As if the people in Dafur, Sudan, didn't have it bad enough, now they're the latest stop on "The Elders" mission to save humanity from itself, starring former President Jimmy Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for solving the Israeli-Palestinian question back in the '70s (a few minor details remain to be worked out, apparently). He is joined on the tour by fellow Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu (hence, "The Elders"), Graca Machel (Nelson Mandela's wife), and billionaire Richard Branson (presumably along because he owns planes).
When blocked from seeing representatives of the refugees, Carter was defiant, as reported by Alfred de Montesquiou for the Associated Press:
The 83-year-old Carter walked into this highly volatile pro-Sudanese government town to meet refugees too frightened to attend a scheduled meeting at a nearby compound. He was able to make it to a school where he met with one tribal representative and was preparing to go further into the town when Sudanese security officers stopped him."You can't go. It's not on the program!" the local security chief, who only gave his first name as Omar, yelled at Carter, who is in Darfur as part of a delegation of respected international figures known as "The Elders."
"We're going to anyway!" an angry Carter retorted as a crowd began to gather. "You don't have the power to stop me."
Read the rest of the story at the link above, or the expanded version at CBSNews.com, which reports UN officials were afraid "someone could get shot" and urged Carter to leave.
As a parting shot, Carter vowed,
"I'll tell President Bashir about this," Carter said, referring to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
Now, it doesn't take a newcleah enginneah to figure out that the security forces in a dictatorship work for the dictator. If Bashir wanted Carter to be able to see the refugees, he would have. Besides, the refugees were afraid to show up! Sure, they'd be fine talking to Carter and his entourage, but as soon as the motorcade and coterie of press departed, they would still be in Dafur.
About the most help Carter could offer the refugees would have been an autographed "Elders' Tour 2007" tee-shirt anyway. What great concessions did the Great Crusader win from the dictator of one of the world's poorest nations? Well, Bashir promised Carter that "free elections" will go on as planned - in 2009. Maybe the "plan" is to mark the 20th Anniversary of al-Bashir's Islamist coup, since they haven't held elections since.
Carter also "extracted" pledges of $100 million from the Sudanese government and $200 million from the Chinese to fund reconstruction in Dafur. Sure, Jimmy: after they've completed their "ethnic cleansing" of the area, they'll rebuild it - for the new Muslim occupants, not the refugees (who will be but a fond memory in Carter's next book as he moves on), since they will be long dead by the time the Sudanese government coughs up the cash.
But, at least he got to yell at a security officer. No one does self-righteous indignation quite like Jimmy Carter . . .
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Filed under:
Celebrities, Jimmy Carter, UN, World
Tags: Carter, Dafur, refugees, Sudan, world
Comments (40)
The Elders Tour...I think i... (Below threshold)1. Posted by alacrityfitzhugh | October 3, 2007 6:03 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
The Elders Tour...I think it was named after Joycelyn Elders, where Jimmah and Desmond stand in a circle and...well...you know!
1. Posted by alacrityfitzhugh | October 3, 2007 6:03 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 18:03
2. Posted by Oyster | October 3, 2007 6:04 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
I gotta say, "The Elders" sounds like the title for a creepy movie like "The Village" or some other communal experiment gone awry.
2. Posted by Oyster | October 3, 2007 6:04 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 18:04
3. Posted by nogo war | October 3, 2007 6:28 PM | Score: -14 (14 votes cast)
Yep...trash someone who faced these folks in person...at 83 Carter's shrunken balls are still bigger then Bush's...
ooops I forget Bush's big balls when he was flown on to that aircraft carrier proclaiming "Mission accomplished" about 3,500 brave troops deaths ago.
,...and of course trash Desmond Tutu..
ya know ...in most parts of the world...elders are respected..
3. Posted by nogo war | October 3, 2007 6:28 PM |
Score: -14 (14 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 18:28
4. Posted by John Irving | October 3, 2007 6:34 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Nogo, you're drooling again.
Carter didn't display any balls here, just petulance and ego.
4. Posted by John Irving | October 3, 2007 6:34 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 18:34
5. Posted by nogo war | October 3, 2007 6:39 PM | Score: -11 (11 votes cast)
http://www.givemetoys.com/product/TP_TGB_TOP_GUN_BUSH?meta=0103ab
5. Posted by nogo war | October 3, 2007 6:39 PM |
Score: -11 (11 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 18:39
6. Posted by SPQR | October 3, 2007 7:03 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Pathetic attempt Nogo, just pathetic. Carter is a loon, and this clown attempt of his was the same failure that all of Carter's interventions are.
6. Posted by SPQR | October 3, 2007 7:03 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 19:03
7. Posted by BarneyG2000 | October 3, 2007 7:15 PM | Score: -12 (12 votes cast)
"Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for solving the Israeli-Palestinian question back in the '70s.."
Talk about revisionist history?
The best thing about Carter is that he keeps sticking it to Bush. The Nobel prize marked the first occasion as noted by this quote:
"Gunnar Berge, the Nobel committee chairman, was even more direct.
The award ''should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken,'' Mr. Berge said shortly after the award was announced in Oslo."
That was back in 2002 and in response to Bush's rush to war with Iraq.
7. Posted by BarneyG2000 | October 3, 2007 7:15 PM |
Score: -12 (12 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 19:15
8. Posted by Shawn | October 3, 2007 7:16 PM | Score: -3 (7 votes cast)
C'mon now. Jimmy Carter's said and done some stupid things the last few decades, but standing up to the Sudanese army is not one of them.
8. Posted by Shawn | October 3, 2007 7:16 PM |
Score: -3 (7 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 19:16
9. Posted by Matt | October 3, 2007 7:23 PM | Score: -7 (7 votes cast)
Succesful or not, at least he is trying.
See Bill Clinton there? Bush I? Pelosi? Guilaini?
9. Posted by Matt | October 3, 2007 7:23 PM |
Score: -7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 19:23
10. Posted by LaMedusa | October 3, 2007 7:33 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
"I'll tell President Bashir about this," Carter said, referring to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir."
That was comical, like, "I'm telling!" After my grandmother hit 71, God rest her soul, she was the same way. She would just say any dang thing she felt like to anybody. Something tells me, though, if she had held some office and was in this scenario, everyone would have just gotten the hell out of her way. You can't blame him for trying to make his mark, though, even if his aim is a little off.
10. Posted by LaMedusa | October 3, 2007 7:33 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 19:33
11. Posted by JoeS | October 3, 2007 7:37 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Those poor people being played by an old buffoon trying to make headlines. They will be murdered because of Jimmah's insatiable appetite for publicity.
Lock the insane old bat in the basement.
11. Posted by JoeS | October 3, 2007 7:37 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 19:37
12. Posted by Eric | October 3, 2007 8:18 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Yep, Jimmuh is having the same effect he's always had on international affairs. The world's tinpot dictators usher him around while they try not to laugh. Some things never change.
Oh, and nogo? What risk, exactly, is Carter taking here? He's there at the pleasure of the Sudanese government. They won't let him be harmed, unlike the people who talk to him.
12. Posted by Eric | October 3, 2007 8:18 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 20:18
13. Posted by nogo war | October 3, 2007 8:43 PM | Score: -9 (9 votes cast)
ya know...what is pathetic...
It is always easier to attack those against us...
When will Wizbang take exception to Republicans?
Where is the same out rage over Republicans voting for SCHIPS?
Yo want to point fingers at Carter who at least deployed as a member of the Navy...Bush was deployed out of the U.S. when?
Cheney was a Clinton like "Don't take me!"
Of course there is no need to go into the military courage of Rush..
Sean...Ann etc...
Your iconic voices have demonstrated courage right?
A simple question...why is Bush afraid to ride a horse on his Ranch?
When I voted twice for Reagan it was because I felt he represented courage(and yes he rode horses)
So go ahead and pretend your icons have established their courage....and never...ever question them...
but please don't pretend they are even close to Reagan....who did walk his talk...
13. Posted by nogo war | October 3, 2007 8:43 PM |
Score: -9 (9 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 20:43
14. Posted by Jo | October 3, 2007 8:50 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Jimmah, Jimmah, Jimmah, you poor old geezer you. Still trying to salvage that pitiful legacy?! It's not working. Give it up.
Oh and Barney, I somehow doubt Bush gives a rats ass what ole one term Jimmah thinks of him. Carter was and still is a laughingstock of a president.
Oh how the truth hurts the Jimmah lovers. lol.
14. Posted by Jo | October 3, 2007 8:50 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 20:50
15. Posted by Proud Kaffir | October 3, 2007 8:51 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
"I'll tell President Bashir about this," Carter said, referring to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
So in other words, when confronted by a guard, he fell back behind the authority of a brutal, genocidal dictator. Same old Carter. This is not bravery. Bravery would be standing up to the genocidal dictator.
This is somewhat like, being stopped outside the Warsaw ghettos by an SS Guard during WWII, saying, "I'll tell Hitler about this!"
15. Posted by Proud Kaffir | October 3, 2007 8:51 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 20:51
16. Posted by nogo war | October 3, 2007 8:54 PM | Score: -10 (10 votes cast)
Eric...yep Sudan is a peaceful place...facing their thugs is no big deal....
Now if Carter would have gone to Iraq where the surge is working...he, like you could walk anywhere......
16. Posted by nogo war | October 3, 2007 8:54 PM |
Score: -10 (10 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 20:54
17. Posted by SPQR | October 3, 2007 9:28 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Nogo War, the only way to make your silly analogy make sense would be to observe that Carter was in no more danger than Sean Penn was in visiting Saddam Hussein.
17. Posted by SPQR | October 3, 2007 9:28 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 21:28
18. Posted by Clay | October 3, 2007 10:22 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Jimmah Ali! The Muslims find you to be a very useful implement. You have transcended your purpose and 72 virgins await your decrepit member. Allahu Akbar min kulli shay!
18. Posted by Clay | October 3, 2007 10:22 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 22:22
19. Posted by jaymaster | October 3, 2007 10:54 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Too bad he didn't have a boat oar......
19. Posted by jaymaster | October 3, 2007 10:54 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on October 3, 2007 22:54
20. Posted by Spurwing Plover | October 4, 2007 12:22 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Good now hecan hwlp build home for those good people of DARFUR instead of opening his mouth he can give them aid
20. Posted by Spurwing Plover | October 4, 2007 12:22 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 00:22
21. Posted by ODA315 | October 4, 2007 12:29 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Good thing he didn't run into any of those fearsome "desert hares".
21. Posted by ODA315 | October 4, 2007 12:29 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 00:29
22. Posted by Jo | October 4, 2007 2:16 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Too bad he didn't have a boat oar......
Bwahhahahahhaaha....
22. Posted by Jo | October 4, 2007 2:16 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 02:16
23. Posted by Synova | October 4, 2007 2:21 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Dang. Carter gets righteously confrontational and the U-fricking-N officials urge him to back off.
Afraid someone might get shot?
It's not like, you know, they're checking up on ethnic cleansing or anything. Sheesh.
23. Posted by Synova | October 4, 2007 2:21 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 02:21
24. Posted by Jim Addison | October 4, 2007 2:32 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Let's be perfectly clear on one point: Carter did NOT "stand up to" the Sudanese security detail.
ALL he did was yell at them and threaten to run and tell their boss (who, of course, gave them their orders in the first place), Bashir the dictator.
THEN he complied with their orders. He CAVED. He did NOT meet with the people he wanted to meet with. He got in the car and rode away. Mighty brave, eh? What a man!
Now, I'm sure yelling at somebody before wimping out constitutes "courageous action" in the sick and twisted minds of leftists everywhere, but let's not pretend their fantasies are in any way "reality-based."
24. Posted by Jim Addison | October 4, 2007 2:32 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 02:32
25. Posted by Jim Addison | October 4, 2007 2:44 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Oh, and nogo ~ Please quote any passage where I "trash Bishop Tutu" as you claim in comment #3.
25. Posted by Jim Addison | October 4, 2007 2:44 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 02:44
26. Posted by Synova | October 4, 2007 3:50 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Ah, Jim. I'm generally as disgusted with Carter as people tend to be.
But he at least expressed his determination to go where he wanted to go. That he caved is less laudable. It's too bad that others with him weren't inclined to push at that point. Even *if* he was just acting out of his own sense of self-importance... or he's just getting old enough to be cranky. Who cares? So he's some old cranky fart who thinks he's important... that can be useful.
But as much as this "elders" thing seems to be old farts on *purpose*, they seem to be escorted about by UN sorts who probably aren't old but who *ought* to be about a little bit of confrontation when necessary. Shooting? Oh, shooting a UN delegation is soooo going to happen.
26. Posted by Synova | October 4, 2007 3:50 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 03:50
27. Posted by D-Hoggs | October 4, 2007 9:56 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
So nogo gets his talking points from Vincente Fox. Hardly surprising. What a dumbass.
http://www.democracyforutah.com/node/1804
27. Posted by D-Hoggs | October 4, 2007 9:56 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 09:56
28. Posted by D-Hoggs | October 4, 2007 10:02 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
nogo would also be the first to deride Bush if his administration used pictures of him on a horse. Fucking hypocrite.
28. Posted by D-Hoggs | October 4, 2007 10:02 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 10:02
29. Posted by 914 | October 4, 2007 10:03 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Carter in Darfur?
Must be lookin for some skilled peanut pickers!
"Why is Bush afraid to ride a horse on His ranch?"
He's afraid Mother Sheehan would buck Him off!
29. Posted by 914 | October 4, 2007 10:03 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 10:03
30. Posted by D-Hoggs | October 4, 2007 10:49 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
I even found a picture of Bush's horse...
http://newsbusters.org/static/2007/07/2007-07-11NancyPelosi.jpg
30. Posted by D-Hoggs | October 4, 2007 10:49 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 10:49
31. Posted by Wanderlust | October 4, 2007 10:55 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Carter in this situation is worse than useless: as several others have pointed out, his purpose in being allowed to visit the poor refugees is that of being the bait that flushes them out: al-Bashir's cronies simply record anyone who talks to Jimmah, then once Carter departs in the comfort of his private jet, the ones who talk are dealt with accordingly, in the private of al-Bashir's personal hell.
31. Posted by Wanderlust | October 4, 2007 10:55 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 10:55
32. Posted by Veeshir | October 4, 2007 11:26 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
I saw a newscast from Khartoum about this, they just showed video of Carter yukking it up with a bunch of thugs.
I can't find the cartoon, but Cox and Forkum have the best one about Jimmy's Whitewash for Dictators.
He travels the world legitimizing dictators, it's what he does.
32. Posted by Veeshir | October 4, 2007 11:26 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 11:26
33. Posted by David M | October 4, 2007 11:30 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 10/04/2007
A short recon of what's out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.
33. Posted by David M | October 4, 2007 11:30 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 11:30
34. Posted by Son Of The Godfather | October 4, 2007 11:45 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
I think of Carter whenever I see Ahmadinnerjacket... or attacking bunnies.
34. Posted by Son Of The Godfather | October 4, 2007 11:45 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 11:45
35. Posted by Veeshir | October 4, 2007 11:59 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Here's a link to the broadcast I was talking about, the Khartoum report is about 6th or 7th, it's worth watching for other stuff as well.
I try to watch Mosaic every night at 10:30 on LinkTv. It's very interesting. Some of the shows are from free nations; Lebanon, Israel and Iraq have some of the most interesting shows. The ones in dictatorships are less interesting. They are enlightening though, it's funny how often they repeat some lefty talking point, complete with lefty politician's sound-bite, like Saint Jimmeh, to support their thuggery. Syria is especially active in that, but Iran and Sudan do as well.
The Lebanese changed after the Orange Revolution, they are no longer afraid of bashing Syria, although lately they have started becoming a little more circumspect, the piles of dead Syria-bashers is growing.
35. Posted by Veeshir | October 4, 2007 11:59 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 11:59
36. Posted by Spurwing Plover | October 4, 2007 2:50 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Were there any scary wabbits down there?
36. Posted by Spurwing Plover | October 4, 2007 2:50 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 14:50
37. Posted by tee bee
| October 4, 2007 7:28 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
The award ''should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken,'' Mr. Berge said shortly after the award was announced in Oslo." - #7
Carter must be proud of a Nobel Prize that was basically given not to acknowledge him, but to take a swipe at a sitting president. If he had any pride, he wouldn't have accepted the award.
37. Posted by tee bee
| October 4, 2007 7:28 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 4, 2007 19:28
38. Posted by kim | October 5, 2007 3:10 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If he had a hammer, he'd run and tell the teacher.
=============
38. Posted by kim | October 5, 2007 3:10 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 5, 2007 03:10
39. Posted by alacrityfitzhugh | October 5, 2007 8:34 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Carter must be proud of a Nobel Prize that was basically given not to acknowledge him, but to take a swipe at a sitting president.
What is the Nobel Prize but liberal guilt writ large?
39. Posted by alacrityfitzhugh | October 5, 2007 8:34 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 5, 2007 08:34
40. Posted by Oyster | October 5, 2007 3:09 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I was going to say that threatening to tell Bashir would be like threatening to tell Hitler his Nazi troops wouldn't let him talk to Jewish leaders in 1942 Germany, but someone beat me to it.
40. Posted by Oyster | October 5, 2007 3:09 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 5, 2007 15:09