Why Ahmadinejad Speaks?
By: Michael D. Evans
Published: September 27, 2007
One would think that by now, the President of Iran would remain silent when he comes to the United States knowing how unfavorably his words are received. Just the opposite is true. He seems to be looking for more opportunities to inflame the West as he did at Columbia University, at the U.N., and his propaganda media tour.
While staying at the Intercontinental Hotel (Ahmadinejad’s “Ground Zero” while in New York City), I noticed a group of Israel-bashing rabbis standing in the lobby. I approached them, and discovered they were from an organization named “Jews United Against Zionism.” They had just spent an hour with Ahmadinejad.
The rabbis presented Ahmadinejad with a silver fruit bowl to show their appreciation. It was engraved with the message: “We present this as a token of our appreciation for your sweetness and love of the Jewish people and all mankind.” According to Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Weiss, Ahmadinejad likes the Jewish people; but Zionism is an evil concept. He said that Ahmadinejad was not anti-Semitic and that he only wanted to get rid of Zionism and the State of Israel.
U.N. diplomats sitting in the lobby were humored by the scene. I asked the “why” question and found that they all agreed on one thing: Ahmadinejad is widely admired in the developing world for his defiance toward the West, especially America.
Ahmadinejad’s desire for major media coverage and world attention for saying the bizarre is carefully calculated by the Iranian Republican Guards for whom he speaks. It is designed to fire up the Shi’ite Islam revolution in the same way that The Ayatollah Khomeini did. He used the media to attack the West and overthrow the Shah of Iran. Khomeini could never have succeeded without the BBC and the U.S. media. To unite the ultra-religious Shi’ite masses, he had to play the role of David against Goliath and take on the “Great Satan.”
Certainly, Ahmadinejad is not seeking the approval of the “Great Satan”; rather he is speaking to enrage America. He speaks in an attempt to show the millions of undecided Muslim youth he is trying to recruit that he is the courageous prophetic voice of the Mahdi. He speaks to unite 400 million Shi’ites to support his version of radical Shi’ism. One Arab Sunni diplomat smilingly declared, “He is the Billy Graham of the Middle East, and you are paying for his crusades.”
While the Ahmadinejad delegation sat nervously in the lobby of the Intercontinental waiting for their superstar to appear (surrounded by law enforcement officials, FBI, Secret Service agents and etc.,) the Iran Minister gave me a lecture on how American has created all of the problems in the Middle East beginning in 1952.
Another Iranian diplomat traveling with the entourage said, “Listen, the entire Middle East crisis was created by your country; you are to blame. You blame it on us, but we know better. We blame it on your foreign policy. I must stop talking now; that guy is FBI.”
Later while I was talking with the very soft-spoken and seemingly ignored by the media Ambassador of Afghanistan, Said Jawad, the same Iranian diplomat tapped me on the shoulder. “The meeting at Columbia went too long; I will call you later. I’ve got to run now to a meeting with the Prime Minister in Queens.” Little did I know that meeting was at a Shi’ite, blue-domed mosque founded by the al-Khoei Foundation, one of the largest Shi’ite Muslim charities in the world.
It was apparently quite a meeting; attended by the Iranian delegation, the Iraqi delegation headed by Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq, and his Shi’ite diplomats. These are all Shi’a brothers, joined at the hip, celebrating in America, and protected by the U.S. government. I wonder what they discussed as they sat cross-legged on the floor eating chicken biriyana, creamed spinach, roasted eggplant, hummus and salad.
On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad addressed the U.N. for the third time announcing the launch of the Iranian Coalition for Peace, based on monotheism. His was a fanatical sermon from a religiously fanatical madman, not a head of state. The last two speeches began with a fanatical appeal for the coming of “the perfect human being,” the Twelfth Mahdi. He made that same appeal in an 18-page letter to President Bush in May of 2006, as well as in his letter to the American people on November 29, 2006. The “why” is that he and his followers really believe that Ahmadinejad is in fact, John the Baptist, and will usher in the Twelfth Madhi through an apocalypse, and so do his followers.
The big question is why did the U.S. government give a privileged visa to Ahmadinejad? Why did President Bush not do to Ahmadinejad what Ronald Reagan did to Yasser Arafat in 1988, and “just say no” until Arafat denounced terrorism. The administration knew that Ahmadinejad was going to use American media to spread his ideological revolution. Why did we allow it?
President Peres of Israel told me that 90 percent of the war on terror is a media war. Osama bin Laden told Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that it was 50 percent. Regardless of the percentage – 50 percent or 90 percent - Ahmadinejad is winning the media war, and we are footing the bill. The U.S. media is turning Ahmadinejad into a global Islamic rock star by promoting his propaganda tours. Why would we want to give him a visa, let him have a platform as a diplomat, and give him tens of millions of dollars worth of free media? Isn’t that a bit like putting lipstick on a pig?
Many would think his mission failed because he embarrassed himself. Those who believe that do not understand the Middle East. He was embarrassed by the West, but the embarrassment will not be turned against him; it will, instead, only enflame all of those that he desires to recruit.
Ahmadinejad has displaced Osama bin Laden as the leader of the “A” team of terrorism and relegated him to the “C” team. Why? Bin laden doesn’t have $60 billion in the bank and 10 million followers willing to die for him. Bin Laden isn’t building nuclear reactors, nor does he have almost 200,000 terrorist sub-contractors on his payroll including HAMAS, Hezbollah and Mahdi Army in Iraq.
Michael D. Evans is the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, www.beyondiraq.com.
Published: September 27, 2007
One would think that by now, the President of Iran would remain silent when he comes to the United States knowing how unfavorably his words are received. Just the opposite is true. He seems to be looking for more opportunities to inflame the West as he did at Columbia University, at the U.N., and his propaganda media tour.
While staying at the Intercontinental Hotel (Ahmadinejad’s “Ground Zero” while in New York City), I noticed a group of Israel-bashing rabbis standing in the lobby. I approached them, and discovered they were from an organization named “Jews United Against Zionism.” They had just spent an hour with Ahmadinejad.
The rabbis presented Ahmadinejad with a silver fruit bowl to show their appreciation. It was engraved with the message: “We present this as a token of our appreciation for your sweetness and love of the Jewish people and all mankind.” According to Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Weiss, Ahmadinejad likes the Jewish people; but Zionism is an evil concept. He said that Ahmadinejad was not anti-Semitic and that he only wanted to get rid of Zionism and the State of Israel.
U.N. diplomats sitting in the lobby were humored by the scene. I asked the “why” question and found that they all agreed on one thing: Ahmadinejad is widely admired in the developing world for his defiance toward the West, especially America.
Ahmadinejad’s desire for major media coverage and world attention for saying the bizarre is carefully calculated by the Iranian Republican Guards for whom he speaks. It is designed to fire up the Shi’ite Islam revolution in the same way that The Ayatollah Khomeini did. He used the media to attack the West and overthrow the Shah of Iran. Khomeini could never have succeeded without the BBC and the U.S. media. To unite the ultra-religious Shi’ite masses, he had to play the role of David against Goliath and take on the “Great Satan.”
Certainly, Ahmadinejad is not seeking the approval of the “Great Satan”; rather he is speaking to enrage America. He speaks in an attempt to show the millions of undecided Muslim youth he is trying to recruit that he is the courageous prophetic voice of the Mahdi. He speaks to unite 400 million Shi’ites to support his version of radical Shi’ism. One Arab Sunni diplomat smilingly declared, “He is the Billy Graham of the Middle East, and you are paying for his crusades.”
While the Ahmadinejad delegation sat nervously in the lobby of the Intercontinental waiting for their superstar to appear (surrounded by law enforcement officials, FBI, Secret Service agents and etc.,) the Iran Minister gave me a lecture on how American has created all of the problems in the Middle East beginning in 1952.
Another Iranian diplomat traveling with the entourage said, “Listen, the entire Middle East crisis was created by your country; you are to blame. You blame it on us, but we know better. We blame it on your foreign policy. I must stop talking now; that guy is FBI.”
Later while I was talking with the very soft-spoken and seemingly ignored by the media Ambassador of Afghanistan, Said Jawad, the same Iranian diplomat tapped me on the shoulder. “The meeting at Columbia went too long; I will call you later. I’ve got to run now to a meeting with the Prime Minister in Queens.” Little did I know that meeting was at a Shi’ite, blue-domed mosque founded by the al-Khoei Foundation, one of the largest Shi’ite Muslim charities in the world.
It was apparently quite a meeting; attended by the Iranian delegation, the Iraqi delegation headed by Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq, and his Shi’ite diplomats. These are all Shi’a brothers, joined at the hip, celebrating in America, and protected by the U.S. government. I wonder what they discussed as they sat cross-legged on the floor eating chicken biriyana, creamed spinach, roasted eggplant, hummus and salad.
On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad addressed the U.N. for the third time announcing the launch of the Iranian Coalition for Peace, based on monotheism. His was a fanatical sermon from a religiously fanatical madman, not a head of state. The last two speeches began with a fanatical appeal for the coming of “the perfect human being,” the Twelfth Mahdi. He made that same appeal in an 18-page letter to President Bush in May of 2006, as well as in his letter to the American people on November 29, 2006. The “why” is that he and his followers really believe that Ahmadinejad is in fact, John the Baptist, and will usher in the Twelfth Madhi through an apocalypse, and so do his followers.
The big question is why did the U.S. government give a privileged visa to Ahmadinejad? Why did President Bush not do to Ahmadinejad what Ronald Reagan did to Yasser Arafat in 1988, and “just say no” until Arafat denounced terrorism. The administration knew that Ahmadinejad was going to use American media to spread his ideological revolution. Why did we allow it?
President Peres of Israel told me that 90 percent of the war on terror is a media war. Osama bin Laden told Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that it was 50 percent. Regardless of the percentage – 50 percent or 90 percent - Ahmadinejad is winning the media war, and we are footing the bill. The U.S. media is turning Ahmadinejad into a global Islamic rock star by promoting his propaganda tours. Why would we want to give him a visa, let him have a platform as a diplomat, and give him tens of millions of dollars worth of free media? Isn’t that a bit like putting lipstick on a pig?
Many would think his mission failed because he embarrassed himself. Those who believe that do not understand the Middle East. He was embarrassed by the West, but the embarrassment will not be turned against him; it will, instead, only enflame all of those that he desires to recruit.
Ahmadinejad has displaced Osama bin Laden as the leader of the “A” team of terrorism and relegated him to the “C” team. Why? Bin laden doesn’t have $60 billion in the bank and 10 million followers willing to die for him. Bin Laden isn’t building nuclear reactors, nor does he have almost 200,000 terrorist sub-contractors on his payroll including HAMAS, Hezbollah and Mahdi Army in Iraq.
Michael D. Evans is the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, www.beyondiraq.com.
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