Letter from Iran

The NY Times offers up the letter sent to Bush from the President of Iran today. It seems to be an unprecedented correspondence from an "axis of evil" world leader. It pokes at Bush, urging him to refect on whether his policies jibe with his Christian beliefs. It seems like an effective gambit, because probably the most effective way to get at Bush is through the filter of his strong religious belief.

Did Bush even read it? Who knows. Maybe his staff gave him a synopsis (it is eight pages, after all.)

I'm no fan Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He's one of the world's prominent Holocaust deniers and he refuses to aknowledge the state of Israel, which doesn't leave a lot of room for developing a peace program. He is hardly one to be lecturing about war-mongering. But the letter offers insight into the question Americans always seem to ask: "Why do they hate us?"

Well, here's some answers from a national leader. We support the oppression of the Palestinian people at the hands of Israel. We prop up dictators (most prominently Saddam Hussein). We claim to encourage democracy around the world and then oppose or ignore the popularly-elected governments of the Middle East and Latin America. We have an ongoing double-standard about technological (and specifically nuclear) innovation in developing countries we don't like.

America is the Empire, and the countries that are effected adversly by the Empire don't like it. Unfortunately, that list is growing as The Bush Administration's insular and arrogant foreign policies breeds resentment rather than allies. The hard right thinks we can just force our will on all nations, but this isn't the 2nd Century. America can't really operate as an empire -- it can't last. Democracies don't make good empires, and empires always overextend themselves. If Bush had cracked a history book instead of many cold tall ones, he might be aware of the thin ice America is skating on.