For book, Carter takes off gloves
By WES ALLISON
Published November 4, 2005
WASHINGTON - Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. president and self-appointed emissary to the world, was explaining in that genteel drawl of his the "hesitation and trepidation" he felt about breaking the traditional taboo against an ex-president criticizing a sitting one.
Then he left his hesitation in the Georgia dust.
Outlining what he called a "profound and unprecedented change in basic American policies" under the Bush administration, Carter said the invasion of Iraq was a moral and political disaster, and has left the United States in more danger from terrorists than before.
Tax cuts for the wealthy and proposed spending cuts to social programs have demonstrated an "open and overt commitment to the rich at the expense of the poor," while the Bush administration has sacrificed the environment for business.
And the United States, which Carter said under his administration solidified its place as a world leader for human rights, is now a pariah in many countries, particularly in the Middle East, not a beacon of justice.
"I never dreamed years ago, in 2000 . . . that we would ever consider a legal authority for Americans to torture prisoners," he said.
Carter, 81, has a new book out, and he is making the rounds to promote it. Unlike his previous 19 books, which ranged from memoir to historical novel, Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis (Simon & Schuster, $25) is overtly political, and critical of Bush's foreign and domestic policies.
At a breakfast with reporters at the Ritz-Carlton early Thursday morning, Carter said the Bush administration suffers from an "arrogance" common in second terms.
But in this case, it's compounded by "an element of fundamentalism - "I am absolutely right, anyone who disagrees with me must just be wrong, nothing I do can be admitted to be a mistake, it's a degradation of my own beliefs to negotiate or compromise with others,' " he said.
Carter, a devout Southern Baptist, also derided a historic merging of church and state under President Bush. "I don't doubt he's sincere about his Christian faith," Carter said of Bush, but he added, "I have a commitment to worship the Prince of Peace, not the Prince of Pre-emptive War."
Carter is known for his advocacy for human rights, the poor, environmental protection, and fostering democracy abroad. Through the Carter Center in Atlanta, he and his wife, Rosalynn, have helped conduct 61 elections worldwide.
The White House didn't take the criticism quietly. Officials referred reporters to comments this week by the president's national security adviser condemning the use of torture and noting that the government has investigated the mistreatment of detainees.
As for the invasion of Iraq, White House spokesman Blair Jones said many Democratic leaders also favored deposing dictator Saddam Hussein.
"We removed Saddam Hussein for good reasons," Jones said. "In a post-9/11 world we could not have a destabilizing figure who everybody in the world thought had weapons of mass destruction."
Carter didn't spare his own party, either. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry failed to connect with deeply religious voters, and Democratic leaders have erred in "overemphasizing" abortion rights, he said.
Carter looked and sounded robust, and remarked he had been swimming before breakfast. He and his wife are avid fly-fishermen, and he continues to build furniture and paint, as well as write and teach at Emory University in Atlanta. "I have a well-rounded life," he said.