[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 19 (Friday, February 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E295]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF FORMER LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER RAFIK 
                                 HARIRI

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 16, 2005

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in expressing condolences 
to the family of Mr. Hariri, the families of others killed in the 
attack that took Mr. Hariri's life, and the people of Lebanon. While I 
support this legislation expressing sorrow over the murders, I do have 
some concerns that H. Res. 91 is being waved as a red flag to call for 
more U.S. intervention in the Middle East.
  It is unfortunate that tragic occurrences like these are all too 
often used by those who wish to push a particular foreign policy. We 
don't really know who killed Mr. Hariri. Maybe an agent of the Syrian 
government killed him. Then again any of several other governments or 
groups in the Middle East or even beyond could be responsible. But 
already we are hearing from those who want to use this murder to 
justify tightening sanctions against Syria, forcing Syrian troops to 
leave Lebanon immediately, or even imposing U.S. military intervention 
against Syria. Just yesterday we heard that the U.S. ambassador to 
Syria has been withdrawn.
  The problem is that these calls for U.S. intervention ignore the 
complexities of Lebanon's tragic recent history, and its slow return 
from the chaos of the civil war--a revival in which Mr. Hariri played a 
praiseworthy role. We should remember, however, that it was the 
Lebanese government itself that requested assistance from Syria in 
1976, to help keep order in the face of a civil war where Maronite 
Christians battled against Sunnis and Druze. This civil war dragged on 
until a peace treaty was agreed to in 1989. The peace was maintained by 
the Syrian presence in Lebanon. So, while foreign occupation of any 
country against that country's will is to be condemned, it is not 
entirely clear that this is the case with Syrian involvement in 
Lebanon. Hariri himself was not a supporter of immediate Syrian 
withdrawal from Lebanon. What most won't say here is that Syria has 
indeed been slowly withdrawing forces from Lebanon. Who is to say that 
this is not the best approach to avoid a return to civil war? Yet, many 
are convinced that we must immediately blame Syria for this attack and 
we must ``do something'' to avenge something that has nothing 
whatsoever to do with the United States.
  So, while I do wish to express my sympathy over the tragic death of 
Rafik Hariri, I hope that my colleagues would refrain from using this 
tragedy to push policies of more U.S. interventionism in the Middle 
East.

                          ____________________