LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
September 10/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6,12-19. In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), Foundress of the Missionary Sisters of Charity
Something Beautiful for God (©The Mother Teresa Committee, 1971)
"He spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve"
I think our Sisters have received that communication of joy that one sees among many religious who have given themselves unreservedly to God. The work is only the expression of the love we have for God. We have to pour our love on someone. And the people are the means of expressing our love for God. We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature, trees, flowers, grass - grow in silence; see the stars, the moon and sun, how they move in silence. Is not our mission to give God to the poor in the slums? Not a dead God, but a living, loving God. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. We need silence to be able to touch souls. The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us. All our words will be useless unless they come from within - words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness. Our progress in holiness depends on God and ourselves - on God's grace and on our will to be holy. We must have a real living determination to reach holiness. 'I will be a saint' means I will despoil myself of all that is not God; I will strip my heart of all created things; I will live in poverty and detachment; I will renounce my will, my inclinations, my whims and fancies, and make myself a willing slave to the will of God.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
From Naharnet: Interview with Lebanese MP. Mohammad Kabbara 09/09/08
Russia's Colonial Aspirations-Asharq Alawsat 09/09/08
Future of talks with Syria in doubt-Jerusalem Post 09/09/08
Lebanon and Syria have vested interests in each other's success.The Daily Star 09/09/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for September 09/08
Hariri about Possible Meeting with Nasrallah: Doors to Qoreitem ...Naharnet
Judiciary Orders Arrest of Hizbullah Operative for Killing Officer -Naharnet
Brig. Edmond Fadel Named Director of Military Intelligence -Naharnet
Nasrallah Links Israeli Attack to Iran's Nuclear Issue, Damascus-Tel Aviv Talks -Naharnet
Iraqi Refugees Leave Lebanon Hoping for Better Life in US-AINA
Mufti Qabbani Backs Tripoli Reconciliation -Naharnet
Abu Faour for Wider Reconciliation-Naharnet
Rifaat Eid: Only the State Can Protect Alawites, Minorities-Naharnet
Arab League Backs Lebanon's Right to Defend Borders … Against Weapons Smuggling-Naharnet
Ahdab Welcomes Tripoli Reconciliation-Naharnet
Aoun's Media Prostitution Charge Sparks War of Words-Naharnet
Binding Tripoli Reconciliation Document Signed-Naharnet
New Zawahri Tape Blasts Hizbullah and Lebanon's Sunnis-Naharnet
Three Israelis, Lebanese Man Arrested by Israel-Naharnet
Hariri to Akkar Residents: Mustaqbal Did not Succumb to the May Assault-Naharnet
Parliamentary Committee Allows Non-Resident Citizens to Vote-Naharnet
Lebanese Police Officers Trained on Anti-Terrorism Techniques-Naharnet
Sunni, Alawite leaders sign truce deal in Tripoli-Daily Star
Accord signed to end north Lebanon bloodshed-AFP
Hizbullah fighter to be quizzed over helicopter shooting-Daily Star
Israel attack on Lebanon depends on Iran, Syria: Hezbollah-AFP
Bank Audi paints mixed picture of Syria's economic outlook-Daily Star
In Syria, even the ‘little freedoms’ are now disappearing-The National
Israeli officers insist lessons of 2006 war have been learned-Daily Star
Will US election herald change in Lebanon policy-Daily Star
Mines Advisory Group keeps plugging away in South-Daily Star
House panel approves vote for citizens abroad-Daily Star
No certainty Israel will pay up for 2006 - Najjar-Daily Star
Media outlets urged to be 'objective' during elections-Daily Star
AUB team invents new tool to help battle forest fires-Daily Star
Lebanese Cabinet to discuss wage hikes-Daily Star
Americans tout promise of efforts to train ISF officers in police work-Daily Star
Senior official thanks Italians for rebuilding hospital-Daily Star
One man's garbage is another's merchandise-Daily Star
Many strategies, one goal: a better environment-Daily Star

Parliamentary Committee Allows Non-Resident Citizens to Vote
Naharnet/The Administration and Justice Parliamentary committee on Monday urged Lebanese citizens living abroad to register with the respective embassies so that their names would be included in the voters' lists for the 2009 elections. Committee Chairman Robert Ghanem told reporters Lebanese diplomatic missions would send names of voters to Beirut by Dec. 31, so that central authorities would add them to voters' lists in a month time, allowing them to vote where their reside. "We did not give them the right to vote. It is their non-alienable right. We only created the mechanism that allows them to vote where they are living," Ghanem explained. The reforms would be proposed to parliament for tackling by a general session prior to a vote for adoption into law.

Lebanese Police Officers Trained on Anti-Terrorism Techniques
Naharnet/The U.S. government trained 24 members of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) Mobile Forces unit in California on counter-terrorism techniques during the month of August, the U.S. embassy reported on Monday. "This training in anti-terrorism techniques was the first in a series of U.S. based courses for the Mobile Forces," the embassy statement said. It said "after the next phase of training, the United States will also provide the Mobile Forces with equipment to help them carry out their responsibilities.""While in the United States, ISF senior officers also were able to review U.S. Coast Guard capabilities and visited the U.S. Coast Guard Station in San Francisco," the statement added. It explained that the "Anti-terrorism Assistance (ATA) program is an on-going part of the U.S. government's overall assistance to Lebanon." Since 2007, the U.S. has committed two million dollars to ATA training and trained over ninety members of the ISF. "This amount is part of the over one billion dollar the U.S. government has committed to Lebanon since 2006," the statement explained. Beirut, 08 Sep 08, 18:39

Judiciary Orders Arrest of Hizbullah Operative for Killing Officer
Examining Magistrate Rashid Mizher on Tuesday interrogated Hizbullah operative Mustafa Moqaddem and ordered his arrest on charges of killing Air Force Capt. Samer Hanna by shooting at an Army helicopter. The state-run National News Agency said Mizher on Wednesday would debrief witnesses to the attack that had targeted the helicopter at the Hizbullah-controlled Sujud hills of south Lebanon. Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 13:34

Brig. Edmond Fadel Named Director of Military Intelligence
Naharnet/Defense Minister Elias Murr on Tuesday issued a directive memo naming Brig. Edmond Fadel director of military intelligence. Fadel succeeds Brig. George Khoury who served under Gen. Michel Suleiman before the latter was elected president in May. Fadel, 55, graduated from the military academy in 1976, the same year army commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji graduated. Fadel, a Maronite native of the northern Bani Saab resort, headed the Army Command's military chamber before his appointment to the intelligence directorate. Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 14:43

Nasrallah Links Israeli Attack to Iran's Nuclear Issue, Damascus-Tel Aviv Talks
Naharnet/Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said any Israeli attack on Lebanon depends on the Iranian nuclear issue and the Israel-Syria talks.
"I can not say when Israel is going to attack Lebanon, if it is going to be soon or not. It depends on the region's events and circumstances," Nasrallah told Iran's state television in an interview aired Monday. "On the one hand it depends on Iran's nuclear case, and on the other hand it depends on the indirect talks between Syria and Israel," he added. He was referring to the Iranian nuclear drive, which the West suspects is a weapons program under the guise of a civilian one. It has already imposed sanctions on Teheran and Washington refuses to rule out the use of force. Tehran vehemently denies it is developing nuclear weapons.
Israel and Syria, which have technically been at war for 60 years, launched indirect negotiations brokered by Turkey in May, eight years after talks were frozen over the fate of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Nasrallah assessed the current situation in the Middle East as "not stable and not calm", but he added that Hizbullah's "military situation is in best shape, thank God." Iran is a staunch supporter of Hizbullah although it denies Western and Israeli charges of military backing to the group which fought a devastating 2006 summer war against the Jewish state.(AFP) Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 08:19

Kabbara: It's Our Duty to Protect Sunnis Who Are Being Targeted
Naharnet/By Dalia Nehme
Mustaqbal Movement MP Mohammed Kabbara said that "it's our duty" to protect Sunnis who are being targeted.
"In light of the present regime and the sectarian atmosphere we are living, it's our duty to defend our confession, particularly since it is being targeted," Kabbara said in an interview with Naharnet. "We were not and never will be sectarian," Kabbara said, stressing that all he meant by highlighting the ordeal of Sunnis in Lebanon and in Tripoli, a traditional bastion of Sunni Muslims, was to "show the truth behind the issue … and emphasize on the need to pay special attention to the conspiracies targeting it (Sunnis) and the entire nation." He said the situation in the north has begun to return to normal and residents of Tripoli have begun healing the wounds "with high hopes that the Lebanese regime has started to bear its responsibilities toward them and put an end to scarcity."Kabbara highlighted the need for police to take a "firm stance" against the use of arms from any side. Commenting on Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest speech, Kabbara pointed to the Hizbullah chief's "superior speaking" proficiency with "his Lebanese brethren."He said Nasrallah was good at "dictating his point of view on them (Lebanese) and presenting the issue of Hizbullah's military institution as an everlasting entity not subject to discussion." Beirut, 08 Sep 08, 12:15

Mufti Qabbani Backs Tripoli Reconciliation
Naharnet/Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani on Tuesday declared support for the Tripoli reconciliation calling for a similar march across the country.
Qabbani also said the reconciliation is "evidence that claims about fundamentalism and terror in the north had always been a conspiracy by foreign forces to justify intervention in Lebanon's affairs." "The reconciliation initiative launched by Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri in cooperation with Tripoli leaders is the beginning of a new era … that bolsters the march of the strong, capable and just state," Qabbani said. Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 13:10

Abu Faour for Wider Reconciliation
Naharnet/Cabinet Minister Wael Abu Faour on Tuesday said the march of reconciliation has been launched from Tripoli and should cover all areas that had been theaters for violence. Abu Faour made the remark in a radio interview in comment on the Tripoli Reconciliation that was declared Monday evening. "We appreciate efforts exerted by Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri," he said. Abu Faour explained that reconciliation aims at "blocking attempts by the Syrian regime to interfere (in Lebanon) and escalate the security situation." He said the Lebanese Army should be backed to safeguard the reconciliation. Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 11:50

Rifaat Eid: Only the State Can Protect Alawites, Minorities
Naharnet/A leader of the Alawite community said Syria and Hizbullah had no influence on the violence that overwhelmed Tripoli for four months and have no influence on the reconciliation that was declared on Monday. Rifaat Ali Eid, political relations official of the Arab Democratic Party, made the stand in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai. Eid, and his father Ali, on Monday signed the Tripoli Reconciliation document on behalf of the city's Alawite community.
"We are used to being accused of following Syria's agenda and carrying out Hizbullah's wishes. Why don't those who make such accusations say now that Syria is pushing us towards reconciliation?" Eid asked. Eid said only the "capable state that has a strong army and active institutions … can protect the Alawites and minorities." Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 11:12

Arab League Backs Lebanon's Right to Defend Borders … Against Weapons Smuggling
Naharnet/Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo have declared support for establishing diplomatic ties between Beirut and Damascus and condemned Israeli threats to Lebanon. The ministers, in a statement after the regular 130th session of their meeting at the Arab League headquarters on Monday, emphasized on the "right of the Lebanese state to guard its borders against penetration and aggression, including the smuggling of weapons."That was an apparent reference to the alleged smuggling of arms from Syria to Hizbullah across the joint borders with Lebanon.The statement also praised the recent swap of prisoners between Hizbullah and Israel. Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 10:02

Ahdab Welcomes Tripoli Reconciliation
Naharnet/MP Musbah Ahdab on Tuesday declared support for the Tripoli reconciliation, saying he would explain later why he did not attend its signing ceremony on Monday. Ahdab, in a statement, paid tribute to efforts exerted to achieve the reconciliation on Monday, especially by Premier Fouad Saniora and Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri. However, he said the reconciliation document lacked "basic points" that can bolster stability and security for the population.
Ahdab pledged to outline these points at a press conference to be held on Wednesday. Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 09:52

Aoun's Media Prostitution Charge Sparks War of Words
Naharnet/A war of words raged between the media and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun over the latter's complaint against what he labeled "media prostitution … especially by the Mustaqbal newspaper." Mustaqbal, in a front-paged column, said the charge discloses how much Aoun is annoyed by the publication's solidarity with L'Orient Le Jour," the French-Language daily that the FPM leader renewed his call to sue over its coverage of the attack by at least one Hizbullah operative against the army helicopter in the Sujud hills, which resulted in the killing of Capt. Samer Hanna. Mustaqbal newspaper said Aoun's attack also reflects his rejection of "our support for media freedom; democracy; the state and its sovereignty over all its territories and all the values that Aoun had chosen to oppose." Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 09:11

Binding Tripoli Reconciliation Document Signed
Naharnet/Leaders of the various factions in the northern city of Tripoli on Monday signed a binding reconciliation document putting an end to four months of violence that killed scores of people and wounded hundreds. The document was signed at the residence of the Mufti of Tripoli and North Lebanon Sheikh Malek Shaar in the presence of Premier Fouad Saniora.Saniora, while declaring the document, said Tripoli should be a demilitarized city free of gunmen and military manifestations. He declared that the army and security forces have been ordered to enforce law and order. Saniora labeled troublemakers "enemies of Tripoli and its citizens." Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri pledged that the state would see to it that requirements of violence victims be met before the end of Ramadan.
Saniora had said that Hariri would back reconstruction efforts and development projects in Tripoli. The document was signed by Alawite leaders Ali and Rifaat Eid, Mufti Shaar as well as by Hariri and prominent figures in Tripoli. Beirut, 08 Sep 08, 08:09

New Zawahri Tape Blasts Hizbullah and Lebanon's Sunnis
Naharnet/Al-Qaida number two Ayman al-Zawahri slammed Hizbullah and took a swipe at Lebanon's Sunni leaders in a video message broadcast by Al-Jazeera TV network on Monday. "What victory is Hizbullah talking about?" he asked of the 2006 summer war with Israel, saying that the Shiite group had lost control of south Lebanon and allowed "thousands of crusaders" -- a reference to U.N. peacekeepers -- in there instead. He dismissed the country's Sunni leaders in Beirut as "agents" of the United States. The hour and a half video message Monday summarizing the state of jihad, or holy war, around the world and slamming Iran for collaborating with the United States, aimed at marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the message, Zawahri accused Iran of working with U.S. forces.
"The leadership in Tehran is collaborating with the Americans in their occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan," Zawahri said. The Egyptian deputy to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden cited an example of what he called collusion between Shiite religious leaders and the Americans. "There has been no fatwa (religious edict) from Iran or Iraq calling for jihad in Iraq or Afghanistan," while there have been many issued on Lebanon and the Palestinians. "Has waging jihad become acceptable in Lebanon and in Palestine but not in Iraq and Afghanistan?" Zawahri asked in the broadcast. Zawahri has been increasingly singling out Iran and Shiites in his messages, most recently in April, describing the "Persians" as the enemy of Arabs and complicit in the occupation of Iraq. Monday's video featured clips of al-Qaida operations on various fronts, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, with prominent figures from the movement discoursing on their accomplishments over the year, Al-Jazeera said.(AP-AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 09 Sep 08, 04:46

Three Israelis, Lebanese Man Arrested by Israel
Naharnet/Israeli forces have arrested three Israelis and a Lebanese citizen while trying to smuggle 55 kilograms of heroin from south Lebanon into the Jewish state.
The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said the force headquarters at the southern coastal town of Naqoura was officially informed by the Israelis of the arrest. The UNIFIL spokesperson Yasmina Bouziane said the Lebanese citizen, whose identity was not disclosed, had crossed the Blue Line and was arrested in "Israeli territory." The Israelis also found a large amount of money in the area, she said without further elaboration. Beirut, 08 Sep 08, 21:57

Hariri to Akkar Residents: Mustaqbal Did not Succumb to the May Assault
Naharnet/Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri on Monday called for reconciliation in the northern Akkar Province that rejected the terror of Fatah al-Islam.
Hariri made the remark in an address at an Iftar banquet, hours before the conclusion of reconciliation in Tripoli, provincial capital of north Lebanon.
"We are about to conclude a major step of national reconciliation in Tripoli that folds the era of violence, which followed the seventh of May," Hariri said.
"They had tried to export the spirit of terror through the so-called Fatah al-Islam. They tried to label you fundamentalists, but they have failed," he added.
He said the Mustaqbal Movement has been "targeted ever since the assassination of (ex-Premier) martyr Rafik Hariri. That is why they carried out the May 7 offensive." "The Mustaqbal Movement did not succumb to any of the conditions that they had tried to impose," Hariri declared as the crowd cheered and applauded. He said citizens of Akkar "stood with the international tribunal. And had it not been for the support of Akkar citizens and March 14 forces the tribunal would not have been adopted," he concluded. Beirut, 08 Sep 08, 21:42

Iraqi Refugees Leave Lebanon Hoping for Better Life in US
9-9-2008-BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Laith Kasshana left Baghdad, Iraq, early in 2007, when his 2-year-old daughter Media was an infant. In Baghdad, Kasshana's life was threatened and his brother was shot."I felt so afraid," he told Catholic News Service. "Even today, when I talk about Iraq, I feel full of anxiety."
But Kasshana, his wife and his two children -- 10-month-old Mathew was born in Lebanon -- left Sept. 7 for resettlement in San Diego.
"I just want to start from zero again so that I can give my children a better future," said 34-year-old Kasshana, a Chaldean Catholic.
"In the time of Saddam Hussein, we felt secure," he said. "People were afraid of Saddam, so there was respect for all religions. The slogan of Iraqi law then was 'religion is for God; the country is for everyone.'"All through the family's troubles, Kasshana's 25-year-old wife, Ban, never lost faith that God would do something for her family. "He is my only salvation," she said, "the only one I can depend on. God is my way out. He will light the way."
In Baghdad, Kasshana owned a store that sold cell phones and other electronics. In Lebanon, he most recently worked 14-hour days for a janitorial company, earning $380 a month -- a good salary, considering most refugees earn $200 a month, if they can find work. But Kasshana had to give up the job when he was assigned to a site far from his home. Without legal residency, he feared being put in jail if he was caught in transit.
When he gets to San Diego, he said, "I want to ... learn the language and to work. I'm willing to do any kind of job."
For a family of three, their Beirut apartment was spacious and structurally well-maintained compared to the living conditions of most other Iraqi refugees. Previously there were 11 family members -- eight of whom were adults -- crammed into the dwelling, but those families were resettled in the U.S.
A neighbor identified only as Thaker planned to move in to the apartment with his wife, newborn son and several extended family members.
Thaker and his brother, victims of religious persecution, fled Mosul, Iraq, in April. In Mosul they worked as cooks at a police academy in which recruits were trained by Americans. As Thaker and his brother were driving to work one day, assailants ordered them out of their car and beat them with rifles.
"They told us, 'You work for the Americans; you are like dogs. You are traitors,'" Thaker recounted.
As head cook for the police academy, Thaker was once awarded employee of the month and was nominated to become manager of the academy's 65 employees. He earned $50 a day for his job, which also included painting vehicles for the Americans. Now he earns $200 a month as a supermarket stocker, working 16 hours a day, six days a week.
Thaker's brother also worked as a cook for the academy and served as an interpreter for the Americans. After the brothers were threatened, they tried to go to work secretly, but they received a written threat, which Thaker has kept and has shown to the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon.
The attackers even knew that Thaker's brother had wanted to become a priest, although he had left the seminary years before to help provide for his siblings after their father's death.
"When they threatened us, the terrorists told him, 'You were studying to become a priest. If you ever go to church again, if you don't abandon your faith, we will kill you,'" Thaker said.
Thaker wears a wooden rosary around his neck; the image of the Divine Mercy is embellished on the face of his wristwatch.
"I want to live a stable life so I can give my son a future," he said.
Nadia Ghannem and her three children were to leave Lebanon for San Diego Sept. 10. Ghannem said she has mixed feelings about her future.
"I won't be very happy because my brother is in jail and my sister is still here," she told CNS.
The breakup of families is one of the drawbacks of refugee resettlement. Sometimes young adults get resettled alone and have to leave their parents and siblings. This is traumatic for Iraqis, in which the extended family is an important part of the culture, social workers say.
Ghannem's husband, Rabih, was shot in Mosul because he was active in his Chaldean parish. The couple and their three children fled to Lebanon last October, seeking safety and better medical treatment for Rabih. One month later he died.
Ghannem and her family live in a section of Beirut inhabited by about 2,000 Iraqi refugees -- mostly Christian. Slums and squalor best describe the conditions.
Mold, leftover from the damp winter, still clings to the ceilings of her apartment. A large cockroach scurries across the wall. Ghannem's 2-year-old niece amuses herself by unraveling a spool of thread, after playing with a doll, the only other visible toy. Ghannem shares the apartment with eight other family members, and sometimes an aunt stays with them.
Foam mattresses are spread across the one small bedroom that adjoins the living room. The bathroom is about 4 feet by 5 feet and has no sink, but an elevated faucet serves as a shower. There is no hot water.
Ammar Ghannem, 10, sits in front of the television, the mesmerizing box an ever-constant presence in refugee dwellings. When asked about his upcoming move to the U.S., Ammar replied, "I'm glad, because I can play on the computer there."
Ammar's 8-year-old sister, Myrna, said she wants to make new friends when she goes to the United States.
By Doreen Abi Raad
Catholic News Service
© 2008, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.

Iran & Hezbollah
Sep 8th, 2008
by Guest Authors.
http://www.neoconstant.com/955/iran-hezbollah/
~from the Israel Project
Iran is the world’ chief state sponsor of terror. [1] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continuously calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. [2] The Lebanon-based militant group and political party, Hezbollah, maintains close ties with the Iranian Islamist regime.
The Iranians formulate many foreign- and security-related policies through overlapping structures of institutional and non-institutional military and political actors. [3] Iran therefore implements its financial, military and ideological support for Hezbollah through senior clerics, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security (MOIS). [4]
Iranian financial and military support for Hezbollah dates back to 1982. Iran’s interest in Hezbollah derives from religious, ideological and humanitarian reasons. [5] Currently, Hezbollah receives approximately $100 million annually in financial support and constant arms shipments from Iran via Syria. [6] According to Israeli military officials, Hezbollah is in possession of more than 20,000 Iranian supplied short-range missiles. [7]
While the U.S. State Department categorizes Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, [8] according to Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi: “Hezbollah is a legal group which was created to fight Israel…and is a defense organization which was established in order to defend Lebanese people and land.” [9]
Examples of the Iran-Hezbollah Alliance:
Hezbollah recognizes the spiritual authority of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, as evidenced in its charter and in pictures of the Ayatollah displayed on the walls of Hezbollah offices and waved at Hezbollah protests. [10]
According to American policy analysts, Iran views Hezbollah as an instrument through which to export its Islamist revolution and combat the perceived threat posed to Iranian national interests by the U.S. and Israel. [11]
Hezbollah acts as an Iranian military proxy by maintaining a “strategic stronghold” [12] on the Lebanese-Israeli border and conducting operations in the U.S, Europe and Latin America. [13]
The MOIS significantly influences the policies and actions of Hezbollah’s security and special overseas operations, such as its attacks against U.S targets. [14]
MOIS officers work with Hezbollah militants in the field and use the Iranian embassy in Beirut as a command and control center. [15]
Hezbollah directly coordinates and communicates with Iran through Hezbollah militants working at the Iranian embassy in Beirut. [16]
Many of Hezbollah’s elite militants attend an intensive training course on interrogation tactics in Tehran conducted by MOIS at the Imam Jaafar Sadegh Intelligence Academy intended to be used on captured Israeli soldiers and in intelligence operations. [17]
The IRGC provides Hezbollah’s forces with most of their arms and training. [18]
According to U.S. officials, Iranian technical advisors train Hezbollah militants in Lebanon in the operation of unmanned aircraft, anti-tank and anti-ship missiles. [19]
During Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah in the summer of 2006 (also known as the Second Lebanon War), papers found on the bodies of dead militants identified them as part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. [20]
About 100 Iranian advisors are located in Lebanon and are training and supporting Hezbollah militants. [21]
Implications of the Alliance:
American counterterrorism officials believe Hezbollah may prove more difficult to contain than al-Qaeda because of its close relationship with Iran. These officials say Iran may use Hezbollah militarily if its conflict with the U.S. over its nuclear program is not resolved peacefully. According to a retired covert U.S. intelligence official who spent years in the region, “If Iran turns Hezbollah loose on the U.S. and Western Europe, they’d make al-Qaeda look like a bunch of high-school kids.” [22]
About Guest Authors....
NeoConstant is growing fast, and many guest authors frequent its pages. Guest authors writing at NeoConstant write from all political vantage points, and from countries around the world. Not all of them chose to continue on as regular contributors, but we appreciate their intellectual contribution regardless!

Summer Camp for Kids, Hezbollah Style
http://www.rightsidenews.com/200809091903/global-terrorism/summer-camp-for-kids-hezbollah-style.html
September 9, 2008
IICC
Editors Note:
"tens of thousands of kids are involved for future warfare against us"
Hezbollah uses its summer camps to indoctrinate youngsters with radical Shi'ite Islamic ideology, which includes: terrorist culture, hatred against Israel, Hassan Nasrallah's personality cult, the glorification of Hezbollah’s martyrs. The aim is to prepare the youngsters mentally for supporting Hezbollah and, in due course, for joining the organization.
Overview
1. Education is a major component in Hezbollah's spectrum of activities (similarly to Hamas, which also places significance on education). Hezbollah and its Iranian supporters realize that extensive "educational" activities for children and teenagers are crucial for indoctrinating the future generations of Lebanese Shi'ites with the principles of Hezbollah and the Islamic revolution in Iran . That is reflected in documents and literature seized by the IDF in the second Lebanon war. 1
2. As part of its educational activities, Hezbollah annually organizes large-scale summer camps for children and teenagers. The summer camps are attended by tens of thousands of members of the Imam al-Mahdi Scouts, Hezbollah's Scout movement, as well as members of other youth organizations. More than just a place for regular social and cultural activities, the summer camps are used to inculcate their participants with the values of Iranian radical Islam, nurture terrorist culture, and inspire hatred against Israel . Hassan Nasrallah's personality cult and the glorification of Hezbollah's senior terrorist martyrs (mainly the organization's leader Abbas Mussawi and its military commander Imad Mughniyah 2) are also major components of the summer camps' activities.
Indoctrination of children 3 according to an article in the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Akhbar
3. On August 21, 2008 , the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar published an extensive article on the summer camp of the Al-Shabab organization, whose members are children under the age of 10. According to the article, the organization was founded in 2000 in the villages which lie near the Israeli border (called "confrontation villages" by Hezbollah). According to the article, Hezbollah ("the resistance") maintains massive presence in those villages. The organization's summer camp is held annually for the sixth year in a row.
4. Al-Akhbar reporter Amal Khalil visited a large Hezbollah compound located in Wadi Tair Filsay, in southern Lebanon , south of the Litani River . The compound is located below a mountain on which gigantic photographs of Hassan Nasrallah and Imad Mughniyah are hoisted. According to the article, 4,000 teenagers aged 14-20 come to the compound in the months of July and August. They belong to various youth organizations that are taking part in Hezbollah's activities. The compound includes a camp called Amjad, designated for the Al-Shabab organization. The organization's members enjoy routine camp activities (sports, entertainment, arts, etc.) and undergo Hezbollah's indoctrination, detailed by the reporter:
a. A Hezbollah operative, introduced as a resistance officer, was seen at the camp. He used to walk among the children in uniform and carrying military equipment, including an M-16 rifle on his shoulder. Described in the article as "the star of the camp", the Hezbollah operative preached to the children "to prevent any doubt about the fact that Israel is an absolute evil and enemy."
b. The children faced a barrage of questions from the Hezbollah operative about Israel , its ideology and its so-called "aggression". The children were required to answer the questions as if they were taking part in a military course and having their final examination. When the children moved uncomfortably, the Hezbollah operative did not hesitate to excite them and prepare them for watching a Hezbollah-produced film called "The Victory Generation".
c. Designed to complement Hezbollah's indoctrination of children, the movie shows Israeli children who, according to Hezbollah, train in the use of weapons from the age of five (sic!). 4 The movie says that the training is part of the "culture of hatred and murder they [the Israeli children] absorb, in order to send gift rockets to Lebanon [during] the July 2006 aggression [i.e., the second Lebanon war]". The article says that, having watched the movie, a child should "understand the struggle for survival so that he gets his priorities straight, and be able to carry arms when necessary, and obtain the necessary knowledge."
5. By demonizing Israel and portraying it as the root of all evil, Hezbollah seeks to inculcate children and teenagers with hatred against Israel and to motivate them to take part in the violent struggle for its elimination. A research article of the Egyptian newspaper Ruz al-Yusuf ( August 18, 2006 ) deals with the militias of 10-15 year olds trained by Hezbollah's Imam al-Mahdi Scouts. According to the research, the children's first lesson deals with the destruction of the State of Israel, in order to prepare an elite generation of Muslim children willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of Allah in the struggle against Israel.
Uniformed children wearing yellow headbands in one of the Hezbollah-affiliated kindergartens (photograph found in the second Lebanon war in the possession of Hezbollah operatives in south Lebanon)