Carter strikes again

Former president exhibit his usual anti-Israel gusto
Feb. 9, 2009

I have a hard time choosing. Is former Pres. Jimmy Carter blindly optimistic or blatantly anti-Israel? He can’t be an optimist, he was a US president, but that leaves us with the latter.

If you are going to solve the Israel-Palestinian issue you cannot be against wither side, but in an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Carter clearly outlines which side he believes must pay up in order to achieve peace. Perhaps its the reporter’s fault for not asking tough questions, but he never puts the onus on Hamas or the Palestinian Authority for stopping acts of terrorism.

Carter, 84, talks about his new book, the assertive and cheerily titled “We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land.” I have yet to read the book, but in the interview with reporter Mike Tolson, Carter, 84, notes that he is optimistic for “peace” because “the vast majority of Israeli citizens also are committed to withdrawing from the West Bank.” No recognition of the State of Israel by Hamas or cessation of terror is a prerequisite for peace apparently.

He goes on to say that the war in Gaza has engendered “more intense hatred and resentment against Israelis for doing this.” No mention of the Hamas rockets that were unanswered for nine years and which terrorized innocent civilians occasionally killing a few, but only a few because they are miraculously inaccurate..

Feeling at one with The One is he?

“Most presidents have been very cautious and have waited until the last part of their administration before they would expend that capital, and it’s too late. (Obama) has taken a different position, as I did 30 years ago. I started the first day, even before I became president, to do that.”

Carter insults the “Israeli lobby” in the United States: “You have to remember that the major Israeli lobbies, they’re not in favor of peace. They never have professed to be. What they are in favor of is protecting the policies of whatever government is in charge in Israel. If you look at their Web sites, they make that quite clear. So they’re for Israel, they’re not for peace between Israel and its neighbors.”

How interesting. He is basically calling Israel supporters war mongers. This is an incomprehensible insult to intelligence and to the people who support Israel. No mention of Hamas supporters and pro-Palestinian lobbyists. They are for peace.

In conclusion, if you don’t agree with Carter’s approach to peace, then you are not for peace. Diplomatic, hey?