Intel Report Reveals Bush and Cheney's Iran Warnings as Fraudulent
By Ray McGovern, Consortium News
Posted on December 4, 2007, Printed on December 4, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/69591/

For those who have doubts about miracles, a double one occurred today. An honest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear program has been issued and its Key Judgments were made public.

With redraft after redraft, it was what the Germans call "eine schwere Geburt" -- a difficult birth, ten months in gestation.

I do not know how often Vice President Dick Cheney visited CIA Headquarters during the gestation period, but I am told he voiced his displeasure as soon as he saw the first sonogram/draft very early this year, and is so displeased with what issued that he has refused to be the godfather.

This time Cheney and his neo-con colleagues were unable to abort the process. And after delivery to the press, this child is going to be very hard to explain -- the more so since it is legitimate.

The main points of the NIE:

"We judge that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program,

"We assess with moderate confidence Tehran has not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007.

"We do not have sufficient intelligence to judge confidently whether Tehran is willing to maintain the halt of its nuclear weapons program indefinitely,

"We judge with moderate confidence Iran probably would be technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium sometime during the 2010-2015 time frame.

"We judge with high confidence that Iran will not be technically capable of producing and reprocessing enough plutonium for a weapon before about 2015."

Having reached these conclusions, it is not surprising that the NIE's authors make a point of saying up front (in bold type) "This NIE does not (italics in original) assume that Iran intends to acquire nuclear weapons."

This, of course, pulls out the rug from under Cheney's claim of a "fairly robust new nuclear program" in Iran, and President Bush's inaccurate assertion that Iranian leaders have even admitted they are developing nuclear weapons.

Apparently, intelligence community analysts are no longer required to produce the faith-based intelligence that brought us the Oct. 1, 2002, NIE "Iraq's Continuing Program for Weapons of Mass Destruction" -- the worst in the history of US. intelligence.

Truth be told, one of the Iran NIE's findings was written into its first draft, from which Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell drew in telling the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 27 that Iran could possibly develop a nuclear weapon by early-to-mid-next decade.

McConnell said not a word, though, about Iran's having halted its nuclear weapons program in fall 2003. And in February, he was still adhering to the faith-based approach, saying, "We assess that Iran seeks to develop a nuclear weapon."

At which point, Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-South Carolina, tried to sum up the proceedings with the disingenuous comment, "We all agree, then, that the Iranians are trying to get nuclear weapons."

Curiously, McConnell indicated recently that the key findings of NIEs would no longer be made public.

My guess is that the Pentagon, and especially Adm. William Fallon, commander of our forces in the Middle East, succeeded in persuading McConnell to go public. Several months ago, Fallon was reliably reported to have said, "We are not going to do Iran on my watch."

And it is an open secret that he and other senior military officers, except those of the Air Force, are strongly opposed to getting into a war with Iran for which the US. is so ill prepared.

Will President George W. Bush and our domesticated media succeed in dismissing this latest NIE as "guesswork," as he has in the past? It is going to be highly interesting to see how the White House will try to spin this one.

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour. During his 27-year career as a CIA analyst, he chaired National Intelligence Estimates and produced/briefed the President's Daily Brief. He is now on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

I guess the US just realized the world isn't prepared for another set of lies that will lead to unnecessary bloodshed.

Truth shall always prevail over lies.

This is very good news!

The lies of Bush and Cheney have been exposed by elements inside the US intelligence agencies tired of lies, based on crass ignorance, racism, ethnocentrism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, and religious zealotry.

They lied their way into Baghdad, killing and maiming as they shocked and awed hapless Iraqi citizens.

Now, they're lying again against Iran!

Fortunately, elements deep within the labyrinth of the US intelligence agencies, who have resolved not to keep quiet and allow the lies of misguided souls like Cheney and Bush to drag the United States into a war with Iran, have ensured that the news of Iran's peaceful nuclear program was not redacted from the latest intelligence report.

Shame on Bush, Cheney and their cohorts!
May God punish all those who relish in wars that take the lives of the young and the innocent!

May God bless the United States!
May God bless Iran!
May God bless Nigeria!

Afam:

I guess the US just realized the world isn't prepared for another set of lies that will lead to unnecessary bloodshed.

Truth shall always prevail over lies.

Fortunately, the American citizenry, seeing youthful Americans denied the right to legally drink alcohol in their own country but encouraged to violently kill others and to violently die for their country, is energized to stand up to the lies of the neocons.

May God preserve this earth till January 2009, when this collection of foul elements in the White House will leave!

The US had also realized it can't win the war with Iran. While US are wagging propaganda war, Iran in conjuction with Venezuela, is silently wagging economic War against US.

It is a welcoming development. US should follow it up by refuting many such lies.

some serious power play, Ahmadinejad must be one hell of a man to roll with, seriously fundamentalist outspoken critic of the George W. Bush Administration. he's putting a lot of squeeze on America by strengthening relations between Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, other Gulf states and Russia, . And to top it all he has a fukkin good CV too not just a cleric.

Point is: the world has gotten tired with US-lies.

And with Russia ever increasing 'military' re-emergency and chinese 1billion army; the US beats a re-retreat.

rather, they have re-sorted for proxy to fight for them; army the arabs countries + giving more arms to Isreal.

the region will only blow-up in their face; thats shape of things to come!

I think right now, it is too late for the USA to stop lying. They've lied so much that the truth would just ruin their broth.

There was a time in 2002/2003 when they fingered Nigeria in the Nuclear bruhaha after OBJ refused to support the war on Iraq.

So let the lies roll on. Is Jamaica not producing Biological weapons of mass destruction? Or perhaps there are large bunkers in Dubai housing thousands of nuclear warheads. I think next may just be Swaziland accused of selling Nuclear secrets.

Why is no-one picking up on ONE important fact?

Iran has always stated they have always sought nuclear power for peaceful aims. Yet this report you all eagerly accept says they 'halted' their nuclear weapons program in 2003.
That indicates that as of four years ago they were actively seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Isnt that reason enough why people should be suspicious of their nuclear programme?

Secondly, the nuclear weapons program was halted, not scrapped. It can be restarted at a moment's notice, and the report you guys extol as the 'truth' says these guys could technically create a nuclear weapon in 7 years time. The words 're-start' should give you an idea that this program is very much alive, only frozen in place. The report cannot even state confidently how long iran will maintain this freeze.

So, why will the world not distrust this programme?

Shame on Bush, Cheney and their cohorts!
May God punish all those who relish in wars that take the lives of the young and the innocent!

May God bless the United States!
May God bless Iran!
May God bless Nigeria!

U like free world and like to live in it but ur not ready for those sacrifices that must be made so the free world can exist, Remember some of the actions might not look justifiable but they have to be taken, Its not about sheddin innocent blood but about containing rogue regimes that pose to us that luv the free world, if ahmedinijad had the kind of power America posesses ,u know where u for de.

@texaspete,

I think our concern and focus should be more on the USA and why that have consistently and passionately pursue the manufacture of weapons that can wipe out more than a quarter of the world's population.

idupaul:

You like free world and like to live in it but your not ready for those sacrifices that must be made so the free world can exist, Remember some of the actions might not look justifiable but they have to be taken, Its not about sheddin innocent blood but about containing rogue regimes that pose to us that love the free world, if ahmedinijad had the kind of power America posesses ,u know where u for de.

And the sacrifices will mean the killing of a lot of innocent people abi?

Any action that is not justifiable should not be taken.

Who defines a rogue regime? Democratically elected governments have been declared as rogue regimes by the US, a country that deliberately used atomic bombs on 2 civilian populations in Japan, the only country that has deliberately used atomic bombs knowing fully well their destinations.

@denex,

I wish you luck in responding to texazzpete because he will dance around all the issues without taking a stand.

Where are the paid and unpaid US defenders on this forum, its time to justify your work as your master has decided to turn a new leaf for now.

It is heartening to see US bashers clinging to a US Govt report as the gospel truth. The title of the thread is deliberately misleading-Iran's decades long nuclear program has not been declared peaceful.The report did note that the reason Iran halted the weapon's program,same year as Libya gave up its nuclear program,was because of US belligerence-same US policy attacked by many on this forum.

If the report is right,as many on this forum assert,then Bush's policy in the M.East has worked.He has removed Saddam and intimidated Libya and Iran to halt up their program-add that to N.Korea's recent agreement to dismantle their program in exchange for aid and you have an extremely succesful Bush foreign policy.

You can't have it both ways.If Iran halted its weapons program,which has been running for decades,then Bush should be given much credit.If Iran hasn't halted its program,then what is all the fuss about?

Iran could build atom bomb within one year, says nuclear watchdoghttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2879741.ece

Hmmm, I-man the Great. He twists, he turns, he takes out all the sense in topic and watches it burn.

Who defines a rogue regime? Democratically elected governments have been declared as rogue regimes by the US, a country that deliberately used atomic bombs on 2 civilian populations in Japan, the only country that has deliberately used atomic bombs knowing fully well their destinations.

Afam a rogue regime is any regime that has an unstable character as its head ,whether any way elected, A stable leader like Musharaf despite his miltary stock cant be said to be rogue, A leaders propensity to display signs of instability in his thinking and behaviour is the yard stick used to measure rogue leaders, and no body wants them to possess dangerous weapons, some peeps mite have a handgun and nt use it if provoked while some will use it at the slightest provocation. About the atom bomb, at that tyme there was the need to use to bombs to bring the war to a quick end because the war was already takin too much toll on the worlds resources, besides both the allies and axis were in a race to use the atom bomb 1st,

P.S .
the use of the word rogue on leaders was adapted from its use on unstable elephants termed as rogues.

I-man the I-robot, with higher intelligence, he must be an alien to be this smart,

When the US undertook military action against Iraq,the liberal consensus was that it will have the opposite effect to US goals-increase militarisation by hostile M.East states.Instead,we have seen the US broadly achieve its goals.

Does anyone think its a coincidence that Libya and purportedly,Iran,took a new leaf in the year Saddam was blitzed out of power? Even Syria embryonic nuclear program has been blown out of existence by Israel recently.

10 years ago-during the Clinton era,we had this situation as far M.East nuclear proliferation is concerned

Libya-pursuing nuclear weapons program

Iran-pursuing nuclear weapons program

Iraq-pursuing nuclear weapons program

Today,after years of intimidation,threats,bombings and sanctions-we now purportedly have a situation were only Israel nuclear weapon's program is still standing-which is US goal ab initio. So you think Bush/Cheney won't be happy?

@I-man the greatest twister on planet earth,

Na you biko!!

Keep twisting, keep turning, keep making a fool of yourself.

idupaul:

Afam a rogue regime is any regime that has an unstable character as its head ,whether any way elected, A stable leader like Musharaf despite his miltary stock can't be said to be rogue, A leaders propensity to display signs of instability in his thinking and behaviour is the yard stick used to measure rogue leaders, and no body wants them to possess dangerous weapons, some peeps mite have a handgun and nt use it if provoked while some will use it at the slightest provocation. About the atom bomb, at that tyme there was the need to use to bombs to bring the war to a quick end because the war was already takin too much toll on the worlds resources, besides both the allies and axis were in a race to use the atom bomb 1st,

P.S .
the use of the word rogue on leaders was adapted from its use on unstable elephants termed as rogues.

At a time I thought you were describing George Bush as regards unstable character.

Meanwhile you position on Musharaf just goes to show the level of hypocrisy of the US.

idupaul:

Afam a rogue regime is any regime that has an unstable character as its head ,whether any way elected, A stable leader like Musharaf despite his miltary stock can't be said to be rogue, A leaders propensity to display signs of instability in his thinking and behaviour is the yard stick used to measure rogue leaders, and no body wants them to possess dangerous weapons, some peeps mite have a handgun and nt use it if provoked while some will use it at the slightest provocation. About the atom bomb, at that tyme there was the need to use to bombs to bring the war to a quick end because the war was already takin too much toll on the worlds resources, besides both the allies and axis were in a race to use the atom bomb 1st,

P.S .
the use of the word rogue on leaders was adapted from its use on unstable elephants termed as rogues.

please tell me you're joking about Musharaf

Any person engaging in the sort of spin that even Condo Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney have failed to achieve is simply engaging in an excersize of futility.

In fact the person is at the wrong place, they should kindly go join President Bush's propaganda machine and see where they will get to with that.

True Americans can not wait to see President Bush go, he is a disaster and failure personified.

For those talking about rogue regimes, there is no better example of a rogue regime than President Bush's America. Except of course you are one of those who define rogue regimes as simply "America's rivals".

Just go look up the dictionary definition of the word "rogue" or "rogue regime" and see if you find any definition that is uncharacteristic of President Bush's America and President Bush's personality.

If Bush has any life in him he should appologise to Americans for bringing their country to an all time low, he should also appologise to Iran and the whole world in general.

JustGood:

please tell me you're joking about Musharaf

Well what do you expect, Musharaf is not a rogue leader because he is ally to america.

Tell me what is more Sacrilegous than declaring a state of Emergerncy because the current head of Supreme court will not conform to your wish, replacing the supreme court judges who do not conform to your will, getting the verdict you need as a result of that just to remain in power and only then did he remove his military uniform and converts to democratic President. And goes about flaunting a "New Democracy for Pakistan"

A stable leader like Musharaf despite his miltary stock can't be said to be rogue

what i meant by Musharaf being stable was that his sense of judgement when it comes to issues is really fair, mentally i think he is stable, imagine what will happen to bhutto if Saddam was incharge in pakistan, Even hugo chavez wont allow dat

Need I remind you that there was a hit on Benazar Bhutto's convoy in which more than 100 people died.

There was even a recent House Arrest of Benazar Bhutto because she engaged in political campaign, well if that is fairness I probably need to go and research the meaning of the word because I don't seem to know what it means anymore

need I remind you that there was a hit on Benazar Bhutto's convoy in which more than 100 people died.

There was even a recent House Arrest of Benazar Bhutto because she engaged in political campaign,

The attack on her truck was carried out by fundamentalist islamist who hate bhutto with a passion and had prior to her arrest warned her to steer clear frm pakistan, The house arrest was carried out to protect her from islamist attack cos ifr anything happened to her the country will be thrown into chaos,

idupaul:

The attack on her truck was carried out by fundamentalist islamist who hate bhutto with a passion and had prior to her arrest warned her to steer clear frm pakistan, The house arrest was carried out to protect her from islamist attack because ifr anything happened to her the country will be thrown into chaos,

Now I am going to bed, I can't take this. How on earth can someone be twisting issues like these? Are you related to I-man or davidylan?

idupaul:


what i meant by Musharaf being stable was that his sense of judgement when it comes to issues is really fair, mentally i think he is stable, imagine what will happen to bhutto if Saddam was incharge in pakistan, Even hugo chavez wont allow that

isn't it obvious why Bhutto was allowed back? Did you not realise what was going on in Pakistan at the time?

Allowed back only to be put under house arrest when the events were not going according to plan. I still cant believe you are saying that Musharaf's government is not a rogue government. Is that just because he is Bush's ally?

idupaul, stop taking your news from only one source. compare with other sources and make your mind up

@Afam
Keep your petty insults to yourself. I'm referring to your 'advice' to denex. If you have any problems with my opinions, at least attempt to disprove 'em without resorting to mudslinging. That is the intelligent man's approach, not the feeble jabs you keep throwing my way.

I still can't believe you are saying that Musharaf's government is not a rogue government. Is that just because he is Bush's ally?

yes it aint rogue, because its leadership poses no threat to any other nation, u can can say the govt aint popular at home and we all know the reasons Y , most of the islamic clerics believe that the country should have been let to run wild as training ground 4 terrorist,

compare with other sources and make your mind up

I try to be unbiased in my views.its not about makin up my mind, its about giving every issue a a fair view,

I-man:

10 years ago-during the Clinton era,we had this situation as far M.East nuclear proliferation is concerned

Libya-pursuing nuclear weapons program

Iran-pursuing nuclear weapons program

Iraq-pursuing nuclear weapons program

Today,after years of intimidation,threats,bombings and sanctions-we now purportedly have a situation were only Israel nuclear weapon's program is still standing-which is US goal ab initio. So you think Bush/Cheney won't be happy?

You clearly fail to see beyond your nose. I'm itching to educate this guy. What do y'all think?

How would a benighted cretin like RichyBlack educate anybody?

Your much acclaimed report claims that Iran halted its nuclear programme,just like Libya,after the Iraq invasion.The report says that Iran did this because of its calculation of the adverse consequences ensuing from continuation.That being the case,the Bush administration has broadly achieved what it set out.

The problem is,you are one of those paranoid frenzied Bush haters who believe Bush is the anti-Christ hell bent on war come what may.Faced with an NIE report which doesn't fit the meme of an administration hell bent on war,your recourse is to claim that the NIE report was released against Bush's wishes.This takes political analysis within the realms of sorcery because an NIE report couldn't be compiled without the White House's approval.

We have moved from claiming that Bush is the evil genius doctoring and editing intelligence reports to Bush is a powerless man who has no say over US intelligence reports.This is a desperate attempt to mould the facts to fit a storyline.