From Bret Stephens at the WSJ:
but my own impression of Ahmadinejad was that he was easily the smartest guy in the room. He mocked us in a way we scarcely had the wit to recognize. We belittle him at our peril.
Scary Quote of the Night
Sep 22nd, 2010 by wintercow20
Wow.
When I read any comment by Bret Stephens, the heir of George Melloan at the WSJ, I take it seriously.
I have to assume his observation was about the relative cleverness of the people in the room.
I always had an uneasy feeling when the Berlin wall fell. Still do. Grand Ayatollah Khameni got his education in Moscow, and the curriculum did not include Hayek. Nor did the curriculum include much about religion, except for its uses to power.
Ahminejad has concluded he can roll Obama and the rest of the West. I fear for our future.
But Ahminedjad is not smart, he is ignorance personified, a child who wants to get even for centuries of failure. One really sore child.
This is not to disagree with Bret Stephens’ observation about the people in the room.