columbia university

He said there were no homosexuals in Iran - not one - and that the Nazi slaughter of six million Jews should not be treated as fact, but theory, and therefore open to debate and more research.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, aired these and other bewildering thoughts in a two-hour verbal contest at Columbia University on Monday, providing some ammunition to those who said there was no point in inviting him to speak. Yet his appearance also offered evidence of why he is widely admired in the developing world for his defiance toward Western, especially American, power.

In repeated clashes with his hosts, Ahmadinejad accused the United States of supporting terrorist groups and characterized as hypocritical U.S. and European efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"If you have created the fifth generation of atomic bombs and are testing them already, who are you to question other people who just want nuclear power," Ahmadinejad said, adding, pointedly: "I think the politicians who are after atomic bombs, politically, they're backwards. Retarded."

His speech at Columbia, in advance of his planned speech Tuesday at the United Nations, produced a day of intense protests and counterprotests around the campus.

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It was a performance at once both defiant - he said Iran could not recognize Israel "because it is based on ethnic discrimination, occupation and usurpation, and it consistently threatens its neighbors" - and conciliatory - he said he wanted to visit the site of the World Trade Center attack to "show my respect" for what he called "a tragic event."

And he said that even if the Holocaust had occurred, the Palestinians should not pay the price for it.

He began the afternoon on the defensive. Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia, under intense attack for the invitation - one protester outside the auditorium passed out fliers that said, "Bollinger, too bad bin Laden is not available" - opened the event with a 10-minute verbal assault.

He said, "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," adding, "You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."

The Iranian president, seated 10 feet, or 3 meters, away from him on the stage, wore a frozen smile. The anti-Ahmadinejad portion of the audience, which looked to be about 70 percent of it, cheered and chortled.

Bollinger praised himself and Columbia for showing that they believed in freedom of speech by inviting the Iranian president, then attacked. He said it was "well documented" that Iran was a state sponsor of terrorism, accused Iran of fighting a proxy war against the United States in Iraq and questioned why Iran had refused "to adhere to the international standards" of disclosure for its nuclear program.

"I doubt," Bollinger concluded, "that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions."

Ahmadinejad did not, in fact, directly answer the questions, but he did address them. Before doing so, though, he said pointedly:

"In Iran, tradition requires when you invite a person to be a speaker, we actually respect our students enough to allow them to make their own judgment, and don't think it's necessary before the speech is even given to come in with a series of complaints to provide vaccination to the students and faculty."

He added, to some cheers, "Nonetheless, I shall not begin by being affected by this unfriendly treatment."

Ahmadinejad's much-talked-about appearance at Columbia came as the opening act of a week of dramatic theater here as the UN General Assembly opened its annual session. He, along with his nemesis, President George W. Bush, is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Tuesday.

Bush, asked about Columbia's decision to invite Ahmadinejad, told Fox News that it was "O.K. with me," but he added that he might not have extended the invitation himself.

"When you really think about it," Bush said, "he's the head of a state sponsor of terror, he's - and yet an institution in our country gives him a chance to express his point of view, which really speaks to the freedoms of the country. I'm not sure I'd have offered the same invitation."

Ahmadinejad is allowed under international law and diplomatic protocols to travel freely within a 25-mile, or 40-kilometer, radius of Columbus Circle in Manhattan. But the police said last week that he would not be allowed anywhere near the World Trade Center site during his trip.

Inside the auditorium, the Columbia students laughed appreciatively when Ahmadinejad pushed back against the attempts by John Coatsworth, a university dean and moderator of the event, to get him to stop rambling on tangential issues and to answer questions specifically.

Two presidential visits made for a tumultuous day at Columbia University in New York. One of the guests, Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, used his appearance to promote a reformist image. The other, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, withstood a fierce political attack by the university's president, Lee Bollinger.

In what was Berdymukhamedov's debut before an American audience, he gave a policy speech September 24 that outlined his plans for educational reform in Turkmenistan. "The development of education takes precedence over other aspects of my policies," he said. "Let me tell you frankly that the atmosphere today in Turkmenistan is just incredible. Our children feel such a strong and intense yearning for knowledge that we just can't fail and let them down."

There is perhaps nowhere to go but up for Turkmenistan's educational system, which suffered from years of neglect under the country's previous ruler, the despotic Saparmurat Niyazov. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Niyazov, for example, reduced compulsory education to only nine years. After taking over after Niyazov's sudden death in late 2006, Berdymukhamedov extended compulsory education to 10 years, but it cannot be independently verified that the edict has been implemented nationwide.

During the speech, given before a select audience, Berdymukhamedov read from the text and never looked up. He also did not stray from the prepared text, and as he spoke, a power-point presentation flashed behind him, highlighting key words and featuring pictures of the capital Ashgabat and of content-looking citizens.

The Turkmen president, a doctor by training, performed rhetorical ballet, promising changes that would foster civil society, while explicitly declining to take action to dismantle Niyazov's far-reaching cult of personality.

"My reform program is comprehensive by nature and includes continued transformation and modernization of the economy and improved state institutions and public life, including the process of further democratization in society. Our main goal today is to guarantee equal rights and law enforcement," he said.

In his prepared remarks, Berdymukhamedov did not mention Niyazov by name, but during the subsequent question-and-answer period, the president offered a stout defense of his predecessor's policies. He indicated, for example, that the Ruhnama, or spiritual guide for living that was supposedly penned by Niyazov, would remain an integral part of Turkmenistan's school curriculum, and that familiarity with the Ruhnama's contents was an essential requirement for government service. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Niyazov was "an integral part of who we are, our history and culture," Berdymukhamedov said flatly. Turkmen officials would be "paying a lot of attention to the Ruhnama. It is a critical text," Berdymukhamedov added. The book will continue to be a "mandatory read in all educational institutions -- from kindergarten through college. Why? Because it contains a lot of wisdom related to our heritage."

Appearing to justify the authoritarian model of government, Berdymukhamedov emphasized that Turkmen officials provided basic commodities and services -- including natural gas, electricity, water and salt -- to citizens either free of charge, or at a heavily subsidized rates. "We have not left a single person in need without a pension or benefits in our country today," Berdymukhamedov said.

While seeming relaxed and confident in interacting with the audience, Berdymukhamedov exhibited an authoritarian streak when he declined to respond to several queries concerning topics that he evidently did not want to discuss. "When he didn't want to deal with a question he just ignored it and talked about what he wanted," said one attendee. "For example, he was asked about freedom of the press in Turkmenistan. He insisted there had never been any problems like this in Turkmenistan, and then he started talking about economic courses at Turkmen universities."

When pressed to say whether several top officials -- including former parliament speaker Ovezgeldy Atayev, who disappeared from view shortly after the announcement of Niyazov's death -- were still alive, Berdymukhamedov reacted dismissively. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. "Regarding your inquiry whether those particular prisoners are alive, I've already told you I am still a young new president. I am not involved with these issues. I am busy with the well-being of our nation, but I am positive they are alive."

While in New York, Berdymukhamedov will give a speech September 26 to the United Nations General Assembly. He also is expected to meet with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad's appearance sparked protests outside the venue, and controversy within. Before the Iranian leader gave his speech, Bollinger assailed Ahmadinejad for his repeated denials of the Holocaust, the Iranian government's sponsorship of terrorism and the country's nuclear program. The Columbia president also attacked Ahmadinejad on a personal level, calling him a "petty and cruel dictator," and suggesting that he was either "brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."

Ahmadinejad clearly looked uncomfortable during Bollinger's remarks, but his response was restrained. "In Iran, tradition requires when you invite a person to be a speaker, we actually respect our students enough to allow them to make their own judgment, and don't think it's necessary before the speech is even given to come in with a series of complaints to provide vaccination to the students and faculty" Ahmadinejad told the Columbia president

The Iranian leader's speech itself contained little new material. He repeated oft-stated claims that Iran was not seeking to build and atomic weapon, but merely sought to develop nuclear power for civilian uses. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. He also decried the "oppression" of Palestinians. At one point, the Iranian president denied the existence of homosexuals in Iran, eliciting derisive laughter from the audience.

Bollinger and the university last week came under heavy criticism for the decision to invite Ahmadinejad to speak at the university. To many in the audience, the university president's verbal ambush appeared designed more to shield himself from further attacks than to advance any civil society agenda.

"If you invite someone to engage in open dialogue, the way you begin is not by insulting him," said Caitlin Welsh, a first-year graduate student in the audience.

Some other students characterized Bollinger's comments as counter-productive in terms of trying to foster change in Iran. Instead of scoring points on behalf of democracy, Bollinger may have inadvertently handed Ahmadinejad another feather to stick in his cap.

"The biggest irony of today is that, with all the hype surrounding Ahmadinejad's visit, I expected him to be a raging polemicist screaming into the microphone," said Jacqueline Carpenter, a second-year graduate student at Columbia. "Instead, thanks to the misplaced self-righteousness of Bollinger and the university, we came out looking like the [polemicists] and Ahmadinejad [seemed] like the reasonable one."


Editor� Note: Deidre Tynan is a freelance journalist specializing in Central Asia. David Trilling is a freelance photojournalist working in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Columbia University president Lee Bollinger took Iran's president to task Monday, bluntly criticizing his record and saying he exhibits "all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."


Columbia University president, Lee Bollinger, excoriated Iran's leader Monday.

Bollinger's assessment came as he introduced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to an audience of students and faculty.

As he read a long list of documented actions and remarks by the firebrand Iranian leader and his government, the crowd of 600 applauded.

Ahmadinejad was at the university to give a speech and take part in a question-and-answer session.

During the introduction, Bollinger cited the Iranian government's "brutal crackdown" on dissidents, public executions, executions of minors and other actions.

He assailed Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust as "ridiculous." Watch Bollinger slam Ahmadinejad ?

"For the illiterate and ignorant, this is dangerous propaganda," he said. He called the Iranian leader "either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."



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"The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history," he said.

"Will you cease this outrage?" he demanded.

Bollinger said he doubted Ahmadinejad would show the intellectual courage to answer questions posed to him.

Ahmadinejad opened his remarks by saying Bollinger's introduction was discourteous, intellectually dishonest and inaccurate.

He said academic freedom should prohibit the "vaccination" of the audience with negative comments about a guest speaker and his ideas.

"I think the text read by the dear gentleman here, more than addressing me, was an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here, present here," Ahmadinejad said through a translator.


"In a university environment we must allow people to speak their mind, to allow everyone to talk so that the truth is eventually revealed by all," he said.

During his introductory remarks, Bollinger said Columbia would offer a faculty position to Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American social scientist who was released last week after having been held in Iran since May.

Tajbakhsh, a Columbia graduate, will be offered a position as visiting professor of urban planning as soon as Iran lets him leave the country, he said.

Bollinger asked Ahmadinejad to allow Tajbakhsh to lead a university delegation to address collegiate audiences in Iran on the subject of freedom of speech.

During a question-and-answer period after his remarks, Ahmadinejad invited Columbia students to visit Iran and promised to provide a list of universities for them. The audience applauded.

"I am only a professor who is also a university president, and today I feel the weight of all the civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for," Bollinger told Ahmadinejad. "I only wish I could do better."