World's Most Dangerous Leaders (page 5 of 5)

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Illustrated by Roberto Parada

Four figures who threaten America's security. From left, Kim Jong-il, Bashar al-Assad, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chávez.

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They systematically consolidate power.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran

Vitals:

• 50 years old.
  
  
• Holds PhD in engineering and traffic transportation planning.
  
  
• Member of student-run Islamic Students Association, which planned seizure of U.S. embassy in Teheran in 1979.
  
  
• Joined the Revolutionary Guard during Iran-Iraq War in mid-1980s, and later the Guards-spawned Qods Force, formed to spread -- by force, if necessary -- Ayatollah Khomeini's vision of a new Islamic world.
  
  
• Entered politics in the early 1990s, first as a town mayor, then as a provincial governor.
  
  
• Elected mayor of Teheran in 2003, gaining followers as a populist railing against government corruption. Became Iran's president in 2005 with support of conservative clerics.

• Almost certainly took part in planning of U.S. embassy seizure in 1979. Five former American hostages claim he was one of their captors.
  
  
• Suspected by Austrian government of participating in 1989 assassination of a Kurdish dissident in Vienna.
  
  
• Has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and has labeled the Holocaust "a myth."
  
  
• Supports Palestinian and Shi'ite terrorist groups, including Hezbollah.
  
  
• Has infiltrated several thousand Iranian soldiers and political operatives into Iraq, where they reportedly have safe houses and arms caches.
  
  
• Defies United Nations by continuing a program to enrich uranium and, potentially, build nuclear weapons.

• A nuclear Iran could be emboldened to step up terrorism, including turning Hezbollah loose on American targets worldwide.
  
  
• Could threaten to block flow of Persian Gulf oil through the Strait of Hormuz, affecting 20 percent of the world's supply.
  
  
• Could sabotage U.S. efforts in Iraq through influence on Iraq's Shi'ite leaders.
  
  
• Could encourage strikes on American forces by Iraqi Shi'ite groups supplied by Iran.
  
  
• Could welcome conflict as part of belief that apocalyptic war will precede the return of the Shi'ite messiah, known as the Mahdi.

From Reader's Digest - July 2007

• • Politicians
• • Security Threats

• Cuba Without Castro
• What it could mean for America.
• 
• A Hezbollah Terrorist Cell in Charlotte, NC
• At first they seemed little more than small-town smugglers. Then the trail led to the world's most dangerous terrorists.
• 
• The War Within Islam
• America can't save the world from radical jihadists. But brave Muslims can.
• 
• Why the Middle East Hates America
• How America should respond to an angry Muslim world.
• 
• Speaking Out Against Radical Islam
• One woman is risking her life to speak the truth about radical Islam.
• 
• Cybersleuth Mom: Busting Terrorists Online
• From her home computer, Shannen Rossmiller helps take down terrorists.
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