Originally Posted by stereoman
Originally Posted by Joe Keegan
The government could have- if they wanted- limited him to the UN and then put him on the next plane back to Iran instead of letting him traipse about NYC.

My own sense of it is that Ahmadinejad's visit will have little or no effect on people's opinions. The fact is (I believe) most "true Americans" could care less about whether his government is persecuting a few intellectuals or homosexuals. What they care about is whether Iran is supporting the insurgency in Iraq, or developing nukes to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.

There is nothing he could say to address those points. I gather he didn't bother to try.

Steve,

I think that you're correct that many Americans don't care who he persecutes. For that matter, many Americans don't care about the illegality or immorality of the Iraq war, but only that it's taken so long. However, many people don't want any expansion of the war in the Mid-East, which most regarding as a losing proposition. I believe that this Administration intends to bomb Iran, but they haven't been "selling" the idea and the American people haven't been "buying" it so far. I believe that Ahmadinejad's visit is the "selling point." Ahmadinejad being himself will be regarded as enough justification for bombing Iran. His speech at Columbia pissed off a lot of people and I believe that this was the effect the Administration hoped for.

Joe