Comments on: Iran 10 Years From Nuclear Bomb?

By: McGehee

McGehee — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 01:55:57 +0000

...the North Korean No-Dong missile.

Now, granted I've had a really crazy day, but that makes me snicker.

It makes me snicker a lot.

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 19:15:19 +0000

Yes but thank goodness Bush saved us from Saddam's WMD...

It would almost be funny were it not so scary and tragic.

By: Mark in Mexico

Mark in Mexico — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 17:13:21 +0000

Washington Post takes a beating

This Washington Post report, "Iran Is Judged 10 Years From Nuclear Bomb", has drawn the ire of the blogosphere.

By: Jim Durbin

Jim Durbin — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 16:45:42 +0000

I wrote a post this morning (and promptly lost it on Typepad) wondering if this is just the Post playing with headlines or a serious matter. It seems to be a bit of both.
\
10 years? If that's what our intelligence agencies are saying then it's time to fire all of them and start over. The only way to come to that conclusion is drawing a line of how far teh Iranians have come in developing the bomb, and then assuming the snail's pace will continue.

But intelligence briefings aren't written without a lot of wiggle room. I bet dollars to donuts the sentence saying 10 years out is just one sentence with a lot "if" clauses attached. The article from the Post even admits there is a lot of hedging going on.

It is disturbing that the report can't be taken seriously, but what do you expect from the Post? the author says the report will lead towards solving the Iran crisis with diplomacy 0 which sounds suspiciously like a policy decision and not an intelligence estimate.

The biggest question facing supporters of this report (including those who will quote from it for the next five years), is what price they are willing to pay if they are wrong.

The question for Democrats is; If Iran does have a bomb, are they willing to go in and take it away, or will they accept it as a fait accompli? If you're not prepared to do anything about an Iranian nuclear program regardless of the accuracy of the report, then how can anyone seriously expect to follow their lead in national security matters? We did that with North Korea - are we willing to do it with Iran?

By: A Knight’s Blog » The Iranian Bomb

A Knight’s Blog » The Iranian Bomb — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 14:10:00 +0000

[...] James Joyner at Outside the Beltway posts a Washington Post article stating that Iran is 10 years away from obtaining a nuclear bomb, according to “a major U.S. intelligence review.” The article is here. James thinks that Iran is a couple of years away, max, and reasonably supports his conclusion. [...]

By: Mikey

Mikey — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 13:56:14 +0000

Considering that our guys didn't spot India's program until they lit one off I am now very, very worried.

By: PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science

PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 13:45:48 +0000

Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions

Via WaPo: Iran Is Judged 10 Years From Nuclear Bomb
A major U.S. intelligence review has projected that Iran is about a decade away from manufacturing the key ingredient for a nuclear weapon, roughly doubling the previous estimate of five years, acco...

By: NIF

NIF — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 12:17:07 +0000

Provost of Random Acts of Violence

Today's dose of NIF - News, Interesting & Funny ... It's Kerry-180 Tuesday!