Clinton Urges Stand Against Terror Groups

President Clinton said Thursday that defenders of civilization must stand against the forces of organized evil that invade open societies and “kill without a thought.”

In a speech to the 89th annual meeting of the American Jewish Committee, Clinton strongly reaffirmed his policy of supporting those in the Middle East who take risks for peace.

The president said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the beginning of the peace process that “if you are prepared to take risks for peace it is up to the United States to minimize those risks and to try to contain those who would try to upset the balance.”

He said Iran, Libya and Iraq are examples of those who fall into that category.

Iran’s support for terrorism and its alleged drive to build nuclear weapons fully justifies the trade embargo the United States imposed on Iran last week, Clinton said.

And he added: “I hope that we will be able to persuade others that terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction have no place in the modern world.”

Clinton condemned terrorism whether it takes place in Israel or in Oklahoma City. And he again called on Congress to swiftly pass his antiterrorist legislative agenda.

In the Middle East, he said, “it makes sense to stop killing each other and make peace.”

But he said terrorists know that “if the people of Israel can be rendered insecure, they won’t want peace any more, and the enemies of peace will win.”

Clinton denounced “the forces of disintegration that move into open societies and choke the life out of hope.”

And he said, “all of us who want an ordered society must stand against the forces of organized evil that cross national borders and kill without a thought.”