As I predicted, while listening to Bollinger's hard hitting comments [which can be read here] about Ahmadinejad, many people have criticized him for being ungracious to the Iranian.
This man has persecuted academics, women, homosexuals [oops there are none in Iran] and when he is called on it these critics don't like it.
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Still, I think that Lee Bolinger's statements will find their way back to Iran, (perhaps by some samizdat means) and will further embolden the dissidents, reformers, and intelligencia of Iran, once they see the President they already dispise being exposed for what he is in a public forum.
My fear all along was that Bolinger would show deference. He surprised me.
I have no problems whatsoever with Bollinger's calling out Pres. Ahmadinejad on human rights violations. I have real problems with the way he did it.
His criticisms would have been far more powerful and difficult to dismiss if delivered with icy politeness and without being surrounded by a recitation of the Bush administration claims about the Iranian government's activities in Iraq.
Bollinger's human rights criticisms would also be easier to respect if he did not reserve them for official enemies of the U.S. Compare his fawning treatment of the Columbia appearance of official friend of the U.S. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a man who took power in a coup, awarded himself another five years as president and the power to dismiss an elected parliament, and reneged on his promise to give up his army post:
http://media.cc.columbia.edu:8080/ramgen/acis/research/ci/wlf_fall05/musharraf_intro.smi?mode=compact
Bollinger's only deference was inviting this Muslim anti-Jewish bigot to United States in the first place. Hell, Bush invited Saudi Princes to his ranch, who are just as much to blame for Islamic terrorism as is this Iranian president (forget writing out his name!)- and he held hands with these Saudi princes! These Saudi king-pins hate Jews for no other reason than that they're Jewish. And that's ok for President Bush to have them visit his ranch? This is the same American president (along with Condoleeza Rice) who bullied a floundering Israeli government into evicting Jews from their homes in Gaza. That's ok? Not in my books.
Forget Bush. Bush is about as prescient as Daniel Pipes predicting violence from Muslim Arab groups in Gaza (forget Daniel Pipes too). Bollinger is the least of the West's problems.
Musharraf is also "aiding and abetting" terrorists in both Iraq and Afghanistan and Kashmir (to name a few). Musharraf is the best dog on a leash the West has right now within Pakistan, otherwise you'd have an even more religious Muslim autocrat in power in Pakistan, and then you'd have a war with Israel. It's as simple as that.
Musharraf feels no shame at all in taking power the way he did. This is the way Muslims do business: whoever can smack their enemies the hardest wins the battles. Think Gaza, think the West Bank. This is taught in the Koran. There is no shame in stomping on your enemies, even if they're your fellow religious, according to Islam.
"A crooked light casts a crooked shadow."
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