I Hate to get off on a Rant Here, but...


"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history" - Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter claiming the Bush administration is the worst in history at foreign policy has got the be the biggest demonstration of a pot calling a kettle black that I can possibly conceive. The Carter administration sucked air. Jmiiy might have made a good govenor for the state of Georgia, but his time in the White House produced nothing positive that I can see.

Jimmy has been beating the drum for years for peace in the middle east and has went so far to waggle his finger at Israel. I find it perplexing. Jimmy is a Baptist sunday school teacher. If he has studied his Bible very much, he should know the history. God gave the children of Israel the promised land. They were later conquered by the Babylonians who then exiled them from their land. During the Persian Period, many of the Jews returned to Israel and the temple was rebuilt. Alexander the Great conquered the area. Jewish autonomy was granted and eventually Jewish independence, under the rule of the monarchy, was granted.
Jerusalem was captured by Roman general, Pompay and then Herod ruled as King. Jesus was born, crucified, and resurrected. 33 yrs later the Jews revolted against the Romans. The Temple was destroyed 4 yrs later and 3 yrs after that marked the last stand of the Jews at Masada.

Between 639 and 1099, Israel was under Arab control and the Dome of the Rock was built by Caliph Abd el-Malik on the site of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.

In 1917, the British Foreign Minister, in the Balfour Declaration, pledged support for an establishment of a “Jewish national home in Palestine.” In May 1922, the British and the United States negotiated a Mandate for Palestine that was approved by the League of Nations on July 24, 1922. In this Mandate, Israel was divided into fourths, ¾ designated for Transjordan and ¼ for a Jewish national home with a Jewish Agency representing the Jewish community vis-à-vis the Mandate Authorities. (Basically giving the Jews a fourth of their country back). Large-scale immigration, and the large-scale Arab anti-Jewish riots led to the issuance of the White Papers, official reports by the British Government. These reports stated that “if Jewish immigration prevented the Arabs from obtaining work, the Mandatory government should curtail or even terminate it.”

In May 1939, Britain drastically restricted Jewish immigration. However, this restriction denied European Jews a place of refuge from the Nazi persecution. Soon after World War II began and David Ben-Gurion, later Israel’s first prime minister, declared “We will fight the War as if there were no White Paper, and the White Paper as if there were no War.” (The State of Israel Ministry of Affairs) Thus, 26,000 men and women of the Jewish community joined the British forces in the fight against Germany and its Axis allies. After the War, Jews continued to be brought into the land by secret.

As a result of Britain’s inability to reconcile the demands of the Jewish and Arab community, it requested that the “Question of Palestine” be placed on the United Nations agenda. On 29, 1947, the assembly adopted the Partition Plan that divided the land into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. However, large scale violence continued and the Jewish state was never established.

On May 14, 1948, the British Mandate came to an end. As a result, the State of Israel was proclaimed according to the UN Partition Plan. On the same day, the members of the National Council signed the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel. Eleven minutes after the proclamation, American President Harry S. Truman extended recognition to Israel. Not even a day later the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq invaded, thus beginning the Israel’s War of Independence. Israel fiercely defended its sovereignty, losing 6,000 Israeli lives and lasting 15 months. In 1949, with assistance from the UN, negotiated Armistice Agreements with each of the invading countries, except Iraq, which has refused to negotiate with Israel to date. As a result, “the coastal plain, Galilee and the entire Negev were within Israel's sovereignty, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) came under Jordanian rule, the Gaza Strip came under Egyptian administration, and the city of Jerusalem was divided, with Jordan controlling the eastern part, including the Old City, and Israel the western sector.” (Armistice Agreements, The State of Israel Ministry of Affairs) On May 11, 1949, the UN admitted Israel as its 59th member.

In 1967, Egypt moved troops into the Sinai, ordered the UN peacekeeping forces out, imposed the blockade of the Staits of Tiran again, and entered into a military alliance with Jordan. Israel invoked its inherent right of self-defense and launched a preemptive strike, followed by a counterattack against Jordan. As a result, Judea, Samaria, Gaza, the Sinai peninsula and the Golan Heights became under Israel's control. On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 242 that called for the “withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict” and the guarantee of the freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area. However, in 1968, Egypt began a war of attrition, which escalated into an exchange of artillery fire. Soon, Russian air and ground troops became involved. The US, afraid that the conflict may escalate to a nuclear war, agreed with the USSR to end the conflict in 1970.

In 1973, On Yom Kippur, Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated assault against Israel. In three weeks, Israel overcame the attackers and in two years negotiated disengagement agreements. In September 17, 1978, twelve days of secret negotiations between Israel and Egypt occurred at Camp David. The resulting Camp David Accords set the framework for peace between Israel and Egypt, as well as containing a framework for peace in Middle East. On March 26, 1979, Israel and Egypt signed the Peace Treaty Between Israel and Egypt bringing to end 30 years of war.

Carter touts the treaty signed at Camp David brought peace to the middle east and effectively ended all of the conflict. Consider that Israel and Arab conflict has been going on since 639. Consider that their temple was continually destroyed in their holy city by invading forces. And, consider that the Dome of the Rock was contructed on top of the temple mount. Then consider that this is the land that God promised them in the time of Moses. Do you really think you can mediate peace in the Middle East?

Has Jimmy read any of Revelations? If so, he'd know how this all ends and that no where in the book of Revelations does it say "and there was peace in the middle east and all was well". Actually it says the temple will be rebuild on its original foundation. For that to happen, the Dome of the Rock would have to be destroyed. One would have to imagine there will be a great deal of conflict when that happens. Perhaps Jimmy doesn't believe in the book of Revelations?

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