- Jul 28, 2006
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So Jimmy Carter may visit with the leader of Hamas when he goes to Syria.
It is like the Democrats don't want to win in the fall.
Why this is a problem for Democrats.
It re-enforces the fact that Democrats aren't serious when it comes to fighting terrorism.
More importantly it will force Obama to either publicly criticize Carter or it will re-enforce the anti-Israeli problem that Obama already faces.
If Obama is seen as being anti-Israel it could cost the Democrats the Jewish vote and without the Jewish vote the Dems may have no chance when it comes to Florida (Where McCain already leads by 8 points)
Anyway... here the Chicagotribune's view on Carter
link
5/9/09 -- Locked to preserve evidence of the OP lying about a moderator in a PFI thread.
Perknose
Senior AT Mod[/b]
It is like the Democrats don't want to win in the fall.
Why this is a problem for Democrats.
It re-enforces the fact that Democrats aren't serious when it comes to fighting terrorism.
More importantly it will force Obama to either publicly criticize Carter or it will re-enforce the anti-Israeli problem that Obama already faces.
If Obama is seen as being anti-Israel it could cost the Democrats the Jewish vote and without the Jewish vote the Dems may have no chance when it comes to Florida (Where McCain already leads by 8 points)
Anyway... here the Chicagotribune's view on Carter
link
Former President Jimmy Carter is accustomed to meeting world leaders and beaming his famous smile while getting his photo snapped with them. He may be in for a different kind of visit in Damascus next week. Carter is reported to have scheduled a meeting with Khaled Mashaal, the political leader of Hamas. Hamas says he's coming; the Atlanta-based Carter Center didn't confirm that, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Mashaal isn't fond of photo ops, or even appearing in public, ever since he survived an Israeli assassination attempt several years back. (And there was the time in 2006 when Israeli warplanes buzzed the presidential palace in Syria as a protest for allowing Mashaal a safe haven.)
We presume the former president knows all about Mashaal. Just in case, however, we'd like to remind him of the Hamas leader's résumé, the better to be prepared for the possible tete-a-tete.
Mashaal is a terrorist leader. He's accused by Israeli officials of ordering the 2006 abduction of an Israeli soldier, triggering Israel's incursion into Gaza. At the time, U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton urged Syria to arrest him and shut down Hamas headquarters in Damascus.
Over the years, Mashaal has claimed responsibility for many of Hamas' suicide bomb attacks in Israel. He leads an organization that praised as "heroic" Palestinian terrorists who crossed into Israel and killed two civilians at a fuel depot on Wednesday. Hamas allows?or instigates?the continuing barrage of rockets into Israel, taking every opportunity to disrupt peace negotiations.
Mashaal could play an important role in the current peace talks if Hamas would renounce violence, embrace previous agreements with Israel and recognize the Jewish state. It's a very low bar to clear with a profound return?a Palestinian state. But it's still too high for Hamas, a group that is sworn to destroy Israel.
Carter hasn't said publicly why he may be going. Maybe the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize laureate is convinced he can turn Mashaal into a peacenik. He better talk fast: Hamas is undertaking the most significant military buildup in its history, according to recent reports.
Or maybe Carter can't resist a public and obvious rebuke to the Bush administration's policy of isolating and weakening Hamas.
Mashaal and his cronies are overseeing the descent of Gaza into further violence, misery and hopelessness, all because they can't envision a Middle East where Palestinians and Israelis can live side by side in peace.
Can a Nobel be revoked?
5/9/09 -- Locked to preserve evidence of the OP lying about a moderator in a PFI thread.
Perknose
Senior AT Mod[/b]