To answer the second part, I see it worldwide, absolutely. I think unfortunately anti-Semitism in the form of anti-Israeli sentiment is on the rise. As we head into these perilous economic times that we're in, hatred finds a wonderful forum, unfortunately, for spreading itself. We've seen throughout history that anti-Semitism is such a prominent vehicle for spreading hate. That could be the subject of an entire hearing we could do, separate from this.
While Ahmadinejad and Iran may be the most vocal and may be the most visible, I don't think they're the only ones. I think they're maybe the most dangerous in many respects, but certainly other countries, such as Syria, have played some role. But you don't see Assad getting out there and making these kinds of speeches at the UN and going to different fora and urging the kind of violence and destruction publicly that Ahmadinejad has. It may be done more locally, more privately.
I think there's certainly a lot of that sentiment in the Middle East. As I said, Iran has become a leader in the Middle East. There are certainly a lot of disputes. We just saw on the news that Mu'ammar Qadhafi denounced Saudi Arabia at a recent summit. There are a lot of tensions, I think, within the Muslim world. The one thing they have that they all seem to agree on is a hatred for Israel. That seems to bind them together.
So I think it's out there. It's just that Iran has become a leader in so many ways. They've become a leader in state sponsorship of terrorism and terrorist groups. They've become a leader in incitement to genocide, as we've been talking about. They're such a prominent human rights violator that again, when we talk about deterrents, showing the international community that this will not and should not be allowed to take place, it's good to focus on them.
I'm sorry, but as I was speaking to you about this I was thinking about the 1930s and Germany. Was Germany the only country in the world that espoused an anti-Semitic policy? No. But it was certainly the most prominent, and it ultimately became the most murderous. I don't know whether we can say that Iran of 2009 is the same thing as Germany relative to the 1930s, but with that leadership role it's taking, it's certainly having a terrible impact, so that's why I think it's important that we focus on Iran right now.