Der Spiegel Interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...

... is interesting on a number of fronts, to include Ahmadinejad's continued denial of the Holocaust but especially Spiegel's repeated claims that the U.S. has lost the war in Iraq:

SPIEGEL: Mr. President, doesn't there come a time when one should accept that the world is the way it is and that we must accept the status quo? The war against Iraq has put Iran in a favorable position. The United States has suffered a de facto defeat in Iraq. Isn't it now time for Iran to become a constructive power of peace in the Middle East? Which would mean giving up its nuclear plans and inflammatory talk?

Ahmadinejad: I'm wondering why you're adopting and fanatically defending the stance of the European politicians. You're a magazine, not a government. Saying that we should accept the world as it is would mean that the winners of World War II would remain the victorious powers for another 1,000 years and that the German people would be humiliated for another 1,000 years. Do you think that is the correct logic?

SPIEGEL: No, that's not the right logic, nor is it true. The Germans have played a modest, but important role in post-war developments. They do not feel as though they have been humiliated and dishonored since 1945. We are too self-confident for that. But today we want to talk about Iran's current mission.

Ahmadinejad: Then we would accept that Palestinians are killed every day, that they die in terrorist attacks, and that houses are being destroyed. But let me say something about Iraq. We have always favored peace and security in the region. For eight years, the Western countries provided arms to Saddam in the war against us, including chemical weapons, and gave him political support. We were against Saddam and suffered severely because of him, so we're happy that he has been toppled. But we don't accept a whole country being swallowed under the pretext of wanting to topple Saddam. More than 100,000 Iraqis have lost their lives under the rule of the occupying forces. Fortunately, the Germans haven't been involved in this. We want security in Iraq.

SPIEGEL: But, Mr. President, who is swallowing Iraq? The United States has practically lost this war. By cooperating constructively, Iran might help the Americans consider their retreat from the country.

The whole interview is worthy of your attention but I stand stunned at the claim made that the war in Iraq is lost. 

It's one thing to say that things are not going as well as we'd like but to state unequivocally that the war has been lost, more than once, is a tad over the top wouldn't you say?  And doesn't that type of defeatism feed the fanatacism represented by the President of Iran?

Incredible.

But hey, this is Europe, and by all intents and purposes, the Islamists have defeated Europe (and Ahmadinejad seems to know it).

Comments

[Nathan]

If the USA has lost the war in Iraq, then why do the radicals continue attacking us? If they've won, shouldn't they be celebrating and running the US troops out of Iraq?

The fact is that the US IS winning and winning BIG time. The radicals are a dying animal and are lashing out with every suicider they can find.

Once again logic wins.

[Guy]

The only thing the US has lost is the 'propaganda war' as is evidenced by the fact that each US mistake is amplified 1000 times, and each terrorist atrocity is minimized or ignored, & explained away. The US can't get any good press.

This interview was interesting & unsettling. The guy is a psychopath & is living in an alternate universe. They're trying to set Iran up to be the regional superpower.
The final part of his interview is almost threatening Europe, telling them what's good for their interests & how they're under Zionist influence. It's almost like this guy is itching to start a war.

[RealRepublican1854]

Come on, you can't be "stunned" that Germany's leading news periodical is making up their own version of worldwide events, occurances and outcomes in their attempt to sway the masses towards their ideology...that's what CBS, CNN and the NYT do in America, right???

Hopefully, the general public in Germany is intelligent enough to realize that the liberal media is causing the War against Terrorism to wane, much as Walter Cronkite did during Vietnam. The American public, however, has seen through this huge bias on the part of the mainstream media.

Proof?

Fox News Channel has TWICE the viewership of any other television news organization, cable or network. Rush Limbaugh is the number 1 talk radio program in America and has TWICE the audience of his nearest competitor, who is #2, Sean Hannity!.

These are facts, folks. Brian Williams and Wolf Blitzer may want you to think otherwise, but Americana is still behind America!