LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 13/2013

Bible Quotation for today/A Tree and Its Fruit
Matthew 07/15-20: "Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit.18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do.

Say a big no to the Clergymen who are mere hypocrites
Elias Bejjani/We, people, no matter who we are, where we live, rich or poor, strong or weak, healthy or sick, literate or illiterate, we are all free individuals and not slaves unless we choose not to enjoy freedom and to live in slavery with no dignity or honour. Accordingly we have a sacred obligation, as free people not to follow blindly any corrupted clergyman or rotten politician. On the contrary our duty is to oppose them and caution others not to fall into their evil traps. Sadly in our beloved country, Lebanon, some high-ranking clergymen mostly from our deeply rooted Catholic Maronite rite who are supposed to be good shepherds are instead devouring their sheep. In a vehement contradiction to the Christian faith they are siding with terrorists, criminals and pariah countries, especially the Syrian dictatorship regime. Let us loudly, courageously and strongly say no to them and openly expose all their atrocities. They are actual false prophets as stated in the holy Bible ( Matthew 07/15-20) "Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit.18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do".
Let us pray and ask almighty God to safeguard our Lebanese people, especially the Christians from these devious wolves.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
 Hezbollah's new strategy: Rockets on Tel Aviv/By: Ron Ben-Yishai/February 13/13

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February 13/13
 Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi denies soldiers mutilated in Arsal attack
STL reinterviewing witnesses in Hariri case
 Lebanon receives Bulgarian report on blast that killed Israelis in Black Sea
Charbel says still to examine civil marriage request
Bulgaria tells Europol names of two Burgas bomb suspects
Bulgaria hands Lebanon 'full report' into Burgas attack
Lebanon: Cabinet near compromise on telecoms dispute
Mustaqbal Says FPM Waging Campaign to 'Cover Up Corruption at Ministries'
Al-Rahi's Caricature in Saudi Daily Sparks Anger on Social Media
 Lebanon: Civil marriage: Time for a victory party?
Lebanon: Future Movement pitches own version of hybrid election law
Building collapse leaves mother, two daughters dead in north Lebanon
 Israeli UN envoy urges EU to add Hezbollah to terror list,
Driver Held for Possession of Drugs, Car Registration Certificate with MP Harb Name
 European Jewish Parliament to EU: No half-measures on Hezbollah
 Netanyahu Vows to Stop Hezbollah From
The Australian link to Hezbollah and the Bulgaria bus bombing

 UN rights chief: Syria death toll nearing 70,000
 Syrian jets bomb northern air base seized by Islamist-led rebels
 Aleppo air base falls, Assad forces under pressure

STL reinterviewing witnesses in Hariri case
 February 13, 2013 /By Hasan Lakkis The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s investigative team is reinterviewing several Lebanese individuals to evaluate the events following the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, judicial sources told The Daily Star.Beginning early last December, several unidentified individuals have been contacted by the office of State Prosecutor Hatem Madi and informed them that an STL team would be visiting.
Individuals slated to be interviewed are notified by phone, and once a venue and a time for the meeting is settled, a security team inspects the grounds beforehand, the sources said.
According to the sources, the new security measures adopted by the investigative team are deemed necessary because the STL no longer has a fixed headquarters to conduct interviews in Lebanon, since they left their offices in the Monteverde Hotel, located in the Metn district.
The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) is the liaison between the STL and the Lebanese, according to an agreement signed by the government and the tribunal forbidding them to contact people directly.
Interviewers from the STL consist of three or four people of different nationalities and their respective interpreters. The investigators are reiterating questions from an earlier investigation in 2005. These include details about phone calls they received after the explosion, the conversations they had with the callers and other questions about the identity of people whose numbers were in their possession. By the end of the interview, individuals are asked to sign a statement confirming their account of events.
The sources confided that people interviewed expressed astonishment by the accuracy of the investigation but were also surprised that the investigation is being rehashed eight years after the crime, which is set for trial soon.
When asked why these elements of the investigation are being repeated, STL spokesperson Marten Youssef said “it is part of its [the STL’s] mandate to interview witnesses; during the past period, it has been the focus of the OTP preparing for the trial in its case against the individuals accused of responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack.”
In an earlier interview with The Daily Star, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi said that “Lebanon is still cooperating with the tribunal and that General Prosecutor Hatem Madi is meeting all the STL’s legal requests for Cabinet.”
STL Registrar Herman von Habel had informed Lebanese political figures he met in the last week that the tribunal departments were working as if the initial start date for the trial, set for March 25, is the final one. He said for this reason preparations are under way on security, logistical and administrative levels, noting that this did not imply that the date would not be subject to change.
Von Habel also discussed with Prime Minister Najib Mikati the STL’s 2013 budget and the importance of “Lebanon’s commitment to paying its share of financing the STL, which is 49 percent of the total budget estimated at $70 million.”Qortbawi also told The Daily Star that Mikati had not discussed the issue of financing the tribunal, adding that he did not know what the prime minister would choose to do in this regard.

Bulgaria tells Europol names of two Burgas bomb suspects
February 13, 2013/By Daily Star Staff
SOFIA: Bulgaria has given Europol the names of two of the people suspected in a fatal bus bombing last year, in the hope that the police agency can trace their movements and uncover how they financed the attack, the country’s interior minister said Tuesday. Bulgaria has also requested that Lebanese authorities arrest and extradite the two suspects, who are believed to be living in Lebanon, an official said.
The July 18 blast killed five Israeli tourists at the airport in the Black Sea resort of Burgas as well as a Bulgarian bus driver and the presumed bomber.
Three men are suspected in the attack, including the dead bomber. The latter’s identity has not been established. The names of the two other suspects, believed to still be alive, have not been released to the public.
An official Bulgarian report last week, however, said investigators had “well-grounded reasons to suggest” that the two belonged to the military wing of Hezbollah.
The report said they have been living in Lebanon for years, one with a Canadian passport and the other with an Australian one.
Israel has accused Iran, which is said to support Hezbollah, of involvement. Both Iran and Hezbollah have denied any role.
Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov met with Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday. Europol coordinates national police forces across the European Union.
Tsvetanov told the Associated Press that Bulgaria hopes Europol can help provide “a thorough check and analysis [that] will help find new facts about the terrorist act.”
By including the names in Europol’s database, Tsvetanov said, Bulgaria hopes to determine if the suspects resided in any other EU country and whether any other agencies had information about them.
He also announced that a team of Bulgarian experts would soon go to The Hague to join Europol’s investigation.
The identity of the dead suspect who died in the bombing remains unknown even though his DNA samples have been shared with foreign intelligence agencies.
In Sofia, Stanimir Florov, head of an anti-terror unit, said Tuesday that there is “categorical” evidence that the man was not a suicide bomber. Authorities suspect that either he detonated the bomb accidentally or a colleague did so remotely. “If he was a kamikaze, he would have entered the bus packed with 47 passengers and blown himself up, causing a huge death toll,” Florov told Bulgarian National Radio.
Florov also said Bulgaria has officially requested that Lebanese authorities arrest and extradite the suspects to Bulgaria, but added that “so far there are no signs of possible cooperation from Lebanon.”
Bulgaria’s announcement of the alleged involvement of two Hezbollah members in the Burgas bus bombing has renewed calls on the EU to declare the party a “terrorist” organization.
Speaking to The Daily Star Monday, Head of the Delegation of the EU to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst said placing Hezbollah on Europe’s terror list was not an imminent decision as it would require the endorsement of all 27 member states.

Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi denies soldiers mutilated in Arsal attack
February 13, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi dismissed media reports Tuesday that the bodies of two soldiers recently killed in Arsal had been mutilated during the incident.
“There is no truth in the news that sharp weapons were used to mutilate the bodies of the soldiers,” Kahwagi told reporters after meeting with President Michel Sleiman.
Kahwagi met with the president and briefed him on the measures taken by the Army to preserve security in the village and the progress in pursuing the individuals who were allegedly involved in the attack.
Capt. Pierre Bashalani and Sgt. Ibrahim Zahraman were killed in an ambush by gunmen on the outskirts of Arsal when an Army unit was in pursuit of Khaled Hmayyed, who was wanted and was also killed in the incident.
The head of Army Intelligence, Brig. Gen. Edmond Fadel, has said that the bodies of the two soldiers were put on display “in celebration,” and that other soldiers were physically assaulted.
Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghaida referred the Arsal case to Military Judge Fadi Sawwan and urged him to begin interrogations. Judicial sources told The Daily Star that Sawwan would review the case and interrogate Wednesday the only two suspects currently in custody.
Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr charged 34 people over the incident in Arsal Monday. Saqr also requested to speak to Arsal’s mayor Ali al-Hujairy as a witness in the case.
According to judicial sources, the suspects are charged with the killings of Sgt. Zahraman and Capt. Bashalani, burning and disabling military vehicles and damaging both public and private property.
Kahwagi also said that Arsal is not “besieged” by the Army and soldiers are respected by residents of the village.

Al-Rahi's Caricature in Saudi Daily Sparks Anger on Social Media
Naharnet/Al-Watan Saudi newspaper published on Tuesday a caricature criticizing Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's visit to Syria, which sparked popular outrage on social media websites.
Jihad Awrati's caricature replaced al-Rahi's mitre with a rocket and highlighted the common letters between the patriarch and the Syrian president's names in Arabic. The depiction was met with anger and criticism on social media websites. “Political differences are no excuse to depict al-Rahi in this manner,” television personality Bassam Abu Zeid tweeted. Meanwhile, radio Jaras Scoop said it strongly condemns al-Watan's caricature. Al-Rahi's visit to Syria, through which he aimed at taking part in the inauguration celebration of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of the Levant and Antioch Youhanna al-Yaziji, created a heated debate locally as several officials including President Michel Suleiman called against politicizing it. The March 14 and 8 alliances are deeply split over the revolt in Syria as the opposition backs the collapse of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
However, sources in the church described the visit as “religious,” and supported by the Vatican.

Lebanon to record first primary deficit in 12 years
February 13, 2013/By Elias Sakr The Daily Star
BEIRUT: For the first time in 12 years, Lebanon will post a primary deficit of around $460 million in 2012, raising the total budget deficit to around 10 percent of GDP, a former finance minister told The Daily Star. Jihad Azour, a senior economist who assumed the post from 2005 to 2008, said the 2012 primary deficit compared to a primary surplus of $1.67 billion in 2011 would constitute a difference of some $2 billion.
The Finance Ministry had posted a primary surplus of $430 million for the first 10 months of 2012 but has yet to release the 2012 year-end results. The primary budget figures exclude the cost of debt servicing.
Azour said the Finance Ministry had yet to include nearly $730 million in added expenditures as a result of a hike in the minimum wage approved in December but which became retroactively effective in February 2012.
The minimum monthly wage for both private and public sector employees was fixed at $450, effectively rising by $116 (LL175,000) for those earning the minimum monthly wage. Those who earned salaries above $1,000 (LL1.5 million) received an increase of up to $200 (LL299,000).
A Finance Ministry source told The Daily Star that Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi was in the process of preparing the 2012 year-end figures which would be released soon. The source did not elaborate on whether the figures would take into account the minimum wage hike. Challenged by a widening budget deficit and a slowdown in GDP growth, the government is also facing mounting pressure to revise the salary scale of public sector employees, another wage increase for civil servants that would cost the treasury around $1.2 billion annually.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati has scrapped plans to raise the value added tax from 10 to 12 percent to secure funds to finance the salary scale increase before referring it to Parliament to ratify it.
Safadi Monday also denied any plans to raise the VAT to 12 percent. Earlier reports that a VAT increase was on the Cabinet’s Wednesday agenda angered civil servants who have threatened to go on strike. “Raising taxes to finance the wage hike would be giving with one hand and taking away with the other,” public sector employees argued.
The Finance Ministry source said the 2013 draft budget would not feature tax hikes but did not elaborate on how the Finance Ministry planned to bridge the gap between growing government expenditures and shrinking revenues amid lower GDP growth. “It is difficult to argue in favor or against tax raises in the absence of comprehensive fiscal policy. The issue cannot be addressed separately,” Azour said when asked about the possibility of raising taxes under the current economic situation. The Daily Star reported last week that the Finance Ministry was drafting a budget that would cut expenditures in 2013 without increasing taxes.
“It will simply include current spending and projected revenues,” sources said of the draft budget. They also described the bill as an austerity proposal.
Ministerial sources told The Daily Star that reducing expenditures cannot logically entail a wage increase for civil servants. Some observers say the government is stalling discussions on the issue, knowing that an outright rejection of a salary scale increase would fuel anger among public servants and explode in nationwide strikes.
Observers believe that the prime minister will keep stalling the salary scale issue before throwing the ball in the court of the next Cabinet, which will be formed after the next elections.
In addition to a widening budget deficit and diminishing growth rates, the inflation rate was estimated at 6 percent in 2012, presenting another reason to avoid any wage increases, according to Sami Daher, CEO of Investments and Private Equity firm V-Cap. “The wage hike would defeat its own purpose because it would fuel inflation, which would offset its benefits on employees,” Daher said.
“The government should seek to stimulate productive sectors. Any other measures would be short-term solutions that in the long-run, the country will have to pay for one way or another,” he added.
The Institute of International Finance has estimated Lebanon’s GDP growth at 0.6 percent in 2012. GDP growth has dropped from 8 percent in 2010 to 1.7 percent in 2011, according to IMF estimates. The debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 136 percent up to September 2012. Government allocations to the cash-strapped Electricite du Liban surged considerably in 2012 to reach $2.2 billion, and higher oil prices in 2013 could raise government allocations to EDL and further widen the budget deficit.

Building collapse leaves mother, two daughters dead in north Lebanon
February 13, 2013/The Daily Star
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: A mother and her two daughters were killed Tuesday when a two-story residential building collapsed in the St. Catherine neighborhood of Anfeh, north Lebanon.
Kafa Farid Sarkis and her two daughters Siham, 27, and Aida, 25, were pulled from the rubble of the building, which is reportedly owned by the parents of Deputy Parliament Speaker Farid Makari. Kafa Sarkis is a relative of Joseph Skaff, a former driver who worked for Makari’s office.
According to neighbors, some stones fell from the roof of the building Tuesday morning following heavy rainfall the day before.
Sarkis and her daughters were urged to leave the building as quickly as possible but insisted on returning to get some belongings. The building collapsed shortly after they entered around 3 p.m.
The Civil Defense along with the Red Cross, Army and security forces rushed to the scene, and after two hours of digging, found the body of the mother followed by those of the two daughters.
All three casualties were transferred to Bitar Hospital in Batroun.
According to media reports, both daughters suffered from physical disabilities and the family were on a modest income, living out of a single room on the second floor of the otherwise abandoned sandstone building.
Witnesses told LBCI that the lower floor of the building was under renovation and that the woman was asked to leave the building because it was no longer safe.

Israeli UN envoy urges EU to add Hezbollah to terror list,
Be brave like Richard, not blind like Napoleon, Ron Prosor says at UN Security CouncilBy Ilan Ben Zion February 13, 2013
, 12:34 am Updated: February 13, 2013, 12:31 am 0Related TopicsRon Prosor
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday called on the European Union to take a bold but simple step and designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
Speaking at a UN Security Council debate on the protection of civilians in combat zones, Ambassador Ron Prosor told world leaders that “calling Hezbollah a charity is like calling al-Qaeda an urban-planning organization because of its desire to level tall buildings.”
“One does not need the fortitude of Richard the Lionheart to do the right thing here,” he said, referring to the legendary English crusader king in an attempt to convince the EU to change its policy.
Prosor referenced the Bulgarian government report on last summer’s Burgas bombing, which unequivocally held Hezbollah responsible for the deaths of five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver as well as the injury of dozens of other innocents, calling it “the deadliest attack on European soil since 2005.”
“Not since Napoleon invaded Russia has the European continent seen such an astonishing lack of foresight” in not adding Hezbollah to the terror list, he said. Turning to the slaughter in Syria, a hot topic at the panel, Prosor said “Hezbollah has provided arms, training, and logistical support for tens of thousands of Assad’s men. It has assisted the Syrian military in cracking down on dissidents so that Assad can cling to power.”
“It does not take a Nobel Peace Prize laureate to realize that we are not exactly dealing with a selfless humanitarian organization.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also told the Security Council that “every day [in Syria] provides a searing reminder of the human cost of war.”
“But, let us remember: the obligation does not rest solely with warring parties. We all have a responsibility to protect,” he stated. “Failure to protect civilians in armed conflict can contribute directly to the commission of atrocity crimes.”Prosor closed on a similar theme by quoting Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

European Jewish Parliament to EU: No half-measures on Hezbollah
February 12, 2013 /(JTA) -- Members of the European Jewish Parliament urged 27 foreign ministers to avoid the “error and half-measure” of calling only Hezbollah’s military wing a terrorist entity.
“Let us insist on the fact that there is no distinction between Hezbollah’s ‘political wing’ and ‘military wing,’ ” members of the European Jewish Parliament from the European Union's 27 member states wrote in letters sent Tuesday to their respective foreign ministers. “There is a risk that the ministers who will meet on Feb. 18 in Brussels will decide on this half-measure,” European Jewish Parliament Co-Chair Joel Rubinfeld said in reaction to a report by Bulgarian security authorities last week that linked Hezbollah to a deadly July 18 terrorist attack on Israelis in Bulgaria.
The report found the attack was carried out by agents of Hezbollah’s military wing and was funded by the organization in general. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the attack that killed six, including five Israelis.
In the European Union, only the United Kingdom makes a distinction between Hezbollah's military and political wings, and regards the military wing as terrorist but has not outlawed Hezbollah in general. The European Jewish Parliament encouraged other EU states to follow the example of the Netherlands, the only member state that considers Hezbollah in its entirety a terrorist group.
The letters by the European Jewish Parliament contain a quote from 2009 attributed to Hezbollah No. 2 man Naim Qassem: “Hezbollah has a single leadership ... All political, social and jihad work is tied to the decisions of this leadership.”

The Australian link to Hezbollah and the Bulgaria bus bombing
Shandon Harris-Hogan./Researcher at the Global Terrorism Research Centre at Monash University
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
Shandon Harris-Hogan works for the Global Terrorism Research Center, Monash University Shandon is employed in the Australian Research Council project: Understanding Radicalisation, De-radicalisation and Counter-radicalisation from an Australian Perspective partnered with Victoria Police, Australian Federal Police, Department of Premier and Cabinet and Corrections Victoria
The Conversation provides independent analysis and commentary from academics and researchers.
Australian links to political violence in Lebanon run deeper than a single attack. AAP/Stringer
An Australian has been linked to the July 18, 2012 Bulgarian bus bombing, that killed five Israeli tourists, the driver of a bus and a man carrying a bomb.
Several of those responsible for the attack are reported to have travelled from Lebanon, entering Bulgaria via Germany and Belgium, and to have used fake US driving licenses (printed in Lebanon) to rent hotels and cars.
The Australian involved is believed to be of Lebanese descent and to have moved to Lebanon in 2006 to join Hezbollah’s military wing. He is alleged to have been part of a three or four man cell and to have fulfilled the role of bomb-maker for the group. Authorities believe him to now be located somewhere in Lebanon.
Hezbollah
As part of a Shia and primarily nationalist orientated movement, Hezbollah represents a phenomenon distinct from the globally focused Sunni extremist movement represented by al-Qaeda and associated groups. While Australia does have extensive links to jihadist political violence in Lebanon this would be the first public example of an Australian involved with Hezbollah, Lebanon’s largest and most recognised militant group. But it is important to note that the organisation has denied responsibility for the attack, claiming it to be part of an international smear campaign.
If sanctioned the attack would have been carried out by the External Security Organisation, the branch of Hezbollah responsible for terrorist activities.
The bombing would constitute Hezbollah’s first terror strike on European soil since the 1990s and would be another manifestation of the simmering conflict between Israel and Iran (and by extension Hezbollah). The direct target appears to have been Israeli citizens, with the location chosen not only because of the Black Sea’s popularity with Israeli tourists, but also because security is considered particularly lax.
At first, authorities believed the attack was a suicide bombing, however bomb fragments revealed the device had been remotely detonated. More likely is that the bomb was intended to explode as the bus was driving, which would have caused significantly more carnage. But there may have been a malfunction which killed the man placing the bomb. This target and tactic would fit the modus operandi of Hezbollah, which generally does not carry out lone-bomber suicide attacks on foot.
An Australian was involved in a terrorist blast that killed seven people. AAP/Oliver Weiken
Hezbollah in Australia
Hezbollah’s External Security Organisation has been listed as a terrorist group by Australia since 2003, but the group’s political wing is recognised as an official party and is represented in the Lebanese Parliament. The UK and New Zealand also prescribe the External Security Organisation a terrorist organisation, while the entire apparatus of Hezbollah has been listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and Canada.
While there is certainly no evidence the group has ever attempted political violence in this country, Australians have been investigated for providing financial support to the organisation as a whole. Indeed, as long ago as 1991, the federal government listed Hezbollah as having active support in Australia.
Further, in 2007 an investigation was conducted into two persons suspected of providing money to Hezbollah from Australia. Thousands of dollars in five distinct transactions are believed to have been transferred during the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Then Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, warned it was illegal to provide financial support to Hezbollah at the time of the conflict.
There have also been several investigations into broadcasts made into Australia by Lebanese-based television station Al-Manar, which has close associations with Hezbollah. The investigations related to whether or not broadcasts attempted to solicit funds for, or recruit people to join, Hezbollah. However, no breach of the Broadcasting Services (Anti-terrorism Requirements for Open Narrowcasting Television Services) Standard 2006 was recorded. Though Hezbollah is not known to have operated in Australia, it has had a significant presence in our region, in places such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Indeed, in March 1994 Hezbollah, with Iranian intelligence assistance, prepared a truck bomb to be detonated outside the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok. But the attack was thwarted when the driver of the truck had a traffic accident on route to the location.
Australian terrorist connections to Lebanon
Though this would constitute the first Australian known to have participated in an act of political violence in the name of Hezbollah, Australia does have significant links to political violence in Lebanon. There have been several significant instances of Australians involved with jihadist activity throughout the past decade, and support for Lebanese based groups has been disproportionately represented within Australian jihadist circles.
While there are many small and clandestine semi-autonomous jihadist groups within Lebanon, Fatah al-Islam and Asbat al-Ansar are two organisations which have seen significant Australian involvement. There have been thirteen Australians arrested for involvement with these Sunni groups as well as three others accused of involvement in jihadist activity in separate incidents.
The individual identified in the past few days appears to be another manifestation of Australians linked to terrorism internationally. Examples such as this highlight the small but persistent problem of citizens involved in acts of political violence both at home and overseas.

Netanyahu Vows to Stop Hezbollah From
Acquiring Syrian Arms
by Jason Ditz, February 11, 2013
Print This | Share This Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations with comments that hint at more operations against Syria, saying his government “cannot allow” Syria to transfer weapons to Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon. Two weeks ago Israel attacked multiple targets inside Syria, reportedly based on a fear that anti-aircraft missiles would be transferred to Hezbollah, making future Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon less convenient. The attack was endorsed by the US, as were future attacks. Which has Israeli officials talking up a huge escalation, including planned expansion into a ground invasion. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s surprise visit to the US just hours before Netanyahu’s speech may hint at that happening sooner rather than later. Officials have yet to explain Barak’s visit, as the outgoing Defense Minister is supposed to leave office in a matter of weeks and already did a “farewell” visit to the US last month. President Obama is also planning a visit to Israel next month, so it is unclear why talks on Israeli defense policy couldn’t wait until then unless something big is happening sooner.

PRESS RELEASE: Dr. Terry Jones - Oppose John Brennan as CIA Director‏
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 12th, 2013
MEDIA CONTACT: 352-371-2487
or 352-871-2680 (Stephanie Sapp) or info@standupamericanow.org
We, at Stand Up America Now, are opposed to the confirmation of John Brennan as the new CIA Director. We have, again, an example of President Obama’s pro-Islamic prejudice.
John Brennan spent many years in the Middle East and is heavily influenced by Islam, and by radical Islam.
Mr. Brennan, a former C.I.A. station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- principal coordinator of a “kill list” of Qaeda operatives marked for death, overseeing drone strikes by the military and the C.I.A.
- advises Mr. Obama on which strikes he should approve
- visited Mecca and Medina during the hajj season along with Saudi officials, who may have induced Brennan to convert. Non-Muslims are not allowed to visit Medina and Mecca especially during the Hajj season.
Mr. Brennan boasts of being a college student in the 1970’s, spending a summer traveling through Indonesia. After Indonesia, he spent time studying Arabic at the American University in Cairo. He spent time in Palestine, Jordan, Tunis, and other Islamic nations then lived in the Middle East for six years.
Mr. Brennan has made several statements concerning Islam that are not true. He has said, “as part of that experience, I learned about the goodness, beauty of Islam”, “I was welcomed in a way that is a reflection of the tremendous warmth of Islamic cultures and societies”. Comparing his experience with Islam to President Obama’s, Mr. Brennan made this statement, “I came to see Islam, not how it is often misrepresented but for what it is,a faith of peace and tolerance and great diversity.” During a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, he called jihad a "legitimate tenet of Islam”.
On October 19, 2011, Chief Counterterrorism Advisor John Brennan received a letter from the Muslim Advocates, President and Executive Director Farhana Khera which listed numerous Islamic-based grievances against the FBI.
Just 15 days later, Brennan began a fundamental change of FBI practices in order to bring the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security into compliance with Islamic sensibilities. As a result, FBI training curriculum was changed and even more changes are being implemented to appease Muslims.
In every place that Islam and the Koran dominate, you do not find any of these things that John Brennan said. Islam has a 1400 year history of being anything but a religion of peace and tolerance. Again we have someone within the Obama administration who is whitewashing Islam. Islam is a violent, oppressive religion and no amount of whitewashing will change that. It has a 1400 year history of rape, murder and violence.
We need a CIA Director that will be pro-America, who has his values and his roots in the United States and in the U.S. Constitution, not in Islam, in radical Islam.
VIDEO - OBAMA ADVISOR JOHN BRENNAN SPEAKS ABOUT THE BEAUTY OF ISLAM
http://www.standupamericanow.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=122343&qid=2793195
Its time for America to stand up.
Thank you,
Dr. Terry Jones


Syrian jets bomb northern air base seized by Islamist-led rebels
DEBKAfile Special Report February 12, 2013,
Tuesday night, Feb. 12,The Syrian Air Force began bombing the large al-Jarra air base which rebels led by Islamist battalions conquered near the northern city of Aleppo. Bashar Assad has ordered the destruction of the dozens of fighter-bombers on the ground in the captured base. Most are Czech-made L-29 trainer planes which his air force has been using to pound rebel positions in built-up areas of the cities. But still in hangars are also Sukhoi Su-22M bombers and Mig-23 interceptors which too have been pressed into service for striking rebel-held territory.
The loss of the al-Jarra air base is a major blow for Assad’s forces, depriving them of the ability to hunt down and wipe out rebel forces from the air. Now the remnants of his air force are entrusted with somehow destroying their own planes, which are housed in bomb-proof hangars of the captured air facility.
As for the rebels celebrating their feat in those hangars, they might have used the air fleet they seized to bomb the presidential palace in Damascus, except that none of them are trained fliers. What they have done is to launch a recruitment campaign in Muslim countries for air crews with experience in flying Russian-made warplanes and helicopters.
Their headhunters are scouring the former Soviet republics and East Europe with large Muslim communities for Muslim pilots who served in the air forces of their own countries. Even those trained fighters, however, never served on advanced Sukhois or Migs, only on light trainers.
In Damascus, debkafile’s military sources report that the 4th Division (which acts as the Republican Guard) managed Tuesday to shore up the defensive lines that the rebels had breached in the eastern sector in the last day or two and throw back their advance into the heart of the capital. The rebels can only shell the Jobar district of central Damascus from outside, but are prevented from breaking through to their ultimate target.
debkafile’s sources and most Western observers sources fear that as his setbacks in battle pile up, the Syrian ruler is likely to decide that the only way to save his regime is to turn his chemical weapons against the rebel forces.


Hezbollah's strategy: Rockets on Tel Aviv, raids on Galilee
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4343662,00.html
Ynet news/02.11.13, 20:56 /Analysis: Nasrallah hopes to gain moral victory by inflicting heavy casualties on IDF, Israeli home front at onset of next conflict
The northern border has been relatively quiet for the past six years, but during this time Hassan Nasrallah continued to closely monitor the developments in Israel. Over the past month I have spoken with a man who has dedicated a large portion of his adult life to studying Hezbollah and its leadership. According to him, Nasrallah learned to read Hebrew so he could understand the Israeli political system and the forces that drive Israeli society.
An analysis of Nasrallah's recent speeches indicates that he has reached certain conclusions regarding the next conflict with Israel:
1) Rocket and missile salvos on the periphery do not impress the Israelis. Only a devastating strike on the Tel Aviv metropolitan area or on Tel Aviv itself, or an attack on a key infrastructure facility, will deal a serious blow to public morale in Israel and around the world and grant him the victory photos he craves.
2) The Israeli public is more sensitive to deaths among soldiers fighting on the front – "our children" – than it is to civilian casualties. So, from Nasrallah's perspective, heavy casualties among the fighting forces will damage Israel's internal resilience and undermine the public's support for the war. Nasrallah expects that Israel will move five divisions into Lebanon.
3) The ability to intercept and down Israel Air Force planes will provide Nasrallah with an umbrella that will allow him to maximize the damage to the Israeli home front and shore up support from his target audiences. The sinking of an Israeli Navy ship will also be considered a great achievement for Hezbollah.
Based on these and other insights, Nasrallah has designed the following strategy: At the onset of the next war Hezbollah will fire its heaviest and most accurate missiles and rockets (including M-600 missiles Hezbollah received from Syria, which are fitted with GPS-aided inertial navigation) on the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, as well as on infrastructure installations and perhaps on military targets. The rockets will be fired at the fastest pace possible. This opening strike will last a few hours, maybe more, until the Air Force creates room to operate in Lebanon's airspace in a way that will allow it hit every rocket launcher that was detected in advance or during the fighting itself.
In addition to the attack on the Tel Avivian home front and infrastructure, Nasrallah plans to cause heavy casualties among Israeli soldiers who will enter Lebanon in order to stop the firing of short-range rockets from the southern part of the country. To carry this plan out, his men will use thousands of advanced anti-tank missiles, bombs and mortars that have been deployed in villages. The goal is to kill and injure hundreds of Israeli soldiers. These losses, along with the IDF's inability to stop the rocket and missile fire until the latter part of the war, will grant Nasrallah an unprecedented moral and physical victory –particularly if Hezbollah will manage to down Israeli planes or sink a ship.
However, there is another aspect to this strategy: Nasrallah plans to order "intervention forces" - Hezbollah's special units – to launch killing raids on Israeli communities and seize control of roads located near or along the border. Nasrallah assumes these raids will cause delays in Israel's activity to stop the rocket fire from within Lebanon. Such raids will also hurt morale. Many fighters belonging to these special units have recently been sent to Syria to fight alongside Assad's forces. Some of them have already been killed or wounded in battles with rebels, but the units and their commanders gained invaluable combat experience.
At what point will Hezbollah set this strategy in motion? Most likely when a certain element – be it the US, Israel or a joint force - attacks Iran's nuclear installations. Tehran may also order Hezbollah to attack Israel in order to divert attention from its efforts to obtain nuclear capabilities. The imminent collapse of the regime in Syria makes Hezbollah even more dependent on Iran, and it will not dare disobey an order from Tehran.
Another possibility is that Hezbollah will launch rockets and missiles toward Israel in the event of a massive IDF attack in Lebanese territory. However, the probability that the Shiite group will get involved in a war with Israel over attacks on convoys transporting modern weapons or chemical weapons from Syria to Lebanon (such as the recent airstrike on a convoy transporting advanced anti-aircraft missiles, which foreign media outlets attributed to Israel), is not high. It's response to such attacks will most likely be limited.
The IDF is ware of Nasrallah's strategy and is closely following Hezbollah's preparations on a daily basis. At the same time, the army is training incessantly to deal with the threat, if and when it is realized. "We will have to operate fast and aggressively from the get-go," says a very senior IDF official in the Northern Command. "We have to tell ourselves and to the world, so that no one will be surprised, that Lebanon will spit fire on us from the very beginning and with force that we have not witnessed to this point. We will have to neutralize the attack as quickly as possible with all the means at our disposal.
"Wherever we can, we will take the non-combative Lebanese population into consideration, but we will not be able to employ selective methods everywhere. There will be a lot of destruction there, and many casualties. Our goal is to lift the threat without a war, but when you do go to war, you have to do it right," the senior IDF official said.
But within the security establishment not everything is so clear and organized. There are disagreements between senior IDF officers – mainly from the Air Force – who argue that Hezbollah can be defeated with numerous pinpoint strikes, and those who are convinced that without a ground offensive it will not work. Most of the generals support a ground offensive, despite being aware that it will extend the duration of the fighting and will result in more casualties.
"A ground offensive is necessary for achieving a decisive victory," said a security official who deals with the Lebanese threat. When he says "decisive victory," he means physical results on the ground – hundreds of Hezbollah fighters dead, destroyed operational infrastructure installations (including those set up by Hezbollah in private homes), seizing control of areas from which rockets are launched, etc. It is safe to assume that the army is capable of achieving these results, first of all because it drew the necessary lessons from the failures of the ground offensive in the Second Lebanon War and, among other things, equipped Merkava Mk 4 tanks with 'Windbreaker' missile defense systems.
In addition, over the past two years the army has developed systems for gathering intelligence in real time, and today it also has mobile computerized command systems that can be used to send intelligence to the fighting forces regarding the targets they are heading towards. The problem is that apparently not all field commanders (company, battalion and brigade commanders) have been trained in the use of these revolutionary systems. The IDF should do something about this, and fast.
There are additional problems the army is aware of and is working to solve, such as the fact that heavy rocket and missile fire will target airports, reserve units' emergency storage facilities, roads that lead to the front and gathering points of reserve soldiers near the border. The Iron Dome missile defense system cannot provide sufficient protection from Hezbollah's 65,000 rockets and missiles.
"The Israeli public must be informed now that the amount of rockets and missiles at Hezbollah's disposal will have devastating effects," a security official said. "War is not a reality show. There will be casualties and failures on our end. But we will completely neutralize Hezbollah, and it will remain deterred for many years to come."