LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 18/12

Bible Quotation for today/The Lord Warns the Prophet
Isaiah 09/12-21: "Syria on the east and Philistia on the west have opened their mouths to devour Israel. Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish. The people of Israel have not repented; even though the Lord Almighty has punished them, they have not returned to him. In a single day the Lord will punish Israel's leaders and its people; he will cut them off, head and tail. The old and honorable men are the head—and the tail is the prophets whose teachings are lies! Those who lead these people have misled them and totally confused them. And so the Lord will not let any of the young men escape, and he will not show pity on any of the widows and orphans, because all the people are godless and wicked and everything they say is evil. Yet even so the Lord's anger will not be ended, but his hand will still be stretched out to punish. The wickedness of the people burns like a fire that destroys thorn bushes and thistles. It burns like a forest fire that sends up columns of smoke. Because the Lord Almighty is angry, his punishment burns like a fire throughout the land and destroys the people, and it is each of us for ourselves. Everywhere in the country people snatch and eat any bit of food they can find, but their hunger is never satisfied. They even eat their own children! The people of Manasseh and the people of Ephraim attack each other, and together they attack Judah. Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish.
 

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Will Tripoli make Samir Geagea payBy Michael Young/The Daily Star/May 17/12
When will Annan admit failure/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 17/12
Playing on fears/Now Lebanon/May 17/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 17/12
Barak: Nuclear talks allowing Iran to continue atomic bid 'ridiculous'
Israeli's Ex-Mossad chief , Meir Dagan to international community: Sanctions only way to halt Iran's nuclear program
'King Bibi' on cover of Time Magazine
Plans to strike Iran ready, U.S. envoy to Israel says
Iran to expand 20-pc uranium enrichment at Fordo with new centrifuges
Iran flouts UN sanctions, sends arms to Syria -panel
U.S. envoy expresses concern over Syria crisis destabilizing Lebanon
Syrian opposition faces fractures, infighting
Syrian opposition leader says he's ready to step down
Israel resumes construction on separation wall after Nakba Day
Israel becomes a target in Egypt's presidential vote
Syria to hand Lebanon suspects in Estonian kidnapping
Two Killed, Five Wounded as Clashes Resume in Tripoli
More casualties in north Lebanon, army enacts 'exceptional' measures
Hezbollah says solution to spending crisis with Sleiman, Mikati
Lebanese-Syrian hostage saga ends after ex-mayor’s mediation
Reports of assassination plots must be taken seriously, Berri says
Lebanon: Judge requests Mawlawi's release after re-questioning him
More casualties in north Lebanon, army enacts 'exceptional' measures
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri t Meets Jumblat, Discusses with Berri Holding National Dialogue on Tripoli
Nasrallah's Political Aide Urges Govt. to Assume Responsibility throughout Lebanon
Groups Seeking to Carry out Assassinations in Lebanon Backed by Major Intelligence Agencies
Jumblat: General Security has Become a Proxy for Syrian Regime
Safadi Confirms Suing General Security, Rejects to be 'Implicated in Tripoli Unrest'
Syria Hands General Security 3 Suspects in Estonians Case
Reports: Seven Fatah al-Islam Members Escape from Ain el-Hilweh
Miqati Demands Security Forces to Detain Gunmen in Tripoli, Tighten Measures
US not involved in arrest operations in Lebanon’s Tripoli, US diplomatic source says
Charbel warns of Sunni-Shia strife
Jarrah criticizes Mikati’s course of action toward Tripoli’s events

Lebanon: Judge requests Mawlawi's release after re-questioning him
May 17, 2012 05:28 PM The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Military Investigation Judge Nabil Wehbi requested the release of Islamist Shadi Mawlawi, arrested on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization, after re-questioning him in the presence of his lawyers. Wehbi referred the release request to Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr, whose decision is expected to be issued Friday. Mawlawi, whose arrest Saturday by General Security caused an uproar in certain quarters, was also accused of carrying out terrorist acts in Lebanon and abroad. His questioning lasted two hours, with his counselors Mohammad Hafez and Tareq Shandab in attendance. Following the session, Hafez said that his client is innocent of the allegations and that Mawlawi did not confess in his first interrogation nor in Thursday's session to any of the accusations.
"My client denied all accusations, [including] having links to Al-Qaeda or any of the extremist groups, and he has never traveled to any country -- even Syria," Hafez said.
Sources close to the case told The Daily Star that the case against Mawlawi was based on his ties to a Qatari citizen named Abdel-Aziz al-Attieh who donated money to rebels in Syria, and that Mawlawi is accused of introducing the Qatari to someone who transfers money to rebels. Mawlawi’s controversial arrest Saturday sparked three-day clashes in Tripoli, north Lebanon, between opponents and supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad, leaving at least seven dead and 100 wounded. Especially galling to Mawlawi's supporters was that General Security personnel dressed in civilian clothes lured him to a social services center belonging to Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi with promises of medical care, only to arrest him. His arrest also prompted families of Islamist prisoners to hold a sit-in in Nour Sqaure, also known as Abdel-Hamid Karami Square, demanding the swift trial or release of their relatives. Speaking to protesters in the square, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel promised to personally oversee investigations into Mawlawi's case and said that he would be released if charges against him proved to be baseless.

More casualties in north Lebanon, army enacts 'exceptional' measures
May 17, 2012/By Antoine Amrieh/The Daily Star
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army and police enacted exceptional measures Thursday to impose security in Tripoli, north Lebanon, after sniper fire wounded 12 people, including two soldiers.
A 13-year-old boy who was reportedly killed by sniper fire earlier Thursday turned out to have been severely wounded and currently lies in a coma.
Prime Najib Minister Mikati called on security forces to erect checkpoints in Tripoli and arrest anyone carrying arms in public during a meeting at his residence in the city.
Mikati convened the meeting, which was attended by officials from the northern city as well as security chiefs, after sporadic clashes and sniper fire violated the shaky truce between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen. The army along with Internal Security Forces began patrolling the city in armored vehicles with orders to stop breaches of security by all necessary means.
Throughout the morning, the Lebanese Army responded to sporadic sniper fire in several neighborhoods of Tripoli as tensions remained high following three days of bloody clashes. The majority of snipers are located in the Talaat al-Omari area, situated between the rival neighborhoods.
Three rocket-propelled grenades were fired on Syria Street separating the rival neighborhoods earlier in the day.
Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour, also the head of the Higher Council for Childhood, said the council was following up with events in Tripoli with “great concern and discontent,” with regards to clashes claiming the lives of innocent children. “Keeping children away from armed clashes and protecting them from its repercussions is a moral and legal duty stipulated by the international convention for children's human rights ... and Vienna convention,” Abu Faour said in a statement.
He urged rival forces to immediately cease fire and create a “peaceful environment needed for the psychological, social and health developments of children.”
The fighting in Tripoli erupted after an Islamist supporter of the Syrian opposition, Shadi Mawlawi, 25, was arrested Saturday and accused of belonging to a "terrorist organization."
Mawlawi’s controversial arrest sparked three-day clashes in Tripoli between opponents and supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Especially galling to Mawlawi's supporters was that General Security personnel dressed in civilian clothes lured him to a social services center belonging to Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi with promises of medical care, only to arrest him. His arrest also prompted families of Islamist prisoners to hold a sit-in in Nour Sqaure, also known as Abdel-Hamid Karami Square, demanding the swift trial or release of their relatives. Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced Thursday that Mawlawi would be reinterrogated in the presence of his lawyers, who were not allowed to attend the initial session.
Charbel had said Wednesday taht he he reached a settlement with the families of prisoners after promising them speedy trials to finalize outstanding cases of more than 300 prisoners.
The prisoners were arrested on charges of fighting or aiding fighters during the 2007 armed clashes between the Lebanese Army and the Palestinian militant group Fatah al-Islam in the refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, in the north of the country.


Lebanese man kidnapped in Bekaa
May 17, 2012/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: A Lebanese businessman was kidnapped Thursday in Jub Jennin, Bekaa Valley, while heading to prayers. Unknown assailants in a black Mercedes kidnapped Ahmad Ali Sayyed Sakhr, 74, at 4 a.m. after beating his son so severely that he lost consciousness. Assailants failed Monday to kidnap the businessman, who lives in Colombia but is on a visit to his hometown. The National News Agency reported that a surveillance camera near the mosque to which Sakhr was headed captured the type of vehicle and its color.

Will Tripoli make Samir Geagea pay?
May 17, 2012/By Michael Young The Daily Star
Among the less obvious victims of the fighting in Tripoli this past weekend was Samir Geagea. The head of the Lebanese Forces has made an alliance with the Sunnis a cornerstone of his electoral strategy next year, but suddenly many Christians saw, or thought they saw, that not a few of these partners were fearsome, bearded gunmen.
The Syrians set a trap in Tripoli, and the city fell for it, as did a number of politicians in the March 14 alliance. When Shadi Mawlawi was arrested by the General Security directorate, the counter-reaction was predictable. Armed Islamists would descend into the streets demanding his release; fighting would begin between the Sunni quarter of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the mainly Alawite Jabal Mohsen; and suddenly Tripoli would resemble Kandahar, lending credence to the Syrian regime’s claim that it was fighting a coalition of “Salafist” forces both inside Syria and in neighboring Lebanon.
The reality is somewhat different. While there is a good chance that northern Islamists have become more militant in the past year due to the Syrian uprising and the continued detention without trial of their comrades in Roumieh, Islamist groups in and around Tripoli, the Salafists among them, have traditionally been divided, not especially prosperous, and by and large opposed to jihadism. Indeed a number of Islamist groups are pro-Syrian. Upon closer look, the Islamist landscape in the north is complex and fractured.
That won’t matter to Christian voters, though, who next year will determine, as they did in 2009, the makeup of the Lebanese Parliament, therefore of the state in the coming years. Hezbollah is maneuvering to shape the electoral aftermath in its favor. If President Bashar Assad falls (and no one can afford not to prepare), the party will protect itself by tightening its hold on national institutions. The only way it can do so is by ensuring that it controls a parliamentary majority, which would then select a compliant head of state.
Michel Aoun imagines that he will be that head of state. Other politicians in Beirut are more dubious. They believe that General Jean Kahwagi, the Army commander, will be the anointed one. Before then, however, how might the legislative elections come out?
Hezbollah supports a proportional system of representation, as Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah informed us last week. Their reasoning is that the principle of proportionality will take more seats away from March 14, the Future Movement in particular, and, implicitly, Walid Jumblatt, than it will from the Hezbollah-Aoun alliance. Not surprisingly, Jumblatt views the project as an existential threat, and if there is a vote in parliament to approve a proportional law, he and March 14 would probably have the numbers to defeat it.
However, that wouldn’t substantially handicap Hezbollah. The party and its pro-Syrian partners will sweep seats in those electoral districts where Hezbollah dominates. Saad Hariri’s absence from Lebanon may pose further problems for the former prime minister’s lists in hitherto “safe” March 14 constituencies such as Beirut and Tripoli. But the big question is what will happen in those districts where Christian voters decide, and the picture there is far more convoluted.
Geagea’s objective is to challenge Aoun’s primacy among Christians in terms of parliamentary representation. One facet of his plan is to place his candidates on strong Hariri lists in districts where the Sunni vote prevails or carries considerable weight. However, the Lebanese Forces leader must also devise a parallel approach allowing him to fare better than the Aounists in Mount Lebanon, because that is where the balance of power in Parliament may ultimately play out.
A key electoral battlefield will be Baabda, where the Aoun-Hezbollah alliance will be difficult to beat. The Lebanese Forces have a presence in the area, but to gain ground they would need to persuade a large share of undecided Christian voters to back March 14 candidates. There are divisive issues to play on, not least a fear among Christians in the areas around the southern suburbs that they will soon succumb to the Shiite demographic expansion. Geagea is also wagering that Aoun has lost popularity in recent years, and that his failure to do anything in government will have turned many against him.
Perhaps, but whichever way one cuts it, Aoun appears to retain the upper hand in Mount Lebanon because most of his potential opponents seem so anemic. In the Metn, Sami Gemayel and Michel Murr may pass, but unless Aoun manages to lose the large pro-Tashnag Armenian bloc of voters, it’s hard to see who else will be able to take seats from him. The same holds true in Jbeil, if Aoun enjoys a unified Shiite vote in his favor.
The situation in Kesrouan is less clear. There are no hegemonic voting blocs in the district, amid suggestions that Geagea has made inroads into what had been a solidly pro-Aoun electorate. That could be true, but most of those likely to stand against the Aounists are not necessarily more credible, and do not enjoy the advantages of incumbency, therefore the power of patronage. The assassination attempt on Geagea’s life may have made voters wise to the infiltration of Hezbollah into Christian-majority areas – which is the message Geagea tried to get across – but will that matter at election time?
The tension in Tripoli has made Christians pause. Between Sunni Islamists and Shiite Islamists, they are lost. Unless Samir Geagea can show that most Sunnis have nothing to do with the Islamist fringe, which requires less ambiguity from the Future Movement on incidents such as the Mawlawi arrest, the Lebanese Forces leader will find himself on an uphill trek to garner Christian sympathy.
*Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR. He tweets @BeirutCalling.

New Opinion: Playing on fears
May 17, 2012 /Now Lebanon
For once, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has said something of value. On Wednesday, he warned that the fighting in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli might reach other parts of the country. It’s easy to counter that it also may not reach other parts of the country, but with the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad playing the Al Qaeda card, and with Lebanese perceptions of militant Sunnis as they are, the flame and the fuse may be closer than we think. The violence, which started on Saturday and which, as of Thursday morning, had claimed nine lives, was the result of a trap into which the city’s Sunni community tumbled with aplomb. Arrest a Sunni activist, in this case the by-now-famous Shadi al-Mawlawi, and it was a sure bet that the Sunnis—many wearing impressive Salafist beards—would take to the streets in defiant, and, as it turned out, deadly protest. This served Syria’s Assad regime in two ways: Firstly it showed the West, and anyone else who cared to tune in, that there were Al Qaeda-esque people ready to cause trouble. The Lebanese army was then deployed to give the impression that this was a battle between the offices of the state and bloodthirsty renegades—a message the Syrians have been peddling for over a year. Now they can say, “Look! It’s happening in Lebanon too! Now will you believe us?”
Secondly: The excited reaction to Mawlawi's arrest will only reinforce the idea among many Lebanese that some Sunnis are unpredictable and extremist. It is an idea held by many in the Christian community, even those who have no truck with March 8 and Hezbollah. The mainstream Sunnis are fine and, by and large passive, they reason. People we can work with. But the radicals—especially the Jamaa Islamiyah, with which the Future Movement has collaborated in the past—well, they are an entirely different proposition. There is a history to all this. Many Christians are still disturbed by the memory of bearded men rampaging through the streets of Achrafieh on February 5, 2006. Many will join the dots so that they link Sunni radicals in Lebanon to those in Iraq—the ones who graphically filmed the slaughter of American captives—and even the 9/11 bombers. Such a knee-jerk reaction can only harm an already out-of-sorts March 14 bloc. The Future Movement may find it harder to control a Sunni street that feels picked-on, while its Christian allies—notably Samir Geagea—may find his Sunni allies are suddenly less palatable to a suddenly nervous electorate.
All this plays very nicely into the hands of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and March 8-dominated government, especially with elections due next year. March 8’s main Christian tool, the Free Patriotic Movement, is already onside, its leader, Michel Aoun, already having convinced his followers that, while Hezbollah may not be to everyone’s tastes, you can at least talk to them. (Even if they, too, can be “unpredictable and extremist.”) Suddenly the government’s poor performance in the running of the country has taken a back seat to sectarian perceptions and fears, founded or unfounded.
Lebanon’s Sunni community, especially in the North, must take on board the lessons of the past six days and not let its anger and frustration play into the hands of Syria and its Lebanese allies. In the short-term, it must show restraint and, with an eye on next year’s elections, it must not allow itself to be tarred with the brush of extremism.
Otherwise the interior minister’s predictions might be tragically borne out

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri t Meets Jumblat, Discusses with Berri Holding National Dialogue on Tripoli
Naharnet/ 17 May 2012, 12:17/Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday said he discussed with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri the possibility of calling the leaders of the national dialogue committee to a meeting under the chairmanship of President Michel Suleiman that would “at least discuss” the latest unrest in Tripoli. Following a meeting in Ain al-Tineh, Berri said talks with Asiri also tackled “the need for the Lebanese to take a unified stance in order to find an urgent, effective and permanent solution to the situation in the North.”The parliament speaker warned that “what happened and is still happening in Tripoli poses dangerous consequences, not only to the North but also to entire Lebanon and the region.” Asked about the Saudi ambassador’s stances, Berri said: “He was very positive and he will conduct contacts with all the parties concerned and I hope that will yield good results.”Later on Thursday, the Saudi envoy visited Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and discussed with him the latest developments.

U.S. envoy expresses concern over Syria crisis destabilizing Lebanon
May 17, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly expressed her country’s concern that developments in Syria might destabilize Lebanon during her meeting Thursday with MP Michel Aoun.
“Ambassador Connelly underscored U.S. concerns that developments in Syria not contribute to instability in Lebanon,” a statement by the embassy said.
Connelly held discussions with Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi Thursday on the economic and political situation in Lebanon.
“The Ambassador and Minister Aridi discussed the economic and political situation in Lebanon,” the statement said.
A separate statement said that Connelly discussed the crisis in Syria with Aoun.
In both meetings, the U.S. official renewed the commitment of the United States to a stable, sovereign and independent Lebanon.
 

Iran to expand 20-pc uranium enrichment at Fordo with new centrifuges
DEBKAfile Special Report May 17, 2012/New cascades of centrifuges are being installed at Iran’s Fordo nuclear underground facility raising the total to 3,000 machines. All the 800 machines operating at present are devoted to the 20-percent refinement of uranium, a grade just short of bomb material. This was disclosed by Western diplomatic sources Thursday, May 17, at the same time as Washington sources reported that the Obama administration had consented to Iran producing low-grade 5-percent enriched uranium in their secret direct dialogue.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced earlier this year that Iran would soon have 3,000 centrifuges spinning at Fordo, one-third of its ultimate goal of 9,000. Already, Tehran has accumulated a stock of more than 110 kilograms of 20-percent uranium, enough to fuel several nuclear bombs. That stock will soon be doubled or tripled by expanded production.
debkafile’s military and intelligence sources report that by installing new centrifuges in Fordo, Tehran is cynically mocking President Barack Obama who defined the main objectives of their back-channel dialogue as being to halt Iranian production of 20-percent enriched uranium and shut down nuclear activity at Fordo. Our Iranian sources claim Tehran never signed on to those goals. It was only tacitly understood between them that the status quo at Fordo would be maintained for the duration of talks.
In other words, Iran was permitted to continue enriching uranium not just to the 5-percent level but to 20-percent military grade in order to keep the dialogue afloat.
But now, by installing the new centrifuges in Fordo, Iran is trying to use that dialogue as a foot through the door for turning tacit, provisional American tolerance of highly-enriched uranium production taking place during negotiations into absolute US acceptance of Iran’s right to keep going unhindered and so attain the status of a nuclear power.
An eagle eye is therefore needed to stay on top of Iran’s negotiating tactics, say debkafile’s military sources.
Only this week, Iranian officials admitted they were engaged in moving “step after step until the objective is achieved.” Media and other figures in Iran have hailed the US and other world powers’ consent to Iran producing low level (5 percent) enriched uranium in unlimited quantities as a huge feat gained by years of tremendous effort and the prelude to their step-by-step tactic eventually yielding more achievements.
Those comments clearly indicate that Tehran was not satisfied with what it had achieved so far and wanted a lot more.
In the last DEBKA-Net-Weekly issue of May 11, our sources reported that Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had earlier this month posted an unequivocal message to President Obama saying that, no matter what, Iran would not shut the Fordo underground nuclear plant.
The Iranian leader offered to sign and uphold the Non-Proliferation Treaty’s additional protocol for on-site spot searches, substantially increase visits by the nuclear watchdog and permit the installation of cameras and other monitoring devices in various sections of the Fordo facility – provided that economic sanctions were lifted.
The White House has not yet answered Khamenei’s note, say our Washington sources.
In view of all these developments, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke Thursday, May 17, in a CNN interview in Washington, of his apprehension that the negotiations between Iran and the major powers would soon lead to an agreement with Iran that will enable Tehran "to deceive the whole world" and continue building a nuclear weapon.
Diplomacy, he said, would not contain Iran. “We are now facing - I don't like the use of words like catastrophe that you have mentioned. It's not about catastrophe. It's about a real challenge to the whole world, not just to Israel. I think that a nuclear Iran will change the whole landscape of the Middle East. We have to do something to block it from happening, be it these sanctions or the negotiations or something else.” Barak gave no indication of how Israel would respond to these developments, even though they are already in train.

When will Annan admit failure?
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Utilizing diplomatic language, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal stated that confidence in Kofi Annan’s mission in Syria “has started to decrease quickly”. To be more explicit, this means that Annan’s mission has failed, which is precisely what was expected since the beginning. This does not disparage Mr. Annan himself, as we have stated repeatedly, for this failure is due to the al-Assad regime’s lack of credibility, not just today but over decades of rule, throughout the rule of al-Assad the father and al-Assad the son!
There is much evidence regarding the al-Assad regime’s lack of credibility, and it is easy enough to observe this, but let us look at a present-day example, namely, the statement issued by the Turkish journalist who the al-Assad regime released after he was held for two months. Journalist Adem Ozkose, writer for Turkey’s Milat newspaper, revealed that he was on board the Turkish [Mavi Marmara] aid flotilla that was heading to the Gaza Strip in 2010 and was detained – along with other activists – on the ship by Israeli forces, and later held in an Israeli detention center. The Turkish journalist described the Israeli detention center as being “five-star” in comparison to the Syrian jail where he was held, adding that over the two months he spent in the al-Assad prison he would occasionally hear people crying out in anguish. The question that must be asked here is: what about the implementation of one of the points of Annan’s initiative, namely al-Assad releasing the detainees being held in his prisons? The answer to this is that there have been no releases, indeed detentions are on the rise!
What is even worse than al-Assad’s prisons is the fact that his killing machine has not stopped until now, and the story – as Prince Saud al-Faisal said – is not about reducing the number of people being killed, but the necessity of stopping the killing altogether, as well as al-Assad withdrawing his military forces from Syria’s streets. This is something that also did not occur, quite the opposition. In fact, we have seen reports verified by video recordings which reveal that Hezbollah elements are involved on the Syrian scene, providing support to the al-Assad regime forces in their operation to suppress the people of Syria. Prior to this, there were – and remain – Iranians on the scene in Syria, to the point that some sources – and of course this is something that Mr. Annan and the international community must be aware of – claim that there is an Iranian operations room in Damascus working to aid the al-Assad regime with regards to planning and coordination; this is not to mention Iran providing funds, arms and more to al-Assad! So after all this, can anybody claim that Mr. Annan’s efforts will bear fruit? Of course not!
Here we see the UN is still unable to deliver the promised aid to approximately one million Syrians who are in dire need of this, and this is due to the al-Assad regime’s insistence that it take over the distribution of this aid; this means that the al-Assad regime intends to pursue and punish the Syrians who are in need of assistance. If the al-Assad regime was concerned about the Syrian people in the first place the death toll would not have reached 12,000, and there would not be one million Syrians in need of assistance, this is not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have sought sanctuary in neighboring countries.
The reality is that Annan’s mission was dead on arrival and unfeasible, and it is the Syrian people who are paying the price for its failure today; indeed everybody is paying the price with every day that passes. This is because it is impossible for political missions to achieve anything with a regime such as the al-Assad regime. This is well-known, and has been proven over time and by the facts on the ground: so when will Mr. Annan shoulder his moral responsibility and announce his mission’s failure? That is the question.


Israeli's Ex-Mossad chief , Meir Dagan to international community: Sanctions only way to halt Iran's nuclear program
By Barak Ravid | May.17, 2012/Haaretz
In a Wall Street Journal article co-authored with former intelligence officials and former diplomats, Meir Dagan outlines four steps the international community should take to stop Tehran's nuclear program. Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan co-penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday and urged the international community to opt for tough sanctions on Iran in order to stop its nuclear program.
Dagan, who has been carrying out a public campaign against an Israeli military strike on Iran over the past few months, took his efforts to the international arena with the article, which he co-authored with a number of international intelligence officials and former diplomats, with a particular focus on U.S. decision makers.
For the article entitled, “Dagan, Hanning, Woolsey, Guthrie, Silverberg and Wallace: Total Sanctions Might Stop Iran" - published in a newspaper that is seen as belonging to the right-wing conservative camp - Dagan enlisted the help of former head of the CIA James Woolsey, former head of the German intelligence services, August Hanning, a former chief of staff of the British armed forces, General Charles Guthries, a U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Kristen Silverberg, and a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mark Wallace.
Dagan and his co-authors are part of a new intitiative of the American-based organization "United Against Nuclear Iran," and the U.K.-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
“Our near future carries the risk of a military conflict with Iran, or a nuclear arms race in the already-volatile Middle East,” wrote Dagan and the other officials.
“It is still possible to avoid these outcomes, but only if like-minded nations act immediately to deliver a potentially decisive economic blow to the regime. It is still in Iran's interest to change course and address international concerns regarding possible military aspects of its nuclear program. Our rationale is based on strong empirical evidence from the last few months that sanctions are having a tangible impact.”
Dagan and his colleagues laid out four steps that the international community must carry out in order to further isolate Iran, and in this way, prevent the need to use military force to stop its nuclear program:
1. To completely isolate Iran from the international banking system. “By designating all Iranian banks for sanctions, the global community can fully sever Iran from the international financial system,” the article said.
2. To require all U.S. and EU companies to “disclose any and all investments and business transactions in Iran.” Dagan and his co-writers are convinced that “the moment companies are required to disclose their irresponsible business activities in Iran is the moment they end such business for risk of reputational harm.”
3. To deny Iran access to international shipping, “a move that would severely affect the regime given its dependence on global trade and seaborne crude oil exports,” the article said. “Aligned nations should prohibit international cargo shippers that service Iranian ports or do business with the Tidewater Middle East Co. (which handles 90% of Iran's container traffic) from shipping to the U.S., EU and elsewhere.”
4. All insurance companies working with Iran should be prohibited from operating in the U.S. and the EU.
Dagan and his co-writers claim that tough sanctions will mainly harm the Iranian regime and the revolutionary guard, which they say controls the Iranian economy and profits at the expense of the Iranian people.
“History has made clear that the regime will never change course due to half-measures; only serious steps like we've outlined have a chance of success,” Dagan and his colleagues wrote.
“With Iran finally feeling real impact from international sanctions, now is the time to increase the pressure," they added.
Dagan and his collaborators also added that, “We cannot state with certainty that sanctions and pressure will compel the Iranian regime to change course. But it's common sense that before undertaking military action against a country, we should first try to dissuade it from its current course by applying decisive economic pressure. Doing so will show the regime that the world is serious and committed, willing to do whatever it takes to stop Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
In April, Dagan told a New York conference that Iran's leadership is using "smart" diplomacy to advance its nuclear program, and that the Iranian threat is not a "quarrel" between Israel and Iran, but an international issue.
He told the conference that he agreed with Prime Minister Netanyahu's government that the Iran threat is a real problem, but disagreed with their policy on solving it. If the problem will not be resolved, Dagan added, a nuclear arms race will begin "all over the world, and not just in the Middle East."

Plans to strike Iran ready, U.S. envoy to Israel says
By Reuters | May.17, 2012/Haaretz
Less than one week before the next round of Iran nuclear talks in Baghdad, U.S. envoy to Israel says the U.S. plan for an attack on Iran is ‘available and ready.’U.S. plans for a possible military strike on Iran are ready and the option is "fully available", the U.S. ambassador to Israel said, days before Tehran resumes talks with world powers which suspect it of seeking to develop nuclear arms.
"It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically and through the use of pressure than to use military force," Ambassador Dan Shapiro said in remarks about Iran aired by Israel's Army Radio on Thursday.
"But that doesn't mean that option is not fully available - not just available, but it's ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it's ready," said Shapiro, who the radio station said had spoken on Tuesday.
The United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany have been using sanctions and negotiations to try to persuade Iran to curb its uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for reactors, medical isotopes, and, at higher levels of purification, fissile material for warheads.
New talks opened in Istanbul last month and resume on May 23 in Baghdad. Israel, which is widely assumed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, feels threatened by the prospect of its arch-foe Iran going nuclear and has hinted it could launch preemptive war.
But many analysts believe the United States alone has the military clout to do lasting damage to Iran's nuclear program.
In January, Shapiro told an Israeli newspaper the United States was "guaranteeing that the military option is ready and available to the president at the moment he decides to use it".
U.S. lawmakers are considering additional legislation that would increase pressure on Iran, with further measures to punish foreign companies for dealing with Iran in any capacity.

Barak: Nuclear talks allowing Iran to continue atomic bid 'ridiculous'
By Haaretz | May.17, 2012 /
In interview to CNN, Defense Minister says Israel could agree to allow Tehran to maintain a negligible amount of enriched uranium that will 'never suffice for even one single weapon.'Talks between Iran and world powers that will end in agreed-upon measures that would nonetheless allow Tehran to continue and pursue military aspects of its nuclear program are "ridiculous," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview on Wednesday.
Barak's comments, made during an interview with CNN's Peirce Morgan, came ahead of next week's round of P5+1 talks, due to take place in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Referring to upcoming talks, Barak indicated that while Israel trusted the "United States and the other members of the P5+1," it expected them "to set the bar at a place where it becomes clear that at least, in however long it takes to reach there, block Iran from turning militarily nuclear." "If the world community set the threshold that even if fully accepted, let alone only partially accepted by the Iranians, to keep moving toward nuclear military program, that's ridiculous, a delusion," the defense minister added. As to the desired result of upcoming talks, Barak said: "There is a need to stop enriching uranium, to 20 percent, or even 3 to 5 percent, and to take all the enriched uranium out of the country. You can allow them to play with some negligible amount that will never suffice for even one single weapon." When asked whether or not Iran was in a category of nations against which military actions must be taken – similarly to attacks on reactors in Iraq and Syria – Barak said:
"I cannot improve your description, it was so close to perfect. I think that the real challenges now are these negotiations, what should be done about the negotiations."
The defense minister also referred to an Israeli fear of a nuclear catastrophe taking place amid Tehran's bid to gain nuclear weapons capability, saying: "It's not about catastrophe, it's about a real challenge to the whole world, not just to Israel."
"I think a nuclear Iran will change the whole landscape of the Middle East. We have to do something to block it from happening. Be this the sanctions or the negotiations or [anything] else," he added.
Earlier this week, the RAND Corporation, a think tank which advises the Pentagon, warned against an Israeli or American attack on Iran's nuclear reactors, and recommended the Obama administration try to "quietly influence the internal Israeli discussion over the use of military force."
In a document published in the think tank's periodical, Rand Review, RAND openly disagreed with the belligerent stance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, which are set to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other high-ranking officials over the next several days. In doing so, and without naming names, RAND sided with former Mossad chief Meir Dagan and former head of the Shin Bet Yuval Diskin.
The document further stated that "U.S. intelligence officials should support the assessments of former and current Israeli officials who have argued against a military option."
"U.S.-sponsored seminars outlining U.S. concerns and risk assessments for the Israeli intelligence and military community could also help shape the internal debate… U.S. public pressure on Israel will likely backfire given Israel’s sense of isolation, turning Israeli popular opinion, which is divided on the question of a military strike option, against the United States and allowing for more defiant positions among Israeli leaders… Encouraging Israeli leaders and journalists to report more to the public about security cooperation efforts could be helpful… War games now taking place at nongovernmental institutions in the United States and Israel explore conflict scenarios involving Israel and Iran. Such games clarify how an Israeli-Iranian deterrence relationship might evolve and what military or political steps could heighten or diminish conflict."