Globe View
"Fiery give and take for Iran's president; Ahmadinejad draws protest, harsh words, lashes back in NYC" by Farah Stockman/Boston Globe September 25, 2007
NEW YORK - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran yesterday criticized the United States in a speech at Columbia University, saying US leaders spied on their own citizens and developed weapons of mass destruction. Moments before the Iranian leader took the podium, the school's president gave him a stunning tongue-lashing.
[Well, he IS RIGHT!]
Ahmadinejad, in a rare attempt to speak directly to the American public, insisted he wanted "brotherly" relations with the United States - as long as the US government lifted its economic and political embargoes against Iran.
NEW YORK - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran yesterday criticized the United States in a speech at Columbia University, saying US leaders spied on their own citizens and developed weapons of mass destruction. Moments before the Iranian leader took the podium, the school's president gave him a stunning tongue-lashing.
[Well, he IS RIGHT!]
Ahmadinejad, in a rare attempt to speak directly to the American public, insisted he wanted "brotherly" relations with the United States - as long as the US government lifted its economic and political embargoes against Iran.
His appearance came amid protests across the city and headlines declaring him a "madman" for denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be wiped off the map.
[I expect LIE REPETITION now]
President Bush has accused Ahmadinejad of running a secret nuclear arms program and of supplying weapons to anti-American insurgents in Iraq.
[I expect LIE REPETITION now]
Just before Ahmadinejad took the podium yesterday, Columbia University president Lee C. Bollinger - who had been under intense criticism for giving Ahmadinejad a high-profile forum for his views - called the Iranian president ridiculous and said his repressive rule in Iran smacks of a "petty and cruel dictator."
"Columbia has over 800 alumni currently living in Israel. Do you plan on wiping us off the map, too?" Bollinger asked, as Ahmadinejad sat nearby and the audience of students and faculty applauded.
[How INSULTING!!!
Especially with AmeriKa's SECRET WORLD-WIDE TORTURE CHAMBERS!!!
AmeriKa is the LAST COUNTRY to be LECTURING people these days!!!!!]
Bollinger later added: "Frankly, in all candor, Mr. President, I don't think that you have the intellectual courage to answer these questions."
[Then, WHY was he even there? He DID NOT have to be!
And he did COURAGEOUSLY ANSWER the questions after the INSULTING INTRODUCTION!!!!
If I were Ahmadinejad, I would never come back here.
Do you return to an ASSHOLE'S HOUSE again and again?]
Bollinger's fiery introduction added to an already extremely tense visit by the leader of a nation Bush branded part of an "axis of evil" in his 2003 State of the Union speech.
Bush, asked yesterday on Fox News about Columbia's invitation to the Iranian leader, said, "I guess it's OK with me," but added: "I'm not sure I'd have offered the same invitation."
As Columbia and Bollinger took fire for inviting Ahmadinejad, New York authorities rejected Ahmadinejad's request to visit ground zero, site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Ahmadinejad, in town for a United Nations meeting, will address the UN General Assembly today. In addition to the speech at Columbia, he also addressed the National Press Club in Washington, via satellite from New York.
Last year, he made a far less publicized appearance in New York before a select group at the Council on Foreign Relations.
[Yeah, WTF is UP with THAT?!!]
Unaccustomed to public criticism, the Iranian president smiled during Bollinger's introduction but complained to his audience.
"In Iran, tradition requires that when we demand a person to be a speaker, we actually respect our students and the professors by allowing them to make their own judgment, and we don't think it's necessary before the speech is even given to come in with a series of claims," he said, prompting applause.
[Good point, sir!]
In his remarks, delivered through a translator, Ahmadinejad spoke about the importance of neutral scientific inquiry and the need for "bullying powers" to stop creating weapons of mass destruction and stripping other nations of their wealth.
[He's RIGHT AGAIN!!]
He also appeared to shift his position on the Holocaust: Instead of declaring it a myth that Jews were massacred, as he had in a televised speech in 2005, Ahmadinejad said he believes that academics should freely question what happened.
"There are researchers who want to push the topic from a different perspective. Why are they put into prison?" he said, an apparent reference to the arrest of David Irving, a British Holocaust denier who was arrested in Vienna, where Holocaust denial is illegal.
[Free Speech West, huh? Pfffffttttt!!!]
"Given this historical event, if it is a reality, we need to still question whether the Palestinian people should be paying for it or not," Ahmadinejad said yesterday. "After all, it happened in Europe. The Palestinian people had no role to play in it," he said.
Along with condemning the US government's domestic wiretapping program and its development of chemical and nuclear weapons, Ahmadinejad took a series of written questions from the audience.
Instead of delivering straightforward answers, Ahmadinejad often turned the question on the questioner.
Asked about recent public executions of women and homosexuals in Iran, he responded: "Don't you have capital punishment in the United States?"
[Actually, yeah, we do!
It also strikes me that the U.S. government does the same thing the U.S. press accuses of Ahmadinejad:
Always TURNS the ATTENTION to SOMEONE ELSE, no?]
Asked for a yes-or-no answer on whether he hopes for the destruction of Israel, Ahmadinejad said, "I'm asking you - is the Palestinian issue an international issue of prominence or not? Please tell me, yes or no."
When pressed on the execution of gays and lesbians, his answer - "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country" - provoked jeers and laughter.
[That's because they are not like gays here! That's what he meant!
Not that none existed in Iran, but that they don't have the vocal, shove-it-up-your-ass, flaunt it type of vocal gays like the U.S. does.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.]
He said he wanted to visit the site where the World Trade Center twin towers collapsed on Sept. 11 "to show respect to the victims of the tragedy" and to speak to the press about the root causes of terrorist attacks, adding that Americans should question "what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved."
Despite the acrimonious exchange, Ahmadinejad ended his appearance by accepting Bollinger's request to allow students and professors from Columbia to visit an Iranian university to discuss free speech.
Ahmadinejad's speech - and Bollinger's combative introduction - drew varying reactions from students gathered to watch the event on a large television screen that had been set up on the campus green.
Shlomo Bolts, 19, a sophomore from Miami, said Ahmadinejad's stance toward Israel is not helping Palestinians build a better future:
"He's using the Palestinian suffering as a political tool. He doesn't care about them."
[Like George W. Bush uses alleged Iraqi or Iranian misdeeds as tools to initiate wars of aggression, tool?]
Tiara Francis, 20, a junior from Manhattan, did not like Bollinger's remarks:
"It didn't make [Ahmadinejad] look bad, it made us look bad."
[Yup!]
Neil Levine, a master's student in political science from London, exclaimed "Great speech!" in the middle of Bollinger's remarks about human rights abuses in Iran:
"I'd be surprised if Ahmadinejad has had such an attack. It is hard to know if [Bollinger] thought he had to do it because of the controversy, or if those were his personal views."
[How come the term "heckler" is not applied to this Zionist tool, but it is applied to antiwar protesters?
Sort of tells you ALL YOU NEED to KNOW about AmeriKa's shit MSM!!]
Times' View
"Ahmadinejad, at Columbia, Parries and Puzzles" by HELENE COOPER
He said that there were no homosexuals in Iran — not one — and that the Nazi slaughter of six million Jews should not be treated as fact, but theory, and therefore open to debate and more research.
[Why am I not surprised that the lead Zionist War Daily starts out with a hatchet job?]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, aired those and other bewildering thoughts in a two-hour verbal contest at Columbia University yesterday, providing some ammunition to people who said there was no point in inviting him to speak.
[Maybe it was the listener who was bewildered.
She obviously didn't watch the same speech -- or else the reporting is PURE PROPAGANDA!]
Yet his appearance also offered evidence of why he is widely admired in the developing world for his defiance toward Western, especially American, power.
[As opposed to ASSHOLE BUSH!!!]
In repeated clashes with his hosts, Mr. Ahmadinejad accused the United States of supporting terrorist groups, and characterized as hypocritical American and European efforts to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Mr. Ahmadinejad, adding, pointedly:
“If you have created the fifth generation of atomic bombs and are testing them already, who are you to question other people who just want nuclear power. I think the politicians who are after atomic bombs, politically, they’re backwards. Retarded.”
[Good point, sir!]
His speech at Columbia, in advance of his planned speech today at the United Nations, produced a day of intense protests and counterprotests around the campus.
It was a performance at once both defiant — he said Iran could not recognize Israel “because it is based on ethnic discrimination, occupation and usurpation and it consistently threatens its neighbors” — and conciliatory — he said he wanted to visit ground zero to “show my respect” for what he called “a tragic event.”
[Yeah, he put on a "performance!"
What SHIT REPORTING, 'eh, reader?
ZIONIST GARBAGE!!!!]
And he said that even if the Holocaust did occur, the Palestinians should not pay the price for it.
[And by implication, the Times is SAYING THEY SHOULD!!
Tells you all you need to know about this piece of Zionist shit!!!!!]
He began the afternoon on the defensive.
Lee C. Bollinger, the president of Columbia, under intense attack for the invitation — one protester outside the campus auditorium where Mr. Ahmadinejad spoke passed out fliers that said, “Bollinger, too bad bin Laden is not available” — opened the event with a 10-minute verbal assault.
[Chris Matthews said it was an hour!]
He said, “Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” adding, “You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.”
The Iranian president, who was seated 10 feet away from him on the stage, wore a frozen smile. The anti-Ahmadinejad portion of the audience, which looked to be about 70 percent of it, cheered and chortled.
[Must have been ANOTHER SHIT POLL by the Times!]
Mr. Bollinger praised himself and Columbia for showing they believed in freedom of speech by inviting the Iranian president, then continued his attack.
[Yeah, you are a REAL HERO, asshole!]
He said it was “well documented” that Iran was a state sponsor of terrorism, accused Iran of fighting a proxy war against the United States in Iraq and questioned why Iran has refused “to adhere to the international standards” of disclosure for its nuclear program.
“I doubt,” Mr. Bollinger concluded, “that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions.”
[But, of course, Ahmadinejad DID have the courage to stay and respond!
WRONG AGAIN, asshole!!!!]
Mr. Ahmadinejad did not directly answer the questions, but he did address them. Before doing so though, he pointedly added, to some cheers:
“In Iran, tradition requires when you invite a person to be a speaker, we actually respect our students enough to allow them to make their own judgment, and don’t think it’s necessary before the speech is even given to come in with a series of complaints to provide vaccination to the students and faculty. Nonetheless, I shall not begin by being affected by this unfriendly treatment.”
[Gee, Ahmadinejad really came out looking like the BETTER MAN in the exchange, didn't he, reader?]
Mr. Ahmadinejad’s much-talked-about appearance at Columbia was the opening act of a week of dramatic theater here as the United Nations General Assembly opened its annual session. He and his nemesis, President Bush, are scheduled to address the General Assembly today.
[But Bush NEVER engages in "political theater," right, stinkfuck Times?]
Mr. Bush, asked about Columbia’s decision to invite Mr. Ahmadinejad, told Fox News:
"[It is O.K. with me, but when you really think about it, he’s the head of a state sponsor of terror, he’s — and yet an institution in our country gives him a chance to express his point of view, which really speaks to the freedoms of the country. I’m not sure I’d have offered the same invitation.”
[Yeah, and YOU are a MASS-MURDERING WAR CRIMINAL, shitfuck shitlet!!!!!!!]
Mr. Ahmadinejad is allowed under international law and diplomatic protocols to travel freely within a 25-mile radius of Columbus Circle. But the police said last week that he would not be allowed near ground zero.
Inside the auditorium, the Columbia students laughed appreciatively when Mr. Ahmadinejad pushed back against the attempts by Dean John H. Coatsworth, the event’s moderator, to get him to stop rambling and answer questions directly.
Mr. Coatsworth asked: “Do you or your government seek the destruction of the state of Israel?”
Mr. Ahmadinejad dodged: “We love all people. We are friends of the Jews. There are many Jews living peacefully in Iran. The Palestinian “nation” should be allowed a referendum to decide its own future."
Mr. Coatsworth persisted: “I think you can answer that question with a simple yes or no.”
Mr. Ahmadinejad, having none of it, shot back: “You ask the question and then you want the answer the way you want to hear it. I ask you, is the Palestinian issue not a question of international importance? Please tell me yes or no.”
For that, he got a round of applause from the students, who had lined up four hours before the speech to get into the auditorium. Online tickets evaporated in 90 minutes last week, they said, almost on par with a Bruce Springsteen concert.
[This guy is HUGE!!! Selling out like the Boss?
Woooowww-eeeee!!]
Stina Reksten, a 28-year-old graduate student from Norway: “I’m proud of my university today. I don’t want to confuse the very dire human rights situation in Iran with the issue here, which is freedom of speech. This is about academic freedom.”
It remains unclear whether Columbia’s leaders were able to mollify critics through their critical treatment of Mr. Ahmadinejad. But they made some headway: the American Israel Public Affairs Committee sent out an e-mail message shortly after the speech with the subject line, “A Must Read: Columbia University President’s Intro of Iran’s Ahmadinejad today.”
Inside was a transcript of Mr. Bollinger’s introduction."
[Well, AIPAC is ALL HAPPY!!
What, they WRITE the THING for asshole Bollinger?
I never despised Jews before; however, I am really starting to get sick of their control over our intellectual "debates" in this country!
Makes me dig in my heels even further when I say "FUCK ISRAEL!!!!!!"]
Here is the FART-MISTING Times editorial:
"Mr. Ahmadinejad Speaks
There are many reasons why we find Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s policies and pronouncements loathsome. High on that list are his denial of the Holocaust, his call to wipe Israel off the map and his country’s sponsorship of terrorism. Equally loathsome is Iran’s denial of basic civil rights to its citizens, including the right of free speech.
[What else would I have expected from the Zionist shit rag?
LIE PROMOTION, right off the top!]
So we are dismayed by the behavior of some of New York’s democratically elected representatives who denounced and threatened Columbia University for inviting the Iranian leader to speak there yesterday. We can imagine no better way to give hope to opponents of Iran’s repressive state than by showcasing America’s democracy and commitment to free speech. And we can imagine no better way to lay bare the bankruptcy of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s views than to have him speak, and be questioned, at a university forum.
[Except that Ahmadinejad WON the DAY!]
Columbia’s president, Lee Bollinger, defended the event as in the best tradition of America’s free speech, then freely told Mr. Ahmadinejad: “You exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.” Mr. Ahmadinejad said he would not be “affected by this unfriendly treatment” and did a lot of bobbing and weaving. He showed his colors when, asked about Iran’s repression of homosexuals, he declared: “We don’t have homosexuals like in your country” — setting off hoots and derisive laughter.
[Of course, I expect the Times to go after that remark, while all the while IGNORING the LYIN' DIARRHEA SHIT that flows out of George W. Bush's mouth!]
Unlike Iran’s citizens, Americans have the right to laugh at leaders,
[Really?
That why Bush is SHELTERED from protesters, and why he only speaks before RIGGED AUDIENCES?
Haven't protesters been ARRESTED in AmeriKa, Times?
NO LAUGHING MATTER, you piece of Zionist shit!!!!]
as well as protest Mr. Ahmadinejad’s visit and Columbia’s decision to schedule his speech. The threats of possible sanctions against Columbia were an insult to that freedom. In an interview with The New York Sun, the speaker of New York’s Assembly, Sheldon Silver, warned that legislators might now “take a different view” of capital support provided to Columbia.
We hope cooler heads prevail once Mr. Ahmadinejad leaves town. And we hope that what Americans and Iranians will remember is that image of professors and students, in a true democratic forum, challenging the Iranian president for his Holocaust denial, his threats against Israel and the repression of Iran’s citizens."
[And I'm sure that is the way the SHIT ZIONIST TIMES will be "remembering" the event in the future articles in its "shit" pages!]
The Campus View
Carried in the Times, but it is a kid fluff. No real opinions in a garbage article.
"A Campus Buzzes With Protest and Political Debate" by KAREN W. ARENSON
Fatemeh Farsh, a slender woman with long dark hair, stood outside Low Library at Columbia University yesterday afternoon, holding a huge green, white and red Iranian flag, and talking earnestly to two students from Korea about homosexuality in Iran.
Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had just finished speaking in the campus center, where he asserted, among other things, that Iran had no homosexuals. Speakers in a student-organized forum were still parading to the microphone in front of Low Library. And gaggles of students were deep in conversation across campus.
Ms. Farsh, a graduate student in film who was born in Iran and came to the United States at age 4, gesturing at the two Korean students:
“Look at all the dialogue. On a regular day, I wouldn’t be talking to them, and they wouldn’t be talking to me.”
It was hardly a regular day. Columbia, which faced harsh criticism over its invitation to a political figure despised by many, closed its grounds to anyone without university identification for the speech.
[Bush was there?]
All day, the campus was percolating with political debate as students turned out to protest, listen to and dissect the talk, and argue about the sharp remarks by Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia’s president, in introducing the Iranian leader. Many students expressed distaste for Mr. Ahmadinejad, although opinions were more divided on whether he should have been invited.
Alexander Statman, a Columbia student from Los Angeles majoring in history and philosophy, said in the late afternoon after the speech:
“I feel invigorated. It is exciting that interesting and important things are happening here.”
[Me, too! Why do you think I am writing so much?]
By early morning, the campus was covered in fliers criticizing Mr. Ahmadinejad, although some others focused on democratic advances in Iran. Protesters roamed the grounds with signs like “Shame on Columbia” and “Why does the religion of peace need a religious police?”
Outside the campus, a demonstrator held a poster with a cartoon of Mr. Ahmadinejad bent into the shape of a swastika, and others had placards with a photograph of the shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, with the words “Long Live Iran.”
[No counterprotesers like at the antiwar rallies?
Or just not reporting it, Times? WTF?]
By noon, hundreds of students, some waving American flags, had amassed in front of Low Library, the administrative center of the campus, for a program organized by students representing all political views, including pro-Israel groups, gay and lesbian rights groups, Iranian student organizations, the Bahai Club and the college Republicans and Democrats.
Although many speakers discussed Columbia’s decision to invite Mr. Ahmadinejad, some took up other issues, like the experiences of Jews in Iran. One student read the names of children on death row in Iran.
[The hammering just never stops, does it, reader?
Maybe they could direct such searing probing at themselves for once?]
Sheenah Shirakhon, an Iranian Jew who grew up in San Francisco, took off the blouse and red skirt she had worn while speaking at the podium, revealing a silver bikini top that had “NO WAR” painted across it and shorts with “IN IRAN” painted across the back.
[Oh, I like her already!]
Scores of campus security officers, New York City police officers and Secret Service officials stood guard around campus. Outside on Broadway, crowds gathered.
As students waited in the glaring sunlight for the speech, some banged on trash cans, some played accordions and ukuleles, and some sang “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Others wore T-shirts saying “Ahmadinejad Fest ’07.”
[Fuck that nutty-crunchy lefty shit]
The crowds grew larger — there were estimates of 2,000 or more — to watch Mr. Ahmadinejad on a huge video screen. More than 600 people heard him in the Roone Arledge Auditorium in the campus center.
There were cheers when he spoke about the situation of the Palestinians, and again when he invited Columbia students and faculty to visit Iran.
Afterward, students said they found his links between science and religion ridiculous.
Sara Aries, a 21-year-old senior in studying forensics: “It was utterly disgraceful, and it was an utter waste of time. The man did not answer any of the questions that were posed to him.”
Nora Ganley-Roper, 21, a physics student, agreed: “For Columbia to stick out its neck, it would have been much more helpful if he answered the questions.”
[What about WHAT HE SAID?]
But students also criticized Mr. Bollinger’s introduction of Mr. Ahmadinejad, in which he said that the Iranian leader exhibited “all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator” and that in denying the Holocaust his statements were either “brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.”
A group approached Mr. Bollinger at 4 p.m., on his way to the class he teaches on free-speech issues. One, who declined to give her name because she lives and works in Iran, said she was insulted by Mr. Bollinger’s harsh language.
He responded, “These are very important things that have to be said.” Then he rushed off.
[Yeah, go RUN and HIDE, shitter!!
Problem is, the INSULT was a BIG DEAL!
A BIG, BIG DEAL in the Islamic world!
This "professor" really FUCKED US!
The Muslims look at the treatment and think, "What fucking assholes the Americans are!"]
But Elie Lehmann, a junior from Boston majoring in religion, said he approved of Mr. Bollinger’s remarks:
“Many people were upset with President Bollinger’s issuing the invitation. His remarks gained him a lot of respect back.”
[Yeah, with AIPAC!!!]
Amital Isaac, 18, who was wearing an anti-Ahmadinejad T-shirt, said that she was glad to hear from Iran’s president and that she thought the speech raised interesting questions:
“He began the speech with religion, and everyone on the lawn was rolling their eyes. They knew it was propaganda. But it got people talking, and that doesn’t happen every day. I was rather proud. I consider this the beginning of my political student career.”
[O.K, but what did you think of WHAT HE SAID?!
And WHY DIDN'T THIS "reporter" ask them?
Or was she censored?]
The Israeli View
ANALYSIS: The clear loser from Ahmadinejad's visit is Israel" by Shmuel Rosner Chief U.S. Correspondent/Haaretz
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia University in New York on Monday resulted in one clear loser: Israel.
In his speech, Ahmadinejad took aim at Israel. If he managed to convince one person of his views on Israel and Zionism, then he has already gained. If he managed to persuade 50, then he has gained even more.
For months, Israel worked fervently to prevent what happened on the podium Monday. For the duration of his speech, Ahmadinejad produced a televised illusion: It is not Iran versus the world, but Iran versus Israel.
[Incredible!
While the stinkfuck Israelis make the world fight their enemies!
What ARROGANT FUCKING SHITSTINKS!!!!!!!!!!]
If he manages to convince enough people of this, the mirage could become reality and Israel would be isolated, and that is exactly what Ahmadinejad is trying to accomplish.
[Oh, what a wonderful world!]
The visiting Iranian even berated his listeners for condemning him before they had given him a chance to speak. He patiently explained that their behavior was impolite. He went on to offer a thorough explanation of his Holocaust denial. All he wanted was to promote research in the field, he said. How could an enlightened university that supports freedom of expression oppose that?
[Yeah, well, I didn't want to KNOW the TRUTH, either; however, after the LIES of 9/11, Iraq and HISTORY... well,
It NEVER CHANGES with these guys, whether it is false claims in the Ukraine (reburying the "bodies" before anyone could see them), Treblinka, and record censorship (why?)!!
Take a look at the electronically-scanned totals!
The whole basis for their shitstinking state is a LIE!
These "records" have been kept secret for FAR TOO LONG!!!
You would think the sufferers of this alleged holocaust would WANT their stories out, not kept HIDDEN by GATEKEEPERS of a MYTH!!!!
So, SHOVE YOUR STINKASS FUCKING LIES, you lying, land-stealing fucking murderous shitstink state!!!!!!!!!!]
The protesters outside only served to reinforce his claims, as many were Jews wearing skullcaps who carried signs protesting his Holocaust denial and calls to wipe Israel off the map. To many, this serves as further proof that Iran is only a problem for Israel, or at most for the Jews.
[Well, if Israel would QUIT MAKING it a PROBLEM, I think things would be fine, Zionist shitfuck!!!!!!!!!]
Ahmadinejad aimed precisely for that. "It's the Israelis, stupid" was his primary message. Forget about the "Palestinian problem," Ahmadinejad was telling his listeners. "Instead, we need to solve the Israeli problem - and finally bring peace to the Middle East." While he did not explicitly reiterate his calls for Israel's destruction, in practice, the message could not have been clearer.
The pro-Israel camp consoled itself with the knowledge that those who are familiar with the regional complexities, and with Tehran's antics, will surely realize the absurdity of Ahmadinejad's proposal.
But the average American is not familiar with the regional complexities. He is tired of the region's fighting. To him, Ahmadinejad's idea may sound tempting."
[Yeah, we are all just a bunch of DUMB AMURKNS over here!
Well, considering the insult, why don't you go SHOVE YOUR FUCKING SHITSTINK STATE!!!
If I had my way, NO MORE MONEY and you would be CUT LOOSE, Zionist
shit-sucker!
We ain't dumb, shitter, WE SEE CLEARLY who the WAR-MONGERING AGGRESSORS are!!!!
Israel slaughters Palestinians, and they have ATTACKED Lebanon and Syria within the last two years!!!
Iran has INVADED NO ONE!]
Alternative View
From the Democracy Now program broadcast today:
"Ahmadinejad Speaks at Columbia Amid Protests, Univ. President Excoriates Iran Leader from Podium" Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/25/142240
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University on Monday, ahead of his address before the United Nations. Hundreds gathered to protest for and against the visit. Meanwhile, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger excoriated Ahmadinejad in his introductory remarks. [includes rush transcript]
World leaders are gathering in New York this week for the annual opening session of the UN General Assembly. With the ongoing speculation of a possible U.S. military strike on Iran, no guests are attracting as much attention as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad opened his visit with a public forum at Columbia University. A mixed crowd of protesters turned out to greet him. One sign read: "We refuse to choose between Bush and Ahmadinejad."
Democracy Now! spoke to some of the hundreds gathered outside the lecture hall -- both those protesting Ahmadinejad's visit and those curious to hear him for themselves.
Some of the voices from outside the lecture of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University. He was invited to speak as part of Columbia's World Leaders series. Before Ahmadinejad took the podium, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger used his introductory remarks to make clear the Iranian President was not a welcome guest.
Bollinger went on to challenge Ahmadinejad on his alleged support for Iraqi insurgents targeting U.S. troops, his government's nuclear ambitions and his inflammatory statements on Israel. Bollinger also chided Ahmadinejad for his comments questioning whether the Nazi Holocaust occurred.
After Bollinger spoke, it was Ahmadinejad's turn. He began by accusing Bollinger of insulting him and the audience. Later, he partly addressed some of Bollinger's questions.
Ahmadinejad went on to defend his government on human rights, nuclear activities and alleged involvement in backing Iraqi insurgents. He also appeared to question whether al-Qaeda was in fact responsible for the 9/11 attacks and suggested a hidden motive. And in a statement that drew wide ridicule, Ahmadinejad replied to a question on suppression of homosexuals by claiming that there are no homosexuals in Iran.
AMY GOODMAN: World leaders are gathering in New York this week for the annual opening session of the UN General Assembly. With the ongoing speculation of a possible US military strike on Iran, no guests are attracting as much attention as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He opened his visit a public forum at Columbia University. A mixed crowd of protesters turned out to greet him. One sign read "We refuse to choose between Bush and Ahmadinejad."
Before Ahmadinejad took the podium, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger used his introductory remarks to make clear the Iranian president was not a welcome guest.
LEE BOLLINGER: Frankly -- I close with this comment -- frankly and in all candor, Mr. President, I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will, in itself, be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do.
Fortunately, I am told by experts on your country that this only further undermines your position in Iran, with all the many goodhearted intelligent citizens there. A year ago, I am reliably told, your preposterous and belligerent statements in this country -- was at one of the meetings of the Council on Foreign Relations -- so embarrassed sensible Iranian citizens that this led to your party's defeat in the December mayoral elections. May this do that and more.
[And what happened to George W. Bush and HIS PARTY, fuckstick?
I care more about that than I do Iranian politics!]
I am only a professor -- I am only a professor who is also a university president. And today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for. I only wish I could do better. Thank you.
[Representing the civilized world -- and FAILING FAMOUSLY!!!!]
AMY GOODMAN: Bollinger challenged Ahmadinejad on his support for Iraqi insurgents targeting US troops, his government's nuclear ambitions and his inflammatory statements on Israel. He also chided Ahmadinejad for his comments questioning whether the Nazi Holocaust occurred.
LEE BOLLINGER: -- the failures of our own government to live by our values, and we won't be shy about criticizing yours. Let's then be clear at the beginning. Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator. And so, I ask you -- and so, I ask you, why have women, members of the Baha’i Faith, homosexuals, and so many of our academic colleagues become targets of persecution in your country? Why, in a letter last week to the Secretary General of the UN, did Akbar Ganji, Iran's leading political dissident, and over 300 public intellectuals, writers and Nobel laureates express such grave concern that your inflamed dispute with the West is distracting the world's attention from the intolerable conditions in your regime within Iran -- in particular, the use of the press law to ban writers for criticizing the ruling system? Why are you so afraid of Iranian citizens expressing their opinions for change?
[Forget Iran, what about Gitmo and the secret black sites of AmeriKa, shitter?]
AMY GOODMAN: Columbia President Lee Bollinger. After Bollinger spoke, it was the Iranian president's turn. He began by accusing the Columbia president of insulting him and the audience. Later, he partly addressed some of the Columbia president's questions.
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD: [translated] Why don't we encourage more research on a historical event that has become the root, the cause, of many heavy catastrophes in the region in this time and age? Why shouldn't there be more research about the root causes? That was my first question.
And my second question: well, given this historical event, if it is a reality, we need to still question whether the Palestinian people should be paying for it or not. After all, it happened in Europe. The Palestinian people had no role to play in it. So why is it that the Palestinian people are paying the price of an event they had nothing to do with?
The Palestinian people didn't commit any crime. They had no role to play in the World War II. They were living with the Jewish communities and the Christian communities in peace at the time. They didn't have any problems. And today, too, Jews, Christians and Muslims live in brotherhood all over the world in many parts of the world. They don't have any serious problems.
[Yeah, isn't that interesting?
VERY INTERESTING!!!!]
But why is it that the Palestinians should pay a price, innocent Palestinians, for five million people to remain displaced or refugees abroad for sixty years? Or is this not a crime? Is asking about these crimes a crime in and by itself? Why should an academic, myself, face insults when asking questions like this? Is this what you call freedom and upholding the freedom of thought?
And as for the second topic, Iran's nuclear issue, I know there’s time limits, but I need time. I mean, a lot of time was taken from me. We are a country. We are a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency. For over thirty-three years we have been member state of the agency. The bylaw of the agency explicitly states that all member states have the right to the peaceful nuclear fuel technology. This is an explicit statement made in the bylaw. And the bylaw says that there is no pretext or excuse, even the inspections carried by the IAEA itself, that can prevent member states' right to have that right.
Of course, the IAEA is responsible to carry out inspections. We are one of the countries that’s carried out the most amount of level of cooperation with the IAEA. They've had hours and weeks and days of inspections in our country. And over and over again, the agency’s reports indicate that Iran’s activities are peaceful, that they have not detected a deviation, and that Iran -- they have received positive cooperation from Iran. But regretfully, two or three monopolistic powers, selfish powers, want to force their word on the Iranian people and deny them their right."
Here is the full transcript of his speech.
