I think it was a bold step in the right direction for Columbia to invite Ahmadinejad to speak, but I'm disappointed Lee Bollinger appeared to buckle to pressure from pundits and the public to turn what should have been an informed exchange about conflicting viewpoints into a mudslinging match. I would agree that this debacle was a missed opportunity, both for the U.S. and Iran.

Discourse with our enemies is necessary if we're ever to understand each other and reach some diplomatic compromise on issues like nuclear energy/weapons development, Israel/Palestine, and the future stability of the Middle East, especially Iraq. To listen is not to condone.

True, Ahmadinejad harbors some provocative views about U.S. foreign policy, Israel's right to exist, and homosexuality; to engage him in debate and make articulate and well-informed counter-arguments would have been much more effective than labeling him a cruel and petty dictator and levering the weight of the civilized world into condemning everything the man stands for. To me, that's not dialogue; that's name-calling.