UN General Assembly
1998

with all that this implies in terms of squandering the human and economic resources of all concerned. They will further postpone the permanent, just and comprehensive peace which we still uphold and aspire to. To us, this will always be the only viable means to achieve the prosperity and progress of our people and of the other peoples of the region. The voices that were recently raised calling for the establishment of military alliances in the region on the pretext of confronting certain trends of thought can only be seen as attempts to bring the region back to the atmosphere of alliances and confrontation. Time and again, history has proven these to be harmful to the interests of peoples. They can only lead to negative results that will obstruct the peace process. So long as the Israeli occupation and assaults against our people continue, we shall continue to uphold our right to resist occupation and to use all legitimate means to which peoples who have had to endure the injustices and evils of occupation have resorted previously. The Lebanese