Ahmadinejad hailed in Middle East

[bemildred]

Source: LAT

CAIRO — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a flinty populist in a zip-up jacket whose scathing rhetoric and defiance of Washington are often caricatured in the Western media, has transcended national and religious divides to become a folk hero across the Middle East.

The diminutive, at times inscrutable, president is a wellspring of stinging sound-bites and swagger for Muslims who complain that their leaders are too beholden to or frightened of the Bush administration. Ahmadinejad, who arrived in New York Sunday ahead of a U.N. General Assembly meeting, is an easily marketable commodity:a streetwise politician with nuclear ambitions and an open microphone.

"I like him a lot," said Mahmoud Ali, a medical student in Cairo. "He's trying to protect himself and his nation from the dangers around him. He makes me feel proud. He's a symbol of Islam. He seems the only person capable of taking a stand against Israel and the West. Unfortunately, Egypt has gotten too comfortable with Washington."

Ahmadinejad's appeal is especially strong in Egypt, where he is compared to the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, whose bold, yet doomed vision of pan-Arabism in the 1950s was also aimed at stemming Western influence. In the minds of many Egyptians, Iran's quest to expand its nuclear program despite United Nations sanctions is similar to Nasser's confrontation with the British and French over nationalizing the Suez Canal.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ahmadinejad24sep24,1,4996019.story?coll=la-headlines-world

[abq e streeter]

1. Well, isn't that special

A slimy politician in a country notorious for severe repression of women, gays, religious minorities ... who not only denies the historical reality of, but smugly mocks the torture , starvation and slaughter of millions of innocent men , women and children is a folk hero in the middle east. Good to know...

[Zandor]

2. Spot on, my friend n/t

[rollin74]

3. well said and deserves repeating

I hope that the students at Columbia force Ahmadinejad to directly respond to the very issues you raise.

[leftchick]

4. for a minute there I thought you mean't bush

with Iraq being a model of freedom and democracy american style. :eyes:

[movonne]

6. I thought so too... I think we should start by getting democracy back

in this country...and let the other countries take care of their own..

[ronnie624]

7. The policies of our own government have created this outcome.

Well publicized opinion polls of Iranian citizens, has shown that the Iranian people admire American culture, and would prefer close relations with the United States.

The Bush Administration and Western propaganda outlets are clearly responsible for this polarization.

[abq e streeter]

8. Not just Bush,

but U.S. government/oil company policies (although I feel sort of ridiculous referring to them as separate entities) and our interference with Iran going back to the overthrow of Mossadegh have absolutely spawned hatred of our government . However, just because our guys are despicable assholes doesn't excuse their guys from being as bad or worse. And the article was about Ahmadinejad being a hero all over the middle east. In my opinion, if Bush is your hero, you're an idiot , and if Ahmadinejad is your hero, you're at least as big an idiot.

[ronnie624]

9. Ahmadinejad is far from being my hero.

I care little for fundamentalism of any sort.

But the content of your post wasn't really about Ahmadinejad. It was designed to further the vilification of Muslims in general, by claiming they regard as a folk hero, someone who denies the historical reality of the Holocaust, advancing yet again, distortions of Ahmadinejads words.

What Ahmadinejad said, was that a myth has been created around the Holocaust that disallows the questioning of the Israeli government's policies.

I have read a number of Ahmadinejad's speeches, and in none of them has he denied the reality of the Holocaust. In fact, he has on numerous occasions, spoken of it as an historical reality, and he has never mocked the victims of the Nazis.

Do not allowing yourself to be used as a stooge in the manufacture of support for committing crimes against another country.

[abq e streeter]

10. Sorry about the wording

Never meant to imply he's your hero; just meant a more generic "you", as in "someone's" ; referring to those people , whoever and wherever they are who regard him as a hero...And no, I don't consider another country's president being a vile asshole as grounds for attacking them.

[ronnie624]

12. You needn't apologize.

Your post did not seem overly harsh, and the rules do suggest developing a 'thick skin'.

Good day to you, abq e streeter.

[IndianaGreen]

11. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait also repress women, gays, and religious minorities

but those despots are in America's payroll, so no outrage will be forthcoming from Washington.

Shall we also mention Egypt's atrocious human rights record?

Americans suffer from selective outrage. Coming from a country that denies full rights of citizenship to LGBTs, and one that protects terrorists like Orlando Bosch and Posada Carriles, and enables Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people and her bombing of Lebanon, we sure don't have any moral standing to be lecturing anyone else.

[slackmaster]

5. They'd probably go ape shit over Ernst Zundel too

:nuke: