From: bh437292@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu (Basil Hamdan)
Subject: Message from American Lebanese Committee for Bill Clinton
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 15:48:38 GMT
Reply-To: bh437292@lance.colostate.edu
Organization: Engineering College, Colorado State University
Keywords: cross post from soc.culture.lebanon


This article appeared in soc.culture.lebanon,
cross posted without original poster's permission (Elie Mourad)
Thanks to Elie.


From: elie@hdtv.njit.edu (Elie I. Mourad)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon
Subject: Message from American Lebanese Committee for Bill Clinton
Date: 15 Oct 92 04:35:03 GMT
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.



Washington Times Ad (Oct. 13, 1992)

A MESSAGE TO FELLOW AMERICANS FROM THE
AMERICAN LEBANESE COMMITTEE FOR BILL CLINTON

Dear Friends:

Two years ago, on October 13, 1990, the constitutionally mandated government
in Lebanon of Prime Minister Michel Aoun was toppled by a brutal onslaught 
from the total might of the Syrian military. This legitimate government,
supported by the vast majority of the Lebanese populace, is now in exile.
These events occured with the facilitation and tacit approval of the Bush
administration. Lebanon has now become a de facto province of Syria.

We believe that in addition to a failed domestic policy, the Bush 
administration's claim of foreign policy prowess is severely diminished 
by the contradiction that was created as a result of its betrayal
of the democratic process in Lebanon.

While President Bush went to extraordinary measures to preserve the 
independence of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein, he did so in part by 
entering into a cynical quid pro quo arrangement on the takeover
of Lebanon with the ruthless Syrian dictator Hafez Assad, who continues
to sponsor international terrorism, was responsible for the deaths
of 241 US marines and the incarceration of American hostages in Lebanon,
and is relentlessly engaged in drug trafficking and in an unprecedented
military buildup.

The proclamation by President Bush of a New World Order that protects
weaker nations from the aggression of stronger neighbors evidently 
does not include Lebanon. Such duplicityand hypocrisy are significant
indictments of the Bush administration's conduct of foreign policy.

It is out of commemoration of this tragedy and concern for our families
and friends in Lebanon that the American Lebanese community wishes to 
publicize its strong support for the following positions:

1. A restoration of Lebanon's full independence, sovereignty, unity,
   freedom, democracy and territorial integrity within its internationally
   recognized borders. This would entail the removal of all foreign forces
   from Lebanese territory, commencing with the immediate and unconditional
   withdrawal of Syrian occupation forces and surrogate organizations.

2. A commitment to the basic principles of self determination by 
   restoring the right of the Lebanese to hold free and fair elections under
   international supervision. The recent round of fraudulent elections
   engineered by Syria with the tacit approval of President Bush were
   actively boycotted by 85 percent of the Lebanese electorate. The results
   of these elections have only reinforced Syrian domination of Lebanon
   and should not be recognized or legitimized by any US administration.

3. A revaluation of US support of the Taif "agreement" that was imposed
   on Lebanon with the full blessing of the Bush administration. This 
   "agreement" has resulted in a total economic ruin of the country.
   It has also created a thinly disguised veneer of legality for 
   continued Syrian occupation, the open sanction of human rights violations,
   a further marginalization of Lebanon's plight in the mind of the world 
   community and a widespread demoralization of Lebanon's youth who have
   very little to look forward under Pax Syriana.


4. The US should participate and exercise its influence with friends 
   allies and international organizations to assist in achieving 
   the above goals as well as facilitating Lebanon's restoration 
   of its status as a member of the family of free nations.

The American Lebanese community has complete confidence that Governor 
Bill Clinton will conduct his foreign policy based on sound moral principles. 
A vote for Clinton is a vote for an independent and sovereign Lebanon
and a vote for freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

American Lebanese Committee for Bill Clinton
1331-A Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 426
Washington, DC 20004