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Why Does Columbia host Ahmadinejad?
IranianLobby ^ | September 21, 2007 | Hassan Daioleslam

Posted on 09/21/2007 8:56:47 PM PDT by nuconvert

Why Does Columbia host Ahmadinejad?

Mohammad Parvin and Hassan Daioleslam

September 21, 2007

Iran's President Mahmood Ahmadinejad is scheduled to speak at Columbia University on Monday September 24th. This arrangement is not accidental. The event would have not been possible without the tireless and focused efforts of the well known Tehran advocate Dr. Gary Sick, an influential figure in Columbia.

As it has already been examined in a recent article "Pro-Ayatollahs Disinformation and Manipulation Campaign by Washington Think Tankers"1, the Iranian lobby in US could not exist without generous assistance of some American interest groups and proxies such as Dr Gary Sick, the American Iranian Council in which Sick is a board member of, and his circle of cohorts.

In the past two decades Dr. Sick has been a tenacious activist in advancing the interests of Iranian Ayatollahs. His dossier of friendship with Tehran includes positions such as the directorship of The Gulf/2000 Project established in 1993 in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University . This project is mainly financed by the oil industry and is focused in engaging Tehran.

When Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, the former Iranian deputy foreign minister and ambassador to the UN, was terminated from his official positions to commence his duties in "unofficial diplomacy", Dr. Sick's active influence secured him a position in Columbia from 1991 to 1997. The list of Gary Sick's collaborations with Mahallati is long. 2

In 1997, Dr. Gary Sick worked intensely with Hossein Alikhani, an Iranian closely related to the Iran's ruling mullahs, to found the "Center for World Dialogue". Gary Sick is a founding board member in this organization.3 Alikhani is a felon who in 1992, pled guilty to the charges of violating anti-terrorist sanctions 4 and spent some time in US federal prisons. Recently Iran's Ayatollahs awarded him the deed for the US embassy complex in Tehran5 for his pain and suffering in American prisons. The collaboration between Sick and Alikhani has been long and multifaceted and has been well received by the mullahs in Iran.

Dr. Sick has shown a distinct quality. He, under all circumstances, has been able to discover a reason to support the Iranian theocratic regime. For example, under the "moderate" president Rafsanjani, the wave of Iranian international terrorism reached new summits and the bombing of the Jewish center in Argentina was accompanied by hundreds of assassinations against the Iranian dissidents abroad. Dr. Sick however cleverly discovered a creative explanation6:

"The pattern of actions suggests that these practices originated in the early 1980s, when the Islamic leadership faced a massive domestic terrorist threat. The Iranian response to this threat was apparently to establish one or more covert units, possibly buried deep within the intelligence agencies, to hunt down and destroy perceived threats to the revolution. This kind of shadow warfare is hardly unique to Iran. But the evidence suggests that these units in Iran have acquired a life of their own, launching operations on an opportunistic basis with little interference by the central authorities and no apparent coordination with Iran's foreign policy agenda."

For Dr. Sick, the sophisticated machine of Iranian terror is the same as the Japanese soldiers lost in Pacific's remote islands during the World War II. Similarly, Dr. Sick's view of the Iranian sponsored terrorism in the Middle East is very imaginative: 7

"Iran's support for terrorist activities carried out by Hamas is a matter of dispute. Iran claims that its support for Hamas is no different than the Saudi's support. They give money for clinics and medical needs, but that money is used for terrorism. Iran has a different view on this. So it's a matter of dispute. As for the peace process, at this point Iran feels vindicated. They have been saying all along that the Israeli-Palestinian deals are a sham and that Israel will not keep its promises. With what Netanyahou has done so far, Iran's position is getting more support from the Arab states."

In a very interesting article in 1996, Sick advised the US administration to lower its expectations from the Iranian government especially concerning the human rights because according to him: 8

"The revolution is over, and the fiery slogans have a hollow ring. Khomeini said the revolution was not about the price of melons, but it turns out that it is! The demonstrations in Iran are not about clerical rule or a return to the monarchy or even about democracy and human rights. "

Dr. Sick's support to the Iranian regime does naturally include the ultra-fascist president Ahmadinejad. After his first appearance before the UN assembly in 2005 and his shocking declarations, Sick found new qualities in the president and told the CFR interviewer Gwertzman: 9

"I was taken with the fact that Ahmadinejad is an engineer with no foreign experience at all, who has only been president for about a month. I think he learned his brief pretty well. He handled himself well not only in the speech but also in his discussions with CNN and Time magazine and others who had interviews with him. I think he came through with some constructive ideas. ... He's a very prideful man, and I think that sense of Iranian pride is one that may be very difficult for the West-and the United States in particular-to deal with."

On September 24th, that "prideful man", responsible for the daily torture of his people, will talk in Columbia. He needs public relations support for his nuclear and regional domination ambitions. Count on Dr. Sick and his usual circle of friends to be there and extend a supportive hand. All the same, Columbia University's tacit acceptance of this advocacy can not be justified under the disguise of academic freedom.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: academia; ahmadinejad; alikhani; columbia; columbiau; columbiauniversity; garysick; hassandaioleslam; hosseinalikhani; iran; niac; wot
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To: governmentstillsucks

Well, it quacks like one.


21 posted on 09/21/2007 9:45:13 PM PDT by Sender (Dar al-harb, USA)
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To: Sender
Well, it quacks like one.

Yes, but isn't duck season coming up?
22 posted on 09/21/2007 9:46:30 PM PDT by governmentstillsucks (I think therefore I is. Where my Philosophizin' degree at?)
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To: nuconvert

Is this the same Columbia that houses the famed school of journalism?

If so, no wonder all the noozpeeps are so deranged.


23 posted on 09/21/2007 9:46:54 PM PDT by Califreak (Go Hunter!)
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To: Califreak
Is this the same Columbia that houses the famed school of journalism?

Most of them are currently on al-Jazeera's payroll. Fine journalistic establishment, it is.
24 posted on 09/21/2007 9:49:54 PM PDT by governmentstillsucks (I think therefore I is. Where my Philosophizin' degree at?)
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To: nuconvert

Emails I was able to find for Columbia: Amanda Murphy Alumni Relations Director am2629@columbia.edu; Julia Feldberg Alumni Relations Associate Speaker Series Contact jef2121@columbia.edu; Kristen Kramer, Alumni Relations Associate kek2121@columbia.edu; Emily Lampert Alumni Relations Junior Associate eb12108@columbia.edu. These were good as of yesterday. After that, don’t know


25 posted on 09/21/2007 9:50:39 PM PDT by Grams A
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To: governmentstillsucks
Duck hunting season starts sometime before the 2008 election. The exact dates vary. It could be Spring or Fall. But rest assured, Peking Duck is on the menu.

Peking Duck

Place equal portions of duck meat and broiled skin on a crepe, add vegetable shavings, and splash with a mixture of hoisin sauce and MOAB.

26 posted on 09/21/2007 9:52:01 PM PDT by Sender (Dar al-harb, USA)
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To: governmentstillsucks

“Most of them are currently on al-Jazeera’s payroll.”

If they aren’t, they sure wanna be.


27 posted on 09/21/2007 9:53:50 PM PDT by Califreak (Go Hunter!)
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To: nuconvert
Because they hate America and want to see it destroyed.

They have a lot of company.
28 posted on 09/21/2007 9:56:02 PM PDT by Iwo Jima ("Close the border. Then we'll talk.")
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To: Sender
Duck hunting season starts sometime before the 2008 election. The exact dates vary. It could be Spring or Fall. But rest assured, Peking Duck is on the menu.

So "duck and cover" may be a worthwhile suggestion, I take it.
29 posted on 09/21/2007 9:56:34 PM PDT by governmentstillsucks (I think therefore I is. Where my Philosophizin' degree at?)
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To: governmentstillsucks
DUCK SEASON?!!


I wish I knew how to put Amadjihad's face on Daffy. You are going to have to use your imagination.

Duck Season AKA

30 posted on 09/21/2007 9:58:47 PM PDT by do the dhue ("They've got us surrounded again……the poor bastards." — General Creighton W. Abrams)
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To: Iwo Jima
Because they hate America and want to see it destroyed.

They have a lot of company.


The leadership at Columbia have apparently educated themselves into imbecility, at best. They are outright traitors at worst. Nevertheless, it means major publicity for the university, which, they presume, translates into increased enrollment and a certain sense of stature among people who haven't a clue but sound very important.
31 posted on 09/21/2007 10:00:49 PM PDT by governmentstillsucks (I think therefore I is. Where my Philosophizin' degree at?)
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To: nuconvert

There are traitors in this country, and then there are traitor/terrorists.
They need to be hung in a public square.

This country needs a good shaking up, and soon.


32 posted on 09/21/2007 10:01:59 PM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: do the dhue
I wish I knew how to put Amadjihad's face on Daffy. You are going to have to use your imagination.

I'd have to imagine Daffy being much shorter, wearing platform shoes, and sporting a buttoned down dress shirt, as if to ask, "Where are your foxes at local disco?"
33 posted on 09/21/2007 10:03:32 PM PDT by governmentstillsucks (I think therefore I is. Where my Philosophizin' degree at?)
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To: do the dhue

Thank you for your service, by the way. It must have been great to serve under Reagan especially.


34 posted on 09/21/2007 10:10:36 PM PDT by governmentstillsucks (I think therefore I is. Where my Philosophizin' degree at?)
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To: sionnsar

Jimmy Carter was never a nuclear engineer. He was tapped by Rickover to serve as a senior staff officer overseeing the nuclear submarine program, and took graduate level courses in nuclear technology to qualify himself for the position. I’m sure he was a serious student, and gained an informed technical perspective from these studies, but he was not studying to be a nuclear engineer, and he was not a nuclear engineer.


35 posted on 09/21/2007 10:28:50 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: Freedom of Speech Wins

All they are saying, is give jihad a chance.........


36 posted on 09/21/2007 10:51:09 PM PDT by lookout88 (proud special forces dad.)
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To: dr_lew; sionnsar; Cyber Liberty; patton
Thank you for the info - I’d never been told of the details of his assignment as a nuke. Everybody just repeated the same basic claim that he was a nuclear-trained submarine officer, or a nuclear engineer.
37 posted on 09/21/2007 11:20:37 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: nuconvert

"The only way America will ever be defeated by death-worshipping theocrats who've crawled out from under a Dark Ages rock is with the help of the mullahs' fifth column - academia, the media, the judiciary, public education, Hollywood and the Democratic Party.

Of the two suicide cults America confronts, liberalism is by far the more lethal."

-- Don Feder, In The War On Terror, Liberals Are More Dangerous Than Muslims -- A 9/11 meditation, September 19, 2006


38 posted on 09/22/2007 6:38:34 AM PDT by EdReform (The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed *NRA*JPFO*SAF*GOA*SAS*RWVA)
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To: nuconvert
Why does Columbia host Ahmadinijad? Because education requires that we learn from people from whom we disagree.
39 posted on 09/22/2007 6:39:57 AM PDT by jude24 (Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?)
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To: jude24

Hitler Jr. lies at every turn, funds and facilitates the murder of our troops, is a terrorist, is threatening the West and building nukes. What is there to learn?

We are giving him a platform to spew his propaganda. We should be stopping his regime, not expanding its voice and legitimizing it.

Oh...back to the original question as to “why”: Liberalism is a mental disorder.


40 posted on 09/22/2007 6:58:28 AM PDT by Free Bee
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