Analysis of Ahmadinejad's chat with Larry King--for Deanna

Yeah, double standard all right. Israel's an ally, Iran's considered an enemy. Neither one are very open to inspection, though since Israel owes us, I doubt they'll use the nukes without provocation. That would look really bad for us.
He removes himself from the issue of hostility. BOTH countries are to blame for that (though I can see Cheney issuing some threats behind closed doors).
Lol, " AHMADINEJAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): No. We do not a preference of any sort... And it's not important to us either."
Disagree with him, but it's still funny how casually he brushes the election of one of the most powerful people in the world off.

I would really like to see Obama have a chat with Ahmadinejad, but that would be feeding into the hands of O'Reilly and Limbaugh.

"AHMADINEJAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Our country of Iran has a historical presence that extends to 7,000 years. And never has the Iranian nation taken a misstep against another nation. Throughout history, it has demonstrated that." ORLY? I seem to remember the Iran-Iraq war(s) being instigated by both sides.

Love the sideswipes he makes periodically. "But this defense does not mean that we must infringe on the rights of other nations, not at all."

This is new, "You are aware that in the course of the U.S. attack on Iraq, we were
asked, in fact, to enter into the coalition or the war, to some extent
-- not the coalition, but the war -- just to make up for the war that
Saddam launched against us that went on for eight years." Hadn't heard that before.
This one's new, too, "But let me tell you, 118 member states of the NAM, the Non- Aligned
Movement, have actually supported our peaceful nuclear pursuits.
Fifty-seven member states of the Organization of Islamic States have
also given their support to us in this regard. And there are many other
organizations -- multilateral organizations that have supported our
endeavor and efforts."

He's right, certainly, about Iraq. It's the keystone to the Middle East. Been wondering recently if the Iraq Invasion was a power play, too. Showing bin Laden who's the boss and everything (not that the invasion actually took much effort).

He sidesteps a lot of questions--typical from what I remember of him. And is right about the bomb as a purely state-oriented political threat. States want to be around in the long run, after all.

Focuses a lot on Israel, which will not reassure most Americans. We like Israel, we like having an ally in the region besides Turkey, we like the feel-good of having given the Holocaust survivors a homeland again.
And just as a note, the division of Palestine isn't America's fault--that was Churchill. Whatever you can say about Sharon, he was moving people out of the occupied territories, which was good. Olmert started movin' 'em back in after Sharon became a veggie. And Arafat had the opportunity to have a homeland again through the Oslo peace talks under Clinton, but refused it because it wasn't the old borders again. And Palestine DOES have free elections--that's how Abbas got in power much to the concernation of the US.
Wish he'd give a definition of a Zionist. Does that include someone who lives in Israel, oe just those that support it as a State. What about the people in government or in the army? They don't have a choice about being in the army, you know. Required for all 18 year olds.
Denying the Holocaust doesn't help his case in not being a threat.
"Or in Alaska, perhaps." LOL, chase out the moose! And they can have Palin--nobody will miss her.

"AHMADINEJAD (through translator): I have no concerns in that regard
because they aren't able to do that, because the worst thing the U.S.
government can do would be an attack. I think that in the United States
there are enough reasonable people, smart people, who would not allow
the U.S. government to make a mistake."
Hope so. We can't do a three-front war.
"Iran is an extremely big country and very developed and powerful, too. With big people." Nearly died. Sounds like a little boy describing a fish he caught. If he were to be more explict in what he means (big hearted, he said later), iinstead of sounding like a blaggart, that would be good.
Makes a silly arguement about homosexuality. And ignores some gruesome hangings (hung by a crane until dead).

"AHMADINEJAD (through translator): If it an, it would be the best
scenario. But I think that it needs a timetable. That's what I think. A
clear timetable so that it allows for their withdrawal in the shortest
a period of time. Because the presence of the United States there has
not reduced tension and it has not limited terrorism, either. In fact,
it has increased terrorism."
Agreed. There's blog by an Iraqi woman called Neurotic Iraq Wife who says we need to get our asses out, because it would be best for Iraq (the September 2008 archive, "The Blatant Neurotic Iraqi Truth..." if you're interested).

"...wherever we can meet with the American people and to learn about them
and their lives. We think that having talks is the best way." Dunno if LA is the best place to learn about American culture (it's such an anamoly!), but he's right. If you understand a people, you can communicate effectively with them, and if he wants to convince us Iran is not a threat, he need to do that better than he has. He's also right about saying we need more contact with Iran, because if we understand a country, we can deal with it effectively. And despite being friends with you, I don't know too terribly much about Iranian culture.