LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

Bible Of the Day
Psalm 86/1-16/A Prayer by David.
86:1 Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 86:2 Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you. 86:3 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. 86:4 Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul. 86:5 For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive; abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you. 86:6 Hear, Yahweh, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions. 86:7 In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me. 86:8 There is no one like you among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds like your deeds. 86:9 All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord. They shall glorify your name. 86:10 For you are great, and do wondrous things. You are God alone. 86:11 Teach me your way, Yahweh. I will walk in your truth. Make my heart undivided to fear your name. 86:12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart. I will glorify your name forevermore. 86:13 For your loving kindness is great toward me. You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol. 86:14 God, the proud have risen up against me. A company of violent men have sought after my soul, and they don�t hold regard for you before them. 86:15 But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth. 86:16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your handmaid. 86:17 Show me a sign of your goodness, that those who hate me may see it, and be shamed, because you, Yahweh, have helped me, and comforted me.

Sleiman, Hariri to attend ceremony for beatification of Estephan Neameh
By The Daily Star /Saturday, June 26, 2010
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BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman and Premier Saad Hariri will lead a host of politicians, officials and clergy during Sunday�s celebrations to mark the beatification of Estephan Neameh in North Lebanon. The monastery of Mar Qobrianos and Justina in Kfifan, in Batroun, will host Sunday�s gathering, with the Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, to celebrate mass for the event. On Saturday evening, a representative of Pope Benedict XVI will preside over the ceremony to open the resting-place of the monk to the public. The naturally-preserved body of Nehmeh (1889-1938) rests inside a glass coffin at the monastery in Kfifan. The beatification ceremony of Father Nehme, for which Pope Benedict XVI gave the green light in December 2007, will begin on Sunday morning, with the mass celebrated by Sfeir, and be followed by a series of religious ceremonies and events throughout the day.
A range of strict traffic measures will also be in effect for the event, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced Friday.
Starting at 6 pm on Saturday, cars will not be allowed to park on the following roads and highways: Madfun, Tahum, Rashana, Smar Jbeil, Jerran, Kfifan, Batroun, Ejdabra, Abrin and Bijdarfil. For people willing to participate in the celebration, the ISF said buses will be leaving Beirut from two parking lots opposite the City Star resort. For those coming from the north, buses will be available at parking lots near the following locations: the Blue Bay resort, the Saint Estephan church, the Batroun Mosque, Khoury Supermarket, the Sainte Famille School, the Capuchins School and the Nader gasoline station. Parking will also be available in Kfifan for officials participating at the celebration, but a personal invitation card will be required. Buses can park at the Saint Joseph Convent, other vehicles can park in Derya and Bijdarfil Square, and members of the media may park at the IPT petrol station in Madfoun. � The Daily Star

Sleiman calls Assad ahead of latter�s Latin American tour
June 26, 2010 /President Michel Sleiman called his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, on Friday before the start of the latter�s Latin American tour to discuss the current developments in the Middle East as well as bilateral relations, Al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Saturday. Assad embarked on a landmark Latin American tour on Friday to reinforce economic ties with a continent he is visiting for the first time. The Syrian president�s tour will include visits to Venezuela, Brazil, Cuba and Argentina.Sleiman met Assad earlier this month in Damascus, during which the two leaders coordinated on regional and international affairs and discussed bilateral relations.-NOW Lebanon

Israeli intelligence chief to leave post
June 26, 2010 /Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Saturday that Mossad chief Meir Dagan was denied a one-year extension to his tenure as head of the Israeli intelligence service.
Mossad has been chief of the Mossad since 2002. He received Israeli praise for the service�s alleged role in the 2008 assassination of Hezbollah commander Imad Mugniyah as well as wide criticism for the 2010 assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. Israeli operatives were photographed conducting the assassination in Dubai, and Western nations condemned Israel for forging their countries� passports in the operation. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on the report, Haaretz added.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Hezbollah considers filing lawsuit against the US
June 26, 2010 /In an interview with As-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper published on Saturday, Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Kamel Rifai said Hezbollah is studying the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the administration of US President Barack Obama and Lebanese public figures who allegedly received funds from the US to verbally attack Hezbollah.
Hezbollah MPs claim that the US officials used $500 million to bribe Lebanese figures against the party, although a US Embassy in Lebanon spokesperson said last week that the claims were baseless. Meanwhile, US Embassy Public Affairs Officer Ryan Gliha said on Thursday that US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman had, during his recent testimony before Congress, confirmed American support for Lebanon and said Washington aims to support a strong state and an active civil society in the country.
Gliha expanded on the details of US aid to Lebanon, saying that �part of the aid went to the International Bank to cover some of Lebanon�s debt there, and another part went to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and all of these details are available on the Internet.� �We will no longer remain silent,� Rifai said, adding that the Lebanese government should denounce Feltman�s reports of US funds. -NOW Lebanon

Flirting with danger
Hanin Ghaddar, June 26, 2010
Now Lebanon
Regional dynamics are so fragile that any slight incident or clash might lead to war, in Lebanon or the region. Israel has been more vocal with its threats in the past few days, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring on Thursday that any plans by the Iranians or the Lebanese to send aid ships to Gaza were unjustified, as both Iran and Hezbollah, which holds posts in the Lebanese government, were sending missiles and weapons to the territory.
This warning prompted Iran to immediately scrap plans to send an aid ship to Gaza, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA on Friday. IRNA quoted Secretary General of the International Conference for Supporting the Palestinian Intifada Hussein Sheikh al-Islam as saying that the ship was canceled to prevent giving Israel a pretext to attack it. The aid would now be sent to Gaza via another route, he said.
Iran may have heeded the warnings, but it appears Lebanon didn�t. Its ship is still due to sail, despite the threats. �It�s ready to go,� said organizer Samar al-Hajj to Lebanon�s National News Agency. �We are just waiting for the arrival of some foreign women [activists].�
Israel sent a letter to the United Nations earlier this week saying that any ship coming from Lebanon or Iran would be seen as an act of war. Now let us cast our minds back to June 25, 2006, when Hamas kidnapped Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit in Gaza. The act led to military reprisal in Gaza. Just over two weeks later, Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed five more. And the party was surprised when Israel launched a war the very next day.
Today, the warnings signs are clear. If the Lebanese ship heads to Gaza, Israel will interpret it as an act of war and react accordingly. The world will not criticize Israel if it attacks a Lebanese ship or even Lebanon, because Lebanon is not Turkey. Lebanon is an enemy state, one that, according to Israel and the international community, is controlled by Hezbollah and Iran.
Somewhere in this game of brinkmanship is a lesson aching to be learned. Till now, the Lebanese way of resisting Israel has been to fight alone and die alone. Will we ever learn? A Lebanese aid ship should go to Gaza, but accompanied by other vessels from Arab and Western countries. If it were part of an international attempt to break the blockade, Israel would think twice about how it reacted.
But all the Lebanese ship has done is divert attention, and criticism, of Israel�s murderous blunder on the �Freedom Flotilla� in late May. Israel has regained international sympathy by presenting itself as a state exposed to terrorist attacks and one that needs to defend itself. Israel has moved the crisis from the international scene to the Lebanese scene, and all eyes are today on a possible confrontation between the two states, instead of on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
So far, Hezbollah has not been linked to the ship or its organizers, although Hajj is known to be an ardent supporter of the group. Her husband, Ali al-Hajj, was one of four generals detained for nearly four years in connection with the 2005 car bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others. She also met Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on May 21, 2010, a rare honor these days.
However, a direct link between the ship and Hezbollah is not really necessary. Israel now considers, as its officials stated many times, that all of Lebanon is responsible simply because Hezbollah is part of the national unity government.
Earlier this week, Lebanese Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said that Lebanese authorities had granted permission for the ship to sail to Cyprus and then to Gaza. The aid ship cannot directly sail for Gaza as Lebanon and Israel are technically still at war, he explained. But can the Lebanese government really do anything? If it did not give permission, it will be accused of weakness and admitting defeat. On the other hand, giving permission, in light of Israel�s warnings, is not in the state�s interest. It�s a lose-lose situation.
In 2006, Iran needed to divert attention from its nuclear program. It succeeded in doing so by visiting death and destruction on Lebanon by �encouraging� Hezbollah into a war. Today, similar tensions between Israel and Tehran are also reaching a crisis point, especially after the adoption of sanctions on Iran and its refusal to abandon its uranium enrichment program.
The ship is a floating hand grenade with the pin removed. The Palestinians in Gaza need all the support they can get to break the siege, but Lebanon cannot do it alone. Lebanon should wait to join the second Freedom Flotilla and be part of an international movement. Only by doing that will the international community, and Israel, be convinced that our motives are humanitarian. Yes, it�s a shame that we have to do so to prove this, but to do otherwise is simply a risk not worth taking. In any case, the people of Gaza need help, not controversy.
**Hanin Ghaddar is managing editor of NOW Lebanon

Ofeish: We cannot address offshore oil exploration without draft law
June 26, 2010 /Minister of State Mona Ofeish told Future News on Saturday that the Lebanese cannot talk about offshore oil exploration as long as there is no draft law that regulates the matter. She voiced hope a draft law pertaining to the issue would be approved in the cabinet and parliament �to prevent Israel from stealing [Lebanon�s] reserves.�
An-Nahar newspaper reported on Saturday that Energy Minister Gebran Bassil is working to have Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri hurry their efforts to approve a draft law on offshore oil exploration. Development and Liberation bloc MP Ali Hassan Khalil said on Thursday that he proposed a law on oil exploration earlier in the week because of the government�s delayed efforts in sending such a law to parliament. Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau said Thursday his country will not hesitate to use force to protect its gas fields from Lebanon. -NOW Lebanon

Lebanon permits Gaza-bound ship to sail to Cyprus
The Associated Press/Saturday, June 26, 2010
Another blockade-busting ship with activists and aid on board could embark within days on a new attempt to reach Gaza after Lebanese authorities granted permission Monday for it to sail first to Cyprus. Israeli navy commandos raided a blockade-busting international flotilla bound for Gaza on May 31, killing nine pro-Palestinian activists. An international outcry over the raid pressured Israel to ease its three-year-old blockade of the Palestinian territory.
"We have been granted permission to go to Cyprus and we are now in the process of making final preparations," said Yasser Kashlak, a 39-year-old Syrian of Palestinian origin who heads the group organizing the trip_ the Free Palestine Movement. He said the ship plans to sail in the next few days, but did not give an exact departure date because of security concerns.
The new challenge to the blockade comes just days after Israel eased its three-year ban on all but humanitarian goods for Gaza. Israel said Sunday it will now allow in everything except weapons or other items deemed to have a military use.
Israel imposed the blockade of Gaza after Hamas militants overran Gaza in 2007. But the blockade did not achieve Israel's aims of keeping weapons out of the territory, pressuring Gazans to turn on their Hamas rulers or winning the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas-linked militants for four years.
Lebanese Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said the ship named "Julia" is now docked at the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli and can set sail once it is cleared by port authorities there. He said it would be allowed to sail to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus and not directly to Gaza because Lebanon and Israel are technically in a state of war and Lebanon views Gaza as Israeli controlled.
The Cypriot government last month banned any vessel setting sail to Gaza from Cypriot shores. But the activists could skirt the ban by sailing to a port in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of the island, outside the effective control of the internationally recognized, Greek Cypriot-dominated government in the south.
Turkey was the unofficial sponsor of the flotilla in May and all of those killed in the clash were Turkish.
In Cyprus, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said authorities have not received any official word that a Gaza-bound ship is planning to sail from Lebanon and the organizers did not say which port in Cyprus they planned to sail to.
Israel has made clear that even though it has eased its land blockade of Gaza, it maintains a naval blockade and will not allow any ships to dock there for fear they could bring weapons to Hamas.
About a week the deadly flotilla raid in May, Israeli forces seized another Gaza-bound ship with aid and activists on it without meeting resistance, preventing it from busting the blockade. No one was hurt.
Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gabriela Shalev, warned Friday that the attempt to sail from Lebanon could escalate tensions and affect peace and security in the region. She cited in particular the ships' departure from Lebanon which "remains in a state of hostility with Israel." She also cited "a possible link" between the organizers and the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, which is part of the Lebanese government and fought a war with Israel in 2006, has denied it is involved in organizing the Lebanese ship.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Monday urged all parties to avoid actions that would hinder Israel's easing of the blockade and "give Israel the opportunity to backtrack and return to the siege."
The Free Palestine Movement, which is organizing the ship from Lebanon, also participated in the international flotilla involved in the deadly raid. Asked about the Israeli warnings, the organizer Kashlak said: "The dogs that bark don't bite."
He was speaking in an interview with The Associated Press.
"I urge them (the Israelis) to leave my land and my country ... and ... to return to the countries that they came from," Kashlak said. "(Israel) is a human monster. This is not my enemy. This is the enemy of humanity," he added. "No other people in history have killed as many children as this terrorist enemy has. They are the remains of Europe's trash."
"Julia" is one of two ships planning a blockade-busting trip from Lebanon to Gaza this month. Another ship called "Mariam," named after the virgin Mary, is also planning to make the voyage, carrying some 50 women activists including Arabs, Europeans and four American nuns as well as cancer medication to Gaza. It was not clear whether the two ships would leave together.
The Israeli military said Monday it was already ready to increase the transfer of food and household items to Gaza by 30 percent, so that up to 140 trucks filled with goods would be able to pass into Gaza daily. But it remained unclear when desperately needed construction materials would begin to flow across the border.
Netanyahu defended his decision to ease the blockade on Monday, saying it would boost Israel's security and help improve the country's battered image.
___
Associated Press Writer Menelaos Hadjicostis contributed to this report from Nicosia, Cyprus.

U.S. Military Surrounds Iran
25 June 2010
MEDYA
http://medyanews.com/english/?p=2632
Iran�s Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Mehdi Moini said Tuesday that his forces are mobilized �due to the presence of American and Israeli forces on the western border.� The Guards reportedly have called in tanks and anti-aircraft units to the area in what amounts to a war alert.
By Christian A. DeHaemer
Friday, June 25th, 2010
There are a number of Arab media reports that have said that Saudi Arabia has permitted Israel Air Force choppers to land in its country.
The reports go on to claim that Saudi leaders have offered the IAF a logistical base in the northwest that would act as a stage for an aerial assault against Iran�
This is further backed by a report in the Times of London from two weeks ago; the story said the Saudi Royal Family has agreed to allow IAF jets in the country�s airspace.
Yet both the IDF and Saudi officials have denied these reports.
Here is a must-read on the change in the balance of power in the region due to a Turkey-Iran alliance.
Israel is the enemy
The Saudis do not officially recognize the State of Israel. They officially regard the country as an enemy.
That said, Riyadh isn�t happy about the possibility of an Iranian nuclear bomb. The Saudis opened an air corridor and leaked the story to show Iran that there are more options than economic sanctions.
U.S. makes nice with Azerbaijan
The Iranian press has reported a large amount of U.S. ground forces amassing in neighboring Azerbaijan.
The independent Azerbaijani news site Trend confirmed these reports:
Iran�s Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Mehdi Moini said Tuesday that his forces are mobilized �due to the presence of American and Israeli forces on the western border.� The Guards reportedly have called in tanks and anti-aircraft units to the area in what amounts to a war alert.
Two weeks ago, according to Radio Free Europe, President Obama promised Azerbaijani President Aliyev that it would make its dispute with Armenia a top priority.
Fleet Week in the Persian Gulf
Earlier in the week, the Pentagon confirmed that an unusually large fleet of U.S. warships had indeed passed through Egypt�s Suez Canal en route to the Persian Gulf. At least one Israeli warship reportedly joined the American armada. There are also Israeli nuclear armed submarines.
According to PrisonPlanet.com:
Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.
The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organization in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.
The submarines of Flotilla 7 � Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan � have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.
Ahmadinejad eggs them on
Turkish network Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA.ir) reported that the Iranian president has said Tel Aviv is not capable or military action against Iran.
�The Zionist regime is too weak to launch aggression against Iran. They long to deal a blow to Iran, but wouldn�t dare even think about it,� said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. �They all know that playing with Iran is like playing with a lion.�
In 1981, Israel bombed a Baghdad nuclear reactor
An attack by Israel is not unprecedented. In 1981, the Israelis bombed a nuclear plant which they believed was designed to make nuclear weapons that would destroy Israel.
The Israeli government said at the time: �The atomic bombs which that reactor was capable of producing whether from enriched uranium or from plutonium, would be of the Hiroshima size. Thus a mortal danger to the people of Israel progressively arose.�

Assad seeks investment for Syria in Latin America
President to visit Brazil, Cuba, Argentina and Venezuela
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Khaled Yacoub Oweis
Reuters
DAMASCUS: Syria President Bashar Assad will make a rare visit to Latin America aimed at extending his country�s diplomatic reach after emerging from Western isolation, and attracting investment for his country�s ageing infrastructure. Assad, who faces a decline in domestic oil production and droughts that have hit agriculture, will be looking to reinforce links with a rich Syrian expatriate community in the region and with economic power Brazil.
Official Syrian media said Assad will travel to Brazil, Cuba, Argentina and Venezuela, without giving a timetable. He is expected to arrive in Venezuela later on Friday.
�Brazil is a rising power and Syria is aware of this. The president�s visit will help convince the Syrian expatriate community to begin investing in Syria,� said Thabet Salem, a Syrian journalist and commentator. Brazil, together with Turkey, brokered a deal with Syria�s ally Iran for Tehran to send abroad low-enriched uranium in return for reactor fuel. The deal did not stop the United Nations Security Council from imposing a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran this month, which Brazil opposed.
Diplomats in Damascus said that while Syria agrees with Brazil�s efforts to solve the impasse between Iran and the West, Assad�s visit will be more focused on bilateral issues and the Arab country�s hopes to attract $44 billion in private investment over the next five years to repair its infrastructure.
That figure represents 80 percent of Syria�s gross domestic product, which is a fraction of Brazilian output.
Brazilian Parliament Speaker Michel Tamer said the two sides will sign trade and technology cooperation protocols. Brazil already supplies Syria with most of its sugar.
�The Arab expatriate community has an economic and cultural weight that will help expand cooperation with Syria on the government level,� Tamer told the official Syrian news agency.
Jihad Yazigi, publisher of the Syria Report economic newsletter said while Syrian expatriate investment is minimal, Syria stands to gain from shifting global economic trends in favour of Latin America. �The south-south cooperation is interesting in the context of the relative decline of the West,� Yazigi said.
�Venezuela may be a poor country but it has oil and is supporting anti-US sentiment. What Syria gets out of this could be an asset,� he added, pointing two visits to Syria in the last four years by President Hugo Chavez, one of Washington�s most vocal critics.
Syria has welcomed overtures by US President Barack Obama for detente with Damascus, but has rejected US calls for it to cut its links with Lebanon�s Hizbullah movement or Palestinian militant groups. Venezuela and Iran had announced plans to build a refinery in Syria, but the project remains confined to paper, with Iran unable to solve its own shortage of refining capacity.
Syria, whose population of 20 million people is rising by 2.5 percent a year, imports most of its gas oil needs.
Its crude oil production is also declining, with Syrian oil minister forecasting production to fall to an average of 340,000 barrels per day over the next 15 years compared with a 590,000 bpd peak in 1996. Yazigi said Syria, which is one of a few Middle East countries with a manufacturing base � albeit in need of overhaul � could learn from the experience of Brazil, one of the �Brics� comprising Russia, India and China. �Syria�s ties are good with all the Bric nations, which still have an important manufacturing sector,� Yazigi said.
The International Monetary Fund forecasts Syria�s economy to grow 5 percent this year, compared with 4 percent in 2009 and 5.2 percent in 2008. But consecutive droughts in Eastern Syria have displaced up to one million people. Under Assad, who succeeded his late father in 2000, the Syrian state has sought to attract foreign investment and shed a legacy of a closed economy and bans on private enterprise under the Baath Party, which has ruled Syria since 1963.

Bassil wants ministers, MPs to collaborate on offshore drilling
Saturday, June 26, 2010 /Listen to the Article - Powered by
BEIRUT: The Parliament and the Cabinet should play a complementary role in approving a law allowing offshore drilling for oil, according to Energy and Water Minister Gibran Bassil.
Bassil spoke to reporters after a meeting on Friday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, during which the two men discussed ways to accelerate endorsement of the draft legislation.
The two held talks at Berri�s residence in Ain al-Tineh. Earlier, Parliament�s Joint Committees failed to discuss a similar law forwarded by Marjayoun-Hasbaya MP Ali Hassan Khalil, an Amal Movement official, due to a lack of quorum. According to the Central News Agency, the reason for failure was that political factions had conflicting views over whether the Cabinet or the Parliament had the right to study and approve the draft. Earlier this month, reports said that Israel was planning to take control of a gas field that stretches into Lebanese territorial waters.
�The Cabinet is studying a technical project it received from the Energy Ministry three months ago, and any MP has the right to forward a law [to the legislature] as well,� said Bassil.
Bassil called for a quick ending of the debate, urging the Cabinet and all concerned parties to approve the concerned law.
He also urged Cabinet and Parliament to take steps to inform the UN of Lebanon�s maritime borders with Israel, given the latter�s intention to violate those borders.
Legal expert Hassan Rifai told the Central News Agency on Friday that the executive branch has the precedence when it comes to endorsing a law allowing offshore drilling for oil.
�This issue requires forging agreements with companies, along with securing sufficient funds in the treasury, which does not fall under Parliament�s prerogative,� added Rifai.

When wise words are just wrong
Daily Star
Saturday, June 26, 2010
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Editorial
While visiting Tunisia on Friday, Prime Minister Saad Hariri dusted off one of the longstanding mantras of Lebanese regional political philosophy: a stable Lebanon represents a threat to Israel.
The premier left unexplained why he and so many others have for decades believed this to be so. That answer was actually given by Lebanese politician Raymond Edde during a visit to Washington in the early 1970s. Feted at the State Department and the World Bank, Edde pronounced the mantra. When asked for its logic, he said that a stable Lebanon was neither a military or economic threat to Israel, but rather embodied a towering refutation of the very concept of the country � that non-Muslim minorities such as Jews and Christians (and even, some would add, the Druze) could never live peacefully in a Muslim-majority country, and therefore the Jews needed their own � Jewish � homeland.
Without descending into the tar pit of conspiracy theories, the historical record has since revealed to us that many of the difficulties encountered by Jewish populations in Iraq, Morocco, Egypt and Yemen were, in fact, partly the result of agitation by Israeli elements in order to attract more regional Jews to the nascent Israeli state.
This nugget of political thought still retains a significant resonance; indeed, it would contain genuine truth to counter the massive propaganda and lobbying machine that Israel unceasingly wields to paint itself as surrounded by bloodthirsty and irredeemable terrorists.
But what have we done in the past 40 years in Lebanon to prove that minorities can coexist peacefully? In a sense, Hariri is both right and wrong to adhere to this philosophy today. He is right that Lebanon could be a safe and stable home to minorities and foreigners, and so expose Israeli rhetoric as bogus.
Alas, he is also deeply wrong, in that he, his closest allies and the political elite are the main reason why Lebanon is not stable. The problem is not in the Lebanese communities themselves � the inability to coexist peacefully, so painfully demonstrated in recent decades, is manufactured and exacerbated by the political leadership in order to secure reliable support from their foreign patrons. The Lebanese communities are like the marine environments beneath the surface of our seas, resilient, functioning and eternal, while the political class is the hideous pollution on the surface, the aspect most obvious to a foreign observer.
The political elite in Lebanon has squandered the great potential of this nation, and now the country has slipped from nearly becoming an emblem of coexistence to teetering on the abyss of endemic, sectarian-based strife � and a perpetually unstable state. From this perspective, the use of this political insight from the mouths of all the Hariris, Jumblatts, Nasrallahs, Geageas and Gemayels is profoundly wrong.

Creative and manipulative, Petraeus expects to win
By David Ignatius
Commentary by
Saturday, June 26, 2010
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General David Petraeus didn�t sign on as the new Afghanistan commander because he expects to lose. That�s the boldest aspect of President Barack Obama�s decision: He has put a troubled Afghanistan campaign in the hands of a man who has had the experience of bending what looked like failure in Iraq toward an acceptable measure of success. Obama has doubled down on his bet, much as President George W. Bush did with his risky surge of troops in Iraq under Petraeus� command.
Here�s a simple way to think about the change of command: If the Taliban sold stock, its price would surely have fallen after Wednesday�s announcement. It�s hard to see how Petraeus can rejigger the pieces of this puzzle, but as I�ve heard him say: �The thing about winners is that they know how to win.�
Petraeus is, among other things, the most deft political figure I�ve seen in uniform. He has gone in the space of two years from being Bush�s go-to general to being Barack Obama�s. He accomplished that transition with some artful dancing, to be sure. But he never forgot that no matter how much of a military rock star he might have become (and how much envy and resentment this created among some of his peers), he still worked for civilian leadership, one president at a time.
If I were Petraeus, I would have bargained for one thing before agreeing to replace General Stanley McChrystal as commander of US forces in Afghanistan � the time needed to succeed. This means a flexible, conditions-based interpretation of Obama�s July 2011 timetable for beginning to withdraw troops.
Petraeus offered a carefully worded, deliberately ambiguous formula when he testified before the House and Senate Armed Services committees last week: �It�s important that July 2011 be seen for what it is, the date when a process begins based on conditions, not the date when the US heads for the exits.� The administration is still split on what this means � and it�s Petraeus� biggest potential problem.
Petraeus has watched McChrystal�s troubles with mounting concern. For someone as attuned to political nuance as Petraeus, it was a shock to see McChrystal stumble in his public statements � and allow his aides to speak to Rolling Stone magazine in language that bordered on insubordination. Petraeus, surely the most media-savvy commander in uniform, will not make those mistakes.
I�ve traveled extensively with Petraeus over the past six years in Iraq and Afghanistan. What stands out, beyond his extraordinary ambition and willpower, is his willingness to experiment � especially when the chips are down. In putting together the surge strategy, he gathered a team of iconoclasts � officers who were willing to think outside the box about what would work.
Creativity will be crucial in Afghanistan, where the strategy McChrystal devised is, frankly, spinning its wheels. I would bet that Petraeus will put more emphasis on bottom-up experiments. He�s good at working both sides of the street � placating presidents and prime ministers while he dickers with local militia leaders.
Petraeus is also an operator, in the sense that he likes to use back-channel emissaries to communicate with a wide range of players. Such a strategic edge has been missing in our Afghanistan policy, and it will become crucial next year, as we enter a likely phase of contact with the Taliban and its allies to explore a possible reconciliation deal. Nobody is better in the United States military at the mix of fighting and talking in such ambiguous situations.
Petraeus must now bring order to the discordant characters in Obama�s �team of rivals� on Afghan policy. The new commander understands, too, that this strategy might better be called �Pak-Af,� since the key to success is Pakistani willingness to close the Taliban�s safe havens in the tribal areas. He has a clear vision, too, of how the Kandahar campaign must unfold, with US and Afghan forces working together in �joint security stations� across the city, as happened in Baghdad during the surge.
Traveling with Petraeus in Afghanistan last October, I watched as he turned a routine visit to the wondrously named village of Baraki Barak into a lesson in hands-on counterinsurgency. He drank glass after glass of tea from a dirty mug, scarfed down loaves of flatbread, literally breathed in the place � to give the local residents a personal sense of the American mission. That�s the creative, manipulative, media-age commander that Obama has chosen for Kabul.
*Syndicated columnist David Ignatius is published twice weekly by THE DAILY STAR.

Lebanese PM and Hezbollah oppose Lebanese ships to Gaza; Quartet opposes more flotillas
June 24, 9:30 PMMideast Headlines ExaminerAvram
According to reports from Israeli media, the planned launch of Lebanese ships bound for Gaza may have run aground.
Lebanese prime minister Said Hariri and Hezbollah are working to stop the Lebanese flotilla, according to a report attributed originally to Al Liwa, an Arabic daily.
They are concerned that the flotilla will raise tensions in the area, and Hariri is reported to be concerned about alienating European nations that have troops in a United Nations peace keeping force in Southern Lebanon.
Prior to the Turkey flagged flotilla, Israel reported they expected the border between Lebanon and Israel (Lebanon's southern border) to remain quiet this summer despite the build-up of Hezbollah's rocket stockpile.
Haaretz reported late today that the Iranians have cancelled their flotilla. However Army Radio reports that another ship is being prepared. There were earlier reports today from Al Liwa that the Iranians were considering canceling their flotilla.
Also today, the state department announced that the U.S. , with other members of the Quartet, supports the process Israel has in place to inspect and deliver goods bound for Gaza and disapproves of further aid flotillas for Gaza. Specifically, the U.S. State department released the following statement, as reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
"We, along with our partners in the Quartet, urge all those wishing to deliver goods to do so through established channels so that their cargo can be inspected and transferred via land crossings into Gaza," it said. "There is no need for unnecessary confrontations, and we, along with our partners in the Quartet, call on all parties to act responsibly in meeting the needs of the people of Gaza."
The Quartet consists of the four primary players in the Middle East peace process: the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
On Sunday, hundreds of flotilla activists protested Israel's interception of the Turkey flagged flotilla at the Port of Oakland, as an Israeli cargo vessel tried to unload. The protest reportedly delayed the unloading of the Israeli ship by about one day. (See video.)
In another protest of Israel's interception of the Turkish flotilla, some 1500 Swedish dock workers began a week-long boycott of Israeli ships Tuesday at midnight.
At the beginning of the the month, a Turkey flagged flotilla of six ships tried to run Israel's blockade of Gaza. One of the six ships in the Turkish flotilla was boarded by individual Israeli soldiers sliding down ropes from helicopters. As they landed on the ship's top deck, armed with paint guns and small side-arms, they were set upon by a mob of 40 armed IHH recruits, nine of whom were eventually killed by the Israelis.

Clare M. Lopez, The U.S. Counterterrorism Advisory Team is an initiative of the Family Security Foundation
Lopez named deputy director of U.S. Counterterrorism Advisory Team
By LTC Thomas S. Mullikin Friday, June 25, 2010
  Clare M. Lopez, a retired operations officer with the CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA), has been named deputy director of the newly formed U.S. Counterterrorism Advisory Team (USCTAT), a 10-plus member council composed of nationally recognized military, counterterrorism, and intelligence experts, serving as the ascendant organization to a variety of subordinate counterterrorism initiatives, including a research arm, a special branch, an executive tasking branch, and Counterterrorism Task Force-SCMD (which is responsible for providing information to - and briefing - the Joint Services Detachment, S.C. Military Department).
USCTAT�s expert advisors include - among others - Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely (U.S. Army, Ret.), former FOX News military analyst; Dr. Walid Phares, professor and international terrorism expert; Jed Babbin, former U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense; and Col. Danny R. McKnight (U.S. Army, Ret.), the battalion commander (portrayed by actor Tom Sizemore in the movie, BLACK HAWK DOWN) in Task Force RANGER, Mogadishu, 1993.
�Like all of our advisors, Clare brings years of real world experience to the USCTAT table and is a leading voice in terms of educating the public about the terrorist threats facing us,� says USCTAT director and nationally recognized counter-terrorism expert, W. Thomas Smith Jr., a former U.S. Marine who today holds a commission in the S.C. Military Department. �She not only served 20 years with CIA, but it was operational service here in the U.S. and overseas involving counterintelligence, counternarcotics, and counter-proliferation issues with a regional focus on the former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. She speaks several languages - Spanish, Bulgarian, French, German, and Russian, and currently is studying Farsi. And she�s been working with the team since before we were a team.�
In addition to her deputy directorship, Lopez serves as both vice pres. of the Intelligence Summit and professor at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies (CI Centre) where she teaches courses on the Iranian Intelligence Services, and the expanding influence of Jihad and Sharia in Europe and the U.S. She is the former executive director of the Iran Policy Committee, and she is a consultant to DoD contractors that provide clandestine operations training to military intelligence personnel.
The U.S. Counterterrorism Advisory Team is an initiative of the Family Security Foundation, Inc. (FSFI).
Among FSFI�s other national security initiatives is an ongoing partnership with the U.S. Congress�s bipartisan Anti-Terrorism Caucus.

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