I ask all of you to comment on that.

Mr. ANDERSON. Mr. LaHood, I think one of the most constructive things that America could do in its policy toward Lebanon, is to recognize and respect that there is a Lebanese Government, which was elected by the people of Lebanon, in a flawed but mostly democratic process, and that it will be up to that government to decide when to demand the Syrians leave.

We can encourage them, we can express our views on the matter, but they are going to ask the Syrians to leave when they decide that that is both practical and desirable.

Other than that, we can assist them in trying to rebuild their country and to strengthen democratic institutions, which they are trying to do.

I must say, sir, I was a bit puzzled by the picture of Lebanon that was drawn by some of the other people who were speaking, because I didn't recognize it as the Lebanon that I saw last August.

If Mr. Pipes thinks that Lebanon is as quiet as a desert, he obviously hasn't talked with very many Lebanese in public. In fact, there is an active political ferment going there. People are not afraid to speak their minds on the street. The newspapers are under some restrictions. Criticism of Syria is not encouraged. But other than that, they are quite free and open and combative.

The picture is not anywhere near as grim as they would have you believe. There are no secret policemen standing on the street corner trying to overhear your conversation. The Lebanese are actively engaged in trying to decide their own destiny and are not afraid to give their opinions about it.

I am not a naive visitor; I am an experienced foreign correspondent who has been in many countries where people are afraid to speak their mind. I know what it sounds like and feels like. That is not Lebanon today.

Mr. PIPES. Before I answer your question, Mr. LaHood, if I might, I would like to comment that Mr. Anderson's depiction of Lebanon reminds me of many experienced visitors to Poland during the Cold War years and reporting back the true political life that exists in Poland. I just don't think that was the case there, then or now, in Lebanon.

But to answer your question, I believe the single most useful thing we could do would be to articulate directly and explicitly that the U.S. Government condemns the continued occupation of Lebanon. I am not advocating that we do anything, such as use force. I just think a very clear articulation of that message would be extremely useful for all concerned.

Mr. TANOUS. Congressman LaHood, I think that in the scenario you painted, where the travel ban no longer exists, the most important thing the United States can do is to help Lebanon grow in integrity and strengthen Lebanese institutions.

I think some of the testimony we have heard smacks of throwing the baby out with the bath water. I want to see the baby grow and thrive so that the Syrian presence, which is of concern to all Lebanese, becomes moot and becomes impossible to sustain, because at that point, Lebanon will be strong and the Syrians will have no excuse to stay. And the United States should make that point clear

to the Syrians. But it can only do so with a strong and viable Leb

anon.

The idea that we are going to withhold aid and assistance to Lebanon and make the Lebanese suffer because it might send the right message to the Syrians is not, in my opinion, very constructive.

Mr. NASSIF. Congressman LaHood, the real ruler in Lebanon today is Ghazi Kenaan. He is the head of the Syrian intelligence network in Lebanon. You see all of the leadership in Lebanon go, daily or weekly, and he arranges for them to go, to Damascus. So it is all a facade in the country.

What the United States could do, the United States could push for genuine reconciliation in the country. There are still a lot of leaders living in exile, you know. The country is still not at peace with itself.

I have here three pictures sent yesterday by a leading journalist in An-Nahar newspaper. This is the leading newspaper in Lebanon. Fifteen members of the Syrian intelligence personnel attacked him in his house. They beat him up. And those are the pictures. I would like them to be put in the record, if possible, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman GILMAN. Without objection, we will include them in the record. Will you identify where they were taken?

Mr. NASSIF. They were taken in Paris. This guy escaped Lebanon and arrived in Paris like 10 days ago, and he asked for political asylum in France. For an article he wrote in the paper, they attacked him in his house.

Chairman GILMAN. In Paris?

Mr. NASSIF. No. They attacked him in Beirut, but he escaped Beirut after that.

Chairman GILMAN. When did they attack him in Beirut?
Mr. NASSIF. A month ago.

Chairman GILMAN. What do the photos show?

Mr. NASSIF. It showed traces of torture on his body.

Chairman GILMAN. Those were taken after he got to Paris?
Mr. NASSIF. Yes.

Chairman GILMAN. We will admit them.

Mr. NASSIF. He went into a coma for like 3 days, he went to the hospital, and from there it was arranged, his escape out of the country.

Chairman GILMAN. Without objection, the photos will be added to the record.

[The photos referred to appear in the appendix.] Mr. LAHOOD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. LaHood.

I have a couple of brief questions. One of the underlying causes of Lebanon's civil war back in the seventies and eighties was a rupture in relations between the Lebanese Christians and the Muslims, but the civil war was ended years ago. Can you give us an assessment of intercommunal dialog in Lebanon today?

I address that to all of the panelists.

Mr. ANDERSON. Sir, I was somewhat amazed during my visit at the general lack of hatred between the various groups in Lebanon, after having observed a large part of the civil war and seeing them do terrible things to each other. I was quite amazed to find most of that hatred, not all of it, gone.

As I mentioned in my film, one young woman told me, if you push me, it is still that, but nobody is pushing very much. I believe they are really trying very hard to get along.

The rivalries and the competition between the groups certainly has not disappeared, but the violence, the hatred, the rage that was so evident during the civil war seems to have, for the most part. And that was a very encouraging thing for me to find. Chairman GILMAN. Mr. Tanous.

Mr. TANOUS. From our viewpoint, Mr. Chairman, we see pretty much the same thing that Terry Anderson does. There is a great deal of integration between the various religious groups. There is no longer a green line, obviously, and people travel freely from one side to another. There is probably some polarization, socially and otherwise, very much like there is in our country, but by and large there is no evidence, that we have seen from our vantage point over here, of hatred based on faith or other convictions.

Chairman GILMAN. Mr. Nassif.

Mr. NASSIF. Mr. Chairman, President Gemayel, I think, will tell you later, you know, from experience probably-I don't know if he will discuss this-every time the Lebanese agree on something, there is a spoiler around the corner. Syria wants Lebanon to be divided in order to have an excuse to remain in the country.

Chairman GILMAN. Mr. Pipes.

Mr. PIPES. Nothing.

Chairman GILMAN. There were a number of reports that the Bekaa Valley was controlled by the Syrians and is one of the largest narcotics substance exporters out of the Bekaa Valley. Can you give us any current status of the drug production in the Bekaa Valley?

Mr. ANDERSON. Yes, sir, that is a subject I specifically investigated, including being briefed by members of the police that I know personally, a couple of the members of my wife's family, about the crackdown in the Bekaa Valley that took place about 2 years ago.

Most of the drug crops, in fact virtually all the drug crops, are gone. There are still-as you heard, the State Department people said there are still some laboratories around and still some drug running, but the flourishing trade, the flourishing open trade, is virtually gone, with the assistance, by the way, of Syria.

I remember seeing the Bekaa Valley when I first arrived in 1982 and being stunned by the greenness of the valley as seen from the mountain, until I got down to the valley and found the green valley was all hashish plants from horizon to horizon.

Chairman GILMAN. It is one of the largest hashish producers in the whole world.

Mr. ANDERSON. They are no longer there. I have been up and down the Bekaa Valley, talked to police, talked to critics, and that part of the drug trade is certainly gone.

Mr. Nassif, you wanted to comment?

Mr. NASSIF. It is a big story in the daily Al-Hayat, a respected Arab newspaper out of London, and 2 days ago they had a big report talking about how the Lebanese in the Bekaa Valley are starting again to grow poppies because of the dire economic situation in

the country. So this will conflict, I think, with Mr. Anderson's assessment.

Chairman GILMAN. Mr. Tanous.

Mr. TANOUS. Mr. Chairman, our information pretty much parallels Terry's. And, frankly, the source of much of this information is a very good one, I think. It is all the various U.S. intelligence services, which suggests that 95 percent of the drug problem in the Bekaa Valley has been eradicated.

Chairman GILMAN. Mr. Pipes.

Mr. PIPES. I think it is accurate to say that most of the drug cultivation has been eradicated. However, the laboratories and the processing are flourishing, flourishing as never before, making Lebanon an even more important way station than in the past. Drug trafficking is thus even higher than it was in the past. But there has been a basic shift from actual hill-to-hill production in the Bekaa Valley, which does not exist much anymore, to sophisticated laboratories.

Chairman GILMAN. Our Committee has received several press reports linking Hizbollah to the production and distribution of cocaine and heroin, not hashish. The reports say the drug money plays still a major role in financing of Hizbollah's military campaign against Israel and terrorist operations abroad, and also is an important money maker for Syria.

According to the State Department's recent annual reports on narcotics control, "Many small home type labs for processing opium into heroin are still reported to operate in the Bekaa Valley in areas that are not fully controlled by either Syrian forces or the Lebanese Government.'

Would you want to comment on that report?

Mr. PIPES. Well, as I said, the emphasis now is on exactly what you pointed to, the processing of drugs into their final state, a very lucrative industry and one which all reports indicate the Syrians are profiting from very handsomely.

Mr. ANDERSON. Sir, I would like to comment on one part of your statement, and that is the characterization of Hizbollah as a terrorist organization. Believe me, I have no doubt whatsoever that there are those within Hizbollah who engage in those sorts of activities, but Hizbollah is also a legal political party with seven Members of Parliament in Lebanon and an extensive social network.

I do not know the extent to which those who engage in violence exert power over the activities of the party, but I suggest that it is a good deal more complicated than simply labeling all of Hizbollah as terrorists.

Chairman GILMAN. Any other questions?

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, if I might, I want to refer to this alleged continuing drug traffic. From my last meeting with the State Department officials on this issue, the mobile labs are a problem. They are much like SCUD missiles, hard to locate them and eradicate them. As far as the permanent big production labs, they have been eradicated.

Also in reference to what Mr. Anderson just said. One of my major concerns, which I expressed to Secretary Christopher in person, and I expressed to President Clinton in person, following the massacre at Qana last April, is that Hizbollah gained tremendous

recognition for social work they provided the people of the area and medical assistance. We came in, maybe, and provided $1 million in U.S. aid. Israel said they were going to provide some money. They may or may not have; I am not sure.

But nevertheless, there was a tremendous vacuum left in providing medical assistance to innocent civilians who had been hurt in that raid. Therefore, it left a vacuum that, quite honestly, Iran stepped in, and provided for financially. As unfortunate as that is, it was the fact of the matter, and we were hand-tied, or something prevented us from taking the necessary steps to fill that vacuum first.

Mr. ANDERSON. May I comment, Mr. Chairman?

Chairman GILMAN. Mr. Anderson.

Mr. ANDERSON. If I may just very briefly, sir, believe me, I am the last person to support or defend Hizbollah. I may have forgiven them, but I still don't like them very much. But I believe it is important to recognize that they have made a major step in change in becoming involved in political structure in Lebanon, in running for office, and then serving as parliamentarians. They have a stake in stability in that country now which they never had before, and I think it is important to recognize that as an important part of the reconciliation process within the country.

I do not excuse them for past crimes or endorsements of violence. I am encouraged that, at least verbally and in their present actions, they seem to be stepping away from that road.

Chairman GILMAN. Do any other panelists want to comment?

We have been receiving some reports that Hizbollah has improved its military tactics against Israeli soldiers in the south of Lebanon and also acquired more sophisticated weapons. According to Israeli sources, Hizbollah has acquired advanced antiaircraft weapons similar to U.S. shoulder-fired Stingers.

What do we know about the acquisition of advanced weapons by Hizbollah, and has the arms supply from Iran and Syria increased or decreased in recent months? Do we have any information?

Mr. PIPES. Well, as you indicate, Mr. Chairman, there does seem to be an increase in the supply of more advanced weapons to Hizbollah. In my understanding, these are to be used in a timely fashion when appropriate, against Israel or perhaps against other enemies of the Syrian Government.

Mr. RAHALL. In the occupation zone.

Mr. PIPES. Yes, in the south of Lebanon, but also against targets within Israel proper, as happened in April of last year, in the events which led up to Qana.

Hizbollah, like many radical Islamic organizations, has several faces. It is both an independent group with its own ideology and at the same time it has close connections to the Iranian and Syrian Governments. It is in some ways a servant of those governments. On the one hand, it is a genuine terrorist organization; on the other, it achieves its goals through the provision of services and through electoral success.

What counts more than the specific acts, be they violent or political, are the ultimate goals of Hizbollah and these are very clearly enunciated by their quite brilliant and very articulate leaders. These are to turn Lebanon into a State where the Islamic law ap