24 SEP 07 / "Ahmadinejad Accepted, ROTC Rejected"

Columbia University is one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the United States. That's why it's so inconceivable that its president, Lee Bollinger, could allow Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a free forum in which to speak.

The Iranian president is a terrorist, a sponsor of terrorism, and an enemy of democracy and freedom; and his acceptance at Columbia is further proof that many of the elites in academia do not understand the true nature of the war on terror. The same criticism applies to the National Press Club for also allowing Ahmadinejad to speak.

What does it say about an organization if it accepts the enemies of freedom while rejecting the defenders of freedom? Columbia has not allowed ROTC on campus since 1969.

Ahmadinejad's desire to appear behind prestigious podiums in the United States is a propaganda ploy. He knows the news will play well back home. These forums give terrorists legitimacy -- as the news on Al Jazeera plays to a captive audience.

Lee Bollinger said that Columbia champions free speech, yet he could not provide adequate security for Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrest, who in an appearance last year was shouted down and forced to leave fearing for his personal safety.

Ahmadinejad and many in the American academy have at least one thing in common – a contempt for the United States. They are unwitting victims of the Iranian president, who is feeding on liberal discontent with American policy. Like past enemies, Ahmadinejad is taking advantage of the political divisions in our republic. It is fashionable for the effete left to be critical of the United States, and allowing Ahmadinejad a forum outside of the United Nations serves furthers their own goals.

Ahmadinejad should be scorned and ridiculed. Not feted. He is the president of an Islamist regime that routinely violates human rights, oppresses women, exports terror, arms our enemies in Iraq, and calls for the destruction of Israel.

Our young men and women are being maimed and killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by munitions supplied by Iran. Iraq would be more peaceful if it were not for the nefarious influence of Iran and Syria. Ahmadinejad's presence in New York City undermines the efforts of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and dishonors our war dead.