Quite the President those Iranians have..
Mahmoud Ahmadenjad has told Der Speigel, that German's should stop feeling any guilt for the Holocaust, and in fact he doubts it ever happened at all. In the same interview, he is quoted as saying 'the Germans were undoubtedly restrained by Allied Forces from writing 'the truth' about the Final Solution, and that he would happily go to Germany for the World Cup tournament. Iran's first World Cup match is against Mexico in Nuremberg on June 11 two days after the tournament starts and German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble says he would be welcome to come because Germany wants to be a good host.
The invitation sparked protests from other political leaders and groups who said his anti-Israeli comments were unacceptable.
"My decision (on whether to go) depends on a lot of different things," said Ahmadinejad, a soccer fan. "Whether I have time, whether I want to and some other things."
He said he could not understand why his possible visit had caused such debate but was not surprised by the row.
"I was not at all surprised because there is a very active worldwide network of Zionists, also in Europe," he said in the rare interview with Western media that was published today. This is the man who has vowed to 'wipe Israel off the map'..German Chancellor Agnela Merkle along with other leaders have said Mahmous was just going a bit far..
Ahmadinejad's latest comments were condemned by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. Rabbi Marvin Hier, a founder and dean, called on Merkel to keep him out of Germany.
"On a day when the Pope is in Auschwitz to remind the world of the horrors of the Holocaust, Ahmadinejad questions it again," Hier said. "For him to be at the World Cup and sit in a VIP seat would be a desecration of the memory of the Holocaust."
Asked by Der Spiegel, in its cover story entitled "The man the world is afraid of," whether he stood by his earlier view the Holocaust was a myth, Ahmadinejad said: "I only accept something as the truth if I am truly convinced of it... In Europe there are two opinions on it. One group of researchers who are by and large politically motivated say the Holocaust happened. There is another group of researchers who have the opposite view and are, by and large, in prison for that."
Denying the Holocaust is a crime in Germany, punishable by up to five years in jail.
Pity, that thing about Diplomatic Immunity..
Ahh.. and Mahmoud continued by saying that if the Holocaust did indeed happen, then Europe should shoulder the responsibility, and bring all the Jews back from Israel to their country of origin, leaving Palistinians to recalim their land.
On occasion, one has to feel content with George and Tony. et al..
In comparison, they're choirboys.