Unintended Consequence at Columbia University

The appearance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the campus of Columbia University revealed a profound unintended consequence: the 'outing' of Ahmadinejad as the bumbling but dangerous buffoon he really is.

Some would say that the Iranian President's remarks at Columbia on Monday make him look so completely foolish that no one will take him seriously any longer. That would be a big mistake.

No greater danger is posed to the free world than a fool in control of a nation with nuclear power who believes Israel should be blown off the face of the map. If anything, Ahmadinejad revealed to the free world just how how deeply his ignorance influences his values.

Columbia University could not have foreseen these consequences of a terribly ill-informed decision to give one of the faces of modern evil a reputable platform from which to spout his unique form of hate and bigotry. This is the campus that spurns the ROTC and that has withdrawn speaking invitations from major conservative spokespersons.

Thus, Columbia's insistence that its invitation was all about 'free speech' is largely disingenuous. The University does not routinely afford free speech to noted conservative voices, particularly those on the front-lines of the global war on Islamists.

The University is also known for giving a platform to extremist Muslims from which they can deliver the most despicable and vile attacks against Jews and Israel, while refusing to grant to major Jewish voices the opportunity to speak about the dangers of the global Jihad.

And this is totally apart from the fact that it is entirely inappropriate for an American university to provide a megaphone to one of America's sworn enemies during a war.

To be fair, Columbia's President told the ugly truth about Ahmadinejad calmly and systematically in his remarks to introduce the Iranian leader. He is to be commended for his careful, deliberative manner of enumerating the many reasons Ahmadinejad is to be considered a scourge to the world.

But this does not in any way absolve Columbia of its shame and guilt for giving such an individual an opportunity to bask in even more of the world's attention.

As for Ahmadinejad's remarks, perhaps he succeeded in driving a nail into his own coffin by simply opening his mouth at Columbia. He refused to answer directly a question concerning his prior remarks that the Holocaust never happened, that Israel has no right to exist, and that he intends to build and use nuclear bombs to back up his rhetoric.

But perhaps the most telling feature of all was Ahmadinejad's claim that, 'We have no gays in Iran.'

Of course not. When you are the leader of a country that has outlawed homosexual behavior, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the Press, and freedom to assemble; where women are subjugated to the status of a dog--a mere possession of a man; and where liberty itself is considered evil and contrary to the laws of Allah; it is too easy to assume that when you look out the window over your fiefdom you see nothing but purity and harmony.

Vile and despicable human beings who dissent in public or decide to become Catholic, and shameful, godless women who speak their minds, are nowhere to be found.

Detractors, dissenters, and protesters have either been killed or imprisoned. The rest have either fled for their lives or gone underground. But in no way does this mean they do not exist.

Thus, perhaps in some odd way Columbia and Ahmadinejad did us all a favor. We were afforded a rare opportunity to see the backwardness, and the danger, of the mind of a Jihadist at work.