Iran - 10 YEARS away from having THE BOMB
Let's be reasonable here. Take a step back. If you follow the news, you've probably seen a lot of frightening headlines for stories about the administration's statements about Iran, as well as Iran's statements about Israel. But you may have missed this one, very important fact.
Winston Churchill once said, "Jaw, jaw ... Not war, war."
We should not be so quick to rush into a conflict with such wide-reaching reprocussions. Please realize that a war with Iran would be an all-out war that completely envelops the middle-east. Our government would initiate mandatory military conscription. The fighting would last for years and years. Hundreds of thousands would die.
With that in mind, consider this report. Then tell me, if you can, when the last time was that U.S. Intelligence findings contrasted with the Administration's statements.
===============================
Winston Churchill once said, "Jaw, jaw ... Not war, war."
We should not be so quick to rush into a conflict with such wide-reaching reprocussions. Please realize that a war with Iran would be an all-out war that completely envelops the middle-east. Our government would initiate mandatory military conscription. The fighting would last for years and years. Hundreds of thousands would die.
With that in mind, consider this report. Then tell me, if you can, when the last time was that U.S. Intelligence findings contrasted with the Administration's statements.
===============================
Iran Is Judged 10 Years From Nuclear BombRead the rest ...
U.S. Intelligence Review Contrasts With Administration Statements
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 2, 2005; Page A01
A major U.S. intelligence review has projected that Iran is about a decade away from manufacturing the key ingredient for a nuclear weapon, roughly doubling the previous estimate of five years, according to government sources with firsthand knowledge of the new analysis.
The carefully hedged assessments, which represent consensus among U.S. intelligence agencies, contrast with forceful public statements by the White House. Administration officials have asserted, but have not offered proof, that Tehran is moving determinedly toward a nuclear arsenal. The new estimate could provide more time for diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear ambitions. President Bush has said that he wants the crisis resolved diplomatically but that "all options are on the table."
The new National Intelligence Estimate includes what the intelligence community views as credible indicators that Iran's military is conducting clandestine work. But the sources said there is no information linking those projects directly to a nuclear weapons program. What is clear is that Iran, mostly through its energy program, is acquiring and mastering technologies that could be diverted to bombmaking.
The estimate expresses uncertainty about whether Iran's ruling clerics have made a decision to build a nuclear arsenal, three U.S. sources said. Still, a senior intelligence official familiar with the findings said that "it is the judgment of the intelligence community that, left to its own devices, Iran is determined to build nuclear weapons."
At no time in the past three years has the White House attributed its assertions about Iran to U.S. intelligence, as it did about Iraq in the run-up to the March 2003 invasion. Instead, it has pointed to years of Iranian concealment and questioned why a country with as much oil as Iran would require a large-scale nuclear energy program.
