Headlines for 12-06-07

US reversal on Iran intel reflects breaking of the ranks: analysts "This is ours," a senior intelligence official said this week, telling reporters that policymakers had no input in the conclusions of the National Intelligence Estimate, as the assessment is called. The good guys prevailed. Hat's off to them.


Gates says unclear if Iran has cut support of Iraq insurgents


Iran a threat, say Europe allies German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have said Iran continues to pose a threat.


British GCHQ eavesdropping played role in US intelligence U-turn on Iran


U.S.: Iran Still Poses Missile Threat The United States says it will not alter plans to build a missile defense system in Europe despite findings by U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran does not have an active nuclear weapons program.


Russia could boost forces after CFE freeze: MP Russia's plan to freeze compliance with the CFE treaty, which limits conventional weapons levels on either side of the old Iron Curtain, is seen in western capitals as a worrying sign of Russia's more assertive foreign policy.


Rice Begins Talks With Allies on Iran "I don't see that the NIE changes the course that we're on," Rice told reporters aboard her plane as she flew to Belgium for a conference of NATO foreign ministers and talks between the alliance and Russia, which along with China has been particularly resistant to new sanctions.




Meeting the Iranian Challenge by Joe Biden ** The Founding Fathers were, as in most things, profoundly right. That's why I want to be very clear: if the President takes us to war with Iran without Congressional approval, I will call for his impeachment.


U.S. Joint Chiefs head to visit Israel Mullen will be briefed about Israel's intelligence estimates regarding the Iranian nuclear program, a response to a U.S. report that this week said Iran shelved its quest for an atomic bomb in 2003. The Israelis insist on foisting upon us their faulty intel on Iran in order to get us to attack that nation. They insist on making their problems OUR problems.


Bolton Calls For Congressional Witch-Hunt Into Anti-Bush ?People In The Intelligence Community?


CNN: Seymour Hersh 'vindicated' by new Iran intel estimate** As early as July 2006, Hersh had reported that the US military was resisting administration pressure for a bombing campaign in Iran, because "American and European intelligence agencies have not found specific evidence of clandestine activities or hidden facilities." ... ... As Hersh explained to Wolf Blitzer at the time, the White House was attempting to counter the CIA assessment with an Israeli claim, based on a "reliable agent," that Iran was working on a trigger for a nuclear device.


Realist Revenge** The neo-cons have predictably launched a campaign against the NIE, arguing that the rejection of the 2005 predecessor begs the question why the 2007 conclusions should be taken seriously and (a la Podhoretz and Ledeen) that the the intelligence community is deliberately trying to undermine the president?s policies with which they disagree (Podhoretz? ?darker suspicion? ? a phrase that should elicit some kind of comment by Guiliani, hopefully)......the fact that the main conclusions of the report were known in top policy circles since at least last summer, if not well before then, helps explain why the administration?s hawks (and their neo-con allies) ? culminating in Cheney?s late October speech to the Washington Institute on Near East Policy (WINEP) ? started hyping Iran?s alleged direction of attacks on U.S. soldiers and marines in Iraq in August


It Turns Out Ahmadinejad Was the Truthful One The whole episode shows that our democratic system retains at least some essential checks and balances, but it also is depressing to see that, in this instance at least, the fanatical leader of a theocracy seems to have a higher regard for truth than does the president of the world?s greatest experiment in representative democracy.


US Says Military Notes Led to Shift on Iran The American officials who described the highly classified operation, which led to one of the biggest reversals in the history of American nuclear intelligence, declined to describe how the notes were obtained.


Former CIA Officials: Bush Iran Claims "Preposterous"


Iran Assessment Creates an Israeli Headache That's because not only do some of the key conclusions of the latest National Intelligence Estimate undercut some of Israel's own assessments, they also seem to dim the likelihood that the U.S. will take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities ? a step the Israelis had been quietly urging the White House to take should sanctions fail to stop Iran's uranium enrichment program. .....Israeli intelligence officials plan to ask Washington for clarifications about the NIE report.


Israel warns Iran to co-operate or pay price ISRAEL has warned Iran to either co-operate with the West over its uranium enrichment program or face military action.


The CIA ?War? on Bush: The New Neocon Ploy the neocon pushback on the NIE Iran report continues to be relentless. Now it has gelled into a visible, pointed strategy. It?s all about the ?CIA?s war on Bush? as the geniuses over at Powerlines have put it.


Pro-Israel groups: NIE rattles our anti-Iran efforts Many pro-Israel groups are acknowledging privately, and in some cases publicly, that the new US intelligence assessment on Iran is a significant blow to their efforts to isolate Iran and ease its threat to Israel.


Syrian MP: If we're attacked ? we'll hit Dimona "The possibility that Israel were to infringe upon Syria's sovereignty is a possibility that exists and that we're not ruling out, although at the same time, we are not looking to reach this stage and we do not want to escalate the situation,"


Two-Thirds of Israelis Oppose Attack on Iran: Poll When asked ?should Israel alone attack the Iranian nuclear installations,? 67.2 percent said no, while 20.9 percent said yes and 11.9 percent had no opinion, said the survey aired on public radio.


Livni to push for international force in Gaza Livni, in talks she is expected to hold with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a number of key EU foreign ministers in Brussels, is expected to discuss the Iranian situation, and press Israel's case that the pressure on Iran needed to continue despite the US intelligence estimate that Teheran has ceased its nuclear weapons program.


Is Iran NIE a Blessing in Disguise for Israel?


AIPAC judge sets April 29 date An April 29 trial date was set in the classified information case against two former AIPAC staffers.


An End To ?Apocalyptic Unity? Rabin told AIPAC leaders, "OK, Iran is our biggest threat. We have to keep it from getting the bomb," this Jewish leader related. "They picked up the Iran issue and were far more energetic with it than he intended or imagined."..... said Shoshana Bryen of JINSA, "Those who have been wedded to the idea that in the next year the United States and/or Israel had to decide whether to drop a bomb on Iran have a big problem. They will now find themselves without legitimacy in the U.S. government." Whose war?