Pass the Piñata, Please: A Former President Regards the Current One

Flashing his trademark smile, Carter added: "Other than that, it was okay."

If the words were a bit raw coming from a former president, Carter -- a reliable Bush critic long before yesterday's remarks -- hinted at a personal element to the dispute. Recounting his plan to visit Syria, he noted that, "for the only time in my life as a former president, I was ordered by the White House not to go."

Still, he had problems of his own to address. Demonstrators distributed leaflets at the press club describing Carter as anti-Israel. C-SPAN, in its broadcast, labeled him not as the former president but as "Author, 'Palestine: Peace not Apartheid.' " Of particular trouble for Carter: a single sentence, later disavowed by the author, proposing that Palestinians "make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the road map for peace are accepted by Israel."

Carter lamented the "ugly names" he has been called and he listed his pro-Jewish and pro-Israel credentials. "I was taught by my father every Sunday about the special status of the Jewish people," he said at the awards luncheon. "I visited Yad Vashem three times," he added, referring to Israel's Holocaust memorial.

The defense continued during his subsequent news conference. "In January, I received 6,100 letters," he said. "My staff tabulated them. Seventy-nine percent were in favor of the book."

Carter was studiously evenhanded yesterday, describing the "half-century of suffering, of death, of persecution and of fear experienced by the people of Israel and Palestine." He seemed angry as he closed his luncheon speech by asking lawmakers to "do what is necessary to return America to its honored position as a peacemaker." He walked away from the microphone after those words without the customary "thank you" or "God bless."

Later, at the news conference, Carter felt freer to take sides -- against Bush. He called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria this week, opposed by Bush, "long overdue." He continued: "When there's a crisis, the best way to help resolve the crisis is to deal with the people who are instrumental in the problem. As a matter of fact, when the shah left Iran back in ancient days, maybe before you were born, I had a choice between recognizing the revolutionary government or not. I did . . . although I didn't like the idea of the Ayatollah Khomeini being in charge."

It was a peculiar bit of advice from the 39th president to the 43rd: To solve the Iraq problem, do what I did in Iran?