The Skeptical Camp Emerges on Iran's Nuclear Ambitionsimages.huffington...
The Skeptical Camp Emerges on Iran's Nuclear Ambitions
Made popular 2023 days ago in Opinion
thelede.blogs.nytimes.com — The National Intelligence Estimate released on Monday resounded with the authority of 16 American spy agencies in agreement that Iran halted its nuclear arms effort in 2003, a conclusion meant to "ensure that an accurate presentation is available."

But strong contrary opinions on the accuracy of the assessment are emerging from two intertwined camps that have always viewed Iran's nuclear claims with suspicion: American neoconservatives and the Israeli government.

Leading the way is Michael Ledeen, a conservative scholar at the American Enterprise Institute with a long track record in the Iran policy area, from the Iran-contra affair in the Reagan administration to meetings with Iranian dissidents living abroad that surprised George Tenet, who was then the director of central intelligence, in 2002.

Mr. Ledeen's first critique - published on his blog under the title "The Great Intelligence Scam" - dismissed the new intelligence estimate as "policy advocacy masquerading as serious intelligence." The document is riddled with "blatant unprofessionalism," he says, citing the intelligence community's consensus answer to a very good question:

Why would the Iranians abandon a program that had been in the works ever since the late 1980s? The IC replies: Because the Iranians are rational, and they respond to international pressure. They shut down the program because the pressure was too great. They couldn't take the risk of even more pain from the international community.

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Posted by HStern
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Who do you consider more dangerous to world peace, President Bush or President of Iran Ahmadinejad?
President Bush
78%
President of Iran Ahmadinejad
22%
This is not a scientific survey, click here to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding and voting descrepencies.
User Comments
HStern
Posted 2023 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
As time passes it seems that President Bush is dead set with his own beliefs. Regardless of what he is being briefed on, he is unwilling to concede to facts. This kind of analysis makes for a dangerous man.
Jane60
Posted 2023 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
Without a doubt Ahmadinejad, he's part of an extremist regime.
falazmah
Posted 2023 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
Bush is worse than Ahmedinejad, Chavez and Castro combined. He's a bigger threat to world peace than they are, and is responsible for more innocent deaths than virtually any other leader of any nation today. In Iraq alone over the past 4 years, almost a million people have died needlessly. What dictator has THAT record?
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