Iran, Nukes, Diplomacy and other options (catch all thread 2007-2010)

[bourbon]

Post

Very well said.

Agree 100% about the Columbia University event. That worked out very bad for Iran. The only people who came away looking more of a buffoon then Ahmadinejad, were Bollinger and the people who complained so much about having him speak. Ahmadinejad came off more like a clown then a pariah, and I imagine his performance and how he was essentially laughed at in the west hurt his domestic standing.

PS: The "I-Ran" song parody about Ahmadinejad in NYC this fall was probably the best sketch Saturday Night Live has done in a few years.

[Rex Brynen]

Agree 100% about the Columbia University event. That worked out very bad for Iran. The only people who came away looking more of a buffoon then Ahmadinejad, were Bollinger and the people who complained so much about having him speak. Ahmadinejad came off more like a clown then a pariah, and I imagine his performance and how he was essentially laughed at in the west hurt his domestic standing.

I heard the opposite from many Iranians (including opponents of Ahmadinejad)--the open hostility of Bollinger was seen as so rude and contrary to the norms of hospitality that it overshadowed the content of Ahmadinejad's speech. As a result, he came off (remarkably!) looking like the statesman to domestic mass audiences...

While many in the Iranian foreign policy elite cringe at the President's antics and declarations, don't underestimate the way it plays with both hardliners and his broader voter base, among whom tweaking the US can score domestic points.