Carter, in Lebanon, says ready to meet with Hezbollah officials

[Mosby]

Former United States President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday he is ready to meet with Hezbollah officials if the Lebanese militant group agreed to see him.

Carter made the comments upon arrival in Lebanon where he will assess whether his Atlanta-based Carter Center would take part in monitoring next year's parliamentary elections.

Asked whether he would meet with Hezbollah officials during his five-day visit, Carter told reporters that it was up to the militant group, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.

"I am going to meet with all of the political parties as possible," Carter said. "I understand that several leaders of Hezbollah said they were not going to meet with any president or former president of the United States, so I don't know yet."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1045050.html

[The Infidel1]

1. Carter to possibly meet with Hezbollah

Frankly it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he met with those thugs.... He is one politician who has never been a student of history. He should never agree to sit and talk with terrorists. It has never benefitted anyone before so what makes him think he can change their minds. They (Hezbollah) all need to be exterminated.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

3. Hello and goodbye, Mr. Infidel from Texas!

I predict a very brief shelf-life here in the DU for you!

[bemildred]

4. Extermination can be a two-way street Sir.

It's always good to be wary of it.

[Alamuti Lotus]

6. what a thoroughly awesome, non-thuggish thing to say!

[Alamuti Lotus]

8. oh, he's gone already

Who does one have to 'service' to keep a decent infidel around as a punching bag? A morally-unambigious target is a good thing to keep around sometimes.

[Violet_Crumble]

11. Saying elsewhere at DU that they liked Sarah Palin must have been the death knell...

I was enjoying the Dalek impersonation going on in this thread....

[LeftishBrit]

13. Agreeing to sit and talk with terrorists has often been necessary and beneficial

E.g. the Northern Ireland agreement came through talks that included representatives of both the IRA and some nasty Protestant paramilitary groups.

That doesn't mean that talks ALWAYS work. But sometimes they do.

And Hezbollah are a nasty organization, but 'all need to be exterminated'? - EXTERMINATED??? WTF???

[Vegasaurus]

2. Carter should just enjoy his old age

He has nothing to add to the situation.

[delad]

5. fair play to him

an open mind is what is required to help resolve issues. I hope the carter centre does get to oversee th elections next year. could only be good for Lebanon.

[Alamuti Lotus]

7. Eh..

Why not, they're only the single most powerful and respected independent political party in the area, and at one point the least tainted with 'business as usual' tendencies.. Nasrallah has watered things down so dreadfully much with the tortures of local politics (the death of any decent revolutionary movement) that they probably will go along with it.

[shira]

9. Hezbollah refuse to meet with ex-U.S. president Carter in Lebanon

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1045345.html

[shira]

10. Jimmy Carter writes new book - We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gNCsoLaX4GGrdQPYG_EWt0yWe8zQD94RL2480

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ISBN=9781439140635&ourl=We%2DCan%2DHave%2DPeace%2Din%2Dthe%2DHoly%2DLand%2FJimmy%2DCarter

So can we still have peace in the holy land when Hizbollah refuses to meet with Carter?

[Alamuti Lotus]

12. saw the official statement on almanar earlier

missed most of the report, and a little rusty with the lingo, but it was the routine reply like "we don't meet with any backers of Zionist terrorism" (pretty much mirroring exactly what the Israelis would say of them or what any generic nemesis would say of their nemesis) - but at the same time, welcomed his observers for the next election.