Jimmy Carter says Howard Dean exactly right on Mid-East.

[DarkPhenyx]

Was listening to a conversation with President Carter this morning on NPR. He agreed that Dean was right in saying that the United States needs to take a "more even hand" in it's dealings with the Mid-Easat, adn the Isreal/Palistine issue in particular.

The full conversation is carried on the web at www.NPR.org

As Carter was the last American President to have an effective and well thought out ME plan I find this to be a nice little endorsement.

[Egnever]

1. wow

that is a cool endorsment. I think clinton did a decent job also even if he fell a little short.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Did you hear that Nancy Pelosi, Holy Joe, Kerry, and Gephardt?

You guys are a "miserable failure" as Democrats and as liberals!

Support for Israel's occupation of Palestine is NOT LIBERAL!

[blm]

25. Dean retracted his use of the word evenhanded already, IG.

Get a grip on Dean, will ya? He went from fully supporting Sharon, his wall, and getting rid of Arafat, to pretending he's "evenhanded" to appease his critics on the left.

He has promised Sharon INCREASES on military aid while saying that Palestine should be a demilitarized state.

Why you fall for the guy's BS is just astounding.

[MGKrebs]

28. Jeez, I guess he fooled Jimmy too.

[blm]

30. That's supposed to explain the inconsistencies?

.

[David Zephyr]

31. Ouch! Jimmy Carter Speaks!

I love this!

[searchingforlight]

3. Jimmy is still one of my all time heros.

He brought integrity to the Washington political scene. I still believe that his honesty held a mirror up to the insiders that caused democrats and republicans to turn on him and create an environment that made it impossible for him to be as effective as he could have been. He represents what is good in this country IMHO.

[drewb]

6. My hero too...

Much too honest and much too nice of a guy to be a politician.

[CWebster]

4. Dean was absolutely right.

And in my estimation, being one familiar with the conflict and the political ramifications to US politicians, it took honorable courage to state even as little as he dared. That alone solidifies my support - seeing how no other candidates spoke up at the crucial moment. Again, this to me represents true leadership and again Dean is first.

[ShimokitaJer]

5. Go Jimmy!

I've never been able to understand how so many can pretend we've ever been fair in our dealings with Israel/Palestine. Our unquestioning support of Israel makes the US one of the biggest state sponsors of terrorism. No wonder so much of the Arab world thinks we're hypocrites.

[prolesunited]

7. That's high praise indeed

coming from a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

[buddhamama]

8. Jimmy is a diplomat

He blasted Bush a bit too,didn't he! since it has been debated many times,i was relieved and encouraged to hear him say that 242 did call for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza.

coming from Jimmy that holds water.

[G_j]

9. The best expresident ever

a true peacemaker, a man of great honesty and intelligence. I take what he says seriously.

[sistersofmercy]

11. Me too!

[Muddleoftheroad]

18. You must be joking

He's a good man, but not even in the top 10, maybe not the top 20. He was naive and unfamiliar with Washington and it showed. He's a much better ex-president.

[G_j]

27. hello

am I crazy of does my post read "best EXpresident..."
?

Anyway, even as president he was in my opinion much better than you seem to think. If Reagan hadn't screwed him with the Oct. suprise he would have done better the second term.
To this day there have been better energy policies than Carter's. If they were not immediately gutted by Reagan we may even have avoided future oil wars. Who's to say?

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

10. Excellent

This should quell concern some people have on Dean's I/P stance.

[G_j]

14. I trust

Carter's opinion on the ME. He also opposed Bush's Iraq invasion. This tends to make me feel more secure about Dean, though I'm pushing for Kucinich now for his important and crucial contribution to the discussion. Dean is OK with me, a great candidate.

[underpants]

12. Well what does he know?

Oh yeah that whole peacemaking, observing Democratic elections, and being the greates ex-President ever.....but aside from THAT?!?!?

[Bandit]

13. As Carter was the last American President to have an effective and well th

I think that is an incorrect statement. I think Clinton worked tirelessly for years with the help of Carter no less for a well developed plan. It fell through because Arafat thought he could do better, not because Clinton didn't help create a very good plan. Granted no Republican did anything but you need to rethink your statement as applied to Clinton.

[CWebster]

17. No, the offer was a sham and Clinton knew it

but he pressured Arafat to accept a plan that was a pathetic joke that Israel touted as "Barak's generous offer"

http://www.gush-shalom.org/generous/generous.html

Something that Arafat could never accept. Clinton had his legacy to worry about.

[DarkPhenyx]

19. Now don't get me wrong, I like Big Dog...

...however there isn't anything from his ME policy plan that is still in effect. Not a knock against him, it is extremely difficult to get anything to work in the ME. This would be the "effective" end of things. Clinton, and Bush for that matter, are dealing with people who aren't interested in peace. Hell, they don't even like eachother. Sharon's regret in all of this is taht he didn't kill Arrafat when he had teh chance. That's almost a direct quote.

[uptohere]

15. effective plan ?

its been a while, things have gotten a lot worse. I'm not sure I'd call it effective.

Praise from a guy whos biggest failings were foreign policy in nature is not high praise for me.

[DarkPhenyx]

16. He didn't fail.

He established peace between two mortal enemies, a peace that is holding to this day in spite of subsequent attempts to destroy. We're talking about a peace agreement too, not just a cease fire. You consider this a failing?


What other failings of Carter do you see in his foreign policy? Remember, you need to seperate truth from right wing propaganda here. Seperate what you "know" from what you have actually learned.

[Carmerian]

20. I think this is a slap at Lie-berman

Mr. Carter said it a few days ago, too, after the debate.

[blm]

21. Dean retracted and said he shouldn't have used that word.

Dean doesn't really HAVE a Mideast policy and has swung from full support of Sharon, Sharon's wall, and getting rid of Arafat, to saying it should be evenhanded to appease his critics on the left.

Gary Hart warned that Dean doesn't have the foreign policy acumen and called Hart wanting advice on what to do in Israel, "Gary, what do I do?"

[gully]

22. No he didn't he said he refused to apologize for using 'that' word.

because it was a fair characterization of his agenda.

[blm]

29. CNN had the story.

It clearly said that he said he shouldn't have used that word. It was part of the Pelosi-Dean coming to agreement story.

[gully]

32. In an interview I saw with Howard Dean, he made no apologies,

and stated we should have an even handed approach. Obviously if that term is offensive to Israel, he had no previous knowlege. The interviewer asked him..."do you apologize for using the word * and Dean said, I make no apologies for an innocent remark, as I feel we should be neutral.

I think it's much ado about NOTHING, myself.

[blm]

34. "Dean said he should not have used the term evenhanded"

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/10/elec04.prez.dean.mideast/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Under fire for saying that the United States should be even-handed in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, 2004 Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean Wednesday said he would not abandon the long-standing policy of strong U.S. support for Israel.

"We do have a special relationship with Israel. We would defend Israel if necessary. I think that is well-known," he told CNN. "However, we are also the only country capable of bringing peace to the Middle East, and when we sit at the negotiating table, we do have to have the trust of both sides or we will never succeed."
Dean also said he would "strongly speak out against violence of any kind in the Middle East. That's what I mean by being even-handed."
"You must condemn all civilian killings, including any terrorist attacks," he said.
However, in retrospect, Dean said he should not have used the term "even-handed."

[madfloridian]

35. He did not change his stance, he said he was told the word .....

itself might have bad connotations to some. He did not change his views, but the use of the word.

[Rose Siding]

36. Gee, a reporter mischaracterized what a Dem said?

And some fell for it? How about we actually look at the words spoken and see what he said?

snip>

'Perhaps I could have used a different euphemism'
Dean also said he would "strongly speak out against violence of any kind in the Middle East. That's what I mean by being even-handed." (More on violence)

"You must condemn all civilian killings, including any terrorist attacks," he said.

However, in retrospect, Dean said he should not have used the term "even-handed."

"I've since learned that that is a very sensitive word to use in certain communities, so perhaps I could have used a different euphemism," he said. "But the fact of the matter is, at the negotiating table, we have to have the trust of both sides."
end snip>

So, a bit of magnanimity, some explanation for parsers and we see there is *no* "retraction", no "apology". What remains is the opinion that Carter now reinforces.

[G_j]

38. thanks

I'm happy to hear the full statement

I have to take a step back and ask a question, what kind of warped logic could find a problem with the phrase evenhanded? The goddess of Fairness & Justice wears a blindfold does she not? If someone has a problem with the term evenhanded, they must have a problem with the concept of justice. The word is so self explanitory that a child could understand it. Or am I supposed to think of myself as naive in not understanding that "evenhanded" doesn't mean exactly what it says?
I don't get it.

[gully]

37. Funny that story doesn't quote his actual words saying that...

But BFD if he used that word. If that's the best they can do against Dean, there in trouble.

Dean also said he would "strongly speak out against violence of any kind in the Middle East. That's what I mean by being even-handed."

What an overblown subject. Now lets get back to the 'axis of evil' quotes, shall we? ;)

[Larkspur]

23. Gary Hart should have warned Kerry that voting for a war based on Fraud

was a bad vote.

[gully]

24. Awesome!!!

:thumbsup:

[shanti]

26. right on, jimmy!

i love this man, he is always on the money!

[haymaker]

33. Even when Carter gives Dean props, the Dean haters still

cannot help themselves. Nothing Dean can do for them, short of dropping out, would satisfy their insatiable desire to give Chimp four more years.