Columbia Students May Dine With A Dictator

Four years ago, on September 24, 2007, Columbia University invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to address the campus.

Alumni threatened to remove their funding from the University and students and concerned citizens protested in uproar over the university’s decision to provide a public forum for a man who many say embodies cruelty, tyranny, aggression and intolerance.

Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of Israel, denied the Holocaust and promoted the preposterous theory that the United States planned the 9/11 attacks as an excuse to launch wars on Iraq and Afghanistan. He is prosecuting homosexuals, blatantly violating human rights in Iran and is widely believed to be actively pursuing nuclear weapons and sponsoring al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. He rejects all forms of democracy and expels brazen, discriminatory dialect.

But Columbia University President Lee Bollinger defended his invitation to Ahmadinejad, arguing that providing Columbia as a forum for Ahmadinejad “is the right thing to do” because “it is required by the existing norms of free speech, of Columbia University, and of academic institutions.”

After a cold introduction from Bollinger, in which he referred to Ahmadinejad as “ridiculous” and a “petty and cruel dictator,” Ahmadinejad maintained his infamous reputation and made rash, hatred-filled comments about the state of Israel, questioned the extent of the Holocaust and denied the existence of homosexuals in the Islamic Republic.

“In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country,” Ahmadinejad said during that 2007 speech to Columbia students. “In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don’t know who’s told you that we have this.”

Ahmadinejad then defended Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons by stating that the United States has developed nuclear capabilities so it’s only fair that Iran can as well.

Unfortunately, it seems that Columbia University has not learned from its mistakes.

Rumors have been circulating that the University’s President Lee Bollinger and 15 members of the Columbia International Relations Council and Association (CIRCA) may be attending a private dinner with Ahmadinejad on September 21 in Midtown Manhattan while he is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. 

According to Bollinger’s office, however, it is just a rumor.

“At no time has there been any University event planned or considered involving the president of Iran and President Bollinger, nor has there ever been any plan for a dinner involving the Iranian president on campus,” Bollinger’s office told TRNS. “Media reports to the contrary have no basis in fact and we hope they will be corrected.”

CIRCA’s involvement, however, was confirmed by the Columbia Spectator.

CIRCA vice president of academics Tim Chan told the Spectato that group members are “enthusiastic” about their potential dinner with Ahmadinejad and are “thrilled to have this opportunity.”

Chan, however, stressed that the meeting is still tentative.

In an op-ed published in the Spectator on Wednesday entitled, “Say No to Ahmadinedinner,” Columbia Junior David Fine argued that “the moral burden of our Columbia education and human dignity requires us to examine whether it is right for us to sit down to dinner with a man who facilitates, even encourages, such executions.”

“What will this dinner accomplish? Nothing, except a sating of the human urge to be in the presence of greatness, no matter how unbridled or pernicious,” Fine wrote. “Since no public report can be made, nor Ahmadinejad’s opinions changed, this intimate dinner is, at best, the moral equivalent of sitting down with Jeffrey Dahmer or Charles Manson just for the “thrill.” At worst, it is a small, but useful, affirmation for Ahmadinejad that his thoughts deserve to be heard by the best and brightest that American universities can offer.”

CIRCA did not respond to TRNS’s request for comment.

Senate Dems Urge Pakistan To Do More To Fight IEDs

A delegation of four Senate Democrats are in Pakistan this week putting pressure on leaders to help crack down on the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by extremists across the border in Afghanistan.

The delegation includes Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

“The focus is on our troops serving in Afghanistan who are the victims of roadside bombs,” Casey told reporters in a conference call from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Most IEDs, including roadside bombs, which extremists have commonly used to attack U.S. and NATO forces in the region, are primarily created from ammonium nitrate that is smuggled into Afghanistan from Pakistan. 

Last year 368 U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan by IEDs. This year, 125 U.S. troops have already been killed by IEDs. 

“We have to take steps to focus intensively on a strategy against this explosive device,” Casey said.  

Casey explained that an entity has been set up, entitled the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), to bring focus and expertise to the issue of eliminating such weapons. 

Pakistan has both a counter-IED strategy and a plan for implementing that strategy, but the delegation of Senators want Pakistani political and military leaders to put their plans to action.

“What we have to do now is keep pushing our government and keep pushing the Pakistanis to stop IEDs,” Casey said. “We are making progress but we need to see results. We need to see strategies implemented.” 

The delegation has already met with leading government officials, such as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, Army Chief of Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and a number of Pakistani senators to stress the urgency of this issue to keep American troops safe. 

“We’ll never have the kind of relationship with this country that we’ve had with others,” Casey added. “There will always be some problems and lack of trust. But if we work hard and stay focused and engaged, we can bring about a stronger relationship that allows us to keep America safer and Pakistanis can benefit from the progress on counter terrorism as well.”

At Least 7 UN Staff Members Killed In Afghan Protest

Angry protesters stormed a UN compound in the northern town of Mazar e Sharif today, killing at least three foreign staffers and four UN security guards. 

Protesters reportedly forced their way past guards into UNAMA’s (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) regional office, infuriated by news that American Pastor Terry Jones had recently burnt the Quran.

The UN is still unable to confirm the number of Afghan who were killed in the attack or the ensuing response by police. UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporter Afghan mission chief Staffan de Mistura was on his way to Mazar e Sharif to ascertain all the facts surrounding the attack.

 The Secretary General’s spokesperson also said he couldn’t confirm reports that the UN staffers had been beheaded in the attack, but said his office had received worrying indications. In a press conference from Nairobi, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon condemned the attack as cowardly and unjustified. 

In 2009, an attack on a UN guest house in Kabul left 5 UN staff members dead, including former US Marine and UN security guard Louis Maxwell. 

Levin Backs Obama's Troop Reduction Date In Afghanistan

By Kyle LaFleur - Talk Radio News Service

US Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Carl Levin expressed great support Friday morning to the Council on Foreign Relations for President Obama’s strategy to begin reducing US forces in Afghanistan and transfer in responsibilities to the Afghan government in July 2011.

“Once the President announced his decision, I focused my efforts on what I believe to be the decisive factor in success or failure in Afghanistan, building the Afghan army’s capability and getting Afghan troops to take the lead in operations,” said Levin, “That belief is based on my conviction that it will be up to the Afghan forces and people to succeed in this conflict if they want a better future than the grim prospect the Taliban offers.”

Levin bolstered his support for the timed turnover by pointing out that when Marines began operations in Helmand Province last spring, the ratio of Marines to Afghan soldiers was five to one. 

“The ratio is now one to one,” said Levin, “And we finally are seeing Afghan forces leading some operations in Arghandab and other districts around Kandahar.  Having Afghans lead these operations is the Taliban’s worst nightmare, because it gives the lie to the Taliban propaganda that portrays Western troops as hostile occupiers.”

Levin believes sticking to the July 2011 date would also send a message of pressure to the President Karzai and the Afghan government to earn the support of the people. The senator also said that only through proving itself as a legitimate and effective governing body, Afghanistan would not return to a state of “Taliban domination” and the negative public view of the government would jeopardize sustaining credibility of a currently respected Afghan army.

“If the Afghan people begin to perceive the army as protecting a corrupt and ineffective national government, that respect will wane,” he said. 

Back at home, people seem to agree with Levin.  A Gallup poll from June showed that 58% of Americans agreed with the President’s time table.  

New Woodward Book Reveals White House Infighting Over Afghanistan Strategy

A new book by veteran journalist Bob Woodward reveals that last year’s effort within the White House to formulate a military strategy for Afghanistan was more turbulent than previously believed.

According to the New York Times, who received the book, entitled Obama’s Wars, prior to its release next week, President Obama struggled with military leaders and his national security team over the length and size of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

“I can’t let this be a war without end, and I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party,” Obama reportedly told Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) when the Republican Senator asked about the administration’s commitment to the timetable to begin the withdrawal of troops.

The book also describes a request from the Pentagon to send 4,500 soldiers to Afghanistan to assist the additional 30,000 announced last December. The request apparently angered Obama and resulted in a six-page dictated message to the Defense Department outlining the exact, limited terms of the troop escalation.

Segments from the book included in the Times article also show tension between the President’s political advisers and the national security team. National Security Adviser James L. Jones is described  referring to White House aides as “the Politburo” and then-CentCom head General David Petraeus is included calling adviser David Axelrod a “complete spin doctor.”

In addition, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is depicted quarreling with former National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair, who left in May, over reports that extremists with American and European passports were being trained to attack the U.S. abroad. 

According to a quote included in the Times, Emanuel responded “You’re just trying to put this on us so it’s not your fault.” 

Woodward, 67, gained national prominence during the Nixon administration for his and fellow Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein’s investigative reports on the Watergate scandal. In recent years, he wrote extensively on the Bush administration, publishing the War Within: A Secret White House History in late 2008.