mebb.de
Iran-Krise

Der Koordinator der US Geheimdienste, John Negroponte, gab heute bekannt, dass nach seiner Schätzung der Iran frühestens im Jahr 2010 über eine Atombombe verfügen könnte.

“The estimate we have made is that sometime between the beginning of the next decade and the middle of the next decade they might be in a position to have a nuclear weapon which is a cause of great concern.” (Reuters)

Allerdings gestand er ein, dass die Kenntnisse seiner Dienste über das iranische Atomprogramm zu wünschen lassen.

Negroponte said Iran seemed determined to develop nuclear weapons but admitted “We don’t have clear-cut knowledge.”

Zweifel an der Zuverlässigkeit der Analysen amerikanischer Geheimdienste existieren spätestens seit sie mit ihrer Behauptung, der Irak verfüge über Massenvernichtungswaffen die argumentative Vorlage für die Invasion des Landes lieferten.

Negroponte versicherte, man habe seine Lektion gelernt:

“I think we have learned a lot of the lessons from 9/11 as well as from some of the mistakes that were made in the run-up to the Iraq War with respect to weapons of mass destruction,” he said.

“I think we have improved the integrity of our analyses substantially. In other words I think we have internalized some of these lessons,” he added.

Hierzu passt eine Reuters Meldung von vor knapp zwei Wochen:

Five Democrats, headed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, wrote to Bush requesting a new National Intelligence Estimate, or NIE, while the United States is involved in an international diplomatic effort to get Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions.

“In order to avoid repeating mistakes made in the run-up to the conflict in Iraq, we must have objective intelligence untainted by political considerations and policy preferences,” said the Democrats, who included ranking members of the Senate intelligence, armed services and foreign relations committees.

The Democrats’ letter asks that a new NIE address 10 specific issues including Iran’s foreign policy and the objectives of its government; its relationship with terrorism; prospects for international support for diplomacy, sanctions and military action; and Iran’s expected reaction to each option.

Leider habe ich keine Meldung finden können, wie Bush auf die Anfrage geantwortet hat.