I don't know how many of you remember, have heard of, or have participated in what's called Model United Nations. This is a program, sponsored by the UN, where students take the role of various countries in the world and act like they are actually in the United Nations.

I have participated 4 times in my life in Model United Nations. The first time was back in 1985. Back then, I was the delegate from...Iraq.

Yes, Iraq. Since then, I've also played the delegate from Japan, and Luxembourg twice. Every time I have played, the issue of terrorism has come up...and I stopped going in 1990. During this time, I heavily researched terrorism, terrorist acts, and terrorist organizations. Moreso than a certain group currently holding a convention in Boston ever has, it is obvious from the speeches last night. At least, moreso than former President Carter.

I bring this up because President Carter is the main reason we are in the situation we are today with Osama Bin Laden. It was under President Carter that we started propping up the Saudi government's oppression of their own people. We started selling them F-15 jets, to offset and counterbalance our sales of the F-14 to the Shah of Iran, who was supposedly our ally at the time. Carter's policy of not getting involved doomed the Shah, causing Iran to fall to the fundamentalist movement.

The fundamentalists were oppressed in Saudi lands, and saw Iran as a great victory. They figured that if one fundamentalist group could take over a powerful nation, then they could pull off the same in Saudi Arabia.

Instead of pulling out our embassy staff until things chilled out, Carter ordered them to stay put. Thus, when the embassy was taken over by the radical students, and then Carter's ineffectiveness in either negotiating a release or freeing them with the abortive military action, it showed the United States was just a paper tiger. We could be pushed around by the fundamentalists. This again emboldened the fundamentalists in Saudi Arabia.

Then, when the Soviet Union was being defeated in Afghanistan, it was President Carter who first ordered the aid to the mujahadin. This aid kept expanding as the Soviets sank into their own quagmire. The fundamentalists saw a way to get funds, by fighting the Soviets, but stashing away the cash for later use. President Reagan expanded the program even farther, on the philosophy of the 'enemy of my enemy is my friend', which was a mistake. This is when Osama Bin Laden moved to Afghanistan, to build up his anti-Saudi forces by using the money given to him by the same people still propping up his true enemy, the Saudi government.

Throughout this time, however, and up to today, terrorist organizations worked together. The Japanese Red Army, on the behest of the PLO, hijacked 2 Israeli passenger jets. The IRA was getting training in PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) camps in Yemen. Splinter groups formed, like Black September. Then, Iran and Syria joined in the mix, creating 'Islamic Jihad' and Hezbollah, to act in their interests.

Meanwhile, the Taliban was organizing in Afghanistan, in order to perform what the fundamentalists did in Iran. After the Soviets left, the Taliban used their saved cash to get the equipment to take over the country, despite opposition of the majority of the mujahadin groups. Osama used the Taliban as a cover for his own operations, now becoming a major terrorist threat against those who helped the Saudi government - primarily, the United States.

My point here is this: the vast majority of our problems in the Middle East were caused by President Carter's administration. So when he gets up in front of the French Party (as Ann Coulter calls them) and claims the United States has lost the 'trust' of the world, well...he was the one that started the problems in the first place.