Carter Honors Arafat; Will Party With Another Hamas Official

Yesterday, Jimmy Carter paid his respects to PLO Chairman and former Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat by laying a wreath at his gravesite in Ramallah. Carter and Arafat were old friends. Of course, it was Carter who got Arafat back in the good graces of the Saudis after Arafat had sided with Saddam during the 1991 Gulf War. And people think Bush is cosy with the House of Saud. So his visit hardly comes as a surprise. Of course, the Bush Administration considered Arafat persona non grata after the Karine A incident. Carter never passes up an opportunity to take a swing at the Bush Administration. If this were not enough, Carter will be meeting with another Hamas official, Nasser al-Shaer, at a social function in Ramallah today. He was the Minister of Educationin the shortlived Hamas-Fatah coalition. In other words, he was in charge of the geography textbooks whose maps of the Middle East didn't include Israel. Nothing Carter does surprises me. So why isn't he visiting Ahmadinejad in Iran? A little thing called the Iran Hostage Crisis which put the final nail in the grave we call the 39th Presidency. Even Carter has some pride.