(photo JRT -- Michael at the Sunday's protest, check his radio-talk show and blog)
That is, fundamentally, the argument offered by defenders of Khatami's visit to Harvard. Yes, he's an anti-Semitic terror sponsor, but he's one of the nice ones. Kind of like "Sure, I was a member of Hitler's Nazi government...but I only wanted to kill HALF the Jews"
Khatami's defenders can't, after all, argue that the guy isn't a terrorist. He was a follower of Ayatollah Khomeni, and he advocated "Islamic revolution" in Germany before following the Ayatollah to Iran in 1979. The day Khatami stepped off the plane in Tehran, our American hostages were being held in the US Embassy by his friends.
And you can't argue that Khatami opposed the Iranian policy of terrorizing its own citizens, because Khatami was a member of the ruling council in 1988 when Iran murdered 3,000 anti-Khomeni activists in one week. More importantly, Khatami stayed a member of the council and continued to work in the Islamist government for, well, the rest of his life.
And who can argue that Khatami opposes terrorism when he has chosen to remain a member of a terror-sponsoring government for 27 years? Iran shipped money and guns to Hizbollah and Hamas before Khatami took office, and every year of the eight years Khatami spent in office. Indeed, the infamous Karine-A--a ship loaded with weapons requested by Yassir Arafat and sent by the Iranian government--was captured off the Gaza coast during Khatami's term.
If killing Jews and torturing his own citizens was so unpleasant to the Nice Nazi, why didn't he just leave? Eight of the 9/11 hijackers were allowed to slip in and out of Khatami's Iran in 2000, why couldn't he have followed on of them to Kabul, and then on to Kennedy International? He wasn't a hostage or captive. The Khomeni team was his team. Why not just hang up his cleats and quit?
Because Khatami IS a Nazi. He's Islamist. That's who he is. That's his chosen world view. He supports the use of violence to achieve Islamists ends, both in Iraq and Israel. He may not support it as fervently or ferociously as current president AhmedWhack-I-Job, but he supports it nonetheless.
Is Khatami a reformed Nazi? Has he rejected his Islamist, terror-sponsoring past? Just ask him. He'll tell you he still supports Hamas and Hezbollah. "I love Hezbollah," he told French President Chirac, "and it must never be disarmed."
So how do Khatami's clowns overlook this? Simple. They deny that the terrorists are terrorists in the first place. As the Boston Globe puts it today: "The two [US and Iran] are also at odds over Iran's support for Hezbollah and Hamas, militant groups that call for Israel's destruction and are considered terrorist organizations by the US government." [emphasis added]
Oh, that mean ol' US government. Calling an organization "terrorist" just because it drives truck bombs into buildings and sends backpacks full of explosives and rat poison into pizza parlors.
That's not "terrorism," that's, er, uh "negotiation!" And Khatami's not a terrorist, he's a reformer. He's "terrorism-lite!" 50% less terror! 1/3 less anti-Semitism!
And available on the eve of 9/11 at your local, liberal university.
UPDATE: Here is Khatami's resume' in the Islamist government of Iran, provided as a public service to the useful idiots at Harvard:
* Representative in parliament, 1980-82.
* Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, 1982-86; again 1989-92. (This office oversaw the creation of Hizbollah during Khatami's term)
* Head Librarian (and censor) of the National Library of Iran, 1992-97.
* Member, Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution.
* Member and former Chairman, Central Council of the Militant Clerics' League.posted by Michael Graham at 9:37 AM [link]
posted by: jrtelegraph
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