A Follow-up: Ahmadinejad & the '08 Hopefuls

I’ve been reading up on what the various 2008 Presidential candidates have had to say regarding the Ahmadinejad ordeal, and I think a follow-up to my original post is necessary.

Here are some of the statements made by the frontrunners giving their opinions of Ahmadinejad’s visit:

-Rudy Giuliani: "I know he seems somewhat silly to us but he's not silly to himself…He leaves that appearance at Columbia saying I got half the audience to applaud for me. It was a terrible mistake to allow him to speak."

-Mitt Romney: "We should be tightening our sanctions against Iran, not welcoming him to the world stage, and I've called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to withdraw that invitation…What we should be doing is indicting Ahmadinejad under the Genocide Convention."

-John McCain: "A man who is directing the maiming and killing of Americans troops should not be given an invitation to speak at an American university…"

-Hillary Clinton: "If I were the president of a university, I would not have invited him, but I did not express an opinion about the decision made by Columbia... I was very much against his desire to go to ground zero. I thought that was absolutely out of bounds and unacceptable and thankfully it was not permitted."

-Barack Obama: Would not have invited Ahmadinejad to speak, but says that "One of the values we believe in is the value of academic freedom. He has a right to speak." He also has declared that he will speak with Ahmadinejad if elected—opening diplomatic relations with Iran.

-Also, Current President George Bush said: “[if Columbia] thinks it’s a good idea to have the leader from Iran come and talk to the students as an educational experience, I guess it’s OK with me."

Most of the ’08 candidates have voiced their opposition to Ahmadinejad’s proposed visit to Ground Zero (his permission was denied by the U.S. government), except for one—former Senator Mike Gravel. Gravel establishes that he is very against the Iranian regime, but that the U.S. should not be “snubbing” the Iranian government—calling it “dangerous” for the future. He also points out that while the United States was giving economic aid to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan (before 9/11 of course), Iran was funding the Taliban’s “bitterest enemies”—Iran had nothing to do with the orchestration of 9/11, and was in fact against those who carried out the attack.

Gravel brings up several issues dealing with the disingenuous behavior of the U.S. in Iran over the past 50 years (overthrowing its democratically elected government, supporting a corrupt dictator, etc.), but his main point is that our leaders must stop separating the world into parties of “good” and “evil.” This mode of thinking has never helped us, and will lead to the unthinkable—a war against a united Middle East. In Gravel’s words: “It's time to step away from the brink and begin finding common ground. Let Ahmadinejad go to Ground Zero and honor our dead. And together, let's all acknowledge that neither war nor terrorism will solve our problems.”

Please read Senator Gravel’s article in full for more insight.