Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at U.N.??????

[Guest HKUSA]

At a news conference in Tehran, Ahmadinejad basically reaffirmed his former comments about Israel and how "...the Jewish state won't survive".

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Sep18/0,4670,MLIranAhmadinejadIsrael,00.html

Despite this, Ahmadinejad is set to speak before the UN tomorrow in New York.

How is it that we allow such an animal into the US and afford him the opportunity and platform from which to perpetuate his disgusting antisemitic and anti-western agenda??

Your comments are most appreciated!

[Guest GT_Rat]

Because we believe in freedom of speech even when you're a dumbass?

[Daniel]

I second GT Rat's response.

[DavidD]

I also believe this kind of public speech against another sovereign country will bring his, and possibly Iran's downfall sooner or later. After all, if some thug keeps threatening me and my family, count on me to have an itchy trigger finger once a confrontation actually occurs.

[Guest 270win]

He is a lot of talk, but militarily Iran is weak and can only fund terrorists to do their dirty work instead of fighting toe to toe with a world superpower. Iran will get itself sooner or later in trouble.

[Guest bang-flash]

Maybe he's hoping Israel will kick his a$& before the election and he will become a martyr.

I disagree with the guy coming over here and bashing everyone, but it is what this country was founded on. So I can choose to ignore it or rant about here free from persecution

[NuTcAsE]

At a news conference in Tehran, Ahmadinejad basically reaffirmed his former comments about Israel and how "...the Jewish state won't survive".

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Sep18/0,4670,MLIranAhmadinejadIsrael,00.html

Despite this, Ahmadinejad is set to speak before the UN tomorrow in New York.

How is it that we allow such an animal into the US and afford him the opportunity and platform from which to perpetuate his disgusting antisemitic and anti-western agenda??

Your comments are most appreciated!

Because we believe in freedom of speech even when you're a dumbass?

If you're a citizen of The United States of America. He's not and therefore has no rights and should not be allowed here! And neither should the u.n.

The u.n. in N.Y. should be turned into a public bathroom. At least some of the poop will go where it belongs.

[Guest HKUSA]

Because we believe in freedom of speech even when you're a dumbass?

I too believe in the freedom of speech but not when it incites fear. We're not talking about a person who called someone a name; we're talking about a person who has made it clear that he wants to see the demise of our actual existence.

More importantly, my point of the discussion was to spark a dialogue about the sanity of having the President of a country that has rebuked the UN time and time again, and has said he will do everything he can to eliminate pro-west nations, starting with Israel and then the U.S., to speak before the General Assembly. Sanctions or not working on Iran and this may not help solve anything either.

[Guest HKUSA]

If you're a citizen of The United States of America. He's not and therefore has no rights and should not be allowed here! And neither should the u.n.

The u.n. in N.Y. should be turned into a public bathroom. At least some of the poop will go where it belongs.

Right on!! Is there a petition I can sign?

[Guest GT_Rat]

So people who immigrate here but haven't become citizens yet don't have rights? People who come here on vacation or work visa's don't have rights? Freedom of speech applies to all people who come to America regardless of nationality. One could also argue that since the "creator" granted all men "certain inalienable rights" that it doesn't ONLY apply to the U.S. We're just the only place that makes it the law of the land.

I don't think he's inciting fear at all. This isn't something you can equate to yelling "Fire" in a movie theater. He is proving to the world that he has the potential to be very dangerous if allowed to develop nuclear weapons, which only supports our position on sanctioning Iran and possibly taking other steps that are less friendly.

[Guest TnAndy]

Look at this map of Palestinian land in 1946 and in 1999. Do you think MAYBE they have a legitimate beef ?

[Guest GT_Rat]

With the exception of the UN Debacle in '47, all of their losses of land have come as the result of them (and their proxies) engaging in violence against Israeli's. The Israeli's simply use the violence as an excuse to take more land as a buffer zone between them and the "violent Palestinians." You'd think they'd learn.

Personally I don't think they should have forcibly resettled the Israeli's onto what had been Palestinian land for centuries in the first place. It's no different than saying that we should all be resettled back to Europe and Native Americans should be given all their land back. At this point we have to deal with the division of lands in Israel/Palestine because it would be impractical/impossible to remove the Israeli's from it. They prove time and again they'll happily fight, kill, and die for it.

[Guest HKUSA]

So people who immigrate here but haven't become citizens yet don't have rights? People who come here on vacation or work visa's don't have rights? Freedom of speech applies to all people who come to America regardless of nationality. One could also argue that since the "creator" granted all men "certain inalienable rights" that it doesn't ONLY apply to the U.S. We're just the only place that makes it the law of the land.

I don't think he's inciting fear at all. This isn't something you can equate to yelling "Fire" in a movie theater. He is proving to the world that he has the potential to be very dangerous if allowed to develop nuclear weapons, which only supports our position on sanctioning Iran and possibly taking other steps that are less friendly.

You're missing the boat. This is not about civil liberties and whether foreigners deserve the same rights afforded to us under the U.S. Constitution. It is about a very dangerous man who has stated he will stop at nothing to destroy us and yet he is allowed to speak before members of a group that is supposed to keep the peace, in the country he swears to eradicate. People need to wake up and take this man seriously and not give him a platform to perpetuate his intolerance of non-Muslims, whether or not you think it is protected by free speech.

If you don't think his threats are inciting fear, just ask the Jewish community. They are taking his threats seriously and so should we.

[Guest HKUSA]

Here is a quote today from the president of Iran:

And in a direct attack on the U.S., he declared that the "American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road," and urged the next presidential administration to "limit their interference to their own borders."

-AP

Does this sound like a person we can sit down and talk with over a cup of tea?

[Guest GT_Rat]

I never said anything about talking with the moron over a cup of tea. But much like we allow the KKK to have free speech here even though they are a dangerous bunch if idiots, Ahmadinejad also has that right when he is here. And at no point has he ever mentioned attacking us except in defense of his country. Trash talking isn't illegal and that's all he's really done on the world stage. Does that mean we are naive enough to think he still wouldn't attack if given the opportunity and a reasonable chance of success? Hell no.

Point being I don't care how much he comes here and talks crap because it just adds support to our assertion that he's only a crotch hair away from being an extremist terrorist dirtbag himself. That simply gives us more ammo to support smacking him down when the time is right. More importantly he further alienates his own country and people from the rest of the world and justifies more sanctions against his country. His own people get just as fed up with his extremist ramblings and eventually THEY will get fed up with him as well. Liberation of a country is best served from within.

[TGO David]

I don't put much stock in the UN's relevance these days anyway. It's an organization whose time has come and gone as far as I can fathom.

[Guest GT_Rat]

Yep. They have little to no credibility as anything other than an aid organization and they really aren't very good at that.

[greenego]

Ahmadinejad should not have been allowed in the US. He was one of the students that took our Embassy hostage back when the great president carter was in office. He is a real and dangerous nut job. He will, without a doubt use nukes if he gets them

[Guest TnAndy]

Here is a quote today from the president of Iran:

And in a direct attack on the U.S., he declared that the "American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road," and urged the next presidential administration to "limit their interference to their own borders"

No, a direct attack is when you drop bombs on a nation like Iraq that hasn't done anything to you except talk a big line of crap.

To say that the American empire is reaching the end is merely an astute observation of a nation that has to borrow 2 billion dollars a day to fund it's lifestyle.

Urging the next administration "to limit their interference to their own borders" sounds a LOT like the same advice George Washington gave in his farewell address.....advice we didn't take, as we now have troops in more places than I can count.

The guy may well be an a$$hole, but that doesn't mean he is wrong.

[Guest TnAndy]

Ahmadinejad should not have been allowed in the US. He was one of the students that took our Embassy hostage back when the great president carter was in office. He is a real and dangerous nut job. He will, without a doubt use nukes if he gets them

You might go back a bit farther in the 50's when Iran had a democratically elected government that didn't want to play ball with Washington, so the CIA sponsored a coup, got the Shah installed as "king for life", and the Shah, with plenty of American support, jailed, tortured or executed any opposition to his rein.....that went on until folks finally rose up, pitched the Shah out and took the embassy in a rage against the 20+ years of dictatorship in which our government was deeply involved.

People don't just get a wild hair and do things like that....there is always a history to go with it. You ought to learn it.....and who the players were.

Eisenhower warned of the power and control of the military industrial complex, and where this was leading down the road, in his farewell address. Iran is just one example of that involvement, and the eventual blowback.

Maybe we ought to start listening to some of these ex-presidents.

[wjh2657]

Moot point. the UN building is not in New York. The UN building is in a unique situation where it is not a part of the country they are situated in. He did not speak in New York, he spoke at the UN. We didn't let him into country, he entered the free corridor to the Non-American soil of the UN. Iran is a member of the UN and they have the right to voice their opinions, that is what the UN was built for. Do I believe it works completely? No, the UN hasn't prevented any of the little wars and petty rebellions around the world in the last couple of decades that have been killing millions of innocent civilians all around the world. It has however had good success in humanitarian efforts and efforts to feed and give medical care to children all over the world.

It is the UN, not the US. If the leader of Iran stood up and spoke at Rockefeller center, I'd see reason to be upset. Speaking at UN? No, I am not going to get upset.

[Guest canynracer]

hmmm...all the news stations say its in NY...I know that he had a 25 mile radius he was allowed while in NY to attend...meaning, he could not travel 25 mi outside NY.

the UN site says its in NY

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

it also says so here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Headquarters

but it does say it is considered "International territory" even though its IN NY

[NuTcAsE]

hmmm...all the news stations say its in NY...I know that he had a 25 mile radius he was allowed while in NY to attend...meaning, he could not travel 25 mi outside NY.

the UN site says its in NY

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

it also says so here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Headquarters

but it does say it is considered "International territory" even though its IN NY

It's in N.Y., so therefore it's ours and should be put to a more productive use. I know obama can earmark a pork barrel for a couple Billion to turn it into poop museum. There's plenty there on display already.

[Guest HKUSA]

Yep. They have little to no credibility as anything other than an aid organization and they really aren't very good at that.

Well said!

[greenego]

The UN should not be in this country. After all, all the problems in the world is because of the US. Move it to a nice neutral site like Atlantis. Don't forget the air tanks!