In fact, he was invited to speak which is even worse. Inviting him to an intellectual encounter grants him the unearned sanction that he is an honest and reasonable person. He's clearly identified himself as being the opposite. Nothing that he says at Columbia can be trusted and, thus, it's fruitless for the organizers and attendees. The dark side is that Ahmadinjad will try to use the event to further his ends and this makes the invitation by Columbia immoral. I had edited my post before your post; yes, he was invited. I disagree with your assessment of Columbia; I thought President Bollinger, appropriately, dressed Ahmadinajad down. You can find the text of his remarks here. Mick