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Iran Laughing at U.S. Lack of Nuclear Intelligence

[Ha'aretz] Amir Oren - A hearty Persian laugh was heard in Tehran after looking at U.S. intelligence's website with the unclassified version of "Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities." The document enables the ayatollahs' nuclear and operations officials and the heads of the Revolutionary Guards to conclude that the Americans have no understanding of what is really happening in Iran's nuclear program. They have no solid information, they have no high-level agents and they have nothing more than a mix of guesswork and chatter. The dissemblance and concealment have succeeded. On one level, this is a philosophical debate: How should the lack of "indicative signs" be interpreted, in the face of a devious enemy, a certified cheat who is determined in his pursuit of the goal (according to the intelligence assessors). The suspicious Bush and Cheney believe the absence of evidence is in fact evidence of the existence of an additional, hidden channel of nuclear development. Their intelligence services say that without proof there is no place for such an evaluation. Behind the heap of words, the differences between the worst-case and the best-case views on when Iran will be capable of producing a nuclear weapon are not that great. These range from somewhere between 2009 and the following five years, starting in 2010. And even U.S. intelligence officers agree that Iran can buy nukes off the shelf - from Syria, North Korea and maybe Pakistan.
2007-12-04 01:00:00
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