[Los Angeles Times] Editorial - The Iranian president had a hostile crowd at Columbia University laughing and applauding Monday. Of course, Ahmadinejad's audience was mostly laughing at him rather than with him. It isn't likely that many were swayed by his wild-eyed questioning of the facts of the Holocaust or who was really behind the 9/11 attacks. The biggest laugh of the afternoon came when, in response to a question about the Iranian regime's brutal treatment of homosexuals (a crime punishable by death), Ahmadinejad remarked, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country." He also declared that "women in Iran have the highest level of freedom" even though they are forbidden from such basic social activities as attending soccer games, and said "we are friends with the Jewish people" while attributing nearly all the world's ills to Jews. It's hard to believe that anyone with a third-grade education would find him convincing.
2007-09-25 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive