From: Tsegai Emmanuel (emmanuelt40@gmail.com)
Date: Thu Jan 29 2009 - 03:35:01 EST
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| VIDEO: Carter on Obama, peace * VIDEO: Carter on Obama, peace
By ANDY BARR <http://www.politico.com/reporters/AndyBarr.html> | 1/28/09
3:33 PM EST
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[image: President Jimmy Carter during an interview] Carter said he
is pleased so far with Obama's early efforts.
Photo: AP
Former President Jimmy Carter said President Barack Obama "personally"
promised him that he would not wait until the last year of his presidency to
begin working on a Middle East peace process.
During an interview with PBS's Charlie Rose Tuesday night, Carter said of
Obama: "One of the things that appealed to me was his promise in advance to
me personally and to the public that he would start working on the Mideast
peace process immediately after he was elected and not wait until the last
year of his term."
Carter has previously criticized former President Bill Clinton for waiting
to hold a peace summit at Camp David between Israeli and Palestinian leaders
until the end of his presidency. Former President George W. Bush also did
not address a potential peace deal between the two camps until late in his
term.
But Carter said he is pleased so far with Obama's early efforts and that
recently-appointed special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell was an
"outstanding" pick.
"I talked to him twice since he was chosen," Carter said of Mitchell. "I am
thankful that he was chosen. I think he is the best possible American that
could be chosen."
Carter praised the new president throughout the interview, but had harsh
criticism for the man Obama replaced.
"I am relieved that [Bush] has been replaced. I think that he probably had
the most disastrous term relating to foreign policy of any previous
president," Carter said. "It's a very good move now for us to have a
different president."