[Simon]

In the future this country will have to be able to deal with--and that includes talking with--more and more foreign leaders who are able to hold up their end of the dialogue very well. I look forward to that, and to the people of this country one day realizing that how we see things from inside is very different than the views available from a distance.

I think Ahmadinejad knows that if he wants attention and media coverage, then comments like those about Israel and the 55,000 are what it takes to get it. How serious is he, and how correct is he about his numbers, those are questions I'm nowhere near sure enough about.