What If the U.S. and Iranian Presidents Did Debate?
The outspoken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has challenged President Bush to debate U.S.-Iran relations. Bush has dismissed the offer and declined. Debate is not goodfaith negotiation between the opposing parties, but it is better than nothing. And it might not be as onesided as most Americans think. We could certainly fantasize about how such a debate might play out. President Bush, of course, would begin by accusing Iran of support for the Islamo-fascist group Hezbollah, which is attacking Israel. Ahmadinejad might respond that the president should quit using the term fascism in a Goebbelslike attempt to associate every U.S. rival, no matter how small, with the massively rich and wellarmed Nazis of World War II. After all, fascism merely means the government intertwining itself with business, with a little ultranationalism thrown in. Ahmadinejad might also note that Hezbollah, al Qaeda, and most other radical Islamic organizations dont even control governments (Hamas in Pales
