Maybe we should listen to this guy on Iran?

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 10:36am

"Iran is not going to produce a nuclear weapon any time soon and the threat posed by its atomic program has been exaggerated, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said in a published interview," Reuters reports.

"In many ways, I think the threat has been hyped," Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

MICHAEL URBAN/AFP/Getty Images

Thomas E. Ricks | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
( filed under: )


Advertisement

 

I'll be glad when he's gone

by jjh722 on Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:21am

I'll be glad when he's gone because all it takes for someone to cast doubt on his words in this country is pronouncing his name in a way that emphasizes his Arab heritage or Egyptian origins (doesn't matter if the Egyptian govt hates the Iranian govt). Still, I think the IAEA has been saying this kind of stuff for a while in their ever-futile attempts to stop future wars that make their job even more difficult.

2007 NIE said:

by Tyrtaios on Wed, 09/02/2009 - 1:12pm

The 2007 NIE, which threw the previous White House a curve ball, the intelligence community in chaos, as well as upset Israel, also judged Iran was some distance from producing a bomb, but didn't go as far as El-Baradei's estimate.

No doubt they are working in earnest to produce enough weapons grade fissile material - but the supreme council probably hasn't made a decision on whether to produce a weapon yet.

Iran and Israel feed off each other. We need a small mission in Tehran to get some eyes and ears on the ground. Depending on limited signals intercept, in this age of fiber optic communication, and what Israel wants to feeds us, is unsatisfactory.

We should listen, use sensors and study all sources....

by Bill Keller on Thu, 09/03/2009 - 8:33am

then think about it before it is handed over to the sideshow barkers, lynch mobs and buffalo herders.