The citizens of deep blue Massachusetts should be especially proud of their governor Mitt Romney for publicly  proclaiming that former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami will not receive state police protection.

'State taxpayers should not be providing special treatment to an individual who supports violent jihad and the destruction of Israel,' said Romney.

Romney's action means that Khatami will be denied an official police escort and other VIP treatment when he is in town.

Not to worry about the man's safety though; the US State Department——the very governmental branch which amazingly granted him a visa to enter this country——is in charge of his safety.

For those who might have forgotten, including, apparently, some in the State Department, Romney helpfully supplied a bit of Khatami's history:

During the period of time he was in office, from 1997 to 2005, Khatami presided over Iran's secret nuclear program.  Currently, the Iranian Government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is snubbing the international community's request to cease nuclear weapons production.

In the recent conflict along the Israel—Lebanon border, Khatami described the terrorist group Hezbollah as a 'shining sun that illuminates and warms the hearts of all Muslims and supporters of freedom in the world.'

Khatami has endorsed Ahmadinejad's call for the annihilation of Israel.

During Khatami's presidency, Iran refused to hand over the Iranian intelligence officials who were responsible for the attack on the Khobar Towers that killed 19 U.S. military personnel.

In his own country, Khatami oversaw the torture and murder of Iranian students, journalists, and others who spoke out for freedom and democracy.  Khatami relaxed freedom of speech laws giving democracy reformers a false sense of security only to engage in one of the largest crackdowns in the country's history.

In Khatami's Iran, there was no religious tolerance.  According to the U.S. Office of International Religious Freedom, Iran was one of the worst offenders of religious persecutions.  Minorities, such as Evangelicals, Jews, Catholics and others, have suffered.

'Khatami pretends to be a moderate, but he is not.  My hope is that the United States will find and work with real voices of moderation inside Iran.  But we will never make progress in the region if we deal with wolves in sheep's clothing,' said Romney.

BTW, Khatami is scheduled to speak about tolerance at Harvard University on September 10, 2006.  Yes, you read that correctly

Ethel C. Fenig    9 06 06