Should Bush debate Ahmadinejad?

[they don't love you like i love you]

Ahmadinejad challenged Bush to a tevelised debate. Bush rejected his offer.

As for me, hell yes! I'd paid to see that debate! It'd be extremely amusing in the way watching two drunks duke it out is.

[Serenity Now]

That would be amazing/hilarious as long as it didn't somehow lead to World War 3... (but if it did in what style!).

Hopefully they'd tear each other apart , but seriously that would finally be a debate where Bush would win if I was the sole judge..

[minionofmidas]

Both would be exposed as total airheads who don't even grasp what the other is talking about. It'd probably hurt to watch.

[MODU]

It would be funny to watch, but it would not go over well for the US on the international scene.  It is too easy for Iran to play the victim, and all this would do is place the victim right next to his attacker.  Even if it was Ronald Reagan on that stage, there is no way the US would win in the opinion polls afterwards.

[afleitch]

I'd rather we had a radio debate with Ross Perot and some piecharts

[MODU]

I'd rather we had a radio debate with Ross Perot and some piecharts

Oh, quit getting me excited!!! 

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Can either actually speak a language that the other understands?

[WalterMitty]

no, are you fing crazy brtd?

why should a sitting us president give an anti-semitic terrorist the time of day?

[opebo]

why should a sitting us president give an anti-semitic terrorist the time of day?

Which is which?

Oh, never mind I see you put 'us president'.

[Dr. Cynic]

I would pay to watch two people I completely abhorre debate, and hopefully, they would brawl, and it would turn into a huge hardcore wrestling match, lol. It would make my day if Dubya would hit Iran's President over the head with a sledgehammer or a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.

[MODU]

[opebo]

I would pay to watch two people I completely abhorre debate, and hopefully, they would brawl, and it would turn into a huge hardcore wrestling match, lol. It would make my day if Dubya would hit Iran's President over the head with a sledgehammer or a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.

What have you got against Ahmadinejad particularly?

[Colin]

Since this isn't going to happen ever I voted yes just because this would be one of the funniest things I can possibly imagine. The only thing better would be if they had a boxing match between each other. In either case I would pay to watch the hilarity.

[they don't love you like i love you]

no, are you fing crazy brtd?

why should a sitting us president give an anti-semitic terrorist the time of day?

Because it'd be funny to watch two dumbasses argue.

I would pay to watch two people I completely abhorre debate, and hopefully, they would brawl, and it would turn into a huge hardcore wrestling match, lol. It would make my day if Dubya would hit Iran's President over the head with a sledgehammer or a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.

What have you got against Ahmadinejad particularly?

well, he's a religious...

[Colin]

I would pay to watch two people I completely abhorre debate, and hopefully, they would brawl, and it would turn into a huge hardcore wrestling match, lol. It would make my day if Dubya would hit Iran's President over the head with a sledgehammer or a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.

What have you got against Ahmadinejad particularly?

he's a religious

Yeah that's it. Even if you hate America like you do opebo you should also hate Ahmadinejad because he's an even bigger religious than Bush and the Republicans.

[Tender Branson]

Both Bush and Ahmadinejad have enough disturbing thought-fallout inside their head to accomplish that the whole world is at war within a day. On the one hand we would see a man with the intellect of an empty bottle of beer and waaayyyyy too much power for such a narrow-minded, religious zealot and cowboy. On the other hand we have another religious fundamentalist of a sect who thinks the apocalypse will soon occur and he therefore has to destroy all living creatures on earth, not to mention Israel. A celebrity deathmatch which could involve words first then unlimited power and destruction. Imagine Ahmadinejad talking about wiping out Israel, and Bush, absent minded thinking about this reaallly big fish he caught recently in Maine, then picking up courage and screaming: GO, SMOKE EM OUT !

[Wakie]

Actually there is one way world support could go to the US.  Have Bill Clinton debate him instead.

[minionofmidas]

Can either actually speak a language that the other understands?

I think Ahmadinejad speaks only Farsi and Arabic, might be wrong though. Bush of course speaks no human language at all, at least not well.

[they don't love you like i love you]

They could just use a translator for Ahmadinejad, but Bush is a bigger problem

[© tweed]

How would we handle the language barrier?

[MODU]

Actually there is one way world support could go to the US.  Have Bill Clinton debate him instead.

Actually, I doubt it.  Even with do-nothing Clinton at the podium, Iran will still play the victim and win world sympathy.  Ahmad knows this, which is why he made the offer.  A) If we ignore the offer, he claims that the US thinks they're too important to be bother by another country.  B)  If we tell Iran no, then he can claim that the US is scared to lose on the international scene.  C) If we accept, Iran plays the victim and gains international sympathy.  It's a lose-lose-lose situation no matter how you look at it.

[phk]

Bush would probably lose.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It's a publicity stunt, but it could backfire on Ahmadinejad.

I think the most that we can hope to get from Iran on the nuclear issue by using only diplomacy is that they do their Uranium enriching in another country (such as Russia and/or China) with IAEA monitoring of their entire fuel cycle, including used reactor fuel leaving Iran immediately for reprocessing.  It's not perfect, but I think if we try for more than that we'll have to have yet another unilateral war to get it.

Now if Bush were to spring this proposal on Ahmadinejad in the debate, then he has to agree that this satisfies the supposed reasons why Iran wants to "peacefully" enrich Uranium in the first place or give up the charade that he has only peaceful uses in mind.

However, even if Bush had the inclination to make such an offer, I doubt his administration's ability to pull it off.  Skillful diplomacy has not been a hallmark of the Bush presidency to date.  Indeed, some would say that there is no need to qualify the previous sentence with the word "skillful".

[opebo]

What have you got against Ahmadinejad particularly?

he's a religious

Yeah that's it. Even if you hate America like you do opebo you should also hate Ahmadinejad because he's an even bigger religious than Bush and the Republicans.

Of course any thinking person hates a religious, fellows, but the obvious problem with your argument is - Ahmadinejad has nothing to do with us, and virtually no power to influence our lives.  Bush and his religious ilk control us almost totally.

Actually, I doubt it.  Even with do-nothing Clinton at the podium, Iran will still play the victim and win world sympathy.  

But MODU, it is clear that they are the victim here (it could hardly be otherwise, given the power differential at play).

[Boris]

Screw Clinton or Bush. Mike Dukakis would clean Ahmadinejad's clock.

But yeah, I would pay to see Dubya and Ahmadinejad debate. I don't think the world would take either seriously.