...it's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there...
Wretchard posted a story [from I do not know where], which is simply horrifying.
During the Iran-Iraq War, the Ayatollah Khomeini imported 500,000 small plastic keys from Taiwan. ... After Iraq invaded in September 1980, it had quickly become clear that Iran's forces were no match for Saddam Hussein's professional, well-armed military. To compensate ... Khomeini sent Iranian children ... to the front lines. There, they marched in formation across minefields toward the enemy, clearing a path with their bodies. Before every mission, one of the Taiwanese keys would be hung around each child's neck. It was supposed to open the gates to paradise for them.Is this true?At one point, however, the earthly gore became a matter of concern. ... Such scenes would henceforth be avoided ... Before entering the minefields, the children [now] wrap themselves in blankets and they roll on the ground, so that their body parts stay together after the explosion of the mines and one can carry them to the graves."
These children who rolled to their deaths were part of the Basiji, a mass movement created by Khomeini in 1979 ... And yet, today, it is a source not of national shame, but of growing pride. Since the end of hostilities against Iraq in 1988, the Basiji have grown both in numbers and influence. They have been deployed, above all, as a vice squad to enforce religious law in Iran, and their elite "special units" have been used as shock troops against anti-government forces. In both 1999 and 2003, for instance, the Basiji were used to suppress student unrest. And, last year, they formed the potent core of the political base that propelled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-- a man who reportedly served as a Basij instructor during the Iran-Iraq War--to the presidency. ... He regularly appears in public wearing a black-and-white Basij scarf, and, in his speeches, he routinely praises "Basij culture" and "Basij power" ... A younger generation of Iranians, whose worldviews were forged in the atrocities of the Iran-Iraq War, have come to power, wielding a more fervently ideological approach to politics than their predecessors. The children of the Revolution are now its leaders.
Clash of civilizations my eye. If that actually happened, those are the acts of barbarians -- worse than barbarians -- and not anything near civilized men.
Regardless if this story is true, the Islamic world is barbaric. There are plenty of other well documented events to support this view. Even the comments by Hamas associated to the Passover Tel Aviv bombing are yet another illustration of a truly uncivilized people. Unfortunately, this makes the work in Iraq even more difficult. I must admit that prior to this war I never could have imagined the total depravity of Islam as a religion and as a cultural force. I still believe there are good people in the Islamic world, but they are a distinct minority and will have to do literally heroic work in order to change things internally. And, finally, this is why the current struggle with Iran is so very scary.
Posted by: Blu on Apr. 17, 2006There is no doubt that Iran substituted people for machines in the Iraqi war. That is why over a million Iranian's were killed in that war.
Life is very, very cheap in Iran. That is why Israel will cease to exist once Iran has the bomb.
Posted by: Jake on Apr. 17, 2006He got it from a Matthias Kuntzel article in The New Republic.....
http://tinyurl.com/zb2pa
Posted by: reagan80 on Apr. 17, 2006The stories of the Basiji are true. I don't remember the year, mid-'80s, Time ran several stories about the Iran/Iraq War, in at least one of them was a section about moms knitting socks with Quranic slogans on them for their boy soldiers, many as young as 10. This has been documented by Amnesty International and the INRC. The current outrage over child soldiers in Africa will fade away just as it did over the Basiji, and Pol Pot's child soldiers in the '70s. And Mao's child soldiers in the '30s and '40s. It is a pattern that repeats all thru recorded history, and I am sure before it.
Posted by: 2Hotel9 on Apr. 18, 2006An acquaintance of mine from the Naval Academy is the son of Iranian immigrants. During the Iran-Iraq War his parents returned to Iran to visit family. (Since he's about my age, he must've been between roughly ten and eighteen,. I have the impression that he was closer to ten.) They left him behind. They knew full well what was happening to children his age in Iran, and were afraid that if they took him along he'd be drafted. So yeah, it's true. (See also this, and this.)
Posted by: Matt on Apr. 20, 2006perhaps we could get the liberals on board with us against Iran, if we tell them that Iran violated child labor laws.
Posted by: annika on Apr. 20, 2006Annika,
If you could document that Nike or SeanJohn was going to open a plant in Iran I might buy some surplus desert camos wittle a m-16 from some scrap laying around the shop and enlist!
Boy, what simple shit passes for humor around here! Liberals would like Iran to nuke Israel but would fight for labor laws? You are scary sometimes. Cheap shots are the ammo of those that still think guns win wars.
Posted by: Strawman on Apr. 20, 2006Annika can easily defend herself, so I'll leave that to her.
But two things:
1.Guns do win wars. Always have; always will.
2. Annika's comment illustrates in a comical way misplaced liberal priorities.
But, you're a smart guy, Straw, so I suspect you already figured that.....
Posted by: Blu on Apr. 20, 2006Yup, Blu,
Guns are really winning the "war" in Iraq. But, hey, your a smart guy Blu, you already knew that.
I think what's comical is the disingenuous reading of your "opponents" position and the smug repetition of criticisms that you know are not true. But that is the Rove-Chaney-Bush mantra. Tell the public what their opponents didn’t say, then tell the public why they are wrong. When speaking to a public as dumb and uniformed as ours, its no wonder 75% thought Saddam sponsored the 911 attack in league with OBL
And if you read any Stephen Hayes and have been keeping an eye on the documents coming out of Iraq, you'd know that there is more and more proof that Iraq collaborated with I.Q. You also know that S.H. wanted people to think he WMD.
By the way, how long did it take to win WWII? How long did it take for Washington et al to defeat the British? How long did it take the Union to beat the confederacy? Talk about " disingenuous reading of your 'opponents' position and the smug repetition of criticisms that you know are not true." Guns win wars; they don't always determinie the length of them. They are a necessary though not always sufficient variable in winning.
Straw, I really do think you smart. Your posts prove it. But your side has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy issue of the past century (e.g. communism and the USSR.) And you guys are wrong on Iraq and the middle east generally.
Posted by: Blu on Apr. 20, 2006Really nice interesting site. thank you for it)
Posted by: hair styles on Jun. 11, 2006The story about Iran forcibly sending children over minefields with plastic keys is false.
What is interesting though, is how this story has spread, without anyone apparently questioning it.
-Jahan
Posted by: Jahan on Jun. 12, 2006