Why would anyone want Jimmy Carter's opinion on Iran?

[MaggieMae]

Jimmie is that rare thing in politics, an intelligent, moral man. One of the greatest ironies of American society is while we pretend to be moral, just, and Christian, our only moral president was castigated for telling the truth. Michael Moore begins "Capitalism" with Carter giving a talk few understand, yet all want their children and their peers to follow. Of course Moore quickly switches to Reagan who like our TV society is pure myth. The contrast is fascinating.

I once saw a piece on the truths of the hostage situation and Carter's meeting with them. It demonstrated the honesty and sincerity of the man. A rare thing.

"....there's a growing realization that the starting point for many of the catastrophes confronting the United States today can be traced to Reagan's presidency. There's also a grudging reassessment that the "failed"- presidents of the 1970s--Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter--may deserve more credit for trying to grapple with the problems that now beset the country."

OpEdNews - Article: Ronald Reagan: Worst President Ever?

Yet, Carter sucked a foreign policy.

And yet he won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the only Mideast peace agreement still in existence today.

And by the way, Carter himself didn't botch the Iranian hostage situation. The attempt was aborted when three helicopters that were part of the operation were damaged by a sandstorm and forced to return to the USS Nimitz. Then, as the force prepared to leave, a refueling accident led to the remaining helicopters and a refueling aircraft destroyed resulting in the deaths of 8 servicemen. There remain skeptics who theorize that this was not all a chain of accidents, but in fact intentional. Ronald Reagan apparently was able to negotiate a deal to have the hostages released on the day of his inauguration.

 

[MaggieMae]

I dunno, why would anyone want Dick Cheney's or Newt Gingrich's opinion on anything?

Off topic, but thanks anyway.

Actually, I think it's kinda related. If the objection here is Jimmy Carter being asked by our so-called Liberal Media™ what his thoughts are on a particular subject - even if it's one he didn't have a good experience with himself when he was in office - then I think it's fair to ask why the opinions of prominent Republicans who are now out of office should be sought after. And both the guys I mentioned had a lot of airtime earlier this year to give their views on a variety of topics concerning the present administration even though their own records haven't been entirely stellar.

This is what our mainstream media does and if they're gonna ask former GOPer officeholders for their takes on current events (like Mr. Sneer talking about Iraq, for example) then they can ask Carter, too.

As for why anyone should want his opinion on Iran, bad experience or no, he was POTUS when the Shah was overthrown. Maybe he actually learned something in hindsight.

Not that I expect any con on here to care about that anyway....

Are you kidding? Just from their postings, even recent history isn't their strong suit either. (Wonder what is...)

The only thing they offer in unison is "Carter was the worst president ever." Wow, how profoundly informative.

 

[garyd]

Yeah that mid east peace agreemnet worked out so well for all concerned didn't it? It's a fricking dead letter. The only think Carter has ever been any good at other than engineer on a US navy submarine was habitat for humanity. He has no clue aboiut the Middleeast less about Asia and Africa. His verison of Morality put the Ayatollahs in charge of Iran let Saddam Hussein come to power in Iraq. And nearly dumped South and Central america into the hands of the USSR and his brand of pay as you go socialism combined with his screwy attempt to hurt the Polish Communists in their battle a against Solidarity merely sufficed to bankrupt several dozen American farmers while simultaneously starving the Polish opposiiton.

 

[Lycurgus]

Lately, I have to think that Hillary Clinton goes to bed every night just shaking her head in disbelief.

No doubt in my mind and I'll bet she is damn sorry she took the SS position!

I actually feel sorry for her.

 

[Si modo]

Jimmie is that rare thing in politics, an intelligent, moral man. One of the greatest ironies of American society is while we pretend to be moral, just, and Christian, our only moral president was castigated for telling the truth. Michael Moore begins "Capitalism" with Carter giving a talk few understand, yet all want their children and their peers to follow. Of course Moore quickly switches to Reagan who like our TV society is pure myth. The contrast is fascinating.

I once saw a piece on the truths of the hostage situation and Carter's meeting with them. It demonstrated the honesty and sincerity of the man. A rare thing.

"....there's a growing realization that the starting point for many of the catastrophes confronting the United States today can be traced to Reagan's presidency. There's also a grudging reassessment that the "failed"- presidents of the 1970s--Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter--may deserve more credit for trying to grapple with the problems that now beset the country."

OpEdNews - Article: Ronald Reagan: Worst President Ever?

Yet, Carter sucked a foreign policy.

And yet he won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the only Mideast peace agreement still in existence today. ....

So what? WHILE he was president he sucked at foreign affairs.

.... And by the way, Carter himself didn't botch the Iranian hostage situation. The attempt was aborted when three helicopters that were part of the operation were damaged by a sandstorm and forced to return to the USS Nimitz. Then, as the force prepared to leave, a refueling accident led to the remaining helicopters and a refueling aircraft destroyed resulting in the deaths of 8 servicemen. There remain skeptics who theorize that this was not all a chain of accidents, but in fact intentional. Ronald Reagan apparently was able to negotiate a deal to have the hostages released on the day of his inauguration.

And, by the way, WHILE he was president, not only was the sovereign domain of the USA breached by the Iranians, he did not free the hostages. There is no 'A' for effort for a POTUS, in my book.

But, but he tried! Oh, please.

 

[Zander]

I'd ask Jimmy about growing peanuts. That's about it.

 

[MaggieMae]

Yeah that mid east peace agreemnet worked out so well for all concerned didn't it? It's a fricking dead letter. The only think Carter has ever been any good at other than engineer on a US navy submarine was habitat for humanity. He has no clue aboiut the Middleeast less about Asia and Africa. His verison of Morality put the Ayatollahs in charge of Iran let Saddam Hussein come to power in Iraq. And nearly dumped South and Central america into the hands of the USSR and his brand of pay as you go socialism combined with his screwy attempt to hurt the Polish Communists in their battle a against Solidarity merely sufficed to bankrupt several dozen American farmers while simultaneously starving the Polish opposiiton.

LOL -- I think if all of that were completely true, the man would be serving time.

To say Carter is clueless about the Mideast is laughable. You'll need to explain what you're talking about regarding South and Central America, other than attempting to cut aid to those countries which were warring internally, or returning the Panama Canal back to Panama, according to the treaty. PAYGO didn't happen until Clinton became president. And I simply don't recall any feud between Lech Walensa and Jimmy Carter.

Please do better than that. I know he was not politically a favorite even among his own Democrats in Congress because he refused to play the game, but I also think he takes an awful lot of undue criticism. A brief legacy:

American Experience | The Presidents | Jimmy Carter | PBS

 

[REVxERIK]

fuck no i would not.

 

[MaggieMae]

Yet, Carter sucked a foreign policy.

And yet he won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the only Mideast peace agreement still in existence today. ....

So what? WHILE he was president he sucked at foreign affairs.

.... And by the way, Carter himself didn't botch the Iranian hostage situation. The attempt was aborted when three helicopters that were part of the operation were damaged by a sandstorm and forced to return to the USS Nimitz. Then, as the force prepared to leave, a refueling accident led to the remaining helicopters and a refueling aircraft destroyed resulting in the deaths of 8 servicemen. There remain skeptics who theorize that this was not all a chain of accidents, but in fact intentional. Ronald Reagan apparently was able to negotiate a deal to have the hostages released on the day of his inauguration.

And, by the way, WHILE he was president, not only was the sovereign domain of the USA breached by the Iranians, he did not free the hostages. There is no 'A' for effort for a POTUS, in my book.

But, but he tried! Oh, please.

I simply can't get into a debate with someone who is obviously so clueless regarding the F.A.C.T.S of both of those situations. Let's just leave it that you hate Jimmy Carter almost as much as you hate Barack Obama, but only because if Jesus were a liberal, you'd hate him too. Oh wait. He was.

 

[MaggieMae]

So what? WHILE he was president he sucked at foreign affairs.

Carter won the Nobel after he had left office but because it was negotiated while in office. Duh...

 

[Si modo]

So what? WHILE he was president he sucked at foreign affairs.

Carter won the Nobel after he had left office but because it was negotiated while in office. Duh...

And how'd that 'deal' work out, eh? Carter's a real paradigm of success in foreign affairs.

 

[Si modo]

And yet he won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the only Mideast peace agreement still in existence today. ....

So what? WHILE he was president he sucked at foreign affairs.

.... And by the way, Carter himself didn't botch the Iranian hostage situation. The attempt was aborted when three helicopters that were part of the operation were damaged by a sandstorm and forced to return to the USS Nimitz. Then, as the force prepared to leave, a refueling accident led to the remaining helicopters and a refueling aircraft destroyed resulting in the deaths of 8 servicemen. There remain skeptics who theorize that this was not all a chain of accidents, but in fact intentional. Ronald Reagan apparently was able to negotiate a deal to have the hostages released on the day of his inauguration.

And, by the way, WHILE he was president, not only was the sovereign domain of the USA breached by the Iranians, he did not free the hostages. There is no 'A' for effort for a POTUS, in my book.

But, but he tried! Oh, please.

I simply can't get into a debate with someone who is obviously so clueless regarding the F.A.C.T.S of both of those situations. Let's just leave it that you hate Jimmy Carter almost as much as you hate Barack Obama, but only because if Jesus were a liberal, you'd hate him too. Oh wait. He was.

You dispute the fact that Carter did not get the hostages released while he was president? You dispute the fact that the Iranians violated United States sovereign territory while he was president? You crazy.

Amazing.

 

[MaggieMae]

So what? WHILE he was president he sucked at foreign affairs.

Carter won the Nobel after he had left office but because it was negotiated while in office. Duh...

And how'd that 'deal' work out, eh? Carter's a real paradigm of success in foreign affairs.

According to The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East:

"The normalization of relations [between Israel and Egypt] went into effect in January 1980. Ambassadors were exchanged in February. The boycott laws were repealed by Egypt's National Assembly the same month, and some trade began to develop, albeit less than Israel had hoped for. In March 1980 regular airline flights were inaugurated. Egypt also began supplying Israel with crude oil.

"The time that has elapsed since the Camp David Accords has left no doubt as to their enormous ramifications on Middle Eastern politics. Most notably, the perception of Egypt within the Arab world changed. With the most powerful of the Arab militaries and a history of leadership in the Arab world under Nasser, Egypt had more leverage than any of the other Arab states to advance Arab interests. One key point of criticism was at concluding a peace treaty without demanding greater concessions for Israeli recognition of the Palestinians' right to self-determination. Egypt was also suspended from the Arab League from 1979 until 1989.

"The Camp David Accords also prompted the disintegration of a united Arab front in opposition to Israel. Egypt's realignment created a power vacuum that Saddam Hussein of Iraq, at one time only a secondary power, hoped to fill. Because of the vague language concerning the implementation of Resolution 242, the Palestinian problem became the primary issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict immediately following the Camp David Accords (and arguably, until today). Many of the Arab nations blamed Egypt for not putting enough pressure on Israel to deal with the Palestinian problem in a way that would be satisfactory to them.

Although most Israelis supported the Accords, the Israeli settler movement opposed them. Because Sadat would not agree to a treaty in which Israel had any presence in the Sinai Peninsula at all, Israel had to withdraw from the entire Sinai Peninsula.[9]. Israeli settlers living in there tried to prevent the government from dismantling their settlements.

"Lastly, the biggest consequence of all may be in the psychology of the participants of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The success of Begin, Sadat, and Carter at Camp David demonstrated to other Arab states and entities that negotiations with Israel were possible — that progress results only from sustained efforts at communication and cooperation. Despite the disappointing conclusion of the 1993 Oslo Accords between the PLO and Israel, and even though the 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace has not fully normalized relations with Israel, both of these significant developments had little chance of occurring without the precedent set by Camp David.

^^And no others will stand chance of success either.

 

[MaggieMae]

So what? WHILE he was president he sucked at foreign affairs.

And, by the way, WHILE he was president, not only was the sovereign domain of the USA breached by the Iranians, he did not free the hostages. There is no 'A' for effort for a POTUS, in my book.

But, but he tried! Oh, please.

I simply can't get into a debate with someone who is obviously so clueless regarding the F.A.C.T.S of both of those situations. Let's just leave it that you hate Jimmy Carter almost as much as you hate Barack Obama, but only because if Jesus were a liberal, you'd hate him too. Oh wait. He was.

You dispute the fact that Carter did not get the hostages released while he was president? You dispute the fact that the Iranians violated United States sovereign territory while he was president? You crazy.

Amazing.

I never once said that. Amazing.

Give it up, honey, I lived through that whole thing. One of my high school classmates (Tom Cullins) was one of the hostages. You know squat, so quit flapping your fingers and trying to look smart.

 

[Si modo]

So what? WHILE he was president he sucked at foreign affairs.

And, by the way, WHILE he was president, not only was the sovereign domain of the USA breached by the Iranians, he did not free the hostages. There is no 'A' for effort for a POTUS, in my book.

But, but he tried! Oh, please.

I simply can't get into a debate with someone who is obviously so clueless regarding the F.A.C.T.S of both of those situations. Let's just leave it that you hate Jimmy Carter almost as much as you hate Barack Obama, but only because if Jesus were a liberal, you'd hate him too. Oh wait. He was.

You dispute the fact that Carter did not get the hostages released while he was president? You dispute the fact that the Iranians violated United States sovereign territory while he was president? You crazy.

Amazing.

I never once said that. Amazing.

Give it up, honey, I lived through that whole thing. One of my high school classmates (Tom Cullins) was one of the hostages. You know squat, so quit flapping your fingers and trying to look smart.

You said I was clueless about facts? So I must assume that you have issues with the accuracy of the facts I brought up. Of course, that would mean I give you the benefit of the doubt that there is an iota of logic in your mind.

My bad.

 

[MaggieMae]

You dispute the fact that Carter did not get the hostages released while he was president? You dispute the fact that the Iranians violated United States sovereign territory while he was president? You crazy.

Amazing.

I never once said that. Amazing.

Give it up, honey, I lived through that whole thing. One of my high school classmates (Tom Cullins) was one of the hostages. You know squat, so quit flapping your fingers and trying to look smart.

You said I was clueless about facts? So I must assume that you have issues with the accuracy of the facts I brought up. Of course, that would mean I give you the benefit of the doubt that there is an iota of logic in your mind.

My bad.

Except that you haven't presented a single fact; just opinions. Yes, you bad. I always dispute biased opinions based on zero facts, not just on the issue of Jimmy Carter. Stick around, and you'll find out.

 

[Si modo]

So what? WHILE he was president he sucked at foreign affairs.

And, by the way, WHILE he was president, not only was the sovereign domain of the USA breached by the Iranians, he did not free the hostages. There is no 'A' for effort for a POTUS, in my book.

But, but he tried! Oh, please.

I simply can't get into a debate with someone who is obviously so clueless regarding the F.A.C.T.S of both of those situations. Let's just leave it that you hate Jimmy Carter almost as much as you hate Barack Obama, but only because if Jesus were a liberal, you'd hate him too. Oh wait. He was.

You dispute the fact that Carter did not get the hostages released while he was president? You dispute the fact that the Iranians violated United States sovereign territory while he was president? You crazy.

Amazing.

I never once said that. Amazing.

Give it up, honey, I lived through that whole thing. One of my high school classmates (Tom Cullins) was one of the hostages. You know squat, so quit flapping your fingers and trying to look smart.

You said I was clueless about facts? So I must assume that you have issues with the accuracy of the facts I brought up. Of course, that would mean I give you the benefit of the doubt that there is an iota of logic in your mind.

My bad.

Except that you haven't presented a single fact; just opinions. Yes, you bad. I always dispute biased opinions based on zero facts, not just on the issue of Jimmy Carter. Stick around, and you'll find out.

"Zero facts", eh?

Liar.


I am confident that my statement that Iran breached the sovereign domain of the USA (embassies are sovereign domain) WHILE Carter was President is more than just my opinion. It's a fact.

I am also confident that my statement that the hostages were not released WHILE Carter was president is more than just my opinion. It is a fact.



It IS my opinion that there is no 'A' for effort when it comes to a presidency. That would explain my actual tagging of such a comment with the modifying phrase, 'in my book' for the less than sharp posters, though.

 

[Sherry]

He's just another insignificant member of the peanut gallery.

 

[garyd]

Maggie you are wrong on virtually every count. All carter did for peace between Egypt and Israel was HOld the coats of Begin and Sadat the whole meeting was almost entirely at Sadat's insistance. Have you read Carter's book on the Middle East? If you have and you still think he has a clue about the Middle East you are delusional.

When Carter left office virtually every country in Central america had a Soviet sponsored guerilla movement going on.

 

[MaggieMae]

Maggie you are wrong on virtually every count. All carter did for peace between Egypt and Israel was HOld the coats of Begin and Sadat the whole meeting was almost entirely at Sadat's insistance. Have you read Carter's book on the Middle East? If you have and you still think he has a clue about the Middle East you are delusional.

When Carter left office virtually every country in Central america had a Soviet sponsored guerilla movement going on.

It is not America's JOB to force peace accords. In any of those negotiations, we simply act as facilitator among the parties, an arbitrator, an agent for peace.

As for Central America, again (as now), why should Carter be blamed for all of that? You mean there wasn't already a creeping Soviet influence in those countries? And how did Reagan solve the problems down there? By favoring one over the other and selling arms to them. How conveniently the right forgives that entire mess.

Carter was a wimpy president, I agree. But I stand by my belief that he has been used as a whipping boy for the Republican Party for 3 decades, blaming him for all of the ills of that period of time which they perceive as part of the problems we have today, and I do not think that is a fair assessment.

By the same token, while Nixon has been crucified because of his manipulative politics which resulted in his resignation, I believe he was a good leader overall. But you will rarely see ANYONE singing his praises, and I also think THAT is unfair.