I would pay money to see this.

 

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday challenged President Bush to a televised debate, a proposal the White House immediately dismissed as a "diversion."

 

The challenge came during a freewheeling, 2 1/2-hour news conference and only two days before a U.N. Security Council ultimatum demanding Iran roll back its suspect nuclear program.

 

Ahmadinejad said no one can prevent Iran from pursuing what he called a peaceful nuclear program - not even U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was expected to visit here Saturday.

 

"Mr. Annan, too, has to move within the framework of international regulations. No one has a special right or advantage," he said.

 

The U.N. Security Council has set Thursday as a deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment - a process that can produce either fuel for a reactor or material for weapons. Iran has refused any immediate suspension, calling the deadline illegal, and instead this week offered a counterproposal that the United States and some European nations said fell short.

 

Ahmadinejad's latest show of defiance seemed to solidify the country's determination to snub the Security Council, following a string of war games and uncompromising public statements this month on the nuclear standoff. But whether the U.S. can muster enough support on the 15-nation council to impose economic or political sanctions remains in question.

 

In his criticism of the Security Council, Ahmadinejad singled out two of its permanent members with veto power - the United States and Britain - for what he called their failure to listen to the needs of other countries.

 

"The U.S. and Britain are the source of many tensions," he said. "At the Security Council, where they have to protect security, they enjoy the veto right. If anybody confronts them, there is no place to take complaints to."

 

"This (veto right) is the source of problems of the world," he said. "It is an insult to the dignity, independence, freedom and sovereignty of nations."

 

The United States' ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton, dismissed Ahmadinejad's remarks, and Britain's ambassador to the world body suggested, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that the comments were mild compared to Ahmadinejad's past sharp rhetoric against Israel and others.

 

"Given some of the comments he makes, we should probably take that as a compliment," Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said.

 

After an opening statement, Ahmadinejad allowed Iranian reporters to ask questions. One Iranian journalist stood up and showered him with praise. The local reporters were more casually dressed than the foreign press, who later were allowed to question him about a range of topics. At one point, the president joked that he would call on a particular reporter because he and Ahmadinejad were wearing similar outfits.

 

In his challenge to Bush, Ahmadinejad said the debate should focus on "world issues and the ways of solving the problems of the international community."

 

He did not rule out the possibility of direct diplomatic talks with the United States, saying it could happen if unspecified conditions were met. But he criticized the United States for "living in the dream of getting the Iranian nation back to 30 years ago," before the Islamic revolution.

 

Earlier this year, Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to Bush portraying the world as filled with an "ever-increasing global hatred of the American government." Washington promptly dismissed the letter as irrelevant and not addressing the key issue of Iran's disputed nuclear program.

 

The Bush administration had a similar reaction Tuesday to the debate idea. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said it was "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."

 

Iran offered last week to pursue negotiations on its nuclear program but declined to suspend uranium enrichment as a precondition to talks. The U.S. State Department described the Iranian proposal as serious but said it fell short of what Iran must do.

 

The Bush administration this week reaffirmed its intent to pursue U.N. sanctions against Iran if it defies the approaching deadline. But Russia, whose support for sanctions is essential, has publicly counseled patience with Iran - a possible signal of reluctance to go along with the U.S.

 

Divisions within the international community over Iran's nuclear program could hand a victory to Tehran, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy warned in an interview released Tuesday.

 

"The international community must not become divided, to cut itself in two. That would be a victory for the Iranians," Douste-Blazy told Euronews television.

 

Jones-Parry, the British ambassador, said the Security Council will need until mid-September before acting on its threat to punish Iran if Tehran's leaders flout the Thursday deadline. He said the council would first need to receive a report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Iran's compliance with the resolution.

 

Tehran has pursued a confrontational stance on the nuclear issue since Ahmadinejad's election last year. He has often used the issue to encourage a sense of national pride among Iranians by standing up to the United States and other Western countries.

 

He and other Iranian officials repeatedly have said the country's nuclear program is intended solely to generate electricity, while the United States and Europe contend Iran secretly aims to develop weapons.

 

Washington recently warned against a heavy-water plant that Iran opened over the weekend, fearing it could be used as a second track toward building a warhead.

 

Heavy water contains a heavier hydrogen particle that allows a nuclear reactor to run on the natural uranium mined by Iran, without undergoing the enrichment process. But the spent fuel from a heavy-water reactor can be reprocessed to extract plutonium for use in a bomb.

 

Large-scale military exercises also have been under way in Iran over the past month. Iran says the weaponry is intended to defend itself against the possibility of a U.S. attack and has expressed worry about Israeli threats to destroy its nuclear facilities.

 

Despite intense disagreement over suspected nuclear weapons programs and terrorism, the Bush administration decided Tuesday to allow former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to visit the United States.

 

Khatami plans to attend a U.N. conference Sept. 5-6 in New York to promote dialogue, then speak at the Washington National Cathedral on Sept. 7 on the role of Islam, Christianity and Judaism in shaping peace.

 

He would be the most senior Iranian official to visit Washington since Islamic fundamentalists seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held Americans there hostage for 444 days.

http://tracking.military.com/cgi-bin/outlo...01764e0930ce22a

This monkey look alike needs to be killed soon.

This monkey look alike needs to be killed soon.

 

Which monkey look alike are talking about?

 

Anyways, Mahmoud clearly is crazy. While a debate would be quite entertaining, there's no safe way for him to remain in power

while i wouldnt exactly call for a debate...i wouldnt mind seeing the two sitting down and trying to hash some things out...i mean at least some good could come out of it...and it beats the hell out of starting another war with a middle eastern country where we create more terrorists than we kill

They should settle it the old fashioned way, basically tie their left hands together and have them fight it out with knives.

They should settle it the old fashioned way, basically tie their left hands together and have them fight it out with knives.

 

i wouldnt mind seeing that either...or an old fashioned hamilton-burr duel...or a halo 2 tournament :whistle

They should settle it the old fashioned way, basically tie their left hands together and have them fight it out with knives.

 

i wouldnt mind seeing that either...or an old fashioned hamilton-burr duel... :lol or a halo 2 tournament :whistle

:lol

Live television debates = Not one of W's strengths.

Good article, related to the topic:

 

By Aneesh Raman

CNN

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- On the bustling streets of Tehran, the Iranians seem unaware of the critical times their country now faces.

 

The United Nations has said Iran must suspend its nuclear program by Thursday. And almost daily Iranian officials have made it clear they won't. Instead they are going to push ahead, even expand, their program, which they say is for making energy.

 

The latest remarks came at a rare news conference Tuesday by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- only his third since taking office in 2005 -- where he was eager to change the subject, challenging President Bush to a live TV debate. It's an unlikely prospect but one that is part of a larger strategy.

 

Iran wants to be the Middle East's superpower, to balance the influence of the United States. And Tehran is eager to solidify its influence. Iran is offering extensive financial support to rebuild Lebanon, across-the-board support for Iraq's government, and Ahmadinejad is emerging as the defining voice for disenfranchised Muslims.

 

Many Americans don't know enough about this rising power. I didn't until I got here.

 

 

Two worlds

There are certain misperceptions about Iran. One came to light at the news conference. There was not enough time for every reporter to ask questions, so local journalists repeatedly stood up and shouted their queries. But one man embarked on a lengthy reading of poems that brought the president and audience into moments of laughter -- a light atmosphere perhaps for a regime seen by many as unbearably repressive.

 

On the streets, the CNN crew has no minders, and we are free to go where we want. If we want to film inside a building, we need a letter from the government, but we've yet to be refused.

 

The people are very friendly, always eager to talk and tell you they like Americans. They like the culture, just not the government.

 

One woman said, "I admire the American way of life, the work ethic. I model myself after them."

 

It is the hard-liners who chant "Death to America," who revel in the government-sanctioned murals that say the same throughout the Iranian capital.

 

Of course, Iran faces just criticism on many other issues. While here, I interviewed Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi who runs a nonprofit legal defense group that represented people, she says, imprisoned for nothing. She says activists against the government are often charged with espionage. She, herself also faces arrest as Iranian officials have deemed her group illegal.

 

Women's rights continue to face threats from the more conservative aspects of Iran's population. It is mandatory all women cover their heads; it is not allowed for women to shake the hands of men. One never forgets that this is an Islamic republic.

 

The real Iran seems to lie between those two worlds. The government has a litany of strict laws on the book but does not always enforce them. It allows for some quiet moderation but retains the right to pull back.

 

And for the people, they know there is little they can do at the moment to affect what their government does. They are more observers than citizens.

 

Of course, Ahmadinejad won a substantive victory in Iran's election as a populist figure who promised much-needed economic reform. But while such reforms are still on the way, he has turned attention to the international stage and to the United States.

 

 

Tit-for-tat dynamic

As an American in Iran, you realize times are tense from the moment you arrive at the airport. I've been to Iran before, but for the first time, as I passed through immigration, I was fingerprinted and put through a lengthy process. I was the only American in the group arriving, so it seemed deliberate.

 

Iranian officials say that their citizens are put through exhaustive and, at times, preventative immigration procedures and so it is their right to reciprocate.

 

That tit-for-tat dynamic seems set to grow. Iran wants to be recognized as a legitimate power by the United States. And many feel that everything the United States does to Iranians, Iran's government feels compelled to do to Americans. Of course, few Americans are here, but the point hits home nonetheless.

 

The Iranian people are bracing for something. You get that sense when you talk to them.

 

Some already have started guessing what sanctions will come first. Gas imports is a likely candidate since the oil-rich country is short on refineries. "Gas will be the worst," one professor told me.

 

But there are few willing to say -- and those only off-camera -- that the country's nuclear program is not worth the risk of sanctions.

 

The reason is national pride. Iran feels it has the right, as other countries do, to have a peaceful civilian nuclear program.

 

With the U.N deadline nearly here, the two Irans wait -- the people, unsure of what possible sanctions would bring, and the government, seeking to become a regional power the United States respects

 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/30/...iran/index.html

They should settle it the old fashioned way, basically tie their left hands together and have them fight it out with knives.

 

i wouldnt mind seeing that either...or an old fashioned hamilton-burr duel...or a halo 2 tournament :whistle

 

Personally I'd like to see a duel.

Live television debates = Not one of W's strengths.

 

 

I dunno he's only clearly lost one, and I think he lost the 2nd one last time around, but he won all others, including in Texas.

 

 

 

They should settle it the old fashioned way, basically tie their left hands together and have them fight it out with knives.

 

i wouldnt mind seeing that either...or an old fashioned hamilton-burr duel...or a halo 2 tournament :whistle

 

Personally I'd like to see a duel.

 

With that cool Star Trek fight music.

I wouldnt wanna see this at all. we all know how bad our prez is at these "speaking" things, thats also why that psycopath wants to "debate" also. do you think he would want to debate a good speaker like Clinton, etc. he'd get his crazy anti-semetic ass handed to him.

I don't want to see this country get embarassed...

I don't want to see this country get embarassed...

 

 

Little late for that, maybe?

I don't want to see this country get embarassed...

 

 

Little late for that, maybe?

Agreed.

 

Plus, my money would be on the President of Iran in a duel, as he has actual military experience (Iran/Iraq War).

I don't want to see this country get embarassed...

 

 

Little late for that, maybe?

Agreed.

 

Plus, my money would be on the President of Iran in a duel, as he has actual military experience (Iran/Iraq War).

 

Nah, Bush works out all the time. He'd have a Navy Seal teach him 20 ways to kill a man with his thumb.

I'd like to see them go at it in a steel cage death match or the Octagon.

I'd like to see them go at it in a steel cage death match or the Octagon.

 

Ahmadinejad still gets my vote, I would never want to be in an enclosed space with that nutjob.

I don't want to see this country get embarassed...

 

 

Little late for that, maybe?

Agreed.

 

Plus, my money would be on the President of Iran in a duel, as he has actual military experience (Iran/Iraq War).

 

Nah, Bush works out all the time. He'd have a Navy Seal teach him 20 ways to kill a man with his thumb.

then run off and desert his country again and buy a mlb team...maybe he marlins? :hat