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.

Israel Celebrates 60 Years

The Dome of the Rock is seen as fireworks light the skies of Jerusalem marking the start of Israel's Independence Day on May 7. Israel launched celebrations for its 60th anniversary after remembering its fallen in successive Middle East wars, with the premier's fate under a cloud and the nation still far from making peace with its neighbours.(AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)


Israelis and tourists watch air force jets fly in formation over the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv, during celebrations for Israel's Independence Day, marking the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state, May 8, 2008. (REUTERS/Eliana Aponte)

JERUSALEM -- A Jewish astronaut greets Israel from space. Revelers try to set a record for the most people singing a national anthem. To celebrate turning 60, Israel is staging fireworks, air force flyovers and a birthday bash for anyone born on the day the Jewish state was founded.

Israel is marking its 60th Independence Day, which began at sundown Wednesday, with a great sense of pride but also uncertainty about its future and doubts about prospects for peace with the Palestinians. Six decades after rising from the ashes of the Holocaust, the Jewish state is still plagued by threats from abroad and an identity crisis at home.

Israel at 60 is a paradox of exuberance and despair — a country enduring near daily rocket attacks from militants while producing scientists who have pioneered Wi-Fi and instant messaging.

Its 41-year occupation of Palestinian territories has invited international condemnation. Yet Israel is a thriving democracy that has provided a haven for the world's Jews.

This Independence Day is marred by a fresh criminal inquiry of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose legal woes are calling his political survival into question just as he is moving to forge a peace deal with the moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank.

However, Israelis are putting aside their frustration with politics for what is expected to be one of the most joyous birthday celebrations since the first on May 14, 1948 — a date marked each year in Israel by the Hebrew calendar.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad isn't sending any best wishes Israel's way.

No surprise there.

"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as having said.

"Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation."

Ahmadinejad further stated that Israel "has reached the end like a dead rat after being slapped by the Lebanese" - referring to the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.

What a guy!

Jimmy Carter should go visit Ahmadinejad, just to talk.

I suppose Iran probably holds too many bad memories for Carter.

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.

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.

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.
__________________________

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

Credibility and Iran's Propaganda War

Lieutenant Felix Carman (Photo/AP)

Iran has fired shots back at the United Kingdom in its propaganda war over the treatment of the 15 British sailors and marines while they were held in captivity.

Iran airs new video on UK sailors

Iran state television has broadcast video showing the recently freed British navy crew playing games, chatting, laughing and watching television during their captivity.

Tehran said the footage shown on Sunday refuted claims made by the soldiers two days earlier that they had been mistreated.

The crew said they had been blindfolded, isolated in cold stone cells, tricked into fearing execution, and coerced into falsely saying they had entered Iranian waters.

The video clips, which were briefly aired on Iran's state-run Arabic satellite channel Al-Alam, showed several of the sailors and marines dressed in track suits playing chess and table tennis, laughing and chatting.

Other short clips showed them watching football on television and eating at a long dining table that had vases filled with flowers on it.

The newscaster said the video proved "the sailors had complete liberty during their detention, which contradicts what the sailors declared after they arrived in Britain".

Yes, the video proves that the Brits are lying.

Right.

...Lieutenant Felix Carman, one of the crew members captured on March 23, said they were rarely allowed to socialise and when they were, it was for the benefit of the Iranian media.

"We were kept in isolation until the last few nights, when we were allowed to get together for a few hours, in the full glare of the Iranian media," Carman said at a news conference on Friday.

"But that was very much a setup, very much a stunt for Iranian propaganda."

In the video broadcast on Sunday, Carman could be seen wearing a business suit and smiling at the camera.

It's too bad the Iranians didn't capture any video images of Faye Turney being measured for her coffin.

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- The only woman among 15 British sailors and marines held by Iran said in an interview published on Monday she had been asked how she felt about dying for her country and feared she was being measured for a coffin.

Faye Turney told Britain's top-selling Sun tabloid in her first interview since the 15 were released by Iran on Thursday after 13 days in detention that she was threatened with years in prison as a spy unless she did what her captors wanted.

Turney said one morning she heard wood being sawn and nails hammered near her cell and a woman measured her with a tape. "I was convinced they were making my coffin," she told The Sun.

The 25-year-old sailor, a mother with a 3-year-old daughter, said she was kept in isolation for five days and was asked by an Iranian official how she felt about dying for her country. When captured, she feared she could be raped, The Sun said.

What was that? Iran's "coffin measurement" game?

I think it's interesting that Iran felt the need to fire back in response to the comments the former hostages have been making.

Iranian officials obviously weren't comfortable with the discrepancies in the stories of what really happened.

It also could be that they don't want anything at all to distract from Iran's national nuclear day.

The Brits: True Confessions

Six of the fifteen British military personnel freed by Iranian authorities Thursday, are seen during a news conference at the Royal Marines Barracks in Chivenor, Devon, southwest England, Friday April 6, 2007. From left to right, Royal Marine Joe Tindell, 21, Arthur Batchelor, 20, Royal Marine Captain Chris Air, 25, Lieutenant Felix Carman, Royal Marine Adam Sperry, 22, and Simon Massey.The 15 British sailors and marines returned home Thursday after 13 days in captivity. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

While in Iranian custody, the televised remarks of the British sailors and marines were strikingly different from the stories the released hostages told on Friday, safely back in the U.K.

In Iran:

Nathan Thomas Summer: Since we were arrested on March 23, 2007, everything has been OK and I am quite satisfied with the current conditions. Over the past days, Iranian forces have shown us a very friendly and good behavior and no ill treatment has been observed.

We trespassed without permission. (Summers added he knew that Iran had seized British military personnel who strayed into their waters three years ago.)

This happened back in 2004 and our government said that it wouldn't happen again. And, again, I deeply apologize for entering your waters.

Faye Turney: "My name is Faye Turney. I come from England, I live in England at present. I have served on F99. I have served in Navy nine years, I was arrested on Friday on 23rd of March which obviously has passed internal waters.

I was treated friendly and hospitable they are nice people, they explained why we were arrested, and there is no aggression, no hurt, no harm, they are very very compassionate.

Chris Air: We’ve been treated very well and we thank you for that.

Felix Carman: I’d like to say to the Iranian people, I can understand why you are so angry about our intrusion into your waters.

Iranian president Mr. Nice Guy Mahmoud Ahmadinejad patted himself on the back for treating the Brits so wonderfully. He even conveyed his hope that Tony Blair wouldn't prosecute them for telling the truth.

What a thoughtful guy!

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!

Read what some of the hostages had to say about their time in captivity.

Felix Carman: On arrival at a small Iranian naval base we were blindfolded, stripped of all our kit and led to a room where I declared myself as the officer in charge and was introduced to their local commander.

Two hours later, we were moved to a second location and throughout the night were subjected to random interrogation.

The questions were aggressive and the handling rough, but it was no worse than that.

The following morning, we were flown to Tehran and transported to a prison - where the atmosphere changed completely.

We were blindfolded, our hands were bound, we were forced up against the wall. Throughout our ordeal we faced constant psychological pressure.

Later, we were stripped and dressed in pyjamas. The next few nights were spent in stone cells approximately 8ft by 6ft, sleeping on piles of blankets.

All of us were kept in isolation. We were interrogated most nights and presented with two options.

If we admitted we had strayed, we would be back on a plane to the UK pretty soon. If we didn't, we faced up to seven years in prison.

We all, at one time or another, made a conscious decision to make a controlled release of non-operational information.

Joe Tindell: We thought we were going to the British embassy but we got taken to a detention centre, all 15 of us.

We had a blindfold and plastic cuffs, hands behind our backs, heads against the wall. Basically there were weapons cocking. Someone, I'm not sure who, someone said, I quote, 'lads, lads I think we're going to get executed'.

After that comment, someone was sick and as far as I was concerned he had just had his throat cut.

From there we were rushed to a room, quick photo and then stuffed into a cell and didn't see or speak to anyone for six days.

Chris Air: [Faye Turney] was separated from us as soon as we arrived in Teheran in the detention centre, and isolated in a cell well away from any of us.

She was told shortly afterwards that we'd all been returned home, and was under the impression for about four days that she was the only one there.

So clearly, she was subjected to quite a lot of stress that we, fortunately, didn't know about, and we weren't subjected to ourselves.

She coped admirably and retained a lot of dignity.

Clearly, the British sailors and marines were not treated well by the Iranians. Their captors weren't friendly and compassionate. The Brits' televised confessions and their praise for the Iranians were made under duress.

ROYAL MARINE BASE CHIVENOR, England -- British sailors and marines held captive in Tehran for nearly two weeks were blindfolded, bound and forced against a wall as guards cocked weapons, members of the freed crew said.

Their confessions to entering Iranian waters were coerced, and their smiles for state television were a propaganda stunt, they said in interviews Friday and at a news conference at barracks in southern England.

The 15 sailors and marines, who were freed Thursday and reunited with family, faced constant psychological pressure and the threat of up to seven years in prison if they did not say they strayed into Iranian waters, members of the crew said.

"At some points I did have fears that we would not survive," Operator Maintainer Arthur Batchelor, 20, the youngest sailor among the crew, told The Associated Press in an interview.

The hostages faced "constant psychological pressure" and were threatened.

Yes, those Iranians are such gracious hosts!

By the way, has the Great Satan U.S. made propaganda videos of detainees and broadcast the footage globally?

That would be NO.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's office refused to comment on the claims the sailors made about conditions in Iran, but the White House said the allegations of ill-treatment were disappointing.

What's the deal? Obviously, there was one.

Blair must have agreed to keep his comments to a minimum or stay mum altogether.

It seems a betrayal of sorts for Blair to fail to acknowledge the hostages' revelations.

At least the White House spoke out.

"If what they described is accurate, then that would not seem to be appropriate behavior and action," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. He said it would be "unfortunate and extremely disappointing" if the sailors had been "treated inappropriately in any way."

Johndroe's statement hinges on "if."

He's criticizing the Iranians without directly accusing them of wrong-doing.

Pretty wimpy.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the Britons' release on Wednesday, which suggested Iran's hard-line leadership had decided it had shown its strength, but did not want to push the standoff too far.

However, Iran never got the public apology it sought for the crew's purported entry into Iranian waters. Britain insists it never offered a deal and said the crew never entered Iranian territory.

Iran's official Al-Alam television broadcast parts of the news conference, but without sound — a newscaster said the Britons had "retreated from their confessions."

"They made statements completely different from what they had said in Iran and claimed that they were in Iraqi waters when detained," the TV newsreader said.

An unidentified in-house "political analyst," called the sailors' news conference "a show."

"British military officials dictated it," said the analyst, who spoke to TV by telephone and was identified only by his family name, Zaraei.

A conspiracy!

Has Rosie O'Donnell weighed in on this?

Does she buy the Iranians' story that British officials told the sailors what to say, that they were pressured into retreating from the confessions they made in Iran?

It wouldn't surprise me.

This relatively brief hostage situation reveals with absolute certitude that Ahmadinejad and his regime are dangerous thugs and willing to take the West to the brink.

It shows that there are Americans eager to believe that the U.S. cooked up the crisis to justify military action against Iran.

It shows that Tony Blair's backbone isn't as strong as it once seemed.

Maybe most disturbing of all-- The Iranians can hold the world hostage with impunity.

Not good.

Easter Bunny Ahmadinejad

Arthur Batchelor, third left, turns away as Andrew Henderson, center, both members of the British navy personnel seized by Iran, talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, second right, at the presidential palace in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 4, 2007. Ahmadinejad announced that his government would release the 15 detained British sailors and marines Wednesday as an Easter season gift to the British people. (AP Photo)


British naval personnel who were detained in Iran are presented to the media after they were released, in Tehran April 4, 2007. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad freed 15 British sailors and marines on Wednesday, offering a "gift" to Britain that ended a 13-day crisis which had rattled world financial markets. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN)

Unlike when Jimmy Carter was president and there was a hostage crisis in Iran, it didn't take 444 days for the matter to be resolved.

The fifteen British sailors and marines being held hostage in Iran are hostages no more.

Nevermind the threats of trials and the parading of the hostages in front of cameras and forcing them to read scripted remarks.

Iran is giving the British an "Easter gift."

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran on Wednesday freed the 15 detained British sailors and marines in what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called an Easter gift to the British people. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he bore "no ill will" toward the Iranian people.

Iranian state television said the 14 men and one woman, who were seized while on patrol in the northern Persian gulf on March 23, would leave Iran on Thursday. An Iranian official in London said they would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran.

Ahmadinejad's surprise announcement came at a news conference shortly after he pinned a medal on the chest of the Iranian coast guard commander who intercepted the sailors and marines.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presents a medal of honour in Tehran 04 April 2007 to Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander Abolqasem Amangah, who was among those who intercepted and arrested the 15 British sailors 13 days ago. (AFP/Atta Kenare)

"I'm glad that our 15 service personnel have been released and I know their release will come as a relief not just to them but to their families," Blair said outside his No. 10 Downing St. office. "Throughout, we have taken a measured approach, firm but calm, not negotiating but not confronting, either."

Blair added, "To the Iranian people I would simply say this: We bear you no ill will."

Perhaps in a gesture of thanks and goodwill, Blair should send Ahmadinejad a solid chocolate Easter bunny, not the cheap hollow kind.

Read the Islamic Republic News Agency spin.

In a special ceremony on Wednesday the 15 British marines had a sincere meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and thanked him for the amnesty.

They exchanges discourse one by one with the president and lauded the humane treatment of Iranian government and nation.

Wearing uniforms, they said that Iranians treated them in a friendly and hospitable way.

President Ahmadinejad said that he hoped British Prime Minister Tony Blair would not prosecute the soldiers for telling the truth.

Ahmadinejad is a joke. That's a given.

It's Blair's reaction that is a bit troubling to me.

It seemed like Blair's comments were scripted by Iran. I think it can be said that 16 hostages were released by Iran today.
_____________________________

Read Ahmadinejad's statement announcing the release of the hostages.

"On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet (Mohammed) … and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people — with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial — forgave those 15."

Ahmadinejad seems to have a Pontius Pilate complex.