The Washington Post has a transcript of Ahmadinejad's news conference. It would be easy to call the man names, to say that he is a certified wack job, but it would create issues. In particular it is a huge mistake to view the man as being crazy.
He is very deliberate in his approach. If you ignore the statements that are downright controversial it would be easy to minimize the danger he represents. Take a look at this:
"Many governments and groups that had no role in World War II, regretfully, are impacted by the consequences of World War II."Every situation in the world is impacted by the past and it is simply foolish to pretend that we can ignore the things that took place. We cannot say that situation xyz was the responsibility of our grandparents or great grandparents and pretend that we do not have to deal with the outcome. We do.
The question is to what extent. Life is often complex and things are complicated. But I don't want to get bogged down by this. Let's move on to his comment about Zionists.
This is a very dangerous statement. What he is attempting to do here is dehumanize the people he calls Zionists. The nazis did the same thing and we all know what path that led down. It would be a mistake not to point out his actions and to make it clear that he is being watched very carefully."These Zionists, I want to tell you, are not Jews. That's the biggest deception we've ever faced.
Zionists are Zionists, period. They are not Jews, they are not Christians, and they are not Muslims. They are a power group, a power party. And we oppose oppression and the aggression that any party that seeks pure power, raw power goes after."
Let's not forget that he said on a number of occasions that he would like to see Israel wiped off o the map. Don't be fooled by the words of a snake.
2 comments:
Huzzah!
I completely agree with your approach. I'm glad you see Ahmadinejad as a rational person with an agenda as opposed to a "psycho, nut, madman, etc." Those names might make us feel better but they are not true, and they cause us to let down our guard, which leaves us in a much more vulnerable position.
I wonder how many other people take your position? I hope many. The majority of bloggers I've seen thus far enjoy referring to him as as "madman," which, as I've said, is unhelpful.
Hi Chana,
It makes people feel better to label people like Ahmadinejad and Bin Laden as being meshugah.
In truth I don't care if they do that, provided that they understand that these guys are smart men who take time to plan and calculate what they do.
It is crazy to feel like you can murder with reckless abandon, but it is crazier for us not to take them seriously.
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