An Unnecessary War - Jimmy Carter

[spanone]

I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.

After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action.

Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.

We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010702645_pf.html

[tekisui]

1. knr!

[mmonk]

2. Carter always takes heat for such stances in our society.

He truly is a person of conviction.

[malaise]

3. I love you Jimmy Carter

Any word yet from GHW Bush or Clinton? They too are former Presidents.

Thank you Jimmy Carter - man from Plains.

If you haven't seen that documentary, please do.

[Fire1]

38. He's one of my favorites. A wonderful human being.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

55. I consider Clinton to be a Bushie. ...n/t

[leftchick]

4. I hope he can help change western views

god knows he is trying.

<snip>


Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.

After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.

Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel's withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).

We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel's unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.

[brer cat]

5. I pray that Obama

will call on this man of peace who understands both sides of the conflict.

[femmedem]

6. Sending this to the editors of my local rag. n/t

[conscious evolution]

7. Gotta love Jimmy

[ShadesOfGrey]

8. k&r

[MajorChode]

9. I greatly admire Jimmy Carter, but I don't understand this statement...

And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.

[ShadesOfGrey]

10. Tunnels to Egypt are their only conduit to the outside world.

The tunnels are not only used to smuggle arms but also food, medicine, etc. There is some debate whether or not these tunnels are vital for the existance of the people of Gaza.

[RufusTFirefly]

13. Yes, I believe that is what Carter means by "defensive tunnel"

As I understand it, the residents of Gaza felt that it was unacceptable to be entirely reliant on the cooperation of Israel for all their food, water, medicine, and fuel. Israel's control of Gaza's supplies seems reminiscent of Soviet-controlled Berlin in 1948-49. "Cooperate or your civilians will starve and die" is not an acceptable response to a democratically elected government, no matter how vehemently you oppose it.

[MajorChode]

14. These tunnels are purely commercial operations

Everything going through them is charged a hefty fee.

They are also typically very small at about 1 meter in diameter. So if there are food and medicine going through them, the quantities are very small and would only go to the very tiny minority that could afford to pay very steep prices.

Even Hamas itself destroys tunnels that aren't controlled by them or from which they receive profit.

[ShadesOfGrey]

16. Wrong... they are not small and they are vital to many Gazans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081231/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_gaza_bombed_out_economy

"Some were used to sneak in arms, including rockets that militants are now firing into Israel. But most of the underground passages were used to haul in consumer goods, from motor bikes to goats, refrigerators, flour and chocolates"

[MajorChode]

20. Yep, so says Ibrahim Barzak...

So it MUST be true.

I could post all kinds of stories from the Israeli press that say quite the opposite. I'm pretty sure the actual truth lies somewhere in the middle.

[ShadesOfGrey]

21. Okay do it....

I'd like to see an article that reports that there are only small tunnels and none are used for consumer goods.

[MajorChode]

25. You're asking me to prove something I never claimed

I said "typically" these tunnels are small. I'm sure there have been some that have been larger, but the larger ones certainly are more easily detected, so logic dictates most are small. The pictures of them I have seen in news reports bear that out. Next, I plainly said they are used for commercial operations and never said they are used exclusively for arms.

[TahitiNut]

18. I just love the framing of "used to smuggle arms" to describe blockade-running.

If we even begin to accept the sovereignty of a people and their right to self-governance, it boggles the mind to infer the insanely imbalanced standard of gladly and willingly accepting (and supporting) the wholesale importation of the most advanced instruments of war and (reported) development of over 100 nuclear warheads on one 'side' and observing the trickle of small arms to the other side as somehow being illegitimate and unacceptable.

Just what 'standard' applies to the people of Gaza that should delegitimize blockade-running in goods that EVERY NATION ON EARTH acquires?? Every fucking nation on earth obtains food, fuel, and small arms.

It is appalling that ANYONE would engage in inflicting terror on others ... but that MUST apply to massive military forces as much if not more so than people starved and blockaded to the point of death.

[ShadesOfGrey]

19. I absolutely agree with you...

"Smuggle arms" was the wrong phrase to use.

[rucognizant]

59. Does this clarify?

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2009/010709Floyd.shtml
Gazing at Gaza's Destruction: Israelis Sip Pepsi, US Progressives See 'Silver Lining'
Here we see Israelis in Sderot – the chief target of the homemade bombs which we are told are the cause of the current ravaging of Gaza. These Hamas "terror bombs" are so frighteningly powerful and destructive that no response against them can be "disproportionate," we are told by Israeli and American leaders; everything is justified in "retaliation," including the complete destruction of the social, civic and physical infrastructure of an entire human community, and the killing and terrorizing of innocent people. It's those homemade bombs falling on Sderot, you see; they are such an overwhelming, ever-present, inescapable threat.

So threatening, in fact, that some of the Israelis in this picture drove down to Sderot from Jerusalem to sit out in the open air – on a hilltop – in plain sight of the Gaza village from which many of the rockets have been launched, and calmly sip Pepsi as they watch the military action taking place not two miles away. Shouldn't "terror" be made of sterner stuff? Especially terror which merits the widespread slaughter and suffering of innocent people? Could there possibly be some – how to put it? – disconnection between the stated cause of the military action and its true purpose

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. I hope Carter got Obama's ear at that luncheon. K&R

[bdamomma]

12. yea, me too.

Carter should take a little trip to Israel, I wonder how he would be received.

[rucognizant]

56. Doesn't look like it.......

Notice how the ghw &w bushes, had him penned in in both sides!

[deaniac21]

15. I think Carter has been named Ambassador to Hamas.

[spanone]

17. he's ambassador to rational thinking in the midddle east

[deaniac21]

23. No joke. He really has been named.

[spanone]

30. link?

couldn't find one

[deaniac21]

32. www.hamas-shill.com

[fascisthunter]

37. you made funny

[spanone]

39. oh, i see

[deaniac21]

46. .

:hug:

[bahrbearian]

24. Does that mean Bush is the Ambassador to Israel ?

[redqueen]

22. K&R

[mimitabby]

26. thanks Jimmy Carter

I just wrote to my two senators and my congress person about us giving Israel money to fight against the people in Gaza. This is so horrible to me it is beyond words.

[roody]

47. We actually just send them the weapons.

That way the money goes directly from Congress to the arms manufacturers here in the US.

[Barack_America]

27. So the cease fire broke down because Israel insisted on continued starvation of Palestinians?

That seems to be the gist of this.

Hamas demanded a cease fire in both territories, but compromised down to just Gaza, provided sufficient food and supplies were allowed into the area (even drastically compromising on the amounts of that). But that still wasn't acceptable to Israel? What, would two meals a day spoil the Palestinians? Or were they afraid that would allow too many children to actually make it to adulthood?

Despicable.

[GreenTea]

28. It was a necessary war for Bush to give hundreds of billions $$ to corporate firms

in Iraq and at the same time insuring there was no money left for universal health care and other social & environmental programs....As well as having the Iraq war making Bush a "war time president" pretending to be tough and allow Bush who was able to say and get away with all his law breaking in the name of terrorism....

This war in Iraq for profit that's still going on was purposely plan...this is republican ideology at work here (Norquist) do anything to stop social progress and at the same time let the republican corporations suck up the tax dollars instead....They succeeded we are indeed more than bankrupt, the rich are far richer and the war time president is blaming bad intelligence for his lies & killing & torture....when it was planned all along to do exactly what has occurred.

[me b zola]

29. K&R

[fadedrose]

31. Is this why President Carter stood away, or was stood away from,

the group photo of the living presidents?

[OwnedByFerrets]

42. I heard it was because he and Clinton detest each other, and monkeyboy

, being the decider he is, wanted to put them together for the comedy.

[yellowwood]

33. Thank you, Jimmy Carter

First of all, I want to correct the title. It's not a "war" with this kind of disparity between the parties, more like a turkey shoot.

Where are our other leaders? Where are the clergy?

I found DU during the leadup to the Iraq invasion. People here knew that we were responsible for the horrible consequences of that invasion. They cared. Now I am perceiving more of a ho-hum. Don't people understand that we're paying for many of the munitions that are killing innocent civilians? Don't they care?

I hear the argument that Israel has a right to defend itself. Of course. But the Palestinians have been driven to desperate acts. And this reaction is so over the top. Why are we paying for it?

[SemperEadem]

50. Where are the clergy?

Popping the pop corn, getting a pop and settling into their lay-z-boy recliners to sit back and watch armageddon. Notice not a peep out of them...

[xxqqqzme]

51. We are paying for it because

if any public person speaks out against Israel's genocide, they are immediately branded 'anti semitic'. AIPAC whined & whined about Carter after his last book. They make my ass tired.

[Number23]

34. Aren't they all???

Happy to :kick: and rec... I have so much respect for this man and what he's trying to do.

[Still Sensible]

35. Jimmy Carter figured it out long ago

One thing Jimmy Carter figured out a long time ago is that unless and until you can look at this situation (and others) in something broader than *us-vs-them* terms, you cannot have any progress. Obviously, the current bunch of neocons only sees us-vs-them and, politically, tries to paint every issue they can in those terms.

No question the time is now (past, actually) for Israel to get to a cease fire stance. They are the powerful party here. That said, if Hamas would accept the terms of the France/Egypt proposal, it would at least stop the carnage. Of course, Hamas is unwilling to do so because it threatens their power base politically.

JMHO

[goforit]

36. Thankyou Jimmy Carter for brining sanity/civility to insane OCD barbaric people.

[subsuelo]

40. knr

[Jefferson23]

41. You are a great man Carter. I can't imagine what it was like for him

at the "power" lunch when the conversation about the war on Gaza was discussed.

[MasonJar]

43. Jimmy Carter is a true Christian, who practices his religion with conviction.

I admire him almost beyond words.

[IsItJustMe]

44. Carter has a heart and that is what I love about him. He is also very honest.

[Canuckistanian]

45. Why isn't Condi Rice conducting these talks?

Why is an aged former president the only one talking about the details of a peace settlement??

Never mind, I think I know the answer.

[Douglas Carpenter]

48. a fantastic article by a great, great man - a thousand kicks and recommends!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010702645_pf.html

[defendandprotect]

49. TWO unnecessary wars .... plus GAZA . . .

Bush winking at Sharon's unleashing almost 8 years more of "full scale war"

on Palestinians --

[Jim Sagle]

52. Dullard reflects.

[Douglas Carpenter]

53. kick and recommended for the truth

[davepc]

54. And the rape of East Timor by Indonesia could of been stopped if Jimmy did something

other then give his tacit approval by increasing arms sales to Indonesia.

Cry me a river Jimmy, you got blood on your hands too.

[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Behind the Aegis]

58. Do learn the meaning of the word "genocide."

Seriously, stop diminishing the deaths in Gaza, as well as those who have actually been victims of genocides.

[Douglas Carpenter]

60. kcik

[yellowwood]

61. Why Not Go to Gaza to Monitor the Situation?

I often wish that leaders such as the Pope or Jimmy Carter or others who see wrong and want to amend it would put their bodies in the trouble spot. I thought about this before we bombed Iraq. If the Pope had been in Bahgdad, would it have been bombed?

[Douglas Carpenter]

62. one kikc