Anatomy of a Turnabout
Some conservative critics of U.S. intelligence have criticized the new NIE's conclusions, suggesting that U.S. agencies may have fallen victim to an elaborate deception mounted by Iranian intelligence. "The chances that this is Iranian disinformation are real," insisted John Bolton, the former Bush administration hardliner who, before serving as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, headed the State Department bureau that monitored nuclear proliferation activities by Iran and other countries. Bolton told NEWSWEEK that while he was at the State Department he never saw any intelligence reporting indicating that Iran had given up its nuclear weapons program.
However, U.S. intelligence officials said that while an Iranian disinformation effort was possible, they believe that their conclusions were not influenced by Iranian disinformation. Indeed, officials said, the underlying intelligence information that went into the NIE was carefully vetted by "red teams" of analysts and counterintelligence officers for possible Iranian deceptions, but stood up to this intense vetting. "We did turn it over to our CI [counterintelligence] folks and said, 'What do you think? Could this be a strategic deception?'" one senior intelligence official said, adding, "I think the overall judgment is that is plausible but not likely, and the overall assessment of the community is contained in the words you see in the key judgments: high confidence, high confidence, high confidence."
Terror Watch appears weekly on Newsweek.com
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Member Comments
Posted By: bill_s @ 12/08/2007 12:13:17 PM
Comment: I see !!! The u.s. of a. did the right thing (disclosed that iran discontinued its nuke program; for fear that the information would be leaked anyway. Makes me soooo dam proud. Brings a patriotic tear to me eye, I tell ya.
Then, we are told that the embargo of $$$, medical supplies, food and so on (euphemistically called sanctions) was the main reason that iran stopped its program. Excuse me if I am a tad skeptical, but bull butter !!!! When (and if) the true is EVER told, iran stopped its program because it wasn't feasible for THEM, at that time.
And to compound the injustices of that soveriegn nation by the good ole u.s. of a. -- provocative 'demands' about 'full disclosure' and continued inflammatory rhetoric streams from the white house. Nor, does the administration have the 'confidence' needed to begin talks with that nation.
As the man said: decadence is when the masses accept futility and absurdity as the norm. I'd say we've reached that point. Bill S. Missouri
Posted By: peter.hayden @ 12/07/2007 2:51:20 PM
Comment: You know, maybe Iran does not have to make it's own nukes. Seems they are pretty tight with Russia. The sudden end to an aggressive nuclear development program? Hummm. Hypothetically speaking, if the US had knowledge of a nuclear transaction would we publically declare it only to be scoffed at by the those who seek igorance. Maybe Iran knows what its talking about when they say Isreal will be wiped off the face of the map. Don't let the news of "no evidence" vindicate Iran. Judge with your ears and eyes. Why is Syria suddenly going so hush hush. Look at story about MySpace being shut down. Could it be they are worried abourt loose lips?
Posted By: horizon07 @ 12/07/2007 12:51:07 PM
Comment: People need to know that the Jews and the Arabs have the same father, Profit Abraham, peace be upon him. Profit Abaraham is from Ur, Mespotamia (Iraq). Therefore, Arabs and Jews are stepbrothers, both are Semites and Arabs!