Posted on 12/05/2007 1:41:55 PM PST by knighthawk
Congressional Democrats have seized upon the latest National Intelligence Estimate - which says Iran stopped pursuing nuclear weapons in 2003 - with great relish. They suggest it proves that not only did the Bush administration exaggerate the threat of a nuclear Iran, but that the White House, in its drive for hard-line sanctions backed by military force, has been far too skeptical of diplomacy.
In a statement yesterday, Sen.Joseph Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chastised President Bush, saying his "actions are doubly dangerous because they undercut the cooperation we need from other countries for dealing with the real problems Iran continues to pose."
But Biden and all those who echo his thinking are wrong. In reality, the NIE shows just how costly diplomacy can be when itisn't reinforced by strong sanctions and the credible threat of military force.
The NIE time line clearly describes the elaborate deception that occurred during the term of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, when Iran tried to build a nuclear bomb. It proves Iran was cheating even as well-meaning American diplomats believed promises that it was cooperating with the international community.
On Aug. 4, 1997, Khatami declared, "We are in favor of a dialogue between civilizations and a detente in our relations with the outside world." European diplomats, American academics and even Secretary of State Madeleine Albright applauded him. European statesmen opened palaces to him, and the Iranian president became the toast of Rome, Paris and London.
In fact, to encourage Khatami's promises of reform, the European Union nearly tripled its trade with Iran - and the Islamic Republic reaped a windfall. But rather than integrate itself into the family of nations, Khatami and the theocratic leadership he served invested the money in a covert quest for the bomb.
The NIE proves once and for all that all of Khatami's talk of dialogue and reform was little more than a smoke screen.
And let's not forget: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Biden were the Iranian president's chief cheerleaders on Capitol Hill. They may have been well intentioned, but, by caring more about what the Iranian leadership said than what it actually did, they became useful idiots for the regime. Like their European counterparts, they trusted too much and verified too little.
International Atomic Energy Agency reports confirm the depth of Iranian subterfuge. While Iranian leaders said their program was for peaceful uses, in 2003 inspectors found traces of uranium metal, an element important in nuclear weapons development but not in a civilian energy program, in their centrifuges. A year later, the IAEA found Iran experimented with polonium-210, an element used to start the chain reaction leading to the detonation of a nuclear bomb.
Just last month, IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei revealed Iran had a blueprint for a nuclear warhead provided by disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan during a visit to Tehran in the 1990s.
It is this episode more than anyother that effectively renders the latest NIE moot. Perhaps 16U.S. intelligence agencies now assert Iran cannot build a bomb until at least 2010. Butthey all assume Tehran's program is indigenous. That's a dangerous assumption, indeed. While Iranian minders usher the IAEA through the regime's declared facilities, the Revolutionary Guard could simply buy nuclear fuel or components from rogue scientists in Russia, Pakistan or Libya. The September 2007 revelation that North Korea likely supplied the Syrian government with a nuclear plant underlines this concern.
Yesterday, Bush declared, "The NIE doesn't do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world - quite the contrary." Other politicians should learn from their mistakes and not, as Biden and his colleagues now counsel, prepare to repeat them.
Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Ping
How about the danger of trusting our security agencies since they readily admit they have a lot of trouble spying on Iran and don't know where all the nuclear facilities are located?
So, when Iran reveals that they, in fact, DO have a nuclear weapon, and will use it on Israel, at their earliest possible convenience, will the lib-dhims blame Bush for NOT finding out?........
Apparently, Mr. Biden lost his picture of Ahmajadeam (sp) during the hostage situation. It took a Reagan to get them released....not a Peanut Farmer.
Funny thing is Bush hass used diplomacy and has always denied or downplayed any report of military action. I sure never heard all this supposed “sabre rattling”.
Of course.
At worst, the nuke bomb propgram has gone further underground. I suspect taht is what happened, it is very hard to believe the Iranians totally abandoned the technology for a bomb. They just realized they need the uranium first in any event.
If the NIE is correct (I doubt it) then it goes to prove that the actions in Iraq and the sanctions/isolation has worked and worked better than anyone on the left dares give it credit. Iran abandoned it’s military nuke program (if report is correct) regardless of when the situation finally came to light. President Bush never said we would go to war with Iran, he said keeping Iran from a nuke weapon is a good way to avoid WW3 and so far that is what the NIE has said has been done.
And when Imanutjob lights off a nuke somewhere, it’ll be “Bush’s fault”.
he shouldn’t have listened to intel, now he should have, what will it be tomorrow
Rush went over the authors of the NIE this AM on his show. It turns out they are 3 liberals and Bush haters.
It’s going to backfire on these libs because if Iran turns out to have nukes it’s on them but if the NIE is correct it means President Bush’s policy of sanctions/isolation is working.
You are right.
This is wishful thinking. When it comes out that Iran has a huge weaponization program, the MSM story line will be "experts shocked at the size of the Iranian program" and "how did the Bush administration miss this" and "why did George Bush give misleading information to Congress and the American People about the Iranian nuclear program." This story line will persist for one evening. Then it will be forgotten.
I have serious doubts about this report, and it’s authors.
However, if it’s true, then Bush has been very effective with the entire Axis of Evil, plus Libya.
Thank you, knighthawk!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.