Click on the left for quotes from Bollinger's introductory speech on a variety of topics that he asked Ahmadinejad to address.";
IranSpeech070924[i++] = new Array("","Human rights","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
IranSpeech070924[i-1].body = "
\"The (recent) arrest and imprisonment of these Iranian-Americans for no good reason is not only unjustified, it runs completely counter to the very values that allow today’s speaker to even appear on this campus.
\"But at least they are alive. ... Iran hanged up to 30 people this past July and August during a widely reported suppression of efforts to establish a more democratic society. Many of these executions were carried out in public view, a violation of the international covenant of civil and political rights to which Iran is a party. ...
\"Let’s then, be clear at the beginning — Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.
\"And so I ask you, why have women, members of the Bahai faith, homosexuals and so many of our academic colleagues become targets of persecution in your country?\"";
IranSpeech070924[i++] = new Array("","The Holocaust","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
IranSpeech070924[i-1].body = "
\"In a December 2005 state television broadcast, you described the Holocaust as the fabricated legend. One year later you held a two-day conference of Holocaust deniers.
\"For the illiterate and ignorant this is dangerous propaganda. When you come to a place like in this makes you quite simply ridiculous. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated. ... The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history. ... Will you cease this outrage?\"";
IranSpeech070924[i++] = new Array("","Israel","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
IranSpeech070924[i-1].body = "
\"Twelve days ago you said that the state of Israel cannot continue its life. This echoed a number of inflammatory statements you have delivered in the past two years including in October 2005, you said that Israel should be wiped off the map, quote-unquote. ...
\"Personally I have spoken out in most forceful terms against proposals to boycott Israeli scholars and universities, saying that such boycotts might as well include Columbia. More than 400 college and university presidents in this country have joined in that statement. My question then is, do you plan on wiping us off the map, too?\"";
IranSpeech070924[i++] = new Array("","Proxy war in Iraq","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
IranSpeech070924[i-1].body = "
\"A number of Columbia graduates and current students are among the brave members of our military who are serving or have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. ...
\"Can you tell them and us why Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq by arming Shia militia targeting and killing U.S troops?\"";
IranSpeech070924[i++] = new Array("","Nuclear program","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
IranSpeech070924[i-1].body = "
\"Why does your country continue to refuse to adhere to international standards for nuclear weapons verification in defiance of agreements that you have made with the U.N. nuclear agency?
\"And why have you chosen to make the people of your country vulnerable to the effects of international economic sanctions and threaten to engulf the world in nuclear annihilation?\"";
IranSpeech070924[i++] = new Array("","Giving straight answers","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
IranSpeech070924[i-1].body = "
\"Frankly, and in all candor, Mr. President, I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions, but your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do.\"";
// END editorial data