Ahmadinejad should NOT visit Ground Zero

[American Patriot]

WRITE TO BUSH : Ahmadinejad should NOT visit Ground Zero
Mail to the White House ^ | 09 19 2007 | drzz


Posted on 09/19/2007 12:52:31 PM MDT by drzz


If Ahmadinejad visit Ground Zero while Iranian bombs are killing American soldiers, while Iran is suspected by the 9/11 Commission to have facilitated the journeys of the 9/11 plotters, it is the biggest shame for the US.
AMERICANS, wake up.


Don't let do that.


It is like spitting at the faces of the US soldiers fighting in Iraq.

[American Patriot]

U.S. May Escort Ahmadinejad to Ground Zero
http://www.nysun.com/article/63004 ^ | 19 Sep 07 | Sarah Garland

In a move that has stunned New York, the Bloomberg administration is in discussions to escort the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to ground zero during his visit to New York next week, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said today.

The Iranian mission to the U.N. made the request to the New York City Police Department and the Secret Service, who will jointly oversee security during the president's two-day visit. Mr. Ahmadinejad is scheduled to arrive September 24 to speak to the U.N. General Assembly as the Security Council decides whether to increase sanctions against Iran for its uranium enrichment program.

Mr. Kelly said the NYPD and Secret Service were in discussions with the Iranian mission about the logistics for the possible visit, and whether it will take place at all. He said Mr. Ahmadinejad would not be allowed to descend into the pit for safety reasons related to ongoing construction there.

"There has been some interest expressed in his visiting the area," Mr. Kelly said. "It's something that we are prepared to handle if in fact it does happen."

Mr. Kelly said that Mr. Ahmadinejad had not indicated why he wants to visit the site of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

A spokeswoman for the Senator Thomspon quickly condemned the proposed visit.

"It is an insult to the memories of those who died on 9/11 at the hands of terrorists, and those who have fought terrorism for years, to allow the president of the world's top state sponsor of terrorism to step foot at ground zero," the spokeswoman, Karen Hanretty, said. "Iran is responsible for supplying weapons and supporting extremist who are killing US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to this very day."

(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...

[Brian Baldwin]

My letter to the President I just sent off... Unlikely he will even see it, but I can hope.

To the President of the United States of America; George W. Bush,

It has been stated by the NY City government that Iranian President Ahmadinejad will be escorted to the Ground Zero site of the Twin Towers during his visit. This is an absolute outrage! This man wants to see Americans die and even sponsors those that attempt to carry out these plans. Our soldiers are dying in Iraq due to weapons and people coming from Iran with their obvious backing. Has our government become so inept that they fail to see how this will affect mainstream Americans? This isn't about politics or diplomacy or any other such non-sense to us patriotic Americans, but rather right and wrong with this being almost as wrong as the initial attacks that brought down the towers in the first place. We Americans have supported the war and our military even though the far left would derail those efforts. We have watched our Sons and Daughters serve with honor and distinction in the War on Terror proudly. We have seen their flag drapped coffins return home also. We deserve better consideration. This must not happen. It would be wise to keep in mind that while most Americans will remain silent, it should not be taken as consent for idiocy. We will vote in the end.

Brian L. Baldwin

[Brian Baldwin]

I also wrote in to Bill O'Reilly about this and hopefully he'll have this on his show.

[Jag]

This is being reported on MSNBC.....

Iranian president denied access to WTC site

Officials cite security concerns, construction as primary reasons for refusal

Updated: 2 hours, 13 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked permission to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site when he comes to New York City next week, but the request was denied, a police official said Wednesday.
Ahmadinejad, who is arriving Sunday to address the United Nations General Assembly, had asked this month for permission to visit the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, police spokesman Paul Browne said.
The request to enter the fenced-in site was rejected because of ongoing construction there, Browne said.

"Requests for the Iranian president to visit the immediate area would also be opposed by the NYPD on security grounds," Browne said.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters Wednesday that the United States would not support Iran's attempt to use the site for a "photo op."
"Iran can demonstrate its seriousness about concern with regard to terrorism by taking concrete actions," such as dropping support for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and suspending its uranium enrichment program, Khalilzad said.
Request never received?
Browne said Ahmadinejad had asked permission from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the U.S. Secret Service and the police department. The police and the Secret Service provide security to visiting heads of state.
The Port Authority, which owns the trade center site and is the only agency that could grant him permission to go inside, said it never received such a request, contradicting the police statement.
"We have not been asked to accommodate the president of Iran," Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said.

It wasn't clear whether Ahmadinejad wanted to descend to the base of the trade center site, where the twin towers once stood, or lay a wreath on a public sidewalk outside the site.
Telephone calls to the Iranian Mission to the United Nations were not immediately returned.
Tense relationship
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said a visit to ground zero "is a matter for the city of New York, but it seems more than odd that the president of a country that is a state sponsor of terror would visit ground zero."
Iran and the U.S. have not had diplomatic relations since Washington cut its ties with Tehran after Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. The Bush administration has accused Iran of arming Shiite Muslim militants in Iraq and seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
In a television appearance earlier this week, Ahmadinejad said his country wanted peace and friendship with the United States, as tensions continued to mount between the two countries.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20877717/

Jag

[Brian Baldwin]

That is good news Jag. I was a bit worried there for a while today. Or I should say a bit pissed off.

[American Patriot]

Iran Issued "Waiver For Terrorism"
An American Expat in Southeast Asia ^ | 21 September 2007 | expatguy



According to UN officials, the United States has denied a visa to Iran's U.N. ambassador in Geneva, Ali Reza Moaiyeri, to attend next week's ministerial meeting of the U.N. General Assembly because he was involved in the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis. Asked for comment, Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said "although we don't comment about specific visa cases we certainly would not allow a person into the United States who has taken Americans as hostages."




Mr. Grenell you are correct, we would never as a nation knowingly allow a person into the United States who has taken Americans as hostages. Our nation's immigration rules specifically bar visas being granted to those for whom there are reasons to believe have supported or furthered acts of terrorism and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is no exception. In fact in 2005, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was found to be ineligible for a visa after an inter-agency review and was only granted a visa at the insistence of Condoleeza Rice.


State Department Spokesman, Sean McCormack said at the time "We did find Mr. Ahmadinejad ineligible", "We then requested a waiver of that ineligibility finding .... [sic]". Stop right there! A waiver?! Since when does our nation give out waivers to terrorists? And since when do we repeatably disregard our nation's laws to accommodate and appease terrorists and the nations that support terrorism?


Fast forward to 2006 and now to 2007, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad applies for a visa, and in what amounts to nothing more than a despicable act of arbitrary governance by our nation's State Department the visas are granted despite his ineligibility. Not only has Iran failed to answer unresolved questions regarding the holding of American hostages, but continues to this very day to be a sponsor for State terrorism including terrorism in Iraq that has been responsible for the deaths of American and British soldiers. It is inconceivable that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be allowed entry to our nation and then be allowed to give a speech at an American university where he could possibly be addressing the very siblings of those whom he had murdered.


Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatably denied the holocaust and has threatened to "wipe Israel of the map". Currently Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in defiance of several UN sanctions and continues to hold the entire international community hostage with his nuclear ambitions.


The visa issued to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must be revoked immediately and without further delay. Under no circumstances should Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad be allowed to set foot on American soil. If President Bush or the masochistic, terrorist loving Islamophiles in our nation's State Department refuses and/or fails to do what they must to revoke this "waiver for terrorism", then the last line of defense falls upon our Immigration and Naturalization department at Ahmadinejad's port of entry to refuse Iran's delegation entry.



Iran Issued "Waiver For Terrorism"

[American Patriot]

Columbia Says It Canceled Ahmadinejad's Appearance
Yahoo News ^ | 9-21-07

Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Columbia University said it canceled a planned speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after failing to reach agreement on the format of his scheduled appearance on Sept. 24.


(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...

[American Patriot]

IRAN PREZ: WHY ALL THE FUSS?
The New York Post ^ | 9-21-07 | CHUCK BENNETT, AUSTIN FENNER and DAVID SEIFMAN



'AMAZED' AHMADINEJAD PLAYS DUMB OVER 'GROUND ZERO VISIT' OUTRAGE
September 21, 2007 -- He must be clueless.


Despite his best efforts to obtain nukes, kill U.S. troops, aid terrorists, deny the Holocaust and wipe Israel off the map, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed disbelief yesterday that Americans could object to his presence at Ground Zero.


"Why should it be insulting?" he asked in an interview taped yesterday with "60 Minutes" that will air Sunday.


He said he was "amazed" at the near-universal outrage over his request to visit the hallowed site where more than 2,700 people were murdered at the hands of terrorists on 9/11.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...

[American Patriot]

Columbia Won't Cancel Ahmadinejad Speech
Washington Post ^ | Friday, September 21, 2007

NEW YORK -- Columbia University said it does not plan to call off a speech by Iran's president despite pressure from critics including the City Council speaker, who said the Ivy League school was providing a forum for "hate-mongering vitriol."

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is traveling to New York to address the United Nations' General Assembly. He was to appear Monday at a question-and-answer session with Columbia faculty and students as part of the school's World Leaders Forum.

The State Department calls Iran a state sponsor of terror, and Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust "a myth" and urged for Israel to be destroyed.

City Council speaker Christine Quinn called Thursday for the university to rescind the invitation, saying "the idea of Ahmadinejad as an honored guest anywhere in our city is offensive to all New Yorkers."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...

[catfish]

Screw writing letters. Anybody close to Columbia should show up and rush the stage. In fact I wish they would let him visit ground zero. How long do you think he would last when he gets bum rushed by a few million New Yorkers. Show up to Columbia and create a civil disturbance that hasnt been seen since the LA riots. Rush the stage and bash his face in and when he is dead move on to the President of Columbia University.

My home country is becoming a disgusting place to live, its time we make a stand. Hey Achmidiniwackjob, come to Minnesota and Ill show you how we roll.

Please somebody kill that shitbag.

[T.L.]

Looks like the concerned may still gather at the site to protect it from even a drive-by visit from the Hitler Of Iran:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/K...tes_the_sacred

Good. If I were not all the way across the country I'd go and stand there day and night until the puny bastard is gone. That little pig should not even be setting one hoof on our soil. I agree with catfish. Please, somebody kill that shitbag!

[American Patriot]

Ahmadinejad Leaves for New York
FARS News ^ | Sept. 23, 2007

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran on Sunday for his third trip to the United States, saying the visit was a good chance to present Iran's solutions for the problems of the world.

Ahmadinejad, who is due to address the UN General Assembly in New York and hold other meetings, said he would be meeting "intellectuals and independent US politicians" on his trip to Tehran's arch foe.

"The General Assembly of the United Nations is a good opportunity to present the solutions of the Iranian people to solve the problems of the world," the president told reporters before leaving.

"The United States has had influence in international relations since World War II but the American people have suffered in diverse ways and have been deprived of access to accurate information," he added.

"We need to take advantage of such opportunities to present the positions of the Iranian people as they (the Americans) are very keen to hear them."

Since taking office, Ahmadinejad has addressed the UN General Assembly in both 2005 and 2006.

During his two-day sojourn in New York, the Iranian president, who will be accompanied by a group of high-ranking officials, is also scheduled to attend bilateral talks with several of his counterparts and meet Iranians residing in the US.

Ahmadinejad is also set to use a speech at a leading US university to challenge George W Bush at a time of high tensions with Washington over his country's pursuit of nuclear technology.

The invitation by New York's Columbia University to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is attracting growing criticism from the US hawks ahead of his arrival on Sunday.

Meetings with the survivors and bereaved families of the 9-11 incident, journalists and critics of the Bush administration are also included in Ahmadinejad's itinerary.

After attending the UN meeting, which will be his third since he ascended to power more than two years ago, the president will leave New York for the Venezuelan capital city of Caracas.

This is while the US administration, in a blatant violation of diplomatic norms, refrained from issuing an entry visa for Iran's ambassador to Geneva and chairman of the Group 15.

Alireza Moayyeri, who heads the Group 15 in Geneva, was due to present an annual report to a meeting of the foreign ministers of the group on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York next Friday.

International rules require the Untied States, as the host to the UN headquarters, to issue visa for other countries' envoys to the United Nations and to refrain from disrupting the operations of the world body.

Due to similar incidents in the past, Iran has called on the UN member states to change the UN headquarters from New York to Geneva or a more convenient and impartial place.

Ahmadinejad is also due to pay a visit to Brazil following his trip to Caracas. Brazil has made large investments in Iran's oil industries and is among those states enjoying very good political relations with the Islamic Republic. The two countries' trade balance amounts to USD 1bln.

[American Patriot]

A few questions he won't he won't be asked today
Power Line ^ | September 24, 2007 | Scott Johnson



Potfry at (The Nose on Your Face) claims to have obtained an advance copy of some of the queries submitted by Columbia University students for Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who visits the campus today as part of his continuing worldwide goodwill tour:


Dear Esteemed Leader:


It seems the explosives you are supplying to the freedom fighters in Iraq aren’t killing and maiming the illegally occupying American soldiers at the rate we’d hoped for. Have you considered switching to a device with a greater air blast and superior fragment projection? Or, failing that, perhaps taking a page from our brothers in the Palestinian resistance and filling the IEDs with ball bearings, nails, and thumb tacks?

Oh Mighty Prince of Persia:


First, let me apologize for those mindless Neo-con (talk about redundant!) protests outside. It’s a sad day indeed when the benevolent leader of a major world power is pelted with Slurpee cups and greeted with cries of “Hey cabbie!” Furthermore, I really felt the “Goat Whisperer” signs were beyond the pale.


My question stems from a recent discussion we had in my Womyn’s Studies Class. A freshman suggested that Iran’s policies toward women could be construed as borderline intolerant, citing the recent death by stoning of an Iranian woman for adultery. I quickly pointed out the faulty, blatantly ethnocentric thinking inherent in this student’s remark. My question is this: in this supposedly “enlightened” day and age, why are so many people still so intolerant of different cultures? And please don’t give me the “He’s just a freshman” line. I was a freshman like three semesters ago and was never a raging xenophobe like that Hitler-youth wannabe.


__________________________________________________ ____ Dearest Sultan:


First, I want to apologize for the so-called lizards at the Zionist blog Little Green Footballs who have taken to calling you “DinnerJacket.” That their ignorance and intolerance extends even to their fashion sensibility should not surprise us. The enlightened among, us, however, can appreciate that a Members Only jacket never goes out of style.


My question is this: many BusHitler supporters conveniently believe that, in your famous “World Without Zionism” speech, you said that “Israel should be wiped from the map.” Last week, in my Tibetan Film and TV class, the professor told us that academic scholars have properly translated the phrase as, “Live long and prosper my Hebrew brethren.” Clearly, this translation is more in keeping with Iran’s great tradition of tolerance. But I remain perplexed: why is it that Israel wants to kill Arab babies?

__________________________________________________ _____ Mighty Monarch of Mesopotamia:


It is a pleasure to have a real, live revolutionary speak at our humble school. I know many Rethuglicans have put enormous pressure on Columbia to prevent you from speaking. To this university’s credit, they haven’t backed down. The free exchange of ideas-especially unpopular ones-must be allowed to continue in this country; especially in the halls of academe. I am looking forward to hearing what you have to say. I already know it will be a quantum leap ahead of the vile, racist Minutemen speech that we had to shut down last year. I would like to know if you will be coming out with a line of t-shirts similar to Che Guevera’s? I know like a hundred dudes who would totally buy one. Keep it in mind.


__________________________________________________ _____ President Ahmadinejad,


Two-part question: First, is it difficult to break into your line of work? Second, are you currently accepting interns?

[American Patriot]

LOL! One of the lady anchors on FOX just called the President of Iran, "President I'monajihad".

[American Patriot]

HITLER .. BUT NOT THE ROTC
Neals Nuze/WSB Radio ^ | September 24, 2007 | Neal Boortz

Posted on 09/24/2007 8:29:14 AM MDT by Turret Gunner A20

Columbia University has rightfully been under fire for inviting Iran's President to speak to its student body. Now Columbia's Dean is not only defending the decision, but says that Columbia would offer a platform for Hitler to come and speak if he were alive and in America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxmEGsOkEVc

So, there you have Dean John Coatsworth of Columbia University was on Fox News late last week telling the world that Hitler would be invited to speak at Columbia, were he available. Wonderful. But how do you square this against the decision by Columbia to un-invite the founder of the Minutemen? How do you square this with Columbia's refusal to allow the ROTC on campus? Hitler is OK, but a man who founded a group to monitor illegal activity along our borders is not? Hitler is fine, but young men training to be officers in our armed forces are not?

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad is looking forward to providing Americans with "correct and clear information" about the world and what it thinks of America.

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/he...surance-people

HITLER .. BUT NOT THE ROTC

Columbia University has rightfully been under fire for inviting Iran's President to speak to its student body. Now Columbia's Dean is not only defending the decision, but says that Columbia would offer a platform for Hitler to come and speak if he were alive and in America. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxmEGsOkEVc

So, there you have Dean John Coatsworth of Columbia University was on Fox News late last week telling the world that Hitler would be invited to speak at Columbia, were he available. Wonderful. But how do you square this against the decision by Columbia to un-invite the founder of the Minutemen? How do you square this with Columbia's refusal to allow the ROTC on campus? Hitler is OK, but a man who founded a group to monitor illegal activity along our borders is not? Hitler is fine, but young men training to be officers in our armed forces are not? Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad is looking forward to providing Americans with "correct and clear information" about the world and what it thinks of America.

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/he...surance-people

[American Patriot]

Free-Speech Hypocrisy
National Review ^ | September 24, 2007 | Michael Rubin

Institutional memory is short, so just a flashback to the Qadhafi speech at Columbia. The sad thing is that while faculty fall all over themselves to bring repressive dictators to campus, many dissidents from the same countries are ignored. Columbia has never invited chief Libyan democracy activist Fathi El-Jahmi, for example (his mailing address for the last two and a half years would be Libya's state prison system).

Likewise, Richard Bulliet, Columbia's point man to arrange giving a platform to Ahmadinejad, does not extend invitations to people like Mansour Osanlou, the head of the Islamic Republic's first independent trade union (his mailing address for the last 75 days has been Evin prison).

While university faculties at New York University and Notre Dame rally around convicted terrorists (in the former case) and those denied visa for terror support (in the latter), no faculty has yet to rally around the case of Issam Abu Issa, the Palestinian banker who blew the whistle on Arafat's corruption and promptly had his visa revoked by the Powell State Department in an effort to salve Arafat's hurt feelings and keep the "peace process" going.

The issue we see with Columbia is deeper than freedom of speech but rather the inconsistency with which university faculties choose to support it. If men like Richard Bulliet and Lee Bollinger, and women like Lisa Marie Anderson cared about freedom of speech, they might want to enable those who don't have it, rather than celebrate the men who have taken it away.

[Ryan Ruck]

You know, aside from Danny Glover, this was a pretty good movie!



WHAT?!?! I'm just sayin'!

[American Patriot]

HOSTAGE TELLS HIM: SHUT UP!
New York Sun ^ | September 23, 2007 | BARRY ROSEN


Barry Rosen, executive director of public and external affairs at Borough of Manhattan Community College, was a hostage in Iran from 1979 to 1981. He studied Iranian culture at Columbia University.

I wonder what the Founding Fathers would think of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia University tomorrow.

They instilled the belief in all of us: Everyone has the right of free speech. But I believe they'd be in a quandary about this one. I'd certainly like to talk to James Madison, who drafted our Bill of Rights, and ask him whether Ahmadinejad deserves that right.

Ahmadinejad is a reprehensible leader who violates free speech in his own country and cracks down on those Iranians who attempt to open up his repressive regime. He uses speech to spread age-old anti-Semitic stereotypes in the Middle East, denying the existence of Israel, and denies that the Holocaust ever happened.

Ahmadinejad was one of those outrageous Iranians who took me and more than 50 other Americans hostage for 444 days, violating international law and making us suffer indescribable moments of terror. There is simply no reason to give him a platform to spew his venom.

No matter how hard-hitting Columbia's president questions Ahmadinejad, the Iranian leader is a winner. Every word he utters is meant for his radical constituents at home and legitimizes his standing among other dictators...

It's only when Ahmadinejad permits his own people to march and speak freely, that I believe Columbia President Lee Bollinger would be justified in giving the Iranian president an open forum. Not before then.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...

[American Patriot]

Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?
American Thinker ^ | September 24, 2007 | Amil Imani



To understand Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's mindset and behavior require close scrutiny of the elaborate and intricate theology of Hujetieh Shiism, perhaps the most fundamentalist of the numerous Shiite sects.


In the 1950s, a group of Islamic clergyled by Sheikh Mahmoud Halabi (a close associate of Ayatollah Khomeini) formed a society called the Anjoman-e Khayryyehye Hujjatiyyah-ye Mahdaviat (Charitable Society of the Mahdi), based in Mashhad, Iran. The Hujjatyyah membership was mostly composed by the bazaar-i businessmen and fanatical mullahs. Among many things, they were against the communists, Marxists, and atheists. Their overarching "raison d'être," however, was to prepare the world for the upcoming of the 12th Imam -- the Mehdi.

However, the most important immediate agenda item on their list was to harass and persecute the Baha'is, a religious group representing a small percentage of Iran's population. In fact, the Hujjatiyyah-y's alternative name became "The anti-Baha'i Society" (Anjuman-e Zidd-e Baha'iyat). They collectively worked for a single purpose: the eradication of Baha'is.

The terrible plight of the Baha'is in Iran is particularly heart-wrenching, since they are the largest non-Muslim population in the country and have been, from day one, severely brutalized by Muslims. Baha'i teachings of tolerance and openness to science are anathema to the Islamofascists on many levels, but the history of the faith includes direct challenges to the theological legitimacy of the mullahs. These slaveholders find the Baha'i faith a threat to their own version of Islam and the absolute theocratic power it puts their hands.

The egomaniac President Ahmadinejad is a member of Hujjatiyyah. He sees himself as the personal vassal of the Mahdi-Messiah or Hidden Imam, with whom he has fantasized tête-à-têtes frequently.

Ahmadinejad, a man driven by his religion, has a spiritual advisor in Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi (the defacto leader of the Hojatieh). The President's advisor is known for his extremist views on Islam and promotes suicide bombings and attacks on civilians in the West. There is only view of Islam for him. He once said, "...if anyone tells you their own interpretation of Islam, punch them in the mouth!"

President Ahmedinejad has in a short time acquired great many descriptors at home and overseas: zealot, fascist, fanatic, anti-Semitic, lunatic and more. One prominent Western columnist called him "unhinged." But we cannot just dismiss the man as an aberration, someone who is in urgent need of psychological help, a person out of touch with reality, who represents nothing of substance.

Once again the West is misreading and misjudging people and events in the Middle East, due to the fact that it views things through its own prism.

Looking at the man through Western spectacles, he indeed appears to be all of the above and more. Yet Ahmadinejad is far from unhinged. As a matter of fact he is firmly hinged to a set of beliefs that dictate his views of the world, and inform him how he should deal with it from his position of power.

An unhinged man has the potential of becoming once again hinged. But, there is very little that can be done to a person who is inseparably hinged, and Ahmadinejad views are firmly rooted in the most orthodox philosophy of Shiism.

For our purposes, however, it is sufficient to document the fact that Ahmadinejad is not mentally disturbed; there is no display of contradictory thoughts and behavior. There is a full internal consistency in Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad's words, deeds and beliefs show a fully hinged person.

Below are a few examples of his sayings, beliefs and actions. Whether one agrees or disagrees with them, they all fit perfectly into a consistent pattern.

▪ He literally believes in the imminent emergence of the Mahdi - the Shiites' promised one who is expected to appear to set aright a decadent and wretched world.

▪ He views himself as the vassal of Mahdi, working for him and being accountable to him.

▪ His main task is to prepare the world so to hasten the Mahdi's coming. If this preparation requires much destruction and bloodshed, so be it.

▪ As a former mayor of Tehran, he developed elaborate detailed plans preparing the city for the arrival of the Mahdi.

▪ He allocated generous sums for extensive road improvement to a mosque at Jamkaaraan near the city of Qum where it is believed the promised Mahdi is hiding in a well since the age of nine, over 1100 years ago.

▪ He reportedly visits the well frequently and drops his written supplications into the well for the hidden Mahdi to act upon them.

▪ He has said in private that it was he who asked the Mahdi to inflict the massive stroke on Ariel Sharon.

▪ He sees the Jews as the sworn enemies of Islam. The hostility dates back to the time of Muhammad's own treatment of the Jews in Medina. At first, expediently, Muhammad called the Jews "people of the book," and accorded them a measure of tolerance until he gained enough power to unleash his devastating wrath on them.

▪ He says that the Holocaust is a myth. He is, in this respect, in good company with a number of other revisionist fanatics.

▪ He wants Israel to be wiped out of the map or transferred to Europe.

▪ In his speech at the UN general assembly, he implored the Mahdi to come and save the world. He claimed that during his speech of some twenty odd minutes, a powerful light enveloped him and all participants were held transfixed, unable to move their eyes.

▪ He believes that the earth is Allah's and all people must either become believers of his brand of Islam or must perish as infidels najis (unclean) who by their very presence defile Allah's earth.

▪ He believes that this earthly life is passing and worthless in comparison to the afterlife awaiting a devoted and faithful believer. Hence, he holds to the old belief that if a faithful kills an infidel, he goes to Allah's paradise; and, if the faithful gets killed in the process of serving the faith, again he goes to Allah's paradise. Hence, it is a win-win proposition for the faithful.

Ahmadinejad is a true devoted Muslim. Being unpredictable, self-contradictory and inconsistent are major symptoms of the mentally unhinged. By these standards of insanity, Ahmadinejad emerges as completely sane. He is fully predictable, consistent and has shown no self-contradiction. He does not even pretend that he misspoke or apologize for his outrageous statements. He is not a typical politician who practices the devious art of doublespeak, deception and change of position to suit his immediate convenience.

He knows who he is, what he believes, and what his own mission in life is: serving as the instrument for the revered Mahdi. Allah will make him emerge from the well as soon as the world's conditions hit absolute hopeless bottom. Ahmadinejad sees himself as a driver who can play a critical role in doing just that, driving the world to the very bottom. And he plans on having an arsenal of nuclear weapons as soon as possible.

There is nothing really "unhinged" about Ahamadinejad's thinking, statements and actions. They are internally consistent. He is simply a fanatic who is wedded to an extremely dangerous exclusionary system of belief. Humanity must learn that dismissing him as alunatic will result in great suffering, as it did with Hitler.

Tragically, Ahmadinejad is the embodiment of several million people who are hinged exactly like him and who are willing to give their lives, and take with them as many lives as required in the service of their belief. In this age of Weapons of Mass Destruction a man with huge sums of petrodollars can serve as the catalyst of total annihilation.

Prudence would err on the side of being an alarmist than a complacent dismissive.

Ahmadinejad and his ilk are not interested in any negotiation, any compromise or any live-and-let-live final solution. They are determined to be the soldiers of Mahdi come-what-may. They have no problem with the total destruction of the world. They are headed for a life of eternal bliss in Allah's paradise. They hardly care, even rejoice, if the rest of humanity is subjected to a tragic death in the nuclear, biological and chemical wasteland of planet earth.

Humanity cannot afford and must not ignore the emergence of the final threat to its very existence on this planet.

Amil Imani is an Iranian-born American citizen and pro-democracy activist residing in the United States of America. He maintains a website at Amil Imani