Is it fact that the President of Iran said those outrageous things?

[CoffeeCat]

I'm wondering...

Since BushCo seems to be proceeding on a propaganda campaign against Iran--because they want to bomb it---are we sure that the new Iranian leader, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, truly said the outrageous things that our media is reporting?

CNN reported that Ahmadinejad said that the Holocaust was "a myth" and that "Israel should be moved to Canada, the United States or Alaska."

In October, it was reported that Ahmadinejad said that "Israel should be wiped off of the map."

I'd like to see video of these remarks.

If he made these remarks, they are ignorant and hateful.

However, I would not put anything past our government--and that includes putting words into someone's mouth. Hey, if they would lie their way into Iraq about WMD, they'd certainly find creative ways to lie their way into Iran.

Anyone know about any video of these remarks?

It just seems a little fishy--that right about the time the United States wants to bomb Iran--the President of Iran begins to spout off like a madman.

[niyad]

1. a most interesting point. is there any confirmation from any independent

media in other countries?

[Kagemusha]

3. In other countries, absolutely. But the original source is Iran anyway

He plays to a different audience.

[aquart]

2. Madman? No. Midnight DUers, oh, yes.

A head of state in the MidEast? That kind of statement can be read as "Please don't assassinate me."

[oblivious]

4. Yes, it was a live broadcast.

Iranian president calls holocaust a 'myth' in live TV broadcast http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1667634,00.html

I know this is a Western source, but no one in Iran denies it. His meaning and reasons for saying it are open to interpretation.

For example, according to many Arab papers I read at the time, what he meant by the 'wiped off the map' comment was that the land should be called Palestine, not Israel, not that Israel should be wiped out as the Western media interpreted it to mean. They pointed out that this has been Iranian policy since the the overthrow of the shah.

edit to add:

Re the holocaust is a myth comment, this was explained to mean researchers should be allowed to conduct further studies on the holocaust and to discuss the extent of it without fear of imprisonment and that Europe and N America should be willing to give up some land for the cause if they believed in it so strongly.

[niyad]

5. thank you. I don't trust govt translators here.

[handsignals4theblind]

6. -It's politics designed to shore up support-USA made MULLahs

YEs he is a bit of a windbag isn't he. He said it, he is wrong and is just trying to pander to his base at home. Instead by proxy, the administration has the caustic Anne Coulter to recommend bombing and proselyting-Both are offensive

For some reason the Protocols of the Elders of Zion-created in the early part of this century by The CZARS (TZAR'S)was propaganda that is still believed by some today- especially in Eastern Europe and the middle east

Seems the USA turned a blind eye to the Pakistan nuclear proliferation and face it--as before- in Iraq and now with Iran---the medium powers want the respect of the big guys-------Would IRAN risk total annihilation by say getting a bomb and hitting TEL AVIV?--ISrael has about 200 nukes and nobody ever suggest they try disarming.


IF the CIA, Oil companies had left IRAN alone in the 50's and allowed them a decent share of the oil -instead of installing the Puppet monarch The Shah dictatorship and trained his secret SAVAK police leading to the Iranian Revolution-1979.

Talk about blow back

[MADem]

7. I lived in Iran for years, and I heard that crap all the time

It's taught as history in some schools, and not considered outrageous in those parts at all by a good chunk of the population. I'm not saying it is right, it has more to do with Palestinian sympathies, really, than heated, ardent anti-Semitism (though that surely exists over there) but I am telling you what I've heard...and that was a looong time ago. That sort of invective plays well over that way. Also, the translations are rather dramatic, but Farsi is a very flowery language, and even common sentiments, especially invectives, while accurate in the translation, use punchier language than we use on a daily basis.

But this is worrisome, on a tangential note: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02669724.htm

ANKARA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Monday that newspaper reports which say the United States has asked Ankara for permission to use military bases in Turkey for possible attacks on neighbouring Iran are not connected with reality.

And this does not warm my cockles, either: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17714541%255E31477,00.html

ISRAELI military chief Dan Halutz has discounted an imminent air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities as Iran's President delivered a diatribe against the Jewish state.

"I don't think an operation by the Israel defence forces against the Iranians will be necessary soon," General Halutz said. "All political options for halting the Iranian program must be exhausted before other options are considered."

All of this denial, all of a sudden!!! Someone must be trying to pull something, somewhere, somehow!

[jobycom]

8. The comments seem to have been grossly misrepresented

Kind of like Kruschev's "we will bury you," when what he was really saying was "We will leave you in our dust."

The word "myth" even in English doesn't mean "untrue," it means a story that has become more significant than the actual details. The "Jesus myth" for instance can be used to talk about the various life stories and interpretations of Jesus without discussing whether they are true. Ahmadinejad may have been calling the Holocaust a story that has taken on mythic proportions, not claiming that it didn't happen. Certainly the official explanation of his comment from Iran claimed that he was NOT denying it happened, and the context of the statement doesn't say it didn't happen.

The second comment, that Israel should be moved to Canada or the US was certainly quoted out of context. What Ahmadinejad said was that the Holocaust happened in the West, but the West decided to make amends for the Holocaust by stealing Palestinean lands. He said that if the West felt so guilty about their sins THEY should have borne the cost, and moved Israel to Canada or the US instead of someone else's land.

Last, the comment about being wiped off the map meant literally wiping the name of Israel off printed maps. I'm not even sure if Iran uses the same western idiom about "wiping someone off the map" to mean completely destroying them.

You are right to doubt what's being reported. Bush is in full Swiftboat mode on Iran. I'm not claiming Iran is our buddy, or that Ahmadinejad loves Israel, just that you can't believe a damn thing BushCo says right now. He wants to bomb Iran, and I fear that he wants to use nukes. Don't forget the memo he circulated when he first took the office, I mean took office. He claimed America could justify first strike nuclear attacks against seven nations. Iran and North Korea are on that list. Bush wants to use nukes more than he wants to breathe, and it will be a miracle if we get through the next three years without him doing it.

[Shipwack]

9. For a different slant....

Al Jazeera English Edition

They aren't "unbiased", completely, but they are better than you would expect. Since they aren't based in any one country, they can annoy everyone...

[awoke_in_2003]

10. My big problem with his statements

is WHO translated them. Did US media (using government translators) do it, or did people who understand the NUANCES (I know, bad word) of the language interpret them?