Excerpts: Bahrain Minister tribute to Peres, Hizbullah,Iran 'hold all cards'
to presidency, Obama defends Syria policy. Obama defends Syria policy
September 29, 2016
+++SOURCE:Naharnet(L ebanon) 29 Sept’16:”Bahrain Minister in Surprise
Tribute to Israel’s Peres”,by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Bahrain Minister tribute to Peres
FULL TEXT:Bahrain's foreign minister paid tribute to Israel's former
president Shimon Peres on Thursday[29 Sept], in a surprise statement that
drew strong Arab criticism on social media.
"Rest in Peace President Shimon Peres, a Man of War and a Man of the still
elusive Peace in the Middle East," Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa said
on Twitter.
The response to his tweet was swift.
Like most Arab countries, Bahrain does not have diplomatic relations with
Israel, and many Arabs associate Peres with the successive wars that have
rocked the Middle East rather than the Oslo accords with the Palestinians
that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.
"The foreign minister is paying tribute and praying for the Zionist
terrorist and the killer of children," complained former opposition lawmaker
Jalal Fairooz.
Another critic, Khalil Buhazaa, tweeted: "Diplomacy does not mean rudeness."
Peres died on Wednesday aged 93 after suffering a major stroke.
He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin
and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for his role in negotiating the Oslo
accords, which envisioned an independent Palestinian state.
But he is also remembered in the Arab world as the man who ordered the
devastating "Grapes of Wrath" operation against Lebanon in 1996, which left
175 people dead, most of them civilians.
SourceAgence France Presse
+++Naharnet(Lebanon 29 Sept.’16:”Report: Hizbullah and Iran ‘Hold all the
Cards’ to thePresidency”,by Naharnet Newsdesk
SUBJECT:Hizbullah,Iran’hold all cards’ to presidency
FULL TEXT:A solution to Lebanon's presidential impasse is not in the hands
of al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri as the latest political
activities on the ground are trying to demonstrate, but in the hands of
Hizbullah and Iran, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday[29 Sept].
An official in the March 14 alliance, said it is unlikely for founder of the
Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun to become president, and affirmed
that the “cards are in the hands of Hizbullah and Iran which is keeping it
among its stack of cards in Yemen and Iraq in order to improve its
negotiations with the new American administration,” the official told the
daily.
He added on condition of anonymity: “Everything happening at the time being
is merely to hold Hariri responsible for the presidential vacuum.”
Hariri, who returned to the country recently from a foreign trip that lasted
several week, kicked off meetings and consultations in order to help solve
the deadlock of the presidency.
Media reports said that Hariri has told the members of his parliamentary
bloc during a meeting on Tuesday[27Sept] that he might make the “bitter
choice” of endorsing Free Patriotic Movement founder Aoun for the presidency
as some Mustaqbal MPs described such a step as “suicidal.”
He was quoted as saying that he might be compelled to endorse Aoun for the
post because the March 8 camp is blaming him for the vacuum.
An official statement issued after the meeting had said that Hariri
“informed the bloc that he has started consultations with all political
parties with the aim of speeding up the election of a president.”
Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended
in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their
allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping
them of the needed quorum.
Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to
nominate Mrada Movemnet chief Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his
proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties
as well as Hizbullah.
Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the
nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political
rapprochement talks between their two parties.
The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible
than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc
and his bigger influence in the Christian community.
+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 29 Sept.’16:”Obama Defends Syria Policy in
Face of Renewed Criticism”by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Obama defends Syria policy
QUOTE:Charles Lister,Middle East Institute: ”At worst,Washington has
indirectly abetted the wholesale destruction of a nation-state, in direct
contradiction to its fundamental national security interests and its most
tightly held values”
FULL TEXT: “President Barack Obama defended his refusal to use military
force to end Syria's brutal civil war Wednesday[28 Sept], as diplomatic
efforts faltered and a humanitarian crisis of historic proportions unfolded
in Aleppo.
With just months left in office, the besiegement and bombardment of Syria's
second city has put Obama's polices back under the spotlight and exposed
deep unease within his administration.
"There hasn't been probably a week that's gone by in which I haven't
reexamined some of the underlying premises around how we're dealing with the
situation in Syria," Obama told a CNN town hall debate.
"I'll sit in the situation room with my Secretary of Defense, the Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, we'll bring in outside experts -- I will bring
in critics of my policy to find out, OK, you don't think this is the right
way to go."
But, Obama insisted, "in Syria, there is not a scenario in which, absent us
deploying large numbers of troops, we can stop a civil war in which both
sides are deeply dug in."
"There are going to be some bad things that happen around the world, and we
have to be judicious."
The civil war has dragged on for more than five years and so far killed
300,000 people.
Obama has sent around 300 troops to Syria, focused on the battle against the
Islamic State group, but has refused to plunge them into a civil war that is
not in America's strategic interest.
Instead he has instead backed diplomacy as the only way out of the crisis.
But since a US-brokered ceasefire crashed on takeoff last week, Russia and
Syria have launched rolling airstrikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo, where a
quarter of a million people are trapped.
Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad's regime have simultaneously launched a
ground assault, eying a victory that could prove decisive in the five-year
war.
On Wednesday, two of the largest hospitals in rebel-held parts of the city
were bombed, prompting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to describe that
attack as a war crime.
Already the situation is being compared to Guernica -- a savage bombardment
immortalized by Pablo Picasso's painting.
In response, Obama's administration has threatened to suspend its engagement
with Russia unless the bombing stops.
But Obama again insisted that ultimately there must be a political solution,
while saying that the US would try to ameliorate the suffering.
The State Department on Wednesday[28 Sept] said it would release a further
$364 million to UN aid agencies and NGOs working to help vulnerable Syrian
civilians inside and outside the war-torn country.
- Diplomacy, not war -Obama came to office on a platform of opposition to
the war in Iraq and ending the war in Afghanistan.
Throughout his presidency he has been reluctant to deploy combat troops and
argued for a more judicious use of American military power and assessment of
the national interest.
"Historically, if you look at what happens to great nations, more often than
not, they end up having problems because they are overextended, don't have a
clear sense of what is their core interests," Obama said.
Critics argue that he has defined the national interest too narrowly and
that the Syrian conflict has called America's reputation and commitment to
the rule of law into serious question.
It has also created a refugee crisis that has destabilized Europe and has
allowed Russia and Iran to assert greater power in the Middle East.
"It is long past time for the United States to reassess its shameful
approach to the Syrian crisis," said Charles Lister of the Middle East
Institute.
"US indecision, risk aversion, a total divergence between rhetoric and
policy, and a failure to uphold clearly stated 'red lines' have all combined
into what can best be described as a cold-hearted, hypocritical approach."
"At worst, Washington has indirectly abetted the wholesale destruction of a
nation-state, in direct contradiction to its fundamental national security
interests and its most tightly held values."
SourceAgence France Presse
+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 29 Sept.’16:”Obama Defends Syria Policy in
Face of Renewed Criticism”by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Obama defends Syria policy
QUOTE:Charles Lister,Middle East Institute: ”At worst,Washington has
indirectly abetted the wholesale destruction of a nation-state, in direct
contradiction to its fundamental national security interests and its most
tightly held values”
FULL TEXT: “President Barack Obama defended his refusal to use military
force to end Syria's brutal civil war Wednesday[28 Sept], as diplomatic
efforts faltered and a humanitarian crisis of historic proportions unfolded
in Aleppo.
With just months left in office, the besiegement and bombardment of Syria's
second city has put Obama's polices back under the spotlight and exposed
deep unease within his administration.
"There hasn't been probably a week that's gone by in which I haven't
reexamined some of the underlying premises around how we're dealing with the
situation in Syria," Obama told a CNN town hall debate.
"I'll sit in the situation room with my Secretary of Defense, the Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, we'll bring in outside experts -- I will bring
in critics of my policy to find out, OK, you don't think this is the right
way to go."
But, Obama insisted, "in Syria, there is not a scenario in which, absent us
deploying large numbers of troops, we can stop a civil war in which both
sides are deeply dug in."
"There are going to be some bad things that happen around the world, and we
have to be judicious."
The civil war has dragged on for more than five years and so far killed
300,000 people.
Obama has sent around 300 troops to Syria, focused on the battle against the
Islamic State group, but has refused to plunge them into a civil war that is
not in America's strategic interest.
Instead he has instead backed diplomacy as the only way out of the crisis.
But since a US-brokered ceasefire crashed on takeoff last week, Russia and
Syria have launched rolling airstrikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo, where a
quarter of a million people are trapped.
Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad's regime have simultaneously launched a
ground assault, eying a victory that could prove decisive in the five-year
war.
On Wednesday, two of the largest hospitals in rebel-held parts of the city
were bombed, prompting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to describe that
attack as a war crime.
Already the situation is being compared to Guernica -- a savage bombardment
immortalized by Pablo Picasso's painting.
In response, Obama's administration has threatened to suspend its engagement
with Russia unless the bombing stops.
But Obama again insisted that ultimately there must be a political solution,
while saying that the US would try to ameliorate the suffering.
The State Department on Wednesday[28 Sept] said it would release a further
$364 million to UN aid agencies and NGOs working to help vulnerable Syrian
civilians inside and outside the war-torn country.
- Diplomacy, not war -Obama came to office on a platform of opposition to
the war in Iraq and ending the war in Afghanistan.
Throughout his presidency he has been reluctant to deploy combat troops and
argued for a more judicious use of American military power and assessment of
the national interest.
"Historically, if you look at what happens to great nations, more often than
not, they end up having problems because they are overextended, don't have a
clear sense of what is their core interests," Obama said.
Critics argue that he has defined the national interest too narrowly and
that the Syrian conflict has called America's reputation and commitment to
the rule of law into serious question.
It has also created a refugee crisis that has destabilized Europe and has
allowed Russia and Iran to assert greater power in the Middle East.
"It is long past time for the United States to reassess its shameful
approach to the Syrian crisis," said Charles Lister of the Middle East
Institute.
"US indecision, risk aversion, a total divergence between rhetoric and
policy, and a failure to uphold clearly stated 'red lines' have all combined
into what can best be described as a cold-hearted, hypocritical approach."
"At worst, Washington has indirectly abetted the wholesale destruction of a
nation-state, in direct contradiction to its fundamental national security
interests and its most tightly held values."
SourceAgence France Presse
============
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA
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