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Title: White House Rejects Iran Leader's Proposal To Debate Bush
Source:
Associated Press
URL Source: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/N ... 309DOWJONESDJONLINE000478.htm&
Published: Aug 29, 2006
Author: Associated Press
Post Date: 2006-08-29 14:33:35 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 515
Comments: 15
WASHINGTON (AP)--The White House on Tuesday dismissed the idea of a televised debate between President George W. Bush and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, describing the proposal as a diversion. Ahmadinejad proposed the debate with Bush on world issues at a news conference in Tehran. "I'd refer you back to what the president, Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice, and others have said about the Iranian regime knowing what it has to do to engage constructively with international community," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "We've said we are willing to talk to Iran in the context of positive response to the P5+1 package," she said referring to the proposal from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany. "Talk of a debate is just a diversion from the legitimate concerns that the international community - not just the U.S. - has about Iran's behavior, from support for terrorism to pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability." Perino said, "Iran may want to look first to allowing free expression and open debate within its borders, as opposed to the current practice of crushing dissent." The move was not the first overture Ahmadinejad made to Bush. Earlier this year, he wrote a letter to Bush that was promptly dismissed by Washington as irrelevant and not addressing the key issue of Iran's disputed nuclear program.
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#11. To: Brian S (#0)
i wonder if there are any iranian poll numbers on Ahmadinejad. not only does he seem smarter than bush, he is probably better supported by his own people. and gallop really missed an opportunity when Ahmadinejad was on ABC. they should have polled the americans about who seemed more honest and intelligent, Bush or Ahmadinejad?
#12. To: Morgana le Fay (#11)
By all accounts, Ahmadinejad is very popular with Iranians. A poli sci professor at Tehren U guesstimates that Ahmadinejad's popularity polls would run 70%. Evidently, Ahmadinejad is more popular now than he was when he was first elected, not only because he has stood up to the US-Israel BullyBoy threats but because he is quite honest with no hint of corruption. Also, the Iranians are quite surprised that Ahmadinejad is far less conservative than they thought him to be originally. Ahmadinejad has even taken on the mullahs recently for the benefit of the Iranian women's freedom and that was a real dcrowd pleaser there. I expect that if a poll had been taken after the 60 minute interview of viewers who had actually listened to Ahmadinejad ( not Bots who pretended to listen), Ahmadinejad would score in the 70 percentile with American viewers too. He was a humble little guy who was quite articulate, very unassuming, he seemed to speak from the heart, no "canned" responses I could detect, and he was fairly knowledgeable about US affairs. I loved it when he put himself in the place of GWB and said what a US leader should address as to "needs" of this country. Imagine! And he listed excellent topics that needed the WH's attention. Fyi, here's a link to a recent Guardian article about Ahmadinejad's popularity and a photo of Ahmadinejad's working the crowds. Can you imagine if Dear Leader wandered out into American crowds without his wall to wall Secret Service protecting him - rotten eggs, cream pies, seltzer water coming his way and that would be in fly over country. I hate to think what would be thrown at the Village Idiot in CA or NY. he, he, he http://www.guardi an.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1802280,00.html "A year on, Ahmadinejad's popularity is soaring" 06/21/06
I expected them to turn him down. No matter, he would have made the Chimperor look like a moron if they had debated and he makes Bush look like a coward by refusing the challenge.
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Replies to Comment # 11. i wonder if there are any iranian poll numbers on Ahmadinejad.
#13. To: Morgana le Fay (#11)
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