[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14307]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  RECENT ACTIVITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to claim my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from West 
Virginia is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I do not understand the motives behind all 
the actors involved in recent actions in the Middle East. I do not 
condone kidnappings, murders, terrorist acts whether in a military zone 
or across borders, whether as an act of resistance or whatever the 
terms are that one uses.
  I do feel I understand somewhat the feelings of an oppressed, 
occupied people who have been treated less than human and who now, 
through no actions or fault of their own, are being bombed back to the 
Stone Age.
  Not only are innocent civilians losing their lives as we speak, but 
also vital support systems, services and infrastructure needed for day-
to-day living are being bombed hourly.
  Also in severe jeopardy of losing its life is the new pro-American, 
prodemocracy government of the land of my grandfathers, Lebanon. Only a 
year and a half ago, as we all will recall, the Cedar Revolution 
brought such new life and new hope for this country.
  The Lebanese Government has little knowledge nor collusion with, nor 
agreement with what the military wing of Hezbollah does. They have 
condemned these recent actions, as I have done. Every actor in the 
region knows this, yet some try to convince the world otherwise for 
their own selfish motives, whether it is for land, for reoccupation or 
to send signals to other countries.
  Believe it or not, certain U.S. media outlets play right into these 
motives by fueling these misperceptions of which others purposely 
strive to further.
  Example. Today, at 3 o'clock, Shepard Smith on that ``fair and 
balanced'' outlet called Fox News stated, referring to the country of 
Lebanon, ``that country known to fund Hezbollah,'' and again at 3:13 
p.m. today, he further stated, ``Lebanon continues to fire Katyusha 
rockets into Israel.'' It is time that this unfair, unbalanced, untrue 
and outright garbage be called to the carpet.
  It is also time for all actors in the region to be called to the 
carpet, to step back and realize how disastrous their current paths are 
to their people and to the world. Hezbollah must stop tempting fate, 
stop shelling across the border, must release the bodies of Israeli 
soldiers and/or unharm those still alive and safe, as their leader 
claims.
  Israel must stop their unmeasured response, realize they are creating 
more militants than they are destroying and will never destroy every 
one of them, and take their grievances directly to the countries 
involved.
  It is long past time for cooler heads to prevail if peace is to ever 
have a chance in the Middle East

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