Great. Kudos. Go Ban!
It would have been nice, though, had he been able to actually say the word "Iran" during his comments, and had he stiffed the mullahs altogether by staying away from their triumphalist soiree.
Reuters, naturally, is most concerned about the accuracy of Ban's words:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and this month described Israel as a "cancerous tumor". In 2005 he caused uproar by being quoted as saying that Israel should be "wiped off the map".Potato; potahto.
Persian language scholars say a more correct translation of his comment would read: "Israel must vanish from the page of time."
Update: From today's Toronto Sun editorial:
What possible "diplomatic engagement" -- those words come from a UN spokesman -- could Ban possibly pursue that would make countries such as North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela suddenly start listening to reason?
It's Mission Impossible.
With the summit held in Tehran, it will be nothing more than a six-day orgy of western hatred, and Ban will be the high-profile eunuch giving it legitimacy.
Surely the man cannot be that thick.
Even if given the benefit of the doubt, it is difficult to understand how Ban could have announced his intention to attend this hatefest on the very day the Security Council heard a top-level report exposing Iran's complicity with Syria in the wholesale murder of its people. But he did.Not so difficult to understand, really. He's the head of the UN, which, sad to say, is morally bankrupt.
Wow, Reuters! I followed the 2005 imbroglio closely and saw Reuters twice defend their original translation. Here's what they said in one case:
ReplyDeleteReuters is confident that its translation of what Ahmadinejad said is correct. We watched the original speech in 2005 and have not altered our rendering into English since. The Iranian authorities have never challenged our translation of the words, which echoed those of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, when he spoke on the same issue: GBU Editor
I wonder if this is an official backdown or just something said by ignant journalists on this story. Perhaps we could HR to pursue it.