LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 09/2012
Bible Quotation for today/A Living Hope
1 Peter 01-12:" Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ
from death. This fills us with a living hope, and so we look forward to
possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for
you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. They are for you,
who through faith are kept safe by God's power for the salvation which is ready
to be revealed at the end of time. Be glad about this, even though it may now be
necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you
suffer. Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which
can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more
precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will
receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed. You
love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you
do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words
cannot express, because you are receiving the salvation of your souls, which is
the purpose of your faith in him.0 It was concerning this salvation that the
prophets made careful search and investigation, and they prophesied about this
gift which God would give you. They tried to find out when the time would be and
how it would come. This was the time to which Christ's Spirit in them was
pointing, in predicting the sufferings that Christ would have to endure and the
glory that would follow. God revealed to these prophets that their work was not
for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you
have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of
the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would
like to understand.
Latest analysis,
editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Make Vladimir Putin reassess in Syria/By: Michael Young/March
08/12
Reassurances for Syria’s minorities/By Tariq Alhomayed/March
08/12
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 08/12
Top US danger rating for Syrian chemical-biological
missiles - ahead even of Iran
Satellite images show Iran cleaning secret nuclear
activity, sources say
Israel cautiously welcomes Western nuclear talks with Iran
Report: Iran testing key nuclear bomb component
Iran threat: I don't trust Obama
Nuke fears: Trust America’s president
Report: Iran testing key nuclear bomb component
Ahmadinejad heads new council to 'safeguard' Iranian
internet values
Red Cross finds Syria's Baba Amr empty after regime
crackdown
Hamas denies it intends to stay out of Israeli war with
Iran
Syrian-made drones spy on rebel strongholds
Think-Tank: Syrian Opposition Can't Beat Assad's Forces
U.S. Weighs 'Non-Lethal' Aid to Syria Rebels
Baragwanath:
2012 set to be a year of major developments for the STL
STL 3rd Annual Report: Lebanon's Investment in Justice
Starting to Pay a Return
Saniora: Those Calling for Freedom in Lebanon Can't Do so
while Supporting Syrian Regime
Hariri Launches Mustaqbal Political Document on Arab
Spring
Romney Tightens Grip on Republican Nomination
Lebanon government reminds foreign envoys to behave
U.N. chief: Baba Amr
completely devastated
Lebanon government reminds foreign envoys to behave
Future manifesto sees Arab Spring as harbinger of local
change
Record-breaking Messi hits Leverkusen with 5
Promising future for Lebanon SMEs
Lebanon launches LL182 bln fund for fodder farms
Unjustified hysteria on Nahhas’ decision
Hariri calls for a modern democracy
Jumblatt draws fire from pro-Syrian rivals over his
criticism of Hafez Assad
Berri Stresses Jumblat still Part of Parliamentary
Majority
Israeli Troops Cross Fence, Deploy Briefly on Wazzani Bank
Top
US danger rating for Syrian chemical-biological missiles - ahead even of Iran
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 7, 2012/US military officials said on
Wednesday, March 7, that contrary to the prevailing impression, President Barack
Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed not only their dispute
over an attack on Iran at their White House meeting on March 5, but devoted
considerable attention to the Syrian crisis, focusing on the hundreds of
surface-to-surface missiles armed with chemical and biological warheads
possessed by Syria. The peril of the Assad regime launching them now tops
America’s chart of the threats looming over Israel and Turkey, those sources
told debkafile. The US president accordingly prevailed upon his Israeli guest to
hurry up and patch up relations with Turkey, which he was willing to assist,
because it would take a combined US-Turkish-Israeli military effort to ward off
an attack by Syria’s poisoned missiles. Indeed, if the Syrian conflict is not
solved, America might be forced to turn its missile shield against Bashar
Assad’s missiles before they are needed against an Iranian attack. The hazard
could be accelerated by three elements, say American sources:
1. Assad might decide to respond with extreme violence to foreign military
intervention in Syria, even an operation confined only to drawing the civilian
population into security zones safe from the attacks of his security services.
On Tuesday, March 6, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan reverted to his call
for security zones, and last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
offered humanitarian aid to Syria’s beleaguered civilian population. Both such
actions, say the American sources, might well be taken by Assad as provocations
deserving of reprisal by missiles – first those carrying chemical warheads, then
biological ones.
Minister of Home Front Defense Matan Vilnai said Tuesday when he dedicated 14
public shelters at the two largest Druze communities in the Carmel district,
Daliat al-Carmel and Usufiya, that “the Haifa district of the Home Front command
is expected to be very important in the next war and we anticipate that hundreds
of missiles will be fired at the home front.”
These shelters can accommodate 3,000 people.
2. Assad might respond to an Iranian request to take part in a preemptive strike
launched by Tehran or Iranian retaliation for attacks on its nuclear facilities
by the US or Israel.
3. Assad might transfer the unconventional missions to Iran’s Lebanese
surrogate, the Hizballah - in which case, the US, Turkey and Israel would have
no option but to smash them.
US military sources say that although Israel possesses a strong air force and
special forces able to sabotage Assad’s chemical and biological missiles, the
United States and Turkey would have to pitch in with military resources to
destroy them completely.
That arsenal is being closely watched by US surveillance drones after the
lessons from the Libyan war when at least 5,000 advanced anti-aircraft missiles
were spirited out of Qaddafi’s weapons stores, some of them smuggled into Gaza
for Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations.
Testifying to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday, the Chairman
of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey said the Assad regime had
““approximately five times more sophisticated air defenses than existed in Libya
covering one-fifth of the terrain” and “about ten times more than we experienced
in Serbia.” He also has chemical and biological weapons. His words reinforced
the testimony presented Tuesday to the Senate’s Armed Services Committee by two
senior American generals. Marine Gen. James Mattis, head of the US Central
Command which covers the Middle East and Gulf region, said: “Syria has a
‘substantial chemical and biological weapons capability and thousands of
shoulder-launched missiles.” Admiral William McRaven, head of the US Special
Operations Command, also spoke to the committee about Syria’s weapons of mass
destruction and American preparations to deal with this menace. Those briefings
were the first assessments of Syrian chemical and biological weapons
capabilities to be given publicly by the heads of America's armed forces. This
was the direct result, US sources say, of the candid and open conversation on
the subject between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu Tuesday.
Baragwanath: 2012 set to be a year of major developments for the STL
March 08, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon,
investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,
Wednesday released its third annual report, covering the activities of the court
over the last year. The report covers the period from March 2011 to the end of
January 2012, and documents the confirmation of the first indictment, issued in
January 2011. It details the finding by the Pre-Trial Judge that three further
attacks – against Marwan Hamade, George Hawi and Elias Murr – were connected,
thus giving the Tribunal jurisdiction over them. It also covers the decision by
the Trial Chamber to try the four accused Hezbollah members in absentia – the
first time an international criminal court has done so. The report marks the
beginning of the STL’s second mandate, which began on March 1 and which will
continue for another three years. The annual report reveals that the approved
budget for the Tribunal, between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2012, is 55.3
million euros ($72.5 million). In the foreword, the court’s president, David
Baragwanath, in the foreword says that the report “looks forward to the year to
come, which we expect to be one of major developments, including judicial
activity.” The conclusion states the key aims of the Tribunal: to continue with
investigations, to “support the Lebanese people in coming to terms with the
serious consequences of the assassinations and, more generally, to assist in
restoring faith in the rule of law in a country where assassinations have been
employed as a political technique,” and thirdly to deliver justice fairly, and
promptly. Until Feb. 28, 2013, the report adds, “the Tribunal may be expected to
start trial proceedings against the four accused and to “prepare to consider
charges in any other cases.” The report reiterates that “after this ... phase,
Lebanon will be able to leave this troubled period behind, remembering its
ancient past as the cradle of modern civil law, and finally free to focus on the
future.”
Make Vladimir Putin reassess in Syria
March 08, 2012 /By: Michael Young/The Daily Star
The Obama administration wants President Bashar Assad to leave office. He
massacres his population. Washington refuses to arm Syrian rebels. Iran and
Russia send weapons to Assad’s killers. This is the dispiriting equation with
which Syrians are living today. What is it about the Syrian conflict that Barack
Obama does not get? On Tuesday, the American president assured us that Assad
would not last. “Ultimately this dictator will fall,” he declared, before adding
that the United States would not engage in unilateral military action. Syria is
“more complicated” than Libya, Obama observed. He was right, but its
complications do not entitle him to formulate an unintelligible policy that only
ensures the dictator slaughters more innocents. Adding to the sense of
bewilderment among Assad’s foes is an ambient assumption that Vladimir Putin’s
election in Russia might change Moscow’s approach to Syria. This presumes that
Putin regards Syria primarily as a domestic issue, when it was always
considerably more than that. And yet Russia’s behavior will be essential in
facilitating Assad’s exit, provided that Putin is made to realize that the
Syrian regime is a burden he cannot afford to carry for very long.
The Americans insist that they don’t want to provoke a Syrian civil war by
arming the Free Syrian Army. That vindication is inaccurate, disingenuous and
incomplete. It is inaccurate because Syria is effectively in a civil war of
sorts, one propelled by the regime and its outrages. It is disingenuous because,
while Washington does not want to resort to a military option, others will,
including U.S. allies Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the Obama administration
probably won’t actively hinder such steps. And it is incomplete, because
American officials have omitted from the conversation the sinister role played
by Iran and Russia, confirming that they regard the survival of the Assad regime
as a strategic necessity, mainly against American interests.
Assad’s tactic is to crush the rebellion, village by village, town by town, and
city by city. How the Syrian president intends to govern his sullen citizens
after that is an open question. But if the principal American motive is a
responsibility to protect civilians, then issuing statements of condemnation and
piling up sanctions are unlikely to change Assad’s behavior; and a new Security
Council resolution will either be vetoed by Russia or so watered down as to be
irrelevant.
Whether Obama likes it or not, the only way to put the Assad regime on the
defensive is to devise a plan that includes both military and political
components. No one is asking that the United States go to war in Syria; but the
administration can, with its Arab and Western partners, assist in organizing,
training, and coordinating the actions of anti-regime combatants. The ultimate
objective would be to negate Assad’s military superiority and compel Russia to
alter its stance.
What the Free Syrian Army needs is the means to establish territory outside the
control of the Syrian regime. I’m no military expert, but the Americans and
Europeans have plenty. They must, with their Syrian counterparts, determine the
kinds of weapons that would permit the Syrian opposition to create defensible
autonomous zones where a government could take root, toward which deserters and
civilians could flock, that would serve as points of distribution for
humanitarian aid, and that would affirm daily that Assad is losing ground, with
the tremendous psychological boost this would bring.
If such territories are created and expanded and Assad’s efforts to impose his
will by force are seen to have hit a wall, it would become easier to advance a
diplomatic solution. Necessarily, the basis for such a solution would be the
departure of Bashar Assad and his acolytes. The imposition of a stalemate on the
ground would effectively undermine the Russian (and Iranian) scheme to give
Syria’s president the leverage to negotiate with the opposition from a position
of strength. If an alternative government is formed in “liberated” areas, and is
recognized by the Arab states and the international community, Moscow would have
little choice but to consider Assad’s departure.
In that case, the United Nations Security Council could ask the Russians to
mediate a resolution, alongside Kofi Annan, the new U.N.-Arab League envoy on
Syria. The rationale would be to give Moscow latitude to defend its stakes in a
Syrian transition. In the end, it will be up to a new Syrian government to
determine what it expects of Russia, but there do not appear to be
insurmountable objections in Washington, Brussels, or even Israel to granting
Russia the influence it seeks in Damascus, on the condition that it embrace a
change of regime.
For this to succeed, the regime’s military advantages have to be offset. The
confidence and determination of the rebels is high. It took weeks for Assad’s
army to enter Baba Amr. Even then, the regime employed tremendous firepower and
brought in its crack 4th Armored Division to finish the job. A calibrated,
well-thought-out military aid program could prove decisive. The Americans and
Europeans might study Hezbollah’s tactics against Israel during the 2006 war for
ideas.
Much more can also be done to lay the groundwork for a post-Assad order. The
analyst Michael Weiss has astutely suggested putting together a police force, to
maintain security in areas freed from Assad rule. The Syrian National Council
has been utterly incompetent, justifying Western and Arab hesitation. But the
opposition leadership can be thrust in the right direction if the United States,
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Europeans collaborate in sponsoring a more
effective coalition. After all, they hold the powerful weapon of recognition.
Unchanged, the current dynamics will bring chaos. Some Arab states have promised
to send weapons to the rebels. If this is uncontrolled, it could destabilize
Syria’s neighbors, through which the weapons would have to pass; the impact
could be limited; and it might strengthen the otherwise relatively weak Syrian
Islamists, alarming many in the West. The Obama administration is keen to see a
negotiated outcome in Syria. That is why it must embrace a military approach
that defines a political endgame. Bashar Assad and Vladimir Putin have to feel
that their reliance on intimidation is going nowhere. Only then might Putin show
Assad the door, so he himself remains in the house.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR. He tweets @BeirutCalling.
Lebanon government reminds foreign envoys to behave
March 08, 2012/By Nafez Kawas/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Cabinet Wednesday “reminded” foreign diplomats of their
duty to adhere to national and international laws governing the behavior of
representatives of overseas governments. A statement issued after a session of
the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail in
Downtown Beirut, said that diplomats were apprised that they should adhere to
the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Lebanese law, and
“respect” Lebanese state institutions.
Ministers issued the reminder “in order to avoid any violation that could have
an impact on Lebanon’s relations” with other countries. The government added
that it sought to treat any divisive issues “in the context of open dialogue,”
based on the laws in force. The statement said the reminder was connected to the
government’s affirmation that state security bodies were playing their role in
“controlling the country’s borders and protecting security.” Asked after the
session if the reminder was directed at U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura
Connelly, Information Minister Walid Daouk said the statement covered all
diplomatic missions. Connelly had met earlier in the day with Mikati, and
reiterated her country’s fears that turmoil in Syria could affect Lebanon. “She
[Connelly] underscored U.S. concerns that developments in Syria not contribute
to instability in Lebanon,” a U.S. Embassy statement said. Connelly, who was
accompanied by Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Mills, discussed with Mikati both
political and security affairs in Lebanon, the situation in Syria and bilateral
cooperation, according to the statement. On Tuesday, Connelly visited Interior
Minister Marwan Charbel and urged the authorities to protect “all disarmed
Syrians, including members of the Free Syrian Army.” Her visit to Charbel came
two days after several hundred Syrians streamed across the Lebanese border in
the northern Bekaa, fleeing violence in the governorate of Homs.
The Lebanese authorities, according to security sources, arrested a number of
FSA members Sunday, although the Lebanese Army has yet to issue an official
statement on the matter. Connelly’s recent comments about the situation in Syria
have earned rebukes from a number of pro-Syrian politicians, who have decried
her behavior as interference in Lebanese domestic affairs.
A 1991 Treaty of Brotherhood and Cooperation between Lebanon and Syria
stipulates that neither country may be used as a base for destabilizing acts
against the other.
In the wake of dueling pro- and anti-Syrian regime protests Sunday in Downtown
Beirut, which were not authorized by the government, the Cabinet said it
“affirmed” the protection of free expression and called on all political
factions to distance themselves from rhetoric aimed at incitement.
The government warned that such rhetoric might harm national unity and have
negative ramifications for Lebanon’s relations with Arab and non-Arab countries
“during this difficult phase the region is experiencing.”The Higher Defense
Council will meet Thursday afternoon, chaired by President Michel Sleiman, and
is expected to address the volatile situation on Lebanon’s border with Syria.
The Cabinet pushed back by one day a session that was scheduled to take place
Thursday, in order to give ministers the required 48-hour period to review the
agenda, as stipulated by the government’s by-laws.
Friday’s Cabinet session is scheduled to be held at Baabda Palace and chaired by
Sleiman.
Jumblatt draws fire from pro-Syrian rivals over his criticism of Hafez Assad
March 07, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The tension between Walid Jumblatt and
his pro-Syrian critics continued Tuesday, in the wake of the Druze leader’s most
recent comments on the situation in Syria and his criticism of the late Hafez
Assad.
Jumblatt’s weekly article in Al-Anbaa newspaper, which was published Tuesday,
contained harsh words about Assad’s actions and rise to power in the 1960s and
1970s.
Jumblatt stated that Assad’s treatment of the Palestinian cause resembled that
of the Zionist movement, noting that Assad was responsible for the arrest of
Yasser Arafat by the Syrian authorities. Jumblatt’s rival, Tawhid Party leader
Wiam Wahhab, took exception to Jumblatt’s comments and said the late Assad was
responsible for “supporting the Druze community during the [1983] War of the
Mountain, and supporting an election law [in 1992] that helped some people who [Assad]
said were afraid in Lebanon.”
Wahhab was referring to the first rounds of parliamentary polls after the Civil
War, when electoral districting was catered to the needs of Jumblatt. Wahhab
said it was “shameful” for Jumblatt to have made such comments about a late
political leader. Meanwhile, a leading Baath Party official said the rising
level of criticism of Syria in Lebanon represented a violation of the law and
bilateral treaties between Beirut and Damascus. A Sidon-based Salafist sheikh
organized a protest Sunday against the Syrian regime in Downtown Beirut,
alongside a rival rally by the Baath Party.
Baath official and Baalbek-Hermel MP Assem Qanso urged leaders to look into
violations of the 1989 Taif Accords, “which stipulate that no threat to the
security and stability of Syria should be made from Lebanese territory.”In a
statement, Qanso said he wanted to issue “the strongest possible condemnation”
of Sunday’s anti-Syrian protest, which was facilitated by the Lebanese
authorities.
Satellite images show Iran cleaning secret nuclear activity, sources say
By Associated Press /Diplomat tells Associated Press alleged testing at site
could indicate attempt to develop nuclear arms; other sources say images show
vehicles at site, indicating crews trying to clean it of radioactive traces.
Diplomats say spy satellite images of an Iranian military facility show trucks
and earth-moving vehicles at the site that indicate crews were trying to clean
it of radioactive traces. Two of the diplomats told The Associated Press that
those traces could have come from what they said was the testing of a small
neutron trigger used to set off a nuclear explosion. A third diplomat could not
confirm that, but says any testing of a so-called neutron initiator at the site
could only be in the context of trying to develop nuclear arms. Download
Haaretz.com’s updated app for iPhone and Android
Iran faces growing international pressure over its nuclear program, which it
insists is peaceful. Israel has hinted that it might resort to a pre-emptive
miiltary strike to stop Tehran's program. The diplomatic account came only
a day after the ISNA news agency reported that Iran indicated that it would give
the UN nuclear watchdog access to the Parchin complex. An International Atomic
Energy Agency report last year said that Iran had built a large containment
chamber at Parchin, southeast of Tehran, to conduct explosives tests that are
"strong indicators" of efforts to develop an atom bomb.
Reassurances for Syria’s minorities
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
The talk these days revolves around the necessity of providing reassurances to
Syria’s minorities in order for them to abandon the Bashar al-Assad regime. In
fact, we cannot say that all Syria’s minorities are with al-Assad so much as
that they are reluctant to take a decisive stance. There can be no doubt that
these minorities, particularly the Alawites and Christians, are now aware that
the al-Assad ship is sinking.
The best way for these minorities to secure their position is to participate in
drawing up the future of post-Assad Syria, and this by itself is taking a clear
position. These minorities must express their view now, in order to protect
Syria as a whole, and guarantee their own future. Al-Assad’s fall is inevitable,
and all indications point to this, including the recent WikiLeaks documents that
confirm Tehran is attempting to prepare itself for a post-Assad Syria. The
Syrian minorities, particularly the Alawties and Christians, must look at recent
experiences that demonstrate the danger of reading the political situation based
upon wishful thinking or denying reality, namely the Sunni experience in
post-Saddam Iraq. The Sunnis wrongly took the decision to initially boycott the
political process in post-Saddam Iraq, and we now see them paying the price for
this today. Therefore, the Syrian minorities are capable of being different to
the Sunnis of Iraq, and this is by participating now [in the revolution]. This
participation need not necessarily be public, for some senior Gaddafi officers
contributed to the collapse of his regime in coordination with the Libyan
revolutionaries without announcing this publicly. There are, of course, many
ways of doing this, what is important is that the minorities secure their future
for themselves. Indeed it is the duty of all Syrians to secure the unity of
Syria and the full integration of the country’s social fabric, thereby ensuring
that Syria will be a state of law, not a state of majority and minority;
hostility does not provide nations will long life.
Therefore the best party to ensure the future of Syria’s minorities is the
minorities themselves, and this is by participating in this real revolution,
which has made a lot of sacrifices. For what is happening in Syria today is that
a minority is killing the majority, and there are those who reject this logic,
however we must not forget that the truth has been twisted and that the people
who are most taken in by this logic are those who are most defensive about the
future of Syria’s minorities. How can anybody call for the necessity of
providing reassurances to the minorities whilst the majority is being massacred?
This is completely illogical. Therefore, it is important that these minorities
provide reassurances to themselves by taking part in the post-Assad Syria
project, rather than by committing themselves to this tyrant. It would be
difficult to say that all Syria’s minorities are supporting the tyrant, however
the problem lies in the misreading of the political situation – or the outright
denial of reality – on the part of some of Syria’s minorities. However there are
some indications that reveal that some of Syria’s minorities are actively taking
part in the revolution. On Monday, there was important news about the formation
of the first Alawite battalion in the Free Syrian Army [FSA].
In summary, the best party to provide reassurances for Syria’s minorities is the
minorities themselves, and this is by taking the critical decision and
contributing to drawing up the future of a post-Assad Syria. As for what is said
and repeated about this being a Sunni revolution; this is not in the interests
of Syria, its people, or the region as a whole. The tyrant must be punished for
his crimes, and our region must turn the page on this dark chapter.