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| Rumsfeld: Iran 'Years Away' from Nuclear Weapon |
| 2005-02-06 |
| Iran is believed to be years away from having a nuclear weapon and the United States has decided to use diplomacy, not military action, in dealing with the issue, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday. "It's fairly clear from the public statements of the Iranians that, that they are on a path of seeking a nuclear weapon and don't have it at the present time," Rumsfeld said in a taped interview with CNN's "Late Edition." Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani said in an interview with Reuters on Sunday that Iran would retaliate and accelerate its nuclear program if attacked. The Bush administration has been severely criticized for going to war against Iraq in 2003 by using the justification that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction, when none have been found since the invasion. Rumsfeld was cautious about the accuracy of intelligence estimates on Iran's nuclear program. "I don't make estimates, that's the business for the intelligence community. But they're (Iran) some years away according to the estimates, but I don't know if the estimates are correct or not," Rumsfeld told CNN. "The president handles Iran policy, he's decided on a diplomatic route," he said. "They're on a diplomatic path." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) last week during a visit to Europe stressed diplomacy as the road to dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions and said the United States had no immediate plans to attack the Islamic republic. "...There's a good-faith effort under way by our European allies to try to resolve this issue diplomatically. We support that effort," Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) said earlier on "Fox News Sunday." Cheney urged Iran to prove to the world it was not seeking a nuclear weapon and said Iran was "a potential source for instability" in the region. "It's a regime, obviously, that we've got major problems with, not only because of their search for nuclear weapons, also the fact they've been a prime state sponsor of terror over the years," Cheney said. "The Iranians, I think, should do the right thing, and they should, in fact, agree to transparency, reassure the outside world that they are not trying to acquire nuclear weapons," Cheney said. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 Rumsfeldt has said absolutely nothing. He just said what people want to hear. We are gathering intelligence and making warplans. It doesn't mean we will attack tomorrow, but we will have full contingency plans. To do otherwise would be irresponsible. The EU and Russia AND the Chicoms have too much economic at stake to piss off the MMs, so they will jaw with the MMs and sell the world out. THAT is the bottom line. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-02-06 10:22:08 PM |
| #5 In 1946, the CIA said the USSR was 8 years away from developing an atomic bomb. They were only off by 50%. Even if they were 100% accurate, that makes it all the more important to strike while we can. In 1935, Germany was years away from an army that could conquer France. In 1940, they had one. Should we wait until Iran is months away from developing a nuclear weapon with delivery system? Weeks? Or do we wait until they actually have something then say, "well, there's nothing we can do now?" That would be the approach of the moral cowards afraid to take a stand. |
| Posted by: jackal 2005-02-06 8:26:34 PM |
| #4 Well, I'm glag I and my family are in the US of A |
| Posted by: SwissTex 2005-02-06 8:21:53 PM |
| #3 State Department Travel Advisory: American tourists are cautioned to avoid travel downwind of Qom, Iran until further notice. Don't even look in that direction without sunglasses. |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-02-06 8:18:20 PM |
| #2 Lol, Moose! On a roll! |
| Posted by: .com 2005-02-06 8:16:02 PM |
| #1 "The CIA has assured me that the Iranians are totally incapable of targeting Paris and Moscow with the missiles carrying the nuclear weapons they don't have. And there is absolutely no indication that they are planning to launch their missiles within a month or two, so our European allies can rest assured that nothing has come from their efforts to provide the Iranians with critical, dual-use components for nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon capable missiles. And the Pentagon would like to announce that it is holding a free, all expense paid ice cream party in Washington, D.C., for any Americans currently living in Paris and Moscow. Attendance is mandatory." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-02-06 8:10:49 PM |