Let Ahmedinejad Visit Ground Zero!

Iranian President Ahmedinejad is coming to New York City next week to speak at the UN. He requested permission to make a formal visit to the World Trade Center site to pay his respects. Not only has the city denied his request, but the Bush administration and a host of politicians have rushed to condemn Ahmedinejad, casting aspersions against Iran as though it was somehow involved in the Al-Qaeda attack.

Among the politicians taking this disgusting war-mongering distortion was none other than Hillary Clinton. She's quoted as saying "It is unacceptable for Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who refuses to renounce and end his own country's support of terrorism, to visit the site of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil in our nation's history."

Wait a minute! Iran had nothing to do with 9/11. In fact it quickly offered its condolences to the US, and in fact collaborated with the US in hunting down several so-called Al Qaeda terrorists. Iran has long been an enemy of Al Qaeda. The right-wingers (and I include Hillary Clinton on this list) are desperately trying to tar Iran with some brush that would cover their plans to widen the war in Iraq. In the war-mongerers' sick book of racist duplicity they're hoping to demonize Iran so that when U.S. missiles fly against yet another innocent population, Americans will close their eyes to the bloodshed and lend their complicity to another war of aggression.

The accusations of Iranian terrorism are a complicated smokescreen involving Israel. Just let it be said that the Israelis and Americans have killed a lot more innocent civilians than so-called Iranian-backed terrorists.

Ahmedinejad's desire to pay his respects to the fallen of 9/11 should be seen as an olive branch. I for one, as a citizen of New York City, extend my own hand to accept it.