The world received a clarifying statement from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his Sept. 26 speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York, which began with the following refrain: “In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful….” Attempting to strike a spiritual pose, the Iranian president said, “I am here to voice the divine and humanitarian message of learned men and women of my country to you and the whole world….”
President Ahmadinejad then proceeded to enumerate the calamities of history – wars and crusades, as well as “the tragic incident of September 11, and the military actions against Afghanistan and Iraq that, he said, left millions killed and homeless….” Next, the Iranian president considered the global economic situation. Poverty is on the rise, he explained, and the total foreign debt “of 18 industrial countries has exceeded 60 trillion dollars….” Ahmadinejad then focused blame, by saying, “Economies dependent on consumerism and exploitation of people only serve the interests of a limited number of countries.” Alluding to the U.S. dollar, he added, “Creation of worthless paper assets by using influence and control over the world’s economic centers constitutes the greatest abuse in history….”
Ahmadinejad further charged that $32 trillion have been printed by “one government alone” – again, an obvious reference to the United States. He then criticized capitalism as a model of development, saying it ran “in a vicious circle” triggering “unhealthy and devastating competition.” The Iranian president said that development through capitalism is “a failed practice.”
Turning to cultural matters, Ahmadinejad launched a moral attack on the leaders of the capitalist world, “From the standpoint of the politicians who control the world power centers, concepts such as moral principles, purity, honesty, integrity, compassion and self-sacrifice are rejected as outdated notions….” He then offered a plea for “pure and indigenous cultures as the product of centuries.” He criticized Western culture as “devoid of individual or social identity.” He then launched into a defense of the family and motherhood, saying, “Family is the noblest institution of societies” and that the West has seriously weakened the family, leading to its decline.
The Iranian leader then talked about the environment, alleging that capitalism had “serious damaged and devastated” the planet by “excessive use of resources.” He then blamed drought, flood and pollution on the West. Having attacked the West along with capitalism, President Ahmadinejad turned to the question of mankind’s happiness. The current capitalist order isn’t capable of making anyone happy, he said. “Today everyone is discontent and disappointed with the current international order.”
Without a trace of irony President Ahmadinejad said, “I do not believe that Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and others have any problems, or are hostile against each other. They get along together comfortably and live together in an atmosphere of peace and amity. They are all devoted to the cause of justice, purity and love.” The problem, he explained, was found in the “self-proclaimed centers of power who have entrusted themselves to the Devil.” Their global dominance is founded, he said, on materialism and is inherently immoral. Their philosophy is based on “selfishness, deception, hatred and animosity.” It is racist as well, and devoted to the “humiliation of other nations” and dominating them. Borrowing a phrase from Lenin, the Iranian leader asked, “What is to be done?”
To bring about a new global order based on peace, kindness and equality before the law, there must be “joint global management.” The numerous poor must unite against “the acquisitive minority.” The United Nations itself must be restructured, so that discrimination and monopoly cannot rule. According to Ahmadinejad, “The issue of UN restructuring is very vital and is a need that has been emphasized time and again….”
Justice, love and freedom are to be proclaimed, said the Iranian president, because of the imminent arrival of a Muslim messiah. Love and justice must triumph because “God Almighty has promised us a man of kindness, a man who loves people and loves absolute justice, a man who is a perfect human being and is named Imam Al-Mahdi, a man who will come in the company of Jesus Christ and the righteous.”
Omitted from the speech was a minor point; namely, that the Mahdi achieves global kindness and love by exterminating the unbelievers. No need to mention this small detail. Better to underscore the positives; and so the Iranian president merely noted that the Mahdi’s “arrival will signify the end of oppression, immorality, poverty, discrimination and the beginning of justice, love and empathy.”
Ahmadinejad ended his speech with the following refrain: “Long live this spring, long live this spring and long live this spring.”
Was he – perhaps? – referring to the Arab Spring?
