Unfortunate Choice of Words

Ever-opinionated former President Jimmy Carter had this to say concerning the Palestinian / Israel situation:

"(H)ad I been elected to a second term, with the prestige and authority and influence and reputation I had in the region, we could have moved to a final solution."

Now, one could argue either side concerning Carter's claims of prestige and influence, which result largley from his "success" with Yasser Arafat (and we all know what kind of peace partner he turned out to be).

It is undeniably a serious verbal gaffe, however, to propose moving to a "final solution," in a situation involving Israel.