On the recordApril 20, 1996
Oh, yes. I don't think if--I think what happened in the past 10 days happened because there is life in the peace process. I think the resumption of the rocket--the Katyusha rockets, was a direct attempt to drive a stake through the peace process, through the heart of the peace process. I don't think this is very complicated. I think Hezbollah did what they did, and I think they have probably been very pleased in a tragic way that the Israeli reaction included the misfiring of certain shells that killed all those civilians, because that's what they want to do. They want to kill the peace process. And I think the fact that they want to kill it shows that there is still life in it. And so I do believe that this is a difficult period. Now, in terms of--President Chirac and I talked about this extensively today, and as I said, the Secretary of State will have contact with the two European foreign ministers and the Russian foreign minister who are in Syria. He will then see President Asad, and he will then--I expect that he will probably go back to Jerusalem tonight, sometime late tonight. But I have found that predictions are not particularly useful, so I don't want to voice optimism or pessimism. I do want to say that there are two things we have to do here: We have got to stop the violence, but we also have to get some sort of understanding that will enable the people of Lebanon and the people who live in the northern part of Israel to go back to a normal life. And my heart really goes out to them. The people who live in southern Lebanon are basically caught in a political web that is far beyond their ability to control. And so I hope to goodness we can give them back the elements of their life, so they at least have the security of peace in the next--for the indeterminate period. But if we can do that, I think the peace process can be put back on track. Yes, Rita [Rita Braver, CBS]? Russian-U.S. Relations
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