EX-Prez Carter to meet with Hamas...

[DeepIron]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/...mas/index.html

Two of the most sensible things I've read yet:

"I'm not a negotiator. I'm just trying to understand different opinions and communicate, provide communications between people that won't communicate with each other," Carter said earlier this week at the start of his trip.

You should never give in to the terrorists; you should never accept their demands, but you should never be the ones refusing to talk," said Jonathan Powell, who was chief of staff for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In more than a decade in his job, Powell supported a secret channel of communication to sworn enemies in the Northern Ireland conflict. He said it was the only way to make peace.