W on Iran

[mburbank]

"The questions are can they get it, can they use it and would they sell it?"

Of course those are the questions! But what W is saying in his typically deliberately dense way is, I don't need to know the answers to those questions to hit them. Alls I need to know is they are seeking the knowledge.

They HAVE the knowledge. Everybody does! He's playing stupid and reserving the right to strike if he feels like it.

Diplomatically, that might be a good tool, but I think he might end up actually doing it for the same, simple reason he did Iraq. He felt he should. In his gut. He throws ludicrous statements out there for himself as much as anyone else.

"I had to do it. They had the knowledge. That made them a threat."

He's uninterested in the difference between knowledge and capability.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Max, it's people like you and Norman Podhoretz--the far left and Right--who talk about war.

The Bush administration has pursued sanctions, and has utilized all of the UN channels to deter the republic's activities. Diplomatically, threatening to attack is useful. It gives you leverage, leverage that the NIE has squandered.

And you're being way too literal about this--"can they get it" means resources, proper material and the acilities dedicated to shifting those resources towards a weaponized program. They had this, and with the advancement of their civilian program, they could have it again.

China was warming up to a third round of sacntions just the day before this NIE leak, and the EU sounded confident too, especially since Iran told them to buzz off last week. Of course we're going to "game" an attack, but diplomatically, everything we're doing goes against the possibility. However, the absence of a perceived threat (something the far left has been rejoicing the past couple of days) puts us in a tough spot in curbing Iran's other activities.