Dept. of close calls: But what would Gerhard have done?

"BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday forcefully rejected a letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeking cooperation with Germany, saying it did not even deserve an answer.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki delivered the letter to the German embassy in Tehran earlier this week. A German government official who saw the letter told Reuters it criticised Israel and said Germany and Iran should cooperate in dealing with Zionism and solving the Palestinian problem.

“He’s repeating the old thinking, which is totally unacceptable to us,” Merkel told ZDF state television. “Israel’s right to exist is a key part of our state policy and he calls this into question time and again; and at the same time our offer — an offer which really gives the Iranian people hope for the future — is not mentioned once,” she added."