#4 Al Parker | 2006-10-04 11:33
Here's Ahmadinejad being interviewed on the subject by Brian Williams:
"Ahmadinejad: In the Second World War, over 60 million people lost their lives. They were all human beings. Why is it that only a select group of those who were killed have become so prominent and important?
Williams: Because of the difference humankind draws between warfare and genocide.
Ahmadinejad: Do you think that the 60 million who lost their lives were all at the result of warfare alone? There were 2 million that were part of the military at the time -- perhaps altogether 58 million civilians with no roles in the war -- Christians, Muslims, they were all killed. If this event happened, and if it is a historical event, then we should allow everyone to research it and study it. The more research and studies are done, the more we can become aware of the realities that happened. Historical events are always subject to revisions, and reviews and studies.
"
The question after this one is another one about the six million (there's that number again) Jews.
This is not normal to me -- this seems to be bordering on necrophilia. I wonder what would happen if researchers had free rights to conduct tests at Auschwitz. The Holocaust deniers would scrape brick off walls of buildings and rejoice at how the test results show no Zyklon B residue. The Holocaust promoters would dig up the surrounding areas and scream in excitement, "We've struck bone!"
I agree with you that even saying 'Jew' elicits an almost Pavlovian response, filling the head with images of a pit of emaciated corpses. People who speak and write should be careful about how every word will be interpreted. There is a linguist, George Lakoff, who explains how this works for those on the liberal, progressive side. For example, when criticizing the Republican's environmental program, don't say "I'm against the Clean Skies Act." Instead, call it the "Dirty Skies Act." Don't say "I'm against No Child Left Behind." You say, "I'm against Every Child Left Behind."