Diane Sawyer Interviews Ahmadinejad, Part Two

Is it any surprise that Ahmadinejad thinks that the US was behind the Iran-Iraq war that lasted from 1980-1988. He thinks the US supplied Iraq with all manner of weapons. Never mind that the Iranians had all kinds of US weapons at their disposal because the Shah of Iran was a close ally with the US before he was deposed by the mad mullahs. The US did have an interest in watching Iran suffer - to make up for the fact that US diplomats were held for 440 days by Ahmadinejad's fellow travelers in violation of international law and which should have been more than sufficient justification to eliminate the regime in Tehran but for Jimmy Carter's fecklessness.

Ahmadinejad was also coy about the planned announcements relating to the nuclear program and whether the enrichment equipment will be up and running. That and he got in another free jab at the US:

Ahmadinejad: Well, we will say it clear when the time comes, we are the only country whose activities are completely transparent and we will just inform the world if we do something.

Sawyer: I talked to IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency ] yesterday, and they say something different, that there are gaps, but I'd like to move on if I can … because the president has said we will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Do you think America is preparing to take military action against Iran?

Ahmadinejad: Well, of course the current president doesn't feel obliged to speak within the framework of law. He thinks to be above the law. We work within the framework of the agency, and we work based on laws and regulations and we want to have what we are entitled to, not war. I think it's quite clear. And President Bush cannot pass the buck to others and and solve the problems of Iraq by pointing fingers.

Solving the problems of Iraq means dealing with the insurgency, some of whom are being funded and equipped courtesy of the fundamentalist Islamist government in Tehran. That means that Iran is part of the problem, but why would Ahmadinejad admit that? Finger pointing back at the US is always preferable.

Sawyer then asks Ahmadinejad about the Holocaust, Israel, and his comments about watching Israel burn, the repeated calls to annihilate Israel. What does Mahmoud say? He changes the subject to Palestinian rights and avoids actually answering the question, though it is clear that he doesn't believe Israel has a right to exist:

Ahmadinejad: I will tell you, just wait a little. Just be patient and listen. We believe that in Palestine, there should be a referendum and Palestinians, Muslims, Jews, any Palestinians, and this is based on international regulations and I think it's their right to determine their future. Any decision made by Palestinians must be respected, and I think this is a very clear proposition.

Why are people opposed, what we say is clear. If you continue massacring innocent people, if you continue to make them refugees, and if you continue attacking neighboring countries, then the countries and the people of those countries, regions … get angry, because the Zionist regime was imposed upon them.

You know many families, they don't function … where their members are either incarcerated or killed. … Many mothers are now mourning the death of their children.

Even the Palestinian government, which was elected by democratic vote, is attacked by the Zionist regime. Members of the Parliament are arrested. The ministers are arrested. Israel is not following regulations. … Some American politicians support oppression. There is no other solution.

Ahmadinejad knows his audiences better than most.

UPDATE:
And as I expected, not a single mention of Iran's relationship to Hizbullah. Curious how that happens.

UPDATE:
Charles at LGF notes the way Sawyer had to cover up so as not to offend Ahmadinejad and his Islamist sensitivities. He relates that Oriana Fallaci did no such thing when she interviewed the mad mullahs. Ahmadinejad was also quite condescending to Sawyer and wondered why she was asking about questions of war, diplomacy, and terrorism, and not issues of family, love, etc. Funny, but the issues are related - Iran's support of terrorism in its ongoing war against non-Islamists keeps families apart and results in broken families throughout the world.

Others blogging: Hot Air, Ed Driscoll.

UPDATE:
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, Is It Just Me?, The Random Yak, Big Dog's Weblog, Adam's Blog, basil's blog, Common Folk Using Common Sense, The Amboy Times, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, Rightlinx, Faultline USA, third world county, stikNstein... has no mercy, Pirate's Cove, Planck's Constant, and Dumb Ox Daily News, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.