Back in the early 1960’s, when the USA and Russia were planning how to destroy eachother, Premier Kruschev mad a speech, in which his words were (erroneously) translated as “We will bury you”.
Analysts took this to mean that Kruschev was seriously planning a nuclear war with the USA.
Years later, i read that the premier’s words were mistranslated, what Kuschev really meant was somthing like; " we respect you, but your plans (for war) will die and be buried"-he meant no treat of war with the USA.
So, is Iranian President Ahmedinajad being misquoted? Has he really called for the destruction of israel? or is he really meaning something like “history does not favor Zionism”-or something like that?
He explicitly referenced the fall of the Soviet Union as what he meant. It disappeared as an entity, the people didn’t. He, as far as I can understand the idiot, thinks a Palestinian political entity on all the former palestine, is possible and I guess expects the jewish element to just fuck off like the Georgians etc did in Russia. He is a buffoon who will be gone soon.
Khrushchev’s speech was poorly worded and somewhat ambiguous, apparently in Russian as well as English. The phrase could also be taken out of context and made to sound scary, when it was really just a little weird. (BTW, the speech has nothing to do with the way you interpreted it, but that’s another issue.)
It is pretty difficult to mistranslate a whole conference on Holocaust denial.
To “bury” someone is a Russian idiom meaning “to attend the funeral.” Khrushchev was merely saying “We will outlive you” – that is, the Communist system will outlast capitalism. Which is no more than a good Communist of that period would say.
He was a regular Nostradamus. The Iranian nutter is no better.
This Wiki page is a good source for info and opinions on the ‘Wipe off the map’ and holocaust controversies.
I’ve been making this same comparison for quite some time, and more than once I’ve linked to the same Wikipedia article that tagos did.
It also bears repeating that Iran offered to help the US against terrorism, and that some Iran experts believe that our spurning their olive branch is what helped elect Ahmadinejad, as is discussed here:
Not exactly. Nostradamus was ambiguous. That is why some still take his prophecies seriously.
That was how I always understood the phrase.
You know, there is a bit of similarity in them. Not the quotes part as in the OP, but rather both guys used very fiery rhetoric, both made claims they would vastly improve the living standards of their people and both were total failures in that realm. Perhaps Ahmedinejad will use his shoe as a prop sometime soon.
Sounds like a pretty accurate description of both to me.
Khrushchev was a powerful leader. Ahmedinajad is a noise maker. He has no real power.