Jeffrey Goldberg got the journalistic call of a lifetime – to interview Fidel Castro.  I don’t say that out of respect for Castro, but out of an understanding of what it would be like to interview an aging leader who once “lived large” on the world stage.  Goldberg was able to spend three days interviewing Castro and the first article about the interviews is here at The Atlantic.

The most surprising thing about the interview is that it seems that Castro asked for it so he could get a message to Ahmadinejad of Iran.  Unlike American leaders, who seem to be willing to allow Iran to do whatever it wants and make whatever claims it wants, Castro is showing real backbone and calling it like he sees it.  Goldberg reports “He [Castro] criticized Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and explained why the Iranian government would better serve the cause of peace by acknowledging the "unique" history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence.”

For the leader of the country, that during the Cold War, was the Communist beachhead of Soviet Russia in the western hemisphere, that is an amazing statement and shows a level of thoughtfulness not seen in our own country’s leadership who are fearful of criticizing anything that nut case in Tehran says.  Occasionally Obama will come out with some mild reproach of Iran like White House Press Secretary Gibbs statement that Iran could face harsher sanctions (Reuters article on Sept 18, 2009) or Obama’s statement  that “To this day, there are those who insist the Holocaust never happened…hatred that degrades its victim and diminishes us all” (NY Daily news article on April 23, 2009).  Even the NY Daily News admitted that the Obama’s statement was a (thinly) veiled slam at Ahmadinejad.  But that’s just the problem.  Castro, a Communist and former leader of a poor country, has no qualms about calling Ahmadinejad out for his hateful speech against Israel.  Obama, so called leader of the free world, only makes veiled statements about Ahmadinejad’s hateful attacks.  I’m no fan of Castro, but at least the man has the courage to tell it like it is.

One other interesting note from The Atlantic article.  Castro stated “After I've seen what I've seen, and knowing what I know now, it wasn't worth it all” regarding his request that the Soviet Union attack us with nukes during the height of the Cuban missile crisis.  This is all coming in hindsight for Castro, but maybe age does actually grant wisdom.  If only Obama could grow up that fast.