Bush Knew in August Iran Had Halted Nuclear Weapons Program

[qwerty]

ABC News' Martha Raddatz Reports: The White House made a stunning admission Wednesday that appeared to suggest President Bush has directly contradicted himself about when he learned U.S. intelligence that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program.

During a press conference on Tuesday, the President told reporters that he was briefed that there was new intelligence information about Iran, but nothing specific.

"I was made aware of the NIE last week," Bush said Tuesday. "In August, I think it was [Director of National Intelligence] Mike McConnell came in and said, we have some new information. He didn't tell me what the information was; he did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze."

However today the White House is saying the President was told much more.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/12/white-house-bus.html

[Scorpion]

"In August, DNI Director McConnell advised President Bush that the intelligence community would not be able to meet a congressionally imposed deadline requiring a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran because new information had been obtained just as they were about to finalize the report," Perino wrote in an emailed response.

"He said that if the new information turns out to be true, what we thought we knew for sure is right. Iran does in fact have a covert nuclear weapons program, but it may be suspended," Perino's email said.

Perino also said McConnell told the President the new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment of Iran's covert nuclear program.



An awful lot of ifs and maybes by the same folks that claimed that Iraq had WMDs. It sounds to me like Bush wisely interpreted what he was told by the DNI to be an unverified suggestion instead of hard evidence.

We don't let down our guard based on speculative intelligence.

Bush followed his best instincts in protecting us.

[Elrathin]

We don't let down our guard based on speculative intelligence.


I'm sorry but how is NOT spouting anti-Iran rhetoric about them going nuclear letting our guard down. Bush could have watched the rhetoric some after he realized that it might not be true, he didn't. I can't believe people are actually defending this.

[Scorpion]

We don't let down our guard based on speculative intelligence.


I'm sorry but how is NOT spouting anti-Iran rhetoric about them going nuclear letting our guard down. Bush could have watched the rhetoric some after he realized that it might not be true, he didn't. I can't believe people are actually defending this.


It's called condemnation. We condemn those who threaten peaceful coexistence and stability.

[Elrathin]

It's called condemnation. We condemn those who threaten peaceful coexistence and stability.


You condemn their actions that are PROVEN, not ones that are put into question. It's ok to condemn Iran on their holocaust stance, but it is not ok to criticize them of their nuclear program when you have information that what you are saying could be false. You wait until it is either proven correct or it is proven false.

Come on are you honestly saying that Bush was preserving peace by saying false allegations or allegations that he knew could be false? I hope you aren't saying that.

[lily]

It's called condemnation. We condemn those who threaten peaceful coexistence and stability.


By threatening WW3?

[Shintao]

[quote]

"I was made aware of the NIE last week," Bush said Tuesday. "In August, I think it was [Director of National Intelligence] Mike McConnell came in and said, we have some new information. He didn't tell me what the information was; he did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze."




This is what I refer to as habitual lying.

[tony mitra]

If USA really believed in curtailing proliferation of nuclear weapons, it should start with itself first, and then go around with the other nations after having taken steps to start the process of de-nuclearizing itself. It should, therefore, first with itself, then with Russia, China, Israel, France, UK, India before going to Iran.

What is happening, instead, is not based on a worry about any nuclear holocaust, but a systematic distortion of truth and an agenda against Iran that is driven by logic that has nothing to do with nuclear bombs. USA is simply using the nuclear bomb threat as a convenient excuse to keep the public quiet, while it pursues a hidden agenda to ruin Iran, much as it used the same logic as an excuse for invading Iraq.

This is just my views. Cheers
Tony