Worldwide Web WorldTribune.com

  breaking... 


Wednesday December 5, 2007       Free Headline Alerts

Democrats will be known for Iraq surrender; Time now for homeland defense

U.S. RECEIVED MAJOR INTEL THAT REVISED NIE WASHINGTON — President George Bush said the United States received a major piece of intelligence that overturned its assessment of Iran's nuclear program.

Bush would not detail the intelligence, saying it would disclose sources and methods. But the president said the intelligence led to a major policy revision.

"I believe that the intelligence community has made a great discovery, and they've analyzed the discovery, and it's now part of our government policy," Bush told a news conference on Tuesday.

Also In This Edition

Bush said he was told of new intelligence on Iran in August 2007 by National Intelligence director Mike McConnell, responsible for the National Intelligence Estimate. The president said he was not told details, rather that the new data would require extensive analysis.

"In August, I think it was Mike McConnell came in and said, we have some new information," Bush said. "He didn't tell me what the information was. He did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze."

"Why would you take time to analyze new information?" Bush asked. "One, you want to make sure it's not disinformation. You want to make sure the piece of intelligence you have is real. And secondly, they want to make sure they understand the intelligence they gathered: If they think it's real, then what does it mean? And it wasn't until last week that I was briefed on the NIE that is now public."

The unclassified version of NIE, released on Dec. 3, said Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The estimate, meant to reflect the view of all 16 agencies in the intelligence community, said Teheran was not believed to have renewed its weapons program since.

"I want to compliment the intelligence community for their good work," Bush said. "Right after the failure of intelligence in Iraq, we reformed the intel community so that there was a lot of serious considerations of NIEs in a way that would give us confidence. And here's, I think, a very important product that is a result of the reforms we've put in place."

At the same time, Bush, who acknowledged a reevaluation of Teheran's capabilities, stressed that NIE's determination has not reduced the threat of a nuclear Iran. He said Iran could rapidly use its uranium enrichment capabilities to assemble a nuclear weapon.

The president, who plans to discuss NIE during his visit to Israel in early 2008, also asserted that Iran developed delivery systems for nuclear weapons. Bush, who pledged that he would not allow Iran to secretly develop an atomic bomb, said the intelligence community has been struggling to acquire data of Iran's nuclear program.

"Frankly, we haven't had a very good presence in Iran since 1979," Bush said. "And that's why I instructed the intel community to beef up its intelligence on Iran, so we could have a better sense for what they're thinking and what they're doing. And this product is a result of intelligence reform and, more importantly, the good, hard work of our intelligence community."


About Us     l    Contact Us     l    Geostrategy-Direct.com     l    East-Asia-Intel.com
Copyright © 2007    East West Services, Inc.    All rights reserved.