Podhoretz on the NIE
Issandr El Amrani | Iran US Prepare to have your head explode:
Dark Suspicions about the NIE NORMAN PODHORETZ - 12.03.2007 - 17:50
It is worth remembering that in 2002, one of the conclusions offered by the NIE, also with “high confidence,� was that “Iraq is continuing, and in some areas expanding its chemical, biological, nuclear, and missile programs contrary to UN resolutions.� And another conclusion, offered with high confidence too, was that “Iraq could make a nuclear weapon in months to a year once it acquires sufficient weapons-grade fissile material.�
I must confess to suspecting that the intelligence community, having been excoriated for supporting the then universal belief that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, is now bending over backward to counter what has up to now been a similarly universal view (including as is evident from the 2005 NIE, within the intelligence community itself) that Iran is hell-bent on developing nuclear weapons. I also suspect that, having been excoriated as well for minimizing the time it would take Saddam to add nuclear weapons to his arsenal, the intelligence community is now bending over backward to maximize the time it will take Iran to reach the same goal.[From Commentary » Blog Archive » Dark Suspicions about the NIE]
Norman Podhoretz, of course, is a leading advocate of immediately attacking Iran. He was also in favor of invading Iraq. But since the intelligence on Iraq's WMDs was wrong, then the latest intelligence on Iran's WMDs must also be wrong. Geddit!?!
Reader Comments (4)
may i aske why my comment on the issue has been banned?
There will never be an invasion of Iran! It is well acknowledged, even by Iranians, and well documented that Iranians were the most cruical allies of U.S during the 2003 inavsion. Besides, the Iranian ideologies of "POLITICISED SHIISIM" are the main tool emplyed by neo cons in restructuring the middle east along sectarian and ethnic lines that would eventually lead to marginalsied weak cantonised entities that are quite suspepticle to cultural and political penetration. The American gains are being materialsed at the moment- the Palestinian cause is reaching its doomed end, and the colonial powers are taking control over the region's energy resources. Since the Irani fanatic ideologies are replacing the modernist pan-arab vision[s], Arabs' level of consciousness of their Arabic identity is wearing down. For Iran that would mean the removal of the ultimate barrier against its inclusion into the middle east
The American tesnion is over Iran share, it seems that they want a bigger share, control over Iraq and a nuclear Iran that is childishly, and for no solid reason, is anatagonising Israel, in order to enter into the Arab world.
The last hope for Arabs is that Iranians will turn out to be stupid enough to push forward with the risk game; and thus invoke a devastating American blow that will rid the Arabs of the Iranian evil- while it restores some of the balance and proportion to Arabs, that have lost by the elimination of Iraq from the map which had rendered the arabs quite vlunerable and distorted their self-image and international position on the global scene.
Your comment was put in the spam list, keep alerting me if it happens again. Sometimes it's caused by having too many links in a comment.
Speaking of far right demagogues...Michael Ledeen was quoted yesterday on the Tavis Smiley radio program saying he never favored a "military strike" against Iran, a matter that is easily refuted by quotes from him in his Wikipedia entry. Do these fools think they can get away with such lies? Or they just don't care?
Podhoretz & Ledeen have only the vaguest acquaintance with the truth.