Here we go again
The President of Iran is coming to NYC for the opening of the UN’s fall session, just as he did last year. This report does not capture the full flavor of his visit:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will arrive in New York on September 24 in order to attend the United Nation’s 62nd General Assembly session, the Iranian news agency Fars reported Friday. According to the report, Ahmadinejad will stay in the city for two days and will be accompanied by a high-level delegation. This will be the Iranian president’s third visit to the United States since his election in 2005. Ahmadinejad is then expected to head to Venezuela for a meeting with his anti-American ally, President Hugo Chavez.
Last year, the Iranian leader criticized the UN Security Council and slammed its permanent members, the US and Britain, for “committing crimes” in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that therefore the Security Council and the sanctions it imposed on his country over its nuclear plan had no legal validation.
The beginning of Ahmadinejad’s speech from last year, calling for the return of the Hidden Imam, perhaps provides a little more feel for the mind of Iran’s president:
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
From the beginning of time, humanity has longed for the day when justice, peace, equality and compassion envelop the world. All of us can contribute to the establishment of such a world. When that day comes, the ultimate promise of all Divine religions will be fulfilled with the emergence of a perfect human being who is heir to all prophets and pious men. He will lead the world to justice and absolute peace.
“O mighty Lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace.
And this reflection by Ahmadinejad after the speech really helps round out the picture:
On the last day when I was speaking before the assembly, one of our group told me that when I started to say “In the name of God the almighty and merciful,” he saw a light around me, and I was placed inside this aura. I felt it myself. I felt the atmosphere suddenly change, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn’t bat an eyelid, I’m not exaggerating because I was looking at them. And they were rapt. It seemed as if a hand was holding them there and had opened their eyes to receive the message from the Islamic republic.
Fellows like this appear to be clowns right up to the day that something terrible happens. Then the world strokes its chin and talks about all the danger signs that went unremarked.