By: Hataw Sarkawt
hatawsarkawt@yahoo.com

May 19, 2006

A letter by the fanatic Iranian president Ahmadinejad to President Bush on May 9th 2006 made me think that the Iranian leader might have a serious delusional disorder. According to some experts delusional individuals might project their ideas on others and engage in bizarre or violent behaviors, if they are not contained or treated properly.
 
As the head of a fanatic, revengeful, and oppressing government, the Iranian leader starts his letter with “In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful”. He might not know that one does not have to be god to have compassion and mercy; otherwise he might have had a different attitude towards many of his opponents who disappeared, were imprisoned, or assassinated. Considering that Mr. Bush has called himself a compassionate conservative leader of the most powerful country, Ahmadinejad might think that the US president is god and might be turning to him by a praying letter so he forgives his sins.
 
The Iranian leader argues, one can not be a follower of Jesus and commit crimes such as invading other countries. Likely he makes his argument based on the fact that Jesus did not invade other people’s land to convert them to his faith but Mohammad did. He might think that since Bush is not a follower of Mohammad, he needs to become one, before he is entitled to invade an oppressive country.
 
Ahamdinejad advocates for human rights of prisoners at Gautanomo Bay. He might be deluded that Iranian prisoners are subhuman and therefore are not entitled to the same rights. He is worried about the existence of secret US prisons in Europe and might think that these are made only to restrict the activity of Iranian agents in the West who are assigned to assassinate the Iranian “infidels”.
 
He believes that since Israel was not on the map before World War II, it should not exist now either. He might think that a Palestinian state had existed since ancient time and that no changes should have been made to the world map. He considers the violence of the Israeli government as a crime, and might be deluded that the violence of suicide bombers is a path to heaven. He argues that his countries intention in nuclear technology is a scientific endeavor and should not be opposed; he might suffer from the grandiosity of some of his predecessors that his country has made such an advanced cultural development that it is safe for them to have everything they desire; he might not understand why adults prefer children not to play with matches, especially if those children are oppositional, hyper, or violent.
 
He is worried about the welfare of people in Africa; he might think that poverty, diseases, unemployment, prostitution, drug trafficking, and other crimes have been eliminated in his own oil rich country. He shows the peak of his paranoia by suggesting that September 11 might have been planned by the US government to create an atmosphere of fear; likely this argument based on his own government’s model which has created an atmosphere of fear and terror for many Iranians who think differently. By arguing that god knows the truth, he might be deluded that his and his own country’s deception are to serve a deceptive god. He is worried about poverty in the US and suggests that instead of supporting oppressors Mr. Bush should be aware of the rights of underprivileged. He might think that his god made the minorities including but not limited to women, Kurds, Bahaii’s etc. deliberately underprivileged and therefore oppressing them is a service to his imaginative abusive god!
 
He argues that if the US had focused on health, education, and peace in the world, people would have loved Americans; he might be deluded that the world is in love with Iranians fundamentalists and are praying to become as healthy, educated, and peaceful as them.
 
He suggests that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Ishmael, Joseph, and Jesus promoted monotheism to serve Allah. He might think those ancient religious celebrities would not have allowed anyone to think differently and converted everyone to Islamic fundamentalism, if they had a chance. He uses a vaguely threatening message that if people turn back from this fact, they should be aware that we are Muslims. He then suggests that paradise belong to those who fear the almighty; he might think that the almighty is also a terrorist who put people on earth to be afraid of him.
 
He argues that his almighty wants purification form sins and pollutions otherwise he will retaliate against the evildoers. He might think that the unknown supreme being is as simple minded as the Iranian leader himself who does not tolerate anyone with a different belief. He criticizes corruption, disintegration of families, and lack of trust in international organizations and assures that change is underway; he might think that the world is waiting for him to spread his faith upon them to resolve all social problems. He believes liberalism and Western style democracy have failed and therefore turning to his almighty is the only answer for everyone, so he invites Mr. Bush to be on his side. He might be deluded that the conservative US president will trust him, if he points out that like him he is also against liberals.
 
In short, the statements of Ahamadinejad suggest that his fanatic or overvalued ideas might be in fact untreated delusional thoughts. As long as delusions do not lead to a pathological behavior, one can feel safe. However, if those ideas are acted upon, everyone might be in danger, especially if the deluded individual is in a position to lead a country of 70 millions populations, many of whom might have been brainwashed that the key to heaven is in violence and terror. The world can learn from historical facts to act on time. Hitler was likely delusional when he thought that Jews were subhuman and therefore a threat to Aryan race. He turned his ideas into action by trying to burn as many Jews as the world allowed. Thank to the effort of liberating forces he was stopped, tragically too late for 6 millions Non-Aryans. One could speculate that Ahamdinejad’s feeling of being surrounded by light at the UN, and questioning the truth about holocaust as mild sign of Islamo-Ayran delusional ideas. The statements in his letters might be signs of a more severe pathology. If like Hitler he feels insecure and impotent, he might feel threatened by people like Bush who seem omnipotent to him. A reaction to neutralize such threats might put millions of people in danger and should be prevented before it is too late.
 
 
(Ahmadinejad’s letter can be found at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/09/AR2006050900878.html)