A week for presidents
It seems this week is New York City's "Bring a President to Work Day." From the Middle East to Middle America, foreign Heads of State are speaking out in the Big Apple on topics from global warming to the funding of Israeli terrorism to the "closed" issue of Iran's nuclear fuel production. Even The Daily Show got in on the action with Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Persian state Iran, spoke amid the outrage of much of NYC Monday afternoon at Columbia University. An event surrounded by unilateral criticism, the school received its greatest pressure from members of the NY City Council, demanding that the speech and succeeding Question and Answer session be canceled as it had been last year. Christine Quinn, on behalf of the council, demanded that Columbia cancel the speech, suggesting his motivation was "to spread his hate-mongering vitriol on the world stage." As USA Today noted on Saturday in a preview article, Ahmadinejad went so far as to request a visit to the WTC site, a point which further enraged New York residents and was outright denied by the NYPD (on the grounds of inadequate security for the Iranian president).
Despite increase pressure from the City and from national media, Columbia University persisted and the event continued as scheduled. What was questionable was the decorum of the city and university representatives responsible for introducing President Ahmadinejad. A rather profound move on the part of Columbia University president Lee Bollinger, the Iranian president was ushered in by the echo of scorn, "“…today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world, yearning to express their revolution at what you stand for. I only wish I could do better."
For a representative of one of the United States' most prestigious universities and as an ambassador of American will, Bollinger would have done better to simply cancel the event altogether if he couldn't keep his opinion to himself. I will state here that I am in general amused by the Persian president's vision of reality. For Bollinger, however, to purpose to know the will of a country and to insult a representative of another culture in such a manner is absurd. His conduct was completely uncalled for, no matter what level of truth laid behind it.
What followed was a bizarre circus of jeers and a few cheers for the rogue president while he labored on topics regarding the US and Iran. The Q&A was further intriguing, as Ahmadinejad equated Holocaust research to the quest for knowledge in Physics and called the United States a direct sponsor of terrorism in his country (see the Q&A in parts 1, 2, 3 and 4). He claimed the United States was not qualified to manage world affairs because of the denial of his trip to Ground Zero, calling the reaction "selfish" and indicative of "self-absorption." He continued, stating that the Sept. 11 event led the way to "six years of [occupation and] terror in [his] region." He denounced US posturing against Iranian nuclear production, citing our continued production of nuclear weapons.
In the end he made it quite clear how he feels about the United States, "...for 28 years [the United States] has threatened us, assaulted us, ... Sadaam the dictator was supported by the United States and other countries in attacking us, conducting an eight year war." In the same breath, he thanked Columbia University and its students, stating that they were "officially invited" to come to Iran and speak with its universities and people in friendship.
It seems to me that President Ahmadinejad performed exactly as he was supposed to in front of the youthful Columbia U. crowd. His tongue imparted its usual silver-gilded charm to wash over predictably dicey questions like "Will your country stop funding terrorism?" and "Will you sit down for talks with the United States?" His responses were predictable. Is it likely that Iran wishes to be at peace with the United States? What issues must the United States "set aside" for Ahmadinejad to be satisfied of our good nature?
What is also predictable is the response by Iranians to President Bollinger's scathing opening remarks. Outraged Iranian nationals protested throughout the Persian state following the speech, offended by the inappropriate welcome the foreign dignitary was given by the university administration. In this I would agree -- while I feel similarly to Bollinger, it was simply wrong for him to welcome Ahmadinejad to our country in such a way. I would go so far as to ask Bollinger to apologize for such indiscretion.
The lack of attention on the part of some of our national bodies is perhaps most intriguing. The White House simply said, "
- MattLutze's blog
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