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LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 17/15

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins05/english.june17.15.htm

Bible Quotation For Today/God's Will Is That No One Will Be Lost
Matthew 18/11-14: "What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost."

Bible Quotation For Today/many others who were paralysed or lame were cured & there was great joy in that city."
Acts of the Apostles 08/1b-08: "And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralysed or lame were cured.So there was great joy in that city."

Latest analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 16-17/15
Israel sends message to Nusra Front: Cease attacks on Syria's Druse/J.Post/June 1615
ISIS goes underground for guerilla warfare against new US “lily pad” strategy in Iraq/DEBKAfileJune 16/15
Time to unite in rejecting terrorist propaganda—and the first step is to stop calling their gang an Islamic State/Rehman Chishti/Asharq Al Awsat/June 16/15
Gas Issue Dominates Cyprus-Israel Agenda/Simon Henderson/Washington Institute/June 16/15
The War Against ISIL: In Search of a Viable Strategy/Michael Eisenstadt/Washington Institute/June 16/15
The emerging Western appeasement of terrorist groups/Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/June 16/15
A dragged, stripped, blamed victim in Egypt/Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/June 16/15
Saudi Journalist, Daoud Al-Shiryan Since Oslo, Handshakes Between Top Arab Officials And Their Israeli Counterparts Are Accepted Practice/MEMRI/June 16/15

Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 16-17/15
Canada Appalled by Terrorist Attacks in Chad
Canada Calls for Arrest of ICC-indicted Sudanese President Bashir
Iran talks spy virus used stolen credentials
Kerry voices US concern over India-Pakistan tensions
Jeb Bush announces run for president in 2016
US denies Israeli report on Obama inviting Netanyahu to meet
1 month cease-fire in Yemen under discussion: delegate
Kuwait to install cameras against crime, terrorism
Austrian court sentences 10 for trying to join Islamists in Syria
Afghan, Taliban delegates attend Oslo talks on ending conflicts
Iraq PM to visit Iran for talks on anti-ISIS war: office
Far-right, anti-immigrant parties form EU Parliament group
More than 23,000 refugees flee to Turkey to escape Syria figh
Abbas says Palestinian govt to resign within 24 hours: Fatah
Hamas, Israel in indirect 'exchange of ideas' over truce
Amid Israel debacle, Orange CEO files complaint with court over death threats
Report: Islamic Jihad threatens to break Gaza 'cease-fire' if Israel stops new flotilla
Israel, Hamas both committed war crimes in Gaza conflict,' Schabas says
Likud power brokers back Netanyahu on MK list
Report: Hamas discussing 5-year truce
Defaced & deserted: Empty West Bank settlements
Analysis: Foreign Ministry to UNHRC - Bring it on; but is Israel really ready?
Ambassador to UNHRC: 'Israel does not behead people, we use our heads'
Hamas officials arrive in Qatar to discuss potential long-term truce with Israel
Oren: Obama intentionally abandoned core principles of Israel's alliance with America
Egyptian court sentences former president Morsi to death
Rare inscription from King David era discovered in the Valley of Elah
‘Our beloved’ Fareed Zakaria

Jehad Watch Latest Reports And News
Third Muslim arrested in jihad attack on AFDI Garland free speech event
Iran: Pastor “viciously beaten” in prison, told only way out is to deny Christ
Iran sentences 18 Christians to prison in new crackdown on Christianity
Imprisoned Sudanese pastors facing death penalty barred from seeing lawyers, family
Jihad on Churches: Muslim Persecution of Christians, March 2015
Raymond Ibrahim: Islam’s ‘Baby Jihad’
Denmark: Police flee, leaving non-Muslim couple under fire in Muslim area
Mother of UK convert to Islam slain in jihad says he had “warped ideas of Islam”

The Derailed Micheal Aoun & Bchara Al Raei/ Two Reports on Persecution Of Christains In Iran
Elias Bejjani/16.06.15
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2015/06/16/elias-bejjanithe-derailed-micheal-aoun-bchara-al-raei-two-reports-on-persecution-of-christains-in-iran/
For the Pro Axis Of Evil Derailed Patriarch Al Raei & Micheal Aoun: This is how the Iranian Mullahs Persecute Christians
Lebanon will know no peace, independence, sovereignty, prosperity, safe borders with its neighbours, or tranquility as long as it is fully controlled and occupied by the Iranian Terrorist militia, Hezbollah.
This Bloody Iranian armed contingent is savagely terrorizing the Lebanese people, impoverishing them, and against their will engaged in all the Iranian expansionism wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain and other Arabic countries.
Meanwhile Hezbollah would not have been able after year 2005 (in the aftermath of the Syrian occupying army withdrawal from Lebanon) to impose by fore its hegemony and Iranian agenda on Lebanon and abort all efforts for the country to reclaim its freedom and independence without the evil full support of the Derailed and narcissist, MP. Michael Aoun and later on by the arrogant and unpredictable Maronite Petrarch, Bchara Al Raei.
Both Aoun and Al Raei with all the pro Axis of Evil Lebanese 8th of March coalition falsely allege that the Syrian Al Assad criminal regime and its counterpart the Iranian Mullahs religious dictatorship are the angels and the protectors for the Christians and all other minorities in the Middle East. These naive allegations are mere lies and obnoxious sickening confabulations.
In reality both regimes in Iran and Syria are identical replicates of the savage Isis, Al Nosra and all other religious Jihadi regimes and organization. Below are two reports published today by the Jihad Watch Web site that expose the terrorism, persecution and stone age mentality of the Iranian Mullahs religious regime.
These two reports are solid and tangible proves that both Aoun and Al Raei are misleading the Lebanese people and accordingly must not be abandoned and not trusted at all as Lebanese Christian leaders.

Elias Bejjani
Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
Web sites http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com & http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com
Tweets on https://twitter.com/phoeniciaelias
Face Book LCCC group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?

Iran sentences 18 Christians to prison in new crackdown on Christianity
June 16, 2015 5:28 am By Ralph Sidway /Jehad Watch
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/06/iran-sentences-18-christians-to-prison-in-new-crackdown-on-christianity
“Charges include evangelism, propaganda against the regime, and creating house churches to practice their faith,” with prison sentences up to 24 years.
Iran’s persecution of Christians is so harsh and relentless that it’s hard to keep up with it, as a quick search here on Jihad Watch proves. And to think that the Obama administration had a golden opportunity to aid a true democratic uprising against the mullah’s brutal theocracy back in 2009, but instead let protesters be crushed.

“Iran Sentences 18 Christians to Prison for Their Faith in New Crackdown on Christianity,”
by Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post, June 3, 2015:
Iranian Christians: A Christian woman prays at Saint Serkis church in central Tehran (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl)“
Iran’s revolutionary court is believed to have sentenced 18 Christian converts to prison for their faith in a new crackdown on Christianity in the Islamic Republic, a report said.
Fox News noted that the charges include evangelism, propaganda against the regime, and creating house churches to practice their faith. It added that the total sentences come close to 24 years, but it’s not known how many years each individual received, due to the lack of transparency in Iran’s judicial system.
“The cruelty of Iran’s dictatorial leaders knows no limits,” said Saba Farzan, the German-Iranian executive director of Foreign Policy Circle, a strategy think tank in Berlin.
A number of the imprisoned Christians were arrested in 2013, and sentenced in accordance with Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code, which penalizes threats to Iran’s clerical leaders.
Morad Mokhtari, an Iranian convert to Christianity who fled the Islamic Republic in 2006, added: “Iranian religious authorities prefer that they [converts to Christianity] leave Iran because the authorities can’t control them,” Mokhatari said. “Just their name is evangelism. Imagine someone says he’s a Christian and has a Muslim name.”
Christians in Iran make up a tiny minority of the 78 million-strong population, and often face persecution from the government. Watchdog group Open Doors lists the country at No. 7 on its World Watch List of nations where Christians are most heavily targeted for their faith.Open Doors points out on its website that almost all Christian activity in Iran is considered illegal, “especially when it occurs in Persian languages — from evangelism to Bible training, to publishing Scripture and Christian books or preaching in Farsi.”
It added: “In 2014, at least 75 Christians were arrested. More Christians were sentenced to prison and pressure on those detained increased, including physical and mental abuse.”
Iran’s human rights record has faced great scrutiny, especially in light of a historic nuclear deal it reached earlier this year with the U.S. and other Western nations, which promises to lift international sanctions on Iran in exchange for restricting its nuclear program.
The American Center for Law and Justice and other groups have said that the deal should not be finalized until Iran shows clear signs it is willing to improve its treatment of Christians — and release the American Christians it currently holds in its prisons, including pastor Saeed Abedini.
U.S. Senator Mark Kirt, R-Ill., has added in a statement: “The Iranian regime’s systematic persecution of Christians, as well as Baha’is, Sunni Muslims, dissenting Shiite Muslims, and other religious minorities, is getting worse not better,” Kirt said.
“This is a direct consequence of President Obama’s decision to de-link demands for improvements in religious freedom and human rights in Iran from the nuclear negotiations.”

Iran: Pastor Saeed Abedini “viciously beaten” in prison, told only way out is to deny Christ
June 16, 2015
By Ralph Sidway/Jehad Watch
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/06/iran-pastor-viciously-beaten-in-prison-told-only-way-out-is-to-deny-christ
Prison dawah, Islamic style. Now imagine if a Muslim imam were incarcerated in Greece, an Orthodox Christian nation, and Christian inmates were savagely beating him in order to force him to convert to Christianity. Wouldn’t the Western media take notice then?
Pastor Saeed is one of the great Christian confessors of our time. His wife, Naghmeh Abedini labors unceasingly on his behalf, trying to raise American awareness of his plight and the fate of other Iranian Christians and Americans imprisoned in Iran, but the Obama administration blunts her efforts by squandering every opportunity to pressure Iranian officials on their behalf.

“Pastor Saeed Abedini ‘Viciously Beaten’ in Iranian Prison, Told His Only Way Out Is to Deny Jesus Christ,”
by Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post, June 11, 2015:
The Abedini family, before the mullahs arrested him for being a Christian. The Obama administration does nothing to help.
American pastor Saeed Abedini has reportedly been “viciously beaten” by fellow prisoners in an unprovoked attack in the Iranian prison where he’s being held. The pastor was punched in the face, leaving his eyes beaten black and blue, but prison guards intervened and prevented further injury.
The American Center for Law and Justice, the law group which represents his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and the couple’s two children in the U.S., said that the prisoners also demolished a small table that the pastor had used to study and read during the beating that he endured last week.
Abedini was allowed to see a prison doctor, who determined that he does not have any broken bones. On Wednesday, he was able to see a family member who came to visit him and see his injuries first hand.
“It is heartbreaking to me and my family that Saeed was again beaten in prison. Saeed’s life is continuously threatened not only because he is an American, but also because he is a convert from Islam to Christianity. It’s time to get Saeed home before it is too late,” Naghmeh Abedini said in response to the news.
Back in May, Abedini marked his 35th birthday in prison, where he has spent over two and a half years for his Christian faith. He was arrested in Iran in 2012 while working on an orphanage for children, and later sentenced to eight years in prison.
The pastor has faced a number of beatings while in prison, both from other inmates and guards. The ACLJ and Naghmeh Abedini have expressed concerns that his condition worsens after each beating.
Last week, Abedini spoke before Congress, pleading for further actions to be taken to help free her husband.
“Over the last three years, I have had to watch my two children, Rebekka (who is 8 years old) and Jacob (who is 7 years old), suffer daily as they have grown up without a father or a mother,” Abedini said.
“I am here today as a single mother who is trying to be strong for her children, and as a wife who humbly admits, I need your help. I cannot bear to look at my children’s longing eyes one more time and explain to them why their daddy is still not home.”
She later told The Christian Post that Abedini has been told his prison sentence will be increased unless he denies his Christian faith — something she insists her husband will not do.
“The times they have moved him in and out of solitary [confinement] and the times they have threatened him, they said ‘You will stay here longer than the eight years and your only key to freedom is if you deny your Christian faith and you return to Islam.’ The guards have said that, officials have said that continuously,” Abedini said.

Israel sends message to Nusra Front: Cease attacks on Syria's Druse
By YOSSI MELMAN/J.Post/06/16/2015
Two Syrian army soldiers keeping guard in the Syrian Golan village of Hader killed a Druse commander that was serving with them before defecting to the Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaida, early Tuesday morning. The two soldiers may have been agents of the Nusra Front. The Nusra Front began an offensive on Hader in the aftermath of the murder which mainly consisted of mortar fire and light weapons fire. The village of Hader, which is right across from northern Israel's Druse town of Majd al-Shams, on the other side of Mount Hermon, is home to some 25,000 Druse. Concerns for Syria's 700,000 Druse has risen in recent days amid the Nusra Front's advances near Hader and the advancement of Islamic State in the region known as Mount Druse, 60 km. from the Jordanian border and 50 km. from Israel’s Golan Heights. The Druse community in Hader and in Israel is concerned over the development because the Nusra Front has sought to control Hader for some time in order to gain control of the entire Golan Heights. The al-Qaida-linked fighters number several hundred men as well as dozens of tanks that they have seized. Five Druse have been injured in the fighting, and they have been offered the chance to come to Israel for treatment, but they refused because they fear the response of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Amid the threat to Syria's Druse community, the IDF began setting up a field hospital on the border, but they have frozen the process, as the situation has calmed. The IDF has sent messages to the Nusra Front through the Free Syrian Army, warning the Islamist group not to harm Syria's Druse. The IDF Spokesman's Office stated that IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon held a situation assessment about the plight of the Syrian Druse and spoke with the OC Nothern Command Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi who reported to them that the siutation is currently calm. The defense minister ordered continued surveillance of the events and instructed the IDF to take steps to maintain the quiet. Likud MK Ayoub Kara, who himself is a Druse, plans to ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon to allow Israeli Druse to cross the border to Hader in order to provide humanitarian aid. Entering Syria without permission is illegal for Israelis and Druse who do so can be charged with entering an enemy state, or aiding the enemy.

Hezbollah to blame for rise in extremism: Future Bloc
The Daily Star/ June. 16, 2015/BEIRUT: The Future Bloc Tuesday blamed Hezbollah for the rise of fundamentalism in the region through its participation in the Syrian war, while accusing the group of hijacking the presidency and encouraging the Cabinet's obstruction. “The local and regional roles that Hezbollah plays are mostly to blame for the growth of extremist movements and the spread of destructive violence,” said a statement released by the bloc after its weekly meeting. “We call on Hezbollah to withdraw from Syria and return to Lebanon.” The bloc expressed their “regret” that Hezbollah and its allies’ role in Lebanon and region is “limited to negatives.” The group accused its political rival of “encouraging the continuation of the disruption of Parliament and Cabinet,” after they had already “hijacked the presidency.” “This obstruction of the Cabinet’s work has great negative implications on the economic and financial situation in the country by worsening economic stupor,” the bloc said. Cabinet meetings this week and last week were canceled by Prime Minister Tammam in light of a disagreement between the different parties over the appointment of security officials. Backed by Hezbollah, Free Patriotic Movement ministers announced they would prevent Cabinet from making any decisions before discussing appointments. The Future Bloc placed partial blame on Hezbollah for what it described as the deterioration of living conditions, lack of job opportunities, services and electricity. “Hezbollah continues to provide political cover for the Change and Reform Bloc as it links Lebanon’s fate alongside the fate of Muslim-Christian co-existence in the country to very limited personal interests,” the statement said.

Change and Reform stick to its guns on appointments
The Daily Star/June 16, 2015 /BEIRUT: The Free Patriotic Movement's parliamentary bloc Tuesday called on Prime Minister Tammam Salam to reactivate Cabinet, but stood firm on its demands that security appointments are discussed before other issues. “We are the ones who are calling for a Cabinet meeting to fix the instability in the country,” ex-minister and FPM official Salim Jreissati said after the Change and Reform Bloc’s weekly meeting. The Cabinet's last session was cancelled by Salam in light of the ongoing disagreement over the appointments of the country's top security posts. It came after FPM announced two weeks ago that its ministers would prevent the Cabinet from passing any decisions before appointing new security chiefs. Jreissati urged Salam to convene a meeting to limit the “abuse” of Cabinet and violations against the 1990 Taif agreement. “We call on Salam to execute his power as head of the executive authority and stop the ministers who are trying to bypass him and [strip him of] his authority,” he said. He added that his bloc was keen on the Army and its leadership, and eager to fortify it as a unifying institution. FPM leader Michel Aoun supports his son-in-law, commander of the Army’s Commando Regiment Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, to succeed Army chief Gen. Jean Kahwagi. Kahwagi’s term, which was already renewed once, is set to expire in September.

Key ISIS commander killed in Lebanon-Syria border clash: report
The Daily Star/June 16, 2015/BEIRUT: Hezbollah and the Syrian army clashed with ISIS Tuesday in northern Qalamoun and on the eastern outskirts of a Lebanese border town, killing the group's leader for the region, Al-Manar said. The Hezbollah-run station said in a news flash that Abu Balqis al-Baghdadi, ISIS's "emir" for Qalamoun, was killed in shelling that targeted the area of Wadi Hmayed, on the outskirts of Lebanon's Arsal. Further east, Hezbollah and the Syrian army captured fresh territory from ISIS outside a northern Qalamoun town. Al-Manar said the allied forces took over the areas of Tallet Ras Al-Kosh and Qornat Ras Al-Sahbah on the outskirts of government-held Jarajeer, in an advance that left scores of militants either dead or wounded. The station aired footage in the evening shot on the front line showing Hezbollah fighters taking the new hills. The videos showed the forces using heavy and light machine guns, sniper rifles and mortar shells. The footage included shots taken overnight and at dawn Tuesday when the group launched its offensive against militants located on the two peaks. Hezbollah also targeted ISIS positions on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Ras Baalbek, about 7 kilometers north of Arsal, using heavy artillery fire, Al-Manar reported. The attack targeted an area identified as Al-Zuweiteya, the report said. Last week, Hezbollah repelled an ISIS attack in northeast Lebanon, losing eight fighters and killing more than 50 militants, in the largest confrontation between the two groups since the Lebanese party joined the Syrian war three years ago. Hezbollah and the Syrian army have been battling Nusra Front and ISIS militants in Syria's Qalamoun mountain range along Lebanon’s eastern borders for more than one month. The allied forces have achieved major field victories, taking 64 percent of the Qalamoun hills in roughly five weeks, according to Al-Manar. ISIS has been in control of most of Arsal’s northern outskirts since last year, while the Nusra Front has been in control of the eastern and southern outskirts. At least 39 Hezbollah fighters and 244 militants have been killed since the launch of the Qalamoun offensive on May 4, according to a source close to Hezbollah.

Families of ISIS captives block north Lebanon highway
The Daily Star/June 16, 2015/BEIRUT: Families of the nine Lebanese servicemen held hostage by ISIS blocked both sides of a north Lebanon highway for several hours Tuesday demanding to know if their loved ones were still alive. “We are standing here today to ask whether the servicemen are still [captive in northeast Lebanon], or if they were executed like some rumors said,” the brother of Army Sgt. Maj. Ibrahim Mgheit told reporters. “Were they moved to Syria or are they still on the outskirts” of a Lebanese border town from where they were abducted," he added. “No one is reassuring us. No one is saying anything that could ease our minds.” The protesters, who blocked the highway linking the northern town of Qalamoun to Tripoli and Beirut from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., said they planned to escalate their actions. “We are tired of begging you for your conscience," Mgheit told reporters in separate remarks toward the end of the protest. "Wake up because the people won’t relax and we won’t be the weaker link.”“You will find us outside your front doors. Your lies calmed our nerves for a while, but we’re stronger now and no one can shut us up. You are not responsible, you are only accomplices to embassies and you sold this nation and nationality,” he added. At least nine soldiers and policemen have been held by ISIS on Arsal’s outskirts since they were kidnapped during the deadly clashes with the Lebanese Army in the town last August. The original number was 11, but soldiers Ali al-Sayyed and Abbas Medlej were beheaded by the group’s militants. The Nusra Front, which attacked Arsal along with ISIS last year, holds another 16 servicemen. But families of those soldiers have been visiting them on their outskirts.

Hezbollah denounces Bahrain's 'malicious' jailing of opposition chief
The Daily Star/June. 16, 2015/BEIRUT: Hezbollah Tuesday denounced Bahrain's "malicious and vengeful" four-year prison sentence handed down to the country's top opposition leader Ali Salman who was arrested late last year after leading an anti-government protest. "Hezbollah condemns the political verdict issued by the Bahraini authorities against the secretary general of Al-Wefaq Islamic Society Sheikh Ali Salman ... over fabricated charges and allegations that are far from being true," a statement from Hezbollah's media office said. "Hezbollah sees this verdict as proof of the divide between the Bahraini authorities and the people," it added, accusing Manama of using oppression, arbitrary sentencing and scaremongering to protect its monopoly over power. "This sentence has nothing to do with judicial law or justice, but it is malicious and vengeful, and it expresses the anger of authorities toward the Bahrainis insistence on a peaceful, wise and disciplined movement." Bahrain's high criminal court sentenced Salman to four years in jail earlier Tuesday over "explicit incitement against a group of the people, including disturbing the public peace and explicit incitement toward disobeying the law," according to the country's public prosecutor. Salman was arrested on Dec. 28 after leading a protest against elections in November which his party boycotted, and subsequently charged with inciting a change of government by force, inciting hatred, inciting others to break the law and publicly insulting the Interior Ministry. Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah had criticized the arrest of Salman in January, causing a spat between Gulf and Lebanese officials. At the time, Bahrain summoned its Lebanese ambassador over the remarks, and the Arab League issued a statement denouncing Hezbollah for "interfering" in Bahraini affairs. Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad al-Khalifa went as far as describing Nasrallah as a terrorist. Bahrain has been in turmoil since 2011 when authorities crushed a pro-democracy movement. Protests have continued to rock the small island kingdom since the outbreak of the uprising, with multiple attempts at dialogue between the regime and opposition failing to hold. Amnesty International Monday urged Bahrain to release Salman, describing him as a "prisoner of conscience."

Sami Gemayel Rejects 'Constituent Assembly', Says Hizbullah Must Let Army Lead Anti-Terror Fight
Naharnet/16.06.15/Two days after he was elected president of the Kataeb Party, MP Sami Gemayel on Tuesday announced that he does not support calls for holding a so-called constituent assembly that would drastically change the Lebanese political system. “The Lebanese must admit that they have failed to manage their diversity, and a new mechanism is needed,” Gemayel acknowledged during an interview on LBCI television. But he stressed that Kataeb wants to preserve the 1943 National Pact and the country's borders. The National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the basis for the political system in the country, which is based on sectarian distribution of power. “We don't want to reinvent Lebanon through a so-called constituent assembly. We want to improve the political system,” Gemayel clarified. The presidency, the country's top Christian post, has been vacant since president Michel Suleiman's six-year tenure ended in May 2014. The rival MPs have been unable to elect a successor since then. The presidential void has started to have a negative effect on the work of parliament and cabinet as well as security and military institutions. Turning to Lebanon's confrontation with the Syria-based extremist groups, Gemayel noted that “the takfiri ideology poses a threat to the region and Lebanon.”But he underlined that the Lebanese army is capable of “repelling any terrorist attack on the border.” “We ask Hizbullah to place its decisions in the hand of the Lebanese state as a first step. We are realistic and we believe that the problem of Hizbullah's weapons cannot be solved with the push of a button,” Gemayel added. “Hizbullah must leave the military decision to the Lebanese army, especially in the face of the takfiris,” he pointed out. Gemayel also emphasized that Lebanese “unity” is needed in the anti-terror fight, noting that Hizbullah can't fight jihadist groups through a “sectarian” approach.

US denies Israeli report on Obama inviting Netanyahu to meet
Reuters/ June. 16, 2015/WASHINGTON: The White House denied an Israeli newspaper report Tuesday that U.S. President Barack Obama had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet in Washington next month.Citing unnamed U.S. State Department sources, Yedioth Ahronoth daily said the two leaders could meet in the White House on July 15 or 16, after the June 30 deadline for an Iranian nuclear deal over which they have frequently clashed. Since Netanyahu's election to a fourth term on March 17, U.S. and Israeli officials have said they expected he would meet Obama again. But no date has been set, and a White House official denied Netanyahu had received any U.S. invitation. "No invitation has been extended, though certainly we'd expect that there will be occasion for the two leaders to meet in Washington at some point going forward," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in response to Yedioth's report. A spokesman for Netanyahu's office had no immediate official comment on the report. Israeli officials speaking on condition of anonymity, however, told reporters that no such invitation had been received.Netanyahu has criticized the emerging nuclear deal, which Israel fears will allow Iran the means of making a bomb, while also granting it sanctions relief that could help bankroll its militant allies in the region. Iran says its nuclear projects are peaceful.

ISIS goes underground for guerilla warfare against new US “lily pad” strategy in Iraq
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 15, 2015 /While the Obama administration was compiling a plan to send American advisers to work with Iraqi troops and tribesmen in “lily pad” bases near the frontlines, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant adopted a new strategy. debkafile’s exclusive military and counter-terror sources disclose that ISIS is going underground to pursue guerilla tactics on all five of its active fronts in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egyptian Sinai and the Palestinian Gaza Strip. They turned to this strategy after being impressed by the effectiveness of Hamas' assault and smuggling tunnel system for terrorist assaults on Israel and Egyptian forces in Sinai. Military experts expect to see soon small, highly-trained squads of ISIS fighters jumping out of underground lairs to strike their victims. One Western intelligence source told debkafile: This is the end of the long columns of armed jihadis appearing on the horizon to fall on major locations, such as we last saw in mid-May when 400 US-made trucks loaded with thousands of jihadis carrying a variety of weapons captured the central Iraqi city of Ramadi. A similar column from the ISIS base in Raqqa seized the strategic Syrian heritage town of Palmyra. According to our military experts, the new Islamic State strategy is designed to combat the American “lily pad” plan, whereby small US bases can float from point to point affording small US contingents great flexibility of movement for action. ISIS is already moving ahead. US pilots have started complaining that as targets for air strikes on the ground ISIS forces have become few and far between. In Syria, the Islamic State has turned to guerrilla tactics for undermining Hizballah forces on the Qalamoun mountains on the Lebanese border. They keep their heads down until Hizballah seizes territory - and then surround the new positions and pick them off. Nusra Front has joined ISIS in this sector and together they have killed more than 100 Hizballah fighters in the last ten days.

Egyptian court sentences former president Morsi to death
REUTERS/J.Post/06/16/2015/CAIRO - An Egyptian court sentenced deposed President Mohamed Morsi to death on Tuesday on charges of killing, kidnapping and other offenses during a 2011 mass jail break. The general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, and four other Brotherhood leaders were also handed the death penalty. More than 80 others were sentenced to death in absentia. Earlier on Tuesday, the court sentenced Morsi to life in prison in a separate case related to conspiring with foreign groups. The Islamist became Egypt's first democratically elected president after the downfall of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 but was himself overthrown by the army in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. The court last month convicted Morsi and his fellow defendants of killing and kidnapping policemen, attacking police facilities and breaking out of jail during the 2011 uprising against Mubarak. The death sentence request had drawn criticism from the United States, other Western governments and human rights groups. After Tuesday's sentencing, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member said the trial had "fallen below all international standards.""This verdict is a nail in the coffin of democracy in Egypt," Yahya Hamid, a former minister in Morsi's cabinet and head of international relations for the Brotherhood, told a news conference in Istanbul. Morsi, Badie and 15 others were also given life sentences -- which under Egyptian law, means serving 25 years -- for conspiring with the Palestinian group Hamas, which rules Gaza. They included senior Brotherhood figures Essam el-Erian and Saad el-Katatni. The court sentenced Muslim Brotherhood leaders Khairat el-Shater, Mohamed el-Beltagy and Ahmed Abdelaty to death in the same case. Death sentences were also handed to 13 other defendants in absentia. The verdicts can be appealed.
Judge Shaaban el-Shami, said the Grand Mufti, Egypt's top religious authority, had said in his opinion that the death sentence was permissible for the defendants who had been referred to him. Morsi, dressed in a blue prison suit, was calm and smiled slightly as the judge read out the first sentence in the court in the Police Academy. The defendants chanted "Down, down with military rule," as they were led into the court. Morsi has said the court is not legitimate, describing legal proceedings against him as part of a coup led by former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2013. Since Morsi's overthrow, Egyptian authorities have waged a crackdown on Islamists in which hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested. Sisi, now president, says the Brotherhood poses a grave threat to national security. The group maintains it is committed to peaceful activism. Despite US lawmakers' concerns that Egypt is lagging on democratic reforms, Cairo remains one of Washington's closest security allies in the region. Relations cooled after Morsi was overthrown but ties with Sisi have steadily improved.In late March, US President Barack Obama lifted a hold on a supply of arms to Cairo, authorizing deliveries of US weapons valued at over $1.3 billion.

Report: Islamic Jihad threatens to break Gaza 'cease-fire' if Israel stops new flotilla
By JPOST.COM STAFF/06/16/2015/A senior official from the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad has reportedly threatened to break the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire that ended last summer's conflict in Gaza if Israel stops any new flotillas attempting to break the naval blockade of the Strip.According to a Channel 2 report Sunday, senior Islamic Jihad leader Khaled al-Batash said his group was closely monitoring a Swedish ship that has set sail toward the coastal Palestinian enclave. In comments cited by Channel 2 regarding the Swedish Marianne of Gothenburg - the first boat in the Freedom Flotilla III to leave for Gaza - al-Batas said he hoped the vessel would make the same uproar in the international arena as did the Turkish Mavi Marmara flotilla did in 2010. As the trawler left Sweden in May, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Israel will not allow unauthorized boats to enter its territorial waters. Without relating to the Marianne, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon said that “if the so-called helpful Gaza flotillas were really interested in the welfare of the population in Gaza, they would send their aid via Israel. The fact that they insist on a flotilla demonstrates this is an unnecessary provocation.”According to the website of Ship to Gaza Sweden, the vessel is scheduled to stop at ports in Helsingborg, Malmo and Copenhagen, as well as other ports.The trawler does not have room for a significant cargo but will be carrying solar panels and medical equipment, according to the organization. It is carrying five crew members and eight passengers. Herb Keinon and JTA contributed to this report.

Jeb Bush announces run for president in 2016
Associated Press/Ynetnews/Published: 06.15.15 / Israel News
Former Florida governor, son of 41st US president and brother of 43rd president, launches Republican presidential bid, vowing to get Washington 'out of the business of causing problems'.Jeb Bush launched a Republican presidential bid Monday with a vow to get Washington "out of the business of causing problems" and to stay true to his beliefs, which is easier said than done in a crowded primary contest where his conservative credentials will be sharply challenged. "I will campaign as I would serve, going everywhere, speaking to everyone, keeping my word, facing the issues without flinching," Bush said in excerpts of a speech released by his campaign before his afternoon announcement.
In an unusual twist for a political speech aimed at a national audience, Bush, who is bilingual, planned to speak partly in Spanish. The former Florida governor has made minority outreach a priority. In a video for the event, showing women, minorities and a disabled child, Bush says "the most vulnerable in our society should be in the front of the line and not the back." This calls for "new leadership that takes conservative principles and applies them so that people can rise up." Neither his father, former President George H.W. Bush, nor his brother, former President George W. Bush, was expected to attend. The family was to be represented instead by Jeb Bush's mother and former first lady, Barbara Bush, who once said that the country didn't need yet another Bush as president.
Before the event, the Bush campaign came out with a new logo - Jeb! - that leaves out the Bush surname. Bush joins the race in some ways in a commanding position. He has probably raised a record amount of money to support his candidacy.
But in early public opinion polls, he has yet to break out. The large and capable Republican field does not have a true front-runner. Bush has made clear he will remain committed to his core beliefs in the campaign to come, even if his positions on immigration and education standards are deeply unpopular among the most conservative of Republicans. Tea party leader Mark Meckler on Monday said Bush's positions on education and immigration are "a nonstarter with many conservatives."
Yet a defiant Bush has showed little willingness to placate his party's right wing. "I'm not going to change who I am," Bush said as he completed a European trip on the weekend. "I respect people who may not agree with me, but I'm not going to change my views because today someone has a view that's different."Bush is one of 11 major Republicans in the hunt for the nomination.After touring four early-voting states, Bush quickly launches a private fundraising tour with stops in at least 11 cities before the end of the month. Two events alone, in Washington and in New York, will account for almost $2 million in new campaign cash, according to invitations that list more than 75 already committed donors.

Time to unite in rejecting terrorist propaganda—and the first step is to stop calling their gang an Islamic State
Rehman Chishti/Asharq Al Awsat
Tuesday, 16 Jun, 2015
The perils of terror are no longer confined to far-flung places across the globe; they are a threat to us here in the UK and the Western world. We have witnessed attacks in the streets of Europe and large-scale destruction in the Middle East—a region of vital importance to our own interests and security. While no agreement stands between states on what constitutes terrorism, there is a consensus that the group which calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a terror organization. Their barbaric practices of brutal beheadings, forced marriages, and mass executions show they are nothing more than a terrorist organization that engages in terrorist acts. Yet the problems we face with ISIS do not end by defining them as terrorists, for what you call an enemy is an important part of defeating them.
You may ask—what’s important about a name? But names can ennoble and bestow legitimacy where none should be given.
I believe that for too long, since their rapid gains across northern and western Iraq and eastern Syria, we have allowed the interchangeable titles of “Islamic State,” “ISIL,” and “ISIS” to remain in our common lexicon. Daily in our newspapers and on our television screens we see and read about the grim reality of life for the 6 million people forced to live under the terror of the so-called “Islamic state.” Their atrocities in Iraq and Syria clearly demonstrate they are not Islamic nor are they a state. For a state to exist it must have legal and international recognition as well as a defined sovereign territory. This organization does not have a permanent population, a defined territory, or the institutions of state. It does not recognize international law, norms or conventions or even the treaties of the United Nations. Nor has any other state in the world recognized it as a state.
This group is distorting a peaceful religion for its own violent and extremist ends and calling this evil organization “ISIS” only gives it legitimacy by linking it to Islam. This not only misleads people into thinking this issue is religious—when in fact it is criminal and politically motivated—but also attracts those, who through ignorance and misunderstanding, may seek to join ISIS because of its name and association. As Professor James Bruning from Ohio University says: “The impact of names comes from how people expect to see you,” and to stop driving recruits into their grim clutches we must deprive ISIS of its association with Islam. Traveling the country, visiting different communities and mosques, I have found that the question of their name often comes up. People want the media and our leaders to call this evil organization what it really is, rather than allowing it to be linked with religion.
It is a point which was welcomed by the UK’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond when I raised it with him in Parliament. He suggested that the BBC and other media outlets should give them a different name. It is time that we adopt a clear, unambiguous title that fully reflects the nature of these terrorists. So what could be an alternative name for such a brutal group? Last year France took up the name widely adopted in the Middle East—“Da’esh”—which is an Arabic acronym for the group’s name, “Al-Dawla Al-Islamiyia fil Iraq wa’al Sham.” It also holds negative connotations, sounding similar to the word “Daes,” meaning “one who crushes something underfoot,” and “Dahes,” referring to “one who sows discord.”
Whilst others have started referring to this evil gang as “Da’ish,” this has been rejected by Turkey. They refer to them as “Da’esh” because, as the ambassador of Turkey has explained to me, the “I” links it to Islam. Whilst renaming them Da’esh would be a step forward, as it has international support, others have made different suggestions. A group of prominent British Muslim groups wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron in September proposing the use of “Un-Islamic State” to help tackle radicalization in the UK. I believe that we should also consider an idea by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, and the former ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom. At a lecture I hosted in Parliament, Prince Turki argued that we should rename ISIS as “Faesh,” meaning “obscene” in Arabic. As he has said: “When we refer to someone using this word it means they commit obscenities, whether through words or deeds.” Certainly their actions suggest this would be a more appropriate title for an organization that has been responsible for such acts as enslaving women and attacking innocent people.Recent events show that there is no clear end in sight to the fight with this terrorist group. But the battle for ideas must be fought as well as the ground war. We cannot let them gain the legitimacy they seek by calling them the Islamic State. It is time to adopt a different name, and Faesh seems a sensible suggestion to me.

Gas Issue Dominates Cyprus-Israel Agenda
Simon Henderson/Washington Institute
June 16, 2015
As Israeli and Cypriot officials meet in Jerusalem, energy-thirsty Egypt remains the obvious market for their offshore gas exports, but such deals risk Turkish ire.
On June 15, President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus held a working lunch with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. The meeting followed an audience with President Reuven Rivlin and a Sunday visit with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch. Although mutual security was on the agenda after last month's discovery of a Hezbollah explosives cache in Cyprus, much of the discussion between Israeli officials, Anastasiades, and his accompanying foreign and energy ministers has no doubt focused on the future of the two countries' newfound natural gas resources.
In terms of offshore reserves, Cyprus has been the poor relation of Israel -- the lone gas field it has discovered (Aphrodite) contains an estimated 5 trillion cubic feet, compared to Israel's several fields and total reserves around eight times the size. Yet domestic gas demand in Cyprus is small, making the export option an obvious first step.
Moreover, Israel's gas development efforts have been set back by a row that erupted at the end of 2014, when Houston-based Noble Energy and its Israeli consortium partners (led by Delek) were deemed to be a monopoly. The new Netanyahu government formed after the March elections has declared gas development to be a national security priority, and the antitrust commissioner who had stalled the Noble-led project was sidelined to the point that he announced his resignation last month. Yet getting development of the giant Leviathan field back on track will apparently take several months.
In the meantime, Noble and Delek have turned their attention to Aphrodite, where they also own the license. In March, on the sidelines of the Sharm al-Sheikh economic summit, the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company (CHC) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to develop the field. Then, on June 7, the Cyprus Energy Ministry declared the field to be commercial, prompting Noble and Delek to submit a development plan on June 11. Their plan calls for a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to be located over the field, which lies in deep water more than 100 miles south of the island, close to its maritime border with Israel.
While the plan does not mention where the gas would be exported, the obvious destination is Egypt, which is struggling to cope with growing domestic energy demand and is having difficulty fulfilling contracts to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). Israel has also considered exporting gas to Egypt from its Tamar field, which is already producing for domestic demand and will soon supply two Jordanian industrial plants near the Dead Sea. One plan for exporting this gas to Egypt would involve reversing the pipeline that previously brought Egyptian gas to Israel. That pipeline has been plagued by sabotage, so there is also a proposal to run a new pipeline offshore. Egypt hopes, perhaps optimistically, to be independent of gas imports by 2020, but Cyprus or Israel could still use the existing Egyptian LNG plants on the Nile Delta coast to process gas for export.
Apart from the commercial, financial, and technical hurdles, Turkey's reaction could pose a further problem. Although Ankara seems distracted by its recent parliamentary elections, it has been vocal in the past about offshore gas exploration around Cyprus, even to the extent of deploying naval ships and military aircraft. Turkey regards itself as the natural market for Cypriot and Israeli gas exports. It also objects that Nicosia is exploring for gas offshore without the involvement of Turkish Cypriots, who live in the northern part of the island that has been occupied by Turkish troops since 1974. A further tension is that President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey increasingly see themselves as competitors for regional leadership.
The meetings in Jerusalem, including a formal banquet at President Rivlin's residence, underline the growing importance of Israeli-Cypriot ties. The plans for development of the Aphrodite field should also remind Israel of the imperative not to delay the utilization of its offshore gas riches.
**Simon Henderson is the Baker Fellow and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at The Washington Institute.

The War Against ISIL: In Search of a Viable Strategy
Michael Eisenstadt/Washington Institute
War on the Rocks
June 16, 2015
Washington has several options beyond a major ground commitment, including more drones and special forces in Iraq, a true effort to arm and organize the Syrian opposition, and a willingness to recognize longer-term regional threats posed by al-Qaeda affiliates and Iran.
Recent gains by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria mark major setbacks in the nearly year-old campaign against the group. These developments undermine Obama administration claims of progress in the war, and highlight fundamental flaws in the administration's strategy that need to be rectified if the United States and its coalition of 60-plus states are to succeed. President Obama was only partially right last week when he said that America lacks a "complete strategy" for dealing with ISIL because of Iraq's lack of commitment. In fact, much of the dysfunction in U.S. strategy derives from American policy, the policies of its partners in the counter-ISIL campaign, as well as those of the Iraqi government.
For starters, the United States needs to address the means-ends mismatch in its strategy. It has devoted inadequate resources in pursuit of a goal -- to "degrade and eventually destroy" ISIL -- whose ultimate objective is likely to remain unattainable for a very long time. This is due to ISIL's resilience, the weakness of America's regional partners, and the incoherence of current U.S. strategy.
A RESILIENT ORGANIZATION
ISIL's predecessor organization, al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), was defeated by 2011 before returning in its current guise. Its ability to rebound from this blow is rooted in a number of factors.
For its supporters, ISIL's ideology embodies "true" Islam, unsullied by the demands of political competition or undue concern for the opinion of unbelievers. They are likewise unbothered by the criticism of establishment Muslim clerics, whom they regard as servants of an illegitimate state system. For this reason, it is difficult to delegitimize ISIL on religious grounds. Administration efforts to use critical statements by mainstream clerics to do so are likely to only succeed on the margins.
ISIL had previously survived as an underground terrorist network and could do so again if it were run to ground, drawing on skills honed during its years in the shadows. It can, moreover, draw on financial and manpower reserves from around the world (though the coalition is trying to stem the flow of both), and it has recently started taking on the attributes of a decentralized network, with jihadist groups around the region pledging fealty (bay'ah) to it. This will likely ensure the survival of the ISIL brand in some shape or form, even if its flagship operation in Iraq and Syria is defeated.
The regional environment is likewise conducive to ISIL's continued survival. Since the popular uprisings of 2011, the region has been increasingly characterized by weak and failing states which lack the capacity to root out terrorist networks or defeat insurgent groups, and the emergence of ungoverned spaces which serve as safe havens for such organizations (such as eastern Syria). The zero-sum politics that prevails in the region helped bring about this state of affairs and will ensure the survival of groups like ISIL, which feed on the grievances and aspirations of the region's Sunni population.
While ISIL enjoys a number of strengths in the realm of military leadership, organization, and tactical virtuosity, it is also bedeviled by numerous vulnerabilities: overextended forces; a propensity to alienate its support base; internal divisions between Iraqis, Arabs, and non-Arabs; unreliable finance streams; and its landlocked position -- though it has proven particularly adept at exploiting its porous border with Turkey. Yet, the weakness of the Arab state system has prevented America's regional partners from capitalizing on these vulnerabilities.
Thus, while the United States and its partners can potentially degrade ISIL, they will not be able to destroy it -- at least anytime soon. Long-term, without addressing those factors that contribute to the appeal of groups like ISIL and al-Qaeda, the best the United States can hope for is to destroy its overt military formations, to dismantle the administrative machinery of its state, and to push it underground -- at least in Iraq. But as recent events have shown, its efforts to date have borne only mixed results. While U.S. military operations may be attriting ISIL forces and its partners have retaken ground previously lost to the group, the coalition has not degraded the overall capabilities of an organization that has demonstrated impressive regenerative powers, and which remains on the offensive on a number of important fronts.
Yet, the solution is not another major U.S. ground commitment to the region. The American people would not support such a deployment, and even if they did -- and if the United States were to put 50,000 service-members on the ground, were to defeat ISIL military forces, and were to dismantle its state without a change in the nature of Iraqi politics (and those of other troubled states in the region) -- U.S. forces would almost certainly have to return 3-5 years hence to once again deal with this problem. The Middle East has an insatiable appetite for American blood and treasure that the latter should not indulge; Washington would do better to avoid this vicious cycle.
Walking away is not an option either. The Obama administration's experience of the past six years shows that "if you don't visit the Middle East, it will visit you." The United States and its coalition partners need to adjust their light footprint strategy to ensure that the coalition can gradually roll back ISIL while avoiding additional major setbacks, and addressing the factors that contribute to its appeal.
DISJOINTED STRATEGY
The United States and its partners have often pursued policies that have strengthened salafi-jihadist groups such as ISIL, thereby undermining the U.S.-led campaign. Doubling down on the current approach in Iraq and Syria -- as promised two weeks ago in Paris by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken -- without altering policies that work at cross-purposes to the coalition military effort will only serve to compound this error.
First, Washington needs to acknowledge that its policies contributed to the rise of groups like Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIL in Syria, and the return of ISIL to Iraq. American inaction in the face of the Syrian civil war and the Maliki government's exclusionary politics in Iraq, the widespread perception in the region that the United States is tacitly aligned with Iran, and the fact that America's first military strikes in Iraq were to save Yezidis, Turkmen, and Kurds -- anybody but Sunni Arabs -- were a recruiting boon for jihadists.
Second, America's Syria policy has been hostage to its Iran policy. The administration has not done more to militarily assist the Syrian opposition at least in part to avoid jeopardizing a nuclear deal with Iran. Yet the prospect of a deal has not constrained the Islamic Republic in Syria. The United States must pursue its own interests in Syria, which means increasing support for what remains of the "moderate" opposition there, even while pursuing a nuclear deal with Iran. Otherwise, fighters will continue to flock to extremist groups to fight the Assad regime and their Iranian allies.
Third, the United States insists that it is training and equipping the "moderate" Syrian opposition to fight ISIL, while the opposition, as well as America's partners in this effort -- Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar -- insist that it fight the Assad regime. The U.S. stance is likely to stymie efforts to recruit Syrian opposition fighters, while the divergence between Washington and its partners on this matter is a formula for disaster not too far down the road.
Fourth, the success of America's counter-ISIL strategy is hostage to the politics and policies of its regional partners. Several have provided or permitted their citizens to provide financial and military support to jihadist groups, and some still do. Some of this aid has made its way to ISIL, while members of these groups have sometimes defected en masse to ISIL. Foreign support for jihadists ultimately redounds to the benefit of ISIL, when it is perceived as the most successful jihadist brand. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi has not done much to change the zero-sum politics in Iraq that created the conditions for the return of AQI in the guise of ISIL; efforts at Sunni outreach by Baghdad remain stillborn.
Finally, the United States will not succeed in its fight against ISIL in Iraq if it does not succeed in its fight against ISIL in Syria. Eastern Syria served in the past as a safe haven for ISIL and continues to serve as a support base for its operations in Iraq. If ISIL is not expelled from eastern Syria, it will continue to destabilize Iraq from there. For this reason, America needs to replace its Iraq-first strategy with one that pursues a simultaneous two-front fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. This will convince Syrians that Washington is serious about their fate, and improve prospects for the train and equip effort for the moderate Syrian opposition.
It is not too late to correct course. The fires in Iraq and Syria will, tragically, continue to burn for years to come, and the outcome of these struggles is far from assured. The United States can make a difference if it remains politically and militarily engaged, creating opportunities, and exploiting those that arise.
THE RIGHT FIGHT AGAINST ISIL
So what would a prudent and effective course-adjustment involve? In Iraq, this would mean more reconnaissance drones (most are now supporting operations in Afghanistan), more joint terminal attack controllers and special forces -- with rules of engagement that enable them to accompany Iraqi units into combat, more airpower, and more personnel devoted to the train and equip effort for the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish peshmerga. It would also entail more pressure on the Iraqi government to permit the arming and training of Sunni Arab tribesmen as militiamen -- to gain Sunni buy-in and create a force that can (hopefully) emulate the achievements of other successful Middle Eastern militias. Most important it would entail avoiding additional reverses as occurred in Ramadi. The perception that momentum has shifted against ISIL is key to success in Iraq (and Syria). New victories for ISIL -- even if ephemeral -- will be fatal to efforts to rebuild American credibility and to convince Sunni Arabs sitting on the fence to join the coalition against ISIL.
In Syria, the United States should likewise beef up its effort to train and equip "moderate" opposition groups, while dropping its prior insistence that these groups fight only ISIL. These groups have been decimated in the past 1-2 years (due in part to a lack of American support), and while this most recent effort has gotten off to a slow start, money and weapons have a way of generating their own demand. Moreover, the United States should not, for now, fixate on numbers. Quality is more important than quantity, as the Syrian battlespace is highly fragmented, and the challenge is to create organizations that can seize and hold ground, hold their own in local fights, and effectively govern small, defensible enclaves. And perhaps the most important task is to demonstrate that the United States is finally serious about supporting the opposition, in order to attract new recruits and win back defectors who opportunistically migrated from the Free Syrian Army to better resourced (and frequently more extreme) groups.
To deal with the Assad regime barrel-bomb threat, the United States should work to create a serious anti-aircraft artillery capability in the opposition groups it supports, while avoiding the provision of MANPADS in large numbers due to proliferation fears. Though low-tech, flak is highly lethal; even when it does not succeed in shooting down aircraft, it forces enemy pilots to deliver their unguided ordnance from higher altitudes, thereby degrading their accuracy. And it is useful in ground combat.
In addition to receiving military training, U.S.-supported opposition groups should be trained in governance and administration, to enable them to create secure enclaves for local residents and internally displaced persons. Making this the principal criteria by which opposition groups are assessed may be one way for the United States and its partners to reconcile their divergent views regarding the role of the opposition vis-a-vis the Assad regime and ISIL -- at least for now.
In sum, if the United States is to succeed in Iraq and Syria, it needs to alter its own policies -- and those of its partners -- that have greatly complicated the counter-ISIL campaign. Should it prove unwilling or unable to do so, the prospects for success against ISIL will become vanishingly small.
UNDERMINING ISIL'S APPEAL
The main purpose of ISIL's prodigious and sophisticated media efforts is to enhance its appeal, burnish its ideological credentials, and build up its brand. Because so much of ISIL's appeal derives from its aura of military invincibility, its defeat would show that ISIL was just another failed ideological movement that brought only ruin to those who embrace it. Moreover, its defeat would mean no caliphate, no Islamic utopia, no glory and adventure, no opportunity to dominate others, no spoils of war, and no sex slaves -- the things that have drawn so many to embrace its cause. Through military victories, the United States can defeat ISIL's media effort by demonstrating that the tide is turning against it and that its days are numbered. The defeat of ISIL is thus key to undermining its appeal, discrediting its ideology, and demolishing its brand. And this, ultimately, is the most important goal of the counter-ISIL military campaign. But the administration's current light footprint approach permits ISIL to continue to accrue victories that undercut this effort.
Finally, the United States needs to figure out how al-Qaeda and its affiliates as well as Iran fit into all of this. For if the coalition enfeebles or defeats ISIL only to clear the way for the primacy of Jabhat al-Nusrah in Syria and the expansion of Iranian influence in Mesopotamia and the Levant, the United States will have only succeeded in adding fuel to the region's raging sectarian and geopolitical conflicts. The sooner Washington realizes this, the sooner it can work to avert an even greater disaster down the road that it may be inadvertently abetting.
**Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Fellow and director of the Military and Security Studies Program at The Washington Institute.

The emerging Western appeasement of terrorist groups
Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
Shockingly, on the eve of Ramadan, the United Nations and United States are effectively saying they accept Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) . In recent months, I have noticed what I would describe as a whitewashing of al-Qaeda and ISIS with a mixture of appeasement and containment because these terrorists are beyond immediate suppression. Both groups are excelling in their strategic and tactical goals. The U.N. special representative to Libya, Bernardino Leon, is hoping for quick success in his peace efforts that accept al-Qaeda sympathizers and ignore ISIS in that country. His shuttle diplomacy, and up to four drafts of a Libyan settlement, are going down to the last second before Ramadan. The plan calls for a one-year unity government, and is subject to consensus from all rival groups. Most observers say the proposal is ridiculous. One interpretation is that this may be the first time that a Hitler / Neville Chamberlain solution is applied in an Arab state within an Islamic context. We all know how temporary that state of relations between Nazi Germany and Britain turned out to be. A second interpretation is that the United Nations may administer the next chapter of the Libyan state. According to observers in Berlin who spoke to me, Leon seems to be making himself a part of the Libyan legislative process. This terrifying thought conjures up the specter of a Paul Bremmer-styled Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq, which is enough to send North Africa in to geopolitical cardiac arrest.
Allies of the internationally-recognized government in Tobruk, particularly Egypt, are unhappy to say the least. Cairo summoned the U.S. ambassador to show displeasure at Libyan Muslim Brotherhood figures going to Washington during Leon’s last-ditch efforts.
These Tripoli-based politicians are the same folks mourning the deaths of al-Qaeda fighters from Derna’s Abu Salim Brigade. This bodes ill for Libya’s future if Washington is indirectly dealing with these types of people. That is called appeasement. Consequently, there is still talk of Egyptian-led military action in Libya. Most egregious is that Leon’s draft does not mention ISIS, which is spreading like a cancer. With the kidnapping of more than 80 Ethiopian Christians last week, and ISIS advances in Libya from the coastline to its southern border, the group is promising a bloody Ramadan by splitting the country right down the middle.
U.S. policy
We should not be surprised. The United States is supporting Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, via its contacts with Qatar and Turkey. The recent appearance of Nusra leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani signaled a rebranding of the terrorist leader and movement. Major U.S. media outlets are promoting the mantra that Nusra is better than ISIS. This empowers both groups. One American policy wonk says the United States should “live with” ISIS. His argument is that like the emergence of communist states such as the Soviet Union and China, Washington must push containment policies no matter the length of time required.
Leon’s draft does not mention ISIS, which is spreading like a cancer.
This new approach is dead wrong, and is seen as appeasement by Arab officials. Such a policy sentences to death untold numbers of innocents, and its proponents are signalling the absolute retreat of the Obama administration. To boot, sending an additional 450 Americans to organize, train and equip Sunni tribes in Iraq is a losing proposition.To be fair, the Obama administration is asking Arab states to take care of their own regional problems. Saudi Arabia and their allies are doing just that via airstrikes, special operations and information warfare. However, in my opinion, for Washington to cuddle up to Al-Qaeda types is beyond comprehension after all the American lives lost in fighting such evil.The United Nations and United States are adding fuel to the fire that drives today’s chaos in the Middle East. There is no hiding from the ramifications that will echo throughout the region for years to come. Meanwhile, Arab states will continue to march forward to end violent extremism through various means. For some, the U.N. and American betrayal has been consummated.

A dragged, stripped, blamed victim in Egypt
Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
“They dragged me, stripped me, beat me up and stepped on me as if I were an insect,” Egyptian activist Hend Nafea said while in hospital, describing what happened to her in 2011 when she took part in protests against military rule. Her testimony was not easy. In Egypt, it is common to blame women for being attacked, particularly when expressing their right to protest. A few weeks ago, amid the life sentences and executions being issued by the Egyptian judiciary, Nafea was sentenced to life in prison over accusations of sabotage and terrorism. It went largely unnoticed that she turned from victim to defendant, something many others have experienced. Shaima al-Sabbagh, who was killed in front of cameras while protesting, was blamed for being killed, rather than the security forces that shot her dead.
Four years after her ordeal, Nafea - who has left Egypt - appeared in “The Trials of Spring,” a six-part series presented by the New York Times about women who played important roles in their countries during the Arab Spring. Her appearance stirred media-led accusations of treason. In the movie, Nafea recalls what happened to her and how family ties were broken. She also talks of her bitterness about being regarded as an offender rather than a victim. She describes how she followed up on the details of her trial online, and how her lawyer said he was prevented from attending trial sessions. In Egypt, it is common to blame women for being attacked, particularly when expressing their right to protest. There is currently a media uproar in Egypt that is devoid of facts. For example, it is easy to say that the Human Right Watch (HRW) report on increasing suppression and violations is politicized, and that the El-Nadim Center report documenting killings and torture harms state prestige. However, this uproar cannot conceal facts. Nafea’s story, which could not be heard in Egypt, will be heard by the rest of the world thanks to “The Trials of Spring.”

Saudi Journalist:, Daoud Al-Shiryan Since Oslo, Handshakes Between Top Arab Officials And Their Israeli Counterparts Are Accepted Practice
MEMRI/June 16, 2015 Special Dispatch No.6072
The handshake, at a June 4, 2015 Washington conference, between Saudi Gen. (ret.) Anwar 'Eshqi, who served for years as a senior adviser to the Saudi kingdom,[1] and incoming Israeli Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold stirred criticism of Saudi Arabia in the Arab media and on social media. Critics charged that the handshake was a step towards normalization with Israel.[2]
Responding to these accusations, columnist for the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat Daoud Al-Shiryan, who is also former editor of Alarabiya.net, wrote that Saudi Arabia's detractors are hypocrites. He noted that other senior Arab officials, who had also shaken hands with senior Israeli officials, had not received similar treatment, and claimed that those attacking Saudi Arabia were members of the resistance axis and were therefore deliberately "playing up" the incident in order to distract media attention from the resistance axis' debacles and failures.
The following is the translation of Al-Shiryan's column:[3]
The 'Eshqi-Gold handshake (Source: Raialyoum.com, June 5, 2015)
"The meeting between Anwar 'Eshqi, head of the Middle East Center for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies [sic] in Jeddah, and Israeli Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold, at a conference held by the American Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, has become an issue in several Arab media outlets. The attack on Saudi Arabia following this meeting reminded us of a similar attack that followed the handshake between Prince Turki Al-Faisal and Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, at a session of the Munich Security Conference five years ago.[4]
"This is despite the fact that Prince Turki forced Ayalon to apologize when the latter asked Turki Al-Faisal to meet with him and shake his hand. The prince said to Ayalon: It is you who must come to me. When they met face to face, Ayalon said to the prince: 'I apologize for what I said.' Then the prince accepted his apology and adhered to his country's [official diplomatic] position.
"With regard to this meeting, some of the media forgot that the prince had refused to sit with Danny Ayalon because of his poor treatment of the Turkish Ambassador to Israel, and they focused [only] on the handshake between the two. Media and journalists interpreted this as a plan for normalization with Israel – and the same thing happened with ['Eshqi's] meeting [with Dore Gold].
"The Saudi position on normalization appears in the text of the Arab Initiative, and understanding it does not require interpretation by journalists and political commentators. This is in addition to the fact that handshakes between senior serving Arab officials and senior Israeli officials have not stopped since the Oslo [Accords], and no one in the Arab media considers this to be normalization. However, when [Israelis] shake hands with Saudis, even if they [the Saudis] hold no official position, then Saudi Arabia's 'friends' in the Arab media start complaining.
"[Thus, for example,] a few weeks ago, representatives from Arab countries met with Israelis at a conference in Jordan attended by Europeans and Americans. The purpose of the conference was to advance the security coordination between Israel and Arab countries. Those same 'heroes' in the Arab media did not talk about this conference. Likewise, they did not attack the late Edward Said, when he wrote in Al-Hayat asking Arab intellectuals to initiate contact with Israeli intellectuals and invite them to debates at universities, cultural centers, and public platforms in the Arab world. He said: 'What have we gained from all the years of refusal to hold contacts with Israel? Nothing but becoming weaker and weakening our image in the eyes of those hostile to us.'
"Undoubtedly, some of those Arab 'warriors' have [recently] discovered the failure of the 'resistance' of their parties and organizations,[5] and have chosen to camouflage this failure with the slogan of opposing normalization, and playing it up, making Saudi Arabia a scapegoat for this deception. It is obvious that this exaggerated opposition and fuss over normalization is a cover aimed at compensating for the weakness of the 'resistance' [camp]. However, this cover can no longer shield the false slogans [by this axis] that are leading us to perdition."

[1] 'Eshqi is founder and director of the Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies in Jeddah. He served as a senior officer in the Saudi military for 35 years, and is a strategic expert and advisor to senior Saudi officials
[2] For example, Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), June 16, 2015, Raialyoum.com, June 9, 2015. Hashtags condemning the meeting and the handshake between the two were launched on Twitter For example, the hashtag "No to Normalization with Israel" Twitter.com/hashtag/%D9%84%D8%A7_%D9%84%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B9_%D9%85%D8%B9_%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84?src=hash and "Anwar 'Eshqi Disrespects Me" Twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A3%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B1_%D8%B9%D8%B4%D9%82%D9%8A_%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%86%D9%8A?src=hash.
[3] Al-Hayat (London), June 15, 2015.
[4] In February 2010, during the annual Munich Security Conference, Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal and then-Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon shook hands. Turki Al-Faisal claims that the handshake was preceded by Ayalon's apology to Turki for his insulting treatment of Turkey's ambassador to Israel, and his statement that Saudi Arabia was not assisting the Palestinian Authority economically. For further details on Turki Al-Faisal's position on his meetings with senior Israeli officials, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 5648, "Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal Defends His Participation In International Forums Alongside Israelis: It Does Not Contravene Islamic Shari'a, Is Aimed At Pressuring Israelis To Accept Arab Peace Initiative," February 14, 2014.
[5] The reference is to those advertising themselves as resistance groups such as Hizbullah.

Canada Calls for Arrest of ICC-indicted Sudanese President Bashir
June 16, 2015 - Ottawa, Ontario - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Foreign Affairs, yesterday issued the following statement:
“Canada is disappointed that South Africa did not fulfill its commitment under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to arrest President Bashir during his recent trip to South Africa for the African Union Summit. South Africa had a clear obligation to arrest and surrender him to stand trial for the crimes against civilians of which he is accused.
“President Bashir is wanted on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the conflict in Darfur. Perpetrators of such horrendous acts must be held accountable, and hundreds of thousands of Sudanese victims of this horrific conflict must have justice. “We urge all State Parties to the International Criminal Court to strengthen their commitment to international criminal justice and to fulfil their obligation to cooperate fully with the Court in order to enable it to function effectively.”

Canada Appalled by Terrorist Attacks in Chad
June 16, 2015 - Ottawa, Ontario - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement:
“Canada condemns in the strongest terms the twin terrorist attacks in N’Djamena, Chad.
“On behalf of Canadians, I offer my condolences to the families of those killed in the attack and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
“Reports that these cowardly and senseless actions were committed by Boko Haram are nothing short of disturbing. We commend Chad’s significant contribution to the regional fight against Boko Haram. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and support the fight against terrorism in the Sahel.”
On December 30, 2013, Canada identified Boko Haram as a terrorist organization. Canada’s Criminal Code criminalizes membership in, and the transfer of money to support, Boko Haram.
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