Israel Insists That Iran Still Seeks a Bomb

I must say that I agree with the Israelis. The American intelligence agencies have been wrong too many times in the past and now the same agencies that said Iran was seeking the "bomb" now say they aren't. Which report are we to believe? Personally, I have more confidence in the Israeli intelligence than our own!

By STEVEN ERLANGER and ISABEL KERSHNER

Published: December 5, 2007

JERUSALEM, Dec. 4 — Israel said Tuesday that it remained convinced that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons and that it had probably resumed the weapons program the Americans said was stopped in the fall of 2003.

The defense minister, Ehud Barak, rejected the American assessment of “moderate confidence” that Tehran had not restarted its nuclear weapons program by mid-2007 and that the end to the program “represents a halt to Iran’s entire nuclear weapons program.” He suggested that Israel would not rest in its efforts to stop Iran’s activities.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that the right steps are taken against the Iranian regime,” Mr. Barak told Israeli Army radio. “As is well known, words don’t stop missiles.”

He added: “It is apparently true that in 2003 Iran stopped pursuing its military nuclear program for a certain period of time. But in our estimation, since then it is apparently continuing with its program.”

In other words, whereas the Americans say Iran has stopped its nuclear weapons program while continuing to enrich uranium as rapidly as it can, Israel contends that Iran has resumed its nuclear weapons program with the clear aim of building a nuclear bomb. ...

The complete article.