LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 12/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 17,22-27. As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were overwhelmed with grief.  When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"Yes, he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, "What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?" When he said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him, "Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you."

Saint Pacian of Barcelona (?-c.390), Bishop/Homily on Baptism, 7
Set free by the Son of Man who was handed over into the hands of men/All peoples have been set free from the powers that held them captive by our Lord Jesus Christ. He it is – yes, he! – who has redeemed us. As the apostle Paul says: «Having forgiven all our transgressions, obliterating the bond against us, nailing it to the cross, he despoiled the principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, leading them away in triumph,» (Col 2,13-15). He has set the captives free and broken our bonds, as David said: «The Lord secures justice for the oppressed; the Lord sets captives free; the Lord gives sight to the blind.» And again: «You have loosed my bonds; to you I will offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,» (Pss. 146[145],7-8; 116[115].16-17). Yes, we have been released from our bonds, those of us who have been brought together at the Lord's call by the sacrament of baptism...; we have been set free by the blood of Christ and the invocation of his name... And so, my beloved, we were washed by the waters of baptism once for all; once for all we were set free; once for all we were welcomed into the undying Kingdom. Once for all, «Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered,» (Ps32[31].1; Rom 4,7). Bravely hold fast to what you have received; keep it to your own happiness; sin no more. From henceforth, keep yourselves pure and without fault for the day of the Lord.


Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Lebanon's private sector is colluding in a charade of consensual democracy- The Daily Star 12/08/08
Iran can wait-Ha'aretz 12/08/08
Winning the ideas war against Al-Qaeda-By Steven W. Barnes 12/08/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 11/08
Report: Slain Senior Syrian Officer Supplied Hizbullah with Missiles-Naharnet
Hizbullah Launches Verbal Campaign to Defend its Arsenal-Naharnet
Hezbollah wing remains on terrorism list-Sydney Morning Herald
MPs hold fiery debate on Cabinet policy statement-Daily Star
TV Presenter Nishan Will Have to Speak Less after Attack-Naharnet
Authorities Arrest 3 Suspects Involved in Attack on MP Alloush-Naharnet
Senior Military, Administrative Reshuffling to Take Place at 1st Cabinet Meeting-Naharnet
Bomb Blast in Ain el-Hilweh, Concussion Bomb in Tripoli-Naharnet
Sfeir Calls for Fairness in Job Distribution-Naharnet
Barak Vows to Strike Deep in Lebanon-Naharnet
Suzanne Tamim's Killer Arrested, Report-Naharnet
Slain Syrian general sold arms to Hizbullah - report-AFP
Draft ministerial statement as submitted to the Lebanese Parliament by the national unity government-Daily Star
Sfeir: Christians should get half of country's jobs-Daily Star
Barak vows to hit 'deep in Lebanon' if Hizbullah attacks-Daily Star
Lebanon's political wranglings thrust Sfeir into limelight-By Inter Press Service
Police in 'unidentified' Arab country arrest suspect in Tamim case-AFP
Fashion designer works to promote new talent-Daily Star
'Year of Astronomy' kicks off in Sidon-Daily Star

Sfeir Calls for Fairness in Job Distribution
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir has called for an equal distribution of jobs between Christians and Muslims and lamented that the concepts of "justice" and "fairness" were missing in the allocation of public positions. "Clause 95 of the constitution stipulates that an equal number of jobs should be given to Christians and Muslims without allocating a certain position to any one confession," Sfeir said during his Sunday sermon at his summer residence in Diman.
"The spirit of justice and fairness are still missing," he said. Sfeir also expressed hope that officials would take into consideration clause 95 in the distribution of jobs to give all citizens the opportunity to serve the nation. Beirut, 11 Aug 08, 09:47

Report: Slain Senior Syrian Officer Supplied Hizbullah with Missiles
Naharnet/Slain Brig. Gen. Mohammed Suleiman, who was a key aide to Syrian President Bashar Assad, had been supplying Hizbullah with advanced Syrian SA-8 anti-aircraft missiles, Britain's Sunday Times quoted Middle East sources as saying. "If Syria has passed Russian-made SA-8 mobile launchers to Hizbullah," the party "is in possession of a potent weapon to defy Israeli air power," the Sunday Times said. Media reports said Suleiman, 49, was killed by sniper fire as he sat in the garden of his summer house near the northern port city of Tartus. Suleiman was "more important than anyone else," wrote the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper last week."He was senior even to the defense minister. He knew everything," it said. Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently warned that Hizbullah was straining his country's patience in Lebanon and the Shiite group announced last week its next step would be to stop Israeli fighter jets violating Lebanese airspace. During the Syrian president's visit to Paris last month, Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert asked French President Nicolas Sarkozy to tell Assad that he was "crossing a red line supplying arms to Hizbullah in Lebanon," the Sunday Times quoted Israeli sources as saying. Beirut, 11 Aug 08, 08:23

Hizbullah Launches Verbal Campaign to Defend its Arsenal
Naharnet/Hizbullah has launched a verbal campaign against the pro-government March 14 coalition which criticized the Shiite group for its continued adherence to weapons. Head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad said a "state which does not preserve the right of the resistance … will not preserve the interests of the citizens, particularly since our country is subject to nonstop Zionist threats."Raad said Israel has even hinted it would "target everything" in Lebanon for "simply sensing there is someone building a defense force to protect our country."Addressing March 14 leaders, Raad said: "Blocking the role of the resistance and preventing it from exercising its right is not your right."Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah, meanwhile, warned Premier Fouad Saniora against speaking on behalf of the cabinet unless he adheres to the constitution. Saniora should "not manipulate the constitution and should not go beyond unanimous cabinet decisions, because taking decisions against the resistance is no longer acceptable in Lebanon," Fadlallah threatened.
Hizbullah official in south Lebanon Sheikh Nabih Qaouk, for his part, paid little attention to "those opposing the right to resistance in the ministerial statement."
Hizbullah's campaign coincided with debate on a policy statement which continued Sunday after two days of heated deliberations. Negotiations on the policy statement, which are expected to resume in parliament at 10:30am Monday, have been hampered by disputes on the key issue of the arsenal of Hizbullah, which has continued to insist on the "right to resist" Israel. The statement itself insists on "the right of Lebanon, its people, its army and its resistance to liberate its land" that is occupied by Israel. At least 10 MPs delivered speeches at the fourth Parliament session Sunday designed to discuss the policy statement.
Lebanese Forces MP Elie Kayrouz criticized the Doha accord, saying it was not a "real settlement" of the 18-month political crisis since it failed to provide a solution for Hizbullah arms. MP Abbas Hashem of the Change and Reform bloc indirectly criticized March 14 legislators for "insisting on raising provocative issues."
March 14 MP Samir Franjieh said the role of the new government is to manage conflict disputes. "The conflict in Lebanon is one about the nature of the state," Franjieh told Parliament. "This conflict cannot be solved by means of a national unity government or a policy statement." Beirut, 11 Aug 08, 08:38

TV Presenter Nishan Will Have to Speak Less after Attack
Naharnet/TV presenter Nishan Haroutyounian will not be able to eat for six weeks and will have to speak less for about one month due to surgery for a broken jaw after the attack last week. Nishan told the story of his attack in an interview with Kuwait's al-Qabas newspaper published on Monday. He said that he was attacked by young men driving a New Range Rover without license plates. Nishan said that he was on his way back from dinner with friends when three men, speaking with a Lebanese accent, stopped him to inquire about how to get to a tourist resort. He asked them to follow him on the highway and when he reached a road curb that leads to the resort he instructed them to take it, only that he was asked to stop. And when he did, one man stepped out of the vehicle, whispered in Nishan's ear and then hit him hard on the face. At this point another man in the Range told the attacker "this is Nishan, the journalist. Let go. He surely enjoys support."
Nishan said he tried to follow them until he felt "choking" as a result of the attack and called up LBC's Marcel Ghanem who lived nearby and asked him to take him to hospital. Nishan will not be able to eat for six weeks. He also will have to speak less for about a month until he recovers from the jaw surgery.
Beirut, 11 Aug 08, 14:44

Authorities Arrest 3 Suspects Involved in Attack on MP Alloush
Naharnet/Security forces have arrested three suspects allegedly involved in the attack on MP Mustafa Alloush. Alloush, a member of Future Movement, and his bodyguard were pelted with stones and bottles on Friday in northern Lebanon during a protest demanding the release from jail of alleged Islamists.
Alloush had been invited by organizers of the protest in Tripoli to make a speech, but as he began to speak, demonstrators hurled bottles and stones at him.
He was hit by a stone and was slightly wounded. Alloush said he believed the attack was "a spontaneous reaction." "Preliminary investigation, however, showed that there was a group that wanted to target me physically," Alloush said in remarks published by the daily Al-Akhbar on Monday. He said he did not press charges against anyone. Beirut, 11 Aug 08, 23:45

Senior Military, Administrative Reshuffling to Take Place at 1st Cabinet Meeting
The government is expected to reshuffle the military institution during its first session after getting parliament's vote of confidence. The daily An-Nahar on Monday said that the various political groups were conducting "clandestine contacts" regarding senior military, security as well as administrative appointments. It said the cabinet will tackle the urgent appointments of senior army jobs such as that of the army commander and heads of security authorities, particularly intelligence and police chiefs. Other appointments that require urgency include assigning four deputies to Lebanon's Central Bank governor, the foreign ministry's general secretariat and heads of departments at the various cabinet ministries, An Nahar said. The names proposed for Lebanon's new army commander were Brig. Gen. George Khoury, who enjoys full support from Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, head of the Syrian-Lebanese military coordination office Brig. Gen. Marwan Bitar, Commander of the 12th Brigade Brig. Gen. Jean Qahwaji, and deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics Brig. Gen. George Masaad. Beirut, 11 Aug 08, 11:05

Bomb Blast in Ain el-Hilweh, Concussion Bomb in Tripoli
Naharnet/A bomb placed in a garbage container near Fatah offices in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh exploded overnight, raising tension in the shantytown. Fatah official Col. Abu Nidal Zahiman was passing through the area when the bomb went off. He was not hurt.
In a separate incident, a concussion bomb exploded around 10pm Sunday between the neighborhoods of Bab el-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in the northern city of Tripoli, causing no damage or casualties. Beirut, 11 Aug 08, 10:03

In depth / Contrary to popular belief, war with Iran is not imminent
By Amir Oren -Haaretz
Last update - 13:20
The commander of the Israel Air Force's anti-aircraft division, Brig. Gen. Daniel Milo, dined last week in Tel Aviv with an honorable American guest: Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering III, director of the Missile Defense Agency at the Pentagon. Obering met with his Israeli counterpart and the head of the Homa missile defense program, Aryeh Herzog. He also met with the head of the Defense Ministry's research and development authority, Shmuel Keren, Air Force Commander Ido Nehoshtan and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.
There was no argument about the goal: defense against Iran's missiles. But there was a dispute about the means. The Israeli defense establishment, along with Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing, wants to develop the next-generation missile-defense system, the Arrow 3. The competing companies, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, are trying to market a ground-to-air version of the Sam-3 surface-to-air missile, which is launched from ships.
When the first Arrow missile - the grandfather of the Arrow 3 - was born, it had no American competitors; the grandson does. Obering's hosts were afraid that pressure from the leading manufacturers and members of Congress would influence him. They were relieved when at the end of a thorough analysis, a compromise was found in favor of the Arrow 3. Israel will develop and deploy the missile, but to be on the safe side, will be able, if it desires, to purchase the Sam-3 as well.
Contrary to the public impression, a military confrontation with a nuclear Iran is not imminent. Israeli and American intelligence now both predict that it will take at least a year or two before Iran has a nuclear capability liable to produce nuclear weapons within the next five years. If the Iranians are foolish enough to launch Shihab missiles - three to 11 minutes of flying time to Tel Aviv, more than enough time for a satellite warning, sirens and a dash to a shelter - at least nine out of 10 missiles will be downed. The one liable to get through would cause damage equal to that of a suicide bombing.
The Iranians are determined to go ahead with their nuclear program, come what may. That is the most fixed variable in the semi-clandestine confrontation on Israel's northern border. As long as the Iranians believe in "restraint today for a nuclear tomorrow," they will enforce discipline on Hassan Nasrallah.
The Hezbollah leader now has two big problems: He is an official of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and is subordinate to the committee responsible for activity in Lebanon, and he is a lifelong prisoner of Israel, under house arrest, as it were, lest he end up like Imad Mughniyeh.
Strategy dilemma
Even if Nasrallah wants to strike at Israel, he has to consider the population's dissatisfaction, especially in the south, which does not want to suffer again, as well as Tehran's preference to get stronger in general and go nuclear in particular.
Although in the summer of 2006 there was fighting in Lebanon, as far as Israel was concerned it was not the Second Lebanon War, but the First Iran War: A limited war, via a proxy, Hezbollah, which embarked on a hasty path without its dispatcher's permission. Next time around, in the Second Iran War, which is years rather than weeks away, the arena will not be limited to Lebanon.
Attitudes toward Iran's nuclear armament divide the Israeli leadership. There is a division between those who are postponing the inevitable (Military Intelligence, Northern Command) and those who are spurring on the inevitable (the Israel Air Force, the Mossad, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert).
This is an echo of the indecision in Washington. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has twice warned that a war with Iran, at the height of the U.S. Army's dual involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, would be catastrophic. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, is particularly afraid of undermining stability in the region. But according to Mullen, stability is liable to be undermined after an Israeli attack on Iran, but not if Iran succeeds in going nuclear.
In the final analysis, there will be no escaping a belligerent operation against Iran, but now it is essential to concentrate on Iraq and Afghanistan and stabilize the troops returning home from these war zones. This would prevent them from feeling bitter and guarantee a constant stream of enlistees. For the Americans, Iran is currently fourth in the order of priorities, so the Pentagon is emphasizing defense preparations, including radar deployment and launchers for anti-missile defense in Europe, rather than a policy of attack.
The Americans are more concerned about Iranian competition in Iraq and the threats by the Revolutionary Guards to disrupt the movement of tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. In June there was a joint exercise, the first of its kind, of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and the Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, to intercept Iranian missiles with the same Sam-3 missiles being offered to Israel.
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell responded sharply this week to the boasting by Revolutionary Guards' commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, who claimed that Iran has the power to interfere with the transport of oil. They'd better not try, recommended Morrell, their economy is more vulnerable and is almost totally dependent on oil revenues.
Bitter lesson
Despite the Iranian custom of telling tall tales after missile tests, the bitter lesson of the surface-to-sea missile that was secretly delivered from Iran to Hezbollah and hit the INS Hanit forces us to assume that new missile capabilities will soon reach Lebanon, too, and from there threaten Israel Navy ships, the merchant marine and shore-based targets. This time Israel will probably be stricter about monitoring arms deliveries from Iran via Syria into Lebanon.
Hezbollah's rocket arsenal, which was discussed two days ago in the ministerial committee on security issues, has increased not "threefold" as was mistakenly reported, but by one-third. But the IDF has gotten stronger similarly, and even more so. Its divisions are stronger and better trained and are benefiting from improved intelligence and communications - as evidenced by dozens of new antennae that have cropped up in the region.
During the First Iran War, 40 Israeli civilians were killed on the home front by about 4,000 Hezbollah rockets during 35 days of fighting. The IDF shot into Lebanon - not with record precision and efficiency - about 180,000 bombs, shells and missiles, about 50 times the amount of ordnance Hezbollah dropped on Israel. The IDF believes that this was a deterrent and wants the other side to know that next time they can expect a similar approach.
This bloody calculation does not include the expected dozens of casualties on the military side of the equation. Once again there will be a need for divisions to capture rocket-launching sites on the ground, conduct village-to-village and occasionally house-to-house searches, and hold areas until the dismantling of Hezbollah outposts.
The first stage will take a week to two weeks. The second stage will take weeks to months. The cumulative result, if we recall Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank and the version of it taking shape in Gaza, will be that in all three sectors Israel will return, partially, to its situation in the 1990s.
Under the threat of an Israeli operation on the one hand and Iranian restraint on the other, the IDF estimates that Hezbollah will not choose to launch rockets against Israel in revenge for Mughniyeh's assassination.The main alternatives are an attack on Israeli or Jewish targets abroad and terrorist activity in the territories or in Israel, via the organization's unit in the territories. Hezbollah is advising and employing members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, enlisting Israeli Arabs and preparing attacks abroad.
The General Staff and Northern Command recommend that Israel change the rules of the game and Hezbollah's area of operations: to react harshly inside Lebanon to any attempt to bring down air force planes on reconnaissance sorties and to attacks in Israel or abroad, to launch an offensive operation against the transport of weapons from Syria, and not to be deterred from hitting Nasrallah.
This is not a convenient time for Iranian involvement in a renewed campaign between Israel and Hezbollah, nor for Syrian intervention. In October 2003, after the slaughter of 21 Israelis in the attack on Maxim's Restaurant in Haifa, the air force attacked the Palestinian training camp in Ein Sahab near Damascus. The attack shocked and humiliated Syrian President Bashar Assad; he vowed not to show restraint in the event of another attack.
Some people in Israel were afraid that Assad would react to last September's attack on the nuclear reactor he had imported from North Korea. Assad knew that Syria is not Lebanon, that its army is not Hezbollah and that his assets are exposed to a severe Israeli attack. He was not crazy about getting involved in the First Iran War and will try to remain in the bleachers in the next war as well. His role: to observe, not to attack.