In case you missed it in all the tantrums and threats from Pres. Snippy O’Huffnpuff, the world is doing what many of us who have been paying attention long feared: refusing to believe us when we cry wolf.
In a case of deja vu all over again, the Bush administration is trying to sell a story of imminent crisis, this time in Iran. Except now, nobody’s buying it.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency has written a scathing letter to a congressional committee saying part of its case against Iran is “outrageous and dishonest.”
…The International Atomic Energy Agency wrote the leadership of the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, lambasting it for claiming that the Islamic republic “is currently enriching uranium to weapons grade.”
Iran is far from that capability, the IAEA said.
So how did Team Bush react? Did they learn a lesson from Iraq and accept the U.N.’s facts? What do you think?
In a word, no. They had a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R—Mich.), say that the inspectors are conspiring with Iran to cover up its weapons program.
The subcommittee’s report also insinuates that the IAEA may be in cahoots with Tehran in covering up Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The report alleges that an IAEA inspector might have been removed at Iran’s request “for not adhering to an unstated IAEA policy barring IAEA officials from telling the whole truth about the Iranian nuclear program.”
The IAEA shot back that the claim was “an outrageous and dishonest suggestion,” but Rogers stood by it Thursday.
…The IAEA has been down this road before, when it entered the fray over Iraq’s weapons program before the 2003 U.S. invasion. During that tussle, the Bush administration criticized the agency for being too cautious and opposed the reappointment of agency chief Mohammed El-Baradei.
“This is a very troubling instance here, this report, of U.S. policymakers in my view trying to push the intelligence community to find evidence that they believe supports their suspicions and their end policy goals,” said Daryl Kimball of the nonprofit think tank, the Arms Control Association in Washington.
