Hyde Comments on Democratic Attack on the President’s Foreign Policy  

            (WASHINGTON) - U.S. Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), Chairman of the House Committee on International Relations, released the following statement after Democratic lawmakers and former Carter and Clinton administration officials criticized President Bush’s policies in the Middle East: 

It strains the limit of humor to hear the foreign policy elite of the Democratic Party attempt to blame George W. Bush for enabling Iran to become a global menace.  For it was a Democratic President, Jimmy Carter, who presided over the seizure of power in Tehran by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, with a mixture of ineptitude and admiration.  And it was Carter’s National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who oversaw this disastrous foreign policy.
Instead of the improved relations the Carter Administration predicted, the Iranians seized our diplomats, who were forced to endure 444 days of captivity.  They were only released after the Carter Administration negotiated a considerable ransom, when Ronald Reagan was about to be inaugurated. 
When the next Democratic Administration took office, the pattern continued.  Secretary of State Albright appeared at a pro-Iranian banquet to apologize for past American behavior, proposing "better relations."  But the Iranians, who declared us their mortal enemies upon seizing power, would have none of it.  Indeed, as the world knows all too well, the secret Iranian nuclear program was in full force during the Clinton years, as was Iranian support for Hezbollah and al-Qaeda terrorists. 
Under the Bush Administration, in contrast, the world community is now mobilized to put an end to the Iranian nuclear program, and this country is finally on record in support of the Iranian people's legitimate desire to be free.  The Democrats sought an accommodation with the Iranian tyrants, while President Bush is moving to spread freedom.
When it comes to foreign policy, at least the Democrats have the virtue of consistency.  Unfortunately, they have been consistently wrong for as long as I can remember.