Former President Jimmy Carter has a long record of involving himself in foreign affairs long after voters revoked his mandate for such activity. His intervention with North Korea forced the Clinton Administration -- which had wanted to take a tough stand against Kim Jong-Il -- to accept the Agreed Framework, which the North Koreans proceeded to violate immediately and continue their progress towards nuclear weapons unhindered. Now it looks like Carter may lend his considerable talent for deadly mischief towards the Iranian nuclear standoff by reaching out to the former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami:

For an event that would turn a page in American history, former president Jimmy Carter has agreed in principle to host former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami for talks during his visit to the United States starting this week. ...

Iranians made the overture for the meeting, and the Carter Center in Atlanta is working on the possible timing, said Phil Wise, the former president's aide.

"President Carter, in his role since leaving the White House, has made his office and services and center available to basically anybody who wants to talk. He believes that it is much better to be talking to people who you have problems with than not to, and that's the approach he takes now," Wise said. "I can confirm that President Carter is open to a meeting if the former president of Iran would like to have one."

Carter believes in dialogue so much that he did nothing else when Khatami's movement seized power in Teheran 27 years ago, and when Khatami and his fellow revolutionaries seized and held the American embassy and over 50 of our representatives for 444 days. Carter's belief in dialogue did not extend to the revolution's preceding government, the Shah, which Carter undermined for its human-rights violations. The fall of the Shah set off a chain reaction of Islamist momentum, creating competing radical Arab/Persian visions for a new Caliphate which not only exponentially increased human-rights violations but resulted in a wave of state-sponsored terrorism from the Islamic Republic.

Carter's belief in dialogue mirrors the utopian vision of the Left, a moral-relativist existence where all people are reasonable and all conflict results from simple misunderstandings. Carter has never understood the nature of evil, even while confronted with it in office; his post-presidential career has not provided him with an education, either. Years of diplomatic and economic engagement with Iran by the EU has not brought about a moderation of its policies, despite his sanctimonious statement on "talking to people who you have problems with".

Iran has made it clear, through the mullah's latest mouthpiece Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that they intend on eliminating Israel from the Middle East. Their new president talks about it constantly and has demanded that his trading partners in Europe carve out some of their own territory to house the Israelis before Iran fulfills its pledges. Khatami and his moderates have not spoken a word against these constant statements, nor have they lifted a finger to end the grip of the radical mullahs on Iranian government. None of these actions require American dialogue, and none of them would benefit from it as long as that dialogue seeks accommodation with radical nihilists.

As the White House noted, Carter is free to meet with whomever he pleases. However, they should make sure to inform Carter of their intention to enforce the Logan Act in case he gets any notions of repeating the disaster of the Agreed Framework with Iran.

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