WORLD / America
Bush White House fires back at Jimmy Carter
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-21 08:43
CRAWFORD, Texas - The White House on Sunday fired back at former
President Jimmy Carter, calling him "increasingly irrelevant" a day after
Carter described George W. Bush's presidency as the worst in history in
international relations.
Former President Jimmy Carter speaks about his controversial book
'Palestine Peace Not Apartheid' at Jewish-founded Brandeis University in
Waltham, Massachusetts January 23, 2007. [Reuters]
Carter, a Democrat, said on Saturday in an interview with the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette that "as far as the adverse impact on the nation around
the world, this administration has been the worst in history."
White House spokesman Tony Fratto had declined to react on Saturday but
on Sunday fired back.
"I think it's sad that President Carter's reckless personal criticism is
out there," Fratto told reporters. "I think it's unfortunate. And I think
he is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments."
Carter has been an outspoken critic of Bush, but the White House has
largely refrained from attacking him in return. Sunday's sharp response
marks a departure from the deference that sitting presidents
traditionally have shown their predecessors.
In the newspaper interview, Carter said Bush had taken a "radical
departure from all previous administration policies" with the Iraq war.
"We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war
with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not
directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear
that some time in the future our security might be endangered," Carter
said.
In a separate BBC interview, Carter also denounced the close relationship
between Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient," Carter said when
asked how he would characterize Blair's relationship with Bush.
"I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the
ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy
for the world," Carter said.
Carter, who was president from 1977-1981 and won the 2002 Nobel Peace
Prize for his charitable work, was an outspoken opponent of the invasion
of Iraq before it was launched in 2003.
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