LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 27/14

Bible Quotation for today/The New Command
01 John 02/07 -17: "My dear friends, this command I am writing you is not new; it is the old command, the one you have had from the very beginning. The old command is the message you have already heard. However, the command I now write you is new, because its truth is seen in Christ and also in you. For the darkness is passing away, and the real light is already shining. If we say that we are in the light, yet hate others, we are in the darkness to this very hour.  If we love others, we live in the light, and so there is nothing in us that will cause someone else to sin.  But if we hate others, we are in the darkness; we walk in it and do not know where we are going, because the darkness has made us blind. I write to you, my children, because your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you have defeated the Evil One. I write to you, my children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong; the word of God lives in you, and you have defeated the Evil One. Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father.  Everything that belongs to the world—what the sinful self desires, what people see and want, and everything in this world that people are so proud of—none of this comes from the Father; it all comes from the world.  The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God live forever."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources For For January 27/14
DEBKAfile/Israeli officer: With 30,000 Al Qaeda fighters in Syria, Israel re-evaluates its neutrality in civil war/January 27/14
The Syrian peace process: An exercise in futility/by Jonathan Spyer/The Jerusalem Post/January 27/14
Is Barack a Default Satanist? Yes, and Here is Why/By Kelly OConnell/Canada Free Press/January 27/14

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources For January 27/14
Lebanese Related News
Lebanon-based militant pledges allegiance to ISIS
Shiite Sheikh Abbas Zogheib wounded, treated at Beirut hospital: report
Muslim Clerics Protest Omar al-Atrash Arrest, Accuse Army of Acting as 'Gang'
Bassil: Rotation of Power in Cabinet is Aimed at Eliminating the Other
Foreign parties meddling in Dar al-Fatwa: Saudi envoy
Minister Gebran Bassil: Keeping Energy Ministry strategic for Christians
Mouawad: Joining Inclusive Govt. without Political Guarantees is a Major Mistake
Remains of Rocket that Failed to Reach Israel Found in al-Mari
Al-Rahi Stresses Need for New Govt. to Stage Presidential Elections
Report: Suleiman, Salam Will Take Necessary Stance if Govt. Not Formed in 3 Days
Lebanese report: IAF jets flying over Beirut

Miscellaneous Reports And News

Secret Iranian team in Beirut to counter suicide attacks and upgrade Hizballah intelligence
Report: Hizbullah Taking Extraordinary Security Measures in Dahieh
Syrians talk aid and prisoners as mortars hit Homs
Peace talks 1st goal: Aid to besieged Syrian city
Syria negotiators resume talks, opposition seeks prisoner release
Brahimi Says Regime to Allow Women, Children to Leave Besieged Homs Areas
Egypt to hold presidential vote first: Mansour
Egyptian soldiers killed in Sinai as protest toll rises to 49
Egypt: over two dozen dead in clashes on third anniversary of anti-Mubarak uprising
Small Quebec town prepares to mourn 32 seniors killed in fire
Bachelor’ Hollande starts new chapter after split

4 Dead in Kabul Suicide Attack against Govt. Bus
Stymied Obama aims to bypass Congress: aides

Lebanon-based militant pledges allegiance to ISIS
January 26, 2014/By Misbah Ali The Daily Star
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: A Lebanon-based Sunni militant with reported links to Al-Qaeda pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria in an audio recording released late Saturday, urging the radical Syrian rebel group to "reactivate its cells" in the country. “We pledge allegiance to [ISIS chief] Abu Bakr al-Husseini al-Qurshi al-Baghdadi to listen and obey,” a man identifying himself as Abu Sayyaf al-Ansari and claiming to be based in the northern city of Tripoli said in the audio message. “We ask [Baghdadi] to reactivate its [ISIS] cells in Lebanon to carry on with jihadist [operations] that have intimidated America,” Abu Sayyaf said in the recording, which was circulated on social media websites and widely covered on local news outlets.
In an article published Saturday, Al-Akhbar newspaper described Abu Sayyaf as an Al-Qaeda commander based in Lebanon but little else is known about the man in the recording.
In the message, Abu Sayyaf also urged Lebanese soldiers from the Sunni sect to desert, accusing the military of siding with Hezbollah.
“The Umma has been shaken as a result of the betrayal of the crusader Lebanese Army that is backed by Hezbollah,” he said, asking Muslim Scholars in Tripoli to support his cause.
Sheikh Omar Bakri, a Tripoli-based Islamist, voiced concern that the audio recording was the first serious sign of Al-Qaeda’s presence in Lebanon, adding that Abu Sayyaf’s words resembled statements by Osama Bin Laden, the group’s notorious slain commander.
“This is certainly the first serious statement by Al-Qaeda in Lebanon in which the commander identifies himself. This is in line with Al-Qaeda rules and regulations,” Bakri told The Daily Star. “He introduced himself in the recording in a manner similar to how Al-Qaeda commanders [introduce] themselves. He who knows but is not known, who attacks but never is attacked. He is a secret Al-Qaeda figure par excellence,” he added.
The sheikh explained that Al-Qaeda adopted its own system of identifying commanders, noting that the name Abu Sayyaf al-Ansari followed the group’s conventions. He noted that Abu Sayyaf’s last name, al-Ansari, is understood to identify the man as a “supporter of the Sunni community in Lebanon.”
“This means [in effect] he is a member of Al-Qaeda in Lebanon,” he added. “Al-Qaeda’s agenda is centered on finding a basin of support. In this case, they could be aiming to establish the Emirate of Tripoli in Greater Syria because Abu Sayyaf even approached Tripoli’s Muslim scholars in his speech and asked them not to betray him,” he said.
Referring to Al-Qaeda’s modus operandi, Bakri warned that an attack on the Army was probable and that this “should be followed by announcing Tripoli as an extension of ISIS.”
The Lebanese Army has in recent days been targeted during sporadic clashes between opponents and supporters of President Bashar Assad in Tripoli. Two soldiers have been in the attacks. Tripoli has witnessed some 19 rounds of fighting between fighters in the pre-dominantly Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the mainly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen since the uprising in Syria began in March of 2011.
Abu Sayyaf’s remarks stirred controversy in the ranks of Salafist sheikhs in Lebanon’s second largest city.
A source in the Tripoli-based Committee of Muslim Scholars said “sheikhs voiced discomfort with Abu Sayyaf’s statement because ISIS will ruin everything in Lebanon and everything we have worked for.” “Our problem is with Hezbollah and Alawites in Tripoli but not the Lebanese Army,” the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Star. “We fear that attacks against the Army could escalate to attacks against Christians as well.” Another sheikh, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said he feared ISIS and the Nusra Front sought to transform Lebanon into a global jihadist front. Aby Sayyaf’s remarks came a day after the Nusra Front in Lebanon warned the Sunni sect to avoid areas where Hezbollah has a presence or enjoys support. The group also called for the support of the Sunni sect in its fight against Hezbollah. The Nusra Front in Lebanon, which is linked to Syria’s Nusra Front, has claimed responsibility for bombings in areas in Lebanon that back Hezbollah.
On Saturday, Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri warned against attempts at dragging the Lebanese into conflicts between Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda, saying such radical groups were linked to the Syrian regime.
“The suspicious calls launched by extremist forces that are clearly linked to the murderous regime in Damascus only aim to transfer the flames to Lebanon, to the benefit of this regime,” Hariri said in a statement. ISIS and Nusra Front in Lebanon have claimed responsibility for three bombings in the country, including the Beirut southern suburbs, in retaliation to Hezbollah’s military campaign in Syria. Hariri, who has repeatedly urged his supporters to remain moderate in the face of rising radical groups, has said he is willing to join a new government with Hezbollah for the sake of safeguarding Lebanon.

 

Secret Iranian team in Beirut to counter suicide attacks and upgrade Hizballah intelligence

http://www.debka.com/article/23628/Secret-Iranian-team-in-Beirut-to-counter-suicide-attacks-and-upgrade-Hizballah-intelligence

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 26, 2014/debkafile Exclusive: Iran has embarked on an urgent project for rebuilding Hizballah’s intelligence and security mechanisms from scratch, to repair the ravages inflicted by the spate of suicide attacks on its strongholds in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, since the Shiite militia joined the Syrian war. A top team of senior officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Al Qods Brigades intelligence and Ministry of Intelligence and Security, landed secretly in Beirut last week. They arrived under cover of a delegation, headed by Deputy Justice Minister Abdol-Ali Mirkoohi, which came to collect information from the interrogation of Majid al Majid, the Saudi Arabian leader of the Abdallah Azzam Brigades terrorist group, who died in a Lebanese prison on Jan. 4.
That group claimed some of the attacks on Hizballah targets. On its arrival, the secret Al Qods-led team separated from the delegation and got down to what is clearly a long-term project for reconstructing its Lebanese surrogate’s intelligence and security bodies. It was armed with guidelines from an emergency conference, held among the Al Qods commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Hizballah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah and his two top lieutenants, Mustafa Badr al-Din, military chief, and Wafiq Safat, head of Hizballah’s security directorate.
This conference decided to retain a permanent team of Iranian experts in the Lebanese capital for the task of rebuilding Hizballah’s intelligence and security mechanisms on the same structural lines as Iran’s clandestine and security services. It was obvious that those mechanisms would not stand the present rate of bombing attacks and other violence without caving in.
The Iranian-Hizballah conference selected three areas for remolding and fortifying Hizballah’s intelligence and security capabilities:
1. The East Lebanese Beqaa. Hizballah has worked hard to conceal its loss of security control in this area, traditional site of its most important command centers, military facilities and arms dumps. Security there is so enfeebled that Hizballah units can’t move from place to place, night or day, without coming under missile or artillery barrages from across the Syrian border. These attacks are targeted precisely by Syrian rebels, al Qaeda, Syrian and/or Lebanese Sunni Salafists aided by Saudi intelligence, whose intelligence and mobility are clearly superior to those of Hizballah.
Its commanders were shocked to discover how far they had fallen when on Dec. 12, when their Baalbek command centers were struck by suicide bombers. The locations of those command centers were a close secret. The planners of that particular attack were intent on showing Hizballah that it was vulnerable to attack everywhere, even in its most secret lairs.
2. Hizballah’s strongholds in the Shiite Dahya district of southern Beirut. The frequent deadly suicide bombing attacks in the past three months were facilitated by the breakdown of Hizballah’s early warning system in the Lebanese capital and its dminished capacity to fight them off. The organization’s military and political stronghold in Beirut is currently wide open to hostile penetration.
3. Hizballah’s field intelligence on the Syrian battlefield. In the course of the fighting, the Lebanese group turned out to be woefully deficient in field intelligence and forced to rely on Syria, whose capabilities are not much better. The Iranian expert team has undertaken to build and operate a new field intelligence arm for Hizballah combatants in Syria

 

Foreign parties meddling in Dar al-Fatwa: Saudi envoy
The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Saudi Ambassador Ali Awad Asiri said Sunday Dar al-Fatwa should remain neutral and represent the voice of moderation in Lebanon in order to confront the rise of extremist groups in the country, accusing foreign groups of meddling in the Sunni council's affairs. “Religious rhetoric is important and deviant thinking can only be confronted with enlightened thinking ... Dar al-Fatwa should be the voice of Sunni moderation,” Assiri told a local radio station. He also said "the [current] mufti is good and qualified but Dar al-Fatwa should not be labeled.” “Dar al-Fatwa’s performance should be similar to that of Bkirki [the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate] and should adopt a Sunni and civilized behavior because we know that Dar al-Fatwa today is not what it used to be,” he said. “We call for a moderate voice to confront extremism,” he added. Dar al-Fatwa under Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani has been at odds with the Future Movement, Riyadh’s ally in Lebanon, after the preacher met with Hezbollah officials on the same day that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indicted four of members of the party in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The two sides have also engaged in disputes over reforms in the Sunni religious body. “[I] hold foreign parties responsible for what is going in Dar al-Fatwa,” Assiri said.  “We know who is conspiring against Dar al-Fatwa and seeking to affect its religious and spiritual role,” he said, adding that weakening the Higher Sunni Council was not in Lebanon’s interest due to the rise of extremism. Assiri also spoke about the growing number of radical groups in the region and Lebanon, saying Saudi Arabia had itself tackled and successfully overcome a similar phenomenon through a “civilized strategy to combat terrorism and extremism.” “Extremism is imported from known organizations and we were affected by this in Saudi Arabia,” the ambassador said. He also commented on a recent audio recording by a militant figure in Lebanon who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). “Abu Sayyaf al-Ansari’s announcement from Tripoli that Lebanon is a land of Jihad against Hezbollah is a very negative development,” Assiri said. He also said Lebanon was in need of a government as soon as possible and that Riyadh supported “any Lebanese consensus to form a Lebanese government.”
“We had been optimistic over the [possibility] of forming a new government last week ... unfortunately, we see a set-back and we hope that it is not a strong one. We think Lebanon is need of a government and ongoing developments should be a point of transformation for Lebanon’s sake,” he said. “Neither Saudi Arabia, nor Iran or any other country have any business in forming a government. It is a Lebanese affair par excellence,” he added, urging rival leaders to unite their ranks to protect Lebanon from radical voices.

 

Report: Hizbullah Taking Extraordinary Security Measures in Dahieh
Naharnet Newsdesk 26 January 2014/Hizbullah has started taking extraordinary security measures in its stronghold of Dahieh in Beirut's southern suburbs in light of recent attacks in the area, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday. As part of these measures, members of the party closed off a number of roads leading to the area, limiting access to Dahieh to a few routes. It also moved a number of its offices and residences of its officials to areas outside of Dahieh, revealed the daily. Sources monitoring the situation stressed that Hizbullah's leadership is following up on the security file and efforts to confront groups behind the bomb attacks in Dahieh.
The party has “detailed information about the groups that are seeking to pressure Hizbullah's support base in order to force it to alter its stances,” they explained. Moreover, Hizbullah has recently set up three military councils that are independent of each other. One tackles the situation in Syria, the second focuses on the front with Israel, while the third addresses Lebanese affairs, said the daily. A number of bombings had taken place in recent months in Dahieh. Four people were killed in the latest suicide attack that took place in the Haret Hreik neighborhood on Tuesday. Al-Nusra Front had warned that these attacks are a response to the party's fighting in the conflict in Syria alongside the country's ruling regime.
 

Minister Gebran Bassil: Keeping Energy Ministry strategic for Christians
January 26, 2014/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil stood firm Sunday on his party’s opposition to rotating ministerial portfolios based on party and sect in the next Cabinet, arguing that it would deprive Christians in Lebanon from heading one of the country’s primary ministries. During a televised news conference, Bassil also said the Energy Ministry should be entrusted to Christians given that it restored their role and ensured their presence in the country. “We should reduce the difficulties in forming a new Cabinet such as the agreement to postpone discussion on the government’s policy statement rather than adding more obstacles such as the rotation of ministerial portfolios,” Bassil said. “The principle of rotating ministerial portfolios is a sound policy if it is adopted by consensus and consultations ... [and] at the beginning of a new Parliament or presidential term,” he added.
The Future Movement has said that one of its conditions to joining a new government with Hezbollah is the rotation of ministerial portfolios based on party and sect. Hezbollah has so far failed to convince its ally former Gen. Michel Aoun, who heads the Free Patriotic Movement, into compromising over the matter. Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, argued that the policy of rotating ministerial portfolios in a government with a short life would be deleterious to the work of sate institutions and ministries in the country. He also doubted the intentions of the Future Movement, which heads the March 14 coalition, claiming there were attempts to exclude Christians under the guise of rotating ministerial portfolios. “If there were good intensions, the rotation would have been based on consensus and included all ministerial posts but the intentions aim at excluding not only a person or a political movement but also an entire sect,” he said. He also spoke about an agreement between Hezbollah and the Future Movement to form a new government, saying any compromise should not be at the expense of Christians.
Bassil also said the rotation of posts in Cabinet targeted the FPM’s achievements at the Energy Ministry which he said would reflect negatively on the entire oil sector.
The Energy Ministry, Bassil argued, was the guarantor of security and financial stability in Lebanon. “It is strategic for Lebanon and Christians because it entails international relations stolen from the Christians 25 years ago. It also includes a balanced development that was absent from Christian [areas] for 25 years,” Bassil added. “Therefore, it is a primary ministry par excellence and should not be a target of exclusion and it is the right of this sect [Christians] to be trusted with Lebanon's oil for an interim period,” he added. Bassil said Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam was allocating ministries in a manner that addressed the needs and concerns of certain sects, excluding Christians. “Is it acceptable to allocate the Interior Ministry to a sect in order to reassure it, allocate the Finance Ministry to a specific sect to compensate for it or allocate the Defense Ministry to [a party] to protect a grant for the Army?” he asked, referring to a Saudi grant to the military. “The issue is now bigger than forming a government but it is concerned with constitutionality and trust, which if breached would require not only a new social contract but a whole new nation,” he said. "Deviating from the National Covenant will lead to Sunni-Shiite strife and a conflict between Muslims and Christians in the events Muslims fail to correct this deviation,” Bassil said. He also accused Salam of making unilateral decisions, which he said were unconstitutional. “Consensus is at the heart of the Taef Accord which also stipulated fairness and equality ... The Constitution also stipulates that the absence of sectarian balance can [legally] force the collapse of the government,” he said. “The prime minister-designate is not the one in charge with forming [a Cabinet] and cannot impose or threaten a certain reality,” he said.
 

Muslim Clerics Protest Omar al-Atrash Arrest, Accuse Army of Acting as 'Gang'
Naharnet Newsdesk 26 January 2014/A number of Muslim scholars and clerics who hail from the Bekaa on Sunday staged a protest to condemn the arrest of Sheikh Omar al-Atrash, who is reportedly involved in recent bomb attacks. “We are protesting due to the injustice that is being practiced against scholars and young men in Sunni regions who are supportive of the Syrian revolution,” Sheikh Khaled al-Arefi said at a sit-in outside the defense ministry building in Yarze. Arefi voiced surprise that “detention has become a tool to physically liquidate Muslim clerics,” wondering whether the army was “acting as an army or as a gang?”
“If aiding the (Syrian) refugees deserves liquidation, we say it loud and clear: the scholars committee will not allow authorities to use double standards,” the cleric warned.
The delegation called on the president, the prime minister, the army chief and the intelligence director to take a “serious” stance. “If the situation continued in this manner, what kind of security would they be seeking? We can rein in our youths for a while, but should injustice aggravate, everyone will regret that,” the delegation warned. Another cleric at the rally noted that the clerics have no faith in “the probe into the bombing that al-Atrash was said to be involved in.” Prior to the sit-in, army troops had cordoned off all the entrances leading to the defense ministry. Meanwhile, LBCI TV quoted sources following up on the investigations as saying that “Atrash's interrogation is being conducted under the supervision of the relevant judicial authorities and he has confessed to dealing with terrorist groups and facilitating the transportation of booby-trapped cars." On Friday, al-Akhbar newspaper broke the news about Atrash's arrest, saying he is “suspected of offering refuge for individuals with alleged links to the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.” Atrash played a “logistic role in terms of providing cars and facilitating the movements of the group suspected of carrying out the Bir al-Abed and Rweiss bombings,” al-Akhbar added. The cleric is registered with Dar al-Fatwa, the top Sunni authority in the country, al-Akhbar noted. He is also a cousin of Omar al-Atrash, who was accused of involvement in the Aug. 9 Bir al-Abed bombing and who was killed in an ambush on the Lebanese-Syrian border on September 11. In January alone, three car bomb attacks have rocked areas that are considered Hizbullah strongholds in the country. Two bombings hit the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik and another bomb attack targeted the Bekaa town of Hermel. The three bombings were carried out by suicide attackers.

Bassil: Rotation of Power in Cabinet is Aimed at Eliminating the Other
Naharnet Newsdesk 26 January 2014/Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil stated on Sunday that the concept of rotation of power in cabinet is aimed at retaking the Energy Ministry portfolio from the Free Patriotic Movement. He said during a press conference: “Rotation of power in cabinet at this point in time is aimed at eliminating the other.”“Rotation of power is sound reasoning if it is agreed upon through consultations and consensus,” he remarked. “We were the first to make such a proposal and it was being implemented for a year-and-a-half,” he continued. “Rotation of power is fair and should be adopted at ministries and state institutions at the start of a new presidential term,” Bassil said. “Proposing rotation of power after the formation of a new government and two months before staging the presidential elections will obstruct the role of state institutions, harm the people's interests, and undermine the people's intelligence,” he stressed. “Everyone knows that the whole point of proposing the rotation of power at this moment is aimed at eliminating the other,” he said. Not only is a person being eliminated, but an entire movement, sect, and nation, stated the minister. The achievements made at the oil sector are being targeted, Bassil declared. “Lebanon's gas and oil wealth has been kept under wraps for years and they soon started clambering to get their hands on the Energy Ministry portfolio after our discovery of this wealth,” he added. “Oil is Lebanon's guarantee for stability and financial success,” he stressed. “It is a guarantee for partnership and a sign of our accomplishments over the years,” noted Bassil. “The oil file is a new guarantee for Christians and it will help achieve balanced development that has been missing for 25 years,” he continued. “Is it acceptable for a major Christian bloc to be deprived of a sovereign portfolio?” he wondered. “Should they be deprived of a sovereign portfolio and be left with lesser sovereign ones?” he asked during his press conference. “Christians cannot be deprived of anything because they are the guarantors of everything in Lebanon,” remarked the minister. FPM chief MP Michel Aoun has rejected the rotation of portfolios in the new cabinet, delaying the line-up. He is holding onto the energy and telecommunications ministries that are part of his share in the resigned government of caretaker Premier Najib Miqati.

 

Shiite Sheikh Abbas Zogheib wounded, treated at Beirut hospital: report
January 26, 2014/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Shiite Sheikh Abbas Zogheib was accidentally shot and wounded in Beirut's southern suburbs late Saturday, the state-run National News Agency said. The sheikh, a member of the Higher Shiite Council, was accidentally shot in his shoulder and the back of his head during a personal dispute between two clans in Laylaki. The NNA said Zogheib’s condition was stable.
A man from the Hajoula family was also wounded in the dispute. Zogheib gained prominence after he was tasked by the religious council to follow up on the case of 11 Lebanese Shiites who were kidnapped in Syria in 2012. The men have all since been released.


Mouawad: Joining Inclusive Govt. without Political Guarantees is a Major Mistake
Naharnet Newsdesk 26 January 2014/ Independence Movement leader Michel Mouawad on Sunday stressed that March 14's acceptance to join a cabinet without prior agreement on its policy statement would be a “major political mistake.”“The independent figures in March 14 have played an important role in bridging differences in the March 14 camp with a view to accepting participation, but that must happen according to clear principles based on including the Baabda Declaration in the policy statement, removing the army-people-resistance equation and rejecting any text that legitimizes any weapons operating outside state institutions,” Mouawad said at a press conference.“The political principles are clear: rejecting to provide cover to Hizbullah's fighting in Syria and operations outside Lebanese territory through including the Baabda Declaration in the policy statement with the aim of neutralizing Lebanon from the Syrian inferno,” Mouawad added.He warned that “joining a cabinet with Hizbullah without prior agreement on the government's mission and political principles … would be a major political mistake.”Mouawad suggested an alternative step that endorses Speaker Nabih Berri's latest proposal. “I suggest adopting the proposal of Speaker (Nabih) Berri, who has suggested early presidential elections, and thus we would be rebuilding authorities starting by the top post and separating the presidential juncture from the negotiations over cabinet, which have been turned into a systematic deceit operation,” added Mouawad

Remains of Rocket that Failed to Reach Israel Found in al-Mari
Naharnet Newsdesk 26 January 2014/A farmer on Sunday found the remains of a rocket as he was cultivating his land in the southern town of al-Mari in Hasbaya District. Al-Jadeed television said the man immediately informed the relevant security authorities, which arrived on the scene and took the remains to a military post. It later turned out that the projectile was one of four rockets that were fired on the morning of December 29 towards Israel. The rocket fell short of its target and landed in the al-Mari plain inside Lebanon. Security forces failed back then to locate the stray projectile. Israeli forces fired around 20 shells that day in retaliation to the rocket attack. On the same day, the Lebanese army found four wooden launchpads in the Wadi al-Khraybeh region in the Hasbaya District, from which the rockets were fired.

Al-Rahi Stresses Need for New Govt. to Stage Presidential Elections
Naharnet Newsdesk 26 January 2014/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged on Sunday the need for political powers to end their tense rhetoric and instead place national interests above all else. He called during his Sunday sermon for “the formation of a government capable of rising up to challenges, especially staging the presidential elections on time.” The government should also help restore the people's faith in officials and politicians, he continued. The people elected officials to serve the public and revive constitutional institutions, remarked the patriarch. “It is unfortunate that various violations in Lebanon are being granted political cover,” lamented al-Rahi.
The ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps have thwarted the formation of a new government since Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's appointment in April.
The presidential elections are scheduled for May.

Report: Suleiman, Salam Will Take Necessary Stance if Govt. Not Formed in 3 Days

Naharnet Newsdesk 26 January 2014/President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam will take the necessary position if a new government is not formed in the next few days, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah on Sunday. Deputy Prime Minister Samir Moqbel told the daily that the two officials will likely approve the formation of an all-embracing government. This cabinet will meet the needs of the people and it will tackle pressing issues should a new cabinet not be formed in the next three days, he explained. The latest efforts to form a new government have yielded an agreement over the formation of a 24-member cabinet which grants eight ministers to each of the March 8 and 14 camps and centrists. The main obstacle to the formation however is Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's insistence that his bloc retain the Energy and Telecommunications Ministries portfolios, currently held by caretaker Ministers Jebran Bassil and Nicolas Sehnaoui respectively. Alternatives to the 8-8-8 government lineup are a de facto cabinet or a neutral one, said Speaker Nabih Berri. The speaker voiced a readiness to reactivate his efforts to form a government “once he senses that the political factions will exercise leniency in overcoming obstacles,” reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday.
Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat are however pressing for the formation of an all-embracing government. They also pledged to address obstacles presented by Hizbullah and the FPM, revealed al-Anba. Salam is likely to take a final position on the cabinet formation on Monday or Tuesday at most, it added.

 

Syrians talk aid and prisoners as mortars hit Homs
January 26, 2014/By Zeina Karam /GENEVA: Syrians on opposite sides of their country's civil war tried again Sunday to find common ground, with peace talks focusing on the release of prisoners and an aid convoy to a besieged city that once more came under mortar attacks from the government. Once again the delegation for President Bashar Assad complained that the talks are avoiding the main issues and questioned their usefulness.
The proposed convoy of aid to Homs, Syria, which has been under government attack for more than a year, would provide a tangible success for a peace conference beset from the start by low expectations.
But the opposition accused the government of "stalling" and said no progress had been made yet.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. mediator acting as a buffer between the two sides, said the thorniest topic - a possible transitional government - will not come up until at least Monday.
He said late Saturday that the two sides would first try to come together over humanitarian aid and a possible prisoner exchange, describing a process of "half-steps."
"I think this belittles the importance of this conference and the goal that was drawn for it," said Bouthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Assad.
The Western-backed opposition, made up largely of exiled Syrians, says Assad has lost legitimacy and can no longer lead a country after unleashing the military on largely peaceful protests nearly three years ago.
The government says the rebellion is rife with terrorists and that Assad is the only person able to end the fighting that has killed more than 130,000 people.
In the meantime, the homegrown rebellion has become a regional proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, with foreign fighters flooding in on both sides.
Homs was considered a promising place to start the negotiations. The city was one of the first areas that plunged into armed conflict in 2011. Neighborhoods in the old city have been ravaged following repeated government assaults to reclaim control from rebels. The city had a pre-war population of 1 million, but most residents have since fled. Activists say about 800 families are trapped, without regular access to food, medicine and basic necessities. Monzer Akbik, a spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition opposition group, said the Syrian government delegation has asked to refer back to Damascus before giving its final answer on a Homs truce later Sunday. "This is a stalling technique... If there are no aid convoys entering Homs, then we consider that the other party is not serious about this process," Akbik told reporters in Geneva, adding that the opposition is nevertheless determined to stay for the political talks set to begin Monday. He said the opposition also has submitted to the government delegation lists of tens of thousands of detainees, including thousands of women and children.
Syrian activists, including the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said some rebel-held districts in Homs came under attack Sunday morning by mortars fired by Syrian government forces.
There were no reports about the aid convoy that Brahimi said Saturday was ready to go. "It is very unfortunate that the fighting continues, that the shelling continues," he said.
Heavy fighting also continued Sunday in the Kadam neighborhood on the southern fringe of Damascus, where at least 35 rebels and government troops were killed the previous day, said Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory's director. Abdurrahman said rebels, including fighters from the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, attacked a checkpoint in the area and tried to shut the main highway to the southern city of Daraa and the Jordanian border.

Peace talks 1st goal: Aid to besieged Syrian city
January 26, 2014/Daily Star/GENEVA: Syrians on opposite sides of their country's civil war are trying again to find common ground, with talks focusing on an aid convoy to a besieged city and possible prisoner exchanges.
The delegation for President Bashar Assad complained Sunday that the talks are avoiding the main issues and questioned their usefulness. The U.N. mediator says the thorniest topic - a possible transitional government - will not come up until at least Monday. The Western-backed opposition, made up largely of exiled Syrians, says Assad has lost legitimacy and can no longer lead a country after unleashing the military on largely peaceful protests nearly three years ago. The government says the rebellion is rife with terrorists and that Assad is the only person able to end the fighting that has killed 130,000 people.

Egyptian soldiers killed in Sinai as protest toll rises to 49
January 26, 2014/By Maggie Michael
CAIRO: Gunmen killed three Egyptian soldiers in an attack on a bus in the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, the military said, prompting the army to threaten to eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood, which it blames for much of Egypt's political violence. Al-Qaeda inspired Islamist militant groups based in Sinai have stepped up attacks on security forces since the army toppled President Mohammad Morsi of the Brotherhood in July following mass protests against his rule. On Saturday, the third anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, clashes between supporters and opponents of the new political order killed 49 people, the health ministry said, showing deep divisions that have flared often since the revolt that raised hopes of a stable democracy. Egyptian authorities make no distinction between militants who operate in the Sinai and the Brotherhood, which renounced violence in the 1970s and has been declared a terrorist group. In a statement on Facebook, the army said: "We assure the Egyptian people of the great determination of its men to fight black terrorism and the complete elimination of the advocates of oppression and sedition and blasphemy from followers of the Muslim Brotherhood." The soldiers who were killed were on their way back from a holiday when gunmen opened fire on their bus with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, security sources said. Security sources said earlier that four had been killed. Security forces in other parts of Egypt are also coming under increasing pressure, raising concerns that Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel and controls the Suez Canal, could soon witness a full-blown Islamist insurgency. A wave of bomb attacks targeting policemen in Cairo killed six people on Friday.
A Sinai-based militant group which said it tried to kill the interior minister last year claimed responsibility for the bombings, according to the SITE monitoring organisation. Security forces have killed nearly 1,000 Brotherhood members and arrested the group's top leaders. Many Muslim Brotherhood members have been driven underground. Those members who protested on Saturday against the army-backed government were exposed to live fire in one district of Cairo, security sources said. The Interior Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that it had arrested 1,079 "rioters" in possession of rifles, petrol bombs, fireworks, and other weapons. It said that a number of policemen were injured in clashes. Interim President Adly Mansour is expected to address the nation on Sunday on a timetable for elections. Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was Mubarak's head of military intelligence, is seen announcing his candidacy for the presidency soon and is likely to win by a landslide. Sisi's supporters view him as a decisive figure who can pacify Egypt. The Brotherhood accuses him of masterminding a coup and holds him responsible for what it says are widespread human rights abuses.

Israeli officer: With 30,000 Al Qaeda fighters in Syria, Israel re-evaluates its neutrality in civil war
DEBKAfile Special Report January 25, 2014/In a special briefing to foreign correspondents Friday, Jan. 24, a high-ranking Israeli intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported that more than 30,000 al-Qaeda-linked fighters are active in Syria, a huge increase over the 2,000 jihadis present there two years ago. With jihadis in control of Syrian territory on Israel's northern borders, the high-ranking officer said “many discussions are taking place behind closed doors about the possibility of rethinking its strategy” of neutrality in the Syrian civil war.
The inference drawn from this disclosure is that, for the first time in Syria’s three-year civil conflict, Israel is ready to embark on cross-border military action to stem this direct threat.
In his briefing, the Israeli officer stressed that the Islamic rebel groups massing in Syria have openly threatened to turn their sights on Israel after toppling Assad.
He went on to report that another 1,200 Al Qaeda-affiliated fighters have taken up a presence in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Furthermore, coordination has deepened among Al Qaeda’s branches in Syria and Egyptian Sinai, where its local Salafist supporters have formed a jihadist coalition calling itself Ansar Beit al Maqdis (the Jerusalem Front).
This front carried out four terrorist attacks in Cairo Friday, killing at least 6 people and injuring more than 60. It exhibited for the first time a capacity for coordinated terrorist attacks inside the Egyptian capital.
Last week, Sinai Salafists fired two Grad missiles at the Israeli town of Eilat, after a rash of attacks on Israeli forces and a numerous lethal assaults on Egyptian military targets in Sinai.
The IDF has never before released figures on the scale of Al Qaeda’s deployment in Syria, or revealed its concentration on the Israeli border. The policy overhaul the officer described offered the rationale for potential Israeli intervention in Syria in order to push the jihadist menace back from its northern towns and villages.
Israel targeted after Syria and Iraq
Thousands of foreign fighters from across the Muslim world, as well as Europe and North America, have flocked to Syria to bolster the al-Qaeda-linked groups operating in Syria. They have big plans to establish a big independent Islamic state at the heart of the Middle East. This is the conclusion of intelligence experts, according to debkafile’s counter-terror and military sources. This state is intended in the first instance to devour large swathes of Iraq and Syria, before the founders turn their sights on Israel and Jordan.
However, if their first goal of toppling the Assad regime is frustrated by the Russian-Syrian-Iranian-Hizballah alliance, they are ready to reverse this order and go straight for Israel.
Four radical Islamist fighting groups are active in the Syrian civil war:
1. Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the Nusra Front, operates under direct orders from the top, the Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zuwahiri.
Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Shin Beit reported foiling a plot he had hatched for a mixed team of jihadists to carry out three terrorist operations in Israel. Local Palestinians and al Qaeda terrorists coming in from Turkey or Syria and the Russian Caucasian republics were to blow up the US Embassy in Tel Aviv as well as the Convention Center and a bus route in Jerusalem.
This disclosure provided the background for the briefing the IDF offered foreign correspondents Friday.
2. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which has captured large areas of eastern Syria, including some of its oil fields, and seized strategic districts of western Iraq, including the towns of Fallujah and Ramadi.
3. Ahram al Sham (Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant). Though less known in the West, this organization has raised a force of 15,000 combatants from Al Qaeda and various radical Salafist movements. It heads the newly-formed Islamist Front of seven anti-Assad terrorist groups.
While this front has separated itself from Al Qaeda and is funded and armed by Saudi Arabia, it shares the same ideology and dedication to Israel’s destruction.
Ahram al Sham’s relations with al Qaeda have been the subject of speculation among US and Israeli intelligence specialists. The guessing was laid to rest in early January, when the group’s leader Abu Khalid al-Syria admitted for the first time that he is a member of al Qaeda.
4. Jaish al-Islam (the Army of Islam). This is the largest Syrian rebel force present in the Damascus area, and Riyadh’s favored group for assistance, judging from the fact that, in addition to arms and funds, Saudi intelligence has sent Pakistani military instructors to train its members.
Israel’s military options
Although the IDF officer did not go into Israel’s military plans for tackling the burgeoning Al Qaeda threat, debkafile’s military sources project some options.
a) Carving out secure buffer zones, permanent or temporary, on the Syrian side of the border. This would be contingent on the cooperation of local Syrian militias willing to rid their lands of Al Qaeda incursions.
b) Air and ground strikes against jihadist border concentrations.
c) Deep thrusts inside Syria and Iraq to block al Qaeda forces’ advances to threaten the Kingdom of Jordan.
d) Targeted assassinations of top al Qaeda commanders.
e) Thwarting jihadist drives to extend their conquests of strategic areas of Syria for use as springboards against Israel. One example is Jebel Druze, whose population has preserved neutrality and stayed out of the Syrian civil war. Israel’s recourse to military action against the jihadist threat from Syria would require learning US military tactics for combating terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The IDF has no experience of this kind or scale of warfare. It would have to re-write its war doctrine and retrain substantial commando forces in preparation for long years of close-up combat against the jihadist enemy.
Israel would also need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of a military campaign against al Qaeda’s Syrian deployment, taking into consideration that resorting to a campaign against al Qaeda would ease the pressure on the Assad regime and its allies, Iran and Hizballah. That is a hard call to make.

The Syrian peace process: An exercise in futility
by Jonathan Spyer/The Jerusalem Post
http://www.meforum.org/3727/syrian-peace-process
The international conference that convened this week in the Swiss town of Montreux in an attempt to find a way toward resolving the war in Syria is one of the more strange international gatherings of recent years.
The aims of the combatant sides in Syria remain entirely irreconcilable. Neither the Assad regime nor the rebellion against it is strong enough to strike a decisive blow against its opponent. Neither side is sufficiently weak to feel compelled to accept whatever outcome its enemy wishes to impose on it. In such a situation, diplomacy becomes reduced to the rituals of protocol. Form replaces content. And the purpose of bringing the sides together becomes unclear. This conference has all the familiar paraphernalia of an important diplomatic event. Foreign ministers are gathered. Speeches will be delivered. An atmosphere of grave seriousness will prevail. But the basis for substantive progress appears entirely absent. Conceived over a year ago, the conference is intended to set in motion the implementation of the 'Geneva Communique' of June 30, 2012. In its key passage, this document calls for the 'establishment of a transitional governing body with full executive powers that could include members of the government and opposition, and should be formed on the basis of mutual consent.' The Syrian dictator, whose foreign minister Walid Mouallem is present at the conference, has made clear that he does not accept this goal if it means that he should step down.
As regime information minister Omran al-Zoabi expressed it succinctly on the first day of the conference: 'Assad isn't going.' Assad himself told Russian MPs at a meeting in Damascus earlier this month that his departure would not be under discussion at the conference. "If we had wanted to surrender, we would have surrendered from the very start. We stand at the guard of our motherland,' the dictator informed his guests. 'This issue lies beyond the sphere of discussion.' Assad has made clear that as far as he is concerned, the main subject that will lie within the sphere of discussion in Geneva will be his 'war on 'terrorism.' His message is that the regime is locked in combat with the same Sunni jihadi enemies that threaten the west. From Assad's point of view, such a stance makes perfect sense.
He is in no danger of imminent defeat. The war in Syria has been at a bloody stalemate for about a year now. The regime controls the capital, Damascus and a contiguous land area stretching up to the Mediterranean cost in the west. Assad also still maintains his grip on the main cities of the country, with the exception of Raqqa in the east (controlled by the al-Qaeda affiliated ISIS group) and Aleppo, which is divided between the government and the rebels. Assad's allies, Iran and Russia, appear to still be standing firmly behind him. He has no incentive for compromise. As for the rebels, they have similarly solid reasons not to submit.
They control an area of roughly equal size stretching from the border with Iraq up to the Turkish border in the north west. Since early January, the opposition-controlled area has been engulfed in an internal civil war, with the al-Qaeda affiliated ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) resisting attacks from the Saudi-supported fighters of the Islamic Front. This fighting made possible relatively minor gains by government forces in the northern Aleppo area.
But the rebels, too, are not facing imminent defeat. They have no shortage of men willing to engage on their behalf. Assad failed to capitalize or expand on some modest military successes in the summer. So they too see no pressing reason to compromise their core demand – that Bashar Assad cannot form part of any transitional administration.
Rebel controlled areas have borne the brunt of extraordinarily brutal tactics employed by the regime over the last three years. These have included the use of chemical weapons against civilian targets, as took place in eastern Ghouta on August 21, 2013, with the loss of 1429 lives, according to US figures. A newly released report claims that the regime has carried out the mass slaughter of 11,000 detainees.
The dictator's uncompromising position led to a very great reluctance on the part of the opposition to take part in the conference at all. A no-show by the western financed opposition would have turned the gathering into a farce. As a result of western threats and pressure, the Syrian National Coalition eventually agreed to show up. But this coalition in any case exerts little or no authority over the overwhelmingly Sunni Islamist fighting groups that are conducting the actual war in Syria.
They will not be there in Geneva, and will certainly not feel bound by any commitments made by the external leadership.
The Kurdish PYD, which rules the largely peaceful Kurdish enclave in the north east of the country, is also not invited.
So there are fundamental disagreements between the two sides attending the conference. On the rebel side, the most important and influential factions won't be attending at all. The government side has no intention of conforming to the conference's key premise (Assad's resignation and his replacement by a transitional authority.) The opposition representatives have no intention of compromising on this demand.
The chances of such a gathering leading to any type of diplomatic breakthrough are surely close to zero.
What then is the point of all this?
The Geneva II conference is happening, it appears, for the not particularly edifying reason that the west doesn't want to entirely ignore Syria, and can't quite think of anything else to do.
The Geneva II conference's main contribution to the diplomacy of the region is thus likely to be to pave the way for the Geneva III conference. And 'all the way up to Geneva 17, before this thing's finished,' as one Syrian observer put it. In Syria itself, meanwhile, the bloodletting looks set to continue.
**Jonathan Spyer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.


Is Barack a Default Satanist? Yes, and Here is Why
By Kelly OConnell/Canada Free Press
Does the Devil Have a Little Helper in the White House?
Is Barack a Default Satanist? Yes, and Here is Why
Most people believe in some kind of God. Less believe in the existence of personified evil, or the Devil. And yet the question of this essay, whether Barack has satanic characteristics, does not really depend upon whether Satan exists. Because whether as a literal figure, or simply as a literary device, there are certain devilish qualities which are hideous and highly destructive when any personality bears them. And Barack seems to carry virtually all of these traits.According to the Bible, some of Satan’s qualities are therefore listed here:
Many characteristics and names of Satan can be discovered in the Bible. He is a “tempter” (Matt. 4:3; 1 Ths. 3:5b); he “sows” evil in this world (Matt. 13:38,39a); he “...comes and takes away the word…” of God from people’s hearts “...so that they cannot believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12); “...he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44c); he is a “great dragon” and the “...ancient serpent…who leads the whole world astray” (Rev. 12:9a); and he “accuses” believers before God “day and night” (12:10b). The devil also is the “evil one” (Matt. 13:19a; John 17:15; 1 John 5:19b); the “prince of this world” (John 12:31b); the “...god of this age [who] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4); the “...ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Eph. 2:2b); and a “...roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8b).
The main thing we associate Satan with is evil. Beyond that is being anti-God, dishonest, violent, lying and incredibly vain. Can all of these attributes really be tied to Barack? Keep reading and find out!From the very first when we encounter Satan in Genesis, we understand that he is not taking part in God’s express plans. For, he appears in the Garden of Eden and immediately begins to undermine God’s creation and mankind’s relationship to Him by encouraging sin. So Satan is a person who builds his own plans upon another’s foundation. He tries to do this in Genesis 3:1-7, by destroying the communion between man and God through sin:
Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Likewise, Barack seeks to use the strong base set down by the Founders to create a socialist or communist kingdom. This goes along with Marx’s theory that history occurs in stages, with capitalism coming before socialism and communism. Therefore, Barack is also a person toiling to destroy and reform the honest and wholesome work of others in order to establish his own infected and toxic kingdom.
Ultimately, according to Holy Writ, Satan attempts to overtake the entire world through an anti-God cabal, which the Bible calls Babylon the Great.
II. Father of Lies
Obama is an unrepentant, unashamed and unapologetic liar. It has recently been made crystal clear that his chief tool in public persuasion for his most important public policies is a cascade of lies. Now we must begin to reexamine Obama’s previous comments and see how many of his other public statements and claims are sheer falsehoods. Certainly, if a person shows he is totally committed to lying to get his way, we must suspect all his other claims.
Satan himself is described as the Father of Lies by Christ, in John 8:44:
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
So any undertaking which is composed of a tissue of lies is deemed to be satanic. Consider a single article, Obama’s Massive Fraud, in applying this notion.
III. The Adversary: Slanderer of Believers
Satan is described as the Adversary and the Accuser of the Brethren. He is the one who is constantly accusing Christians of evil, whereas Christ is constantly interceding for them, in Revelation 12:
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night
Likewise, Obama is constantly accusing other Americans of falling short, of sinning, of committing evil acts. For example, he spent 4 years mindlessly blaming George W. Bush for every conceivable wrong and shortcoming. Again, he travelled all the way to Germany to bury a knife in America’s back, stating we are wrongdoers. With “leadership” like Obama’s, who needs enemies?
One must understand that a person of such limited experience as Obama had the choice of either growing into the job of president, or instead—pretending to be the world’s smartest man. It’s obvious which road our smug and deeply self-satisfied leader chose. Likewise, the unhappy Satan is constantly on the hunt to take out his wrath and envy upon humans, to destroy their happiness, future and very lives.
IV. Misquotes Scripture
Satan, in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve, misquotes scripture. Likewise, when the Devil tempts Jesus, he also misquotes Scripture. Barack also enjoys misquoting the Bible. He presses others about the social welfare system, implying a passage about murder and judgment is about brotherly love, when he asked if Americans were not their brother’s keeper, in Genesis 4:
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
V. Seeks to Replace True Religion
Obama has long claimed to be a traditional Christian. The problem with this is his statements and actions have never fit the bill for the beliefs or practices of a Believer. For example, the only church he ever regularly attended was led by a racist pastor using heretical theology with a bigoted, Marxist foundation. No wonder he has not made a practice of attending church since entering the White House, even on Christmas.
Perhaps this is why Barack has countless times praised religions at odds with Christianity, such as Islam. For example, consider when Obama claimed the purpose of NASA would be to help promote Islam. Why, even in the name of peace, would Barack promote what even a nominal Christian would consider a false religion?
Satan seeks to destroy, as Revelation 9:11 states,
They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
Since Islam seeks to destroy Bible followers, being Jews and Christians, Barack’s support of Islam makes perfect sense.
VI. Comes as an Angel of Light
Satan presents himself as good, as do all deceivers. 2 Corinthians 11 states,
...for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Obama also claimed to be a person of purity, who would conduct the most transparent government in history without the typical ethical lapses. Yet this was all a lie and he clearly has come to help enslave Americans under big government.
VII. Murderer
It is said Satan was a murderer from the beginning. It might seem like Obama is far from a murderer, although some have said his personal choosing of Muslim radical drone targets made him a murderer. But his enthusiastic support of abortion, in its many forms, certainly puts the blood of the innocent upon him as well. But now that ObamaCare has cut off millions from their healthcare policies, now persons with terminal diseases will die while waiting for ObamaCare to kick in.
And let’s not forget Obama’s mentor, the terrorist Bill Ayers, belonged to a group which stated killing 25 million Americans to help convert the US to Marxism would be acceptable.
VIII. Vanity
The fall of the Devil was supposedly due to his great pride. Ezekiel 28:17 states of Satan’s fall:
Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.
Barack is also exceedingly vain. Even for a politician, he has made some astoundingly conceited claims, stating:
I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.
IX. Socialism—Satan’s Economics & Marxism, the Devil’s Politics
Without going too far afield into this topic, we can quite easily prove Marxism represents the Devil’s politics, while socialism and communism are Satan’s economics. Why? Because socialism refuses to accept mankind is made in God’s image. Therefore, it is acceptable for people to be forced into working when there is no reward, as redistribution of wealth punishes the productive and rewards the indolent. Further, both communism and socialism, in their rejection of the rights of private property, also deny the Ten Commandments prohibition against theft.
Marxism is Satan’s politics, because in its deification of the group over the individual, it refuses to recognize the rule of law, the law above the law. In this it rejects God’s law in favor of man’s positive law. Moreover, in rejecting individual rights, it defies the Bible’s statements that each person is individually responsible to God for their beliefs, but also individually protected from wrongs, as the Bill of Rights protects. So Marxism rejects God’s creation and replaces it with mankind’s humanist worldview.
X. Antichrist, Obama a Precursor?
Much discussion by Believers and commentators has been directed at the question of whether Obama is the Anti-Christ, given his complete opposition to all things Christian and American. But one commentator believes he is the precursor to Anti-Christ, much like John the Baptist cleared the way for Christ. Robert Jeffress, in an interview for his new book Perfect Ending, claims Barack is simply carrying water for the Anti-Christ,
There’s going to be a future world dictator before Christ returns who’s going to usurp people’s personal feelings, uh, rights. He’s going to do it without any opposition, and my question was, how is he going to be able to pull that off? My thesis is, people will have been conditioned long before the anti-Christ comes to accept governmental overreach, and that’s what you’re seeing with President Obama.
**Kelly can be reached at: hibernian1@gmail.com

Liban : le Hezbollah est coincé entre le banditisme et le terrorisme
La popularité du parti chiite est en chute libre

http://www.mediarabe.info/spip.php?article2369
mardi 21 janvier 2014 - 21h20, par Stefano B.C.
Alors que les Libanais s’interrogent pourquoi aucun membre du Hezbollah n’a péri dans la série d’attentats qui a frappé ses fiefs, depuis l’été dernier, tant à Beyrouth que dans la Bekaa ? Le doute s’installe au Liban autour du rôle présumé que le parti de Dieu a pu jouer dans la préparation de ces attentats qu’il attribue à Al-Qaïda et à ses filiales, afin de justifier son implication militaire en Syrie.
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Quelques heures seulement après l’explosion de la banlieue sud de Beyrouth de ce mardi (cinq morts et 31 blessés), les forces de sécurité libanaises ont arrêté plusieurs membres d’une bande de voleurs de voitures, dont Nabil Ahmed Al-Moussaoui. Celui-ci aurait reconnu avoir volé la voiture qui a explosé ce mardi dans la Banlieue sud, comme celle qui a servi à l’attentat de Hermel (Nord de la Bekaa), la semaine dernière.
La famille Moussaoui est très proche du Hezbollah. Hussein Al-Moussaoui est un député du groupe parlementaire du Parti, et son frère Hatem Al-Moussaoui dirige une véritable industrie très lucrative de vol de voitures. Deux autres frères de Hussein Al-Moussaoui se sont enfuis après que leur industrie de drogue (Captagon) installée dans les mosquées, ait été dévoilée. (Cliquez ici pour lire nos informations à ce sujet)
Selon la télévision « New TV », Nabil Al-Moussaoui a reconnu, ce soir, avoir volé les deux voitures qui ont explosé à Haret Hreïk et à Hermel. Selon « Futur TV », il les aurait vendues à un certain Maher Tleïss (selon son nom, il s’agirait d’un autre chiite encore) qui les aurait acheminées en Syrie. Pris la main dans le sac, Moussaoui tenterait ainsi d’attribuer les attentats aux Syriens, dans le prolongement des accusations formulées systématiquement par le Hezbollah aux djihadistes pour justifier son implication en Syrie (dont le coût humain devient insupportable et qui dépasserait désormais celui de la guerre de l’été 2006 contre Israël). Selon des sources libanaises, le Hezbollah aurait informé les services de l’armée que la voiture piégée est sortie de Ersal, afin d’impliquer cette ville pour la énième fois (Cliquez ici pour lire nos informations à ce sujet).
Or, au-delà du prix de son ingérence en Syrie, le Hezbollah se retrouve dans une véritable crise morale, au Liban, et plus particulièrement dans son propre environnement. La communauté chiite ne tolère ni le nombre de ses morts sacrifiés pour défendre le dictateur Bachar Al-Assad, ni le développement du banditisme protégé par le parti. Des responsables du Hezbollah ont fait fortune dans la production de Captagon, dans l’importation et la distribution de faux médicaments, dans l’importation et la commercialisation de viande avariée... et dans le vol des voitures.
Le Hezbollah serait également impliqué dans les assassinats politiques commis au Liban depuis l’attentat contre le député souverainiste Marwane Hamadé en 2004. Cinq de ses membres sont poursuivis par le Tribunal international dans l’assassinat de Rafic Hariri. Un sixième est soupçonné d’avoir tenté de piéger l’ascenseur du député souverainiste Boutros Harb. Le parti serait également impliqué dans la tentative d’assassinat de Samir Geagea par sniper, en avril 2012, et de vouloir l’intimider ou le menacer en survolant sa résidence par drone, début 2014. Outre ces crimes, l’ombre du Hezbollah plane toujours sur les assassinats de Gebran Tuéini, Walid Eido, Wissam Al-Hassan, Wissam Eïd, entre autres dirigeants libanais. Ses réseaux internationaux sont impliqués dans toutes sortes de trafics et de terrorisme, tant en Amérique du Sud, en Afrique ou dans les pays arabes et en Asie...Pour toutes ces raisons, les Libanais s’interrogent ce soir : Pourquoi les forces de sécurité ont-elles attendu que ces voitures aient explosé et fait des morts (particulièrement des civils innocents, les partisans du Hezbollah auraient pu être prévenus !) avant d’arrêter les voleurs ? Ces derniers étaient-ils protégés par le parti de Dieu ? Y a-t-il un lien entre le banditisme et le terrorisme ? Quel est le rôle du Hezbollah et de son allié direct, le régime syrien, et ses alliés indirects Al-Qaïda et Al-Nosra, dans les revendication des attentats via Twitter ? Quel crédit peut-on accorder à ces revendication par les djihadistes via les réseaux sociaux, alors que le pêché originel est reconnu par Moussaoui ? Quel crédit accorder encore au discours du Hezbollah foncièrement engagé contre les djihadistes alors que les preuves ne manquent plus sur le lien entre le régime de Bachar Al-Assad et l’Etat islamique en Irak et au Levant ? En attendant que l’avenir apporte des réponses satisfaisantes à ces interrogations légitimes, les Libanais craignent sur le court terme. Ils redoutent des tentatives du Parti de Hassan Nasrallah et de l’Iran de répandre le chaos syrien vers le Liban, notamment après l’exclusion de l’Iran de la conférence de Genève-2.
Stefano B. C.

Netanyahu says West has 'no chance' of striking final nuclear deal with Iran

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Netanyahu-says-West-has-no-chance-of-striking-final-nuclear-deal-with-Iran-339393

By HERB KEINON 01/26/2014/Jerusalem Post/Iran's nuclear march, not negotiations with the Palestinians, dominated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's talks with world leaders in Davos, he told the cabinet Sunday, just hours after returning from the World Economic Forum in that Swiss city. Netanyahu said that the most important thing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said during his speech to the conference was that Iran has not dismantled, and will not dismantle, a single centrifuge. "If Iran will stand by that statement, that means that a permanent agreement – which is the goal of the entire diplomatic process with Iran – cannot succeed," Netanyahu said. "Iran is basically insisting on preserving its ability to get fissile material for a bomb without in any way extending the time-line to a nuclear break-out."
Netanyahu said that this meant that much of what Israel has warned against was indeed already taking place.
The prime minister said that Rouhani also tried in Davos to break the sanctions regime against his country. While praising US Secretary of State John Kerry for his statement that the US would act to preserve the existing sanctions, Netanyahu said the test will be in the results. Netanyahu said Rouhani's speech, coupled by an interview given by his Foreign Minster Mohammad Javad Zarif, in which he declared that Iran has an ideological agenda that puts it in constant tension with the west and the US, caused the people he spoke with to understand that that situation with Iran is "not rosy."
"There is a problem here," Netanyahu said "We know the truth, that there is a regime which under the cover of a charm offensive is trying to arm itself with nuclear weapons, to become a [nuclear] threshold sate that can achieve nuclear weapons very fast, and a state that has not change at all its true ideology." Netanyahu said that while there is an internal struggle taking place inside Iran for reform, there has been no change, neither in the country's goal of attaining nuclear weapons or in its aggressive policy and use of terrorism throughout the Middle East, and beyond. In addition to meeting Kerry, among other leaders Netanyahu met in Davos were the presidents of Nigeria and Mexico, the prime ministers of Australia and Norway, and the foreign minister of China.