Free Republic

Top News Story Ahmadinejad crushes CFR hopes for a "grand bargain." The New York Times reported that Ahmadinejad met with two dozen members of the Council on Foreign Relations, then ending the evening by asking whether they were simply shills for the Bush administration.Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com reported that while the CFR has consistently promoted a "grand bargain" with the regime in Tehran and ex-CFR staffer Susan Maloney at the State Department has vetoed funding of the Iranian opposition radio and TV broadcasts, and training for opposition groups inside Iran, on the grounds that it might offend the Tehran...

Top News Story Ahmadinejad tells big lies but is largely unchallenged by the media. MSNBC and NBC News published an interview with Ahmadinejad in which he claimed that while the US “... speak of war so easily, as if it’s on their daily agenda. We never speak of war.”Los Angeles Times reported that Iran's president told the United Nations that the organization had become a tool used by the world's powerful to oppress the weak, and call.   Chavez calls Bush "the devil." Drudge Report published the full text of Venezuelan President Chavez remarks at the UN General Assembly....

Top News Story Ahmadinejad attempts to rally the world against the US. Vital Perspective published the full translated text of Ahmadinejad's UN speech. A few excerpts... On the nuclear issue: "All our nuclear activities are transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eyes of IAEA inspectors." On the US and Britain: "They consider themselves the masters and rulers of the entire world." On human rights: "Should respect for the rights of human beings become the predominant objective, then injustice, ill temperament, aggression and war will fade away." He ended with: "Oh, Almighty God... upon humanity that thirsts for justice, the...

Top News Story Ahmadinejad invited to speak to the CFR in NYC. One Jerusalem has confirmed that the President of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Left-leaning establishment organization in New York, is inviting major civic, business, and political leaders to meet Iran's tyrannical President Ahmadinejad this week, when he is in New York. They asked for your help.Eli Lake, New York Sun reported that Jewish leaders in New York are spurning a request from the Council on Foreign Relations to meet with the president of Iran when he arrives for the U.N. General Assembly.Ken Timmerman, Iran.org reported a...

Top News Story The Islamic Republic's media campaign in the US. Daniel M. Zucker, Global Politician reported on the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (VEVAK) sophisticated campaign of disinformation, learned from the Soviet KGB, and its work in the United States. A must read.   UNSC to act this week on Iran? CNN News reported that Condoleezza Rice said the United States expects to "make some movement forward" on a sanctions resolution when U.N. diplomats convene in New York next week.The New York Times reported that after intense talks about Iran's nuclear program, the United States and...

Top News Story A mini cold war is starting in the Middle East. Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat argued that a mini cold war in the Middle East is likely to begin with a Western push for regime change in Syria.   Bush won't meet Ahmadinejad at the UN. He has other plans. Iran Focus reported that United States President George W. Bush ruled out meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York where world leaders will gather next week.   Another meaningless meeting of the major powers and...

Top News Story Pakistan releases 2500 Al Qaeda and Taliban. The Telegrah reported that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's government had authorized the release from jail of 2,500 Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters caught fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan.   Krauthammer: Bush preparing for war with Iran. Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post reported that President Bush said "It's very important for the American people to see the president try to solve problems diplomatically before resorting to military force." "Before" implies that the one follows the other. The signal is unmistakable.The Washington Post asked President Bush what he would say to...

Top News Story Xinhua TEHRAN, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran denounced Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday for his recent comments on Islam and requested a apology, the official IRNA news agency reported The pope's remarks were "contradictory to his status as the leader of one of the world's divine faiths," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying. The remarks made by the pope, "emanate from political interpretations and are contrary to the divine notions, we consider it's a big mistake... and we condemn them," he added "In order to prevent the indignation of the Muslim's world,...

Top News Story The lies Khatami spoke in the US. Amir Taheri, New York Post reported that in his recent speeches in the US, Khatami used a vocabulary carefully designed to hoodwink the Americans. The trick was reinforced by the fact that he often said one thing in Persian, while the interpreter said something else in English for the benefit of the Harvard audience. A must read.   The West is still divided on what to do next with Iran. New Press reported that key European nations called on Iran to negotiate its nuclear dispute with the international community,...

Top News Story Sharansky: A troubling story from Putin. Natan Sharansky, Los Angeles Times reported that in 2000, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin told me a story that he has been unable to get out of his mind. The story involves a nephew, a suitcase, a train to Manhattan and a nuclear bomb.   France's Sarkozy: Iran is an outlaw nation. NDTV reported that French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that Iran had "made itself into an outlaw nation" and must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.   Did Bush promise a pre-emptive attack on Iran? Mario Loyola,...

Khatami's Disdain for Zahra Kazemi: Dialogue as Brutality by Russell Berman Former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami advocates a dialogue between civilizations, and Harvard defended its controversial decision to give him the prominent forum of the Kennedy School invitation because of the importance of the free exchange of ideas. Yet Khatami evidently cannot tolerate dialogue within a civilization, i.e., free and open discourse within Iran; and Harvard has given a forum of freedom to freedom's enemy. This became painfully evident in a detail of the exchange following his speech. An Iranian in the audience questioned him about an egregious case of...

40-odd years ago, Iranian filmmaker Shin Nazerian produced a movie about a tough guy from a rough Tehran neighborhood who ends up in New York. A comedy of the clash of cultures, it was an instant hit. One of the first things our tough guy did on arriving in the Big Apple was to "edit" his name to Mr. Small, to reassure the natives. This week, another visitor from Tehran came to New York as part of a U.S. tour that included a session at Harvard University - and took a cue from Mr. Small. The visitor was the former...

"He used a vocabulary carefully designed to hoodwink the Americans without angering his fellow Khomeinists back home. The trick was reinforced by the fact that he often said one thing in Persian, while the interpreter said something else in English for the benefit of the Harvard audience."

Top News Story Khatami questioned at Harvard and slips. Russell Berman, Telos reported on a Khatami's response at Harvard to a question from an Iranian in the audience who questioned him about the case of the suppression of free speech: the arrest, rape and murder of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi. Khatami's answer was very revealing.Yahoo News reported Khatami was met by protesters when he arrived at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Many angrily called on him to stand up for human rights where Harvard College Democrats teamed with their Republican peers for the protest.   Blair warns the West...

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, left, arrives at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government on Sunday. Last Friday, Harvard University's student newspaper The Crimson had a noteworthy front page. The top headline read, "Students plan to protest Khatami's visit." The second headline read, "Cheney visits Harvard Club through backdoor." The first story referred to plans by student groups to protest Harvard's Kennedy School of Government's decision to invite former Iranian president Muhammad Khatami to speak at the school on Sept. 10. The second story reported how Vice President Richard Cheney was forced to enter the Harvard Club in...

Top News Story Islamic Republic's sub missile launch a fake. Los Angeles Times reported that U.S. military intelligence has determined that a video released by the Iranian government purporting to show a test of a new submarine missile is bogus. it matched a video of an earlier Chinese test. "It's the identical launch," a Pentagon official said. "The plume, everything, is the same."   Ahmadinejad visits Venezuela and Cuba. IranMania reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to hold talks next week in Venezuela to meet with Chavez who recently told cheering students that "we should unite and save...

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami rolled through Harvard on his feel-good tour of the United States yesterday extolling democracy and peace, principles at odds with the regime he led for eight years. “One should not and ought not engage in violence in the name of any religion,” Khatami said in his speech yesterday at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, which drew about 200 protesters outside, and periodic approving applause along with critical questions inside. The speech, entitled “The Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence,” was followed by a Q & A session in which some audience members drilled...

Top News Story Khatami served with a court summons at CAIR reception. PRNewswire reported that seven Jewish-Iranian families have filed suit in an American federal court against former President Mohammad Khatami over charges that he is responsible for the kidnapping and torture of their missing family members. The summons was served on Khatami at a reception hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.   Bush personally signed off on Khatami's visit. Paul Gigot, The Wall Street Journal interviewed President Bush on Iran who said he personally signed off on the U.S. visit this week by former Iranian President Mohammad...

Former Iranian President Condemns Bin Laden - Khatami Also Defends Groups Such As Hezbollah CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami condemned Osama bin Laden and suicide bombings but also defended groups such as Hezbollah for what he characterized as resistance against Israeli colonialism. In a 30-minute speech given under tight security at Harvard University, Khatami repeatedly praised the concept of democracy but said American politicians, since World War II, have been infatuated with "world domination." Khatami, who spoke in Farsi and had his speech relayed through...