Talk:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Columbia University speech

I have great problems with the accounts of his speeches to Columbia University and the UN, which I watched in their entirety on satellite tv. In particular, the Columbia speech was most notable for 4 things: (1) the political speech made by the President of the University, which was not in keeping with the academic standards of the world (2) the visible Jewish lobby which was determined to silence Ahmadinejad (3) his robust defence on the Israeli issue, which is not a simple "Let's destroy Israel" message (4) the booing mostly came with his answer about homosexuality in Iran, which also occasioned laughter at the response.

In the case of the UN speech, most notable were the absence of the USA and in his speech a focus on the structure of the UN and its reliance upon world war 2 victors. This criticism of the UN is upheld in the academic literature, and constitutes an oligopoly of power by a few countries.

I should also mention that the BBC reports of these two speeches were inaccurate and unacceptably low quality: they cannot be relied upon for an academic article.

--Martin Baldwin-Edwards 21:46, 26 September 2007 (CDT)

OK Martin, but bear in mind that it's unlikely that some of your edits will survive here, as you've removed a reference (so this article's coverage of the Columbia speech is now based on your viewing of the event) and included a statement about "the real political agenda", which is not the sort of thing that sticks in encyclopaedia articles. I should point out that I am actually sympathetic to giving Ahmadinejad's views a fair discussion on CZ - fairer than the media, anyway - which is why I deliberately avoided most of the stuff you find talked about him online. John Stephenson 22:15, 26 September 2007 (CDT)

John, this is not a personal issue. I am telling you, as an Editor, that the BBC reports were a disgrace. I think my own ability to listen to a speech and report accurately on it is far greater than any journalist. This is not about Wikipedia rules: we have higher standards on CZ. I am open to change on "real political agenda" although I stand by it as an accurate analysis. If you can phrase it slightly more delicately, that would be better:-) --Martin Baldwin-Edwards 22:39, 26 September 2007 (CDT)

If you feel the BBC reports were so inaccurate as to merit removal, fair enough - but let's have some more sources other than your interpretation of it. I don't understand the reference to Wikipedia - it seems to me that if anything basing edits on one's own opinion is the sort of thing they do over there. John Stephenson 01:51, 27 September 2007 (CDT)