In his recent letter, “Failure to pursue victory in Iraq will result in American vulnerability,” (The Citizen, Feb. 20), I am afraid that Mr. Hoffman has distorted and twisted my positions.

Mr. Hoffman writes: “Mr. Carter ... advocates negotiation with the surrounding powers and laments us not being buddy-buddy with Hamas and Hezbollah.”

In the letter to which he was responding I actually addressed ways that Iran could be thwarted from supporting Hezbollah by breaking Iran’s domination of Syria. I also proposed a way that Syria could be enticed from continuing its support for Hamas and Hezbollah. I also specifically referred to the goal of undercutting Hezbollah and Hamas.

I cannot imagine how these proposals were construed as a “lament” for not being “buddy-buddy” with these two terrorist organizations except that it may have been easier to argue against positions that I did not take.

Mr. Hoffman obviously did not like my suggestions regarding a possible Israeli/Syrian peace agreement and has distorted my position into the simplistic: “He also wants us to force Israel to give up the Golan Heights.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

Although Mr. Hoffman says he cannot believe Syria would be a partner in good faith and trots out his standard Neville Chamberlain comment, the fact is that Israel and Syria have been secretly negotiating return of the Golan Heights since 2004.

These negotiations were begun under Ariel Sharon and consisted of meetings between Alon Liel, the former director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and Syrian Vice President Farouk Shara and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem among others.

The negotiations, recently made public, call for Syria to limit Hezbollah to being strictly a political party and requires the expulsion of Hamas from Damascus.

Preliminary negotiations have reached an agreement highly favorable to Israel. The full draft agreement can be read in Haaretz, Israel’s largest newspaper, at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/813769.html.

I support allowing Israel to reach a peace treaty with Syria which involves return of a demilitarized Golan Heights to Syria. This is far different than the U.S. forcing Israel to give up the Golan Heights which is what Mr. Hoffman distorted my position into being.

Since these negotiations have been secret until recently, many people may be surprised to hear of them and may think that since preliminary negotiations have been completed and an agreement has been reached, that a peace treaty between Israel and Syria may be imminent. Would that it were so.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration, in agreement with Mr. Hoffman (“I have to side with the Bush administration on this one.”) has threatened to withhold part of the funds the U.S. gives Israel each year if Prime Minister Olmert pursues the peace treaty. The administration’s astonishing and incredible position is that peace between Israel and Syria would undermine the U.S. policy of regime change in Syria.

Mr. Hoffman also writes: “I would assume Bush is working with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Kuwait on resolving this issue.” Even if the assumption is true (notwithstanding that there is no evidence that it is) I believe that Kuwait and Jordan must be seen as ineffective actors in the region.

While I would welcome their inclusion in any regional negotiations, it must be recognized that these small countries, although deeply affected by the conflict, have very little influence in the region.

Saudi Arabia must participate as must Syria and Iran. Although Mr. Hoffman has made it clear that he does not believe these countries can be trusted, I would point out that peace negotiations are rarely held with friendly countries for obvious reasons.

Frankly, the administrations policies, which Hr. Hoffman has supported for years, have astonished me. These policies have alienated our allies, isolated the United States, emboldened the radical terrorists and greatly enhanced the stature of Iran as a regional power.

Mr. Hoffman has consistently supported every failed war strategy pursued by the administration. Now the administration is determined to enact a policy that all 16 intelligence agencies of the United States have unequivocally stated will not work and, not surprisingly, they have Mr. Hoffman’s continued support.

It is time for a new strategy in Iraq; one which engages our allies, reduces the inflammatory presence of U.S. troops in the region, does not require the U.S. to take sides in a civil war and does not equate diplomacy with appeasement.

I believe that most people who read my letters will agree that my proposal for a regional solution involving all of the major actors in the area, with strong influence from the United States and with support from the European Union and the United Nations, offers a better chance to resolve the conflict than continuing to follow the disastrous policies of the neoconservatives who have not been right about any aspect of the war yet.

Jeff Carter
Peachtree City, Ga.