Iran Cartoon

I often find that cartoonists have some of the most interesting ways of portraying a topic. In the case of Iran and Mr. Ahmadinejad, i found this picture. As we were talking about some connections between Ahmadinejad in class today, i thought it was particularly relevant. It was noted that when Hitler first took power, nobody really believed that he would do all the things that he had said he would do. Hitler wasn't taken seriously, and we all know the end result. What i find interesting are the parallels between Hitler and Ahmadinejad, obviously pointed out in this cartoon, with the "Hitler Moustache" spelled out as Iran, and the atomic bomb exploding in his eye. Some people are arguing that Ahmadinejad's threats are not to be taken seriously, and while they may be right, the consequences of being wrong are severe. I think that this image effectively captures the fears of many people. It includes a suggestion of nuclear war, as well as another holocaust (with the connection to hitler), and gives an overall sinister image of Iran. As McNamara was saying in "The Fog of War", everybody in positions of power make mistakes, and even if people don't like to admit them, the least they have to do is to learn from them. If Ahmadinejad and his promise towards the eradication of Israel and hostility to the western world are legitimate, then we have a situation not completely dissimilar to that which America had to deal with Hitler. This image seems to suggest that we need to learn from our mistakes in the past, and not allow the Iranian situation to break out into war, for now that atomic weapons have been brought into the mix with arguably equally irrational leadership, the stakes have been raised. Again, as McNamara said, there is no learning period with nuclear weapons, just the destruction of nations.