A Very Dangerous Human Being

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a very dangerous human being. He is dangerous because he is sane, shrewd, and rational in pursuit of his belief that the god of Islam exalts in the deaths of non-believers. The god of Islam does not love the entirety of creation, only those individuals willing to completely subvert themselves to the social demands declared by the human prophet. The mandate to be feared and followed sounds exactly like something a human psyche would desire.

Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? To understand Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's mindset and behavior require close scrutiny of the elaborate and intricate theology of Hujetieh Shiism, perhaps the most fundamentalist of the numerous Shiite sects. … Ahmadinejad, a man driven by his religion, has a spiritual advisor in Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi (the defacto leader of the Hojatieh). The President's advisor is known for his extremist views on Islam and promotes suicide bombings and attacks on civilians in the West.

Let me be very clear. Hujetieh Shiism is a hate group. The fine line walked these last few years has been about how to destroy the hate groups within the practitioners of Islam, in a way that does not make their message attractive to majority of Muslims. The criticism from leftists and academics has been merciless, so it is fair to be merciless criticizing their attempt at dealing face to face with this dangerous man.

Iran's President Got What He Wanted at Columbia: In an apparent effort to mitigate the damage likely to result from providing a prestigious, internationally televised forum for the head of the world's leading state-sponsor of terrorism, Bollinger called Ahmadinejad "a petty and cruel tyrant" and described his denial of the Holocaust as "ridiculous."

But Bollinger's seemingly well-intentioned introduction of Iran's president could backfire, as shown by the rousing applause he received when he said that in Iran it is not customary to insult an invited guest with offensive comments aimed at "vaccinating" an audience against his views. This will play well in Iran and across the Middle East.

The criticism of Columbia University is well deserved. Giving Ahmadinejad a forum legitimizes him. Walking safely among the non-believers in New York and returning unscathed will be taken as yet another sign of divine blessing by those pursuing the ascension of the Caliphate. No amount of spin camouflages the fact that elitist sensibility fails at a rigorous analysis of good and bad. Tolerance, like freedom of speech, is a broad but not absolute policy to follow. The events of today should bring shame upon everyone involved.