Ahmadinejad Talks to U.S. Think Tank

NEW YORK -- Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad broke away from events at the U.N. General Assembly to hold an informal question-and-answer session with high-powered members of America's most prestigious foreign policy think tank _ despite objections from some Jewish groups and the Bush administration.

The Council on Foreign Relations said afterward that Ahmadinejad had engaged in a "protracted punch and counter-punch" with 19 members for about 90 minutes in the conference room of a New York City hotel late Wednesday.

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But the trip to the think tank was controversial, provoking protests from Jewish groups and the Bush administration.

The New York Times, which had a reporter who is a CFR member at the private meeting, said Ahmadinejad spoke "with a tone that oozed polite hostility." He entered with "a jaunty smile, a wave and an air of supreme confidence" and ended the evening by asking Council members "whether they were simply shills for the Bush administration," the newspaper reported. It said there were no introductory handshakes before the talk began.

WaPo

:(

Chickenhawk. :P

:-)

:)
Sincerely,

George Bush

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted Thursday that Tehran's nuclear program is peaceful and said he is "at a loss" about what more he can do to provide guarantees. "The bottom line is we do not need a bomb," he said at a news conference on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. "The time for nuclear bombs has ended," he added.

Ahmadinejad said his country has not hidden anything and was working within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

With world leaders gathered at the United Nations, the United States had hoped to move decisively this week toward political and economic sanctions against Iran after it missed an Aug. 31 deadline from the U.N. Security Council to halt uranium enrichment.

http://www.silive.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/base/international-34/115885345650160.xml&storylist=international

THE President of Iran, mounting an improbable charm offensive in the US, insisted yesterday that talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme were moving on the right path.

President Ahmadinejad held a freewheeling hour-long press conference at UN headquarters at which, unusually, he took questions from an Israeli reporter and a bare-headed Iranian woman journalist.

“The bottom line is, we do not need a bomb,” he said.

Although he avoided a face-to-face confrontation with President Bush, Mr Ahmadinejad used his visit to the UN this week to outline his positions in television appearances and in a private meeting with foreign policy experts.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2369504,00.html

Ah...I'm no fan of Ahmadinejad, but let's be clear. Bush ducked him. When directly asked at a press conference if he would speak with Ahmadinejad, Bush said, "No."

Just to be clear.

I expect the political establishment is annoyed enough at having to let Ahmadinejad and Chavez speak. The real point of all the brouhaha is that they had to let them speak, and there does not appear to be much they can do about them, other than all this juvenile name calling. One would hope for better from world leaders, but instead we get "thug" and "the Devil" and "dictator" and "drunk" and the like. It's not a pretty picture.

public

...Smiling broadly, he invoked the prophet Moses, said he loved everyone around including Jews and apologised to New York for the traffic problems caused by this week's UN general assembly.

...He offered conciliatory words for Israel. "We love everybody around the world: Jews, Christians, Muslims ..." Minutes later he qualified his words: "Zionists are not Jews. Zionists are Zionists," he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1878433,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1

Most Zionists are Jews though. More than 90% i'd guess. Not all Jews are Zionists however.

The man has no real ability to make life difficult for Israel, but he sure does enjoy directing hate speech their way.

Ahmadinejad says quarrel is with Zionists, not Jews

By Irwin Arieff
Reuters
Thursday, September 21, 2006; 6:45 PM

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran's president, responding to Western criticism of his questioning of the Holocaust and a call for Israel to be "wiped off the map," said on Thursday his quarrel was with Zionists and not Jews.

..."We love everyone around the world. Jews, Christians, Muslims, non-Muslims, non-Jews, non-Christians -- we have no problem with people," he told a news conference on the sidelines of a U.N. General Assembly meeting.

"Zionists are Zionists, period. They are not Jews, they are not Christians, and they are not Muslims," he said. "They are a power group, a power party, and we oppose the oppression and the aggression that any party that seeks pure raw power goes after."

Zionism is the name of the movement to establish a Jewish homeland that led to the creation of the state of Israel nearly 60 years ago. Ahmadinejad says he favors a return of Palestinians to the land now called Israel, and a referendum "with the participation of everyone" to determine its fate.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092101356.html

AHMADINEJAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): No, I'm not anti-Jew. Jews are respected by everyone like all human beings. And I respect them very much.

Let us remember that in Palestine there are Muslims, Christians and Jews who live together. We speak of the Palestinian nation, of a people all in all embracing everyone. I never have said the Muslims in Palestine alone should decide about their fate.

They used to live freely together. But ever since the arrival of the British, with the imperialistic goals they had, and then the arrival of the Zionist system of thinking into that land, the problems were created.

So why not let the people there decide for themselves, and then let's see what happens? Let's give that a chance.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092100829.html

Charasmatic, articulate, smart, and a dangerous idealogue

Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon criticized the Council on Foreign Relations on Friday for providing a forum for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his "abhorrent views."

In a letter to Richard Haass, a former high-ranked State Department official who now heads the think tank, Ayalon said, "The very fact that an organization like the council convened to listen to his ranting provided Ahmadinejad legitimacy."

The ambassador called the decision to host the Iranian leader a "terrible
mistake," even though Ayalon said he was sure neither Haass nor any member of the council endorsed Ahmadinejad's views. In New York mostly to address the special session of the UN General Assembly, the Iranian leader met with 19 council members Wednesday. He also gave several media interviews.

Haass said afterward, "I am not sure we learned anything new." But Haass said in a statement that the Iranian leader may have learned about American attitudes from those with whom he sparred.

Haaretz