There is, in fact, remarkably little substance to the debates now raging in the United States about Ahmadinejad.

His quirky personality, penchant for outrageous one-liners, and combative populism are hardly serious concerns for foreign policy.

Taking potshots at a bantam cock of a populist like Ahmadinejad is actually a way of expressing another, deeper anxiety: fear of Iran’s rising position as a regional power and its challenge to the American and Israeli status quo.

The real reason his visit is controversial is that the American right has decided the United States needs to go to war against Iran. Ahmadinejad is therefore being configured as an enemy head of state.   more »

Yesterday saw back-to-back shows by the latest crop of new names, most of whom are British. Searingly bright colour and micro-mini dresses reappeared as trends but it was sex, and specifically the figure of the dominatrix, that emerged as the preoccupation for these young creators.

A particularly aggressive brand of sexuality that stalked the catwalk of Danielle Scutt, a 26-year-old designer who was the first of several to present a spring/summer 2008 collection in Bloomsbury.

Scutt, from Kingston, graduated from Central Saint Martins of Art & Design just two years ago, showed stiff, flared miniskirts in shiny patent leather, tiny swimsuits decorated with metal studs and clingy, asymmetric dresses in lilac and black with patent harnesses and lion photoprints. They are intended "to bring out the warrior-woman within", she said backstage.

"The films Spartacus and Gladiator inspired me. I wanted to create an iconic woman who is going to fight to the death," said Scutt, who until recently made all of her clothes in her bedroom in Seven Sisters.   more »

"I like him a lot," said Mahmoud Ali, a medical student in Cairo. "He's trying to protect himself and his nation from the dangers around him. He makes me feel proud. He's a symbol of Islam.

"He seems the only person capable of taking a stand against Israel and the West. Unfortunately, Egypt has gotten too comfortable with Washington."

Ahmadinejad's appeal is especially strong in Egypt, where he is compared to the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, whose bold, yet doomed vision of pan-Arabism in the 1950s was also aimed at stemming Western influence.

In the minds of many Egyptians, Iran's quest to expand its nuclear program despite United Nations sanctions is similar to Nasser's confrontation with the British and French over nationalizing the Suez Canal.   more »

Republicans desperately need new wedge issues to perpetuate their strategy of divide and conquer. Gay bashing is turning off younger voters. They've won as much of the abortion fight as they can afford to. Stem cells and creationism make them look like idiots.

In the nick of time they discover "Islamo-fascism" and just the candidate to sell it.

It's a stark message: our safety lies not in vigilance or reason or rule of law or diplomacy or conservation but rather in an armed struggle so endless as to make the cold war seem like a matinée.

Forget about corruption or lost liberties; they've made us an offer we can't refuse.

Hollow tough talk, ignorant ideologues, incompetence, cronyism, poorly equipped men and women putting their lives on the line-- sound like any president you know?

Here's hoping Rudy falls early. It's too painful to imagine one grand illusion following another.   more »

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at New York’s Columbia University on Monday amidst a massive campaign in the US political and media establishment to demonize the government of Iran—the likely next target for a US military attack.

The media frenzy began last week, when it was revealed that Ahmadinejad was planning to pay his respects to the victims of the September 11 attacks by visiting the former location of the World Trade Center buildings.

The New York police decided to refuse his request after a public campaign from political figures from both the Democratic and Republican parties.

The growing crescendo of denunciations was accompanied by a repetition of the various pretexts being developed by the US government to justify any future military intervention.   more »