Interesting viewpoint on Ahmadinejad by Iranian Americans..

[Virginia Dare]

We are giving this a-hole way too much relevance, and it's counter-productive. We need to have serious dialog about what's going on in Iran, not arguing over some petty demagogue. Personally, this is my last post on the subject, I'm sick of hearing and talking about the guy.

Many Iranian Americans in the Washington area describe President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a provocateur, a hypocrite and an embarrassment to Iran. Yet some are disturbed about the hostile reception Ahmadinejad has received this week during his visit to the United States.

Students, professionals and academics in the region's Iranian emigre community said yesterday that they were frustrated and disappointed that the visit has focused on sensational issues such as Ahmadinejad's denials that the Holocaust occurred and that homosexuality exists in Iran.
Instead, they said they wished that the rare encounter between a senior Iranian official and the U.S. public would raise issues that they consider more pressing to residents of Iran-- such as the oppression of women, the quashing of political dissent and the social control exercised by the country's real powers among the conservative Shiite Muslim clergy.

"I agree that Ahmadinejad is a despicable human being, but he is not a dictator. He cannot dictate anything," said Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, director of the Persian Studies Center at the University of Maryland. The Iranian president was introduced Monday as a "petty and cruel dictator" by the president of Columbia University, which had been pressured not to let him speak at the New York City campus.

"Technically, he is a nobody in Iran's system, but he likes to make inflammatory comments," said Bijan Ganji, an Iranian-born law student at George Washington University. "He has nothing to say on the issues that really matter to most Iranians: human rights, the lack of political and social freedoms inside Iran. It's especially hard for us here, because we have to keep explaining why we have such a pathetically embarrassing president."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092502448.html

[bdamomma]

1. substitute words in this passage to read American, America.

"He has nothing to say on the issues that really matter to most Iranians: human rights, the lack of political and social freedoms inside Iran. It's especially hard for us here, because we have to keep explaining why we have such a pathetically embarrassing president."
(before)


"He has nothing to say on the issues that really matter to most Americans: human rights, the lack of political and social freedoms inside America. It's especially hard for us here, because we have to keep explaining why we have such a pathetically embarrassing president."
(after)

I guess both Americans and Iranians have the same problem.

[Virginia Dare]

3. Precisely, we both have figureheads who are an embarassment to us..n/t

[BrklynLib at work]

6. My exact thoughts as I read that....

It's especially hard for us here, because we have to keep explaining why we have such a pathetically embarrassing president."

:banghead:

Ironically, prez shit-for-brains exhibits less courage, since he would never have the nerve to face an unfiltered audience of students who might ask him questions for which he had not been prepared for weeks..with pronunication notes, of course..

[DJ MEW]

2. "Technically, he is a nobody in Iran's system

Exactually. He is just a forigen diplomat that is playing to setiment of his people and the religous leaders that actually make the descisions.

It is all just strutting for the sake of making sure the people that gave him his job still like him.

Nothing he says means anything and it isn't even actual Iranian policy.

[bdamomma]

9. the Ayatollahs run everything out there.

Ahmadinejad is not running the show.

read this: mostly read the views of people.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FB085194-ABDC-4D1C-82C4-8F24FAAFA8CC.htm

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

4. K&R

[Timex]

5. Obviouslly if you're an Iranian and Pro-Shah

It doesn't matter who the hell is in power in Iran, they're still going to oppose him, his policies, and whatever it takes to make him look like your worst nightmare. If he lies, what makes you think they won't? Are people supposed to be given a no-fault card and an honest attribute just because they're not in power? Give his country a break! If you want opinions, ask Iranians that live in Iran; sure they may not like things exactly the way they are right now, but who doesn't? As an American citizen, do you love everything that the US government is doing? One more thought, if you're Iranian but haven't been there since you were 5 years old and now you're 35, what could you possibly know about their way of life? By watching CNN - or worst, Fox News?

[Virginia Dare]

7. You're right..

I'm sure that the Director of Persian Studies at the University of Maryland gets his information from CNN and FOX..:eyes:

I think you missed the whole point of the article by the way.

[spanone]

8. bu$h* is the man who gave ahmadinejad relevancy

[nashville_brook]

13. he's VERY valuable to Boosh and the war machine.

[Zandor]

10. K & R

Good to see.

[The Stranger]

11. Shhhhhh! You are interrupting the TWO MINUTES HATE!

[peacetalksforall]

12. What did he say in any speech at the U.N. or Columbia that changes the way we would regard him?

It was already a given that he is a reckless loud mouth and would probably add to his claims.

We ignored that he was invited by a University and was accepted by the U.N.
We host the U.N., we don't rule it. We were poor hosts and helped the propaganda.

We made too big a deal of his character.
It was fodder time for Republicans who need to pump us up for bombing Iranians.

It has been reported several times that Iranians have made overtures to the U.S. to sit down and talk.

No matter how much shock and lies come from his mouth an equal amount comes through the mouth of our President.

It is Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs and Councils over there.
It is Cheney-Bush and the Reverends and Corporations over here.

We know how our leaders got in.
Supposedly Ahmadinejad was legally elected.

We need to relate to the innocent people of Iran.
It is the innocent people who are vulnerable to the wars conducted between leaders.
We need to help each other by realizing that the leaders war each other and bring us to inter nation wars for their own agendas. Only some of the people buy into it for imperialistic reasons. Some more buy into it for defense. And many in this country are lied to about what they have to be defended against.

While Ahmadinejad was speaking we got more reports and articles about how Cheney-Bush are preparing to bomb them.

We got distracted over someone who we already knew lacked credibility.

We wasted a lot of words, time, energy on Ahmadinejad and Bush.

Given that there were no talks about peace - we should have let him come and go and let the students and faculty of Columbia raise their objections or defense as they please.