LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly 20/2011

Bible Quotation for today
Matthew Chapter 5/16-26: "15 16 "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you, whoever is angry  with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.
 

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
The Syrian regime wraps itself in the Hezbollah flag/By Tariq Alhomayed/July 19/11
A Christian Lebanese Patriot Speaks Out/FrontPage/Joseph Puder Bio/Jul 19th/11
Egypt's liberals are like Iraq's Sunnis/By Tariq Alhomayed/ July 19/11
The rulers’ revolutionaries/By: Hazem Saghiyeh/ July 19/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 19/11
'Istanbul bombing was Hezbollah strike on Israeli envoy'/Jerusalem Post
Hezbollah armed by evil Assad/The Australian Blog
Former State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley: Israel will not attack Iran anytime soon/Haaretz
EU states press for change in Syria/The Daily Star
Jumblatt says new strategy needed in Syria/The Daily Star
Sleiman seeks Lebanese reconciliation/The Daily Star
Hezbollah to show further STL faults: MP Fadlallah/The Daily Star
Beirut ranked 4th most expensive Mideast city/The Daily Star
Police intelligence chief Col. Wissam al-Hasan is likely to be named Lebanon’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia,: report /The Daily Star
US Adm. Mike Mullen honored for his input in IDF's war readiness for Iran/DEBKAfile
Ibrahim well positioned to take on challenges of key post/The Daily Star
Rai: We support the STL as long as it's not misleading/The Daily Star
Mikati: Dialogue crucial for all/The Daily Star
EU ambassadors tour south Lebanon/The Daily Star
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 19, 2011/The Daily Star
Aoun not worried about US possibly cutting assistance to Lebanon/Now Lebanon /Naharnet
Hezbollah’s Raad calls for ending Lebanon’s cooperation with STL /Now Lebanon /Naharnet
Aoun: Doesn’t Matter Who Heads General Security as Long as his Performance is Good /Naharnet
Qassem Praises Miqati’s Trip to South: All Countries Will Cooperate with this Cabinet /Naharnet
Appeals Chamber Rules Sayyed’s Appeal Admissible, Refers File Back to Fransen /Naharnet
Gaza-Bound French Yacht Towed to Ashdod by Israel Navy /Naharnet
Guinea President Survives Rocket Attack, One Dead /Naharnet
House Bill to Cut U.S. Aid to Miqati’s Government /Naharnet

The Syrian regime wraps itself in the Hezbollah flag
19/07/2011/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
The day before yesterday in Damascus, Syrian state flags were raised alongside flags belonging to the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah movement, in celebration of the so-called anniversary of Bashar al-Assad assuming the presidency. Is it conceivable for a state regime to wrap itself in the flag of a sectarian party, whose leader lives in a basement in Beirut?
The Iranian regime, to help its ally Bashar al-Assad, provides him with billions of dollars to protect his regime from collapse. Whilst this is understandable, it is not acceptable. We are facing an oppressive and sectarian Iranian regime that is sheltering a similarly oppressive and sectarian Syrian regime; however when matters reach the point whereby the Syrian regime is celebrating Hezbollah's support for it, then this is not acceptable, indeed this is a sign of sectarianism and moral bankruptcy. Some might say that flying the flag of the Iran-affiliated Hezbollah movement in Damascus, side by side with the Syrian flag, is a symbol of an alliance of opposition and resistance, but time has taken its toll upon such symbols, and they have proven false, because in reality the Damascus regime did not oppose and did not resist. When the Damascus regime did oppose, it became clear that this opposition was an opposition to recognize the state of Palestine. Syria was the last Arab country to recognize a Palestinian state, the 118th country in the world to do so, with this recognition coming even after some European countries had done so. In fact, the al-Assad regime did not recognize the Palestinian state until five days ago!
As for talk of resistance, the Damascus regime has not fired a single bullet for decades in order to liberate the Golan Heights occupied by Israel. The Syrian regime's forces are far too busy roaming Syrian cities, suppressing and killing unarmed civilians merely for calling for freedom! To make matters worse, the al-Assad regime is now wrapping itself in the flag of Hezbollah, with Lebanese singers and artists attending the celebrations [of al-Assad's anniversary], at a time when 4 senior Hezbollah members are wanted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in relation to the assassination of [former Lebanese Prime Minister] Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah used its weapons against the Sunnis in Beirut when it occupied the city, just as it is occupying Lebanon as a whole today, not only through the force of Iranian arms, but through the government formed by Hassan Nasrallah.
Of course, the blame does not lie with the Syrian regime alone; for it is no surprise that a regime which behaves in such a manner towards its own people is associated with Hezbollah. The blame falls on many Arab countries, their intellectuals, media and so on, who have for a long time accepted the idea that a state can wrap itself in the flag of a party that is an agent of Iran. Is there anything more destructive or detrimental to the state project in the Arab world than this? When the state descends to the level of parties, or even lower to the level of armed militias, what remains of the state, the concept of the state, and the concept of state officials? Therefore we have already criticized some Arab officials, among them the Turks, who agree to meet with Hassan Nasrallah after being blindfolded and taken to his headquarters, whilst [in comparison] Nasrallah himself went to the Iranian embassy in Lebanon to meet with [Iranian president] Ahmadinejad!Unfortunately, many of us are responsible for the failure of the state project, and the failure of the concept of state officials. The Syrian regime is, of course, among those responsible [for this], in addition to all those who sympathize with it!

House Bill to Cut U.S. Aid to Miqati’s
Naharnet/A House panel unveiled a bill Monday that would block U.S. aid to Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority unless the Obama administration reassures Congress that they are cooperating in “battling terrorism.”The legislation is a direct challenge to President Barack Obama and his foreign policy authority, and comes as the House is looking at significant cuts in the annual budget for the State Department and foreign assistance. The House Foreign Affairs Committee will consider the bill authorizing the money on Wednesday. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican chairwoman of the panel, released an initial draft on Monday.While the House is likely to approve the bill, its prospects in the Democratic-controlled Senate are dim. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat, is likely to reject many of the bill's provisions.But if approved, no U.S. assistance would be made to Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet given that it includes Hizbullah members. In other words, no foreign military financing or international military education and training (IMET) funding for Lebanon would be permitted if this bill were to become law.
According to the bill, aid to Lebanon would be contingent on the secretary of state certifying to Congress that no member of Hizbullah serves in a policy position in a ministry, agency or entity in the government. The bill would also bar aid to Pakistan unless the secretary can certify to Congress that Islamabad is "fully assisting the United States with investigating the existence of an official or unofficial support network in Pakistan for Osama bin Laden."Aid to the Palestinian Authority would be contingent on the secretary certifying that no member of Hamas or any other terrorist organization was serving in a policy position in a ministry, agency or other entity. The Obama administration has requested some $550 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority.Assistance for Egypt would be based on whether its new government "is not directly or indirectly controlled by a foreign terrorist organization." The bill would also direct the administration to reassure Congress that Egypt is searching out and destroying any smuggling network and tunnels between the country and the Gaza strip.(AP-Naharnet)
Source Associated Press

Aoun not worried about US possibly cutting assistance to Lebanon
July 19, 2011 /Change and Reform bloc leader Michel Aoun on Tuesday said he is not worried about Washington possibly cutting its aid to Lebanon. US assistance to Lebanon is counterproductive, he added following his bloc’s weekly meeting. Aoun also said that the “false witnesses” issue does not need to be discussed in the national dialogue, adding that the cabinet can tackle the matter.He denied that Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi spoke with Prime Minister Najib Mikati about the issue of witnesses who gave false testimonies to the international investigation into the 2005 murder of former PM Rafik Hariri.Before bringing down Saad Hariri’s cabinet in January, Hezbollah had been pressing him to disavow the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The party had also insisted that the cabinet resolve the “false witnesses” controversy. An-Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday that the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs will consider this week a bill that would deprive Lebanon from US funding.-NOW Lebanon

Hezbollah’s Raad calls for ending Lebanon’s cooperation with STL
July 19, 2011 /Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad on Tuesday called for ending Lebanon’s cooperation with the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is probing former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination. “[Cooperation] with the tribunal should be severed because the court is targeting the Resistance,” the National News Agency quoted Raad as saying. The MP also said that the new Lebanese cabinet, which is dominated by the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, “has fostered [Lebanon’s defense] formula of army, people and Resistance.”The new cabinet was formed on June 13 and was granted parliament’s vote of confidence on July 7.The STL indicted four members of the Syrian- Iranian-backed Hezbollah in connection to Rafik Hariri’s murder, but the Shia group ruled out their arrest and labeled the tribunal as a “foreign conspiracy.”-NOW Lebanon

The rulers’ revolutionaries
Hazem Saghiyeh, July 18, 2011
Lebanon is witnessing nowadays a phenomenon of rare occurrence worldwide, that of the rulers’ revolutionaries. This is different from the phenomenon of revolutionary rulers who get to power upon the impulse of radical ideologies and then establish despotic and totalitarian regimes. What is meant, in this case, are those who voice opinions and take stances in support of the current security regime in Syria, loathe the Syrian uprising, support Hezbollah’s power in Lebanon and hate the freedom to voice different opinions out loud, including the freedom to demand international justice. However, these people remain revolutionaries, both nominally and at heart. Siding with tyranny, force and despotism against the demands and freedoms of the majority of people involved does not make them any less revolutionary. Setting details aside, we notice that their greatest justification in their “opposition” to the United States and Israel. Their self-definition as “revolutionaries” has got absolutely nothing to do with their stance on freedom, despotism, the economy, education, health, etc.
Moreover, being a revolutionary has, over the course of history, acquired a meaning pertaining to the radical stance on religion, sex, morality and spiritual, cultural and political authorities. Our revolutionaries have got absolutely nothing to do with those as well, as they are part of the most active highly conservative forces not only in politics, but also with regard to ethics and values. This continuous mixing of elements that cannot be mixed is made easier by the fact that the above mentioned are “opposed” to the United States and Israel. With all due respect to this opposition, it is highly questionable whether it can attain the unattainable. Things being what they are, Arab revolutions have come to pose a serious threat to these clumsy and deceitful visions and will probably lead to their demise. Indeed, it seems unfortunate and laughable all at once to take up the Syrian regime’s defense because it “supports the Resistance and opposes the United States and Israel,” while overlooking its stances on freedoms, the economy, education, etc., i.e. everything that politics is meant to address.
This holds true provided that we believe in the first place that this regime understands “support” and “opposition” in the same sense as the one imputed to it by the despotic rulers’ revolutionaries. This article was translated from the original, which appeared on the NOW Arabic site on Monday July 18, 2011

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 19, 2011
The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Tuesday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
An-Nahar: Mikati vows to hand over suspects "if found" as government prepares to readdress "false witnesses" [issue]
30 Islamists reportedly to be released
Information made available to An-Nahar said the government is in the process of re-addressing the “false witnesses,” an issue that was one of the main causes for the conflict that dominated political life under former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Cabinet.
On the sidelines of the Monday Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi to discuss preparations to tackle once again the issue of the false witnesses.
[The so-called “false witnesses” issue was the main point of contention in Hariri’s government. The Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition insisted that the Judicial Council – the body tasked with investigating crimes that target the state’s domestic and external security – deal with the issue while the Hariri-led March 14 alliance argued that the issue fell outside the prerogatives of the Judicial Council and asked that it be referred to the Lebanese judiciary.]
Meanwhile, An-Nahar also learned that preparations were under way to release another batch of Islamist detainees after they were found not guilty in the 2007 battles between Palestinian factions and the Lebanese Army in Nahr al-Bared. Their liberation comes one week after the release of Sheikh Nabil Rahim, who was taken to Tripoli in a car specially sent to him by Mikati.
In an interview with CNN and United Press International, Mikati said the government would hand over the suspects wanted in the Hariri assassination case “if they were in Lebanon.”
Mikati rejected the accusation that Hezbollah was “impeding” government’s cooperation with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
CNN quoted U.N. sources as saying that another batch of arrest warrants in the Hariri murder will be issued during the summer and that they include the names of suspects involved in planning and organizing the assassination.
Regarding President Michel Sleiman’s desire to relaunch national dialogue, decision-makers in the March 14 coalition said they were headed toward rejecting Sleiman’s call, arguing that March 14 forces had since March 13 this year decided to move to a new phase, openly declaring the intention to topple Hezbollah’s weapons – after national dialogue failed to resolve the only remaining untackled item on its agenda – Hezbollah arms.
An-Nahar learned that March 14 will likely inform Sleiman about a formula of the terms of success in dialogue – starting with the participation of the United Nations and the Arab League, given the regional spread of Hezbollah weapons, and putting one single issue on the table – Hezbollah arms and the need for Hezbollah to declare readiness to give up its weapons.
As-Safir: New dose of appointments: Ibrahim for General Security
Mikati: False witnesses issue opened
French, European support for government ... And tribunal
Public appointments approved by Mikati’s government Monday coincided with new Arab moods voiced by more than one Gulf state, primarily Saudi Arabia and most recently Qatar by encouraging Arab tourism to Lebanon and by dealing with the Mikati government as a fully fledged government. Not only that, even Europeans injected a clear dose of support on Monday via the foreign ministers of the European Union, which coincided with an announcement by France declaring full support for the Mikati government in the face of internal, regional and international challenges.
France’s support came in a letter sent by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon to Mikati, in which he emphasized the need "to preserve Lebanon's pluralism model based on dialogue and the quest for consensus, and continue to work to achieve sovereignty, independence, unity and stability."
With a decree announcing the opening of extraordinary sessions for the legislature, both Parliament and Cabinet are expected to multiply efforts in the next phase. Ministerial sources said the government is likely to hold two meetings next week, but ruled out that a third batch of public appointments would be made during Wednesday’s session.
As-Safir has learned that Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has prepared a list of leadership council members for the Internal Security Forces.
On the other hand, while head of the National Struggle Front MP Walid Jumblatt arrived in Moscow for talks with a number of Russian officials, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is expected to deliver a speech at 5:30 p.m. local time Tuesday.
Al-Mustaqbal: European Union "expects all Lebanese parties" to cooperate with tribunal
Hezbollah’s government continues structure, appointments
Mikati’s government continues to make decisions that will increase the internal gap and deepen division, and further draw question marks around the path it is seeking – so far the Cabinet seems to be subject to the conditions put forth by the Shiite duo, and governed by Hebzollah.
Cabinet on Monday approved a new batch of appointments, including the head of the General Security and the Civil Defense.
Al-Mustaqbal has learned that Hezbollah favors the appointment of Brig. Gen. Ali Shahrour, currently Lebanese Army intelligence chief for south Lebanon, for the deputy intelligence chief post to replace Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim who was appointed Monday head of the General Security.
Meanwhile, President Michel Sleiman’s announcement of his intention to resume national dialogue drew a wide-range of comments and reactions that varied among the majority [March 8 coalition] and the opposition [March 14 alliance].
The European Union called on the Lebanese government to respect all international obligations including those relating to U.N. Security Council resolution 1757 on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and expressed concern about the lack of explicit commitment of the government, in its policy statement, toward cooperation with the STL.
Al-Liwaa: No appointments Thursday … judicial appointments on backburner
Crisis of confidence prevents dialogue relaunch
Mikati: No Arab tour, economic issues not a button push away
Cabinet approved a series of public appointments Monday amid worrisome questions about the political crisis in the country and the deep division and crisis of confidence among the political parties – a new opposition and a new majority – raising concerns about a crisis over calls for the resumption of national dialogue.
The accumulated financial, social and living issues require reconsideration regarding the high cost of living and wages, an issue not put up for discussion on Cabinet’s agenda. The biggest challenge, however, is on how to maintain internal stability, which Prime Minister Najib Mikati considers a priority.
A ministerial source told Al-Liwaa that Cabinet will discuss the remaining pending issues during the coming Cabinet meetings, denying knowledge of further public appointments to be made soon by the government.
The source said priority in next appointments would go to the president of the Lebanese University, an issue which would, however, not be approved during Thursday’s Cabinet session.
Speaker Nabih Berri reportedly favored another candidate for the LU’s top post, besides former Cabinet Minister Adnan Hussein.
Al-Liwaa has learned that Brig. Gen. Ali Shahrour has been appointed as Lebanese Army deputy intelligence chief to replace Abbas Ibrahim.
In parallel, Al-Liwaa has also learned that judicial appointments were put on the backburner and behind the scenes preparations will begin next week and be announced at the beginning of the new judicial year Sept. 15

Hezbollah armed by evil Assad
The Australian July 19, 2011 /THE villainy of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad knows no bounds. Just when it seemed reasonable to assume the dictator in Damascus had his hands full in ruthlessly suppressing the democratic aspirations of his blighted people, it has been disclosed his regime is accelerating weapons supplies -- including missiles that bring Israel, Jordan and Turkey within range -- to Hezbollah terrorists in neighbouring Lebanon. Unsurprisingly, Iran's thumbprints are all over shipments that make Hezbollah's the most powerful non-state military force in the world. The Shia group's new arsenal includes Scud missiles with a range of 700km. Tehran is Assad's closest ally and they work hand-in-glove to support Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza. Syria's and Iran's are not the only thumbprints on the build-up -- so, too, are those of madcap North Korea, currently and ludicrously chairing the UN Conference on Disarmament.
No other terrorist organisation is known to have weaponry of the type being supplied to Hezbollah. And nothing better underlines the sheer evil of Assad and his Iranian co-conspirators than this build-up. Their Machiavellian motivation is clear. Assad's Baathist regime is minority Alawite, a Shia sect, but most Syrians are Sunni -- if Assad is forced out and replaced by a Sunni, this would end the close ties to Shia Iran. With instability in Syria, Shia Hezbollah is being armed to confront Israel and any new Sunni regime emerging in Damascus.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Assad has lost his legitimacy, a fact underscored by the weekend formation by Syrian oppositionists of a National Salvation Council to take over if and when his regime collapses. But the toll of the unrest -- nearly 2000 dead -- is evidence of the extent to which Assad retains a capacity to create destruction.
Compared with its action on Libya, the international community has not been as active as it should have been on Syria. Shamefully, Russia and China have not even allowed a resolution condemning Assad through the UN.Now that the Obama administration has finally concluded that the Baathist regime has no legitimacy, that must change. The time for pussyfooting over Syria has passed. Developments such as the weapons shipments to Hezbollah militants are potentially far too dangerous. Assad must be stopped before he does more damage

'Istanbul bombing was Hezbollah strike on Israeli envoy'
By OREN KESSLER /07/18/2011
May explosion attributed to PKK was meant to be retaliation for Mossad's alleged hit on Iranian nuclear physicist, Italian newspaper reports. A bomb in Istanbul that injured eight people in May was not organized by the Kurdish militant group PKK but was an attempt by Hezbollah to kill Israel's consul in the city, an Italian newspaper reported Monday. Citing Washington sources, the leading daily Corriere della Sera reported that the May 26 bomb in Istanbul's busy Etiler district was aimed at Moshe Kamhi, Israel's consul general to Istanbul, in retaliation for the 2010 assassination of Iranian nuclear physicist Masoud Alimohammadi in Tehran. Iran blamed the strike on the US and Israel, a charge the US State Department dismissed as "absurd."After tracing the Istanbul attack to the PKK, Turkey's national intelligence organization reportedly revised its conclusion to instead incriminate Hezbollah, acting at the behest of its sponsor Iran. According to the Italian report, members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's elite Al-Quds Force surveilled the area, carefully noting Kamhi's daily routine, then contracted Lebanese members of Hezbollah to carry out the attack.
The plan failed, the report said, due to countermeasures taken by the Israeli diplomat and by Turkish counter-terrorism services.
No one claimed responsibility for the May attack, but Turkish officials were quick to suggest the PKK was attempting to stir up chaos ahead of the country's June 12 elections. The movement, an acronym for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union.
Israel denied knowledge of the Hezbollah plot, and Turkish intelligence sources summarily rejected the report. "Israel carries out similar disinformation campaigns through newspapers from time to time," one source said, Turkey's Hurriyet daily reported.
Kamhi - born and raised in Istanbul and a native Turkish speaker - took his current position in 2009. He previously worked at a number of diplomatic postings including a stint at the Israeli consulate in Ankara, where he met his future wife, a non-Jewish Turkish woman. “I am an Israeli who was born in Istanbul and raised through Turkish culture; I was molded inside Turkish civilization,” he told Hurriyet in a 2009 interview. "My grandfather was born in Skopje [now in Macedonia] and my grandmother was from Pristina [Albania]. My mother’s side of the family took a shortcut – they came directly to Istanbul from Spain and lived in Haskoy for 500 years," he said, referring to a heavily Jewish neighborhood in Istanbul's Beyoglu district.
Kamhi himself grew up in nearby Kasimpasa, close to the childhood home of Turkey's current prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kamhi and Erdogan are the same age (57), but attended different schools and never met as youth. On Erdogan's first visit to Israel in 2005, Kamhi served as translator. “I introduced myself and we spoke about Kasimpasa,” Kamhi told Hurriyet. Maariv newspaper reported Sunday that Erdogan would visit Gaza over the next two weeks for meetings with officials of the Hamas government that runs the Strip.
The Turkish premier has been a strident critic of Israel's 2008-09 Gaza War, its closure of the territory to non-essential goods since Hamas' seized power and its raid last year of a Gaza-bound flotilla that resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish citizens

Rai: We support the STL as long as it’s not misleading
July 19, 2011 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai said Monday he supported the work of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, provided that it was not “misleading.”Speaking on the third day of his pastoral visit to the Maronite parish in Jbeil, Rai said: “We support justice and reaching the truth [in Hariri’s assassination] through the international tribunal provided that it is not misleading.”He underlined the significance of peace “which we can attain only through the truth, especially in the state, society and dialogue.”“No one can go to dialogue and build the state if he thinks that he has the absolute truth,” Rai said.

Brigadier Abbas Ibrahim, appointed director of the General Security Directorate by the Cabinet Monday
By Hassan Lakkis The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Brigadier Abbas Ibrahim, appointed director of the General Security Directorate by the Cabinet Monday, will play an important role in the coming period, especially as his new post is involved in politics along with security, political sources said.
Ibrahim, who maintains close relations with Hezbollah and good ties with most Lebanese factions, is known to have strong knowledge of the security and political situation in the country, which he acquired in his previous post as the deputy head of Lebanese Army intelligence.
The most important responsibilities of the General Security Directorate include gathering political, economic and social information for the Cabinet; evaluating, analyzing and using information in all fields; taking part in investigating violations of the state’s internal or external security; and supervising the preparation and implementation of security measures.
The apparatus also plays a role in coordinating security with other security bodies; combating acts of sabotage and the spread of rumors that harm security; preparing memoranda and warrants related to searches and the banning of travel into and out of Lebanon; and participating in monitoring land and maritime borders and airspace.
Born in March 2, 1959, Ibrahim joined the Military Academy in September 1980 as an officer cadet and was promoted through the ranks until he became a brigadier in January last year.
Ibrahim, who hails from the southern village of Kawthariyyat al-Siyyad in the district of Nabatieh, holds a bachelor in Business Administration and speaks English and French, in addition to Arabic. He is married to Ghada Zein and has three children: Mohammad, Ali and Bilal.
Between 1998 and 2002, Ibrahim served as the head of the Lebanese Army’s anti-terrorism and counter-espionage unit, after which he was appointed as the head of the army commando unit in 2003. In 2005, Ibrahim was appointed as the head of the Lebanese Army intelligence in the south. In 2008, he became deputy head of army intelligence.
The post of the director of General Security entered the spotlight after the arrest of former director Jamil Sayyed, who was held for four years on suspicion of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Sayyed, who was appointed to the post during the tenure of former President Emile Lahoud, was released for lack of evidence.
Despite objections from many artists and people who work in the arts and culture sector, the General Security Directorate is also still the authority responsible for performing oversight on films and audiovisual and print media. Facilitating the entrance of foreign delegations, handling all legal measures pertaining to the entrance, residency and departure or deportation of foreigners from Lebanon, and their protection, are the responsibility of the General Security as well. The General Security Directorate issues visas, Lebanese passports and delivers permanent or temporary residency permits. In addition, the General Security apparatus is responsible for escorting and protecting foreign state officials, coordinating with foreign missions in the country and acting as a liaison between embassies.

Mikati: Dialogue crucial for all
July 19, 2011 /By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Cabinet appointed Brig. Abbas Ibrahim as new director general of General Security Monday, while President Michel Sleiman issued a decree naming Marwan Kheireddine as state minister, replacing Talal Arslan. Prime Minister Najib Mikati, meanwhile, told rival factions that dialogue is the only solution to prevent the country’s deepening political divisions erupting into street violence. Mikati chaired a special Cabinet session at the Grand Serial that also appointed Brig. Raymond Khattar, currently acting chief of General Security, as director general of Civil Defense.
Ibrahim, a Shiite, currently deputy head of the Lebanese Army Intelligence, was backed for the General Security chief post by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, amid calls by March 14 Christian MPs to restore the post, once Maronite held, to the Christians.
Ahead of the Cabinet session, the second since it won Parliament’s vote of confidence on July 7, Sleiman issued a presidential decree appointing Kheireddine as state minister, a post allotted to Arslan, who resigned shortly after Mikati’s government was announced on June 13 to protest against not being given a key ministerial post.
Kheireddine, a politburo member of Arslan’s Lebanese Democratic Party, met earlier Monday with Sleiman at Baabda Palace before attending the Cabinet session.
Meanwhile, both Speaker Nabih Berri and Mikati swiftly endorsed Sleiman’s call for national dialogue to end the political schism between the March 8 and March 14 camps that is threatening the country’s stability.
“I am responsive to any call for dialogue under any formula. I am already an advocate of dialogue. I am ready to participate in dialogue even if it is held on a street sidewalk,” Berri said in an interview with Al-Joumhouria newspaper published Monday.
Berri stressed that the convening of dialogue at this stage is in the country’s best interest. “There is no interest for anyone to reject dialogue or refrain from participating in it,” he said. Berri added that Sleiman will outline the formula for the proposed dialogue after consulting with the country’s top leaders.
Sleiman, voicing concern over the political schism, issued the call for national dialogue between rival factions during a dinner he hosted at his residence in Amsheet in honor of Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai Saturday. Sleiman warned that the political divisions threatened to destroy the country’s national fabric and underlined the need for a genuine reconciliation between the feuding parties.
Environment Minister Nazem Khoury, an ally of the president, told The Daly Star Sunday that the primary aim of the president’s call for national dialogue is to bring about an inter-Lebanese reconciliation.
Mikati urged the feuding parties to accept Sleiman’s call for dialogue, stressing that it is the only solution to prevent sectarian violence.
“We have no choice but dialogue amid the current divisions. There is an attempt by his Excellency the President to revive the dialogue table. I see that all the concerned leaders must participate in it because we have no other choice than dialogue,” Mikati said during a meeting with a delegation from the Lebanese Journalists’ Union.
“We must meet and talk in order to avoid problems erupting in the street,” he said, praising Berri’s support for Sleiman’s dialogue call.
Mikati said a defense strategy to protect Lebanon against a possible Israeli attack should be discussed. “It is not permissible for arms, other than the state arms, to exist in certain areas and neighborhoods,” he said.
Referring to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which has split the Lebanese into two camps, Mikati said: “It is a U.N. resolution which Lebanon respects and to which it is committed. There is no intention to change this resolution. ”March 14 lawmakers have accused Mikati of renouncing the STL in the government’s policy statement which stated that Lebanon “respects” Resolution 1757 that established the tribunal.
Mikati said a solution for the current political crisis begins with the full implementation of the 1989 Arab-brokered Taif Accord, which ended the Civil War. “If there is a need for any amendments [of the accord], this can be considered in a comfortable atmosphere,” he said. Mikati called for implementing an article in the Taif Accord calling for the formation of a national committee to abolish the country’s political system which allotted key government posts along sectarian lines.
However, Sleiman’s call for national dialogue is facing difficulties in view of reservations voiced by the opposition March 14 coalition.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in an interview with MTV last week that he will not attend a national dialogue conference if it seeks to discuss the STL, but will attend if it discusses Hezbollah’s arms. This view has been echoed by MPs from Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc.
Kataeb (Phalange) Party leader Amin Gemayel was skeptical about the proposed dialogue. Sleiman “cannot achieve what he said yesterday [Saturday] because the party controlling the government is not ready for any dialogue,” An-Nahar newspaper quoted Gemayel as saying, clearly referring to Hezbollah. Hezbollah and its March 8 allies have a majority in the 30-member Cabinet.
Future bloc’s MP Ammar Houri accused Hezbollah and its allies of backing down on the agreement reached on the STL during a national dialogue session chaired by Berri in 2006. “We have also agreed on the demarcation of Lebanese-Syrian borders, but nothing happened in this respect. We have also agreed on a withdrawal of Palestinian weapons from outside the camps, but nothing happened in this regard,” Houri told Ash-Sharq radio station Monday.
He said the only remaining topic was Hezbollah’s arms. “We hear the other side [Hezbollah] saying that arms are beyond debate. What we want to discuss at the dialogue table is this issue. We refuse any other item on the agenda of the dialogue table,” Houri said.
Deputy Speaker Farid Mikari told the Central News Agency that the opposition has conditions to attend the dialogue conference, including not returning to issues that had been agreed upon in previous sessions and for Sleiman to play the role of an arbitrator.

Former State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley: Israel will not attack Iran anytime soon
Haaretz/Former State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday that Israel is not expected to attack Iran anytime in the near future. "The claim Israel will attack Iran soon is not credible," Crowley posted on his Twitter page. "The strategic costs, while not static, still outweigh the prospects of success." Crowley also explained that the recent revolutions that swept the Arab world were another reason for Israel to refrain from such an attack. "The Arab Spring has sufficiently complicated Israel's strategic calculus that it is more likely to show restraint in the immediate term." Crowley, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama for the position, but resigned on March 13, 2011, following comments he made about the alleged mistreatment of military prisoner Bradley Manning, who is suspected of providing WikiLeaks classified diplomatic cables.
Former Mossad head Meir Dagan has recently come under fire in Israel for saying that a military strike against Iran would be "a stupid thing." He warned that an air force strike against Iran has potential for significant complications.

EU states press for change in Syria
July 18, 2011/Daily Star
BRUSSELS: A clutch of European Union foreign ministers called for change in Syria Monday, with Britain’s chief diplomat telling President Bashar al-Assad that he must reform or stand down. “The situation remains very serious and, if anything, is deteriorating,” said British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
“It is really up to the Syrian people but I believe he should reform or step aside,” he told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with EU counterparts in Brussels.
The 27-nation EU has slapped asset freezes and travel bans on the Damascus regime, including against Assad, in response to a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.
“Certainly there will be a time for further sanctions,” Hague said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Assad’s regime had lost credibility and legitimacy.
“It’s not a question of personality, it’s a question of the regime. The regime has to give way to a new regime, that’s fairly obvious. This regime has run its course,” Bildt said.
“I can only hope that there will be a national dialogue. I have been impressed so far by the unity and by the non-violence of the opposition. I think that’s an encouraging factor,” he said.
Luxembourg’s Jean Asselborn called on the Arab League to take a leading role in promoting change in Damascus.
“I am not saying that we should ask for a no-fly zone or a military intervention via the Arab League, but the Arab League has an obligation to be more decisive and more involved in Syria to at least stop the shootings against protesters,” Asselborn said.
Hague said the EU should work closely with Turkey because it has “more influence on the situation in Syria than many Western nations.”
The ministers are expected to adopt a declaration later Monday threatening to impose more sanctions as long as the regime continues to beat and shoot at demonstrators.
The United States indicated last week it was considering new sanctions against the Syrian government.
Activists say the crackdown has left more than 1,400 civilians dead and thousands of others behind bars since protests erupted four months ago.


Hezbollah to show further STL faults: MP Fadlallah
July 18, 2011/The Daily Star
Fadlallah said Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet would correct mistakes committed by the previous government led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the head of the March 14 movement. BEIRUT: Hezbollah will release more damaging information about the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), further harming its credibility, MP Hasan Fadlallah said Monday.
“The international tribunal is behind us in terms of its indictments but we will confront it in the same way we have done in the past by revealing its gaps and mistakes and its politicization targeting [the resistance],” Fadlallah said during a ceremony in south Lebanon.
He also reiterated Hezbollah’s stance toward the STL, describing the court as a tool in the hands of powerful players in the international community to eliminate the resistance after “they failed to do so in the 2006 July war” with Israel.
The STL, established in 2007 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1757 to probe the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, issued sealed indictments and arrest warrants against four members of Hezbollah on June 30. Lebanon has 30 days to serve the arrest warrants.
Hezbollah has repeatedly denied involvement in the assassination of Hariri and has accused the court of being part of “U.S.-Israeli project” aimed at targeting the resistance group and inciting strife in Lebanon.
The March 14 coalition has criticized Hezbollah on its handling of the issue of the STL and has urged the new government, dominated by the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, to continue supporting the STL.
Fadlallah said the resistance today was stronger than it was in the past and was well-prepared to fend off all threats and aggression against it, echoing similar comments made by other Hezbollah lawmakers.
“We have moved into a new phase that will continue as long as the resistance remains a target,” he added.
During the ceremony in the town of Inata, Fadlallah said Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet would correct mistakes committed by the previous government led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the head of the March 14 movement.
“The government will work on decreasing the burden of debt and the problems of water, electricity, health and education accumulated from many years,” Fadlallah said.

Sleiman seeks Lebanese reconciliation
July 18, 2011July/By Hussein Dakroub The Daily Star
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman, voicing concern over deep political divisions between rival factions, is planning to consult with the country’s top leaders on launching a new round of national dialogue aimed eventually at achieving an inter-Lebanese reconciliation, Environment Minister Nazim Khoury said Sunday.
“In his call for national dialogue, President Sleiman was motivated by the sharp political split in the country as well as internal and external challenges,” Khoury, an ally of the president, told The Daily Star.
Noting the “instability” in the Arab world as a result of popular uprisings demanding reforms and regime change, Khoury said: “The local, regional and international circumstances all require the resumption of dialogue among the Lebanese.”
Khoury, one of three ministers representing Sleiman in Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s 30-member Cabinet, said the president will first sound out the views of the country’s political leaders on the proposed dialogue before issuing a call for a national conference. He expected the March 8 and 14 parties to put conditions on attending.
“The primary aim of the president’s call for national dialogue is to bring about an inter-Lebanese reconciliation,” Khoury said.
Earlier Sunday, a political source said Sleiman’s call for national dialogue bringing together March 8 and March 14 leaders was aimed at protecting the country from internal and external challenges threatening its stability.
“The president will seek to sound out the leaders’ views on the shape, mechanism and topics of the planned dialogue before deciding on calling for a national conference,” the source said.
“What prompted the president to call for a national dialogue was that he was feeling internal and external challenges, such as the indictment with its internal and external repercussions,” the source added.
He was referring to the long-awaited indictment issued by the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon on June 30, accusing four Hezbollah members of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and demanding their arrest.
Sleiman issued the call for national dialogue between rival factions during a dinner he hosted at his residence in Amsheet in honor of Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai Saturday night attended by Speaker Nabih Berri, Mikati and leaders and lawmakers from the March 8 and March 14 parties. Sleiman warned that the political schism threatened to destroy the country’s national fabric and underlined the need for a genuine reconciliation between the feuding parties.
“The discussions and heated debates of the past weeks have shown sharp political divisions that could weaken the spirit of [the National] Charter if they get worse and shake the national fabric,” Sleiman said.
“Consequently, they [the debates] showed how much Lebanon was in need for a genuine reconciliation, a frank and comprehensive dialogue and a quick work aimed at rebuilding the elements of confidence among its leaders and the various segments of its people, especially since the Lebanese system respects plurality,” he said.
Sleiman was referring to Parliament’s three-day heated debate of the government’s policy statement ahead of a vote of confidence on July 5-7 during which March 14 lawmakers lashed out at Mikati, accusing him of renouncing the STL and putting Lebanon on a collision course with the international community. Two MPs, one from the March 8 camp and the other from the March 14 camp, exchanged acrimonious words calling each other “dog.”
In one of the sessions, Berri had to intervene, telling the quarreling MPs that the fiery rhetoric showed that reconciliation was badly needed between the March 8 and March 14 camps. Sleiman said he will soon begin a series of consultations with the country’s leaders and representatives of the people “to develop an appropriate framework for dialogue to protect and fortify Lebanon against internal and external dangers, without halting the main efforts aimed at reaching an agreement on a national strategy to defend the country.”
“Israel’s latest threats and its coveting of natural resources stored in our territorial waters are supposed to enhance our determination to unify our ranks through a constructive dialogue,” Sleiman said.
Last week, Sleiman warned Israel against taking any unilateral decisions to exploit Lebanon’s resources in the demarcation of disputed maritime borders, vowing that the country would defend its sea and land boundaries and rights by all legitimate means.
Sleiman’s warning came as Lebanon is gearing up to confront Israel at the United Nations in a long-simmering dispute over offshore gas and oil reserves following the Israeli government’s approval on July 10 of a map of its proposed maritime borders which Lebanon deemed an aggression and an infringement on its right to an exclusive economic zone.
Sleiman also said “constitutional loopholes,” which had paralyzed the work of state institutions, “underlined the need for a frank and comprehensive national dialogue on how to develop this system and allow it to emerge from its crisis.”
However, the call for national dialogue comes against the backdrop of March 14 parties’ tough stance. Last week, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in an interview with MTV that he will attend a national dialogue conference only if it discusses one topic: Hezbollah’s arms.
This stance was reaffirmed Sunday by Beirut MP Ammar Houri, a member of Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc, who told LBCI TV: “The dialogue must discuss Hezbollah’s arms.” He said that during the previous dialogue sessions, agreement was reached on the STL, “but the other side [Hezbollah and its allies] backed down on it.”
Another Future bloc MP Hadi Hobeish told Future News TV: “Dialogue must deal with only one point: Hezbollah’s arms and how to hand them over to the Lebanese state.”
The last session of dialogue was held in November last year and was boycotted by most March 8 leaders amid mounting divisions between the March 8 and March 14 coalitions over the STL. The dispute led to the collapse of Hariri’s Cabinet on Jan. 12.
During the Amsheet dinner, views were identical among the attending leaders on the significance of dialogue since the 2008 Doha Accord which called for avoiding the use of violence or arms to resolve political differences. Informed sources said that the leaders also agreed to uphold the pact of honor reached during the national dialogue committee’s meeting at the Baabda Palace on April 15, 2010, to halt media and political campaigns between rival factions.

Jumblatt says new strategy needed in Syria
 July 18, 2011/The Daily Star
Jumblatt also said that the Syrian people had great potential that needed to be put to use by building a modern Syria and avoiding further violence which eliminates any chance of dialogue or real peace. BEIRUT: Syria’s current security strategy needs to give way to dialogue that can lead to a multi-party political system that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people, Progressive Socialist Party leader Waldi Jumblatt said Monday, stressing that the violence needed to cease.
“The series of developments and events in Syria have proven that the [current] security strategy and violence cannot continue to solve the current situation. There must be a new strategy based on dialogue considering it is the only way to find solutions to the issues at hand to build a resilient country,” Jumblatt said in his weekly statement to be published Tuesday in Al Anbaa newspaper. Jumblatt, who left to Russia accompanied by Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi Monday, added that the new strategy should protect Syria’s unity, diversity and stability while affirming its Arab identity and meeting the Syrian people’s ambitions and its vision for a better future.
Syria has been rocked by continuous anti-government protests since mid-march, despite a violent security crackdown by Syrian authorities. President Bashar Assad has repeatedly described these demonstrations as part of a conspiracy against the state, but has promised to implement a full series of reforms.
“The reforms should lead the way to a multi-party system by reviewing the Constitution and possibly draft a new [one], just like President Assad said himself ... speeding up the route of dialogue to develop a rescue plan for the next stage which would include all members of the opposition,” Jumblatt said.In his previous weekly statement, the PSP leader urged Assad to launch reforms and a national dialogue in the hope of resolving the current situation in Syria Jumblatt also said that the Syrian people had great potential that needed to be put to use by building a modern Syria and avoiding further violence which eliminates any chance of dialogue or real peace.

Beirut ranked 4th most expensive Mideast city
July 18, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Beirut was ranked the fourth most expensive city in the Middle East and the 75th in the world, according to the annual survey on the cost of living in 214 cities worldwide by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.It also considered Beirut to be the 15th most expensive city among the Upper Middle Income Countries included in the survey, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group. Beirut was the 80th most expensive city worldwide and the fourth most expensive in the Arab world in 2011.
The study measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including the cost of housing, food, clothing and household goods, as well as transportation and entertainment. It compares the cost of high-end items that are important to expatriates and their employers such as upscale residential areas and entertainment venues.
New York is used as the base city for the index and all cities are compared against it. The survey is conducted annually to help multinational firms determine compensation allowances for their expatriate workers. On a global basis, Beirut was considered to be as expensive as Santiago in Chile and more costly than Los Angeles, Munich and Montreal; while it was less expensive than Cotonou in Benin, Frankfurt, and Luxembourg. Among UMICs, Beirut tied with Santiago, was considered more expensive than Almaty in Kazakhstan, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Port Louis in Mauritius; while it ranked behind Istanbul, Bogota in Colombia, and Havana in Cuba. Regionally, Abu Dhabi, Khartoum and Djibouti were the only Arab cities to be more expensive than Beirut. Mercer said that the rankings of four Arab cities increased in 2011, while those of the remaining 16 cities dropped this year.
It attributed the decline in the rankings of the 16 Arab cities to the continuing fall in accommodation and housing costs across most of the region, which is reducing the overall cost of living for expatriates. Djibouti is the most expensive Arab city in 2011, while Tunis remains the least costly. Also, Djibouti and Khartoum ranked among the top 50 most expensive cities in the world. The survey included four non-Arab cities from the region, as Tel Aviv ranked in 24th place globally, Istanbul came in 70th place, Limassol was in 119th place and Tehran ranked in 130th place. Luanda in Angola remained the world’s most expensive city, and Karachi in Pakistan maintained its status as the least costly city globally.

Police intelligence chief Col. Wissam al-Hasan is likely to be named Lebanon’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia,: report
July 18, 2011 12:20 PM) The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Police intelligence chief Col. Wissam al-Hasan is likely to be named Lebanon’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, reported a local daily Monday.
Al-Liwaa newspaper, citing a well-informed ministerial source, said that considerations for relocating Hasan were part of the ongoing debate relating to some of the public appointments and reshuffles in the security services, particularly with regards to Internal Security Forces.
The source said Hasan, who was chief of protocol at the time of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, was likely to replace Lebanon’s current ambassador to Riyadh, Maj. Gen. Marwan Zein whose term expires in December.
Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi would likely retain his post as Lebanon’s head of police, the source added, according to Al-Liwaa.

US Adm. Mike Mullen honored for his input in IDF's war readiness for Iran
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 18, 2011
Adm. Michael Glenn Mullen is rightly acclaimed as the American military leader who contributed more than any other in the past decade to the depth and breadth of US-Israeli security ties and the Israel's Defense Forces' (IDF) preparedness for a potential war with Iran. Adm. Mullen, who retires as Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff on September 30, arrived Monday, July 18, to take leave of the IDF.
He will be saluted by Chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz and a guard of honor of generals when he arrives at General Command Headquarters for a farewell reception.
Adm. Mullen stands out as a warm friend of Israel and firm believer in the military partnership between US and Israeli armed forces as a key component in the national security of both nations – which is why he consistently did what he could to upscale their operational, technological and intelligence ties to an unprecedented level.
None of the world or Middle East events of the past four years altered his appreciation of the IDF as the second strongest Western army after the US armed forces and America's most reliable military mainstay. Just before he retires he finds this evaluation further strengthened by the poor performance of NATO's European forces against Muammar Qaddafi in Libya.
The top American soldier developed a special relationship with Lt. General Gaby Ashkenazy during the years the latter served as IDF Chief of Staff. Not everyone in Washington or Jerusalem approved of the understandings reached by the two military men in operational matters or their tendency to bypass Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Prime Ministers Ehud Olmert, followed by Binyamin Netanyahu, but most of all Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
It is important to remember that when Adm. Mullen assumed the top US military post in Oct. 2007, he found Gen. Ashkenazi nine months on the job and in the throes of a major overhaul of Israel's fighting forces to fix the glaring shortcomings exposed in the 2006 war against the Lebanese Hizballah.
Two months later, in December 2007, the National Intelligence Estimate bombshell was released with the assertion that Iran had put its military nuclear program on ice since 2003.
This estimate was embraced by US President George W. Bush, who was regarded as a friend of Israel (although he later claimed he had not choice in the matter), although its purpose was to freeze the preparations already in train in Israel for strike Iran's nuclear installations and nipping its progress toward a nuclear bomb in the bud.
The NIE created an awkward moment for Adm. Mullen's friendship with Israelis leaders. Although he had no hand in the estimate and agreed with Israel that Iran was covertly developing a nuclear bomb which would be used to destroy Israel, he had been tasked with restraining Israel from going to war against the Islamic Republic.
He and Ashkenazi are believed to have tacitly agreed to abide by the Bush administration's decision to withhold Israel's military option. At the same time, Mullen decided to make every effort as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to get the IDF in proper shape for striking Iran at some future point and able to defend Israel against a combined Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah-Hamas war offensive.
This unrecorded pact, concluded during the Bush term, suited the incoming president Barack Obama very well. The IDF was bound by a commitment to refrain from military action against Iran, on the one hand. On the other, the warm ties between the American and Israel top military and intelligence echelons allowed the incoming president to counter-balance his pro-Muslim policies and insistence on confining the nuclear controversy with Iran to the diplomatic track by boasting that as president he had done more than any of his predecessors to guarantee Israel's military edge against Iran and was dedicated to the Jewish state's security.
Netanyahu endorsed the "Mullen formula" to refrain from attacking Iran with one difference: He pledged that Israel would not attack Iran without prior notice to the United States.
Mullen initiated seven key steps for tightening relations and boosting Israel's military muscle:
1. America established in Israel a strong of operational, logistical and intelligence installations and bases unprecedented in size and scale.
2. IDF and home defense systems were integrated in the US anti-missile shield against Iran on land, sea and air.
3. The Israeli Air Force was given permission to use US air bases in East Europe and around the Black Sea in such places as Romania and Bulgaria for operations and training.
4. The US and Israel carried out a series of air and air defense exercises in which American air carriers in the Mediterranean took part.
5. US-Israeli naval collaboration expanded from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
6. Regular joint intensive training exercises for US Marines and Israeli Special Operations forces.
7. The IDF and Israel's weapons, aviation and electronics industries are developing munitions and intelligence systems and methods adaptable to the world combat arenas win which the US is involved.

Egypt's liberals are like Iraq's Sunnis
18/07/2011
By Tariq Alhomayed
Asharq Al-Awsat
Today the liberals of Egypt are devoting themselves to conflict after the fall of the Mubarak regime, in the same way that the Sunnis of Iraq devoted themselves to delusion after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime. The liberals of Egypt are sceptical of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Military Council, America and the international community, and they want to try and convict symbols of the former regime, even the innocent ones among them. Yet the beneficiary of all of this is the Muslim Brotherhood!
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood today is playing politics in accordance with reality rather than delusions. Meanwhile the liberals are still chasing idealism and calling on the Military Council to turn this into a reality, knowing that the military still reiterates that it will not rule [permanently] and wants to return to its barracks, but is being dragged into the battle on the streets everyday. A well informed source on the region told me that the liberals of Egypt are like the Sunnis of Iraq after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime. In Iraq, the Sunnis were told: as long as you complain about Shia parties that are loyal to Iran, [you must] ally with the Kurds, this is politics! The Sunnis replied that that was impossible, and presented a list of their "delusional" complaints about the Kurds. So what happened? The Kurds subsequently allied with those Shia groups loyal to Iran, and now look at the situation of the Sunnis in Iraq.
Today, the same thing is happening in Egypt with the youth and the liberals, as they engage wholly in criticizing the “Brotherhood” and the Military Council. In fact the “Brotherhood” played a very clever game with the youth and the liberals, as it preoccupied them with several different issues whilst the group strengthened its position on the ground. Sometimes it would spread stories that the symbols of the former regime were [being held] in five-star prisons and so the youth, the liberals, and the media moved so quickly that even the independent judiciary began to fear acquitting those who were actually innocent! Then the Brotherhood would suddenly go back to spreading stories about finances abroad and about remnants of the regime planning a counter revolution. As soon as matters began to calm down again, the Brotherhood would claim that Saudi Arabia wants to disrupt the revolution, or America wants to disrupt the revolution, and so on and so forth...
The political reality tells us that the youth and the liberals should be hand in hand with the military and should, first and foremost, call for the drafting of the constitution and then for presidential elections. A source told me a story that contains a lot of wisdom, and it comes from the tales of Hashemi Rafsanjani immediately after the Iranian revolution. Rafsanjani suggested to some symbols of the Iranian civil state that the Iranian constitution should be written before the elections, but they insisted on holding elections first. Rafsanjani told them in a few words: you will regret this. The elections took place and the events unfolded in a manner contrary to what the enthusiasts and supporters of the civil state expected. The victors drafted the constitution and there could be no regrets at the time, because in revolutions the victors always draft the constitution!
Therefore it would be best if the Egyptian constitution was drafted now, under the protection of the Military Council, because it would act as a universal source of reference, and would be put to a referendum. Then a president should be elected and parliamentary elections should be held after that. This is the best guarantee for protecting the Egyptian revolution. It is true that the Military Council has its faults, the most prominent of which is that it refrains [from taking action] and then responds under the pressure of demonstrations, as if testing the sincerity of the public. However the chaos and failure to act according to the reality is putting Egypt in a perpetual state of demonstrations, i.e. chaos, which in turn strengthens the gains of the “Brotherhood”, especially as the Egyptian economy is now under real threat. For instance, does it make sense for the liberals and the youth to call for isolating a transitional government in order to appoint another transitional government? This is a pointless process of consumption; are the liberals and the youth aware of that?

A Christian Lebanese Patriot Speaks Out
FrontPage/Joseph Puder Bio/Jul 19th, 2011
Joseph Hakim is a Lebanese native, and the leader of the International Christian Union based in the U.S., a group which serves as an umbrella for Middle Eastern Christians worldwide. Hakim, having just returned from a trip to Lebanon, was asked by this reporter how the Lebanese people feel about the Obama administration, and the general situation in the Land of the Cedars.
“The Christians in Lebanon, like Christians in Iraq and in Egypt, feel abandoned by the Obama administration” Hakim said, adding that “in the midst of ethnic cleansing of Christians in Iraq, and post-revolutionary violence against Christians in Egypt, and fear of the Muslim Brotherhood takeover in Syria, most Christians are left feeling fearful and hopeless.”
According to Hakim, the Obama administration’s policy in the Middle East has been lackluster and has done little to protect Christian interests. This situation, says Hakim, has also “left the Lebanese Christians weakened and isolated.”
The irony, as Hakim sees it, is the fact that the Shiite-Muslim community, represented to a large extent by Hezbollah, is fiercely anti-American, yet the Obama “hands-off” policy in Lebanon has bolstered both Hezbollah and Iran in Lebanon. Given the full control Hezbollah and their Syrian and Iranian masters exercise in Lebanon, Hakim predicts that Iran will soon be “on Israel’s border,” and that might spell war with Israel.
Hakim has little confidence in the future of democracy in Lebanon without Western intervention, but he does not expect the Obama administration to intercede. Although parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2013, and the “March 14” pro-Western democratic forces of predominantly Christians and Sunni-Muslims might prevail, it is Hezbollah — and its sponsors in Syria and Iran — that has the guns and is willing to use them, while the West is not. He asserts that the Obama administration has limited its policy to “protecting Saudi interests in Lebanon.” That, in essence, means supporting the Sunni-Muslims. The Sunnis, however, do not believe that “Obama is doing enough.”
Hezbollah is more powerful than the Lebanese army, despite the presence of some Christian generals in the army. Hezbollah says Hakim “controls the intelligence and logistical apparatus of the Lebanese army.” U.S. arms deliveries to the Lebanese army, Hakim maintains, is clearly counterproductive, and these arms would ultimately be turned against Israel and the pro-Western forces of Lebanon.
The Jerusalem Post reported in September 2010 that “key members of the U.S. House block military assistance to the Lebanese army.” Members of Congress reacted to an incident in which Hezbollah — with Lebanese army cooperation — attacked Israeli soldiers. The Obama administration, however, approved the delivery of $100 million in arms to the Lebanese army for 2010. Obama’s State Department, always bending over to be even-handed, used its spokesman to say that the “U.S. is still trying to ascertain the facts regarding the incident including whether there is any truth behind the reports that the LAF [Lebanese army] troops used American issued guns.”
In the meantime, the new Lebanese government led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, which came into being after five months of wrangling, is being held hostage by Hezbollah. The BBC reported on June 14, 2011 that Mikati, while trying to encourage foreign investments, and fully aware that the U.S. and Western powers will judge him by his government’s actions, “is living up to international obligation.” Mikati said that he will strive to do just that. He added, however, that he has “responsibilities when it comes to Lebanon’s stability,” a clear reference that he is at the mercy of Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian masters. Mikati also said that “there would be severe repercussions if any Lebanese government goes along with the expected indictment” of Hezbollah operatives for the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon
Hezbollah is not just a threat to Lebanon and Lebanese democracy; it poses a threat to the U.S. and the West as well. In his 2002 address to the U.S. Institute for Peace, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Arbitrage stated that “Hezbollah may be the A-team of terrorists, and al-Qaida is actually the B-team.”
Mikati, a telecommunication tycoon and a billionaire, is a Sunni-Muslim caught between his sentiments toward his fellow Sunnis, and his dependence on Hezbollah’s good will to govern Lebanon. He is also caught in the middle between pleasing the wealthy Saudis and the more threatening Iranians and Syrians.
As far as Hakim is concerned, Mikati is merely “a marionette in the hands of the Hezbollah.” He believes that it does not matter who is prime minister leading the Hezbollah-controlled “March 8” camp. The bottom line is that “the person will implement the Hezbollah and Iran’s agenda.”
The global economic downturn has had a lesser effect on Lebanon, according to Hakim. Despite the upheaval in the Arab world, which caused economic instability, Lebanon is enjoying an upturn. On one hand, this is because aid is coming from Iran, most of which is obviously aimed at bolstering the Shiite population, and of course for military-related projects controlled by Hezbollah. And, on the other hand, the Saudis are providing aid to the Sunnis, and due to the economic decline in the Gulf, many Lebanese are returning home and buying properties, which has stimulated the local real estate market.
Another issue Hakim is passionate about is the role the Palestinians play in Lebanese life. He believes that in order to restore a semblance of harmony in Lebanon, actions must be taken to move the Palestinians out. The Palestinians, “are living miserable lives in Lebanon, and Lebanon is ill-equipped to provide for them,” he said. Moreover, he said, “The oil-rich Arab states have done little to alleviate Palestinian poverty.” Hakim’s solution is to remove the Palestinians from Lebanon and relocate them to the Arab Gulf states.
Concluding our conversation, Hakim quipped that for Christians like himself, the immediate hope is for the defeat of Obama by the Republicans in the next election, followed by a new Middle East strategy which would reward pro-Western elements in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Aoun, king of illusions
Future Site/The Egyptians well known around the world for their humor circulated a joke to reveal the reality of deception during the era of President Jamal Abdel Nasser. This joke says that late President assigned following the 23rd of July revolution in Egypt an officer in charge of the companies and industrial institutions.
On Labor Day the President decided to visit one factory and deliver a speech on the occasion. Prior to his arrival, the head of the factory (an officer) called for a meeting with the laborers and told them: if the President asks you about your well being tell him “it cannot be better, everything is all right Mr. President”.
Effectively when the President arrived he delivered his enthusiastic speech and asked the workers about their well being, so all of them reiterated their promise to the officer except one laborer who decided to be different and asked the President “till when should we remain happy?”
This joke seems to fit the most supporters of the Orange movement particularly following the success of Amal-Hizbullah in forcing their will especially on the post of Director General of the Security General, thus the failure of MP Michel Aoun in playing the role of the hero in the battle of “regaining the Christians rights”.
Aoun has failed in convincing the public opinion, and this is nothing new, since his “liberation war” and the hundreds of innocent victims that fell, through his “cancelation war” and killing his fellow citizens while aiming to achieve personal ambitions, finally the nomination of Marwan Charbel to the post of Interior Minister, he who declared to the Massira magazine in its latest issue that he would resign his post if the government proved to be Aoun’s.
When such is the case, hasn’t the time arrives when a naïve person would stand up and asks Aoun, the king of illusions “till when are you going to keep mastering the policy of deception and refrain from turning us into tools you use to achieve your personal projects? Till when are you going to play on the confessional contradictions to raise the instincts against a particular sect, knowing that the Future Movement, PM Martyr Rafik Hariri and PM Saad Hariri stressed equality and refrained from counting numbers in the Cedars republic?”