The chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said Tuesday America should pressure Syria to dismantle "terrorist camps" in Lebanon and consider airstrikes if it doesn't.
Florida Senator Bob Graham, whose committee is conducting an inquiry examining intelligence failures leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks, said the camps have to be shut down.
Interviewed on CNN, Graham said the United States should "have a serious discussion with Syria," which controls areas in its own country and Lebanon where groups like Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad train.
Asked if the United States should use airpower to destroy these camps, Graham said that if Syria refuses to close the camps, "then I think the international community, led by the United States, has a priority to do so."
Indiana senator Evan Bayh said that approach doesn't always work in the Middle East. "Unfortunately, in the middle east, there's black and white, but there are also shades of gray," he said.
Syria is cooperating with the United States in helping fight some terrorist groups and could provide information that might save American lives, Bayh added.
Moreover, any U.S. military strikes could be difficult militarily, result in many civilian casualties and damage relations with Arab nations, he noted.
For his part, Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi al-Aridi dismissed as baseless Graham's comments and said they seemed intended for the ears of U.S. voters ahead of mid-term elections in November.
"This is for consumption ahead of... the election campaign. He never raised the issue here, nor spoke about it," Aridi told Reuters. "This is a cheap campaign orchestrated at our expense." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
