Iranian President Ahmadinejad again says Holocaust is a myth

[Behind the Aegis]

TEHRAN - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that the Holocaust was a myth, reiterating a view that has caused international uproar and drawn a rebuke from the United Nations Security Council.

"They have fabricated a legend under the name 'Massacre of the Jews', and they hold it higher than God Himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves," he told a crowd in the southeastern city of Zahedan.

His speech was broadcast live on state television.

The Iranian president said the Europeans have used the "myth" to create a Jewish state in the heart of the Islamic world. He said it was the Europeans who committed crimes against the Jews and they, the United States or Canada, should give part of their land to the Jews to establish
a state.

more...

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. expect sabre ratling to increase

As long as this war of words stays ahem verbal I am happy... and yes this guy IS a loon

[Behind the Aegis]

3. LOL! You tickle me!

Yes, he is a loon. I wonder if his people, much like the people of the US, are as horrified at his statements as we are about the statements from the Shrub!

Where I diverge from you is that I think his statements are more than "saber-rattling." He wants to provoke Israel. He wants Israel to be the "aggressor." Since day one, many have tried to destroy Israel. They continue to this day. Only TWO Arab nations have officially recognize Israel (though that soon may change).

I look at it this way...She has been raped. She continues to be threatened with rape, and sometimes, responds aggressively. Then someone comes along, and says "I am gonna rape that bitch." He doesn't say it once, but several times. At some point, don't you think she might want to make the first strike, as opposed to be "attempted raped?"

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. And I doubt Israel will respond beyond sabre ratling

the conseuences of doing such are the ME going up in flames.

That is why we will see the sabre ratling increase.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. I agree with you.

Israel has too much on her plate. It has the PA to the South, the Syrians to the NW, and the Hizb'allah to the north. She is not in the position to do much.

[bahrbearian]

22. Funny though wasn't Chimpys saber rattling that gave Iran this Loon

[barb162]

13. By just saying his rants are nuts, we minimize his real danger.

I think he is being perfectly rational and within reality. His willingness to talk about this just shows that he is on a different set of personal boundaries than most people. But it doesn't mean he fits the definition of being clinically crazy. Sometimes I think by just saying he's nuts, we minimize his real danger. And I believe this guy is dangerous.

[allemand]

16. He is a dangerous fascist and he seems to love the idea of war.

His social background (being a member of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's SA/SS) also suggests that he is a genuine fascist.
I doubt that the conservative clergy is interested in provoking an attack, but Ahmadinejad doesn't seem too keen to avoid it. The idea of him having access to nuclear weapons is unbearable.

[barb162]

28. Yeah, the man is scary in several ways. He's very open about his

hate, just for starters. Most people try to keep their hate under wraps; this man seems to love blabbing it on TV every chance he gets. That's some strange behavior but still within bounds of sanity. I wish he was not in a position of power.

[David__77]

26. Bush's pre-emptive "doctrine"

That is what this type of response would be.

[bluestateguy]

2. What a penis

Sometimes I think he wants a war just as much as the American neo-cons and the hard line Likud people.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. True...war means money.

The one thing I would say here is that this SOB hates Israel because there are Jews there. He doesn't hate it for the occupation. He doesn't hate it for anything other than Jews are living there. So, if people like him exist (the ones that Israel for Jews, not their policies), isn't it possible that the same type exist here (and elsewhere)?

[w13rd0]

6. He knows that the US military...

...is stretched too thinly to engage Iran directly. Bush has made us weaker, and less able to respond appropriately. Bush has exposed our backside to those that would do us harm. And in doing so, Bush has encouraged madmen to be...well...mad. And yes, the Iranian president does want war. He wants to make millions of his people "martyrs" and solicit the wrath of "the Great Satan". In doing so, he's appealing to his "base" not unlike the manner in which Bush panders to his own base.

Bush and the Iranian President belong together. Locked in a small room with Ossama and Cheney and Rumsfeld. They can all hug and shake one anothers hands and pat one another on the back for a job, in their estimation, well done.

[Behind the Aegis]

9. Very good analysis.

BTW...where do we send donations to lock Shrub and the Iranian fool up in a room? As Homer Simpson said: "I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter."

[PsychoDad]

19. How much more civilized would our world be....

If we forced men such as these to fight their own battles by themselves.

[casual hex]

8. His is a subtly calculated move

If you have lived outside the US you will realize that is not a crime or a social faux paux to criticize Israel, except in the States. The President of Iran has seen how the Bush/Cheney Terrorists have attacked Iraq, and he knows he is in their sights. There is little he can do alone in the shadow of such aggression. He realizes his only hope is to keep this about Israel.

He realizes that the U.S. cannot be allowed to create some official narrative in which Iran is seen countering and reacting to Bush admin claims of Persian nukes and other "evil" yet amorphous and ill-defined nefarious activities. Bush will win this argument (lie) at least on the surface.

He knows they intend to attack him. It is in Iran's interests to make it appear to the world that the U.S.'s aggression toward Iran is over Israel.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. I agree, for the most part.

It is not a crime in the US to criticize Israel, it is just less accepted. Where you 'hammer the nail' home is..."It is in Iran's interests to make it appear to the world that the U.S.'s aggression toward Iran is over Israel." By doing that, Shrub secures his base, the fundies that need Jews to control Jerusalem for their "homecoming," and he pisses off the ultra-left by creating another war "for Israel" and, thereby, splitting the left. Jews, and now Israel, make a great scapegoat. The sad thing is that both sides use her as such.

[JudyM]

30. That is a thought-provoking reflection. Thanks. n/t

[TomClash]

11. But Holocaust denial is not the same as criticism of Israel

But you are right that Ahmadinejad is trying to change the debate to Palestine to ensure popular support in the ME.

[barb162]

12. Denying the Holocaust shows he is capable of denying facts

and reality I(at least in public), which is a bit scary since he's the prez of that country and he is purposely trying to whip up hatred

[ButterflyBlood]

27. there's a huge difference between criticizing Israel and Holocaust denial

Not even remotely comparable.

[casual hex]

29. Yes, but...

he's not going to make the news just criticizing Israel. He has to be highly controversial. This is obvious.

[bullimiami]

14. does he think the crusades were a myth too?

[HuffleClaw]

15. interesting how this guys rhetoric

is SOOOOO newsworthy, but others' are not. the north koreans, for example, routinely utter stuff far more extreme and its not major news. i liken this to how bush plays to HIS base with simplicities such as 'saddamites', or say his faux pas some time back, 'does your country have black people in it?' (which is EXACTLY the sort of thing that destroys people's political careers). all such ploys are shameful, but this particular one is only being paid attention to because the bush administration has PLANS for iran this coming spring. 'iranian oil bourse' are the key words to remember as we watch iran become more and more demonized by the corporate media.

[sarcasmo]

17. I Nominated this because Israel will be attacking Iran by the end

of summer. Israel can only take so much before they are forced to take preemptive strikes. If you remember this is the same idiot that said Israel should be removed from the map. When a leader who may have Nukes is making these kind of statements, I highly doubt Israel will what to be attacked. Look for a new war in theaters near you summer of 07.

[Nihil]

20. Ah, the peace-loving doctrine of "preemptive strikes".

I love it when people dress up "Might makes Right" in fancy words.
"He looked at me funny so I hit him".
"He called me names so I shot him."
"He is a confrontational bigot who hasn't got any weapons so I nuked him."

The tactics of bullies is the same whether they are individuals or states.

If Israel was to be so stupid as to commit a "pre-emptive nuclear strike"
on Iran, the "new war" would make the losses in Iraq (or the Holocaust)
truly pitiful in comparison. Last one out please switch off the lights.

[PsychoDad]

18. I guess everyone is entitled to an opinion...

no matter how assinine.

We have "creation scientists", Iran has holocaust deniers.... Stupidity is on the march.

Seriously though, IMHO the point that is lost here when numbers are argued about is that if ONLY ONE Jew died in the holocaust then it was too many! The magnitude of the Holocaust is staggering and the numbers mind numbing but the real crime was that innocent human beings were slaughtered for an ideology of hate.

Wasn't it Stalin that said one death is a tragedy and a thousand deaths a statistic? We become lost in the numbers and forget that these were innocent men, women and children, individuals like ourselves, who had the same loves, fears and hopes that I, you or the Iranian cleric have.

Perhaps the esteemed cleric from Iran forgets the hadeeth of the prophet (pbuh) that states, "if one human being is murdered, it is as if the whole of humanity was murdered".

6,000,000 or 6000, how can you look back upon the face of a frightened child and say that her death was somehow unimportant?

May God have mercy on us all.

Peace.

[emad]

21. At last! David Irving's true son shows his allegiance.....

"They have created a myth today that they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets," he said.
--------------------
Mr Ahmadinejad's latest declaration echoes comments he made last week, in which he said territory should be "provided" in Germany or Austria to establish Israel "if European countries claim that they have killed Jews in World War II".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4527142.stm

[wordpix2]

23. obviously the asshole doesn't know that Jews wanted to escape Europe

and that's why they had the dream of returning to their biblical homeland during and after WWII in first place.

[sofa king]

24. I'll bet he learned that on the Internets.

[confludemocrat]

25. Last week to Germ.&Austria: compensate for holocaust, now: no holocaust

obviously a well calculated remark (contradicting as it does his suggestion based on the reality of the holocaust by the third reich) as was sheer irony of the suggestion of creating a bantustan homeland inside the territories of the Jews greatest oppressors and murderers (Germany and Austria), especially given the Zionists wanting to create a bantustan homeland for the Palestinians.
Freudian reply by Merkle in calling the sugestion by Mr. Ahmadinejad to accept the Israelis as "unacceptable"

[Hawkeye-X]

31. Tell that to my grandfather, who was a Holocaust survivor

and has his story recorded in the Shoah.

Survived Auschwitz too.

Asshole.

Hawkeye-X

[Gregorian]

32. Doesn't Mel Gibson's dad also deny the holocaust happened?

I wonder if they'd make good friends.