Will Carter Meet With Hamas Leader?

It appears that Jimmy Carter might be meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal when he travels to Syria later this month as part of a Middle East tour. While the meeting hasn't been confirmed it would be no surprise if it were to come to pass. When I reviewed Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains last fall Carter actually said Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh supported peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian President Abbas but when he visited Tehran seven months later he considered any such negotiations, past or present, as an "usurpation of Palestinian lands." Simply put, Carter takes Hamas at their word. Not surprisingly, Meshal is just as chummy with the Iranians as Haniyeh. He went as far to praise Ahmadinejad as "courageous" for denying the Holocaust. So what does Carter hope to gain by meeting Meshal? Heaps of praise? Meshal is supposedly working to get Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit released and perhaps Carter is there to help facilitate that process. If he is at what price? The further legitimization of Hamas and Islamic terrorism. Nothing good can come of it.