Airborne Combat Engineer

Carter's naivete helped develop current mess

In accordance with the pleasant US-Iran relations then-existing, President Carter spent New Year's Eve in 1977 with the Shah and toasted Iran as "an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world.

Nonetheless, between 1975 and 1978, the Shah's popularity fell due to the Carter administration's misguided implementation of human rights policies. The election of Mr. Carter as president of the United States in 1976, with his vocal emphasis on the importance of human rights in international affairs, was a turning point in US-Iran relations. The Shah of Iran was accused of torturing over 3000 prisoners.  Under the banner of promoting human rights, Carter made excessive demands of the Shah, threatening to withhold military and social aid. 

Carter pressured the Shah to release "political prisoners", whose ranks included radical fundamentalists, communists and terrorists.  Many of these individuals are now among the opponents we face in our "war on terrorism".

The Reality Check

Republican fundraiser to include machine gun shoot

MANCHESTER – City Republicans will be packing some serious firepower at their next party fundraiser.

Tired of the usual chicken dinners, the Manchester Republican Committee is planning to arm supporters next month with Uzis, M-16 rifles and other automatic weapons for a day of target practice at a Pelham firing range.

"The thought just struck me one day: a machine gun shoot. What the heck?" said Jerry Thibodeau, the committee chairman.

Thibodeau, who is himself a hunter and skeet shooter, pitched the Aug. 5 event as a fun social gathering, as well as a demonstration of the party's support for Second Amendment rights.

Manchester Union Leader

Given the reaction of Dems to this, you should have no doubt which is the lesser of two evils between the two major parties when it comes to 2A rights.

Senate slumber party is pure political theatre

After a marathon all-night debate, sleepy U.S. senators gathered in the Capitol this morning to vote on whether to continue debating a proposal to begin troop withdrawals from Iraq.

The Senate was scheduled to vote at 11 a.m. on the amendment, which was sponsored by Sens. Jack Reed (D-R. I.) and Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and would bring most U.S. troops home by next May. Although a slight majority of senators appeared to support the measure, the Democrats did not have the 60 votes that Republicans were insisting upon for passage, and the amendment was expected to fail.

WaPo

Watch the vote down of the Leven/Reed amendment at C-Span around 11AM DST.

UPDATE: The amendment failed, as expected, getting only 52 votes.

Why is Hillary hated on all sides?

With everyone on tenterhooks over terrorism and the looming defeat in Iraq, there is a febrile atmosphere in the US. Many are taking their anger out on Hillary as she attempts to break through the last remaining glass ceiling. Something called the "Hillary Conundrum" has emerged to cause deep unease inside her party while giving comfort to the Republican party, which by now should be in disarray.

LD / Independent

John Edwards wants help from Iran & Syria

Other countries in the region, including U.S. foes Iran and Syria, must become involved in Iraq's future, Edwards said, on the campaign trail in Iowa. "We need to engage them directly into helping to stabilize Iraq."

Edwards again said that if he were president today, he would immediately reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by about 50,000.

[AP]

What would possibly motivate Iran and Syria to help stabilize Iraq before the US bails out, knowing that would establish another pro-Western democracy in their neighborhood?

The Silk pony-haired politician is about as pragmatic as Jimmy Carter was.

These countries are already "helping" in ways they deem best for their interests. Iran is supplying weapons and consultants to the insurgents. Syria is probably allowing the flow of men and materials across its borders. If we pull out, Iran might establish a puppet state in Iraq and/or take over the oil fields near its border.

Could Bush look like good president, in hindsight?

Bill Kristol [editor of the Weekly Standard], ever the optimist, thinks it's possible, and states his case for it:

"What it comes down to is this: If Petraeus succeeds in Iraq, and a Republican wins in 2008, Bush will be viewed as a successful president."

Washington Post

Most wouldn't give even 6 to 1 odds for either outcome, but truth sometimes turns out to be stranger than projections. Weren't Al Gore and John Kerry projected to win?

Some think Hillary will win the Presidency and will be such a bad (socialistic) president that people will look back on the Bush years as much better in comparison.

Some pardons are better than some commutations

Hillary Clinton: "Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice."

Said Tony Snow: "I don't know what Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case of it."

Here, after all, is the wife of a president who all but peddled pardons to an assortment of felons and miscreants including one malodorous fugitive from justice who had renounced his American citizenship.

Doesn’t this woman recall that on her husband’s last day in the White House he signed 140 pardons and several commutations?

Michael Raegan / Townhall

 

There he [Jimmy] goes again

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter accused the U.S., Israel and the European Union on Tuesday of seeking to divide the Palestinian people by reopening aid to President Mahmoud Abbas' new government in the West Bank while denying the same to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was addressing a human rights conference in Ireland, also said the Bush administration's refusal to accept Hamas' 2006 election victory was "criminal."

Carter said Hamas, besides winning a fair and democratic mandate that should have entitled it to lead the Palestinian government, had proven itself to be far more organized in its political and military showdowns with Abbas' moderate Fatah movement.

[AP] [Text of two speeches from Carter Center] [Hamas/Fatah timeline]

As you can see from the text of his speeches, everything he did while in office was brilliant and worked like a charm. One wonders why he didn't go ahead and solve the Israel/Palestine issue while he was in office. Oh, that's right. He spent the end of his presidency dealing with a little problem he stirred up in Iran, which has lead to many of the problems with which the current administration must deal.

On 02 FEB 2006, after meeting with Hamas following the election, Carter told CNN: ""They told me they want to have a peaceful administration. They want to have a unity government, bring in Fatah members and independent members," Carter said. He also said Hamas was "capable of keeping any promise of nonviolence it might make."

As Forkum of "Cox and Forkum" notes, about the only difference between the two groups is Hamas is more open about its hatred of Israel and Fatah is relatively more moderate. The US, in supporting Fatah, is only choosing the better of two evils, from the only viable choices available to it.

MB @ Conservative Voice suggests JC buy a set of clubs. The Jawa Report predicts JC's next book. [thanks C-Low].

Like another Georgia native, the Conservative Scalawag, ACE finds Geogia's only President to be an increasing embarrassment.

Gore rakes Bush Sr over coals for ignoring Iraqi WMDs

In a speech at Georgetown on 24 JUN 2004, Al Gore said:

Beginning very soon after the attacks of 9/11, President Bush made a decision to start mentioning Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein in the same breath in a cynical mantra designed to fuse them together as one in the public's mind.

Check out what Gore had to say in 1992:

Give Gore credit where due. He's a good speaker and salesman. He could sell refrigerators to Eskimos (and might yet). Whether it's global warming or Saddam's nuclear weapon program, Al can convince you. If ACE didn't already believe the World is better off without Saddam, he'd be convinced by this.

Powerline

Fred Thompson on Tonight Show

Official "I'm with Fred" site (worth watching).