From: elie@hdtv.njit.edu (Elie I. Mourad)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon
Subject: Bill Clinton meets with CLAO in NJ.
Date: 1 Oct 92 20:23:39 GMT
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.


Democratic presidential hopeful Governor Bill Clinton 
met yesterday night (September 30) with Dr. Imad Hage who
represented the Council of Lebanese American Organizations.
The meeting lasted for one hour and a half and took place
in Peapacks Gladstone, New Jersey.

During the meeting, Governor Clinton criticized the foreign policy
of the Bush administration towards Lebanon and stated that the
acceptance of President Bush of Syria's total takeover of Lebanon
makes a mockery of the long-standing American commitment toward 
Lebanon's independence and sovereignty.

The Democratic candidate accused the administration of sacrificing
Lebanon for the sake of appeasing Syria's dictator Hafez Assad. Governor
Clinton added that he will support the Middeast peace process. However
he stressed his opposition to any solution at the expense of Lebanon's
unity, sovereignty and independence.

Dr. Hage thanked the Governor for the opportunity to meet with him
and for his noble position towards Lebanon. He also presented to him
a written message, from the Council of Lebanese American Organizations, that
emphasized the following positions:

1. The 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 right of the Lebanese people to hold free and fair elections 
   under international supervision. The recent round of fraudulent elections
   engineered by Syria with the tacit approval od President Bush were 
   actively boycotted by 85% 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 Taef "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 to 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 memebr of the family of free nations.

In conclusion the letter from CLAO said:

The Bush adminsitration claim of foreign policy prowess can be severely
diminished by a powerful argument to the contrary based of a firm 
understanding of the events 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 a cynical quid pro quo
arrangement in the takeover of Lebanon with the ruthless dictator Hafez
Assad, who continues to sponsor international terrorism, drug 
trafficking and is relentlessly engaged in an unprecedented military
buildup. The importance of pointing out these foreign policy inconsistencies
should not be overlooked.

Regards, Elie.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon