Excerpts (poorly translated) from the Iran letter.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/714066.html
It has a lot of rhetoric and propaganda. Still the way it was
dismissed in Washington is rather surprising.
--raghu.
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Excerpts from Ahmadinejad's letter to Bush
By Reuters
WASHINGTON - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written U.S.
President George W. Bush an 18-page letter discussing religious
values, history and international relations. Following are excerpts
from an unofficial translation from the original written in Farsi:
"Mr. George Bush,
For some time now, I have been thinking, how one can justify the
undeniable contradictions that exist in the international arena ...
Many questions remain unanswered. These have prompted me to discuss
some of the contradictions and questions, in the hopes that it might
bring about an opportunity to redress them.
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Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ (Peace Be Upon Him), the great
Messenger of God,
Feel obliged to respect human rights,
Present liberalism and a civilization model,
Announce one's opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and WMDs,
Make "War on Terror" his slogan,
And finally, work towards the establishment of an unified
international community - a community which Christ and the virtuous of
the Earth will one day govern,
But at the same time,
Have countries attacked. The lives, reputations and possessions of
people destroyed and on the slight chance of the presence of a few
criminals in a village, city, or convoy for example, the entire
village, city or convoy set ablaze?
Or because of the possibility of the existence of WMDs in one country,
it is occupied, around 100,000 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 50 years.
Of course, Saddam was a murderous dictator. But the war was not waged
to topple him; the anointed goal of the war was to find and destroy
weapons of mass destruction.
Mr. President,
You might know that I am a teacher. My students ask me, how can these
actions be reconciled with the values outlined at the beginning of
this letter and duty to the traditions of Jesus Christ (Peace Be Upon
Him), the Messenger of peace and forgiveness.
There are prisoners in Guantanamo Bay that have not been tried, have
no legal representation, their families cannot see them and are
obviously in a strange land outside their own country. There is no
international monitoring of their conditions and fate. No one knows
whether they are prisoners, POWs, accused or criminals.
Young people, university students and ordinary people have many
questions about the phenomenon of Israel. I am sure you are familiar
with some of them.
Throughout history, many countries have been occupied, but I think the
establishment of a new country with a new people is a new phenomenon
that is exclusive to our times.
Students are saying that 60 years ago such a country did not exist.
They show old documents and globes and say, try as we have, we have
not been able to find a country named Israel.
Mr President,
I am sure you know how - and at what cost - Israel was established:
Many thousands were killed in the process. Millions of indigenous
people were made refugees.
A regime has been established which does not show mercy even to kids,
destroys houses while the occupants are still in them, announces
beforehand its list and plans to assassinate Palestinian figures, and
keeps thousands of Palestinians in prison.
Another big question asked by the people is why is this regime being supported.
Is support for this regime in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ
(Peace Be Upon Him) or Moses (Peace Be Upon Him) or liberal values?
Why is it that any technological and scientific achievement reached in
the Middle East region is translated into and portrayed as a threat to
the Zionist regime? Is not scientific R&D one of the basic rights of
nations?
Lies were told in the Iraqi matter. What was the result? I have no
doubt that telling lies is reprehensible in any culture and you do not
like to be lied to.
Mr. President,
September 11 was a horrendous incident ... Our government immediately
declared its disgust with the perpetrators and offered its condolences
to the bereaved and expressed its sympathies ... September 11 was not
a simple operation. Could it be planned and executed without
coordination with intelligence and security services - or their
extensive infiltration? Of course, this is just an educated guess. Why
have the various aspects of the attack been kept secret? Why are we
not told who botched their responsibilities? And why aren't those
responsible identified and put on trial?
American citizens lived in constant fear of fresh attacks that could
come at any moment and in any place ... Why was the media, instead of
conveying a feeling of security and providing peace of mind, giving
rise to a feeling of insecurity?
Some believe that the hype paved the way - and was the justification -
for an attack on Afghanistan.
Mr. President,
History tells us that repressive and cruel governments do not survive.
God has entrusted the fate of men to them. The Almighty has not left
the universe and humanity to their own devices. Many things have
happened contrary to the wishes and plans of governments. These tell
us that there is a higher power at work and all events are determined
by Him.
The people of the world are not happy with the status quo and pay
little heed to the promises and comments made by a number of world
leaders... The people are protesting the increasing gap between the
haves and the have-nots and the rich and poor countries. The people
are disgusted with increasing corruption. The people of many countries
are angry about the attacks on their cultural foundations and the
disintegration of families... the people of the world have no faith in
international organizations, because their rights are not advocated by
these organizations.
Liberalism and western-style democracy have not been able to help
realize the ideals of humanity. Today these two concepts have failed.
Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and
fall of the ideology and thoughts of the Liberal democratic systems.
Mr. President, whether we like it or not, the world is gravitating
towards faith in the Almighty and justice and the will of God will
prevail over all things."
