Haaretz
Iyyar 11, 5766
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.
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."