Ahmadinejad

"If the root causes of 9/11 are examined properly -- why it happened, what caused it, what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved, who was really involved -- and put it all together to understand how to prevent the crisis in Iraq, fix the problem in Afghanistan and Iraq combined."

That was the only remark of Mahmoud (at least that was publicly reported) that doesn't draw scorn. It's something I've brought up from time to time, and it is one matter which is not addressed by fighting wars. I don't believe I agree with what he would designate as the root causes, but I at least realize that the roots of terrorism have planted some very ugly weeds around the world. It'd be useful if we figured out how to unroot them rather then simply chopping off the saplings that grow from them. That tactic (it's not a strategy) fails on its own to accomplish much other than spreading the weeds elsewhere.

Unfortunately everything else the man said was flatly ridiculous, and the audience even laughed openly at him. "a petty and cruel dictator" Not everyday one can laugh at that.
"We don't have homosexuals in Iran"
"Women enjoy the highest freedoms"
"If the Holocaust is a reality of our time"---If? Sorry, I can't take seriously someone claiming to be an academic who denies the holocaust. That is someone claiming to be a dumbass, and announcing openly their anti-semitic beliefs.

In case someone's wondering, free speech does mean people can say whatever they want. But it also means I'm free to mock them once they do.