A true un-believer
Our pal Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talks to Der Spiegel, which we noted also below:
Ahmadinejad: I know that DER SPIEGEL is a respected magazine. But I don’t know whether it is possible for you to publish the truth about the Holocaust. Are you permitted to write everything about it?
SPIEGEL: Of course we are entitled to write about the findings of the past 60 years’ historical research. In our view there is no doubt that the Germans — unfortunately — bear the guilt for the murder of 6 million Jews.
Ahmadinejad: Well, then we have stirred up a very concrete discussion. We are posing two very clear questions. The first is: Did the Holocaust actually take place? You answer this question in the affirmative. So, the second question is: Whose fault was it? The answer to that has to be found in Europe and not in Palestine. It is perfectly clear: If the Holocaust took place in Europe, one also has to find the answer to it in Europe.
On the other hand, if the Holocaust didn’t take place, why then did this regime of occupation …
SPIEGEL: … You mean the state of Israel…
Ahmadinejad: … come about? Why do the European countries commit themselves to defending this regime? Permit me to make one more point. We are of the opinion that, if an historical occurrence conforms to the truth, this truth will be revealed all the more clearly if there is more research into it and more discussion about it.
SPIEGEL: That has long since happened in Germany.
Ahmadinejad: We don’t want to confirm or deny the Holocaust. We oppose every type of crime against any people. But we want to know whether this crime actually took place or not. If it did, then those who bear the responsibility for it have to be punished, and not the Palestinians. Why isn’t research into a deed that occurred 60 years ago permitted? After all, other historical occurrences, some of which lie several thousand years in the past, are open to research, and even the governments support this.
SPIEGEL: Mr. President, with all due respect, the Holocaust occurred, there were concentration camps, there are dossiers on the extermination of the Jews, there has been a great deal of research, and there is neither the slightest doubt about the Holocaust nor about the fact – we greatly regret this – that the Germans are responsible for it. If we may now add one remark: the fate of the Palestinians is an entirely different issue, and this brings us into the present.
Ahmadinejad: No, no, the roots of the Palestinian conflict must be sought in history. The Holocaust and Palestine are directly connected with one another. And if the Holocaust actually occurred, then you should permit impartial groups from the whole world to research this. Why do you restrict the research to a certain group? Of course, I don’t mean you, but rather the European governments.
SPIEGEL: Are you still saying that the Holocaust is just “a myth?”
Ahmadinejad: I will only accept something as truth if I am actually convinced of it.
The thing you should learn from this is that Ahmadinejad appears to be speaking honestly, and not to a friendly audience. So on what basis would you conclude that he is not speaking the truth when he threatens that Israel will be removed in “one storm?”
UPDATE
We just read Michael Ledeen’s comments on the Der Spiegel interview. Ledeen points out the utter hypocrisy of Ahmadinejad on issues like justice and the treatment that various governments afford truth-tellers. He seems to be critical of the reporter for not probing Ahmadinejad more deftly. Our overall reaction to the interview was quite different: Ahmadinejad makes perfect sense to us. When he talks about injustice in the West, it is the injustice brought about by our infidel ways; his view undoubtedly would be — as was Khomeini’s in his Fallaci interview — that punishments meted out under Islam in Iran were just, no matter how harsh.
The danger of Ahmadinejad is precisely his crystalline clarity and simplicity. You can say he is uncouth, or talks like a college freshman reciting his Marxism lessons, or that he is a psychopath — these are all aspects of the truth — but what we always take away from listening to and reading this scary man is that he absolutely believes what he says. He has some of the usual guile of a politician of course, but there is honesty in his mad eyes. His burning honesty is the source of his appeal to his followers. Though such a man might end up shooting himself in a bunker after bitter defeats, he believes totally in his destiny during his ascent.
May 30th, 2006 at 8:51 am
The Iranian President is using the same rhetoric that Hitler used during the 20′s and early 30′s prior to being elected Chancellor. Appeal to the German’s national pride and blame the Jews for all their problems. This Islamic love for the “so called” Palestinians has never manifested intself in anything more than the use of those people as pawns in the Islamic world’s hatred of Israel and the Jewish people.
This man is totally dillusional and does not understand or at least refuses to understand the true history of the Jewish people and the land that was given to them. But this is Islamic blindness and hatred at it’s core.
May 30th, 2006 at 9:36 am
“…this man is totally dillusional and does not understand or at least refuses to understand the true history of the Jewish people and the land that was given to them.”
The same old dumb excuse for robbery and murder. Since when did God become a real estate agent?
May 30th, 2006 at 10:29 am
ditto what Mike said. This guy is a propaganda master & wants a confrontation.