Ahmadinejad questions 9/11, Holocaust

Swift19 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-25-2007, 10:10 AM

Ahmadinejad questions 9/11, Holocaust

By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 25, 8:04 AM ET

NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is addressing the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday after defending Holocaust revisionists and raising questions about who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks in a tense showdown at Columbia University.

Thousands of people protested Ahmadinejad's visit Monday and more were expected to rally in the streets Tuesday when the Iranian leader attends the meeting for the third time in three years.

In his speech Tuesday afternoon, Ahmadinejad is expected to take the same conciliatory approach he did in an interview with The Associated Press and in other appearances on Monday. He presented his country as a reasonable seeker of peace and justice and denied that it holds any violent intentions against the United States, Israel or any of its immediate neighbors.

He also denied all the chief accusations against Iran: that it is providing weapons to kill U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting terrorism or breaking international law by developing nuclear weapons.

Asked about his country's nuclear intentions during the appearance at Columbia on Monday, Ahmadinejad insisted the program is peaceful, legal and entirely within Iran's rights, despite attempts by "monopolistic," "selfish" powers to derail it. "How come is it that you have that right, and we can't have it?" he added.

Ahmadinejad portrayed himself as an intellectual and argued that his administration respected reason and science. But the former engineering professor, appearing shaken and irate over he called "insults" from his host, soon found himself drawn into the type of rhetoric that has alienated American audiences in the past.

Columbia's president, Lee Bollinger, set the combative tone in his introduction of Ahmadinejad: "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."

Iranian state-run TV channels on Tuesday showed news reports of the Columbia event and called the introduction "impolite." The English version of the IRNA news agency said that despite "entire U.S. media objections, negative propagation" Ahmadinejad still had his lecture and answered questions.

Ahmadinejad drew audience applause at times, such as when he bemoaned the plight of the Palestinians. But he often declined to offer the simple answers the audience sought, responding instead with his own questions or long statements about history and justice.

Ahmadinejad has in the past called for Israel's elimination. But his exact remarks have been disputed. Some translators say he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," but others say that would be better translated as "vanish from the pages of time" — implying Israel would disappear on its own rather than be destroyed.

Asked by an audience member if Iran sought the destruction of Israel, Ahmadinejad did not answer directly.

"We are friends of all the nations," he said. "We are friends with the Jewish people. There are many Jews in Iran living peacefully with security."

Ahmadinejad's past statements about the Holocaust also have raised hackles in the West, and were soundly attacked by Bollinger.

"In a December 2005 state television broadcast, you described the Holocaust as the fabricated legend," Bollinger told Ahmadinejad said in his opening remarks. "One year later, you held a two-day conference of Holocaust deniers."

Bollinger said that might fool the illiterate and ignorant.

"When you come to a place like this, it makes you simply ridiculous. The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history," he said.

Ahmadinejad said he wasn't passing judgment on whether the Holocaust occurred, but that, "assuming this happened, what does it have to do with the Palestinian people?"

He went on to say that he was defending the rights of European academics imprisoned for "questioning certain aspects" of the Holocaust, an apparent reference to a small number who have been prosecuted under national laws for denying or minimizing the genocide.

"There's nothing known as absolute," Ahmadinejad said. He said the Holocaust has been abused as a justification for Israeli mistreatment of the Palestinians.

"Why is it that the Palestinian people are paying the price for an event they had nothing to do with?" he asked.

Asked why he had asked to visit the World Trade Center site — a request denied by New York authorities — Ahmadinejad said he wanted to express sympathy for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Then he appeared to question whether al-Qaida was responsible, saying more research was needed.

"If the root causes of 9/11 are examined properly — why it happened, what caused it, what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved, who was really involved — and put it all together to understand how to prevent the crisis in Iraq, fix the problem in Afghanistan and Iraq combined," Ahmadinejad said.

President Bush said Ahmadinejad's appearance at Columbia "speaks volumes about, really, the greatness of America."

He told Fox News Channel that if Bollinger considered Ahmadinejad's visit an educational experience for Columbia students, "I guess it's OK with me."

But conservatives on Capitol Hill were critical. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said he thought the invitation to Ahmadinejad was a mistake "because he comes literally with blood on his hands."

Ahmadinejad questions 9/11, Holocaust - Yahoo! News

**Brother of Yeshua** · 09-25-2007, 10:37 AM

imo Israel was created as a wedge issue debate to avoid the fact that it was being used to create a foot into the middle east by the western world.

It's totally within the realms of possibility that aspects of the holocaust were fabricated. I have no doubt many died needlessly and that the Nazi regime was one of the most evil in our history, however, couldn't it be possible that it was exaggerated to illicit a response by the people to support the UN STEALING LAND and plopping a bunch of people down in it?

Perhaps all the facts as they've been presented are true, and perhaps we will never know completely, as so much time has passed, but it surely seems that we must at least investigate and entertain the ideas before dismissing them as insanity or propaganda.

This cannot be a debate about prejudice against Jews, as this is not the core issue. It is attempted to be made about this, which further increases suspicion on the matter. We have to have the intellectual courage to face tough questions like this.

And as far as 9/11 goes, well, just read through the threads on this board.

**Ristaron** · 09-25-2007, 11:00 AM

Iran had nothing to do with 9/11, and any subsequent alleged aid given to Iraqi insurgents by Iran to counter the U.S. troops is -- in my view -- justifiable in that the U.S. shouldn't have been there to begin with. I apologize if I offend anyone who's lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I may have done the same thing if I thought -- as the Palestine Administration may have -- that it would stop the advance of the U.S. troops so they couldn't get a foot hold and reach into the oil reserves from there.

I'm not saying that Ahmadinejad isn't a psychopath, he's done outright horrible things I would never beg to pardon, but if you look at it from an outsider's perspective, it's not outside of the realm of sensibility.

I believe that the wrong reasons are employed to explain why Ahmadinejad should not be allowed at the 9/11 Memorial. He had nothing to do with the event, but he has been responsible for events that led to the situation that precipitated the attacks. And he clearly doesn't give two shits about the victims of the attack, he's just in it for the publicity, thus acting as an accessory to murder.

RATSOADM · 09-25-2007, 02:15 PM

Yeah, IRAN was the only country to have spontaneous tributes to the victims of 911.

they condemned the attacks immediately.

Static · 09-25-2007, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RATSOADM

Yeah, IRAN was the only country to have spontaneous tributes to the victims of 911.

they condemned the attacks immediately.

I read somewhere that only a few hundred people held candle light services, how many people are in Iran? that's probably just a small fraction of a percentage who condemned the attacks...

I remember seeing Australia that day, they had people waiving American flags and singing songs n shit... No way you saw Iran doing that...

tonto128 · 09-25-2007, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ristaron

Iran had nothing to do with 9/11, and any subsequent alleged aid given to Iraqi insurgents by Iran to counter the U.S. troops is -- in my view -- justifiable in that the U.S. shouldn't have been there to begin with. I apologize if I offend anyone who's lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I may have done the same thing if I thought -- as the Palestine Administration may have -- that it would stop the advance of the U.S. troops so they couldn't get a foot hold and reach into the oil reserves from there.

I'm not saying that Ahmadinejad isn't a psychopath, he's done outright horrible things I would never beg to pardon, but if you look at it from an outsider's perspective, it's not outside of the realm of sensibility.

I believe that the wrong reasons are employed to explain why Ahmadinejad should not be allowed at the 9/11 Memorial. He had nothing to do with the event, but he has been responsible for events that led to the situation that precipitated the attacks. And he clearly doesn't give two shits about the victims of the attack, he's just in it for the publicity, thus acting as an accessory to murder.

agreed. he is a very smart man, though. he knows how to get our country to say offensive things regarding him, which in turn will likely become outrage in Iran.

RATSOADM · 09-25-2007, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Static

I read somewhere that only a few hundred people held candle light services, how many people are in Iran? that's probably just a small fraction of a percentage who condemned the attacks...

I remember seeing Australia that day, they had people waiving American flags and singing songs n shit... No way you saw Iran doing that...

Static, yes you did see that actually in IRAN, you have selective memory is all... they condemned it immediately as well as many Iranians on US soil including leaders.

Many countries "such as Saudi Arabia" celebrated the attacks on occassion (16 of the hijackers were from saudi arabia, none from Iran I may add)

BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Iran condemns attacks on US

Muslims Condemn Terrorist Attacks

tonto128 · 09-25-2007, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RATSOADM

Static, yes you did see that actually in IRAN, you have selective memory is all... they condemned it immediately as well as many Iranians on US soil including leaders.

Many countries "such as Saudi Arabia" celebrated the attacks on occassion (16 of the hijackers were from saudi arabia, none from Iran I may add)

BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Iran condemns attacks on US

Muslims Condemn Terrorist Attacks

thank you