Friday, June 26, 2009

Elder Statesman

Jimmy CarterI did not vote for Jimmy Carter either time, and I do not say that with any pride at all. Quite the reverse. This man is turning out to be one of the greatest statesmen this nation has ever produced.

The only Middle East nation with which Israel is at peace is Egypt, a peace forged by Jimmy Carter, and one that has lasted for thirty years and has survived the subsequent assassination of the leaders of both nations. He began his presidency with a pursuit of peace in the Middle east, and he has never stopped.
A Haaretz Editorial last year said that, “For the peace agreement with Egypt, he deserves the respect reserved for royalty for the rest of his life.”

The man is in his eighties, for heaven’s sake, and he is still at it with the energy and stamina that many much younger men could not maintain.
The release of an Israeli soldier held by the Palestinians, in exchange for Palestinians held by the Israelis, appears close to becoming a deal and Carter’s hand is quietly and unobtrusively part of the process. Glenn Greenwald explains in some detail how diplomacy, by Carter and the Obama Administration, has been at work in the process and a picture emerges of a tireless elder statesman quietly pursuing a peace agenda.

The idea to transfer Shalit to Egypt in exchange for the release of Palestinian women, teens, cabinet ministers and parliamentarians being held in Israeli prisons was raised about a year ago during a visit by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter to Damascus, Jerusalem and Gaza... Carter raised it again on his visit earlier this month...

Emphasis added by me. I wish we had more like him.

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