The Moose comments on the banality of evil.
No one wants to confront the reality of evil. Even when a monster makes his intentions clear, there is a natural impulse to avert one's eyes from what is clear to see.
Tomorrow is yet another deadline that the world has set for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment. The Iranian leaders have indicated that they have no intention to do any such thing. This week, the Iranians celebrated an advance in their nuclear program by opening a massive heavy water reactor.
Meanwhile, the mullahs are celebrating the Holocaust (that might not have occurred in the view of their leader) with a government approved exhibition of Holocaust cartoons. How quaint. How evil.
But, perhaps Mr. Ahmadinejad is just misunderstood. Maybe, he is just another international power broker just trying to get some respect for his people. Sorta like that fella back in the thirties who was attempting to overcome the humiliation of Versailles. David Ignatius in today's Washington Post,
"Seeing Ahmadinejad up close, you appreciate the fact that he is a formidable politician. He played the roomful of 150 journalists like a master performer. He has the look of a bantamweight fighter -- compact and agile, punching well above his weight. He's quick on his feet, answering a broad range of questions, including some critical ones about the Iranian economy, but he came away unscratched. He speaks more softly than you'd expect, making jokes and, on this occasion, avoiding some of his usual anti-Israel bombast. But the hard edge is never far away. His eyes can twinkle one moment and then suddenly become dark as night. My strongest feeling at the end of his performance was: He may be cocky and eccentric, but don't underestimate him."
No, we shouldn't underestimate him. He might really mean it when he says he wants to see Israel wiped off the map. He might be sincere when he indicates through words and actions that he will press forward to obtain nukes.
But, the world does not have a decent track record in recognizing evil or reality for that matter. For several years now, the world has employed intense diplomacy to discourage the Iranians from obtaining nukes to no avail. But, some act as if diplomacy has not been tried. After all, aren't the Iranians reasonable like us?
Maybe not. -- | 
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