IAEA says US House report on Iran's Nuclear program "outrageous"

[Black&Tan]

Wonderful! The IAEA has declared the latest congressional report on the nuclear capabilities of Iran is misleading and erroneous.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5346524.stm

I thought the war talk had quieted down and according to Yahoo news, the US and Iran are moving "back from the brink."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20060914/cm_csm/ycobban14

Sure, this will help....

[skunk]

US Iran report branded dishonest

The UN nuclear watchdog has protested to the US government over a report on Iran's nuclear programme, calling it "erroneous" and "misleading".
In a leaked letter, the IAEA said a congressional report contained serious distortions of the agency's own findings on Iran's nuclear activity.

The IAEA also took "strong exception" to claims made over the removal of a senior safeguards inspector.

There was no immediate comment from Washington over the letter.

But Rep Rush Holt, a Democratic member of the House intelligence committee, which released the report, said it had never been meant for release to the public.

"This report was not ready for prime time and it was not prepared in a way that we can rely on. It relied heavily on unclassified testimony," he told the BBC's PM programme.

'Deja vu'

Signed by a senior director at the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vilmos Cserveny, the letter raises objections over the committee's report released on 23 August.

It says the report was wrong to say that Iran had enriched uranium to weapons-grade level when the IAEA had only found small quantities of enrichment at far lower levels.

The letter took "strong exception to the incorrect and misleading assertion" that the IAEA removed senior safeguards inspector Chris Charlier for "allegedly raising concerns about Iranian deception" over its programme.

It said Mr Charlier had been removed at the request of Tehran, which has the right to make such an objection under agreed rules between the agency and all states.

He remains head of a section investigating Iran, the IAEA says.

The letter went on to brand "outrageous and dishonest" a suggestion in the report that he was removed for not adhering "to an unstated IAEA policy barring IAEA officials from telling the whole truth" about Iran.

The letter, sent to Peter Hoekstra, head of the House of Representatives' Select Committee on Intelligence, was aimed at setting "the record straight on the facts", the IAEA said.

"This is a matter of the integrity of the IAEA and its inspectors," spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in a statement.

A Western diplomat called it "deja vu of the pre-Iraq war period".

The IAEA and the US clashed over intelligence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the war in Iraq in March 2003.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5346524.stm

Edit: Ooops! I see I was beaten to it. :o

[KingYaba]

Send Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, or George Mitchell. Or someone, please don't send Condy to negotiate anything.

[iTwitch]

If it doesn't work the first time keep trying.

[Black&Tan]

Send Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, or George Mitchell. Or someone, please don't send Condy to negotiate anything.

Its interesting that Colin is in the news again, this time fighting against what the Bush administration wants....

"Powell said that Bush's bill, by redefining the kind of treatment the Geneva Conventions allow, "would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk."

Firing back, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Powell was confused about the White House plan. Later, Snow said he probably shouldn't have used that word.

"I know that Colin Powell wants to beat the terrorists too," he said.

...and then Condi fires back....

Countering Powell's letter, the administration produced one from the current secretary of state to Warner. In it, Condoleezza Rice wrote that narrowing the standards for detainee treatment as Bush has proposed "would add meaningful definition and clarification to vague terms in the treaties."

Priceless! Anyway, I'm pleased to see that the BBC is featuring the IAEA report as a front page item even if Yahoo and CNN aren't reating it as major news.

[clevin]

The letter, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press outside a 35-nation board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says the report is false in saying Iran is making weapons-grade uranium at an experimental enrichment site, when it has in fact produced material only in small quantities that is far below the level that can be used in nuclear arms.

The letter, which was first reported on by The Washington Post, also says the report erroneously says that IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei removed a senior nuclear inspector from the team investigating Iran’s nuclear program “for concluding that the purpose of Iran’s nuclear program is to construct weapons.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14838090/

[KingYaba]

Colin Powell has enormous political potential. Pure opinion of course, but he would be one of the better candidates out there.

[FFTT]

I had the opportunity to speak with Colin Powell's assistant at his home in Mclean
after he resigned from the Bush administration.

It was clear that he was furious about the way they used him to promote the war in Iraq on deceptive intelligence.

He was doing all he could to distance himself from those PNAC creeps.

[solvs]

Its interesting that Colin is in the news again, this time fighting against what the Bush administration wants....
I don't blame him for not wanting us to make the same mistake again. Fool him once, shame on him. Fool him twice... can't get fooled again.

[FFTT]

Powell's letter to congress has clearly shaken Bush's nerves.

I heard his response today and it seems like them's fightin words.

I would sure love to hear the archive tapes of what we're not hearing said between them.

[toontra]

I have no time for Powell. His "presentation" to the UN in 2003 was a pile of c**p, and I'm sure he knew as much (or at the very least strongly suspected). It really is a bit late in the day for him to change horses and expect not to be accused of self-interested political motives. He had his opportunity in history to make a difference and he blew it.

[KingYaba]

I have no time for Powell. His "presentation" to the UN in 2003 was a pile of c**p, and I'm sure he knew as much (or at the very least strongly suspected).
I doubt it. He was told by the President to to out and present evidence. You can't say no, wouldn't that be treasonous?

[skunk]

I doubt it. He was told by the President to to out and present evidence. You can't say no, wouldn't that be treasonous?Surely it would be treasonous to mislead your country into war?

[Sayhey]

I doubt it. He was told by the President to to out and present evidence. You can't say no, wouldn't that be treasonous?

In George's mind I'm sure it would have been, but to the rest of the world a resignation by Powell would have made all the difference in whether we went into this disastrous war or not. Powell might be the best of the possible GOP candidates, but, imho, he can't win the GOP nomination because of his criticisms of the war after he left office, and he can't win the general election because he lied in his support of the war while in office.

[FFTT]

I'll reserve judgement on Powell once I see how this plays out.

At least he has the guts to admit he was wrong.

He certainly doesn't need the money or the aggravation of running for office.

My gut feeling tells me that his conscience is telling him to right a terrible wrong
any way he can.

[IJ Reilly]

He certainly doesn't need the money or the aggravation of running for office.

He'll also be over 70 years old by the next national election. I'm guessing he's thinking more about his memoirs than national politics at this point in his life.

[KingYaba]

Surely it would be treasonous to mislead your country into war?
Not on Powell's part. It's Bush who has the final say on things. So if you are to charge someone with treason, call out Bush.
he can't win the GOP nomination because of his criticisms of the war after he left office
I understand, people will put the case that he's soft on terror or some BS like that. The thing is, Powell would be a huge improvement for the GOP. They just don't realize it.

[Black&Tan]

I understand, people will put the case that he's soft on terror or some BS like that. The thing is, Powell would be a huge improvement for the GOP. They just don't realize it.

While I agree Powell would be a huge improvement for the GOP, the problem we now face is the rest of the world. This administration, and all of its officials, have poisoned the world against us. If we want to make real progress and address the wrongs that have been done, we need all new leadership.

[KingYaba]

Make some progress this November. ;)