# Why Is Ahmadinajad Given Such Attention? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-ahmadinajad-given-such-attention/550368 "2010-08-16T00:48:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-ahmadinajad-given-such-attention/550368/1 "2010-08-16T00:48:25Z")
So, the Iranian president has a record of shooting off his mouth. At various times, he has accused the “Zionist Entity” and the “Great Satan” of nefarious deeds against Iran. AS a matter of fact, his office is largely ceremonial, so his rantings amount to so much dog squat. Why is he taken so seriously? Doesn’t the world media realize that his rantings are mainly for effect? Would a moratorium on carrying his crap be effective? I get tired of reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-ahmadinajad-given-such-attention/550368/2 "2010-08-16T01:08:47Z")
I kinda like him. He’s the world’s **lurking guest**. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-ahmadinajad-given-such-attention/550368/3 "2010-08-16T05:18:42Z")
Achmadinajad also controls the Revolutionary Guard, which has at its disposal hundreds of thousands of troops, the nation’s most pervasive secret police, and billions of dollars in economic assets. The role of president may be ceremonial, but Achmadinajad’s \*personal \*power is immense, perhaps even greater than that of the clerics. Else why did his people even bother to steal the elections last year? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-ahmadinajad-given-such-attention/550368/4 "2010-08-16T10:23:30Z")
I think the opposite of DNFTT is sometimes better. We report on it, he thinks he’s important, so he doesn’t feel he needs to try something else to get noticed. Something dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-ahmadinajad-given-such-attention/550368/5 "2010-08-16T10:35:09Z")
What attention? Last time I saw news of him it was a single paragraph between s story about an escaped rare bird and an advertisement for a folding bicycle on page 20. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-ahmadinajad-given-such-attention/550368/6 "2010-08-16T23:11:08Z")
Because he’s getting nukes and he’s just crazy enough to use them? I mean, even in the Cold War there was Mutually Assured Distruction. Both sides tried to avoid doing anything that would leave the country a smoking wasteland. With Achmadinutjob, there’s a suspicion that he might care more about nuking the infidels than what the surviving infidels do to Iran.