Sympathy for the Devil
What's the problem with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanting to visit Ground Zero in New York? I won't deny that Ahmadinejad has offensive and stupid ideas about 9/11. Like he wrote last year:
Sept. 11 was not a simple operation. Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligences and security services, or with extensive infiltration? Of course, this is just an educated guess. Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret?
This is the crap that burly men in black T-shirts bullhorn at passersby near Ground Zero, but Ahmadinejad was just planning to plant a wreath and rake in PR cred. And before Ahmadinejad won the presidency, Iran was smoothing the path for Saudi terrorists to move in and out of Afghanistan. It funds Hezbollah. It supports anti-America forces in Iraq.
Let's accept all that. This still represents a politicization of 9/11 egged on by presidential candidates and hawkish pundits. Iran, remember, joined the chorus of official outrage after the terrorist attacks, then-Pres. Khatami saying "In the name of the Iranian government and people, I condemn the terrorist attacks on public centers of American cities."
The anti-Ahmadinejad debate doesn't address any of that: It's a calvacade of non sequitors. I just watch John Gibson say that "the man who wants to wipe Israel off the map won't be allowed to visit the place that was wiped off the map." John McCain says he should be tackled because of his "immense ego" and spun this scenario: "Suppose while he was at Ground Zero an IED would go off in Iraq and kill Americans. That would be unacceptable."
