NEWS: Ahmadinejad Sends Irritating Letter to US

POLITICS: Ahmadinejad Sends Irritating Letter to US

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has raised his own profile within the US by being the first Iranian president to visit the country since the 1979 revolution, as well as his outspoken defiance of Bush's nuclear ultimatums, and a near constant needling of Bush and US foreign policy. Now he's decided to take a page from Bush's own repertoire by writing an open letter to the citizens of the US.

The full text of the letter can be read here.



Bush should take home one lesson from this exercise in diplomacy: while it's fine to criticize one's own country, it's annoying as hell to hear some know-it-all from another offer the same criticisms, particularly when his own record isn't exactly spotless. People in Iran aren't stupid, they feel exactly the same way when Bush offers these "heartfelt pleas" to them to rise up against their own government and boot out Ahmadinejad and the clerics. In fact Iran has an active political movement against its theocracy, one that is widely supported by the populace (and despite Mohammed Khatami's perceived ineffectiveness he did try to initiate pro-Western reforms in Iraq during his tenure.)



But condescending to the Iranian people through cheap publicity stunts like "open letters" will just piss them off and likely stoke support in the exact opposite direction. Notice that spontaneous pro-Ahmadinejad rallies haven't sprung up around the US in response to his letter.



The best way to support dissent in Iran is to lead by example and offer help to dissidents whenever they ask for it. No one wants opinions from foreign despots shoved down their throats though.

I read his letter...he actually warns the Democrats briefly, rather entertaining. He talks to us like a parent scolding someone else's children.
Sigh.

I read a bit in Arabic (it's in Persian, Arabic, and English), then the entire thing in English.

He refers to us as Noble Americans. Hehe.

He's certainly one fuck of a master manipulator. Bypass the big guy and appeal to the peons. Regardless, he makes some good points.

You are, quite clearly, a genius. ♥

He's an interesting character, but who knows how much we can trust him? And Bush has got him beaten on one count: brevity.

We can't trust him, any more than we can trust any other politician in the world. And he's a good politician - listen to him speak sometime. My friend who speaks Persian says he comes across even better as compared to the English translation.

Doesn't mean we should refuse diplomatic relations and open dialog. Refusing diplomatic relations and imposing sanctions does absolutely nothing, except harm the common man.

What's great is how any good points which he might happen to make will be demonized by accociation with the guy who made them.

We can learn a lot about Civil Liberties from Iran. NOT.

I'd just like to ad that when we live in a country where our "leaders" can't see this, it's time for new leadership!

Ahmadinejad made some good points, which will unfortunately be ignored simply because of who he is....

I very much doubt he actually belives much of what he is saying, except for the antisemtic bullshit, and is instead saying it because he thinks it is what we want to hear.

This - from the president of a regime that punishes homosexuality with death and forces women to dress like Batman.

Does anyone know if it's mandatory to give a warning before issuing a fatwa?

His own country's record notwithstanding, it is an accurate observation.

Your own contributions to this board make clear that truth can fall from a lying mouth.

Dang, You forgot to mention flogging, stoning, beheading, cutting off hands, secret execution of those in opposition to his regime, exclusion of recognition of opposition political parties, and general sociopolitical intolerance. I do like a good random fatwa, though. Regardless of his apparent charisma, I find it interesting that anyone would align themselves with him, even against a President they abhor. Life is odd.

By the by, your first testimonial is the best thing I've read in a long time...

perhaps he meant it as a compliment

"Fatwa" sounds Muslim and bad.

For myself, I'm pretty pissed at Ahmedinejad. Way to undercut the opposition, jerk-ass.

funny

good point.
a lot of people have misconsceptions like that - they think Bin Ladin makes Fatwas and he is not qualified. He'd not even a cleric. Neither is Ahmadinejad.

Nice Avatar...

Exactly. Most Westerners don't even know what a fatwa is. They just heard about Rushdie and they assume it's some kind of death sentence, which is the sense in which uptight was using it (though, to be fair, it was the Iranian regime that issued that one as I recall, though obviously not the secular arm).

Well, I'm new here, so I don't know all your opinions,
...I'm just glad you are informed Zarth! i'm sure there
are many others. Sh*t, even i don't know half the things
I should know.

i think it was mullah Omar that issues the edicts and bin Ladin then spews them.

Bin Laden has actually issued fatawa, even though he's not qualified. He and Zawahiri cosigned the judgment calling for Jihad Against Zionists and Crusaders back in '98. I think he did a couple others, as well.

Keep it simple, one thing at a time.

That's about all we can do! I find it difficult being in the middle of this global mess, but I found that objectivity helps. The only way to be objective is to know facts.

You're already ahead of about 90% of the people who post here then.