Iran's president routinely predicts the destruction of Israel in terms that can only be understood as advocacy of genocide. He should be banned from the U.N.'s podium, and Mitt Romney has sent a letter to the U.N. to that effect. Romney demands what ought to be automatic and obvious: The indictment of Ahmadinejad for the advocacy of genocide. This is blunt but necessary talk, and all the presidential candidates should echo Romeny's call for resolute action now. The text of Romney's letter:
To His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
With the disturbing news that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad is planning to address the United Nations General Assembly next week, I call on the United Nations to revoke any invitation to President Ahmadinejad to address the General Assembly. The only way he should be greeted in the United States is with an indictment under the Genocide Convention.
The Iranian regime under President Ahmadinejad has spoken openly about wiping Israel off the map, has fueled Hezbollah’s terror campaign in the region and around the world, and defied the world community in its pursuit of nuclear weapons – capabilities that make these threats even more ominous. As General Petraeus testified last week, Iran is also supporting Shia militia extremists and violence that is taking the lives of American soldiers and undermining the Iraqi government.
A failure by the United Nations to take a strong stand against Iran’s President Ahmadinejad would be especially disturbing given the United Nations’ record of failure to prevent genocide in other circumstances and the failure of the United Nations Human Rights Council to confront the Iranian regime and others among the world’s worst human rights abusers. Failure to act would mean that the United States must reconsider its level of support and funding for the United Nations as we look to rebuild and revitalize effective international partnerships to meet 21st century threats.
If President Ahmadinejad sets foot in the United States, he should be handed an indictment under the Genocide Convention. This approach has been called for by experts as diverse as Nobel Prize Winner Elie Wiesel, human rights advocate and former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and law professor Alan Dershowitz.
The United States and the world must take a strong stand against the terrorist Iranian regime and the time for action is now.
Sincerely,
Mitt Romney
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