Iran's President Launches Blog 472
02bunced writes "The BBC is reporting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has started his own blog, the launch of which was announced on Iranian State TV. This is perhaps slightly ironic, given that the Iranian Government actively censors blogs on the Internet."
He Had No Choice (Score:5, Funny)
Of course he rejected the poll. (Score:2, Funny)
Of course it was rejected. The Iranian president forgot to include "Cowboy Neal" as one of the poll answers.
Re:Of course he rejected the poll. (Score:5, Funny)
There's probably nothing to worry about
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:5, Funny)
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:4, Informative)
Ahmadinejad, like many people in the middle east, believes that the number of Jews killed by Germany during WWII is frequently greatly overstated. While, in the opinion of most (including myself), this is an unjustified viewpoint, it is certainly much more defensible than the "there is no holocaust" claim that a lot of people think he made. He talks about the "myth of the Holocaust" in reference to the claim that "six million Jews" were killed. His comments were that people have created this myth of six million Jews being killed and then using it to justify everything that Israel has done ever since, and that even if that was true, this is an unfair line of reasoning.
Oh, and as per the "wipe Israel off the map" comments, that's a much worse mistranslation. He never used any language even close to that. He talked about his hope that the "occupying regime" would fall, akin to how the Shah fell, Saddam fell, and the Soviet Union fell. His speech was completely passive (didn't discuss any involvement from Iran) and spoke nothing of harm to the people in the state of Israel.
Anyways, my point is... you don't have to agree with him, but it's only fair to accurately represent what he says.
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:3, Informative)
Every history of the period I've ever read puts the figure at just over one million - both the postwar books by Hilberg etc and the more recent stuff. The four million figure was invented by the Soviet Union (and used in its museum at Auschwitz) to maximise the number of Soviet (non-Jewish) victims. This figure was not, to my knowledge, ever given any credence by Western historians. So it is
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:3, Insightful)
Personally, my only beef with the way the holocaust is generally portrayed is that it is not very holistic (excuse the pun if you will).
Okay. But (pulled from wikipedia):
Thus, the number of non-Jews killed is around 2.8 million at the low end, and 4.5 mi
You want his words, here they are (Score:5, Insightful)
"'Imam [Khomeini] said: 'This regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.' This sentence is very wise. The issue of Palestine is not an issue on which we can compromise.
"'Is it possible that an [Islamic] front allows another front [i.e. country] to arise in its [own] heart? This means defeat, and he who accepts the existence of this regime [i.e. Israel] in fact signs the defeat of the Islamic world.
"'In his battle against the World of Arrogance, our dear Imam [Khomeini] set the regime occupying Qods [Jerusalem] as the target of his fight.
"'I do not doubt that the new wave which has begun in our dear Palestine and which today we are also witnessing in the Islamic world is a wave of morality which has spread all over the Islamic world. Very soon, this stain of disgrace [i.e. Israel] will be purged from the center of the Islamic world - and this is attainable.
The phrase "purged from the center of the Islamic world" is pretty damn close to "wiped off the map".
So much for your apology for genocide.
Re:You want his words, here they are (Score:3, Insightful)
And do you know why? Because the Germans, unlike the British, didn't treat the Arabs like shit. Antisemitism wasn't a problem at that time in Palestine, simply because there was no single ethnic group that claimed _exclusive_ ownership of the area that is now Israel. I think Theodor Herzl wouldn't be too happy with the way Israel has been implemented and Israel's policy of the last decades. In his book "Der Juden
Re:You want his words, here they are (Score:3, Informative)
The anti-Zionism found in the Arab ME does not follow the pattern of a Nazi ideology that was racially motivated - nothing but the destruction of the inferior race will do in the mind of a convinced Nazi. The Qur'an on the other hand recognize
Re:You want his words, here they are (Score:3, Interesting)
THis is the same as muslims in israel. They don't enjoy full rights as jews do. For example they can be denied housing. They are treated differently in the courts.
Re:You want his words, here they are (Score:5, Informative)
Compare that with the USA. The first ammendment alone forbids such laws. So the USA is secular, while Israel is not. This isn't talked about much in the West, because criticizing Israel is not politically correct in many Western nations, especially the USA.
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:5, Informative)
Whether or not there was a holocaust is wholly dependent on the "number" of Jews killed. That's the whole point. If six Jews were killed instead of six million, that's not exactly a holocaust, is it? Playing this sort of numbers game is what the holocaust deniers do to try to get you to admit that there was no holocaust.
I just saw Mike Wallace's interview with this guy last night. While he didn't say the holocaust was a "myth" this time, he did say "if there was a holocaust, where did it take place?" as if he's just throwing the idea out there for the sake of argument. He also played the same numbers game that all of the holocaust deniers play. And there is no point in debating the translation - he has a personal translator with him at all times so that the translation cannot be argued.
as per the "wipe Israel off the map" comments, that's a much worse mistranslation. He never used any language even close to that. He talked about his hope that the "occupying regime" would fall, akin to how the Shah fell, Saddam fell, and the Soviet Union fell.
The guy is a master of double-speak. Mike Wallace directly challenged him on this "wipe Israel off the map" comment and he never once denied it. Wallace asked him what he meant by that and he refused to answer, repeatedly, basically saying it was a 3 page answer and Wallace wasn't giving him the time he needed. Eventually he did say that Israel should not be located where it is - that sounds a lot like "wipe Israel off the map" to me.
Whenever he was asked an uncomfortable question, this was basically how he responded - Wallace also asked him yes or no if he'd like to re-establish a relationship with the United States, and his initial stab at it was "well, let us ask first who broke off ties in the first place?" Wallace asked him again, regardless of who broke off ties, yes or no would he like to re-establish them? He then launched into another history lesson. Wallace interrupted - "yes or no, why won't you answer the question?" Then he got mad - "is this multiple choice? These are complicated questions!" This is basically the guy's MO - say all kinds of crazy things, then when he's pressed for clarification, launch into a life story that's got nothing to do with the issue at hand in an attempt to confuse.
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Informative??? FLAMEBAIT!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow. Now, while I would have to agree that killing large amounts of people based on their ethnicity is a Bad Thing(tm), how exactly does that entitle them to their own country? Furthermore, how does it make the survival of that ethnic group the responsibility of everyone in the world? How many ethnic groups have faded from history over time? What makes the Jews more special than those extinct ethnic groups? And what about the other groups that the Nazi's rounded up and killed en masse. Do the Gypsies and the homosexuals get their own homelands, too?
Additionally, "the only one they can use"? It was kind of in use before they came back. How was that area more appropriate (ignoring the geopolitical reasonings by the US and what not) for use than any other in terms of letting them set up a government and economy? For that matter, there's probably a lot of other more appropriate (and easier to survive in) places than where they are now. If they'd been given part of Brazil, you think they'd be having the problems they have now? Unlikely.
Re:Informative??? FLAMEBAIT!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
The fact that we are not animals. We are rational and, therefore, we become conscious of the suffering of others.
How many ethnic groups have faded from history over time? What makes the Jews more special than those extinct ethnic groups?
The fact that they aren't extinct yet.
And what about the other groups that the Nazi's rounded up and killed en masse. Do the Gypsies and the homosexuals get their own homelands,
Re:Informative??? FLAMEBAIT!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
If you feel it is necessary and proper for us to be guiding the fates of other countries, I suppose.
The fact that they aren't extinct yet.
Israel would be extinct without our aid, obviously. This, however, does not mean the Jews would be extinct. You're committing the common error of equating Jews with Israel. This had not been the case for almost 2000 years until mid-last-century.
If the Gypsies had an original homeland, yes. But, different from Jews, their culture was never associated to any particular land. Homosexuals are not a nation. I'm not saying that any group of people have a right to their own land, only those groups which came to exist associated with a land, like Germans, Italians, Scots, Tibetans, Navajos, Kurds, Armenians, etc.
See above. By your logic we should be not only evacuating the US to allow the native american tribes to take back their ancestral homelands, but seeking out the proper persons who are the true heirs to Babylon.
So, if you are willing to roll back history cancelling the effect of foreign domination on that land, it should be given to the Ottoman Empire, which ceased to exist in the 1920s.
Not only that, but really if you want to go the whole way on that, the Caananites had it first, even by Jewish reckoning. I have no problem giving the land back to their descendants. Do you?
The same can be said of Palestinians.
Sure. Except that the Palestinians were there for the Jews' 2 millenia absence from the place.
Why do you assume Brazilians would be more willing to give up part of their territory than the Arabs? If that's a solution, then why doesn't Iran or Syria give part of their countries to the Palestinians?
Simply put, because there's more usable, unoccupied land in Brazil than in the middle east. But that wouldn't satisfy the people who believe, rather irrationally, that the Jews *need* a state (as if a concentrated effort by a organized nation state couldn't conquer them just as well all in one place as Nazi Germany did with them spread out across Europe), nor the American evangelicals who believe the return to existence of Israel is a sign of imminent messianic return.
Re:Informative??? FLAMEBAIT!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
But not the palestenians or the lebanese right?
"Why do you assume Brazilians would be more willing to give up part of their territory than the Arabs? If that's a solution, then why doesn't Iran or Syria give part of their countries to the Palestinians"
Why doesn't the US give up land to host israel? That would make a lot of sense. We have a lot of land, we love the jews and the jews love us. It'
Re:Informative??? FLAMEBAIT!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Informative??? FLAMEBAIT!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Von Braun? He wasn't Jewish, he was a German.
Or do you mean another Von Braun?
Re:He Had No Choice (Score:2, Funny)
Listening to: the sounds of Nazi gas chambers
lol so israel and hezbollah stopped fighting. i didn't think it would last that long but the evil j00s of israel needed to see the wrath of iran
yestreday i saw that britney spears video lol !!! shes total white trash and a true american. go to youtube and check it out
so i'm out to get some suits fitted, ttyl
Governmentisement? (Score:4, Insightful)
You've just been tagged by an FBI database (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You've just been tagged by an FBI database (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You've just been tagged by an FBI database (Score:5, Funny)
Is there an easier way? (Score:3, Funny)
That's cool. I bought a book (using my credit card) from an online bookstore a few weeks ago, and never received the book. I forgot the web site link. Now it's nice to know I call call up the FBI and have them tell me what the site was. I might use it also to find
Re:You've just been tagged by an FBI database (Score:2)
Re:Governmentisement? (Score:2)
If you don't want to wait, though, you can have more fun at www.president.ir
Re:Governmentisement? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Governmentisement? (Score:2, Informative)
Even more ironic (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Even more ironic (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Even more ironic (Score:2)
Infringing of Microsoft copyrights, though, is probably a civil issue. Some people say that the nights and weekend you will need to work while reboo^H^H^H^H^Hadministering windows2003 server is enough of a punishment, but I think it's too harsh.
Re:Even more ironic (Score:2, Insightful)
But seriously, MS does not care much who uses the software and for what, as long as they pay through the roof for it. MSN and Yahoo have no problem helping the Chinese put dissidents in jail, either.
Poll on the blog (Score:2)
Is there an option for Iran = yes, US and Israel = No?
Re:Poll on the blog (Score:2)
Re:Poll on the blog (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Poll on the blog (Score:3)
Re:Poll on the blog (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, it's amazing how effective American media spin is, isn't it? Um, no, the situation isn't that simple. Your comment reminds me of what you see all the time about the various middle east conflicts on American TV -- things to the effect of
Re:Poll on the blog (Score:3, Informative)
Hmmmm....., I wonder what happens when you drill down into one of your bland assertions?
June 23rd: Tensions on the northern border escalate when violence expands in Gaza when the Israeli army invades and siezes two sons of Palestinian activist Ali Muamar to put pressure on him.
You find something interesting about that here [huffingtonpost.com]:
Re:Poll on the blog (Score:4, Insightful)
http://www.basetree.com/thumbs/theprinceofbombs.j
http://www.mccullagh.org/db9/d30-30/free-republic
http://truthout.org/imgs.art_01/3.probush.082705.
http://www.beyondsatire.us/files/Pro-war.jpg [beyondsatire.us]
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www
http://www.mccullagh.org/db9/d30-30/free-republic
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/28/xins
http://home.earthlink.net/~bobbyfoto1/sitebuilder
Of course, that's not nearly as bad as what you see in Israel. There was the October 2000 riots which involved thousands of Jews chanting "Death to Arabs" while they ransacked arab property, for example. Oy, I could go on for hours about the sort of stuff you get in Israel. Tons of speeches by all sorts of politicians and army leaders referring to them as vermin, worms, cockroaches, a disease, etc. Sh'a Tova even carried a comic strip for children which said "Yes, a good Arab is a dead Arab." Here's a nice article, although it's only a start.
Re:Poll on the blog (Score:4, Insightful)
You link to 10 pictures and you think that this is somehow a reflective of 300,000,000 people. Whatever.
Re:Poll on the blog (Score:5, Funny)
(e) CowboyMahmoud!
Ooops. Wrong link. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ooops. Wrong link. (Score:2, Interesting)
http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Mel_Gibson [uncyclopedia.org]
i like (Score:5, Funny)
Re:i like (Score:3, Funny)
Re:i like (Score:3, Funny)
Re:i like (Score:2)
Where's the irony? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Where's the irony? (Score:3, Funny)
So, how long ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So, how long ... (Score:3, Funny)
Where's the irony? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Where's the irony? (Score:2)
Like 10,000 bombs, when all you need is a knife... isn't it Iranic... don't you think?
Next up... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Next up... (Score:2, Funny)
Fiendster (Score:2, Informative)
Georg Greve blogged this - it's MS and it's down:) (Score:5, Funny)
His webserver is MS, and it was down earlier. From Georg Greve's blog: Technical difficulties all around [fsfe.org]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has no problem being dependent on US software, which in turn has no problem failing on him.
Re:Georg Greve blogged this - it's MS and it's dow (Score:3, Interesting)
Looking forward to reading it (Score:4, Funny)
Ahmadinejad is actually a brilliant man (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Ahmadinejad is actually a brilliant man (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Ahmadinejad is actually a brilliant man (Score:2)
As opposed to all the other, true religions?
Or the One True religion (i.e., whichever one you happen to follow)?
Re:Ahmadinejad is actually a brilliant man (Score:3, Insightful)
Is there is a true religion? All religions are obviously false.
To me this guy reads smarter, saner, better spoken and more rational then GW. They are both delusional and they are both religious fundamentalists so they have a lot in common except that this guy hasn't really killed a lot of people (yet?). GW has already killed over 100,000 people in iraq and afghanistan so he is way ahead.
Re:Ahmadinejad is quite reasonable (Score:2)
-Rick
Re:Looking forward to reading it (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Looking forward to reading it (Score:5, Insightful)
His response to American imperialism is a little less calm, but I suspect it is definitely reasoned pretty thoroughly.
Of course, it's quite possible to come to a logically correct conclusion that is still false, if one's precepts are false.
Not surprised (Score:5, Informative)
Common method of propaganda (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No. It just sounds bad. Period. (Score:4, Insightful)
After all, that was what Israel found to be an acceptable solution when they tried to wipe Lebanon off the map.
Mirror of the text from the blog (Score:5, Informative)
In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate Oh Almighty God, please, we beg you to send us our Guardian- who You have promised us- soon and appoint us as His close companions.
During the era that nobility was a prestige and living in a city was perfection, I was born in a poor family in a remote village of Garmsar-approximately 90 kilometer east of Tehran. I was born fifteen years after Iran was invaded by foreign forces- in August of 1940- and the time that another puppet, named mohammad Reza - the son of Reza Mirpange- was set as a monarch in Iran. Since the extinct shah -Mohammad Reza- was supposed to take and enter Iran into western civilization slavishly, so many schemes were implemented that Iran becomes another market for the western ceremonial goods without any progress in the scientific field. Our Islamic culture would not allow such an infestation, and this was an impediment in front of shah and his foreign masters' way. Thus, they decided to make this noble and tenacious culture weak gradually that Iran be attached strongly to the west as far as its economy, politics, and culture was concern. After the implementation of this policy and the unreal and outward of upswing, the villagers began to rush to the cities. Upon the enforcement of the land reform, the status of the villages became worst than the past and villagers for earning some breadcrumbs, they were deceived by the dazzling look and the misleading features of the cities and became suburban and lived in ghettos.
My family was also suffered in the village as others. After my birth -the fourth one in the family- my family was under more pressures. My father had finished 6 grade of elementary school. He was a hard-bitten toiler blacksmith, a pious man who regularly participated in different religious programs. Even though never the dazzling look of the world was appealing to him, but the pressure of the life caused that he decided to migrate to Tehran when I was one year old. We chose to live in south central part of Tehran where is called Pamenar.
My father used to buy newspaper all the time. I remember one day, when I was in first grade, by looking through a newspaper - with the help of the adults in our house- I read the news of the capitulation passage by the shah's so called "parliament." Even though I did not understand the meaning of that issue at that time, but due to the protests and the objections of the religious schools of thoughts with the leadership of Imam Khomeini -Almighty God bless his soul- and the relentless reaction of the extinct shah, I realized that Mohammad Reza attempted to add another page to his vicious case history which was the humiliation and indignity of the Iranian people versus Americans. That was the year that the extinct shah slaughtered many followers of Imam Khomeini.
Imam Khomeini was released from prison. I never forget Imam Khomeini's speeches during those years which was very persuasive and appealing. You would hear the strong faith to Almighty God in his orations. He invited the people to pure Islam. His message was invitation to the belief of monotheism- Unity and Oneness of God- and also justice, elimination of oppression, injustice and sedition in the world. He was courageous and had a valiant heart. He spoke firmly and securely. His orations were simple and honest. The people accepted his guidance sincerely. Due to these characteristics, he was a beloved leader for every individuals-young or elderly. Of course he was a disgrace for shah's regime and his Americans masters. Notably, even among his enemies, he was respected with a special honor.
Eventually, the existence of Imam Khomeini was unbearable for the extinct shah and he could not tolerate him any more. Since they knew if they kill him-as they did a great number of his followers- the bloody uprising can not be controlled. Consequently they decided to exile him in order to separate the leader from his followers and to restrain th
Great, what's next... (Score:2)
Wait Wait... (Score:2)
Next Osama bin Laden will get a myspace account (Score:2, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Is there a talk-back forum attached? (Score:2)
I doubt he'd be so stupid as to expose his propaganda department to the voices and opinions of reason world-wide.
But TFA has no link to the blog — maybe, there is a forum, after all?
Why not? Press distorts! (Score:2)
Yes, there's some irony in the internal Iranian restrictions. But I'll take freedom in half steps. Positive movement is still positive. Besides, I think it is extremely
It Isn't Ironic (Score:2)
The popular sense of the word "irony" has been ruined. People don't even blink while Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" [azlyrics.com] asks "isn't it ironic?" about a list of situa
Whois infomation (Score:3, Informative)
Syndication (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Syndication (Score:2)
Blog includes a nice vuln, too (Score:2)
Bad link (Score:2)
http://olehgirl.blogspot.com/2006/08/pres-ahmadin
The original version (Score:2)
Tuesday: Run out of things to say. Keep getting hassled by Americans telling me to westernise or die. Total drag.
Wednesday: Seems to be some sort of spat next door. Hope they don't lob any missiles my way.
Thursday: Man I love Battlestar Galactica. Double episode tonight!
Friday: Pizza! Maybe some behadings later.
Saturday: Bit sunny. Not bad. Got some emails from my buddy GWB saying be cool.
Sunday: Had a lie in. Just found out some Brit paper has been reading this
Start a World War? (Score:3, Informative)
Malhmold is not the only person who thinks the goals were larger than humiliating Hezbolla. Some say the Bush administration wanted Syria and Iran [consortiumnews.com]. Conquering that much of the middle east might indeed have triggered a war with Russia, Turkey and even China and Europe. It's a good thing that did not happen, but there's still time for Israel's incompetent and murderous military leaders [gush-shalom.org] to blunder themselves into a wider conflict. All they have to do is provoke Syria on the new border.
Re:Start a World War? (Score:3)
Forgive the following tangent....
Oh, they have shame, and they are very much humiliated, and that's a big part of the problem.
Arab culture, from what I understand, is very face/shame based. Intertwine that with Islam, which quite often militant professes it's the one true faith and the Muslims are the chosen among Allah's people or whatever, and you get pretty big problems.
See, it's very humiliating to think yo
ironic? (Score:3, Interesting)
Let me explain the difference (Score:3, Insightful)
In the US we see things differently. Even though elected leaders may hold onto faith so strongly that it affects the laws that are passed, there is no state religion. More importantly though, none of the currently followed sects of Christianity in this country find any value in converting people through violence. My beliefs are (and they are echoed thoughout this country) that accepting Christ is a personal decision that nobody can convince you to make. You have to want to accept Christ or it is meaningless. If this idea was present in Islam there would not be the problems that we have now. Islam and Christianity could co-exist if this one idea was widely held in the Middle East. Now there are sects of Islam that reject violence but they are not popular in the Middle East and only really flourish in the freedom that they find in the United States.
VIRUS Warning (Score:4, Interesting)
Check out http://olehgirl.blogspot.com/2006/08/pres-ahmadin
Re:what's ironical... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:what's ironical... (Score:2, Insightful)
ironic, a.
Pertaining to irony; of the nature of or cotaining irony; =ironical
ironical, a.
1. Of the nature of irony or covert sarcasm; meaning the opposite of what is expressed.
2. That uses or is addicted to irony.
also see: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ironical& db=* [reference.com]
Re:ironical? (Score:2)
Re:American Double Moral Strikes Again! (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh, and I'm a Brit!
Re:I was thinking last night how sad it was... (Score:2)