Chris Van Hollen Asks Lebanon Ambassador Nominee If US Should Support Renewal Of UNIFIL's Mandate

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During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke about the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

Transcript

00:00And I want to thank everybody for their time here today.

00:03I think from the...

00:05Mr. Chairman.

00:06Oh, I'm sorry, because I didn't see you come in.

00:08Snuck in on you.

00:08I'm sorry about that.

00:12Thank you, Senator.

00:13Congratulations to all of you.

00:14And I really just want to pick up, actually, where Senator Ricketts left off,

00:18and I know Senator Murphy and others with respect to Lebanon, Mr. Issa.

00:23And I want to second the comments that have been made about the need to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces.

00:29In my view, they're an indispensable entity to ensure the central government has sovereign control over the entire territory.

00:38And I take it you agree.

00:40I agree, definitely.

00:41I mean, this is the only hope for them.

00:43Yeah.

00:43I do believe that right now that the UNIFIL forces are an important, play an important role.

00:51Their mandate is set to expire next month.

00:54Do you believe that the administration should support the renewal of that mandate?

00:59Thank you, Senator, for the question.

01:01The UNIFIL has been in Lebanon since the 70s, I believe.

01:06And their role in Lebanon was monitoring the borders between Lebanon and Israel.

01:12At that time, it was a very important role because they were watching what can happen.

01:19Lately, with the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and then the fact that Hezbollah has been removed from the south

01:28and hopefully removed from most of the territory in Lebanon.

01:34The UNIFIL role now is changing because the LAF, Lebanese Air Force, is taking over the south.

01:41And their role is going to be exactly maybe as legitimate now army between the country on the border.

01:52It will be the damper that would create some kind of, let's say, security for northern Israel.

01:59So the role of the UNIFIL is kind of changing now.

02:04If I may, and I'm sorry to cut you off, but I want to get to some of the questions.

02:07Please, go ahead.

02:08Look, obviously, things are in transition.

02:12But we're talking about a mandate that will expire next month.

02:15And I would hope that until we succeed in fully replacing Hezbollah with the LAF in the south

02:24and disarming Hezbollah, my view is they continue to play an important role.

02:27And I hope the administration will recognize that.

02:31If I could turn to you, Mr. Buchan.

02:35And with respect to Morocco, I second the comments of my colleagues.

02:40We are glad to see them join the Abraham Accords.

02:44And the question is the price that was paid in order to achieve that.

02:51And I just want to read a statement from former Senator Inhofe.

02:58Members of the Senate will remember him as a very conservative chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee

03:05who said, I think that all countries should recognize Israel.

03:10I think he was right.

03:11He goes on to say, referring to the announcement by the White House,

03:16essentially asserting Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara.

03:21He said this.

03:23Today's White House announcement alleging Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara is shocking and deeply disappointing.

03:30I am saddened that the rights of the Western Saharan people have been traded away.

03:35And he goes on to detail the long period of colonization and UN resolutions calling for self-determination.

03:45Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker said, and I quote, of this decision, quote,

03:53an astounding retreat from the principles of international law and diplomacy, jeopardizing our standing across Africa and the world.

04:03My question to you, because I heard that one of your goals is to advance the Moroccan autonomy plan.

04:10My question to you is, do you see the UN having an important role to play in that process?

04:17Senator, thank you for that question.

04:22As you can appreciate, I'm still a private citizen, so I haven't been read into all the details.

04:28What I'll say is this.

04:30I trust President Trump.

04:32I trust Secretary Marco Rubio.

04:35And I, as you know, if confirmed as an ambassador, I execute policy on behalf of the administration.

04:45I don't set policy.

04:47So...

04:47Are you familiar with this whole dispute and Senator Inhofe's views and the statements of Secretary Baker and the concerns expressed?

04:55Are you familiar with that?

04:56I am not familiar with that, sir.

04:58And, but I'm very happy to research that and give back to you and the committee, if appropriate.

05:06Yeah.

05:07Okay.

05:09Senator, if I may, you have a very quick question for the nominee for Thailand, Ms. O'Neill.

05:14We're glad to see the fragile Thai-Cambodian ceasefire holding.

05:19Mr. O'Neill, I apologize.

05:22Thailand also plays a very important role with respect to the Myanmar conflict.

05:27It hosts approximately 150,000 Burmese refugees.

05:33It manages one of the longest and most volatile borders with Myanmar.

05:38And increasingly, it's become a channel for Myanmar's arms procurement through Thai banks,

05:45as the UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews spotlighted in a report last year.

05:51So, what role do you think Thailand can play in lessening the conflict in Burma,

05:58which has been ongoing for a long time, at great cost to the people of Burma?

06:05And should there be any diplomatic or other consequences if the Thai government fails to prevent companies

06:13from using Thai financial infrastructure to enable atrocities in Myanmar?

06:19Thank you, Senator, for that question.

06:21I served in Burma years ago in 2007 and 2009 under the last military regime.

06:27And so I saw firsthand – my wife and I were there.

06:29We saw firsthand the horrors they inflicted on their population.

06:32I think it's, frankly, worse this time, probably, because of the violence that's spread throughout the country.

06:40This is a significant problem for Thailand, and it's one, I think, that affects their national interests

06:47and those of their citizens.

06:48You raise a good question of what role they can play.

06:51I think the first role they can play is to not recognize this regime,

06:57not to lend legitimacy to this Burmese regime and its military leadership.

07:04Similarly, I know that it's the Department's position to not encourage them to hold these sham elections

07:11that they're looking to hold in the fall.

07:13And we are encouraging ASEAN nations, I think, and in particular Thailand,

07:18and if confirmed, I would encourage Thailand not to recognize an election

07:22that does not include the participation of over 50 percent of the country

07:25while most of the opposition leaders are in prison.

07:29With respect to your question on the financial networks, sir, if confirmed,

07:34I think that would certainly be something that we would have to look at very –

07:38I would look at very closely.

07:40I would certainly make clear to Thailand that it would not be in their interests

07:46or anyone else's for their financial networks to be used

07:49to fund ongoing instability inside Burma.

07:52Thank you, sir.

07:53I appreciate that.

07:53Thank you, Senator.

07:54Thank you, Senator Van Hollen.

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