LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 18/17
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations
The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest
Saint Luke 10/01-07/:"After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace to this house!" And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house."

We intend to do what is right not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of others
Second Letter to the Corinthians 08/16-22/:"But thanks be to God who put in the heart of Titus the same eagerness for you that I myself have. For he not only accepted our appeal, but since he is more eager than ever, he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his proclaiming of the good news; and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us while we are administering this generous undertaking for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our goodwill. We intend that no one should blame us about this generous gift that we are administering, for we intend to do what is right not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of others. And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found eager in many matters, but who is now more eager than ever because of his great confidence in you.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 17-18/17
The New Bloc against Tehran/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 17/17
Analysis Israel’s Message to Russia Sent in Syria, Received in Tel Aviv/Gili Cohen/Haaretz/October 17/17
Saving NATO from Turkey/Daniel Pipes/Washington Times/October 17, 2017
Do business with the Revolutionary Guards at your peril/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/ArabNews/October 17/17
Hezbollah and Arab Shiites in Gulf countries/Kamel Al-Khatti/Al Arabiya/October 17/17
‘It is not PSG; it is UNESCO/Christian Chesnot/Al Arabiya/October 17/17
Difference between starting a venture capital firm and managing it/Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/October 17/17

Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on  October 17-18/17
President Aoun receives ambassadors' credentials
Aoun Pushes for a Plan that Guarantees Return of Syrian Refugees
Parliament Renews Mandate of Parliamentary Committees, Heads, Rapporteurs
IRIB, Hezbollah sign MOU
Parliament Debates Lebanon's First State Budget in 12 Years
Salameh Hits Back after Adwan Accuses BDL of Tax Evasion
14-Year-Old Teen Kills Three, Including Father, Wounds Several in Beirut Neighborhood
Mashnouq Says Syrians Committing Less Crimes than Lebanese
French Ambassador, Gemayel Discuss Local, Regional Situations
Geagea Stresses Adherence to 'Mountain Reconciliation'
Zahra: LF-FPM Ties Going the 'Acceptable' Way
Report: Aoun Determined to Solve Displaced Syrians Crisis
OIC News Agencies' 25th meeting calls for Africa support in media
Hamade meets British officials in London
Jreissati, Mashnouq highlight crime classification guide's importance
ISF: Teenage who killed his father in Zqaq el Blat arrested
Guterres decorates Nawaf Salam with extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador title
Sami Gemayel, French Ambassador discuss fresh developments
Khoury during US Arab banking conference: Lebanon, a normal platform for Syria reconstruction plans
U.S. Embassy Inaugurates New Medical Facilities Supported by the USAID American Schools and Hospitals Abroad

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on  October 17-18/17
Netanyahu To Russian Defense Minister: Isreal Won't Allow Iranian Presence In Syria
Israel Draws Red Lines after Attacking Anti-Aircraft Syrian Battery
IRGC Says No to Abandoning Ballistic Missile Program, Military Base Inspection
SDF Seizes ‘Full Control’ of Syria’s Raqqa from ISIS
Suicide Bombers, Gunmen Kill 71 in Attacks on Afghan Security Forces
Israel Says No Talks with Palestinian Govt. that Includes Armed Hamas
10 Held in France over Suspected Plot to Attack Politicians, Mosques

Latest Lebanese Related News published on  October 17-18/17
President Aoun receives ambassadors' credentials
The Daily Star//October 17/17/BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun received the credentials of six ambassadors at the presidential palace Tuesday, the state-run National News Agency reported. Aoun, along with Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, accepted the credentials of Canada’s Emmanuelle Lamoureux, Holland’s Jan Waltmans, Nigeria’s Goni Modu Bura, Malaysia’s Mohd. Aznor bin Mahat, Antigua and Barbuda’s Hanna Akkar and Sweden’s Jorgen Lindstrom. Lindstrom was already designated Sweden’s ambassador to Lebanon, but could not be officially sworn in without the approval of the president.

Aoun Pushes for a Plan that Guarantees Return of Syrian Refugees
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 17/17/Lebanese President Michel Aoun meets with the ambassadors of the five permanent members to the UN Security Council, and representatives of the European Union, the United Nations and the Arab League, Lebanese President Michel Aoun meets with the ambassadors of the five permanent members to the UN Security Council, and representatives of the European Union, the United Nations and the Arab League, October 16, 2017 (Dalati & Nohra) Beirut- Lebanese President Michel Aoun met on Monday with the ambassadors of the United Nations Security Council’s permanent members, in presence of the UN, EU and Arab League ambassadors, to discuss Lebanon’s stance on the file of Syrian refugees.Aoun sounded the alarm on the grave repercussions of the Syrian refugee crisis on the political, economic, and security levels, warning that this could affect the Lebanese workforce as the employment rate was on the rise. The Lebanese president also urged the P5 Ambassadors to swiftly handle the refugee crisis, calling on international organizations that assist refugees “not to intimidate,” those who wish to return to Syria “for as long as their return is voluntary.”Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil also attended the meeting. “Lebanon’s security is as important as the Syrian refugees’ security,” Aoun stated, stressing that the country “seeks the safe return of those who have fled because of the Syrian conflict.”Aoun handed the ambassadors letters to the Presidents of their respective countries, to the United Nations Secretary-General, and to the head of the European Union. “Providing appropriate conditions for the safe return of Syrian refugees to their country is a must, especially to the stable areas that can be reached, or areas of low tension,” Aoun said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri’s advisor for the issue of the displaced, Nadim al-Munla, said that Aoun’s proposal to the Security Council’s ambassadors was likely based on the plan already submitted by Bassil to the government, stressing that the return of refugees has become a priority for the Lebanese prime minister. Munla noted that when Hariri returns from his official visit to Rome, he would call for a meeting of the relevant ministerial committee to discuss the return of refugees in light of the plans submitted by each of Bassil and Ministers Nohad al-Mashnouk and Moeen al-Merhebi.

Parliament Renews Mandate of Parliamentary Committees, Heads, Rapporteurs
Naharnet/October 17/17/The Parliament renewed on Tuesday the mandates of the parliamentary committees, the heads and the secretaries, the National News Agency reported. Lawmakers re-elected in a ten-minute session the parliamentary committees, their presidents, and members of the rapporteurs, NNA said. Only one amendment has been introduced which is the appointment of MP Eli Aoun to head the Youth and Sports Committee instead of MP Khaled Zahraman, who is already in three committees.

IRIB, Hezbollah sign MOU
October 17, 2017
http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/417680/IRIB-Hezbollah-sign-MOU
Tehran Times/Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and Hezbollah have signed a memorandum of understanding, IRIB announced on Monday. The MOU was inked by IRIB director Abdol-Ali Ali-Asgari and Hezbollah Executive Council director Hashim Safi al-Din, who is also a senior leader of the party, at Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station in Beirut. Based on the MOU, IRIB and Hezbollah will exploit all their potentials to strengthen “the media front” of the Axis of Resistance. Al Manar director Ibrahim Farhat, who also attended the meeting, said, “The Axis of Resistance has won a very important victory, which should receive in-depth coverage from our media.” Earlier last Friday, Ali-Asgari visited a number of Syrian cultural officials and a group of the cineastes of the country in Damascus.
Photo: IRIB director Abdol-Ali Ali-Asgari and Hezbollah senior leader Hashim Safi al-Din sign a memorandum of understanding at Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station in Beirut.

Parliament Debates Lebanon's First State Budget in 12 Years
Naharnet/October 17/17/The parliament on Tuesday started debating the country's first state budget in 12 years, with Prime Minister Saad Hariri describing the development as a “major achievement that all Lebanese were waiting for.”At the opening of the session, Speaker Nabih Berri lauded “the strenuous work of the Finance Committee under the chairmanship of MP Ibrahim Kanaan.”“Today we are discussing a budget for funds that have already been spent. We will authorize for the government what it has already authorized for itself,” MP Antoine Zahra of the Lebanese Forces bloc said, noting that he endorses “the Finance Committee's recommendations on the state budget.”“In the name of Christians, I announce that our project is the state and not our share in the state,” he added. MP Ali Fayyad of Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance bloc meanwhile lamented that “revenues from customs fees deteriorated over the past five years, despite a rise in the import of commodities.”He stressed the need to “boost tax collection and put an end to tax evasion,” decrying that “the state budget contains expenditure on institutions whose names and owners are unknown.”“What is the value of the grants that have been given to the state? Have they been registered in the state budget? This issue is not clear,” Fayyad added. MP Ahmed Fatfat of al-Mustaqbal bloc meanwhile commented on the latest death sentence that was issued by the Military Court against hardline Islamist cleric Ahmed al-Asir over the 2013 deadly Abra clashes. “People are wondering: where is the killer of (Lebanese Army pilot) Samer Hanna, where is the murderer who killed Hashem al-Salman outside the Iranian embassy?” Fatfat said. “There is an impression that there is discrimination among the Lebanese and that the Military Court is issuing sectarianly-motivated verdicts,” the MP lamented. MP Najib Miqati of Tripoli meanwhile urged the parliament to “take courageous steps to compel the government to slash deficit.” “The magnitude of spending on public sector wages has become scary and it is consuming one third of the state treasury,” he warned. MP Khaled al-Daher of Akkar meanwhile pointed out that “had corruption and the waste of public money been curbed, this budget would have been able to be LBP 5,000 billion lower.”He added: “How can Lebanon regain confidence domestically and abroad amidst paramilitary parades in the heart of the capital and armed militias carrying the name of the resistance across Lebanon?”Daher was referring to a recent paramilitary parade that was organized by the Syrian Social National Party on Beirut's Hamra Street.

Salameh Hits Back after Adwan Accuses BDL of Tax Evasion
Naharnet/October 17/17/Lebanese Forces deputy chief MP George Adwan on Tuesday accused Banque du Liban, Lebanon's central bank, of possible tax evasion, drawing a swift response from BDL Governor Riad Salameh. “Controlling tax evasion can change the financial situation in Lebanon,” Adwan said during a parliamentary session on the 2017 state budget. “It is shocking to know that the revenues from BDL are LBP 61 billion. We have treasury bonds worth LBP 27,000 billion and the bank is obliged to pay a billion dollars to the state treasury from its profits that result from treasury bonds,” Adwan added. “Where is inspection and accountability? It is nonexistent because BDL has relations that are bigger than everyone. We are busy with taxes while BDL should pay $1 billion every year,” the MP went on to say. He called on Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil to “put us in the picture of BDL's profits throughout the past 20 years through a detailed report.”Speaker Nabih Berri then asked Adwan to submit a request for the formation of a parliamentary panel of inquiry and the MP said that he would file a request within 48 hours. In remarks to LBCI television, Salameh said BDL has submitted yearly auditing reports to the Finance Ministry for the past 20 years. “The bank's records are subject to auditing by two international firms that have nothing to do with BDL,” Salameh noted, stressing that the central bank has never refrained from paying its obligations to the state treasury.

14-Year-Old Teen Kills Three, Including Father, Wounds Several in Beirut Neighborhood
/Naharnet/October 17/17/Three people were shot and killed and three others were wounded in the Beirut neighborhood of Zqaq al-Blat when a young man first opened fire killing his father and later killing another two, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday. The 14-year suspect who was identified as Ali Mohammed Younis shot his dad, Mohammed, using a hunting rifle at 6:15 killing him instantly, NNA said.The perpetrator went out of his house and shot at the doorman of a nearby building seriously wounding him and his wife. The man, a Syrian national, later succumbed to his wounds. He also killed another man, identified as Syrian Ali Mohamed al-Merhi. NNA said three other people were reported injured but their identifies have not been identified yet. Security forces arrested the perpetrator and opened investigation into the incident..

Mashnouq Says Syrians Committing Less Crimes than Lebanese
Naharnet/October 17/17/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq noted Tuesday that “the rate of crimes committed by Syrian refugees is lower than the rate of crimes committed by Lebanese citizens.”“The Syrian refugee population did not grow this year at all,” Mashnouq added during a ceremony at the Grand Serail. The minister also reassured that “Lebanon is one of the safest countries due to the efforts of security forces and coordination between them.”At least one million registered Syrian refugees live in Lebanon, almost 25 percent of its population. Many more are believed to live unregistered, straining the country's already fraying infrastructure.

French Ambassador, Gemayel Discuss Local, Regional Situations
Naharnet/October 17/17/French Ambassador to Lebanon Bruno Foucher held talks Tuesday in Saifi with Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel. The meeting, which was held in the presence of MP Samer Saade and Kataeb's foreign affairs coordinator Marwan Abdallah, tackled “the latest developments in the region and the extent of their impact on the domestic situation in Lebanon, amid the growing tensions and the political, military and economic pressures,” a Kataeb statement said. The conferees also discussed “the issue of refugees and the burden they have started creating for Lebanon at all levels.” Gemayel meanwhile explained to the French guest the plan that Kataeb has suggested to ensure “a safe return by the refugees to their country under the supervision of international organizations and the international community.”
According to Kataeb's statement, the plan consists of short-, medium- and long-term phases.

Geagea Stresses Adherence to 'Mountain Reconciliation'
Naharnet/October 17/17/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea praised the Mountain Reconciliation which was initiated after the civil war by the Progressive Socialist Party and the LF under the patronage of the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, stressing adamant “adherence” to it. "The Mountain Reconciliation is the most important step made in the last 50 years because in all the battles and wars that took place in Lebanon we have not witnessed any real reconciliation afterwards,” said Geagea, indirectly lashing at comments made by Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil in that regard. “The only place that witnessed a genuine reconciliation was in the mountain and with the good initiative of both parties, the LF and the PSP under the patronage of Patriarch Boutros Sfeir,” said Geagea. Stressing adamant adherence to said Reconciliation, Geagea emphasized: “We are committed to this reconciliation until the end and we will do everything to preserve it.” "We are very pleased with this reconciliation, which requires additional work so as to help all the people of the mountain return to it. This is the demand of all Christians and Druze alike. I hope that all politician in Lebanon would take this reality into consideration so we can work together in that direction" he added. On Sunday, Bassil had called for a “political return to Mount Lebanon” during a visit to the Aley District town of Rechmaya. He made remarks about the killings and displacement that took place in Mount Lebanon during the civil war.

Zahra: LF-FPM Ties Going the 'Acceptable' Way
Naharnet/October 17/17/Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra clarified that the party's ties with the Free Patriotic Movement are going in a “reasonable” way, adding that differentiation must be made between “President Michel Aoun and his political faction.”“Relations between the LF and FPM are going in a reasonable framework. The LF positions are adopted according to each file where the approach is based on the political and national plan,” said Zahra, noting that "there is a radical disagreement with the FPM and other parties on the issue of communication with the Syrian regime to resolve the file of displaced persons.”Zahra said that promoting communication with the Syrian regime for the end of returning the displaced back to Syria “invites for the return of the Syrian influence in Lebanon through normalizing relations between the two countries,” he told VDL (93.3) in an interview. Denouncing a meeting that brought FPM leader and Foreign Minstrel Jebran Bassil with the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem last month, Zahra said :”Bassil's position is unacceptable mainly his meeting with his Syrian counterpart Muallem, or in which he said he is racist about the issue of the displaced," he said. Early in October, Bassil had stressed that the FPM will not tolerate the creation of Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon, saying “Yes, we are racist Lebanese and at the same time we are open to the world and no one has the right to lecture us about being humanitarian.” In recent months, there have been rising calls to repatriate the refugees but also warnings against racist rhetoric. Zahra emphasized: “The issue of national complacency brings down governments, not ministers, and we must differentiate between President Aoun and his political faction," he said stressing that "the ministers of the Lebanese Forces will not be false witnesses to any settlement that contradicts national sovereignty."In 2016 the LF and FMP mended their shaken ties in a unity display in what was named then the Maarab agreement. The two agreed on ten national issues including the role of the state's security and military apparatuses and the country's foreign policy.

Report: Aoun Determined to Solve Displaced Syrians Crisis
Naharnet/October 17/17/President Michel's Aoun is determined to achieve results as for the return of displaced Syrians and his efforts will not stop at appealing to the international community for help to organize their return, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. “There are subsequent steps that will be announced at the time to continue efforts and achieve the desired goal,” sources from the Presidential Palace told the daily on condition of anonymity. They added that the President is resolute to “relieve the Lebanese of this pressing file.” The government of Lebanon estimates it hosts 1.5 million Syrians. Most of them live informal tented settlements in the Bekaa Valley. On Monday, Aoun held talks at the Baabda Palace with diplomats from the Security Council countries, the European Union and the Arab League. He stressed that Lebanon “can no longer cope" with the presence of Syrian refugees and appealed to the international community for help to organize their return. He said the refugees' return to safe areas in Syria will put an end to their suffering and save Lebanon from negative repercussions. He specified rising unemployment among the Lebanese. At least 1 million registered Syrian refugees live in Lebanon, almost 25 percent of its population. Many more are believed to live unregistered, straining the country's already fraying infrastructure. He says Lebanon doesn't want to force any returns, but appealed to international organizations not to "frighten" those who want to go home.

OIC News Agencies' 25th meeting calls for Africa support in media
Tue 17 Oct 2017/NNA - The General Assembly of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's' News Agencies Union (UNA) called, in its 25th meeting held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for raising awareness over the negative publicity about the African states. The Assembly also urged the UNA member states to adopt a news exchange system among them, as well as to shed light on developmental projects between the UNA and the African group. It is to note that during the meeting, Lebanon was represented by the Director of the National News Agency, Laure Sleiman.

Hamade meets British officials in London
Tue 17 Oct 2017/NNA - Minister of Education and Higher Learning, Marwan Hamade, on Tuesday started a work trip in London, accompanied by the Education Ministry's Director General Fadi Yaraq and Director of the Guidance and Orientation Directorate Hilda Khoury. Hamade held his first meeting with Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education and President of TheirWorld organization, Mrs. Sarah Brown. He later held talks with British Schools Minister Nick Gibb, over enhancing the computer and digital literacy curriculum in elementary learning.
Hamade also met with Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Alistair Burt, over the means to bolster bilateral cooperation and Lebanon's response to the Syrian crisis, in addition to supporting Lebanon before the international instances. Afterwards, Hamade met with Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel, who confirmed readiness to carry on supporting Lebanon, especially on the level of education.

Jreissati, Mashnouq highlight crime classification guide's importance
Tue 17 Oct 2017/NNA - Ministers Salim Jreissati (Justice) and Nohad Mashnouq (Interior) highlighted the importance of "the guide on crimes' classification and the related sentences in the Lebanese legislation," during the guide's launching ceremony at the Grand Serail on Tuesday. "This guide is the first pillar of a strategy that outlines the Lebanese government's modern view on crimes and criminals," Jreissati said. For his part, Mashnouq considered that the "aim of this guide is to establish a unified and reliable data base for crimes, which enhances legal culture."

ISF: Teenage who killed his father in Zqaq el Blat arrested
Tue 17 Oct 2017/NNA - A teenager who shot dead his father and another individual in the Beirut locality of Zqaq el-Blat was arrested today, a communiqué by the Internal Security Forces indicated on Tuesday. Earlier this morning, A.Y., born 2003, opened fire from a hunting rifle at his father, as well as the concierge of the building where they lived and his wife. The shooting left the father and the concierge dead, while the wife and four citizens who happened to be present at the moment of th incident were injured. Beirut police officers immediately headed to the scene and managed to apprehend the culprit teenager and confiscate the murder weapon.

Guterres decorates Nawaf Salam with extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador title
Tue 17 Oct 2017/NNA - United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on Tuesday decorated Ambassador Nawaf Salam with the title of extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador, upon the 10th anniversary of his diplomatic mission's assumption as Lebanon's Ambassador to the UN. Guterres heaped praise on the competences of the Lebanese diplomat as well as his success despite the many difficult circumstances in Lebanon and the Middle East.

Sami Gemayel, French Ambassador discuss fresh developments
Tue 17 Oct 2017/NNA - Kataeb party head, MP Sami Gemayel, on Tuesday met with French Ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno Foucher, with whom he discussed latest developments in the region and their reverberations on the Lebanese scene.
The pair also dwelt on the Syrian refugees' issue and the burden they represent.

Khoury during US Arab banking conference: Lebanon, a normal platform for Syria reconstruction plans
Tue 17 Oct 2017/NNA - Minister of Economy and Trade, Raed Khoury, on Tuesday maintained that Lebanon was "a normal platform for any plan to reconstruct Syria," highlighting the challenges facing the Lebanese national economy due to the Syrian crisis and the massive influx of refugees. He added that the Lebanese banks, which had been enduring the economic crisis caused by regional conflicts, respected the enforced norms, under the supervision of the Central Bank and other control bodies, in order to keep compliant with the international financial systems and to allow fighting money laundering and terrorism funding. He also reminded that the election of President Michel Aoun following two and a half years of presidential vacuum, and the formation of Saad Hariri's government, had revived the hope of activating the political system in Lebanon. Moreover, Khoury underlined that the Lebanese economy enjoyed various strengths, including the banking and financing systems which have proven their resilience during the local and regional conflicts, oil exploration which will engender economic growth and poverty reduction, and the reconstruction of Syria, for which Lebanon will be a normal platform. Khoury made these remarks during the inauguration of the US-Arab banking conference at the headquarters of the US Federal Reserve in New York.

U.S. Embassy Inaugurates New Medical Facilities Supported by the USAID American Schools and Hospitals Abroad
Tue 17 Oct 2017/NNA - Deputy Chief of Mission Edward White visited the American University of Beirut Medical Center to celebrate the inauguration of a pathology laboratory and the Lebanese American University Rizk Hospital to celebrate the completion of a delivery and labor unit in the maternity ward.
Both facilities were renovated through grants by the USAID’s American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) program to reinforce our long-term partnership with the Lebanese people in education and health. The ribbon cutting ceremonies were held in the presence of ASHA Director Anne Dix and AUBMC and LAU Medical Center leadership and faculty. DCM White noted, "Out partnership is deeply rooted in our shared vision to save and improve lives, assist those in need, and empower sustainable institutions." USAID’s American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program provides assistance to schools, libraries, and medical centers outside the United States. Since its inception in 1947, USAID/ASHA has assisted more than 250 institutions in over 70 countries. ASHA supports construction, renovation and the procurement of scientific, medical and educational equipment. In Lebanon, ASHA has provided $282 million dollars to its partners over the past decades. ASHA’s grants help cultivate positive enduring relationships and mutual understanding between citizens of the United States and Lebanon.--U.S. Embassy Beirut

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on  October 17-18/17
Netanyahu To Russian Defense Minister: Isreal Won't Allow Iranian Presence In Syria
Jerusalem Post/October 17/17
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu is in Israel for the first time this week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday that Israel will not allow a permanent military presence in Syria.
Netanyahu's comment came a day after Israel's destruction of an SA-5 anti aircraft battery in Syria. Both Russia and Iran are key backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad. According to a statement put out by the Prime Minister's Office, most of the meeting dealt with Iranian efforts to set up a military permanent presence in Syria. “Iran needs to understand that Israel will not allow that,” Netanyahu told Shoigu. The Iranian nuclear deal, and US President Donald Trump's recent decision to decertify the deal, was also discussed, with Netanyahu repeating Israel's position that if the deal is not changed, then Iran will acquire a nuclear arsenal within eight to ten years. Following Trump's announcement last week, Russia said that there was no place in international diplomacy for aggressive rhetoric, and that his effort was doomed to fail. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who is hosting the visit and met Shoigu on Monday, also took part in the meeting. During Shoigu’s meeting with Liberman on Monday night, Shoigu stated that the Russian operation in Syria was “nearing completion,” stressing that there are many issues which must be adressed. "I would like to talk about the situation in Syria. Our operation is going to be finished there, and there are a few issues that require urgent solution, and prospects for further development of the state of affairs in Syria need to be discussed too," Shoigu said. Moscow intervened in the Syrian conflict in September 2015 for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and officials from Israel and Russia meet regularly to discuss the deconfliction mechanism implemented,a system over Syria to order avoid accidental clashes. Shoigu also stated that due to the current situation in the Middle East, he hoped that his visit and the talks would help to “better understand each other” and contributing to strengthening ties between the armed forces of the two countries."As terrorist activities in the world have been increasing, the international community needs to stay united in the struggle against this evil," Russia's defense minister said. Neither leader directly addressed the incident in Syria, though the IDF had confirmed that the Russians were informed about the launch and retaliatory strike. The two defense ministers also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Tuesday, where Shoigu laid a wreath in the Hall of Names commemorating the extermination of six million Jews during the Second World War.
*Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.

Israel Draws Red Lines after Attacking Anti-Aircraft Syrian Battery
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 17/17/An Israeli Defense Forces Spokesman said that Israeli jets bombed a Syrian anti-aircraft battery east of Damascus after it fired an anti-aircraft missile at the Israeli aircraft on a spy mission overflying Lebanon. Other Israeli sources confirmed notifying the Russian army, a major backer supporting the Assad regime in Damascus, about the airstrike “in real-time mode".No Israeli planes were hit by the missile fired by the Syrians, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said. The counter-strike took place two hours later and “incapacitated” the anti-aircraft unit located 50 km east of Damascus, he said. “We know according to our intelligence it was a battery controlled by the Syrian regime and we hold the Syrian regime responsible for the fire,” Conricus said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later issued a statement saying Israel would not hesitate to defend itself. “Today there was an attempt to harm our aircraft -- this is unacceptable to us. The air force acted quickly and accurately to destroy what needed to be destroyed,” Reuters cited Netanyahu as saying. “Our policy is clear. Whoever tries to harm us, we will strike at him. We will continue to act in the region as is required in order to defend Israel.” But the Syrian army said it struck an Israeli warplane that had breached its air space at the Syria-Lebanon border. “The Israeli enemy this morning violated our air space... Our air defense mediums confronted it, hit one of its planes directly and forced it to flee,” the Syrian military statement said. According to military sources, the Syrian anti-aircraft missile was fired at the Israeli warplane at about 10:00 am on Monday. Later on, Israeli officials reported that the Israeli aircraft responded with four air-to-surface missiles demolishing the Syrian missile battery.

IRGC Says No to Abandoning Ballistic Missile Program, Military Base Inspection
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 17/17/Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani vowed on Monday that Tehran will end its nuclear obligations should the United States withdraw from the nuclear deal, while the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards refused to halt the cleric-led nation’s development of its ballistic program.
Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Division says Brig.Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that Tehran will not stop boosting its missile capabilities under any circumstances, shrugging off US President Donald Trump’s call for constraints on Iran’s ballistic missile program. Speaking at a cultural ceremony in the city of Qom on Monday, Brig.Gen.Hajizadeh said that “[even] if a wall is constructed all around the country, the production of missiles will not be halted because this is a completely indigenous and domestic industry,” he said. The Iranian official’s remarks were made as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Washington will be working with allies to face threats posed by Tehran."We're going to work with our European partners and allies to see if we can't address these concerns," said Tillerson. On the other hand, Brig.Gen.Hajizadeh pointed to Washington’s hostile approaches to Tehran and added that “the US enmity is an unchangeable issue and strategy. [Therefore,] its tactics may change but the strategy itself never changes.”The IRGC commander was also cited as playing down concerns about a possible war against Iran, saying “this is the enemy’s psychological warfare and our country is so strong that no one will dare attack or confront the Islamic Republic.”He emphasized that US statesmen were under the influence of Zionists blasting US policy as "dictated by the Zionists."US President Donald Trump on October 13 refused to formally certify that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and warned that he might ultimately terminate the agreement. While Trump did not pull Washington out of the nuclear deal, he gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to re-impose economic sanctions against Tehran that were lifted under the pact. Re-imposing sanctions would put the US at odds with other signatories to the accord and the European Union. Trump also said his goal was to ensure Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon, adding: "We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout."

SDF Seizes ‘Full Control’ of Syria’s Raqqa from ISIS
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 17/17/The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared on Tuesday that they have completely recaptured the city of Raqqa from the ISIS terrorist organization."Everything is finished in Raqqa, our forces have taken full control of Raqqa," SDF spokesman Talal Sello told AFP. A Reuters witness said fighting appeared to be almost at an end with only sporadic bursts of gunfire. The US-backed SDF have seized control of the former ISIS stronghold, announced the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later on Tuesday. Victorious fighters celebrated in the streets, chanted slogans from their vehicles and raised a flag inside Raqqa stadium. The SDF has been fighting ISIS inside Raqqa since June. "We do still know there are still IEDs and booby traps in and amongst the areas that ISIS once held, so the SDF will continue to clear deliberately through areas," said Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the US-led international coalition. The four-month long battle for Raqqa left at least 3,250 people dead, more than a third of them civilians, the Observatory said. In a sign that the battle for Raqqa was in its last stages, Dillon said there had been no coalition air strikes there on Monday. ISIS also suffered setbacks Tuesday in the eastern Syrian region of Deir al-Zour, where Russian-backed regime forces retook swathes of territory, further reducing a "caliphate" that three years ago was roughly the size of Britain. The Observatory said regime forces had brought the entire area stretching between Deir al-Zour and Mayadeen, which was retaken on Saturday, under their control following a major military offensive. "These are not desert areas, they are villages along the Euphrates (river) that were ISIS strongholds," the Britain-based monitoring group said. ISIS also controls territory in neighboring regions on the Iraqi side of the border, where they are facing another US-backed offensive by Iraqi pro-government forces.ISIS has lost swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq this year, including its most prized possession, Mosul, and in Syria it has been forced back into a strip of the Euphrates valley and surrounding desert.

Suicide Bombers, Gunmen Kill 71 in Attacks on Afghan Security Forces
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 17/17/Two separate suicide and gun attacks on police and soldiers in Afghanistan left at least 71 dead and nearly 170 wounded Tuesday in the latest devastating assaults on beleaguered security forces.
The Taliban claimed the more deadly of the two assaults, a coordinated attack on police in the southeast city of Gardez in Paktia province. That assault killed 41 people and injured 158, according to the interior ministry, and left hospital officials calling for blood donations. There were desperate scenes as relatives queued for news of loved ones after the hours-long battle. A separate ambush blamed on the Taliban in the neighboring province of Ghazni killed 25 security officials and five civilians with 10 wounded, the interior ministry said.
Afghanistan's army and police, on the front line against the Taliban since foreign combat forces pulled back in December 2014, have suffered shocking casualties over the past year. Their ranks are beset by corruption and desertion.
"The hospital is overwhelmed and we call on people to donate blood," said Shir Mohammad Karimi, deputy health director in Gardez, who put the number of wounded there at more than 200. Doctors and nurses rushed to attend to the wounded women, children and police filling the corridors where some bodies also lay. Outside, university students formed a queue to donate blood, an AFP photographer said. The attack, claimed by the Taliban in a tweet, began when two suicide bombers driving an explosives-laden truck and a Humvee blew them up near the training center, which is close to the Paktia police headquarters.
The blasts flattened a building and enabled gunmen to force their way inside the compound, according to officials and the interior ministry. "Most of the victims are civilians who had come to the police headquarters to get their passports and national IDs," a statement from the Paktia governor's office said. A university student who was in class at the time said he heard "a big boom" which shook the building and shattered windows. "As we were trying to find our way (out of the building) I heard a second blast and then the dust and dirt covered us in the class. Several of my classmates were wounded by broken glass," Noor Ahmad told AFP.The battle between the attackers, armed with guns and suicide vests, and security forces lasted around five hours before it ended with all five militants killed, officials said. Photos posted on Twitter showed two large plumes of smoke rising above the city. The second attack, in Ghazni some 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Gardez, followed a similar pattern involving insurgents detonating an explosives-laden Humvee near a police headquarters then storming the building, Haref Noori, the Ghazni governor's spokesman, told AFP. "Dozens of Taliban" were killed in the attack, Ghazni police chief Mohammad Zaman said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks and praised the "bravery and sacrifice" of security forces.
Drone strike
The attacks are the latest in a series of assaults on security installations, including one on a military hospital in Kabul in March which may have killed up to 100 people, and a devastating attack on a base in Mazar-i-Sharif which left 144 people dead. They came one day after four-way talks between Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China were held in Oman with the aim of ending the Taliban's 16-year insurgency. Paktia province borders Pakistan's militancy-plagued tribal areas where the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network has a presence. Tuesday's attack in Gardez began hours after a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's Kurram tribal district, part of which borders Paktia, killed at least 26 Haqqani militants, officials have said. A senior commander in the Afghan Taliban told AFP on condition of anonymity the attack was in retaliation for the U.S. aerial assault, the deadliest targeting militants in the Pakistani tribal region this year. On Monday the U.S. also carried out strikes in the Jaji Maidan district of Paktia "under counter-terror authorities," said U.S. Forces spokesman Navy Captain Tom Gresback. In Kurram last week the Pakistani military rescued a U.S.-Canadian family who had been abducted by militants in Afghanistan in 2012. U.S. President Donald Trump has said they were being held by the Haqqani network. The extremist group is known for its frequent use of suicide bombers. The Haqqanis have also been accused of assassinating top Afghan officials and holding kidnapped Westerners for ransom. These include the recently rescued hostages Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman, and their three children -- all born in captivity -- as well as U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was released in 2014.

Israel Says No Talks with Palestinian Govt. that Includes Armed Hamas
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 17/17/Israel's government decided Tuesday not to negotiate with a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas if the Islamist movement does not disarm, recognize the country and give up violence. The decision by Israel's security cabinet, announced in a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, comes after rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas signed a landmark unity deal last week aimed at ending their decade-long split. The statement said negotiations would not be held until a range of conditions were met. Beyond the initial three, it also said Hamas must no longer be supported by Iran, which provides it with military assistance.In addition, it said the remains of two missing Israeli soldiers must be returned from the Gaza Strip to Israel. Three Israeli civilians believed held in Gaza, all said to be mentally unstable, must also be returned, it said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, based in the occupied West Bank, and Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, signed the unity agreement in Cairo on Thursday. The Abbas-led Palestine Liberation Organization has recognized Israel, unlike Hamas. The Palestinian Authority, currently dominated by Fatah, is due to resume control of the Gaza Strip by December 1 under the deal, however previous such attempts at reconciliation have repeatedly failed. A major sticking point is expected to be Hamas' refusal to disarm its 25,000-strong armed wing.

10 Held in France over Suspected Plot to Attack Politicians, Mosques
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 17/17/Ten people were arrested in France on Tuesday over a suspected plot to target mosques and politicians, including a government spokesman, a source close to the investigation told AFP. The arrests by anti-terror police of suspects aged 17-25 were part of an investigation into far-right activists, the source said. The nine men and one woman are suspected of links to Logan Alexandre Nisin, a former militant of the far-right group Action Francaise Provence who was arrested in June, the source said. Another source named the targeted politicians as government spokesman Christophe Castaner and radical left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon. The suspects, taken into custody for "association with terrorist wrongdoers," were also thought to be plotting to target migrants as well as mosques. "They were only in the earliest planning stages," one source said. A 21-year-old former Action Francaise member was charged in July after making threatening posts on social networks against migrants and jihadists, the sources said. Nisin was arrested near Marseille on June 28 after posting that he planned to attack blacks, jihadists, migrants and "scum." Local prosecutors took up the case initially before the anti-terror prosecutors took it over. One of the probe sources said investigators had determined that Nisin, who possessed arms and practiced shooting, had the intention of following through with his threats.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on  October 17-18/17
The New Bloc against Tehran
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 17/17
The pace of developments has taken us by surprise. Ever since Washington announced its decision against Iran’s government, Britain and Germany shifted their stance from insisting on remaining loyal to the commitments of the nuclear deal to announcing that they support Trump’s plan to confront Tehran’s regime in the Middle East. The problem is not related to an agreement over nuclear activity as much as it is about the wars, which Iran is regionally managing. It is unreasonable to let the regime loose in the region and allow it to spread chaos, threaten other regimes and dominate Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. All this would basically be its reward for decreasing uranium enrichment! Britain and Germany criticized Iranian practices and announced they will join the US in confronting Tehran’s policy. This position foils Iran’s attempts to adopt the entire agreement in one package to impose it on everyone without distinguishing between preventing nuclear activity, which qualifies it for military supremacy, and between the dangerous practices of the regime, which is benefiting from the nuclear deal itself.
We must acknowledge that the White House wittingly managed the battle with its European allies who completely rejected backing down from the agreement and refused to take any action that may lead to tense relations with Tehran. However, President Trump put two options before them: correct the mistakes related to the agreement or cancel it altogether. He insisted on refusing the previous situation. This stance is in harmony with the Republican Party’s view and his government, of course, supported the decision. The wheel will begin to turn again to pressure Tehran’s regime, which will be responsible for the next economic and political crisis it will suffer from – that is if it refuses to change its behavior and to suspend its military and militant activities in the region. The US and governments that support it it do not oppose Iran’s right to establish a civil nuclear program, but Washington expects Tehran rein in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and its intelligence apparatuses in the region.
Iran must withdraw the militias, which the IRGC established and trained and which consist of powerless refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other countries. It also developed “Hezbollah’s” roles and turned the party members into mercenaries who launch wars on its behalf in the region.
It is preparing the Houthi Ansar Allah group in Yemen for this same purpose. Iran also used a naval network to smuggle weapons to conflict areas in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon and used ships to smuggle supplies to fund the Yemeni war. It tried to do the same in Syria via the Mediterranean Sea. Iran also has activities in Afghanistan as it has supported the war there ever since the American invasion of the country following the September 11 attacks. Iran could not have expanded in this manner in the region if those who signed the agreement hadn’t submitted to its conditions and hadn’t lifted sanctions randomly. Tehran could not have expanded in Syria if the former US administration, under Barack Obama, hadn’t been lenient with it out of fear that it may not sign the deal.The challenge will be in proposing a new project to Tehran. This can include lifting sanctions in exchange of keeping the deal and getting Iran to commit to withdrawing all its foreign militias from conflict zones and pledging to stop supporting local militias allied with it, like the Houthis, the League of Righteous People, “Hezbollah in Iraq” and others.
To pressure Iran, Washington said it will revive its support of the Iranian opposition that is seeking to topple the regime. Obama’s administration had stopped doing that and had suspended supporting academic, political and media activities directed against Tehran in order to please Rouhani’s government.
Now that the political confrontation is back on, Tehran is faced before a new equation: stop wars or be sanctioned again. All this will be accompanied with the formation of a new bloc, whose aims are to pressure Iran and guarantee the implementation of sanctions.

Analysis Israel’s Message to Russia Sent in Syria, Received in Tel Aviv
Gili Cohen/Haaretz/October 17/17
Why did Israel decide to bomb the Syrian anti-aircraft battery this time?
Hours after Israel's rare strike in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that, "If anyone tries to hurt us, we’ll hurt them." What was defined by the Israeli army as a Syrian provocation in the morning had become a chance to reinforce Israel’s red lines by the afternoon.
Monday’s unusual incident between Syria and Israel says something about the modern Middle East. Within hours, a routine Israeli surveillance flight over Lebanon had turned into a bombing run 50 kilometers east of Damascus.
Here’s the sequence of events according to the laconic statement issued by the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit: An Israel Air Force plane was taking pictures in Lebanese airspace when an SA-5 missile was launched at it. The missile didn’t threaten the plane, but Israel decided not to let it pass. Two hours later, it attacked the radar of a Syrian anti-aircraft battery and took it out of operation.
Israel believes the Syrian army launched the missile because it feared the IAF planned an offensive strike. Just recently, former IAF commander Amir Eshel told Haaretz that Israel has conducted almost 100 airstrikes in Syria over the last five years against convoys ferrying arms to Hezbollah and other organizations.
Occasionally, these strikes prompt a Syrian response. In March, for instance, the Syrian army fired SA-5 missiles at Israeli fighter planes that were trying to bomb a Hezbollah arms convoy. That incident made waves because Israel, fearing the missiles would land in its territory, intercepted them with its Arrow anti-missile system. But it was preceded by at least three similar cases over the last two years in which Syria fired anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli planes.
The SA-5, developed back in the 1960s, is considered a primitive system, especially compared to the many modern anti-aircraft systems in the region. Its antiquated, horrifically noisy radar can be easily detected by Israeli technology. Thus it’s reasonable to assume the IAF knew the Syrians were operating the system when the morning’s surveillance flight took place.
But the SA-5s are almost completely ineffective against Israeli aircraft, which can maneuver to prevent the antiquated radar from locking in on them. Therefore, it’s no surprise that all the Syrian missiles thus far have missed their targets, with the Israeli jets having plenty of time to take evasive action and return to base safely.
Though Syria’s aerial defense corps has been visibly on edge in recent weeks, defense officials declined to offer a clear explanation for why Israel’s response policy had suddenly changed. Why did Israel decide to bomb the Syrian anti-aircraft battery responsible for the launch, even at the price of increased tension along the already sensitive northern border, when in the past, it has responded far more tepidly, and sometimes even purely defensively, such as by firing off an Arrow missile costing millions of shekels?
The answer might lie in what happened eight hours later in Tel Aviv. Accompanied by a police motorcycle escort, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, on his first visit to Israel, entered army headquarters for a meeting with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Israel has waited a long time for Shoigu’s official visit, and had planned to use it to demonstrate Iran’s efforts to consolidate its position in Syria.
Russia doesn’t see eye to eye with Israel about the impact of Iran’s activity in the region in general, and Jerusalem is particularly worried over the difference in approach toward Iran’s activity in Syria. Israel believes Iran views Syria as a base for long-term strategic and economic influence, whereas Russia believes the Iranians will leave the country once the Syrian civil war ends.
Thus a new item was added to the agenda of Monday’s meeting, which was also attended by the army chief of staff and the director of Military Intelligence: an update about the Israeli strike in Syria. Message delivered and received.

Saving NATO from Turkey
Daniel Pipes/Washington Times/October 17, 2017
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, known as NATO, faces an existential problem.
No, it's not about getting member states to fulfill agreed-upon spending levels on defense. Or finding a role after the Soviet collapse. Or standing up to Russia's Vladimir Putin. Rather, it's about Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Islamist, dictatorial ruler of Turkey whose policies threaten to undermine this unique alliance of 29 states that has lasted nearly 70 years.
Created in 1949, NATO's founding principles ambitiously set out the alliance goal "to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of [member states'] peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law." In other words, the alliance exists to defend Western civilization.
For its first 42 years, until the USSR collapsed in 1991, this meant containing and defeating the Warsaw Pact. Today, it means containing and defeating Russia and Islamism. Of these latter two, Islamism is the deeper and longer-lasting threat, being based not on a single leader's personality but on a highly potent ideology, one that effectively succeeded fascism and communism as the great radical utopian challenge to the West.
Some major figures in NATO appreciated this shift soon after the Soviet collapse. Already in 1995, Secretary-General Willy Claes noted with prescience that "Fundamentalism is at least as dangerous as communism was." With the Cold War over, he said, "Islamic militancy has emerged as perhaps the single gravest threat to the NATO alliance and to Western security."
In 2004, José María Aznar, Spain's former prime minister, warned that "Islamist terrorism is a new shared threat of a global nature that places the very existence of NATO's members at risk." He advocated that NATO focus on combating "Islamic jihadism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction" and called for "placing the war against Islamic jihadism at the center of the Allied strategy."
But, instead of a robust NATO on the Claes-Aznar model leading the battle against Islamism, it was internally hobbled by Erdoğan's opposition. Rather than assert the fight against Islamism, the other 28 members dismayingly deferred to the Islamist within their ranks.
The 28 stay mum about the near-civil war the Turkish regime wages in southeastern Anatolia against its own Kurdish citizens. The emergence of a private army (called SADAT) under Erdoğan's exclusive control seems not to bother them.
Likewise, they appear oblivious to Ankara's unpredictably limiting access to the NATO base at Incirlik, the obstructed relations with friendly states such as Austria, Cyprus and Israel, and the vicious anti-Americanism symbolized by the mayor of Ankara hoping for more storm damage to be inflicted on the United States.
Maltreatment of NATO-member state nationals hardly bothers the NATO worthies: Not the arrest of 12 Germans (such as Deniz Yücel and Peter Steudtner) nor the attempted assassination of Turks in Germany (such as Yüksel Koç), not the seizure of Americans in Turkey as hostages (such as Andrew Brunson and Serkan Gölge), nor repeated physical violence against Americans in the United States (such as at the Brookings Institute and at Sheridan Circle).
NATO seems unfazed that Ankara helps Iran's nuclear program, develops an Iranian oil field, and transfers Iranian arms to Hezbollah. Erdoğan's talk of joining the Moscow-Beijing dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ruffles few feathers, as do joint exercises with the Russian and Chinese militaries. A Turkish purchase of a Russian missile defense system, the S-400, appears to be more an irritant than a deal-breaker. A mutual U.S.-Turkish ban on visas fazed no one.
NATO faces a choice. It can, hoping that Erdoğan is no more than a colicky episode and Turkey will return to the West, continue with the present policy. Or it can deem NATO's utility too important to sacrifice to this speculative possibility, and take assertive steps to freeze the Republic of Turkey out of NATO activities until it again behaves like an ally. Those steps might include:
Removing nuclear weapons from Incirlik
Closing NATO's operations at Incirlik
Canceling arms sales, such as the F-35 aircraft
Exclude Turkish participation from weapons development
Not share intelligence
Not train Turkish soldiers or sailors
Reject Turkish personnel for NATO positions
A unified stance against Erdoğan's hostile dictatorship permits the grand NATO alliance to rediscover its noble purpose "to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization" of its peoples. By confronting Islamism, NATO will again take up the mantle it has let down of late, nothing less than defending Western civilization.
Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org, @DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2017 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.
http://www.danielpipes.org/17971/saving-nato-from-turkey?utm_source=Middle+East+Forum&utm_campaign=93875a5c85-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_086cfd423c-93875a5c85-33831725

Do business with the Revolutionary Guards at your peril
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/ArabNews/October 17/17
It is a historic development. In one of the most critical moves since the establishment of the Iranian regime in 1979, President Donald Trump has instructed the US Treasury Department to impose new sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) because of its support for terrorism.
This stops just short of designating the IRGC a terrorist organization, but it will nevertheless have significant and serious legal, political and economic implications on companies, governments and individuals who deal with the Iranian regime.
The IRGC is the backbone of the regime. It controls significant sections of Iran’s economic and ideological centers. The senior cadres of the IRGC enjoy the final say in Tehran’s domestic foreign policy and support for proxies. The IRGC is also engaged in domestic repression of dissidents, suppression of freedom of speech, press and assembly, and the imprisonment of opponents.
According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reports, Iran has the highest number of executions in the world. The human rights violations increased under the presidency of the so-called “moderate” Hassan Rouhani. Many Iranians view the imposition of new sanctions as positive news, particularly for those who are suffering under the iron rule of the IRGC and the ruling clerics. The Iranian regime is also listed as the top state sponsor of terrorism.
The IRGC has been responsible for brutal repression and thousands of killings inside Iran, for sponsoring terrorism in the region and for supporting Bashar Assad in Syria, Houthis in Yemen, Shiite militias in Iraq, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In Europe – due to the enormous trade interests of some big countries and the EU’s improving relations with the Iranian regime – governments may lean towards ignoring the Iranian regime’s interventionist and aggressive policy. However, now that the IRGC is the subject of tough new US Treasury sanctions, European companies trading with Iran will risk financial penalties from the US, because the IRGC runs most of Iran’s economy.
Any company dealing with the Iranian regime should now be extremely cautious. Freezing the IRGC out of the US financial system means that any country, organization or individual that politically, militarily, tactically, strategically, financially or economically deals with the IRGC is taking an enormous risk.
New US sanctions on the malign organization that is Iran’s political and economic backbone will have profound implications for the regime.
More importantly, it is worth noting that almost every major transaction with the Iranian regime is conducted through the IRGC directly or indirectly, because it has the largest stake in Iran’s economy and political affairs.
The US Congress may now follow up with further sanctions against Iranian leaders.
More powerful acts and policies that are possibilities would be sanctioning third parties that deal with the Iranian regime and its organizations, including the IRGC.
In March of this year, the Washington office of the Iranian opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran released a 175-page book entitled “The Rise of the Revolutionary Guards Corps Financial Empire,” in which it demonstrated that the IRGC controls more than half of Iran’s GDP and owns several major economic powerhouses and religious endowments. In June, the group published a book on 15 terrorist training centers in Iran, where the IRGC provides ideological, military and tactical training to foreign recruits, who are later dispatched to countries in the Middle East region and beyond to conduct terrorist activities.
The new sanctions on the IRGC will have serious legal and political implications on dealing with the IRGC and the Iranian regime for every individual, entity, organization, or government.
The next step for the US government is to enforce inspection of Iran’s military sites regarding nuclear developments, and to sanction non-US parties dealing with the IRGC and the Iranian regime. This would be the biggest blow to the Iranian regime and its pursuit of regional domination. It will empower the Iranian people and the opposition.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Hezbollah and Arab Shiites in Gulf countries/حزب الله والشيعة العرب في دول الخليج
Kamel Al-Khatti/Al Arabiya/October 17/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=59587
When it comes to the impact of Hezbollah’s role on politics and security in the Middle East, it is necessary to first talk about Iran’s role in detail. For all intents and purposes, Hezbollah is the political and military arm of the theocratic regime in Iran and is considered the vanguard among ‘the followers on the path of Al-Imam’.
In fact, Hezbollah cadres are the most well trained and best prepared among members of this broader movement — the followers on the path of Al-Imam’ — and has started organizing ‘sleeper cells’. Although other followers of this movement are not on par with the level of organization and intelligence as Hezbollah, the broader movement provides the social depth required to facilitate the work of Hezbollah cadres. For this reason, there is a need to study both of these constituents of the movement and to what extent the roles of the two overlap with each other in the public arena among the Arab Shiite minorities of Gulf countries, especially among Saudi Shiites.
Iran and Arab Shiites: Divergent interests
It is important here to recount an incident that occurred in 1979, which covers aspects that remain valid even today. In that year, one of Al-Husseini’s preachers in Al-Qatif warned his listeners against responding to Khomeini’s call to spread his Islamic Revolution. He told his listeners that Khomeini and his cohorts were leading their country with interests that contradicted the interests of countries with which the Arab Shiites identify themselves with. The Iranian discourse addressed members of the Shiite sect, just as an Iranian political ploy to threaten the security and stability of its neighbors by inciting their Shiite citizens to rise up against the ruling dispensation in their countries, on the pretext that this protest sought equality and justice. This preacher was a distinguished luminary of Al-Qatif and was among the prominent Arab intellectuals. However, he was ostracized for expressing his adverse opinion about Khomeini. Rumor-mogering was used as a weapon for the moral assassination of this preacher. Thus, rumours were circulated about his alleged statement that Ben-Gurion's shoes were purer than Khomeini's beard.
There have been several similar instances when Iranian media has sought to manipulate the perceptions of the Arab Shiite. Most efforts of Iranian propaganda proved effective as the response to mitigate its message came from a limited number of traditional religious scholars. These scholars used conventional means to advise the new generation against politicizing religion and sacred religious events, as this would desecrate the sanctity of such solemnities and upset the authorities entrusted with maintaining order. However, these attempts largely failed to disrupt Iranian efforts. It is difficult for individual efforts to succeed while facing institutional efforts supervised by a state.
Revolutionary Iran did not hesitate to use the Arab Shiite minorities as one of its main weapons and for this it relied on its elite cadres to be at the vanguard for directing public opinion to defend its positions in the Arab Shiite communities. These elite forces were organized under the broad framework, which were referred to at the beginning as ‘The followers of the path of Al-Imam’. Under this broad heading, there are sub-headings of more elite groups in terms of recruitment and training.
Hezbollah’s GCC outreach
Of these groups, the most well-trained and well-organized factions operate under the aegis of Hezbollah in its various geographical extensions, such as ‘Al-Hijaz Hezbollah’, ‘Kuwaiti Hezbollah’, and ‘Iraqi Hezbollah’. In terms of the broad umbrella of the ‘The path of Al-Imam’, the name of the Kuwaiti ‘Abbas bin Nakhi’ comes to mind while surveying the early stages of the movement. Ben Nakhi was a colonel in one of the formations of the Kuwaiti armed forces, but he left his military service to serve with The Khomeinist movement. However, he later retracted from his commitment to Iran and adopted the traditionalist doctrine, particularly after the death of Khomeini and the ascension of Ali Khamenei as the leader of the Revolution.
During the period of the Iran-Iraq war, security authorities in the Eastern region arrested a group of Saudi Shiites from Al-Ahsa. They were Aramco employees who were charged with leaking schemes and coordinates of the company's network stations. The group was headed by Aramco's Director of Communications, the highest rung in the mid-level management hierarchy. Following investigations, those apprehended confessed to their crime and admitted that their motivation was to assist Iran in its war against Iraq and against Gulf countries allied with Iraq.
Out of the 16 arrested, only one belonged to Hezbollah. He was not the head of the group, but played the role of the instigator. The head of the group and other members risked their lives and the security of their country in support of Iran. After investigations, the Emirate of the Eastern Province summoned a number of prominent Shiites and showed them video and audio confessions made by members of the group. All those apprehended were eventually released following a special royal amnesty. None of them was imprisoned for more than two years!
Members of Hezbollah’s regional branch had its own set of militants. These members were assigned with the task of initiating actions that benefited Iran. The kind of actions carried out by sections of the Khomeini movement, whether those of the ‘The followers of the path of Al-Imam’ or ‘Hezbollah’ movement, varied in their scope and seriousness. These actions included hindering local religious men from choosing their jurisprudential references by influencing them into choosing doctrinal references in support of the ‘Vilayat Al-Faqih’ doctrine in order to tighten control of Arab Shiite communities, directing the sentiments and behavior of the Shiite Arab communities in accordance with Iranian interests, conducting moral assassination of Shiites Sheikhs and dignitaries who did not subscribe to the doctrine of the Vilayat-e-Faqih doctrine. The actions also included conducting violent attacks — such as assassinations and bombings like the one at Sadaf company in Jubail Industrial City east of Saudi Arabia, the mayhem caused in 1989 during the pilgrimage season in Mecca, the bombing of al-Ju'aima laboratory, the failed attempt to blow up the escalator tower at the RasTanura oil-gas plant and the bombing of Al-Khobar Towers in 1996.These crimes were carried out by citizens of Gulf countries, recruited by Iran for more than one reason. Their most important reason was to cause a trust deficit between the Shiite minorities in Gulf countries and their governments, as well as with the majority Sunni Arab population. The crisis of trust has already taken place and along with other factors has contributed toward isolating the Shiite minorities from their Sunni Arab community, Thus, Arab Shiite minorities grew closer toward Iran because of a rising sense of alienation of these minorities from their national community, which instilled in them a sense of insecurity.
Inoculating domestic politics from outside interference
Iran has invested in fostering discrimination that has harmed the cause of Arab Shiite minorities. Leftists participating in this investment also failed, which turned it into opponents of present regimes, but they never had a clearly defined renaissance project.
I would like to conclude with two recommendations. The first one is to study the social issues faced by members of the Arab Shiite minorities in Gulf countries, who sympathize with Iranian policies, especially those in Saudi Arabia. The security aspect of this issue is handled by the concerned authorities with clear responsibilities, but the social aspect remains unclear. It is not possible to express an opinion about it without conducting thorough research and study. A specialized research would reveal to us the best possible options for closing the gaps through which Iran influences Shiite minorities in Gulf Arab states. The second recommendation relates to inoculating the local socio-political dynamics from regional influences, though I admit I do not know how one could implement such a plan of inoculation.
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Kamel Al-Khatti is a Saudi writer and researcher.

‘It is not PSG; it is UNESCO’
Christian Chesnot/Al Arabiya/October 17/17
On paper, it was a captivating battle. In the name of geographical rotation, an Arab should have taken the lead of UNESCO’s leadership.
In the end, that is not what happened. Yet in the first round of voting, the four Arab candidates (Moushira Khattab for Egypt, Hamad Al-Kuwari for Qatar, Vera El Khoury Lacoeuilhe for Lebanon and Saleh Al-Hasnawi for Iraq) had obtained a total of 34 votes, i.e. 4 majority votes.
However, Audrey Azoulay is the new Director-General of UNESCO. On the starting line, the French woman was far from being the front runner. She had announced her candidacy at the very last minute.
In Paris, the then former minister of culture was considered as a parachuted of President Hollande who was finishing his mandate. And above all, her competitors recalled that as a member state, France could not claim to direct UNESCO.
For the final ballot, Audrey Azoulay faced Qatar’s candidate Hamad Al-Kuwari, former minister of culture of the Emirate. Admittedly, he lost by two votes only (30 against 28), but behind the scenes of the election, there was an anti-Qatar feeling.
The awkward tweet of Hamad Al-Kuwari saying that he was not “empty-handed” at UNESCO sparked great gossip, as well as his invitation for all members of the Executive Council of the Organization to Doha, the body that elects the Director General.
We have entered an “apolar” world where diplomatic relations are made and disentangled according to crises, the stakes and particular situations
Checkbook diplomacy
Rightly or wrongly, this diplomacy of the checkbook has displeased many. So much so that a French diplomat confided to me frankly: “here, it is not the PSG, it is UNESCO!”
After the shocking departure of the United States and Israel on the eve of the election, it was also whispered behind the scenes that if the candidate of Qatar were elected, Saudi Arabia and the UAE could have decided to slam the door and leave UNESCO.
Already very weak, especially in financial terms, the organization would have struggled to recover from further defections that would have precipitated its decline. The 58 members of the Executive Board did not want to take this risk.
Also read: UNESCO selects France’s Azoulay as new chief, edging out Qatar’s Kawari
In the end, what are the lessons we can take from this battle of UNESCO? What does it tell us about the diplomatic relations of power of 2017?
This failure of the Arab world - after that of the Egyptian candidate Farouk Hosni in 2009 - is another proof of the Arab countries’ erasure on the international scene. The June crisis between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors added another layer of traditional dissent and rivalry. The voice of the Arabs is inaudible and not heard.
The ‘great powers’
As for the great powers, it wasn’t better in anyways. China won only 5 votes in the first round of the UNESCO election. For a super power, it is a bitter failure. As for the United States of Donald Trump, the time has come for withdrawal on all fronts (UNESCO, climate, Iran, Cuba, etc.).
Under these circumstances, France, the average power, was able to pin its name in UNESCO, taking advantage of the weaknesses of others.
It seems like a long time ago when we talked about a “bipolar” world during the Cold War and a “multipolar” world with the rise of emerging countries (China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, etc.) in the early years 2000.
Today, we have entered an “apolar” world: the relations of diplomatic force are made and disentangled according to crises, the stakes and the particular situations.
An undoubtedly more democratic world – at UNESCO, the voice of St Christopher and Nevis, a small Caribbean island, weighs as much as that of the United States or China – but certainly more unstable and dangerous too.
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Christian Chesnot is grand reporter at Radio France in Paris in charge of the Middle East affairs. He has been based as correspondent in Cairo and Amman. He has written several books on Palestine, Iraq, Syria and the Gulf. Chesnot tweets
@cchesnot.

Difference between starting a venture capital firm and managing it
Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/October 17/17
Everyone loves an entrepreneur venture capitalist as they extol the best in human spirit, self-motivation, drive and creating wealth for themselves and others.
In the Gulf, the emphasis is to move away from reliance on hydro- carbon revenue and state spending and to unleashing the capitalist spirit of the private sector, especially of technology entrepreneurship.
Many venture capital companies have been created and financial institutions and private equity lenders are eager to source these new initiatives and support them from early stages to eventually listing them, or bringing in more investors as the business matures.
So with this win-win situation where utopia is guaranteed for all, is there happiness at the end of the rainbow? Unfortunately the fairy tale story can often end up a nightmare dream. One of the principal causes is that while the original idealist and visionary founders started the process, they sometime fail as businessmen as the company becomes larger and more complex to manage.
Instead of allowing those with business acumen, rather than bright ideas to run the business, the original venture capital owners still want to control the company.
Greed plays a factor on why venture capital operates the way it does and tolerates over-privileged CEOs
High-tech VC funds
This has happened to some of the more famous high tech venture capital companies, leading to investor revolt at the board level, as the recent Uber Technologies Inc. backer Benchmark Capital filed a lawsuit against the start-up’s founder Travis Kalanick for using allegedly fraudulent means to pack the board with his loyalists.
While the lawsuit is going to be defended by other shareholders, the action by Benchmark Capital has sent a strong signal that Silicon Valley’s so-called founder-friendly era is coming to an end.
It is understandable from a psychological perspective that upon the successful launch of a venture capital company, the original entrepreneurs will want to maintain outsize control and influence over their companies.
However, those that analysed the failure of such start-ups have concluded that this has led founders to take a freewheeling approach to running their companies, loading up on shares for themselves and their friends as these were the ones that gave them most support during the early and difficult start-up phase.
This has led to presiding over many employees and creating a toxic workplace. Kalanick is far from the only founder deemed to have abused investors’ trust in him.
In the 1990s, it wasn’t unusual for venture firms to replace founders as CEOs, usually because the investors believed the company needed a leader with more experience in the wider business world. They were also expected to handle both employees and multi shareholders, which was distracting the founder from focusing on what they know best: bringing new and fresh ideas to the company.
Utopian ideal
No wonder some founders opt out in frustration and wish they can go back to that simple and utopian ideal of managing ideas by themselves or with a group of like-minded dreamers.
The real world brings many to the ground, often brutally, and this is where putting together a balanced board of directors to guide a venture capitalist as well as the hiring of professional managers will go a long way in ensuring original ideas survive and flourish. But greed also plays a factor on why venture capital operates the way it does and tolerates over-privileged CEOs.
This is because so much money flooded into tech start-ups, making it easy for founders of the most promising start-ups to shop around for investors and there were many around. Last year, venture firms raised $41.6 billion, the most since the dotcom era, according to the National Venture Capital Association.
For a long time venture firms were loath to crack down on founders for fear they could go elsewhere for capital. In today’s world where long term survival of companies is becoming just as important as making short term profits, original founders have to be guided that bringing new ideas and managing the business at the same time are recipes for eventual failure.
In the Gulf , there is abundant talent available to ensure that an independent Advisory Board can be set up to steer the company and provide the founders the space and the means to continue being innovative.
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Dr. Mohamed Ramady is an energy economist and geo-political expert on the GCC and former Professor at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.