Monday May 16, 2005

Column:

There was another recruitment rally in Iran. The Basij Militia signed up another 200 suicide bombers. Half of them were women.

I am fascinated by the phenomenon. This was the third gathering of its kind since December. Each rally has successfully enlisted about 200 Iranian recruits. Two hundred men and women who volunteer to become human bombers.

This is how it happened. The Basji Militia rally was a rally like any other motivational rally, with one bizarre switch. There was a stage and speakers and slogans and posters and of course, organizers. Only it took place in a cemetery.

The participants met in the Be hesht-e-Zahra cemetery. They listened to inspirational speakers. They were persuaded of the importance of the shahid and of the divine nature of this spectacular task. They were told that they would achieve the ultimate Moslem goal in heaven by dying in the fight against the infidel enemy non-believer. They were persuaded. They believed.

The spokesman, Mouhamad Ali Samadi, explained that the new recruit/bombers had three targets:
"martyrdom attacks against the occupation of Palestine
assassinating the apostate
and attack against occupiers of holy places."

For those who need a translation from the translated English into more clearly understood English the targets are, in order:
The State of Israel
the author Salman Rushdie
and the United States of America.

The crowd responded with "Allah Akbar" and "Death to America."

Why am I fascinated? 200 Iranians volunteering to kill innocent Israelis and Americans is not new and it isn’t headline news. I am fascinated because this recruitment phenomenon gives us a clear glimpse into the mind of the Islamic Iranian. I am fascinated by a culture that can string together, with equal venom, Israel, Salman Rushdie and the United States. I am fascinated because this rally, the Basji Militia rally, symbolizes the Islamist, circa 2005.

The Islamist, circa 2005 always speaks in terms of extremes. Hyperbole. The Iranians, a country replete with extremists, has mastered the art of the extreme. There is never any moderation to be found in their language or in their imagery, especially vis a vis the outside world.

When all language is extreme several things happen.

First, the players themselves lose track of reality and of any realistic understanding of the normal happenings around them. Just look at what was offered to those recruits rallying in the Be hesht-e-Zahra cemetery. Martyrdom, Jihad, Death. That is what they signed onto in Iran, the country that is officially called the Revolutionary Islamic Republic of Iran.

Next, observers have a difficult time differentiating between real threats and those filled with bluster and wind. What is real and what is imagined? Yes, Iran hates the West and Iran hates Israel and Iran hates the United States and Iran hates Salman Rushdie. But there is little real threat and little real risk because there is little Iran can really do to hurt any of them from her own turf other than to hurt US forces in Iraq, which is very close to Iranian home turf.

But what happens if that foaming at the mouth turns into fact. If Iran continues to develop a nuclear program the situation changes. Then threats become real and then Iran can really strike out at the West at the United States and at Israel.

Isolation is what keeps Iran in check. And, for now at least, that's what keeps those 200 people right where they are. In a local cemetery in Iran.