Obama's Diplomatic Gamble On Iran Adding Instability In Middle East

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Iranian demonstrators hold signs mocking President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry in February. President Hassan Rouhani delivered a speech saying said the world needs Iran to help stabilize the troubled Middle East, in remarks pointing to wider ramifications of a deal over its disputed nuclear program. Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images

Iranian demonstrators hold signs mocking President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry in February. President Hassan Rouhani delivered a speech saying said the world needs Iran to help stabilize the troubled Middle East, in remarks pointing to wider ramifications of a deal over its disputed nuclear program.

Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images

Even before he became president, Barack Obama was imagining the possibilities of a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran. His willingness to reverse decades of official U.S. hostility was one of the things that set Obama apart on the campaign trail.

"We have to have a clear break with the Bush-Cheney style of diplomacy that has caused so many problems," Obama told NBC's Meet the Press in November 2007.

Polls suggest most Americans have come around to supporting a deal that would relax economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for limits on that country's nuclear program. But analysts say in carrying out his diplomatic gamble, Obama has added to instability in the Middle East.

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"We must try as best we can to balance isolation and engagement, pressure and incentives, so that human rights and dignity are advanced over time," Obama said five years ago, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. Mark Wilson/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Mark Wilson/Getty Images

"We must try as best we can to balance isolation and engagement, pressure and incentives, so that human rights and dignity are advanced over time," Obama said five years ago, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

"In this region — broken, angry, and dysfunctional — this president doesn't have a whole lot to point to," said Aaron David Miller of the Wilson Center. "In fact, you could argue that this region is profoundly worse than it was in 2008."

Longtime diplomat Hillary Mann Leverett applauds Obama's original vision of renewing ties that were severed after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. "It doesn't mean giving up one ally for another," said Mann Levertt, co-author of Going to Tehran. "It does mean having more of a balance, where a natural, large power like Iran serves as a balance to some of the even reckless impulses of our allies."

She likened the idea to Nixon's outreach to China, recognizing Iran as a rising power that's here to stay.

Obama himself drew the same comparison in his Nobel Peace Prize speech five years ago.

"We must try as best we can to balance isolation and engagement, pressure and incentives, so that human rights and dignity are advanced over time," Obama said.

But Mann Leverett argues Obama hasn't gone far enough, either in reshaping the U.S. treatment of Iran or selling the change to the American public. His overture is less like Nixon's broad outreach to China, she said, than Jimmy Carter's unsuccessful effort to achieve a SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union.

"It just all seemed too hard," Mann Leverett said of Obama's Iran initiative. "He had these strategic impulses, but was never able to put it through into a real strategy."

Limited though it may be, the administration's negotiation with Iran has shaken traditional allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, through its action and inaction elsewhere in the Middle East, the U.S. has left both friends and enemies uncertain about what it will do next.

"I think we've been reactive," said David Rothkopf, editor of Foreign Policy. "I don't see a strategy. I think we're sort of back on our heels and not quite sure what to do."

Rothkopf argues that Iran has capitalized on the administration's hands-off approach to the Middle East, expanding its influence from Syria to Yemen.

"The Middle East has never been as dangerous as it is right now. And that's saying something since the Middle East has been dangerous for a long time," Rothkopf said.

The White House insists a nuclear deal with Iran would defuse the biggest threat to the region.

The Wilson Center's Miller agreed a negotiated deal that stops or even stalls Iran's nuclear program is preferable to the likely alternative of military action. But he dismisses as wishful thinking any expectation that Iran's diplomatic rehabilitation will produce a new, more stable Middle East.

"Perhaps in a galaxy far, far away, that is a possibility," Miller said. "I don't see that happening now."

Analysts Divided Over Obama's Diplomatic Gamble On Iran

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

Even before he won the White House in 2008, President Obama discussed redefining the U.S. relationship with Iran. So a potential nuclear deal with Iran might fit into Obama's broader foreign policy vision.

Supreme Court Deals Medicaid Blow To Doctors And Health Companies

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The 5-to-4 vote crossed the court's usual ideological lines. Molly Riley/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Molly Riley/AP

The 5-to-4 vote crossed the court's usual ideological lines.

Molly Riley/AP

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that private Medicaid providers cannot sue to force states to raise reimbursement rates in the face of rising medical costs. The 5-to-4 decision is a blow to many doctors and health care companies and their complaint that state Medicaid reimbursement rates are so low that health care providers often lose money on Medicaid patients.

In 2009, Idaho centers that provided care for some 6,200 mentally disabled children and adults went to court to challenge the state's Medicaid reimbursement rates. They contended the state had adopted a Medicaid plan with reimbursement rates set at 2006 levels, despite the fact that costs had gone up significantly over the three intervening years. The lower courts agreed and raised the state's reimbursement rates. But the Supreme Court reversed that ruling, declaring that private Medicaid providers have no right to sue under the Medicaid law. If a state is not providing fair reimbursement rates, the court said, the only recourse Medicaid providers have is to ask the federal Department of Health and Human Services to withhold all Medicaid funds from the state — a step so punitive that it has never happened.

The 5-to-4 vote crossed the court's usual ideological lines, with the liberal Justice Stephen Breyer joining four of the court's conservatives to provide the fifth and decisive vote against such provider lawsuits and the conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy joining three of the court's liberals in dissent.

The majority opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, said that Congress, in creating the Medicaid rate-setting scheme, did not explicitly authorize private suits like the one at issue here. Instead, he said, the law mandates that state reimbursement plans are "consistent with efficiency, economy, and quality of care," all the while "safeguarding against unnecessary utilization of ... care and services."

"It is difficult to imagine a requirement broader and less specific" than that, wrote Scalia. "Explicitly conferring enforcement of this judgment-laden standard upon the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] alone establishes, we think," that Congress wanted to make the agency cutoff of funds the "exclusive" remedy. With such a big financial club, Scalia said, "we doubt that the Secretary's notice to a state that its compensation scheme is inadequate will be ignored."

Joining Scalia in the majority were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Breyer.

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the ruling would have "very real consequences." Previously, she said, "a state that set reimbursement rates so low that providers were unwilling to furnish a covered service" could be ordered by the courts to provide adequate resources to meet federal requirements. But now, said Sotomayor, "it must suffice that a federal agency, with many programs to oversee, has the authority to address such violations through the drastic and often counterproductive measure of withholding the funds that pay for such services." Joining the dissent were Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan.

Activists Stop Paying Their Student Loans

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From left, Makenzie Vasquez, Pamala Hunt, Latonya Suggs, Ann Bowers, Nathan Hornes, Ashlee Schmidt, Natasha Hornes, Tasha Courtright, Michael Adorno and Sarah Dieffenbacher are refusing to pay back loans they took out to attend Corinthian Colleges. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

From left, Makenzie Vasquez, Pamala Hunt, Latonya Suggs, Ann Bowers, Nathan Hornes, Ashlee Schmidt, Natasha Hornes, Tasha Courtright, Michael Adorno and Sarah Dieffenbacher are refusing to pay back loans they took out to attend Corinthian Colleges.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Latonya Suggs says she borrowed thousands of dollars in student loans to attend the for-profit Corinthian Colleges but has nothing to show for it. Most employers don't recognize her criminal justice degree.

"I am completely lost and in debt," Suggs says. And now she's doing something about it: She's refusing to pay back those loans.

Suggs and 106 other borrowers now saddled with Corinthian loan debt say their refusal to re-pay the loans is a form of political protest. And today, the U.S. government gave them an audience.

Representatives of the "Corinthian 100" met with officials from the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Rohit Chopra, the CFPB's student loan ombudsman, said in a letter to the strikers that the CFPB would like to "discuss further" potential "ways to address the burden of their student loans."

This saga began last July, when Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit chain with 70,000 students across more than 100 campuses, ceased operations in response to a federal regulatory crackdown.

In September, the CFPB sued Corinthian, accusing it of predatory lending practices. Weeks later, roughly half of its campuses were sold to the Educational Credit Management Corporation, a financial company with no prior experience operating colleges.

Finally, in February, the CFPB and the Department of Education announced the forgiveness of $480 million in private student loans held by former Corinthian students.

But those are just the private loans. Borrowers are still on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal student loans — money that the Department of Education expects to be paid back. That's true even for students who never earned their degrees, on campuses that are being shut down.

Behind this protest is a group called the Debt Collective with roots in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Last September it announced that it had bought up some of the loans made to Corinthian students. When commercial debts go unpaid, they are sometimes written off and sold, often for pennies on the dollar. That campaign, in total, erased $3.9 million in private student loan debt.

Now the group is trying a different tactic: Recruiting Corinthian students who are willing to refuse to pay their loans outright, calling for all loans — both private and federal — to be discharged.

Refusing to pay back a student loan can have serious consequences. Wages and tax refunds can be garnished. It can also sink a credit score; limit access to a credit card, auto or home loan; and hurt your chances of getting a job. The "Corinthian 100" could well suffer the consequences of their protest.

Laura Hanna, an organizer with the Debt Collective, says her group's doing everything it can to make sure strikers like Suggs are informed.

"After we made our initial announcement [looking for strikers] we had a flood of interest. We set up a system to intake and walk through people's financial situations and look at their credit. The people who step up are taking a risk and they understand the repercussions."

Hanna points out that many of the strikers, 14 of whom appeared at today's meeting, are single mothers living hand to mouth. "They've been negatively affected already. They're choosing to give voices to some of the issues that they're facing regardless."

In addition to the borrowers who are refusing to pay, some 400 members of the Debt Collective have signed on to a legal strategy called "defense to repayment," pursuing legal action against Corinthian for fraud under state law. The goal is the same: To get their debts written off.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau declined to comment for this story, citing its ongoing suit against Corinthian.

Denise Horn, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, says borrowers should continue to pay back their federal student loans, knowing that the department is taking a "series of actions to hold Corinthian accountable."

And it's not just Corinthian in the hot seat. Today, the Feds released a list of more than 500 colleges and universities that they're placing under financial monitoring. 290 are for-profits.

For Suggs, that's not enough.

"Not only did the school fail me, but the Department of Education failed me," she said in a statement on her group's website. "It is their responsibility to make sure that these schools provide a quality education at an affordable cost."

International donors pledge $3.8B in aid for Syrians

KUWAIT CITY: International donors committed $3.8 billion in aid for Syrians affected by the grinding civil war at a donors’ conference in Kuwait Tuesday, as Lebanon’s share from the package remained unclear.

Delivering an address during the conference, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Tammam Salam said that his government had prepared a plan, the cost “amounting to over $1 billion,” in order to cope with the refugee crisis in his country.

“The government presents you a detailed plan amounting to over $1 billion ... featuring necessary developmental projects in water management, sewage systems, solid wastes, agriculture, energy, transportation, health, education and others,” Salam said.

“This proposal, which could be amended in line with your suggestions, is in line with the ‘Crisis Response Plan’ for years 2015 and 2016, prepared by the government in cooperation with international organizations and costing $2.1 billion,” Salam added.

The prime minister explained that the presence of around 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, which already suffers from a fragile socio-economic, political and security situation, has presented the country with huge challenges.

Salam said that financial aid should be provided to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and to host communities as well.

On the sidelines of the conference, Salam held meetings with international and Arab figures, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power and others.

“The secretary-general [Ban] noted that the U.N. continues to urge donors to contribute to Lebanon. He commended the prime minister’s leadership in upholding national unity and said he hoped that the political parties would overcome their differences and resolve outstanding issues, including the election of a president,” a U.N. statement said. “The secretary-general welcomed the renewed calm on the Blue Line and the recommitment by all sides to the cessation of hostilities. He praised the role of the Lebanese Armed Forces in preserving security and hoped for swift delivery of international support to the Army.” Salam and the Lebanese delegation arrived in Beirut Tuesday.

The financial aid pledged during the gathering is less than half of what the U.N. requested for this year to cope with the growing humanitarian crisis.

“Unless more donor countries massively step up in the wake of the conference, the increasing numbers of people fleeing their homes and struggling to survive will be less and less likely to receive assistance,” said Andy Baker, who leads Oxfam’s response to the Syria crisis. “What does the international community expect millions of Syrians to survive on? The collective response risks leaving the nearly 4 million refugees and those trapped in Syria to their fate while neighboring countries face unbearable strain.”

More than a quarter of the total came from two countries: Kuwait, which hosted the third annual conference and pledged half a billion dollars, and the United States, which promised the largest single commitment of $507 million.

More than $118 million of the funds provided by the U.S. will be provided to assist with the refugee crisis in Lebanon, a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon said.

Gulf envoys addressing the conference said the United Arab Emirates pledged $100 million. Saudi Arabia pledged $60 million, while Norway said it would pay $93 million and the United Kingdom $150 million.

At last year’s donors’ conference, about $2.4 billion was pledged, though the U.N. had called for $6.5 billion. In 2013, some $1.5 billion was pledged, less than half the U.N.’s appeal for $4.4 billion.

The U.N. humanitarian office’s Financial Tracking Service said in November that nearly a quarter of last year’s pledges, or $585 million, had not been fulfilled. The European Commission and EU member states pledged close to $1.2 billion total, double the overall EU pledge at last year’s conference.

The U.N. requested $8.4 billion this year – its largest appeal yet for the war-ravaged country.

It says $2.9 billion is needed in 2015 for Syrians inside the country and $5.5 billion for those who have fled to the five surrounding countries.

The civil war, now in its fifth year, has killed at least 220,000 people. Around 11 million people, or half of Syria’s population, have been displaced, according to U.N. figures. Of the displaced, nearly 4 million have been forced to flee to the nearby countries of Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

Ban said the money pledged would help Syria’s neighbors overcome the strain of hosting millions of refugees as he announced the total amount pledged during the one-day conference in the opulent Bayan Palace.

Earlier in the day, he offered stinging remarks, saying Syrians are the victims of the “worst humanitarian crisis of our time,” and that he has “only shame and deep anger and frustration at the international community’s impotence to stop the war.”

“They are not asking for sympathy, they are asking for help,” he said of the Syrian people.

Some 78 countries and 40 international aid organizations were present at this year’s conference.

Cabinet set to avert crisis over Yemen remarks

BEIRUT: The Cabinet is expected Wednesday to ride out the crisis caused by Hezbollah’s objections to Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s speech at the Arab summit, ministerial sources said Tuesday, setting the stage for a smooth session.

The Cabinet session will not witness a heated debate over Salam’s speech at the Arab summit as ministers will be split between those who support it and those (Hezbollah ministers) who will seek clarifications about some matters while upholding their argument that the premier’s stance was not discussed at the last Cabinet session, the sources said.

The sources said Hezbollah’s criticism of Salam’s stance would not lead to disrupting or scuttling the Cabinet session.

“Everyone knows that political stability secured by this Cabinet must endure. The main parties represented in the Cabinet have not yet taken any decision signaling that they are unwilling to stay in the Cabinet of national interest or Cabinet of conflict management,” the sources told The Daily Star.

Furthermore, the sources added, there are no political signals indicating that Hezbollah wanted to break up the Cabinet because of Salam’s speech at the Arab summit in which he expressed a stance on the Yemen crisis different from that of the Shiite party.

The Cabinet, which usually holds meeting Thursday, will convene Wednesday this week because of a Parliament session set for Thursday to elect a president.

Referring to Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan’s statement Monday in which he said that Salam’s speech, which justified the “aggression on Yemen” and supported the creation of “a joint Arab force,” did not represent Lebanon’s official position, the sources said the statement was meant only for political posturing.

Hajj Hasan, one of two ministers representing Hezbollah in the 24-member government, said he would raise his party’s objections to Salam’s speech at the next Cabinet meeting.

Salam, whose relations with the two Hezbollah ministers are good and based on mutual respect between the two sides, will be able to handle the ministers’ objections to his speech in the same positive atmosphere he deals with all the ministers, the sources said.

While showing understanding toward Hezbollah’s argument, Salam will present his viewpoint, which stresses that his stance at the summit emanated from the government’s policy statement, particularly with regard to Lebanon’s relations with Arab countries, which states that Lebanon will not depart from Arab unanimity and that the disassociation policy is confined to the Syrian crisis, the sources added.

The sources noted that Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc, which has two ministers in the Cabinet, has not taken a public stance on the crisis over Salam’s speech. This clearly shows that Berri’s bloc and Hezbollah do not intend to withdraw the four Shiite ministers from the Cabinet, a move that would paralyze it and make it a caretaker Cabinet, the sources said.

At the end of their two-day summit held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh Sunday, Arab leaders voiced support for the Saudi-led military intervention against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and agreed to create a joint Arab force.

In his speech at the summit, Salam said Lebanon supported “the formation of a joint Arab force to fight terrorism and safeguard pan-Arab security.” This was interpreted as an implicit support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary Future bloc praised the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, voiced support for Salam’s stance at the Arab summit and criticized Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s tirade against Saudi Arabia.

“The Future bloc praises the firm and courageous Arab position, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to confront Persian attempts to dominate the Arab homeland and its cities,” said a statement issued after the bloc’s weekly meeting.

“The Future bloc clearly announces its support for the Arab position in confronting the Persian attempts for domination on the one hand, and the Israeli attempts on the other,” the statement said.

“The bloc supports the decisions taken by the Arab summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, namely the decision to create a joint Arab force, and calls for quickly putting these decisions into effect,” it added.

The bloc praised Salam’s “balanced stance” at the Arab summit, stressing that Lebanon cannot depart from Arab unanimity and follow unilateral policies.

It strongly denounced Nasrallah’s speech last week in which he lambasted Saudi Arabia for spearheading a regional coalition to launch the military campaign in Yemen.

The Future bloc hailed Saudi Arabia as “a brotherly Arab country that is always first in supporting Lebanon and standing by its side in all regional and international political forums.”

“It [Saudi Arabia] did not spare any effort to support [Lebanon’s] institutions, empower its Army and contribute to its economic and reconstruction recovery,” the statement said.

Separately, a Hezbollah official hit back at critics of Nasrallah’s speech, saying they “deliberately” diverted attention away from the Hezbollah chief’s call for an inter-Yemeni dialogue to resolve the crisis in Yemen.

“The responses deliberately obscured a fundamental and basic idea in [Nasrallah’s] speech, which called on the Yemenis to [engage] in dialogue and work to find a political solution,” Mohammad Afif, Hezbollah’s public relations chief, said in a statement.

Hezbollah’s “permanent position” is that of supporting dialogue in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Bahrain as a means of reaching political settlements for internal conflicts, Afif said. He added that Nasrallah’s speech did not incite strife among the Yemeni people.

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri struck back at Nasrallah, saying that his speech contained “false allegations” against the kingdom and reflected Iran’s confusion.

Berri urges Oman to maintain Yemen efforts

BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker and leader of the Amal Movement Nabih Berri said that Oman must continue its efforts to bring together disparate factions in Yemen in order to find a political solution to that country’s ongoing crisis.

In a speech at the 13th general conference of the Amal Movement, Berri said it was necessary for Oman to launch an initiative “to bring Yemeni factions together, and solve the issue via political means,” and called for the political resolution of “crises in other Arab countries to counter the conspiracies of the new Middle East.”

Berri said there was a conspiracy relying on “constructive chaos” to seize control of human and natural resources across the Arab world.

A regional coalition led by Saudi Arabia began an air campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen last week, vowing to cut off any outside support for the Iranian-backed movement.

The coalition said attacks would continue until “legitimacy” was restored in Yemen, referring to the deposed elected government of President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah launched a scathing attack against Saudi Arabia last week over its military operation in Yemen. The Shiite group is politically aligned with the Amal Movement, and both groups have close ties to Iran.

Berri delivered his speech over the weekend, but its contents were made known Tuesday. Due to security concerns, the Amal conference was held behind closed doors and a media blackout was observed.

In his speech, Berri reiterated his support for the Lebanese Army in its ongoing battle with terrorism, but said the resistance remained necessary in order to liberate Lebanese territory still under Israeli occupation.

The speaker added that his party would continue its efforts to end the presidential interregnum and would oppose any attempt to paralyze state institutions.

Berri stated that the Amal Movement would maintain its support for the ongoing dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah, and would do its part to protect the Lebanese government and preserve stability in the country.

His speech also touched on the turmoil in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya, and warned of the forced displacement of populations by jihadi groups in Iraq and Syria, which he said were part of a plan to further partition the Arab world.

At the end of the conference, Berri, 77, was re-elected as the head of the Amal Movement. He has served in this post since 1980.

Sidon marks Land Day with Arabic calligraphy contest

SIDON, Lebanon: Some 200 Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian students participated in an Arabic calligraphy competition held in the southern city of Sidon Tuesday to mark the Palestinian “Land Day.”

Land Day is celebrated annually on March 30 and commemorates the day in 1976, when six Palestinians were killed and hundreds more wounded and jailed after clashing with Israeli forces during a protest over the Israeli government’s plan to expropriate 60,000 dunums of Arab-owned land in the Galilee.

Organized by Jinan University in Sidon in cooperation with the city’s school network and the French Cultural Center under the sponsorship of Sidon MP Bahia Hariri, the “Beautiful Arab Calligraphy” competition was designed to highlight Land Day as a pivotal event in the Arab-Israeli conflict and stress that the biggest part of Palestinian land is still under Israeli occupation.

The 200 students, who came from 20 public and private schools as well as from UNRWA schools in Sidon and its environs, competed in showing their talents in artistic drawings, decorative handwriting or lettering with a pen or brush.

Some students wrote poems and articles reflecting the Palestinians’ attachment to their land. Other students presented drawings that included Arabic texts in artistic print, in addition to those who displayed their skills in professional calligraphy.

The annual competition was attended by a representative of Hariri, Nabil Bawab, the general coordinator of the school network in Sidon and its environs; the director of the French Cultural Center in the city; a representative of Sidon Mayor Mohammad Saudi; and professors and teachers from Jinan University and other schools.

“Sidon, which carries a big treasure from the local civilized and distinctive society, has chosen Land Day on March 30 to send a message to the world that we cling to every grain of soil and every inch of our land from the north to the south until the last drop of blood in our bodies,” Bawab said in a speech at the event.

“We support our Palestinian brothers in their adherence to their land, which was seized from them by the Israeli occupation, and support the return to it no matter how long it takes. This is the message which we wanted to send to the entire world.”

ISF raids Batroun chemical factory dumping waste in sea

SELAATA, Lebanon: A chemical factory in Batroun was raided by members of the Internal Security Forces Tuesday, as part of a nationwide crackdown on polluters. Selaata Chemical was given a month to halt its dumping of chemical waste in the sea following a surprise inspection by the ISF, who were accompanied by North Lebanon Governor Ramzi Nohra.

“After examining the Selaata Chemical Company, it turns out that they get rid of the chemicals they don’t use by dumping them into the sea,” Nohra said after the tour.

“We will give them a month, and we will follow the issue with the Environment Ministry [...] this situation cannot be tolerated, especially as it affects the local fisheries and ecology,” he said.

Residents of Selaata and neighboring areas are inhaling toxic chemicals, claimed Nohra, who said the company’s waste is damaging marine resources and polluting beaches from Batroun to Chekka.

“The level of pollution in this area is frighteningly high because of this factory,” the governor said.

The goal of the inspection was to straighten out the factory’s problems and bring it in line with environmental regulations. A deadline was also given to the owner to put an end to the foul odors emitted by the plant.

But Selaata Chemical insisted that its practices meet industry standards.

“The company treats all gaseous and liquid wastes according to internationally adopted environmental standards,” read a statement released by the company.

“And [the company] is constantly subjected to the inspections of the Environment Ministry, the competent authority in this regard.”

The company said it presents the ministry with monthly reports including records of its gaseous emissions and analysis of “samples of wastewater, according to the Environment Ministry’s demands.”

Sayed Fayad, a lawyer for Selaata Chemical, stressed the company’s interest in preserving the environment and meeting safety standards.

“We do not want anyone to get harmed,” Fayad said during the tour. “And we are ready to do anything that could benefit the people or alleviate any potential harm.”

The lawyer said he couldn’t state the precise level of pollution in the sea, saying that the team accompanying the governor could take its own samples.

“We have samples, we examined them, and the results have showed that there’s pollution,” Nohra countered. “The moment we entered the factory, the level of chemical pollution – with odors that no one could stand – was apparent.”

Watchdog Groups File Complaints Against Likely Candidates

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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is one of four "un-candidates" being targeted by liberal groups Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21. They say the politicians have crossed the line into candidacy based on their activities in recent months. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is one of four "un-candidates" being targeted by liberal groups Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21. They say the politicians have crossed the line into candidacy based on their activities in recent months.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Two liberal watchdog groups are challenging the strategy that four presidential hopefuls — Republicans Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Rick Santorum, and Democrat Martin O'Malley — are using to avoid legal contribution limits and disclosure requirements.

In complaints filed at the Federal Election Commission, the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 say that while the four politicians all maintain that they're not even considering running for president, they all have crossed the legal line that defines a candidacy or a "testing the waters" phase in campaign finance law.

The complaints cite examples in federal regulations of conduct that turns a politician into a candidate. Three examples seem to describe what's gone on this winter and spring, when un-candidates have:

• Referred to themselves as candidates. So far, it's always seemed to be by accident or reflex.


• Demonstrated an intention to run for president over a "protracted period of time."


• Raised more money than is needed to explore a candidacy, or launched "activities designed to amass" a campaign warchest. All four of the un-candidates have SuperPACs for which they raise unlimited contributions — a level of soliticitation that would be forbidden if they threw their hats in the ring.

The complaints also cite regulations on the activities that define a "testing the waters" committee — the status the un-candidates are avoiding. Two stand out:

• Spending money on polling to determine the candidate's "name recognition, favorability or relative support level."


• Paying employees, consultants or vendors, and opening offices in states where primaries and caucuses will be held. In Iowa, where the first caucuses are scheduled for next February, Walker and O'Malley already have staff on the ground, while Bush and Santorum have Iowa consultants on retainer.

Lis Smith, spokeswoman for O'Malley's superPAC, O'PAC, said there was no merit to the complaint against the Democrat. She said, "We are confident that — whatever the case may be with the other potential candidates — that is what the FEC will find."

Spokesmen for the other un-candidates did not respond before deadline.

Paul Ryan, senior counsel to the Campaign Legal Center, said his group may also file complaints concerning other undeclared presidential hopefuls. So far, only Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, has announced his candidacy.

Ryan said the strategy of not declaring fails to exempt politicians from "election laws passed by Congress to keep the White House off the auction block."

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The White House proposal will be submitted at the next big climate meeting in Paris this December. It marks the beginning of a worldwide plan for countries to combat climate change.

Upholding the Principle of Fairness in Our Criminal Justice System Through Clemency

Building on his commitment to address instances of unfairness in sentencing, President Obama granted 22 commutations today to individuals serving time in federal prison. Had they been sentenced under current laws and policies, many of these individuals would have already served their time and paid their debt to society. Because many were convicted under an outdated sentencing regime, they served years — in some cases more than a decade — longer than individuals convicted today of the same crime.

In total, the 22 commutations granted today underscore the President’s commitment to using all the tools at his disposal to bring greater fairness and equity to our justice system. Further, they demonstrate how exercising this important authority can remedy imbalances and rectify errors in sentencing. Added to his prior 21 commutations, the President has now granted 43 commutations total. To put President Obama’s actions in context, President George W. Bush commuted 11 sentences in his eight years in office.

To further this progress, the President has established a clemency initiative to encourage individuals who were sentenced under outdated laws and policies to petition for commutation. At his direction, significant reforms have followed, such as the promulgation of new criteria for potential commutation candidates to meet, including those who pose no threat to public safety, have a clean record in prison, and have been sentenced under out-of-date laws. In addition, the Department of Justice has raised awareness about how to petition for commutation to ensure that every federal inmate who believes they are deserving of this invaluable second chance has the opportunity to ask for it.

Underscoring the responsibility that a commutation brings, the President penned a letter to each of the 22 individuals receiving clemency today, recognizing their potential to overcome the mistakes they made and encouraging them to make good choices moving forward.

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What The 2016 Hopefuls Are Saying About Indiana's 'Religious Freedom' Law

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Opponents of Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act gathered in front of the Indiana State House Saturday. Doug McSchooler/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Doug McSchooler/AP

Opponents of Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act gathered in front of the Indiana State House Saturday.

Doug McSchooler/AP

A controversial law in Indiana has made its way into the 2016 race. Supporters praise the Religious Freedom Restoration Act's for protecting religious convictions, but the law has drawn wide criticism from those who say it allows businesses to discriminate against gay and lesbian patrons.

Would-be candidates on the GOP side mostly defended the law. "I don't think Americans want to discriminate against anyone," Sen. Marco Rubio said on Fox News. "I think the fundamental question in some of these laws is should someone be discriminated against because of their religious views?"

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took a different approach, saying says he doesn't intend to get involved with it or anticipate a similar bill coming to his desk. "In our state there's a balance between wanting to make sure that there's not discrimination (and) at the same time respecting religious freedoms. ... We do that in different ways than what they've done in Indiana," he said at a press conference.

And on the lonely Democratic side, Hillary Clinton weighed in tweeting, "We shouldn't discriminate against ppl bc of who they love #LGBT."

Here's what the 2016 presidential contenders have said:

Jeb Bush, to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt:

I think if you, if they actually got briefed on the law that they wouldn't be blasting this law. I think Governor Pence has done the right thing. Florida has a law like this. Bill Clinton signed a law like this at the federal level.

This is simply allowing people of faith space to be able to express their beliefs, to have, to be able to be people of conscience. I just think once the facts are established, people aren't going to see this as discriminatory at all.

Ben Carson, to Breitbart News:

It is absolutely vital that we do all we can to allow Americans to practice their religious ways, while simultaneously ensuring that no one's beliefs infringe upon those of others. We should also serve as champions of freedom of religion throughout the world.

Hillary Clinton, on Twitter:

Sad this new Indiana law can happen in America today. We shouldn't discriminate against ppl bc of who they love #LGBT

Ted Cruz, on Twitter:

I'm proud to stand with Gov. @mike_pence for religious liberty, and I urge Americans to do the same.

Sen. Marco Rubio, to Fox's The Five :

I don't think Americans want to discriminate against anyone. I think the fundamental question in some of these laws is should someone be discriminated against because of their religious views? So no one here is saying it should be legal to deny someone service at a restaurant or a hotel because of their sexual orientation. I think that's a consensus view in America. The flip side of it is, though, should a photographer be punished for refusing to do a wedding that their faith teaches them is not one that is valid in the eyes of God.

Gov. Scott Walker, in a press conference

In our state there's a balance between wanting to make sure that there's not discrimination (and) at the same time respecting religious freedoms. ... We do that in different ways than what they've done in Indiana.

Certainly that's going to be part of the debate here and across the country.

Alabama Judge Says Raising Money To Be Elected Is 'Tawdry'

Mixing judges with campaign contributions can lead to conflicts of interest. Fresh Air talks to retired Judge Sue Bell Cobb and the Center for American Progress' Billy Corriher.

Future welcomes Arab stand against Iran in Yemen

BEIRUT: The Future Bloc hailed the Saudi-led military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen on Tuesday, criticizing remarks made by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and voicing support for the stance taken by Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

“The Future Bloc salutes [this] determined Arab stand, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to confront Persian attempts to rule over an Arab nation and its cities,” read a statement released by the bloc Tuesday afternoon.

The statement made reference to “the decisive storm,” a series of airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition over the past week.

Following their weekly meeting, headed by MP Samir Jisr, members of the bloc said the current confrontation between Iran and the Arab world “was evitable if not for Persian greed.”

The MPs also voiced their support for the decisions and recommendations made at the Arab Summit, held in Sharm al-Sheikh over the weekend.

They especially lauded the proposed creation of a joint Arab military force, calling on Arab countries to implement it "as soon as possible."

The Future Bloc also praised the position taken by Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the summit, where he said Lebanon “cannot [leave the] Arab consensus and follow unilateral policies.”

The MPs also “strongly denounced” a recent speech by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, in which he criticized Saudi Arabia for its campaign in Yemen.

Members of the bloc hailed Saudi Arabia as “a brother Arab country, that is always [first] in supporting Lebanon...backing its institutions and empowering its army.”

What They're Saying: Environmental Advocates Point to the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a Historic Opportunity to Protect Our Oceans, Forests, and Wildlife

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) offers a substantial opportunity to advance American interests and values, including a once-in-a-generation chance to protect our oceans, wildlife, and the environment.

The Asia-Pacific Region and TPP parties encompass some of the world’s most ecologically significant regions, are home to major markets for wildlife and wildlife products, and include eight of the top 20 fishing nations, together accounting for a quarter of global marine catch and seafood exports. Taking action in the region is of critical importance given that five of the TPP parties are among the world’s 17 “mega-diverse” countries, a group covering less than 10 percent of the earth’s area, but supporting more than 70 percent of the earth’s species plant and animal species.

Through TPP, the Obama administration is doubling down on its commitment to use every tool possible to address the most pressing environmental challenges. We aren’t just talking about holding trading partners accountable for protecting wildlife, forests, and oceans; we plan to make those environmental commitments fully enforceable in the core of the TPP agreement, on equal footing with the economic obligations our trading partners take on.

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Joreige: No crack in Cabinet over Yemen differences

BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s criticism of Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s speech at the annual Arab League summit is unlikely to cause a new crisis in Cabinet, Information Minister Ramzi Joreige said Tuesday.

“There will be a Cabinet session tomorrow, and maybe Hezbollah ministers will raise the issue, but I don’t think the [objection] will be echoed by other ministers,” Joreige told Al-Arabiya TV.

The objection to Salam’s speech before the summit only came from two Hezbollah ministers, the information minister said, noting that the party’s main allies in government do not share the grievance.

The Free Patriotic Movement, Hezbollah’s main coalition partner, has welcomed Salam’s comments as indicated by its representatives in Cabinet - Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil - who attended the summit alongside the premier, according to Joreige.

Joreige also dismissed claims that Salam’s speech did not represent Lebanon’s official position on the crisis in Yemen, saying that the constitution stipulates that the premier “represents the government and speaks in its name.”

Signs of a new crisis within Lebanon’s Cabinet emerged Monday after a Hezbollah minister criticized Salam’s speech at an Arab League summit, arguing that it justified “aggression on Yemen and its people.”

Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan, one of two ministers representing Hezbollah in the 24-member government, said Salam’s speech at the Arab summit did not represent Lebanon’s official position and was not discussed by the Cabinet. He said he would raise Hezbollah’s objections to Salam’s speech at the next Cabinet session scheduled for Thursday.

At the end of their two-day summit held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh Sunday, Arab leaders voiced support for the Saudi-led military intervention against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and agreed to the creation of a joint Arab force.

In his speech at the summit, Salam avoided taking a clear stance either supporting or rejecting the Saudi-led campaign, in a move apparently designed to avert a split within the Cabinet, but said Lebanon supported “the formation of a joint Arab force to fight terrorism and safeguard pan-Arab security.” This was viewed as implicit support for the Saudi military action.

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Security firm says new spy software in 10 countries came from Lebanon

SAN FRANCISCO: A security company has discovered a computer spying campaign that it said "likely" originated with a government agency or political group in Lebanon, underscoring how far the capability for sophisticated computer espionage is spreading beyond the world's top powers.

Israeli-based computer security firm Check Point Software Technologies said its researchers ruled out any financial motive for the effort that targeted telecommunications and networking companies, military contractors, media organizations and other institutions in Lebanon, Israel, Turkey and seven other countries. Researchers also found computers infected with spyware in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

The campaign, which Check Point dubbed Volatile Cedar, dates back at least three years and deploys hand-crafted software with some of the hallmarks of state-sponsored computer espionage. Twice, after software elements were detected as malicious by anti-virus programs, the campaign paused and then began distributing newer versions that escaped scrutiny, said Check Point researcher Shahar Tal.

While the chief aims of the software were to steal data and spread, the programs could also delete files and take other actions at the direction of control computers elsewhere.

The distributors relied on an unusual method for installation, Tal said. Instead of emailing tainted links or infected attachments, the people behind Volatile Cedar broke down the front door, hacking into public-facing websites and then moving from those host computers to others in the organization that contained more valuable information.

"They are not `script kiddies,'" as low-skill hackers are called, Tal said. "But we have to say in terms of technical advancement, this is not NSA-grade. They are not replacing hard-drive firmware," as did a nearly undetectable strain of spy software found recently by Kaspersky Lab.

Tal declined to say what sort of data had been stolen but said he found the successful infiltration of a defense contractor to be "alarming."

He said Check Point had notified authorities in all 10 countries where the hundreds of infections had been detected. The company also passed along technical information to other security companies so that their anti-virus programs would find more instances.

Tal said he was not aware of any other major spying campaign attributed to the Lebanese government or major factions. Researchers consider the United States, China and Russia to be the most advanced and prolific electronic spies, while other major cyber-espionage efforts have been traced to Israel, the United Kingdom, France and Spain.

Two kidnapped in Baalbek van ambush

BEIRUT: Two Arsal residents were abducted Tuesday when a passenger van they were riding in was ambushed by militants in northeast Lebanon, a security source said.

The source said that unidentified militants driving two SUVs stopped a passenger van in the Baalbek town of Nabi Othman, where they kidnapped two passengers, identified as Ahmad Hussein Kronbi and Amer Kronbi.

The militants fired shots in to the air in order to secure safe passage for their escape and successfully fled towards the town of Halbata, 12 km northeast of Baalbek.

According to the source, Tuesday’s abduction was a retaliatory kidnapping carried out one day after a Halbata resident from the Saifeddine family was snatched in Arsal.

The source said that there was no clear link between the passengers who were taken captive Tuesday and the kidnappers of the Halbata resident.

“The only link is that the two passengers were from Arsal, which is where the Halbata resident was kidnapped a day earlier,” he said.

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UCC resumes protest for wage hike

BEIRUT: The Union Coordination Committee held a protest facing the Education Ministry building in Beirut Tuesday, resuming their multi-year movement to demand a wage hike.

“We call for a Parliament joint committee session to approve the wage hike in a way that guarantees our rights and dignity,” the UCC said in a joint statement, calling on all parties to free the bill from political calculations.

“We are going to escalate our movement if we do not witness any serious [actions] concerning the ranks and salary scale [issue] soon.”

Speakers at the protest representing private and public schools teachers, as well civil servants from other sectors, condemned the “procrastination” by lawmakers.

Teachers and civil servants stopped working at 12 p.m. and headed to the Education Ministry, located near the UNESCO Palace.

Fewer than 100 protesters answered UCC’s call, marking a dramatic decline in numbers compared to last year’s protests.

The UCC launched their social movement more than three years ago, holding large scale demonstrations and general strikes that paralyzed many of the country’s facilities.

Despite the low turnout at Monday’s protest, the UCC will be organizing a larger demonstration and a general strike on April 23. Organizers hope the movement will again succeed in mobilizing thousands in order to exert real pressure on authorities.

The protest was paralleled by similar sit-ins in various areas around the country.

Public sector employees in Hermel and north Bekaa held a protest facing the Hermel Serail.

“The nation is ruled by an alliance of power and wealth, which led to the rise of the Union Coordination Committee all over the country as a syndicate movement... that works for a country where everyone is equal in rights and duties, away from sectarianism,” Ali al-Zein said on behalf of the UCC.

Teachers and civil servants in West Bekaa, Zahle, Tripoli, Koura, Aley and Nabatieh also joined the afternoon strike.

The teachers wondered why Lebanon’s public debt remains on the rise while the socio-economic conditions in the country are deteriorating.

“The prices are on fire and the salaries collapse. Where is the wage hike?” read one sign carried by a teacher at the Education Ministry protest.

After the demonstration in Beirut, representatives of the UCC met with Education Minister Elias Bou Saab at his office, and discussed proposed legislation on the ranks and salary scale issue.

Parliament’s joint committees held a session on March 18 in which they failed to come to any agreement on the draft law.

March 14 MPs boycotted the session, arguing that the wage hike and the 2015 draft budget were related and should be passed together.

Estimated to cost $1.2 billion, the salary scale would provide a wage hike to public sector employees including security forces and teachers at private and public schools.

On Monday, the head of the Association of Private School Teachers Nehme Mahfoud told The Daily Star that if Parliament fails to approve the wage hike, there would be no “normal end” for the current academic year.

Last year, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab issued passing certificates to all Grade 9 and Grade 12 students who took official exams after teachers refused to mark the tests in an attempt to pressure the legislature to pass the draft law.

Mahfoud said teachers would not make the same move this year because politicians were “too irresponsible” to feel the pressure and that all the consequences would be suffered by students.