| House Resolution Highlights Debate over Interpretation of Ahmadinejad Comments |
| Written by Andrew Clayton | |
| Tuesday, 19 June 2007 | |
 The
House of Representatives considered House
Concurrent Resolution 21 yesterday, which calls on the UN Security Council
to “charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and the United Nations
Charter because of his calls for the destruction of Israel.” Discussion of the bill, sponsored by Representative
Steven Rothman (D-NJ), highlighted the ongoing debate concerning
interpretation of various comments made by Ahmadinejad.
On the
House floor, Rothman described Ahmadinejad as a “twisted, backward lunatic who
has the “stated goal of acquiring nuclear weapons to use to carry out his
homicidal, genocidal, lunatic delusions of wiping out the State of Israel.” Rothman cited three quotes from Ahmadinejad
as grounds for sponsoring the bill.
Various other Representatives expressed support for the bill, including
Ros-Lehtinen, who claimed that “Iran’s rulers actively seek a world of
oppression, of destruction, of war.” Kucinich cited an alternative interpretation from the New York Times, which fully translated the text as saying: “The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the pages of time.” Kucinich’s key contention concerned the omission of the word “regime” in the first translation, stating that “what Ahmadinejad is calling for is regime change” rather than the genocide of an entire religion or ethnic group. Kucinich cited New York Times’ interpretations of the other two quotes, again arguing that Ahmadinejad was referring to the Israeli regime. Explaining his justification for introducing these interpretations into the debate, Kucinich expressed a desire to prevent faulty information from leading to poor policy. Kucinich cited faulty information leading up to the Iraq war as grounds to verify the veracity of information now and in the future. “I don’t think it is an unreasonable request that we look at exactly what this person said so we’ll know what the appropriate course of action is to take,” Kucinich added. Though a voice vote was taken yesterday, Ros-Lehtinen asked for a count of Yeas and Nays. That vote is expected to take place today. |
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