“Sir, what were you thinking? The World Trade Center site is the most sensitive place in the American heart, and you must have known that visiting there would be insulting to many, many Americans,” Pelley [asked].
“Why should it be insulting?” Ahmadinejad [replied].
Interview with 60 Minutes
Many innocent people were killed there. Some of those people were American citizens obviously. We obviously are very much against any terrorist action and any killing. And also we are very much against any plots to sow the seeds of discord among nations.
Ahmadinejad later in the Interview
Pity poor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, puzzled President of Iran. He’s awfully confused about what all the fuss is about. All he wanted to do is visit Ground Zero in New York City, pay his respects to the victims of the 9/11 attack, and, just possibly, make some sort of statement about how bad terrorism is and how tragic 9/11 was. Of course, just whom he believes is responsible for 9/11 might be a question, given his penchant for odd revisionist theories about other historical events. But charity compels us to accept that he really isn’t sure why his presence there should be so disturbing. In fact, he’s sure it’s all just a misunderstanding.
And, doubtless, there could be some misunderstandings, so let’s take a moment and clear them up. Here’s a list of things Iran isn’t responsible for:
- 9/11 – that was al Qaeda, a fanatic Sunni Muslim group not Iran, a fanatic Shia Muslim country
- al Qaeda – that was Pakistan’s creation, in part with American funds sent to help fight the Soviets not Iran’s, which supported different vicious fanatics with other funds
- Saddam Hussein – really, Iran did its best to get rid of this jerk in the 1980s, and sadly their best just wasn’t good enough
- the Gulf War – Iran sat this one out, happy to see the Sunni nations beat themselves up, and even got a few fine Iraqi planes out of it
So, if anybody is mad at Mahmoud for this stuff, you should drop it, because it’s not really his fault.
On the other hand, there are a few small things that Iran is responsible for, and I’m thinking these might just have some bearing on why we just don’t like poor Mahmoud. These minor things include:
- sacking the US Embassy and kidnapping a bunch of Americans in 1979 (not only is Iran guilty of this, but in fact Mahmoud may be personally involved, as a leader of the student group responsible)
- blowing up the US Embassy and the US Marine barracks in Beruit, and the US Embassy in Kuwait in 1983 (via its wholly-owed subsidiary Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Al Dawa, an Iranian funded group opposing Saddam in Iraq, in Kuwait)
- hijacking airliners in 1984-1985 (via Hezbollah again)
- bombing a pro-Israel group in Buenos Aires
- providing safe haven/transit for al Qaeda members all the way up to the 9/11 attacks
- allowing senior al Qaeda and Taliban types free passage out of Afghanistan in 2002
- possibly allowing al Qaeda leaders to operate from “arrest” within Iran in 2002-2007
- giving support for the vicious (and now defunct) Islamist regime in Somalia
- giving support to Muqtada al Sadr and other anti-US factions in Iraq (and receiving support in turn)
So, quite a legacy of support for terror and violence, frequently against American interests or allies. (I guess that’s why they’ve been on the State Department’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism every year since 1984.) But all of this is dwarfed, of course, by the piece de resistance:
Since these insurgents are, after all, killing and maiming American soldiers (not to mention droves of Iraqi civilians), well, Mahmoud, you can pardon our suspicion that your tears for the victims of 9/11 are not exactly heartfelt. Especially when we recall your governments various working agreements with al Qaeda in years past. Call us sensitive, but we feel that if you’re actively trying to kill our soldiers, maybe you don’t have our best interests at heart. Let’s face it, there’s a term for countries like yours, and that term is: enemy nation.
And let us not forget Iran’s ongoing quest to develop the biggest bomb of all. That also makes us just a tad bit nervous, and makes us worry a bit that perhaps your stop by New York is for more than just sightseeing. A little pre-target recon, perhaps? Surely not, but you can see why we might be a little nervous, Mahmoud. Perhaps you and the nation you lead might consider actually acting like you want peace and stability instead of sowing chaos and terror in your neighbors and region.
And maybe, one day, you might consider apologizing for sacking our embassy, kidnapping its staff, blowing up a bunch of our other embassies, sponsoring hijacking and murder around the world, and taking an active interest in killing our soldiers in Iraq. In other words, before you start tooling around our cities, you might want to take some action to move your country out of its well-deserved doghouse.
September 24, 2007 at 8:17 am
[…] ist was dran Der wütende übergebildete Katholik schlüsselt im 12 Angry Men Blog die Probleme auf, die die USA dem Iran verdanken – oder eben […]
September 24, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Danke 🙂
September 24, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Good post.
We may want to make an effort to remember our little 1954 CIA adventure in Iran, too—the Iranians certainly do. 🙂
Nonetheless, Ahmadinejad can come here with a nice restrictive visa. As has been said several times in newspapers, if he wants to walk by the site he’s welcome to, but laying a wreath in an active construction site is kinda dumb, for one, and for two, who knows what publicity stunt he’s planning? His speech at Columbia will, I’m sure, be quite enough.
September 24, 2007 at 5:12 pm
###His speech at Columbia will, I’m sure, be quite enough.###
Seems like the audience couldn’t make up its collective mind. I’m sure it drew a real mixture of people ranging from Nation of Islam types to people who wouldn’t give Ahmie the time of day.
http://go.fark.com/cgi/fark/go.pl?i=3089590&l=http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_267142152.html
(Thanks to AM for forwarding this.)
September 25, 2007 at 2:21 pm
More on Ahmie:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401318.html
September 25, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Yet more on Ahmie’s visit to Columbia:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/welcome-to-new-york/index.html?ref=opinion
September 25, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Dana Milbank on Ahmie:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401471.html?hpid=topnews
Choice quote:
“Much of officialdom spent yesterday condemning Columbia University for hosting the Iranian leader while he visits the United Nations this week. There were similar protests outside the National Press Building in Washington, where reporters gathered to question Ahmadinejad in a videoconference. ‘Don’t give him any press!’ shouted one woman.
But that objection misses a crucial point: Without listening to Ahmadinejad, how can the world appreciate how truly nutty he is?”
September 25, 2007 at 7:09 pm
And another:
“Let him speak — let him open his mouth,” said Pearl Atkins, 74, a Manhattan resident who lost relatives in the Holocaust. “This is America; people get their say here, not like in Iran. He only makes himself sound more stupid with every word anyway.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092400168.html
September 25, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I admit to being torn on the issue of the speech. Mostly my sympathies lie with Pearl Atkins: let him speak and let his speech be judged for what it is. Generally speaking, the best way to fight error and evil is to shine the light on it: make it public, talk about it, analyze it in the cold, clinical light of day.
At the same time, I can understand those who think that giving Ahmadinejad a forum, especially one where he doesn’t have to address questions, is basically giving free publicity to someone who doesn’t deserve it.
Overall, I guess I think Columbia shouldn’t have invited him, certainly not without mandating some kind of discussion. But I also think he should have been allowed to give a public speech if he wanted. Of course that would be a security nightmare, so maybe New Yorkers wouldn’t thank me for the idea.
September 30, 2007 at 1:53 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/28/AR2007092801322.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
A letter from a gay Iranian.