De Nial Ain't Just a River in Egypt

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Columbia University today at the invitation of that institution's president, Lee Bollinger, and jeez did he ever take it on the chin. Bollinger opened the session by referring to President Ahmadinejad as a "petty and cruel dictator." Later referencing Ahmadinejad's denial that the Holocaust took place, Bollinger said, "You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."

Perhaps the funniest and most revealing comment came when Ahmadinejad said, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country." Mr. Ahmadinejad is either completely naive or thoroughly delusion. I don't think either are the most positive attributes for a president.

Bollinger really raked him under the coals to be sure and I'm going to give Admadinejad props for showing up, giving a speech, and fielding questions. Unlike his one-on-one interviews with Western reporters, this was a tough and hostile crowd and he must have had a hint that's what he faced before he stepped into the auditorium.

Still, this guy took a left turn at reality and then kept driving into the sunset. No homosexuals in his country? Are you kidding me? You put that together with the man's theory the Holocaust never took place and it paints a picture of total abnegation. And as Bush has proved with WMD in Iraq, the worst thing a leader can do is deny the reality of the world around him. It's just our luck this guy emerged the leader of one of the most "stable" governments in the Middle East.

This guy is nothing but bad news for the Middle Eastern geopolitical scene. Ahmadinejad projects earnestness and conviction when conveying his beliefs, but his ideology reveals a vast divide between Iranian and American culture and values. I guess this assumes that President Ahmadinejad represents the consensus of this countrymen, and maybe that's not true. Regardless, Ahmadinejad is the spokesman of his country (much as Bush is the misspokesman of ours) and I'm going to speculate that what he expresses isn't all that far from what an average Iranian believes. If it were, would he still be their president?

This gulf in values worries me because we're fully committed in Iraq, our military spread to the breaking point. Ahmadinejad appears to be reaching out to us, but the effort is clumsy and creates misunderstanding and strife instead of friendship and union. Past wars have begun over far less affronts. It strains my optimism that the U.S., or any country for that matter, can contain Iran's nuclear weapon ambitions and I shudder at the thought of what will happen if it all goes down bad.