Excerpted from Time magazine: Bombing Iran, it seems, is now off the table.
There's no other reasonable take on the latest National Intelligence Estimate that concludes Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. But there is also no doubt that the Bush White House was behind this NIE. While the 16 intelligence agencies that make up the "intelligence community" contribute to each National Intelligence Estimate, you can bet that an explosive, 180-degree turn on Iran like this one was greenlighted by the President.
And explode is what the hawks in and outside the Administration are about to do. They were counting on Bush being the one President prepared to take on Iran. As recently as last month, Bush warned of World War III if Iran so much as thought about building a bomb. Bush's betrayal is not going to go down well. The neocons, clinging to a sliver of hope, will accuse the intelligence community of incompetence, pointing out that as late as 2005 it estimated "with high confidence" that Iran was building a bomb.
Bush's National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley, put the best face on the new report, claiming that it was our diplomacy and saber rattling that forced the Iranians to back down. As for the intelligence community, it explained its reversal by hinting that new intelligence had surfaced.
And explode is what the hawks in and outside the Administration are about to do. They were counting on Bush being the one President prepared to take on Iran. As recently as last month, Bush warned of World War III if Iran so much as thought about building a bomb. Bush's betrayal is not going to go down well. The neocons, clinging to a sliver of hope, will accuse the intelligence community of incompetence, pointing out that as late as 2005 it estimated "with high confidence" that Iran was building a bomb.
Bush's National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley, put the best face on the new report, claiming that it was our diplomacy and saber rattling that forced the Iranians to back down. As for the intelligence community, it explained its reversal by hinting that new intelligence had surfaced.
Neither explanation is entirely accurate.
The real story behind this NIE is that the Bush Administration has finally concluded Iran is a bridge too far.
With Iranian-backed Shi'a groups behaving themselves, things are looking up in Iraq.
In Lebanon, the anti-Syrian coalition and pro-Syrian coalition, which includes Iran's surrogate Hizballah, reportedly have settled on a compromise candidate, the army commander General Michel Suleiman.
Bombing Iran now would upset the fragile balance in these two countries.
Not to mention that Hizballah has threatened to shell Israel if we as much as touch a hair on Iran's head.
3 comments:
Bush is a clown, today he does not even have alcohol to blame. Pity; The drunk, people could like.
... radar
What the report said is that they were sure the Iranians were seeking nuclear ambitions. They are now somewhat sure that the program has been not stopped, but stalled. In other words, it can be resumed from where they stopped at any time.
I would posit that either pressure from the United States, or the NATO/UN countries, or both caused the nut job in control of Iran to stop. It could have been as well a technological gap in continuing as well and had nothing to do with pressure from outside.
However, the question still remains radar, is Iran a threat? Does one country stating they wish to remove another country entirely off the face of the planet a threat to peace? Should such a country be allowed to "reboot" their goal of nuclear power/weapons? These are questions that go beyond Bush ad homonym attacks.
Iran is a threat, instability in Pakistan is a threat, China is a threat (economically), Chavez is a threat, Il Jong Kim...threat, THE SAUDI'S? Threat.
A President who dares (and needlessly) coins the phrase "World War III" in public is as big a threat as anything. Then he backs down with a watered down (and Bush approved) NIE report, partially in response to the Hezbollah threat of carpet bombing Israel if we harm nary a hair on the head of Iran.......
Let's face it, folks, in any "biggest dick" contest....Hillary wins, and Bush loses. We need him to go back to Crawford and clear some shrubbery.
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