With the imprint of carpet weave in his forehead, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose from his evening prayers and joined us in his presidential office for a frank interview.
Having learned from such stalwart journalists as those on NBC, we didn't pull any punches and hit him right between the eyes with our most penetrating question.
"Are you a bad guy?" we asked.
"No," he answered.
Again, taking our cue from network journalism, we thanked Iran's president for his forthright answer and prepared to take our leave, but he stopped us.
"You seem like a fair-minded infidel," he said. "So I'd like to expand on my recent remarks to the United Nations."
"You mean … like that thing about the 9/11 attacks being 'orchestrated' by 'some segments within the U.S. government'?" we asked.
"Indeed," he answered. "That and other examples of western imperialist manipulation."
As we re-opened our notebook and held our pen at the ready, the Iranian president held forth:
"The majority of the American people agree the attack was staged to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order to save the Zionist regime.
"This is in keeping with United States practice from the beginning of time."
"Can you give us some more examples?" we ventured.
"Of course," he said kindly. "The Dec. 7, 1941, 'attack' on Pearl Harbor is a very good example. Roosevelt's – or should I say Rosenfeld's – New Deal couldn't pull America out of the Great Depression, so elements within the U.S. government staged the air raid.
"It was just like when American agents shot the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, precipitating World War I."
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