LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 07/12

Bible Quotation for today
Mark 09/01-07: "And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Obama Administration's War on Persecuted Christians/By: Raymond Ibrahim/Investigative Project on Terrorism/August 06/12
Assad’s fall may free Lebanon, too/By: Amir Taheri/New York Post/August 06/12
No such thing as a smooth transition/By: Hussain Abdul Hussain/Now Lebanon/August 06/12

Was Iran behind coordinated Islamist attacks on Egypt and Israel from Sinai?
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis August 6, 2012/ The initial Egyptian and Israeli accounts of the attacks in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed and the Israeli border crashed Sunday night, Aug. 5, don’t match up: Egypt points the finger at the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip; Israel at Sinai Salafits. debkafile postulates a third option: Tehran put Gaza Strip Islamists and/or Palestinian proxies together with a Sinai al Qaeda cell for a coordinated attack on Egyptian and Israeli military targets to avenge the presence of al Qaeda in the anti-Assad revolt in Syria under the Western-Arab aegis. That would signal the spillover of the Syrian crisis into two more Middle East countries.
The gunmen first stormed an Egyptian commando post in Sinai with bombs, grenades and sidearms, killing at least 16 Egyptian soldiers, wounding many more and taking several hostages. A quantity of weapons and two armored vehicles were seized. According to Egyptian sources, all ten gunmen infiltrated Sinai from the Gaza Strip through the smuggling tunnels. They were disguised as Sinai Bedouin.
In contrast, the Israeli military spokesman tagged the gunmen as Sinai Salafist Bedouin tied to al Qaeda. He denied there was any connection with the IDF’s targeting of two Popular Resistance Committees earlier Sunday after they were identified as the perpetrators of the June 18 shooting of an Israeli border fence workman.
The IDF also claimed it had been forewarned of the plot to attack the Kerem Shalom terminal opposite the Egyptian post and were therefore prepared for the gunmen’s incursion aboard two captured Egyptian vehicles for the purpose of snatching Israeli soldiers. Israel bombed the vehicle that got through from the air and by artillery. Seven terrorists were gunned down as they fled. There were no Israeli casualties. The army spokesman did not indicate whether the Egyptians had also been forewarned.
The IDF version, if it is correct, exposes the most ambitious operation al Qaeda has ever mounted from Sinai. The jihadists, even in their biggest outrages in Iraq and Afghanistan - or Syria today – rarely carried through an operation this complex against one military base after another in two different countries.
Its features do, however, recall Palestinian terrorist strikes on Israeli military positions in the Gaza Strip at the height of their 2000-2003 war on Israel. In that sense, the Egyptian version pointing to Gaza as the source rings true. And indeed, the enclave’s Hamas rulers hastened to condemn the attack and block the Gaza-Sinai smuggling tunnels first thing Monday, Aug. 6, and a Hamas leader, Mahmoud A-Zahar, admitted Palestinians may have been complicit. Neither Israel nor Egypt has mentioned a third option, which in the view of debkafile’s counter-terror analysts is the most sinister of them all, namely that Iran’s proxy in the enclave, the Palestinian Jihad Islami, which operates under the command of the Al Qods Brigades operations center in Beirut, was told to muster al Qaeda jihadists in Sinai for the coordinated attacks. Iranian officers posted in Beirut would then have orchestrated the combined operation, bringing to bear their long experience of setting up terrorist campaigns against Western and Arab targets – Saudi Arabia in 2003 and 2004; Iraq up to the present day and Afghanistan, against US and NATO forces.
If that is what happened, it would be the first time Tehran has harnessed al Qaeda to lash out out against Egyptian and Israeli military targets as a riposte for the presence of al Qaeda fighters in the revolt against Bashar Assad. Just a few hours earlier, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani declared: "The fire that has been ignited in Syria will take the fearful (Israelis) with it.”
That was also the first time Tehran had explicitly threatened that the Syrian conflict would spill over into Israel.

Jumblat: Defense Strategy Must Serve Lebanon Alone, Not Hormuz Strait
Naharnet /06 August 2012/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat praised on Monday President Michel Suleiman’s “important political positions” on Army Day, most notably his remarks that “there can be no partnership with the army and forces responsible for maintaining Lebanon’s security.” He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “We are seeking arms for the defense of Lebanon alone. We don’t want a defense strategy for the Hormuz Strait or any other area.”“It’s true that we had said in past ministerial statements that we support the cooperation of the people, army, and resistance, but clarifications should be made over how this cooperation would take place,” he continued. “This cooperation should be aimed against Israel and not serve any other purposes,” remarked the Druze chief. Jumblat stressed the need for devising a defense strategy for Lebanon “that would prevent the country from once again becoming an open ground for political messages, as it did during the days of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Syrian hegemony.” Addressing head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili’s visit to Lebanon, the MP noted: “It would be best to remind people of these issues given his visit to the country.” “We acknowledge his security and strategic concerns, but if only he had catered to the internal affairs of his country, where the price of chicken has become more expensive than rockets … instead of spreading weapons arsenals here and there,” he stressed.
Commenting on Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s recent remarks that Lebanon is need of a liberation strategy in addition to a defense one, Jumblat said: “This demand requires first and foremost the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border, as stipulated during previous national dialogue sessions.”
“This will help prevent Lebanon from once again becoming a pawn in international nuclear negotiations or regional developments,” he added.
On the Syrian crisis, the MP noted: “The weapons used by the regime against its people could have been used to liberate the occupied Golan Heights several times.”
Furthermore, he said that the “global conspiracy against the Syrian people, has started to take on a new turn, whereby instead of arming the revolutionaries, international powers are beginning to speak of suicide bombers and jihadists” who have infiltrated Syria. “Such a theory helps the regime and it was the first side to speak of it in order to serve its interests,” he said. “The Syrian people, who have presented so many sacrifices, do not need such fighters,” remarked Jumblat.

Indian Sikhs Shocked and Angered by U.S. Temple Shooting
Naharnet/06 August 2012/Indian Sikhs, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, voiced shock and anger Monday at the killing of worshippers at a Sikh temple in the U.S., with some suggesting American Muslims may have been the intended target. "I am deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the shooting incident that has resulted in the loss of precious lives," the prime minister, himself a Sikh, said in a statement. "That this senseless act of violence should be targeted at a place of religious worship is particularly painful," Singh said.
In Sunday's attack, a gunman shot worshippers at a suburban Sikh temple in Wisconsin, in the mid-western United States, killing at least six people before he was shot dead by police.
"I hope the American authorities would investigate who is behind this dastardly attack on innocent devotees and that they will ensure that such ghastly events do not take place," Singh told reporters later. According to religious tradition, Sikh Indians wear turbans to cover their uncut hair and sport long beards. In the United States they have often been confused with Muslims and targeted by anti-Islam activists, particularly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Leading Sikh politicians in India said the temple shooting in Wisconsin may have been part of that pattern. "I think it is a case of mistaken identity. Sikhs are often mistaken to be from the Middle East," said Manpreet Singh Badal, founder-president of the People's Party of Punjab.
"This is an opportunity, although a very sad one, to raise awareness among Americans about the Sikh culture and identity," he told Agence France Presse. At Sikhdom's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in the northern Indian city of Amritsar, the atmosphere was tense and sombre as shocked Sikh devotees went to offer their prayers, amid the daily influx of tourists.
"This attack on Sikhs in the U.S. is shameful. People come to the gurudwara (temple) to find peace. It is a holy place," said Kulwinder Singh, 50. In the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which has traditionally had a large Sikh community, Sikh protesters blocked a national highway and brandished banners calling for stronger U.S. gun laws. Manjit Singh, president of a Delhi-based Sikh party, said a peaceful gathering would be held later Monday outside the U.S. embassy in New Delhi as a demonstration of solidarity with the victims. "Sikhs contribute a lot to America, they are an important part of America," Singh said. "This is a racially motivated case and the (U.S.) government needs to educate people about different communities so it doesn't happen again."
U.S. ambassador Nancy Powell visited New Delhi's largest Sikh temple to show solidarity with the grieving community over what she described as "this ghastly act of violence".
"We hope that families find comfort in the fact that so many around the world share their grief," she told reporters. In Amritsar, Giani Gurbachan Singh, head priest at the Akal Takht, Sikhdom's highest seat of religious and temporal authority, urged all Sikhs in the United States to "remain vigilant"."This is a security lapse on the part of U.S. government wherein Sikhs have become the victims of violence," Singh said, adding that a "chain of prayers" would be held in Sikh temples across India, including the Golden Temple.SourceAgence France Presse.

Egypt vows crackdown on "infidels," nation mourns
August 06, 2012/ By Shaimaa Fayed, Yasmine Saleh/Daiu\ly Star
CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi declared three days of national mourning after gunmen killed 16 guards near the Israeli border, state television reported.
"The president of the republic has announced three days of mourning after the terrorist attack," read a news banner on the television Monday.
Egypt branded Islamist gunmen who killed 16 police near the Israeli border as "infidels" and promised on Monday to launch a crackdown following the massacre that strained Cairo's ties with both Israel and Palestinians. An Egyptian official has said "Jihadist elements" crossed from the Gaza Strip into Egypt before leading the assault on a border station. They then stole two armored vehicles and headed to nearby Israel, where they were killed by Israeli fire. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday that eight assailants died in the attack, adding that he hoped the incident would serve as a "wake-up call" to Egypt, long accused of losing its grip in the desert Sinai peninsula.
The bloodshed represented an early diplomatic test for Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist who took office at the end of June after staunch U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year in a popular uprising.
Mubarak cooperated closely with Israel on security and suppressed Islamist movements such as Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood whose leaders often voiced hostility towards the Jewish state.
Egypt's military, which still holds many levers of power in the most populous Arab nation, called the attackers "infidels" and said it had been patient until now in the face of the instability in Sinai.
"But there is a red line and passing it is not acceptable. Egyptians will not wait for long to see a reaction to this event," it said in a statement on its Facebook page.
A demilitarized Sinai is the keystone of the historic 1979 peace deal between the two countries.
But for the past year there has been growing lawlessness in the vast desert expanse, as Bedouin bandits, jihadists and Palestinian militants from next-door Gaza fill the vacuum, tearing at already frayed relations between Egypt and Israel.
Addressing a parliamentary committee in Jerusalem, Barak praised the work of Israeli forces in blunting Sunday's attack, with the Israeli air force swiftly swinging into action and destroying one of the vehicles after it breached the border.
"Perhaps it will also be a proper wake-up call to the Egyptians to take matters in hand on their side in a firmer way," he said.
Mursi has promised to honor Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel and has done little to suggest a major shift in ties. He has also reached out to Hamas, the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip that borders Egypt and Israel, and Sunday's killings put an instant strain on those closer ties.
Egypt announced it was closing its border crossing into Gaza "indefinitely", cutting off the sole exit route for most Palestinians at the height of the Muslim-fast month of Ramadan.
Hamas, which condemned the killings of the Egyptians, immediately sealed the warren of smuggling tunnels that connect Gaza with Egypt after Cairo said the gunmen had used these links to reach their territory. Many key goods, including oil, pass through the tunnels, and a prolonged closure could stymie life in the coastal enclave.
Hamas said it was working with Egypt to try to identify those behind the bloody operation.
"No Palestinian could take part in such an ugly crime and in the killing of our beloved Egyptian army men in such a horrible manner," said Taher Al-Nono, spokesman of the Hamas Gaza government.
Relentlessly hostile to Israel, Hamas is nonetheless considered overly moderate by many Salafi Islamists, who condemn Egypt's 1979 peace accord and demand a constant state of war with the Jewish state.
Last August, eight Israelis died in a cross-border Sinai attack blamed on Palestinian militants from Gaza. In June, an Israeli worker died in another incident on the desert frontier.
A Jihadist group called the "Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin" took responsibility for the June incident, saying it did so "without considering any claimed or imagined borders between Muslim countries. The Mujahddin has no word in their dictionary called borders except the boundaries of God."No one claimed immediate responsibility for Sunday's attack.
"I think it is clear that Israel and Egypt have a common interest in keeping their border quiet," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, sending his condolences to Egypt for their loss of life. Israel urged it citizens last week to leave the Sinai, citing the threat of a possible assault. On Sunday morning, an Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian gunman from a radical Islamist group and wounded another as they rode a motorbike in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border.
Hours later, the group of unidentified gunmen ambushed the Egyptian border police - who had gathered to break the Ramadan fast after sunset - and opened fire, killing 16 security forces personnel and wounding at least seven.They then drove off in two vehicles. One of them exploded near the frontier while the second was hit by the air force after crossing the border and travelling some 2.5-km (2 miles) into the country, the army said. Israeli media said the military had been on a high state of alert and had reacted rapidly to the attempted incursion."A very great disaster was prevented here," said the chief of the Israeli armed forces, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, adding that it was "a very complicated attack by terrorists linked between the Sinai and Gaza".

Syrian prime minister defects and flees to Jordan as Assad regime cracks at highest level
By Jamal Halaby,Zeina Karam, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press..BEIRUT - Syria's prime minister defected and fled to neighbouring Jordan, a Jordanian official and a rebel spokesman said Monday, evidence that the cracks in President Bashar's Assad's regime have reached the highest echelons of government. Ahmad Kassim, a senior official with the Free Syrian Army, said Prime Minister Riad Hijab defected to Jordan along with three other ministers. A Jordanian government official confirmed Hijab defected with his family but did not comment on the three other ministers. The Jordanian government official spoke on condition of anonymity, saying he was not allowed to make any public statements on the defection. Hijab is the highest-level government official to defect since the uprising against Assad's authoritarian rule began 17 months ago. The other ministers' identities were not immediately known. "Don't be scared. Defect from this criminal regime," said Mohammad Otari, who identified himself as a spokesman for Hijab. He spoke on Al-Jazeera TV, urging other Syrians to join the defecting ministers. Otari said Hijab is now a "soldier" of the revolution and added that his defection was planned for more than two months. He said the minister was now in a safe place, adding that Hijab took the job two months ago because the regime gave him a choice: Be killed or accept the post. Earlier Monday, Syrian state-run TV reported Hijab was fired from his post. A former agriculture minister, Hijab took office less than two months ago and was considered a loyalist in Assad's ruling Baath party.Otari said Hijab is from eastern province of Deir el-Zour from the Sikhni tribe. He said Hijab defected along with 10 families who are his relatives, adding that some of them held government posts including in various ministries.Halaby reported from Amman, Jordan.

Officials: Syria's prime minister leaves regime
By the CNN Wire Staff
Mon August 6, 2012
(CNN) -- Syria's prime minister became the highest-profile official to leave the embattled regime of Bashar al-Assad on Monday.
Jordanian officials and opposition leaders said Riyad Hijab had defected, while Syrian state television said al-Assad dismissed Hijab from his post Monday.
There were conflicting reports about the whereabouts of Hijab, who was appointed prime minister in June.
George Sabra, a spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Council, said Hijab fled Syria overnight and arrived with his family in Jordan.
Jordanian government spokesman Samih Maaytah said Hijab had not entered the country's territories, according to state television. But a senior Jordanian official told CNN that Hijab had defected to Jordan and was with his family."I announce today my defection from the killing and terrorist regime and I announce that I have joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution. I announce that I am from today a soldier in this blessed revolution," Hijab said in a written statement read by spokesman Muhammad el-Etri on Al Jazeera on Monday. Hijab will hold a news conference later Monday, Sabra said.
In July, one of Syria's most senior diplomats -- Nawaf al-Fares -- defected, publicly embraced his country's uprising and called for a foreign military intervention. Al-Fares was Syria's ambassador to Iraq. Manaf Tlas, a Sunni general in Syria's elite Republican Guards, also defected last month. Tlas is the son of a former defense minister and a cousin of a first lieutenant in al-Assad's army.
Hijab, just like al-Fares and Tlas, is a Sunni who served in a power structure dominated by the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiism.
Hijab became prime minister in late June after the parliamentary elections and was tasked with creating a new Cabinet for al-Assad's regime.
Opposition leaders haled the news of Hijab's defection.
"We consider the defection to be what is morally right and what is called for at this historic time," said Abdulbaset Sieda, head of the Syrian National Council. "This is a killer and criminal regime, and at this historic moment, there should be no further hesitation. It is imperative to stand by the people of Syria now."The news came amid reports of a bombing Monday inside the Syrian state-run TV building in Damascus, the latest in a series of attacks to rock the nation's capital city as Syrian rebels and government forces battle for control of the country.
There were reports of injuries in the explosion, which comes as al-Assad's forces fight to keep control of its main cities -- Damascus and Aleppo -- in the more than yearlong uprising.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which occurred on the third floor of the Public Center for Broadcast in Television.
"All employees of the Public Center for Broadcast in Television are well, and we know who stood behind this cowardly, brutal attack. There are some injuries, but Syrian media will continue to broadcast," the Ministry of Information said on state-run TV.
The explosion came amid reports of renewed fighting early Monday in Aleppo, Syria's most populous city, according to the opposition.
At least 44 people have been killed in fighting across the country Monday, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. The deaths included 10 people killed in fighting and the discovery of 20 bodies in Aleppo, the group said.
The reports of deaths follow news that warplanes pounded rebel strongholds north of Damascus, and heavy shelling was reported in several neighborhoods in northern and central Aleppo.
CNN can not independently confirm reports of violence, as the government has severely restricted access to Syria by international journalists.
Bashir Al-Hajji, a spokesman for a Free Syrian Army brigade in Aleppo, said clashes raged for hours at various spots near the city center, some close to the presidential palace.
Al-Hajji says he is in the Industrial City of Aleppo, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the city of Aleppo, which is the commercial capital.
As rebels scrambled to fend off regime forces in Aleppo, fighting was reported in other parts of Syria.
At least 124 people were killed across the country Sunday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. The deaths included 59 in Damascus and its suburbs and 25 in Aleppo, the group said. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the situation may get worse in Aleppo, describing the city as "the epicenter of a vicious battle between the Syrian government and those who wish to replace it." Through much of the uprising that began last year, Aleppo remained relatively free of violence. That changed this summer with the influx of rebels into the city. On Sunday, state-run news agency SANA said Syrian forces were continuing to chase "Gulf and Turkish militias" in Aleppo neighborhoods.
Rebels have launched their own attacks in multiple neighborhoods.That included a brazen push Friday to seize a state-run broadcasting building. Rebels pushed into the radio and TV complex, and took over parts of it, before eventually withdrawing because of snipers and military shelling, the LCC said. Around Syria's capital, "armed terrorists" attacked a bus carrying 48 Iranian Shiite pilgrims and kidnapped them, Iranian state media said. Syrian state media also reported the abduction and said it is under investigation.
It is unclear whether the hijacking is linked to the uprising against the Syrian government. The Iranian government is an ally of the Assad regime, which has been fighting a rebel movement dominated by Sunnis. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi lashed out at Arab media outlets over the weekend over reports that suggested those kidnapped were not pilgrims but rather members of the Iran's revolutionary guard. The reports, Salehi said, have "no legal basis" and are the result of an irresponsible media, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency.
It was a claim that appears to have been first made in an online video that featured a commander of the Free Syrian Army who said the 48 people taken at gunpoint are revolutionary guards and not pilgrims. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video. Salehi called on his counterparts in Qatar and Turkey to help work for the release of the kidnapped pilgrims, IRNA said.
Roughly 17,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict first flared in March 2011, when government forces began cracking down on protesters, Ban said last month. The opposition put the toll at more than 20,000.CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom, Salma Abdelaziz, Barbara Starr and Elise Labott contributed to this report.

Obama Administration's War on Persecuted Christians
by Raymond Ibrahim/Investigative Project on Terrorism
August 6, 2012
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/12083/obama-administration-war-on-persecuted-christians
The Obama administration's support for its Islamist allies means lack of U.S. support for their enemies, or, more properly, victims—the Christian and other non-Muslim minorities of the Muslim world. Consider the many recent proofs:
According to Pete Winn of CNS:
The U.S. State Department removed the sections covering religious freedom from the Country Reports on Human Rights that it released on May 24, three months past the statutory deadline Congress set for the release of these reports. The new human rights reports—purged of the sections that discuss the status of religious freedom in each of the countries covered—are also the human rights reports that include the period that covered the Arab Spring and its aftermath. Thus, the reports do not provide in-depth coverage of what has happened to Christians and other religious minorities in predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East that saw the rise of revolutionary movements in 2011 in which Islamist forces played an instrumental role. For the first time ever, the State Department simply eliminated the section of religious freedom in its reports covering 2011… (emphasis added).
The CNS report goes on to quote several U.S. officials questioning the motives of the Obama administration. Former U.S. diplomat Thomas Farr said that he has "observed during the three-and-a-half years of the Obama administration that the issue of religious freedom has been distinctly downplayed." Leonard Leo, former chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said "to have pulled religious freedom out of it [the report] means that fewer people will obtain information," so that "you don't have the whole picture."
Of course, censoring information is a regular theme under Obama: if the administration is suppressing knowledge concerning the sufferings of religious minorities under Islam, earlier it suppressed knowledge concerning Islam itself (see here for a surreal example of the effects of such censorship).
In "Obama Overlooks Christian Persecution," James Walsh gives more examples of State Department indifference "regarding the New Years' murders of Coptic Christians in Egypt and the ravaging of a cathedral," including how the State Department "refused to list Egypt as 'a country of particular concern,' even as Christians and others were being murdered, churches destroyed, and girls kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam. "
And the evidence keeps mounting. Legislation to create a special envoy for religious minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia—legislation that, in the words of the Washington Post, "passed the House by a huge margin," has been stalled by Sen. James Webb (D-Va):
In a letter sent to Webb Wednesday night, Rep. Frank Wolf [R-Va, who introduced the envoy bill] said he "cannot understand why" the hold had been placed on a bill that might help Coptic Christians and other groups "who face daily persecution, hardship, violence, instability and even death."
Yet the ultimate source of opposition is the State Department. The Post continues:
Webb spokesman Will Jenkins explained the hold by saying that "after considering the legislation, Senator Webb asked the State Department for its analysis." In a position paper issued in response, State Department officials said "we oppose the bill as it infringes on the Secretary's [Hillary Clinton's] flexibility to make appropriate staffing decisions," and suggested the duties of Wolf's proposed envoy would overlap with several existing positions. "The new special envoy position is unnecessary, duplicative, and likely counterproductive," the State Department said (emphasis added).
But as Wolf explained in his letter: "If I believed that religious minorities, especially in these strategic regions, were getting the attention warranted at the State Department, I would cease in pressing for passage of this legislation. Sadly, that is far from being the case. We must act now…. Time is running out."
Much of this was discussed during Coptic Solidarity's third annual conference in Washington D.C. last month, which I participated in, and which featured many politicians and lawmakers—including the U.K.'s Lord Alton, Senator Roy Blunt, Congressman Trent Frank, Congressman Joseph Pitts, and Frank Wolf himself. As Coptic Solidarity's summary report puts it, "All policy makers voiced strong support to the Copts…. Some policy makers raised concerns about the current U.S. Administration's overtures towards religious extremists."
There was little doubt among the speakers that, while Webb is the front man, Hillary Clinton—who was named often—is ultimately behind the opposition to the bill. (Videos of all speakers can be accessed here; for information on the envoy bill and how to contact Webb's office, click here).
Even those invited to speak about matters outside of Egypt, such as Nigerian lawyer and activist Emmanuel Ogebe, after describing the sheer carnage of thousands of Christians at the hands of Muslim militants, lamented that Obama's response was to pressure the Nigerian president to make more concessions, including by creating more mosques (the very places that "radicalize" Muslims against "infidel" Christians). This, of course, is consistent with the administration's position that the ongoing massacres of Christians have nothing to do with religion.
Indeed, while the administration vocally condemned vandal attacks on mosques in the West Bank (where no Muslims died), it had nothing to say when Islamic terrorists bombed Nigerian churches on Easter Sunday, killing some 50 Christians and wounding hundreds. And when the Egyptian military indiscriminately massacred dozens of unarmed Christians for protesting the nonstop attacks on their churches, all the White House could say is, "Now is a time for restraint on all sides"—as if Egypt's beleaguered Christian minority needs to "restrain" itself against the nation's military, a military that intentionally ran armored-vehicles over them at Maspero.
In light of all this, naturally the Obama administration, in the guise of the State Department, would oppose a bill to create an envoy who will only expose more religious persecution for the administration to suppress or obfuscate.
Such is the current state of affairs. In its attempts to empower its Islamist allies, the current U.S. administration has taken up their cause by waging a war of silence on their despised minorities—the Christians and other non-Muslims of the Islamic world.
Latest Featured Articles from the Pundicity

Canada Condemns Terrorist Attack in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula
August 5, 2012 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“Canada condemns this cowardly attack without reservation and supports efforts to bring those responsible to justice.
“Canada stands with the people and Government of Egypt in combatting such deplorable acts of terrorism. Canada stands ready to support Egypt to improve the security situation in the region.
“We fundamentally believe that a secure Sinai Peninsula will lead to greater stability in the wider region.
“On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those killed in these attacks, and I wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”

Canada Condemns Sikh Temple Attack
August 5, 2012 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“Canadians were shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the attack on worshippers at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“Canada condemns this senseless act of violence.
“On behalf of all Canadians, I offer our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those killed and wish a full recovery to the injured.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the congregation and all Americans during this difficult time.”

Report: Pilgrims Captors Want to Negotiate with MP Saqr or Wissam al-Hassan
Naharnet/05 August 2012
Abu Ibrahim, the head of the armed group that abducted the 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in Syria, refuses to negotiate with Lebanon’s General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim over their release, LBCI television reported on Sunday. Ali Aqil Khalil, the ambassador of the International Organization for Human Rights to Lebanon, told LBCI that he telephoned Abu Ibrahim who said that he rejects General Ibrahim as a possible negotiator due to the General Security’s latest deportation of 14 Syrians to their strife-torn country. Khalil said Abu Ibrahim asked him whether General Ibrahim was capable of publicly condemning the Syrian regime for its crackdown on dissent. “I told Abu Ibrahim that Maj. Gen. Ibrahim is an employee and that he is not allowed, (according to the Lebanese laws), to give such statements,” Khalil added. “But I clarified to him that a large number of MPs and half of the government are with the rebels and that the Lebanese hospitals are open to them, reminding him that Maj. Gen. Ibrahim had good ties with Islamists, especially in Ain al-Hilweh, during his tenure as head of the army intelligence in the South,” Khalil told LBCI. Asked about a possible alternative negotiator whom he might accept, Abu Ibrahim suggested MP Oqab Saqr. “But when I told him that MP Saqr himself says he cannot return to Lebanon and that his life is threatened and therefore he cannot engage in negotiations, he suggested Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, (head of the Internal Security Forces’ Intelligence Bureau), as another official he is willing to negotiate with,” Khalil added. Conflicting reports emerged on Saturday on whether the 11 Lebanese pilgrims who were abducted in May escaped their captors after the area that they were held in came under severe shelling. LBCI did not specify the number of the abductees who had reportedly escaped, but said there was initial information that the captors moved the remaining pilgrims to another location. Al-Mayadeen network said the abductor of the men, Abu Ibrahim, was wounded as a result of the shelling. The TV stations did not reveal the area where the men were being held. However, Abu Ibrahim later confirmed to LBCI that the men are still in his custody. Head of the Party of Free Syrians Sheikh Ibrahim Zoabi told LBCI that the detention site was shelled and that two of the abductees had fled during the shelling. He pointed out that the other abductees were transferred to another site. “In the next few hours, we will probably confirm the injuries and the names of the abductees who fled”, Zoabi told LBCI. Khalil told NBN television on Saturday that Abu Ibrahim’s group was divided due to differences. He said that Abu Jemaa group defected and was responsible for the attack. When contacted by the National News Agency, the head of the committee following up the case, Sheikh Abbas Zogheib, said he couldn’t confirm the reports. But he told NNA that contacts were underway with several officials, including General Security chief Ibrahim to follow up the case. The 11 pilgrims were kidnapped by a group of armed men in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on May 22 while returning home from Iran. On Monday, Abbas Shoaib, managed to escape from his abductors for a few hours before being recaptured, media reports said. Another abductee, Ali Abbas, who was allowed by his captors to talk to LBCI in a telephone call last week, confirmed that the 11 men are in the remote Aleppo area of Aazaz.

Hezbollah: Syrian opposition's militarization mooted reform
August 05, 2012/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad said Sunday that the militarization of the Syrian opposition has eliminated the argument for reform in the troubled country, but reiterated his party’s stance that the solution to the crisis can only be reached via dialogue. “The aggressive spirit introduced to some Arab regimes by some of the Syrian opposition members led to the militarization of the opposition, thereby ending the argument for reform and democracy,” Raad said in a ceremony in the southern village of Arabsalim. “The issue is no longer one of reform and human rights in Syria,” he added. Hezbollah has repeatedly accused "some Arab countries" -- without naming them -- of arming the Syrian rebels in their fight against President Bashar Assad’s government, which the resistance party supports. The party’s Secretary-General, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, has even accused the March 14 coalition of financing and arming the Syrian opposition. The coalition has denied the allegations. During his speech Sunday, Raad said that the solution to the 17-month old crisis in Syria can only be reached through dialogue between the warring forces in the country, adding that arriving at such a solution would restore stability. “As long as there is funding and incitement for the insurgency, the crisis will continue,” the Hezbollah parliamentarian warned. He also expressed regret over the international community's preoccupation with Syria, which he said distracts attention from what Israel is doing in Palestine, but said Hezbollah would remain vigilant with regard to the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

Assad’s fall may free Lebanon, too
By: Amir Taheri
New York Post
August 4, 2012
With Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad on his way out, one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations may also be heading for trouble — Hezbollah, in Syrian-dominated Lebanon.
The clearest sign so far that Hezbollah may be losing its grip on Lebanese politics came Wednesday, as Lebanon marked the 67th anniversary of the foundation of its national army.
In his Army Day speech, President Michel Suleiman, an ex- general, rejected all three pillars of Hezbollah’s discourse:
* Hezbollah insists that it maintains an unofficial army to “resist Israeli aggression.”
Suleiman said: “Defending the nation and ensuring its sovereignty with the force of arms is the exclusive prerogative of the national army.”
* Hezbollah also claims to be part of a “Resistance Front,” along with the Islamic Republic in Tehran and the Assad regime in Damascus. This, it says, means waging “relentless war” against the United States and Israel until “the Islamic Revolution” triumphs worldwide.
Suleiman, by contrast, pointedly asserted that no one had the right to involve Lebanon in conflicts that have nothing to do with it.
“We will not be dragged into problems created by others,” he said.
* Hezbollah has turned southern Beirut, parts of the Bekaa Valley and parts of south Lebanon into no-go areas for the Lebanese national army and police.
In tones that would have been unimaginable even a month ago, Suleiman said the national army would assert its presence throughout the national territory:
“The state shall never accept that the army abandons its role in any parcel of national territory,” the president said. “No to mini-states and sectarian enclaves anywhere in national territory.”
Suleiman also raised the issue of disarming Hezbollah, a goal already enshrined in documents of national accord as well as three UN Security Council resolutions.
“We reject the chaotic spread of arms and are opposed to the use of weapons outside the national framework,” he said.
The Lebanese leader referred to the Arab Spring as a “historic quest for freedom, pluralism and justice.” Without naming Assad, he said the Syrian despotism was doomed because it had failed to respond to “aspirations for freedom and pluralist government.”
For three decades, thanks to massive financial and political support from the Iranian mullahs, Hezbollah has blackmailed Lebanon’s political elite and built a state within the state. It has involved the nation in adventures having nothing to do with national interests, including terrorist operations and the kidnapping of Western hostages on behalf of Tehran.
With Mafia-style operations, Hezbollah has built a large black economy, sometimes imposing monopolies by terror. It runs banks, insurance and transport companies, hotels and telecom networks, as well as factories assembling bombs and rockets. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, claims that the group has stockpiled more than 100,000 short- and medium-range rockets and missiles.
Tehran leaders routinely describe Hezbollah as an “Iranian advance post” in a war against the United States and Israel.
A rebel victory in Syria would make it harder for Iran to ferry arms to Hezbollah, limiting the terrorist group’s ability to blackmail Lebanese politicians. At present, Hezbollah controls the government through Prime Minister Najib Miqati, a Syrian cat’s-paw, with support from Maronite Christian ex-Gen. Michel Aoun.
Assad’s fall would mean the end of Miqati’s premiership. (Indeed, as an astute businessman, he might cut and run before his Syrian patron falls.) And Aoun, sensing the change of weather, has already started distancing himself from the Iranian scheme in Lebanon.
For the first time since its civil war of 30 years ago, Lebanon has a real chance to regain its sovereignty, shake off Syrian and Iranian domination and embark on the “democratic leap” that Suleiman has evoked. Supporting that process is in the best interests of the United States and other Western democracies.
The Obama administration has frozen a package of aid, including the delivery of helicopter gunships to the Lebanese army, approved by Washington in 2005 after the Syrian army was driven out of Lebanon.
Without immediately ending the freeze, President Obama can signal support for Suleiman by offering a new timetable for talks to reorganize and re-equip the Lebanese army, so that it can assert its presence throughout the country and prepare the way for disarming Hezbollah.
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Salafists kill 15 Egyptian Sinai troops, are stopped crashing Israeli border
DEBKAfile Special Report August 5, 2012/ The Israeli Air Force struck APCs seized by Sinai Salafis from the Egyptian “Tahrir Square” post Sunday night, Aug. 5, after one had crashed through the Kerem Shalom border terminal into Israel.. First, the gunmen blew up the Egyptian post, killing at least 15 Egyptian commandos, injuring many and kidnapping an unknown number, before seizing the two APCs and heavy weapons. debkafile:’s counter-terror sources: A Sinai-based Islamist cell appears to have retaliated for the first time to an Israeli counter-terror operation in the Gaza Strip by attacking Egyptian military personnel. Aside from retaliation, their purpose seems to be to loosen Egyptian and Israeli security control of their respective sides of the frontier.
The attack on the Egyptian position came shortly after dozens of missiles and mortar shells rained down from the Gaza Strip on the Eshkol region. No one was hurt in the initial volley. Residents were told to stay indoors as Israeli tank guns firing into the Gaza Strip pounded the sources of the fire. During the day, an Israeli air force craft struck two motorcyclists, members of the radical Popular Resistance Committees, in Rafah. One was killed. They were identified as responsible for the June 18 shooting attack from Sinai which killed one of the workmen on the Israel-Egyptian border fence.

Gunmen kill 15 Egyptians, enter Israel
August 06, 2012/ Daily Star
CAIRO: Gunmen killed 15 guards in Egypt near Israel’s border Sunday before stealing armored vehicles and crossing into the Jewish state, where one vehicle was destroyed by a helicopter.
President Mohammad Mursi said Egypt would respond to what he called a “cowardly” attack, according to a statement from his office. An Egyptian medical official said gunmen in Bedouin attire drove up in two vehicles and opened fire on a checkpoint near the Karm Abu Salem border crossing and opened fire. The Health Ministry said 15 border guards were killed, while a security official said another seven were wounded. The official MENA news agency said the gunmen were “jihadists” from inside the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Egypt closed its Rafah frontier crossing with the Gaza Strip overnight after the attack, media reported. “Rafah terminal closed until further notice,” state television reported in a graphic, information that was confirmed by the official MENA news agency.
State television and MENA reported that Egypt was closing its Rafah frontier crossing with the Gaza Strip “until further notice.”
In Israel, military spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich said gunmen had hijacked two vehicles from an Egyptian outpost where they had killed between 10 and 15 border guards before crossing the frontier. One of the vehicles exploded by itself and the other was destroyed from the air, and the Israeli military was searching for any remaining gunmen, she said.
She did not know how many had been on board the vehicles and if any had survived. Israeli public radio said the vehicle had been targeted by a helicopter and that three “terrorists” on board had been killed.
Leibovich confirmed that the incident had taken place in the Karm Abu Salem area.
“A few of the people who manned the vehicles started running away. We targeted them,” she said. Residents of the nearby Israeli communities had been ordered to stay inside their homes until further notice, she added. There were no Israeli civilians or soldiers wounded in the incident. In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed “the determined action of the military” and domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet “for ensuring the failure of a large attack on Israeli civilians.” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement: “The way these attackers acted again shows the need for the Egyptian authorities to act firmly to re-establish security and fight terrorism in the Sinai.” Leibovich said it was too early to determine the gunmen’s affiliation or what they were trying to do, but “one of the assumptions is they were trying to kidnap Israeli soldiers.” MENA, however, identified the gunmen as “jihadists” from the Gaza Strip.
“Jihadist elements infiltrated from Gaza through tunnels in collaboration with jihadist elements in the Al-Mahdiya and Gabal Halal areas” inside Egypt, it said.
They “attacked a border post while the soldiers and officers were taking iftar,” the meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, it said, quoting an unidentified official.
Earlier Sunday, before MENA’s report, Hamas in Gaza had dismissed the idea that militants from the Palestinian territory may have been involved.
“The border between Egypt and Gaza is protected. We closed the tunnels [used for smuggling] to prevent anyone from escaping [into Gaza] and we have put our forces on alert,” an Interior Ministry spokesman said. “We reject any idea that Gaza was involved in this incident and we send our condolences over the killing of Egyptian soldiers.”
A Hamas statement said: “We condemn this ugly crime in which Egyptian soldiers were killed, and send our condolences to the families of the victims, and to the Egyptian leadership and the Egyptian people.”

Israeli officials slam Obama's 'wretched' Iran red line
Attila Somfalvi/Ynetnews/Say US position is pushing Islamic Republic to become country at brink of nuclear capability. 'Who knows when and what they'll decide,' the officials added. Just days after US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited Israel it seems that the Obama administration's efforts to calm down the Israeli government on the topic of Iran have not made an impression with Jerusalem decision makers. Senior officials on Sunday leveled severe criticism against the US, declaring that the American position on a date for a military strike against Iran was a "wretched red line." "The US' stance is pushing the Iranians to become a country at the brink (of nuclear capability)," explained sources well versed in the nuclear issue. "The Americans are de facto allowing the Iranians to continue to enrich uranium and become a country at the brink. We are not prepared to allow that (to happen)." As reported in Yedioth Ahronoth last week, the US would only be prepared to carry out a strike against Iran in 18 month, when a "critical threshold" was crossed, and was resolutely against an Israeli strike. During his recent visit to Israel, Panetta made it clear that the US would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Now Israeli officials are trying to change Washington's stance on the Iranian issue. "The Americans say that the ayatollahs' decision to construct a bomb is the red line," the officials noted, adding: "It's a wretched red line. Who knows when they'll decide and what they'll decide. "The centrifuges are spinning and the uranium enrichment level is growing significantly over the past few months. The Iranians are not impressed with the threats and continue on their path in spite of the heavy sanctions."
Nevertheless, the defense establishment and intelligence services in both Israel and the West are starting to notice slight changes in the public discourse in Iran following the economic crisis that formed in light of the heavy sanctions.This is a poker game and you need to see who folds first," officials in Israel said, "right now the Iranian leadership is still talking about standing firm

No such thing as a smooth transition
Hussain Abdul Hussain/Now Lebanon
August 6, 2012
There is little chance of a smooth transition from Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria, though that is not an excuse to allow Assad to stay.
A negotiated political settlement in Syria has been touted as the best way to preserve state institutions and guarantee a smooth transition, with Iraq's post-Saddam chaos often cited as a “lesson learned.” But those advocates of a Syrian settlement seem to have learned little from Iraq.
If they had, they would have known that stability in Arab countries is strictly tied to the dictator. In his absence, the status-quo is upset and needs rebalancing, during which time the country is forced to live through an inevitable period of turbulence. In the case of Syria, even with Bashar al-Assad still in power, the balance of power has been irreversibly shaken, as the regime’s opponents have thrown caution to the wind and broken the barrier of fear that the Assad clan has used to rule Syria for the past four decades.
Yet believers in a settlement want to stay the course. Robert Ford, the last US ambassador in Syria and America's front man on the issue, was heard arguing that a solution without political settlement was like riding a bicycle with one wheel. "Impossible," was the word he used to describe any effort to force Assad out without consulting him on his departure, or at least talking to other senior regime figures.
Ford's argument, widely endorsed in Washington and throughout world capitals, verges on the absurd because it does not ask the key question: When has a brutal dictator ever abdicated by negotiation? Ford might cite Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh, but he gave up only after a rocket literally exploded in his face and forced him abroad for medical treatment. Even then, it took Saleh, a much less brutal autocrat than Assad, months and immense international pressure, especially from his primary backers in Washington, to step down.
Syria has not had the global pressure Saleh had to endure. Thanks to the support of Moscow and Beijing, Assad has been able to easily dismiss calls from Washington and the West to stop his massacres and give up power.
But even assuming that Russia and China are genuinely supportive of the transition plan so cherished by the West and repeatedly presented to Assad by UN Special Envoy Kofi Anan, there are no indications that any Syrian state institution will survive post-Assad. In fact, the late Hafez al-Assad had designed the system to be so dependent on him, and later his son, that it looks inconceivable for the Syrian institutions—both military and civilian—to operate in their absence.
Assad Senior transformed the state into a hollow body that is propped up by the decentralized security apparatuses. Throughout the Assad era, their apparatchiks jockeyed for influence in a never-ending game of power grabbing. The Assads' job was to preside over the intricate balancing of power among the different security agencies. Whenever any security chief was deemed a threat to the Assads, the dictator often granted his rivals the opportunity to pound him and cut him back to size.
In the absence of Assad, the zero-sum game between security chiefs will be disturbed. Should Assad be made to go, not only will Syria's security gangs turn against each other, but the Alawite clans might also fall into disunity, and Syria's civil war, like Lebanon and Iraq's conflicts, will turn into a number of raging mini wars within each community, in addition to the more general inter-communal conflict.
Imagining that a negotiated settlement will allow Assad to hand over the keys to the Syrian state is just like when Washington thought that when Saddam was gone, Iraq—the so-called country of the one million engineers—would automatically thrive. Dictatorships are designed in a way where "stability" is tied to the autocrat staying in place. This was true in Iraq, and it will prove true in Syria.
A negotiated political settlement that allows an orderly transition of power in Syria was constructed by the imagination of the few and then took on a life of its own. In Iraq, despite all the American efforts, political solutions failed in the past and are still failing today. There is no reason to assume that they will succeed in Syria.
But inevitable instability in post-Assad Syria should not be an excuse for Assad to stay. Rather, it is an invitation for the world to understand that it cannot always engineer a transition of power in ways as smooth as those envisaged by intellectuals and diplomats. Syria is destined for bumpy months, and maybe years, ahead, and if Ford and like-minded world officials want to help, they can do so by letting go of the belief that Syria’s state institutions can be preserved.
As for the alternatives, charting a course forward is as tricky and unrealistic as preaching political settlement. What we know for sure, however, is that the killing must stop, and this can only happen the sooner Assad is ejected from power.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain is the Washington Bureau Chief of Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai