The Young Turks

CENK: Welcome back to The Young Turks on Air America Radio. Now joining us, the 39th President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter. President Carter, welcome to The Young Turks.

CARTER: Thank you very much.

BEN: Lets first start with the discussion you had with Wolf Blitzer at CNN. Custom has dictated for sometime now that Presidents don't criticize other Presidents. But you called Iraq one of the worst blunders any President has ever made. First of all I would like you to tell us why it ranks that highly and also is it really time to put what I call a non-sensical custom to bed.

CARTER: Well, you know, it has been a disaster. I think the administration and the present administration and even the neo-cons who orchestrated the invasion of Iraq, all look back on it and know it was a very great tragedy.

Its alienated most of the nations of the world away from us, dropped the esteem for America - the popularity of America, the trust of America to unprecedented lows, and now of course what we are trying to do is not to succeed in our original plans but to get out of Iraq with a minimal loss of life and prestige.

I think in many ways anyone that would argue that is was a success or a good decision, would be totally wrong. I'm not going to criticize President Bush because I agree with him on many things, but I believe that this was one of the biggest mistakes in foreign affairs that I've ever known.

CENK: President Carter is also the author of Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, we want to ask about that in one second. You mentioned the neo-cons, they have often criticized you President Carter for not acting stronger against Iran when the hostages were taken. Do you feel at anyway you are vindicated for what has happened in Iraq and that attacking Iran at the time would not have been a wise idea?

CARTER: Well I don't feel the need for vindication, I had the choice of destroying Iran and in the process they have American hostages, or trying to resolve it peacefully and getting the hostages released. As a result of my decision, which was not an easy one, every single hostage came back safe and free. See I don't know how anyone could say the opposite decision should have been made. I think the results speak for themselves.

CENK: Now getting on to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, President Carter has written a book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. President Bush often talks about how we are fighting against people who hate us for our freedom and he views that as our primary problem in the Middle East. I think that the primary problem in the Middle East is that we have never solved the Palestinian/Israeli issue, and in fact we have been completely one-sided about it, and that is why people hate us in the Middle East. What do you think about those two competing theories?

CARTER: Well, at this point, the general consensus in the Middle East and that in the last six years we have been completely one-sided. In the last six years there hasn't been one meeting for negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians since President Clinton was in office. And this is the first time since 1967, maybe even since Israel was founded as a nation that no effort has been made to find reconciliation and peace for Israel.

My hope is that we will have peace talks, even in the last two years of this administration so far we haven't had that. There is a consistent debate that goes on about Israel's policies in Palestine everyday. In this country there is no debate about it at all, it's completely a one-sided presumption that everything Israel does is right and everything that the Palestinians do is wrong.

As a matter of fact the title of my book is Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. I'm not talking about apartheid in Israel, it's a good democracy and people are treated fairly whether they are an Arab or Jew, people have a chance to vote, but in the occupied territories there is a horrible example of apartheid. Where we have seen Israel occupy the land, confiscate the land and settle the land, eschew the Palestinians from their own property and build highways between the 200 or so Israeli settlements and not even let the Palestinians use those highways, they can't even cross those highways. This is a horrible example of the persecution.

CENK: So are you saying the United States is supporting the apartheid in the occupied area as executed by the Israeli government?

CARTER: I'm saying that the United States is supporting Israeli government's policies although we are calling for this policy to be changed. As we know the international court said we have written a Road Map for Peace, which President Bush endorsed enthusiastically. The Road Map for Peace spells out a requirement, the first requirement is to withdraw from occupied territory.

The Palestinians have endorsed the Road Map for Peace, one hundred percent. The Israeli's have rejected every substantive aspect of the Road Map for Peace. This is a fight that I wrote in my book based on the choices of the Israeli government. There are very few Americans that are aware that the Israelis rejected the Road Map for Peace. So it is a very one-sided problem now. I hope that both sides will come together if the United States will orchestrate the opportunity.

BEN: We are essentially out of time and only have time for one more question, talking to the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. Mr. President, you are an Evangelical Christian, how do you account then for the sort of rabid support for everything Israel does without qualification from so many Evangelical Christian leaders in this country, and how do you think that influences the administrations politics?

CARTER: Some Christians who I know very well, very devout people, believe a certain interpretation of Revelations, that in my opinion are quite weird, in that in the coming of Christ that the holy land has to be occupied by the Jews and not by anyone else and then in the end that all Jews will have to be killed or either converted to Christianity. This is a very seriously distorted interpretation of the Scriptures that I am very familiar with.

BEN: President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, it was real pleasure. Thanks for coming on the show, interesting as always to talk with you.

CARTER: Have a good day, thank you very much.

CENK: Thank you, and the book is Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.