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FORMER US President
Jimmy Carter is backing the Daily Mirror's Not in My
Name campaign.
The Nobel Peace
Prize winner, and the only US president since 1945 never
to order American soldiers into war, endorsed our stance
on war with Iraq, saying: "You're doing a good job. I am
glad about that. War is evil."
Carter, who will be
79 this year, is a pariah among hawkish Republicans and
a hero for doveish Democrats, frequently denouncing wars
and conflict whenever they flare. He said: "There has
been a virtual declaration of war but a case for
pre-emptive action against Iraq has not been made. We
want Saddam Hussein to disarm but we want to achieve
this through peaceful means.
"He obviously has
the capability and desire to build prohibited weapons
and probably has some hidden in his country.
"A sustained and
enlarged UN inspection team is required."
Carter said an
opinion poll which rated the US as the country posing
greatest danger to world peace was a "very embarrassing
thing".
It was "sobering"
to realise the degree of doubt that has been raised
about his country's motives for war in the absence of
convincing proof of a genuine Iraqi threat.
Looking at a copy
of the Mirror he said: "I know the Daily Mirror, of
course. I know it well. It's getting the message
across."
We met at his home
in Plains, the heart of rural Georgia, 130 miles south
of Atlanta.
The former peanut
farmer's house, where he lives with his wife Rosalynn,
is surrounded by pungent red peanut fields and cotton
farms.
It is set well back
from the road behind a high iron fence. Secret Service
patrol the area 24 hours a day.
Four Secret Service
agents dressed in blue blazers and with curly wires
coming from their right ears signalled his arrival.
He said: "The issue
that concerns everybody is Iraq.
"The news this
morning is that all over the world, including this
country and Britain, there are massive demonstrations
against the starting of a pre-emptive war.
"Obviously Saddam
Hussein will have to comply with the revelation and
destruction of all weapons of mass destruction.
"But there is a
growing consensus, among other countries at least, that
we should let the UN inspectors do their thing first
before we start a pre-emptive war against Iraq."
Forever the
diplomat, Carter was careful not to directly criticise
President George Bush by name.
He said: "Some very
embarrassing things have happened in this country.
"Time magazine in
Europe did a public opinion poll on its website and over
350,000 people responded to the question, 'Which country
poses the greatest threat to world peace?'
"North Korea
received seven per cent of the votes, Iraq received
eight per cent and the United States received 84 per
cent.
"We have lost the
ability apparently in our country to convince other
nations to stand side by side with us."
He added: "I think
most people, if they were asked, 'Would you prefer the
Iraqi question was resolved peacefully?' would say
yes.
"If you asked the
same people, 'Do you think Iraq must comply with the UN
requirement to eliminate weapons of mass destruction?'
they would say yes.
"So the question
is, how do we correlate these two yes answers in a
positive and effective fashion?"
Carter has argued
that any "belligerent move by Saddam would be suicidal"
in the current climate of intense monitoring and
therefore "inconceivable".
And he has
described the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the
"festering cancer and root cause of much anti-American
sentiment".
In private Carter
makes his views about the government known, as a friend
of his revealed.
The friend said:
"The former President is far too discreet to go mouthing
off.
"But people round
here do remember him saying, 'Our State Department never
gets upset about anything unless white skin or oil is
involved'. His words have rung true again."
Carter's single
term presidency from 1977 to 1981 was often dismissed as
ineffective, despite his greatest success - the Camp
David agreement of 1978 which led to the peace treaty
between Israel and Egypt.
This was quickly
eclipsed by the energy crisis and the taking of US
hostages in Iran.
However his
activities since he lost office have been held up as a
model for a post-presidential career. He has "waged
peace", as he calls it.
A commentator once
quipped: "Carter used the presidency as a stepping stone
to what he really wanted to do in life."
Unlike most of his
successors, Carter - an ex-President at only 56 - did
not take up golf or take to the lucrative lecture
circuit.
He returned to
Plains and a year later set up the Carter Center in
Atlanta, through which he has negotiated with some of
the world's most controversial figures.
He has circled the
globe as a freelance mediator in international
conflicts. He has defended democracy by monitoring
elections and pioneering medical programmes in the Third
World. And he has built housing for Atlanta's poor.
It remains to be
seen just how effective his influence can be on the
warmongers. But if his CV is anything to go by he could
hold the key to the crisis.
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