Reading the "letter" from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to president George W. Bush is worth doing for an insight into the kind of propaganda Iran’s leader now thinks will work for him. There is the early insistence on the abhorrence of the existence of the state of Israel; there is the rubbing in of the WMD debacle; there is the preposterous call for human rights, from a leader of a country where such rights do not exist; there is the veiled conspiracy theory about 9/11; and there is the anti-hegemonic appeal to the developing world.
But there is also something else. Ahmadinejad writes to Bush as a fellow religious fundamentalist, a true believer. He seeks common ground based on the notion that "liberalism" and "Western-style democracy" do not "realize the ideals of humanity." Because Bush has staked the U.S.’s global position and moral authority on religion, he has given Ahmadinejad a rhetorical opening to do the same. Since American democracy is, in Bush’s eyes, a manifestation of God’s will – not the construction of human beings alone – Ahmadinejad has an interlocutor who speaks his own theological language.
Then there are these passages:
"We believe a return to the teachings of the divine prophets is the only road leading to salvations. I have been told that Your Excellency follows the teachings of Jesus (peace be upon him), and believes in the divine promises of the rule of the righteous on earth …
"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 is that there is a higher power at work and all events are determined by him. Can one deny the signs of change in the world today? Is this situation of the world today comparable to that of ten years ago? Changes happen fast and come at a furious pace." [My italics.]
Ahmadinejad is appealing to Bush on the basis of their shared faith in the coming Apocalypse. It seems to me a perfectly good question for journalists to ask the president if he does indeed share Ahmadinejad’s belief that God controls all human events, that the world will soon come to an end, and that there seems to be an acceleration of change that suggests this might be coming soon. That’s what Bush’s pre-millennialist base believes. It’s what Ahmadinejad believes. Does the president?
(Photo: Reuters.)
The Dish 