Ahmadinejad calls for probe into Holocaust

Ahmadinejad calls for probe into Holocaust
Published: Saturday, 17 June, 2006, 10:17 AM Doha Time


Ahmadinejad speaks at a news conference in Shanghai yesterday

SHANGHAI: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has previously called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”, said here yesterday there needed to be an independent investigation into the Holocaust.

“Historical events need to be presently investigated by independent and impartial parties,” he said during a press briefing in Shanghai, referring to the Holocaust.

“A historical event that has the influence and many lasting political equations of the world needs to be investigated and researched by impartial and independent groups.”

“If it is true then this question should not be solved in Palestine,” he said referring to the bitter, decades-old conflict that has its roots in the partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
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http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=92390&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

before, huh?

Unfortunately, they run the world.

It's very creepy to know there are assholes like him running a country.

:hi:

the earth is really round too.

..just what he and his Russian and Chinese friends would like you to believe. I think "highly adaptive and manipulative, both politically and religiously" is a much more accurate description. And frankly, brilliant. Not brilliant like Einstein, of course, or Ghandi. But brilliant none-the-less. Neither Hitler nor Huey P. Long qualify as peers but he has certainly used pages from each of their playbooks.

  This is the man who beat out Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, an extremely influential politician, cleric and previous president of Iran. This is no small feat considering the extremely religious nature of the country. Ahmadinejad holds PhD in civil engineering. He is not a career cleric like so many others. He imposes hard-line policies sometimes but clashes with hard-liners on others. He appears to be beholden to neither the conservatives or moderates but to the power of the presidency itself.

  And this is why I wince most of the time when Ahmadinejad's name comes up and the majority of responses are "he's a loon" or "he's an anti-semite". That's all well and good, he just may be. But understand this man is a very complex character whose being does not begin and end with his belief that the Holocaust may have not occurred. He warrants much closer inspection because of his ties with both the Chinese and Russians but because he has been able to navigate to the top of Iranian politics while still, perhaps necessarily so, remaining ultimately vague in a political climate driven by absolutes.

  His rhetoric, like Hugo Chavez's is from the Kim Il-Jung school of dealing with the United States. It's arguable that Bush himself subscribes to the Kissenger/Nixon "Mad Dog" approach to foreign policy and Ahmadinejad's approach appears to be the only way to combat it: to out "Mad Dog" the "Mad Dogs".

  Notice, no crystalnacht in Iran, no mandatory flair for non-Muslims? Understand the difference between rhetoric and action. He is doing everything he can to ratchet up the rhetoric, but along a few very specific bands in the spectrum. I am convinced the Chinese and Russians have been providing assistance with this little game in hopes that the U.S. or Israel will do something militarily foolish, which is not a bad bet.

  But if we look at him as an oversimplified, cartoonish character we are playing right into his hands. Whether or not Ahmadinejad believes that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust, or 1 million or none at all is not the final word on him. It should not be the end of an attempt at understanding him but the beginning.

  Because if the U.S. and Israel don't fall for the bait, he's likely going to be around for a long time to come. His ability to adapt should be much more concerning than his nuclear program. As I've said before, if Iran wanted to start WW III, they could have a long time ago. No, I think they want to do something much more permanent- they (Russia, China, Iran, (et al.?)) want to beat the U.S. or, more clearly, they want to help the U.S. beat itself.

  Understanding some of the more subtle aspects of his interactions with China and Russia, and not being blinded by all the smoke he's blowing in our faces seems like a good start to actually assessing how he may be used by China and Russia, and to what ends.

PB

This fixation on Ahmadinejad's anti-semitic rhetoric is like treading water. It doesn't get us anywhere in regards to understanding the man or his goals.

Suggesting that his credentials in civil engineering are an indication that he is not crazy or stupid, is simply incorrect. I know literally hundreds of civil engineers and happen to be one, myself and I can tell you first-hand there are plenty of them who fit the description of stupid, idiotic or crazy.

Reading his interview with the German magazine "Der Shpeegieleleje" I think his interest in the Holocaust stems from his questions about why the Palestinians had to pay the price for something committed in Europe. It's a fair point I'd say. Let Europe make amends.

Read this: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/11/news/iran.php

As for interest in the Holocaust, it is anti-Semitism that the basis of his "interest."

happened, its historical. any beef anyone has now can't be made against that.

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...of anti-Semitic swill offered by Nimmo and his ilk?

Perhaps you should watch this: http://img2.tapuz.co.il/forums/1_78931098.htm

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Only Lithos and Undergroundrailroad can delete posts here...PM one of them and perhaps, they will explain why your posts were axed.

In the meantime, do read: Guidelines for discussion of Israeli/Palestinian affairs

sense. He didn't argue that Iran under Ahmadinejad poses a real threat to Israel. He argued that Israel perceives him to be a real threat and he gave the reasons why this is so. If you can't recognize that a psychic pall hangs over the Israelis and rightly; or wrongly influences how they react, you're not looking at the whole situation. As for Nimmo, the axe he's grinding away with, is far larger (and clumsier) than the one he accuses Bronner of wielding.