-Caveat Lector- http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1792168.htm CIA analysis finds no Iranian nuclear weapons drive: report A top US investigative reporter says a classified draft CIA assessment has found no firm evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as alleged by the White House.
Seymour Hersh, writing in an article for the November 27 issue of the The New Yorker magazine released in advance, reported on whether the administration of Republican President George W Bush was more, or less, inclined to attack Iran after the Democrats won control of the US Congress last week. A month before the November 7 legislative elections Hersh wrote, Vice President Dick Cheney attended a national security discussion that touched on the impact of Democratic victory in both chambers on Iran policy. "If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said, that victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a military option with Iran," Hersh wrote, citing a source familiar with the discussion. Mr Cheney said the White House would circumvent any legislative restrictions "and thus stop Congress from getting in its way," he said. The Democratic victory unleashed a surge of calls for the Bush administration to begin direct talks with Iran. But the administration's planning of a military option was made "far more complicated" in recent months by a highly classified draft assessment by the CIA "challenging the White House's assumptions about how close Iran might be to building a nuclear bomb," Hersh wrote. "The CIA found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program running parallel to the civilian operations that Iran has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Hersh wrote, adding the CIA had declined to comment on that story. A current senior intelligence official confirmed the existence of the CIA analysis and said the White House had been hostile to it, he wrote. The official said Cheney and his aides had discounted the assessment. The United States and other major powers believe Iran's uranium enrichment program is ultimately aimed at producing fissile material for nuclear weapons. Iran insists it will use the enriched uranium only to fuel nuclear power stations, something it is permitted to do as a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. -AFP www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/ <A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
