U.S. Must Strengthen Alliances In Middle East

JIM DAVIS

Toward that goal, last month, as a member of the House International Relations Committee, I traveled to the Middle East and called on leaders in the region not only to support efforts to disarm Iraq, but also to combat terrorist forces at work within their own countries.

For instance, Syria supported the U.N. Security Council resolution to resume weapons inspections in Iraq and cooperated with our efforts to track down al-Qaida. However, Syria remains on the U.S. State Department's list of countries that sponsor terrorism because of its support for groups such as the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim organization Hezbollah and two Palestinian Muslim fundamentalist groups responsible for much of the violence in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

During my meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad and Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara'a, I told them they should hold these groups to the same standard they have set for cracking down on al-Qaida. President Bush and Congress must pressure Syria to play a more constructive and responsible role in fighting all forms of terrorism.

Egypt has been our ally in recent efforts to preserve stability in the Middle East, but it too can play a greater role in pursuing peace. When meeting with officials in Cairo, I urged them to use their influence to push for renewed Arab-Israeli peace talks and to crack down on terrorist groups that seek to prolong the violence across the Middle East.

The United States should also use long-standing economic and defense ties with Saudi Arabia to pressure the Saudi leadership for reform. Recent reports that the wife of the Saudi ambassador to the United States donated funds which may have benefited two Sept. 11 terrorists only adds to the evidence that the Saudi government has turned a blind eye to terrorist fundraising.

I told officials in Saudi Arabia that the United States will no longer allow their government to take an official stand against al-Qaida while unofficially allowing Saudi citizens to provide financial support for terrorists. While charitable giving is one of the five pillars of Islam, Congress and the president must insist that the Saudi government ensure charitable contributions do not turn up in terrorists' hands.

Furthermore, the United States should pressure Saudi Arabia to reform its education system. Over the last two decades, Saudi Arabia has allowed Saudi instructors to use texts and lesson plans that encourage intolerance and anti-Semitic, anti-American and anti-Western views, making Saudi students prime recruiting targets for militant extremist groups.

I referred Dr. Muhammad Al- Rasheed, Saudi minister of education, to a resolution I introduced in Congress calling on Saudi Arabia to abolish curriculum that promotes religious extremism and intolerance. While he has publicly admitted that the education system needs reform, it will take the weight of Congress and the president to pressure Saudi Arabia to act.

Reaching out to the Middle East is more important now than ever . In Saudi Arabia alone, at least 65 percent of the 16 million Saudi nationals are now under the age of 25. These young people's impressions of us are based on the bits of Western culture that reach them via government-controlled television, radio and the Internet.

The State Department has been breaking through censorship in this region to share America's true story. By reaching out to Arabic and Muslim media through a variety of methods, the United States is beginning to get the word out about our work to rebuild Afghanistan and our support for aid programs in the Muslim world.

Exchange programs such as the Fulbright and International Visitor programs have allowed international academics, religious educators and members of the media, subject to security screening, to see the United States for themselves and have allowed Americans to visit these countries as ambassadors for our culture. The president and Congress must build on these efforts.

The United States has earned respect in the Middle East by working through the United Nations in responding to the situation with Iraq, but our involvement in this region must reach far beyond our current concerns about Iraq and al-Qaida. To achieve a long-term peace at home, we must now pursue a long-term peace in the Middle East.

Jim Davis is a Democratic congressman representing Tampa.