WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence has determined that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 but believes it is continuing to develop technical capabilities that could be used to build a bomb, a government report said on Monday.Well now. That's not the Bush kind of propagandistic babble he claims to be intelligence, as in the Iraqi WND case, but a genuine report on Iran and their activities.
The latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) also said Iran would likely be capable of producing enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon "sometime during the 2010-2015 time-frame.""Capable of producing". That says nothing about being able to actually use the stuff to make a real, workable weapon. It's like having dry powder, but no cartridge to put it in, no projectile or percussion cap, all those things required to make a bullet, and then having no gun to fire it off in.
The Chinese had gunpowder for centuries and never had a clue how to use it for cannon. It took the Europeans to do that. The Iranians may have their "powder" sometime in the next few years, but they're still a long ways away from having anything usable as a weapon. Don't forget that the Korean attempt to pop off their first nuke was a giant failure.
The report contains a number of differences from findings two years ago in which U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Iran was
...determined to develop nuclear weapons despite its international obligations and international pressure.It all depends on who you listen to. If you listen to Bush, Rice and the gaggle of neocons presently leading us down the path it's all war, war, war . But if you actually pay attention to what the intelligence says, it's as different as night and day.
4 comments:
Interesting that you believe the intelligence report when it tells you what you want to believe.
1. Real intelligence reports are not printed on the front page of the NY Times and discussed endlessly on the talk shows.
2. US intelligence agencies have been wrong predicting the nuke capabilities of EVERY country that currently has nukes. They are famous for saying that X country is 2 years away from developing a weapon when country X actually demonstrates that t has one now.
3. Your most reasonable course of action is to be skeptical of every resport of such things, no matter which political party seems to benefit from them.
PS. It goes without saying that ANY country that wants one can get a working nuke weapon in about 2 hours by buying one from a country that has a surplus of them.
They really don't have to invent their own from scratch.
roci:
It is the Bush administration that has released all the intel reports, then and now.
It is also they who stated what the intel was supposed to be saying - then and now - not the NY Times or the talk shows.
Bush - on national TV - acknowledged the accuracy of the latest reports about the 2003 time frame, but went on to say he "still believes" that Iran is up to something.
He "believed" Saddam had WMDs. He was wrong. What is there to assure us that he's not wrong again?
Every nation with the money will eventually be a nuclear power. Our government has to learn that attacking them for going nuclear is not the solution.
Truth is, we won't attack any nation - nuclear or not - that does not have a large oil reserve, Pakistan and North Korea being shining examples of that.
Oh, and one other thing...
I do not believe anything this administration says automatically. They have lied far too often for such silliness.
However, I am more prone to believe statements that show them as liars - not based on my opinions or what I would like to believe - but on their own track record... which is dismal at best.
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