Outside the Beltway

One Of These Things Is A Lot Like The Other

Kate McMillan · Wednesday, April 26, 2006 · 1 comment

Uh oh.

Matthias Küntzel, in Ahmadinejad’s Demons Friday, April 14th ;

The Basiji’s cult of self-destruction would be chilling in any country. In the context of the Iranian nuclear program, however, its obsession with martyrdom amounts to a lit fuse. Nowadays, Basiji are sent not into the desert, but rather into the laboratory. Basij students are encouraged to enroll in technical and scientific disciplines. According to a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Guard, the aim is to use the “technical factor” in order to augment “national security.”

Paul William Roberts – Iran’s Holy Terror for the Globe & Mail (Can) on April 22.

A past immersed in such a cult of self-destruction would be chillingly ominous in any country. In the context of the Iranian nuclear program, however, this obsession with martyrdom is deeply worrying. Basiji followers are no longer sent into the desert; now, they go into the laboratory. Basij students are encouraged to enroll in technical and scientific disciplines. According to a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard, the aim is to use the “technical factor” in order to augment “national security.”

And there’s lots more where that came from.

April 27 Update: This was published today, both online and in print;

Clarification – A profile of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that appeared in last Saturday’s Focus section referred to a story about the Iranian President in the current issue of The New Republic. After an investigation by The Globe and Mail, it appears that notes by the author were mistakenly inserted into the story without proper attribution. The Globe has apologized to The New Republic and regrets the error.

I’ll bet!