Bush to send chocolates, alcohol to Iran
The White House offers to send chocolate and alcohol to Iran—apparently unaware that wine is forbidden under Islamic law.
Foreign policy experts are criticizing the Bush administration for suggesting that they will send Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad chocolates and wine in order to avert a nuclear Iran. According to Islamic scholars, wine is forbidden to Muslims. A gift of wine would be considered an insult to the Iranian president.
The suggestion came during a question and answer session with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan.
McClellan. Go ahead, Martha.
Q. If standard diplomacy doesn’t work, is the floral option still on the table? Has the administration considered sending President Ahmadinejad flowers?
McClellan. The President has always said we don’t take options off the table. He’s made that very clear.
Q. What about chocolates, or a bottle of nice wine? Have these options been taken off the table?
McClellan. I’d like to send them the bottle you’ve been drinking, Sara. I addressed that question in response to Martha. And I think the President has always made clear what his views are. Today we’re focused on diplomacy. We’re focusing on developing a common strategy to address this common objective. In Iran, the free world shares a common goal: For the sake of peace, the Iranian regime must not develop nuclear weapons. In safeguarding the security of free nations, no option can be taken permanently off the table.
Right-wing bloggers attempted to defend the President’s new chocolates and wine policy by saying that you don’t ever take any option off of the table. However, most commentators criticized the President for his cultural insensitivity. “Clearly,” said one Middle East expert, “chocolates are not an appropriate response when diplomacy remains available. Flowers and wine will only escalate the current crisis.”
- Television Interview with Secretary Rumsfeld and Talal Al-Haj on Al Arabiya
- “But I would ask you. Is there a nuclear option on the table or off the table?” Reporters never ask “will you be sending them flowers, Mr. President?” No, it’s all “military option this” and “nuclear option that”.
- Press Briefing with Scott McClellan January 13, 2006
- “We’re looking at the next step, which is moving it to the Security Council of the United Nations. That is still a diplomatic phase, and there are a number of measures and tools that are available to us and we’ll be talking about those as we move forward, and heading to the board of governors meeting at the International Atomic Energy Agency. The President has also always said we don’t take options off the table, and he’s made that very clear.”
- President Discusses American and European Alliance in Belgium
- “In Iran, the free world shares a common goal: For the sake of peace, the Iranian regime must end its support for terrorism, and must not develop nuclear weapons. In safeguarding the security of free nations, no option can be taken permanently off the table.”
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- “In October 2005 Ahmadinejad gave a speech opposing Zionism that contained antagonistic statements about the State of Israel. He agreed with a statement he attributed to Khomeini that the ‘occupying regime’ must be wiped off the map or eliminated. He also referred to Israel as a ‘disgraceful stain [in] the Islamic world.’ His comments were condemned by major Western governments, the European Union, Russia, the United Nations Security Council and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Egyptian, Turkish and Palestinian leaders also expressed displeasure over Ahmadinejad’s remark.”
- Iran Says No To Chocolates Over Gold
- You just can’t make this stuff up.
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