LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 15/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 10,31-42. The Jews again picked up rocks to stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize (and understand) that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." (Then) they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power. He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him and said, "John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true."And many there began to believe in him.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
The fight for Lebanon's freedom.By Farid Ghadry and Sami El-Khoury 14/03/08
Lebanon: Pregnant with incredible danger.By CLAUDE SALHANI /14/03/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 14/08
Lebanon Could Boycott Damascus Summit-Naharnet
Hariri Tribunal … Soon to be a Reality-Naharnet
Aoun: March 14 Turned Lebanon into 'Joined-Stock Company'-Naharnet
Ban Expresses Regret over Lebanon Deadlock, says U.N.-OIC 'Stand Side by Side'-Naharnet
Jumblat for Summit Boycott, Warns from 'Persian Empire' Threats-Naharnet
Saudi FM Urges Syria for Effective Role in Solving Lebanese Crisis-Naharnet
U.S. Urges Arabs to Mull Attending Syria Summit-Naharnet
Ahmadinejad: U.S. Warships Off Lebanon Sign of Weakness-Naharnet
Human Rights Roll Call-Wall Street Journal
Syrian silence on Mughniyeh fazes J'lem-Jerusalem Post
Ahmadinejad: US Warships Off Lebanon Sign of Weakness-Naharnet
Lebanon's shattered dream-Globe and Mail
Hezbollah becoming more visible in West Bank after assassination ...International Herald Tribune
Prosecution extends detention of former MP Jamal-Arab Times
Kuwait releases former lawmaker on bail after eulogy of slained terrorist Mughnyieh-International Herald Tribune
Arch terrorist Imad Mughniyeh lauded in PA-International Analyst Network
Iran Supplying Hezbollah With Long-Range Missiles-theTrumpet.com
United Nations fail to protect civilians-Sun-Sentinel.com
Syria expands "iron censorship" over Internet-Reuters
On the Israeli War against Lebanon-Middle East Online
Salameh predicts strong demand for Lebanese Eurobonds-Daily Star
Berri says poll law is last hurdle to end crisis-Daily Star
Syria 'ready for warmer relations when Lebanon is-Daily Star
Mottaki: Solution to crisis is in Lebanese hands-Daily Star
Syrians officially invite Siniora to Arab League summit in Damascus-Daily Star
March 14 hopes to establish platform-Daily Star
Fadlallah: US has Security Council under its thumb-Daily Star
Japanese wrap up renovation of Roman tombs-Daily Star
Change and Reform MP says unity key to survival-Daily Star
National Bloc rejects participation in Arab summit-Daily Star
Lecturer sees high-tech way to save planet-Daily Star
Crackdown on Shiites stirs sectarian tensions in Kuwait-AFP
Iranians head to polls in muted parliamentary elections-AFP
Jordanian MPs want ties to Denmark cut off-AFP
Rice admits mistakes in Iraq reconstruction-AFP
Israel and the Arabs Bracing for the big one-Economist
Muslim Leaders Call for End to Middle East Conflicts Including Lebanon-Naharnet

Hariri Tribunal … Soon to be a Reality
Naharnet/The Special Tribunal for Lebanon to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and related crimes will soon be a reality.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has on Thursday reportedly informed the U.N. Security Council that preparations are complete for the start of trials.
"The stage has begun for launching" of trials, Ban said in a report to the Security Council. That was an acknowledgement that all decisive landmarks in the process of making the Special Tribunal a reality have been achieved. They include the selection of the judges, the appointment of the Prosecutor, the finalization of a headquarters agreement with the Government of the Netherlands enabling the tribunal to be based in that country, and agreement on a building near The Hague to house the tribunal. The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, which has obtained a copy of the report, said Friday that Ban told the Security Council that judges were "soon" expected to carry out private contacts to facilitate drafting of procedural laws. He said the other judges will resume work "on a date I will set after consulting with the tribunal president." U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad said last week that the international tribunal was ready to launch trials.
"The U.N. has everything it needs for the first year to activate the tribunal," Khalilzad said. Al Hayat said that Ban noted to the importance of "appropriate security measures" undertaken to safeguard the tribunal's staff. He said the general secretariat and the U.N. commission investigating Hariri's killing which is headed by Daniel Bellemare as well as experts from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia were working hand-in-hand to "develop a strategy to protect witnesses." Beirut, 14 Mar 08, 08:33

Aoun: March 14 Turned Lebanon into 'Joined-Stock Company'
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun has accused the pro-government majority March 14 coalition of turning Lebanon into a "joined-stock company.""Foreign alliances and personal interests, rather than interest in the people, is what join leaders of March 14 Forces," Aoun on Thursday told Al Manar television, mouthpiece of Hizbullah. "They have no common principles or common values … Any opportunistic cannot succeed in political group work," Aoun said.
"We feel that what we believed we had accomplished was imaginary, since neither sovereignty nor freedom or independence have been restored," Aoun said.
Aoun also accused the ruling majority of "shifting the tutelage (over Lebanon) from Anjar to Aukar." Beirut, 14 Mar 08, 10:42

Lebanon Could Boycott Damascus Summit
Naharnet/Lebanon could turn down Syria's invitation for an upcoming Arab Summit after a visit by Syria's Assistant Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous was apparently timed to avoid contact with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, who is attending an Islamic summit in Dakar. The daily An Nahar said Friday that the "ambiguous invitation" will likely reinforce the government's inclination to boycott the summit scheduled in Damascus March 28-29. The invitation came during a meeting on Thursday between Arnous and resigned opposition Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh. Arnous, the first Syrian official to visit Lebanon in 18 months, did not speak to reporters. A statement released by Syria's foreign ministry in Damascus, however, quoted him as saying that "because of the constitutional vacuum in the presidential post in Lebanon, Syria will welcome whoever Lebanon chooses to represent it in the summit." It was not clear whether Saniora would attend the summit, which Saudi Arabia and Egypt have earlier threatened to boycott but now they say they will take part, although it is not clear if their heads of state will attend.
Beirut, 14 Mar 08, 10:21

Ban Expresses Regret over Lebanon Deadlock, says U.N.-OIC 'Stand Side by Side'
Naharnet/Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) "stand side by side" in forcefully rejecting any linkages between terrorism and Islam and in confronting a raft of other issues. Ban also Thursday expressed his regret that regional interests and domestic Lebanese dynamics have forestalled any breakthrough in electing a new president. "You have spoken up against those who seek to justify violence in the name of religion," Ban told the OIC summit in Dakar, Senegal. "Your efforts reinforce the U.N.'s own steps to promote tolerance and understanding through the Alliance of Civilizations initiative, and I look forward to increasing U.N.-OIC collaboration in this area," he added.
He described as "natural allies" the U.N. and the OIC, which represents one-fifth of the world's population.
Ban also called for sustained cooperation on Middle East conflicts, Darfur, Somalia, extreme poverty and other pressing issues.
He warned them that the situation in the Middle East remains precarious, nowhere more so than in the Gaza Strip, and urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority to take urgent measures to ease the suffering in Gaza and give hope to its people. Speaking on Darfur, Ban emphasized that the deployment of the UN/AU Mission there, known as UNAMID, is no substitute for a political process, adding: "That remains the key to lasting peace in the region."
He noted that the OIC was particularly well-placed to promote peace within and between Chad and Sudan in combination with U.N. efforts to end suffering in the region. A mini-summit on that topic to be hosted by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade had been planned for Thursday evening in Dakar, to bring together President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and President Idriss Deby of Chad. However, that event did not occur as scheduled and Ban is consulting on the matter with the Senegalese, Sudanese and Chadian Presidents. Ban on Thursday held a series of meetings with heads of state and government on a range of issues, from the Middle East to Iraq, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Sudan and Chad. Beirut, 14 Mar 08, 08:02

Hizbullah More Visible in West Bank after Mughniyeh's Killing
Naharnet/"Hizbullah is coming," mourners chanted at the funeral of a Palestinian militant killed by Israel, his body wrapped in the flag of the Lebanese Shiite group.
A Hizbullah flag, along with Hamas banners, also adorned the home of a Palestinian man who was killed after gunning down eight Israeli students at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem last week. A shadowy group Palestinian security officials say is a front for Hizbullah claimed responsibility for the rampage.
Hizbullah has long operated behind the scenes in the Palestinian territories, funneling millions of dollars to militant groups for attacks against Israel, according to Israeli and Palestinian security officials. Hizbullah's influence has become increasingly visible in the West Bank since last month's assassination of its military chief, Imad Mughniyeh, in an explosion in Syria that Hizbullah has blamed on Israel. It remains unclear whether more Palestinian militants are simply taking their cue from Hizbullah, or whether the Lebanese group is getting more directly involved in violence in the Palestinian territories, in part to make good on its threat to avenge Mughniyeh. Hizbullah has been sending large amounts of money to Palestinian militants in the West Bank since 2000.
Israel is concerned that Hizbullah, with Iranian help, is trying to carry out a "quality attack" with many casualties that could trigger harsh Israeli retaliation and perhaps another Israel-Hizbullah war, the Israeli daily Maariv on Thursday quoted Israeli security officials as saying. Israel and Hizbullah fought a destructive but inconclusive monthlong war in 2006. Israel has not said whether it was behind the car bomb that killed Mughniyeh. But since his death, Hizbullah's leaders have signaled they'll carry out revenge attacks in Israel itself, not just against Israeli targets abroad, said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Hizbullah specialist in Lebanon.
"Hizbullah's leaders made it clear that they are in a new stage of their war with Israel, and definitely the tools will be changed in this new phase," she said.
However, the extent of Hizbullah's involvement remains murky.
A group calling itself "Galilee Freedom Battalions -- the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza" has claimed responsibility for last week's shooting attack in Jerusalem. Maj. Gen. Raji al-Nijmi, a senior Palestinian security official, said he believes the group is a Hizbullah front, but said he has no hard evidence that it carried out the attack. "This name (of the group) is a lie, it's just Hizbullah playing politics," al-Nijmi said.
The moderate Abbas government in the West Bank is trying to limit Hizbullah's influence, while the Lebanese group has found an eager ally in the Islamic militant Hamas, which controls Gaza.
Israeli and Palestinian officials have said they suspect possible involvement of both Hizbullah and Hamas in the Jerusalem shooting. The assailant, a 25-year-old Palestinian resident of Jerusalem, was killed by an off-duty Israeli soldier at the scene of the attack. A Hizbullah flag was briefly raised at his mourning house, along with Hamas banners.
On Thursday, mourners marching in a funeral procession for four Palestinian militants killed the day before by Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Bethlehem chanted, "Hizbullah is coming." The bodies of local Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed Shehadeh and another militant were wrapped in Hizbullah flags.
"Mohammed was a big fan of Hizbullah's way of fighting against the Israeli occupation," said the slain man's cousin, Khalil. He said Shehadeh converted from Sunni to Shiite Islam -- the denomination of Hizbullah supporters -- in a show of support.
Hizbullah enjoys widespread popularity in the Palestinian territories because of its actions against Israel, including a war that pushed Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in May 2000. Hizbullah's star rose further after fighting Israel's mighty army to a draw in the summer of 2006.
After the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, Hizbullah began funneling millions of dollars to Palestinian militants in the West Bank to help finance attacks against Israel, according to Israeli and Palestinian security officials as well as the militants themselves.
Hizbullah worked directly with leaders of Islamic Jihad, who were based in Damascus, but also recruited gunmen from moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, the security officials and militants said.
Operatives of Fatah's violent offshoot, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, said Hizbullah approached them from the first months of the uprising and offered help.
One Al Aqsa leader in the West Bank city of Nablus said privately that his group used to receive $8,000 (-5,100) a month to buy weapons and bullets.
Hizbullah halted the payments after most Al Aqsa men accepted an amnesty offer by Israel, said another local Al Aqsa leader, Mahdi Abu Ghazaleh.
However, Israel recently complained to Palestinian security officials that some Al Aqsa activists are still in contact with Hizbullah, said al-Nijmi, the Palestinian security officer. Israeli intelligence is listening to the phone calls between Hizbullah and the Al Aqsa supporters, al-Nijmi said, adding that Hizbullah has started placing the calls from outside Lebanon to avoid some of the monitoring. Israeli analyst Efraim Inbar said he believes Hizbullah's influence in the Palestinian territories is on the rise, but it's difficult to quantify it. Inbar said Israel should be more concerned about Hizbullah's role in Gaza. "We already see Hizbullah methods in Gaza. We know that some Palestinians have undergone training in Hizbullah camps," he said.(AP) Beirut, 14 Mar 08, 07:31

Lebanon: Pregnant with incredible danger
By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times)Published: March 13, 2008
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. There "now appears to be two Lebanons: a Lebanon of the March 14 group and a Lebanon of the March 8 group," a scholar noted Tuesday at Georgetown University: "Both are very different and we wonder which one is the real Lebanon."
when the already extended mandate of Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud expired, the former president wished his staff at the presidential palace in Baabda good luck and goodbye, got into his armor-plated limousine and drove off into the night. Four months later and 16 attempts at staging elections to fill the vacant presidency, Baabda Palace remains unoccupied – and Lebanon remains without a president.
To say the situation is precarious would be an understatement. Yet again it seems as though the Lebanese political parties have developed collective amnesia, brushing aside recent history. Electing to forget bitter lessons of a devastating civil war rather than electing a president, Lebanon's rival political and religious parties have started to rearm.
This is "a moment that is pregnant with incredible danger," said Augustus Richard Norton, a faculty member of both international relations and anthropology at Boston University during a discussion Tuesday night at Georgetown University addressing the current political impasse affecting Lebanon.
Norton's experience in the Middle East spans over nearly three decades. His fears of the conflict spreading were shared by two other scholars with similar knowledge of the area.
"Things are falling apart. The Lebanese system has lost – that is if it really had it – a rudder or steering wheel," said Michael C. Hudson, Saif Ghobash professor of Arab studies and international relations at Georgetown, as well as the author of numerous books on the Middle East.
Hudson sees "new axes of conflict" emerging in what he calls "the post-Taif period," referring to the city in Saudi Arabia where the terms putting an end to the 1975-1990 civil war were negotiated amid attempts to redistribute Lebanon's political cards to fall more in line with the country's changing demographics.In grossly oversimplified terms, the 15-year conflict had pitted principally the country's Muslims, backed by the Palestinians, who at that time were still based in Lebanon, against the Christian militias. "Now, the main axis appears to be Sunnis versus Shiites, rather than Muslims versus Christians," said Hudson.
The political cleavage amplified since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, as Hudson pointed out, gives the impression that there "now appears to be two Lebanons: a Lebanon of the March 14 group and a Lebanon of the March 8 group."For those not familiar with the intricacies of Lebanese politics, the March 14 Movement comprises the sitting government headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who along with Saad Hariri, the son of the assassinated former prime minister, is the political heir of the murdered Lebanese politician; the Christian Lebanese Forces headed by Samir Geagea – who is currently in Washington at the invitation of the George W. Bush administration, and is expected to meet with the U.S. president this week; and Walid Jumblatt, who commands the loyalty of the majority of the country's Druze community.
On the other side of the political barricades is primarily the Shiite Hezbollah organization, backed by Iran and Syria; the less influential Druze rivals of the Jumblatt clan, and the followers of former Lebanese Army Commander General Michel Aoun. "Both are very different and we wonder which one is the real Lebanon," pondered Hudson.But one of the virtues of the Lebanese has always been their ability to look at the bright side of very negative situations.
The divide in the Lebanese political landscape, explained Bassam Haddad, "clearly is not purely sectarian and definitely not purely religious." For Haddad, the director of the Middle East studies program at George Mason University and a visiting professor at Georgetown University, for the most part the conflict is not sectarian, "and so far this is one positive development in Lebanon."If the prior civil war had divided the country along religious groups – again this is over-simplification – the current crisis is seen more as the flexing of political- and military-muscle between the United States and France on one side with Syria and Iran on the other. As Haddad elucidated, "it is difficult to talk about Lebanon without involving Syria."
Indeed, both sides have taken to accusing each other of placing the interests of foreign powers ahead of Lebanon's own national interest. The March 14 Movement has been branded as being too pro-American, while the March 8 Alliance on the other hand, is accused of fighting Damascus and Tehran's battles.
As Ghassan Tueni, a prominent Lebanese journalist and publisher of the country's major newspaper, noted of a previous conflict: "Lebanon is always the proxy battleground for forces from the outside." So what comes next in the Lebanon political impasse? Probably more of the same: more paralysis, more waiting for miracle solutions and more blaming "the other side." This situation is guaranteed to continue until the country's political leaders attain greater political maturity and begin to place Lebanon's interests first.

US Human Rights Report Affirms Targeting of Iraq's Assyrians
GMT 3-13-2008 21:7:20
Assyrian International News Agency
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Washington -- The US Department of State's (DoS) 2007 International Human Rights Report verifies the ethno-religious targeting of Iraq's Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs and other minorities.
Ethnic-based targeting from Kurdish authorities was acknowledged. The report states that
During the year discrimination against ethnic minorities was a problem. There were numerous reports of Kurdish authorities discriminating against minorities in the North, including Turkmen, Arabs, and Christians. According to these reports, authorities denied services to some villages, arrested minorities without due process and took them to undisclosed locations for detention, and pressured minority schools to teach in the Kurdish language.
During the year there were allegations that the KRG continued to engage in discriminatory behavior against religious minorities. Members of these groups living in areas north of Mosul, such as Yazidis and Christians, asserted that the KRG encroached on their property and illegally built Kurdish settlements on the confiscated land.Religiously-motivated persecution was also recognized, with the report stating that The constitution proclaims Islam as the official religion of the state. While providing for full religious rights for all individuals "such as Christians, Yazidis, and Mandean Sabeans," the constitution also stipulates that no law may be enacted that contradicts the established provisions of Islam. While the government generally respected the right of individuals to worship according to thought, conscience, and belief, private conservative and radical Islamic elements continued to exert tremendous pressure on other groups to conform to extremist interpretations of Islam's precepts. […] Members of the Christian community indicated that they were targeted throughout the year, particularly by Sunni-affiliated terrorists.
The US Government continues to perpetuate a myth that there is equality in persecution in today's Iraq. This obscures the deliberate targeting of Iraq's Christian Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs. The Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project (ISDP) is working constantly to break down this myth and for the US Government to acknowledge that particular targeting of Iraq's defenseless minorities is very real and requires a focused policy to prevent their annihilation.
ISDP Project Director Michael Youash stated, "This report has gone further than past reports in identifying the types of attacks from Islamists and insurgents on the one hand, and authoritarian pressures by Kurdish authorities on the other. ISDP will continue to communicate all forms of attacks and human rights violations against defenseless minorities to relevant arms of the US Government. We trust that ISDP's work and that of countless activists and human rights groups is bearing fruit and congratulate everyone working on these issues."
The report is far from perfect, however. It diminishes the responsibility of Iraqi authorities with respect to the targeting of Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac Christians. Additionally, it identifies religious targeting within a broader trend of communal violence including Iraq's Shi'a and Sunni Arabs. "This is unacceptable. Christian ChaldoAssyrians have no militia, no deterrent capacity, and no control of political or geographic territory capable of posing a threat to others. The attacks on this community are purely malicious and it is sad that such targeting is associated with a broader trend, obscuring the ethno-religious cleansing of this indigenous people." said Youash.
ISDP's human rights and governance work (developed with a network of activists and representatives in Iraq) will continue, and increase the number and quality of human rights reports reaching Washington's policy-makers. The ultimate goal is for the US Government to recognize the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people's crisis and form a policy to reverse the wounds they and other minorities have suffered since the liberation of Iraq.
Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project
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AUANEWSWATCH
From The Times
March 14, 2008
Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho: The Times obituary
Courageous leader of the beleaguered Chaldean Catholics in northern Iraq who was kidnapped and murdered
Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho
Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho was a courageous leader of the Chaldean Catholic community in northern Iraq.
In February 2008, after he led the Stations of the Cross at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Mosul, gunmen ambushed his car, snatching him and killing his driver and two companions.
Rahho was born in 1942, a year after the second British invasion of Iraq. He spent nearly all his life in Mosul, a city with one of the largest and oldest Christian populations in Iraq. In 1954 he entered St Peter’s junior seminary, Baghdad, and then, at 18, graduated to the major seminary. He was ordained a priest on June 10, 1965 and, after a brief spell in Baghdad, appointed to St Isaiah’s church, Mosul.
After gaining a licence in pastoral theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas, Rome, Rahho returned to Mosul in 1977. He served as a priest in the parishes of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St Paul’s.
He built the church of the Sacred Heart in Telkif, a new district of Mosul, and the bishop's residence. He also opened an orphanage for handicapped children. He was ordained Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul on February 16, 2001, giving him responsibility for around 20,000 Catholics in ten parishes — although it is an Eastern-rite denomination, the Chaldean Catholic Church is in full communion with the Vatican.
In the chaos after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 Christians found themselves targeted by Islamic terrorists, and Rahho worked closely with Iraq’s other Church leaders. In 2003, after the death of Pope John Paul II, Armenian Orthodox, Assyrian and Syrian Orthodox bishops joined him for a Mass at St George’s monastery.He also forged good relations with Muslims. After his residence was bombed in July 2004 an imam offered him accommodation at a mosque complex.
However, Rahho did express concern about moves to incorporate sharia into the new Iraqi constitution: “We are in a predominantly Muslim country,” he said. “We are not concerned that Islam is the state religion, but being a basic source of legislation contradicts the principles of democracy and freedom, and, above all, the other possible sources are not mentioned.”
Despite the attacks on Christians, Rahho strove to lead his flock by example. In 2005 he organised a series of events in Mosul to celebrate the Year of the Eucharist. That same year, his colleague, the Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Basile Georges Casmoussa, was abducted at gunpoint outside his church only to be released 24 hours later unharmed. Church officials denied a ransom had been paid.
With rising violence in Mosul, Rahho talked about Christians in the city facing stark choices. Either they fled, converted to Islam, paid the jizya (a tax imposed on non-Muslims) or risked being killed. One in three Christians had been forced out of the city, he claimed.
In June 2007 he celebrated a requiem Mass in St Addai’s church, Karamless, for Father Ragheed Aziz Ganni and three sub-deacons, who were shot dead by terrorists after Sunday Mass at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. Before opening fire, the gunmen had demanded they convert to Islam.
In that year Rahho went with the Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel Delly III to Rome, where Pope Benedict XVI made him a cardinal. While in Rome, he revealed to the Chaldean official representative to the Vatican that he had recently been threatened by gunmen in the street.
In an interview with Asia News shortly before he was kidnapped, Rahho said, “We, Christians of Mesopotamia, are used to religious persecution and pressures by those in power. After Constantine, persecution ended only for Western Christians, whereas in the East threats continued. Even today we continue to be a Church of martyrs.” Archbishop Paul Rahho, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church in northern Iraq, was born on November 20, 1942. He was found dead on March 13, 2008, aged 67

The fight for Lebanon's freedom
By Farid Ghadry and Sami El-Khoury
March 14, 2008
Today, Lebanon begins the third year after a historic demonstration mourning the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the populist former prime minister who has been credited with rebuilding Lebanon after 15 years of civil war. The Lebanese people have yet to see justice come to those responsible for his killing three years after more than one million Lebanese (that is one-third the country's population) took to the streets of Beirut to protest his cold-blooded murder.
The peace march on March 14, 2005, dubbed the Cedar Revolution, gave birth to the "March 14" group, an amalgamation of all the political organizations opposed to Syria's presence on Lebanese soil and who hold the majority of seats in the parliament. Since that momentous date, many Lebanese and Syrians alike believe that "March 14" has virtually squandered almost all the opportunities afforded to them by the international community. In fact, four different U.N. resolutions later, U.S. support of the Lebanese army, and a war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah that clipped Hezbollah's wings, the group has yet to take advantage of these opportunities through bold actions.
After the expected but sudden departure from Baabda of Lebanese turncoat President Emile Lahoud, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice publicly encouraged "March 14" to elect a new Lebanese president because the group held majority seats in the parliament; one that can meet anywhere since its speaker, Nabih Berri, another Syrian operative, refused to convene it. The leadership of "March 14," to the dismay of many Lebanese Americans, who have worked hard for U.S. help, refused to exercise its constitutional right to ignore Hezbollah and Syria and elect a new president for Lebanon.
"March 14," from the start, took on a conciliatory tone with Hezbollah, yielding to many of its demands under the auspices of consensus-building and avoiding confrontation. That was by far their biggest blunder. With the exception of Samir Geagea, the vocal Christian leader, the organization has been unable to develop a cohesive strategy against Hezbollah terror. As an example, some in the leadership excluded other potent anti-Hezbollah players from their inner circle, which relieved them of greater options. One such Lebanese politician is Ahmad al-Assaad, a maverick Shi'ite with a notable history in Lebanese politics who was, and still is, willing to play spoiler to Hezbollah's grand schemes. Mr. Assaad visited Washington lately and his message was powerful enough to get the attention of many in the Bush administration.
But unlike Mr. Assaad's message of logic, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who also visited Washington several times in the past year, could not resist the occasion to shore up privately and publicly the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (SMB) and the former vice president of Syria, Abdul Halim Khaddam, a much-disliked figure inside Syria, at the behest of a scheme concocted in Saudi Arabia by Bandar Bin Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador to the United States. For those who are privy to Syrian President Bashar Assad's own spin in Washington know well that he projects the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood as a scarecrow by telling Western policy-makers that "If not me, it will be the SMB, Syria's Hamas." For Mr. Jumblatt not to be aware of Mr. Assad's strategy in Washington is inexcusable, and for him to support a movement that is not only unacceptable in Syria and unwelcome in Washington but also promotes Mr. Assad's own agenda is downright irresponsible.
During his last address at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Mr. Jumblatt finally got it right and refrained from his overt support of the hard-core Islamists by calling for the United States to back the "credible opposition," which many have come to interpret, and rightly so, as support for the Damascus Declaration opposition inside Syria. All is not lost, but unless "March 14" gets serious about Hezbollah by openly confronting the terrorist organization through such bold steps as striking a separate peace with Israel before Mr. Assad does at the expense of Lebanon, the movement will continue to struggle against an enemy that is far more effective because of its terror-laden tactics.
The United States has sent plenty of signals lately to the group that it is up to them to control their destiny. Should the organization fail to take the necessary steps to protect Lebanon from Hezbollah, eventually, even the United States may simply just abandon the group for its lack of resolve in favor of other rising Lebanese politicians with marketability and credibility such as Ahmad al-Assaad.
**Farid Ghadry is president of the Reform Party of Syria. Sami El-Khoury, who served as consul to the Lebanese Embassy in Ecuador, is president of the World Maronite Union.

Is the Bush Administration Switching Horses in Lebanon?
http://www.counterpunch.org/lamb03142008.html
By FRANKLIN LAMB -Beirut -
March 14, 2008
Barack v. Hillary isn't the only Presidential election game in Washington these days. There is also the Samir v. Walid v. Michel (as in Geagea, Jumblatt and Suleiman) campaign underway as each seek through direct contact and surrogates, the US imprimatur in their quests to lead Lebanon.
This week it appears that Walid's support is dropping faster than Hilary's and Suleiman may end up like Fred Thompson ("failed to live up to expectations and not enough fire in the belly for the job") and Geagea is skyrocketing faster than Barack did in February.
How so?
Despite months of heaping praises on the head of the Lebanese Army, General Michel Suleiman, the Bush Administration has pretty much decided to dump the general, for reasons noted below by US Congressional sources.
Following successful visits by Druze leader Walid Jumblatt over the winter, the Bush administration is currently hosting and vetting long-shot candidate Dr. Samir Farid Geagea. He is the leader of the Lebanese Forces (the successor to Bashir Gemayel's Kateib Phalange Militia founded by warlord Pierre Gemayel following his Berlin 'fascist epiphany' and declaration that "Lebanon needs some order like in Germany." Robert Fisk instructs us that Pierre was never really the same when he returned to Beirut following Hitler's showcase 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Despite Geagea's public image problem he is looking more promising these days (a photo showing him with his black piercing eyes and moustache with Sharon's man during the Sabra-Shatila massacre, Elie Hobeika—a very evil looking duo if ever there was one—more realistic one imagines than DreamWorks studio could create, so scary in fact that during Halloween in Lebanon one can find this particularly haunting photo on certain Palestinian Camp utility poles to scare young children).
Why Geagea's rise and the Jumblatt and Suleiman slippage?
The Current Handicap:
I. General and Head of the Lebanese Armed Forces, Michel Suleiman.
David Welch, who met with Geagea on March 12, and other administration officials, have reportedly given up on Lebanese Army Chief Michel Suleiman, not due so much to the now sixteeenth postponement of his presidential election but because Suleiman is becoming 'shop worn' plus an increasing 'buyers remorse'.
The Welch Club (a number of US neocons, Cheney, Saudi Arabia, Jordan) has lost confidence in him, according to Hill sources, and they no longer trust the general to do their bidding. Suleiman has remained dignified and has tried to walk a tight rope above 'the situation' in Lebanon including a pool of very hungry political crocodiles, as best he could. The general has respectfully met plebeians and patriarchs and sultans and salafists and has for months listened attentively and politely to the concerns of each while pledging "to put Lebanon first". That oft-heard statement is susceptible to various unsettling interpretations in Lebanon and has given pause to more than one faction. "He's too comfortable with Hezbollah and Syria", is what congressional staff members on no fewer than 11 congressional committees and subcommittees dealing with foreign policy, the Middle East, Appropriations, Armed services and Intelligence are being told as part of the 'talking points' flowing in and out of congressional offices. Many in Congress think there will be no president of Lebanon until next year at the earliest -- ten months away. Suleiman, some think, may decide to remain with his army where life is more stable.
II. Walid Jumblatt (Progressive Socialist Party—actually its neither progressive nor socialist and more a fraternity/tribe than a political party).
"Walid is over-qualified for the job", some in Washington say as they prepare to renege on earlier pledges to him. Think Georgia Congressman John Lewis' "I am 1000 per cent for Hilary"---before he dumped her for Obama a couple of week ago).
Walid could maybe overcome the problem that his IQ is said to be 'off the charts', which itself makes Washington nervous, but he has other more serious problems.
One significant legal barrier for Jumblatt is the fact that the president of Lebanon currently must be a Maronite Christian—but given the right circumstances the 'National Pact' could theoretically be changed as the Lebanese Constitution Article 45 must be in order to allow General Suleiman to be chosen President since it requires a the two-year period out of the Army for the general before he could be president. But that feat would not be easy.
Walid's fatal misstep for serious consideration to lead Lebanon was his comment last week that the Jerusalem attack on the Jewish Religious Institution, which killed 8 students, was a predictable reaction to the Israeli terrorism in Gaza. In Washington that is roughly the equivalent of "Client #9" doing Miss Kristen. That verbal act by Jumblatt sunk him and the previously admiring Israel lobby dropped him like a bad habit.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is now aiding the Geagea effort while Walid, long a favorite at the Bush White House especially with Cheney, has been losing ground faster than when 'front runner' Rudy Giuliani imploded.
As if all this were not enough, as one Congressional Staffer reported to the Hill Rag last month "we have an 'M Problem with both Geagea and Jumblatt in our efforts to get Lebanon a suitable President. With Geagea it's M for Murder, as in four murder convictions (!) but with Jumblatt its M for Mental. Who would you choose?"
The buzz in Washington is that with Jumblatt, according to the same hill staffer, "you never know where he is coming from or when the Druze leader may show up wide-eyed from smoking something and talking crazy Voodoo or Zen shit, or whatever".
A staffer on the House Judiciary Committee explained that Jumblatt "flip flops more than Romney did and next week he may do another deal with Syria and decide Nasrallah is his channeled long lost brother from a previous life and send his militia to train with Hezbollah for Christ's sake! I am not joking. During his last visit to Washington one of his aides actually asked if Jumblatt could meet Shirley MacLaine!"
III. Dr. Samir Farid Geagea
By any stretch of the imagination, 30 months ago Samir Geagea was not anyone's (except perhaps his own) candidate for the presidency of Lebanon.
For 11 years until his July 26, 2005 release, he had been in a 6' X 8' dank cell, serving multiple death sentences converted to life with hard labor. It was a hard time. Unlike Nelson Mandela during his 27 years in prison, Geagea was not permitted to send or receive mail, to read books or periodicals containing political information about Lebanon, watch television or listen to the radio. He was handcuffed and blindfolded whenever taken out of his cell for exercise or brief visits with relatives and lawyers under the watchful eye of monitors. His guards were forbidden to converse with him beyond simple commands.
Geagea's imprisonment was because he was convicted of murdering 6 people – only a small portion of his long list of war crimes according to his enemies.
His convictions included:
• the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr. Rachid Karami
• assassination of a former leading figure in the Lebanese Forces militia, Elias Zayek
• assassination of Christian leader Dany Chamoun with his wife and two young children (ages 5 and 7)
• assassination attempt against Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of the Interior Michel Murr
Geagea was released as a result of Amnesty legislation that also freed some Al Qaeda types.
Some in Lebanon feel he should never have been freed but his many supporters, including 170,000 who signed a Petition for his release, disagree.
They argue that all the legal files and proceedings brought against him and the Lebanese Forces are without foundation. They proclaimed during his incarceration on the Lebanese Forces website: "Samir Geagea is today, the only political prisoner in Lebanon. His crime is that of exercising his democratic rights. Samir Geagea, current leader of the Lebanese Forces. The only person in the history of our country who was given a choice to either leave Lebanon and never come back or to go to prison. ... They [the Syrian-controlled Lebanese government including the Courts and most of the Judges at the time of Geagea's convictions] thought they could accuse him and everyone would believe their lies. They thought wrong and here is the world condemning them, the Australian courts condemned them for fabricating evidence; the United Nations Human Rights Committees condemned them; and all those people who value the rule of law condemned them. Samir Geagea is an example of a man who is unselfishly devoted to a significant cause. He is a true model for all who believe in a just and reconciled Lebanon".
Many consider Geagea a true Lebanese Patriot and many of his quotes are distributed around Christian areas:
• "I would prefer to remain in prison for another 20 years than bargain my beliefs for freedom." - November 2004, speaking to a delegation from the Human Rights Committee of the Lebanese Parliament
• "I have spent 11 horrific years in solitary confinement in a 6-square-meter dungeon three floors underground without sunlight or fresh air. But I endured my hardships because I was merely living my convictions." - 26 July 2005, on his release.
This week, Geagea had successful meetings with US National Security Advisor Steven Hadley who told Geagea that America was strongly committed to helping the Lebanese build an independent state, as the An-Nahar daily quoted a White House source as saying on Tuesday.
"The US is still strongly committed to help the Lebanese people fulfill their dream of building a free, independent and prosperous state," Hadley told Geagea during their discussion of the kind of military aid Lebanon needs. Geagea also met with Assistant to Vice President Cheney for National Security Affairs John Hannah and US Secretary of State Rice and one of her undersecretaries David Welch.
According to An-Nahar's correspondent in Washington, the unusually high level Geagea meetings "reflect US appraisal of him as a major March 14 movement leader". And they wanted to discuss with him ways to help the Lebanese government achieve such goals and US worries of "continuous efforts" by Syria and Hezbollah to "undermine" Premier Fouad Siniora's Cabinet.
Geagea has the 'correct' position on key issues and shares Bush administration views on practically every question. Regarding Shebaa Farms (a phony issue his delegation is claiming), disarming the Resistance (the sooner the better), the Hariri Tribunal (full steam ahead) the Damascus Arab League Conference (not until Lebanon has a President), shipping Lebanon's Palestinians out of Lebanon (ASAP-ABI--As Soon As Possible-Anywhere But Israel!) and not to be naturalized in Lebanon. Finally, but not least, Geagea, just like the former leader of his militia, the murdered Bashir Gemayel, is thought to be Israel's choice to lead Lebanon.
Geagea's people are still testing the water in Washington as they hope to meet President Bush in the coming days. Publicly Geagea's delegation still praises General Suleiman but without enthusiasm: "Our choice cannot be other than the primary choice, which is the Lebanese state and its institutions. As for the means to build this state and run it, the March 14 Forces will declare any decision we make at the appropriate time," Geagea's group told the Washington Press Corp on March 11.
Geagea is stressing in Washington that the Lebanese crisis "remains in the hands of the Lebanese, despite the fact that some factions are linked to other (foreign) powers….we are not looking for a western settlement to our cause. We have the settlement. We are looking for backing from all states of the world. We will ask for support even from China."
Geagea's dramatic rehabilitation in Bush administration eyes raised some eyebrows of its own in the House Judiciary Committee (subcommittee on Criminal Justice) when staff members and fans of Amy Winehouse, the British singer complained that she was denied a US Visa after Geagea got his (following years of being denied one). They demanded to know how an otherwise wholesome, drug troubled entertainer in rehab could fairly be denied a visa to come and receive a near record 5 Grammys, when Geagea got a visa in spite of clear and 'iron clad' US regulations forbidding it. But things quieted down and in the end Amy was also OK because Hollywood pressure squeezed the State Department and low and behold the US Embassy in London called her with the good news. But Amy declined it with a polite 'thanks but no thanks' having already made arrangements to appear at the Award's ceremony via satellite.
Geagea's Washington admirers point out that unlike other warlords in Lebanon, Geagea is said to have "an almost puritanical disdain for material concerns", as noted by historian Theodor Hanf in his voluminous study of the Lebanese war.
Washington Post correspondent Jonathan C. Randal, who is scathingly critical of Maronite militia leaders in his book on the war, described Geagea as "well-read, thoughtful, and possessed of a revolutionary soul."
When asked to summarize the reason for the apparent Bush administration switch, a legislative aid on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East opined with sarcasm:
"There are two politicians in Lebanon who generally speak the truth and can be counted on to keep their word and not sell out. Hassan Nasrallah and Samir Geagea. As you know Nasrallah is not currently the Bush administration candidate."
Another added during the same conference call: "Cheney's people like Geagea because he's been tested. Nobody had the balls to defy Syria in the 1980s and early 90s. Even his pal Hobeika sold out. Geagea survived a brutal incarceration and before being jailed earned the respect of his people. Again, like Nasrallah, he is first of all a Lebanese Patriot. Geagea can't be bought. He is not afraid of Syria, Iran or anyone else. He will play ball with Israel. Lebanon could do a lot worse with what is likely heading its way".
**Franklin Lamb is doing research in Lebanon and can be reached at fplamb@gmail.com
http://www.counterpunch.org/lamb03142008.html

Top Officer Resigns Over Iran Strategy
Head of military actions in Mideast said U.S. would not attack Iran on his Watch
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/top_officer_resigns129.html

By Michael Collins Piper

Over the past several months, conservative devotees of Israel were calling for the head of Adm. William “Fox” Fallon, the tough-talking, no-nonsense chief of the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Mideast, East Africa and Central Asia.
On March 11 the conservatives got what they wanted. The admiral resigned his post, citing public controversy over his deep philosophical differences with the Bush administration on foreign policy matters.
Although both the admiral and the administration insisted for public consumption that there were no such differences, powerful forces with an interest in U.S. foreign policy—particularly pro-Israel pressure groups and their influential financial backers—have raised serious questions over the past year about Fallon’s commitment to Bush administration policies that are seen as vital to Israel’s security interests.
Most recently there’s been a buzz in higher circles about an admiring article about Fallon in the new issue of Esquire magazine written by former Pentagon official Thomas P.M. Barnett. Although Fallon, ironically,
said that he had problems with the article, it nonetheless regenerated discussion of Fallon’s concerns about the direction of the Bush administration’s policies.
Israel and its supporters in the United States have long been angry that, upon assuming his post, Fallon had dared to declare that there would be no war against Iran during his watch. Fallon’s comment was seen as a direct challenge not only to the Israeli lobby, which has been pushing for U.S. war against Iran, but also to President Bush, who has, of course, been the chief propagandist in the campaign against Iran, even in the wake of the disaster in Iraq that Bush and his pro-Israel “high priests of war” orchestrated.
Fallon also implied in a conversation with Army Col. Patrick Lang, a former analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency, that he (Fallon) would resign his post in protest rather than follow orders by Bush to wage war against Iran.
Fallon further infuriated the administration (and pro-Israel circles) by dismissing the Bush regime’s insistence on using the term “the long war” as a way of hyping the so-called “war on terrorism.” The admiral also caused much consternation by referring publicly to the “crazies” in neo-conservative circles who were demanding U.S. military interventions across the Middle East on behalf of Israel.
Israel and its supporters considered Fallon the No. 1 “Arabist” in the Central Command which longtime pro-Israel shill Bill Gertz, writing in The Washington Times, complained “is dominated by Arabists who do not understand Islamist theology.” Gertz charged that the generals at the Central Command are “thoroughly confused . . . on the nature of the terrorist threat.”
In other words, Fallon and his high-ranking military colleagues were not prepared to thoroughly endorse the concept that all U.S. military operations must be coordinated for the purpose of advancing Israel’s geopolitical aims in the Mideast.
Following 9-11, Israel’s propagandists began pounding away at the theme of “fighting terrorism” as the foundation for stoking up U.S. public support for Israel (which they claim is based upon something they call “Islamo-Fascism”) and although most Americans don’t know it, many top-ranking military leaders, intelligence analysts, diplomats and others do not buy the argument that the “terrorist threat” is as serious or organized as Israel and the pro-Israel mass media in America insist.
The attacks on Fallon were part of a long-standing Israeli propaganda campaign against American military leaders being conducted by such groups as the Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), which has been described as “a virtual agency of the Israeli government.”
In the fall 2006 issue of its Journal of International Security Affairs, JINSA featured an article calling for a classic “witch-hunt” aimed at U.S. military leaders and others in the diplomatic and intelligence community who are perceived to be unsupportive of Israel.
The author of the article, Walid Phares, who is associated with a Zionist public policy front known as the Foundation for the Defense of the Democracies, asserted that there are anti-American and anti-Israel “adversaries” at high levels in the American military and intelligence establishment.
In his article “Future Terrorism—Mutant Jihads,” Phares asked: How deeply have jihadist elements infiltrated the U.S. government and federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and various military commands, either through sympathizers or via actual operatives?
Since there are few Muslim Americans or even Arab Americans in any substantial numbers in the FBI, Homeland Security, the Department of Defense etc, the suggestion that “jihadist” elements have “infiltrated” our government might seem silly to the average American.
But in the fevered minds of JINSA, the real concern is that there are growing numbers of people high up in the FBI and the CIA and in the military who are getting “fed up” with Zionist power in America.
Top military leaders openly dismissed the need for war against Iraq and Iran, both wars of which have been longtime goals of the Zionist lobby. This, in the view of the JINSA sphere, constitutes effective collaboration with and sympathy for the dreaded “jihadists.”
For example, on May 11, 2005, the New York-based Forward, a leading Jewish community newspaper, reported that Barry Jacobs of the Washington office of the American Jewish Committee said he believed there are high-ranking officials in the U.S. intelligence community who are hostile to Israel and waging war against pro-Israel lobbyists and their neo-conservative allies in the inner circles of the Bush administration.
Citing the ongoing FBI investigation of espionage by officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the leading pro-Israel lobby group, Forward reported that this top-level Jewish community leader believes, in Forward’s summary, that “the notion that American Jews and Pentagon neo-conservatives conspired to push the United States into war against Iraq, and possibly also against Iran, is pervasive in Washington’s intelligence community.”
In the end, though, what’s interesting is that prior to the explosion of reports in the mainstream media about the dissatisfied generals—four years after American Free Press first broke the story at a national level, even before the invasion of Iraq—the April 2006 issue of America’s oldest and most respected magazine, Harper’s, featured a provocative cover story: “American Coup d’Etat: Military Thinkers Discuss the Unthinkable”—the “unthinkable” being the apparent possibility that American military leaders could move against the president if he ordered them to wage a war that they did not believe was in America’s national interests.
This was one month after Harper’s—in another cover story—called for the impeachment of Bush. Clearly, some people in high places were—and are—not happy with the pro-Israel internationalism (and war-mongering policies) of the Bush regime. And Adm. Fallon was one of them. That’s why he is has effectively been forced out of his post, the aim of the pro-Israel propagandists.
A journalist specializing in media critique, Michael Collins Piper is the author of Final Judgment, The High Priests of War, The New Jerusalem, Dirty Secrets, The Judas Goats: The Enemy Within and The Golem: Israel’s Nuclear Hell Bomb and the Road to Global Armageddon. All are available from AFP. He has lectured across the globe.
(Issue # 12, March 24, 2008)