I couldn't believe this.

Another German who keeps a Nazi uniform in his closet.

Foist?

Nope.

No German politician, especially of his generation could possibly say anything like that.

Sounds highly suspect to me.

“What Ahmadinejad said about the Holocaust was in our bosoms”, the former German chancellor was quoted as saying.

LOL!

Helmut can't be that stupid. Must be out of context or made up from whole cloth.

(Considering the source, this story should be treated as unconfirmed and possibly bogus at this point.)

Like the NY Times.

BS.

Sorry to go OT so soon...Dude, where's my civil war?

“What Ahmadinejad said about the Holocaust was in our bosoms”

Kohl needs a manssiere.

Seems to me eerily reminiscent of the Paleostinian "legislators" who claimed that Bush told them that God ordered him to invade Iraq.

But I bet Kohl gets a fairer hearing than Dubya did.

Was Mr. Kohl wearing a helmet when his mother dropped him of his head?

...pun intended

...we did not have the courage to speak out...

That much, at least, remains true.

Ace was also questioning these comments as well. While Germans still have problems dealing with the Holocaust and admitting that their ancestors perpetrated one of the worst horrors on mankind, I doubt that Kohl would have commented as such to this paper.

It is quite likely propaganda to serve the needs of the mullahs. Namely propping up their regime.

#9 DeeDee

Maybe actually being on the ground in Iraq prevents me from seeing it. Perhaps the view's clearer from Manhattan. It could be that my background as an intelligence officer didn't give me the right skills.

Kick ass, Ralph. The MSM is still beating this dead horse. Good luck with that you schmucks.

I wouldn't be that surprised if he thought he was off the record. But the Iranians have every reason to lie in an effort to mainstream their Holocaust denial.

What bugs me the most is how the media began noting HAMAS favored the destruction of Israel months ago. At first I thought it was an improvement, but now I realize it's an effort to mainstream the opinion. AP, AFP, and Reuters all did it at the same time. Talk about conspiracy theories.

No way that this is true.
It's probably a communication breakdown or propagandistic bollocks.

If it were true he'd be facing legal proceedings back home.

Nope, this is yet more crap from the mullahs...

Quotes from Kohl about the topic

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-09-20-wie senthal-holocaust-dies_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA

"Simon Wiesenthal, like few others ... personally felt the shadow of history in its brutality. ... Despite this, I was always touched by the fact that he was not bitter and fought for justice admirably." - Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/377841.stm

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl first championed the idea of a central monument in the heart of the German capital.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/27/10672 33095138.html?from=storyrhs

Germany's former chancellor, Helmut Kohl, vetoed the original plan for a 10,000-metre-long iron plate bearing the names of 4.5 million Jews. German MPs approved the final design four years ago.

If this is true, shouldn't he be jailed? Or is German law different than Austrian law?

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if this turned out to be legit. I spent a year working in Germany, and I found there was a lot of Holocaust denial - nothing that Germans would necessarily even recognize as such, mind you - but it was definitely there, unspoken for the most part.

Class

[Link: www.timesonline.co.uk...]

John Bolton, the hawkish US Ambassador to the United Nations, warned that the republic faced "painful consquences" if it refused to comply. In response, the deputy head of Iran's armed forces retorted: "Iran’s armed forces, through their experience of war, will turn this land into a killing field for any enemy aggressors."

Notice that John Bolton is "Hawkish" but no Iranian is consider such.

See why the world hates us?

Quotes from Kohl about the topic

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-09-20-wie senthal-holocaust-dies_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA

"Simon Wiesenthal, like few others ... personally felt the shadow of history in its brutality. ... Despite this, I was always touched by the fact that he was not bitter and fought for justice admirably." - Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/377841.stm

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl first championed the idea of a central monument in the heart of the German capital.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/27/10672 33095138.html?from=storyrhs

Germany's former chancellor, Helmut Kohl, vetoed the original plan for a 10,000-metre-long iron plate bearing the names of 4.5 million Jews. German MPs approved the final design four years ago.

* Even the former Chancellor of Germany, Helmut Kohl, who went out of his way scraping and bowing to the Holocaust Lobby during his Administration, is now in trouble with his former masters, standing accused of "trivializing the Nazi persecution of the Jews" for some innocuous off-the-cuff comment. Reports Reuters: "Governing coalition members called the remark 'horrendous' while a leader of Germany's high-profile Jewish community said it was an 'inexcusable gaffe.'''

http://www.zundelsite.org/english/zgrams/zg2000/zg 0006/000625.html

Kohl Assures U.S. Jews on Neo-Nazi Strife

Chancellor Helmut Kohl told leaders of the Anti-Defamation League today that democracy in Germany was not in danger despite the recent surge in right-wing violence against foreign asylum-seekers, the Americans said after meeting with him here.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0 CE3D61738F937A25752C0A965958260

I don't buy it.

Yeah, sure, and Kohl went on to say that Islam (of the Shi'ite variety) is the one true religion, and that Amhadinejad is drop-dead handsome and "hung like a mule". Surrre he did.

As I posted last night, Kohl certainly would know the gravity of having those statements attributed to him.

If I were Kohl and had not made these statements, I would have my staff working overtime to make sure that everyone knew.

So far, all I hear is chirping crickets. What gives?

Iranian Camel Dung
-- DRG --...
;>P

Dee Dee-

Great link. Money quote: "some parties in the West are anxious to believe the worst about Iraq. They've staked their reputations on Iraq's failure. "

Right on, brother.

CAR SWARM COMING!

/next thread

DeeDee, that's an excellent op-ed.

#20 krisper

I spent a year working in Germany, and I found there was a lot of Holocaust denial - nothing that Germans would necessarily even recognize as such, mind you - but it was definitely there, unspoken for the most part.

Two Summers in Austria here. It is bubbling under the surface. Alcohol in sufficient quantities can bring it out.

Utter nonsense. The Iranians are lying, as usual.

Thanks for posting this, Charles. Since I have been following this for the past 6 hours, my aim has been to ensure this gains widespread publication. Since it is very likely a lie spread by the Iranian government, I would very much like the German government to catch wind of this.

#32

Nice job. Keep us posted! Whether true or false, this whole thing is utterly mind-boggling.

I think there is a 1,000,000,000 to one posibility that this is a lie.

@21 posuer geography teacher

For a poster purporting to be a teacher, your
spelling and grammar are suspect.
Do you know how to use spell check or PIMF?

Notice that John Bolton is "Hawkish" but no Iranian is considered such.

If the Iranians said the sky was blue and Rosie O'Donnell has a big ass I wouldn't believe them.

I would be aboslutely floored if those remarks turned out to be true. For one thing, Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany, like Austria. In addition, surely Kohl would know that if he said something like that, his reputation would be in tatters throughout the world. Kohl is considered one of the giants of postwar Germany, on a par with Konrad Adenauer and Willy Brandt. To throw away that reputation to appease a bunch of Iranians sounds highly suspect.

Anything Kohl has to say carries the same weight as something said by Jimmuh Carter...absolutely none whatsoever.

If this becomes big enough, it could end any diplomatic rapport the Iranians still had with Germany and the EU. This is a very touchy subject for every culture that was involved, and fabulist blood-libel like this doesn't make it any better.

I think we need to call BS on this. There are a lot of Germans who like to portray the German people as victims of the Nazi's but I doubt Kohl could have become Chancellor if he really was a full out Holocaust denier.

Isn't Holocaust denial a crime in Germany? Why would he open himself up to criminal liability?

Remember, Kohl was a pretty reliable ally of ours during the 80's. I think we owe him the benefit of the doubt over the word of some lunatic Iranians.

Think of it as an homage to today's academia.

Remember - spelling and gramar no longer count. As we heard on the tape: "as long as you get the gist".

To put it bluntly, this is an especially vicious lie. Kohl would never ever say such a horrendous thing. Never.

@41

Remember - spelling and gramar no longer count.

Every teacher that posts at lgf will call you on that one. You're no teacher,regardless of what website you link your nic to.

There's no way that this could be true. Isnt Holocaust denial still against the law in Germany?

#43 quark2

It. Is. A. Joke.

OK?

The nic. The posts. The whole shebang (did I spell "shebang" right?)

Joke. As in humor.

Geography Teacher tries to play up the absurdity of what happened last week at Overland High. When Geography Teacher posts, unload on him. That is the point.

Nonsense. Kohl was a friend to Israel. Let's try to remember further than the one week or so the MSM attributes to the American collective memory.

I'm waiting on this one for a couple of days before commenting.

On one hand Germany has done a lot of business with Iran, more under Schroeder than Kohl but Kohl was pretty ethical regarding Israel.

So let's see what's what

@45 disengaged geography teacher

Ummm...yeah right, I did fall off of that last cabbage truck last night.
If you're claiming to be a froll, then who do you post as regularly?

# 36 White Tower

If the Iranians told me bears crap in the woods I would say I have a grizzly sitting on my toilet right now.

If the Iranians told me the Pope is Catholic I would say "Then why did he knock on my door last week and offer me a copy of The Watchtower?"

Kohl cannot have said this. Having lived in Germany for intervals and spoken candidly with a range of Germans, including a couple of unreconstructed Nazis, there is just no way that any German of note would say what Kohl is quoted as having said.

Even the throwbacks, few as they are and they are few, acknowledge what happened. They merely seek to extenuate the crime by bringing up the tired old business about how "die Jueden" had too much clout in finance and pulled too many strings, yadda yadda.

Maybe this quote came from CBS documents.

#48 quark2 -

You really are no fun.

I post here regularly and don't use the PIMF enough. I have explained why. That should give you some hints. I have posted on some other threads today with my normal nic.

Anyway, I will probably not post as geography teacher anymore since explaining jokes takes the fun out of them. If you look to the first g t post yesterday morning, most people got the joke until some people decided to play troll cop.

Absurd is as absurd does. I read Kos sometimes for laughs, even though I know the posters are serious. No one at LGF should be threatened by a resident moonbat, esp if he isn't mean but just thick. That is what geography teacher was.

Geography Teacher - RIP. Died an early death because some lizardoids are just wound too tight.

(By the way - I have a yahoo nic "hatingusaispatriotic" as in "hating the USA is patriotic." It works - the left go more to the left when he is around and says things like "God Bless Cindy Sheehan - she made me hate America again." The moonbats lap it up and the rational ones laugh their asses off and then take flank shots at the followers. The undecideds read that and say "these liberals are really whacked out" - they are right! Good. Clean. Fun.)

I was just scanning some online bio's of Kohl. He was raised a devout conservative Catholic. His older brother was killed during the war and although he was drafted at age 15, he did not fight. He joined the CDU party at age 16 and quickly worked his way up. There was no mention of anything like the neo-nazi or revisionist statement in the Iranian press.

I would discount any statement coming from the Iranian regime.

#52, Geography teacher. Got change for a counterfeit $100? Ha. Ha.

#50 lostlakehiker 3/6/2006 10:14AM PST

I am confused, I thought Iranfocus was anti-Isalmicist web site. Why should they lie about Kohl?

I need confirmation either way.

@52

Wah

#38 TotallySirius

Please, don't put Kohl in the same league with Jimmy Carter. Kolh was conservative, Christian, smart and a real populist. He stood with Reagan in putting the SST missiles in Germany, despite huge protests from the Left. He helped engineer the collapse of East Germany and managed the subsequent reunification of Germany. Toward the end of his career he became implicated in a corruption scandal, but charges against him were dropped. History will rank him as one of the better German Chancelors.

He is no Jimmy Carter.

#55 scribe

IranFocus prints news stories from the Iranian press, including from pro-regime media. Also, even anti-regime Iranians are often caught up in typical Middle Eastern conspiracy theories.

busoms.
heh heh. He said busoms heh heh.

/beavis mode

The only true part of this, I think, is that Helmut "Fatboy" Kohl has bosoms.

"Kolh was conservative, Christian, smart and a real populist."

Another German head of state comes to mind...

#58 Kenneth

"Also, even anti-regime Iranians are often caught up in typical Middle Eastern conspiracy theories."

Interesting point, thanks.

Considering the source, this story should be treated as unconfirmed and possibly bogus at this point.

Couldn't agree more, however while Mr. Kohl might not say what he was quoted as saying I'd guess that he, like many Germans, would relish the chance to have another go at eliminating the Jews.

Disinformation is a powerful tool of propaganda and espionage. Of course the Iranians have never been known to use it. In a pigs ear.

Helmut Kohl still alive? I thought he croaked in the 1990s.

We already know that the Iranian government has adopted lying about German history as a major instrument of policy. Lying about present-day Germans is a logical continuation of this policy.

"… Kohl said that he 'heartily agreed' with Ahmadinejad’s remarks about the Holocaust.

'What Ahmadinejad said about the Holocaust was in our bosoms', the former German chancellor was quoted as saying. 'For years we wanted to say this, but we did not have the courage to speak out'."

It is completely preposterous that Helmut Kohl would even think this, much less say it.

#63:

Your statement "Couldn't agree more, however while Mr. Kohl might not say what he was quoted as saying I'd guess that he, like many Germans, would relish the chance to have another go at eliminating the Jews." only shows what an ignorant and uninformed observer of Germans and Germany you are.

#24 Occasional Reader

Yeah, sure, and Kohl went on to say that Islam (of the Shi'ite variety) is the one true religion, and that Amhadinejad is drop-dead handsome and "hung like a mule". Surrre he did.

O. Reader,
At first I was going to commend you for your willingness to speak the truth in the face of a fascist BushRovian dictatorship. But my press secretary advises me that this is satire, and is not meant nicely. However, you have my permission to speak of me as hanged like a mule. This is permissible.

Death to America, Death the Israel, yadda, yadda...

M. A.
President, Islamic Republic of Iran

#43 quark2

Every teacher that posts at lgf will call you on that one.

Actually, you mean to say that every teacher who posts... This just goes to show the sorry state of today's teachers. AP style manual sitting close by, you will never catch a member of the media making such a blatent spelling or stylistic error.

#69 MSM:

You are kidding, right?

Shouldn't you use a sarc tag?

Is it possible that Kohl is getting nutty in his old age? Having watched more than a few elderly relatives fade away, my experience is that they first seem to have their capacities, but occasionally just say something really off the wall and odd, and it just deteriorates from there.

I have no idea of the guy's condition, but the comments are out of character for him. On the other hand, Iran Focus is not a mouthpiece for the Mullahs, (indeed they have been the target of DOS attacks from hackers bent on shutting them down). So a deliberate attempt to fabricate a smear attack against Kohl also seems out of character, for that website.

I visit the site daily because it has always seemed to be a reasonable clearinghouse for genuine "news" out of Iran. Yes that means they have to rely on word of mouth reporting in many cases, as Iran tends to frown on independent, official journalism. Is the site always reliable and verifiable? Nope.

But I'm a bit confused why Germany and/or Kohl himself haven't come out and squashed the story yet with a clear rebuttal. Maybe they don't want to put Kohl in front of a roomful of reporters with microphones?

#70 Princess Bernie

Shouldn't you use a sarc tag?

Sha! I'm the Mainstream Media. I don't need sarc tags. I have "SCARE" quotes. When you have that kind of power, you don't need "sarc" tags.

This is pure poppy-cock.

#61 Isadore

Another German head of state comes to mind...

That's cute. How bout naming names?

#65 the_flying_pig

Helmut Kohl still alive? I thought he croaked in the 1990s.

His wife did. She committed suicide after suffering a rare skin disease for many years.

#71 mich-igan

But I'm a bit confused why Germany and/or Kohl himself haven't come out and squashed the story yet with a clear rebuttal.

I don't think this is even being reported in the EU, so who would run a rebuttal?

oh, come on! comments like that would be a career-ender for kohl... even IF he did believe that, he'd never be so stupid as to verbalize it. ever.