Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government invited a former President of Iran to speak at the infamous Forum. I call it infamous because it’s a no-holds-barred place. Whether you’re Bill O’Reilly or Nancy Pelosi, students take aim, in that Ivy League school polite way and ask hard-hitting questions.
They’re not journalists nor plants.” In fact it’s one place that someone who may be disappointed with today’s youth will be pleasantly surprised. According to the Wall Street Journal President Bush personally signed off on a visa allowing former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami to visit the United States. The President apparently wanted to hear his views. Liberals all over the country must have been shaking their heads, thinking this can’t be right. Let me assure Bush haters not to worry the President was not expanding his horizons by inviting Khatami to the United States, he was punching him in the face. Is it possible that President Bush wanted to learn more about the Iranians? Yes! Is it likely, I don’t think so but we can always hope.
Lets go back to April 20, 2006.
A sunny spring day on the White House lawn. Security was high as another despot was over for lunch and perhaps to see the Japanese Cherry Trees, that bloom in the spring.China’s President Hu Jintao was welcomed to the White House but not by the President. A Chinese woman, according to CNN, shouted at President Jintao to stop the persecution of the Chinese religious sect Falun Gong. The protestor pulled out a big red flag and security took so long to get there that the photographers tried to stop this protestor. You heard- photographers. Not the Secret Service but some civilians just wanting to get a picture in but were being impeded by a red flag.
In this day and age where old ladies are interrogated by “keen” TSA security
officials, who reading this would believe that a visitor to the White House while President Jintao in residence would not have been checked six ways to Sunday? According to a former professor, who was a retired FBI agent that focused on China affairs, in his opinion the President of the United States knew of that red flag long before it was waved in front of Jintao. And there it is the “right cross.” When our country’s leader can’t bomb you to smithereens, he invites you the United States. Make no mistake the President authorized that person to walk in to the White House with that flag.
Sorry people, the President is not as stupid as you think. Today was proof. While I did not see Mohamed Khatami’s speech, I did see the questions that were asked on CSPAN. Questions on why are homosexuals killed in Iran and Why the support for Hezbollah and Why the torture of those who speak against the government. It was liberals gone mad.
Students that looked like they were Vietnam War protestors bombarded the President with statements in the form of a question. Well I found out that it is illegal to be gay in the Islamic religion and you could get the death penalty. I found out that there is no evidence that Iran supports Hezbollah. I did not understand the tortured prisoner response but maybe that was the point. Oh, I forgot the Holocaust- it did happen. As a novice Persian speaker, I understand certain words and if my linguistic skills are accurate the translator skipped a whole bunch of comments. In my opinion the full translation of the speech will be reproduced and fed to the Muslim world as the Khatami’s preverbal punch back. I will keep my eye out for MEMRI’s translation of this speech it should be interesting (www.memri.org).
Khatami’s final comment was attention-grabbing. While I can’t quote it word for word, it resembled a conversation that someone would have if they were talking about a friend they had a fight with and in a weird way had hoped that the fallout never happened. The Iran/US relationship is complicated and has a long history of both sides doing bad things to each other and Khatami seemed to be bothered by this. Bothered or not that country is led by a pernicious leader who is duplicitous and mendacious and I am glad that some Harvard students gave Khatami a message to take back with him to Iran. Until we find out different, all I have to say is nice shot Mr. President.