Former CIA Officials: Bush Iran Claims “Preposterous”

Four former CIA officials who provided intelligence information to past presidents described as preposterous President Bush’s claim that he was unaware until very recently that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Melvin Goodman, who worked for the CIA from 1966 to 1990 and now is a senior fellow at the [...]

Biden Takes on Bush over NIE

Senator Joseph Biden D-Del., today alleged that President Bush had intentionally misled the American people with regard to the danger posed by Iranian nuclear ambitions.
On a conference call with reporters Senator Biden said, “After all we’ve been through, for this President to knowingly disregard or once again misrepresent intelligence about an issue of war and [...]

U.S. Finds Iran Halted Its Nuclear Arms Effort in 2003

A new assessment by American intelligence agencies released Monday concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting a judgment two years ago that Tehran was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb.
The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to reshape the final year of the [...]

Iraq Shiite pol defends Iran against US

Iraq’s most influential Shiite politician said Sunday that the U.S had not backed up claims that Iran is fueling violence here, underscoring a wide gap on the issue between Washington and the Shiite-led Baghdad government.
A draft bill to ease curbs on ex-Saddam Hussein loyalists in government services also drew sharp criticism from Shiite lawmakers, [...]

Powell: Iran a long way from acquiring nukes

 Iran is a long way from acquiring a nuclear weapon and is “foolish” for not investing its resources in its people instead of a nuclear program, former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday.
“I think Iran is a long way from having anything that could be anything like a nuclear weapon,” Powell told a [...]

Bolton: Attack Iran, ‘remove’ its leader

Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told Tory delegates in Britain Sunday that efforts by the UK and the EU to negotiate with Iran had failed and that he saw no alternative to a pre-emptive strike on suspected nuclear facilities in the country.
Bolton said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was “pushing out” [...]