The Republican administration flat out lied to the American people again. Their steady drumbeat of claims that Iran was moving towards nuclear weapons has been proven to be just a bunch of Republican bullshit aimed at strengthening their chances at holding onto the White House.
A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb.The conclusions are likely to be major factor in the tense international negotiations aimed at getting Iran to halt its nuclear energy program, and they come in the middle of a U.S. presidential campaign during which a possible military strike against Iran's nuclear program has been discussed.
The new assessment, a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that represents the consensus of all 16 American spy agencies, states that Tehran's ultimate intentions about gaining a nuclear weapon remain unclear, but that Iran's "decisions are guided by a cost-benefit approach rather than a rush to a weapon irrespective of the political, economic and military costs."
And, as Kevin Drum points out the White House has known these facts for a year.
This NIE was apparently finished a year ago, and its basic parameters were almost certainly common knowledge in the White House well before that. This means that all the leaks, all the World War III stuff, all the blustering about the IAEA -- all of it was approved for public consumption after Cheney/Bush/Rice/etc. knew perfectly well it was mostly baseless.
Baseless bullshit lies to the American public again. Update below.
A week later Bush slapped new sanctions on Iran.
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Comments (3)
How can the right wing extremist sites, your sister site included, not cover this blockbuster?
The neo-cons took an overstretched military and a nation on the edge of recession to the brink of WW3.
1. Posted by National Guard LT | December 4, 2007 1:13 AM
Posted on December 4, 2007 01:13
This is undoubtedly a relief for us as "the Bush administration is less likely to launch a unilateral, pre-emptive military strike against a nuclear program that doesn't exist."
This should help Obama..Hillary had been unusually hawkish on Iran..She has played up the Iranian nuclear bomb threat, perhaps because polls show that Americans feel she is the best candidate of both parties most capable to deal with it. Obama has been more willing to negotiate with the Iranians, which makes more sense to me, since we could have had an IAEA agreement, signed by Iran, with tight controls in 2003, if the Bush/Cheney neocon gang had really wanted one. Iran was willing but "But the thing about pressure is that you've got to be willing to take yes for an answer, instead of just blundering around.", Matt Yglesias.
2. Posted by Steve Crickmore | December 4, 2007 8:21 AM
Posted on December 4, 2007 08:21
LT - I think they knew Bush and Cheney were lying all along. If they didn't 'know it' they knew it was a distinct possibility. Embarrassment and disgust at the depths their party has sunk to would explain the silence.
Steve - Bush and Cheney have had Iran in their target sights all along, and they expected our military to quickly plow through Iraq and once that situation was neat and tidy they were to continue the march to Tehran. Their ineptitude and incompetence got in the way of that plan.
So they weren't looking to solve the nuclear threat in Iran -- they were looking to capitalize on it. Once again their incompetence got in the way - thank goodness.
3. Posted by Lee Ward | December 4, 2007 10:09 AM
Posted on December 4, 2007 10:09