Date: 1982-06-15
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Madam President. the present fighting in Lebanon underscores the continuing tragedy of the ArabIsraeli dispute in the Middle East. The Israeli invasion of Lebanon was launched as an effort to end. once and for all. PLO terrorism against Israeli citizens and the shelling of northern Israel by longrange artillery and rocket fire. However. any settlement in this latest round of fighting in the Middle East must address the root causes of the present conflict. The roots of the conflict stem from events arising out of successful Jordanian efforts to drive the PLO into Lebanon in the early 1970s and the Lebanese Civil War of 197576. Since that time. for all intents - and purposes. Lebanon has ceased to exist as a free and sovereign country. In fact. the country has been the victim of a de facto partition comprised of a 4olidly entrenched PLO military presence. Christian and Moslem Lebanese enclaves. and a Syrian military occupation now estimated to include 39.000 troops. Under these conditions. Lebanon has been a source of significant instability in the region since 1976. Obviously. under these circumstances. the situation can only continue to deteriorate and undermine U.S. longterm interests in promoting stability in the Middle East. Therefore. I welcome Secretary of State Alexander Haigs public statement yesterday on the television program "This Week with David Brinkley." In that program. the Secretary called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon and the restoration of the unity and full independence of that country. The elements of a return to stability in Lebanon and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from that country must include the followingI have said this from the.very beginning of the present conflict involving Israel and the PLO forces in Lebanon: First. the dismantling of the PLOs ability to exercise military and political control over significant portions of Lebanese territory and the removal of the PLOs ability to threaten Israel from that territory. Second. the complete withdrawal of all Syrian forces from Lebanon. Third. the reestablishment of full control and sovereignty of the central Government of Lebanon through free and open elections which. incidentally. have already been scheduled for this summer. A longrange negotiated settlement along these lines should be the ultimate objective of U.S. policymakers. Without such an agreement. the region will continue to be plagued by the kind of instability which has precipitated the present crisis. Madam President. some have called into question the size of the Israeli operation in Lebanon. However. I think it should be pointed out that more than 1.000 artillery shells and rockets rained on settlements in northern Israel just 2 weeks ago. The PLO shelling drove hundreds of Israeli citizens into bomb shelters and effectively shut down factories and shops. Farmers could not even tend their fields as a result of the shelling. Terrorist bombings against Israeli civilians continued despite the ceasefire negotiated some 10 months ago between Israeli and PLO forces. On October 21. 1981. I announced my opposition to the proposed sale of AWACS to Sbaudi Arabia. In that speech. I pointed out that the administrations preoccupation with attempts to forge a strategic consensus among moderate Arab states and Israel to meet the preceived Soviet threat to the region was doomed to failure. I stated that. in the absence of addressing directly the potentially explosive ArabIsraeli issues. the administration could not hope to bring together potential adversaries in a loose strategic alliance to counter the threat of the Soviet Union and her proxies. It has been nearly 8 months since I issued that warning. Since that time. every crisis in the Middle East has been the result of localized animosities and fears. The greatest threat to the Persian Gulf today is not the Soviet Union. The greatest threat is the IranIraq war which threatens to spill over to the Arabian peninsula. The Camp David process has been allowed to languish. Our Government has yet to appoint a highpowered representative to get the talks back on track. It is imperative that we move expeditiously to widen the peace process in an effort to avoid crises similar to the one in Lebanon from erupting again. Madam President. the situation in Lebanon is a classic example of how a problem cannot be buried or allowed to lapse without resolution. The PLO in .the mid1970s effectively established a state within a state. It was from this territory that the PLO launched terrorist raids and artillery attacks on Israel. Lebanese Christians and Moslems alike were forced from their own villages and homes to accommodate the establishment of "Fatahland." The region is now reaping the seeds of destruction planted years ago in Lebanon. Madam President. I think the opportunity is before us. I feel that the Israelis had no choice but to act as they did. I think it is imperative now for the U.S. Government and the international community to come to grips with the reasons for instability in Lebanon. We cannot turn our backs on reality once again and return to the status quo. If we do. we risk repeating the mistakes of the past. Madam President. Lebanon has to be returned to the Lebanese and the Syrfans should be gotten out of Lebanon. The PLO should cease to be a political and military force in Lebanon. and certainly its bases there should be eliminated. In this way. Lebanon once again can become an independent. secure. and free government. controlling its own territory and providing security and stability to the Middle East. Lebanon again could become a peaceloving neighbor of Israel. It seems to me that this would be in the interest of world peace and certainly in the interest of the United States. Our policies as a government should pursue this goal without equivocation. Madam President. I yield the floor.