Are the Iranians neocons?

[Onlooker]

(1) They object to liberal professors at universities
(2) They want to spread their philosophy, through military means if necessary
(3) They favor development of nuclear weapons
(4) They arm insurgent groups (like we did with the Taliban)
(5) They manipulate the media
(6) They don't give a damn about world opinion
(7) They oppose equal rights for gays
(8) They oppose a women's right to choose

Feel free to add to or revise this list.

[samsingh]

1. they are neo-something

[William769]

2. Not to add fuel to the fire but...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/09/05/iran.universities.ap/index.html

[noahmijo]

3. One point of view I have heard is that the Iranian government is but not

the people so much.

The old fart Iranians out there most likely, but the country from what I understand is predominately made up of 25-30 somethings who have discovered Britney Spears, Pepsi, and Playstation and they like it.

Also note the many riots sparked by anti-mullah movements by college students.

One of my best friends is from Iran (I met him in college) and he is a complete example of what repukes wouldn't expect: A practicing muslim who is very intelligent, articulate, funny, and loves America but has the hindsight to talk of how he sees bush moving closer and closer becoming the christian alternative to the ruling Iranian mullahs.

From what I understand that's one huge reason why invading Iran would be a huge mistake-the majority although by slight maybe is still the majority would fight back not because they are Islamic neo-cons but because they have a problem with foreign invaders dropping bombs on their homes and telling them what's going to be what-sort of the same welcome we Americans would give to any invading force.

It wouldn't be because we love our so called leaders it'd be because we're not too keen on being told what to do by anyone much less foreign powers.

[WilliamPitt]

7. Some info on Iran

Nearly three quarters of Iran's population is under the age of 30 and this new generation has a new way of doing things.

They have a different attitude to business and making money.

Many also feel frustrated by Iran's isolation from the international community.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2535127.stm

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The Islamic Republic banned satellite dishes in 1995. The crackdown on satellite dishes was prompted by broadcasts from Iranian opposition groups whose television programs reportedly have a large audience in Iran.

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3400

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And Iran was a fledgling democracy at one time. They wanted to nationalize their oil, so the CIA and British secret service assassinated him.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=2&subID=230

[ButterflyBlood]

4. They are quite similar to the GOP but they aren't neocons

Neocons tend to be rather secular for starters, and most were former socialist/communist activists, this is hardly true with the Iranian government.

Read up on your political terms. Not every right wing asshole is a neocon.

[Onlooker]

6. They are opportunists

Some, certainly not most, were former socialist/communist activists, and now they have built an alliance with the far right that for all intents and purposes gives them the same agenda. Secular or not, they embrace the right wing and religious fundamentalist agenda for reasons of political expediency. But, their reasons don't matter so much as the fact that they embrace those things.

[ButterflyBlood]

8. I think the point, neocon should quit being used as a generic slur

It's kind of like the Freepers calling any leftist they don't like a communist.

Neocons are the religious right. One of the biggest ones I ever met was a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage atheist.

There's an alliance at the moment, but we shouldn't confuse this with actual policies. We should be capable of differentiating between two different piles of crap.

[AntiFascist]

10. Opportunists, traitors, and double-agents?

Consider Chalabi, "with ties to senior Pentagon officials", who was involved in selling the war to the US, a Shiite himself was also suspected of "giving U.S. secrets to Iran."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/21/iraq.chalabi/

Consider Ahmanidejad who is directly threatening Israel, attempting to garner support of various disconnected Islamic groups, and playing Iran right into neoconservative hands!

[PresidentWar]

5. American Muslims and Arabs are notoriously conservative

They both voted for Bush and the GOP by wide majorities in the last two elections. Why, is another matter.

[ButterflyBlood]

9. not quite

Muslim Americans did vote for Bush by a wide margin in 2000 yes. But the numbers were practically reversed in 2004.

Arab Americans probably did vote Republican still in 2004, but only a quarter of Arab Americans are Muslim. It's not really relevant anyway, because Iranians are not Arabs.

[w4rma]

11. Definitely very social conservative.

I haven't done enough research to determine where their new government stands on economic issues, though.

[Posteritatis]

12. There's 68 million of them; I'd imagine they're a lot of things. (n/t)

[rman]

13. Iranian govt, allied with reli fundies,

just about hates liberalism as much as our very own neocons do.

As fucked up as it may seem, these arch-enemies do have a common goal. Both are fighting a war liberalism at least as much as they are fighting each other.

see "The Power of Nightmares" (3 part BBC docu)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/3755686.stm

I'd just like to point out that liberal professors at universities, most students and women struggling for equal rights are obviously not neocons in any way. Those forces are apparently powerful enough that the government feels it should crack down hard on it.