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2010-06-23 Home Front: WoT
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Jimmy Carter Worries Court Ruling May Affect His Interaction With Terror Groups
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 (CNSNews.com) -- Former President Jimmy Carter has voiced concern that Monday's Supreme Court ruling on "material support" to terrorist groups may criminalize his "work to promote peace and freedom."
Unless the ruling can be thought of as calling a spade a spade...
Carter, whose advocacy has entailed contact with groups designated by the U.S. government as "foreign terrorist organizations" (FTOs) -- notably Hamas and Hezbollah -- said he was disappointed by the court decision.
Normally we're disappointed when court rulings don't go our way...
The high court, in a 6-3 decision, upheld a federal law that forbids providing "material support" to an FTO, ruling that it can be applied to U.S. organizations whose engagement with terrorists involves promoting non-violent solutions to conflicts.
So much of "material support" is fungible...
The law, part of the post-9/11 USA Patriot Act, forbids the provision of any aid, defined as including "service," "training" or "expert advice or assistance," to a designated FTO.
Telling Hamas how best to subvert Washington, for instance...
Although the free speech challenge derived from organizations wanting to work with terrorist groups in and around Turkey and in Sri Lanka -- the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Tamil Tigers (LTTE) -- the ramifications may be most evident in 2010 in the Middle East, amid growing calls for Western governments to recognize and engage with groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Tigers appear to be dead now, once Lanka ceased observing Norwegian-brokered ceasefires and went after them in earnest.
Arguing that there can be no peace in the region without those groups' participation, Carter has reached out to Hamas and Hezbollah, rejecting criticism that doing so could be viewed as legitimizing their violent activities. Since the 1980s both groups have killed hundreds of people in suicide bombings and other terror attacks, most of them Israelis and Americans.
And peace somehow hasn't been achieved despite millions of words uttered and printed. If you've been working on a problem since 1948 and you look at the calendar and discover it's 62 years later you're probably not doing it right.
The administration's argument, presented by Solicitor General Elena Kagan (now a Supreme Court nominee) earlier this year, was in part that the intent of Congress was to block all assistance to terrorists, recognizing that any form of support -- even imparting peaceful skills -- might benefit and strengthen the organization. Six of the justices concurred.
Making Hamas prosperous and strong doesn't do much to make the Hamas problem go away, does it?
"At bottom, plaintiffs simply disagree with the considered judgment of Congress and the Executive that providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization -- even seemingly benign support -- bolsters the terrorist activities of that organization," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
Oh. Well. If you don't agree then you don't have to do it, right?
In a statement reacting to the decision, Carter said, "We are disappointed that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that inhibits the work of human rights and conflict resolution groups."
Take a deep breath, Jimmy. Now name a conflict you've resolved... We're waiting.
"The 'material support law' -- which is aimed at putting an end to terrorism -- actually threatens our work and the work of many other peacemaking organizations that must interact directly with groups that have engaged in violence," he said.
We're still waiting...
"The vague language of the law leaves us wondering if we will be prosecuted for our work to promote peace and freedom."
There are many of us who think that'd be a ducky idea. Unfortunately we realize you'd probably get off with a warning.
Carter's statement was released through the American Civil Liberties Union, which earlier filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Carter Center and other organizations involved in human rights and peace-promotion advocacy.
"In the course of resolving or preventing conflicts, Carter Center staff will meet
with violent actors -- some of whom may be or may in the future be designated as FTOs -- to persuade them to cease violent activity and discuss specific paths to peace," it said.
But what have you resolved? What have you prevented?
Meetings with such groups may include discussions about "peace-facilitating strategies" or advice on their "obligations under international law."
But more likely advice on which lobbying firm can pick up the best congressmen cheapest.
Some of the groups the center had been engaged with in this capacity included FTOs Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as other group not currently designated as such -- the PLO, Fatah, the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, Maoists in Nepal and Sudanese rebels. "The intent, of course, is to further peace, not terrorism," the brief said. 
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