Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, made me cry this morning.

Living in New Orleans these last few months I think I've become somewhat jaded as to which things are normal and okay, and which things are truly evil and terrible. This morning, having coffee at a beautifully reclaimed (if rough) burned out former crackhouse, someone described my neighborhood as, "post-apocolyptic." My neighborhood pride was wounded, but after a minute it made me pause.

Sometimes I think our whole of our country has a similiar perception problem with regards to it's role in the world, and even the direction of its domestic agenda. What is our society organized for?

Yesterday the Parisian newspaper, Le Monde, published what I believe to be the full text of the private letter that the President of Iran, Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad, recently sent president George W. Bush via the swiss embassy. The Le Monde article is mirrored here: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0510-21.htm

It appears that Mr. Ahmadi-Najad does not suffer from the blind-eye syndrome that apparently afflicts so many in the West. From his letter:

On the war in Iraq:

"...Or because of the possibility of the existence of WMDs in one country, it is occupied, around one hundred thousand 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 fifty years. At what price? Hundreds of billions of dollars spent from the treasury of one country and certainly other countries and tens of thousands of young men and women ­ as occupation troops ­ put in harm's way, taken away from family and loved ones, their hands stained with the blood of others, subjected to so much psychological pressure that every day some commit suicide and those returning home suffer depression, become sickly, and grapple with all sorts of aliments; while some are killed and their bodies handed off to their families."

On the state of the State of Israel:

"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.

Hundred of thousands of hectares of farmland, olive plantations, towns, and villages were destroyed.

This tragedy is not exclusive to the time of establishment; unfortunately it has been ongoing for sixty years now."

"...Is support for this regime in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ... or liberal values? Or are we to understand that allowing the original inhabitants of these lands, [...] to determine their fate, runs contrary to principles of democracy, human rights, and the teachings of prophets?"

On Latin America:

"Don't Latin Americans have the right to ask why their elected governments are being opposed and coup leaders supported? Or why they must constantly be threatened and live in fear?"

On morality and Christ:

"Again, do such actions correspond to the teachings of Christ and the tenets of human rights?"

And on fear as a tactic of our media:

"...After 9/11, instead of healing and tending to the emotional wounds of the survivors and the American people ­ who had been immensely traumatized by the attacks ­ some Western media only intensified the climates of fear and insecurity..."

On US domestic affairs:

"As your Excellency is aware, in some states of your country, people are living in poverty. Many thousands are homeless and unemployment is a huge problem. Of course these problems exist ­ to a larger or lesser extent ­ in other countries as well. With these conditions in mind, can the gargantuan expenses of the campaign ­ paid from the public treasury ­ be explained and be consistent with the aforementioned principles?"

Scathing:

"If the billions of dollars spent on security, military campaigns, and troop movement were instead spent on investment and assistance for poor countries, promotion of health, combating different diseases, education and improvement of mental and physical fitness, assistance to the victims of natural disasters, creation of employment opportunities and production, development projects and poverty alleviation, establishment of peace, mediation between disputing states and distinguishing the flames of racial, ethnic, and other conflicts, were would the world be today? Would not your government and people be justifiably proud? Would not your administration's political and economic standing have been stronger? And I am most sorry to say, would there have been an ever increasing global hatred of the American governments?"

Wow. Preach it, Brother!

I've long lauded the democratic impulses of the Iranian population, but have never had much regard for the various adminstrations I have seen there in my lifetime. Nonetheless, this leader seems to display a knack for speaking common sense plainly that is rarely, if ever, seen in US politicians. It's enough to make a Texas rancher blush in shame.

I hope this letter made Bush cry. How could it not?

With Peace and Love from NOLA,

-Iggy