If indeed Iran stopped its nuclear-weapons program in 2003, is it a coincidence that this was the same year America made good on its threat of military force against Saddam Hussein's Iraq?

Also, I'm not sure why whomod (or anyone else) would accuse President Bush of being overly bellicose towards Iran. We've been rattling a saber for at least five years, but clearly we've spent more time trying diplomacy and hoping to foster reform from within. One would think accusing the US of a "let's-bomb-them-now approach" would entail actually bombing them, which of course the U.S. has not done.

In regards to the allegation that its some sort of "conspiracy" that this report wasn't released until now, I would submit that, to the extent that the NIE undercuts the credibility of the threat of military force, it reduces American leverage over Iran (and over our own allies) and thereby diminishes rather than enhances, the prospects for diplomatic success. That alone would be reason not to make it public. In fact, if the administration is subject to any criticism here, it's that releasing the NIE now seems to be signaling that it has decided to throw in the towel on dealing with the Iranian threat, leaving it for the next administration.

Finally, reading whomod's post, I see that what we really have here is more "Bush hate."

If one can have high confidence in the NIE findings, then those findings are good news for America. They mean that a regime that has repeatedly shown its hostility toward our country is less of a threat than we had reason to fear.

But we aren't seeing anyone celebrating the NIE as good news for America. The people (like whomod and his quoted sources) all seem to view it as a partisan document, a weapon to be used in their battle against the Bush administration.

To the Bush haters, it doesn't seem to matter how much of a threat Iran poses. Short-term political gain against the President is more important than the interests of America.