Iran Leader Appeals to Americans on Iraq
Published: 11/29/06, 2:25 PM EDT
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Iran's president urged the American people in an open letter Wednesday to demand the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and reject the Bush administration's policies in the war on terrorism.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also appealed directly to the new Democratic-controlled Congress, saying the American people "showed their discontent" with President Bush's policies in the recent midterm elections and it was up to lawmakers to change course.
"I hope that in the wake of the midterm elections, the administration of President Bush will have heard and will heed the message of the American people," Ahmadinejad wrote.
"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," he warned.
Ahmadinejad's letter to "Noble Americans," which was distributed by Iran's mission to the United Nations, also said that the U.S. invasion of Iraq had led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, an exponential growth of terrorism and the destruction of Iraq's infrastructure.
"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," he said.
He suggested that it would be beneficial for the U.S. to withdraw its troops from the country and spend its money instead on domestic problems, citing the "many victims" of Hurricane Katrina who continue to suffer.
The letter makes no mention of Iran's disputed nuclear program, which the U.S. alleges is geared toward secretly developing atomic weapons.
Ahmadinejad wrote a rambling, 18-page letter to Bush in May, which Washington criticized for also not addressing Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. is leading the drive to impose U.N. sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium.
"Rumor has it Ahmadinejad will replace Howard Dean as DNC chair in January"
