[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 103 (Monday, July 31, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8420-S8422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MIDDLE EAST--A REGION IN CRISIS
Mr. HAGEL. Mr. President, the Middle East today is a region in
crisis. After 3 weeks of escalating and continuing violence, the
potential for wider regional conflict becomes more real each day. The
hatred in the Middle East is being driven deeper and deeper into the
fabric of the region, which will make any lasting and sustained peace
effort very difficult to achieve.
How do we realistically believe that a continuation of the systematic
destruction of an American friend, the country and people of Lebanon,
is going to enhance America's image and give us the trust and
credibility to lead a lasting and sustained peace effort in the Middle
East?
The sickening slaughter on both sides must end, and it must end now.
President Bush must call for an immediate cease-fire. This madness must
stop. The Middle East today is more combustible and complex than it has
ever been. Uncertain popular support for regime legitimacy continues to
weaken governments in the Middle East. Economic stagnation, persistent
unemployment, deepening despair, and wider unrest enhance the ability
of terrorists to recruit and succeed.
An Iran with nuclear weapons raises the specter of broader
proliferation and a fundamental strategic realignment in the region,
creating more regional instability. America's approach to the Middle
East must be consistent and sustained, and it must understand the
history, the interests, and the perspectives of our regional friends
and allies.
The United States will remain committed to defending Israel. Our
relationship with Israel is a special and historic one. But it need not
and cannot be at the expense of our Arab and Muslim relationships. That
is an irresponsible and dangerous false choice.
Achieving a lasting resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict is as
much in Israel's interest as any other country in the world. Unending
war will continually drain Israel of its human capital, resources, and
energy as it continually fights for its survival.
The United States and Israel must understand that it is not in their
long-term interests to allow themselves to become isolated in the
Middle East and the world. Neither can allow themselves to drift into
an ``us against the world'' global optic or zero-sum game. That would
marginalize America's global leadership, our trust and influence,
further isolating Israel, and it would prove disastrous for both
countries, as well as the region. It is in Israel's interest, as much
as ours, that the United States be seen by all states in the Middle
East as fair. This is the currency of trust.
The world has rightly condemned the despicable actions of Hezbollah
and
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Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel and kidnapped Israeli soldiers.
Israel has the undeniable right to defend itself against aggression.
This is the right of all nations.
Hezbollah is a threat to Israel, to Lebanon, and to all who strive
for lasting peace in the Middle East. However, military action alone
will not destroy Hezbollah or Hamas. Extended military action is
tearing Lebanon apart, killing innocent civilians, devastating its
economy and infrastructure, and creating a humanitarian disaster,
further weakening Lebanon's fragile democratic government,
strengthening popular Muslim and Arab support for Hezbollah, and
deepening hatred of Israel's position across the Middle East. The
pursuit of tactical military victories at the expense of the core
strategic objective of Arab-Israeli peace is a hollow victory. The war
against Hezbollah and Hamas will not be won on the battlefield.
To achieve a strategic shift in the conditions for Middle East peace,
the United States must use the global condemnation of terrorist acts as
the basis for substantive change. For a lasting and popularly supported
resolution, only a strong Lebanese Government and a strong Lebanese
Army, backed by the international community, can rid Lebanon of these
corrosive militias and terrorist organizations.
President Bush and Secretary Rice must become and remain deeply
engaged in the Middle East. Only U.S. leadership can build a consensus
of purpose among our regional and international partners. To lead and
sustain U.S. engagement, the President should appoint a statesman of
global stature, experience, and ability to serve as his personal envoy
to the region. This individual would report directly to the President
and be empowered with the authority to speak and act for the President.
Former Secretaries of State Baker and Powell fit this profile.
The President must publicly decry the slaughter today and work toward
an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East. The U.N. Security Council
must urgently adopt a new binding resolution that provides a
comprehensive political, security, and economic framework for Lebanon,
Israel, and the region--a framework that begins with the immediate
cessation of violence.
I strongly support the deployment of a robust international force
along the Israel-Lebanon border to facilitate a steady deployment of a
strengthened Lebanese Army into southern Lebanon to eventually assume
responsibility for security and the rule of law.
America must listen carefully to its friends, its partners in the
region. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and others--countries that
understand the Middle East far better than we do--must commit to help
resolve today's crisis, and they must be active partners in helping
realize the already-agreed-upon two-state solution.
The core of all challenges in the Middle East remains the underlying
Arab-Israeli conflict. The failure to address this root cause will
allow Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorists to continue to sustain
popular Muslim and Arab support--a dynamic that continues to undermine
America's standing in the region and the Governments of Egypt, Jordan,
Saudi Arabia, and others, whose support is critical for any Middle East
resolution.
The United States should engage our Middle East and international
partners to revive the Beirut Declaration, or some version of that
declaration, proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and adopted
unanimously by the Arab League in March of 2002. In this historic
initiative, the Arab world recognized Israel's right to exist and
sought to establish a path toward a two-state solution and broader
Arab-Israeli peace. Even though Israel could not accept it as it was
written, it represented a very significant starting point--starting
point--document initiated by Arab countries. Today, we need a new
Beirut Declaration-type initiative. We squandered the last one.
The concept and intent of the 2002 Beirut Declaration is as relevant
today as it was in 2002. An Arab-initiated, Beirut-type declaration
would reinvest regional Arab States with a stake in achieving progress
toward Israeli-Palestinian peace. This type of initiative would offer a
positive alternative--a positive alternative--vision for Arab
populations to the ideology and goals of Islamic extremists. The United
States must explore this approach as part of its diplomatic engagement
in the Middle East.
Lasting peace in the Middle East, and stability and security for
Israel, will come only from a regionally oriented political settlement.
Former American Middle East Envoy Dennis Ross once observed that in the
Middle East a process is necessary because a process absorbs events.
Without a process, events become crises. He was right. Look at where we
are today in the Middle East with no process. Crisis diplomacy is no
substitute for sustained, day-to-day engagement.
America's approach to Syria and Iran is inextricably tied to Middle
East peace. Whether or not they were directly involved in the latest
Hezbollah and Hamas aggression in Israel, both countries exert
influence in the region in ways that undermine stability and security.
As we work with our friends and allies to deny Syria and Iran any
opportunity to further corrode the situation in Lebanon and the
Palestinian territories, both Damascus and Tehran must hear from
America directly.
As John McLaughlin, the former Deputy Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency, recently wrote in the Washington Post--and I quote
Mr. McLaughlin--
Even superpowers have to talk to bad guys. The absence of a
diplomatic relationship with Iran and the deterioration of
the one with Syria--two countries that bear enormous
responsibility for the current crisis [in the Middle East]--
leave the United States with fewer options and levers than
might otherwise have been the case.
Distasteful as it might have been to have or to maintain
open and normal relations with such states, the absence of
such relations ensures that we will have more blind spots
than we can afford and that we will have to deal through
surrogates on issues of vital importance to the United
States.''
Ultimately, the United States will need to engage Iran and
Syria with an agenda open to all areas of agreement and
disagreement. For this dialog to have any meaning or possible
lasting relevance, it should encompass the full agenda of
issues.
There is very little good news coming out of Iraq today.
Increasingly vicious sectarian violence continues to propel
Iraq toward civil war.
The U.S. announcement last week to send additional U.S.
troops and military police back into Baghdad reverses last
month's decision to have Iraqi forces take the lead in
Baghdad and represents a dramatic setback for the U.S. and
the Iraqi Government.
The Iraqi Government has limited ability to enforce the
rule of law in Iraq, especially in Baghdad. Green zone
politics appear to have little bearing or relation to the
realities of the rest of Iraq. The Iraqis will continue to
face difficult choices over the future of their country.
The day-to-day responsibilities of governing and security
will soon have to be assumed by Iraqis. This is not about
setting a timeline. This is about understanding the
implications of the forces of reality. This reality is being
determined by Iraqis, not Americans.
America is bogged down in Iraq and this is limiting our
diplomatic and military options. The longer America remains
in Iraq in its current capacity, the deeper the damage to our
force structure--particularly the U.S. Army.
And it will continue to place more limitations on an
already dangerously overextended force structure that will
further limit our options and public support.
The Middle East crisis represents a moment of great danger,
but it is also an opportunity.
Crisis focuses the minds of leaders and the attention of
nations. The Middle East need not be a region forever captive
to the fire of war and historical hatred. It can avoid this
fate if the United States pursues sustained and engaged
leadership worthy of our history, purpose, and power. America
cannot fix every problem in the world; nor should it try. But
we must get the big issues and important relationships right
and concentrate on those.
We know that without engaged and active American
leadership, the world is more dangerous. The United States
must focus all of its leadership and resources on ending this
madness in the Middle East now.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. JOHNSON. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum
call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The minority has no remaining time in morning business.
Mr. JOHNSON. I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 10 minutes as
in morning business.
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The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
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