Jimmy Carter Shows Again Why He Never Got A Second Term

[Bruzilla]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/30/AR2005073000594_pf.html

Putting aside the fact that he's pulling a Dixie Chicks by criticizing America while on foreign soil, and being stupid enough to call on the US to be nicer to terrorists while in a country that just had two terrorist attacks (that's real smart), the following BS blurb really caught my attention:

"What has happened at Guantanamo Bay ... does not represent the will of the American people," Carter said Saturday. "I'm embarrassed about it, I think its wrong. I think it does give terrorists an unwarranted excuse to use the despicable means to hurt innocent people."

Unwarranted excuse? That's means that they're using an excuse that they're not entitled to. So, what is Carter trying to say? That Gitmo is not an excuse for attacks, or that they are? If he says the later, he's saying that the US is responsible for the attacks because of Gitmo (which doesn't explain all those pre-Gitmo/pre-Iraq attacks.)

What a loser!

 

[Bustem' Down]

Who cares really, it's not like he has any power outside of Georgia.

 

[billydog]

Who cares really, it's not like he has any power outside of Georgia.

I disagree. Many view him as something of an elder statesman. People have forgotten his own lack of willingness/ability/courage to stand up to terrorists (Iran/hostages!).

 

[Mikeinsmd]

I disagree. Many view him as something of an elder statesman. People have forgotten his own lack of willingness/ability/courage to stand up to terrorists (Iran/hostages!).

Elder statesman alright... Worst Prez. in US history!!

 

[vraiblonde]

Elder statesman alright... Worst Prez. in US history!!

Nevertheless, Billydog is right - many DO view him as an elder statesman and think he knows what he's talking about. Including people who are old enough to remember the Iran hostage crisis and should know better.

You have to wonder what people are thinking when they tout Jimmy Carter, of all the Godforsaken people, as some wise diplomat.

 

[ylexot]

Even if an ex-President has no real power, they are greatly respected and their words do have power. That is exacly why the tradition has been for ex-Presidents to STFU. It is not right for them to be so vocal about politics and it is even worse that he is going against the current President's policy. It undermines the authority of the current President.

 

[remaxrealtor]

Nevertheless, Billydog is right - many DO view him as an elder statesman and think he knows what he's talking about. Including people who are old enough to remember the Iran hostage crisis and should know better.

You have to wonder what people are thinking when they tout Jimmy Carter, of all the Godforsaken people, as some wise diplomat.

"Since he has enough time on his hands to run around criticizing Bush, maybe he could take a moment to fill us in on the details:

Congressional investigators estimate that Saddam made more than $21.3 billion in illegal revenue - about $7 billion skimmed from the Oil-for-Food program and more than $13 billion from illegal oil smuggling.

The $60 billion program began in 1996 to permit Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil under U.N. supervision to buy food and medicine for the Iraqi people, who were suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

In a statement to the court, Vincent said: "I hope my guilty plea and my agreement to assist the Department of Justice in investigating these matters will help not only the United States but also the Iraqi people as they struggle to rebuild their nation."

Vincent pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Tuesday to being an illegal agent of Saddam in violation of U.N. sanctions on Iraq and related U.S. tax laws. He faces up to 28 years in prison. However, he "flipped" in hopes of a lighter sentence and, Attorney General John Ashcroft said, is cooperating with investigators.

As part of his plea, Vincent testified that in 1996, during negotiations over the "oil-for-food" program, he channeled payoffs to a U.N. official in exchange for favorable influence in the international body. Some of those names are, to say the least, startling.

Among them are former president Jimmy Carter, who met with Vincent and three Iraqi clerics at his home in Plains, Georgia, in September 1999.

The purpose of the meeting, according to a Carter spokesperson, was "to hear their views on the plight of children in Iraq and the impact of the U.N. sanctions on Iraq."

Before the visit, Carter was already on record as opposing sanctions against Iraq. According to the New York Sun, Vincent also allegedly reported on his meetings to Iraqi intelligence officials.

A Saddam-era Iraqi weekly once praised Carter for being 'in sympathy with the suffering Iraqi people' for speaking out against the 'stringent' sanctions imposed on Iraq by the UN at US insistence after the first Gulf War.

 

[Lenny]

I wouldn't say it's the cause of terrorism, but it has given impetus and excuses to potential terrorists to lash out at our country and justify their despicable acts

Alright, peanut breath, what was their excuse on September 10, 2001?

 

[Mikeinsmd]

Nevertheless, Billydog is right - many DO view him as an elder statesman and think he knows what he's talking about. Including people who are old enough to remember the Iran hostage crisis and should know better. You have to wonder what people are thinking when they tout Jimmy Carter, of all the Godforsaken people, as some wise diplomat.

The only good thing he did was influence my decision to become a Republican. I remember gas rationing, gas lines wrapped around the block, boys dying in the desert due to insufficient funding for a rescue mission, high unemployment rates..... I enlist, in comes the GREATEST prez. in US history, the economy explodes. Mike becomes a Republican. The end.

 

[Penn]

Even if an ex-President has no real power, they are greatly respected and their words do have power. That is exacly why the tradition has been for ex-Presidents to STFU. It is not right for them to be so vocal about politics and it is even worse that he is going against the current President's policy. It undermines the authority of the current President.

Your point is loud and clear! I just wonder why Jimmy hasn't heard it.

Wasn't he just awarded a Nobel Peace Prize?
Please refresh my memory - for what?