Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent request to visit the World Trade Center site while in New York to address the United Nations has set off a firestorm of controversy.

Ahmadinejad has spoken at Columbia University, where he was supposed to speak last year – but Columbia rescinded the offer after coming under fire. Lee Bolinger, Columbia’s president, has said the college only agreed to host Ahmadinejad after making him agree to “divide his time evenly between delivering remarks and responding to audience questions.”

Bollinger has defended his decision in the face of harsh criticism, some of it from New York mayor Michael Bloomburg. On Columbia’s Web site, Bollinger said “Columbia . is committed to confronting ideas – to understand the world as it is and as it might be.”

He goes on to say that to not allow Ahmadinejad to speak would be an affront to the freedom of speech that is so important to “vigorous debate.” Columbia’s defense of free speech is an important stand and stands in sharp contrast to the hate-mongering coming from the bureaucrats.

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly requested an opportunity to lay a wreath at Ground Zero, a move presidential candidate Sen. John McCain charged being as “little more than a propaganda ploy.”

Ahmadinejad has drawn repeated fire for suggesting the Holocaust is a myth. He has suggested that if it was Europeans who perpetrated the genocide, perhaps Israel should be moved to Europe. Many Palestinians resent the creation of the Israeli state, seeing it as infringing upon their sovereign soil. Israel and Palestine have repeated clashes over territory, and Israel’s association with the West has further intensified the conflict.

Although Ahmadinejad’s statements regarding the Holocaust have been seen as deliberately inflammatory and intentionally confrontational, the same could be said about President Bush’s statement in his 2002 State of the Union speech in which he labeled Iraq, Iran and North Korea as the “axis of evil,” saying it was “both America’s responsibility and privilege to fight freedom’s fight.”

Bush’s designation of these states as constituting an “axis” is factious, as the term “axis” implies the members joined together with the purpose of achieving a shared goal. No such link exists between the members of the “axis of evil.”

Although Ahmadinejad’s views on world history and his opinions of Israel may be unsettling to many Americans, this should be seen as a test of our belief in free speech. Ahmadinejad has only been granted a C-2 level visa by the U.S. It is the most restrictive visa available, limiting him to a 25-mile radius travel zone. It would be hypocritical of America to promote ourselves as the freest nation in the world and then muzzle and censor a dissident who comes here to speak.

Ahmadinejad’s speech at Columbia has given our nation a perfect opportunity to showcase how deeply we believe in our most fundamental laws. Are all men created equal, with the inalienable right of liberty?

Although we may all disagree with what Ahmadinejad has to say, as a country built on freedom of speech and expression, we should still grant him the opportunity to speak his mind.

To do anything less is to suggest the United States’ detractors are right in their opinions of our nation as a hypocritical hegemony that seeks to enforce a double standard throughout the world.

Iran Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi said it best: “Human rights are not established by throwing cluster bombs at people.”

If the Bush administration is honest in its claim that it only wishes to spread freedom and democracy, there’s no better place to start that be ending the saber rattling and brinksmanship we’re currently engaging in with Iran.

Quincy Miller is a senior in English from Altoona.