As countries such as Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia have revolted against their oppressive leaders, many people have come out in support of them.
The latest person to come out in support of these revolts is a rather unlikely one, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad's support for the protestors was surprising, due to his rather poor track record of dealing with unrest in his own country. From his infamous claim that "there are no homosexuals in Iran," to the highly contested 2009 election, he doesn't have a great deal of credibility in this situation.
While The Spectrum agrees with the support for these protestors, we also believe it's highly hypocritical for Ahmadinejad to be giving his support, considering his well-known history of ignoring dissent in his own country.
Ahmadinejad should take his own advice and listen to the wishes of people in Iran. Many people believed the 2009 election in which he became president was rigged. In the aftermath of the election, dissent in Iran was largely stifled, and it generally appeared that Ahmadinejad did not care what the people protesting in the streets had to say.
There can certainly be a parallel drawn between that and what Muammar Gaddafi is doing right now in Libya. While Ahmadinejad has not engaged in violence against his own people in the manner that Gaddafi has, he has ignored dissenters in a similar way.
Ahmadinejad stated that it's "a wonder" that someone could shoot his own people the way Gaddafi has. That's certainly a statement we can agree with but it seems highly ridiculous that it would come from him; he has no credibility in the situation.
The counterargument would be that in spite of his hypocrisy, Ahmadinejad's remarks are still a good thing, simply because his words may have some sway with Gaddafi and other leaders, and convince them to step down.
That, however, seems unlikely.
Ahmadinejad doesn't have any more credibility with other world leaders than he does with anyone else. It is quite likely that the leaders who he is criticizing would find his words just as hypocritical as we do.
It is unknown why he has decided to come out in favor of these revolts, but there has been some speculation that it's due to a connection to the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization that played a large role in the Egyptian revolution. If anything, it would certainly explain why he is on their side.
Regardless of his reasoning, however, Ahmadinejad's hypocrisy can neither be overlooked nor justified. If he wants to create a world where dissenting voices have power, he should look no further than his own country. Then, people might take him seriously.
