Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is quickly joining the ranks of leaders like Adolf Hitler, Kim Jong-il and Saddam Hussein — double-speaking politicians whose appetites for power are nearly unstoppable. Unfortunately, the United States is not in a good position to do anything about it.

Ahmadinejad was elected president of Iran in August 2005 and has the eyes of the world on him due to Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

Ahmadinejad is a religious conservative whose speeches seem to rally the Iranian people around raising the political clout and position of Iran in international circles. He has spoken out frankly and harshly against the United States, United Nations and Israel. And now, his nuclear program allows him to back his threats with force.

Uranium enrichment will allow Iran to build a nuclear power plant and is a major step toward making a nuclear bomb. Iran’s president claims there are no plans to turn their nuclear program toward warhead production, but his threats to those who oppose him are causing officials in the United States and United Nations to question Iran’s ambitions.

Ahmadinejad’s claim that there is no desire to build a nuclear bomb sounds reminiscent of Hitler’s claim in 1938 that he had no further territorial ambitions — right before he invaded Poland.

“Our answer to those who are angry about Iran achieving the full nuclear fuel cycle is just one phrase. We say: Be angry at us and die of this anger,” Ahmadinejad said, according to Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency.

While the International Atomic Energy Association oversees the creation of nuclear reactors for the peaceful purpose of producing electricity, the IAEA can’t verify that Iran isn’t trying to make a nuclear weapon.

An Iranian delegate to the IAEA said that if the U.N. Security Council imposes sanctions or invades Iran to monitor the nuclear program, it will be taken as a sign of U.S. aggression.

The United States is “susceptible to harm and pain. So if the United States wants to pursue that path, let the ball roll,” the delegate said in an address to the IAEA.

A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll found only 42 percent of respondents trusted President Bush to make the right decision about going to war with Iran. A majority, 54 percent, said they did not trust Bush to do the right thing.

While less than half support Bush’s ambitions, it’s clear that Ahmadinejad’s ambitions are less than friendly. Ahmadinejad’s power lies in the people who want to see Iran rise in power and technology to become a major player in middle-eastern and world affairs. A nuclear bomb would make Ahmadinejad a national hero and secure his position in Iranian politics, making it unlikely that he would back away from the nuclear program.

And so the United States is in a precarious position.

Addressing the issue through U.N. action would show the world that the United States can work with the international community to resolve issues, gaining back a trust many nations have lost. However, U.N. action might be stopped by Russia and China, who are seeking better relations with Iran, thus forcing the United States to either go into Iran alone or abandon the issue. To those politicians who have advocated peace talks and diplomatic means, Iran has stated that it will not discuss ending the program.

Iran stands tall and firm against a world that does not want it to have nuclear capabilities. The United States stands firm that it will not accept Iran’s nuclear program. The United States is faced with two dangerous options: let Iran continue its nuclear program or use force to stop it.

Ahmadinejad has proven himself as a radical leader with the nerve to take on dozens of nations who will try to stop him, but he’s not the first of his kind. After wars, invasions and millions of lives lost, the world has learned one important lesson from the likes of Ahmadinejad: nobody wins.