani. Nasrallah praised Soleimani for his steadfast support for Hezbollah. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has provided training for Hezbollah, which fought in the war in Syria alongside Iran-backed militias that Soleimani directed. Nasrallah said that the world is a different place after Soleimani’s death, and not a safer place as some U.S. officials have declared. Iran had for days been promising to respond forcefully to Soleimani’s killing. But after the ballistic missile strikes, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the country had “concluded proportionate measures in self-defense.” Nasrallah also praised the Iran’s leadership for admitting to accidentally shooting down a Ukranian passenger plane on the night it launched the missile attacks. He called the acknowledgement “transparency that is unparalleled in the world.”
The plane crash early Wednesday killed all 176 people on board, mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians. Iran had initially pointed to a technical failure and insisted the armed forces were not to blame. Hezbollah is one of Iran’s main allies in the region and is a sworn enemy of Israel, with which it has had a series of confrontations, lastly in 2006.

Nasrallah: 'Blood' to Show Americans World Not Safer Post Soleimani
Naharnet/January 12/2020
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday warned U.S. officials that they would be mistaken if they thought that “the world has become safer” with the death of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
“The U.S. administration will pay a hefty price and this crime will not go unpunished and it will not be forgotten,” said Nasrallah in a televised speech commemorating Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi paramilitary leader who was killed with Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. “They are saying that the world has become safer post Soleimani and we tell them that they will realize that they are mistaken through blood. The world after Soleimani’s martyrdom will be different and it will not have a place for tyrants,” Nasrallah added.
“During the upcoming days, weeks and months, the Americans must pull out their troops, officers and ships and they must leave the region. There is no choice other than departing horizontally (in coffins) after they arrived vertically,” Nasrallah warned, noting that the U.S. withdrawal from the region is “a matter of time.”Commenting on the Iranian missile strike on a U.S. base in Iraq, Nasrallah said the response to Soleimani’s killing is “not a single operation but rather a long course that leads to the ouster of American forces from the region.”
“The Ain al-Assad attack was only a slap,” the Hizbullah leader added, echoing remarks by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Praising Iran, Nasrallah said the retaliatory strike reflects “endless courage.” “Who dares on this planet to stand in the face of America and strike one of its bases with missiles?” Nasrallah asked. “All U.S. bases in the region can be targeted by Iranian missiles and Iran possesses more accurate missiles,” he warned. Nasrallah also noted that “this was also a strong message to the Zionist entity (Israel), seeing as (Israeli PM Benjamin) Netanyahu used to dream of sending his warplanes to Tehran.” “The Americans have been reined in… and the American prestige has been broken,” Nasrallah boasted. Nasrallah also denied U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Soleimani was plotting to target four U.S. embassies, dismissing the accusations as “lies.”
Moreover, Nasrallah suggested that Iraq will be the arena that will witness future retaliatory attacks against the Americans. “The second arena that is concerned with retaliation is the Iraqi arena in which America committed its crime and because it targeted an Iraqi leader,” Nasrallah said, adding that “should Americans refrain from leaving Iraq, the Iraqi people and resistance factions are the ones who would decide how to deal with the occupation forces.”

Hezbollah leader warns US troops will have to leave region dead or alive
Arab News/January 12/2020
BEIRUT: The leader of Hezbollah warned that US troops would have to leave the region dead or alive, and that their withdrawal from the Middle East was a long process rather than a single operation.
Hassan Nasrallah made the threat more than a week after a US drone strike killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the late commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
He addressed his supporters on giant screens that had been set up in Bekaa and southern Lebanon in tribute to Soleimani and the deputy leader of the paramilitary group Hashd Al-Shaabi, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis. Both men were killed by the US strike on Jan. 2.
Iran in retaliation fired missiles last week at air bases in Iraq used by US forces. The response to Soleimani’s death was a long process that should lead to the eventual withdrawal of Americans from the region, the Hezbollah secretary-general said.
“What happened in Ain Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq is a mere slap on the US and not a full reprisal, and whoever thinks otherwise is wrong, yet it is a very strong military response and a first step on a long path in reaction to the crime. After this slap, the Axis of Resistance should go to action,” he said referring to an anti-Western, anti-Israeli power bloc. “The Americans have to either leave the region vertically or horizontally (in coffins) and this is the ultimate resolution of the Axis of Resistance, and it is a matter of time for this to be achieved. It is a new era in the region and the upcoming days will prove it.”
He said the attack on Al-Asad had put the region on the brink of war, demonstrating “an unprecedented Iranian courage” as it targeted a US base and forces, something which had not happened since World War II, and that the strike was led by a state rather than an organization or resistance group.
It showed the “might of Iranian military capabilities,” which meant all US bases in the region could be subjected to similar missile attacks, he added, pointing out that Iran had more sophisticated and accurate missiles than the ones used in the Al-Asad attack.
FASTFACT
He addressed his supporters on giant screens that had been set up in Bekaa and southern Lebanon in tribute to Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the deputy leader of Hashd Al-Shaabi.
Nasrallah said the strike was also a message to anyone who conspired with the US against Iran. He urged the chief of the Iraqi Kurds, Masoud Barzani, to recognize what Soleimani had done for him.
Barzani had contacted the Iranians asking for help when Iraqi Kurdistan almost fell to Daesh, he claimed, and they swiftly responded by sending aid overnight. Soleimani went with the Lebanese to Erbil to support the Kurds, and what was expected now was for them to press for a US withdrawal from the region, he added.
Nasrallah then turned his focus toward US President Donald Trump, branding him a liar and denying his accusation that Soleimani was planning to target the US Embassy in Baghdad.
He said that the huge crowds participating in Soleimani’s funeral terrified Trump and his administration.
“During the Israeli aggression against Lebanon in 2006, Soleimani came to Beirut via Syria, and stayed with us in the southern suburb of Beirut throughout the war in the military command headquarters under heavy bombing. After the war ended, he asked us about our needs, which resulted in Iranian assistance for the reconstruction of Lebanon.”
He heaped praise on Soleimani, saying the slain military man had stood alongside Syrians in the fight against Daesh.
“Had Daesh not been defeated in Iraq, it would have threatened all countries of the region, and its defeat in Iraq led to its defeat also in Syria, and had this not happened all Gulf states, in addition to Iran and Turkey, would have been in danger; this is why the peoples of the region should thank the Hashd Al-Shaabi for saving them and the region too.”

Report: Govt. Formation Returns to Square One after Aoun-Diab Exchange
Naharnet/January 12/2020
The debate that has erupted between President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Hassan Diab has returned the government formation negotiations to square one, a media report said. “President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri have called for a techno-political government, a suggestion that has not been opposed by Hizbullah,” Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported. Diab had decried pressures Friday evening but stressed that he will not “bow” or refrain from carrying out his mission, while emphasizing his commitment to the standards he has announced for the formation of a “small technocrat government.”Caretaker State Minister for Presidency Affairs Salim Jreissati, who is close to Aoun, hit back, issuing a statement underlining that “the President is not a mailman or a ballot box in the designation and formation process.”In this regard, sources close to the Presidency told Asharq al-Awsat that “Jreissati’s statement is sufficient and what happened shows that things have returned to square one and that this period requires a reevaluation of the entire process” while emphasizing that “no side is exerting pressures on Diab.”“The ball is now in the PM-designate’s court, especially amid the consensus of the parties who backed him and granted him their votes on pushing for the formation of a techno-political government, and therefore he cannot reject their demand,” the sources added. The sources also reminded of Berri’s call for “an inclusive and uniting techno-political government,” adding that Aoun has made a similar call and Hizbullah is not opposed to such a scenario. “Wisdom entails adding some politicians to the government and distributing the portfolios in a fair manner to reach a format that would be accepted by everyone,” the sources added. They also criticized Diab for “confining himself to rushed commitments, such as announcing a six-week deadline for forming the government, setting up a cabinet of nonpartisan experts and barring ex-ministers from participation.”“These issues are not fit for politics, in which developments are always expected to impose drastic changes,” the sources added. Sources close to Diab meanwhile reiterated his insistence on a “technocrat government composed of nonpartisan members.” Asked about the suggestion that Diab “should bow to the will of those who designated him,” the sources said: “If there are clear constitutional texts allowing them to withdraw this designation, let them do so.”The sources added that the parties would have the choice of withholding confidence should the cabinet line-up be referred to parliament as per the constitution.

Salameh Wants to 'Unify' Capital Controls, Not Slap New Ones
Naharnet/January 12/2020
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Sunday clarified that a letter he sent to caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil was aimed at “unifying” capital controls in the country rather than imposing new restrictions. Salameh explained that his request seeks to “regulate” the controls that the Lebanese banks have imposed on depositors. The governor pointed out that he wants to “unify them to guarantee that they are being implemented fairly and equally on banks and clients.”A liquidity crunch has pushed Lebanese banks to limit dollar withdrawals and transfers since September. This has forced depositors to deal in the plummeting Lebanese pound, which has lost nearly two thirds of its black market value against the greenback for the first time since it was pegged at 1,500 to the dollar in 1997. Although no formal policy is in place, most banks have arbitrarily capped withdrawals at around $1,000 a month, while others have imposed tighter restrictions. With ordinary depositors bearing the brunt of these measures, bank branches have transformed into arenas of conflict. Fistfights, shouting and tears have become more frequent, as cash-hungry clients haggle tellers to release money trapped under informal capital controls. For decades, Lebanon's commercial banks have been the main conduit of foreign currency entering Lebanon, via deposits from investors and the country's wide-reaching diaspora. But a severe slowdown in foreign currency injections has hampered dwindling reserves in a highly dollarized economy where the Lebanese pound and the greenback are used interchangeably in everyday life. In November, two credit rating agencies downgraded Lebanon's top banks further into junk territory, citing liquidity pressures. In a report that same month, the Bank of America said Lebanon's foreign exchange reserves could run out by the middle of 2020 if they continue to plummet quickly. With no fresh currency coming in from outside due to increasing capital restrictions, "time could be rapidly running out," it warned. Amid the depletion of foreign currency, dollar-hungry banks are now "trying to transfer their losses onto the public," said Sami Halabi, director of the Beirut-based research and policy firm Triangle. By trapping dollar savings, banks are increasingly forcing the public to deal with the plummeting Lebanese pound, in what experts are calling a de-facto haircut. The restrictions have sparked panic in debt-ridden Lebanon, where protesters are demanding the removal of a political class they deem incompetent and corrupt. As demonstrations enter their third month, protesters are increasingly targeting banks, which they say are robbing people of their hard-earned savings.

Report: Govt. Formation Returns to Square One after Aoun-Diab Exchange
Naharnet/January 12/2020
The debate that has erupted between President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Hassan Diab has returned the government formation negotiations to square one, a media report said. “President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri have called for a techno-political government, a suggestion that has not been opposed by Hizbullah,” Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported. Diab had decried pressures Friday evening but stressed that he will not “bow” or refrain from carrying out his mission, while emphasizing his commitment to the standards he has announced for the formation of a “small technocrat government.”
Caretaker State Minister for Presidency Affairs Salim Jreissati, who is close to Aoun, hit back, issuing a statement underlining that “the President is not a mailman or a ballot box in the designation and formation process.”In this regard, sources close to the Presidency told Asharq al-Awsat that “Jreissati’s statement is sufficient and what happened shows that things have returned to square one and that this period requires a reevaluation of the entire process” while emphasizing that “no side is exerting pressures on Diab.” “The ball is now in the PM-designate’s court, especially amid the consensus of the parties who backed him and granted him their votes on pushing for the formation of a techno-political government, and therefore he cannot reject their demand,” the sources added. The sources also reminded of Berri’s call for “an inclusive and uniting techno-political government,” adding that Aoun has made a similar call and Hizbullah is not opposed to such a scenario. “Wisdom entails adding some politicians to the government and distributing the portfolios in a fair manner to reach a format that would be accepted by everyone,” the sources added. They also criticized Diab for “confining himself to rushed commitments, such as announcing a six-week deadline for forming the government, setting up a cabinet of nonpartisan experts and barring ex-ministers from participation.”“These issues are not fit for politics, in which developments are always expected to impose drastic changes,” the sources added. Sources close to Diab meanwhile reiterated his insistence on a “technocrat government composed of nonpartisan members.” Asked about the suggestion that Diab “should bow to the will of those who designated him,” the sources said: “If there are clear constitutional texts allowing them to withdraw this designation, let them do so.”
The sources added that the parties would have the choice of withholding confidence should the cabinet line-up be referred to parliament as per the constitution.

Protesters Rally across Lebanon as Crisis Deepens
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 12/2020
Hundreds protested across Lebanon on Saturday to denounce a crippling economic crisis and the political deadlock that has left the country without a government for over two months. Chanting anti-government slogans in the capital Beirut, the northern city of Tripoli and the southern city of Nabatieh, they also denounced a class of political leaders they deem incompetent and corrupt. In Beirut, hundreds of protesters marched to parliament, making stops at the state-run electricity company and the headquarters of the Association of Banks.. "All the reasons that made us take to the streets on October 17 still stand," said protester Riad Issa, referring to the date Lebanon's anti-government protest movement started. "Nothing has changed and the political establishment is closing its ears... and shutting its eyes." Although protests have declined in size, demonstrations have been ongoing since October, increasingly targeting banks and state institutions blamed for driving the country towards collapse. The movement has been fueled by a crippling economic crisis, the worst since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. The World Bank has warned of an impeding recession that may see the proportion of people living in poverty climb from a third to half the population. To make matters worse, a liquidity crunch has pushed Lebanese banks to limit dollar withdrawals and transfers since September. This has forced depositors to deal in the plummeting Lebanese pound, which has lost nearly two thirds of its black market value against the greenback for the first time since it was pegged at 1,500 to the dollar in 1997. "The country is collapsing. We want a government of independents and a rescue plan," read a banner carried by demonstrators in Beirut. Lebanon has been without a government since former Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned on October 29, bowing to popular pressure. His successor, Hassan Diab, was designated on December 19 but is yet to form a government in a delay donors say debt-saddled Lebanon can ill afford. In a statement on Friday, he said he still stands by his pledge to form a government of independent experts to rescue the country from the brink of collapse, a key demand of protesters. But he said his efforts were being challenged. "The pressures, no matter how large, will not change my conviction," he said on Twitter. "I will not bow to intimidation."The delay in forming a government has drawn the ire of demonstrators. "We are tired of this skirting of responsibility," said Rolan Younan, a demonstrator. "We need to reshape the political class."

Sit-in outside Shukair's residence in protest against extending contracts with cellphone companies
NNA/January 12/2020
A sit-in by members of the civil movement was staged outside the residence of Caretaker Tele-Communications Minister Mohammad Shukair in Hamra this afternoon, during which a press conference was devoted to tackling the contract extension with "Alpha" and "Touch" cellphone companies. In a word delivered by activist Neamat Badreddine, she considered that "the Minister of Tele-Communications preferred the interests of the two companies over the interest of the state, and circumvented the decision of the President of the Republic and the Parliamentary Communications Committee for an indefinite period without any hesitation." Badreddine, thus, appealed to the President of the Republic to "hold Minister Shukair accountable through the Ministry of Justice, and to put an end to this farce", while calling on the Parliamentary Information and Communications Committee "to meet urgently to discuss Shukair's veering away from the Committee's unanimous recommendation in restoring the administration of this sector to the hands of the state."Badreddine also announced that the protesters will head tomorrow morning to the Audit Bureau to submit a notification to the Finance Public Prosecution and the Central Inspection Body over the existence of expired work contracts and disbursement of public money with expired signatures. Additionally, a notification will also be addressed to Financial Prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, to initiate an audit into financial dossiers pertaining to operating expenses and waste of public funds.

Adwan: Our judgment on the PM-designate will be upon his declaration of the government formation
NNA/January 12/2020
Head of the Justice and Administration Parliamentary Committee, MP George Adwan, said the new Prime Minister-designate will be judged once he announces the new cabinet formation. "Today, we are before a political class, the majority of which has not learned from what happened and does not want to learn, while the solution at this stage is to form a government," he said. Speaking in an interview with MTV Station earlier today, Adwan said: "The battle of the appointed Prime Minister or any new government is to gain the people's confidence," adding that "with the prevailing mentality and with the same people, we cannot have any different outcome." "The delay in forming a new government is unfathomable under the prevailing conditions in the country, and it indicates a flop to return to our previous status," he indicated. "As Lebanese Forces, we do not want to judge the intentions, for our judgment on the PM-designate will be when announcing the formation of his government," the MP noted, stating that his Party was trying, before October 17, to encourage others towards the right path in saving the country. "The Lebanese Forces Party advocates any change taking place within the constitutional framework, and the issue of supporting early parliamentary elections is being seriously studied within the Strong Republic bloc," disclosed Adwan.

Murad: To stop importing any agricultural commodities piled in our warehouses
NNA/January 12/2020
Caretaker State Minister for International Trade Affairs, Hassan Murad, stressed that "the national interest requires, without any hesitation, that we support the productive sectors in Lebanon," reiterating "the demand of the agricultural sector to stop foreign imports of any agricultural commodities that are stacked in Lebanese warehouses and refrigerators."During his meeting with a delegation representing agricultural bodies from the Bekaa region, Murad promised to stand by Lebanese farmers in their demand to stop agricultural import. He said he will raise the issue with Caretaker Agriculture Minister, Hassan Lakkis, in order to agree on ceasing importation until reaching self-sufficiency and consuming all agricultural quantities produced in Lebanon. "Priority remains to our national production during these circumstances," he asserted, noting that "we have no problem with Egypt and when needed, it will have the privilege of our imports."Murad concluded by declaring: "I will visit Syria at the beginning of next week, and I will work with them to facilitate the entry of Lebanese agricultural trucks, and reducing the financial taxes imposed on Lebanese exports. The Lebanese state is short on this issue, and I have been asking from day one to address this matter, especially that it would generate nearly a billion dollars' revenue to the Lebanese state."

Abu Faour: How can the dollar be available to money changers and not to banks?
NNA/January 12/2020
Caretaker Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour tweeted Sunday on the inavailability of the dollar currency at Lebanese banks, considering that "either banks are refraining from giving citizens their money, intending to humiliate and impoverish them, and therefore should be prosecuted...or money exchangers are conducting illegal money laundry operations, making huge profits from the Lebanese...Hence, they ought to be held accountable by the banking supervisory authorities and by the judiciary."In all cases, Abu Faour regretfully deemed that the Lebanese citizen is the actual victim, since the new government is not likely to see the light anytime soon, while the citizen remains without any reference of protection.

Hmayid after meeting Larijani: Iran will stand by the Lebanese
NNA/January 12/2020
Amal Movement's delegation pursued its visit Saturday to the Iranian capital, Tehran, where its members met with Iranian Shoura Council Speaker, Ali Larijani, offering condolences on the martyrdom of Major General Qasem Soleimani, and dwelling on the current Lebanese status.Following the visit, MP Ayoub Hmayid confirmed Iran's solidarity and support for Lebanon. "Iran will stand by the Lebanese," he said. "Mr. Larijani commended the wisdom of the Lebanese in administering the government issue, the repercussions of Prime Minister Hariri's resignation, and the assignment of Dr. Hassan Diab to form the new government. At the same time, he praised the wisdom of Speaker Nabih Berri and Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah in approaching the arising situation, stressing that the assassination operation will not dissuade the Islamic Republic from its path in support of liberation movements and resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, and in the face of terrorism embodied in America and Israel and all those who were born to create chaos in this region of the world and others," Hmayid underlined. The MP also indicated that the encounter was a chance to reiterate "the depth of connection between Lebanon and the Islamic Republic of Iran at all junctures, and the willingness of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian Shoura Council to be alongside the Lebanese and provide support at the parliamentary level and the exchange of expertise that can always be beneficial."

Al-Rahi Slams Caretaker Govt. Inaction, Those Blocking New Govt.
Naharnet/January 12/2020
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday blasted the caretaker government for failing to “practice its responsibilities.” He also lamented that “those who brought the PM-designate are not facilitating his strenuous efforts to form a government.” “Does the caretaker government, which is neglecting its duties, and do the obstructers of the formation of the new government and the political forces and parties and parliamentary blocs… realize the magnitude of the financial, economic, commercial and morale loss that Lebanon and its people, entity and institutions are going through?” al-Rahi wondered.

Rahi calls on authorities to listen to the youth
NNA/January 12/2020
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, called on political leaders to listen to the demands of the youth, before their uprising turns into a devastating revolution. The Prelate, who presided over Sunday Mass in Bkirki, also condemned attempts to hinder the formation of the cabinet, deeming such acts as unacceptable. "The government must be formed quickly to protect the economy," he saId. Rahi stressed the need for dialogue to restore national unity among the Lebanese.

Ghosn's Japan Lawyer: Questioning Averaged 7 Hours a Day
Associated Press Naharnet/January 12/2020
A lawyer for former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who fled to Lebanon while awaiting trial in Japan, said his client was questioned an average of seven hours a day without a lawyer present. Takashi Takano said on his blog post the questioning continued through weekends, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Takano has said he told Ghosn he couldn't expect a fair trial in Japan, but his chances of winning were good because the evidence against him was so weak. Japan's judicial system has come under fire over Ghosn's case. Critics have for years said the prolonged detentions tend to coerce false confessions. Suspects can be detained even without any charges. Japanese prosecutors and Justice Minister Masako Mori have repeatedly defended the nation's system as upholding human rights, noting Japan boasts a low crime rate. Mori said the system follows appropriate procedures under Japanese law, stressing that every culture is different. Takano said he recently looked at prosecutors' data and Ghosn's notes to tally the hours of questioning for 70 of the days Ghosn was detained. On three days, Ghosn had been questioned for some 11 hours, according to Takano's tally. Ghosn was detained under two separate arrests for 130 days. He has been charged with underreporting his future compensation and of breach of trust in diverting Nissan Motor Co. money for alleged personal gain. In a news conference in Beirut lasting more than two hours, Ghosn reasserted his innocence, and accused Nissan and Japanese government officials of plotting his removal. Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades, has said the compensation was never decided, and the payments were for legitimate business. Much of his news conference was devoted to criticizing Japanese justice as rigged and harsh. He said he had been grilled without a lawyer present while held in solitary confinement. He advised all foreigners to leave.

Lebanon Central Bank Seeks Extra Powers, Wants Controls Standardized
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 12 January, 2020
Lebanon's central bank is seeking extra powers to regulate and standardize controls which commercial banks are imposing on depositors, the governor said on Sunday, saying his intention was to ensure "fair relationships" between banks and customers. Seeking to prevent capital flight, commercial banks have been tightly controlling access to deposits and blocking most transfers abroad since October, when anti-government protests brought a long-brewing Lebanese economic crisis to a head. The Lebanese authorities have not, however, introduced formal capital controls regulating these measures. Central bank governor Riad Salameh, in a text message to Reuters, confirmed sending a letter to Lebanon's finance minister on Jan. 9 seeking "exceptional powers necessary to issue regulations pertaining" to conditions in the sector. He said no new measures were planned.
The letter, reported by Lebanese media late on Saturday, said the measures imposed by commercial banks needed to be regulated and unified "with the aim of implementing them fairly and equally on all depositors and clients". Lebanon's caretaker government has not issued any statement on Salameh's request, which was set out in a letter to caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil. In the letter, Salameh said implementation of the controls by commercial banks had "on several occasions led to prejudicing the rights of some clients, particularly with respect to the unequal approach with other clients". He urged Khalil to work with the government "to take appropriate legal measures ... to entrust (the central bank)" with the necessary extra powers. In justifying this, he cited the need to "secure the public good, to protect banking and monetary stability ... and to protect the legitimate interests of depositors and clients". Reflecting a hard currency shortage, commercial banks have gradually reduced the amount of dollars customers can withdraw since October. For most, the cap is now 200 dollars a week.Lebanon is facing the worst economic crisis since its 1975-90 civil war, rooted in decades of rampant state corruption and bad governance that have landed the country with one of the world's heaviest public debt burdens.

Lebanon’s Exchange Markets Control Dollar Rate, Central Bank Only Monitors
Paula Astih/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 12 January, 2020
The price of the US dollar on the exchange market in Lebanon in the past few days has touched 2,500 Lebanese pounds (LBP), an unprecedented figure since the end of the civil war nearly 30 years ago.
Despite the stability of the official price at the threshold of 1,500 LBP, the Lebanese are very concerned over chaos in the market, especially since the vast majority of them receive their salaries in the local currency. Recent media remarks by central bank governor Riad Salameh, in which he tried to reassure the Lebanese about the fate of their bank deposits and the availability of liquidity, did not alleviate concerns that the dollar would touch the threshold of 3,000 LBP, double the official price. The head of the Syndicate of Exchange Offices, Mahmoud Murad, tried to ease concerns, stating that the rise in the price of the dollar fell within the supply and demand equation, which usually controls markets and is affected by the prevailing security and political conditions. “Money exchange offices are not responsible for the rise in the exchange rate, as the profit margin for them has not changed,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat. There are only 305 exchange offices affiliated with the syndicate, according to Murad, while between 200 and 300 others are working without a license.
Financial and Economic Expert Dr. Charbel Qordahi stressed that the central bank and the Banking Supervision Authority were legally the two bodies responsible for regulating the exchange sector. But he added that forcing the exchange offices to fix the exchange rate would lead to adverse results such as the emergence of a black market.“Stabilizing the exchange rate can only be done by securing the necessary liquidity in dollars,” Qordahi noted. Reflecting a hard currency shortage, commercial banks have gradually reduced the amount of dollars customers can withdraw since October. For most, the cap is now 200 dollars a week. Lebanon is facing the worst economic crisis since its 1975-90 civil war, rooted in decades of rampant state corruption and bad governance that have landed the country with one of the world's heaviest public debt burdens.

The Lebanese Carlos
Sawsan al-Abtah/Asharq Al Awsat/January 12/2020
More than twenty books have been written on Carlos Ghosn, and soon, another writer will go where nobody else has, in search of the secret behind Ghosn speaking very little about his father. The book published in French will discuss an aspect that Ghosn has scarcely discussed: his father’s involvement in a murder for which he was given a death sentence that was never carried out but instead was imprisoned for a long time. This story motivates the son’s remembrance of his grandfather, the poor Lebanese man who immigrated to Brazil and became a successful businessman instead of his father, whom he barely talks about.This information does not change anything in terms of the accusations against Ghosn in Japan, but points at the centrality of his role and his excessive interest in his personality, chasing every little detail about his life. A car industry emperor whose success turned him into a phenomenon, just as the attempt to overthrow him, described in France as an ‘earthquake’. A planner, or a vulgar thinker, coming from different cultures with nationalities from three different continents. An immigrant who fluently speaks French, English, Portuguese and Arabic. His personal profile along with his way of work represents a rare living embodiment in Europe and Asia of an engineer of international businesses, capable of running several enormous companies at the same time, with unmatched success, generating billions of dollars in profit in a short period while supervising hundreds of thousands of employees without batting an eye.
In addition to weaving first class and extensive social and political relations all over the world. Many have met Carlos Ghosn or have seen him by chance, from presidents to regular citizens. The man is always moving, at a rate that is extraordinary for a man in his sixties, as energetic and vital as a man in his twenties. You could also add a list of friendships that are very hard to limit, and an uncompromising insistence on family life with his highest priority being to be a good father. Two reasons motivated him to leave Japan: knowing how unjust the legal system was and not being able to see his wife, which he considered a deliberate attempt to break his will, and a test in a position he could never accept.
He has many nicknames: Superstar, the Napoleon of Cars and the most famous Frenchman in Japan. His main problem is that he knows his worth and that he has always felt that the people he has worked with have been given him his worth in money. With all that he’s accomplished, he would always spark anger around him, with his decisions that would only rarely not be carried out. His influence expanded in the years after he conjured an unprecedented model for the Nissan-Renault Alliance, while every side would accuse him of favoring the other. Ultimately, this is what motivated the Japanese authorities to investigate old violations, as a result of the date for the merger of the two companies drawing closer, a merger that Nissan considered would melt its identity. It was not possible to halt this project without overthrowing the mastermind.
This does not mean that Ghosn is innocent of everything that he has been accused of. Still, it also does not prove that he who has been elevated to the position of Buddha today can, in a glimpse, put him in solitary confinement, forcing the Lebanese embassy in Japan to buy him a bed to spend his night. It is exaggerated to think that he should wait for the court date in 2021 and be treated like a criminal until then. This is a recurrent and complicated type of case, contaminated with business wars and political calculations, in Japan inasmuch as in France.
What was considered a tax evasion over compensations that did not even reach Nissan CEO’s pocket yet and the luxurious houses that the company has bought for him to move between houses that were neither bought in secret nor in his name, for it to become controversial today. There was a certain silence over what Ghosn considered his right in return for the Superman-like efforts that brought brilliant results. He was comparable to the US and its businessmen, especially after General Motors offered him a position for 35 million dollars per year due to Obama’s desire, a 10 million dollar increase over what he was getting paid, and he refused because he “could not leave the ship without a captain”.
A life-changing decision that he regrets until today. Did Ghosn believe that it was his right to make up for some of what he has lost, for more costs? Did he make a mistake when he let himself mix between the personal and his work? There is a vast difference between Ghosn’s conception of his exceptional role and financial benefits, on the one hand, and the accounts of his employers in Japan.
He saw himself as the owner of the project and its captain, while France and Japan saw him as just an employee who has crossed his limits. He always lived as a citizen of the world, while his many affiliations became his curse, making him a stranger wherever he goes. A difficult test for a man that believed in untamed liberalism that has the right to close factories with ease of conscience, dismissing thousands of workers, to generate tens of billions in profit. That was encouraged in the last twenty years.
Ghosn was seen as a miracle-maker when spiking the numbers and digging out dead companies and bringing them back to life. Everybody celebrated the Nissan-Renault alliance as the number one in the car industry without seeing the human touch and the scars that it left on the lives of many. However, a new era is being born, a period of uprisings and yellow vests, and the screams of people in pain. Carlos Ghosn did not commit anything new for him to be persecuted for, but circumstances have changed, and what was glorified yesterday has now fallen out of favor. It is not easy to see one of the most prominent symbols of globalization in the 21st century escaping in a box after everybody abandoned him, not finding peace except in the land of his ancestors.

The DEA’s (Drug Enforcement Administration) Targeting of Hezbollah’s Global Criminal Support Network
John Fernandez/The Washington Institute/January 12/2020
جون فرناندس/معهد واشنطن/إدارة مكافحة المخدرات الأميركية تلاحق شبكة الدعم الإجرامية العالمية التابعة لحزب الله
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/82234/%d8%ac%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%af%d8%b3-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%b4%d9%86%d8%b7%d9%86-%d8%a5%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d9%85%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%81%d8%ad%d8%a9-%d8%a7/
The head of the Counter-Narcoterrorism Operations Center discusses how the group uses drug trafficking and other schemes to fund its activities, and what the DEA is doing to stop it.
On January 9, John Fernandez addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. As the Drug Enforcement Administration’s assistant special agent in charge of the Special Operations Division’s Counter-Narcoterrorism Operations Center, he oversees interagency support to field investigations concerning Hezbollah’s global criminal support structures. The following is a rapporteur’s summary of his remarks.
As part of an effort to bring together the intelligence, law enforcement, and military communities in the fight against narcoterrorism and money laundering linked to terrorist organizations, the DEA established the Counter-Narcoterrorism Operations Center in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Today, CNTOC plays two primary roles. First, it shares non-drug-related terrorism information generated from its global operations with the FBI and other agencies that have primary investigative authorities for that information. Second, it conducts its own investigations at the nexus of narcotics and terrorism, focusing on “convergence targets” such as money launderers and sanctions violators.
Of the sixty-eight groups designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the State Department, the DEA has linked twenty-five of them to the drug trade. The legal provisions included in 21 U.S.C. 960a have proven useful in expanding the agency’s authorities to target narcoterrorists, and although DEA cases do not always result in terrorism-related charges, the agency uses the evidence and means at its disposal to determine the most easily prosecutable offenses.
The DEA has the largest U.S. law enforcement presence overseas and an extensive source network, both of which have helped collect intelligence on terrorist tactics like the use of improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan, as well as organizations such as Lebanese Hezbollah, the Taliban, the Islamic State, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), and Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN). Moreover, a DEA source was critical in foiling the 2011 Iranian plot to kill Saudi ambassador Adel al-Jubeir in Washington. (Iranian American suspect Mansour Arbabsiar had attempted to hire a DEA informant whom he believed to be a member of the Zetas drug cartel to conduct the assassination.)
Hezbollah is a unique target for the DEA due to several characteristics: its high level of sophistication; its hierarchical, compartmentalized structure; its combination of widespread political, military, criminal, and social activities; and its deadly targeting of Americans (prior to the September 11 attacks, Hezbollah had killed more Americans than any other FTO). Today, the Trump administration considers Hezbollah a high national security priority and has spearheaded a robust, cross-government effort aimed at stifling its activities.
Hezbollah’s criminal support network dates to the 1990s, when Imad Mughniyah, head of the group’s External Security Organization, sought to establish a supplemental source of funding besides the money it received from Iran. This criminal network expanded even further as a result of financial burdens incurred during the 2006 Lebanon war.
The DEA’s targeting of Hezbollah began about thirteen years ago with Operation Titan, which intercepted the sale of multi-ton cocaine shipments by Hezbollah associates in cooperation with the Colombian drug cartel La Oficina de Envigado. Notable cases since then have included Lebanese Colombian drug kingpin Ayman Joumaa and the Lebanese Canadian Bank.
In the past six years, the DEA provided assistance that led to the arrests of a number of prominent actors in Hezbollah’s global criminal support network, including Ali Fayyad (2014), Ali Koleilat (2014), Altaf Khanani (2015), Hassan Mansour (2015), and Ibrahim Ahmadoun (2015). In 2016, Operation Cedar targeted an international money laundering scheme, leading to the arrests of Hezbollah operative Mohamad Noureddine and others via concurrent raids in Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy. CNTOC financial investigators also played a central role in the arrest and indictment of Kassim Tajideen, a Hezbollah financier sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to forfeit $50 million in August 2019.
In all, relevant DEA field investigations have spanned six continents and focused extensively on individuals in Europe, Mexico, the Tri-Border Area, Venezuela, and West Africa. Since 2017, DEA efforts on this front have collectively resulted in seventeen indictments, fourteen arrests, three extraditions, and nine designations of Hezbollah-linked individuals through the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In addition, there are four pending arrests, eight pending indictments, and four pending extraditions on the near horizon.
Hezbollah increasingly relies on criminal revenue streams from a wide array of sources that include the Lebanese diaspora, group members, affiliates, sympathizers, and unwitting collaborators. The organization has even competed for money laundering contracts in the same manner as Colombian cartels and other criminal organizations. OFAC designations are therefore an especially useful tool in targeting Hezbollah supporters. Whether singly or introduced concurrently with a criminal indictment (the most potent option), they help stymie revenue streams, isolate Hezbollah from its associates, provide a basis for criminal charges, and discredit the group’s leadership.
The degree to which Hezbollah values criminal proceeds and fears the idea of operatives being placed under U.S. custody is apparent in the pressure that the group and Iran have placed on governments that take action against such operatives. For example, after drug and arms traffickers Ali Fayyad, Khaled Merebi, and Faouzi Jaber were arrested in the Czech Republic in 2014, individuals related to Fayyad kidnapped five Czech military officers in Lebanon. The officers were returned in exchange for Fayad and Merebi’s release.
In 2017, operative Ali Koleilat was extradited from Belgium to the United States after intelligence uncovered Hezbollah plots aimed at securing his release. Among these threats were plans to assassinate the prosecutors involved in his case and kidnap a Belgian defense attache in Beirut.
That same year, Iran-related elements allegedly sought to bribe the Moroccan government after it arrested Kassim Tajideen. To their credit, the Moroccans resisted Iranian political pressure and expedited his extradition to the United States. Partly due to this decision, Tehran severed diplomatic ties with Rabat in 2018.
Regarding the amount of Hezbollah’s revenue obtained through criminal ventures, a precise figure is unknown, but unofficial estimates have placed it as low as 10 percent. Yet success can be further measured through fallout information on Hezbollah’s lost revenue, impediments to its capabilities, loss of morale, and reputational costs.
As for interactions with U.S. foreign partners, the DEA works closely with numerous countries on these issues. Because many European partners still have not designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in its entirety, the agency has found it constructive to leave out the terrorist label in briefings. Referring to Hezbollah’s drug/arms trafficking and money laundering activities while sidestepping terrorism helps avoid political sensitivities. Yet complications sometimes arise in messaging after arrests. For example, the United States wanted to highlight Hezbollah’s links in press releases about Operation Cedar, to the chagrin of several European allies.
Regarding Hezbollah’s relationship with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the criminal activities carried out by the two organizations often overlap. Like Hezbollah, Iran has turned to criminal revenue streams to offset the financial constraints imposed by U.S. Treasury sanctions and its own expenditures on proxy wars. Additionally, the DEA has received information on Iranian embassies being used in furtherance of Hezbollah criminal enterprises. For example, diplomatic pouches have reportedly been used to transport narcotics at times. And while Iran is Hezbollah’s principal funder, the group’s illicit proceeds are sometimes used to line Iran’s coffers.
In Syria, Hezbollah has used its drug proceeds to buy arms for fighters on behalf of the Assad regime, with senior commander Ali Fayyad and another individual believed to be involved in the purchases. Hezbollah also protects smuggling routes in the so-called Shia Crescent, including in Syria. Reporting indicates that marijuana, Captagon, and other drugs are now being heavily trafficked by Syrian military intelligence.
Officials at the top of Hezbollah’s hierarchy have given a green light to, turned a blind eye to, and/or actively directed many of these criminal activities, including security chief Wafiq Safa and Abdallah Safieddine, the group’s representative to Iran and cousin to leader Hassan Nasrallah. The fact that Nasrallah has the ability to rein in these individuals but has chosen not to underscores how significant criminal revenue has become to the terrorist organization.
*This summary was prepared by Samantha Stern.
The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the Florence and Robert Kaufman Family.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-deas-targeting-of-hezbollahs-global-criminal-support-network

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 12-13/2020
Apologize and resign, Iranians tell Khamenei
Arab News/January 12/2020
JEDDAH: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei faced calls to step down on Sunday amid growing anger after the Iranian military shot down a passenger jet and killed 176 people. Demonstrations erupted across the country for a second day on Sunday, with protesters saying the regime leaders’ failure to ground civilian flights at a time of escalating confrontation with the US showed they had no concern for the lives of ordinary Iranians. “They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here,” demonstrators chanted outside Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. Iran’s usually compliant media joined in the protests, and Ayatollah Khamenei was the subject of unprecedented criticism. “Apologize and resign,” the Etemad daily said in a front page headline.  The “people’s demand” was for those responsible for the plane disaster to quit, the newspaper said. Even hardline media outlets had headlines such as “Shame” and “Unforgivable.” Opposition activist Mehdi Karroubi said Khamenei was “directly responsible” for the disaster as commander in chief of Iran’s military. “If you were aware and you let military and security authorities deceive people, then there is no doubt you lack the attributes of constitutional leadership,” he said. As the protests in Tehran grew, riot police in black uniforms and helmets assembled in Vali-e Asr Square, Tehran University and other landmarks. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers patrolled the city, along with plainclothes security forces and members of the feared Basij militia. US President Donald Trump warned the regime: “Do not kill your protesters. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the world is watching. Stop the killing of your great Iranian people.” The Ukraine Airlines flight from Tehran to Kiev was shot down on Wednesday minutes after it took off. Most who died were Iranians or Iranian-Canadian dual nationals. Anger mounted in Iran when it emerged that an IRGC commander told authorities about the missile strike on the day it happened, but they denied it for three days.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the protests showed Iranians wanted change. “They are standing up and asserting their rights, their aspirations for a better government — a different regime,” he said.

Both sides in Libya conflict accept ceasefire
AFP/January 13/2020
TRIPOLI – Both sides in Libya’s conflict agreed to a ceasefire that started early Sunday following weeks of international diplomacy and calls for a truce by power-brokers Russia and Turkey.
The oil-rich North African country has been wracked by bloody turmoil since a NATO-backed uprising killed long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Since April last year, the Tripoli-based, UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) has been under attack from forces loyal to eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar, which days ago advanced to take the strategic coastal city of Sirte. Late Saturday Haftar forces announced a ceasefire starting at the stroke of midnight (Sunday 00:00 local time, Saturday 2200 GMT) in line with a joint call by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Early Sunday the head of the GNA, Fayez al-Sarraj, also announced an agreement to the ceasefire, saying it had taken effect at the start of Sunday. Sarraj stressed the GNA’s “legitimate right … to respond to any attack or aggression” that may come from the other side — just as Haftar forces had warned of a “severe” response to any violation by the “opposing camp”. Artillery fire could be heard shortly after midnight from the centre of the capital, before quiet settled over the southern Tripoli suburb where pro-GNA forces have been resisting Haftar’s offensive launched April 4, 2019. Erdogan and Putin had called for a ceasefire at a meeting on Wednesday in Istanbul, and Turkey on Saturday asked Russia to convince Haftar, who had initially vowed to fight on, to respect it. Ankara deployed military support to the GNA in January, while Russia has been accused of supporting pro-Haftar forces, which are also backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
Europe and North Africa have launched a diplomatic offensive to try to prevent Libya, with the increased involvement of international players in its conflict, from turning into a “second Syria”. European governments are concerned that Islamist militants and migrant smugglers, already highly active in Libya, will take further advantage of the chaos. On Saturday Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Moscow and called for international efforts to address the crisis in Libya. Merkel, making her first visit to Russia since 2018, said she hoped “the Turkish-Russian efforts will be successful,” calling a ceasefire a first step in a peace process. Putin and Merkel both backed a Libya peace conference in Berlin being organised by UN special envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, which could be held in the coming weeks. Both Russia and Turkey have emerged as key players in Libya. While Turkey has sent defence equipment and troops to support the UN-backed Tripoli government, Moscow is accused of backing mercenaries supporting Haftar. Putin on Saturday reiterated Moscow’s denial of this, saying: “if there are Russians there, they do not represent the interests of the Russian state and do not receive money from it.”

Iranians Burn UK Flag outside Embassy after British Envoy's Arrest
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 12/2020
Iranian protesters set alight a Union Jack in front of the UK embassy in Tehran Sunday, after the British ambassador's arrest for allegedly attending an illegal demonstration, AFP correspondents reported.
Chanting "Death to Britain", up to 200 protesters rallied outside the mission a day after the brief arrest of British ambassador Rob Macaire at a memorial for those killed when a Ukraine airliner was shot down.

Trump tweets support for Iranian protesters after Tehran admits to unintentionally shooting down Ukrainian plane
NNA/CNN/January 12/2020
President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted his administration's support for Iranian protesters who took to the streets after Tehran admitted it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet and killed all 176 people on board.
"To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I've stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage," the President tweeted in both English and Farsi.
In a separate tweet, Trump wrote that Iran's government "must allow human rights groups to monitor and report facts from the ground on the ongoing protests by the Iranian people."

Trump Warns Iran Not to Kill Protesters as U.S. Says Door Open to Talks
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 12/2020
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran Sunday against killing protesters who have risen up over the regime's downing of a civilian airliner as his defense secretary left the door open to talks with Tehran without preconditions.Trump's salvo came as Iran's Islamic regime faced a challenge from angry street protests, having come to the brink of war with the U.S. with a series of tit-for-tat confrontations. "To the leaders of Iran - DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS," Trump tweeted, warning the world and "more importantly, the USA is watching."In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" just before the tweet, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Trump was stilling willing to hold talks with Iran's leaders. "We're willing to sit down and discuss without precondition a new way forward, a series of steps by which Iran becomes a more normal country," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Qatari Emir Visits Iran, Says Agreed with Tehran that De-escalation is 'Only Solution'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 12/2020
Qatar and Iran agree that de-escalation is the "only solution" to regional tensions, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said on Sunday after meeting Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran. "This visit comes at a critical time in the region, and we agreed with the brothers and with His Excellency the president that the only solution to these crises is de-escalation from everyone and dialogue," he told a news conference. "Dialogue is the only solution" to resolve the crises, he said at a time of heightened U.S.-Iranian tensions.

Both Sides in Libya Conflict Accept Ceasefire
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 12/2020
Both sides in Libya's conflict agreed to a ceasefire that started early Sunday following weeks of international diplomacy and calls for a truce by power-brokers Russia and Turkey.
The oil-rich North African country has been wracked by bloody turmoil since a NATO-backed uprising killed long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.Since April last year, the Tripoli-based, U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) has been under attack from forces loyal to eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar, which days ago advanced to take the strategic coastal city of Sirte. Late Saturday Haftar forces announced a ceasefire starting at the stroke of midnight (Sunday 00:00 local time, Saturday 2200 GMT) in line with a joint call by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Early Sunday the head of the GNA, Fayez al-Sarraj, also announced an agreement to the ceasefire, saying it had taken effect at the start of Sunday. Sarraj stressed the GNA's "legitimate right ... to respond to any attack or aggression" that may come from the other side -- just as Haftar forces had warned of a "severe" response to any violation by the "opposing camp."Artillery fire could be heard shortly after midnight from the center of the capital, before quiet settled over the southern Tripoli suburb where pro-GNA forces have been resisting Haftar's offensive launched April 4, 2019.
Fears of a 'second Syria'  Erdogan and Putin had called for a ceasefire at a meeting on Wednesday in Istanbul, and Turkey on Saturday asked Russia to convince Haftar, who had initially vowed to fight on, to respect it. Ankara deployed military support to the GNA in January, while Russia has been accused of supporting pro-Haftar forces, which are also backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Europe and North Africa have launched a diplomatic offensive to try to prevent Libya, with the increased involvement of international players in its conflict, from turning into a "second Syria". European governments are concerned that Islamist militants and migrant smugglers, already highly active in Libya, will take further advantage of the chaos. On Saturday Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Moscow and called for international efforts to address the crisis in Libya. Merkel, making her first visit to Russia since 2018, said she hoped "the Turkish-Russian efforts will be successful," calling a ceasefire a first step in a peace process. Putin and Merkel both backed a Libya peace conference in Berlin being organised by U.N. special envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, which could be held in the coming weeks. Both Russia and Turkey have emerged as key players in Libya.While Turkey has sent defense equipment and troops to support the U.N.-backed Tripoli government, Moscow is accused of backing mercenaries supporting Haftar. Putin on Saturday reiterated Moscow's denial of this, saying: "if there are Russians there, they do not represent the interests of the Russian state and do not receive money from it."

Scores of Iranians Protest for Second Day against Ruling Authorities
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 12 January, 2020
Scores of protesters gathered for a second day in Iran on Sunday, chanting slogans against the authorities following the Revolutionary Guard’s admission it had shot down a passenger plane in error after days denying it was to blame, social media posts showed.
The posts on Twitter could not immediately be verified by Reuters. But state-affiliated media had reported protests on Saturday night shortly after the Iranian military said it had brought down the Ukrainian plane on Wednesday and apologized.
“They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here,” protesters who had gathered in the street outside a university in Tehran chanted. They also gathered in other cities. Authorities had earlier deployed riot police in the capital on Sunday expecting more protests, reported The Associated Press. Riot police and plainclothes officers could be seen massing in Vali-e Asr Square in Tehran. A large black banner unveiled in the square bore the names of those killed in the plane crash. The plane crash early Wednesday killed all 176 people on board, mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians. After initially blaming a technical failure, authorities finally admitted to accidentally shooting it down in the face of mounting evidence and accusations by Western leaders. Iran downed the Ukrainian flight as it braced for retaliation after firing ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq housing US forces. The ballistic missile attack, which caused no casualties, was a response to the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top general, in a US airstrike in Baghdad. Iranians have expressed anger over the downing of the plane and the misleading explanations from senior officials in the wake of the tragedy. A candlelight ceremony late Saturday in Tehran turned into a protest, with hundreds of people chanting against the country's leaders — including supreme leader Ali Khamenei — and police dispersing them with tear gas.

Israeli Intelligence Helped US Locate Soleimani before his Killing
Asharq Al-Awsat/January 12/2020
Israel helped the United States in the operation that resulted in the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, a US report said over the weekend. According to an NBC News report late Friday, Israel was involved in the January 3 operation, handing the Americans key intelligence details. The information helped confirm intelligence provided by informants at a Syrian airport that Soleimani had been on a nighttime flight from Damascus to Baghdad, the report said, quoting two sources with direct knowledge of the operation and other US officials briefed on it. After his plane landed, it was a simple matter of using drones to track him exiting the aircraft and entering a car, which was later targeted with four missiles. Israeli media reported the day after the strike that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had briefed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of time about the US plans to kill Soleimani.
Pompeo phoned Netanyahu on January 1, to thank him for Israel’s support in efforts to combat Iran and after the attack on the US embassy in Iraq. Before departing for Athens the following morning, Netanyahu alluded to “very, very dramatic things” happening in the region.
Hours later, Soleimani and several top officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in the airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport, along with an Iranian-backed commander in Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces. Netanyahu had been the only non-US leader who appeared in the know about the planned operation beforehand, the New York Times reported Saturday. In wake of the killing, Netanyahu said Washington had the right to defend itself by eliminating Soleimani. “Just as Israel has the right of self-defense, the United States has exactly the same right,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office.“Qassem Soleimani is responsible for the death of American citizens and many other innocent people. He was planning more such attacks.”

Shiite Cleric Ponders Running to Succeed Iraqi PM
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/January 12/2020
Iraqi Shiite cleric Qassem Taei announced that he is considering running for head of the Iraqi government to succeed the outgoing Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. A statement released by Taei’s office said that the cleric “received many requests by the demonstrators to run for office, especially by demonstrators in the Dhi Qar governorate.”Dhi Qar protesters demonstrated in support of the cleric with some voicing their confidence in his ability to pull the country out of its current crisis. “Taie has a comprehensive program that includes eliminating corruption and bringing all the corrupt from 2003 to date to trial, no matter how influential they are,” the statement said, adding that although Taei has not yet decided his position on this nomination, he is studying the matter seriously. Abdul Mahdi resigned in December following massive anti-government protests. He is serving in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed.
Deep differences remain between political forces and demonstrators over appointing the next prime minister. Protesters insist on the departure and accountability of all political elites accused of corruption and waste of state funds and who have governed since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.

Iraqi Servicemen Wounded by Rocket Attack on Air Base
Asharq Al-Awsat/January 12/2020
Four members of Iraq's military were wounded Sunday in a rocket attack targeting an air base just north of Baghdad which houses American trainers, Iraqi security officials said. The attack by at least six rockets came just days after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq that house US forces, causing no casualties. Sunday’s attack wounded an Iraqi air force officer and three enlisted men, Iraqi security officials said. The rockets struck Balad air base, which hosts American trainers, advisers and a company that provides maintenance services for F-16 aircraft. Some rockets fell on a restaurant inside the airbase, the officials said. The base is located some 80 kilometers north of Baghdad. A statement from the Iraqi army's official media office confirmed the attack but said eight rockets hit the base, and that two officers had been wounded. The difference in accounts could not immediately be reconciled. “There are American experts, trainers and advisers at the base,” said one defense official.

King Salman Receives Japanese PM
Asharq Al-Awsat/January 12/2020
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz received in Riyadh on Sunday Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, reported the Saudi Press Agency. He threw a luncheon banquet in honor of his guest, who is on a tour to the region. Abe, who had arrived in the Kingdom on Saturday, left Riyadh on Sunday heading to Al-Ula. At King Khalid International Airport, the Japanese PM was seen off by Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region and a representative of the Royal Protocol. During his five-day tour, Abe will also visit the United Arab Emirates and Oman, where a new ruler was sworn in on Saturday following the death of modern day Oman's founding father Sultan Qaboos.

Israel foreign minister postpones Dubai visit over security concern diplomats
NNA/ Reuters/January 12/2020
Israel's foreign minister has postponed a visit to Dubai this month due to security concerns, diplomats said on Sunday, linking the decision to spiralling Iran-U.S. tensions. Israel Katz, who doubles as intelligence minister, had been scheduled to attend mid-month meetings in the Gulf emirate ahead of its Expo 2020 Dubai but "on the instruction of security officials" would defer the visit, an Israeli diplomat said, without giving a new date. Another diplomat, who also requested anonymity, said Israel was taking precautions lest its arch-foe Iran try to target Katz as part of retaliation against its U.S. ally. The diplomat did not cite evidence to indicate any specific threat. Iran and Israel have been fierce regional enemies since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Decades-old hostilities between Tehran and Washington have boiled over in recent weeks, with a U.S. strike killing a senior Iranian commander and Iran firing missiles at Iraqi airbases hosting U.S. forces in response.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 12-13/2020
Ceasefire or Escalation in Libya?
Ben Fishman/The Washington Institute/January 12/2020
After the fall of Sirte, Erdogan and Putin’s desired ceasefire can only be achieved with Washington’s support.
Over the past week, regional and European actors have increased their diplomatic activity around Libya in response to intensifying violence in the nine-month-old civil war. On January 8, less than a week after the Turkish parliament approved sending forces to support the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin met in Istanbul and called for a Libya ceasefire to begin on January 12. Whether or not Moscow and Ankara manage to pause the violence temporarily, their growing influence in Libya represents an epic failure of Western attempts to resolve the conflict diplomatically.
The longer-term effort to jumpstart Libya’s political transition requires a wider international effort at peace and reconciliation—something Russia and Turkey can support but not lead. Putin and Erdogan seemed to acknowledge that fact at their summit, endorsing a long-planned multilateral conference in Berlin aimed at recommitting all relevant actors to support an end to hostilities and respect the UN Security Council’s mandatory but widely ignored arms embargo. Even assuming Putin is serious and withdraws Russian mercenaries from the frontlines, a full, lasting ceasefire cannot transpire until the other actors who support Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) agree to withdraw their equipment and personnel for a fixed period while negotiations are launched—especially the United Arab Emirates, which provides the LNA with critical air superiority. At the same time, Turkey would have to take commensurate de-escalatory steps of its own.
The United States is the only actor that holds enough weight with all the foreign parties to bring about an authentic ceasefire. Despite being consumed with crises in Iran and Iraq, Washington should expend the diplomatic effort required to pursue durable stability in Libya before the country slips further toward endemic chaos.
CONSEQUENCES OF TURKEY’S INTERVENTION
Feeling pressure from the insertion of Russian private military contractors on Haftar’s side in September, the GNA turned to Turkey, its most reliable regional ally, for assistance in November. Previously, Ankara had provided GNA-aligned forces with armored vehicles and Bayraktar drones early in the civil war, but slowed their supply and operations over the summer. In late November, however, Turkey signed two controversial agreements with the GNA: a memorandum of understanding wherein Turkey agreed to provide military equipment, personnel, and training upon request, and a maritime agreement that delineated an exclusive economic zone extending both countries’ territorial waters in the Mediterranean Sea, to the visceral outrage of Cyprus, Egypt, and Greece.
In December, the GNA requested direct military help on the basis of the defense memorandum, and Ankara made good on its pledge by approving troop deployments on January 2. The scope and mission of the Turkish intervention remain unclear—Erdogan stated on January 6 that his forces would play a coordinating and training role, emphasizing that they would not see combat. Meanwhile, Turkey has deployed militias from Syria to fight alongside the GNA, adding even more foreign fighters to the mix (Ankara denied sending them, but U.S. Embassy Tripoli, which currently operates from Tunis, confirmed their presence).
In addition to provoking significant political blowback from the European Union states that oppose Ankara’s involvement, the drawn-out, high-profile nature of GNA-Turkish engagement has contributed to the recent military escalation. Haftar-aligned forces have increased their bombing attacks over the past few months, raising the death toll among civilians. They have also targeted the airports in Misratah and Tripoli, including a precision missile attack against a graduating unit of air cadets in formation that killed more than thirty. Most recently, they captured Sirte earlier this month after various Salafist brigades and pro-Qadhafi remnants changed their allegiance.
Sirte’s fall is particularly galling because in 2016, the United States spent six months helping pro-GNA forces from Misratah evict the Islamic State from the city. Moreover, Sirte provides strategic depth for Misratah, so these same forces will now have to defend their hometown from the east, decreasing their ability to reinforce the GNA in Tripoli to the west.
MAKING A CEASEFIRE VIABLE
In the midst of all this military activity, the diplomatic tempo has increased. After visiting the new presidents of neighboring Tunisia and Algeria in recent weeks, GNA prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj traveled to Brussels on January 8, where EU High Representative Josep Borrell pledged “to guarantee the full implementation of practical measures to ensure a sustainable ceasefire and accompany the political process.” Borrell then issued a joint statement with the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, and Italy calling for a ceasefire and a return to negotiations through a future conference in Berlin. The statement also condemned “unilateral agreements,” singling out the GNA-Turkish deal (though failing to mention the various informal arrangements that govern foreign support for Haftar).
Although the main European players now appear more united on Libya than in the past, achieving longer-term stability will entail persuading or pressuring all of Haftar’s external backers to stop supporting his offensive against Tripoli. Convincing Haftar alone would be challenging given his previous unwillingness to accept any form of political compromise with the GNA. But the difficulty is compounded when his primary supporters—the UAE and Egypt—remain just as obdurate as him. Indeed, Abu Dhabi and Cairo are wholly convinced that the internationally recognized GNA is beholden to “Islamist militias,” conveniently ignoring the significant Salafist elements among Haftar’s LNA. Erdogan’s support for the GNA only reinforces this view, since Emirati and Egyptian officials oppose the Turkish leader’s policies regionally and view him as a patron to their domestic Islamist rivals.
Accordingly, the UAE should be Washington’s starting point. Until Abu Dhabi pulls back its drones, operators, and other crucial military support, the prospects for Libya’s stability will remain dim. Besides the fact that they provide the greatest advantage to Haftar’s forces, focusing on the Emiratis also makes sense because the other foreign players currently have reasons to de-escalate on their own. Putin may now decide to pull back Russia’s Wagner mercenaries, if only as a temporary measure to fulfill his deal with Erdogan and limit the prospects of Turkish-Russian clashes. Ankara has not yet fully committed its forces and could therefore limit their contributions, especially if it believes Tripoli is no longer under immediate threat (in Turkey’s view, the city’s fall would endanger its strategic interests in the East Mediterranean and broader Middle East). As for Egypt, it is unlikely to provide more support for Haftar in the Tripoli theater because its primary interest is to ensure the security of its border with Libya.
Only Washington can make the case to the UAE that adventurism in far-off North Africa is ill advised at a time of extraordinary crisis in the Persian Gulf, where Abu Dhabi should be focusing its resources on collective regional security. A U.S. diplomatic role would also give the Emiratis some assurance that their views will be taken seriously during negotiations.
At the same time, U.S. officials must be willing to call the UAE out for contributing to the escalation—something they have notably refused to do in past statements citing other belligerents. Likewise, Washington should help Abu Dhabi shift away from its zero-sum mentality about so-called Islamists in general, and Libya is a good place to start.
To reinforce these bilateral efforts, the administration should work with Russia to pass a UN Security Council resolution supporting a ceasefire. The Trump administration opposed this important measure last April and May, but it now has another opportunity to press for it given Putin’s own call for a ceasefire.
*Ben Fishman is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and former director for North Africa at the National Security Council.

Turkey's No Longer Best-Kept Secret: Islamized Christians
Vasileios Meichanetsidis/Gatestone Institute/January 12/2020
"The Turkish persecution of Pontian Greeks and other Christian peoples began after the fall of Trabzon, starting slowly at first and gradually becoming more widespread and terrifying... Many Christians reluctantly converted to Islam to avoid oppression... and merely to survive. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, approximately 250,000 Pontian Greeks were forced to convert.... and speak Turkish." — The Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center, 2014.
The conquests by Turks resulted in the violent and destructive Islamization of the Byzantine civilization.
The Turkish people need to learn the truth about the history of both the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. Only the truth can liberate the people of Turkey from the past that haunts them to this day.
The final blow in the long and tragic process of Islamization and Turkification of the Ottoman Greek population was delivered during the 1913-1923 Greek Genocide, in which many Greeks -- especially women and children -- were forced to convert to Islam. Those who refused were killed or exiled.
A recent statement by a Turkish mayor belonging to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was particularly noteworthy in the wake of the US Senate's December 12 resolution to "commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance."
Mayor Hayrettin Güngör of Kahramanmaraş was caught on camera telling a woman from Trabzon, "We made you Muslim."
He seems to have been referring to the fact that Trabzon, as other provinces in the Black Sea region, used to be a Greek Orthodox Christian city, which is now Muslim -- in spite of the thousands of people in the area who still speak the Pontic Greek dialect.
After an angry public response to the statement, Güngör phoned the mayor of Trabzon to apologize. As offensive as his claim may have been, however, he was actually revealing a tragic truth: that many Turkish citizens are descendants of forcibly Islamized Christians.
Prior to the Turkish invasion of Asia Minor in the 11th century -- and the fall of Constantinople (Istanbul) to Ottoman Turks in the 15th century -- the lands that comprise contemporary Turkey were part of the Greek-speaking Christian Byzantine Empire.
When the Ottoman Turks captured the Greek Empire of Trebizond (today's Trabzon) in 1461, there were virtually no Muslims in the region. In the decades and centuries following the Ottoman conquest, many Christians converted to Islam. The local Muslim derebeys (valley lords) and the Ottoman state and army, via periodic acts of violence, special taxation (jizya), social segregation, systematic mistreatment and humiliation inexorably pushed the Christian population to Islamization for the sake of survival[1].
The Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center reports:
"The Turkish persecution of Pontian Greeks and other Christian peoples began after the fall of Trabzon, starting slowly at first and gradually becoming more widespread and terrifying. Massacres and deportations became more frequent and intense. Many Christians reluctantly converted to Islam to avoid oppression and discrimination and merely to survive. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, approximately 250,000 Pontian Greeks were forced to convert to Islam and speak Turkish. Almost 250,000 migrated to areas of the Caucasus and the northern shores of the Black Sea that Russia controlled."
The conquests by Turks resulted in the violent and destructive Islamization of the Byzantine civilization. Historian Professor Speros Vryonis Jr writes:
"The [Turkish] conquests in Anatolia were prolonged, repeated (lasting from the 11th-15th centuries), quite destructive and disruptive of life and property.
"The conquest of Asia Minor virtually destroyed the Anatolian Church. The ecclesiastical administrative documents reveal an almost complete confiscation of church property, income, buildings, and the imposition of heavy taxes by the Turks."
In his book, The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century, Professor Vryonis presents the names of Anatolian towns and villages ravaged during the Turkish jihad conquests of Asia Minor, from the eleventh through fifteenth centuries. The list includes the names of places across Asia Minor whose inhabitants were "pillaged", "sacked or destroyed", "enslaved", "captured", "massacred", "besieged" or put to "flight."
The Ottoman Empire lasted for some 600 years -- from 1299 to 1923 -- and included parts of Asia, Europe and Africa. During this period, the Turks engaged in practices such as: the ghulam system, in which non-Muslims were enslaved, converted and trained to become warriors and statesmen; the devshirme system, the forced recruitment of Christian boys taken from their families, converted to Islam and enslaved for service to the sultan in his palace and to join his janissaries ("new corps"); compulsory and voluntary Islamization -- the latter resulting from social, religious and economic pressure; and the sexual slavery of women and young boys, deportation and massacre.
One of the reasons for the decline of Christianity in Asia Minor following the Turkish Muslim conquests was, according to Professor Vryonis, the destruction of the Greek Orthodox Church "as an effective social, economic and religious institution." The systematic persecution of Greek clergy by the Ottoman Turks continued for centuries.
The final blow in the long and tragic process of Islamization and Turkification of the Ottoman Greek population was delivered during the 1913-1923 Greek Genocide, in which many Greeks -- especially women and children -- were forced to convert to Islam. Those who refused were killed or exiled.
And today, less than half a percent of Turkey's population is Christian. One result of the persecution that took place is that the number of Islamized Greeks, Armenians and Assyrians is unknown. According to Raffi Bedrosyan, author of the 2018 book, Trauma and Resilience: Armenians in Turkey – Hidden, Not Hidden and No Longer Hidden:
"Hidden Armenians are the present generation descendants of Armenian orphans left behind in Turkey after the 1915 Armenian Genocide. These orphans, the living victims of the Genocide, were forcibly assimilated, Islamized, Turkified and Kurdified in state orphanages, military schools, Turkish and Kurdish homes. In recent years, it has become apparent that they did not forget their Armenian roots and secretly passed them on to the next generations.
"Numbers of hidden Armenians aware of their Armenian roots are unknown. Numbers of hidden Armenians aware of their Armenian roots and willing to return to Armenian roots are also unknown. But independent research and studies indicate that Armenian orphans left behind in Turkey and Armenians in certain regions allowed to convert to Islam in order to avoid massacres and deportation during the 1915 Armenian Genocide, add up to about 300,000. Since the population of Turkey increased seven times since 1915, the descendants of these forcibly Islamized hidden Armenians would number more than 2 million. Although there are no reliable figures about Armenian conversions to Islam during the 1894-96 massacres, the numbers are even larger than in 1915. The Hamshen Armenians, who were converted to Islam earlier in the 16th century but still speak a dialect of Armenian, number more than 200,000. It is difficult to arrive at numbers with certainty, but it can be stated that potentially there exists a genetically Armenian population in Turkey which may even exceed the current population of the Republic of Armenia, although these people are at present Islamized Turks or Kurds...
"Once the hidden Armenians come out and openly declare their Armenian identity, they face many difficulties, dangers and threats in Turkey, surrounded by a hostile state, neighbors, employers and sometimes even their own families who wish to remain Islam Turks or Kurds."
The same applies to Turkey's Islamized Assyrians. As Sabri Atman, president of the Assyrian Genocide Research Center, wrote in 2016:
"'Crypto-Assyrian' is a term to describe ethnic Assyrians who feel obliged to hide their Assyrian identity... These people are the descendants of Assyrians in Ottoman Turkey. Their parents were killed and many orphans were taken as slaves and worked for the Kurdish aghas. Assyrian women were taken into harems by Muslim husbands and were converted to Islam, forced into slavery, and raised as Turks or Kurds. Orphans, girls, and women were forcefully taken from their parents and were sold on the markets, just like Yezidi women and girls in Iraq are today in the hands of ISIS....
"The Assyrians, who have established the Diyarbakir Assyrian Association, are having difficulties with some of their Muslim neighbors and relatives for asking about their ethnic roots. They number in the thousands. They are proud of their Assyrian identity and do not want to be denied by their ancestry as they seek to understand what they have endured and continue to endure."
In other words, when Mayor Güngör proudly told the Muslim woman from Trabzon, "We made you Muslim," he was admitting -- unwittingly -- to his country's history of Islamization, which, in many instances, included persecution, forced conversion and mass murder of non-Muslims. Ironically, even the mayor's own ancestors may have been Christian or Jewish converts to Islam.
The Turkish people need to learn the truth about the history of both the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. Only the truth can liberate the people of Turkey from the past that haunts them to this day.
*Dr. Vasileios Meichanetsidis is an Athens-based historian, genocide scholar and editor of the 2011 book "The Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks."
[1] On the process of the Islamization of Asia Minor see Vryonis, Speros, The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh Through the Fifteenth Century, University of California Press, Los Angeles 1971; and Heath W. Lowry, The Islamization and Turkification of the City of Trabzon (Trebizond) 1461-1583, Istanbul 2009, p. 146.
© 2020 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.
Picture Enclosed: A march in Thessaloniki, Greece on May 19, 2019 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the massacre of some 353,000 ethnic Pontian Greeks by Ottoman forces in Turkey. (Photo by Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP via Getty Images)

The General's Death Upsets Iran's Plan
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 12/2020
Soleimani had his own network of lobbyists in many Arab countries and some Western democracies. Hundreds of Iranian and Arab militants have enrolled in Western universities with scholarships from the Quds Force.
Soleimani, who loved making and publishing "selfies" showing himself close to battlegrounds in the Middle East, was never present anywhere near a battle but was always to come after the dust had settled, to take "selfies" and claim the credit.
Some analysts in Tehran believe that Khamenei was planning to promote Soleimani further by making him President of the Islamic Republic in 2021. An image-building campaign started last year as Soleimani was marketed as "the Sufi commander".... A committee of exiled Iranians in Florida also started campaigning to draft Soleimani as president. If that was Khamenei's game plan, there is no doubt that Soleimani's demise will lead to more uncertainty regarding the future course of Iranian politics.
Qassem Soleimani, who was Iran's most hyped general, loved publishing "selfies" showing himself close to battlegrounds in the Middle East. He was never present anywhere near a battle but was always to come after the dust had settled, to take "selfies" and claim the credit.
While analysts and policymakers are busy speculating on ways that Tehran's ruling mullahs might avenge the killing of their most hyped general, the real question that needs considering may be elsewhere.
The question is: what effect Soleimani's death might have on the power struggle that, though currently put on hold, is certain to resume with greater vigor in Tehran.
Tehran's propaganda tries to sell Soleimani as a kind of superman who, almost single-handedly, brought Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and parts of Afghanistan and Yemen under Iranian control while driving Americans out of the Middle East and crushing ISIS's so-called Caliphate which tried to rival the Islamic Republic in Tehran. Soleimani himself did a lot to promote that image and, doing that, received much help from Western, especially American, and Israeli media that bought the bundle of goods from Tehran.
Facts, however, offer a different portrait of the late general. Soleimani joined the Islamic revolution in 1980, aged 27, at a time that the mullahs were busy putting together a praetorian guard to protect their new regime. A few months later, the ragtag army that Soleimani had joined was sent to help the remnants of a heavily purged national army fight an invading Iraqi force. With over 8,000 officers and NCOs of the national army purged by Khomeini, the new regime offered a fast track to people like Soleimani who had joined the military with no proper training and often little or no formal education. Thus, just three years after he had joined the military, young Soleimani found himself in command of a division of raw recruits. Under his command, Iranian forces suffered three of their biggest defeats in operations Al-Fajr 8, and Karbala I and Karbala II. Mohsen Reza'i, then chief of the Revolutionary Guard, describes the three battles as "a string of catastrophes" for Iranian forces.
However, Soleimani, who was to demonstrate his genius for networking and self-promotion, scored one lasting victory when he attached himself to Ali Khamenei, the mullah who was to become the Islamic Republic's "Supreme Guide".
Khamenei started as Deputy Defense Minister and rose to become President of the Islamic Republic. Soleimani, mocked as "the mullah's bag-carrier", was always at his side. In the 1990s, as Khamenei slowly built himself as the sole arbiter of Iran's fate, Soleimani seized the opportunity to secure a fiefdom for himself.
That came in the shape of the project to "export" the Iranian Revolution to other Muslim countries. Initially, exporting the revolution, mentioned in the regime's constitution as a sacred duty, had been regarded as a matter of propaganda and organizing sympathizers in Arab countries through outfits named Hezbollah. The task was handled by a special office in the Foreign Ministry headed by Ayatollah Hadi Khosroshahian. Partly thanks to lobbying by Soleimani, the task was taken away from the Foreign Ministry and handed over to the Revolutionary Guard. But even then Soleimani didn't get the top job, which went to then Col. Ismail Qaani, the man who has now succeeded Soleimani as Commander of the Quds Force. Soleimani's next move was to dislodge Qaani and get the top job himself. (Qaani was named as deputy). Even that configuration would not satisfy Soleimani, who had bigger ambitions. As long as he was part of the IRGC's chain of command, he had to obey rules set by superiors whom he despised.
Thanks to Khamenei's support, he succeeded in securing his independent fiefdom in the shape of the Quds Force which, though formally part of the IRGC, has its own separate budget and chain of command and is answerable to no one but Khamenei.
Next, Soleimani seized control of Tehran's foreign policy in Arab countries, Afghanistan, North Korea, and South America and, in some sensitive areas, even Russia. The Islamic Republic's presidents and foreign ministers have never had tête-à-tête talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Soleimani had.
It became a matter of routine for Soleimani to appoint Iran's ambassadors to Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, Doha and several other Arab capitals.
A dramatic illustration of Soleimani's "independence" came when he shipped Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad to Tehran in a special airplane without even telling the Iranian president, let alone the foreign minister, who were also excluded from the Syrian's audience with Khamenei.
A control freak, Soleimani insisted on deciding even the smallest details himself. In his one, and now final, interview, last November, the general talks of how Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah had to clear every move with him.
Inside Iran, Soleimani built a state within the state. According to the Islamic Customs Office, the Quds Force operates 25 jetties in five of Iran's biggest ports for its "imports and exports" with no intervention by the relevant authorities. A levy on imports of foreign cars is reserved for a special fund, controlled by the Quds Force, to cover expenditures in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and help pro-Iran Palestinian groups.
Soleimani had his own network of lobbyists in many Arab countries and some Western democracies. Hundreds of Iranian and Arab militants have enrolled in Western universities with scholarships from the Quds Force.
The Quds Force has registered vast tracts of public land in its name, claiming the need for future housing for its personnel. It also runs two dozen companies and banks, several shipping lines and an airline.
Soleimani, who loved making and publishing "selfies" showing himself close to battlegrounds in the Middle East, was never present anywhere near a battle but was always to come after the dust had settled, to take "selfies" and claim the credit.
A master of self-promotion, Soleimani received the rank of major-general without having risen through the hierarchy of the top brass like the other 12 men on the list. (After death, he has been promoted to Lt. General).
Some analysts in Tehran believe that Khamenei was planning to promote Soleimani further by making him President of the Islamic Republic in 2021. An image-building campaign started last year, as Soleimani was marketed as "the Sufi commander", a label given to Safavid kings in the 16th century.
A committee of exiled Iranians in Florida also started campaigning to draft Soleimani as president.
If that was Khamenei's game plan, there is no doubt that Soleimani's demise will lead to more uncertainty regarding the future course of Iranian politics.
*Amir Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for innumerable publications, published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987. He is the Chairman of Gatestone Europe.
© 2020 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.

Iran: “ Death to the Dictator “
شارل الياس شرتوني: المتظاهرون يهتفون في إيران فليسقط الدكتاتير الخامنئي
Charles Elias Chartouni/January 12/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/82242/%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%b4%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%aa%d8%b8%d8%a7%d9%87%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%8a%d9%87%d8%aa%d9%81%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%81/
The tragedy of the downed Ukrainian jetliner unveils the abyss which separates the Iranian people from the Mullah dictatorship, the depth of its estrangement and the openly flaunted illegitimacy of the regime. Mehdi Karroubi, the prominent political opponent, expressed vocally the Iranian people’s rejection of the murderous regime led by Ali Khamenei who “has no more moral qualifications to be supreme leader “. The statement of Mr. Karroubi is the epitome of what the demonstrators have been voicing in the streets of Teheran, a few days after the spurious unanimity simulated by the regime during the funerals of Qassem Suleimani. This whole choreography has turned hollow at a record pace, and yielded path to the resumption of the early raucous demonstrations and their dominant trope " death to the dictator ".
Iranians are not only disputing the empty war rhetorics of the Islamic regime, duly expressed by MP Hamideh Zarabadi, [ we should write on every coffin 80 million times, damn to war ], displaying their distancing from its explanation of the unfolding events, and loath towards a whole culture of dissembling, manipulation and State terror which aptly account for the true state of the Islamic revolution. The deliberate concealment of the airline tragedy causes through a set of lies, denials and tampering with the crime scene, triggered the deep held revulsion of Iranians towards a regime whose credentials have been shattered through four decades of systemic failures, bankrupted ideological claims and bloody dictatorship.The mounted choreography of the late funerals has dramatically unraveled, and once again the regime is confronted with its ugly record of institutionalized psychopathy, denial and violence. Rather than reckoning with its failures, addressing their roots, and engaging the various civil society actors fed up with its dismissive self righteousness, dissemblance and bloodiness, the regime highlights its depravity and readiness to resume bloody repression.
The looming end of the Khamenei era demonstrates the flimsiness of the Khomeiny spiel, and its inability to survive the first revolutionary era and its ugly outcomes. The ideological travesty and the raw violence displayed throughout the last four decades are unlikely to sustain the test of reality this time, and the unwillingness of the Iranians to compromise with an overdue fallacy. The orchestrated unanimity of the latter days was counterbalanced by the tragedy of the Ukrainian jetliner, and it seems that Iranians are not anymore in the mood to back down, cow under the obscene violence, cope with the lies of a criminal dictatorship and condone the plot of a bloody cynicism at work.

Oman after Qaboos
Salman Al-Dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/January 12/2020
The hardest challenge monarchies face is having their fate linked to a single man for several. On the one hand, this ruler consolidates the foundations of the state and ensures its stability and security. On the other, it is hard for a country to act independently from this figure. Several countries end up shaken to the core when such rulers pass away, leaving ministries and institutions at a loss after they were so reliant on his guidance. Attention had therefore, been drawn to Oman in recent months due to its Sultan’s health setbacks before his passing on Friday. Some had speculated that the sultanate would be headed towards an uncertain path in the post-Qaboos era. Skeptics often focus on unlikely possibilities, overlooking glaring facts. The Omanis, however, snuffed out the speculation and proved that the legacy of their late sultan was not limited to state-building or preserving its stability in a tumultuous region. Rather, he had drawn up a detailed roadmap for maintaining this stability.
Even with the sultan gone, the sultanate will preserve its calm, standing and strength reg
Sultan Qaboos suffered from poor health for years. Even though he received treatment abroad, no one in the Sultanate felt that the country was passing through a constitutional vacuum in his absence. This was made even more significant given that the sultan did not have successor. The secret to this feat is the strength of the state institutions that proved their ability to preserve stability in the absence of the sultan. It is in my opinion that that was an extremely difficult stage in Oman, but no one felt it, neither inside the country nor abroad. Oman accomplished a rare feat of smoothly functioning without a hitch in the sudden absence of a ruler who had governed its institutions for nearly half a century. Perhaps the most difficult feat was the transition of power from Sultan Qaboos to his successor Haitham bin Tariq. Oman overcame this difficult phase with flying colors and in only a mere matter of hours. Not only did the new sultan assume power, but he also earned the unanimous approval of the ruling family, another rarity. This would have been impossible had Oman not boasted the foundations of a real state. I once asked Oman’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah about the concern in the region over the post-Qaboos phase in Oman. He assured me that his country was not worried about this. He explained that everyone in Oman has faith in what the sultan built and that he had also ensured that the future would be built on the same standards. Vacuum in power has almost never happened and throughout its 260 years, the ruling family never quarreled over a successor.
Today, despite their sadness over the passing of their leader, the Omanis are entitled to be proud of their political system, which had never plunged in vacuum and which had consolidated a state of institutions that was founded and built by Qaboos bin Said.
When you have such a stable foundation, you guarantee that the state will withstand shocks and crises.

Wages Are Based More on Productivity, Less on Exploitation
Michael R. Strain/Bloomberg/January 12/2020
“Workers are delivering more, and they’re getting a lot less,” argued former Vice President Joe Biden in a speech at the Brookings Institution this summer. “There’s no correlation now between productivity and wages.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential rival, agrees. Her campaign website states that “wages have largely stagnated,” even though “worker productivity has risen steadily.”
The claim that productivity no longer drives wages is common enough on both the political left as well as the right. Proponents of this view argue that workers aren’t getting what they deserve based on their contributions to employers’ bottom lines.
Income inequality — the gap between the incomes of the rich and everyone else — supposedly demonstrates that the economy’s rewards are flowing, undeservedly, to those at the top. Populists take that conclusion even further, arguing that capitalism is fundamentally broken.
If that is what’s happening, it refutes textbook economics, which argues that wages are determined by productivity — by the amount of revenue workers generate for their employers. If a company paid a worker less than her productivity suggests she should be making, then she would go down the street and get a job that would pay her what she’s worth. Employers compete for workers, ensuring that workers’ wages are in line with their productivity.
This theory leaves out a lot, of course. Pay and productivity can diverge for any number of reasons not included in the standard economic model. Workers may not know how much revenue they create, or what other employment options are available to them. And changing jobs has its own costs, which in the real world gives employers some power over wages.
For critics of the current system, “some power” is a drastic understatement. In their telling, the decline of labor unions; erosion of the minimum wage; rise of non-compete and no-poaching agreements; inadequate enforcement of workplace standards and the like have dramatically reduced the bargaining power of workers. This has allowed businesses to drive down wages to the bare minimum job applicants and current workers will accept, pushing their pay below what their productivity suggests it should be.
Which view is correct? The latest piece of evidence on this question comes from Stanford University economist Edward P. Lazear, who analyzed data from advanced economies and confirms a strong link between pay and productivity.
Like several previous studies, Lazear’s research finds that low-, middle- and high-wage workers all benefit from growth in average productivity. This suggests that improvements in overall economic efficiency help all workers, not just the rich.
But Lazear argues, correctly, that a relevant issue is not whether workers benefit from changes in average productivity. Instead, if you want to know whether workers are being paid for their productivity, you should look at whether changes in the productivity of, say, low-wage workers affect the pay of that specific group.
It is infeasible to measure the productivity of individual workers. (How much revenue per hour of work do I generate for Bloomberg?) So Lazear examines productivity at the industry level, and compares industries that employ highly skilled workers with those that employ lesser-skilled ones.
Using data on the US from 1989 through 2017, Lazear finds that productivity in industries dominated by higher-skilled workers increased by (roughly) 34 percent in that period. The wages of those workers grew by 26 percent. For industries requiring lesser skills, productivity increased by 20 percent, while wages grew by 24 percent.
In other words, pay increased faster than productivity in industries with lesser-skilled workers, and slower than productivity in industries with higher-skilled workers. Another striking implication of this finding is that “productivity inequality” — the gap in productivity between workers — may have grown faster than wage inequality over this period. While wage differences have increased over time, differences in productivity between groups of workers have increased even more.
The upshot: Slower wage growth for lesser-skilled workers is not prima facie evidence that employers have significant power over wages or that productivity doesn’t determine wages. Instead, Lazear concludes that productivity growth for high-skilled workers has increased rapidly enough (actually, more than enough) to account for growing inequality.
What caused this? Lazear points to two familiar explanations. Technological change disproportionately benefits the highly skilled, increasing their wages and productivity. And the globalization-led shift to a services economy has reduced the productivity of goods-producing, lesser-skilled workers.
Lazear also suggests that colleges may have improved more than high schools in their ability to impart skills to graduates. If so, industries dominated by college graduates would be expected to have had faster productivity growth over the last three decades. This would have caused both a wider dispersion in productivity across industries and in wages across groups of workers.
Such research doesn’t settle the debate, of course. Yet it does strengthen my view that wages are heavily influenced by market forces, even if they are not entirely determined by them. While productivity sets the baseline for wages, deviations from that baseline occur.
So contrary to what Biden, Warren and (many) others say, market forces, not power dynamics, are the principal driver of inequality.
This gets at the heart of the moral properties of the market economy. Capitalism produces unequal outcomes: The wages for some grow faster than for others. Those disparities are palatable if they are caused by differences in risk-taking, work effort and skills. They are tolerable if people are getting, in some sense, what they deserve. But if wages aren’t determined by productivity — if hard work doesn’t pay off and if workers aren’t receiving just returns — then something has gone badly wrong with the system.
Fortunately, the system doesn’t seem to be broken. It does need to be fine-tuned, however, with the goal of increasing the productivity of the lesser skilled. And we should be confident that if their productivity increases, so will their wages.

Tehran plane crash was a crime against humanity
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 12/2020
Iran has finally admitted that it shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane last week in Tehran. It is incumbent on the international community not to let the regime off the hook this time, and hold its leaders accountable for this tragic occurrence.
Iranian leaders first attempted to veil the truth, mislead the international community, and deny any involvement in the plane crash. The regime initially argued that the Ukrainian passenger jet crashed due to technical defects. Tehran rejected cooperation with international investigators. The head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority, Ali Abedzadeh, said: “We will not give the black box to the manufacturer (Boeing) or America.”
The regime also appeared to rush to conceal evidence after the crash. As a CBS News correspondent tweeted: “CBS crew just visited the #Ukrainian airlines crash site west of Tehran. Nine am local time. Virtually all pieces of the plane were removed yesterday — say locals. Scavengers now picking site clean. No security. Not cordoned off. No sign of any investigators.”
But after Tehran was faced with overwhelming evidence, including credible intelligence reports from different governments as well as a video showing that the plane was hit by a missile over Tehran, the Islamic Republic was forced to admit and acknowledge that it shot down the passenger plane.
The Iranian leaders are currently attempting to minimize their level of culpability by claiming that it was due to “human error” or by pointing a finger at the US in order to avoid being held accountable. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and foreign minister, Javad Zarif, blamed Washington. Zarif tweeted: “Preliminary conclusions of internal investigation by Armed Forces: Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster. Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations.”
It is also critical to mention that this tragic incident, which occurred as Iran launched dozens of missiles into Iraq, reveals the regime’s total disregard for human life. When carrying out such a major military operation, it was the responsibility of the IRGC to make sure that either the airport was closed, or no passenger plane was in danger. Why did the Iranian leaders let US authorities know about the airstrikes in advance, but fail to notify the airport authorities before launching missiles?
The Iranian leaders are currently attempting to minimize their level of culpability by claiming that it was due to “human error” or by pointing a finger at the US in order to avoid being held accountable.
The shooting down of the Ukrainian plane also shows that the theocratic establishment prioritizes military adventurism over human life. Iranian leaders praised their “successful” military operation right after the Ukrainian passenger plane was hit and 176 innocent people lost their lives. Former IRGC commander-in-chief Mohsen Rezaei appeared on Iran’s Channel 3 and offered his congratulations to the IRGC’s missile attack.“I extend my congratulations for taking harsh revenge to the Leadership and the nation who ‘suffered’ from Soleimani’s (death). This operation was, in fact, the bombardment of both the authority and prestige of the United States.”
It is also worth noting that Iran’s airstrikes were in violation of international rules due to the fact that it violated the sovereignty of Iraq.
The IRGC’s shooting down of the passenger plane has sparked anger and fury inside Iran and abroad. Iranians took to the street protesting against the regime and demanding that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei resign.
In front of Tehran's Amir Kabir University, people are heard chanting: “Commander-in-chief (Khamenei) resign, resign.” People were also chanting “death to the liars” and “death to Khamenei!” They are also criticizing the regime for its belated admission and attempts to conceal the truth.
The regime is resorting to its modus operandi of cracking down on protesters with brute force. Hesham Ghanbari, 27, a university student in Tehran, told Reuters: “Why should I vote for this regime? I don’t trust them at all. They lied to us about the plane crash. Why should I trust them when they don’t trust people enough to tell the truth?”
Many Iranians are familiar with the regime’s careless killing of innocent people. According to Amnesty International, hundreds of people were killed two months ago by the regime forces when people demonstrated against the hike in gas prices.
The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office is taking the right step in investigating Tehran for possible willful killing and aircraft destruction. European leaders and the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must also focus on holding the Iranian regime accountable for killing their citizens.
The shooting down of the Ukrainian passenger plane and the killing of 176 innocent women, men and children ought to be considered a crime against humanity, and it is incumbent on the international community to hold the Iranian regime accountable and bring those responsible for this egregious act to justice.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of the Harvard International Review, the Harvard International Relations Council and the US-Middle East Chamber for Commerce and Business. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Why the Tehran regime’s warmongering is hastening its own demise
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/January 12/2020
Iran’s leaders knew immediately that one of their missiles had shot down a plane loaded with citizens and foreign nationals, but they did what came naturally — they lied, stonewalled and covered up. All allegations of regime culpability for the deaths of 176 people on board Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 were “foreign conspiracies.” Confronted with a mountain of irrefutable evidence, they belatedly, begrudgingly acknowledged their “unforgivable mistake” — before retorting that it was all America’s fault for stoking tensions.
I am constantly astonished at much of the Western world’s pathological predisposition to swallow Iranian lies. Some officials used to parrot the preposterous line that Iran would never use an atomic bomb because Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — a man with the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands — had declared such a thing to be un-Islamic. When a swarm of armed drones was launched from Iranian territory last September to attack Saudi oil installations, Tehran instructed its Houthi stooges in Yemen to dissemble that they were responsible; all suggestions to the contrary were devilish “foreign conspiracies.”
The latest round of shadow boxing between the US and this compulsively duplicitous regime changes nothing. It is simply a matter of time until the next bout of skirmishes, and then another. Iran’s leaders have set the world on a course that — in the absence of a radical change of direction — can lead only to war, by any one of several paths.
First, experts are warning that by late 2020 Iran could be no more than three months from having a nuclear bomb. This would make military action inevitable if America and Israel fulfil pledges to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear state.
Iran’s leaders have set the world on a course that — in the absence of a radical change of direction — can lead only to war, by any one of several paths.
Second, the accumulation of missiles and paramilitaries on Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria dictates that Tel Aviv will eventually act to neutralize this threat.
Next, Iran’s proxies in Baghdad continue to consolidate political and military control. Threats to evict US forces have halted operations against Daesh. Sunnis, Kurds and minorities are more disenchanted than ever, while Shiite areas boil with mass protests; Iraq’s continuing disintegration imperils the entire region.
Meanwhile the Syrian conflict grinds on; while Iranian proxies quietly consolidate under the cover of Erdogan’s ethnic cleansing of Syria’s Kurds, Assad, Hezbollah and Russia continue crushing the life out of Idlib.
Finally, since Iran’s attacks in 2019 on Saudi oil installations and shipping in the Gulf, few tangible steps have been taken to reduce Iran-GCC tensions under the shadow of the continuing Yemen conflict.
An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander caused consternation last week by holding a news conference in front of the massed banners of Iran-aligned militias, including Hezbollah, Pakistani and Afghan proxies in Syria, the Houthis and Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi. Iran mendaciously claims that it wants to calm tensions, but instead of distancing itself from militants and terrorists, it literally drapes itself in their flags.
Iraqi and Lebanese protesters against Iranian meddling are not a handful of middle-class arts students; they include hundreds of thousands of working-class Shiites from traditional strongholds of pro-Iranian sentiment, families who lost sons and nephews fighting with Hezbollah in Syria. This cratering of grassroots support has fundamental implications for how Iran wields its regional influence. Before, pro-Tehran factions were able to win sufficient votes, while also relying on client politicians from Christian, Sunni and other demographics, with Qassem Soleimani bribing and threatening political leaders.
If Iran can no longer count on dominating the ballot box and mobilizing its puppets, it must resort to increasingly coercive techniques, or see its influence wither away. In Iraq, this would mean subverting parliament, forcibly entrenching Hashd allies in power, and unleashing paramilitaries to crush protests. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is right to call for an end to foreign meddling and for the protection of Iraq’s sovereignty, but US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is also correct to insist that US troops remain. In the absence of radical political reform in Iraq, the withdrawal of foreign troops would summarily deliver the country to the twin plagues of Iran-aligned paramilitarism and Daesh.
The West must also do everything possible to neutralize a conflict that it scarcely appears to realize is hurtling toward it. Boasting about killing Soleimani has become a central plank of Donald Trump’s pre-electoral grandstanding, and many observers justifiably fear that the US president’s foreign-policy decision making throughout 2020 will be similarly driven by myopic domestic calculations. This is a dangerous dynamic when we are already so close to wider conflict.
Trump’s accumulated barrages of sanctions have only encouraged Tehran to further dig in with its transnational paramilitary strategy. Instead, there must be redoubled muscular diplomatic efforts to block Iranian expansionism in Arab states. Even if war is unavoidable, global powers should at least constrain the number of fronts Tehran can fight on.
Although recent escalations may have killed off any immediate prospects for diplomacy, Europe should not pin its hopes on an eventual resuscitation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the effectively defunct 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for easing sanctions. The myriad shortcomings of this agreement (over-reliance on Iran’s good nature for implementation, releasing frozen funds without preventing their use for regional aggression) prevented it becoming a viable tool to comprehensively address Tehran’s misbehavior.
Iranian citizens’ loathing for their mendacious, dictatorial regime means that an end to this tyranny is only a matter of time. Ordinary Iranians have more at stake than anyone in avoiding a war that would cost tens of thousands of their lives, just like the innocents who died senselessly on that downed Ukrainian passenger jet. Iran’s incompetent attempts to cover up its culpability for the crash have triggered yet more anti-regime protests, with demonstrators shredding images of Soleimani and demanding Khamenei’s downfall. This is surely a leadership that has burned its last vestiges of credibility, at home and abroad.
The ayatollahs, and Soleimani’s successors, must recognize that their deranged ambitions are unachievable. Iran’s dysfunctional, sanctions-shattered economy cannot afford this megalomaniacal vision of region-wide supremacy. Palestinians have been struggling for over a century for their right to a homeland; Arab citizens too will fight for as long as it takes to free their nations from Iranian domination. If there is a war in which America, Israel and Western allies directly confront the Islamic Republic’s decrepit military capabilities, there can be only one outcome.
The regime cannot escape this fate through vague messages about not desiring conflict, while redoubling overseas subversion and terrorism. It is not Iran’s words that make conflict inevitable, but its actions.
The ayatollahs are thus at a moment of decision: If they retreat from their terrorism and warmongering, perhaps their regime can limp on for a few more years before dying an unlamented death. If, instead, they stubbornly accelerate efforts to build a nuclear bomb, dominate neighbors, and threaten peace-loving nations, they are simply choosing the quickest way to dig their own graves.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.