Posted on 09/26/2013 7:34:26 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani further distanced himself Thursday from his conservative predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, not only acknowledging but condemning the Holocaust. He was keen to add, however, that the Nazi's brutal massacre of the Jews should be viewed in a "separate" light to the current crisis facing the Middle East.
"In principle, we and I condemn the massacre carried out by the Nazis in the World War II," Rouhani told Charlie Rose. "I'll also add that many groups were killed by the Nazis in the course of the war, Jews in specific, but there were also Christians, there were Muslims."
"I'll tell you that my government [and] I condemn the massacre, the killing of people, any group. I'll tell you that when an innocent person is killed, we never go about asking or inquiring whether they were Jewish or Christian or Muslim. That's not our way or creed. We simply say that we condemn any killing, any massacre, and therefore we condemn the massacre of the Jewish people by the Nazis, as we also condemn the other massacres that took place in the course of the war."
"Why would I want to deny it?" Rouhani asked. "Not only do I (not) deny the criminal acts of the Nazis, we condemn it."
However, Rouhani said the Holocaust suggested that the killing of 6 million Jews almost seven decades ago must be not be a factor in considerations of the current crisis facing the region.
"Given that we live in the Middle East, we feel the impact of what took place in World War II today in our region," he said.
"We think that it's time to really separate that event from what's happening to a group of people now in the Middle East who've lost their homes,
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a conservative??? Says more about CBS News than any Iranian dictator.
Conservative in the abstract sense. Not willing to move from the ‘traditional’ Iranian party line.
Today he’s calling on Israel to give up its nuclear arms and sign the NPT.
Yes, Nazis killed Germans as well.
The reason why what he says is just another level of denial is that the Jews were specifically selected for extermination, with the mission of eradicating them as a people.
None of these weasels can ever be caught denouncing the targeting of Jews or Christians as Jews or Christians. They always couch it in terms such as “innocents,” or hurry to add that they condemn *all* murders. Nobody ever asks them directly, though: “Were these people innocent?” I think they would have trouble answering that, because they see anyone who isn’t muslim as someone who is struggling against islam. Please, one brave journalist, step up and ask who they consider innocent!
Well, I suppose he's hoping that people will say, “He's a mighty nice fella. That's big of him to condemn the Holocaust.”
I wonder what the islamic equivalent of crossing your fingers is?
Archie Bunker would say, “That’s mighty Western of ya.”
The charm offensive continues. It is a tried-and-true method. Hitler’s charm wooed Chamberlain with ease.
The next words out of his mouth will be....Now, let's talk about sanctions....
Muslims who support terror say they are against killing. It means next to nothing.
This coming from a man who wouldn’t condemn the massacre of Iranians by his own gov’t.
RE: This coming from a man who wouldnt condemn the massacre of Iranians by his own govt.
He’s still not ready to meet his 72 virgins :)
These islamists were allied with the nazis then, and are still pushing their propaganda. They should have been taken down with their ideological brethren.
Except he didn’t, (or else he is walking it back), as they are blaming a “translator” and CNN for reporting the story wrong.
And actually, even if you read the original transcript, he didn’t really say what they claim it meant — he said “I don’t know if there was a holocaust, but ANY such thing, if it happened, should be condemned, including any crimes the Nazi’s committed against anybody”.
Kind of like Obama’s “I condemn acts of terror”, without actually saying Benghazie was a terror attack.
If that were true, then he should have no problem releasing Pastor Saeed Abedini from prison.
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