John Bolton, former UN ambassador, had something to say about President Ahmadinejad's appearance at New York's Columbia University. Bolton said that some people, Ahmadinejad included, have no regard for truth, and those people have no place in academic debate.
I'm inclined to agree, but I spent enough decades in American academia to realize that standards of veracity vary, according to the viewpoint of the speaker or writer.
For my part, I think that the Columbia's giving Ahmadinejad a platform may have done some good.
To my surprise, there were a few serious question asked, and in at least one occasion, his non-answer was not accepted. That, for me, was a very pleasant surprise.
My fear had been that Ahmadinejad would be given a sort of softball treatment, with questions intended more to give him opportunities for giving talking points, than to draw out meaningful answers.
My opinion of Columbia University went up a bit.
Ahmadinejad said that the Holocaust happened, that in happened in Europe, and that it is the (hyped) reason that Israel is (according to him) torturing children and oppressing the Palestinians.
One last thing. I missed a little of Ahmadinejad's remarks. Apparently, he said that Iran's women were the freest in the world. Interesting assertion.
Related posts, on censorship, propaganda, and freedom of speech.
Related posts, on Individuals and the War on Terror.
So many words yet so little said! I wonder if the idealism of free speech should have been extended to Ahmadinejad in the first place.
ReplyDeleteCan we, just for a moment imagine a U.S. President addressing students in Tehran?
In the end he received a turbulent reception which was perhaps fitting.
Should America's tradition and legal protection of free speech be extended to the current president of Iran?
ReplyDeleteI'd say, yes.
"I sympathize with people who don't want President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran at Columbia University - or the United Nations, but, at the risk of seeming intolerant, America better than that.
"Freedom is a difficult, uncomfortable, thing to maintain. There's always a temptation to make some people and ideas more free than others."
The quote is from a recent post in this blog, "Let Ahmadinejad Speak? Of Course!"
When America stoops to the level of this world's tyrannies and totalitarian regimes, then the blame-America-first crowd will be right.