As a young teen kid growing up in the mountains of West Virginia, I got to see a lot of political contradictions, and more importantly, a lot of the consequences of those contradictions. while in the 9th grade, Iran went through a revolution. I knew two people at that time who’s fathers were members of the Shah’s government. One was a child attending a private school in the area, who simply found himself abandoned in America once the revolution took place. The other was the daughter of a single mother, her father’s existence was simply a mystery to every one in town. As it turns out, Tiffany’s father was Ali Tabatabaei, the Shah’s ambassador to the United States. Those of us in our little circle of friends watched the nightly news every evening, as they reported about the young democrats and their brave struggle to over throw the thuggish oppressive regime of the Shah. The next day, our friends would vehemently oppose that meme so expertly amplified by a press corps more interested in pushing a political agenda than in reporting actual facts in any type of objective manner. The truth of the matter was that the Shah of Iran knew much better than did any member of the press what he was up against when dealing with the Islamists whom he had exiled 30 years previously. The Shah understood all too well, that in order to defeat an enemy that worshiped death over life and were willing to use their own children as bombs and human shields for instance, you would need to be every bit as brutal in your retaliation to their attacks. He also knew that in order to maintain that victory, he would need to remain every bit as hard when dealing with those still existent and very active enemies.

Unfortunately for the Shah, and the 90% of Iranians that were not hard line Islamists, 1976 saw America elect a President who ran on a platform of Hope and Change. For those of you who have not figured it out yet, Hope and Change boils down to Marxist economic theory and projecting American weakness abroad when the question of helping our allies is concerned, and projecting American might when the question of chastising our allies is concerned. The economic malaise of the Carter years is well known, but time has worked its magic to place those years beyond the memory of most. The Carter years also saw one of our only allies in the Middle East, Iran, turn into our bitter enemy and saw a soviet invasion of Afghanistan that lasted 20 years. You may have noticed that both countries have managed to make the news recently.

It is fruitless to discuss the situation in Iran or Afghanistan today without consideration of the Carter policies of 36 years ago. When Jimmy Carter announced that his foreign policy would focus on, “human rights,” the young teen age version of myself was thrilled. At last I thought, we, the bastion of freedom and justice for the world to see would help to free countless multitudes of oppressed people around the globe. I remember being thrilled when Jimmy Carter himself worked to see to it that the U.N. established a blue ribbon panel on Human Rights. The predecessor to the U.N.H.R.C. of course met with much fan fare, and found the tiny nation of Israel to be the only violator of Human Rights on the planet, besides Iran. The response from our President, that self proclaimed champion of human rights, was to praise the thoughtful and groundbreaking work of the U.N. panel. Thus began my transformation from liberal to conservative, which would take a few more years, but that is where it started.

The Shah lost his ability to control the Islamist militants bent on building their caliphate in Iran when Jimmy Carter effectively abandoned that nation. America’s change in policy was swift and sudden. Over night, Jimmy Carter basically told the Shah, and all who opposed him that the United States would not help him at all with any military support. The young Democrats, who like in so many other instances, were merely pawns used to be the shock troops of the revolution, were soon forgotten once the revolution itself was complete. There is a reason for that of course. They were the very first to be hunted down and executed by the Mullah’s once the revolution was completed. The Soviets called these types of people, “useful idiots,” when describing their well documented plans to take over our own nation. It seems that once the revolution was done, they were no longer useful. It was also apparent to the Mullahs that young democrats who would overthrow the Shah for being a thuggish brute would be even more disillusioned once they saw what the Islamists had in store for them. You don’t want young students who have already shown a knack for successful revolution to still be around for your shot at being an even more oppressive regime.

Iran went from being a staunch ally to a bitter enemy literally within one year’s time. In the 34 years since 1978, Iran has attacked our sovereign soil, (embassies are considered such,) held hundreds of Americans hostages, committed multiple terrorist attacks upon our interests and people, sponsored terrorist attacks to be committed by others, created Hezbollah and used it as a proxy to wage unending warfare against Israel, Usurped power in Lebanon, Assassinated political leaders in Lebanon and Syria that would not bend to their will, and all of this because of Jimmy Carter’s Hope and Change becoming U.S. foreign policy.

The direct result of the Carter Presidency upon the Middle East was that it forever became an even more dangerous place than it was before his Presidency. Every Administration since Carter has had to face a vastly more dangerous and aggressive form of militant Islam. What was once only a minor irritant for Americans had been transformed almost immediately into the most dangerous and aggressive enemy we had ever seen. While it is true that their current level of technology is no match for our own, they have something that we do not. This is an army completely unfettered by the basic human instinct of self preservation. They will not be burdened by the desire to protect their loved ones. They worship death and view martyrdom as the ultimate act of devotion for their God of darkness. When the Italians invaded Northern Africa, someone asked Irwin Rommel how an enemy armed with only rocks and sticks could hope to defeat the heavily armored Italian Army. He answered how can the Italians hope to defeat an enemy willing to fight their army with rocks and sticks. Eventually, the Italians had to ask Rommel for help in completing that conquest.

This part of the Carter legacy is pertinent today, because it is being played out all over again, exactly as it happened in 1978. The parallels between Iran and Egypt are stark. The reporting of the main stream media is exactly the same. A group of young doe eyed students effected a coup, and the hard liner Islamic Militants seized power once the useful idiots had completed their tasks. The useful idiots were among the first to be rounded up and executed as martyrs, and anyone who dares to dissent with the shift to Sharia Law will be dealt with brutally. The indigenous Christian population is scrambling to get out, and those who choose to remain live in constant fear of being slaughtered. Now it seems that the good people our President supports are just ducky with necrophilia. Hope and change has a strange consequence attached to it. But who could have seen it coming? Only 48% of the country who remembered Jimmy Carter, that’s who.

Cross Posted at Musings of a Mad Conservative.