LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 16/15

Lent in the Catholic Maronite Church
http://www.10452lccc.com/elias.arabic15/elias.cana%20wedding15.02.15.htm
Lent is a forty-day period before Easter. In the Catholic Maronite Church Lent starts on the Ash Monday. Lent in principle is a Holy period that is ought to be utilized with God in genuine contemplation, self humility, repentance, penances, forgiveness, praying and conciliation with self and others
Maronite Church Bible Readings for the Cana Wedding Sunday
First Sunday of Great Lent: Cana Sunday/Commentary of the day
Saint Ephrem (c.306-373), Deacon in Syria, Doctor of the Church
Diatessaron XII, � 1-2
�What you have done is keep the choice wine until now.� In the desert, our Lord multiplied the loaves of bread, and in Cana, he changed the water into wine. Thus, he got people used to his bread and to his wine until the time when he gave them his body and his blood. He let them taste a transitory bread and wine, so that the desire for his life-giving body and blood might grow in them� He attracted us by means of these things that are pleasant to the palate, in order to lead us even more to that which gives life in full to our souls. He hid sweetness in the wine he made, so as to show his guests what incomparable treasure is hidden in his life-giving blood. As his first sign, he gave a wine that gave joy to the guests, so as to show that his blood would give joy to all nations. For if wine plays a part in all of earth�s joys, in the same way, every true deliverance is linked to the mystery of his blood. He gave the guests at Cana excellent wine, which transformed their mind, so as to let them know that the teaching with which he would quench their thirst would transform their heart.
This wine, which first of all was only water, was changed in jars, a symbol of the first commandments, which he brought to perfection. The transformed water is the Law brought to its fulfillment. The people who were invited to the wedding drank what had been water, but without tasting that water. In the same way, when we hear the former commandments, we taste them not with their former savor, but with their new one.
John /Cana Wedding
John 02/01-11: "On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, �They have no wine.� And Jesus said to her, �Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.�His mother said to the servants, �Do whatever he tells you.� Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, �Fill the jars with water.� And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, �Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.� So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, �Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.� Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Joel /Tear your heart, and not your garments
Joel 02/13-18: " Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, and the bride out of her room. Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, �Spare your people, Yahweh, and don�t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, �Where is their God?�� Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people.
Paul's Letter to the Romans
Romans 14/14-23:"I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual edification. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others fall by what you eat; it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve.But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Latest analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 15-16/15
Lebanon: �Beyond the Naaheeb�Chou Fi?� (What is Beyond Wailing)/.Dr. Walid Phares/February 15/15
US spies taking too much credit for Mughniyeh hit, Mossad operatives say/J.Post/February 15/15
Iranians and nostalgia for the Shah�s era/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/February 15/15
From tourism to terrorism: welcome to post-Hariri Lebanon/Faisal J. Abbas /Al Arabiya/February 15/15
Khamenei�s test: Will he be able to overcome the opposition of Iran's extremists/YOSSI MELMAN/February 15/15

Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 14-15/15
Egyptian Church confirms 21 killed in Libya after Islamic State issues video
Ban on Hariri Anniversary: Impunity Will Not Be Tolerated.
Kuwait emir, Saudi king review means of enhancing ties.
Jewish guard shot dead at Copenhagen synagogue.
US officials deny report of freezing Israel out of Iran nuclear talks
Israeli leader calls for 'massive' Jewish immigration after deadly attack in Copenhagen
Third death, possibly of terrorist, after two victims killed in Copenhagen attacks on caf� and synagogue.
The US-Israel divide.
Scores dead in intensified fighting in southern Syria: monitor .
Kurds clash with Turkish police on anniversary of leader's capture.
Iraqi government must control volunteer militias: deputy PM .
Iraqi army, militia repel ISIS attack on dam..
Israeli settlers paint leftists as anti-Semite collaborators.
Arab League to meet on Yemen Wednesday.
Gulf states call on UN to end Yemen crisis .
Yemeni militia defiant ahead of UN vote.
Saudi Arabia condemns 'terrorist' killing of US Muslims.
Italy 'ready to lead' coalition against jihadists in Libya.
Copenhagen gunman maybe inspired by Paris attacks: police.
Michele Ferrero, Nutella owner and Italy's richest man, dies aged 89.
Egypt lines up $6.8 bln of Kuwaiti investment for energy projects.
Bomb explodes in crowded northeast Nigerian bus station.

Jihad Watch Site Latest Reports
Canada: Muslim graduation ceremony cancelled over �radical� speakers
Denmark: Police raid Internet cafe, arrest two Muslims in jihad probe
Denmark: Muslim who fired on free speech event and synagogue is killed
Danish PM on jihad murders: �This is not a war between Islam and the West�
Danish jihadi murderer freed from prison 2 weeks ago after knife attack
Islamic State chops off women�s hands for using cell phones
Islamic State beheading people for smoking cigarettes
Sex-abuse allegations against Chicago Muslim leader �playing into hands of Islamophobes�

Lebanon: �Beyond the Naaheeb�Chou Fi?� (What is Beyond Wailing)
Dr. Walid Phares/February 15/15
On the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri and his companions, a violence that prompted thousands of Lebanese to demonstrate and eventually put a million plus people on the streets of Beirut calling for Syria withdrawal and Hezbollah disarming, the question is what now? For beyond the �Naaheeb� and the frustrations expressed in the media and on social forums, as well as in political speeches and editorials, the central question in that country should be about what to do now, after a decade of debacles. While it is always clear to suggest what needs to be done to confront the threats Lebanon has been facing, threats that have been growing not receding, It is difficult to answer what the politicians of Lebanon are going to -actually-do. While we know for sure what Hezbollah and its allies are going to do, that is to maintain their control of the country�s institutions and increase their military and security dominance on the ground, we have to wait and see for what their political opponents are planning on surprising us with. For if one hears or read statements made in Lebanese media, there is little to be hopeful for. For these politicians have been announcing that �Lebanon cannot confront Hezbollah,� that �Hezbollah is an associate in the Governance of Lebanon,� and that the �top priority is to have a President for this republic� even if the republic is and will further be under the umbrella of the Ayatollahs. If you add and merge all these statements in one platform, you�d conclude that Lebanon has no political opposition to the Iranian-led Hezbollah and that all what it is, what it was and will be, is who will and how to sit around the Council of Ministers� long table. Nothing new �Madame la Marquise�. Old same, old same: the survival of the fittest among Lebanon�s politicians, particularly those who aren�t favored by the �de facto regime.�
We will always identify with the sorrow expressed on passing anniversaries and express our condolences, but we aren�t able to project good news on what comes after the �Naaheeb.� For if the issue is only about a long table with couple dozens politicians seated around, I don�t think Lebanon�s civil society has been and is being well served by the establishment who speaks on behalf of their present and plan their future.

Geagea: Hezbollah, ISIS 'two sides of the same coin'
The Daily Star/Feb. 15, 2015 /BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told a Saudi daily that Hezbollah and ISIS are "two sides of the same coin," and criticized Iran for spreading Islamism and preventing his election as president. �Hezbollah is one face of political Islam, and its mere existence has pushed many to adopt terrorism,� Geagea told the Saudi newspaper Al-Arab in comments published Sunday. �Hezbollah and ISIS are two sides of the same coin, which is political Islam. The existence of one of them nurtures the other... even if the two are at war.�Geagea also slammed Iran for being �one of the largest symbols of political Islam,� blaming the country for the rise of Islamism and fundamentalism. �It inspired others to adopt Islamism, and its behavior in the region has pushed all kinds of radicalism and extremism to the maximum,� he said, referring to Iran. �And this is what led to the emergence of ISIS and other extremist groups.� The Maronite leader also criticized Iran for working against his presidential candidacy. He said Iran did not want him to become president, as that would weaken the country�s influence in Lebanon. Geagea, on the other hand, praised Saudi Arabia for its constructive role in Lebanon, saying the kingdom�s only goal is to protect Lebanon�s political institutions, economy and stability. He said the gulf country "does not interfere in Lebanese politics, especially in the presidential elections matter� despite the help it provides to Lebanon. �The kingdom also considers me a fundamentally patriotic Lebanese politician who does whatever he can to move Lebanon from where it is to a more stable situation,� he said. Lebanon has been without president since May 2014, when former President Michel Sleiman left office at the end of his term.

Report: Hizbullah Hindering Security Forces' Access to Some Bekaa Regions
Naharnet /Security forces have so far failed to arrest any major fugitives, three days into the adoption of a state-approved security plan in the eastern Bekaa region, reported the Saudi daily Okaz on Sunday. It revealed that Hizbullah has prevented the security forces from entering the outskirts of some towns in the area because the party has �transformed them into military zones.�These zones also include training camps. Later on Sunday, the army issued a statement announcing that it had arrested during its operations on Saturday 33 suspects, confiscated nine cars and 26 motorcycles, and seized a number of drugs, military equipment, and light weapons.The latest arrests bring the total number of detainees to at least 90 since the security plan kicked off on Thursday.

Mustafa Hujeiri: Negotiations to Release Arsal Captives are Going Well
Naharnet/Sheikh Mustafa al-Hujeiri revealed that he has sensed �for the first time� that negotiations to release the servicemen kidnapped from the northeastern border town of Arsal are being conducted seriously, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Rai on Sunday.
He told the daily: �The negotiations are heading on a good path and we hope to reach a conclusion that would please the families of the captives.��Each side has its demands,� he added. He stressed however that he can only speak on behalf of negotiations with the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front. Hujeiri said that he is not informed on the talks with the Islamic State group kidnappers. The servicemen were abducted from Arsal by the al-Nusra Front and IS in the wake of clashes in August. A few of them have since been released, four were executed, and the rest remain held. The hostage-takers had warned several times the Lebanese authorities that they would kill more captives if they did not meet their demands. Among their demands is the release of Islamist prisoners in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the spokesman of the families of the captives, Hussein Youssef told al-Rai that reports that the hostages will be released soon �are inaccurate.� He added however: �The negotiations had come to a halt at one point, but they have since gone back on the right track and they are now on a relatively positive level.� �Given these factors, we hope that the servicemen will be released soon,� he stated. The negotiations are not bad and therefore their release is possible if they continue in such a manner,� Youssef remarked. The family of abducted soldier Abdul Rahim Diab revealed on Saturday that it visited him in the outskirts of Arsal, describing his condition as �tragic.�The family said that the visit occurred on Wednesday, refusing to disclose further details.

US spies taking too much credit for Mughniyeh hit, Mossad operatives say
By JPOST.COM STAFF/02/15/2015
The American intelligence community is taking too much credit for the joint Central Intelligence Agency-Mossad operation in 2008 that killed Hezbollah�s top operations man and arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, an author and espionage expert for CBS News wrote on Sunday.
Dan Raviv, a journalist who co-authored a book about Israeli espionage, wrote that Israeli officials were unhappy over recent leaks to The Washington Post and Newsweek that they believe were designed to exaggerate the CIA�s role in Mughniyeh�s assassination.
The killing of one of the world�s most wanted terrorists was widely attributed to Israel in the foreign media.
US involvement in the death of Mughniyeh was confirmed to The Washington Post last month by five former US intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to the report, the CIA obtained the legal authority to kill the Hezbollah leader because it was able to prove that, �he was a continuing threat to Americans,� through his connection to the arming and training of Shi�ite militias in Iraq who were targeting and killing US forces. Mughniyeh�s son, Jihad, was killed on January 18 in an air strike on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights that has been attributed to Israel. Besides Mughniyeh, five other Hezbollah operatives and six Iranian Revolutionary Guards personnel, including a general, were killed in the attack. Among other terrorist attacks against US citizens, Mughniyeh the father was linked to the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people, and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US servicemen.
Mughniyeh was also implicated in the 1992 suicide bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people and the 1994 attack on the Jewish community center in the Argentinian capital, which killed 85.
The US and Israeli intelligence organizations worked together for months monitoring Mughniyeh in Damascus to determine where the bomb should be planted, according to the report.
At one point an opportunity presented itself to kill both Mughinyeh and Qassem Suleimani, commander of Iran�s Quds Force, who according to the report is an �archenemy of Israel,� and had also orchestrated the training of Shi�ite militias in Iraq. The trigger was not pulled, however, because the operatives did not have the legal authority to kill him.
According to the uncovered information, on February 12, 2008, Mughniyeh was killed, �on a quiet nighttime street in Damascus after eating dinner at a nearby restaurant... when a bomb planted in a spare tire on the back of his vehicle exploded.�
A team of CIA spotters in Damascus was tracking his movements, and Mossad agents in Tel Aviv triggered the bomb remotely according to the report.
�The way it was set up, the US could object and call it off, but it could not execute,� a former US intelligence official told the newspaper.
Planning for the operation was �exhaustive.�
The CIA leaks, however, irked Israeli officials who, as Raviv writes, insist that the Mughniyeh operation �was entirely blue and white� � a reference to the colors of the Israeli flag � �with hardly any red, white, and blue.�
�Some Israelis, it seems, object to seeing the Americans taking too much credit,� Raviv writes. �What follows is based on what knowledgeable Israelis have been telling Western officials and diplomats. They say the US participated in the deliberations, the intelligence gathering, the surveillance, and some logistics of the assassination - but they call the assassination itself an Israeli operation: lock, stock, and barrel.�
As Raviv tells it, most of the preparations for the hit on Mughniyeh were already made by Mossad agents who had tracked the Hezbollah operative as he had come in and out of his Damascus apartment.
�At least according to what Israelis have been telling Western officials, the Mossad did not need the CIA for active management of the operation,� Raviv writes. �They had already gleaned all the details necessary about Mughniyeh's daily routine and his hideout in Damascus. �
�The CIA was there, as they put it, to fill in any missing intelligence information and provide extra eyes in Damascus.�
Wary about killing innocent bystanders, the Americans withdrew their cooperation from the mission, but later rejoined after then-prime minister Ehud Olmert provided videotape evidence that the bomb which would be used to kill Mughniyeh would be precise.
Mughniyeh's Damascus hideout was in close proximity to a girls' school, and the Americans were adamant that any operation to kill him would have to be pinpoint so as not to harm anyone else in the vicinity. The Hezbollah operative was also wont to meet with senior Iranian military and intelligence figures, men whom the Americans also were determined not to touch since Washington had no desire to provoke Iran.
The actual bomb used to kill the terrorist was developed and perfected in Israel, not in the United States, as reports suggested.
Once the Israelis received confirmation that Mughniyeh was alone and heading to his car near his apartment, the order was given to intelligence officials in Tel Aviv to activate the explosive device by remote control.

Delayed plans lose their bite
The Daily Star/Feb. 13, 2015
The Lebanese authorities are fond of talking up their �security plan� and their plans to implement security plans, but a lot less talk and a lot more action is what�s needed. Politicians must lay the groundwork for certain policies beforehand, both in the media and with the public, to ensure their success.But when the topic of the imminent implementation of a �security plan� spends weeks in the media spotlight, there�s a danger fugitives from justice can use this grace period to go into hiding. When the plan is eventually implemented, the excessively long preparatory period only undermines it.Tripoli is the main focus of this policy, but the slow pace of implementation is worrying. And the recent commotion over the removal of religious and political paraphernalia shows how tenuous the situation in Lebanon�s northern capital truly is. Lebanon is a small country and there are no secrets � when implementation of policy is lacking, the news will emerge quickly. Moreover, Tripoli is just part of the equation. Until similar security plans are implemented across the country, the policy will be on shaky ground. People are fond of speaking about the lawlessness in the northern Bekaa Valley, but there are areas of the capital and its southern suburbs that also urgently require the stern intervention of the authorities to clamp down on illegalities.The sooner a security plan for Lebanon � and not just Tripoli � is implemented, the better. Also, spending less time announcing the imminent implementation of such a plan and putting in more effort on durable steps on the ground would be a welcome change.

Report: Saad Hariri Remaining in Lebanon until Midweek
Naharnet /Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri who had arrived in Lebanon overnight on Friday is expected to remain in the country until the middle of next week, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday. It did not specify which day he is set to depart Beirut. The former premier had arrived in Lebanon from the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh to attend a ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the assassination of his father former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The commemoration was held in Beirut on Saturday.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, ministers from the Mustaqbal bloc and March 14 alliance, head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora, and a number of political and economic figures met with Hariri on Saturday at his headquarters at the Center House in downtown Beirut. Former PM Rafik Hariri was assassinated in a massive bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005.

Lebanese drone flies over Israel: Israeli report
The Daily Star/BEIRUT: An unmanned aircraft crossed from Lebanon overnight and flew over Israel for 20 minutes before returning, an Israeli media report said Sunday. The drone entered Israel from the Lebanese border village of Naqoura just after 1 a.m. Sunday, the news website Rotter.com said. The incident was the second of its kind to happen during the last few weeks, according to the report. In 2012, a Hezbollah drone successfully flew 55 kilometers into Israeli airspace before being shot down by the Israeli army.
In a public address, the party�s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the drone was designed in Iran and assembled in Lebanon.

Strikers at Beirut public hospital to escalate strike
The Daily Star/Feb. 15, 2015 | 04:22 PM
BEIRUT: Employees at Rafik Hariri University Hospital announced Sunday that they would not admit any new patients to the emergency department of the hospital starting Monday morning, an escalation in a strike that began last week. �[We announce] the complete closure of the emergency entrance starting Monday at 9:30 a.m.,� the union said in a statement released Sunday. The strikers said their decision will be followed by �daily escalations� until their demands are met. The employees of Beirut�s main public hospital are protesting the delay in receiving their salaries for the month of January and what they perceive as a lack of employment benefits. �We were paid December�s salaries in January, but we still haven�t received January�s pay,� an employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Daily Star. She explained that the controversy began with the delay of December�s wages, when the finance ministry claimed that it had not received a budget proposal from the health ministry to allow payments.
After Health Minister Wael Abou Faour insisted that he had sent the documents, the finance ministry admitted it had received the budget proposal but said that money that the hospital owes the ministry from old loans would be deducted from the budget. �If they deduct this sum, the money won�t be enough to pay half our salaries,� the employee said. In addition to the payment of their salaries, employees are demanding additional employment benefits in line with those of other public sector employees.
�This issue begins with the salaries matter, but does not end before achieving all the rightful demands for the employees considering the austerity they are suffering from and the absence of any of the warranties, incentives or rights that our fellow public sector employees enjoy,� the union�s statement said. The launch of the strike coincided with the resignation of Faysal Shatila, the former chief of the hospital�s board. Health Minister Abu Faour announced Wednesday that he accepted Shatila�s resignation, saying it allowed for the implementation of �rescue plan� to save the hospital. Abu Faour had previously announced a plan of reforms in response to the hospital's financial deficit, which had caused a shortage in equipment and tools. Shatila, on the other hand, said he resigned because this same rescue plan was never carried out by the government. The hospital�s staff remained on strike despite Shatila's resignation, saying they would not go back to work unless officials promised to add a discussion of the hospital's current crisis to the Cabinet�s agenda.

Pope Benedict XVI 2006 Lent message
"Jesus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity"(Matthew 9:36)
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Him Who is the fount of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which He Himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty, sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter. Even in the "valley
of darkness" of which the Psalmist speaks (Psalm 23:4), while the tempter prompts us to despair or to place a vain hope in the work of our own hands, God is there to guard us and sustain us. Yes, even today the Lord hears the cry of the multitudes longing for joy, peace, and love.
As in every age, they feel abandoned. Yet, even in the desolation of misery, loneliness, violence and hunger that indiscriminately afflict children, adults, and the elderly, God does not allow darkness to prevail. In fact, in the words of my beloved Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, there is a "divine limit imposed upon evil," namely, mercy ("Memory and Identity," pp. 19ff.). It is with these thoughts in mind that I have chosen as my theme for this Message the Gospel text: "Jesus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity" (Matthew 9:36). In this light, I would like to pause and reflect upon an issue much debated today: the question of development. Even now, the compassionate "gaze" of Christ continues to fall upon individuals and peoples. He watches them, knowing that the divine "plan" includes
their call to salvation. Jesus knows the perils that put this plan at risk, and He is moved with pity for the crowds. He chooses to defend them from the wolves even at the cost of His own life.
The gaze of Jesus embraces individuals and multitudes, and he brings them all before the Father, offering Himself as a sacrifice of expiation. Enlightened by this Paschal truth, the Church knows that if we are to promote development in its fullness, our own "gaze" upon mankind has to be measured against that of Christ. In fact, it is quite impossible to separate the response to people's material and social needs from the fulfillment of the profound desires of their hearts. This has to be emphasized all the more in today's rapidly changing world, in which our responsibility
towards the poor emerges with ever greater clarity and urgency. My venerable Predecessor, Pope Paul VI, accurately described the scandal of underdevelopment as an outrage against humanity. In this sense, in the Encyclical "Populorum Progressio," he denounced "the lack of material necessities for those who are without the minimum essential for life, the moral deficiencies of those who are mutilated by selfishness" and "oppressive social structures, whether due to the abuses of ownership or to the abuses of power, to the exploitation of workers or to unjust transactions" (ibid., 21). As the antidote to such evil, Paul VI suggested not only "increased esteem for the dignity of others, the turning towards the spirit of poverty, cooperation for the common good, the will and desire for peace," but also "the acknowledgment by man of supreme values, and of God, their source and their finality" (ibid.). In this vein, the Pope went on to propose that, finally and above all, there is "faith, a gift of God accepted by the good will of man, and unity in the charity of Christ" (ibid.). Thus, the "gaze" of Christ upon the crowd impels us to affirm the true content of this "complete humanism" that, according to Paul VI, consists in the "fully-rounded development of the whole man and of all men" (ibid., 42). For this reason, the primary contribution that the Church offers to the development of mankind and peoples does not consist merely in material means or technical solutions. Rather, it involves the proclamation of the truth of Christ, Who educates consciences and teaches the authentic dignity of the person and of work; it means the
promotion of a culture that truly responds to all the questions of humanity.
In the face of the terrible challenge of poverty afflicting so much of the world's population, indifference and self-centered isolation stand in stark contrast to the "gaze"of Christ. Fasting and almsgiving, which, together with prayer, the Church proposes in a special way during the Lenten Season, are suitable means for us to become conformed to this "gaze." The examples of the saints and the long history of the Church's missionary activity provide invaluable indications of the most effective ways to support development. Even in this era of global interdependence, it is clear that no economic, social, or political project can replace that gift of self to another through which charity is expressed. Those who act according to the logic of the Gospel live the faith as friendship with God Incarnate and, like Him, bear the burden of the material and spiritual needs of their neighbors. They see it as an inexhaustible mystery, worthy of infinite care and attention. They know that he who does not give God gives too little; as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta frequently observed, the worst poverty is not to know Christ. Therefore, we must help others to find God in the merciful face of Christ. Without this perspective, civilization lacks a solid foundation. Thanks to men and women obedient to the Holy Spirit, many forms of charitable work intended to promote development have arisen in the Church: hospitals, universities, professional formation schools, and small businesses.
Such initiatives demonstrate the genuine humanitarian concern of those moved by the Gospel message, far in advance of other forms of social welfare. These charitable activities point out the way to achieve a globalization that is focused upon the true good of mankind and, hence, the path towards authentic peace. Moved like Jesus with compassion for the crowds, the Church today considers it her duty to ask political leaders and those with economic and financial power to promote development based on respect for the dignity of every man and woman. An important litmus test for the success of their efforts is religious liberty, understood not simply as the freedom to proclaim and celebrate Christ, but also the
opportunity to contribute to the building of a world enlivened by charity. These efforts have to include a recognition of the central role of authentic religious values in responding to man's deepest concerns, and in supplying the ethical motivation for his personal and social responsibilities. These are the criteria by which Christians should assess the political programs of their leaders.
We cannot ignore the fact that many mistakes have been made in the course of history by those who claimed to be disciples of Jesus. Very often, when having to address grave problems, they have thought that they should first improve this world and only afterwards
turn their minds to the next. The temptation was to believe that, in the face of urgent needs, the first imperative was to change external structures. The consequence, for some, was that Christianity became a kind of moralism, "believing" was replaced with
"doing."
Rightly, therefore, my Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, of blessed memory, observed: "The temptation today is to reduce Christianity to merely human wisdom, a pseudoscience of well-being. In our heavily secularized world, a 'gradual secularization of salvation' has taken place, so that people strive for the good of man, but man who is truncated. � We know, however, that Jesus came to bring integral salvation" ("Redemptoris Missio," 11). It is this integral salvation that Lent puts before us, pointing towards the victory of Christ over every evil that oppresses us. In turning to the Divine Master, in being converted to Him, in experiencing His mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we will discover a "gaze" that searches us profoundly and gives new life to the crowds and to each one of us. It restores trust to those who do not succumb to skepticism, opening up before them the perspective of eternal beatitude. Throughout history, even when hate seems to prevail, the luminous testimony of His love is never lacking. To Mary, "the living fount of hope" (Dante Alighieri, "Paradiso," XXXIII, 12), we entrust our Lenten journey, so that she may lead us to her Son. I commend to her in particular the multitudes who suffer poverty and cry out for help, support, and understanding. With these sentiments, I cordially impart to all of you a special Apostolic Blessing.From the Vatican, 29 September 2005

Iranians and nostalgia for the Shah�s era
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya
Sunday, 15 February 2015
Ever since 1980, Iranians have celebrated Khomeini�s revolution every year. However, as time passed, the number of people who reject the revolution and who believe it was the worst historical setback in the history of Iran has increased. Year after year, more politicians and intellectuals who were involved in the revolution or supported it began to re-evaluate the experience within the context of restoring consciousness � an act which usually follows revolutions or failed changes.
As the Iranian Islamic Republic now celebrates the 36th anniversary of toppling the Shah, another prominent Iranian figure joins the ranks of those who speak out against the revolution. It�s Mohsen Sazegara, one of those who participated in establishing the revolutionary guards which were and still are the military elite of the revolution and remain the most powerful and influential forcey in the country. Sazegara regretfully said if he could go back in time, he wouldn�t have participated in the revolution, adding that toppling the Shah�s regime was a mistake which the Iranians paid a high price for. Most of those who changed their minds about the revolution are like him � retired men who don�t seek attaining any high-ranking posts and are not part of the political struggle. They are simply aged men who can observe the entire scene and evaluate it based on their experience and according to the end result of Iran�s current situation.
Any fair historian will certainly see how there were many defects and failures during the Shah�s rule. But the Shah � until his collapse in the 1970s � managed to turn Iran into one of the most developed and successful countries in the Middle East � compared to the Gulf, Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan. He turned the country into an industrial and military power and an excellent scientific center. The region�s countries thus viewed Tehran as a civilized model. However, zealot revolutionaries, from the leftist movement and extremist Islamists, deleted most of this history and rewrote it like Mao Tse-Tung did in China and the Bolsheviks in Russia.
To confront this increased nostalgia to the Shah�s era, those who defend the revolution and who believe in it no longer try to forge recent history. This no longer works, considering the people�s memory has been revived and that the millions of people who lived through in Shah�s era are actually still alive.
Excuses and blame
They therefore try to make up excuses for the failures of the past 36 years in the fields of development, living conditions, freedom and others. The remaining revolutionaries are blaming the West and the �hypocrites,� i.e. the opposition, for their failure.
These excuses no longer convince the people, especially that the regime reassures its audience that it�s negotiating with the West and is about to reconcile with its rivals! Freedom, democracy, improving livelihood and becoming independent from the West were the slogans of protesters calling for toppling the Shah in Tehran and its squares.
Today, three and a half decades on, none of these demands have been met. The circumstances Iranians are living today are actually worse than how it was during the Shah�s reign. The margin of political freedom has decreased and social restrictions dominated. Parliamentary and presidential elections have been limited to Islamists, rivals have been jailed and the only parties present are those who are affiliated with the regime. The situation is thus worse than it was when the Shah was around. The livelihood situation regressed, misery reigned and Tehran and the rest of major cities were transformed into remains of a city � just mere remains of what the Shah built. After its long revolutionary path, the political regime of velayat-e faqih turned against all its slogans as it is seeking relations with the United States and wants the American treasury to allow it to use the dollar in the rial exchange and remittance and wants the U.S. Congress to allow it to use technology for oil exploration and production!
Practically speaking, there�s no revolution in Iran anymore. There�s just another repressive, security and political regime which is crueler than the Shah�s. The only hope which the government and the Iranians have left is to achieve reconciliation with the West and become open to the world, like Vietnam, Cuba, China and Russia have done before them.

From tourism to terrorism: welcome to post-Hariri Lebanon!
Faisal J. Abbas /Al Arabiya
Saturday, 14 February 2015
I still remember that beautiful summer night in the early 2000s; Downtown Beirut was just buzzing with a massive amount of residents, expats and tourists who went out every evening to enjoy fine-dining, shopping, clubbing and/or smoking shishas till the early hours of the morning in the then-newly renovated heart of the Lebanese capital. So busy was the atmosphere, that I remember that when I sat down with a number of friends (who like me at the time were students in their senior year at university) at a famous Downtown caf� opposite the headquarters of the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, we really had to struggle to get the attention of the waiters who were doing their best to handle the bombardment of orders being thrown at them, mostly by much better-tipping Gulf tourists who didn�t � for obvious reasons � have as much problems as we did in getting attention! Then, all of a sudden, the musician playing the saxophone by our table stopped playing, everybody stood up and people all around us started clapping and cheering as the late PM Rafiq Hariri emerged holding hands with former French President Jacques Chirac.
Chirac was on an official visit to Lebanon at the time and it seems the late Prime Minister decided to show him first hand the progress made by the Lebanese people, both socially and physically, so he decided to take him out for a walk to experience the lifestyle and infrastructure that he (Hariri) worked so hard to provide for his nation. There were no bodyguards in sight; there were no weapons and no formalities whatsoever. On the contrary, both leaders casually shook hands with people (Of course, Monsieur Chirac made sure he made an exception when it came to ladies, whom he preferred to kiss, rather than to shake hands with!) as the musician spontaneously decided to play the French national anthem on his saxophone. PM Hariri was assassinated in a horrific explosion on Feb. 14, 2005, just over two years after that short � but iconic � stroll with Chirac. A decade later, Downtown Beirut is a shadow of what it used to be. Most of the caf�-restaurants that used to open till the early hours of the morning have gone out of business, while waiters stand outside the doors of the ones that survived almost begging walkers by to come and enjoy a meal, or just a drink.
On the other hand, Lebanon's current security mess, with bombs going off regularly and assassinations becoming as common as hand-shakes, it is unlikely that we will ever see a French president, or any other world leader, strolling by the roads of Beirut without severe protection and arrangements.
Of course, Downtown Beirut is just a microcosm that reflects the overall situation in Lebanon, a country that has slowly lost its soul over the past 10 years.
Since his assassination, Hezbollah � the Iranian-backed militant group accused alongside the Syrian regime of being behind Hariri�s killing � has become the de facto ruler of Lebanon.
Today, this resistance-turned-terrorist group solely decides if Lebanon lives in peace, or dies in pieces. An example of this was when Hezbollah single-handedly drove the whole nation into a war with Israel in the summer of 2006.
Hezbollah also pretends to be playing politics up to a certain point, but if the Lebanese government ever decides to question, let alone limit their ability to obtain arms or have their own telecommunications network for example, then they will not hesitate to take over the capital by lethal force as they did in 2008.
Also, against the will of the Lebanese government, Hezbollah interfered in the war in neighboring Syria. Indeed, it didn�t take long for the militia�s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, to show his true colors when the situation erupted next door. After having won some respect upon supporting the revolution in Egypt, Nasrallah was fast to portray that what applies to one dictator, doesn�t apply to another, if the other was a fellow Iranian-backed agent that provides his terrorist organization bottomless logistical support.
Nasrallah sent his highly experienced fighters to assist the crumbling Assad army and to kill innocent Syrians, including women and children. Arguably, it was his fighters who contributed the most in aiding the Syrian regime to regain control and remain in power till now.
From tourism to terrorism
Today, Lebanon � a country with a population of 4.4 million � has more than a million registered Syrian refugees and God knows how many ISIS and other extreme Sunni fighters who are likely to seek revenge from Hezbollah. The country at the moment doesn�t have an agreed-upon head of state, and since the assassination of moderate Rafiq Hariri, the Sunnis of the country have no real leader to turn to (particularly with the absence of Hariri�s son, Saad, who � for security reasons � is in self-imposed exile.)
The country at the moment doesn�t have an agreed-upon head of state, and since the assassination of moderate Rafiq Hariri, the Sunnis of the country as well as moderate Lebanese of all sects have no real leader to turn to (particularly with the absence of Hariri�s son, Saad, who � for security reasons � is in self-imposed exile.)
Poverty and extremism are spreading, tourists are being kidnapped and the nation-wide institutional failure has reached a point that residents don�t even trust that the medicine and food they are consuming hasn�t been tampered with.
However, leave it to Hezbollah � who had the audacity to call the devastating 2006 war which left 1,000 people killed a victory � and they would probably tell you that Lebanon couldn�t be in any better shape!
�However, leave it to Hezbollah � who had the audacity to call the devastating 2006 war which left 1,000 people killed a victory � and they would probably tell you that Lebanon couldn�t be in any better shape!�
Faisal J. Abbas
In fact, this is exactly what Hezbollah MP Nawwaf Musawi did last week when he said that his party helped transform Lebanon from �a country which took pride in its tourism and business sectors, to one whose citizens celebrate dignity in resistance.�
Of course, the truth is the only thing achieved by Hezbollah over the past decade was that they successfully managed to transform Lebanon from tourism� to terrorism!

Third death, possibly of terrorist, after two victims killed in Copenhagen attacks on caf� and synagogue
DEBKAfile Special Report February 15, 2015
Two shooting attacks within 10 hours of each other in Copenhagen left two civilians and five Danish police officers injured before and after midnight Saturday, Feb. 14. A man was early Sunday shot dead by police at the nearby Norrebro railway station when he opened fire. Police are attempting to establish whether he was one of the shooters and if indeed the two attacks were connected. Police warned people to stay off the streets early Sunday as armed terrorists were still at large and the entire country placed on high terror alert..
In the second incident, outside the main synagogue in central Copenhagen, a young man was shot in the head at close range and two police officers guarding the building were injured. The gunman ran from the scene on foot.
In the first incident Saturday night, one person was killed and three police officers injured by multiple shots at a meeting in a Copenhagen cafe in support of freedom of speech with the Swedish artist Lars Vilks, threatened with death over the cartoons he published in 2007 depicting the Prophet Mohammad as a dog. He has had constant police protection since then. The artist and the French ambassador who was present were not harmed. The gunman did not make it into the caf�. He fired at least 200 bullets into the building. Bodyguards are described by witnesses as returning the fire before the shooter escaped in a waiting Volkswagen, which was later found abandoned.
Like the editor of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo editor, which Islamists attacked last month killing 17 people, Vilks was one of nine faces on a "Most Wanted" graphic published by al Qaeda's Inspire magazine for "crimes against Islam."
Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, arriving at the scene of the first attack, said, "Everything points to ... the shooting in Oesterbro (being) a political assassination and therefore a terror attack." She vowed that
"all resources will be used to find (those responsible) and bring them before a judge" for an attack she said filled her "with deep anger." "We have some difficult days ahead," the Prime Minister said. "... But in Denmark, we will never bow to violence."

ISIS released a video on Sunday purportedly showing the beheading of Egyptian Coptic Christians the militants say they captured in Libya
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Sunday, 15 February 2015
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called Sunday an urgent meeting of Egypt�s top national security body after ISIS militants released a video purportedly showing the beheading of Egyptian Christians in Libya.Sisi also gave a television address, saying that Egypt and the world are facing �ferocious threats� hailing from radical militants, who are �devoid of any humane sense.�He also said Egypt is �capable� in facing this menace, adding that Egyptians are no longer allowed to travel to Libya. ISIS released a video on Sunday purportedly showing the beheading of Egyptian Coptic Christians the militants say they captured in Libya. The footage released online shows handcuffed hostages wearing orange jumpsuits being beheaded by their black-suited captors on a seashore in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
Egypt's state news agency MENA quoted the spokesman for the Coptic Church as confirming that 21 Egyptian Christians believed to be held by ISIS were dead. Egypt also announced a seven-day mourning period. Families of the 27 Egyptian Coptic Christians workers kidnapped in the Libyan city of Sirte, hold pictures of their kidnapped relatives as they ask for their release, in front of the U.N. office in Cairo January 19, 2015. (Reuters)
Al-Azhar condemns �barbaric� killing
Meanwhile, Sunni Islam�s top body, Al-Azhar, on Sunday condemned the �barbaric� beheading of the Copts.�Al-Azhar received the news of the execution of a group of innocent Egyptians with great sorrow and grief,� Al-Azhar said in a statement. �Al-Azhar stresses that such barbaric action has nothing to do with any religion or human values.�
Dabiq magazine
In the latest issue of ISIS online magazine Dabiq, the group said 21 Egyptian hostages were being held, and pictures showed a similar background. The video, titled �A message signed with blood to the nation of the cross,� has a scrolling caption in the first few seconds saying it is directed at �People of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian Church.� Sunday�s video comes just days after ISIS released a video showing the gruesome burning alive of a Jordanian pilot it captured after his F-16 came down in Syria in December.
The highly choreographed video showing the killing of Maaz al-Kassasbeh triggered global outrage. In January, ISIS branch in Libya claimed it had abducted 21 Christians. A spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry confirmed to AFP in Cairo that 20 Egyptians had been kidnapped in two separate incidents in neighboring Libya. Badr Abdelatty did not say when they were seized or specify their religious affiliation, but said seven Egyptians and 13 others abducted separately in Libya �are still being detained� by their captors.
Italy closes Libyan embassy
In a related story, Italy closed its embassy in Libya on Sunday and stepped up its call for a U.N. mission to calm the worsening conflict there as thousands of migrants approached Italy by boat from North Africa. Libya is unraveling, with two rival governments operating their own armed forces under separate parliaments, nearly four years after the civil war that ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi. �The deteriorating situation in Libya made it necessary to close (the embassy),� Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said. Embassy staff have been sent back to Italy, the ministry said. (With AFP and Reuters)

Egyptian Church confirms 21 killed in Libya after Islamic State issues video
CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State released a video on Sunday purporting to show the beheading of a group of Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya, violence likely to deepen Cairo's concerns over security threats from militants thriving in the neighboring country's chaos. Egypt's state news agency MENA quoted the spokesman for the Coptic Church as confirming that 21 Egyptian Christians believed to be held by Islamic State were dead. In the video, militants in black marched the captives, dressed in orange jump suits, to a beach the group said was near Tripoli. They were forced down onto their knees, then beheaded. The video appeared on the Twitter feed of a website that supports Islamic State, which has seized parts of Iraq and Syria and has also beheaded Western hostages.
A caption on the five-minute video read: "The people of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian church."Thousands of Egyptians have traveled to Libya in search of jobs since an uprising at home in 2011, despite advice from their government not to go to a country sliding into lawlessness. Before the killings, one of the militants stood with a knife in his hand and said: "Safety for you crusaders is something you can only wish for." President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called a seven-day mourning period and an urgent meeting of Egypt's top military commanders, state television reported. The Coptic Church said it was confident the Cairo government would seek justice. Al Azhar, the center of Islamic learning in Egypt, said no religion would accept such "barbaric" acts. The families of the kidnapped workers had urged Cairo to help secure their release. In the southerly Minya Governorate, relatives screamed and fainted upon hearing news of the deaths.
CONCERNS ABOUT LIBYA
Sisi has repeatedly expressed concerns about militants based in Libya who are seeking to topple his government. Those militants have made contact with Sinai Province, a group operating from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that has changed its name from Ansar Beyt al-Maqdis and pledged allegiance to Islamic State. The group has killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police since the army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. With Libya caught in a chaotic power struggle between two rival factions operating their own governments, Western officials fear Islamist militants are taking advantage of the turmoil to strengthen their presence. A number of Islamist militant groups have been active since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 left Libya without a strong central government. A few have declared ties to the radical Islamic State and claimed high-profile attacks over recent weeks in what appears to be an intensifying campaign. Last month, Islamic State claimed responsibility when at least two gunmen stormed into the five-star Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, killing nine people, including an American security contractor and a Frenchman. Fears that the crisis in neighboring Libya could spill across the border have prompted Egypt to upgrade its military hardware. French President Francois Hollande has said Egypt will order 24 Rafale fighter jets, a naval frigate and related military equipment in a deal to be signed in Cairo on Monday worth more than 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion). (Reporting by Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

US spies taking too much credit for Mughniyeh hit, Mossad operatives say
By JPOST.COM STAFF/02/15/2015
The American intelligence community is taking too much credit for the joint Central Intelligence Agency-Mossad operation in 2008 that killed Hezbollah�s top operations man and arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, an author and espionage expert for CBS News wrote on Sunday.
Dan Raviv, a journalist who co-authored a book about Israeli espionage, wrote that Israeli officials were unhappy over recent leaks to The Washington Post and Newsweek that they believe were designed to exaggerate the CIA�s role in Mughniyeh�s assassination.
The killing of one of the world�s most wanted terrorists was widely attributed to Israel in the foreign media.
US involvement in the death of Mughniyeh was confirmed to The Washington Post last month by five former US intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to the report, the CIA obtained the legal authority to kill the Hezbollah leader because it was able to prove that, �he was a continuing threat to Americans,� through his connection to the arming and training of Shi�ite militias in Iraq who were targeting and killing US forces.
Mughniyeh�s son, Jihad, was killed on January 18 in an air strike on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights that has been attributed to Israel. Besides Mughniyeh, five other Hezbollah operatives and six Iranian Revolutionary Guards personnel, including a general, were killed in the attack.
Among other terrorist attacks against US citizens, Mughniyeh the father was linked to the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people, and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US servicemen.
Mughniyeh was also implicated in the 1992 suicide bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people and the 1994 attack on the Jewish community center in the Argentinian capital, which killed 85.
The US and Israeli intelligence organizations worked together for months monitoring Mughniyeh in Damascus to determine where the bomb should be planted, according to the report.
At one point an opportunity presented itself to kill both Mughinyeh and Qassem Suleimani, commander of Iran�s Quds Force, who according to the report is an �archenemy of Israel,� and had also orchestrated the training of Shi�ite militias in Iraq. The trigger was not pulled, however, because the operatives did not have the legal authority to kill him.
According to the uncovered information, on February 12, 2008, Mughniyeh was killed, �on a quiet nighttime street in Damascus after eating dinner at a nearby restaurant... when a bomb planted in a spare tire on the back of his vehicle exploded.�
A team of CIA spotters in Damascus was tracking his movements, and Mossad agents in Tel Aviv triggered the bomb remotely according to the report.
�The way it was set up, the US could object and call it off, but it could not execute,� a former US intelligence official told the newspaper.
Planning for the operation was �exhaustive.�
The CIA leaks, however, irked Israeli officials who, as Raviv writes, insist that the Mughniyeh operation �was entirely blue and white� � a reference to the colors of the Israeli flag � �with hardly any red, white, and blue.�
�Some Israelis, it seems, object to seeing the Americans taking too much credit,� Raviv writes. �What follows is based on what knowledgeable Israelis have been telling Western officials and diplomats. They say the US participated in the deliberations, the intelligence gathering, the surveillance, and some logistics of the assassination - but they call the assassination itself an Israeli operation: lock, stock, and barrel.�
As Raviv tells it, most of the preparations for the hit on Mughniyeh were already made by Mossad agents who had tracked the Hezbollah operative as he had come in and out of his Damascus apartment.
�At least according to what Israelis have been telling Western officials, the Mossad did not need the CIA for active management of the operation,� Raviv writes. �They had already gleaned all the details necessary about Mughniyeh's daily routine and his hideout in Damascus. �
�The CIA was there, as they put it, to fill in any missing intelligence information and provide extra eyes in Damascus.�
Wary about killing innocent bystanders, the Americans withdrew their cooperation from the mission, but later rejoined after then-prime minister Ehud Olmert provided videotape evidence that the bomb which would be used to kill Mughniyeh would be precise.
Mughniyeh's Damascus hideout was in close proximity to a girls' school, and the Americans were adamant that any operation to kill him would have to be pinpoint so as not to harm anyone else in the vicinity. The Hezbollah operative was also wont to meet with senior Iranian military and intelligence figures, men whom the Americans also were determined not to touch since Washington had no desire to provoke Iran. The actual bomb used to kill the terrorist was developed and perfected in Israel, not in the United States, as reports suggested. Once the Israelis received confirmation that Mughniyeh was alone and heading to his car near his apartment, the order was given to intelligence officials in Tel Aviv to activate the explosive device by remote control.

Khamenei�s test: Will he be able to overcome the opposition of Iran's extremists?
By YOSSI MELMAN/02/15/2015
The recently reported exchange of letters between US President Barack Obama and Iran�s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will increase Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu�s feelings of paranoia. But news of the letter exchange will also strengthen the feeling of the Republicans in the US Congress that the Obama administration is interested, to say the least, in reaching a diplomatic agreement with Iran.
On the agenda is not only the closing of the Iranian nuclear file in a deal that will include the easing of economic sanctions in exchange for the curtailment of the nuclear program. A much broader deal is being contemplated which will include understandings for cooperation in the war against Islamic State (ISIS). If such a broad deal is reached, the US-Iranian relationship will have undergone a revolution.
Thirty-five years have passed since the Iranian Revolution which gave the reins of power in Tehran to religious leaders whose epithet for the US is the �Great Satan.� If Khamenei and Obama reach understandings, this would be an historical breakthrough; a reconciliation comparable to the warming of ties between Mao�s China initiated by US President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s.
But the path to such a deal is still long. The gaps are wide between the sides on the nuclear issue - the first matter to be resolved if there is to be reconciliation between the two countries. The report on the exchange of letters in The Wall Street Journal mentioned that Khamenei only responded to Obama�s letter after a few months, demonstrating that the supreme leader is in no rush. Khamenei is progressing, if at all, at a slow pace. It is difficult for him to erase 36 years of hate.
During the bloody Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, Revolutionary Guards officers tried to convince then-leader and founder of the Iranian Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to agree to a cease-fire due to Iran�s difficult situation. Khomeini would not agree under any circumstances and the war that had claimed one million lives on both sides lasted eight years. But finally, Khomeini understood that Iran needed a break from the difficult burden of the war. He was quoted as saying that for him agreeing to a cease-fire with his arch-enemy Saddam Hussein was like "drinking a cup of poison." In the end Khomeini drank from the cup.
The big question is if Ali Khamenei will also agree to drink from the "poison cup" and will overcome the opposition of the extremists at the head of the Revolutionary Guards and order President Hassan Rouhani, who heads the moderates in power, to reach a deal on Iran�s nuclear program. When such a deal is reached, it will also be easier to arrive at broader understandings.
Yossi Melman is an Israeli journalist and writer who specializes in security and intelligence affairs. He is co-author of "Spies Against Armageddon: inside Israel's Secret Wars.
Visit Yossi Melman's blog: www.israelspy.com Translation by Nathan Wise

US officials deny report of freezing Israel out of Iran nuclear talks
By MICHAEL WILNER/02/15/2015/J.Post
Washington's policy of briefing Israel on progress in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program has not changed, senior US officials told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, despite reports to the contrary in Israeli media.
Channel 2 reported earlier in the day the US would halt its briefings to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in light of his planned speech to Congress. Netanyahu is expected to criticize the state of the global diplomatic effort, which is geared towards crafting a comprehensive nuclear agreement. "Conversations continue with Israel on the Iran nuclear negotiations," one senior State Department official said. "Under Secretary [of State for Political Affairs Wendy] Sherman met with Israeli NSA Cohen and Minister for Intelligence and Strategic Planning Steinitz in Munich and will see NSA Cohen again this week." The official noted that the Iran talks were, "obviously," the main topic of conversation.
"And Secretary [of State John] Kerry continues his conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu about this issue, as has always been the case," the official continued. The White House also rejected the report, noting Cohen's upcoming meeting next week at the White House with National Security Advisor Susan Rice. "This report is patently false," National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey told the Post. "We also continue our frequent and routine contact at various professional levels within the intelligence, military, and diplomatic spheres."The report is one of many from Israeli television that has been criticized in recent months by the White House. In January, a senior US official characterized claims the US had given in to 80 percent of Iran's demands in the talks as "complete nonsense."
Channel 2 reported that the White House is incensed over the Israeli government's conduct in recent weeks regarding the Iranian issue, believing that Jerusalem has taken a sensitive issue with implications for national security and used it for political gain while interfering in American domestic politics.
According to Channel 2, the Obama administration is also angry over Israeli officials' distorted use of information about the progress of the Iran nuclear talks. Sherman reportedly informed her counterparts in Jerusalem that she would no longer provide updates on the Iran nuclear negotiations due to what Washington perceives as untoward use of the information for domestic Israeli political purposes. The Channel 2 report also stated that the administration has instructed Rice to cease communications with Cohen. The Prime Minister's Office responded to the Channel 2 report by saying that Israel and the US continue to maintain "deep strategic relations" and that Cohen is due to fly to the US soon to take part in a conference, during which he is scheduled to meet with both Sherman and Rice.
Earlier on Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner said he made a politically calculated decision not to inform the White House of his invitation to Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, fearing US President Barack Obama would attempt to obstruct the speech.
Speaking to Fox News, Boehner said that Netanyahu's message on Iran was important for the American people to hear� and that the White House would prefer they not hear his position, which stands in opposition to the president's.
"I wanted to make sure that there was no interference," Boehner said, referring to the White House. "There�s no secret here in Washington about the animosity that this White House has for Prime Minister Netanyahu. I frankly didn�t want that getting in the way, quashing what I thought was a real opportunity."The host of "Fox News Sunday," Chris Wallace, has been critical of the speaker's moves in the past, and asked Boehner if he has turned the critical issue of US-Israel relations into a political football.
"I have not," he said. "The fact is that we had every right to do what we did... I wanted the prime minister to come here."