At a breakfast with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Carter, 81, diverged from a time-honored practice in which ex-presidents refrain from criticizing those currently holding the office. He acknowledged making mistakes when he was president from 1977-81, and at one point declared: "I can't deny that I am a better ex-president than I was a president."
But he said Bush has made such significant changes to U.S. foreign policy and human rights doctrine, resulting in precipitous declines in the country's standing abroad, that he felt compelled to write "Our Endangered Values." It is Carter's 20th book since he was defeated for re-election by Ronald Reagan in 1980.
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Carter, who supported the invasion of Afghanistan, said public opinion in the Arab world has turned strongly against the United States since the invasion of Iraq, creating a deep impression among Muslims that the U.S. is on a "crusade" against Islam.
Carter said Arab leaders he regularly consults with believe the United States intends to maintain permanent military bases in Iraq irrespective of how that country's transformation to self-rule plays out. Removing U.S. forces from Muslim nations could reduce "95 percent" of the terrorist threat from Islamic fundamentalism, Carter said.
Carter also aims heavy criticism at fellow Democrats. He said John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign ignored the concerns of the "very religious" and that his party has overemphasized abortion rights.
"I have never been convinced ... that Jesus Christ would approve abortion," Carter said, adding that as president, "I did everything I could under Roe vs. Wade ... to minimize the need for abortion." But many Democratic leaders today "are overemphasizing the abortion issue," Carter said.
Layin' into *both* sides, that's what I like. Go Jimmy. :)
