Obama and Poland

Obama finally got around to acting as if he sort of cares about Poland when he went there as his final stop on his European tour.

From the BBC:

US President Barack Obama has reaffirmed relations between the US and Poland, as his six-day tour of Europe drew to a close.

He praised Poland's economic growth and its support of pro-democracy movements in North Africa and the Middle East.

Mr Obama also said the shelving of his predecessor's plan to build a missile defence shield in Poland did not put the country or region at risk.

Poland PM Donald Tusk said 0he had been reassured by Mr Obama's words.

In a brief press conference with Mr Tusk, Mr Obama said Poland was "one of our strongest and closest allies and a leader in Europe" and "a living example of what is possible when countries take reform seriously".

He praised efforts by members of Poland's Soviet-era pro-democracy Solidarity movement to offer support to Egypt's post-revolution government.

The BBC's Stephen Evans in Warsaw says Polish leaders had been hoping Mr Obama would rectify what many saw as a slight, when he cancelled President George W Bush's missile shield plan as part of efforts to "reset" US relations with Russia.

Many in Poland were disappointed when the US decided not to go ahead with the shield on Polish soil, says our correspondent, reading is as deference to Russia and as a sign of a lack of commitment to Poland.

Mr Obama repeated his insistence that the strategy was about reaffirming the Nato principles of mutual defence, saying it allowed their two countries to deal with shared threats.

Obama and the missile shield - another massive mistake among so many in Obama's foreign policy.

Read more about Obama's betrayal of Poland here and here.

Some video of Obama in Poland:



Not everyone in Poland gave Obama a warm reception.

From the Daily Mail:

Poland's former president and Solidarity founder Lech Walesa has snubbed an invitation to meet with President Barack Obama.

Mr Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, had been invited by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski to attend a gathering of Poland's leading political figures with the U.S. President in Warsaw on Saturday.

'It's difficult to tell journalists what you'd like to say to the president of a superpower. This time I won't tell him, I won't meet him, it doesn't suit me,' Walesa told news station TVN24.

...It is the President's first time in Poland and he will take the opportunity to hold political meetings that will focus on security, energy and joint U.S.-Polish efforts to promote democracy in North Africa, Belarus and elsewhere in Eastern Europe.

But hours before his arrival, Polish headlines were dominated by news that Mr Obama was being snubbed by Mr Walesa.

...Mr Walesa insisted that he preferred to travel to Italy for a biblical festival, and that he had no interest in a meeting that would amount to little more than a photo-op.

He did not divulge more but it seemed likely that Mr Walesa was offended at not being offered a one-on-one meeting with Mr Obama from the start.

...The aim of Mr Obama's trip is to inject new vigour in a relationship with an ally that has sometimes felt slighted by Washington.

...[U]nlike past U.S. presidents who visited Poland, Mr Obama will not meet or address the Polish public directly.

That deprives him of the chance to connect directly - and emotionally - with Poles in the way former presidents such as George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton did on visits to the country.

That will also make it harder for him to win over a nation that has never warmed to him the way many have in more liberal Western Europe, according to Marcin Zaborowski, a political analyst and director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs.

Obama was scheduled to be in Poland for less than 24 hours.

His photo-op visit doesn't alter his failure to safeguard the freedom of the Polish people.

Hey, Jimmy Carter! Read This!

JERUSALEM -- An 8-year-old boy and his older brother were seriously wounded Saturday when a rocket from Gaza slammed into the Israeli border town of Sderot, police and medics said.

The younger boy's legs were at least partially severed by the explosion, Israel's Army Radio reported. His 19-year-old brother was also badly hurt. A medic, who only gave his first name as Gil, said he heard a loud explosion and rushed toward the scene.

"I found two injured people, one boy very seriously wounded in the legs," the medic told Army Radio.

Israel threatened retaliation.

"Israel will take resolute and decisive measures to protect our citizens," government spokesman David Baker said. "We will not allow Israeli families to be victimized by Palestinian rockets in the heart of their own cities."

The militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for firing two rockets toward Sderot around the time of the attack. Two rockets had fallen earlier in the day, but caused no damage or injuries.

The Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip had vowed to persist in their attacks despite an Israeli cutback in power supply to the coastal territory that was meant to pressure Palestinians to stop the launchings.

The Israeli army and government have been reluctant to launch a large military campaign in Gaza against the rocket operation for fear both soldiers and Palestinian civilians would suffer a great number of casualties. But analysts say any serious rocket attacks will put great pressure on the political echelon to approve such a broad operation.

Jimmy Carter's Pro-Palestian Bias

During an interview with Charlie Rose on November 30 2006, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Carter's true colors were evident.

He acted as a PR man for the anti-Israel contingent.

He insisted that "Israel wants to confiscate Palestinian land."

He legitimized Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist.

Carter said, "Hamas can't recognize Israel until it stays within its borders."

He even claimed that he hadn't seen any proof that Hamas was responsible for lobbing missiles at Israel.

Sorry but that's not someone who's an unbiased peace broker.

Carter doesn't seem to understand that peace can't come at the price of appeasing terrorists.

Moreover, Carter doesn't seem to understand that his Hamas buddies are terrorists.
________________________

Watch the interview.

Bigot Arun Gandhi

UPDATE, January 27, 2008--

From the Tehran Times:

Gandhi grandson falls victim to Zionist lobby
__________________

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- Arun Gandhi said he learned at his grandfather's feet that the world's major conflicts can only be tackled by first solving the little problems.

"It's the little problems that accumulate and become big problems," the fifth grandson of revered pacifist Mahatma Gandhi said when he moved his M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence to the University of Rochester last June.

Now, intemperate remarks about Israel and Jews being "the biggest players" in a global culture of violence have gotten Gandhi removed as president of the peace center he launched in 1991.

"My intention was to generate a healthy discussion on the proliferation of violence," Gandhi said Friday, a day after the institute's board accepted his resignation. "Instead, unintentionally, my words have resulted in pain, anger, confusion and embarrassment. I deeply regret these consequences."

The institute offers courses, workshops and seminars on nonviolence and will "continue its mission" at the University of Rochester, which provides office space and staff support, said the school's president, Joel Seligman.

...Gandhi's resignation "was appropriate" because his remarks "did not reflect the core values" of either the university or the institute, Seligman said in a statement.

...Gandhi was on a panel of scholars, writers and clergy who discuss a new topic weekly on the Washington Post's "On Faith" page and his comments, posted Jan. 7, drew a torrent of criticism, much of it unfavorable.

Gandhi wrote that Jewish identity "has been locked into the holocaust experience—a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed. It is a very good example of (how) a community can overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends.

"The holocaust was the result of the warped mind of an individual who was able to influence his followers into doing something dreadful. ... The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on, the regret turns into anger."

Describing Israel as "a nation that believes its survival can only be ensured by weapons and bombs," Gandhi asked whether it would "not be better to befriend those who hate you?"

"Apparently, in the modern world so determined to live by the bomb, this is an alien concept," he wrote. "You don't befriend anyone, you dominate them. We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity."

It sounds like Gandhi has a lot in common with Jimmy Carter and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I see a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in Gandhi's future.

Iran and Democrats Claim Victory

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Democrats and their mouthpieces in the lib media are all on the same page.

They are all declaring victory, claiming to have defeated President Bush by proving him wrong.

They are slobbering all over themselves.

What did Bush know and when did he know it?

TEHRAN, Iran -- A new U.S. intelligence review concluding Iran stopped developing an atomic weapons program in 2003 is a "declaration of victory" for Iran's nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday.

The U.S. intelligence report released Monday concluded that Iran had stopped its weapons program in late 2003 and shown no signs since of resuming it, representing a sharp turnaround from a previous intelligence assessment in 2005.

"This is a declaration of victory for the Iranian nation against the world powers over the nuclear issue," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people during a visit to Ilam province in western Iran.

"This was a final shot to those who, in the past several years, spread a sense of threat and concern in the world through lies of nuclear weapons ... Thanks to your resistance, a fatal shot was fired at the dreams of ill-wishers and the truthfulness of the Iranian nation was once again proved by the ill-wishers themselves," Ahmadinejad said, drawing celebratory whistles from the crowd.

Iran has touted the new U.S. intelligence report as vindication of its claims that its nuclear program is peaceful and Iranian officials insist that Washington should take a less hawkish stance and drop attempts to impose new sanctions in light of the report's surprise conclusions.

President Bush defended his approach Tuesday, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it would be a "big mistake" to ease any diplomatic pressure on Iran despite the new U.S. findings.

Ahmadinejad calls the report a final and fatal shot to Bush's policy of diplomatic pressure on Iran.

Not surprisingly, the Democrats, ever useful idiots, are echoing Ahmadinejad.

From the LA Times:

Democratic presidential candidates teamed up during a National Public Radio debate here Tuesday to blast the Bush administration over its policy toward Iran, arguing that a new intelligence assessment proves that the administration has needlessly ratcheted up military rhetoric.

While the candidates differed somewhat over the level of threat Iran poses in the Mideast, most of them sought to liken the administration's approach to Iran with its buildup to the war in Iraq.

"I vehemently disagree with the president that nothing's changed and therefore nothing in American policy has to change," said New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. "We do know that pressure on Iran does have an effect. I think that is an important lesson."

Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the new intelligence report indicated that Iran dropped its program before international pressure came into play.

"It was like watching a rerun of his statements on Iraq five years earlier," Biden said. "Iran is not a nuclear threat to the United States of America. Iran should be dealt with directly, with the rest of the world at our side. But we've made it more difficult now, because who is going to trust us?"

...Edwards and Obama responded that they believed Iran was a threat to stability in the Mideast but that the administration was moving toward an unnecessary war.

"What I believe is that this president, who, just a few weeks ago, was talking about World War III, he, the vice president, the neocons have been on a march to possible war with Iran for a long time," Edwards said. "We know that they've prepared contingency plans for a military attack."

Obama, who missed the Kyl-Lieberman vote in the Senate because he was campaigning in New Hampshire, also drew parallels to the Iraq war buildup.

"What I've been consistent about was that this saber-rattling was a repetition of Iraq, a war I opposed, and that we needed to oppose George Bush again," Obama said. "We can't keep on giving him the benefit of the doubt, knowing the ways in which they manipulate intelligence."

It really makes me sick that these Dem candidates prefer to bash Bush and the "neocons" for saber-rattling rather than holding Ahmadinejad accountable for his defiance of the world community and his threatening, inflammatory rhetoric.

They treat the U.S. president as more of an enemy and threat to peace in the Middle East than Iran under Ahmadinejad.

While I think it's fair to question the President on Iran, it's reckless and irresponsible of them to take the emphasis off of the danger of Ahmadinejad.

He already has the blood of American troops on his hands.

Are Ahmadinejad's allies, the Dems, really serious about long term U.S. national security and the importance of stability in the Middle East?

They aren't acting like it.

If they are, how can they discount these words from Ahmadinejad?

"The Zionist regime is the standard bearer of invasion, occupation and Satan."

"With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of Lebanon and Palestine. By God's will, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future."

"Israel is destined for destruction and it will disappear soon."

"As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."

Do they think he's just kidding?

Are his statements kind of like those made by James Buss about the Columbine shooters as heroes and the need to take out West Bend teachers "one shot at a time"?

Just silly comments and not meant to be taken seriously?

Ahmadinejad doesn't really mean what he says. He just the master of parody, taking shots at the Bush administration's saber-rattling.

Clever guy.

Walid Shoebat and Ahmed Rehab

It was point/counterpoint last night at UWM.

Accusations of hate speech came from both sides.

Former terrorist Walid Shoebat was accused by the Muslim Student Association of hate mongering.

For his part, Shoebat accused Muslim Student Associations of "supporting Hamas and promoting hatred toward Jews."

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's account of the event is found here.

Self-described former terrorist Walid Shoebat told an audience of about 750 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Tuesday night that Muslims in the Middle East are raised to believe in the destruction of Israel.

But after his speech, which got a standing ovation, the question-and-answer session became raucous and heated.

One questioner, Abd Elhamid Elsayed, a Muslim opposed to Shoebat's message, didn't get to his question quickly enough for some people, who shouted at him to finish. Security officers pulled him away from the microphone.

Another man yelled, "Hallelujah!"

Shoebat said he was born in Bethlehem to a Muslim father and an American Christian mother held in the Middle East against her will. As a young man, he said, he committed acts of terror against Israel, including throwing a bomb at a bank in Bethlehem that he said killed no one.

He later moved to Chicago, where he said he openly advocated for the Palestinian group Hamas. He converted to Christianity in 1993 and lives under an assumed name.

"The idea of destroying Israel never left our minds," Shoebat said. "We didn't have any of the critical thinking you enjoy here in the West. . . . We had the idea that Israel must be wiped out, and we must establish a state."

The event was sponsored by the UWM Conservative Union. After the event, the Muslim Student Association held a counter-forum. Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, described Shoebat's speech as historically inaccurate and one-sided.

"What's his qualifications? He's not a scholar or even a Muslim," Rehab said. "He's an ex-terrorist, and you can guess what that says about him."

John McAdams gives a more detailed account than what the JS provides.

McAdams concludes:

We see his views as an authentic response to the real, virulent extremism and real anti-Semitism that he has seen. He is extremely passionate – some would say fanatical. But passion is an appropriate response to what he has seen.

But that’s not to say that his outlook on Islam is fair and balanced. It’s a legitimate response to an unbalanced set of experiences he has had. It’s not all of Islam, and probably not even most of Islam. It is too much of Islam.

That's very well said. "It is too much of Islam."

I think it's important to get some perspective on Ahmed Rehab and the Council of American-Islamic Relations. CAIR has been given legitimacy by the mainstream media, propped up as a civil rights group. But the organization is far from squeaky clean.

Read more here. Speaking of hate peddlers....

Remember the MSA tried to keep Shoebat from speaking by arguing that his appearance would be a threat to student safety.

The MSA wrote to the UWM administration:

[Shoebat's] writing and speeches have deliberately rotated around inciting Americans with fear of Muslims and Arabs, associating them with terrorism. The ramifications of allowing such hate-mongers to spread hate has been clearly driven in the physical attacks on Muslims, Arabs, or anyone with Middle-Eastern appearance following the events of September 11 th.

The Muslims at UWM feel that their safety will be in danger if the above mentioned event takes place on the UWM campus. We ask the UWM Administration to cancel the event due to these circumstances for the safety and comfort of the students. We take such an event as a direct attack on us and will hope the university will ask the sponsoring organizations to discontinue the program.

Well, the event did take place.

Things may have been heated at times during the question and answer period, but I'm not aware that the safety of any students was compromised.

Shoebat said what he wanted to say. Ahmed Rehab said what he wanted to say.

Ideas were freely exchanged, free speech and more free speech.

No violence.

I guess the sky didn't fall after all.

'N Gaza

Members of Hamas's "Protectors of the Homeland" police band sing in Gaza Nov. 4, 2007. (REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)


Don't expect music by Protectors of the Homeland to be topping any charts anytime soon.

GAZA (Reuters) -- Wearing blue camouflage fatigues and crooning about Islamic holy war, the five members of Hamas's Protectors of the Homeland police band are trying to boost morale in Gaza with an arsenal of anti-Israel numbers.

Standing bolt upright and staring straight ahead in their Hamas uniforms, the bearded men -- in their 20s and 30s -- are not quite Gaza's answer to international boy bands like Backstreet Boys or 'N Sync.

"Our duties are to boost the spirits with entertainment and encourage the forces," Hussam Abu Abdu told Reuters after a band rehearsal at the Hamas-run Gaza Strip's police headquarters.

Hamas's top police commander, Jamal al-Jarah, who is wanted by Israel, formed the band after the Islamist group seized control of Gaza in June following violent clashes with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction.

...The policemen shun the bump-and-grind dancing and sugary love songs favored by boy bands around the world. They sing about heroic fighters, Islamic values and love of the homeland, all recorded over backing tracks played from a laptop computer.

"O Jerusalem, rest assured we are the sacrifice," goes one song. "I will not retreat from my Jihad, I will not back down."

...The Protectors of the Homeland hope to boost their influence by releasing a cassette of their music, and are working on a video clip to showcase work done by Gaza's police force.

"We aim to entertain," Abdu said. "To help ease the people's suffering and at the same time we deliver a message about morals and values."

Boosting morale of suffering people is a noble undertaking.

Delivering the message of Jihad and death to Israel is not.
_____________________

Watch the boys perform here.

How to Observe the End of the HOLY Month of Ramadan

SOME faithful Muslims are observing the end of Ramadan by wallowing in hate.

It's been a tradition since 1979, when Jimmy Carter helped usher in the era of Islamic extremist rule In Iran.

Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day was the brainchild of Ayatollah Khomeini. In August of 1979, he said:

"I invite Muslims all over the globe to consecrate the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as Quds Day and to proclaim the international solidarity of Muslims in support of the legitimate rights of the Muslim people of Palestine." "For many years, I have been notifying the Muslims of the danger posed by the usurper Israel which today has intensified its savage attacks against the Palestinian brothers and sisters, and which, in the south of Lebanon in particular, is continually bombing Palestinian homes in the hope of crushing the Palestinian struggle. I ask all the Muslims of the world and the Muslim governments to join together to sever the hand of this usurper and its supporters. I call on all the Muslims of the world to select as Quds Day the last Friday in the holy month of Ramadan - which is itself a determining period and can also be the determiner of the Palestinian people’s fate - and through a ceremony demonstrating the solidarity of Muslims world-wide, announce their support for the legitimate rights of the Muslim people. I ask God Almighty for the victory of the Muslims over the infidels."

The faithful have followed Ayatollah Khomeini's call to "consecrate the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan."

Today, millions of the religious spilled out into the streets to participate in rallies to support Palestinians via the destruction of the "usurper and its supporters" (AKA Israel and the United States).

According to the Islamic Republic News Agency:

On the occasion of the World Qods Day, the Iranian senior officials by participating in a rally condemned crimes of the Qods occupying regime and its supporters and supported the oppressed Palestinians.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here Friday condemned the atrocities of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian people and said, "Why don't you let the black box of the Zionist regime be decoded? He asked supporters of the Zionist regime while addressing ralliers in the World Qods Day rallies.

"If the Western leaders are not members of the Zionist party, they should allow an international fact finding group decode the black box," he added.

"Nations should be allowed to conduct research on crimes of the Zionist regime and decode the black box for its atrocities," Ahmadinejad continued.

"They violate sanctity of prophets and insult human dignity and democracy and say they have nothing to do with these acts.

"You have turned what you call Holocaust into a holy issue and do not let anybody raise any question about it."

Ahmadinejad stated, "Events took place in the World War II.

Later, they committed a historical genocide in Palestine. They ratified unlimited and holy rights for themselves and introduced all nations as criminals.

"They allowed themselves to commit whatever crimes under the pretext of the Holocaust. They even built secret prisons in Europe and attacked and imposed economic sanctions against a nation who did not officially recognize the Zionist regime."

"Today, Qods is not an issue only related to Palestine and the Middle East but a case of world of humanity," Ahmadinejad said.

He stated that creation of the Zionist regime, continuation of its existence, its performance and unlimited support for the regime (by the US) are an insult to human dignity.

...[Minister of Culture and the Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi] said, "Qods Day is a day of confrontation between the whole blasphemy against the whole Islam and a symbol of shouting of the world oppressed people against arrogant powers."

Well, those are inspiring words from Ahmadinejad.

It boggles my mind that the end of the "holy" month of Ramadan is devoted to rallies calling for the annihilation of Israel.

How holy!

What a message!

Love and Peace!

Is this what Islam is really about?

TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday launched a new tirade against Israel amid growing tensions with the West, vowing to work to abolish the Jewish state and questioning the scale of the Holocaust.

Ahmadinejad said Iran would strive to liberate "all of Palestine" from Israeli hands, in a speech to mark the Quds day, where Iran holds its annual mass protest marches in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Tens of thousands of Iranians turned out for the march in central Tehran, carrying anti-Zionist banners, chanting "Death to Israel" and burning Israeli and American flags.

"The Palestinian people are standing firm. The Iranian people and other peoples will not stop until all of Palestinian territory is liberated," Ahmadinejad told the faithful at Tehran University.

...Despite the heavily politicised nature of the Tehran demonstration, there was a festive mood with the numerous children present having their faces painted as cats and rabbits in entertainment laid-on by the municipality.

"I come every year because the Palestinians are helpless and they cannot defend themselves. I come here to here to attract the world's attention to their plight," said Somayeh Salim, 27.

She was carrying an Israeli flag in her rucksack: "I am going to burn it."

Some photos of the Muslim faithful:


An Iranian demonstrator prays in front of an anti-Israel banner during Friday prayers, after a demonstration to mark Jerusalem Day in Tehran October 5, 2007. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN)


Palestinian supporters of Islamic Jihad burn representations of the American flag, as they march during rally marking Jerusalem Day in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 5, 2007.(AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)


Lebanese women wave Hezbollah and Palestinian flags as they gather at the Fatima Gate border fence with Israel to stage a demonstration for 'Al-Quds Day', Jerusalem day, in the southern town of Kfar Kila, Lebanon Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. Last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is observed in many Muslim countries as 'Al-Quds Day,' as a way of expressing support to the Palestinians and emphasizing the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)


Pakistani women stage a demonstration for 'Al-Quds Day' (Jerusalem Day), in Karachi, Pakistan on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Jamal Ahmed)


Protesters shout slogans to mark the International Al-Quds Day during a demonstration in front of Fatih Mosque in Istanbul October 5, 2007. The banner reads "Intifada in Palestine, struggle in Iraq will win". REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY)


Protesters attend a demonstration in front of Fatih Mosque in Istanbul, October 5, 2007, to mark the annual Al-Quds Day. The banner reads "Killer Israel get out of Palestine. Jerusalem has been under Zionist invasion for 40 years." REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY)


Palestinians children take part in a rally to mark the Jerusalem Day at the Yarmuok refugee camp near Damascus October 5, 2007. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA)


Afghan students at Kabul University burn an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush, as they shout anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans during an anti-Israel demonstration to mark the Jerusalem Day in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. Hundreds students show their support to Palestinian people. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)


Afghans carry effigies of the U.S. President Geroge Bush (L) and Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during an anti-Israel rally to mark Jerusalem Day in Kabul October 5, 2007. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN)

How are we to deal with this sort of extremism?

FIRST, there should be unconditional denouncement of Ahmadinejad's remarks. No wishy-washy, Dr. Phil-type analysis. None of that "Let's understand what makes them hate Israel and the U.S." stuff.

Ahmadinejad is a thug. Those buying into his philosophy are thugs. There should be zero-tolerance for Ahmadinejad's comments.

ZERO.

SECOND, any world leader or group who sympathizes with Ahmadinejad is as dangerous as he is. Any world leader or group who cozies up with terrorists in the name of helping the Palestinian people is a disgrace. Jimmy Carter comes to mind.

The civilized world cannot look the other way while the ideology of hate and war that Ahmadinejad and like-minded thugs promote gains momentum.

They are evil. There should be no hesitation to designate them as such.

THIRD, absolutely no nukes can be allowed to get in the hands of unstable warmongers like Ahmadinejad.

America, the Losing Team

Anne Applebaum believes in recycling.

Her column "Why They Don't Like Us, Would You Follow the Country That Bungled Iraq?" may cite new numbers but the message is the same. It provides no new insight and perspective.

It's the same old, "blame America first," Leftist crap.

"Why do they hate us?" Much ink has been spilled over the past six years in attempts to answer that question. By contrast, not enough attention has been paid to what is, in some ways, a more perplexing conundrum: Why don't they like us as much as they used to?

"They" in this latter question are our very, very closest allies. By this I don't mean France, or even Canada, democracies that are part of the Western alliance but that have never particularly warmed to the idea of American leadership, whether political or cultural. The French have always been huffy about NATO, and downright nasty about Hollywood; the Canadians have actually formed their national identity around being "not-Americans." No, the more interesting question is why support for American leadership has declined among our traditional friends: Britain, Poland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands.

And it has declined -- drastically. Since 2002, according to the latest German Marshall Fund " transatlantic trends" survey, support for "U.S. leadership in world affairs" -- that's whether they want to follow our political lead, not whether they think we're nice -- has plunged by 30 percentage points in Germany, 26 points in Italy, 24 points in Poland, 23 points in the Netherlands and 22 points in Britain. More generally, support for U.S. leadership, which was at 64 percent across Europe in 2002, is now at 36 percent (though that figure includes the touchier countries).

So what's the problem? Why have our allies lost faith in us?

Naturally, the trouble is what lies at the root of all the ills facing the world today -- Iraq.

...[W]hat our closest friends really dislike is not our traditional pushiness, our violent movies or even our current president (though they don't like him much) but our incompetence. A full third blame the perceived decline of the transatlantic alliance on the "mismanagement of Iraq." Not the invasion of Iraq, the "mismanagement" of Iraq. Which makes sense: If you're really worried about Iran, do you want to put your faith in the United States, the country that bungled Iraq? If you really care about Islamic fundamentalism, do you want to be led by the country that, distracted by Iraq, failed to predict the return of the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan?

"The country that bungled Iraq"?

Very nice.

If we're talking about blame here, I think it's appropriate to hold the defeatist Democrats and their media allies accountable for being bent on securing a loss in Iraq from Day 1.

It's kind of difficult to secure victory when so many in the country have invested everything they've got in America's defeat.

Applebaum has to be a bit concerned that her column is published on the day it's reported that Iraqi deaths fall by 50 percent.

The number of American troops and Iraqi civilians killed in the war fell in September to levels not seen in more than a year. The U.S. military said the lower count was at least partly a result of new strategies and 30,000 additional U.S. forces deployed this year.

Oh, no!

That's bad news for those making the case that we've bungled Iraq.

But why let such positive numbers like that get in the way of dire predictions?

Applebaum still foresees a bleak future for the U.S. and our allies.

...NATO will not fall apart because our president has been rude to his German counterpart or a few Britons don't get scholarships. NATO will fall apart, however, if its American leaders are perceived as inept. And even if the surge works, even if the roadside bombs vanish, "inept" is a word that will always be used about the Iraq invasion.

Good grief.

Applebaum is saying that even if the surge works, (and it certainly appears to be working), if the U.S. is victorious, Iraq will still be seen as a U.S. failure.

She's saying that victory in Iraq is impossible if even we successfully stabilize the country and the new government takes hold.

Applebaum has another prediction:

Countries that would once have supported American foreign policy on principle, simply out of solidarity or friendship, will now have to be cajoled, or paid, to join us. Count that -- along with the lives of soldiers and civilians, the dollars and equipment -- as another cost of the war. No one wants to be on the losing team.

This really ticks me off.

Applebaum has declared America to be the "losing team."

We are losers; no matter what we do, no matter what the outcome in Iraq.

It's too late. It's over. We're losers. Our military has been defeated.

In addition to our military losses, there's also our diplomatic losses to consider. She thinks that we've lost our friends in the international community. They'd have to be bribed to be on our side.

Really?

OK. Let's see how well they fare without us, the "losing team."

Let them deal with Ahmadinejad and other assorted nutjobs. Let them bear the burden. Let's see what kind of "winning team" they can field on their own.

And how do we transform from being the sorry losers that we are?

What will that take? Leaving Iraq?

Get a Dem in the White House and magically restore "team" morale?

Is that what it will take for our former friends to like us again?

It's not what our fair-weather friends think of us that concerns me.

It's how our enemies view us that matters.

I'm sure they'd love Applebaum's assessment of America as the "losing team."

IRAN SO FAR

Iran's Media Have a Point

The Iranian media's coverage of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Monday in New York was typically skewed. There were lies, distortions, and propaganda.

Some of the reporting was outright false, not unlike stories found in the American media by CBS and the New York Times.

Although I am in no way endorsing any of the policies of Iran, I admit that some of the commentary on Ahmadinejad's visit was fair.

TEHRAN, Sept. 25 -- Iranian state television on Tuesday sharply criticized the way President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been treated during his Columbia University talk and asserted that he had triumphed over his adversarial hosts, whom it described as Zionist Jews.

Commentary, interviews and video broadcast in Iran of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s appearance at Columbia on Monday depicted a resolute leader who overcame an ambush of personal insults to present his views on topics like the Holocaust, Israel, the Palestinians and nuclear weapons, views that were described as having been well received by the audience.

“In the end, who was the winner?” asked one television commentator, leaving the answer to a quote from John R. Bolton, a former American ambassador to the United Nations and an outspoken Iran critic, who said Mr. Ahmadinejad was the “big winner” for being able to talk at the university.

The evening news showed scenes of the large crowd that Mr. Ahmadinejad’s talk had drawn inside and outside the university. “Mr. Ahmadinejad was the center of the world news for the past few days,” said the reporter.

“Some media even called on students to boycott the speech,” the reporter added, saying that instead Mr. Ahmadinejad got a warm welcome.

The program repeated scenes that showed the audience cheering Mr. Ahmadinejad, suggesting that a lot of the audience was made up of his supporters. “I saw even Jewish students who walked out of the talk saying Mr. Ahmadinejad was very convincing,” a woman wearing a head scarf told the program in English.

It also pointed out that the president of Columbia, Lee C. Bollinger, had made insulting remarks, without elaborating on them. Mr. Bollinger had said that Mr. Ahmadinejad exhibited “all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” and that he was “brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.”

The television broadcasts also showed video of the audience booing Mr. Ahmadinejad when he said there were no homosexuals in Iran. It added that a protest was orchestrated by a Zionist lobby that had brought schoolchildren.

Mohsen Rezai, a former head of the Revolutionary Guards, denounced on the state-run news channel the inhospitable treatment of Mr. Ahmadinejad. “He is the president of a country,” he said. “It is shocking that a country that claims to be civilized treats him that way.”

Obviously, Iran's media have an anti-Israel agenda. That should come as no surprise.

It's also no surprise that Ahmadinejad would be depicted as bravely and triumphantly standing up to the Zionist Jews.

Regarding the denouncements of how the Iranian president was treated by his hosts at Columbia University, I agree with the assessment that Ahmadinejad was subjected to personal insults that were most definitely inhospitable.

That's not to say that I disagree with what Bollinger said about Ahmadinejad.

However, I don't think it was appropriate for the leader of a foreign country to be invited to a prestigious American university only to have its president rip him to shreds.

How could that have been avoided?

AHMADINEJAD SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INVITED TO SPEAK AT COLUMBIA.

If President Bush had been invited to speak at a university in Iran and if prior to his address, the university's president had berated him the way Bollinger berated Ahmadinejad, I would consider that offensive and an insult to all Americans.

It was wrong for Bollinger to slam Ahmadinejad the way he did.

If Bollinger and Columbia University didn't intend treat Ahmadinejad with at least some degree of respect and civility, then the Holocaust denier, anti-Semite, liar with the blood of Americans on his hands should not have been invited to speak in the first place.

...“New York is the headquarters of Zionist Jews, and they have control over Columbia University,” he said. “It seems that our diplomacy apparatus had not given complete information to the president.”

Ahmadinejad's Very Bad Day

"What's the deal? I thought you liked me."

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran speaks at Columbia University Monday, Sept. 24, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)


I think Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did more interviews and had more face time on TV yesterday than Hillary Clinton did on Sunday.

He was everywhere.

He was on network, cable, and public television.

There was the National Press Club videoconference luncheon and the Columbia University appearance.

Most of the time, he was smiling. He was smiling and lying.

It seemed like he was trying to be charming, fully expecting to be embraced by the American people, bound by their common enemy -- George W. Bush.

It was a bit odd how tough the Lefties were on Ahmadinejad.

It must have pained them to attack the Iranian president, but they did.

They were critical of him. They challenged him. They belittled him. They laughed at him.

In short, they treated him like they treat President Bush.

It was weird for them to acknowledge the madman that Ahmadinejad is because usually they are basically on the same page.

Case in point: Jimmy Carter

ATLANTA -- Speaking at Emory University, Carter, who brokered the 1979 Camp David peace accord between Israel and Egypt, said Israel's superior military power and distance from Iran likely are enough to discourage an actual attack.

"Iran is quite distant from Israel," said Carter, 83. "I think it would be almost inconceivable that Iran would commit suicide by launching one or two missiles of any kind against the nation of Israel."

...Carter said unease between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank is a far greater threat to Israel's security than Iran. He criticized the Bush administration for not doing enough to broker peace in the region.

In other words, Iran is good. The U.S. under George Bush and puppet Israel are bad.

I really don't think Ahmadinejad was prepared to face the challenges he did yesterday from the usually friendly Left.

In his "please don't take our funding away" CYA speech, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger was relentless.

(Full transcript of Bollinger's blistering introductory remarks)

After laying out a litany of questions/ charges, Bollinger closed with this:

Frankly, and in all candor, Mr. President, I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do. Fortunately, I am told by experts on your country, that this only further undermines your position in Iran with all the many good-hearted, intelligent citizens there. A year ago, I am reliably told, your preposterous and belligerent statements in this country (as in your meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations) so embarrassed sensible Iranian citizens that this led to your party’s defeat in the December mayoral elections. May this do that and more.

Nonetheless, the Islamic Republic News Agency painted Ahmadinejad's appearance at Columbia as a triumph. No surprise there.

Despite entire US media objections, negative propagation and hue and cry in recent days over IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's scheduled address at Colombia University, he gave his lecture and answered students questions here on Monday afternoon.

On second day of his entry in New York, and amid standing ovation of the audience that had attended the hall where the Iranian President was to give his lecture as of early hours of the day, Ahmadinejad said that Iran is not going to attack any country in the world.

Before President Ahamadinejad's address, Colombia (Note: The IRNA can't spell.) University Chancellor in a brief address told the audience that they would have the chance to hear Iran's stands as the Iranian President would put them forth.

That's a sanitized version of events.

He said that the Iranians are a peace loving nation, they hate war, and all types of aggression.

Referring to the technological achievements of the Iranian nation in the course of recent years, the president considered them as a sign for the Iranians' resolute will for achieving sustainable development and rapid advancement.

The audience on repeated occasion applauded Ahmadinejad when he touched on international crises.

At the end of his address President Ahmadinejad answered the students' questions on such issues as Israel, Palestine, Iran's nuclear program, the status of women in Iran and a number of other matters.

The truth is Ahmadinejad is an intolerant, warmongering, lying, threat to the world.

And the Left looked so foolish. These people have spent years attacking Bush. Bush is the greatest threat to world peace. Bush is the terrorist. Bush is the enemy.

All of that crap for all of these years.

Doesn't what Ahmadinejad had to say today illustrate that Bush is no Hitler, that he's not the real enemy?

Ahmadinejad echoed much of what the radical Left holds dear -- the 9/11 conspiracy theories, the certain defeat of the U.S. in Iraq, the depiction of Bush as an imperialist or a devil.

The libs are on board with Ahmadinejad when it comes to those matters.

But Ahmadinejad made a fatal mistake when speaking at Columbia.

There is no way that the Left can stay in Ahmadinejad's corner after what he said about homosexuals.

"In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country," he said. Above the guffaws from the crowd, he continued: "In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have it."

Good grief. And libs say that Bush and Republicans are hostile to the gay community.

Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier as well as a homosexual denier.

According to Ahmadinejad, "this phenomenon" is nonexistent in Iran.

Big, BIG mistake.

There's a lot that the Left will tolerate.

9/11 conspiracy theories and blaming Bush for the attacks, either directly or indirectly? Of course.

Sympathy for the Palestinians and disdain for Israelis? Absolutely.

Questions about the Holocaust? Not so much, but perhaps.

Iran being a gay-free zone? No way.

Ahmadinejad won't recover from that. His comments on homosexuals reveal that he is truly nuts, even by the Left's standards.


Has Ahmadinejad tripped an epiphany for American Bush-haters?

Did they learn something yesterday?

Unfortunately, probably not.


The nooses are tightened around the necks of two homosexual youths about to be executed in Iran. (Photo/ISNA)

Ahmadinejad: The Evil has Landed

NEW: Columbia University president Lee Bollinger rips Ahmadinejad.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the stage at Columbia University to a blistering welcome from the president of the school, who said the hard-line leader behaved like "a petty and cruel dictator."

Ahmadinejad smiled as Columbia President Lee Bollinger took him to task over Iran's human-rights record and foreign policy, and Ahmadinejad's statements denying the Holocaust and calling for the disappearance of Israel.

"Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger said, to loud applause.

He said Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust might fool the illiterate and ignorant.

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

Ahmadinejad rose, also to applause, and after a religious invocation, said Bollinger's opening was: "an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here."

"There were insults and claims that were incorrect, regretfully," Ahmadinejad said, accusing Bollinger of offering "unfriendly treatment" under the influence of the U.S. press and politicians.

Yeah, right.

The suggestion that Bollinger said what he did because he was pressured by the libs that rule the press is laughable.

If there's any pressure on him, it's coming from some alumni and people who write checks to the university. Federal, state, and local officials threatening to "defund" the university got Bollinger's attention. Money talks.

Ahmadinejad is nuts.

Much of what's said in the U.S. press and by U.S. politicians is indistinguishable from many of Ahmadinejad's lines.

Shameful, but true.

If by chance libs were genuinely disturbed by Ahmadinejad and what he had to say, perhaps they need to do a little soul searching. Make that a lot of soul searching.
_________________



He's here.

Not everyone is happy about it.

Some defend him. I won't.

The Iranian president, in his own words:

"The Zionist regime is the standard bearer of invasion, occupation and Satan."

"With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of Lebanon and Palestine. By God's will, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future."

"Israel is destined for destruction and it will disappear soon."

"Today, it has been proven that the Zionists are not opposed only to Islam and the Muslims. They are opposed to humanity as a whole. They want to dominate the entire world. They would even sacrifice the Western regimes for their own sake. I have said in Tehran, and I say it again here - I say to the leaders of some Western countries: Stop supporting these corrupt people."

"There is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will wipe off this stigma (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world."

"Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury, (while) any (Islamic leader) who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world."

"As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."

"We ask the West to remove what they created sixty years ago and if they do not listen to our recommendations, then the Palestinian nation and other nations will eventually do this for them."

"Do the removal of Israel before it is too late and save yourself from the fury of regional nations."

"Some 60 years have passed since the end of World War II. Why should the people of Germany and Palestine pay now for a war in which the current generation was not involved?"

"We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically continue to live," he said.

"Despite the barbaric and criminal nature of the occupiers of Jerusalem, the regime and its Western supporters do not even have the power to give Iran a nasty look."


"Behold, the rage of the Muslim peoples is accumulating. The rage of the Muslim peoples may soon reach the point of explosion. If that day comes, they must know that the waves of this explosion will not be restricted to the boundaries of our region. They will definitely reach the corrupt forces that support this fake regime."

What a guy!

Ahmadinejad's propaganda arm, the Islamic Republic News Agency, reports on his New York visit:

The Iranian nation favors peace and sustainable security based on justice and spirituality, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday after his arrival in New York.

Speaking to IRNA at the hotel of his residence, the president said Iran had a clear message for the world and effective solutions for the present international problems.

"We believe that sustainable peace does not mean to impose tranquility. We believe that the world can be run much more better than the present situation. We can avoid wars, threats, bloodshed and hostilities," said the president who is here to attend the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

Criticizing the present "inhuman acts" at the international scene and the existing "unfair relations" imposed by certain countries on other world states, the president said, "All nations like to have friendly ties with each other."
Referring to the mounting pressures against Iran, President Ahmadinejad said, "They (certain powers) cannot damage the ties between Iranian nation and other countries because nobody believes them for their wrong behavior and impolite approach towards other nations.

"They have no friend in the world," noted the president.

Stressing that Tehran "is not concerned," President Ahmadinejad added, "Our strategy is very clear. We say that justice should be for everyone and everybody should be equal before the law. No one is priveleged to others and no one has the right to impose his ideas on others.

"No one has the right to use force in international relations, occupy others' lands or resort to terrorism. These are the clear stands of the people of Iran and this course will continue," stressed the president.

Liar.

AP reports:

Before leaving Iran, Ahmadinejad said the American people have been denied "correct information," and his visit will give them a chance to hear a different voice, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Ahmadinejad has appealed to the American people before, distinguishing between the population and their government. Recently, he told a television show that Iran wants peace and friendship with America.

That's not consistent with this:

"Today, it is the United States, Britain and the Zionist regime which are doomed to disappear as they have moved far away from the teachings of God. It is a divine promise."

I may be going out on a limb here, but I don't think Ahmadinejad shares our definition of "peace and friendship."

60 Minutes: Liar Ahmadinejad

Scott Pelley did a much better job interviewing Iranian president terrorist supporter Holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than the fawning Mike Wallace did in August of 2006.

Pelley didn't seem to find Ahmadinejad as beguiling as Wallace did.

He was tougher; not hostile, but tougher.

Ahmadinejad smiled through most of the interview. It was weird, the smile of a madman.

Responding to a question, Ahmadinejad said, "I'm a Muslim. I cannot tell a lie."

LIAR!!!

So much of what he said was lies.

Pelley started things off with the Ground Zero controversy.

When Pelley said that it would be an insult to Americans to have Ahmadinejad go there, he started talking about what a peace-loving man he is.

Ahmadinejad claimed, "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."

LIAR!!!

This from the man who gets up every morning thinking up new ways to say he wants to destroy Israel.

Moving on to Iran's role in Iraq--


PELLEY: It is an established fact now that Iranian bombs and Iranian know-how are killing Americans in Iraq. You have American blood on his hands. Why?

AHMADINEJAD: Well, this is what the American officials are saying. Again, American officials wherever around the world that they encounter a problem which they fail to resolve, instead of accepting that, they prefer to accuse others. I'm very sorry that because of their wrong decisions taken by American officials Iraqi people are being killed and also American soldiers. It's very regrettable.

PELLEY: The American Army has captured Iranian missiles in Iraq.... There's no doubt about that anymore. The denials are no longer credible, sir.

AHMADINEJAD: If I may, are you an American politician? Am I to look at you as an American politician or a reporter? This is what the American officials are claiming. If they accuse us 1000 times, the truth will not change.

PELLEY: Are you saying that it is not the policy of Iran to send weapons into Iraq. Sir, forgive me, you're smiling, but this is a very serious matter to America.

AHMADINEJAD: It is very serious for us as well. I dare say it's serious for everyone. It seems to me it's laughable for someone to turn a blind eye to the truth and accuse others. It doesn't help.

And the reason that I'm smiling, again, it's because that the picture is so clear, but American officials refuse to see it.

This guy is all lies. It's nauseating.
_________________________

Video and transcript here.

60 Minutes: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Scott Pelley

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is making another appearance on 60 Minutes.

I guess since they can't get away with using forged documents to support trumped up stories, producers take solace in airing an interview with a sponsor of terrorism, a Holocaust denier, and a liar.

It was just over a year ago when Mike Wallace interviewed Ahmadinejad. Of course, Wallace was used by Ahmadinejad as a propaganda tool, and Wallace cooperated fully.

This time around, Scott Pelley will be doing the interview.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not press his plan -- just denied by New York City police for security reasons -- to visit ground zero in New York City, he tells 60 Minutes' Scott Pelley in an exclusive interview conducted Thursday in Iran.

The Iranian leader says he's skeptical that most Americans view his visit there as insulting as his intention was only to show respect. The interview will be broadcast Sunday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

...Asked if he intends to press his request to visit the site, Ahmadinejad tells Pelley, "Well, it was included in my program. If we have the time and the conditions are conducive, I will try to do that."

"But the New York Police Department and others do not appear to want you there. Do you intend to go there anyway?" Pelley asks.

"Well, over there, local officials need to make the necessary coordinations. If they can't do that, I won't insist," the president replies.

"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 says.

"Why should it be insulting?" Ahmadinejad asks.

"Well, sir, you're the head of government of an Islamist state that the United States government says is a major exporter of terrorism around the world," Pelley replies.

Ahmadinejad says: "Well, I wouldn't say that what American government says is a-- is the prerequisite here. Something happened there which led to other events. 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. Usually you go to these sites to pay your respects. And-- also to perhaps to air your views about the root causes of such incidents. I think that when I do that, I will be paying, as I said earlier, my respect to the American nation."

"But the American people, sir, believe that your country is a terrorist nation, exporting terrorism in the world," Pelley says. "You must have known that visiting the World Trade Center site would infuriate many Americans."

"Well, I'm amazed. How can you speak for the whole of the American nation?" Ahmadinejad says. "You are representing a media and you're a reporter. The American nation is made up of 300 million people. There are different points of view over there."

It's interesting that Ahmadinejad believes that he has supporters in America, in spite of what Pelley had to say.

Why would he think that? Why would Ahmadinejad think that Americans are on his side?

He most likely gets that impression from the Democrats. They're on the same page when it comes to Iraq and President Bush.

Naturally, he thinks Americans support him. Some do.

He has an invitation to speak at the prestigious Columbia University on Monday.

Not everyone is happy about that.

From the New York Times:

The university, while standing behind its invitation, came under harsh criticism yesterday from presidential candidates, the New York City Council, Jewish organizations and others for giving Mr. Ahmadinejad a public stage.

...Columbia officials faced harsh criticism yesterday from two Republican presidential hopefuls, Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn urged the university to withdraw the invitation, saying that Mr. Ahmadinejad was “here for one reason: to spread his hate-mongering vitriol on the world stage.”

But William V. Campbell, chairman of the Columbia board of trustees, defended the decision to have the Iranian president appear. “The freedom of our deans and faculty to create challenging and even controversial programs for our students is essential and sets a powerful example to the world about the strength of American universities and society,” he said.

...The only doubts about Mr. Ahmadinejad’s scheduled appearance at Columbia came yesterday from his government. Mohammad Mohammadi, a spokesman for the Iranian mission to the United Nations, said that Mr. Ahmadinejad’s schedule in New York was “still under discussion” and that his appearance at the Columbia forum could be canceled.

Columbia said yesterday that it was expecting a full house of 600 for the Monday forum, and was looking for ways to accommodate a larger audience.

Columbia said Lee C. Bollinger, its president, would introduce the event, which is part of the university’s World Leaders Forum, and challenge some of the Iranian president’s statements, including his call for the destruction of the state of Israel.

I know it's not certain at this time, but for the sake of discussion, let's say that Ahmadinejad does speak at Columbia.

Will there be an opportunity for members of the audience to ask questions?

If so, will Andrew Meyer be there?
____________________

Bollinger's Office
212-854-9970
____________________

Read Hugh Hewitt's column, "Columbia's Disgrace."

Columbia University was once led by Dwight D. Eisenhower. It is easy to guess what Ike would have though of the fanatic who will grace the campus Monday unless the Trustees of that university come to their collective senses and instruct the president, Lee Bollinger, to rescind this outrageous invitation. Ike had experience with Holocaust deniers:

When General Eisenhower learned about [Buchenwald], he immediately arranged to meet Generals Bradley and Patton at Ohrdruf on the morning of April 12th. By that time, Buchenwald itself had been captured. Consequently, Ike decided to extend the group’s visit to include a tour of the Buchenwald extermination camp the next day. Eisenhower also ordered every American soldier in the area who was not on the front lines to visit Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. He wanted them to see for themselves what they were fighting against.

During the camp inspections with his top commanders Eisenhower said that the atrocities were “beyond the American mind to comprehend.” He ordered that every citizen of the town of Gotha personally tour the camp and, after having done so, the mayor and his wife went home and hanged themselves. Later on Ike wrote to Mamie, “I never dreamed that such cruelty, bestiality, and savagery could really exist in this world.” He cabled General Marshall to suggest that he come to Germany and see these camps for himself. He encouraged Marshall to bring Congressmen and journalists with him. It would be many months before the world would know the full scope of the Holocaust — many months before they knew that the Nazi murder apparatus that was being discovered at Buchenwald and dozens of other death camps had slaughtered millions of innocent people.

General Eisenhower understood that many people would be unable to comprehend the full scope of this horror. He also understood that any human deeds that were so utterly evil might eventually be challenged or even denied as being literally unbelievable. For these reasons he ordered that all the civilian news media and military combat camera units be required to visit the camps and record their observations in print, pictures and film. As he explained to General Marshall, “I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to ‘propaganda.’”

His prediction proved correct. When some groups, even today, attempt to deny that the Holocaust ever happened they are must confront the massive official record, including both written evidence and thousands of pictures, that Eisenhower ordered to be assembled when he saw what the Nazis had done.

Eisenhower understood how propaganda worked, how the Nazis had used it through the '30s and the war, and how evil men would use it again in the future.

One such evil man is Ahmadinejad. It is inconceivable that Columbia will allow this anti-Semitic blowhard a podium, or in any way add to his prestige at a time when the world is attempting to halt this gangster state's illegal acquisition of nuclear weapons.

But what is truly outrageous is that Columbia does not see the deep dishonor it is doing to the men and women killed and wounded by the machinations of this man and the regime he represents. Some of those casualties of Iranian intrigue have come in Iraq just this year.

But Ahmadinejad’s rogue state has been killing Americans for far longer than that, and using terror against us since the presidency of Jimmy Carter.

Hewitt asks:

But what is it about academia that robs its elites of basic decency towards their fellow citizens that he would invite one of their murderers to grace the stage at one of the nation's greatest universities?

Where is the outrage among the faculty and the students? Where are the parents of the students?

Where are the Trustees and the alumni?

This should not stand.

Good questions.

Jimmy Carter, Iran, and Israel

Why would anyone listen to former President Jimmy Carter, that foreign policy genius, on matters of world affairs?

He was an utterly impotent American president. Besides being completely incapable of managing domestic issues, Carter was a miserable failure on the international scene.

Under his watch, Islamic extremism take root and flourished in the Middle East. Americans spent 444 days in captivity because he was utterly impotent when it came to handling the Iranian hostage crisis.

Carter was truly a disaster.

I've said before that Carter holds the dubious honor of being one of the country's worst presidents ever. More than that, Carter is even worse as a former president.

He's an absolute disgrace. He should be hiding away in shame rather than spending his later years acting as if he deserves to be considered the respected, elder statesman.

Carter doesn't deserve any respect for the way that he's handled himself during the Bush administration.

He deserves almost no respect for what he did to the country when he was president. His time in the White House stands as one of American history's greatest presidential train wrecks.

Nevertheless, Carter thinks he is brilliant and all-knowing and a gift to humanity.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Where does this guy, Mr. 444 days of weakness, get off talking about Iran being harmless to Israel?

ATLANTA -- Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday that it was almost inconceivable that Iran would "commit suicide" by launching missiles at Israel.

Speaking at Emory University, Carter, who brokered the 1979 Camp David peace accord between Israel and Egypt, said Israel's superior military power and distance from Iran likely are enough to discourage an actual attack.

"Iran is quite distant from Israel," said Carter, 83. "I think it would be almost inconceivable that Iran would commit suicide by launching one or two missiles of any kind against the nation of Israel."

Iran's deputy air force commander said Wednesday that Israel is within range of Iran's medium-range missiles and bombers and that Tehran would strike back if Israel "makes a silly mistake."

The White House said the comments almost sound geared toward provoking a fight and Israeli officials said they take the threats seriously.

Carter did not dismiss the idea that Iran might want to attack Israel, noting Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment production despite two United Nations resolutions imposing sanctions on the country. Tehran insists its nuclear program is aimed at producing energy for civilian use but the U.S., its European allies and many others fear the program's real aim is to produce nuclear weapons.

...Carter said unease between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank is a far greater threat to Israel's security than Iran. He criticized the Bush administration for not doing enough to broker peace in the region.

It really should come as no surprise that Carter would say that Iran would not attack Israel.

Carter is so anti-Israel that he even goes to bat for Iran! IRAN!

Carter's most recent comments are stunning.

He is disregarding years of threatening statements out of Tehran against Israel.

Perhaps an attack seems "inconceivable" to Carter because he is among the most vocal proponents of the "blame Israel first" crowd.

His pro-Palestinian bias is so intense that he doesn't hesitate to be an apologist for nutjob Ahmadinejad by defusing his vows to destroy Israel.

It's incredibly irresponsible, but it's exactly what I've come to expect from Carter, worst ex-president ever in my view.

Islamic Jihad Targets Israeli Children

Those poor Palestinians!

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian rocket exploded Monday next to a day care center crowded with toddlers in southern Israel, sparking anger and panic in the frequently targeted town of Sderot and bringing warnings of retribution from Israeli leaders.

No one was hurt, but the blast and the panic underlined Israel's ineffectiveness in the face of the primitive rockets, which fall daily despite frequent Israeli airstrikes and occasional ground offensives.

Terrified mothers rushed to comfort their screaming babies, schoolchildren ran for cover, and angry parents said they wouldn't send their children back to school until they get classrooms outside town.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged to provide "better security for the residents," indicating he would step up the Israeli offensive against Palestinian militants.

"We will not limit ourselves in regards to targeting the rocket launchers and those who dispatch them," Olmert said at a news conference in Jerusalem. "The instruction given to the army is to destroy every 'Qassam' rocket launcher and anyone who is involved in their launching against the residents of Israel."

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for launching seven rockets at Sderot. Hamas, the larger Islamic group that rules Gaza, was bracing for retaliation.

"We are taking this new threat by Olmert seriously," Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu said. "We are warning of coming massacres against the people in Gaza."

Let me see if I understand.

A Palestinian rocket explodes near an Israeli day care center but Hamas is proactively painting the Palestinians as the victims.

"We are warning of coming massacres against the people in Gaza."

Hamas is expecting "massacres."

If some rebels along the U.S. border were lobbing rockets into Mexico and terrorizing innocent Mexicans, I'm certain American authorities would root out the lawbreakers and put an end to it.

What's Hamas doing to stop the terror?

Crying on Jimmy Carter's pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli shoulder?

The onus is on Hamas and the Palestinians to put an end to the terrorists' bombardment of Israel.

According to the AP:

Sderot, a working-class town of 22,000, has been battered by thousands of the crude projectiles launched in recent years from the Gaza Strip, just a mile away. The unguided rockets rarely cause serious injuries or damage, but they sow panic.

22,000 rockets!

That's a war zone!

...On Monday, rockets exploded near several schools in town, just a day after the school year began. Images of students ducking into shelters, young schoolchildren wailing uncontrollably, and teachers shielding terrified toddlers with their own bodies outraged parents.

Batya Katar, head of the Sderot Parents Association, said parents were pulling all 2,500 of the town's students out of school.

"Buses are already on the way to pick up students who haven't been taken home," she told The Associated Press by telephone, the voices of panicked parents clearly audible in the background.

"Of course I'll take them out. Should I leave them in the hands of Hamas?" Nahum Bitton said as he arrived to fetch his children.

The Education Ministry announced that studies would continue, but Katar said parents would not allow their children to return to school until the government moved them to classrooms out of rocket range.

"The school year is over. We can't hold on any more," Katar said.

Imagine sending your children to school and having to worry about them becoming victims of terrorist attacks.

I couldn't put them in harm's way like that. I wouldn't do it.

Schools shouldn't have to be moved, but Israel is dealing with terrorists bent on murdering its citizens, including children.

Obviously, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza two years ago didn't stop the terror.

What did that compromise get them?

It didn't bring peace.

Jimmy Carter and other apologists for Palestinian terrorism make me sick.

___________________________

UPDATE:

JERUSALEM -- Israeli leaders decided Wednesday against a large-scale military response to repeated rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, but they said they would consider cutting off electricity or other vital supplies to the impoverished area if the attacks persist, meeting participants said.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened the gathering of his Security Cabinet, a group of top ministers and defense officials, to discuss the latest wave of rockets. Pressure has been mounting for a tough response since a rocket landed next to a crowded nursery school in the southern town of Sderot on Monday. There were no injuries.

In a statement, Olmert's office said Israel would continue its policy of pinpoint operations at destroying Palestinian rocket squads. But meeting participants said they had ruled out a broad ground offensive for the time being.

"The Cabinet decided that it will continue its intense military action against those involved in terror and launching rockets, and nobody among those responsible and their partners will be immune," the statement said.

Islamic Jihad, a radical Palestinian militant group, carried out this week's rocket fire. But in the statement, Israel said it holds Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in June, responsible for the "continuous, horrendous and indiscriminate attacks toward the Israeli civilian population."

Chef Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can cook.

He's doing more today than bragging about his prowess in the kitchen.

He's also talking about a vacuum.

First, Ahmadinejad's cooking skills:

Better known for his defiance on Iran's nuclear programme, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday revealed he was a handy cook who prepares "delicious" food and regrets not spending more time at home.

In a television interview aimed at showing his personal side, Ahmadinejad made no mention of Iran's disputes with the West and instead portrayed himself as a hardworking husband who only leaves his job in the small hours.

"Before (I became president) I used to do the grocery shopping. Now sometimes I help in the kitchen and I know how to make all the Iranian food," Ahmadinejad said.

Pressed by the interviewer for more details, Ahmadinejad continued in typically defiant fashion.

"Of course what I make is delicious -- ask everyone who has eaten it! I can make all the different kinds of soups and Iranian stews," said the president.

What a guy!

He can cook, shop for groceries. I wonder if he likes to do laundry, too.

We know Ahmadinejad is interested in a vacuum.

TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Iran is ready to fill a vacuum in Iraq caused by the collapsing power of the United States, its president said on Tuesday.

"The political power of the occupiers (of Iraq) is being destroyed rapidly and very soon we will be witnessing a great power vacuum in the region," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

"We, with the help of regional friends and the Iraqi nation, are ready to fill this void." Saudi Arabia was one of the countries Iran was ready to work with, he said.

The U.S. military accuses the Islamic Republic of arming and training militias behind some of the violence in Iraq. Iran rejects the charge and blames the presence of U.S. forces, numbering about 162,000, for the violence.

In a two-hour news conference, Ahmadinejad also rejected reports Iran had slowed nuclear work, which the West fears is aimed at making atom bombs, and said it would respond if Washington branded its Revolutionary Guards a terrorist force.

Oh, no!

Ahmadinejad isn't referring to vacuuming floors. He's threatening to fill the vacuum in Iraq when the "occupiers" leave.

What now, Russ Feingold?

What does John Warner have to say about Iran being poised to fill the vacuum?

Do all the Democrat presidential candidates still believe that hastily pulling out of Iraq is in the long term best interests of the United States?

If only Ahmadinejad had put his energies into being the best chef he could be rather than trying to start a world war.

Make Iranian stew, not nuclear warheads.
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In an address to the 89th Annual National Convention of the American Legion, President Bush made clear that Ahmadinejad would be wise to spend more time in his kitchen.

Transcript

Nahoul and Saraa Barhoum

I love you
You love me
We're best friends
Like friends should be
With a great big hug
And a kiss from me to you
Won't you say you love me too?

There's something wrong with a group that uses children's TV programming to preach martyrdom and murder.

It's sick to work at raising the next generation of suicide bombers.

Jimmy Carter's pals in Hamas are doing exactly that.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Saraa Barhoum picked at the buttons on her pink bellbottom jeans as she twisted on a chair inside the bustling new Hamas television headquarters. The afternoon light bounced off the sparkly outlines of butterflies on her frilly top, and a colorful hijab framed her 11-year-old face.

Saraa wants to be a doctor. If she can't, the young star of Hamas television's best-known children's show said, she would be proud to become a martyr. Saraa says little Jewish girls should be forced from their homes in Israel so that Palestinians can return to their land.

With the show's producer helpfully offering written tips during an interview, Saraa didn't get into how she hopes to die for her cause, be it homicide bombing, fighting the Israeli military or some other way. She carefully sidestepped any suggestion that she is subtly calling for the destruction of Israel.

"Israel says that we are terrorists," Saraa said minutes before an interview with her was interrupted by an errant Israeli airstrike that slammed into an apartment building on the adjacent block. "But they are the ones that must stop their attacks against us and our kids."

Saraa is the sweet face of "Tomorrow's Pioneers," a weekly, hour-long Hamas television children's show best known for bringing the world a militant Mickey Mouse look-alike and then having him killed off by an Israeli interrogator.

With her jarring mix of innocent charm and militant rhetoric, Saraa is at the center of the militant Islamist group's increasingly sophisticated campaign to become the dominant force in Palestinian politics.

..."Tomorrow's Pioneers" sparked an international furor in April when it began featuring Farfour, the Mickey Mouse look-alike who sounded more like Iran's firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than a Disney character.

Mustafa Barghouti, then serving as the Palestinian Authority's information minister, called the show a "mistaken approach" to helping Palestinians and tried unsuccessfully to force the show off the year.

The Israeli government and activists who monitor Palestinian programming accused Hamas of poisoning the minds of young children with the show.

After two months, Farfour was beaten to death on the show by an Israeli interrogator. Nahoul, a larger-than-life bee, is now carrying his message.

"A lot of people in Palestine have died as martyrs, and lots of Palestinians hope to be martyrs," Saraa said of Farfour's demise. "This is one of the ends."

This is really disgraceful.

In addition to the anti-Semitism, there's the violence and the glorification of suicide.

Can you imagine Kermit being beaten to death on Sesame Street? Maybe he could be beheaded by an al Qaeda terrorist. Big Bird could vow to strap explosives under his feathers and blow up terrorists as he kills himself.

American preschoolers would be horrified and so would their parents.

On Tomorrow's Pioneers, such terrible lessons are routinely being taught to Palestinian children.

It's absolutely disgusting.

Asked if she hoped one day to be a martyr, Saraa instinctively nodded her head.

"Of course," Saraa said. "It's something to be proud of. Every Palestinian citizen hopes to be a martyr."

Saraa helps deliver similar messages to Palestinian children from a Hamas TV set filled with colorful numbers and pictures of kittens. During the show, Saraa fields calls from Palestinian children who warble songs about Islam, taking control of Jerusalem and finding answers in the barrel of a machine gun.

I don't understand how parents can allow their children to watch this stuff.

...The show has provided new fodder for Israeli activists, who say that Saraa is the true face of Hamas, an extremist group that's using an innocent front to conceal its real agenda.

Hamas television officials defend the show, saying it's designed to help young children connect with their country and their God.

What does that say about Islam?

Programming that urges children to be martyrs is designed to help the young ones connect with their God?

The way to connect with God is by blowing yourself up and killing as many Infidels as possible in the process?

Wow. What a religious experience!

Indoctrinating children in this manner is abusive. It's despicable. It's Hamas.




"Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us."

--GOLDA MEIR
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On a related note:

At University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the first of three seminars intended to "present accurate information, to help diminish negative perceptions, address stereotypes and create a greater sense of community through education and dialogue" is being held tomorrow.

The series is called, "Combating Islamophobia: A Seminar of Educators. Teaching with diversity in mind."