After President Bush’s speech, JK stated that he strongly opposes the Bush administration’s plan for expanding the US troop presence in Iraq and urged the president to redouble his effort to find a political and international solution to the worsening civil war in Iraq. Kerry said there was little support in Congress for expanding the war in Iraq and said the president must ask lawmakers to vote on a new authorization of the war if he wants to expand the mission beyond the current one.

“This plan is neither new nor forward looking. This is more of what’s taken us backwards. There’s no military solution in Iraq. There is only a political solution, and the President has no plan to achieve it. We’re caught in a civil war in Iraq. Escalation is not the answer. The best answer is to set a deadline to bring our heroes home, force Iraqis to stand up for Iraq, and get Iraq’s neighbors to start taking more responsibility for Iraq’s security.”

Tomorrow, Senator Kerry will ask Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the war in Iraq to say how this plan differs from a similar plan proposed by President Bush in 2005.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on “The Administration’s Plan for Iraq” will start at 10 am EST.

It will be shown on C-SPAN3.

Also, JK will be on Fox News Live with John Scott at 9 am EST.

UPDATE:

Excerpt from the SFRC hearing on MSNBC featuring JK and Sec. Rice: video

JK on Fox News Live with John Scott: video

JK on NPR: audio

 

Yesterday afternoon Senator Kennedy, Massachusett’s senior senator, introduced a bill (pdf) “to block Mr. Bush from sending additional troops to Iraq without the consent of Congress”. (CBS News)

JK joined Sen. Kennedy as a co-sponsor of this bill.

Sen. Kennedy has set out a very clear case on why the escalation of troops in Iraq is wrong. His speech at the National Press Club and posts at dailykos.com and Huffington Post were widely discussed.

Check out his speech at the National Press Club:

Thanks, Senator Kennedy.

 

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a hearing on “Where We Are – A Current Assessment of Iraq and the Region”.

JK will be speaking shortly. The hearing is on now on C-Span3

Witnesses will include:

—Dr. Phebe Marr, senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and author of “The Modern History of Iraq”

—Dr. Michael (Moke) O’Hanlon, senior fellow of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution

—Mr. Yahia Said, Director, Iraq Revenue Watch, London, England

—Dr. Paul Pillar, former national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia, and Visiting Professor, Security Studies Program at Georgetown University

List compiled from SFRC site and washingtonpost.com

 

Chris Cillizza of The Fix spent some time discussing some changes in JK’s staff:

Kerry has recently begun to bolster his Senate and campaign staff in preparation for what some Kerry insiders insist is a likely run for president. Kerry has signed on Erik Smith to serve as a senior adviser to his Senate campaign committee and Vince Morris to be communications director in his Senate office.

Smith, who runs Blue Engine Message & Media, served as national press secretary for Dick Gephardt’s 2004 presidential bid and previously was communications director in Gephardt’s leadership office. He also served a stint as communications director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Morris comes to the Kerry camp after a stint as communications director for former Washington, D.C., mayor Anthony Williams. Prior to his work for Williams, Morris was a reporter for the New York Post and Washington Times. Morris started officially on Monday.

Asked whether his decision to join Kerry signaled that the senator would be running again for president in 2008, Smith demurred. “Whatever he chooses to do, he is going to have a tremendous impact on public policy,” said Smith. “Whether on Iraq or domestic policy, Sen. Kerry bring tremendous political assets to the table and the party benefits when he takes a leadership role.”

Well, all we have to say about that is…  

 

Juan Cole at his blog, Informed Comment, highlighted an article, “For the first time, a real blueprint for peace in Iraq”, which appeared in the Independent newspaper from the UK on Jan. 5th.

In it a former defense minister from Iraq, Ali Allawi, lays out his view of what’s occurred in Iraq and with Iraq’s neighbors and identifies the challenges that exist because of those occurrences. He then sets forth a blueprint for the future, noting, “It requires genuine vision and statesmanship to pull the Middle East from its death spiral. The elements of a possible solution are there if the will exists to postulate an alternative to the politics of fear, bigotry and hatred.”

He continues:

The first step must be the recognition that the solution to the Iraq crisis must be generated first internally, and then, importantly, at the regional level. The two are linked and the successful resolution of one would lead to the other…No foreign power, no matter how benevolent, should be allowed to dictate the terms of a possible historic and stable settlement in the Middle East.

Secondly, the basis of a settlement must take into account the fact that the forces that have been unleashed by the invasion of Iraq must be acknowledged and accommodated. These forces, in turn, must accept limits to their demands and claims. That would apply, in particular, to the Shias and the Kurds, the two communities who have been seen to have gained from the invasion of Iraq.

Thirdly, the Sunni Arab community must become convinced that its loss of undivided power will not lead to marginalisation and discrimination. A mechanism must be found to allow the Sunni Arabs to monitor and regulate and, if need be, correct, any signs of discrimination that may emerge in the new Iraqi state.

Fourthly, the existing states surrounding Iraq feel deeply threatened by the changes there. That needs to be recognised and treated in any lasting deal for Iraq and the area…It is far better that these countries are seen to be part of a stable order for the area rather than as outsiders who need to be confronted and challenged.

The Iraqi government that has arisen as a result of the admittedly flawed political process must be accepted as a sovereign and responsible government. No settlement can possibly succeed if its starting point is the illegitimacy of the Iraqi government or one that considers it expendable.

<!-more-> Mr. Allawi makes a number of points which will sound familiar to those who have read and heard JK speak about the future of Iraq and the Middle East. As Juan Cole goes onto note, “Mr. Allawi’s plan was widely hailed by politicians and by journalists and analysts in Britain, but in the insular US it has barely gotten a hearing.” Leaving aside Mr. Cole’s acerbity, it is worth some time reading Mr. Allawi’s proposal and reading about its acceptance by others.

 

BusinessWeek highlighted plans for the Small Business community in “Small Biz: High Hopes for New Congress”. The article outlines the bills introduced this last week by JK and by Nydia M. Velázquez (D–NY), Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee, and concludes “despite consistent SBA budget cuts over the last six years, leaders in the small-business community are optimistic about the 110th Congress’ dedication to their constituency.”

Inc Magazine reported “As Democrats Seize Power, New Small-Business Leaders Emerge”. The article went on to say:

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), now chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, has pledged to strengthen federal loan programs for small-business owners, many of which have been cut back by the Small Business Administration in recent years.

Kerry, who previously led the committee from 2001 to 2002 and has been a member for 21 years, has said he will “look beyond the SBA for ways to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and assist small businesses across America.”

<a href=” http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/070104/010407_election_impact.html?.v=1”>CNNmoney/biz.yahoo.com covered the launch of the 110th Congress and what it means for the small business community in an article titled “Election impact on entrepreneurs and small business owners”.

On Jan 5, 2007, PRNewswire distributed a release on “Sen. Kerry’s Small Business Priorities” which covered his introduction of “four bills that will help small business owners around the country. These bills will improve the government’s Disaster Loan Program, reduce health care costs for small firms, reform the Alternative Minimum Tax, and expand entrepreneurship opportunities in minority communities.” The specifics listed for the health care bill and the AMT reform bill included:

“One of my top priorities is to reduce the skyrocketing cost of health care in this country. When it comes to small business, owners should focus on what they do best - creating jobs and contributing to the economy - instead of worrying about whether they can afford to provide health benefits. This legislation to help small businesses is a good interim step towards helping all Americans by lowering health care costs.”

Kerry’s Small Business Health Care Tax Credit Act of 2007 provides small firms with less than 50 employees a refundable tax credit to help with the cost of health insurance for employees earning $5,000—$50,000 a year. In order to receive the credit, the employer must pay at least 50 percent of the health care insurance premium.

Kerry’s plan to reform the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is the same as S.2826, which he introduced last year. The bill expands and extends the individual AMT exemption amount for 2007 and allows nonrefundable credits against the AMT for 2007. It is revenue neutral and is offset by repealing the lower rates on capital gains and dividends for 2009 and 2010.

“Reforming the AMT is critical to keeping small businesses competitive and successful. Over the last few years more many Americans, including small firms, have become trapped by the AMT. We need to raise the exemption amount to level the playing field. “

More info on the expansion of “entrepreneurship opportunities in minority communities” is available in the article.

The NY Times ran a story about how small businesses owners who protest about contracts wrongly awarded to large companies find no justice even if they prove their cases. They mention a proposal by JK:

Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts and the incoming chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, has proposed giving the S.B.A. more time to complete size determinations and to help prevent big businesses from slipping under the radar of a bureaucratic contracting process.

The S.B.A. recently required businesses to report their size every five years. Mr. Kerry’s proposal would make the reports annual.

“The protest process is supposed to keep the system honest, but what’s the point of protesting a contract if nothing happens?” Senator Kerry said

The Entrepeneur Daily blog highlighted the NYT article in a post titled “Shady Business in Washington”.

The AP/washingtonpost.com covered Congressional plans for closer oversight of federal aid for Hurricane Katrina. They listed the panels and committees which have indicated specific plans including:

_ Small Business: John Kerry, D-Mass., is calling for hearings on the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program, saying only about one-fifth of the $10 billion in loans had reached affected areas; wants “aggressive contracting oversight” of work slated for small firms.

  <!-more-> Jenny Mandel of GOVEXEC.com wrote a detailed article about a conference call JK held with the press in which he discussed his agenda and plans for the Small Business Administration. He indicated that the SBA budget “has been cut by nearly 40 percent - more than any other federal agency - over the last six years” and that the committee will focus on restoring funding and improving employee morale within the SBA.

In addition, Kerry has listed two other priorities: reforming SBA’s Disaster Loan Program, which was slow to help Gulf Coast business owners in the aftermath of last year’s hurricanes, and improving the effectiveness of its loan and counseling programs for minority entrepreneurs.

He also wants to see a set-aside program for women-owned small businesses fully implemented. Plans for that program, first authorized in 2000, were made available for comment in June, after the Women’s Chamber of Commerce successfully sued the administration for delays in implementing it.

Beefing up an under-used SBA preference program for service-disabled veterans is also on Kerry’s to-do list.

“We’ve got an awful lot of veterans coming home and having a real struggle finding jobs,” Kerry told reporters. “We ought to have a special effort and gratitude to those who served, to help improve the contracting record with service-disabled veterans,” he said, noting that 0.6 percent of contracts last year went to business owners in that group. The governmentwide target is 3 percent.

He said he intends to pursue new programs to assist veteran business owners get access to capital, and to offer grants to small firms when their employees are on active duty. SBA is currently up for reauthorization, and a bill addressing several of these priorities passed the Senate in July.

Inc magazine reported on JK’s plans in an article titled “SBA Seeks to Prevent Corporations from Landing Small-Business Contracts”. The article discusses a report by the SBA’s inspector general which describes ” “procurement flaws” that allow large companies to obtain federal contracts set aside for small businesses”. The agency unveiled new regulations in Nov. 2006, which take effect in June 2007, that “will require small-business contractors to re-certify their size every five years of a federal contract - some of which can span 20 or more years - and whenever a contract option is exercised.”

Yet, the IGO report cited an earlier proposal calling for businesses to be re-certified every year, and pledged to “re-evaluate the matter to assess whether the agency should take other steps to address this problem” in light of the new regulations—which were still pending at the time the report was completed.

[...]

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the incoming chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship has called the agency’s new regulations inadequate.

“If there’s a way to guarantee no abuse, that’s our concern,” Kerry said in a conference call with reporters on Nov. 16. “I know five years is too broad for that.”

He vowed to launch “aggressive” oversight hearings when Congress reconvenes next year to ensure contracts are ending up in the right hand.

 

Shaun Dale of Upper Left stands up for truth and rejecting the oft-times questionable “common wisdom”. He points out that repetition has caused many to forget the actual circumstances and come to accept and use Karl Rove’s spin.

The reason we remember the line at all is because the Republicans lied about what John Kerry meant and their lie was reported as Kerry’s mistake. It will happen to our next nominee, whoever that might be, and the one after that and every one until they’re called on it every time they do it.

JK gets a nod from conservative blogger, Jay Reding, at jayreding.com – Conservatism with Attitude:

Sen. John Kerry has an important editorial on what the US should do to support democracy in Lebanon. In fact, if you only read the first page and a half, it would be a brilliant editorial on Lebanon. Kerry is absolutely right on the first part — the US government should do everything in its power to assure Lebanese sovereignty against the predations of Syrian groups like Hizballah. Our current #1 recipient of foreign aid, Egypt, continues to be autocratic and authoritarian. Lebanon needs the money — the central government needs to be able to do what Hizballah has been doing and needs to be able to undercut Hizballah in every way. If they need a few billion in the bank to do so, we should be more than willing to oblige since a peaceful and democratic Lebanon is in our national interest. The only way to win the war on terrorism is to undercut authoritarianism, and not just in Iraq.

Jay goes onto disagree about what the correct approach to Syria is.

Jay, as JK pointed out, “Conversation is not capitulation. Until recently, it was widely accepted that good foreign policy demands a willingness to seize opportunities and change policy as the facts change.”

JK’s outlook on talks with Syria was clear in this AP story: “Talking to somebody is not rewarding their behavior. I have no illusions about our differences with these countries … and nothing in the discussion is based on trust,” said. “But you cannot get to (action and verifiability) without setting up the modalities. So you have to engage in some dialogue.”

Pamela Leavey at The Democratic Daily takes on the publicity splash that Terry McAuliffe is chasing in “What A Party – What A Hypocrite”.

Elsewhere a blogger referenced this comment from Terry McAuliffe with the question, “Which Terry McAuliffe do you believe?”

McAuliffe lavished praise on Kerry himself. “John Kerry ran a great race,” he said. “We had every player on the field. We had more money. We had the largest field operation. We got close. We got to the 1-yard line. But we didn’t win. John Kerry gave it all he had.”

Well, this article from The Hill may clear up any confusion you may have about Terry McAuliffe’s motivation and as Terry himself said, “This is my book and I’ve done my best to make myself look good”.

Jim Witkins at Independents for Kerry weighs in with “2008 Presidential Race Should be about Global Warming Solutions”.  He reminds us that “Al Gore and John Kerry have been talking about it for years” and that JK “made it a critical component of his 2004 Presidential bid touting alternative energy Independence as both a national security strategy, a way to create jobs and lead the world in innovation, and an important step to reducing global warming causing gases.” He concludes that “The problems we face today will seem like small potatoes if we don’t address Global Warming immediately.”

Jim, it is important. JK devoted one of his Faneuil Hall speeches to it, helped promote house parties to gather and watch Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and it will be a part of his and Teresa’s forthcoming book, This Moment on Earth.   <!-more-> Dotti Janiak at The Democratic Daily highlighted excerpts from 2 different speeches by JK in her post titled “Run, John Kerry, Run”:

From his 11-3-2004 speech in Faneuil Hall:

“I believe that what we started in this campaign will not end here. And I know our fight goes on to put America back to work and make our economy a great engine of job growth. Our fight goes on to make affordable health care an accessible right for all Americans, not a privilege. Our fight goes on to protect the environment, to achieve equality, to push the frontiers of science and discovery, and to restore America’s reputation in the world. I believe that all of this will happen — and sooner than we may think — because we’re America. And America always moves forward.”

From his 3-12-2006 speech in Nashua, NH:

John Kerry’s “Ten-Point Plan for America:
1. Obey the law and protect civil rights in this country.
2. Tell the truth, and tell it to Americans all the time.
3. Fire the incompetents and restore competence and integrity to Washington.
4. Chase the money changers from the temples of democracy, and reclaim it for the grass-roots of this nation.
5. Bring our troops home from Iraq.
6. Find Osama bin Laden, and secure our ports and homeland.
7. Stop subsidizing “Big Oil,” and start investing in energy alternatives.
8. Make access to affordable health care a right and not a privilege.
9. Reduce the deficit and respect work over wealth.
10. Invest in education and fight for American jobs that restore the American dream.

 

As for the right-wing bloggers’ fantasies about the photo of JK speaking with 2 reporters in Baghdad, JK had lots of defenders. Prime among them were TPMmuckraker, Greg Sargent at TPMCafe and The Horse’s Mouth, and Beachmom in a Recommended diary at dailykos.com.

Justin Rood at TPMmuckraker covers it here, here and here.

Greg Sargent at TPMCafe did a little more investigative work and reported on it.

The wingers spent many, many hours on this photo, trying to prove its authenticity. I’m not going to dispute that it’s authentic. Rather, I’m here to report that I’ve now contacted at least two people who say they were at the table with Kerry. And it’s clear that the winger characterization of the photo is entirely bogus.

Specifically, it turns out that Kerry was at that table to conduct an off-the-record breakfast discussion with two reporters, so there would have been no reason whatsover for troops to be sitting with them. In fact, Kerry and the reporters even sought out empty seats, I’m told.

The two reporters who met with Kerry that morning are Marc Santora of The New York Times and Mark Danner of The New York Review, The New Yorker and other publications.

[...]

Danner confirmed to me that he’s the guy with his back to the camera, saying his jacket and the back of his head looked the same as in the photo. He added that his position in relation to Kerry was the same as the photo showed. And here’s what Danner had to say to me about the empty seats:   “If there were empty seats it’s because we sought them out. We wanted an empty table so we could talk. It’s that simple.”

Greg followed up his post at TPMCafe with this report at The Horse’s Mouth blog:

Sometimes all you can do is sit back and marvel at the winger bloggers’ seemingly bottomless capacity for buffoonery and self-parody.

On Friday I posted my case against the “lonely Kerry” photo story. This tale - pushed hard by the winger blogs - held that a widely-circulated picture of Kerry dining “alone” in Iraq proved that the troops had “spurned” the Senator. Yet it turns out that the story’s completely false: Kerry was in fact having an off-the-record discussion with two journalists, and one of the reporters, Mark Danner, confirmed to me that the three had actually sought out empty seats for privacy.

Game over, right? Nope.

Beachmom on dailykos.com made an important point about the incident in her recommended-list diary, “The Character Attack on John Kerry – A Cautionary Tale”

In the scheme of things, this is a minor, and failed, smear on Senator Kerry, but we all know that unsuspecting Americans have been e-mailed this story or heard it on far right talk radio, and they may never learn the truth of how Senator Kerry was greeted by the troops. The Right has their direct e-mail, their talk radio, their Drudge Reports, their NY Posts, and their Fox News. And they will use this weaponry to their last dying breath. It is up to us as a Party to counteract the smears every time, even in the midst of, shall we call it, pre-pre-primary wars. Because if it happens to my guy, you can be darned sure that next week it will happen to your guy or gal.

Here’s some others who stepped up on defense:

TRex at FireDogLake had some fun pointing out just how twisted is the “logic” of some right-wing bloggers in pointing out the major gaffe on the photo of JK talking with 2 reporters in Baghdad.

ellroon at Rants from the Rookery points out how reality fails to support the right-wing bloggers’ views on the photo. ellroon also highlights the Military Times poll: “The fact that the military is becoming … disenchanted … with Bush and his non-plans is even more stunning.”

Ron Chusid at Liberal Values also commented on the Military Times poll in a post titled, “It’s Bush, Not Kerry, That The Troops Really Dislike”. He wrote, “The right wing bloggers have had to resort to falsely claiming that Kerry’s joke about Bush was about the troops and fabricating a story that the troops were avoiding Kerry in Iraq by using a photo of Kerry giving a private newspaper interview in order to claim that Kerry and the troops did not like each other. The reality is that the troops are increasingly opposing George Bush’s policies.”

Luis at The Blog From Another Dimension summed it up neatly with: “the whole thing is a non-issue, little more than wingnut bloggers trying to squeeze yet another let’s-ridicule-Kerry story out of an out-of-context story with a completely fabricated conclusion sewn into it.”

John Cole at Balloon Juice, an independent, conservative-minded blogger, really spelled out his disgust with “the current GOP and their noisemakers” in a piece titled Sick of the Mouthpieces.

And then there was this entry—not exactly a blog but nonetheless, an interesting report on the photo and the right-wing bloggers came from the staff at Editor&Publisher in “Another Setback for Conservative Bloggers: The Great ‘Kerry Photo’ Flap”.

 

JK was asked to contribute to a discussion started by Leonardo Dicaprio on Yahoo! on global warming.

Leo’s question was:

What are some simple steps or creative ideas that people can take at home and work to combat global warming?

Global warming is not only one of the most threatening environmental problems, but one of the greatest challenges facing all of humanity. Danger signs are surfacing worldwide as temperatures increase (the last ten years have been the hottest years ever recorded causing glaciers and the polar ice caps to melt, coastal areas to flood and storms to become more severe). If left unchecked, global warming will continue to have a profound impact on our planet that will eventually cause catastrophic results. Fortunately, there are things each of us can do. Buildings - including our homes - are major contributors to greenhouse gases they’re responsible for up to 40% of all energy and resource use and approximately 1/3 of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

JK’s response:

In the last year Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” has brought the science of climate change to millions of Americans in a dramatic and persuasive way. It’s terrific what he’s done. Here’s the bottom line: within the next decade, if we don’t deal with global warming, our children and grandchildren will have to deal with global catastrophe. We need big changes to fix a big problem. We can’t “middle” our way there.

As individuals, the change can be as simple as replacing traditional light bulbs with efficient fluorescents. In our communities we should require that new buildings include lights that turn off when people leave the room. We should follow the lead of Tokyo and their energy efficient escalators that shut off when they aren’t being used. There are literally thousands of things to be done, too few of which we are being asked to do. Each of us can do something.

We must insist on leaders who secure our energy independence, not ones who barter it away. We wouldn’t elect a candidate who said terrorism wasn’t a threat. We wouldn’t tolerate a candidate for national office who didn’t say he was committed to capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden. But for too long we’ve tolerated those who treat the threat of energy insecurity and the truth of global climate change as an inconvenient myth. We had a whole host of people in Washington who don’t know how to tackle climate change, and a whole cast of political consultants who will counsel their candidates not even to try.

Just think what we could do with decent leadership. Other countries already know something we don’t. Actually they’ve been doing something we won’t - something influential interests don’t want us to do. Thirty years ago when Brazil faced an energy crisis they got serious about alternative fuels. Relying on new stocks of homegrown fuels in addition to its own oil production, this year Brazil will achieve energy independence. If Brazil can do it, why can’t we? If a developing country can go from 90 percent dependence on foreign oil to zero percent dependence in three decades, then we - the most powerful, creative, industrial country on Earth—we can change the destructive course we’re on.

Put Washington to the test. Tell powerful interests that the old era has ended and so have their easy arrangements. Then instead of empty slogans and long laundry lists of bite-sized ideas that tinker at the edges of outdated policy, we can embark on revolutions that will put our energy future in our own hands and put global climate change at the top of the national agenda where it belongs. We need a plan that actually does what the science tells us we have to do to.

 
<!-more-> How would you answer Leo’s question?

 

 

 

Congratulations to all those who worked so hard to elect representatives and senators that will direct our government back on track after the last 6 years. There are so many good stories about what happened yesterday and what led to yesterday being possible.

 

Congratulations to Speaker Pelosi and the “breaking of the marble ceiling”. (CBSnews.com )

Congratulations to Senator Jon Tester and his highlight of “meeting Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth.” (AP)

Congratulations to Representative Patrick Murphy and his “long journey from Baghdad”. (Morning Call)

Congratulations to Representative Tim Walz and his first day in “the people’s House”. (Star Tribune)

Congratulations to Senator Jim Webb and his focus on getting to right to work with the introduction of his first bill, a new version of the GI Bill with educational benefits for veterans. (PilotOnline.com)

Please add your favorite stories of the new 110th Congress below.

 

UPDATE: Check out the letter from Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid to President Bush.

 

EVERYWHERE I traveled throughout the Middle East this winter, the feeling was inescapable that the region could explode at any time. The threat of three simultaneous civil wars that King Abdullah of Jordan spoke of is real, and perhaps the most imminent danger - in Lebanon - is the least understood.

Lost in the shadows of Iraq, the struggle to save the fragile democracy born of the Cedar Revolution has reached a moment of truth. If America does not act now, this key front in the broader struggle between moderates and extremists for the future of the Arab world will be lost - and the consequences will long be felt throughout the region. The radicals’ ambitions for overthrow move from Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in Lebanon to President Mahmound Abbas in Ramallah to Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki in Iraq. They are determined to achieve a clean sweep.

Anyone who has longed for a George Washington or Thomas Jefferson to emerge and lead the fight for democracy in the Middle East should come to Beirut and meet the patriots who have made incredible sacrifices for a free and independent Lebanon.

There is the son of slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri. There is the Cabinet minister whose husband was assassinated soon after becoming president, and the minister of defense, who after 12 surgeries still bears the scars of an assassination attempt. There is the mother of recently slain 34-year-old Lebanese parliamentarian Pierre Gemayel, who said to me simply: “We pay a high price for sharing what you believe in,” and ask yourself whether we are paying her the debt owed for our shared beliefs.

At the forefront of this struggle is Siniora, the prime minister of Lebanon, who has stood up to a challenge that many extremists thought would bring down his government. Weakened by this summer’s war, Siniora is effectively under siege by Hezbollah, which has brought hundreds of thousands of demonstrators to the streets of Bierut and shut down the government with the mass resignation of its ministers.

To provide the support he needs, we must recognize and adapt to the new realities on the ground. We’ve lost 3,000 American lives and invested more than $300 billion in hopes of forcibly birthing democracy in Iraq - while largely ignoring Lebanon, where democratic institutions already have a foothold. Success there - and across the Middle East—ultimately depends more on winning over civilian populations with basic goods and services than defeating armies with sophisticated weapons and technology. New York’s street-wise mayor Fiorello LaGuardia proclaimed, “There is no Republican way to clean a street.” This is Politics 101: If you don’t deliver services, you don’t get the support of the people.

Yet today, the forces of radicalism are doing a far better job than the moderates in making the most basic connections with restive populations. In Lebanon, Iran has seized the opportunity to win over the population by channeling some $500 million in reconstruction funds through Hezbollah—over twice as much as we have. In fact, Iran is doing more in rebuilding Lebanon than Washington is doing in rebuilding New Orleans.

We must change this dynamic by dramatically increasing economic assistance - and pressing others in the international community to do the same - and ensuring that Lebanese see that they can count on their elected leaders. And we must redouble our efforts to strengthen the Lebanese military, which has earned the trust of the people but lacks the strength to confront Hezbollah.

The key to Lebanon’s future lies in getting Syria to truly respect Lebanese sovereignty. The money and weapons that empower Hezbollah come primarily through Syria, which uses proxies like Hezbollah to advance its hegemonic designs. They must be convinced to change course, including by ensuring that UN Resolution 1701 - which again calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah - is fully implemented.

To test the Syrians directly, as the Baker-Hamilton Commission suggested, Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and I met with President Bashar al- Assad for more than two hours. The conversation confirmed my belief that engagement with Syria could be useful in advancing our objectives across the region. The Syrian leadership will act according to its own self-interest. The challenge is to get Syria’s leaders to make a strategic decision to change direction, and shift their allegiance away from Iran.

This requires a package of incentives that will provide real benefits for playing a more constructive role and disincentives that will undermine their interests - if not endanger their survival - if they do not. These would be implemented incrementally, based on verified facts on the ground.

This comprehensive approach, similar to the one used with North Korea and Iran, must include the full participation of moderate Arab countries like Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia - which, like Syria, have largely Sunni populations - as well as Turkey. There is no guarantee that this approach will save Lebanon and turn Syria into a positive force in the region—but the current policy only guarantees more of the same.

Lebanon teeters on the brink of disaster—but its leaders refuse to surrender. As Amine Gemayel, the former president of Lebanon, said in explaining why he is running to replace his son in Parliament, “We keep going. We keep fighting. We keep struggling.” The question is whether we will be a real partner in this struggle.

---

Op-Ed published in the Boston Globe on January 4, 2007