Ahmadinejad and Curry Teach us About Hypocrisy
September 18th, 2009 § 3 Comments
The first of Ann Curry’s two part interview with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad aired on NBC earlier tonight. Curry directly questioned Ahmadinejad about the hotly contested election results, the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan and Iran’s nuclear power program. Curry’s line of questioning was calculated and to the point but she was unable to rattle Ahmadinejad into stumbling for answers as she no doubt would have liked to. His responses reiterated the official Iranian state line: he won the election fair and square, he is sorry about Agha-Soltan’s murder which is currently being investigated, and Iran’s nuclear power program is peaceful. Curry had the opportunity to go much further. Ahmadinejad should also be directly questioned about the treatment of Iran’s political prisoners (new and old), the alleged torture and rape of detained protestors, and state imposed censorship on Iranian society. Ahmadinejad would attempt to respond in the same manner regardless, but this fact should not deter anyone from continuing to press government officials about issues like these whenever they have the opportunity to do so.
That being said, it should also be noted that in a country like the United States, the so-called “arsenal of democracy,” there is yet to be an interview conducted in the same manner with figures like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld.
Watch Part 1 of Curry’s interview which was shot in Tehran below.
I totally agree with you that the interviewer was unprepared! Two possibilities:
1) Ahmadinejad had drawn red lines apriori; threatening to discontinue the interview (or not give them future “exclusive” privileges) should she ignore.
2) Curry was conducting the official American line to not rattle the boat of Ahmadinejad too hard–and to not jeopardize the upcoming talks with the US.
Now Ahmadinejad’s hypocrisy:
Timing of the NBC report coincided with the much anticipated Quds day rally (peculiarly absent from your reports). And in this interview Ahmadinejad acted “controversially” by giving ambiguous response to the question of weaponization. Contrary to your assessment, for the FIRST time ever, he did NOT deny that, and gave a very twisted answer, that translated to Persian means “well, we might be doing it!”
By creating this ambiguity, Ahmadinejad aimed to STEAL from “Green” protesters, the morning-after headlines when the Zionist press who would go hoohaa about “Ahmadinejad want the BOMB”. Bt his calculation fell flat! Of course he tried again, by ratcheting up the heat of his Holocaust denial in Quds Friday prayer speech! But who was to miss the hordes of people chanting in the background “Dorooghgoo, dorooghgoo, shast-o-se darsad-et koo” (Liar, Liar, where is your 63%?); and Not Ghazeh Not Lobnan, I give my life for Iran!
In fact, there seems to be very little interest in what he said to Ann Curry. Watching his ticking face; and the nervousness that has replaced his usual arrogance was a great gift to all of us who are trying to save our country from this (Israeli puppet??) Ahmadinejad. He may very soon find himself deprived of the free service of the Iranian expat bloggers who provided him a little spotlight here and there!
We shall wait for him with our shoes in New York!
“Censorship and propaganda don’t always need to be state imposed.”
In the same vein, goes your “timid” condemnation of Ahmadinejadist’s human rights abuses! I find it very HYPOCRITICAL how you mildly “mention” treatment of prisoners in iran (without even offering a link), only to follow it with a “HOWEVER, in the US …”
Whatever the hell US does or doesn’t do should not affect how one should confront tyranny! What Curry asks or doesn’t ask Ahmadinejad is irrelevant!
Your mission is what? be Anti American; or be pro-peace; pro-truth?! Fixated in victimhood?!
To the wonderfully media-savvy Pulse-media friends on the topic of their silence!
http://iranfacts.blogspot.com/2009/09/stupid-katie-couric-doesnt-world-have.html