Opinion: In today’s pages: Does Ahmadinejad matter?
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The editorial board asks if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad really matters:
To what extent are his views shared by the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who really calls the shots in Iran? Ahmadinejad is reported to enjoy the supreme leader’s full support. Certainly Khamenei is as rhetorically anti-American and mistrustful of Western intentions as his protege. Yet some see signs -- in Iran’s dealings with the International Atomic Energy Agency and in the recent release of four Iranian Americans held in Tehran, among other moves -- that the quiet Khamenei may be less eager than the flamboyant Ahmadinejad to provoke a confrontation with the West.
The board praises the governor’s decision to get tough with prison guards, and thinks it’s time nations of the world did something to stop the brutal crackdown in Myanmar.
Columnist Patt Morrison objects to a Republican plan to divvy up California’s electoral votes. Writer Kate Johnson and Assn. of Flight Attendants for Northwest Airlines vice president Albert Garcia tell the story of the man who fought discrimination to be a flight attendant. President of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative Seth Berkley urges scientists not to give up the quest for a vaccine. And the World Bank’s Vinod Thomas discusses how to save the tiger from extinction.
On the letters page, Garden Grove’s Chi Huu Do asks, ‘The symbolic and peaceful form of resistance executed effectively by the Buddhist monks makes one wonder: What if the religious factions in the Middle East conflicts chose to apply it to resolve their perennial differences?’