Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label US Constitution 01 Amend Free Speech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Constitution 01 Amend Free Speech. Show all posts

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Friday, July 01, 2011

Washington Examiner Political Digest: Nothing funny about government limits on political speech

Nothing funny about government limits on political speech

According to liberal dogma, last year's Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC was the worst thing to happen to American democracy since Watergate. Hoping to prove that the ruling would allow "unlimited corporate money" to influence elections, Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert announced in March that he would form ColbertPAC, a political action committee. Yesterday, almost three months later, the Federal Election Commission narrowly granted him permission to do so. But that was far from the first obstacle on Colbert's march to undo the evils of the moneyed class in politics.

Examiner Local Editorial: Fairfax's posh subsidized housing features pools, spas

Fairfax County taxpayers are being forced to subsidize so-called "affordable housing" that includes luxurious amenities many of them cannot afford to provide their own families. That's the conclusion of an eye-opening new study by the Springfield-based Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, a nonpartisan research and education organization.

What the Times didn't tell you about Ian Urbina

You're Ian Urbina, a senior New York Times reporter. In February and March, you write that hydraulic fracturing, a method of natural gas extraction, is contaminating Pennsylvania drinking water. Your accusations are disproved by government tests. 

A huge political storm is stirring over farm dust

By: Ron Arnold 
What is the doom of America? To borrow a mystical metaphor from an old Bob Dylan song, "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind." And what might that mighty answer be? Farm dust, everyday rural American farm dust. 

Obama's stimulus road to nowhere

Mired in excruciating negotiations over the budget and the debt ceiling, President Obama might reflect that things didn't have to turn out this way. The impasse grows mainly out of one major decision he made early on: pushing through a giant stimulus. 

Madison on the Thames

LONDON -- Big Labor looks the same wherever you go: petulant, irrational and wholly aggrieved beyond its means. I'm here on vacation with family as some 750,000 public-sector employees strike in protest over modest pension reform proposals. It's a taste of Wisconsin on the Thames. U.K. government teachers are just as shameless and entitlement-mongering as their American counterparts. More than half of England's schools shut down on Thursday as union members took to the streets. 

President Richard M. Obama

How many times have we heard awestruck references to Barack Obama's history as a law professor? Many came from the man himself, as when he told a crowd at a 2007 fundraiser, "I was a constitutional law professor, which means unlike the current president, I actually respect the Constitution." 

What if President Obama had said this instead?

What if -- instead of blaming Republicans, big oil, the "wealthy" and corporate jets -- President Obama had used his recent news conference to say the following? 


Washington Examiner Political Digest: Nothing funny about government limits on political speech
*****

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Open Letter to Westboro Baptist Church FROM ANONYMOUS

In a warning posted by “Anonymous,” the anti-gay, fundamentalist church known as the Westboro Baptist Church, led by Rev. Fred Phelps, was put on notice to “Cease & desist your protest campaign in the year 2011, return to your homes in Kansas, & close your public Web sites” or “the damage incurred will be irreversible,” and that “neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover…” 

++++++++

AN OPEN LETTER FROM ANONYMOUS http://anonnews.org/?p=home


TO THE CONGREGANTS OF WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH:

We, the collective super-consciousness known as ANONYMOUS - the Voice of Free Speech & the Advocate of the People - have long heard you issue your venomous statements of hatred, and we have witnessed your flagrant and absurd displays of inimitable bigotry and intolerant fanaticism. We have always regarded you and your ilk as an assembly of graceless sociopaths and maniacal chauvinists & religious zealots, however benign, who act out for the sake of attention & in the name of religion.

Being such aggressive proponents for the Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Information as we are, we have hitherto allowed you to continue preaching your benighted gospel of hatred and your theatrical exhibitions of, not only your fascist views, but your utter lack of Christ-like attributes. You have condemned the men and women who serve, fight, and perish in the armed forces of your nation; you have prayed for and celebrated the deaths of young children, who are without fault; you have stood outside the United States National Holocaust Museum, condemning the men, women, and children who, despite their innocence, were annihilated by a tyrannical embodiment of fascism and unsubstantiated repugnance. Rather than allowing the deceased some degree of peace and respect, you instead choose to torment, harass, and assault those who grieve.

Your demonstrations and your unrelenting cascade of disparaging slurs, unfounded judgments, and prejudicial innuendos, which apparently apply to every individual numbered amongst the race of Man - except for yourselves - has frequently crossed the line which separates Freedom of Speech from deliberately utilizing the same tactics and methods of intimidation and mental & emotional abuse that have been previously exploited and employed by tyrants and dictators, fascists and terrorist organizations throughout history.

ANONYMOUS cannot abide this behavior any longer. The time for us to be idle spectators in your inhumane treatment of fellow Man has reached its apex, and we shall now be moved to action. Thus, we give you a warning: Cease & desist your protest campaign in the year 2011, return to your homes in Kansas, & close your public Web sites.

Should you ignore this warning, you will meet with the vicious retaliatory arm of ANONYMOUS: We will target your public Websites, and the propaganda & detestable doctrine that you promote will be eradicated; the damage incurred will be irreversible, and neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover. It is in your best interest to comply now, while the option to do so is still being offered, because we will not relent until you cease the conduction & promotion of all your bigoted operations & doctrines.

The warning has been given. What happens from here shall be determined by you.

WE ARE ANONYMOUS.
WE ARE LEGION.
WE DO NOT FORGIVE.
WE DO NOT FORGET.
EXPECT US.

Hat Tip CREDIT goes to:

CBS Tech Talk: Hackers warn Westboro Church: Stop now or else http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20033942-501465.html  … In an open letter to the Westboro Baptist Church, Anonymous has put the anti-gay, fundamentalist church on notice that "the damage incurred will be irreversible," and that "neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover."

The Westboro Baptist Church is led by Rev. Fred Phelps. It has drawn particular attention for carrying out anti-gay protests at funerals of military servicemen with signs celebrating the deaths of the soldiers with signs like "God Hates the USA" or "Thank God for 9/11."  The group operates a website with the URL godhatesfags.com.

And Digg:

http://digg.com/news/technology/hackers_warn_westboro_church_stop_now_or_else_tech_talk_cbs_news - - Hackers warn Westboro Church: Stop now or else - Tech Talk - CBS News  cbsnews.com — In an open letter to the Westboro Baptist Church, a group of hacktivists acting under the banner "Anonymous" has put the anti-gay, fundamentalist church on notice that "the damage incurred will be irreversible," and that "neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover."

20110216 Open Letter to Westboro Baptist Church From ANONYMOUS

Westboro Baptist Church, ANONYMOUS


Open Letter to Westboro Baptist Church FROM ANONYMOUS                                                                                                                               

*****

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange wrote this Op-Ed for The Australian

`The truth will always win’ - Julian Assange writes

The Australian Media Diary | December 07, 2010 | 260 Comments

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange wrote this Op-Ed for The Australian today:

Key lines:

* WikiLeaks is fearlessly publishing facts that need to be made public.

* The dark days of corruption in the Queensland government before the Fitzgerald inquiry are testimony to what happens when the politicians gag the media from reporting the truth.

* (My idea is) to use internet technologies in new ways to report the truth.

* People have said I am anti-war: for the record, I am not. Sometimes nations need to go to war, and there are just wars.

* The Gillard government (Australia) is trying to shoot the messenger because it doesn’t want the truth revealed.


IN 1958 a young Rupert Murdoch, then owner and editor of Adelaide’s The News, wrote: “In the race between secrecy and truth, it seems inevitable that truth will always win.”

His observation perhaps reflected his father Keith Murdoch’s expose that Australian troops were being needlessly sacrificed by incompetent British commanders on the shores of Gallipoli. The British tried to shut him up but Keith Murdoch would not be silenced and his efforts led to the termination of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.

Nearly a century later, WikiLeaks is also fearlessly publishing facts that need to be made public.

I grew up in a Queensland country town where people spoke their minds bluntly. They distrusted big government as something that could be corrupted if not watched carefully. The dark days of corruption in the Queensland government before the Fitzgerald inquiry are testimony to what happens when the politicians gag the media from reporting the truth.

These things have stayed with me.  WikiLeaks was created around these core values. The idea, conceived in Australia, was to use internet technologies in new ways to report the truth.

WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?

Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest. WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption.

People have said I am anti-war: for the record, I am not. Sometimes nations need to go to war, and there are just wars. But there is nothing more wrong than a government lying to its people about those wars, then asking these same citizens to put their lives and their taxes on the line for those lies. If a war is justified, then tell the truth and the people will decide whether to support it.

If you have read any of the Afghan or Iraq war logs, any of the US embassy cables or any of the stories about the things WikiLeaks has reported, consider how important it is for all media to be able to report these things freely.

WikiLeaks is not the only publisher of the US embassy cables. Other media outlets, including Britain ‘s The Guardian, The New York Times, El Pais in Spain and Der Spiegel in Germany have published the same redacted cables…


20101207 The truth will always win Julian Assange writes

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Missing atheist sign found in Washington state By Mallory Simon CNN

Missing atheist sign found in Washington state By Mallory Simon CNN

Fri December 5, 2008

For those of us who are aggressive protectors of the right to free speech, we have to wonder what it is that the atheists wish to accomplish...

Having said that, I understand that intent is certainly not an arbiter of the expression of free speech. However, manipulating some obscure interpretation of equal opportunity in order to attack Christmas, is certainly a unique approach to attempting to be compelling and persuasive about one’s cause…

Story Highlights

NEW: Placard from Washington state Capitol found in a ditch, radio station says

Atheists' place placard was next to Nativity scene in Olympia, Washington, building

Sign calls religion a myth that "hardens hearts and enslaves minds"

Some residents, Christian groups say atheists attacking celebration of Jesus' birth

Don't Miss: iReport.com:
Over-the-top holiday displays?

(CNN) -- An atheist sign criticizing Christianity that was erected alongside a Nativity scene was taken from the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington, on Friday and later found in a ditch.

An employee from country radio station KMPS-FM in Seattle told CNN the sign was dropped off at the station by someone who found it in a ditch.

"I thought it would be safe," Freedom From Religion Foundation co-founder Annie Laurie Gaylor told CNN earlier Friday. "It's always a shock when your sign is censored or stolen or mutilated. It's not something you get used to."

The sign, which celebrates the winter solstice, has had some residents and Christian organizations calling atheists Scrooges because they said it was attacking the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth.

"Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds," the sign from the Freedom From Religion Foundation says in part.

The sign, which was at the Legislative Building at 6:30 a.m. PT, was gone by 7:30 a.m., Gaylor said.

[…]

The scene in Washington state is not unfamiliar. Barker has had signs in Madison, Wisconsin, for 13 years. The placard is often turned around so the message can't be seen, and one year, someone threw acid on it, forcing the group to encase it in Plexiglas.

In Washington, D.C., the American Humanist Association began a bus ad campaign this month questioning belief in God.

"Why believe in a God?" the advertisement asks. "Just be good for goodness sake."

That ad has caused the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to field hundreds of complaints, the group said, but it has heard just as much positive feedback, said Fred Edwords, the association's spokesman.

Edwords said the ad campaign, which features a shrugging Santa Claus, was not meant to attack Christmas but rather to reach out to an untapped audience.

[…]

Read the entire article here: Missing atheist sign found in Washington state By Mallory Simon CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/05/atheists.christmas/?iref=mpstoryview

20081205 Missing atheist sign found in Washington state

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Merry Christmas from the Left Red White and Impeach

Merry Christmas from the Left Red White and Impeach

December 2, 2008

Apparently the left does not rest for the holidays.

For those of us who feel passionately about the right to free speech, we also understand that it comes with responsibilities.

Memo: I’d love to see the elite media’s reaction if something like this were to occur during the presidency of Barack Obama.

Hat Tip: Don Surber: “Maturity” “Ornament maker does something inappropriate. The White House refuses to retaliate.”

Read on, according to Christmas Colors for the White House: Red, White and Impeach,” By The Reliable Source December 2, 2008:

[…]

Laura Bush asked members of Congress to pick local painters to decorate ornaments for this year's 20-foot Fraser fir in the Blue Room. The globes (to be unveiled by the first lady tomorrow) are supposed to showcase something special about each congressional district. Washington state's Rep. Jim McDermott contacted a local arts organization, which asked Lawrence, a collage artist, to create the local entry.

"I was at first nauseated, then realized it was an opportunity," said Lawrence, 55, who frequently combines politics and satire in her work and saw this as the perfect way "to highlight Jim McDermott because he's a hero of mine."

The nine-inch ball is covered with swirly red and white stripes -- and, in tiny glued-on text, salutes the Democratic congressman's support for a resolution to impeach President Bush.

See a picture of it here.

Sally McDonough, the first lady's press secretary, said yesterday that hundreds of ornaments were submitted for display and there were no plans to pull Lawrence's artwork or her invitation. But, she said, "it really is too bad. I haven't seen the ornament, but I would hope that no one would take this as an opportunity to be divisive and partisan. There is a time and place for everything, and I don't think this is either."

Read the entire account here: “Christmas Colors for the White House: Red, White and Impeach

And be sure to read Don Surber’s post also: “Maturity

And be sure to read all the comments...

Commenter “dhender999aolcom” said: “When Deborah Lawrence arrives in the White House she will be treated graciously by her hosts, because that is the nature of George W and Laura Bush…”

“olukemi": said: “I applaud Deborah Lawrence for her courage in celebrating her equally forthright Congressman. Freedom of speech does not take a rest on Christmas. Happy Holidays to all!”

Then in a flourish of the holiday spirit, “editwest” wrote: “To dehender999@aol.com: ‘Gracious’ people do not steal elections, subvert the Rule of Law and the judiciary and the Department of Justice, attack and occupy sovereign states for imperialist goals, profit from the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians, order the death/maiming of tens of thousands of our own troops in a war of naked aggression forged in lies, loot the treasury and destroy the futures of America's children, channel fortunes to cronies, attack the Constitution and its protections against tyranny, destroy America's position in world opinion, and so much more. Gracious people don't do these things. Thugs and ghouls do.”


Nice.

Oh Merry Christmas

20081202 Merry Christmas from the left Red White and Impeach

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Police prevent more Md. pro-lifers from sharing message

Police prevent more Md. pro-lifers from sharing message

Related: 20081027 Group files free speech lawsuit against Westminster Schelle

Home > ADF News Center > Press Release

ADF attorneys file suit against city of Westminster for demanding permits to exercise free speech

Friday, October 24, 2008, 8:12 AM (MST)

ADF Media Relations 480-444-0020

Related Links

Permit requirement for pro-life signs suspended in Harford County, Md.

BALTIMORE — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys and allied attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city of Westminster on behalf of pro-life organization Defend Life. Police insisted that participants in Defend Life’s “Face the Truth” 2008 tour needed permits to peacefully share their pro-life message along a public street.

“Pro-life advocates shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs. The government can’t require them to obtain permits to exercise their First Amendment rights,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Joel Oster.

In June, Defend Life Director Elizabeth Walsh and volunteers contacted the Westminster Police Department more than two weeks before their planned demonstration—making sure it was in adherence to the law. Police told them that they needed permits from the city and the Maryland State Highway Administration, as well as permission from the owner of a nearby shopping center. Subsequently, a police captain told Defend Life that its permit requests would be denied and refused to provide an explanation.

“Pro-lifers shouldn’t be denied their free speech rights simply because some people don’t approve of their message. That’s a textbook violation of the First Amendment,” said ADF-allied attorney Owen M. Taylor, who is assisting with the case.

Defend Life held its “Face the Truth” tour this summer throughout Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia. Participants wore pro-life T-shirts, held signs, and occasionally shared their message verbally along the road to motorists.

A copy of the complaint filed in the lawsuit Walsh v. City of Westminster is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/WalshComplaint.pdf.

On Sept. 3, ADF attorneys filed a separate lawsuit on behalf of three young women who were arrested, jailed, shackled, and strip-searched after demonstrating on the last day of the Defend Life 2008 tour. A federal judge approved an agreement on Oct. 10 that prohibits enforcement of a permit requirement involved in that case while the court considers its constitutionality (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4708).

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

www.telladf.org

Note: Facts in ADF news releases are verified prior to publication but may change over time. Members of the media are encouraged to contact ADF for the latest information on this matter.

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?cid=4721


20081024 Police prevent more Md pro lifers from sharing message

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Group files free speech lawsuit against Westminster by Charles Schelle


Attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund last week filed a suit on behalf of a pro-life group, Defend Life, against the City of Westminster contending that the city violated the group’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The disagreement is over a planned demonstration on July 30, 2008, by Defend Life as part of its “Face the Truth” tour to spread a pro-life message.

Defend Life is a non-profit, pro-life organization based in Baltimore. The group is seeking to get the city to change the wording of its ordinance regarding demonstrations, and also any damages prescribed by the court.

According to a copy of the lawsuit, filed Thursday, Oct. 23 in the District Court of Maryland, Elizabeth Walsh of Owings Mills, director of Defend Life’s tour, said the Westminster Police Department told the organization they would have to have permits from the city, State Highway Administration and permission of a shopping center located near the intersection of Route 140 and Englar Road in order to stage a demonstration.

However, the lawsuit contends that the SHA does not require such a permit, and the city did not grant the group a permit.

Defend Life says the requirements “chilled” the group’s free speech and equal protection rights.

[...]

Read the rest of Mr. Schelle’s article here: Group files free speech lawsuit against Westminster by Charles Schelle

20081027 Group files free speech lawsuit against Westminster Schelle

Sunday, May 18, 2008

20080516 Free speech at Columbia, 40 years later

Free speech at Columbia, 40 years later

Retrieved from “The Daily Judge” on Friday, May 16, 2008

http://www.thedailyjudge.com/

Forty years ago Gus Reichbach, a Columbia U. law student, was disciplined for his role in the student protests. Law profs later tried to block his admission to the bar. Eventually he became a judge. The other day he was back at Columbia Law to speak at a 40th anniversary event.

An NYT reporter was interviewing him when a campus cop came up and shut down the interview because the reporter hadn't gotten advance permission.

"I guess things haven't changed that much," the reporter quotes the judge as saying.

Corey Kilgannon, Columbia Protester, Now a Judge, Returns to Campus (NYT 04.26.2008).

[…]

Related: Free Speech

20070925 Text of President Ahmadinejad’s speech at Columbia

September 26, 2007 The Priceless Right to Free Speech Kevin E. Dayhoff

It has certainly been an interesting week for the exercise of our sacred right to freedom of speech in the United States. Various recent developments in this most cherished of rights provided a rich target environment for the news media, constitutional scholars, and pundits alike.

Certainly at the top of most anyone's kerfuffle was the arrival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York on Sunday. In particular, there was his subsequent paradoxical pilgrimage to Columbia University on Monday.

As much as I am concerned, to say the least, about what it is that the Iranian president says, my problem is more with Columbia University's persistent inconsistencies about the sacred right to free speech.

The esteemed institution piously, self-righteously, if not - condescendingly - proclaims to be the standard-bearer for a "long-standing tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate," according to Columbia's president, Lee C. Bollinger.

Oh, pul-leeze! Columbia University extended an invitation to President Ahmadinejad, who many believe represents a country involved in the killing of Americans in uniform fighting in Iraq. However, the very military and its ROTC program, which defends our freedom of speech, are banned from the Columbia campus.

And that is just one example of the hypocrisy of the institution. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Columbia were to extend the courtesy to all Americans of varying political ideologies that it so easily extended to President Ahmadinejad?

Many are singing praises for Columbia President Bollinger for his stinging rebuke in the introduction of his guest. Then again, there are those of us who understand the paradox of President Bollinger's heroic Shakespearian soliloquy as a convenient - if not hypocritical - response to a conundrum he synthetically manufactured.

Read the rest here: The Priceless Right to Free Speech or here: 20070926 The Tentacle: The Priceless Right to Free Speech by Kevin E. Dayhoff

Friday, September 28, 2007

20070926 The Tentacle: The Priceless Right to Free Speech by Kevin E. Dayhoff


The Priceless Right to Free Speech by Kevin E. Dayhoff September 26, 2007

http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=2228

Related: Free Speech

20070925 Text of President Ahmadinejad’s speech at Columbia

It has certainly been an interesting week for the exercise of our sacred right to freedom of speech in the United States. Various recent developments in this most cherished of rights provided a rich target environment for the news media, constitutional scholars, and pundits alike.

Certainly at the top of most anyone's kerfuffle was the arrival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York on Sunday. In particular, there was his subsequent paradoxical pilgrimage to Columbia University on Monday.

As much as I am concerned, to say the least, about what it is that the Iranian president says, my problem is more with Columbia University's persistent inconsistencies about the sacred right to free speech.

The esteemed institution piously, self-righteously, if not - condescendingly - proclaims to be the standard-bearer for a "long-standing tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate," according to Columbia's president, Lee C. Bollinger.

Oh, pul-leeze! Columbia University extended an invitation to President Ahmadinejad, who many believe represents a country involved in the killing of Americans in uniform fighting in Iraq. However, the very military and its ROTC program, which defends our freedom of speech, are banned from the Columbia campus.

And that is just one example of the hypocrisy of the institution. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Columbia were to extend the courtesy to all Americans of varying political ideologies that it so easily extended to President Ahmadinejad?

Many are singing praises for Columbia President Bollinger for his stinging rebuke in the introduction of his guest. Then again, there are those of us who understand the paradox of President Bollinger's heroic Shakespearian soliloquy as a convenient - if not hypocritical - response to a conundrum he synthetically manufactured.

Read the entire column here: The Priceless Right to Free Speech

####

20070926 The Tentacle: The Priceless Right to Free Speech by Kevin E. Dayhoff


Thursday, September 27, 2007

20070925 Text of President Ahmadinejad’s speech at Columbia


Text of President Ahmadinejads speech at Columbia



Text of President Ahmadinejad’s speech according to “Press TV,” “the first international Iran-based news network to broadcast in English on a round-the-clock schedule.”[1]

President Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=24519&sectionid=3510302


Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:10:40


President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expounded on important international and regional issues in a speech given to academics at the University of Columbia in New York on Monday.



The following is the full text of the President's speech:



In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful:



The president first recited verses from the holy Koran in Arabic.



Then he said:



"Oh, God, hasten the arrival of Imam al-Mahdi and grant him good health and victory and make us his followers and those to attest to his rightfulness."



Distinguished Dean, dear professors and students, ladies and gentlemen, at the outset I would like to extend my greetings to all of you. I am grateful to the almighty God for providing me with the opportunity to be in an academic environment, those seeking truth and striving for the promotion of science and knowledge.



At the outset I want to complain a bit from the person who read this political statement against me. In Iran tradition requires that when we demand a person to invite to be a speaker we actually respect our students and the professors by allowing them to make their own judgment and we don't think it's necessary before this speech is even given to come in with a series of claims and to attempt in a so-called manner to provide vaccination of some sort to our students and our faculty.



I think the text read by the dear gentleman here, more than addressing me, was an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here. In a university environment we must allow people to speak their mind, to allow everyone to talk so that the truth is eventually revealed by all.



Certainly he took more than all the time I was allocated to speak, and that's fine with me. We'll just leave that to add up with the claims of respect for freedom and the freedom of speech that's given to us in this country.



Many parts of his speech, there were many insults and claims that were incorrect, regretfully.



Of course, I think that he was affected by the press, the media, and the political, sort of, mainstream line that you read here that goes against the very grain of the need for peace and stability in the world around us.



Nonetheless, I should not begin by being affected by this unfriendly treatment. I will tell you what I have to say, and then the questions he can raise and I'll be happy to provide answers. But as for one of the issues that he did raise, I most certainly would need to elaborate further so that we, for ourselves, can see how things fundamentally work.



It was my decision in this valuable forum and meeting to speak with you about the importance of knowledge, of information, of education. Academics and religious scholars are shining torches who shed light in order to remove darkness. And the ambiguities around us in guiding humanity out of ignorance and perplexity.



The key to the understanding of the realities around us rests in the hands of the researchers, those who seek to discover areas that are hidden, the unknown sciences, the windows of realities that they can open is done only through efforts of the scholars and the learned people in this world.



With every effort there is a window that is opened, and one reality is discovered. Whenever the high stature of science and wisdom is preserved and the dignity of scholars and researchers are respected, humans have taken great strides toward their material and spiritual promotion.



In contrast, whenever learned people and knowledge have been neglected, humans have become stranded in the darkness of ignorance and negligence.



If it were not for human instinct, which tends toward continual discovery of truth, humans would have always remained stranded in ignorance and no way would not have discovered how to improve the life that we are given.



The nature of man is, in fact, a gift granted by the Almighty to all. The Almighty led mankind into this world and granted him wisdom and knowledge as his prime gift enabling him to know his God.



In the story of Adam, a conversation occurs between the Almighty and his angels. The angels call human beings an ambitious and merciless creature and protested against his creation.



But the Almighty responded, quote, "I have knowledge of what you are ignorant of," unquote. Then the Almighty told Adam the truth. And on the order of the Almighty, Adam revealed it to the angels.



The angels could not understand the truth as revealed by the human being. The Almighty said to them, quote, " Did not I say that I am aware of what is hidden in heaven and in the universe?" unquote.



In this way the angels prostrated themselves before Adam.



In the mission of all divine prophets, the first sermons were of the words of God, and those words -- piety, faith and wisdom -- have been spread to all mankind.



Regarding the holy prophet Moses, may peace be upon him, God says, quote, "And he was taught wisdom, the divine book, the Old Testament and the New Testament. He is the prophet appointed for the sake of the children of Israel, and I rightfully brought a sign from the Almighty, holy Koran," unquote.



The first words, which were revealed to the holy prophet of Islam, call the prophet to read, quote, "Read, read in the name of your God, who supersedes everything," unquote, the Almighty, quote again, "who taught the human being with the pen," unquote. Quote, "The Almighty taught human beings what they were ignorant of," unquote.



You see, in the first verses revealed to the holy prophet of Islam, words of reading, teaching and the pen are mentioned. These verses in fact introduced the Almighty as the teacher of human beings, the teacher who taught humans what they were ignorant of.



In another part of the Koran, on the mission of the holy prophet of Islam, it is mentioned that the Almighty appointed someone from amongst the common people as their prophet in order to, quote, "read for them the divine verses," unquote, and quote again, "and purify them from ideological and ethical contamination" unquote, and quote again, "to\ teach them the divine book and wisdom," unquote.



My dear friends, all the words and messages of the divine prophets from Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, to David and Solomon and Moses, to Jesus and Mohammad delivered humans from ignorance, negligence, superstitions, unethical behavior, and corrupted ways of thinking, with respect to knowledge, on the path to knowledge, light and rightful ethics.



In our culture, the word science has been defined as illumination.



In fact, the science means brightness and the real science is a science which rescues the human being from ignorance, to his own benefit. In one of the widely accepted definitions of science, it is stated that it is the light which sheds to the hearts of those who have been selected by the almighty.



Therefore, according to this definition, science is a divine gift and the heart is where it resides. If we accept that science means illumination, then its scope supersedes the experimental sciences and it includes every hidden and disclosed reality.



One of the main harms inflicted against science is to limit it to experimental and physical sciences. This harm occurs even though it extends far beyond this scope. Realities of the world are not limited to physical realities and the materials, just a shadow of supreme reality. And physical creation is just one of the stories of the creation of the world.



Human being is just an example of the creation that is a combination of a material and the spirit. And another important point is the relationship of science and purity of spirit, life, behavior and ethics of the human being. In the teachings of the divine prophets, one reality shall always be attached to science; the reality of purity of spirit and good behavior. Knowledge and wisdom is pure and clear reality.



It is -- science is a light. It is a discovery of reality. And only a pure scholar and researcher, free from wrong ideologies, superstitions , selfishness and material trappings can discover -- discover the reality.



My dear friends and scholars, distinguished participants, science and wisdom can also be misused, a misuse caused by selfishness, corruption, material desires and material interests, as well as individual and group interests.



Material desires place humans against the realities of the world.



Corrupted and dependent human beings resist acceptance of reality. And even if they do accept it, they do not obey it.



There are many scholars who are aware of the realities but do not accept them. Their selfishness does not allow them to accept those realities.



Do those who, in the course of human history, wage wars, not understand the reality that lives, properties, dignity, territories, and the rights of all human beings should be respected, or did they understand it but neither have faith in nor abide by it?



My dear friends, as long as the human heart is not free from hatred, envy, and selfishness, it does not abide by the truth, by the illumination of science and science itself.



Science is the light, and scientists must be pure and pious. If humanity achieves the highest level of physical and spiritual knowledge but its scholars and scientists are not pure, then this knowledge cannot serve the interests of humanity, and several events can ensue.



First, the wrongdoers reveal only a part of the reality, which is to their own benefit, and conceal the rest. As we have witnessed with respect to the scholars of the divine religions in the past, too, unfortunately, today, we see that certain researchers and scientists are still hiding the truth from the people.



Second, science, scientists, and scholars are misused for personal, group, or party interests. So, in today's world, bullying powers are misusing many scholars and scientists in different fields with the purpose of stripping nations of their wealth.



And they use all opportunities only for their own benefit. For example, they deceive people by using scientific methods and tools. They, in fact, wish to justify their own wrongdoings, though. By creating nonexistent enemies, for example, and an insecure atmosphere, they try to control all in the name of combating insecurity and terrorism.



They even violate individual and social freedoms in their own nations under that pretext. They do not respect the privacy of their own people. They tap telephone calls and try to control their people.



They create an insecure psychological atmosphere in order to justify their warmongering acts in different parts of the world.



As another example, by using precise scientific methods and planning, they begin their onslaught on the domestic cultures of nations, the cultures which are the result of thousands of years of interaction, creativity and artistic activities.



They try to eliminate these cultures in order to separate the people from their identity and cut their bonds with their own history and values. They prepare the ground for stripping people from their spiritual and material wealth by instilling in them feelings of intimidation, desire for imitation and (inaudible) submission to oppressive powers and disability.



Making nuclear, chemical and biological bombs and weapons of mass destruction is yet another result of the misuse of science and research by the big powers. Without cooperation of certain scientists and scholars, we would not have witnessed production of different nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Are these weapons to protect global security?



What can a perpetual nuclear umbrella threat achieve for the sake of humanity? If nuclear war wages between nuclear powers, what human catastrophe will take place?



Today we can see the nuclear effects in even new generations of Nagasaki and Hiroshima residents, which might be witnessed in even the next generations to come.



Presently, the effects of the depleted uranium used in weapons since the beginning of the war in Iraq can be examined and investigated accordingly.



These catastrophes take place only when scientists and scholars are misused by oppressors.



Another point of sorrow: Some big powers create a monopoly over science and prevent other nations in achieving scientific development as well.



This, too, is one of the surprises of our time. Some big powers do not want to see the progress of other societies and nations. They turn to thousands of reasons, make allegations, place economic sanctions to prevent other nations from developing and advancing, all resulting from their distance from human values and the teachings of the divine prophets.



Regretfully, they have not been trained to serve mankind.



Dear academics, dear faculty and scholars, students, I believe that the biggest God-given gift to man is science and knowledge. Man's search for knowledge and the truth through science is what it guarantees to do in getting close to God.



But science has to combine with the purity of the spirit and of the purity of man's spirit so that scholars can unveil the truth and then use that truth for advancing humanity's cause.



These scholars would be not only people who would guide humanity, but also guide humanity towards a better future.



And it is necessary that big powers should not allow mankind to engage in monopolistic activities and to prevent other nations from achieving that science. Science is a divine gift by God to everyone, and therefore, it must remain pure.



God is aware of all reality. All researchers and scholars are loved by God. So I hope there will be a day where these scholars and scientists will rule the world and God himself will arrive with Moses and Christ and Mohammed to rule the world and to take us toward justice.



I'd like to thank you now but refer to two points made in the introduction given about me, and then I will be open for any questions.



Last year -- I would say two years ago -- I raised two questions.



You know that my main job is a university instructor.



Right now, as president of Iran, I still continue teaching graduate and post-graduate programs on a weekly basis. My students are working with me in scientific fields. I believe that I am an academic. So I spoke with you from an academic point of view. So I raised two questions.



But, instead of a response, I got a wave of insults and allegations against me. And regretfully, they came mostly from groups who claimed most to believe in the freedom of speech and the freedom of information. You know quite well that Palestine is an old wound, as old as 60 years. For 60 years, these people are displaced. For 60 years, these people are being killed. For 60 years, on a daily basis, there's conflict and terror. For 60 years, innocent women and children are destroyed and killed by helicopters and airplanes that break the house over their heads. For 60 years, children and kindergartens, in schools, in high schools, are in prison being tortured. For 60 years, security in the Middle East has been endangered. For 60 years, the slogan of expansionism from the Nile to the Euphrates is being chanted by certain groups in that part of the world.



And as an academic, I asked two questions; the same two questions that I will ask here again. And you judge, for yourselves, whether the response to these questions should be the insults, the allegations, and all the words and the negative propaganda or should we really try and face these two questions and respond to them?


Like you, like any academic, I, too, will keep -- not yet become silent until I get the answer. So I'm awaiting logical answers instead of insults.



My first question was if -- given that the Holocaust is a present reality of our time, a history that occurred, why is there not sufficient research that can approach the topic from different perspectives?



Our friend referred to 1930 as the point of departure for this development. However, I believe the Holocaust from what we've read happened during World War II, after 1930, in the 1940s. So, you know, we have to really be able to trace the event.



My question was simple: There are researchers who want to approach the topic from a different perspective. Why are they put into prison? Right now, there are a number of European academics who have been sent to prison because they attempted to write about the Holocaust or research it from a different perspective, questioning certain aspects of it.



My question is: Why isn't it open to all forms of research? I have been told that there's been enough research on the topic. And I ask, well, when it comes to topics such as freedom, topics such as democracy, concepts and norms such as God, religion, physics even, or chemistry, there's been a lot of research, but we still continue more research on those topics. We encourage it.



But, then, why don't we encourage more research on a historical event that has become the root, the cause of many heavy catastrophes in the region in this time and age?



Why shouldn't there be more research about the root causes? That was my first question.



And my second question, well, given this historical event, if it is a reality, we need to still question whether the Palestinian people should be paying for it or not. After all, it happened in Europe. The Palestinian people had no role to play in it. So why is it that the Palestinian people are paying the price of an event they had nothing to do with?



The Palestinian people didn't commit any crime. They had no role to play in World War II. They were living with the Jewish communities and the Christian communities in peace at the time. They didn't have any problems.



And today, too, Jews, Christians and Muslims live in brotherhood all over the world in many parts of the world. They don't have any serious problems.



But why is it that the Palestinians should pay a price, innocent Palestinians, for 5 million people to remain displaced or refugees abroad for 60 years. Is this not a crime? Is asking about these crimes a crime by itself?



Why should an academic myself face insults when asking questions like this? Is this what you call freedom and upholding the freedom of thought?



And as for the second topic, Iran's nuclear issue, I know there is time limits, but I need time. I mean, a lot of time was taken from me.



We are a country, we are a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency. For over 33 years we are a member state of the agency.



The bylaw of the agency explicitly states that all member states have the right to the peaceful nuclear fuel technology. This is an explicit statement made in the bylaw, and the bylaw says that there is no pretext or excuse, even the inspections carried by the IAEA itself that can prevent member states' right to have that right.



Of course, the IAEA is responsible to carry out inspections. We are one of the countries that's carried out the most amount of level of cooperation with the IAEA. They have had hours and weeks and days of inspections in our country, and over and over again the agency's reports indicate that Iran's activities are peaceful, that they have not detected a deviation, and that Iran -- they have received positive cooperation from Iran.



But regretfully, two or three monopolistic powers, selfish powers want to force their word on the Iranian people and deny them their right.



They tell us you don't let them -- they won't let them inspect. Why not? Of course we do. How come is it, anyway, that you have that right and we can't have it? We want to have the right to peaceful nuclear energy. They tell us, don't make it yourself, we'll give it to you.



Well, in the past, I tell you, we had contracts with the U.S.



government, with the British government, the French government, the German government, and the Canadian government on nuclear development for peaceful purposes. But unilaterally, each and every one of them canceled their contracts with us, as a result of which the Iranian people had to pay a heavy cost in billions of dollars.



Why do we need the fuel from you? You've not even given us spare aircraft parts that we need for civilian aircraft for 28 years under the name of embargo and sanctions because we're against, for example, human rights or freedom? Under that pretext, you deny us that technology? We want to have the right to self-determination toward our future. We want to be independent. Don't interfere in us.



If you don't give us spare parts for civilian aircraft, what is the expectation that you'd give us fuel for nuclear development for peaceful purposes?



For 30 years, we've faced these problems for over $5 billion to the Germans and then to the Russians, but we haven't gotten anything.



And the words have not been completed.



It is our right. We want our right. And we don't want anything beyond the law, nothing less than international law.



We are a peaceful, loving nation. We love all nations.



At the end of President Ahmadinejad's speech, he responded to questions posed by some students.



MODERATOR: Mr. President, your statements here today and in the past have provoked many questions which I would like to pose to you on behalf of the students and faculty who have submitted them to me.



Let me begin with the question to which you just alluded.



The first question is: Do you or your government seek the destruction of the state of Israel as a Jewish state?



AHMADINEJAD: We love all nations. We are friends with the Jewish people. There are many Jews in Iran, leaving peacefully, with security.



You must understand that in our constitution and our laws and in the parliamentary elections for every 150,000 people, we get one representative in the parliament. For the Jewish community, for one- fifth of this number, they still get one independent representative in the parliament.



So our proposal to the Palestinian plight is a humanitarian and democratic proposal. What we say is that to solve this 60-year problem, we must allow the Palestinian people to decide about its future for itself.



This is compatible with the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and the fundamental principles enshrined in it. We must allow Jewish Palestinians, Muslim Palestinians and Christian Palestinians to determine their own fate themselves through a free referendum.



Whatever they choose as a nation, everybody should accept and respect. Nobody should interfere in the affairs of the Palestinian nation. Nobody should sow the seeds of discord. Nobody should spend tens of billions of dollars equipping and arming one group there.



We say allow the Palestinian nation to decide its own future, to have the right to self-determination for itself. This is what we are saying as the Iranian nation.



MODERATOR: Mr. President, I think many members of our audience would like to hear a clearer answer to that question. The question is:



Do you or your government seek the destruction of the state of Israel as a Jewish state? And I think you could answer that question with a single word, either yes or no.



AHMADINEJAD: You asked the question, and then you want the answer the way you want to hear it. Well, this isn't really a free flow of information.



I'm just telling you what my position is. I'm asking you: Is the Palestinian issue not an international issue of prominence or not? Please tell me, yes or no? There's the plight of a people.



MODERATOR: The answer to your question is yes.



AHMADINEJAD: Well, thank you for your cooperation . We recognize there's a problem there that's been going on for 60 years. Everybody provides a solution. And our solution is a free referendum.



Let this referendum happen, and then you'll see what the results are.



Let the people of Palestine freely choose what they want for their future. And then what you want in your mind to happen there will happen and will be realized.



QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) second question, which was posed by President Bollinger earlier and comes from a number of other students:



Why is your government providing aid to terrorists? Will you stop doing so and permit international monitoring to certify that you have stopped?



AHMADINEJAD: Well, I want to pose a question here to you. If someone comes and explodes bombs around you, threatens your president, members of the administration, kills the members of the Senate or Congress, how would you treat them?



Would you reward them, or would you name them a terrorist group? Well, it's clear. You would call them a terrorist.



My dear friends, the Iranian nation is a victim of terrorism. For --26 years ago, where I worked, close to where I worked, in a terrorist operation, the elected president of the Iranian nation and the elected prime minister of Iran lost their lives in a bomb explosion. They turned into ashes.



A month later, in another terrorist operation, 72 members of our parliament and highest-ranking officials, including four ministers and eight deputy ministers' bodies were shattered into pieces as a result of terrorist attacks.



Within six months, over 4,000 Iranians lost their lives, assassinated by terrorist groups. All this carried out by the hand of one single terrorist group. Regretfully, that same terrorist group now, today, in your country, is being -- operating under the support of the U.S.administration, working freely, distributing declarations freely, and their camps in Iraq are supported by the U.S. government.



They're secured by the U.S. government. Our nation has been harmed by terrorist activities. We were the first nation that objected to terrorism and the first to uphold the need to fight terrorism.



We need to address the root causes of terrorism and eradicate those root causes. We live in the Middle East.



For us, it's quite clear which powers, sort of, incite terrorists, support them, fund them. We know that. Our nation, the Iranian nation, through history has always extended a hand of friendship to other nations. We're a cultured nation. We don't need to resort to terrorism. We've been victims of terrorism, ourselves. And it's regrettable that people who argue they're fighting terrorism, instead of supporting the Iranian people and nation, instead of fighting the terrorists that are attacking them, they're supporting the terrorists and then turn the fingers to us. This is most regrettable.



QUESTION: Mr. President, a further set of questions challenged your view of the Holocaust. Since the evidence that this occurred in Europe in the 1940s, as a result of the actions of the German Nazi government, since that -- those facts -- are well documented, why are you calling for additional research? There seems to be no purpose in doing so, other than to question whether the Holocaust actually occurred as a historical fact. Can you explain why you believe more research is needed into the facts of what are what are incontrovertible?



AHMADINEJAD: Thank you very much for your question. I am an academic, and you are as well. Can you argue that researching a phenomenon is finished, forever done? Can we close the books for good on a historical event?



There are different perspectives that come to light after every research is done. Why should we stop research at all? Why should we stop the progress of science and knowledge?



You shouldn't ask me why I'm asking questions. You should ask yourselves why you think that that's questionable? Why do you want to stop the progress of science and research?



Do you ever take what's known as absolute in physics? We had principles in mathematics that were granted to be absolute in mathematics for over 800 years. But new science has gotten rid of those absolutisms, come forward other different logics of looking at mathematics and sort of turned the way we look at it as a science altogether after 800 years.



So, we must allow researchers, scholars, they investigate into everything, every phenomenon -- God, universe, human beings, history and civilization. Why should we stop that?


I am not saying that it didn't happen at all. This is not that judgment that I am passing here. I said, in my second question, granted this happened, what does it have to do with the Palestinian people?



This is a serious question. There are two dimensions. In the first question.



QUESTION: Let me just -- let me pursue this a bit further. It is difficult to have a scientific discussion if there isn't at least some basis, some empirical basis, some agreement about what the facts are.



So calling for research into the facts when the facts are so well established represents for many a challenging of the facts themselves and a denial that something terrible occurred in Europe in those years.



Let me move on to ... AHMADINEJAD: Allow me. After all, you are free to interpret what you want from what I say. But what I am saying I'm saying with full clarity.



In the first question I'm trying to actually uphold the rights of European scholars. In the field of science and research I'm asking, there is nothing known as absolute. There is nothing sufficiently done Not in physics for certain. There has been more research on physics than it has on the Holocaust, but we still continue to do research on physics. There is nothing wrong with doing it.



This is what man wants. They want to approach a topic from different points of view. Scientists want to do that. Especially an issue that has become the foundation of so many other political developments that have unfolded in the Middle East in the past 60 years.



Why do we stop it altogether? You have to have a justified reason for it. The fact that it was researched sufficiently in the past is not a sufficient justification in my mind.



QUESTION: Mr. President, another student asks -- Iranian women are now denied basic human rights and your government has imposed draconian punishments, including execution on Iranian citizens who are homosexuals. Why are you doing those things?



AHMADINEJAD: Freedoms in Iran are genuine, true freedoms. Iranian people are free. Women in Iran enjoy the highest levels of freedom. We have two vice presidents that are female, at the highest levels of specialty, specialized fields. In our parliament and our government and our universities, they're present. In our biotechnological fields, our technological fields, there are hundreds of women scientists that are active -- in the political realm as well.



It's not -- it's wrong for some governments, when they disagree with another government, to, sort of, try to spread lies that distort the full truth.



Our nation is free. It has the highest level of participation in elections, in Iran. Eighty percent, ninety percent of the people turn out for votes during the elections, half of which, over half of which are women. So how can we say that women are not free? Is that the entire truth?



But as for the executions, I'd like to raise two questions. If someone comes and establishes a network for illicit drug trafficking that affects the youth in Iran, Turkey, Europe, the United States, by introducing these illicit drugs and destroys them, would you ever reward them?



People who cause the deterioration of the lives of hundreds of millions of youth around the world, including in Iran, can we have any sympathy to them? Don't you have capital punishment in the United States? You do, too.



In Iran, too, there's capital punishment for illicit drug traffickers, for people who violated the rights of people. If somebody takes up a gun, goes into a house, kills a group of people there, and then tries to take ransom, how would you confront them in Iran -- or in the United States? Would you reward them? Can a physician allow microbes, symbolically speaking, to spread across a nation? We have laws. People who violate the public rights of the people by using guns, killing people, creating insecurity, sells drugs, distribute drugs at a high level are sentenced to execution in Iran.



And some of these punishments, very few, are carried in the public eye , before the public eye. It's a law, based on democratic principles.



You use injections and microbes to kill these people, and they' re executed or they're hung. But the end result is killing.



QUESTION: Mr. President, the question isn't about criminal and drug smugglers. The question was about sexual preference and women.



AHMADINEJAD: In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country. We don't have that in our country. In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have it.



But, as for women, maybe you think that being a woman is a crime. It's not a crime to be a woman. Women are the best creatures created by God. They represent the kindness, the beauty that God instills in them. Women are respected in Iran. In Iran, every family who is given a girl, they are 10 times happier than having a son. Women are respected more than men are.



They are exempt from many responsibilities. Many of the legal responsibilities rest on the shoulders of men in our society because of the respect, culturally given, to women, to the future mothers. In Iranian culture, men and sons and girls constantly kiss the hands of their mothers as a sign of respect, respect for women. And we are proud of this culture.



QUESTION: Mr. President, I have two questions which I'll put together. One is, what did you hope to accomplish by speaking at Columbia today? And the second is, what would you have said if you were permitted to visit the site of the September 11th tragedy?



AHMADINEJAD: Well, here, I'm your guest. I've been invited by Columbia, an official invitation given for me to come here. But I do want to say something here.



In Iran, when you invite a guest, you respect them. This is our tradition, required by our culture. And I know that American people have that culture, as well. Last year, I wanted to go to the site of the September 11th tragedy to show respect to the victims of the tragedy, to show my sympathy with their families.



But our plans got overextended. We were involved in negotiations and meetings until midnight. And they said it would be very difficult to go visit the site at that late hour of the night. So, I told my friends then that they need to plan this for the following year so that I can go and visit the site and to show my respects.



Regretfully, some groups had very strong reactions, very bad reactions. It's bad for someone to prevent someone to show sympathy to the families of the victims of the September 11 event -- tragic event.



This is a respect from my side. Somebody told me this is an insult. I said, "What are you saying? This is my way of showing my respect. Why would you think that?" Thinking like that, how do you expect to manage the world and world affairs?



Don't you think that a lot of problems in the world come from the way you look at issues because of this kind of way of thinking, because of this sort of pessimistic approach toward a lot of people, because of a certain level of selfishness, self-absorption that needs to be put aside so that we can show respect to everyone, to allow an environment for friendship to grow, to allow all nations to talk with one another and move toward peace?



What was the second question?



I wanted to speak with the press. The September 11th tragic event was a huge event. It led to a lot of many other events afterwards.



After 9 /11 Afghanistan was occupied, and then Iraq was occupied. And for six years in our region there is insecurity, terror and fear.



If the root causes of 9/11 are examined properly -- why it was happened, what caused it, what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved, who was really involved -- and put it all together to understand how to prevent the crisis in Iraq, fix the problem in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.



QUESTION: Mr. President, a number of questions have asked about your nuclear program. Why is your government seeking to acquire enriched uranium suitable for nuclear weapons? Will you stop doing so? AHMADINEJAD : Our nuclear program, first and foremost, operates within the framework of law. And, second, under the inspections of the IAEA. And, thirdly, they are completely peaceful.



The technology we have is for enrichment below the level of 5 percent level. And any level below 5 percent is solely for providing fuel to power plants. Repeated reports by the IAEA explicitly say that there is no indication that Iran has deviated from the peaceful path of its nuclear program.



We are all well aware that Iran's nuclear issue is a political issue. It's not a legal issue. The international atomic energy agency has verified that our activities are for peaceful purposes.



But there are two or three powers that think that they have the right to monopolize all science and knowledge. And they expect the Iranian people, the Iranian nation, to turn to others to get fuel, to get science, to get knowledge that's indigenous to itself, to humble itself. And then they would, of course, refrain from giving it to us, too. So we're quite clear what we need.



If you have created the fifth generation of atomic bombs and are testing them already, what position are you in to question the peaceful purposes of other people who want nuclear power?



We do not believe in nuclear weapons, period. It goes against the whole grain of humanity. So let me just joke -- try to tell a joke here. I think the politicians who are after atomic bombs or are testing them, making them, politically, they are backward, retarded.



QUESTION: Mr. President, a final question. I know your time is short and that you need to move on. Is Iran prepared to open broad discussions with the government of the United States? What would Iran hope to achieve in such discussions? How do you see, in the future, a resolution of the points of conflict between the government of the United States and the government of Iran ?



AHMADINEJAD: From the start, we announced that we are ready to negotiate with all countries. Since 28 years ago, when our revolution succeeded and we established, we took freedom and democracy that was held at by a pro-Western dictatorship. We announced our readiness that besides two countries, we are ready to have friendly relations and talks with all countries of the world.



One of those two was the apartheid regime of South Africa, which has been eliminated. And the second was the Zionist regime. For everybody else around the world, we announced that we want to have friendly, brotherly ties. The Iranian nation is a cultured nation. It is a civilized nation. It seeks -- it wants talks and negotiations.



It's for it.



We believe that in negotiations and talks, everything can be resolved very easily. We don't need threats. We don't need to point bombs or guns. We don't need to get into conflicts if we talk. We have a clear logic about that.



We question the way the world is being run and managed today. We believe that it will not lead to viable peace and security for the world, the way it's run today. We have solutions based on humane values and for relations among states. With the U.S. government, too, we will negotiate -- we don't have any issues about that -- under fair, just circumstances with mutual respect on both sides.



You saw that in order to help the security of Iraq, we had three rounds of talks with the United States, and last year, before coming to New York, I announced that I am ready in the United Nations to engage in a debate with Mr. Bush, the president of the United States, about critical international issues.



So that shows that we want to talk. Having a debate before the all the audience, so the truth is revealed, so that misunderstandings and misperceptions are removed, so that we can find a clear path for brotherly and friendly relations.



I think that if the U.S. administration, if the U.S. government puts aside some of its old behaviors, it can actually be a good friend for the Iranian people, for the Iranian nation.



For 28 years, they've consistently threatened us, insulted us, prevented our scientific development, every day, under one pretext or another.



You all know Saddam, the dictator, was supported by the government of the United States and some European countries in attacking Iran.



And he carried out an eight-year war, a criminal war. Over 200,000 Iranians lost their lives. Over 600,000 Iranians were hurt as a result of the war.



He used chemical weapons. Thousands of Iranians were victims of chemical weapons that he used against us.



Today, Mr. Nobaveh, who is a reporter, an official reporter, international reporter, who was covering U.N. reports in the U.N. for many years, he is one of the victims of the chemical weapons used by Iraq against us.



And since then, we've been under different propaganda, sort of embargoes, economic sanctions, political sanctions. Why? Because we got rid of a dictator? Because we wanted the freedom and democracy that we got for ourselves? That, we can't understand.



We think that if the U.S. government recognizes the rights of the Iranian people, respects all nations and extends a hand of friendship with all Iranians, they, too, will see that Iranians will be one of its best friends.



Would you allow me to thank the audience a moment?



Well, there are many things that I would have liked to cover, but I don't want to take your time any further. I was asked: Would I allow the faculty at Columbia and students here to come to Iran? From this platform, I invite Columbia faculty members and students to come and visit Iran, to speak with our university students. You're officially invited.



University faculty and students that the university decides, or the student associations choose and select are welcome to come. You're welcome to visit any university that you choose inside Iran. We'll provide you with the list of the universities. There are over 400 universities in our country. And you can choose whichever you want to go and visit. We'll give you the platform. We'll respect you 100 percent. We will have our students sit there and listen to you, speak with you, hear what you have to say.



Right now in our universities on a daily basis there are hundreds of meetings like this. They hear, they talk, they ask questions. They welcome it.



In the end I'd like to thank Columbia University. I had heard that many politicians in the United States are trained in Columbia University. And there are many people here who believe in the freedom of speech, in clear, frank conversations.



I do like to extend my gratitude to the managers here in the United States -- at Columbia University, I apologize -- the people who so well organized this meeting today.



I'd like to extend my deepest gratitude to the faculty members and the students here. I ask Almighty God to assist all of us to move hand in hand to establish peace and future filled with friendship and justice and brotherhood.



Best of luck to all of you.



MODERATOR: I'm sorry that President Ahmadinejad's schedule makes it necessary for him to leave before he's been able to answer many of the questions that we have, or even answer some of the ones that we posed to him.



But I think we can all be pleased that his appearance here demonstrates Columbia's deep commitment to free expression and debate.



I want to thank you all for coming to participate.


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Our Vision

1- To break the global media stranglehold of western outlets.

2- To bridge cultural divisions pragmatically.

3- To highlight the versatility and vitality of political and cultural differences, making up the human condition.

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