[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6307-S6312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
______
AUTHORIZING THE LIMITED AND SPECIFIED USE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED
FORCES AGAINST SYRIA--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 21.
Under the previous order, the time until 12 noon will be equally
divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with
Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.
Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the time during the quorum
calls, which I will suggest in just a few seconds, be equally divided
between the majority and the minority.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the
quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, this week we have a very difficult set of
questions to answer relating to Syria and the ongoing crisis there. But
in particular we have a question to answer as it relates to what the
United States should do. I rise this morning to express strong support
for this authorization to degrade Bashar al-Asad's chemical weapons
capability and deter the future use of these horrific weapons. I made
this determination based upon the evidence and the national security
interests of the United States, both our national security interests
today as well as in the future.
The resolution that is before the Senate right now does not allow for
the deployment of U.S. combat troops on the ground in Syria. I will not
support--nor do I think there will be much support in this Chamber--any
measure that would involve U.S. boots on the ground in Syria and this
resolution specifically speaks to this concern. I am quoting, in part,
the resolution:
The authority granted in section 2(a) does not authorize
the use of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in
Syria for the purpose of combat operations.
It is important we make that point.
As we have all seen, especially in the last few days, the situation
in Syria is in flux, especially in the last 24 hours. The Russian
Government put forth a proposal yesterday which would have
international monitors take control of Syria's chemical weapons in
order to avert a U.S. military strike. I am open to this diplomatic
discussion--however not without caution and not without skepticism.
Diplomatic solutions are always a preferred path and military strikes
should always be the last resort.
I think prior to this proposal we were at this point of a last
resort. But the only reason this proposal is on the table is because of
the credible threat of force that is being debated in Washington--but
even more significantly being debated across the country. The
authorization itself should still go forward because it will keep the
pressure on the Syrian regime for a diplomatic solution.
Let's take a couple of minutes on our own national security
interests. In March of 2011, as reported by the U.S. State Department,
multiple news sources, including CNN, reported--and I will submit for
the Record a report from CNN--that the Syrian Government authorities
had arrested 15 schoolchildren in the city of Daraa for spray-painting
antigovernment slogans. These young people were reportedly tortured
while in custody and authorities resorted to force when their parents
and others in the community called for their release. Within 1 week the
police had killed 55 demonstrators in connection with the early efforts
to provide opposition to the Asad regime. The regime committed
countless atrocities during the next 2 years of this conflict,
culminating in the unspeakable use--the indiscriminate use of chemical
weapons on August 21.
I submit for the Record a report from CNN, dated March 1, 2012, and
ask it be printed in the Record.
This report is March of 2012, but it looks back in a retrospective
fashion on what happened in those early days of the opposition coming
together in 2011. I will read a pertinent part, part of what CNN said
about what happened when these schoolchildren were demonstrating
against the regime. They talked in this report about the young people,
as I mentioned, not just protesting but spray-painting their beliefs
against the regime. At the time, not a lot of people around the world
were focused on what was happening in Syria. Let me quote in pertinent
part what at one point one of the citizens on the street was saying,
that the people in Daraa:
. . . didn't want to go against the regime. People thought
that this [leader, Mr. Asad] was better than his dad. Nobody
wanted to go face-to-face with him.
But then of course it was young people, in this case even
schoolchildren, who led the way to take him on. I submit this for the
record because this opposition started on the streets of Syria, in this
case in Daraa, starting with young people, but it of course continued
from there. We know that the regime itself has the largest chemical
stockpile in the region, one of the largest in the world. We know Mr.
Asad used these weapons against his own people, not only on August 21
but on multiple occasions prior to that in a much more limited way. We
also know he has the capacity, the will, and unfortunately the track
record to use these weapons against innocent civilians.
We also should remember we have troops and other military and
diplomatic personnel in the region, in the Middle East. Even Syria's
acquisition--even Syria's very acquisition of chemical weapons
threatens our national security. In 2003, the Congress of the United
States--some people have forgotten about this--the Congress of the
[[Page S6308]]
United States in 2003 passed the Syria Accountability and Lebanese
Sovereignty Restoration Act of that year. This act explicitly states
that Congress found--the U.S. Congress made a finding that ``Syria's
acquisition''--and I am underlining that word ``acquisition''--``of
weapons of mass destruction threatens the security of the Middle East
and the national security interests of the United States.''
This Congress 10 years ago made a determination that the acquisition
of chemical weapons was a threat to our national security. We are in a
different world now. Syria not only acquired them but has now used them
multiple times on its own people, the most recent being the horrific
scenes that we all saw in some of the videos that are now part of the
public record. So there is clear and convincing evidence of the direct
involvement of the Asad regime, the forces of the Asad regime and
senior officials, in the planning, execution, aftermath, and attempts
to cover up the August 21 attack. This is graphically evident in the 13
authenticated videos released by the Senate Intelligence Committee
compiled by the Open Source Center showing the results of chemical
weapons use in the Damascus suburbs on August 21. These videos were
shown to the Intelligence Committee on Thursday and played on CNN on
Saturday. So many Americans have seen them. If anyone would like more
information about those, go to my Web site and I am certain many others
as well.
It is clear that the regime violated international law as it relates
to chemical weapons. We know the regime committed a barrage of terror
across the country with the sole aim of remaining in power. We have to
ask ourselves, when a dictator or terrorist organization uses chemical
weapons in violation of international law, should that regime or
terrorist organization pay a price? I argue that they must pay a price.
We simply can't condemn this crime against humanity; it is in the
national security interest of the United States for the administration
to have the authorization to act. The regime in Iran, the terrorist
organization Hezbollah, and the regime in North Korea are watching very
closely, so it is imperative that we take steps to address this threat.
Let me talk about the regime in Iran and Hezbollah. What happens in
Syria is of great consequence to our security interest as it relates to
that regime in Hezbollah. When I say ``that regime,'' I am speaking
about the Iran regime. Their support for Hezbollah, through Syria, has
resulted in constant plotting against the United States and its allies.
The Asad regime in Syria is the conduit of this relationship between
Hezbollah and the Iranian regime itself.
I support this authorization of targeted and strategic military
action in order to hold the Syrian regime accountable and because it
will diminish the ability of Iran and Hezbollah to conduct acts of
terror. It will also protect American lives if we hold them
accountable, as well as, of course, the Syrian people. Indeed, other
than Al Qaeda, Hezbollah has killed more Americans than any other
terrorist organization in the world, including 241 marines in 1983.
Hezbollah has consistently partnered with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps to bolster Asad's campaign of repression and violence in
Syria, which has further destabilized the region. The regime in Iran
has provided funds, weapons, logistical support, tactical advice, and
fighters to the Syrian Government forces. Just this year Iran's support
to Asad has increased, with reported daily resupply flights to Syria.
The Syrian regime possesses a stockpile of chemical weapons that we
cannot allow to fall into the hands of terrorists. Iran and Hezbollah--
I think some people in Washington missed this--are not on the
sidelines; they are already on the battlefield. I would argue that Iran
and Hezbollah are on two battlefields. Certainly, they are on the
battlefield in Syria but also the daily battlefield of terrorist acts
plotting against the United States and other countries as well.
Failure to bring action and failure to hold Syria accountable after
such a horrific crime will only serve to embolden the Iranian regime,
to embolden the terrorist organization Hezbollah and others, to expand
terror across the world. Iran's status as the world's leading state
sponsor of terrorism is well established, and its proxies have
perpetuated attacks against the United States, Israel, and our allies.
Emboldened by Iran's support, Hezbollah has conducted terrorist
attacks since its inception in the early 1980s--including Western
targets. Hezbollah has become more aggressive in the last few years and
has executed attacks not only in the Middle East but on two other
continents--South Asia and Europe. Just 2 years ago a plot was
uncovered to blow up a restaurant in Georgetown--right here in
Washington, DC--to kill the Saudi Ambassador to the United States,
along with U.S. officials and average citizens who are American. When
the Iranian-backed attacker was questioned, he referred to the
potential killing of Americans as ``no big deal.''
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record
the report by the Department of Justice entitled ``Two Men Charged in
Alleged Plot to Assassinate Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United
States.''
The list goes on. We know that in June of 1996 there was the bombing
of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia where 19 U.S. Air Force personnel were
killed. That is another example of an Iran-backed terrorist activity.
It goes back, as I mentioned, to 1983 when 241 marines were killed by a
truck bombing in Beirut. There are also new reports on evidence that
strongly suggests that an Iran-backed plot was underway to kill a U.S.
Ambassador in 2011. Hezbollah has consistently partnered with Iran to
do just that.
The national security interest of the United States is even more
significant than that. It is not simply the green light it would send
to Iran and Hezbollah as it relates to terrorism. If we don't take the
right action here, it would send a message and green light to Iran as
it relates to their nuclear program. We know the Iranian regime is
intent on developing nuclear weapons capability. I support a variety of
measures to prevent Iran from acquiring that capability. Condemnation
only of Syria would embolden Iran and undermine our efforts to prevent
the Iranian regime from developing and possessing a nuclear weapon.
Every Member of Congress will have to weigh the consequence of giving
the green light to the use of chemical weapons and contemplate what it
will mean for enemies, such as the Iranian regime and Hezbollah, who
plot against the United States every day. I am like a lot of Members of
Congress in that after receiving several intelligence briefings, I have
more confidence than ever before that we have a significant national
security imperative to authorize the President to act as it relates to
Syria. I have no doubt that Mr. Asad used the chemical weapons against
his people and it is evident that he crossed more than one redline. So
I support this limited and proportional scope of authorization for the
use of force.
By the way, this authorization would probably be the most limited
authorization in recent American history.
I believe Congress must stand united on this issue, and we have to
make sure we not only hold the regime accountable but make sure we are
doing everything possible to send the right message.
I have two more points before I conclude. One of the best rationales
for the reason we are taking the steps I hope we will take was set
forth in an op-ed printed in the New York Times last weekend by
Nicholas Kristof, and it is dated September 7, 2013. The op-ed is
entitled ``Pulling the Curtain Back on Syria,'' and I ask unanimous
consent to have this op-ed printed in the Record.
I think one of the most important lines in here--and, of course, I
will not read the entire op-ed--is what Mr. Kristof wrote:
In other words, while there are many injustices around the
world, from Darfur to eastern Congo, take it from one who has
covered most of them: Syria is today the world capital of
human suffering.
There are few journalists--there are few Americans--who have more
credibility on the issue of what is happening to children and
vulnerable populations around the world than Nicholas Kristof. For him
to say the world capital of human suffering is in Syria is a powerful
and compelling statement.
[[Page S6309]]
That brings me back to where I started. I started walking through the
early days of this opposition to a repressive regime against Mr. Asad,
and the people who led the way and made a case against his regime in
large measure were the children or young people. One of the harrowing
and very disturbing elements of this entire crisis--this war that has
raged on for more than 2 years now--is the impact it has had on
children.
I received a report today that came from Save the Children. They have
enormous credibility not only on children's issues worldwide, but there
are Save the Children personnel on the ground in Syria.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the document entitled
``Briefing note: The children crisis in Syria'' be printed in the
Record as well.
That documents in great detail the human suffering of children and
the impact this has had on millions of Syrian children. But, of course,
maybe the most graphic and disturbing example of that was the footage
that virtually every American has had an opportunity to view which
shows the hundreds and hundreds of children who were killed instantly
in this horrific chemical weapons attack. By one estimate, more than
400--maybe as many as 426--children were killed.
When we confront this issue, we cannot simply say: Oh, this is just
another horrific situation around the world. When we consider what this
regime did to schoolchildren--arrested them and by many accounts
tortured them from the beginning of this opposition all the way through
to the attack on August 21--and what will continue to happen to
children in Syria and in places around the world, we are summoned by
our conscience to act in some fashion and hold this regime accountable.
I want to be open to this possibility that maybe there is a
breakthrough, that we can remove this terrible threat from Syria and
wipe out the chemical weapons threat by giving total and complete
control of chemical weapons to an international force, but the burden
of proof is on Syria and the Russian Federation. They have to deliver
very specifically in a very short timeframe if they expect us to agree
to this. We should be hopeful and consider this opportunity, but at the
same time we cannot divorce ourselves from the reality of what
happened, the consequence of not acting, and also the long-term and
short-term national security interests of the United States, which I
think are overwhelming and compelling in this instance.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate recess.
From CNN.com, Mar. 1, 2012]
Daraa: The Spark That Lit the Syrian Flame
(By Joe Sterling)
Syria is burning--scorched for nearly a year by tenacious
political resistance, a merciless security crackdown and
cries for democracy.
The spark that lit the flame began about a year ago in the
southern city of Daraa after the arrests of at least 15
children for painting anti-government graffiti on the walls
of a school.
The community's blunt outrage over the children's arrests
and mistreatment, the government's humiliating and violent
reactions to their worries, and the people's refusal to be
cowed by security forces emboldened and helped spread the
Syrian opposition.
Fate of neighborhood uncertain
Daraa soon became a rallying cry across the country for
what began as a rural and provincial-driven uprising.
Syrians compare the dramatic dynamics in the rural city to
the moment Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi torched
himself in December 2010. Bouazizi's act and death spawned
demonstrations that led to the grassroots ouster of Tunisian
President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and fueled other protests
across the Arab world.
Mohamed Masalmeh--a Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Syrian
activist whose family hails from Daraa--said Daraa residents
broke the people's ``wall of fear'' by defying what he and
others call a police state and taking to the street.
``What people did in Daraa was unheard of,'' he said.
Omar Almuqdad, a journalist from Daraa now living in
Turkey, said, ``They started protesting day after day.''
``It was the flame of the revolution.''
A slow burn into a firestorm
Discontent in Syria has slow-burned for decades.
A clampdown on a Muslim Brotherhood uprising by the current
president's predecessor and father--President Hafez Assad--
killed thousands in Hama in 1982.
When Bashar al-Assad took the presidency after his father
died in 2000, he gave lip service to reforms.
But activists who emerged from the so-called Damascus
Spring after the death of Hafez and those in 2005 who urged
reforming what they said was an ``authoritarian, totalitarian
and cliquish regime'' found themselves in trouble with the
authorities.
There was sectarian and ethnic unrest in the last decade,
too, with a Druze uprising flaring in 2000 and a Kurdish
rebellion erupting in 2004.
When the Arab Spring unfolded last year, Syrians imbibed
the contagious revolutionary fervor spreading across the
Middle East.
But the anger smoldered under the surface because of the
Goliath-sized, all-seeing and all-knowing security and spying
apparatus.
Protests popped up in Syria as video images of public
defiance in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia swept the world--small
outpourings seen by observers as tests to build a Syrian
nerve to take to the streets.
And then--Daraa.
Remote Daraa sits just a few miles from the Jordanian
border. It has had its economic struggles, such as drought
and drops in subsidies and salaries. Nevertheless, it had
been a reliable bastion of support for the regime and its
Baath party.
Tribal and predominantly Sunni, Daraa is like many small
towns. People know one another and the relationships are
close in the city and in the nearby villages and towns.
When the schoolchildren were arrested in late February
2011, they were accused of scrawling graffiti on a school
that said ``the people want to topple the regime.'' Masalmeh,
the activist, said security went to a school, interrogated
students and rounded up suspects.
It wasn't as if this vandalism was rare. Such graffiti was
becoming so common in the region that ID was needed to buy
spray cans.
But these arrests struck a chord. Residents found out their
boys were being beaten and tortured in prison.
The families of the boys approached authorities and asked
for their sons' release. Activists and observers say
authorities shunned and insulted the people. One official
reportedly said: ``Forget your children. If you really want
your children, you should make more children. If you don't
know how to make more children, we'll show you how to do
it.''
``At some point, the insult is so far below the belt.
People do respond to it. They just don't bow down anymore,''
Amnesty International's Neil Sammonds said.
Protests grow
On March 16, a female-led sit-in in Damascus demanded the
release of prisoners unfairly jailed. Some of the
participants were Daraans, with strong ties back to their
home province, and part of the educated, urbanite youth
living in Damascus.
``Police dragged protesters by the hair and beat them,''
said Mohja Kahf, a novelist, professor and activist in
Arkansas with contacts across Syria. ``This built on the
gathering outrage over the Daraa children who are
prisoners.''
A day later, a sit-in in Daraa, with some detained. The
next day, on March 18, a protest against the arrests of the
children, according to The Human Rights Watch.
``Security forces opened fire, killing at least four
protesters and within days, the protests grew into rallies
that gathered thousands of people,'' the group said.
Activists regard these as the first deaths in the Syrian
uprising.
People began rallying in other cities across Syria that
day--Jassem, Da'el, Sanamein and Inkhil. Kahf said the
government responded with live fire only in Daraa.
But the more people demonstrated in Daraa, the tougher
security forces cracked down. And as the crackdown worsened,
the more resolute the protesters became.
The people in Daraa ``didn't want to go against the
regime,'' Masalmeh said. ``People thought this guy--Bashar--
was better than his dad. Nobody wanted to go face-to-face
with him.
``It's not like they fought with arms at that moment,'' he
said. ``They were just defiant. `All that we want is our
children.' ''
The youths were eventually freed, but YouTube videos and
demonstrations were already spreading.
Al-Assad addressed the Daraa unrest in a March 30 speech
before lawmakers, blaming the unrest on sedition. ``They
started in the governorate (province) of Daraa,'' al-Assad
said, adding ``the conspirators took their plan to other
governorates.''
``That speech had a catastrophic impact,'' the
International Crisis Group's Peter Harling said. ``People who
wanted to support the regime at the time were shocked by the
speech.''
The dismissiveness of al-Assad and the lawmakers who
applauded his words awakened many Syrian people, says the
Human Rights Watch's Nadim Houry. Two days later, weekly
anti-government protests began across Syria.
Calls for reforms soon morphed into calls for the removal
of the al-Assad regime.
``Courage is contagious,'' Houry said.
The government launched a full-scale siege on Daraa April
25, with other towns such as Homs to follow.
Mass arrests unfolded and tales of torture spread across
the country. The protest movement grew and solidified into an
opposition.
Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center,
points out ``it's conceivable
[[Page S6310]]
that if the events didn't happen in Daraa,'' the uprising
``might not have occurred.''
But the deep-seated political and economic reasons
underlining Syrian discontent was an omen. Protest in Syria
was ``going to happen'' at some point, Salem said.
So, out of Daraa, a spark. And a year later, the uprisings
blaze on.
``The impact of small events on history can be huge,''
Salem said.
____
The following is an official release from the Department of
Justice on the alleged plot.
Two Men Charged in Alleged Plot to Assassinate Saudi Arabian Ambassador
to the United States
Washington.--Two individuals have been charged in New York
for their alleged participation in a plot directed by
elements of the Iranian government to murder the Saudi
Ambassador to the United States with explosives while the
Ambassador was in the United States.
The charges were announced by Attorney General Eric Holder;
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller; Lisa Monaco, Assistant
Attorney General for National Security; and Preet Bharara,
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
A criminal complaint filed today in the Southern District
of New York charges Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old
naturalized U.S. citizen holding both Iranian and U.S.
passports, and Gholam Shakuri, an Iran-based member of Iran's
Qods Force, which is a special operations unit of the Iranian
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that is said to
sponsor and promote terrorist activities abroad.
Both defendants are charged with conspiracy to murder a
foreign official; conspiracy to engage in foreign travel and
use of interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the
commission of murder-for-hire; conspiracy to use a weapon of
mass destruction (explosives); and conspiracy to commit an
act of international terrorism transcending national
boundaries. Arbabsiar is further charged with an additional
count of foreign travel and use of interstate and foreign
commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
Shakuri remains at large. Arbabsiar was arrested on Sept.
29, 2011, at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport
and will make his initial appearance today before in federal
court in Manhattan. He faces a maximum potential sentence of
life in prison if convicted of all the charges.
``The criminal complaint unsealed today exposes a deadly
plot directed by factions of the Iranian government to
assassinate a foreign Ambassador on U.S. soil with
explosives,'' said Attorney General Holder. ``Through the
diligent and coordinated efforts of our law enforcement and
intelligence agencies, we were able to disrupt this plot
before anyone was harmed. We will continue to investigate
this matter vigorously and bring those who have violated any
laws to justice.''
``The investigation leading to today's charges illustrates
both the challenges and complexities of the international
threat environment, and our increased ability today to bring
together the intelligence and law enforcement resources
necessary to better identify and disrupt those threats,
regardless of their origin,'' said FBI Director Mueller.
``The disruption of this plot is a significant milestone
that stems from months of hard work by our law enforcement
and intelligence professionals,'' said Assistant Attorney
General Monaco. ``I applaud the many agents, analysts and
prosecutors who helped bring about today's case.''
``As alleged, these defendants were part of a well-funded
and pernicious plot that had, as its first priority, the
assassination of the Saudi Ambassador to the United States,
without care or concern for the mass casualties that would
result from their planned attack,'' said U.S. Attorney
Bharara. ``Today's charges should make crystal clear that we
will not let other countries use our soil as their
battleground.''
The Alleged Plot
The criminal complaint alleges that, from the spring of
2011 to October 2011, Arbabsiar and his Iran-based co-
conspirators, including Shakuri of the Qods Force, have been
plotting the murder of the Saudi Ambassador to the United
States. In furtherance of this conspiracy, Arbabsiar
allegedly met on a number of occasions in Mexico with a DEA
confidential source (CS-1) who has posed as an associate of a
violent international drug trafficking cartel. According to
the complaint, Arbabsiar arranged to hire CS-1 and CS-1's
purported accomplices to murder the Ambassador, and Shakuri
and other Iran-based co-conspirators were aware of and
approved the plan. With Shakuri's approval, Arbabsiar has
allegedly caused approximately $100,000 to be wired into a
bank account in the United States as a down payment to CS-1
for the anticipated killing of the Ambassador, which was to
take place in the United States.
According to the criminal complaint, the IRCG is an arm of
the Iranian military that is composed of a number of
branches, one of which is the Qods Force. The Qods Force
conducts sensitive covert operations abroad, including
terrorist attacks, assassinations and kidnappings, and is
believed to sponsor attacks against Coalition Forces in Iraq.
In October 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the
Qods Force for providing material support to the Taliban and
other terrorist organizations.
The complaint alleges that Arbabsiar met with CS-1 in
Mexico on May 24, 2011, where Arbabsiar inquired as to CS-1's
knowledge with respect to explosives and explained that he
was interested in, among other things, attacking an embassy
of Saudi Arabia. In response, CS-1 allegedly indicated that
he was knowledgeable with respect to C-4 explosives. In June
and July 2011, the complaint alleges, Arbabsiar returned to
Mexico and held additional meetings with CS-1, where
Arbabsiar explained that his associates in Iran had discussed
a number of violent missions for CS-1 and his associates to
perform, including the murder of the Ambassador.
$1.5 Million Fee for Alleged Assassination
In a July 14, 2011, meeting in Mexico, CS-1 allegedly told
Arbabsiar that he would need to use four men to carry out the
Ambassador's murder and that his price for carrying out the
murder was $1.5 million. Arbabsiar allegedly agreed and
stated that the murder of the Ambassador should be handled
first, before the execution of other attacks. Arbabsiar also
allegedly indicated he and his associates had $100,000 in
Iran to pay CS-1 as a first payment toward the assassination
and discussed the manner in which that payment would be made.
During the same meeting, Arbabsiar allegedly described to
CS-1 his cousin in Iran, who he said had requested that
Arbabsiar find someone to carry out the Ambassador's
assassination. According to the complaint, Arbabsiar
indicated that his cousin was a ``big general'' in the
Iranian military; that he focuses on matters outside Iran and
that he had taken certain unspecified actions related to a
bombing in Iraq.
In a July 17, 2011 meeting in Mexico, CS-1 noted to
Arbabsiar that one of his workers had already traveled to
Washington, D.C., to surveill the Ambassador. CS-1 also
raised the possibility of innocent bystander casualties. The
complaint alleges that Arbabsiar made it clear that the
assassination needed to go forward, despite mass casualties,
telling CS-1, ``They want that guy [the Ambassador] done
[killed], if the hundred go with him f**k 'em.'' CS-1 and
Arbabsiar allegedly discussed bombing a restaurant in the
United States that the Ambassador frequented. When CS-1 noted
that others could be killed in the attack, including U.S.
senators who dine at the restaurant, Arbabsiar allegedly
dismissed these concerns as ``no big deal.''
On Aug. 1, and Aug. 9, 2011, with Shakuri's approval,
Arbabsiar allegedly caused two overseas wire transfers
totaling approximately $100,000 to be sent to an FBI
undercover account as a down payment for CS-1 to carry out
the assassination. Later, Arbabsiar allegedly explained to
CS-1 that he would provide the remainder of the $1.5 million
after the assassination. On Sept. 20, 2011, CS-1 allegedly
told Arbabsiar that the operation was ready and requested
that Arbabsiar either pay one half of the agreed upon price
($1.5 million) for the murder or that Arbabsiar personally
travel to Mexico as collateral for the final payment of the
fee. According to the complaint, Arbabsiar agreed to travel
to Mexico to guarantee final payment for the murder.
Arrest and Alleged Confession
On or about Sept. 28, 2011, Arbabsiar flew to Mexico.
Arbabsiar was refused entry into Mexico by Mexican
authorities and, according to Mexican law and international
agreements; he was placed on a return flight destined for his
last point of departure. On Sept. 29, 2011, Arbabsiar was
arrested by federal agents during a flight layover at JFK
International Airport in New York. Several hours after his
arrest, Arbabsiar was advised of his Miranda rights and he
agreed to waive those rights and speak with law enforcement
agents. During a series of Mirandized interviews, Arbabsiar
allegedly confessed to his participation in the murder plot.
According to the complaint, Arbabsiar also admitted to
agents that, in connection with this plot, he was recruited,
funded and directed by men he understood to be senior
officials in Iran's Qods Force. He allegedly said these
Iranian officials were aware of and approved of the use of
CS-1 in connection with the plot; as well as payments to CS-
1; the means by which the Ambassador would be killed in the
United States and the casualties that would likely result.
Arbabsiar allegedly told agents that his cousin, who he had
long understood to be a senior member of the Qods Force, had
approached him in the early spring of 2011 about recruiting
narco-traffickers to kidnap the Ambassador. Arbabsiar told
agents that he then met with the CS-1 in Mexico and discussed
assassinating the Ambassador. According to the complaint,
Arbabsiar said that, afterwards, he met several times in Iran
with Shakuri and another senior Qods Force official, where he
explained that the plan was to blow up a restaurant in the
United States frequented by the Ambassador and that numerous
bystanders could be killed, according to the complaint. The
plan was allegedly approved by these officials.
In October 2011, according to the complaint, Arbabsiar made
phone calls at the direction of law enforcement to Shakuri in
Iran that were monitored. During these phone calls, Shakuri
allegedly confirmed that Arbabsiar should move forward with
the plot to murder the Ambassador and that he should
accomplish the task as quickly as possible, stating on Oct.
5, 2011, ``[j]ust do it quickly, it's late . . .'' The
complaint alleges that Shakuri also told Arbabsiar that he
[[Page S6311]]
would consult with his superiors about whether they would be
willing to pay CS-1 additional money.
This investigation is being conducted by the FBI Houston
Division and DEA Houston Division, with assistance from the
FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force. The prosecution is
being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Glen Kopp and
Edward Kim, of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit
of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of
New York, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section
of the Justice Department's National Security Division, The
Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department's
Criminal Division and the U.S. State Department provided
substantial assistance. We thank the government of Mexico for
its close coordination and collaboration in this matter, and
for its role in ensuring that the defendant was safely
apprehended.
The charges contained in a criminal complaint are mere
allegations and defendants are presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty.
____
[From the New York Times, Sept. 7, 2013]
Pulling the Curtain Back on Syria
(By Nicholas D. Kristof)
When I was a law student in 1982, I escaped torts by
backpacking through Syria and taking a public bus to Hama,
where the government had suppressed a rebellion by massacring
some 20,000 people.
The center of Hama was pulverized into a vast field of
rubble interspersed with bits of clothing, yet on the fringe
of it stood, astonishingly, a tourism office. The two Syrian
officials inside, thrilled to see an apparent tourist,
weighed me down with leaflets about sightseeing in Hama and
its ancient water wheels. After a bit of small talk, I
pointed out the window at the moonscape and asked what had
happened.
They peered out at the endless gravel pit.
``Huh?'' one said nervously. ``I don't see anything.''
It feels to me a bit as if much of the world is reacting
the same way today. The scale of the slaughter may be five
times that of 1982, but few are interested in facing up to
what is unfolding today out our window in Hama, Homs,
Damascus and Aleppo.
As one woman tweeted to me: ``We simply cannot stop every
injustice in the world by using military weapons.''
Fair enough. But let's be clear that this is not ``every
injustice'': On top of the 100,000-plus already killed in
Syria, another 5,000 are being slaughtered monthly, according
to the United Nations. Remember the Boston Massacre of 1770
from our history books, in which five people were killed?
Syria loses that many people every 45 minutes on average,
around the clock.
The rate of killing is accelerating. In the first year,
2011, there were fewer than 5,000 deaths. As of July 2012,
there were still ``only'' 10,000, and the number has since
soared tenfold.
A year ago, by United Nations calculations, there were
230,000 Syrian refugees. Now there are two million.
In other words, while there are many injustices around the
world, from Darfur to Eastern Congo, take it from one who has
covered most of them: Syria is today the world capital of
human suffering.
Skeptics are right about the drawbacks of getting involved,
including the risk of retaliation. Yet let's acknowledge that
the alternative is, in effect, to acquiesce as the slaughter
in Syria reaches perhaps the hundreds of thousands or more.
But what about the United Nations? How about a multilateral
solution involving the Arab League? How about peace talks?
What about an International Criminal Court prosecution?
All this sounds fine in theory, but Russia blocks progress
in the United Nations. We've tried multilateral approaches,
and Syrian leaders won't negotiate a peace deal as long as
they feel they're winning on the ground. One risk of bringing
in the International Criminal Court is that President Bashar
al-Assad would be more wary of stepping down. The United
Nations can't stop the killing in Syria any more than in
Darfur or Kosovo. As President Assad himself noted in 2009,
``There is no substitute for the United States.''
So while neither intervention nor paralysis is appealing,
that's pretty much the menu. That's why I favor a limited
cruise missile strike against Syrian military targets (as
well as the arming of moderate rebels). As I see it, there
are several benefits: Such a strike may well deter Syria's
army from using chemical weapons again, probably can degrade
the ability of the army to use chemical munitions and bomb
civilian areas, can reinforce the global norm against
chemical weapons, and--a more remote prospect--may slightly
increase the pressure on the Assad regime to work out a peace
deal.
If you're thinking, ``Those are incremental, speculative
and highly uncertain gains,'' well, you're right. Syria will
be bloody whatever we do.
Mine is a minority view. After the Afghanistan and Iraq
wars, the West is bone weary and has little interest in
atrocities unfolding in Syria or anywhere else. Opposition to
missile strikes is one of the few issues that ordinary
Democrats and Republicans agree on.
``So we're bombing Syria because Syria is bombing Syria?''
Sarah Palin wrote, in a rare comment that liberals might
endorse. Her suggestion: ``Let Allah sort it out.''
More broadly, pollsters are detecting a rise in
isolationism. The proportion of Americans who say that ``the
U.S. should mind its own business internationally'' has been
at a historic high in recent years.
A Pew survey this year asked voters to rate 19 government
expenses, and the top two choices for budget cuts were ``aid
to the world's needy'' and the State Department. (In fact,
0.5 percent of the budget goes to the world's needy, and,
until recently, the military had more musicians in its bands
than the State Department had diplomats.)
When history looks back on this moment, will it view those
who opposed intervening as champions of peace? Or, when the
textbooks count the dead children, and the international
norms broken with impunity, will our descendants puzzle that
we took pride in retreating into passivity during this
slaughter?
Isn't this a bit like the idealists who embraced the
Kellogg-Briand Pact that banned war 85 years ago? Sure, that
made people feel good. But it may also have encouraged the
appeasement that ultimately cost lives in World War II.
O.K., so I've just added fuel to the battle for analogies.
For now, the one that has caught on is Iraq in 2003. But
considering that no one is contemplating boots on the ground,
a more relevant analogy in Iraq may be the 1998 Operation
Desert Fox bombing of Iraqi military sites by President Bill
Clinton. It lasted a few days, and some say it was a factor
in leading Iraq to give up W.M.D. programs; others disagree.
That murkiness is not surprising. To me, the lessons of
history in this area are complex and conflicting, offering no
neat formula to reach peace or alleviate war. In most cases,
diplomacy works best. But not always. When Yugoslavia was
collapsing into civil war in the early 1990s, early efforts
at multilateral diplomacy delayed firm action and led to a
higher body count.
Some military interventions, as in Sierra Leone, Bosnia and
Kosovo, have worked well. Others, such as Iraq in 2003,
worked very badly. Still others, such as Libya, had mixed
results. Afghanistan and Somalia were promising at first but
then evolved badly.
So, having said that analogies aren't necessarily helpful,
let me leave you with a final provocation.
If we were fighting against an incomparably harsher
dictator using chemical weapons on our own neighborhoods, and
dropping napalm-like substances on our children's schools,
would we regard other countries as ``pro-peace'' if they sat
on the fence as our dead piled up?
____
Briefing Note: The Children Crisis in Syria
The crisis in Syria is a humanitarian tragedy of a scale
that is almost impossible to imagine. The recent chemical
attack in Al Ghouta adds to an already too bleak picture;
even before the recent massacre, Syria was the most dangerous
place to be a civilian.i
The lack of humanitarian access, and hence of witnesses,
makes the human price hard to quantify, but our teams in the
region responding to this humanitarian crisis report
increasingly dire conditions and the daily arrival of
thousands of exhausted and terrified refugees. These data
indicate the scale of the crisis:
Altogether at least 100,000 people have been killed ii,
including more than 7,000 children iii of whom 1,700 are
under the age of 10.iv The fighting continues to take the
lives of an average of 5,000 people each month.v
The UN estimates that today one third of Syrians have been
forced to abandon their homes.vi Two million are refugees and
another 4.5 million are internally displaced. Children
account for more than half of those displaced.vii
The UN estimates that 8.8 million (including 6.8 million in
Syria itself viii) are urgently in need of assistance across
the region, predicting 10 million by end 2013.ix
At least four million Syrians--half of them children--are
in need of emergency food assistance.x
In Northern governorates, 80% of school facilities have
ceased to function,xi with as many as 3,900 schools damaged
or destroyed by the conflict throughout the country.xii
Medical supplies are severely lacking throughout the
country and the World Health Organization has warned that
disease outbreaks are ``inevitable'' in the midst of summer
heat, with deteriorating access to water and sanitation.xiii
In addition to pervasive insecurity, bureaucratic
restrictions imposed by the Government severely limit aid
agencies' ability to reach all civilians in need: between
January and July 2013 only 20 UN convoys crossed the conflict
lines into opposition-controlled areas.xiv The UN estimates
that 6.8 million--one in every three Syrians--are trapped in
conflict areas and in need of assistance.xv However, a recent
NGO assessment in northern Syria puts the figure much higher,
finding that 10.5 million people in these districts alone are
not getting enough essential supplies.xvi Despite the huge
efforts of humanitarian agencies, the volume of aid crossing
Syria's borders and conflict lines is still not enough and
millions are still receiving no assistance. Children are
dying as a result.xvii
With price inflation--with basics such as wheat and flour
up as much as 100% xviii--the lack of food is reported by
Syrian parents as the second biggest source of stress, after
insecurity.xix Our teams have heard testimonies of mothers
forced to feed their infants with water mixed with sugar due
to a
[[Page S6312]]
lack of baby milk. Other reports testify to the bleak living
conditions of those internally displaced in Northern Syria,
who have so little resources that they are forced to eat
herbs and collect stagnant rainwater to drink and wash.xx
For the sake of the millions of children facing a future of
fear and hunger, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access is
needed to all areas of Syria by the most effective routes
possible. Save the Children calls on governments to:
Build consensus across the international community,
including in the UN Security Council, to demand all parties
to the conflict fulfill their obligation to allow
humanitarian aid--including UN aid--to all areas where
children need it, across conflict lines and across Syria's
borders;
Increase funding. Overall the UN is calling for over $5
billion to meet needs inside Syria and among refugees in
neighboring countries. Only 41% xxi of the appeal is funded.
Governments must increase support for humanitarian operations
throughout Syria by any possible channel, as well as scale up
support for refugees and host communities in neighboring
countries.
ENDNOTES
i. See Action on Armed Violence: ``Civilians killed in 2011
vs 2012.'' http://aoav.org.uk/2013/aoav-find-global-increase-
in-civilian-casualties-of-explosive-weapons/#jp-carousel-285
last viewed 22 April 2013.
ii. Al Jazeera: UN: Syria death toll rises above 100,000;
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/07/
2013725142157450141.html last viewed 28 August 2013.
iii. OHCHR, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
appalled by killing of Syrian children in alleged chemical
attack, 26 August 2013; http://www.ohchr.org/SP/NewsEvents/
Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?
NewsID=13660&LangID=E last viewed 28 August 2013.
iv. Updated Statistical Analysis of Documentation of
Killings in the Syrian Arab Republic Commissioned by the
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 13 June
2013, available at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/
SY/HRDAG-Updated-SY-report.pdf
v. France 24: UN says 5,000 dying each month in the Syrian
conflict: http://www.france24.com/en/20130716-un-says-5000-
people-dying-month-syrian-conflict.
vi. The Telegraph: ``One third of Syrians have fled their
homes, reports United Nations'' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10280869/One-third-of-
Syrians-have-fled-their-homes-
reports-United-Nations.html
vii. Global News, ``1 million children have fled Syria as
refugees: UNICEF'' http://globalnews.ca/news/797520/one-
million-
children-have-fled-syria-as-refugees-unicef/
viii. OCHA (2013) ``Syrian Arab Republic: Humanitarian
Dashboard (as of 11 July 2013),'' http://reliefweb.int/sites/
reliefweb.int/files/resources/syria.pdf, last checked 16th
August 2013
ix. The Guardian: ``Half of Syrian population will need aid
by end of year'': http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/
19/half-syrian-population-aid-year
x. OCHA (2013) ``Syrian Arab Republic: Humanitarian
Dashboard'' (as of 11 July 2013), http://reliefweb.int/sites/
reliefweb.int/files/2resources/syria.pdf, last checked 16th
August 2013.
xi. Assessment Working Group for Northern Syria (2013)
``Joint Regional Assessment of Northern Syria--II 2013, Final
Report 2013,'' p. 20, http://reliefweb.int/sites/
reliefweb.int/files/resources/JRANS%2011%20-
%20Final%20Report_0.pdf, last viewed 28th August 2013
xii. UNICEF (2013) ``UN Emergency Directors shocked by
appalling plight of people in Syria,'' http://www.unicef.org/
media/media_67620.html
xiii. World Health Organisation (2013) ``WHO warns of
increased risk of disease epidemics in Syria and in
neighboring countries as summer approaches,'' http://
reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/who-warns-
increased-risk-disease-epidemics-syria-and-neighbouring
xiv. OCHA, UN-led relief convoys into hot-spot areas
(January to 10 July 2013), updated with field information;
http://syria.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/
syria.humanitarianresponse.info/files/syria_UN_led_relief
_convoys_into_hot_spot_areas_january_to_10_july_2013
_en.pdf, last viewed 28 August 2013.
xv. BBC, Syria crisis: UN launches largest ever aid appeal,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22813207, last
viewed 28 August 2018.
xvi. Assessment Working Group for Northern Syria (2013)
``Joint Regional Assessment of Northern Syria--II 2013, Final
Report 2013,'' p. 36, http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.
int/files/resources/JRANS%2011%20-%20Final %20Report_0.pdf,
last viewed 28th August 2013
xvii. Col, A/HRC/23/58, p. 16.
xviii. FAO GIEW Country Brief, Syrian Arab Republic, http:/
/www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SYR, last
checked 3rd September 2013, and Syria Needs Assessment
Project (2013) ``Regional Analysis Syria: Part 1--Syria, July
2013,'' p. 16.
xix. DRAFT Child Protection Working Group assessment,
Syria--publication pending
xx. Global Post: In north Syria, eating herbs to survive;
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130402/north-
syria-eating-herbs-survive-0
xxi. OCHA, Financial Tracking services, Syrian Arab
Republic Civil Unrest, 2013 Humanitarian Funding : Actual
http://fts.unocha.org/pageloader.aspx? page=emerg-
emergencyCountryDetails&cc=syr
____________________