Ahmadinejad 'willing to hold a debate with Obama'

Damit I want to vote your comment down and up.

Are you confusing Obama with Mel Gibson? :D

yeeeeeea- Wait lulwut? o.O

Fun. :)

A murderer and a KKK leader have almost no sway in the world, while the leader of a country that the U.S. holds several sanctions against (to the detriment to the country's innocent citizens more than any political leader the U.S. is pretending to target) and is openly demonized in hopes of swaying opinion towards invading Iran, merits some sort of level-handed acknowledgment.

Commentators here have convinced me that the idea of a debate probably isn't the most productive way to improve the status quo (particularly when the Right of this country is so damn illogical, paranoid and loud), but I don't think rejecting a debate is a question of legitimacy. Ahmadinejad isn't some random Third World leader come out of absolutely nowhere, wanting a piece of the Obama pie. He wantsta holla back.

has our sanctions really hurt the locals? i mean they are texting and twittering about neda and broadcasting thier national discourse through camera phones.i know we are jaded but when the population can get thier hands on flashplaying devices im not really feeling the deprived suffring vibe, as no victims of the darfur genocide have these things.they just had goerge clooney.

i guess im saying it is all relative, and iran isnt that worse off as a result of our sanctions.they stil got thier hands on some yellow cake.

Haha he does indeed wantsta holla back lol. But yeah I do see your point, I guess I just feel like even though he is the leader of a country, he has not shown himself to be a man of any character or moral discernment whatsoever and even based purely on that I feel like it would be unwise to pay him any attention.
It's like if you've got a kid who's throwing a temper tantrum. Do you indulge their behavior and give them what they want? Of course not. You wait until they stop their destructive behavior, get their act together and are willing to approach the situation on a mature and adult level.
Ahmadinejad has been like a kid throwing a tantrum for years, it's time for him to stop destroying his country, hurting his people, and generally acting like an a$$. If he shows that he's capable of that (which I for one highly doubt) then the time will come to consider granting him an audience with our president.

Yeah I can agree with you here, though I don't think his reputation can ever be salvaged at this point, regardless if he even has the ability to. And its the Iranian people who suffer most for that, clearly. Perhaps if Obama would state that the Iranian leader would have to prove himself to some degree, it wouldn't be easy for Ahmadinejad to appear ignored and the diplomatic one who's ignored... I don't know. I understand why he is just ignored. But it just perpetuates a status quo that isn't going a good direction.

My opinion has been shifting a lot on this particular topic.. :P

Really, Obama would get owned without a teleprompter? Well hot damn, it's a good thing he had access to a teleprompter when he took on McCain in those presidential debates, else he would have looked like a complete fool and probably would have lost the presidency.

Every politician reads their speech.

What do you base that on? Nothing. Maybe he should just write on his hand? Talk out of his ass like you?

i base it on the fact that the dude can't do shit without his teleprompters. without his magic word screens he stutters incessantly. i also base it on the fact that anyone with a brain can see who the aggressors are in this situation. we've been meddling in the internal affairs of iran for many years and have been beating the drums of war since the last administration. iran is surrounded by american forces. it's hard to debate that logic. the world would see right through it. and btw, obama has been talking out of his ass for at least as long as he has been in the public spotlight, so he's already way ahead of you there buddy.

Right on.

This dude is the Hitler of our time, why would anyone want to debate with him?

He's already made his intentions quite clear.

because as history has proven communication holds the key to peace not being a bully. when u can come to common grounds and become not just some face but a real person - this can get one very far for peaceful talks and communication. or you just get drunk together (sarcasm).

and if he has made his intentions so clear - what does it matter if we talk to him. worth a shot. what will be- will be.

i thought the hitler of our time was saddam hussein? oh wait, we already got rid of him, on to the next hitler of our time.

come on man, his country is completely surrounded by american forces. the intentions are clear all right.

You're talking about a guy who believes that he can "hasten the return of the Mahdi" (Islam's Jesus) by washing the world in blood.

This man believes he was chosen by Allah to hasten the Islamic saviour.

Something that should be taken into account.

And if you seek proof, just listen to the end of his speeches at the UN

Ahmadinejad: U.S. is Blocking Return of Savior

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims the United States is attempting to thwart the return of mankind's savior, according to reports from Al Arabiya, a television news station based in Dubai.

Ahmadinejad reportedly claims he has documented evidence that the U.S. is blocking the return of Mahdi, the Imam believed by Muslims to be the savior.

“We have documented proof that they believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world,” Ahmadinejad said during a speech on Monday, according to Al Arabiya.

http://current.com/news/91642376_ahmadinejad-u-s-is-blocking-return-of-savior.ht...

"communication holds the key to peace." Exactly! They gotta start somewhere folks, regardless of how we feel about Obama or Ahmadinejad. We desperately need dialogue if we're gonna get anywhere in our relations with Iran.

Maybe we should petition Obama and his administration to agree to a public discussion of some kind with him -- I don't think a "debate" is necessarily the best format to facilitate an open dialogue.

does he believe this as you arent in his mind, or is that the narrative put forth by certain christian groups that benefit from islamophobia?

Enough proof is there.

i think you may have too liberal a view of what "proof" means, cuz it is all rather subjective.

personaly i believe as a matter of faith or deductive logic, that old achmi would love nothing more than to drop a nuke on israels major cities.i suspect for political reasons, as well as religious reasons, but i dont have anything solid to base this on, just the impression i get.
i feel,think,suspect,conclude,have faith,believe,fear, but i have no proof.

on a side note if you think thier is proof, please play the racist card if you are every picked for jury duty, especialy if a life hangs in the balance

Iran clerics rebuke Ahmadinejad over 'hidden imam'

Clerics have told President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stick to more worldly issues after he was quoted as saying the "hidden imam" of Shiite Islam was directing Iran.
Ahmadinejad has always been a devotee of the Mahdi, the twelfth imam of Shiite Islam, who Shiites believe disappeared more than a thousand years ago and who will return one day to usher in a new era of peace and harmony.

But in a speech to theology students broadcast by state television on Monday, Ahmadinejad went further than ever before in emphasising his belief that the Mahdi is playing a critical role in Iran's day-to-day politics.

"The Imam Mahdi is in charge of the world and we see his hand directing all the affairs of the country," he said in the speech, which appears to date from last month but has only now been broadcast.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080507094625.zy32hvir&show_article=1

3rd party diplomacy as the situation is too hot for either to step to.

i checked out your source, and despite the fact that they dont have a reporter actually present at these conversations to report on them, they have a bias and it isnt subtle.maybe your too into it like the way a parents love for thier child makes them fail to see the errors of that child.

your source has conservative written all over it from the catagories being things like "big government" and "big hollywood" wich are as conservative a set of an ideas, as the holy trinity is catholic.further more your "news" source has on its front page a "new"s story about the remains of john the baptist.does it not strike you as odd that the remains of john the baptist isnt the headline in all the news outlets being as we are a christian nation living in a christian dominated media circut.the dead sea scrolls are getting more play now, then they ever have before, so if the baptist story were legit, and not religious placating filler wouldnt that too get play?

all im saying is, it is highly coincidental that every single person whom has shared this 12th imam achmadinajad theory, has done so from a highly religious perspective themselves.i have yet to hear any fellow muslums, muslum converts to chrsitianity,jews, or secualr people recognize this theory.
this is evangelican spin, just like the idea that we rocked the earth side by side with dinosaurs, and the bible is literal.

Al Arabiya? I thought you said listen to UN speeches.

Do that too.

Or do i have to post it for you?

they even ban music... lol they ban anything that promotes free thinking

And dancing and watching TV... and there's a few more, should be fun out there.

Your comments are so stupid, oftentimes.

Doin a bit of trollin. Slow news day.

Bush made Ahmadinejad an A-lister when he tried to drum up propaganda making Iran seem like a viable threat to the Western world that we should invade next. Ahmadinejad is continually misquoted and misrepresented in the Western world with no real chance at rebuttal, from his clipped quotes about Israel to the misreported killings of two teens that raped a small boy, which was reported in the West as a hanging over their sexuality. I don't think anything you listed is a viable farce, and as much as he runs an oppressive, totalitarian government, it should be viewed in context. If he's really such a non-issue, then the West should treat him as much.

ahappymintleaf!!

im more with you than against you, but i suspect your reactionary position to the bullshit(and rightfully so) about iran has pushed you too far in the other end of the spectrum.

as far as no chance for rebuttal, he uses the united nations as a bully pulpit, and is never censored.he is also one of a few leaders who has had the chance to engage with our general public through speaking invitations at colleges.his positions arent as demonized as you see them to be, he has earned his critics fair and square.

as far as israel quotes taken out of context, that is bullshit.his country honors the day of the palastinians "disaster" as a means of solidarity with the foes of israel, as well as being the primary supplier of weapons smuggling in to the hands of hamas and fatah.one could legitimately say that calling israel the great satan, and chanting death to israel is a matter of cultural differences much in the way we might say when angered ill kill ya.it is entirely fair to say it isnt meant to be taken literally, but he has literaly attacked jews through any and every means possible that he can without being guilty of starting a war.he calls the holocaust a myth, and calls for the destruction of israel, and outlines how the world would be better off with out israel.this is not out of context, it is his foot in his over active need for attention mouth.

you are right the west should treat him as a non issue, and since obama has stepped to the plate that has been the case.the only acknowledgement iran has gotten by our western coallition governments, is based in thier nuclear program wich any nation would recieve if the given circumstances were switched.the reality is, as always, israel will do what we lack the moxy to.israel had to take out iraqs nukes, syrias nukes, and now irans nukes thus keeping us out of it.

notice who is all over iran.is it the white house?msnbc? or fox news? unless we are accepting that fox represents the west, we are ignoring achmadinijad as the little persian napolean he is.

+^'d

You giving me flashbacks of when Obama was answering questions in China.

I believe you mean "Does he even speak English 'good' enough..."

hahahaha jk

You can thank a CIA coup of Iran's government in the 1950's, ushering in an age of religious fundamentalism throughout government that remains to this day.

ahh thank you for saying that. Most americans don't even acknowledge the removal of Mohammed Mossadegh by the cia on behalf of British Petroleum and its obvious consequences on Iranian society.

mocking his name is pointless

If he can't back anything up, then let him be made a fool in an unedited debate. The only "restraint" Obama has to show is ensuring a show of definitive support for Israel and his corporate ties. Ahmadinejad is, for better or worse (mostly worse) answerable to the Ayatollah.

I think it would be really progressive to have our would-be enemy and the president in the same room, talking it out. I don't see how there could be a bad outcome to this.

he'll "be made a fool" w/o a debate

or Ron Paul

Actually, a debate between Ron Paul and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wouldn't have the comedic merit as the the debate between Ron Paul and Bruno. However, I think that ol' Ron would be more than happy to discuss issues with the guy. After all, Ron believes that diplomacy is a far more effective foreign policy than sanctioning, bombing or bribing countries into doing our bidding.

So you think he will debate if there is a rule that you can't use a teleprompter?

stilletos? hil seems more like a birkenstock lady to me.

please go live in another country!

teleprompters aren't generally used in debates, but good try.