Iranian president's letter to Bush

I must say, I never thought the day would come when I thought the president of Iran made more sense than the president of the U.S.A. However, upon reading Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, I have to admit, he does nail our president on many points. This is not to say I’m a fan of Ahmadinejad’s. I think his religious fanaticism makes him dangerous, for one thing. Unfortunately, however, our own president is another kind of religious fanatic, and because he is our ‘leader,’ that makes him even more dangerous – to our own country, our constitution and our civil liberties.

Interestingly, the Iranian president calls Bush to task for how he treats his own people, and for how his actions seem to contradict the teachings of his professed religion. For example, he says:
"Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ ... but at the same time, have countries attacked; the lives, reputations and possessions of people destroyed... or the entire village, city or convey set ablaze. Or because of the possibility of the existence of WMDs in one country, it is occupied, around one hundred thousand people killed, its water sources, agriculture and industry destroyed, close to 180,000 foreign troops put on the ground, sanctity of private homes of citizens broken, and the country pushed back perhaps fifty years... On the pretext of the existence of WMDs, this great tragedy came to engulf both the peoples of the occupied and the occupying country. Later it was revealed that no WMDs existed to begin with."

He also says he believes Israel should never have been established, and has said before it should be wiped out. Obviously, I cannot agree with him there. But it is true that Israel, by virtue of being the only nuclear power in the region, destabilizes the area, and causes countries like Iran to lust after nuclear power as well. And how can we in the U.S. expect the rest of the world to accept that only we, and the countries we deem worthy, can have these terrible weapons? We should lead the way by abolishing them everywhere, including here.

Ahmadinejad’s letter goes on to ask, "Don't Latin Americans have the right to ask, why their elected governments are being opposed and coup leaders supported? Or, why must they constantly be threatened and live in fear?" Good point. Bush and his cabinet have been caught red-handed supporting coups of democratically elected governments, like Venezuela.

The Iranian president goes on to write about the role of governments, admonishing Bush’s zeal for war, while ignoring the needs of his own citizens:
"In countries around the world, citizens provide for the expenses of governments so that their governments in turn are able to serve them.
"The question here is what has the hundreds of billions of dollars, spent every year to pay for the Iraqi campaign, produced for the citizens?
"As your Excellency is aware, in some states of your country, people are living in poverty. Many thousands are homeless and unemployment is a huge problem. Of course these problems exist – to a larger or lesser extent – in other countries as well. With these conditions in mind, can the gargantuan expenses of the campaign – paid from the public treasury – be explained and be consistent with the aforementioned principles? ...
"If billions of dollars spent on security, military campaigns and troop movement were instead spent on investment and assistance for poor countries, promotion of health, combating different diseases, education and improvement of mental and physical fitness, assistance to the victims of natural disasters, creation of employment opportunities and production, development projects and poverty alleviation, establishment of peace, mediation between disputing states and distinguishing the flames of racial, ethnic and other conflicts were would the world be today? Would not your government, and people be justifiably proud? Would not your administration's political and economic standing have been stronger? And I am most sorry to say, would there have been an ever increasing global hatred of the American governments?"
Indeed, it’s hard to argue with "My basic question is this: Is there no better way to interact with the rest of the world?"

Wow. It’s a scary day when the president of the United States starts sounding and acting more like a dictator than the president of Iran.