Ahmadinejad - Village idiot or political genius?

Following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's President, recalling ayatollah Khomeini's call for Israel to be wiped off the face of the Earth, he has followed it up by saying that the holocaust was a myth and that Europe should pay for persecuting the Jews and not the muslims of palestine. He suggested moving Israel to Europe or North America. He kinda has a point in this regard. I personally have several Jewish friends who i hold dearly and they are saddened, like me, that Jews and Muslims now hate each other even though we have suffered more as a result of European policies than anyone else.

Many have criticised the president for a lack of political nouse, saying his inexperience is causing Iran a great deal of trouble on the world stage and is inviting an Israeli attack (apparently scheduled for the end of march). But seeing how the likudniks have been planning this attack for a while now, i dont think his remarks really change things that much. i think instead he is playing up to the muslim audience around the world, showing them that the only nation that cares about the sunni palestinians is shia Iran. what with sunni-shia tensions boiling over in Iraq, he is trying to appeal to the sunni majority to create some unity of the Muslims and is also showing up the cowardice of the sunni Arab regimes which remain silent on the Israel issue, and who are indeed making tentative moves to a 'normalisation' or relations with Israel. when the Israeli attack comes Iran will have the support of the entire muslime world and no one will even say the words 'sunni' or 'shia', it'll simply be Islam against the aggressive zionists.

Ahmadinejad's tactics are reminiscient of Saddam Hussein's in the 1st gulf war when he shelled Israel to gain the support of the muslims. He was successful in creating an image for himself of being a strong, brave leader who was prepared to defy the west.

If Ahmadinejad is successful in winning the support and unity of muslims all over the world, it could even help ease tensions in Iraq, where the sunni arabs are deeply suspicious of Iran.