The Second Iraq

The official reason we went into Iraq was that Iraq may have had nuclear weapons, and yet, we found none. Now, even with evidence against this, we are trying to convict Iran of having nuclear weapons or of trying to make them (http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/06/iran.nie/index.html)

Recently, the NIE disclosed a report saying that Iran had canceled its nuclear program four years ago, in 2003. This makes calling for intervention against nuclear weapons in Iran seem like warmongering.

This article (http://www.newsweek.com/id/73904) points out that there is more depth to this however. It discussed the fact that the government decided to release this information in the first place. This was a random and complete u-turn from the attempt to keep everything classified before, and the article explores the reasons why this happened. The official reason was that this report expressed new information, and thus the public had a right to know it. They also said that keeping it classified would make it look like a major cover-up if the info ever leaked.

In the end, we don’t know the exact reason or reasons why this information was released, but now that it’s out, President Bush is finding it more difficult to stir up anti-Iranian sentiment, and I believe that that is how it should be.