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| − | Well, in terms of articles, you guys are getting slightly better. That thing about algae is interesting. But all of those articles on how Wikipedia, which is more successful and accurate than you, sucks, aren’t nearly as important as the one that proves the democrats right (HA! No pointless war for the republicans). Oh, did you hear about how Mike Huckabee paroled a rapist that assaulted and killed one of Clinton’s relatives? He killed and raped 2-3 more people. Smart. Anyhoo,
| + | : <small>'''''For the United States Capital, see [[Washington, D.C.]]'''''</small> |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| + | : <small>'''''For the U.S. President see [[George Washington]]'''''</small> |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| + | : <small>'''''For the English town see [[Washington, County Durham]]'''''</small> |
| | + | ---- |
| | + | {{USState |
| | + | |name=Washington |
| | + | |flag=Flag of Washington.png |
| | + | |motto= "Al-ki" (bye and bye) |
| | + | |nick=The Evergreen State |
| | + | |capital=Olympia |
| | + | |language=None |
| | + | |governor=Bob Ferguson |
| | + | |gparty=Democrat |
| | + | |senator2=Maria Cantwell |
| | + | |s2party=Democrat |
| | + | |s2phone=(202) 224-3441 |
| | + | |s2email=http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/ Contact |
| | + | |senator1=Patty Murray |
| | + | |s1party=Democrat |
| | + | |s1phone=(202) 224-2621 |
| | + | |s1email=http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm Contact |
| | + | |population=7,700,000 (2020) |
| | + | |date=November 11, 1889 (42nd) |
| | + | }} |
| | + | '''Washington''', often referred to as Washington State, was the forty-second state to enter into the Union, on Nov. 11, 1889. The state is named after the first president [[George Washington]]. Its capital is [[Olympia]], and its largest city is [[Seattle]]. It is located at the extreme northwest corner of the 48 contiguous [[America]]n states. This [[Democrat]]-dominated state was the location of an early outbreak of the [[coronavirus]] [[COVID-19]] in early 2020 in a nursing home. |
| | | | |
| | + | The state Constitution of Washington, like all of the other 50 states, acknowledges God or our Creator or the ''Sovereign Ruler of the Universe''. It says: |
| | + | :''We, the people of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this constitution. |
| | | | |
| | + | == Geography == |
| | | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| + | The state has a notably wide variety of terrain and boasts of three national parks. The western edge of Washington borders the Pacific Ocean and has the only temperate rain forests in the country, the Hoh, Queets, and Quinault. The Olympic Mountains rise from sea level to nearly 8,000 feet in elevation. Puget Sound, gouged by the Vashon sheet in the last ice age, brings ocean access to ports far inland. The Cascade Mountain Range bisects the state from north to south and contains several large volcanoes, both active and dormant. The eastern half of Washington is much drier, with a continental climate and much farmland irrigated by Columbia River dams and irrigation works constructed in the time of the New Deal. |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| | | | |
| | + | ==Politics== |
| | | | |
| | + | Washington was the first state to allow women to vote in local elections, since 1855. |
| | | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| + | The 2004 election created controversy due to a virtual tie between candidates [[conservative]] [[Republican]] [[Dino Rossi]] and [[liberal]] [[Democrat]] [[Christine Gregoire]]. Rossi won both the original election and the first recount, but the second recount gave the election to Christine Gregoire by a mere 129 votes.[http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webguvrace30&date=20041230&query=2004+election+Rossi+results] Controversially, on the second "recount," more votes were counted than ballots were cast in Washington state. |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution." | |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| | | | |
| | + | Since 2007, Washington has offered [[domestic partnership]]s, which are similar to [[same sex marriage]].<ref>[http://www.miamiherald.com/692/story/1298544.html The ''Miami Herald'' Online]</ref> |
| | | | |
| | + | In 2009, Washington was the first state in the United States to affirm civil unions by a public vote (Ref. 71). In 2012, they continued this continued this trajectory by fully implementing marriage equality by a vote of the people. The same year, they fully legalized marijuana possession. |
| | | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| + | Washington state has consistently been a [[blue state]] since 1988, with the last winning [[Republican]] being [[Ronald Wilson Reagan]]. |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| | | | |
| | + | ===Anarchism=== |
| | + | For nearly a month, starting in June 2020, the City of Seattle permitted [[anarchist]]s and [[activist]]s to seize six square blocks of the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, naming their new enclave the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) and then the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” (CHOP). [[Law enforcement]] and fire fighters were precluded from entering the territory. The Seattle Police Department was ordered to abandon their precinct within the CHOP. Person-related crime in the CHOP increased 525% from the same period of time in the same area the year before, including by Mayor [[Jenny Durkan]]’s own count “two additional homicides, 6 additional robberies, and 16 additional aggravated assaults (to include 2 additional non-fatal shootings).” The CHOP was allowed to stand for nearly a month, during which time two teenagers were shot and killed in the zone. The Seattle City Council, Mayor Jenny Durkan, and Washington Governor [[Jay Inslee]] publicly rejected [[federal]] involvement in law enforcement activities within the city of Seattle.<ref>https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-identifies-new-york-city-portland-and-seattle-jurisdictions-permitting</ref> |
| | | | |
| | + | ===2020 Leftist insurrection=== |
| | + | [[File:Occupied-seattle-1.jpg|right|350px|thumb|[[Marxist]] insurrectionists set up check points and border walls in Occupied Seattle. Residents were [[extortion|extorted]] and forced to pay protection money.]] |
| | + | :{{See also|2020 Antifa riots}} |
| | + | After two straight nights of violence, the Seattle Police Department abandoned its east precinct building. Forty-eights hours after [[Marxist]] insurgents occupied a 7 square block area including a [[police]] station, extorting protection money from businesses and employers to allow them to continue operating, [[Democrat]] Gov. [[Jay Inslee]] claimed to have no knowledge of the imminent danger to the lives and property of citizens and taxpayers. |
| | | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| + | Several hundred demonstrators, led by Seattle City Council [[Socialist Alternative]]<ref>Socialist Alternative is a [[Trotsky]]ite organization.</ref> Kshama Sawant, occupied City Hall calling for the resignation of Democrat mayor [[Jenny Durkan]] and the [[defund the police|defunding of the Seattle Police Department]] after a march from the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. Sawant was backed by [[Democratic Socialists of America]] (DSA).<ref>https://keywiki.org/File:Zshama.PNG</ref> The DSA provided logisitcal support for the [[riot]]s.<ref>https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-communist-origins-of-the-antifa-extremist-group_2282816.html</ref> Sawant called for the importance of Black LGBTQIA+ women and other issues. At City Hall another speaker decried Sawant’s cooptation of the movement to push her own agenda. |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| + | {{quotebox-float|“Please stop using [[Black Lives Matter]] for your political campaigns....I’m really sorry, I want to tax [[Amazon.com|Amazon]] too, I want to do all these things too, but this is not a movement for you to be politically active, for you to be [[politically correct]], and for you to gain all these votes. Please stop taking advantage of us.”}} |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| + | The speaker noted the whiteness of many speakers at recent protests. Protesters left City Hall chanting “Defund SPD” and headed back to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), where protesters watched ''13th'', a documentary on the [[The New Jim Crow]]. |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. | |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| | | | |
| | + | A two-hour rally of an estimated 2,000 protesters gathered in the rain for a community meeting hosted by Sawant. |
| | + | {{quotebox|“What we’ve defeated here is the political establishment of this city....You can never have zero police and an elimination of racism and oppression on the basis of capitalism."}} |
| | + | A 30-point list of demands was published. “We demand the de-gentrification of Seattle, starting with rent control," etc. |
| | | | |
| | + | Community members were subjected to barricades set up by the protesters with some armed individuals running them as checkpoints in the neighborhood,” a police spokesman said. “While they have a constitutionally protected right to bear arms there is no legal right for those arms to be used to intimidate community members.” Residents described a small number of people armed with rifles who have been seen serving as guards. Many businesses and residential buildings in the so called C.H.A.Z. hired private security staff. The entire area was lawless, and residents were left to fend for themselves. A social media posting from inside the occupied territory read, |
| | + | {{quotebox|"Due to the police not being able to respond for fear of reprisal and the shear amount of police resources required that makes it possible to have any presents in our area, residents needed to have an emergency plan that does not involve 911. Whether it is contacting friends, family or driving someone or yourself to the emergency room. You can still call 911 for help with planning and dealing with emergencies, but they may ask that you attempt to make your way to one of their other locations or possibly deal with a significant delayed response.<ref>https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2020/06/sawant-and-protesters-briefly-occupy-seattle-city-hall-as-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone-grows/</ref>}} |
| | + | The Occupied Seattle Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone offered no social and mental health care for victims of the occupation. |
| | | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| + | [[File:Seatle Police Rattlesnake.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Seattle Police fly [[Gadsden flag]] protesting [[fascist]] [[vaccine mandate]]s.]] |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| | | | |
| | + | ===Defund the Police=== |
| | + | :{{See also|Defund the Police}} |
| | + | [[BLM]] and Antifa racists set fires at the Seattle juvenile detention facility. 21 police officers were injured.<ref>https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/07/26/seattle-police-declare-protests-a-riot-after-fires-erupt-21-cops-injured-youth-center-set-ablaze-951572</ref> The Seattle Chief of Police warned citizens that the police could not protect them after the [[Democrat]] city council [[politburo]] defunded [[riot]]-control measures.<ref>https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/seattle-police-chief-warns-city-cops-unable-protect-property-antifa-blm-riots-thanks-city-council-barring-crowd-control-tools/</ref> |
| | | | |
| | + | ==Elected Officials== |
| | + | ===Federal=== |
| | + | *Sen. [[Patty Murray]] (D) |
| | + | *Sen. [[Maria Cantwell]] (D) |
| | + | *Rep. [[Suzan Delbene]] [D, WA–01] |
| | + | *Rep. [[Rick Larsen]] [D, WA–02] |
| | + | *Rep. [[Marie Gluesenkamp Perez]] [R, WA–03] |
| | + | *Rep. [[Dan Newhouse]] [R, WA–04] |
| | + | *Rep. [[Michael Baumgartner]] [R, WA–05] |
| | + | *Rep. [[Emily Randall]] [D, WA–06] |
| | + | *Rep. [[Pramila Jayapal]] [D, WA–07] |
| | + | *Rep. [[Kim Schrier]] [D, WA–08] |
| | + | *Rep. [[Adam Smith (politician)|Adam Smith]] [D, WA–09] |
| | + | *Rep. [[Marilyn Strickland]] [D, WA–10] |
| | | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| + | ===Statewide=== |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| + | *Governor [[Bob Ferguson]] (D) |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| + | *Lt. Governor [[Denny Heck]] (D) |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| + | *Attorney General Nicholas W. Brown (D) |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| + | *Secretary of State Steve Hobbs (D) |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| + | *State Auditor Pat McCarthy |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| + | *State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| | | | |
| | + | ==Notable people from Washington== |
| | + | *[[Paul Allen]], co-founder of [[Microsoft]] and despoiler of skylines.[http://www.emplive.org/] |
| | + | *[[Glenn Beck]], [[conservative]] [[talk radio]] [[host]] and [[television]] [[anchor]] [[employee|employed]] by [[Fox News]]. |
| | + | *[[Bob Barker]], host of the long-running game show ''The Price is Right'', was born in Darrington. |
| | + | *[[Harry P. Cain]], U.S. senator, 1946-1953 |
| | + | *[[Kurt Cobain]], lead singer of the influential grunge band [[Nirvana (Band)|Nirvana]], was from Aberdeen. |
| | + | *[[Bill Gates]], co-founder of [[Microsoft]] and the world's richest man as of 2007, lives in Medina. |
| | + | *[[Slade Gorton]], [[Moderate Republican]] U.S. Senator from 1981 to 1987 and 1989 to 2001 |
| | + | *[[Jimi Hendrix]], an influential rock guitarist of the late 1960s, was born in Seattle |
| | + | *[[Henry Jackson]], U.S. Senator, 1953-1983 |
| | + | *[[Arthur B. Langlie]], three-term Republican governor |
| | + | *[[Gary Larson]], cartoonist known for his strip ''The Far Side'', was born in Tacoma. |
| | + | *[[Warren Magnuson]], U.S. senator, 1944 to 1981 |
| | + | *[[Rob Maness]], Louisiana Republican and Tea Party figure, born in Fort Lewis in 1961. |
| | + | *[[Bill Nye]], engineer best known for his children's television series ''Bill Nye the Science Guy'', studied at Washington State University in Pullman. |
| | + | *[[Dixy Lee Ray]], governor from 1977 to 1981; last chairman of the [[Atomic Energy Commission]] |
| | + | *[[Chief Sealth]], a Native American leader who converted to [[Roman Catholicism]], lent his name to the city of Seattle. |
| | + | *[[John Spellman]], Moderate Republican governor from 1981 to 1985 |
| | + | *[[John Stockton]], the all-time [[NBA]] leader in assists and steals, was born and raised in Spokane. |
| | + | *[[Ted Bundy]], serial killer, grew up in Tacoma and attended University of Washington. |
| | + | *[[Gary Ridgeway]], serial killer. |
| | | | |
| | + | ==References== |
| | + | {{reflist|2}} |
| | | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| + | {{USstates}} |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| | | | |
| − | | + | [[Category:States of the United States]] |
| − | | + | [[Category:Western United States]] |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| + | [[Category:Washington]] |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| + | [[Category:Blue States]] |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| + | [[Category:West Coast of the United States]] |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| + | [[Category:Pacific Northwest]] |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
| − | WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
| |
| − | ADVERTISEMENT
| |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday.
| |
| − | Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons."
| |
| − | Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace."
| |
| − | More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon."
| |
| − | Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."
| |
| − | Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings.
| |
| − | The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
| |
| − | Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison.
| |
| − | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence."
| |
| − | "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran."
| |
| − | In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb.
| |
| − | Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said.
| |
| − | In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
| |
| − | "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said.
| |
| − | While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not.
| |
| − | The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
| |
| − | "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution."
| |
| − | Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
| |
| − | "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."
| |
| − | Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer."
| |
| − | ___
| |
| − | EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.
| |
