Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust. Let me ask this provocative question: so what?
Of course, I understand that people have a visceral reaction to that claim. It is grossly untrue, offensive and ignorant. But we are also told how dangerous Ahmadinejad is because he doesn't believe in the Holocaust. I fail to see that connection.
There are countless people all across the world that deny many things that are patently true -- and we don't go to war with them over it. Senator Inhofe (R-OK) denies global warming. As far as I know we are not planning on invading Oklahoma over it.
But Ahmadinejad is the leader of an important country in the Middle East. Well, so is Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey. He denies the Armenian Genocide. Should we invade Turkey?
I bet I can find you at least half a dozen world leaders who deny one genocide or another. Should we suit up and restart the draft? We've got a lot of countries to attack.
If Ahmadinejad's views on the Holocaust are not being used as propaganda fodder for an attack against Iran, then I don't care. Condemn him all you want. He's earned it. But if this is being used -- as we all know it is -- to build a new boogeyman in the Middle East, then it is dangerous folly.
Ahmadinejad is being cast as the new Saddam Hussein or the new Adolf Hitler. After all, we need enemies to tear down. That's terrific. How about we focus on the enemies who have already attacked us, like Osama bin Laden?
Gee, I wonder who we should focus on -- the guy who killed nearly 3,000 U.S. citizens on the worst terrorist attack against this country or the guy who hurt our feelings by saying he doesn't believe in the Holocaust? How are intelligent people having this conversation? How easy is it to trick people over and over with this kind of propaganda?
Ignore the real threats, get sidetracked by provocative words. Attack the wrong country, go after the wrong man. Where have I seen this movie before?
By the way, does anyone care what the American people think anymore? A recent poll showed that only 8 percent of Americans think military action against Iran is the right course. So what is the only course of action being debated inside Washington? Military action, of course.
What happened to our democracy? And how long can the people with power in D.C. ignore the will of the people before it catches up with them?