Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked permission to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site when he comes to New York City next week, but the request was denied, a police official said Wednesday.
The Iranian president, who is arriving Sunday to address the United Nations’ General Assembly, had asked the police department, the U.S. Secret Service and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey earlier this month for permission to visit the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, police spokesman Paul Browne said.
The police and Secret Service provide security to visiting heads of state.
The request to enter the fenced-in site was rejected because of ongoing construction there, Browne said. “Requests for the Iranian president to visit the immediate area would also be opposed by the NYPD on security grounds,” Browne said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said earlier Wednesday that the city was considering Ahmadinejad’s request, but Browne said about two hours later that Kelly had misspoke.
Kelly’s comments prompted outcry from politicians and families of Sept. 11 victims.
The Port Authority, which owns the trade center site and is the only agency that could grant Ahmadinejad permission to go inside, said it never received such a request, contradicting the police statement.
“We have not been asked to accommodate the president of Iran,” Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said Wednesday.
It wasn’t clear whether Ahmadinejad wanted to descend to the base of the trade center site, where the fallen twin towers stood, or lay a wreath on a public sidewalk outside the site. Telephone calls to the Iranian Mission to the United Nations were not immediately returned.
Kelly earlier said he did not know why Ahmadinejad expressed interest in the site. “I am not sure we have the rationale behind it,” he said.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Wednesday that an Ahmadinejad visit to ground zero “is a matter for the city of New York, but it seems more than odd that the president of a country that is a state sponsor of terror would visit ground zero.”
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters Wednesday that the United States would not support Iran’s attempt to use the site for a “photo op.”
“Iran can demonstrate its seriousness about concern with regard to terrorism by taking concrete actions,” such as dropping support for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and suspending their uranium enrichment program, Khalilzad said.
Iran and the U.S. have not had diplomatic relations since Washington cut its ties with Tehran after Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. The Bush administration has accused Iran of arming Shiite Muslim militants in Iraq and seeking to develop nuclearweapons.
In a television appearance earlier this week, Ahmadinejad said his country wanted peace and friendship with the United States, despite mounting tensions between the two countries.
Seems like someone is always trying to convince me that the United States is the cause of every single war or conflict throughout history. More specifically, that President Bush is the man personally responsible for everything even remotely related to war. Of course even attempting to refute any such claim results in a slew of insults and claims of Jingoism.
I’m no historian, however, it seems obvious (to me at least) that war predates the existence of the President Bush and even the United States. The first instance of war I know of is the Border War between Umma and Lagash in 2500 BC which was a few thousand years before American Revolutionary War from 1775-1783. This does not stop people from making such unqualified statements as “America is the most violent country in history” or “No nation has ever invaded as many countries or killed as many people as the U.S.” and no one can ever provide any evidence of this.
Every American has the right and (in my opinion) responsibility to stand up for what they believe in. It is possible and even very effective to disagree with American foreign policy without lies and misrepresentation.
After several weeks and dozens of hours of research I have found that this is going to consume much more time than I anticipated. Therefore, this is and will remain for sometime, a work in progress. I’ve decided to go ahead and publish it while I’m working on it as the majority of what I have left is either aesthetic or just filling in the blanks. I’ve been as impartial and thorough as possible, if you find any errors or omissions of fact, leave a comment (with sources or references if possible) and I will research & correct it. Casualty counts are often disputed, approximated and/or unknown. The most reliable statistics are listed where available. Ongoing conflicts will most likely end up in higher casualty counts, those posted are current as of October 2007.
Prehistory—1000BC
ca. 2500—2450 BC Border wars between Umma and Lagash
#255 - Former Kuwaiti Minister Ahmad Al-Ruba’i on Arab Conspiracy Theories
Al-Arabiya TV (Dubai) - 9/11/2004
People all over the world who have a near psychotic belief in delusional fantasy (conspiracies) could learn much here. So many Americans are doing the same thing. Which is extremely destructive to the fabric of a free & productive society. ~ Malagent
Oh how quickly Americans, particularly liberals forget. I remember Al Gore giving a speech criticizing Bush Sr. for not going to war with Iraq - now I have found the video of that speech here.
Here’s Gore in 1992, telling America that George H. W. Bush needed to rush to war in taking out Iraq’s terrorism-linked, wmd-seeking Saddam Hussein. I’m pretty sure this substantially proves that liberals will blindly follow whatever supports their preconceived ideas, i.e “I support Gore because the media says he’s smarter,” when all along they support Gore regardless. The knee-jerk reaction is to always see what supports our ideas and to downplay that which contradicts them. You can’t reason with a bigot; no matter what the issue is, you’re darned if you do and you’re darned if you don’t.
From RightLinx.com
My response to that is this collection of quotes from a few people.
Since the original post I have found this video that does a pretty good job of getting the point across.
Years before George W. Bush became our president, most prominent Democrats wanted Saddam Hussein’s head on a platter.
Now those same Democrats say that George W. lied to us and Hussein never had any WMDs, and the only reason president Bush went into Iraq was for the oil.
The next time one of these “Demon-crats”, masquerading as a politician, start spewing their Verbal Weapons of Mass Destruction; send them a copy of this web page.
“One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line.” President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
“If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program.” President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
“Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biologicalweapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.” Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998
(Actually signed by: Carl Levin, Joe Lieberman, Frank R. Lautenberg, Dick Lugar, Kit Bond, Jon Kyl, Chris Dodd, John McCain, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Alfonse D’Amato, Bob Kerrey, Pete V. Domenici, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara A. Mikulski.
Thomas Daschle, John Breaux, Tim Johnson, Daniel K. Inouye, Arlen Specter, James Inhofe, Strom Thurmond, Mary L. Landrieu, Wendell Ford, John F. Kerry, Chuck Grassley, Jesse Helms, Rick Santorum) ~ Malagent
“Hussein has … chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies.” Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999
“There is no doubt that… Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies.”
Letter to President Bush, Signed by Joe Lieberman (D-CT), John McCain (Rino-AZ) and others, Dec. 5, 2001
“We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them.”
Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002
“Iraq’s search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power.” Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
“I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force– if necessary– to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.”
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002
“We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction.” Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002
“[W]ithout question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime … He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation … And now he is miscalculating America’s response to his contin ued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction … So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real …” Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003
Syrian TV saying that the great Arab peoples have managed to shape this great culture of martyrdom and that their “enemies” try to bring them down from this “honor”
Another insight into the twisted world of blowing your self up - trying to kill innocent woman and children for Allah.
From the checkpoints as seen on Israeli TV - the commercial channel 2 - a Palestinian 14 year old boy suicide bomber getting caught at the Shchem checkpoint.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said earlier Wednesday that the city was considering Ahmadinejad’s request, but Browne said about two hours later that Kelly had misspoke.
