Ahmadinejad defends Iran's rights record

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: AP

NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his nation's human rights record on Monday as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the U.N. and Columbia University to protest appearances by the hard-line leader.

"People in Iran are very joyous, happy people," he told a National Press Club audience that questioned him about the arrests of students, journalists and women. "They're very free in expressing what they think."

He said women in Iran were "the freest women in the world ... They're active in every level of society."

Human rights activists inside and outside Iran have decried a recent wave of arrests of people calling for political and legal reforms of the Iranian theocratic system. Ahmadinejad said those complaints were baseless, and denied knowing about any detention or harsh punishments of reformists.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070924/ap_on_re_us/iran_us;_ylt=ArEJU3ZQnRyOF3BTl5ImXoGs0NUE

---

Yes, you read that correctly, he really did say, "the freest women in the world."

[slackmaster]

1. Part of me wants to hear what he has to say, but I can't get past the Holocaust denial thing

Or his repeated pledges to destroy Israel.

[Maccagirl]

2. We believe you, Mr. President, we REALLY do

How are those beheading going?

[rollin74]

3. anybody listening to Bollinger speak right now?

He's doing a pretty good job of taking Ahmadinejad to the woodshed. Good stuff.

[StClone]

4. Ahmadinejad = Saddam II

Why isn't Bush taking Ahmadinejad into custody!!!???

[BushOut06]

5. On what grounds?

Since there was no sarcasm emoticon in your post, I have to assume you really were wondering that. On what grounds would Bush have the leader of a sovereign nation arrested? What crime has he committed against the US?

Or maybe you would just prefer that we send in hundreds of thousands of troops into Iran and topple him, just like we did with Saddam?

[StClone]

9. He is just like Saddam

That is the spiel. So if that is the case and we took over the entire country of Iraq to get Saddam why not just take Ahmadinejad out now...Bush has God's ear maybe the Lord hasn't spoken yet.

[Megahurtz]

19. I Guess Free Speech Must Be A Crime

:eyes:

[0rganism]

6. diplomatic immunity, perhaps?

Just a guess. In any case, arresting Ahmadinejad would be a tragic foreign policy blunder, that much should be obvious even to emperor bush and his evil advisors.

[StClone]

10. I'm George Bush King of the universe

Why would that stop war criminal Bush? Clearly Ahmadinejad isn't a threat. They are firing up the fright for the sake of fear and I think they are playing us again to distract from Iraq fiasco with no real goals of bombing Iran.

[Skip Intro]

8. He's just the boogeyman of the hour

maybe he and osama can put out a duet at some point

[StClone]

11. Now that would be a great show!

A fright fest fit for Bush freaky fear show to get his way. Boo!

[BushOut06]

16. Throw in Kim Jong Il, and you've got quite an act there

n/t

[Felix Mala]

7. Hey, Hey, M A - How many queers did you kill today?

[goforit]

12. Where are the exact words of his speech? Y'all are worshiping CNN/Fox.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. He said that the women of Iran were the "freest women in the world"

However, the linked article has been changed, so I understand your doubt.

Here's a link to another article and a link to his speech.

There really is no arguing that the women of Iran are not the freest in the world. Even if they're not the most oppressed, they are not the freest by far.

Article at Guardian Unlimited: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6944932,00.html

Text of statement at WaPo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401084.html

Copy of text:

MODERATOR: OK, I think we should move on from that question to the following: Iranian women are campaigning for an end to discrimination. You have charged them with acting against national security. Some women leaders have been beaten and tortured. How do you justify such violations of human rights?

AHMADINEJAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Can you again tell me where you get this report from?

(LAUGHTER)

The freest women in the world are women in Iran. You should look at our women. They're active in every level of society, as researchers, in social groups, in universities, in parties, in the press, in the arts, in politics, in political associations. They're one of the most active women in the world and very free.

On the anniversary of the victory of the revolution, 22nd of Bahmani Iranian calendar, a year over 20 million women come to rally in support of the revolution and many of them hold key positions. There are two female vice presidents in our country.

In very high specialized fields they're involved, as well. Over 60 percent of university students are female. And especially in the, you know, very specialized fields, as I said, are women of -- have won medals in international, sort of, athletic championships.

So, who said that Iranian women are be being tortured in Iran? I think, again, that we need...

MODERATOR: Human rights organizations have been making those points for years.

But, again, let's move on to another series of questions. We've got so many topics that we would like to cover, I'm going to try to move quickly.

[Orsino]

17. For a given value of "free."

Ahmedinejad probably means that they are free to do as they are told--the classic fundamentalist's definition.

[pretty_lies]

14. Listen, People

Ahmedinnerjacket is the mirror image of Bush.

They've both been elected through an incredibly corrupt process by credulous religious hicks who're frightened of the real world.

They both deserve ridicule and condemnation every chance we get.

Just because Bush would rather like to invade Iran does not make Mahmoud a nice guy.

It does mean that we can resist the hell out of the neocon impulse to go kill another million people for sketchy reasons.

[IndianaGreen]

15. Iran's human rights record is no better or worse than Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia funds religious schools across the world in which Holocaust denial is part of the curriculum.

What I see and hear is nothing but a lot of faux selective outrage about Iran, while ignoring the equally dismal record of America's despots in the Middle East.

[Gen. Jack D. Ripper]

18. Yeah, this is my thing

Ahmadinejad is an ass hole, a crazy ass hole, but he certainly isn't the only, or perhaps even the most, dangerous Islamic leader. I believe the pro-war crowd is trying to publicly vilify Ahmadinejad, believing that there must be established a "villain" for the American people to identify, in order to build public support for an Iran invasion. That doesn't mean that Ahmadinejad isn't a vile man, but, despite his malefactions, we must be careful that we're not contributing to an angered frenzy that would lead, again, to war.