maycocksean
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
MrsSpringsteen said:He will talk about it on 60 Minutes Sunday. He wants to go there to "air his views about the root causes". Uh, I don't think so-not appropriate. For me it's about 90 % of me that says no, 10 % holds out hope for pure motives and genuine compassion and humanity. If he just wanted to pay respects he wouldn't say anything about root causes-save that for the UN.
(CBS) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not press his plan -- just denied by New York City police for security reasons -- to visit ground zero in New York City, he tells 60 Minutes' Scott Pelley in an exclusive interview conducted Thursday in Iran.
The Iranian leader says he's skeptical that most Americans view his visit there as insulting as his intention was only to show respect. The interview will be broadcast Sunday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Asked if he intends to press his request to visit the World Trade Center site, Ahmadinejad tells Pelley, "Well, it was included in my program. If we have the time and the conditions are conducive, I will try to do that."
"But the New York Police Department and others do not appear to want you there. Do you intend to go there anyway?" Pelley asks.
"Well, over there, local officials need to make the necessary coordinations. If they can't do that, I won't insist," the president replies.
"Sir, what were you thinking? The World Trade Center site is the most sensitive place in the American heart, and you must have known that visiting there would be insulting to many, many Americans," Pelley says.
"Why should it be insulting?" Ahmadinejad asks.
"Well, sir, you're the head of government of an Islamist state that the United States government says is a major exporter of terrorism around the world," Pelley says.
"Well, I wouldn't say that what American government says is is the prerequisite here. Something happened there which led to other events. Many innocent people were killed there. Some of those people were American citizens obviously. We obviously are very much against any terrorist action and any killing. And also we are very much against any plots to sow the seeds of discord among nations," Ahmadinejad replies. "Usually you go to these sites to pay your respects. And also to perhaps to air your views about the root causes of such incidents. I think that when I do that, I will be paying, as I said earlier, my respect to the American nation."
"But the American people, sir, believe that your country is a terrorist nation, exporting terrorism in the world," Pelley says. "You must have known that visiting the World Trade Center site would infuriate many Americans."
"Well, I'm amazed. How can you speak for the whole of the American nation?" Ahmadinejad says. "You are representing a media and you're a reporter. The American nation is made up of 300 million people. There are different points of view over there."
Eh, I don't know. . .I think this interviewer comes off a bit ludicrous.
"Hey, don't you know you're one of the Bad Guys? You're not allowed to go there. Haven't you read your script?. . .No, no, it says right here, you're Evil! You hate freedom, you're not supposed to go there!"
I think the worst Ahmadinejad could do is get to Ground Zero and start making some grandstanding, zealous speech about the "root causes." That would be quite offensive. But to me, banning him from the site STILL seems like, I don't know, a bit of over-reaction. I think we, as a nation can have the dignity and the grace to allow this guy to visit the site.