Ahmadinejad, the right cellmate: for Shahzad?

By Bruce Ticker

The big one got away once again after the law nabbed Faisal Shahzad. Maybe authorities were stretched thin when they collared Shahzad, the suspect in the Times Square attempted bombing. Mr. Big had done far worse: holding Americans hostage, threatening to destroy an American ally and persecuting his own people.

We muffed the chance to arrest and jail Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the umpteenth time. Iran’s president arrived in New York several weeks ago, on Sunday, May 2, when the FBI could have driven him to a federal holding cell or the NYPD could have taken him to Rikers Island. Instead, he was driven to his hotel and the next morning he harangued attendees at the opening of the international conference to assess the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Jonathan Feldstein of Jerusalem had the right idea which he expressed in a letter published in The New York Daily News: “To get to the root of the terrorists’ plot and find out whose tentacles were behind this, the police would be wise to detain and interrogate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”

Such a notion can be carried further. Three countries have legitimate claims to prosecute Ahmadinejad. The United States can file charges dating back more than three decades. Some hostages held at the American embassy can still identify Iran’s future tyrant as a participant in the mob that held them captive.

Ahmadinejad could also be extradited to Israel for threatening that it will be “wiped off the map.” He is also constructing nuclear facilities which many believe will be used to produce nuclear weapons targeted at Israel.

He already is waging war against Israel. It is common knowledge that Iran supplies its proxy allies - Hamas and Hezbollah - with weapons and trains their soldiers.

The Iranian people have a transparent case against their president. After manipulating an election, Ahmadinejad assaulted, jailed, tortured and murdered fellow Iranians who dared to assemble and demand freedom. Some witnesses to his brutality are dead, but millions remain alive to testify against him if the right opportunity arises.

Even some who at one time favored the embassy takeover joined the demonstrators.

Our government does not recognize Ahmadinejad as a suspected felon. He is a head of state and must be allowed free passage in and out of America. Just like Hitler.

If the policy changes, the task of arresting Ahmadinejad might be aptly assigned to police officer Arzoo Bedi, 25. She was among the officers who cleared out Times Square during the attempted bombing. The Daily News reported that she was a baby when her parents left Iran for the United States.

Her father, Bhupinder Bedi, said, “This country has given us so much. She wants to protect the public and this country.”

Too bad that those who remain in Iran cannot speak about their country with such pride. That could change if we forced Ahmadinejad to share a prison cell with Shahzad.

Bruce S. Ticker is a freelance journalist from Philadelphia. He can be contacted at Bticker@comcast.net.