Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s open letter to Americans
Published by Haseeb November 29th, 2006 in Current NewsBefore I post the letter, check out these responses to the letter as collected by Fox News . Here is one example:
Dear Mr. Lunatic,
First let me start by saying that you can go f*** yourself if you think for one second that you meant any of the words that you said to us. Secondly, we are educated, unlike your nation, and will not be fooled by your big long educated words (that someone else told you what they mean because you obviously have no idea what they mean). Thirdly, you are a liar and thief and have been stealing from your county and oppressing your people for years. If it weren’t for the democrats and politically correct jack-offs in this county you would have been bombed and destroyed already, so you can thank all the liberals and democrats for your very existence right now. Lastly, I am not sure why I am even wasting my time and breath on you because you are lower than swine dung. — Mark
How many of you think he actually read the letter? lol. Anyways heres the complete letter by President Ahmedinejad:
Source: CNN International
CNN) — In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
O, Almighty God, bestow upon humanity the perfect human being promised to all by You, and make us among his followers.
Noble Americans,
Were we not faced with the activities of the US administration in this part of the world and the negative ramifications of those activities on the daily lives of our peoples, coupled with the many wars and calamities caused by the US administration as well as the tragic consequences of US interference in other countries;
Were the American people not God-fearing, truth-loving, and justice-seeking, while the US administration actively conceals the truth and impedes any objective portrayal of current realities;
And if we did not share a common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity;
Then, there would have been little urgency to have a dialogue with you.
While Divine providence has placed Iran and the United States geographically far apart, we should be cognizant that human values and our common human spirit, which proclaim the dignity and exalted worth of all human beings, have brought our two great nations of Iran and the United States closer together.
Both our nations are God-fearing, truth-loving and justice-seeking, and both seek dignity, respect and perfection.
Both greatly value and readily embrace the promotion of human ideals such as compassion, empathy, respect for the rights of human beings, securing justice and equity, and defending the innocent and the weak against oppressors and bullies.
We are all inclined towards the good, and towards extending a helping hand to one another, particularly to those in need.
We all deplore injustice, the trampling of peoples’ rights and the intimidation and humiliation of human beings.
We all detest darkness, deceit, lies and distortion, and seek and admire salvation, enlightenment, sincerity and honesty.
The pure human essence of the two great nations of Iran and the United States testify to the veracity of these statements.
Noble Americans,
Our nation has always extended its hand of friendship to all other nations of the world.
Hundreds of thousands of my Iranian compatriots are living amongst you in friendship and peace, and are contributing positively to your society. Our people have been in contact with you over the past many years and have maintained these contacts despite the unnecessary restrictions of US authorities.
As mentioned, we have common concerns, face similar challenges, and are pained by the sufferings and afflictions in the world.
We, like you, are aggrieved by the ever-worsening pain and misery of the Palestinian people. Persistent aggressions by the Zionists are making life more and more difficult for the rightful owners of the land of Palestine. In broad day-light, in front of cameras and before the eyes of the world, they are bombarding innocent defenseless civilians, bulldozing houses, firing machine guns at students in the streets and alleys, and subjecting their families to endless grief.
No day goes by without a new crime.
Palestinian mothers, just like Iranian and American mothers, love their children, and are painfully bereaved by the imprisonment, wounding and murder of their children. What mother wouldn’t?
For 60 years, the Zionist regime has driven millions of the inhabitants of Palestine out of their homes. Many of these refugees have died in the Diaspora and in refugee camps. Their children have spent their youth in these camps and are aging while still in the hope of returning to homeland.
You know well that the US administration has persistently provided blind and blanket support to the Zionist regime, has emboldened it to continue its crimes, and has prevented the UN Security Council from condemning it.
Who can deny such broken promises and grave injustices towards humanity by the US administration?
Governments are there to serve their own people. No people wants to side with or support any oppressors. But regrettably, the US administration disregards even its own public opinion and remains in the forefront of supporting the trampling of the rights of the Palestinian people.
Let’s take a look at Iraq. Since the commencement of the US military presence in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, maimed or displaced. Terrorism in Iraq has grown exponentially. 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. The US Government used the pretext of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but later it became clear that that was just a lie and a deception.
Although Saddam was overthrown and people are happy about his departure, the pain and suffering of the Iraqi people has persisted and has even been aggravated.
In Iraq, about one hundred and fifty thousand American soldiers, separated from their families and loved ones, are operating under the command of the current US administration. A substantial number of them have been killed or wounded and their presence in Iraq has tarnished the image of the American people and government.
Their mothers and relatives have, on numerous occasions, displayed their discontent with the presence of their sons and daughters in a land thousands of miles away from US shores. American soldiers often wonder why they have been sent to Iraq.
I consider it extremely unlikely that you, the American people, consent to the billions of dollars of annual expenditure from your treasury for this military misadventure.
Noble Americans,
You have heard that the US administration is kidnapping its presumed opponents from across the globe and arbitrarily holding them without trial or any international supervision in horrendous prisons that it has established in various parts of the world. God knows who these detainees actually are, and what terrible fate awaits them.
You have certainly heard the sad stories of the Guantanamo and Abu-Ghraib prisons. The US administration attempts to justify them through its proclaimed “war on terror.” But every one knows that such behavior, in fact, offends global public opinion, exacerbates resentment and thereby spreads terrorism, and tarnishes the US image and its credibility among nations.
The US administration’s illegal and immoral behavior is not even confined to outside its borders. You are witnessing daily that under the pretext of “the war on terror,” civil liberties in the United States are being increasingly curtailed. Even the privacy of individuals is fast losing its meaning. Judicial due process and fundamental rights are trampled upon. Private phones are tapped, suspects are arbitrarily arrested, sometimes beaten in the streets, or even shot to death.
I have no doubt that the American people do not approve of this behavior and indeed deplore it.
The US administration does not accept accountability before any organization, institution or council. The US administration has undermined the credibility of international organizations, particularly the United Nations and its Security Council. But, I do not intend to address all the challenges and calamities in this message.
The legitimacy, power and influence of a government do not emanate from its arsenals of tanks, fighter aircrafts, missiles or nuclear weapons. 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.
Undoubtedly, the American people are not satisfied with this behavior and they showed their discontent in the recent elections. 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.
My questions are the following:
Is there not a better approach to governance?
Is it not possible to put wealth and power in the service of peace, stability, prosperity and the happiness of all peoples through a commitment to justice and respect for the rights of all nations, instead of aggression and war?
We all condemn terrorism, because its victims are the innocent.
But, can terrorism be contained and eradicated through war, destruction and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocents?
If that were possible, then why has the problem not been resolved?
The sad experience of invading Iraq is before us all.
What has blind support for the Zionists by the US administration brought for the American people? It is regrettable that for the US administration, the interests of these occupiers supersedes the interests of the American people and of the other nations of the world.
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?
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. This will benefit everyone.
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? As you know very well, many victims of Katrina continue to suffer, and countless Americans continue to live in poverty and homelessness.
I’d also like to say a word to the winners of the recent elections in the US:
The United States has had many administrations; some who have left a positive legacy, and others that are neither remembered fondly by the American people nor by other nations.
Now that you control an important branch of the US Government, you will also be held to account by the people and by history.
If the US Government meets the current domestic and external challenges with an approach based on truth and Justice, it can remedy some of the past afflictions and alleviate some of the global resentment and hatred of America. But if the approach remains the same, it would not be unexpected that the American people would similarly reject the new electoral winners, although the recent elections, rather than reflecting a victory, in reality point to the failure of the current administration’s policies. These issues had been extensively dealt with in my letter to President Bush earlier this year.
To sum up:
It is possible to govern based on an approach that is distinctly different from one of coercion, force and injustice.
It is possible to sincerely serve and promote common human values, and honesty and compassion.
It is possible to provide welfare and prosperity without tension, threats, imposition or war.
It is possible to lead the world towards the aspired perfection by adhering to unity, monotheism, morality and spirituality and drawing upon the teachings of the Divine Prophets.
Then, the American people, who are God-fearing and followers of Divine religions, will overcome every difficulty.
What I stated represents some of my anxieties and concerns.
I am confident that you, the American people, will play an instrumental role in the establishment of justice and spirituality throughout the world. The promises of the Almighty and His prophets will certainly be realized, Justice and Truth will prevail and all nations will live a true life in a climate replete with love, compassion and fraternity.
The US governing establishment, the authorities and the powerful should not choose irreversible paths. As all prophets have taught us, injustice and transgression will eventually bring about decline and demise. Today, the path of return to faith and spirituality is open and unimpeded.
We should all heed the Divine Word of the Holy Qur’an:
“But those who repent, have faith and do good may receive Salvation. Your Lord, alone, creates and chooses as He will, and others have no part in His choice; Glorified is God and Exalted above any partners they ascribe to Him.” (28:67-68)
I pray to the Almighty to bless the Iranian and American nations and indeed all nations of the world with dignity and success.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
29 November 2006
Can I get a takbir?
Allahu akbar!
i think mark is a fag and can go die in a hole. what an a**
Smart man, this is what the world needs…to talk to eachother not at eachother.
I am not going to go into details…I hate bush and the war and everything, but this guy is really a total freak and a lunatic.
I know imma get beaten for this opinion….I guess y’all can bring it on. :s
Quotes from egyptchick …
1) “Happened on my bf’s ( sooooo haram I know) block” - she has a boyfriend
2) “Can anyone PLEASE tell me why he [Sami Yusuf] sings in Arabic???? Apparently he was born in Iran and is of Azeri decent but raised in England correct? So he sings in Arabic for the Islamic language? Even though I sam arab I would so dig it if he sang in Azeri, or farsi.
A little birdy told me recently that most of these Islamic singers, like Native Deen or maybe Sami Yusef or 786 were originally focused on pop careers, rather than Islamic careers. When they saw more success by singing Islamic songs, bc there was a market for it,
OKay guys call me a backbiter, but this may explain my question as to why Sami Yusef sings in Arabic ( vs. Azeri) to appeal to a greater crowd. ”
3) “I also Support our [American] Troops [in Iraq]…” This quote is referring to the fact that while she is “against” the war she does support american troops.
Okay you may be asking how these quotes are relevant to this discussion. Well before I answer that I could say the same thing about egyptchick’s comments. What do her comments have anything to do with this letter? What is so wrong with this letter that egpytchick felt she had to insult a muslim brother?
The reason I provided the above quotes by egyptchick is simply to show the readers where she is coming from. I’m not attacking her or stating my judgement on her, all I did was quote her, so you can’t attack me for that, those are her words.
Haseeb, you have mentioned before that we should give our brothers and sisters 70 excuses before we criticize them. I hope you will now honor that by coming to the defense of brother Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
I don’t necessarily agree with everything that Ahmadinejad does, but he is doing some good things and we muslims should support that. Ahmadinejad helped a lot of poor people when he was mayor of Tehran and the poor people appreciated that and that’s why they voted for him and that’s why they support him to this day. Is it right to call such a leader a “total freak and lunatic”? Leaders who are against Israel and American foreign policy are routinely insulted (e.g. Chavez). Meanwhile you have a dictator in egypt who jails muslims for going to the masjid on a regular basis, yet I don’t see egyptchick criticizing that dictator? Is that because she deems him superior because he is an egyptian arab? Instead she chooses to inuslt muslims who are actually trying to do something positive for the ummah. Again I don’t agree with everything Ahmadinejad does, but I don’t see the need to insult him like the non muslims in the west do.
In response to Mujahada …
Allahu Akbar !
I hate Mubarak too, but since this post is about Iran’s president, I stuck to that. Fair and balanced people…I shoulda never mentioned the bf….:(
I still support the troops, not all of them and their bad ways but in general I do…oh well…
This letter is so good, ma’shAllah! I’m glad that there are some muslim leaders that actually have the guts to say things like this in public. Egyptchick7, please stop hating muslims that actually are doing something good for the sake of Allah
.
oh ppl hate me…that’s great for a fellow muslim sister…attack my deen, i dare you…
Nobody hates you. First of all you shouldnt be revealing your own sins (having pre-marital relations are haraam). Whatever your opinions are, they are yours and you have the right to have them.
However there is a balance between supporting our troops and being against the war. I personally am against the war and injustices, but do remorse for the fact that our American brothers and sisters are there injustly.
Egyptchick7, before you call other muslims freaks and lunatics and spread gossip about well meaning muslims, you should look in the mirror, it seems you have some things you need to fix about yourself first.
egyptchick is a sellout, what else is new?
I totally disagree with you egpytchick7. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is saying all the right things in this letter. Shame on you for calling him a freak and a lunatic, you should show more respect for him than that. He is saying what all the muslim leaders should be saying.
egyptchick, stop attacking muslims and start supporting them, especially since sami yusuf, native deen, 786, and ahmadinejad are doing good things.
As a muslim gal I dislike criticism of fellow sistas deen as much as any1 else. But i have 2 say its amazin dat 4 some1 whos got a bf thinks shes got da rite to call a fellow muslim bro whos exposin the atrocities dat have happened to the palestinian ppl a ‘lunatic’. Hazrat Ali (saaw) said that ‘a person who remains silent while opression is being done is as bad as the opressor’. Egypt chick u shud be supporting the fact that finally a muslim president has got da guts to expose this, rather than being a puppet of the America like most of da other arab leaders incl da Egyption govt well known for their routine torture of our fellow muslim bros’s on their ‘war on terror’;
‘Authorities in Egypt use torture on a wide scale. Suspected Islamist militants have borne the brunt of these practices’-Human Rights Watch
who the subhanAllah is Amir?
Haseeb, I think it’s pointless to further publish this crap that ‘Mark’ wrote. Clearly he is another fool undertaken by O’reilly.
So egyptchick, you support the troops that are occupying muslim lands and yet you call Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a total freak and lunatic??? I think you have things mixed up. Ahmadinejad is speaking out against injustice and standing up for muslims. Last time I checked, it’s the egyptian and american governments and military that are torturing muslims. Iranian troops are not attacking or occupying another country.
Ok, about that whole Native deen incident, I shouldn’t have spread that but that opinion wasn’t mine…actually from a former MSA brother that is widely respected among the other brothers…so tell him…and I only wanted to hear others’ opinions on the matter.
I don’t know what Ahmadinejad has “revealed” in this letter. He didn’t expose anything. We already know this, and so do many other liberals of America. And although I am fully against the atrocities Israel has caused, I am totally against it being “wiped off the map” as Ahmadinejad has expressed. The leaders of the Muslim world need to move on and find another solution besides Isreal and its mostly innocent ppl being wiped off the map. I don’t think this attitude in anyway is “good” for Islam as most of your comments have said. Someone like Sadat was good for Islam but the Muslim Brotherhood killed him !!!
Yeah sure shouldn’t have mentioned my sins, but I know many sisters who are so devout with bf’s. Didn’t think it was such a huge deal to expose the sin.
So being that I have problems to “fix” as a commenter acknowledged, We ALL DO! We all need to work on our deen more, until the day we die. So what does that mean? We can’t critisize fellow Muslim Leaders? This is politics, this isn’t personal.
I am a sellout? That’s a good one.
psssst…hey…egyptchick7, ahmadinejad’s letter is great! Ahmadinejad is defending muslims and standing up to the bullies, pass it on …
Wow, egyptchick, your hatred towards a muslim brother is really uncalled for. Especially when he is the only political muslim leader that speaks out against the injustices that have befallen muslims and that stands up to western imperialism. When Ahmadinejad said israel should be wiped off the map he wasn’t calling for the annihilation of its civilians, he was saying that the zionist regime should not be allowed to continue to exist. I feel that is a perfectly reasonable thing to state because the zionist regime is responsible for the deaths and suffering of so many innocent muslims.
I know we all have our faults and I am no better than anyone else, but to say a muslim has a bf or gf and then to say they are devout, I’m sorry, but that just makes NO sense! You can’t be considered a devout muslim and at the same time have a bf or gf. This isn’t christianity or judaism or some other religion we are talking about here, this is Islam!
(First of all let me say I am disappointed in the number of takbirs I got - only one!)
Ok guys this is ridiculous.
I have NO IDEA who egypt chick is. All I know is that she is entitled to her opinon, just like as all of us are. I disagree with most of her opinions, but she is still entitled to them. Although I will say calling another Muslim a lunatic etc is not right. Technically, we’re not even supposed to backbite the current President of the US.
But more importantly, I think that it is entirely inappropriate for anyone to say to harp on egyptchick’s past sins. Devoutness is a function of the heart, a place that none of us have access to. Yes, actions are signs of what is in the heart, but who is anyone to say that while one is committing a sin they are not detesting themselves for it? Surely you all know by personal experience the duplicitous nature of the self. Or that every night they turn to Allah
with firm repentance that they would turn away from it but the next day find their naf’s resolve weakened in the face of a pressure that many of us may buckle under?
In addition, it is aparrent that egyptchick was not aware of how erroneous and sinful it is to discuss one’s past sins. She knows now. For any one of us to bring that up over and over again is certainly “against Islam” - and that too, those who brought it up, did so out of anger towards a political opinion she harbors!
So essentially we are willing to “defend the honor” of a brother at the cost of dishonoring a sister by bringing up a mistake of her past, that she -incorrectly- made others aware of.
Lastly, be careful of accusations. “Nobody hates you”, “reminded” egyptchick and all of us that pre-marital sex is haraam. *IF* “Nobody hates you” was assuming that egyptchick had pre-marital sex, he or she had better do a lot of astaghfar for a long time.
Now: about Ahmedinejad.
The part of me that believes that he is an honest, God fearing Muslim, with little alterior motive said “Takbir!” to his speech.
But the part of me that lives in this world and has been jaded by the lies of governments and politicians cannot help but put forth the following *possibility*: that Ahmedinejad knows his comments will strike a chord with Muslims all over the world. They will see that he is a completely reasonable man, a man who is willing to acknowledge the nuanced understanding that governments are often not direct representatives of their people as much as those who support democracy would like to think they are. They will see that he is the only man sticking up for the Muslims around the world (and of course around the world means “Palestine”) and this will place Ahmedinejad neatly in our hearts.
But what if that is the point? What if he knows that all of us would respond with takbirs and Allahu akbars and “he’s the only one standing up for us!” comments? What if he is using that for other purposes? What could those purposes be? I don’t know. Like I said this is all speculation from that part of me that lives in the world.
For now, I will assume the better of a brother and believe that he is, indeed, genuinely caring for Muslims and Islam, and that his comments and actions are based on that (although albeit I do not agree with every little statement he has made, he *has made many statements that really resonated positively in my mind).
I would only ask of myself and others that we approach everything we see and hear these days with caution. We need not be lead by emotions, but by our intellects.
Wa Allahu Alim.
~Mujahada
mujahada
thanks for that!…I think ur the only one that has spoken sensibly and i agree with everything you have said…