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Kevin Barrett: Kind should retract 'wiped off the map' lie

Kevin Barrett  —  7/14/2008 5:17 am

Dear Editor: Rep. Ron Kind should retract a libelous and arguably criminal falsehood he uttered recently on Wisconsin Public Radio. He claimed, as many war propagandists have, that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." The false attribution of such a statement to Ahmadinejad is the Big Lie that is being used to promote a U.S. war on Iran.

It is now widely accepted among scholars and informed people that the quote attributed to the Iranian president is based on a misattribution and mistranslation. In short, every word of this alleged statement is a lie.

First, the statement in question is not Ahmadinejad's, but a quote from Ayatollah Khomeni that is often cited by many Iranians. Ahmadinejad was merely quoting Khomeni. Attributing this statement to Ahmadinejad is a lie.

So what did Ahmadinejad say that Khomeni had said? In English: "The imam (Khomeni) said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."

The United States government and virtually every other government except Israel's have repeatedly called for Israel to withdraw from all of the territories it occupied in 1967 -- and that includes Jerusalem. Khomeni's call for regime change in Jerusalem is supported, for all intents and purposes, by everyone on Earth except the Israelis.

Rep. Kind has repeatedly voted for the catastrophic war in Iraq. He has voted against your own party's attempts to set a time limit on this insane war. He says that by repeatedly voting for the war, he is voting to help our troops by providing them with bullets and armor. In fact, he is voting to kill and maim them by leaving them in harm's way.

Kevin Barrett

candidate for Congress in 3rd District

Lone Rock

Kevin Barrett  —  7/14/2008 5:17 am