Saturday, September 23, 2006

Crazy Like a Fox

Those are the words of Maurice R. Greenberg who spoke with Ahmadinejad recently at the Council on Foreign Relations meeting, where Ahmadinejad spoke:

Q: Give us more insight on the man himself. Clearly you feel that he's dangerous, and that the administration's characterization of him is correct. Can you elaborate? You've dealt with many foreign leaders, given your position in the business community. Is there anything in particular that strikes you about Ahmadinejad?

MRG: Yes: How a man like this came to power. He's very clever. He responds in an oblique way: never directly to the question. He changes the subject. He goes on and on and raises issues. For example, regarding those in prison in Iran, including members of the press-he doesn't answer the question. He says, "There are 3 million people in prison in the United States. What are they in prison for?" He just throws back something that he believes is improper in our country. Not on any factual basis, it's just his method of never answering the question.

The man… I wouldn't call him nuts. He's not crazy. He's crazy like a fox.

Q: So bottom line: In your view, can we do business with him or is it impossible to do so?

MRG: I think it's almost impossible to do business with him as long as he has those views. He says: "Why should the Palestinians suffer even if there was a Holocaust? What does one have to do with the other?" I mean, they have nothing to do with each other. We don't link them together. And we discussed that. They're not linked.

He thinks the Palestinians should be permitted to return, that's never going to happen. If the Palestinians returned to Israel, they'd swamp the country and there wouldn't be an Israel. But he doesn't want an Israel.

[...]
We can't deal with him. You can't deal with this guy. I do not believe that we should let him come into possession of the capabilities to manufacture a nuclear device, or achieve it by an indirect means, such as buying it from somebody else.
I'm glad this guy is arrogant enough to meet with the press and to speak at various groups, he isn't able to hide his cunning and his nutty views. Maybe this will put fear into their hearts and they won't be opposed to military action when it's time to do something.

(Link via little green footballs)