An untold story

Recently I have received a forwarded mail which goes like this.....

The Fox News TV (USA) asked the Iranian President Ahmadinejad;
'When you look into the mirror in the morning what do you say to yourself'?
He answered: I see the person in the mirror and tell him 'Remember' you are no more than a small servant, ahead of you today is the heavy responsibility, and that is to serve the Iranian nation'.

Ahmadinejad, astonished many when he reached Presidency by donating all the high valued Iranian carpets to one of the mosques in Tehran and replacing the precious one's with the low cost ordinary carpets. He observed that there was a huge extravagant lounge for receiving, welcoming the VIPs and ordered it to be closed, asked the protocol office to arrange for an ordinary room only with the wooden chairs.

On many instances he joins the cleaning staff of the municipality for cleaning the streets in the area where his home and the Presidency are located. Under his authority whenever he appoints any minister to his post he gets a signed document from him with many points, particularly highlighting that he shall remain poor and that his personal and his relatives accounts will be watched and the day he leaves the ministry shall be with dignity, and therefore it is not lawful for him or his relatives to take any advantage of his office.

First of all he declared himself for all the 'Big' wealth and the property he owned was a Peugeot 504 car, model 1977, an old small house inherited from his father 40-years ago in one of the poorest zones in Tehran . His accounts with a zero balance and the only money comes in to his a/c was from his salary from the university as a lecturer with an amount of US$ 250 only.

For your information the President still lives in that same house. This is all what he owns; the president of one of the world's important countries; strategically, economically, politically and with regard to its oil and defence. He even doesn't take his personal salary with the argument that all the wealth belongs to the nation and he is the safeguard over it.

One of the things that impressed the staff at the presidency is the bag the President brings with him every day, which contains his breakfast; some sandwiches or bread with olive oil and cheese prepared by his wife and eats and enjoys it with all happiness.

One of the other things he changed was his personal carrier 'the President's Aircraft' to a cargo aircraft in order to save the spending from the public treasury and he ordered that he will be flying with the ordinary airline in the economy class. He organizes meetings every now and then with all the ministers to know their activities and efficiency and he closed down the office of the Manager of the president and any minister can enter to his office without any permission. He also stopped the welcome ceremonies like the red carpet, the photo session or any personal advertisement or respect of any kind while visiting any place in the country.

Whenever he has to stay in any of the hotels he asks them to make sure not to give him a room with any big bed because he doesn't like to sleep on beds but rather likes to sleep on the floor on a simple mattress with a blanket.

Try comparing this with the emoluments and privileges our ministers get !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Above all, the waste.

The above content might be aimed at creating a hype in his favour, as he continually opposes the west or it could be plain truth. One cannot be sure without evidence. It made me read more about him and I stumbled on his blog. It made me wonder why the Iranian government has imposed severe blogging restrictions on citizens, but apparently that doesn't seems to apply to the country's president?. Ahmadinejad has joined the blogging bandwagon - by starting his own weblog, back in August 2006.

The blog is a very surprising and unusual move by the conservative president and it comes amid the continuing censorship of Internet sites by Iranian government. Issuing media releases without Web site back-up is like a eunuch advertising his sexual prowess. Iran has one of the most sophisticated censorship system in place to censor and block sites which it deems inappropriate. Iran has even cracked down on blogger's who have posted anti-government messages and it has even blocked the Blogspot blogs in Iran.

Ahmadinejad's first post, titled autobiography, tells very less about his childhood, and talks more about Iran's Islamic revolution, and the country's war with Iraq. He begins by telling his humble origins. He calls himself as son of hard-bitten toiler blacksmith. The blog which is translated into English, French and Arabic also asks readers to participate in an online poll which asks if they think the United States and Israel are "pulling the trigger for another world war".

Iranian leaders say the world financial crisis indicates the end of capitalism, the failure of liberal democracy and divine punishment — marking the superiority of the Islamic republic’s political model. “The school of Marxism has collapsed and the sound of the West’s cracking liberal democracy is now being heard,” supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini says, recalling the fate of the Soviet Union.

Ahmadinejad, who is backed by Khomeini, says “it is the end of capitalism.” Such convictions can be traced back to the ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution, which Ahmadinejad has sought to revive since he rose to power in 2005. He benefits from the luxury that the Tehran stock market has been unaffected by the losses that stock markets in neighbouring Gulf states have suffered. That stability is attributable to the absence of foreign investors and to the government’s firm grip on economic activity.

Several Iranian newspapers, regardless of their reformist or conservative leanings, have also blamed the global economic crisis on excessive liberalism. And some officials, such as the head of Iran’s electoral watchdog body, have come up with less conventional theories and branded the turmoil as “divine punishment.”

“These people see the outcome of their bad deeds. This problem has spread to Europe now which makes us happy. The unhappier they are the happier we become,” Ayatollah Ali Janati, who heads the Guardians Council, said in last Friday’s prayer sermon.

Ahmadinejad has recently echoed that, saying “the reason of their defeat is that they have forgotten God and piety.”