You Have Our Full Support In The Fight Against Terror

American Jewish Committee
Wednesday, 27 August 1997

As part of the American Jewish Committee's long-standing commitment to elevate the fight against terror to the highest priority among U.S. public policy concerns, AJC will publish an open letter to President Clinton in an advertisement on the op-ed page of The New York Times on Sunday, August 30. The letter supports the Administration's recent U.S. military actions in Afghanistan and Sudan, and urges the U.S. to "press on in this battle against terrorism - wherever it leads and, within the bounds of law and U.S. policy objective, whatever it requires."

In the ad, AJC applauds President Clinton's willingness to "demonstrate to the agents and sponsors of international terrorism that America can and will defend its citizens and its interests, using the full powers at its command to strike at the infrastructure of terror anywhere in the world."

AJC further asserts that "by these bold acts of self-defense, American forces have delivered a powerful response to the heinous bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam."

The AJC ad continues, in part: "The agony of those victimized by similarly inspired terror in recent years here and in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Argentina, Egypt, Turkey, Algeria and in other lands - and of those murdered this month in Kenya and Tanzania - demands a stern response. It demands an ongoing determination to drive terror from our midst. Your retaliation against the terror network was an important step in a difficult and necessary campaign.

"We know that this battle must be waged on many fronts - against states that harbor and sponsor terrorists, against groups here and abroad that support the terror movements - and that it requires cooperation among like-minded countries throughout the world. As your Administration wages this vital fight against terror, you will have our full support."

This is the latest in a series of public service ads on the issue of terrorism in The New York Times (and other leading newspapers and periodicals), including one in the wake of the World Trade Center bombing entitled "A Tall Order: Stop terrorism" (The New York Times, Jan. 25, 1998). AJC also placed an ad following the bombing of a Tel Aviv café entitled: "Chairman Arafat, which is it: Jihad or Peace?" (The New York Times, Aug. 3, 1997), and one entitled "We stand with Israel in grief, in solidarity, in our resolve to fight terrorism," signed by politicians, ethnic and religious leaders, educators, and leaders from the business and entertainment worlds (The New York Times, March 17, 1996), prompted by a spate of Palestinian terrorist attacks within Israel.

Recent AJC research publications on terrorism-related issues include "Still No Justice: Four Years After The AMIA Bombing" in Argentina and "The Russian Connection: Russia, Iran and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction."

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org