On Monday, September 24, 2007 President Mahmoud Ahadinejad was invited to speak at Columbia University. This invitation was highly controversial and there were tons of protesters outside of the building the day he arrived. Many people, especially those of the Jewish faith, were against the Iranian President's coming because he has publically stated that he would bomb and destroy Israel if he gets a nuclear weapon. This was actually one of the questions that was brought up in the question and answer session. Although the Ahadinejad beat around the bush, the answer was basically yes. Also, during his speech he said that " In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country. We don't have that in our country. In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have it." These statements led to laughing and also tons of booing from the audience. Another issue in Ahadinejad's visit was that he was not allowed to put a wreath on Ground Zero because the government said that he could not.
I believe that the president should not have talked at Columbia University because I do not think he should even have the right to. President Ahadinejad, in my opinion, only wanted to speak at Columbia University to protect his own back. In almost every single one of his answers to the questions he covered himself up or beat around the bush to make himself look better. This was especially shown when he was asked about bombing Israel; he never said the word yes, but every statement that he made seemed to be pointing to yes. This president has said many times that he would bomb Israel, one of our allies. Also, the statement that he made about homosexuals is completely ridiculous because everyone knows that he killed people who he found out were homosexual. This president had no right to spread his message to the students and others a Columbia because of what he does and has done. To some it may be important, but to me it seems as if we are helping him look better to others.
Transcripts of Speech: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401042.html
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2 comments:
Hi Rachael!
I still do not understand why President Ahmadinejad would want to speak at Columbia, because how could he think that his ideas would possibly be accepted? I guess from his comment about homosexuals (which also made me laugh), we can tell that he is substantially deluded. Going into this speech, he should have known that he would have gotten nothing but criticism. However, if we can go somewhere to hear foreign views, the best place is a university. At the very least, this visit let listeners hear for themselves the absolute craziness of this man. It makes us realize that we're lucky our President isn't THAT bad. I still respect Columbia for allowing him to speak, even though I do not respect the speaker himself.
I agree with Elisa's comment. It still seems strange to me that Ahmadinejad would choose to speak at Columbia, knowing full well that he is not the most popular guy right about now. I would think that he would know that he was going to be criticized for his politics and his regime, so I don't think that him beating around the bush on many of his answers really changed public opinion about him all that much. That being said, however, I think that the reason he was speaking was much more an educational opportunity for many college students who will end up being our policy makers in the future.
I think Elisa summed it up excellently, Columbia deserves great respect for having him speak, but you don't have to respect Ahmadinejad or his ideas.
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