As early as next week, the House may vote on an Iran War resolution, H. CON. RES. 362, titled, “Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to international peace, stability in the Middle East, and the vital national security interests of the United States by Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and regional hegemony, and for other purposes.”
The text includes this disturbing item:
Whereas the November 2007 National Intelligence Estimate reported that Iran was secretly working on the design and manufacture of a nuclear warhead until at least 2003, but that Iran could have enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon as soon as late 2009;
Now, I remembering hearing that the NIE re Iran’s nuclear program pretty much made plain that there was NO threat from Iran on a nuclear level. So what is the truth here?
Compare the statement in the resolution above to the statement in the actual NIE:
We judge with moderate confidence that the earliest possible date Iran would be technically capable of producing enough HEU for a weapon is late 2009, but that this is very unlikely.
The statement in the resolution is not technically a lie, but it completely misrepresents the NIE statement.
Isn’t there one mainstream journalist curious enough to look inside a resolution to find out what it actually says? It’s not even a long one. And the NIE is only 9 pages, five of which are intro re NIEs. Seriously. What has happened to journalism in this country???
lisa, you are such a nitpicker….
Thanks. 😉
Isn’t there one mainstream journalist curious enough to look inside a resolution to find out what it actually says?
Simple answer: No
Israel gives UN watchdog secret briefing on Iran
I guess the politicians are substituting their judgment for the professional judgment of the C.I.A. Guess it’s kind of like the Senate diagnosing Terri Shiavo’s medical condition from the Senate floor.
Why do we even pay for the C.I.A. if all it does is get in the way of Bush’s wars? Might as well replace the C.I.A. with the Isreali spooks. They give us the information that Bush and Cheney want.
Who wants to bet that the majority of Democrats support this? Obama has already been helping the forces of darkness by adopting the incorrect premise that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. It’s his party now and his Democratic party cuts and runs from their duty and gives in to Bush and the warmongers at every turn.
And btw, I was watching George Carlin’s special last night, one he filmed after Gulf War I, and he was making the same complaints about the media as you are making. He also pointed out America’s violent tendencies and warlike nature. He claims it all stems from penis envy. It was amazing how pertinent his observations in 1992 or so are to today.
I’m HOPING, HOPING that the resolution is designed to give Democrats some cover on the Iran issue. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that the resolution does include this very specific phrase:
“…Whereas nothing in this resolution shall be construed as an authorization of the use of force against Iran…”
So that’s a start. But I still think it’s a dumb resolution because it sets its legitimacy on a misreading (deliberately or otherwise) on a misreading (or nonreading) of the NIE on Iran’s nuclear program, and lack thereof.