NBC Exclusive: Ahmadinejad on the record

zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
Fri Sep 29 18:02:39 EDT 2006


-- 



NBC Exclusive: Ahmadinejad on the record

* Profile

NEW YORK - Here in New York Tuesday we sat down for an exclusive 
conversation with a man who is the focus of so much of the Bush 
Administration foreign policy: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the man 
most Americans are used to seeing in a zip-up tan jacket, the man who 
the U.S. believes is planning to make Iran the next nuclear nation on 
the planet, and that has prompted talk of a future war between the 
two nations.

Brian Williams: How do you think the discussion has been allowed to 
get that far, that we're discussing possible war between the U.S. and 
Iran?

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: I think we need to ask this question from 
American, U.S., politicians. The world has changed. The time for 
world empires has ended. The U.S. government thinks that it's still 
the period after World War II, when they came out as a victor and 
enjoyed special rights. And can rule, therefore, over the rest of the 
world. I explicitly say that I am against the policies chosen by the 
U.S. government to run the world. Because these policies are moving 
the world towards war.

He is the son of a blacksmith, he's the former mayor of Tehran, who 
won the presidency out of nowhere, and has made news often with his 
sometimes-outrageous statements. He speaks very little English and so 
our conversation was through an interpreter, beginning with his 
message, pointed at our audience.

Brian Williams: Mr. President, you're here as a guest of the United 
Nations, under the protection of the United States. What is your 
message to the American people?

Ahmadinejad: In the letter I sent to Mr. Bush, I also addressed the 
American people. We think that the American people are like our 
people. They're good people. They support peace, equality and 
brotherhood. They like to see the world in peace.

Williams: What was your reaction to the pope's speech? And do you 
accept his apology?

Ahmadinejad: I think that the people who give political advice to the 
pope were not well informed.

Williams: Do you accept his words of apology?

Ahmadinejad: I think that he actually takes back his statement, and 
there is no problem. He should be careful that those who want war do 
not take advantage of his statements and use it for their own causes. 
People in important positions should be careful about what they say. 
What he said may give an excuse to another group to start a war.

Williams: The president of the United States, speaking to the United 
Nations today, said to the people of Iran he looks forward to the day 
when America and Iran can be good friends. And close partners, in the 
cause of peace. How do you react to the statement of the American 
president today?

Ahmadinejad: We have the same desire, to be together, for the cause 
of world peace. But we have to see what the impediments are. Is it 
Iranian forces that have occupied countries neighboring the United 
States, or is it American forces that are occupying countries 
neighboring Iran? If Mr. Bush is saying that he can create the 
distance between the Iranian nation and the Iranian government, he is 
wrong.

Williams: You are on the cover of Time magazine here in the United 
States and around the world. Inside, it says, "A Date with a 
Dangerous Mind." Why do you think they think you have a dangerous 
mind? Do you?

Ahmadinejad: You should hear what I have to say, and then be the 
judge of that. I think that if people have a hard time accepting the 
logic and fact, they should not actually accuse others. The picture 
is an attempt to darken my face a lot. I think it actually shows me 
much younger than what I am.

Williams: If I was President Bush, sitting here across from you, what 
would you say to him?  President to President, but more important, 
man to man?

Ahmadinejad: I think that the situation would have been better here, 
if you were Mr. Bush. I sent him a letter.

Williams: I'm aware of it.

Ahmadinejad: I raised some very serious issues. I really expressed my 
thoughts and beliefs. You know that I am teacher. I am interested in 
talks and in dialogue. I like to understand the truth. Facts. And in 
that letter, I raised very important subject. I invited him to peace, 
brotherhood and friendship. But we did not receive an answer.

Williams: And the American president says, "It's OK, keep your 
nuclear program to keep your homes warm. Stop enriching uranium 
toward weapons." How do you react?

Ahmadinejad: Who is the judge for that? Any entity except for the 
IAEA? Reports indicate that Iran has had no deviation. We have said 
on numerous occasions that our activities are for peaceful purposes. 
The agency's cameras videotape all the activities that we have. Did 
Iran build the atomic bomb and use it? You must know that, because of 
our beliefs and our religion, we're against such acts. We are against 
the atomic bomb. We believe bombs-- are used only to kill people.

Williams: Why keep them in your arsenal if you don't someday hope to 
tip them with a nuclear weapon?

Ahmadinejad: So are you thinking of the possibility of a danger? Is 
that what you're speaking of?

Williams: I'm asking about your arsenal.

Ahmadinejad: Yes, we are powerful and strong in defending ourselves.

Our conversation took place in a hotel here in Midtown Manhattan, 
where he's protected by his own security and the U.S. Secret Service 
while he's in America.

At first, the 5-foot 4-inch President disliked the chairs, saying the 
arms wouldn't allow him to move his arms. So we changed chairs. He 
talked about the cover of TIME magazine. He thinks the illustration 
makes him look young. And when I noted that he was not wearing his 
trademark tan zipper jacket, he said he wore a suit because he 
thought I would do the same.

Once underway, I asked him to explain why he famously called the 
Holocaust a "myth."

Williams: There is something you said that upset and scared a lot of 
people. It upset a lot of Jews in the United States and around the 
world when you called the Holocaust a myth. There are people, some 
people I know, who escaped Hitler's reign. There is research. There 
are scholars who teach you about it. And yet, you've expressed doubt 
about the holocaust, why?

Ahmadinejad: In the Second World War, over 60 million people lost 
their lives. They were all human beings. Why is it that only a select 
group of those who were killed have become so prominent and important?

Williams: Because of the difference humankind draws between warfare 
and genocide.

Ahmadinejad: Do you think that the 60 million who lost their lives 
were all at the result of warfare alone? There were 2 million that 
were part of the military at the time -- perhaps altogether 58 
million civilians with no roles in the war -- Christians, Muslims, 
they were all killed. If this event happened, and if it is a 
historical event, then we should allow everyone to research it and 
study it. The more research and studies are done, the more we can 
become aware of the realities that happened. Historical events are 
always subject to revisions, and reviews and studies.

Williams: Is that a change in your position that Israel should be 
wiped away? And second, would you ever be willing to sit down with 
Jews, with scholars, with survivors of Hitler's camps where 6 million 
died? Our American film director, Steven Spielberg, is one of many 
collecting the stories of those still alive, who will tell you of the 
dead, and the program to kill the Jews in Germany and elsewhere.

Ahmadinejad: The main question is, if this happened in Europe, what 
is the fault of the Palestinian people? This is a problem we have 
today, the root cause of many of our problems, not what happened 60 
years ago. The Palestinian people, their lives are being destroyed 
today under the pretext of the Holocaust. Their lands have been 
occupied, usurped. What is their fault? What are they to be blamed 
for? Are they not human beings? Do they have no rights? What role did 
they play in the Holocaust?

© 2006 MSNBC Interactive




More information about the Zgrams mailing list