James 01/19-26: " Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose. So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you. Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice.  If you listen to the word, but do not put it into practice you are like people who look in a mirror and see themselves as they are.  They take a good look at themselves and then go away and at once forget what they look like.  But if you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice—you will be blessed by God in what you do. Do any of you think you are religious? If you do not control your tongue, your religion is worthless and you deceive yourself.  What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources For October 28/13

US ‘High Porte’ and policy of cowboys/By Ahmed Al-Jarallah/Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times/October 28/13

The Ethical Downfall of the Obama Administration/By: Abdullah Iskandar/Al Hayat/October 28/13

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources For October 28/13
Lebanese Related News

Lebanon Army ups presence in Tripoli as death toll rises

Syrian civil war spreads to Lebanese city of Tripoli
Lebanese Army Starts Implementing Plan to End Week of Clashes in Tripoli after 3 Killed on Sunday
Nasrallah to Make Televised Address on Monday
Lebanon Army ups presence in Tripoli as death toll rises

First civil marriage in Lebanon begets child

Greenpeace activists hit out at detention conditions

William Hawi/From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ibrahim, UN envoy discuss bishops’ case

Fatah member assassinated in Ain al-Hilweh

Berri, Aoun parliamentary blocs to form joint committee
4 Suspects Referred to Judiciary for Connection to Abduction of Pharmacist al-Khatib
Miscellaneous Reports And News

Netanyahu: Israel doesn't fear solitude on Iran, but we're not alone

OPCW: Syria Submitted Chemical Arms Destruction Plan on Time

Watchdog: Syria has filed chemical weapon details

Syria rebel groups brand Geneva talks 'treason'

19 Syria rebel groups reject Geneva talks

Kurdish militants tighten grip on Syria's northeast

Germany warns Israel to face UN rights panel: Report

Wave of attacks kills at least 66 people in Iraq

Saudi women say they will keep pushing for right to drive

American Lawmakers Call for Repairing U.S.-Saudi Ties

Iran lawmakers reject president's minister pick

Israel Says Will Attend U.N. Rights Review

Beblawi Says Gulf Stability Crucial for Egypt Security

Israel announces names of Palestinians to be freed in next stage of prisoner release

Former UK foreign secretary: AIPAC is the main barrier to peace
Iranian officials remove anti-American posters in Tehran

Syrian civil war spreads to Lebanese city of Tripoli
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON, REUTERS 10/27/2013/J.Post
Fighting enters 7th day in Tripoli leaving 16 dead, 80 injured; Syrian rebels claim they killed 15 Hezbollah fighters near Damascus. At least 16 people were killed and 80 were wounded on Sunday as fighting continued, for the seventh day, between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. The Lebanese army reinforced its presence in the city, setting up checkpoints. The streets were empty and shops remained closed, the Beirut-based Daily Star reported. Most of the violence took place between Sunnis and Alawites. Meanwhile, in Syria, the Sunni-dominated rebels claimed they killed at least 15 Hezbollah fighters on Saturday in the Ghouta district, on the outskirts of Damascus, Al-Arabiya TV reported. Six wounded Hezbollah fighters were reportedly taken to Lebanon for treatment. A video posted on the Internet showed dead soldiers with Hezbollah patches on their uniforms. The war in Syria continues to spill over into Lebanon. The Lebanese government has been unable to form a government since April. The Syrian war has caused 2 million people to flee into neighboring countries and exacerbated regional sectarian divides. The spillover from the fragmentation of the Syrian state is causing “Lebanon’s deepest crisis since the end of the 15-year civil war that ran from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s,” Hussein Ibish wrote in The National newspaper based in the UAE. “The irony is that Syria’s transition into a Lebanese-like reality may destroy the ability of Lebanon to maintain its own uneasy equilibrium,” he said. In Syria, 40 people died when a car bomb exploded outside a mosque in Wadi Barada in Damascus province on Friday, said the anti-Assad Observatory, which verifies reports through a network of sources around Syria. State news agency SANA said many terrorists – a term it uses for those fighting Assad – were killed in the explosion and quoted a witness who said the mosque’s two entrances collapsed when the bomber struck before the end of Friday prayers. State TV reported on Friday that Abu Muhammad al-Golani, leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, a rebel group that has claimed responsibility for several suicide bombings, had been killed. Fighters from the Islamist group told Reuters Golani was alive.
 

Netanyahu: Israel doesn't fear solitude on Iran, but we're not alone
By TOVAH LAZAROFF 10/27/2013/Jerusalem Post

http://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/News/Netanyahu-Israel-doesnt-fear-solitude-on-Iran-but-were-not-alone-329873
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday he does not fear standing alone as an advocate for increased economic pressure on Iran, even as he assured the ministers that many in the international community shared Israel’s views. “I have been asked if I am concerned about standing alone in an isolated position against the world. First of all, the answer is no,” Netanyahu said.Related: Netanyahu at UNGA: Israel will stand alone if needed in preventing Iran nuclear weaponsIsrael to US: Pass more sanctions, Iran could have material for bomb within weeksIn the past months the prime minister has been portrayed as leading a solitary campaign to increase economic pressure on Iran precisely at a time when the international community is disposed to refrain from further financial penalties as a good will gesture to help improve the chances of a negotiated solution.
On Sunday Netanyahu defended that characterization, even as he explained he does not believe its reflective of reality. “This [halting Iran’s nuclear program] is vital and important for the security of Israel and, in my view, the peace of the world. Then certainly we are willing to stand alone in the face of world opinion or changing fashion,” Netanyahu said.
“But in fact we are not alone because most, if not all leaders, those with whom I have spoken, agree with us. There are those who say so fully and there are those who whisper and there are those who say so privately. But everyone understands that Iran cannot be allowed to retrain the ability to be within reach of nuclear weapons,” he said. The prime minister briefed his cabinet on his conversation in Rome last week with US Secretary of State John Kerry and explained that halting Iran’s nuclear weapons program was one of the main topics in their seven hour meeting. He also reacted to conflicting reports out of Iran with regard to whether it had halted or continued to enrich uranium up to 20 percent. Netanyahu said the debate was “unimportant” because the standard of 20% uranium enrichment was no longer a sign of whether Iran would have nuclear military capacity.
“The importance of the issue became superfluous in the wake of the technological improvements that allow Iran to enrich uranium from 3.5% to 90% in a number of weeks,” Netanyahu said.
Israel believes that once that happens, Iran would be able to produce a nuclear weapon.
It believes it has held off from such production because of the economic sanctions that were leveled against it and out of fear of the new round of sanctions which the US Senate was expected to vote on this week.
The White House, however, has asked the Senate to hold off on the vote as a gesture to Iran, which is now engaged in negotiations with the six parties – the US, Russia, China, France, Great Britain and Germany – to allow time for a diplomatic solution. But Netanyahu has told the US, that the economic pressure against Iran should be increased as long as the country continues to enrich uranium and has not dismantled its nuclear weapons program.
“The clear position that I outlined there during and after the discussions and to the media, which we are presenting around the world, is that Iran must dismantle its enrichment ability and its heavy water reactor as part of the process of preventing it from achieving nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.
“And because it is continuing to enrich, sanctions must be increased. Iran with nuclear weapons will change the Middle East and the world for the worse.”
Meanwhile, Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Association, is expected to meet with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on Monday.
The meeting is expected to last an hour and will be followed that same day by a new round of negotiations between senior officials from both sides over a stalled IAEA investigation into suspected atomic bomb research by Iran, which denies the charge. In Geneva on November 7 and 8, the six parties will renew their negotiations with Iran. Also in Washington this week, Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will hold a briefing on Thursday on the status of nuclear talks with Iran for members of a US Senate committee considering tough new sanctions on Tehran, Senate aides said on Friday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
 

Al-Rahi Urges Officials to 'Prepare Conditions to Hold Presidential Election on Time'
Naharnet Newsdesk 27 October 2013/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi criticized on Sunday the political authorities in Lebanon for “neglecting their duties” and their attempts to create political vacuum in the country.
He said during his Sunday sermon: “Officials should prepare conditions to elect a new president within the constitutional deadline.” He also demanded that a new and fair electoral law be approved in order to stage the parliamentary elections “as soon as possible.” The elections were supposed to be held in June earlier this year but they were postponed after the political rivals failed to agree on a new electoral law. The presidential election is set for 2014. Moreover, al-Rahi urged officials to “abandon sectarian agendas and foreign and local dictates that seek to create vacuum in Lebanon.”He called on them to cease creating disputes and “protecting illegitimate arms and violations of the law.” The Maronite patriarch also condemned the clashes in the northern city of Tripoli that have been raging since Monday, saying that the residents of the city have become hostages of the fighting in Syria. He hoped that the army and security forces would succeed in imposing security in the city and disarming the gunmen. At least 12 people were killed and 80 wounded in latest round of clashes between the rival Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods in Tripoli. The neighborhoods have been for years witnessing deadly gunbattles, but skirmishes began to flare with increasing intensity after the Syrian uprising began in March 2011.
The Bab al-Tabbaneh district is largely Sunni, like Syria's rebels. Jabal Mohsen mostly has residents of Syrian President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect. The fighting broke out on Monday evening as celebratory gunfire erupted in Jabal Mohsen over Assad’s appearance on al-Mayadeen television for an interview.

Lebanon Army ups presence in Tripoli as death toll rises

October 27, 2013/The Daily Star
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army enhanced Sunday its presence in the northern city of Tripoli as the death toll from the seven days of fighting between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad rose to at least 16 and over 80 wounded. Sniper fire over the weekend claimed the lives of five people - Moussa Ahmed al-Masri, Muheiddine Abdul Latif, Omar Abbas, Mohammad al-Jundi and Abu Mariam al-Zaqzouq, Mohammad al-Abbout. The dead hailed from Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, the two rival neighborhoods that have fought one another with increasing frequency since the uprising in neighboring Syria began. The clashes in the city subsided overnight but sniper activity picked up in the morning on Syria Street, Al-Barranieyh and al-Baqqar neighborhoods and Jabal Mohsen. Gunfire also accompanied funeral processions for the victims of the recent violence. The Army deployed heavily in the city in the morning hours as Refaat Eid, the head of the Jabal Mohsen-based Arab Democratic Party, urged his fighters to withdraw completely. Army checkpoints were established along Syria Street, the line that divides the warring Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhoods, where the bulk of the fighting takes place. The streets of Tripoli remained empty Sunday and shops in the city were closed for business. The latest round of clashes between the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, which supports the uprising in Syria, and the mostly Alawite Jabal Mohsen, which backs the Damascus regime, broke out Monday after the appearance of Assad in a television interview. The fighting comes weeks after the Internal Security Forces Information Branch arrested several people on charges of involvement in the Aug. 23 bombings outside two mosques in the city. One of the suspects was a resident of Jabal Mohsen and has links to the ADP. Also Sunday, former Tripoli MP Misbah Al-Ahdab lashed out at caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other of the city’s lawmakers, accusing them of failing to restore security in the area. “With the scene of terror [facing Tripoli], we ask what have the prime minister, ministers and lawmakers of the city done [to end the battles]?” Ahdab, addressing reporters at his Tripoli residence, asked. “They held meetings and gatherings and launched stances and statements, and as usual, the decisions of their meetings remain secret and they just declare that political cover should be lifted from fighters.”He also said Mikati was not to be trusted, citing what he said were the prime minister’s links to the regime in Damascus. “Can you trust a prime minister that did not withdraw the license of the Arab Democratic Party after members [of the ADP] were implicated in the bombings outside the Salam and Taqwa Mosques?’ he asked, referring to the two mosques targeted on Aug. 23. “Can you trust a prime minister who is a friend of Bashar Assad, who considers Jabal Mohsen a district of Syria and when no [Lebanese] official dares object to [Assad’s] statements?” he asked. Meanwhile, Mikati held a series of political and security meetings to follow up on the situation in Tripoli, a statement from his office said. Mikati also reiterated that “his priority was to end the battles in Tripoli and restore calm in the city.”

Nasrallah to Make Televised Address on Monday
Naharnet Newsdesk 27 October 2013/Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to make a televised speech on Monday afternoon, reported An Nahar daily on Sunday. He is expected to make the speech during an celebration for al-Shahid Social Relief Association. The Hizbullah leader last made a speech on September 23 during which he mainly addressed the army and security forces' deployment in the party's stronghold of Dahieh in Beirut's southern suburbs. He also addressed claims that the Syrian regime had transferred its chemical arms arsenal to the party, which he denied.

4 Suspects Referred to Judiciary for Connection to Abduction of Pharmacist al-Khatib
Naharnet Newsdesk 27 October 2013/The Army Intelligence Bureau referred on Saturday four suspects to the judiciary over their links to the abduction of a pharmacist in the Zahle district in the Bekaa region in September, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday. Lebanese nationals Hussein Ahmed Saleh and his brothers Dureid and Abdul Amir and Palestinian Mohammed Ahmed Omar were arrested on October 19 and 22 on charges of kidnapping Wissam al-Khatib and later releasing him on ransom. Investigations with the suspects revealed that they had previously kidnapped Lebanese national Ahmed Mansour. Several arrest warrants had been issued against them in the past. They include charges of theft and dealing with forged currency.

A partial sum of the ransom obtained in al-Khatib's abduction was found in their possession, as well as a number of weapons. Al-Khatib was abducted on September 29 as he was opening his pharmacy that lies on the main road of the town of Karak in the eastern district of Zahle. He was released in his hometown of Kfarzabad in the central Bekaa valley on October 15.

Lebanese Army Starts Implementing Plan to End Week of Clashes in Tripoli after 3 Killed on Sunday
Naharnet Newsdesk 27 October 2013/The army started implementing a security plan in the northern city of Tripoli on Sunday afternoon in a bid to put an end to seven days of deadly clashes, state-run National News Agency reported. “Army units have completed their deployment in Jabal Mohsen, ahead of expanding this deployment to the neighboring areas, amid a notable decline in the intensity of clashes on all frontiers which are only witnessing a minor sniper activity,” NNA said. “The soldier Youssef Kamal has died of wounds incurred today in Jabal Mohsen, which raises the day's death toll to three,” the agency added. Earlier, NNA said the army started deploying in Jabal Mohsen's al-Nafoura, al-Masharqa and al-Amerkan area as part of a plan that will involve Jabal Mohsen, Bab al-Tabbaneh and the rest of the city. Clashes renewed in the afternoon as three shells hit the entrance of the vegetable market and al-Omari Street, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported. It said a man identified as Youssef Allouf was wounded by sniper fire in Jabal Mohsen, adding that sniper gunshots were targeting all fighting frontiers and that the army was shooting back at the sources of gunfire. “A hand grenade landed in Syria Street as heavy gunfire erupted on the Syria Street-Jabal Mohsen frontier,” Voice of Lebanon said. The death toll from a week of clashes between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh has risen to 14, according to a security official. The official said scores more were wounded, including 16 in the past two days alone. Earlier on Sunday, two people were killed by sniper gunfire in Jabal Mohsen, said NNA. It identified the victims as Moussa Ahmed al-Masri and Muheiddine Abdul Latif. The week-long clashes had subsided overnight, but intermittent gunshots could be heard in different areas in the city on Sunday morning, reported MTV. NNA said that sniper activity was active on Syria Street, al-Bisar, Souq al-Qameh, al-Barranieyh neighborhood, al-Baqqar area, and Jabal Mohsen. The army had deployed checkpoints along Syria Street that separates Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, where most of the clashes are centered. The neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen have been for years witnessing deadly gunbattles, but skirmishes began to flare with increasing intensity after the Syrian uprising began in March 2011. The Bab al-Tabbaneh district is largely Sunni, like Syria's rebels. Jabal Mohsen mostly has residents of Syrian President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect. The fighting broke out on Monday evening as celebratory gunfire erupted in Jabal Mohsen over Assad’s appearance on al-Mayadeen television for an interview.

Watchdog: Syria has filed chemical weapon details
October 27, 2013/By Diaa Hadid/Daily Star
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Syria has filed details of its poison gas and nerve agent program and an initial plan to destroy it to the world's chemical weapons watchdog, the organization said Sunday. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a statement that Syria completed its declaration as part of a strict and ambitious timeline that aims to eliminate the lethal stockpile by mid-2014. The group, based in The Hague, said Syria made the declaration Thursday. The announcement provides "the basis on which plans are devised for a systematic, total and verified destruction of declared chemical weapons and production facilities," the group said. Such declarations made to the organization are confidential. No details of Syria's program were released. Syria already had given preliminary details to the OPCW when it declared it was joining the organization in September. The move warded off possible U.S. military strikes in the aftermath of an Aug. 21 chemical weapon attack on a Damascus suburb. Syria denies responsibility for the deadly attack. OPCW inspectors were hastily dispatched to Syria this month and have visited most of the 23 sites Damascus declared. They also have begun overseeing destruction work to ensure that machines used to mix chemicals and fill munitions with poisons are no longer functioning. Syria is believed to possess around 1,000 metric tons of chemical weapons, including mustard gas and sarin. It has not yet been decided how or where destruction of Syria's chemical weapons will happen. Damascus' declaration includes a general plan for destruction that will be considered by the OPCW's 41-nation executive council on Nov. 15.
Norway's foreign minister announced Friday that the country had turned down a U.S. request to receive the bulk of Syria's chemical weapons for destruction because it doesn't have the capabilities to complete the task by the deadlines given. The announcement came among renewed fighting in Syria. Al-Qaida-linked rebels battled government troops for control of the Christian town of Sadad north of Damascus, activists said.
The rebels have been trying to seize the town for the past week, and residents in the rebel-held western neighborhoods of Sadad are trapped in their homes, said Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. The rebels appear to have targeted Sadad because of its strategic location near the main highway north from Damascus rather than because it is inhabited primarily by Christians. But extremists among the rebels are hostile to Syria's Christians minority, which has largely backed President Bashar Assad during the conflict. The official Syrian news agency said troops wrested back control of eastern parts of Sadad, but were clashing in other areas. Also Sunday, Syrian Kurdish gunmen were trying to secure their hold over a major border crossing with Iraq after capturing the captured the Yaaroubiyeh post in northeast Syria on Saturday. Abdurrahman said the Kurdish gunmen were fighting pockets of fighters from extremist rebel groups in southern Yaaroubiyeh.
Syria's chaotic more than 2 ½ year-old conflict pits Assad's forces against a disunited array of rebel factions. Al-Qaida-linked hard-liners have fought other rebel groups as well as Kurdish militias who have taken advantage of the government's weakness to cement control over territory dominated by the ethnic minority. The main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, accused Iraqi forces of fighting moderate Syrian rebels at Yaaroubiyeh, and shelling the area in cooperation with Kurdish militants. Iraq's Interior Ministry spokesman, Saad Maan Ibrahim, rejected the accusations, saying they are "baseless because Iraq and its security forces have nothing to do with the fighting at the Syrian border crossing." In neighboring Lebanon, another two people were killed by sniper fire during fighting between rival sects in the northern city of Tripoli, the official state news agency reported. It said that a soldier in the city also died Sunday of his wounds. At least 10 people have been killed since clashes flared earlier this week, security officials said.
Syria's civil war effectively has spread to Lebanon's second largest city, where it has inflamed tensions between two impoverished Tripoli neighborhoods, home to Assad opponents and supporters.
The Bab Tabbaneh district is largely Sunni Muslim, like Syria's rebels. The other neighborhood Jabal Mohsen mostly has residents of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
The latest round of fighting began four days ago. Tensions had been mounting since Oct. 14, when a Lebanese military prosecutor pressed charges against seven men, at least one of whom was from Jabal Mohsen, for their involvement in twin bombings near two Sunni mosques in Tripoli on Aug. 23 that killed 47 people. Lebanon shares its northern and eastern border with Syria. Lebanon's Sunni leadership has mostly supported the rebels, while Alawites and Shiites have backed the Assad government. Members of all three sects have gone as fighters to Syria.

Israel Says Will Attend U.N. Rights Review
Naharnet Newsdesk 27 October 2013/ Israel will attend a U.N. human rights review Tuesday, a top official told Agence France Presse after media reported that Germany had warned of a diplomatic backlash if it stayed away.
"We will attend" the Universal Periodic Review held by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, the official, who declined to be named, said on Sunday. Haaretz newspaper earlier reported that Germany warned Israel of "severe diplomatic damage" if it fails to attend the meeting. Th daily said the warning had come in the form of a personal letter from German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered to the Israeli embassy in Berlin on Friday "with the instruction that the prime minister receive it as soon as possible." Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the Haaretz report. Israel cut all ties with the U.N. Human Rights Council in March 2012 after the international body said it would probe how Israeli settlements may be infringing on the rights of Palestinians. On January 29, Israel became the first country to boycott a council review of its human rights record. Israel accuses the council of singling it out as part of the agenda of each of its three annual meetings, as well as passing a number of resolutions against it. It has also demanded permanent membership on the 47-member council. "We simply demand to be treated equally like other countries," the top official told AFP. In June Israel expressed readiness to re-engage with the body, which later announced that a special meeting devoted to Israel would be held on October 29. Israel has come under widespread criticism for ramping up its construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank, including in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.Source/Agence France Presse.

The Ethical Downfall of the Obama Administration
Abdullah Iskandar/Al Hayat
It is being confirmed that the information contained in the leaks by former IT analyst at the US National Security Agency (NSA) Edward Snowden is true. Or at least, heads of state are dealing with it as if it were. Even President François Hollande, with the NSA having monitored about 80 million telephone calls made by French citizens, described these leaks as useful and said the press should continue to publish them. This is with the knowledge that Snowden is a refugee in Russia and a wanted fugitive by the United States on charges of treason, who would face a tough penalty before a US court. What would make the President of France praise a wanted fugitive in the United States? One of the documents recently published, according to the newspaper The Guardian, has revealed that it was the US administration that provided the NSA with the telephone numbers of 35 heads of state whose calls should be monitored. (This means that every head of state who would take the risk of speaking with President Barack Obama on the phone would be placing his telephone number on the US surveillance list!) And it has become known that among the latter are two of the United States’ closest allies, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Latin America and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Western Europe. President Obama’s administration only makes things worse for itself when it tries to respond to the world’s objections to such surveillance practices. Thus, it says that such practices are widespread, that every country seeks to obtain information, and that the purpose of monitoring phone calls is to combat terrorism… This would make, according to this excuse, Rousseff and Merkel among those suspected of terrorist activity or drug trafficking, like the millions of French citizens whose phones have proved to have been tapped by the NSA…!
What is paradoxical about this practice by the US is that it comes from a Democratic administration whose President, in both of his electoral campaigns, had purposely focused on placing ethics at the core of politics. On the other hand, he also made one of the goals of his foreign policy the attempt to reach understanding with the world’s nations, in order to establish peace and avoid wars. US surveillance scandals have thus come in such a way as to expose the extent of the deception shown by this administration, or, at best, the extent to which the US has departed from the principles set down by Obama for his administration. At a time when the administration has, under the slogan of abstaining from waging wars, engaged in complete political abandonment in Afghanistan and in Iraq, to the benefit of its declared adversaries, it has also, in the name of combating terrorism, chosen to engage in practices that violate human rights to the greatest extent, as has been documented by American and international human rights organizations.
Most prominent among such violations are the death sentences issued on charges of terrorism against individuals in different parts of the world, especially Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen, and carried out through missiles launched by unmanned drones. Despite the objections raised by American human rights advocates to this arbitrary practice, the Obama administration considers that drone strikes spare it the burdens of land intervention and of hunting down those suspects on land. This type of operation has proven not to differentiate between suspects and innocents, and to kill many times more civilians, among them women and children, than it does fugitives, without Washington appearing to reconsider such a practice. It in fact clings to it, even though it violates the most basic human rights, and despite the most vehement objections being voiced by the governments of the countries in which such strikes are being carried out. At the same time, President Obama’s administration has resorted to commando operations and kidnappings of suspects in several parts of the world, without any consideration for the sovereignty of the countries concerned or for any legal frameworks. Such practices deprive the Obama administration from any claim of clinging to ethics in the exercise of politics, and in fact render it ethically bankrupt, especially after it has started dealing with heads of state as if they were mere terrorists and drug traffickers. History will record that Obama was able to reform the health care system in such a way as to benefit America’s poor. It will also record that he allowed the surveillance of heads of state, especially friends of the United States, and caused the most profound crisis of trust between the country and its allies.
 

US ‘High Porte’ and policy of cowboys

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah/Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
MR OBAMA, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not a banana republic or America’s backyard. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a distinguished position in world politics and plays an equally important role in world affairs. It is unwise to play lighthearted politics with Riyadh. The Saudi leadership is aware of the size of the role it plays and toes the path accordingly. This is what your administration has failed to realize during your recent opportunistic policy in the region. Nonetheless, your country alone will be the loser when the US public debt has reached unprecedented levels.
Mr Obama, Riyadh has never succumbed to instructions and has never adopted the ‘every action has a reaction’ policy. This is the Gulf, the Arab and the Islamic reference. Don’t play ‘bargain’ politics at the expense of this policy and then give instructions to move forward. However, the one who looks at the situation from this angle is a shortsighted person and does not know the size of the Kingdom. The White House has to look back at the crystal clear stances and independent decisions adopted by the Kingdom throughout the past seven decades of the Saudi-American alliance.
Moreover, the Kingdom was never subjected to control by partial interests or economic pressures unlike the US. The US administration must carefully read the recent Saudi stand inspired by directives from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. Throughout the past, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has sounded several warning bells about Washington’s policy in the region but everything has fallen on deaf ears. The disease of absentmindedness has destroyed the sick American man, similar to what happened to the Ottoman Empire and the High Porte during its last 25 years in power — the coup de grace at the end of the World War I. Yes, the White House policy for the past 25 years has committed several sins in the region because the successive administrations have dealt with the Middle East with the cowboy mentality and not as a most powerful nation of the world. Therefore, the administration of President Barack Obama must learn from past experiences — when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia led other countries to stop the export of oil to the West in 1973 during the October War and when in 1996 it sent back the US Ambassador to the Kingdom for ‘trespassing’ diplomatic limits.
In spite of the strategic alliance between Riyadh and Washington, the Kingdom still adopts a stable policy which gives priority to the interests of the nation before the private interests. Contrary to this, we see the mentality of cowboys which controls the US political behavior such as the blind bias towards Israel with total disregard to the UN Security Council resolutions in the face of malpractices committed against the Palestinians although Israel is seeking to convert Jerusalem into its capital. To add insult to injury, the administration has sought to destroy a Syrian chemical weapon which was Damascus’ only deterrent weapon against Tel Aviv and trimmed Iran’s nails.
The policy of cowboys which Washington practices with several Arab countries is the reason for bloodshed in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. America has offered these countries to Iran on a silver platter and turned a blind eye to sectarian massacres. America’s behavior in Egypt has removed the mask of democracy and human rights which the US so proudly boasts about. Its ambassador in Cairo played the role of musician in the orchestra of Brotherhood. It stood against the will of over 40 million Egyptians who poured onto the streets to topple Morshid — the supreme leader of Brotherhood — who gets guidance from Washington.
Speaking of Bahrain, we need not remind the readers of the role played by the US Ambassador to Manama — drummer in the band of the so-called opposition — originally the fifth line used by Iran to enter Bahrain just like the other GCC states to realize the Persian expansionist dream which has not changed with the demise of the Shah. The same stance we see in Syria because the US administration is hesitating to rescue the Syrians. In the face of all this, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has told the world in crystal clear terms that neither America nor Russia or anybody else can impose its will on Arabs and Muslims from today and that nobody must succumb to the bargains and conditions imposed against their interests at the expense of their security.
Apology to occupy the non-permanent seat in the Security Council is merely a refusal to the true American behavior which has paralyzed this institution. This behavior has opened the gates for Russia to allow the regime in Damascus more time to kill civilians and protect Israeli crimes against the Palestinians through the ‘veto’ power which has become a tool to impose injustice against nations and deprive them of their rights. The stand adopted by Saudi Arabia is essentially the GCC stand and the entire Arab world and many other countries of the world which suffer from unfair double-standard policies in United Nations. The Kingdom and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz by taking this historical decision has sounded warning bells that the world is ready to confront the double-standard policies. It is a strong warning to the United States of America which wrongfully believes that it can lead the world with its cowboy policy.

William Hawi/From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Former chief of the Kataeb Security Council Succeeded by Bashir Gemayel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hawi

Born William Amine Hawi (1908-09-05)September 5, 1908
New York City, USA
Died July 13, 1976(1976-07-13) (aged 67)
Tel al-Zaatar, Beirut, Lebanon
Political party Kataeb Social Democratic Party a.k.a. Phalangist party
William Amine Hawi (also written: William Haoui), – (September 5, 1908 – July 13, 1976), (Arabic: وليم أمين حاوي‎) William Hawi joined the Kataeb Social Democratic Party in 1937 (Arabic: الكتائب اللبنانية‎) better known in English as the Phalangist party organization, a right-wing political party in Lebanon.
He was appointed Head of the Second and Fourth Districts, President of the Recruitment Bureau, Head of the Department of Security, Sport and Mobilization on May 29, 1952, and member of the Political Bureau on July 12, 1952. On June 16, 1958, William Hawi was in charge of organizing and leading the activists during the Lebanese events; this constituted the hub of the Party's Regulatory Forces. On January 23, 1961, the Political Bureau dissolved the militants' organization before including its members in the Lebanese Phalange Party and Hawi created the Regulatory Forces. On February 6, 1961, William Hawi was appointed Head of said Forces. In 1963, the “First Commandos” unit was created. It was followed by the “Second Commandos” unit, then by the “P.G.” troop. In 1973, the "Maghaweer" platoon was created and the “Combat School” established. Moreover, “Chef” William supervised the setting up of camps as well as the training organization and development, which enabled the progress of the regulatory process.
In 1952, the Lebanese Phalange put William Hawi up for the Beirut Municipal Council in the Achrafieh-Rmeil region, where he obtained the largest number of votes. In 1957, Hawi presented himself to the legislative elections but failed.
In 1975, Hawi was leading defense operations against the Palestinian attacks on the Souks of Beirut, Karantina, Jisr el Basha, Dekwaneh, Galerie Semaan and what is known as the "Hotels fight".
On July 1, 1976, the sources of the Lebanese allied forces announced the fall of the last bastion in Tel el-Zaatar[1] and declared that the Head of the Phalange War Council supervised this operation.
On July 13, 1976, William Hawi was killed in the middle of the battlefield in Tel el-Zaatar[2] with a bullet in the forehead. Upon his death, Bashir Gemayel was appointed his replacement as president of the Kataeb Military Council, which later became the core of the Lebanese Forces.
Biography[edit]Background
William Hawi welcoming President Camille ChamounWilliam Hawi’s family comes from the village of Choueir in North Metn, Lebanon. William’s father, Amine Hawi, emigrated when he was twenty years old. His second son, William, was born in New York, U.S. in 1908. Before the family grew and spread its roots in the foreign land, Amine Hawi went back to his homeland in the beginning of 1910, along with his wife and three children.[1] William Hawi had a passion for sports. He played football, tennis and loved swimming and skiing. His sports activities were topped by his participation in the creation of Al Salam Club in Achrafieh.[2] William Hawi met Pierre Gemayel[3] in sports meetings and the latter invited him in 1937 to join the Lebanese Phalange Organization.[4]
In 1947, William Hawi married Marcelle Anis Ghobril. They lived in Beydoun quarter in Achrafieh and had a single daughter, Leila. Hawi was Greek Orthodox.[5]
William Hawi owned a factory of mirrors, which exported its products to the Arab countries and became one of the most important factories in the Middle East before moving from Debbas Square to Jisr el Basha.[6] With the Palestinian-Lebanese war in 1970, the region of Jisr el Basha fell under the control of the Palestinians living in the camps of Jisr el Basha and Tell el Zaatar and the factory became a primary target for destruction as revenge against its owner: William Hawi, leader of the Lebanese parties opposed to the Palestinian intervention in Lebanese affairs. The Palestinians broke into the factory, destroyed glass and machines before blowing up the facility.[7]
Political role[edit]
William Hawi with his familyWilliam Hawi accepted Pierre Gemayel’s invitation and joined the Phalange Organization in 1937 even when it was working secretly and illegally following a decree ordering its dissolution in November 18, 1938.[8] He was involved in several issues: consolidating the Party's authority and creating and developing the Kataeb Regulatory Forces in an atmosphere of discipline. William Hawi’s responsibilities increased and became diversified. He was appointed Head of the Second and Fourth Districts,[9] President of the Recruitment Bureau in 1942,[10] Head of the 'Department of Security, Sport and Mobilization' on May 29, 1952,[11] and member of the Political Bureau on July 12, 1952.[12] On June 16, 1958, he was in charge of organizing and leading the activists during the Lebanese events; this constituted the hub of the Party's Regulatory Forces,[13] of which he became the leader on February 6, 1961.
Celebrating the anniversary of the Kataeb in 1971 with Pierre GemayelThe discussions about creating the Phalange Security wing featured several conflicting opinions and lasted interminably before the Party took its final decision to agree to the presence of Regulatory Forces. On January 23, 1961, the Political Bureau dissolved the militants' organization before including its members in the Lebanese Phalange Party and Hawi created the Kataeb Regulatory Forces.[14] On February 6, 1961, William Hawi was appointed Head of said Forces.[15] In 1963, the “First Commandos” unit was created.[16] It was followed by the “Second Commandos” unit, then by the “P.G.” troop. In 1973, the "Maghaweer" platoon was created and the “Combat School” established. Moreover, “Chef” William supervised the setting up of camps as well as the training organization and development.[17]
National struggle[edit]When the French took Pierre Gemayel prisoner,[18] Joseph Shader took over the political command while William Hawi was in charge of the organized security effort. He prepared and organized the strikes and demonstrations.[19] He held secret meetings with the Najjadeh Party ("the rescuers") at the mirror factory he owned in Debbas Square.[20] When the French found out about these meetings, they raided the factory several times and pursued William Hawi who escaped by hiding at his friends and neighbors.[21]
William Hawi during the Ashrafieh-Rmeil electionsIn 1952, the Lebanese Phalange put William Hawi up for the Beirut Municipal Council in the Achrafieh-Rmeil region for the Orthodox Christian seat, where he obtained the largest number of votes.[22] In 1957, he individually ran for the Parliamentary elections opposite Ghassan Tueini and Nassim Majdalani but did not win. Despite its loss, the Phalange Party considered these elections to be a confirmation of its strength on the streets.[23]
Military decisionsEvents of 1958 During this period, the Lebanese and Arab scenes were marked by the halo of the Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser. The Phalange Party was fiercely opposed to the pro-Nasser movement that called for strikes and organized riots.[24] It thus entrusted William Hawi with organizing and leading the activists to control the situation and protect its regions.[25]
War of 1975
William Hawi at Tell El ZaatarEvents started escalating dramatically in favor of the Palestinians who started infiltrating the safe houses in the cities and villages, raising confusion and violating rights and properties.[26] The Political Bureau held an extraordinary meeting on March 31, 1970 and created a “Higher Council” in charge of supervising the organization of the Party’s work relating to its security and that of the country. William Hawi was entrusted with the security issues and requirements.[27] While the political command of the Party was trying to establish peace and dialogue, the military command led by William Hawi was preparing the Regulatory Forces, manning its human and material capacities in order to fight against the settlement plan that had already started to emerge. The state being unable to fulfill its duties and defend its people, and the governmental institutions being disabled, it was necessary to unify and organize the ranks of the parties for defense purposes. William Hawi was worried by the lack of weapons, ammunitions and supplies and by the absence of coordination between the allied Lebanese forces at the front. He held several meetings with the allied forces in order to create a "Unified Operation Room”, the first core of the “Lebanese Forces”.
William Hawi and Bashir Gemayel inspecting the Kataeb troopsFighting corruption[edit]William Hawi created a “Military Police” in charge of controlling the disorder and chaos that were everywhere and introduced a regulatory mechanism to guarantee road safety and guide the citizens to these safe roads. Perhaps the most terrible ordeal he had to face was that famous massacre on December 6, 1975, that was later called the “Black Saturday” where he was also subjected to menaces and humiliation when he tried to rescue as many innocents as he could. Several persons owe him their lives, their dignity and their properties.[28]
Liberation battles
William Hawi at Tell el Zaatar with former President Amine GemayelWilliam Hawi engaged in a fight against corruption and in a battle for liberation when the Palestinians tried to control Beirut completely by isolating it with their surrounding military camps. The Quarantine camp fell within 24 hours under the attack orchestrated by William Hawi, which opened the road linking Beirut to Kesserouan and Jbeil in December 1976. The camp of Jisr el Basha also fell after two days of the blockade organized by “Chef” William, paving the way for the liberation of the camp of Tell el Zaatar[3]. However, the camp fell one building after the other. On July 11, 1976, the sources of the Lebanese allied forces announced the fall of the last bastion in Tell el Zaatar and declared that the Head of the Phalange War Council supervised this operation.[29] On July 13, 1976, William Hawi was killed in the middle of the battlefield, before having the opportunity to celebrate his victory.
Death
William Hawi at the front in Tell el ZaatarOn July 13, 1976, at the boundaries of Tell el Zaatar [4], between Al Raii El Saleh and Gallery Matta, a shot was fired by a sniper and killed Hawi while he inspected his forces at the forefront of the battlefield as witnessed by his comrades who were with him.[30]
Upon the death of William Hawi, Bashir Gemayel was appointed his replacement as president of the Kataeb Military Council [5] and as the head of the unified command of the Lebanese forces, a coalition of the Christian militias of the Kataeb Party (created and organized by Hawi), National Liberal Party, the Tanzim and the Guardians of the Cedars. On July 7, 1980, these Christian militias were unified into one as the Lebanese Forces with Bashir Gemayel as their Commander-in-Chief. [6] Gemayel was elected as president on August 24, 1982, but he was assassinated on September 14, 1982, before the beginning of his term.
The Lebanese Forces in addition to the Kataeb party are major forces in the current Lebanese March 14 Forces coalition at the heart of the present Lebanon conflict[disambiguation needed], Rafic Hariri UN probe / tribunal, and the on-going protests in down-town Beirut.