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Bible Quotation For Today/’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’"
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17/11-19: "On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’"

Bible Quotation For Today/No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.
Letter of James 01/09-18: "Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away. Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved. Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 31-September 01/15
ISIS declares war on the US dollar with the “gold dinar”/DEBKAfile Special Report/August 31/15
Protesters in Iraq and Lebanon demand accountability/Al-Monitor/August 31/15
Germany's Muslim Demographic Revolution/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/August 31/15
How the Islamic World was Forged: An Exercise in Common Sense/By Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/August 31/15
Saudi king wants Obama to tackle Iranian 'mischief'/Julian Pecquet/Al_Monitor/August 31/15
Iran behind Iraq and Lebanon’s ‘Awakening/By Eman El-Shenawi/Al Arabiya News/August 31/15
EU migrant crisis: Enough rhetoric, time for solutions/Abdallah Schleifer/Al Arabiya/August 31/15
Restoring Russian influence in the Middle East/Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/August 31/15
Europe’s unseemly haste to embrace Tehran/Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/August 31/15

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin for Lebanese Related News published onAugust 31-September 01/15
"Amerka wara el ossa..."
Getting complicated...like souq 3uqaz
Salam Holds onto Power, Slams 'Political Trash'
Hariri Welcomes Berri's Dialogue Call, Says Presidential Void a Priority
Bkirki Christian Summit Rejects Cabinet Resignation amid Presidential Vacuum
Environment Minister Suspends Participation in Waste Management Committee
Top Officials Welcome Berri's Dialogue Initiative
Jumblat: Dialogue Must Focus on Activating Govt., Meeting Popular Demands
2 Dead in Syrian Bus Crash on Masnaa Road

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 31-September 01/15
Australia Urges More EU Nations to Join IS Air Strikes in Syria, Iraq
Deadly Clashes in Kiev over Rebel Legislation
Verdict for Prominent Syria Activist Delayed to Sept. 16
Libya Loyalist Forces Battle IS in Benghazi
Israel Confirms Jail for Druze ex-MP over Syria Trip
3 Canadians, Pakistani, Nigerian among Dead in Saudi Fire
Video: IS Burns Four Iraqi Shiite Fighters Alive
Battling Rebels, IS Moves Closer to Central Damascus
Blast at Syria's Palmyra Prompts Fears for Famed Temple
Middle East Studies Profs Team with Iran Lobby to Push Deal

"Amerka wara el ossa..."
Walid Phares/31/08/15/Face Book
As in the rest of the Arab world, when you can't figure out an answer, it's America's fault. Now we are reading and hearing about "an intense, highly powerful US role behind the 'Zbele revolt'. Commentators start developing amazing scenarios: walla Washington is pushing a revolt to elect a President for Lebanon. Walla this is linked with Iraq, 3a Turkey, 3a Saudi, 3a Iran deal, 3a Syria, and Lebanon is the center of the Universe (how can it not be?). They add, the CIA is behind it, and maybe Bush and Cheney and Black Water (they didn't notice Obama is the President since 2009), and possibly "el Fran-massons" and the "Inglees." Commentators and analysts are under tremendous pressure to provide an answer, and answers non one has so far. So, the best answer? "Amerka wara el Ossa..." This is Taef's political culture for the last quarter of a century...

Getting complicated...like souq 3uqaz
Walid Phares/31/08/15/Face Book
As we continue monitoring the developments in Lebanon, we can spot differences between the narrative of the "organizers" and "spokespersons" of the "Zbele uprising" on the one hand and the participants in the demonstrations, on the other hand. The "organizers and spokespersons" made it clear that "their action is independent from politicians and political parties" yet they've engaged in media interviews and statements with comprehensive and long term political views that goes way beyond what the majority of regular folks are demonstrating for. So now you have the politicians and political parties accused of non efficiency, then the "non partisan" organizers of the uprising who are building another class of new politicians, then you have the regular people of the uprising. And beyond them all, the majority of the Lebanese sitting at home or at their workplaces. "3aja2t" as Lebanese slang says. It is getting complicated like the famous Souq 3uqaz was...

Salam Holds onto Power, Slams 'Political Trash'
Naharnet/August 31/15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam vowed on Monday not to give up his responsibilities despite anti-government protests that have been shaking the country in the past two weeks. Salam told the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper that he was not surprised by the demonstrations held against the backdrop of a waste crisis that erupted following the closure of the Naameh landfill, south of Beirut, last month. “I have always warned the political parties not to prolong the paralysis that extended from the presidency, to the parliament and then to the government,” Salam said. “I have also been warning for the past month against turning our backs to the people's affairs and … making them the victims of score settlement,” the PM told the daily. Salam said he is neither the leader of a political movement nor part of the patronage system that divvies up power among politicians. “I am part of the people and I feel their pain. I have struggled to become their voice but the political trash did not pay attention to the people's affairs,” he said. The solution to the current crises comes through the government's unity and the proposal of a waste management plan which the state would be able to implement, Salam added. Thousands rallied in downtown Beirut on Saturday over the garbage crisis, chanting "revolution, revolution" and setting a three-day ultimatum for authorities to respond to demands, including the resignation of Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq. The government's failure to resolve the trash crisis has evolved into wider protests against the political class that has dominated Lebanon since the end of the country's civil war in 1990 and a government that has failed to provide even basic services to its people. But al-Mashnouq refused to resign. In remarks to As Safir newspaper, he said: “I am the only official who is trying to do something to resolve the waste crisis.”“Most of the political parties are running away from their responsibilities,” he said.

Hariri Welcomes Berri's Dialogue Call, Says Presidential Void a Priority
Naharnet/August 31/15/Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri welcomed Sunday Speaker Nabih Berri's decision to call for a dialogue conference in September, while stressing that the priority is for resolving the presidential deadlock. “We will surely react positively when we receive the invitation. Agreeing on resolving the problem of the presidency would be the proper opening to discuss the other issues,” Hariri tweeted. He added: “Preserving the government and reactivating the work of parliament are the two pillars of Lebanon’s stability during this period.”Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 due to sharp political disputes between the rival camps and electoral rivalry. Earlier on Sunday, Berri revealed that he intends to call for a dialogue conference in the first third of September. “The agenda will tackle the presidency, the work of the parliament and the government, the electoral law, the law on restoring citizenship (for emigrants of Lebanese origin), the administrative decentralization project, and equipping the army,” he said. The remarks of the two leaders come a day after tens of thousands of protesters from across Lebanon staged a rare non-sectarian mass rally in downtown Beirut against a political class they accuse of corruption and failing to provide basic services. It followed demonstrations last weekend that descended into violence when some protesters clashed with police. The demonstration was organized by the "You Stink" movement, which began in response to a crisis that started with the closure of Lebanon's largest landfill in mid-July, resulting in garbage piling up on the streets of the country.Since then there have been small protests that have broadened to include demands for a political overhaul of government institutions seen as corrupt and ineffective by many Lebanese.

Bkirki Christian Summit Rejects Cabinet Resignation amid Presidential Vacuum
Naharnet/August 31/15/Christian spiritual leaders convened at Bkirki on Monday to voice their support for the cabinet of Prime Minister Tammam Salam, demanding an end to the ongoing vacuum in the presidency. The gatherers said in a statement: “We reject the resignation of the government and support efforts to preserve it given the presidential vacuum.” The country will not be able to tolerate vacuum in the presidency and government should the latter resign, they explained. Moreover, they stressed: “Salam's efforts should be backed with the election of a head of state, which is an issue that concerns all Lebanese.” Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls. Addressing civil society protests that have been demanding an end to the garbage management crisis, the gatherers at Bkirki said: “We support their demands, but highlight the danger of the tensions on the street in the wake of the regional unrest.”They expressed their backing for the rallies “on condition that they do not damage public property or take a violent turn through thugs.”Furthermore, they urged politicians to set aside their disputes and prevent them from affecting the people's daily lives and instead reach consensus on a number of pending issues. The spiritual summit was expected to include the participation of Muslim leaders, but they failed to attend due to undisclosed reasons. The “You Stink” civil society activists have been staging demonstrations demanding an end to the trash crisis. Thousands of protesters took to the streets on Saturday to call for the resignation of Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq and for Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq to be held accountable for security forces' use of force against demonstrators a week earlier. They gave the cabinet 72 hours to meet their demands otherwise be faced with “escalatory measures.”

Environment Minister Suspends Participation in Waste Management Committee
Naharnet/August 31/15/Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq refused on Monday to participate in the meetings of the ministerial committee tasked with studying the waste management crisis. Al-Mashnouq asked Prime Minister Tammam Salam to appoint another minister in his place. An Nahar daily said Monday that the committee has expanded to include 11 ministers from all political parties. But al-Mashnouq's pullout reduced the number to 10. The committee is awaiting a report from Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq on the municipalities willing to host landfills. Later on Monday, Salam appointed Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb to a panel tasked with finding a solution to the trash disposal crisis. The environment minister's announcement came after he claimed that he is the only official trying to resolve the garbage crisis that erupted following last month's closure of the Naameh landfill, which lies south of Beirut. Pressure grew on the government on Saturday after demonstrators gave political leaders a deadline to meet their demands. "You Stink,” the main organizer of the mass rally in downtown Beirut, threatened to escalate its protest movement if the government does not meet the demands by Tuesday evening. The ultimatum calls for a sustainable solution to the trash crisis, the resignation of al-Mashnouq and new elections to replace a parliament in power since 2009. Despite his announcement on Monday, al-Mashnouq stopped short of resigning. In remarks to As Safir newspaper, he said: “I am the only official who is trying to do something to resolve the garbage crisis.” “Most of the political parties are running away from their responsibilities,” he said.

Top Officials Welcome Berri's Dialogue Initiative
Naharnet/August 31/15/Lebanese leaders have welcomed Speaker Nabih Berri's initiative for dialogue to resolve the presidential crisis and other political problems that are threatening to create chaos in Lebanon. Sources close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam told al-Joumhouria daily published on Monday that he welcomes any initiative which takes the country out of paralysis. The sources hoped that all sides would heed Berri's call for talks, as a first step towards solutions to the country's growing crises. Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat also said on Monday that “any initiative for dialogue is welcomed.”He said he backed Berri's initiative, “particularly at this difficult stage that the country is going through as a result of pressing issues.”Asked by An Nahar newspaper if he expected the talks, which according to Berri would bring together Salam and the heads of parliamentary blocs, would succeed, Jumblat said: “The most important thing is to start the dialogue.”The speaker said on Sunday that the agenda will tackle the presidency, the work of the parliament and the government, the electoral law, the law on restoring citizenship for Lebanese expatriates, administrative decentralization, and equipping the army. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri was the first to react. “We will surely react positively when we receive the invitation. Agreeing on resolving the problem of the presidency would be the proper opening to discuss the other issues,” Hariri tweeted. He added: “Preserving the government and reactivating the work of parliament are the two pillars of Lebanon’s stability during this period.” Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 due to sharp political disputes between the rival camps. Also Sunday, Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah urged all the blocs to react positively to the initiative, saying only dialogue leads to consensus on controversial issues. He urged them not to lose the opportunity provided to them by Berri. Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi told As Safir newspaper that the Kataeb Party will announce its stance on Monday. He said Kataeb leader MP Sami Gemayel recently discussed the issue with Berri. A high-ranking source from the Lebanese Forces also told An Nahar that the LF will study Berri's proposal. But the source expressed fear that the agenda would prolong the presidential deadlock for having too many items. “The absolute priority should be the presidential file,” said the source, warning that “previous all-party talks have not led to results.”

Jumblat: Dialogue Must Focus on Activating Govt., Meeting Popular Demands
Naharnet/August 31/15/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat welcomed Monday Speaker Nabih Berri's call for dialogue while stressing that the talks should explore means to activate the government's work and meet the demands of the growing protest movement. “We welcome this dialogue, which remains the only way to achieve accord among the Lebanese and to overcome the difficult challenges that Lebanon and the region are going through,” said Jumblat in his weekly editorial in the PSP's al-Anbaa newspaper. Should the parties “fail to reach an agreement on the presidential vote, which remains a pressing need to restore the work of state institutions … and in the event of failure to agree on a new electoral law, it would be necessary to avoid indulging in debate over contentious topics and to focus on activating the work of the government,” Jumblat added. He said the political parties should exert efforts to turn the government into a productive body that can “meet the legitimate popular demands at all levels.” Warning that the political parties have underestimated the demands of the street protests, Jumblat noted that some forces are exerting strenuous efforts to “criticize this movement and question the motives of its activists.”He cautioned that the said political parties might try to “pounce on the legitimate demands” with the aim of thwarting the objectives of this “non-sectarian movement.”The PSP leader also called on authorities to find solutions to the chronic power and water feed problems and to the garbage crisis “that has started to pose huge health and environmental hazards.”He also said the parties of the dialogue proposed by Berri must try to reach an agreement over the thorny issue of military appointments and the promotions of top officers. Jumblat's remarks come two days after tens of thousands of protesters from across Lebanon staged a rare non-sectarian mass rally in downtown Beirut against a political class they accuse of corruption and failing to provide basic services. It followed demonstrations last weekend that descended into violence when some protesters clashed with police. The demonstration was organized by the "You Stink" movement, which began in response to a crisis that started with the closure of Lebanon's largest landfill in mid-July, resulting in garbage piling up on the streets of the country. Since then there have been small protests that have broadened to include demands for a political overhaul of government institutions seen as corrupt and ineffective by many Lebanese. On Sunday, Speaker Berri said he intends to call for a dialogue conference in September, as he urged anti-corruption protesters to demand a “civil state” and a new electoral law based on the proportional representation system. The dialogue agenda will tackle “the presidency, the work of the parliament and the government, the electoral law, the law on restoring citizenship (for emigrants of Lebanese origin), the administrative decentralization project, and equipping the army,” Berri explained.

2 Dead in Syrian Bus Crash on Masnaa Road
Naharnet/August 31/15/Two people were killed and 10 others were injured when a bus hit a concrete barrier on the main road of Masnaa in the eastern Bekaa Valley, the state-run National News Agency and the Traffic Management Center said on Monday. The bus was carrying a Syrian license plate and the accident happened at 4:00 am, said NNA. A woman died in the accident and 11 others were injured. But one of the wounded later succumbed to his injuries at hospital, the agency added. Earlier this month, three people were killed and 16 injured when a Syrian bus rammed into several vehicles near the Masnaa border crossing. The bus crashed into the vehicles after its brake failed.

Australia Urges More EU Nations to Join IS Air Strikes in Syria, Iraq
Naharnet/August 31/15/Australia on Monday urged more European nations to begin air strikes against Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq as a way of tackling the escalating refugee crisis gripping the continent. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said jihadists were responsible for driving hundreds of thousands of migrants to Europe and a broadening of the coalition fighting them was necessary. "Over 40 percent of the people currently seeking asylum in Europe are from Syria, and we need a united front to defeat the terrorist organisations that are driving the displacement of so many people," she told reporters in Sydney. "Already there are about 60 countries that are providing support in one way or another to the U.S.-led coalition. "But there's more countries can do in terms of supporting the air strikes which are proving effective in stopping Daesh (IS) from claiming territory off sovereign governments and from inflicting so much barbaric violence."Bishop was even more explicit in an interview with The Australian newspaper, published Monday. "Countries adjoining Syria and Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and others are bearing the brunt of millions of people fleeing into their borders and then into Europe," she said. "That's why I believe the Europeans must be involved in the coalition air strikes and the effort in Syria and Iraq."Only a handful of European nations are currently conducting air strikes against the jihadists, including France and Britain, as part of a coalition of Western and Arab powers. Australia has six RAAF F/A18 combat jets and two support aircraft, based in the United Arab Emirates, taking part. While Canberra has been carrying out air strikes in Iraq it has not targeted Syria so far, citing legal concerns, but is considering a request from the United States this month to extend its campaign into the war-torn country. Bishop separately told Australia's Channel Ten that air strikes were a risky proposition. "Some estimates say there are about 30,000 of these fighters who embed themselves in towns and cities. The difficulty for coalition air strikes is to not hit civilians and so they are limited in what they can do," she said. "But Daesh is across both the Syrian and Iraq border. They have claimed that area. "It's essentially ungoverned by either the Syrian regime or the Iraqi government. And that's why there's this request from the U.S. for Australia to join the coalition, that is carrying out air strikes over the Syria-Iraq border."European Union home affairs ministers are expected to hold emergency talks on September 14 in Brussels on the continent's escalating migration crisis, the Luxembourg government said on Sunday. The number of migrants reaching the EU's borders reached nearly 340,000 during the first seven months of the year, up from 123,500 during the same period in 2014, according to the bloc's border agency Frontex.

Deadly Clashes in Kiev over Rebel Legislation
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 31/15
One policeman was killed and dozens injured Monday in street battles with protesters in Kiev as Ukrainian lawmakers gave their initial backing to controversial legislation granting more autonomy to pro-Kremlin rebel regions. It was the worst unrest in the capital since a bloody popular uprising ousted Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovych early last year, an event that set in train the separatist insurgency in Ukraine's industrial east. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk blamed ultra-nationalists for the violence but they denied involvement. "At a time when Russia and its bandits are seeking to destroy the country but are unable to do this on the front line, the so-called pro-Ukrainian political forces are trying to open a second front inside the country," he said in an address to the nation. The violence involving hundreds of demonstrators flared up shortly after MPs backed the first reading of constitutional reforms that critics have branded "un-Ukrainian" for giving the Moscow-backed insurgents greater powers in the east. Riot police armed with batons were seen clashing with the protesters. A loud blast was heard outside parliament and clouds of black smoke billowed into the air as demonstrators threw what security forces said were live grenades. Some of the injured were seen bleeding on the ground in front of the parliament building, with many suffering injuries to their arms and legs. Most of those hurt were in uniform. The authorities said a member of the National Guard, believed to be a 24-year-old conscript, died of his injuries. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov initially said he died from a bullet wound to the heart but later corrected this, saying he was killed by shrapnel from a grenade. Avakov said a deputy interior minister was also hurt. Police said around 90 members of the security forces were injured, with spokeswoman Oksana Blyshchyk saying separately that 10 of them were in a critical condition. The city authorities said two journalists were also hurt. The interior ministry blamed the nationalist Svoboda party for the unrest, saying those detained included a member of its paramilitary unit accused of throwing the grenade. "More than 30 people have already been detained. More to come," Avakov said, adding that people who threw "several" explosive devices were wearing T-shirts with the Svoboda logo. Svoboda rejected the accusations, instead blaming the violence on the authorities who it said were the first to use force against the protesters. The party led by fiery nationalist Oleg Tiagnybok called the explosions a provocation designed to cast suspicion on "Ukrainian patriots."
Authorities opened a criminal probe into the clashes.
Anti-Ukrainian war'
The authorities confiscated a F1 anti-personnel grenade, which Avakov noted was designed to cause maximum death and injury. "Investigation and punishment will be unavoidable," he said, calling the clashes an "anti-Ukrainian war". Tear gas was used by both sides, an AFP correspondent said. The Western-backed reforms aim to give greater autonomy to the separatist east as part of a February peace deal which called for Kiev to implement decentralization by the year's end. A total of 265 lawmakers voted in favor of the draft legislation at a stormy session, which saw some MPs try to disrupt the vote, which they condemned as "anti-Ukrainian" and "pro-Vladimir Putin."Some shouted "Shame!"
Controversial legislation
The bill has sparked heated debate in Ukraine where opponents see it as an attempt to legalize de facto rebel control of part of the ex-Soviet country's territory. Kiev's Western allies see the reforms as a way of trying to end the armed conflict in the east that has claimed more than 6,800 lives over the past 16 months. The reform bill grants more powers to regional and local lawmakers including in the eastern areas currently under rebel control. But contrary to the expectations of separatists, it does not definitively hand the largely industrial eastern region the semi-autonomous status that the insurgents are seeking. The Russian-speaking regions -- dotted with war-shattered steel mills and coal mines that once fueled Ukraine's economy -- want their special status spelled out in constitutional amendments that would be enormously difficult to overturn. Kiev and the West accuse Russia of backing the rebels militarily and in particular deploying its troops to the conflict zone, claims that the Kremlin has repeatedly denied. Russia on Friday dismissed the constitutional amendments on decentralizing Ukraine as merely an "imitation" of compliance with the February deal. Ukraine last week accused Russia of sending huge numbers of reinforcements to aid separatists. On Saturday, French President Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel of Germany agreed with Putin to hold a new Ukraine summit in the coming weeks.

Verdict for Prominent Syria Activist Delayed to Sept. 16
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 31/15/The verdict in the case of prominent Syrian human rights activist and dissident Mazen Darwish has been postponed until September 16, a lawyer close to the case said Monday. Darwish and fellow activists Hani Zaitani and Hussein Ghreir were arrested in February 2012 and accused of "promoting terrorist acts"."The verdict for the cases of Hani Zaitani, Hussein Ghreir and Mazen Darwish was postponed until September 16, 2015 after Hani and Hussein did not attend the hearing," said Michel Shammas, a well-known human rights lawyer who has been following the case and spoke with Darwish's lawyer. Ghreir and Zaitani were released under an amnesty granted in July and Darwish was freed on August 10 pending the final hearing on Monday."It seems that the court was planning to drop the charges against all three, after their charges were included in an amnesty issued in 2014," Shammas told AFP. "But the absence of Hani and Hussein forced the head of the court to delay the verdict to announce the dropped charges for Mazen," he added. Darwish, Ghreir, and Zaitani were working at the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression when they were arrested. The three were accused of "promoting terrorist acts" and held despite repeated calls from media and rights groups for their release. They were moved between prisons several times, and court dates in their case were regularly postponed. Darwish, who is in his early 40s, has received multiple awards for his work, including UNESCO's annual press freedom prize in May. The embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has been criticized by rights groups for its unfair treatment of peaceful anti-government activists. More than 240,000 people have been killed since an uprising against Assad began in March 2011 and evolved into a civil war.

Libya Loyalist Forces Battle IS in Benghazi
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 31/15/Libyan pro-government forces on Monday battled jihadists from the Islamic State group in second city Benghazi, where five pro-government fighters have been killed in two days of violence, media said. Four loyalist soldiers died and 22 were wounded on Sunday in clashes with IS in the southern district of Hawari, the pro-government LANA news agency reported. "Fierce clashes with all sorts of weapons are still ongoing Monday between the army and terrorist groups," LANA said, quoting a military source. Loyalist forces have advanced into Hawari and control much of the district, it added. The eastern city has been rocked by near-daily fighting for more than a year between pro-government forces and armed groups including fighters from the radical Ansar al-Sharia and IS. LANA also cited an army spokesman as saying that a special forces commander, Imad el-Jazwi, was killed in a mine blast on Monday. Jazwi had been searching a house in the central neighborhood of Al-Laythi when the explosion killed him and wounded three members of his unit, the spokesman said. Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed veteran dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The North African nation has two rival parliaments and governments and several armed groups vying for power and its oil wealth. The jihadist IS, which controls swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, has taken advantage of the divisions to implant itself in Libya, seizing in June the coastal city of Sirte, Gadhafi's home town. Libya Body Count, an independent website which collates data from different sources, says a year of fighting, air strikes and attacks has claimed more than 3,700 lives. Most were killed in Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 uprising.

Israel Confirms Jail for Druze ex-MP over Syria Trip
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 31/15/Israel's Supreme Court on Monday confirmed a one-year jail sentence handed down to a Druze former MP for visiting Syria, an "enemy country."Said Naffaa had appealed a September 2014 verdict sentencing him to 18 months for traveling to Syria and making contact with a "foreign agent."He went in 2007 to Syria, with which Israel is technically still at war, as part of a delegation of 300 Druze religious leaders. A member of parliament at the time, he met a leader of the PFLP-General Command, an offshoot of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Israel designates a "terror organization." After Monday's Supreme Court decision, he will now be jailed for one year from October 6, plus six months suspended. Public radio said the former parliamentarian with the nationalist Arab Balad party also visited the offices of Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, who was then based in Damascus. Adalah, an NGO defending the rights of Israeli Arabs, in a statement Monday denounced a conviction it said resulted from "political and not legal considerations.""The ban on travel to Arab countries is discriminatory and repressive," it said. Israel has 130,000 Druze citizens out of a population of around eight million. Unlike other Arab citizens of the Jewish state, they are obliged by law to do three years of military service. The Druze are native to parts of central Lebanon, southern Syria and the Israel-occupied Golan Heights.

3 Canadians, Pakistani, Nigerian among Dead in Saudi Fire
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 31/15/Saudi authorities said Monday that three Canadians, one Pakistani and a Nigerian woman were among 10 people killed in a fire at a residential complex rented by oil giant Saudi Aramco at the weekend. The civil defense revised down from 11 the death toll for Sunday's blaze at the complex in the kingdom's Eastern Province, in a statement carried by state news agency SPA. It said 259 people were wounded, but that 179 of those have been discharged. The five others who died in the blaze were yet to be identified, according to the civil defense. It said the fire was ignited by an electric short circuit in the underground parking where 130 cars were parked. It said that 35 vehicles were completely destroyed by the fire. Saudi Aramco says it employs more than 61,000 workers worldwide from 77 countries. Foreigners represent around a third of the kingdom's population of 30.8 million.

Video: IS Burns Four Iraqi Shiite Fighters Alive
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 31/15/The Islamic State group strung up four Iraqi Shiite fighters with chains and burned them alive, according to footage posted online, the latest gruesome execution video from the jihadists. The victims -- identified as fighters in the pro-government Popular Mobilization forces from southern Iraq -- were suspended from a swingset-like metal structure by chains attached to their hands and feet, then set on fire. IS, which overran large parts of Iraq last year and still controls much of the country's west, said the murders were in revenge for the alleged burning of four men by pro-government forces. "Now retribution has come, for today, we will attack them as they attacked us, and punish them as they punished us," a masked militant says in the video. The video was not dated and did not give a specific location for where the killings took place, but it did carry a tag indicating that it was produced by the IS media unit responsible for Iraq's Anbar province. The video included a clip said to show a Sunni man suspended over a fire while still alive as pro-government forces look on, and another of famous Shiite fighter Abu Azrael ("Father of the Angel of Death") slicing a piece of flesh off a burned corpse with a sword. IS has carried out a slew of atrocities in territory it controls in Iraq and Syria, such as mass executions and a campaign of killings, kidnapping and rape targeting minorities. It has recorded many killings -- including beheadings, shootings, drownings and burnings -- in videos posted online.Baghdad's forces regained significant ground from the jihadists in two provinces north of the capital with support from a U.S.-led coalition and Iran, but much of western Iraq remains outside government control.

Battling Rebels, IS Moves Closer to Central Damascus
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 31/15/The Islamic State group battled Syrian rebel forces in a Damascus neighborhood on Monday, bringing the jihadists closer than ever to the center of the capital, a monitoring group said. IS militants fought street battles against Islamist rebels in Asali, part of the capital's southern Qadam district, after seizing two streets there over the weekend, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "This is the closest IS has ever been to the heart of Damascus," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. He said the jihadists had advanced from the adjacent Al-Hajar Al-Aswad neighborhood, where they have been based since July 2014. A Syrian military official confirmed the clashes and said he was "very happy that they are fighting.""But we are ready to react if they try to advance into government-held territory," the official told AFP. According to the Observatory, opposition-held Qadam has been relatively quiet since a truce between rebel groups and regime forces there a year ago. It said fighting in the district on Sunday left 15 fighters dead, but it could not specify how many were from IS and how many were Islamist rebels. Abdel Rahman said the "fierce street battles" had forced civilians to flee the area. Since its expulsion from the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus last year, IS has used Al-Hajar Al-Aswad as a base for attacks on the capital. From there, it tried to seize the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp in April, but was pushed back. That same month, IS kidnapped two opposition fighters from Qadam and beheaded them in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad.
More than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict, which began with popular anti-government protests in March 2011 but has evolved into a complex civil war. The conflict has seen the embattled regime of President Bashar Assad lose swathes of territory across the country. In the northwest province of Idlib, the powerful Army of Conquest alliance edged closer to Fuaa, one of two remaining regime-held villages in the province. The Observatory said the alliance, a collection of Islamist and jihadist groups including Al-Qaida's Syria affiliate, seized the village of Sawaghiya on the southeast edge of Fuaa early Monday after overnight clashes.The fighting left nine fighters from both sides and two civilians dead. After capturing the majority of Idlib province, the Army of Conquest surrounded and began heavily shelling the Shiite Muslim villages of Fuaa and Kafraya. This month saw two failed attempts at reaching broad ceasefire deals including Fuaa, Kafraya, and the rebel stronghold of Zabadani in Damascus province.

Blast at Syria's Palmyra Prompts Fears for Famed Temple
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 31/15/A powerful blast in the ruins of Syria's ancient Palmyra raised fears Monday that the Islamic State group has damaged another of the Middle East's most treasured heritage sites. Both Syria's antiquities chief and a monitor reported Sunday's explosion in the UNESCO World Heritage site, but there was conflicting information on the fate of its famed Temple of Bel. IS destroyed the smaller Baal Shamin temple at Palmyra last week, confirming the worst fears about their intentions for the site, which they seized from Syrian regime forces in May. The jihadists have carried out a sustained campaign of destruction against heritage sites in areas under their control in Syria and Iraq, and in mid-August beheaded the 82-year-old former antiquities chief in Palmyra. The extremist group's harsh interpretation of Islam considers statues and grave markers to be idolatrous, but it has also been accused of destroying heritage sites to loot items for the black market and to gain publicity. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said late Sunday that IS fighters had set off explosives inside the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel, at least partially destroying the centerpiece of Palmyra's famed ruins. Mohammad Hassan al-Homsi, an activist from Palmyra, said the inner part of the temple was destroyed in the blast. They detonated "boxes and barrels" that were filled with explosives and put in place on Sunday, he said. "This was the most important temple for tourists and for the people of Palmyra. They used to hold festivals there." But Syria's antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said the explosion did not appear to have damaged the temple significantly. "The frontal columns and the cella (interior) of the temple do not appear to have been damaged," Abdulkarim said on Monday. "According to the information we received from the town, the temple is still standing, but antiquities staff are not able to enter the site to see close up," he said.
France condemned the attack.
"With this attack against a UNESCO-recognized archeological jewel... Daesh is persisting in its criminal determination to wipe out the cultural diversity in the Middle East," said foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal, using an Arabic acronym for the jihadist group. There were no immediate images released by IS of the reported destruction. The reports come a week after IS blew up the Baal Shamin temple, an act the U.N.'s cultural agency UNESCO called a "war crime". That destruction was first reported by activists and Abdulkarim and was later shown in photos released by IS. The U.N. training and research agency UNITAR said new satellite images of Palmyra confirmed the demolition. IS captured Palmyra on May 21, sparking international concern about the fate of the heritage site described by UNESCO as of "outstanding universal value". Known as the "Pearl of the Desert", Palmyra, which means City of Palms, lies 210 kilometers (130 miles) northeast of Damascus. Before the arrival of Christianity in the second century, Palmyra worshiped the Semitic god Bel, along with the sun god Yarhibol and lunar god Aglibol. Abdulkarim said the Temple of Bel was Palmyra's most important site. "It is the best example of the combination of Oriental and Greco-Roman art styles," he said. "Along with the temple of Baalbek in Lebanon, it is the most important temple in the Middle East. It is special because its different features are still intact. "If its destruction is confirmed, it would be a huge loss not only for Syria, but for all the world." Construction on the temple began in 32 BC and ended in the second century, and it later served as both a church and a mosque. Before the Syrian conflict erupted 2011, more than 150,000 tourists visited Palmyra every year. IS reportedly mined the ancient site in June before destroying the Lion Statue of Athena outside the Palmyra museum.
Most of the pieces in the museum were evacuated by antiquities staff before IS arrived, though the jihadists have blown up several historic Muslim graves. IS has also executed hundreds of people in Palmyra and its surroundings, including several dozen soldiers in the city's ancient amphitheater. More than 240,000 people have died in Syria's conflict since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011. The war has evolved into a complex multi-front fight involving the regime, rebels, Kurds and jihadists. In Damascus on Monday, IS fighters battled Islamist rebels in the Qadam neighborhood, bringing them closer than ever to the heart of the capital. The fighting there began at the weekend, with IS seizing two streets in the area, the Observatory said.

Middle East Studies Profs Team with Iran Lobby to Push Deal
Cinnamon Stillwell • Aug 28, 2015
Clockwise from top left: Richard Bulliet, Rashid Khalidi, Reza Aslan, Juan Cole, Fawaz Gerges, and John Esposito. The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) has produced a letter promoting the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) signed by "73 prominent International Relations and Middle East scholars." Among the latter are Richard Bulliet, John Esposito, Fawaz Gerges, Rashid Khalidi, Hamid Dabashi, William O. Beeman, Juan Cole, and Reza Aslan.
A recent Campus Watch article on Middle East studies academics toeing Teheran's line in support of this deal includes the last four and clearly, they have company. The fact that NIAC is an Iran lobby group whose advisory board includes both Aslan and Cole demonstrates the willingness of these academics to further state-sponsored propaganda. It's also proof of the Iranian regime's ability—as with other Islamist lobbies—to infiltrate American university life. NIAC received funds from the Alavi Foundation (which funneled $345,000 to Harvard's Center for Middle East Studies) until Alavi was closed for being a front-group for Tehran's mullahs. The letter draws a moral equivalence between theocratic Iran and democratic America. The letter draws a moral equivalence between theocratic Iran and democratic America by holding both equally responsible for the tension between them, and for creating "instability" in the region. It's filled with inane jargon, such as "peace dividends," "win-win negotiations," "conflict resolution," and "creative diplomacy," designed to obscure the ideological conflict underlying the divide. It concludes by promoting the myth that the only alternative to this ridiculously lopsided deal is all-out "military confrontation."Meanwhile, the Iranian regime continues its genocidal calls for "Death to America" and for Israel to be "annihilated," even as it holds American hostages and pledges to maintain its support for the "resistance groups" Hamas and Hezbollah. This is what the professors who signed this letter call a peace partner.
**Cinnamon Stillwell is the West Coast representative for Campus Watch.

ISIS declares war on the US dollar with the “gold dinar”
DEBKAfile Special Report August 31, 2015, 2:00
The Islamic State on Sunday, Aug. 30, launched a new campaign to destabilize the US Dollar with a 54-minute video tape, produced to the professional standards of New York Madison Avenue. for general distribution. This is the first known instance of a terrorist organization declaring financial war on America. Graphic diagrams and figures are displayed to demonstrate that the mighty dollar is nothing but a piece of paper, whose value declines year by year when this is realized.
“The Jews” are inevitably presented as the prime movers behind the dollar’s false status as the world’s strongest currency.
The ISIS tape calls on world markets to stop using the dollar and revert to the financial system of the medieval Muslim caliphates. It offers the following currency substitutes:
1. A dinar coin weighing 4.25 grams of 21-carat gold, worth $139 at current gold prices;
2. A silver “dirham” coin, currently in use in some Muslim countries such as Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and parts of Libya, where ISIS is snapping up oil fields and installations.
3. Two copper coins known as “fulus,” which are handy currency for small transactions and daily use.
4. The jihadis also accept gold trinkets in lieu of coins.
The tape shows details of the coins’ production process at a plant in Mosul, ISIS’s Iraq headquarters.
While the Islamists’ plan for war on the dollar may recall a bygone age in history, it is worth noting that just two years ago, Iran was paid for its oil sales to India in gold and gold ornaments, to beat the Western oil embargo.
Most financial circles have greeted the ISIS reach for world domination by the gold dinar as a stunt. They maintain that ISIS itself uses American dollars to buy arms on the black market and pay its fighters.
All the same, debkafile’s counterterrorism experts disclose that the jihadis are deadly serious about their plan to wage a war of terror on the Western economy and financial system with four goals in view:
a) ISIS is not a run-of-the-mill terrorist organization, it is a movement seriously determined to forge an Islamic state and world order governed by its fundamentalist values.
b) Their territorial expansion and conquest of land has been accompanied by the pirating of natural resources, in their reach for affluence and control of the world’s economic levers.
ISIS’s consistent drive for terrain rich in oil, uranium, gold, silver and other natural resources, shows up in their grab for dominance in places like Libya, Iraq, Syria and the Sinai Peninsula. In Afghanistan, the Islamists have of late seized and ousted the Taliban from areas rich in precious metals.
c) The Islamic State is gaining a strong hand in the arms and oil black markets in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Europe. It is also gaining leverage for forcing traders to accept payment in gold dinars.
And there is no reason why they should refuse. Some of them already trade in bitcoins, a virtual currency with no national, economic or banking backing.
d) Like Al Qaeda in its heyday of the 90s, ISIS has many secret sympathizers among the rich and powerful of the Gulf emirates. If a hundred of them could be persuaded that the jihadist cause required them to start trading in gold dinars in their international business transactions, including the halawa (word of mouth system), Islamist gold would soon start infiltrating the world’s financial system.
The first response came Monday, Aug. 31, from the radical Hizb ut-Tahrir of Britain. It advised examining the benefits of returning to the old Gold Standard for resolving the sovereign debt crisis threatening the Eurozone, instead of “printing counterfeit money on keyboards.”
The ISIS video was not released merely as a provocative propaganda thrust against the likes of Wall Street and Western financiers. The jihadis seriously believe that financial terrorism can be a destructive weapon for destabilizing the US-dominated global economy at least as devastating as a raging horde of suicide bombers.

Protesters in Iraq and Lebanon demand accountability
Al-Monitor/August 31/15
Ali Mamouri writes this week, “The July 16 killing of Muntazar al-Hilfi by police in al-Madina, north of Basra, during a protest for improved services was redolent of the death of Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi on Jan. 4, 2011.” Al-Hilfi’s killing energized anti-corruption protests in central and southern Iraq, which have continued in some form until now.
While religious authorities in Najaf, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, have backed the demonstrations, Mamouri observes, “It was striking that Iranian official authorities and Iraqi parties known for their loyalty to Iran strongly opposed the popular protests, leveling numerous accusations against them and trying to stop them. It is noteworthy that pro-Iran Islamic parties dominating government were targeted by protesters because of their poor governing performance.”
Mamouri adds, “The ongoing protests in Iraq have brought together religious, civilian, secularist, communist and other communities. They all seek to reform the system and eradicate corruption within the Iraqi government. It seems that religious slogans and figures, especially Sistani, are exploited to attack the protests in order to create a rift between the protesters. … The situation on the ground indicates that the Iranian or pro-Iran movements’ attacks and assaults on protesters by accusing them of being anti-religion, breaching religion or being affiliated to IS [Islamic State] aim to defend specific Islamist parties with regional alliances with Iran. In light of the Iranian authorities’ explicit attack on the protests and Sistani’s support for them, conflict between the two camps on the way to deal with Iraqi affairs seems to loom in the horizon. While Iran wants Iraq to be a key element in its regional camp against Saudi Arabia, Sistani wants to distance Iraq from the ongoing regional conflicts, as much as possible, to allow it to make independent decisions within the framework of an efficient and stable civil state.”
Mustafa al-Kadhimi writes that despite the Iraqi parliament’s endorsement of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s reform package, “The difficulty of this task lies not only in the lack of required professional and scientific experts to deal with the situation — especially in light of the major brain drain in all domains during the past decade — but also in the will of Iraqi politicians to adopt the philosophy of reform in the interest of unity and society.”
Kadhimi adds that implementation of Abadi’s reforms requires “serious and fair working groups” among parliamentarians and “shortcuts to bring about change on the ground.”
“Abadi can accelerate the implementation of the reforms by winning further support of the religious authorities, which have so far supported the reforms he decided on, and by obtaining the approval of the political blocs. It is worth mentioning that some reservations on these reforms were expressed by Vice President Ayad Allawi and Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi, who considered the reforms a violation of the constitution. The government has major challenges to face in its implementation of reform measures, given the size of the problems in the state’s structure, disintegrating institutions, the confusion and inconsistency of laws and management’s instructions, and the deep-rooted corruption even in state regulatory systems,” Kadhimi writes.
Mohammed Salih writes that the Iraqi parliament’s ratification on Aug. 17, 2015, of a report that holds former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and more than 30 senior Iraqi officials responsible for the fall of Mosul may be a “litmus test” for Abadi’s reform initiative.
“In a country crippled by conflict, corruption and personal rivalries at the highest levels, if Abadi is serious about introducing a new approach to governance, the Mosul report could be used to his advantage to implement the desired reforms,” adds Salih.
Mohammad Ali Shabani reports on Iran’s complicated role in Iraqi politics. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have given top priority to Iraq. Zarif has been a frequent visitor to Iraq, including meetings with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is of Iranian origin, and whose influence in Iraq exceeds all other players, including Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.
According to Shabani, “While his military clout has expanded, Soleimani’s political influence appears to be increasingly checked. Indeed, today, the most powerful Iranian in Iraq is arguably Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. While in the making for years, this trajectory has accelerated following IS’ blitz in northern Iraq last summer. The fall of Mosul and increasing tensions with the Kurdistan Regional Government and Sunni leaders did not singlehandedly end former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s rule. Rather, it was the disapproval of the grand ayatollah. Neither Soleimani’s personal backing nor the highest number of votes for his bloc and for his person could shield Maliki from Najaf.”
Shabani concludes, “For now, it appears that Tehran is avoiding direct and overt involvement in the Shiite leadership dispute in Baghdad. Iran will likely maintain this posture until and unless the situation is seen as spiraling out of control, at which point it may choose to intervene to help forge a consensus. Indeed, this has been the playbook in recent years. This, in turn, may cause the Shiite leadership in Baghdad to pre-emptively reach out to the grand ayatollah, who also seeks to avoid becoming too embroiled in factional politics. In this waiting game, which could potentially turn explosive, the main victim may once again be ordinary Iraqis, who are mired not only in a war against IS in the trenches, but also corruption and factionalism at home.”
Lebanon’s new pulse?
The Economist reports this week on the protests in Beirut, which began last month over uncollected trash, but is actually a “pretext” for a broader malaise rooted “in the sectarian constitutional foundation on which the country rests.”
As in Iraq, the demand for reform and accountability represents another potentially encouraging, nonsectarian trend in a region where politics is otherwise often defined by ethnic and religious fault lines, proxy wars and bloodshed.
Al-Monitor reported in 2014 that “Lebanese citizens may be finding cause and uniting around a new agenda, even movement, built upon a lingering social and economic malaise finally erupting into an overdue popular revolt calling for a new social contract based upon national, not sectarian or factional priorities.”
Samy Gemayel, a member of Lebanon’s parliament and a senior leader of Lebanon’s Kataeb Party, spoke about this trend when he told Al-Monitor in December 2013 that “We need to talk about the corruption in the country. How, the way, the country is being managed. The whole, the corruption and the whole system. … Decentralization is the key to stop all this mafia that is monopolizing the wealth of the country and taking people hostage. And it is the case because today you have a few people who are ruling the country, and they have the power to use the people’s money. So it’s very easy. You vote for me, I give you what you need. If you don’t vote for me, I don’t give you what you need. And this is how the country is ruled.”
Saudis capture of Khobar terrorist a coincidence?
Bruce Riedel writes this week about the timing of Saudi Arabia’s capture of Ahmed Ibrahim al-Mughassil, the mastermind of the 1996 terrorist attack in Khobar that killed 19 American service members.
A Wall Street Journal editorial on Aug. 28 urges Congress to “take note. From the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon to the Khobar Towers to the Iranian-made IEDs [improvised explosive devices] that took the lives of many of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran and its proxies have never hesitated to shed American blood.”
Riedel, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense in 1996 and was at the scene of the Khobar Towers attack within hours, speculates on whether the Saudi capture of Mughassil, nearly 20 years after Khobar, and in the midst of the congressional debate over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is a coincidence. Riedel writes, “Mughassil was the senior Saudi Hezbollah official interacting with the Iranians. He would know exactly who was involved in the plot in Tehran. If he cooperated (a huge and unlikely if) he could establish the chain of command. In the more likely case that Mughassil's interrogation is selectively leaked to the media, it could still pose embarrassing and dangerous questions about [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei's role. The news of Mughassil's apprehension will also raise questions about how the 20-year-old manhunt broke now. The timing is certain to strike many as suspicious. Is the news intended to remind Americans about Iran's long history of involvement in terrorism just as the congressional debate on the Iran nuclear deal reaches its peak? The Saudis are very concerned that the deal will end Iran's isolation and strengthen its capacity for regional mischief. Riyadh has been fairly quiet about its concerns, but it is deeply engaged in a proxy war with Iran in Yemen. Even if the timing of Mughassil's arrest is a coincidence, the decision to leak the news is probably intended to influence the debate.”

Germany's Muslim Demographic Revolution
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/August 31, 2015
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6423/germany-muslim-demographic
The surge in Germany's Muslim population — propelled by a wave of migration unprecedented since the Second World War — represents a demographic shift of epic proportions, one that critics of the country's open-door immigration policy warn will change the face of Germany forever.
"There are 20 million refugees waiting at the doorstep of Europe." — Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.
According to Aiman Mazyek, head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, attendance at many mosques has doubled in the past month alone.
A large number (40%) are from countries in the Balkans, including Albania and Kosovo. This implies that nearly half of those arriving in Germany are economic migrants, not refugees fleeing war zones. — Thomas De Maizière, German Interior Minister.
Muslim men residing in Germany routinely take advantage of the social welfare system by bringing two, three or four women from across the Muslim world to Germany, and then marrying them in the presence of an imam. Once in Germany the women request social welfare benefits, including the cost of a separate home for themselves and for their children, on the claim of being a "single parent with children." — From an exposé broadcast by RTL television.
"For us today, what is at stake is Europe, the lifestyle of European citizens, European values, the survival or disappearance of European nations, and more precisely formulated, their transformation beyond recognition. Today, the question is not merely in what kind of a Europe we would like to live, but whether everything we understand as Europe will exist at all." — Viktor Orbán, President of Hungary.
Germany's Muslim population is set to skyrocket by more than 700,000 in 2015, pushing the total number of Muslims in the country to nearly 6 million for the first time.
The surge in Germany's Muslim population — propelled by a wave of migration unprecedented since the Second World War — represents a demographic shift of epic proportions, one that critics of the country's open-door immigration policy warn will change the face of Germany forever.
At a press conference on August 19, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière revealed that a record 800,000 migrants and refugees — the equivalent of nearly one percent of Germany's total population — are expected to arrive in Germany in 2015, a four-fold increase over 2014. He said that 83,000 migrants had arrived in July alone, and that the figure for August would be higher still.
De Maizière said that although many of the migrants are from the Middle East and North Africa, a large number (40%) are from countries in the Balkans, including Albania and Kosovo. This implies that nearly half of those arriving in Germany are economic migrants, not refugees fleeing war zones.
According to German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the Berlin refugee center pictured here receives up to 2000 applications for asylum per day. (Image source: Deutsche Welle video screenshot)
Of the 800,000 migrants and refugees arriving in Germany in 2015, at least 80% (or 640,000) are Muslim, according to a recent estimate by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland, ZMD), a Muslim umbrella group based in Cologne. This estimate is not in dispute.
In addition to the newcomers, the natural rate of population increase of the Muslim community already living in Germany is approximately 1.6% per year (or 77,000), according to data extrapolated from a recent Pew Research Center study on the growth of the Muslim population in Europe.
Based on Pew projections, the Muslim population of Germany reached an estimated 5,068,000 by the end of 2014. The 640,000 Muslim migrants arriving in Germany in 2015, combined with the 77,000 natural increase, indicates that the Muslim population of Germany will jump by 717,000, to reach an estimated 5,785,000 by the end of 2015. This would leave Germany with the highest Muslim population in Western Europe.
By way of comparison, the surge in Germany's Muslim population would be equivalent to the Muslim population of the United States increasing by 3 million in just one year.
Critics say that German officials, under pressure to solve Europe's migration crisis, are ignoring the long-term consequences of taking in so many migrants from the Middle East and North Africa.
In addition to security concerns (Islamic radicals are almost certainly trying to enter Germany disguised as refugees), they say, the surge in Muslim immigration will accelerate the Islamization of Germany, a process that is already well under way.
Islam is the fastest growing religion in post-Christian Germany. This is evidenced by the fact that an increasing number of churches in Germany are being converted into mosques, some of which are publicly sounding calls to prayer (the adhan) from outdoor loudspeaker systems. The increase is such that some neighborhoods in Germany evoke the sights and sounds of the Muslim Middle East.
Islamic Sharia law is advancing rapidly throughout Germany, with Sharia courts now operating in all of Germany's big cities. This "parallel justice system" is undermining the rule of law in Germany, experts warn, but government officials are "powerless" to do anything about it. At the same time, German judges are increasingly referring and deferring to Sharia law in German law courts.
Polygamy, although illegal under German law, is commonplace among Muslims in all major German cities. In Berlin, for example, it is estimated that fully one-third of the Muslim men living in the Neukölln district of the city have two or more wives.
According to an exposé broadcast by RTL, one of Germany's leading media companies, Muslim men residing in Germany routinely take advantage of the social welfare system by bringing two, three or four women from across the Muslim world to Germany, and then marrying them in the presence of an imam (Muslim religious leader). Once in Germany the women request social welfare benefits, including the cost of a separate home for themselves and for their children, on the claim of being a "single parent with children."
Although the welfare fraud committed by Muslim immigrants is an "open secret" costing German taxpayers millions of euros each year, government agencies are reluctant to take action due to political correctness, according to RTL.
Spiraling levels of violent crime perpetrated by shiftless immigrants from the Middle East and the Balkans have turned parts of German cities into "areas of lawlessness" — areas that are de facto "no-go" zones for police.
In Wuppertal, groups of bearded Muslim radicals calling themselves the "Sharia Police" have tried to enforce Islamic law on the streets by distributing yellow leaflets that explain the Islamist code of conduct in the city's Sharia zones. In Hamburg, Muslim radicals have infiltrated dozens of primary and secondary schools, where they are imposing Islamic norms and values on non-Muslim students and teachers.
In Berlin, local officials have waived rules prohibiting religious dress in public buildings so that Muslim women can wear headscarves. In Bavaria, Muslim children are being exempted from mandatory visits to former concentration camps as part of Holocaust education programs.
In Bremen, city officials signed an agreement with the city's 40,000-strong Muslim community. The agreement guarantees the protection of Muslim community properties, the approval of the construction of mosques with minarets and domes, the allotment of land for Muslim cemeteries, the supply of halal food at prisons and hospitals, the recognition of three Muslim holidays, Muslim representation in state institutions and other rights and privileges.
More than 700 German Muslims have joined the Islamic State and traveled to Syria and Iraq, and some of them have continued to receive welfare benefits from the German state while on the battlefields of the Middle East. Jihadists who have returned to Germany and pose an acute threat to national security threat are nevertheless eligible to receive benefits once again.
Germany is home to more than 7,000 Salafists who adhere to a branch of radical Islam that is vehemently opposed to Germany's democratic order. German officials say that 1,000 of these individuals are especially dangerous (some are believed to have joined sleeper cells) and could attack at any time.
At the same time, however, Salafists are allowed to openly proselytize on German streets to find new recruits and thereby increase their numbers. In a recent recruitment initiative, Salafists launched an unprecedented nationwide campaign, "A Koran in Every Home," to distribute 25 million copies of the Koran, translated into the German language, to every household in Germany, free of charge.
And yet the guardians of German multiculturalism have been working overtime to silence critics of the rise of Islam in Germany. In Bavaria, for example, German activists opposed to the construction of a mega-mosque in Munich have been classified as "extremists" and are being monitored by German intelligence.
German media consistently accuse commentators on the rise of Islam of engaging in hate speech, in an underhanded effort to try to intimidate them into silence. A particular object of wrath is a very popular German-language website called Politically Incorrect (PI), which over the years has grown into a major information resource for people concerned about the spread of Islam in Germany. PI's motto reads "Against the Mainstream, Pro-American, Pro-Israel, Against the Islamization of Europe." Not surprisingly, German media elites want PI shut down.
It is quite possible that German Chancellor Angela Merkel — who recently admitted that German multiculturalism has failed — views mass immigration from the Muslim world as the solution to Germany's collapsing birth rate, which is among the lowest in the world.
The German government expects the population to shrink from roughly 81 million today to 67 million in 2060, although Germany's statistics office, Destatis, recently reported that high levels of immigration would cause the country's population to shrink more slowly than previously expected.
A study by the Hamburg-based World Economy Institute has warned that the low birthrate threatens the long-term viability of the German economy. "No other industrial country is deteriorating at this speed despite the strong influx of young migrant workers," the report said. "Germany cannot continue to be a dynamic business hub in the long-run without a strong jobs market."
Germany will need to do a far better job of integrating immigrants if they are to be a net gain for the German economy. A recent study by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research showed that Muslim immigrants were more likely to be unemployed and living off the social welfare state than any other migrant group in Germany. The report said that root cause for the high unemployment rates is the lack of educational attainment and job training qualifications.
Meanwhile, the migration crisis shows no sign of abating. At a summit on migration held in Vienna on August 27, the EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, said: "There are 20 million refugees waiting at the doorstep of Europe. Ten to 12 million in Syria, 5 million Palestinians, 2 million Ukrainians and about 1 million in the southern Caucasus."
On August 21, Germany suspended the so-called Dublin Regulation — a law that requires people seeking refuge within the EU to do so in the first European country they reach — for asylum seekers from Syria. This means that Syrians reaching Germany will be allowed to stay while their applications are being processed. Critics say the move will encourage even more migrants to make their way to Germany.
Most Germans seem to be unfazed by what is happening to their country. An August 21 poll for German broadcaster ZDF showed that 60% of Germans thought their country could cope with the high number of refugees, and 86% said that Germany was a country of immigration.
In an interview with the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, Aiman Mazyek, the head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, said that so many Muslims have been flowing into the country that attendance at many mosques has doubled in the past month alone. Commenting on the demographic revolution sweeping Germany, Mazyek summed it up with an understatement: "The number of Muslims in Germany will increase significantly."
In nearby Hungary, President Viktor Orbán has been one of the few European heads of state to sound the alarm. "A year ago I said that we live in times when anything can happen, and I still say so today," he said recently. "Who would have thought that Europe would not be capable of protecting its own borders against unarmed refugees?" He added:
"For us today, what is at stake is Europe, the lifestyle of European citizens, European values, the survival or disappearance of European nations, and more precisely formulated, their transformation beyond recognition. Today, the question is not merely in what kind of a Europe we would like to live, but whether everything we understand as Europe will exist at all."
**Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.

How the Islamic World was Forged: An Exercise in Common Sense
By Raymond Ibrahim on August 31, 2015/FrontPage Magazine
What made non-Muslims convert to Islam, leading to the creation of the Islamic world?
Early historical sources—both Muslim and non-Muslim—make clear that the Islamic empire was forged by the sword; that people embraced Islam, not so much out of sincere faith, but for a myriad of reasons—from converting in order to enjoy the boons of being on the “winning team” to converting in order to evade the dooms of being on the “losing team.”
Modern day Muslims and other apologists—primarily in academia, government, and mainstream media—reject this idea. They argue that the non-Muslims who embraced Islam did so from sheer conviction; that the ancestors of today’s 1.5 billion Muslims all converted to Islam due to its intrinsic appeal; that the modern day coercion and persecution committed by the Islamic State and other organizations is an aberration.
Of course, as mentioned, the primary texts of history are full of anecdotes demonstrating the opposite. However, because ours is an increasingly ahistorical society, in this essay I endeavor to show that sheer common sense alone validates what history records, namely, that the Islamic world and its populace was forged through violent coercion.
To do so, I will use Egypt—one of the most important Muslim majority nations and my ancestral homeland—as a paradigm. I will show how a historic fact that Islam’s apologists habitually boast of—that there are still millions of Christians in Egypt (approximately 10% of the population)—is not proof of Islam’s tolerance but rather its intolerance.
In the 7th century, when Islam was being formulated, Egypt had been Christian for centuries,[1] before most of Europe had converted. Alexandria was one of the most important ecclesiastical centers of ancient Christian learning and, along with Rome and Antioch, one of the original three sees.[2] Much literary and ongoing archaeological evidence attest to the fact that Christianity permeated the whole of Egypt.
Writing around the year 400—roughly two-and-a-half centuries before the Arab invasion—John Cassian, a Christian monk from the region of modern day Romania, observed that
the traveler from Alexandria in the north to Luxor in the south would have in his ears along the whole journey, the sounds of prayers and hymns of the monks, scattered in the desert, from the monasteries and from the caves, from monks, hermits, and anchorites.[3]
And in recent times, both the oldest parchment to contain words from the Gospel (dating to the 1st century) and the oldest image of Christ were discovered in separate regions of Egypt.
The question now becomes: what made such an ancient and heavily Christian nation become Islamic? More specifically, what made the ancestors of today’s Egyptian Muslims—most of who were Coptic Christians—convert to Islam?
For an objective answer to this question, a completely overlooked factor must be considered.
In the 7th century, when Muslim Arabs overran Egypt, and on into the medieval era, religion was not something to be casually adhered to or changed as it is today in the West. People of that era were true believers; there was no alternative narrative—no so-called “science vs God” claims.
Whatever religion a person was born into was accepted with absolute conviction—despite the many movies that project modernity onto Medieval Christians. (Thus the focal character of Kingdom of Heaven, Balian, and all other Christian protagonists reject the “fanatical Christians” and exhibit a more open, tolerant, and “nuanced” view on religion, including Islam. Such depictions are anachronisms with little grounding in history.)
In Medieval Europe, the truths of Christianity were etched into the minds of all, from youth on up. There was no doubt—because there was no alternative. As historian of Medieval Europe and the Crusades Thomas Madden puts it:
[T]he medieval world was not the modern world. For medieval people, religion was not something one just did at church. It was their science, their philosophy, their politics, their identity, and their hope for salvation. It was not a personal preference but an abiding and universal truth.
In this context, to apostatize, to leave the Christian faith, especially for another creed, was the most unthinkable of all transgressions against one’s own soul—a sin that would lead to eternal damnation.
It was of course the same with Muslims. The point here is that pre-modern man took the religion of his people, his tribe, his world, very seriously—especially when such religions taught that failure to do so, or worse, to willingly apostatize, would lead to eternal hell.
Put differently, even if Islam offered intrinsic appeal, the idea that pre-modern Christians were “free” to choose to convert—free of guilt, free of fear, free of existential trauma—is anachronistic and thus implausible.
Again, Western man, who lives in an era when people change religions as often as they change shoes, may have great difficulty in fully appreciating this idea. But it is true nonetheless.
After writing that “Christians saw crusades to the east as acts of love and charity, waged against Muslim conquerors in defense of Christian people and their lands,” Madden correctly observes:
It is easy enough for modern people to dismiss the crusades as morally repugnant or cynically evil. Such judgements, however, tell us more about the observer than the observed. They are based on uniquely modern (and, therefore, Western) values. If, from the safety of our modern world, we are quick to condemn the medieval crusader, we should be mindful that he would be just as quick to condemn us [regarding our values and priorities]…. In both societies, the medieval and the modern, people fight for what is most dear to them.[4]
If Europeans were this dedicated to Christianity in the medieval era, what of the Copts of Egypt who were Christian many centuries earlier? Indeed, according to some historical sources, Egypt’s ancient Christians may have been especially tenacious in their zeal.
What, then, made them convert to Islam in mass is the question before us?
Is it plausible to believe that the primitive Muslim conquerors of Egypt did not discriminate against its indigenous Christians or pressure them to convert to Islam (even as Muslims do so now in the “enlightened” modern era)?
Is it true, to quote Georgetown University professor John Esposito, that Christians “were free to practice their faith to worship and be governed by their religious leaders and laws in such areas as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. In exchange, they were required to pay tribute, a poll tax (jizya) that entitled them to Muslim protection from outside aggression and exempted them from military service.” (Rebuttal to this assertion here.)
And yet, though left in peace and unpressured, Egypt’s original Christians found the new creed of sword-swinging, camel-riding Arabs so intrinsically appealing that they willingly apostatized in mass from the religion of their forefathers—a religion that was so fundamental to their being, albeit in a way modern man cannot comprehend?
In fact, common sense suggests that nothing less than extremely severe circumstances and hardships—persecution—prompted the Copts to convert to Islam.
Of course, for the historian who reads the primary sources—as opposed to the mainstream works of fiction being peddled as “history” by the likes of Karen Armstrong and others—the above exercise in common sense is superfluous.
For the primary sources make clear that, while Egypt’s Copts acquiesced to dhimmi status—constantly paying large sums of extortion money and accepting life as third class subjects with few rights simply to remain Christian—bouts of extreme persecution regularly flared up. And with each one, more and more Christians converted to Islam in order to find relief.[5]
One telling example: in Muslim historian Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi’s (d. 1442) authoritative history of Egypt, anecdote after anecdote is recorded of Muslims burning churches, slaughtering Christians, and enslaving their women and children. The only escape then—as it is increasingly today—was for Christians to convert to Islam.
After recording one particularly egregious bout of persecution, where countless Christians were slaughtered, enslaved, and raped, and where reportedly some 30,000 churches in Egypt and Syria were destroyed—a staggering number that further indicates how Christian the Near East was before Islam—the pious Muslim historian makes clear why Christians converted: “Under these circumstances a great many Christians became Muslims” (emphasis added).[6]
Alongside these times of extreme persecution, the entrenched dhimmi system saw the increasingly impoverished Egyptian people slowly convert to Islam over the centuries, so that today only 10% remain Christian.
Consider the words of Alfred Butler, a 19th century historian writing before political correctness came to dominate academia. In The Arab Conquest of Egypt, he highlights the “vicious system of bribing the Christians into conversion”:
[A]lthough religious freedom was in theory secured for the Copts under the capitulation, it soon proved in fact to be shadowy and illusory. For a religious freedom which became identified with social bondage and with financial bondage could have neither substance nor vitality. As Islam spread, the social pressure upon the Copts became enormous, while the financial pressure at least seemed harder to resist, as the number of Christians or Jews who were liable for the poll-tax [jizya] diminished year by year, and their isolation became more conspicuous. . . . [T]he burdens of the Christians grew heavier in proportion as their numbers lessened [that is, the more Christians converted to Islam, the more the burdens on the remaining few grew]. The wonder, therefore, is not that so many Copts yielded to the current which bore them with sweeping force over to Islam, but that so great a multitude of Christians stood firmly against the stream, nor have all the storms of thirteen centuries moved their faith from the rock of its foundation.[7]
The reader will bear in mind that although the above exposition concerns Egypt, the same paradigm applies to the rest of conquered Christian lands. Today the whole of North Africa is reportedly 99% Muslim—yet few are aware that it was Christian majority in the 7th century when Islam invaded. St. Augustine—arguably the father of Western Christian theology—hailed from modern day Algeria.
Thus it is not an exaggeration to say that “the Islamic world” would be a fraction of its size, or might not exist at all, were it not for the fact that non-Muslims converted to Islam simply to evade oppression and persecution. Once all these Christians converted to Islam, all their progeny became Muslim in perpetuity, thanks to Islam’s apostasy law, which bans Muslims from leaving Islam on pain of death. Indeed, according to Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a leading cleric in the Muslim world, “If the [death] penalty for apostasy was ignored, there would not be an Islam today; Islam would have ended on the death of the prophet.”
Which leads to one of Islam’s most bitterest of ironies: a great many of today’s Christians, especially those in the Arab world, are being persecuted by Muslims whose own ancestors were persecuted Christians who converted to Islam to end their own suffering. In other words, Muslim descendants of persecuted Christians are today persecuting their Christian cousins—and thus perpetuating the cycle that made them Muslim in the first the place.
The long and short of all this is simple: Past and present, Islam has been a religion of coercion.[8] More than half of the territory that once made up Christendom—including Egypt, Syria, Turkey, North Africa—converted to Islam due to bouts of extreme violence and ongoing financial bleeding. The Islamic State and like organizations and Muslims around the world are not aberrations but continuations. The violence, intolerance and coercion they exhibit—pressuring Christians to convert to Islam, compelling Muslims to remain in Islam—created and sustains what is today called the Islamic world.
Not only do we have a plethora of original source material proving these conclusions, but sheer common sense demonstrates as much.
[1] St. Mark began evangelizing Egypt in the middle of the 1st century.
[2] That two of the three original sees of Christianity originated in what are now two Muslim nations—Egypt and Turkey—further speaks to the Christian nature of the Middle East before the Islamic invasions.
[3] Abba Anthony, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Saint Anthony Monastery, March 2014, issue #3, p.6).
[4] Thomas Madden, The New Concise History of the Crusades (NY: Barnes and Noble, 2007), 223.
[5] As Muslims grew in numbers over the centuries in Egypt, so did persecution (according to Islam’s Rule of Numbers), culminating in the immensely oppressive Mameluke era (1250-1517), when Coptic conversion to Islam grew exponentially.
[6] Taqi Ed-Din El-Maqrizi, A Short History of the Copts and Their Church, trans. S. C. Malan (London: D. Nutt, 1873), 88-91.
[7] Alfred Butler, The Arab Invasion of Egypt and the Last 30 Years of Roman Dominion (Brooklyn: A & B Publishers, 1992), 464. One of the major themes throughout Butler’s book—which, first published in 1902, is heavily based on primary sources, Arabic and Coptic, unlike more modern secondary works that promote the Islamic “liberator” thesis—is that “there is not a word to show that any section of the Egyptian nation viewed the advent of the Muslims with any other feeling than terror” (p. 236):
Even in the most recent historians it will be found that the outline of the story [of the 7th century conquest of Egypt] is something as follows: …. that the Copts generally hailed them [Muslims] as deliverers and rendered them every assistance; and that Alexandria after a long siege, full of romantic episodes, was captured by storm. Such is the received account. It may seem presumptuous to say that it is untrue from beginning to end, but to me no other conclusion is possible. [pgs. iv-v]
Butler and other politically incorrect historians were and are aware of the savage and atrocity-laden nature of the Islamic conquests. The Coptic chronicler, John of Nikiu, a contemporary of the Arab conquest of Egypt and possibly an eyewitness, wrote:
Then the Muslims arrived in Nikiu [along the Nile]… seized the town and slaughtered everyone they met in the street and in the churches—men, women, and children, sparing nobody. Then they went to other places, pillaged and killed all the inhabitants they found…. But let us say no more, for it is impossible to describe the horrors the Muslims committed…
Not, of course, that the average Muslim is aware of this fact. Indeed, in 2011 the Egyptian Muslim scholar Fadel Soliman published a book that was well received and widely promoted in the Islamic world, including by Al Jazeera, entitled Copts: Muslims Before Muhammad. The bookmakes the ahistorical and anachronistic—in a word, the absurd—argument that Egypt’s 7th century Christians were really prototypical Muslims and that that is why Arabia’s Muslims came to “liberate” them from “oppressive” Christian rule.
[8] If not in theory, certainly in practice. See “Islamic Jihad and the Doctrine of Abrogation.”

Saudi king wants Obama to tackle Iranian 'mischief'
Julian Pecquet/Al_Monitor/August 31/15
King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud’s three-day visit, strategically scheduled just days before Congress votes on the agreement, offers the Saudi leader a powerful platform to insist that the United States help combat Iranian “mischief.” The king is seeking assurances in the fight against Iran’s proxies across the region, as well as with elements of the nuclear deal itself.
The visit “underscores the importance of the strategic partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Aug. 27.
“The president and the king will discuss a range of issues and focus on ways to further strengthen the bilateral relationship, including our joint security and counterterrorism efforts,” Earnest said. “They will also discuss regional topics, including the conflicts in Yemen and Syria, and steps to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region.”
Despite deep reservations about the deal, sources close to the Saudi government say that unlike Israel, the kingdom quickly concluded that it could not be defeated in Congress and that no better alternatives were likely to emerge.
Riyadh, however, has repeatedly made clear that its support is conditioned on a tough inspection regime and snapback sanctions. Salman may seek further assurances on those aspects of the deal in light of recent reports that allege that Iran will be allowed an unusual amount of autonomy with regard to inspections of its military installation at Parchin.
“The agreement must include a specific, strict and sustainable inspection regime of all Iranian sites, including military sites, as well as a mechanism to swiftly re-impose effective sanctions in the event that Iran violates the agreement,” the Saudi Embassy in Washington said after the deal was announced.
Most of the discussion is expected to center on non-nuclear issues, however.
Salman and President Barack Obama, who will meet Sept. 4 at the White House, are expected to further flesh out Washington’s promise of increased military support for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries — including a potential missile defense shield — as discussed during the US-GCC Camp David summit in May. That meeting, which was skipped by four of the top six regional leaders — including Salman — aimed to reassure the Gulf nations of America’s commitment to their security amid the perceived rapprochement with Iran.
“This is an opportunity to reset this relationship when there are some pretty considerable concerns on both sides,” said David Weinberg, a Gulf analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “It comes in the context of the United States trying to reassure the Gulf states about the Iran deal, as well as to focus on this Camp David agenda in terms of concrete US security assistance. It’s reasonable to assume that that’s going to be a big focus of the trip as well.”
Much of the conversation is expected to focus on military hardware: The Saudis are seeking upgrades to their F-15s along with other advanced weaponry, but Israel is said to have raised concerns during Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s recent visit to the region. Congress may object to such sales if lawmakers deem that they would undermine Israel’s so-called qualitative military edge.
The Saudis will be interested “in how much the White House will invest itself so that it can get the technology that it wants,” former Obama National Security Council Middle East adviser Prem Kumar told Al-Monitor. They will want to see if the White House “will spend some political capital on the Hill.”
Another topic of interest is the proposed creation of a GCC-wide “rapid reaction force” to take on external threats. The White House paid lip service to the idea in its joint statement from the Camp David summit, but the idea has failed to gain traction among concerns by Qatar and Oman that it would be dominated by the Saudis.
“In terms of GCC-wide reassurance, the Saudis are interested to hear what the US is prepared to do to support the GCC rapid reaction force, the joint Arab defense force, if that is going to materialize,” Kumar said.
Beyond military requests, Salman is likely to seek US backing for his more muscular approach to foreign policy compared with his predecessor. That includes beefed-up US support for his campaign against the Houthis in Yemen and a renewed focus on getting rid of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
For Riyadh, said former Saudi Embassy political analyst Fahad Nazer, a nuclear Iran “is more of a long-term issue. They’re concerned about the here-and-now.”
“The Saudis at this point have kind of parted ways with their traditional behind-the-scenes diplomacy and trying to mediate between warring factions,” Nazer said. “[They’ve realized] it’s time for them to take the helm of ensuring their own interests.”
In Yemen, “The Saudis want the US to get more involved, beyond intelligence and logistical support to the Saudi-led coalition,” said Kumar, now vice president with the Albright Stonebridge Group. Already, the Pentagon in recent weeks has more than doubled its advisers on the ground providing targeting intelligence for airstrikes and helping the Saudis roll back the Houthis, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Those battlefield successes have led some Saudi cheerleaders to argue that the intervention in Yemen offers a “template” for similarly emboldened leadership in Syria. While Nazer and others doubt Riyadh will go that far, the Saudis have recently announced their own proposal to withdraw support for Sunni rebels if Iran removes its forces and Hezbollah fighters with a view to parliamentary and presidential elections under UN supervision.
“I think there are a couple concrete things” on the Saudi wish list, Kumar said. “First is to increase support for the Syrian opposition, in some form or other. Safe zones, maybe direct pressure on the [Assad] regime, that would not necessarily undercut diplomatic initiatives.”
The king’s visit isn’t just about politics, however. He will be accompanied by a large entourage of ministers and business executives, and some of them are expected to stay on after the royal visit.
The US-Saudi Arabian Business Council has announced a daylong investment forum with the ministers of finance as well as commerce and industry.**Laura Rozen contributed to this report.

Iran behind Iraq and Lebanon’s ‘Awakening?’
By Eman El-Shenawi/Al Arabiya News/Monday, 31 August 2015
In the Middle East this week, a fiery force has awoken from hibernation, coupling together Iraq and Lebanon in an unlikely scenario.
Both countries have been the scene of angry rallies calling for lasting fixes to their socio-economic woes. In Lebanon, it’s the #YouStink trash crisis that has commandeered the headlines, while an electricity crisis and government reform package announced by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi have hung heavy over Iraq.
Perhaps reminiscent of the Arab Spring to some, the phenomenon in both countries has also been described as “almost identical” by others.
“In both Iraq and Lebanon... civil society is weak, security is lacking, social conditions are harsh, and the economy is on the retreat,” Lebanese analyst Ghassan al-Ayyash wrote in al-Safir newspaper this week.
“They are complaining of corruption, sectarianism, the distribution of state wealth and posts, the mismanagement of state institutions, the squandering of national wealth, and the lack of accountability,” he added.
But while the protests ricochet off each other, one root cause also bares some parallels. Iranian intervention in both Iraq and Lebanon’s political backdrops has been widely noted by analysts and Arab officials in recent years.
Lebanese anti-government protesters in downtown Beirut on August 29. (AP)
Riot policemen stand in front of protesters during a demonstration in Baghdad. (Reuters)
Iranian hegemony in Iraq
In Iraq, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been at the crux of the demonstrators’ anger.
Sunni protesters hold up a defaced portrait of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki describing him as ‘a hypocrite and a liar’ at a rally in Ramadi. (File photo: AFP)
During his rule, many believe Iranian hegemony prevailed over the government and Maliki has now earned a reputation for marginalizing Sunnis in the country, consolidating power and allegedly spending $1 trillion in Iraqi public funds amid the collapse of electricity supplies to the decaying country.
“$800 billion came from Iraq’s oil budget since 2004 till 2014, while $200 billion came from donations and aid,” Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs, Bahaa al-Aaraji said in August.
An Iraqi boy living in Iran holds a toy gun and flashes a victory sign in front of a poster of the Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AP)
Read also: Iraqi official says Maliki’s government wasted $1 trillion of Iraqi funds
Read also: What’s next for Iraq and its key players after sweeping reforms?
Although top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has voiced support for continuing protests, Iraqis of all sects are mobilizing against social and economic concerns. For the Iraqi people, sectarian rifts seemingly have no place in a protest demanding the basic right to electricity during a scorching heatwave.
“People are now becoming aware that non-sectarian rights are necessary and need to be developed,” Middle East political scientist Joseph A. Kéchichian told Arabiya News.
But this does not necessarily indicate that religious influence is on the wane, warns Kéchichian.
“Rather, that people are demanding accountability, and may have concluded that religious authorities who perpetuate sectarianism for selfish reasons--need to let go. We are not there yet but we’re getting there.”
But even if the demands of the non-sectarian protests gain more momentum, can Iranian intervention in the country post-Maliki - seen in the presence of armed Shiite militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq at the rallies - ever be curbed?
In a Washington Post report in early August, reporters Mustafa Salim and Liz Sly noted “notable differences” in the demands of demonstrations that included Asaib Ahl al-Haq backers.
“Supporters of Qais al-Khazali, who heads the powerful Iranian-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, echoed his demand for the abolition of Iraq’s elected parliament and its replacement with a presidential system,” Salim and Sly wrote.
Will Iranian interference hang heavy over the protests in the coming weeks?
“Hopefully protesters will not allow themselves to be used that way … It’s too early to tell,” Ali Khedery, a former U.S. advisor to a string of American ambassadors in Iraq, told Al Arabiya News.
“What has been relatively good news is that Islamist parties, the Iranian proxies, have failed in their governance and are hopefully now making way for a secular government which can hopefully be more competent,” he added.
An ‘Awakening’ that is ‘better late than never’
Either way, Khedery believes the demonstrations are long overdue.
“I had hoped to see protests against sectarianism and poor governance long ago, but as they say, better late than never.
“They used to call the Anbar tribal movement against al-Qaeda ’al-Sahwa,’ or the ’Awakening,’ and I think you’re seeing another ‘Awakening,’ but this time among the broader society. This is fragile, but very precious at the same time and I hope it takes off,” Khedery added.
Lebanon’s fault lines
But pan over to Lebanon, and it’s a similar story of Iranian incursions. In June, BBC correspondent in Beirut Kevin Connolly described Lebanon as being “pivotal to Iran’s reach across Middle East.”
Since the Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Iranian-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah has been positioning itself as a cornerstone of the country’s political scene, while paradoxically undermining efforts by the elected government to rule. This has been one of the main tussles that have long paralyzed the government.
The trash crisis has amplified this, aggravating “existing fault lines” which have pitted Hezbollah against the country’s Western-aligned camps.
As in Iraq, Lebanon’s protests show that regardless of sect and political affiliation, there is a collective anguish on display, turning the page on sectarian splits for the people on the street.
Still, Iranian-backed actors still pose underlying risks in Lebanon – also much like Iraq. Last week, Hezbollah ministers and their allies walked out of a Cabinet meeting meant to discuss the worsening garbage crisis and boycotted the meeting that followed. They were joined by politicians who are allied against Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
For Kéchichian, Hezbollah’s political clout has not clouded their militant side. Grouping them with Asaib Ahl al-Haq in Iraq, Kéchichian describes both movements as “pro-Iranian Shiite militias” under “Tehran’s direct control.”
But the analyst believes their record remains poor.
“Militias can spread havoc, can kill and maim, and otherwise make a nuisance of themselves. In both countries, ordinary citizens are rejecting extremist groups, and both Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Hezbollah are such organizations.”
‘Unsuccessful adventurism’
Following Tehran’s landmark deal with Western powers, intending to curb its nuclear ambitions, it is still unclear whether Iran will change its course to integrate with the international community on new political and economic fronts.
U.S. President Barack Obama’s domestic opponents, as well as Israeli and Gulf officials, fear the deal may lead to more unshackled, sanction-free intervention in the region. Most recently, in an op-ed by former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney published in the Wall Street Journal, he wrote that the deal will likely lead to first nuclear weapon use since WWII.
Meanwhile, U.S. and European powers express their “hope” for Iran to change tact and shift focus to new trade and energy opportunities, such as Italy recently announcing it would fund projects in Iran worth 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion).
Theoretically, in the event of Tehran’s pivot away from the region, the likes of Maliki, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Hezbollah “will collapse” without Iranian backing, says Kéchichian. But has Iranian hegemony already become too far embedded through the countries’ political, sectarian and militant veins?
“The real debate today is in Tehran,” says Kéchichian. “Is Iran ready to become a normal country once again or will it persist in its unsuccessful adventurism?”

EU migrant crisis: Enough rhetoric, time for solutions
Abdallah Schleifer/Al Arabiya/August 31/15
Two disasters last week resulted in the death of at least 200 illegal migrants. They occurred about the same time that the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR released extraordinary statistics: So far this year, 310,000 illegal migrants have reached EU shores compared with 219,000 for all of last year, and 2,500 have died so far this year compared with 3,500 for all of 2014. The UNHCR said implementation this year of EU Search and Rescue Operations (SRO) has probably saved tens of thousands of lives. This is an attempt to make the EU look better compared to last year’s supposed callousness, but it only deepens the crisis of massive illegal migration.
Trafficking
As for traffickers, SROs mean they can now cram even more migrants into even cheaper boats, because if they begin to sink they will transmit distress signals and a vessel will turn up to save the passengers. When peace comes to Syria, those who have fled to neighboring countries are far more likely to return home than those who have made it to Europe. So the first of several solutions is a serious EU / Interpol operation against traffickers. In the wake of the two highly-publicized disasters last week, arrests are being made and the director of Europol says his organization and national law-enforcement operations are “working urgently” to catch the ringleaders of a vast international smuggling syndicate.
The next step is to move against traffickers operating in Turkey. This means coming to an understanding with Greece for heavy EU land and air patrols of the relatively narrow sea crossing, and putting migrants in refugee camps in Greece, funded by the EU, until they can safely return to their home countries. The bizarre arms embargo against the internationally-recognized Libyan government in Tobruk - which is fighting both the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Benghazi and Muslim Brotherhood militias defending Tripoli - must be lifted as the country is a major transit point for migrants heading to Europe. The Libyan national army must be given all necessary resources to retake coastal areas, which include oil terminals. In return for such aid, the army should crush the trafficking trade and control its borders as neighboring Egypt and Algeria manage to do.
Refugees
Unless migrants are seeking refuge from war and oppression - which makes them refugees with the right of refuge - they will, in theory at least, be deported. Authorities would interview them to determine their status.
However, if given the opportunity of interviews, millions of Syrians would apply legitimately for refugee visas. Can EU nations, particularly those with high unemployment, handle such flows? All over Europe, right-wing movements are opposed to accepting more migrants, particularly those who are Muslim. German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks of the problem in a humane and sympathetic voice, but her country does and will deport migrants who enter without visas and cannot establish that they are fleeing political oppression and war. Meanwhile, the number of attacks against migrant / refugee centers in Germany is rising. Given the historic record, who in their right minds would want to risk being part of an increasingly despised minority in Germany?
When peace comes to Syria, those who have fled to neighboring countries are far more likely to return home than those who have made it to Europe, and the Jordanian, Lebanese and Turkish authorities will do whatever is necessary to make them return. So the EU should massively invest in dramatically improving the conditions and size of refugee camps in those countries, while making it more difficult to cross into Europe.

Restoring Russian influence in the Middle East
Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/August 31/15
Among the things both Russia and the high-level Arab leaders visiting Moscow want is developing Arab-Russian relations to overcome the barriers erected by Russian-Iranian relations and the doubts and mistrust they caused; and second, filling the void left behind by U.S. President Barack Obama’s policies on the Arab Gulf and Egypt, which have strained US-Arab relations. Yet this does not mean that the Gulf nations, Egypt, and Jordan have decided to discard the United States and are about to replace it with Russia as their security partner. The visit by Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz next week to Washington will reaffirm U.S.-Gulf ties on the back of the emerging U.S.-Iranian partnership, launched by the nuclear deal with Tehran – albeit cracks in these ties are hard to conceal. However, the Saudi king’s visit must carry firm demands and pressure Washington, which has become too accustomed to seeing is charm convince the Arabs to back down and adapt, or cave in to its demands..
Afoot
The tango between Arab and Russian leaders will not be enough to make Washington sense something is afoot in its long-held relations with the Arab world. Washington does not likely believe that the Arabs have a full-fledged, viable alternative in Russia. It will not suffice to express artificial acceptance of U.S.-Iranian partnership that confers leading regional role upon Tehran. The tango between Arab and Russian leaders will not be enough to make Washington sense something is afoot in its long-held U.S.-Arab relations
No, what Arab leaders need to do is to go to Washington and Moscow with clear demands and firm stances on major issues like Yemen, which directly impacts Saudi and Gulf national security, and smaller issues like Lebanon’s slide into chaos at the instigation of Iran – to avenge Yemen – and with Saudi absence out of preoccupation with Yemen.
Unresolved, Lebanon’s crisis will spawn extremist sectarian forces in both Sunni and Shiite iterations and will re-export them to the Gulf nations. Neither Russian engagement nor U.S. isolationism will change the course of events in the Arab region unless Arab leaders make bold decisions and redress past mistakes as part of a new careful plan. The pragmatism being shown now by Arab leaders is a good step to counter Iran’s realpolitik with Moscow, Washington, and other major capitals. The key Arab visits this week and the visits to follow to Moscow are a sign of a new necessary approach. The starting point to understand them is to understand what Moscow wants by engaging the Gulf while retaining its alliance with Iran. In part, President Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov want to restore Russia’s prestige in the Arab world. The ties with the Arabs were very warm in the Soviet era, including the ties with Egypt. In the present time, Russia’s relations with the Arab world went from lukewarm to antagonistic because of Russia’s position on Syria and because of doubts surrounding Russia’s goals behind its alliance with Iran.In past, Moscow was one of the world’s two superpowers closely involved in the region’s crises and solutions. Washington would subsequently monopolize sponsorship of the Arab-Israeli peace process, reducing Moscow’s role to merely being a part of the international Quartet alongside the EU and the U.N. today.
New issues
Under Putin, Russia is striving to restore Russian influence in the Middle East through new issues, not the Arab-Israeli question. Moscow chose Tehran to be its gateway to the Gulf, while the United States chose to end its traditional relations with the Gulf through the Iranian gateway. In other words, the Russian-Iranian relationship will remain a constant no matter what happens to Russian-Arab relations. The Arab leaders must have acknowledged this, as they headed to Moscow to establish new relations. Indeed, previous attempts to coax Russia through various inducements to break with Tehran have now stopped. The Arab leaders who went to Moscow recently seem to have made several important conclusions. First, the U.S.-Russian relationship is deeper than otherwise suggested by the differences over Ukraine and alleged differences over Syria. Second, Washington and Moscow both benefit from turning a new leaf with Tehran, and have a lot to gain for their economic, political, oil, and defense industries from the nuclear deal.
Third, there is no Russian-American rivalry over resolving regional crises, and Washington does not mind for Moscow to lead the efforts on Syria or to reach understandings with Tehran over its role in Iraq and Lebanon. Fourth, defeating ISIS has become the main common denominator between Russia and the United States. The Arab presence this week in Moscow was prominent and distinctive. The Russian capital simultaneously received Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It is expected that the Saudi King Salman would visit Russia in two months, and the Emir of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani will be in Moscow next month.
Egypt was perhaps the top issue in the talks in Moscow, especially since the UAE together with Saudi Arabia are determined to support Egypt recover economically and restore its regional and military standing, including by financing Russian arms deals with Egypt. Moscow thus benefits from the Egyptian issue on a number of levels, politically, financially, and militarily, with both Egypt and the Gulf nations. Egypt is spearheading the fight against the Muslim Brotherhood’s plans to take power in the Arab region, which is consistent with Russia’s anti-Islamist policies – though Russia does not seem to mind the theocracy in Tehran and is practically allied to Hezbollah alongside the regime in Syria. Essentially, Moscow fears allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to rise to power in Muslim republics with borders with Russia, which would then give Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who backs the Muslim Brotherhood, strategic cards.The other item on Russia’s list of priority is fighting Islamic terrorism represented by groups like ISIS, al-Nusra, and al-Qaeda.
Conflicting agendas
However, there are multiple and often-conflicting agendas under this title, in what is a remarkable ambiguity shrouding the positions of Moscow, Washington, London, Ankara, and Arab capitals. In Libya, for instance, the backyard of both Egypt and Europe beyond it, the international decision to allow chaos, extremism to continue without showing considerable concern or taking measures to rein in the situation is astonishing. With the Libyan model of international indifference in mind, the developments in Lebanon are troubling, and there is legitimate concern regarding the implications and repercussions of regional and international inaction. It is clear for example that neither Washington nor Riyadh care much for the situation in Lebanon. The opposite is true, with U.S. and Saudi withdrawal from Lebanon, despite the risk its collapse would carry for the Gulf countries. Other Gulf countries are aware of the danger of disengaging from Lebanon, and their diplomats are taking action to head off a vacuum there that would leave the country open to the agenda of Iran’s hardliners and hawks.
But this does not change anything with regard to the responsibility of the countries traditionally active in Lebanon. It is important for US-Saudi high-level talks in Washington next week to demand Iran to prove its good faith in Lebanon and to push for both the United States and Saudi Arabia to steer this country towards building institutions and reforming the dominant political class. Corruption has become a disgrace for most in this class, and the slogan ‘You Stink’ has exposed scandals beyond the garbage crisis. It would be a grave mistake for regional and international powers to ignore Lebanon. Lebanon is in a critical crisis that requires the United States and Russia to influence the Iranian policy on Lebanon, and requires serious Arab efforts and follow-up of Lebanese and not just Syrian developments.
Seeking a role
The Syria issue dominates the priorities of Riyadh, Cairo, Amman, Doha, and Abu Dhabi. For this reason, the leaders of these capitals have taken the Syrian issue to Moscow and Washington, looking for ways to reach accords. Moscow is open to overcoming tension and estrangement with the Gulf over Syria through trade and arms deals in addition to joint ventures in nuclear energy and other sectors. Moscow is moving in this direction not just on account of its geopolitical priorities and economic and military opportunities. Another reason is what was mentioned by Al-Hayat’s reporter in Moscow Raed Jabr, who quoted political analysts as saying Russia is seeking to have a major role in resolved regional crises led by Syria. Another reason is “rearranging Russian agendas in the region, and opening new horizons to preempt a possible loss in Syria, as well as responding to new realities following the nuclear deal with Tehran.”Political realism has thus made its way to many capitals, based on loss and benefit accounts. What matters is for the indifference not to continue and destroy more Arab countries, after Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Iraq. Only this way can good faith be proven in this new realpolitik.
This article was first published in al-Hayat on August 21, 2015 and translated by Karim Traboulsi.

Europe’s unseemly haste to embrace Tehran
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/August 31/15
The ink hardly dried on the Iran nuclear deal before European countries were racing to seal trade deals and reopen embassies. The mullahs have gone from zero to hero in the blink of an eye. Forgotten are Tehran’s links to terrorists, attempts to overthrow Middle Eastern governments and mass gatherings organized to hurl insults and threats at the West.
Cast aside are concerns about Iran’s suppression of minorities, its dismal human rights record or its practice of stoning women. I believe Iran has made no substantial statements to the effect it is willing to change. On the contrary, its message throughout has been one of defiance. It has not been required to denounce terrorism let alone its participation in terrorist acts.
Iran’s crimes are suddenly of no consequence to Europe’s democracies; I believe they have purposefully put their blinkers on and are literally queuing with their hands out to beat down Tehran’s golden doors. All they see now are flashing neon dollar signs. The Islamic Republic, soon to be flush with an $80 billion plus bonanza, is destined to become Europe’s latest cash cow.
I was extremely disappointed and saddened at Britain’s rush to reopen its Tehran embassy that has been closed for four years subsequent to coming under mob attack in November, 2011. I have always had great respect and admiration for the UK that I consider my second home, based on my homeland’s historic ties and the principled stances taken by great leaders like Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, who kept the ‘Great’ in Britain, politically, militarily, industrially and economically.
An enemy five minutes ago…
I cannot imagine that those prime ministers, whose names remain engraved on world history to this day, grovelling before a country that five minutes ago was their enemy, just to get their clutches on a fistful of dollars.
The UK’s Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, was the first to beat a track to Tehran since 2003. Naturally, he arrived with a trade delegation and took the opportunity to stress the “huge appetite” shown by British business to invest in Iran as well as the readiness of British banks to finance deals.
Iran’s crimes are suddenly of no consequence to Europe’s democracies; they have purposefully put their blinkers on
As the Iranian network Press TV has reported, Iran has recently hosted “a delegation of government ministers from Italy,” who has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to fund industrial, construction and infrastructure projects worth over 3 billion euros. This comes on the heels of a visit by Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, with a team of manufacturers, as well as visits from Austrian, Serbian, Swiss and Azerbaijani government officials. Spain is also champing at the bit to board the gravy train.
Moreover, President Hassan Rowhani has been invited to visit Rome “in the coming weeks”. Rowhani’s red carpet travel schedule is getting fuller by the day. Following a visit to Tehran by France’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Laurent Fabius, accompanied by business leaders, he has been invited to visit the Elysees Palace in November. Russia and China, which have always been cosy with Tehran, are waiting in the wings with lucrative energy and weapons contracts at the ready.
No doubt President Barack Obama is rubbing his hands together awaiting his turn to get in on the action, delayed by pesky lawmakers who refused to take his word that his deal is the best thing that has happened since the invention of the wheel.
Iran and its Lebanese proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, have not changed. Nevertheless, America inexplicably saw it fit to remove those entities from its terror threat list even as it is fighting to preserve Syria’s Killer-in-Chief and supporting a Houthi takeover of Yemen.
At least one senior Iranian official has gleefully announced his country’s continued support for “resistance” groups, which translated means their armed minions and spies targeting Arabian Gulf States. Who can blame Iran’s Arab neighbours for being rattled when a massive cache of weapons were recently discovered in Kuwait in the hands of a Hezbollah cell poised to create mayhem and bloodshed!
Where are Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that relentlessly points fingers at Arab states for taking measures to protect their peoples? They have become so politicised that it appears they are willing to give Iran a free pass so as not to spoil the party.
I am starting to wonder whether there is more to the nuclear deal, which permits Iran to carry out self-inspections of its suspect Parchin Military Complex, than meets the eye - especially when there are other secret agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency which the nuclear watchdog is legally bound not to disclose, even to the U.S. and the other P5+1 countries. Believe that if you will!
In this case, one can only speculate about the existence of other secret arrangements between Iran and the Obama administration that has displayed unprecedented determination to ensure the deal passes muster with Congress and has gone to extreme lengths to persuade America’s longstanding Middle East allies to come on board, including invitations to the leaders of Gulf States to weekend talks at Camp David. Likewise, President Obama is trying, unsuccessfully, to bribe the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into silence with a massive “military compensation package.”
A ‘Grand Bargain’
The Shah of Iran may have sat on the Peacock Throne, but it is my bet that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei is strutting around like a peacock these days, his feathers plumped up by European sycophants and endless praise from U.S. officials. He is getting everything for nothing. Iran’s nuclear infrastructure remains intact, uranium enrichment will be ongoing. Opening up some of the country’s nuclear facilities, barring military sites, to intrusive inspections for 10 years is just a mere inconvenience paling by comparison with the glittering rewards.
I warned again and again of the potential of a ‘Grand Bargain’ being struck between the West and Iran many years ago and now it is unfolding before our eyes. I recall President Obama saying the nuclear deal could possibly lead to normalisation of relations with Iran way into the future provided it sticks to its commitments. What is happening now makes a mockery of those cautious words.
Here is another prediction. Those Western leaders prostrating themselves before the Iranian leadership will live to rue the day. Enriched and emboldened, I believe it is only a matter of time before Tehran strikes at their countries interests because its ideology and hatred for all things western are immutable.
The Arab World, in particular Iran’s closest neighbours, the Arabian Gulf states, must not only be alert to the coming danger, but should take a leaf out of Donald Trump’s book by erecting an impenetrable wall in terms of military, surveillance and intelligence capabilities, to keep Iran, its mercenaries and proxies far from our shores. If we are not careful, the West’s lust to bolster their failing economies will leave us hung out to dry.

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