Peacemaker, Idealist, Flawed, or simply Foolish?

Ex-President Jimmy Carter's recent meetings with Hamas lead me to wonder about him. One can respect a desire for peace in a troubled part of the world; however, one cannot respect meeting with Hamas, a known terrorist organization, against the advice of the Department of State who basically told him that his meeting would not assist in peace between Israel and its neighbors but actually might harm the process. Carter ignored that advice and met anyway. After his meeting, he proudly announced that Hamas had agreed to let Israel "live as a neighbor." Then hours later, the same terrorist leader with whom he had met stated he would not recognize the Jewish state. Hamas also rejected Mr. Carter's proposal for a month's truce. What an utter waste of time.

I lived through the Carter presidency. And just what were his accomplishments? A peace agreement reached at Camp David between Egypt and Israel in 1979. The alleged peace has held up, but hostility toward Israel, even in Egypt, is the real result. Even a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his Middle East efforts does not make his efforts worthwhile. Carter's abandonment of Iran's Shah led to the Islamic revolution and all the threats coming from Iran today. His botched approach to the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979 inspired Islamic terrorists all over the world. Sadly, that dangerous legacy will be with us for years. I recall long lines around gas stations due to the embargo on Iranian oil. I remember inflation (12.5%), unemployment (7.5%) and extremely high interest rates (prime rate - 20%). I remember the Panama Canal he "gave away."

The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat of New York, said of Carter in 1980, "Unable to distinguish between our friends and our enemies, he has essentially adopted our enemies' view of the world." Attorney Alan Dershowitz has written about Carter's latest, much critized, book, Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid, "Mr. Carter's book is so filled with simple mistakes of fact and deliberate omissions that were it a brief filed in a court of law, it would be struck and its author sanctioned for misleading the court."

Mr. Carter's years as an ex-president have not been any better than his years as president, except for Habitat for Humanity. In fact, his years since 1980 are worse, and his utterances and meddling may have caused great harm to our country. Can he not accept the fact that he is no longer president?

Is this man a peacemaker, an idealist, merely flawed, or a complete and utter fool? Because of all the facts available, I tend to believe the latter. Carter is said to be extremely intelligent, but intelligent people can also be very foolish. One does not make deals with terrorists. one does not accept their word, only their actions. These people are not to be believed; they are to be defeated. Then there will be a peace worth having.

Copyright 2008 by Don Emerson