The neo-cons show what wimps they are when they whine and moan about this guy. Who is hurt by letting the guy speak, or by letting him go to ground zero? By making such a big stink about it you provide him with the stature he craves. America is better than that. Grow up, neo-cons!

Wait a minute. Couldn't you support the university's decision to allow him to participate and protest his words and actions at the same time? Both would be the exercise of free speech.

I heard a student there interviewed who said he wanted to hear him speak and hear when he had to say not because he supported his views or even liked him but because he is part of this generation's history.

I have to say I agree.

Well if there's one thing that US politicians have in common with Ahmadinejad, it's their mutual contempt for liberals, free speech and diplomacy.

Now when is Bu$h going to make a similar appearance in Tehran?

Bush and Ahmadinejad hate each other so much because they are so much alike.

God, American Politicans: Apparently the Democrats are following (imagine that) the Republicans in condeming free speech, or listening to opposing ideas. Hillary just lost my vote even if she DOES get the nomination.

Why are so many Americans SCARED to hear from an opposing view point? Are our ideas so wrong, so flawed that they can not stand up to scrutiny?

While I oppose what the Iranian stands for we can not hide from a view that we disagree with.

Hillary = Bush the Third. God help us!!

If I had the chance to see Hitler speak, I would do it. Not because I'm a Nazi, but because I'd be interested in the whole spectacle.

Did everyone in the audience have glazed eyes? Or were some people muttering "This guy's a fuckin psycho" under their breath? Does he lay the bullshit on thicker than our leaders?

As @3 said, anything that's a part of history is fascinating, whether you agree with the views or not. I'd also love to see Kim Jong Il, and anyone else who has been vilified by Western media (Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Fidel Castro, and the list goes on and on).

Ahmadinejad is going to speak at a University that doesn't allow ROTC, and has a professor that wished for "a million Mogadishu's" on our servicemen and women(servicemen, not the damn republican bastards who sent them to fight). i'm all for the president of Iran to debate topics of interest with American's but shouldn't we have someone asking questions who doesn't have to play devil's advocate?

OK, putting on my asbestos suit now....

So if the Grand Dragon of the KKK was invited to UW so that he could advocate for the lynching of gays and jews, and for the use of nuclear weapons against secular states, would you all be listening carefully and protesting politely, or would you be starting a riot? Personally, I'd be torching the administration building.

Why is Ahmadinejad different from any other hate advocate, besides the fact that he actually has the power to bring his deranged beliefs into reality?

Holmes' gots debate skillz:

"PELLEY: What do you admire about him?

AHMADEINEJAD: He should respect the American people.

PELLEY: Is there anything? Any trait?

AHMADINEJAD: As an American citizen, tell me what trait do you admire?

PELLEY: Well, Mr. Bush is, without question, a very religious man, for example, as you are. I wonder if there's anything that you've seen in President Bush that you admire.

AHMADEINEJAD: Well, is Mr. Bush a religious man?

PELLEY: Very much so. As you are.

AHMADEINEJAD: What religion, please tell me, tells you as a follower of that religion to occupy another country and kill its people? Please tell me. Does Christianity tell its followers to do that? Judaism, for that matter? Islam, for that matter? What prophet tells you to send 160,000 troops to another country, kill men, women, and children? You just can't wear your religion on your sleeve or just go to church. You should be truthfully religious. Religion tells us all that you should respect the property, the life of different people. Respect human rights. Love your fellow man. And once you hear that a person has been killed, you should be saddened. You shouldn't sit in a room, a dark room, and hatch plots. And because of your plots, many thousands of people are killed. Having said that, we respect the American people. And because of our respect for the American people, we respectfully talk with President Bush. We have a respectful tone. But having said that, I don't think that that is a good definition of religion. Religion is love for your fellow man, brotherhood, telling the truth.
"

What #9 said.

I would take the Bluesmobile and drive right down the middle of the bridge, forcing Ahmadinejad and his henchmen to jump off the bridge into the river.

I hate Illinois nazis.

@9, because he's not a hate advocate?

If I had to choose between the two, I think I'd protest against Columbia before I protested against Ahmadinejad.

@13 Remove head from your posterior, find some change in the couch, and purchase yourself a clue. Ahmadinejad advocates death for gays, for the nuclear extermination of Israel, and for the destruction of western society in general. He's NOT KIDDING.

@9 The thing is, the Grand Dragon isn't the head of a regional superpower, isn't someone engaged in negotiations with American diplomats about a war we're deeply involved in, doesn't control massive oil reserves, doesn't have territorial rights to the Straits of Hormuz, through which enough oil passes that a blockade would cause a global depression, isn't in charge of a nuclear power program that we're trying to stop, doesn't control a terrorist network spanning half the globe, doesn't provide assistance in combating the Taliban, doesn't have a stake in the outcome of the independence movement of our Kurdish allies in Iraq, doesn't lead the country that's home to some of the holiest sites and most influential leaders of the majority of Iraqis, and so on.

In other words, the Grand Dragon of the KKK is essentially insignificant, while Ahmedinejad is one of the most important and influential people in the world. That's why it's important to have him here and to hear what he has to say, so we can better play our hand.

@ 13 - So vocal anti-semites aren't considered hate mongers? What's your definition, then?

@16 - Gitai, so it's not OK to spout hate if you're powerless, but an absolute must if you're powerful. Got it. Roger that. My mistake.

@17 he's not an anti-semite, or anti-Jew to be clear, he's anti-zionist. I know Jews that are anti-zionist for christ's sake.

get your own clue, artard.

"Israel is not a nation. Well, we like the people, yes, because they are victims as well. They used to live in their own countries, in their own cities. They were given empty promises, false promises. They said that we are going to give you jobs, we are going to give you security. And they pushed the local Palestinian people out and made them refugees and also made refugees of another community. In other words, from thousands of miles away, people have been emigrating to this country and they are living in fear every day. And we feel for them. Last year in my speech I said that the Zionist entity should open the borders and the gates. Let the people decide where they want to go and settle. They are good people as well. We have no bones to pick with them. We are against terrorism. We are against wrong policies. We are friends with all people, Jewish people, Christians, different people of different faiths. We are, well, we're in contact with them. Here in Iran there are Jewish communities; there are Christian communities; we're all friends. Also, non-Muslim countries, we help them when a natural, let's say, calamity breaks. We love all people. We are opposed to Zionism, occupation, terrorism, dropping bombs on behalf of people when they are inside their own homes, killing men, women, and children. Very openly I have said time and again that I oppose these. "

d'oh!

@19 - Yeah, he wants to kill the 5 million jews living in Israel in nuclear fire, but he's not an anti-semite. Right. Gotchya. My mistake.

Artard yourself.

@20 yeah keep mouthing off without citing or quoting and I'll be likely to come to your point of view real soon..

retard.

I completely agree, Ahmadinejad's views are reprehensible.

However, as Cato the Younger Younger said, are we so scared of what he has to say that we can't debate him? That makes us look even worse in the eyes of the world than we do already. We have to debate people and offer alternatives.

He also looks like Mr. freakin' Wizard compared to that mindless, blabbering buffoon, George W Bush, so that certainly doesn’t help matters.

@20 - Presumably, he'd also be killing all of the Palestinians in the line of fire of a nuclear assault. Maybe he's an equal-opportunity hater.

@21 -

November 13, 2006

"Israel is destined for destruction and will soon disappear"
Israel is "a contradiction to nature, we foresee its rapid disappearance and destruction."

And lest we wander too far down the endless path of anti-zionism vs. anti-semitism, let us not forget what Ahmadinejad thinks gays are good for:

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2458/

@18 Quite frankly, one of the things this country is founded on is that even the most repugnant views can receive a public airing. In fact, that those are the views most in need of protection. I'm not saying I agree with Ahmedinejad, nor that I like him; I don't. I'm saying that he's important, very, very important.

Additionally, thirty years of not engaging hasn't helped us in Iran, just as nearly fifty years of not engaging hasn't helped us in Cuba. Isolating ourselves and not talking to people we don't like means that we have no ability to influence them. You think Europeans like Ahmedinejad? He's even more offensive to their sensibilities to ours. However, because they're engaged, when they speak, it changes things, which is why el-Baradei is running around Iran doing inspections.

Remember, we didn't like Kruschev either, but it was important to engage with him because he was important. And really, is it so bad letting Ahmedinejad shoot his mouth off? He's the one world leader who makes our president look reserved.

When I was at Gonzaga they banned speakers from Planned Parenthood because the Roman Catholic beliefs of the school's masters said that they advocated murder. And so anything that was said by a Planned Parenthood speaker was by definition a kind of hate speech, and allowing them so say anything on campus would be tantamount to supporting them.

Thus, if there were to be any dialog and possibility of understanding between GU students and Planned Parenthood in Spokane, it would not be happening at GU.

Note that from a fundraising point of view, both sides benefit from maximum polarization. People who see the other side as human beings are no more likely to write checks as they are to drop bombs.

Eli, you were a Spec weenie? Did you go to the College Inn for a pistachio milkshake at 3:00 a.m. every morning after putting the paper to bed? And pick sides in the waitress wars? Wow, that brings back memories . . . .

Oh, and seattle98104 @19: There are over a million Arab citizens living in Israel (total population: 7 million). But the 23 Arab states (total population: 325 million) seem to have carried out a pretty effective ethnic cleansing of all their Jews. And prior to the founding of Israel, the Arab Mufti of Jerusalem would have done the same if Rommel hadn't been stopped by the Brits. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060414/ai_n16169122

Iran will be invaded by Israel soon so it's important Americans hear this idiot for themselves.

Israel is the only true nation of righteousness in the world, a light for all nations. America must spend the next twenty years securing Israel to be the center of democracy in the middle east.

Keep hammering away on the "Iran is anti-gay" angle, it's a way to win over the fence sitting liberals. I like to tell people how Israel is a gay paradise in the middle east because Judaism is so pro-gay.

How dare Columbia try and get a chance at a firsthand look at another point of view?!?!

I didn't think it was a bad idea at all. I seriously cannot believe the level of backlash. Oh, I knew there would be backlash from the media. But I had no idea such a move would be universally reviled.

First of all being a president of a university Lee should'nt recept him in that manner,because how you treat other people shows how literate you are and how worthful you are.....its a shame for the American nationn, and a victory for the Iranian president as he did'nt get obsessed at all and showed patience !!