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.American
Free Press |
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| ...Volume
VI..#41
October 9, 2006.americanfreepress.net |
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IRAN'S PRESIDENT SPEAKS OUT
AHMADINEJAD CHALLENGES NEW
WORLD ORDER HEAD ON
. . .In
this week’s edition, AFP correspondent Michael Collins Piper
provides a lengthy account of his meeting with Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while the Persian leader was visiting New York
City to speak before the UN. In this exclusive report for American
Free Press, Piper relates Ahmadinejad’s views
on such critical issues as Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the
likelihood of a U.S. invasion of his country.
See IRANIAN PRESIDENT RESISTS, Page 10
P. 10, AMERICAN
FREE PRESS * October 9, 2006 Behind the Scenes
with
Michael Collins Piper
Iranian
President Resists NWO
Says fate of humanity tied to what happens in Palestine
.
. .AS NOTED IN THE OCT. 2
EDITION of American Free Press,
AFP correspondent Michael Collins Piper was in New
York City on Sept. 20 where he participated in a closed-door roundtable
conference with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a small
group of invited journalists and academics. Later Piper was privately
introduced to Ahmadinejad who invited Piper to come to Iran as his
personal guest. What follows is Piper’s special report on
the comments by Ahmadinejad.
By Michael Collins Piper
 |
.
. .Even
as The New York Sun — a fanatically
pro-Israel daily — was editorially demanding his arrest “as
a material witness or even as a suspect” in terrorism, outspoken
Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was arriving in New York for
a whirlwind visit last week. Speaking to the United Nations and
visiting privately with different groups, journalists and scholars
were anxious to hear what the ex-university professor-turned Mayor
of Tehran-turned Iranian president had to say. This comes at a time
when the Islamic republic of Iran is at the center of the global
spotlight, the focus of provocative, warlike rhetoric by Israel
and its ally, George W. Bush.
. .
.Even Ahmadinejad’s invitation
to speak at the Manhattan headquarters of the Council on Foreign
Relations (CFR), meeting place of the American foreign policy elite,
created a stir. Led by Holocaust industry figure Elie Wiesel, Jewish
members of the CFR threatened mass resignation if the Iranian leader
was permitted to speak, although the revolt never materialized.
|
Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
NEW
WORLD ORDER: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses
the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly in
New York, September 19. Ahmadinejad launched a scathing critique
of the Bush regime, accusing it of using the UN to dominate
international affairs and prevent his country from having
nuclear power.
|
.
. . .Wiesel
— whose own credibility is questionable — told anyone
who would listen that he believed Ahmadinejad should be declared
persona non grata in the United States
and that Iran itself should be expelled from the UN while Ahmadinejad
is president.
. . .In the end, the proposed formal
dinner with Ahmadinejad at the CFR was nixed since Jewish members
of the CFR said that they could not abide the thought of sitting
down to dinner with the Iranian leader. Instead, Ahmadinejad met
with a small number of CFR members in a less formal gathering.
. . .As pro-Israel groups organized
boisterous mass anti- Ahmadinejad demonstrations outside the United
Nations and the hotel where Ahmadinejad was headquartered, there
were some sane folks who did agree to speak with the Iranian president
and listen to what he had to say, without interruption. This contrasted
with the treatment often accorded Ahmadinejad by biased American
media personalities and by the American president who refuses to
speak to the Iranian leader.
. . .Speaking at the gathering of the
bellicose rhetoric of Bush and his Israeli allies, Ahmadinejad insisted
U.S. policy makers are “too smart” to think seriously
about war with Iran. In fact, he said, the threats and tough talk
by the United States are being used by the White House to apply
what he called “psychological pressure” on the European
countries to support sanctions against Iraq.
. . .Ahmadinejad predicted any military
moves against Iran “will not favor the United States government
or the American people.” He pointed out that, even now, “All
of the people of our region are beginning to hate the United States
because of the policies of the Bush administration.”
. . .And it should be noted, that fully
118 countries recently aligned themselves with Iran’s drive
to secure nuclear energy for peaceful purposes — and against
the Israel-U.S. axis — at the recent summit of nonaligned
nations in Cuba.
. . .The Iranian president expressed
dismay that his recent extended letter to President Bush asking
for an opening of dialogue, followed by an offer to publicly debate
the American leader before the United Nations, has gone unanswered.
“I hoped President Bush would respond to my letter to him.
My letter was a human act, not a political act. I meet and dialogue
with many people on a daily basis.” He noted:
. . .“There is no better way
than holding dialogue. It can be across the spectrum. Any condition
for dialogue is helpful to remove tensions. We’ve announced
on numerous occasions that we are open for dialogue, but under conditions
of mutual respect. Relations can be friendly, balanced and fair.”
. . .Expressing his personal interest
and his nation’s interest in, at the very least, opening up
exchanges of scientists and academics between the United States
and Iran, Ahmadinejad said: “We’ve been urging the institution
of a direct flight between Tehran and New York for a long time.
We will provide facilities for such exchanges.” The Iranian
president added: “We were very sorry when the United States
refused our offer of humanitarian support for the victims of Hurricane
Katrina.”
. . .Reflecting upon the possibility
that the Bush administration and Israel not only seek to stop Iran
from expanding its current nuclear program — which has been
the publicly expressed reason for the campaign being waged against
Iran — but also have the intention of toppling the Ahmadinejad
government and forcing a complete change in the Iranian system of
government, the Iranian leader remarked:
.
. .Of course, we oppose this type
of thinking by the U.S. administration. But they will never be
able to impose regime change on Iran. Iran doesn’t need
a guardian. This thinking is part of the past.
. . .Why does Mr. Bush believe that
he can think better than the Iranian people and choose their leadership?
Imagine me — as the president of Iran — saying to
the American people: “I want to save the American people.”
Think of how the Iranian people respond to President Bush’s
rhetoric of that type. What is it that Mr. Bush wants to hand
to Iran?
. . .Iran has always been Iran, but
we have now become independent of the West. Iran is stronger than
ever. Iran is a nation of families, friends and neighbors who
live like one family, and there will be reactions from the people
of Iran to any interference in our nation’s affairs.
. . .As
far as Iran’s alleged desire to assemble nuclear weapons,
Ahmadinejad noted that Iran’s nuclear program is being supervised
by the International Atomic Energy Agency. “It’s round
the clock, with cameras,” he pointed out. In addition, he
noted, Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
. . .Ahmadinejad didn’t mention
it, but the truth is that Israel, which has one of the world’s
largest nuclear weapons arsenals, has never signed that treaty,
nor does it even officially admit that it has nuclear capabilities.
. . .In addition, although it is not
widely reported by the American media — which portrays Iran
feverishly working to build “the Islamic bomb”—
the fact is, as noted by Ahmadinejad, Iran’s supreme Muslim
religious leader actually issued an edict, known as a “fatwa,”
prohibiting Iran’s building of a nuclear weapon.
. . .“In light of that,”
said Ahmadinejad, “it can be said that, religiously speaking,
we are against nuclear weapons. We are fundamentally against nuclear
weapons. They are for killing.”
. . .What’s more, he pointed
out: “The Iranian people don’t need a nuclear weapon.
For eight years, during the Iran-Iraq war, we had a voluntary army
— including Christians — that rallied to the defense
of the nation. Iranians have a love affair with their country.”
. . .Yet, Ahmadinejad asked this: “How
can those nations that have nuclear arsenals object to those nations
that are trying to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes? The
nuclear arena should not be monopolized by a select group of countries.”
. . .Responding to allegations that
his country suppresses the media, Ahmadinejad noted, with a smile,
that:
.
. .If you look at the volume of criticism
of the Iranian government and my administration in the media and
in academia in Iran, it is substantial. In fact, one of our own
government newspapers was recently shut down because it insulted
a tribe within our country and that was in violation of the law.
So our own government newspaper was punished for violating the
law.
. . .Iranian journalists accompanying
me to the United States were denied visas by the United States
government. These journalists are not allowed to travel beyond
the confines of the United Nations building.
. . .But after I was elected president
of Iran, some 200 journalists from all over the world visited
a small village where I lived for a very brief period as a small
child and interviewed everybody they could find: the baker, the
man who tended the fruit stand, all of the neighbors.
.
. .As far as political freedom in Iran
is concerned, Ahmadinejad noted that in the presidential race in
which he was elected, “there were eight different candidates
from very different backgrounds, representing very diverse platforms.”
. . .He pointed out that “Our
290-member consultative assembly is wide-open to a variety of ideas
and opinions. It is not run along party lines as you find in the
United States, for example.” He added:
. . .“Anyone can come to Iran
and see that young people, old people — all people —
are very politicized and have wide-ranging opinions. They are cognizant
of what is happening in the news about the world today and are very
much interested in what’s happening. Americans are not fingerprinted
when they come to Iran, but people from other lands are fingerprinted
when they come to America.”
. . .Of the efforts by the Christian
and Muslim peoples of Palestine to win a homeland, Ahmadinejad reiterated
his longtime concerns that reflect the thinking of millions of people
around the globe:
. . .“The fate of humanity is
connected to what happens in Palestine. The time for occupation
in Palestine has long ended. For a thousand years or more, Palestine
was Palestine and nothing else. However, for the last 60 years we
have seen nothing but hostility and bloodshed and tragedy there.
Small babies being killed. Homes destroyed. For what? What is the
root cause? The Palestinian people should be able to return to their
homeland and choose their own leadership there.”
. . .Addressing hysterical charges
that he is a “Holocaust denier,” as has been repeatedly
mentioned in American media reports about him, Ahmadinejad said:
. >.I have been criticized in
the media for asking for scientific evidence relating to events
that were said to have happened during World War II. During that
war, some 60 million people died. Yet one small group has gained
prominence as victims as if other lives don’t matter.
. . .In our society today, God and
democracy can be freely researched and questioned. There are many
books and papers and commentaries published on these topics, but
the question of events in World War II cannot be discussed.
. . .I believe, in the spirit of
understanding, that we need to do further research in this realm,
for the more we understand what really happened, the more we can
do to alleviate problems in our society.
. . .In the end, after all, if these
things happened, they happened in Europe. They did not happen
in Palestine. So therefore, why did the Palestinians have to pay
the price? There are five million displaced Palestinians in the
world today.
.
. .Reflecting in general on the world
situation, the Iranian president concluded: “In our world
today there are small groups that seek power and wealth. But most
societies seek freedom, peace and justice. We have said we are against
the imposition of a unilateral position upon the world. The United
Nations must be independent of any single power.”
. . .It is not for nothing that Ahmadinejad
personally impresses even hostile journalists who meet him. He is
witty, whip-smart, deeply spiritual and intellectual and as even
Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International,
admitted in The Washington Post: “I
was struck by how little he conformed to the picture of a madman
. . . always calm and intelligent.”
. . .Ahmadinejad has established himself
as a firm voice against the forces that demand submission to a New
World Order.
(Issue #41, October 9, 2006, AMERICAN
FREE PRESS)
