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Bible Quotation For Today/Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, "I am the Messiah!" and they will lead many astray
Matthew 24/01-14: "As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’ When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, "I am the Messiah!" and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. ‘Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come."

Bible Quotation For Today/For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ
First Letter to the Corinthians 15/19-34: "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection’, it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all. Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour? I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters, as my boasting of you a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord. If with merely human hopes I fought with wild animals at Ephesus, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 27-28/15
Canada Needs PM, Mr. Harper to Form The New Government/Elias Bejjani/September 27/15
My Tweets in regards to the Canadian Parliamentary elections next Month/Elias Bejjani/September 27/15
100% Yes To the Canadian Conservative Party/Elias Bejjani/September 27/15
Analysis: Despite nuclear deal, Iran remains dangerous for European banks/By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL/September 27/15
Russia, Iran, and American inaction in Syria/Khairallah Khairallah/Al Arabiya/September 27/15
The newest chapter in Syria’s war could be its bloodiest yet/Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/September 27/15
On Jerusalem, Jordan cannot remain idle/Raed Omari/Al Arabiya/September 27/15
Germany: Migrants In, Germans Out/The Death of Property Rights/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/September 27/15

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin for Lebanese Related News published on September 27-28/15
Canada Needs PM, Mr. Harper to Form The New Government
Tweets in regards to the Canadian Parliamentary elections next Month
100% Yes To the Canadian Conservative Party
Protesters Reject Naameh Landfill Reopening, Vow Alternative Plan as Majdal Anjar Road Blocked
Berri Says Dialogue Can 'Achieve a Lot', Not against Protest Movement
Ain Drafil Residents Voice Support for Shehayyeb's Trash Disposal Plan
Mashnouq: Shehayyeb's Plan Will Only Be Implemented with People's Approval
Wounded Rebels Evacuated to Lebanon as Part of Zabadani Truce
Report: U.S. to Dedicate $77 Million to Lebanon's Syrian Ref

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 27-28/15
Israel Retaliates after Golan Rockets Fired from Syria
Separatists Win Absolute Majority of Seats in Catalan Vote
Britain's Cameron Calls for Talks on Syria Transition
Rouhani Says 'Everyone Has Accepted' Assad Should Stay
Netanyahu praises Sisi's call to expand Egypt-Israel peace to other Arab states
Egypt's leader optimistic for Palestinian conflict
New Israeli Police Chief Ronny Alsheikh may bring innovative technology to war on crime
US support for Syria rebels illegal, Putin says ahead of Obama meeting
Analysis: Despite nuclear deal, Iran remains dangerous for European banks
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL/09/27/2015
Russia, Iran, Syria ‘cooperating’ on Baghdad security
Migrant boat sinks off Turkey, 17 Syrians dead
French strikes hit ISIS training camp in Syria
Saudi king and Putin discuss Syrian conflict
Hajj stampede: Saudi rejects Iranian criticism
Yemen FM: ‘War wiped out decades of development’

Canada Needs PM, Mr. Harper to Form The New Government
Elias Bejjani/September 27/15
As a proud Canadian citizen of Lebanese descent, I fully and strongly support the Conservative Party and its Leader PM, Mr. Harper in the next month's parliamentary elections. I, call on all Canadians of Lebanese descent to vote for Conservatives and encourage others to do so. Canada is great country, let us all keep it so and support Mr. Harper in his great leadership.

My Tweets in regards to the Canadian Parliamentary elections next Month
Elias Bejjani/September 27/15
The Conservative Canadian Party's great record in fighting local and global terrorism is more than excellent. We, Canadian Lebanese community need a new Conservative Government to finish its superb anti terrorism fight.
We call on the Lebanese Canadian Community members who share our patriotism, courage, political stances, and love for peace to support the Canadian Conservative Party in the coming Parliamentary. elections. They are # one world wide in fighting terrorism.
Canada's brilliant PM, Mr. Harper in one of the most transparent world wide Leaders in his anti terrorism stances. We need him to form the new government so his party can continue its job.
A loud YES to the Canadian PM, Mr. Harper and to his conservative Party. Yes we are supporting the Conservatives in next month's Parliamentary elections.

100% Yes To the Canadian Conservative Party
Elias Bejjani/September 27/15
Canadians badly need the Conservatives to form the new government, because they know what should be done and are honestly and with pride doing it, especially all that has to do with the terrorism local and global fight. Go on Mr. Harper, we 100% support you.

Protesters Reject Naameh Landfill Reopening, Vow Alternative Plan as Majdal Anjar Road Blocked
Naharnet/September 27/15/Residents and civil society activists staged a new sit-in Sunday outside the Naameh landfill to condemn government plans to reopen the controversial facility for seven days, vowing to unveil an alternative waste management plan on Monday. “We do not like to obstruct projects but the state's promises are untruthful,” residents at the protest said in a statement, vowing an “open-ended sit-in” to prevent the reopening of the landfill “even for a single hour.” The residents were joined by civil society activists from across Lebanon who heeded a joint call from the activist groups that have organized several demos since the July 17 closure of the landfill and the eruption of the unprecedented garbage crisis. “The alternative plan envisages declaring an environmental state of emergency that would expose all cases of corruption and blackmail,” former minister Charbel Nahhas, a vocal member of the protest movement, announced. He said the plan will be unveiled during a press conference that will be held Monday at 1:00 pm. “We are not negative and tomorrow we will propose a plan that involves only one landfill instead of three,” Lebanon Eco Movement leader Paul Abi Rashed told reporters at the sit-in.
Experts have urged the government to devise a comprehensive waste management solution that would include more recycling and composting to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills. Meanwhile, the mayor of the town of Baawarta described the plan devised by Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb and a team of experts as “suspicious,” noting that involves the embezzlement of public funds worth $30 million. He also urged the interior minister “not to use force to reopen the landfill,” warning that such a move would lead to “confrontations with security forces.”“Our Lives are More Important than Your Gains!” and “Poor Regions Have Landfills but Not Hospitals”, read some of the banners that were carried by protesters. Earlier in the day, activists and Majdal Anjar residents blocked the international highway leading to Syria in protest at government plans to set up a garbage landfill in the Eastern Mountain Range. Also on Sunday, the residents of the town of Ain Drafil near the Naameh landfill expressed the readiness of their region to support Shehayyeb's plan. They said during a press conference: “We responded positively to the minister's plan out of our sense of national responsibility.”Shehayyeb has stressed that only partnership between authorities and the civil society would guarantee the success of the committee tasked with resolving the country's two-month long waste crisis. A plan devised by Shehayyeb and a team of experts calls for reopening the Naameh landfill, which was closed in mid-July, for seven days to dump the garbage that accumulated in random sites in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. It also envisions converting two existing dumps, in the northern Akkar area of Srar and the eastern border area of al-Masnaa, into “sanitary landfills” capable of receiving trash for more than a year. After he announced his plan earlier this month, the civil society and local residents of Akkar, Naameh, Majdal Anjar, and Bourj Hammoud protested against the step. Environmentalists fear the crisis could degenerate to the point where garbage as well as sewage will simply overflow into the sea from riverbeds as winter rains return. The health ministry has warned that garbage scattered by seasonal winds could also block Lebanon's drainage system. The trash crisis has sparked angry protests that initially focused on waste management but grew to encompass frustrations with water and electricity shortages and Lebanon's chronically divided political class.
Campaigns like "You Stink" brought thousands of people into the streets in unprecedented non-partisan and non-sectarian demonstrations against the entire political class.

Berri Says Dialogue Can 'Achieve a Lot', Not against Protest Movement
Naharnet/September 27/15/Speaker Nabih Berri announced Sunday that the national dialogue sessions that he is sponsoring could reach solutions to the country's problems if the conferees have “honest intentions,” stressing that his initiative is not aimed at “wasting time” or confronting the country's growing protest movement. “As Lebanese who have accepted to sit around the dialogue table, we should draw lessons from the dialogue that is taking place among world powers in New York,” said Berri in a statement, referring to the flurry of diplomatic activity that is accompanying the annual U.N. General Assembly.
“It is unacceptable for the Lebanese to achieve nothing from their dialogue as the entire world seeks to reach settlements despite its disputes and rifts,” he added. He called on the Lebanese parties to “show the world that they are capable of running their own affairs and crossing their constitutional junctures through putting their country's interest and their civil peace before any other interest.”Addressing the critics of the national dialogue meetings, the parliament speaker said “mistaken are those who think that the dialogue table is aimed at wasting time or is directed against the civil society protest movement.”“The dialogue table is aimed at making use of time, which will not be in Lebanon's favor if we do not properly interpret the rapid developments that are taking place in the region and the world,” Berri warned. “The dialogue table can achieve a lot if the conferees have honest intentions and I believe that all parties have honest intentions aimed at rescuing Lebanon,” the speaker added. Civil society protesters angry over a lack of basic services and an unprecedented garbage crisis have organized demonstrations outside the dialogue venue in downtown Beirut to slam a political class they see as corrupt and incompetent. Berri had called for the dialogue among the main political parties to discuss a stalemate that has frozen government institutions for months. The protest movement began in mid-July as pungent piles of garbage built up in Beirut and its environs after the closure of the country's largest landfill in Naameh. But it has since grown to represent broader frustrations that cut across sectarian and partisan lines, including electricity and water shortages, and endemic corruption among the political elite. Demonstrations in the capital grew from several dozen protesters to thousands, peaking when tens of thousands descended on Martyrs' Square on August 29. Parliament has extended its own mandate twice since the last elections in 2009. Political rivalries have paralyzed the cabinet, formed in early 2014 on a caretaker basis, and the parliament has been so divided that it has failed more than 20 times to elect a president since Michel Suleiman's term expired in May 2014. Berri has said his call for dialogue is an attempt to jump-start the work of these institutions.

Ain Drafil Residents Voice Support for Shehayyeb's Trash Disposal Plan
Naharnet/September 27/15/The residents of the town of Ain Drafil expressed on Sunday the readiness of their region to support the plan of Environment Minister Akram Shehayyeb to tackle the garbage disposal crisis. They said during a press conference: “We responded positively with the minister's plan out of our sense of national responsibility.” “We hope that our positivity will be met with the same on the part of the cabinet and that officials would respect their pledges,” they added. The acceptance of the plan will see the reopening of the Naameh landfill whose closure on July 17 sparked the country's garbage crisis. Media reports said earlier on Sunday that the crisis will be the cabinet's top priority when it convenes after the return of Prime Minister Tammam Salam from New York, said An Nahar daily. A date for the cabinet session has not been set yet, but informed sources said that the environmental aspects of the crisis will be its main concern. Shehayyeb has been spearheading efforts to resolve the problem by holding a series of meetings with various experts in the field to discuss his plan to end the crisis. He had held on Friday a six-hour meeting to that end on Friday to overcome the remaining obstacles hindering the implementation of his plan, added the sources. The minister had contacted Salam to inform him of his latest progress. Shehayyeb devised with a group of experts an emergency waste management plan that calls for the seven-day temporary reopening of the controversial Naameh landfill with the consent of residents of Ain Drafil. Earlier in September, the municipal union of towns in the vicinity of the Naameh landfill announced its approval of Shehayyeb's proposal to reopen the facility for seven days to dump the trash that has been accumulating in Beirut and Mount Lebanon since the dumpsite's July 17 closure. The union, however, insisted that other landfills cited in the minister's plan must be also activated at the same time.

Mashnouq: Shehayyeb's Plan Will Only Be Implemented with People's Approval
Naharnet/September 27/15/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced that a date has not been set yet for the implementation of Environment Minister Akram Shehayyeb's plan on resolving the garbage crisis, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday. He told the daily: “Shehayyeb's plan will not be adopted without the consent of the people.” “Contacts are ongoing with concerned officials to that end,” he added. The minister said that positive feedback has been received over the plan. Shehayyeb devised with a group of experts an emergency waste management plan that calls for the seven-day temporary reopening of the controversial Naameh landfill with the consent of residents of the town of Ain Drafil. Earlier in September, the municipal union of towns in the vicinity of the Naameh landfill announced its approval of Shehayyeb's proposal to reopen the facility for seven days to dump the trash that has been accumulating in Beirut and Mount Lebanon since the dumpsite's July 17 closure. The union, however, insisted that other landfills cited in the minister's plan must be also activated at the same time.

Wounded Rebels Evacuated to Lebanon as Part of Zabadani Truce
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 27/15/Two severely wounded Islamist rebels were rushed out of a flashpoint rebel bastion in Syria to Lebanon on Sunday as part of a truce in flashpoint areas, a monitor said. "The United Nations transferred two Ahrar al-Sham fighters in critical condition from Zabadani to Lebanon," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Warring parties in Syria, including Lebanon's Hizbullah, agreed Thursday to the six-month truce in Zabadani, the last rebel stronghold along Syria's border with Lebanon, as well as the Shiite Muslim villages of Fuaa and Kafraya in the northwestern province of Idlib. The ceasefire is to include the evacuation of civilians and rebel fighters out of Zabadani in exchange for the safe passage of civilians from Fuaa and Kafraya. But there were delays when protesters in rebel-held territory in Idlib province blocked roads, preventing the planned evacuation by the Red Crescent from getting under way. A member of Zabadani's local council told AFP the "two wounded people were evacuated as an exception because of their critical condition."He said they were being taken to Beirut. According to Abdel Rahman, the full evacuations are expected to begin on Monday.

Report: U.S. to Dedicate $77 Million to Lebanon's Syrian Refugees
Naharnet/September 27/15/The United States will dedicate aid worth 490 million dollars to Syrian refugees, with 77 million of them being directed to Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday. The announcement was made during a meeting between Prime Minister Tammam Salam and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, Anne Richard on Friday, continued the daily. The aid package will be revealed next week during the proceedings of the Untied Nations General Assembly. Richard said that Washington will host 10,000 refugees currently in Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey and it will at a later date take in refugees residing in Lebanon. Lebanon is hosting around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, which is equivalent to a quarter of its population, since the war broke out in Syria in 2011. Salam is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Monday with his speech focusing on the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon, as well as the ongoing presidential vacuum.

Israel Retaliates after Golan Rockets Fired from Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 27/15/A rocket fired from war-torn Syria strayed into the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights Sunday, prompting the Israeli army to respond after the second such incident in as many days. The Israeli military said the rocket crashed into a field without causing any casualties or damage. It said that it was the result of Syria's conflict in which various factions are fighting against the regime of President Bashar Assad, as well as each other. The Israeli army later retaliated with artillery fire against two Syrian army positions located on the Golan, said a military spokeswoman. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli fire targeted army positions in a town in southwest Quneitra province, on the Golan. At least three or four Israeli strikes hit a regime military position inside Saryeh, near the regime's administrative capital of Baath City, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. They were fired from inside the occupied Golan Heights, he said, but did not have details on any casualties. On Saturday, a similar incident occurred, with a rocket slamming into the Israeli-held part of the plateau also without causing injuries or damage. Since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, the Golan has been tense, with a growing number of mostly stray rockets and mortar rounds hitting the Israeli side, prompting the occasional armed response. Israel seized 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) of the heights in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.

Separatists Win Absolute Majority of Seats in Catalan Vote
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 27/15/Separatists pushing to make Catalonia independent from Spain were on track to win an absolute majority of parliamentary seats in a regional election on Sunday, an exit poll showed. A poll released by Catalan television channel TV3 gave pro-independence parties between 74 and 79 seats out of a total 135. TV3 said pro-independence parties had won 49.8 percent of the vote. Jubilant crowds cheered at a rally in Barcelona by "Together For Yes", the main pro-independence alliance, yelling "Independence!"The head of the group's campaign Francesc Homs said the exit poll pointed to a clear victory for the separatist movement. "The available data give the impression that this pro-sovereignty majority, clearly in favour of independence, is a fact," he told the crowd. They waved nationalist flags of red and yellow stripes overlaid with a white star on a blue triangle. The drive to break the rich northeastern region away from Spain and create a new state in Europe has prompted a fierce standoff with the Spanish government. Regional president Artur Mas' separatist alliance vowed to declare independence by 2017 if it secured an absolute majority in the parliament. Officials said turnout was 63 percent by 6:00 pm (1600 GMT), two hours before polls closed -- nearly seven percent higher than in the last regional election in 2012. A separate poll carried out for radio station COPE before the vote and published just after polling closed gave the separatist parties -- Mas' alliance and the left-wing independence group CUP -- between 71 and 76 overall.

Britain's Cameron Calls for Talks on Syria Transition
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 27/15/British Prime Minister David Cameron called for discussions on how to bring about political transition in Syria on Sunday as he prepares to meet world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Britain has stressed that Syrian President Bashar Assad would not necessarily have to go immediately as part of a peace deal. "Assad can't be part of Syria's future. He has butchered his own people. He has helped create this conflict and this migration crisis. He is one of the great recruiting sergeants for ISIL [Islamic State]," Cameron told reporters on the flight to New York, according to the Press Association. "He can't play a part in the future of Syria and that position hasn't changed," he added. "Obviously conversations about how we bring about transition are very important and that's what we need to see greater emphasis on."Cameron is expected to drop his opposition to Assad playing a role in any transitional government, according to broadcaster the BBC. Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to attend the 70th anniversary meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, which opens on Monday, as efforts increase to put together a strategy to end Syria's civil war. The war has killed some 250,000 people and caused about four million people to flee abroad, contributing to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. British officials have said that attempts to resolve the conflict have been hampered by Russian military support for the Assad regime. Russia has recently increased its military presence in Syria with deployments of troops and warplanes combined with new arms deliveries to forces battling the Islamic State group, which has carved out swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Rouhani Says 'Everyone Has Accepted' Assad Should Stay
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 27/15/Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday he saw a widespread acceptance among major powers that Syrian leader Bashar Assad should stay in office. "I think today everyone has accepted that President Assad must remain so that we can combat the terrorists," Rouhani told CNN. Iran and Russia are the key allies of Assad, who has faced Western demands that he step down amid a war that has killed more than 240,000 people and caused four million to flee. But the United States has been hitting Islamic State extremists opposed to Assad, with France on Sunday launching its first strike. "In Syria, when our first objective is to drive out terrorists and combatting terrorists to defeat them, we have no solution other than to strengthen the central authority and the central government of that country as a central seat of power," said Rouhani, who is visiting New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Iran's Shiite clerical regime has voiced concern over a future without Assad, a largely secular leader from the heterodox Alawite movement.
But Rouhani said he also saw a future role for opponents of Assad. "As soon as this movement reaches the various levels of success and starts driving out the terrorists on a step-by-step basis, then other plans must be put into action so as to hear the voices of the opposition as well," Rouhani said. The reform-minded Rouhani has reached a landmark denuclearization accord with major powers, a step in reconciliation with the United States, the traditional bugbear of Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.But Rouhani said that Iran was not in direct talks about Syria with the United States.

Netanyahu praises Sisi's call to expand Egypt-Israel peace to other Arab states
JPOST.COM STAFF /09/27/2015/Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday praised Egyptian President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi for calling to expand Egypt's peace with Israel to include more Arab countries. In a statement released from his office hours before the Succot holiday was scheduled to set in, Netanyahu also called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table. "Prime Minister Netanyahu calls once again on the Palestinian Authority president, Abu Mazen (Abbas), to return immediately to the negotiating table in order to make progress in the diplomatic process."Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid also praised Sisi's comments, made in an interview with the Associated Press released Sunday, saying that they prove there is a chance to pursue a regional agreement. "I praise the comments made today by the Egyptian president," Lapid said. Sisi's comments prove that there exists today an opportunity to advance a regional agreement with moderate Arab states," Lapid said. "Our common interests in the region, in the war on terror, create a chance to advance a regional accord, as I presented in my Bar Ilan speech last week," he added, in reference to a speech in which he said that Israel should use the 2002 Saudi Peace Initiative as a template for a wider peace agreement with the Arab world. "Real leadership needs to take advantage of strategic opportunities that can strengthen the security of Israel. An agreement such as this will enable us to form an axis of moderate states against Iran and against growing terror in the Middle East, will preserve the security interests of Israel and will allow the continuance of Israel as a Jewish state," Lapid said. Immediately after the holiday, Lapid is traveling to the United States where he will present his diplomatic initiative for a regional accord to US administration officials and American lawmakers, his office said. Netanyahu, as well, will soon be leaving for the US to address the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. Abbas will be in New York as well, but there are no plans for the leaders to meet. The Palestinian Authority president has promised to drop a "bombshell" during his speech to the UN.

Egypt's leader optimistic for Palestinian conflict
Associated Press/Ynetnews/Published: 09.27.15
Al-Sisi says solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 'could change the face of the region'; Syria should remain as a nation and state otherwise its weapons and equipment would fall into the hands 'of the terrorists.'Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Saturday night in an interview that efforts should be renewed to solve the Palestinian issue and expand Egypt's nearly 40-year-peace with Israel to include more Arab countries. He added that resolving the Palestinian question could "change the face of the region and ... bring about enormous improvement to the situation. I'm optimistic by nature and I say that there is a great opportunity." The 60-year-old former military chief, who ran for president and assumed office in 2014 after the army ousted his predecessor Mohammed Morsi the year before, spoke with AP at a New York hotel after he addressed a UN summit that adopted new development goals for the next 15 years. He will also attend the annual ministerial meeting of the General Assembly at UN headquarters that begins Monday. Al-Sisi, speaking through a translator, said that regional security is in "its most vulnerable state." "Let it suffice to look at the map and find countries that are suffering from failure. There is an increase in the extremist groups. There is the problem of the refugees that are flowing into Europe. With all that in mind, we can sense how difficult and how complicated" the challenge is, he said. "I don't want to say we are late in doing what we should have done, but (defeating the threat will require) a lot of effort, and not only a lot of effort but as a matter of fact it entails a good amount of understanding and cooperation from every country ... to restore the countries that are now sliding into this vicious cycle of failure." In that vein, the Egyptian leader cited what he called an "improving" relationship with the United States. Ties are "strategic and stable," he said. It has been a tumultuous period in Egypt. Longtime leader Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011 in the Arab Spring revolt that eventually led to the installation of the Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi as Egypt's first popularly elected president; he then was tuned out by the military amid another popular uprising. "The last two years were a real test of the endurance and strength" of the ties with the US, al-Sisi said. Since then, Egypt has been fighting an insurgency by militants based in the Sinai who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, and militants have carried out bombings and shootings against policemen and troops in Cairo and other cities. Security forces have cracked down hard on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists. Hundreds of Islamists have been killed and thousands arrested, and Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders have had death sentences issued against them in multiple trials. The trials and the crackdown have brought heavy criticism from human rights groups. Al-Sisi's government contends the Brotherhood is complicit in violence, a claim the group denies, saying authorities want to crush them as a political opposition. Asserted al-Sisi, "The problem with the Muslim Brotherhood is not a problem between the government of Egypt and these people. The real problem is between the Egyptian people and the Muslim Brotherhood." He said the Brotherhood has given "a very bad impression" and Egyptians "are not able to forgive and forget." The Egyptian military, he said, "has always been a factor for stability" and should be strengthened because it faces "a ferocious war against terrorism and extremism ... Increasing the military capability of the Egyptian military means that it can strike a strategic balance" for the region. Referring to the civil war that has shattered Syria, the president said, "we are very keen that Syria remains as a nation and as a state and does not divide into smaller states." He warned that the collapse of Syria would mean that all its weapons and equipment would fall into the hands "of the terrorists." If that happens, he said, the danger will not only hurt Syria but spill over to its neighbors and "will pose a serious threat to the rest of the region, and this is what we fear."Asked how extremists could be neutralized, he offered no immediate solution. "This is exactly the dilemma we are talking about."

New Police Chief Ronny Alsheikh may bring innovative technology to war on crime
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis September 27, 2015
Outgoing Deputy Director of the Shin Bet internal security service, Ronny Alsheikh, 52, leaves a job which emowered him to pick up a phone and order an undercover unit to go after a high-profile terrorist. But as new Commissioner of Police, he will function, like in most democracies, in the toils of a labyrinthine system of rules, restrictions, civilian and media oversight and politics. The Shin Bet is like fellow security, espionage and intelligence agencies, in that it enjoys untrammeled access to the Interior Ministry’s files containing the personal data of every Israeli citizen, resident and visitor, such as addresses, dates of birth and death, marital status, criminal and other police records, travel movements and also their communications by cell phone and e-mail. This access is allowed under the law defining the agency’s top missions as being to catch spies and combat homeland terrorism. But as police chief, Alsheikh will have to function in a far stricter legal, administrative, technological, operational, organizational and budgetary framework. For coping with the mammoth tasks of fighting crime, preserving the peace on the streets and highways and catching and bringing malefactors to justice, the tools at his disposal are a tiny fraction of the resources he is used to. The same comedown applies to the quality of manpower available compared the high quality of operatives for intelligence-gathering and analyses available to the secret services. In this respect, while every police commissioner lives in a chronic state of war over budget with the Treasury, Alsheikh will need to focus on improving the wage scale offered the men in blue for their often thankless tasks. But above all, he must work fast to bring the organization up to date on the technological dimensions of police work, which he will find badly lagging. This contrasts sharply with the advances made by Israel’s clandestine services, including Military Intelligence (AMAN), which are running ahead with innovative technology and have incorporated it into the front line of their operations at all levels - from strategic planning to execution. Tech whizzes today occupy top positions in the security services, often ranking as second in command and are closely integrated in top-level decision-making. In the police force, the technology director is subordinate to the Deputy Commissioner, and is low on the organization’s pecking order - below its organization’s disciplinary and appeals tribunals, ombudsman and security section. His office is tucked away at a Jerusalem address and the manpower he employs usually consists of temporary staff hired from civilian employment agencies. Bringing police technology up to scratch will take time and money. In many fields, such as the war on terror and Palestinian lawlessness, the duties of the police and Shin Bet often overlap. It will be up to Alsheikh to ascertain that collaboration between the two organizations runs smoothly and efficiently. Working now from a new perspective in the police commissioner's chair, he will have to muster the goodwill and superior technology and intelligence of his former colleagues to make the police force as an effective instrument for fighting crime as the undercover agencies are for fighting terrorism.

US support for Syria rebels illegal, Putin says ahead of Obama meeting
REUTERS/09/27/2015/MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday branded US support for rebel forces in Syria as illegal and ineffective, saying US-trained rebels were leaving to join Islamic State with weapons supplied by Washington. In an interview with US networks recorded ahead of a meeting with US President Barack Obama, Putin said Syrian President Bashar Assad deserved international support as he was fighting terrorist organizations. Obama and Putin are scheduled to talk on Monday after Putin addresses the United Nations, although White House and Kremlin officials have disagreed on what the two leaders will discuss and even who initiated the meeting. "In my opinion, provision of military support to illegal structures runs counter to the principles of modern international law and the United Nations Charter," he said in an excerpt of an interview with US television networks CBS and PBS released by the Kremlin. Russia has stepped up its military involvement in Syria in recent weeks, with US officials accusing Moscow of sending combat aircraft, tanks and other equipment to help the Syrian army. Russia's sudden military build-up this month in support of Assad and a refugee crisis that has spilled over from the region into Europe have lent new urgency to attempts to resolve the Syria conflict. The new US tack on Syria could bring together Russia, Saudi Arabia and countries such as Turkey and Qatar, which support Syrian opposition groups. US-Russian relations have slumped to a post-Cold War low over the Ukraine crisis, though the two sides shares concerns about the threat posed by Islamic State, while disagreeing on the approach. Putin says Damascus should be included in international efforts to fight (IS), a demand the United States rejects, and he criticized US plans to train up to 5,400 Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State. "It turns out that only 60 of these fighters have been properly trained, and as few as four or five people actually carry weapons," he said. "The rest of them have deserted with the American weapons to join ISIS," he said referring to Islamic State. Critics have urged Obama to be more decisive in the Middle East and Syria, where the United Nations has said 250,000 people have died after four years of conflict, and say lack of a clear American policy has given Islamic State opportunities to expand. Putin said Russia's support for the Assad government was based on the UN Charter. "We have been providing assistance to legitimate government entities only," he said. "As of today it has taken the form of weapons supplies to the Syrian government, personnel training and humanitarian aid to the Syrian people."

Analysis: Despite nuclear deal, Iran remains dangerous for European banks
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL/09/27/2015
The closure by Commerzbank this month of an account belonging to supporters of Hezbollah and the Tehran regime opens a window into the challenges faced by financial institutions seeking to re-enter the Iranian market. While a spokesman for Germany’s second largest bank did not disclose the reason to The Jerusalem Post for pulling the plug on the account, Commerzbank’s March agreement to pay US financial regulators a $1.45 billion fine as part of its illicit dealings with Iran probably played a role. Put simply, Iran is still toxic for many banks. The UK’s The Independent reported on Tuesday in an article titled “Sanctions-busting fears could drive banks away from Iran” that Ross Denton, sanctions expert at law firm Baker and McKenzie, said: “I can’t see any Western banks wanting to get involved with Iran for a long time. So if companies want to work out there, they’ll have to do it in euros and with banks from Russia, China or India. It’s going to be difficult and take time. Jump the gun, cut corners and you’re going to get absolutely murdered in the US.” In a Guardian report from the second Iran-Europe business forum in Geneva on Thursday and Friday, Andreas Schweitzer, a representative from a Maltese company that conducts wind power business in Iran, said “There are European banks who can deal with Iran even now. Small banks which have no business with the US work with Iran. Big banks in theory can operate too but they have reputation issues.”Iran’s financial sector is high-risk, because it is largely contaminated with transactions for its nuclear program and ballistic missiles sector. Iran announced on Thursday that it canceled its December oil and gas conference in London, because of worries about sanctions. The conference has been rescheduled for February. Nevertheless, large foreign energy companies will surely face a Sisyphean task in securing large banks to channel their investments in Iran. Take this past week’s example of the complications of British bank Standard Chartered’s business dealings with Iran. The Financial Times reported that the bank sought business after it agreed in 2007 to stop its Iran business.
The bank negotiated a 2012 settlement with US authorities to pay $667 million for sanctions busting. According to the FT, Standard Chartered activated business in 2009 with the then-sanctioned National Iranian Oil Company. The US authorities could strip Standard Chartered of its license to operate in the US financial sector. That would spell the death knell for a financial organization. If there is a choice between retaining business in US markets and returning to Iran, European banks will, without hesitation, choose the US economy. After Stuart Levey, then the US Treasury Department’s first under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, lightly twisted the arms of such banks as Deutsche Bank in Germany, the banks capitulated and stopped business with Iran. There also appears to be growing pressure from US states and pension funds to stay away from companies and banks that invest in Iran.
Small banks or banks in volatile economic countries like Russia and China will likely fill the financial vacuum in Iran. The soundness of those banks does not bode well for foreign investments.
*Benjamin Weinthal is a fellow of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Russia, Iran, Syria ‘cooperating’ on Baghdad security
By Stephen Kalin | Reuters, Baghdad/Sunday, 27 September 2015/Iraq said on Saturday that its military officials were engaged in intelligence and security cooperation in Baghdad with Russia, Iran and Syria to counter the threat from the ISIS militant group, a pact that could raise concerns in Washington.
A statement from the Iraqi military’s joint operations command said the cooperation had come “with increased Russian concern about the presence of thousands of terrorists from Russia undertaking criminal acts with Daesh (ISIS).” The move could give Moscow more sway in the Middle East. It has stepped up its military involvement in Syria in recent weeks while pressing for Damascus to be included in international efforts to fight ISIS, a demand Washington rejects. Moscow’s involvement in Iraq could mean increased competition for Washington from a Cold War enemy as long-time enemy Iran increases its influence through Shiite militia allies just four years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.By raising the stakes in Syria’s four-year-old civil war, Russia has prompted its Cold War foe to expand diplomatic channels with it. Western officials have said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wants to launch a new effort at the U.N. General Assembly this week to try to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict. Diplomacy has taken on new urgency in light of Russia’s military build-up in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a refugee crisis that has spilled into Europe. Critics have urged U.S. President Barack Obama to be more decisive in the Middle East, particularly towards the Syrian conflict, and say lack of a clear American policy has given ISIS opportunities to expand. Russian news agency Interfax quoted a military diplomatic source in Moscow as saying the Baghdad coordination center would be led on a rotating basis by officers of the four countries, starting with Iraq. The source added a committee might be created in Baghdad to plan military operations and control armed forces units in the fight against ISIS. A Russian foreign ministry official told Interfax on Friday that Moscow could “theoretically” join the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS if Damascus were included in international efforts to combat ISIS and any international military operation in Syria had a U.N. mandate. Iraqi officials on Friday had denied reports of a coordination cell in Baghdad set up by Russian, Syrian and Iranian military commanders aimed at working with Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq. The armed groups, some of which have fought alongside troops loyal to Assad, are seen as a critical weapon in Baghdad’s battle against the radical Sunni militants of ISIS. Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said in New York on Friday that his country had not received any Russian military advisers to help its forces but called for the U.S.-led coalition to bomb more ISIS targets in Iraq. Despite more than $20 billion in U.S. aid and training, Iraq’s army has nearly collapsed twice in the last year in the face of advances by ISIS, which controls large swathes of territory in the north and west of the OPEC oil producer.

Migrant boat sinks off Turkey, 17 Syrians dead
By AFP | Ankara/Rome /Sunday, 27 September 2015/Seventeen Syrian refugees including five children drowned Sunday when their boat sank in Turkish waters on its way to Greece, local media reported. The Turkish coastguard recovered the bodies from the wooden boat that had set off from the Turkish holiday resort town of Bodrum for the Greek island of Leros, the Dogan news agency reported. The refugees drowned when they failed to get out of the boat’s cabin, the news agency said. Another 20 migrants, who were on the boat’s deck, survived and swam back to the Turkish coast, it added. All were wearing life jackets. The survivors were taken to a morgue in Bodrum to identify their drowned relatives.
Migrants rescued
Separately, some 500 migrants were rescued in seven operations launched over the weekend in the Mediterranean, the Italian coastguard said. A spokesman told AFP on Sunday that four of the rescue operations had already wound up but the others were ongoing. “Saturday was quiet on the whole but now there is further movement,” he said. “We have had several interventions -- one by a ship belonging to (medical charity) MSF, two coastguard units as well as an Italian naval ship and a ship belonging to EU Navfor Med,” he said.The EU Navfor Med is a military operation launched at the end of June to identify, capture and dispose of vessels and rescue migrants undertaking risky journeys in a desperate bid to try and get to Europe from war-ravaged Syria and other trouble spots. The mission is equipped with four ships, including an Italian aircraft carrier, and four planes. It is manned by 1,318 troops from 22 European countries.
A German frigate named Werra and an MSF (Doctors Without Borders) ship rescued 140 people from a giant dinghy on Saturday afternoon, according to an AFP photographer. EU leaders have agreed to boost aid for Syria's neighbours, including one billion dollars through U.N. agencies, in a bid to mitigate the refugee influx into Europe. Some 500,000 people have come to Europe so far this year, the International Organization for Migration says, many of them taking perilous journeys across the Mediterranean on inflatable dinghies. Most are fleeing conflicts and misery in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Africa. More than 2,800 people have died or disappeared making the crossing since January. The picture of three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi, whose body was found washed up on a Turkish beach after a failed attempt to reach Greece, horrified the world, pressuring European leaders to step up their response to the refugee crisis

French strikes hit ISIS training camp in Syria
By AFP | Paris/Sunday, 27 September 2015/French warplanes carried out air strikes on Sunday on an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) training camp in eastern Syria, President Francois Hollande said. “Our forces hit their target,” near the town of Deir Ezzor, said Hollande, hours after ordering France’s first strikes in Syria. The news came after France said in the same day it had carried out its first air strikes against the ISIS in Syria following nearly three weeks of surveillance flights. Hollande’s office said the strikes were aimed at targets identified during surveillance missions conducted since Sept. 8. The operation to "fight the terrorist threat" of ISIS was coordinated with regional partners, a statement said. "We will strike any time our national security is at stake," it said. In an announcement earlier this month, France cited self-defence as its rationale for planning the strikes, while ruling out ground operations. French planes are already involved in air strikes against the jihadists in neighboring Iraq. The announcement of the strikes in Syria comes the day before Hollande joins world leaders for the start of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where the four-year Syrian war is expected to be at the centre of debate. Sunday's statement from the French presidency called for a "comprehensive response (to the) Syrian chaos", saying: "Civilian populations must be protected against all forms of violence, that of Daesh (ISIS) and other terrorist groups, but also against the murderous bombings of (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad."
Iran and Russia have given strong backing to Assad, whom the United States and European countries such as France see as the instigator of a civil war that has left 250,000 dead and large parts of his country in the hands of ISIS. Russia meanwhile has rankled the West by strengthening its military presence in Syria in recent weeks. Ahead of the U.N. gathering, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday to discuss Syria. Washington refuses to accept a peace process that would leave Assad in power and so has backed and armed small "moderate" rebel groups. But that strategy appeared in tatters after the Pentagon admitted the latest U.S.-trained fighters to cross into Syria had given a quarter of their equipment to Al-Qaeda.

Saudi king and Putin discuss Syrian conflict
By AFP, Al Arabiya News /Sunday, 27 September 2015/Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman about finding a solution to the Syria crisis on Saturday, just two days before he is due to address the UN on the issue, the Kremlin said.In a telephone conversation at Russia’s behest, the two men “exchanged views on regional security matters, first and foremost, in the context of finding ways to settle the conflict in Syria”, a statement posted to the Kremlin’s website said. They also discussed “building more effective international cooperation in the fight against the so-called ISIS and other terrorist groups”, it said. The Saudi Press Agency reported that “Putin congratulated the king on [the Muslim holiday] Eid Al Adha” and “expressed condolence on the [Hajj] stampede accident,” that killed at least 769 people last Thursday. A decades-long backer of the Damascus regime, Moscow has steadfastly supported President Bashar al-Assad throughout four-and-a-half years of war which have killed more than 240,000 people. Saudi Arabia is part of a U.S.-led coalition that began an air campaign against ISIS in Syria last September, and insists it will never cooperate with the Assad regime. On Monday, Putin will address the General Assembly in New York to outline his plan for Syria, notably the idea of expanding a coalition, which would include Assad’s army, to fight Islamic State.He will also meet US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the gathering, their first formal talk in two years. Russia has lately boosted its military presence in Syria, deploying more troops and warplanes to an air base along with new arms deliveries to Assad’s forces. Last week, the Syrian army used Russian drones against the jihadists for the first time. On Saturday, a Syrian military source told AFP that at least 15 Russian cargo planes transporting “equipment and personnel” had landed at the Hmeimim military base in western Syria in the past two weeks. Moscow’s military build-up comes with Washington’s own policy for fighting ISIS in Syria in increasing disarray. The U.S. has a $500-million program to train and equip vetted moderates recruited from among the rebels fighting Assad, but it has faced repeated setbacks. Washington and its allies have up until now insisted that Assad has no future in Syria, but there have been recent signs of a change, perhaps allowing him an interim role until a new government is formed. On Friday, a Russian diplomat raised the possibility of Moscow joining the Washington-led coalition against ISIS provided the U.N. Security Council gave a legal framework for its action. “It is in theory possible that all those involved join the coalition if it receives the approval of the U.N. Security Council,” Ilya Rogatchev, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for New Challenges and Threats, told AFP.

Hajj stampede: Saudi rejects Iranian criticism
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News/Sunday, 27 September 2015/Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Saturday firmly rejected Iran’s criticism of its handling of the hajj pilgrimage Saturday after Tehran demanded an inquiry into a stampede that killed at least 769 people. "I believe the Iranians should know better than to play politics with a tragedy that has befallen people who were performing their most sacred religious duty," foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said, according to Agence France-Presse. Iran's President Hassan Rowhani, who is also in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, has demanded an inquiry into Wednesday's disaster, in which at least 136 Iranians died. But Jubeir, delivering remarks along U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, insisted that Saudi Arabia was on top of the situation. "The kingdom has had a long history of spending tremendous resources to care for the pilgrimage to ensure that the pilgrims who come there have a successful pilgrimage," he said. "And we will reveal the facts when they emerge. And we will not hold anything back. If mistakes were made, who made them will be held accountable," Jubeir said. "And we will make sure that we will learn from this and we will make sure that it doesn't happen again. I want repeat again this is not a situation with which to play politics. "I would hope Iranian leaders would be more sensible and more thoughtful with regards to those who perished in this tragedy, and wait until we see the results of the investigation."The death toll from Thursday’s deadly stampede outside the holy city of Makkah during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage climbed to 769, the Saudi Health Minister Khaled Al-Faleh said earlier on Saturday. The known number of injured now stands at 934, he said in a press conference adding that the Hajj season was void of any epidemics or disease. Investigations to determine the cause behind the crush are still ongoing. Prominent Iranian writer and academic Sadegh Zibakalam criticized statements made by Iranian officials on the Mina incident saying that they stemmed out of events in Syria and Yemen. “As opposed to other Muslims, ours were the only reactions aimed at pre-judging who is responsible for the Mina tragedy,” he was quoted by Al Arabiya.net as saying. “The response [from Iranian officials] was based on unleashing anti-Arab sentiment that many Iranians bear. The horrible Mina incident has allowed Iranians to unload their anger onto Arabs,” he added.A report in Asharq Al Awsat newspaper this week said 300 Iranian pilgrims were moving in the opposite direction against “large convoys” on Street 204 heading to the site where ritual of stoning the devil is performed before the crush happened. Quoting an unnamed source, the paper said that the almost 300 pilgrims did not wait at the site upon completion of the ritual as mandated by Hajj organizers. The worshipers instead moved out onto Street 204 as other groups made their way into the site, the report, cited by Al Arabiya.Net said.

Yemen FM: ‘War wiped out decades of development’
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News/Sunday, 27 September 2015/Yemen's foreign minister said on Saturday that less than a year of fighting in his country has wiped out decades of development, according to the Associated Press. Riad Yassin told the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders in New York that Houthi militias in Yemen have not abided by U.N. Security Council resolutions adopted earlier this year. One Security Council resolution demanded that the Houthis immediately give up control of government institutions. The militias have seized large parts of the Arab world's poorest country, and since March, a Saudi-led coalition has carried out months against the group, as well as militias loyal to deposed President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi. Ban Ki-moon in his meeting with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir again called for "increased humanitarian access" to Yemen, which even before the fighting imported 90 percent of its food and fuel. In recent days, clashes between Houthi forces and those loyal to the exiled administration raged in the central desert province of Marib and the southwestern city of Taiz, where residents reported that the two sides dueled with heavy artillery in civilian areas.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led alliance launched air attacks on suspected Houthi positions on at least five provinces throughout the country and on Sanaa. Several dozen Saudi soldiers have been killed in clashes along the country's long, rugged border with Yemen, including a general last month.
(With The Associated Press)

Russia, Iran, and American inaction in Syria
Khairallah Khairallah/Al Arabiya/September 27/15
As time goes by, we realize that Russian intervention in Syria is raising more questions that - at least for the time being - have no answers. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem recently hinted that President Bashar al-Assad may ask Moscow to send soldiers to Syria. Mouallem’s statements came at the same time as a Kremlin spokesperson confirmed there is a Russian desire to send forces to Syria. However, Russian troops are already present in Syria, particularly in the coastal area. They presently number about 2,000, and are working alongside pro-regime militias to prevent the collapse of the Alawite area, which Russia thinks it can put under its tutelage whether Assad stays or leaves. Moscow would not have increased the size of its intervention and insisted on publicizing it if it had not felt that Assad’s fate is under serious discussion. Therefore, Russia had to reassure him. This in addition to President Vladimir Putin’s desire to exploit Assad as much as possible.
Interests
Assad no longer controls anything in Syria, especially because the Iranians and their tool Hezbollah - which is nothing but a Lebanese sectarian militia linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) - have their own interests. These interests are based on taking over land and real estate in Damascus and its surroundings, all the way to Zabadani and eastern and western Ghouta. They also want residents of Shiite towns close to Aleppo and Idlib to move to the capital and its surroundings. U.S. inaction has led to negative results that threaten regional stability. Amid the absence of the role that the only superpower is supposed to play
So far, there are no conflicting stances between Tehran and Moscow. On the contrary, it seems roles are distributed between them at a time when some Syrian territories, including Aleppo, have come under Turkish influence. It is no secret that Al-Nusra Front stopped expanding toward Alawite towns due to Turkish pressure on that front. These pressures are because Turkish priorities come within the context of complicated calculations that take into account future relations with Alawites in Syria, and the open confrontation between Ankara and the Kurds.
U.S. capitulation
It is also no secret that Washington is confused. The administration of President Barack Obama resembles that of Jimmy Carter. When the latter was tested by Iran at the end of the 1970s, Tehran realized that Carter did not intend any sort of confrontation against any party.Putin has tested Obama, and is now certain that he can go far in defying or containing him, whether in Ukraine or Syria. Meanwhile, Iran considers the nuclear agreement the Obama administration’s only achievement. It is in fact an Iranian accomplishment that has become the U.S. administration’s source of pride! Syrians are certain that Obama is unwilling to defy Iran in Syria or in Lebanon, due to his concern over the nuclear deal, over which he is very protective. There are strange givens here that the U.S. administration is adhering to. The first is its willingness to give way to Iran and Russia in Syria. There is an American admission that Syria is a zone of Iranian-Turkish-Russian influence. This explains why Washington retreated from reacting in Aug. 2013 when Assad used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. Putin, who at the time wrote an article in the New York Times urging Obama to be prudent and to focus on confronting terrorism, prevented a strike against the Assad regime - a strike that could have at least paralyzed airports. Obama, who used to consider the use of chemical weapons a “red line,” and who stressed the importance of Assad’s departure, accepted the use of barrel bombs to kill Syrians. Putin thus managed to have Obama do as he wanted. The same applies to Iran.
ISIS
Work is under way to figure out how to coordinate efforts against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in order to guarantee that Washington stays in the same boat as the Russians and Iranians. No one in Iran or Russia has taken Obama's statements seriously since he backed down from attacking the Syrian regime. Assad will leave sooner or later, even if he thinks the Kermlin will never abandon him. Putin and Tehran will go far in their Syrian adventures, especially since no one in Washington wants to admit the role that the Assad regime played in the emergence and expansion of ISIS. No one in Washington wants to realize that Assad and ISIS are two sides of the same coin, and that eliminating the Syrian regime is an indispensible part of the war on terror. U.S. inaction has led to negative results that threaten regional stability. Amid the absence of the role that the only superpower is supposed to play, it is unsurprising that the process of dividing Syria continues. What Iran is doing in Lebanon is also unsurprising, as there is obstruction of the government’s work and popular activity that only Hezbollah benefits from. Amid this American inaction, it is also no surprise what Israel is doing in Jerusalem, as it is attempting to alter the status of Al-Aqsa Mosque and open it for Jewish extremists. Nothing has been a surprise in the Middle East since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, whose repercussions are still being felt.
This article was first published in Al-Arab newspaper on Sept. 21, 2015.
Khairallah Khairallah is an Arab columnist who was formerly Annahar's foreign editor (1976-1988) and Al-Hayat's managing editor (1988-1998).

The newest chapter in Syria’s war could be its bloodiest yet
Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/September 27/15
In Syria’s five-year long conflict that has left 320,000 dead and triggered a stupefying refugee crisis, the worst for Syrians, cruelly, could be yet to come. Russia’s looming offensive against Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime, including the ISIS but likely not limited to, will prolong the conflict and further destabilize the region. And once again, Syrian citizens will bear the dire consequences of the newest chapter in the war that begins with President Vladmir Putin publicly confirming that he seeks to secure the future of Bashar al-Assad’s disgraced regime.In a particularly candid statement, Putin confirmed during an interview with 60 Minutes that the assertion he is “trying to save the Assad administration because they've been losing ground and the war has not been going well for them,” is in fact accurate. To this assertion posed by Charlie Rose, Putin responded, “Well, you're right.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has fully embraced Russia’s increasing involvement in the war, with chief Hassan Nasrallah calling it a “great development.” It is worth noting that such inevitable support is what prompted a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Putin prior to Nasrallah’s speech. Reports indicated the leaders both agreed they would “coordinate military actions over Syria” with Netanyahu announcing they had "agreed on a mechanism to prevent…misunderstandings." Despite this, it is likely Hezbollah will continue attempting to reap the benefits of its long-term involvement in Syria and equally as likely Israel will continue maintaining its policy of thwarting the militant group’s attempts at transferring strategic weaponry to Lebanon. Such a quagmire could impact Russia-Israel relations though it is likely in the immediate term Moscow would not intervene in any Israeli operation targeting Hezbollah in Syria. That said, how Moscow responds to any potential Israeli attack directly targeting Assad regime positions will depend on just how far Russia is willing to go in Syria.
Disastrous failures
As the Russian military continues escalating its involvement in the war-town country, each new week brings additional evidence that the official U.S. Syrian rebel training program has failed disastrously. These failures will fuel the Russian narrative that Moscow is heroically stepping in to complete what the United States has failed to accomplish. The worst development in the heavily pockmarked-with-failures U.S. policy on Syria would be seriously weighing cooperation with Russia
Brooklyn Middleton
Meanwhile, with ISIS’s constant documentation of their own crimes and Assad’s constant burying of his, the barbarity of the Assad regime seems to have been forgotten by some. The utterly deluded notion, that Assad is any way less barbaric – or any less of a strategic threat – than ISIS, defies copious evidence of the contrary. President Putin was recently quoted stating that, “By the way, people are running away not from the regime of Bashar Assad, but from ISIS.” Such an illogical conclusion willfully ignores the reality that the Assad regime has killed far more Syrians than ISIS or any other nefarious actor operating in the country. When Russia begins executing airstrikes on behalf of the regime, the number of Syrian refugees fleeing will increase. The worst development in the heavily pockmarked-with-failures U.S. policy on Syria would be seriously weighing cooperation with Russia that ultimately aids in propping up the regime. The Syrian war has to come to an end and ISIS has to be defeated but Russian involvement that ensures Assad’s future rule also ensures a future of more war.

On Jerusalem, Jordan cannot remain idle
Raed Omari/Al Arabiya/September 27/15
The question that always resurfaces when there is a new assault by Israeli extremists on Al-Aqsa compound is: What can Jordan, custodian of Jerusalem’s Muslim holy sites, do to stop Jewish settlers’ frequent incursions into the third holiest site in Islam?
With the Jewish settler assaults on the Al Haram Al Sharif site (the "Noble Sanctuary", also known as Temple Mount) becoming a frequent act of provocation in recent weeks, Amman has toughened its position, stressing that it is ready for all options to prevent Tel Aviv’s plotting to change the status quo in Jerusalem. How the Amman-Tel Aviv relations would be affected is another question entirely. On Jordan’s options to address Israeli provocations, I believe an all-out war is definitely absent. It is politically a costly option for both sides and is strategically linked with a set of factors in the region, including the Syrian conflict, Hezbollah’s involvement, the Iranian nuclear deal and Russia’s moves in the region. Even the hardline anti-Israel Jordanians – and there are many – have hardly ever called on their government to wage war against Israel, fully mindful of the region’s complicated politics.
The Israeli government, which day by day is unveiling its unreliability as a peace partner, has other ambitions. However, there are voices in Jordan calling for freezing the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement, citing as evidence Tel Aviv’s alleged violations of the 1994 deal’s provisions, under which Israel is obliged to respect the Hashemite custodianship over Jerusalem’s holy sites.
A harsher stance?
These voices, even from within conservative political circles, are weary of merely recalling the kingdom’s ambassador to Tel Aviv, instead urging tougher procedures to oblige Israel to abide by the peace provisions. I was once told by a right-wing Jordanian politician, also highly conservative, that Israel is sure that a Jordanian response to its unilateral acts in Jerusalem will not exceed recalling Jordan’s ambassador to Tel Aviv or expelling the Israeli ambassador in Amman.“They [Israelis] are certain of our [Jordanian] conventional response and have been thus acting unilaterally in Jerusalem,” he said. But the Wadi Araba Peace Treaty is not only apply to Jerusalem but includes other peace components such as land and water, which seem to not be a matter of dispute between the two signatories. Plus, I do not believe that Jordan is willing to go back to the state of war or state of 'no peace, no war' with Israel which freezing the peace deal would automatically entail. If peace with Israel has proved to be not that rewarding for Jordan, then how would it be if they were at war?For the time being, diplomacy is Jordan's only tool to press for an end to the Israeli assaults on Al Haram Al Sharif. Jordan has succeeded in highlighting the Al-Aqsa Mosque issue at the U.N. Security Council which has issued a statement recently calling for full respect for the sanctity of Al Haram Al Sharif, noting the importance of Jordan’s special role, as engrained in the peace treaty. The council members also stressed that the status quo of Al Haram Al Sharif should be maintained and visitors should be without fear of violence or intimidation. The Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported that it was the first time the phrase “Al Haram Al Sharif” was used in 15 years by the Security Council - mostly due to Jordan’s intensive diplomatic efforts.
But will Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right coalition ever play a part in halting the Jewish settler assaults on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound? The answer is probably no. The Israeli government, which day by day is unveiling its unreliability as a peace partner, has other ambitions.

Germany: Migrants In, Germans Out
The Death of Property Rights
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/September 27/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6583/germany-migrants-housing
Hamburg city officials say that owners of vacant real estate have refused to make their property available to the city on a voluntary basis, and thus the city should be given the right to take it by force.
"The proposed confiscation of private land and buildings is a massive attack on the property rights of the citizens of Hamburg. It amounts to an expropriation by the state [and a] "law of intimidation." — André Trepoll, Christian Democratic Union.
"If a property is confiscated... a lawsuit to determine the legality of the confiscation can only be resolved after the fact. But the accommodation would succeed in any event." — Tübingen Mayor Boris Palmer.
Officials in North Rhine-Westphalia seized a private resort in the town of Olpe to provide housing for up to 400 migrants
"I find it impossible to understand how the city can treat me like this. I have struggled through life with grief and sorrow and now I get an eviction notice. It is a like a kick in the stomach." — Bettina Halbey, 51-year-old nurse, after being notified that she must vacate her apartment so that migrants can move in.
The landlord is being paid 552 euros ($617) for each migrant he takes in. By cramming as many migrants into his property as possible, he stands to receive payments of more than 2 million euros a year from government.
"Considering that migrants cannot afford to rent new properties... moves must be initiated in which higher income households purchase or build more expensive accommodations for themselves in order to free up the less expensive housing for migrants." — The Berlin Institute for Urban Development, the Housing Industry and Loan Associations
"I saw an unbelievable situation: the elderly volunteer lifted the table halfway, looked at the migrant and moved his head asking the migrant to lend a hand. The migrant paused for a moment and then just walked away." — Firsthand account, refugee shelter.
German authorities are applying heavy-handed tactics to find housing for the hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees pouring into the country from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
With existing shelters filled to capacity, federal, state and local authorities are now using legally and morally dubious measures — including the expropriation of private property and the eviction of German citizens from their homes — to make room for the newcomers.
German taxpayers are also being obliged to make colossal economic sacrifices to accommodate the influx of migrants, many of whom have no prospect of ever finding a job in the country. Sustaining the 800,000 migrants and refugees who are expected to arrive in Germany in 2015 will cost taxpayers at least at least 11 billion euros ($12 billion) a year for years to come.
As the migration crisis intensifies, and Germans are waking up to the sheer scale of the economic, financial and social costs they will expected to bear in the years ahead, anger is brewing.
In Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany, municipal officials on September 23 introduced an audacious bill in the local parliament (Hamburgische Bürgerschaft) that would allow the city to seize vacant commercial real estate (office buildings and land) and use it to house migrants.
City officials argue the measure is necessary because more than 400 new migrants are arriving in Hamburg each day and all the existing refugee shelters are full. They say that owners of vacant real estate have refused to make their property available to the city on a voluntary basis, and thus the city should be given the right to take it by force.
The measure, which will be voted upon in the Hamburg parliament within the next two weeks, is being applauded by those on the left of the political spectrum. "We are doing everything we can to ensure that the refugees are not homeless during the coming winter," Senator Till Steffen of the Green Party said. "For this reason, we need to use vacant commercial properties."
Others argue that efforts by the state to seize private property are autocratic and reek of Communism. "The proposed confiscation of private land and buildings is a massive attack on the property rights of the citizens of Hamburg," said André Trepoll of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). "It amounts to an expropriation by the state." He said the proposed measure is a "law of intimidation" that amounts to a "political dam break with far-reaching implications." He added: "The ends do not justify any and all means."
The leader of the Free Democrats (FDP) in Hamburg, Katja Suding, said that the proposed law is an "unacceptable crossing of red lines... Such coercive measures will only fuel resentment against refugees."
In Tübingen, a town in Baden-Württemberg, Mayor Boris Palmer (also of the Green Party), is making offers to rent or buy vacant properties to house migrants. But he is also threatening to confiscate the property of landlords who dare to reject his offer. In an interview with the newspaper Die Welt, Palmer said:
"In the written offers, I advise that the Police Law (Polizeigesetz) gives us the possibility, in cases of emergency, to confiscate homes for several months. The law provides for seizure in emergencies. I want to avoid this, but if there is no other way, I will make use of this law."
When asked if he was afraid of lawsuits, Palmer said:
"No. The Police Law has clear rules. When the town is threatened with homelessness, empty homes may be confiscated. This emergency can happen when accommodations are overcrowded and we continue to receive 50 new migrants in Tübingen. If a property is confiscated, we would order immediate enforcement. That is to say, a lawsuit to determine the legality of the confiscation can only be resolved after the fact. But the accommodation would succeed in any event."
In February 2015, officials in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) seized a private resort in the town of Olpe to provide housing for up to 400 migrants. The initial plan was for the town to purchase the resort from its Bavarian owners and rent it to NRW, but NRW officials decided to confiscate the property instead. According to NRW Interior Minister Ralf Jäger, properties may be seized whenever there is a "threat to public order and safety," and the threat of mass homelessness among migrants fits the bill.
In Nieheim, another town in NRW, Mayor Rainer Vidal is using a legal maneuver called "right of repossession" (Eigenbedarf) to terminate the leases of German citizens living in state-owned apartment buildings so that migrants can move in.
On September 1, 51-year-old Bettina Halbey, who has been living in her apartment for more than 16 years, received a letter notifying her that she must vacate her apartment by May 2016 so that migrants can move in. Halbey was shell-shocked:
"I'm completely taken by surprise. I find it impossible to understand how the city can treat me like this. I cannot come to grips with this situation. I have struggled through life with grief and sorrow and now I get an eviction notice. It is a like a kick in the stomach."
Halbey, a nurse, says that it will be difficult for her to find another place to live: "I have a dog and a cat. Many landlords will not even consider renting to me."
Out with the old, in with the new... German authorities are using legally and morally dubious measures — including the eviction of German citizens from their homes — in an attempt to find housing for hundreds of thousands of migrants arriving this year.
In the same building, a single mother with two children has been given until August 2016 to move out of her apartment, also to make room for migrants. Initially, she had been ordered to vacate the property by November 2015, but her eviction was delayed to allow her daughter to finish the school year without interruption.
In an interview with the newspaper Westfalen-Blatt, Vidal, an independent who does not belong to any political party, said: "I know this is an unconventional measure. But as a community, we have an obligation to provide housing for migrants." He said he wanted to turn the entire apartment building into housing for migrants. Vidal said it would not be financially viable to house them anywhere else.
In some cases, landlords are evicting long-time residents because the government is offering them more money to house migrants than they are receiving in rent from existing tenants.
In Braunsbedra, a small town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, a landlord evicted dozens of residents from an apartment building to make way for migrants. According to local media, the landlord, Marcus Skowronek, is being paid 552 euros ($617) for each migrant he takes in. By cramming as many migrants into his property as possible, he stands to receive payments of more than 2 million euros a year from local and regional governments.
When reporters from public broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk visited the property to interview Skowronek, he said:
"I am asking you to leave the premises. You are banned (Hausverbot) from entering the building. Please leave the property. I am sorry. Otherwise I will have to call the police. Please go."
In Berlin, the Institute for Urban Development, the Housing Industry and Loan Associations (Berliner Institut für Städtebau, Wohnungswirtschaft und Bausparwesen, IFS) has warned that, given the influx of so many migrants, the demand for housing will outstrip supply for many years to come. Of the 285,000 building permits approved in 2014, only 56,000 were apartments in multi-unit buildings of the kind that are suitable for migrants.
The IFS is now calling for the initiation of a process in which Germans who are currently living in inexpensive housing, but who can afford more expensive accommodations, move out of their existing homes to make way for migrants. According to the IFS:
"Considering that migrants cannot afford to rent new properties, the vast majority can only afford cheaper housing, a chain reaction of moves (Umzugsketten) must be initiated in which higher income households purchase or build more expensive accommodations for themselves in order to free up the less expensive housing for migrants."
The IFS does not explain why Germans who are living within their means should suddenly be expected to take on debt to purchase a more expensive home.
Germans are not only being evicted from their homes to make way for migrants, they are also being removed from their schools.
In Lübbecke, another town in NRW, teachers and students were given less than 24 hours to vacate the Jahn-Realschule, a secondary school for 150 students, so that the building can be used to house 300 migrants.
The school principal, Marion Bienen, said that municipal authorities notified her at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, September 15, that last day of classes at the school would be Wednesday, September 16. Students were ordered immediately to remove all of their belongings from the premises and to take a week off until alternative classrooms could be found. Bienen said:
"My students are also human beings. You cannot treat them this way. They were given 15 minutes to remove their belongings from the classroom. Then they had to get out. The evacuation was as during wartime.... There were no discussions. No one forewarned us."
The Center for Economic Studies, a think tank based in Munich, has published a report warning that most of the migrants arriving in Germany lack the most basic qualifications to find work in the country. This implies that they will become long-term wards of the state and thus a drag on the German economy. The report advises lowering the minimum wage as a way to prevent a surge in the unemployment rate:
"To ensure that the refugee crisis does not lead to an ongoing financial overload for the German taxpayer, refugees must find paid employment as soon as possible, so that they can contribute to their own livelihoods. It is feared that many of them will not be able to find employment at the minimum wage of 8.50 euros because their productivity simply is too low. Therefore, the minimum wage should be lowered, so that the unemployment rate does not go up."
Meanwhile, politicians are demanding that German citizens do more to ensure that the migrants feel at home. But a first-hand account of the goings-on in a refugee shelter articulates the frustration felt by many Germans that this is a one-way street:
"For about a week now, 500 migrants and refugees are being housed in the gym in our neighborhood. So I went over there because I wanted to see the conditions there with my own eyes. There were about ten vehicles belonging to the Red Cross and volunteers.
"Older men over 60 were unloading tables and benches from the trucks, cleaning them with a bucket of water and cloth, and then carrying them into the hall....
"What made me really angry was to see the incredible lethargy of the young men. All of them in their 20s and 30s, all sitting there, smoking and looking at their cell phones, while the 60-year-old volunteers where laboring away....
"While I was watching how the Red Cross volunteers were working and no one was helping them, I saw an unbelievable situation: an elderly gentleman was trying to carry a table into the hall when a refugee returned from the city center with a shopping bag. The elderly volunteer lifted the table halfway, looked at the migrant and moved his head asking the migrant to lend a hand. The migrant paused for a moment and then just walked away. I could hardly believe what I saw."
*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. His first book, Global Fire, will be out in early 2016.

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