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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has caused quite an uproar over his visit to the United States this week. Perhaps some of the controversy is because Iran is trying to obtain nuclear weapons. Perhaps it is because many believe that the Iranian leader supports the Iraq insurgency. Or perhaps the welcome is lukewarm because Ahmadinejad questions the truth of the Holocaust and has called for the destruction of Israel.

Given all this, It was not hard to be appalled when Ahmadinejad requested to lay a wreath at Ground Zero, and use the visit as a backdrop to a photo-op. Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., responded to Ahmadinejad's request, saying, "Iran can demonstrate its seriousness about concern with regard to terrorism by taking concrete actions." This would include things like ending uranium enrichment and the funding of the terrorist acts of Hezbollah. Maybe after Ahmadinejad puts an end to his dangerous ambitions we could trust him not to desecrate one of the United States' newest monuments to the price of freedom.

One door that hasn't been closed by Ahmadinejad's brinksmanship is that of liberal leaning Columbia University, who invited him to speak at a question-and-answer forum on Monday evening. NYC officials have the good sense to avoid giving the Iranian leader publicity, but the administration at Columbia University welcomes it.

Why is it that, while Ahmadinejad spends time shaking the hands of students on American soil, other college-age kids are dying on a battlefield sponsored in part by Iran? Let's hope that someone at Columbia is smart enough to ask that question.