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Bible Quotation For Today/let it alone for one more year, If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.
Luke 13/06-09/" Then Jesus told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, "See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?" He replied, "Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down." ’

Bible Quotation For Today/He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; & will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Book of Revelation 21/01-12.14: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’ And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.’Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Canadian Elections/The real story about the niqab
Candice Malcolm/Toronto Sun/October 14/15
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/10/14/the-real-story-about-the-niqab?token=cb2366695c421bb168194d94b44c892b&utm_source=addThis&utm_medium=addthis_button_facebook&utm_campaign=The+real+story+about+the+niqab+%7C+Malcolm+%7C+Columnists+%7C+Opinion+%7C+Toronto+Sun#.Vh8EPskgpe8.facebook
Throughout this election campaign, we have been told that Muslim women ought to be able to wear a niqab during Canadian citizenship ceremonies. We’re told it’s a religious right; that if you oppose it, it’s because you’re racist. I hope all those who defend the niqab as a symbol of freedom and tolerance, including NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, read the story I broke in Wednesday’s Sun Media papers. I reported on an incident that occurred at a citizenship ceremony earlier this summer. A woman arrived in a niqab, eager to become a Canadian. When she was told to remove her face covering for a few minutes during the oath of citizenship she readily agreed. Her husband, however, refused to allow it.He caused a scene, screaming at officials. He insisted his wife not show her face. Those who witnessed his behaviour told me he was “abusive”and “enraged” and so angry, government officials feared for the woman’s safety. I spoke to several sources who confirmed what happened. They expressed similar feelings — empathy and dismay for the woman, anger, bewilderment and frustration when talking about her “coercive” husband. While working on this story, I spoke to members of my own family who are Muslim, including my husband, who grew up in the Middle East. They moved to Canada when he was 12. They all told me the same thing. The niqab does not represent Muslims, nor is it a symbol of Islam. My mother-in-law, an observant Muslim from Iran, said the niqab has nothing to do with her religion. “It is the worst thing,” she told me when I asked her about the niqab. “It is not a matter of Islam. It is a matter of a stupid husband forcing his wife.” Indeed, the niqab is no more representative of Islam than the Westboro Baptist Church — whose members picket funerals displaying horrible signs — represents Christianity. Like my in-laws, many Canadians left other parts of the world to come here for a reason. They chose Canada because of the freedoms and opportunities available here. A recent Thompson Reuters study ranked Canada the number one country in the G20 for women. By contrast, the World Economic Forum’s global gender report ranked Iran 137 out of 142 countries. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the two most popular countries for the niqab, ranked 141 and 130 respectively. The niqab is not about choice or empowerment. It is a symbol of oppression. It is used to erase a woman’s identity and remove her from the public square. It represents intimidation and a radical strain of Islam that most Muslims reject. Malala Yousafzai, the brave young Pakistani woman who was shot in the face and later won a Nobel Peace Prize, refuses to wear a niqab. She calls the practice, “Taliban-created culture."Such values are in stark contrast to our values of openness, tolerance, freedom and equality before the law. The story I wrote is not an exception when it comes to women living under the niqab. There are many others, trapped beneath that black robe, hoping desperately to become Canadian so that one day their daughters will have the chance to be free.

Eight missing after Greek coastguard vessel hits migrant boat
Athens, AFP/Thursday, 15 October 2015/Eight migrants were missing near the Greek island of Lesbos on Thursday after their boat collided with a Greek rescue vessel, the coastguard said. Another 31 people of undisclosed nationality were rescued, according to the coastguard. A search by Greek and Portuguese patrol boats and an EU border agency helicopter was underway, it added. The perilous Aegean Sea crossing from Turkey to Greece is claiming migrant lives almost each day.On Wednesday, a woman, a young girl and a baby died after their boat sank off Lesbos. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says more than 590,000 migrants have reached Europe’s shores since January, while more than 3,000 have died or gone missing. More than 450,000 of the total have arrived in Greece, most of them fleeing the civil war in Syria .Athens and the UN refugee agency have both called on the European Union to open up more legal channels for people fleeing war and persecution, so that they do not have to risk their lives to reach safety.

Lebanese Family Drowns in Migrant Boat off Greece
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 15/15/A Lebanese family that sought to travel abroad looking for better living conditions lost seven of its members at sea while two other members remain missing until the moment, the National News Agency said on Thursday. Seven of the Safwan family drowned at sea on board of an inflatable boat that was heading its way from Turkey to Greece, NNA added. "Turkish authorities have managed to find the bodies of Lebanese nationals Mayez Safwan, 63, and his daughter Leen, while Wael Mohammed Safwan, 18, and Malek Mohammed Safwan, 6, remain missing," the agency reported in the evening. "Seven bodies have been recovered until the moment," it said. According to a family relative, the Safwan family left Lebanon on Sunday morning and boarded the boat to Turkey on Wednesday. The family members, who hail from the Bekaa town of Gorgan, were displaced to the Ouzai area after the war broke out in Syria.

Relatives of Arsal Captives Urge Qatar's Emir to Mediate
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 15/15/The families of the abducted servicemen on Thursday urged Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to mediate in the case of their sons, noting that they will suspend their protests in the current period. “We call on Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad to intervene to end the captivity of the servicemen who were kidnapped 15 months ago,” the relatives said after talks with Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq. “This case is humanitarian and not of a security or military nature,” they added. The families revealed that the meeting was also attended by General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. “We hear the same talk in every meeting. Mashnouq and Ibrahim noted that the negotiations have been finalized and that the Lebanese state is not the party responsible for the complications,” the families said. They also disclosed that they will suspend their street protests in the current period, hoping the case will be resolved through “contacts with the Qatari side.”On Friday, the relatives blocked the road near the Interior Ministry and held a sit-in outside Prime Minister Tammam Salam's residence, demanding the resumption of efforts to free their sons which they said have been stalled lately. “Secrecy in negotiations is the key to success. I can say that the responsibility here does not lie on the Lebanese state but on the kidnappers who have special circumstances and an agenda of their own,” Gen. Ibrahim said on the same day. “Similar abductions have taken much longer time to be resolved,” he noted. “The Lebanese state has accepted the principle of exchange and done everything possible to free the servicemen. But the kidnappers are not ready (to free the servicemen),” he said. He concluded saying: “During out latest visit to Doha, we suggested a number of additional solutions that we hope would push things forward, but we are still waiting answers from al-Nusra Front through the Qatari brothers.” The servicemen were taken hostage by the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State in August 2014 when the two extremist groups overran the northeastern border town of Arsal. A few of them have since been released and four were executed. Al-Nusra Front has in its captivity 16 soldiers and policemen, while nine remain held by the IS.

Asiri: Political Leaders Should Converge, to Distance Lebanon from Regional Conflicts
Naharnet/October 15/15/Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri urged the political leaders in Lebanon to converge and find a solution for the crises mainly the hurdle of electing a president. “Stemming from the brethren relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, I urge the political leaders to work on opening a new leaf and put aside the controversial issues that have emerged in the last phase,” said Asiri after a meeting with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail. “I urge them to set a road map and take national decisions in order to preserve the state and its institutions,” he added, urging for the election of new president. Lebanon has been living without a president since the term of former President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014. The conflicts between the March 8 and March 14 alliances have thwarted so far the efforts to elect a successor. “I have conveyed to PM Salam the regards of Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and the appreciations of the Saudi leadership for his great national role and wise positions,” added the ambassador. Asiri concluded: “I have expressed Saudi Arabia's keenness on Lebanon's stability and the unity of its people. We hope that the political forces converge to find an exit for the current crisis starting with electing a president and to distance Lebanon from the conflicts in the region mainly from what is happening in Syria."

ISF Arrest Policeman for Car Thefts
Naharnet/October 15/15/The Internal Security Forces arrested in Baalbek on Thursday a policeman after he was caught on camera stealing cars and then reselling them to dealers, the state-run National News Agency said. The officer, who serves at one of the police stations west of the Baalbek villages was caught stealing cars on one of the surveillance cameras. He resells the stolen vehicles to dealers and vehicle merchants in an area east of the Bekaa city of Baalbek, NNA added. The detained has been referred to the related authorities for interrogations.

Syrians Choose Lebanon Port as Gateway to Europe
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 15/15/Every day, hundreds of people at Lebanon's northern port city of Tripoli board a ship bound for Turkey -- but for most, the trip is anything but a relaxing holiday. The ship returns nearly empty, because most of those on board are not tourists but Syrians setting out on the first stage of a journey to escape their country's conflict and build a new life. These Syrians are mostly middle-class and have the benefit of valid travel documents, meaning they can take advantage of the visa-free entry Turkey offers Syrians. But once they reach Turkey's shores, at the ports of Tasucu or Mersin, they join the thousands who have gone before them, paying smugglers exorbitant fees and risking their lives to continue their journey onwards to Europe. At the port, Lebanon's largest after that in Beirut, many are reluctant to admit the purpose of their trip. Pulling three large suitcases behind him, Abu Yahya says he has come from Damascus with his wife and two children. He looks embarrassed as he says without conviction that he is "going to Turkey to visit family". Nearby, a group of young men from Syria's central Homs province laugh. "The situation in Syria is so good that we can go and do tourism and then go home again," says Tareq, one of the group, in a sarcastic tone. Speaking more seriously, he tells AFP, "We're all here to flee to Europe.""I will flee to Greece, even if I risk death.""We'll take our chances," his friend adds."We have nothing to lose since death stalks us in our country."
'They talk about their future'
The service to Turkey was launched in 2010, a year before Syria's war began, and used to run twice weekly during the summer. "Now it goes four times a day," says port director Ahmed Tamer. "In August alone, we had 28,000 passengers, compared to 54,000 for all of 2014," he adds. The traffic stepped up with the closure last year of the last regime-held border crossing between Syria and Turkey at Kassab. Without the crossing in northern Latakia province, residents of the coastal regime stronghold began turning to Lebanon to make their way to Turkey. Cars bearing the licence plates of Latakia and neighbouring Tartus province line up at the port's entrance in Tripoli. Lebanon's General Security confirms that on the ship "90 percent of the passengers are Syrian" nowadays. "Most don't come back to Lebanon," Tamer says. On one trip, some 1,000 passengers departed, but only about 50 Lebanese passengers came back.
One Lebanese passenger said of 40 cabins available on the boat, all were occupied by Lebanese. "The Syrians sleep on the deck or on plastic chairs," he says, declining to give his name. There are two routes: one to Tasucu that takes 13 hours and costs $170 (150 euros); and another to Mersin that takes seven hours and costs $270 a person (236 euros)."On board, all they talked about was their future and their lives in Germany," the Lebanese passenger says.
'Where will we go?'
Lebanon is home to more than one million Syrian refugees who have fled the conflict, most of them desperately poor and many lacking the paperwork necessary to board the ferry from Tripoli. They are forced to take their chances with illegal boats that sail from beaches near the city, risking being caught by police or cheated by smugglers. "Some traffickers trick refugees," a security source tells AFP. "They take their money, tell them to meet at a beach and never show up. "Others take them to an island off the coast of Tripoli, pretending to authorities they are on a day-trip, and then when night falls a boat takes them on to Turkey or Greece," he says. These trips can also be deadly, with several cases in recent months of refugees drowning after setting off from Lebanon in smuggler boats. But the dangers have done little to deter people like Um Mohamed, who left the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk in Damascus. She hopes to reach Greece with her young children, but has not yet saved up the $4,000 (3,500 euros) fee demanded by smugglers."I envy the families who have made it to Germany," she says. "I will try again."Back at the ferry pier in Tripoli, passengers face hours of waiting before they are allowed to board. Security services have tightened checks at the port after seizing several falsified passports. Families approach the boat looking exhausted, some carrying children in their arms. "I'm going to Turkey with my family," says Imad."Then where will we go? God only knows."Some of the children appear disoriented and confused about the trip. "We're going to Turkey," says one little girl. "I'm not sure to do what."

Berri Concludes Visit to Romania, Assures Lebanon to Overcome Crises
Naharnet/October 15/15/Speaker Nabih Berri concluded his visit to Romania after holding a series of talks with Romanian officials where he assured Lebanon's ability to overcome the political and economic crises. “I would like to assure you and assure the Lebanese community in Romania that Lebanon will be able to overcome its political and economic crises despite the difficulties it is facing,” said Berri at a dinner banquet attended by Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta. The speaker touched on the burden of Syrian refugees in Lebanon saying: “I here ask your esteemed government's generous support for Lebanon in all the European Union forums to help us cope with the refugee problem. “Lebanon is hosting around 1.5 million Syrian refugees in addition to half a million Palestinians from the refugee camps in Syria,” added the Speaker. Berri touched on Lebanon's stability at the monetary level saying: “Lebanon has been able to maintain adequate monetary and security stability. Lebanon is the most efficient and competent country at the banking level.”

Roukoz at 'Solidarity' Rally: I Have Been Promoted to Rank of 'Citizen'
Naharnet/October 15/15/Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz took part Thursday in a rally organized in “solidarity” with him at Beirut's Martyrs Square, only hours after he retired from the military institution. “I'm Chamel Roukoz, an army commando officer who was promoted hours ago to the rank of 'citizen',” the outgoing Commando Regiment chief said in a speech he delivered at the square. “I will remain in the heart of the military institution through my commitment. I remember the martyrs and their families in these moments and I tell them that they are the cause and the foundations and that our army will always be the army of the people,” he added. “I will not retire, because struggle and love for one's country are not confined to a suit, a post or a job. I will always be the man you know and we will have further meetings,” Roukoz concluded, addressing frenzied supporters. A week ago, Colonel Maroun al-Qobayati was appointed as chief of the Commando Regiment to replace Roukoz. Efforts had been exerted to reach a settlement on the promotion of several officers ahead of Roukoz's October 15 retirement. Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun had been hoping that the promotion of Roukoz, his son-in-law, would keep him in the military and make him eligible to lead the institution. The thorny issue of military appointments is one of the main points of contention paralyzing the cabinet's work.

Russia Says 'Hotline' with Israel Set Up to Avoid Syria Sky Clashes
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 15/15/Russia's defense ministry said Thursday that its forces in Syria had set up a "hotline" with Israel's military to avoid clashes in the sky over the war-torn country. An "information-sharing" mechanism "has been established through a hotline between the Russian aviation command center at the Hmeimim air base (in Syria) and a command post of the Israeli air force," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the two sides were undergoing training on how to cooperate.Russia and Israel have been working to find a way to avoid unintended collisions between their aircraft over Syria since President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to set up a "mechanism" at talks in Moscow last month. Russia launched a bombing campaign in Syria on September 30 at the request of its long-standing ally Bashar Assad that Moscow says is targeting Islamic State jihadists and other "terrorist" groups.Israel has reportedly launched air strikes in Syria against Iranian arms transfers to Hizbullah and Israeli officials are believed to fear that Russia's intervention could limit their room for maneuver. The United States and its allies involved in a coalition bombing IS have sharply criticized Russia's air campaign and say that the majority of its strikes have hit more moderate rebel groups fighting Assad. Moscow has blasted the accusations and says Washington has rebuffed calls to cooperate more closely. The two sides have, however, held three rounds of talks aimed at establishing protocols to avoid any accidental collision but progress has been slow and no final details have been agreed. Israel -- which is not a part of the U.S.-led coalition -- opposes Assad, but has sought to avoid being dragged into the war. It also fears that Iran could increase its support for Hizbullah and other militant groups as international sanctions are gradually lifted under a July nuclear deal that Moscow helped negotiate between Tehran and world powers.

Kerry Peace Mission to Middle East 'in Coming Days'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 15/15/U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry denounced the recent spate of "terrorist attacks" against Israeli civilians Thursday and said he would head to the region to try to calm tempers. No timetable or itinerary has been released for the trip, but Kerry said: "I expect to be traveling to the region in the coming days and we will remain very closely engaged in order to support efforts to stabilize the situation." Kerry is due to fly to Milan on Friday to visit EXPO 2015, before flying on to Paris for a UNESCO board meeting then to Madrid for talks with the Spanish government, and so will not be free to head to the Middle East before Monday at the earliest. Israeli security forces were deployed in force around Jerusalem on Thursday, with soldiers joining police after a spate of knife and gun attacks killed seven Israelis and wounded dozens. At least 30 Palestinians have also died, including alleged attackers, and hundreds more have been wounded in clashes with Israeli forces. "In recent days we have seen an eruption of tragic, outrageous and unjustified attacks on innocent civilians who were simply trying to go about their daily business in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem," Kerry said. "We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks against innocent civilians and there is absolutely no justification for these reprehensible attacks and we will continue to support Israel's right to defend its existence," he said in an address at Indiana University. "It is critically important that calm be restored as soon as possible and we the administration will continue to stress the importance politically and privately of preventing inflammatory rhetoric, accusations or actions that could lead to violence." The recent eruption of unrest has raised fears of a third major Palestinian uprising or "intifada" against Israeli occupation. In the first two intifadas, between 1987 and 1993 and 2000 to 2005, hundreds of people were killed and many more hurt in near daily violence.

Obama Abandons Pledge to Pull Troops from Afghanistan
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 15/15/President Barack Obama on Thursday announced thousands of U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan past 2016, retreating from a major campaign pledge as he admitted Afghan forces are not ready to stand alone. Calling his decision to keep a 9,800-strong U.S. force in Afghanistan through much of next year "the right thing to do," the president acknowledged "Afghan forces are still not as strong as they need to be." "As commander in chief, I will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a safe haven for terrorists to attack our nation again," he said. Obama's repeated promises to end America's "longest war," have again been thwarted by a dogged Taliban insurgency and Afghan forces slow to get to their feet. Addressing battle-weary troops who may now be forced to return for another tour, Obama said they could "make a real difference" to stabilizing a strategic partner. "I do not send you into harm's way lightly," he told them. "I do not support the idea of endless war, and I have repeatedly argued against marching into open-ended military conflicts that do not serve our core security interests."Obama's decision -- announced in a televised address from the Roosevelt Room of the White House -- means he bequeaths to his successor a 14-year war that he inherited from George W. Bush. Coming to office in 2009, Obama had pledged to end a conflict that has now cost more than 2,000 U.S. lives and injured and maimed tens of thousands. The war in Afghanistan was prompted by the Taliban refusal to surrender al-Qaida leaders including Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 terror attacks. NATO forces have been in the country since 2001, with the United States representing by far the largest contingent. Under previous plans, the United States would have drawn down its troop numbers by the end of 2016 from about 10,000 currently, to about 1,000. But now, by late next year or early 2017 when Obama steps down and the 45th U.S. president is sworn in, their numbers are expected to remain at about 5,500.
'Jihad will continue'
Recent intense fighting has underscored the continued role of American troops in training the still fledgling Afghan forces and in vital counterterror operations. The Taliban responded to the U.S. announcement saying they would keep fighting until American troops finally pull out. "They were the ones who decided to invade Afghanistan. But it will be us who decide when they leave," said Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid. "When the attacks continue to mount on the occupiers and when they see they have to spend more money in their meaningless war, they will be forced to change their oppressive policy. Our jihad will continue until the last occupier is expelled," the spokesman told AFP. Two weeks ago the Taliban scored their biggest military victory since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, capturing the city of Kunduz. Only a swift response by U.S.-trained Afghan security forces led to an eventual Taliban retreat.
Extensive review
A senior administration official said Obama was making his announcement "as a result of an extensive, months-long review, and in consultation with his full national security team and our Afghan partners."The 5,500 troops that will remain late next year or in early 2017 will stay at a small number of bases, including at Bagram Airfield -- the largest U.S. military base in the country -- Jalalabad in the east, and Kandahar in the south. But the official stressed that the troops would not have a combat role. "This announcement in no way changes the fact that our combat mission in Afghanistan has ended, and we will continue to undertake only two narrow missions: counterterrorism and training, advising and assisting our Afghan partners," the official said. The NATO coalition said Tuesday that U.S. and Afghan forces carried out one of their largest joint operations in southern Kandahar province, dismantling a major al-Qaida sanctuary in the Taliban's historic heartland. The news on the troop deployment came after a series of setbacks, including a U.S. air strike on October 3 on a hospital in Kunduz run by Doctors Without Borders that killed at least 14 staff and 10 patients, with nine others still unaccounted for. U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday foreshadowed the announcement, saying it was important for the United States "to formulate options for 2016 and beyond." "It's important to say these things because the narrative that we're leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating," Carter told an Army conference in Washington. "We're not, we can't, and to do so would not be to take advantage of the success we've had to date," Carter said. Carter last week said several NATO defense ministers told him they were also open to changes to current planning for Afghanistan.

Fears Mount that Europe Sheltering Syrian 'Shabiha'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 15/15/Fears are growing that "shabiha" militiamen accused of committing some of the most barbaric atrocities against Syrian civilians for President Bashar Assad's regime are arriving incognito in Europe and getting asylum. The prospect has sent shivers downs the spines of Syrians who fled the war-torn country, as indications pile up that thugs who tortured on behalf of Assad have slipped into the flow of refugees arriving in Europe. "Today, there are war criminals who find refuge in France and in Europe," Ziad al-Isa -- a Franco-Syrian doctor who is part of the UOSSM disaster relief grouping -- recently told French lawmakers. Predominantly Alawites -- the confession of the Assad clan --, "shabiha" are the hugely feared tools of a regime that is responsible for nearly 80 percent of the 250,000 deaths in the conflict that kicked off in 2011, rights groups say. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Syrian employee of an international NGO told AFP they had spotted several of these former pro-regime militiamen while on assignment on the Greek island of Kos at the end of September.Members of the same family from the northwestern city of Tartus, they were among a group of migrants who had just arrived from Turkey."We too are war victims," one of them said, under the hostile glares of his countrymen.
Criminals, not refugees'
Half of the close to 600,000 migrants who have come to Europe this year via the Mediterranean are Syrians, according to the United Nations, and many come directly from the country -- not just refugee camps in neighboring states -- including regions controlled by the regime. And while the exact extent of the phenomenon is difficult to determine, witness statements come to the fore on a regular basis. A Facebook page titled "Criminals, not refugees!" in Arabic focuses entirely on unmasking those suspected of having committed atrocities against civilians. Managed by Syrians, it lists dozens of pro-regime militiamen or Iraqi Shiite volunteers who fought in Syria and have been spotted in Europe. There are photos of people posing with their weapons on the frontline in Syria, in front of portraits of Assad or trampling bodies. Then pictures allegedly of the same people show them going about their new life in Europe -- smiling as they splash about in a pool, sitting at cafes or posing with their backpacks under Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. However none of these photos could be verified by AFP. "We took this initiative after receiving testimonies from Syrian refugees who were gobsmacked to have seen and recognised, in the heart of Europe, the faces of some of their torturers," Qutaiba Yacine, one of the page's managers, tells AFP. "We act and collect testimonies to unmask them," says Yacine, who estimates that "around 500" currently live in northern Europe, Germany, Austria and France. Ziad Majed, a political analyst who specializes in Syria, said there were reports that "young people from the Alawite community are increasingly trying to escape, particularly to avoid forced conscription, as the losses on the government side are very high.""They could be young people who want to escape military service and a never-ending war," he says."But there could also be ex-shabiha who were potentially involved in war crimes. It's a very sensitive issue."
'False identities'
A magistrate at the French national court of asylum, who asked not to be named, said that the issue had to be raised. "Have some of the Syrian refugees taken part in horrors committed by the regime?" The magistrate said that national agencies in charge of refugees look out for these types of people in the interviews they conduct with recent arrivals, but unmasking them is very difficult. "There are so many false identities, false testimonies... and no one is going to brag about these kinds of crimes." The French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless People says that anyone found responsible of violating the Geneva Conventions is automatically precluded from getting asylum. But the current situation in Europe is chaotic, as migrants and refugees are not registered at the start of their journey. "So it's important that reception centers for refugees be implemented at the gates of Europe," says Celine Schmitt, spokeswoman for the U.N.'s refugee agency.

Turkey, Saudi Warn over Russia's 'Syria Mistake'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 15/15/Turkey and Saudi Arabia on Thursday warned Russia over the consequences of its intervention in Syria, with Ankara telling Moscow its bombing campaign in support of the regime was a "big mistake."The two majority Sunni Muslim powers both support the moderate opposition in Syria and have been infuriated by Moscow's bombing campaign to prop the regime of President Bashar Assad. "Russia is making a big mistake," Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu told reporters after talks in Ankara with Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir. "What it does will bring no meaning or benefit, other than delaying the transition process to help Syria out of the chaos," he added."We will continue with our warnings."Ankara is particularly concerned over claims -- denied by Moscow -- that its bombing campaign has targeted anti-Assad rebels rather than the stated aim of Islamic State (IS) jihadists. "Saudi Arabia and Turkey are in agreement on supporting the opposition in Syria. What is important is a political solution," Jubeir said. "We are in agreement that there will certainly be no role for Bashar Assad," he added. He said that in recent talks with top Russian officials, Riyadh had told Moscow that the Syria crisis should be solved according to the 2012 Geneva communique which envisages a political transition in Syria. "We (in Ankara) discussed the intervention of foreign powers, especially the Russian intervention which is a very critical issue and could lead to foreigners intervening in Syria from the outside," Jubeir said. Their united opposition to the Russian bombing campaign has intensified a rapprochement between Turkey and Saudi Arabia that has gained pace over the last months. Riyadh and Ankara fell out badly over Saudi's support of the toppling by the Egyptian army of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 who Turkey has strongly supported.But in a sign of warming ties, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly defended Saudi Arabia against vehement criticism from within the Islamic world over the deaths of hundreds of pilgrims at a stampede during the hajj pilgrimage.

US: Israel may be using excessive force
Reuters/Ynetnews/Published:10.14.15/State Department spokesman warns that settlement activity and the increasing violence in the region is reducing the prospect of a practical two-state solution, ahead of planned trip by US Secretary of State John Kerry to the region. Violence and settlement activity are undermining the viability of a two-state political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the US State Department said on Wednesday as it discussed Secretary of State John Kerry's plan to visit the region. Speaking a day after Kerry announced his intent to visit the region to try to help reduce tensions, State Department Spokesman John Kirby said the secretary was not affixing blame when he said a "massive increase in settlements" over the past year had been followed by the current outbreak of violence. Kirby later said that the department had seen reports which may indicate excessive use of force by Israeli forces. Kirby said Kerry had been consistent in "not trying to affix blame for the recent violence" but had discussed "the challenges that are posed on both sides by this absence of progress towards a two-state solution." Kirby noted that Kerry had been "unequivocal" in condemning Palestinian attacks on Israelis. But he also said the department had reviewed an Oct. 9 stabbing of four Arab men in the Israeli town of Dimona and considered it an "act of terrorism" as well. "He wants both sides to take the affirmative actions, both in rhetoric and in action, to deescalate the tensions, to restore calm, and to try to move forward toward a two-state solution," Kirby told a daily briefing. Seven Israelis and 32 Palestinians, including assailants, children and protesters in violent anti-Israeli demonstrations, have been killed in two weeks of bloodshed. Kerry has "highlighted our concern that current trends on the ground, including this violence, as well as ongoing settlement activity, are imperiling the viability of eventually getting to a two- state solution," Kirby said. Kerry said on Tuesday evening he was working to calm violence between Palestinians and Israelis, and would travel to the region soon to try to move the situation "away from this precipice." Kirby indicated that Kerry's plan to travel to the region did not necessarily mean he would go to Israel or the Palestinian territories. "The secretary has made clear his concerns over what's going on there and his desire to travel to the region to engage and discuss and to try to find ways to reduce the tensions, restore the calm and then start to work, collaboratively hopefully, towards a two-state solution," he said.

France says Iran missile test ‘worrying’ violation of U.N. resolution
Paris, Reuters/Thursday, 15 October 2015/Iran’s test of a ballistic missile earlier this week was a clear violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution and sends “a worrying message,” French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said on Thursday.Iran tested a new precision-guided ballistic missile on Sunday in defiance of a United Nations ban, signaling an apparent advance in Iranian attempts to improve the accuracy of its missile arsenal. “The Oct. 11 launch constitutes a clear violation of this resolution (1929). It is a worrying message from Iran to the international community,” Nadal told reporters in a daily briefing.Ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned under Security Council resolution 1929, which dates from 2010 and remains valid until a nuclear deal dating from July 14 this year goes into effect. Once the deal takes effect, Iran will still be “called upon” not to undertake any work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for a period of up to eight years, according to a Security Council resolution adopted in July. That resolution also says that once the deal is in effect countries will be allowed to transfer missile technology and heavy weapons to Iran on a case-by-case basis with council approval. However, at the time the resolution was drafted, a U.S. official called this provision meaningless and said the United States would veto any suggested transfer of ballistic missile technology to Iran. “Resolution 1929 will stay in place until confirmation by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), which should give its opinion at the start of 2016, on the implementation of Iran’s nuclear commitments,” Nadal said. France took one of the hardest lines of the six powers negotiating the nuclear agreement with Iran.

Iran reportedly deploys troops to central Syria
By The Associated Press | Beirut/Thursday, 15 October 2015/Hundreds of Iranian troops are reportedly being deployed in northern and central Syria, dramatically escalating Tehran’s involvement in the civil war as they join allied Hezbollah fighters in an ambitious offensive to wrest key areas from rebels amid Russian airstrikes. Their arrival, a regional official and Syrian activists told the Associated Press news agency on Wednesday, highlights the far-reaching goals of Russia’s military involvement in Syria. It suggests that, for now, taking on Islamic State extremists in eastern Syria seems a secondary priority to propping up President Bashar al-Assad. The development is almost certain to increase pressure on Western-backed rebels, who are battling multiple foes, and push more civilians out of the areas of fighting, potentially creating a fresh wave of refugees. Russia began its air campaign Sept. 30, and Syrian troops and allied militiamen launched a ground offensive against rebels in central Syria a week later. Russia says its airstrikes are meant to weaken the ISIS and other “terrorists” in Syria, but Western officials and Syrian rebels say most of the strikes have focused on central and northern Syria, where the extremist group does not have a strong presence. The official, who has deep knowledge of operational details in Syria, said the Iranian Revolutionary Guards - currently numbering around 1,500 - began arriving about two weeks ago, after the Russian airstrikes began, and have accelerated recently. The Iranian-backed group Hezbollah has also sent a fresh wave of fighters to Syria, he told The Associated Press.Iranian and Syrian officials have long acknowledged Iran has advisers and military experts in Syria, but denied there were any ground troops. Wednesday’s statements were the first confirmation of Iranian fighters taking part in combat operations in Syria. The main goal is reportedly to secure the strategic Hama-Aleppo highway and seize the key rebel-held town of Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib province, which Assad’s forces lost in April to insurgents that included al-Qaida’s Nusra Front. The loss of Jisr al-Shughour, followed by the fall of the entire province, was a resounding defeat for Assad, opening the way for rebels to threaten his Alawite heartland in the coastal province of Latakia.At least two senior Iranian commanders were killed in Syria in recent days, including Gen. Hossein Hamedani, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander, who died Oct. 8 near Aleppo.

Three abducted’ in ISIS attack on Egypt’s Sinai checkpoint
AFP, Cairo/Thursday, 15 October 2015/Militants kidnapped three pro-government tribal fighters manning a checkpoint in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, officials said, in an attack claimed by the militants. Two fighters from a tribal militia at the checkpoint were also wounded in the attack in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, security officials and medics said. The "Sinai Province", Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, claimed the attack on a Twitter account, saying a number of tribal fighters were killed. Its claim could not be independently verified. In a separate attack late Wednesday, a civilian was killed and six policemen were wounded as a roadside bomb struck a passing armored police vehicle in El-Arish, provincial capital of North Sinai. The area is a stronghold of jihadists, who have carried out regular attacks on security forces since the military's July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi. Militants say their attacks are in retaliation for a bloody crackdown on supporters of Mursi following his overthrow.

Russia ‘ready for close cooperation’ with Turkey
By Reuters | Moscow/Thursday, 15 October 2015/Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday Moscow was ready for close cooperation with Turkey on “fighting terrorism”, in comments after a deadly blast that killed at least 99 people in Ankara last weekend. "We are ready for very close cooperation and very close engagement with the Turkish authorities in the fight against the terrorist threat," Lavrov told a conference on Russian-Turkish partnership in Moscow. Turkey suggested to Russia on Tuesday that the two sides should consider creating a joint working group to coordinate actions related to Russia’s air strikes in Syria after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Moscow against losing Ankara’s friendship. “If Russia loses a friend like Turkey with whom it has a lot of cooperation it is going to lose a lot of things. It needs to know this,” Erdogan said in Belgium at a press conference alongside Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel broadcast on Turkish television on October 6.

Turkey’s AK Party ‘short of majority’ support
By Reuters | Istanbul/Thursday, 15 October 2015/Support for Turkey's ruling AK Party is little changed from a June election at 40.8 percent, a survey from pollster Gezici showed on Thursday, below the level needed to form a single-party government after a Nov. 1 vote. In June, the centre-right, Islamist-rooted AKP founded by President Tayyip Erdogan lost its overall majority for the first time since coming to power in 2002, taking 40.9 percent of the vote. The survey of 4,864 people held between Oct. 3-4 showed the main opposition CHP on 27.6 percent, the nationalist MHP on 15.8 percent and the pro-Kurdish HDP on 13.6 percent, comfortably above the 10 percent threshold required to enter parliament. It estimated the prospective number of AKP MPs in the 550-seat parliament at 256, short of the 276 needed for a majority. In the June election, the CHP won 25 percent, the MHP 16.3 percent and the HDP 13.1 percent of the vote. The Gezici survey showed a rise in support for the AK Party compared with its previous poll in mid-September which put the AKP in 39.3 percent, the CHP at 28.1 percent, the MHP at 16.8 percent and the HDP at 13.5 percent. The poll was conducted before a devastating bomb attack in Ankara last week at a peace rally, the worst of its kind in Turkish history, which killed more than 100 people.

Obama to slow pace of withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan
Washington, Reuters/Thursday, 15 October 2015/President Barack Obama is set to announce on Thursday that he will slow plans to draw down U.S. troops from Afghanistan and instead keep the current force of 9,800 through most of 2016 before beginning to trim levels, senior administration officials said. Obama had aimed to withdraw all but a small U.S.-embassy based force at Kabul before leaving office in January 2017. Under the new plan, troops will be drawn down to 5,500 starting sometime in 2017 and based at four locations - Kabul, Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar. The decision comes after months of deliberations between Obama, Afghan leaders, Pentagon officials, commanders in the field and White House advisers about how best to continue to support Afghan forces, senior U.S. administration officials said. “Those have been broad discussions, deep discussions, ones that have included the president’s personal engagement and a number of very detailed questions from the president about our posture,” an official said. The U.S. troops will continue to train and advise Afghan forces, and also will focus on ensuring that any remnants of al Qaeda are prevented from posing a threat to U.S. security, the officials said. “Our mission won't change,” an official said. The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan ended its combat mission after 13 years of war at the end of 2014, and Afghan troops have since been in charge of the nation’s security, with help from U.S. and NATO troops. But Afghan forces have struggled recently in assaults from Taliban militants, who briefly took over the northern city of Kunduz. “Certainly we’re watching and seeing how the Afghan security forces engage quite tenaciously in the fight in Kunduz,” an official said. U.S. military and administration officials have been discussing a slower timetable since the March visit to the White House of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, the officials said. “The Afghan government is very comfortable with this commitment. They’ve been indicating a desire for this commitment for some time,” an official said. Keeping 5,500 troops at four locations will cost about $14.6 billion per year, up from the estimated cost of $10 billion to keep a consolidated force at the Kabul embassy, the official said. NATO allies also have indicated some interest in sustaining their presence, the official said. There are more than 6,000 non-U.S. forces in Afghanistan as part of the “Resolute Support” mission.

Russian, Syrian jets hit rebel towns north of Homs
By Dominic Evans and Suleiman Al-Khalidi | Reuters - Beirut, Amman
Thursday, 15 October 2015/Syrian troops and their allies, backed by Russian jets, attacked rebel-held towns north of the city of Homs on Thursday, targeting a long-held and strategic enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. The offensive that began before dawn expands on over a week of ground attacks launched with Russian air support in areas of western Syria that are crucial to Assad’s survival and held by rebel groups other than Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Syrian state television, quoting a military source, said the army had begun a military operation in the area after heavy air strikes and artillery barrages early on Thursday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group which monitors Syria’s four-year-old civil war, said five civilians and six insurgents had been killed in Teir Malla, about 5 kilometers north of Homs city. A few miles further north, there were heavy air strikes around the town of Talbiseh and other villages in the area, the Observatory said, as well as fierce clashes on the southern edges of the town and nearby villages. The Syrian army, supported by foreign allies including Iran, has launched several ground offensives to retake insurgent-held territory since Russian jets started air strikes against rebel targets - mainly in western Syria - two weeks ago. The army operations include a campaign to recapture rebel-held land in Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces in the northwest. Regional officials have also said the army, backed by Iranian reinforcements, is preparing for a ground operation around Aleppo city, close to the Turkish border. Recapturing the area north of Homs would help reassert Assad’s control over the main population centers of western Syria and secure territory linking Damascus to the coastal heartland of his minority Alawite sect. The military source quoted by state television said the army and its allies had taken control of the villages of Khalidiya and Dar Kabira, between Homs and Teir Malla. The Observatory said the army had advanced in Khalidiya, but there was still heavy fighting there. “There are very heavy air strikes in Homs on the frontlines. There are civilian casualties. The aim is to apply military pressure, and the regime’s intention is to storm the area,” said the leader of one rebel group operating in the area. He said the number killed was not confirmed but gave the names of five documented dead including a girl and two women. A resident of Talbiseh said four civilians had been killed there and that a school was hit at around 6 a.m., before classes started. He said jets were still flying in the area. “They want to open up the road from Homs (north) to Hama. There’s no end to the aerial observation and the bombardment,” said Abdul Rahim Duhaik, a teacher in Talbiseh.
“People are busy digging shelters. No one has any intention of leaving. We will die in our land rather than be evicted.”Responding to the reports of civilian deaths, the Syrian military source said Syrian forces and Russian jets do not target areas where civilians are present. He accused al Qaeda’s wing in Syria, the Nusra Front, of carrying out a massacre on Thursday so it could blame the deaths on the bombardment. The source, quoted by state television, said the army had begun a military operation in the north Homs countryside after “concentrated air strikes and heavy preparatory artillery shelling on the terrorist groupings and their bases.”

Abucting Women” and “Destroying Churches” is “Real Islam”—Iraqi Grand Ayatollah
Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/October 15/15
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2015/10/15/raymond-ibrahim-abucting-women-and-destroying-churches-is-real-islam-iraqi-grand-ayatollah/
During a recent televised interview with Grand Ayatollah Ahmad al-Baghdadi, the leading Shia cleric of Iraq made clear why Islam and the rest of the world can never peacefully coexist.
First he spent some time discussing “defensive jihad,” saying that all capable Muslims are obligated to fight for the “liberation” of “occupied” territory, for instance, Israel (see here for a list of European countries also deemed “occupied” in the eyes of Islam).
He then explained “offensive jihad,” Islam’s primary bloodline, which forged what we now call the “Muslim world” over the centuries.
According to the ayatollah, when they can—when circumstance permits it, when they are strong enough—Muslims are obligated to go on the offensive and conquer non-Muslims (a fact to be kept in mind as millions of Muslim “refugees” flood the West).
The Muslim cleric repeatedly yelled at the secularized host who kept interrupting him and protesting that Islam cannot teach such intolerance. At one point, he burst out: “I am the scholar of Islam [al-faqih]. You are just a journalist. Listen to me!”
Expounded Al-Baghdadi:
If they are people of the book [Jews and Christians] we demand of them the jizya—and if they refuse, then we fight them. That is if he is Christian. He has three choices: either convert to Islam, or, if he refuses and wishes to remain Christian, then pay the jizya [and live according to dhimmi rules].
But if they still refuse—then we fight them, and we abduct their women, and destroy their churches—this is Islam!… Come on, learn what Islam is, are you even a Muslim?!
As for the polytheists [Hindus, Buddhists, etc.] we allow them to choose between Islam and war! This is not the opinion of Ahmad al-Husseini al-Baghdadi, but the opinion of all five schools of jurisprudence [four Sunni and one Shia].
Towards the end of the interview, because the clean-shaven, suit-and-tie-wearing host kept protesting that this cannot be Islam, the ayatollah burst out, pointing at him with contempt and saying, “Who are you? You’re going to tell me what to believe? This is the word of Allah!”
Indeed. Not only is it the word of Islam’s deity, but it is the fundamental, insurmountable obstacle for peace between Muslims and non-Muslims. Al-Baghdadi—and the countless other Muslim clerics, Sunni and Shia, that hold these views—are not “radicals.” For offensive jihad is no less codified than, say, Islam’s Five Pillars, which no Muslim rejects.
The Encyclopaedia of Islam’s entry for “jihad” states that the “spread of Islam by arms is a religious duty upon Muslims in general … Jihad must continue to be done until the whole world is under the rule of Islam … Islam must completely be made over before the doctrine of jihad can be eliminated.”
Islam has yet to “completely be made over.”
Renowned Muslim historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) explained jihad as follows:
In the Muslim community, jihad is a religious duty because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force. The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the jihad was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defense. But Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations.
Here it’s worth noting that even the most offensive jihad is seen as an “altruistic” endeavor, not unlike the “white man’s burden” of the 19th century. After all, the ancient argument that “we must reform your ways, with our ways, for your own good” has been one of the most cited justifications for offensive jihad since the 7th century.
Indeed, soon after the death of Islam’s prophet Muhammad (634), when his jihadis burst out of the Arabian peninsula, a soon-to-be conquered Persian commander asked the invading Muslims what they wanted. They reportedly replied as follows:
Allah has sent us and brought us here so that we may free those who desire from servitude to earthly rulers and make them servants of Allah, that we may change their poverty into wealth and free them from the tyranny and chaos of [false] religions and bring them to the justice of Islam. He has sent us to bring his religion to all his creatures and call them to Islam. Whoever accepts it from us will be safe, and we shall leave him alone; but whoever refuses, we shall fight until we fulfill the promise of Allah.
Fourteen hundred years later, in March 2009, Saudi legal expert Basem Alem publicly echoed this view:
As a member of the true religion [Islam], I have a greater right to invade [others] in order to impose a certain way of life [according to Sharia], which history has proven to be the best and most just of all civilizations. This is the true meaning of offensive jihad. When we wage jihad, it is not in order to convert people to Islam, but in order to liberate them from the dark slavery in which they live.
Even al-Qaeda partially justified its jihad against America for being “a nation that exploits women like consumer products”; for not rejecting the “immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and usury.”
If the “white man’s burden” was/is to “civilize” Muslims, by bringing them “democracy,” “human rights,” and “secularism,” the “Muslim man’s burden”—captured by Allah’s word to Muslims, “Jihad is ordained for you, though you dislike it” (Koran 2:216)—has long been to “civilize” Westerners by bringing them under the umbrella of Sharia.
This positive interpretation of jihad ensures that, no matter how violent and ostensibly unjust a jihad is, it will always be vindicated in Muslim eyes: the ugly means will be justified by the “altruistic” ends.
Finally, as Grand Ayatollah Ahmad al-Baghdadi pointed out, the need for Muslims to wage offensive jihad “is not the opinion of Ahmad al-Husseini al-Baghdadi… This is the word of Allah!”
Nor is it the “opinion” of ISIS Caliph Abu Bakr, al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, or any of the other countless past and present jihadis. No, jihad to conquer and bring Sharia to non-Muslims is the command of Allah.

What Do Palestinian Terrorists Want?
Bassam Tawil/ Gatestone Institute/October 15/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6669/palestinian-terrorists
Palestinian terrorists are not driven by poverty and deprivation, as many have long argued. Instead, they are driven by hatred for Jews -- because of what their leaders, media and mosques are telling them.
These young people took advantage of their status as permanent residents of Israel to set out and murder Jews. Their Israeli ID cards allow them to travel freely inside Israel. They were also entitled to the social welfare benefits and free healthcare granted to all Israeli citizens.
Muhannad Halabi wanted to murder Jews because he had been brainwashed by our leaders and media, and was driven by hatred -- he was not living in misery and deprivation. The family's house in the village of Surda, on the outskirts of Ramallah, looks as if it came out of a movie filmed in San Diego.
This conflict is not about Islamic holy sites or Jerusalem. Murdering a Jewish couple in front of their four children has nothing to do with the Aqsa Mosque or "occupation."
For the terrorists, all Jews are "settlers" and Israel is one big settlement. This is not an intifada -- it is just another killing-spree aimed at terrorizing the Jews and forcing them out of this part of the world. It already succeeded in the rest of the Middle East and is now being done there to the Christians as well.
The current wave of terrorism is just another phase in our dream to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. The terrorists and their supporters are not struggling against a checkpoint or a wall. They want to see Israel destroyed, Jews slaughtered, and the streets of Israel running with Jewish blood.
During the past few days, I had occasion to visit the homes of some of the Palestinian men and women involved in the ongoing wave of terrorism against Israelis -- the violence that some are calling an "intifada," or uprising.
What I saw -- what you or anyone could see during these visits -- was that none of these Palestinians had suffered harsh lives. Their living conditions were anything but miserable. In fact, these murderers had been leading comfortable lives, with unlimited access to education and work.
Four of the terrorists came from Jerusalem and, as permanent residents who had not applied for citizenship, held Israeli ID cards. They enjoyed all the rights of an Israeli citizen, except for voting for the Knesset -- but it is not as if the Arabs of Jerusalem are killing and dying because they want to vote in Israeli parliamentary elections.
These young people took advantage of their status as permanent residents of Israel to set out and murder Jews. They all had Israeli ID cards that allowed them to travel freely inside Israel, and even own and drive vehicles with Israeli license plates. They were also entitled to the social welfare benefits and free healthcare granted to all Israeli citizens, regardless of their faith, color or ethnicity.
None of the young Palestinians involved in the recent terror attacks lived a mud house, a tent, or even a rented apartment. They all lived in houses owned by their families, and had unlimited access to the internet. They all carried smartphones that allowed them to share their views on Facebook and Twitter and, among other things, to engage in wanton incitement against Israel and Jews.
At the home of Muhannad Halabi, for example, the Palestinian who murdered two Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem last week, you would discover that his father is a businessman who deals in air-conditioning systems and has his own business in Ramallah. The family's house, in the village of Surda on the northern outskirts of Ramallah, looks as if it came out of a movie filmed in San Diego.
Muhannad Halabi, his relatives said, was a spoiled boy who had gotten everything he asked for. He had been studying law at Al-Quds University near Jerusalem, and was able to commute freely between Ramallah and the campus. But the good life Muhannad had did not prevent him from joining Islamic Jihad and murdering two Jews. He wanted to murder Jews because he had been brainwashed by our leaders and media, and was driven by hatred -- he was not living in misery and deprivation.
The case of Shuruq Dweyat, an 18-year-old female student from the Tsur Baher village in Jerusalem, is not really different from that of Muhannad Halabi. She is now receiving treatment in an Israeli hospital, free of charge, after being shot and seriously wounded by the Jew she tried to murder inside the Old City of Jerusalem. She was studying history and geography at Bethlehem University, to which she travelled four times a week from her home, without facing any obstacles or being stopped by Israeli soldiers.
Photos Shuruq posted on social media show a happy woman who never stopped smiling and posing for "selfies." She has her own smartphone. Her family, like those of all the other terrorists, own their own house and lead an extremely comfortable life. The Israeli ID card Shuruq holds allows her to go to any place inside Israel at any time. She chose to take advantage of this privilege to try to murder a random Jew in the street. The reason? She, too, was apparently driven by hatred, anti-Semitism and bigotry. She, too, was the victim of a massive propaganda machine that ceaselessly demonizes Israel and Jews.
If you had met 19-year-old Fadi Alloun, you would have seen possibly the most handsome man in Jerusalem. Fadi, who came from Issawiyeh in Jerusalem, had also been enjoying a good life under Israel's administration. He too had an Israeli ID card and was able to travel freely throughout the country. His family told me that he had loved going to shopping malls in Israel to buy clothes from chain stores such as Zara, Renuar, Castro. With his snazzy clothes and sunglasses, he looked like more like an Italian fashion model than your average terrorist. He, too, had unlimited access to the Internet and his family owned their own house.
Fadi's good life in Israel, however, did not prevent him from setting out to stab the first Jew he met on the street. This happened last week, when Fadi stabbed a 15-year-old Jew just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. Fadi was shot and killed by Israeli policemen who rushed to the scene of the attack. Fadi did not set out to murder Jews because he had a harsh life. Nor was he driven by misery or poverty. He had almost everything to which he aspired, and his family were well-off. The life Fadi had, in fact, was much better than the lives of many of his fellow Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. As an Israeli resident, Fadi was able to go anywhere he wanted in Israel and had free access to restaurants, shopping malls and gyms.
Fadi Alloun, possibly the most handsome man in Jerusalem, stabbed a random 15-year-old Jew in the street last week. Police shot and killed Alloun moments after the attack.
The other young men and women who have carried out the current wave of terror attacks were also leading good lives; some had jobs inside Israel, in part thanks to their Israeli ID cards. Those who came from the West Bank were able to bypass checkpoints and the security barrier, just as thousands of other Palestinian laborers do, who cross into Israel every day in search of work and better lives.
To be honest, I envied these terrorists because of the comfortable lives they had. The furniture in their homes is far better than my furniture. Still, their luxuries did not stop them from setting out to murder Jews.
What does all this mean? It shows that the Palestinian terrorists are not driven by poverty and deprivation, as many have long been arguing. Palestinian terrorists are driven by hatred for Jews because of what their leaders, media and mosques are telling them: that the Jews are the enemy and that they have no right to be in this part of the world.
It also shows that this conflict is not about Islamic holy sites or Jerusalem, but about murdering Jews whenever possible. Murdering two Jews inside the Old City of Jerusalem or a Jewish couple in front of their four children has nothing to do with the Aqsa Mosque or "occupation." It is simply about the desire to murder as many Jews as one can. The terrorists did not draw any distinction between a Jew living in east Jerusalem, the West Bank, Tel Aviv or Afula [northern Israel]. For the terrorists and their sponsors, all Jews are "settlers" and Israel is one big settlement that needs to be eliminated.
Our conflict with Israel is not about "occupation" or Jerusalem or holy sites or borders. Nor is it about poverty and poor living conditions or walls and fences and checkpoints. This conflict is really about Israel's very existence in this part of the world. The current wave of terrorism is just another phase in our dream to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. This is not an intifada. It is just another killing-spree aimed at terrorizing the Jews and forcing them to leave this part of the world. It already succeeded in the rest of the Middle East, and is now being done to the Christians as well.
The terrorists and their supporters are not struggling against a checkpoint or a wall. They want to see Israel destroyed, Jews slaughtered, and the streets of Israel running with Jewish blood.
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I Got Syria So Wrong
By Frederic Hof/PoliticoMagazine/October 15/15
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/syria-civil-war-213242
Now and then I am asked if I had predicted, way back in March 2011 when violence in Syria began, that within a few years a quarter-million people would be dead, half the population homeless and hundreds of thousands of defenseless civilians terrorized, traumatized, tortured and starved. The companion question, more often than not, is if I had forecast the failure of the West to offer any protection at all to Syrian civilians subjected to a systematic campaign of mass homicide. Having first been exposed to Syria as a teenage exchange student, I was expected by questioners to know something about the place. And as a State Department officer, I was assumed to know something about my government.
But no. It took me the better part of eighteen months to comprehend fully the scope of an unfolding humanitarian and political catastrophe. By September 2012, when I resigned my State Department post as adviser on Syrian political transition to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, I knew that Syria was plunging into an uncharted abyss—a humanitarian abomination of the first order. And I knew that the White House had little appetite for protecting civilians (beyond writing checks for refugee relief) and little interest in even devising a strategy to implement President Barack Obama’s stated desire that Syrian President Bashar Assad step aside. But at the beginning, nothing drawn from my many years of involvement in Syria inspired accurate prophesy.
That Russia’s recent military intervention in Syria has shocked the Obama administration is itself no surprise. For nearly two years, Washington had chased Moscow diplomatically in the belief that the Kremlin’s soothing words about supporting political transition in Syria were truthful. That which was obvious to many—Russia’s desire to perpetuate Assad in office—is now jarringly clear to the administration. That training and equipping anti-Assad rebels to fight anyone but Assad has been dropped like a bad habit by an administration warned not to proceed along these lines is hardly a bolt from the blue. But the White House is not alone in failing to accurately forecast the severity of the Syrian disaster.
The major reason for my lack of foresight: It didn’t have to turn out this way, and I remain mildly surprised that it did. It is not that Syrians were without grievances concerning the way they were being governed. Widespread unemployment, underemployment and opportunity deficits were already prompting those with means among the best and brightest to leave the country. Although the regime’s corruption, incompetence and brutal intolerance of dissent were hardly state secrets, Assad was not universally associated by Syrians with the system’s worst aspects: “If only the president knew” was a phrase one heard often. Some Syria watchers believed that the Arab Spring would visit the country in the form of political cyclone. I did not. I did not think it inevitable that Assad—a computer-savvy individual who knew mass murder could not remain hidden from view in the 21st century—would react to peaceful protest as violently as he did, with no accompanying political outreach. And as Syria began to descend into the hell to which Assad was leading it, I did not realize that the White House would see the problem as essentially a communications challenge: getting Obama on “the right side of history” in terms of his public pronouncements. What the United States would do to try to influence Syria’s direction never enjoyed the same policy priority as what the United States would say.
Back in early 2011, it seemed possible not only to avoid violent upheaval in Syria but to alter the country’s strategic orientation in a way that would counter Iran’s penetration of the Arab world and erase Tehran’s land link to its murderous Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Much of my State Department time during the two years preceding Syria’s undoing was thus spent shuttling back and forth between Damascus and Jerusalem, trying to build a foundation for a treaty of peace that would separate Syria from Iran and Hezbollah on the issue of Israel.
There was a degree of idealism in my quest, born in the brain of an American teenager many years before. But there was another personal element as well. Long before Hezbollah murdered Mr. Lebanon—Prime Minister Rafik Hariri—in 2005, it had brutally and pathologically tortured to death a friend of mine serving as an unarmed United Nations observer, Marine Lt. Col. Rich Higgins. Peace between Israel and Syria would require Damascus to cut all military ties to Hezbollah. It would require Syria to stop facilitating Iran’s support to Hezbollah. It would set the stage for a Lebanon-Israel peace that would further marginalize Lebanon’s murder incorporated. Peace for its own sake is good. But the prospect of beating Hezbollah and its Iranian master was inspiring. This prospect, more than anything else, motivated the mediation I undertook as a deputy to Special Envoy George Mitchell in the State Department.
Assad, told me in late February 2011 that he would sever all anti-Israel relationships with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas and abstain from all behavior posing threats to the State of Israel, provided all land lost by Syria to Israel in the 1967 war—all of it—was returned. My conversation with him was detailed in terms of the relationships to be broken and the behavior to be changed. He did not equivocate. He said he had told the Iranians that the recovery of lost territory—the Golan Heights and pieces of the Jordan River Valley—was a matter of paramount Syrian national interest. He knew the price that would have to be paid to retrieve the real estate. He implied that Iran was OK with it. He said very directly he would pay the price in return for a treaty recovering everything.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interested. He was not at all eager to return real estate to Syria, but he found the idea of prying Syria out of Iran’s grip fascinating. And the negative implications for Hezbollah of Lebanon following Syria’s peace accord with Israel were not lost on him in the least. Although there were still details to define about the meaning of “all” in the context of the real estate to be returned, Netanyahu, too, knew the price that would ultimately have to be paid to achieve what he wanted.
But by mid-April 2011 the emerging deal that had looked promising a month earlier was off the table. By firing on peaceful demonstrators protesting police brutality in the southern Syrian city of Deraa, gunmen of the Syrian security services shredded any claim Assad had to governing legitimately. Indeed, Assad himself—as president of the Syrian Arab Republic and commander in chief of the armed forces—was fully responsible for the shoot-to-kill atrocities. Even so, he told Barbara Walters in a December 2011 ABC TV interview, “They are not my forces, they are military forces belong[ing] to the government . . . I don’t own them, I am the president. I don’t own the country, so they are not my forces.”
Before the shooting began the United States and Israel were willing to assume Assad had sufficient standing within Syria to sign a peace treaty and—with American-Israeli safeguards in place—make good on his security commitments before taking title to demilitarized territories. But when he decided to try to shoot his way out of a challenge that he and his first lady could have resolved personally, peacefully and honorably, it was clear he could no longer speak for Syria on matters of war and peace.
Some of my U.S. government colleagues from bygone days tell me we dodged a bullet: that an uprising against the Assad regime’s arrogance, cluelessness and corruption in the middle of treaty implementation would have caused real trouble. Others believe we were too slow: that a treaty signing in early 2011 could have kept the gale force winds of the Arab Spring from unhinging Syria. I don’t know. I don’t know if Assad or Netanyahu would, in the end, have done a deal. What I do know is that I felt good about where things were in mid-March 2011. What I also know is that by mid-April hope of a treaty was gone, probably never to return in my lifetime. Assad’s decision to apply lethal violence to something that could have been resolved peacefully was the essence of betrayal. He betrayed his country so thoroughly as to destroy it. Four years on, he reigns in Damascus as a satrap of Iran and a dependent of Moscow. In the end, he solidified Israel’s grip on land lost in 1967 by his defense minister father.

Israel perturbed by the arrival of 3,000 Iranian troops in Syria with 2,000 Cubans
DEBKAfile Special Report October 15, 2015,
Israel and Iran engaged in a duel of messages on Wednesday and Thursday (October 14-15), with Russia standing behind Iran.
Israeli military and intelligence sources were uncharacteristically forthcoming when they revealed on Thursday, Oct. 15, that 3,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards troops had secretly landed in Syria. This was the largest Iranian ground force ever to set foot in Syria. Until now, Israel had kept under close wraps any intelligence obtained about the movement of the Iranian forces. However, in consideration of the large number of troops, the continuation of the Russian and Iranian airlifts of forces to Syria, and the possibility that the Iranian troops could be deployed on the Syrian side of the Golan, Israeli leaders decided to go public in this latest development.This is because of their grave concern that Iran may take advantage of the IDF’s transfer of forces from its northern borders to the domestic fronts for quelling the current outbreak of Palestinian terrorist violence, to go for territorial gains on the Golan and the Israel-Lebanon border.
The IDF released information Wednesday night that it had sent drone and intelligence gathering units from the Northern Command to the center of the country to deal with the Palestinian terror.
The intelligence-gathering units are relatively new, attached recently to field brigades and divisions for supplying data gained by observation posts, forays behind enemy lines and questioning captured prisoners. The transfer of these units to the center of the country presents the IDF with difficulties on other fronts and may leave the military with no option but to start calling up army reserves very soon, if the wave of terror does not end. Fearing the IDF may strike its forces in Syria, Tehran sent Jerusalem a deterrent message: the revelation of its underground tunnel networks for launching and storing ballistic missiles.
The missiles were shown loaded on dozens of giant trucks with team standing ready for launching, to show Israel that all his ready for immediate action, including war. Revolutionary Guards chiefs were shown on Iran’s state TV inspecting the tunnels and the missiles and trampling contemptuously on US and Israeli flags. The previous day, Iran announced that its forces had conducted a test of the new “Emad” long-range ballistic missile, without specifying the weapon’s range or the date and location of the launch.
In Washington, the Obama administration’s response to these messages was low-key, describing the ballistic missiles as a certain violation of the UN arms embargo against Iran. In another military development connected to the Golan, US defense sources revealed Wednesday night that that Russia had airlifted to Syria Cuban army units to fight alongside the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The sources said they were members of Cuban armored corps units who would drive Syrian tanks, adding that the Cuban chief of staff, Gen. Leopoldo Cintra Frias, arrived in Syria with the troops.debkafile’s sources: The arrival of the Cuban forces broadens the Russian war effort. The fact that Cuban troops will man Syrian tanks attacking rebel groups represents a dramatic achievement for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proxy war in Syria. They are not in the Middle East for the first time. In 1974, the USSR flew two Cuban tank brigades to Syria and placed them opposite IDF positions on Mt. Hermon and other parts of the Golan. From February to May, the IDF traded heavy artillery fire with the Cubans, accompanied by dogfights between Israeli and Syrian warplanes. This war, conducted on the Syrian side by Russian officers, ended on May 31,1974 with the signing of a separation of forces agreement between Israel and Syria. In addition to demonstrating Russia’s strategy of establishing an international military coalition to support President Assad, the deployment of Cuban troops serves as a clear hands-off signal to Israel.

The Iranians are on Turkey’s border
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 15/15/The Syrian city of Aleppo is only 45 kilometers away from the Bab al-Hawa crossing along the Turkish border. Thousands of Iranian soldiers and fighters, preparing for the biggest military battle of the Syrian revolution since it began in 2011, are marching toward Aleppo, Syria’s most populated city. The Iranians mobilized this army a week after their top commander Hossein Hamedani was killed during fighting in Aleppo, which the Syrian regime lost control of despite Iranian support. The regime has also lost a number of towns north of the city. Defeat explains Iran’s intention to send more troops to fight there under Russian aerial cover. Unlike Turkey, which borders Syria and is particularly close to Aleppo, Iran - which wants to impose itself as a regional power - has come to Syria from afar with all its might. Ankara has had many justifications to defend its interests and security in northern Syria, such as the regime’s violation of Turkish airspace, cross-border mortar fire, or the downing of a Turkish jet at the start of the war. This is of course in addition to Turkey’s right to protect its borders.The results of Aleppo’s awaited battle between Iranian forces and Syrian rebels are all negative for Turkey. Perhaps military intervention has become harder for Turkey today, considering the presence of thousands of Russian, Iranian, Iraqi and Lebanese fighters near its borders, and the escalation of the struggle to a higher level between Washington and Moscow.
Reprecussions
The terrorist attack in the Turkish capital, which killed around 100 people, is a repercussion of the Syrian crisis, and may be a message from one of the warring parties such as Iran, Russia, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The results of Aleppo’s awaited battle between Iranian forces and Syrian rebels are all negative for Turkey. If the Iranians win, this will mean the defeat of Ankara’s allies, and Turkey will thus be a target for militias that are agents of Iran and the Syrian regime. If the Iranians fail to occupy Aleppo, they will blame the Turks and accuse them of funding armed groups. If the fighting continues for long, it may not stop at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, as Aleppo is less than half an hour drive to Turkey. At least half of Aleppo’s 2 million inhabitants have stayed despite the horrific destruction caused by the regime over two years. It has used barrel bombs to displace the population and destroy the city in a manner we have not seen in the history of the region. After previous failed attempts, the regime’s allies are preparing to raid the city again, but this time depending on massive Iranian ground forces and advanced Russian air power. Unfortunately, we will witness a worse tragedy because Iranian mortars and Russian shelling will target civilian areas, so many will be displaced and will mostly head toward Turkey. Russian and Iranian invaders think they are capable of retaking Aleppo. They also plan to head to Hama governorate. This is a stupid project aimed at restoring regime governance, and it will ultimately fail.

Hope for female unemployment in Saudi Arabia?
Abdullah Hamidaddin/Al Arabiya/October 15/15/
On Monday, the Saudi government launched a new organization to address the rising problem of unemployment in the country. The Commission for Job Generation and Anti-Unemployment will report directly to Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in his role as president of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs. This is not the first Saudi government initiative to focus on unemployment. The Labor Ministry carried out multiple initiatives. The primary strategy of most of them was the nationalization of the labor market, or at least a large percentage of it. There are about 12 million employees in Saudi Arabia, 8 million of them expatriates. Most unemployment exists among Saudis with college education, and among Saudi females. The second important organization in this regard is the Human Resources Development Fund, which provided training, placements and salary subsidies for Saudis wanting to enter the labor. Employers would only need to pay half the salary for the first two years of employment of a Saudi placed by the fund.
Hurdles
While there have been many success stories, unemployment has still risen amid many persistent hurdles, the most visible being Saudi businesses, which prefer to hire foreign, low-paid labor. Another hurdle is that Saudi labor has been portrayed as lazy and less disciplined. This image has been consistently promoted by an informal anti-nationalization coalition of businessmen who see hiring Saudis as against their financial interests. Another hurdle is the structure of the Saudi economy, which is still oil-based. Efforts to overcome this have so far not succeeded. The solution is to create new financial sectors that can expand the labor market. To place Saudis in jobs, they first need to exist - employing Saudis by firing foreigners is not a viable solution. Most unemployment exists among Saudis with college education, and among Saudi females. Most of the jobs in the private sector are low-paid and low-skilled. These cannot be filled by women and are not adequate for college graduates.
Reactions
Many Saudi economists say creating a commission directly linked to the deputy crown prince will allow it to execute its mandate and overcome some of the bureaucratic hurdles that other government bodies have faced. They also believe that the commission will be able to overcome pushback from Saudi businessmen who are resisting job-nationalization. Optimistic economists say the most important aspect of the commission is its mandate to expand the labor market by supporting entrepreneurs and providing consultancy to small and medium-sized businesses. So instead of simply placing a Saudi in the job of an expatriate, the commission will work to create new jobs. However, cynics question its implementation capacity, with memories of previous failed initiatives still fresh. They insist that without changing the economy’s high oil-dependency, it will not be possible to tackle unemployment.
Optimism
However, the creation of the commission is itself a step forward. Beforehand, there were separate entities with different responsibilities (job-nationalization, training Saudis, supporting entrepreneurs). Those entities did not always cooperate well, and sometimes could not function due to resistance from other government bodies or from the business sector. This new commission, however, has a broad mandate, and most importantly has the authority to push back against resistance. Being headed by the deputy crown prince is itself empowering. There is a more important reason to be optimistic. Unemployment among Saudi males is about 6 percent, while among females it is about 33 percent. If Saudi unemployment is a problem, it is almost solely because of high unemployment among females.However, female unemployment in Saudi Arabia is not just about economics. There are many cultural and regulatory hurdles that only a strong government body can overcome. This commission gives hope to the female labor market, and should focus almost solely on that, because if Saudis tackle female unemployment they have solved most of the problem.

A window of opportunity for peace in Yemen?
Manuel Almeida/Al Arabiya/October 15/15/
Last week, Yemen’s Houthi rebels wrote to the U.N. secretary-general to affirm their commitment to both the seven-point peace plan brokered by the United Nations in Oman, and to relevant Security Council resolutions. Also last week, the General People’s Congress (GPC), the party of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, accepted the peace plan and resolutions in an emailed statement. This, in theory, comes close to the position of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government and Saudi-led coalition, which have from the outset endorsed the U.N. plan as the only way forward. The key Security Council resolution 2216 of April this year demands, among other things, the end of hostilities and the withdrawal of Houthi militias and forces loyal to Saleh from Yemen’s cities. Key international players should not allow the Syrian crisis and Russia’s military intervention to deviate the focus away from the possible settlement of the Yemen conflict. Do these developments indicate that a political solution to the conflict is any closer than it was a few months ago? Not if previous talks and meetings between Yemeni warring parties as well as U.N.-led negotiations are anything to go by. In June, negotiations in Geneva were interrupted by insults, fist-fighting and shoe-throwing among the delegates. Not even a humanitarian truce during Ramadan came out of that round of talks. In May, a five-day ceasefire did not stop armed clashes between local resistance and the Houthi-Saleh alliance. Last year, before the conflict spread throughout the country, the U.N.-sponsored Peace and National Partnership Agreement, signed by all Yemeni factions, collapsed due to uninterrupted attacks by Houthi forces on state institutions. It is not only the Houthi leadership that has a recent history of striking deals they intend not to respect. After the uprisings against his rule, Saleh himself used the Gulf-backed transition plan of Nov. 2011 (which allowed him to return to Yemen with immunity from prosecution on condition that he transfer power to his vice-president) to play a disruptive role.
War-weary
Unsurprisingly, the reactions from both the Yemeni government and the Saudi-led coalition to the Houthis’ and GPC’s acceptance of the U.N.-brokered peace plan were unenthusiastic, reflecting deep suspicion about the real intentions of the Houthi-Saleh alliance. Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, the spokesman for Arab coalition forces, said operations would continue given that the coalition did not receive any promises of a ceasefire from the Houthis. The press secretary of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said the government “position is unchanged. There must be an announcement of willingness to implement all articles of the resolution without any changes.”However, previous talks and negotiations took place at an early stage in the conflict, when it had not yet run its course. As the conflict drags on, its destructive effects and impact on the civilian population have become ever-more evident, and the gains achieved by the Houthi-Saleh alliance in the first few months continue to be undone. Thus, the chances are a political settlement will become increasingly attractive to all parts. The U.N. special envoy to Yemen, the Mauritanian Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, this week expressed his optimism about getting peace talks going, noting that all parties take “the U.N. process as the only game in town.”
Diplomatic pressure
The window of opportunity should not go to waste. The fact the GPC and the Houthis have expressed in writing their commitment to the U.N. peace plan is relevant in itself. Both may be bluffing, but violations of a plan endorsed by the Security Council will come at a high cost to their credibility as parties to the negotiations. Further complicating matters, Saleh does not seem to back the GPC’s commitment to the peace plan. His speeches aired on Yemeni TV over recent days were yet another display of belligerence and dangerous illusions. The apparently diverging positions from Saleh and the GPC can be either a stalling tactic or a sign of divisions within the party. While inevitably a priority for anyone concerned with the stability of the whole region, key international players should not allow the Syrian crisis and Russia’s military intervention to deviate the focus away from the possible settlement of the Yemen conflict. During last weekend’s visit to Russia of Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was fully committed to cooperate with all parties to resolve the Yemen conflict. What American, European and Russian diplomats could now do is work on a step-by-step road map to implement Security Council resolution 2216 and the seven principles agreed upon in Oman. Both documents provide the key, general guidelines for a political settlement, but translating that into reality in such a complex conflict is another story.

Kurdistan’s democracy at risk
Ruwayda Mustafah/Al Arabiya/October 15/15/
The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan sacked five ministers from the Gorran party following a week of anti-government protests. It is not uncommon for minsters to be sacked in Europe, for example, but what is uncommon are the events that followed the sackings, which have set a dangerous precedent for Kurdistan’s relative stability and democracy. The spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has claimed that the protests were orchestrated by Gorran to undermine the government. However, no investigation has been carried out to verify the claim. More importantly, following the sackings parliament speaker Yusif Muhammed of Gorran was prevented from entering the Kurdish capital by forces belonging to the KDP-led coalition government. he coming weeks will likely see more political bickering, at a time when the Kurdish government wants to bypass Baghdad in receiving U.S. military support to fight ISIS.
Public needs
The government has not paid enough attention to the demands of the public. Demonstrators called for salaries that have not been paid for the past four months, due to the region not receiving its annual share of the budget from Baghdad. However, critics say the Kurdish government can pay the salaries of civil servants because it exports an average of 600,000 barrels of oil per day to Turkey, according to the latter’s minister of energy and natural resources, Taner Yildiz. Iraqi Kurdistan does not face a threat of civil war, which it experienced in the mid-1990s. However, in expelling an important partner from the coalition government, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani faces difficulties in rebuilding public trust, satisfying public needs, paying the salaries of civil servants, and avoiding further tensions. It is possible that Gorran will become a forceful opposition group, or the parties may find a compromise, though this seems less likely. The coming weeks will likely see more political bickering, at a time when the Kurdish government wants to bypass Baghdad in receiving U.S. military support to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). If the demands of protesters are further ignored, resentment and anger toward the government will heighten.

The failure of Arabs against the advancements of others
Mohammed Fahad al-Harthi/Al Arabiya/October 15/15/
It is frustrating and disappointing to see that unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is rising, while it is falling in the rest of the world. This depressing news is contained in a recent report from the International Labor Organization (ILO), which also pointed out that economies are stagnating and poverty is on the rise. Joblessness among the youth in the MENA region is at a staggering 30 percent, more than double that of the 13 percent average in the rest of the world. This undoubtedly means more terrorism, violence and crime. Our young people are falling victim to the policies adopted by many governments focusing on political gamesmanship and militarization rather than human and economic development strategies. To the embarrassment of Arabs, the ILO report shows that there is a decline in unemployment in several less developed nations in parts of Africa and the Caribbean.
The Arab world is in a grievous state. The cancer of terrorism in Syria has infected the entire region and is threatening world peace. The question now is what future is there for our young people living in countries where there is little prospect of gainful employment and living dignified and productive lives. These young people are the victims of marginalization, exploitation and inadequate education, which should be considered criminal acts. No wonder then that they are risking their lives on boats heading for Europe, in a desperate search for a decent life.
Cancer of terrorism
The Arab world is in a grievous state. The cancer of terrorism in Syria has infected the entire region and is threatening world peace. It has become a hotbed for thugs and proxy wars. The slaughter of innocents and the displacement of millions into camps to eke out a living are happening while the Syrian regime looks on coldly. Worst of all, the international community seems unwilling to act decisively, with only intermittent emotional reactions. Iraq, once a prosperous land because of its oil wealth and most educated populace in the region, has been plunged into what appears to be a perpetual winter with corrupt external powers, in collusion with local politicians, siphoning off its resources. There is a similar situation in Libya, wracked by a destructive civil war and with politicians and government employees representing no one but themselves, to the detriment of the people. The only solution to fight terrorism is to invest in human development... It is also no longer enough to blame the West for all the region’s problems. In Yemen, Iran is trying that age-old colonial tactic of divide and rule, by attempting to split the country into distinct northern and southern regions. Yemenis are barely scraping by, and have been forced to stand in long queues for handouts from international aid agencies. The region’s economic malaise has certainly increased conflict and terrorism. As the world shifts its attention to other parts of the globe with competitively priced sources of energy, further economic decline in the Gulf and elsewhere can be expected, exposing systemic problems that can no longer be hidden. The only solution to fight terrorism is to invest in human development. If people have hope they can appreciate life. It is also no longer enough to blame the West for all the region’s problems. Western countries are now only concerned about how to keep refugees out. The irony is that the United Nations, in reports back in 2012, had predicted political unrest and internal disputes in the region if there was no development in human resources, particularly spending on education, health and job creation. There were several other reports that reached the same conclusion. How many reports must tell us the same story before we act? It is not too late, but delaying further may result in an irreversible economic tragedy for millions.

Does Iran even want Russia in Syria?
Abbas Qaidaari/Al-Monitor/October 15/15/
TEHRAN, Iran — The already complex situations in Iraq and Syria have become more complicated following the announcement that an intelligence sharing command base has been formed by Iran, Russia, Syria and Iraq. The base, which is slated to be set up in Baghdad, is geared to enhance collaboration in the fight against the Islamic State (IS).
News of the initiative was originally reported by the Russian news agency Sputnik. It quoted a Russian diplomatic source as saying, “This shared intelligence base will be formed by the representatives of the chiefs of joint military staff of each of these four countries. … The first goal of the base is to gather intelligence regarding the region in the framework of fighting against this terrorist group. After the data is collected, it will be analyzed and will eventually be forwarded to the related organizations in the armed forces of each of these countries.” The Russian source added that “the command of this base will rotate every three months between the member states and the first rotating president will be Iraq.” Russia's official representative to the base, Sergei Kuralenko, further stated that “all four countries will have equal responsibilities in coordinating the fight against [IS]. The responsibilities of each side will be determined by a special charter, which will be soon adopted.”
Although Russian media and Russian officials have been very clear and detailed about the base, it appears that Iranian officials still have their doubts. For example, the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Danaeifar, responded to the news by saying, “This is a rumor! It is not as serious as it sounds. Iran has its own plans for fighting against Daesh [IS] in Iraq and Syria. Iran’s plans include logistic, consultation and training, and we are seriously following up on them. We have our own plans and we are depending on those.” In addition, during his recent trip to New York, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a gathering of media professionals, “[Russian President] Mr. Putin had personally asked me to form a strategic coalition with him against terrorism in Syria. However, there is no strategic coalition between Tehran and Moscow.”
In the meantime, it appears that Iraqi officials are most eager about the base. The Iraqi prime minister's spokesman, Saad al-Hadithi, told French media that “the intelligence sharing base which is about to be formed is a joint coordination committee between the four countries mentioned. Security issues will determine when this committee will start to function.”
Of note, the United States has not welcomed the formation of this military intelligence collaboration. US Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work reacted to news of the joint base by saying, “We were caught by surprise that Iraq entered into this agreement with Syria and Iran and Russia. Obviously, we are not going to share intelligence with either Syria or Russia or Iran. So we are in the process of working to try to find out exactly what Iraq has said. We're not going to provide any classified information to help those actors on the battlefield.”
During the past weeks, Russia has been flexing its muscles in the Middle East. It has sent dozens of fighter aircraft, bombers, tanks, artilleries and commando forces to Syria in order to fight the groups opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow’s clear desire to increase its military presence in Syria and the region shows that Putin is looking for a new regional order. Russia has already been active in the region, for example, by providing Sukhoi fighters to Iraq, providing political and military support for Syria, as well as maintaining a naval presence in the Syrian ports of Latakia and Tartus. However, Russia’s recent actions show that Moscow is determined to replace Iran and Hezbollah and be the new power in charge of military operations in Iraq and Syria. In parallel, it appears that the Russian government is alarmed about Assad staying in power and is thus pursuing the idea of an Alawite state in Syria’s coastal region. Mindful of the latter, it is evident that the formation of the joint intelligence base, as well as Russia’s direct military presence in Syria, will create multiple problems for Iran.
First, the sharing intelligence and military data can result in Moscow gaining more information regarding the military capabilities of Hezbollah. Considering Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s silence and implied consent regarding Russia’s interference in Syria, it is possible that, in the future, Israel can have better access to confidential information regarding Iran and Hezbollah’s military capabilities via Russia.
Second, Iran and Hezbollah have so far paid the highest military and security price in Syria. Russia’s strong presence in the country can easily weaken the strong positions of Iran and Hezbollah, and thus weaken Tehran’s position in future political negotiations on the future of Syria.
Third, Iran has already provided intelligence support to both Iraq and Syria. It has been providing Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) for these countries using unmanned aerial vehicles and intelligence forces. Indeed, it should not be forgotten that there is a history of intelligence and security collaboration between Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria. These countries have already, separately from one another, signed military and security collaboration agreements.
Finally, Russia’s reassuring of Israel regarding the new developments in the battlefields in Iraq and Syria makes the situation more complicated.
It thus appears that Iran believes that the potential disadvantages of Russia’s involvement are greater than its advantages. It is against the backdrop of the latter that one may view reports that “hundreds of Iranian military forces have entered Syria in order to perform ground operations inside that country.”
In conclusion, based on available data, it appears that Iran is naturally not willing to concede its supreme positions in Iraq and Syria to another country. However, Tehran will welcome and support Russia’s desire to battle terrorism in the region.

IS, Jabhat al-Nusra trace Afghan battle lines in face-off against Russia
Ali Hashem//Al-Monitor/October 15/15/
Much like the mujahedeen in Afghanistan decades ago, jihadi in Syria today see potential for victory over Russia in a war of mujahedeen attrition.The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan has become a popular topic of conversation among jihadis in Syria. Many of them either have memories to share or questions to ask, for it was a turning point in the path of modern jihad. It was there that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden took the spotlight, along with so many other jihadi “stars” who later found their own ways and started dozens of new “brands.” They founded what could be called a line of jihadi entrepreneurship.
In Syria today, the main jihadi groups are applying these recollections to their discussions of how to counter the current Russian attack. The issue is no longer a sectarian war with the Syrian regime and its allies, Iran and Hezbollah. It has become a global war — which sells better with young Islamists who might be reluctant to fight against fellow Muslims. It’s a war against the legacy of Soviet communists, the “genuine unbelievers.”
Both the Islamic State (IS) and Jabhat al-Nusra, the two main jihadi groups in Syria, have declared a holy war on the Russians. "The war in [Syria] will make the Russians forget the horrors they faced in Afghanistan,” said Jabhat al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani. In a YouTube audio message posted Oct. 12, he added, “The new Russian invasion is the last arrow in the quiver of the enemies of Muslims and the enemies of Syria.”
IS also issued an audio message, read by IS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani. He called on Muslim youth everywhere to join the jihad against the Russians and Americans, who are waging “a crusader war against the Muslims, the war of the atheists and idolaters against the believers.” He reassured them, “America is so weak that it’s seeking help from Australia, begging Turkey and Russia and appeasing Iran.”
Will Syria be Russia’s new Afghanistan? Al-Monitor posed the question to Abdullah bin Mohammed, an al-Qaeda theorist and author of several papers that have been cited widely by such jihad analysts as Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, Abu Qatada al-Falastini and Abu Maria al-Qahtani.
“I think the Russians decided to intervene after the major losses by the Syrian army in Idlib and Hamah,” he explained. “The Russians and the Americans kept a distance at the beginning, as they felt there was a kind of equilibrium in the equation. Now the situation is different.”
Bin Mohammed, who has 276,000 followers on Twitter, said the likelihood of defeating the Russians in Syria depends on foreign support for the rebels and the mujahedeen, adding, “and here I mean quality support.”
“In my opinion, this won’t happen until the West is sure that Russia has reached the point of no return militarily. Russia should be brought to the ground and be forced to drop its guard. Only then will it be possible to get quality weaponry that could help launch a proper war of attrition.”
The Russians will be then forced to withdraw from Syria the way they did from Afghanistan, he said.
“I think the Russians are still dealing cautiously and cleverly, and they don’t want to get immersed. This is similar to their indirect but effective intervention in eastern Ukraine. Still, we can’t rule out that the new cold war might force the Russians to escalate,” bin Mohammed added.
Russia has been conducting airstrikes in Syria since Sept. 30. Its planes are launching dozens of attacks daily on anti-regime militant groups across Syria, including IS, Jabhat al-Nusra and groups supported by the United States. Syria and its allies, mainly Iran and Hezbollah, welcomed the airstrikes, while the Syrian opposition, despite their differences, whole-heartedly joined their allies in the Gulf and the West in calling for the attacks to end.
According to bin Mohammed, the difference between the Russian intervention and the role Iran and Hezbollah are playing is that both Iran and Hezbollah have fought with the regime from the beginning, while Russia and the United States first sought a diplomatic solution.
Now, however, “When Russia is fighting alongside the regime, the only possible political solution that all parties were maneuvering around has fallen, and this means there’s a battle to enforce a new status quo until there’s another chance for a political solution.”
In his last speech, Golani called on all jihadi groups to unite against the Russian intervention. Here, bin Mohammed sees another similarity with the situation in Afghanistan.
“Al-Golani called on the mujahedeen in the Caucus to attack inside Russia, and this is the same strategy adopted during both the US and Soviet occupation of Afghanistan,” bin Mohammed said. “Back then, all differences were put aside between [Gulbuddin] Hekmatyar and Taliban, and all efforts were unified against the Americans inside, while al-Qaeda concentrated on attacking the US outside.”
When asked if this call for unity will attract more volunteers to fight against the Russians and their allies, bin Mohammed said, “Until now, the Russian intervention has attracted many Syrians to volunteer, and this is normal toward any foreign invasion.” To successfully enhance the stream of volunteers outside, some countries would have to lift their restrictions on travel to Syria, he said, and the recruitment effort would need full clerical support and media coverage.
He concluded, “The chaos this region is going through is affecting the jihadist groups, and I’m sure that the world, after this organized chaos, is going to be something different.”

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006 Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006