PsychoticDan
19-09-2006, 19:30
Seems like our administration and some of it's hawk friends in Congress want to alter what the intelligence agencies are telling them to make Iran seem more scary. Sound familiar? This time, though, the intelligence agencies are pushing back.
Sept. 25, 2006 issue - American intel agencies appear to be pushing back against conservatives who claim that their judgments about Iran's nuclear program are not hair-raising enough. In a development that reminded some experts of the fights over prewar Iraq intel, hard-liners on the House intelligence committee last month produced a report declaring the U.S. intel community "needs to improve its analysis and collection" on Iran's WMD programs. A caption in the report even claimed that "Iran is currently enriching uranium to weapons grade."
Last week, however, the House committee assessment was slammed by U.N. nuclear experts, who pointed out that there's little evidence Iran is anywhere near producing weapons-grade uranium. And three U.S. officials familiar with recent intel reporting on Iran, who asked for anonymity due to the sensitive subject matter, said that U.S. agencies have not altered assessments that Iran is years away from producing a nuclear bomb. As two of the officials acknowledge, recent intel reporting indicates that if anything, technical problems are slowing down Iran's nuclear program. David Albright, a former U.N. WMD inspector and independent expert, told NEWSWEEK: "Iran's gas-centrifuge program is moving unexpectedly slowly. The program was expected to be much further along by this point." Albright says this assessment is supported by data produced by U.N. investigators; one of the government officials says that because U.N. inspectors still have some access to Iranian nuke facilities, their reporting is at least as good as info being produced by clandestine U.S. spies. Another of the U.S. officials said intel reports show Iran was experiencing significant problems with gyroscopes it has been trying to install on missiles that could deliver Iranian bombs to targets in the region and even further.
Officials in National Intelligence Director John Negroponte's office have told journalists that U.S. intel believes Iran will not be able to produce a nuke until about 2010 at the earliest, and perhaps not until 2015. A spokesman for Negroponte's office says intel agencies are now working on a new National Intelligence Estimate—a classified report laying out the consensus view of all agencies—about Iran's nuclear effort; the spokesman said that for the moment, the agencies' Iran nuke timeline was unchanged, "but we're researching it."Think maybe they're saying, "Look what happened last time we let them get away with cherry picking our reports?"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14870327/site/newsweek/
Sept. 25, 2006 issue - American intel agencies appear to be pushing back against conservatives who claim that their judgments about Iran's nuclear program are not hair-raising enough. In a development that reminded some experts of the fights over prewar Iraq intel, hard-liners on the House intelligence committee last month produced a report declaring the U.S. intel community "needs to improve its analysis and collection" on Iran's WMD programs. A caption in the report even claimed that "Iran is currently enriching uranium to weapons grade."
Last week, however, the House committee assessment was slammed by U.N. nuclear experts, who pointed out that there's little evidence Iran is anywhere near producing weapons-grade uranium. And three U.S. officials familiar with recent intel reporting on Iran, who asked for anonymity due to the sensitive subject matter, said that U.S. agencies have not altered assessments that Iran is years away from producing a nuclear bomb. As two of the officials acknowledge, recent intel reporting indicates that if anything, technical problems are slowing down Iran's nuclear program. David Albright, a former U.N. WMD inspector and independent expert, told NEWSWEEK: "Iran's gas-centrifuge program is moving unexpectedly slowly. The program was expected to be much further along by this point." Albright says this assessment is supported by data produced by U.N. investigators; one of the government officials says that because U.N. inspectors still have some access to Iranian nuke facilities, their reporting is at least as good as info being produced by clandestine U.S. spies. Another of the U.S. officials said intel reports show Iran was experiencing significant problems with gyroscopes it has been trying to install on missiles that could deliver Iranian bombs to targets in the region and even further.
Officials in National Intelligence Director John Negroponte's office have told journalists that U.S. intel believes Iran will not be able to produce a nuke until about 2010 at the earliest, and perhaps not until 2015. A spokesman for Negroponte's office says intel agencies are now working on a new National Intelligence Estimate—a classified report laying out the consensus view of all agencies—about Iran's nuclear effort; the spokesman said that for the moment, the agencies' Iran nuke timeline was unchanged, "but we're researching it."Think maybe they're saying, "Look what happened last time we let them get away with cherry picking our reports?"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14870327/site/newsweek/