KashifAsrar
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Iran leader blasts Bush's foreign policy in letter to American people
UNITED NATIONS: In an unprecedented letter to the American people, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on US President George W. Bush's foreign policy and urged a withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.
"Now that Iraq has a constitution and an independent assembly and government, would it not be more beneficial to bring the US officers and soldiers home and to spend the astronomical US military expenditures in Iraq for the welfare and prosperity of the American people?" the Iranian leader said in a letter released by his country's UN mission here.
He pointed out that since the start of the US-led war in Iraq in 2003, "hundreds of Iraqis have been killed, maimed or displaced."
"With the presence of the US military in Iraq, nothing has been done to rebuild the ruins, to restore the infrastructure or to alleviate poverty," Ahmadinejad said.
"I consider it extremely unlikely that you, the American people, consent to the billion of dollars of annual expenditure from your treasury for this military misadventure."
"Noble Americans, our nation has always extended its hand of friendship to all other nations of the world," Ahmadinejad said as he sought to establish a direct dialogue with Americans by bypassing their government.
"Hundreds of thousands of my Iranian compatriots are living amongst you in friendship and peace, and are contributing positively to your society," he added.
"Our people have been in contact with you over the past many years and have maintained these contacts despite the unnecessary restriction of the US authorities."
Citing a "common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity, he said that "human values and our common human spirit ... have brought our two great nations of Iran and the United States closer together."
But while he was conciliatory toward the American public, the Iranian was scathing in his denunciation of the Bush administration's policies.
"The legitimacy, power and influence of a government do not emanate from its arsenals of tanks, fighter aircraft, missiles or nuclear weapons," he noted.
"Legitimacy and influence reside in sound logic, quest for justice and compassion and empathy for all humanity."
"The global position of the United States is in all probability weakened because the administration has continued to resort to force, to conceal the truth and to mislead the American people about its policies and practices," Ahmadinejad said.
And while condemning terrorism, he rhetorically asked: "Can terrorism be contained and eradicated through war, destruction and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent?"
"Undoubtedly the American people are not satisfied with this behavior, and they showed their discontent in the recent elections," he said. "I hope that in the wake of the mid-term elections, the administration of President Bush will have heard and will heed the message of the American people."
On November 7, Americans voted to end Bush's Republican Party's control of Congress, putting the opposition Democrats in charge of the Senate and House of Representatives. Ahmadinejad, a fierce critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, also took aim at Washington's steadfast support for the Jewish state.
"What have the Zionists done for the American people that the US administration considers itself obliged to blindly support these infamous aggressors? Is it not because they have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural and media sectors?" he said.
"I recommend that in a demonstration of respect for the American people and for humanity, the right of Palestinians to live in their own homeland should be recognized so that millions of Palestinian refugees can return to their homes and the future of all of Palestine and its form of government be determined in a referendum," he added.
Ahmadinejad has in the past called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" or even relocated as far away as Alaska, and has also questioned the Holocaust.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/update_detail.asp?id=13763
UNITED NATIONS: In an unprecedented letter to the American people, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on US President George W. Bush's foreign policy and urged a withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.
"Now that Iraq has a constitution and an independent assembly and government, would it not be more beneficial to bring the US officers and soldiers home and to spend the astronomical US military expenditures in Iraq for the welfare and prosperity of the American people?" the Iranian leader said in a letter released by his country's UN mission here.
He pointed out that since the start of the US-led war in Iraq in 2003, "hundreds of Iraqis have been killed, maimed or displaced."
"With the presence of the US military in Iraq, nothing has been done to rebuild the ruins, to restore the infrastructure or to alleviate poverty," Ahmadinejad said.
"I consider it extremely unlikely that you, the American people, consent to the billion of dollars of annual expenditure from your treasury for this military misadventure."
"Noble Americans, our nation has always extended its hand of friendship to all other nations of the world," Ahmadinejad said as he sought to establish a direct dialogue with Americans by bypassing their government.
"Hundreds of thousands of my Iranian compatriots are living amongst you in friendship and peace, and are contributing positively to your society," he added.
"Our people have been in contact with you over the past many years and have maintained these contacts despite the unnecessary restriction of the US authorities."
Citing a "common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity, he said that "human values and our common human spirit ... have brought our two great nations of Iran and the United States closer together."
But while he was conciliatory toward the American public, the Iranian was scathing in his denunciation of the Bush administration's policies.
"The legitimacy, power and influence of a government do not emanate from its arsenals of tanks, fighter aircraft, missiles or nuclear weapons," he noted.
"Legitimacy and influence reside in sound logic, quest for justice and compassion and empathy for all humanity."
"The global position of the United States is in all probability weakened because the administration has continued to resort to force, to conceal the truth and to mislead the American people about its policies and practices," Ahmadinejad said.
And while condemning terrorism, he rhetorically asked: "Can terrorism be contained and eradicated through war, destruction and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent?"
"Undoubtedly the American people are not satisfied with this behavior, and they showed their discontent in the recent elections," he said. "I hope that in the wake of the mid-term elections, the administration of President Bush will have heard and will heed the message of the American people."
On November 7, Americans voted to end Bush's Republican Party's control of Congress, putting the opposition Democrats in charge of the Senate and House of Representatives. Ahmadinejad, a fierce critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, also took aim at Washington's steadfast support for the Jewish state.
"What have the Zionists done for the American people that the US administration considers itself obliged to blindly support these infamous aggressors? Is it not because they have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural and media sectors?" he said.
"I recommend that in a demonstration of respect for the American people and for humanity, the right of Palestinians to live in their own homeland should be recognized so that millions of Palestinian refugees can return to their homes and the future of all of Palestine and its form of government be determined in a referendum," he added.
Ahmadinejad has in the past called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" or even relocated as far away as Alaska, and has also questioned the Holocaust.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/update_detail.asp?id=13763
