Jimmy Carter just keeps getting more and more bizarre...

... and I keep wondering how in the world I was ever fooled so badly by this man.

His strong suit was always his claim to be a man of conscience. Calling Israel's self-defense against Hezbollah unjustified simply is the latest evidence that his vaunted moral compass has been somehow demagnetized. Does he seriously believe that aggressors should be given a free pass if they hide among innocent civilians? How could any country which operated with that set of rules ever defend its own people?

It's arguable that according to the classic "just war" criteria, Carter has a point. But given the amount and kind of force required, was Israel's response truly not proportional? And it was not the people of Lebanon- even those who willingly shelter the terrorists- who were Israel's targets. It was the terrorists themselves, who simply could not have been attacked in any other way.

The classic "just war" criteria- which badly need to be revised in light of contemporary reality, btw, if only for the sake of clarity-were developed centuries before modern warfare or its realities were even imagined. We have not yet reached the point where a government's obligation to defend its own population against aggression is outweighed by moral considerations posed by the aggressor's cowardly decision to hide among the innocents. Certainly steps to minimize harm to innocents are a moral imperative in such situations- to the extent that they're practical. But if we simply let the danger of collateral damage utterly deter us, then the forces of civilization are ultimately powerless against any adversary sufficiently immoral to conduct its operations from behind the shield of an innocent population.

I was once a strong admirer and supporter of Jimmy Carter. But I have come to see him as a embarassment to our nation and a disgrace to the office he once occupied. In fact, I find it difficult to think of a political decision I have ever made in my life which I regret as much as voting for Carter over Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Voting for him over Jerry Ford in 1976 is also high on the list.