Was Carter right talking with Hamas ?

[RethugAssKicker]

I have to admit, I am no expert on this subject, but it seems to me that Carter is absolutely right to open up dialogue with Hamas...Hamas was democratically elected by the Palestinians, whether we like it or not..

The Israel and American govt. may deem them as a terrorist organization, but there are many who also deem the Israeli and American gtovernments as terrrorists.

How do we find peace without dialogue?

[Poll_Blind]

1. Of course he was. How can anyone say merely talking with ANYONE is wrong?

  If a person talks to them and then makes a deal with them, well then you can criticize the deal on its own merits.

  But how can anyone make dialog a shameful act?

PB

[rateyes]

2. Yes.

[FSogol]

3. Yes. Carter wrote the book on the peace process. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

4. Absolutely

Carter did something that would have been impossible WITHOUT talking- getting Hamas to agree on recognition of Israel's right to exist.

Or maybe they ALWAYS had that point of view, but this is the first time someone ASKED them.

[judy]

5. yes, of course

The only chance that we have to stop Hamas from being a terrorist organization, is to give them another role, the one they earned in a democratic election, to include them in the dialogue on Palestine.
Anyone, including Obama who says otherwise, is pandering to the right, or embracing the Bush/Likud completely failed revenge philosophy.

[DinahMoeHum]

6. "You don't make peace with friends. You make it with very unsavory enemies."

- so said the late Israeli PM Yitzak Rabin.

Considering that Carter was the broker for the peace between Israel and Egypt, talking with Hamas is just a continuation of this process.

:think:

[Tesha]

7. Yes, of course. (NT)

[Bucky]

8. I guess he has the right to do so, but it should be the State Department talking to them.

[Dulcinea]

9. Yes.

Nothing anyone else is doing seems to be working!

[Johonny]

10. yes

[madokie]

11. Of course he was

[The Stranger]

12. Even Israel talks with Hamas. What sort of strange mental illness has befallen the U.S. government?

[LSK]

13. Yes, try picking up his book on Palestine/Israel

Its really good and not too long.

[reprehensor]

14. Hell, yes.

Words are better than violence any day of the week.

[Winterblues]

15. As an individual he is entitled to speak with whomever he pleases

He was not speaking for the USA. The issue of whether the USA should speak with Hamas should be apparent to all. Of course we should talk. Talking never hurt anything and has helped in most instances..It seems to me a lot harder to make an argument not to talk than to talk..

[sinkingfeeling]

16. Carter was right to talk to Hamas. Just like Carter was right in 1977 to warn us about

energy conservation and dependence on foreign oil.

[Fredda Weinberg]

17. After taking over Gaza militarily, Hamas lost all legitimacy. Like it or not n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

18. One could also say that after taking over Iraq militarily, the USA lost all legitimacy. Like it or

not.

[Fredda Weinberg]

19. The UN doesn't agree, like it or not. Saddam was no picnic for Iraqis either n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

20. Maybe or maybe not. The US's motive for Iraq had nothing to do with Saddam's rule over Iraqis.

Shortly before the outbreak of hostilities, UN Secretary General stated that the use of force without Council endorsement would "not be in conformity with the Charter" and many legal experts now describe the US-UK attack as an act of aggression, violating international law. - http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/lawindex.htm

In a recent discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations, Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, said eight out of 10 international lawyers would consider a U.S. attack without a new resolution as a violation of international law.

"That view would also be supported by the legal advisers of most other countries in the United Nations," she said. "There's no question that many, many other countries -- the majority of other countries and certainly many of our European allies -- will not see a unilateral American-led attack as explicitly authorized by the Security Council." -
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0306-13.htm

Iraq war illegal, says Annan. - Thursday, 16 September, 2004

The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told the BBC the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter. - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3661134.stm