Today’s New York Times reports that Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a blogger.

Mr. Ahmadinejad has tried to touch on most issues that concern him. He has written about freedom in Iran, referring to the protest of students against him a year ago at Amir Kabir University in Tehran as an example of its existence in Iran. “It was a joyous feeling to see a small group insult the elected president of people fearlessly amid a majority,” he wrote, without referring to the fate of the students, many of whom are in prison now.

Cherry-picking like that could get Ahmadinejad a regular spot at The Huffington Post. The Iranian president spends fifteen minutes a week updating readers on everything from his views on Washington to the role of Islam in government. These may be the most valuable fifteen minutes of his time. The U.S. hasn’t been on the winning side of a P.R. war since Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty broadcast into the Soviet Bloc. Rulers like Ahmadinejad, with no substantive credibility, are master manipulators of public perceptions.

From The New Times: “He has a very keen understanding of publicity,” said Karim Arghandehpour, a political scientist and journalist in Tehran. “His Web log shows how he believes in modern publicity instruments and wants to use them.”

Only this year, he used one such instrument, Mike Wallace, to extraordinary effect as his media liaison to the West. Former C.I.A. Director James Woolsey said that the State Department should enlist Southpark creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker to create pro-American propaganda. That’s the kind of bold strategizing the U.S. is going to have to employ to catch up to its enemies on the P.R. front.