Full text of President Ahmadinejad's letter to George Bush

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.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/714066.html

WITH world powers deadlocked over how to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, details emerged yesterday of an extraordinary letter written by hardline Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to US president George Bush.

Mr Ahmadinejad hectored and lectured his American counterpart on a broad range of issues from the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, to Washington's support for Israel and abuses of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. He declared loftily that western-style democracy and liberalism had failed and ended the 18-page letter by urging Bush to return to religion.

American officials promptly dismissed the "rambling" correspondence as irrelevant. Condoleeza Rice, the US secretary of state, said it contained no proposals to resolve the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme.

But many Iranians saw the letter - whose tone was neither threatening nor overtly hostile - as an opening shot in an attempt to engage with Washington: one Tehran daily hailed it as "an initiative in global diplomacy".

The communication was the first direct address by an Iranian president to his American counterpart since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

There was also a conciliatory signal yesterday from Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. Ali Larijani said Tehran supported a long-standing Russian offer to enrich uranium for Iran, a compromise deal - aimed at defusing the crisis - that has guarded western backing.

As with Mr Ahmadinejad's letter, Mr Larijani's remarks will be viewed by Washington as a ploy to gain time and deepen divisions within the UN Security Council.

China and Russia are opposed to a US-backed move for a resolution under Chapter VII of the UN charter which authorises sanctions and, ultimately, the use of force.

Foreign ministers from the Security Council's leading powers failed to break the deadlock in a meeting in New York on Monday night.

Mr Ahmadinejad's letter, brimming with calls for "spirituality", focused on global issues as well as touching on bi-lateral problems between Tehran and Washington, but it only alluded to Iran's nuclear programme.

"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 [Israel] regime'?" he asked.

Elsewhere, Mr Ahmadinejad urged Bush to return to the teachings of Christ.

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=698442006

European countries agreed last night to work on a new package of proposals including incentives for Iran, in an attempt to break a deadlock in the UN Security Council over the Iranian nuclear programme.

The move came after China and Russia blocked stern punitive action against Tehran. There was also deadlock between the US and Iran after the White House dismissed a letter from President Ahmedinejad to George Bush.

Speaking in Florida yesterday, Mr Bush did not even mention the missive from his Iranian counterpart - believed to be the first such communication between leaders of the two countries since they severed relations in the wake of the 1979 US embassy hostage crisis.

White House officials said the letter was no more than an extended lecture.

In it, Mr Ahmedinejad scolds the US for lying about the reasons for the Iraq war, for its support of Israel and even for supposedly keeping secret "various aspects" of the 2001 terrorist attacks. It chides Mr Bush for acting in an un-Christian manner, and points to the "ever increasing global hatred of the American government".

It does not directly address the nuclear issue, and the uranium enrichment programme that is at the heart of the West's fears that the Islamic regime is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons capability. The closest it comes is to complain that any technological and scientific achievement in the Middle East "is portrayed as a threat to the Zionist regime". The Iranian President asks "Was not scientific R&D a basic right of nations?" - a reiteration of Tehran's defiant stance.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article363096.ece