Rice Urges Allies to ‘Send Syria a Message’ to Leave Lebanon

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged American allies Wednesday to join the United States in pressuring Syria to end its presence in Lebanon and what she said was its support of terrorism.

Appearing before Congress, Rice argued that if other countries “send Syria a message” that its conduct is unacceptable, “then perhaps the Syrians will start to worry more about their isolation

The Bush administration has recalled its ambassador to Syria and directed a harsh stream of criticism toward Damascus and its forces in Lebanon after former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 14 others were killed Monday in a bombing in Beirut.

Rice said the message sent by recalling the ambassador was “an important one, and we’ll see how they respond.” She said other measures were possible. “We continue to review what else we might do.”

Although acknowledging that it remained unclear who was behind Hariri’s killing, administration officials have argued that Syria’s dominance in Lebanon has created an environment for such attacks. The administration accuses Syria of having ties to terrorist groups and allowing insurgents to cross its border into Iraq.

The U.S. imposed economic and trade sanctions against Damascus in 2003, when Congress passed the Syria Accountability Act. Rice noted that no other country had put into effect similar restrictions, but said other governments shared U.S. concerns about Syria, and warned that “ultimately, if the Syrians continue down this road, others are going to have to look at similar” steps.

“There’s no doubt that Syria is a big problem,” she told members of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee in an appearance scheduled to discuss the administration’s 2006 budget request.

Both Republicans and Democrats on the committee told Rice that the United States should be forceful in its dealings with Damascus.

“I urge you not to let Syria off the hook,” said Sen. George Allen (R-Va.).

Amid the pressure from the United States, Syria and Iran announced Wednesday that the two countries would form a “united front” to defend against outside threats. Washington has accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons; Tehran denies this.

Iran and Syria “require a united front due to numerous challenges,” Syrian Prime Minister Naji Otari was quoted as saying on state television. Mohammed Reza Aref, Iran’s first vice president, said Tehran would “transfer its experience” on coping with sanctions to Damascus, wire services reported.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the suspicions of the two countries were misplaced.

“If they’re talking about the United States, you know, I think that it’s a fundamental misreading of the issue,” McClellan said. “Their problem is not with the United States, it’s with the international community. Both Syria and Iran have international obligations and they need to abide by the commitments they have made to the international community.”

In her Senate testimony, Rice outlined a $33.6-billion foreign affairs budget for fiscal 2006, an increase from last year, as well as a supplemental $5.6-billion foreign affairs budget request for fiscal 2005. The supplemental amount is part of the administration’s $81.9-billion war funding request, most of which would be to cover military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Most of the budget increase for fiscal 2006 is earmarked for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and the Millennium Challenge Account, an aid program to reward countries that satisfy U.S. officials that they can spend the development funds wisely and with little corruption.

Democrats on the committee noted that the supplemental request for 2005 included $400 million to defray the costs of countries that had provided troops in Iraq, and complained that the administration had done too little to spread the financial burden of the war.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Americans were told before the war that U.S. allies would help cover the cost of the operation, which has now reached an estimated $250 billion.

In providing new aid to the coalition partners, including Poland and Ukraine, “in essence, we’re paying them for what they did,” Boxer said.

“We were told there would be financial burden sharing, and at the end of the day, there isn’t.”