LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 20/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 6,7-15. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
What Iraq Needs Next-By: Amir Taheri 19/06/08
The Long, Deceptive Arm of TERROR, INC.By W. Thomas Smith Jr 19/06/08
No method to Aoun's destructiveness-By Michael Young 19/06/08
Even at the best of times, Arab regimes inspire little confidence- The Daily Star 19/06/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for June 19/08
Deadlock Persists Over Cabinet as Politicians Bicker Over Top Posts-Naharnet
Larijani: Hizbullah, Hamas Are Pioneers of Change-Naharnet
Army Hosts Reconciliation Meeting in Bekaa-Naharnet
Feltman Honored for 'Constructive Dissent'-Naharnet
U.S. Targets Hizbullah Supporters in Venezuela-Naharnet
Washington's Version of the Attack on Sison's Motorcade-Naharnet
UN atom watchdog faces tough search mission in Syria-Reuters
US: Two Venezuelans are supporting terrorism-CNN
Lieberman: 'If Hizbullah targets Israel, Syria will pay-Daily Star
Beirut reiterates rejection of bilateral talks over Shebaa-AFP
Israeli offer of peace talks is all for show - local analysts-Daily Star
Qabbani laments delay in forming cabinet-Daaily Star
Israel Open to Deal With Lebanon on Disputed Land-New York Times
US targets Venezuela-based Hezbollah helpers-The Associated Press
Lebanese official: Prisoner swap is a matter of time-AFP
Lebanese media mirrors 'profoundly divided' society -By Inter Press Service
Beirut reiterates rejection of bilateral talks over Shebaa-Daily Star
Report: IAEA has proof Syria built nuclear reactor-Ynetnews
Syria sources deny reports that Olmert, Assad will share table in ...Jerusalem Post
Berri describes battle over sovereign portfolios as 'meaningless'-Daily Star
All and sundry flay Aoun for bid to curb premier's powers-Daily Star
World Bank study predicts 3.5 percent growth in Lebanon-Daily Star
Berri: Aoun's Demands Non-Applicable-Naharnet
Geagea Opposes Talks with Israel, Criticizes Aoun-Naharnet
Hezbollah supporters stone US envoy's motorcade in S Lebanon-Xinhua
Syria's Assad Forges Economic Ties With India-Voice of America
Lebanese guard slightly hurt in US embassy stoning incident, US says-AFP
Hizbullah Partisans Besiege Sison and Stone her Motorcade-Naharnet
MP Jarrah: We Don't Trust Hizbullah-Naharnet
Washington's Version of the Attack on Sison's Motorcade-Naharnet
Jumblat Hammers Elimination Advocate Aoun
Lebanon Rejects Negotiations with Israel-Naharnet
Karami Hammers Aoun-Naharnet
Israel-Hizbullah Prisoner-Body Swap Imminent-Naharnet
Geagea Opposes Talks with Israel, Criticizes Aoun-Naharnet
Suleiman Upset … No Government Soon-Naharnet
Prisoner Swap in Germany, Not Along Israel-Lebanon Border-Naharnet
Suleiman Prepares to Host Muslim-Christian Reconciliation Meeting-Naharnet
Israel Ready for Peace Talks with Lebanon-Naharnet
Hizbullah: Liberating Shebaa Farms Ploy to Nail Resistance Arms-Naharnet
New Christian Front to Be Launched Soon-Naharnet
Aoun Demands Curtailing Saniora's Powers, Session to Ratify Election Law-Naharnet
Two Men Indicted in Assassination of Ahmed Jibril's Son-Naharnet

Lieberman: 'If Hizbullah targets Israel, Syria will pay'
Thursday, June 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Far-right Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman has threatened to destroy the Syrian capital, Damascus, if Hizbullah attacks Israel in revenge for the assassination of top military commander Imad Mughniyeh, assassinated in Damascus on February 12, Israeli media reported on Wednesday. "We must negotiate with Syria only over security arrangements in Lebanon, not the Golan Heights," Lieberman said while meeting with Russian Jewish immigrants in the American state of New Jersey. "It should be made clear to [Syrian President Bashar] Assad that if Hizbullah targets the residents of northern Israel, all of Syria will pay," he added. Lieberman said that a democratic state cannot face terrorist threats in the traditional way. "Instead of fighting terrorist organizations, we must fight the head. In the case of Hizbullah, Assad is the head, because the party cannot survive without Syrian support," Lieberman added.

Deadlock Persists Over Cabinet as Politicians Bicker Over Top Posts
Naharnet/Deadlock over the new cabinet line-up continued to persist as political leaders tried to find a way out of an embarrassing failure to form Lebanon's national unity government. Nearly one month after Michel Suleiman was elected president in a first step towards ending a long-running political crisis, negotiations among the various political parties appear to be increasingly bogged down, as leaders bicker over who will fill the top cabinet posts. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has suggested giving the foreign ministry portfolio to his ally Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun provided the post is run by a Shiite. Yet, under the Speaker's offer, a Berri protégé would be chosen to fill the telecommunications ministry.
This shows Berri has a deep inclination toward giving the telecommunications post to a Christian, not a Shiite, from Aoun's bloc, meaning an inter-opposition swap between AMAL movement and Aoun. Berri's offer also reveals a hidden acknowledgement of both the defense and interior ministries which are entitled for President Michel Suleiman. This implies an implicit agreement to keep Elias Murr in his defense ministry post.
Hopes for a new cabinet formation also dwindled after Hizbullah set new demands and Aoun's insistance on clinging to the finance ministry.
On its evening news, Al Manar said Hizbullah has conditioned that the ministerial statement include a "clear clause regarding adoption and support of the resistance and considering raising the Shebaa Farms issue under the circumstances as means to nail the resistance arms."
The daily Al Liwaa, citing information obtained from various sources, on Thursday said the opposition has stepped up its escalation by setting two options:
1- A Shiite minister for the interior ministry to be named by Hizbullah in exchange for accepting to keep Murr as defense minister.
2- Remove Murr altogether from the new cabinet line-up in return for relinquishing the right of the opposition of the other sovereign portfolio, not even the telecommunications ministry.
Meanwhile, the daily An Nahar on Thursday said talks between Suleiman and Berri in Baabda, followed by a luncheon between Berri and Premier-designate Fouad Saniora in Ain el-Tineh and finally a meeting between the president and Saniora at Baabda palace did not break the cabinet deadlock.
Berri and Saniora, however, appeared to exhibit a positive mood. Berri said from Baabda that the opposition was open to all proposals and ideas aimed at facilitating the new cabinet line-up and denied that there were any differences between the opposition and the parliamentary majority over how to address the issue of Hizbullah and its weapons in the next ministerial program. Saniora, for his part, was determined to overcome all the obstacles facing the formation of the new government. "We have no choice but to succeed because the Lebanese want to live together," he told reporters after visiting Suleiman late Wednesday.
"The (ruling) majority is known for its patience," Saniora said. "I'm even more patient." Saniora insisted he would not set a date for the birth of the new cabinet. Beirut, 19 Jun 08, 09:10

Aoun Backs Off Attack on Saniora Under Pressure
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun has backed down on the wording of a statement that demanded amendments to the prime minister's powers. Addressing critics, Aoun said he meant "reforms," and not "amendment" of powers. Aoun has demanded constitutional amendments curtailing Premier-designate Fouad Saniora's powers. "Saniora has started drifting from the norms of forming a cabinet," Aoun told a news conference held at his residence in Rabiyeh on Tuesday. "He (Saniora) is treating the opposition as if it were one (bloc) and not a group of blocs," Aoun said. "He's got to respect that."
"I insist and I tell the prime minister that his powers should be amended," Aoun added. "He (Saniora) has no right to have both executive and observation powers at the same time," Aoun has stressed. "If (the term) 'powers' was a matter of a stance, then (the term) 'reforms' is a valuable issue," Aoun told his Orange TV late Wednesday. "I meant to say there should be separation of powers between the executive and the observation," Aoun clarified.
His withdrawal followed sharp criticism, not only from the anti-government ruling majority, but from the opposition itself. Opposition stalwart, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced that Aoun's demands were "not applicable." Ex-Premier Omar Karami, who is close to the opposition, slammed Aoun for seeking to change the prime minister into "an office clerk." He said Aoun's call aims at "stripping the prime minister of all the powers gained by the Taef accord."
"This is totally unacceptable," Karami declared.
Former Prime Minister Salim Hoss also attacked Aoun, saying his proposal went against "the spirit of unity and consensus.""We are surprised that such matters are brought up at a time of massive difficulties," Hoss said in a statement. Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati agreed with Hoss.
"I was surprised by Gen. Aoun's demands for an amendment of the premier's powers and his request that the government amend these powers," Mikati said.
Mikati said Aoun's demand contradicted the constitution, which stipulates that the prime minister was responsible for monitoring the work of various departments and public institutions, coordinating ministerial tasks and providing general guidance. Democratic gathering leader Walid Jumblat accused Aoun of seeking to eliminate Lebanon's constitutional institutions. He said Aoun was also seeking to torpedo the Doha Accord "like he had tried to torpedo the Taef accord. He is trying to eliminate moderation, the presidential office and … all positive chances to form a cabinet," Jumblat added. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea also cautioned that calls by Aoun to amend the prime minister's powers would lead to further calls by other factions to amend the parliament speaker's powers and this would be tantamount to a revision of the whole constitution. Beirut, 19 Jun 08, 11:02

Larijani: Hizbullah, Hamas Are Pioneers of Change
Naharnet/Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has praised Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and described the Shiite group and the Palestinian movement Hamas as pioneers of change. Hizbullah and Hamas militants "are the pioneers of change in today's world," the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted Larijani as saying on Wednesday. "During the course of the 33-day war, the global arrogance attacked with all its might the oppressed Lebanese people assuming they could defeat" Hizbullah fighters, Larijani said about the July-August 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite party.
He accused U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of asking the March 14 majority during the war to create instability to get rid of Hizbullah.
"The U.S. Secretary of State had at the time directed the March 14 group to shake the internal situation and we will help you to wipe out Hizbullah," Larijani said, according to IRNA. But he said the Bush administration made a "strategic mistake" because "the Lebanese people remained steadfast" against the U.S. and Israel.
Larijani also praised Nasrallah's stance on the latest developments in Lebanon.
Nasrallah's "wise stance exposed the world arrogance and forced it to seek assistance from a small country like Qatar. At the end, it (the world) expressed readiness to accept the presence of Hizbullah in Lebanon," the Iranian speaker said. He was referring to a deal reached last month in Qatar between bickering Lebanese politicians to end the country's political crisis. The accord came after Hizbullah fighters and pro-government gunmen clashed in Beirut and other areas, driving the country to the brink of civil war. The Doha accord led to the election of Gen. Michel Suleiman president and gave Hizbullah veto power in the future cabinet. Larijani also warned Wednesday that the "Iranian people will change the status" of Americans in the region in case of U.S. "miscalculation."
Beirut, 19 Jun 08, 06:24

Army Hosts Reconciliation Meeting in Bekaa
Naharnet/The Lebanese army has sponsored a meeting to reconcile groups involved in the deadly armed clashes in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
The meeting, grouping representatives of various political parties, social officials, local administration aides, spiritual leaders and social dignitaries, was held Wednesday afternoon at the army barracks in the Bekaa town of Ablah. The meeting was part of efforts to reconcile the feuding sides after on-again-off-again battles between pro- and anti-government supporters raged in the towns of Saadnayal and Taalabaya since early May. Three people were killed and four wounded in Central Bekaa in the latest fighting with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine gunfire. The Ablah meeting arrived at a gentlemen's agreement between the warring sides on the Bekaa conflict. The feuding parties have reportedly committed not to resort to any form of internal strife and to hand over security in the area to the Lebanese army exclusively. Beirut, 19 Jun 08, 09:24

Washington's Version of the Attack on Sison's Motorcade
Naharnet/A Lebanese guard working for the U.S. embassy in Beirut was slightly hurt when Hizbullah supporters stoned a U.S. motorcade driving through south Lebanon on Wednesday, a U.S. official said. "There were no serious injuries" in the incident in the village of Nabatiyeh," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters in Washington. "I do understand that one of our security guards -- one of the local Lebanese security guards -- did get hit in the leg by one of the stones that was thrown," Casey said. But the guard "did not require any kind of medical treatment or certainly hospitalization," he added.
Casey said the incident happened when one of the cars in the motorcade broke down and the charge d'affaires, Michele Sison, and the others in the group decided to stop in the village for lunch while the car was being repaired. Sison was invited to lunch by a village family, he added. Around a dozen individuals -- mainly young men -- "started throwing some stones at the vehicles" after the car was repaired and the motorcade prepared to depart, Casey said. "Charge Sison was able to carry out the rest of her visit and ultimately returned back to the embassy in Beirut," he said. She visited U.S.-sponsored initiatives and programs like a school for girls, a social center, and U.S. Agency for International Development projects, he said.(AFP) Beirut, 18 Jun 08, 21:23

Feltman Honored for 'Constructive Dissent'
Naharnet/Two American diplomats who successfully challenged policy in Iraq and Lebanon last year are being honored at the State Department Thursday for their courage in speaking out. Former ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman fought plans to build the new embassy in Beirut in an area controlled by Hizbullah militants. Iraq veteran Rachel Schneller called attention to the mental health care needs of diplomats returning from war zones. They are getting awards for constructive dissent from the American Foreign Service Association. The association is the union for U.S. diplomats. It says Feltman and Schneller showed exemplary courage, integrity and leadership by taking on their superiors in Washington and changing the department's institutional thinking.
In cable after cable, Feltman argued it was unsafe to construct the new embassy on property that was bought for that purpose in 2004 but had later fallen into the hands of Hizbullah. Higher-ups in Washington were insisting on going ahead with the project. Finally, last July, it was put on hold.
"Ambassador Feltman challenged this decision and repeatedly appealed directly to the highest levels of the State Department," his citation reads. "His willingness to take a stand on principle and to question the conventional wisdom in order to protect his embassy personnel exemplifies the best qualities of constructive dissent."
Schneller, who served in Basra, Iraq and returned to the United States with post-traumatic stress disorder, took on the department for its failure to provide adequate mental health care to diplomats who serve in war zones. In internal memos and interviews, Schneller made the case that they deserved similar treatment to members of the military. Partly as a result, the department created a new mental health care office and adopted new leave guidelines to deal with stress-related disorders that plague up to 17 percent of diplomats serving in danger posts, according to one survey. "Despite personal sacrifice, Ms. Schneller showed enormous courage in challenging the system on an issue of life and death importance to career diplomats and their families," her citation reads. "(Her) actions exemplify the qualities of constructive dissent by demonstrating the intellectual courage and integrity to challenge the status quo while working within the system." The awards are given annually by the union, which is also giving a dissent honor to a third diplomat this year, Luke Zahner, who documented serious human rights abuses by the military-backed government while working at the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh. Zahner convinced his superiors to report those abuses, according to his citation.(AP) Beirut, 19 Jun 08, 10:19

Lebanon Rejects Negotiations with Israel
Naharnet/Premier Fouad Saniora's office rejected Wednesday any negotiations with Israel, emphasizing that Lebanese territories occupied by the Jewish state are subject to U.N. resolutions that do not require any talks. A statement released by Saniora's press office said "Lebanon did not receive any message from any side through U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice."However, "the Lebanese government has not saved any effort nor missed any opportunity for over three years to ask friendly states and the United Nations to pressure Israel into withdrawing from the Shebaa Farms." "There is no room for bilateral negotiations between Lebanon and Israel and Lebanon's declared stand, reiterated last week, is commitment to the Arab peace initiative that calls for comprehensive and just peace," the statement stressed. "Israel is obliged to withdraw from Lebanese territories … in line with UNSCR 425 and 1701," the statement noted. Beirut, 18 Jun 08, 20:56

BEYOND THE DROPZONE
The Long, Deceptive Arm of TERROR, INC.
Posted by W. Thomas Smith Jr. on 18 June 2008 at 6:11 pm UTC
On Monday, New York-based World TV, which bills itself as “the leading source of international programming in North America,” announced “the launch of Lebanon’s OTV on its direct-to-home platform in the United States as an encrypted service.”
You’ll recall – from my previous pieces – OTV (Orange TV) is a publicly traded satellite television company that was founded last year by retired Lebanese Army Gen. Michel Aoun (who is a professed ally of the terrorist-group Hezbollah) and his Free Patriotic Movement. Both Aoun and the FPM continue to have a heavy hand in OTV’s news broadcasts. But for the obvious sake of “cleaning its face,” OTV claims that because it is publicly traded, it is now only “affiliated” with Aoun and the FPM, and even that affiliation is – as Aoun’s supporters say – “unofficial.”
But there is much more to this than Hezbollah or Aoun and his cronies would have us believe.
In January, I reported a story in which ABC News had run a segment, Deadly Attack in Lebanon, regarding the assassination of Capt. Wissam Eid, an intelligence officer with Lebanon’s Interior Security Forces (national police).
ABC was correct in its decision to run the segment. It was an important story. But my beef – and that of the leadership of Lebanon’s pro-democracy Cedars Revolution – was with the footage a major American television network had used without any disclaimer.
The footage, which may be viewed here, originated with OTV.
As I said then, “this may seem somewhat innocuous,” except for the fact that Aoun and his FPM are closely allied to Hezbollah, a “foreign terrorist organization” so-designated by the U.S. State Department.
Hezbollah is perhaps the most-dangerous Talibanesque terrorist-army on the planet. The organization is trained, armed and equipped, operationally supported, and heavily funded by Iran (at least $ one-billion, annually); and operationally supported by Syria. In fact, Hezbollah is so dangerous – and gaining in its global strength and influence – that Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff recently warned, the organization “makes Al Qaeda look like a minor league team.”
Hezbollah also has a growing and incredibly influential telecommunications and media arm, which operates both openly and in the shadows. The organization’s media arm is overt in that it owns and operates newspapers, websites (including a stable-full of bloggers and blogging-sympathizers and apologists), and radio and television stations. And it is covert in its effective ability to penetrate Western media and generally threaten, win-over, or pay-off – with Iranian petrodollars — seemingly objective journalists and news desks. Hezbollah also is able to further its deception and propaganda through its allied news organizations, which most news-consumers in the West are completely unaware of.
Last October, Counterterrorism Blog reported:
“The joint venture between Hezbollah and the ‘Free Patriotic Movement’ of former General Michel Aoun is growing stronger by the day. Since Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organization by the U.S. Government, and its Al Manar television network are banned from transmitting to the U.S., they are now relying on the media outlet of former General Michel Aoun, Orange TV, to spread Iranian-inspired Jihadist propaganda and ideology.”
Of course, Hezbollah’s and Aoun’s supporters will argue that because OTV is publicly traded, it is off-the-hook. Yet OTV continues to serve as a mouthpiece for Aoun, and has aired lengthy conversations with Aoun and Hezbollah’s secretary general Hassan Nasrallah.
Supporters of OTV also argue that Al Jazeera, with its often pro-Jihadist slant is slowly being accepted into the mainstream (which also amazes me), as should OTV.
But the public does have some understanding of the reality that much – if not all — of what Al Jazeera airs and publishes must be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism. The public knows Al Jazeera really cannot be taken as a source of objective news: and the experts consider it to be more of an open-source of intelligence.
Americans see the Al Jazeera tapes of Osama bin Laden broadcast on all of the mainstream television networks. But that’s because Al Jazeera is the broadcasting company the terrorists use. That’s the originator of the tapes as far as the general public is concerned.
As I wrote in January for Family Security Matters, “Al Jazeera’s agenda has been widely publicized – the name itself is a walking disclaimer of sorts – so we all take what that company broadcasts with a proverbial grain of salt. It is, after all, Al Jazeera, and we understand exactly for what purposes their footage is broadcast.”
I also reported that few Americans have ever heard of “Orange TV or al Manar, for that matter: the latter being Hezbollah’s television station. Al Manar was at one time being broadcast via satellite over much of Europe, Africa, and the Far East until the U.S. government and others shut down much of that company’s overseas broadcasting operations. And when it was discovered that some American companies were continuing to advertise on al Manar in Lebanon, they too were pressed to pull out … and did.”
Nevertheless, World TV has announced the launch of OTV in America.
A quick call to World TV’s press office revealed what I already suspected, the very charming press officer on the other end of the line was completely unaware of the connection. “We have nothing to do with Hezbollah,” she said. And I certainly believe she was telling me the truth as she understood it to be. I don’t blame her, nor can I lay all of this at the feet of her company. The blame can only be found in the depth of Hezbollah’s media deception.
Therein lies the problem. Almost no one understands how deep that deception runs, except perhaps Nasrallah, Aoun, the Iranians, the Syrians, and the good guys on our side who are feverishly working to connect the dots in this asymmetrically complex war on terror.
— W. Thomas Smith Jr.

Berri: Aoun's Demands Non-Applicable
Naharnet/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday announced that demands by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun for amending the premier's powers are "non-applicable."Berri, talking to reporters after meeting President Michel Suleiman at the Republican Palace in suburban Baabda, said forming the new cabinet faces the persisting differences between the various factions. The current priority, according to Berri, is tackling the security situation and speeding up efforts to form the cabinet.Berri said no one objects to giving the two cabinet portfolios to President Suleiman, but objections face efforts to "weaken certain persons through the government.""Some (factions) are trying to win the elections through the government," Berri said. He said the Hizbullah-led opposition by accepting a share of 11 ministers instead of 13 had "given the president two cabinet portfolios, while the majority has given him one portfolio."Berri concluded by calling for speeding up the formation of the new cabinet, stating that security in Lebanon "is a political issue." Beirut, 18 Jun 08, 15:41

Geagea Opposes Talks with Israel, Criticizes Aoun
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea opposed talks with Israel and criticized Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, saying the latter's political demands serve Hizbullah and Syria. Geagea, addressing a press conference at his residence in Meerab, said Aoun escalates his stands "while Hizbullah and Syria benefit to block (the political process) and they harvest their gains at the expense of the Christians."The new Christian gathering declared at Aoun's residence on Tuesday should be titled "the gathering of Jamil al-Sayyed and Rustom Gazaleh," Geagea said. He said proposals to give the president a Christian minister and a Muslim minister in the forthcoming cabinet would "complicate issues."Geagea cautioned that calls by Aoun to amend the Prime Minister's powers would lead to further calls by other factions to amend the Parliament Speaker's powers and this would be tantamount to a revision of the whole constitution.Representing the Lebanese Forces in the new cabinet would be "in line with its popularity," Geagea stressed."Our main concern is to get Israel out of Shebaa farms … this is the mission of the Lebanese state," he added. Geagea said the state should also handle the prisoner exchange issue. "We are not for Lebanese-Israeli talks. When thorough Arab-Israeli peace is achieved, peace with Lebanon would be achieved," Geagea concluded. Beirut, 18 Jun 08, 16:03

Hizbullah Partisans Besiege Sison and Stone her Motorcade
Naharnet/Hizbullah partisans besieged U.S. Charge d'Affaires Michele Sison during a visit to the southern town of Nabatiyeh and hurled rocks at her motorcade while chanting the party's favored slogan "death to America."Sison, on a tour of south Lebanon, was meeting deputy head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Bitar in Nabatiyeh to discuss economic and development projects of interest to the region and its citizens when Hizbullah partisans besieged the venue.
As the Hizbullah partisans chanted "death to America, death to Israel," Sison's bodyguards decided to evacuate the top U.S. diplomat in Lebanon fearing she might be attacked. However Hizbullah partisans chased Sison's motorcade as the vehicles tried to leave Bitar's residence, tried to block its way and hurled rocks at it, reliable sources said. Officials held contacts that allowed Sison's motorcade to leave the region safely, they added.The U.S. Embassy, in a statement responding to questions by reporters, said Sison had "a very productive day in Nabatiyeh. She started the morning at the Municipality of Habbouch before heading to the Women Progress Association."She also visited the Nabatiyeh School for Girls and the Kamel Yousef Jaber Social Center, which houses the American Corner and USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives project."The statement said Sison concluded her visit with "an enjoyable lunch hosted by a family in Nabatiyeh."However, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Sison's motorcade was attacked by a rock-hurling crowd chanting "death to America."The report said one of the vehicles in Sison's motorcade, a Ford, was knocked out and towed to police parking in Nabatiyeh and later to Beirut. Beirut, 18 Jun 08, 15:27

Free speech frees minds Bronwyn Eyre,
The StarPhoenix-Published: Wednesday, June 18, 2008
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=e08696c7-24be-445b-b3ae-2e82cfae19f1&p=2
Last week, the New York Times ran a front-page story (unlike others,the U.S. defends freedom to offend in speech) about the B.C. humanrights tribunal that's deliberating a hate speech case in Vancouveragainst Maclean's magazine, which ran a 2006 article by Mark Steynabout how the rise of Islam is affecting western values. What's noteworthy is not that the New York Times gave the case suchprominent coverage -- other international newspapers did as well -- butthat several leading Canadian newspapers, including the Vancouver Sun,did not. The question is, why?
With no obligation to establish either directproof of damage against the Muslim complainants or the truth of Steyn'sstatements (which would be a defence in a libel case), the tribunalcould order Maclean's -- as well as other news organizations in thefuture -- to stop disseminating ideas that may be "likely to offend"someone. This is serious stuff. Yet, Jason Gratl, a lawyer for the B.C. CivilLiberties Association, told the New York Times Canadians "don't have aniron-cast stomach for offensive speech . . . and don't subscribe to amarketplace of ideas."
The same seems to go for many Canadian newspapers. The New York Times,by contrast, managed to dispassionately outline the differences betweenfreedom of speech law in the U.S. and in Canada and to quote legalscholars on both sides of the debate. Some believe the U.S. shouldreconsider its high "imminence of violence" hurdle for hate speech.Others, like civil liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate, maintain"scrutiny and debate are more effective ways of combating hate speechthan censorship." I agree with him. And so should the likes of the Vancouver Sun. AsMaclean's lawyer Julian Porter told the B.C. tribunal last week,fostering debate is "what journalism does for liberty."
Silverglatetold the New York Times, meanwhile, that "sending Hitler on a speakingtour would have been a good idea." Perhaps he's right about that, too. Remember what happened when Iranianpresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University last year?As soon as he said there were "no homosexuals in Iran," he became aninstant laughingstock. If he had been muzzled, as various groupswanted, he wouldn't have been exposed to scrutiny. British writer Martin Amis says citizens in western democracies haveallowed public discourse to shrivel to the point where they almostliterally lack a language with which to examine critical challenges tosociety. And to lesser and greater degrees it's happening everywhere.
TakeSaskatoon city council's recent retrogressive bylaw, for example, whichdeems outbursts of both applause and "hissing" -- the equivalent ofspeaking out in a traditional public square -- to be "improperconduct." At universities, the latest way to deny candidates tenure isnot for lack of publications or experience, but for lack of"collegiality" -- i.e.: discrimination based on unorthodox opinions. Last year, my German students did presentations on various currentaffairs topics, including the environment. When I mentioned 30,000scientists had signed a petition claiming -- whether misguidedly or not-- that global warming is probably natural and not a crisis, mystudents told me they had never heard there was "another side." It used to be that exploring all sides of a question -- debate, inother words -- was part of a classical education.
Nowadays, whenpolitical polemicist Christopher Hitchens offers to debate activistMichael Moore, Moore mockingly refuses. And Al Gore bans unscripted questions at An Inconvenient Truth events.Gone, too, are the knock-'em-out debates of the past between the likesof former Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas and Liberal leader RossThatcher -- or the famous Oxford University face-offs between NormanMailer and Germaine Greer, or Gore Vidal and William Buckley. If you allow debate, you may even discover people aren't so terrible.For example, after hearing from a wide cross-section of Quebecers(following the controversial Herouxville "code of life" aimed atimmigrants wanting to live in the community), the committee establishedby Premier Jean Charest found 85 per cent of the statements it heard orreceived were actually "moderate or pluralistic."
To this end, I suggest we dismantle the human rights tribunals and,with the money, send all parties to debate across the country. Applauding and hissing allowed. bronwyneyre@yahoo.ca © The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2008

No method to Aoun's destructiveness
By Michael Young
Daily Star staff
Thursday, June 19, 2008
There is a scene in the film "Apocalypse Now" where two characters, Captain Willard and Colonel Kurtz, are talking. Kurtz rules over a mad, mini-kingdom in the heart of the jungle and the US Army wants him assassinated. That's what Willard has come to do. Kurtz asks: "Are my methods unsound?" Willard responds: "I don't see any method at all, sir."
Much the same thing can be said about Michel Aoun's strategy in the aftermath of Michel Sleiman's election as president last month. That is unless the sum total of Aoun's method is to block the emergence of a new government as revenge for not having been elected himself - in other words to undermine the Doha Accord. And while the general is at it, he seems impatient to undermine the Taif Accord as well, whose death was, not coincidentally, announced a few days ago on Aoun's OTV channel by Wiam Wahhab, one of Syria's megaphones in Lebanon. When he's cornered, Aoun resorts to attacks against Sunni prerogatives to rally the Christians, and it was Wahhab's message the general was channeling on Tuesday when he declared: "It is unacceptable that the executive branch also be granted supervisory authority [over the public administration]; all the inspection agencies are under [Prime Minister Fouad Siniora]."
However, this time the Christians are almost certain not to bite. Aoun's method has been to pick a fight with all those who threaten his standing among his coreligionists. The general fears, quite legitimately, that Sleiman will pick up many of those Christians who voted for Aoun's candidates in 2005. Aoun's impetuous plan, however, may well bring about the very outcome that he is most trying to avert.
By going after Michel Sleiman, but more specifically by trying to curtail his ability to select ministers, Aoun has not only made an enemy of the president, he has done so at a moment when Sleiman is most popular and embodies much-wanted stability in the mind of people. Aoun has also proven to the Christians that he is indifferent to the prerogatives of the president, unless the president happens to be Michel Aoun. In continuing to impede the formation of the government, Aoun is also preventing the implementation of a state project, which was allegedly his project until Sleiman was selected in his place. For many Christians, as well as most Lebanese, this is objectionable. Aoun's reputation will continue to wane if he remains the main obstacle to post-Doha normalization.
When Aoun implied in his weekly press conference that the formation of a new government would not take place until one month before parliamentary elections, you could almost hear the Lebanese groan. Yet the general, to our advantage, rarely hears the sounds of his own ruin.
Then there is the preparation for the parliamentary elections, where Aoun's absence of method has been particularly conspicuous. If Sleiman is Aoun's worst nightmare, if the president turns into a major electoral player next year, then you would assume Aoun has a strategy to guard against this. Traditionally, this situation has led to alliances between Christian leaders who felt collectively vulnerable when facing a strong president. However, Aoun has burned his bridges with potential allies.
By opposing the appointment of Elias Murr as defense minister, for example, Aoun has made his dispute with Michel Murr personal. Since Michel Murr is the kingmaker in the Metn region, this is downright foolish. Murr will ally himself with the Armenians, most probably with Amin Gemayel, and is likely to include Sleiman's choices on his list. But one thing he may not want to do is leave slots open for the Aounists, which means they could be eliminated electorally from Metn.
Similarly, Aoun has no advantage in cutting himself off completely from the Lebanese Forces, who are also wary of Sleiman's influence. But that is precisely what he has done by allowing OTV to recently broadcast a program on the killing of Tony Franjieh, an operation in which Samir Geagea was involved. The aim was transparent: to keep alive the animosity between Geagea and Suleiman Franjieh in the North. However, by so doing, Aoun crossed a red line in his relationship with the Lebanese Forces and now stands accused by Christians of unnecessarily dividing the community by reopening old war files better kept shut.
In all probability Aoun will not be able to again win the large bloc he now has in Parliament. In the Christian heartland of Jbeil, Kisirwan, and Metn, he will at best win a handful of seats. Only in Baabda might Aoun have a decisive advantage, thanks to Hizbullah's electoral weight, but even there it is uncertain how the vast majority of voters, who are Christians, will vote. If Sleiman plays his cards right, if he can position himself as the patron of a state project and grand conciliator, Aoun's amorphous base of support might dissolve as quickly as it materialized in 2005.
Sleiman's best stratagem is to allow Aoun to hang himself. Rather than enter into a collision with Aoun, at least for now, which would mean a collision with Hizbullah and Amal, who are quietly backing Aoun, the president should restate the principles of the Doha Accord, continue in his endeavor to provide a constructive alternative to the vacuum that Aoun offers, and build up his networks in the Christian community. The decision to host an inter-communal dialogue in Baabda was a smart idea, since success is guaranteed in such platitudinous forums. It also bolsters Sleiman's image as a national leader, whereas Aoun is looking pettier by the day.
The real question is what to do with Aoun's parliamentarians. It may be time for Michel Murr and Sleiman to begin breaking apart Aoun's bloc. Murr has considerable sway over most of the Metn parliamentarians, who know they need to be on good terms with him in order to be re-elected. Sleiman has already won over Walid Khoury in Jbeil. In Kisirwan most of the Aoun parliamentarians are unsure about their future, meaning they are more predisposed to advances from the president, particularly if Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir blesses such moves.
Rarely has a politician been as adept at transforming his victories into defeats as Michel Aoun. Rarely has a man in a position of responsibility been as incompetent in reading the mood around him. The problem with Aoun's political self-immolation is that it is taking too much of everyone's time. The general is drifting off into a sea of inconsequence from where, very soon, most people may hope he never returns.
***Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.

Beirut reiterates rejection of bilateral talks over Shebaa
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Lebanese government on Wednesday rejected Israel's call for direct peace negotiations.
"Lebanon's position is clear to all and there is no place for bilateral negotiations between Lebanon and Israel," Premier Fouad Siniora's media office said in a statement late Wednesday. The statement stressed that Lebanese territories occupied by the Jewish state are subject to "UN resolutions that do not require any negotiations." The statement released by Siniora's press office also said that "Lebanon did not receive any message from any side through US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice." "However," it added, "the Lebanese government has spared no effort nor missed any opportunity for over three years to ask friendly states and the UN to pressure Israel into withdrawing from the Shebaa Farms.""There is no room for bilateral negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, and Lebanon's declared stand, reiterated last week, is commitment to the Arab peace initiative that calls for a comprehensive and just peace," the statement stressed. "Israel is obliged to withdraw from Lebanese territories ... in line with UN Security Council resolutions 425 and 1701," the statement added.
Israel on Wednesday called for direct peace talks with Lebanon, saying it was ready to discuss all contentious issues.
"We favor direct, bilateral negotiations in which all issues of dispute are up for discussion," Premier Ehud Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, told AFP.
The Lebanese government rejected the suggestion last week after Olmert had hinted that Israel would be interested in direct talks with Beirut.
On Monday, Rice made a surprise visit to Beirut where she called for United Nations action on the occupied Shebaa Farms, an area Israel captured from Syria in 1967, and which Lebanon claims as its own.
A UN resolution that ended Israel's devastating 34-day war against Lebanon in 2006 called for the UN secretary general to propose a border demarcation for the Shebaa Farms. In 1982, Israel launched a full-scale invasion of Lebanon, reaming until pulling out from most of the South in May 2000.
"Israel wants peace with Lebanon," Regev said in a statement that came amid a flurry of negotiations in the Middle East.
A truce in and around the Gaza Strip is due to come into effect on Thursday after months of Egyptian mediation between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which controls the territory. Israel also resumed peace talks with Syria - indirect negotiations being mediated by Turkey - last month after an eight-year freeze. - AFP, with The Daily Star

All and sundry flay Aoun for bid to curb premier's powers
Daily Star staff
Thursday, June 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Sunni leaders from across the political spectrum slammed Christian opposition leader MP Michel Aoun for demanding that the authorities of the premier be amended. Former Prime Minister Omar Karami, a staunch opposition supporter, criticized Aoun for seeking to transform the prime minister into "a junior aide."
Karami made the remark during a news conference on Wednesday to express opposition to a call that Aoun made one day earlier to amend the premier's powers.
He said Aoun's call aims at "stripping the prime minister of all the powers gained by the Taif Accord." "This is totally unacceptable," Karami added.
The post of prime minister is assigned to a Sunni figure according to Lebanon's power-sharing system. Following a meeting Tuesday of the Reform and Change parliamentary bloc which he heads, Aoun demanded constitutional amendments curbing Premier Fouad Siniora's powers.
"Siniora has started drifting from the norms of forming a cabinet," Aoun told a news conference held at his residence in Rabiyeh on Tuesday.
"He is treating the opposition as if it were one [bloc] and not a group of blocs," Aoun said. "He has to respect that.""I insist and I tell the prime minister that his powers should be amended," Aoun added. "He has no right to hold both executive and monitoring powers at the same time," Aoun said.
Former Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss on Wednesday also slammed Aoun's proposal, saying it went against "the spirit of unity and consensus."
"We are surprised that such matters are brought up at a time of massive difficulties," Hoss said in a statement. Echoing Hoss' comments, former Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed disappointment at Aoun's comments. "I was surprised General Aoun's demands for an amendment of the powers of the prime minister and his request that the government amend these powers," he said in a statement.
The former premier added that the request contradicted the constitution, which stipulated that the prime minister was responsible for monitoring the work of various departments and public institutions, coordinating ministerial tasks and providing general guidance. In response to the wave of criticism against him, Aoun told OTV television station late on Wednesday that his comments were "misinterpreted.""I spoke about reform rather than amendment," he said. "Unfortunately any logical proposal is met with backward and angry responses."Meanwhile, other political figures including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, also com mented on Aoun's proposal. Following a meeting with President Michel Sleiman on Wednesday, Berri said Aoun's call for amending the premier's powers was "currently not subject to discussion."Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea cautioned that calls by Aoun to amend the prime minister's powers would lead to further calls by other factions to amend the Parliament speaker's powers and this would be tantamount to a revision of the whole Constitution.
Also, Future Movement MP Mohammed Hajjar lashed out at Aoun, describing the latter's proposal as "unilateral and unconstitutional ... While Aoun should be working on preserving national unity in such difficult times, he is instead working on stirring unnecessary rifts among the Lebanese." - The Daily Star

What Iraq Needs Next
By Amir Taheri
New York Post | Thursday, June 19, 2008
THE elections that gave legitimacy to the new system in Iraq, thus helping bring about the tipping point against the insurgency, are starting to fade in Iraqi memories.
In a democracy, mandates need to be renewed - often faster than the governing elite would like. The Iraqi parliament and government are fast approaching their sell-by date. (Many believe they've passed it.)
This shouldn't be taken as a criticism of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom history is likely to remember as a courageous leader in a difficult time. Successful or not, though, the incumbents need to be put to the test of popular will again - and soon.
There are several reasons:
* The last two elections were, in fact, census operations on a national scale. They were designed to reveal the relative strengths of the ethnic and religious communities that make up Iraq.
A system of voting for lists of candidates was inevitable in a country that had never had free elections and had lived under brutal dictatorship since 1958. People couldn't know individual candidates, for Saddam Hussein hadn't allowed anyone to acquire a political profile.
But now, political parties of all description - communist, nationalist, liberal, conservative, Islamist and socialist - have had five years in which to make themselves known and build a support base.
In Iraq today, it's possible to vote for party programs rather than bloc lists of ethnic and/or religious identity.
* The candidate lists fielded last time included a disproportionate number of returning exiles. That, too, was inevitable, for exiles had had more chances to make a name. Now a new generation of politicians - homegrown, younger and closer to the people - is available and keen to play a bigger role.
* The system of proportional representation used in the previous elections is no longer suitable. What Iraq needs is a new system under which voters can have a direct relationship with their representatives. This means a system of single- or multi-member constituencies.
Under proportional representation, party bosses decide who'll be a candidate. This encourages loyalty to the party, rather than country. The system, which excludes non-party independents, is even bad for parties because it helps promote "yes men" rather than those who favor debate and dissent.
* New elections are needed to cut out some of the deadwood in the political elite.
This elite includes some truly embarrassing figures. There are members of parliament who hardly attended a session, content to pocket the fat salary, ride in the bulletproof limo and secure lucrative posts for nephews. Some spend more time in London than Baghdad.
Since Iraq is preparing for municipal elections, it could broaden the exercise by including a general election for a new parliament. The ideal time would be at the end of this year or in the first week of January, while Bush is still in office and US commitment beyond question.
Even if John McCain succeeds Bush, Congress will likely be dominated by Democrats, a party whose current engine is the anti-war network dedicated to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in Iraq.
With a new parliament and government in place in Baghdad, backed by a new and stronger popular mandate, the US party of defeat would find it harder to impose its weird obsession on the new president in Washington.