 Carter: Too Much Time On His Hands? By JOHN HERBERT From Where I Sit Published: Apr 29, 2008
What's with Jimmy Carter? At this point in the senior statesman’s life, he should be down on the peanut farm basking in the limelight due a former president and a Nobel laureate. Already secure with his place in history, Carter now seems to be losing it.
The 83-year-old limousine liberal has been searching for peace in the Middle East between arch enemies Palestine and Israel. What did his latest freelancing excursion gain? Nothing, really; no lasting concessions.
He was not a negotiator sent by a U.S. government. Washington would have preferred that he not meet Hamas or Syrian leaders. Carter responded with hugs to the Hamas terrorist chieftains he met. Any presence, even unofficially, by a former U.S. president in the hot spot would surely send mixed signals to, and confuse, both our allies and our enemies.
Carter extracted a vague statement from Hamas leaders in Palestine's Gaza Strip. Branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. and much of Europe, Hamas could merely suggest a long-term truce with Jerusalem in return for Israel's retreat to pre-1967 Palestinian borders.
Punctuating its stance (or maybe thumbing its collective nose), Hamas lobbed more fatal missiles from Gaza into Israel, killing two, and dispatching two suicide missions just when Carter was in the Middle East.
So, what is Jimmy Carter up to? Does he just have too much time on his hands in retirement?
Carter claims he was just on a "fact-finding" mission in the name of peace and human rights. Hmmm. My impression is that he was toeing a liberal Democratic line that would have Washington leaders prioritize talking with the so-called "Axis of Evil." Except for Hamas, interestingly. None of the presidential candidates have gone that far.
What's the point? Despite its truce offer, Hamas hasn't offered to recognize Israel, a nation the terrorists describe as made up of "brothers of apes and pigs." Hamas is still pledged not only to destroy but also to obliterate their neighbor. After a theoretical 10 years of truce, during which the Palestinians can upgrade their arms, we'll be back at a bloody square one.
We can't do much about Carter's latest initiative, whatever it was supposed to be. Some officials in Washington, and others in the media, have suggested we recall the ex-president's passport. Although this gut reaction sounds logical, there is no legal basis for such a move.
At least Carter is being consistent when he monkey wrenches an issue. Remember that back in the early 1990s, he traveled to North Korea in hopes of reaching a nuclear disarmament agreement with Pyongyang and its dictator, Kim Jong Il.
While testing nuclear delivery systems, North Korea also continues to export nuclear hardware and software to terrorist nations. Anything for an honest buck. Pyongyang's massive dollar counterfeiting can't keep pace with demand.
A few years later, Carter was in Havana, touting communist Cuba's health-care and educational advantages. He even had the stomach to call Cuba "an island paradise." Cuban exiles surely have vividly different memories.
More recently, Carter monitored the Palestine elections that gave Hamas control over the Gaza Strip. "Fair and honest," he pronounced the vote. A distinguished former civil servant, Carter prefers to legitimize what Washington would rather isolate.
A regular columnist for Hernando Today, John Herbert lives in Spring Hill. |
