Editor's Note: Click here to read a dissenting opinion. 

On Sept. 24, in anticipation of a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the New York Daily News ran a headline on its front page that said “The evil has landed,” (with “evil” in bold red letters) next to a shot of Ahmadinejad's face. Below that were the lines, “Hate-spewing Iranian prez speaks today at Columbia” and “Outrage grows as school defends 'Hitler' invitation.”

It's time we take a hard look at what we're being led to believe.This wasn’t the first time Ahmadinejad has been compared with Hitler. And it certainly won’t be the last. In fact, those working within the Bush administration know that the comparison is a driving point in many discussions about what to do with this man, who our president believes would bring on World War III were he able to get a nuclear weapon. A former senior intelligence official told the New Yorker of the Hitler comparison, “That’s the name they’re using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another world war?’ ”

But is Ahmadinejad really the next Hitler? When has Ahmadinejad ordered the invasion of a sovereign country? Has he been building up his military in violation of treaties? Has he been exterminating entire minority groups or been involved in ethnic cleansing? The answer to each question is “no.”

So what do we have to fear from this man? According to our administration and others, it would be the danger the world and the Middle East would face were he to acquire a nuclear weapon. But the American people have been led down this road before, because if there's one thing this administration (and others before it) can use to its tactical advantage, it's that for some reason, Americans seem to need something to be threatened by. After we were blatantly lied to about Saddam Hussein's weapons capabilities, focus shifted to Kim Jong Il and North Korea. When that tapered out, we looked to Putin and were met with cries about the possibility of the second Cold War. Most recently, we have been examining Ahmadinejad, and once again, we're being told about the weapons another country might possibly get their hands on at some point in the future – weapons that may or may not ever be used.

Meanwhile, the American public hears the most about what Ahmadinejad has to say about homosexuals. Or about the Holocaust. Or we talk on morning shows about why he never wears a tie. All this distracts us from things the man says that we should really be paying attention to. His criticism of United States policies (such as preemptive strikes to eliminate perceived threats overseas) is not only rational and coherent, but can give us insight into why America is so detested in many regions across the globe, and that kind of insight is priceless if we want to gain a realistic comprehension of America's position on the global front.

President Ahmadinejad and the country of Iran do not pose any clear and present danger to the United States of America. Claims of Ahmadinejad's “Hitleresque,” megalomaniac and authoritarian personality are a non-issue, as he is not even the highest sitting authority in Iran – that distinction belongs to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Why don’t focus on what he is saying? Because our collective psyche craves terrifying news whether or not it is truly important. For some reason, we forget what Roosevelt said all those years ago: the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. We now face an administration that perpetuates fear and uses it to manipulate the minds of our people, and our major media outlets seem all too eager to accommodate. It's time we take a hard look at what we're being led to believe. Even though the terrorists may be at work thousands of miles away from our shore, or even here at home, they can't be completely blamed for the terror that has always plagued the citizens of this nation.
[The New Yorker]

• Executive Editor Justin Hemlepp, CONCURRING in part and DISSENTING in part.

Sure, Ahmadinejad isn’t Hitler … yet. I agree with the Board in general, but I believe its position ignores the unfortunate recent headlines coming from the region indicating that Iran is behind much of the violence in Iraq, is supplying insurgents with weapons and is continuing its so-called moral crackdown on everything un-Islamic. And don’t forget about the Iranian jailing of a US professor and several British sailors earlier this year.