I would think it meant "Charlie". So what if he said something? Way too much is made of what a person said. We see people branded as racists for some remark, and it's like they should go hang themselves over someting they said. Then you have people who commit outright crimes (in this case war crimes), and people are supposed to forgive and forget, yet condemn as unforgivable the things a person said.
The president of Iran was a freakin' hostage taker for Pete's sake! He violated Int'l Law, and we are supposed to treat him like a lawful head of state. I think it would be interesting for an Asian trading partner to know the guy across the table may have been tortured by him or his buddies, and that he's still pissed off about it.
You aren’t suggesting that we hold a candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America to the same standard that the Persians hold their president to, do you?
I’m not worried about what he said, though it is a strong indicator of what the man is thinking, and it doesn’t get more unequivocable than what he ACTUALLY said.
I’m not suggesting he’s a racist. Not by any stretch. I don’t think my grandfather was, nor do I think my uncle was either. My grandfather HATED the Japanese. Hated. Not because he was ignorant of the Japanese people, but from his direct experiences with the Japanese people.
This hatred he has is JUSTIFIED. It’s also a pretty severe limitation for the man we are going to call upon to work with them as a partner: economic, political, and otherwise.