Iranian hawk swoops on universities to crush dissent

[ECH1969]

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is cracking down on Iran's universities in an effort to crush a student pro-democracy movement and strengthen the hardliners' grip on power.

Leading student activists have been jailed or expelled from their studies, and lecturers have been sacked, while the government has proposed subjecting academics to strict religious testing.

The authorities have also begun a programme of burying the bodies of unknown soldiers on campus grounds in what student leaders say is a thinly disguised attempt to bring religious extremists into the universities on the pretext of holding "martyrs' ceremonies". Students fear that such a presence will be used to violently suppress their activities.

Student leaders say the developments amount to a takeover of the universities by Mr Ahmadinejad's ultra-conservative forces.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1740409,00.html

[DBoon]

1. has he been reading David Horowitz?

nt

[BlueManDude]

3. American conservatism rapidy becoming authoritarianism

not that I ever really believed any different but looking at recent stuff like arresting people for being intoxicated in bars (texas) or the sex toys ban that i heard about, it seems the the rw truly is the american taliban.

it's always funny how libertarians (why do they always seem to vote gop?) get all hopped up about smoking bans and "politically correct" speech - but don't give a shit about the government spying on them.

[pocket]

2. he must pay attention to *

taking a page from his playbook

[LynnTheDem]

4. "bring religious extremists into the universities"... Iran or the USA?

They're talking about Iran, right? Not the bushCabal & rightwingnuttery attempts to bring religious extremists into the universities?

[Roland99]

5. Now this is the first evidence of anything truly bad being done in Iran

since Ahmadinejad took office.