MUSINGS FOR A SATURDAY MORNING: - IRANIAN PRESIDENT IS NOT WELCOME IN THE UNITED STATES

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is coming to the United Nations. As is the habit of this despot, he will try to stir up as much trouble as he possibly can while he is in this country. So far I have heard that he wanted to visit Ground Zero, he has been invited to speak at Columbia University, he has been invited to speak at American University and he will deliver a tape recorded speech to the National Press Club.

My first thought was that I have mixed feelings about letting him speak at different American events. I believe in freedom of expression. After all, I practiced law for twenty years, and that has always been a fundamental tenet for any attorney. If you don’t believe in freedom of expression, it could become very difficult to represent a client. But as I thought about it, I realized that I don’t have mixed feelings at all. He is a killer, a madman. Let’s treat him like one.

In my opinion Ahmadinejad is a terrorist. He is just a state sponsored terrorist. Osama Bin Laden is a terrorist without a country. Ahmadinejad is a cowardly terrorist hiding behind the dictatorial shield of Iran. I still believe that he is one of the Iranians involved in the kidnapping of our American Embassy staff during the Carter administration. I also believe that he and the country of Iran have provided aid and comfort to terrorists for many years. We have never been able to prove a connection between Iran and the 9-11 terrorists, but I will not be surprised if one day soon we can prove such a connection.

I am absolutely certain that Iran and Ahmadinejad are directly involved in terrorist’s activities in Iraq that have resulted in the deaths of many American soldiers. So to that extent, how do we deal with a terrorist openly and publicly in our midst?

I think Fred Thompson has it right. He said earlier today

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the world's premier terrorist state, is speaking before the United Nations next week. He has also asked to visit Ground Zero. If I were President of the United States none of this would have been an issue--I wouldn't have let him into the country in the first place.
It's time for the world to finally send a stern message to Iran. Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of Israel, is supporting terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, and is responsible for supplying weapons to extremists who are killing US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. And with Iran's ongoing pursuit of nuclear weapons and development of long-range missiles, that country is a threat not only to the region and our allies, but to the entire free world. It's time for the United Nations to take more serious action against this terror regime.
The Security Council needs to begin placing comprehensive, multilateral sanctions on Iran's economy, to include banning foreign investment, stopping export credits to companies doing business there, and prohibiting any business dealings with Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Iranian banks should be denied access to international banking and financial institutions, and World Bank loans should be suspended. All arms sales to Iran need to be halted. And travel by Iranian officials should be stopped and their assets frozen. Cutting off Iranian access to refined gas imports will certainly get Tehran's attention and cause them to reconsider their priorities. If the UN can't reach agreement on these measures due to continued Russian, Chinese or others' intransigence, then we need to work directly with our allies and go around the UN roadblock.
The international community has been negotiating with Iran for more than four years to no avail in seeking to halt the mullahs' nuclear program. I believe strongly in diplomacy, but it has its limits, especially when the other side is made up of extremists. If we don't get serious and act now--before they build atomic weapons--the stakes will be even higher, and our hand much weaker. The United States and its allies cannot afford to let that happen. As president, I certainly will not.

Well, unfortunately, our government doesn’t have the courage of Fred Thompson.But there are still things we can do. New York City, to their eternal credit has taken one step. They have denied him the right to visit Ground Zero. Good for them. That is a sacred place for all Americans – not a place that we want an animal, a sub-human creature like Ahmadinejad making a mockery of.

Now the questions of Columbia University and American University and the National Press Club are a little different. How do we handle the conflict between our First Amendment right of freedom of expression, and our right to not honor a war criminal?

I come down on the side of honoring the memory of over three thousand dead Americans, killed on 9-11 and thousands of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. We don’t reward war criminals and terrorists with any rights that our countrymen have. We don’t reward these kinds of people with rights that our soldiers have shed their blood for over the last 231 years.

The National Press Club should be ashamed of themselves. They know better than to do what they are doing. Giving a terrorist a forum to spread his venom throughout the world. This is another prime example why Conservatives don’t trust the mainstream media. They do not honor our country, or the sacrifices of all of the American lives.

I understand the desire of Universities to expose their students to all points of view. But come on, everyone, you are not exposing your students to a reasonable point of view. This man is an enemy of our country. Would we have invited Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini to speak at one of our American Colleges during the height of World War II?

I don’t think so. Why would we invite a killer and a terrorist to do so now? The Universities can find other ways to satisfy their needs to teach their students other points of view. It doesn’t have to be a live appearance by a madman. Let’s call Ahmadinejad what he is – a killer of Americans – not an invited guest.