Doomed: Letters from Third-World Leaders

William Blum reminds us that "[w]ith his recent letter to President Bush, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become part of a long tradition of Third-World leaders who, under imminent military or political threat from the United States, communicated with Washington officials in the hope of removing that threat," such as Ho Chi Minh, Cheddi Jagan, Maurice Bishop, Che Guevara, Hugo Chavez, and Saddam Hussein ("Appealing to the United States Is Not Very Appealing," CounterPunch and Dissident Voice, 15 May 2006). In all cases, their communication did nothing to change Washington's plan.

The only consolation is that the Vietnamese eventually succeeded in making Washington withdraw its troops and abandon its proxies and that the threatened governments of Cuba and Venezuela did survive Washington's aggressions.

Will the Ahmadinejad administration and Iran?

If Fallujah is any indication, the Iranian people may have to brace for what will befall them on November 8, the day after Election Day in the United States.