I think this puts paid the deniers who say that Mad Mahmoud doesn’t want Israel destroyed.

PELLEY: Mr. President, you say you love all nations. I have to assume that includes the Nation of Israel.

AHMADINEJAD: Israel is not a nation. Well, we like the people, yes, because they are victims as well. They used to live in their own countries, in their own cities. They were given empty promises, false promises. They said that we are going to give you jobs, we are going to give you security. And they pushed the local Palestinian people out and made them refugees and also made refugees of another community. In other words, from thousands of miles away, people have been emigrating to this country and they are living in fear every day. And we feel for them. Last year in my speech I said that the Zionist entity should open the borders and the gates. Let the people decide where they want to go and settle. They are good people as well. We have no bones to pick with them. We are against terrorism. We are against wrong policies. We are friends with all people, Jewish people, Christians, different people of different faiths. We are, well, we’re in contact with them. Here in Iran there are Jewish communities; there are Christian communities; we’re all friends. Also, non-Muslim countries, we help them when a natural, let’s say, calamity breaks. We love all people. We are opposed to Zionism, occupation, terrorism, dropping bombs on behalf of people when they are inside their own homes, killing men, women, and children. Very openly I have said time and again that I oppose these.

PELLEY: If the Palestinians reach an agreement with Israel for a two-state solution, will you then recognize Israel as well?

AHMADINEJAD: Well, the decision rests with the Palestinian people. This is exactly what I’m saying.

PELLEY: What would you do, sir?

AHMADINEJAD: What I’m saying is that you should allow — oh, please, let me finish my thought. What we are saying, our solution for Palestine is a humane one. We are saying that you should allow the Palestinian people to participate in a fair and free election and determine their own fate. Whatever decision they take, everyone should go with that.

PELLEY: And if that decision . . .

AHMADINEJAD: No other party must interfere. We are not telling the Palestinian people what decisions they should take. Let them make their own decision. Whatever decision they take, we will go for that.

PELLEY: And if that decision is a two-state solution, you’re good with that? You could support a two-state solution?

AHMADINEJAD: Well, why are you prejudging what will happen? Let’s pave the ground first for a free and fair choice. And once they make their choice, we must respect that. All the people, all the Palestinian people must be given this opportunity, allow them to make their own decisions. Let us not tell them what course of action they need to take.

Notice that he never once commits himself to accepting Israel as a state. No shock there to me, but still—more proof of his genocidal intentions. Gee, tomorrow’s address to the UN is going to be interesting.

On the even of the Iranian president’s visit to America, where he intends to take full advantage of our freedom of speech, an Iranian news website that criticizes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been shut down.

Tehran - The Iranian judiciary has closed down the news website Baztab which is critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration, ISNA news agency reported Sunday. Baztab manager Mohammad-Javad Barbarian told ISNA that the prosecutor office sealed the Baztab office last Wednesday upon a request by the Ahmadinejad government which had argued that a legally filtered website should not be allowed to work.

And gee, look who’s pulling Baztab’s strings:

Baztab is said to be actually run by Mohsen Rezaie, former commander of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards and spokesman of the Expediency Council, a body meddling in legislative disputes and chaired by ex-president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who currently leads the opposition to Ahmadinejad.

But hey, watch for Ahmadinejad to make some jabs at the people who tried to get his speech at Columbia cancelled. In fact, watch for Ahmadinejad to not answer a single question asked of him at that speech, in spite of Lee Bollinger’s insistence that there will be a “tough” question-and-answer session.

If Mike Wallace couldn’t get him to give a straight answer to the tough questions, you can bet no one in Columbia’s going to manage it, either.

The Times of London purports to report on the details of the Israeli raid into Syria including a new “detail” that Israel seized some nuclear material.
But as Hot Air and Israel Matzav point out, the reporter has been known for flights of fancy. (via memeorandum)

I wrote on Friday that there seemed to be more evidence to suggest that the target was chemical not nuclear weaponry and news reports are ignoring that angle.

The New York Times does suggest that the suggestion of nuclear material comes from Israel.

Even though the Israelis are whispering that there was a nuclear connection to the Sept. 6 attack, so far there has been no hard evidence that the North has ever tried to sell elements of its two nuclear programs. One of those programs, involving plutonium, is quite advanced, enough to produce six to a dozen nuclear weapons. But selling that fuel would be enormously risky, and perhaps easily detectable.

I guess, that “whispering” might mean off the record. I still haven’t seen a report that explicitly tied the nuclear charge to Israel. The Times does provide some interesting background though.

American officials are also studying at least two technology trade agreements between Syria and North Korea that were signed over the summer, trying to determine whether the arrangements may be designed for nascent nuclear cooperation between the two countries.“One has to balance the skepticism that the Syrians can build an indigenous nuclear program with the very sobering assessment that North Korea is the world’s No. 1 proliferator and a country willing to sell whatever it possesses,” said a former senior Bush administration official who once had full access to the intelligence about both countries, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing intelligence assessments.

Though it has long sold its missile technology — to Syria, Iran, Pakistan and other customers — North Korea has never been known to export nuclear technology or material. Last Oct. 9, hours after the North tested its first nuclear device, Mr. Bush went in front of cameras in the White House to issue the North a specific warning that “the transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or nonstate entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold North Korea fully accountable of the consequences of such action.”

The problem with this story is that there are a lot of dogs not barking. And the one dog who did bark, was Bibi Netanyahu. Netanyahu spoke up to credit the government and (cynically) grab some of the credit himself. But why would he speak up if the raid wasn’t significant? Or was the significance simply that Israel was demonstrating its capabilities regarding Syria to forestall any more mischief to the north? Given the seeming complexity of the operation, I’d have to think that this was more than just a show of force. Which is why I have to believe that there was something more than missile parts involved.

Blue Crab Boulevard has a nice summary:

So, is it true? I have no idea. Neither, I suspect, do the reporters. What we do know is this: the Israeli government is not saying much of anything. In a country where leaking to the press is considered an art form - nothing. What is even more important: Syria, after a brief bit of whining, has shut up completely. They are silent about this whole incident. If they were innocent, they would be screaming from the rooftops. But, no, they are quiet.Logically, the conclusion then is that something very, very important was hit by the Israelis. Syria does NOT want the world to hear about what exactly got pounded. So this could be the real deal. Maybe yes, maybe no. But it is - completely - plausible.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

israel, syria.