Isn’t it Time for an Israel Accountability Act?
By Eugene Bird
President, Council for the National Interest, April 2, 2004
Congress has worked overtime in the last two years trying to hold various Middle Eastern countries and personalities accountable for their acts – mostly because they have dared to support Palestinian independence. But it is clear that the biggest truant in the Middle East is Israel, not Syria or Saudi Arabia, and that it is time for Israel to be held accountable for its acts.
You can help us in holding the Israelis accountable by signing the Israel Accountability and Security Act petition and sending it to your senators and congressional representatives.
Back in 2002, there was the “Arafat Accountability Act,” which was allowed to die a natural death at the end of the congressional term. This was aimed at punishing Yasser Arafat for not stopping “terrorists.” A “Syria Accountability Act” was born at the same time and died along with the Arafat Accountability Act, but was resurrected at the beginning of 2003 and passed overwhelmingly by both the House and the Senate in October. President Bush signed it into law on December 11.
It promises to punish Syria severely for supporting Hezbollah “and other terrorist groups in Lebanon
for its hosting of terrorist groups in Damascus,” for its occupation of Lebanon, for “efforts to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction,” and for maintaining “ballistic missile programs threaten the security of the Middle East and the national security interests of the United States.” Syria was also criticized for trading with Iraq before the U.S. invasion, for not signing various conventions, and a host of other infractions....................
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