Jimmy Carter: “Peace and freedom are the most precious gifts we can give to our children.”

I think that sends a clear signal to Maliki that we won't be there indefinitely and my hope is that they'll be a commitment by the world community including the controversial nations of Syria and Iran.

But, when a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States of America as an animal, or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have…

Our great nation now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss. Without immediate action, we are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy.

That our country for the first time in my lifetime has abandoned basic principles of human rights.