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American Morning

Two Ex-Presidents Weigh in on Latest Mideast Conflict

Aired April 24, 2002 - 08:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier, we told you about some new negotiations going on in Bethlehem at the Church of the Nativity, and the new delay for the U.N. fact-finding mission to Jenin.

Well, two ex-presidents who have spent a lot of time trying to bring peace to the Middle East have also weighed in on the latest conflict. Bill Clinton offered his help while Jimmy Carter in an editorial in "The New York Times" called on the U.S. to get tough with Israel, saying aid to Israel should be stopped unless the country quits attacking Palestinian territory.

But will the current administration find the advice helpful? Douglas Brinkley is the author of "The Unfinished Presidency," Jimmy Carter's journey beyond the White House. And he joins us now from New Orleans.

Welcome back. Good to see you, Doug.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, AUTHOR, "THE UNFINISHED PRESIDENCY": Thank you for having me.

ZAHN: So let's start off by reminding everybody what the former president, President Carter, wrote in "The New York Times" in regards to what's going on in Israel. He said, "It is time for the United States, as the sole recognized intermediary to consider more forceful actions for peace. The rest of the world will welcome this leadership."

Now, there are some folk in the Bush administration who really believe this was a big zinger. Did President Carter violate the presidential brotherhood?

BRINKLEY: No, I don't think he did, and I don't think he purposely meant it as a zinger. President Carter has been committed to the peace process ever since he was holed up in the Maryland mountains at Camp David and brokered that unique and remarkable and long-lasting peace between Egypt and Israel. The problems come that by the 1990s, Carter wanted to constantly, as an ex-president, intervene in the Middle East to see himself as a what they call track two diplomacy, a diplomat outside of government who could somehow make a peace.

But he became very close to Arafat. In fact, in 1990, he ghostwrote a speech for Arafat, and he would constantly try to rehabilitate Arafat's image from being seen as a terrorist to being a Nobel Peace Prize Winner, if you like, which he eventually of course won for the Oslo Accords.

So I don't think Jimmy Carter's views are taken seriously in Israel. The Palestinian people and Arafat trust Carter, and would gladly see somebody like that mediate this situation, but the Israeli government would never go for it, nor would the Bush administration.

I do think, however, President Bush would be wise to maybe have a conversation, to have Carter come to the White House and pick his brain about the region, because Carter is a microthinker and studied that region so thoroughly, and knows the peace process so well, and I think he has some valuable insights.

ZAHN: What are the chances of that happening, Douglas? I mean, this administration has made it a point, has it not, of not turning to former presidents. Now, we obviously don't know what goes on on a daily basis between 43 and 41, but haven't they made it pretty clear, that this is our administration, we're going to do it our way?

BRINKLEY: Yes, I think that's absolutely correct. In that op-ed piece, though, Carter kind of said the taboo thing, he asked the question, if the United States is giving Israel $10 million a day, doesn't that give us some leverage over policy? I think the answer, back to President Carter, is, no, not really. Our friendship with Israel is based on something much deep somewhere and long lasting than the simple loaning or giving of money to Tel Aviv.

So I think Carter's piece has caused a lot of attention and made people kind of perk up, but it's just sort of a blip on the radar screen of the current situation.

I am of the belief though that anybody sitting in the White House should always consult with ex-presidents on certain issues that they have expertise on. Bill Clinton did that with Richard Nixon early on in his administration. I would see nothing wrong with George W. Bush perhaps just getting Carter's take on the situation. Listening to people does not mean that you're taking their advice.

ZAHN: Well, Secretary of State Powell made it clear over the weekend in an interview that the administration wasn't much interested in his help Mr. Carter was offering, nor the help that Bill Clinton was offering.

Now you've got former President Clinton out there openly lobbying for the opportunity to in some way be called into this process. You don't see that happening, do you?

BRINKLEY: No, absolutely not. That would be extremely far fetched. Look, Bill Clinton spent a lot of time studying the Middle East. And there are so many -- it's a web of technicalities, and intricacies. He met and actually had Arafat come to Washington to the White House 12 times. He had sent his Secretary of State Warren Christopher 27 times to Syria. These former presidents feel that they know that area very well, and they want to find themselves useful. William Safire once said about Carter, he's lusting in his heart for a Nobel Peace Prize. I don't think that's quite true. But both Clinton and Carter would like to see themselves back on the world stage and working on a Middle East peace plan would certainly put them there.

I think Carter did was different. He wrote an op-ed piece and said, here is the way I'm viewing the situation. I think what Clinton did is a little more in your face, meaning I really have a solution to this, and I thought it was wrong of Clinton to have said that.

ZAHN: Then that is sort of an open violation of that fraternity of former presidents, right?

BRINKLEY: It is. But you know, it was once said that ex- presidents are most exclusive trade union, and it's such a small group of them, but over and over again in history, you'll find one ex- president disrupting on something for the sitting president. It hard to let go of power. I mean, Clinton now, you know, a year ago, you know, was in such a different position or a year and a half ago. He was -- had power. Now he has none, he has a high-rise in Harlem, he's struggling on his memoir. He ends up being more in the page six the gossip columns than he was on the front page of the news.

So he would like to be perceived as somebody that could get in there and do something, whether it's peace in Ireland or the Middle East, and it's going to be firmly rejected by the Bush administration, and I think rightfully so. It doesn't mean Bill Clinton doesn't have good ideas that should be listened to at some level in the administration, somewhere in the State Department. People should always inform ex-presidents about things. I find it a bad policy, writing for presidents, to have somebody in the White House who sort of ignores the people that came before them. I think that can be perceived as rude, and it doesn't give the distinguished, you know, nature that that office deserves.

ZAHN: All right, Douglas Brinkley, as always, good to have your perspective. We should make sure it was not an afterthought. We didn't address the whole issue of the current President Bush talking to former President Bush, but it's not ever been confirmed to anybody how much contact they have on policy issues.

Douglas, we have to leave there this morning. Take care. Thanks for your time this morning.

BRINKLEY: OK, thanks. Bye, Paula.

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