Jimmy and the rise of terror

Great JPost article on Jimmy Carter and his presidency:

The truth is the entire nightmare can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini.

Carter viewed Khomeini as more of a religious holy man in a grassroots revolution than a founding father of modern terrorism. Carter's ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, said "Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint." Carter's Iranian ambassador, William Sullivan, said, "Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure." Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed in a Newsweek interview on February 12, 1979 that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of "impeccable integrity and honesty."

The shah was terrified of Carter. He told his personal confidant, "Who knows what sort of calamity he [Carter] may unleash on the world?"

I supported the Shah when he was in power. I believed he was secular and allowed his people the freedom of religion and to live their life. I knew an exchange student from Iran when I was in High School. She didn't like the Shah but did not want an Islamic state. She wanted to be free to go were she wanted to and keep the veil off. The Shah allowed that.