The Shotgun Blog
« Going green by going so-con | Main | 24 Hours star gets 48 days »
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Iran's NIE Report
I have been busy with exams and didn't have time to add much to what other pundits have said about this latest NIE report on Iran's nuclear weapon program but it really doesn't matter much what the entire world, especially anti-Bush/America individuals, say/claim with respect to the new NIE report. What matters to most of us here and inside of Iran is the recent statement by President Bush on Tuesday saying:
"Look, Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous, and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
Israeli and French governments haven't changed their stance on the Iranian issue yet and moreover this report made by the Washington based bureaucrats makes no sense and given the history of what rogue elements within CIA and the US State Dept have been doing in the past few years to undermine President Bush administration, I am not surprised to hear this nonsense at all. This new NIE report was co-sponsored by the Democrats in the US House of Representatives that are so eager to see Bush and America defeated and humiliated on the world stage that they've no shame to go this far to falsify reports or make Bush look bad. Any how, here are great articles on this latest findings which raise many good questions with regards to the credibility of this NIE report: Michael Rubin, Max Boot, and Gabriel Schoenfeld, Norman Podhoretz and Michael Ledeen.
Update: Fmr. Ambassador John Bolton has more
Posted by Winston on December 6, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515b5d69e200e54f980a798833
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Iran's NIE Report:
Comments
One of the best commentaries on the NIE report that I've read.
http://antiwar.com/justin/
Posted by: Buchananite | 2007-12-06 1:44:02 PM
Good reason to pass on it, then - if YOU like it.
Posted by: obc | 2007-12-06 1:53:06 PM
This is my favorite part. As of 2:41 there's to comments on the NIE report, and 18 on "24 Hours star gets 48 days".
Posted by: Pattern Recognition | 2007-12-06 2:44:18 PM
This is my favorite part. As of 2:41 there's two comments on the NIE report, and 18 on "24 Hours star gets 48 days".
Posted by: Pattern Recognition | 2007-12-06 2:44:24 PM
Why are you surprised? The NIE is a 250 page report that no one here will EVER read. 24 is in 5 minute bites with bathroom breaks. Reality and fantasy are so blurred today that it's almost pointless for the average person to try and separate the two.
Posted by: dp | 2007-12-06 2:53:00 PM
Why read when they can Google for sound bites to back up whatever moonbat theories they want to cling to. Look at how fast the denialist pundits jumped on the fake research paper on bacteria being the secret culprit behind global climate change.
Pattern:
10 Pick a lifestyle.
20 Pick a philosophy to back lifestyle.
30 Google philosophy.
40 Bookmark talking points.
50 Scan to sympathetic blogs.
60 Post to comment boards using inflated professorial english draped overtop recycled talking points, fishing for agreement in order to salve any crises of conscience over lifestyle. Bonus points for fire and brimstone indignation and use of the phrase, "men of goodwill".
70 Goto 30.
Run.
Posted by: Pattern Recognition | 2007-12-06 3:31:15 PM
P.R. ~
Do you still wonder why no one here treats you with any respect? You walk into a conservative site with a Holier-Than-Mao attitude, attempting to belittle all those with whom you disagree.
Typical arrogant I-know-better-than-you Leftoid behaviour.
Just go to the Leftist sites where I'm sure they will shower you with hugs & kisses, lauding you with every honour they can think of. Just don't expect any of that here.
Posted by: obc | 2007-12-06 3:38:02 PM
OBC, (see how easy it is to hold down the shift key?) why do you assume I'm a leftist?
Posted by: Pattern Recognition | 2007-12-06 3:54:03 PM
Either you are a Leftist or an idiot -
Take your pick. I was trying to be kind. :)
Posted by: obc | 2007-12-06 3:58:19 PM
OK, I'll bite. Expand on why you thought I might be either a leftist or an idiot.
Posted by: Pattern Recognition | 2007-12-06 4:03:25 PM
obc & PR
Who cares?
Posted by: missing link | 2007-12-06 5:54:39 PM
The irony in all of this is that the NIE was hardly the dovish document everyone thinks it is.
After all, if Iran suspended its nuke weapons plans in 2003, what do you think caused that, hmmm?
Also, the NIE does not make any judgment as to whether the suspension is permanent, and even sticks to its 2005 assertion that Iran could have a nuke by 2010 (which, BTW, is only one month later than the Israelis claim).
So the threat is still real, unless one suffers from serious Bush Derangement Syndrome.
Posted by: D.J. McGuire | 2007-12-06 6:43:06 PM
Yes, Mr. McGuire, I agree the threat is still as real as when Iran kidnapped those 15 British Seamen who were inspecting ships in Iraqi waters in March this year.
Iran has 3000 centrifuges enriching weapons grade uranium, isn't a country known for having a lot of uranium, but IS a country with a lot of oil and natural gas.
Anyone who pretends the uranium enrichment is for Iran's energy needs is smoking their lunch.
Posted by: Speller | 2007-12-07 12:55:38 AM
The NIE demonstrates the Iranians respond to pressure the same as other countries. It is a country led by people who follow their interests as they perceive them.
After the US invaded Iraq, the Iranians apparently made a cost-benefit calculation – besides making a much-documented overture to the US in an attempt to normalize relations, they suspended their nuclear program – for awhile. What they aren’t, and never have been, is a real, existential threat to the United States, Canada, or the broader West.
The only reason Iran is enjoying the influence it has is because the US botched Iraq so badly. Iraq has turned out to have saved the Iranian regime.
Thus, Iran is not looking to start World War Three, or destroy the United States and good bar-b-que, but is simply pursing its interests. Interests which in many ways are compatible with the West’s and in many ways are not. A competent foreign policy would recognize this and act accordingly.
Of course, the know-nothings who inhabit the Conservative movement, John Bolton being a prime example, are too enamoured of ass-backward, tough-guy rhetoric and too busy hyper-ventilating to understand just how much damage they are doing to the United States and that countries, real, objective interests.
Posted by: Feces Eating Buddha | 2007-12-07 2:47:48 PM
obc picks his ass with a fork!
Posted by: Mum | 2007-12-07 2:50:10 PM
Yeah. Using your finger is too unsanitary.
Posted by: Epsilon | 2007-12-07 2:59:01 PM
"John Bolton being a prime example"
AHA! That's all I need to know about you. If you can't recognize the best US diplomat in decades, your judgment is worthless.
Posted by: obc | 2007-12-07 3:02:38 PM
Actually, I thought Pattern's code was cute and witty. I like humour.
I'm more concerned why he's still programming in Basic, when there are perfectly good procedural and object oriented languages out there, like Python, Java, and C.
As for Iran, Iraq, etc., this all would have been so much easier if Bush had given the real reasons right after 9/11.
"Look folks, the Jihadists just Pearl-Harboured our WTC, killing three thousand citizens on US soil. They aren't like regular nations, so if we go to war with them, it won't be against a specific country, but rather against any country that harbours, trains, and supports them. I recommend starting with Afganistan, and moving onwards, as needed, from there.
At least, in the Middle East / South Asian theatre, we'll be taking the fight to them. They'll be focussed on facing our forces in their homelands, hopefully keeping them distracted, and off balance. Or at least, off our lands."
Art of war: If you're going to fight a war, take the fight to them. Fight it on their farmlands and cities, not your own.
Posted by: Harph | 2007-12-07 8:57:18 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.