A letter to George from Mahmood

On Monday Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad did something which was not done by his country in almost 27 years. He wrote a letter to US President George W Bush. In it, among others, he said:

“Those in power have a specific time in office and do not rule indefinitely, but their names will be recorded in history and will be constantly judged in the immediate and distant futures. The people will scrutinize our presidencies.

“Did we mange to bring peace, security and prosperity for the people or insecurity and unemployment? Did we defend the rights of all people around the world or imposed wars on them, interfered illegally in their affairs, established hellish prisons and incarcerated some of them? Did we bring the world peace and security or raised the specter of intimidation and threats? Did we tell the truth to our nation and others around the world or presented an inverted version of it?

“They will judge us on whether we remained true to our oath of office - to serve the people, which is our main task, and the traditions of the prophets - or not? Are you pleased with the current condition of the world?”

I was rather surprised after reading that letter. I just didn’t expect Mr Ahmadinejad to put forward his arguments in such a philosophical manner. All that I know about him is his firebrand attitude against the Israelis, his willingness to use oil as his weapon and his headstrong attitude to continue his nuclear program.

In his letter, spiced with references to the prophets and religious teachings, Mr Ahmadinejad spoke about his pet subjects – the Palestine-Israel dispute, US invasion of Iraq and the general American interference in the world. He however did not mention anything about the ongoing nuclear dispute.

And fittingly, the Americans rejected the letter in its entirety by saying that:

“Nothing in the letter addresses the issues on the table between Iran and the world, whether on the nuclear issue, terrorism or human rights. Instead, it is a broad historical, philosophical exposition.”

Does this then mean that the Americans have now spurned a good opportunity to engage with the Iranians? Only time will tell.

p/s: read the full letter here.