Sharing the growing skepticism of the American people on taking the Bush administration at its word, Senate Democrats today called for a new National Intelligence Estimate to be undertaken on Iran. Unbelievably, with all the recent saber-rattling, the most recent NIE is nearly a year old, according to
AP:
Five Democrats, headed by Senate Majority 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.
... 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.
"Fool me once ..." appears to be the rational approach, and one the Democrats aren't shying away from emphasizing:
"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 administration had no comment. A little time is necessary, you understand, to frame how a request for thorough and complete knowledge of a country one is considering bombing (otherwise known as "weighing all our options") can be presented as "partisanship." But stayed tuned. It's on its way.