Intelligence Report Bodes Bad For Iran

There are many who have interpreted the latest intelligence estimate as a slow-down for the march to war with Iran and an opportunity for this administration to engage in diplomacy. These voices would be wrong, they obviously have forgotten who they are dealing with. The tough rhetoric and war posturing by this administration towards Iran has nothing to do with nuclear weapon ambitions, WMD’s, or the price of oil in China. This administration has had a strategy from the beginning to alter the appearance of the Middle-East and that plan has not changed. This administration does not rely on reports or estimates, it relies on an ideology. The ideology that you are either with us or with the terrorists and any information that does not support these views is discounted.

The findings, though, remain open for interpretation, as they always do, even in documents meant to reflect the consensus of the intelligence community. When it comes to Iran, at odds with the United States on many fronts beyond the nuclear question, hawks remain.

“Those who are suspicious of diplomacy are well dug in in this administration,” said Kurt M. Campbell, chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security.

John R. Bolton, the former ambassador to the United Nations, who recently left the administration and began to criticize it, sounded very much like Mr. Hadley on Monday, saying the assessment underscored the need for American toughness. He said Iran’s intentions would always remain a concern as long as it continued to enrich uranium.

“The decision to weaponize and at what point is a judgment in the hands of the Iranians,” he said. He added that the finding that Iran halted a weapons program could just mean that it was better hidden now.[1]

The principles of empire and domination are not swayed by insignificant details like the truth. This administration and its Neo-Con cronies create their own truth and will use other people’s truth to justify their own. Remember, these were the people who would leak a story and then use the leaked story as independent corroboration. This report changes nothing in the minds of Bush and his chicken hawks and as the story unfolds they will actually use it to press the case for action against Iran all the more. It will be argued that Iran can restart the program at their leisure or that those portable weather monitoring stations are mobile nuclear facilities. Then there will be the top-secret nuclear program that Iran is harboring undetectable by the untrained eye.

Despite popular belief, this will create more pressure on Iran from the Neo-Con and Israeli hawks. Many of whom have already doubted the conclusions of the reports and are planting the seeds of skepticism. The following is a quote taken from a blog entitled, “The Great Intelligence Scam” from the Neo-Con website of Michael Breeden:

At this point, one really has to wonder why anyone takes these documents seriously. How can anyone in his (there was no female name on the document, nor was any woman from the IC present at the press briefing yesterday) right mind believe that the mullahs are rational? Has no one told the IC about the cult of the 12th Imam, on which this regime bases its domestic and foreign policies? Does not the constant chant of “Death to America” mean anything? I suppose not, at least not to the deep thinkers who wrote this policy document.[2]

Also, the Israeli hawks have chimed in with their own claims of secret Iranian nuclear plans that they have evidence of. This evidence they obviously didn’t feel obliged to share with their staunch ally and defender the US and its intelligence community. What amazes me is these are the same people who trumpeted the estimates and defector stories that stated unequivocally that Iraq had WMD’s and now all of a sudden the information is unreliable, no sh*t. The climate in this country continues to descend into this polarization of ideas and competing philosophies and I fear it will only get worse as the political parties gear up for the election cycle.

We have not heard the end of the Iranian debate nor has George Bush’s plan been sidetracked. The difference is this time there will be no phony excuses to justify the action and there will be no lies for the American politicians and people to hide behind. There will be clear choices ahead of us as a nation. Will we continue the “stay the course” philosophy that has produced two wars and no victories into a third one or will we choose to bring the “war on terror” to its long overdue conclusion? Either way Iran will continue to be the ace in the hole in someone’s sights and isn’t going away anytime soon.

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/washington/04assess.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
[2] http://pajamasmedia.com/xpress/michaelledeen/2007/12/03/the_great_intelligence_scam.php