Iranian Academics Ask 10 Questions To Columbia University President

[Purveyor]

--snip--

The Iranian academics posed 10 questions to Bollinger in return for the 10 questions he asked from President Ahmadinejad.

1. Why did the US media exert pressure on you to cancel President Ahmadinejad's lecture at University of Columbia and why did the US TV networks broadcast programs for several days against the Iranian president and did not allow him to respond to the allegations? Does this not run counter to freedom of expression?
2. Why did the US come to the help of Iranian dictator (deposed Shah) in 1953 and launched military coup against then prime minister Mohammad Mossadeq?
3. Why did the US back Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to invade Iran in 1980 and supplied him with chemical weapons to attack both Iraqi people and Iranian soldiers?
4. Why doesn't the US administration recognize the democratically elected government of Palestine in Gaza and why does it oppose Iranian proposal to hold referendum in Palestine to end the 60-year old occupation.

5. Why did the US Army with its advanced weapons not capture Ben Ladan. How do you respond to the longstanding family friendship of President George W. Bush and Ben Laden and the oil deals with Bush and sabotaging process of inquiry into September 11 by the US president.

6. Why does the US administration support the terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) despite that fact that it has carried out terrorist operations in Iran since 1981.

7. Was there an international consensus when the US invaded Iraq in 2003? What is the aim of killing several thousand Iraqis and where are the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) for which the US unleashed the war?
8. Why does the US Administration always support the
non-democratic and military governments?
9. Why did the US administration give negative vote to resolution of IAEA general conference calling for making the Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction?
10. Why is the US administration dissatisfied with Iran-IAEA agreement to resolve the outstanding issues about Iranian nuclear program?
They extended an invitation to Bollinger to visit Iran and talk with intellectuals and ordinary people to see for himself the realities.

---eoe---

http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-235/0709256150181708.htm

[mike_c]

1. man, I'd LOVE to hear the answers to those questions....

eom

[donsu]

2. kick

nt

[Wiley50]

3. IMO all Legitatmate Questions that I've been asking myself

Guess that means we'll turn Iran into a sheet of glass now

[RangerRK]

4. DAMN GOOD QUESTIONS!!

I don't understand anyone joining in attacking Iran's president right now-

WHO are WE to point the finger at anyone?

Bush is the biggest idiotic murderer this country has seen and we have done nothing to remove him from power and even now people are joining him in his beating the war drums for an attack on Iran. It is pretty clear what Bush and the corporate media are trying to do, why would any DUers help them?

[MADem]

5. Well, regardless of what the President of Columbia said, that was pretty stupid.

Unless they ARE equating the President of Columbia with the President of Iran. And truthfully, that's about right--they both have the same degree of clout when you get down to it. One carried water for the right, the other is a spokesmodel-water carrier for the ulema.

Guess they never learned the old adage, "It ain't what they call ya, it's what you answer to" for starters.

And if they actually think a college president can answer all of those questions (as though the fellow has a cabinet post or something) I'll have what they're smoking in their hubble bubble.

[Fading Captain]

13. Duh

It was academics asking questions of another academic.

[MADem]

17. No, not "Duh"--if they wanted to make an IMPACT, they'd ask the questions of Bush.

An academic posed questions to their 'President' and they should, all things being equal, return the favor by asking questions to the President of the academic who posed the original queries.

It's pointless, headline-seeking grandstanding to ask questions of someone who does not have the knowledge or position to provide the answers.

They don't really WANT answers--they just want to play 'gotcha.'

They might have asked the Columbia President to ask those questions of his leader, on their behalf. That might have flown a bit better.

But to ask a guy who doesn't have access to the resources to respond? Stupid. It comes off as lame, and will be taken (rightly or not) by the inattentive public as a classic "When did you stop beating your wife?" series of questions.

[Fading Captain]

18. Don't be silly

Bush isn't going to answer anything.

Academics ask questions of each other all the time.

And I am positive that some one at Columbia, probably not the, president, of course, will attempt to do so.

And I am quite certain that the Columbia president is more capable of answering these questions that President Bush

[MADem]

19. Oh, I'm not 'sillly'

Academics don't ask questions of each other that they full well KNOW can't be answered because the questioned individual doesn't have access to the information needed to answer the query. That's as idiotic as my asking you what color shirt I'm wearing right now.

They were firing for effect, nothing more.

No one EMPLOYED at Columbia will even respond to that grandstanding.

Some activist graduate student going off on their own, though, doesn't count.

Unless the President of Columbia (the University, not the country) has access to CIA and NSA files, he CAN'T answer those questions--so that assertion is just, well...silly.

[Psyop Samurai]

21. Really glad you sorted this out for us....

Not.

[MADem]

22. Wow, big letters. I'm impressed!

Not.

I take it from that pout that your mileage varies. Fine. No one's forcing you to agree, but that's a real childish way of taking an opposing view. IMO.

[Psyop Samurai]

23. No, it's a fast way, for something that didn't merit more time. n/t

[Sequoia]

6. I'd like to know the answers too.

3. Why did the US back Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to invade Iran in 1980 and supplied him with chemical weapons to attack both Iraqi people and Iranian soldiers?


So the USA wouldn't have to do...let our boy in Iraq test these chemical weapons...our hands must be clean.

[BlooInBloo]

7. 1) Because Americans are bigoted hand-wringing cowards...

2) Because American foreign policy is founded on bigoted financial exploitation of smaller nations at the expense of the public.
3) What have you done for us *lately*?
4) That ship sailed in 1947.
5) Because dubya is the worst national leader in the history of the world, and Americans are too stupid to care.
6) No idea - not familiar with the issue.
7) No, America likes killing brown people, there are none.
8) See 2)
9) Because of alliance with Israel. As long as OUR dog is top dog, it's all good. See also 2).
10) Because dubya wants to invade Iran, kill you, and rape your women. Really. He does.


This has been another episode of simple answers to simple questions.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

8. I wish these kinds of questions would be asked and answered by BUSH not Bollinger

I also wish that instead of Bollinger just out and out condemning the Iranian president, he had allowed the questions to speak for him. Facts speak louder than anything else. People can use facts to come to their own conclusions. Saying Iran has civil rights problems doesn't help anything. Everyone knows this. What kind? How? Why? What can be done about it? And if he lies, catch him and counter him on it with cold hard facts.

Instead we get into this useless rhetoric. "You're a terrorist!" "No, you're a terrorist!" "No you're a terrorist!"

And then in the morning newspapers: "Hey, this guy says we're a terrorist nation! But HE'S the terrorist!"

[RufusTFirefly]

9. Regarding free speech in Iran

I heard an Iranian guy on the radio explain that there is plenty of free speech in Iran. If you want to go into a chat room or on a street corner and say something critical about the regime, that's OK. But if like-minded individuals come together and form a group, the government comes after you.

Sounds familiar, actually.

Talk to some of the American peace groups that have been infiltrated by local law enforcement or the FBI. Those ultra-dangerous Quakers, for example.

[acmavm]

10. Great questions all right. But how many people in this country

would even have a clue as to what they're about? I'd be willing to bet not too damn many.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

11. There will be no answers..

Nobody ever answers the hard questions..

I was trying to make a point to my brother this morning and I asked him the question: "Can an amoeba design a human being?".

He wouldn't answer me because he knew where I was going with it.

[malaise]

12. Great questions

Respect due to Iranian academics.

[independentpiney]

14. Excellent questions k&r n/t

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

15. I'm waiting for those answers too.

Granted, I know the answers, but I'd love to hear someone with some authority actually give an answer.

[Spazito]

16. Valid questions to be sure

Questions the media (the old media, the media that actually investigated and reported instead of the current media which simply regurgitates the talking points given them) should be asking as well.

[mirrera]

20. Republican on Washington Journal answered one question.

(in response to a caller who brought this up) He said we never gave Iraq chemical weapons. "In spite of these conspiracy theories it is JUST not true". He was very emphatic so he must be believed.
:sarcasm:

[Kelly Rupert]

24. Those are questions for Bush, not Bollinger n/t