Ahmadinejad is just like Hitler only without the warmth. Why, oh why, would anyone want to listen to what this guy has to say? We already know what his views on the world are (he has surely made enough speeches), he has sponsored a conference in Iran trying to "prove" that the Holocaust never happened, and he has also sponsored anti-Semitic art shows in Iran as well. He admits to sponsoring known terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, and he has also sent in troops to kill American soldiers in Iraq. Wow, wouldn't you love to have this guy to dinner (oh, sorry, I mean a luncheon)? We all understand freedom of speech. But we already know what this guy is going to say, so why do we need to hear it again on an American campus? Why do we need to give this guy an international platform to spew out his filth so that it can be used as a propaganda tool within his own country and throughout the Middle East? I know, let him speak at some college in Europe or, better yet, Russia. They don't think he's much of a threat, so let them hear what he has to say. Unless he's going to announce on Monday that Iran is going to end its nuclear program, then there isn't anything new this guy has to offer the world, let alone this country. As for the students at Columbia University, I hope they show Ahmadinejad the same courtesy they showed the head of the Minutemen, when they rushed the stage and attacked him during his speech last year. Now that action would make news, let alone a statement.

Let him come and hang himself with his own words.

We'll gladly supply the rope.

- Infidels R US Inc.

I don't see the correlation between someone like Hitler and Ahmedinejad. We're talking about someone who killed millions and ordered mass killings and comparing him with someone who has just spoke negatively about Isreali occupation of palestinian land and American government trying to rule the world with military force. I don't think there can be any harm in listening to someone like Ahmedinejad who is presented to us as such a world villain. We should see for ourselves if what we've heard from the media is true.

"There are none so blind as those who will not see"
gw

Where are the loonies with scopes when you need them?

If Ahmadinejad wants to kill all the Jews, why are 25,000 of them living comfortably in Iran and rejecting Israel's offer of money and land to emigrate?

Why are you such a LIAR, Horowitz?

Go ahead and protest it. You should,.....Though I think that if there's someone here that wants to hear what the Jew hater has to say, then let him say it. This IS the country that touts free speech and such.
We don't have to believe the Idiot, or subscribe to his hate agenda if we don't want to. That's what makes the USA great,....we can say what we feel even if others don't like it.

I think him and people like him are pitiful. I also think that the only reason he wanted to visit Ground Zero to lay his "Wreath" was just to piss people off. And it did. He "works' the press, his countrymen, and anybody that will listen to him.

Libertyship46, are you asserting that when your colleagues "already know" what you're going to say, you should be prevented from speaking? Or is that a principle reserved only for those you disagree with?

So long as there is a good debater on the other side to counter Ahmadenijads views, I see no problem. We must believe that when presented with the facts, the public will chose correctly. That is what democracy is based upon. Hiding our heads in the sand about this guy does not help matters.

Ahmadinejad is going to present a single, smiling, reasonable face to the world. The student/faculty audence will be disorganized, angry, and, in comparison, unreasonable. He should have been invited to a forum where Horowitz, Petraeus, or a similar group, could have put the kind of detailed and informed questions that he truly needs to face.

Why didn't Columbia consider this type of forum?
Perhaps Ahmadinejad would have declined this type of setting? But, isn't this just the type of presentation that would lead to the "robust debate ... on global issues" that is desired?

What fear-mongers like Horowitz don't talk about is that the presidency of Iran is not nearly as powerful as the American presidency, let alone a dictatorship. Ahmadinejad was legitimately democratically elected, and stands a good chance of losing the 2009 presidential election due to declining approval. He has significantly less power than many clerics in the government, as well as less than the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Pretty far from Hitler. Ahmadinejad may be evil, but he is far from an imminent threat, and is not so different from other racists.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is doing the best he can. Adversaries want to stop him from showing his concern the best he knows how. He represents a government blamed for extremist activity instigated by extremists. He should not be held responsible for actions he is not directly responsible for nor can prevent.

I'd say he's a bad egg but so was Ariel Sharon...a Jewish Hitler! That's why the middle east is one big problem from top to bottom. The best thing the U.S. could do is stop all aid to Israel. Israel does not play fair and before I'm called an anti-semite remember that I am a Semite you just have to guess which one! LOL

How many genocides and ethnic clensings has Ahmadinejad sponsored and carried out? O yeah NONE.

Ahmadinejad is more open minded than any of the whiney people protesting against freedom of speech. He sponsored a debate/convention that was about discovering the truth about the atrocities Germany carried out, he never denied the Holocaust.

What he does support is an independent investigation into how many people actully died in the holocaust, because there never was an independent investigation into it.

How come orthodox jews dont want isreal to exist???

there were only 2 million jews killed in the holocaust, the rest were gypsies.

As a university professor, I certainly think our institutions of higher education can and should allow speeches by people whose opinions they do not respect. However, the audience has the obligation to conduct itself in a mature manner.

Instead of storming the stage when the representative of the Vigilantes spoke, they should have given him, as an invited guest, proper respect. They did not have to applaud his remarks. They could have left the hall in complete silence. But they do not have the right to interrupt his speech, or storm the stage. Very bad...infantile....behavior.

He is probably a more entertaining speaker than Mr. Horowitz. I had the opportunity to see Mr. Horowitz speak a few years ago. What a yawn fest of recycled rhetoric! How can someone claiming to be conservative stifle free speech? Horowitz is playing into the hands of extremists.

The libertarian in me calls for open discourse. How can we address the ideas of Ahmadinejad without hearing them? Anyone with half a brain can see through this person; he will hang himself given enough rope.

He should be (and is) allowed to say whatever he likes. Remember the old saying about not agreeing with what you have to say, but defending till death your right to say it? Remember that?

That's paramount to this country's survival. It's what makes us great as a nation. Ahmadinejad isn't mobilizing a mass Army to storm across his region trying to take over the world.

He's just a misinformed, misguided leader of a nation unequipped to play World Games on the World Stage.

Too bad they're sitting on all that oil. Or rather, too bad oil is such a hot commodity. More concentration on making us less dependent on oil would help, and less concentration on harboring the desire to stamp out free speech.

The Iranian 'nuclear program' is still an allegation! The invasion of Iraq under false pretenses is a fact!
Ahmadinejad is truly a brave man willing to face the ire of all the agitators at Columbia University, USA. Would President Bush do the same at the University of Tehran, Iran?

I get very confused...

I would think that everyone would LOVE for this politician to be speaking. If what is translated about what he says is true, then I would think everyone would just love for him to open his mouth and insert foot like he seems to do so much, you know what I mean?

It's such a hard sell, especially on the internet, to say we should stop somebody from speaking. We allow all kinds of propaganda to reach the public's Ear (US politics, war, product advertising.) What's the difference if people get to hear him and learn first hand that he is a loser versus someone 'telling' you that this is what he said and why we should dismiss him. The former is such a more important way to learn.

My point is, if someone really feels just and correct in their knowledge and truth, then no man's speech, no man's opinion, misinformation or propaganda will matter. The person of conviction could listen to the speech in confidence and without the need to control it, knowing inside that they are right and can stop any such idea from happening.

Very confusing and very scary - truth. We are standing at an amazing cross road of time and thought and truth.

I enjoyed this article. Thank you.

Conservatives are money-hungry, hypocrites who want other people to fight their wars so they can have fat 401(k) plans and investment portfolios, fueled by an expanding economy of worthless "solutions" that solve no real problems.

You blow very hard about the evils of Iran, but more than jump at the opportunity to do business on the cheap with Communist China. That's right -- Communists. Communists with nukes, no less. How morbidly unpatriotic. How blatantly inconsistent with your so-called "core traditional family values", whatever those are.

You prompted an invasion of Iraq, supposedly, to remove an oppressive dictator suspected of affiliating with terrorists; yet you claim that Pakistan, ruled by an oppressive dictator with KNOWN terrorists INSIDE its borders, is an ally, and on top of that, you take no direct action against the KNOWN terrorists INSIDE its borders, indeed chide the very suggestion as naive and ill-advised.

You tell other people how to live (e.g., to be gay is reprehensible), yet hang on to every penny that otherwise could be used to help the poor (i.e., taxes are evil). In this respect, your lifestyle is a hypocrisy of Pharasaic proportions, and your idiotic notions about paying taxes create government on the cheap and destroy communities.

It's all absurdly, ridiculously moronic. But these are synonyms for the conservative movement.

In sum, for a conservative dork, only making money counts. All else is either superficial or irrelevant. So toot your horn and wave the flag as wildly as you desire -- I'm not impressed.

The TITLE on this Man is right on, in the 30's no one took notice until 1939 when Hitler created the Dogs of War on Europe with Japan so to me the circle has returned and the West is in dreamland.
Radical Islam has been on the march for 120 years all they want to do is kill us so we must kill this virus period.

At the risk of upsetting Horowitz, can I point out that Ahmadinejad has not called for his murder. He has called for the destruction of the state of Israel, also referred to as 'the Zionist regime'. This is not just semantics, it is a reflection of how most Muslims feel about the issue. The Jews originated from and have always been a fixture of the Middle East, and I am not aware of any systematic persecution of Jews by Muslims, at least not the kind that we Christians (Nazis or not) have shown ourselves capable of.

i am 69 years old, and am mad as hell that this loathsome snake bollinger would allow an individual such as this new interpretation of hitler to walk on hallowed grounds at COLUMBIA UNIV. But then again he would not allow good people to speak to those same students. Did bollinger know that if you are gay in iran, he willkill you or torture you. I hope that all students there will not go to this propaganda speech.

Columbia needs a new administration. This one is out of touch with the world. Iran is in the process of sending EFP's to Iraq to kill our soldiers and these people think Ahmadinejad should be allowed to speak?
What does he have to say that we don't already know or want to hear? How about letting one of our military leaders question him about Iran's involvement in Iraq. I guess Columbia wouldn't like that. Why is Columbia letting Ahmadinejad speak while denying a spokesman for the Minuteman organization the same opportunity?

The decision to let Ahmadinejad speak is another example of the type of fuzzy thinking seen in too many universities these days.

Lee Bollinger shows us how out of touch acedemia is with the majority of the American public.
Anyone who has done homework on the Persian knows he wants to usher in the 12th Inmam.

God help us all.

ITs OK for Israelis to actually destroy the Palestine people,
take their land, destroy their culture, degrade them in every way, to bomb Beirut into the stone age on the flimsiest pretext, and it's OK for the US to wreck Iraq society and turn it into Cambodia circa 1975 but for an Iranian to suggest that Israel is a racist state that should be politically reconsidered is beyond the pale. Remember: Israel and the US are the murderous nuclear armed states; not Iran. Don't let the Washington Post/NY Times/CNN mind control police tell you differently.

Let us not forget Columbia University for this colossal moral failing. The blood on the hands of Ahmadinejad will also be the stain on the soul of Columbia University and its horribly misguided President, Lee Bolinger.

I am an alumnus of Columbia University. I used to be proud of the fact. No more.

It is interesting how two conservative camps from two sides of the world collide!! If you are trying to see who real terrorists are, just count the number of people killed by each faction. Probably the US cons will be number one in masacares, destructions and bloodshed.
With much dictatorship in policy making, clampdowns on librities, and ignoring the public opinion with less than 30% standing public approval, the cons are heading the nation and the world to their armageddon. Then, they would say: "see! that was the prophacy we believed in!" Of course you are brining the hell to the Earth and you should carry that to the end.

The torch has been passed! From Nicholas Butler to Lee Bollinger!

Freedom of speech! It's the tiny detail which warrants democracy is not manipulated too much! That's why everybody should be allowed to speak in public! And hearing somebody speak for himself will get a hundred times more accurate picture than what you get from a media that bends reality to fit audience or political agenda.

Maybe, only maybe, Bill Kristol's boycott will be useful to keep antifascism people away and permit authorities to identify who could be. Because in an open country, (almost open up today), like USA the threats not only come from outside.

Note:
Please don't ask for mi real name because I want to protect my family. My mail is real, keep it safe.

That was a good post by Libertyship46, what can one add to that? Like Mr. Crystal said, Columbia won't let the Military Recruiters on campus or as you said the Minutemen, but let someone who is repsonsible for 10s of thousands of human lives come and speak all he wants, they all for that.

It is exactly what the Bible said it would be in these end times:

"Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." Daniel 12:10

Remember who is against America in Iraq folks: Ahmadinejad, Osama bin Laden and Columbia University.

I am very deeply sorry for you guys. You just want to deceive public notion. Ahmadinejad is not the main decision maker in Iranian regime, and you just want to make propaganda. I don't know what you are going to tell to your conscious (if still sth left). I think you are not thirsty of truth, you are thirsty of Oil! You don't want peace, you exactly want tyranny and dictatorship!

Sincerely I wish you find a better answer to your problems, and if not, shame on you and wish that the world get rid of you and your sinister ideas.

Has anyone been paying attention to the Mullah's brand of Justice? You know, the Lynching of Political Dissidents from cranes in Public Squares.

So, Mr. Thug-in-Chief would like to visit Ground Hero, does he...I believe we may have some rather tall cranes in the area, don't we?

Then we can communicate our own message to the Mullah's in a lanquage that they understand.

Let Freedom Ring.

I've read many Ahmaadiejad SPEECH'S. How many people who are complaining about him can say that? I have heard many Horowitz speech's and Horawitz actually uses less reason and more hate than Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad is an enemy of the United States. We have a history with Iran and both countries have reason to hate each other. However if you don't listen to and understand your enemy how do you hope to defeat him? These people who com[plain are like Ahmadinejad, they just want somebody to hate.

"Why, oh why, would anyone want to listen to what this guy has to say? "

In Iran, they don't. They can't even get a sizeable crowd anymore when they offer free food.
In fact the mayor of one city was fired a few months ago for not getting enough people to show up when Ahmadinejad came to town.

I'd like to hear him try to defend his policies, just as I like to hear Bush try to defend the Iraq war, torture, Alberto Gonzales, etc. They are all the same. Lets keep things in perspective, this idiot (ahmadinejad) has caused less harm in the world than our own idiot. To compare him to Hitler is just stupid and ignorant. It minimizes Hitler's atrocities. He is definitely anti-Israel (as is everybody else in the region) but anti-semite? There are still a large number of Jews that live in Iran (NPR Friday) and even Hold seats in the Parliament. As far as the nuclear stuff, who are we to teach others responsible behavior (500,000 dead Iraqis and millions in Hiroshima are not here to vouch for that).

If the statement above is true on Ahmadinejad's involvement of sending troops to Iraq to murder American soldiers, then how can we invite him here to the U.S.? When an American is charged with murder(not convicted), do we let him speak at our Universities? What could anyone possibly want to hear from this type of person. Is our goal to make this guy feel important? After all, how many of us good U.S citizens are invited to speak to our college students?
This guy has made threats to U.S interests, continues his nuclear program and yet Lee Bollinger feels he should speak at Columbia University. This definitely should be boycotted.
Is Mr. Bollinger setting up royal treatment for his speaker? I'll bet that he is. This is a disgrace to all of us Americans.
I hope that Ahmadinejad walks into his presentation Hall and views an empty room. Maybe then he will realize what a great man he is.

In a way, one could say that Bollinger (President of Columbia) is exercisng the univeristy's right for free speech.

But then, if that were the case, why doesn't he invite Dick Cheney or GW or Horowitz?

One would think free speech and fair play go together.

Or is Bollinger not really interested in free speech but rather propaganda?

Libertyship-46 you have already heard all you can take about this guy through the media and the media is not going to let you hear anything different this time. Great sailing

Why the silence on Israel and all their Hitler's in waiting ? If another world war starts you know who will start it.

Hello LibertyShip, thank you for your post. I am an American soldier and I would like to address a couple of things you commented on. You said; "Why, oh why, would anyone want to listen to what this guy has to say?" Well that is a simple answer. First off, this is the leader of a country we are contemplating going to war with, I want to be fully and accurately informed as to his position before we start a killing debacle as we have in Iraq. Second, there is ample evidence that his message has been twisted by various news organisations to suit there own agenda and the only reason the media or special interest groups may want to silence him is because they do not agree with him. Then you said, "he has sponsored a conference in Iran trying to "prove" that the Holocaust never happened" and this is a prime example of what I just said in regards to media twists on what he really said. He never claimed the Holocaust never happened as you claim, that is intentionally misinterpreted hyperbole. There is ample video and photographic evidence of the atrocities of last century and he is not a stupid man. What he said was that Things did not occur the way recent history writers have revisioned them to have happened. All he said was, lets examine this further for the truth. The first red flag in my book is the fact that one can deny the existence of Jesus or The Buddha or Mohammad and it is taken with a grain of salt. But if one wishes to examine actual history versus revision, it is a prison-able offense. Your next comment was "He admits to sponsoring known terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas" My answer is one man's terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. I assume that you are an American as I am. We have our own "terrorist groups" we support around the world in one form or another. It is silly to expect another nation to see our point of view. Iran has every right to fight what they see as hemogeny in the world as well as what they clearly see as an American backed Apartheid state in Palestine. Then you said, "We all understand freedom of speech." but I don't think you really do. I find the KKK offensive, yet as an American they have every right to express their opinion and it is our right as Americans to disagree and protest their position, not shut them up. That is TRUE freedom of speech.

The bottom line here is that Iran poses no threat to the United States. In fact Iran does not even pose a threat to the 51st state of israel either as long as they do not attack it. Iran is not Iraq, and the mess we are in Iraq will only be tenfold should we attack Iran.

I know you may disagree with my position, but thank you for offering me the same respect I offer you. Have a wonderful day!!

Well, let me tell you a few things. The person who you call a dictator is elected with a stunning majority of iranian population. What he said about israel which is so often translated intentionaly to "wipe israel off the map" in persian means that the political system of zionist regime must be ended. He have expressed explicitly many times that iran will not be the beginer of a war with israel. That has in no way any relation with killing jews!
As about iran's support of phalestinian groups which are considered by west as terrorist, please, please, take a look at what is happening in there to see who is terrorist!
And about iraq, well, iran had supported shia groups since saddam's time, as iran did for anti-taleban in afganestan. No superise that they still do this. American's are considered by most iraqies as hostile and occupier. If you want to change attacks, change their views! But that's not in direction of interest groups governing US.

I think it is a crime to post all this hate mail.
So much hate and name calling.
I'll bet they are angry eastern europeans. Angry their mothers converted to the why of the circumsism.
This Iranian is right. These people have no place in the middle east. And a one state solution should be put on the table with a state for the Levite Prests in Jerusalem, like the pope has in Rome.

"...I know, let him speak at some college in Europe or, better yet, Russia. They don't think he's much of a threat, so let them hear what he has to say..." - Libertyship46

Sorry that is utter nonsense there. It's not because Europe prefers diplomacy to warfare, that we don't perceive him as a threat.

Also, you might want to reread what Nicolas Sarkozy (president of France) recently said about Iran and its nuclear ambitions.

I would like to know exactly why Columbia President Lee Bollinger feels it is appropriate to provide Ahmadinejad the priviledge to speak on Columbia University's soapbox? Why doesn't Columbia simply sponsor a prestigious I hate the USA, and or an I hate Israel panel, so we can invite all our enemies to speak? Considering that lots of enemy leaders come to New York City. Columbia should sponsor a whole series of speakers like Ahmadinejad. What a great idea! We need to be even more exposed to their thinking. I am sure an equal and opposite opportunity for us to spread our propaganda in their country is forthcoming.

I am neither a citizen or resident of the USA but I think one of the things which has made the USA such a great country and admired throughout the world is freedom of speech. There are not many countries in the world who would allow their 'perceived' enemies to openly and public address its own citizens. I believe it would be regressive for the USA to start restricting the freedom to express views no matter how contrary to the views held by its government or even the majority of its citizens.

Moving to the point re the killing of all Jews. Whilst Ahmadinejad will never win any public speaking awards I think it is clear to any objective person that 'wiping Israel off the map' is not a reference to killing Jews but questioning the existence of the state of Israel on Palestinian land. We do not need to agree with him but he should have every right to ask the question why foreign powers forced this new country upon the Palestinians.

A true test of ones values is when they continue to uphold those values no matter how difficult or offended they are by what is said. I hope the USA continues to uphold the values which has made it so admired by the rest of the world.

This man is completely INSANE and the world stands by while he develops the BOMB? A psycho midget in a polyester suit? His eyes look like he's on LSD. Perhaps the world has gone insane. These so called "intellectuals" in Columbia are also INSANE or just beyond stupid. The Israelis are curing cancer, the priceless artifacts that prove the existence of the Temple and Jewish presence are being destroyed to try to destroy historical fact (the world stands by again like mute zombies), the land given back has been turned into hellholes with weapons pointed at daycare centers, Putin, former KGB, is backing Iran and Syria to get the oil and personal power (another MADMAN), and US academics, media, and huge sections of the public seem to have turned into brainwashed, incompetent fools, including C. Rice and George Bush, selling Israel to the wolves, believing they won't come after us next (of course they are already here). OJ, Phi Spector, Aha...whatsis, Ohlmert....they all belong in a spaceship w/ the nuclear material, headed to the sun.

OK, let the man speak, so what? Horowitz you are just a hate monger, I don't feel any pity for Isreal or the Jewish people. You are gods choosen people. Right.

What harmful action or offense you have seen from Iran in past 100 years? When did Iran do something terrible like Hiroshima, Vietnam, Iraq? Based on what you jugde? Only media? How many of you have visited Iran where people have more freedom than many claimed democratic countries like France? The nature of humanity is to reveal the truth so just for one time in your life stop watching the world from the American media camera and listen to a man from a nation who is opposing US policies frankly and bravely and has not given up the way of progress and development in the past 30 years. If US goverment is right they should not fear their people hearing Ahmadinejad words.

Inviting Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia University during the Iraq War is like inviting George III to speak during the Revolutionary War. Both were/are titular heads of regimes that kill(ed) American soldiers. If the then president of Columbia had done such a thing, an angry mob would have demanded George Washington's head if he spared the man a hanging.

During WWII, Nazi Germans exterminated six million Jews with the help of other European participants. Let’s not forget that the holocaust happened in Europe, not in the Middle East, or Iran for that matter. The largest population of Jews in Middle East outside of Israel is still in Iran. Horowitz is going overboard calling Ahmadinejad "the Persian Hitler."

"Not to mention he's a Nazi"

So you're a Nazi if you oppose the existence of a Jewish state which displaced the majority millions of Muslims and irreparably upset the balance of the area? Even though Jews and Muslims had lived side by side before... How reactionary.

See I think Ahmadinejad is remarkably similar to our beloved president Bush. Both have domestic and international unpopularity of historic proportions. Both say things just to irritate their opponents.

But they are also different: Ahmadinejad seems to have a stronger grasp of his native language and be generally more thoughtful and well-educated. Ahmadinejad was elected in considerably more legitimate circumstances than Bush was the first time. Ahmadinejad doesn't support the nations which meddle in the affairs of the entire world and savagely attack their neighbors in random fits of paranoia (Israel), Bush does. Ahmadinejad doesn't have close relations with the origin of 15 of the 19 attackers of 9/11 (Saudi Arabia), Bush may be closer to them than anyone else. Finally my favorite example: Ahmadinejad isn't occupying multiple foreign countries and running one ill-conceived war halfway around the world, Bush is.

Now who would you rather have speak at Columbia University?

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already stated his "Mein Kampf" to the world; he is an enemy of the state to all non-Muslims nations. Does history have to repeat it self? He has NO constitutional rights, he isn't a U.S. Citizen or legal resident.

Horowitz is definately not one to accuse someone of being "Hitler." He supports Israel, a country engulfed in the supremacist, racist ideology called Zionism. Zionists believe Jews are the ultimate race and that everyone else is near anilmalistic. I don't know about the rest you lankheads, but that sounds a lot more "Hitlerish" to me than some leader who only points it out to a world that doesn't care. Zionism is the worst thing that has ever happened to humanity since the Nazis took over Germany, and those who support such nifty supremacists should really put their mind-control devices aside and realize their never-ending injusticies. Israel shouldn't exist. It is a country built on pretenses that that they carry on and commit on daily basis to a people who's only crime was to exist. Let Ahmadenijad make his speech and listen up for a change.

Dozer, your absolutely correct. Freedom of speech doesnt mean just your FREEDOM to speak as some here would like. The policies of the US giving billions (34 billion I believe) to a rich country like Isreal should absolutely be questioned, however, the media in the US and our congress do not inform the populous as a general rule and no one here can say otherwise. Our media is dominated by corporations and they are one in the same. They will not speak against their interests, which is why this country is in crisis. Please see YOUTUBES: THE CENTURY OF SELF 1-6. Lets have more than less freedom of speech. By God we need it now more than ever in history.

The public excuse why Zionists wanted to create Israel was to prevent another Holocaust. Ironic how Israelis are the ones kicking people out of their homes, leveling entire villages, loading Palestinians in trucks and unloading them in refugee camps (remember the Nazi trains?), starving masses from food and water, killing, torturing, psychologically damaging children with fear, and numerous other horrid actions. So if Ahmadinejad speaks against Israel, I think he has a pretty good reason why. And for those of you who don't know, there is a whole lot of Jews who live in Iran and are enjoying themselves despite the offer Israel makes them of money and the home of a genocided Palestinian. Horowitz is nothing more than a pawn for these psychos, so everyone focus on the first syllabel in his name, it tells a lot.

Why does the university invite this man to speak? Surely they would not invite David Duke to speak due to his racist history, or the former head of the Ku Klux Klan. So why invite this individual? Why give him the forum of one of America's most prestigious universities?

My fervent hope is that no one shows up inside the lecture hall. That the university is surrounded by protesters, and no one is in the hall for this man to speak to.

Ahh
We go from Communist Thugs to their left over Moslem Gangster regimes. This is just a left over from the cold war. Religion these days is just the cause dejoue for the amorals of the world.

Hi,

Mr. Ahmadenijad aka "A" chants "death to America" and "death to Israel". He also endorses death for gays who are caught by his religious moral police.
..."Two gay teenagers were publicly executed in Iran on 19 July 2005 for the 'crime' of homosexuality. The youths were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad, in northeast Iran. They were sentenced to death by Court No. 19..."

Columbia will not permit ROTC and US Military recruiters on campus because of "don't ask don't tell" yet they don't even mention the execution of gays in Iran. .

The jihadists at Columbia elevate "A" above Americans and give him a platform to propagandize the gullible.

I was born and raised an american, in a military family who has served in every american conflict from WWI to the present, and I was never taught the kind of blind bigotry, racism, and ignorance professed by Mr. Horowitz.

What of the atrocities committed against our own people? By our own government, and military? Against the native american and mexicans? Anyone remember the Tuskegee syphilis experiments in the 1940's sponsored by the US military? Where hundreds of african-american men were willfully injected with syphilis and forced to carry the disease to term even tho there had been a cure in place since the late 1800's? The US has been responsible for more death domestically as well as worldwide, directly, and indirectly, than nazi germany, and Iran combined.

I'd rather know my enemies than let you know the same. Who's windows to smash, and who's tires to slash, and where to point the blame.

Not to defend Ahmadinejad, but he is always taken out of context by people like hororrwitz. He said what he said about wiping out Israel within the context of responding to an attack by Israel. How everyone seems forget that part!

It is interesting.. You call Ahmadinejad a Hitler. But look at Isreal. It is the most racist, nationalistic and Nazi country in the world. Nation became obsessed with Islamophobia and hatred towards Arabs. Let Ahmadinejad come to the best university in the United States and speak!

he is coming to taunt us. he wants war. he wants the return of the Mahadi. he wants us to be divided by coming to lay a wreath at ground zero or speak at columbia. we are the fools for having him. we are the nuts for letting him speak. how many times will we hear his intentions before we believe him? there is evil. this guy is evil. he desires evil. those who do not see this are naive.

Ahmadinejad is a perfect foil for the cons who support the fiasco in Iraq. Having him there in the public spotlight certainly takes Iraq off the front page.
Dozer's got it right.
The administration should use his visit to Columbia to as a marker to the folks in the M.E. to show the difference between the allowances in a free society as opposed to those where the exchange of views is forcibly discouraged. Oh! Damn... that would work against some of our strongest allies, wouldn't it?
BTW, I agree with the view that muslims aren't against jews for being jews, they're against jews who are zionists.

I , an alumnus of Columbia, am proud of my alma mater to let someone speak whom we all detest. Is it not Freedom of Speech for all and not just for those whom certain groups like ?

It amazes me how people defend a leader of a powerful nation who incites the crowds with "Death to Israel".

Iran had 120,000 Jews before WWII. Today the 25,000 Jews in Iran may stay where they are because they can't get out. People in Iran is not free to leave the country without government permission. Everyone in Iran is not necessarily a happy citizen. That might be the reason why there were riots when the government raised the price of gasoline earlier this year.

My fellow Americans, here we go again. Demonize the Middle East as a "terrorist threat" and boo-yah, let's send the youth of our nation to war again. The Iraq war (well, really an occupation at this point) is resoundingly unpopular and there's talk of impeaching Bush for the lies that got us into this quagmire. My question to everyone here: ARE YOU REALLY DRINKING THE KOOL-AID to go to yet another war that puts our American youths in harm's way? What FOR? What threat does Ahmadinejad pose to YOU directly, as an American? Don't buy the breathless neo-con media hype -- this is not your war . . . read my lips: no more patriotic American youngsters in their 20's should be sacrificed for no intellectually justifiable reason, unless they are blood relatives of anyone in the Bush cabinet. Period!

Ahmadenijad is certainly not an inspiring leader, about as much or even more buffoon than Saddam, and the charge of "Hitlerian" may well be appropriate symbolically, if misplaced based on performance reality.

So what does Mr. Horowitz make of Mr. Bush, a "fear broker," along with all psychologically that implies, and who has by deception and delusion been the catalyst for the deaths and displacement of hundreds of thousands of human beings, including both our own soldiers and citizens of Iraq who have left by multiple modes, some horizontal or missing essential parts?

The U.S. has essentially destroyed Iraq, causing a large fraction of its middle and professional classes to flee the country. It has a fraction of the basic human services in place before our "liberation." And our Republican base has the audacity and ignorance to claim that we are installing democracy...

Condemn the Iranian president, but at least demonstrate the courage to apply one's judgments uniformly and without hypocrisy to our own finally emerging version of neo-facism!

I'm surprised to see such a large number of educated people writing comments here. As there are already many responses on this topic, i will put the facts in point form:

- All you know about Ahmadinejad is through your media. Why not listen to him? Ask him questions? If the media was correct, then he is clearly crazy, and that would be nothing new. But would you rather read the Bible yourself, or have someone explain to you, and tell you what god wants you to do?

- Silencing Ahmadinejad would be contrary to the basic foundations of a democracy. Some of your population wants to hear him speak, and some don't. How can you deny somebody the right to simply 'speak?' Remember Voltaire: "I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

- Remember that Iran is not seeking a bomb. Your government simply says that they believe that Iran 'will' end up seeking nuclear weaponry. The IAEA, UN Nuclear Watchdog group, says there is no evidence to believe that Iran is seeking anything other than peaceful nuclear technology. This is done through nuclear samples, seeing their level of enrichment. It takes about 5% enrichment for Fuel, but 90%+ for weaponry. Nothing over 5% has been found.

- Iran is the reason the Jews live today. They were given a safe haven in Iran. Iran attacked (presend day Iraq), thousands of years ago, to free the Jews. They then paid them, and helped them, and constructed their temples in Jerusalem. During WW2, the Iranian embassy in France handed out fake Iranian passports to Jews, so they would avoid dying at the hands of the Nazi's.

- Outside of Imperial Times, Persia (Iran) has not been an aggressor. It's been attacked, but has not initiated any wars. Certainly not since the start of the 19th century. Can the same be said about the European countries? Or the United States?

Best of luck to all.

Ramsey, you are so correct. Israel is a racial state exclusively for Jews. Now imagine if a White country wanted to remain homogeneous? No, we are not even allowed anymore to say who can and can't be part of our countries. Only White countries have massive immigration of ethnically foreign people. Of course, there is one rule for the goy and another for God's chosen people.

I keep hearing that Ahmadenijad has blood on his hand? Whose blood exactly? What about the blood of the thousands Lebanese civilians Israel killed last year? And what about the Palestinians? Let us nor forget the American sailors Israel killed in 1967 when they attacked the USS Liberty.

Are we expected to believe the same intelligence agency that told us Iraq had WMD then they say Iran is supplying weapons or is getting a nuke? What about Israel�s nuclear weapons. The Prime Minister of Israel Ehmud Olmert admitted that Israel has nukes!

As for the Holocaust, why do we constantly hear about this genocide but not other? What about the MANY tens of millions killed by the Soviets?

If the Columbia University dean does not know that this guy is an Islamo-facist, he can just read some Iranian newspapers to see how many labour activists,journalists, students, minority group members, and even attorneys, who are trying to defend these people, are in jail and under constant torture in Iran right now, as we speak. Hundreds of people have been hung in public in Iran in recent months and giving Ahmadinejad a photo-op at Columbia University would be a big SCREW YOU ALL message to those people who have been and are being tortured and killd due to the lack of democracy in Iran. Would you give this fascist a propaganda tool?
I think Ahmadinejad must be arrested by the people of New York city and the Columbia University students and put under CITIZENS ARREST, pending trial by world tribunal.

The reason Columbia does not invite gw or cheney to talk, is that they would NEVER accept! They only accept if they can pick the audience, and, rightly, Columbia would never go along with that. It's that simple...

A number of people have argued that in the US, people are free to say whatever they like, so Ahmadinejad should be allowed to speak at Columbia. This argument is false. Although the government must not prevent any form of speech (subject to other priorities such as public safety), speakers are not guaranteed a forum in which to speak. People are allowed to disagree with Ahmadinejad, people are allowed to argue that Columbia should revoke the invitation, and Columbia is allowed to revoke the invitation: none of these things are violations of free speech. Just because we believe in free speech doesn't mean we believe anyone who wants it must be given a big big stage on which to speak.