Three Years for David Irving

Austria sent a message to deniers of the Holocaust today when they sentenced David Irving to three years in prison for denying that the Holocaust took place. The message is very simple: Don't deny that the Holocaust happened while you are in Austria.

The New York Times stated that the law he was charged under is from 1992, which applies to "whoever denies, grossly plays down, approves or tries to excuse the National Socialist genocide or other National Socialist crimes against humanity in a print publication, in broadcast or other media." The Times also mentioned that "Mr. Irving's trial came during a period of intense debate in Europe over freedom of expression, after European newspapers printed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that set off deadly protests worldwide."

Sounds like the Times is attempting to make Mr. Irving's denial of the Holocaust into a free speech issue. I hope they, nor anyone else, goes there. It's a pity that there has to be a law in Austria or anywhere else that explicitly enforces something like this. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people didn't let their prejudices get in the way of historical fact? I find it unfortunate and ignorant that anyone would dare to deny the Holocaust in the first place. Those pesky facts, always getting in the way, aren't they?

Foot. Mouth. Disease. Ahmadinejad.

The motormouth of Iran has managed to do it again. The "Death to Israel Crowd" is awfully tiresome. The "Relocate Israel to Europe Crowd" is a pretty funny bunch. Unfortunately, not funny ha-ha, but funny, that's a stupid freaking idea.

Last month, I blogged about Iran's new President Ahmadinejad's comments regarding Israel. He went off about Israel, and I noted some comments from the website Iranian.com. This month, he's at it again, aiming his comments back at the country, and making the even more ludicrous statement that the Holocaust never happened. Ok, right, sure, whatever.

Where is this Iranian game heading? God only knows. Is Iran trying to bolster Palestine, trying to save their own face, or truthfully, trying to start the Great War against the Great Satan (is that the U.S. or Israel these days)?

If Iran wants to start something, wants to elevate the rhetoric between the U.S., Israel and Iran, or wants to put its European allies and Russia into a even bigger endgame bind then they already are... well, they are certainly heading in the right direction. Foot in mouth disease is hard to cure. Let's hope that Ahmadinejad can get over his disease pretty soon. And let's hope there's a breakthrough between Israel, Europe, the U.S., Palestine (yes, Palestine), and Iran soon. God willing.

I'm not optimistic.