Good Neighbor Ahmadinejad

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?...

It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
A neighborly day for a beauty.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?...

I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to push the Bush administration's buttons.

Just two days after the U.S. extended an invite to Iran to engage in a neighborly chat about Iraq, Ahmadinejad makes more of his typical inflammatory statements.

Ahmadinejad had this say about the U.S. and Israel:

"The Zionists are the true manifestation of Satan."

"The Zionist regime was created by the British, brought up by the Americans, and commits crimes in the region with their support."

"Many Western governments that claim to be pioneers of democracy and standard bearers of human rights close their eyes over crimes committed by the Zionists and by remaining silent support the Zionists due to their hedonistic and materialistic tendencies."

"There is no place in the world that suffers from divisions and wars unless America or the Zionists' fingerprints are seen there. Our strength and the cornerstone of the victory is in our (Muslims') unity ... we have to pay attention to the devils who want to cause divisions among us."

On the heels of these remarks, we have this:

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will make his first official visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a summit with King Abdullah....

“The two heads of state will discuss issues of the Islamic world, bilateral ties and the situation in the Middle East,” Mohammad Hosseini, Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told the Iranian news agency IRNA. He did not say when the trip would be made, but other news agencies reported that it would take place this weekend.

...The announcement that Mr Ahmadinejad will visit Saudi Arabia comes soon after the United States agreed in principle to hold a high-level meeting with Iraq’s neighbors, including Iran and Syria, to help stabilize Iraq, setting the stage for the highest-level contact between American and Iranian officials in more than two years.

It was not immediately clear, however, whether the decision to hold the summit on Saturday is connected to the Iraq meeting on March. 10.

“They have mutual worries and concerns: the Saudis are worried about Iran’s destabilizing role in the region and Iran about the Saudis’ alliance with the U.S.,” said Talal Atrissi, a researcher and writer on Middle East issues in Beirut. “These concerns can only be eliminated through direct high-level talks. But the question is how much will the U.S. let this rapprochement succeed, because ultimately it will lead to positive results in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon.”

I'm not as critical as some conservatives are over the Bush administration's about-face regarding talks with Iran and Syria.

I just hope when U.S. officials talk with Iranian officials, the U.S. copies President Ronald Reagan's style during his Reykjavik summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986.

Talk doesn't necessarily mean appease.