How to respond to the “Dear Great Satan” letter

Ahmadinejad’s open letter to Bush is clearly more of a publicity stunt than a serious attempt to open up negotiations. Condi is right, “There was nothing in it that suggested a way out of the nuclear stalemate." So, why doesn’t Bush respond in kind? Bush could write a letter addressed to Ahmadinejad saying "Mahmoud, good ...

Ahmadinejad’s open letter to Bush is clearly more of a publicity stunt than a serious attempt to open up negotiations. Condi is right, “There was nothing in it that suggested a way out of the nuclear stalemate." So, why doesn’t Bush respond in kind?

Ahmadinejad’s open letter to Bush is clearly more of a publicity stunt than a serious attempt to open up negotiations. Condi is right, “There was nothing in it that suggested a way out of the nuclear stalemate." So, why doesn’t Bush respond in kind?

Bush could write a letter addressed to Ahmadinejad saying "Mahmoud, good to hear from you. Here’s where we stand on Iran—you guys are more than welcome to have nuclear power just not nuclear weapons." (The Iranian government has cleverly persuaded the Iranian people that the West opposes them having either.) This would give Bush a good chance to win publicity in Iran for the Russian offer that Tehran has effectively rejected. It would also win him brownie points from the Europeans.

Then, Bush needs to demonstrate that America is ready to go the extra mile to avoid conflict. He should tell Ahmadinejad: “Let’s meet.” Bush should name a time and a place—Corsica is nice this time of year—and announce that he’ll be there. The White House should then invite along every TV crew they can find and give Middle Eastern media front row seats. This will put the ball firmly back in Ahmadinejad’s court and him in a bind. If he turns up, it will give Bush his best chance to explain the Western position to the Iranian people (whatever makes it through the censorship filter).

Bush should also take the opportunity to publicly offer to lift all U.S. sanctions if Iran stops funding terrorist groups and halts the enrichment process. If Ahmadinejad doesn’t show, it will be he who looks like the leader who is running scared and isn’t interested in peace and reveal how hollow Iranian calls for more negotiations are. Obviously, this is a high-risk idea. But when your approval rating is 31 percent and heading south you haven’t got much to lose and if this went well it could be the blockbuster event that start to turns things round for him. George W. Bush got through 3 presidential debates with one of the more effective debaters in U.S. politics today. He–and his team–should be confident that he can get the better of a ranter and raver like Ahmadinejad.

James Forsyth is assistant editor at Foreign Policy.

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