Mal, you might be interested in
W. Patrick Lang's take on what Ahmadinajad remarks regarding homosexuality meant:
He made a lame joke out of Iranian capital punishments for homosexual behavior. The esoteric gist was, "we don't care what you think about it."
Ahmadinajad is an ass, but he's not the threat that many often proclaim him to be. He's a mediocricrat from the Iranian revolution, who kept his nose clean, and was able to float to the top of the pond. He's not even well liked in Iran. The more unnecessary pressure that gets applied, the greater the anti-west Iranian posturing will be. It's counter-productive. Ignore the fool. He's really just a puppet getting his strings yanked.
