LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

September 12/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.september12.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12/01-12/:"Then he began to speak to them in parables. ‘A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, "They will respect my son."But those tenants said to one another, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours."So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes"?’When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away."

All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures for ever
First Letter of Peter 01/22-25/:"Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. For ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures for ever.’ That word is the good news that was announced to you."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 11-12/16

The Evil Tripartite Of Hatred, Grudges & Revenge/By: Elias Bejjani

Germany: Beginning of the End of the Merkel Era/Soeren Kern/ Gatestone Institute/September 11/16
Western Publishers Submit to Islam/Giulio Meotti/ Gatestone Institute/September 11/16
Of ignorance, extremism and religious institutions/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/September 11/16
15 years after 9/11: Islamophobia countered by Muslims gaining ground/Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/September 11/16
The different reasons why Americans love Iran/Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya/September 11/16
Dennis Ross’ testimony/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/September 11/16
 Academic Malfeasance: The Case of Christopher Bail/Daniel Pipes/History News Network/September 11/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September 11-12/16
The Evil Tripartite Of Hatred, Grudges & Revenge
Report: U.S. Wants Qahwaji President as Parties Hope Hizbullah Will Press Aoun on Extension
Mashnouq Asks Govt. to Ban Two Tripoli Groups over Mosques Blasts
Moussawi Calls for Avoiding 'Mistakes that Harm Coexistence'
Bou Saab Says FPM Keen on Healing Franjieh Rift, Describes Hariri as 'Best Partner'
Kataeb, Activists Suspend Sit-in at Bourj Hammoud Landfill
Hizbullah Backs Syrian Ceasefire
Berri's Adviser Says No Tensions with FPM
Chamoun: One who considers himself the 'State' should not become President!
Hariri congratulates Machnouk on signing request for Arab Democratic Party and Unitarian Movement's dissolution
Bassil: FPM defends two questions freedom, truth
Kanaan for Dialogue based on Constitution, Pact
Khalil: No one is allowed to block dialogue
Sami Gemayel: We are not going to stop fight against corruption
Keyrouz requests expulsion of Syrian Ambassador

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on September 11-12/16
Man who shot Ronald Reagan released from psychiatric hospital
Syria: Fighting continues despite US - Russia peace deal
9/11: 15 years later, Ground Zero attracts mourners
Obama Says Diversity One of 'Greatest Strengths' as U.S. Marks 15th Anniversary
Toll from Strikes on Syria's Idlib Jumps to 58
For U.S. and Russia, War in Syria is Mainly in the Air
Iran Welcomes Syria Truce Plan, Calls for 'Comprehensive Monitoring'
Syria Opposition Weighs Truce Deal after Raids Kill Dozens
Iran Dismisses U.S. Claims of Navy Harassment in Gulf
Erdogan Says Turkey Has 'Duty' to Defeat IS
Egypt Frees Three Youths Held over Mocking Video
Haftar's Forces Seize Key Libya Oil Terminals
Six Soldiers Killed in Yemen Suicide Bombing

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on September 11-12/16
Al-Qaeda top dog: “9/11 will be repeated thousands of times, by the will of Allah”
GWU’s “ex-jihadist” Jesse Morton wants to dismantle “entire counterterrorism component of military-industrial complex”
On 9/11, DHS Secy says jihad plots unknown to public foiled “all the time”
Video: Robert Spencer on jihad, dhimmitude, Islamization, and the failure of Western leaders
Kenya: Three Muslimas wearing niqabs attack police station with knives and bombs
Muslim screams “Allahu akbar” 29 times, “death is coming” 17 times and “we will die” nine times on flight from UK to Venice
On this day, December 7, 1956
15 Years After 9/11: Lessons Not Learned — a Michael Cutler Moment
Australia: Muslim stabs man walking dog, attacks police when they arrive
Indonesia: Muslims attack 200 Christians at church, harass priest for reading Bible

Links From Christian Today Site for on September 11-12/16
9/11: 15 years later, Ground Zero attracts mourners
Donald Trump to speak to conservative Christians at Family Values Summit
Man who shot Ronald Reagan released from psychiatric hospital
Syria: Fighting continues despite US - Russia peace deal
Former Pope Benedict XVI: 'I do not feel a failure.'
Most Christians believe pastors should not endorse political candidates
Donations to Church of England hit a record high

Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September 11-12/16

The Evil Tripartite Of Hatred, Grudges & Revenge
By: Elias Bejjani
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/09/11/elias-bejjani-the-evil-tripartite-of-hatred-grudges-revenge/
Romans 12/19-21/:"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
Psalm 56/11: "In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
It is a known fact that the severance of communication between people is a form of death. When people cease to communicate with each other because of problems, hatred, resentment or fear of confrontation they simply abandon God himself because in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John1-1).
How any one who alleges to be religious and to fear God, allows himself to assume God's work and judge others based on his own concepts and self made criteria for what is right and wrong, and simply put them on trial and issue verdicts against them? He who does so do not really understand Christ's teaching who said: "Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged, for with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7/1-2). Those who unlawfully give them selves this Godly right Christ calls them hypocrites.
When two individuals speak two different languages that neither of them comprehends no actual communication takes place. One of them has to learn the other's language in a bid for the communication to be productive and a two way process needs to be established, or other wise they keep on to speak a Babylonian language. In this same context righteousness and evilness are two different human languages with two contradicting frames of mind and mentality. Those who hate, hold grudges, judge others and cease to communicate speak the Satan language, while those who belief in God and know that He is love speak His language of mercy, openness, forgiveness, meekness.
Impulsivity and anger are common human conducts through which people lose control and act stupidly not thinking of the dire consequences. We all know for sure that it does not need much of an effort to hate, despise, resent, act evilly or hold grudges against others, particular those whom one have serious or crucial problems and conflicts with. At the same time it is very easy to act violently and take revenge by punishing physically or emotionally those who we believe according to our own human and earthly standards have inflicted pain on us or unlawfully took what is ours by force or fraud.
(Matthew Henry: 56:8-13),"We should aim in all our desires and expectations of deliverance, both from sin and trouble, that we may do the better service to the Lord; that we may serve him without fear. If his grace has delivered our souls from the death of sin, he will bring us to heaven, to walk before him for ever in light."
Meanwhile is is very difficult, laborious, tough and and needs a great deal of self control, anger taming, forgiveness, and nobility to love our enemies and not to react with revenge to their hatred, grudges and evilness, especially when they purposefully hurt us and infringe on our rights, property, and beloved ones. (Matthew 5/44): "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you".
There is a misleading very popular proverb that we use  to justify our lack of self-controls, it says: "when in woods if you are not a lion, lions will devour you". Yes, this is 100% right if we were animals, but we are not and the wood's doctrine that says, "the stronger eats the weaker" does not apply to us as sons and daughters of Almighty God, Our Father. Why it does not? simply because, we are God's children and He has created us in his image (Genesis 1/27): "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them".
No matter what and under all circumstances, good or bad, our conduct ought to be righteous and not evil, civilized, peaceful, loving and shaped in a human and not in an animal manner. As God's children we are taught to love specially those whom we see as enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you". (Luke 06/27).
As genuine believers , we are not supposed to take revenge no matter what, but instead forgive and leave the vengeance for God. "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord". (Romans 12/19).

"'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD" (Leviticus 19/18).

"The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies".(Nahum1/2).
As God's Children, we are required under all circumstances to leave the judgment work for the rulers and courts even if we feel they are biased and not fair. God himself will punish them if they do not fear Him and not performing their duties with justice.

"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.". (01Peter 02/13-14).
"For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” (Hebrews 10/30).
There is no doubt that in this contemporary competitive and merciless society that we live in, and because of lack of faith and hope, we falsely at times convince ourselves that self defence and protecting ones sour interests is a lawful right, because the law at times does not protect and safeguard us.

Self-defence when applied needs a great deal of wisdom, understanding and restraining physical abilities by spiritual attainment. This simply means that the one who has the ability to bring great harm doesn’t mean he or she needs to use it for more than is required for self defence. Just because we can break someone’s arm, doesn’t mean we need to use that ability. Just because we have a gun doesn’t mean we need to fire on someone who breaks into the home.

We have to trust in Almighty God, because He definitely will not Forsake us.
(Paslm 94/01- 07): " O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth! Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage.They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; and they say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
The question is, when we are hurt do we have to act on our revenge impulses? 

If we do succumb to our instinct of revenge, than what is the difference between us and that who hurt us?. But in passing over it and forgive, we prove to God's Children who obey His commandments.

Both the Hebrew and Greek words translated  the terms" vengeance,” “revenge,” and “avenge” as punishment. This is crucial in understanding why God reserves for Himself the right to avenge. A real believer, should refrain from revenge acts and let God do His work. In both the new and old testament God asks us to leave the revenge issues for him.
"To me belonged vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste". (Deuteronomy 32/35).

"For the LORD will vindicate His people, And will have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free". (Deuteronomy 32/36).

 May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you".  (Samuel 24/12 &15)

Report: U.S. Wants Qahwaji President as Parties Hope Hizbullah Will Press Aoun on Extension
Naharnet/September 11/16/Rabieh has received “confirmed information” that the Americans want the election of Army chief General Jean Qahwaji as president, a media report said on Sunday. Ad-Diyar newspaper also reported that the political parties are counting on a “major role” for Hizbullah in persuading Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun that extending Qahwaji's term as army chief would not be linked to the presidential race. “This is not an impossible mission,” the daily quoted both March 8 and March 14 sources as saying. The FPM's recent decision to boycott cabinet sessions was initially linked to the thorny issue of military appointments. Defense Minister Samir Moqbel has recently postponed the retirement of Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir after no consensus was reached over three candidates that he had proposed, angering the FPM which says that it opposes term extensions for all senior officers. The movement fears that the extension of Kheir's term could pave the way for a new extension of Qahwaji's term, which expires later this month. Qahwaji's retirement had been postponed in September 2013 and his term was instead extended for two years.

Mashnouq Asks Govt. to Ban Two Tripoli Groups over Mosques Blasts
Naharnet/September 11/16/ Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced Sunday that he has asked the council of ministers to disband the Tripoli-based Arab Democratic Party and a faction of the Islamic Unification Movement in connection with the deadly 2013 blasts that rocked two mosques in the northern city. “The era of shy justice has ended and the era of settlements at the expense of people's blood is gone. The era of blackmailing us with civil peace has also ended,” Mashnouq said during a ceremony honoring him in the Aley district town of Dhour al-Abadiyeh. “I declare to you that today I signed a request and submitted it to the council of ministers, demanding the disbanding of the Arab Democratic Party and the IUM faction led by Hashem Minqara,” he added. “We will follow up on this case through politics and law until the end,” the minister vowed. In remarks to LBCI television, Arab Democratic Party official Ali Fidda said Mashnouq's decision is “political.”“It is part of the political overbidding between him and (Resigned Justice Minister Ashraf) Rifi, especially that the indictment has acquitted us,” Fidda added. Rifi for his part told the TV network that he would “exceptionally take part in any cabinet session that has the resolution to disband the two parties on its agenda.”March 8 ministerial sources meanwhile labeled Mashnouq's decision in remarks to MTV as “political overbidding,” noting that “it will not pass in cabinet.”Lebanon's judiciary on Friday indicted two Syrian intelligence officers it accused of masterminding the deadly blasts. The double bombing killed 45 people and wounded more than 500, and a series of indictments have already been handed down against Lebanese and Syrians accused of involvement. The indictment names Captain Mohamed Ali Ali, an official in the Palestine branch of Syria's intelligence services, and Nasser Jouban, an official in Syria's political security branch.The two men, neither of whom is in custody, are accused of helping to prepare the attack, placing explosives in cars and assigning a Lebanese cell to carry out the bombing. The Lebanese who are in custody hail from the Tripoli neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen, the bastion of the pro-Damascus Arab Democratic Party. The attacks targeted two Sunni mosques in Tripoli, which has frequently experienced tensions between Sunnis and Alawites who belong to the same religious minority as Syrian President Bashar Assad and tend to support his government. The indictment alleges the attacks also involved other high-ranking Syrian officials, who are accused of directing Ali and Jouban to organize them. The blasts in the northern city were the deadliest attack in Lebanon since the country's 1975-1990 civil war and raised fears that the conflict in neighboring Syria could be inexorably seeping across the border.Lebanon's political landscape is largely divided between parties that back Assad and those who support the uprising against him that began in March 2011.

Moussawi Calls for Avoiding 'Mistakes that Harm Coexistence'
Naharnet/September 11/16/A prominent Hizbullah lawmaker on Sunday called on those who are “keen on Lebanon” to avoid committing mistakes that “harm coexistence,” stressing that importance of running the country on the basis of “partnership and balance.”“Lebanon is different than some other societies because it is a pluralistic and balanced society that contains various sects, religions, parties, ideologies and affiliations,” Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi said. “Its governance formula cannot be based on the hegemony of one party over another but rather on the concept of real and actual partnership,” he stressed. “Has partnership in the national decision been achieved and can it be achieved in a cabinet that lacks its main components?” Moussawi asked. He added: “Those keen on Lebanon and its survival as a coexistence model must not commit mistakes that harm this coexistence in their administration of the governance formula in Lebanon, which must always be based on partnership and balance.” Hizbullah's ally the Free Patriotic Movement, which has the biggest Christian bloc in parliament, has suspended its participation in cabinet sessions and national dialogue meetings over accusations that other parties in the country are not respecting the National Pact. Hizbullah expressed solidarity with the FPM by boycotting last Thursday's cabinet session. The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on Christian-Muslim partnership.The FPM's boycott of cabinet meetings was initially linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments. The movement has long voiced reservations over the government's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president. Addressing Prime Minister Tammam Salam, FPM chief Jebran Bassil has recently said that “the son of late PM Saeb Salam must pay great attention when he says that the government is respecting the National Pact when it convenes in the presence of ministers representing only six percent of a main component of the country (Christians).”Bassil has also warned that the country might be soon plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the FPM's demands regarding Muslim-Christian “partnership.” Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh hit back at Bassil on Monday, saying Marada and the other Christian parties in the cabinet “represent a lot more than six percent.”

Bou Saab Says FPM Keen on Healing Franjieh Rift, Describes Hariri as 'Best Partner'
Naharnet/September 11/16/Education Minister Elias Bou Saab has stressed that the FPM is keen on restoring good ties with Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh, as he described al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri as “the strongest and best partner for us in Lebanon.”“We have not erred against Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh and we are keen on restoring the relation. Our problem was not a personal problem with Franjieh but rather a problem of a country and lack of partnership,” Bou Saab said. “The problem we are facing is that they are telling us that a minister whose political leadership is al-Mustaqbal Movement” can secure Christian representation in cabinet sessions in a manner that respects the National Pact, the minister added. “We want real partnership and (Foreign) Minister (Jebran) Bassil is being attacked because he represents the FPM,” Bou Saab said. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community. Turning to Hariri, Bou Saab described the former premier as “the strongest and best partner for us in Lebanon.”“The alternative to him is the unknown and we hope he will play his role accordingly and we are open to any solution that might be proposed,” Bou Saab went on to say.As for the paralyzed government, the minister stressed that “the FPM is not to blame for the governmental paralysis.”“The provocations that are taking place in cabinet sessions are the things that are crippling it,” he claimed. Bou Saab also noted that the FPM had not asked its ally Hizbullah to boycott the cabinet session that was held on Thursday. “We have a partnership of trust,” he said. The FPM, which has the biggest Christian bloc in parliament, has suspended its participation in cabinet sessions and national dialogue meetings over accusations that other parties in the country are not respecting the National Pact. The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on Christian-Muslim partnership. The FPM's boycott of cabinet meetings was initially linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments. The movement has long voiced reservations over the government's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president. Addressing Prime Minister Tammam Salam, FPM chief Bassil has recently said that “the son of late PM Saeb Salam must pay great attention when he says that the government is respecting the National Pact when it convenes in the presence of ministers representing only six percent of a main component of the country (Christians).” Bassil has also warned that the country might be soon plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the FPM's demands regarding Muslim-Christian “partnership.”Franjieh hit back at Bassil on Monday, saying Marada and the other Christian parties in the cabinet “represent a lot more than six percent.”

Kataeb, Activists Suspend Sit-in at Bourj Hammoud Landfill
Naharnet/September 11/16/The Kataeb Party and a number of environmental groups announced Sunday a “temporary suspension” of a sit-in that started a month ago outside the Bourj Hammoud garbage landfill, noting that their protest has obliged authorities to revise a controversial waste management plan and to endorse steps based on waste sorting, composting and decentralization. “The approach of decentralization in waste management has started and no one will be able to stop it,” Kataeb chief MP Sami Gemayel announced at a press conference. “Day after day, we are proving our determination to continue the battle against corruption,” he said. Saluting the “30 Northern Metn municipalities that laid the groundwork over the past four weeks by launching awareness campaigns, finding land lots and preparing for the creation of sorting and composting plants,” Gemayel blasted “corruption” in the government's contracts for “waste collection, waste sorting and treatment, the construction of the two landfills, the construction of the breakwater, and the land-filling of unsorted waste.” “That's why they were insisting on blocking decentralization seeing as it would halt suspicious deals at all levels,” the Kataeb chief added. “Through our protest, we have broken the siege and the municipalities have started waste sorting,” Gemayel noted, vowing that Kataeb and the civil society groups would “confront anyone who might try to stop municipalities from setting up sorting and treatment plants in their regions.” “What happened is a first round in a long war and more rounds will follow. We will not let them rest and we will confront corruption and suspicious deals,” the Kataeb leader added. A spokesman for the environmental groups, Marc Daou, meanwhile said that the decision to suspend the sit-in was taken after several protesters were hospitalized as a result to their exposure to pollution emanating from the landfill and after garbage accumulating on the streets started to pose health and environmental risks.“We are against the plan that was devised by the coalition of corruption, against the land-filling of the sea, against random garbage dumps and against suspicious deals. We support environmental solutions that would be in the interest of the country and its citizens and we have achieved some progress in our confrontation,” said Daou.He also vowed to “follow up on all tenders” and “maintain the direct confrontation – from the gates of landfills to the gates of the Council for Development and Reconstruction.”The government has vowed to shorten the so-called transitional period in its waste management plant from four years to one year. Under the new agreements, a committee comprising lawmakers, municipalities and civil society representatives would also oversee the transition to waste management decentralization. Kataeb and environmental groups had accused authorities of seeking to “land-fill the sea” with unsorted and unrecycled garbage in a manner that poses environmental and health risks and violates the Convention for Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution. The Bourj Hammoud Municipality had also prevented garbage trucks from accessing a temporary storage site in the area, accusing the government of failing to respect the agreements that preceded the emergency plan. The closure of the temporary storage site has prompted the Sukleen waste management firm to suspend garbage collection in several areas in Mount Lebanon and Beirut, which has resulted in the accumulation of trash on the streets. The country's unprecedented waste management crisis erupted in July last year when the country's central landfill in Naameh was closed amid the government's failure to find alternatives. The crisis saw streets, forests and riverbeds overflowing with trash for several months and triggered unprecedented street protests against the entire political class that sometimes turned violent.Experts have long urged the government to devise a comprehensive waste management solution that would include more recycling and composting to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills.

Hizbullah Backs Syrian Ceasefire
Associated Press/Naharnet/September 11/16/Lebanon's Hizbullah, which is taking part in Syria's conflict, has said that it supports the latest ceasefire deal agreed by the U.S. and Russia but vowed to continue fighting against the Islamic State group and Fateh al-Sham Front, which was known as al-Nusra Front before renouncing its affiliation with al-Qaida. Hizbullah's media arm known as the Military Media said the "allies of Syria" abide by whatever the Syrian government decides. The Military Media said late Saturday that the truce is an opportunity that everyone should take for the interest of the Syrian people. The group however vowed to repel any attack its members are subjected to during the truce. Hizbullah has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to back President Bashar Assad's forces against rebels and jihadists seeking to topple the regime. The group has lost more than 1,000 fighters in the conflict, including senior commanders.The announcement came after the Syrian government said it supports the U.S.-Russia agreement.

Berri's Adviser Says No Tensions with FPM
Naharnet/September 11/16/Speaker Nabih Berri's adviser Ali Hamdan denied Sunday the presence of any tensions between the parliament speaker and the Free Patriotic Movement, stressing that Berri is always ready to facilitate dialogue among the Lebanese. “Speaker Berri is always ready to facilitate dialogue among the Lebanese,” Hamdan said in an interview with Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).“Any new call for dialogue will have new rules, because Speaker Berri really wants dialogue to be productive,” Hamdan added. “Speaker Berri's ambition is to resolve the crisis, not to manage it,” the adviser went on to say, emphasizing that “there are no tensions between Speaker Berri and the FPM.” The latest national dialogue session last Monday had witnessed an argument between Berri and FPM chief Jebran Bassil, after which the speaker suspended the national dialogue meetings. Berri's decision followed a threat from Bassil on suspending the FPM's participation in the all-party talks. The FPM, which has the biggest Christian bloc in parliament, has suspended its participation in cabinet sessions and national dialogue meetings over accusations that other parties in the country are not respecting the National Pact. The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on Christian-Muslim partnership. The FPM's boycott of cabinet meetings was initially linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments. The movement has long voiced reservations over the government's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president. Addressing Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Bassil has recently said that “the son of late PM Saeb Salam must pay great attention when he says that the government is respecting the National Pact when it convenes in the presence of ministers representing only six percent of a main component of the country (Christians).” Bassil has also warned that the country might be soon plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the FPM's demands regarding Muslim-Christian “partnership.”Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh hit back at Bassil on Monday, saying Marada and the other Christian parties in the cabinet “represent a lot more than six percent.”

Chamoun: One who considers himself the 'State' should not become President!
Sun 11 Sep 2016/NNA - National Liberal Party Head, MP Dory Chamoun, said on Sunday that "no position is more important than the country itself," adding that "anyone who considers himself the entire State ought not to be chosen as President of the Republic!"Speaking at the annual dinner banquet organized by his Party in Deir el-Qamar, Chamoun considered that "the plan to divide us into religious mini-states in the region is now clear."He added: "In short, everyone seeks to serve one's own interests and we are wasting our time relying on others."Chamoun, thus, urged Lebanese politicians to be well-aware of the current difficult circumstances, which are leading to divisions.
He concluded by saying, "It is true that we are not huge in size, but we shall remain, along with our allies, the protectors of Lebanon!"

Hariri congratulates Machnouk on signing request for Arab Democratic Party and Unitarian Movement's dissolution
Sun 11 Sep 2016 /NNA - Former PM Saad Hariri congratulated, on Sunday, Interior and Municipalities Minister, Nuhad el-Machnouk, for signing the request to dissolve the Arab Democratic Party and Unitarian Movement-Minqara, and referring the request to the Council of Ministers for endorsement. In a series of Tweets, Hariri said: "The Council of Ministers is called upon to assume its responsibilities with regards to these two Parties' dissolution, in wake of their involvement in the terrorist twin-bombings in Tripoli.""The crime of participating in the explosion or refraining from informing authorities of the plot despite prior knowledge, actually reveal these two Parties as being the arm of Assad's terrorism in Lebanon," he added."All forces within the Cabinet are before the hour of truth to show their solidarity in confronting any kind of terrorism that targets any part of Lebanon, without any sectarian or regional discrimination whatsoever," Hariri underscored.

Bassil: FPM defends two questions freedom, truth
Sun 11 Sep 2016/NNA - Free Patriotic Movement head, Minister Gebran Bassil, said that the movement will fight and win the battle, “it has two questions, freedom and truth.”Bassil’s words came on Saturday evening during a dinner in Al Qoubaiyat in the presence of figures. “Our desire to live together today is much stronger than it was in 1920, and we will be the movement that will defend the Charter,” the Minister added.“If they use the right to veto, we will do so too, no confession shall prevail over the other in Lebanon through veto,” he pointed out.

Kanaan for Dialogue based on Constitution, Pact
Sun 11 Sep 2016/NNA - Change and Reform Bloc Member, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, said on Sunday that "dialogue should be based on the Lebanese Constitution and Pact."
"If otherwise, necessary actions would be taken under the ceiling of the law and guaranteed by the Constitution," he added, noting that "the core problems we are facing at the current stage are actually targeting our Charter and Partnership."Speaking in an interview to "New TV" Channel Station, Kanaan stressed that "a new electoral law alone could reform institutions," reiterating the importance of adopting the proportionality law "especially that we live in a pluralistic and sectarian country."The Lawmaker noted that a President should be elected whether by holding parliamentary elections that lead to presidential elections or by resorting to people's voting. Kanaan also questioned why the Charter is only applied with regards to the Premiership and Parliament Council, while being withheld from the Presidency. Commenting on the waste dossier, Kanaan noted that all proposed solutions in this respect are in alignment with what was agreed upon during the Finance and Budget Committee meetings.

Khalil: No one is allowed to block dialogue
Sun 11 Sep 2016/NNA - Finance Minister, Ali Hassan Khalil, said on Sunday that nobody was allowed to block the national dialogue. Speaking at a ceremony held in Nabatiyeh, in honor of the students in Jibchit high school, the Minister said that Lebanon was going through one of the most difficult periods in its history. He added that solving problems require sacrifices from all institutions, since the current status quo illustrated by the presidential vacuum, the paralysis of the Parliament and the blocking of government’s work would lead to the accumulation of crises. The Minister called upon political parties to reconsider their positions.

Sami Gemayel: We are not going to stop fight against corruption
Sun 11 Sep 2016/NNA - Kataeb party leader, MP Sami Gemayel, stressed on Sunday, following the suspension of Burj Hammoud landfill protest, the party’s perseverance to continue the battle. "This battle is our priority because it touches our daily lives," Gemayel added. Kataeb leader pointed out that the decentralization process started in order to manage waste, saying that "our move broke the mould and the municipalities started to sort waste.""We will stand along with the civil movement against all those who try to prevent the establishment of waste sorting plants," he underscored. Environment activist, Marc Daou, for his part, said that Burj Hammoud dialogue table was stronger than the cabinet’s table. "We are against the plan hatched by the alliance of corruption, we are against sea reclamation, against the indiscriminate landfills and financial transactions, and we support environmental solutions for the benefit of the citizen and the homeland," Daou concluded.

Keyrouz requests expulsion of Syrian Ambassador
Sun 11 Sep 2016/NNA - Lebanese Forces MP Elie Kayrouz called on Sunday for the expulsion of the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon and for the cancellation of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council. The MP who was representing Lebanese Forces Leader, Samir Geagea, during an annual dinner organized by the party in Hadchit, said that LF expected the failure of the dialogue, especially that one party insisted on imposing its will on the state and on the other Lebanese components, blocking the work of institutions.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on September 11-12/16

Man who shot Ronald Reagan released from psychiatric hospital
Reuters 11 September 2016/Would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley Jr. was released from a psychiatric hospital on Saturday, media reports said, 35 years after he shot U.S. President Ronald Reagan in an attack prompted by a deranged obsession with the actress Jodie Foster. Hinckley, 61, is moving in with his elderly mother in a gated community in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he has been making increasingly long furlough visits in recent years under the watchful eyes of the U.S. Secret Service. A federal judge in July ordered Hinckley's release from St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, finding that he no longer posed a danger to himself or to others. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity at a 1982 trial and was diagnosed with depression and psychosis, both of which are now in remission, according to his doctors. Local media, including The Washington Post, reported that Hinckley was officially released from St. Elizabeth's on Saturday, when he had been scheduled to be freed. A hospital employee who answered the phone on Saturday said she could not comment on patients to the media.Residents of the town have seemed largely unfazed by the prospect of Hinckley's release, though some have expressed wariness. As a 25-year-old college dropout, Hinckley had grown fixated upon Foster and the Martin Scorsese film "Taxi Driver," in which she played a teenage prostitute. Inspired by the film's main character, who plots to kill a presidential candidate, Hinckley opened fire on Reagan outside a Washington, D.C., hotel on March 30, 1981, in a misguided effort to win Foster's affections. Reagan suffered a punctured lung but recovered quickly. His press secretary, James Brady, was left permanently disabled and eventually died of his injuries in 2014. The shooting left its mark in a number of ways. The Brady shooting helped launch the modern gun control movement, and a 1993 bill named after him imposed background checks and a waiting period. Hinckley's verdict, meanwhile, led several states to rewrite their laws to make insanity defenses more difficult, and the Secret Service toughened its security procedures following the assassination attempt. Hinckley's release has dozens of conditions attached, including a requirement that he work or volunteer at least three days a week, limit his travel, allow law enforcement to track his movements and continue meeting with a psychiatrist. The Reagan family issued a statement in July strongly opposing Hinckley's release. Foster has declined to comment on Hinckley since 1981.
 

Syria: Fighting continues despite US - Russia peace deal
Reuters 11 September 2016
The United States and Russia reached a breakthrough deal early on Saturday to try to restore peace in Syria, but air strikes hours later on a busy market place that killed and injured dozens added to rebels' doubts that any ceasefire could hold.
The agreement, by the powers that back opposing sides in the five-year-old war, promises a nationwide truce from sundown on Monday, improved access for humanitarian aid and joint military targeting of hardline Islamist groups. But hours after it was agreed, warplanes bombed a marketplace in rebel-held Idlib in northwestern Syria, killing at least 58 civilians, many children and women, according to rescue workers and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Locals said they believed the jets to be Russian. Videos of footage on social media showed rescuers carrying the corpses of a charred child and other victims as other civil defence workers pulled mangled bodies from beneath rubble."The market was full of shoppers going to buy presents for their kids, they were all civilians," said Salem Idlibi, a civil defence worker saying the market was unusually busy ahead of a major Muslim feast on Monday.
Idlib province has endured escalating strikes by Russian planes in recent months, according to international aid workers and residents, destroying scores of hospitals, bakeries and other infrastructure across rebel-held territory. Aleppo was also hit from the air and fighting continued on the ground on Saturday. The army attacked rebel-held areas, both sides said, pushing to maximise gains before the ceasefire deadline. Thirty people were killed by barrel bombs dropped by army helicopters on the besieged rebel-held east of the city, and jets, either Syrian or Russian, bombed rebel-held towns along important insurgent supply routes. Insurgents said they were planning a counter-offensive.
"The fighting is flaring on all the fronts of southern Aleppo," rebel spokesman Captain Abdul Salam Abdul Razak said. Razak, of the Nour al-Din al Zinki Brigades, part of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which is backed by the West, said they were studying the peace deal but feared it merely gave the Syrian army a chance to gather forces and pour more Iranian-backed militias into Aleppo.
President Bashar al Assad's government made no comment on the peace deal, but Syrian state media quoted what it called private sources as saying the government had given its approval. Syria's mainstream political opposition, the Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said it had not received a copy of the deal and would only react after consulting members. A spokeswoman had earlier welcomed any deal that spared civilian lives but cast doubt on whether Moscow would be able to pressure Damascus to stop indiscriminate bombing. In a sign of the multi-sided conflict, Israeli aircraft attacked a Syrian artillery post near the occupied Golan Heights on Saturday.
The Israeli military said it was retaliation for a shell fired from Syria that had landed inside the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Syrian state television accused Israel of seeking to help an offensive by hardline Islamist rebels.
A number of Islamist and FSA brigades earlier announced they had launched a battle in the province of Quneitra, which borders the Golan region, with the aim of opening a rebel corridor to the western suburbs of Damascus. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on all sides to respect the deal, which was finally reached after several failed attempts over recent weeks. "This requires halting all attacks, including aerial bombardments, and any attempts to gain additional territory at the expense of the parties to the cessation. It requires unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all of the besieged and hard-to-reach areas including Aleppo," he said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that despite continuing mistrust, the two sides had developed five documents that would enable coordination of the fight against terrorism and a revival of Syria's failed truce.
Both sides agreed not to release the documents publicly."This all creates the necessary conditions for resumption of the political process, which has been stalling for a long time," Lavrov said.
Previous peace efforts have crumbled within weeks, with the United States accusing Assad's forces of attacking opposition groups and civilians.
Kerry said the "bedrock" of the new deal was an agreement that the Syrian government would not fly combat missions in an agreed area on the pretext of hunting fighters from the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria which has recently changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. Under the new deal, both sides - Russian-backed government forces and rebel groups supported by the U.S. and Gulf states - are to halt fighting as a confidence-building measure. Cooperation with Fateh al-Sham could bring "dire consequences" for Syria's mainstream rebel groups once the proposed deal comes into effect, Washington's envoy to Syria said on Saturday.
In a letter to armed opposition groups seen by Reuters, Michael Ratney urged them to abide by the U.S.-Russian deal, saying it gave them the right of self-defence against attacks by the Syrian army and Russia. He said the deal would end aerial bombardment by Russia and the Syrian air force of their positions and of civilians living in areas they control. If the truce holds from Monday, Russia and the United States will begin seven days of preparatory work to set up a "joint implementation centre", where they will share information to distinguish territory controlled by Nusra from that held by other rebel groups. For many FSA rebels, the idea of a clear separation from Nusra is problematic because on several fronts they fight together against the army and allied Iranian-backed militias. Fateh al-Sham has also played a major role in trying to end the siege of eastern Aleppo which many rebels say has boosted its popularity, and discussions are ongoing to possibly unify ranks under a broader opposition army.
"Fateh al-Sham is a faction present on the ground and it takes part in most of the military operations, and the matter of separating it is not possible, particularly given that there are attempts to merge, within some factions, with Fateh al-Sham," Fares al-Bayoush, head of an FSA group called the Northern Division, told Reuters.

9/11: 15 years later, Ground Zero attracts mourners
Reuters 11 September 2016
The memorial in New York City at the site where the Twin Towers fell in the Sept. 11 attacks 15 years ago straddles two worlds: one of the living and one of the dead. A marker for where more than 2,600 people were killed, it attracts tourists from around the world. Some are drawn there to pause and reflect, others to satisfy a morbid fascination with the site of the worst attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. Clutching cell phones, cameras and selfie sticks, visitors generally take their time around the National September 11 Memorial Museum. They are expected to turn out in droves on Sunday for the 9/11 anniversary. More than 28 million people have seen the memorial and 7 million have been to the museum since they were opened five years ago, leaving some local people thinking the significance of the site is fading as it becomes just one more tourist site. Rosanne Hughes' husband died on Sept. 11, 2001, while he was on a work visit at the Windows on the World restaurant high in the World Trade Center's North Tower. Now a board member of the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation, Hughes said it was hard for victims' relatives to sometimes see insensitive or even rude behavior at the plaza in Lower Manhattan."It's very disrespectful for people to go there and take selfies and smile for the cameras and in the background is where the towers collapsed," Hughes said.
"I saw people with their kids running around, you know laughing, having fun. I guess people just don't understand that it's just not that type of museum."Early on that bright Tuesday morning in 2001, two hijacked planes were slammed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and a fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The memorial and museum, which cost more than $700 million to build, feature twin pools with waterfalls, each covering nearly an acre. The pools stand in the footprints of the towers. Flanking the pools are platforms dotted with Swamp white oak trees and ivy beds. The names of every person who died in the 9/11 attacks are inscribed on bronze panels that rim the pools. Coins glistened from the inner ledges of the pools, sharing space with paper napkins, bottle caps and even a plastic coffee cup one recent Sunday. A security guard, who declined to give his name, said that during patrols he had to ask children to not sit on the names of the dead and stopped adults from stubbing out cigarettes on them. The mood inside the museum, beneath "Ground Zero," is more solemn, its 110,000 square feet bearing witness to the attacks. People's identification cards, blood-stained shoes, photographs of fathers, wives, brothers and co-workers, intimate stories of loss and recovery tell the story. Outside once again, Hughes of the 9/11 foundation, said it was upsetting to see hot-dog vendors and souvenir stands near the memorial.
"We still have anger over what happened too, and we've moved forward from that. But this is something that just doesn't go away," she said. "It may be a photo-op for them but for us it is still very painful to watch." Kenneth T. Jackson, a New York City historian and professor at Columbia University, said the attacks made the World Trade Center the most famous place in the world, and he believes visitors instantly realize its significance. "It now joins the long list of New York City tourist attractions and, for better or worse, it is one," he said. "Even if there was no memorial, even if they left some broken stuff there, people would visit."

Obama Says Diversity One of 'Greatest Strengths' as U.S. Marks 15th Anniversary

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/America commemorated the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks Sunday with emotional services of remembrance in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania to honor those who perished in the world's deadliest terror strikes. On September 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda operatives crashed four passenger jets into the Twin Towers in Manhattan, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- killing nearly 3,000 people and changing the world forever. This year's anniversary comes with the United States locked in a bruising White House election battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, who both attended the New York service, although Clinton left early after feeling unwell. Even 15 years later, the long shadow cast by the attacks lives on in wars being fought today in Iraq and Afghanistan, and conflict tearing apart countries from Libya to Syria, allowing al-Qaida affiliates and the Islamic State (IS) terror group to breed and prosper. President Barack Obama said no words or deeds could ever truly erase the pain of loss, but urged Americans to stand true to the nation's ideals and not allow groups like al-Qaida and IS to divide the country. "It is so important today that we reaffirm our character as a nation," he told a remembrance service at the Pentagon. "Our diversity, our patchwork heritage, is not a weakness. It is still and always will be one of our greatest strengths."In New York, relatives fought back tears, clasped onto each other and bowed their heads at the September 11 Memorial on the site of the destroyed World Trade Center, which was closed to the general public. The emotional service -- in the shadow of the newly built Freedom Tower -- observed six moments of silence to honor the four attacks and the moments each of the Twin Towers collapsed. Each year, family members spend hours reading out the names of all the dead at the memorial, an increasing number of them young adults who never or barely knew lost parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents.
Lone-wolf threat
Mourners sobbed and laid flowers in the grooves of their loved ones' names, carved into the walls of two reflecting pools in the footprint of the towers overlooked by the Freedom Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. government says the country is now better protected against a 9/11-style terror attack, but the new threat is the lone-wolf assailant. "Our government has become pretty good at detecting something hatched from overseas," Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson told Fox News. "Where we're challenged, however, is with the lone-wolf style attack, the self-radicalized actor. Terrorist organizations have the ability to (get) into our homeland through the internet and recruit and inspire."The United States, but more increasingly Europe, have been hit by such attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and the 2015 San Bernardino killings in California. "We'll never forget the horror of September 11, 2001. Today, let's honor the lives and tremendous spirit of the victims and responders," tweeted Clinton, who was a U.S. senator from New York at the time of the attacks. Trump called the anniversary "a day of sadness and remembrance" but also "a day of resolve."
It was the country's "solemn duty," he said in a statement, "to work together as one nation to keep all of our people safe from an enemy that seeks nothing less than to destroy our way of life."George W. Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks, spent the morning at church in Dallas, Texas, his home state. He was due to attend the Dallas Cowboys home opener against the New York Giants, where he will take part in the ceremonial coin toss with two New York police officers who were at Ground Zero on 9/11. Sunday marks the start of the NFL season in the United States, and those attending the American football games and watching on television will watch video messages from both Obama and Bush.

Toll from Strikes on Syria's Idlib Jumps to 58
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/The death toll in air strikes on the key northwestern Syrian city of Idlib jumped to 58 late Saturday, a monitoring group said. It was not immediately clear who carried out the raids, which hit a market and several neighborhoods across the city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dead included 13 women and 13 children, but it was not immediately clear how many civilians were among the remaining victims. The monitor said dozens more were wounded in the strikes, warning that the death toll could rise even further. It could not identify who carried out the strikes, but the Syrian government and its ally Russia have regularly conducted raids in Idlib province. "People were shopping before the (Muslim feast of) Eid al-Adha next week, which is why the toll is so high," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

For U.S. and Russia, War in Syria is Mainly in the Air
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/The United States and Russia, two former Cold War foes that have brokered a ceasefire deal for Syria, rely mostly on air raids in their separate military campaigns in the war-wracked country. Here are key points about how these two powers are trying to fulfill their military objectives in Syria, where a bloody civil war has raged since 2011.
Different military objectives
The Russians are backing President Bashar Assad's regime, saying they are fighting "terrorist" groups. But Moscow stands accused of actually bombing rebel groups fighting Assad beyond the Islamic State group and the Fateh al-Sham Front -- previously named al-Nusra Front until it split with al-Qaida. With Russia's support, Damascus has gained ground against the rebels in western Syria. Government forces have also made gains against IS forces, including in Palmyra. U.S.-led coalition forces are meanwhile seeking to help local groups regain territory seized by IS fighters. Until now, these local forces have mostly been Syrian Kurdish militias and their Arab allies. These militias have retaken large chunks of land in northeastern Syria. Coalition warplanes also backed an offensive by Turkey and Arab groups in late August to regain territory along the Turkish-Syrian border.
Russia's presence in Syria 
The Russian military, which has actively backed Assad's regime since September 2015, has a physical foothold in the country, including a naval installation in the western port city of Tartus and Hmeimim Air Base, which houses the S-400 advanced surface-to-air missile system. Russian planes carry out air raids from Hmeimim, as well as from Russia. Moscow has also launched missile attacks from ships in the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas, via submarine and from planes taking off from Iran. There are also Russian forces on the ground, including special forces. In June, Russian lawmakers passed a measure that spoke of 25,000 Russian troops and civilians involved in Syria since Moscow's intervention began there. About two dozen Russian soldiers have been killed in Syria.
U.S. launches attacks from outside Syria
The United States launches some of its attacks from Incirlik Air Base in neighboring Turkey, where it has stationed A-10 Warthog ground attack planes and Reaper drones. It also uses an aircraft carrier and air bases in Jordan and Gulf countries. Washington has deployed a wide variety of planes for its air campaign, from the F-16 fighter plane to the B-1 and B-52 bombers. ...but also deploys special forces - Washington has deployed up to 300 Special Operations Forces in Syria, namely to advise the Arab-Kurd coalition of the Syrian Democratic Forces and to help guide coalition strikes. The CIA also has a clandestine program to assist rebel groups fighting the Assad regime, mostly providing weapons directly to the fighters or indirectly via allied countries.
No U.S. soldier has been killed so far in Syria since the start of the intervention.
- U.S.-Russian military communication
After the start of Russian strikes, the U.S. and Russian militaries set up a communications channel to exchange information on their respective air operations. Washington is quick to point out the effort does not reflect cooperation of any kind. One key objective is to avoid crashes between their aircraft.
Russian strikes killing more civilians /The United States accuses Russia of using unguided bombs, which are more likely to result in civilian deaths, while the Americans use precision-guided munitions to avoid such tragedies. Toll counts by non-governmental groups show that Russian strikes have indeed been far deadlier for civilians than American ones. Russian air strikes have killed nearly 3,000 civilians in Syria since October 2015, according to Britain-based Airwars. That's a higher toll than that caused by the coalition in Iraq and Syria since August 2014 (1,600-2,400 civilian victims).

Iran Welcomes Syria Truce Plan, Calls for 'Comprehensive Monitoring'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/Iran on Sunday welcomed the proposed ceasefire in Syria brokered by Russia and the United States, but said a monitoring system was needed to stop it being exploited by "terrorists.""Iran welcomes any establishment of a ceasefire in Syria and facilitating of access of all people of this country to humanitarian aid," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi. "Given the experience of a few months ago, the ceasefire must be sustainable... and must not be exploited as an opportunity for terrorist groups to revive their power and transfer fighters and weapons," he added, referring to a truce that collapsed earlier this year. "The continuation and sustainability of a ceasefire relies on the creation of a comprehensive monitoring mechanism, in particular control of borders in order to stop the dispatch of fresh terrorists, as well as weapons and financial resources for the terrorists," said Ghasemi. He said Iran, a principle backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has always called for a political solution to the crisis. Ghasemi also called for humanitarian aid to reach all parts of Syria "without discrimination... in particular those areas under the control or siege of terrorist groups where less attention has been paid."The new ceasefire, agreed as part of a landmark deal brokered by Russia and the U.S., was set to begin on Monday. A barrage of air strikes on rebel-held areas in Syria killed scores of people just hours after Assad's government approved the truce deal on Saturday.

Syria Opposition Weighs Truce Deal after Raids Kill Dozens
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/Syria's opposition was weighing whether to take part in a truce brokered by Russia and the United States due to start on Monday, after air strikes killed dozens in rebel-held areas. Brokered after marathon talks by the Russian and U.S. foreign ministers, the ceasefire has been billed as the best chance yet to end Syria's five-year civil war. Key regime ally Iran welcomed the plan on Sunday and called for "comprehensive monitoring" of the truce, particularly along Syria's volatile borders. But even as world powers threw their support behind the agreement, scores were reported dead from a barrage of unidentified raids in two key northern cities in opposition-held territory. At least 62 people, including 13 women and 13 children, were killed in Saturday's bombardment on Idlib city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Sunday. The strikes hit several areas in the rebel-held city, including a market full of shoppers preparing for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins Monday. Britain's special representative for Syria, Gareth Bayley, called the attacks "barbaric.""Bring on the #SyriaCeasefire," he tweeted on Sunday. Fresh bombardment also hit the battleground city of Aleppo on Sunday, the Observatory said, a day after 12 civilians were killed in unidentified raids there. No information on casualties from Sunday's bombardment was immediately available. "We hope there will be a ceasefire so that civilians can get a break. The shelling goes on night and day, there are targeted killings, besieged cities," said Abu Abdullah, who lives in Aleppo's rebel-held east."Civilians have no hope anymore." In a major blow to the opposition, pro-regime forces reimposed a devastating siege on the city's eastern districts last week.
Assad regime approves truce
State news agency SANA on Saturday reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government "approved the agreement."Lebanon's Hizbullah, which has intervened militarily on behalf of Assad, said late Saturday it supported the deal. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Sunday that Tehran, a key Assad supporter, also backed the agreement. But Ghasemi said its success relied on the creation of "a comprehensive monitoring mechanism, in particular control of borders in order to stop the dispatch of fresh terrorists" to Syria. Syria's main opposition group the High Negotiations Committee -- which brings together political dissidents with armed rebel factions -- had yet to formally respond. Leading rebel figure Mohammad Alloush on Sunday said the agreement was "still being studied". HNC member Bassma Kodmani told AFP on Saturday that her group "cautiously welcomed" the deal but was skeptical that Damascus would comply. Ahmad Saoud, head of the U.S.-backed Division 13 rebel group, wrote on Twitter he was "starting to feel that the truce is a military trap to kill us even more." And hardline Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham, which works closely with former al-Qaida affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, said Sunday it was "still discussing the points of the truce." The agreement was reached after talks between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva. It would see fighting and indiscriminate air attacks halt across the country, starting at sundown on Monday for a period of 48 hours, which could then be renewed. To get aid into the battered second city of Aleppo, a "demilitarized zone" would be established around the Castello Road into the city.If the ceasefire holds for one week, the U.S. and Russia could start joint operations against jihadists from the Islamic State group and Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.
Syrians 'have lost faith'
On the ground, residents were split on whether a truce could hold, saying they were exhausted after several rounds of failed ceasefires, most recently in February. "The Syrian people -- whether in areas controlled by the regime or the opposition -- have lost faith in both sides," said Safwan Badawi in east Aleppo. Abu Hasan, who works with a local civil society group, laughed off the ceasefire plan as "a joke." Pro-government Syrian newspaper al-Watan's front page on Sunday said the deal would pave the way for renewed peace talks in Geneva. "More importantly, Washington has finally agreed to joint military action" against jihadist groups, it wrote, as Kerry had been "forced to present a number of compromises to the Russian negotiator." Several attempts at peace negotiations have faltered since Syria's war erupted, with talks earlier this year in Geneva fizzling after the opposition walked away in protest at the humanitarian situation. Damascus resident Taher Ibrahim told AFP he did not expect the new deal to play out any differently than February's tattered truce. "Nobody among the Syrian population accepts this agreement... (the opposition) are all the same and none of them will commit to this truce," he said.

Iran Dismisses U.S. Claims of Navy Harassment in Gulf
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/A senior Iranian military commander on Sunday dismissed claims from Washington that U.S. patrol ships have been harassed by Iranian boats in the Persian Gulf, saying Tehran acted according to international law.
"Iranian boats continue to act based on defined standards and are well aware of the international laws and regulations, so the claims are not only untrue, but stem from their fear of the power of Iran's soldiers," said Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, according to state news agency IRNA. The Pentagon last week said seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fast-attack boats approached the USS Firebolt on September 4 with their machine guns uncovered, though not trained on the Americans. It was at least the fifth incident revealed by the Pentagon in the past month, with U.S. military officials repeatedly criticizing the Iranian military for its behavior in the Gulf.But Jazayeri said the claims were exaggerated. "When Iranian boats pass by them at a distance of a few kilometers, Americans claim that Iranian boats have approached them within a range of one kilometer," he said. "Iran's marine corps will never be stopped by the propaganda of extra-regional enemies and their vassals in the region in guarding the Islamic Republic of Iran's sea borders and economic interests," he added. U.S. navy officials say ships from the two countries interacted more than 300 times in 2015 and more than 250 times in the first half of this year, and claims 10 percent of those encounters were unsafe and unprofessional.

Erdogan Says Turkey Has 'Duty' to Defeat IS
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said Turkey had a duty to defeat the Islamic State extremist group, adding its operation inside Syria was a first step towards this goal. Turkey has sent dozens of tanks and hundreds of troops into Syria, in an unprecedented operation dubbed Euphrates Shield aimed at booting out both IS jihadists and Kurdish militia from the border area.The operation, launched on August 24, came after a string of bloody suicide bombings and rocket attacks inside Turkey blamed on IS. "It is the binding duty in front of our nation to finish off the organization called Daesh (IS) in Syria and ensure it is unable to carry out actions inside our country," Erdogan said in a televised message for the upcoming Eid al-Adha Islamic holiday. "The Euphrates Shield operation is the first step towards this," he added. Erdogan said Turkey was now "much stronger, determined and more dynamic" than before the July 15 coup bid, which the authorities blame on the U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen. He denies the charges. Six Turkish soldiers have been killed so far in rocket attacks in Syria blamed on IS but Erdogan said that the Euphrates Shield would continue and "not one drop" of blood of Turkey's forces would be spilled in vain.Turkey had previously been accused of not doing enough in the fight against IS and its Western partners have applauded the operation. Turkey's operation is also targeting the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Ankara regards as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a 32-year insurrection inside Turkey. This has created strains with Turkey's NATO ally the United States, which works with the YPG on the ground in the fight against IS. Erdogan said the "PKK has no chance of resistance against the power of our state", despite an upsurge in violence that has seen hundreds of members of the security forces killed since a ceasefire ruptured in 2015. "The PKK's Syrian branch -- the PYD-YPG -- awaits the same fate," he added. Erdogan had previously indicated Turkey and the United States have discussed an operation to push IS jihadists out of their de facto capital of Raqa in Syria but there have been no details on the timing or how this would work.

Egypt Frees Three Youths Held over Mocking Video
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/Egypt has released three youths arrested in May over an online video mocking the government, but a fourth member of the group is still in custody, their lawyer said Sunday. The four young men from the group known as Street Children had posted a video on the internet poking fun at the devaluation of the Egyptian pound and the return of two islands to Saudi Arabia. "Three of them -- Mohammed Yehya, Mohammed al-Dessouki and Mohammed Gabr -- have been released" over the past few days, defense lawyer Hazem Salah told AFP on Sunday.
The fourth member of the group, Mohammed Adel, is still in detention but waiting for the completion of the procedure allowing his release, he said. Salah said Yehya, Dessouki and Gabr were freed on condition that they clock in twice a week at their local police station for the next 45 days. He said "the case has not yet been referred to court."The group were arrested in May and remanded in custody, the latest case in a crackdown on voices critical of the authorities. They were accused of "promoting ideas calling for terrorist acts by posting a video on social networks and YouTube," a member of the defense team said after their arrest. They are also suspected of "incitement to take part in demonstrations disturbing the public order" and "inciting mobs to commit hostile actions against state institutions".The case sparked public anger, and in June the New York-based Human Rights Watch group (HRW) urged Egypt to drop legal charges against the four."The investigation appears to be based purely on their satirical videos and violates the right to free speech," the watchdog said. Egypt under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is "losing its legendary sense of humor when it locks up young men for making satirical videos," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa head at HRW. "This kind of blanket repression leaves young people with few outlets to express themselves or joke about their daily hardships."Rights groups accuse Sisi of running an ultra-authoritarian and repressive regime since he deposed his democratically elected Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Haftar's Forces Seize Key Libya Oil Terminals
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/Forces loyal to a Libyan general on Sunday said they had seized two key oil export terminals as a U.N.-backed unity government struggles to assert its authority over the oil-rich country.If confirmed, the seizure of the ports would deal a major blow to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), which had hoped to rely on oil exports for its revenues.General Khalifa Haftar's forces took control of the al-Sidra and Ras Lanuf ports, the LANA news agency loyal to a rival authority reported a spokesman as saying. "Clashes are now ongoing near the Zuwaytina port" further east in the same oil-rich area seen as key to the country's economy, Colonel Ahmad Mesmari said. Haftar, one of the most powerful military figures in Libya, has refused to endorse the GNA and remains loyal to the authority based in the east of the country. U.N. Libya envoy Martin Kobler on Twitter said he was worried about the reported fighting in Libya's so-called "oil crescent." "Oil belongs to ALL Libyans," he tweeted. "Conflicts can only be solved through dialogue, not violence. Urge all parties to sit 2gether."Haftar's forces took the Ras Lanuf and al-Sidra terminals -- together capable of handling 700,000 barrels of oil per day -- from installation guards loyal to the GNA. In late July, the oil installation guards announced the reopening of the two ports after an agreement with the unity government to resume oil exports. The terminals had been closed for months following attacks in January by the jihadist Islamic State group, who took advantage of turmoil after the 2011 uprising to gain a foothold in the country. In recent weeks, pro-GNA forces have been pressing to expel the last IS jihadists from what was their North African stronghold of Sirte. The jihadists took over the city -- some 180 kilometers (110 miles) to the east of the oil terminals -- in June last year. Libya has been in chaos since the revolt that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, with rival authorities and militias vying for control of the country. A U.N.-brokered deal in December led to the GNA starting to work in Tripoli, but it has since struggled to assert its authority over the country.Oil is Libya's main natural resource with reserves estimated at 48 billion barrels, the largest in Africa. But the country's production has plummeted from 1.5 million bpd to just 300,000 bpd since 2010. Libya's oil sector is managed by the National Oil Company which is split into two rival branches, one allied to the GNA and the other to the authority in the east.

Six Soldiers Killed in Yemen Suicide Bombing
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 11/16/Six soldiers were killed on Sunday in a suicide bombing in a part of southern Yemen where jihadist groups are active, a security official said. A further 18 soldiers were wounded when the bomber drove an explosives-laden car into an army position in Abyan province, said the official. Jihadist groups including Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State group have carried out numerous attacks in the region. Yemen's army is simultaneously fighting Huthi rebels who control the northern capital Sanaa and jihadist groups in the south. A Saudi-led Arab military coalition that backs the Yemeni government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has also turned its sights on AQAP, targeting it with air strikes.The United States has carried out numerous drone strikes against AQAP operatives in Yemen. AQAP and IS have escalated their attacks in recent months, notably in the southern port city of Aden.That is despite efforts by government forces to stabilize urban areas they have controlled since ousting Huthi forces from Aden last year. A suicide car bombing targeting young army recruits in Aden killed some 71 people on August 29. It was claimed by IS. The Saudi-led coalition launched its military campaign in March 2015 as Huthi rebels closed in on Hadi in his refuge in Aden, forcing him into exile. Backed by the air power and ground support of the coalition, government forces pushed the rebels out of five southern provinces last summer. The conflict in Yemen has left 6,600 people dead since the Saudi-led intervention, according to the United Nations.
 

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on September 11-12/16

Germany: Beginning of the End of the Merkel Era?
Soeren Kern/ Gatestone Institute/September 11/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8899/germany-merkel-era
The anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged ahead of Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in elections in her home state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
The election was widely seen as a referendum on Merkel's open-door migration policy and her decision to allow more than one million migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to enter Germany in 2015.
Merkel rejected any course correction on migration policy: "I am very unsatisfied with the outcome of the election. Obviously it has something to do with the refugee question. I think the decisions that were made were correct." She went on to blame German voters for failing to appreciate her government's "problem-solving abilities".
Many of the AfD's positions were once held, but later abandoned, by the Merkel's CDU.
A September 1 poll showed Merkel's popularity rating has plunged to 45%, a five-year low. More than half (51%) of those surveyed said it would "not be good" if Merkel ran for another term in 2017.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a major blow on September 4 when the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged ahead of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in elections in her home state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
With 20.8% of the vote, the AfD came in second place behind the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) (30.6%). Merkel's CDU came in third place, with 19% of the vote, the worst result it has ever had in Meck-Pomm, as the state is called for short.
The election in Meck-Pomm was widely seen as a referendum on Merkel's open-door migration policy and her decision to allow more than one million migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to enter Germany in 2015. The migrant influx has resulted in a notable increase in crime in the country. The growing sense of insecurity has been exacerbated by a series of attacks this summer by Muslim migrants in which ten people were killed and dozens more were injured.
The CDU debacle in Meck-Pomm yields two main conclusions: 1) Merkel's hopes of winning — or even running — for a fourth term in general elections in 2017 are now in doubt; and 2) the AfD is a force to be reckoned with in German politics. It can longer be simply dismissed as a "fringe party."
Observers from across the political spectrum seem to agree that the election in Meck-Pomm marks a turning point for Merkel, who has been head of the CDU since 2000 and chancellor since November 2005. Some say her political career may effectively be over if the CDU suffers heavy losses to the AfD in state elections in Berlin on September 18.
"This was a dark day for Merkel," said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at the University of Cologne. "Everyone knows she lost this election. Her district in parliament is there, she campaigned there, and refugees are her issue."
The CDU's secretary general, Peter Tauber, agreed: "The strong performance of AfD is bitter for many, for everyone in our party. A sizeable number of people wanted to voice their displeasure and to protest. And we saw that particularly in discussions about refugees."
The leader of the AfD, Frauke Petry, said: "This is a blow for Merkel, not only in Berlin but also in her home state. The voters made a clear statement against Merkel's disastrous immigration policies. This put her in her place."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) suffered a major blow on September 4 when the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany, led by Frauke Petry (right), surged ahead of her Christian Democratic Union in elections in her home state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
Local AfD leader Leif-Erik Holm told supporters: "We are writing history. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of Angela Merkel's chancellorship. This must be our goal."
Gero Neugebauer, a professor of political scientist at Berlin's Free University, said:
"People will see this defeat as the start of the 'Kanzlerdämmerung' (twilight of the chancellor). If a lot of CDU members start seeing this defeat as Merkel's fault, and members of parliament start seeing her as a danger for the party and their own jobs next year, the whole situation could escalate out of control. If the AfD defeats the CDU again in Berlin in two weeks, things could get ugly fast."
In an interview with Der Spiegel, Ralf Stegner, the vice president of the SPD, said the CDU was in a "state of panic" over the rise of the AfD and that Merkel has become a liability to her party:
"Merkel has clearly passed her zenith. It is a disaster for her that the CDU has fallen to third place with under 20% in her own state. This is a serious crisis for the CDU and it bears the names of Merkel and Seehofer. Some people now believe that Merkel no longer leads the debate with Seehofer about her 2017 candidacy. Throughout its history, the CDU has been merciless to its chancellors if there was the impression that the party was facing a massive loss of votes."
Stegner was referring to an August 27 report by Der Spiegel which said that Merkel has postponed an announcement about her candidacy due to opposition from the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), which has been increasingly vocal in its criticism of her migration policy:
"Angela Merkel will delay until the spring of 2017 her decision whether to run for another term as chancellor of the CDU in the general election next year. The delay was necessary because only then will CSU chief Horst Seehofer decide whether his party will support Merkel again, according to CDU insiders. This is the second time that Merkel has had to postpone the announcement of her plans.
"Actually, her decision should have been announced a long time ago. The original plan was that Merkel would declare her intentions as early as last spring. But then the refugee crisis and the fierce dispute with the CSU got in the way. The Chancellor decided to wait until this fall.
"This time the delay is more problematic for Merkel. In December, the CDU party congress takes place in Essen, where Merkel wants to be elected as party chairman for another two years.
"But she can only be party chairman if she is a candidate in the general election. The party congress should send a signal that the CDU fully supports the Chancellor. This will not work if the party does not know if Merkel wants to continue.
"From Merkel's perspective, the alternative would be more risky: If she announces her candidacy for chancellor without Seehofer's support, it could hurt her politically."
In a September 6 interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, CSU leader Horst Seehofer, said the "disastrous" election outcome in Meck-Pomm was a direct consequence Merkel's migration policy. He added that Merkel had ignored "multiple prompts for a course correction" and that her refusal to budge threatens the future of the CDU. "Confidence in the government is dwindling rapidly," he warned. "People do not understand how policy is made in Germany."
CSU Secretary General Andreas Scheuer reiterated the call for Merkel to change course: "We need a cap on refugees, faster deportations and better integration."
Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Söder agreed: "The result must be a wake-up call for the CDU. The mood of the people can no longer be ignored. A change of course is needed in Berlin."
Merkel remains defiant. A day after the debacle in Meck-Pomm, Merkel rejected any course correction on migration policy:
"I am very unsatisfied with the outcome of the election. Obviously it has something to do with the refugee question. I think the decisions that were made were correct."
She went on to blame German voters for failing to appreciate her government's "problem-solving abilities" (Lösungskompetenz).
On September 7, in a fiery address to the German parliament, Merkel said the AfD's anti-immigration stance posed a threat to Germany. "All of us should realize the AfD is a challenge not only for the Christian Democrats... they are a challenge for everyone in this house." She may also have indicated that she intends to seek another term as chancellor when she said: "There is still a lot of work to be done."
Alternative for Germany (AfD)
In more ways than one, Angela Merkel is directly responsible for the rise of the AfD. In her more than ten years as chancellor, she has moved the CDU to the left on so many key issues that the party is no longer conservative in any meaningful sense of the word.
Under Merkel, the CDU's policies on nuclear energy have become essentially identical to those of the Green Party. Merkel has also adopted many of the social policies of the SPD. In terms the open-door migration policy, the CDU's position is virtually indistinguishable from both the SPD and the Greens. This has created an opening for the AfD.
Launched in 2013, the AfD is now present in nine of Germany's 16 state parliaments. It is poised to enter the federal parliament for the first time in 2017. According to an Insa poll cited by Bild on September 5, if the national election were held today, the AfD would win 15% of the vote, making it the third-largest party in Germany.
The Insa poll also found that in the Meck-Pomm election, the AfD siphoned off more than 55,000 votes from other parties. More than 22,000 CDU voters cast their ballots for the AfD; 15,000 SPD voters voted for the AfD; and more than 22,000 voters affiliated with other parties gave their votes to the AfD.
The party was originally founded to protest the German government's handling of the eurozone crisis. Its founding manifesto stated:
"The Federal Republic of Germany is facing the most serious crisis in its history. The euro currency area has proved to be unworkable. Southern European countries are sliding into poverty under the competitive pressure of the euro. Entire states are on the verge of default.
"Hundreds of billions of euros have already been pledged by the federal government. An end to this policy is not in sight. This is excessive and irresponsible. We, our children and our grandchildren will have to pay for this with taxes, stagnation and inflation. At the same time, this is eroding our democracy. In this situation, the CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP and the Greens know only one answer: Keep it up!"
In April 2013, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung revealed that CDU insiders viewed the rise of the AfD as "the end of Merkel's chancellorship." A strategy was set in place to conduct opposition research and paint the AfD as a "national conservative" party driven by proponents of "market radicalism."
The AfD — similar in many ways to the upstart Tea Party movement in the United States — has suffered self-inflicted wounds as a result of political infighting and internal power struggles. Establishment politicians and the mainstream media have repeatedly seized on outrageous comments made by some within the party to portray it as a "far right" party that poses a threat to German values.
In an interview with the Guardian, Frauke Petry, the AfD leader, said the party has sometimes felt forced to use outspoken language to get its message across. She said:
"Well, sometimes, I don't deny, we think we have to use provocative arguments in order to be heard. Because we tried very hard at the beginning of 2013 to be heard with lots of very sensible thinking and arguments, and we simply couldn't get through to anyone. So what do you do? You put forward a provocative argument, and sometimes you are given the chance to explain what you meant. I know it's a difficult choice to make but sometimes, for us, it feels like the only way."
Petry also said the AfD is not opposed to "real refugees," but it is against the hundreds of thousands of economic migrants who are posing as refugees. "There is enough space for refugees in Germany, but the problem is that we don't distinguish anymore between migrants and asylum seekers," she said.
A comprehensive party manifesto published in May 2016 called for: limited government; term limits; campaign finance reform; reducing the power of political parties; direct elections for chancellor; devolving power to federal states; a referendum on the euro; reforming the United Nations; a strong military based on the NATO alliance; reintroducing conscription; stronger police enforcement; justice reform; gun rights; protecting German borders; labor market reform; eliminating burdensome bureaucracy; promoting the traditional family; encouraging Germans to have more children rather than resorting to mass migration to fix its demographic problems; protecting the rights of the unborn; promoting German culture rather than multiculturalism; promoting the German language as the basis for German identity and for integration; banning the foreign financing of mosques; eliminating government subsidies for radio and television; and so on. Many of the AfD's positions were once held, but later abandoned, by the CDU.
Meanwhile, a September 1 poll for ARD television showed Merkel's popularity rating has plunged to 45%, a five-year low, and down from a high of 67% one year ago. More than half (51%) of those surveyed said it would "not be good" if Merkel ran for another term in 2017. If national elections were held today, the CDU would win just 33%, down from 42% one year ago.
The poll showed one factor in Merkel's favor: the lack of a political rival strong enough to challenge her.
**Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Western Publishers Submit to Islam
Giulio Meotti/ Gatestone Institute/September 11/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8907/islam-publishers-censorship
For criticizing Islam, Hamed Abdel-Samad lives under police protection in Germany and, as with Rushdie, a fatwa hangs over him. After the fatwa come the insults: being censored by a free publishing house. This is what the Soviets did to destroy writers: destroy their books.
At a time when dozens of novelists, journalists and scholars are facing Islamists' threats, it is unforgivable that Western publishers not only agree to bow down, but are often the first to capitulate.
A Paris court convicted Renaud Camus for "Islamophobia" (a fine of 4,000 euros) for a speech he gave in 2010, in which he spoke of the replacement of the French people under the Trojan horse of multiculturalism. Another writer, Richard Millet, was fired last March by Gallimard publishing house for his ideas on multiculturalism.
Not only did Rushdie's publishers capitulate; other publishers also decided to break rank and return to do business with Tehran. Oxford University Press decided to take part in the Tehran Book Fair along with two American publishers, McGraw-Hill and John Wiley. Those publishers chose to respond to murderous censorship with surrender.
It is as if at the time of the Nazis' book-burnings, Western publishers had not only stood silent, but had also invited a German delegation to Paris and New York.
When Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses came out in 1989, Viking Penguin, the British and American publisher of the novel, was subjected to daily Islamist harassment. As Daniel Pipes wrote, the London office resembled "an armed camp," with police protection, metal detectors and escorts for visitors. In Viking's New York offices, dogs sniffed packages and the place was designated a "sensitive location". Many bookshops were attacked and many even refused to sell the book. Viking spent about $3 million on security measures in 1989, the fatal year for Western freedom of expression.
Nonetheless, Viking never flinched. It was a miracle that the novel finally came out. Other publishers, however, faltered. Since then, the situation has only gotten worse. Most Western publishers are now faltering. That is the meaning of the new Hamed Abdel-Samad affair.
The Muslim Brotherhood gave Abdel-Samad all that an Egyptian boy could wish for: spirituality, camaraderie, companionship, a purpose. In Giza, Hamed Samad became part of the Brotherhood. His father had taught him the Koran; the Brotherhood explained him how to translate these teachings into practice.
Abdel-Samad repudiated them after one day in the desert. The Brothers had given all the new militants an orange after they had walked under the sun for hours. They were ordered to peel it. Then the Brotherhood asked them to bury the fruit in the sand, and to eat the peel. The next day, Abdel-Samad left the organization. It was the humiliation needed to turn a human being into a terrorist.
Abdel-Samad today is 46 years old and lives in Munich, Germany, where he married a Danish girl and works for the Institute of Jewish History and Culture at the University of Munich. In his native Egyptian village, his first book caused an uproar. Some Muslims wanted to burn it.
Abdel-Samad's recent book, Der Islamische Faschismus: Eine Analyse, has just been burned at the stake not in Cairo by Islamists, but in France by some of the self-righteous French.
The book is a bestseller in Germany, where it has been published by the well-known publisher, Droemer Knaur. An English translation has been published in the U.S. by Prometheus Books, under the title Islamic Fascism. Two years ago, the French publisher, Piranha, acquired the rights to translate Abdel-Samad's book about "Islamic Fascism" into French. A publication date was even posted on Amazon: September 16. But at the last moment, the publisher stopped its release. Jean-Marc Loubet, head of the publishing house, announced to Abdel-Samad's agent that the publication of his book is now unthinkable in France, not only for security reasons, but also because it would reinforce the "extreme right".
For criticizing Islam, Abdel-Samad lives under police protection in Germany and, as with Rushdie, a fatwa hangs over him. After the fatwa come the insults: being censored by a free publishing house. This is what the Soviets did to destroy writers: destroy his books.
is not new. At a time when dozens of novelists, journalists and scholars are facing Islamists' threats, it is unforgivable that Western publishers not only agree to bow down, but are often the first to capitulate.
For criticizing Islam, Hamed Abdel-Samad lives under police protection in Germany and, as with Rushdie, a fatwa hangs over him. After the fatwa come the insults: being censored by a free publishing house.
In France, for criticizing Islam in a column titled "We refuse to change civilization" for the daily newspaper, Le Monde, the famous writer, Renaud Camus, lost his publisher, Fayard.
Before he suddenly became "unpopular" in the Paris's literary establishment, Renaud Camus had been friends with Louis Aragon, the famous Communist poet and founder of surrealism, and was close joining "the immortals" of the French Academy. Roland Barthes, the star of the Collège de France, had written the preface to Renaud Camus' most famous novel, Tricks, the cult-classic book of gay culture.
Then a Paris court convicted Camus for "Islamophobia" (a fine of 4,000 euros), for a speech he gave on December 18, 2010, in which he spoke of "Grand Remplacement", the replacement of the French people under the Trojan horse of multiculturalism. It was then that Camus became persona non grata in France.
The Jewel of Medina, a novel by the American writer Sherry Jones about the life of the third wife of Muhammad, was first purchased and then scrapped by the powerful publisher Random House, which had already paid her an advance and launched an ambitious promotional campaign. Sherry Jones's new publisher, Gibson Square, was then firebombed by Islamists in London.
Then there was Yale University Press, which published a book by Jytte Klausen, "The Cartoons That Shook the World", on the history of the controversial "Mohammad cartoons" that were published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005, and crisis that followed. But Yale University Press published the book without the cartoons, and without any other images of the Muslim prophet Mohammad that were to be included.
"The capitulation of Yale University Press to threats that hadn't even been made yet is the latest and perhaps the worst episode in the steady surrender to religious extremism -- particularly Muslim religious extremism -- that is spreading across our culture," commented the late Christopher Hitchens. Yale was possibly hoping to get in line for the same $20 million donation from Saudi Arabia's Prince Al-Wwaleed bin Talal that he had just bestowed upon George Washington University and Harvard.
In Germany, Gabriele Brinkmann, a popular novelist, was also suddenly left without a publisher. According to her publisher, Droste, the novel Wem Ehre Geburt ("To Whom Honor Gives Birth") could be judged as "insulting to Muslims" and expose the publisher to intimidation. Brinkmann was asked to censor some passages; she refused and lost the publishing house.
This same cowardice and capitulation now pervades the entire publishing industry. Last year, Italy's most prestigious book fair in Turin chose (then shelved) Saudi Arabia as its guest of honor, despite the many writers and bloggers who are imprisoned in the Islamic kingdom. Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and a 10-year sentence, and a $260,000 fine.
Many Western publishers are now also "rejecting works by Israeli authors", according Time.com, despite their political views.
It was after Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses that many Western publishing houses first bowed to intimidation. Christian Bourgois, a French publishing house, refused to publish The Satanic Verses after having bought the rights, as did the German publisher, Kiepenheuer, who apparently said he regretted having acquired the rights to the book and chose to sell them to a consortium of fifty publishers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, gathered under the name "UN-Charta Artikel 19."
Not only did Rushdie's publishers capitulate; other publishers also decided to break ranks and return to do business with Tehran. Oxford University Press decided to take part in the Tehran Book Fair, along with two American publishers, McGraw-Hill and John Wiley, despite the request of Rushdie's publisher, Viking Penguin, to boycott the Iranian event. Those publishers chose to respond to murderous censorship with surrender, willing to sacrifice freedom of expression on the altar of business as usual: selling books was more important than solidarity with threatened colleagues.
It is as if at the time of the Nazis' book-burnings, Western publishers had not only stood silent, but had also invited a German delegation to Paris and New York. Is it so unimaginable today?
**Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and author.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Of ignorance, extremism and religious institutions
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/September 11/16
I was never a critic of the Grozny conference and I never cared to comment on it because it’s just one of the dozens of government seminars held every year. It’s also the least important because it is sponsored by Chechnya’s Kremlin-backed president who selected participants from a group of “Muslim scholars.”
I think if you want to fight extremism, you should not include it in the dialogue process and you must not be biased toward any religious group.
After reading Ahmad Adnan’s article in the London-based Al-Arab newspaper, I became interested in engaging in the discussion as he transformed it into a pure political controversy. The best that was written on the topic was by Dr Radwan al-Sayyid in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Truth be told, no one was going to hear about the conference except for the people of Chechnya who watch the government-owned television station. However, people across the world heard about it due to the outcry of those excluded from Salafist and Brotherhood groups. Those who oppose the conference are the same as those being objected to as they also hold conferences without inviting people they disagree with.
I disagree with Adnan’s statement that the point of reference for the world’s Sunnis is Al-Azhar. There are two reasons behind it, one historical and another that’s related to political theology. In principle, traditional Salafism – such as the brand practiced in Saudi Arabia - leaves politics to politicians
First of all, the Sunnis do not have a reference – unlike the Shiites who, like the Catholic Church, have a “divinely impeccable reference.” Sunnis neither believe in the singularity of the reference nor in its infallibility. Therefore, Al-Azhar is a Sunni religious school of great significance in the Muslim world, however, neither its provisions nor other institutions’ provisions are considered a reference for the roughly 1 billion Muslim Sunnis across the world. At the same time, I agree with him that the religious political reference for Sunnis is Saudi Arabia considering the status of the two holy mosques and the government’s interest in them. Al-Azhar used to be a reference during certain historical eras. This is especially so when it was representative of the Ottomans as they governed the region, including the land of Hijaz, and considered religion to be the business of the Sultanate.
It wasn’t the Salafists of Saudi Arabia who minimized the role of Al-Azhar on the political front – as Adnan hints – it was the Egyptian government itself. Late President Gamal Abdel Nasser diminished the role of all state religious institutions in favor of the socialist ideology.
Controversy of terrorism
Adnan took things further when he decisively commented on the controversy of terrorism and considered it a by-product of Salafists. No one denies that extremism is a problem and that terrorism and certain ideologies pose a threat, however, limiting it to one group falsifies our current history. In principle, traditional Salafism – such as the brand practiced in Saudi Arabia - leaves politics to politicians and abstains from involving religious scholars in politics as they consider it the responsibility of the guardian, i.e. the ruler, who will be held accountable before God on doomsday.
However, what is happening is that Salafist rhetoric was mocked and came under pressure. This happened as a result of its mingling with other Sunni groups, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, which is known to accuse its critics of infidelity. The rhetoric then changed and a comprehensive theory of political governance was established.
This theory is based on the concept of the religious state that resembles the “Twelvers” Shiite ideology which relies on one point of reference. It should be said that the Muslim Brotherhood now has its own supreme guide too. The Salafists are a socially simple and politically naive group but the Muslim Brotherhood is a politicized group with an eye on power. The path of violence we have witnessed so far is due to these groups which traditional Salafism exonerated itself from a long time ago. The names of Salafist groups tend to be similar but, for example, Salafist Jihadism has nothing to do traditional Salafism.
When an extremist man like Ali Benhadj in Algeria appears and gives rise to a broad identity of Ahl al-Sunna and Al-Gamaa, he included all the Sunnis. However, we know that Benhadj is an extremist man like Saudi Arabia's Osama bin Laden and Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri. All three men have nothing to do with traditional Salafism and are ideologically closer to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Eliminating others
The bright writer elected Al-Azhar as a reference because he thinks the Salafists of Saudi Arabia are “takfirists” who eliminate others. He himself eliminated them when he wrote that they are not Sunnis and uphold a different doctrine. The writer eliminated millions of Muslims because some of their statements accused Sufism of infidelity or adopted proposals that eliminate others. He’s right that some Salafists, including some prominent scholars in Saudi Arabia and other countries, are “takfirists” and they must be confronted. However, it is wrong to generalize as such. Limiting the problem to Salafists and the Saudis does not solve the issues we are all facing today. We are against extremism and against accusing others of infidelity and against enhancing the role of clerics in society and the state. In Al-Azhar too there are scholars who issued fatwas (religious edicts) inciting to murder and accusing others of infidelity. These are not Salafists and are not Saudis. Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmad Karimah, who leads the campaign rejecting Salafists, is a takfirist. He described Saudis and Emiratis in general as aggressors and said their deceased men will go to hell.
Another prominent Al-Azhar cleric accused all Salafists of infidelity and said that the use of hashish and opium does not invalidate ablutions! Al-Azhar’s clerics espouse provisions that are as odd as those issued by extremist Salafists. They approved of Sheikh Ali Youssef divorcing his wife under the excuse of both having different lineages and one of their clerics even allowed adults to breastfeed!
To conclude this strange comparison between these two perspectives, do you know that Al-Azhar clerics used to accuse those who attain a foreign nationality of infidelity?
Ignorance and extremism fall in the same category. They are not characteristics that are exclusive to Salafists or Ash’aris, or to Sunnis or Shiites or Muslims and others.
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Sept. 11, 2016.

15 years after 9/11: Islamophobia countered by Muslims gaining ground
Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/September 11/16
Saved by the calendar, many Muslims in the United States breathed a sigh of relief that Eid al-Adha did not fall on the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and will instead be celebrated tomorrow. This sense of relief is a clue of how mindful Muslim-Americans have become of their identity and minority status in the aftermath of 9/11. More so today, it is a subtle response to the charged rhetoric against Muslims across Europe and the United States heard from the likes of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage while being fueled by the brutality of ISIS, a terror organization hiding behind the banner of Islam. However, and since the horror of 9/11, many Muslim Americans have come a long way in being more vocal participants in the political debate and as a critical voice to US inclusivity and progress.
Islamophobia on the rise
Fifteen years after 9/11, Muslim Americans’ struggle with hate crimes and discrimination has been an uphill climb. An ABC poll conducted in October 2001 after the attacks, found that 47 percent had a favorable view of Islam compared to 39 percent expressing negative views. These numbers have dramatically changed reaching a high of 61 percent with an unfavorable view according to a Sadat Chair poll conducted last November.
On the ground, this change in perceiving Islam has made American Muslims a more vulnerable target for hate crimes over. According to the FBI records, an annual average of 100-150 hate crimes targeted the Muslim community annually between 2001-2014, compared to 20 or 30 prior to 2001. This year these numbers have continued to spike reaching an average of 180 hate crimes between March 2015 and March 2016, according to a report by Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
The shooting of a Muslim taxi driver in New York, the slaying of three Muslim students in North Carolina, a Muslim woman being called “a worthless piece of Muslim trash” in an affluent DC suburb, the vandalizing of mosques or a pig's head being left at a Philadelphia mosque all depict a harsher reality for Muslim Americans, accounting to 3.3 million of the US population (one percent).
Trumpism and political expediency
While the nominee for the Republican party Donald Trump boasts about having “a lot of friends that are Muslim,” his rhetoric since the beginning of his campaign last year has played directly into the increasing hostility against Muslim Americans.
Whether it’s his false accusation of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey after the 9/11 attacks, or his call for a travel ban on Muslims, or the defaming of a Goldstar family, Trump has not spared an opportunity to spew prejudice and hate against the community.
Many Muslims in the United States breathed a sigh of relief that Eid al-Adha did not fall on the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and will instead be celebrated tomorrow. For Trump, his statements have an immediate political expediency to rally his base of supporters, two-thirds of whom think US President Barack Obama is a Muslim and another 69 percent who agree with his Muslim ban. But political expediency aside, Trump’s rhetoric is a threat of its own to US national security and plays right into the hands of the same terrorists who were behind 9/11.
It was George W. Bush’s visit to a mosque in DC five days after 9/11 that assured the Muslim community and helped unify the country against an enemy that killed more Muslims than any other religion.
More vocal Muslim community
The aftermath of 9/11 has also brought forth a more vocal and engaged Muslim community. More visibility in organizing voter registration and seeking public offices was seen after the attacks. The first Muslim American to enter Congress, Keith Ellison, was elected in 2006. Ibtihaj Muhammad became the first American athlete to wear the hijab at the Olympics and just last week Obama appointed the first Muslim US Federal Judge. While Europe and the United Kingdom are on a rough path when it comes to issues of civil rights and integration of their Muslim communities, the United States is far ahead in protecting those rights, and avoiding the marginalization of the community. There is no burqa or burkini ban in the United States and the Supreme Court ruled last year in favor of a Muslim woman, refused a job because of her hijab at Abercrombie & Fitch.
The terror that hit New York on 9/11 was aimed at making the United States the enemy of Islam. A goal that is bound to fail, given the Muslim community’s own journey in the United States and the core of the US constitution, standing tall against all forms of extremism.

The different reasons why Americans love Iran
Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya/September 11/16
The US State Department has denied a report that was published last week by an esteemed international institute. The report stated that there was a secret agreement allowing Iran to quietly work on its nuclear project. Who would believe that? Iran has violated the agreement that was signed last year with major powers. The agreement had stated that Iran would freeze its nuclear program “so that the world would be safer,” as announced by US President Barack Obama. Iran was not subjected to any sanctions although it has launched long-range missiles, violated human rights inside and outside the country’s borders, made the execution of political activists easier than committing an abortion in Texas and sent tens of thousands of men from its militia and Revolutionary Guard beyond its borders. Despite all that, there are still European ministers visiting Iran and businessmen rediscovering Tehran and its antique hotels. The Iranian oil industry regained its power. Tehran is about to open branches of three of its banks in Germany and 400 million dollars in cash was shipped from Washington to confirm the “lifting [of] sanctions” and to release four hostages. The latter was first denied by Washington but later confirmed. This is why we should not believe Washington when it denies that it disregarded the violations of Iran when it exceeded the amount of enriched uranium stipulated in the agreement, as the Institute for Science and International Security (ironically, its English acronym is ISIS) quoted officials involved in the 5+1 negotiations as saying. So, what is the reason behind this fondness of the US toward Iran and its negligence regarding Iranian activities? What is the reason behind the keenness of the US administration to bring Tehran back into the international community, although Iran has not changed and does not plan to do so? I think that there are four reasons, all of which fall within Saudi Arabia’s and Sunnis' global concerns (unfortunately it is time to surrender to this kind of talk). When reviewing the policies that helped Iran achieve these successes and simultaneously retain its fundamentalist hostile project, we notice that these same policies criticize Riyadh since September 11 for every issue, small and big. The four reasons are: First, Iran has a project; secondly it has important bargaining chips; thirdly, Iran and its allies are all united; and lastly, the US has a problem with “the Sunni world.”
The project
The world admires those who have a clear project and those who work toward and fight for it, even if it is an antagonist. This sums up the Western position toward Iran. The West criticizes Iran but still accepted its project and included it in their vision for the region. The West considers the Syrian people’s revolution, which is a clear and undeniable issue, as a mere “Saudi-Iranian conflict” that must be solved by listening to both sides and fulfilling their interests, namely the Iranians who sent tens of thousands of their men to fight in Syria. The Syrians issue, grievance and aspiration for freedom vanished although the majority in Syria wanted the revolution because of their ruler, who is clinging to power, is a dictator who is struggling against Western and American values. They replaced the Syrians’ misery with regional stability and the need to encourage Saudis and Iranians to conduct direct dialogue that would benefit both the parties, in order to reach a peaceful solution in Syria. There are also long articles tackling the Sunni-Shiite conflict and the 1000-year-conflict between the two. Such expressions show clear partiality toward Iran that must be treated as a war criminal in Syria, not a party that should be heard and spoken with. We need to remind the Americans that our Middle East is not the American west. If we want them to listen to us, we will need a project that is similar to the Iranian project.
For instance, the US has acknowledged Iran’s role in Iraq despite the historical sensitivity between the two and despite being fully aware of the cruelty of popular mobilization and not abiding by any rules of engagement, even American ones. The US also knows about their sectarian practices and violations of the customs of war whenever they enter a Sunni city or village. However, when the US took a deeper look at Iran, it was only able to see the Iranian project. Therefore, the US decided to work on solving this issue. This proves the old rule in the American West: those with weapons have a more powerful alibi. We need to remind the Americans that our Middle East is not the American west. If we want them to listen to us, we will need a project that is similar to the Iranian project.
Negotiating several papers
The Iranians have learnt this tactic from the Israelis who occupy and then negotiate. They build a colony and then negotiate, they negotiate and then sign an agreement, then they again negotiate on the execution of the agreement. Iran is doing the same. It has two cards: the nuclear project and the expansion project. Iran freezes the former to work on the latter, then exploits the second to serve the first. What proves the above-mentioned details is the data that was revealed by Jay Solomon of the Wall Street Journal, claiming that he has heard directly from American and Iranian officials involved in the negotiations in Oman at the time when chemical weapons were used by the Syrian regime against its own people in August 2013. He says that they exchanged letters stating that negotiations could not go further if Obama decided to bomb Iran’s ally! The negotiations regarding the nuclear agreement were a strong card used by the Iranians at the right time to save Bashar al-Assad. So Obama surrendered to the Iranians without taking into consideration the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who would be killed after that. He didn’t even take into consideration the American values that he supposedly commits to.
Consequently, the Iranians can exploit the Syrian card, the Iraqi, Yemeni and Lebanese cards as well as their compromises (or what look like compromises), to get exemptions on their nuclear program. The Institute for Science and International Security report that was mentioned above stated that the nuclear program is still being carried on quietly, all they did was turn some lights off and close some facilities while keeping others operational. When they resume work with all their energy in nine years, and they are not far, they will be fully ready to acquire the bomb and their country will no longer be considered a rejected state. It will have become the economic partner of the United States and Europe and it will be taken into account.
What cards can we use to act like the Iranians?
One voice: When US Secretary of State John Kerry meets his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Zarif in Geneva to discuss Syrian and Iraqi matters then goes on to Baghdad, he will most likely hear the same answers and will compare them with the confidential reports that he got from the CIA in Beirut, Damascus or Sanaa. He will find similarities, if not the exact same opinions, he will like the clarity, even if he does not like the content.
On the other hand, he will start a tour from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi then Doha, Ankara and Amman, where the US is supposed to be in the anti-Iran camp. He will ask them about Syria and Iraq. However, he will certainly not hear identical positions and he may also hear inconsistencies. This is the reason behind the recent rapprochement between the US and Iran. The solution lies in unifying our positions. The above-mentioned capitals should work in the same direction, at least regarding the issue of dealing with Iran. This is why the “Islamic alliance” that was launched in Riyadh last year spread positivity and optimism in most of the countries concerned with the confrontation. Nevertheless, media coverage in these countries will reveal doubtfulness and accusations that eradicated this optimism.
American allergy
The last and fourth reason will be debatable. I believe that there is an American allergy toward Sunni Islam. The US was unable to recover after the September 11 attacks. This is obvious in the speeches of presidential candidates, in media coverage and in Congress. The problem of Sunni Islam lies in an outraged community within the Sunnis that is even attacking Islamic society as well as the West. The US politicians insist on mixing between the Sunni majority and the outraged minority; they either do that out of ignorance or intentionally. We can see that in Cologne in Germany, where a number of Syrians are accused of supporting Ahrar al-Sham, a key faction in the ongoing resistance in Syria against Bashar al-Assad. Germany urged researchers to testify that Ahrar al-Sham is a terrorist movement, some of them have already done so! This story is a clear explanation of this negative attitude, which makes the Americans take harsh positions against all Islamic factions in Syria while disregarding the factions of Abbas, Nujaba, Houthis, Afghan mercenaries and Badr and before them Hezbollah. Their terrorist practices do not abide by any law and custom, yet, the US is convinced that they do not pose any threat, even if they shout “death to America” as the Houthis are doing. Kerry will then ask that they be included in the national government as a solution in Yemen!What is the solution for this? I guess that time will tell. What is more important now is to work on the first three reasons: we should have a clear project, one voice and bargain chips. At that point, the fourth reason will be resolved as we may no longer care about the US’ point of view because only women will cry for their lost love.
**This article was first published in al-Hayat on Sept. 10, 2016.

Dennis Ross’ testimony
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/September 11/16
In an op-ed about Saudi Arabia published earlier this month in the Washington Post, Dennis Ross, the famous American diplomat and international expert, wrote: “I came away feeling hopeful about the kingdom’s future. In fact, the Saudi Arabia I just visited seemed like a different country from the one I’ve been visiting since 1991. There is an awakening underway in Saudi Arabia, but it is being led from the top.”In the article, entitled “In Saudi Arabia, a revolution disguised as reform,” Ross explains why the new Saudi Arabia amazed him. He notes that Riyadh has transformed into the capital of activity and work in the region “with several ministers telling us 80-hour workweeks are now the norm.” This means that the daily work rate of the minister in Saudi Arabia currently exceeds 11 hours throughout the entire week. A reader commented saying that we are confident in ourselves, so why rejoice in politicians’ statements about us?The point though is not about seeking additional confidence but rather directing blame toward posing Arab media and some Western media outlets which have a blinkered view of the new Saudi Arabia and attempt to propagate baseless intimidation either in the name of human rights violations or violations related to the Yemeni war. All these are baseless fabrications!Dennis Ross spoke the truth. Will Western and Arab ambassadors who see the new face of Saudi Arabia follow suit without envy?
*This article was first published in Okaz on Sept. 11, 2016.

 Academic Malfeasance: The Case of Christopher Bail
Daniel Pipes/History News Network/September 11, 2016
http://www.danielpipes.org/16970/christopher-bail-academic-malfeasance
Christopher Bail, a rising academic star, boasts a Ph.D. from Harvard and holds the Douglas and Ellen Lowey Assistant Professorship of Sociology at Duke University. In 2015, Princeton University Press published his Terrified: How Anti-Muslim Fringe Organizations Became Mainstream, which won the American Sociological Association's 2016 Distinguished Book Award for the sociology of religion.
The blurb for Terrified summarizes what Princeton UP calls Bail's "pioneering theoretical argument" in which he traces how the anti-Muslim narrative of the political fringe has captivated large segments of the American media, government, and general public, validating the views of extremists who argue that the United States is at war with Islam and marginalizing mainstream Muslim-Americans who are uniquely positioned to discredit such claims. Bail, the press continues, did not haphazardly stumble upon this insight but discovered it by wielding his powerful theoretical chops, drawing on ideas, no less, from "cultural sociology, social network theory, and social psychology." Further, our up-to-date scholar did a big-data analysis of more than one hundred organizations struggling to shape public discourse about Islam, tracing their impact on hundreds of thousands of newspaper articles, television transcripts, legislative debates, and social media messages produced since the September 11 attacks.
No wonder he won those impressive prizes and has a brilliant career ahead of him! And good for him, too, protecting mainstream Muslims from the crazed anti-Muslim fringe.
But, with regret, now, I must report that on leaving the dust-cover encomia and immersing myself in the actual contents of Terrified, Bail's grand theory collapses, crumbles, and crumples. Notwithstanding all that training, the youthful professor makes an elementary and monumental error: He mixes up the fringe and the mainstream, thinking the one is the other, and the other, the one.
Thus, his "anti-Muslim fringe organizations" are not, as the blurb leads one to suppose, neo-Nazis, the KKK, the alt-right, or other nasties; they are, in fact, mainstream conservative organizations whose personnel write for major publications, testify before Congress, and staff Republican administrations. Bail focuses on four: the Center for Security Policy (headed by Frank Gaffney), the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (Cliff May), the Investigative Project on Terrorism (Steven Emerson), and the Middle East Forum (Yours Truly).
Index entries for the "Middle East Forum" and "Daniel Pipes."
Bail's confusion may arise from the fact that while conservatives are almost as rare as unicorns on the Duke University faculty, nationally 37 percent of Americans describe themselves as conservative, making them a plurality (moderates make up 35 percent and liberals just 24 percent). Some fringe. Some sociologist.
Not many conservatives in the hallowed halls of Duke University.
Conversely, what Bail calls "mainstream Muslim-Americans" are decidedly not mainstream but Islamist, seeking to create a worldwide caliphate, replace the U.S. Constitution with the Koran, and impose a medieval law on Americans. Utilizing various degrees of subterfuge, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council the share goals with Hezbullah, Hamas, and Boko Haram. The FBI broke ties with CAIR in 2009. The UAE government listed CAIR as a terrorist group in 2014, along with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. Some mainstream.
Meanwhile, Bail ignores the actual mainstream Muslim groups, such as the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and the Center for Islamic Pluralism.
Our bemedaled but benighted sociologist has inverted reality. Worse, even after reading this corrective, he surely will not mend his ways – maybe out of fear of losing all those academic laurels?
Bail can reasonably expect to teach elite undergraduates for many decades, stamping left-wing orthodoxies onto impressionable minds. In addition, he might do a stint in government, provide expert testimony in court cases, and engage in popular writing (he's already graced the pages of the Washington Post).
I can offer just one consolation for this depressing prospect: Bail's inversion project will not prevail because it conflicts with reality. He and likeminded analysts can argue that all would be well with American Muslims but for we critics of Islamism; that the National Rifle Association bears responsibility for the San Bernardino and Orlando jihadi attacks; and that Frank Gaffney "laid the groundwork for Trump's rise" – but these tattered explanations eventually will fail to convince most Americans.
Rather, as Islamist cultural aggressions and murderous rampages continue, we on the alleged fringe are finding increasing support while academics bleating for those darling Islamists while apologizing for their totalitarian ideology will find a diminishing audience for their shoddy goods.
**Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org, [twitter.com/danielpipes]@DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2016 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.