Ahmadinejad's message to Democrats

[Darat]

"Ahmadinejad's message to Democrats"

Are you referring to the USA political party - if so can you point out where the message to just them is?

ETA - Ah right found it - the line in the article that says "I'd also like to say a word to the winners of the recent elections in the US:" line - mind you it again shows that he's not quite the brightest pin - as far as I am aware there were a lot of Republicans that also won in the recent elections.

 

[Darat]

Oh, I didn't realize Gays were free to marry in Iran. How very progressive of them.

a_u_p never said that gays were free to marry in the Iran.

 

[fuelair]

I'll bet he was wearing a silly clown hat and farting on a chicken when he wrote that.

Oh, Ahmadinejad you so crazy.

I assumed the chickens' head was blocking the fart.

 

[Crossbow]

In his letter to all Americans published today (or at least the noble ones), Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad' included a special message to US Democrats:

This looks like the annual peace offering that Muslims are supposed to do when they are war with someone.

If I recall, when a Muslim is at war with someone, or some nation, or something or another, at least once per year that a Muslim is supposed to make a public peace offering.

I expect that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is just doing the same sort of thing and that he does not expect any serious reply other than to claim credit for following the conventions of this religion.

Ugh!

 

[Darth Rotor]

This looks like the annual peace offering that Muslims are supposed to do when they are war with someone.

If I recall, when a Muslim is at war with someone, or some nation, or something or another, at least once per year that a Muslim is supposed to make a public peace offering.

I expect that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is just doing the same sort of thing and that he does not expect any serious reply other than to claim credit for following the conventions of this religion.

Ugh!

I am guessing it took about 8 (16?) of those to finally stop the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980's.

DR

 

[Ziggurat]

Say what you will about him, but the man does look good in a tan windbreaker.

I'm afraid I have to disagree, and I call as a witness the super-fabulous Manolo:
http://politicscentral.com/2006/09/07/the_chics_of_the_dictators.php

"Briefly and remarkably, the President of the Iran wears the same khaki windbreaker, wrinkled trousers, cheap oxford shirts, scruffy beard and wild eyes favored by the aging high school chemistry teachers everywhere."

 

[Darth Rotor]

I'm afraid I have to disagree, and I call as a witness the super-fabulous Manolo:
http://politicscentral.com/2006/09/07/the_chics_of_the_dictators.php

"Briefly and remarkably, the President of the Iran wears the same khaki windbreaker, wrinkled trousers, cheap oxford shirts, scruffy beard and wild eyes favored by the aging high school chemistry teachers everywhere."

And he wears no tie.

He should accept, per the Manolo's comment, fashion advice from successful Muslim rabble rousers.

Say what you like about Muhumar, Col Khaffi's Killer Chicks are hot!

DR

 

[marksman]

Thank you for that blog. That was one of the more enjoyable analyses of international politics that I have read in years!

 

[Merko]

The letter is very consistent with Ahmadinejad's speech to the UN. I quite disagree with the idea that he'd be crazy. His strategy, including this letter and the policy it is based in, shows great intelligence and considerable insight into the global political situation.


The bit about the 'divine prophets' is probably a very subtle hint that he probably does not want to include the Jews in his proposed monotheistic alliance.

However, the basic message is to present an alterantive to the (extremely silly) western notion of a perceived global clash between Christians and Muslims. That notion is absurd considering that many of the world's most deadly recent conflicts have been predominantly intra-Christian (Rwanda, Congo, fmr Yugoslavia) or intra-Muslim (Iran/Iraq).

Ahmadinejad apparently wants to replace it with a similarly absurd
imagined conflict between monotheists and polytheists (I'm afraid atheists are not considered the major target here). In other words, an alliance between the west and the muslim powers against the emerging superpowers India and China.


As much as I reject his ideals, Ahmadinejad is clearly also intelligent enough to understand that the message of force and threats that has become increasingly more popular in recent years, is in fact deeply impopular throughout most of the world.

 

[RyanRoberts]

However, the basic message is to present an alterantive to the (extremely silly) western notion of a perceived global clash between Christians and Muslims.

Western notion? You might want to look up Sayeed Qutb sometime.

Ahmadinejad is clearly also intelligent enough to understand that the message of force and threats that has become increasingly more popular in recent years, is in fact deeply impopular throughout most of the world.

Indeed, you might want to read more of his speeches that are not for consumption by credulous westerners.

 

[senorpogo]

"Briefly and remarkably, the President of the Iran wears the same khaki windbreaker, wrinkled trousers, cheap oxford shirts, scruffy beard and wild eyes favored by the aging high school chemistry teachers everywhere."

And that's what I love about him. So confident is he in his ability to change the political and social landscape of the world, he takes a *yawn* fashion and attempts to create a whole new trend. He's like the first guy who ever dared to wear a sport coat with jeans - ridiculed at first, but eventually followed by millions.

Mark my words - world leaders the world round will soon be going with the business casual look and it shall be called the Ahmadinejad.

Also, I predict that Ratzenberger will be the next world leader fashion trendsetter. How can you argue?

 

[Merko]

Ryan Roberts: Oh sure, the idea of a Muslim/Christian clash definitely also exists in many muslim countries, no doubt about it. It's no less silly there, though. I'm mainly referring to the western notion though, which is slightly different from the Muslim version (especially on the point of which are the most important crimes, and 'who started it').

Regarding Ahmadinejad's hateful iranian speeches, I think you missed my point completely. It is not that Ahmadinejad is a peaceful man full of love for his fellow beings. It is that he is intelligent and knowledgeable enough to know that a message of peace is much more likely to go down well throughout most of the world.

The strategies for messages to his home country is of course very different, here he is putting on a face of defiance to a hostile outer world.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Also, I predict that Ratzenberger will be the next world leader fashion trendsetter. How can you argue?

Did he get a free bowl of soup with that hat?

His chapeau looks like the hats a local high school drill team -- they use a cowgirl theme -- use in their costumes at HS football game half time shows. At least he's not wearing a short skirt.

DR

 

[Ziggurat]

And that's what I love about him. So confident is he in his ability to change the political and social landscape of the world, he takes a *yawn* fashion and attempts to create a whole new trend. He's like the first guy who ever dared to wear a sport coat with jeans - ridiculed at first, but eventually followed by millions.

But that was Manolo's whole point: it's NOT actually new at all, it's just coppied from people (namely disillusioned highschool chemistry teachers) whom one should not be getting fashion advice from.

Mark my words - world leaders the world round will soon be going with the business casual look and it shall be called the Ahmadinejad.

Even if that turns out to be the case, it's still a fashion disaster.

Also, I predict that Ratzenberger will be the next world leader fashion trendsetter. How can you argue?

It's Benedict XVI now, but his former name was Ratzinger, not Ratzenberger.

 

[Polaris]

There is usually at least one post every day at JREF that makes my day. This was the one.

Carry on my brother.

I try!

Did he get a free bowl of soup with that hat?

His chapeau looks like the hats a local high school drill team -- they use a cowgirl theme -- use in their costumes at HS football game half time shows. At least he's not wearing a short skirt.

DR

Pope Panzertruppen is only reinforcing Denis Leary's hypothesis that Catholicism is based on the size of hats and that God must be wearing a huge ******* Los Lobos sombrero.

 

[senorpogo]

It's Benedict XVI now, but his former name was Ratzinger, not Ratzenberger.

That's right. I got the pope confused with this guy.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Pope Panzertruppen is only reinforcing Denis Leary's hypothesis that Catholicism is based on the size of hats and that God must be wearing a huge ******* Los Lobos sombrero.

He doubtless drinks maple nut crunch coffee as well.

Lock and Load!

DR

 

[Art Vandelay]

However, the basic message is to present an alterantive to the (extremely silly) western notion of a perceived global clash between Christians and Muslims.

Are you claiming that there is no such clash? And the claim is not a clash between Muslims and Christians, but Muslims and the West/secularism. Most of the Islamist issues (sexual morality, blasphemy, graven images, etc.) are in the Bible.

That notion is absurd considering that many of the world's most deadly recent conflicts have been predominantly intra-Christian (Rwanda, Congo, fmr Yugoslavia) or intra-Muslim (Iran/Iraq).

The fact that there are other clashes hardly contradicts that the Western-Muslim clash exists. And are you seriously claiming that the conflict in the former Yugoslavia didn't involve Muslims?

In other words, an alliance between the west and the muslim powers against the emerging superpowers India and China.

I don't think it's "alliance" so much as "do whatever we tell you".

Don'tcha think?
It's like raining on your wedding day....

"Rain", not "raining".

But not too free.... no marriage for gays.

There's a difference between freedom and being able to tell other people what to do.

By the way, dear atheist friends, Mahmoud seems to have a case of attitude about you, if analysis by omission is a valid tool:

Then, the American people, who are God-fearing and followers of Divine religions, will overcome every difficulty.

Was what we are reading written by him? Because if a comma is deleted, it has a completely different meaning: "Then, the American people who are God-fearing and followers of Divine religions, will overcome every difficulty." If what we are reading is a translation or a transcription, then we can't know whether he intended for that comma to be there.

 

[Merko]

Art: There are many clashes between Muslims and Christians, but not 'a' clash (and note that I wrote about a 'global' clash, too). Positing such a global clash makes no sense when it completely fails to explain most of the most notorious conflicts in recent years, by any objective definitions.

I'm not a friend of Islam (in fact I dislike it almost as much as I dislike Christianity), but I do believe that westerners are often too quick in attributing negative aspects of Muslim societies as being funtamental to Islam, even when that is not warranted. Islam during Muhammed was relatively enlightened, and much of ancient science would not have survived the Christian dark ages had it not been preserved by muslim scholars. But Christianity eventually got out of its dark age, and there is no reason to believe Islam could not get out of its current 'dark age'.

While there are certainly Muslims in fmr Yugoslavia, I don't think it makes any sense at all to define that war as a clash between Christians and Muslims. The two major contrahents were both Christian, the Muslims sort of got caught in the middle of it. Oh, and there were Muslims in Rwanda too. They gained a whole lot of supporters by actually taking action against the genocide, something most Christians did not do.


But my point is that there is an in my opinion very bogus theory positing that the most important thing on the geopolitical agenda over the next fifty years or so would be this perceived 'clash'. See Huntington etc. And what Ahmadinejad is trying to do, in my opinion, is to launch an alternative to this mindset. Unfortunately that alternative is just as bogus and dangerous as the first one.

 

[Merko]

Art: Oh, and I forgot to address the claim about secularism (and secularism as a western phenomenon). I'm not so sure about that. The four most popolous Muslim nations are all secular: Indonesia (secular democracy), Pakistan (secular dictatorship), Bangladesh (secular democracy) and Egypt (secular dictatorship). The two democracies have both had female presidents or prime ministers, something that would supposedly be impossible according to the standard western perception of Islam, but which few Christian/western states can claim even after a century of democratically elected leaders.


My point here is that the issue of Islam and enlightenment is just as complex as the issue of Christianity and enlightenment. While we may perhaps agree that all religion is contrary to enlightenment, there are clearly a lot of gray shades here.