Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's a terrific question. Yes, to answer your question succinctly, I do believe that plays some role. If you look at Iran in the 1990s up through the time that Ahmadinejad was elected...for example, before Ahmadinejad you had Mohammad Khatami as president. There was an attempt at reform.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  You know, it's interesting; you made me think of something that I didn't bring up. To be honest with you, I'm not quite sure how this works out in Canada. I know that in the United States we have the Alien Tort Claims Act. It would be interesting to think about whether or not a civil suit in tort, as you mention, could be filed under that.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  To answer the second part, I see it worldwide, absolutely. I think unfortunately anti-Semitism in the form of anti-Israeli sentiment is on the rise. As we head into these perilous economic times that we're in, hatred finds a wonderful forum, unfortunately, for spreading itself. We've seen throughout history that anti-Semitism is such a prominent vehicle for spreading hate.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. I appreciate that you brought up responsibility to protect. I didn't bring it up, and I think it's something that bears mentioning in this context. This is a perfect example of where R2P, responsibility to protect, comes into play. As I said, all the red flags are there, all the warning signs are there, and we're not living up to the R2P principles.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I believe it does. I mean, statements have been made. If I had to prosecute this, I would go to admissions that have been made by the parties. I've seen evidence--admissions by Hamas leaders, for example--that they go to Iran for training. It makes it really easy when you have that kind of evidence out there.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm sorry about that.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's an excellent question. For purposes of crimes against humanity, there has to be a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population. I submit that Iran's sponsorship of the funding and training of these terrorist organizations, and its directing of them, in many respects, constitute that kind of attack.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I don't know that we could necessarily use the word “genocide”. I think there have been crimes against humanity. Genocide is the crime of crimes, and it requires the destruction of a people. Certainly, part of a people could be destroyed. I don't know if it has gone to that level, but I think there have been gross human rights violations.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I used to be with the United States government. I had the highest security clearance at one point. I'm now just an academic, so I don't have the same kind of access to information as perhaps I might have had. Like everybody else, I can do my research and find sources that are available to the public.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll take each of those. The first one is my view on the approach that the U.S. is taking. I think the approach is probably, in reality, more nuanced than public perception might have it. There has been a sense of wanting to reach out to the Iranians. As President Obama has said, it is so that they could join the family of nations and take on the responsibilities that go with that.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's an excellent question, because one of the questions I pose in my article and that I have been asked when I've presented this in other fora is why Ahmadinejad needs to persuade the Iranian people that Israel should be eliminated when he and perhaps the mullahs control the nuclear weapons that would be used to effectuate this genocide.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Well, we don't have the kind of universal jurisdiction statute that you have, because we're not a member of the ICC. The fact that we have disengaged from the ICC up until now is, I think, problematic. But we do have a new administration, and we're going to have to see what happens.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's another excellent question, because Iran, unfortunately, has become a major player in the Middle East. And in many respects, I think you could say Iran has become the leader of this brand of Islamic extremism that promotes hatred, violence, and the destruction of Israel. And so I think many other countries in the region look to Iran as a leader to provide guidance and to take the lead.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, there are three or four things I think Canada could do. The most direct thing Canada could do is actually to initiate a prosecution of Ahmadinejad. And it could do that under its universal jurisdiction statute. As part of Canada's joining the International Criminal Court, it had to pass domestic legislation that would be compatible with its obligations under the Rome Statute.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think charges before the ICC would be the way to go. We could treat it as a civil matter or a criminal matter. To let the world know how important this is, to satisfy our obligation to prevent rather than punish after the fact, I think criminal charges are in order. The problem is, to get to the ICC, we would have to go through the Security Council.