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Carter: Communicate with Unsavory People
By marciahopple on 2009-01-31 08:34:13
Jimmy Carter is to diplomacy what Pete Seeger is to folk music. Each of them materializes at moments and in places where
their presence is perfect, as eloquent elder statesmen. One example is Pete Seeger leading the crowd in singing at the
Lincoln Memorial last week on Martin Luther King Day
And this week former President Carter appeared often in interviews about his new book, “We Can Have Peace in the Holy
Land." On the Terry Gross NPR program, Fresh Air, he was asked if his faith in negotiations has ever been tested. I obtained
a transcript of the interview because I felt his response was important to share on the Waging Peace blog, and was inspiring
for the present times:
Carter replied, “When the hostages were being held [in Iran] in1980, this was the most difficult period of my life, and I was
encouraged by almost all my advisers to launch a military attack against Iran, which would have been the popular and
acceptable thing to do. I could have bombed their oil fields or bombed Teheran, and I could have killed tens of thousand of
Iranians with almost total impunity. Not a single one of our bomber pilots would have ever been killed.”
“But it would have been counterproductive, in my opinion. And my patience and my general political judgment was at risk,
but I decided to do it peacefully. And eventually, the day that I left office, every hostage came home safe and free, and we
never did have a need to bomb and kill innocent Iranians or to have our hostages slaughtered by irate Iranians who had been
under attack.”
“So, yes, I have had tests of that kind. I think that, in general though, almost without exception, it’s better to deal with
unsavory people who are creating a problem, rather than to launch an attack or to perpetuate and exacerbate a bad situation.
And that would include Iran. It would include Hamas. It would include North Korea and others with whom we have
differences. I think the best way to do is to communicate with them.”
Carter was also interviewed on the regional public radio program, WAMC’s Roundtable, which garners listener comments
on the WAMC Blog at Times Union.com. One dismissive comment there was similar to what I thought we might hear in
reaction to this posting, but it comes from someone calling himself/herself “flack attack”, a clue about a warped world
view: “And as far as Jimmy Carter is concerned, he was an absolute failure as president and his biased views today make
him - with the exception of his support of Habitat for Humanity - a failure as a person.” (January 29, 2009)
But others agreed with my positive view of Jimmy Carter, especially when I felt his quiet conviction that he did what was
right, and heard his clarity about the most difficult thing in his life. He and Pete Seeger are heroes of mine. Their messages
as octogenarian sages are more powerful than ever.
One of the WAMC listeners echoed that view when he posted the following response about the Carter interview:
“T salute President Carter for his tireless public service, contributions to humanity and continued courage to bring attention
to the truth.” Comment by Galen Demers — January 29th, 2009
