Again. I remember writing about this last year or maybe even the year before. Only this time I noticed something in the way this article was written suggesting that perhaps an increase in the possibility of military conflict with the US, there were crackdowns happening at home.
The campaign in the streets of major cities is the toughest such crackdown in nearly two decades, raising fears that hard-liner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad intends to re-impose the tough Islamic Revolution-era constraints on women's dress that had loosened in recent years.The move highlighted the new boldness among hard-liners in Ahmadinejad's government, which has used mounting Western pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program and Iraq as a pretext to put down internal dissent.
So let me get this straight. Increased pressure of military invasion from the US leads to a crackdown on women's rights? Interesting. Maybe we can remember this when Condaleeza Rice or Laura Bush try and use feminist rhetoric to justify military invasion.
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“Increased pressure of military invasion from the US leads to a crackdown on women's rights?�
Yes, that’s right. Increased pressure from US and allies rallies the masses around the flag and emboldens the hardliners. I will even go as far as saying that Ahmadinejad et al welcome targeted attacks against nuclear facilities for that exact reason, it will be much easier to stifle dissent. And in the meanwhile the Iranian people will continue to get screwed from both ends.
Increased pressure of military invasion from the US leads to a crackdown on women's rights? Interesting. Maybe we can remember this when Condaleeza Rice or Laura Bush try and use feminist rhetoric to justify military invasion.
I'm not buying it. I mean, don't get me wrong--I've been against the Iraq War from the very beginning, and I think that antagonizing and invading Iran could be on the dumbest moves that this administration makes, but let's not make excuses for misogyny. If the Iranian government is using US behavior as an excuse for restricting women's rights, it's because they want to restrict women's rights and are finding any pretext they can.
"If the Iranian government is using US behavior as an excuse for restricting women's rights, it's because they want to restrict women's rights and are finding any pretext they can."
Bingo. I'm sure part of the motive is to "protect" these women in case pressure increases more. right.
Condoleeza
And I agree with EG. Using Ahmadinejad's thinly veiled pretext to crack down on dissent as evidence that we shouldn't invade Iran is weird. We should stay out of Iran because "freedom" can't be imposed by force, and not because religious wackos will use it as an excuse to torment women.
I remember during the run-up to the Iraq invasion how all these Op-Eds started appearing claiming that a U.S. invasion would mean more freedom for Iraqi women. I kid you not.
We all know how that turned out.
"I'm not buying it. I mean, don't get me wrong--I've been against the Iraq War from the very beginning, and I think that antagonizing and invading Iran could be on the dumbest moves that this administration makes, but let's not make excuses for misogyny. If the Iranian government is using US behavior as an excuse for restricting women's rights, it's because they want to restrict women's rights and are finding any pretext they can."
Right on.
What's really interesting is that the hardline Iranian theocratic government has placed their own women as equally threatening to them as the United States is. Apparently to Shia Mullahs, women and the United States constitutes an axis of evil. Would anyone be surprised if radical Islam declared war on women?
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/007411.htm
Here are some good updates about this topic. The video makes me shiver. Also talks about how the UN is sitting on their collective hands about it.
I don't think the Iranian governemt can be negotiated with. I am really hoping that there is a government overthrow from within.