http://www.washington-report.org/archives/june2003/0306018.htmlSome members of Congress, apparently upset that the Pentagon’s civilian leadership seems to be vying for the title of chief saboteur of America’s standing in the world, have weighed in to support efforts to make Syria the next target in the War to Make the World Safe for Israel, and to throttle efforts to restart the Middle East peace process.
As senior administration members—led by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, but also including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as President George W. Bush himself—were leveling accusations and unveiled threats toward Syria, Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) seized the moment to introduce an expanded and toughened version of the Syria Accountability act that died with the 107th Congress.The new bill, H.R. 1828, aims to “hold Syria accountable for the serious international security problems it has caused in the Middle East.”Its short title is the “Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003,” with 45 co-sponsors.
After a 36-item listing of Syria’s various sins, ranging from supporting terror and infringing on Lebanon’s sovereignty to developing chemical weapons and “a suspicious nuclear research program,” the bill includes an eight-point, unbinding “sense of Congress” that, among other things, Damascus should stop supporting terrorism, withdraw from Lebanon and comply with U.N. sanctions on Iraq, and Lebanon should deploy its army to the border with Israel, and Syria and Lebanon should enter into “unconditional bilateral negotiations with the government of Israel in order to realize a full and permanent peace.”