A major U.S. intelligence review has concluded that Iran stopped work on a suspected nuclear weapons program more than four years ago, a stark reversal of previous intelligence assessments that Iran was actively moving toward a bomb.
The above is from a story in Post.
This once again shows that the over heated rhetoric of the administration is just furthering to erode our position in the world. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan there Bush goes again.
The story goes on to say:
Even if Iran were to restart its program now, the country probably could not produce enough highly enriched uranium for a single weapon before the middle of the next decade, the assessment stated. It also expressed doubt about whether Iran "currently intends to develop nuclear weapons."It also seems the administration was well aware of this when Bush gave his speech at the recent Mideast Summit. A large part of that speech focused on the threat that Iran posed to the region.
I do have to say that this doesn't mean that Iran is not a threat to the region. The only country that served as any sort of check on Iran was Iraq. And we all know the mess that Iraq is in. I'm sure other Middle Eastern states are afraid of Iran. But the threat needs to stated in a truthful and forthright manner back up by facts. Not wishful thinking and bombast by the administration.
There is a great column in the Post by Dan Froomkin on Bush's spin on this report. I think this pretty well sums up the gist of President Bush' news conference on the report:
It was neck-snapping spin even by Bush standards. He intentionally misread the report's central point, failed to acknowledge a huge change in his argument for why Iran is dangerous and exhibited pure bullheaded stubbornness.
Isn't it nice to see how some things never change.
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