Ahmadinejad on Holocaust

Dear Mr. Keefe, you are contributing to the piles of lies bull____ that is mounting on some Pentagon hill. PLEASE read more -- See-- http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/articl...

Ahmadinejad is a holocaust denier...no denying that.

Actually, Reza Aslan has an interesting take on this here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/... and he's very knowledgeable about Iran.

Nonetheless, the link spirasol provides is intriguing. Does anyone have confirmation that the "wiped from the map" quote is mistranslated? If a more correct translation is "the occupation regime over Jerusalem should vanish from the page of time" then that is indeed interesting. And is this a quote from an old speech by Ayatollah Khomeini? Isn't that the guy Ronald Reagan armed to the teeth? Isn't HE the one Reagan committed treason for, selling arms to our enemy then using the proceeds to finance an illegal war of aggression against the democratically elected government of El Salvador? I don't know Farsi, so can't confirm any of this, but here's the article from Juan Cole (whom I've never heard of) about the background of this possibly universally misquoted quote. And if my vitriolic distaste for traitor Reagan, hero of the right, is showing through, well didn't this exact quote, now attributed to Ahmedinejad, preceed Reagan's decision to reward Khomeini with weapons? In other words, unless Cole is lying, the "wiped from the map" statement was actually made by the man Reagan betrayed America for. How about it? Didn't Reagan actually do more than "appease" someone who made this statement? Didn't he give direct military aid to a man who actually said what Ahmedinejad is now considered "Hitler" for saying?

Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 15:34:18 -0400 From: "Cole, Juan"

(broken link to farsi original speech removed)

Sorry that I misremembered the exact phrase Ahmadinejad had used. He made an analogy to Khomeini's determination and success in getting rid of the Shah's government, which Khomeini had said "must go" (az bain bayad berad). Then Ahmadinejad defined Zionism not as an Arabi-Israeli national struggle but as a Western plot to divide the world of Islam with Israel as the pivot of this plan.

The phrase he then used as I read it is "The Imam said that this regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] from the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad)."

Ahmadinejad was not making a threat, he was quoting a saying of Khomeini and urging that pro-Palestinian activists in Iran not give up hope-- that the occupation of Jerusalem was no more a continued inevitability than had been the hegemony of the Shah's government.

Whatever this quotation from a decades-old speech of Khomeini may have meant, Ahmadinejad did not say that "Israel must be wiped off the map" with the implication that phrase has of Nazi-style extermination of a people. He said that the occupation regime over Jerusalem must be erased from the page of time.

Again, Ariel Sharon erased the occupation regime over Gaza from the page of time.

I should again underline that I personally despise everything Ahmadinejad stands for, not to mention the odious Khomeini, who had personal friends of mine killed so thoroughly that we have never recovered their bodies. Nor do I agree that the Israelis have no legitimate claim on any part of Jerusalem. And, I am not exactly a pacifist but have a strong preference for peaceful social activism over violence, so needless to say I condemn the sort of terror attacks against innocent civilians (including Arab Israelis) that we saw last week. I have not seen any credible evidence, however, that such attacks are the doing of Ahmadinejad, and in my view they are mainly the result of the expropriation and displacement of the long-suffering Palestinian people.

That depends on what your definition of the word "is" is.

I'm not one of those "Israel is always right" or "God's chosen people" types. I personally agree with Ahmadenijad on a few points (Israel did not have the right to displace Palestinians - since they were scattered to the winds due to disobedience to God).

But in this case, actions matter more than words. Ahmadenijad has, in fact, uttered other words of annihalation toward Israel in other areans. He is presently building nuclear weapons. He is presently building up other defenses in preparation. He is not acting like a peace-seaking statesman.

To call something a myth is to say it is not true. Your author goes to extreme lengths to apologize for him.

I'm not a big fan of info coming from places like Kos, HuffPost, Beast, Drudge and FoxNews.

shannonlee:

Perhaps I interpreted it differently than you. I didn't see it as apologizing for Ahmadinejad (who I think is despicable) but as offering some of the reasons why Ahmadinejad plays the game that he plays. Would he like to see the Jews wiped out? It sure seems that way although then a convenient scapegoat (for the Arab world) would be lost. It seems to me that Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial is more for manipulation of the masses and annoying Israel & the West all in one fell swoop. It doesn't make it less disgusting though.

Actually, Reza Aslan is the only author I read on the Daily Beast ever since Jon Stewart had him on the Daily Show during the height of the Iranian election protests. He has no love for Ahmadinejad (another reason I didn't interpret this as a defense of him) and he's often had some fascinating perspectives on Iran.

JD, those who study Iran say that Ahmedinejad has never directly called for military action or genocide against Jews. That's news to me, because the view I get from our politicians and media is apparently as hyperbolic as the view Iranians get from their politicians, mullahs and media. And the same that Russians heard from Pravda back in the day. Isn't it possible that all of this is red meat served up for domestic consumption? Kinda looks that way to me.

Now as to "building nuclear weapons" we really don't have any proof of that, though I don't doubt it, nor do I blame them (as I've noted, Bush proved that "axis of evil" with nukes (N. Korea) means no pre-emptive strike. "Axis of evil" without nukes means constant saber rattling, flame wars and threats of military action.)

The facility disclosed recently is quite small, "pilot scale" and according to Iran, was located where it is (Qom, far from population centers) to protect civilian populations from terrorism (air strikes) from the US and Israel. As for "hiding it," the rules of the IAEC require that it be disclosed when uranium is delivered to it. Maybe that needs to change, but let's not exaggerate what Iran did. It is NOT clear that they violated anything. We do not know if uranium has been delivered to the site yet.

It's starting to sound like I'm sticking up for Iran, which I'm not. I would NEVER have done what Reagan did. But we've been manipulated by fear for a very long time and I'm tired of it. I do NOT fear Iran, nor think them crazy enough to attack Israel or the US. I DO fear and loathe further manipulation of the American public with extremist nationalistic and religious rhetoric.

You know I didn't just reject your cartoon and its underlying message, I
sent you a reference to check out...............You just lost some
credibility for me. I wouldn't mind if you read and still disbelieved,
but to respond out of the same prejudice passed out by the mass media.
Sorry dude.........

I've pretty well had it with the Islamic hate of Israel. This ...has gone on WAY to long. I used to be more moderate concerning the mideast by occasionally placing blame on Israel. Now I side completely with Israel. The Israelis are correct in saying that one simply cannot deal with these hardheaded Islamic nitwits!

I'm sorry, but by now if you don't believe that Iran is going to launch nuclear missiles at Israel as soon as they are ready, you are crazy!

I realize all that you said is true.
But Ahmadenijad has a pinchent for revising past occurances. His denial of the holocaust, among others, outlines his thought processes. Perhaps this "I never said I would wipe Israel off the map" is another one of those revisionist denials. I just don't know.

But I do know that the man (or the Ayahtollas) can not (yet) be trusted with nuclear power. Their actions prove that. He sits atop the world's greatest supply of natural gas that can be used for power generation - yet he persues nuclear energy? That's amazingly like heating your home with kerosene when all you have is a wood-burning stove.

That, too, seems to underly his intent.
Wouldn't you agree?


As far as the location of Qom. That scares me a bit. It shows that he's locating plants near religious sites to hinder attack (or to have a reason to point to it and show the rest of the Muslim world how the attacker hates Islam). This is similar to holing-up in a mosque during a firefight.

That's where you reveal that you did not read the article I posted.....because the author does define what a myth is.............and it is not what you say. To say it is a myth is not to say it is untrue or never happened.

We love to have enemies/scapegoats/devils to wrap our hatred around.


I watched too the Katie Couric interview with him, where she tries to do a Wolf Blitzer "gotcha" interview..........I find a lot of truth in what he says...........for instance that he chooses not to focus on the Holocaust that occured in Europe years ago, but instead the slaughter and theft of Palestinians in the here and now. It makes sense to me that the over focus demonization Iran's supposed nuclear weapons has something to do with the under focus on those countries who have nuclear weapons (USA/Israel, among others)already. As well the facts of which are the more war like countries in the last 50 years...............uh, that would likely be us..........the USA, currently fighting two wars, one not related to the bogus war on terror and the other only mildly related.