LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

Bible Of the Day
Luke 5/27-32: " After these things he went out, and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and said to him, “Follow me!”5:28 He left everything, and rose up and followed him. 5:29 Levi made a great feast for him in his house. There was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining with them. 5:30 Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” 5:31 Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Registrar David Tolbert Resigns
Naharnet/he registrar of the tribunal created to try the assassins of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri has resigned, the U.N. said Tuesday -- the second registrar to leave in less than a year. "The (U.N.) Secretary-General received the resignation of the registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on January 6, 2010," a statement from U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson said on Tuesday. David Tolbert's resignation will be effective from March 1, after which he will take up his new appointment as president of the International Center for Transitional Justice. "The Secretary-General regrets the departure of Mr. Tolbert, who has decided to return to the United States to pursue his career," said the statement.
Tolbert, a former deputy prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, took over as the Lebanon tribunal's main administrator in August last year from Briton Robin Vincent who resigned two months earlier. The tribunal was created by a 2007 U.N. resolution to try those responsible for a 2005 Beirut car bombing that killed Hariri and 22 other people. Damascus, implicated by a U.N. probe, has denied involvement. The tribunal has no suspects in custody and no date has been set for the start of any trial. It officially opened in The Hague on March 1, 2009. Hariri was prime minister from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation in 2004.(Naharnet-AF) Beirut, 12 Jan 10, 18:43

Gunmen Kidnap Two Young Men in Badaro, Hand Them Over after Ransom
Naharnet/The two young men Zahi Farah and Robert Jumhouri were kidnapped Tuesday dawn around 2:30a.m. in Badaro and were released at 5:00a.m. after their parents paid the requested ransom. Farah and Jumhouri were reportedly returning to their house when a BMW car carrying 4 gunmen intercepted them in Badaro and forced them to head toward a bank branch and withdraw money. The kidnappers then called the parents of the hostages at 3:00a.m. requesting a ransom and threatening to kill their children in case the ransom was not paid.
After a series of negotiations, an agreement was reached to deliver the ransom at 5:00a.m. in Tayouneh area and the two young men were handed over to their parents.
Interior Minister Ziad Baroud ordered ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi to mobilize all ISF units and exert maximum efforts in order to promptly investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice in coordination with the Public Prosecution. Baroud, currently in Turkey among PM Saad Hariri's official delegation, saluted the efforts of the security forces in retrieving stolen cars and hoped they treat the case of Tuesday's kidnapping with the same promptness and seriousness. Beirut, 12 Jan 10, 18:28

Qassem Salutes Ongoing Reconciliations
Hizbullah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem on Tuesday hailed the recent reconciliations among the rival Lebanese factions and described them as "excellent, positive, and necessary." "The participants (in reconciliations) are courageous people who managed to rise above the complications of the past," added Qassem. During an educational ceremony, Qassem stressed that the ongoing reconciliations have always been advocated by Hizbullah and its officials. "At this stage, we turn the past's page which included a lot of negativity to open a new page that will include a lot of positivity." "The resistance is not existent due to circumstances but due to principle, the principle doesn't stop or end even if the circumstances change," stressed Qassem. He hailed the stances of President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, and PM Saad Hariri against the latest U.S. measures, especially the ban on Al Manar TV broadcasting via Arab satellites. Beirut, 12 Jan 10, 19:14

Tourist buses with Syrian plates comes under attack
Daily Star staff/Tuesday, January 12, 2010
BEIRUT: Unidentified attackers threw stones at two buses with Syrian license plates near Majdal Aanjar, Sunday. The buses were carrying Lebanese tourists visiting Al-Sayyida Zainab shrine in Damascus. The vehicles were damaged but no injuries were reported, As-Safir newspaper said Monday. The Lebanese Armed Forces are investigating the incident, said the daily. A military convoy escorted the two buses safely to the Dahr al-Baidar region. – The Daily Star

Lebanon Signs Six Significant Agreements with Turkey
Naharnet/Lebanon and Turkey have signed major agreements on military, agriculture and transport cooperation, including a deal to lift entry visas and a Turkish pledge to supply Lebanon with natural gas and electricity. Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan witnessed Monday the signing of six deals that also covered the areas of health and education. Hariri arrived in Turkey on Sunday and will wrap up his visit on Tuesday after attending a meeting of business people from the two countries in Istanbul.
The agreement on visa-free travel between Turkey and Lebanon comes after similar deals between Turkey and Syria, and Turkey and Jordan. Visa requirements have already been cancelled between Syria and Lebanon and between Syria and Jordan. Beirut newspapers on Tuesday said the measure is similar to the Schengen visa application which has made traveling between 5 European member countries much easier and less bureaucratic. Erdogan said Turkey would supply natural gas and electricity to help meet Lebanon's energy needs and that the two countries planned a ferry service between their Mediterranean coasts. Media reports on Tuesday said Turkey also proposed the idea of "strategic cooperation" between the two countries similar to that of the Turkey-Syria High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. They said Hariri promised to consider the offer. Beirut, 12 Jan 10, 08:18

Hizbullah: Der Spiegel's 'Fabrications' Aimed at 'Distorting' Party Image
Naharnet/Hizbullah slammed on Monday the Der Spiegel report on the Shiite party's alleged cocaine trafficking as "fabrications" aimed at "distorting" the group's image.
"The party categorically denies the accusations of Der Spiegel magazine against Hizbullah," the party said in a statement.
The German magazine reported on Saturday that German investigators are probing Hizbullah's alleged cocaine smuggling in Europe and the transfer of the profits to Lebanon via Frankfurt airport. It said initial suspicion that Hizbullah was raising funds by smuggling cocaine was raised in May 2008 when around 8.7 million euros in cash were found in the luggage of four Lebanese men at Frankfurt airport. According to Der Spiegel, suspicion is that family members have been regularly moving millions of euros raised in the European cocaine trade, via Frankfurt to Beirut. Beirut, 12 Jan 10, 12:23

One of Lebanon's Biggest Drug Dealers Arrested
Naharnet/Judicial police arrested Monday one of Lebanon's biggest drug dealers, Ali Hasan Abu Mohsen Tleis.
State-run National News Agency said Tleis, in his 40s, was arrested in Douriss near Baalbek before midday Monday.
It said Tleis is wanted on robbery charges and for shooting at policemen. He is also wanted on 1190 outstanding warrants. Beirut, 12 Jan 10, 12:19

Aoun to Moukhtara after Agreement with Jumblat to Settle Displaced Persons Issue
Naharnet/A meeting Monday between Druze leader Walid Jumblat and Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun has ended with a political-social agreement to settle the issue of the displaced persons. Both Aoun and Jumblat have agreed to set up committees to pursue the return of the displaced people to the mountains.
Displaced Persons Minister Akram Shehayeb said talks between Jumblat and Aoun in Rabiyeh focused on the "need to carry on with the reconciliation process" in the Abeih-Bnay-Ain Dravil region in western Shahhar and in the town of Breij in the Shouf mountains and in the Baabda province of Kfar Salwan. In remarks published Tuesday by the daily As-Safir, Shehayeb quoted Jumblat as stressing the importance of coordination between the ministries on the return of displaced persons. "The displaced persons' issue is not confined to the Displaced Ministry, but there is a role for the ministries of public works, social affairs, education, health and others," Shehayeb said. Delegates who attended the Aoun-Jumblat reunion said a "positive and cordial atmosphere" has prevailed over the meeting. High-ranking FPM sources have so widely anticipated a visit by Aoun to Moukhtara.
Jumblat announced from Rabiyeh that his meeting with Aoun brings the reconciliation process to an end. "Enough is enough. My meeting with Aoun brings the reconciliation process to an end," Jumblat told reporters from Rabieyh at the end of his 60-minute meeting with Aoun. His said his meeting with Aoun was not meant to antagonize anyone.
The meeting "is in the interest of the country, the nation and national unity," Jumblat said during a joint press conference with Aoun, adding that the issue of the displaced people was the focal point of discussions. He noted that committees had been set up to pursue reconciliation and the return of the displaced people to the mountains. Jumblat said he was delighted that members of the new national unity government have emerged from their "old trenches." He pointed that certain issues are to be discussed in Cabinet while others are to be tackled at the dialogue table. Aoun, for his part, said the reconciliation was "aimed at removing the psychological and social barriers between citizens, after having removed the natural barriers." "The return by itself is not sufficient as the mountain needs to be developed in order for its people to be able to return," he said. Beirut, 12 Jan 10, 09:38

Israeli Diplomatic Campaign to Stop Military Assistance to Lebanon
Naharnet/Israel has launched a diplomatic campaign aimed at persuading countries providing military assistance to Lebanon that any equipment and technology delivered to the Beirut government is likely to fall into Hizbullah's hands, The Jerusalem Post reported. The newspaper quoted Israeli government sources as saying the Jewish state is trying to convince countries supporting Lebanon that the "Lebanese army and Hizbullah are indistinguishable. As such, Israel is calling on countries that provide military aid to Lebanon to rethink the matter."
An Israeli official told The Post that "there has been a great deal of concern" in the Jewish state since the adoption of the Lebanese cabinet's policy statement, which gave Hizbullah "the mandate to defend Lebanon" against Israel. The main concern, the official said, is weaponry being provided or pledged by the U.S. The issue is likely to be raised by Israeli officials during the expected meetings on Tuesday with U.S. National Security Advisor James Jones. Beirut, 12 Jan 10, 08:18

Clinton's Assistant Visits Beirut, Meets with ISF Command
Naharnet/U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs David Johnson arrived in Beirut to observe the U.S.-funded capacity building program for the Internal Security Forces (ISF). Johnson and the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison met with the command staff of the ISF, led by its chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi.
On January 11, Sison and Johnson attended and spoke at a graduation of 286 ISF cadets who completed basic policing course funded by the U.S. and instructed by U.S. and Lebanese policing experts. In addition, 21 ISF lieutenants graduated from a three-month course of study in community policing that took place both in Lebanon and in the U.S. "To date, the U.S. has provided training for over 3,500 ISF officers, cadets, supervisors and instructors. In addition, the U.S. has delivered more than 380 vehicles and refurbished the ISF training facilities in Beirut," said a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy. "This assistance will help to support the full sovereignty of a Lebanese government representing all of its people, and a Lebanese Internal Security Force capable of protecting Lebanon's citizens and the rule of law." Beirut, 11 Jan 10, 19:09

A spectacle of reconciliations
By The Daily Star
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Editorial
One of the big criticism of foreign policy during the Bush era was the approach of “shoot first and ask questions later,” and in Lebanon, we’ve experienced something similar. The big difference, naturally, is that our politicians are, for the most part, unarmed, so the shooting from the hip that we’re used to is of the verbal kind.
In the last few days, Walid Jumblatt has been on his Lebanon reconciliation tour, appearing with formerly “deadly” Druze rivals on one occasion, and with former punching bag Michel Aoun on another. The public is treated to the spectacle of these reconciliations, as our reckless politicians try to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, after having spent several years launching verbal attacks and inciting their followers against the other side.
In watching these reconciliations unfold, the question arises: Did we have to go that far in the first place? These profound meetings and media coverage are supposedly about forgiveness, and reconciliation, but is anyone addressing whether these politicians really needed to tear the Lebanese people apart this viciously to begin with? Was there an issue at stake that loomed, and looms, larger than the priority of preserving our nation’s cohesiveness?
Evaluating the last few years can help us answer these questions. Our political class is dominated by people who usually shoot first and ask questions later. And the Lebanese people are the ones who pay the price in the end, from all of the mudslinging, the tension and the pollution of the airwaves. Where do we stand on the issues that divided us over the last few years? We heard a lot about “opening corruption files” and being agents of foreign countries, but will these accusations be forgotten now, even though politicians are supposedly in a calmer “mode”?
The problem is that our politicians just might return to such rhetoric, since they have records of making such confusing and rapid swings in the past.
As Talleyrand said of the decaying Bourbons, “they forgot nothing and learned nothing,” which reminds us of our own politicians today. They spent several years arguing and slinging mud about the “big” issues, like Israel, Syria and the Palestinians, while our daily issues – like health, electricity, social security, unemployment and crime – went unaddressed and became worse.
It’s probably too much to ask our leaders to evaluate their performance on the global issues, but we must nevertheless demand that they tackle the national items with which they’re tasked, as holders of public office. And remind them, once again, that countries like the US, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran can quickly change their positions and leave us high and dry, meaning that all of the shooting from the hip has real-world consequences, which can’t be reversed by a photo-op.

Israel will 'take years' to deploy defense system on Lebanon border
Tuesday, January 12, 2010/Daily Star
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense minister said Monday it would take years before the country’s new rocket defense system would be fully deployed along borders with Lebanon and Gaza. Ehud Barak predicted that once the barriers are in place, they will significantly reduce Mideast hostilities.
Last week, Israel announced it had successfully completed testing the Iron Dome system, designed to protect civilians from short-range rockets fired by Hizbullah fighters in Lebanon and Hamas combatants in Gaza. The military did not say at the time when the system would become operational, though Channel 10 TV said a first battery would be deployed in May.
Barak said it would take years before the system is fully operational. “We can’t sow the illusion that now that development has been successfully completed, tomorrow morning there already will be complete protection for the Gaza area or the north,” Barak said. “It will take years before we are equipped.” Israel has had no system in place to guard against thousands of rockets that fighters rained down on its southern and northern borders over the years. Millions of Israeli civilians are within rocket range, and the military stepped up its quest for a solution after the country’s 2006 war on Lebanon, when Hizbullah bombarded northern Israel with 4,000 rockets.
Iron Dome, developed at a cost of more than $200 million, uses cameras and radar to track incoming rockets and shoot them down within seconds of their launch, the Defense Ministry said. It is to be integrated into a multilayered defense umbrella designed to neutralize all missile threats – including long-range ballistic missiles from Iran that might be configured to carry nuclear warheads. Barak predicted Iron Dome would pare military operations against Hizbullah and Hamas in the future. “It will save time of fighting and deter in many cases a potential enemy from really launching an attack,” he said in English. He also deflected concerns about the high cost of employing the system: It has been estimated that it would cost many thousands of dollars to shoot down a single rocket, which in Hamas’ case, could cost only several hundred dollars to manufacture. “The whole picture from my point of view is how much it costs us to run the war one day more or probably not just even opening it,” he said. “The cost of one day of warfare against Hamas and Hizbullah, for example, will cover 10,000 interceptors.” There has been a recent flare-up of rocket fire from Gaza, and Barak said it reflected the failure of Gaza’s Hamas rulers “to impose their will” on dissident militant groups. “Hamas is well-deterred from trying another direct collision with Israel,” he said, warning it to prevent fire on Israel “and not dissolve into crocodile tears if we’re forced to take action.” At the same time, he judged that Hamas has been deterred by Israel’s war against it a year ago. The offensive killed more than 1,400 Gazans, mostly civilians and 13 Israelis, mostly soldiers. It wreaked large-scale destruction that has not been rebuilt because of an Israeli and Egyptian blockade on the seaside territory. – AP, with The Daily Star

Sleiman's visit to south 'shows commitment to 1701'
By Mohammed Zaatari /Daily Star staff
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
SIDON: President Michel Sleiman has visited United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanese troops in villages near Israel’s border in his first such visit since taking office in May 2008. The area has been largely peaceful since the summer 2006 war with Israel. Sleiman’s visit came hours after Lebanese troops opened fire at Israeli warplanes violating Lebanese airspace.
Sleiman, a former commander of the Lebanese Army, flew by helicopter Monday into a UN base in the village of Blatt, where he met Spanish peacekeepers before going to other areas. He also visited the village of Kfar Douneen and met Lebanese troops there. The UN peacekeeping force was beefed up in southern Lebanon after the 2006 war.
Deputy Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) General Kumar Bardalai said in a statement Monday that the visit by President Sleiman and Lebanese Armed Forces Commander Jean Kahwaji to UNIFIL posts indicates the “personal support and commitment” of the president and the Cabinet for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to the summer 2006 war with Israel. Sleiman and Kahwaji met with Bardalai instead of UNIFIL commander Major General Claudio Graziano who is currently on a visit to New York. UNIFIL’s command is due to be transferred from Graziano to Spanish Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas on January 28, 2010.
The UNIFIL statement added that the visit also stresses Lebanon’s support for UNIFIL. Bardalai said the visit shows the “determination” of the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL to safeguard the security and prosperity in south Lebanon through their strategic partnership with each other. In Blatt, Sleiman, Kahwaji and Bardalai placed wreaths on a memorial for UNIFIL Spanish peacekeepers who died on duty. The president did not make any statement during his one-hour visit to the south. However, in a statement issued by the Presidential Palace late on Monday, Sleiman urged the preservation of the unity of the Lebanese Army. The president described the army as the “vertebral column of the nation.” He also stressed the need to “learn from past mistakes, and preserve economic stability.” The president said that Israel was still a threat to Lebanon, adding that Tel Aviv was “bothered by Lebanon’s stability on the political, security and economic levels.” Earlier on Monday, Sleiman held a meeting with MP Michel Murr and Qatar Ambassador Saad Ali al-Muhanad. The Qatari envoy informed the president that Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani had accepted an invitation to visit Lebanon. – Mohammed Zaatari, with AP

Media Council discusses 'threat' of 'immorality' in Lebanese TV programs
Daily Star staff/Tuesday, January 12, 2010
BEIRUT: The National Media Council held a large-scale meeting on Monday to discuss creating a guidebook for audiovisual media outlets in Lebanon that would define pornography and other offenses to public morals.
“An existing express law forbids any institution from broadcasting certain programs before 10:30 pm in order to protect children,” the council’s head, Abdel-Hadi Mahfouz told reporters.
The council meeting on Monday aimed to discuss the “immorality” in Lebanese television programs such as OTV’s comedy show LOL.
Mahfouz said the first meeting was to discuss immorality in shows such as LOL and similar programs. He added that the council was basing its views on the media law number 382/49 that forbids the use of pornography and outlaws any offense against public morals.
Mahfouz then explained that Information Minister Tarek Mitri had received many letters of complaints concerning the show LOL and therefore had asked the council to “take the appropriate stance toward the matter.”
The show LOL, which airs on the television station OTV every Sunday evening, consists of gathering a number of people to exchange jokes and anecdotes. However, the jokes told on the show were said by some to abuse morals and to include sexual content inappropriate for children.
Mahfouz said that OTV did not have any bad intentions by broadcasting the show and that the head of its board, Roy Hashem, was very cooperative and understanding about trying to resolve the problem. “Hashem told us that the idea behind the show was to unite the Lebanese from different backgrounds around humor in order to end the political and sectarian divide in the country,” Mahfouz added.
He also said that OTV was willing to cooperate with the council and “take the show back to its initial objectives.”
He added that it wasn’t acceptable to portray a negative image of Lebanon especially because the country has acquired a name for being a sort of “Casino” and that Lebanese women have gained a bad reputation. “Our female singers have turned into dancers instead of focusing on their vocal abilities,” he said.
Mahfouz was asked during the gathering why the council has specifically targeted the show LOL. “We referred to all programs that we deemed immoral but we considered LOL as an example after numerous complaints were filed against it,” he answered.
Mahfouz stressed the need for the Interior Ministry to put its audiovisual media monitoring equipment at the disposal of the council and asked to revive the Information Ministry’s committee for following media outlets.
He added that there was a pressing need to control internet sites and provide legislation for internet media because this outlet would become a source of major competition for other audiovisual institutions.
Nonetheless Mahfouz reiterated the need for Lebanon to step away from provocative political sectarian programs and try to “draw a smile” on the faces of the Lebanese, similar to what LOL tried to do. “The important thing OTV did was build … the job of the media is to build not demolish,” he said.
The council’s head warned against replacing sectarian and political aggressiveness with immorality and called on the Lebanese community to unite in facing this new threat. “The audiovisual media is free and we are determined to preserve its freedom providing it is within the limits of the Constitution and of laws,” he added.
Mahfouz then referred to the United States’ decision to ban the broadcasting of certain Lebanese televisions stations and said Lebanese media institutions have signed a petition condemning this act and will be later present it to the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa. – The Daily Star

The Jihadi human missile of Christmas Day
by Walid Phares
The near-disaster caused by the Nigerian terrorist on a flight to Detroit was the 13th terrorist incident on American soil in 2009. What's next?
In the Arab world there is a saying: “Take their truth from their crazies” I didn’t think it would fully apply in geopolitics until I heard Libya’s dictator, Moammar Qadhafi, claiming on al Jazeera few years ago that Bin Laden had acquired intercontinental missiles.
The “crazy boy,” as the late Egyptian President Sadat used to call him, argued sarcastically that al Qaeda has developed an unstoppable weapon: human transoceanic missiles. He meant by that Jihadists who were committed to istishaad (martyrdom) by blowing up commercial jets over targets in America.
The man who has been ruling Libya for the past forty years knows his region very well and despite his peculiar behavior, has predicted what most observers of the Jihadist movement have also projected: al Qaeda and its allies worldwide have discovered the Achilles heel of American defenses: the inability of its security apparatus to identify the readying of the new weapon, its deployment and its launching.
The situation is so bad, that a man who was on some “persons of interest” list was nearly able to massacre hundreds of passengers and probably many innocent people on the ground but for the failure of his underwear bomb and the courage of a citizen of the Netherlands who rose to defend humanity with his bare hands.
A Nigerian young man, educated in Europe, with no antecedent (and visible) involvement in “violent extremism” -- as defined by new US doctrines -- with a family wealthy enough to elevate him well above any sense of disenfranchisement and the other so-called roots of radicalization, burned parts of his body as he was leaping into the “heaven of virgins.” Had he succeeded he would have accomplished a considerable feat: the second bloodiest terror act within US borders, pushing back the Fort Hood jihad to third position after 9/11.
The rapidly unfolding incident, a sheer and clear act of war, shocked and awed the American public to the core.
Nine years after Mohammad Atta led an al Qaeda platoon into a genocidal attack against this country, Omar Farouq Abdelmutalib, an obscure individual with no dramatic history brought hundreds of men, women and children to the edge of existence before they were bounced back to the world of the living, thanks to the instincts of ordinary individuals. How can that be possible after billions of dollars spent until now on homeland security, two overseas wars waged by the previous administration to end the terrorist threat?
Abdelmutalib’s act contrasts poorly with the Obama administration’s pledge to shut down Guantanamo by this administration in order to calm down “extremism,” in addition to all the president’s speeches announcing retreats. If closing Guantanamo and ignoring democracy movements doesn’t satisfy the jihadists, what will? Why do they keep coming to kill more people?
The “Mujahid from Nigeria,” as described by al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen is the perpetrator of the 13th terrorist act on US soil in one single year. From the Arkansas murder of a US military, to the jihadists of North Carolina, New York, Illinois, Texas, all the way to Fort Hood, these are the precursors of a wider wave to slam our shores unavoidably.
Abdelmutalib, like all other suicide-to-be perpetrators is a human missile designed, programmed and set off by a jihadist war machine. Ironically, the responses uttered by US officials only deepen the conviction within the jihadi war rooms that we are trailing behind in understanding their threat.
When Major Hasan killed thirteen colleagues, the nation was urged “not to rush to judgment.” Days later, emails surfaced about links to Imam Awlaki, the radical terrorist common denominator stationed in Yemen. In the wake of Abdelmutalib’s arrest we were told “there were no credible links to al Qaeda” just before a bold statement by the organization claimed the operation against the “American enemy.” By now, after the most active year in terrorism targeting the US since 2001, it would be advisable not to rush to judgment—the other way around.
Do not claim that massacres -- those that happen and those that are stopped -- are inexplicable during a war with the jihadists. In World War II, every Nazi bomber that flew over Britain was an act of war. In this conflict, every jihadi-inspired attack is an act of warfare. Every rush to deny it and it treat it as a mere act of violence is a challenge to our national security, and eventually a threat to our defense.
**Walid Phares is the author of The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future Jihad and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Arab World: Battleground Yemen
By Jonathan Spyer *
January 12, 2010
http://www.gloria-center.org/Gloria/2010/01/arab-world-yemen
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently described the current situation in Yemen as "a threat to regional stability and even to global stability." She was referring to the fact that Yemen is the latest failed state to become a haven for elements of the Sunni global jihad. Like Afghanistan and Sudan before it, Yemen is becoming a key regional base for al-Qaida.
Unlike in the other two countries, in Yemen this has come about not because of an agreement reached between the jihadis and the authorities; rather, the inability of the Yemeni authorities to impose their rule throughout their country, coupled with the close proximity of Yemen to Saudi Arabia - a key target for al-Qaida - has made the country a tempting prospect for the terrorists.
Al-Qaida is not the only major problem facing Yemen. In fact, it could be argued that the country manages to encapsulate in acute form the three main causes of political turmoil in the Middle East: a dictatorial government, vulnerability to Iranian subversion through local jihadis and the presence and activity of the Sunni global jihad.
Last January, the hitherto little-heard-of Yemeni franchise of al-Qaida merged with the Saudi franchise to form the so-called "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula" (AQAP). The Saudi jihadis were facing an increasingly effective counterterror campaign by the Saudi authorities, and therefore decided to shift focus to lightly-governed Yemen, where proper security fails to extend much beyond the capital city of San'a.
Through its organizing of the failed attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, AQAP has now entered the major leagues of the global jihad. Fears of an imminent second strike led to temporary closure of the US, British and French embassies in San'a over the last week.
YEMEN IS currently host to no less than three separate insurgencies. Each resembles one another in that they are being conducted by forces committed to some form of political Islam. There, however, the similarities end.
Probably the most politically and militarily significant of the three Islamist insurgencies is that of the Houthi rebels in the Saada district in the north. The Zaidi Shi'ite rebels of the al-Houthi clan have been engaged in an insurgency against the Yemeni authorities since 2004. Quelling the uprising has proved quite beyond the capabilities of the government of Ali Abdalla Saleh.
In the past few months, the Shi'ite Houthis have extended their activities across the border to Saudi Arabia. Their close proximity to the Saudi border makes them a useful tool for Iran to pressure Riyadh. Responding to rebel attacks in November, the Saudis struck back with aircraft and helicopter gunships, killing around 40 Houthis. Regardless, Iran is sending regular arms shipments to the Houthis, continuing to stoke the flames of the rebellion. The real possibility of further deterioration remains.
The second insurgency faced by the hapless Yemeni regime is a separatist campaign in the south. Yemen was only reunified in 1990, and has since suffered a brief civil war in 1994. The separatist insurgency, led by Islamist tribal leader Tareq al-Fadhli, again grew in intensity during 2009, with a number of stormy demonstrations and armed confrontations leading to deaths on both sides.
As if fighting insurgencies on two separate fronts was not enough, Yemen is also being hit hard by economic woes. The country's steadily depleting oil reserves are unable to generate sufficient income for the government to maintain the tribal patronage system on which it depends. Gas exports are failing to make up the shortfall. And Yemen's water supplies are also dwindling.
Like a parasite that spots, enters and exploits a weakening body, AQAP has now added its own particular brand of Islamist insurgency to this volatile situation.
The close proximity of Yemen to Saudi Arabia and to international shipping lanes makes the country's instability a factor which the US and the West cannot afford to ignore.
This, however, raises a dilemma. The regime of President Ali Saleh is autocratic, inefficient and largely ineffectual. Its economic policies have failed to develop the country, leaving the regime sitting precariously on top of a boiling cauldron of poverty, illiteracy, extremism and discontent. To remain on its perch, the regime is now asking for ever larger contributions of US funding and assistance to counter the terror.
Since Yemen's government rules in name only in large parts of the country, increasing the US commitment to combating al-Qaida in the country raises the possibility of US ground forces in Yemen. President Barack Obama can ill afford yet another Middle East war, with its inevitable cost in American lives. Yet he also cannot afford to stand back and allow Yemen to play the role for al-Qaida that Afghanistan played in the late 1990s.
There are no simple answers. Washington may prefer to adopt the counterterror tactic of helping the Yemenis strike al-Qaida sites from the air, to avoid the sight of US soldiers deployed in a country so close to the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
But whichever option the US chooses, the real "root cause" of the proliferating insurgencies in Yemen, and the inability of the regime to adequately deal with them, is the ongoing dysfunctionality of the region's political culture. All across the Middle East, failing, autocratic regimes face off against popular Islamist movements committed to a murderous and ultimately sterile political program.
Yemen offers an example of this situation in a particularly virulent form.
*Dr. Jonathan Spyer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, Herzliya, Israel