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 Carter, speaking at his annual "Conversation with the Carters"
event at the Carter Center in Atlanta, recalled that the United
States accepted some 12,000 Southeast Asian refugees a month in the
late 1970s following the Vietnam War, hoping to set an example for
other countries.
"I'm hoping there will be a similar reaction maybe with Germany
leading," Carter, who served as president from 1977 to 1981, said of
the response to the thousands of refugees who have fled war-torn
Syria and are arriving in Europe.
The former president said the ultimate solution to the migrant
crisis was to revolve the war in Syria, and urged the United States
to work more closely with Russia and Iran to end the war.
Carter also called for more aggressive U.S. action against Islamic
State.
"I would not, at least publicly, favor sending ground troops in (to
Syria)," he said. "But I think we could have better surveillance on
our bombing and better analysis of what is going on there."
The 90-year-old former chief executive, who last month announced
that cancer had spread from his liver to his brain and that he would
begin radiation treatment, spoke for an hour, mostly on his
non-profit centers' global humanitarian efforts.
He briefly mentioned the treatment and did not accept questions from
the audience about his health.
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In addition to radiation, Carter said he has received a second
treatment of a drug called pembrolizumab, joking that "it took me
three weeks to learn how to say that."
So far there have been no ill effects from the drug, he said,
adding: "As far as what the positive effects were, we won't know
until later on."
The treatment requires heavy fluid intake and Carter said, "Instead
of getting productive work done, I spend a lot of time in the
restroom."
(Reporting by David Beasley in Atlanta; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and
Miral Fahmy)
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