Walkout at U.N. as Ahmadinejad speaks

[✖Ice✖]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/...jad/index.html


I lol at this dude


Delegations from the United States and several European nations walked out of the U.N. General Assembly Thursday during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech, in which he repeatedly condemned the United States and said some countries use the Holocaust as an "excuse to pay ransom... to Zionists."

[-A-]

I found it pretty funny. It looked like half the delegates left after he started going off or just didn't show up in order not to have to deal with him.

[Sythan]

Ahmadinejad brought it upon himself, not much else to say about the situation.

[ShimmeringFaerie]

Does no one else think it is pathetic that diplomats, people who are supposed to represent our countries, planned a walkout prior to the event like they are in high school or something? Regardless of what he was saying, it is ridiculous that so many diplomats were so disrespectful and it does not make them any better than him.

Besides of which, a lot of what he said was perfectly reasonable. The comments about the Holocaust and the US being behind 9/11 were definitely inappropriate. But criticising the decision to kill Osama Bin Laden without trial, criticising the war in Iraq, and complaints about the GFC and the US's part in that are all perfectly valid opinions and certainly ones that have been expressed many times before. And the diplomats who walked out probably know that, which is why the only come-back they could think of was "but he's from Iran!".

[dr2005]

Originally Posted by ShimmeringFaerie

Does no one else think it is pathetic that diplomats, people who are supposed to represent our countries, planned a walkout prior to the event like they are in high school or something? Regardless of what he was saying, it is ridiculous that so many diplomats were so disrespectful and it does not make them any better than him.

They're not under any particular obligation to give him rights of audience, particularly when he uses his speech to make a litany of accusations against them. It's no different to any other public gathering in that regard - if someone starts going off on one you have the right to leave, so why should it be different for them?

Originally Posted by ShimmeringFaerie

Besides of which, a lot of what he said was perfectly reasonable. The comments about the Holocaust and the US being behind 9/11 were definitely inappropriate. But criticising the decision to kill Osama Bin Laden without trial, criticising the war in Iraq, and complaints about the GFC and the US's part in that are all perfectly valid opinions and certainly ones that have been expressed many times before. And the diplomats who walked out probably know that, which is why the only come-back they could think of was "but he's from Iran!".

No one is questioning the validity of some of his opinions; however, he presents them from a position of total hypocrisy in the eyes of many. Iran is one of the most totalitarian states in the Middle East and has launched countless crackdowns against its own people and opposition parties, so for him to claim that his country is a model for the rest of the world is a little rich. Iran is also speculated to have a role in many of the militant groups plaguing countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan to name but two, so the claims of US interference with the region also ring a little hollow. That is probably why so many diplomats felt he should not be given the time of day.

[✖Ice✖]

Originally Posted by ShimmeringFaerie

Does no one else think it is pathetic that diplomats, people who are supposed to represent our countries, planned a walkout prior to the event like they are in high school or something? Regardless of what he was saying, it is ridiculous that so many diplomats were so disrespectful and it does not make them any better than him.

Besides of which, a lot of what he said was perfectly reasonable. The comments about the Holocaust and the US being behind 9/11 were definitely inappropriate. But criticising the decision to kill Osama Bin Laden without trial, criticising the war in Iraq, and complaints about the GFC and the US's part in that are all perfectly valid opinions and certainly ones that have been expressed many times before. And the diplomats who walked out probably know that, which is why the only come-back they could think of was "but he's from Iran!".

I would have walked out