Carter Speaks Out On Gitmo and Iraq

A man of great integrity speaks out about Gitmo and Iraq. Sometimes repetition is the only way people are persuaded to question their assumptions. This bears repeating.
Buffalo News

Former President Jimmy Carter said Saturday the detention of terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base in Cuba was an embarrassment and had given extremists an excuse to attack the United States.


Carter also criticized the U.S.-led war in Iraq as "unnecessary and unjust."


"I think what's going on in Guantanamo Bay and other places is a disgrace to the U.S.A.," he said at a news conference at the Baptist World Alliance's centenary conference. "I wouldn't say it's the cause of terrorism, but it has given impetus and excuses to potential terrorists to lash out at our country and justify their despicable acts." Carter said, however, that terrorist acts could not be justified, and that while Guantanamo "may be an aggravating factor . . . it's not the basis of terrorism."


Critics of President Bush's administration have long accused the U.S. government of unjustly detaining terror suspects at Guantanamo. Hundreds of men have been held indefinitely at the prison, without charge or access to lawyers. "What has happened at Guantanamo Bay . . . does not represent the will of the American people," Carter said. "I'm embarrassed about it. I think it's wrong. I think it does give terrorists an unwarranted excuse to use despicable means to hurt innocent people."


Earlier this month, Carter called for closing the Guantanamo prison, saying reports of abuses there were an embarrassment to the United States. He also said that the United States needs to make sure no detainees are held incommunicado and that all are told the charges against them.


Carter, who won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, has been an outspoken critic of the Iraq War. "I thought then, and I think now, that the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary and unjust. And I think the premises on which it was launched were false," he said Saturday.

Complete Article
Carter criticizes Gitmo detentions
Associated Press
7/31/2005
BIRMINGHAM, England - Former President Jimmy Carter said Saturday the detention of terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base in Cuba was an embarrassment and had given extremists an excuse to attack the United States.
Carter also criticized the U.S.-led war in Iraq as "unnecessary and unjust."
"I think what's going on in Guantanamo Bay and other places is a disgrace to the U.S.A.," he said at a news conference at the Baptist World Alliance's centenary conference.
"I wouldn't say it's the cause of terrorism, but it has given impetus and excuses to potential terrorists to lash out at our country and justify their despicable acts."
Carter said, however, that terrorist acts could not be justified, and that while Guantanamo "may be an aggravating factor . . . it's not the basis of terrorism."
Critics of President Bush's administration have long accused the U.S. government of unjustly detaining terror suspects at Guantanamo. Hundreds of men have been held indefinitely at the prison, without charge or access to lawyers.
"What has happened at Guantanamo Bay . . . does not represent the will of the American people," Carter said. "I'm embarrassed about it. I think it's wrong. I think it does give terrorists an unwarranted excuse to use despicable means to hurt innocent people."
Earlier this month, Carter called for closing the Guantanamo prison, saying reports of abuses there were an embarrassment to the United States. He also said that the United States needs to make sure no detainees are held incommunicado and that all are told the charges against them.
Carter, who won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, has been an outspoken critic of the Iraq War.
"I thought then, and I think now, that the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary and unjust. And I think the premises on which it was launched were false," he said Saturday.
Carer praised British police and intelligence services for the swift arrests after the July 21 failed bombings in London.
"I'm very proud to be in a nation that stands so stalwart against terrorism with us," he said. "The people of my country have united our hearts and sympathy for the tragedy that you have suffered from terrorism."