LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِDecember 15/2010

Bible Of The Day
Isaiah 5/8-22: " Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land! 5:9 In my ears, Yahweh of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied. 5:10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah.” 5:11 Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them! 5:12 The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don’t respect the work of Yahweh, neither have they considered the operation of his hands. 5:13 Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst. 5:14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it. 5:15 So man is brought low, mankind is humbled, and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled; 5:16 but Yahweh of Armies is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness. 5:17 Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich. 5:18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope; 5:19 Who say, “Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!” 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 5:22 Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine,

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports  
The calm before the next storm/Daily Star/December 14/10
US Illusions in Lebanon/International Herald Tribune/By ROGER COHEN/December 14/10
Not walking away from peace just yet/By: Hussein Ibish/December 14/10
Memories are short/Now Lebanon/December 14/10
Interview with Journalist Ali Hamade/The March 14 website/December 14/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 14/10
Indictment Dec. 18, Report /Naharnet
Barak to Gates: Hizbullah, Syria Must Not Gain Arms Supremacy over Israel /Naharnet
Lawyers of Alleged Hizbullah Backer Call for Cutting 155-year Term /Naharnet
WikiLeaks threatens to raise Lebanon tensions/Financial Times
Barak tells Gates: Hezbollah and Syria must not gain weapons edge over Israel/Haaretz
Raad: Issuance of a fake indictment will destroy Lebanon and the cabinet/iloubnan.info
Jordan, Lebanon ink military cooperation agreement/Monsters and Critics.com
US provides $6-mln boost to Lebanese trade/Daily Star
Sleiman, Hariri try to avert Cabinet showdown/Daily Star
Saqr from Bkirki: We Won't Trade Stability for Justice /Naharnet
Suleiman, Jumblat Welcome Opposition Proposal … Hariri Mulling it, Report /Naharnet
Jumblat Says there is No Local Initiative, Calls for Consensus Not Voting on False Witnesses /Naharnet
Nasrallah to Deliver High-Tone Speech on Thursday, Hizbullah Sources /Naharnet
Safadi: We Reject Defiant Rhetoric, Tripoli Residents Support Dialogue, Moderation /Naharnet
Geagea: Transferring False Witnesses File to Justice Council Attempt to Limit STL's Functioning /Naharnet
Muallem, Sultanov Stress 'Importance of Preserving Lebanon Stability' /Naharnet
Opposition Ministers to Coordinate Stances ahead of Key Session /Naharnet
Jordan King Meets Qahwaji: We Back All Efforts Aimed at Cementing Lebanon Stability /Naharnet
Phalange: Hizbullah's Escalation against STL Endangers Internal Stability /Naharnet
Raad: We Don't Issue Threats, But Matters Will Develop Negatively, which Will Threaten Stability /Naharnet
Berri Hopes for International Resolution Banning Cluster Bombs /Naharnet
Jumblat: Fiery Statements Do Not Solve Pending Issues and Accumulating Problems /Naharnet
Hizbullah Escalates Rhetorical Attacks/Naharnet

Sfeir: Threats Unleashed by Hizbullah 'Surprising'
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir expressed surprise at threats unleashed by Hizbullah, particularly by head of Hizbullah's parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad, without naming him. "The country cannot carry on under this escalating climate where one (political) camp threatens the other," Sfeir told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.
"The country continues to exist on the basis of understanding, cooperation and harmony among the people and power sharing," he added. "People have a right to know the truth of who is behind those assassinations," Sfeir insisted. Beirut, 14 Dec 10, 07:09

Barak to Gates: Hizbullah, Syria Must Not Gain Arms Supremacy over Israel
Naharnet/Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that Hizbullah and Syria must not gain weapons supremacy over Israel, The Israeli daily Haaretz said on its website. His remarks came during talks with Gates at the Pentagon. The two men discussed an array of security issues pertaining to the United States' support of Israel.
Haaretz said Barak told Gates that Israel was particularly concerned by the increasing armament of Hizbullah and its ally, Syria, with advanced weapons that would adversely affect Israel's qualitative advantage and security. It said talks also "focused on the contentious Iranian nuclear program and the imminent international report following an investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri." Barak and Gates, according to Haaretz, discussed continuing cooperation to build up Israel's active defense against missiles and rockets. Beirut, 14 Dec 10, 06:39

Israeli Officer Promises Hizbullah 'Tougher Response'
Naharnet/A senior Israeli officer warned Hizbullah that Israel's response this time would be much tougher. "The response would be ten times tougher than the July war if tensions spread to the northern border," the officer warned. He said the response would include "strong strikes" against Lebanon in the event of war following the indictment in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonot quoted the officer as warning civilians in southern Lebanon that Israel would hit Hizbullah targets, pointing to Hizbullah's missile arsenal in villages flanking Israel's northern border. He said that according to Israeli estimates Syria has provided Hizbullah with "all types of advanced rockets.""So far, there are no sings that Syria has supplied Hizbullah with chemical weapons," the officer added. Beirut, 14 Dec 10, 11:02

Indictment Dec. 18, Report
Naharnet/A leading Lebanese figure close to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare will submit a draft indictment to pre-trial Judge Daniel Fransen on December 18. The source told Al-Liwaa newspaper in remarks published Tuesday that there is an understanding between Fransen and STL President Antonio Cassese
The deal is that Fransen would review and ratify the draft indictment within a three-week period. Beirut, 14 Dec 10, 08:01

Berri Unleashes Last -Minute Effort on Eve of Cabinet Meeting
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri has unleashed a last-minute effort to reach a compromise on the false witnesses' issue, his political aide Ali Hasan Khalil announced. Khalil, in remarks published Tuesday by the daily An-Nahar, said Berri was working in his capacity as a political leader in the Opposition camp.He said Berri is seeking to put an end to the political divide over the false witnesses' issue in order to reach an understanding and avoid a vote in Cabinet or the withdrawal of ministers. Khalil did not reveal details of Berri 's initiative. But An-Nahar quoted sources as saying that the Speaker's proposal is a "blend of the old offer with some new ideas added to it."The proposal suggests considering the false witnesses' issue as a "subdivision issue" of the original case is the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which was referred to the Judicial Council before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon put its hands on it. In that case, the sources explain, there is no need for a new decree to forward the false witnesses' issue to the Judicial Council, and consequently, there is no need to discuss the issue in Cabinet. They said it would then be up to the Judicial Council to decide whether it has power over the false witnesses' issue or not. Khalil shuttled between Baabda Palace and the Grand Serail on Monday in an effort to promote Berri's initiative.The sources said Khalil sensed "openness" from both President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri toward Berri's proposal. Beirut, 14 Dec 10, 07:44

Saqr from Bkirki: We Won't Trade Stability for Justice
Naharnet/Mustaqbal MP Oqab Saqr on Tuesday held talks with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. He described a Cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday as a "turning point."
Touching on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Saqr told reporters from Bkirki: "We won't exchange stability for justice and neither would we trade stability with defeat."
Beirut, 14 Dec 10, 13:31

Suleiman, Jumblat Welcome Opposition Proposal … Hariri Mulling it, Report
Naharnet/A proposal launched by the Opposition to address the crisis over the false witnesses' issue was welcomed by President Michel Suleiman and Druze leader Walid Jumblat, the daily As-Safir reported Tuesday, citing Opposition sources. It quoted the sources as saying that Prime Minister Saad Hariri was mulling the proposal which states that Suleiman informs Cabinet ministers at the start of Wednesday's session that the false witnesses' issue will be referred to the forensic investigator into ex-PM Rafik Hariri's assassination given that Cabinet referred the issue to the Judicial Council in 2005. It would then be then to up to the Judicial Council to decide whether they have power over the issue or not. Beirut, 14 Dec 10, 09:08

Lawyers of Alleged Hizbullah Backer Call for Cutting 155-year Term
Naharnet/A North Carolina man who has spent a decade in prison for allegedly aiding Hizbullah is trying to get his 155-year sentence cut, The Charlotte Observer reported. Mohammed Hammoud, who was convicted in 2002 of conspiring to provide material support to a "terrorist organization" and 13 other crimes, will ask a U.S. judge at a hearing Wednesday to reduce his sentence to time served, or at least no more than 15 years. Prosecutors say that his cell smuggled cigarettes from North Carolina to Michigan and sent the illegal proceeds to Lebanon to finance Hizbullah. "The overwhelming evidence here is that Mr. Hammoud's original sentence is a miscarriage of justice," attorneys James McLoughlin and Stanley Cohen argued in court documents. But Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Brown and Craig Randall wrote, "Defendant was motivated by fanatical terrorist ideology and, thus, represents a serious future danger to society." "Any sentence less than life imprisonment will provide defendant the opportunity and the motivation to carry out acts of violence," they said. Beirut, 14 Dec 10, 07:59

Nasrallah to Deliver High-Tone Speech on Thursday, Hizbullah Sources
Naharnet/Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will reportedly deliver a high-tone speech on Thursday. Pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Tuesday quoted Hizbullah sources as saying that Nasrallah would raise his tone in his next speech, particularly since he allowed ample time for the Syria-Saudi initiative and after he sensed failure in these efforts to achieve an exit to the ongoing crisis over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The sources said Nasrallah's high tone aims to push the majority March 14 coalition, particularly Prime Minister Saad Hariri, into taking an initiative before issuance of the indictments by the STL. Beirut, 14 Dec 10, 07:18

Geagea: Transferring False Witnesses File to Justice Council Attempt to Limit STL's Functioning
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated that the decision to "transfer what they call they 'false witnesses file' to the justice council is an attempt limit the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's functioning."He told Egyptian television that Hizbullah and its allies are insistent on boycotting Cabinet as long as the government does not take a certain legal measure that limits the STL's jurisdiction, adding: "The solution does not lie in surrendering to the other camp's conditions … if we surrender to Hizbullah and its allies, then we are taking Lebanon to a major disaster," he said.He noted that President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri are overseeing Cabinet's work and they have taken a decision not to subject the false witnesses file to a vote, while Hizbullah and its allies refuse this reasoning. "No one has the right to place conditions on the president and prime minister and impose any article on Cabinet's agenda," he continued. Geagea summed up the Lebanese crisis by saying that a section of the Lebanese believes that the STL is an American-Israeli product aimed at destroying Hizbullah, while "our reasoning says that we have yet to receive anything from the tribunal." "The Lebanese citizen has been taken hostage, which should not happen, and therefore, the constitutional institutions must continue their functioning regardless of our political dispute over the indictment," he stressed. Furthermore, he announced that he would not be paying Syria a visit, noting that the tensions in Lebanon will persist over the upcoming months. Beirut, 13 Dec 10, 16:37

Safadi: We Reject Defiant Rhetoric, Tripoli Residents Support Dialogue, Moderation
Naharnet/Minister of Economy and Trade Mohammad al-Safadi condemned on Monday statements issued from Tripoli on Sunday on the occasion of the Muslim New Year, describing them as defiant rhetoric. He stressed that he opposes any challenge that may drag the country into a cycle of challenges and retaliations, adding that the residents of Tripoli support moderation and dialogue. "With all due respect to those who spoke on this occasion, but responding to a challenge with another one does not serve Lebanon's national interest," the minister pointed out."This is the last thing that we need," Safadi added. Beirut, 13 Dec 10, 17:36

Raad: We Don't Issue Threats, But Matters Will Develop Negatively, which Will Threaten Stability
Naharnet/The head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad stated on Sunday that the other camp "should reconsider its calculations and review its choices because the country will be shaken up."He said: "I am warning them, we are not issuing threats, but the way things are, matters will develop in a negative manner that would threaten the country's stability.""Cabinet is still studying whether it should convene or not, it has crippled the country," he added. Raad wondered: "Would there be a country or a government left if the indictment was fabricated and accused innocent individuals?" "This is what we want to turn attention to, but in the end, we present excuse after excuse and evidence after evidence, and everyone must assume his responsibility," the MP concluded. Beirut, 13 Dec 10, 17:23

Not walking away from peace just yet
Hussein Ibish, December 14, 2010
Now Lebanon/US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during an address to the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. (AFP/Mandel Ngan)
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech at the Brookings Institution on December 10 has again shown that the Obama administration is not willing to walk away from efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in spite of the obstacles and setbacks it is facing. The position Clinton laid out presents an important potential opportunity for Palestinians to make the point that they are ready for and serious about peace, and to test Israel’s willingness.
Clinton delivered a well-balanced and clearheaded appraisal of US interests and was unambiguous about the importance of ending the conflict and the occupation. The secretary gave what is probably the strongest ever statement by a senior US official about Palestinian statehood, calling it “inevitable.” She described the occupation as “unacceptable” and “unsustainable,” and left no doubt that from the American perspective it must be ended.
Clinton also said the Obama administration plans to intensify its support for Palestinian state-building efforts. Since it now views Palestinian statehood as inevitable, Washington has a strong interest in using the state-building program to advance that cause in parallel to the diplomacy and to lay the groundwork for a successful, rather than a failed, state.
The secretary cautioned Palestinians against unilateral diplomatic moves, and Israel, in slightly stronger language, against “provocative announcements on East Jerusalem.” And she dismissed out of hand any notion of “economic peace,” saying that “economic and institutional progress ... is not a substitute for a political resolution,” and that such ideas are “wrong” and “dangerous.”
In addition, Clinton left no doubt that the US remains committed, perhaps more than ever, to resolving the conflict through an agreement that establishes a Palestinian state. US diplomatic language on this point is deepening and intensifying, and this reflects a growing policy commitment to that outcome.
Clinton also said the US will press the parties to make their positions on key final-status issues as specific and clear as possible. This could spell trouble for leaders on both sides (particularly Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), who for political reasons prefers to remain ambiguous about some controversial questions. If the Palestinians present straightforward positions on the final-status issues and Netanyahu does not, it will not only be an enormously clarifying development, but will also potentially set the stage for a more assertive American role in spite of Israeli objections.
It would be wrong to be cynical when senior US officials make Washington’s commitment to this outcome so unmistakably clear. The US has many options, but the situation is so delicate that most of them would probably make matters worse. The path the administration has chosen – to make sure everyone understands what is expected at the end of the day and that the US is not walking away – and at the same time emphasizing caution and recognizing the delicacy of the politics on both sides while pushing them to reveal their own intentions, is probably the most advisable course at present.
A combination of quiet diplomacy, looking for openings with the parties and getting them to take clear, specific positions on core issues, along with intensified support for state-building, might be the only serious, politically plausible US response at this stage.
Palestinians were unwise to allow themselves to be sucked into the settlement freeze extension gimmick, and should welcome the opportunity to focus on final-status issues, such as borders and Jerusalem. In the end, any practicable agreement will require Israel to relinquish control over a considerable amount of the settlements it has built anyway, so the settlement issue is a subset of the border issue, which is the real bone of contention.
No matter how frustrated they might be with the failure to secure an extension to the partial, temporary settlement freeze moratorium, Palestinians should welcome the renewed and rhetorically intensified US commitment to ending the occupation and securing the establishment of a Palestinian state. The bottom line is that while Washington remains committed to Israel’s security, it is also committed, in its own interests, to Palestinian independence and an end to the Israeli occupation. In other words, the world’s only superpower and Israel’s patron is genuinely committed to securing the Palestinian national goal.
Clinton gave the Palestinians a lot to work with and welcome, but, like the Israelis, they have yet to convince Washington of their seriousness about achieving a negotiated agreement. They should embrace the secretary’s call for the parties to take clear positions on final-status issues and lay out their vision for the future as specifically as possible. They would then probably be able to demonstrate that their vision of the future is closer to the US view than Israel’s is, assuming the Israelis are willing to reveal any vision at all.
Palestinians would thereby give the United States every reason to increase its support for the party better in sync with its own policies.
Hussein Ibish is a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine and blogs at www.ibishblog.com.

Memories are short
December 13, 2010
Now Lebanon/
At the end of last week, Hezbollah boldly came out in support of Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which was forced to shut down its online content after being hacked. The paper accused Israel of trying to muzzle its dissemination of advance copies of secret US diplomatic cables from the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, and called on the government to spare no efforts in guaranteeing all media the freedom of expression to which they are entitled.
The Wikileaks have left many Lebanese politicians with egg on their collective faces (not least Defense Minister Elias Murr, whose spin doctors have been working overtime to paint him as a misunderstood patriot rather than an Israeli spy). It is a situation that will have Hezbollah and their allies in March 8 rubbing their hands with glee. The leaking of the classified documents could not have come at a better time for the embattled Party of God, which can use them to cast doubt on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and once again accuse the US of sowing chaos, confusion and injustice as part of its plans for world domination.
Nothing new there you might say, and of course March 8’s gotta do what it’s gotta do, but it is worth reminding Hezbollah and its allies that in this incident, the whiff of hypocrisy sits heavy, and the collective memory is very short. In 2008, when Hezbollah took objection to the government going about its business and sent Amal and SSNP gunmen onto the streets, one the first things it targeted was March 14 media, in particular the offices of Future television, which were ransacked and burned. This was not the result of overly-enthusiastic militiamen high on the smell of cordite and sedition. The homes of pro-democracy journalists were also ransacked, while others have had to move to other areas of the city after being told it would be for their own good.
Where were the calls for press freedoms when the late Samir Kassir was hounded by General Security and his passport confiscated because Damascus was angered by the columns he wrote attacking the Syrian presence in Lebanon? Where was the outcry from March 8 when Kassir was eventually murdered in his car by unknown assailants on June 2, 2005 or when his boss, An-Nahar daily editor-in-chief Gibran Tueni met a similar fate six months later? So much for freedom of expression.
Hezbollah’s call for state support beggars belief. Few if any are the occasions on which it has respected the state, its institutions or indeed the majority of its citizens. Its presence in the government is not as an equal partner moving forward to execute a blueprint for the national good, but instead to make sure its own agenda is protected.
One only has to listen to Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad, who on Sunday told the National News Agency that “everyone must bear the results if the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)’s indictment is issued without a compromise” and that “Lebanon’s image will gradually change if a domestic understanding is not reached.” Another veiled threat? Who knows, but one can put good money on Hezbollah taking matters into their own hands in one way or another. In other words, the party will happily work outside the state on which it called to guarantee freedom of expression.
NOW Lebanon is also committed to these very same freedoms and is proud to be part of the most independent media in the Middle East. If indeed Al-Akhbar was hacked, and the state is in a position to act to ensure that all media traffic is allowed to flow freely, then it clearly should.
It is just a pity that Hezbollah’s reliance on the state is as selective as its memory.

Ali Hamade
December 13, 2010
The March 14 website carried the following interview with Journalist Ali Hamade on the 5th anniversary of Gebran Tueni's murder:
Five years following the assassination of Gebran, the same question is reiterated: Why was he assassinated?
The reason behind Gebran Tueni’s assassination is not a secret. He was assassinated for purely political reasons, unlike what some are trying to do by giving a non-political character to the case of the martyrs of the Cedars Revolution. Gebran was assassinated because he constituted a rightful cry in a dark valley. He was one of the main figures of the Cedars Revolution and the independence uprising that was staged against the state of affiliation which prevailed prior to February 14, 2005 and during the days of the joint Lebanese-Syrian security regime and Syrian tutelage. He was assassinated because his dialogue tools and his ability to have his say and communicate with the people were annoying to some. However, this had rendered him one of the main foundations of the Cedars Revolution and when the murderers wanted to execute this revolution; they started with its solid cornerstones.
If their goal was to silence An-Nahar, do you think they succeeded?
I will not be arrogant and say they did not. They were firstly able to murder Gebran and this was a great loss for An-Nahar and all the free people in Lebanon. It was a major and painful blow from which we are still suffering every day. Still, they failed to silence us and An-Nahar, and failed to muzzle the voices of the free. Quite the contrary, many became more determined to continue. I believe that the voices are still free and are still filling Lebanon’s skies. They constitute the main obstacle preventing the fall of the country in the hands of those who believe that everything in Lebanon is based on the balances of power, and especially the balances of weapons and the machines of murder and destruction.
What reminds you of Gebran and what is the moment or position in which you wished he was still among us?
I never forgot Gebran so that I can remember him. Therefore, if I say there are certain things which remind me of him, I would be exaggerating because he is always among us on the professional, familial and emotional levels. You cannot erase over forty years we spent together.
How is your relationship with Michele and Nayla?
I enjoy a professional relationship with each of them. Nayla is managing An-Nahar under the care of Mr. Ghassan, and Michele is a journalist in the paper.
There are numerous questions surrounding the absence of Nayla, the young deputy, from the political arena. According to your information, to what is this absence due?
Nayla is absent from political life due to her marriage that took place right after the 2009 elections. She then got pregnant and her pregnancy was very difficult which forced her to stay home for a considerable amount of time. This was followed by the maternity phase in which the baby needs his mother the most.
Will she be returning soon?
She was never totally absent. She is managing An-Nahar newspaper which I describe as being an empire because the management of a paper is not easy. She is present and giving priority to the paper which is a tool in the battle. At the beginning of 2011, the baby will be older and she will be able to reengage in political activities in full.
Is An-Nahar still following the course drawn up by Gebran?
Of course. Had it changed, I would not have currently been in the newspaper’s offices.
Had Gebran still been alive, what would his position have been toward those refusing justice and launching one attack after the other against it?
Clearly, Gebran would have adopted the position to which we are accustomed. In other word, he would have defended the oppressed and the victims in the face of the criminals and the oppressive.
As the uncle of the martyr, what do you say through our website to all those rejecting justice and placing it in the face of stability?
We will not be able to convince those who are rejecting justice to recant their rejection. However, we assure them that by doing so, they are increasing our determination and insistence on pursuing the path toward truth and justice. Truth and justice will see the light despite all the obstacles that are trying to hinder their course.
Can Lebanon handle more martyrs in the process of defending the cause, especially in the case of the press which offered a countless number of martyrs and living martyrs?
Yes it can because the presence of a battle means the presence of martyrs who will fall along the way. Today, the assassination machine has stopped. However, we do not know if it is suspended or completely halted. Those who want to engage in the struggle and truly participate in the battle should expect martyrdom.
The indictment has become imminent. Do you expect its issuance and the exposure of the truth to extinguish the sadness over those who faced the fate of the free?
The issue extends beyond the sadness and sorrow of a mother over her child. It affects an entire country that wants to exit the circle of assassinations which is surrounding it from all side. The battle to learn the truth will eventually secure a new pattern in political life in Lebanon, one which will prevent the killers from eluding accountability and sanctions. Our minds should not immediately be directed toward the state of Israel whenever a Lebanese citizen is martyred, at a time when the killers are known. Unfortunately, the latter could be from this country or from a certain Arab regime.
One last word to Gebran on the fifth anniversary of his martyrdom.
I say to him: Gebran, you are not dead, and An-Nahar is proceeding.”

U.S. Illusions in Lebanon
By ROGER COHEN
Published: December 13, 2010
BEIRUT — Once upon a time a U.S. secretary of state spoke of the “birth pangs of a new Middle East.” That’s now the most laughed-at phrase in gravity-defying Lebanon, a country with two armies, a “unity” government too divided to meet, a wild real estate boom and a time bomb called the “international tribunal.” Confused already? Lebanon is not for amateurs. Condoleezza Rice wanted to believe that in the bloodshed of Israel’s 2006 war against Hezbollah, the militant Shiite movement, lay the seeds of a new Middle East — democratic, Hezbollah-free and amenable to U.S. interests. Turns out she was dreaming. Four years on, Hezbollah is stronger than ever. It has the more powerful of those two armies (the other being the Lebanese armed forces), a presence in government, veto power over Lebanon’s direction, and a leader — Hassan Nasrallah — whose popularity as the proud face of Arab defiance has never been higher. Dahiye, the Hezbollah-controlled southern Beirut suburb flattened by Israel in 2006, now bustles with construction and commerce, including state-of-the-art juice bars and risqué lingerie stores. It feels about as threatening as New York’s Canal Street.
And America continues to dream, albeit in sobered fashion. Sure, the “new Middle East” has joined “axis of evil” in the diplomatic junkyard. But U.S. policy still involves an attempt to ignore reality. Hezbollah, Iran-financed and Syrian-backed, has assumed a pivotal role in Lebanese politics. It’s a political party, a social movement and a militia for which the term “terrorist group” is entirely inadequate. It has also become the single most powerful symbol of what is known throughout the Middle East as “the resistance.” This is an unpalatable truth. It’s also, I suspect, an enduring one. For the United States to shun any contact with Hezbollah amounts to trying to play the Middle Eastern chess game without several pieces. As recent history suggests, that’s a recipe for failure.
A little of that history is in order. The 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s pro-Western Prime Minister Rafik Hariri set off massive protests that saw Syria withdraw its military and rekindled old illusions of a Lebanon firmly in the Western camp. A United Nations tribunal was set up to investigate the killing amid widespread suspicion of Syrian involvement. A billboard — “The Truth — for the sake of Lebanon” — caught the giddy sense of new beginnings in the land par excellence of foreign meddling. Nobody spoke more about “truth” than Saad Hariri, the slain leader’s son and now himself prime minister.
Everyone, it seemed, was drinking the Kool-Aid. Even Walid Jumblatt, the leader of Lebanon’s Druse community and the ultimate Middle Eastern survivor, spoke of the “start of a new Arab world,” went anti-Syrian and was a strong advocate of the tribunal. As he’s a Lebanese bellwether, that seemed significant.
Now, over an exquisite lunch in his Beirut villa, I found the twinkly-eyed Jumblatt speaking of the “madness” of that moment, his brief sojourn on “the imperialist side,” his sense that he had “gone too far with the Americans and the Arab moderates,” and his realization that the survival of his small community depended on taking the familiar road to Damascus.
The Obama administration has been infuriated by Jumblatt’s switch. But it reflects the changing tide. As Nadim Houry, the Beirut director of Human Rights Watch, said: “After what Israel did in July 2006, the United States lost the strategic war.” This was consummated in 2008, when Hezbollah defeated its pro-Western rivals on the streets of Beirut.
A recent meeting between Jumblatt and Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, did not go smoothly. “He told me I’m a national leader and should back the tribunal,” Jumblatt said. “I said, no, I prefer to be a tribal leader, I’m downgrading! And I asked what the use of tribunal justice is if it leads to slaughter? It’s better to drop justice for stability.” Jumblatt is flip but shrewd. An indictment from the tribunal is imminent; rumors are rife that it will name Hezbollah members. That could ignite tensions across an explosive Shia-Sunni (Iran-Arab) fault line. It would also cast Hariri as Hamlet: heading a government including those accused of murdering his father.
Nasrallah has been multiplying warnings and advancing preposterous — but widely believed — theories of Israeli involvement in the assassination. Hariri has been talking less and less about “truth” and meeting more and more with the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
My sense is the passage of time — as well as bungling and inconsistencies — has rendered justice impossible in the Hariri murder. Lebanese stability is precious and tenuous: It trumps justice delayed, flawed and foreign. In its way, the delicate balance of Shia and Sunni interests as the Lebanese economy booms and Hezbollah makes deals with Hariri does represent a new Middle East of money-making pragmatism. It’s just not the one the United States wanted or is ready to deal with. As Houry said, “It’s not either or here. This is not a satellite of Iran. Real liberal instincts endure.” Is anyone listening in D.C.? It’s time to drop either-or diplomacy to address a many-shaded reality.

Hezbollah backer wants 155-year term cut
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A Charlotte, N.C., man who has spent a decade in prison for aiding Hezbollah is trying to get his 155-year sentence cut. Mohamad Hammoud was convicted in 2002 of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization and 13 other crimes, The Charlotte Observer reports. Prosecutors presented evidence that his cell smuggled cigarettes from North Carolina to Michigan and sent the illegal proceeds to Lebanon to finance Hezbollah. Hammoud's attorneys will ask U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen at a hearing Wednesday to reduce his sentence to time served, or at least no more than 15 years. "The overwhelming evidence here is that Mr. Hammoud's original sentence is a miscarriage of justice," attorneys James McLoughlin and Stanley Cohen argued in court documents. But Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Brown and Craig Randall wrote, "Defendant was motivated by fanatical terrorist ideology and, thus, represents a serious future danger to society. Any sentence less than life imprisonment will provide defendant the opportunity and the motivation to carry out acts of violence." Hammoud's case is among hundreds the U.S. Supreme Court has sent back to lower courts after a 2005 ruling that threw out mandatory sentencing practices.

Sleiman, Hariri try to avert Cabinet showdown
Leaders work to ensure ‘false witnesses’ talks will not lead to split among ministers
By Hussein Dakroub
Daily Star staff
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri held meetings separately with rival factions Monday in an attempt to ensure a smooth Cabinet session set for Wednesday, political sources said. Sleiman and Hariri are seeking to ensure that the Cabinet session will not lead to a further split among the ministers when they discuss the controversial issue of “false witnesses” linked to the UN probe into the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the sources said.
Sleiman and Hariri have agreed that the issue of “false witnesses” who allegedly misled the UN investigation would be the first item on the Cabinet’s agenda along with some 300 other topics at Wednesday’s session. The dispute between rival factions over this issue has paralyzed the Cabinet, which has not met since November 10. Sleiman’s meetings with politicians from the March 8 and March 14 factions were aimed to avert a political clash during the Cabinet discussion of the issue of “false witnesses,” the sources said. Both Sleiman and Hariri want to avoid a vote on this issue because they believe such a step would further deepen the split in Cabinet, the sources added. A political source said that the outcome of the contacts has opened the door to a compromise over the issue of “false witnesses.”
“The atmosphere of the contacts is more positive today than before. But so far, there has been no breakthrough. Contacts will continue Monday night and Tuesday in an attempt to reach a solution acceptable to both parties,” the source told The Daily Star Monday night. The source said that the March 8 and March 14 factions were still sticking to their conflicting positions on how the issue of “false witnesses” should be handled. But he added attempts to find a middle-ground solution were continuing. The source noted that Saudi Arabia and Syria were making “serious and real progress” in their mediation efforts to find a solution for the Lebanese deadlock over the impending indictment into Rafik Hariri’s assassination “The talk about progress in the Saudi-Syrian bid is bound to prevent a Cabinet breakup at Wednesday’s session,” the source said.
The 10 ministers of the March 8 camp in Hariri’s 30-member national unity Cabinet will meet Tuesday evening to coordinate their position on the eve of the Cabinet session.
Hariri met Monday with MP Ali Hassan Khalil, a political aide to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, as part of his consultations ahead of the Cabinet session.
“There is still time to create a better atmosphere” for Wednesday’s Cabinet session, Khalil said, according to a statement issued by Hariri’s media office. Khalil, who earlier Monday met with Sleiman, said he felt the parties’ “good intentions” toward reaching an understanding to resolve the current crisis over the indictment.
Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi said that high-level political contacts among rival factions were intensified in a bid to ensure a smooth Cabinet session. In a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency (NNA), Aridi urged rival factions to avoid escalation and accusations of treason and to accompany the Saudi-Syrian mediation attempt which, he said “is continuing and progressing.” Hizbullah’s Agriculture Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan told As-Safir newspaper that the March 8 factions demand that the Cabinet refer the issue of “false witnesses” to the Judicial Council, the country’s highest judicial body. “This issue should be settled at the next Cabinet session,” he said. However, this demand is strongly opposed by the March 14 camp, which maintains that the regular judiciary can look into this case.
The March 14 factions have accused the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance of paralyzing the government and state institutions with its insistence that the issue of “false witnesses” be settled at the next Cabinet session either by consensus or by a vote and also that the issue be referred to the Judicial Council. The Cabinet session comes amid signs that the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is preparing to release very soon its indictment, which is widely expected to implicate some Hizbullah members in Hariri’s assassination further heightening political tension.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea blamed Hizbullah and its allies for the Cabinet paralysis with their insistence on referring the issue of “false witnesses” to the Judicial Council.
He said that referring this issue to the Judicial Council is a step that restricts the STL’s prerogatives. “It is in fact a step that restricts this tribunal’s work,” Geagea said in an interview with the Egyptian Nile Live television. He warned that bowing to the conditions of Hizbullah and its allies would put Lebanon in “a big crisis.”
Geagea dismissed Hizbullah’s argument that the indictment would lead to instability and strife. “I do not think Hizbullah is threatening violence this time because it realizes that the use of violence will not be a picnic,” he said. He added that even if Hizbullah resorted to violence, this would not stop the tribunal’s probe.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah warned that the country’s stability and the government would be in jeopardy once “a forged indictment” that implicates some of its members is issued.
MP Mohammed Raad, head of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc, called on Hariri and his allies in the March 14 camp to revise their calculations and options because the country’s stability would be shaken when the STL issues its indictment.
“The Cabinet is still considering whether to meet or not after it has crippled the country. If a partial issue, which is somewhat linked to the indictment or the tribunal, has crippled the country for two months, what will happen if a forged indictment is issued and fabricated accusations [are made] against innocent people? Will the country or the government survive?” Raad asked in an Ashura event speech carried by the NNA, referring to the issue of “false witnesses.”
Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah said that his group was fighting back against “a tendentious campaign” targeting it.
“We have chosen an appropriate time to launch a counter-campaign to confront this propaganda, media and psychological war before resorting to another approach because the battle today is a battle of public opinion,” Fadlallah said in an Ashura event speech carried by the NNA. Fadlallah said that Hizbullah was still waiting for the results of the Saudi-Syrian efforts to find a solution for the deadlock over the indictment. “It’s true that the indictment will not affect the resistance or its weapons and presence. But this indictment will definitely leave negative repercussions on Lebanon and on the general situation in it,” Fadlallah said, adding that “the post-indictment stage will not be the same as that of the pre-indictment stage.”
Hizbullah’s senior officials have urged Hariri and his allies in the March 14 camp to abandon the STL and reject the indictment as part of a compromise to resolve the political crisis.
Fares Soueid, coordinator of the March 14 Secretariat General, said Hizbullah’s stepped up campaign against the STL and threats against the March 14 factions reflected the group’s “anxiety and tension” over the indictment. In an interview with the Saudi newspaper Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, Soueid dared Hizbullah to carry out its threat of military action against the indictment. “”If they [Hizbullah officials] have taken a decision for military action, let them carry it out,” Soueid said. “Since last August, Hizbullah has been issuing deadlines and propagating military scenarios. Why doesn’t it carry them out? I challenge Hizbullah to carry out its threats.” Referring to Hizbullah’s brief takeover of west Beirut in 2008 to protest a government decision to dismantle the group’s private telecommunications network, he said: “The May 7, 2008, circumstances are different from the 2010 circumstances at the internal, regional and international levels.”

US provides $6-mln boost to Lebanese trade
By The Daily Star /Tuesday, December 14, 2010
BEIRUT: The United States provided Lebanon with assistance valued at $6 million Monday to promote Lebanese trade. US ambassador to Lebanon Ambassador Maura Connelly witnessed the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding between the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Lebanese Economy and Trade Ministry that will expand assistance to Lebanon’s trade sector. The first memorandum, regarding USAID Lebanon’s Agriculture Product Quality Control and Certification (QCC) Program, will support three local Lebanese Chambers of Commerce in testing and developing food products. The second memorandum will support Lebanon’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), which will help expand commercial opportunities for Lebanese businesses and strengthen their linkages to the global economy.
The two programs will enable hundreds of small, medium, and large-scale agro-food producers and processors to provide products that meet international standards, opening new markets for Lebanese goods across the world. Under the $3-million QCC program, USAID will expand the availability and quality of accredited and certified food testing laboratories in Lebanon for the Chambers of Commerce of Saida, Tripoli and Zahle in coordination with ministry. In addition, the other $3 million WTO program, USAID will provide technical assistance to address questions posed by WTO members regarding the implementation of key reforms, build the capacity of trade-related institutions, and raise public awareness to help bring Lebanon’s foreign trade regime into conformity with WTO agreements. Speaking at the signing event, Ambassador Connelly expressed her appreciation for the ministry’s efforts to improve the trade sector in Lebanon. – The Daily Star

The calm before the next storm
Daily Star/Tuesday, December 14, 2010
If a major storm bringing hail, winds topping 100 kilometers per hour and snow to the mountains were to occur in September, that would constitute a surprise. For such a storm to arrive in December, however, cannot come as a surprise to anyone in Lebanon. What has been seen, though, is an absolute absence of preparedness and appropriate response from high-level state institutions. To be sure, Civil Defense staff – as well as the Internal Security Forces, the Civil Aviation Authority, Electricite du Liban and the employees of private enterprises – have made every effort to rectify problems caused by the storm; Civil Defense, it must be said, is perpetually underfinanced and does not possess the equipment capable of ameliorating the tempest’s disastrous effects.
In Lebanon, a natural emergency such as the weekend deluge necessitates the convening of the Cabinet to manage the response; on the contrary, the government has been held hostage to political differences for more than a month, unable even to sit together – much less to act – to address even such an apolitical event begging for centralized direction as a winter storm.
The scale of the damage could be qualified as colossal for wind and rain. The requirements for assistance to this nation’s inhabitants are indeed massive; people’s lives are at stake. The livelihoods of large groups of citizens are imperiled. Farmers and fishermen need help to confront the wreckage of the storm. Beirut’s port suffered significant damage; the airport briefly closed. Electricity poles and transmission antennas were felled by the gales. In Sidon, part of the city’s notorious mountain of garbage washed out to sea and is now returning, fouling the shores of the municipality.
Citizens can find various litanies of other wreckage in the news media and hear reports of the losses afflicting various Lebanese. What they won’t hear are any attributions of responsibility or accountability, a matching exemplar to the Cabinet’s inaction of the lack of the rule of law. Just as it is clear that the government will not meet to react to a natural disaster, certainty exists that no one will be called to account for the damage caused by failures of negligence and incompetence.
Contractors with public tenders have failed to meet standards of adequate storm protection. In every aspect of their work, contractors can cut corners change plans – in other words, cheat – because the executive and judicial branches of this state are incapable of exacting any accountability for dereliction of duty and breach of contract. The state will not press in the courts for damages; the state will not include fines in public contracts for work revealed to be deficient; the state will not even establish a blacklist of contractors who have cheated and cannot be trusted again with public monies. Meteorologists predict that another, similar storm will arrive next week. The storm – and its aftermath – should not surprise anyone.

Syria Told Iran: 'We're Too Weak' to Help You Fight Israel
by Gil Ronen /Haaretz
Tehran asked Syria one year ago to say that it would join Iran and its proxy militia, Hizbullah, in case of a war with Israel, but Syria refused. According to JTA, this information is included in a US diplomatic cable made public by Wikileaks.
The cable from the US embassy in Syria is dated Dec. 22, 2009, and is one of thousands published by WikiLeaks in recent weeks. It relates to a visit to Syria by four high-level Iranian officials and the signing of a defense memorandum of understanding between the two countries.
"Syria reportedly resisted Iranian entreaties to commit to joining Iran if fighting broke out between Iran and Israel or Hizbullah and Israel," said the cable, which was signed by Chuck Hunter, the charge d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Syria.
The cable quoted a source whose identity has been redacted:
"XXXXXXXXXXXX said Iranian officials were in Syria 'to round up allies' in anticipation of an Israeli military strike. 'It (an Israeli strike on Iran) is not a matter of if, but when,' XXXXXXXXXXXX said, reporting what Syrian officials had heard from their Iranian counterparts. The Syrian response was to tell the Iranians not to look to Syria, Hezbollah or Hamas to 'fight this battle.' 'We told them Iran is strong enough on its own to develop a nuclear program and to fight Israel,' he said, adding, 'we’re too weak.' The Iranians know Syria has condemned Israeli threats and would denounce Israeli military operations against Iran. 'But they were displeased with [Syrian leader Bashar] Assad’s response. They needed to hear the truth,' XXXXXXXXXXXX said."
JTA said that while the Iranian visit to Syria was touted at the time as a signal of Syrian support for Iran in its showdown with the West, the cable “notes signs and reports that the Syrians were not eager to receive their guests.”
The Syrian government timed visits from French and Turkish dignitaries to coincide with the period of the Iranians' visit. The presidential spokeswoman discussed the other visits in a press conference but “barely touched on the Iranians.”
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