Could this guy be any more of a tool or coddle dictators in a way that's any more repulsive? Honestly. I'm asking. What would it take?

In June 2007 Abbas was asking diplomats to boycott Hamas but Carter reached out to them anyway. Less than a year later he actually up and went to Gaza. Now the US is trying to get the IAEA to slap Assad around in the next few months...

The chief US delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned Syria on Saturday that it had until March to begin showing signs of cooperation over its nuclear plan or the country would face punishment. Gregory L. Schulte presented Damascus with the ultimatum ahead of an IAEA meeting scheduled to take place in three months.... If Damascus chooses not to cooperate "there will be a negative reaction and serious questions will be raised," the US envoy cautioned.

... and this jagoff crawls into Damascus - after having been humiliatingly spurned by Hezbollah - and basically tells Assad to wait it out:

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter predicted Saturday an improvement in U.S.-Syrian relations under U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and expressed hope that full diplomatic relations would be restored. Carter... held [a meeting] with Syrian President Bashar Assad... Carter said he had full confidence that Obama will carry out the promises he made during his campaign. "I don't have any doubt that the situation will improve between the United States and Syria after we have a new president," he said... "It's my hope that we can also see full diplomatic relations and friendship restored between Damascus and Washington at an early day in the new year," he said.

Maybe he's just trying to line up outlets for his next book. The last one went over like gangbusters in the Arab world:

At least it's not like the Baathist regime is at its most insecure since the last time Carter hobnobbed with a Syrian dictator. That would make it look like he was needlessly propping up a totalitarian thug.

Tool.

References and previously after the jump...