Are You Kidding Me, Carter?

In an interview given shortly after meeting with the leader of the terrorist organization, Hamas, for the second time, Jimmy Carter said that Khaled Mashaal had agreed to "live as a neighbor" with Israel, provided it's a Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders. Man, hand me a towel because I, along with everyone else in the US State Department, have pie on my face. Jimmy Carter managed to get Hamas to agree to "live as a neighbor" with Israel.

Wait a minute. There's something disturbingly vague about that statement -"live as a neighbor". For one, it doesn't mention what kind of neighbor. Technically, haven't they been "living as neighbors" for the past 60-odd years? Sure, it hasn't been the most friendly or even peaceful of relationships, but they're still neighbors, right? You could also say that Hitler lived as a neighbor with Austria, Hungary, France, Poland, and the rest of Western Europe.

Basically, Jimmy Carter has gotten Hamas to agree to continue to do what they've always done - terrorism - until Israel is no longer on the map. Well, no - until it's a Palestinian controlled state with pre-1967 borders. Man alive is that Jimmy Carter a tough negotiator. Next time I need to give away the farm while maintaining the allusion of toughness, I've giving Carter a call.

In the same interview, Jimmy said that he would never meet with Al-Qaeda because - this is good - they have no redeeming qualities. Hamas, Jimmy points out, is contributing to a fruitful process (blowing up civilians, namely) and they are recognized by their people. After all, Hamas was elected in a fair election.

Take note, Al-Qaeda - if you would like a visit from a former US President, get yourself involved in a fruitful process. And by that, I mean send one or two of your would-be suicide bombers to be politicians instead. You can still engage in all the fun that terrorism has to offer, but you also have to show a good faith effort by going to a couple meetings and chanting "Death to Israel." Before you know it, good ol' Jimmy Carter will be on your doorstep with a six-pack of Billy Beer and some peanut butter.

Obama Doesn't Understand War

George W. Bush has been mercilessly criticized for his apparent stupidity over the course of his two terms in office. He has said some pretty silly things, and his general manner of speaking doesn't help matters. However, most of the fodder for those critics comes from mixing up a couple words in a sentence or simply saying things that could be put a better way. He hasn't really sad things that are factually incorrect or just flat out wrong. And no, you can't use the WMD thing. Every single intelligence agency in the industrial world was saying the same thing. You can't lie if you don't know you're lying. But we'll leave that for another post.

In addition to the militant preacher that wants to kill white people, Barack Obama has said some pretty stupid things when it comes to war and national security. This has led me to believe that Barack really doesn't understand the current U.S. foreign policy, nor is he capable of formulating a plan that would not result in widespread violence in the Middle East and increased terrorist attacks on American soil.

Exhibit 1:
A few weeks ago, Barack said that if he were to pull troops out of Iraq, and then Al Qaeda was discovered to be in Iraq, he would send the U.S. military back in to oust Al Qaeda. Well, Al Qaeda is currently in Iraq, and they were there prior to the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. So his plan to start removing troops seems somewhat premature considering Al Qaeda is still in Iraq...

Exhibit 2:
Last summer, Barack, in an attempt to appear strong and capable of being Commander in Chief, stated that "if we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.” Basically, he told Pakistan he would invade them. To do so would cause a major incident and further damage America's reputation around the world, especially in Muslim countries. I thought Barack is going to work to restore our credibility in the world?

Exhibit 3:
In his latest attempt to explain why pulling our troops out of Iraq is a good idea, Barack stated that if a civil war or mass genocide were to occur, he would not hesitate to send American forces back to Iraq. Where to start.....ok, first, the Democratic party and most of the media have already declared OIF to be a civil war. Therefore, if our troops are already there and it's a civil war, what's the point in pulling them out only to send them back right away?

Second, as most military and regional experts will tell you, if the U.S. were to pull out, civil war and genocide is almost certainly guaranteed to occur. Knowing that, isn't our presence justified? If we can stop millions of civilians from being killed or thrust into a civil war, shouldn't we do it?

The most disturbing part of all this is that it's painfully clear that Obama is pandering to whatever his audience wants to hear. These statements demonstrate a dangerous naivety about global politics and national security. If he wants to pull troops out of Iraq, fine. It's a coward's move. But don't sit there and try to appear tough by saying you'll run back in as soon as X number of people are killed or a large enough civil war breaks out, especially when it's common knowledge our current presence is preventing those things.

Barack Obama is a brilliant speaker and remarkable politician. Unfortunately, these qualities do not translate to good President. You cannot simply "hope" that terrorists will not attack us again, and talking of "change" isn't going to prevent widespread violence in the Middle East.