I don't have a problem in principle with Columbia giving this guy a forum to speak, provided there is a legitimate opportunity for questions. It really is a learning opportunity for students. How many times can you look evil right in the face? Of course, there are benefits to him. He can say he heroically challenged the US before a major university. No doubt his stature will increase, unless it is a total debacle. I doubt it will be because Columbia will have a squadron of security ready to taser anyone who is impudent to him. Of course, the real objection is not that he has an opportunity to speak, but that Columbia and other universities shamelessly censor conservative speech, either outright or by tolerating thuggish tactics by leftwing students. I can't see how this will hurt however. Conservatives will be able to point to this speech and demand equal consideration. Of course, they won't get it, but it will serve to highlight the bias of what are supposed to be our great centers of intellectual freedom.
Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't trust the guy. However, he did a pretty job on 60 Minutes last night. If you didn't know who he was, and just listened to his responses to some tough questions, you might just have agreed with him. "There is no need for war." And, "yes, Bush did good getting rid of Saddam, but he should have stopped then." Similar feelings are felt around the globe I think. But, as I said, even though we've been fed a lot of misrepresentations from the Administration, trying to convince us of Iran's evil intentions, I still have to say I don't trust this character. I also don't want to get into another darn war either. We've screwed this one up bad enough. c
Highlights from Ahmadinejad's Columbia Visit: Including Democratic presidental candidate rhetoric: (Ahmadinejad) directing criticism of the Bush administration and past American governments, from warrantless wiretapping to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And Intelligent College Students: Signs in the crowd displayed a range of messages, including one that read "We refuse to choose between Islamic fundamentalism and American imperialism."
Miles Moreland (emerging markets investor) of Blakeney Management: specialty, Africa and Middle East. I only took a cursory glance of Google and didn't find much but there is chapter in the book "Hedgehogging" about him. A few surprising comments about Iran. He is bullish on Iran. The only ME country that has western style elections. All citizens male and female have equal voting rights. It has an elected parliament. The population is young and dynamic and very interested in western culture. They clearly are chafing under the harsh dictums of the mullahs. There is a rudimentary stock exchange. Big country, aggressive people, evoving towards democratic capitalism. It is possible that a prosperous, progressive, democratic Shite bloc of 100 million people that includes Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan could become a counterbalance to the smaller Sunni gulf states.
Unbelievable to me he's in NYC and not wearing a suit. Great message to convey to the west on behalf of his nation - we're a bunch of fken animals wearing leisure suits. Don't know whose sillier him or McCain for not wanting him to go see WTC. Let him do whatever he wants - Mets, Met, carriage in park, who cares. Man is this nation gonna go on a bender in 1/09.
Holy shit....someone who actually knows his asshole from his elbow when it comes to Iran. Very refreshing.
Ahmadinjed is not a dictator...the guy is figurehead. He's virtually powerless in Iran. He's barely tolerated by the monied class.
I won't even get into the whole holocaust denial issue, because I doubt that matters much to you. Anyways, how's this for evil: The guy runs a government that executes Iranian homosexuals, and then he comes here and claims Iranian homosexuals don't even exist. On that fact alone, I'd think those on the far left should detest Ahmadinejad as much as everyone else.