More on President Ahmadinejad...

A nice in-depth piece from the Jerusalem Post.

Speaking to The New York Sun, Iranian dissident Ahmad Batebi said last week that Ahmadinejad founded the Revolutionary Guard's Jerusalem Brigade. The unit is responsible for engineering Iranian support for Palestinian terrorism. Sponsorship of Hizbullah is also the direct responsibility of the Revolutionary Guards. Then, too, the Jerusalem Brigade is responsible for liaison activities with al-Qaida. According to a 2003 Washington Post report, the unit's members have protected senior al-Qaida terrorists such as Saad bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's son, who have been living in Iran since the US invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

The question is, now that he is about to be sworn in as president, will Ahmadinejan abandon terrorism and become a responsible pragmatist who understands that he has to cooperate with the West?

Speaking of the role he envisions Iran playing under his leadership, Ahmadinejad said on Friday, "Thanks to the blood of the martyrs, a new Islamic revolution has arisen and the Islamic revolution... will, if God wills, cut off the roots of injustice in the world. The era of oppression, hegemonic regimes, tyranny and injustice has reached its end. The wave of the Islamic revolution will soon reach the entire world."

In short then, the answer is no. Ahmadinejad sees his role as promoting the same platform of global jihad he has been actively participating in since 1979.