THE WELL-TIMED LEAK - AT 11:14 A.M. ET:  The British, like the French, are clearly not pleased with the quality of U.S. intelligence analysis on Iran.  Today we have another well-timed leak, reported by Reuters:

British officials suspect Iran has been seeking nuclear weapons for the past few years, differing from a U.S. view that Tehran halted work on design and weaponization in 2003, a UK security source said on Wednesday.

Last week's revelation of a second nuclear plant in Iran only served to support international suspicions about an Iranian cover-up to mask nuclear weapons designs, the source said.

A U.S. National Intelligence Estimate published in December 2007 judged with high confidence that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in the autumn of 2003 and had not restarted it as of mid-2007.
The estimate defined the phrase nuclear weapons program to mean nuclear weapon design and weaponization work and covert uranium conversion-related and uranium enrichment-related work.

"We didn't share the U.S. assessment and still do not," the British source said.

"That's what we felt in 2003. So (our concern) goes back to then. We're still not convinced and last week's developments have simply supported that skepticism."

COMMENT:  There is widespread suspicion that the American assessment was politically motivated.  It is hard to believe that Iran is developing medium- and long-range missiles, which it clearly is doing, to deliver conventional explosives.  That's an awfully expensive small bang. 

France also ridicules the American assessment.  The leaks are coming.  And they are likely to continue, especially if Obama continues his weak policies.

September 30, 2009