WASHINGTON, D.C– In a move that many believe to be a declaration of war, President Bush deleted Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from his MySpace friends list yesterday, further increasing tensions with the volatile nation.
The president’s move came one month after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards test fired nine missiles, including one that Tehran claimed to have the range to reach Israel. Addressing reporters on the White House lawn, Bush said that his deletion of Ahmadinejad “should send a clear message to the Iranians that their nuclear program must cease.” But many critics of the president, such as Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Ver) find Bush’s actions to be “too extreme.” “Being that we know very little about Iran’s nuclear program, you would think that the president would be a bit more careful,” he said. “He shouldn’t do anything that might anger them.” Rep. Daniel Beiser (D-IL) agrees with Sanders, saying, “I’m all for doling out punishment through the use of social networking sites, but if I were president, I would have continuously poked Ahmadinejad on Facebook. I would keep on poking him and poking him until he says, ‘Alright, I’ll halt my nuclear weapons program! Quit poking me!’ But to just completely delete him as a friend from MySpace? Surely, this must violate the Geneva Convention.”
Ahmadinejad was unavailable for comment.
August 26, 2008