It seems that the Iranians, having found that the UN has no stomach for any kind of confrontation over their nuke program, has decided to be even more open about what they're really up to. They've handed over control of the 'peaceful' program they've developed for 'civilian energy generation' purposes to a special wing of their military. According to the Washington Times' David R. Sands:
Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has placed the military firmly in control of his nation's nuclear program, undercutting his government's claim that the program is intended for civilian use, according to a leading opposition group.
Leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the force created specifically to defend the 1979 Islamic revolution, now dominate Iran's Supreme National Security Council, the country's top foreign policy-making body under the constitution.
Mr. Ahmadinejad, a little-known former mayor of Tehran before his surprise election in July, is a former IRGC commander, as is new council Secretary-General Ali Larijani, who has taken the lead in negotiations about Iran's nuclear programs.
It appears to me that the IRGC is the equivalent of Saddam's Republican Guards or perhaps Hitler's SS: a special paramilitary force outside the normal army chain of command that serves as the private army of the country's leadership. As Sands notes:
Houchang Hassan-Yari, a political scientist at the Royal Military College of Canada, noted in a recent analysis that current and former members of the IRGC now can be found throughout Iran's political and administrative bureaucracy, from lawmakers in parliament to mayors, university officials and even managers of some of Iran's biggest business concerns.
The corps is "on the verge of being transformed from a junior player in the country's military defense to a key factor in the country's military and security doctrine -- a rise that could come at the [traditional] army's expense," he noted.
Great. Just great. We can't even claim that we never saw this coming. The Iranians have been working on a nuke program for years. They've even been in 'negotiations' (HAH!) with the Euros to 'stop' the program. We've got satellite photos of the facility. The Iranians have bragged about how much progress they've made, and even laughed at the Euros for providing them with cover (negotiations) while they put their program on a crash footing. Now, Tehran is handing over control of its nuke program to revolutionary guard goons.
Either we're going to have to do something about this, or...
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