Iranian president clouds motives in religious doublespeak at U.N.

Daniel Sims, Columnist
Published On: 10/ 6/2008

On Sept. 23, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the United Nations general assembly. President Ahmadinejad has addressed the United Nations in the past, and I have read critiques of his speeches, but this time I decided to find a translation of the speech and read it for myself. It was an interesting 3,000 or so words.

One feature of his speeches I immediately noticed was its religiosity. In contrast, in our country any political mention of God is done very delicately, but Ahmadinejad’s speech was replete with religious references. Our own President Bush has been oft criticized for religious references, but in comparison to any of Bush’s speeches Ahmadinejad’s is a sermon.

“Obeisance to God means abandoning selfishness and animal instincts, power-seeking and aggression, surrendering to righteousness, justice, love and perfection.”

That’s just one of the many religious references from his speech, and indeed taken by itself it appears benevolent and harmless. It is knowledge of the greater world that makes his words so disturbing.

It is no secret that Iran supports a theocratic government in Iraq and as such has worked to undermine the secular government there. It is no secret that Iran regularly persecutes and tortures its own population denying basic rights of due process, representation and some of the most simple forms of justice to which officials in Iran claim to adhere. Again and again I read examples of President Ahmadinejad using these religious statements which would seem to apply to another country, not Iran.

As might be expected, President Ahmadinejad criticizes the United States and other world powers of illegal and immoral involvement in other countries, such as Iraq. He chastises the United States for remaining in Iraq even after a democratically elected government is in place.

I wonder if Ahmadinejad had to refrain from a laugh, or at least a knowing smile, at this statement since the Iranian government would like nothing better than to topple the secular democratic government in Iraq.

It became increasingly strange however, when he mentioned the United States and other powers trying to re-establish colonial control of African countries. I can only think this relates to relief money channeled to African countries to fight the spread of AIDS or perhaps sanctions imposed against genocidal governments responsible for slaughtering thousands. I think he made these statements to curry favor with the leaders of such nations who share his world view since they are seemingly so divorced from reality.

President Ahmadinejad also included in his speech some truly Orwellian examples of doublespeak. Iran is in violation of many U.N. resolutions regarding its nuclear activities.

It has been found again and again to be violating not only those resolutions, but to also be in violation of restrictions to which it has agreed. The International Atomic Energy Agency has spoken out often about Iran’s lack of compliance and cooperation.

President Ahmadinejad knows these things, and since he devoted a large portion of his speech to this issue, I was amazed when he stated “…in producing nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, and despite such facts as the transparency of all Iranian activities and our country’s full cooperation with the inspectors of the IAEA and the Agency’s repeated confirmation of the fact that Iran’s activities are peaceful…”

I can only wonder what life must be like in Iran that such obviously false statements are made by a president who expects it to be taken as fact.

In summary, President Ahmadinejad’s speech, taken by itself with no knowledge of the world around us, would seem like a heartfelt, religious attempt to make the world a better place.

This is also what makes it truly sinister. Knowledge of the world around us makes us aware of the diametrically opposed actions Iran takes from the words its leader speaks. Within the seemingly benevolent religious words is hidden the fanaticism that covers up the truth of persecution.

As I read President Ahmadinejad’s words, more than a few times I am reminded of those on the far left and far right in the United States who comment on President Bush and what role he may have, or believe he has, related to the “End Times” referred to in the Christian faith.

Much discussion on both ends of the spectrum speculate about what President Bush may or may not believe. President Ahmadinejad leaves less to the imagination as he actively welcomes the “…community promised by the great divine Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ and Mohammad (PBUH) is about to materialize.”
This seemingly benign passage is also one of the most troubling since for the promised community to emerge some very terrifying things have to happen.

So, while our leaders and politicians discuss the substantial problems we have with our economy, I cannot help but wonder what problems those same leaders and politicians will face as Iran races to develop nuclear weapons.

Email: drake7@uab.edu