Charlie Rose interviewed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, for an hour broadcast on September 20 and seemed overwhelmed by the charm, at times facts, and logic of the Iranian president.
When implicitly criticized for the reported a “stoning to death” sentence of a female, Ahmadinejad said the case of the woman murdering her husband was still before the Iranian courts, indicated he personally opposes capital punishment, and handed Rose a list of 35 women on death rows in the USA.
When accused of developing an atomic weapon, Ahmadinejad reminded Rose that the same claims, later proved false, were made that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction and used as an excuse to go to war.
Rose had to respond “Fair point” when Ahmadinejad pointed out that he had sent President Obama a letter of congratulations upon his inauguration and Obama had declined to respond. Apparently the State Department ignored Ahmadinejad, second in the Iranian government, and only responded to the “Supreme Leader.” As Ahmadinejad said, do you walk into a room and shake hand with one person and ignore the other?
Ahmadinejad noted that Obama and Hillary Clinton had different views concerning foreign policy during the primary campaign and implied concern that he chose her as his secretary of state.
Ahmadinejad posed as a “friend” in saying that our current bellicosity towards Iran was strengthening support of the government, the exact opposite of our intentions.
Ahmadinejad said he would welcome a one on one meeting with Obama at the United Nations conclave.
One sensed that Rose’s hands had been tied by ground rules which limited him to questions that had been previously submitted. For example, Ahmadinejad continuously referred to his government as being legitimately elected by the vote of 85% of the Iranian nation. Rose remained silent although he looked as though he had swallowed a worm.
The Watchdog heartily recommends viewing the show that should be available within a day or two at www.CharlieRose.com. For all of his shortcomings and possible deceptions, Ahmadinejad holds up a mirror to ourselves. With 75 million people and one of the best educated populations in the world, Iran is the key to peace in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
