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See Some Evil, Hear Some Evil
The protests surrounding today's visit to New York of Iranian President Ahmadinejad are exactly the right response to his presence in our country. Just as appropriate, however, is Columbia University's decision to allow the infamous leader to answer questions in a moderated forum this evening.
Mr. Ahmadinejad's reputation, obviously, precedes him. His denial of the Holocaust, his threats against Israel, and his country's nuclear ambitions are well known. Iran's numerous human rights abuses, too, reveal a dangerously fundamentalist country, and a rapidly developing threat to the secular democratic world.
We all pretty much agree that Ahmadinejad is bad news, and we need not look for reasons to respect him or his regime. But as nice as it feels to be united as a nation, for a couple of days, anyway, shutting our ears and eyes against something we fear is no way to defeat it. We ought to embrace the opportunity to hear what this man has to say. To get a sense of what kind of person he is, how his mind works, why people across the Islamic world are so drawn to him, is to begin to deal with the problems posed by him, and leaders like him, wherever they are.
Failing to let Iran's President speak would be just as bad as ignoring him, and as most of us will agree, ignoring a problem is no way to fix it.