RE: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Iran *not* working on a nuke

["Hargus, Diana" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Not exactly what you were looking for, but shows knowledge of the item
discussed (and further shows the arrogance of those in power).  As the
original is no longer available, here is a copy:

http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/66/23954

Hersh: CIA Analysis Finds Iran Not Developing Nuclear Weapons 
    Agence France-Presse 

     Sunday 19 November 2006 

    Washington - A classified draft CIA assessment has found no firm
evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as
alleged by the White House, a top US investigative reporter has said. 

    Seymour Hersh, writing in an article for the November 27 issue of
the magazine The New Yorker released in advance, reported on whether the
administration of Republican President George W. Bush was more, or less,
inclined to attack Iran after Democrats won control of Congress last
week. 

    A month before the November 7 legislative elections, Hersh wrote,
Vice President Dick Cheney attended a national-security discussion that
touched on the impact of Democratic victory in both chambers on Iran
policy. 

    "If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said, that
victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a military
option with Iran," Hersh wrote, citing a source familiar with the
discussion. 

    Cheney said the White House would circumvent any legislative
restrictions "and thus stop Congress from getting in its way," he said. 

    The Democratic victory unleashed a surge of calls for the Bush
administration to begin direct talks with Iran. 

    But the administration's planning of a military option was made "far
more complicated" in recent months by a highly classified draft
assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency "challenging the White
House's assumptions about how close Iran might be to building a nuclear
bomb," he wrote. 

    "The CIA found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian
nuclear-weapons program running parallel to the civilian operations that
Iran has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency," Hersh
wrote, adding the CIA had declined to comment on that story. 

    A current senior intelligence official confirmed the existence of
the CIA analysis and said the White House had been hostile to it, he
wrote. 

    Cheney and his aides had discounted the assessment, the official
said. 

    "They're not looking for a smoking gun," the official was quoted as
saying, referring to specific intelligence about Iranian nuclear
planning. 

    "They're looking for the degree of comfort level they think they
need to accomplish the mission." 

    The United States and other major powers believe Iran's uranium
enrichment program is ultimately aimed at producing fissile material for
nuclear weapons. 

    Iran insists it will use the enriched uranium only to fuel nuclear
power stations, something it is permitted to do as a signatory to the
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

    The major powers have been debating a draft United Nations
resolution drawn up by Britain, France and Germany that would impose
limited sanctions on Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile sectors for
Tehran's failure to comply with an earlier UN resolution on halting
enrichment. 

    On Wednesday, Israel's outgoing US ambassador Danny Ayalon said in
an interview that Bush would not hesitate to use force against Iran to
halt its nuclear program if other options failed. 

    "US President George W. Bush will not hesitate to use force against
Iran in order to halt its nuclear program," Ayalon told the Maariv
daily. 

    Israel, widely considered the Middle East's sole if undeclared
nuclear power, views Iran as its arch-foe, pointing to repeated calls by
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe the Jewish state off the map. 




> -----Original Message-----
> From: EMAIL:PROTECTED [mailto:discussion-
> EMAIL:PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Miller
> Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 12:41 AM
> To: MLUG Off-Topic Discussion
> Subject: Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Iran *not* working on a nuke
> 
> On Mon, 3 Dec 2007, Vern Green wrote:
> 
> > No, my point again was glossed over by you. I have not heard anyone
> of
> > recent years saying that Iran had a nuclear weapons program. The
> > liberals in this country have a selective hearing when it comes to
> this.
> > You THINK you are hearing nuclear weapons program when someone
> mentions
> > nuclear program.
> 
> All I can say is that I've heard about a gazillion times that The
> Administration is concerned that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb and
> that Iran denies that and says they are merely developing nuclear
> energy
> technology.
> 
> If you can find me even a single article from 2006 or 2007 (before
> today)
> that quotes Bush/Cheney or any administration official as saying that
> they
> believe that Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon, please show it
to
> me
> and I'll believe that you have possibly a little credibility on this
> point.
> 
> Mike
> 
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