You can laugh or you can cry

No, not about Ireland and that wretched treaty. As I said before, this battle has been lost but Napoleon took Moscow and Hitler nearly did. Then they found themselves in trouble. I shall blog about Ireland later today but now let us have a look at our favourite ranter, President Ahmadinejad.

It would appear that the man has been hiding something. According to the Daily Telegraph and a picture of him holding up his ID card (not a good idea, those ID cards) it would appear that the man's family was Jewish before they converted, the original name being Sabourjian.

The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad's birthplace, and the name derives from "weaver of the Sabour", the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran's Ministry of the Interior.

Experts last night suggested Mr Ahmadinejad's track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past.

Ali Nourizadeh, of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies, said: "This aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's background explains a lot about him.

"Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith.

"By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society."

Mark Steyn, needless to say, finds the story highly amusing. But I think Fausta has it right:

Good; maybe the little rat will wipe himself off the map

One can but hope.