[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 2333-2334]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         REMEMBERING RAFIQ HARIRI AND THE IMPORTANCE OF LEBANON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 14, 2008

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in a mixture of sadness and 
outrage to commemorate the third anniversary of Rafiq Hariri's 
assassination. Sadness because the former Prime Minister, a man of 
vision and courage, was cut down in his prime as he stood up for the 
idea of a Lebanon as a nation free from external control, a sovereign, 
united and independent Lebanon that would regain its rightful place 
among the nations of the Middle East.
  Three years ago a massive car bomb deprived the Hariri family of a 
husband and father and deprived the Lebanese people of a leader. It 
would prove to be the first in a dozen political assassinations that 
have plagued that nation for the last three years orchestrated by the 
enemies of a free and democratic Lebanon.
  And it is this fact, Madam Speaker that fills me with outrage and 
should fill all our colleagues with outrage as well. Lebanon's future 
continues to be strangled by Iran and Syria whose agents Hezbollah, 
Amal and Michel Aoun, try to take through violence and intimidation 
what they cannot achieve at the ballot box. The slow strangulation of 
the state has left Lebanon without a President for almost 3 months, 
paralyzing the nation and raising the specter of renewed civil war.
  On the third anniversary of former Prime Minister Hariri's murder, 
the international community must renew its commitment to the people of 
Lebanon and again speak out against the campaign of naked aggression 
that has left the March 14 movement only two parliamentarians away from 
losing their hard won majority. We must renew our demand that Damascus 
and Tehran lift their boots off Lebanon's neck. And we must ensure that 
justice is done in the case of Rafiq Hariri and all the other victims 
of the 3 year campaign to deny Lebanon its rightful place among free 
and independent nations. Toward that end, the United States and the 
rest of the international community must make it crystal clear to Syria 
that the Special Tribunal established by the United Nations Security 
Council to investigate the terrorist attack on February 14, 2005, is 
not a bargaining chip to be traded away. The interests of justice in 
this case far outweigh any concession that the government of Syria 
might hope to offer. The guilty must be held accountable for their 
crimes.
  The international community has spoken frequently and eloquently 
through United Nations Security Council resolutions in support of the 
sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence of 
Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of 
Lebanon, and has demanded the disarmament of all armed groups in 
Lebanon. These goals and this unity of purpose must not be abandoned or 
allowed to wither either from self-interest or distraction. The enemies 
of Lebanon believe they have time on their side--that they merely need 
to wait us out and Lebanon will once again be theirs to control.
  The conflict in Lebanon is not a sideshow in the Middle East, it is 
the main event. Lebanon is where Tehran intends to fulfill its 
aspirations to regional hegemony and Shiite dominance. There is too 
much at stake for Lebanon and for the entire region for the world to 
leave the Lebanese to the mercies of the radical mullahs in Tehran, the 
thugs in Damascus and their terrorist allies, Hezbollah.

[[Page 2334]]

  I urge all my colleagues to not only remember Rafiq Hariri and his 
sacrifice but to speak out in support of the legitimate democratic 
aspirations of the people of Lebanon. They want only what we enjoy 
every day--a free, sovereign and democratic state, the servant only of 
its own people and the master of its own destiny. It's worth fighting 
for.

                          ____________________