Iran Tries To Keep Islamic Revolution Fervor Alive In Youth

The leaders of Iran have a dilemma. How do they remind their young people of the Islamic Revolution that happened in 1979 when most of the young people view that as ancient history? My question to the Iranian mullahs would be more like this: How can you expect a country of millions and millions of people to continue to live in the Dark Ages when the world of the new millenium is at your doorstep? Let's face it...the Iranians are dreaming if they think they can keep a handle on their young people - the Chinese tried the same thing and failed miserably. Anyway, the mullahs keep giving it a go...from the article:

They visit the desert scenes where Iranian troops threw themselves in deadly human wave attacks against Iraqi lines in offensives with codenames like "Dawn is Coming" and "Certain Conquest." They hear lectures from military officers, visit the old trenches and bunkers and sleep in military garrisons.
Most importantly, they commemorate martyrs.
"It is like a spiritual tour," said the 21-year-old Saremi, her black, all-encompassing chador flapping in the morning breeze. She has gone once before, two years ago. "I went there to pay tribute to those who fought the enemy and lost their lives to bring peace for us."

The article here from Fox News details quite a bit about how the Basij operates in Iran - the Basij is a volunteer paramilitary wing of the Revolutionary Guards and is more or less responsibile for this propaganda campaign of keeping the young people focused on the old Revolution and instilling the idea of "martyrdom" into the young people.

Either way you look at it, the Iranians are in for a rude awakening if they think they can keep Western influences out of their Land. It ain't gonna happen fellas.

Islamic Revolution Fervor Kept Alive for Iran's Youth

NEW YORK — Zahra Saremi took a different sort of vacation this year to celebrate Iranian New Year—touring the bloody battlefields of Iran's long war with Iraq at a week-long camp dedicated to martyrdom and patriotism.
Such tours are a crucial tool for Iran's clerical leaders as they seek to keep alive fervor for the 1979 Islamic Revolution, especially among young people with little or no memory of it.

Just how far the fervor for the Revolution has ebbed is visible in Tehran's streets, rife with Western influences the revolution once sought to purge. Shops are packed with bootleg DVDs of Western movies and music, and many women now shirk the chadors required in the revolution's early years—instead wearing tight jackets and headscarves that cover only a small part of their hair.
Many among the millions of Iranians born since 1979 just want to put the revolution—and its Islamic clerical rule—behind them.
That has made the Basij even more important for clerical leaders, who want to keep up the drumbeat of slogans re-enforcing the revolution's principles: fierce resistance to the United States and Western culture, adherence to strict Islamic law and reverence for sacrifice.
The Basij is seen by some as the Islamic republic's "hidden army." Their numbers are not known, though the Revolutionary Guards say they are in the millions. Basijis are in nearly every government institution, from post offices to schools—normal employees except for their membership in the force.
Their role has increased under hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is believed to have stepped up state funding for Basij groups. That mirrors the growing prominence of the Basij's patron, the Revolutionary Guards: former and current Guards officers have gained important posts, and Guards-linked companies have received lucrative government contracts for construction and other projects.
The U.S. has branded the Guards' elite Quds Force a terrorist group, accusing it of backing militants in Iraq, and the U.N. has slapped sanctions on Guards-linked firms accused of links to Iran's nuclear program.
At times, the Basij plays its role through force. In 1999, they helped put down student protests that began at Tehran University in rioting that left several people dead. Basijis also are known to stop women in the streets, scolding them to wear Islamic dress.