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12:02 , 09.03.06
Historical Visit
Khatami: US policies trigger terrorism
In first public appearances during nearly two-week visit to US, former Iranian president says American Muslims can play key role in promoting peace,
Associated Press
Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Saturday that US foreign policy triggers terrorism and violence in the world, but American Muslims can play a key role in promoting peace and security.
In his first public appearances during a nearly two-week visit to the United States, Khatami spoke twice in the Chicago area. He is the most senior Iranian official to visit the United States since Islamic fundamentalists seized the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held Americans hostage for 444 days.
"As America claims to be fighting terrorism, it implements policies that cause the intensification of terrorism and institutionalized violence," Khatami said at the Islamic Society of North America's 43rd annual convention.
Kahatami speaks, Saturday (Photo: AP)
Speaking through a translator, Khatami told tens of thousands of Muslims at the meeting that there is a chronic misunderstanding between the West and the East that goes back to the Crusades and continues today.
He said American Muslims "through active participation in the social arena" can form lobbying groups and form a consensus with other Americans.
"Public opinion can be rescued from the grips of ignorance and blunder and the domination of arrogant, warmongering and violence-triggering policies will end," he said.
Khatami called the United States "a great nation" and said that as president of Iran he was among the first world leaders to condemn the September 11 attacks as a barbaric act.
"I knew this inferno would only intensify extremism and one-sidedness and would have no outcome except to retard justice and intellect and sacrifice righteousness and humanity," he said.
He said Muslims must forge a new identity that embraces the modern world, tolerates other religions and works toward peace.
'Great opportunity of dialogue'
Khatami will make stops at universities, speak at the United Nations and attend two Islamic conferences during his trip, an official close to him said Friday. Khatami arrived in the United States on Thursday, two days after the State Department issued him a visa. There are no restrictions on his travel.
He was invited to the United States by the UN-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations, of which he is a founding member. The group strives to foster cross-cultural understanding between Western and Islamic states.
Earlier Saturday, Khatami spoke to several hundred leaders of the Islamic community at Bait ul Ilm, an Islamic center in suburban Streamwood.
"There is a great opportunity of dialogue and cooperation among people of faith," he said in Farsi, speaking through a translator. "But I mean people of true faith. I don't mean extremists and terrorists."
Khatami's visit to the Islamic Society drew criticism from the Chicago Jewish Federation, which issued a statement that condemned the former leader, saying he has "behaved as an enemy of America and our most cherished values."
Ingrid Mattson, the Islamic Society's newly elected president, said Friday the invitation to Khatami was a "natural extension of our role as proponents of dialogue and learning." She said the group hopes to show Khatami "how the American Muslim community has dealt with issues of religious freedom and tolerance and perhaps he can carry some of that message back."
The Islamic Society's four-day meeting is expected to draw more than 30,000 Muslims from Canada and around the United States for mostly nonpolitical sessions on subjects including retirement planning, Internet marketing, home schooling and dating.
I'll say! Why was this guy EVEN allowed in the Counrty? Geeezzzzzz.http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3298946,00.html
The collective 'we' is losing our minds, as well as our compass.
Hey, I know, lets turn this slim ball over to the Aryan Brotherhood for 444 days.
He'd make a cute 'hole.:shocked1:
Our "entry" policies are totally beyond my understanding.
Find it hard to belive, that this guy is still walking, and talking.:firing:
State Department, under Rice or Powell, sucks.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 5, 2006
CONTACT:
Eric Fehrnstrom
(617) 725-4025
ROMNEY DENOUNCES KHATAMI VISIT TO HARVARD
Declines to provide escort, or offer state support for trip
Governor Mitt Romney today ordered all Massachusetts state government agencies to decline support, if asked, for former Iranian President Mohammed Khatamis September 10 visit to the Boston area, where he is scheduled to speak at Harvard University.
State taxpayers should not be providing special treatment to an individual who supports violent jihad and the destruction of Israel, said Romney.
Romneys action means that Khatami will be denied an official police escort and other VIP treatment when he is in town. The federal government provides security through the U.S. State Department.
Romney criticized Harvard for honoring Khatami by inviting him to speak, calling it a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists, especially on the eve of the five-year anniversary of 9/11.
Said Romney: The U.S. State Department listed Khatamis Iran as the number one state sponsor of terrorism. Within his own country, Khatami oversaw the torture and murder of dissidents who spoke out for freedom and democracy. For him to lecture Americans about tolerance and violence is propaganda, pure and simple.
Romney cited a litany of hateful actions by Khatami, including his support for violent jihadist activities:
* During the period of time he was in office, from 1997 to 2005, Khatami presided over Irans secret nuclear program. Currently, the Iranian Government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is snubbing the international communitys request to cease nuclear weapons production.
* In the recent conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border, Khatami described the terrorist group Hezbollah as a shining sun that illuminates and warms the hearts of all Muslims and supporters of freedom in the world.
* Khatami has endorsed Ahmadinejads call for the annihilation of Israel.
* During Khatamis presidency, Iran refused to hand over the Iranian intelligence officials who were responsible for the attack on the Khobar Towers that killed 19 U.S. military personnel.
* In his own country, Khatami oversaw the torture and murder of Iranian students, journalists, and others who spoke out for freedom and democracy. Khatami relaxed freedom of speech laws giving democracy reformers a false sense of security only to engage in one of the largest crackdowns in the countrys history.
* In Khatamis Iran, there was no religious tolerance. According to the U.S. Office of International Religious Freedom, Iran was one of the worst offenders of religious persecutions. Minorities, such as Evangelicals, Jews, Catholics and others, have suffered.
Khatami pretends to be a moderate, but he is not. My hope is that the United States will find and work with real voices of moderation inside Iran. But we will never make progress in the region if we deal with wolves in sheeps clothing, said Romney.
"As America claims to be fighting terrorism, it implements policies that cause the intensification of terrorism and institutionalized violence," Khatami said at the Islamic Society of North America's 43rd annual convention.
He said Muslims must forge a new identity that embraces the modern world, tolerates other religions and works toward peace.
"There is a great opportunity of dialogue and cooperation among people of faith," he said in Farsi, speaking through a translator. "But I mean people of true faith. I don't mean extremists and terrorists."
He said American Muslims "through active participation in the social arena" can form lobbying groups and form a consensus with other Americans.
He has a sketchy past, but wow...you guys certainly did miss the fact that his speech was absolutely brilliant.
I agree with some of this post. American policy will certainly intensify terrorism in occupied nations, but I don't think any muslim-American citizens will turn to terrorism because of the war on terror.
As far as institutional violence: I think much of the United States is above such ignorance and prejudice, but it is certainly a possibilty. France is a better example of institutional violence.
Right on the money.
Only way to dispell some of the worthless notions that exist in this country.
If the US backs off are we going to get a less intense version of terrorism?"As America claims to be fighting terrorism, it implements policies that cause the intensification of terrorism and institutionalized violence," Khatami said at the Islamic Society of North America's 43rd annual convention.
If the US backs off are we going to get a less intense version of terrorism?
You bought a pig in a poke. This guy would have you beheaded if you set foot in Iran.
So, we do nothing for about 10 years and terrorism intensifies until 3000 Americans are killed on a single day. Then, Bush brings the fight to them and no more terror attacks happen on U.S. soil for the duration. Yet, Bush causes terrorism. Please explain to me how that works.
Then it is a good thing I am not going to Iran.
I have had this discussion in countless threads on this board. I will give you the quick and easy version: Fundamental flaws in the social/economic structure that exists in the middle east have allowed for manipulators like Bin Laden to take advantage of the impressable. The war on terror is not solving any of these flaws, it is in fact making new ones. Killing terrorists does little good if you have to devestate nations to do so.
The terror will only stop if: 1) the structural problems are solved. 2) Muslim people are informed enough to ignore the propoganda offered by terrorist groups. Likely a combination of both is necessary.
I respect, and applaud your conviction 1549, I just think your a little off base.
It's NOT our responsibility to solve the problems of the middle east.
It's NOT our responsibility to educate the people of the middle east.
Their civilization is much older than ours, they've had hundreds of years to totally screw the whole deal up, and they've done a great job I might add.
Let those that have slept in the bed MAKE IT UP.
OUR responsibility is to defend OUR people from radical wing nuts, that wish us and our allies harm.
Seems simple enough to me, where am I going wrong?
