Ever since the Iran NIE came out, it's been hard to leverage a strong case against the Iranian regime as being remotely dangerous to the security of the United States. But keep in mind that at one point it was conventional wisdom that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not only insane, but diabolical enough to take over the world. Can we all just agree now that the man is a buffoon, and an ineffectual one at that? Get a load of this:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared on Thursday that Iran was the world's "number one" power, as he launched a bitter new assault on domestic critics he accused of siding with the enemy.
"Everybody has understood that Iran is the number one power in the world," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to families who lost loved ones in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
"Today the name of Iran means a firm punch in the teeth of the powerful and it puts them in their place," he added in the address broadcast live on state television.
I realize who his audience is, but get real. This guy is a bargain-basement Kim Jong-il who doesn't have the foggiest idea how to get reelected next year.
Bonus fun facts: Ahmadinejad shares a birthday with yours truly. And Bill Gates!
--Mori Dinauer
