Posted on 09/04/2012 4:35:13 PM PDT by maggiesnotebook
Perhaps Jimmy Carter's most infamous act was signing the Panama Canal Treaties. The Panama Canal - We Did Build That - he gave it away to Panama with the stroke of the Presidential pen. Now, most of the ports on both sides of the Isthmus of Panama are owned by the People's Republic of China. A Chinese company manages the locks for the canal with 25% of them operated by the People's Liberation Army of China. For all of the Shah of Iran's shortcomings, Carter's lack of diplomacy brought down the Shah, an ally of the U.S. and a friend to Israel. During Carter's last days, Islamists took control of the American Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Reagan was sworn into office and the hostages were released within minutes. Islamic terrorists didn't show up until a month after Clinton was sworn in. Since that time, the Iranian plan is almost fully developed, jump-started under Jimmy Carter.
President H. W. Bush had the Gulf War to deal with, when Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait. A coalition of countries quickly developed and put an end to Saddam Hussein's aspirations for Kuwait. Harsh economic sanctions were leveled against Iraq by the members of the U.N. Security Council (in the days before the Council became puppets of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation).
The 1993 World Trade center attack by Islamic terrorists put Osama bin Laden's name on a list of unindicted co-conspirators. The mastermind behind the 1993 bombing, Ramzi Yousef, had an Iraqi passport. Six died and over 1,000 were injured. President Bill Clinton shaped the first Democrat terrorism model, by treating the attack as a criminal event, not terrorism.
The Clinton foreign policy was to get re-elected. Therefore, anything that might be controversial had to be avoided. So, from the beginning to the end of the administration, the Clintons “demanded absolute proof before acting against terrorists.” This high bar guaranteed inaction. At the beginning of his term, after the attack of Feb. 26, 1993, Mr. Clinton refused to admit that the World Trade Center had been bombed. Later, he referred to it only as “regrettable” and “treated the disaster… like a twister in Arkansas.” Earlier, he had “urged the public not to ‘overreact’ to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.”...
The Sudanese would offer to let the U.S. see their intelligence files and all the data they had gathered about bin Laden and the associates who had visited him in Sudan, “and would be repeatedly rebuffed through both formal and informal channels. This was one of the greatest intelligence failures of the Clinton years as the result of orders that came from the Clinton White House.” Had the Clinton administration accepted and examined these files, countless terrorists could have been tracked. Sudan’s offer to arrest bin Laden and deliver him to U.S. officials was likewise refused. The Washington Times
Thus was the beginning of the tanking of the U.S. economy. Clinton was enabling the Community Reinvestment Act which would end in a devastating housing mortgage crisis, putting millions of homeowners underwater on their home loans - home values plummeted and continue to do so. Bin Laden would finally bring down the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001, 9 short months into the G.W. Bush administration. Under Bush, America went to war, undeclared but with full support of a Democrat Congress - and the Nation's debt soared. And Americans died. Clinton could have changed everything.
Under Barack Obama, Iran's deep devotion to wiping out Israel is thriving under friendly agreements with Russia, Syria and North Korea. He is sending another $1 Billion to Egypt to further "democracy" under the Muslim Brotherhood - Islamists and extremists. Calling the Egyptian 'revolution' a fight for freedom (which it was, but had no hope of achieving democracy in an Islamic nation), Obama refused to acknowledge who the Muslim Brotherhood is, and instead welcomed them to the neighborhood and the White House. Hosni Mubarack, a dictator no doubt, was the keeper of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. The 'Brotherhood' says they will never sit down with Israel for any reason and may be working with Iran. A gap the size of the Grand Canyon in diplomatic terms continues to widen between the U.S. and Israel.
Clinton, Carter and Obama directly put U.S. and Israeli safety at enormous jeopardy - all in an effort to support Middle Eastern radicals. We can speculate what Obama's motives are but unfortunately won't hear the truth until he leaves office when I believe a lot of people will start talking, documents and videos will be released. America will be appalled at the catastrophe their 2008 vote brought down on their future and the futures of those they love.The GOP has a new video out featuring Carter and Obama. View it here.
The US has been in decline before Clinton came into office. The driving force of our economy is debt. The mirage is over, it is time to pay for it.
"We should end those negotiations on giving away the Panama Canal and tell General Torrijos - we bought it, we paid for it, we built it, and we're going to keep it."Ronald Reagan 1976
Theoria, yes I agree. I was attempting to point out that after Carter, Clinton accelerated the economic demise with the CRA and by not tending to terrorism.
Theoria, on additional thing, while our elected officials should have seen what was happening, the CRA and the debt from the wars culminated at the end of 2007, but took years to get there.
And Carter gave it away.
Oh yeah. I remember well how Clinton didn’t care for the Shah, thought the Ayatollah was just a great man of God. Then Carter got sucker punched with the seizing of the embassy and that long agony. Carter’s tenure was about as agonizing as Obama’s. Hadn’t been too political, voted for Carter THE FIRST TIME, (My bad.) Then voted for Reagan; it was like a breath of fresh air. Haven’t looked back. Democrat party has gotten more and more depraved every day since.
At first, I was appalled by that move, but what I’ve seen of the Panama Miracle since then has changed my mind. The average Panamanian enjoys a level of economic freedom today that Americans can only fleetingly lament.
The Chinese may control the ports, but the management of the canal is in Panamanian hands, and they’re doing a bang-up job.
But before, there was no Panama. It was a country created so that we, the US, could build that canal. It was American ingenuity, American know how and American money that built it. And Carter gave it away to a country that never existed.
A bizarre example of mistakingly inviting the enemy in, under the guise of promoting home rule by the Panamanians.
How has that worked out?
Would that be before or after Noriega "resigned?"
Where was the the bang-up job before the US funded and executed the change?
Yes, since Noriega. While the US ran it with a heavy hand but a poor insight into its commercial rather than strategic value, The Panamanians, boosted by Chinese money, are creating additional value through upgrades of what was rapidly becoming a maintenance albatross on the US purse. If the SHTF, The US could step in and re-appropriate it readily.
“Now, most of the ports on both sides of the Isthmus of Panama are owned by the People’s Republic of China. A Chinese company manages the locks for the canal with 25% of them operated by the People’s Liberation Army of China.”
This is a total lie.
I live in the Republic of Panama. In fact, I was born here. The Chinese have NOTHING TO DO with the Panama Canal.
There is not even a PRC embassy here. Panama has no diplomatic ties with China.
I know not from where you got all this misinformation. It makes me wonder about the accuracy of the rest of the article.
You need to do some serious homework.
Every time I see such misinformation about the Chinese owning and running the Panama Canal makes my blood boil. The PRC owns NOTHING and runs NOTHING here.
I spoke about the ports on both sides and operating locks. I found the source several places. Most revolve around Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. which has a 25 year lease with an option for another 25. Here’s one source but there are many out there.
http://www.youdebate.com/DEBATES/panama_china.HTM
The other information about the three presidents - all well known and has been in the news for years, but people do forget.
pingman, I agree. Same with the Dubai ports management.
Since doing some homework takes time, I’ll do it (again).
Whampoa “LEASES” some ports here in Panama. They don’t own or run anything.
Company History:
“Hutchison Whampoa Limited, a vast conglomerate based in Hong Kong, has become a force to be reckoned with in real estate, ports, retailing, manufacturing, telecommunications, infrastructure, and energy. As one of Hong Kong’s most venerable hongs (colonial trading houses), Hutchison began as an importer and wholesaler before diversifying in the 1960s.
“Bloated and unwieldy in the 1970s, the company (then known as Hutchison International) unloaded dozens of companies, strengthened its bottom line, and merged with Hongkong and Whampoa Dock (in 1977) to form Hutchison Whampoa Limited. Taken over by Li Ka-shing’s Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited in 1979, Hutchison Whampoa soon dominated the world’s second busiest East-West trading and shipment ports system; owned substantial property in Hong Kong’s pricey real estate market; and held major shares of top performing infrastructure, energy, investment, retailing, and telecommunications companies.
“With Hong Kong’s return to Chinese ownership in July 1997, Hutchison Whampoa, along with other colony companies, began a new era of corporate life.
“Ports and Related Services: Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) operates across Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It operates in five of the seven busiest container ports in the world, handling 13% of the world’s container traffic. Hutchison Whampoa operates container terminals in Panama, as it does in Mexico and other parts of the Americas.”
Property and Hotels:
“From office buildings in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, to luxury residential properties in the United Kingdom, Hutchison Whampoa Properties Limited develops and invests in real estate. Together with Cheung Kong Holdings, HWL has set up a joint-venture company, Harbour Plaza Hotel Management (International) Limited to operate and manage hotels under the portfolio of the Hutchison Property division.”
This rumor that the Chinese were running the Panama Canal was started by a retired senile admiral (don’t remember his name after so many years) in the late ‘90s, which was then picked up by NewsMax. NewsMax was too happy to run with it over and over again day after day ad nauseam.
One of my favorite things to do is go to Miraflores locks dressed in my blue Mao jacket and cap. I also wear sunglasses so the tourists can’t see I am not Chinese. I then wave to the tourists as their ship goes by.
“The Panamanians, boosted by Chinese money, are creating additional value through upgrades of what was rapidly becoming a maintenance albatross on the US purse. If the SHTF, The US could step in and re-appropriate it readily.”
Wrong. Not true.
When we pulled out, we left Panama with “0” debt. Let me repeat that: We left Panama with “0” debt. It had nothing to do with the Chinese lending money.
Again, Panama has no ties with the PRC. It never had and never will.
Now that Panama finally has an honest president, Panama is growing at an 8%-10% rate a year. Unemployment is at about 4% either because they can’t or don’t want to work. There are so many jobs to be filled, but not enough Panamanians to fill them. Therefore, Panama is importing works to fill the void.
And I don’t know what you mean by “rapidly becoming a maintenance albatross on the US purse.”
If you mean the Canal Zone, the canal funded everything we needed through tolls. The running of the Panama Canal to include jobs, salary, everything, did not cost the taxpayers in the U.S. a dime.
importing works = importing workers
Is there any doubt in your mind of the 25-year leases with an option for renewal or that the PLA of China manages the locks?
Knock it off.
You have no idea what you are talking about.
I have lived here all my life. You haven’t.
You didn’t read a word I said. China manages zero, 0, nothing, nada, here in Panama.
“Leasing” and “owning” are two differnt words.
Whampoa leases dock spaces all over the world. We are glad they are leasing here too.
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