A National Disgrace

The recent National Intelligence Estimate is outrageously-possibly dangerously-misleading.

THE latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran is a disgrace. The release of its declassified “key findings” was, by all indications, meant to blow apart President Bush’s Iran policy-and may well have succeeded. The substance of this NIE differs little from past assessments. Its only new piece of information proves that the mullahs have lied to us and makes them look more menacing than ever. But by employing a bit of semantic trickery, the NIE’s authors guaranteed that every headline would be a variation on the theme: “U.S. Intelligence Report Says Iran Abandoned Nuclear Weapons Program in 2003.”

About the Author

Jason Lee Steorts

Jason Lee Steorts is a former managing editor of National Review.

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The recent National Intelligence Estimate is outrageously-possibly dangerously-misleading.

THE latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran is a disgrace. The release of its declassified “key findings” was, by all indications, meant to blow apart President Bush’s Iran policy-and may well have succeeded. The substance of this NIE differs little from past assessments. Its only new piece of information proves that the mullahs have lied to us and makes them look more menacing than ever. But by employing a bit of semantic trickery, the NIE’s authors guaranteed that every headline would be a variation on the theme: “U.S. Intelligence Report Says Iran Abandoned Nuclear Weapons Program in 2003.”