Apparently for Israel, any US intelligence report telling the truth is a "blow" when it comes to Iran.
However, the timing couldn't be more interesting, what with Olmert in Washington, pleading for a military strike, and McConnell in Jerusalem getting a "cooked consensus" from Israeli intelligence folks who are foaming at the mouth with their eagerness to get the US to strike Iran militarily.
REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service
Jun 04, 2008 14:15 EST
JERUSALEM, June 4 (Reuters) - Mike McConnell, the director of U.S. national intelligence, is in Israel to hear its spymasters' arguments that Iran could obtain nuclear weapons within two years, Israeli officials said on Wednesday.
(Which, of course, ignores the fact that this would only be true if Iran decided to TRY and do this, which it is not, and which would involve a massive expansion of its programs, which would be immediately apparent to the many agencies and eyes watching Theran's every move.)
Last year's U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) found that Iran -- which denies seeking the bomb -- had shelved a military nuclear programme in 2003 though it could still potentially produce warheads in the next decade.
(Actually, it found, as is true of the UN, that there was no evidence of a weaponization program. This single contrary claim - sensationalized by the same media that helped sell these Extremists' LIES about Iraq - came from a single, dubious source, and has never been independently verified by credible evidence.)
The report was a blow to Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal and says its arch-foe's uranium enrichment projects could yield a first bomb by 2010.
(It was a 'blow' only in that it exposed Israel's LIES, which were disseminated with the sole intent of feigning a justification for another illegal war in the region, which it had planned years ago, to follow its war on Iraq.)
Closing ranks on the issue could be key to authorising any future military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities -- an option both Israel and the United States have said is available should U.N. Security Council sanctions fail to rein in Tehran.
("Rein them in" from what, exactly?)
McConnell's visit came as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was in Washington to confer with U.S. President George W. Bush about Iran and other regional security issues.
"He (McConnell) is here as part of our debate on how advanced the Iranian project is. It's a matter of comparing methods of gathering intelligence, as well as how to analyse it," an Israeli defence official said.
(Or in other words, how to ignore the facts, and make a report on something that isn't true sound as if it actually is ...)
McConnell was slated to meet Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday before departing. The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv had no comment on the intelligence director's visit.
Source: Reuters North American News Service

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