Jimmy Carter Slams Bush On Human Rights

Says U.S. Has Tortured Prisoners, Ignoring Geneva Convention

(AP)  The U.S. tortures prisoners in violation of international law, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday, adding that President Bush makes up his own definition of torture.

"Our country, for the first time in my lifetime, has abandoned the basic principle of human rights," Mr. Carter said on CNN. "We've said that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to those people in Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo, and we've said we can torture prisoners and deprive them of an accusation of a crime."

President Bush, responding to an Oct. 4 report by The New York Times on secret Justice Department memorandums supporting the use of "harsh interrogation techniques," defended the techniques Friday by proclaiming: "This government does not torture people."

Mr. Carter said the interrogation methods cited by the Times, including "head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures," constitute torture "if you use the international norms of torture as has always been honored - certainly in the last 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was promulgated.

"But you can make your own definition of human rights and say we don't violate them, and you can make your own definition of torture and say we don't violate them," said Mr. Carter.

In an interview that aired Wednesday on BBC, the former president described Vice President Dick Cheney as "a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military."

Mr. Carter went on to say Cheney has been "a disaster for our country. I think he's been overly persuasive on President George Bush."

Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell declined to speak to Carter's allegations.

"We're not going to engage in this kind of rhetoric," she said.

In the CNN interview, the Democratic former president disparaged the field of Republican presidential candidates.

"They all seem to be outdoing each other in who wants to go to war first with Iran, who wants to keep Guantanamo open longer and expand its capacity - things of that kind," said Mr. Carter.

He said he also disagreed with positions taken by Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who have declined to promise to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq over the following four years if elected president next year.

[neoconrcrazy]

You''re right again Jimmy, keep the truth in their faces.

[dmhphils]

Head slapping and simulated drowning.....wait a minute....we don''t do that! We''re supposed to be the good guys remember? We need to listen to Jimmy this time!

[hwy71so]

What does Carter know about it human rights? He let our people sit locked up by a terrorist nation for over a year and did nothing about it. Nothing.

[cfin5]

Mr. Carter, would you please PICK a standard of judgment and stick with it. The Islamic crop of today from your seed planting of yesterday never get any bad press from you do they. The first time that we step out of line by "attempting" to make war the way your boys do in Iran, you start peach switch mouthin'' us. Your one Sunday school teacher I will never feel guilty skippin'' your class. But here''s a lesson for you.---1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

[mcvet]

You gotta love the Right Wing response to this! But why repeat it here, everyone already knows what they are going to do or say before they do... AND they wonder why they can''t win. LOL I do find it much more disgusting the way they attacked the 12 year old boy over the Childrens Health Care situtation though. I know they are Nazi''s and as such can be counted on to be low but that was beneth even the "Ditto Heads"! Sieg Heil Rush!!

[mcvet]

What does Carter know about it human rights? He let our people sit locked up by a terrorist nation for over a year and did nothing about it. Nothing.


Posted by Hwy71So at 07:22 AM : Oct 11, 2007
+ report abuse

What does YOUR opinion of how Jimmy Carter handled the Hostage Crisis have to do with Darth Vader and Human Rights? It has become apparent to me that ALL you Fascist have, the ONLY solution you can see is ATTACKING other American''s who won''t go along with the Party Line! Did ALL of you go to the SAME Nazi Youth Camp or something? ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush!!

[mcvet]

Mr. Carter, would you please PICK a standard of judgment and stick with it. The Islamic crop of today from your seed planting of yesterday never get any bad press from you do they. The first time that we step out of line by "attempting" to make war the way your boys do in Iran, you start peach switch mouthin'''' us. Your one Sunday school teacher I will never feel guilty skippin'''' your class. But here''''s a lesson for you.---1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Posted by cfin5 at 07:24 AM : Oct 11, 2007
+ report abuse

So you are saying the present Nazi Leader of this nation is not quite as bad as the enemy? ROFLMAO Do you in the cult ever take a time out? Actually take time to READ and UNDERSTAND all that we have done in the past? You know ALL those things that Carter and our former friends throughout the world point too? Guess who was behind EVERY LAST ONE of them? And you freaks wonder why Al Qaeda is recruiting in Europe and around the world!! ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush!!

[cfin5]

MCVet,.....The article is about Carters judgment. I saw him do or say nothing at all against the ones that are blowing up YOUR BROTHERS IN IRAQ! You are a United States Marines Corp. Veteran right? Now regarding President Bush, he "thinks" that all religions pray to the same God. I''ve never and will never pray to allah, mohammeds trbal idol, the moon god. He is also conspiring to sell the deed to the United States to the North American Union. They already have the new currency, even the coins struck. If these things are true, then he is the greatest "Benedict Arnold" this country has ever been afflicted with. MCVet,...I''m not biased against our Constitution and will speak my mind just as an American who loves his country should.

[mitywhity]

Mr. Carter is more concerned with dictator-rights, islamofascist-rights, and antisemite-rights. (Chavez enabler, Ayatollah enabler, and ardent enabler of the enemies of Israel) What a man of peace!

[realpatriot1]

Mitywity,

Would you like too substantiate your charges with some facts, or is that too much to ask of a reciter of conservative talking points?

[Krazcarl]

Carter was the last time I was proud of my president and appeciate his comments he only spoke the truth which we all know, is it me or does he seam to be getting a little more scrappy in his golden years. Bet ya Cheny will be hanging his head and listening to whispers and muffled laughs all day good.

[dante805]

Is this goon still alive? I thought he bought it years ago, wait that was Nixon. He''s the peanut farmer from Georgia who was born without a brain. Ahhhh, that explains it. This guy is pathetic sorry excuse for a White Liberal USA Hater. Go back to tilling the fields Jimmy.

[gkc99]

"the former president described Vice President *** Cheney as "a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military."



Darth Cheney is the classic sociopath, who thinks its all about him. It was all about him when he was too "busy" for the Vietnam war he ardently supported as a "young conservative", and it''s all about him when he dictates to the puerile George Bushit.

The blood-stained car where the two women were murdered in Iraq by some of Cheney''s henchmen says it all. This twisted evil will stop at nothing.

Put the pictures of the dead ladies on the wall of your plush retirement home in Jackson Hole, Darth! Hope you and Lynne have a real nice, peaceful retirement with all that blood on your hands.

Carter got this one "spot on."

[rjs1955]

MityWhity and dante 805 - you are two reasons America sux out loud. Carter''s used toilet paper would be a better president than Bush. Do you have children, and will they be happy as clams serving in Iraq/Afghanistan/Iran in X-number of years... for who knows how long??

[mike71067]

Does anybody really care what Peanuts Carter thinks about anything? He is the worst president in my lifetime. What''s happening is that he''s getting near the end of his life span, and doesn''t want to die with the "worst president" trophy, so he''s doing all he can to pass it off on Bush.

[mike71067]

Why is Carter even allowed to speak in public? Thank God Ronald Reagan came along and saved the nation from this dimwit.

[hwy71so]

Do y''all remember when Carter would address the nation? You''d think that a 4th grader put together his speaches and then he''d get up there and look like he was just didn''t know what he was saying. He was lost. The way he would talk about the hostages, etc. You could tell that he didn''t have a clue as how to ACT.

And the hostages remained in Iran till Reagan came in and told Iran to let them go. ...in so many words.

[draftreid]

Let''s See - Wee Jimmmeee on Human Rights:

- Delivered F-15s to the House of Saud

- Supported the Sandinistas, going so far as to block Israeli arm shipments to the Contras

- Supported Mengistu at first in Ethiopia, then when he overtly became Castro''s ally, chose to aid the Somalis, who were just as bad.

- Thought Brezhnev was a "man of peace" until Afghanistan woke him up.

- Gave birth to the Ayatollahs, and since then Ahmedinejeded.

- Since then, has embraced the babykiller Kim in North Korea, Chavez the hot air Latino Fascist, Castro, and of course Arafat and his successors.

Jimmeee Buchanan another handwringer - and Dem, might edge out Carter as being our worst President, but the Klan Acolyte, Coward, Bigot, Anti-Semite and just plain stupid Jimmy comes very close.

DROP DEAD Carter - you''ve lived way too long.

[peaced-2009]

mitywhity, i think in your comment you meant mr bush, not mr carter. how anyone could get the two mixed up like you did is beyond me, unless of course, your a bushbot rebukican.Mr. Carter is more concerned with dictator-rights, islamofascist-rights, and antisemite-rights. (Chavez enabler, Ayatollah enabler, and ardent enabler of the enemies of Israel) What a man of peace!

[kpokey]

It''s just amazing to me that people in the USA think that it is just fine to invade other nations when they haven''t attacked us. What happened to the "we are not the police of the world" and the isolationist policies of the past? I am not saying we should be isolationists, but for goodness sakes, we shouldn''t be invading countries that haven''t even attacked us. And what''s in it for us? Nothing. You can say, "But what if they developed a nuclear bomb?" I say, "We have thousands, so what?"

What gives us the right to invade nations that haven''t attacked us? That makes us terrorists.

[crystalblue3]

I like the balls he''s showing lately. I don''t remember his presidency as I was only a little girl. Lately, he''s been absolutely right, like him or not...

[pepperp1]

You might want to read a little history and look at a fact or TWO, Carter while unpopular was correct in many of the policies he proposed, like getting off of our dependency on foreign oil, or recently the dangers of the powerful influence of the fringe right Israeli Lobby and their pet groups like Swift Boaters and Freedom Watch trying to control our country through veiled propaganda.


Carter is a Brave Man and a Brave Statesman, the Looney right will of course again attack the messenger with lies distortions delusions and not bother to do the hard work of educating themselves they appear to enjoy the gang bang thug extreme behavior that is their trademark. Pretty bad when even the Christian Right has your number.


Another year is all we have to put up with this empty suit of a President, his evil puppet master and his goon squad, thankfully they then return to their anti social personality extremist roles appropriately and possible occasional romp on fox, mattews and cnn, or hopefully paraded before us in their orange jump suits in 09 after Bush can not pardon any of them like he did Libby.

[draftreid]

Let''s See - Wee Jimmmeee on Human Rights:

- Delivered F-15s to the House of Saud

- Supported the Sandinistas, going so far as to block Israeli arm shipments to the Contras

- Supported Mengistu at first in Ethiopia, then when he overtly became Castro''s ally, chose to aid the Somalis, who were just as bad.

- Thought Brezhnev was a "man of peace" until Afghanistan woke him up.

- Gave birth to the Ayatollahs, and since then Ahmedinejeded.

- Since then, has embraced the babykiller Kim in North Korea, Chavez the hot air Latino Fascist, Castro, and of course Arafat and his successors.

Jimmeee Buchanan another handwringer - and Dem, might edge out Carter as being our worst President, but the Klan Acolyte, Coward, Bigot, Anti-Semite and just plain stupid Jimmy comes very close.

DROP DEAD Carter - you''ve lived way too long.

[slim1h2o]

What''''s happening is that he''''s getting near the end of his life span, and doesn''''t want to die with the "worst president" trophy, so he''''s doing all he can to pass it off on Bush.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by mike71067 at 08:23 AM : Oct 11, 2007

The Bushitt doesn''t need any help in that department. The decider is definitely the worst, so far, anyways.

[kpokey]

When Carter was president, you never had to worry about not having a trial, not being told why you are being arrested, not being tortured, being eavesdropped on, wasting the nation''s treasure on wars to benefit his buddy''s corporations at taxpayer''s expense. In short, you never had to worry about living in a fascist nation like we do now.

[draftreid]

The little MoveOn.Org goosesteppers like rjs and pepperpot will always sing the praises of a guy - an anti-Semite, Coward and Klan acolyte like Carter?

Why? Because he loves and is willing to appease the very folks they also love - the Arafats, the Ahmedinejedads, the Castros, the House of Saud (despite their blaming Bush for Saudi ties they''ll never point a finger at weee Jimmeee for his)and the Kims.

This piece of manure was and is a total loser. He blatantly LIED to the American people about being "Born Again" and for being in favor of a strong defense. He''s nothing but a born again Islamofascist and Anti-Semite. And a guy who''d rather see America surrender than fight our enemies.

Oh, by the way, rjs, lil'' pissant - who got us involved in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place due to his cowardice and betrayal of the Shah???

Hint: It wasn''t Ronald Reagan nor the current President.

DROP DEAD JIMMY.

[trenticus-2009]

Carter drives home some very good points! Bush is NOT the good ''ol boy he tries to make himself out to be. He tries so hard to seem like he knows what he is doing. He only knows one thing... WAR! I''ll be glad when we are rid of him.

[kpokey]

Carter is not anti-sematic. That''s the craziest thing I have ever heard. Just because he sees that we might be treating Israel in an unfair way and because he sees that our policies between Israel and the Palestinians are not creating peace in the area doesn''t mean he has an anti-sematic bone in his body. It just means he is the only person who has the balls to say what he thinks.

[ioweign]

Why is Carter even allowed to speak in public? Thank God Ronald Reagan came along and saved the nation from this dimwit.

Posted by mike71067 at 08:29 AM : Oct 11, 2007

There they (Republicans) go calling our veterans names

What Reagan brought to the Federal Government:

Raising the national debt from $700 billion to $3 trillion.

Contributed to the Savings and Loan crisis.

The stock market crash of 1987.

The United States moved from being the world''s largest international creditor to the world''s largest debtor nation.

Even Bush Sr. called Reagan''s economics "VooDoo Economics"

[mbcsmith]

444 DAYS IN IRAN! That''s Carters legacy!

[kpokey]

Regan brought us the Iran Contra scandle. It''s always the same thing with the fascists that have taken over the old Republican party...it''s all about making money with war using the taxpayer''s dollars and bankrupting the nation in the process.

[kpokey]

And as far as the Iran hostage situation, that deal was brokered ahead of time. The Iranians knew they''d get an arms deal out of Regan, not out of Carter. That''s why they miraculously were released when Regan was sworn in.

[redveg]

It takes true evil stupidity to attack the messenger of a truth. How dumb and evil do you have to be to attack Jimmy Carter''s presidency as some sort of defence or justification of Bush''s policy of torture. Bush is an evil, stupid, treasonous, war criminal; and nothing that Carter did will eliminate that fact.

[kpokey]

Read all about the Iran Contra scandle...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_contra

[kpokey]

Read all about the Iran Contra scandle...see history can be interesting and so informative!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_contra

[ioweign]

Oh, by the way, rjs, lil'''' pissant - who got us involved in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place due to his cowardice and betrayal of the Shah???

Posted by Draftreid at 09:00 AM : Oct 11, 2007

Read your history -

The Shah or Iran was put in place by Operation Ajax (Eisenhower and the CIA).

The Shah of Iran went into exile on January 16, 1979. He and his wife left Iran at the behest of Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar (a long time opposition leader himself), who sought to calm down the situation. Reluctantly, on October 22, 1979, President Jimmy Carter allowed the Shah to make a brief stopover in the United States to undergo medical treatment. The compromise was extremely unpopular with the revolutionary movement, which were against the United States'' years of support of the Shah''s rule, and demanded his return to Iran to stand trial.

This resulted in the kidnapping of a number of American diplomats, military personnel and intelligence officers at the American embassy in Tehran, which soon became known as the Iran hostage crisis. Once the Shah''s course of treatment had finished, the American government, eager to avoid further controversy, pressed the former monarch to leave the country.

[simonsez40]

I don''t believe hostages in Iran over 20 years ago is even relevant to torturing people in order to get information. Where does the torture stop? Can they also do that to citizens they want information out of??? It''s a scary precedence when our government can freely torture anyone they feel needs interogating - if anything it''s a chilling flashback to Hitler and the Nazi Regime - that my friend is the legacy Bush is building........comparisons to Carter don''t even wash.........two different situations.........and a different world in 1977.

[neobrian-2009]

Habitats for Humanity is what Jimmy did after office,....$30 million for speeches in Japan is what Raygun did,...A Typical Democrat,..& a Typical repub

[simonsez40]

So what''s next for Bush? He has a proproganda machine in place - all he is lacking is the freedom to burn down newspaper offices, close down the media and start issuing gold and pink stars to dissidants? Bush = wanna be dictator...........

[mocalleo]

Jimmy Carter needs to be checked for dementia.

LOL

[jon_mccain]

Posted by mbcsmith

All hail the great and powerful Bush, for he is our light and our savior. He is compassionate and wise, he is faultless and shoots straight. He''s the kind of guy most hillbillies would like to have a beer with.

Quit fellating Bush long enough to look around, Bush the toad has more warts than anyone.

[dogsoul]

Ya know... whenever a liberal starts throwing around words like fascist & nazi - I just tune them out... because it''s almost always just baseless dribble.

Carter is an abismal **** face - won''t say a word about Al Queda beheading people on camera, but is oh so worried about flushing a terrorist''s koran down the toilet or putting a sack over his head... And forget about any long standing tradition of ex presidents stepping aside - funny, if you''re even in doubt about liberal stupidity, just remember that they still defend the Carter presidency to this day.

Amazing really how liberals are so very willing to side with terrorists against the United States if it gains them political power...

I used to think Al Queda had underestimated American resolve to fight back after they murdered so many of our people on 9/11 - but the fact is that I underestimated how cowardly and traitorous American liberals are, and what they''d be willing to do for partisan control.

[Krazcarl]

DRAFTREID,,,your the one that has lived to long no I don''t agree with every move he ever made but nevertheless ho was and is a good man a speaker of truth and kept us out of war tried to educate the poor remember CETA...What has this looney tunes done but line pockets and bring home caskets and rip away rights hasn''t done a single thing for the poor in our society. HE''s a good man and I respect him guess that''s out of your reach.

[brianbwb-2009]

All Carter haters can say what they will, but this analysis was spot on correct.

I am not a particular fan of Lester Maddox''s lieutenant governor, and former president, because his failure to continue Nixon''s (!) wage and price controls allowed inflation to devastate the economy. But I must say that Habitats for Humanity gave hundreds of thousands of people houses that otherwise they would never have had, we need that program for the homeless in the US.

mbcsmith points to 444 days, that is still better than dying there, which is what will happen if Bush and Cheney get their way. Given a choice between 14 months imprisonment or death, I''ll take the 14 months.

[earthlives]

My friends who burned alive in the World Trade Center were the true victims of torture. But Carter is more concerned about poor Khalid Sheikh Mohammad being waterboarded -- who was instrumental in the torture of 3,000 Americans, not to mention the pain and anquish caused to their families and friends. It is a known fact that the waterboarding (er, sorry, Jimmy....the torture, right?) of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad prevented the subsequent torture of innocent people in that Los Angeles skyscraper. But Carter doesn''t care about that. What a disgrace. We''re supposed to be preoccupied with the pain and suffering of the terrorists. Carter is a modern-day Tokyo Rose.

[gunownerdan]

%u201CTo announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 1918

[redveg]

All of you who are supporting torture need to look at the facts. Al Queada is for torture, you are for torture, Bush is for torture... That''s quite a team. Anyone supporting torture is by definition a terrorist against the very thing the United States has stood for before terrorists like Bush took over. Being against torture puts you on the side of the United States of America, and being for torture makes you an honorary member of Al Queda.

[yankeerebel7]

Honestly, has Carter been examined for the early signs of Alzeimers? I''m not trying to make fun of him, but he''s getting up there in age and I''m afraid the people around him are noticing, but keeping it from the public.

I think Carter should instead focus on causes such as Alzeimer''s awareness, and get out of complex world affairs.

[walt1944-2009]

The Great Emperor Bush II is upset that a former president would accuse him and VP Darth Vader Cheney of lying to the masses in saying the new USSA does not torture people. He is also upset that the same person would question the "patriotism" of VP Darth Vader Cheney who had never served in the military and had no intention of ever doing so, but intends on having everyone else serve.

However upset the Emperor is, he is dismissing any comments made by an ex-president as "irrelevant" and the mumblings of a "dittering old fool", and is insisting that the USSA does not torture people, even though he feels that international law does not apply to "subversives, enemy combatants, extremists, and ''terrrrrrorists''". This, of course, seems like the same argument that Hitler used against the Jews, and the Soviets used their own people, but the Emperor reminds us that "harsh times demand harsh measures" (so harsh that to the devil with the rule of law!).

LONG LIVE THE "LEGAL OPINIONS" OF THE GREAT EMPEROR!!!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[Krazcarl]

Yankeerebal17...17 is your age because your ignorant and insulting remarks.