INTERNATIONAL COUNTER-NARCOTICS EFFORTS, INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST -- HON. TOM LANTOS (Extension of Remarks - January 27, 1993)

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HON. TOM LANTOS

in the House of Representatives

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1993

Chairman Donnelly, Chairman Lantos and colleagues: As we discuss how to address the multi-faceted challenges of the post-Cold War era, we need to strike a balance between meeting new challenges and continuing to engage enduring problems. We must focus attention on the new trouble spots in Bosnia, Somalia, and Central Asia. We must work together to sort out economic and trade relationships in this new era of interdependence. We must address environmental degradation and the spread of diseases which ignore international borders. But we also need to maintain and refine our responses to lingering transnational threats such as terrorism and narcotics. I would like to briefly outline some recent developments in international narcotics trafficking, particularly in Europe, and suggest some courses of action for the future.

All of us are aware of the grim impact of the illicit narcotic trade. Illegal drugs--and the violence associated with their trafficking--threaten to overload criminal justice systems, overwhelm health care systems, and even undermine democratic political systems. Despite large annual appropriations in the U.S. throughout the 1980s, and increased international commitment, the dangers of illicit drugs will be with us throughout the 1990s.

All the signals from the past year indicate an expansion of the threat posed by narcotics trafficking. The welcome--and long overdue--demise of communism in Europe has had the unfortunate result of opening new markets and new methods for international narcotics traffickers. In part this is due to the massive social dislocation and economic hardship in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In part it is due to the dismantling of a respressive security apparatus without replacing it with effective law enforcement.

Most ominously, however, we have seen the ever-flexible drug lords take advantage of ready-made `black market' networks and shadow economies to distribute narcotics in new areas. Smuggling and distribution links so useful in providing such `luxuries' as blue jeans, radios and whiskey have easily made the transition to the illicit drug traffic. Financially beleaguered governments can rarely find adequate resources to train, equip and pay effective law enforcement agencies--especially when police in the not so-distant-past were the agents of state terror rather than of public safety.

For many years, Americans have warned our European friends that cocaine would not remain an American problem. No one can dispute that the Colombian cocaine cartels are alive and well


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Chairman Donnelly, Chairman Lantos and colleagues: Although international terrorism may appear to be declining, a wide range of terrorist groups have been striking against European and other targets. We are all aware of the most recent wave of bombings in the United Kingdom. I firmly believe that violence only begets further violence and that the tensions in Northern Ireland must be resolved at the negotiating table.

And who can forget the devastating terrorist bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires last year, in a country where a brutal attack of this nature was completely unexpected?

Thus, there is continuing concern about terrorist attacks, perhaps by those hoping to disrupt the Middle East peace process or avenge Iraq's military defeat, or by local groups such as the Basques in Spain, Dev Sol, the PKK in Turkey and November 17 in Greece.

We also must continue to monitor developments in the Sudan, where the fundamentalist government is actively supporting violent Islamists in the region with the assistance of Iran.

Other trouble spots exist. For instance, a recent terrorist bombing in Yemen killed an Austrian tourist, and an explosion damaged a hotel that had been used by American forces providing logistical support for the Somalia relief effort.

Civilized nations must unite to keep up pressure on the countries that provide support for international terrorism. State supporters of terrorism typically provide money, weapons, logistics and safe havens to strengthen terrorists' ability to conduct lethal attacks. While Libya has made some progress in reducing its support for terrorist groups, Tripoli continues to evade the U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed for the Qadhafi government's involvement in the bombing of Pan Am 103 and UTA 722.

It is vital that we all work to implement the Security Council's sanctions against Libya. If Libya fails to comply with the Security Council Resolutions, the Council may have to take new steps as early as April, when it next reviews the matter. Enforcing the sanctions will maintain the pressure on Qadhafi to end his support for international terrorism and allow U.S. or British courts to bring to trial the Libyan officials indicted


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Chairman Donnelly, Chairman Lantos and colleagues: Since our last encounter, much has happened which will impact upon events in the Middle East and ongoing efforts to achieve a comprehensive and lasting settlement.

Last month I was pleased to be confirmed by my Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives as the Ranking Republican for the Foreign Affairs Committee. Accordingly, I look forward to working with you in this new capacity, though my service as the Ranking Republican on our committee's Europe and Middle East Subcommittee will continue uninterrupted.

With the upheaval and violence in so many parts of the world, including the successor states, the Balkans, parts of Africa, and the ever-challenging Middle East, we face numerous predicaments as we endeavor to alleviate tensions and fashion viable solutions to these critical regional problems. Despite unique characteristics inherent in each region, the root of these problems are religious fundamentalism and nationalism.

Since we last convened, elections in Israel and the United States have produced new leaders. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of the Labor Party has assembled a left-leaning coalition government which has taken over the reins of the Middle East Peace Talks from Likud-led Yitzhak Shamir's government.

Despite the change in philosophy the new government has toward the disputed areas, and prospects for negotiations with the Palestinians and Israel's Arab neighbors, the cabinet strongly supported the decision to deport for two years over four hundred radical Palestinian activists affiliated with `HAMAS', a Moslem Fundamentalist terror organization. HAMAS is not only responsible for years of terrorist acts within the State of Israel, but threatens the governments of Egypt and Jordan as well. It vies for power with the Palestine Liberation Organization, receives funding from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Succor from Syria.

Though condemned by many, Israel remains united that it acted correctly. As the world has not acknowledged the violence and killings of Israeli soldiers and police that sparked the deportations, economics minister professor Shimon Shetreet stated, `It was a price worth paying if it preserves the peace talks and enhances public safety.'

In protest against Israel's actions towards HAMAS, the Arab delegations boycotted the last day of last month's round of peace talks. While speculation now centers on whether the Arab delegations will attend the first round in February after President-elect Clinton takes office, conventional wisdom dictates that they will appear, if only not to offend our newly offended Chief Executive.

It is still too soon to know the extent and direction of the role President-elect Clinton wishes to take regarding the talks, since his campaign focused primarily on the need for domestic change.

Yet the controversy generated by Israel's deportation of HAMAS Members to a no-man's-land section of Lebanon has now been eclipsed by growing confrontations with Saddam Hussein, who seems intent on testing American and Allied resolve regarding the no-fly zone.

On this issue, President-elect Clinton has indicated he will not falter, and that the government of Iraq is not to assume that U.S. policy will be any more flexible. While we are always reluctant to use force, persistent and egregious violations of internationally imposed conditions and human rights cannot be condoned.

In that vein, Syria's apparent suspension of travel permits for its tiny Jewish community continues to be of tremendous concern. While the European Parliament not long ago cleared a European Community aid package worth $185 million for Syria, since supporters argued the situation had improved, it has become increasingly clear that almost no travel permission has been granted to any Syrian Jew since the middle of October.

Accordingly, though Syrian government officials continue to claim that the travel policy has not changed, support for an additional $200 million in aid cannot be forthcoming unless this most important violation of human rights has been addressed and corrected.

Let me conclude by affirming a continued commitment to democracy and pluralism, as well as stability and human rights. We can further these tenets by careful and thoughtful assessment, tempered by decisiveness and rooted in conviction.

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