Presidential candidate Senator John McCain and his running mate Governor Sarah Palin were watched by millions in the presidential debate held Sept. 26 and the vice presidential debate, Oct. 2, respectively. Both, during their responses on foreign policy matters, mentioned an oft-repeated and assumed-to-be-true allegation against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who, like Saddam Hussein, has been portrayed in American media as an evil, hate-filled demagogue.
McCain in his debate with rival Sen. Barack Obama, and Palin in her match up with Obama's VP pick, Joe Biden, both referenced Ahmadinejad's alleged statement that Israel should be "wiped off the map." Making such a statement, according to Palin, was a sign of the Iranian leader's insanity and instability which, she inferred, called into question Obama's willingness to meet with such leaders without "pre-conditions."
McCain made similar arguments while debating the Illinois senator, going so far as to say Ahmadinejad had advocated the "extermination of the state of Israel" and declaring that Obama would "legitimize" Ahmadinejad and his comments by meeting with him.
Well, it is apparently not of any importance in the West, but Ahmadinejad never made the statement attributed to him and which so many, with blind faith in the mainstream media, have accepted as gospel truth. What he actually said was spoken in 2005 when he addressed "The World Without Zionism" conference in Tehran. That event honored Al Quds Day which was, decades ago, established by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini to promote the freeing of Israel from Zionist control.
When Ahmadinejad spoke, he referenced a Khomeini statement made to express the Ayatollah's desire to see Israel's capital city set free from Zionist rule much in the same way many, during the World War II era, wanted to see Germany free of the Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler. Sadly, Ahmadinejad's comments have not been portrayed in this context nor have mainstream outlets clearly shown that he was quoting someone else's words and not speaking an original statement.
In "The Wipe Israel Off the Map Hoax," a 2007 article written by Paul Joseph Watson, he outlined how several analysts reviewed Ahmadinejad's controversial statement and discovered it had not been transcribed properly in the first place, and in no instance was it found that the word "map" was even used.
"The closest translation to what the Iranian President actually said is, "The regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time," or a narrow relative thereof," Watson explained. "The acceptance of the word "map" seemingly originated with the New York Times, who later had to back away from this false translation. The BBC also wrongly used the word and later accepted their mistake but refused to issue a retraction."
Unfortunately, this accurate portrayal of Ahmadinejad's words has never received the same media attention as the "wipe Israel off the map" phrase which has been, and continues to be, used by prominent American leaders, such as McCain/Palin, who are unaware they are contributing to the spread of falsehood and frankly, propaganda, designed to manipulate the thinking and emotional reactions of unsuspecting, sheep-like individuals who do not bother to verify the authenticity or accuracy of inflammatory statements carelessly tossed about and spread in the mainstream media.
Not to excuse Obama/Biden from criticism, neither one voiced any disagreement with McCain's or Palin's characterization of Ahmadinejad's words but instead Obama described Ahmadinejad's alleged statements as the spewing of "nonsense and vile comments." Biden made the case that Obama never said he would sit down, without preconditions, with the Iranian leader who, he added, was not the one in charge of that country's "security apparatus" anyway.
Most likely, the Democratic duo believes the propaganda they've heard repeated over and over again and believe the phrase "wiped off the map" really was said, and thus they, along with McCain/Palin, are just as gullible and puppeted as the vast majority of people in the country they are seeking to lead.
Where are the politicians who will recognize and stand up for truth? Isn't that the real "change" that should be coming and that we all should be able to believe in? Until we have elected officials who are unafraid to tell the truth regardless of circumstance, we can expect "politics as usual" in Washington, D.C. no matter who wins this presidential election or any thereafter.
