#1 CLUELESS GAPER......JC

[jon gaper]

BY MICHAEL EVANS

We just don't get it. The Left in America is screaming to high heaven that the mess we are in in Iraq and the war on terrorism has been caused by the right-wing and that George W. Bush, the so-called "dim-witted cowboy," has created the entire mess.

The truth is the entire nightmare can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini.

Carter viewed Khomeini as more of a religious holy man in a grassroots revolution than a founding father of modern terrorism. Carter's ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, said "Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint." Carter's Iranian ambassador, William Sullivan, said, "Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure." Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed in a Newsweek interview on February 12, 1979 that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of "impeccable integrity and honesty."

The shah was terrified of Carter. He told his personal confidant, "Who knows what sort of calamity he [Carter] may unleash on the world?"

Let's look at the results of Carter's misguided liberal policies: the Islamic Revolution in Iran; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Carter's response was to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics); the birth of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization; the Iran-Iraq War, which cost the lives of millions dead and wounded; and yes, the present war on terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

WHEN CARTER entered the political fray in 1976, America was still riding the liberal wave of anti-Vietnam War emotion. Carter asked for an in-depth report on Iran even before he assumed the reins of government and was persuaded that the shah was not fit to rule Iran. 1976 was a banner year for pacifism: Carter was elected president, Bill Clinton became attorney-general of Arkansas, and Albert Gore won a place in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

In his anti-war pacifism, Carter never got it that Khomeini, a cleric exiled to Najaf in Iraq from 1965-1978, was preparing Iran for revolution. Proclaiming "the West killed God and wants us to bury him," Khomeini's weapon of choice was not the sword but the media. Using tape cassettes smuggled by Iranian pilgrims returning from the holy city of Najaf, he fueled disdain for what he called gharbzadegi ("the plague of Western culture").

Carter pressured the shah to make what he termed human rights concessions by releasing political prisoners and relaxing press censorship. Khomeini could never have succeeded without Carter. The Islamic Revolution would have been stillborn.

Gen. Robert Huyser, Carter's military liaison to Iran, once told me in tears: "The president could have publicly condemned Khomeini and even kidnapped him and then bartered for an exchange with the [American Embassy] hostages, but the president was indignant. 'One cannot do that to a holy man,' he said."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has donned the mantle of Ayatollah Khomeini, taken up bin Laden's call, and is fostering an Islamic apocalyptic revolution in Iraq with the intent of taking over the Middle East and the world.

Jimmy Carter became the poster boy for the ideological revolution of the 1960s in the West, hell bent on killing the soul of America. The bottom line: Carter believed then and still does now is that evil really does not exist; people are basically good; America should embrace the perpetrators and castigate the victims.

[PrankMonkey]

The truth is the entire nightmare can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini...

...Carter pressured the shah to make what he termed human rights concessions by releasing political prisoners and relaxing press censorship.

Right, because no measure of ill will toward the US could possibly have been a result of our support for an oppressive dictator, and constant cold-war puppeteering of the region as best suited our interests. I'm by no measure a fan of Carter, but I don't think you can pin him to the wall for something like trying to get a dictator to relax press censorship. I do however think this is a great example of one of the biggest reasons that the US struggles in the "hearts and minds" category worldwide. Our foreign policies change every 4 years to suit the agenda of the new administration, meaning that every 4 years someone new gets screwed (oppressive dictators and populist movements alike) and the rest of the world holds grudges for far longer than we do.

Carter was an idiot, but the problems we're dealing with in the Middle East are much more complicated than simply the shah having been deposed. Said one-dimensional analysis of issues (and the knee-jerk reactions that result) is exactly how we end up wrapping ourselves up in new bigger messes.

[Jer]

Heeeere, troll, heeere little troll, here's a morsel for ya ...

Dubya is evil.

There, there, good little troll.

[concretejungle]

From a quick Google search, "Mike D. Evans is a Christian evangelist, writer, and founder of the Jerusalem Prayer Team."

Yep, he doesn't seem biased to me or anyone else with half a brain.

[PrankMonkey]

Heeeere, troll, heeere little troll, here's a morsel for ya ...

Dubya is evil.

There, there, good little troll.

Umm, dude. Nobody said anything about President Bush, yourself excepted of course.

Why I bother to respond is a mystery however.

[Jer]

True dat.
But it wasn't you I was feeding. Which is prolly why you found it unsatisfying.

[cj001f]

Jesus Christ is my favorite gaper

[MarsB]

Umm, dude. Nobody said anything about President Bush, yourself excepted of course.

The Left in America is screaming to high heaven that the mess we are in in Iraq and the war on terrorism has been caused by the right-wing and that George W. Bush, the so-called "dim-witted cowboy," has created the entire mess.

........

[Stu Gotz]

I wonder if the British ever ponder "If Lord North had only recommended to George III that we kidnap George Washington, the people in Washington D.C would still be singing God Save the Queen."

There is a reason that it is called a Revolution.

[smitchell333]

I hold no illusions that Carter was an effective leader, but to say he caused all this by not kidnapping Khomeni is moronic.

We supported many dictatorships b/c it served our then current global interests and when the people of those countries revolted and now hold a grudge against us we blame Carter - pahhhhh.

Hypocrites we are in these matters.

[PrankMonkey]

........

Hmm yes, I stand corrected.

[Jer]

thet's funneh ... neither of us read the post.

[PrankMonkey]

thet's funneh ... neither of us read the post.

indeed, props to MarsB on the catch. I think somewhere there is a w/ my name on it.

[The AD]

Carter pressured the shah to make what he termed human rights concessions by releasing political prisoners and relaxing press censorship.

How horrible. This guy's right, it was all Carter's fault.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Didn't Regan lift fleet efficiency and emissions standards on light-trucks making us further dependent on Terrorist and Theocratic oil?

[Jer]

Carter sucked/sucks/will continue to suck. Dude was attacked by a rabbit. A RABBIT!

[cj001f]

Carter sucked/sucks/will continue to suck. Dude was attacked by a rabbit. A RABBIT!

what do you expect from the Naval Academy?

[Tippster]

Carter sucked/sucks/will continue to suck. Dude was attacked by a rabbit. A RABBIT!

Clearly he wasn't carrying his Holy hand grenade of Antioch.

King Arthur: How does it... um... how does it work?
Sir Lancelot: I know not, my liege.
King Arthur: Consult the Book of Armaments.
Brother Maynard: Armaments, chapter two, verses nine through twenty-one.
Cleric: [reading] And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit-bats and large chu...
Brother Maynard: Skip a bit, Brother...
Cleric: And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.
Brother Maynard: Amen.
All: Amen.
King Arthur: Right. One... two... five.
Galahad: Three, sir.
King Arthur: Three.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Monty Python is the best/bestest/will always be the best.
now answer my question!

[akrdubbs]

Wow. I'm glad the revolution didn't have anything to do with the way the Shah was running the country. You know, the corruption, the disparity in wealth and development between the countryside and the cities, or the failed development plans. But I suppose what's more important is that Carter was unwilling to continue backing a repressive police state indefinitely.

[summit]

Carter sucking horribly doesn't mean that other leaders don't also suck

[cj001f]

You know, the corruption, the disparity in wealth and development between the countryside and the cities, or the failed development plans.

comeon, $100 million in 1971 was totally normal for a celebration!

[col_surfer]

Gapers like J. Gaper who don`t know their history are doomed to repeat it...

[philippeR]

Wow. I'm glad the revolution didn't have anything to do with the way the Shah was running the country. You know, the corruption, the disparity in wealth and development between the countryside and the cities, or the failed development plans. But I suppose what's more important is that Carter was unwilling to continue backing a repressive police state indefinitely.

Will you please stop with those ennoying facts ? They just get in the way.

[timnormandin]

Carter sucked/sucks/will continue to suck. Dude was attacked by a rabbit. A RABBIT!

That's no ordinary rabbit. He's got huge sharp...er...He can leap about. Look at the bones!