I remember when Carter was president. I always respected him. In the early 2000s i remember getting so much shit for defending him. I’m proud to be an American when I think of him and his legacy. He is a good man and I hope that he will be remembered in a positive way. He was truly wronged by the Republicans and the Iran Contra shit will forever be a shadow over the good that Carter tried to create in the middle East.
I imagine if the dirty tricks Reagan pulled or like if Gore wasn’t cheated or even Hillary got 4 years, the world would be a much better place than it is.
The fact that I provided you the information, spelled out and you continue to spout idiotic nonsense is just amazing.
First thing
The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus began on 7 December 1975
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
Facts.
The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor documented a minimum estimate of 102,000 conflict-related deaths in East Timor throughout the entire period from 1974 to 1999, including 18,600 violent killings and 84,200 deaths from disease and starvation; Indonesian forces and their auxiliaries combined were responsible for 70% of the killings.
During the first months of the occupation, the Indonesian military faced heavy insurgency resistance in the mountainous interior of the island, but from 1977 to 1978, the military procured new advanced weaponry from the United States, and other countries, to destroy Fretilin’s framework.
In an interview on 5 April 1977 with the Sydney Morning Herald, Indonesian Foreign Minister Adam Malik said the number of dead was “50,000 people or perhaps 80,000”.
The UN’s Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR) estimated the number of deaths during the occupation from famine and violence to be between 90,800 and 202,600 including between 17,600 and 19,600 violent deaths or disappearances, out of a 1999 population of approximately 823,386.
For US President Gerald Ford and his administration, East Timor was a place of little significance, overshadowed by US–Indonesian relations. The fall of Saigon in mid-1975 had been a devastating setback for the United States, leaving Indonesia as the most important ally in the region. Ford consequently reasoned that the US national interest had to be on the side of Indonesia.[84] As Ford later stated: “in the scope of things, Indonesia wasn’t too much on my radar”, and “We needed allies after Vietnam”.
Let’s not forget Harry Kissinger
As early as December 1974—a year before the invasion—the Indonesian defense attaché in Washington sounded out US views about an Indonesian takeover of East Timor.[86] The Americans were tight-lipped, and in March 1975 Secretary of State Henry Kissinger approved a “policy of silence” vis-à-vis Indonesia, a policy that had been recommended by the Ambassador to Indonesia, David Newsom.[87] The administration worried about the potential impact on US–Indonesian relations in the event that a forced incorporation of East Timor was met with a major Congressional reaction.[87] On 8 October 1975, Assistant Secretary of State Philip Habib told meeting participants that “It looks like the Indonesians have begun the attack on Timor.” Kissinger’s response to Habib was, “I’m assuming you’re really going to keep your mouth shut on this subject.”[
So let’s go back to the original argument here. That Carter sold a bunch of weapons and caused all the deaths.
He is truly a wonderful and selfless person. I can think of way worse people much easier than I can think of truly great people. He’s up there with Fred Rogers in my book. Jimmy, thank you for you service, bless you and your family. I hope there is no pain. 🫂💐
I find it sad that president from the late 70s showed more care for his constituency and broader world during the cold war than what our current president seems to be actively avoiding during a self funded genocide.
One of the consequences of the Cold War was a sense of domestic nationalism that fell apart when the USSR did. No point in working together without a singular globe spanning enemy to work against.
Ironic that Ayn Rand’s anti-communist philosophical selfishness came out of Soviet Russia in the 40s, and that’s what will likely bring the American Experiment to an end.
… And that the current president is BY FAR the better of the two potential options offered; and that people still say “I don’t care if the absolutely terrible guy gets in as long as I show my displeasure for the incumbent by not voting. That’ll stick it to everyone.”
It’s very easy to forget why Carter was largely considered a middling President in his time.
Between his fumbling of the Iran Hostage Crisis, his public sector strike breaking, and his Volcker Shock Economics, he set the stage for Reaganism and the end of Progressive Era politics.
But then he did Habitat for Humanity which was nice. And he talked a good game on climate change. And he called Israel Apartheid as he saw it decades before any other mainstream politician.
to be fair, the republicans conspired with the iranians in secret to hold the hostages until after the election in exchange for money which the us used to buy arms for terrorists in central america.
The Ayatollah buying scud missiles from Donald Trump Rumsfeld and Oliver North was crazy, when you consider how much the GOP say they hate Iran and love Reagan.
But Tip O’Neal and Ted Kennedy and a young Senator from Delaware whose name I can’t recall brushed it all under the table. The sentence for these henous crimes landed on North’s shoulders and totaled
a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours of community service
But even that was too much.
with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, North appealed his conviction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On July 20, 1990, the D.C. Circuit vacated North’s convictions on the ground that witnesses in his trial might have been impermissibly affected by his immunized congressional testimony.
Neither of us live in China, and they had nothing to do with the atrocities the US facilitated under Carter (which admittedly, is less than any other recent president), why are you bringing them up?
He did good things after the presidency, but acknowledging that Israel is an apartheid state fails to make up for excluding Palestine from the Camp David accords.
Is it really inconceivable that someone could organically not like genocide?
Any American who acknowledges that every president for the last century has done things we hanged Nazis for at Nuremberg must have been tricked by outside forces?
No, that part’s not inconceivable. The inconceivable part is that you claim to not like it while also defending the undisputed kings of it. Mao makes Hitler look like a fucking amateur lol
But also the audacity of calling China “the kings of genocide”, while the whole world watches in horror while we facilitate a genocide in Palestine and beat the living shit out of anyone who protests it.
Don’t know why your being downvoted. Ppl are acting like he was Jesus incarnate. He was probably the most honest president in recent history but when all of them are war criminals that’s not saying much.
unfortunately that’s the problem i think. I did word it pretty shitty though, i just didn’t care to reword it lmao.
It bothers me that the one example of a politican that everybody seems to love is jimmy carter. Incredible guy, but it’s fucking depressing to think that there isn’t anybody else like him at the moment. I’m sure there will be in the future, but this dude really seems to be one in a million right now.
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