...interesting timing.
Khatami is working this American election as hard as any Democrat candidate. I think his behavior reveals the weakness of the Iranian government's psychology. We can't know if Khatami's commentary is just an attempt to garner headlines or if he, and Iranian foreign policy for that matter, would prefer to see Democrats at the helm of the United States congress. I think Israel's calculus is more on target than Khatami's. The Israelis know that no matter who controls the house and senate in the States, American responsibilities cannot be cast aside in the Middle East no matter who sits in the seat of authority. Despite that rather obvious observation, it is remarkable how endemic Bush bashing has become. This Khatami quote below made me want to roll out of my chair with laughter. A man who was President of Iran during the torture/murder of a Canadian photo journalist, a man who talked about dialog of civilizations while his country worked with A.Q. Khan, a man who sat by and watched Iranian college students get arrested, beaten and murdered for supporting his hollow rhetoric asserts his superiority over President Bush based on the number of protesters that show up at an event... How absurd is that? President Bush has shaken Middle Eastern despotism to its core. The ripple effect from what President Bush has initiated will have Lincolnesque ripple effects for years and years to come... One day, there will be monuments built to honor President Bush in the Middle East... Khatami will be another stain in their history books.
London Police Dismiss Accusations Against Iran's Khatami
[EXCERPT] KHATAMI:`There are always people who have some concerns, but if there was any kind of opposition or protest -- whether it is here or anywhere else -- it's for sure less than what happens with President George W. Bush,'' Khatami told the Saint. ``He gets bigger protests every where he goes.'' Khatami visited the U.S. in September where gave speeches at the University of Virginia and the Washington National Cathedral that condemned religious terrorism and urged the U.S. and other nations to negotiate with Iran about its nuclear program without any conditions.