Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 16, 1994 TAG: 9412170004
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THOMAS W. LIPPMAN THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Who ya gonna call? Jimmy Carter, who else?
If Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was mistrustful of the United Nations and angry at NATO and thought the United States was partial to his enemies, where would he find a credible, impartial and dogged mediator willing to take on a tough and risky diplomatic assignment?
Where else but in Plains, Ga., home of the 70-year-old former president? In nonretirement, Carter has carved out a unique role as diplomat without portfolio, referee and preacher rolled into one.
Twice earlier this year, in North Korea and in Haiti, Carter's free-lance diplomacy pulled the Clinton administration back from the brink of conflict, brokering deals that had eluded official negotiators.
Now, the peacemaker - who treated Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid with respect, did business with North Korea's Kim Il Sung and found Haitian military ruler Raoul Cedras to be a misunderstood leader with honorable intentions - has entered the Bosnia quagmire at the behest of Karadzic, widely reviled in the west as a fascist aggressor.
``He called me; I didn't call him,'' Carter said on CNN Wednesday night. ``I'm not taking sides at all.''
Indeed, that has been Carter's greatest strength as he has sought to mediate one conflict after another. By not taking sides and listening with seemingly endless patience even to those others view as villains, Carter has built an unrivaled reputation for creative diplomacy, even if the deals he brings home sometimes are not what Washington was seeking.
When Karadzic asked him to mediate in the Bosnian conflict, ``of course, I was willing to do this as a goodwill gesture,'' Carter said. ``I don't have any portfolio ... If I should go to Sarajevo, it would be representing the Carter Center [his headquarters in Atlanta], not representing the United States government.''
Carter, who gives speeches in which he talks about love, redemption and compassion, makes professional diplomats uncomfortable. But professional diplomats enter every negotiation with policy objectives laid down by their bosses; Carter appears to have no policy objective other than to alleviate suffering and get people to stop fighting.
Why does he do it? Some cynics have suggested he is pursuing the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he has been nominated but which he has not received. Friends and former colleagues say his motivations are what they appear to be: religious faith, an unshakable belief in his ability to make a difference and sheer stubbornness.
by CNB