Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to George W. Bush

Quotations from the letter

• Don't Latin Americans have the right to ask why their elected governments are being opposed and coup leaders supported?

• Can the possibility of scientific achievements being utilized for military purposes be reason enough to oppose science and technology altogether?

• Are you pleased with the current condition of the world?

• After the war they claimed that six million Jews had been killed. Six million people that were surely related to at least two million families. Again let us assume that these events are true. Does that logically translate into the establishment of the state of Israel in the Middle East or support for such a state?

• September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services—or their extensive infiltration?

Reactions to the letter

• WMD lies, says the Iranian president. Democrat talking point. Human-rights abuses in Gitmo. Another Dem talking point. The gap between haves and have-nots. The Iranian president and the Dems in lockstop on that one, too. The biggest difference? Ahmadinejad was actually nice about Jesus and Christians.

—John Gibson on Fox News

• This letter isn't it.

—Condoleezza Rice

• This letter appears to be more about changing the subject.

—Scott McClellan

• It looks like it did not answer the main question that the world is asking, and that is 'When will you get rid of your nuclear program?'

—George W. Bush, in Florida