[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18799-18802]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            CONTINUING THE BATTLE AGAINST ISLAMIC EXTREMISM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2005, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to talk 
about the issue that is of foremost importance to our Nation, and that 
is continuing the battle against Islamic extremists.
  Some seem to have forgotten that the front lines of our war against 
these Islam extremists is not limited to the countries with active 
conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Nor is our approach solely 
military.
  On the contrary, from the onset of this war on terror, formally 
initiated by the enemy on September 11, 5 years ago, the U.S. has also 
employed all available political, diplomatic, and economic tools to 
address the growing threat which for far too long had been ignored by 
the previous administration.
  We have undertaken bilateral strategies, built coalitions, and worked 
through regional and U.N. forums. Make no mistake, we are engaged in a 
battle of ideas, and one for our very survival. The Islamic extremists 
have declared war against freedom-loving nations.
  Last year, a terrorist attack was foiled in Australia. But 52 people 
were killed by suicide bombers while on a public transit system in 
London. On November 5, 2005, the world once again looked in horror at 
the destruction caused by homicidal extremists in Jordan.
  In 2005, and as recently as in April of this year, the people of 
Egypt also fell victim to jihadists. Months later, in July of this 
year, Islamofascists attacked India's financial capital, killing over 
200 innocent people.
  Last month, authorities in the United Kingdom announced that they had 
disrupted a plot to hijack as many as 10 aircraft that were headed from 
the U.K. to the U.S.
  Hezbollah carried out attacks against Israel with the assistance and 
the support of Syria and Iran, the world's most active state sponsor of 
terror, that seeks nuclear weapons capability. All of these attacks are 
further evidence that the war against Islamic extremists is global, it 
is ongoing. And it is brutal.
  In order to prevent future attacks, we must remain alert and 
proactive in the war against Islamic extremists. We need to bring the 
fight to their doors, and infiltrate their hierarchy, and to gain 
intelligence that will lead to the disruption and the fall of these 
groups so that they may no longer inflict harm upon the free world.
  Iraq and Afghanistan serve as examples of what has been done so far 
and what remains to be done. But daily news reports focus only on the 
violence and attacks feeding into these efforts by the enemy to weaken 
our resolve so that they can capitalize on our weakness.
  But there is a larger picture which is certainly more encouraging. 
For example, I was recently on a call with a senior Iraqi official who 
detailed how, despite the violence, the Iraqi Government and Iraqi 
forces, with the help of U.S. and coalition forces, have been able to 
deny the insurgents and the Islamic terrorists strongholds in the 
country.
  Iraqis participated in elections three times since the year 2005. In 
2005, we also saw Iraq draft a constitution that included their right 
to vote, that protected individual rights and religious beliefs, and 
safeguarded minority rights.
  Iraq now has a unity government that draws upon different religious, 
political and ethnic groups. As Iraq has made substantial steps in its 
political institutions, it has also made great strides in its 
capabilities to secure their nation.
  In his August 30 briefing, General Casey, the commanding general of 
the multinational forces, stated that the three-step process in 
building up Iraqi security forces to a point of being independently 
capable of providing security is almost 75 percent complete.
  Iraq today is an Iraq transformed, an Iraq we helped rescue from the 
darkness of tyranny and guided them into the light of freedom.
  My stepson Dougie and his wife Lindsey served as Marine officers in 
Iraq. And we thank all of the men and women who proudly wear their 
Nation's uniform. And in Afghanistan, Mr. Speaker, we have denied the 
al Qaeda terrorist network sanctuary, and we have assisted its 
transition to a multiparty democracy.
  Once the terrorist refuge under the repressive Taliban regime, which 
hosted the likes of terrorist mastermind KSM, Afghanistan is now a full

[[Page 18800]]

partner in our war on terror. There can be no safe haven allowed for 
Islamic extremists and their activities. They must be brought out of 
the shadows and seen for what they truly are.
  In order to rout the Islamic extremists, we have been working with 
like-minded allies to create a global network of information used to 
monitor and destroy jihadist groups and their plots. We must also work 
to prevent the world's deadliest weapons from reaching the hands of 
these Islamic jihadists and from countries of concern such as Iran.
  Toward that end, in May of 2003, President Bush launched the 
Proliferation Security Initiative, the PSI. The PSI is dedicated to 
stopping all aspects of the proliferation trade, and to denying 
terrorists, rogue states and their supplier networks access to WMD-
related materials and their delivery systems.
  Since its inception, the PSI has grown from a handful of nations to a 
global partnership of more than 70 countries from all around the world.

                              {time}  2030

  In December of 2003, the PSI enjoyed tremendous success when, as a 
result of a critical interdiction, Libya, a nation once designated as a 
state sponsor of terrorism, declared that it would eliminate all 
elements of its chemical and nuclear weapons program, that it would 
declare all nuclear activities to the International Atomic Energy 
Agency, that it would accept international inspections to ensure 
Libya's complete adherence to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and 
sign the IAEA additional protocol, and that Libya would eliminate all 
chemical weapons stocks and munitions and accede to the chemical 
weapons convention.
  The PSI is but one component of our multiprong nonproliferation 
strategy, which is also a critical component of our broader 
counterterrorism efforts. Another important pillar of our 
counterterrorism strategy focuses on denying terrorists the funds to 
carry out attacks.
  Just days after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush issued an executive 
order to starve terrorists of their support funds. The order 
immediately froze the financial assets of 27 different entities. It 
also prohibited any U.S. economic transactions of these groups. They 
included organizations, individual leaders, corporations and so-called 
nonprofit organizations, which are nothing more than fronts for Islamic 
extremists and jihadists.
  In short, as the threats evolve or modify, so do our responses. New 
methods and strategies are being developed to keep our country safe in 
the face of this indiscriminate enemy. We must not waver. We must not 
lose focus. We must press on. As echoed in the words of Winston 
Churchill, ``One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger 
and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the 
danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will 
reduce the danger by half.''
  Our country, therefore, Mr. Speaker, must remain vigilant and 
forward-looking to ensure that we defeat the extremists and their 
murderous ideology. A few weeks ago, we commemorated, sadly, the fifth 
anniversary of the deplorable attacks against our Nation. Five years 
ago, our eyes could not accept the images being shown around the world. 
Our mind could not fathom the hatred that could drive these individuals 
to kill thousands of innocent human beings. At first we were surprised, 
but with the help and guidance of good friends and allies around the 
world, especially Israel, which for decades has been targeted by the 
likes of 9/11 hijackers, we quickly turned our sorrow, our dismay and 
our anger into a catalyst for action, a strategy to combat the enemy 
wherever it rears its head. The September 11 attacks brought into sharp 
focus the scope of the threat from Islamic extremists. Defeating 
Islamic extremists and these organizations of global reach, denying 
them the promise and the benefits of state sponsorship, severing their 
lines of financing, closing their much-needed sanctuaries and 
preempting the proliferation of weapons and technology are all central 
components of this struggle. As Chair of the Subcommittee on the Middle 
East and Central Asia, this is my compass.
  There is a great documentary called ``Obsession,'' which expresses 
how radical Islam is fixated on hatred and destruction and poses a 
tremendous threat to the United States, to Israel, and to all who 
refuse to be subjected to this distorted ideology of hate. Central to 
defeating the fanatics who have distorted this religion is the 
realization that we are facing an enemy that has decided to declare a 
full-fledged war upon us and is determined to destroy western 
civilization and the principles upon which it is based. Islamofascism 
is an ideology that is engrossed in destruction and world domination. 
Their view is wrong and highly misguided.
  Consider the recent crisis in Lebanon which was triggered by 
Hezbollah extremists crossing the Israeli border and murdering eight 
Israeli soldiers and kidnapping two. It is clear that this unprovoked 
attack by Hezbollah was not triggered by occupation, as Israel was not 
occupying a single inch of Lebanese territory. Rather, it was an attack 
on Israel's very existence and everything that the Jewish state stands 
for. It was an attack against justice, democracy, tolerance and 
freedom, principles that are engrained in the foundation of the U.S., 
of Israel and the entire free world.
  We must recognize this as a struggle of values, a battle of freedom 
and tolerance versus oppression and hatred. On the one hand, an 
ideology that views life as the most precious possession and, on the 
other, one infatuated with death and destruction. Israel's mere 
existence in the region is a thorn to the Jihadist ideology which seeks 
to impose terror and oppression. It is dangerous to believe that if 
only Israel is to give up more land, the conflict would be resolved and 
everything would be all right. This theory was proven wrong in Lebanon 
after Israel's withdrawal in 2000 and has proven to be wrong again 
after Israel made the painful withdrawal from the Gaza Strip just last 
year. In both cases, the extremists became emboldened and enhanced 
their attacks against Israel, thereby clearly indicating that no land-
for-peace deal would ever solve the conflict, since the ultimate goal 
of these extremists is, in their very own words, to wipe Israel off the 
face of the world. In the words of a Hamas leader, ``We do not 
recognize the Israeli enemy, nor his right to be our neighbor, nor to 
stay on the land, nor his ownership of any inch of land.''
  We must not negotiate with Hamas or with any government in which an 
Islamic terrorist group which refuses to lay down its arms and refuses 
to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state participates. 
Although Israel has been the primary target of Islamic terrorism, 
radical Islam threatens all who do not embrace it. The horrific attacks 
on 9/11 drove home the point that this clash expands well beyond the 
Arab-Israeli conflict.
  It is also a tremendous mistake to believe that if the U.S. weren't 
such a strong supporter of Israel, extremists would stop their 
aggression against America. Terror bombings committed by these Islamic 
extremists in Buenos Aires, in Madrid, in London, and the brutal murder 
in Amsterdam of a Dutch filmmaker who was critical of radical Islam are 
just a few examples indicating that the fundamentalists are waging a 
war beyond Israel, beyond the United States, and that this war targets 
western civilization as a whole.
  It is astonishing to me that after seeing the barbaric acts of this 
radical Islamofascist movement in their own countries that many in 
Europe still fail to see the threat posed by these fundamentalists. 
Surprising and dismaying as well is Europe's tremendously unbalanced 
condemning approach toward Israel. For a long time, Israel has been 
fighting on the front lines of a battle against radical Islam and it is 
a battle for all who value life, freedom and tolerance to join forces 
in the battle against these Jihadists who are threatening to destroy 
us.
  The European Union, for example, should add Hezbollah, an extremist 
group responsible for murdering hundreds of Europeans, Americans and 
Israelis, on their list of terrorist organizations. Failure of 
civilized nations

[[Page 18801]]

to place groups such as Hezbollah on their list of terrorist 
organizations is shocking, given all the innocent people brutally 
murdered by these Islamic extremists. The international community must 
wake up from its slumber and realize the threat posed by radical Islam, 
and it must be dealt with decisively or we would risk eradicating 
ourselves because of it.
  In order to defeat the threat posed by radical Islam, it is essential 
to eliminate terror organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah that 
implement the brutal attacks and to isolate rogue regimes like Iran and 
Syria that provide the financial and military support to these 
extremists. As such, we must not and we cannot negotiate with any 
Palestinian Authority where Hamas or other Islamic terrorist entity 
participates. There are those who seek to bifurcate U.S. policy toward 
the P.A. and allow U.S. assistance to flow to ministries and offices of 
the Palestinian Authority that are not controlled by Hamas. But money 
is fungible. Assistance sent to one office can easily be diverted to 
Hamas or other Palestinian terrorist groups. Even the lines between 
Fatah and the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade are blurred.
  The U.S. must isolate the Hamas-led government politically and 
diplomatically through implementing the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act, 
which I introduced, and which was overwhelmingly adopted by the House 
in May. The bill prohibits direct assistance to the Palestinian 
Authority, including the PLC and other P.A. bodies; it prohibits travel 
to the United States by members or associates of Hamas; it audits all 
committees, offices and commissions focused solely on the Palestinian 
agenda at the United Nations and calls for their elimination; it calls 
for the P.A. to be designated as a terrorist sanctuary; it calls for a 
reduction in diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority and the 
closure of the P.A.'s office in the U.S.
  The version of the bill passed by the Senate, however, lacks several 
essential provisions that are necessary for the legislation to be 
effective. I am in discussions with Senate colleagues to reach a final 
agreement on the legislation and send a bill to the President that 
would make it significantly more difficult for terrorists to get their 
hands on U.S. funds. Without these provisions, our ability to prevent 
the terrorists from getting their hands on U.S. funds will be greatly 
diminished.
  Passing the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act in its strongest form is 
an imperative part of achieving our objectives. Our stance against 
Islamic terrorism must be uncompromising. We must not allow political 
or military victories to be used by the extremists to further their 
hateful agenda. We must ensure that Hamas, Hezbollah and other radical 
Islamic entities are weakened. A critical starting point is by cutting 
off their lifeline of funds and weapons.
  This is why, in light of the resurgence of Syria's support for 
terrorism, its aid to Iraqi insurgents, its pursuit of dangerous 
weapons and its stranglehold over Lebanese sovereignty, I recently 
spearheaded an effort urging President Bush to implement all currently 
unexercised sanctions available to him under the Syrian Accountability 
and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act which I introduced with my 
colleague Eliot Engel. If the U.S. fails to impose further sanctions on 
the Syrian regime and if the United Nations fails to enforce its own 
resolutions, Syria will be emboldened to wreak further havoc.
  Similarly with Iran, which is at the core of the fight against 
Islamofascism worldwide and whose attempt to project its power poses a 
threat to Israel, to the United States and to international global 
security, we must take immediate steps to deny it the materials, 
technology and much-needed funds to pursue their dastardly agenda.
  The Iranian regime has for years supported Hezbollah and Hamas as 
well as the insurgents in Iraq who carry out attacks against our U.S. 
troops. The recent crisis in Lebanon made it very clear how intensely 
involved Iran is in supplying Hezbollah with Jihadist ideology, weapons 
and finances. Iran has used Hezbollah to expand its tentacles into the 
western hemisphere. As I said, we witnessed the 1992 bombing of the 
Israeli Embassy in Argentina and the July 1994 bombing of the AMIA 
Jewish Community Center, also in Buenos Aires.

                              {time}  2045

  This is just the tip of the iceberg. The Iranian leadership has 
continuously made threats to wipe Israel off the map. It has embarked 
on a mission through its nuclear pursuit and expansion of its chemical, 
biological and missile capabilities to implement this plan.
  There is still time to contain the threat that is posed by Iran and 
adopt short and long-term policies that will compel Iran's extremist 
regime to change its unacceptable behavior. The Iran Freedom Support 
Act, which I authored and which has overwhelmingly passed the House, 
provides the tools to achieve the necessary short and long-term goals 
to counter the mounting Iranian offensive against Israel, against the 
United States and other freedom-loving nations.
  The threat of Islamic jihadists is here, and global jihad will not go 
away on its own. It is up to us to confront and eliminate this threat. 
In the past we have defeated the evil of Nazism and communism. Today we 
can and we must work to defeat Islamic jihadists.
  The film ``Obsession'' helps to explain how something as horrific and 
inconceivable as the events of September 11, 2001, could have 
transpired and why we must persevere in the international war on 
terror. This understanding is essential to our effective response.
  Even with all that has occurred lately in the Middle East, I am 
hopeful that the cause of moderation in the Middle East is succeeding 
and that progress is being made to quell the threats. Moreover, we must 
stand up to those who criticize our policies of supporting our allies, 
like Israel, and who want to apologize to the terrorists and appease 
them.
  We can remind them of the words that Churchill used to depict the 
scourge of Nazism, which he described as ``a monstrous tyranny, never 
surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.''
  Today we face an enemy as diabolical in its thirst for domination and 
destruction. We have no choice but to pursue victory, for our very 
civilization depends on it.
  I would like to yield to my colleague, Mr. Thaddeus McCotter, who has 
been a leading spokesman on our Subcommittee on the Middle East as well 
as on our full Committee on International Relations, to further expand 
on the war on terror, our war on radical Islamic jihadists, and why the 
United States will prevail with the help our allies.
  Mr. McCOTTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman. It was my hope to 
emphasize a point which you raised in your rather enlightening remarks 
today, and I thought I would best be able to do that through 
illustration with a map.
  We often hear people wonder what the United States policy is 
currently in the Middle East in terms of our military and in turn how 
it affects our national security. Why does Iraq matter?
  I will not use this occasion to dwell upon the past, because, as you 
have quoted Churchill, if I may myself, Winston Churchill pointed out 
that if we seek to open a quarrel between the past and the present, we 
will lose the future. We are where we are.
  So let me explain. When you look at a map, you see Iraq right here in 
the heart of the Middle East. Surrounding Iraq are Syria and Iran, two 
state sponsors of terror.
  If we allow what happened in the 1930s to happen here, you will see 
Syria continue to assist the insurgency in Iraq, Iran continue to 
assist the insurgency in Iraq, al Qaeda continue to infiltrate Iraq, 
and should Iraq's efforts towards democracy fail, you will see all 
three countries linked.
  The crushing weight of putting Iraq back into the terrorist and the 
jihadist-fascist camp will have enormous ramifications, because the 
sheer combined weight will immediately

[[Page 18802]]

press upon the Kingdom of Jordan. It will lead to the destruction 
finally with a counterattack by Hezbollah in the south to the Cedar 
Revolution in Lebanon. It will have enormous adverse effects in Egypt 
through the Muslim Brotherhood. It will also lead to the 
destabilization of Saudi Arabia, and, eventually, what Iran has 
professed, the destruction of the State of Israel itself.
  Again, a historical parallel with Iraq at the present time can be 
drawn between the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact of the 1930s, which 
ultimately sparked the war, where they had Germany on one side, the 
Soviets on the other and Poland sat in between, and in their non-
aggression pact they carved that country to pieces.
  Iran and Syria now have a mutual defense pact. We have seen its 
ramifications within Lebanon and we are experiencing its ramifications 
within Iraq itself.
  The alternative to seeing the unholy alliance between Syria, Iraq and 
Iran that are run by terrorist sponsoring states, that are run and 
shielded by a nuclear powered Iran, is quite simple to grasp.
  Over here you have Afghanistan, which is struggling for democracy. 
Here you have Iraq, which is struggling for democracy. You have the 
moderate Kingdom of Jordan, you have Egypt, you have Saudi Arabia, 
which is trying to strive toward reform, and you have Turkey, which is 
a moderate, a relative concept, but a moderate democracy, Muslim 
democracy.
  If Iraq becomes democratic and Afghanistan becomes democratic, the 
pressure then is no longer on the people who seek their own liberty 
within these countries. It becomes a pressure point for Iran and a 
pressure point for Syria to explain, to have these despots explain 
within their own nations how they can oppress their citizens and why 
they do not deserve the type of better life that they have in hopefully 
a democratic Iraq and a democratic Afghanistan, as they do in Turkey 
and elsewhere.
  This is not going to be easy to achieve, for what we see in Iraq 
basically is a counterattack. After the initial removal of the Hussein 
regime, you had infiltrations of insurgent support from Syria, 
infiltrations of insurgent support from Iran. You had al Qaeda come 
into Iraq, because they know that if Iraq goes democratic, history 
could very well, and I believe will, repeat itself.
  One of the things we face in the Middle East today is the threat of 
World War II, of an inherently invidious ideology, jihadist fascism, 
which in many ways more closely resembles a death cult than any 
governing philosophy, combined with the approach that won the cold war. 
I repeat that, we face the threat of World War II, and we are 
addressing it with the solution of the cold war.
  As you recall, what ultimately ended the cold war was when the Berlin 
Wall fell and Eastern Europe was freed. And it was after freedom swept 
through the satellite states of Eastern Europe that eventually the 
Soviet Union collapsed, not from a nuclear exchange or other military 
exchange with the United States and the West, but from the aspirations 
of the Russian people themselves for a better life and a life of 
liberty.
  When we look at this map, when you can see an Afghanistan that is 
democratic and free, when you can see an Iraq that is democratic and 
free, when you can add that with Turkey, with the Kingdom of Jordan, 
with the reforms in Egypt, with the reforms in Saudi Arabia, with the 
successful resolution and triumph of the peaceful Cedar Revolution, 
what you will then see is serious people demanding to share the 
lifestyle and the freedoms that are enjoyed by their fellow Muslims in 
the world.
  You will see Iranians, many of whom are under the age of 30, many of 
whom are not opposed to westernized ideas, or at least pluralism and 
tolerance, and you will see the Iranian people demanding their freedom. 
This will never happen if this goes back to being a terrorist state 
sponsor.
  And for those who are rightly concerned that in this period in our 
Nation's history we could face war without end, I ask you this 
question: If you disagree with my scenario, with my analysis that a 
democratic Iraq combined with a democratic Afghanistan will eventually 
put pressure on Syria and Iran whereby they will collapse from within, 
if you disagree with that, find me a better solution. Because I assure 
you that if Iraq goes back to being a state sponsor of terror and Iran 
gets a nuclear weapon, that scenario is far more likely to produce the 
war without end than will be the liberation and emancipation of people 
throughout that region and the demands of Syrians and Iranians for the 
freedom that we here so often take for granted.
  I yield back to the distinguished gentlewoman.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. McCotter. I could not agree more.
  The stakes are high. The stakes are high in Iraq. The stakes are high 
in Afghanistan. But the stakes are even higher and the threat is even 
worse were we to pull out, were we to set arbitrary deadlines, and were 
we to tell those Iraqi citizens who three times came out in an 
incredible show of their love for democracy, under threats of death to 
them and to their family members were they to vote, those proud days 
when they wore their purple finger upright and said yes, I was happy to 
vote.
  They have stood up a democracy, through very difficult ethnic, 
religious and a lot of political divisions that Saddam Hussein, the 
dictator who ruled for too many years sowed in order to keep himself in 
power. And now they have got a unified government. Now Saddam Hussein 
is on trial. Now we have captured so many of those al Qaeda leaders, 
the successes that we have had in Afghanistan in making sure that the 
Taliban would not control that beautiful country again. Were we to fail 
in these efforts, what would we say to those Iraqi families who 
sacrificed so long and so hard to finally have a democracy?
  For those freedom-loving Afghani citizens, for those freedom loving 
Iraqi citizens, and for the United States' own survival, we have got to 
make sure we win this war against these jihadist entities.

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