Former President meets with Hamas leader

I disagree with Machiavelli's post about President Bush "aggravating" the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by celebrating Israel's independence. He should not have to apologize for celebrating America's greatest and most loyal ally's 60th birthday. I will comment now, though, on Former President Jimmy Carter's trip to the Middle East.

Carter took a trip to Damascus, Syria, last week to meet with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshal. Despite warnings from the State Department, Carter insisted on meeting with Meshal to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Carter, mediator of the 1978 Israel-Egypt peace agreement and winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, has been seen by many as a threat to the legitimacy of the peace process. His most recent book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, garnered a great deal of criticism, showing that it was filled with falacies and inaccuracies about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice asserted that meeting with Hamas would be a bad idea because it would give the terrorist organization legitimacy.

Not only does all of this show how seriously the State Department takes Hamas, but it shows the kind of power that a past president can have. If Carter had not been so involved with past peace negotiations, would the State Department be so gravely condoning his actions now? Chances are that any former president would be scorned in the same way that Carter was.

Carter (or any other president) has no obligation to follow the recommendations of the State Department, though. It just goes to show that no matter how autonomous we may think our executive is while in office, there's always someone out there who is more autonomous--a former president.