LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
NOVEMBER 5/06
Biblical Reading For today
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 10,2-16.
The Pharisees approached and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him. He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?" They replied, "Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate."In the house the disciples again questioned him about this. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.
Free Opinions & Studies
Hezbollah, A Superpower…Domestically! Walid Choucair - Al-Hayat - 05/11/06
General Michel Aoun: Broken Promise & Blemished Record-World Forum
Latest New from miscellaneous sources for November 05/06
US Reports Plot to Topple Beirut Leaders-New York Times, United States
US ambassador backs Lebanon's all-party talks-Jerusalem Post
Jumblat, Hariri: March 14 Forces to Counter Conspiracy on Lebanon-Naharnet
Pederson Gives Positive Assessment of Situation in the South Except for Overflights-Naharnet
Feltman Backs Dialogue to Avert Hizbullah-Government Showdown-Naharnet
Portugal Sends More UNIFIL Troops to Lebanon, Albania to Follow Suit-Naharnet
Indonesian Troops' Gear Leaves for Lebanon, Malaysia Delays Departure-Naharnet
Senior U.S. Official Urges Strong Support for Saniora's Cabinet-Naharnet
Germany Expects No More Shooting Incidents with Israel-Naharnet
Ton of Explosives Found in Egypt's Sinai-Naharnet
US demands Israeli Air Force stop flights into Lebanese airspace-Christian Science Monitor
Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 299-Middle East Media Research Institute - Washington,DC,USA
Israel Presses on With Gaza Offensive, Palestinian Death Toll Rises-NaharnetRussia Proposes Amendments to Iran Resolution-FOX News
Germany says Israel not respecting Lebanon airspace-Reuters Canada, Canada
The Power of Israel in the United States-Middle East Online
Lebanon expects $4b from Paris aid summit-Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
Is Washington Promoting Democracy or Comedy?Middle East Online
Hezbollah, A Superpower…Domestically!
Walid Choucair Al-Hayat - 03/11/06//
Secretary General of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, during his interview with Al-Manar Television Tuesday night, repeated his claim that Lebanon had turned into an important regional power after the victory of the Resistance in the face of the Israeli war on Lebanon in July and August. He said in his speech at the Victory Festival on September 22 that Lebanon had turned into a regional superpower after its success at putting the breaks on one of the most powerful armies present, that is, the Israeli army, thanks to the losses inflicted in its ranks by the Resistance.
The fact is, and this is indisputable, that by achieving these results in the face of Israel, the Resistance gave an example of how Israel can be defeated, contrary to the slackening and submission of the Arabs in the face of Israel, as a result of their repeated defeats in their wars with Israel. Of course, this is in almost complete harmony with what the US wants from the Arabs in their long-standing conflict with what is an alien entity in the region.
This fact is reflected in that, at the very least, Hezbollah achieved something positive despite the tremendous losses to the party and to the country. This is undeniable, even by those who tend to only talk about the major losses brought on by Hezbollah in this war. That is, the incalculable damage that struck Lebanon, which many describe as a cataclysmic disaster.
Perhaps this is what takes us toward understanding the meaning of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had to say: Lebanon has become a regional superpower, since pride among the Resistance fighters and the Arab and Lebanese citizenry makes such a conclusion natural. They have every right to be proud of the Resistance's ability to defeat Israel. This is particularly true if factor the tremendous popularity Nasrallah has come to enjoy from the Atlantic to the Gulf. He has become the primary symbol of steadfastness against the demeaning policies pursued by the US and Israel against the Arabs. This definitely reinforces the sense of grandness with the victory that was achieved.
But it is also certain that Sayyed Nasrallah used this expression, "Lebanon is a regional superpower", in the metaphorical sense. It was intended to highlight the importance of the victory over Israel in the face of those who downplay the importance of the sacrifices made by the party and the ill effects left by the enemy on the country. He realizes that the specifications of being a superpower differ from the specifications enjoyed by the State of Lebanon. These specifications, starting with the economy and history, include the factors of culture and scientific capability and social structure, before ending in military capabilities. Lebanon is a fragile State, despite its people's exceptional dynamism, and despite the conviction of its Arab neighbors for the need to continue supporting Lebanon so that it does not to fall. Despite this, the fact is that one of the factors of its fragility, its diversity, was one of the very factors that maintained the legitimacy of the Resistance and allowed Hezbollah to continue to bear arms, specifically to spare the Lebanese mosaic from cracking.
More appropriately, it should be said that it is Hezbollah that is a regional superpower, not Lebanon. The party is more coherent and united at the cultural, scientific, military, political, and even financial levels than the Lebanese State, not to mention its alliance with a country that can truly be described as a regional superpower, Iran, and with a pivotal Arab country in the region, Syria. This becomes even truer if you take into account its regional achievements against Israel.
In his interview with Al-Manar, the Secretary General of Hezbollah transferred the state of being a regional superpower from his party to the domestic Lebanese situation, speaking to thousands of Lebanese from this stance. He took a tone full of threats and commands, while also adopting a language of compromise, willing to accept the participation of others in the resolution and that Fouad Siniora remain head of government.
Such projections of regional grandeur from the party to the internal Lebanese makeup can result in nothing but destructive lapses, since the true regional superpower, when it imposed its 'grandness' on this internal makeup, lapsed in a way that had disastrous consequences. The matter will become destructive if the party tries to transfer its state of being a superpower to its sect, much as was the case with the Maronite leadership in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They turned their sect into a superpower and reaped what they sowed. Maybe this is the danger that Speaker Nabih Berry senses in his attempt to objectively place himself at the centre of Lebanon's contradictions.
The General Secretary had on previous occasions responded to the 'boyish' remarks made by some of the representatives of the majority that the party has been weakened by the Israeli war on Lebanon. These remarks were also made by American officials, and Hassan Nasrallah considered that those few Lebanese who had come out with that conclusion were 'stupid' (he said this in his interview with Al-Jazeera following the end of the war).
The results of projecting the party's regional power, thanks to the victory over Israel, onto the Lebanese internal makeup become even more destructive if it becomes mixed with this feeling that others are trying to belittle the party; that is, what took place when these irresponsible remarks were made. This lethal mixture gives birth to contradictory and uncongenial conduct.
In that case, who is going to be able to convince the other sects and their leaders, when Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warns and threatens, the he will not bolster himself with the 20,000 rockets he has left over? This is in spite his reassurances that he will not use these weapons against the domestic situation.
U.S. Reports Plot to Topple Beirut Leaders
By DAVID E. SANGER and MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Published: November 2, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 — The White House said Wednesday that there was “mounting evidence” that Iran and Syria were involved in a plot to bring down the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon, but senior officials refused to describe in any detail the intelligence they said they had collected.
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Wael Hamzeh/European Pressphoto Agency
Walid Jumblatt, the Druse leader in Lebanon, met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week.
Go to Election GuideMore Politics NewsIn an unusual statement, the White House said it was “increasingly concerned by mounting evidence that the Syrian and Iranian governments, Hezbollah and their Lebanese allies are preparing plans to topple Lebanon’s democratically elected government.”
American officials said they had evidence that Syria and Iran were trying to engineer the creation of a new “unity” government that they could control, partly through Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite organization considered a terrorist group by the United States.
One senior American official, who declined to be identified by name because he was discussing an intelligence issue, said there were also indications of “planning for a more violent” attack on the government, but he gave no details.
In the written statement, issued by the White House press secretary, Tony Snow, the administration also said there were “indications” that Syria was trying to block passage of a statute by the Lebanese Parliament that would require that Lebanon cooperate with an international tribunal that is to try those accused of involvement in the assassination of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, in February 2005. Syria has denied involvement, though Syrian intelligence officials, including close family members of President Bashar al-Assad, have been implicated.
In interviews in recent days, senior American officials have said the evidence is one reason that the United States cannot engage in negotiations with Syria or Iran, as several leading Republicans, including the former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, have urged.
“Talking isn’t a strategy,” the president’s national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, said in an interview late last week before heading to Iraq. “The issue is how can we condition the environment so that Iran and Syria will make a 180 degree turn?” a reference to what he said were their efforts to undermine stability in the region.
Asked on Wednesday about the new warning from the White House, Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said that “quite clearly, Hezbollah has its patrons in Damascus, and certainly in Tehran” who observe “very few boundaries concerning what it will do and what it won’t do.”
But administration officials said they had little evidence of an impending physical attack. Instead, they said they believed that Hezbollah might stage a political crisis to bring about the fall of the government. For the Bush administration, that possibility poses a vexing problem: if the Siniora government collapses because of domestic political infighting, any change of government may look more like parliamentary politics than a coup.
At the moment, Hezbollah, which is part of the current government, is seen to be in a stronger political position than the Washington-allied March 14 coalition, which controls the government and the largest bloc in Parliament.
Tension has been rising in Lebanon since the cease-fire that ended a 34-day war with Israel this summer that was directed against Hezbollah, which launched attacks on Israel from Lebanese territory.
Foreign pressures are only one of the many forces driving the political dynamics between competing factions. Lebanon’s political factions are scheduled to begin talks on Monday to discuss Hezbollah’s demand for a new national unity government, a proposal that two recent polls determined has the backing of about 70 percent of the population.
“Both camps are escalating to put their opponents in the corner in order to reach concessions,” said Hilal Khashan, a political scientist at the American University of Beirut who said that Washington’s charges do not warrant “any attention.”
The White House clearly hopes that its public support will buttress the American-backed government, but some experts in Beirut warned that it may well have had the opposite effect. The government’s chief critics, including the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, have charged that those who control the government are puppets of Washington.
“Love can be deadly,” said the speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, after hearing Washington’s charges on Wednesday. “Is it a defense for Lebanon? Or pushing it toward chaos? Is it a support for the government? Or incitement against it?”
While Iran and Syria have long maneuvered for position in Lebanon, there is also a local fight under way over who controls the reins of power. Hezbollah and its chief ally, the former general Michel Aoun, are pressing to extend their control. The March 14 coalition is struggling to hold them back.
With its announcement, Washington has adopted the political talking points of its closest ally in Beirut, the Druse leader Walid Jumblatt, who has repeatedly sought to undermine Hezbollah by charging it is nothing more than a puppet of Iran and Syria. Mr. Jumblatt was visiting Washington this week and met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
In an interview, a member of Mr. Jumblatt’s party, the Progressive Socialist Party, said he agreed with Washington’s characterization of how events may unfold.
“We have evidence of the Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah plan,” said Akram Chehayeb, a member of Parliament. His proof, he said, included statements by Syrian officials close to Iran who called for toppling the government, and a speech by the Syrian president in which he said “we have to translate our military victory into a political one.”
It was unclear to what extent Washington may have relied on that information in making its assertions.
In a television interview on Tuesday, Mr. Nasrallah said that if his political opponents did not accept a national unity government, he would rally his supporters in the streets.
Mr. Nasrallah’s influence is clear: when the fractious parties sit down to talk on Monday only Hezbollah’s demands will be on the agenda. In addition to the unity government, which would bring Hezbollah’s allies into power, the group wants to amend the election law and call early elections for Parliament.
Opponents of Hezbollah wanted to discuss disarming Hezbollah’s militia, and replacing the pro-Syrian president, Émile Lahoud, whose term was extended by Damascus.
“I don’t buy it,” said Jamil Mroueh, publisher of The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon of Washington’s statement. “This is a domestic issue, in terms of the wrestle for power.”
David E. Sanger reported from Washington, and Michael Slackman from Beirut, Lebanon. Nada Bakri contributed reporting from Beirut, and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.
US ambassador backs Lebanon's all-party talks
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIRUT, Lebanon
The US ambassador on Friday declared support for Lebanon's all-party talks, saying the dialogue that starts Monday was an opportunity for the country to resolve the tension generated by Hizbullah's demand for a bigger role in government.
Earlier this week Hizbullah, which has two ministers in the coalition Cabinet, threatened to call mass demonstrations unless Prime Minister Fuad Saniora recast his government to give the militant group and its allies a veto on key decisions.
The White House accused Hizbullah and its Syrian and Iranian sponsors of seeking to topple Saniora's government.
All the major factions are due to take part in round-table talks on Monday, convened by the speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri. A political ally of Hizbullah, Berri has proposed the talks focus on the formation of a "national unity" government and a new electoral law.
Jumblat, Hariri: March 14 Forces to Counter Conspiracy on Lebanon
Druze leader Walid Jumblat and MP Saad Hariri have vowed that the March 14 Forces will "counter the conspiracy on Lebanon," as Speaker Nabih Berri voiced concern that street protests were not going to be "mere excursion."
An-Nahar daily said Jumblat and Hariri made their remarks following a two-hour meeting in Paris on Friday that focused on the current political crisis.
The anti-Syrian leaders have agreed that "Lebanon is facing a conspiracy and that the responsibility to confront it falls on the March 14 Forces," said a source close to Jumblat and Hariri. "It's our obligation to protect Lebanon and safeguard its sovereignty and independence," the source quoted the two leaders in the parliamentary majority as saying. An-Nahar said the March 14 coalition was going to hold wide-range consultations prior to Monday's roundtable talks "in order to come out with a united and harmonized stand."
Meanwhile, Berri, the organizer of the national talks, was worried that street protests advocated by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah would lead to wide-range crisis. "I'm afraid that going to the streets will not be mere excursion, but rather the beginning of crises that will turn the conflict in Lebanon into a conflict in the game of nations," Berri said Friday. Nasrallah has warned of street protests if Premier Fouad Saniora's cabinet did not meet his demand on the formation of a national unity government, in which Hizbullah and its allies would have a veto on key decisions. Nasrallah set a deadline of Nov. 13. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea also called Friday on the March 14 camp to get ready to rally peacefully.
Berri also emphasized that his initiative to resume the stalled national dialogue was only aimed at including General Michel Aoun's bloc in the cabinet.
An-Nahar quoted sources as saying that Berri denied rumors about expanding or amending the current government.
He has assured Saniora that there were "no intentions of toppling the government," the sources said. Beirut, 04 Nov 06, 09:49
Pederson Gives Positive Assessment of Situation in the South Except for Overflights
The United Nations gave a positive assessment Saturday of the situation in south Lebanon almost three months after the Israel-Hizbullah war except for continued Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace. "Things in the south are looking very well, but we need an end to the overflights," Geir Pedersen, the Lebanon representative of U.N. chief Kofi Annan, said after a meeting with Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh in Boustros palace.
The Jewish State has drawn intense international criticism by continuing the overflights despite the August 14 ceasefire that ended a 34-day Israeli offensive on Lebanon Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said the overflights were necessary to monitor what he charged was continuing arms smuggling by Hizbullah from Syria. On Friday, a senior Israeli government official revealed that the United States had joined world governments in expressing discontent about continued Israeli flights over Beirut.
The National News Agency said that Sallukh stressed to Pederson that the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south and on the border with Syria was preventing any weapons smuggling. Pederson also met with Speaker Nabih Berri at his home in Ain al Tineh on Saturday. After their meeting, Annan's representative said he hoped a solution will soon be found to the Israeli occupied southeastern border village of Ghajar.
Last month, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said "minor administrative issues" were delaying the pullout of Israeli forces from Ghajar.
The village, on the Lebanese frontier with the Golan Heights which were annexed by Israel in 1981, is the last position occupied by Israeli forces since their October 1 withdrawal after two and a half months of occupation. Pederson said the Israeli overflights were a violation of Lebanese sovereignty and of Security Council Resolution 1701 that put an end to the war on August 14.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 04 Nov 06, 15:32
Feltman Backs Dialogue to Avert Hizbullah-Government Showdown
U.S. ambassador Jeffrey Feltman has declared support for Lebanon's all-party talks, saying the dialogue that starts Monday was an opportunity for the country to resolve the tension generated by Hizbullah's demand for a bigger role in government.
Earlier this week Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah threatened to call mass demonstrations if his demands on the formation of a national unity government are not met. The White House accused Hizbullah and its Syrian and Iranian sponsors of seeking to topple Premier Fouad Saniora's government. All the major factions are due to take part in roundtable talks in parliament on Monday, convened by Speaker Nabih Berri. A political ally of Hizbullah, Berri has proposed the talks focus on the formation of a national unity cabinet and a new electoral law.
"These consultations are, in our view, a real opportunity for the Lebanese to determine themselves a peaceful, and constitutional, way forward," Feltman told reporters after meeting Berri in Ain el Tineh Friday. Feltman praised the speaker for his initiative, saying that in the talks the Lebanese would be "employing dialogue rather than confrontation." Saniora has refused calls to step down. Before Hizbullah's ultimatum this week, the prime minister had repeatedly said there would be no change of government. But on Wednesday -- a day after Nasrallah's threat -- Saniora said the issue of reshaping the cabinet would be discussed in the talks, "and we'll see what's in the country's interest." Nasrallah wants Hizbullah and its allies to hold a third of the cabinet's 24 seats, which would make their support essential for all major decisions. He threatened to bring his supporters on to the streets unless Saniora granted his demand by Nov. 13. Parallel to the talks, Saudi Arabia is reportedly working on a compromise to expand the cabinet to satisfy the demands of Hizbullah and Gen. Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 04 Nov 06, 08:15
Portugal Sends More UNIFIL Troops to Lebanon, Albania to Follow Suit
Six more army officers along with 93 tons of equipment left Portugal on Friday for Lebanon to join the United Nations peacekeeping force, Portuguese military officials said. The group, part of a military unit of 140 construction engineers which Lisbon committed to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, left the southern city of Beja on board an Antanov-124 military transport plane leased by the U.N., an army spokesman said.
The first batch of the contingent, 12 army officers, left Portugal for Lebanon on Wednesday and the remaining 122 members of the team are due to arrive by the end of the month. The Portuguese contingent will be stationed near the southern port city of Tyre where they will help in efforts to rebuild infrastructure damaged during the July-August war between Israel and Hizbullah. The U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 that led to the ceasefire on August 14 called for 15,000 troops to join a similar number of Lebanese army troops deploying in the south of the country. Also Friday, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha announced that his country would soon send an army unit to Lebanon to join UNIFIL.
Speaking in front of 1,400 army officers of a fast reaction brigade after a training exercise, the premier said an army unit would join Italian forces in Lebanon soon. He did not give any further details. "We hope units of this brigade will take joint duties with the units of the Italian army to assist, consolidate peace to our two friendly countries, Israel and Lebanon," Berisha said.(AFP-AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 04 Nov 06, 08:40
Indonesian Troops' Gear Leaves for Lebanon, Malaysia Delays Departure
Military gear left Indonesia aboard a U.S.-flagged ship Saturday ahead of a dispatch of Indonesian troops to join the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, American officials said. About 200 pieces of equipment are bound for Lebanon aboard the SS Wilson, an American-owned ship hired for the mission by the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta said. The equipment included armored personnel carriers, trucks and ambulances, all emblazoned with bright-white U.N. markings. Later this month, 850 members of Indonesia's Garuda XXIIIA Troop unit will fly to Lebanon to join peacekeepers from some 20 countries in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the statement said. "We've been working with the Indonesian military for several weeks to coordinate the arrival of equipment at the port as well as to develop a plan to load it aboard the vessel," the statement quoted Lt. Col. Colice Powell, commander of the U.S. Army's Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, as saying. The statement said the cargo ship SS Wilson, which arrived in Indonesia and began loading equipment on Thursday, belongs to Sealift, Inc. of Long Island, New York. Meanwhile, Malaysia delayed the departure of 360 peacekeeping troops to Lebanon, with defense forces still working on logistic details and planning the deployment, an official said Saturday.
Malaysia's deputy defense minister Zainal Abidin Zin last month said the troops were expected to depart on November 5, but a ministry official said a reconnaissance team sent to Lebanon had only recently returned with details."The team just got back and they are giving feedback. They are planning when to go," a defense ministry official told Agence France Presse.Malaysia's defence forces chief Anwar Mohamad Nor said the Malaysian peacekeepers would take up their duties only after January 15, the state Bernama news agency reported.Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced in October that the U.N. had approved the deployment of the Malaysian peacekeepers to join UNIFIL.Malaysia, which strongly criticized Israel's offensive on Lebanon, had offered 1,000 soldiers for the expanded U.N. force but only received U.N. approval to send 360 troops.(AFP)
Beirut, 04 Nov 06, 10:26
Senior U.S. Official Urges Strong Support for Saniora's Cabinet
A senior U.S. State Department official has said that the international community must do all it can to aid Premier Fouad Saniora's government.
"We have to ensure that the (U.N.) Security Council resolutions that we've passed in terms of Lebanon are fulfilled, and I think ... we want to do as much as we can to support the government," J. Scott Carpenter, deputy assistant secretary for the Middle East, told reporters in Berlin Friday after meetings with German officials. The comments come after White House spokesman Tony Snow said Wednesday there was "mounting evidence" that Syria, Iran and Hizbullah "are preparing plans to topple Lebanon's democratically elected government." Snow said any attempt to stir up demonstrations, threaten or use violence against Lebanon's Western-backed leadership would be a clear violation of the country's sovereignty and of three U.N. Security Council resolutions. His comments drew a quick denial from Syria. Carpenter said the upcoming Paris III conference on Lebanon would provide a good platform to bolster the Saniora government. The international donors conference is planned for early 2007.
"The meeting in Paris is fast coming upon us and I think that's a good opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to this government," he said. "We will diplomatically, economically and in every other way seek to support the Saniora government with what it is trying to achieve for the Lebanese people."(AP) Beirut, 04 Nov 06, 08:57
Lebanon expects $4b from Paris aid summit
Reuters
Beirut: Lebanon expects to garner over $4 billion from donor countries at aid talks in Paris next year to help reduce its huge public debt and avert a financial crisis, Lebanese economy and trade minister said on Thursday.
The conference, dubbed "Paris 3", has been delayed 10 days to January 25 for logistical reasons, and is expected to help Lebanon cope with its public debt of around $38 billion, which is almost 200 per cent of GDP and whose servicing consumes at least two-thirds of government income.
A 2002 aid conference held in Paris raised the country just over $2.2 billion in soft loans, Haddad told Reuters on Thursday.
"We expect to get much more in Paris 3, more than double this amount and we expect to get soft loans but we also expect to get grants... and there is a very serious possibility that we will have an IMF programme," he said. "We are in desperate need of this big financial aid package and if we don't succeed in going to Paris 3 and we don't get the support we expect we run the risk of facing a very serious financial crisis. It's a make or break conference," he said. Haddad said Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar had donated over $1 billion after the war between Israel and Hezbollah ended on August 14 and expected Arab oil producers, Europe and the United States to be major donors at the conference. Lebanon's economy is expected to shrink 5 per cent due to the war, but Haddad said he was confident growth could reach 10 per cent in 2007. The Paris aid meeting was due to be held last year but has been repeatedly postponed amid political bickering over an economic reform programme which the government had hoped would encourage lenders to be generous.The package includes privatisation, specifically of Lebanon's two mobile telephone providers, increasing tax revenues and measures aimed at spurring private investment. It also aims to improve health and education. But Israel's war with Hezbollah has left much of southern Lebanon in ruins, crippling the country's economy and reviving the need to hold the conference against a background of domestic political tensions.
Germany Expects No More Shooting Incidents with Israel
Germany's Defense Minister said on Friday that he expected no more shooting incidents between the Israeli army and German forces backing up a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. "I assure you that no more incidents of this kind are going to happen," Franz Josef Jung told reporters following talks in Beirut with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora. "I would like to stress here that we are here to secure the ceasefire which will also be a precondition for finding a political solution," Jung said. "We are currently implementing our mandate ... and I assure that there'll be no more incidents of this kind, so we are able to fulfill our mission here," he said before flying to Israel. The German defense ministry said last week that in two separate incidents, Israeli warplanes fired shots over a helicopter and an unarmed German vessel backing up the U.N. mission off the Lebanese coast.
The confrontations came just days after Germany assumed command of the marine component of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on October 18, in its first military foray into the Middle East since World War II.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday apologized for "misunderstandings" following the shooting incidents.(AFP) Beirut, 03 Nov 06, 16:37
Is Washington Promoting Democracy or Comedy?
This week, the US claims to support the Siniora government of Lebanon against a Syria-Iran-Hezbullah plot. But less than two months ago, the US was supplying Israel with weaponry, supplies and political cover to smash the country to smithereens. US credibility is similarly smashed, says Rami Khouri.
SAN FRANCISCO -- If you did not hear it, the bell for the second round of the new Cold War in the Middle East rang on Wednesday, in the form of the United States and Hizbullah trading accusations against each other about assorted sinister aims. There is much that is interesting and important -- indeed, historic -- about this face-off, despite the silly elements.
Five years or so ago, the world's most powerful country was firing missiles at men hiding in caves in Afghanistan -- and it still fights that battle without full success. Today, that same American global power wages acute political war against a charitable society, albeit an armed and disciplined one.
As Hizbullah and the United States battle one another, they also represent wider forces that now collectively define the new ideological battlefront in the Middle East, and perhaps the world. As in much of what the United States does in the Middle East, there is farce amidst the bombast.
Washington accused Hizbullah of acting on behalf of Syria and Iran to topple the Lebanese government headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, and pledged its support for a “sovereign, democratic and prosperous Lebanon.” That ear-shattering noise that you may have heard when the United States made that statement was the collective laughter and knee-slapping, eyeball-rolling incredulity of somewhere between 5 and 6 billion people in this world who are falling over in the aisles -- because when they compare Washington's actions against its words, they can only take this performance as comedy.
The United States has spent the past five years overthrowing governments in the Arab-Asian region, threatening some others, and arming assorted gangs, militias, misfits, charlatans and buffoons who promise to pester and perhaps remove those regimes that Washington does not like, such as in Syria and Iran. Regime change -- however acceptable or not it may be -- is not an accusation that Washington can make against anyone in this world at a time when it is working overtime to receive a global certification of pioneering excellence in this business.
More obtuse is Washington's objection to pressures against a democratically elected government, at a time when the United States leads a global attempt to starve and overthrow the democratically elected Palestinian government headed by Hamas. When the world stops laughing for a moment and composes itself just enough to ask a question, it would be the following: How far does the United States expect the world to accept its arrogant insistence on applying one set of rules for the itself and Israel, and another set of rules for everyone else on earth? Just how acute can American diplomatic duplicity get?
Finally, the guffawing going on all around the globe reflects the incredulity the most people feel at U.S. expressions of support for the Siniora government. Just two months ago, the United States provided Israel with the green light, diplomatic time and space, sophisticated weapons, fuel, and ammunition to savagely attack all parts of Lebanon, thus weakening that same Siniora government.
As the enormous gap between Washington's words and actions in the Middle East grows wider still, many in this region and elsewhere in the world have decided that it is time to fight back, and confront the audacity. Hizbullah's close relations with Syria and Iran are just one aspect of the new constellation of forces that now confront one another in Lebanon, which has now emerged as the battleground of the new regional Cold War and global confrontation.
Hizbullah in turn accuses Washington of interfering in Lebanese affairs; it says the United States and its friends, including some Lebanese and other Arabs, exploit Lebanon as a weapon in their battle with Syria and Iran. What we have here, in fact, is the continuation in political form of the military war that was waged in July-August by Hizbullah and Israel, on behalf of themselves and their respective allies, partners and weapon suppliers.
Nevertheless, it seems preferable that such battles be waged in the form of a political cold war rather than with arms on a battlefield that has come to comprise mostly civilian targets on both sides. Political contests also offer many opportunities for compromises and reasonable deals, in ways that missiles and tanks do not. In the case of Hizbullah itself, it also seems positive that the organization is so firmly focused on domestic Lebanese political goals, even though it presses its case with threats and ultimatums. But who does not use such means in the political arena? George Bush?
That laughter you hear is... oh, well, just chalk this one up to the fact that it is election time in the United States, when Washington's normal large quotients of clueless confusion and expedient hypocrisy abroad are aggravated by a whole new universe of insincerity directed at a domestic audience. The combination is devastating for any attempt to foster civility, rationality and win-win conflict resolution outcomes.
Thankfully, the electioneering silly season is over in a week's time here in the United States. After that, in late November, get ready to hear the bell for round three of the new regional cold war.
Rami G. Khouri is an internationally syndicated columnist, the director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, and editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star.
Copyright ©2006 Rami G. Khouri / Agence Global