LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 23/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias
Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias18/english.may23.18.htm
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Bible
Quotations
It is very important
That we forgive for each other
Matthew 18/22-35/ Jesus said to him, “I don’t
tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven. Therefore the
Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to settle accounts with
his servants. When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who
owed him ten thousand talents. But because he couldn’t pay, his lord
commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had,
and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and knelt before
him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ The
lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave
him the debt. “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow
servants who owed him one hundred denarii,§ and he grabbed him and took him
by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ “So his fellow servant
fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I
will repay you!’ He would not, but went and cast him into prison until
he should pay back that which was due. 31 So when his fellow servants saw
what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all
that was done. Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You
wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t
you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’
His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay
all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if
you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”
Titles For
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on May 22-23/18
All That Happens In Lebanon Under the
Hezbollah Occupation is Rejected & Illegitimate/Elias Bejjani/May 22/18
Federation is a system, a mean, to resolve a problem/Dr.Walid Phares/Face
Book/May 22/18
Screw your weapons. Your pseudo-resistance/Asma-Maria Andraos /Face Book/May
22/18
With Berri’s re-election sealed, focus shifts to new Cabinet/Hussein Dakroub/The
Daily Star/May. 22/18
UN Chief Rips Into Hezbollah as Most Armed Militia in Mideast, Urges Group
to Disarm/The Associated Press/Haaretz/ May 22, 2018
Middle East Conflicts No Longer Focus on Israel-Palestine: It's All About
Iran vs. Saudi/The Associated Press and Haaretz/ May 22, 2018
Israel Launched World's First Air Strike Using F-35 Stealth Fighters, Air
Force Chief Says/Yaniv Kubovich/Haaretz/May 22, 2018
The princes, the president and the fortune seekers/By DESMOND BUTLER and TOM
LoBIANCO/May 22/18
European Companies are Fleeing Iran/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/May
22/18 The World is Heating Up, But Not Everyone is Staying Cool/Nathanial
Bullard/Bloomberg/May 22/18
Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on
May 22-23/18
All That Happens In Lebanon Under the Hezbollah Occupation is Rejected &
Illegitimate
Federation is a system, a mean, to resolve a problem
Screw your weapons. Your pseudo-resistance
Pompeo Says U.S. to 'Crush Hizbullah Operatives' around the World
Govt. OKs 3-Year Extension for Power Ships as Cost Slashed
Several Troops Wounded in Clash with Fugitives in Tripoli
Senior Officers from UK Defense College Visit Lebanon
Lebanon: Last Cabinet Session Approves Dozens of Pending Articles
Eldest MP calls session of new Parliament
With Berri’s re-election sealed, focus shifts to new Cabinet
UN Chief Rips Into Hezbollah as Most Armed Militia in Mideast, Urges Group
to Disarm
Titles For Latest LCCC
Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on May 22-23/18
US sanctions five Iranians it links
to Revolutionary Guard, Houthi militia in Yemen
U.S. to Put 'Unprecedented Pressure' on Iran, Asks It to 'Withdraw Forces'
from Syria
Europeans Adhere to Nuclear Deal, Despite US Standpoint
Rouhani Minimizes Importance of US Sanctions on Iran
Sadr’s ‘Paternal’ Government Stumbles over Iraqi Politics
Israel Refuses to Cooperate with UN Commission of Inquiry on Gaza
Palestinian FM Submits Referral to ICC on Israeli Crimes
Taliban Attack Afghan Policemen as Minibus Bomb Causes Heavy Casualties
Despite US Military Optimism, Watchdog Says ‘Few Signs of Progress' in
Afghanistan
Attacks on Healthcare in 2017: Syria Had the Highest Number
New Ebola Cases, Deaths Reported in Congo
Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on
May 22-23/18
All That Happens In
Lebanon Under the Hezbollah Occupation is Rejected & Illegitimate
Elias Bejjani/May 22/18
Sadly, our beloved country, The Holy Lebanon, is totally occupied by Iran
through its Hezbollah terrorist proxy. Meanwhile all the top notch
politician, parties, clergymen and officials with no one exception are
shamefully subservient to the occupier and work under its umbrella with a
100% Dhimmitude education and mentality. Therefore any changed that might
take place under the Iranian occupation like a new Federal System or any
other constitutional amendments will be completely dictated by Iran to serve
its denominational Persian scheme of expansionism and dictatorship. In
conclusion, at the present there is no hope what so ever from the current
politicians, parties or officials due to the evil fact that they all they
all did succumb to the occupier.
Federation is a
system, a mean, to resolve a problem
Dr.Walid Phares/Face Book/May 22/18
What is important about calling for a federal system in Lebanon is the
reason for it, not just its technicalities. Germany, Switzerland, Canada,
the US, Belgium or even the UAE have all different types of federations, for
different historical reasons. Federation is a system, a mean, to resolve a
problem. The last problem needed in Lebanon is to end up calling for a
joke-federation of identical Iran-controlled provinces: Druze, Christian,
Shia, Sunnis, all dominated by Iranian influence. That would defeat the
initial purpose altogether. A federation in Lebanon needs to have all
foreign domination out first, or on their way out.
Screw your weapons.
Your pseudo-resistance
Asma-Maria Andraos /Face Book/May 22/18
Screw your weapons. Your pseudo-resistance. Your love for death and useless
martyrdom. You have spread nothing but hate, horror, and destruction. You
have killed hundreds of thousands of Syrian innocent lives. You have
assassinated the best of our free-thinking Lebanese leaders. You have
dirtied Lebanon’s name and reputation in countless countries. You are
corrupt, criminal, traitors at best. Nadine Labaki scares you. Ziad Doueiry
scares you. Ali el Amine scares you. Hanin Ghaddar scares you. And the list
goes on. Why? Because they love life. And have talent. And influence others.
And believe in freedom. And have dreams. You are terrorists. Politically.
Ideologically. Culturally. Ethically. That’s what you are. And Nadine, and
Ziad, and Hanin, and Ali, and the hundreds of others, they are the light.
The very light that will keep on shining, through them and many others, way
past your bedtime.
Pompeo Says U.S. to 'Crush Hizbullah
Operatives' around the World
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/May 22/18/U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday vowed that Washington will “crush”
whom he called Hizbullah's operatives around the world, as he issued a steep
list of demands that he said should be included in a nuclear treaty with
Iran to replace the Obama-era deal. "We will track down Iranian operatives
and their Hizbullah proxies operating around the world and crush them,"
Pompeo said. Pompeo also demanded that Iran cease from a range of activities
throughout the Middle East that have long drawn the ire of the U.S. and its
allies. He said Iran must halt support for its Hizbullah, stop threatening
Israel, end support for Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen and "withdraw all
forces" from Syria.
Govt. OKs 3-Year Extension for Power Ships as
Cost Slashed
Naharnet/May 22/18/The government on Monday approved a three-year extension
for the contracts of the Turkish power-generating ships, as the energy
minister lamented that there was an alleged plot to obstruct his electricity
plan prior to the parliamentary elections. “The decisions that were taken in
this session and in the previous sessions indicate that all the talk about
the electricity file has gone with the wind,” Energy Minister Cesar Abi
Khalil announced after Cabinet's last session ahead of turning into a
caretaker cabinet. “A three-year extension has been approved for the power
ships that are currently present in Lebanon, which also indicates that all
the previous maneuvers were aimed at blocking the electricity plan before
the elections,” Abi Khalil added. “We have negotiated over the power ships
and we have managed to obtain cost cuts for the next three years and
additional 200 megawatts for free,” the minister announced. According to
information obtained by LBCI television, the Energy Ministry has reached an
agreement with the Turkish Karadeniz Energy Group on dispatching a third
ship to Lebanon's coast within a month in order to generate the additional
200 megawatts.
Several Troops Wounded in Clash with Fugitives
in Tripoli
Naharnet/May 22/18/Several soldiers were wounded in a clash with fugitives
Tuesday in the northern city of Tripoli. Al-Jadeed TV said seven troops were
injured, one of them “very critically.”The National News Agency said the
fugitive Jihad Baltaji and several others holed themselves up in the office
of caretaker Labor Minister Mohammed Kabbara. Al-Jadeed identified the rest
of the fugitives as Mohammed Kokolaki, Khaled Hmeidan (aka Abu Ali Lamaa),
Shadi al-Zann and Abu Jaafar al-Nashar. NNA said the area was still
witnessing intermittent clashes and that the armed group hurled two hand
grenades at the troops. “The army fired back and threw a smoke grenade,” the
agency added.
Senior Officers from UK Defense College Visit
Lebanon
Naharnet/May 22/18/An international delegation of fifteen senior military
officers from the British Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS) has
visited Lebanon for one week, the British embassy in Beirut said on Monday.
The delegation, led by Major General Craig Lawrence, visited Lebanon to
“learn about the political, economic, security, and social challenges facing
Lebanon and how these might relate to regional and international stability,”
the embassy said in a statement.
RCDS is a UK based course for military officers and senior government civil
servants from the UK and allied nations. The aim of the course is to
instruct members in defense and international security matters.
“As part of their overseas study tour, the RCDS delegation of Colonels and
Brigadiers from the UK, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Canada, Netherlands, Chile,
Colombia, China, India, and Uganda have met with President Michel Aoun,
Defense Minister Yaccoub Sarraf, LAF (Lebanese Army) Commander General
Joseph Aoun and industrialists and businessmen from across Lebanese
society,” the embassy announced. They “saw firsthand how the UK supports
Lebanon and the Lebanese Armed Forces during a visit to the 4th Land Border
Regiment at Baalbek,” it added. Through meetings with prominent members of
the business community, they hope to understand “how Lebanon can move the
economy forward towards success,” the embassy said. The officers also
visited the headquarters of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in
Naqoura and met with the Force's Commander Maj. Gen. Michael Beary to talk
about “some of the challenges the U.N. faces in conducting a large U.N.
mission in a volatile part of the world.”Welcoming the course to Beirut,
British Ambassador Hugo Shorter said: “It is a privilege to host top
military officers from the UK and the world as part of their Royal College
of Defense Studies study tour in Lebanon. Their visit to Lebanon is another
example of the strategic importance that Lebanon has in anchoring regional
stability, and the security challenges it faces as it counters extremism and
unrest.”“We’re proud of our strong defense links with Lebanon and I am
certain that the officers' experience will be like no other in the region,”
Shorter added.
Lebanon: Last Cabinet Session Approves Dozens of
Pending Articles
Beirut - Caroline Akoum/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/Lebanon’s Cabinet held its
last session on Monday and approved dozens of pending articles, mainly
related to the disputed electricity sector, hours before it turned into a
caretaker government at the end of Parliament's term on May 21.
As of Tuesday, the country would face a number of constitutional schedules
after President Michel Aoun calls for parliamentary binding consultations to
appoint the next Prime Minister, who will be tasked to form the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the new Parliament will hold its general assembly on Wednesday to
elect a new Speaker and his deputy. While it remains almost certain that
current Speaker Nabih Berri will be re-elected for another term, it is still
uncertain who will be elected as his deputy. Both the Free Patriotic
Movement and the Lebanese Forces are competing on the post. On Monday, LF
leader Samir Geagea said the party is backing the candidature of MP Anis
Nassar while the Free Patriotic Movement would decide on Tuesday whether to
support the candidacy of MPs Elias Bou Saab or Elias Ferzli. Similar to the
Speakership, the appointment of a new prime minister would not constitute a
hard task after most parliamentary blocs decided to name current Prime
Minister Saad Hariri for the position. Former Justice Minister Chakib
Kortbawi told Asharq Al-Awsat that according to the Lebanese Constitution,
the second clause of Article 64 stipulates that the appointed PM shall
conduct the parliamentary consultations for forming the government and he
should sign, with the President, the Decree of its formation. “The
government must present its general statement of policy to the Chamber to
gain its confidence within 30 days of the Decree's issuance date in which
the government was formed. The government shall not exercise its powers
before it gains confidence nor after it has resigned or is considered
resigned, except in the narrow sense of a caretaker government,” he said,
quoting the text of the Constitution. Following the cabinet session on
Monday, outgoing Information Minister Melhem Riachi said that the government
appointed Rony Lahoud as the Director General of the Public Corporation for
Housing for a four year term and agreed to prepare a plan to save the
electricity sector, in accordance with the proposals of Water and Energy
Minister, Cesar Abi Khalil. Lebanon’s National News Agency said the cabinet
approved the launch of a new tender through the administration of tenders to
secure 850 megawatts. Quoting sources, it said the Cabinet also approved the
transfer of the agreement with the executing company of Deir Ammar plant to
the BOT system. Speaking before the Cabinet session held Monday, Aoun said
he wished the soon-to-be caretaker ministers would exercise their caretaking
task with full responsibility, and focus on facilitating administrative
matters and the citizens' affairs.
Eldest MP calls session of new Parliament
The Daily Star/ May 22, 2018/BEIRUT: MP Michel Murr called Tuesday for a
Parliament session to be held the following day in order to elect a speaker,
deputy speaker and General Secretariat. According to Parliament’s internal
bylaws, the initial session of a new Parliament is to be held at the
invitation of its oldest member, in this case Murr. Wednesday morning,
before the session begins, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri will
accompany Murr to Parliament. Murr will then head the session while the two
youngest newly elected MPs, Sami Fatfat and Tony Frangieh, will act as
secretaries. The election process will begin with MPs voting for a new
speaker. Outgoing Speaker Nabih Berri is widely expected to be re-elected in
this initial vote. Once the newly elected speaker is in place, he will
oversee the process to elect a deputy speaker. There are reportedly three
incoming MPs vying for this position: Elie Ferzli, Elias Bou Saab and Anis
Nassar. Two secretaries, who support the speaker in his or her role, will
then be elected, followed by the election of three rapporteurs for the
secretariat. Earlier on Tuesday, President Michel Aoun called on Cabinet to
continue working in its capacity as a caretaker body until a new Cabinet
could be formed. The Cabinet held its final session Monday before it took up
a caretaker role as Parliament’s term – which was extended three times since
2013, over security concerns – expired at midnight. Aoun will shortly call
for binding consultations with parliamentary blocs to elicit their
preferences regarding the formation of the new government. “President Aoun
has asked the [Cabinet] to continue to conduct business with the beginning
of the [new] Parliament, and to consider the [Cabinet] resigned pending the
formation of a new government,” a tweet from the presidency’s official
Twitter account read Tuesday.
A statement from the presidency’s office, also released Tuesday morning,
noted that Aoun thanked Prime Minister Saad Hariri and all of the ministers
for their work.
With Berri’s re-election sealed, focus shifts to
new Cabinet
Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/May. 22/18
BEIRUT: With the new Parliament starting its term Tuesday and the
re-election of Speaker Nabih Berri for a new four-year mandate assured at
Parliament session Wednesday, attention is focused on the next move of
forming a new government following parliamentary elections earlier this
month, official sources said.“Following Berri’s re-election, President
Michel Aoun is expected next week to hold consultations with heads of
parliamentary blocs on their choice for a prime minister,” a source at
Baabda Palace told The Daily Star.
A ministerial source said since the re-election of Berri as speaker, a post
he has held since 1992, would be smooth and with a big majority of the new
128-member legislature, similarly, Prime Minister Saad Hariri has emerged as
the overwhelming favorite to be named prime minister by a majority of
parliamentary blocs. “The three leaders have declared that they want to see
the new Cabinet formation carried out very quickly in order for the country
to meet internal and external challenges facing it,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet held its final session Monday before turning into a
caretaker body following the expiry of Parliament’s term at midnight.
Parliament’s four-year mandate has been extended three times since 2013 over
security concerns.
During a six-hour session chaired by Aoun at Baabda Palace, the Cabinet
approved a series of measures, including those aimed at salvaging the ailing
electricity sector.
In agreeing on measures that need to be taken to rescue the electricity
sector in line with Energy and Water Minister Cesar Abi Khalil’s proposals,
the Cabinet authorized the minister to launch a new tender to purchase
emergency energy and secure 850 megawatts to boost supply, Information
Minister Melhem Riachi told reporters after the meeting.
The Cabinet also agreed on transferring the contract with the operating
company of the northern Deir Ammar power plant to a build-operate-transfer,
or BOT, contract.
A plan to boost electricity production at Deir Ammar was put on hold by the
Finance Ministry over two years ago after the company upgrading the plant
accused the government at the time of failing to pay all of its dues to the
firm.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Abi Khalil said the ministers who
had opposed his proposal to renew the contract of the Turkish barge Fatmagul
Sultan for three years agreed Wednesday to his proposal. Lebanon is already
renting two barges, which are moored off the coast of Jiyyeh, south of
Beirut, and in Zouk Mosbeh, in the north.
Opening the session, Aoun said the Cabinet would be considered resigned and
would be in a caretaker status with the beginning of the new Parliament’s
term Tuesday. Thanking Hariri and ministers for the Cabinet’s achievements,
Aoun said: “This Cabinet has made essential achievements in terms of
ensuring the regular work of state institutions, the most important of which
are the 2017 and 2018 budget laws, an electoral law, administrative and
military appointments, diplomatic and judicial appointments. We launched the
[licensing] for oil and gas exploration.”
Under the Constitution, the eldest MP, in this case MP Michel Murr, will
call Parliament to meet Wednesday to elect a speaker, a deputy speaker and
members of its Secretariat. Berri is widely expected to be re-elected as
speaker unopposed for a new four-year term.
However, dissenting voices emerged Monday. Lebanese Forces chief Samir
Geagea said after chairing a meeting of the LF’s Strong Republic bloc that
the bloc would not vote for Berri and would instead cast blank ballots.
Geagea said after briefing the LF’s MPs on his meeting with Hariri last
week, the bloc decided unanimously to name Hariri for the
premiership.“Everyone knows the extent of our respect for Speaker Nabih
Berri and our agreement with him on many fronts. Therefore, our blank
ballots are not meant against Speaker Berri as much as they are a reflection
of our strategic position,” Geagea said.
Geagea also said that LF MP Anis Nassar is the party’s candidate for the
post of deputy speaker, a position reserved for the Greek Orthodox sect.
There are two other candidates competing for the deputy speaker’s post: MPs
Elie Ferzli and Elias Bou Saab, both of whom belong to the Free Patriotic
Movement’s parliamentary Strong Lebanon bloc headed by Foreign Minister
Gebran Bassil.
Ferzli, backed by the FPM, Berri and Hezbollah, stands a good chance of
being elected deputy speaker after MP Walid Joumblatt said Sunday that his
Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc would support Berri’s re-election
and that he would recommend the bloc vote for Ferzli as deputy speaker.
Despite long-simmering tension with Berri that has its roots in the
speaker’s opposition to Aoun’s election as president in 2016, Bassil
signaled that the FPM’s bloc might vote for Berri’s re-election.
“We waged the presidency battle under the slogan of a strong president.
Therefore, conceding the strength of Speaker Berri’s representation and
voting for him is normal, conforming with our convictions. But
unfortunately, he [Berri] did not have this conviction,” Bassil said in an
interview published Monday in the daily Al-Akhbar.
Asked whether he was ready to turn a new leaf with Berri following the
latter’s ice-breaking meeting with Aoun last week, Bassil said: “Our ethics
and conduct do not allow us to behave in the election of a Parliament
speaker as he [Berri] did with Gen. Michel Aoun in the presidential
election. This is entirely out of the question.” The Strong Lebanon bloc is
set to meet under Bassil Tuesday to decide on the election of a speaker and
deputy speaker. Bassil also said that last week’s U.S. sanctions against key
Hezbollah leaders would not affect the government formation.
“Let us be clear: linking the latest measures against Hezbollah to [the
party being prevented] from entering the government, or to influencing the
formation of the government, is unrealistic,” he said. “Certainly, Hezbollah
must be represented in the new government, and that isn’t up for
discussion.”
UN Chief Rips Into Hezbollah as Most Armed Militia in
Mideast, Urges Group to Disarm
الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة يطالب بتجريد حزب الله من سلاحه
The Associated Press/Haaretz/ May 22, 2018
According to Guterres Lebanon's government and armed forces should 'take all
measures necessary' to prevent Hezbollah from having paramilitary capacity
outside the authority of the state
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly criticized Hezbollah for
operating as the most heavily armed militia and a political party in Lebanon
and urged the militant group to halt military activities inside and outside
the country, including in Syria.
In a report to the Security Council obtained Monday by The Associated Press,
Guterres also called on Lebanon's government and armed forces "to take all
measures necessary to prohibit Hezbollah and other armed groups from
acquiring weapons and building paramilitary capacity" outside the authority
of the state.He said Hezbollah's military activity violates a 2004 Security
Council resolution ordering all Lebanese militias to disarm and the Taif
Accords that ended the country's 1975-90 civil war. In the semi-annual
report on implementation of the 2004 resolution, the secretary-general said
Hezbollah's engagement in the Syrian conflict also violates Lebanon's
official policy of "disassociation," or neutrality in regional affairs.
Guterres said the report demonstrates Hezbollah's failure to disarm and "its
refusal to be accountable" to state institutions that the UN resolution
sought to strengthen. "In a democratic state, it remains a fundamental
anomaly that a political party maintains a militia that has no
accountability to the democratic, governmental institutions of the state but
has the power to take that state to war," he said. Israel and Lebanon have
been in a state of war for decades and do not have diplomatic relations. In
the summer of 2006, Israel and Hezbollah militants fought a month long war.
The border with Israel has remained mostly quiet since then, but Guterres
said an alleged increase in Hezbollah's arsenal poses "a serious challenge"
to the Lebanese government's ability to exercise authority and sovereignty
over the entire country.
"I call upon countries in the region that maintain close ties with Hezbollah
to encourage the transformation of the armed group into a solely civilian
political party, and its disarmament," Guterres said.
He did not name Iran, a strong supporter of Hezbollah in Syria and
elsewhere. Both are strong supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad's
government. Guterres said Hezbollah's military arsenal and involvement in
Syria continue "to be denounced by a number of voices in Lebanon, who
consider those issues to be destabilizing factors in the country and ones
that undermine democracy." In addition, he said, "many Lebanese see the
continued presence of such arms as an implicit threat that those could be
used within Lebanon for political reasons."
Hezbollah is considered a terrorist group by the United States, but its
political wing has long held seats in Lebanon's parliament and was part of
Lebanon's outgoing coalition government. Parliamentary elections earlier
this month were the first in Lebanon since war broke out in Syria in 2011
and Hezbollah made major gains. Its leader, Hassab Nasrallah declared
"mission accomplished." Nonetheless, Lebanese analysts say the next Cabinet,
like the outgoing one, will likely be a unity government that includes
Hezbollah.
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/un-chief-rips-into-hezbollah-as-most-armed-militia-in-mideast-1.6110540?utm_campaign=newsletter-daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=smartfocus&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.haaretz.com%2Fmiddle-east-news%2Fun-chief-rips-into-hezbollah-as-most-armed-militia-in-mideast-1.6110540
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on May 22-23/18
US sanctions five Iranians it links
to Revolutionary Guard, Houthi militia in Yemen
Arab News/May 22, 2018/WASHINGTON: The United States
on Tuesday imposed sanctions on five Iranians it said had provided Yemen’s
Houthis with expertise and weaponry that were then used to launch
missiles at cities and oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. In a statement,
the US Treasury named the individuals as Mehdi Azarpisheh, Mohammad Jafari,
Mahmud Kazemabad, Javad Shir Amin, and Sayyed Mohammad Tehrani. It said the
first four individuals had worked with the Houthis through Iran’s
Revolutionary Guards, while Tehrani had helped with the financing of the
Revolutionary Guard. The fresh sanctions, part of President Donald Trump’s
pledge to economically suffocate Iran in hopes of hampering the country’s
development of nuclear weapons, come one day after Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo said the United States would soon crack down on Iran’s support for
the Houthis. Yemen’s government has been pitched against the Iran-aligned
Houthi movement since 2015 in a war driving the country to the verge of
famine.
U.S. to Put 'Unprecedented Pressure' on Iran, Asks It to 'Withdraw Forces'
from Syria
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/May
22/18/The United States will increase the financial pressure on Iran with
the "strongest sanctions in history," after Washington pulled out of the
2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday.
"We will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime. The
leaders in Tehran will have no doubt about our seriousness," Pompeo said in
his first major foreign policy address since moving to the State Department
from the CIA. "The sting of sanctions will only grow more painful if the
regime does not change course from the unacceptable and unproductive path it
has chosen for itself and the people of Iran," he added in the speech at the
conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. "Iran will never again have
carte blanche to dominate the Middle East," he said in outlining the new
U.S. strategy on handling the Islamic regime, including 12 tough conditions
from Washington for any "new deal" with Tehran. Pompeo's list of 12 tough
requirements included many that Iran is highly unlikely to consider. He said
Iran must "stop enrichment" of uranium, which was allowed within strict
limitations under the 2015 deal. Iran must also allow nuclear "unqualified
access to all sites throughout the country," Pompeo said, alluding to
military sites that were off-limits under the 2015 deal except under
specific circumstances. To that end, he also said Iran must declare all
previous efforts to build a nuclear weapon, reopening an issue that the
U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency has already deemed a closed
matter. Pompeo also demanded that Iran cease from a range of activities
throughout the Middle East that have long drawn the ire of the U.S. and its
allies. He said Iran must end support for Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen,
"withdraw all forces" from Syria, halt support for its ally Hizbullah and
stop threatening Israel. Iran must also "release all U.S. citizens" missing
in Iran or being held on "spurious charges," he said. At the same time,
Pompeo offered Iran a series of dramatic potential U.S. concessions if it
agrees to make "major changes." Under a new agreement, the U.S. would be
willing to lift all sanctions, restore full diplomatic and commercial ties
with Iran, and even support the modernization of its economy, Pompeo said.
"It is America's hope that our labors toward peace and security will bear
fruit for the long-suffering people of Iran," Pompeo said.
Europeans Adhere to
Nuclear Deal, Despite US Standpoint
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/Europeans showed adherence to
the nuclear deal, considering it is unlikely that the new strategy unveiled
by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would succeed. In a statement, EU's
foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned that there is "no
alternative" to the Iran nuclear deal. "Secretary Pompeo's speech has not
demonstrated how walking away from the JCPOA has made or will make the
region safer from the threat of nuclear proliferation or how it puts us in a
better position to influence Iran's conduct in areas outside the scope of
JCPOA," she said, using the acronym for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action, as the deal is officially known. British Foreign Secretary Boris
Johnson lashed out against US plans of negotiating a new “jumbo” agreement
with Iran Monday, saying such a negotiation would be “very, very difficult."
"The advantage of the JCPOA was that it had a very clear objective. It
protected the world from an Iranian nuclear bomb, and in return it gave the
Iranians some recognizable economic benefits. That was at the core of it.
The Americans have walked away from that,” he said. Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo rattled off a 12-point list of what he called “basic requirements” of
a new way forward with Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at
a Foreign Ministry reception in the presence of Paraguayan President Horacio
Cartes marking the opening of the country’s embassy in Jerusalem, said that
US President Donald Trump has “changed policy in fundamental ways,” not only
regarding Jerusalem, but also Iran. “No enrichment, tough sanctions and Iran
should get out of Syria — we believe that it’s only policy that can
ultimately guarantee peace. We call on all countries to follow America’s
lead here,” Netanyahu added. He continued, “We believe that is the right
policy." “We believe it is the only policy that can ultimately guarantee the
security of the Middle East and bring peace in our region, and we call on
all countries to follow America’s lead here, because Iran is an aggressive
force.”
Rouhani Minimizes Importance of US Sanctions on
Iran
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018 - 06:30/Iran’s President
Hassan Rouhani lashed out at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying that
the world would not accept that Washington impose its decisions on other
countries. “Who are you to decide for Iran and the world? The world today
does not accept America to decide for the world, as countries are
independent ... that era is over ... We will continue our path with the
support of our nation,” he said on Monday. “The world no longer accepts this
logic; the man, who was the director of the spy agency, is today working as
foreign minister and wants to decide the world’s fate. Who are you to make
the decision for Iran and the world?”Rouhani’s remarks came on the sidelines
of his meeting with a number of Iranian university professors and doctors,
as reported by ILNA reformist agency.
Pompeo had on Monday issued a severe warning to Iran, saying Washington
would be ready to impose the “strongest sanctions in history” if it does not
alter its regional policies. Reuters quoted a senior Iranian official as
saying that Pompeo’s comments on Iran prove that the US is seeking regime
change in the country. “America wants to pressure Iran to surrender and
accept their illegal demands ... his remarks showed that America is surely
after regime change in Iran,” he stated. In his first major speech since
becoming secretary of state, Pompeo said: “The sting of sanctions will only
grow more painful if the regime does not change course from the unacceptable
and unproductive path it has chosen for itself and the people of Iran.”
Member of the National Security Council and the Foreign Policy Committee at
the Iranian Parliament, MP Hashmatullah Flahat Bisha, compared the current
US stance with that of former US President Georges W. Bush. He accused
Washington of trying to create a new crisis, stressing that the Iranian
response would be “rational,” according to the ISNA agency. Prior to
Pompeo’s announcement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi
denied that the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain, in the
presence of European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, had
presented a package of proposals to Iran. He said Iran was continuing
negotiations with the EU on issues related to the nuclear agreement,
implicitly denying that the three countries discussed with Iran its regional
threats and the development of ballistic missiles. Europe has been
scrambling to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran following Washington’s
withdrawal from the agreement last week. Moscow Warns against Repercussions
of Tougher Sanctions on Iran
Moscow - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/Moscow is monitoring US moves
on Iran and sees a failure by Washington to understand the nature of the
situation inside the country, Interfax news agency quoted a Russian foreign
ministry official as saying. The official added that the Americans were
counting on fueling the internal situation and inciting the opposition, but
their goals would not be successful. The Kremlin and the Russian foreign
ministry kept silent over the fierce remarks by US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo about Iran. No official reaction had been issued by the Russian
presidential office or the foreign ministry until Monday evening, except for
a comment by the director of the Second Asian Department at the ministry,
Zamir Kabulov, who said that more US pressure on Iran would only increase
tension in the region. He noted that Washington’s threats regarding “the
strongest sanctions in history” against Iran, will push Tehran to adopt a
more radical approach in solving regional problems, as Interfax reported.
Kabulov went on to say that American officials do not seem to understand
that they are using these radical methods that turn the whole Iranian people
against them. He added that Washington’s attempts to intimidate Iran would
fail, and would lead to the opposite results, given that the use of such
rhetoric is considered by the Iranian people as an insult. The Russian
diplomat ruled out that the US pressure would strengthen the Iranian
opposition, saying: “Even those people in Iran, who disagree with or do not
support the current leadership, will stand by their government in this
situation.”
Sadr’s ‘Paternal’ Government Stumbles over Iraqi
Politics
Baghdad – Hamza Mustafa/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/In wake of his shock victory
in the Iraqi parliamentary elections, Sadrist movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr
began receiving in Baghdad numerous political leaders, notably Prime
Minister Haidar al-Abadi and Fatah alliance chief Hadi al-Ameri, in an
attempt to forge an alliance at the new legislature.Ameri came in second in
the elections and Abadi third. Sadr formed a negotiating delegation, headed
by senior Sadrist leader and former Labor Minister Nasser al-Rabihi, to hold
talks with all parties in order to form the largest parliamentary bloc. This
will precede the formation of what Sadr dubbed a “paternal government”.
“Sadr emphasized the need to speed up the formation of a paternal government
as soon as possible so that it could begin servicing the nation,” read a
statement from Sadr’s office. The shape and spirit of the new government
should be a “national” decision and inclusive of all winning blocs, the
statement added. But no clear explanation or detail was offered by any
official about Sadr’s vision for the paternal government, save for it being
all-inclusive. This inclusiveness stands in stark contrast to Sadr’s
reform uprising in 2015 and 2016. Today, he finds himself forced into
becoming part of one regional-international camp that would inevitably lead
to distance growing between him and another. The conflict between rival
camps is now the main factor in the current political maneuvering in Iraq,
while programs and projects that were touted before the elections have taken
a backseat. Sadr won 54 seats in parliament, Ameri’s alliance won 47 seats,
Abadi’s Nasr (Victory) coalition 42 seats, former PM Nouri al-Maliki’s State
of Law won 25 and Ammar Hakim’s Hikma movement won 22. Although the above
main Shiite political blocs are enough to forge the largest alliance in
parliament, with 165 out of 328 seats, obstacles remain in ensuring that all
components in Iraq, such as Kurds and Sunnis, are represented. Integrating
these minorities has taken a backseat to sectarian and ethnic disputes and
calculations. These disputes have proven to be obstacles and sources of
conflict in Iraq. Given this failure, political forces have started to
propose alternate approaches for parliamentary supremacy, such as
establishing concepts like “political majority,” “national majority,” and,
finally, the Sadr-styled “paternal government” - the latest attempt to brand
and promote his political orientation in both national and Shiite arenas.
“Political majority is still the best option compared to previous
experiences, which were based on quotas and consensual rule that courted
American-Iranian approval, but proved to be failures,” independent Shiite
politician Izzat Shabandar told Asharq Al-Awsat. Despite the lack of clarity
over the government that Sadr is now promoting, Shabandar believed that “the
nationalist views expressed by him, which show disdain for sectarianism,
happen to coincide with the political majority project as a national
project.”“This majority will serve as the first building block in Iraq's
political and economic development.”
Israel Refuses to Cooperate with UN Commission
of Inquiry on Gaza
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/The Israeli Foreign
Ministry has rejected the UN Human Rights Council’s decision to establish a
commission of inquiry into the massacres of the Israeli occupation forces
against civilians in the Return Marches in the Gaza Strip. In order to evade
its international obligations, it tasked the military police to examine the
events. A source at the Human Rights Council said that if Israel insists on
its position and prevents its men from reaching the Gaza Strip via Tel Aviv
airport, the council's investigators will enter Gaza from different
itineraries (through Egypt).
In response to the Israeli position, Hamas stressed that the occupation’s
rejection of an international commission of inquiry into the recent
massacres is evidence of its involvement in a war crime. Hamas spokesman
Abdullatif al-Qanoua said in a brief press statement that its refusal
emphasizes its brutality and persistence in terrorizing and killing the
Palestinian people as well as flouting UN and international institutions and
disregarding their decisions. On Friday, the UN Council adopted a resolution
calling for the urgent dispatch of an independent international commission
to “investigate alleged violations and ill-treatment in the framework of
military attacks launched during the major civil protests that began on
March 30, 2018 in Gaza.”The Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed the official
position of Tel Aviv, through a statement circulated to the media, which
stated: “Israel completely rejects the decision of the UN Human Rights
Council to form a commission of inquiry into the events of Gaza.”It claimed
that the council’s decision proves once again that it is “a body with an
automatic majority hostile to Israel and dominated by hypocrisy and
absurdity.” “The results of the commission of inquiry, which the Council
decided to set up, are known in advance and are reflected in the drafting of
the same resolution,” the statement added.
Palestinian FM Submits Referral to ICC on
Israeli Crimes
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki
will submit a referral to the International Criminal Court on the Israeli
crimes and violations of the Palestinian peoples’ rights. Maliki is
scheduled to meet prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in The Netherlands on Tuesday
morning to submit the referral. He will call upon the court to assume its
responsibility and duties towards bringing justice to the Palestinian people
and hold Israel, the occupying power, accountable for its continuous crimes
and violations, according to the statement issued by the Higher National
Committee Responsible for following up with the ICC. Afterwards, Maliki will
hold a press conference outside the court. This comes a week after 63
Palestinians were killed by the Israeli forces during protests against a US
decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Last week, Bensouda
announced that the Court's officials were watching the unrest in Gaza
closely and would "take any action warranted" to prosecute crimes. "My staff
is vigilantly following developments on the ground and recording any alleged
crime" that could fall within the tribunal's jurisdiction, she warned in a
statement to AFP. "The violence must stop," she insisted, urging "all those
concerned to refrain from further escalating this situation” and the Israeli
army “to avoid excessive use of force."In its statement, the Higher
Committee asserted that Palestine is exercising its right as a State party
in the ICC, and thus "refers to the Office of The Prosecutor the crimes
committed by officials of Israel, the occupying power, against the
Palestinian people." The ICC will be expected to accelerate the opening of a
criminal investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed
by Israel, added the Committee. "It is time to hold the Israeli war
criminals accountable and to bring justice to the Palestinian People,"
concluded the statement.
Taliban Attack Afghan Policemen as Minibus Bomb Causes
Heavy Casualties
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/The Taliban launched a wave of attacks
in Afghanistan's eastern province of Ghazni, killing at least 14 police
officers, as a minibus packed with explosives blew up in the southern city
of Kandahar. Ghazni Provincial council member Hassan Reza Yusoufi said seven
of the officers were killed in the district of Dih Yak, including Faizullah
Toofan, the police chief, and reserve commander Haji Baraket. Another seven
were killed in Jaghatu district. The attacks started on Monday night and
continued on Tuesday in Dih Yak, Jaghatu, Ajristan and Qarabagh districts,
according to Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor. Noori said
at least 12 other members of the security forces were wounded in the attacks
in Dih Yak and Jaghatu districts. The Kandahar blast, near one of the city's
main markets, sent a huge cloud of dust and smoke into the air. At least 16
people were killed and 38 wounded, officials said. A statement from the NDS
intelligence service said the minibus, packed with explosives, was
discovered in a large open yard of mechanics workshops but blew up before it
could be defused. Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in
high-profile bomb attacks since the beginning of the year, many in the
capital Kabul, but provincial cities have also been hit as the Taliban have
stepped up fighting across the country.
Despite US Military Optimism, Watchdog Says ‘Few Signs
of Progress' in Afghanistan
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/Upbeat assessments of an improving
security situation in Afghanistan do not line up with the facts on the
ground, a US government watchdog said Monday, pointing to "few signs of
progress" by President Donald Trump's South Asia strategy in the war-torn
nation.
"This quarter, US officials stated that the Taliban was not achieving its
objectives and that momentum was shifting in favor of the Afghan National
Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF)," the Pentagon's Office of the Inspector
General said. "However, available metrics showed few signs of progress." The
top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, in November said
the fight had "turned the corner" in the longest war in American history,
and predicted that the Afghan security forces will expand government control
of the population from about 64 percent now to 80 percent over two years.
But the inspector general said there had been "little positive change" in
the first quarter of 2018, with just 65 percent of the population living in
areas under government control or influence.At the same time, the number of
Afghan security force personnel dropped from 331,708 to 313,728 -- a figure
that is 11 percent below its authorized strength of 352,000. "This
shortfall, at a time when there is an increased emphasis on building the
lethality of the ANDSF, renews concerns about recruiting, retention, and
casualty rates of the ANDSF and the overall effectiveness of the ANDSF," the
report states. Trump unveiled his South Asia strategy last year to convince
the Taliban through diplomatic, military and social pressure it cannot win
and must reconcile. "During this quarter there was little publicly available
evidence that the actions to increase pressure on the Taliban were having a
significant impact," the report notes. In February, the Afghan government
offered the Taliban the chance to start a reconciliation process with no
preconditions, and the US has suggested Taliban elements want to negotiate.
But attacks have continued unabated. Pentagon spokesman Colonel Rob Manning
said the US remains committed to its "train, advise and assist mission" to
help the Afghan security forces. "Chaos and progress can coexist -- and
that's exactly what we feel is happening in Afghanistan," Manning said.
"Given the different audiences that US military officials have in mind when
they make these (public) announcements, there is simply a very strong
incentive to accentuate and even embellish the positives, (and) to minimize
the negatives," said Michael Kugelman, with the Wilson Center think tank in
Washington. "It is a war that many Americans don't support and don't
understand and yet it is war that is probably going to continue for the
foreseeable future ... it is just like Vietnam," Kugelman said.
Attacks on Healthcare in 2017: Syria Had the
Highest Number
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/The Safeguarding Health in
Conflict Coalition has documented more than 700 separate attacks on
hospitals, health workers, patients and ambulances in 23 countries in
conflict across the globe. Syria continues to experience the highest number
of attacks on health, with 252 documented acts of violence against health
facilities, transport, and personnel in 2017, amid sustained airstrikes and
shelling on hospitals there, it said in its fifth annual report released on
Monday. "The world knows about atrocities against health care in Syria – and
the report reveals more than 25 acts of violence against health facilities,
transport and personnel there, the most in the world – but Syria is hardly
alone: governments and armed groups inflict violence against health care
with impunity in conflicts across the globe," said Leonard Rubenstein, chair
of the Coalition. Susannah Sirkin, director of international policy and
partnerships at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a member of the
Coalition, explains that attacks on medical facilities “terrorize
communities." "They deprive already-suffering civilians of the life-saving
treatment that they deserve.” The Coalition’s report was released on the eve
of the United Nations Security Council's review of actions since it adopted
Resolution 2286 two years ago.
New Ebola Cases, Deaths Reported in Congo
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 22 May, 2018/Seven
new Ebola cases and two deaths were confirmed in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, the health ministry said on Tuesday. One of the deaths occurred in
the provincial capital of Mbandaka, according to a daily bulletin. A nurse
also died in the village of Bikoro, where the outbreak was first detected,
ministry spokeswoman Jessica Ilunga told Reuters. The seven new confirmed
cases were registered in Bikoro, the ministry said. The outbreak is believed
to have killed at least 27 people so far. Congo has faced nine outbreaks of
the hemorrhagic fever since it was discovered along the country’s Ebola
river in 1976. The government and international partners have deployed
significant resources to the northwestern Equateur province in a bid to
quickly contain its spread. Congo began on Monday a vaccination campaign
Bikoro to stem the outbreak that has already spread from rural towns into a
city of more than 1 million people. There are 49 hemorrhagic fever cases: 22
confirmed as Ebola, 21 probable and six suspected, according to Health
Minister Oly Ilunga. "We have established surveillance mechanisms and are
following all cases and contacts," he said. "The response is well-organized
because we have also put in surveillance measures at the entry and exit
points of Mbandaka."In a hopeful sign, two patients who were confirmed as
positive for Ebola have recovered and are returning to their homes, where
they will be monitored, Ilunga said. They have left the hospital "with a
medical certificate attesting that they've recovered and can no longer
transmit the disease because they have developed antibodies against Ebola,"
he said. The vaccine, provided by US company Merck, is still in the test
stages, but it was effective toward the end of the Ebola epidemic that
killed more than 11,300 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia from 2014
to 2016. A major challenge will be keeping the vaccines cold in this vast,
impoverished, tropical country where infrastructure is poor. Congo President
Joseph Kabila and his Cabinet agreed Saturday to increase funds for the
Ebola emergency to more than $4 million. The Cabinet also endorsed the
decision to provide free healthcare in the affected areas and to provide
special care to all Ebola victims and their relatives. This is Congo's ninth
Ebola outbreak since 1976, when the disease was first identified. The virus
is initially transmitted to people from wild animals, including bats and
monkeys. It is spread via contact with the bodily fluids of those infected.
Latest LCCC
Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on May 22-23/18
Middle East Conflicts No Longer Focus on Israel-Palestine: It's All About
Iran vs. Saudi
الصراع في الشرق الأوسط لم يعد فلسطيني -إسرائيلي بل سعودي-إيراني
The Associated Press and Haaretz/ May 22, 2018
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64840/haaretz-ap-middle-east-conflicts-no-longer-focus-on-israel-palestine-its-all-about-iran-vs-saudi-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84/
The modern Middle East has been plagued by ruinous wars centered on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but never have they seemed so interconnected
with Iran and Saudi Arabia vying for regional control
The modern Middle East has been plagued by ruinous wars: country versus
country, civil wars with internecine and sectarian bloodletting, and
numerous eruptions centered on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But never in the last 70 years have they seemed as interconnected as now
with Iran and Saudi Arabia vying for regional control, while Israel also
seeks to maintain a military supremacy of its own.
Russia, the United States and Turkey make up the other powerbrokers in a
region where not only wars but proxy battlefields within those wars are on a
feverish and hostile footing.
The ongoing wars in Syria, Yemen, this week’s mass killing of Palestinians
by Israel in Gaza, Turkish-Kurdish hostilities, and the potential for an
all-encompassing war sparked by an Iranian-Israeli conflagration in Syria or
Lebanon, all have tentacles that reach across borders and back again.
Suggestion in recent years of a Sunni/Shiite schism across the Middle East
and Persian Gulf appears much less a factor than the jockeying of the key
actors with the most military, financial and diplomatic muscle who are
trying to shape the region in their image, or at least to the satisfaction
of their national security and various leaders’ hubris.
Here’s a look at each of the main power players, whom they are aligned with,
and what their ultimate goals are.
ISRAEL
WHAT’S AT STAKE: Direct conflict with Iran has been simmering and briefly
looked like it might burst into full-blown conflagration after Israel
launched a blistering bombardment of Iranian positions in Syria, killing
Iranian fighters after an alleged Iranian rocket barrage toward its
positions on the annexed Golan Heights. The exchange followed several
earlier suspected Israeli strikes on Iranian positions in Syria.
Israel sees Iran as its mortal enemy and ‘existential’ threat. Conflict with
Iran would likely drag in Tehran’s ally, Hezbollah. An Israeli-Hezbollah
conflict could play out in southern Lebanon and northern
Israel, with each side warning it will strike across the opponent’s country.
Israel is bolstered by unprecedented support from U.S. President Donald
Trump. Israel is determined to suffocate the Iran nuclear deal; Trump
withdrew from the accord and days later sent his daughter and son-in-law to
preside over the U.S. Embassy move to disputed Jerusalem, a move that
angered the Arab and Muslim worlds. Bloodshed at the Gaza border may have
revived global opprobrium against Israel for use of disproportionate live
fire against unarmed protesters, killing dozens; but Trump’s backing gives
it reason to feel emboldened. Behind the scenes, Israel is building
relations with Gulf nations also opposed to Iran.
WHAT IT WANTS: A much weakened Iran, the continuation of the Gaza blockade —
which is also imposed by Egypt — with a ferociously controlled border, and
no concessions to the Palestinians with regards to land for peace.
IRAN
WHAT’S AT STAKE: The rapprochement with America under President Barack Obama
is now ashes. Sanctions relief, running to hundreds of billions of dollars,
is at risk, as Washington targets Tehran again, though a nuclear deal may be
salvaged with EU nations, Russia and China.
Iran has built up alliances to counter Israel and Saudi Arabia. In Syria,
the presence of its troops and allied Shiite militias has been critical to
President Bashar Assad’s survival. In Yemen, it is allied to Shiite Houthi
rebels battling Saudi-backed forces. Tehran strongly supports the
Palestinian cause, though its ties with Hamas have weakened.
WHAT IT WANTS: Iran has pretty much accomplished a goal its officials have
often trumpeted, building a corridor of power from Iran across Iraq, Syria
and Lebanon to the Mediterranean. In all those countries, it funds and arms
powerful Shiite militias and has enormous political influence. It seeks a
continuation of the nuclear deal with the other global signatories, hoping
to bolster its financial coffers. There has already been discontent in Iran
that sanctions relief was not flowing to the people.
RUSSIA
WHAT’S AT STAKE: President Vladimir Putin has ruthlessly filled the U.S.
vacuum in Syria, waging an air campaign that has left a trail of dead in
Aleppo and Ghouta among other locations. Moscow’s support of Assad turned
the tide of war in his favor when defeat seemed imminent several years ago.
Russia is also allied to Iran. But it also hosted Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu for its Victory Day celebrations hours before Israel’s
attack on Iranian positions in Syria, raising speculation the two were
quietly coordinating so that Israel kept well away from Moscow’s forces and
planes in Syria.
WHAT IT WANTS: Russia’s regional goal in is to sustain and build on the
major foothold it now has in the Middle East, beyond Syria, notably where
the U.S. might have once before.
U.S.
WHAT’S AT STAKE: “Traditionally we’ve tried to play a role of fireman in the
Middle East. Now we’re playing the role of arsonist,” says Ilan Goldenberg,
a former State Department and Pentagon official who runs the Mideast program
at the Center for a New American Security. That seems to have plenty of
currency in the region now, though some would also argue the U.S. has long
played an incendiary role in the region, from reinstating the shah in Iran
in the 1950s up to and including its wars in Iraq to the present day.
The Palestinians have essentially cut off contacts and say the U.S. cannot
be an honest broker. So Trump’s promised “deal of the century” doesn’t seem
to be in the cards for now. Trump withdrew from the Iran deal. He has by his
side hawks like National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has advocated for
attacking Iran and regime change. Trump can’t decide on Syria — to keep the
U.S. presence or not? He doesn’t seem intent on ruffling Putin over Syria
unless chemical weapons rear their head again, which prompted U.S.-led
airstrikes last month. The administration is very closely allied to Saudi
Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and seems set to continue
following Riyadh’s lead on Yemen. Washington may get an unpleasant surprise
if a heavily pro-Iran government emerges in Iraq after last week’s
elections.
WHAT IT WANTS: The administration is in complete synch with Israel and Saudi
Arabia. Saber-rattling with Iran could escalate, and it shows no urgency in
pushing for Israel-Palestinian negotiations.
SAUDI ARABIA
WHAT’S AT STAKE: Also emboldened by Trump, the Saudi crown prince is
determined to make his mark. Riyadh is spending billions of dollars in the
Yemen war, leading a Gulf Arab coalition against Iranian-allied Shiite
Houthi rebels. Thousands of civilians have been killed by Saudi airstrikes
and starvation in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Prince Mohammed has
made vague threats that the kingdom will build a nuclear bomb if Iran starts
its program again.
Saudi Arabia sees Iran as the single greatest threat to the region and its
competition for the dominant role it wants for itself. The kingdom is
closely tied to Trump, who chose it as the destination for his first
overseas trip as president, and it has been back-channeling with Israel. At
the same time, it has lost influence in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon after
placing bets on losing partners or failed gambits.
WHAT IT WANTS: Emasculation regionally of Iran and to be the dominant power
in the region.
TURKEY
WHAT’S AT STAKE: For President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it’s almost exclusively
about the Kurds, who in an alliance with the U.S. helped defeat the Islamic
State group in Syria and in the process captured a quarter of the country.
This has infuriated Turkey to the point it launched a military campaign
seizing a pocket of northern Syria, and it threatens to attack Kurds all the
way to the Iraqi border. The presence of U.S. forces among the Kurds is
perhaps the only thing that’s held Turkey back this long. Ankara views
Kurdish fighters in Syria as an extension of the Turkish Kurdish PKK, which
it considers a terrorist group.
Turkey also gives vocal support to the Palestinians, while relations are at
a nadir with Israel. Turkey has also offered to take in wounded Palestinians
from Gaza for treatment.
WHAT IT WANTS: To break Kurdish strength and, above all, prevent a Kurdish
autonomous mini-state in Syria along its border. It also wants some say in
post-war Syria where it has supported opposition fighters and Islamist
groups opposed to Assad.
Israel Launched World's First Air Strike Using F-35 Stealth Fighters, Air
Force Chief Says
هآررتس: قائد القوى الجوية الإسرائيلي يعلن أن بلاده استعملت لأول مرة طائرات
اف 35 الشبح في غاراتها على مواقع إيرانية في سوريا
Yaniv Kubovich/Haaretz/May 22, 2018
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64838/haaretz-israel-launched-worlds-first-air-strike-using-f-35-stealth-fighters-air-force-chief-says-%D9%87%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B3-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%88%D9%89/
Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin says
Iranians fired 32 rockets, more than 100 surface-to-air missiles launched
from Syria at Israeli jets during the flare-up earlier this month.
Israel is the first country in the world to carry out an "operational
attack" with the F-35 stealth fighter, Israel Air Force commander Maj. Gen.
Amikam Norkin said on Tuesday.
"The F-35 squadron has become an operational squadron. We are flying the
F-35 all over the Middle East," he said.
Norkin presented images of the F-35 over Beirut, Lebanon, and said that the
stealth fighter did not participate in the most recent strike in Syria but
did in two previous ones. He was speaking at a three-day conference
organized by the IAF in Herzliya, to which senior officers from armies all
over the world were invited.
The IAF commander also said that Iran fired 32 rockets at Israel during the
flare-up across the Syrian border earlier this month. According to him, four
rockets were intercepted by Israel and the rest landed outside of Israeli
territory, and more than 100 surface-to-air missiles were fired at Israeli
jets over Syria.
“After that [the Iranian attack] we attacked over 20 Iranian targets in
Syria. Unfortunately, Syrian air defense systems fired over 100 antiaircraft
missiles at our planes and in response we destroyed their antiaircraft
batteries," Norkin said.
A senior IAF officer confirmed that the Israel Defense Forces has continued
to operate against Iranian forces in Syria since the attack on Israel, which
took place overnight between May 9 and 10.
“It is possible to assume that actions have been taken since the recent
events,” he explained. “We are continuing to maintain our freedom of action
in the region. We are acting to disrupt and prevent [possible attacks] while
keeping the situation below the threshold of war.”
“We are continuing with our operational mission against the arming of
Hezbollah and Iranian moves to establish themselves in Syria. As far as we
are concerned, anywhere we identify consolidation [of Iranian forces] or the
introduction of weapons, we act,” the officer added. “Our success is any
move that serves the goals of the government leadership, this is our
mission.”
IAF chief Norkin outlined the reasons behind Israel's growing anxiety over
Iranian activities in Syria. “The Quds Force established itself at T-4 base,
250 kilometers from Israel. From this base they tried to attack using a
drone that entered into Israel, a few months ago. After this incident we
realized that they were continuing to store weapons on this base, including
air defense capabilities, which we attacked last month," he explained at the
conference.
"Over the past few weeks we learned that Iran had sent long-range missiles
and rockets to Syria, including the Uragan launchers that we attacked north
of Damascus,” added Norkin.
Israel, Iran lock horns
After months of tensions, Israel and Iran locked horns directly in Syria two
weeks ago. At the time, Israel reported that Iranian forces had fired 20
rockets at IDF positions in the Golan Heights. Four of the rockets aimed at
Israel were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system while the
remaining rockets exploded on Syrian territory, the military said.
Norkin claimed that Israel's air defense systems, which include the Arrow,
David’s Sling and Iron Dome, have an 85 percent success rate.
He told the conference that Israel’s squadron of F-35 jets has taken part in
attacks in the Middle East, but the senior officer noted that even though
the aircraft are now operational, the IAF is still examining the best ways
to operate them. The F-35 has an “incredible potential” and the IAF is
currently discussing how to best exploit its huge range of capabilities, he
said.
The Iranian attack earlier this month ago prompted the most extensive
Israeli strike on Syria in decades: Overnight, Israel openly attacked dozens
of Iranian military and logistics targets in Syria.
The Israeli army accused the Revolutionary Guards' Al Quds force and its
commander, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, of launching the attack at the
Israeli Golan Heights. The attack was most likely in retaliation for
previous attacks attributed to Israel on Iranian bases and positions in
Syria.
After the attack, Israel struck dozens of Iranian targets in Syria: The IDF
said its targets included weapons storage facilities, logistics sites and
intelligence centers used by elite Iranian forces in the country.
Twenty-three militants were killed, according to Syrian sources.
For its part, Israel announced that none of its warplanes had been hit,
rather that it had attacked five Syrian antiaircraft batteries and
reportedly destroyed all of them after coming under heavy fire.
According to Haaretz's senior military analyst, the attack dealt a severe
blow to embattled Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s antiaircraft forces. The IAF
said that five of the batteries that were hit belonged to the Syrian Army
and were Russian-built models: SA-22, SA-2, SA-5 and SA-17.
For months, the IDF has been discussing which new fighter planes should be
purchased for the air force. After that decision, the next step will be to
determine what other types of aircraft should be acquired to serve the IAF
in the next few decades.
The senior officer noted that the IDF's priorities in the near future are to
acquire new refueling planes and helicopters – while it continues at the
same time to be involved in various other weapons deals.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/iranians-fired-32-rockets-at-israel-during-flare-up-israeli-air-force-1.6110706?utm_campaign=newsletter-breaking-news&utm_medium=email&utm_source=smartfocus&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.haaretz.com%2Fisrael-news%2Firanians-fired-32-rockets-at-israel-during-flare-up-israeli-air-force-1.6110706
The princes, the president and the fortune seekers
By DESMOND BUTLER and TOM LoBIANCO/May 22/18
https://apnews.com/a3521859cf8d4c199cb9a8567abd2b71
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a year spent carefully cultivating two
princes from the Arabian Peninsula, Elliott Broidy, a top fundraiser for
President Donald Trump, thought he was finally close to nailing more than $1
billion in business.
He had ingratiated himself with crown princes from Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates, who were seeking to alter U.S. foreign policy and punish Qatar,
an archrival in the Gulf that he dubbed “the snake.”
To do that, the California businessman had helped spearhead a secret campaign to
influence the White House and Congress, flooding Washington with political
donations.
Broidy and his business partner, Lebanese-American George Nader, pitched
themselves to the crown princes as a backchannel to the White House, passing the
princes’ praise — and messaging — straight to the president’s ears.
Now, in December 2017, Broidy was ready to be rewarded for all his hard work.
It was time to cash in.
In return for pushing anti-Qatar policies at the highest levels of America’s
government, Broidy and Nader expected huge consulting contracts from Saudi
Arabia and the UAE, according to an Associated Press investigation based on
interviews with more than two dozen people and hundreds of pages of leaked
emails between the two men. The emails reviewed by the AP included work
summaries and contracting documents and proposals.
The AP has previously reported that Broidy and Nader sought to get an anti-Qatar
bill through Congress while obscuring the source of the money behind their
influence campaign. A new cache of emails obtained by the AP reveals an
ambitious, secretive lobbying effort to isolate Qatar and undermine the
Pentagon’s longstanding relationship with the Gulf country.
A lawyer for Broidy, Chris Clark, contended the AP’s reporting “is based on
fraudulent and fabricated documents obtained from entities with a known agenda
to harm Mr. Broidy.”
“To be clear, Mr. Nader is a U.S. citizen, and there is no evidence suggesting
that he directed Mr. Broidy’s actions, let alone that he did so on behalf of a
foreign entity,” Clark said.
The AP conducted an exhaustive review of the emails and documents, checking
their content with dozens of sources, and determined that they tracked closely
with real events, including efforts to cultivate the princes and lobby Congress
and the White House.
The cache also reveals a previously unreported meeting with the president and
provides the most detailed account yet of the work of two Washington insiders
who have been entangled in the turmoil surrounding the two criminal
investigations closest to Trump.
Lobbying in pursuit of personal gain is nothing new in Washington — Trump
himself, in fact, turned the incestuous culture into a rallying cry when he
promised to “drain the swamp.”
“I will Make Our Government Honest Again -- believe me,” Trump tweeted before
the election. “But first, I’m going to have to #DrainTheSwamp in DC.”
Broidy’s campaign to alter U.S. policy in the Middle East and reap a fortune for
himself shows that one of the president’s top money men found the swamp as
navigable as ever with Trump in office.
Nader’s lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, declined comment. A senior Saudi official
confirmed that the government had discussions with Nader but said it had signed
no contracts with either Nader or Broidy.
Neither Broidy nor Nader registered with the U.S. government under the Foreign
Agents Registration Act, a law intended to make lobbyists working for foreign
governments disclose their ties and certain political activities. The law
requires people to register even if they are not paid but merely directed by
foreign interests with political tasks in mind.
Violating the federal law carries a maximum $10,000 fine or up to five years in
prison.
Broidy has maintained he was not required to register because his anti-Qatar
campaign was not directed by a foreign client and came entirely at his own
initiative. But documents show the lobbying was intertwined with the pursuit of
contracts from the very start, and involved specific political tasks carried out
for the crown princes — whose countries are listed as the “clients ” for the
lobbying campaign in a spreadsheet from Broidy’s company, Circinus LLC.
e represented Mr. Broidy for many years. He has complied with all relevant laws,
including FARA,” Clark, Broidy’s attorney, said in a statement to the AP.
Summaries written by Broidy of two meetings he had with Trump — one of which has
not been disclosed before — report that he was passing messages to the president
from the two princes and that he told Trump he was seeking business with them.
By December of last year, the partners were riding a wave of success in their
campaign to create an anti-Qatar drumbeat in Washington.
Saudi Arabia was finding a new ascendancy following Trump’s election. Broidy
sought to claim credit for it, emails show, and was keen to collect the first
installment of $36 million for an intelligence-gathering contract with the UAE.
It all might have proceeded smoothly save for one factor: the appointment of
Robert Mueller as special counsel to look into allegations of Russian
interference in the 2016 election.
‘BELTWAY BANDITS’
In many ways, the partnership between Broidy, 60, and Nader, 59, embodies the
insider influence that has given contractors in D.C. the nickname “beltway
bandits.”
Both of their careers were marked by high-rolling success and spectacular falls
from grace — and criminal convictions. The onset of the Trump administration
presented an opportunity: a return to glory.
Broidy, who made a fortune in investments, was finance chairman of the
Republican National Committee from 2006 to 2008. But when a New York state
pension fund decided to invest $250 million with him, investigators found that
he had plied state officials with nearly $1 million in illegal gifts while
collecting $18 million in management fees.
In 2009, Broidy pleaded guilty to a felony charge of rewarding official
misconduct.
“In seeking investments from the New York State Common Retirement Fund, I made
payments for the benefit of high-ranking officials at the Office of the New York
State Comptroller, who had influence and decision-making authority over
investment decisions,” Broidy said in his plea and cooperation agreement.
Andrew Cuomo, then-New York attorney general, called it “an old-fashioned
payoff.”
“This is effectively bribery of state officials, and not just one,” said Cuomo,
who is now New York’s governor.
Three years later, Broidy’s conviction was knocked down to a misdemeanor after
he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and pay back the $18 million to the
state.
Nader’s problem was pedophilia.
As a young Lebanese immigrant to the U.S. in the 1980s, he quickly established
himself as a forceful independent operator, founding a policy magazine called
Middle East Insight. By the ’90s, he had risen as a behind-the-scenes player,
setting up dinners for Israeli and Arab dignitaries with Washington power
brokers and U.S. lawmakers.
But in May 2003, Nader was convicted in the Czech Republic of 10 counts of
sexually abusing minors and sentenced to a one-year prison term, the AP revealed
in March.
He served his time in Prague, according to Czech authorities, then was expelled
from the country.
That sordid past was no obstacle as Nader cultivated a formidable list of
high-powered contacts.
After the 2003 Iraq war ended, he re-emerged there, as contractors were making a
fortune helping the U.S. coalition and the post-Saddam Hussein government
rebuild the country and arm its military.
Nader worked with a private military contractor from the U.S., Erik Prince,
whose former company, Blackwater, became infamous after a shootout in Baghdad in
2007 left 14 civilians dead.
Nader has been living in the UAE, working as an adviser to Sheikh Mohammed bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi crown prince known as MBZ.
It was Nader’s connection to MBZ and Erik Prince that eventually caught the
attention of U.S. investigators in the Russia probe.
Mueller’s team was interested in two meetings that took place before Donald
Trump’s inauguration.
One was in the Seychelles, a tropical archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which
drew scrutiny because it included Prince, an informal adviser to Trump, and
Russian investor Kirill Dmitriev, who has close ties to Russian President
Vladimir Putin. The meeting has prompted questions about whether it was an
attempt to establish a backchannel between Russia and the incoming Trump
administration.
The other meeting was at Trump Tower in New York.
Nader and MBZ were at both.
‘A TERRIFIC, MAGNIFICENT MEETING’
Just weeks after those meetings, Broidy and Nader met for the first time, during
Trump’s inauguration.
The two men were soon working out their budding partnership. Nader sent Broidy
his private email address on the encrypted ProtonMail service.
From the start, the men had a two-track mission: to carry out a campaign against
Qatar that would curry favor with the princes, and to then turn that success
into millions of dollars in defense deals, documents show.
The two men barely knew each other. But Broidy had the ear of the president.
Nader claimed he had the crown princes’.
On Feb. 7, 2017, Broidy wrote to a staffer for the chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee about a bill aimed at sanctioning Qatar for alleged support of
terrorist groups— part of what Nader called “hammering Qatar,” emails show.
The next day, Broidy forwarded Nader questions about a potential contract with
Saudi Arabia to train Arab troops to fight in the escalating war in Yemen.
The three-year civil war there has left thousands of civilians dead, millions
displaced from their homes, and put the entire country on the cusp of famine in
what is now the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. The war has drawn in
myriad combatants, including a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and
backed by the U.S.
Broidy and Nader proposed multiple plans to the princes for more than $1 billion
of work. One pitch was to help create an all-Muslim fighting force of 5,000
troops. A second was aimed at helping the UAE gather intelligence. A third would
strengthen Saudi maritime and border security. Still another was related to
setting up counterterrorism centers in Saudi Arabia.
In a nte to Broidy, Nader said the princes were very happy with the proposed
contracts, particularly the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.
But first, emails show, they had to focus on the lobbying campaign. They
proposed a budget upward of $12 million to “expose and penalize” Qatar and get
the U.S. to pressure it to “aid in coercive action against Iran,” according to a
March 2017 document.
The gist of their plan was to show evidence that Qatar was too close to Iran and
supported Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood. Iran is Saudi’s
main regional rival and on the other side of the war in Yemen.
Ideally, Broidy and Nader would work to persuade the U.S. government to sanction
Qatar and move a key military base from Qatar to another location in the Gulf.
Broidy said he had a direct line to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
“Mnuchin is a close friend of mine (my wife and I are attending Sec. Mnuchin’s
wedding in Washington D.C. on June 24th),” Broidy wrote to Nader. “I can help in
educating Mnuchin on the importance of the Treasury Department putting many
Qatari individuals and organizations on the applicable sanctions lists.”
The al-Udeid Air Base outside Doha is an important U.S. military asset in the
Middle East. It’s the forward operating base for U.S. Central Command and hosts
some 10,000 U.S. troops — a geopolitical arrangement that Qatar’s Gulf rivals
would like to change. Amid the fissures in the Gulf, the base is key leverage
for Qatar to maintain influence in Washington. Unlike other countries, Qatar
imposes few restrictions on base operations and is even building new facilities
for U.S. troops.
Getting the U.S. government to move its critical base in the Gulf was unlikely.
And polishing up the image of the Saudis and Emiratis was a hard sell.
Saudi Arabia has a history of torture and human rights abuses. Many Americans
still associate the country with the Sept. 11 attacks. Of the 19 attackers, 15
were from Saudi Arabia, and two were from the UAE.
The UAE’s track record is no better. Last year, the AP revealed that the UAE was
operating “black sites” in Yemen, where its soldiers have tortured prisoners -
including, in some cases, tying them to a spit and roasting them over open
fires.
Qatar has a troubled record as well. International human rights groups have
dinged the country for its treatment of migrant workers preparing the country
for the 2022 World Cup. Amnesty International, in a 2013 report, stated that
migrants from southeast Asia worked in a state akin to slavery, “forced labour,”
and lived in “squalid” housing.
Despite the challenges of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, the partners’
timing was good. Trump and many other Republicans in Washington viewed Saudi
Arabia as a counterweight against Iran.
Broidy reported he was making progress, and Nader kept the “principals” briefed
on their adventures, emails show. Broidy boasted that he had got the chairman of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee, California Republican Rep. Ed Royce, to
back an anti-Qatar bill.
“This is extremely positive,” Broidy wrote. He claimed he had “shifted” Royce
from being critical of Saudi Arabia to “being critical of Qatar.” The AP
reported in March that Broidy gave nearly $600,000 to GOP candidates and causes
since the beginning of 2017. Royce got the maximum allowed.
Cory Fritz, a spokesman for Royce, noted the congressman’s record: Royce has
long been critical of both countries. He said Royce has not changed his stance.
Broidy also bragged that he had “caused” Royce to praise a senior Saudi general,
Ahmed Hassan Mohammad Assiri, in words that were then memorialized in the
Congressional Record. Nader was thrilled: A U.S. congressman publicly flattered
a Saudi official, who documents show was helping evaluate Broidy and Nader’s
contract proposals.
At the end of March, Nader wrote that he’d had “a terrific, magnificent meeting”
with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Prospects for the
billion-dollar contracts were good.
“He was very positive overall,” Nader wrote. The prince even asked them to
discuss their contracts with “General Ahmed.”
The money for the lobbying was another matter.
At Nader’s request, $2.5 million was channeled in two installments from his
company in the UAE through a Canadian company called Xiemen Investments Limited,
which someone familiar with the transaction said was run by one of Broidy’s
friends. The money was then routed to a Broidy account in Los Angeles.
The transaction had the effect of obfuscating that the money for the political
work in Washington had come from Nader in the UAE. Some of the recipients of
Broidy’s spending in Washington said they had no idea that Nader was involved.
Broidy previously told the AP that he did not think to question why the money
was routed through a foreign entity.
At that point, Broidy might have realized the dangers of not registering as a
foreign agent — it was all over the news.
Three Trump advisers registered retroactively as foreign agents: Michael Flynn,
Trump’s former national security adviser, who had done business for Turkey, and
Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime deputy, Rick Gates, who
did business for Ukraine.
Broidy was undeterred. Nader cheered on his anti-Qatar exploits and told him to
“keep hammering the bastards.”
AN ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ CAMPAIGN’
Armed with fresh cash, Broidy pitched Nader a media blitz that would put the
fire to Qatar.
He’d persuaded an American think tank, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to
stage an anti-Qatar conference. Broidy wrote Nader that his plan included the
commission of 200 articles assigned to the foundation and other think tanks.
Mark Dubowitz, the foundation’s CEO, later said that Broidy assured him the
funding was not coming from a foreign government and that he had no contracts in
the Gulf.
On April 21, 2017, Broidy sent Nader the draft of an Op-Ed to show the impact of
his campaign. It was marked “Confidential.”
Three days later, “The Two Faces of Qatar, a Dubious Mideast Ally” was published
in The Wall Street Journal. The opinion piece, co-written by retired Air Force
Gen. Charles Wald, who had been the deputy head of U.S. European Command, called
for moving U.S. military assets from the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. “The United
Arab Emirates would be a logical destination,” wrote Wald.
What readers did not know was that Wald was listed in company documents as a
member of Broidy’s Circinus team that was pitching contracts in Saudi Arabia.
Asked why he had not made his conflict clear in the Op-Ed piece, Wald denied he
had ever worked for Broidy.
“I was not part of the team, period,” Wald wrote. “I can’t speak for his
documentation.”
A person familiar with the arrangement, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to speak on the record, said that Wald consulted
with Broidy, but could not join a trip to pitch the contract in Saudi Arabia
because of a scheduling conflict. Broidy’s leaked emails refer to Wald’s
involvement almost four dozen times.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies conference was set for May 23 at the
Fairmont Hotel in Washington. In a Circinus progress report from Broidy to
Nader, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are listed as the clients, Maj. Gen. Assiri as a
consultant, and Broidy and Nader are “leader/liaison” — raising questions about
Broidy’s contention to the AP that he was not working for a foreign government.
The conference also set off a flurry of more anti-Qatar stories in mainstream
media, which Broidy catalogued for the crown princes.
The partners were jubilant when Trump made his first foreign trip not to his
allies in Europe, but to Saudi Arabia.
Two weeks later, in a major escalation of tensions, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and
regional allies launched a travel and trade embargo against Qatar.
It was hard to tell whose side the U.S. government was on.
One day after the UAE and Saudi Arabia began their blockade, Trump sent a series
of tweets signaling support for the two countries’ actions and embracing an
anti-Qatar stance. He said his recent visit to Saudi Arabia was “already paying
off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism and all
reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end
to horror of terrorism!”
U.S. officials quickly tried to walk back Trump’s comments, saying the U.S. was
not taking sides in the dispute among its Gulf allies.
A week later, on June 16, the Trump administration completed a $12 billion sale
of F-15 fighter jets to Qatar that had been approved earlier by Congress. The
move was at odds with the president’s rhetoric on Qatar, but it paled in
comparison with the $110 billion in arms deals with Saudi Arabia that Trump had
previously announced.
NADER OR VADER?
In late September, Broidy arranged for the most coveted meeting for any lobbyist
in Washington: an audience for himself with the president in the Oval Office.
In advance of the meeting, Nader wrote Broidy a script, an email shows . There
were several objectives: to sell the idea for a Muslim fighting force, to keep
the president from intervening on Qatar and to arrange a discreet meeting
between Trump and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.
The princes “are counting on you to relate it blunt and straight,” Nader wrote.
Nader told Broidy the meeting was potentially historic and to “take advantage of
this priceless asset.”
And there was one more thing. Nader asked Broidy to tell the president about his
connections with the crown princes, using code names for all three.
“Appreciate how you would make sure to bring up my role to Chairman,” Nader
emailed. “How I work closely with Two Big Friends.”
After the Oct. 6 meeting, Broidy reported back to Nader that he had passed along
the messages and had urged the president to stay out of the dispute with Qatar.
He also said he explained Circinus’ plan to build a Muslim fighting force.
“President Trump was extremely enthusiastic,” he wrote. Broidy said Trump asked
what the next step would be and that he told the president he should meet with
the crown prince from the UAE, adding, “President Trump agreed that a meeting
with MBZ was a good idea.”
The White House did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Despite that successful readout, Nader wanted more: He wanted a photo of himself
with the president — a big request for a convicted pedophile.
Broidy was co-hosting a fundraiser for Trump and the Republican National
Committee in Dallas on Oct. 25. The Secret Service had said Nader wouldn’t be
allowed to meet the president. It was not clear if the objections were related
to his convictions for sexually abusing children.
Broidy drafted an email to Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, asking him to
intervene on behalf of his friend, whom he oddly called “George Vader” — a
misnomer that appears elsewhere in the emails.
“One of my companies does deep vetting for the US government,” he wrote. “We ran
all data bases including FBI and Interpol and found no issues with regard to Mr.
Vader.”
There was another issue. RNC officials had decreed there would be no photos with
the president without payment. Broidy suggested that Nader meet the suggested
threshold with a donation between $100,000 and $250,000.
It’s unclear exactly how the two issues were resolved. Records from the Federal
Election Commission show no donations from either George Nader or “George
Vader,” but on Nov. 30, Broidy gave $189,000 to the RNC — more than he had given
to the RNC in over two decades of Republican fundraising.
The result: a picture of Nader and Trump grinning in front of the American flag.
A SPIRAL OF MISFORTUNE
It was time for Broidy to visit the UAE and nail down his first contract. He and
Nader had already discussed sharing the profits and begun setting up a UAE
subsidiary of Circinus, Broidy’s company.
In late November, Broidy planned a visit to complete the contracts in the UAE,
where MBZ was hosting a Formula One auto race.
But maybe that was too public.
“I think my friend not very wise for you to be seeing (sic) at this event,”
Nader wrote to Broidy. “Many journalists and people from Russia and other
countries will be around.”
Broidy met Trump once again on Dec. 2. He reported back to Nader that he’d told
Trump the crown princes were “most favorably impressed by his leadership.” He
offered the crown princes’ help in the Middle East peace plan being developed by
Jared Kushner. He did not tell Trump that his partner had complete contempt for
the plan — and for the president’s son-in-law.
“You have to hear in private my Brother what Principals think of ‘Clown
prince’s’ efforts and his plan!” Nader wrote. “Nobody would even waste cup of
coffee on him if it wasn’t for who he is married to.”
Days after Broidy’s meeting with Trump, the UAE awarded Broidy the intelligence
contract the partners had been seeking for up to $600 million over 5 years,
according to a leaked email.
The Muslim fighting force contract would be even larger, potentially bringing
their entire Gulf enterprise to more than $1 billion.
In January, Broidy was preparing for a third meeting with Trump, at Mar-a-Lago,
during celebrations of the president’s first year in office. Nader was supposed
to join them, but the initial payment for the intelligence contract was late. He
delayed his trip to the U.S. for a day to make sure it was wired.
On Jan. 17, Broidy reported that he had received the first installment — $36
million.
“Terrific!” Nader wrote before his flight. “First among many to go!”
Hours after that money transfer, Nader and Broidy discovered that, despite all
their precautions, they had not escaped notice.
When Nader landed at Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., a team of FBI
agents working for Mueller was there to meet him. He was relieved of his
electronic devices and later agreed to cooperate. It is unclear why Nader was
detained, but he is a link between the Trump campaign and the Russian investor
who attended the meeting in the Seychelles.
While there is no evidence that Mueller is interested in the lobbying effort,
Nader’s detention kicked off a spiral of misfortune for the two partners.
In February, the AP, The New York Times and other news organizations began
receiving anonymously leaked batches of Broidy’s emails and documents that had
apparently been hacked. News stories linked him to plans to leverage his White
House access for clients in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Broidy fought back. He sued Qatar and its lobbyists, alleging in a lawsuit filed
in March that the hack was a smear campaign.
“We believe the evidence is clear that a nation state is waging a sophisticated
disinformation campaign against me in order to silence me, including hacking
emails, forging documents, and engaging in espionage and numerous other illegal
activities,” Broidy said in a statement at the time.
Qatar responded that it was Broidy who had engaged in a propaganda campaign.
Then, on April 9, another blow.
The FBI raided the premises of Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, seeking
information on hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who said she’d
had an affair with the president.
Broidy, it turned out, was also a Cohen client. He’d had an affair with Playboy
Playmate Shera Bechard, who got pregnant and later had an abortion. Broidy
agreed to pay her $1.6 million to help her out, so long as she never spoke about
it.
“I acknowledge I had a consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate,” Broidy
said in a statement the day the news broke. He apologized to his wife and
resigned from the RNC. There is no indication Broidy is under investigation by
Mueller’s team.
In the end, Nader and Broidy’s anti-Qatar operation lost its momentum. There has
been no traction on the effort to get the base in Qatar moved to the UAE. In
late April, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for an end to the bickering
among Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar during a trip to the Gulf.
Last week, Saudi Arabia distanced itself from Nader and Broidy. A senior
official said Crown Prince bin Salman ordered an end to “engagement with these
people.”
But Broidy’s huge contract with the UAE?
It’s good to go.
___
Read key documents in Broidy and Nader’s correspondence at:
http://apne.ws/Uux7vo3
___
Follow Desmond Butler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/desmondbutler and Tom
LoBianco at
https://twitter.com/tomlobianco
___
Have a tip? Contact the authors securely at
https://www.ap.org/tips
European Companies are Fleeing Iran
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/May 22/18
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s statement on Monday put an end to bargains.
Officially, Washington has begun its war on the Iranian regime. The weapons of
economic sanctions threaten the entire regime and do not only restrain it. The
French Total left the gas fields in the Gulf and moved on. Head of the Italian
company ENI told the company’s board that they shut down their offices in Tehran
and stopped searching for oil and gas. Airbus signed a contract to sell Iran 100
airplanes and only three jets arrived in Tehran’s airport as part of this
historic deal which the company announced its cancellation.
A Norwegian solar energy company left Iran last week and there are four years
left on the contract. Other big companies also fled Iran like the German
Siemens, the Italian Danieli company which supplies equipment to the metal
industry and Maersk Line, a container shipping company. Dozens of European
companies rejected the Iranian temptations to stay in Iran out of fear of the
Trump administration which warned that whoever does not stop dealing with Iran
during the next 180 days will be prohibited from dealing with the American
market.
Why do European and giant companies feel afraid? It’s simply because they have
greater interests with the US, and as for those who do not care about the
American market, prohibiting Iran from dealing with the dollar will subject them
to bankruptcy.
The attempts of European governments, which promised they will continue to deal
with Iran on the economic front as part of their commitment to the JCPOA
agreement, to protect their companies’ contracts failed. Almost all big
companies which made deals with Iran are withdrawing quickly despite the
possible losses they may suffer.Total’s contract, which is very important for
the Iranian oil and gas industry and which Tehran has greatly relied on, is
proof that Europe’s politicians do not dictate their decisions on their
companies and will not be able to stand in Washington’s face. Tehran, of course,
will also completely fail in the confrontation against the US.
The French company was among the first of those to benefit from the Iranian
nuclear signed with the West in 2015. It got the deal to develop phase 11 of the
South Pars gas field for around $5 billion. A top executive at the company said
at the time that they do not need US’ approval to proceed with the deal. After
Trump warned in November of dealing with Iran, the French company retreated and
closed its offices in Tehran and opened an office in Washington to coordinate
with American authorities. It has finally announced its withdrawal from Iran.
What’s Washington’s power and authority over European companies? The US market
is worth $19 trillion and trade with the Europeans is worth $700 billion.
Therefore, Iran’s deals seem worth so little compared to this. In addition to
all that, the US control authorities’ sanctions are painful as they fined the
French BNP bank a penalty worth $9 billion for dealing with Iran! . Therefore,
the French and German governments’ attempts to defy the Trump administration and
insistence to keep the nuclear deal are almost impossible for two reasons: Trump
will not bend and the Iranian supreme guide will not alter his policies and stop
his wars. Iran will realize that Europe’s politicians want the agreement but
they willnot be able to pay it the required price as Europe’s companies’ hands
are tied.Therefore, the truth which Iran’s leaders must realize is that the deal
died the minute Barack Obama left the White House and Trump took over. Instead
of dealing with the new reality and reviewing its wrong calculations, Tehran is
running in all direction to Brussels, Moscow, Beijing and New Delhi but it has
not succeeded in compensating for its losses or attaining alternatives. It’s
militarily failing in Syria and it’s politically failing in Iraq. It’s also
suffering losses in Yemen and losses are even greater inside Iran itself.
The World is Heating Up, But Not Everyone is Staying Cool
Nathanial Bullard/Bloomberg/May 22/18
The grid operator that delivers power to most of Texas set an all-time peak
electricity demand record this week for the month of May. Hot weather, a healthy
economy and a growing population have all given Electric Reliability Council of
Texas Inc. reason to expect record-breaking summer usage.
The main driver of warm-weather peaks is air conditioning. Joshua Rhodes of the
University of Texas told me that half of all summer peak demand in Ercot’s
territory is from air conditioning, with two-thirds of residential electricity
demand coming from AC. All told, home air conditioning makes up a little less
than one-third of all electricity demand in the biggest state electricity grid
in the country. Providing the power to meet that need is one of the main
generators of all new electrical infrastructure in Texas, Rhodes says.
But a new report from the International Energy Agency makes Texas’ demand look
positively tiny as a growing, urbanizing world demands to cool itself.
The IEA’s data shows not only how many air conditioning units there are in
service today (nearly 1.1 billion worldwide) but also how uneven the
distribution of cooling is. Japan has 90 residential air conditioning units for
every 100 people; India has 1 per 100. South Korea has twice the number of
residential air conditioners as Brazil, which has more than four times as many
people. And the U.S. has more than a thousand times as much cooling output per
person as India does.
Urbanization is also pushing demand for air conditioning higher. The United
Nations recently published its updated population projections. In each of the
following countries profiled by the IEA in its air conditioning analysis, more
than half of their populations are expected to be living in urban areas in 30
years.
As the IEA notes, urbanization and air conditioning go hand in hand: Urban
downtown areas can be as much as 7 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) warmer
than outside their cities, and dense settlement means that there is little free
movement of air to naturally cool dwellings. At the same time that air
conditioning is cooling interior spaces, it is heating the outside air via
exhaust, which increases the work required for inside cooling, which increases
exhaust and outside temperatures.
It’s an urban vicious circle, to say nothing of its effects on climate change.
The IEA expects the number of “cooling degree days” (when temperatures are above
65 degrees Fahrenheit/18 degrees Celsius) worldwide to increase by 25 percent
from 2016 to 2050, making the circle even more vicious:
Climate change is raising atmospheric temperatures, directly increasing the need
for cooling, which is resulting in more burning of fossil fuels in power
stations to meet the increased electricity load, which is contributing, in turn,
to more climate change. Breaking this circle ultimately hinges on arresting
climate change; that will require curbing the amount of energy used for cooling
and for other end uses, as well as decarbonising the energy mix.The grid
operator that delivers power to most of Texas set an all-time peak electricity
demand record this week for the month of May. Hot weather, a healthy economy and
a growing population have all given Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc.
reason to expect record-breaking summer usage.
The main driver of warm-weather peaks is air conditioning. Joshua Rhodes of the
University of Texas told me that half of all summer peak demand in Ercot’s
territory is from air conditioning, with two-thirds of residential electricity
demand coming from AC. All told, home air conditioning makes up a little less
than one-third of all electricity demand in the biggest state electricity grid
in the country. Providing the power to meet that need is one of the main
generators of all new electrical infrastructure in Texas, Rhodes says.
But a new report from the International Energy Agency makes Texas’ demand look
positively tiny as a growing, urbanizing world demands to cool itself.
The IEA’s data shows not only how many air conditioning units there are in
service today (nearly 1.1 billion worldwide) but also how uneven the
distribution of cooling is. Japan has 90 residential air conditioning units for
every 100 people; India has 1 per 100. South Korea has twice the number of
residential air conditioners as Brazil, which has more than four times as many
people. And the U.S. has more than a thousand times as much cooling output per
person as India does. Just how much can cooling demand increase electricity
consumption? China’s electricity consumption for air conditioning increased
68-fold from 1990 to 2016. Keeping a warming world cool will be a significant
challenge, and as the IEA’s analysis indicates, doing it more efficiently will
reduce cooling-energy demand significantly. Still, it will require even more
power, new infrastructure and billions of new AC units.
العد العكسي لنظام "الملالي"
بقلم المحامي عبد الحميد الأحدب/22
أيار/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64847/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%83%D8%B3%D9%8A/
اذا انسحب نظام "الملالي" الإيراني من
دمشق- كما طلبت منه اميركا تحت طائلة العقوبات- فإنه سيسقط في طهران، اما اذا تشبّث
بالبقاء في سوريا، فسيسقط في دمشق!
خلفيات الشروط الأميركية الـ12
المطلوبة من إيران
لندن: عادل السالمي/الشرق
الأوسط/22 أيار/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64843/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7-%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A9/
شروطٌ أميركيّة صارمة وايران ترد: من
أنت حتّى تقرر عن العالم
بقلم مايكل ر. جوردون نقلًا عن وول ستريت جورنا
ترجمة وفاء العريضي/لبنان الجديد/22
أيار/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64843/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7-%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A9/
ميراي عون للخارجية وباسيل لشؤون
الرئاسة، لمَ لا؟
العائلة موجودة ولكن أقل في "المستقبل"
والتقدمي و"القوات" والكتائب و"المردة" و...
إيلي الحاج/نقلاً عن موقع مدى الصوت/22
أيار/18
https://alsawt.org/%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A4%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A6%D8%A7/
Israel Launched World's First Air
Strike Using F-35 Stealth Fighters, Air Force Chief Says
هآررتس: قائد القوى الجوية الإسرائيلي يعلن أن بلاده استعملت لأول مرة طائرات
اف 35 الشبح في غاراتها على مواقع إيرانية في سوريا
Yaniv Kubovich/Haaretz/May 22, 2018
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64838/haaretz-israel-launched-worlds-first-air-strike-using-f-35-stealth-fighters-air-force-chief-says-%D9%87%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B3-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%88%D9%89/
Middle East Conflicts No Longer Focus
on Israel-Palestine: It's All About Iran vs. Saudi
الصراع في الشرق الأوسط لم يعد فلسطيني
-إسرائيلي بل سعودي-إيراني
The Associated Press and Haaretz/ May 22, 2018
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64840/haaretz-ap-middle-east-conflicts-no-longer-focus-on-israel-palestine-its-all-about-iran-vs-saudi-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84
The princes, the president and the fortune seekers
By DESMOND BUTLER and TOM LoBIANCO/May 22/18
https://apnews.com/a3521859cf8d4c199cb9a8567abd2b71
We are all greatly thankful for the Godly gift that our Bejjani
Family is blessed with. The priceless gift is our grandson Joseph. With his 19th
birthday myself joined with my family members, we all wish Joseph all the luck
in the world in his life asking almighty God, His angels and Virgin Merry to
safeguard him and shower on him all heavenly endowments of health, peace of
mind, love, faith, happiness, success and prosperity. Happy Birth Day Dear
Joseph.
All That Happens In Lebanon Under the Hezbollah Occupation is Rejected &
Illegitimate
Elias Bejjani/May 22/18
Sadly, our beloved country, The Holy Lebanon, is totally occupied by Iran
through its Hezbollah terrorist proxy. Meanwhile all the top notch politician,
parties, clergymen and officials with no one exception are shamefully
subservient to the occupier and work under its umbrella with a 100% Dhimmitude
education and mentality. Therefore any changed that might take place under the
Iranian occupation like a new Federal System or any other constitutional
amendments will be completely dictated by Iran to serve its denominational
Persian scheme of expansionism and dictatorship. In conclusion, at the present
there is no hope what so ever from the current politicians, parties or officials
due to the evil fact that they all they all did succumb to the occupier.