James Schlesinger, former secretary of defense, secretary of energy and director of the Central Intelligence Agency, weighs in on the recent National Intelligence Estimate in the Wall Street Journal.
The crucial decision, hidden in a footnote, was to define the "nuclear weapons program" which had been halted to mean only "Iran's weapon design and weaponization work and covert . . . uranium enrichment-related work." Thus it excludes Iran's overt enrichment program monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
We have long understood that the production of fissile material, whether overt or covert, remains "the long pole in the tent" in the development of a nuclear capability. Thus the NIE defines away what has been the main element stirring international alarm regarding Iran's nuclear activity.
According to Mr. Schlesinger, if "international pressure" was really behind Iran's decision to halt weapons production, it was pressure brought about by Bush Administration foreign policy.
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