Another Desert Showdown Averted?

The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), a classified summary of 16 intelligence agencies' analysis, reports that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Not only does this fly in the face of the war-mongering rhetoric the White House has been spewing out lately, but it seems to justify Tehran's long-held claim that they are using their nuclear program for civilian use.

President George W. Bush, whose own intelligence is sometimes questioned, isn't having any of it. He told a news conference Tuesday that nothing has changed between the two countries, and has called on the international community to continue its sanctions against Iran.

The President even claimed that the NIE said Iran could have a hidden system of weapons. Given that the report is mostly classified, we have no way of knowing whether the assertion is true or not.

The United States has had contentious relations with Iran ever since the Shah was replaced by ayatollahs, which led to 52 Americans held as hostages in their own embassy for 444 days. More recently, the concern is over a loose cannon of a president named Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has said the Holocaust never happened and wants to nuke Israel. He also considered the NIE report a victory for his country.

The NIE report makes President Bush look like a reckless fool, given his past statements that a nuclear Iran could lead to World War III. Now the chances of a war between the U.S. and Iran have decreased significantly. But that doesn't mean Bush and/or Vice President Dick Cheney won't find an excuse to attack Tehran, just like they did with Iraq., then stick the rest of the war on whomever succeeds them.

And you don't need an intelligence estimate to tell you that.