AHMEDINEJAD SHOULD BE ARRESTED IF HE ENTERS THE US

The JTA reports that calls have been made for the arrest of Ahmedinejad, something I said two days ago should be done:

Israel and its allies say they want Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrested when he arrives next week in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

On Monday, a team of lawyers and diplomats who want Ahmadinejad tried for inciting genocide will call on the U.S. Department of Justice to arrest the Iranian president when he lands on American soil. The call comes as Jewish groups are preparing for a full-court press on the Iran issue in meetings planned with world leaders gathered for the yearly assembly. Also on Monday, a protest rally is planned across from U.N. Headquarters.

"He is an international war criminal," said Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz. "He has repeatedly violated the anti-genocide convention. He is as guilty as the Rwandans who are convicted and sentenced to years in prison for inciting genocide."

In recent days, Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Dan Gillerman, has also called for Ahmadinejad to be arrested and put on trial for incitement to genocide.

Ahmadenijad's visit has been roiling New York for days. A scheduled appearance at Columbia University has prompted calls for the school to rescind the invitation. Columbia refused, invoking the principle of free speech. And an uproar over the Iranian president's request to visit Ground Zero caused a swift reaction from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which condemned reports that the New York City Police Department intended to provide him with an honor escort. Within hours, the department clarified that it had denied the request, an announcement duly welcomed by Jewish leaders.

Nobody with common sense should give donations to Columbia U. for as long as shady people like Lee Bollinger are going to run it. If they go through with their invitation to this monster, that's exactly why any and all who disapprove should have nothing to do with them. All that talk of "free speech" is decidedly a weak excuse.

By arresting Ahmedinejad, the west could score a victory in the war on terror by weakening Iran significantly, as their horrible head of horror would be "cut off". The US would be strongly advised to take action to cuff him upon arrival and try him for war crimes, planned and current, and imprison him in a dungeon, and not to let any ditherings of anti-war activists and corrupt UN officials perturb them. Then, a takeover of Iran could possibly be easier, as well as establishing a more reasonable government there.