Jimmy Carter Criticizes Bush Administration

cat's meow · #1 (**permalink**) 05-20-2007, 10:34 PM

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Jimmy Carter Criticizes Bush Administration

May 20, ABC News

Print Jimmy Carter has long been a critic of the war in Iraq. Now, he has stepped up the attack, calling the war "a terrible mistake" and "a flat disaster."

Former President Carter expressed his views to ABC's Ron Claiborne on "Good Morning America Weekend."

Carter: U.S. in More Danger of TerrorismJimmy Carter's son running for Senate
"First of all, I thought it was a horrible mistake to abandon Afghanistan and the war against al Qaeda and the effort to capture Osama bin Laden. And left that half undone and go into Iraq, which was an unjustified war," Carter said.

"Since then, of course, terrorism has increased in the world," Carter continued. "And that was the main reason I was against the war in Iraq."

Sounding Off, Along With His Son
Former President Carter has largely stayed out of the political spotlight in the 25 years since he left office after a single term.

He is better known for his humanitarian work, human rights efforts and his writing -- he's authored 21 books.

But this fall he is back on the campaign trail, in Nevada, where his eldest son, Jack, is the Democratic nominee for Senate. He, too, is a critic of the war in Iraq.

Claiborne asked if Carter thought President Bush has been honest with the American people about the situation in Iraq.

"Well, I am a former president and I have been very careful not to criticize President Bush personally," Carter said. "But his administration and particularly the vice president and the secretary of defense have, I think, quite often deliberately misled the American people about the danger in Iraq to begin with, the causes for going to war in Iraq, and they have also misled the American people about what is happening in Iraq since we invaded."

While he disagrees with Bush's administration, he doesn't criticize the president himself.

"[i] think he makes -- he rationalizes what happened, which I did when I was in office, so I don't really feel inclined to personally criticize President Bush."

Carter did say he thinks Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should step down.

"Almost every strategic decision that he has made has proven to be faulty or erroneous and a mistake. Every one," Carter said.

And he staunchly defended the efforts by fellow Democrat Bill Clinton to go after Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda after the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa.

"He made every possible effort to do it. I knew about it. Everybody in the nation knew that President Clinton was making the best possible effort to go after Osama bin Laden and to go after al Qaeda. Of course, that was before 9/11, but there's no doubt that he tried the best he could."

"I don't -- I have never seen any evidence that they tried. There have been some secret things going on, but I never heard about it," he said.

rob · #2 (**permalink**) 05-20-2007, 11:14 PM

The fact that Carter is unhappy about things gives me hope. Carter was a dismal failure as a President, hell he couldn't even get a successful raid to rescue the hostages.

SydneySteel · #3 (**permalink**) 05-20-2007, 11:30 PM

Jimmy who?................

bluedog · #4 (**permalink**) 05-20-2007, 11:32 PM

I does not surprise me that Mr. Carter is critical of Mr. Bush....he has done every thing possible to weaken the only true domocracy in the Middle East....Israel...so I would not find it at all surprising that he would undermine an attempt to establish another one in Iraq. I do not know what is rationale is for such...he may be well intended...but the actions of his type deplomacy speak for themself....as I feel he is directly responsible for those thugs from Iran...that gained so much power in recent years....his inaction and attempted appeasement during the 70's can now be fully viewed.....BD

SydneySteel · #5 (**permalink**) 05-20-2007, 11:35 PM

Oh...that Jimmy Carter. The one that was the worst president in the history of the United States....He's criticizing Bush? Like anyone cares what Jimmy has to say. Does this guy fail at everything he does?

cat's meow · #6 (**permalink**) 05-20-2007, 11:36 PM

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Originally Posted by rob

The fact that Carter is unhappy about things gives me hope. Carter was a dismal failure as a President, hell he couldn't even get a successful raid to rescue the hostages.

Hmmm...that was 50/50 chance of being successful...GHWB did not kill Saddam in a raid but no one knew about that. It has more to do with bad publicity than the actual mission.

Mom_Adams · #7 (**permalink**) 05-21-2007, 12:44 AM

You mean Jimmy Carter, the man who interfered in and undermined the only hope Iran had of enjoying a democracy? The man who gave his approval for Saddam to invade Iran costing millions of Iranians and Iraqi's their lives because the Mullah's had humiliated him with the Iran hostage crisis (even after he licked their feet and brought about the Shah's demise)? You mean the man who single handedly set the stage for everything that is totally screwed up in the Middle East is now criticizing President Bush and calling him the worst?

Well, there's a reason why he looks like hell these days and it sure isn't because of anything President Bush has done.

monkeyinthemiddle · #8 (**permalink**) 05-21-2007, 01:14 AM

""The Carter Doctrine was a policy proclaimed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter in his State of the Union Address on 23 January 1980, which stated that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf region. The doctrine was a response to the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, and was intended to deter the Soviet Union—the Cold War adversary of the United States—from seeking hegemony in the Persian Gulf. After stating that Soviet troops in Afghanistan posed "a grave threat to the free movement of Middle East oil," Carter proclaimed:

Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force. (full speech)
This, the key sentence of the Carter Doctrine, was written by Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's National Security Adviser. Brzezinski modeled the wording of the Carter Doctrine on the Truman Doctrine, and insisted that the sentence be included in the speech "to make it very clear that the Soviets should stay away from the Persian Gulf." ([1])

In The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, author Daniel Yergin notes that the Carter Doctrine "bore striking similarities" to a 1903 British declaration, in which British Foreign Secretary Lord Landsdowne warned Russia and Germany that the British would "regard the establishment of a naval base or of a fortified port in the Persian Gulf by any other power as a very grave menace to British interests, and we should certainly resist it with all the means at our disposal."

I guess this fight against terrorism isn't important...
So Jimmy was all for a war for oil eh?
hmmmm, makes ya think the dems are all about opportunism, yes it does.

Sam · #9 (**permalink**) 05-21-2007, 02:57 AM

Please remember Carter inherited the price controlled stagflation economy from the Republican Nixon/Ford team. He appointed Paul Volcker as fed chairman who's economic/interest rate policy we still follow today. The military boggled the Iranian Hostage rescue not Carter.

We all know Carter is correct that it was wrong to abandon Aghanistan and our war against those who attacked us. We know the unjustified and unplanned war in Iraq and the failed de-baathification and open border greed policy has led where we are today.This administration has weakened us . We have created the perfect storm in Iraq and fueled and trained jihadist .

sachem · #10 (**permalink**) 05-21-2007, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam

Please remember Carter inherited the price controlled stagflation economy from the Republican Nixon/Ford team. He appointed Paul Volcker as fed chairman who's economic/interest rate policy we still follow today. The military boggled the Iranian Hostage rescue not Carter.

We all know Carter is correct that it was wrong to abandon Aghanistan and our war against those who attacked us. We know the unjustified and unplanned war in Iraq and the failed de-baathification and open border greed policy has led where we are today.This administration has weakened us . We have created the perfect storm in Iraq and fueled and trained jihadist .

Well said. I love Jimmy Carter. I admit he wasn't a great president, but he is a great human being. We cannot blame everything happening today in the ME on him.