U.S. Says Military Notes Led to Shift on Iran

[Bozita]

Source: NYTimes


December 6, 2007
U.S. Says Military Notes Led to Shift on Iran

By DAVID E. SANGER and STEVEN LEE MYERS
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 — American intelligence agencies reversed their view about the status of Iran’s nuclear weapons program after they obtained notes last summer from the deliberations of Iranian military officials involved in the weapons development program, senior intelligence and government officials said on Wednesday.

The notes included conversations and deliberations in which some of the military officials complained bitterly about what they termed a decision by their superiors in late 2003 to shut down a complex engineering effort to design nuclear weapons, including a warhead that could fit atop Iranian missiles.

The newly obtained notes contradicted public assertions by American intelligence officials that the nuclear weapons design effort was still active. But according to the intelligence and government officials, they give no hint of why Iran’s leadership decided to halt the covert effort.

-snip

“Bush has made a big mistake, and he’s not responding in a way that gives confidence that he’s on top of this,” said David Albright, a former weapons inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency and president of the Institute for Science and International Security. “He isn’t able to respond because he’s not able to say he’s wrong.”

-snip-

more...

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/world/middleeast/06intel.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

[mike_c]

1. "Bush has made a big mistake...."

Axiom number one of life under the current administration. :rofl:

[NanceGreggs]

2. Yuppers ...

“Bush has made a big mistake, and he’s not responding in a way that gives confidence that he’s on top of this.”

That line should go down in history as the understatement of the century.

[DCKit]

5. I'm more concerned about his inablility to admit he is wrong. EVER.

That is not the behavior of a mentally healthy, compassionate human being. The compulsive lying, projection and delusions are kind of bothersome too.

I realize you all know that, but it's worth pointing out at every opportunity.

[progressoid]

6. "his inability to admit he is wrong" Lets not forget the 29% that still support him.

His sycophants are just as delusional.

And in a few years Americans memory will fade and W's popularity will probably rise. Not much, but maybe just enough to pull him out of "the worst president ever" slot.

[pinto]

3. Good backstory. And some interesting comments...

thanks for the post.

[defendandprotect]

4. I don't know . . . cover story? I think the word's going out that Bush is finished ----

The press is less accommodating ---
and moving WITH THE MONEY to the Dems ---


If DEMS are going to happen in '08 . . .
that's where the military is going to have to go for $$$$

[Voltaire99]

7. Heartbreaking news for the neocons, including Hillary.

This won't play well in Israel, either.

What a pity for both the Greatest Nation in the World and the Light of Nations!

[Eagle_Eye]

8. There are several troubling things here

After 9/11, the bush administration claimed to have over hauled the intelligence community so that another act of terror did not occur because of a lack of information. Yet here we have them finding out that Iran is not pursuing atomic weapons FOUR FUCKING YEARS after they stop!

Another thing is the article states:

"The American officials who described the highly classified operation, which led to one of the biggest reversals in the history of American nuclear intelligence, declined to describe how the notes were obtained."

So where did the notes come from? A little bird just dropped them into the hands of the bush administration, four years after the program is terminated, and the newly overhauled intelligence community is turned on its ear. I ask a question not really expecting an answer; Does something sound wrong with this?

I immediately think of the six AGM-129 cruise missiles flown from Minot to Barksdale. The W80 nuclear warheads on these missiles were scheduled for destruction at PANTEX. My tinfoil hat protected mind starts to think in a very small voice: "If a warhead that has been designated destroyed it becomes 'non-existent'. If Iran explodes an this warhead, can it be traced back to the bush administration?"

The New York Times article is probably right: Iran is not building nuclear weapons - they don't need to.

[gorbal]

9. At least in this case his mistakes are in thinking more than action

Sure he has made some political mistakes, but thank god he hasn't attacked Iran yet.