Experts: U.S. Hasty in Brushoff of Iran

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060509/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_us_41

TEHRAN, Iran - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's abrupt dismissal of a letter from Iran's president might only strengthen hardline attitudes and mistrust of America, some Iranians warned Tuesday.

As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began a high-profile visit to a key Muslim country, Indonesia, a former top Iranian official said Rice's response will give new justification to those who oppose ties with the U.S.

Iran's former ambassador to France, Sadeq Kharrazi, said the letter — the first from an Iranian head of state to an American president in 27 years — "could have been a turning point in relations." But he said Rice squandered the opportunity with what he called a "hasty reaction."

"This gives a pretext to those in Iran who oppose re-establishment of ties with America," he said.

Ahmadinejad's 18-page letter to President Bush touched only indirectly on the hottest dispute between the two countries — Iran's nuclear program. Instead, it focuses on a long list of grievances against the United States and seeks to build on a shared faith in God to resolve them.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

1. 18 Pages??????

Are you kidding me? King george can barely make it through a children's book about a goat.

Unless Mahmoud included pictures, I doubt georgie even bothered to read the letter.

[leftchick]

8. CNN reporter said 8 pages

I Knew I had read 18. Damn they are so worthless.

[DrDebug]

24. The PDF is 8 pages

Every "Mr. President" is a new page.

[Rhiannon12866]

29. The version I read had 8 pages.

But I haven't printed it out yet...:shrug:

on edit: here::-)

http://medias.lemonde.fr/mmpub/edt/doc/20060509/769629_lettre.pdf

[LSparkle]

2. DimSon doesn't want peace

It's becoming painfully clear that he's still the schoolyard bully who RELISHES a fight -- ANY fight.

[imax2268]

3. well...

schoolyard bully for sure...but he gets others to do his fighting for him...especially the working class and the poor.

He doesn't want to work things out with Iran...he want's to drop the bomb and watch Iran go up in a ball of fire...that's all he wants...

[sweetheart]

12. good thing that 2 nuclear armed nations are not down wind

Bush is going to get his wish, an infinite ticket to fish perch,
while grownups sort out his messes.

[Jawja]

26. He wants the resources of Iran.

Just enough ball of fire to kill off lots of people, set up chaos like in Iraq, and then have an excuse to send in military patrol and build bases.

His response to the letter more or less exposes his intentions for war, no matter what.

[Lindacooks]

10. As long as others do the actual fighting for him.

He's never been put in harm's way - EVER.

[madrchsod]

4. why doesn`t it surprise me that these dumb fucks have

no intention of dealing with iran ...but as usual the whitehouse got out foxed by the persians art of diplomacy perfected over the thousands of years of their empire

[babylonsister]

5. CNN just reported basically the same thing; the US might appear

to be too hasty in dismissing this letter. I haven't read it, but if it's anything even resembling a twig of an olive branch, we should at least consider it.

[rodeodance]

14. bush had a chance to look into his soul and he missed it!

[Rhiannon12866]

31. I haven't yet finished reading it, but I was impressed.

Maybe I'm naive, but it was my impression that a lot of effort went into this letter, that it addressed so much that desperately needs to be addressed and that he was truly reaching out. Despite what he says, Bush* has made no effort, whatsoever, to engage in any dialogue with Iran. He has left this to others. I think that we stand on the sidelines in these negotiations, and ignore this letter, at our peril.:-(

http://medias.lemonde.fr/mmpub/edt/doc/20060509/769629_lettre.pdf

[jean]

6. Experts? bush don't need no stinkin' experts! He's got Condi. And Karen.

Both are working haaard visiting those countries across our oceans, which no longer protect us.


Iran and the US are both in need of regime change.

[livetohike]

7. Condi is no diplomat

The arrogance of this bunch is the worse I have seen in any administration. They are not interested in hearing what any other leader has to say unless it involves kissing their collective butts.

[Voltaire99]

9. State Dept. flack: "...it's a broad historical, philosophical exposition."

Exposition?! Those impudent Eye-rannies!

Don't they understand history and philosophy are expressed through a gun?

[daleo]

11. "seeks to build on a shared faith in God to resolve them"

God, save us from all your servants.

[katty]

13. of course U.S. hasty-bush WANTS to Attack-NOT negotiate

[TexasLawyer]

15. It increased MY mistrust of America

and I'm an AMERICAN!

[tuvor]

16. Iranians Fault Rice's Dismissal of Letter

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer 50 minutes ago

TEHRAN, Iran - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's abrupt dismissal of a letter from Iran's president might only strengthen hardline attitudes and mistrust of America, some Iranians warned Tuesday.

As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began a high-profile visit to a key Muslim country, Indonesia, a former top Iranian official said Rice's response will give new justification to those who oppose ties with the U.S.

Iran's former ambassador to France, Sadeq Kharrazi, said the letter — the first from an Iranian head of state to an American president in 27 years — "could have been a turning point in relations." But he said Rice squandered the opportunity with what he called a "hasty reaction."

"This gives a pretext to those in Iran who oppose re-establishment of ties with America," he said.

Ahmadinejad's 18-page letter to President Bush touched only indirectly on the hottest dispute between the two countries — Iran's nuclear program. Instead, it focuses on a long list of grievances against the United States and seeks to build on a shared faith in God to resolve them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iran_us

(Next time, read the translation first, THEN speak, dammit.)

[rodeodance]

17. Here is the letter. We all should read it.

___

On the Net:

http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_documents/ahmadinejad0509.pdf

[IntravenousDemilo]

19. Maybe if I get some free time and I have ABSOLUTELY nothing else to do.

I mean, it's 18 pages long, and I'm pretty sure the guy's a fucking loonie; he's definitely religious enough to be insane. I'll wager it'll be like being trapped in an elevator for an hour and a half with a paranoid schizophrenic who's off his meds.

[rodeodance]

20. Not really. I was surprized at how much I agreed with. here are some

snips from NYT article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/09/world/middleeast/09cnd-iran.html

The letter provides at times a striking insight into the Iranian president's vision of double standards in American foreign policy, criticizing what he portrays as a lack of support for elected Palestinian and Latin American governments.

Mr. Ahmadinejad also portrays himself as having his finger on the pulse of the Middle East region.

"As you are well aware," Mr. Ahmadinejad says, directly addressing President Bush, "I live amongst the people and am in constant contact with them — many people from around the Middle East manage to contact me as well. They do not have faith in these dubious policies either."

"There is evidence that the people of the region are becoming increasingly angry with such policies."

Middle East experts said that some of Mr. Ahmadinejad's remarks resonate beyond Tehran.

[donheld]

21. And our side (* & Condi) are so totally not "fucking loonie"

Maybe we should read it.

[0007]

28. Especially pages 8, 9, and 10. Ahmadicejad climbs all over

our media. And also talks about the fear factor.

Thank you rodeodance for the link.

[rodeodance]

18. Reaction from the Gulf newspapers

.....

The Saudi-owned daily Asharq Al-Awsat called the letter proof that "Iran is not enriching uranium for peaceful purposes as it says, and is striving for leadership and control of the region."

Such Iranian leadership would mean the Israeli-Palestinian peace process "would be stalled, the Iraqi dream (of democracy) would be thwarted and we would witness a new wave of armament," wrote Tariq Alhomayed, the paper's editor-in-chief.

The Kuwaiti newspaper Arab Times ran an editorial in which editor-in-chief Ahmed Al-Jarallah accused Ahmadinejad of acting "as if he owns the region."

Some of Iran's Arab neighbors have expressed fears over Iran's nuclear program — particularly over pollution in case of an accident — as well as over the standoff with the West, fearing possible Iranian retaliation against American military bases in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain should the U.S. launch a pre-emptive strike.

But an editorial in Lebanon's The Daily Star newspaper called the letter "a cause for hope that a peaceful solution" to the nuclear standoff and called on Washington to initiate direct talks with Tehran.

[ShortnFiery]

22. Yeah yeah, and how much of OUR tax dollars went into the pay offs? n/t

[bennywhale]

23. If this is Ahmadinejad's bluff, it is bluff worth calling

The only route to regime change and disarmament is engagement, so the US must respond to this week's letter from Tehran

Simon Jenkins
Wednesday May 10, 2006
The Guardian
Iran is a complex and sophisticated nation that offers more plausible diplomatic pressure points than ever did Saddam's Iraq. While Ahmadinejad may eat, drink and make merry on the Pentagon's ineptitude, he must look warily over his shoulder at his boss, Ayatollah Khamenei; at Iran's national security council under the more temperate Ali Larijani, whom Ahmadinejad does not control; and at his old foe, Akbar Rafsanjani.

A detailed survey of US-Iranian relations in March's New Yorker revealed the full extent of bilateral contacts until they were stymied, first by Bush's 2003 neocon national security directive and then by his ham-fisted intervention in the 2005 Iranian election, which helped Ahmadinejad to power. Even today there are plenty of Iranians who want no quarrel with America, and certainly not with America, Russia and China together. It is probably they who forced Ahmadinejad to send Monday's dovish letter to Washington, to which the Republican head of the Senate foreign relations committee, Richard Lugar, thinks America should respond.

Bush and Blair have given Ahmadinejad a remarkable hand of cards. He can now impose his own economic and military sanctions on the west. He can force up the price of oil and traumatise insurance premiums in the Strait of Hormuz. While his control over the Shia brigades in Iraq may be overstated, he can orchestrate lethal pressure on the occupying forces and watch as public opinion in Britain and America devastates their leaders.

There is, of course, one thing that Britain and America could do that would wholly disorientate Ahmadinejad and have him rushing troops to his borders. It would be a sudden end to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Such a decision would remove at a stroke the running theme of Iranian militancy. It would saddle Tehran with two unstable neighbours whose insurgents and revanchists would cause it, its allies and its surrogates no end of trouble. After a bit of initial crowing the next Iraq will be Ahmadinejad's nightmare. Unfortunately such a step seems too clever by half for the west's present leadership.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,177136...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. It sounds like you think Iran is the problem. Is that true?

[bennywhale]

32. What gives you that impression?

[haab]

27. Dismissal is proof Bush doesn't want peace..

... we're going along the same line as we did with Iraq...


Diplomacy means to engage the other party in talk/discussions... That has never happened yet..


The US Admin has not yet initiated any genuine diplomatic efforts to diffuse the Iran nuke problem. why..???

[shadowknows69]

30. This alone should be cause for the entire cabal to be

thrown in the Hauge. To nonchalantly brush off a gesture from another nation that under any rational leadership might a horrible war with them is nothing less than treasonous. Beg every soldier you meet to somehow join with his brothers and sisters and refuse this madness. There has to be a point the commanders are going to realize this is all completely beneath us as a nation.