Memo To Diplomatic Sophisticates: Ahmadinejad Did Not Get The Part Where You Meeting With Him and Being Nice To Him Was A 'Criticism'
There was a time when something like this would have provoked justifiable feminist outrage. That time seems long past...
After his prayers, Mr. Ahmadinejad stood at the head of a receiving line and, for two hours, said hello and shook hands with every single person in the long line—except the women, of course, who were content with an Islamic-appropriate hello and nod of the head.
... and if you want see how long past, try getting the New York Times to publish an editorial attacking fundamentalist Islam for being patriarchal. Or maybe suggest that the Pope should do it. Ahmadinejad had a fantastic time in New York - he got to talk to important people, he got to be rude to important people, and he got to be celebrated for being rude to important people. In response to someone's eyewitness account of Dachau, he more or less suggested that the guy was lying because he was too young to have been there. And the Council on Foreign Relations certainly played their part in inflating Hitler-wannabe's ego, not to mention the MSM's own five-time consecutive winner of Emoter of the Year Awart:
Anderson Cooper of CNN posed the softest if not most pro-Iran question of the morning when he asked about the country’s rather under-publicized but valiant efforts at fighting the Afghan opium trade. I realized later that the question must have been intended to help land the unscheduled short interview that Mr. Cooper conducted for CNN that night.
This part of the article is just slightly less predictable than the part where you learn that Ahmadinejad "expressed some interest in having Michael Moore attend". Of course he did. And of course, criticizing organizations and journalists who would give a platform and a megaphone to a man who wants to wipe out six million Jews is considered churlish - who would want to stand in the way of dialogue? Here's our suggestion: we don't think that he's really getting the message that people are 'challenging' him:
After the address was over, I was stopped by an African U.N. security guard; he begged me for a copy of the speech, saying it was the best thing he’d ever heard. I had left my copy behind in the booth. The Iranian diplomat with me promised him a personal copy on Islamic Republic of Iran letterhead...
"Let me explain a few points," Mr. Ahmadinejad continued. "One gentleman said the situation between America and Iran has gotten worse. No. It’s not worse than last year; it’s better. Better... Last year... we were under serious threats—military threats. Today, at the very worst, it’s economic threats, and even that — well, I don’t really want to say, but for those who would like to pursue them, the situation is not conducive... Even though there are those in America who would like to put pressure on Iran, they won't be able to. We’ve really progressed. You see, 118 countries [of the Non-Aligned Movement] have specifically supported Iran’s nuclear program. That's eliminated the excuse that four or five countries speak for the 'international community.' In Indonesia, when I went there, there were great demonstrations in our favor... And wherever we went in Asia, we heard shouts of 'Ahmadinejad, we support you against America!'"
"Two thousand Zionists want to rule the world. You can do it elsewhere," he said, as if speaking directly to the mysterious 2,000, "but not in Iran. It’s impossible—it’s not doable."
At least CFR members had fun "sparring" with Ahmadinejad in New York. And good for Anderson Cooper for landing that historic interview. We're sure that lots of people's minds got changed by both events. Well worth playing nice with the Man Who Would Be Hitler.
After his prayers, Mr. Ahmadinejad stood at the head of a receiving line and, for two hours, said hello and shook hands with every single person in the long line—except the women, of course, who were content with an Islamic-appropriate hello and nod of the head.
... and if you want see how long past, try getting the New York Times to publish an editorial attacking fundamentalist Islam for being patriarchal. Or maybe suggest that the Pope should do it. Ahmadinejad had a fantastic time in New York - he got to talk to important people, he got to be rude to important people, and he got to be celebrated for being rude to important people. In response to someone's eyewitness account of Dachau, he more or less suggested that the guy was lying because he was too young to have been there. And the Council on Foreign Relations certainly played their part in inflating Hitler-wannabe's ego, not to mention the MSM's own five-time consecutive winner of Emoter of the Year Awart:
Anderson Cooper of CNN posed the softest if not most pro-Iran question of the morning when he asked about the country’s rather under-publicized but valiant efforts at fighting the Afghan opium trade. I realized later that the question must have been intended to help land the unscheduled short interview that Mr. Cooper conducted for CNN that night.
This part of the article is just slightly less predictable than the part where you learn that Ahmadinejad "expressed some interest in having Michael Moore attend". Of course he did. And of course, criticizing organizations and journalists who would give a platform and a megaphone to a man who wants to wipe out six million Jews is considered churlish - who would want to stand in the way of dialogue? Here's our suggestion: we don't think that he's really getting the message that people are 'challenging' him:
After the address was over, I was stopped by an African U.N. security guard; he begged me for a copy of the speech, saying it was the best thing he’d ever heard. I had left my copy behind in the booth. The Iranian diplomat with me promised him a personal copy on Islamic Republic of Iran letterhead...
"Let me explain a few points," Mr. Ahmadinejad continued. "One gentleman said the situation between America and Iran has gotten worse. No. It’s not worse than last year; it’s better. Better... Last year... we were under serious threats—military threats. Today, at the very worst, it’s economic threats, and even that — well, I don’t really want to say, but for those who would like to pursue them, the situation is not conducive... Even though there are those in America who would like to put pressure on Iran, they won't be able to. We’ve really progressed. You see, 118 countries [of the Non-Aligned Movement] have specifically supported Iran’s nuclear program. That's eliminated the excuse that four or five countries speak for the 'international community.' In Indonesia, when I went there, there were great demonstrations in our favor... And wherever we went in Asia, we heard shouts of 'Ahmadinejad, we support you against America!'"
"Two thousand Zionists want to rule the world. You can do it elsewhere," he said, as if speaking directly to the mysterious 2,000, "but not in Iran. It’s impossible—it’s not doable."
At least CFR members had fun "sparring" with Ahmadinejad in New York. And good for Anderson Cooper for landing that historic interview. We're sure that lots of people's minds got changed by both events. Well worth playing nice with the Man Who Would Be Hitler.
