Posted on 08/22/2006 5:17:19 AM PDT by nuconvert
Former President of Iran Invited to Speak in D.C.
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 22, 2006;
Despite a looming diplomatic showdown with Iran over its nuclear program, the Bush administration has agreed to issue a visa to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to give a public address at the Washington National Cathedral next month, according to the Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, director of the Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation.
Khatami would be the most senior Iranian to visit Washington since Iran's 1979 revolution and the 1979-1981 takeover of the U.S. Embassy, which led Washington to sever relations with a country that had been one of its two closest allies in the Middle East.
The State Department said yesterday that it had not yet approved a visa for Khatami because he has not yet formally applied, which he must do outside Iran.
The White House decision to allow a prominent Iranian reformer to visit comes at a time of mounting tension with the new hard-line leadership in Tehran. Iran is expected to give its official answer today to a U.S.-backed package of incentives designed to get Tehran to give up uranium enrichment, a process in a peaceful nuclear energy program that can be converted to develop a nuclear weapon.
Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns said Friday that the United States is ready to push for new international sanctions on Iran at the United Nations if it does not accept the undisclosed package. Burns's office made the decision to grant the visa, according to the cathedral.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Excuse me, but what an idiot!
Here are some quotes from Khatami over the yrs............
Seeking a global "Islamic Republic:"
"We are seeking an Islamic and humane government in the world and this thought has grown in the Islamic Revolution and, God willing, this revolution will continue until the re-appearance of the Imam of Time [Twelfth Imam in Shiite Islam]."
Jomhuri-ye-Eslami, 18 May 1997 "
"By setting up 30 cultural centers in 17 countries around the world, The Islamic Republic has transferred the first nucleus of Islamic revolution so well that today, despite lack of resources, the voice of the Islamic revolution is being heard in the most remote regions of the globe."
Kayhan, August 30, 1986
"Great Satan (United States of America):"
"The bullying attitude of America is cause for a dual disaster. Around the globe, American people have the shallowest of cultures. [They are] a bunch of bullying, knife-toting adventurers. The worst of Europe came together and went there [to the US] to find money. It is a culture without roots and based on the technology of force... Now, as a nation without the least culture, the Americans have most of the world's resources at their disposal. This represents a dual catastrophe for humanity."
Ettela'at, July 7, 1991
"I have said earlier that I respect the great American people… When we appreciate the roots of this civilization, its significance becomes even more apparent… I say I respect the American nation because of their great civilization…"
Interview with CNN, January 1998
Perhaps the cleric missed the video clip CNN showed after the Israeli soldiers left southern Lebanon. A group of Hezbollah fighters was interviewed by a CNN reporter...the little guy with the English accent, as I recall...and one of them said, "We are not Christians. Muslims do not turn the other cheek." This poor, gullible dean of the cathedral thinks he is going to further world peace by bringing a spokesman for the cult of death to Washington D.C. No wonder Muslims are confident of victory in their war with the West.
Khatami has a long-standing friendship with Hezbollah's Nasrallah....
"Since the start of the recent conflict, former Iranian president Khatami wrote that Nasrallah's "Hezbollah is like a radiant sun that warms the hearts of oppressed Muslims, especially those living in Palestine and Lebanon . . . . What is now taking place in Lebanon is proof of the final victory of justice over falsehood, salvation over occupation and human dignity over humiliation."
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:pVHMXLEXM5wJ:www.asianews.it/view.php%3Fl%3Den%26art%3D6960+khatami+hezbollah&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=8
From AP article May 15, 1999
"Mohammad Khatami hailed the Hezbollah guerrilla group Saturday as an "ideological and humanitarian movement" that is trying to liberal Lebanese territory from Israeli occupation.
"Hezbollah is "an ideological and humanitarian movement the seeks liberation and independence," Khatami said in remarks carried by Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency. Hezbollah, he said, was trying "to protect the unity and independence of Lebanese territories."
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:s1SLwPkqBq8J:www.angelfire.com/il/FourMothers/Khatami.html+khatami+hezbollah&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=9
"to signs! to signs!" (spoken in an 18th century patriotic accent.)
Letting him enter the country allows certain gov't officals to meet with him quietly and carry messages back that they don't want made public, like: "Here's a photo of your President having sex with a pig... a male pig. He's his house. Here's a photo of him thru a sniper scope. Here's a photo of a huuuuuge mirror in the desert where a nuke was tested. Here it's overlayed in Tehran...." and stuff like that.
bump
KHATAMI, NASRALLAH MAKE COMMON CAUSE (July 2002)
"The Hezbollah leader’s trust in the Iranian President has been reciprocated as Khatami has used his personal prestige on the international stage to help shield Hezbollah from the threats and pressure it has faced since Sept. 11."
"Khatami reminds European leaders and officials that under Nasrallah, Hezbollah has never engaged in hostage-taking, terrorism or actions against Western interests."
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:0kK6kR1dKf4J:www.iran-press-service.com/articles_2002/Jul_2002/khatami_nasrallah_20702.htm+khatami+hezbollah&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4
Like they can't and haven't met in other countries?
Letting him into the U.S. legitimizes the regime and empowers them.
Talk in SECRET , if necessary, some place else.
Fine with me.
pong
"Now I'm going to go beat my head against a wall until the pain goes away"
The only thing that's keeping me from doing the same thing, is that I feel that someone from the White House 'leaked' this to the Wash. Post to appear today (of all days) on purpose.
Though I have no idea what they think they're going to gain, except the anger and extreme disappointment of millions of freedom-loving, democratic-seeking Iranians.
I'm sorry but this make absolutly no sense to me.
There is either something going on way below the radar screen or someone needs to get fired, or sent to Nome Alaska.
Maybe he can get a tour of the Pentagon and a briefing on our homeland security systems while he's here, since we are being so accomodating to our Muslim enemies these days.
"Former President of Iran Invited to Speak in D.C."
Well, gosh dern-it, the current President of Iran, his Hezbollah buddies, and any other local terrorist leaders should all be invited to tea. I mean, really...we must be fair. And give 'em all a key to the city...
From Jihadwatch:
"More saber rattling from the Thug-In-Chief of Iran surfacing internationally on the eve of his big day, although it was recorded last week. "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The U.S and England Are Not Worthy of Security Council Membership. Those Who Want Good Relations with the Iranian People Should Bow and Surrender to its Right and Might," from MEMRITV:
Following are excerpts from a speech delivered by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which aired on Iranian News Channel (IRINN) on August 15, 2006:
[...]
If you want to have good relations with the Iranian people in the future, you should acknowledge the right and the might of the Iranian people, and you should bow and surrender to the might of the Iranian people. If you do not accept this, the Iranian people will force you to bow and surrender.
And, this is while many ordinary people who were born in Iran but hold European or even U.S. citizenship, even some 'prominent' Iranian exiles e.g. monarchists are held for questioning when they try to enter the U.S.??
About Khatami: Why don't they just give him a green-card?? (Sarcasm).
"Perhaps the cleric missed the video clip CNN showed after the Israeli soldiers left southern Lebanon. A group of Hezbollah fighters was interviewed by a CNN reporter...the little guy with the English accent, as I recall...and one of them said, "We are not Christians. Muslims do not turn the other cheek." This poor, gullible dean of the cathedral thinks he is going to further world peace by bringing a spokesman for the cult of death to Washington D.C. No wonder Muslims are confident of victory in their war with the West."
How easily the people of the cloth get the wool pulled over their eyes.
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