West must wake up to possibility that Iran’s saber-rattling is real

The global reaction to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent comments about the Holocaust and threats to Israel is settling into a predictable pattern – denounce, rationalize, ignore – that illustrates the challenge of rallying the world to confront evil. Ahmadinejad’s comments, particularly his call that Israel be “wiped off the map,” sparked initial outrage from …