Posted on 07/03/2008 6:17:41 PM PDT by Coffee200am
Although Iran's leaders are relentlessly dismissing the notion that the West, including Israel, would dare attack its nuclear facilities and/or other targets, they are actually profoundly concerned by the prospect of a strike designed to achieve regime change. Iran's nuclear power plant in...
Iran's nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southwest of Teheran. Photo: AP [File] Slideshow: Pictures of the week
To ensure their continued hold on power in the event of such an attack, therefore, they have been gradually introducing a comprehensive emergency plan, called "Passive Defense," according to a report issued Thursday by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
MEMRI said the "Passive Defense" plan has been drawn up on the orders of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and its provisions indicate "that the regime's main fear is of an attack on Iran's vital infrastructures which would ultimately lead to its downfall."
"Passive Defense" seems to constitute the kind of homeland security program that was notably lacking in Israel during the Second Lebanon War. It places prime responsibility for managing the home front in the event of a war on Iran's Basij militia - which comprises some 12.5 million volunteers, almost half of them women - operating via a "region-based apparatus" that has already been set up in coordination with the country's Interior Ministry.
Is this the entire story?
No, I thought I hit the excerpt button...I’m doing my photos in CS3 and it’s screwing my memory up.
Maybe I’d better not “multitask” while posting...
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