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Carter Criticizes Bush and Blair on War in Iraq
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| star-traveller |
| quote: | Carter Criticizes Bush and Blair on War in Iraq
By REUTERS
Published: May 20, 2007
WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) — Former President Jimmy Carter criticized George W. Bush’s presidency in interviews released Saturday as “the worst in history” in international relations and faulted Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain for his loyal relationship with Mr. Bush.
“I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history,” Mr. Carter, 82, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in a telephone interview with The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from the Carter Center in Atlanta.
“The overt reversal of America’s basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me,” Mr. Carter told the newspaper.
In an interview on BBC radio, he criticized Mr. Blair for his close relations with the president, particularly concerning the Iraq war.
“Abominable,” he said when asked how he would characterize Mr. Blair’s relationship with Mr. Bush. “Loyal, blind, apparently subservient.”
Mr. Carter, who was president from 1977 to 1981 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his charitable work, was an outspoken opponent of the invasion of Iraq before it was begun in 2003.
“I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world,” he said.
In the newspaper interview, Mr. Carter said Mr. Bush has taken a “radical departure from all previous administration policies” with the Iraq war.
“We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered,” he said.
The White House declined to comment on his statements.
Mr. Carter told the BBC that if Mr. Blair had opposed the invasion he could have reduced the ensuing harm by making it tougher for Washington to shrug off critics, even if the British prime minister had not been able to stop the war. “It would certainly have assuaged the problems” that have arisen, he said.
He characterized one of the defenses of the Bush administration in America and worldwide as “O.K., we must be more correct in our actions than the world thinks because Great Britain is backing us.”
Mr. Carter also told the BBC that the combined support of Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair for the war “has prolonged the war and increased the tragedy that has resulted.”
In the newspaper interview, Mr. Carter, who brokered the Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel, also criticized Mr. Bush’s Middle East policies. “For the first time since Israel was founded, we’ve had zero peace talks to try to bring a resolution of differences in the Middle East,” he said. “That’s a radical departure from the past.” |
Carter Criticizes Bush and Blair on War in Iraq
Both of them are the worthless leaders of their time. |
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| Kapedan |
| Well, it is Jimmy Carter by the way. One of the worst presidents that America has had. |
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| occrider |
| quote: | Originally posted by Kapedan
Well, it is Jimmy Carter by the way. One of the worst presidents that America has had. |
Exactly. This is why we should listen to him. Of all people, he would know what a ty Presidency looked like. |
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| Shakka |
| quote: | Originally posted by occrider
Exactly. This is why we should listen to him. Of all people, he would know what a ty Presidency looked like. |
Sure. And by the same token, he's probably on the lookout to try to find someone he can accuse of doing a worse job than himself to try and make himself look better. It doesn't help his case that he backpeddaled a bit, even though the interviewer says he was quoted accurately.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.ph...&show_article=1
| quote: | ATLANTA (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday his remarks were "careless or misinterpreted" when he said the Bush administration has been the "worst in history" for its impact around the world.
Speaking on NBC's "Today," Carter appeared to retreat from a statement he made to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for a Saturday story in which he said: "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history."
Carter said Monday that when he made the comment, he was responding to a question comparing the Bush administration's foreign policy to that of Richard Nixon.
"And I think Richard Nixon had a very good and productive foreign policy and my remarks were maybe careless or misinterpreted. But I wasn't comparing the overall administration, and I was certainly not talking personally about any president," Carter said.
"I think this administration's foreign policy compared to president Nixon's was much worse," he said, but he said he did not mean to call it the worst in history.
Deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto, with Bush at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, said Monday, "I think it just highlights the importance of being careful in choosing your words. I'll just leave it at that."
In audio posted Saturday on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Web site, an interviewer asked Carter: "Which president was worse, George W. Bush or Richard Nixon?"
Carter gave the broader answer, calling the Bush administration "the worst in history."
Frank Fellone, deputy editor at the Democrat-Gazette, said Monday that the newspaper's story was "accurate and also contextual."
"If President Carter's remarks are careless or misinterpreted, they are not misinterpreted by us," he said.
The White House on Saturday had dismissed Carter after the remarks as "increasingly irrelevant."
In response, Carter, the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said: "Well, I don't claim to have any relevancy. I have a completely unofficial capacity. The only thing I lead is the Carter Center."
After the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story appeared, Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo had confirmed his comments to The Associated Press.
"The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me," the newspaper quoted Carter as saying.
In his comments Monday, Carter said he has not been timid about sharing his opinions directly with the president and other world leaders, but said he has been careful not to level personal criticism against Bush. |
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| idoru |
Carter was terrible, yes. However, I give him kudos for saying what a lot of us have been saying and what a lot of past presidents haven't said. Yeah, we've seen Clinton go on TV and say, "I disagree with what they're doing," but I appreciate the comment more when the person actually says what he feels.
The only part I disagree with is Carter backing down and saying it was taken out of context. Stand up to your comment, man. Have some balls. |
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| George Smiley |
| quote: | Originally posted by occrider
Exactly. This is why we should listen to him. Of all people, he would know what a ty Presidency looked like. |
:stongue: :haha: :stongue: :haha: :stongue:
Good one! |
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