Iran Watch:The Ahmadinejad Show

Cox & Forkum

The above image was originally posted last October. It’s an optical illusion called an “inversion.” If you look at the upside-down version just below, you will see a caricature of Iranian President Ahmadinejad. For more about the image and why came to be, see the original post. I’m reposting it because, with Ahmadinejad speaking at Columbia University, comparisons of Ahmadinejad to Hitler are making the news.

Ahmadinejad Arrives for New York Visit

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, facing protests and tabloid headlines calling him “evil” and a “madman,” stirred debate Monday about free speech ahead of his appearance at Columbia University.

Columbia President Lee Bollinger has promised to grill Ahmadinejad on subjects such as human rights, the Holocaust and Iran’s disputed nuclear program. The Iranian leader previously has called the Holocaust “a myth” and called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”

Bollinger said Monday it was a question of free speech and academic freedom.

“It’s extremely important to know who the leaders are of countries that are your adversaries. To watch them to see how they think, to see how they reason or do not reason. To see whether they’re fanatical, or to see whether they are sly,” he told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Ahmadinejad is to speak and answer questions at a Columbia forum Monday, followed by a scheduled address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.

Flap will love the questions from the students and academics. But, will Ahmadinejad allow them?

Ahmadinejad loves to play the Western Media cycle from afar but will he be able to withstand scrutiny of an open forum?

Stay tuned as his appearance at Columbia University begins at 1:30 PM EDT.

Charles Johnson has a list of the various protests here.

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