Posted on 10/09/2007 11:41:29 AM PDT by presidio9
Diplomacy, not military action, "definitely" remains the best approach to dealing with Iran, former President Jimmy Carter said in a wide-ranging interview on The Early Show Tuesday.
"Even after the Shah (of Iran) was deposed," Carter told co-anchor Harry Smith, "I quickly restored diplomatic relations with Iran. As a matter of fact, that's been proven by the fact I had about 60 diplomats in Iran, and they had an equal number in Washington, so we were continuing to try to communicate with them and work with them. And I think that, now, with increasing evidence that Iran is a dangerous and unpredictable country, the best thing to do is to have a maximum diplomatic relationship.
"They're potentially dangerous and they're certainly unpredictable. But I think that if we could find some way to communicate directly with them, to reassure their fears that we might attack them, which is constantly a drumbeat out of Washington, maybe deliberately from the administration or inadvertent -- Sy Hirsh has written three or four articles in the New Yorker, though I haven't read the latest one, but he's always maintaining that the United States is preparing to attack Iran. They read those articles and they see all the other news, and if they feel that they're going to be attacked, then I think that's one incentive for them to be more militant. So, I think, to assuage their fears, and to tell them the truth about our intentions, would be more helpful."
Still, Smith noted, "It seems to me we've done a pretty clear job of letting our intentions be known, yet they remain recalcitrant, at best. Is a military strike an option?"
"I don't think so," Carter said. "Not at this early stage, and I don't think that anybody in the administration has maintained openly that that is a present option. Every indication I've heard from Condoleezza Rice or President Bush has been, 'We want to resort to diplomatic means to -- as thoroughly as we possibly can before we would consider a military strike.'
"So, I think a military strike against Iran at this time would be completely unnecessary and counterproductive. Iran is a different proposition from what Iraq was when we attacked Iraq. It wouldn't be an easy thing to invade Iran. And where would we get the troops? We don't even have enough troops for Iraq. Where would we get them from? And I don't think we would have any other nation in the world that would join us in any sort of military adventure against Iran. So, diplomacy is the best approach."
Carter's latest book, "Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope," covers the work he's done around the world since leaving office -- and continues to do.
He discussed it, and much more on The Early Show Tuesday, including his recent criticism of Sudan for the violence and humanitarian crisis in its Darfur region, his thoughts on the Clinton administration's handling of Sudan, and the big apartheid/Israel controversy he sparked.
A previous book of his, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," and subsequent remarks about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, prompted an uproar from Jewish groups and the resignation of 14 people from an advisory board of the Carter Center, the 25-year-old Atlanta-based humanitarian organization.
Asked Tuesday by Smith if he has any regrets over the book or the remarks, Carter replied, "No, not at all. The book is absolutely correct, and I think it was necessary and has played a good role and was overwhelmingly approved, although there were some that objected to it. The book was written about Palestine, not Israel. And the second word in the title, as you just mentioned, was 'peace,' not apartheid. And I think a lot of people adopted the word 'apartheid' as the No. 1 thrust of the book and it's not even mentioned in the book, as a matter of fact.
"But, I think the peace effort that's belatedly gonna be attempted in November is a very good development. As you know, for seven years, since Bill Clinton left office, we've had not a single day of good-faith negotiations between Israel and its neighbors, and it's highly overdue. And my hope is that we'll see some constructive efforts being made on the Palestinian side and the Israeli side when they convene in the United States in November."
That was Ann Coulter’s conclusion. That the best way to protect America is to, as quickly as possible, do the 180 degree opposite of whatever Carter says we should do.
Additionally, Iran was getting ready to invade. Had plans all drawn up for taking over Southern Iraq. Our previous State Department Plan of leaving Saddam in power to contain the Iranian Mullahs was fatally flawed. You cannot expect Saddam to contain the mullahs while applying sanctions and forcing Saddam to destroy his WMD. It was his use of those Chemical and Biological WMD that held back the Iranian Mujahadeen Suicidal attacks in the Iraq/Iran War. Without his WMD and with his economy in ruins from UN sanctions, he was a sitting duck for the Iranians. So basically we invaded Iraq for reasons similar to why we invaded France. We invaded France to keep Western Europe from being overrun by the communist Russians who had the Germans in full retreat from the Eastern front when we landed on D-Day. We invaded Iraq to keep the Iranian Mullahs out. Still currently trying to keep em out.
Jimmy Carter. The epitome of stupid. Go home and die already. What unholy pact did you make with Satan to keep you alive this long?
The level of former Prez Carter’s despicability cannot be questioned. He is a thoroughly disgusting toad. He has never gotten it, and never will.
All I want to know is:
Is there any way to make sure that our missile shield leaves open a little hole over Plains?
You know. . .it occurs to me that maybe Jimmy and the Ianian “students” back in ‘79 might have been in perhaps “closer” negotiations than we might have imagined.
Diplomacy, not military action, "definitely" remains the best approach to dealing with Iran, former President Jimmy Carter said in a wide-ranging interview on The Early Show Tuesday.
BWAAAAHAHAHAAAA! Go home, Jimmy.
Yes, history bears that out - oh, wait, that thing with the hostages... (massive eyerolling)
I quickly restored diplomatic relations with Iran. As a matter of fact, that's been proven by the fact I had about 60 diplomats in Iran, and they had an equal number in Washington,
What is that - let's see, for the 66 originally captured, that is 1 of each diplomat for every hostage! What attention to detail. And then, when 14 were released, well, it just proved that his diplomacy worked! It worked! And it took a mere 444 days to release all the captives... End major sarcasm.
Jimmah is off his peanut. His 'diplomacy' failed and it failed 66 people for well over a year. And all of us. And it will fail again and again. He is in love with the sound of his voice and news media should stop being a useful tool for him to spout off. Ugh.
When he talks of his time as president (small ‘p’ for him), he seems ignorant of the fact that his diplomacy failed with a capital F. He seemed to sympathize with the hostage takers then and he seems to be dreamy-eyed in love with the Iranian aggressors now. He talks as though his diplomacy succeeded and the Americans were merely yearlong guests of Iran. And he blissfully ignores the fact that the terrorists waited until the moment the new president Reagan was sworn in to release the hostages, which he should regard as a slap.
Jimmy “444 days do nothing” Carter needs to shut his piehole once and for all.
Amen. Thanks to Jimmy our Nation is now at war and untold numbers have died. How he can sleep at night much less open his mouth like this is beyond me.
Hey, Jimmy, maybe we could bribe them with lots of money. It worked so well with North Korea.
Jimmy, you are pathetic. How could anyone with such a pitiful grasp of human nature have ever occupied the White House?
Uh, Yeah Jimmy. You sent an envoy to Paris to meet with Khomeini, and he thought he was someone the US could work with.
So you pulled support from the Shah and ALLOWED him to be deposed.
And you REALLY worked the diplomacy angle for 444 days, didn’t you?
Jimmy, with all due respect.......you are a putz.
vaudine
Jhimmi the Dhimmi ranks right up there as one of America’s worst presidents. Every time he opens his mouth he builds upon that legacy.
If Carter says not to do it then it’s proof positive that the best course of action is an immediate attack on Iran. I would have thought otherwise, but Carter has always been 180 degrees from right.
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