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xerxes · 03-26-2007, 01:08 AM

Exactly, parihaka. I very much agree with your view. The election of A-jad was a political coup d'etat of the Old Guard. I say "Old Guard" refering to the Revolutionary Guards, the Basiji and the Intelligence. They are all veterans of Iran-Iraq War, and that is where they made their bones and wrote their songs. A best example would be the case of Soviet veterans of the Soviet-Afghan War that had their own Band of Brothers.

The Revolutionary Guards like the rest of the regular military is constitionally under the command of the Supreme Leader from the early days of revolution and still is (de jure power). However, just like the Janisseries that were Sultan's slave army (or the Praetorian Guards for that matter) and that later on became a defacto political entity, so did the Revolutionary Guards. Today, nominally they are Supreme Leader but their alliegence is to their cause, which i havent figured out yet. You might say A-jad then is in control of the Revolutionary Guards, but that is not truth either. It might be ironic to say this, but the power of the Office of the Supreme Leader is actually checking that ambitions of the Revolutionary Guards and of the "Old Guards". A-jad is their representative as president and so is most (if not all) of his ministers, all from the same gang. You asked who control the Guards? ... like I said consitutionally the Supreme Leader does and there is also a IRCG commander who is General Safavi. But the important thing is that, they are a state within state. Though there is no singular de facto leadership, rather there is a non-official closely-knit group of individual that I would refer to them as the Old Guards.

As far as the image of A-jad being the puppet of the Mullah groomed by the Mullah from the days of Embassy takeover to lead them into martyrdom. That is totally wrong. You see ... Mullah are negociaters. They always negociate. That is part of their character. That is how they are. The "Old Guards" are fanatics. These are two different things. They best way to describe it to a non-Iranian would be to describes Mullah as those Trade Federation guys from the movie star wars. They are businessmen not fanatics no matter what they say. A fanatic will loose at the end, but businessmen will have more success, because they are hypocrats. Hypocrats always win.

03-26-2007, 01:08 AM	#7 (permalink)
xerxes Padishah Shahanshah *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 01-23-07 Location: Canada Posts: 1,240 Country:	Exactly, parihaka. I very much agree with your view. The election of A-jad was a political coup d'etat of the Old Guard. I say "Old Guard" refering to the Revolutionary Guards, the Basiji and the Intelligence. They are all veterans of Iran-Iraq War, and that is where they made their bones and wrote their songs. A best example would be the case of Soviet veterans of the Soviet-Afghan War that had their own Band of Brothers. The Revolutionary Guards like the rest of the regular military is constitionally under the command of the Supreme Leader from the early days of revolution and still is (de jure power). However, just like the Janisseries that were Sultan's slave army (or the Praetorian Guards for that matter) and that later on became a defacto political entity, so did the Revolutionary Guards. Today, nominally they are Supreme Leader but their alliegence is to their cause, which i havent figured out yet. You might say A-jad then is in control of the Revolutionary Guards, but that is not truth either. It might be ironic to say this, but the power of the Office of the Supreme Leader is actually checking that ambitions of the Revolutionary Guards and of the "Old Guards". A-jad is their representative as president and so is most (if not all) of his ministers, all from the same gang. You asked who control the Guards? ... like I said consitutionally the Supreme Leader does and there is also a IRCG commander who is General Safavi. But the important thing is that, they are a state within state. Though there is no singular de facto leadership, rather there is a non-official closely-knit group of individual that I would refer to them as the Old Guards. As far as the image of A-jad being the puppet of the Mullah groomed by the Mullah from the days of Embassy takeover to lead them into martyrdom. That is totally wrong. You see ... Mullah are negociaters. They always negociate. That is part of their character. That is how they are. The "Old Guards" are fanatics. These are two different things. They best way to describe it to a non-Iranian would be to describes Mullah as those Trade Federation guys from the movie star wars. They are businessmen not fanatics no matter what they say. A fanatic will loose at the end, but businessmen will have more success, because they are hypocrats. Hypocrats always win. __________________ If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery of gunpowder with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind. - Edward Gibbon Last edited by xerxes : 03-26-2007 at 01:24 AM.