# Ahmadinejad Speaks at Columbia University



## foo32 (24 Sep 2007)

I'm sure this one will be flogged absolutely to death in the media, but if you live under a rock here is some "fair and balanced" coverage.  ;D

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297621,00.html

Personally, I'm astonished that so many Americans seem to have (already) been whipped into such a fury that they protest against the basic ideals of their own country -- that is the right to free speech.  I hope it is just a vocal minority.  It is credit that he was ultimately allowed to speak.

It certainly makes it clear that Ahmadinejad is rapidly losing the option to climb down on the nuclear issue to avoid war (if he hasn't already). He clearly doesn't want to fight and is trying to project that message,  but he just isn't reading the American mood very well at all. IMHO, if he has any sense, he'll climb down real fast and start digging for all he is worth.


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## GAP (24 Sep 2007)

Or the other option may be that the people in the US are buying not Ahmadinejad's brand of BS, and are judging him on his actions not his rhetoric.


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## foo32 (24 Sep 2007)

GAP said:
			
		

> Or the other option may be that the people in the US are buying not Ahmadinejad's brand of BS, and are judging him on his actions not his rhetoric.



Absolutely. I'd like to think that was never a danger though. His speech certainly emphasises that he is completely full of sh*t, but how far out on the left wing does one have to be not to have smelled that coming before he spoke.  I still strongly agree with allowing him to speak -- just as I support the right to make fun of what he said afterwards.


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## KevinB (24 Sep 2007)

foo32 said:
			
		

> just as I support the right to make fun of what he said afterwards.



  ;D

The issue I have with letting him speak is similar to letting Hitler take the podium as well -- It will get used across the world as a PR stunt.  teh same with his crap about wanting to lay a wreath at Ground Zero, IMHO actions speak louder than words - and for him to have ANY credibility he needs to STOP supporting terrorism, and stop sending weapons and trainers into Iraq and Afghanistan.

Plus there are a lot of stupid people across the world that will buy into his tripe.


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## ZBM2 (25 Sep 2007)

Curious to hear about anyone's opinion on his speech at Columbia U. Alot of rhetoric but if you've read or heard him before it was a definite departure from his past views but still consistent with the current  Iranian political ideology. Interesting to see if there are any takers to visit the universities in Iran. IMHO I thought he was polite, well-spoken and knowledgeable. 

ZBM2 K


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## Yrys (25 Sep 2007)

ZBM2 said:
			
		

> knowledgeable.



Well, he said "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country."... which start the audience laughing .

He denied having denied the Holocaust but  “There’s nothing known as absolute”

What so knowleagable about that ?

Ahmadinejad's remarks stir debate

University pres. slams Ahmadinejad


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## DBA (25 Sep 2007)

I don't support free speech for those who take it away from others through force which is what happens in Iran and several other countries. I won't forget so soon that they beat to death a Canadian reporter and then attempted to and were largely successful in covering it up. Just like any country without a free press what you read in Iran's papers is a facade and bears little relation to reality. It's hard enough to get reality when there is a free press and impossible when there isn't. Letting somebody do nothing but speak about the such a facade is to me the antithis of being a champion of free speech.


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## 1feral1 (25 Sep 2007)

I watched it on ya, FOX, and what a mess.

I am sure all that negative press in the US will be funnelled by AJ, to the arab world, fueling more hatred.

Oh boy.

Happy days,

Wes


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## retiredgrunt45 (25 Sep 2007)

This guy is a cancer like his clerical masters and we all know what we do with a cancer. YOU NUKE IT!!


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## Kirkhill (25 Sep 2007)

Actually, I think the President of Columbia may have done President Bush a solid on this one.  

For starters the Columbia's Presidenet got an opportunity to rip Ahmadinejad a new one live and in person on international television.  Then he got to sit back and watch the Ahmadinejad Follies as he comes out with startling observations as "Queer Iranians?....Not in my Iran".

Interesting that this was arranged by a member of faculty without clearing it with any higher. ( http://www.nysun.com/article/40142?page_no=2 )

More interesting that Ahmadinejad got to speak at the same campus he was banned at.  More Bureaucrats-in-Training.  Double-speak at its finest.  At the same time this makes for an interesting contrast to the UVSS kafuffle over the Canadian Forces recruiting.  At UVSS "The Guardians" want to keep the student body free of contaminating influences and suppress freedom of speech and association.  At Columbia "The Guardians" (many of whom I suspect wanted to give Mahmoud a platform to bash George) seem inclined to invite any body so long as he or she spouts the "Truth".  Right wingers need not apply  (http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/007074.html ) .

I do so love what universities are doing these days.  We have come such a long way from the days we debated the number of angels dancing on a pinhead.  Now we just invite the pinheads to speak for themselves.  So long as they speak "The Truth".




> Ahmadinejad gets rough welcome
> NAHAL TOOSI
> 
> Associated Press
> ...



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070924.wahmadinejad-interv0924/BNStory/International/home


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## ZBM2 (25 Sep 2007)

Thank you for your replies to this post. 
I understand, appreciate and welcome your diverse opinions.  That s also why I want to see Iran. Where it is not acceptable to disagree. 
I'd accept his offer to visit and invitation to meet and speak with Iranian University students. It would be an unparalleled learning experience and opportunity to see the real truth. Anyone else think so? Any Iranians weigh in on this topic?


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## foo32 (25 Sep 2007)

ZBM2 said:
			
		

> I'd accept his offer to visit and invitation to meet and speak with Iranian University students. It would be an unparalleled learning experience and opportunity to see the real truth. Anyone else think so? Any Iranians weigh in on this topic?



I chatted with some Arab students (I'm not sure of the exact nationality) on the campus of my university some years back.  The world view they expressed was jaw-dropping -- scary ideas of wild Jewish conspiracies that control the world (and the USA in particular).  At the time, I was floored that anyone would believe such stuff (it mirrored 3rd Reich propaganda),  but I've since been informed these views are actually pretty common in various Middle-Eastern countries.  After that, I figured I don't really care to know what the 'uneducated' segment of their populations believe.   IMHO, good-will and mutual understanding is not going to reach that area of the world anytime soon.


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## ZBM2 (25 Sep 2007)

I agree the mind-set is skewed. I want to know what an open minded person could expect to experience in the Islamic Republic of Iran while visiting Iranian Universities.


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## GAP (25 Sep 2007)

ZBM2 said:
			
		

> I agree the mind-set is skewed. I want to know what an open minded person could expect to experience in the Islamic Republic of Iran while visiting Iranian Universities.



Male or female? The experience would be radically different for each.


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## foo32 (25 Sep 2007)

GAP said:
			
		

> Male or female? The experience would be radically different for each.



Good point. I would imagine your religion (or lack of one) would also affect your experience -- most particularly if you happen to be identifiably Jewish.


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## 1feral1 (25 Sep 2007)

I laughed at the part where he said 'we have no homosexuals in Iran'.

The crowd laughed also.

What a serious freakshow!


Wes


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## foo32 (27 Sep 2007)

Here is the full text to Ahmadinejad's UN speech:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2007/iran-070926-irna01.htm


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## 2 Cdo (27 Sep 2007)

Apparently the Arabic versions of his speech were censored to not include any reference to homosexuals period. I guess it must be true that there are none in Arabic countries! :


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## geo (27 Sep 2007)

Guess the word doesn't exist in Arab.

How do you say.....
"Patrick fits Michael, and
Michael fits Patrick"!


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## civmick (28 Sep 2007)

In 1921, Lord Birkenhead (the Lord Chancellor) said of lesbianism: "I would be bold enough to say that of every thousand women, taken as a whole, 999 have never even heard a whisper of these practices"

God knows what he'd make of a girls gone wild video...


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## Flanker (29 Sep 2007)

Wesley  Down Under said:
			
		

> I laughed at the part where he said 'we have no homosexuals in Iran'.
> 
> The crowd laughed also.
> 
> ...



The point is in the second part of the quote that you omitted : "like in your country"
That is a whole different thing.

It is true that in many Eastern countries homosexuals have no such a protected and cultivated status as in US or Canada.

They consider it is abnormal. They have a right for this point of view.

They do not understand why a homesexual "family" has same tax status as normal family, like in Canada?

Why is people laughing?


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## 1feral1 (29 Sep 2007)

Flanker said:
			
		

> Why is people laughing?



WTF ar you gobbing off about?

People laughed, including myself in disbelief, that he actually thinks there is no homosexuals in his own country, and only in our 'Great Satan' culture.

In reality, they are butt slamming each other sensless, as they do in every society. It's called being a human (not my cup of tea) being, if they are that way inclined to be attracted to the same sex.

In Iran, being 'gay' may cost you your life, literally.


Wes


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## Flanker (29 Sep 2007)

Wesley  Down Under said:
			
		

> WTF ar you gobbing off about?
> 
> People laughed, including myself in disbelief, that he actually thinks there is no homosexuals in his own country, and only in our 'Great Satan' culture.
> 
> ...



You missed my point. 
The complete phrase included "like in your country". 
It is true that in Eastern cultures there is no open promotion and advertising of all these things.
Homosexuals may be present, but there is no such a public and media hype around them.


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## 1feral1 (29 Sep 2007)

No mate, I did not miss your point. You are being a smart ass shyte distruber.  Bee reading all your posts, and they speak for themselves.

Keep going the way, and I am sure you'll have the mods on your arse, if not already.

Wes


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## armyvern (29 Sep 2007)

Flanker said:
			
		

> You missed my point.
> The complete phrase included "like in your country".
> It is true that in Eastern cultures there is no open promotion and advertising of all these things.
> Homosexuals may be present, but there is no such a public and media hype around them.



If you think for one moment that Ahmadinejad meant anything other than 

"homosexuals do not not exist" in our country ... you are right the fuck out of 'er.

Get a grip on reality. I really wish you would quit trying to justify and downplay his absolute asshatedness. Bring on the tinfoil.

I can already tell the way you vote based upon your posts here ... it really is THAT obvious.


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## Yrys (29 Feb 2008)

I didn't think this "news" merit another thread as Ahmadinejad seems to have  the same kind of mind that denied homosexuality in his contry
(i.e. he seems 'batty')

from Agence France-Presse :

 Iran 'number one world power': Ahmadinejad



> President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared on Thursday that Iran was the world's "number one" power, as he launched a bitter new assault on domestic critics
> he accused of siding with the enemy."Everybody has understood that Iran is the number one power in the world," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to families who lost loved
> ones in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war."Today the name of Iran means a firm punch in the teeth of the powerful and it puts them in their place," he added in the address
> broadcast live on state television.
> ...



One has to wonder if he did it because of that (Wed., Feb. 27, 2008) :

Iranian official slams Ahmadinejad, policy

One has also to wonder if the legality of the sex-change operations is why homosexuals aren't recognise as having an existence there...

 Iran's Transsexual Revolution 



> According to some transexuals, their legal status in Iranian society has prompted hundreds of gay Iranians to apply for permission for sex-changes, which, if granted, would allow them to continue their relationship without fear of arrest.




Free To Be Female ( I can't retrieve a link to the full article)



> Explaining the apparent paradox, one Muslim cleric says that while homosexuality is explicitly outlawed in the Qur'an, sex-change operations are not.


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## Richie (1 Mar 2008)

I met some Iranians when I was at U of T back in the eighties and they were nice guys; very polite, very articulate and thoughtful. One of them, Reza, told that he originally supported the 1979 revolution because of what SAVAK did to his uncle. Reza joined the Revolutionary Guard, quickly became disillusioned and escaped to Turkey. My take on the Iranian Revolution was that the clerics used the uneducated masses to repress the educated, Westernized middle class. The question now is whether or not there's any remnant of that Westernized middle class left to spark a second revolution. If not, I really don't see much of a future for Iran.

Richie


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