He apparently still believes in the fatuous idea that the Soviets went into Afghanistan as a first move to conquer Persian Gulf nations. He repeats the notion in a 2010 comment(p.394). He maintains even though since the end of the Soviet Union, it's well known that the Soviets invaded Afghanistan because the communist revolution there had so alienated the population that the Soviets wanted to impose a more moderate and Islam friendly government in Afghanistan in the vain hope this would satisfy the mujahdeen.
No Regrets about Korea
In his Diary, Carter talks about Korea frequently in terms of talks between the North and the South; but on August 8, 1980, he tells of efforts to prevent the execution of Kim Dae Jung. Kim was on trial for "sedition" because of his efforts to work for democracy in Korea, then subject to a series of military dictators. Carter, in a 2010 note, says Kim was a "human rights hero," but does not mention the city Kwangju, and thereby hangs a tale -- a very embarrassing one for Carter.
In October 1979, the head of the Korean CIA assassinated then current dictator of Korea. Soon a General Chun took over as dictator. Months later, there was a popular revolt against Chun, most seriously in the city of Kwangju, which for a time liberated itself. Then in late May 1980, Korean troops overwhelmed the city with perhaps 1,000 to 2,000 civilian deaths and Kim Dae Jung was put on trial for the uprising.
So what was the Carter Administration doing? In a 2002 article in the New York Village Voice, Nick Mamatas claimed, "As Chun Doo Hwan's paratroopers circled the city of Kwangju and tested its perimeters, a meeting of high-level Carter administration officials, including Warren Christopher and Richard Holbrooke, gave the nod to the coup government to wipe out the rebels. Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski summed it up: 'In the short term, support -- in the longer term, pressure for political evolution.'"
The U.S. had joint command over South Korean troops. It was the 20th division of the ROK and its Korean Special Forces that savaged Kwangju.
The U.S. maintains this was all the dictator's responsibility; that joint command of Korean forces never restricted Korea from using its troops as they wished. San Francisco University Professor Steven Zunes points out though, that "When former South Korean dictator Syngman Rhee made a similar request that his troops be released from U.S. command two decades earlier, President Dwight Eisenhower refused."
There's no contemporary note from Carter about all this; no reflection about the U.S. role, no regret.
I could go on and on bringing up East Timor or the Philippines for example. Carter wasn't crippled out of undue respect for human rights. He did believe in human rights, but it took back seat to stability, anti-communism, U.S. business interests, loyalty to U.S. "allies" and so on and so forth.
So neo-cons, not to worry! Carter
was no wimp. He "manned up" for the Shah, the mujahdeen, Israeli apartheid and
the Korean dictator. His general lack of success wasn't due to lack of will, but
lack of popular resistance.
Go figure.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
