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Former President Jimmy Carter is a walking talking disaster. The man spent four small years in office and we are still fighting the fruits of his inept policies some thirty years later. It doesn’t matter what he gets involved in. From something as commonsensical as requiring mandatory ID’s to vote to not appeasing crazy dictators of communist slave nations Carter gets it wrong time and time again. Yet, for some reason we can’t get him to stop meddling in U.S. Foreign Policy.

That is why I know I’m right about the Israeli situation in Lebanon. Jimmy Carters’ passive aggressive op-ed in the Washington Post tells me so.

The approach Carter takes in framing the current Israeli Lebanese situation is premised on selective memory and loose interpretations of those events as if to give his advice that sort of grandfatherly wisdom. But the wisdom is not there; grandpa is off his rocker.

Jimmy Carter jumps right in by blaming Israel for not giving in to Hamas and Hezbollah demands for a prisoner swap in return for kidnapped soldiers. In this assessment Carter somehow paints Israel as the bad guy that forced the Arab world to oppose them.

They offered to exchange the soldier for the release of 95 women and 313 children who are among almost 10,000 Arabs in Israeli prisons, but this time Israel rejected a swap and attacked Gaza in an attempt to free the soldier and stop rocket fire into Israel. The resulting destruction brought reconciliation between warring Palestinian factions and support for them throughout the Arab world.

Apparently Carter didn’t get that “we are not going to negotiate with the terrorists” memo or the note that stated how the Arabs never supported Israel in the first place.

Seemingly done with his Palestinian drive by, Carter jumps right into the Hezbollah situation only this time he lumps the United States in with his anti-Israel screed.

Hezbollah militants then killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two others, and insisted on Israel’s withdrawal from disputed territory and an exchange for some of the several thousand incarcerated Lebanese. With American backing, Israeli bombs and missiles rained down on Lebanon. Hezbollah rockets from Syria and Iran struck northern Israel.

Note the moral equivalence as Mr. Carter lumps the United States in with Iran and Syria.

Let’s talk about those “disputed territories” for a moment. Someone should remind Mr. Carter that the Shebaa Farms region was lost by Syria to Israel after the 1967 six day war. The region was never historically Lebanese in the first place. But that is irrelevant as Israel isn’t claiming the land to be hers. Rather Israel wants Lebanon to abide by multiple UN resolutions and disarm Hezbollah along this area.

To add insult to Carters foolery one must realize that both the United Nations and the United States declared that Israel was in full compliance with Israel’s pullout from Lebanese occupied territories under UNSC 425.

“I am delighted to tell you that the United Nations force in Lebanon [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon or UNIFIL] today reported to me that Israel has withdrawn from the country in full compliance with Security Council resolution 425 (1978).”
–UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, June 16, 2000

“I established three principal requirements for confirming an Israeli withdrawal in compliance with resolution 425 (1978): (a) the withdrawal of Israeli military and civilian personnel from Lebanese territory; (b) the dismantling of Israel’s auxiliary force, known as the South Lebanon Army (SLA); and (c) the freeing of all detainees from Al-Khiam prison. I can today confirm that those requirements, endorsed by the Security Council, have been met.”
–Report of the secretary-general, June 16, 2000

Anan made a full announcement of such compliance to the UN security council on July 24th 2000.

“Further to my report on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) of 20 July 2000 (S/2000/718), I have the honour to inform you that the Israeli authorities have removed all violations of the line of withdrawal.”

The US State Department concurred:

“We supported the UN Secretary-General’s report, which was submitted to the Security Council and unanimously endorsed that Shebaa Farms is part of a territory that Israel occupied in 1967, so the UN has stated very clearly that Shebaa Farms does not fall within the scope of the UN Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426 which regard to the withdrawal from Lebanon.”
–U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker, May 31, 2000

Hence the only people disputing this particular dispute is the Lebanese government and those who are decidedly anti-Israel; such as Carter in this case.

Now that we know where Carter is coming from we can continue to dissect his op-ed with the knowledge that he has decided to perpetuate the anti-Semitic world view.

It is inarguable that Israel has a right to defend itself against attacks on its citizens

You have undoubtedly faced this oft repeated ploy that is intended to give the appearance of objectivity. But just as the left precedes their anti-Military statements with declarations of being a patriotic American, Carter finishes the statement with an assault on Israel.

but it is inhumane and counterproductive to punish civilian populations in the illogical hope that somehow they will blame Hamas and Hezbollah for provoking the devastating response. The result instead has been that broad Arab and worldwide support has been rallied for these groups, while condemnation of both Israel and the United States has intensified.

First of all that is not what Israel is doing. Since Lebanon wouldn’t abide by multiple UN resolutions Israel has decided that their only chance for peace is to disarm Hezbollah themselves. Such a cause is far from counterproductive if it succeeds; which I imagine won’t because the world that Carter lives in will intervene only to address the situation on some future date.

If Carter really wanted to concentrate on inhumane and counterproductive activities he should direct his attention to states who use terrorist groups as political muscle.

Further, Carter has to be aware that he is selectively picking and choosing which condemnation to cite. Many Arab members of the Arab league condemned Hezbollah for their attack on Israel; but that doesn’t count in Carters mind. He would rather cite the condemnation surrounding the airstrike on Qana; an event whose characterizations are undergoing scrutiny itself.

Note how Carter characterizes the reaction of Israel to the Qana airstrike:

As before there were expressions of “deep regret,” a promise of “immediate investigation” and the explanation that dropped leaflets had warned families in the region to leave their homes. The urgent need in Lebanon is that Israeli attacks stop, the nation’s regular military forces control the southern region, Hezbollah cease as a separate fighting force, and future attacks against Israel be prevented.

The addition of quotes to “deep regret” and “immediate investigation” is Carters way of saying he doesn’t believe either; i.e. Israel has no regret for the loss of civilian life and will not really investigate the alleged incident.

You will also note that Carter doesn’t call for the elimination of Hezbollah. Instead he calls for them to cease as a separate fighting force; another reward for the terrorists via representatives of the American left. No thanks.

The rest of the op-ed is more of the same. It kind of sickens me to read it because Carter’s foolish portrayal will inevitably be believed by those who are looking for any reason not to support Israel and the United States.

Carter ends his op-ed with the typical “The people of the Middle East deserve peace and justice, and we in the international community owe them our strong leadership and support.”

Right, we do. Unfortunately for us Carter’s leadership is just the kind we don’t need.

The United States should turn its back on Jimmy Carter and he should take his place as a historical relic. His humanitarianism may pull at the heartstrings but his implementation and selective memory leaves much to be desired. Even the best of intentions end in disaster if they are premised on foolish advice.

Others Bloggin on this subject and Qana:

• Mark Coffey: Carter Blames Israel – Again
• Michelle Malkin: ‘Jimmy Carter wouldn’t know the truth…‘
• Debbie Schlussel: On Qana & Dead Muslim Kids: The One Thing Muslims & Media Love More Than Dead Jewish Kids

  Great Quote from Schlussel:

  There is only thing that Muslims–and the media–seem to love more than dead Jewish children: dead Muslim children. It is a great marketing tool for recruiting more martyrs, enlivening a stale jihad, and unifying the base already so unified in their hate for Jews, Christians, and America.

• The Houston Conservative: Jimmy Carter: Neville Chamberlain’s Number 1 Fan
• It Shines for All: ‘Carter’s Usual Blame-Israel Pablum‘

  Shines Also Points us to This Article: Three Zeros Taken Off Every Banknote

• Blue Crab Boulevard survived the Carter years and notes that most previous Presidents don’t involve themselves in the dealings of future elected Presidents.

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