LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 07/09
Bible Reading of the
day.
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Mark 13,33-37. Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when
the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places
his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on
the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is
coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the
morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I
say to all: 'Watch!'"
Saint Paschasius Radbertus (?-c.849), Benedictine monk
Commentary on St Matthew's Gospel, 11, 24; PL 120, 799 (trans. ©Friends of Henry
Ashworth)
"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come"
We must always be on the lookout for Christ's twofold coming, the one when we
shall have to give an account of everything we have done, and the other when he
comes day after day to stir our consciences. He comes to us now in order that
his future coming may find us prepared. If my conscience is burdened with sin
what good will it do me to know when the Day of Judgment will be? Unless the
Lord comes to my soul beforehand and makes his home with me, unless Christ lives
in me and speaks his word in my heart, it is useless for me to know if and when
his coming will take place. Only if Christ is already living in me and I in him
will it go well with me when he comes in judgment. If I have already died to the
world and am able to say, «The world is crucified to me, and I to the world»
(Gal 6,14), then, in a sense, his final coming is already present to me.
Consider also our Lord's warning: «Many will come in my name» (Mt 24,5). It is
only the Antichrist and his members who, albeit falsely, claim the name of
Christ...You will never find the Lord in Scripture actually declaring, "I am the
Christ." His teaching and miracles revealed it clearly enough, for the Father
was at work in him. Louder than a thousand acclamations his teaching and mighty
works proclaimed: "I am the Christ." And so whether or not you find him
describing himself in so many words, the «works of the Father» (Jn 5,36) and his
own message of love declared what he was, whereas the false Christs, who
possessed neither godly deeds nor holy doctrine, loudly claimed to be what they
were not.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters &
Special Reports
Rescuing Michel Aoun-NowLebanon.com
06/02/09
Scream out for Justice.
Future News 06/02/09
Guantanamo's manipulators leading the new jihad-By:
Dr. Walid Phares 06/02/09
Iran's New Satellites: The Pasdaran in Space.By:
Dr Walid Phares 06/02/09
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for February 06/09
Ship bound for Iran held in Greece over missiles-Ha'aretz
SYRIA: Signs that Assad is warming to opponents-Los
Angeles Times
National
Bloc denounced Aoun-Bassil stances from martyrs and wiretapping. Future News
2
MPs from North Lebanon, Including Alloush, Possible Assassination Targets-Naharnet
Tribunal Starts Administrative Work in March, No Indictments-Naharnet
Israel deports activists from
detained ship-AP
Monitoring Phone Call, SMS Activities to Continue for 15 Days-Naharnet
Jumblat Hammers FPM,
Hamas, Syria, Iran-Naharnet
Arab League and Lebanon
Seek U.N. Help After Israel Seizes Aid Ship-Naharnet
Hizbullah Threatens Arabs
Who Accept Peace with Israel-Naharnet
Gemayel Welcomes Murr
Alliance, Calls for Tackling Hizbullah Bugging-Naharnet
Nayla Tueni Along Gebran's
Path in Beirut-1 Elections-Naharnet
MPs Row Escalates Heated
Wiretapping-Naharnet
Press Syndicate Rejects
Exploitation of Freedom to Commit Slander-Naharnet
Riad Salameh Named Best
Middle East Central Bank Governor-Naharnet
Israeli Force Crosses into
South Lebanon-Naharnet
Study: 28 Percent of
Lebanese Qualify as Poor-Naharnet
Ship activists held by Israel return to Lebanon-Ynetnews
Gemayel Welcomes Murr Alliance, Calls for Tackling Hizbullah Bugging-Naharnet
Hamas negotiators stopped at border with suitcases of cash-AP
Michel Murr plans Phalange, Tashnak entrants on
Metn list-Daily Star
Israeli Navy intercepts aid boat bound for desperate Gaza-Daily
Star
Dozens of officials attend meeting on wiretapping-Daily
Star
Michel Murr plans Phalange, Tashnak entrants on Metn list-Daily
Star
Catholicosate to mark Adana massacres of 1909-Daily
Star
Authorities announce arrests of drug smugglers-Daily
Star
Political posters come down in and around Sidon-Daily
Star
Israeli troops violate border with south Lebanon-Daily
Star
Nayla Tueni eyes seat-Daily
Star
Israel's war on Gaza 'led by donkeys' - think tank-Daily
Star
Salameh urges joint Arab moves on crisis-Daily
Star
Lebanon to crack down on cell-phone smuggling-Daily
Star
BMI sees lower growth rate for Lebanon in 2009-Daily
Star
Hariri confident financial crisis spared Lebanon-Daily
Star
Army tut-tuts papers over fake rocket photos-Daily
Star
De-mining operations in South at risk over lack of funding-By
IRIN News.org
Climate change threatens to kill off Lebanon's cedars-(AFP)
Israel
deports activists from detained ship
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Matti Friedman, Associated Press
Writer… JERUSALEM – Israel deported activists from an aid ship it intercepted in
the Mediterranean en route from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip, but allowed blood
donations that were on board to enter Gaza on Friday, the Israeli military said.
Meanwhile, Gaza militants launched two rockets into Israel, the Israeli military
said, causing no injuries but punctuating the fragility of a Gaza cease-fire
nearly three weeks after the end of Israel's offensive against Hamas.
The aid ship remained docked at the Ashdod port, where it was towed Thursday
after being stopped and boarded by Israeli troops. Israel and Lebanon are
officially at war, and Israel said it was concerned about the ship's cargo and
called the boat a "provocation." Israel, which is enforcing a naval blockade
aimed at Gaza's Hamas rulers, has allowed several similar aid ships into Gaza
and has turned several more back, but had never before boarded or detained one.
Fifteen of the people on board, Lebanese and Syrian nationals, were deported
overnight to Lebanon and Syria through Israel's borders with those two
countries, the military said. Three others — two Indians and a Briton — remained
in police custody pending deportation from Israel's international airport,
police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
It was not immediately clear when the boat would be allowed to sail.
Some 1,000 units of donated blood were quickly unloaded and sent into Gaza,
according to military spokesman Peter Lerner. The rest of the supplies on board
were being examined and would also be sent to Gaza, he said.
Despite Israeli concerns, no weapons were found on board. The organizers of the
aid ship, Lebanese political and human rights activists, said the cargo was
comprised of medicine, food, toys and basic humanitarian supplies such as
mattresses and blankets.
Israel unilaterally halted its devastating Gaza operation on Jan. 18, and Hamas
followed with an announcement that it would hold its fire.
Egypt's attempts to mediate a long-term cease-fire have not succeeded so far.
Hamas is demanding that Israel open Gaza's blockaded border crossings as part of
any agreement, but Israel says it will not turn the crossings over to Hamas
control.
The attempts to negotiate a cease-fire are unfolding in the shadow of Israel's
national election on Tuesday, as Israel's leaders compete over who can take the
toughest stand against Hamas. Polls show the likely winner is hard-line Likud
Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who says the current government ended the Gaza
operation too early, without causing enough damage to the Islamic group.
Militants have sporadically fired rockets into Israel since the operation ended,
and killed one soldier in a border bombing attack. Israeli troops have killed
three Palestinians who Gaza officials identified as farmers in border shootings
and have repeatedly bombed smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt frontier.
Friday's rockets were launched from northern Gaza, the military said. They
followed an incident late Thursday on the Gaza-Israel border in which Israeli
forces shot and killed a Palestinian who the military said approached the fence
armed with a grenade.
International groups say the ongoing border restrictions are harming Gaza's
civilians.
The U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees says it has not been able to
send in trucks carrying plastic bags, threatening its food distribution program.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has also been prevented from sending
in trucks carrying notebooks and paper to print textbooks for the 200,000 Gaza
students taught in the agency's schools, UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness
said.
2 MPs from
North Lebanon, Including Alloush, Possible Assassination Targets
Naharnet/The Lebanese Army Command has warned two MPs from the north that they
could be targeted by extremists, several lawmakers announced during the Media
and Communications Committee meeting on Thursday. Media reports said Friday that
the MPs brought up the issue along with several other topics during the
committee's meeting that was attended by more than 60 lawmakers.They reportedly
said the attacks on MP Mustafa Alloush and the second legislator whose name was
not revealed, could be carried out by extremists, including Fatah al-Islam,
after the deadline for announcing candidacies for the June 7 parliamentary
elections expires. Beirut, 06 Feb 09, 11:01
Arslan to Run with Allies as Part of Unified List in Elections
Naharnet/Youth and Sports Minister Talal Arslan said Friday that he and his
allies will run as part of a unified list in the forthcoming elections.
"My allies and I will run as part of a unified list," Arslan told a news
conference. "We call an honorable competition." "Talal Arslan does not beg for a
seat from anyone," he stressed. Arslan said that he has informed Democratic
Gathering MP Walid Jumblat that the Hizbullah-led March 8 Forces will run as
part of a unified list in Aley. "I informed Jumblat that the opposition and I
will not trade parliamentary seats with him or with his allies," he said.
"Trading seats in Baabda or elsewhere is out of the question," Arslan insisted.
He said the alliance between Jumblat and Speaker Nabih Berri "does not commit us
to anything." Arslan said "we have full confidence in the army commander," but
believed that the military "should not be dragged into domestic political
disputes." Beirut, 06 Feb 09, 14:04
Tribunal Starts Administrative Work in March, No
Indictments
Naharnet/The Special Tribunal for Lebanon would "only start administrative work"
on March 1 and would not indict suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's
assassination case during that period, a U.N. source told An Nahar daily. The
international tribunal "would be administratively ready to welcome the General
Prosecutor" who is Daniel Bellemare, head of the U.N. commission probing
Hariri's Feb. 2005 killing. The mandate of the U.N. panel expires end of this
February and it is not yet clear if the Security Council would vote to extend
the commission's term as called for by Bellemare, An Nahar said Friday. It said
U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel Patricia
O'Brien will inform reporters next Thursday about measures undertaken by the
world body ahead of the start of the court's operations. Beirut, 06 Feb 09,
08:48
Scream out for Justice
Date: February 6th, 2009 Source: Future News
Listening to MP Ali Ammar gets you confused. You do not know whether to laugh
about the “credibility” and the flow of the “committed to armistice” statements
issued by Hezbollah, or should you cry for the situation Lebanon has ended up
with.
The outspoken MP unleashed his candor reproaching the liberal and independent
March 14 forces, as he considered that “a majority of the Lebanese was granted
huge potential by the UN, the SC and Media Empires”, and concluded that
Hezbollah “will not allow this reality to prevail anymore”.
Undoubtedly, MP Ammar’s words are a blatant threat aimed against Parliamentary
elections, nevertheless the latter hasn’t informed us on how Hezbollah “will not
allow” that reality to prevail, and whether it will repeat on the 7th of June
what it has done on the 7th of May, when 55 Lebanese were killed.
Liberal Lebanese no longer take “Threats” into consideration as they had
personally experienced the meaning of freedom, independence, sovereignty, and
the meaning of rejecting humiliation and compliance to the Syrian intelligence
and its partisans.
Those liberals righteously and democratically defeated the Flimsy Security
Empire established by the Syrian tutelage regime throughout its 29-year
domination over Lebanon and the Lebanese.
Thus, February 14 was the political moment that established for a national act
that surpassed all sects, clans, and the reactionary reclusive mentalities,
crushing the barriers of fear and intimidation, and declaring the launch of
building Lebanon, the democratic, diversified country that is genuinely
affiliated with the Arab world embracing the Palestinian Cause and not the
Bazaar.
This phase was the hub which crystallized serious national reconciliation, and
publicly affirmed that the Lebanese have attained political maturity, and that
they will no longer accept any trusteeship or dominancy of any identity or type,
and that they are not involved in the American, Syrian, and Israeli conspiracies
and that their country will not be a battle field because their Right to Live is
more sacred than any other thing in the world.
The fact is that the blood of martyr President Rafic Hariri triggered this
gorgeous and extraordinary political act, though this great achievement wouldn’t
have happened if it weren’t for the absolute will of the entire Lebanese,
Muslims and Christians of all sects.
The splendor of what we have achieved is based on a system of creative values,
as the people of the “Independence Revolution” and the “Cedars Revolution”
didn’t carry weapons nor practiced violence, instead they loudly screamed for
“Justice” and put all of their efforts to maintain civil peace and to let it
prevail over the Syrian dominancy grudges and some sectarian dreams of those who
claim patriotic chastity.
Fellow Lebanese: The outcomes of the sacrifices we’ve made are to flourish soon
as they became closer to the moment of realization. Let’s raise our voices
against the doom they desired for us; let’s defend our values, and our rights in
our nation; let’s raise our voices against turning Lebanon into a “negotiation”
rocket-launching pedestal for the Iranian-Syrian negotiations with the
International Community, including the Zionist enemy.
Our participation in the 14th of February is particularly significant because
what we’ve worked for comes two weeks before the establishment of the
International Tribunal. Justice is for everyone, to protect the right to be
different, and the right to free expression, away from the intimidation and the
assassinations perpetrated by the Syrian Regime since the assassination of the
Great Kamal Jumblatt, up to the assassination of Sheikh Saleh Aridi.
National Bloc denounced Aoun-Bassil stances from martyrs
and wiretapping
Date: February 5th, 2009 Source: NNA
National Bloc party after its weekly meeting chaired by its leader Carlos Eddé
on Thursday severely slammed Telecommunications Minister Gibran Bassil’s
repugnant position in which he accused the Internal Security Forces of leaking
and selling information.
It reiterated that wiretapping issue has cost Lebanon innocent bloods, and
referred to the devoted Prime Minister Rafic Hariri’s assassination, the killing
of Ministers, MPs, military, media and partisans figures as well as innocent
citizens.
The bloc described MP Michel Aoun reference to the Martyrs as outrageous “while
he is responsible for the high price that thousands of martyrs paid during his
arbitrary wars, knowing that Aoun he was irrelevant toward the martyrs and their
families."
The bloc criticized Bassil’s attitude in overlooking Hezbollah’s private
communications network and which is regarded as insignificant to Bassil, while
it is the crux of the problem and had triggered a rebellion that led to a
takeover of West Beirut that paralyzed the capital.
The bloc said it was intolerable and unacceptable that the general prosecutor
was not involved, and that an investigative parliamentary committee was not
formed after Bassil accused the security services of selling information, while
they have exerted enormous efforts to uncover terrorists’ network.
The bloc said “any respected civilized country would agree to prosecute the
minister and would accuse him of obstructing justice.”
Hizbullah Threatens Arabs Who Accept Peace with Israel
Naharnet/Hizbullah on Thursday made an indirect threat targeting Arabs who
accept peace with Israel
"There must be a review and reconsideration of stands against those who pursue
with placing bets on a settlement that would legalize the Zionist occupation of
Palestine," said Mohammed Raad, leader of Hizbullah's parliamentary bloc. "This
option (peace with Israel) cannot be promoted in the Arab and Islamic worlds
anymore," Raad told the opening session of the seventh pan-Arab Islamic
conference in Beirut. Raad's remarks reflect Hizbullah's rejection of the Arab
peace initiative that the party's second in command, Sheik Naim Qassem, had said
it was "buried" after the war in Gaza. "We, in Lebanon, have gone through an
experience that our Palestinian Brethren had witnessed and benefited from it in
Gaza. Accumulation of experience would lead to more victories," Raad pledged.
Raad also vowed that "any imbecility that the Israeli enemy may commit in
Lebanon would reflect badly on them." "What we have prepared for the enemy is
more than what its military commanders can imagine," Raad added. "Safeguarding
the resistance and its principles is a responsibility we all share. This
requires fortifying our principles so that they do not divert," Raad explained.
Beirut, 05 Feb 09, 20:49
Gemayel Welcomes Murr Alliance, Calls for Tackling
Hizbullah Bugging
Naharnet/Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Thursday welcomed the alliance
with MP Michel Murr in the forthcoming elections and said discussing the issue
of telephone wiretapping should "start with tackling Hizbullah's bugging and
monitoring network." "We shouldn't forget that Hizbullah has the largest
monitoring and bugging network in Lebanon. If we are going to handle the
wiretapping issue, we should start with this one (Hizbullah's)," Gemayel said in
a radio interview.
He said MP Murr "recognized, at last, that the alliance with (FPM leader) Michel
Aoun does not serve the interests of either citizens of Metn or the Lebanese
people," he noted. "Our alliances within March 14 are clear. We serve the
interests of the people we represent. We are after unity and solidarity of the
Lebanese people," Gemayel added. Beirut, 05 Feb 09, 20:03
Hamas negotiators stopped with suitcases of cash
By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press Writer
CAIRO – Hamas negotiators left Egypt without a long-term cease-fire with Israel
on Thursday — but not before some members of the militant group's delegation
were stopped at the Gaza border carrying millions in cash.
The delegation walked away from the cease-fire talks because of disagreements
over the blockage on Gaza and border security. Talks will continue at a later
date.
An Egyptian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to speak to the media, said the group initially refused to be
searched by Egyptian authorities at the Rafah border crossing. When the group
relented, authorities found $7 million and 2 million euros ($2.5 million) in
cash in their suitcases. Another security official, also speaking on condition
of anonymity, said $9 million and 2 million euros were found. The discrepancy
could not be immediately explained.
The money was later deposited in an account in Egypt by a Hamas member who
stayed behind while the rest of the delegation was allowed to return to Gaza,
the second security official said. He later returned to Gaza, the second
official said.
It was not clear what would happen to the money.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
The incident is a sensitive one for Egypt, particularly now, when Israel is
demanding a halt to Hamas smuggling into Gaza as part of truce negotiations.
Israel and Hamas do not talk directly, so Egypt has been mediating the talks on
solidifying the shaky cease-fire that went into effect on Jan. 18, ending
Israel's three-week offensive on Gaza.
Egypt had set Thursday as an expected date for reaching a long-term truce deal.
But a Hamas official, Mohammed Nasr, said Thursday that differences over opening
the border crossings into Gaza were preventing the deal. Nasr was part of the
negotiating team that left Cairo, but he is from the Syria arm of Hamas and not
the group returning to Gaza.
Hamas demands that any truce include the full opening of borders into Gaza,
which Israel and Egypt have largely kept sealed since Hamas seized control of
the territory from Palestinian rivals Fatah in 2007. Hamas also wants a role in
administering the border crossings in recognition of its power in Gaza.
Israel says it will not ease the blockade of the densely populated and
impoverished coastal strip without international guarantees Hamas will be
prevented from smuggling more weapons into Gaza. It does not want Hamas to have
a role in controlling Gaza's border crossings.
Nasr said smuggling would only stop if the borders were open.
"The main point revolves around us getting a clear and honest commitment to lift
the blockade completely. We still didn't get that," Nasr told The Associated
Press before leaving to Damascus. "We have no agreement until we have an
agreement on everything."
He said his group is expecting answers from the Israelis on the border issue.
His comments came as Israel's point man on the negotiations arrived in Egypt for
talks.
The deputy head of Hamas, Moussa Abu Marzouk, told the AP by telephone from
Damascus that talks have failed so far because of what he called "Israeli
stubbornness and setting new conditions at each stage."
He said Israel said it would open the crossings by 70 percent without giving
Hamas details how this percentage would be defined.
Hamas has smuggled money into Gaza before.
In 2006, a senior Hamas official bragged about successfully carrying $42 million
across the border.
Arab banks have generally refused to transfer money to Gaza for fear of running
afoul of the United States, which considers Hamas a terrorist organization. The
money has helped keep afloat the Hamas government, which is generally shunned by
foreign governments.
**Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Ashraf Sweilam in
Rafah, Egypt, contributed to this report.
Iran's New Satellites: The Pasdaran in Space
By Walid Phares
February 5, 2009
The launching of an Iranian satellite into orbit, said to be about
"communications technology" and "earthquake monitoring," would have been a
normal news item not exceeding the greater news report about India landing a
space craft on the moon last month. But according to news agencies around the
world, Western chanceries and national security agencies have taken the
development "seriously." Associated Press and the BBC described reactions as
"nervous." Although the debate about the value of Iranian space technology and
commercial rocket capacity usually concludes that the Mullah regime is far away
from reaching a respectable level, many defense analysts dismiss the issue as
about the sole industrialization of the Islamic Republic: In fact it is about
the "weaponization" of the satellite. Obviously this one launch may not be the
crossing for the line, but the first step was accomplished and statements were
made about the immediate following steps. The quasi consensus today is about the
strategic intention of Tehran's war room, solidly in the hands of the Pasdaran.
As I argued in discussions I had on France 24 TV and the BBC this week, the
space program is one component of a regional strategic deployment. Hence it
deserves to be analyzed from this perspective. Following is a short article
published in Human Events
The Associated Press revealed to the world Tuesday that "according to Tehran,
Iran has successfully sent its first domestically made satellite into orbit, as
announced by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." But while the Iranian President claimed the
move was to develop "science for friendship, brotherhood and justice," AP noted
this was "a significant step in an ambitious space program that has worried many
international observers."
The debate over the Iranian space program is going to look like the cacophony
over its nuclear ambitions. Per AP, "Iran has said it wants to put its own
satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone
nation and improve its telecommunications."
Over the next weeks and months, Iran’s state propaganda machine and their
sympathizers in the West will rush to praise the genuine scientific goals of the
program while national security experts will look to find suspicious components
in the program. But AP was quick to provide an eye opener in its first report, a
golden revelation in words coming from Tehran: "Iranian officials point to
America's use of satellites to monitor Afghanistan and Iraq and say they need
similar abilities for their security." And that's the beginning of the depths
this problem sinks to.
It doesn't take rocket scientists to figure out the first priority of the
Iranian regime as it launches this rocket: to achieve an intelligence capability
that only satellites can provide. They can not only intercept radio, satellite
and e-mail communications but they can -- if highly enough developed -- also
track the movement of military and economic assets.
Though Russia has sold Iran enormously capable anti-aircraft and anti-missile
systems to protect its nuclear facilities, they haven’t given Iran the global
detection capabilities that satellites do. Any attack on the Iranian nuclear
facilities would be vastly harder given satellite radars and detection systems.
Iran’s apologists will rush to claim that Iran is still years away from
competing with the US and Europe in this field. But once one satellite is up and
observing and transmitting the next will bear higher more developed technology
and its military function can be morphed to even threaten the single greatest
vulnerability the US military and intelligence agencies have: the
defenselessness of our satellite systems.
AP reports: "Iran hopes to launch three more satellites by 2010, the government
has said." Once a web is installed, the strategic capacity of Tehran in
intercepting moves aimed at its nuclear and other installations will increase.
By 2010 and beyond Iran’s strategic weapons system is projected to develop
further. By 2012, it may have reached the feared benchmark of possessing the
nuclear weapons, the delivery systems and the satellite capacity to detect any
action against them.
The Iranian regime has a strategic agenda which is clear and pronounced:
Expansion in the region. All other developments of military, intelligence and
technological nature are at the service of such world view. Had Tehran not been
the seat of a radical ideological project with tentacles reaching as far as
Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Gaza and the rest of the world -- the placing of a
single communications satellite in space to "check earthquakes" would be a nice
news item. But the earthquakes the Iranian regime is looking for are of a
different nature: they involve a massive change in the political and identity
landscape of a whole region.
By now, the most realistic way to read the event is simple but worrisome: As the
new US administration is bracing for a sit down with the Mullahs in an attempt
to reduce tensions on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pasdaran power is
already projected in space, in an attempt to seize influence in the whole
region.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Walid Phares, author of The Confrontation, is the Director of the Future
Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a visiting
scholar at the European Foundation for Democracy.
Guantanamo's manipulators leading the new jihad
Release of prisoners raises questions
Walid Phares
Friday, February 6, 2009
Buzz up!The Guantanamo Bay detention center has been ordered to be shut down
within a year. Unfortunately, jihadism as an ideology does not respond to the
political culture of democracy nor are the indoctrinated jihadists impacted by
the moral and legal debate within what they see as the sphere of the infidels.
Two men released from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have appeared in a
video posted on a jihadi site. The most notorious of the two, a Saudi man
identified as Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shahri, or prisoner number 372, has been
"elevated to the senior ranks of al-Qaeda in Yemen," a U.S. counterterrorism
official said. The other man on the video is Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi,
identified as an al-Qaeda commander. He was prisoner number 333.
Reviewing the video provided by the Laura Mansfield monitoring group, I analyzed
the statements made by al-Shahri and al-Oufi in original Arabic.On the video,
al-Shihri is seen sitting with three other men under a flag of the "Islamic
State of Iraq," Al-Qaeda's regional command in Mesopotamia. The other two
jihadists in the video were identified as Abu Baseer al-Wahayshi and Abu Hureira
Qasm al-Rimi (aka Abu Hureira al-Sana'ani). Al-Shihri was transferred from
Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia in 2007, six years after his capture in Pakistan, for
"rehabilitation" by the Saudi government. But this week a statement posted on
the site declared he is now the top deputy in "al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula," the regional command for bin Laden's organization operating from
Yemen with cells across the peninsula. The terror group has been responsible for
attacks on the U.S. embassy in Yemen's capital Sana.
"Al-Shihri allegedly traveled to Afghanistan two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001
attacks, provided money to other fighters and trained in urban warfare at a camp
north of Kabul, Afghanistan," according to sources. But more troubling is the
fact that al-Shihri was a contact person between al-Qaeda and Iran. As reported
by AP, he was "an alleged travel coordinator for al-Qaida who was accused of
meeting extremists in Mashad, Iran, and briefing them on how to enter
Afghanistan." Such a person - operating in the most strategic area of jihadism,
the most dangerous bridge of (potential) cooperation between al-Qaeda and the
Khomeinist regime - was released from Guantanamo on the basis that he said "bin
Laden had no business representing Islam, denied any links to terrorism and
expressed interest in rejoining his family in Saudi Arabia."
Is this for real? Had these facts not been cited from official U.S. documents
and had I and many colleagues not viewed the video personally, it would have
been hard to believe that the Guantanamo release of jihadists was that tragic
for national security and for the future of U.S. and allied efforts in the
confrontation with terrorist forces. Al-Qaeda's tactics raise unavoidable
questions regarding Guantanamo or any other detention center and bring about
sobering conclusions:
1) Former inmates, in this case al-Shahri (Prisoner 372) and al-Oufi (Prisoner
333), are being elevated to the senior ranks of Al-Qaeda. The release of jihadi
terrorists to their countries or other countries in the region didn't transform
them into ordinary citizens but reinserted them in al-Qaeda's network.
Furthermore, Salafi Jihadi chat rooms are mentioning the video and propagating
the argument that those released from Guantanamo are going to be not only well
received and made into heroes but will become the leaders of the jihad (al-Qaeda
and others) against the United States, the West and moderates in the region.
2) On what ground were they released? This is an important question to be raised
because it would help project what will happen when the other Gitmo detainees
will be released. What measurement have U.S. authorities adopted to release
al-Qaeda members from Guantanamo? Was it statements the jihadists made about
their forthcoming life? All al-Shahri had to do was criticize bin Laden and
pledge to return to a normal life? How did experts and psychologists guide the
government in terms of concluding that indeed the terrorists have reformed?
3) How come these released detainees to Yemen (or other countries) were able to
reemerge as al-Qaeda leaders there? How come they were able to travel across the
region and reorganize? What would this tell us about our "partners" in the
so-called War Against Terror?
4) How come U.S. intelligence wasn't able to predict that these detainees would
reinsert in al-Qaeda after being released? Or did U.S. intelligence predict the
outcome but policy makers still decided to release them?
5) Shutting down Guantanamo may be a decision based on "political, moral and
strategic communications" considerations. This debate is not over, apparently.
But this latest video brings hard evidence that the issue isn't about a camp to
be shut down but about an ideology to be countered. For according to al-Qaeda's
manuals, the jihadists are trained for when they are in detention and are
prepared for all other scenarios: facing all sorts of courts, becoming martyrs,
or being released to perform jihad again.
Al Qaeda has detention tactics and a post-detention strategy. The United States
must catch up with the terrorist forces. It should have developed counter
strategies for both stages, with or without Guantanamo. Unless proven wrong,
facts show a failure in both stages.
***Walid Phares is the Director of the Future Terrorism Project at the
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the author of "The Confrontation:
Winning the War against Future Jihad."
Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC