Dear Mahmoud: How Bush should respond to the Iranian president's letter.

Fred Kaplan's latest at Slate.

President Bush should publicly respond to the letter—at length and in detail. Daffy as the letter is, it does contain one clue that Ahmadinejad might really be seeking a dialogue. More to the point, many people and governments in the world, especially (but by no means exclusively) in the Muslim world, are taking the letter seriously and believe that it deserves a reply.

In short, it provides a perfect opportunity for Bush to do what he should have been doing for the last few years—to lay out what America stands for, what we have in common with Muslim nations, and how our differences can be tolerated or settled without conflict.

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... his letter opens, "Mr. George Bush, President of the United States of America" (as opposed to, say, "Supreme Devil of the Land of Infidels"). Twelve times in the course of the letter, he begins a new thought with a respectful "Mr. President …" Twice he calls Bush "Your Excellency." Never, in the 27 years since Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution, has an Iranian head of state addressed an American president directly—and so cordially, too.

The shift in tone is reminiscent of the time, in July 1988, when President Ronald Reagan sent his vice president—George W. Bush's father—to represent him at a U.N. Security Council session. A motion was on the table to condemn the United States for shooting down an Airbus jetliner filled with Iranian passengers. (The crewmen on the USS Vincennes mistook the Airbus for an incoming F-14 fighter.) Bush successfully argued that the attack was an accident, but the remarkable thing abut the session was that he referred to the "the Islamic Republic of Iran." It was the first time the U.S. government had called Iran by that name, and the Iranian delegates were impressed; they took it as a sign of respect.

It's not inconceivable that Ahmadinejad now intends his honorifics toward Bush to be taken the same way.

Or maybe he means it as a comical ruse, more reminiscent of the time when Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev turned to President Jimmy Carter, at a tense moment in the SALT II arms-control talks, and whispered, "God will never forgive us if we fail." Some Kremlin aide had no doubt advised the atheist Brezhnev to play the God card with the famously devout Carter, and the ploy worked; the dispute was settled, and the treaty was signed. Then again, despite its imperfections, SALT II was a valuable accord. So, ploys aren't always a bad thing.

Regardless of Ahmadinejad's intentions, many regard the letter favorably. The Peninsula, a Qatari news site, sees it as "a taboo-breaking initiative … an opening—even if only slim—for the longtime foes to engage in a dialogue." Arab News of Saudi Arabia hails it as "remarkable and encouraging … an unexpected diplomatic opening." Germany's Der Spiegel calls it "a deft move for Ahmadinejad's image in the Middle East." Many, after all, agree with his characterization of Israel and of the contradiction between Bush's principles and actions.

Regardless, they cannot be allowed to continue developing nuclear weapons.