Understatement of the Day: Carter's Hamas trip

From today's Oregonian editorial on Jimmy Carter's recent talks with Hamas:

[Carter] is entitled to his point of view, but this time, he did more than write a controversial book: He conferred legitimacy on a group that declared last year (and many times before and since): "We will not betray promises we made to God to continue the path of Jihad and resistance until the liberation of Palestine, all of Palestine."

This is not to say that Israel hasn't answered violence with violence, nor that it has shown sufficient compassion for the grievances and suffering of Palestinian civilians. But the conversation on grievances cannot begin with one side's insistence that justice requires the other side's elimination.

There must be some desire for an outcome that will benefit Jews and Arabs and Israelis and Palestinians. It's not clear that Jimmy Carter's talks have advanced that objective.

The conversation on grievances cannot begin with one side's insistence that justice requires the other side's elimination. That is why I cannot take seriously the extreme position of support for the Palestinians. That is why Iran's goal of nuclear weapons must be taken seriously -- deadly so. And that is why I have my doubts that this conflict will ever be resolved peacefully in my lifetime.