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Line 1: − If you are reading this, follow this link into your browser, create an account, and copy and paste this article over any article you can! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iran_analysis_3+ − WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.+ − 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."
Reverted edits by Nevah (Talk); changed back to last version by Crocoite
Mathematics is the study and practice of rigorous inference about abstract structures. It includes many practical results concerning quantity and measure, such as calculations involving numbers, financial accounting, geometric construction of building, astronomical calculations, calendar dating, telling time, engineering, physics, chemistry, etc. but also more abstract issues such as establishing the conditions under which certain kinds of equations and formulas have solutions. [[Applied mathematics]] concerns the use of mathematical methods for practical purposes. [[Pure mathematics]] involves reasoning about abstract structures. The main areas are:
* [[Algebra]]. Broadly, speaking algebra concerns 'addition' and 'multiplication', but in the widest possible sense. The objects that are being added or multiplied can be numbers, as in [[Number theory]], but they can also can be more general structures such as [[matrices]], [[functions]], [[polynomials]], [[vectors]] or many others. Concentrating on addition and multiplication does not exclude subtraction or division, since subtraction is formally considered to be addition of an [[additive inverse]] and division is considered to be multiplication by a [[multiplicative inverse]]. That is, subtracting 3 from 2 is rigorously defined to adding the number -2 to 3. Minus two is called the additive inverse of +2. Similarly, dividing 3 by 2 is formally defined in terms of multiplying 3 by (1/2), where 1/2 is the multiplicative inverse of 2. Abstract algebra is the study of [[algebraic structures]] such as [[Group (mathematics)|groups]], [[Ring (mathematics)|rings]], and [[Field (mathematics)|fields]].
* [[Analysis]]. Analysis is concerned with limits and other infinite processes. This subject includes the theory of limits of sequences and series and all forms of [[calculus]], including the calculus of several variables, [[vector calculus]] and [[tensor calculus]]. Also included is [[numerical analysis]], the study of error propagation in algorithms carried out to finite precision. Additional topics in analysis include [[real analysis]] and [[complex analysis]].
* [[Geometry]] and [[Topology]]. Geometry was defined by [[Felix Klein]] as the study of [[invariants]] under [[group]]s of [[transformation]]s. For example, the [[Euclidean transformation]]s are [[translation]], [[rotation]] and [[reflection]]. The quantities that are not altered by these transformations are things like angles and distances, so these are the subjects of interest in [[Euclidean geometry]]. Other types of transformations, such as the [[affine transformation]]s, define other types of geometry. Topology is concerned with the connectedness of objects, rather than the distance between them. It is sometimes called 'rubber sheet geometry', as it concerns properties (that is, [[arc]]s between [[node]]s in [[network]]s) of objects that would be preserved even if a diagram of them were to be stretched or shrunk. Topology began with [[Leonard Euler]]'s consideration of the [[Königsberg Bridges Problem]], which also introduced [[Graph Theory]]. [[Beck's map of the London Underground]] in 1933 used a topological distortion of the locations of the subway stations in order to produce a more useful and artistic map. [[Differential geometry]] is a specialized field of its own.
* [[Logic]] and [[set theory]]. All of mathematics can be expressed in terms of [[set]]s. Sets are defined by a collection of [[axiom]]s called the [[Zermelo-Fraenkel axioms]]. One of the axioms, the [[Axiom of Choice]], has been the subject of much discussion.
[[Category:Mathematics]]