With pen in hand

iranhostages.jpg

Humorist Scott Ott — a/k/a ScrappleFace — is a little more attuned to the Iranian president’s background than most journalists appear to be. In his latest work, Scott publishes President Ahmadinejad’s letter to President Bush. According to Scott, the letter opens:

Sorry it’s been so long. It hardly seems like 26 years since we held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Well, enough nostalgia…

Scott has the rest of the “text” at his site.

The Associated Press reports that it too recevied a copy of Ahmadinejad’s letter. According to the text of the letter released to and translated by the AP, President Ahmadinejad appears to take issue with the thrust of Bush administration foreign policy:

“Liberalism and Western-style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity,” said the letter, obtained by The Associated Press. “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.”

The Telegraph quotes another part of the letter that echoes the statements on one side of the political divide in the United States:

Teheran’s letter appears to draw analogies between America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq and present threats against Iran, suggesting the United States lied to justify the war and is now suffering the consequences.

“On the pretext of the existence of WMDs (weapons of mass destruction), this great tragedy came to engulf both the peoples of the occupied and the occupying country. Later it was revealed that no WMDs existed to begin with,” the Iranian leader wrote in the letter, translated from Farsi.

“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,” Ahmadinejad said.

Philosopher, moralist, anthropologist — the president of Iran is a man of many parts, not the least of which is his audacity. The Telegraph does not report whether Ahmadinejad signed the letter “Sincerely yours.”

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal has posted the full text of the letter as well as excerpts and a special edition of Washington Wire. I’m with Hugh Hewitt: The man is crazy like a Hitler.

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