Assir’s “Mosque”… An Arms and Explosives Depot

Local Editor

Following is a report which portrays the arms and explosives stored in the “mosque” of Ahmad Al-Assir:

 

• سرّ ليلة الانتحاريّين المتآمرين على سورية
  

Hezbollah’s role in Qusayr

 by   Jonathon Blakeley    on    June 25, 2013

This just in… from Press TV News, another quality report, this time on – Hezbollah, Lebanon and all the sectarian shenanigans going on in Syria.

PressTV~ In his latest speech, Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah explained that one major factor behind the movement’s fighting in Qusayr was to defend Lebanon against extremist Al-Qaeda type groups.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that Takfiri groups like Al-Nusra pose a grave danger to Lebanon and all the Lebanese, whether they are Sunni, Shiaa or Christian. He added that such groups had threatened to attack Lebanon once they topple the government in Damascus.

These groups have been responsible for various attacks in Lebanon, some of which occurred before the fight in Qusayr in Syria near the Lebanese border.

Is Moodys an agency of the U.S. Government?

I must admit I’ve had suspicions in the past, draconian downgrading of some European countries which seemed to be inspired  by a wish to protect the diluted,  quantitative eased, and failing US Dollar against the un-quantitative eased EURO. But the two following articles seem to confirm my opinion.

Moody’s downgrades Hong Kong over Snowden: Is ratings agency a political arm of US?

http://21stcenturywire.com/2013/06/24/moodys-downgrades-hong-kong-over-snowden-agency-becomes-corrupt-political-arm-of-us/

Leaked e-mails reveal that Standard and Poors and Moodys accepted money for higher ratings before the financial crisis

http://www.newsforage.com/2013/06/leaked-e-mails-reveal-that-standard-and.html

What about the ratings agencies?

That’s what “they” always say about the financial crisis and the teeming rat’s nest of corruption it left behind. Everybody else got plenty of blame: the greed-fattened banks, the sleeping regulators, the unscrupulous mortgage hucksters like spray-tanned Countrywide ex-CEO Angelo Mozilo.

But what about the ratings agencies? Isn’t it true that almost none of the fraud that’s swallowed Wall Street in the past decade could have taken place without companies like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s rubber-stamping it? Aren’t they guilty, too?

Man, are they ever. And a lot more than even the least generous of us suspected.

Thanks to a mountain of evidence gathered for a pair of major lawsuits by the San Diego-based law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, documents that for the most part have never been seen by the general public, we now know that the nation’s two top ratings companies, Moody’s and S&P, have for many years been shameless tools for the banks, willing to give just about anything a high rating in exchange for cash.

In incriminating e-mail after incriminating e-mail, executives and analysts from these companies are caught admitting their entire business model is crooked.

“Lord help our [expletive] scam . . . this has to be the stupidest place I have worked at,” writes one Standard & Poor’s executive. “As you know, I had difficulties explaining ‘HOW’ we got to those numbers since there is no science behind it,” confesses a high-ranking S&P analyst. “If we are just going to make it up in order to rate deals, then quants [quantitative analysts] are of precious little value,” complains another senior S&P man. “Let’s hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of card[s] falters,” ruminates one more.

Ratings agencies are the glue that ostensibly holds the entire financial industry together. These gigantic companies – also known as Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations, or NRSROs – have teams of examiners who analyze companies, cities, towns, countries, mortgage borrowers, anybody or anything that takes on debt or creates an investment vehicle.

Their primary function is to help define what’s safe to buy, and what isn’t. A triple-A rating is to the financial world what the USDA seal of approval is to a meat-eater, or virginity is to a Catholic. It’s supposed to be sacrosanct, inviolable: According to Moody’s own reports, AAA investments “should survive the equivalent of the U.S. Great Depression.”

It’s not a stretch to say the whole financial industry revolves around the compass point of the absolutely safe AAA rating. But the financial crisis happened because AAA ratings stopped being something that had to be earned and turned into something that could be paid for.

That this happened is even more amazing because these companies naturally have powerful leverage over their clients, as they are part of a quasi-protected industry that enjoys massive de facto state subsidies. Largely that’s because government agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission often force private companies to fulfill regulatory requirements by retaining or keeping in reserve certain fixed quantities of assets – bonds, securities, whatever – that have been rated highly by a “Nationally Recognized” ratings agency, like the “Big Three” of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. So while they’re not quite part of the official regulatory infrastructure, they might as well be.

It’s not like the iniquity of the ratings agencies had gone completely unnoticed before. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission published a case study in 2011 of Moody’s in particular and discovered that between 2000 and 2007, the agency gave nearly 45,000 mortgage-backed securities AAA ratings. One year Moody’s doled out AAA ratings to 30 mortgage-backed securities every day, 83 percent of which were ultimately downgraded. “This crisis could not have happened without the rating agencies,” the commission concluded.

Thanks to these documents, we now know how that happened. And showing as they do the back-and-forth between the country’s top ratings agencies and one of America’s biggest investment banks (Morgan Stanley) in advance of two major subprime deals, they also lay out in detail the evolution of the industrywide fraud that led to implosion of the world economy – how banks, hedge funds, mortgage lenders and ratings agencies, working at an extraordinary level of cooperation, teamed up to disguise and then sell near-worthless loans as AAA securities. It’s the black box in the American financial airplane.

In April, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s settled the lawsuits for a reported $225 million. Brought by a diverse group of institutional plaintiffs with King County, Washington, and the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank taking the lead, the suits accused the ratings agencies of conspiring in the mid-to-late 2000s with Morgan Stanley to fraudulently induce heavy investment into a pair of doomed-to-implode subprime-laden deals, called Cheyne and Rhinebridge.

Stock prices for both companies soared at the settlement, with markets believing the firms would be spared the hell of reams of embarrassing evidence thrust into public view at trial. But in a quirk, an earlier judge’s ruling had already made most of the documents in the case public. Although a few news outlets, including The New York Times, took note at the time, the vast majority of the material was never reported, and some was never seen by reporters at all. The cases revolved around a highly exotic and complex financial instrument called a SIV, or structured investment vehicle.

The SIV is a not-so-distant cousin of the special purpose entity, or SPE, which was the main weapon of destruction in the Enron scandal. The corporate scam du jour in those days was mass accounting fraud, in which a company would create an ostensibly independent corporate structure that would actually be controlled by its own executives, who would then move their company’s liabilities off their own books and onto the remote-controlled SPE, hiding the firm’s losses.

The SIV is a similar concept. They first started showing up in the late Eighties after banks discovered a loophole in international banking standards that allowed them to create SPE-like repositories full of assets like mortgage-backed securities and keep them off their own books.

These behemoths operated on the same basic concept as an ordinary bank, which borrows short-term cash from depositors and then lends money long-term in the form of things like mortgages, business loans, etc. The SIV did the same thing, borrowing short-term from investors and then investing long-term on things like student loans, car loans, subprime mortgages. Like banks, a SIV made money on the spread between its short-term debt and long-term investments. If a SIV borrowed on the commercial paper market at 3 percent but earned 6.5 percent on subprime mortgages, that was an easy 3.5 percent profit.

The big difference is a bank has regulatory capital requirements. A SIV doesn’t, and being technically independent, its potential liabilities don’t show up on the books of the megabank that created it. So the SIV structure allowed investment banks to create and take advantage of, without risk, billions of dollars of things like subprime loans, which became the centerpiece of the new trendy corporate scam – creating and then selling masses of risky mortgage-backed securities as AAA investments to institutional suckers.

Ratings agencies helped this game along in two ways. First, banks needed them to sign off on the bogus math of the subprime era – the math that allowed banks to turn pools of home loans belonging to people so broke they couldn’t even afford down payments into securities with higher credit ratings than corporations with billions of dollars in assets. But banks also needed the ratings agencies to sign off on the safety and reliability of these off-balance-sheet SIV structures.

The first of the two SIVs in question was dreamed up by a London-based hedge fund called Cheyne Capital Management (pronounced like Dick “Cheney”), run by an ex-Morgan Stanley banker duo who hired their old firm to build and stock this vast floating Death Star of subprime loans.

Morgan Stanley had multiple motives for putting together the Cheyne deal. For one thing, it earned what the bank’s lead structurer affectionately called “big fat upfront fees,” which bank executives estimated would eventually add up to $25 million or $30 million. It was a lucrative business, and the top dogs wanted the deal badly. “I am very focused on . . . getting this deal done to get NY to stop freaking out” and “to make our money,” said Robert Rooney, the senior Morgan Stanley executive on the deal. A spokesman for Morgan Stanley, however, told Rolling Stone, “Our sole economic interest was in the ongoing success of the SIV.”

But that wasn’t Morgan Stanley’s only motive. Not only could the bank make the “big fat upfront fees” for structuring the deal, they could also turn around and sell scads of their own mortgage-backed securities to the SIV, which in turn would be marketed to investors like Abu Dhabi and King County. In Cheyne, 25 percent of the original assets in the deal came from Morgan Stanley – over time, $2 billion of the SIV’s $9 billion to $10 billion portfolio of assets came from the bank as well.

Internal Morgan Stanley memorandums show that the bank knowingly stuffed mortgages in the SIV whose borrowers were, to say the least, highly suspect. “The real issue is that the loan requests do not make sense,” complained a Morgan Stanley employee back in 2005. He noted loans had been made to a “tarot reading house” operator who claimed to make $12,000 a month, and a “knock off gold club distributor” who claimed to make $16,000 a month. “Compound these issues,” he groaned, “with the fact that we are seeing what I would call a lot of this type of profile.”

No matter – into the soup it went! Morgan sold mountains of this crap into Cheyne’s SIV, where it was destined to be sold off to other suckers down the line. The only thing that could possibly get in the way of the scam was some pesky ratings agency.

Fortunately for the bank and the hedge fund, these subprime SIVs were a relatively new kind of investment product, so the ratings agencies had little to go on in the area of historical data to measure these products. One might think this would make the ratings agencies more conservative. In fact, caution in the face of the unknown was supposed to be a core value for these companies. As Moody’s put it, “Triple-A structures should not be highly dependent on untestable assumptions.”

But when it came to the Cheyne SIV, Moody’s punted on caution. In an e-mail sent to executives from both Morgan Stanley and Cheyne in May 2005, David Rosa, a Moody’s senior analyst, admitted that when it came to this SIV, he had nothing to go on.

“Please note that in relation to assumed spread [volatility] for the Aa and A there is no actual data backing up the current model assumptions,” he wrote. In lieu of such data, he went on, “We will for now accept the proposal to use the same levels as [residential mortgage-backed securities] given that this assumption is supported by the analysis of the Aaa data . . . and Cheyne’s comments on their views of this asset class.”

Translation: We have no historical data, so we’ll just accept your reasoning for the time being, even though you have every incentive in the world to lie about the quality of your product.

At one point, a Morgan Stanley analyst even claimed that the bank had written, in Moody’s name, an entire 12-page “New Issue Report” for the Cheyne SIV – a kind of ratings summary in which Morgan Stanley appears to have given itself AAA ratings for large chunks of the deal. “I attach the Moody’s NIR (that we ended up writing),” yawns Morgan Stanley fixed-income employee Rany Moubarak in a March 2006 e-mail. The attached document came proudly affixed with the “Moody’s Investors Service” logo. (Both Moody’s and Morgan Stanley deny that anyone other than Moody’s wrote that report.)

Morgan Stanley ended up getting both Moody’s and S&P to rate the deal, and that was not only common, it was basically industry practice. There were many reasons for this, but a big one was a concept called “notching,” in which the agencies gave ratings penalties to any instrument that had not been rated by their own company. If a SIV contained a basket of mortgage-backed securities rated AA by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s might “notch” those underlying securities down to A, or even lower. This incentivized the banks to hire as many ratings agencies as possible to rate every investment vehicle they created.

Again, despite the fact that the ratings agencies enjoyed broad quasi-official subsidies, and despite the powerful market leverage that techniques like “notching” gave them, they still routinely chose to roll over for banks. And the biggest companies were equally guilty. In the case of the Cheyne deal, Standard & Poor’s was every bit as craven as Moody’s.

In September 2004, an S&P analyst named Lapo Guadagnuolo sent an e-mail to Stephen McCabe, the agency’s lead “quant” on the Cheyne deal, who apparently was on vacation. The e-mail chain was mostly a bunch of office gossip, where the two men e-whispered about an employee who was about to quit. But sandwiched in the office banter was an offhand line about the Cheyne deal and how full of shit it was. “Hi Steve!” Guadagnuolo wrote cheerily, adding, “How is Australia and how was Thailand????Back to [Cheyne] . . . As you know, I had difficulties explaining ‘HOW’ we got to those numbers since there is no science behind it . . .

“Thanks and regards . . . have you heard that [redacted] has resigned . . . and somebody else will follow suit today!!”

McCabe, blowing off the “no science behind it” comment, answered eagerly, “Who, Who, Who????” The quadruple question mark must be an S&P-ism.

A month later, McCabe seemed more concerned about the lack of science in the Cheyne deal. He complained in an e-mail to his boss, Kai Gilkes, who was the agency’s senior quantitative analyst in Europe.

“From looking at the numbers it is quite obvious that we have just stuck our preverbal [sic] finger in the air!!” he fumed.

Gilkes was experiencing his own crisis of conscience by mid-2005, complaining in an oddly wistful e-mail to another S&P employee that the good old days of just giving things the ratings they deserved were disappearing. “Remember the dream of being able to defend the model with sound empirical research?” he wrote on June 17th, 2005. “If we are just going to make it up in order to rate deals, then quants are of precious little value.”

Frank Parisi, Standard & Poor’s chief credit officer for structured finance, was even more downtrodden, saying that the model that his company used to rate residential mortgage-backed securities in 2005 and 2006 was only marginally more accurate than “if you just simply flipped a coin.”

Given all of this, why would top analysts from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s rate such a massive deal like Cheyne without any science to back it up? The answer was simple: money. In the old days, ratings agencies lived on subscriptions sold to investors, meaning they were compensated – indirectly, incidentally – by the people buying the financial products.

But over time, that model morphed into the current “issuer pays” model, in which a company like Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s is paid directly by the “issuer” – i.e., the company that is actually making the financial product.

For Cheyne, for instance, the agencies were paid in the area of $1 million to $1.5 million to rate the deal by Morgan Stanley, the very company with an interest in getting a high rating. It’s the ultimate in negative incentives, and was and continues to be a major impediment to honest analysis on Wall Street. Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, one of the few lawmakers to focus on reforming the ratings agencies after the crash, put it this way: “It’s like one of the parties in court paying the judge’s salary.”

Thanks to this model, ratings-agency business soared during the bubble era. A Senate report found that fees for the “Big Three” doubled between 2002 and 2007, from $3 billion to $6 billion. Fees for rating mortgage-backed securities at both Moody’s and S&P nearly quadrupled.

So there were powerful incentives to whitewash deals like Cheyne. The eventual president of Moody’s, Brian Clarkson, actually copped to this awful truth in writing, in a 2004 internal e-mail. “To put it bluntly,” he wrote, “the issuer could take its business elsewhere unless the rating agency provides a higher rating.”

Both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s employees described complex/exotic new financial products like CDOs and SIVs as “cash cows,” and behind closed doors, executives talked openly about the financial pressure to give scientifically unfounded analysis to products the banks wanted to sell.

The minutes from a 2007 conference of Standard & Poor’s executives show that the raters knew they were in way over their heads. Admitting that it was virtually impossible to accurately rate, say, a synthetic derivative loan deal with underlying assets in China and Russia, one executive candidly admits, “We do not have the capacity nor the skills in house to rate something like this.” Another counters, “Market pressures have significantly risen due to ‘hot money.'” The first retorts that bankers are pushing boundaries, asking the raters to help them play the highly cynical hot-potato game, in which bad loans are originated en masse and then instantly passed off to suckers who will take on all the risk. “Bankers say why not originate bad loans, there is no penalty,” the executive muses.

Hilariously – or tragically, depending on your point of view – an S&P executive at the conference even tossed off a quick visual sketch of their company’s moral quandary. The picture is atrociously drawn (it looks like a junior high school student’s rendering of a ganglion cell) and comes across like the Wall Street version of Hamlet, showing the industry traveling down a road and reaching a “Choice Point” crossroads, where the two options are “To Rate” and “Not Rate.”

The former – basically taking the money and just rating whatever crap the banks toss their way – is crudely depicted as a wide, “well marked super highway.” Meanwhile the honorable thing, not rating shitty investments, is shown to be a skinny little roadlet, marked “Dark and narrow path less traveled.”

Obviously, the ratings agencies like S&P ultimately decided to take the road more traveled, choosing profits over scruples. Not that there wasn’t some token resistance at first. For instance, some at S&P hesitated to allow the use of a questionable technique called “grandfathering,” in which old and outdated rating models were used to rate newly issued investments.

In one damning e-mail chain in November 2005, a Morgan Stanley banker complains to an S&P executive named Elwyn Wong that S&P was preventing him from putting S&P ratings on Morgan Stanley deals that used this grandfathering technique. “My business is on ‘pause’ right now,” the banker complains.

Wong took the news that S&P was holding up deals over the grandfathering issue badly. “Lord help our fucking scam,” he said. “This has to be the stupidest place I have worked at.” Wong, incidentally, was later hired by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller Currency, our top federal banking regulator.

The purists, however, couldn’t hold out for long. In the Cheyne case, when one of the “quants” tried to hold the line, Morgan Stanley went over their heads to someone on the business side at the company to get the rating it wanted.

In July 2004, for instance, analyst Lapo Guadagnuolo sent an e-mail to Morgan Stanley’s point man on the Cheyne deal, Gregg Drennan, and told him that the best he could do for the “mezzanine capital notes” or “MCN” piece of the SIV – a piece that Drennan wanted at least an A rating for – was BBB-plus. Drennan responded in an e-mail that CC’d Guadagnuolo’s boss, Perry Inglis, telling him that Morgan Stanley “believe[s] the position the committee is taking is very inappropriate.”

Ultimately, the analyst committee agreed to give the dubious Mezzanine Notes an A rating, marking the first time these middle-tier investments in a SIV ever received a public A rating. For Wall Street, this was occasion to par-tay. In the summer of 2005, one of the Cheyne hedge-funders sent out a celebratory e-mail to Morgan Stanley execs, bragging about getting the ratings companies to cave. “It is an amazing set of feats to move the rating agencies so far,” the hedgie wrote. “We all do all this for one thing and I hope promotions are a given. Let’s hope big bonuses are to follow.”

Later on, S&P caved even further, agreeing to allow Morgan Stanley to lower the “capital buffer” in the deal protecting investors without suffering a ratings penalty. As late as February 1st, 2006, Guadagnuolo was defiantly telling Morgan Stanley that the one-percent buffer was a “pillar of our analysis.” But by the next day, Morgan Stanley executive Moubarak had chopped Guadagnuolo’s knees out. He cheerfully announced in a group e-mail that the bank had managed to remove this “pillar” and get the buffer knocked down to .75 percent.

Tina Sprinz, who worked for the Cheyne hedge fund, sent an e-mail that very day to Moubarak, thanking him for straightening out the pesky analysts. “Thanks for negotiating that,” she says. The ratings process shouldn’t be a “negotiation,” yet this word appears throughout these documents.

In the Cheyne deal, just the plaintiffs in the lawsuit invested a total of $980 million in “rated notes,” and those who invested in these “MCNs” were completely wiped out. Analysts from both agencies would express regret and/or trepidation about their roles in unleashing the monster deals and their failure to stop the business-side suits running the companies from selling them out. Gilkes, the S&P analyst who worried about shunning real science in favor of just making things up, later testified that the subprime assets in such SIVs were “not appropriate.”

“They should not have been rated,” he said.

If the significance of Cheyne is that it showed how the ratings agencies sold out in an effort to get business, the significance of the next deal, Rhinebridge, is that it showed how low they were willing to stoop to keep that business.

Rhinebridge was a subprime-packed SIV structured very much like Cheyne, only both the quality of the underlying crap in the SIV and the timing of the SIV’s launch were significantly more horrible than even Cheyne’s.

Not only did Morgan Stanley insist that the ratings agencies allow the bank to pack Rhinebridge full of a much higher quantity of subprime than in the Cheyne deal, they were also pushing this massive blob of toxic mortgages at a time when the subprime market was already approaching full collapse.

In fact, the Rhinebridge deal would launch with high ratings from both agencies on June 27th, 2007, less than two weeks before both Moody’s and S&P would downgrade hundreds of subprime mortgage-backed securities. In other words, both Moody’s and S&P were almost certainly in the process of downgrading the underlying assets in the Rhinebridge SIV even as they were preparing to launch Rhinebridge with AAA-rated notes.

“It was the briefest AAA rating in history,” says the plaintiffs’ lawyer Dan Drosman. “Rhinebridge went from AAA to junk in a matter of months.”

There is an enormous documentary record in both agencies showing that analysts and executives knew a bust was coming long before they sent Rhinebridge out into the world with a AAA label. As early as 2005, S&P was talking in internal memorandums about a “bubble” in the real-estate markets, and in 2006 it knew that there had been “rampant appraisal and underwriting fraud for quite some time,” causing “rising delinquencies” and “nightmare mortgages.”

In June 2007, the same month Rhinebridge was launched, S&P’s Board of Directors Report talked about a total collapse of the market. “The meltdown of the subprime-mortgage market will increase both foreclosures and the overhang of homes for sale.”

It was no better at Moody’s, where in June 2007, executives were internally discussing “increased amounts of lying on income” and “increased amounts of occupancy misstatements” in mortgage applications. Clarkson, who would become president two months later, was told the week before Rhinebridge launched that “most players in the market” believed subprime would “perform extremely poorly,” and that the problems were “quite serious.”

Yet the two ratings agencies not only kept those concerns private, they both took outlandish steps to declare just the opposite.

In a pair of matching public papers, both Moody’s and S&P proclaimed that summer that while subprime might be going to hell, subprime-packed investments like SIVs might be just fine. The Moody’s report on July 18th read “SIVs: An Oasis of Calm in the Sub-prime Maelstrom,” while an S&P report on August 14th, 2007, was titled “Report Says SIV Ratings Are Weathering Current Market Disruptions.”

The S&P report was so brazen that it even shocked a Morgan Stanley banker involved in the SIV deals. “I cannot believe these morons would reaffirm in this market,” chortled the banker in an e-mail the day after the paper was released.

Rhinebridge, cheyne and a hell of a lot of other subprime investments ultimately blew to smithereens, taking with them vast amounts of cash – 40 percent of the world’s wealth was wiped out in the aftermath of the mortgage bubble, according to some estimates. 2008 was to the American economy what 9/11 was to national security. Yet while 9/11 prompted the U.S. government to tear up half the Constitution in the name of public safety, after 2008, authorities went in the other direction. If you can imagine a post-9/11 scenario where there were no metal detectors at airports and people could walk on carrying chain saws and meat cleavers, you get a rough idea of what was done to reform the ratings process.

Specifically, very little was done to change the way AAA ratings are created – the “issuer pays” model still exists, and the “Big Three” retain roughly the same market share. An effort by Minnesota Sen. Al Franken to change the compensation model through a new approach under which agencies would be assigned randomly to rate new issues through a government agency passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, but in the House it was relegated to a study by the SEC – which released its findings last year, calling for . . . more study. “The conflict of interest still exists in the exact same way,” says a frustrated Franken.

The companies by now are all the way back in black. In 2012, for instance, Moody’s profits soared 22 percent, to $1.18 billion. McGraw-Hill, the parent company of Standard & Poor’s, scored $437 million in profits last year, with the rating business accounting for 70 percent of the company’s profits.

In February, the Obama Justice Department, in an action that seems belated, filed a $5 billion civil suit against Standard & Poor’s, drawing upon some of the same data and documents that were part of the Cheyne and Rhinebridge suits. As part of that action, high-ranking officials at S&P were interviewed by government investigators and admitted that they had shaded their ratings methodologies to protect market share. In this deposition of Richard Gugliada, head of S&P’s CDO operations, the government asks why the company was slow to implement updates to its model for evaluating CDOs:

Presidential Rule by Deception: Obama, the Master Con-man

Introduction

In an electoral system, run by and for a corporate oligarchy, deception and demagoguery are essential elements – entertaining the people while working for the wealthy.
Every US President has engaged, in one fashion or another, in ‘play acting’ to secure popular approval, neutralize hostility and distract voters from the reactionary substance of their foreign and domestic policies.

Every substantive policy is accompanied by a ‘down home’ folksy message to win public approval. This happened with President ‘Jimmy’ Carter’s revival of large-scale proxy wars in Afghanistan in the post-Viet Nam War period; Ronald Reagan’s genocidal wars in Central America, George Bush Sr.’s savaging of Iraq in the First Gulf War; ‘Bill’ Clinton’s decimation of social welfare in the US while bombing civilians in Yugoslavia and deregulating Wall Street; George Bush Jr.’s invasion and partition of Iraq and Afghanistan, the attempted coup in Venezuela and massive tax cuts for the rich; and Barack Obama’s staggering bailout of the biggest Wall Street speculators, unprecedented launching of five consecutive wars, and arrest and deportation of millions of immigrant workers. Each President has elaborated a style in order to ingratiate himself with the public while pursuing his reactionary agenda.

In rhetoric, appearance and in public persona, it is ‘de rigueur’ for US Presidents to present themselves as an ‘everyman’ while committing political actions – including war crimes worthy of prosecution.

Each President, in his ‘play acting’, develops a style suitable to the times. They constantly strive to overcome the public’s suspicion and potential hostility to their overt and covert policies designed to build empire as domestic conditions deteriorate. However, not all play acting is the same: each President’s ‘populist’ style in defense of oligarchic interests has its characteristic nuances.

 The Carter Feint: ‘Human Rights’ Wars in the Post-Viet Nam War Era

‘Jimmy’ Carter was elected President at a time of the greatest mass anti-war upheaval in US history. His campaign projected a soft-spoken, conciliatory President from humble roots reaching out to the anti-war electorate and solemnly pledging to uphold human rights against domestic militarists and their overseas despotic allies. To that end, he appointed a liberal human rights advocate Pat Derian to the State Department and a veteran Cold Warrior, Zbigniew (Zbig) Brzezinski, as National Security Advisor and foreign policy strategist.

Duplicity reared its head immediately: Carter openly criticized the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua – while privately telling the dictator to ignore the public criticisms and assuring him of continuing US support.[1] As the Sandinista revolution advanced toward victory, Carter convoked a meeting of Latin American leaders urging them to join in a joint military intervention with the US to ‘save lives’ and to prevent the popular Nicaraguan revolution from taking power and dismantling the dictator’s army. It soon became clear to the leaders of Latin America that Carter’s mission was a thinly- veiled ‘humanitarian’ version of ‘gunboat diplomacy’ and they declined. When Carter realized that, without the fig leaf of Latin American participation, a US-led invasion would arouse universal opposition, he abandoned the project. The political climate would not support a unilateral US invasion so soon after the end of the war in Indochina .

However, Carter soon re-launched the Cold War, reviving military spending and pouring billions of dollars into funding, arming and training tens of thousands of fundamentalist Jihadists from around the world to invade Afghanistan and overthrow its leftist, secular government.

Carter’s policy of re-militarization and launching of large-scale and long-term secret CIA operations in alliance with the most brutal dictators and monarchs of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was accompanied by sanctimonious speeches about human rights and token appeals to protect ‘civilians’. In this regard, Carter became our founding father of the double discourse: a con man that publically condemned the jailing and torture by Pinochet of political opponents in Chile while orchestrating what would become a decade-long blood bath in Afghanistan with millions of victims.

 Reagan: Geniality with Genocide

Up until the ascendancy of Barack Obama, the avuncular President, Ronald Reagan, was acknowledged as the ‘master con-man’, by virtue of his Hollywood acting experience. Reagan was and remained a disciplined and hardened backer of policies designed to concentrate wealth while smashing unions, even as he entertained the flag-waving hard hat construction workers with his jokes about ‘limousine liberals’ and Cadillac welfare queens. The knowing wink and clever two-liners were matched by an adaptation of morality tales from his cowboy films. Reagan, in his role as ‘the righteous sheriff’, backed the mercenary contras as they invaded Nicaragua and destroyed schools and clinics and the genocidal military dictators in El Salvador and Guatemala who murdered hundreds of thousands of Indians and peasants.

Uncle Reagan’s friendly chats would describe how he had stopped the communist ‘outlaws’ (peasants, workers and Indians) of Central America from flooding across the Rio Grande and invading California and Texas. His tales resonated with mass audiences familiar with the racist Hollywood cowboy film version of unshaven Mexican bandits crossing the ‘ US ’ border. The clean-shaven, straight-talking, ‘stand-up for America’ President Ronald Reagan was elected and re-elected by a resounding majority in the midst of CIA-backed mujahedeen victories over the government and secular civil structure of Afghanistan, Pentagon- supported Israeli slaughter of Palestinian refugees in their camps in Lebanon and the mass genocide of scores of thousands of indigenous villagers in Guatemala.

When news reports seeped out about the mass graves of poor villagers in Guatemala , Reagan resorted to colloquial language right out of a Hollywood film to defend General Rios Mont : “He’s getting a bum rap”. In defending the brutal dictator of Guatemala , Reagan replaced Carter’s sanctimonious phrasing in favor of down-to-earth macho talk of a no-nonsense sheriff.
In substance, both Carter and Reagan were rebuilding the US war machine after the debacle of Viet Nam ; they were setting up a global network of client dictators, Muslim fundamentalists and hypocritical Anglo-American humanitarians interventionists.

Bush Senior: Uni-Polarity and the Ticket to Uncontested Imperial Conquests
Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, the US and Western Europe re-conquered, pillaged and neo-colonized Eastern Europe . West Germany annexed East Germany . And a predator-gangster oligarchy in Russia seized over a trillion dollars of public assets, impoverishing millions and laundered the illicit funds via elaborate banking operations on Wall Street and in London and Tel Aviv.

President George Bush Sr. embraced the doctrine of a unipolar world – free from rival super-power constraints and independent Third World resistance. ‘Poppy’ Bush believed the US could impose its will by force anywhere and at any time without fear of retaliation. He believed he was heir to a new imperial order of free markets, free elections and unrestrained plunder. The first war he would launch would be in the Middle East – the invasion, massive bombing and destruction of Iraq . It was followed by an unprecedented expansion of NATO bases in the countries of Eastern Europe . The spread of neo-liberalism led to the naked pillage of public assets throughout Latin American and Eastern Europe . The Empire ruled the Muslim world through an arc of client dictators from Tunisia , Egypt , and Saudi Arabia to Pakistan .

Bush adopted the persona of the ‘happy warrior’ – the invincible American President who had triumphed over the Evil Empire. Meanwhile, the domestic economy deteriorated under the enormous costs of the massive military build-up and gave rise to a crisis that hurt the electorate. Bush’s personal rigidity and lack of theatricality prevented him from playing the con-man – unlike his predecessor, the actor Reagan. Even as he extolled the prowess of the US military, his career as an ‘insider’ corporate operative and CIA director did not provide him with the demagogic skills necessary for a successful re-election.

While Bush celebrated his overseas victories, he failed to attract a popular following: His pinched face and wooden upper-crust smile was no match for ‘Cowboy’ Reagan’s street corner geniality or even ‘Jimmy’ Carter’s pious intonations of human rights and Christian values … Deception and demagoguery are crucial elements in a re-election campaign – and so Bush, Sr. gave way for the next Presidential con-man-in-chief, Bill Clinton.

The Clinton-Con: Black Churches , Welfare Cuts and the Wall Street Warrior

Bill Clinton, like Ronald Reagan, turned out to be a Wall Street populist .With his folksy Arkansas intonations he preached messages of hope in black churches while diligently applying the free-market lessons he had learned from his Wall Street mentors. Tooting the saxophone and oozing compassion, Clinton told the poor that he could ‘feel their pain’, while inflicting misery on single mothers forced to leave their children and take minimum-wage jobs in order to retain any public assistance. He joined hands with labor union bosses at Labor Day festivities, while fast-tracking job-killing free-trade treaties (like NAFTA) that devastated the American working class. Bill Clinton enthusiastically sent bombers over Belgrade and other Yugoslav cities for several weeks, destroying its factories, hospitals, schools, power plants, radio and TV stations and bridges, as well as the Chinese Embassy, in support of the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army and its separatist war against Belgrade . Clinton bombed civilians and their vital infrastructure, a war crime in the name of ‘humanitarian intervention’, to the ecstatic cheers of many Western liberals, progressives, social democrats and not a few Marxists as well as many Jihadists. On the home front, this self-proclaimed ‘people’s candidate’ ripped to shreds all restraints on banking speculation by repealing the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, New Deal legislation enacted to protect against massive banking swindles. This opened the floodgates to massive financial manipulation, which destroyed the pensions of many millions of workers.[2]

Clinton’s policies laid the groundwork for the information technology and Stock Market crash of 2000-01. His appointee, Alan Greenspan, created the conditions leading to speculative financial frenzy and subsequent economic crash of 2008. Bill Clinton’s stand-up comic performances in black churches, his back slapping encounters with labor bureaucrats and his embrace of feminists and others just raised the rhetorical bar for future aspiring Wall Street warlords in the White House. It would take eight years and the election of Barack Hussein Obama to finally surpass Bill Clinton as Con-Man-In Chief.

Bush Junior: A Yale Man with a Texas Drawl
President George Bush, Junior’s regime launched two major wars and backed two Israeli assaults on Palestinian civilians trapped in Gaza – the world’s largest open-air prison. He virtually eliminated taxes on billionaires while overseeing the geometrical growth of the domestic police state apparatus; and he unleashed the biggest speculative bubble and crash since the Great Depression. He lowered the living standards for all Americans except the top 10% of the population – and despite these disasters and despite his lack-luster performance as a con-man, he was re-elected.

His handlers and backers did their best to market their boy: his Ivy League credentials and New England background was replaced by a transparently phony Texas accent; tinny, whiney sound bites, reminiscent of his father’s, were replaced by a Texas ‘ranchers’ homely drawl. His ‘just-folks’ grammatical mistakes may have been mocked by the liberals but they resonated deeply with fundamentalist Christians – who would never have recognized the Phillips Exeter Academy-Yale Skull and Bones boy in their Commander-in Chief.

President Bush, Jr. was decked out in the uniform of a ‘Top Gun’ fighter pilot to polish his military credentials tarnished by revelations that the millionaire-playboy had gone AWOL during his service in the National Guard. His silly ‘Mission Accomplished’ claim that the Iraq war had been won in the first months after the invasion was rudely corrected by the huge outbreak of Iraqi resistance against the occupier. Bush handed over foreign policymaking, especially pertaining to the Middle East , to a small army of Jewish Zionists, aided and abetted by notorious militarists, like Cheney and Rumsfeld. Most major political events were handled by his Cabinet thugs – Secretary of State Colin Powell shamelessly fabricated the ‘evidence’ of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction in his performance before the United Nations. Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz invented Afghanistan ’s ties to the planners of 9/11.

Cheney and his Zionist troika of Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith and ‘Scooter’ Libby trumpeted the ‘global war on terror’ while Michael Chertoff, Michael Mukasey and Stuart Levey conducted a domestic war against the Bill of Rights and US Constitutional freedoms, defending torture, jailing thousands of Muslims, punishing businesses trading with Iran and labeling US opponents of Israel’s war crimes as ‘security threats’. Bush, Jr. just nodded his approval, letting the “big fellas have a piece of the action”. With Junior, there was no peace demagoguery just plain talk to plain folks and- “Let the bombs fall and the Capital flow”. Bush did not have to go preaching to black churches (he had a black Secretary of State and National Security Adviser to do his dirty work without the cant); Bush never claimed that Israel got the ‘bum rap’ when it was charged with genocidal crimes. Under Bush, Jr., war criminals did not have to ‘sugar-coat’ their crimes. While occupying the White House, Bush signed off on the multi-trillion-dollar bailout for Wall Street and then just went off to tend his cows and chop wood at the Texas ranch.

Bush’s ‘style’ was a combination of ‘laid back’ and ‘straight forward’: he simply committed war crimes, protected Wall Street swindles and expanded the police state, without claiming otherwise. As the endless wars dragged on, as the stock market flopped under its own fraud and manipulation and the increasingly repressive legislation provoked debate, Bush just shrugged his shoulders and finished out his term in office without flourish or fanfare: “Y’all can’t win ‘em all. Let the next guy try his hand”.

Barack Obama: The Master of Deceit

From the beginning of his Presidential campaign, Obama demonstrated his proficiency as the master of all cons. He spoke passionately against torture while consulting with the torturers; he condemned Wall Street speculators while appointing key Street operatives as economic advisers. He promised a new deal in the Middle East , especially for Palestinians and then appointed a dual citizen, Israeli-US, Rahm Emmanuel (son of an Israeli Irgun terrorist) to be his most intimate Presidential advisor. Honolulu born and bred, Barack modulated his voice according to the audience, adopting a Baptist minister’s cadence for the black audiences while assuming the professorial tone of an Ivy League lawyer for his Wall Street contributors.

He hob-knobbed with Hollywood celebrities and Silicon billionaires, who bankrolled the fairy tale of his ‘historic breakthrough’ – the First Afro-American President who would speak for all Americans – nay for the entire world! Millions of giddy camp followers, white, black, old and young, the trade unionists and community activists alike were willingly deceived. They had chosen to disregard the fact that Barack Obama’s key advisers were rabid militarists, big bankers, corporate CEO’s, die-hard Zionists and Wall Street manipulators.

Indeed Obama’s supporters were enchanted by the phony rhetoric, the demagogy, the ‘populist style’, and the fake ‘authenticities’. Here was the man who promised to end the wars, close the torture concentration camp in Guantanamo , bring Wall Street to heel, repeal the Patriot Act and restore the Bill of Rights. And he was ‘their guy’ – shooting hoops in an urban playground – something Bush had never done! In truth, Barack Hussein Obama did a lot that Bush never dared to do – he surpassed Bush by far in committing war crimes against humanity – pushing for more military adventures abroad and police state repression at home. He exceeded by far any President in US history in assuming dictatorial police powers, in waging multiple wars while directing the massive transfer of state revenues to Wall Street bankers. President Obama, hands down, will be regarded as the greatest con-man President in American history. The Carters, Reagans and Clintons all pale in comparison: the enormous gap between style and substance, promise and performance, peace and war, capital and labor has never been greater.

It is President Obama’s hollow eloquence that raised the hopes of millions at home and abroad only to condemn them to an inferno of endless wars. It is the perversity of his rhetoric which attracts the Latino vote with promises of immigrant citizenship while his policy has been fill detention centers with hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers and their families. His soaring rhetoric promising justice for Muslims in Cairo was followed by the bloody bombing of Tripoli, the torture and slaughter of the Libyan patriot President Gadhafi; the broken promises to the Palestinians contrasts with the embrace of the bloody Israeli warlords.

Obama far out-paced President Bush’s drone attacks in Pakistan , Yemen and Afghanistan , bombings which targeted farmers, whole families and famished orphans in their schools. Soaring moral and ethical pronouncements accompany Obama’s arming and praising the 40,000 Muslim fundamentalist mercenaries sent to degrade and shatter the secular Syrian state. The pretexts for mass killing fall from his lips like maggots on a rotten corpse: his blatant lies about the use of poison gas in Syria as the government in Damascus confronts a foreign mercenary invasion; the lurid tales of fabricated massacres in Benghazi ( Libya ) and the false claims of stolen elections in Venezuela . Obama’s rhetoric converts executioners into victims and victims into executioners.

President Barack Obama promised a comprehensive health care overhaul for America and then presented the electorate with a confusing series of obligatory payments for plans designed by for-profit private health insurance companies. Obama ‘defended social security’ by raising the age of retirement, ensuring that hundreds of thousands of workers in hazardous occupations would die before ever receiving any benefits after a lifetime of obligatory contributions. Obama solemnly promised to defend Medicare and then proposed to reduce its budget by a trillion dollars over a decade.

Obama claims a presidential prerogative of ‘defending American interests’ by ordering the assassination of whomever his million-member secret police state apparatus designates as a security threat – including American citizens – without trial, without recourse to habeas corpus.

In the White House Rose Garden President Barack Obama strolls arm-in-arm with his wife and children, a family man, true to his promises… While in Aleppo a young teen, a street vendor, is beheaded before his parents and neighbors by fanatical ‘freedom-fighters’ praised and supported by the President. The boy’s alleged crime was blasphemy. The murdered teen has joined the scores of thousands of Syrians killed and the hundreds of thousands who will join them, as Obama has decided to openly arm the mercenaries.

Casual, open collar, President Obama jokes as he walks and talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sumptuous estate of a California billionaire, offering friendship and peace – shaking hands for the cameras with a scorpion in his palm. The smiling Obama has ceaselessly dispatched his envoys to Asia, Latin America, Oceana and Africa to incite claims and conflicts against Beijing . Obama believes that his own ‘personal magic’ will blind the Chinese to the fact that China is being encircled by US air and maritime bases. He seems to believe that the Chinese will ignore his efforts to forge US-centered trade pacts which specifically exclude China .

The master ‘confidence-man’ sincerely believes in his power to move and mystify the public, pick the pockets of his adversaries and make his victims believe they have been in the presence of a world-class statesman. In fact, Obama has been playing the role of a street hustler living off the earnings and lives of his people while handing them over to his corporate bosses and pimps for Israel .

Obama fills internment camps with hundreds of thousands of Latino immigrant workers while promising a ‘roadmap to citizenship’ to the cheers of Mexican-American Democratic Party vote hustlers!

Obama received 95% of the Afro-American votes, while the income gap between blacks and whites widens and unemployment and poverty figures soar. Obama, the first ‘Afro-American President’, has bombed and intervened in more African countries, backing mercenary armies in Libya and Somalia and establishing more military bases throughout the black continent than the last five ‘white’ Presidents … So much for the self-proclaimed “historic breakthrough of a Black President ending centuries of racism”.

It’s enough for Obama to appoint other black police state thugs and foreign interventionists, like Eric Holder and Susan Rice, to win the cheers of liberals even as their own security files grow in the data warehouses of the world’s biggest spying agencies.

One cynic, commenting on the long-standing love affair between Obama and white liberals, observed that ‘the more he screws them the better they like him … Even as he marches them off to jail, they would take care to note on his behalf, that the barred windows have curtains – something Bush would never have allowed.’

Conclusion

For sheer span of broken promises, of systematic lies in pursuit of wars and financial manipulation in the name of peace and social justice , of consistent and bold aggrandizement of executive power over the life and death of US citizens in the name of security, Obama has set the standard of political deception and demagogy far beyond past and probable future US Presidents.

The political context of his ascent to power and his deep links to the military-financial-Zionist networks insured his success as a premier confidence man.

President George Bush, Jr., the cringing, fading war-monger engaged in prolonged, costly wars and facing the collapse of the entire banking and financial sector, provided Candidate Obama with an easy target. Obama exploited the mass revulsion of the American people, longing for change. His soaring rhetoric and vacuous promise of ‘change’ attracted millions of young activists … The problem is that in their enthusiasm and blind adherence to ‘identity politics’ with its claims that all ‘blacks’ and ‘women’ are oppressed and therefore guaranteed to promote peace and justice — facilitated Obama’s con-game and political hustle.

Obama, once in office, not only deepened and widened the scope of President Bush, Jr’s wars, massive spy apparatus and corporate profiteering; he bamboozled the vast majority of his liberal-labor supporters in the Democratic Party! Barack Obama conned the Democratic Party Congressional liberals and they, in turn, conned their constituents into supporting this fraud.

The costs of President Obama’s two-faced policies are enormous: democracy has given way to a police state openly defended by the President and Congressional leaders; Wall Street’s recovery and corporate profiteering is fast destroying public health and social security. Barack Obama’s multiple endless wars and interventions are destroying vast cities, infrastructure, entire cultures while and killing and impoverishing millions of people from Libya to Palestine , from Syria to Iran . The economic sanctions against Iran , the provocative encirclement and isolation of China , and the campaign to destabilize Venezuela are the centerpieces of Obama’s ‘pivot to empire’. These policies portend even greater world-shattering catastrophes.

Unmasking the con-man is a first step requiring that we expose the tricks of the con-game. The politics of deception and demagogy thrives by directing popular attention to style and rhetoric, not substance. The solemn and pious cant of ‘Jimmy’ Carter distracted from his launch of the rabid Jihadists against the secular administration of Afghanistan . Uncle Ronald Reagan’s geniality and populist TV patter covered-up his blood baths in Central America and mass firing of the unionized air controllers and jailing of union leaders. ‘Bill’ Clinton’s show of empathy for the poor and embrace of ‘feel-good’ politics neutralized opposition as he bombed Yugoslavia into a pre-industrial age while his domestic policies kicked vulnerable single mothers from welfare programs. They all paled before the grand con-master Obama, billed as the ‘first black’ President, a community organizer (who disowned his sponsor into the black communities of Chicago, Rev. Wright, for his anti-war, anti-imperial stand) has capitalized on his racial credentials to garner the vote of guilty-ridden, soft-headed liberals and marginalized blacks in order to serve the interests of Wall Street and Israel.

Disarming these con-men and women requires exposing the nature of their demagogic populist styles and focusing on substantive politics. The decisive criteria need to be class politics that are defined by fundamental class alignments, between capital and labor regarding budgets, income, taxes, social spending, financing and property rights. ‘Shooting hoops’ in ghetto playgrounds is a con-man’s distraction while his budget cuts close hospitals and schools in black and poor neighborhoods.

The extravaganzas, featuring sports and entertainment celebrities to promote imperial wars, are the ‘con’ to undermine international solidarity for war victims and the unemployed. President Obama, the confidence man, is still performing while sowing destruction.

It’s time for the deceived, the disillusioned and the deprived to stand-up and shout! “We are deceived no more. Its time you were put on trial for Crimes against Humanity!”

Hot Off The Press: Israelis aren’t racist

Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 4:32PM Gilad Atzmon

By Gilad Atzmon 

They kill everyone equally!

On Friday, an Israeli security guard shot dead a fellow-Israeli Jew at the wailing wall saying later he feared the man was a Palestinian militant because he had shouted “Allahu akbar” (“God is the greatest” in Arabic).

The verdict is clear. Israelis are not racist. They kill everyone who shouts ‘Allahu akbar’ regardless of one’s race, gender or religion.

Retired Singer Fadel Shaker Brags about Killing 2 Lebanese Soldiers – video

Retired Singer Fadel Shaker Brags about Killing 2 Lebanese Soldiers

Local Editor

Retired singer Fadel Shaker appeared, in a video said to be recorded two days ago, bragging about killing two soldiers in the Lebanese Army during the clashes of Abra in Sidon. Two militants standing near Fadel Shaker also stressed their support to Ahmad Al-Assir and his partisans, and expressed confidence in his “victory”.

ظهر فضل شاكر في فيديو يُقدر أنه صُوّر أمس، حيث يفاخر شاكر مستخدماً عبارات بذيئة بقتل اثنين من افراد الجيش في اليوم الاول لاشتباكات عبرا.

وإلى جانب فضل، وقف عددٌ من المسلحين الذين بدوا واثقين من ما اسموه “انتصارا ومن دعم سيتلقوه من كل صيدا وطرابلس”.

سبب خطير دفع الجيش إلى تنفيذ الهجوم الحاسم بصيدا 

‏الإثنين‏، 24‏ حزيران‏، 2013

أوقات الشام

ناجي س. البستاني

لقد تعرّض الجيش اللبناني لاعتداء غادر في عرسال منذ بضعة أسابيع، لكنّه لم يبادر إلى تنفيذ هجوم شامل على المسلّحين هناك، وهو لا يزال يعالج الأمور بتأنّ على الرغم من الوجع، لكنّه إتخذ القرار بحسم الوضع بعد تعرّض ضبّاطه وجنوده لاعتداء غادر مماثل في صيدا. فما سبب هذا الإختلاف في ردّ الفعل؟

بداية، لا بد من الإشارة إلى أنّ أحمد الأسير أصبح يتصرّف في الآونة الأخيرة بتهوّر كبير، وبخطوات غير محسوبة النتائج، منتشياً بولاء بضع عشرات من المسلّحين له، وإستعداد آخرين من المتشدّدين الفلسطينيّين والسوريّين لدعمه، وفرحاً بازدياد شعبيّته نتيجة الإحتقان السياسي – الطائفي في لبنان والمنطقة. وبلغ الأمر بالأسير، الذي أصبح يعتقد أنه يحظى بحماية مذهبيّة دينيّة، حد محاولة اللعب بنار الفتنة، من خلال التحضير لإقفال طريق الجنوب، ولشنّ هجوم على شقق في عبرا يتواجد فيها مناصرون لـ”حزب الله”، بغض النظر عمّا يتحدّث عنه بشأن إستفزازات ومراقبة أمنيّة يتعرّض لها. وقد حاولت المراجع الرسميّة ثني الأسير عن خطته هذه، لمعرفتها عزم “الحزب” ليس فقط بالدفاع عن هذه الشقق، بل بشنّ هجوم مضاد واسع وشامل، في حال التعرّض لأي هجوم جديد من قبل جماعة الأسير. من هنا، وأمام إصرار الأسير على رفع وتيرة التوتّر المذهبي والأمني في المنطقة، وضعت قيادة الجيش خطّة للسيطرة على الوضع في كامل مدينة صيدا، إدراكاً منها أنّ أيّ مواجهة واسعة بين أنصار كل من “حزب الله” و”الأسير” قد تتفاقم بسرعة وتنتشر شرارتها في غير مكان في لبنان. وهذا السبب الخطير، قد يمثّل في حال حصوله، نقطة تحوّل في الصراع الداخلي اللبناني، بحيث يتحوّل من سياسي مع توتّرات أمنيّة متفرّقة، إلى عسكري شامل.

من هنا، بدأت القيادة أخيراً سياسة متشدّدة على حواجزها، في محاولة لتجنّب الوصول إلى مرحلة الصدام. وجاء تصرّف مجموعات الأسير المسلّحة بالأمس، والذي أوقع عدداً من الضحايا بشكل غادر في صفوف الجيش، بمثابة “نقطة الماء” التي أفاضت الكوب. فأعطت قيادة الجيش الأوامر لشنّ هجوم شامل على مسلّحي الأسير، لطيّ صفحة هذه الظاهرة بشكل حاسم، على الرغم من الكلفة البشريّة الباهظة الي يتكبّدها ضبّاط وجنود الجيش.

وفي ظلّ إرتفاع عدد الشهداء، رفضت “القيادة” الإستجابة للضغوط التي تدعو إلى تهدئة ظرفيّة، لا تنهي حال الإحتقان القائم، عبر إنهاء ظاهرة الأسير الذي تتراوح خياراته حالياً بين تسليم نفسه أو الفرار من المنطقة. وقد ساعد تصرّف الأسير المتهوّر إزاء الجيش، قيادة هذا الأخير على التشدّد، لأنّه بعد تعرّض كرامة الجيش للإهانة، وعسكريّيه وضبّاطه للقتل، لم يكن بإمكان أيّ طرف في لبنان الوقوف إلى جانب المعتدين. وهذا ما أسفر عن خسارة الأسير، ورقة الإصطفاف المذهبي والسياسي، والتي كان يمكنه أن يلعبها، في ما لوّ نفّذ تهديداته الأمنيّة ضد شقق “حزب الله” في عبرا. 

والأمل اليوم، أن ينجح الجيش في إنهاء هذه المشكلة نهائياً بأقل حجم من الخسائر الممكنة، لأنّ الكلفة صارت من الآن باهظة جداً. والأمل أيضاً أن لا يغلب الوتر المذهبي على أيّ جهة كانت، فيبقى الصراع في إطار إعتداء مرفوض وغادر على الجيش، تسهيلاً لإعادة الأمور إلى طبيعتها في أسرع وقت ممكن.

النشرة

لكن وبعد أن تحوّلت وجهة سلاحه إلى صدور الجيش، خسر هذه الورقة الثمينة، خاصة وأنّه في الفترة الأخيرة تعرّض لفضيحة إستخباريّة تمثّلت بتسريب إزدرائه بالدين المسيحي، في الوقت الذي نمت فيه خلافاته مع شخصيّات سنّية سياسيّة فاعلة، ترفض سياسته الهجوميّة المتهوّرة والمتفلّتة من أيّ ضوابط، بغض النظر عن الحجج التي يُطلقها، والتي كان يمكن أن تكون مقبولة أو محط تفهّم على الأقلّ، لو أنها لم تترافق مع تصرّفات ميدانية لا تتناسب مع واقع القوى على الأرض، ولا تتوافق مع الوضع الأمني الحسّاس جداً في البلاد.

والأمل اليوم، أن ينجح الجيش في إنهاء هذه المشكلة نهائياً بأقل حجم من الخسائر الممكنة، لأنّ الكلفة صارت من الآن باهظة جداً. والأمل أيضاً أن لا يغلب الوتر المذهبي على أيّ جهة كانت، فيبقى الصراع في إطار إعتداء مرفوض وغادر على الجيش، تسهيلاً لإعادة الأمور إلى طبيعتها في أسرع وقت ممكن.

النشرة

 

• الجيش اللبناني يحكم السيطرة على مربع الارهابي احمد الاسير
• أنباء عن إصابة أحمد الأسير بجروح بليغة في الاشتباكات بصيدا ..وفضل شاكر مصاب وضعه حرج
• الدادا: هناك معلومات تشير الى أن الاسير أصبح بعهدة “الجيش الحر”

Palestinian Singer Mohammad Assaf named goodwill UN ambassador

Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 8:42AM Gilad Atzmon

 

 http://www.maannews.net

 Mohammad Assaf became Palestine’s first Arab Idol on Saturday.

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) —  Mohammad Assaf, the first Palestinian to win the popular Arab Idol TV  singing contest, will also become the UN’s first Palestinian goodwill  ambassador.

A diplomatic source in Beirut, where MBC’s Arab Idol  is filmed, told Ma’an the agreement was signed days ago to make Assaf  the first-ever Palestinian refugee to become a goodwill UN ambassador,  becoming the Palestine refugee agency UNRWA’s first-ever regional youth  ambassador, the source said Saturday.

 http://youtu.be/Aj-pyJF6ckU

“A man with a golden voice  is going to take the Palestinians’ voice to the universe. At long last,  a fantastic story out of Gaza that will touch the hearts of the world,”  he said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the ambassadorship had  not yet been announced.

“It is is a wonderful day for Palestine and for the UN.”

Thousands  of Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza celebrated in the streets  late Saturday after the judges announced this year’s winner. They also  launched fireworks.

Assaf, a 23-year-old from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, has become a household name in Palestine.

In an interview as he prepared for the final stages of the show, he thanked his fans in Palestine for their support.

“If I keep thanking you forever it is never enough,” Assaf said, promising to do his best to keep entertaining his fans.

He  also thanked Palestinian leaders for their encouragement, particularly  those who came to Beirut to watch him perform in the show.

“Their presence gave me more energy to move on and sing better and represent Palestine in its beautiful image,” he said.

As  he succeeded in the final stages of the show, Assaf received phone  calls from President Mahmoud Abbas and former Prime Minister Salam  Fayyad.

The president urged Palestinian communities across the  world to vote for Assaf, and instructed the PA Ministry of Foreign  Affairs to contact embassies to mobilize support for the Arab Idol star.

Assaf  said he would first return to his home in the Gaza Strip after the  competition and later perform three shows in West Bank cities.

ORIENT TENDENCIES: SYRIA’S RESISTANCE CONFOUNDS THE WEST

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Alexandra Valiente

Orient Tendencies
Monday June 24, 2013
no 137
Weekly information and analysis bulletin specialized in Arab Middle Eastern affairs prepared by neworientnews.com
Editor in chief Wassim Raad
wassimraad73@gmail.com
New Orient Center for Strategic policies

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The Lebanese Army decides to end

Ahmad al-Assir’s militia

By Pierre Khalaf

After predicting that Lebanon was heading towards desolation and threatened to attack the Lebanese Army, the fundamentalist Sheikh Ahmad al-Asir went from words to action Sunday. His militia, armed, trained and funded by Qatar and the Future Movement of Saad Hariri, attacked the Lebanese Army, killing two officers and five soldiers, in Abra, east of Saida. This attack is part of a series of aggressions against the army led by Syrian and Lebanese extremist groups supported by the Gulf states. Already between Thursday and Saturday, several positions of the Lebanese regular troops were under fire and attacks in various parts of the country. In recent months, several officers and soldiers had been killed by extremists in the town of Ersal and in Tripoli. The aim of these attacks is to neutralize the army, push her to withdraw, in order to transform these areas in havens for Syrian extremists and their Lebanese accomplices.

These groups could not prosper without the coverage of the Future Movement, which materially supports them in the intention to use them in a plan to encircle the Lebanese resistance, and without the irresponsibility of senior officials, who were reluctant to act decisively against these unhealthy phenomena threatening national unity with their sectarian discourse.

This time, the army decided to put everybody in front of their responsibility. In a severe statement, the military noted that the army tried to protect Lebanon from Syrian events and neglect the political appeals to the suppression of group belonging to Sheikh Ahmad al-Asir in Saida in order to avoid the discord. “But what happened in Saida today exceeds all expectations. Army was targeted with a cold-blooded and premeditated manner in order to inflame the situation in Saida like what happened in 1975. ” The military has rejected the double standard of the political class and put politicians in Sidon to the following choice: “Either you are with the military, or you are with the armed groups and, therefore, with the chaos and discord. ” “A group loyal to Sheikh Ahmed el-Asir attacked without reason, a military barrage in Abra,” says the text. “Two officers and a soldier were killed and several others were injured, while several military vehicles were damaged,” the military statement.

In a video sent to the mobile phones of his followers, al-Asir called “supporters throughout Lebanon to come” lend a hand to his men and “defend our religion and women.” He appealed to sedition, asking “the noble Sunni leave the Lebanese Army that attacks us.”

As usual, the head of the Future Movement bloc, the former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, held an ambiguous speech. He tried to drag the name of Hezbollah in the incidents of Sunday as the resistance has nothing to do in these events. Saying he was opposed to any attack against the army, he called for a cease-fire. Thus, he puts the army and militiamen on an equal footing. Nowhere does he demand the murderers of the three soldiers to be delivered.

But the army seems determined. Reinforcements and special troops were sent and launched a major offensive against the security perimeter of the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque, Abra, transformed into a stronghold by al-Asir militia. After fierce fighting, the soldiers surrounded the area and chased the militiamen who tried to cut roads of the city through snipers posted on rooftops.

The resistance of Syria, a puzzle

with no solution for the West

By Ghaled Kandil

The universal war waged by Barack Obama against Syria is entering a new phase after a remobilization of resources under the auspices of Saudi Arabia and France. The division of roles took place in Doha.

The crumbling and rotting fronts of aggression against Syria, called “opposition”, have always been an endemic headache for the international coalition hostile to Syria. Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Heads of Western and Arab intelligence services openly recognized these facts. In meetings held in Istanbul, Doha and Paris, “opponents” leaders were appointed and new names were invented to prepare every time a new stage of the attack. The West does not understand that the balance of power has changed because the popular mood is not the same. The pseudo-opposition no longer has any support in the population, that supports at 70% the president-resistant Bashar al-Assad, as Western intelligence agencies admit.

Again, the imperialists and their agents shout “We found,” in the manner of Newton when the apple fell on his head. The scientist spoke, of course, about the Gravity, while they talk about Salim Idriss. This deserter officer is presented as the man who will make miracles to achieve the illusion of Obama and Francois Hollande, to “rectify the situation on the ground by making a disconnection between the Free Syrian Army” (FSA) and al-Nosra Front.

Just seeing that the plan coordination was given to the founder of Al-Qaeda and takfirist terrorism, Bandar bin Sultan, shows how the Western speech is full of lies.

Geniuses, how can you change the realities on the ground? Could the additional quantities of weapons turn robbers into freedom fighters? and murderers and other headhunters in tolerant and enlightened groups that protect churches, convents, religious Christians and Muslims men placed on the lists of people to be killed by the Saudi and Qatari fatwas issued by Takfirist sheikhs? Would Your Salim Idriss dare to take any action against these groups of bloodthirsty mercenaries?

Salim Idriss is just another mercenary working for Western, Saudi and Qatari intelligence services, not a popular leader capable of performing miracles that would remove these Takfirist groups. He will only exacerbate the divisions between the armies of opportunists as Michel Kilo, who spoke of a revolution in the revolution, and the real leaders of al-Nosra Front, Riad Chakfa and Farouk Tayfour, the leaders of the bloody military wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the 80s, that all Syrian know … and hate.

Bandar took command of the new plan of attack, which resulted in an upsurge in suicide attacks in recent weeks. He put on a spurt his mercenary groups across Jordan in the province of Daraa, to change the balance on the ground in a desperate attempt to postpone of Aleppo’s liberation battle. But the enthusiasm of the Syrians to return to the bosom of their state, the determination of the Syrian Arab army and the loyalty of the allies of Syria, will defeat the plan.

Additional sacrifices will be necessary, but the outcome of the war is no doubt the victory of Syria and defeat its enemies.

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Statements

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President

«Where will those weapons end up. If the United States and the State Department recognize that one of the key opposition organizations al-Nusra is a terrorist organization officially recognized as terrorist which is linked to al Qaeda, how can they give weapons to that part of the opposition. There are no answers to those questions… so it is not as simple as some people would suggest. We believe that our position is well founded … we believe only the Syrian people themselves can guarantee a long-term solution. There is indeed a certain difference of view between us and, let’s say, the U.S. We should encourage the sides, the parties to the conflict to engage in dialogue and achieve positive results. This discussion was among interested parties among partners and there were differing opinions during that debate… despite the depth and complexity of the problems, we were looking for a way to compromise.»

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister

«The Jabhat al-Nosra group is the most effective structure for the armed opposition. Most of armaments supplied at present and in the future Syria will be distributed through this structure. This small group is better coordinated and disciplined. Our colleagues realize it.»

Michel Sleiman, Lebanon’s President

«Hezbollah is a resistance and resistance has a national holiday, and it is present in the Ministerial Declaration through the expression ‘army, people and resistance’. If he takes part in the Battle of Aleppo and he wipes new casualties, the tensions will be back. This must stop to Qusayr and Hezbollah should retreat to Lebanon.

I have not betrayed. From the beginning, I informed him that I could not accept such behavior. I told him that it would expose and Lebanon, in front of the Israeli enemy. I have said that I will protect the resistance, but I want to protect it from itself as well. When I see that Hezbollah misbehave, I would speak openly.

When President Barack Obama recently contacted me and expressed concern about the involvement of Hezbollah in Syria, I immediately replied to him that we were concerned, we also, because of the involvement of all Lebanese parties in Syria, and we agreed unanimously on the declaration of Baabda to prevent any intervention but the various parties have not met.»

Hassan Fadlallah, Hezbollah MP

«Hezbollah wants PM-designate Tammam Salam to be successful in forming the government and his success depends on his ability to form a government of real unity. March 14’s precondition to exclude Hezbollah from the government is unachievable. There are attempts to spread security tension in the country by firing rockets and blocking roads and sectarian incitement which will only lead to endangering citizen’s safety and compromising the state’s security pillars.»

John Kerry, US secretary of State

«The supporters of the Syrian opposition will step up military and other aid in a bid to end an imbalance on the ground in Bashar al-Assad’s favor. The United States supported the original Geneva Communiqué as it sets up a process by which a transitional government would be put in place to end the conflict, that transitional government being chosen by mutual consent of both the Assad regime as well as the opposition. The rebels need more support for the purpose of being able to get to Geneva and to be able to address the imbalance on the ground. The United States and other countries here — in their various ways, each choosing its own approach — will increase the scope and scale of assistance to the political and military opposition. Reliable civilian governance and a stronger and more effective armed opposition will better enable the opposition to be able to provide the counterweight to the initiative of Assad.»

___________________________________________________________

Events

• Along US with missiles and fighter jets, about 700 US troops will remain in Jordan after training exercises which ended this week, US President Barack Obama said in his letter to the Congress. The troops and military equipment took part in the Eager Lion exercises in Jordan. “This detachment that participated in the exercise and remained in Jordan includes Patriot missile systems, fighter aircraft, and related support, command, control, and communications personnel and systems,” Obama said in a letter to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner. “The deployment of this detachment has been directed in furtherance of U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, including the important national interests in supporting the security of Jordan and promoting regional stability, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations,” the US president said in his letter.

• Spanish security forces on Friday broke up an Al-Qaeda-linked network in north Africa  suspected of sending fighters to Syria, arresting eight people in early morning raids. Police launched operations against the network in Ceuta, a Spanish territory in north Africa. “We have broken up a network responsible for sending combatants to Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups operating in Syria,” the Spanish interior ministry said in a statement. The network, operating in Ceuta and the neighbouring Moroccan town of Fnideq, sent dozens of Islamist militants — some minors — to Syria, the ministry said. “Some of them would have carried out suicide attacks while others would have been incorporated into training camps prior to carrying out armed action,” the government said. “This network, based in Ceuta and Fnideq, carried out fundraising, indoctrination, and organising and financing travel, in contact with other terrorists and following the guidelines of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization.” Security forces confirmed that several “jihadists” were waiting to travel from Spain to Syria, it said.

______________________________________________________________

Press review

As Safir (Lebanese daily, Arab nationalist, June 21, 2013)

The security breach observed in the country is dangerous. Various incidents and road blocks in several regions are a premeditated plan to open all fronts against Hezbollah and its allies, with the aim of forcing the party to withdraw its fighters from Syria and to defend itself on its own soil instead of fighting alongside regime. However, Hezbollah has sent several clear messages on the first day of his involvement in the Battle of Qusyr, that he put all his units on alert all along the border with Palestine, to say that if he is confronted to a triangular confrontation, he will not hesitate to take an existential battle in its own way and according to its timing. Faced with this premeditated plan, the leadership of Hezbollah and Amal have decided to call their supporters to exercise restraint to avoid being drawn into clashes.

The commander Jean Kahwaji said that the army will not show any leniency when it comes to public safety and stability in the country. He added that the current situation is extremely difficult and delicate and requires that all parties are aware of the possible implications.

As Safir (June 19, 2013)

Qassem Qassir

The Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has sent a message of congratulations to Sheikh Hassan Rohani as soon as he was elected to the presidency in Iran. According to Islamic sources, the command of Hezbollah wanted and cut short any bet on a possible change in the relationship between Hezbollah and Iran under the mandate of the new president. The same sources indicate that the relationship between Hezbollah and Iran are not defined by the President but by the Supreme Leader. However, Iranian sources says that President will have a range of new options to implement the policy of moderation, openness and balance he advocated. The sources agree that the relationship between Iran and Hezbollah are not exclusively defined by the Presidency, however, they state that a real change has occurred. The Iranian elite realized today that it is now impossible to limit Iran’s relations with the countries of Latin America, Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, and it will be open to others, taking the interests of the Iranian people.

Al Hayat (Lebanese daily financed by Saudi Arabia, June 21 2013)

Raed Jabr, correspondent in Moscow

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also the special envoy of President Vladimir Putin in the Middle East, said that his country was opposed to the involvement of all parties in the Syrian conflict. He said: “I met in Lebanon Hezbollah Secretary General who said that he had no intention of intervene in Syria. The Syrian crisis began two years ago and the party is involved only very recently (…) He told me that the intervention occurred when Syrian rebels arrived at the gates of Damascus. Thousands of fighters, well armed, with foreign jihadists in their ranks. Hezbollah has studied the situation and found that there is a real danger that Damascus falls. So he decided to go into battle to help his friends and allies. “

Mr. Bogdanov and continued: “I ​​explained to Mr. Nasrallah that President Michel Sleiman had come to Moscow at the beginning of the year, to defend the statement of Baabda and the policy of distancing, supported by all parties Lebanese. Nasrallah said, ‘Hezbollah is committed to the declaration of Baabda but when he saw what was happening on the ground, where fighters go from Lebanon to Syria, we realized that the statement was something and the reality on the ground an other thing.In addition, the rebels were preparing to celebrate their victory in Damascus. So the intervention of our fighters had become necessary. ‘”

Al Akhbar (Lebanese Daily close to the Lebanese Resistance, June 20, 2013)

At least 18 Lebanese citizens have been expelled from Qatar, a government source in Beirut told AFP Thursday, after the Gulf Cooperation Council pledged to act against members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

“Eighteen Lebanese have been expelled from Qatar, in the wake of the GCC decision,” the source said on condition of anonymity, saying it was not clear if they were Hezbollah members.

On June 10, the GCC, to which Qatar belongs, said it would implement measures affecting the “residency permits and financial and commercial transactions of Hezbollah” in response to the group’s involvement in the conflict in Syria.

The GCC statement urged the Lebanese government to “assume its responsibilities towards the behavior of Hezbollah and its illegal and inhumane practices in Syria and the region.”

The bloc, which backs the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The decision stirred fears among the many Lebanese who work in the Gulf of being sanctioned by their host countries.

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Awwad Assiri, was asked on Thursday if his country would move to expel Lebanese citizens, but said only that the GCC decision “affects those who support Hezbollah.”

“Hezbollah has erred against itself, its sect and its country. This decision affects those who have been deceived (by Hezbollah),” he told Lebanon’s Future TV.

While the GCC has condemned Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian conflict, Gulf countries have provided substantial funding and ammunition to Syrian rebels. A memo leaked in January revealed that Saudi Arabia was also sending death row inmates to fight jihad in Syria.

Al Akhbar (June 21, 2013)

Qassem Qassem

Recent rumors depict the Hezbollah-Hamas partnership as deteriorating under the weight of the war in Syria. One rumor even claimed that Hezbollah gave Hamas a 48-hour ultimatum to leave Lebanon. Though the relationship is lukewarm, there is ongoing coordination between the two sides.

A delegation from the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, recently visited Beirut. There, the guests were received by Hezbollah, with the party taking care of security details and accommodations. Beirut was just a stop along the way to Iran, where the military wings of various Palestinian factions go to train.

Despite political differences between Hamas and Hezbollah, nothing has changed when it comes to the military relationship between the two sides. For its part, Iran remains committed to training and arming Qassam fighters, a “red line that has not been breached so far,” according to sources in both resistance movements.

Recent reports claimed that Hamas militants were fighting alongside the armed opposition in Syria. Hamas leaders have denied this categorically, maintaining that officials have opted to leave the Syrian capital so as not to take any sides.

On the other hand, sources close to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime claim that Hamas had a role to play in the battles of Qusayr. The sources say that the tunnels discovered in the strategic Syrian town had been dug using small Iranian devices that Hezbollah had transferred to Hamas.

The sources said, “What delayed the military operation was the explosives planted by the militants everywhere, from windows to television sets and even teapots, in addition to using motion-sensitive explosives – all methods that the resistance fighters use against the enemy.” Some of the explosives, they added, were found to contain electronic chips that Hamas had acquired from Iran and Hezbollah.

When asked whether it was possible that some of the militants who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq had shared their expertise with the Syrian opposition, sources close to Hezbollah said, “Some of the tunnels we found were primitive, and did not have ventilation holes to blow off the pressure from the rockets that might fall on them. But there were also tunnels nearly six meters underground, similar to the ones we usually dig.”

The sources then said, “Let’s say that digging the tunnels does not need a lot of know-how, but their booby-trapping methods are the same as ours.”

Hamas’ Qusayr Denial

Hamas denied these reports. Ali Baraka, a Hamas official in Lebanon, said, “We sat down with Hezbollah and asked them about rumors alleging the capture of Hamas fighters in Qusayr and about explosives we had received from the Resistance before, but Hezbollah leaders denied all this.”

Baraka then asked, “How can we keep explosives we received in 2008 and not send them to Gaza? All weapons we receive are sent directly to Palestine. Those who can bring Fajr rockets in will not keep small explosive devices.”

Concerning reports about Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal’s bodyguard joining the Free Syrian Army, Baraka said that he “was expelled after the politburo left Damascus, and is currently detained by al-Nusra Front in the Yarmouk camp because of a dispute between them.” There are debates within Hamas on the group’s position in Syria, as well as its relationship with Iran, Hezbollah, and some Arab countries.

Hamas leaders deny such disputes and stress that the military wing is committed to the decisions of the politburo. This was confirmed by its military spokesperson Abu Obeida at a Gaza press conference. Nevertheless, a different story unfolds on the ground.

Leaders in Gaza have expressed their resentment over the presence of Meshaal in Qatar. There are divergent camps within the Qassam Brigades, one close to Meshaal and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and another close to Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar and the late Ahmaed al-Jaabari, second-in-command of the group’s military wing. The second side believes that the liberation of Palestine and securing arms for the resistance are only possible through Iran, and not Qatar.

According to sources close to Hamas, Iran was the only country to support Hamas directly with both money and arms. But Iran has taken notice of Hamas’ exit from Syria, and the angry exchange that reportedly took place between Jabari and the Qatar Emir Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, during the latter’s visit to Gaza.

Jabari, who withdrew from that meeting with Hamad, was killed less than a month later. Today, there is talk of a long-term truce between Hamas and Israel.

On a different note, Tehran and the Resistance in Lebanon have reportedly received reassurances from Qassam, which has said it refuses to see Hezbollah as a Shia party at odds with Sunnis. The above notwithstanding, sources in Hamas confirmed that Iranian military support has declined, while Iran has stepped up its training and backing of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the Popular Front and the Islamic Jihad.

After Hezbollah’s participation in the battle of Qusayr, sectarian divisions have grown in the Palestinian refugee camps. For some, Hezbollah has transformed from a resistance movement against Israel to a Shia party fighting the Sunnis in Syria.

Hamas has picked up on this, and found itself compelled to prevent tarnishing the image of the Lebanese resistance group, especially in Saida’s Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, where some set fire to Hezbollah aid packages. Hamas took measures to ensure this does not happen again, arguing that no matter what Hezbollah does, it remains an Islamic faction that must not be declared an apostate.

Al Akhbar (June 20, 2013)

Amal Khalil

It was approximately a year ago when Salafi Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir and his followers blocked a main road leading to southern Lebanon for a month and half. This was but one step in his larger plan to build a militia to face down Hezbollah in the south.

The sheikh began his militarization campaign by recruiting young Lebanese using anti-Shia slogans. Since then, he has attracted a hodgepodge of local Lebanese, Palestinian refugees, and Syrians to his cause.

Once established in southern Lebanon, he visited other spots in Lebanon like Ersal and Tripoli, hoping to build a national profile for his movement and to establish a network of like-minded allies.

Throughout this period, he benefitted from Gulf funding – by way of born-again singer Fadl Shaker – in addition to some local sources. The money was used to buy weapons from Saida’s Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp. Some sources even claim that he received arms from March 14.

Fighter training took place in a number of areas near Saidi, as well as the North, until Assir established a security compound centered around his mosque in the Saida district of Abra.

Close followers of the sheikh’s activities say that he has received training and logistical support from official quarters, allowing them to move freely in the city. Through these official connections, Assir is also privy to detailed information about the residential areas adjacent to his mosque.

More mainstream Sunni political forces like the Future Movement and al-Jamaa al-Islamiya (Lebanon’s Muslim Brotherhood) also provided the radical cleric with the necessary political cover to conduct his armed forays in the city.

Saida security sources say that Assir’s armed operation in the city on Tuesday, in which he deployed around 300 fighters, was an attempt to display his growing military prowess. The move was also intended as a launching point for a new phase of activity that promises to be bolder than last year’s.

Assir’s goal was to paralyze areas beyond the immediate surroundings of his mosque. As his snipers took positions on top of a number of buildings across the Shia district of Haret Saida, groups of his followers tried to shut down the two main arteries leading south.

The local security source says that the operation would not have been as successful had it not been for the involvement of other forces in the operation, including al-Jamaa al-Islamiyya and Future. However, fears that he would be joined by radical Islamists from Ain al-Hilweh did not materialize, otherwise the situation could have taken a more serious turn. But what about Assir’s opponents such as Hezbollah, Amal, and the local Resistance Brigades – how did they respond? Aside from deploying fighters in the Shia neighborhoods adjacent to the sheikh’s mosque, they were largely restrained, a sign that they do not yet have the green light from their leadership to take aggressive countermeasures.

Hezbollah and its allies limited their actions to pinprick operations on both Fadl Shaker’s house and Future Party leader Bahia Hariri’s compound, prompting both to appeal to the commander of the armed forces to deploy the army, which – after three hours of mayhem – finally managed to take control of the situation.

Al Akhbar (June 18, 2013)

Ibrahim Al-Amine

The Future Movement’s incitement against Hezbollah would not have been anything out of the ordinary if it had not decided to turn it into a sectarian conflict. After the Syrian army regained control of Qusayr, Saad Hariri realized that more is required of him than simply building on Najib Mikati’s resignation.

March 14 – along with the Syrian opposition’s regional and international backers – seem to be in a sudden rush to draw Lebanon into the conflict raging next door by characterizing it as a Sunni-Shia conflict that transcends borders.

After having failed to ignite a sectarian war in Tripoli and the North – in addition to a reluctance to stir up trouble in Beirut and Saida – Future and its allies have turned to the northern Bekaa, which shares a long border with Syria, and where large numbers of opposition fighters are concentrated.

And despite the bloody events of the past week, the only reason the situation remains relatively quiet is due to Hezbollah preventing, and even suppressing, any possible reaction from among its supporters.

The other side pushes forward with its campaign of incitement, believing that Hezbollah will continue to exercise restraint. In addition, they can always lay blame for any incident on the Syrian militants that operate in the border area. That is not to say, however, that the Lebanese security forces do not know in detail the groups involved and who is funding and supporting them.

Given the political crisis in Lebanon, with both government and parliament in a state of paralysis, the only authorities left to keep the peace are President Michel Suleiman and Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces Jean Kahwaji. Therefore, it is necessary to say the following:

First, the president is directly responsible for the deteriorating situation in the Bekaa. As long as he insists on siding with March 14, then he has relinquished any responsibility for the country as a whole. If he continues to delay the deployment of the army to fulfill its duties in that area, then he is nothing but a partner in the crimes being committed there.

Second, the leadership of the armed forces knows well it does not need political cover to take control of the troubled areas along the border. The army has already paid dearly with its soldiers’ lives in that region. It must take immediate practical steps to deploy in the northern Bekaa or risk losing the confidence of a large part of the Lebanese population.

There is no room for excuses here. Suleiman and Kahwaji know that they are directly responsible. As long as they delay taking any action to contain the situation, then more and more people will be convinced that there is no longer any need for their services!

FAZ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, German Daily, June 17, 2013)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reiterated that Syria’s main priority now is fighting terrorism, and stresses upon being open to political solutions to solve the crisis away from extremism and bloodshed. ”We are confident that we can successfully fight terrorism in Syria, but the bigger issue is the ensuing damage and its cost. The crisis has already had a heavy toll but our biggest challenges will come once the crisis is over,” Assad said. “It may take a long time, but with our determination, our strength and our solidarity, we can rebuild the country,” the President stressed, adding, “It will not be easy to eliminate the social effects of the crisis, especially extremist ideologies. Real reconstruction is about developing minds, ideologies and values.”

Asked whether he considered Syria a secular state, he answered: “Many people understand secularism as synonymous with communism in the past, in that it is against religion. For us in Syria secularism is about the freedom of confession including Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Secularism is crucial to our national unity and sense of belonging.” “We are a secular state that essentially treats its citizens equally, irrespective of religion, sect or ethnicity. All our citizens enjoy equal opportunities regardless of religious belief,” he remarked.

As to the file of possible intervention, President Bashar Assad said, “We can see clearly that what is happening in Iraq now, and in Lebanon previously, are repercussions of the situation in Syria, and this will only extend further and further. We are seeing these ramifications and the intervention is still indirect, so imagine the consequences of military intervention?”

Regarding Syria’s relationship with Russia and the latter’s indefinite support, he said, “Our relationship with Russia, Iran and other countries that support Syria are cooperative relations certified under international law.”

As for countries that are willing and arm the rebels in Syria, he said: “The countries have adopted policies that meddle in Syria’s internal affairs, which is a flagrant violation of international law and our national sovereignty.”

Regarding al-Nusra Front, the President said, “Al-Nusra Front claim to be applying Sharia Law and the Islamic Religion; however, in reality their actions are a complete distortion of the real religion of Islam.”

Moreover, when asked about the hesitation of the EU in arming the rebels, President Assad viewed, “They are aware that weapons sent to the region will end up in the hands of terrorists, which will have two consequences. First, Europe’s back garden will become a hub for terrorism and chaos, which leads to deprivation and poverty. Second, terrorism will not stop here – it will spread to your countries.”

“Any individual or group excluding the army and police who carries arms, kills people, threatens and intimidates public safety are by definition terrorists,” he added.

Regarding to Hizbullah and defending its borders from terrorist groups, the Syrian President commented, “The aim of this frenzy is to reflect an image of Hizbullah as the main fighting force and to provoke Western and International public opinion against Hizbullah.”

“The Syrian Army is a large army capable of accomplishing its missions across Syria, with the support of the local communities. Damascus is certainly more important than the town of al-Qusayr [retrieved by the Syrian Army],” he added.

As to the alleged use of chemical weapons, Assad said, “It is counterintuitive to use chemical weapons to create a death toll that you could potentially reach by using conventional weapons,” adding, “Had they obtained a single strand of evidence that we had used chemical weapons, do you not think they would have made a song and dance about it to the whole world? then where is the chain of custody that led them to a such result?”

Regarding reforms, the President viewed, “We started the reforms and issued a number of new legislations, lifted the emergency law and even changed the constitution through a referendum. Yet what the West refuses to see is that from the first weeks of the protests we had policemen killed. Could the chants of protesters actually kill a policeman?”

As to dialogue, Assad said, “From day one we have extended a hand to all those who believe in dialogue. Opposition is a political act, and so when we refer to the opposition, we mean the politicians to whom we are always committed to dialogue, regardless of what happened in Al-Qusayr.”

Los Angeles Times (American daily, June 21, 2013)

David S. Cloud & Raja Abdulrahim

CIA operatives and U.S. special operations troops have been secretly training Syrian rebels with anti-tank and antiaircraft weapons since late last year, months before President Obama approved plans to begin directly arming them, according to U.S. officials and rebel commanders.

The covert U.S. training at bases in Jordan and Turkey, along with Obama’s decision this month to supply arms and ammunition to the rebels, has raised hope among the beleaguered Syrian opposition that Washington ultimately will provide heavier weapons as well. So far, the rebels say they lack the weapons they need to regain the offensive in the country’s bitter civil war.

The tightly constrained U.S. effort reflects Obama’s continuing doubts about being drawn into a conflict that has already killed more than 100,000 people and his administration’s fear that Islamic militants now leading the war against President Bashar Assad could gain control of advanced U.S. weaponry.

The training has involved fighters from the Free Syrian Army, a loose confederation of rebel groups that the Obama administration has promised to back with expanded military assistance, said a U.S. official, who discussed the effort anonymously because he was not authorized to disclose details.

The number of rebels given U.S. instruction in Jordan and Turkey could not be determined, but in Jordan, the training involves 20 to 45 insurgents at a time, a rebel commander said.

U.S. special operations teams selected the trainees over the last year when the US military set up regional supply lines to provide the rebels with nonlethal assistance, including uniforms, radios and medical aid.

The two-week courses include training with Russian-designed 14.5-millimeter antitank rifles, anti-tank missiles and 23-millimeter antiaircraft weapons, according to a rebel commander in the Syrian province of Dara who helps oversee weapons acquisitions and who asked that his name not be used because the program is secret.

The training began in November at a new American base in the desert in southwestern Jordan, he said. So far, about 100 rebels from Dara have attended four courses, and rebels from Damascus, the Syrian capital, have attended three, he said.

“Those from the CIA, we would sit and talk with them during breaks from training, and afterward they would try to get information on the situation” in Syria, he said.

The rebels were promised enough armor-piercing anti-tank weapons and other arms to gain a military advantage over Assad’s better-equipped army and security forces, the Dara commander said. But arms shipments from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, provided with assent from the Americans, took months to arrive and included less than the rebels had expected.

Since last year, the weapons sent through the Dara rebel military council have included four or five Russian-made heavy Concourse antitank missiles, 18 14.5-millimeter guns mounted on the backs of pickup trucks and 30 82-millimeter recoil-less rifles. The weapons are all Soviet or Russian models but manufactured in other countries, the commander said. Such weapons allow the rebels to easily use captured munitions from the Syrian army, which has a large arsenal of Russian and Soviet arms.

“I’m telling you, this amount of weapons, once they are spread across the province [of Dara], is considered nothing,” the commander said. “We need more than this to tip the balance or for there to even be a balance of power.”

U.S. officials said the Obama administration and its allies might supply anti-tank weapons to help the rebels destroy armored vehicles used by Assad’s forces. They are less likely to provide portable antiaircraft missiles, which the rebels say they need to fight back against Assad’s helicopters and warplanes. U.S. officials fear those missiles would fall into the hands of the largest of the Islamist militias in the rebel coalition, Al Nusra Front, which the U.S. regards as an Al Qaeda ally.

Asked Friday about the CIA training, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the U.S. had increased its aid to the rebels in the Free Syrian Army, but he refused to provide details. “We have stepped up our assistance, but I cannot inventory for you all the elements of that assistance,” Carney said,. “We have provided and will continue to provide substantial assistance to the Syrian opposition, as well as the Supreme Military Council.”

The council is the military arm of an umbrella group that represents more moderate rebel factions, including the Free Syrian Army.

CIA officials declined to comment on the secret training programs, which was being done covertly in part because of U.S. legal concerns about publicly arming the rebels, which would constitute an act of war against the Assad government. Other U.S. officials confirmed the training, but disputed some of the details provided by rebel commanders.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Bittar, who defected as a fighter pilot from Assad’s air force last year and is head of intelligence for the Free Syrian Army, said training for the last month or so had taken place in Jordan.

The training, conducted by American, Jordanian and French operatives, involves rockets and anti-tank and antiaircraft weaponry, he said.

Between 80 and 100 rebels from all over Syria have gone through the courses in the last month, he said, and training is continuing. Graduates are sent back across the border to rejoin the battle.

Bittar said sufficient weapons had yet to arrive for the rebel forces and that the Americans had not yet told them when they could expect to receive additional arms. “Just promises, just promises,” he said.

AFP (France-Press Agency, June 22, 2013)

Turkish police used water cannon on Saturday to disperse thousands of demonstrators who had gathered anew in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Hundreds of riot police backed up by water cannon trucks moved in on several thousand protesters chanting for Erdogan’s dismissal. “This is but a start, the battle continues!” the protesters yelled, throwing red carnations. “It is by resisting that we will prevail!”

The protesters had gathered a week after police evicted thousands of people from the adjacent Gezi Park, the epicentre of nationwide demonstrations that had shaken Turkey for much of June and presented Erdogan and his Islamic-rooted government with the biggest challenge of their decade-long rule.

Following the eviction, the protests that had infuriated Erdogan and earned Turkey harsh criticism from the West had fizzled out as the premier claimed victory over “traitors.”

“The people and the AKP [ruling Justice and Development Party] government have foiled the plot… hatched by traitors and their foreign accomplices,” Erdogan said on Tuesday.

The violence sparked widespread anger and snowballed into mass demonstrations against Erdogan, seen as increasingly authoritarian, before culminating in another crackdown on Gezi Park. Four people have been killed and nearly 8,000 injured in the turmoil, according to the Turkish Medical Association. Hundreds have also been arrested across the country in connection with the demonstrations and at least 46 people have been charged, most of them accused of belonging to “terrorist” groups and destruction of property, according to lawyers groups.

Separately on Saturday, some 80,000 people rallied against Erdogan’s government in the German city of Cologne.   

Lebanon: Hariri’s Blind March Continues

The leader of the Future Movement realizes this because there is a difference between the way the Syrian regime controls Syrian cities today, compared to two years ago. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi)

By: Ghassan Saoud

Published Monday, June 24, 2013

A recent visitor to former Lebanese PM Saad Hariri avoided raising the very same issue that he had travelled to Saudi Arabia to discuss with Hariri. The visitor said that Hariri seemed extremely nervous because of successive developments following the fall of Qusayr on June 5.

The reason is that one particular ally of the former premier had – not so smartly – convinced him to agree to extend parliament’s term because developments in Syria were favoring the Future Movement and its allies. This, Hariri’s ally had claimed, would allow them to win seats a year and a half from now that would today be unthinkable.Based on his ally’s calculations, which had never come to fruition in the past, Hariri became convinced that Hezbollah would drown in the “Qusayr quagmire.” This would exhaust the Resistance Party and the Syrian regime, as Future Movement MPs would claim in subsequent TV interviews.
However, no sooner had former PM Fouad Siniora, on the orders of Hariri, led his parliamentary bloc to vote in favor of the extension, whe the unexpected happened: The stronghold of the fighters aligned with Future Movement MP Khaled al-Daher, who were planning to launch themselves into Homs and Damascus to force a new political equation, fell to the Syrian army and Hezbollah.
Hariri knows that things returned to square one, if not square zero, despite the reassurances of some of his aides and associates. The leader of the Future Movement realizes this because there is a difference between the way the Syrian regime controls Syrian cities today, compared to two years ago: Back then, the regime only maintained a formal hold on those cities, while throngs of militants were hiding underground; today, the Syrian army is both above and below the ground, while the militants are in “heaven.”Those who met with Hariri after Qusayr was “liberated from the militants” came out with the same impression: The former premier is extremely frustrated. To be sure, if elections had been held on time, he could have benefited from the mobilization against Hezbollah’s overt intervention in Syria, at least to maintain the current balance of power in parliament.

By contrast, postponing the election, in light of the collapse of the strongholds of his allies including Qusayr, means that Hezbollah will have enough time before the next election to change its strategy and take unprecedented measures at home related to suppressing Sunni-Shia strife.

What’s odd is that Hariri’s “revelations,” whether those related to Hezbollah or the developments on the field in Syria, mostly in favor of the regime, have not resulted in any changes to the way the Future Movement operates.

Practically speaking, the camp that includes Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement has learned from many of its past mistakes, while the other camp does nothing except continuing to allow regional developments to dictate its movements, even though it has repeatedly paid the price for this policy.

For instance, instead of the Future Movement seeking to restore its influence in its previous strongholds, it contented itself, through its media outlets, with accusing the Syrian regime of perpetrating the attack in Ersal. Meanwhile, Siniora expects the audience to blindly applaud him in his last speech at BIEL, where he said that Hezbollah is sustaining the armed groups. Similarly, Future Movement Secretary-General Ahmad Hariri fails to identify the “evil hands” that he says are “machinating in Ersal, Tripoli, Beirut, Iqlim, Saida, and Arqoub, seeking to transfer Sunni-Shia strife to Lebanon.”

Militants are free to roam and destabilize the strongholds of the Future Movement, and yet, the latter does little to address this, other than building monuments to slain PM Rafik Hariri.

In the meantime, Siniora laments the fall of Qusayr not as a stronghold of radical Islamic militants from around the world, but as an Arab city that fell into the hands of Hezbollah. Siniora’s agenda these days contains only one item: holding seminars to convince Future supporters that the FPM’s “Impossible Vindication” is merely slander against him.

For his part, Ahmad Hariri stated that Saad Hariri would return to Lebanon when circumstances permit, to “restore the country to the state it was in under his father,” believing that this is something great that the Lebanese must no doubt be yearning for.

For two weeks now, Ahmad Hariri has been busy organizing meetings for Future activists to become acquainted with one another, as the movement’s press releases confirm, which perhaps means that the long break from political work was so bad that Future activists no longer recognize one another.
Hariri’s tension is not being offset with any changes in his movement’s plans, in contrast to his opponents. Hezbollah’s allies, who were disappointed by the postponement of the elections, are discovering today that they were wrong about this. Indeed, there is a political faction that cannot stop losing as a result of its regional wagers since 2005, met on the other side by a faction that cannot stop squandering its victories.

Hariri’s main problem today, however, is that his foes are now showing signs of learning from their mistakes, while he insists on linking his future and the fate of his political team to that of the militants fighting in Syria.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

الحريري متوتّر: حسابات القصير لم تطابق بيـدر 14 آذار

من التقى الحريري بعد معركة القصير عاد بانطباع واحد: الرجل في أقصى حالات توتره (هيثم الموسوي)

الرئيس سعد الحريري متوتّر. لا الرياضة تريح أعصابه ولا الحبوب المهدئة. أبواب بيته السعودي مقفلة أمام المشكوك في تحفّظهم الشديد عن نقل ما يدور خلفها. كلما ظنّ الرجل أنه يقترب من تحقيق انتصار، تراجع عشرات الخطوات. من أقنعه بربط مصيره وتياره السياسي بمصير النظام السوريّ؟ من أقنعه بقبول تأجيل الانتخابات للفوز غداً بما يعجز عن الظفر به اليوم؟ يواجه الحريري حزب الله متكلاً على حليف لا يضاهى في العمى الاستراتيجيّ

غسان سعود

ينقل أحد أصدقاء من زاروا رئيس الحكومة السابق سعد الحريري، أخيراً، أن الزائر تجنّب إثارة الملف الذي ذهب الى المملكة العربية السعودية للبحث فيه مع الحريري. بدا الحريري، بحسب المصدر، متوتّراً وعصبيّاً الى حدّ كبير، بسبب تطورات الأوضاع منذ سقوط القصير في الخامس من الشهر الجاري. والسبب أن بين حلفاء رئيس الحكومة السابق واحداً فائق الذكاء الاستراتيجي أقنعه بوجوب التمديد للمجلس النيابي لأن الأحداث الميدانية تسير في سوريا لمصلحة المستقبل وحلفائه بما يمكّنهم، بعد عام ونصف عام، من الفوز بمقاعد لا يحلمون اليوم بترشيح أحد اليها، ليس في دوائر جبل لبنان فحسب، وإنما في بعلبك والهرمل والزهراني وبنت جبيل أيضاً. كان الحريري، مستنداً الى تقديرات الحليف التي لم تصب يوماً، مقتنعاً بنظرية «مستنقع القصير» التي سيغرق حزب الله فيها وتستنزف النظام السوري كما كان يردّد نوابه في مقابلاتهم التلفزيونية. ولكن، لم يكد رئيس الحكومة السابق فؤاد السنيورة يقود، بتوجيه من الحريري، كتلته إلى التمديد، حتى حصل ما لم يكن متوقعاً في حسابات أول «طالب لجوء سياسي» إلى السعودية: سقط المعقل الذي كان يفترض بأبناء النائب خالد ضاهر العقائديين أن ينطلقوا منه إلى حمص ودمشق لإرساء معادلة ميدانية جديدة. كان الحريري يعلم أن الأمور لم تعد إلى النقطة الصفر كما حاول بعض المحيطين به الإيحاء، بل إلى ما دون الصفر. أيقن زعيم تيار المستقبل أن ضرب نقطة ارتكاز فريقه السياسي في القصير، لا يعيد الأمور إلى ما كانت عليه: الفارق بين سيطرة النظام السوري على مدنه اليوم وسيطرته الشكلية عليها قبل عامين، أنه كان فوق الأرض فيما المسلحون تحتها. أما اليوم فهو فوقها وتحتها، فيما المسلحون في السماء.

من التقى الحريري بعد «تحرير القصير من قبضة المسلحين» عاد بانطباع واحد: الرجل في أقصى حالات توتره. لو أجريت الانتخابات في موعدها، كان سيستفيد من التعبئة ضد التدخل العلني لحزب الله في سوريا، محاولاً الحفاظ على موازين القوى النيابية القائمة اليوم. أما تأجيلها، في ظل تهاوي معاقل أنصاره بالسرعة التي انهزموا فيها في القصير، فيعني أن الحزب سيجد المتسع الكافي من الوقت قبيل الانتخابات المقبلة لفعل ما لم يفعله محلياً من قبل، خصوصاً أن معطيات إعلامية وميدانية تؤكد تجاوز الحزب لحساباته المعقدة في ما يخص تفادي الفتنة السنية ــ الشيعية، وطريقة تعامله مع رهان كثيرين على رهابه من هذه الفتنة، وتغييره استراتيجيته. لكن الغريب أن «الاكتشافات» الحريرية، سواء المتعلقة بحزب الله أو بالتطورات السورية الميدانية التي تسير جميعها لمصلحة النظام، لا ينجم عنها تغيير في طريقة عمل تيار المستقبل.

فعلياً، ثمة فريق، يضمّ حزب الله والتيار الوطني الحر بشكل رئيسي، تعلّم من أخطائه السابقة الكثيرة، يقابله فريق يكتفي بترك المتغيرات الإقليمية تتلاعب به رغم دفعه مرة تلو المرة ثمناً باهظاً لهذه المتغيرات. فبدل استعادة تيار المستقبل سيطرته على مناطق نفوذه، اتهم إعلامه أمس النظام السوري بارتكاب جريمة عرسال. ويتوقع السنيورة أن يصفق الحاضرون في ندوته الأخيرة في البيال له حين يقول إن حزب الله يغذّي الجماعات المسلحة هنا وهناك. ولا يوضح منسق التيار أحمد الحريري هوية «الأيادي» التي يتحدث عنها حين يقول إن «أيادي خبيثة تلعب في عرسال وطرابلس وبيروت والإقليم وصيدا والعرقوب، وتسعى لنقل الفتنة السنية ــ الشيعية الى لبنان». يُنزل المسلحون في مناطق نفوذ المستقبل ما ينزلونه باستقرار تلك المناطق واقتصادها، ولا يفعل تيار المستقبل (في طرابلس مثلاً) أكثر من إزاحة ستارة عن نصب تذكاري للرئيس رفيق الحريري في إحدى ساحات المينا. يبكي السنيورة على القصير ليس بوصفها معقل التكفيريين السوريين واللبنانيين والأفغان العرب والشيشانيين وكل المسلحين الذين تمكنوا من الوصول إليها للانطلاق إلى دمشق وحمص، وإنما بوصفها مدينة عربية سقطت في يد حزب الله. وفي جدول أعمال السنيورة بند وحيد هذه الأيام: عقد ندوات تثقيفية لإقناع جمهور المستقبل بأن ما ورد في «الإبراء المستحيل» العوني مجرد افتراء عليه. إنجاز تيار المستقبل التنظيمي أخيراً كان تكريم قطاع التربية والتعليم فيه منسقته في بيروت سيبال شميطلي لمناسبة مغادرتها لبنان أو تفضيلها الهجرة، في اليوم نفسه الذي كان الأمين العام للتيار أحمد الحريري فيه يرى بأن «سر أبيه» سيعود عندما تسنح الظروف ليعيد البلد إلى ما كان عليه أيام والده، وفي اعتقاده أن ذلك أمر عظيم يتشوّق له اللبنانيون. والأمين العام ينشغل منذ أسبوعين بتنظيم لقاءات تعارفية لناشطي المستقبل، كما تؤكد بيانات التيار الإعلامية، مؤكداً بذلك أن الانقطاع الطويل عن العمل أدى إلى تباعد الناشطين بحيث ما عادوا يعرفون بعضهم بعضاً.

توتر الحريري لا يقابله تعديل في خططه، خلافاً لخصومه. في أوساط حلفاء حزب الله الذين ساءهم تأجيل موعد الانتخابات، مشكّكين بإيجاد لحظة سياسية أكثر مناسبة لإجراء الانتخابات من اللحظة الآنية، يكتشفون أنهم كانوا على خطأ. ثمة فريق سياسي لا يكفّ عن الخسارة بحكم رهاناته الاقليمية منذ عام 2005، يقابله فريق سياسي لا يكف عن تضييع انتصاراته. مشكلة الحريري الرئيسية اليوم أن خصومه يظهرون تحولاً كبيراً على صعيد التعلم من أخطائهم، واحتراماً شديداً لإصراره على ربط مصيره ومستقبل تياره السياسي بمصير المسلحين بالحليب المقاتلين في سوريا.

The Gazan Takfiri in Syria

الزعيم : تكفيري (غزيّ) في سورية – بقلم نضال حمد 

   

 

أثناء تجوالي يوم السبت الموافق 22-6-2013 في شبكة التواصل الاجتماعي فيسبوك عثرت بالصدفة على صفحة تحمل اسم “التجمع الفلسطيني لنصرة الثورة السورية”. أكثر ما أثار انتباهي التسمية لان تسمية تجمع تخص بالمقام الأول حركة حماس ومؤسساتها التي أقامتها، حيث حملت هذا الاسم بغية تمييزها عن أسماء الاتحادات والمؤسسات التابعة لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية والفصائل الفلسطينية القومية واليسارية والوطنية. 

 حماس خلال السنوات الأخيرة أسست تجمعات للمهندسين والطلبة والأطباء والمرأة والخ .. ولم تؤسس بعد تجمعات للمحاربين القدامى وعمداء الأسرى والمحررين لان عمرها مازال طريا وقصيرا أسوة بعمر الفصائل الفلسطينية الأخرى التي بدورها هرمت وشاخت ويلزمها إعادة إحياء. ولو أن هذه الفصائل مازالت بعافيتها ووضوحها وجرأتها وشجاعتها ومواقفها الوطنية المحترمة وبشعبيتها ومقاومتها لما كانت استطاعت الحركات الإسلامية تجاوزها والقفز فوقها والاستحواذ على الشباب الفلسطيني. وللأسف فان بعض تلك الحركات الإسلامية الفلسطينية يبدو انه لا يعرف أو لا يريد أن  يعرف أن عدو الشعب الفلسطيني والأمة العربية والمسلمين هم الصهاينة الذين يحتلون فلسطين. لذا تراهم استبدلوا العدو بالسوريين والعلويين وأيضا بعضهم صار الآن يعادي الشيعة وحزب الله وسيد شرفاء الدنيا ومقاوميها السيد حسن نصرالله… هؤلاء خلقوا لأنفسهم عدوا وهميا يحاربونه في بلاد الشام وتركوا العدو الأول والأخير يسرح ويمرح براحته متفرجا ومنتشيا على حفلات الذبح والنحر والإعدامات التي تقيمها تلك الجماعات في بلاد الشام.

في موقع التواصل الاجتماعي فيسبوك وفي الصفحة التي ذكرت وجدت شريط فيديو يتحدث فيه شخص فلسطيني من المجاهدين يدعى الزعيم، لكن اسمه الحقيقي هو أسامة أبو خطاب، حيث هكذا علق على الفيديو وعرف به صديقه خليل إبراهيم من كتائب القسام في غزة. والذي قال في تعليقه على شريط فيديو أول نشر بتاريخ 29-3-2013 : (كلمات من الأخ أبو خطاب من ارض الشام ألحقنا الله به).. وفي تعليق ردا على هذا الشخص كتب احدهم : “انشالله كلاكما ستلحقان بمن سبقكما مثل قطينة وابو قشطة..).. وفي تعليق على فيديو آخر للزعيم نشر يوم أول أمس 20-6-2013 قال القسامي او الحمساوي او كلاهما معا، خليل إبراهيم : (والله رجل في زمن انعدم في الرجال يا أسامة).  أين العقل والوعي والفكر والفهم والعمق والتحليل والرؤية عند هؤلاء؟؟؟ .. اذا كان هؤلاء هم من يحكمون شعب فلسطين في غزة فكان الله في عونك يا شعب القطاع. 

انظروا ماذا كتبت صفحة التجمع المذكور :(مجاهد فلسطيني من مدينة غزة الأبية الصامدة يعلن عن اسر 55 شبيح واغ … أحد المجاهدين من شباب غزة الملقب بالزعيم، والذي خرج من فلسطين _ غزة إلى سوريا نصرة للأحرار، وهو يلقي كلمة بعد اغتنام احد الاسحلة من جيش الطاغي بشار الأسد …)..

 وماذا يقول هذا وأمثاله في الفيديو المرفق

بعد الشتم والتكفير للعلوييين النصيريين يدعو الفيديو الذي يتكلم فيه الزعيم أسامة أبو خطاب ورفاقه، الجنود السوريين لإلقاء سلاحهم أو الفرار .. ويهددونهم بان لديهم55 أسيرا سوف يتم ذبحهم وقطع رؤوسهم، وان مصيرهم هم أيضا في حال اعتقلوا سيكون مثل مصير هؤلاء الأسرى .. ويتباهى ابن غزة الذي لا يشرف غزة ان يكون هو وأمثاله منها، الزعيم أسامة أبو خطاب بالقول في الفيديو أن رؤوس الجنود الأسرى ال 55 يجب ان تكون بعيدة متر عن أجسادهم.  وتابع ان هذا مصير كل شخص مع الرئيس بشار الأسد. طبعا صرخات التكبير ( الله اكبر) كانت حاضرة بين كل كم جملة تقال. وفي الشريط الأول الذي سبق هذا الشريط كان الزعيم يتحدث بنفس اللغة التكفيرية المذهبية الطائفية الحاقدة. 

أما المعلقين في صفحة التجمع فقد كانوا مختلفين في آرائهم بين مؤيد ومعارض لوجود الزعيم في سورية، وذكره الكثيرون منهم بان الجهاد في فلسطين هو الأهم، وانه ترك ارض الجهاد حيث يتم تدنيس المقدسات وعلى رأسها المسجد الأقصى يوميا، وسافر للقتال في سورية حيث ان قتاله لا هو جهاد ولا ما يحزنون، بل كفر ووقوف مع الصهاينة ضد العرب والمسلمين. بعضهم  أيضا حياه واعتز بأنه من غزة العزة، غزة القسام والإسلام..الخ. أكثرية التعليقات للأسف كانت تنم عن جهل وضلالة وتطرف وغالبيتها جاءت من قطاع غزة حيث تعود لمعلقين إما من حماس والقسام أو لإسلاميين اشد تطرفا وهم بغالبيتهم الساحقة أيضا من غزة.

هناك معلقين للأسف من أعداء الزعيم مذهبيا وطائفيا إما أنهم تكفيريين ومذهبين مثله إما أنهم جهلة وحمقى وأغبياء أو عنصريين كذلك.. هؤلاء يستغلون أي فرصة تلوح في الإعلام لشن هجمات لاذعة وعنصرية ضد الشعب الفلسطيني كله. فإن أخطأت حماس لا يهاجمونها وحدها بل يهاجمون الفلسطينيين كلهم ويعيرونهم بأنهم لغاية اليوم لم يحرروا فلسطين وكأن بلادهم- بلادنا العربية مستقلة وذات سيادة وماشالله عنها كلها… هذا منطق تافه و حقير ورخيص ومفرق وهدام لوحدة الأمة ومسيء لمقاومتها. للأسف ان المراقب في فيسبوك يلحظ تزايد أعداد الذين يهاجمون الشعب الفلسطيني بشكل عام والمخيمات الفلسطينية في لبنان بشكل خاص.وهناك للأسف سوريون ولبنانيون يقومون بهذه الأدوار. هؤلاء يجب أن يعلموا أنهم لا يقلوا سوءا عن الزعيم وأمثاله.   

قبل الزعيم قتل في منطقة ادلب السورية القسامي محمد قطينة احد أهم قادة كتائب القسام وخبراءها العسكريين في غزة وهو من مخيم الشاطئ. هذا القسامي تدرب على القتال وصناعة المتفجرات واستخدام الصواريخ وحفر الأنفاق عند السوريين في معسكرات الجيش العربي السوري وفي معسكرات الجبهة الشعبية القيادة العامة، وعلى أيدي خبراء أيضا من حزب الله.  وماذا بعد؟ تدرب عندهم ثم ذهب ليقاتلهم ويقتلهم.. هذه خيانة فالذي خان من دربوه كي يقاتل الصهاينة وجاء الى سورية ليقاتلهم هم بدلا من مقاتلة محتلي فلسطين ومحاصري غزة لا يجب ان تنعاه القسام وتجعل منه بطلا. نقول ذلك لان حماس نعته عبر مساجد ومواقع القسام وكأنه استشهد في قلب القدس المحتلة أو في معركة مع الجنود الصهاينة في غزة. 

  

حزنت كثيرا وخجلت من أن بعض أبناء شعبنا قتلة وتكفيريين مع سبق الإصرار. وآلمني أن يأتي فلسطيني من غزة المحاصرة والمستباحة من الاحتلال الصهيوني ليقاتل أمته العربية في سوريا. حزنت كذلك لأنه بعد تتبعي للتعليقات في المجموعة المسماة التجمع الفلسطيني لنصرة الثورة السورية تأكدت ان هذا الشخص قطاع الرؤوس للأسف فلسطيني من غزة واسمه أسامة أبو خطاب. وغضبت لأنه بينما حركة حماس تدعي الحياد في موضوع سورية وهي كاذبة في هذا الادعاء، وبينما هي توقف المقاومة في فلسطين المحتلة وتستسلم لتهدئة طويلة المدى مع الاحتلال الصهيوني، نجد عناصرها قساميون وغير قساميين في فيسبوك يباركون إجرام إخوتهم من جهاديي غزة في سورية، هؤلاء المجاهدين الضالين الذين سافروا للجهاد ضد (الكفار) في سورية تاركين (المؤمنين) الصهاينة اليهود يحتلون فلسطين ويحاصرون ويجوعون غزة، ويدنسون الأقصى، ويقيمون في بيوت أهاليهم بفلسطين المحتلة. 

 

قناعتي أصبحت واضحة :

 مع مثل هؤلاء البشر لا يمكن أن تتحرر فلسطين فهؤلاء لن يساهموا في تحرير فلسطين ولا في عزة ورفعة شان شعبها.

مع مثل هؤلاء الناس لا يمكن العيش ولا الحياة. لان عقولهم مغيبة وقلوبهم ميتة وفلسطين ليست قضيتهم الأولى.  

 لذا نقول: فلسطين بريئة من الزعيم ومن أمثاله سواء كانوا في سورية أو في غزة أو في أي مكان آخر..

ونقول كما قالت نساء سورية لعن الله كل من يضلل و يرسل هؤلاء من فلسطين الى سورية لان الذي يرسلهم لا بد انه يخدم الصهاينة فقط لا غير…

* مدير موقع الصفصاف

روابط صفحات وأشرطة فيديو عن الموضوع

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=144379192403247&set=vb.100004935007078&type=2&theater سامي ايو خطاب من غزة في سورية

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=171315789709587&set=vb.100004935007078&type=2&theater

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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=251836474957286&set=a.147070868767181.33089.100003928056805&type=1&theater

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https://www.facebook.com/kheleal

صور ذات علاقة

عرض عسكري لحماس في غزة يرفعون خلاله علم الجيش الحر

الزعيم في الفيديو يهدد بذبح الجنود الأسرى وقطع رؤوسهم

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التكفيري وليد الطبطبائي

رئيس التشريعي الفلسطيني:الإطاحة بنظام الأسد أولوية تتقدم على الجهاد

Qatari Emir Hamad Abdicates in Favor of His Son, The decline of the role and the end of the myth

The emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa abdicated in favor of his 33-year-old son Sheikh Tamim on Tuesday, in a first for the Arab world.”I announce handing the rule over to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani,” the emir said in a televised speech. The decision marks the “beginning of a new era in which a young leadership will hold the banner,” he added.After the speech, Al-Jazeera television aired footage of citizens arriving at the palace in Doha to swear allegiance to Tamim, who stood next to his father to welcome the visitors.Sheikh Hamad came to power in a coup in which he overthrew his own father Sheikh Khalifa in June 1995. The occasion was marked by the declaration of Tuesday as a public holiday.

Source: AFP 25-06-2013 – 10:00 Last updated 25-06-2013 – 10:00

 

أفول الدور ونهاية الأسطورة

‏الثلاثاء‏، 25‏ حزيران‏، 2013

أوقات الشام

ناهض حتر

بقدر ما كرهنا شعار «… أولاً»، فإن الأمر مع الإمبراطورية القَطرية مختلفٌ؛ فـ«قطر أوّلاً» يعني أفول الدور المسموم لإمبراطورية افتراضية، نشأت جراء اللقاء الاستثنائي لعناصر عديدة متعارضة ـــ وإنْ شكلياً ـــ توحدت في مشروع إقليمي مروّع، عنوانه قطر.

إنما، منذ اليوم، سيكون على الأمير الجديد، تميم بن حَمد، أن يعالج ثلاثة تحديات كبرى، عنوانها، جميعاً، «قَطر أولاً». التحدي الأول اقتصادي ـــ مالي؛ فالجموح القَطري، خلال العقد المنصرم، للتوسّع في الاستثمار في السوق العالمية والإقليمية، وفي مجالات لا تبدأ بالغاز ولا تنتهي بالمولات، تجاوز الخط البرتقالي للخطر، ويتجه صوب الخط الأحمر؛ فالحجم الكلي للاستثمارات القَطرية لم يعد ممكناً احتساب مداه الفعلي، ولا موجوداته، ولا شبكاته، ولا المخاطر المحيقة به، ولا قدرة الخزينة القَطرية على الوفاء بالالتزامات المترتبة على تورّماته.

ورغم أن الاستثمارات القَطرية، كما يقول اقتصادي أردني، لا يمكن الإحاطة بها وتفكيك خيوطها، إلا أن المؤكد أن حجمها أصبح أكبر من القدرات المالية القَطرية. والشاهد أن قَطر تستدين، الآن، بسعر فائدة عال بالمعايير الدولية هو 5 بالمئة، ما يدلّ على الاضطرار، ربما المؤقت، لتمويل هذا الالتزام الاستثماري أو ذاك، ولكنه دالّ. إن الشروع في استثمار ما لا يعني تمويله بالكامل، وإنما تسديد نسبة من إجمالي الاستثمار، بينما يتحوّل الباقي إلى مديونية ملزمة. وسيكون على الشيخ تميم، الآن، تنفيس البالون، وإعادة هيكلة الاستثمارات القَطرية، وإلا فإن قَطر ستواجه انهياراً مالياً، أو أقلّه أزمة مالية شبيهة بأزمة دبي.

التحدي الثاني يتمثل بمستقبل قطاع الغاز؛ فسواحل المتوسّط حبلى بمخزون من الغاز، من شأنه، في غضون السنوات القليلة المقبلة، أن يغيّر معادلات الاستثمار والإنتاج والأسعار والأنابيب والنقل الخ. الغاز هو المستقبل القريب في مجال الطاقة؛ فهو أرخص وأكفأ وأقلّ إضراراً بالبيئة من النفط، وإنتاجه بكميات ضخمة وعلى نطاق واسع وتوزيعه في شبكات دولية وإقليمية من الأنابيب والناقلات، سيحلّه محلّ النفط. بالنسبة إلى روسيا ـــ الإمبراطورية الحقيقية التي تدرك مخاطر وفرص مرحلة الغاز الآتية ــت فإنها تتحضّر للمستقبل من خلال خوض الصراع الدامي في سوريا ـــ والمنطقة ـــ حتى النهاية، ومراكمة قوى الأسطول في البحر المتوسّط، وبسط السيطرة المالية على قبرص، وهيكلة علاقة العصا والجزرة مع إسرائيل. وفي هذه المواجهة الكبرى، وضعت الدوحة، كل إمكاناتها المالية والإعلامية وعلاقاتها الاستخبارية وأدواتها من الإخوان والإرهابيين و«المثقفين»، قبل أن تصطدم بالجدار، وتكتشف أن الإمبراطوريات الافتراضية ليس لها مكان في عالم الإمبراطوريات الحقيقية؛ فالصراع تحدّد الآن بالقوتين العظميين، روسيا الاتحادية والولايات المتحدة.

 

وقبيل الذروة بقليل، وجد الأميركيون أنه لم يعد، هناك، إمكانية لدور قَطري خاصّ؛ فالولايات المتحدة سوف تمسك بالملفات مباشرة، وعلى الدوحة أن تضع قدراتها وشبكة علاقاتها، بالكامل، بين يدي المندوب السامي الأميركي الذي أبلغ الحَمدين بقرار الاستغناء عن خدماتهما.وهنا يأتي التحدي الثالث أمام الشيخ تميم. وهو إعادة هيكلة العلاقة مع واشنطن على أساس الالتزام الحرفي بالمتطلبات اليومية للسياسة الأميركية، والامتناع عن المبادرات، والتموضع، عربياً، في إطار مجلس التعاون الخليجي تحت القيادة السعودية. يلقي هذا التحوّل بأعباء كبيرة على الشيخ تميم الذي سيكون مضطراً إلى إقناع أصدقائه الإخوان المسلمين بنهاية الهامش الذي يميّز حركتهم السياسية عن النهج الأميركي. من الآن وصاعداً، لن يكون هناك ذلك الهامش، لقوى الإسلام السياسي و ـــ خصوصاً ـــ حركة حماس (وكذلك «للمفكرين» و«المثقفين» و«الإعلاميين» التابعين للدوحة). لا يعني ذلك أن قطر في عهد تميم سوف تتخلى عن شبكة أصدقائها وتابعيها، ولكن سيكون عليهم من الآن وصاعداً أن يتفهّموا أن الدور القطري قد أَفُلَ، وأنهم مضطرون إلى الظهور العلني في الخط الأميركي أو المغادرة إلى منازلهم.

الأردن هو المستفيد رقم واحد من التغيير في قطر؛ فالشيخ تميم هو صديق للملك عبد الله الثاني، وصديق شخصي لأخيه الأمير علي. وكان الشيخ تميم، دائماً، الوسيط القطري المقبول في عمان التي تكنّ عداءً وازدراءً شديدين لرئيس الوزراء القَطري، حمد بن جاسم الذي كان يحلم، بدوره، بريع أردني يخوّله النفوذ ويمنحه الترحاب في عاصمة الملك حسين، العدو القديم للحَمدين.المسؤولون الأردنيون مرتاحون كلياً لتسلّم الشيخ تميم السلطة في الدوحة، وتحت إشراف مباشر من الأميركيين، يعني ذلك نهاية الأجندة القَطرية الخاصة بالأردن، ودفع الإخوان إلى التعاون مع السلطات، والأهم الحصول على المساعدات القَطرية التي حُرم منها الأردن طويلاً.

الفوائض المالية الضخمة، والسلطة المطلقة في مجتمع قبلي صغير جداً، والخيال السياسي الجامح لشخصية مركّبة، أرادت، رغم انتفاء جميع الشروط الموضوعية، أن تبني دوراً إقليمياً ودولياً للإمارة الخليجية الهامشية التي لا يمنحها التاريخ ولا تعطيها الجغرافيا، ولا يساعدها الحجم، ولا يسعفها الإرث الثقافي، لأن تحتلّ أكثر من الجلوس في ظل العباءة السعودية. نحن نتحدث، بالطبع، عن شخصية حمد بن جاسم، الشخصية المحورية في الأسطورة القَطرية التي انطلقت عام 1995 من انقلاب قصر لم يتم الالتفات إليه، لتنتهي وهي تفرض سطوتها على الجامعة العربية، وأكبر دولها (مصر)، وتشن حروباً على دولتين من دول الأنظمة القومية، ليبيا وسوريا، وتهدد الجزائر، وتتحكم بالثورتين، التونسية والمصرية، وبحركة حماس، وتمدّ يدها الطويلة في أرجاء العالم العربي، تخاصم السعودية، وتعادي الأردن، وتلعب في الساحة اللبنانية الخ.

حرية الحركة، من دون اعتراض داخلي أو قيود اجتماعية ـــ سياسية ـــ ثقافية، وفائض الثروة، أغريا الحَمَدين، بالثورة على الستاتيكو العربي، وكانت الاستخبارات البريطانية، وإسرائيل، والإخوان المسلمون على موعد مع «الجزيرة»/ الجغرافيا ـــ التي أمّنت نفسها بمظلة سياسية وقاعدة عسكرية أميركية. وأطلقت، في وعي مبكّر للقدرات الإعلامية السحرية للتلفزيون الفضائي، وعلى رأسها تحويل الهامشيّ إلى مركزي، وتركيب المشهد الباهر الذي يوظّف الصورة والكلمة والمراسلين والمثقفين والمناضلين والمعارضين وشيوخ الدين وفلسطين والحدث والذاكرة، للسيطرة على العقول والقلوب، وتشغيلها، في الوقت المناسب، لفرض الوهابية كأيديولوجيا «للثورات العربية»، وتظهير ممكنات الصراع المذهبي، وإشعاله، وتسخير الإرهاب، والمال دائماً، لخدمة إمبراطورية افتراضية، ارتطمت بالجدار السوري، فإذا بها تنكشف عن مستعمرة هامشية.

الاخبار

WHO IS THE THREAT TO WORLD PEACE? CHRISTIANS, JEWS, OR MUSLIMS!

 

Since the 1979 Iranian revolution and  the downfall of the US Puppet Ruler the Shah, Iran has been an Islamic state. In that interval of time, 1979 to the present, Iran has not invaded anyone. Not once.   People of all religions live in peace in Iran, even Jews, who find life so comfortable in Iran they refused an offer by the government of Israel to emigrate!

In the same period of time, Israel, a self-declared Jewish state, attacked Iraq in 1981, bombing the power station at Osirik, claiming it was a clandestine weapons factory. Subsequent examination of the ruins following the 2003 invasion proved Israel had lied. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. This led to the Massacres at Sabra and Shatilla. In February 2003 Israel staged incursions into Gaza and Nablus.  In September 2007 Israel bombed Syria, again insisting they were destroying a clandestine weapons laboratory. Again there was no evidence to support Israel’s claims. In 2006, Israel attacked Lebanon, killing 1200, mostly civilians, several UN observers, and littering the landscape with land mines on their way out. In February 2008 Israel again raided Gaza,  killing over 100. HAMAS agreed to a cease fire and kept it for 6 months until November 4, when Israel again attacked without warning, killing 6 HAMAS members, and launching operation CAST LEAD. 1300 Gazans, mostly civilians, were killed. Israel lost 13 soldiers.  Violations of international law included the use of White Phosphorus incendiary bombs against civilians and non-military targets. The  United Nations investigated, but Israel refused to cooperate. In May 2010, Israel attacked an international aid flotilla bringing food and medical supplies to Gaza in international waters. 9 people were murdered including an American from New York.

In the same period of time, the United States, officially a secular nation but predominantly Christian, attacked El Salvador (1980), Libya (1981), Sinai (1982), Lebanon (1982 1983), Egypt (1983), Grenada (1983), Honduras (1983),   Chad (1983), Persian Gulf (1984), Libya (1986) , Bolivia (1986), Iran (1987), Persian Gulf (1987), Kuwait (1987), Iran (1988),  Honduras (1988), Panama (1988), Libya (1989), Panama (1989),  Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru (1989), Philippines (1989), Panama (1989-1990), Liberia (1990), Saudi Arabia (1990), Iraq (1991), Zaire (1991), Sierra Leone (1992), Somalia (1992), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1993 to present), Macedonia (1993), Haiti (1994), Macedonia (1994), Bosnia (1995), Liberia (1996), Central African Republic (1996), Albania (1997), Congo/Gabon (1997), Sierra Leon (1997), Cambodia (1997), Iraq (1998), Guinea/Bissau (1998), Kenya/Tanzania (1998 to 1999), Afghanistan/Sudan (1998), Liberia (1998), East Timor (1999), Serbia (1999), Sierra Leon (2000), Yemen (2000), East Timor (2000), Afghanistan (2001 to present), Yemen (2002), Philippines (2002) , Cote d’Ivoire (2002),  Iraq (2003 to present), Liberia (2003), Georgia/Djibouti (2003), Haiti (2004), Georgia/Djibouti/Kenya/Ethiopia/Yemen/Eritrea War on Terror (2004), Pakistan drone attacks (2004 to present),  Somalia (2007), South Ossetia/Georgia (2008), Syria (2008), Yemen (2009), Haiti (2010), etc. etc. etc. etc.

So, who is the danger to world peace?

The United States Seized Confidential Mail Records Of European Parliament

 

I can’t say I’m surprised – but we’ve got the United States and its security bureaucrats digging through our e-mail in the European Parliament. Mashable reveals that the United States has demanded information from Google about the communications of two Wikileaks activists. One of them is the Icelander Smári McCarthy (pictured).

These events catch our interest here in Brussels, here at the Pirate Party office in the European Parliament. We know Smári, and we have contacted him as a consultant to produce a report on Iceland as an “information paradise” and a conceivable centre for cloud computing (www.islandsofresilience.eu).

A quick check reveals that we have been in touch with Smári (through Erik Josefsson), via his Gmail account, regarding this report during the time period when the United States was wiretapping his mail.

Now, this is not about keeping secrets. That’s not the point. (And besides, we would never use Gmail for anything sensitive.) But there’s an important issue of principle here.

The United States is breaking into and digging through mail between the European Parliament and people who have been commissioned to produce its political reports. This is completely unacceptable.

The United States is not supposed to spy on political parties. The United States is not supposed to spy on the Members of the European Parliament. The United States is not supposed to break into and dig through the daily routine work of the European legislative body.

For now, I’m mostly pissed off. Later, I will consider how to handle this issue. I will probably raise these events at a formal level with the European Parliament

About One Week of US Military Spending Would Wipe Out World Hunger

Anthony Gucciardi Infowars.com June 24, 2013 http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/about-one-week-of-us-military-spending-would-wipe-out-world-hunger/44672/

As continued reports of expensive and devastating military drone strikes roll in from overseas, which have actually taken the lives of US citizens in addition to countless innocents, virtually no one is talking about the very realistic expense of literally solving world hunger. An overall expense that has been calculated to be about $30 billion per year. To put that into perspective for you, the US military spent $737 billion on ‘military defense’ in 2012, $30 billion of which is about 8 days of such an expenditure.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that it is not the ‘job’ of the United States populace and government to go around saving the word in every manner, but it’s especially not the job of the nation to be policing the world through military dominance based on fabrications and laughable WMD allegations. The bloated military budget is funding things like drone strikes on innocents (to which the real figures have been scrubbed by the Air Force), the continuation of an excessive 1,000 or so military bases around the globe, and a series of new wars brought upon by political rhetoric.

But it’s not even about the military budget.

As The Borgen Project notes on their website, feeding the world actually offers benefits beyond the basic moral implications (that most corporations and politicians couldn’t care less about). Even the Los Angeles Times has written about how spending the 30 billion to annihilate the massive worldwide starvation crisis, or perhaps even a fraction of it for less, would generate business on a level that would trump virtually any form of economic ‘recovery’ that may be hiding behind the next financial meltdown scare.

We’re talking about a new revolution of individuals who were previously unable to work, let alone walk, now providing economic value to the world. Perhaps most importantly, we’re talking about a method that could solve the highly complicated immigration problem once and for all. An initiative that could ultimately save many more billions from this fact alone.

Solving The Immigration Problem

The inherent problem regarding immigration is extremely simple: more people want to get into the United States and other developed nations than can be let in for reasons of economy, stability, and otherwise. But why do they want to get into these nations? Well, for one we’re talking about people who live in third world scenarios, and they are living a poor lifestyle. But an even larger issue which affects billions is the lack of basic food and water. Now we’re talking billions, and virtually everyone’s ‘answer’ in this situation is to go ahead and move somewhere else like the United States — oftentimes done so illegally.

Now instead of doing something ludacris like letting the hundreds of millions/billions of hopeful immigrants into the country and suffering the inevitable destruction of the nation’s infrastructure, you can actually go in and fix at least some issues with where these people are coming from. The $30 billion that goes into solving world hunger, for example, may be enough to cause inhabitants of third world nations to instead stay in their present countries. To instead take up employment within that nation, and therefore expand that economy.

Through generating reasons to stay, this effectively reduces the number of those who would seek to game the system of the developed world and come into developed nations as illegal immigrants. And over time, it drastically improves the wealth and infrastructure of the nations themselves.

Will this ever come to fruition? Will the corrupt corporate-owned government ever dish out enough cash to potentially fix the root issue of this problem? Not unless we force them to through activism. But to have the knowledge is the first step, and knowing that just a bit over one week of military spending could alleviate world hunger for around a billion people is indeed a powerful amount of knowledge.

From Tripoli to Saida, a Map of Lebanon’s Battlegrounds

A masked gunman and supporter of Lebanon’s radical Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir walks in the central Nur square in the northern city of Tripoli on 24 June 2013. (Photo: AFP – Ibrahim Chalhoub)

 

By: Nasser Charara

 

Published Monday, June 24, 2013

 

A number of flashpoints litter Lebanon. Reports of armed groups backed by foreign intelligence services note that they seek a climate that would drag Hezbollah into a sectarian war. Although Hezbollah is keen on showing patience and restraint – at least politically – it is ready to suppress them, if necessary, militarily.The armed groups in Tripoli, Saida, and the Tariq al-Jdideh district of Beirut all have similar methods and composition, which could mean that they are controlled by a single entity. In the aftermath of the Saida battles between the Lebanese Army and Ahmad al-Assir’s militants, certain conclusions can be drawn from these groups’ capabilities to withstand a sweeping military operation.

Saida and Salafi Cleric Ahmad al-Assir

Last week, Salafi cleric Ahmad al-Assir tested his military capabilities on the ground. Around 120 of Assir’s gunmen deployed throughout the city. There were also reports that al-Jamaa al-Islamiya took part in the ensuing clashes, but Assir failed to attract the support of groups in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.

For two hours, Assir’s fighters fired in the air and at supposed Hezbollah buildings. But after some time, Assir’s groups received warning shots from heavy machine guns and two B-10 shells, throwing Assir’s militants – and him personally – into disarray.

This did not stop Assir’s men from crossing a red line by attacking a Lebanese Army checkpoint on Sunday, June 23, killing a number of soldiers and prompting a decisive reaction from the military, which has continued into today.

Tripoli

In the north Lebanese city of Tripoli, for example, there are two red lines that the militants will not be allowed to cross: entering Jabal Mohsen, which is likely to lead to a Syrian army intervention; and threatening the strongholds of Suleiman Franjieh.

The facts on the ground indicate that the main function of Tripoli militants is nothing more than to stir up trouble. For instance, the fighters led by Salafi cleric Hussam al-Sabbagh in Bab al-Tabbaneh do not number more than 400. Other groups include Jund Allah, a 110-strong group led by Sheikh Kanaan Naji, and Saad al-Masri’s group of 40 militants.

In all the battles between Jabal Mohsen and its surroundings, the militants have only tried once to storm a building at the entrance of Jabal Mohsen. However, the Arab Democratic Party quickly responded with dozens of shells of intermediate caliber, forcing the attackers to retreat.
Meanwhile, whether in Tripoli or other flashpoints, Syrian refugees are a factor in the calculations. Indeed, a segment of the refugee population has become the equivalent of reserve forces for the armed groups.

The bottom line is that eradicating the militants from Tripoli would not be impossible if they were to cross any red lines. Envisaging such a scenario necessitates learning the lessons of the battle of Qusayr, where Hezbollah, for the first time in its history, carried out a major offensive.

Qusayr’s military implications are clear. They demonstrate that Hezbollah has accrued extensive abilities in coordinating the operations of various military formations, such as ground support and artillery; command over the movement of forces in an area ​​nearly half the size as ​​northern Lebanon; and can utilize its military intelligence to change the circumstances of battle.

Tariq al-Jdideh

Militants in the Tariq al-Jdideh neighborhood of Beirut are trying to establish a demarcation line with the Shia neighborhoods, particularly the area of Shiyah.

The number of militants in Tariq al-Jdideh barely numbers a thousand. They include Salafi fighters of Palestinian and Syrian nationalities, as well as other local fighters. The nearby Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila also funnel fighters to the area, as is the case with the 40-member group led by Abu Khamis al-Beiruti.

These militants do not have adequate combat training. This assessment was put to the test when Tariq al-Jdideh’s fighters attacked the Arab Movement Party headquarters nearly a year ago. Back then, the party’s offices fell as a result of deception alone.

In truth, it would have been possible to rescue the headquarters if a coordinated force from outside the area had intervened, while the cost of eradicating the Tariq al-Jdideh flashpoint would not have exceeded, at worst, 20 casualties.

Nehme-Coastal Road

The militant groups stationed in Nehme along the coastal road to Khaldeh do not number more than 200 fighters. These militants’ purpose is to block the coastal road between Beirut and Saida in times of unrest. Another possible role is to break into the tunnels of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) holed up in the hills in Nehme.

In fact, nearly a week ago, a fire was deliberately started near the entrance of the tunnels, causing planted mines to explode.

Conclusions

A military reading of the above-mentioned flashpoints suggests the following conclusions:

– The common feature among all the militants is the lack of organization and the absence of professional training.

– The intelligence services backing the militants have only invested in Syrian refugees in a limited fashion. As soon as many of these refugees arrive in Lebanon, they are given money to purchase mobile phones and laptops. At best, this would only allow them to communicate with the opposition coordination committees on social media platforms, and is of no use in building up any significant militant grouping.

– In any simulation of a hypothetical war, should red lines be crossed in Tripoli or Saida, learning from the Qusayr experience will be vital.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

Jewish terror state’s extremist Lieberman Calls for “Reoccupying” Gaza

http://imemc.org/article/65725

Israeli Member of Knesset, head of the Foreign and Security Committee, Avigdor Lieberman, stated Monday [June 24 2013] that Israel should seriously consider “reoccupying and imposing fill Israeli military and security control over the Gaza Strip”.

                   Avigdor Lieberman -wikimedia

His statements came during an interview with the Israeli Radio. He said that “should Israel fail to respond for shells fired from Gaza, Hamas will own planes and hundreds of missiles that can strike Tel Aviv and Netanya”.
Lieberman added that Hamas “is not interested in living next to the Jews in Israel”, and added that Tel Aviv needs to “return to the Gaza Strip, and perform a root cleanup”.
He told the Radio that he does not know what Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister, Moshe Ya’alon, think about his “proposal”, but added that they should consider it.
Responding to his comments, head of the Meretz Israeli Movement, Member of Knesset, Zahava Gal-On, stated that Lieberman is trying to wage war by his irresponsible behaviors and statements.
Gal-On added that Netanyahu needs to act on easing tension, and to stop “the winds of war blowing in his coalition”.

UPDATE FROM SIDON

The clashes between the army and Al-Assir gang did not happen randomly, it was a premeditated scheme on behalf of Al-Assir . The shooting is still going on near the mosque and the Lebanese army is about to enter the mosque of Bilal Ben Rabah. Al-Assir thugs are hiding in several building apartments that they have occupied previously and changed in fortresses filling them with weapons and equipment. This makes the fighting more difficult for the army because civilians live also in these buildingg. The fighting also is going on in the Palestinian camp of Ain Al Helwe in the Ta’mir region where Al-Assir thugs- affiliated to Jund Al Sham and Fateh Al Islam -are shooting trying to relieve the stress from the battle in Abra . Armed thugs on motorcycles are roaming the downtown area of Saida shooting in the air to terrorize people. The great difficulty for the army lies in two things, the snipers that are spread all over the roofs and are shooting on people, and the hiding of the thugs among civilians in buildings. Also shooting have been heard around Al Quds mosque where Sheikh Maher Hammoud is found and the security people around him have retaliated . The victims of the Lebanese army are 15 and there are more than 40 wounded and injured , among them officers. The thugs are not only Lebanese, great number of them are Syrians and Palestinians with extremely sophisticated equipment and very sophisticated cameras that they use to spy on the army, also very sophisticated Australian rifles that the snipers are using. Some of the Syrian thugs are affiliated to the FSA. They have received a very extensive training at the hand of Gulf intelligence people (mainly Qatar) and are being covered b y high officials in the Lebanese government. The fate of Al-Assir himself is not known, it is known that he had previously evacuated with some of his gangs to the Hilaliyah region in the vicinity of Saida, that is a wild place where it is difficult to track them. Everything seems to have been prepared for these events and the goal is to create havoc in Saida that is considered to be the gate to southern Lebanon.

خطاب مرسي: ترجمة لمقررات مؤتمر شيوخ الفتنة بقيادة مسيلمة الكذاب ” القرضاوي ”

 

خطاب الرئيس الاخواني المصري

ترجمة لمقررات مؤتمر شيوخ الفتنة بقيادة مسيلمة الكذاب ” القرضاوي “
بقلم : أكرم عبيد
بعد هزيمة العصابات الإرهابية المسلحة في معركة القصير تحت ضربات الجيش العربي السوري الباسل وتدحرج الكرة لمواقع إستراتيجية في سورية أخرى أحرجت العملاء الصغار والأدوات وانعكست تداعياتها عليهم بشكل مباشر بعدما انفجرت الانتفاضة الشعبية التركية لتحرق أصابع أردوغان المتآمرة وليضيق صدر السيد الأمريكي بترهات أمير قطر الذي انتهت صلاحياته فصدرت أوامر البيت الأسود الأمريكي بتنحيه وتسليم ولي عهده أما عواجيز السعودية فهم مجبرين على المكابرة بعد استجداء وتحريض الأنظمة الأوروبية على تسليح العصابات الإرهابية المسلحة بالرغم من هزائمها .

وفي كل الأحوال أكد المراقبون أن الأحداث المتسارعة في سورية اصبحت لمصلحة الشعب العربي السوري المقاوم وقواته المسلحة الباسلة بقيادة الرئيس بشار الأسد بعد حوالي عامين ونصف على الحرب الكونية المعلنة على سورية بكل الأشكال والوسائل السياسية العسكرية والاقتصادية والدبلوماسية والإعلام بالإضافة لسياسة العزل والحصار وتصدير الإرهاب والارهابين لكن سورية صمدت بوحدة شعبها وقواتها المسلحة وقيادتها التاريخية التي قادت المعركة في كل الجبهات بحكمة وحنكة مميزة وهزمت تحالف الشر الدولي بقيادة العدو الصهيوامريكي الذي اسقط رهانه على أنظمة الردة المتصهينة ليراهن على نظام حكم المرشد في مصر بقيادة الرئيس الاخواني محمد مرسي معتقدين ومتوهمين أنه سيحقق لهم من البوابة المصرية ما عجز عن تحقيقه المنهزمون في سورية لحفظ شيء من ماء وجوههم فأطلقوا العنان لتصريحات الإدارة الأمريكية المربكة وكل من يدور في فلكها من الأنظمة الغربية التي أعلنت تسليح المعارضة لخلق شيء من التوازن الاستراتيجي على الأرض كما يتوهمون لقطع الطريق على عقد مؤتمر جنيف2 بعد هزيمة العصابات الإرهابية المسلحة وتقدم الجيش العربي السوري على أكثر من جبهة ومحور .

وقد ترافقت هذه الدعوات مع تحرك مشبوه للعملاء الصغار في المنطقة لدعوة شيوخ الفتنة بقيادة مسيلمة الكذاب ” القرضاوي ” لعقد مؤتمر ما يسمى المجلس ألتنسيقي الإسلامي العالمي في القاهرة لدعم ومناصرة القضية السورية المزعومة تحت عنوان” موقف علماء الأمة تجاه القضية السورية ” لتنفيذ أجندة أعداء الأمة عبر إصدار المزيد من الفتاوى الدينية التحريضية الطائفية وفي مقدمتها الدعوة للجهاد في سورية وليس في فلسطين المحتلة بحضور ومباركة الرئيس المصري الاخواني محمد مرسي الذي توج مقررات هذا المؤتمر الطائفية العنصرية الماسونية بخطاب عرمرمي أعلن خلاله قطع العلاقات المصرية مع سورية وشن هجوما عنصريا طائفيا على حزب الله بحجة تدخله في ألازمة الداخلية السورية وطالب قيادة الحزب بالانسحاب من سورية فوراً متجاهلاً التدخل الخارجي الدولي الذي صَدّر العصابات الإرهابية المسلحة من كل أصقاع العالم لقتل السوريين وتدمير بناهم التحتية والمجتمعية ومؤسساتهم الوطنية وفي مقدمتها الجيش والأجهزة الأمنية متجاهلا عصابات الإخوان في مصر والأجهزة الاستخباراتية الغربية وفي مقدمتها الاستخبارات الصهيونية ووحدات من النخبة التابعة للجيش الصهيوني .

وهذا بصراحة ليس غريبا ولا مستغربا على السيد مرسي الذي أعلن الحرب على سورية كما أعلنها على الشعب المصري العظيم ومؤسساته الوطنية منذ اختطاف ثورة الخامس والعشرين من يناير ليعيدوا مصر أسوأ مما كانت عليه في عهد نظام مبارك الساقط لتدمير أسس الدولة المصرية العريقة ومؤسساتها الوطنية من اجل أخونتها على طريقة السلطان العثماني الجديد رجب طيب أردوغان وهذا يعني ببساطة أن نظام حكم المرشد مُصّر على وضع مصر في دائرة الفوضى الذي قد يتجه لاقتتال طائفي بين أبناء الشعب المصري ليهدد الأمن القومي المصري والعربي بشكل جدي لتبقى مصر لأعوام طويلة أسيرة مشاكلها الداخلية حتى لا يستعاد دورها القومي العربي والإقليمي والأممي بعد مصادرة هذا الدور من قبل بعض مشيخات الخليج المتخلفة مقابل حفنة من الدولارات النفطية القذرة .

وفي هذا السياق تعمد الرئيس محمد مرسي تجاهل المحاولات الصهيونية الإثيوبية تحويل مياه النيل الأزرق التي تعامل معها بشكل عابر ليضع الشعب المصري أمام خطر العطش بعدما وضعه تحت خط الفقر المجاعة .

وهذا ليس غريبا على جهابذة الأخوان المسلمين الذين أعلنوا الحرب على الفكر القومي العربي لإحياء ما يسمى الخلافة الإسلامية المتطرفة ليهدد وحدة الشعب المصري العظيم بالانقسام السياسي والديني بسبب العداء لمكتسبات وانجازات ثورة يوليو الناصرية وانجازات ومكتسبات ثورة الخامس والعشرين من يناير بكل مكوناتها العروبية الأصيلة متجاهلين أن العرب والعروبة هم عماد الرسالة الإسلامية السمحاء ولسان حالها في مختلف أرجاء المعمورة .

لهذا السبب تعمد نظام حكم المرشد في مصر العروبة المساواة بين ما يحدث في فلسطين المحتلة وما يحدث في سورية حاضنة المقاومة وقلب العروبة النابض لحرف البوصلة عن هدفها الأساسي في مقاومة العدو الأساسي للأمة المحتل لأرضها ومقدساتها الممثل بالكيان الصهيوني المصطنع في فلسطين كل فلسطين والجولان العربي السوري ومرتفعات شبعا وتلال كفر شوبا في جنوب لبنان المقاوم

واصدر ما يسمى المرشد العام للإخوان المسلمين بيان رسمي باسم الإخوان في الرابع والعشرين من آذار الماضي ساوى بين نصرة فلسطين وسورية كما ساوى بين سلطات الاحتلال الصهيوني وبين الدولة السورية الشرعية شريكة مصر في بناء السد العالي ومواجهة العدوان الثلاثي على مصر والشريك الاستراتيجي في حرب تشرين التحريرية ومواجهة كل الغزوات الاستعمارية القديمة الجديدة على المنطقة ودحرها إما من دمشق أو القاهرة

وقد توافق ما يسمى الناطق الرسمي باسم الإخوان المسلمين في سورية المدعو زهير سالم في مقال له نهاية الشهر الماضي مع ما طرحة المرشد العام للإخوان المسلمين في مصر وهذا شيء طبيعي لأنه مرجعه الذي لا يستطيع مخالفة رأيه ولو كان على حساب الأمة وحقوقها ولا يخدم سوى العدو الصهيوني عندما قال

” أن الشام محتلة من شمالها لجنوبها وان المحتل شمال الشام المقصود هنا سورية أقسى من المحتل جنوبها أي المحتل لفلسطين “

بالطبع هذه المواقف المعادية لسورية وقوى المقاومة وفي مقدمتها الشعب المصري العظيم ليست جديدة على الرئيس الاخواني المصري الذي تعمد افتتاح عهده الفاشل برسالة ودية تطمينية لرئيس الكيان الصهيوني افتتحها ب ” بعزيزي شمعون بيرز”

ولم يدخرا جهدا في خطابه سيء الذكر في تهديد الشباب المصري الذي ما زال محتجا ومتمرداً على سلوك حكم المرشد ويعد العدة لتظاهرات مليونية في الثلاثين من حزيران أخر هذا الشهر بسبب عدم احترام الرئيس الاخواني لإرادة الشعب المصري المنتفض الذي يتطلع لتشكيل حكومة ائتلافية وطنية بمشاركة الجميع لعبور المرحلة الانتقالية لمصلحة الشعب والوطن وتعديل الدستور واحترام القضاء والمؤسسات الوطنية .

لذلك كان خطاب المرسي مخيبا لآمال معظم أبناء الشعب المصري ومؤسساته الوطنية والدينية وفي مقدمتها الجيش المصري الذي رد على ببيان رسمي رفض زج الجيش المصري في أي صراعات مع أي دولة شقيقة

هذا هو الجيش المصري العظيم الذي يتطلع إليه كل شرفاء الأمة ليقول الكلمة الفصل بعدما حاول الرئيس المصري تفكيكه وإعادة بنائه على قاعدة اخوانية كما حصل في تركيا .

إن انحياز حكم المرشد الاخواني في مصر لخندق العدو الصهيوامريكي الذي أعلن الحرب الكونية على سورية بغطاء طائفي مذهبي ديني لتحقيق أهدافهم الإجرامية في تقسيم المقسم والسيطرة على مقدرات الأمة في سياق ما يسمى النظام الشرق أوسطي الجديد بقيادة الكيان الصهيوني الذي رحب بخطاب مرسي واعتبره رسالة لواشنطن وتل أبيب تؤكد وقوف مصر ضد حزب الله وإيران وتطالب بإسقاط النظام السوري وقطع العلاقات معه ليبقى السفير ” الإسرائيلي ” في القاهرة ويتمتع بحماية كاملة وتتعزز العلاقات الأمنية والعسكرية بين مصر ” وإسرائيل ” بشكل أفضل مما كانت علية أيام مبارك حسب مزاعم المتحدث باسم مكتب رئيس الوزراء الصهيوني .

لذلك فان نظام حكم المرشد سيء الذكر في مصر أم الأمة يدرك أكثر من غيره أن الحرب اليوم في سورية ليست طائفية ولا مذهبية كما يدعون ويحرضون بل هي بين محور المقاومة والصمود المتمسك بثوابت الأمة وقضايا العادلة وفي مقدمتها القضية الفلسطينية وحقوق الشعب الفلسطيني المهددة بالتصفية من قبل العدو الصهيوني بمشاركة ومباركة الأنظمة العربية التي تحاول السمسرة على هذه الحقوق المغتصبة تحت يافطة ما يسمى تبادل الأراضي مع العدو الصهيوني المحتل الذي تعمد المساس الفاضح بالمقدسات الإسلامية والمسيحية وفي مقدمتها تهديد الأقصى أولى القبلتين وثالث الحرمين الشريفين بالهدم وبناء ما يسمى الهيكل اليهودي الثالث ولم يحرك نظام حكم المرشد الاخواني المصري وما يسمى المجلس ألتنسيقي الماسوني العالمي بقيادة مسيلمة الكذاب ” القرضاوي ” ساكنا في خطابهم الطائفي الفتنوي لإدانة هذه الجريمة بحق الإسلام والمسلمين والمسيحيين ولو بكلمة واحدة لان الهدف سورية ومحور المقاومة فقط .

وهذا شيء طبيعي في مواقف الرئيس الاخواني محمد مرسي الذي لم يخرج من جلباب أسياده في الغرب بعد تحوله لداعية وهابي لتشجيع الإرهاب وتحريض الارهابين على القتل في سورية ومصر والعراق والبحرين ولبنان وتركيا وغيرها من بلدان الأمة .

ولم يكتفي السيد مرسي بهذه الجرائم بل تعمد في خطاب العار السير عكس التيار ألأممي بعد مطالبة مجلس الأمن الدولي بفرض حظر جوي على سورية للتهرب من استحقاقات مؤتمر جنيف2 بعدما فشل أسياده في تحقيق هذا الهدف لسببين الأول صمود وصلابة الشعب العربي السوري وقواته المسلحة الباسلة التي تتقدم وتحقق الانتصار بعد الانتصار حتى تطهير سورية من رجس الإرهاب والارهابين

والسبب الثاني بمصداقية الحلفاء من أحرار العالم بقيادة الروس والصينيين الذين اسقطوا مثل هذه المحاولات في مجلس الأمن عبر الفيتو المزدوج أكثر من مرة .

وكذلك مصر الأمة ليست وحدها في مواجهة حكم المرشد بل معها كل أحرار الأمة الذين يراهنون على أبطال ثورة الخامس والعشرين من يناير المتجددة في الثلاثين من حزيران الحالي لوضع بداية النهاية لنظام حكم المرشد الطائفي المتصهين وإخراج مصر من معادلة كامب ديفيد الخيانية وطرد السفير الصهيوني وإغلاق سفارة العدو في القاهرة وسحب السفير المصري من فلسطين المحتلة كمقدمة لعودة مصر لدورها الريادي والقيادي على صعيد القومي والإقليمي والعالمي لصياغة المشروع القومي العربي النهضوي إلى جانب سورية والعراق لحشد كل طاقات الأمة الفاعلة والمقاومة لاستعادة الحقوق العربية المغتصبة على امتداد الوطن العربي الكبير وفي مقدمتها فلسطين كل فلسطين والجولان العربي السوري المحتل ومرتفعات شبعا وتلال كفر شوبا المحتلة في جنوب لبنان المقاوم .

akramobeid@hotmail.com

Army Takes Control over Assir Complex, Kills Dozens of Partisans, Others Escape

Military official for Assir’s militia Abdul Rahman Shmandar killed,

Local Editor

The Lebanese Army took complete control over Ahmad Al-Assir’s complex in Abra after clashing with snipers located on the roofs of some buildings and a number of Assir’s partisans who escaped the complex after the Army controlled it.Similarly, clashes reportedly took place between the Army and militants on the Marine Corniche of Sidon, leaving a number of casualties in the ranks of the militants, while the rest escaped. However, clashes in Abra are ongoing as the number of martyrs from the Lebanese Army exceeded 15 officers, in addition to dozens of injuries. In parallel, sources said that dozens from Assir’s partisans were killed and injured, and most of them were foreigners, mainly of Syrian and Palestinian nationalities. Military official for Assir’s militia Abdul Rahman Shmandar was also killed, while Bilal Bader, one of the leaders of the five groups associated with terrorist Al-Nusra front, was injured during the clashes. In this context, Anatolia news agency reported that 60 members of Jund Al-Sham militant group were involved in the clashes.

Source: Agencies 24-06-2013 – 13:57 Last updated 24-06-2013 – 13:57

Nothing Of A Sheikh

The Sheikh al Aseer has nothing of a Sheikh , in truth he is a hired mercenary who has hired other mercenaries and is connected to embassies and is paid by Qatar and his goal is to create a chaotic situation by targeting the army and calling for disarming the Resistance which is what Israel seeks and wants and the UN had issued a resolution regarding this matter . The unfortunate mercenary Sheikh wants to ignite sectarian and religious hatred and has -on many instances- cut the sea road preventing people from going back and forth to their villages . The influence of the mercenary Sheikh has spread to the neighboring Palestinian camp where other mercenaries have been recruited too and supplied with weapons and ordered to coordinate with al Aseer .And, because the thug sheikh wants to fill his pockets with Qatari oil money, the Lebanese have to suffer insecurity , instability , chaos and you name it. . Today , out of nowhere, al Aseer attacked an army check point in the vicinity of Saida killing 10 Lebanese soldiers -among them number of officers -and injuring many others. Now, the army has taken the initiative and is chasing the criminal and his mercenary thugs from place to place . While the Lebanese people do not want their army exposed nor sacrificed especially in these days where official exams are taking place and students are sitting for their Brevet exam among them the children of al ‘Aseer himself, they hope the security to be restored as early as possible ,there is very little possibility that al Asseer scheme will succeed , weren’t it for the cover provided him by number of Lebanese officials he would have been underlock. by now . Let us hope we rill get rid of this delinquent soon.