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Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources/September 09/13

Pope Hits out at 'War to Sell Arms' in Syria Prayers
Naharnet /Pope Francis on Sunday lashed out at what he termed "commercial war to sell arms" as he led mass prayers in Saint Peter's Square for Syria. In his traditional weekly prayers in front of an unusually large crowd of faithful in the Vatican, the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics called for his followers to "say no to violence in all its forms, to the proliferation of weapons and their illegal trade." In a departure from his prepared text, the pope asked what were the reasons for wars such as the one raging in Syria and mentioned "commercial war to sell arms.""I invite you to continue to pray for the violence and devastation to stop! Let us work with a renewed commitment for a just solution to the internecine conflict," Francis told the crowd. On Saturday, Francis led Catholics worldwide in a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria joined by Jews, Muslims and Orthodox Christians. SourceAgence France Presse

Pope leads world prayers for peace in Syria
September 07, 2013/
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis led a mass vigil for peace in Syria on St Peter's square as millions of Catholics worldwide were joined by other faiths in a day of fasting and prayer.
Tens of thousands gathered in St Peter's Square for the four-hour event, with smaller gatherings held in churches, mosques and synagogues around the globe.
Francis has called for a "cry for peace" from humanity, firmly opposing all fighting including the military strikes against the Syrian regime being pushed by the United States and France. Earlier in the week he wrote to leaders of the G20 top world economies meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia, urging them to "lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution".Vatican officials have warned international armed intervention could escalate the war into a wider conflagration that would further harm Christian minorities in the Middle East.
The Syrian conflict has killed an estimated 110,000 people since it erupted in March 2011, and the United Nations estimates two million refugees have fled the country.
The pope has repeatedly called for peace negotiations to begin immediately and for a process of reconciliation, as well as a stepped-up humanitarian effort to ease the plight of civilians.
The Catholic Church, which counts 1.2 billion faithful worldwide, has mobilised and spread the pope's message through homilies in churches as well as through social media.
"Pray for Peace!" he tweeted on Saturday on his @pontifex account. In another tweet, he wrote: "All men and women of good will are bound by the task of pursuing peace." The Vatican has even issued instructions for Catholic parents to prepare "sober" family meals with children and grandparents on Saturday that would be "rich in words". The Vatican's Osservatore Romano daily published an interview with an Italian nun living in Syria who said fasting and prayer could "make one listen to a deeper wisdom".
"Prayer is not just a devotion, it is not just a retreat into peace. It is a powerful weapon, though also a peaceful one," Sister Marta Luisa Fagnani was quoted as saying.
When he announced the initiative on Sunday, Francis urged Christians from other denominations, faithful from other religions and atheists to join in.
Syria's Sunni Muslim leader, Grand Mufti Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun, called for Syrians to join in the prayers, and the patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox, also backed the call.
In France, Muslim faithful at the Great Mosque of Paris held prayers for peace on Friday.
Chief Rabbi of Rome Riccardo Di Segni said the Jewish community was also "in harmony" with the Vatican.
In Lebanon, the vice president of the Shiite Higher Council, Sheikh Abdel Amir Qabalan, voiced support, as did Christian leaders across the Balkans and in Latin America.
The appeal has been particularly well received by Christian minorities in the Middle East, where often-divided leaders have been united in their concern about a possible spread of the Syrian conflict and the rise of radical Islam.
Traditionally pacifist and anti-clerical groups, like the Radicals and the Left, Ecology and Freedom party in Italy, have also said they are supporting the pope's appeal. A giant peace flag will be raised in Assisi in Italy, the hometown of the patron saint of peace St Francis, whose name the Argentine pope adopted when he was elected in March. At the start of the ceremony in the Vatican, a large icon of the Virgin Mary was carried across St Peter's Square by a group of Swiss Guards. Prayers then alternated with moments of silences as a mournful pope bowed his head in silence. The pope's call is not unprecedented -- previous popes have appealed against the Iraq war, the conflicts in the Balkans and the Vietnam War -- but it is rare and unusual. The last time the Vatican called a similar day of prayer and fasting was under late pope John Paul II in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. "This cry from the pope distills the calls coming from the one big family that is humanity," French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who led multiple peace missions on behalf of John Paul II ahead of the Iraq war in 2003, told AFP.

Syria Rebels Seize Christian Town of Maalula
Naharnet /Syrian rebels, including jihadists linked to Al-Qaida, have taken control of the historic Christian town of Maalula, north of Damascus, a watchdog and a resident said on Sunday. Maalula is home to around 5,000 residents and is of strategic importance for the rebels, who are trying to tighten their grip around the capital Damascus, adding a northern post to existing bases in the south and west of the city. Capturing the town, around 55 kilometers north of the capital, could also help rebels threaten the nearby highway between Damascus and Homs, a supply route used by the regime. The battle for the town left at least 17 rebels dead and more than 100 wounded overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that dozens of regime forces and pro-militia members were also killed or wounded in the fighting. "Overnight, Syrian regime troops moved into the village, but rebel forces sent reinforcements and were able to take control of the entire town," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. He said the Al-Nusra Front, which has pledged allegiance to Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, was among the forces that had taken control of the town. A Maalula resident, reached by phone, confirmed that regime forces had withdrawn from the area and rebel forces were now in control.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the resident said the situation on the ground was quiet. "The rebels are inside Maalula, all of Maalula. The government troops have pulled out of Maalula," the resident said.
Abdel Rahman said "fierce fighting broke out between regime forces and rebel fighters overnight, and the soldiers withdrew to the outskirts of the town." Troops were still stationed around the town, raising the possibility of renewed fighting. Picturesque Maalula is nestled under a large cliff and is considered a symbol of the Christian presence in Syria. Many of its inhabitants speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ that only small, scattered communities around the world still use. It is full of troglodyte caves dating back to the first centuries of Christianity, and also houses the Mar Takla Greek Orthodox monastery. The clashes first erupted on Wednesday, when Al-Nusra Front fighters and other Islamist rebels attacked a regime checkpoint at one entrance to the town. The advance raised fears of attacks against churches or Christians in the town but on Friday, the opposition Syrian National Coalition said rebels had withdrawn from the area. On Saturday, the Observatory said rebel forces were fighting pro-regime militias in the west of the town, and were also engaged in clashes with Syrian troops on the outskirts of Maalula.SourceAgence France Presse

Al-Rahi: Illegitimate Arms Pose Threat to Army, Security Agencies
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed on Sunday that the army guarantees Lebanon's security and sovereignty, while condemning the spread of arms outside the state's authority. He said during his Sunday sermon: “The illegitimate weapons pose a threat to the army and other security agencies in Lebanon.”“We demand a defense strategy for Lebanon and an end to the phenomenon of autonomous security,” he added.
Furthermore, he called for unity in Lebanon in order to resolve the crisis over the formation of a new government. The government should include all powers and be able to revive constitutional institutions, declared al-Rahi.
He condemned officials for stalling in the government formation, saying: “You have no right to tamper with Lebanon's fate and you are violating the nation, its people, and institutions.”

Suleiman Holds Talks with Hollande, Calls for a Political Solution in Syria
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman stressed on Saturday on the necessity to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis. Suleiman's statement came during a meeting with his French counterpart Francois Hollande in France's southern city of Nice. The talks tackled the latest regional developments, especially the Syrian crisis, the state-run National News Agency said. "Suleiman stressed again on the Lebanese principles that call for finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria,” the NNA revealed. U.S. President Barack Obama had warned in August he was ready to launch military strikes on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime over its alleged use of chemical weapons. Washington has accused the regime of Assad of carrying out the August 21 attack near Damascus, which U.S. officials say killed nearly 1,500 people, including hundreds of children. Obama, however, said he believed it was important to secure support from Congress to wage war. The congressional approval is scheduled for September 9. The NNA added that Suleiman and Hollande discussed ways to strengthen the relationships between Lebanon and France in all fields, particularly supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces to be capable of preserving security and stability in the country and on the border. Both statesmen also tackled the ongoing preparations ahead of the Sept. 25 meeting of an international support group for Lebanon at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to the same source. Lebanon hopes the upcoming meeting will help alleviate some of the problems caused by the influx of more than a million refugees from Syria. The country also is seeking support for the army and the economy. Meanwhile, Hollande stressed during the meeting on France's “continuous support to Lebanon in all domains.” "We are very keen on the success of the talks in New York,” he expressed. While Europe is sharply divided over how to respond to U.S. calls for military action against Syria after the attack, France, however, is the sole EU nation currently willing to take part in the U.S.-led intervention against Assad's regime. President Suleiman is currently in France to take part in the opening of the 2013 Francophone games. He is accompanied by First Lady Wafaa, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Samir Moqbel, caretaker Culture Minister Gaby Layyoun and a Lebanese delegation

Syrian Arrested for Attempting to Prepare Explosives
Naharnet /A Syrian national was arrested on Saturday on charges of attempting to prepare explosives, reported the National News Agency on Sunday. It said that the General Security arrested Ahmed Osama al-Toumani near the vegetable market in the Nahr Ibrahim region. He was found in possession of a plastic bottle, flammable material, and en electric charger. He confessed to communicating with individuals in Syria who were teaching him how to assemble explosives. Investigations are underway with the suspect. Forty-five people were killed and over 800 wounded in a twin explosions in the northern city of Tripoli on August 23.
The blasts targeted the Taqwa and al-Salam mosques as worshipers were performing weekly prayers. On August 15, 27 people were killed and at least 280 wounded in a bombing in the Ruwais neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburb of Dahieh. Initial investigations in the Tripoli blasts revealed Syrian links to the attacks, with Lebanese suspects contacting Syrian officials over the planning of the bombings.

Tenenti: UNIFIL Will Not Evacuate South if Regional Situation Escalates
Naharnet /Spokesman of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Andrea Tenenti noted that the implementation of U.N. Security Council 1701 will be halted should the situation in the region escalate, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday. He added to the daily that UNIFIL will not leave the South should the situation escalate. Resolution 1701 will be obstructed because its article on the halt of hostile acts would have been violated, he explained. Should this occur, he added, then the position of the international force will lie in the hands of the Security Council. UNIFIL has been deployed in the South since 1978 and it had never left the area throughout the wars that had been witnessed in the area, Tenenti stressed. The international force is aimed at helping the Lebanese state and its people and overseeing the cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel, he added.
Commenting on reports that an Italian ship had been sent to evacuate UNIFIL's Italian mission, he remarked that the Italian Embassy in Lebanon alone has an answer to these claims. The international force has not altered its security measures and it has not intention to change its rules of engagement that dictate its actions in the South, Tenenti said. Italy has already dispatched a warship to the eastern Mediterranean that could evacuate UNIFIL's 1,100-member Italian contingent if the conflict in Syria spills over into Lebanon. "This is the best possible asset to act quickly in case of an evacuation," a navy spokesman told Agence France Presse on Saturday.
The Andrea Doria, a 153-meter long destroyer, "will monitor the situation,”he said. Lebanese diplomats meanwhile told As Safir daily on Saturday that UNIFIL was considering an evacuation of the families of its staff away from the media spotlight

Extraordinary Security Measures Near Diplomatic Missions over Syria Strike Fears
Naharnet /The Lebanese Armed Forces have taken exceptional security measures around several diplomatic missions over fears of reprisal attacks in response to a possible U.S. military action in Syria, informed sources said. The sources told An Nahar daily published on Saturday that both security agencies and the army took the measures around the missions to thwart a possible attack after several threats were made against the U.S. embassy and other European delegations. The U.S. embassy in Beirut said Friday that its non-essential staff and family members are being evacuated from Lebanon because of "threats to U.S. mission facilities and personnel."
The Department of State urged U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon “because of current safety and security concerns,” noting that “U.S. citizens living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks.” Shortly after the announcement, about 150 people gathered for a protest near the U.S. embassy compound in Awkar north of Beirut. Police kept the protesters confined to a square on the road leading to the heavily fortified embassy. The protection of diplomatic missions was a topic of discussion among the members of the Higher Defense Council which convened at Baabda palace under President Michel Suleiman on Friday. Council members were briefed by the security and military officials on the measures aimed at protecting civil peace and fighting terrorism to confront plots in addition to safeguarding diplomatic missions, said a statement issued after the meeting.

Report: U.S. Decision to Distance Lebanon from Repercussions of Syria Strike
Naharnet/U.S. Ambassador David Hale, who assumed his mission in Beirut on Friday, informed Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati that there is an official decision to steer Lebanon clear of the repercussions of a possible military strike on Syria, An Nahar daily reported on Saturday. The newspaper said that Hale told Miqati during a meeting they held at the Grand Serail that Washington has officially decided to distance Lebanon from the possible strike against Syria in response to the alleged chemical attack by the regime, which the U.S. administration said killed more than 1,400 people near Damascus. He stressed that Lebanese airspace will not be used in the strike to prevent any repercussions on Lebanon, An Nahar added. A statement issued by Miqati's press office Friday, said the diplomat called for isolating Lebanon from any repercussions of the possible military strike  He voiced his support for Lebanon's policy of disassociation. But criticized Hizbullah's participation in the fighting alongside the Syrian regime, which he said will only exacerbate problems for Lebanon. The State Department on Friday ordered nonessential American diplomats and the families of staffers at the U.S. Embassy to leave Lebanon immediately due to security concerns as the Obama administration and Congress debate the military strikes on Syria. The step had been under consideration since last week when President Barack Obama said he was contemplating military action against the Syrian government. The administration is concerned that such action may spark reprisal attacks on U.S. interests in the region.

Lebanon Prays for Peace in Syria, Calls for Saving Maalula
Naharnet /..Churches in Lebanon held prayers on Saturday night for peace in Syria and against any armed intervention in the country, in a response to Pope Francis' calls.  Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi led prayers at Our Lady of Lebanon basilica in Harissa, the state-run National News Agency said. "This is a day for prayers and we ask the Lord through Lady Mary for peace,” al-Rahi said at the prayer vigil. The head of the church tackled the political and security situation in Lebanon during the mass, warning of the spread of weapons and autonomous security. "Because of the political fragmentation in Lebanon, the constitutional institutions are stumbling,” he expressed. "This tiny country has received over one million and a half of Syrian refugees escaping the turmoil and the killings in their country, and Lebanon is bearing the cost on the security, social and economic levels.”
Al-Rahi also called for forming a capable cabinet, urging political factions to reach out to each others, and put the interests of the state's institutions “above all considerations.”Earlier in the day, following a meeting under al-Rahi, bishops had called for resolving the Syrian crisis through dialogue and peaceful diplomatic means. Prayers were also held in the Bekaa, as Zahle and Bekaa Greek Catholic Archbishop Issam Darwish urged the world to save the famed Christian town of Maalula in Syria."Save Maalula, save heritage, history and religious coexistence,” he urged during a mass in Zahle.
Darwish added: “We particularly pray today for the residents of Maalula as this town was attacked by gunmen yesterday and today and a human massacre took place there. Churches and monasteries have been destroyed, 80% of the village's residents have fled, and several young men were abducted.”"In front of evil, we can only pray for the world to hear the voice of consciousness. We pray for the evil hands to stop and for peace to be restored in Syria and the East.”Maalula is an ancient town that symbolizes the Christian presence in Syria and where residents speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ used by few communities around the world.
The town north of Damascus had been spared from the violence that has rocked Syria since March 2011, until Wednesday when violence broke out there for the first time since the conflict erupted.
Meanwhile, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Youhanna X al-Yaziji arrived in Beirut on Saturday, coming from Amman where he met with Jordanian King Abdullah. “We hail Pope Francis' calls for prayers for peace in Syria,” al-Yaziji told reporters upon his arrival at Rafik Hariri International Airport. “This is what everyone's hoping for.” Regarding Maalula, the patriarch said he contacted the monastery in the town.
"We were informed that limited clashes took place there, and no attacks happened,” he revealed. "We urge the international community to reject any attacks that might target Christians there.”
Al-Yaziji said he has no new information regarding the whereabouts of the kidnapped bishops, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji."We have asked King Abdullah for help in this respect and he expressed his readiness.”
Muslim clerics also backed the pope's call for a day of fasting and prayer. The vice president of the Higher Shiite Council, Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan said: "Islam calls consistently for peace and harmony, and we consistently condemn killings, terrorism and foreign interference.” Pope Francis has ratcheted up his call for peace in Syria amid the threatened U.S.-led military strikes following the alleged Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
But he has also been careful not to lay blame on any one side, exhorting world leaders instead to focus on the plight of Syrian civilians and the need to end the violence. Francis -- who led a mass vigil at the Vatican on Saturday -- has called for a "cry for peace" from humanity, firmly opposing all fighting including the military strikes against the Syrian regime being pushed by the United States and France.

Kerry Says U.S. Did Not Evacuate Staff from Beirut, Reduced Employees' Number for 'Security Reasons'
Naharnet /The United States' Secretary of State assured on Saturday that his country is not paving the way to evacuate all its employees from Beirut, ahead of the possible U.S.-led military strike against Syria.
"We did not recall our staff from Beirut,” John Kerry stated at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius in Paris.Kerry noted, however, that the number of American employees has been reduced “for security reasons.”"We reduced the number of employees because we wanted to have a limited staff in Beirut, in case something happens,” he elaborated. The U.S. top diplomat added that not striking Syria “will send a message to Iran, Hizbullah and North Korea to continue their activities against the Syrian people.”The American embassy in Beirut said Friday that its non-essential staff and family members are being evacuated from Lebanon because of "threats to U.S. mission facilities and personnel." But Lebanese authorities said they had boosted security measures at foreign diplomatic missions ahead of any international military action against Syria.
The Department of State also urged U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon “because of current safety and security concerns,” noting that “U.S. citizens living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks.”Meanwhile, Fabius announced that President Michel Suleiman has decided to “disassociate the country” from the Syrian crisis."But (Syrian President Bashar) Assad is doing the opposite and exporting his country's turmoil into Lebanon,” the French FM pointed out."The Syrian crisis does affect Lebanon. But we do not want it to spill over in the region.”
Fabius also stressed during talks with reporters on the “strong ties between France and the Lebanese people.”U.S. President Barack Obama warned in August he was ready to launch military strikes on Assad's regime over its alleged use of chemical weapons.Washington has accused the regime of Assad of carrying out the August 21 attack near Damascus, which U.S. officials say killed nearly 1,500 people, including hundreds of children.
 

Report: U.S. Plans for 3 Days of Attacks on Syria
Naharnet /The Pentagon is readying more intense and longer attacks on Syria than originally planned, set to last three days, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
War planners now aim to unleash a heavy barrage of missile strikes to be followed swiftly by additional attacks on targets that may have been missed or remain standing after the initial launch, the Times cited officials as saying.
Two U.S. officers told the newspaper that the White House has asked for an expanded target list to include "many more" than the initial list of around 50 targets.
The move is part of an effort to obtain additional firepower to damage Syrian President Bashar Assad's dispersed forces. Pentagon planners are now considering using Air Force bombers, as well as five U.S. missile destroyers currently patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from far out of range of Syrian air defenses, according to the report.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group with one cruiser and three destroyers positioned in the Read Sea can also fire cruise missiles at Syria.
"There will be several volleys and an assessment after each volley, but all within 72 hours and a clear indication when we are done," an officer familiar with the planning told the Times. The intensified military planning comes as President Barack Obama prepares to personally make his case to the American people and further press reluctant lawmakers on the need for action after Assad allegedly used chemical weapons on his own people last month.
Obama is scheduled to tape interviews Monday with anchors of the three major broadcast networks, as well as with PBS, CNN and Fox News.
The interviews, to air that night, will precede Obama's address to the nation Tuesday ahead of an expected full Senate vote. The president favors a limited attack with only a reduced number of warplanes to drop bombs over Syria, according to the Times.Amid doubts that a limited U.S. offensive would sufficiently hamper Assad's military capabilities, one officer told the newspaper that the planned operation would amount to a "show of force" over several days that would not fundamentally change the situation on the ground. The planned U.S. strike "will not strategically impact the current situation in the war, which the Syrians have well in hand, though fighting could go on for another two years," another U.S. officer said. SourceAgence France Presse

British Foreign Secretary William Hague: Chemical Weapons Use is Wider Issue than Syria
Naharnet/British Foreign Secretary William Hague called Sunday for a strong response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, saying the issue went wider than the conflict in the Middle Eastern country. Hague said that although the British parliament had rejected joining military action against Syria, he backed anticipated U.S.-led air strikes to stop President Bashar Assad's regime using poison gas again.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to arrive in London on Sunday for talks with Hague as part of a swing through European capitals to drum up support for action on Syria. "I do believe very strongly that the world must stand up against the use of chemical weapons. The risks of not doing so in my view are greater than the risks of doing so," Hague told BBC television.
He added: "This issue is about chemical weapons, which is a bigger issue than Syria. "What the United States have been talking about, what we were talking about before the vote in parliament, is a limited and proportionate response to the use of chemical weapons to deter the use of chemical weapons. "Allowing the spread of use of chemical weapons in the 21st century is an evil that we have to stand up to, one way or another." British Prime Minister David Cameron suffered a stunning defeat on August 29 when lawmakers rejected his proposal to join military action following an alleged regime chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs that killed hundreds of people. Hague reiterated that the government was "not planning" another vote "unless the circumstances change dramatically". He insisted that Britain's close ties with Washington had not been affected by not joining U.S.-led military action, saying that the Americans had been "very understanding".His comments came as a poll showed that just a quarter of Britons support U.S. missile strikes against Syria, even if Britain is not involved.
Only 25 percent back them while 47 percent oppose them, and 73 percent oppose U.S. action without U.N. approval, according to the YouGov poll for the Sunday Times newspaper, which surveyed 1,916 people on September 5 and 6.SourceAgence France Presse

Gulf Urges Immediate Intervention to 'Rescue' Syrians
Naharnet/The Gulf Cooperation Council urged the international community Saturday to intervene immediately to "rescue" the Syrian people from their government's "oppression.""The genocide, and grave human rights violations, faced by the Syrian people necessitate an immediate intervention by the international community," GCC secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani said. The intervention would aim to "rescue the brotherly Syrian people from the oppression of its regime, and bring its suffering to an end," a statement added.The call comes as U.S. President Barack Obama awaits a vote by the Congress over his request to back his plan to strike Syria over an alleged use of chemical weapons. "The Syrian regime is fully responsible for what is happening in Syria, for rejecting all attempts to solve the crisis, and continuing to practice killing and destruction, including the use of chemical weapons," Zayani said. Gulf nations support international measures to "deter the Syrian regime from committing its inhumane practices," he added. The GCC consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia -- the bloc's heavyweight, has been pushing for a U.S.-led strike on Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Assad. SourceAgence France Presse.
 

US Air Force will also target Syria’s air force, ballistic missiles and sections of its air defenses
DEBKAfile Special Report September 7, 2013/The reports coming out of Washington in the last 24 hours indicate that US President Barack Obama has resolved not just to degrade Syria’s chemical capabilities but also to take down Bashar Assad’s air force, destroy his air bases and knock out his ground-to-ground ballistic missiles, using giant B-52 bombers and B-2 stealth bombers. Some of the bombers will fly in directly from the US; others from the Al Udeid base in Qatar. F-22 Raptor fighter-bombers are also scheduled to take part in the US air offensive. Obama decided to expand the scope of the US operation for Assad’s use of chemical warfare against civilians on Aug. 21, when his experts advised him that these additional blows would dramatically diminish the Syrianj ruler's military edge over rebel forces without toppling him. These air raids could moreover be conducted from afar without American aircraft coming within range of Syrian air defense batteries. The US operation will also target the Syrian army’s 4th and Republican Guard divisions, protectors of the Assad presidency and regime, which were responsible for using chemical weapons, but not the weapons themselves. debkafile’s military sources say they can’t be destroyed by air assault - only by ground forces, which the US president has ruled out in advance.
It was that conclusion which led Washington to considering air strikes for taking down the ballistic missiles, which may be used as the vehicles for delivering the poison gases both within Syria and beyond its borders.
This expanded inventory of targets portends a broader operation in scope than Obama’s first plan, which was designed only to caution the Syrian ruler of his peril for engaging in chemical warfare. The extensions to this plan would go a lot further than a deterrent warning and seriously downgrade his military and strategic capabilities.
Russia and Iran are already getting set to replenish by air and sea the losses the US air and missile offensive is expected to inflict on the Syria military.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and ambassador to the UN Samantha Power stressed in the last few hours that the US felt fully justified in going forward against Syria’s use of chemical weapons without a UN mandate and, indeed, they indicated, the president would consider such action “the right thing to do” even if US Congress withheld its support. For now, Obama will be spending all his time on a blitz to win lawmakers round to the strike against Syria, while Kerry seeks European and Arab partners for the operation, in addition to France which has already come forward.
 

Fabius Says Support Growing for 'Strong' Response to Syria, Kerry Hails EU Statement
Naharnet/The United States and France said Saturday that international backing was growing for military strikes to punish the Syrian regime for alleged chemical attacks, after European Union nations called for a "strong" response. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the number of countries ready to take military action was now in the "double digits", after earlier attending a meeting where EU foreign ministers united to call for action against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. "I was encouraged by the statement the EU gave," Kerry said in Paris at a joint press conference with French counterpart Laurent Fabius. "It's a very powerful statement, this is growing, not receding, in terms of the global sense of outrage." He added there was "a number of countries, in the double digits, who are prepared to take military action. We have more countries prepared to take military action than we actually could use in the kind of military action being contemplated."The U.S. accuses the Assad regime of gassing more than 1,400 people to death in an August 21 attack outside Damascus. In his weekly address, U.S. President Barack Obama warned of the dangers of turning "a blind eye" to chemical attacks. "I call on members of Congress, from both parties, to come together and stand up for the kind of world we want to live in," the president said after returning from a G20 summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia that deadlocked over the response to the Syria crisis.
Obama has asked for Congress to authorize strikes on Syria. The legislature reconvenes Monday and the president is set to address the nation Tuesday about the US response. Kerry meanwhile sought to whip up support from Washington's divided allies in Europe, holding talks with the EU's 28 foreign ministers in Lithuania and with Fabius in France before heading to Britain on Sunday.
Fabius told reporters after their talks that there was "wide and growing support" to take action on Syria.
"Right now, seven of the eight countries in the G8 share our opinion on a strong reaction and 12 countries of the G20 also share this opinion," he said.
Split between Paris and London, who are hardline supporters of U.S.-led military action, and smaller nations reluctant to act without a United Nations mandate, the EU ministers managed to hammer out a compromise in Lithuania. A statement read out by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton dubbed the suspected chemical attack "a war crime and a crime against humanity".
There was "strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible," the statement said.
"A clear and strong response is critical to make clear that such crimes are unacceptable and that there can be no impunity."In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council urged the international community to intervene immediately to "rescue" the Syrian people from "oppression". Faced with a war-weary U.S. public and little international support, Obama is bracing for an uphill battle to convince American lawmakers to back military action against Assad's regime. According to a Washington Post survey, 224 of the current 433 House members were either "no" or "leaning no" on military action as of Friday. A large number, 184, were undecided, with just 25 backing a strike.
The Senate and the House are expected to vote on the issue within the next two weeks.
In France, the sole EU nation determined to join a U.S.-led strike, the latest public opinion poll showed 68 percent of people opposed to military action, an increase of nine percentage points since late August.
The EU statement said there could be no end to the Syrian war without a political solution and urged the U.N. Security Council "to fulfill its responsibilities", a reference to Russia and China's repeated refusals to sanction Assad.
Ashton meanwhile said the EU welcomed French President Francois Hollande's decision to await the release of a U.N. investigation into the August attack before taking action against Syria.
French President Francois Hollande said he expects the report to be ready by next weekend. But Kerry made clear that Washington had not decided to postpone a decision on military action until the release of the U.N. report, though several EU ministers said he had pledged to make their case to Obama. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that any intervention in Syria without the U.N.'s blessing would be "outside the law".
Washington meanwhile is evacuating non-essential embassy staff from Beirut and urging Americans to avoid all travel to Lebanon and southern Turkey.SourceAgence France Presse.

Defense expert: ‘Strike or diplomatic solution on Iran likely within 12 months’
By YAAKOV LAPPIN 09/08/2013/
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Nitzan Nuriel says the year cannot pass without activities that will "significantly change the arena"; Nuriel does not advise the Iranians to take away any lessons from what is taking place in Syria.
Centrifuges unveiled in Natanz Photo: REUTERS
The coming 12 months will likely see either a military strike or a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear program, a senior Israeli defense expert told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday.
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Nitzan Nuriel, a research associate at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, and a former director of the Counter- Terrorism Bureau, spoke before the ICT’s World Summit on Counter-Terrorism, which will begin in Herzliya on Sunday. My assessment is that the coming year will see a milestone in the international efforts against Iran’s nuclear program. It will either take the form of offensive actions, or an agreement with Iran. The year cannot pass without activities that will significantly change the arena,” Nuriel said.
Iran might make an 11th-hour concession that will lead to an agreement with the international community, he said.
Turning to Syria, Nuriel said that an arms development center near Damascus, which also produces chemical weapons, would make a natural target in any US strike on the Assad regime.
The Scientific Studies and Research Center, known by its French acronym, CERS, should be on the US’s target list, he said.
“This is a center that develops all types of weapons, including nonconventional arms,” he said. “This is the place where the Syrian regime realizes its fantasies on military technologies, and therefore it is fit for destruction.”
Intelligence agencies from various countries have spent years trying to figure out what is being developed at CERS, Nuriel noted. “It’s a target,” he said.
Nuriel spent 30 years serving in the IDF, including commanding the Operations Branch at the Northern Command.
Strategically, the civil war raging in Syria isn’t terrible for Israel, he said. “The Syrian army is mired in fighting and its capabilities are being eroded. Hezbollah is involved too.”
At this time, there is no known sane alternative to Syrian President Bashar Assad, meaning that there is no clear desired result to the civil war from Israel’s perspective, Nuriel argued. “If we knew about an alternative to Assad who had Western backing, alongside a Marshall program that would create a more successful outcome than in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would be easier to know.
But no one in the world knows what the alternative to Assad will be.”
Nuriel said he believed there will be no serious repercussions for Israel from a US strike on Syria.
Assad may order pinpoint action against Israel that will not force Jerusalem to respond.
“If there is one thing Assad knows, it’s what will happen if Israel attacks him. He and his regime will physically disappear. He’s not suffering from a delusion that he can create a coalition against Israel to divert the fire away from himself, or to get Hezbollah involved against us,” Nuriel said. At the same time, he stressed, “We don’t have the privilege of not being ready” for Syrian retribution.
Asked if the decision by US President Barack Obama to delay a strike on Syria might embolden Iran, Nuriel said he doubted that would happen.
“The Syrians are really not like the Iranians. They don’t have the same daring as the Iranians, the same thinking, or the same goals.
The comparison does not add up. There is no connection between these arenas.
Nuclear capabilities can’t be compared to chemical capabilities. Syria’s chemical weapons haven’t made a huge impression. We have the ability to take defensive and offensive action against them. I would not extrapolate from what is taking place with Syria to Iran. I wouldn’t advise the Iranians to take away any lessons from Syria,” he said.
As Syria continues to attract radical Sunni jihadi elements, Nuriel warned that pro-al-Qaida forces are “alive and kicking everywhere” in the region. “In some places, this is a counter- reaction to extremist Shi’ite jihadists. There’s a rivalry between the two camps. In the midst of their confrontation, they can attack Western and Israeli targets, too. The Sunni jihad is already here. It’s in Sinai, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.”
Asked why Israeli deterrence against Hezbollah didn’t dissuade the Lebanese terrorist organization from repeatedly trying to attack Israeli targets overseas, Nuriel said Hezbollah viewed such operations as running a low risk of Israeli retaliation. “Hezbollah is assisting the Syrian regime, and is bleeding as a result. But it must also raise the flag of ‘resistance’ to justify its existence.
It can’t do it in Lebanon where it’s too dangerous. When it looks at its record of overseas attacks, Hezbollah sees that it hasn’t succeeded, and when it has, nothing has happened,” he said.
Israeli policy is guided by the results of terrorist attacks, Nuriel continued. “If a terror attack abroad kills 50 Israelis, there will of course be a response. But I don’t know where the line is drawn. Hezbollah might wake up [after launching an overseas terrorist attack] to find that some of its people, or storage facilities, are missing.”

German jihadis kill Syrian Christians

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT 09/08/2013/ REUTERS
BERLIN – Radical German Islamists participated in the murders of Syrian Christians in an early August attack on the Turkish-Syrian border, according to a report in the German magazine FOCUS.
The magazine reported last week the involvement of nearly 100 “fanatical” German Muslims, including Germans who converted to Islam, in the Syrian civil war. Two Western intelligence agencies provided the information to FOCUS about the role of German Islamists in the August massacre. A German police official told the magazine that “the complicity of Germans in the extermination and ethnic cleansing in Syria is a sheer intolerable condition.”
Prosecutors are examining whether the German Muslims can be charged with participation in a terrorist organization.
The growing presence of German Islamists in Syria prompted the Federal Republic’s interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich to issue a warning in April about the “calls for those Europeans who have been trained in battle [in Syria] to return home and pursue jihad.” The Sunni Salafist movement in Germany has provided the main combatants for the conflict against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. Dirk Baehr, a German political scientist who has written about European and German jihadi groups, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that six months ago there were 60 German Islamists in Syria and now the number has climbed to 150. Many of the jihadis fighting in Syria are from Belgium, Baehr added. In a video cited in the FOCUS report, which appears in German and Arabic, German jihadists praise the expulsion of Christians from the Syrian villages. The video shows between nine and 10 jihadis walking by dead people. Baehr said it is difficult to ascertain if the dead individuals are Christians.
One Islamic combatant strikes the head of a dead Syrian soldier in the video. Former gangster rapper from Berlin, Denis Cuspert (a.k.a Deso Dogg), is believed to be fighting with the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front. German counter-terrorism officials view Cuspert as a powerful recruitment tool. He made a video before his departure to Syria, urging Muslims to join the jihad in Syria.
 

At least 31 killed, injured as Egypt launches operation against Sinai militants
By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF 09/07/2013 19:29
Dozens of Egyptian armored vehicles backed by attack helicopters take part in operation to gain control of lawless Sinai Peninsula near Sheikh Zuweid, a few kilometers from the Gaza Strip. At least 31 people were killed or injured on Saturday when the Egyptian army mounted a large operation against militants in North Sinai, security officials said.
Dozens of armored vehicles backed by attack helicopters took part in the operation near Sheikh Zuweid, a few kilometres (miles) from the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Report: IAF drone strikes jihadist rocket launching site in Sinai, killing 4 terroristsSinai attack kills 24 Egyptian policemenAnother 15 people were detained in the operation.
According to a military official quoted by the Ma'an news agency, the force assembled by the Egyptian army "could be the biggest in Egypt's modern history to join such domestic operation."
The official said that the army would target gunmen holed up in Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid.
Last Tuesday the Egyptian army reportedly killed 15 suspected gunmen in the Sinai Peninsula in an attack by army helicopters.
The Sinai has been a headache for Egyptian authorities as a stronghold for militants protesting the ousting of the former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.
Egyptian soldiers discovered explosives planted on a railway line on Saturday, the state news agency reported, another sign of an insurgency after an assassination attempt against a minister and attacks on security forces and a ship. Mortars were among the munitions found on the line between the cities of Suez and Ismailia, MENA news agency said, adding that the explosives were defused by experts.
Train traffic on the line was suspended pending an army search of the area, state newspaper Al-Ahram said on its website, quoting an army official.
Egypt's interior minister survived an assassination attempt unscathed on Thursday when a car bomb blew up next to his convoy, which he said was the start of a likely wave of violence against the military-installed government.
Last Saturday, gunmen opened fire on a ship in the northern section of the Suez Canal. The canal chief blamed that on a "terrorist", suggesting Islamist militants could have been behind it.
A major attack on the Suez Canal would hammer Egypt's economy, which depends heavily on revenue from the 192-km (120 mile) waterway, the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe. Egypt has faced a rising number of militant attacks on security forces in the nearby North Sinai region after the army, prompted by mass protests, ousted the country's first freely elected president, Islamist Mohamed Morsi, on July 3.

Report: Iran, Syria and Hezbollah planning response to attack on Syria
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON 09/08/2013/Iran, Syria and Hezbollah have set up a military room to coordinate activities in the case the US and other countries attack Syria, according to sources quoted on Friday in the Lebanese Daily Star. The sources confirmed an earlier report by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that Hezbollah is mobilizing its forces in anticipation of an attack, specifically stating that “tens of thousands” of fighters and reservists have been called up. “Iran, Syria and Hezbollah don’t have a clear picture about what Americans have planned,” said one diplomat
Iran and Hezbollah would use all of their power to prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime if they felt that it was in danger of falling; should this not be the case, the diplomat said that Iran and Hezbollah are unlikely to get involved.Such a threat would include attacks on key Syrian army posts, military airfields and long range missiles, according to diplomatic sources.
Just in case, Iran has begun readying its missiles. “The aim of the move was to demonstrate to the United States that Iran was serious,” the diplomat said. Syria also has a bank of targets in Israel, as well as US bases in Turkey and Jordan. Pro-Syrian groups are planning retaliatory strikes against targets in Lebanon affiliated with the countries who take part in an attack, according to sources quoted by the Lebanon Now website. The targets would be embassies, consulates and other official buildings. This is behind the US’s withdrawal of much of its staff from its embassy in Lebanon and its warning to citizens regarding travel to and from Lebanon and Turkey, the sources said. On Friday, the US ordered its non-emergency personnel to leave the embassy in Beirut.
The US said it intercepted messages from Iran to militants in Iraq to attack the US embassy and other American interests in Baghdad if Syria is attacked, according to a report on Friday in The Wall Street Journal.
The intercepted message came from Maj.- Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guards commander of Iran’s elite Qods Force, and was sent to Shi’ite militia groups in Iraq.
Iran denied the report on Friday.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the ruling Syrian Ba’ath party, along with other parties, held a meeting to discuss a possible attack on the country, according to SANA, Syria’s state news agency. The parties stressed their unity in the event of an attack.

The end of politics
Ghassan Al Imam/Asharq AlAwsat
A love-sick widower wrote the following epitaph on his late wife’s tombstone: “The light of my life has been put out.” Having spent years in aching loneliness, the man fell in love with another woman, who provoked his desire for marriage. He then went to church to ask his priest: Should he erase the epitaph? The priest scratched his head and replied: “No, my son. Just complete the epitaph by adding “…but I have found another light.”
Dominique Strauss-Kahn allegedly preyed upon a poor, Muslim maid working at the luxurious hotel where he was staying. As a result of these allegations, the man who was once in charge of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) spent two days in the custody of the New York police force. Shortly after the incident, he resigned from the IMF and returned to Paris to be with his wife, well-known television anchor Anne Sinclair. However, the light of Strauss-Kahn’s life was later put out by separation and then divorce. Later, Strauss-Kahn appeared on a magazine cover with a younger, more beautiful model.
While keeping track of the life of such an experienced socialist figure, I asked myself: How could Strauss-Kahn commit such dreadful crime, if he is truly guilty, at a time when he was well on the way to becoming France’s next president? The Socialist party’s leadership fixed this problem by finding a purer socialist candidate to replace him, namely current French president François Hollande.
Yet the crisis of socialism as a principle, theory and authority continues. I read about ideal socialism as put forward by Saint-Simonianism, but which was later overwhelmed by British Fabianism. This is because the latter was successful in creating an alliance between intellectuals and the proletariat. It presented gains and offered guarantees for Western European societies through peaceful and democratic struggle—something social Marxism failed to achieve through bloody and revolutionary violence.
What has happened to socialism—which spoke of of equality and equal opportunities—for it to produce people like Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Jérôme Cahuzac? The controversy surround Strauss-Kahn is well-known, while Cahuzac, the former French finance minister, was revealed to have secret banks accounts in Switzerland and Singapore at precisely the same time that he was supposed to be leading a charge for greater financial transparency among France’s political leaders.
French psychologists answered this dichotomy by saying that those in power harbor feelings of impunity. My own view is that the failure of politics to provide solutions has become an international social crisis. Prior to the eruption of the Arab Spring, explanations were offered for the lack of solutions—namely that the republican system has continually ventured to eliminate politics for fifty years. This is something that restrained the political system in these countries and ultimately caused their collapse.
However, the new revolutionary system is on the verge of eliminating the protesters’ hopes of ever reviving politics again. The Arabs are now facing a new crisis: the collapse of politics, or rather “the end of politics.” In the USm politics is very Internet-savvy, yet when the youths in our region that were active online took to streets, the US surprised them by handing power to political Islam (the Muslim Brotherhood). This stemmed from the belief that it is similar to Turkish [secular] Islamism, which has sought to bring together Islam and democracy.
What do we mean by the end of politics?
It is the inability of the regime, the political parties, and civil society bargain and resolve issues peacefully through publicly elected institutions (the legislative authority) by adopting calm and rational dialogue. Instead of this, the Internet activists and other youth groups, who have come to be considered “rebels,” have taken to the streets. They do not know why they are violently attacking the Islamists who hijacked power, nor do they know what the “Ikhwanization” of power, security, culture or the arts means.
In Tunisia, the power of peaceful dialogue was overcome by the violent struggle being carried out by the armed takfirist jihadist groups. As for Syria, a young president with scant political experience simply did not know how to deal with the noble, peaceful uprising in his country in a respectful manner.
Why does Russia find itself siding with states that use violence to eliminate politics or violent repression to topple politics? Because “leftist–nationalist” Putin has eliminated the corruption of his mentor’s regime by reviving chauvinism, hence regaining the state’s control of Russia’s national wealth—its oil and gas resources. Putin is putting forward a policy of deception when he claims that he is providing Assad with arms according to previously agreed contracts. The Arabs who previously contributed to paying off Syria’s debts to Russia are well aware that Putin does not send arms unless he receives the full payment beforehand. Today, Moscow is exporting arms freely solely because this serves Russia’s interests.
If it is true that Russia has no civilized democratic culture that prevents it from entering into an alliance with a rogue state, then why does it seem that America’s society is fragmenting and breaking down? In the US, society seems to be overwhelmed by a culture of violence and sex, and so the founding principles of the country—political pluralism and peaceful settlement of political issues—have been curbed.
President Obama failed to use the law to end the gun culture, particularly as pro-gun lobbies finance politicians’ electoral campaigns and are stronger than the state itself. Today, a teenager can purchase a weapon to kill his own mother or father, assault a government facility crowded with employees, or attack fellow students and teachers at school, with little or no background checks.
It is not the arms lobby alone that is responsible for this. The public culture that has publicized violence and sex through movies, television and video games is also responsible.
The Cold War era—which was dominated by competing ideologies—was much more disciplined and less dangerous. In fact, the fall of ideologies and the inability of politics and diplomacy has spread principles of “creative chaos” and “preemptive war.” This is nothing more than violence against a new enemy: jihadist takfirists. These jihadist takfirists cannot, and do not, rule the Arab world; yet they can terrorize their own societies, along with the wider world, thanks to their suicide operations. This is because they are unable to tolerate any ideology other than their own.
Even in Lebanon—where the Taif Agreement consolidated democracy and political equality between different factions—the political elites have become unable to dominate or control the “street,” namely the armed militants who have torn the fabric of civil society apart and ignited a Sunni-Shi’ite sectarian struggle.
The fall of politics ended peaceful dialogue between these factions, the state and the armed militants. Politicians have failed to reach an agreement regarding the mechanism of electing parliament or forming a new government. The Sunni parties now oppose Shi’a Hezbollah’s participation in the government, after it involved itself in the Syrian war on the orders of Iran.
So what is the solution? There is no solution. The Philosopher Diogenes used to stroll around in the day-time holding a lit lamp. When asked what he was doing, he answered: “I am looking for an honest man!” His lamp has burned out—but can we ignite another one?
Michael Suleiman was the first president in Lebanon’s post-independence history to have the courage to speak publicly in an open and explicit manner. This courageous Maronite Christian has proven that the Arabs, despite their variant components, still possess a unified culture, world view, language and interests.
Bashar Al-Assad once told me: “You must return to Syria. We read your writings.” I was the first to ask him about democracy and freedom when he was preparing to succeed his father. He promised much, yet little of this has been realized.
I did not return to Syria, and Assad claimed that the Syrian people were not prepared for democracy. Horrible mistakes have been made, and these are sufficient to turn off the lamp of hope inside everyone. However, in listening to Michael Suleiman express his deep sorrow about what is happening in Syria and demanding Hezbollah’s withdrawal, I feel that truthfulness and honesty in politics is capable of turning on another lamp.

Opinion: From Nasser to Sisi
By: Ghassan Al Imam/Asharq Alawsat
The state in Egypt is all-encompassing and powerful, and so it is no surprise that the legitimacy of the state has prevailed over that of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood may have been able to hijack the presidency, but its president Mohamed Mursi did not know how to hold onto the position. Mursi opted to remained under the patronage of the Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau, thereby throwing away his popular legitimacy.
Egypt is the gift of the Nile. However the concept of the state is Egypt’s gift to the world. Egypt taught the world the meaning of authority and rule, thanks to its more than seven-thousand-year-old civilization.
In the 1920s Egypt’s Wafd Party gained popular legitimacy through the polls, nevertheless, the state overthrew party leader Prime Minister Mustafa El-Nahhas Pasha time and time again. Despite this, the party which enjoyed popular legitimacy did not rebel, nor did it resort to violence against the state. Nahhas continued to be democratic and never lost his legitimacy.
In Egypt, liberation from occupation produced Gamal Abdel-Nasser who staged a revolution and took control of the state. Here was a man who knew how to administer the state and lead. He relinquished the slogan of “Unity of the Nile Valley”, giving the Sudanese the freedom to choose, and so both Egypt and Sudan were liberated from occupation. As a result, Nasser became an inspiration for all liberation movements. As for the Brotherhood, it revolted against the state, attempting to assassinate Nasser, who for his part clamped down on freedom and democracy as a result.
The Syrian people rebelled against unity, but they were mistaken to do so because they did not struggle for freedom within a pro-unity and pan-Arab project. A leader emerged from the embers of this revolution to become president, and he continued to humiliate the Syrian people for decades under the false façade of pan-Arabism. This same leader promoted sectarianism which only served the interests of foreign powers at the expense of the Arabs.
Nasser was the hope for millions of Arabs, yet his intellectual and political views did not make a democrat out of him. Nasser committed grave mistakes: He antagonized the Gulf States and disagreed with his military commander Abdel Hakim Amer. He fought against the pan-Arab Ba’athist Party and instead entered into an alliance with its secularist wing. As a result, he became embroiled in a war against Israel that he was not prepared to fight by the Salah Jadid and Hafez Al-Assad regime. This took place at a time when his elite troops had been deployed to to Yemen, 3,000 km from the theater of operations in Sinai.
I feel sad and embarrassed to say, after all these years, that Nasser and the Syrian regime must shoulder the historical responsibility for the Naksah [defeat in the 1967 Six Day War], the defeat of the non-democratic pan-Arab project, the subsequent occupation of the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, and the continuing occupation of Palestine.
Nasser did not bequeath power to his sons but to his political and ideological rivals. President Anwar Sadat used the state to hit and eradicate the predominant Nasserist wing in Egypt. He also failed to exploit the great potential of the semi-victory achieved in the October 1973 war.
Sadat became entangled in a disproportionate reconciliation with Israel, detaching himself from the rest of the Arab world, resulting in Egypt losing its historic role and influence in the Arab and regional milieu. Then Sadat gambled on the Muslim Brotherhood and Jihadist Islam to confront the Nasserists and secularists whose strong presence on university campuses did not represent a genuine threat to his regime. This Jihadist Islam was ultimately successful in assassinating the president of the state, however it can never and will never succeed in seizing state control. The Egyptian state emerged from Sadat’s assassination stronger than ever. Hosni Mubarak released Egypt’s detained liberal and secular political leaders, while he also successfully tamed the extremist Islamists. The Mubarak state handled the Brotherhood by leaving the door open for them; a door that sometimes took the Brotherhood members to parliament as independent candidates, and other times took them to Tora prison.
There is a great deal of history between Gamal Abdel-Nasser and Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi; ranging from the age of liberation (Tahrir) to the era of freedom. However does the firmness Sisi has exhibited towards the Brotherhood entitle him to a leading position in this different era, namely the era of civil democracy?
I believe that Sisi is fully aware of the reality of his station and age. At 58-years-of-age, he is politically mature, while he also belongs to the second military generation to have graduated from the most prestigious military college in the US. He understands the US military system and its position within a civil administration and under a civil government. In this manner, Sisi is not a revolutionary army general. He may well have ambitions to play a prominent national role in order to ensure that Egypt reaches safety. In fact, the reality is that Sisi rescued Egypt in the nick of time from a destructive civil war, hence restoring the reverence, credibility, and security of the historical Egyptian state. Sisi won two bloody decisive rounds in his confrontation with the Brotherhood, rehabilitating the Egyptian military institution after the Muslim Brotherhood regime gutted the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, an entity it saw as aging, bloated, and lacking in political experience.
Yet, the price was exorbitant: there were a state of emergency, a curfew, detentions, bloodshed, and rival media campaigns. The US and Europe had gambled on the Brotherhood regime which strived to “Ikhwanize” the state and politics, blocking the way for modern, liberal Egyptian culture.
The US/European campaign against Sisi and his military institution was preposterous. It was launched under the slogans of maintaining democracy, freedom, and human rights in Egypt, while they have remained conspicuously silent about these issues in Syria. This position on the part of the West could serve to curb General Sisi’s future ambitions, however it does not detract from his bravery and courage in seeking to convince the Brotherhood and other Islamist organizations to accept a more equal and balanced representation in the country.
Is it possible to classify the new regime in Egypt? It is too early to make definitive judgments. However at first glance we can say that it appears to encompass the liberals and conservatives. Perhaps, this regime will be ready to cooperate with forces within the previous Mubarak government that had a hand in ousting Mursi. However, the regime’s inclination to the right and center has caused it to lose the support to some leftist powers, including socialist Mohamed El-Baradei’s Al-Dustour party and the April 6 Youth Movement. These days, Egypt is speaking about itself with a sense of solid national pride in reaction to the Brotherhood’s insult of the Egyptian state. Yet, nationalism is no real basis for a principled or public rule, or even a party or leader’s ideology.
The reason is that such nationalist expressions are nothing more than changeable sentiment which prevails during times of trouble, yet vanishes during times of calm.
Does the new Egyptian regime really intend to wipe the Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt’s political map? I am no supporter of the Brotherhood, but allow me to frankly say that getting rid of ideological parties such as the Ba’athists, the Brotherhood, and others, is an impossibility. Ideologies can flourish, fade from memory, and then return with a vengeance.
General Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi may be more fortunate than Major Abdel-Nasser. Both are legitimate sons of a national military institution that Egypt rightly boasts of. Yet, Sisi enjoys openness with the Gulf States that threw their regional, Arab, and international weight behind him, not to mention financial support. Perhaps, the new regime in Egypt will be able to use such support to boost and strengthen the economy. Indeed, should this new regime act otherwise, it will quickly lose public support, as was the case with Mursi’s Brotherhood regime.
The shock of the Brotherhood’s ouster is a hard lesson for them to learn. What happened was that the Brotherhood became over-excited by power, until they eventually had enough. Introducing new blood into the Guidance Bureau should serve to unburden the new leaderships from the vague principle that earthly rule must be linked to divine rule, something that late Muslim Brotherhood theorist Sayyid Qutb adopted from Indo-Pakistani Islam.
Qutb’s ideology prevented the Brotherhood from accepting Shura (consultancy) and democracy, and hindered the group’s subsequent generations from establishing a party with a stronger sense of national responsibility and a greater acceptance of political pluralism. This could have seen the Brotherhood shift from an organization known for producing esteemed orators to one known for its dialogue.