It is absolutely absurd that Americans should have to allow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad access to speak within the shores of this great country, at least outside of the halls of the United Nations. The fact that it occurred on a university campus speaks to the outright hypocrisies that occur with too much frequency. A campus that will not allow military recruiters or ROTC units access has invited the man who is responsible for the death of many our military service members.
The president of the university has claimed that Ahmadinejad has the right of free speech, but he has forgotten that that right exists and is extended to American Citizens not to Iranian Citizens, and that the people who are responsible for protecting that right are the very individuals who have laid down their lives so that Columbia President Lee Bollinger could have his moment of glory.
I applaud President Bollinger’s attack of several of the ludicrous statements made by Ahmadinejad in the past but it does not excuse the fact that he gave Ahmadinejad the right to express himself on American soil. There must be some course that teaches patriotism and honor somewhere on campus? Probably not.
Finally, I amazed by reports that suggest the students of Columbia University applauded Ahmadinejad? Does that mean they are encouraged by the civil rights he extends to his citizens. The exclusion / denial of gays, the stoning and rape of women, the list goes on, I guess these are all things that the students of Columbia University support. Their charter should be revoked.
