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