LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِApril 11/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
John 9/1-41: " As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 9:2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 9:3 Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him. 9:4 I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. 9:5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 9:6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, 9:7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing. 9:8 The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” 9:9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.” 9:10 They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?” 9:11 He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.” 9:12 Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.” 9:13 They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. 9:14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 9:15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.” 9:16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them. 9:17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 9:18 The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, 9:19 and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 9:20 His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 9:21 but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.” 9:22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 9:23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.” 9:24 So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 9:25 He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.” 9:26 They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 9:27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?” 9:28 They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 9:29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.” 9:30 The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 9:31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God, and does his will, he listens to him.* 9:32 Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. 9:33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 9:34 They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” They threw him out. 9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” 9:36 He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” 9:37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.” 9:38 He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him. 9:39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.” 9:40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 9:41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
The Syria peace myth/By: Guy Bechor/April 10/11
Hezbollah…So we all agree/By Tariq Alhomayed/April 10/11
Step Assad/By: David Schenker/April 10/11
Lebanon’s unarmed forces?/By: Matt Nash/April 10/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 10/11
Rights Activists Say Syrian Security Forces Killed 28 Protesters/Naharnet
Iran Expels Several Kuwaiti Diplomats/Naharnet
Report: France Informed Suleiman that he Should Play Balancing Role in Lebanon/Naharnet/
Hamas fires 24 Grads, 50 shells Saturday. A million Israelis still in shelters/DEBKAfile
Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive/Israel ruled out military option on Iran years ago/Haaretz
Israeli Official Warns from the Threat of 'Hizbullastan'/Naharnet
Nasrallah Slams Hariri for Making 'Big Mistake' of Harming Ties with Iran/Naharnet
Iran blames Jordan, Saudi Arabia for Syria/UPI
Syria Forces 'Kill 28 At Peaceful Protests'/Sky news
Rights group: 26 protesters killed in Syria demonstrations/J.Post
Why Isn't Western and Arab Media in Syria?/The Weekly Standard
Dozens Dead in Yemen, Egypt, Syria as Protests Shake Middle East Countries/Bloomberg
Fresh violence breaks out in Syria/Washington Post
Why America Should Be Hoping Bashar Assad Gets Overthrown/New Republic
Kabbara: Iran is strange, should Leave Lebanon, Arabs alone/Ya Libnan
March 8 and 14 Forces Fight Over Engineers Syndicate /Naharnet
Miqati Frustrated Over Attempts to Hold him Responsible for Cabinet Formation Delay /Naharnet
Report: France Informed Suleiman that he Should Play Balancing Role in Lebanon /Naharnet
Woman Killed in Bourj al-Barajneh Celebratory Gunfire /Naharnet
Jumblat Calls on Hariri to Understand Hizbullah's Structure: March 14's Campaign against Arms Will Fail /Naharnet
Suleiman Meets Baroud, Calls for Calming Political Rhetoric and Returning to Dialogue /Naharnet
March 14 Says Cabinet Would be Formed According to Hizbullah's Wishes/Naharnet

Hezbollah…So we all agree
10/04/2011
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
It seems that the "Wikileaks" documents have begun to have a positive effect in Lebanon, as today we see a media battle taking place between the Shiite Amal movement, and the Iranian sponsored Hezbollah. This is a positive development because, although we've yet to see them reach a consensus, we are witnessing them settle scores amongst themselves.
In the "Wikileaks" documents, it was revealed that during interviews with the Americans, a number of MPs and ministers belonging to the Development and Liberation Bloc, affiliated with Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, had shown indignation towards Hezbollah, its weaponry, its domination of Lebanon, and they even talked about Hezbollah's apparent subordination to Iran. The documents also revealed the restlessness of Berri's men with regards to Syria, saying that if a clear arrangement was not reached with Syria to deal with the International Tribunal for the Assassination of Rafik Hariri, then Hezbollah would turn Lebanon into a living hell by resorting to car bombs and terrorist attacks. To make matters worse, the sources claimed that Syria was also capable of mobilizing its agents in Lebanon, namely the Palestinians, and its sleeper cells, in order to do the same thing!
These are important words, and they must be taken seriously, rather than just be labeled as propaganda. This is for the simple reason that Hezbollah itself is taking these words seriously - it has called for the immediate resignation of each political figure quoted in the Wikileaks documents. Berri's group, like Hezbollah, have already relied much on the Wikileaks documents to damage their opponents like Saad Hariri and Fouad Siniora, let alone other Arab countries, so they cannot deem them to be credible here, and false there. How could Hezbollah, or the Amal movement, claim that the documents are true when they serve their interests, and false if they do not? Furthermore, these documents are not the first, but there have been other documents revealing that followers of General Aoun have talked in the same vein about Hezbollah!
Through these Wikileaks documents, which quoted followers of Nabih Berri and revealed their opinions of Hezbollah, the danger of its weaponry, and its affiliation to Iran, we can deduce that the so-called moderate Arab camp has been, and still is, correct in its view of the gravity of Hezbollah and its weapons, the seriousness of its alliance with Syria, and the role they play in Lebanon. This is not the opinion of the moderates only, but also the view of Hezbollah's allies in the Amal movement, as the documents show.
It is true that the events in our region today, and the position of Iran and Hezbollah towards them, specifically their stances towards what is happening in Bahrain and Syria, have exposed Tehran and Hezbollah completely. While they criticize the Bahraini government, in support of the Shiites there, we find them supporting the regime in Damascus, which is suppressing the Syrian demonstrators with violence, even depicting the demands of the Syrians as being fostered externally. Yet more importantly here are the Wikileaks documents, and what they reveal about Hezbollah's allies in Lebanon. They reveal that everyone, whether in Lebanon or the wider region, or even in the Shiite Amal movement, is in agreement about the affiliation of Hezbollah towards Iran, and the danger of its weaponry, and this is highly important!

Iran Expels Several Kuwaiti Diplomats
Naharnet/Iran has expelled "several" Kuwaiti diplomats in retaliation for the expulsion of Tehran's diplomats accused of spying in the Gulf emirate, the Arabic-language al-Alam television reported on Sunday. "Iran expelled in retaliation several Kuwaiti diplomats," the station announced, quoting an informed source who did not reveal how many diplomats had been asked to leave the country. The source said the Kuwaiti embassy had been told that the diplomats were to leave Iran "soon", al-Alam reported. The development comes after Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Sabah announced on March 31 that a number of Iranian diplomats would be expelled for alleged links to a spy ring working for Tehran. Iran was quick to reject the accusation, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying Tehran did not need to spy on its "friends" in the neighboring countries. "It is clear that (this allegation) has no meaning. What is this spying in Kuwait all about? What does Kuwait have that we spy on it?" Ahmadinejad asked at a press conference on April 4. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi had also dismissed Kuwaiti charges, saying it was a "conspiracy" aimed at sowing discord among Islamic countries.(AFP) Beirut, 10 Apr 11, 13:30

Rights Activists Say Syrian Security Forces Killed 28 Protesters
Naharnet/Syrian security forces killed a total of 28 people on Friday, human rights activists said Sunday. Twenty-six died at the funerals of protesters killed in and around the southern agricultural town of Daraa, while two more were shot dead in the industrial town of Homs, in west central Syria. "Police and security services broke up peaceful demonstrations on Friday by firing live ammunition, causing the death of 26 people," six Syrian human rights groups said in a joint statement. Thousands of people attended the funerals of 17 people gunned down in Daraa, flashpoint of more than three weeks of anti-government protests. In addition, the groups say the authorities have been carrying out "arbitrary arrests" in different regions, and they said that 13 people had been detained in the Mediterranean coastal towns of Latakia and Jabla. The statement called on the Syrian authorities to "face up to their responsibilities by bringing an end to the spiral of violence, to the murders and the bloodbath on the streets of Syria, whatever the origin of that violence." The groups also expressed "their concern at the determination of the Syrian authorities to continue their violations of human rights and basic freedoms, such as the right to demonstrate peacefully and the freedom of opinion and expression." The rights groups which signed the statement and say they have a list of the names of all 28 victims, included the Syrian National Organization for Human Rights, the Kurdish Committee for Human Rights and the Defense Committee for Democratic Freedom and Human Rights. Meanwhile, a witness said plain-clothes agents of the Syrian government wounded five people in the Mediterranean coastal town of Banias on Sunday in a drive-by shooting during morning prayers. Seven cars "carrying people sent by the regime arrived in front of the Abu Bakr al-Sidiq mosque and their occupants opened fire," the witness told AFP. "Five people were wounded," he added. "One was inside the mosque while the other four were in the surrounding area."(AFP) Beirut, 10 Apr 11, 11:54

Report: France Informed Suleiman that he Should Play Balancing Role in Lebanon
Naharnet/France informed President Michel Suleiman that he has a pivotal role in guaranteeing a balance of power between the different political factions in the country, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported Sunday.Informed French sources told the newspaper that President Nicolas Sarkozy sent a letter to his Lebanese counterpart with his envoy Patrice Paoli, stressing that Paris considers Suleiman a "guarantor of institutions." Sarkozy stressed that Suleiman has a pivotal role at a time when Premier-designate Najib Miqati is seeking to form a one-sided government, the sources said. The French president warned that the international community would be monitoring the moves of the government and urged Suleiman to act as a go-between.
Paris also asked Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji through Paoli to increase the number of military units in the south, stressing that the mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was to facilitate the deployment of the army and not replace it. "The number of army units in the south should increase so that it becomes responsible for the security of the south," the French sources told al-Hayat. Qahwaji promised the French envoy to deploy more troops in the area south of the Litani river, they said. Al-Hayat reported that Paris believes the situation in Lebanon became complicated since Hizbullah toppled Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri's cabinet and nominated Najib Miqati to form the new government. Beirut, 10 Apr 11, 10:19

Israeli Official Warns from the Threat of 'Hizbullastan'
Naharnet/Head of the Israeli defense ministry's political-security bureau Amos Gilad has said that Iran and Syria were supplying Hizbullah with missiles via planes and ships, adding that the Shiite party has more than 45,000 missiles. "This poses a threat to Israel," Gilad told the Kuwaiti al-Rai daily in remarks published Sunday. "Lebanon is a state without a constitution, and a constitution without a state. The president and the speaker are not aware of anything that is happening in the other half of their country," he said. "This vacuum leads to the establishment of what we call Hizbullastan … which is active in smuggling weapons and does not need the approval of the Customs," Gilad added. He mocked that if anyone asked President Michel Suleiman how many missiles Hizbullah had, he would not know what to answer because he doesn't have any information on the issue. The Israeli official called Lebanon a "beautiful country" and slammed Syrian President Bashar Assad for allegedly violating Lebanese sovereignty. "I have a dream to clinching a tourism deal to visit the eastern mountains of Lebanon and Beirut," he told al-Rai. Gilad also slammed Iran, saying its nuclear program represents the biggest political challenge to Israel and is a threat to Gulf countries. Beirut, 10 Apr 11, 08:33

Nasrallah Slams Hariri for Making 'Big Mistake' of Harming Ties with Iran
Naharnet/Nasrallah expressed pride in the party's ties with Iran and slammed Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri for allegedly "making a big mistake" in harming Lebanon's relations with Tehran.
"We are proud of our relationship and alliance with Iran and Syria," Nasrallah said in a statement broadcast on television on Saturday night. "You won't find WikiLeaks here because what we say publicly is what we say privately," he said about the latest cables leaked by the website. The Hizbullah leader accused Hariri of seeking to harm the country's ties with Iran, saying "you accused me of damaging Lebanese-Arab relations after my speech on Bahrain … you can't say what you said about Iran as long as you are a caretaker prime minister." He added that Hariri could verbally attack Iran only as leader of al-Mustaqbal movement. Nasrallah was referring to the latest war of words between the two foes when Hariri accused Iran of meddling in Lebanon's affairs and taking Arab societies "hostage," sparking a harsh rebuke from Hizbullah. The Shiite party secretary-general also slammed Bahrain for allegedly threatening to expel some Lebanese citizens, warning that such a move "would lead to complications." He did not specify what he meant by such complications. Last month, Bahrain made a formal complaint to the Lebanese government over Nasrallah's offer of support to mainly Shiite protesters demanding reforms in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Bahrain also suspended flights to Lebanon and warned its nationals not to visit Beirut after Nasrallah criticized Arab states for backing Bahrain's rulers while supporting the rebels in Libya. Defending Syria, Nasrallah said: "Syria never expelled any Lebanese from its territories despite all what the March 14 forces said about it."Nasrallah also called for the quick formation of the government, hinting that the new cabinet would be made up of political figures and some technocrats. Beirut, 10 Apr 11, 07:38

March 14 Says Cabinet Would be Formed According to Hizbullah's Wishes
Naharnet/A March 14 official has stressed that the new government would be shaped according to Hizbullah's will unlike what the Shiite party leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has claimed.
In remarks to An Nahar newspaper on Sunday, the officials said: "The cabinet will not be as (Premier-designate Najib) Miqati wants it to be. It will surely be a government based on Hizbullah's desires." The official said that Nasrallah did not talk about events in Syria in his TV address on Saturday. March 14 general-secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid also said that the Hizbullah leader didn't bring up the issue of the international tribunal and developments in Syria. "He also avoided mentioning his problem with his allies Speaker Berri and Gen. Aoun, and MP Walid Jumblat," Soaid said. Furthermore, Nasrallah did not urge Miqati to speed up the formation of the government, the March 14 coordinator said. "Nasrallah's speech no longer scares the Lebanese," Soaid told An Nahar. Caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb told Voice of Lebanon radio station on Sunday that Nasrallah should weigh his remarks before making any accusations against any side. Beirut, 10 Apr 11, 09:36

Woman Killed in Bourj al-Barajneh Celebratory Gunfire
Naharnet/A woman was killed in Beirut's southern suburbs on Saturday night from celebratory gunfire during Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's televised statement. The National News Agency said Suaad Abdullah Bashir, 47, was severely injured at 9:30 pm in Bourj al-Barajneh's Othman street. She died at the hospital 45 minutes later from a head hemorrhage, NNA added. An Nahar daily said Sunday that the cause of death was most probably a bullet from celebratory gunfire. Beirut, 10 Apr 11, 09:02

Miqati Frustrated Over Attempts to Hold him Responsible for Cabinet Formation Delay
Naharnet/Premier-designate Najib Miqati has expressed frustration over the attempts of some parties to hold him responsible for the delay in the formation of the new government.
An Nahar daily said Sunday the prime minister-designate believes that these parties are taking advantage of Miqati's decision not to make any statement by throwing accusations at him and linking the delay to personal interests or pressure from Syria. Miqati is working according to constitutional norms and the concept of choosing the most qualified people to participate in the government, An Nahar quoted his circles as saying. The other parties should get convinced that he won't give up his task of forming the cabinet under any circumstance or pressure, they said. Meanwhile, consultations continued on Saturday on a new government formula that grants Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun ten ministers, President Michel Suleiman and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat eleven, and the rest of the March 8 camp nine ministers. An Nahar said the parties involved in the consultations have agreed not to make any statement to guarantee the success of discussions to form the new cabinet. Discussions have reached the stage of names and portfolios, it said. The newspaper added that the officials are speeding up the formation of the government after the latest security shakeups in the country, including the kidnapping of the seven Estonian tourists and the Zahle church bombing. Beirut, 10 Apr 11, 11:02

Jumblat Calls on Hariri to Understand Hizbullah's Structure: March 14's Campaign against Arms Will Fail
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat voiced his annoyance with the renewal of the political and media dispute between Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hizbullah. He told the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Saturday: "Based on my experience with Hizbullah and the Shiite sect, Hariri must understand the party's cultural and ideological structure and its connection with Wilayat al-Faqih." The MP revealed that during his latest contact with Hariri, he had requested him to reopen communication with Speaker Nabih Berri and the Hizbullah leadership, advising him against ending contacts with the Shiites. According to Jumblat, Hariri responded: "Don't forget what Nasrallah and Berri did to me."
He made the statement in reference to the resignation of opposition ministers from Cabinet earlier this year that forced his government to resign. In addition, Jumblat criticized the March 14 camp's campaign against Hizbullah's ongoing possession of arms, saying that it will not yield any results. "Hariri and others must realize that these arms are aimed at protecting the residents of the South," he stressed. Beirut, 09 Apr 11, 11:22

Lebanon’s unarmed forces?
Matt Nash, April 10, 2011
There is confusion about whether or not Washington froze arms shipments to the LAF. (APF Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki)
There is apparently confusion within the Obama administration over weapons transfers to the Lebanese army, an institution that lacks a clear, long-term vision of what arms it needs. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that “The US has quietly frozen weapon shipments to Lebanon’s armed forces” in the wake of the government’s collapse in January.
All non-lethal military assistance – training programs and equipment transfers, which comprise the bulk of American aid to the LAF – is continuing, the report said. The article cited “Defense,” and the more vague “US,” officials. Since its publication, Mark Toner, acting deputy State Department spokesman, confirmed, “We are reviewing our assistance program, but no decision has been made.”
When pressed about whether the article’s main contention – that weapons shipments have been frozen – Toner demurred, saying, “Again, I can’t speak to the – any possible delays in shipments. What I can tell you is that there’s been no decision to stop our assistance program.”
Ryan Gliha, a spokesman for the US Embassy in Lebanon, wrote in a statement e-mailed to NOW Lebanon that as the process of forming a new government in Beirut continues, so does American cooperation with the LAF “in many areas, provision of individual soldiering equipment, vehicle refurbishments, training programs, exchanges, infrastructure projects, medical supplies, humanitarian assistance, demining, and other important areas.”
The statement made no direct reference to lethal assistance, nor did it confirm or deny the WSJ report. Meanwhile, on Thursday, The Daily Star quoted unnamed Defense and State Department officials contradicting each other, with the State Department official also contradicting Toner. The person from the State Department told the Star there is no review of assistance, while the Defense official said a review is ongoing, but refused to confirm or deny the weapons transfer freeze.
“From my own sense, it’s very clear that a lot of folks in the US [government] are absolutely flustered by what this piece is reporting,” said Aram Nerguizian, a resident scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., who wrote a detailed report on the LAF in 2009.
“When I read this Wall Street Journal piece, it’s probably more symptomatic of, number one, the fact that you don’t have a clear understanding, even within the United States government, of how US security assistance actually works,” he told NOW Lebanon.
If the military departments on the ground actually implementing aid programs don’t stop, aid doesn’t stop, he said, noting he does not think those departments were told to freeze shipments.
“And even if you did have that [directive to stop shipments], it takes years. One has to remember that when you had a collapse of relations between the United States and Iran, it took seven years for the United States to close all security assistance books. These things just don’t stop overnight, and the mechanics are complex,” he said, adding in a later e-mail exchange that weapons deliveries to Iran did stop after the 1979 revolution.
Further, Nerguizian said, it seems to him that within and among various US agencies concerned with Lebanon, not everyone is “on the same page,” meaning this report could be little more than confusion within the administration.
Three sources close to both the army and top Lebanese politicians told NOW Lebanon that the US had not informed the LAF or government about any freeze. David Schenker, with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who worked in the Pentagon in 2005 when the US ramped up assistance to the LAF, told NOW Lebanon that the Obama administration is still committed to strengthening the Lebanese army in an effort to see a strong, functioning state emerge in Lebanon.
Stressing that he did not know for sure, Schenker said that if the Pentagon were reviewing assistance and had frozen arms shipments, it could be because “they wanted to see how military assistance was being used.”
He noted that, particularly in Congress, there are often fears that US weapons sent to the LAF can be transferred to Hezbollah. However, both he and Nerguizian said the LAF has an excellent record of keeping track of its American hardware.
“There are not second-party transfers,” Schenker said. “In any event, Hezbollah has their own weapons – they have more than enough of them – that they’re trained on, as opposed to the weapons of the LAF.”
Retired LAF General Elias Hanna told NOW Lebanon that even if the US did freeze weapon shipments, the impact of such a decision would be small.
“Whatever the army’s waiting for, it doesn’t need at this particular time. They don’t need the American army to give arms because they don’t have a strategy,” he said, portraying the LAF as essentially directionless in the absence of a national defense strategy.
“The army today is paralyzed. Why? Because you have no political decisions,” he said.
Nerguizian also noted that the LAF typically does not request highly sophisticated weapon systems that would give Washington pause and said the army itself does not have a long-term strategy for weapons procurement, nor sufficiently trained staff in place to produce such a strategy.
The LAF, he said, thinks in 5-year equipment plans instead of developing a strategy for what a strong and well-armed LAF should or will look like 20 years from now. Like Hanna, he said the problem is only exacerbated by a civilian political class with historically little knowledge of how it should contribute to building a robust LAF over the long term.
This confusion comes at a time when the US is watching events in Lebanon closely, ready to reassess the relationship between Washington and Beirut based on the composition, policy and actions of the next government. On top of that, budget discussions in Washington itself are acrimonious.
So far, the US does not have an approved 2011 budget, and Republicans are calling for deep cuts in both domestic and foreign aid spending this year and in the future. Regardless of the current state of US-Lebanon military relations, their future is definitely uncertain.

Gemayel commends Rai
April 10, 2011 /“I [believe] that Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai will unite the Christians,” Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel said Sunday during a lunch held in honor of Rai in Metn. Gemayel voiced the importance of uniting the Christians and maintaining co-existence, the National News Agency reported.Rai officially assumed his post in March during a religious ceremony held at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki.-NOW Lebanon

Step Assad
David Schenker/The New Republic
http://www.tnr.com/article/86465/syria-assad-bush-obama-pentagon
During the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Syria’s Assad regime was helping insurgents to cross the border and kill Americans. In response to the Syrian provocation, the Bush administration considered a broad range of policy options. But one family of options always remained off the table: regime change or any combination of pressures that might destabilize Damascus. The prevailing interagency concern was that Syria without Assad could prove even more militant than under his terrorist-supporting regime.
At the Department of Defense—where I worked—we held a dissenting view. While the Pentagon didn’t advocate toppling the Assad regime, we likewise didn’t see an interest in helping to preserve the dictator’s grip on power. In discussing the administration’s Syria policy, then Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman—a former aide to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who served in five U.S. administrations—recalled Averell Harriman, the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1943–1946. It was Harriman, Rodman sardonically noted, who once said, “Stalin I can deal with. It’s the hard-liners in the Kremlin who scare me.”
Three weeks and hundreds of casualties into the Syrian uprising, longstanding concerns about whom and what will replace Assad are resurfacing. So too is the atavistic attachment to a regime that not only has killed thousands of its own citizens, but contributed to the deaths of dozens if not hundreds of U.S. troops and contractors in Iraq. Support for the regime goes beyond the standard “devil you know” rationale. To wit, one commentator in The National Interest recently opined that “Washington knows [Syrian President] Bashar well and it knows how rational and predictable he is in foreign affairs.” No doubt, Assad hasn’t killed millions like Stalin. But he has spent his first decade in power recklessly dedicated to undermining stability—and U.S. interests—in the Middle East.
Here’s the devil we know: Since 2006 alone, Assad’s Syria has exponentially increased the capabilities of the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah, providing the organization with advanced anti-ship and highly accurate M-600 missiles, top of the line anti-tank weapons, and has allowed the organization to establish a SCUD base on Syrian soil. At the same time, Assad continues to meddle (and murder) in Lebanon, harbor and support Hamas, and subvert Iraq. Damascus remains a strategic ally of otherwise isolated Tehran. And in 2007, it was revealed that Assad’s Syria was progressing toward building a nuclear weapon. Given the pernicious effect of Assad’s policies on U.S. interests and the region, it’s difficult to imagine that a successor or replacement regime could be worse.
Of course, Washington can not dismiss outright the “perfect storm” scenario. It is possible, for example, that Assad might be replaced by an even more overtly hostile member of his Alawite minority sect. Alternately, the regime could be supplanted by a more militant anti-American Sunni junta, triggering a wholesale massacre of Alawites and a massive emigration of Christians. Perhaps the Assad regime would be replaced by an Islamist theocracy lead by the Muslim Brotherhood, or worse, absent an effective despot, Syria could devolve into chaos, providing an opportunity for Al Qaeda to establish a foothold in the Levant. These scenarios could transpire, and none of them would serve U.S. interests. But neither does Assad, and despite some remaining ill-placed optimism that he will reform, it should by now be clear that the regime is irredeemable.
It perhaps goes without saying that the United States should not be in the business of regime removal in Syria. Yet it’s time to revise the assumption that Washington somehow has a vested interest in Bashar Assad’s political survival. As the brave Syrian people do the hard work and pay a high price to rid themselves of a corrupt, capricious, and brutal dictator, America should not be throwing him a lifeline.
Years ago when I was working in the Bush administration, I was tasked to write an options paper on Syria. Prior to putting pen to paper, I sought the sage counsel of the late Peter Rodman, who, in typical fashion quipped, “Kissinger tasked me to write the same paper in the early 1970s.” Today, 40 years and seven presidents later, the United States is still seeking an effective policy to contend with the Assad regime. Paralyzed by concerns of what comes next, the Obama administration—like the Bush administration before it—continues to cling to the status quo. Regrettably, if the Assad regime weathers this storm, hamstrung by ongoing fears of worst-case succession scenarios in Damascus, decades from now Bashar—or his own son Hafez—will remain a policy challenge for the United States.
**David Schenker is Aufzien Fellow and director of the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He served as Levant director in the Pentagon from 2002-2006.

The Syria peace myth
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054744,00.html
Op-ed: Latest developments in Syria prove that talk of peace with Assad family was baseless
Guy Bechor Published: 04.10.11,
Israel Opinion/
A terrible thing happened to an entire sector in Israel – the politicians, former military men and experts who for dozens of years kept on talking about making peace with the Assad family. The option of such agreement with Syria is off the agenda now, and moreover, it turns out that it was a false alternative that would have damaged Israel greatly had it been realized.
For some 40 years they told us that peace with the Alawite family ruling Syria will bring us peace with the entire Arab world. Later they told us that such peace deal would restrain Lebanon and Hezbollah. After that they said that a deal would sever the ties between Syria and Iran. And after all that we were told that we didn’t make enough effort to appease Damascus.
Will Assad-Erdogan love affair last? / Aviel Magnezi
Recent 'honeymoon' between Ankara, Damascus put to test following latest crisis in Syria. Erdogan expresses support for Assad, but at same time urges him to enact democratic reforms. Experts analyze balancing act between mutual interests, need to preserve democracy and human rights All of this was accompanied with a certain degree of romanticism and admiration for the Assad family; the father, the son and the holy spirit. Yet all of these stories were baseless. Syria, which is isolated within the Arab world, would not have prompted any other Arab state to come on board; not even Lebanon. Instead, we got stability in Lebanon at this time without giving up the Golan Heights. Moreover, the Alawites, whose only allies in the world are Iran’s and Hezbollah’s Shiites, would have never renounced them.
Indeed, the Syrian regime simply toyed with all these people endorsing peace with the Assads all these years and was legitimized by them, without paying a thing.
Now, the bitter truth that we should have known a while ago is being proven: The Assads are a brutal family of dictators that comes from an isolated ethnic minority that lacks legitimacy. The Arab world is distancing from this family, and so do Syria’s citizens; it’s doubtful whether it will be able to cling to power for much longer. Should Assad wish to stay in power, he will have to fight his own people in a similar way to what Gaddafi is doing in Libya. Deal would have been worthless  Woe would be us had we finalized an agreement with this family and with this Syrian minority. We would have lost the Golan forever and the Syrian regime would have settled it with a million citizens that would spread “resistance” against Israel.” The deal we would have signed with the Assad tyranny would have been worthless. The Syrian people would have said that this is a peace agreement between Israel and an ethnic minority that lacks legitimacy.
Fortunately, we did not sign a peace deal with Assad, yet stability and deterrence were maintained. We had peace without official “peace” – and that’s a lot. To that end, we did not have to pay heavy prices, in terms of land or legitimacy, and for that reason future options, with a new regime in Damascus, are still relevant. When he wanted to abuse Israel, Bashar Assad would sarcastically note that the Jewish state is not ready for peace and doesn’t want peace. Now that the brutality of this ethnic rule in Syria is exposed to all in the form of murders of citizens every Friday, we can openly say – indeed, we don’t want an agreement with such murderous regime.
We must wait a few years, until the situation stabilizes. Once it becomes clear who Syria’s new leadership is (it will likely comprise the Sunni majority) we can reexamine the chances for an agreement. Any other behavior would constitute reckless adventurism. Israel has an interest in living at peace with its neighbors, but we must secure agreements with peoples, not with isolated regimes. Under no circumstances should we sacrifice existential interests in favor of any tyrant, especially as it turns out that they won’t stay there forever

Syrian rights group says 26 killed in Deraa
Sat, 9 Apr, 2011 /BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian rights group said on Sunday that 26 protesters had been killed in the southern city of Deraa and two in the central province of Homs after security forces opened fire on a peaceful gatherings of protesters. The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said security and police forces had on Saturday "dispersed peaceful gatherings in a number of Syrian provinces by using excessive and unjustified violence through the use of bullets," according to a statement on its website. It then listed the names of people killed in Deraa and Homs.

Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Israel ruled out military option on Iran years ago
Haaretz/By Yossi Melman
Israel ruled out military option against Iran as early as 2005
Senior defense officials ruled out an Israeli military attack on Iran's nuclear sites as early as five and a half years ago, telegrams sent from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv in 2005 and 2006 indicate. The cables, which were revealed over the weekend, are among hundreds of thousands shared exclusively with Haaretz by the WikiLeaks website.
In the first telegram, sent on December 2, 2005, American diplomats said their conversations with Israeli officials indicate that there is no chance of a military attack being carried out on Iran. A more detailed telegram was sent in January 2006, summing up a meeting between U.S. Congressman Gary Ackerman (a Democrat for New York ) and Dr. Ariel Levite, then deputy chief of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission. "Levite said that most Israeli officials do not believe a military solution is possible," the telegram ran. "They believe Iran has learned from Israel's attack on Iraq's Osirak reactor, and has dispersed the components of its nuclear program throughout Iran, with some elements in places that Israel does not know about."
Later on in the conversation, Levite told the Americans that Iran could obtain nuclear weapons within two to three years, but admitted the estimate could be inaccurate as "Israel does not have a clear or precise understanding of Iran's clandestine program." Without citing any sources, Levite noted that there are rumors that Iran has already obtained "some warheads from Ukraine," the telegram added. He claimed that, "Israel knows that Iran has acquired cruise missiles from Ukraine."

Hamas fires 24 Grads, 50 shells Saturday. A million Israelis still in shelters
DEBKAfile Special Report April 9, 2011
Saturday, April 9, Hamas and its allies, acting now on Hizballah guidelines from Lebanon, fired 24 heavy Grad missiles and more than 50 mortars shells at seven southern Israeli towns in an expanding radius up to Palmahim in the north. Despite bomb shelters and home guard measures, 20 Israelis were injured or suffered shock. After 17 Hamas and other commanders were targeted in 48 hours of Israel counter-attacks, Hamas requested a ceasefire through the UN. It came from the Islamist organization's political echelons. Israel replied the request would only be addressed only if it came from Hamas military leaders, who rather than abating their rocket offensive on the Israeli population are intensifying it.
The Palestinian missile violence Saturday began before dawn with Grad missiles exploding north of Israel's second main port city of Ashdod, south of Kiryat Gat and outside Ofakim. Sirens warning of a missile attack were heard in Gedera and Gan Yavneh. As a million Israeli civilians spent another day in bomb shelters, four Grad missiles landed in Ashkelon Saturday afternoon.
From Thursday, the innovative Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted five of the Grad missiles aimed at Beersheba, Ashdod and Ashkelon. Early Saturday, as 25 Palestinian mortar shells hailed down on the Eshkol district, the IDF hit a car carrying three Hamas field commanders in Khan Younis. They were all killed. debkafile's military sources report that Israel's defense chiefs are reassessing tactics in view of the newly ferocious level of Hamas belligerence under direction from Hizballah.
debkafile reported earlier: Friday night, April 8, more than 60 Hamas and Jihad Islami mortar shells and missiles hit Israeli towns, villages and farms on the Israeli side of the Gaza border and injured a civilian. This heightened Israeli fury over Hamas's attack on a school bus Thursday, April 7, using a sophisticated Cornet anti-tank missile for the first time. A 16-year old boy was critically wounded. This attack was followed by 50 Palestinian rockets and mortar rounds, a blitz which had not abated by Friday night despite constant Israeli counteraction.
debkafile discloses the mounting violence has more than one objective: Hamas is trying to establish new rules for the conflict on advice and directives coming from its Lebanese ally, Hizballah, to step up its barrage on Israel by 25 percent. The IDF is forced to respond to the resulting escalation in kind.
Our intelligence sources report that Hamas was advised by Hizballah to blitz Israel into relinquishing the 500-meter deep security strip the IDF established inside the Gaza border when Palestinian fire on Israel continued after it was temporarily reduced by the 2009 Cast Lead operation.
Hizballah leaders are telling Hamas they should be able to bring their forward and firing positions right up to the Israeli border, a convenience enjoyed by HIzballah on the Lebanese-Israeli frontier ever since 2000 when Israel quit southern Lebanon.
The IDF is fighting to hold on to this buffer zone to keep Palestinian terrorists back from breaching the border for direct attacks in Israel. The soldiers keep Palestinian gunmen from accessing this strip of land and impose restrictions on Gazan farmers seeking to till their fields in a strip which covers 15 percent of the enclave's arable land. (Farmers of the Eshkol district on the other side of the border are regularly targeted for attack.)
Hamas is threatening to raise the cross-border violence until Israeli troops pull back to the border. Its anti-tank missile attack on the school bus Thursday was the opening shot of its battle for the buffer zone.
The IDF's tactics for countering Hamas aggression remain unchanged, except in scale: In the last 48 hours, Israeli helicopters, mortars, tanks and naval units have been pounding the Gaza Strip while Hamas releases barrages of dozens of missile and mortar attacks on villages and towns - practically without pause. Israeli civilians were told to stay close to bomb shelters in the days to come. Schools, road traffic, public transport and businesses will function intermittently.
Israeli military planners are still playing the familiar tit-for-tat game which never in the past stopped the aggression from Gaza. Nevertheless, debkafile's military sources point to some notable differences in the current round.
The Iron Dome system designed in Israel to intercept short-range rockets was experimentally deployed in the important towns of Beersheba and Ashkelon this week. Friday, the system intercepted three missiles aimed at Ashkelon, although it caught only one of several Thursday.
The IDF importantly demonstrated it is fully capable of launching another major military campaign in the Gaza Strip. The broad scale of its land, sea and air reprisals since Thursday, April 7, was intended to remind Hamas and its allies, especially the Iranian-backed Jihad Islami, of the devastation wrought the enclave they rule by Israel's 2009 Cast Lead operation.
A possible Cast Lead II was in the air after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday during a visit to Prague: Attacks on children cross a red line. Those who carry out such attacks should know that their blood is on their heads."
On the other side of the ledger, the new rulers of Egypt are in the process of unraveling Hosni Mubarak's peace relations with Israel – as debkafile has reported – and engaging in rapprochement with the Gaza and Damascus centers of the two radical Palestinian organizations.
Since the Israeli government has not adjusted its policies to the new developments, its military tactics are operating in a vacuum and will have little deterrent effect. The current upsurge of Hamas-Jihad aggression will therefore go on.
debkafile's military experts maintain that the tactics of massive firepower without ground operations have run their course. There is no way to wipe out the increasingly sophisticated heavy weapons arsenal Hamas has been allowed to amass from the air. So the half a million Israeli civilians of the Western Negev and the southern coastal towns must continue to live under their shadow instead of having normal lives. Often, many cannot make it to work and schools, places of business and traffic can operate only intermittently.
Since Thursday, IDF operations have been sweeping across a broad front in the Gaza Strip from the old air field at Dahaniyeh in the south up to the northern fringes of Gaza City.
In the south, Khan Younes and Deir al Balakh took the severest beating. The former went dark Thursday night after Israeli airborne and surface missiles knocked out the local electricity grid. In Deir Balakh, a Hamas base built deliberately near a hospital took an airborne rocket, a signal that all such facilities would no longer be immune from attack.
In the Gaza City region, Israeli helicopters, tanks and naval ships bombed two main Hamas military installations – Abu Jerad and Rantisi.
The Palestinians reported 10 killed, including the commander of missile operations at the Shati refugee camp, and scores wounded, thereupon loosing off 50 missiles and mortar rounds – as usual, against civilian locations. In Ashkelon, Iron Dome intercepted its first missile Thursday, but missed the rest – scoring a partial success
For the first time in three years, Hamas appealed to Cairo to broker a ceasefire. Israeli did not bother to respond since the rulers of Gaza have violated every agreed ceasefire in the past. Hamas reached out to the new Egyptian regime following its moves towards a rapprochement and a Palestinian diplomatic initiative.
debkafile's intelligence sources disclose that last week, the head of Egypt's intelligence services Maj. Gen. Mourad Mowafi visited Damascus. He obtained permission from Syria's beleaguered president Bashar Assad to meet Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshaal and Abdullah Ramadan Salah of the Palestinian Jihad Islami and hand them an invitation to visit Cairo.
He then informed them that the new Egyptian leaders are willing to help negotiate Hamas' reconciliation with Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah on the following basis: Hamas would accept the two-state solution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict but Egypt would not press for the second part of the formula endorsed by Washington and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, namely that "the two states live alongside each other in peace and security."
This amended formula would leave Hamas and the other radical Palestinian organizations free to continue their violent campaign of "resistance" against Israel while making peace with the rival Fatah and gaining a Palestinian state on the West Bank.
These days, Hamas is sure it is on a win-win course and has little to fear from stepping up its war on Israel until it gets what it wants