Jimmy Carter's Lasting Legacy: Killing a horrible disease

[Feeling the Bern]

Only 20 Guinea Worm cases left on Earth

Thank you, Mr. President!

[applegrove]

1. What a great egg!

[democrank]

2. Thank you, President Carter.

~PEACE~

[LiberalLovinLug]

3. Hillary and Bernie supporters can all agree on one thing

Jimmy Carter, one of the best human beings that ever was President of the USA.

[EdwardBernays]

4. Well...

Carter is my favourite living President by a mile.

But...

On the foreign policy front he was pretty awful.

His lasting legacy could easily be starting the global jihad movement.

"By mid-1979, the United States had started a covert program to finance the mujahideen. President Carter's National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was later quoted as saying that the goal of the program was to "induce a Soviet military intervention", by mid-1979, the United States had started a covert program to finance the mujahideen.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone

At the very least Carter was told that financing the mujahedeen could lead to a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He signed off on it and that in turn led to the rise of the Taliban, the rise of al Qaeda and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

We'll never know what would've happened if Carter had said no, but the fact is he didn't. And we're all still living with the outcome of that decision.

Carter also was at least partially responsible for protecting Pahlavi - for extremely cynical reasons ie to stop the world from learning what the US had done in Iran for decades. This was the main cause of the Iranian Hostage Crisis and all that that implies.

There's also a LOT of evidence that the CIA under Carter was planning another Iranian coup in the lead up to the IHC.

So.

Wonderful humanitarian man in many respects... but his foreign policy legacy is atrocious.

[Feeling the Bern]

5. Yeah, that Camp David Accord between Sadat and Begin was just horrible.

[EdwardBernays]

6. ok....

But do you think I can't find a single positive thing George Bush ever did?

Ignoring the failures of Carter and his foreign policy, which lead to countless dead civilians and at least partially to 9/11, which in turn lead to the invasion of Iraq, is .... counterproductive.

Why do people have to be binary - either all good or all bad?

Like I said, Carter is my favourite living President, but plotting a coup in Iran, protecting a US backed Iranian dictator - which was largely responsible for the US' actions in the Iran Iraq war, deliberately funding the Mujahideen, deliberately taking action to provoke the Soviets into Afghanistan - these are not things you can make disappear with the Camp David Accord. They both exist and both have to be be judged separately.

Annnnnd... as a whole I would say, considering you're talking about actions which lead to multiple wars, and just endless suffering, well... those mistakes are a bigger legacy than the Guinea worm.

[Feeling the Bern]

8. I found one positive thing Bush did. . .left office. How dare you consider comparing Carter to Bush

But do you think I can't find a single positive thing George Bush ever did?

I stopped reading after this.

[EdwardBernays]

9. why?

Ignorance is bliss?

I wasn't comparing Carter to Bush though... that's just something you've imagined. What I did was I laid out the fact that one good deed doesn't erase a bunch of bad things... Bush's aid to Africa in NO WAY makes up for his warmongering, etc. And Carter's Camp David Accord doesn't make up for his huge foreign policy disasters.

Here's one positive thing Bush did:

1) US aid to Africa. President Bush has overseen more than $15 billion in Aids relief for Africa's poorest nations. Mr Bush dramatically increased the amount of aid President Clinton had pledged during his tenure. Many lives have undoubtedly been saved by offering advanced medical help to the impoverished.

That's from the Telegraph in the UK

Here's Carter praising Bush on his aid to Africa:

Jimmy Carter - who now runs the Carter Center, a non-profit organization whose mission is to fight for human rights, conflict resolution and global health in the world's most impoverished countries - laid out Bush's accomplishments, including increasing aid to the continent by more than 640% by the time he left office.

"Mr. President, let me say that I'm filled with admiration for you and deep gratitude for you about the great contributions you've made to the most needy people on Earth," said Carter.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/04/george-w-bushs-legacy-on-africa-wins-praise-even-from-foes/

[Feeling the Bern]

10. Again, comparing Carter's foreign policy to Bush's.

Goodbye. I have nothing to say to you.

[EdwardBernays]

11. lol

I have no idea why you choose to be so ignorant about this stuff...

It's such an American trait, and sadly it's one that's resulted in many thousands of civilian deaths around the world...

I know it's not NICE to have your perceptions challanged, but ... you won't ever learn from your mistakes if you never admit you make mistakes.

Here's and article by Brzezinski, in which he admits to all of what I've said to you. All of the documents about Operation Cyclone are available as well...

Q: And neither do you regret having supported the Islamic [integrisme], having given arms and advice to future terrorists?

Brzezinski: What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?

Q: Some stirred-up Moslems? But it has been said and repeated: Islamic fundamentalism represents a world menace today.

Brzezinski: Nonsense! It is said that the West had a global policy in regard to Islam. That is stupid. There isn’t a global Islam. Look at Islam in a rational manner and without demagoguery or emotion. It is the leading religion of the world with 1.5 billion followers. But what is there in common among Saudi Arabian fundamentalism, moderate Morocco, Pakistan militarism, Egyptian pro-Western or Central Asian secularism? Nothing more than what unites the Christian countries.

How Jimmy Carter and I Started the Mujahideen

http://www.counterpunch.org/1998/01/15/how-jimmy-carter-and-i-started-the-mujahideen/

[Feeling the Bern]

12. I'm giving you the last word, then putting you on ignore

Anyone who compares Bush and Carter and thinks their ideas and beliefs are the same is not a person I care to deal with.

Goodbye!

[EdwardBernays]

13. No one did that

you're just so scared of having your perceptions challenged that you've generated a fantasy wherein I compare Bush and Carter in any way except the limited way that I did, which is this - again:

In the SAME WAY that George Bush's one good policy - something CARTER PRAISED HIM FOR PUBLICLY - does NOT forgive his hundreds and hundreds of awful policies Carters good work does NOT forgive his foreign policy disasters.

That's not a comparison of them as people. It's not a comparison of their policies.

I KNOW that by saying I am comparing them, and by putting me on ignore, you can flee from certain truths which challenge your ideas about Carter; I understand your fear. It sucks to learn negative things about someone you like. I didn't like it when I learned it either.

BUT.

By ignoring me, and more importantly, ignoring the truth about Carter's foreign policy disasters you are DOOMING YOURSELF to ignorance. Which I know, I know - it's bliss... but maybe bliss is not the emotion Americans need to have about their foreign policy.

Anyway, even though I donate to Bernie, and even though I support the same things you support about Carter, and dislike the same thing you dislike about Bush, put me on ignore. Retreat to your fantasy.

It's sad, but it's obviously something you need to do to get by. I get it.

[madokie]

7. Jimmy has been right on so many fronts for so many years

We should build a big monument to him. We should get that started while he is still alive so he can know going into the end that he is Appreciated by US

I voted for Jimmy in both elections

[dembotoz]

14. jesus folks bashing jimmy carter on this site...what fucking bullshit

very proud of carter

[Feeling the Bern]

15. Exactly, and that person doesn't understand why I refuse to continue a conversation

And tells me I wallow in ignorance.

I thought this was DEMOCRATIC Underground, not "spit hatred at good Democrats" Underground.

Bush, on his best day, couldn't hold Carter's jock strap.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

16. In general, I have reservations about genocide, but in this case I'll make an exception.

Next, can we deliberately drive anopheles to extinction, please? Given how many of us they kill, we should have no qualms about fighting back.

[Feeling the Bern]

17. mosquitos might be a bit difficult to eradicate

[Donald Ian Rankin]

18. There's a wonderful idea to breed males whose offspring are all male.

The first plan for using genetics to wipe out mosquitos that I heard about was to breed super-sexy but infertile male mosquitos, whom the females would mate with in preference to ordinary males and hence not lay any eggs.

But the problem with that is that you need to supply all the infertile males yourself, so the plan can't scale in the wild.

But if you release a bunch of males who only have sons, then that gene can spread through the population, and wipe out a species without further intervention.

I realise it's slightly unattractive to get so excited about deliberately exterminating an entire species. But malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people a year, not to mention all the other things they spread, and if someone can come up with a good way to wipe them out, I'll be cheering them on.