Was former president carter correct to speak with hamas?

KUWAIT CITY - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday the Bush administration explicitly warned former President Jimmy Carter against meeting with members of Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip and which is regarded by...

the U.S. as a terror group.

Carter said top Hamas leaders told him during seven hours of talks in Damascus over the weekend that they are willing to live next to Israel, but a top Hamas official said the group would never outright recognize the Jewish state.

Separately Tuesday, a Hamas official said the militant group has softened its demands for a cease-fire with Israel.

Spokesman Ghazi Hamad said Hamas is now prepared for a partial truce that would only include the Gaza Strip.

Don't you think that open dialogue should be part of our international policy?

Who says Hamas is a terrorist organization? the American govt who agreed to the elections, oversaw that the elections were democrtic and then decided to call them terrorists?

If you want to talk about terrorist acts, what was going into a country who hadnt done anything, killing off their leader, bombing, destroying it, taking it over, all without the support of the UN?

This administration needs to leave, their refusal to talk to anyone has already destroyed a country, killed thousands of their own people, and tanked the economy

I think it's very unwise to negotiate with Terrorists - their aim is one thing: Elimination.

I think all forms of diplomacy should be engaged. Hamas is now the official Palastinian authority, and to ignore that is not only stupid, it is dangerous, and will only lead to an increae in radical positions. Our goal should be to eliminate or reduce radicalism, and refusing to even talk to them does not accomplish that. In fact, it has the opposite effect.

isn't carter a super delegate, I think it's fine for someone in his position to speak with anyone,

this administration has isolated anyone who looks at us funny and doesn't follow its every dictated rule to the letter.
and I agree that all forms of diplomacy should be utilized.