Ray Todd – 4/25/08

This page was last updated on April 25, 2008.

Worth taking a risk; Ray Todd; Beaver County Times; April 25, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In regard to former President Jimmy Carter meeting with the leader of Hamas:

“During the Carter administration, Egypt and Israel united in peace, all because one man possessed enough courage to take risks.

“He risked being outcast as a traitor of and by his own people. He risked the condemnation of his contemporaries and, ultimately, risked placing his life in jeopardy by listening to his own conscience, which spurred him on to reach out to his enemies.

“Forging ahead in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds against a favorable outcome, that man — Egyptian President Anwar Sadat — was assassinated.”

[RWC] Apparently Mr. Todd misses the differences between the two situations. Egypt was among the aggressors that attacked Israel and was tired of losing. Hamas wants Israel wiped from the face of the Earth and will strap a bomb on every Palestinian child to accomplish that goal. When has negotiating with terrorists ever turned out good?

Regarding Mr. Carter’s role in the Egypt/Israel peace deal, I believe you’ll find President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin had a deal pretty much worked out before they approached Mr. Carter. They approached the U.S. only because they were looking for handouts, and they got what they were looking for. Mr. Carter agreed to an annual multibillion-dollar subsidy for Egypt and Israel that continues to this day.

“He was a friend of Carter and all mankind. A man to whom he may very well be emulating by following the example set by his predecessor. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

[RWC] Mr. Todd hasn’t been paying attention to Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter has been consistently bashing Israel for quite a while. Mr. Carter also believed it was just another opportunity to poke his finger in the eye of President Bush.

One last thing. Why on Earth did Mr. Carter honor Palestinian terrorist Yasser Arafat by placing a wreath on his grave during this trip?