Replies to post #304038 on Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[aim hier]

from the Powerline Blog:

"If Iran actually has abandoned its program to build nuclear weapons, that's great news for the Bush administration and just about everyone else. And rather than a blow to Bush policy, this news (if true) should be viewed in the first instance as vindication of the administration -- both its use of force in 2003 against a neighbor of Iran's that was thought to possess WMD and its insistence that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable. Even former CIA man and Bush administration critic Paul Pillar (my college roommate) told the Post that there's good reason to see matters this way. "

An interesting take. As I asked in a previous post, if this NIE (I'm sceptical since so many haven't been accurate) is correct, isn't this an accomplishment of the Bush Administration? Indeed, as alluded to above, what happened in 2003 that might have inspired Iran to stop it's nuclear weapons program?

[aim hier]

"Tell me with a straight face that what you've heard from Bush & Cheney concerning Iran gave you the impression that Iran could have a nuclear weapon no sooner than the middle of next decade but that the weapons program has been shut down since 2003."

It's the WMD lies deja vu, all over again (apologies to yogi berra).

What was the previous NIE regarding Iran's nuclear weapons development. You seem to be saying that Bush should not use the latest NIE, but should psychically foresee what a future NIE is going to say. And, if previous NIEs were so wrong, what makes this one correct. It's also interesting that the dramatic swing in the NIE was based on new intelligence. The NIE was not released until all of the details could be checked out. I have no idea what the new intelligence could be. I just hope that this time they got it right. What happened in 2003 that might have prompted Iran to stop it's nuclear weapons program?