LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
October 04/06
Biblical Reading For today
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9,51-56.
When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?" Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.
New Opinions
Rice overlooks 11,984 examples of undermining moderate forces-Daily Star
Bush and Ahmadinejad: closer than they care to admit -By Steven Coulthart
The troubling Green Zones of the US mind -By Rami G. Khouri
The New Face of Canada-FrontPage magazine.com 04.10.06
While Rice Visits Us- By: Hazem Saghieh -Al-Hayat 04.10.06
Latest New from the Daily Star for October 04/06
Israeli minister says war may resume
Israeli warplanes violate Lebanese airspace again
Faisal urges US support of peace process as Rice begins tour
UN faults both sides for 'serious violations' in war
First Russian troops land in capital
Politicians call for thaw, and get one - for now
Druze Religious Council invites candidates for spiritual leader
War pushes back possible Beirut IPOsLebanese beach resorts mourn promising summer ruined by conflict
Many children need professional help to shake off effects of war
Hiking trail to link Lebanon's north-south axis
Iran suggests France as overseer of enrichment
Latest New from Miscellaneous Sources for October 04/06
Concerns Mount over Hezbollah's Rearmament-Global Terrorism Analysis - Washington,DC,USAUN Assesses War Damage to Lebanon's Environment-Environment News Service - USA
UN peacekeepers outline rules of force in Lebanon-ReuterWill Ghajar be another Shebaa? Ya Libnan
Rice Calls on Palestinians to Halt Violence-Washington Post
Rice meets King Abdullah
NDTV.com Egypt's FM holds talks with Rice on Mideast situation-Xinhua
Rice in region to build up moderates-Jerusalem Post
EU says ready to help Lebanon security tasks-Reuters
Lebanon's Future Weighed Down By Christian Divisions, Hezbollah ...AINA
Lebanon conflict chronology-News24IDF completes Lebanon withdrawal-Jerusalem
IDF withdrawing from Lebanon. Hizbullah weapons to remain along ...Ynetnews
Hezbollah's weapons still present in S Lebanon-Xinhua
Lebanon economy reels under hardships since war-Middle East Times
Israeli jets fly over Lebanon despite withdrawal-Reuters
Youths labour to build New Lebanon with ideals-Middle East Online
Hezbollah says it gets no help from inside US-San Luis Obispo Tribune
Russians Arrive in Lebanon to Repair Destroyed Bridges-Naharnet
UNHCR deeply concerned by plight of Palestinian refugees in Iraq -Reuters
Higher Relief Commission Daily Situation Report No. 63, 02 oct -ReliefWeb (press release)
American Hizbollah fighter buried in Lebanon-Washington Post
Analysts warm to Lebanon results-Washington Times
Another View of the UNIFIL Mission in Lebanon-Political Affairs Magazine, NY
Tensions simmering in southerb Lebanon-Euronews.net
Hezbollah received intel from Russian-Syrian listening post during ...Ha'aretz,
Israeli warplanes violate Lebanese airspace again
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Israeli warplanes flew deep into Lebanon on Tuesday, just two days after Israeli forces withdrew from nearly all of Southern Lebanon. Two Israeli warplanes entered Lebanese airspace at medium altitude Tuesday over Aitaroun and headed north toward Tripoli at approximately 9 a.m., the Lebanese Army said. Two more warplanes entered Lebanese airspace over Jounieh a short while later, before heading south. They left Lebanon at approximately 10:30 a.m., according to the army.
Reports from the National News Agency said the first pair of warplanes conducted a series of mock air raids over Nabatiyeh, Khiam and Marjayoun. The second pair conducted similar maneuvers in the Iqlim al-Tuffah region, Nabatiyeh, Khiam and Marjayoun, as well as the Western Bekaa Valley. The Lebanese government has complained repeatedly about the violations of its airspace and sovereignty, adding that they also constitute breaches of the UN resolution that halted the war on August 14.
Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin told Reuters in Jerusalem that the overflights would continue to help ensure that arms supplies do not reach Hizbullah from Syria.
"Israel's redeployment along the international border does not negate Israel's right to self-defense and to assist in the implementation of the arms embargo, especially when it comes to the Syria-Lebanese border, an issue that has not yet been resolved as part of the Security Council resolution," she said. Israel completed its withdrawal from all but one small area of South Lebanon on Sunday. Lebanon has threatened to complain to the Security Council unless the Israelis also leave the Lebanese side of the divided village of Ghajar. Israeli forces isolated Ghajar on Tuesday with barbed wire and ramparts. Israeli soldiers carrying out the measures threatened to open fire on a group of Lebanese journalists in the area, according to the National News Agency. Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said on Tuesday that Israel may also withdraw from all remaining occupied Lebanese territory. "Secret negotiations might lead to the withdrawal of the Israeli Army from the town of Ghajar, the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shuba Hills," the minister told Voice of Lebanon radio.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army dispatched patrols to the Southern towns of Blida, Markaba, Kfar Kila and Adaysseh on Tuesday after deploying in the area on Monday. Spanish troops from the expanded UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon also patrolled Mayss al-Jabal, Houla and Markaba, Adaysseh and roads leading to Kfar Kila, Ibl al-Saki and Abbassiyeh.
UN peacekeepers in South Lebanon outlined their rules of engagement on Tuesday, saying they could use force against "hostile activity," set up temporary checkpoints and, if the Lebanese Army was unable to do so, intercept the movement of unauthorized weapons.
The UN force has grown to some 5,200 international troops since the 34-day war ended on August 14 under a Security Council resolution that mandated UN troops to help the Lebanese Army patrol a border zone in the South. "Should the situation present any risk of a resumption of hostile activities, UNIFIL rules of engagement allow UN forces to respond as required," UNIFIL said in its clearest public statement yet on how its troops can operate. "UNIFIL commanders have sufficient authority to act forcefully when confronted with hostile activity of any kind."
It said UNIFIL had established temporary checkpoints at key points in the South, while Lebanese troops were setting up permanent ones to stop and search traffic. UNIFIL said the Lebanese Army would act on any specific information regarding the movement of unauthorized weapons or equipment, adding that if the army was not in a position to take such action, "UNIFIL will do everything necessary to fulfill its mandate in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701." UNIFIL listed several situations in which the peacekeepers could use force beyond self-defense. In one broad category, it said force could be applied "to ensure that UNIFIL's area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities." - Agencies
Israeli minister says war may resume
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Israel's national infrastructure minister said on Tuesday that war with Hizbullah might restart in a few months, and called for an enhancement of the Israeli Army's capacities. Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Israeli public radio that the deployment of the Lebanese Army along the border with Israel "will not ensure safety for Israel" and that Hizbullah still presents a threat to the Jewish state. Meanwhile, Britain-based Jane's International Defense Review reported that Hizbullah received direct intelligence support from Syria during the month-long Israeli offensive on Lebanon, using data collected by listening posts jointly operated by Russian and Syrian crews. Hizbullah was also fed intelligence from new listening posts built on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, which are operated jointly with Iran, it claimed.
Israel has also alleged that Russian anti-tank missiles procured by Syria were reportedly transferred to Hizbullah and used during the war.
Syria's centrality to the collection and transfer of intelligence to Hizbullah is based on separate agreements Damascus signed with Moscow and Tehran on intelligence cooperation, the Haaretz report said, adding that the deal with Russia is much older than the one with Iran, which was signed earlier this year. The intelligence cooperation agreement between Syria and Iran is part of a broader strategic cooperation accord that was achieved in November 2005 and confirmed during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjead's visit to Damascus in January 2006, Haaretz said.
According to the Jane's report, in its agreement with Syria, Iran insisted that no Russian intelligence officers should be allowed access to the new listening posts, in spite of the long-standing deal between Damascus and Moscow.
The Russian Embassy in Beirut was not available for comment. A Hizbullah spokesperson said his party had no comment. In another development, Hizbullah held a funeral on Tuesday for one of its Lebanese fighters, who was also an American citizen. Radwan Saleh, 35, was killed in July during the early days of fighting. Hizbullah members found Saleh's body on Sunday in the village of Maroun al-Ras, one of the last areas Israeli troops left in line with a UN resolution to end the war. His wife and four children, who live between Lebanon and the United States, flew in from the US for his funeral. Hizbullah sources said that Saleh joined the resistance in 2000. He lived in California with his wife and children until 1998 before moving back to Lebanon. - Agencies
Faisal urges US support of peace process as Rice begins tour
Secretary of state to make quick stop in beirut today
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Cairo Tuesday for talks with Arab counterparts after kicking off a regional tour in Saudi Arabia with an appeal for an end to Palestinian infighting. In Jeddah, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, speaking at a joint news conference with Rice, said the US administration should help restart peace talks to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which he said was a festering wound in the Middle East. "Innocent Palestinians are caught ... in the crossfire and we urge all parties to stop," Rice said when asked about fighting between Palestinian factions. She said that "all parties need to be dedicated to helping young governments in places like Lebanon, Iraq, and helping the Palestinians, but most of all, helping the moderate forces against the extremist forces."
She later flew to Cairo to join talks with foreign ministers from US allies Egypt, Jordan and the six monarchies that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. Informed sources told The Daily Star that Rice "will be arriving in Lebanon on Wednesday at noon" for a lightening visit before heading to Israel and the Palestinian territories. In Lebanon, Rice will first hold talks with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in Bkirki before meeting with officials, the sources said.
Rice met with her Arab counterparts over the traditional fast-breaking meal eaten at sundown during the Muslim month of Ramadan.
Earlier, Rice met separately with her Egyptian counterpart, Ahmad Abou al-Gheit, and the country's chief of intelligence, Omar Suleiman.
Speaking to reporters, Abou al-Gheit said that the two discussed how the US could contribute to efforts to urge the UN Security Council and the Mideast mediators group, the Quartet, to move the peace process forward and broker a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya are engaged in tortuous efforts to form a national unity Cabinet with the aim of lifting the Western embargo. In Jeddah, Prince Saud said the Saudi government has continued to support the Palestinian Authority, but does not take sides between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement. He pressed the Saudi view that the Mideast's many conflicts trace to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. He likened that conflict to a disease that weakens the body and makes it more susceptible to other ailments. "We think it is a core problem that, if settled, would have an effect on all the other core problems," Saud said.
Rice said Hamas has been unable to govern effectively and that Palestinians must find a way for their government to meet challenges outlined by world powers. Rice would not comment on whether the Hamas government is close to collapse or to capitulation.
Political sources in Amman said some Arab countries were concerned that talks with Rice not be dominated by Iran's nuclear row with the West, with Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel-Ilah al-Khatib saying the Palestinian issue was vital. "Jordan and other Arab countries will insist that priority be given to solving the Palestinian question, which is at the core of the Middle East conflict," Khatib said before heading to Cairo.
"The absence of a solution to this question is the cause of tensions and frustrations in the Middle East," Khatib said. For his part, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah reiterated on Tuesday the clear Arab stance for peace as a strategic option, which was agreed upon in the 2002 Beirut summit, the official Kuwaiti News Agency reported.
Ahead of leaving to Cairo, Sheikh Mohammad said that a solution to the Mideast crisis "depended on the Israeli side and its halt of policies that destroyed the peace process, as well as occupying land by building the apartheid wall and constructing settlements."
Asked about the establishment of an Arab grouping that would include the GCC states, Egypt, and Jordan, Sheikh Mohammad said: "We do not think that the establishment of an Arab axis is a beneficial policy, nor one approved by the GCC ... We do not view the GCC as an axis, but as a main advocator for Arab action." As for Syria's role in the reviving the peace process, the Kuwait foreign minister said that Damascus constitutes "the difficult element in the equation, and it does have occupied territories." He did not elaborate. "The strategy adopted by Arab states called for Israel's withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories, including the Golan Heights and the Shebaa Farms," he added. - Agencies
UN faults both sides for 'serious violations' in war
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
GENEVA: Israel committed serious violations of human rights during its offensive in Lebanon, but Hizbullah must also be called to account for its actions, which could constitute war crimes, four United Nations experts said on Tuesday. In a report on their September 7-14 fact-finding mission to the region, the four experts took Israel to task for "serious violations of both human rights and humanitarian law."
"Available information strongly indicates that, in many instances, Israel violated its legal obligations to distinguish between military and civilian objectives," they said. Hizbullah was also to blame for, "in many instances," violating humanitarian rules by targeting the civilian population of northern Israel. They said that Hizbullah's extensive use of rockets packed with ball bearings "constitutes a clear violation of humanitarian law," they said. The four experts are: the UN secretary general's representative on internally displaced persons, Walter Kaelin; the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston; the special rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health, Paul Hunt; and the special rapporteur on housing, Miloon Kothari. They are due to submit a report to the 47 member states of the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday. - AFP
First Russian troops land in capital
Bridge-repair unit will operate outside UNIfil
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Russian troops deployed in Lebanon on Tuesday for the first time in more than two centuries on a mission to repair bridges destroyed in the recent war with Israel. In an aid effort not under the UN flag, some 150 non-combat troops landed at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport on two flights and unloaded trucks and jeeps from a giant Antonov cargo plane. The troops, independent of the UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon that now has some 5,200 soldiers from around the world, attached both Russian and Lebanese flags to their vehicles.
Russian Embassy spokesman Vladimir Cherepanov said the soldiers were to set up camp near the Southern port city of Sidon.
The rest of the deployment, numbering 350-400 troops in total, is to land by sea Friday at Jiyyeh, south of the capital, near six Israeli-bombed bridges to be repaired in the Sidon region, the embassy said. Cherepanov said the mission would last between two and three months.
It was the first time that Russia publicly puts boots on the ground in the Middle East, apart from military advisers who have for decades served and trained customers of Moscow's weaponry. It also marked Russia's first military intervention in Lebanon since the early 1770s, when Russia defeated Ottoman forces and a naval detachment landed in Beirut.
The Russians will operate north of the Litani River, outside the UN peacekeepers' zone of operations. The first wave from the German Navy also arrived off Lebanon early Tuesday, with the remaining vessels reportedly set to reach the coast by Wednesday at the latest.
Eight ships, including two frigates, with about 1,000 personnel on board, left Germany on September 21 with a mandate to intercept arms shipments to Hizbullah. Germany is sending a total of about 2,400 military personnel to Lebanon in the country's first mission in the Middle East since World War II. Malaysia will deploy 360 military personnel to join UNIFIL next month, state media said Tuesday. Deputy Defense Minister Zainal Abidin Zin said the peacekeepers were expected to leave on November 5 after Malaysia accepted an offer from the UN to join its ranks.
He said the troops, including a naval-warfare team with expertise in special tactics, had been selected for their previous peacekeeping experience.
"We chose these individuals not merely based on their mental and physical strengths alone, but also their expertise and experience," Zainal Abidin was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.
A Malaysian Navy ship with defense equipment and logistical support will be sent to Lebanon a week before the peacekeepers, he said.
Meanwhile, French and Lebanese officials attended on Tuesday the opening ceremony of the reconstructed "Airport Bridge" that was built by French troops just outside the devastated southern suburbs of Beirut. Another bridge was also completed last week through a donation by the British Department of International Development. - Agencies
Politicians call for thaw, and get one - for now
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon's politicians continued their calls Tuesday for a defusing of tension between various groups and the maintaining of a calm political atmosphere in the country for the sake of the people. March 14 Forces MP Butros Harb said that political discussions should serve the country's interests, not detract from them. Speaking to Voice of Lebanon radio station, Harb said dialogue between the groups "is a permanent necessity," adding that no Lebanese citizen is content with the political bickering.
"The fact that politicians are insulting each other and accusing each other of betrayal contradicts the principles of democratic life," he said.
Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said his party was not seeking to eliminate any group, but rather re-draft Lebanon's political life and "map a new one, side by side" with the parliamentary majority. He added that Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri's speech during an iftar on Monday "showed a decrease in the harsh political tone. We will be positive if they adopt a positive tone, but we shall respond if they adopt a negative attitude." Speaking at an iftar in Qoreitem, Hariri had said he would keep his hand extended to Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and Speaker Nabih Berri. Hariri said the Lebanese "must unite, show trust in their country and regain the world's trust in it."
He added that the internal political situation "is not clean and the growing tension will lead to nothing except a hindrance in governance and the process of reconstruction."
Hajj Hassan responded Tuesday, saying: "If there is new political rhetoric, then Hizbullah's hand is also extended."He added: "The only decent exit for the disputing political parties is to form a national unity government where disputes are resolved on the Cabinet's discussion table."
Hariri also spoke during an iftar Tuesday at his home, saying that Lebanon has come to "a fork in the road." "Either we stand together to protect it or it will dissolve as a state. Lebanon can never be turned into a religious state, or a state which follows one religion only," Hariri added.
"Lebanon is the country of coexistence between religions and we will not allow anyone to change this formula," he said.
The March 14 Forces' follow-up committee said Tuesday that now is not the right time to establish a national unity government, stressing the grouping's keenness on preserving a "calm" atmosphere. "The March 14 Forces ... call for easing tension among politicians while trying not to accentuate problems," former MP Kamil Ziadeh said. Ziadeh's comments came after a delegation from the March 14 Forces met with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in Bkirki.
Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Ziadeh also hailed the Lebanese Army's deployment in the South, saying: "It was a common request for Bkirki and the March 14 Forces." Former Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh vowed on Tuesday that the opposition would use all "democratic means" to topple the government but denied any cooperation with the Syrian regime in achieving the task. His comments came after a meeting in Rabieh with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.
"Syria's support in this matter would not suit our interests," Franjieh told reporters at Aoun's home in Rabieh. "We don't want any Syrian support because it would harm us." The former interior minister denied recent reports that thousands of Syrian soldiers had been granted work permits to enter Lebanon and back Hizbullah and his Marada party.
Meanwhile, former Premier Salim Hoss' Third Force Party issued a statement Tuesday saying the current government was the main reason behind the deterioration of the country's situation and aggravation of the political crisis.
The party issued a statement after holding meetings on Tuesday, accusing the current government of "deepening divisions" among the Lebanese by taking "anti-constitutional measures." - The Daily Star
Who Lies to Whom in Democratic and Despotic Societies?
29/09/2006
Amir Taheri - http://www.asharqalawsat.com/
was born in Iran and educated in Tehran, London and Paris. Between 1980 and 1984 he was Middle East editor for the London Sunday Times. Taheri has been a contributor to the International Herald Tribune since 1980. He has also written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Taheri has published nine books some of which have been translated into 20 languages, and In 1988 Publishers'' Weekly in New York chose his study of Islamist terrorism, "Holy Terror", as one of The Best Books of The Year. He has been a columnist Asharq Alawsat since 1987
Should politicians who lie be hounded out of office? Wherever debate is possible, that is to say in societies where the people have a say in who rules over them, the question has been debated since the dawn of history.
Aristotle, who was the first to offer an organized study of politics, did not pay much attention to the issue of trust, presumably because he took it for granted. Over 15 centuries later, Machiavelli not only discovered the role of lies in politics, but also tried to codify, if not justify, them in the service of a higher cause: that is to say public order.
But what does one mean by lying? Despotic societies are structured on a hierarchy of lies with the lower echelons lying to the higher ones. The slave never told the master the truth, at least not all of it and all the time. The chief victim in a despotic regime, however, was the despot himself if only because everyone, including his favorite consort, lied to him.
But what about democratic societies? The assumption has always been that in democratic societies the direct of the lie is reverse, with the government lying to the people.
The issue has come under the limelight because of a speech made by Hungary's Socialist Prime Minister Ferenec Gyurcsany to a group of his party militants. Init, he admitted that his coalition government had systematically lied to the people in order to win re-election.
Someone had the bright idea of leaking part of the speech, triggering street protests in Budapest, pushing the country to the brink of violence, and threatening to curtail Mr. Gyurcsany's political career.
Here is what the Hungarian leader had to say: "There is not much choice. There is not, because we have screwed up. Not a little but a lot. No country in Europe has screwed up as much as we have. It can be explained. We have obviously lied throughout the past 18 to 24 months. It was perfectly clear that what we were saying was not true. You cannot mention any significant government measures that we can be proud of, apart from the fact that in the end we managed to get governance out of the shit. Nothing. If we have to give an account to the country of what we have done in four years, what are we going to say?"
So should Gyurcsany be thrown out because he won power under false pretenses? Should the Hungarian treat him as a bride who turns out to have lied not only about her age but also about her sex?
The problem is that the prime minister did not address his speech to the public as a whole. Had he done so he might have been regarded as something of a hero, a man of character capable of admitting wrongdoings and offering an apology. But he did not. His little speech was addressed at a handful of militants who may have been pressing him to adopt particular policies.
Gyurcsany might have done what Richard Nixon did: trying to cover-up his lies. To his credit, the Hungarian leader did not such thing. As soon as the speech was leaked, he owned it and stood by its analysis. In that sense, therefore, Gyurcsany deserves praise because he did not act as a typical politician who would have claimed that his speech had been taken out of context or that he had been misquoted by the malicious media.
In theory at least, political leaders do not need to lie in democratic societies. These are societies supposed to be based on transparency and mutual trust. If voters are considered mature and responsible enough to choose a government, they must also be assumed to have an almost generic preference for truth.
The problem is that things are not always exactly the same in theory and practice. Voters in democratic societies might resent being lied to, especially when the liar is caught in the act. But they have an immense capacity for lying to themselves. The topic once came up when I was interviewing the late British Prime Minister James Callaghan. According to Callaghan, democracy was a system that led societies to the edge of ungovernability, and that was the best place to be for an advanced human society. In such a system, lies could push society over the edge.
And, yet, the advanced Western democracies have lived, and continue to live, with some basic lies- lies that electorate likes to hear. The former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok had a nice formula: the entire welfare state was based on the lie that the same guilder could be spent many times over.
Now let us return to the case of Prime Minister Gyurcsany. He knows that joining the European Union would require Hungary to do away with the last vestiges of its socialist system. The system under which everyone was always sure to have a job, albeit for meager wages and with little productivity, has to be dismantled. The generous pension schemes, early retirements for public sector employees, and generous state subsidies for a wide range of activities- from folk dancing to the study of long dad languages- have no place in a capitalist market economy in which making a profit is the matrix.
Had Gyurcsany entered the election determined to tell the truth he would have had to say something like this: Dear voters, I am offering you policies designed to inject a high dose of uncertainty in your lives in the hope of better things to come. You will lose job security, and might see your businesses driven out of the market as a result of stiff competition from other European Union members. Your taxes will go up and your social benefits will be slashed. Please vote for me!
It is almost certain that, with a platform like that, Gyurcsany would be in the opposition today. In Hungary, like in most other new democracies, people want to have their cake and eat it. They wish to maintain the culture of dependency that made them feel comfortable under despotism. At the same time, however, they are tempted by the adventure of freedom with all its dangers and possibilities.
In despotic societies, the people lie to the despot who, when he lies back to them, invites only derision. In democratic societies, voters lie to themselves, forcing their rulers to lie back to them. The difference is that in democratic societies, whenever the need arises, the few can always be blamed for the sins of the many and chased out of power in an election. In despotic systems, however, the vicious circle of lies is seldom broken without violence.
While Rice Visits Us
Hazem Saghieh Al-Hayat - 03/10/06//
Rice's visit is reawakening myths. It is said, for example, that the US policy was, and will remain, the cause of the problems which we experience, including terrorism, because the US is not working to resolve the Middle East crisis.
The truth in this talk is not new, and what is new is not true: the failure to resolve the Middle East crisis has been a persistent cause of tension and terrorism. The history of the current US administration in dealing with the Middle East problem is the worst among those of the White House administrations since the birth of the Middle East crisis.
Here, we are not comparing this to Dwight Eisenhower's policy regarding Suez or John Kennedy's policy of openness to the region, but rather to Ronald Reagan, who proposed a settlement plan that collided with Menachem Begin. Consequently, Reagan's pro-Israel Secretary General, Alexander Haig, resigned, in what was almost a dismissal, while the 1982 war was still being fought.
Nevertheless, the understanding of US policy is worse than the policy itself, and resisting it is much worse.
Regarding understanding, we are ought to believe that the US policy in the Middle East lies behind every other thing, from the Iraqi and Somali terrorism, as well as the cases of extremism and collective mental retardation among Muslim immigrants in Europe. We are also required to believe that occupation is the sole cause that prevent a country such as Afghanistan from becoming a natural and harmonious society that heads toward progress.
Although a simple generalization such as this absolves us - as Arabs or Muslims, or as residents or immigrants - from our responsibilities, it leads to only one conclusion: 'Resistance. Take up arms'.
The fact is that if we go back to the countries with the hottest issues, Iraq and Palestine, we will come to the following conclusion: there is occupation, which, like any occupation, is horrid; but it is not an occupation of a unified people and one homeland, but rather of the projects of warring peoples and belligerent homelands. It is not the orientalists who said that our political culture is alien to the idea of the nation and the nation-state, but it is reflected in our daily dilemma about how to define ourselves. Are we, as political entities, communities and ethnic groups or citizens of homelands? Are we Arabs, Muslims, or an 'Arab-Islamic nation,' according to the latest fabrications?
This means that no matter how we resist the occupation and US policy by arms (accompanied with social fragmentation), we lay the foundation for what is worse than occupation: civil war. In order to prevent such a possibility, Nelson Mandela and the 'African National Congress' made tremendous efforts to combat the political influence of the 'Nationalist Congress' and the groups of Steve Biko's 'Black Consciousness' Movement.
They realized that fighting against the racist regime loses much of its essence unless the rest of the national community, the whites, the Indians, the middle class, and the intellectuals are reassured. Such reassurance cannot be fulfilled without confronting the radical forces which puts the society, whose binding ties are fragile, on the verge of permanent civil war.
In this regard, there is a serious concern that the Palestinians, following their recent engagements, may have determined to emulate the Iraqi experience along with the Lebanese 'dignity', used by Hezbollah as a slogan in the face of life and promoting life.
That being the case, we must contemplate and reconsider for a moment: how can we begin to establish national communities while putting guns aside. Those two functions are contradictory, because through guns we only succeed in intimidating other compatriots, and, consequently, harming ourselves before we can even harm the supposed enemy?
Regardless of what she means by 'moderation', Rice may be responsible for many things, but she is definitely not behind the quarrel between the Shiite and Sunni youth in Beirut's 'Tariq al-Jadida'!
What is going on
The Minster of Industry Pierre Amine Gemayel signed a contract for 80,000$ with Mr. Abou Malhab (ex childhood friend to Pierrot
who lived 20 years in Sweden and having a business administration degree) in order to make a Study. The National Accounting committee refused to pay the contract of Mr. Pierrot 120,000,000 L.L. Pierrot tried to convince them by reducing the price to 100,000,000 L.L., but the committee still refuses because of many factors:
1- The "etude" should be done by the ministry employees and not by a private side; the price contracted is not logic and very high;
Employees of the ministry are getting salaries for doing this job and it is unnecessary to make a private contract.
2- The Contract is incomplete and doesn't contain any details of the "Study"
3- The National Accounting Committee called the General Director of the ministry for a meeting but he refused to come backed by a call from Pierrot asking him for not going there.
4- 4- Pierrot was upset because he could not do it in a legal way. So he asked Mr. Seniora to provide the money separately from
"Reserve of Treasury" (120,000,000 L.L.) to pay Mr. Abou Malhab (a Lebanese living 20 years in Sweden). Uncle Senioura accepted and
signed it during the last meeting of government NTV showed copies of documents for the public including the contract signed between Pierrot and Mr. Abou Malhab. This is a small sample of what is happening in the new Lebanon with the majority ruling the country W hala2, Bithib Libnan? Wazi3 hal email