cbsnews.com — Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki claimed a female violinist was dressed too revealingly; he had been seated directly across from Condoleezza Rice amid a major regional conference on Iraq. He also blamed the U.S. for the violence in Iraq.
May 4, 2007 View in Crawl 4
pixelvisionMay 5, 2007
Wars are pretty violent, he has a point.
sebgMay 5, 2007
He could go f**k himself.
theman8631May 5, 2007
Plus in his defense take a look at the the picture of the dinner celebration with the violinist on the left (nsfw)<a class="user" href="http://www.drsusanblock.com/splash/zorthian/SPLASH/IMAG018.JPG">http://www.drsusanblock.com/splash/zorthian/SPLASH/IMAG018.JPG</a>I mean cmon I don't think thats very good foreign policy etiquette
popothebrightMay 5, 2007
DAMN THOSE VIOLINISTS!!!!! They're always degrading our foreign policy events with their terrible taste, skimpy outfits and lewd antics! In future events we should make an effort tone it down a little ... and maybe bring back the bikini jello wrestling. Because this kind of blatant "sex-show / classical-ensemble" thing has GOT TO STOP.
popothebrightMay 5, 2007
If she'd have been Iranian -- the Foreign Minister would have had the violinist taken out.... and stoned to death.
henwoodMay 5, 2007
That is almost as much of a good idea as building a wall of pork between Israel and Palestine, no one would go near it! Join me and promote sanity!
fulovschidtMay 6, 2007
I think running out was perfectly rational from his perspective. Those diplomatic events can get very wild, recalling the shoulder massage Bush gave Merkel last year. Then, he probably read the April 28 Economist where in the International section their story on Capital Punishment says "... in Iran, a man and a woman were stoned to death for extra-marital sex ..." Putting all the circumstantial evidence together - dinner with a woman, seductive violinist, away on a business trip - he probably had no other choice of action in order to escape a guilty verdict and stoning.
jll3sonexMay 6, 2007
So when are THEY supposed to show some tolerance for cultures that are different?Oh, wait... never mind, WE are supposed to bend over backward (or forward, depending) for THEM to avoid offense, while THEIR tolerance is never to be tested.
jll3sonexMay 6, 2007
If they don't have self control in this aspect of international relations, then why do we expect them to have any self-control when it comes to a diplomatic solution? Seems to me if they can't control themselves in one subject, they won't control themselves in another.