Dec 07 2007
Israel Takes On NIE
Oh boy, are the sparks (and the pink slips and possibly the indictments) going to be flying soon in DC! Israel is hosting a meeting to present to the Joint Chiefs of Staff their hard evidence Iran is still working on nuclear weapons:
Disappointed after failing to make their case on Iran and influence the outcome of the United States’s National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) released this week, Military Intelligence will present its hard core evidence on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program on Sunday to the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff during a rare visit he will be making to Israel.
Admiral Michael Mullen will land in Israel Sunday morning for a 24-hour visit that will include a one-on-one meeting with IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
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Mullen’s visit to Israel will be exactly a week after the publication of the NIE report that claimed Iran had frozen its nuclear military program in 2003 and has yet to restart it. During his visit, Military Intelligence plans to present him with Israel’s evidence that Iran is in fact developing nuclear weapons.
“The report clearly shows that we did not succeed in making our case over the past year in the run-up to this report,” a defense official said Thursday. “Mullen’s visit is an opportunity to try and fix that.”
What is also clear is – beyond the fact the NIE was not a consensus that Iran continues to suspend their illegal and unreported nuclear weapons program – that the NIE dismissed views and inputs from non-US intelligence agencies. I would not be surprised if France and the UK intelligence ALSO disagree with the NIE.
You don’t try one of these kinds of meetings with the top brass without having a bullet proof case. The IDF is basically circumventing normal channels through the US Intelligence Community and the State Department diplomats to send a clear message. I don’t think I have ever seen anything like this before! And if the do prove the NIE is all spin then there will be an eruption back here in DC. Count on it. We do live in interesting times.
NIE questions plus the Plame news plus news breaking of CIA interrogations being destroyed all at the same time.
I call BS.
That “NIE” passes the smell test at so many different levels that it isn’t even funny. It is no wonder the Russians won’t even discuss Iran with us, they are probably afraid of everything they say showing up in the NYT.
NYT front page on tapes is a clear diversion disinformation tactic as old as the tradecraft itself. These guys really are amateurs. Plame is a joke, but an excellent microcosm of the apparatus. Let’s face it, in today’s world, you get what you pay for (unless you are running for office in which case you already have a fortune or your incumbency ensures a healthy derivative revenue streams). Furthermore, mediocrity breeds complacency and contempt. Sub prime indeed.
All we need now is for Larry Johnson to walk on set with the black turtleneck.
Aj I think you are going too far with this.
Back in 2003 the United States had invaded Iraq, Gaddafi had given up his program and the A Q Kahn network was compromised. It is quite possible that the Iranians decided to lay low for awhile, especially given the sanctions and the armies on either side of them.
If Bush ignores this NIE, calls our own Intel people liars, goes in there guns ablazing and then can not find an active nuke program I can not even imagine the reaction.
Maybe some people want a war, but I don’t and I think this whole thing is ridiculous.
No one is saying Iran is not dangerous. France and Germany are still going to push for sanctions. Even if they did stop the program, they can start again…but all this Plame stuff just strikes me as paranoid.
I am sorry. I agree with you 99% of the time. But to see conservative bloggers acting positively pissy at what might actually be good news is not a lot different than seeing people on the left refuse to see progress in Iraq.
Does Iran have aspirations for a nuclear program? I would say yes. Have they put their program on hold? I would say maybe. Beyond that the plots and conspiracy theories are just conjecture.
BTW, Cheney says he believes the intel and I can not imagine that Dick Cheney would hesitate to question if he really thought there was good reason to.
This should be seen as a victory for Bush, not just another ridiculous partisan argument.
BTW, the Israelis are meeting with government officials in a few days to give evidence that the Iranians are still working on an active program. Perhaps their evidence will be compelling enough to create yet another NIE to be done.
But then again the Israelis were sure we would find wmd stockpiles in Iraq too. Hopefully their evidence is not the kind that is open to interpretation.
Oops meant FAILS the smell test. YIKES!
Actually I think it does pass the smell test… I can smell it even here sheltered by my computer far from war shington.
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