Comments on: Candidates Speak Out On Ahmadinejad Visit

Hopefuls Question Columbia's Decision To Host Iranian President

[ioweign]

Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican also running for president, harshly attacked the university at a recent press conference.

"If President Lee Bollinger follows through with this hosting of the leader of Iran, I will move in Congress to cut off every single type of federal funding to Columbia University," he said. "If the left-wing leaders of academia will not support our troops, they, in the very least, should not support our adversaries."


First - Duncan, you should stop our own government from putting weapons into the hands of our adversaries. A GAO audit shows you/Petraeus lost 190,000 weapons and they are most likely in the hands of our adversaries.

Second - Check out the companies the government hires in an effort to prevent them from smuggling weapons and selling them to our adversaries. aka Blackwater USA

[jrinbelling]

Is there no equation to predict the specific amount of enriched uranium that would be produced by each nuclear plant Iran proposes to operate? And could this uranium not be legally accounted for by the UN? If it goes missing, it won''t take long to figure it out, and we''ll know they''ve become armed. At that point, the guns are pointed, and the war will be quick. I think Iran with nukes is not as dangerous as Iran with a stabilized economy, and a firm handle on its only abundant natural resource. There is no consipiracy in math. An Iran with a healthy middle class is an American/European gas pump with a big number in front of it. Bigger than what we see now, by a lot. And most imported oil isn''t even consumed by you - its consumed in the production of plastics, the transfer of food, the progress in medicine and technology that gives us all the miracles we have come to take for granted. That increase in energy costs, without sufficient alternatives, would lead to a possible Western world econimic crisis (exacerbating the already potentially worrisome effects of climate change). That is, perhaps, what is more at stake. ? If we''re going to talk brass tacks.

[jrinbelling]

It is so refreshing to see a bridge being built, rather than sabotaged. I am in no way convinced that Ahmadinejad was completely forthcoming about his honest thoughts, as I do not believe that anyone in our government is with theirs. He is probably a bigot, a hypocrite, a liar, a thief, ect. And so am I, and so are we all, in some way or another. He might even try to blow Israel off the map, and do to it exactly what we''re working so hard to do with Iraq. I don''t demonize him for seeing the world differently, or else he''d have the right to demonize me for seeing it differently, as well. Behavior like that has never made for any sort of fitful peace. It only makes for injust wars based on ignorance, and fear. I''ve had enough of that to last me the rest of my life.

Thank you, Columbia, for using the brains God gave you, rather than your testicles. I was beginning to believe we''d reverted entirely to the beasts we claim so vehemently not to be.

[socrates392]

Posted by lisainmilo at 12:56 AM : Sep 25, 2007

I also look forward to true diplomacy taking place. That said, I''m not buying his new more, tolerant perspective on the holocaust. What about the holocaust needs to be further investigated? Seems like he doesn''t want to come out and say what he actually thinks out of fear of being lynched.

[lisainmilo]

I am not sure he denied the Holocaust in this speech, he did say he wanted further investigation of the Holocaust. He did sound like he is standing up for the displaced Palestinians.
I don''t know why he wants further investigation, I think it may have been a 1/2 attempt at earlier statements he has made....possilbly out of anger...due to the displaced Palestinians.
However, I listened to his answers and his speech. It wasn''t bad overall. I don''t know alot about the Iranian lifestyle....I think if the students and faculty take up the invitation, it will be a great learning experience.
I am looking forward to a better foreign policy in which true diplomacy can take place. The Council for Foreign affairs has an interactive Time-Line between the U.S. and Iran www.cfr.org.

[homespunlady]

Would they next invite Osama to their graduation if they could find him?
Posted by kraziquban at 06:08 PM : Sep 24, 2007

Sounds like a GREAT idea to me since our President George Bush has been so INCOMPETENT in allowing our military to find and capture that 6 foot tall spoiled SAUDI on dialysis!

Maybe the intellectuals at Columbia can help him out. It''s worth a try at least.

Sure didn''t HELP that our NEOCON Administration HAD Bin Laden''s RELATIVES IN NEW YORK CITY and SENT THEM HOME right after the attack (along with a lot of behind kissing I suspect)Rather than using them as BAIT!

OH! But "we don''t want to OFFEND OUR OIL FRIENDS" now do we?

DIPLOMACY has apparently DIED in this country and the only thing left is a MAFIA STYLE ELITE - bent on CONQUEST, GREED and REVENGE and running our military capability and economy into the ground.

Both SAD and PATHETIC.

Our Constitution and the GREAT PRINCIPLES it showcased has been shredded by selfish morons.
I worry that it''ll be too late before something is done about it.

[talk2chief]

Clinton said she " would not have invited" Ahmadinejad to speak if she were a university president. But she said she does not express an opinion about the decision made by Columbia.
political reporter Brian Montopoli.

WHAT!? Sounds like more I was for the war, before I was against the war flip flopping, safe, don''t really make sense answers.

Both Hilary and Ahmadinejad can''t just say how it is. Good thing they don''t play poker, they don''t have a clue how to bluff and covered in tells.

[feelfree1]

What did Gravel and Kucinich, the only Democrats worthy of consideration, have to say about it?

Or Ron Paul, the only Republican worth considering?

[my2centss]

When I was younger and would get into disagreements, adults would sit us down and say talk about it. This normally resolved the dispute. Why do the leaders not want to discuss their views? A good saying was keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Maybe the candidates haven''t heard that one.

[coffee_guy1]

I can''t understand how a politician could say something like "we don''t talk to people". You got the easy end of the stick, there Mr. or Mrs. Politician. The easy end..