President Carter's Big Israel Blunder

Speaking at a fundraiser for his son, Jimmie Carter made one of the most assinine comments I've heard him make. That's saying alot considering all the boneheaded things he's said. Here's what he said:

"In my opinion, maybe the worst ally Israel has had in Washington has been the George W. Bush administration, which hasn't worked to bring a permanent peace to Israel," Carter told the newspaper.

It isn't accidental that Carter would say that considering Alan Dershowitz's recent Washington Times op-ed. It's obvious that Carter is jealous that Israeli leaders think highly of President Bush.

It seems that Jewish people don't necessarily agree with Carter, evidenced by this article, titled "Israel's best friend ever in the White House":

No longer will American diplomacy focus on producing new symbols of life for the "peace process", e.g., written agreements, international conferences, but on substance. The peace process, which has claimed more than 800 Israeli sacrifices over the past nine years, has become too hungry a Moloch to continue feeding.

TRANSLATION: Israel won't pressure Israel into giving up territory in the hopes of a mythical peace. We'll pressure the PA to live up to its list of conditions that it agreed to. NO EXCUSES.

As if in unison, the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times all took him to task for failing to provide a timetable for the Palestinians to receive their state. That criticism completely misses the president's central point: a Palestinian state is not inevitable; it must be earned. Thus there can be no timetable.

How can Carter say that President Bush is Israel's worst ally in Washington when he's the only president in the last dozen years to stand up for Israel, not cave into a terrorist's demands? If that isn't upside down morality?

President Carter thinks that there should've been an immediate ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel , meaning Hezbollah would've paused in attacking Israel while keeping their offensive capabilities intact. It's the equivalent of holding a gun to someone's head and saying "I agree to not pull the trigger...for now." I'm certain that Israel wouldn't have appreciated that type of 'support' from the U.S.

In President Carter's mind, actually letting Israel defend itself after a terrorist act of war is part of President Bush's "erroneous policy." That's why President Carter is considered to have the worst foreign policy record in modern history. He isn't someone whose foreign policy advice I'd listen to.

Former President Carter, who helped broker the historic Camp David peace accord, said President Bush has pursued an "erroneous policy" that has fostered violence in the Middle East. Carter said the United States should work for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah and the world community should concentrate on a long-term solution, but he is uncertain whether Bush can accomplish a cease-fire. "It depends on whether world opinion is strong enough to get the administration to change its erroneous policy , which has been to encourage the continuation of attacks on both sides," Carter, a Democrat, told The Grand Rapids Press in an interview Friday.

If Carter's statement that President Bush is Israel's worst ally in Washington isn't the dumbest thing I've heard, then this nonsense is. It's been announced that France and the U.S. have agreed to a UNSCR with some teeth to it, at least as much teeth as is in an UNSCR:

The Security Council convened later Saturday to discuss the draft. Diplomats said the document was likely to be adopted early next week at a meeting attended by the foreign ministers of the 15 council members.

The resolution's central demand was for "a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations." The document then charted a detailed path for the two sides to follow to achieve a lasting peace. It envisioned a second resolution in a week or two that would authorize an international military force for the Israel-Lebanon frontier.

---------------

The draft also called for Hezbollah to be disarmed and for Lebanon's borders to be solidified, especially in the disputed Chebaa Farms area, occupied by Israel since 1967.

Golly, Mr. Carter, it doesn't sound like "world opinion" was "strong enough to get the administration to change its erroneous policy", though it's obvious that this resolution represents the right goals. How did that happen, President Carter? That isn't a bad result for such an "erroneous policy."

This speech should be filed a folder with all of the other mindless Jimmy Carter foreign policy speeches. Either that or we should just forget that collection of statements in search of a coherent thought.

---

Posted Saturday, August 5, 2006 5:20 PM

July 2006 Posts

Comment 1 by Thomas Ecker at 19-May-07 12:19 PM

Carter has shown over the years that he is truly anti-semitec and anti-Isreal. His utterances should not be given a response, but I agree with your opinion.