Ahmadinejad Calls Israel "A Racist Nation"; Some Delegates Applaud While Others Walk Out

Speaking before the UN sponsored Durban II Conference in Geneva today, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel "a racist nation."

While some Western delegates walked out upon that declaration other nations applauded Ahmadinejad.

Over the weekend the United States formally announced it would not send a representative to Durban II joining Canada and Italy who had long ago announced they would not dignify such a gathering. But after the U.S. announced its decision not to attend Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland followed suit.

At the beginning of Ahmadinejad's speech, he was disrupted by protesters dressed in colorful wigs who called him a racist. They might have been the most sensible people in that room.

Which begs this question. Why does the Obama Administration insist on engaging a man who insists on talking this way?

For Obama to talk with Ahmadinejad would be to reward his hateful behavior and that of his government.