LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 31/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13,31-35. At that time some Pharisees came to him and said, "Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you." He replied, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose. Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned. (But) I tell you, you will not see me until (the time comes when) you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

John Tauler (c.1300-1361), Dominican at Strasbourg
Sermon 21, 4th for the Ascension/"How many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings"
Jerusalem was a city of peace but she has also been a city of torment since Jesus so greatly suffered there and died there in great pain. Within this city we must be his witnesses, not in words but in truth, by our lives, imitating him as much as we are able. Many there are who would willingly be God's witnesses in time of peace, provided all goes as they would wish. They would willingly become saints provided they find nothing bitter in the exercise and work of sanctity. They would like to taste, desire and know divine joys without having to pass through any kind of bitterness, pain or desolation. No sooner do strong temptations or darkness come upon them, no sooner does the feeling and awareness of God leave them, no sooner do they feel interiorly and exteriorly abandoned than they turn away and thus are not true witnesses.
All men seek peace. Everywhere, in their works and in all kinds of ways, they seek peace. Ah! if only we might free ourselves from this seeking and be the ones to look for peace in suffering. That is the only place where true peace is born, the peace that abides and lasts... Let us look for peace in suffering, joy in sadness, simplicity in multiplicity, consolation in bitterness, for it is then that we shall become in truth the witnesses of God.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
The Attack On Syria: Lessons And Questions-Evening Bulletin 30/10/08
Lebanon needs more of the same from Nasrallah and Hariri-By Marc J. Sirois-Daily Star 30/10/08
A glimpse of Lebanon's Civil War 'from the very edge'-By Laura Wilkinson.Daily Star 30/10/08
For One Leader, Sleepless in Tehran.By THOMAS 30/10/08
US needs a different strategy with Iran-WTOP 30/10/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 30/08
TV station: Syria pulls troops off of Iraqi border, 4th Ld, ML-guardian.co.uk
Thousands Of Syrians Protest In Damascus At U.S. Raid .News Agencies
Mubarak: Hands Off Lebanon-Naharnet
Arrest Warrants against Jawhar Network Members-Naharnet
Four Generals Bound for The Hague? Maybe Not…-Naharnet
Geagea: To Open a New Page with the Marada-Naharnet
Suleiman from Rome: A Reconciled Lebanon is a United Lebanon-Naharnet
Suleiman to Attend U.N. Interfaith Conference-Naharnet
Demonstrations prompt closure of US Embassy in SyriaCNN
Franjieh: Time Not Yet Ripe for intra-Christian Reconciliation-Naharnet
Miqdad Accuses Lebanese, Arabs of Supporting Extremism in the North-Naharnet
Coalition forces detain key Katai’b Hezbollah facilitator-Jawa Report
Syria hardens stance after deadly US raid-The Associated Press
Syria demands US apology for helicopter raid-guardian.co.uk
Christian reconciliation remains up in the air-Daily Star
Pakradounian: Tashnak's Alliance with Aoun is Ultimate-Naharnet
Syria says it could take further steps over US helicopter raid-AFP
Would-be Lebanese bomber merits life in prison - German prosecutor-(AFP)
Najjar confirms former security chiefs bound for The Hague-Daily Star
Israel prepares 'decisive' strike against resistance - report-Daily Star
Yakan denies Sunni fighters get training from Hizbullah-Daily Star
Salameh reiterates view that local banks are immune to global woes-Daily Star
Beirut reports slight increase in deficit during first three quarters of 2008-Daily Star
Laurent to present recommendations of business forum to members of government-Daily Star
Dwindling aid to squeeze Nahr al-Bared subsidies-Daily Star
Mayor of Sidon vows to cure 'stray-dog epidemic'-Daily Star
Hariri pledges $10 million to AUB School of Nursing-Daily Star
Southerners flock to olive groves after two-year hiatus-Daily Star
A glimpse of Lebanon's Civil War 'from the very edge'-Daily Star
US & Syria: which is rogue state?Workers World

Thousands Of Syrians Protest In Damascus At U.S. Raid
News Agencies/Thousands of Syrians held a government-backed demonstration in Damascus on Thursday to protest against a U.S. military raid in the east of the country that has put a further strain on U.S.-Syrian ties.
The U.S. embassy in Damascus had closed for the day due to security concerns. Syria says the raid killed eight civilians. A U.S. official said it was believed to have killed a smuggler of foreign fighters into Iraq.
The crowd, mostly state workers and students of government schools, gathered in a central Damascus square a few kilometers (miles) from the U.S. embassy. Riot police surrounded the embassy, which was pelted with stones during a protest in 1998 over U.S.-led airstrikes on Iraq.
Some demonstrators carried banners denouncing the United States and Israel and praising Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "We sacrifice our blood for you, Bashar. Down with America," some members of the crowd shouted.
The raid undermined U.S.-Syrian ties which were already strained by other disputes, including U.S. accusations that Damascus has not stopped foreign fighters crossing into Iraq.
Syria, listed as a state sponsor of terrorism by Washington, has been under U.S. sanctions since 2004 for supporting Lebanese political and guerrilla movement Hezbollah and other groups including the Palestinian Hamas.
Washington recalled its ambassador to Syria following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in February 2005, which many Lebanese blame on Syria. Damascus denies any involvement.
Outraged by the raid, Syria ordered the closure of an American school and an American cultural center in Damascus. The two institutions must close by November 6. The U.S. embassy in Damascus had said that it will not be staffed on Thursday due to an "increased security risk" and that "unforeseen events or circumstances may occur that could cause the U.S. Embassy in Damascus to close to the public for an unspecified period of time."
(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis; Editing by Caroline Drees)

Coalition forces detain key Katai’b Hezbollah facilitator
October 29, 2008/BAGHDAD – Coalition forces captured a suspected Iranian-backed financer for Katai’b Hezbollah Wednesday morning, along with four other suspected criminals, during an operation in Al Amarah, in the Maysan province. Acting on intelligence information, Coalition forces targeted a key Katai’b Hezbollah facilitator assessed to provide financing for network criminal activities. Coalition forces approached the suspect’s location where he identified himself to forces and was detained without incident, along with four other suspected criminals. During their search, Coalition forces also discovered more than $50,000 U.S. Dollars and nearly $12 million Iraqi Dinar (approximately $10,000 U.S. Dollars).Katai’b Hezbollah is assessed to be responsible for the mishandled IRAMs, which exploded in the Shaab district of Adhamiyah in Baghdad on June 4, killing 16 Iraqi civilians and injuring 29 others.Source MNF-Iraq.

Franjieh: Time Not Yet Ripe for intra-Christian Reconciliation
Naharnet/Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh said Wednesday that time is not yet ripe for intra-Christian reconciliation. "Reconciliation with the Lebanese Forces will happen one day, but no one knows when," Franjieh told reporters following a meeting with a delegation from the Maronite League. Franjieh believed that media outlets ought to exercise calm "before we talk about any Christian reconciliation."Head of the Maronite League in turn said that the League will continue to move forward with the reconciliation. Beirut, 29 Oct 08, 17:37

Four Generals Bound for The Hague? Maybe Not…
Naharnet/Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar denied he has told a magazine that the four former security chiefs detained for alleged involvement in the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri will be transferred to the headquarters of the international tribunal in The Hague. "I find the report about the issue of the international court and the four generals strange….I never said anything about the international tribunal because the court has not been set up yet…the judges are still not known and the issue is in the hands of the judiciary," Najjar, who is in Paris, told As Safir daily. He also stressed that he never said the four generals would be transferred abroad because he doesn't know the details of the investigation. Najjar added that "the issue of the generals' transfer to The Hague or any other place is under the jurisdiction of the Lebanese judiciary which has the final say on the subject."Najjar's comments came after he was quoted as telling As-Sayyad magazine that the tribunal will kick off its work in March and that the four generals will be taken to The Hague for trial.
The daily ad-Diyar reported last week that chief U.N. investigator Daniel Bellemare requested an international jet between Dec. 5-20 under the protection of both police and Lebanese army troops for the ex-security chiefs' transfer. The four generals are Jamil Sayyed, Ali Hajj, Raymond Azar and Mustafa Hamdan who respectively headed the General Security Department, the Internal Security Forces, Military Intelligence and the Presidential Guards Brigade.
Al-Mustaqbal daily on Thursday quoted legal sources as saying that major witnesses in the case have already been transferred to the Netherlands after the witness protection program was almost complete. They said the names of the witnesses will not be released until General Prosecutor Bellemare issues his final verdict on the case and after Lebanese and international authorities take necessary measures to transfer the families of the witnesses out of Lebanon or their countries of residence.
Lebanese judicial sources involved in the investigations into the Hariri assassination and related crimes told al-Mustaqbal that the judiciary is almost ready to hand over the cases to Bellemare as soon as he assumes his duties as general prosecutor early next year. International sources, however, told As Safir daily that "no one except U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon knows when the international court will start functioning."
They told As Safir that the court couldn't begin operations beginning 2009 because Ban wants to make sure that the court is able to cover its expenses for the coming three years and because of several measures to protect the witnesses. Sources following up the case also told As Safir that the U.N. chose the four Lebanese judges from a 12-member list after undergoing training in Switzerland. Beirut, 30 Oct 08, 06:16

Geagea: To Open a New Page with the Marada
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea stressed his belief of "turning the page with the Marada in order to open a new one."
In an interview with the daily al-Mustaqbal on Thursday, Geagea said: "I am waiting for the Maronite League's visit on Thursday to see what developments they have from their meeting" with the other side. On Wednesday Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh received Maronite League head Joseph Tarabey and later stated "the time is not yet ripe for inter-Christian reconciliation."
Franjieh explained that the reconciliation process "in its current proposal, form and content is not ripe. Tomorrow we might have a different view and would place it on a hot stove. However, today we say that it's not ready."Geagea told the daily that "there is a political movement that is gathering in Lebanon." Geagea believed that this would "slowly contribute to reviving and returning Lebanese political life to normalcy and move it away from violence."
The LF leader said the events that took place last May were the result of two years of continued friction, and the fact that the other side overstepped it's "democratic" expression to later spill over to Riyadh Solh square.
"The importance of the process of reconciliation... is creating a reverse atmosphere and is returning the political game to its natural spot," Geagea said.
He made it a point to direct attention to the recent meetings between MP Saad Hariri with Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, as is with the Progressive Socialist Party with Hizbullah to be a case in point. "I do not hide the fact that I fear that March 8 camp might go back to an old game of theirs, that is to play with the security situation if they feel that they might lose the next election," Geagea said. "However, this is unlikely under the atmosphere of reconciliation. Our fears will remain should we not achieve reconciliation," Geagea said. The president's proposal for an unbiased parliamentary bloc, Geagea felt "there is no unbiased parliamentary bloc or a neutral bloc now. However, this won't prevent the president from being a safety valve during sharp polarizations," Geagea commented. Beirut, 30 Oct 08, 12:19

Mubarak: Hands Off Lebanon
Naharnet/Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has vowed to continue backing Lebanon and said that he invites "efficient" Lebanese leaders to visit his country.
"We are with Lebanon since the days of President (Anwar) Sadat. And we say 'keep your hands off it' (Lebanon). We still back Lebanon and we would never stop backing it," Mubarak said in Paris on Wednesday after a working lunch with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy.
He said he has met with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman when the latter was still army commander. The two leaders are also scheduled to meet on November 8. It was said that "Egypt is nominating him (Suleiman) for the presidency…We don't nominate anyone. He was visiting Egypt for military cooperation. At the end, the Lebanese chose him, nominated him and accepted him as president," Mubarak said. He said several Lebanese officials held talks with him in Cairo lately, in reference to visits by Premier Fouad Saniora, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea.
"When Egypt welcomes someone…it knows that he is efficient and can lead," Mubarak told reporters. The Egyptian president and Sarkozy discussed the world economic situation and preparations for next month's Washington summit of the G20 group of wealthy and emerging nations, of which Egypt is not a member, French officials said. The two leaders also discussed the issue of the union grouping countries of the Mediterranean rim. Beirut, 30 Oct 08, 04:22

Arrest Warrants against Jawhar Network Members
Naharnet/Judge Nabil Sarri has issued arrest warrants in absentia against eight suspects in the terrorist network linked to the bomb attack against a military bus in Tripoli Aug. 13. Among those included in the arrest warrants are Abdul Ghani Jawhar, a fugitive in the case, and Saudi citizen Obeid Mubarak al-Qafil who is known as "Abu Aaysha."Sarri has also issued arrest warrants against six members of the same terror cell. The number of defendants charged in the deadly bombing case has reached 34 -- 19 Lebanese, 13 Palestinians, a Syrian and a Saudi. Beirut, 30 Oct 08, 11:30

Suleiman from Rome: A Reconciled Lebanon is a United Lebanon
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman, accompanied by Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Defense Minister Elias Murr and State Ministers Khaled Qabbani and Youssef Taqla, arrived in Italy Wednesday afternoon on a two day official visit. Suleiman and his accompanying delegation attended an evening reception hosted by Ambassador Melhem Misto and the Lebanese community. The president stressed during the reception that a "reconciled Lebanon means a united Lebanon, means a Lebanon keen on multiculturalism, capable of protecting itself from all the storms blowing in our region and the world, to muster them in our favor."
"This will allow us to continue the national dialogue in order to strengthen and protect the nation by all available means against the Israeli enemy and its greed, against terrorism and its crimes and against settling the Palestinians (in Lebanon) and its dangers," he added. Suleiman was quick to point that "we have to move from reconciliation to reform which has become an urgent necessity in many fields in order to be able to build a modern state on solid foundations." The president is scheduled to meet with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday. On Friday, he will meet with Pope Benedict XVI as well as with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. Beirut, 30 Oct 08, 10:05

Suleiman to Attend U.N. Interfaith Conference
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman's participation in the U.N. interfaith conference next month "has not been officially confirmed yet," a diplomatic source in New York told An Nahar daily. The source, however, said Suleiman's "entourage confirmed" that the president would participate in the November 12-13 meeting, which aims to promote dialogue among the world's monotheistic religions. The gathering will be a follow up to an interfaith conference held in Madrid in July which was spurred by an initiative by Saudi King Abdullah. Suleiman will make a speech at the New York conference, An Nahar said. Beirut, 30 Oct 08, 04:59
German Prosecutors Call for Life in Prison For Lebanese over Train Bomb Plot
German prosecutors on Wednesday called for life imprisonment for a Lebanese man over an abortive attempt to bomb packed German passenger trains as his trial wound down. A state prosecutor told the higher regional court in the western German city of Duesseldorf that Youssef Mohammed al-Hajj Deeb, 24, was a hardened Islamic extremist who was guilty of an undetermined number of counts of attempted murder.
Prosecutor Dusche Gmel said Deeb had displayed a "severe degree of criminal intent" in planning an attack in July 2006 aimed at avenging satirical cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed published in European newspapers. "He wanted to kill several innocent civilians and spread fear and horror," Gmel said. "Germany has never been closer to experiencing an Islamist attack." Deeb also faces charges of attempting to cause a blast with explosives for the plot in which he and an accomplice allegedly placed homemade bombs packed in suitcases on two commuter trains carrying a total of about 280 people.
Only a technical fault prevented a bloodbath in a scheme investigators say was modeled on the train blasts in Madrid in 2004 and London the following year. Prosecutors argue the explosions could have killed up to 75 people. Men identified as Deeb and his associate, Jihad Hamad, were captured on security cameras putting the baggage on the trains.
The images played on heavy rotation on television in Germany, where the September 11, 2001 suicide hijackings against the United States were planned in part but which has escaped an attack by Islamic extremists. The defendant told the court in February that the plot had been hatched by Hamad, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in January in Beirut. That court also convicted Deeb in absentia. Deeb said he had built his bomb so it would not detonate, intending its discovery to be a warning to German society. Authorities have said Hamad claimed during questioning that he and Deeb also plotted to attack a stadium during the football World Cup in Germany in 2006 and a bridge over the Rhine River in the western city of Cologne. Hamad testified that they abandoned those plans because of tight security surrounding World Cup venues and did not attack the bridge because a homemade bomb would not have been strong enough to destroy it, prosecutors said. A verdict is expected November 18.(AFP) Beirut, 29 Oct 08, 20:15

Miqdad Accuses Lebanese, Arabs of Supporting Extremism in the North
Naharnet/Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad accused Lebanese and Arab parties of supporting extremism in north Lebanon and denied that the establishment of diplomatic ties with Beirut was a concession. "There are Lebanese and Arab parties that pay millions to support extremism. This will only work to burn the fingers of those who play with Islam and the values we believe in," Miqdad said at a lecture in Damascus titled "Syrian Policy and Regional Changes."
In responding to questions from participants at the lecture, the Syrian official accused forces that used to support the Taliban of also supporting extremism in north Lebanon. Miqdad was quoted by the daily As-Safir as saying that "such forces composed of Arab, Lebanese officials and governments would have continued in this game to the end had it not been for Syria."
"One cannot trust these forces," Miqdad exclaimed. "Syria has deployed 800 soldiers on our borders with northern Lebanon to prevent smuggling, terrorism and infiltration," he said. "Some Lebanese media outlets whose intentions are well known, stated that we were massing troops on the border. Despite the fact that this was in agreement with the Lebanese side," Miqdad added. He said the recent visit by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to Syria "has laid positive foundations in bilateral relations and demonstrated that Syria remains keen on Lebanon's sovereignty and independence."
Miqdad went to express his confidence that "the coming period will witness further strengthening and development of bilateral relations in all fields."
The Syrian official rejected the notion that the establishment of diplomatic relations with Lebanon was a concession.
"There is no concession, if we were to concede we would have done so when Syria was under pressure. This offer (of setting up diplomatic ties) was made in 2005 by President Bashar al-Assad," Miqdad said. On the possibility of a future visit by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun to Damascus, Miqdad said: "He should set the timing, we are pleased with his movement and dialogue with all of the Lebanese parties."Regarding Syrian-Saudi relations, Miqdad described them as "passing through uneasy times." He said that Syria has "exerted every effort to put the Arab national effort on the right track."
Miqdad described the efforts as "not leading to any progress." "We hope that others will come to realize that the problem with reforming inter-Arab relations does not lie with Syria. We are willing to match ten fold any movement in this regard," Miqdad responded. Miqdad said Syrian-Egyptian relations were "not at their best, and are in need for further contact and for obstacles to be removed." "We are not responsible for this. However, this does not mean that we are not willing to discuss with our (Arab) brothers what prevents the improvement of relations. We are awaiting initiatives from other parties," the Syrian official explained. Beirut, 29 Oct 08, 10:14

Inside Today's Bulletin
The Attack On Syria: Lessons And Questions
By David Bedein, Middle East Correspondent
10/29/2008
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Jerusalem - Not all the details of last week's American attack on an isolated building on the Syrian-Iraqi border are sufficiently clear. It was evidently a raid by a small force that arrived in two helicopter gunships with two attack helicopters providing close cover.
Senior Israel defense analyst Yaakov Amidror, wrote notes in the Israeli media indicating the key significance of the operation was that the "American army disregarded Syrian sovereignty, crossed the border and acted within the borders of a sovereign country without having received its permission."
From this perspective, the operation calls to mind the reports of an attack on a Syrian nuclear installation by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) in Sept. 2007. As then, this week both the U.S. and Israel decided that the damage they would suffer by respecting Syrian sovereignty would be greater than the possible damage from a Syrian response.
Mr. Amidror added that, "for the Israelis, it was fear of nuclear arms in Syrian possession, while for the Americans, it was the realization that the Syria-Iraqi border had become a corridor for terrorists working against the U.S. military" and "both countries realized that in order to stop the process, they must act forcefully and violate Syria's sovereignty"

According to the reports provided by U.S. intelligence officials, the information in Israel's possession was much more exact. On the other hand, there is still doubt regarding the quality of the intelligence that the small American attack force possessed.
"It is conceivable that the Americans are starting to realize more strongly the need to invest in isolating Iraq. As the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) learned from experience, it is not enough to fight against terrorism on its bases," Mr. Amidror said. "One must also keep it from connecting with the outside - the connection that enables it to bring in fresh troops, arms and funds and to go and rest and be free from pressure."
Another Israeli intelligence expert, journalist Ronen Bergman, offered another assessment, saying "The American commando attack in Syrian territory on the Iraqi border was coordinated in advance with Syrian military intelligence."
Syrian intelligence, Mr. Bergman said, has been cooperating for a long time with the United States in its war against al-Qaida and its aligned groups, and "Syrian approval for an American attack on Syrian soil was another link in the chain of that cooperation.
"In keeping with the advanced coordination between the CIA and [President Bashar] al-Assad's intelligence, the American commando unit was flown into Syria on helicopters, executed its mission, which took 10 minutes, and returned the same way." 

According to other information that was provided yesterday to Mr. Bergman by a European source, the American helicopters were identified by the local Syrian air defense troops. When the anti-aircraft forces asked Damascus for approval to open fire, they were firmly told not to do so.
Official Syrian media continues to accuse the U.S. of committing "a war crime against innocent civilians" However, it seems that that attack will not prevent the Syrian foreign minister from conducting previously scheduled meetings in London with senior American officials.
**David Bedein can be reached at bedein@thebulletin.us. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com
©The Bulletin 2008

Demonstrations prompt closure of U.S. Embassy in Syria
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. Embassy in Damascus announced that it will be closed Thursday because of "increased security concerns" arising three days after a U.S. strike in Syria.Iraqi refugees took to the streets in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday to protest Sunday's airstrike.
more photos » Officials said the action was taken because of concerns over anti-U.S. demonstrations scheduled for Thursday over Sunday's airstrike, which Syria claims left eight people dead near the Iraq-Syria border. Demonstrations were reportedly staged Wednesday throughout Syria to protest the incident, which has raised tensions among Iraq, Syria and the United States. Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Abu Kamal, Syria, near the Iraqi border, burning American flags and shouting angrily, the country's official news agency SANA reported. The Syrian government summoned the top U.S. official in the country, Maura Connelly, on Wednesday to request that an American cultural center be shut immediately. The government also requested a closure date of November 6 for the American-run Damascus Community School, deputy U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.
The Syrians did not specify how long the closures would last, Wood said.
Connelly told Syrian officials that the United States "expects them to provide adequate security to the buildings" during the closures, Wood said.

Syria complains to U.N. about U.S. strike
Official: Al Qaeda was U.S. target in Syrian attack
TIME.com: Reaction to U.S. raid muted
Senior State Department officials said the U.S. was pushing back on the request to close the school, as were other international diplomats and Syrian families whose children attend classes there. Earlier this week, the Syrians gave Connelly a "demarche," or formal protest, about Sunday's incident, Wood said.
Syria has filed a complaint with the United Nations over the incident, which it has deemed an "act of aggression."
Syria says four U.S. helicopters based in Iraq launched the deadly airstrike on a farm under construction about five miles (8 kilometers) from the Iraq-Syria border, according to SANA. Washington has not confirmed the strike. But a U.S. official who did not want to be identified said U.S. gunships fired near the Syria-Iraq border and successfully targeted Abu Ghadiya, an Iraqi suspected of working with al Qaeda to smuggle money, weapons and foreign fighters into Iraq.
Abu Ghadiya was "the top facilitator of al Qaeda foreign fighters into Iraq," according to a top U.S. military official in Iraq who did not want to be named for security reasons. News of the embassy closure came as the Iraqi government announced Wednesday that it has opened an investigation into the airstrike.
Iraqi authorities said they plan to share their findings with Syria.
"All information and data [will be] submitted to the brotherly Syrian side upon the completion of investigations," the statement said, quoting an authoritative source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.In its letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the current head of the U.N. Security Council, Syria maintained that the U.S. helicopters "violated Syrian airspace" and struck a civilian building before returning to Iraq, SANA reported.
Farhan Haq, a spokesman for Ban's office, confirmed that the secretary-general had received the complaint and said it will be studied and circulated among Security Council members. Syria identified the eight killed as Daoud Mohammad al-Abdullah and his four sons; Ahmad Khalefa; and Ali Abbas and his wife, according to SANA. Another unnamed U.S. official in Washington disputed that women or children were killed.
The official said the operation, carried out by U.S. Special Operations ground forces, was designed to minimize the risk of unintended civilian casualties. He said that other members of Abu Ghadiya's network were killed in the raid and that no one was captured alive. Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesman for the government in Baghdad, initially responded to the attack Monday. "We want good relations, but we must remember that 13 Iraqi policemen ... were killed in an Iraqi bordering village near that region by a terrorist group that was operating from the Syrian territories," he said. The Syrian government denounced that statement, state-run media reported. Al-Dabbagh issued a statement Tuesday saying the government in Baghdad condemned the attack and called on U.S. forces "not to repeat such acts."
Iraq's parliament issued a statement Tuesday expressing "great regret" over the strike, which it said threatens to "mar" Iraq's relationship with Syria.

Syria hardens stance after deadly US raid
By ALBERT AJI – DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria threatened Wednesday to stop cooperating with the U.S. and Baghdad on security along its Iraqi border if there are more American raids on Syrian territory like the weekend attack that killed eight people. The government also demanded Washington apologize for Sunday's cross-border helicopter strike by American special forces, which U.S. military officials said killed a top al-Qaida in Iraq operative who was about to conduct an attack in Iraq.
Syria's order for the closure of an American school and cultural center and an embassy warning to be vigilant raised concerns among Americans living in Damascus. A huge protest against the raid was called for Thursday in Damascus. While Americans have generally been welcomed in Syria, protests in the past have turned violent against U.S. and European targets. Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad said Syria wants assurances that Iraqi territory will not be used again to raid Syria. "We have demanded that an investigation be conducted and that Iraq not be used for attacks against Syria. Otherwise, this would torpedo all agreements reached during the Iraq neighbors' meetings and bilateral agreements," he told The Associated Press in an interview.
Iraq also demanded Wednesday that a crucial security deal under discussion with the U.S. must include a ban on American troops using Iraqi territory to attack neighboring countries. Though Syria has long been viewed by the U.S. as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, attacks on its territory are rare and Damascus has been trying in recent months to change its image and end years of global seclusion.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has pursued indirect peace talks with Israel and says he is open to direct talk as early as next year. Syria also has agreed to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon — a country it used to dominate — for the first time in their history. But the U.S. still accuses Syria of doing too little to prevent foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq. Syria says it is doing all it can to safeguard the long, porous border.
Despite its opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Syria has moved to improve relations with Baghdad, sending an ambassador earlier this month for the first time in 25 years. Mekdad demanded the U.S. and Iraq apologize for the attack and asked for American compensation. "What is required of the American government is to confess to this aggression and not be cowardly," he said. There has been no formal acknowledgment of the raid from the United States. But U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the target was Badran Turki al-Mazidih, a top al-Qaida in Iraq figure who operated a network of smuggling fighters across the border. The Iraqi national also goes by the name Abu Ghadiyah.
Mekdad rejected the U.S. reports and insisted all those killed were Syrians. "The allegation that this person was killed is a false claim. Therefore, a search for him by world intelligence agencies, including Syria's, should continue," he said. With tensions between the U.S. and Syria on the rise, the U.S. Embassy advised Americans to avoid demonstrations and review their personal security. Thursday's government-sanctioned protest was expected to draw tens of thousands.
"Unforeseen events or circumstances may occur that could cause the U.S. Embassy in Damascus to close to the public for an unspecified period of time," said the warning posted on the embassy's Web site. Despite the warning, some Americans living in Syria said they were not too worried.
"I feel that it might be tough for me to say that I am an American, for a while, but I don't have any concerns for my personal safety," said Kate Alberswerth, a 24-year-old New York native who is studying Arabic in Damascus. Though authorities generally keep Syria tightly controlled, violence at protests occasionally has erupted in the past.
In 1998, small groups trashed the U.S. ambassador's residence and entered the American and British cultural centers in Damascus to protest U.S.-British airstrikes on Iraq. In 2006, thousands protesting newspaper caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad burned the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus.
On Tuesday, Syria's government announced it was ordering the closure of an American community school and the U.S. cultural center in Damascus, but both institution were open Wednesday. In Washington, the State Department said Syria officially asked the United States on Wednesday to close the American Cultural Center immediately and the American school by Nov. 6.
"We are looking at how to respond," spokesman Robert Wood said. In the meantime, he added, "we expect the Syrian government to provide adequate security for the buildings in which the American Cultural Center and Damascus Community School are housed."
Syria demands US apology for helicopter raid Damascus foreign minister dismisses claim senior al-Qaida man was killedMark Tran and agencies guardian.co.uk, Wednesday October 29 2008 16.06 GMT Article history
Syrians mourn next the bodies of their relatives who were killed in the US strike on the village of Sukkiraya. Photograph: Ramzi Haidar/ AFP
Syria today demanded an apology and compensation from the US after a helicopter raid into its territory left at least eight people dead.
The deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, also rejected US claims that Sunday's attack killed a top operative of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ghadiyah, who had been about to conduct an attack in Iraq, according to US intelligence.
Mekdad told the Associated Press all the victims were Syrian civilians, and Damascus did not know the whereabouts of the wanted Iraqi. He added that the search for Abu Ghadiyah by Syrian and foreign intelligence agencies should continue.
Syria has already closed a US community school and cultural centre in response to the US raid. It has also condemned the US for launching "criminal and terrorist aggression" on its soil.
The Iraqi government has defended action against foreign jihadis, though it has warned that this could complicate plans for a controversial security agreement between Baghdad and Washington. Walid al-Muallem, Syria's foreign minister, who was in London this week, suggested Sunday's raid had been designed to halt the gradual improvement in Syria's relations with the EU and Britain. Iran and Russia also condemned the US for aggravating tensions in the region.
Syria said US special forces, backed by helicopters, had launched the attack, five miles into its territory, killing eight people, including four children.
But at the funerals of the victims, where angry crowds chanted anti-US slogans, an Associated Press photographer said he saw the bodies of seven men.
Unnamed US officials said the raid's target, Abu Ghadiya, was a former aide of the Iraqi insurgent leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Abu Ghadiya was a major smuggler of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters into Iraq, according to US officials.
The commander of US forces in western Iraq told reporters last week US troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border. Major General John Kelly said Iraq's western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result of good policing by security forces in those countries, but Syria was "a different story".Last year, the then US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, praised Syria's cooperation in reducing violence in Iraq. But Syria has since refused to restart intelligence-sharing with the US until Washington recognises its assistance by returning an ambassador to Damascus.

Christian reconciliation remains up in the air
Thursday, October 30, 2008
BEIRUT: As Lebanon's president and prime minister headed Wednesday to Rome and Cairo respectively, the country's leading politicians remained focused on Christian reconciliation efforts and the upcoming parliamentary elections, which will draw the country's political map for the next four years.
President Michel Sleiman left for Rome on Wednesday, accompanied by a delegation that included Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Defense Minister Elias Murr and ministers of state Khaled Qabbani and Youssef Taqla. Sleiman is expected to meet on Thursday with his Italian counterpart, Giorgio Napolitano, and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. On Friday, Sleiman is scheduled to meet with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. He is also to meet with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir. Sources quoted by the Central News Agency said on Wednesday that Sleiman's meeting with the patriarch would focus on launching a new initiative to achieve reconciliation among rival Christians.
The sources added that Sleiman would use the upcoming national dialogue session to try to promote reconciliation efforts among all factions.
As Sleiman began his visit to Rome, Egyptian and Lebanese officials began official talks on Wednesday in Cairo. The visiting Lebanese delegation is headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and includes Education Minister Bahia Hariri, Economy and Trade Minister Mohammad Safadi, Energy and Water Resources Minister Alain Tabourian, Culture Minister Tammam Salam, Tourism Minister Elie Marouni and Minister of State Ibrahim Chamseddine. Three educational agreements were signed during the first meeting on Wednesday and additional agreements are expected to be signed on Thursday.
Siniora also met with a delegation of Lebanese and Egyptian businessmen. Separately, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun announced on Wednesday that he would run in the 2009 elections in Kesrouan-Jbeil and not in Baabda in order to put an end to criticism that he would win the latter district thanks to the Shiite vote.In an interview with Kuwait's Al-Anbaa newspaper, Aoun acknowledged that "running in Kesrouan is a big challenge to me." However, he added that "All prospects are possible in the elections."
Aoun said that his popularity among Christians had not decreased to less than 51 percent, according to opinion polls. He added that he would be able secure 70 percent of the Christian vote based on his "future alliances."Concerning efforts to achieve inter-Christian reconciliation, Aoun said: "The doors of reconciliation have not been closed, because they were not open in the first place."
Aoun added that apologies are useless when the people to whom they are addressed are not identified by name. Aoun was referring to remarks made by Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea, who has apologized for any "mistakes" that the LF may have committed during the Civil War. The LF boss has stopped short of apologizing directly to Marada Movement leader and former Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh, whose father, mother and sister were killed by Geagea's militia in a 1978 raid on the family's home in Ehden. Geagea claims that he was shot before he arrived at the scene of the killings.
Aoun added that the best means for reconciliation was through the judiciary.
Meanwhile, Franjieh said the public should not dwell extensively upon reconciliation efforts, "because they will happen at the right time when conditions mature."
Franjieh met on Wednesday with the Maronite League president, Joseph Tarabay, who has been mediating between the Marada and the Lebanese Forces in a bid to reach a reconciliation agreement between the two long-time rivals. "The reconciliation issue should be discussed calmly, because if discussions around it are hurried, its damage will be greater than its benefits," Franjieh said after the meeting. He added that he and Tarabay agreed on the need to ease tensions in the media and avoid political bickering through media outlets.
"The reconciliation is not a ball that we throw in someone else's court; it is a fundamental issue, as innocent blood was shed during a period of the history and the Christians were divided," Franjieh added. However, the Marada leader added that his party was willing to continue talks with the Maronite League and said he hoped that the media would deal objectively with the matter. Asked about the conditions that his party has put forward to agree on reconciliation with the LF, Franjieh said: "We have said it before and the League knows that our conditions are not very difficult to meet."
He added: "This issue should be permanently closed as it will not remain a trade product used by some parties in the media."Tarabay, for his part, said the Maronite League was willing to continue its efforts until the reconciliation is achieved. Franjieh also met on Wednesday with the UN secretary general's representative in Lebanon, Michael Williams. Although inter-Christian reconciliation efforts appeared to be making little progress, Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that the country was going through a positive period in view of successful reconciliation initiatives. "Despite the Lebanese internal mosaic, there are positive developments prevailing over the country," he said, citing the meeting between Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri and Hizbullah secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah over the weekend.
Berri added that Egypt's ongoing cooperation served to encourage reconciliation among rival Lebanese factions. The speaker met Wednesday with MP Butros Harb, with whom he discussed the latest developments. In remarks afterward, Harb said: "We have discussed the latest reconciliation efforts which yielded positively in the political arena and we hope that these reconciliations would be achieved between all the disputing parties, especially that the upcoming parliamentary elections require a calm atmosphere."
For his part, Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said he did not expect that inter-Christian reconciliation would be achieved.
In comments to As-Sayyad magazine to be published Thursday, Najjar said: "I do not see that reconciliation is possible between General Michel Aoun and the Lebanese Forces [or between] Minister Suleiman Franjieh and the LF."In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc welcomed the talks between Nasrallah and Hariri over the weekend, saying the meeting had eased tensions in Lebanon and in the wider Arab and Islamic worlds.
The statement also stressed the bloc's adherence to the outcome of the Nasrallah-Hariri meeting and urged "all the Lebanese to cooperate" to achieve national reconciliation.Meanwhile, former President Amin Gemayel said he hoped all Lebanese parties would follow the example of Hariri and Nasrallah.
In comments following his meeting on Wednesday with Russian Ambassador Serguei Boukin, Gemayel said: "There is a determination to push the reconciliation forward. The meeting between parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah should widen the framework of reconciliations."
"We support all efforts in this regard and we ask President Michel Sleiman and Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir to make further efforts to achieve inter-Christian reconciliation as soon as possible," he added

Pakradounian: Tashnak's Alliance with Aoun is Ultimate
Naharnet/MP Hagop Pakradounian said Wednesday that Tashnak's alliance with Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun is "ultimate."
"Our alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement in the upcoming elections is ultimate and we don't stab our ally in the back," he said, stressing that Tashnak supports any step that Aoun takes with regard to protecting the Christian presence in Lebanon.
"Today thanks to Aoun's wisdom and to the (referendum) of Understanding with Hizbullah, Christians came out victorious and gained the title of 'resistor'," he added. Beirut, 29 Oct 08, 20:06

Would-be Lebanese bomber merits life in prison - German prosecutor
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
DUESSELDORF: German prosecutors called for life imprisonment Wednesday for a Lebanese man over a failed plot to bomb packed German passenger trains as his trial wound down here. A state prosecutor told the higher regional court in this western German city that Youssef Mohammad al-Hajj Dib, 24, was an Islamic extremist guilty of an undetermined number of counts of attempted murder. Prosecutor Dusche Gmel said Dib had displayed a "severe degree of criminal intent" in planning an attack in July 2006 aimed at avenging satirical cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad published in European newspapers.
"He wanted to kill several innocent civilians and spread fear and horror," Gmel said. "Germany has never been closer to experiencing an Islamist attack."
Dib faces charges of attempting to cause a blast with explosives for the plot in which he and an accomplice allegedly placed homemade bombs packed in suitcases on two trains carrying about 280 people. Only a technical fault prevented a bloodbath in a scheme investigators say was modelled on the train blasts in Madrid in 2004 and London the following year. Prosecutors say the blasts could have killed up to 75 people.
Men identified as Dib and his associate, Jihad Hamad, were caught on security cameras putting the baggage on the trains. The images played on heavy rotation on television in Germany, where the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States were planned in part but which has escaped an attack by Islamic extremists. The defendant told the court in February that the plot had been hatched by Hamad, whom a Beirut court in January sentenced to 12 years in prison. That court also convicted Dib in absentia.
Dib said he had built his bomb so it would not detonate, intending its discovery to be a warning to German society. Authorities have said Hamad claimed during questioning that he and Dib also plotted to attack a stadium during the soccer World Cup in Germany in 2006 and a bridge over the Rhine river in the western city of Cologne. Hamad testified that they abandoned those plans because of tight security surrounding World Cup venues and did not attack the bridge because a homemade bomb would not have been strong enough to destroy it, prosecutors said. - AFP

Najjar confirms former security chiefs bound for The Hague
Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 30, 2008
BEIRUT: Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said in comments to be published on Thursday that the four former security chiefs detained for alleged involvement in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will be transferred to the headquarters of the international tribunal in The Hague.
"The international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri assassination will kick off its work in March and the four generals will be taken to The Hague for trial," the justice minister told As-Sayyad magazine. The four former security chiefs, Jamil al-Sayyed of General Security, Ali al-Hajj of the Internal Security Forces, Raymond Azar of Lebanese Army Intelligence and Mustafa Hamdan of the Presidential Guards, have been detained since September 2005 for alleged involvement in the Hariri's assassination. - The Daily Star

Israel prepares 'decisive' strike against resistance - report
By Andrew Wander /Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 30, 2008
BEIRUT: The Israeli military is "making preparations" for a strike against Hizbullah that "appears inevitable" and will be "decisive," a former top Israeli diplomat has written in a report for a US-based think tank with strong links to America's Jewish lobby. Oded Eran, Israel's former ambassador to the European Union and now director of the Institute for Security Studies in Tel Aviv, published a report for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) entitled "UN Resolution 1701: A view from Israel."
In it, he says that "since Israel's withdrawal from Southern Lebanon in 2000, Hizbullah has built a massive military infrastructure. Among Israel's 2006 war objectives was the destruction of that infrastructure."Since the conflict, the Shiite group "has more than doubled its pre-war arsenal," the report notes, despite UNIFIL's presence in the South of Lebanon. The result, Eran writes, is that "another war with Hizbullah appears inevitable and the Israeli military currently is making preparations to ensure the next round is decisive." The report was issued last week to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the suicide attack on the US Marine barracks near Beirut airport. The report was part of a series on Resolution 1701, which ended hostilities in Israel's war on Lebanon, which devastated large swathes of the country.
Eran admits that the conflict did not go as Israel had planned. Describing it as a "debacle," he says "UNSCR 1701 provided Israel with a reasonable exit from a military dead-end."But he rejects the idea that the peace secured by Resolution 1701 is sustainable. "Although the resolution ended the fighting, it did not end the conflict," he warns. Rather than peace, he describes the cease-fire as a "lull" in fighting.
Noting Hizbullah's increased political power in Lebanon since the end of the summer war of 2006, Eran writes of Israel's desire to "undermine" the party's position in the country. "Logic suggests this can only be achieved by a successful military operation followed by a clear diplomatic solution," he argues.
Two companion reports which provide views on UNSCR 1701 from Lebanon and the US also conclude that another conflict is likely. In the "View from Lebanon" report, Beirut-based journalist Nicholas Blanford says Hizbullah has completed a "massive, unprecedented recruitment training and rearmament drive," since the 2006 war."Israel ... would likely gain a more sympathetic ear from the UN if it were to desist from its own breaches of the resolution." he writes. "Hizbullah and Israel continue to pay lip service to UNSCR 1701 while focusing on preparations for the inevitable second round of conflict."
In the "View from the United States" element of the report, Michael Singh, a former senior director for Middle East affairs on Washington's National Security Council and fellow of the Washington Institute, writes that it is "tempting to view another conflict as inevitable."
"The possibility of renewed conflict looms large and is compounded by tensions between Iran and Israel, the potential for Hizbullah to avenge the death of Imad Mughniyeh ... and the activities of terrorist groups operating in Palestinian refugee camps," he says.
WINEP has been criticized for its pro-Israeli agenda. It was founded in 1985 by a senior member of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee who later went on to become America's ambassador to Israel.
Meanwhile in Tel Aviv, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said this week that the Israeli military was better prepared for a forthcoming conflict than it was before the summer war of 2006. "It really inspires confidence and warms the heart to see the efforts made to implement lessons learned from the flaws of the war" Barak said on a visit to a military base, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Barak's comments came after a series of senior Israeli military officials warned that in any future conflict, Lebanon's civilian infrastructure would be targeted to a greater extent than in 2006

Lebanon needs more of the same from Nasrallah and Hariri
By Marc J. Sirois /Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, subject to intense speculation as to when their long-awaited reconciliation meeting would take place, managed to wrong-foot all of the pundits by getting together under a cloak of secrecy this past Sunday evening. It remains to be seen, however, whether they can surprise the pessimists, too, by permanently banishing one of the many specters that haunt this country: Sunni-Shiite strife.
Theoretically, this should not be difficult, because the core interests of the two men, their parties and their communities are not dissimilar. Their approaches to the challenges facing Lebanon and those parts of it they respectively represent are quite different, but even their broadest disagreements are over issues of circumstance, preference and principle which can be coped with, worked around, and, yes, compromised upon. Contrary to the assumptions wielded so artfully by the demagogues of all faiths who do so much to shape opinion in Lebanon, this is anything but a zero-sum game in which the advantage of one participant can only be achieved at the expense of another.
The most urgent task is one whose omission would needlessly imperil the entire rapprochement venture: containing the still-dangerous tensions stemming directly from the armed clashes that spilled so much blood in May. The sayyed and the MP addressed this issue - and the related one of inflammatory media coverage - in a joint statement released a day after their talks, but the palpable volatility of the environment demands much, much more. They and other leading figures need regularly to make clear their unadulterated condemnation of all forms of incitement and provocation and the violence to which these lead. To do otherwise is to leave the ultimate decision-making to angry young men from both sects by making it possible for them to derail reconciliation via renewed brawling in the streets.
It is not just tempers that must be brought under control and recent wounds that must be healed: Unless attitudes at large change fundamentally (no pun intended), it is just a matter of time before some new dispute causes the aforementioned young men to start bashing one another in the head (or worse) again. Here the appeal will have to address not only issues particular to the tiny chip of land known as Lebanon but also some involving the schisms that affect much of the Islamic world.
While neither an Islamic scholar nor even someone who has played one on television, I do know that the original split between Shiites and Sunnis took place a very long time ago. I would argue that given the many changes through which Islamic civilization in general and the Sunni and Shiite sects in particular have gone in the intervening 14 centuries or so, neither the theological debates that preceded the crack-up nor the succession dispute that cemented it is particularly relevant anymore. Even if this is not the case, it is hard to see how any of these old disagreements is more important than undoing the centuries of disunity that have made Muslims, especially the Arabs among them, such easy prey to foreign powers.
From the invasions of Mongols and Crusaders to old-fashioned European colonialism and its bastard offspring, Zionism, some of the most devastatingly misguided projects of humankind have been carried out in this part of the world precisely because its inhabitants have been so easily turned against one another. Mutual hostility has prevented the Middle East's indigenous forces from either working in concert or developing the dynamic societies and economies that might be capable of defending themselves on their own.
The phenomenon has also contributed to more recent problems, the most serious of which have related to the long period of Saddam Hussein's rule in Iraq, his overthrow by a US-led invasion in 2003, and all the evils that have followed. The early Saddam posed an obvious threat to sclerotic Arab elites, one that might have been a good thing had it been correctly channeled and/or answered by intelligent reforms aimed at stealing his populist thunder. Needless to say, nothing like that happened: Instead, the United States and its Arab allies sought to maintain the status quo of their own contradictory relationship by encouraging him to invade another Muslim country, Iran, just as it was throwing off the yoke of the hated shah. They then spent the next eight years subsidizing and otherwise facilitating an Iraqi war effort whose only long-term effects would be to claim hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides and to ensure that the nascent Islamic Republic of Iran would have good reason indeed to be resentful and paranoid.
The counter-productiveness of paying what amounted to "protection money" to Saddam was made clear in 1990 when he took over Kuwait, one of the countries that had most generously bankrolled his adventure against Iran. Following the ouster of Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991, Saddam became a full-fledged pariah, ostracized even by his Arab brethren. The latter did little, too, to ameliorate the deprivations of Iraqis suffering under United Nations sanctions, and nor did they put much sustained effort into either averting the 2003 invasion or assisting civilians displaced by the sectarian bloodbath that ensued.
The reluctance of most Arab regimes to do anything about Saddam - engage him, rein him in, anything to avoid the earthquake that everyone knew was coming - was entirely consistent with the precarious space into which history and notions of expediency had confined them. Among sundry other dreads, they feared his appeals to their own dispossessed masses, they feared his departure would allow Iraq's Shiite majority to take charge and bolster Iran's influence, and they feared the possible consequences of overtly crossing the United States.
After Saddam was toppled, Nasrallah himself warned that all Arab regimes were vulnerable to the same treatment because, as non-democracies, their armies would not fight for them. He could not have been more right: Bush's rhetoric aside, it has long been the policy of the United States to defer the question of the democracy deficit among America's Arab allies, and the rulers in question have been only too happy to comply.
Lebanon is different, in part because this country has its own democratic traditions, however flawed they may be. But these do not make it immune to the virus of sectarian enmity released by the Iraq war: Rather, they make it a threat to the established but self-evidently untenable order of things in the Middle East.
Nonetheless, Lebanon can - no, must - consummate its long flirtation with democratic governance. Among countless other benefits, the advent of legitimate rule, legitimately derived from a consenting public and legitimately supervised by an independent and suitably empowered judiciary, would do much to replace pointless sectarian and tribal arguments with helpful ones about actual policy.
Since Lebanon will manifestly continue to be a target for meddlers of myriad origin, however, it cannot make the leap to democracy unless key individuals like Hariri and Nasrallah are all pulling in the same direction. They are not yet doing that, but they seem at last to have stopped butting heads. What might they do next to confound the naysayers?
**Marc J. Sirois is managing editor of THE DAILY STAR. His email address is marc.sirois@dailystar.com.lb

A glimpse of Lebanon's Civil War 'from the very edge'
Irish theater company performs Wajdi Mouawad's 'Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons'
By Laura Wilkinson /Special to The Daily Star
Thursday, October 30, 2008
DUBLIN: With a Lebanese setting, a Canadian writer and an Irish production company, "Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons'" was inevitably going to be a perplexing piece of theater. Staged at Dublin's Smock Alley Theatre Studios from October 15-25, this is the first Irish production of Wajdi Mouawad's work. The Lebanese-born Quebecois playwright, actor and director is a renowned figure in Canadian and francophone theater. The recipient of several
dramatic awards, he drew particular attention in 2005 for declining the prestigious Moliere Prize to protest against what he saw as French directors' consistent overlooking of contemporary playwrights.
Most recently in September, Mouawad wrote an open letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper concerning the elimination of federal grants in the field of culture. Describing his letter as part of the "Resistance," he called the government's move a "declaration of war" on artists, and accused them of "rupturing the strange pact, made millennia ago, between art and politics."
Meanwhile, Bedrock Productions brought "Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons'" to the stage last week, in an illustration of the playwright's intense and provocative style of writing. Mouawad's play was written in 1994 and appears to fall into the genre of tragi-comedy. Set in a Beirut apartment besieged by falling shells, "Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons'" portrays a family caught in a perpetual waiting game as they prepare for the wedding of their only daughter. There's one problem: The groom doesn't exist. Along with the sexually frustrated neighbor Souhayla, the family members repeatedly battle their ennui with teeth-gritting humor and violent language. Moments of breaking point provide heart-wrenching reminders of the realities of living in a war.
Born in Lebanon in 1968, Mouawad and his family emigrated to France in 1977 before eventually settling in Canada. Themes of war, memory, identity and redemption recur in several of Mouawad's plays - the award winning "Littoral" (1997), for example, follows a young Lebanese in Canada who chooses to bury his father in war-torn Lebanon. Such themes resonate throughout "Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons.'" Yet there is a distinct absence of hard politics; nor is there much of a Lebanese context.
"The play doesn't really have historical content," says producer Alex Johnston of Bedrock Productions. "The characters aren't interested in Lebanese history. To them, the war is almost like a natural phenomenon," he says, referring to the recurring thunderstorm in the play.
"It's out there and it's annoying and it's dangerous, but it's not about them, it isn't being fought for them. At one moment the characters are totally aware that they're in a play, and the next minute they're lost in a private panic about whatever's going on in their lives. I think this is Wajdi's way of saying that the war drives people nuts."As the title of the play suggests in its use of "Cro-Magnon" - the archaeological term that refers to the oldest modern homo sapiens in Europe - Mouawad seems to be more concerned with basic representation of human relationships. His characters suffer from a lack of various freedoms - physical, emotional, sexual - and illustrate a haunting sense of personal defeat as the war effectively holds them captive in their own home. As parents, Nahza and Neyif are ultimately failures - their attempts to provide their family with security or comfort are effectively futile gestures. Amusing statements such as "compared to the Armenians, we are limp dicks," allude to the tragic reality of their impotence. On two separate occasions in the first half of the play, their two children, Neel and Nelly - in an absurd state of hysteria - accuse Nahza of being "dead." The imposing neighbor Souhayla displaces Nahza's role as the nourishing, providing, mother, bringing over a multitude of home-cooked dishes, while Nahza only has "rotten potatoes." Ironically, in the Lebanese social context, Souhayla is herself a "failure:" an unmarried virgin approaching 40.
There is a painful suggestion of the loss of family as an institution, which echoes the broader deterioration of the state. As the country weakens, the family disintegrates, with a sexually void older generation and a fleeing younger generation. Nelly's anticipated marriage to a mysterious "European" mirrors the loss of the younger generation who left Lebanon.
The bride-to-be additionally suffers from irregular bouts of seeming narcolepsy - indeed she spends most of the play sleep-talking. Her catatonic state is reflected by the play as a whole; erratic changes in tone, pace and mood convey a general sense of confusion. This catatonia recalls a familiar motif of artistic representation in post-Civil War Lebanon: collective amnesia. The family is suspended in a state of waiting; they spend their time bored or hungry; alternatively, they invent events, such as the wedding, or self-aggrandizing stories. The action in the play is therefore absurd, as no action is finished - everything is futile.
Director Jason Byrne brings out the intensity of Mouawad's work. The sound effects, which were taken from "live" recordings, coupled with repeated black-outs that recall power-cuts, create a genuinely disturbing atmosphere. Byrne's cast executes the fluctuating levels of comedy and intense drama with the utmost fluidity, unsettling the audience by flitting between dead-pan sarcasm, biting witticisms and outright violent attacks on one another.
Johnston describes the intention behind Byrne's direction as showing respect for the "live" nature of theater.
"Right from the start, [Byrne] didn't want to create any kind of illusion that we were in a naturalistic set and that we were somehow pretending that it was a real Beirut apartment. The play isn't written like that, and Jason went with the grain of the play," he explains, noting the minimalism of the set, where for example there is no glass in the windows but the actors don't pretend that there is.
"The seating for the audience sort of flows onto the stage space at one corner, so it's like you're sitting in the room. They actually do make it work in your imagination - you feel like the bombs really are falling and that the actors might get shot."
The team made no changes to Shelley Tepperman's English translation of the text. The strong Irish accents however, especially when coupled with words like kneffeh, a string of expletives, or some risque turn of phrase during a rather awkward sex scene, gave the Lebanese setting an amusing twist. The language of the play as a whole - with its machine-gun-like flow of curse words, sexual references and violent imagery - makes for an uncomfortable theater experience, especially with the apparent threat of bombs overhead.
As another country dealing with its own problems of identity and conflict, Ireland would appear to share extensive common ground with Lebanon. Johnston highlighted the special significance Lebanon has for Irish people, mostly due to the Irish involvement in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
"[In Dublin] there's a memorial to the Irish soldiers who have been killed on active service with the UN," he notes. "Forty-five of them were killed while serving in Lebanon, which considering the small size of the deployment, is a very large number. There are many Irish ex-servicemen and women who have very strong links to Lebanon."
In terms of approaching taboo issues and in turn clarifying a conflict-ridden collective memory, Johnston suggests that the Irish production of "Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons'" doesn't necessarily need to be shown in Lebanon.
"I personally believe that it's a play which is meant to be watched by people who have not experienced anything like the Lebanese Civil War," Johnston remarks. "There was of course a civil war in Ireland, but it was in the 1920s so it wasn't within the living memory of most people and it wasn't anything like as savage as what happened in Lebanon. Even the worst violence in Northern Ireland wasn't as terrible as Black Saturday, or Karantina, or Damour, or the Sabra and Shatila massacres. No straightforward realistic play could contain and represent events like those. What I think Wajdi Mouawad has done is write something that shakes people up a bit, and gives them just a glimpse from the very edge. That's the best that a play can hope to do, I think."
Bedrock Productions relayed the intensity of Mouawad's writing with an exceptional cast, and an intimidating, exuberant style, delivering a powerful theater experience

U.S. & Syria: which is rogue state?
Published Oct 29, 2008
http://www.workers.org/2008/editorials/syria_1106
What do you get when you cross a rogue state with a superpower? The United States.
That message came through loud and clear this week when the Pentagon sent a Special Forces unit over the border from Washington’s failed occupation of Iraq into Syria to murder eight civilians, including three children. First refusing to answer questions on the attack, the U.S. State Department then explained it as a new strategy.
The strategy: U.S. military forces can attack across any border of any country whenever they think it might give them a military advantage.
That is, Washington is the capital of a rogue state. It attacks whenever it feels like it for whatever reason pops into its head. It’s hard to imagine a state more rogue than that.
As if to underline this point, the Pentagon also carried out a cross-border attack at the eastern end of its occupied zone. In this one a drone, that is, an unpiloted plane from the U.S.’s failed occupation of Afghanistan, fired a rocket in Pakistan. Some 20 Pakistanis were killed there.
Later, regarding the aggression against Syria, the Pentagon claimed it had killed and removed an alleged al-Qaeda-in-Iraq agent. There is no way to independently check this information. Pentagon spokespeople have lied consistently about everything having anything to do with Iraq. They always claim they have targeted and killed al-Qaeda or Taliban “terrorists.” Somehow fishers, farmers and their children in Syria, and wedding parties in Pakistan are included in this “terrorist” list.
In this case, too, the smart money is betting that the Bush gang and the Pentagon officers are again lying. They use this cover story to justify their wanton aggression. They assume people in the U.S. will fall for the lie, as with “weapons of mass destruction” and Saddam Hussein’s bogus “ties to al-Qaeda.”
Outside the U.S., no one believes them. Not even U.S. allies. Not only have Russia, China and Iran condemned the attack, but also the pro-U.S. prime minister of Lebanon, the U.S. client regime in Egypt, the Arab League and the rightist French government of Sarkozy.
The British media—which colluded with the war buildup against Iraq in 2002—this time began considering possible real motives behind the attack. The BBC’s coverage pointed out that “[The attack’s] timing is curious, coming right at the end of the Bush administration’s period of office and at a moment when many of America’s European allies—like Britain and France—are trying to broaden their ties with Damascus.” Other media, in Britain and elsewhere, speculated that the U.S. attack was the “October surprise” aimed at turning the election back toward John McCain.
Even official Iraqi voices criticized the attack and considered it another obstacle to approving the Status of Forces Agreement with Washington (see other editorial, this issue). The 50 permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq will be seen as a constant threat of new wars against Iraq’s neighbors. From London, the Syrian foreign minister warned that should there be a follow-up U.S. aggression, Syrian forces would be completely justified in responding.
An Asia Times article (Oct. 27) reports that some Iranians worry that the U.S. will use a similar ruse to strike inside that country of 70 million people, and that this could open up broader fighting.
The Bush gang led U.S. imperialism into a series of wars of aggression over the past eight years. From 2001 until at least the end of 2003, the administration had the support of the overwhelming majority of the U.S. ruling class, including its politicians, media and strategists as it prepared to conquer Afghanistan and Iraq. Now Bush is isolated. He heads a lame-hawk administration, but it still has claws. And neither of the major capitalist candidates has dissociated himself from this new policy of aggression.
It is not only we who see the Bush administration as gangsters at the helm of the most powerful rogue state in world history. But we state it clearly. And we insist on the need to mobilize a mass movement to condemn the invasion of Syria and to stop further war adventures.

For One Leader, Sleepless in Tehran
Thursday, October 30, 2008 7:56 AM
(Source: Virginian - Pilot)
By THOMAS
I'VE ALWAYS been dubious about Barack Obama's offer to negotiate with Iran - not because I didn't believe that it was the right strategy, but because I didn't believe we had enough leverage to succeed. And negotiating in the Middle East without leverage is like playing baseball without a bat.
Well, if Obama does win the presidency, my gut tells me that he's going to get a chance to negotiate with the Iranians - with a bat in his hand.
Have you seen the reports that Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is suffering from exhaustion? It's probably because he is not sleeping at night. I know why. Watching oil prices fall from $147 a barrel to $57 is not like counting sheep. It's the kind of thing that gives an Iranian autocrat bad dreams.
After all, it was the collapse of global oil prices in the early 1990s that brought down the Soviet Union. And Iran today is looking very Soviet to me.
As Vladimir Mau, president of Russia's Academy of National Economy, pointed out to me, it was the long period of high oil prices followed by sharply lower oil prices that killed the Soviet Union. The spike in oil prices in the 1970s deluded the Kremlin into overextending subsidies at home and invading Afghanistan abroad - and then the collapse in prices in the '80s helped bring down that overextended empire.
Under Ahmadinejad, Iran's mullahs have gone on a domestic subsidy binge - using oil money to cushion the prices of food, gasoline, mortgages and to create jobs - to buy off the Iranian people.
But the one thing Ahmadinejad couldn't buy was real economic growth. Iran today has 30 percent inflation, 11 percent unemployment and huge underemployment, with thousands of young college grads, engineers and architects selling pizzas and driving taxis. Now, with oil prices falling, Iran - just like the Soviet Union - is going to have to pull back spending across the board.
The United Nations has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005 because of Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment. But high oil prices minimized those sanctions; collapsing oil prices will now magnify those sanctions. If prices stay low, there is a good chance Iran will be open to negotiating over its nuclear program with the next U.S. president.
That is a good thing, because Iran also funds Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and the anti-U.S. Shiites in Iraq. If America wants to get out of Iraq and leave behind a decent outcome, plus break the deadlocks in Lebanon and Israel-Palestine, it needs to end the Cold War with Iran. Possible? I don't know, but the collapse of oil prices should give us a shot.
But let's use our leverage smartly and not exaggerate Iran's strength. Just as I believe that we should drop the reward for the capture of Osama bin Laden - from $50 million to one penny, plus an autographed picture of Dick Cheney - we need to deflate the Iranian mullahs as well. Let them chase us.
Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, compares it to bargaining for a Persian carpet in Tehran. "When you go inside the carpet shop, the first thing you are supposed to do is feign disinterest," he explains. "The last thing you want to suggest is 'We are not leaving without that carpet.' 'Well,' the dealer will say, 'if you feel so strongly about it ... '
Barack Hussein Obama would present another challenge for Iran's mullahs. Their whole rationale for being is that they are resisting a hegemonic American power that wants to keep everyone down. Suddenly, next week, Iranians may look up and see that the country their leaders call "The Great Satan" has just elected "a guy whose middle name is the central figure in Shiite Islam - Hussein - and whose last name - Obama - when transliterated into Farsi, means 'He is with us,'" said Sadjadpour.
Iran is ripe for deflating. Its power was inflated by the price of oil and the popularity of its leader, who was cheered simply because he was willing to poke America with a stick. But as a real nation-building enterprise, the Islamic Revolution in Iran has been an abject failure.
"When you ask young Arabs which leaders in the region they most admire," said Sadjadpour, they will usually answer the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. "When you ask them where in the Middle East would you most like to live," he added, "the answer is usually socially open places like Dubai or Beirut. The Islamic Republic of Iran is never in the top 10."
Thomas Friedman is a columnist with The New York Times.
Originally published by BY THOMAS.
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U.S. needs a different strategy with Iran
October 30, 2008 - 6:37am
Nathan Hager, WTOP Radio
WASHINGTON - The country is accused of pursuing nuclear weapons, despite the threat of sanctions from the United Nations and Europe. Its apocalypse-minded president has denied the Holocaust's existence, and threatened to wipe Israel off the map. With much of the U.S. foreign policy focus on Iran, one well-connected observer is arguing for a radically different approach. "A 180-degree, radical departure" is how former CIA case officer Robert Baer describes the case in his book, "The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower." Baer has made a name for himself with his previous books. One of them inspired the George Clooney character in the movie "Syriana". With this new book, Baer hopes to inspire the U.S. to confront Iran as a legitimate player in the Middle East.
"The Iranians are a different country, and we need a different strategy," says Baer, arguing that Iran has matured from the terrorist state that held 444 Americans hostage during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Baer sees evidence of that maturity in the behavior of its Shia religious proxies. In 2006, he says, Hezbollah militias succeeded in pushing Israeli forces out of Lebanon, and had an opportunity to carry out terrorist strikes on U.S. interests, but didn't. "[It] would have been an obvious step for Hezbollah to take 10 years ago, but they didn't. No American was touched, which tells me that Iran and its proxies like Hezbollah have become much more of a conventional power, and one that we can deal with." That's not to say, however, that Baer wants the U.S. to deal directly with Iran's firebrand president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.
"How do you go to Tehran with Ahmedinejad as president saying, 'Let's destroy Israel,' or 'Let's destroy the United States?' You can't. That's the Iranians' fault, and they have to do something about that if they want to get serious about moving along in the world."
Baer says any diplomacy would have to be conducted through backchannels with what he considers the real leaders of Iran: Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and what he calls "an informal politburo of generals."
"What we have to do is … get to these people and find out what they want."
Will dialogue embolden Iran?
Asked whether pursuing a dialogue with Iran would further embolden the country to exert imperialist designs on its neighbors, Baer says Iran has already achieved those designs.
"Iran has essentially won in Iraq," he says.
In "The Devil We Know," Baer argues that the U.S. invasion of Iraq created a power vacuum that allowed Iran to expand its influence, particularly through its Shia proxies in the south. And now, with a Shia-dominated parliament in Baghdad, Iran now has a natural ally in the Iraqi government.
Combine that with proxies in Lebanon and Afghanistan, and Baer says Iran has more than enough power to rival the other dominant force in the region, Saudi Arabia. "[Iran] can take 17 million barrels of oil off the world market," he says. "They can destroy Saudi Arabia's oil facilities. They could drive the price of gasoline up to $12 a gallon."
"What we're simply doing is acknowledging Iran's newfound power. And that's not such a bad thing because it helps you avoid a war."
Baer argues war could be a very real possibility if the U.S. doesn't take a leading diplomatic role toward Iran.
"What the Israelis are saying if Iran's power continues to grow unchecked, they will do something about Iran, which is the worst possible thing that could happen," he says. "Call it World War III. Call it anything you want. It would not be good."
Serving America's interests
Besides potentially averting a march to war, Baer argues an alliance with Iran's Shia moderates would serve America's interests better than its current ties with Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia. "The Shia are a very disciplined sect," he says. "They haven't been involved in terrorism in a very long time."
As for the Saudis, he says they've been little to no help in the fight against al-Qaida or in investigating the September 11th attacks.
"Nobody's in control of the Sunni," he says. "We don't even know where bin Laden is. We don't even know that he's head of Qaida anymore."
Yet, Baer recognizes an outright alliance with Iran would be impossible with Ahmedinejad as the titular head of Iran. He says he hopes the Iranians will vote him out in next June's presidential election and re-elect his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, who's considered more moderate.
Baer says the conclusions he reaches in "The Devil We Know" are based on expert opinion from inside Iran and Israel. He admits, however, his views won't sit well with many in the U.S. government.
"But this won't be the first time," he says.
(Copyright 2008 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)