Iran

"I don't like the Iranian regime. Recently I saw 1991 footage of an Iranian crowd stoning a woman to death. Mullahs can be quite the barbaric animals, and it disturbs me that SCIRI members are so influenced by the Iranian regime. After we fled Iraq in 1982, my father became obsessed with Khomeini and the "Islamic Revolution". Later he was dismayed to discover that Khomeini's regime murdered more Muslim clerics than did the Shah.

Having said this, I am concerned that the mainstream media in America and Europe are deliberately misquoting Ahmadinejad, who allegedly said that "Israel will be wiped off the map" in a speech to the "World Without Zionism" conference in October 2005. For several months I assumed that the media has been translating his words correctly. It was Christian Sunni who pointed out to me recently that Ahmadinejad did not actually say that Israel will be wiped off the map. In an analysis of Ahmadinejad's speech, the authors of this article conclude that Ahmadinejad was referring to the regime that occupies Palestine and not the country of Israel. Wikipedia also has a good analysis of the speech, with commentary by Juan Cole. The Iranian Foreign Minister tried to explain what Ahmadinejad said, but it did not help, and the mainstream media has been repeating the 'wiping off the map' allegation since then."
Iraqi Mojo

When asked directly in that 60 minuet interview about the "quote", Ahmadinejad did not deny he had said it, but went on to explain his reasoning for wanting to get rid of the Israelis. I have the transcript posted somewhere, I'll search and post a link.

You would think that he understood what he was being asked, and if he had been misquoted as so many apologists claim, he could have said so. Yet he chose to try to rationalize it to the American audience he was addressing.


""You are very good at filibustering," Wallace remarked. "You still have not answered the question. You still have not answered the question. Israel must be wiped off the map. Why?"

"Well, don't be hasty sir," the president said. "I'm going to get to that. I think that the Israeli government is a fabricated government."

"Fabricated" following the Holocaust, which he's said may also have been fabricated."
Link