Redstate

By Socrates Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Former President James Earl Carter is, I believe, a fine Christian. Barring any unseemly revelation, that reputation seems pretty safe.

He was a President who came to office as a foreign policy idealist, but was a reluctant convert to "realism" once the job was his. He wanted the United States to stand not for mere containment of communism, but for the spread of human rights and his own brand of being nice to people with other people's money.

Now that he's been out of office a while, it seems that he didn't learn all of the lessons the job should have taught him, and has forgotten the ones he did.

George W. Bush came into office as a foreign policy realist, seeking mostly to maintain a stable world to allow a healthy economy. He did scold China and others for religious persecution, but offered no real action on the issue.

His policy changed on 9/11/2001, eight months into his first term. He realized the impossibility of trying only to defend against terrorism, since the terrorists eschew pitched battles. He understood quickly that it was largely driven by religion, and as such was unaffected by international diplomacy. Since the terrorists would not make themselves targets for our strengths, and would not listen, he had to attack those who supported them. Some call it preemptive war, but it really is war in response to supporting those who have attacked us. In any case, George Bush is now a foreign policy idealist, with many of the same goals Mr. Carter had, such as encouraging the respect for human rights and peace through the spread of democracy.

Mr. Carter would not go to war for 52 hostages, preferring instead to try a "daring" helicopter raid so the hostages wouldn't get hurt. It is no wonder, then, that he would describe the Israeli response to Hezbollah as "unjustified". He didn't learn, or forgot, that the taking of hostages is an act of war.

He was the wrong guy to have in place at that point in history, and the Iranians knew it, and proved it.

To be fair, the spectre of Viet Nam loomed large in 1979, and no President, least of all a liberal Democrat, could turn himself into the next LBJ by the robust use of force.

With full benefit of hindsight, I believe we should have blown the embassy (and the rest of Teheran) to rubble, hostages and all. Instead, we have the world of today.

Thanks, Mr. Carter, and I mean that with utmost insincerity. Thanks for not learning the lesson of Teheran by continuing to coddle the Islamofascists, and thanks for not learning that foreign policy realism doesn't work where they are concerned, either.

And now, I will sincerely thank you to quietly go away.