It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mahmoud

Michael Burleigh examines what drives Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran. It is a disturbing picture at best. Having an Iranian leader who happens to believe it is his duty to promote an apocalypse isn't a real comforting situation for the world at large. Burleigh looks at what helped form this man and his mad ideas.

One person we will be hearing much about in 2007 will be Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He's the hollow-eyed engineer and town planner (and former Revolutionary Guard) who in 2005 went from being Teheran's answer to Ken Livingstone to President of Iran. He's the fellow stringing along the international community while his scientists try to manufacture a nuclear bomb before America or Israel decides to degrade or destroy key experimental sites. He says appalling things with demented glee in his eyes.

According to today's Spectator, Ahmadinejad may actually welcome such an attack, since this will "justify" a retaliatory strike against Israel with nuclear weapons acquired from the former Soviet Union. Certainly, Iran's dark role in arming Hizbollah, and even darker machinations in Iraq, suggest an almost wilful disregard for consequences.

Who is Ahmadinejad? In some respects, he resembles those with whom he consorts to ramble on about American imperialism and the wretched of the earth: Hugo Chávez, Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro. Actually, Ahmadinejad is subtly different: you have to grasp a fusion of apocalyptic piety and politics to get what he is about.

This article is actually pretty important. The West generally has paid little attention to the events in Iran since the 1979 revolution and a lot of people do not understand the fanaticism that drives Ahmadinejad. If you do not know the story of the Basij, you really won't comprehend just what drives this belief structure. (Not that you'll think he's sane afterward, but you really should understand the events that formed this man).

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Crab Boulevard » Nuclear Option — Saturday, 6 January , 2007 @ 7:01 pm

2. Right Truth — Sunday, 7 January , 2007 @ 8:45 am