Hello Sun

Ive just read your article by James Clench:
 http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007090302,00.html
dated feb 27 2007.

and the troubling claim is this:
'The madman, who has vowed to wipe Israel off the map,
ominously boasted that Iran has the technology to make
nuclear power.'

Madman? 'Omininously'? IS this really meant as A-grade
journalism?

This article contains some of the worst journalism ive
seen for some time. The hysterical language, the libel
and shrill name calling, but above all,the
'journalist' claims that Ahmadinejad said he wanted to
wipe israel off the face of the earth.
Well, Clench is a poor exccuse for a journalist, and
your paper is a sad reflection on journalism if it
cant do a bit of research. Here is what the iranian
president really said:


Why so recently as this is your paper continunig to
publish what is a brazen lie about what prsident
Ahmadienjad really said:

'"Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az
safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad." '

Can anyone on the Sun read this? Apparently not.
Iraninan Arash Norouzi can. Here is his analysis:



'THE ACTUAL QUOTE:

So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his
exact words in farsi: "Imam ghoft een rezhim-e
ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv
shavad."

That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one
word might ring a bell: rezhim-e. It is the word
"Regime", pronounced just like the English word with
an extra "eh" sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not
refer to Israel the country or Israel the land mass,
but the Israeli regime. This is a vastly significant
distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map.
Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he
instead uses the specific phrase "rezhim-e
ishghalgar-e qods" (regime occupying Jerusalem).

So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want
"wiped from the map"? The answer is: nothing. That's
because the word "map" was never used. The Persian
word for map, "nagsheh", is not contained anywhere in
his original farsi quote, or, for that matter,
anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the western
phrase "wipe out" ever said. Yet we are led to believe
that Iran's President threatened to "wipe Israel off
the map", despite never having uttered the words
"map", "wipe out" or even "Israel".

THE PROOF:

The full quote translated directly to English:

"The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must
vanish from the page of time".

Word by word translation:

Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e
(regime) ishghalgar-e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem)
bayad (must) az safheh-ye ruzgar (from page of time)
mahv shavad (vanish from).

Here is the full transcript of the speech in farsi,
archived on Ahmadinejad's web site
www.president.ir/farsi/ahmadinejad/speeches/1384/aban-84/840804sahyonizm.htm

THE SPEECH AND CONTEXT:

While the false "wiped off the map" extract has been
repeated infinitely without verification,
Ahmadinejad's actual speech itself has been almost
entirely ignored. Given the importance placed on the
"map" comment, it would be sensible to present his
words in their full context to get a fuller
understanding of his position. In fact, by looking at
the entire speech, there is a clear, logical
trajectory leading up to his call for a "world without
Zionism". One may disagree with his reasoning, but
critical appraisals are infeasible without first
knowing what that reasoning is.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad declares that Zionism is
the West's apparatus of political oppression against
Muslims. He says the "Zionist regime" was imposed on
the Islamic world as a strategic bridgehead to ensure
domination of the region and its assets. Palestine, he
insists, is the frontline of the Islamic world's
struggle with American hegemony, and its fate will
have repercussions for the entire Middle East.

Ahmadinejad acknowledges that the removal of America's
powerful grip on the region via the Zionists may seem
unimaginable to some, but reminds the audience that,
as Khomeini predicted, other seemingly invincible
empires have disappeared and now only exist in history
books. He then proceeds to list three such regimes
that have collapsed, crumbled or vanished, all within
the last 30 years:

(1) The Shah of Iran- the U.S. installed monarch

(2) The Soviet Union

(3) Iran's former arch-enemy, Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein

In the first and third examples, Ahmadinejad prefaces
their mention with Khomeini's own words foretelling
that individual regime's demise. He concludes by
referring to Khomeini's unfulfilled wish: "The Imam
said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from
the page of time. This statement is very wise". This
is the passage that has been isolated, twisted and
distorted so famously. By measure of comparison,
Ahmadinejad would seem to be calling for regime
change, not war.

etc
 http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16218.htm

====================
So we now know that President Ahmadinejad never said
'wipe israel off the face of the map'. So why are you
at this late date, when all this has been available on
the internet, or why couldnt you hire a decent farsi
translator? Does your paper really hate Iranians so
much they are prepared to back another US war? This
lie like the lie of Saddams WMDs is being fed to the
non-Farsi speaking public to get their backing for
war.
During the Nuremberg trials, german newspaper
publishers who backed the nazis were also tried and
executed for their part in fomenting war. Do you want
to suffer the same fate?

Here is what your irresponsible non-journalism is
leading us to:
 http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022507B.shtml


regards


Brian Souter
Canberra Australia