http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/US-spies-accused-of-failing-in-Iran/2005/03/09/1110316095934.html
US spies accused of failing in Iran March 10, 2005 � A commission will report to President George Bush this month that US intelligence on Iran is too poor to allow firm judgements about the country's weapons programs. The report comes as intelligence agencies prepare a new assessment on Iran, and follows a 14-month review by the nine-member bipartisan presidential panel that Mr Bush ordered last year to assess the quality of overall intelligence about the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The Bush Administration has issued increasingly sharp warnings about what it says are Iran's efforts to build nuclear weapons. The warnings have been met with firm denials in Tehran, which says its nuclear program is intended purely for civilian purposes. The panel, led by Laurence Silberman, a retired federal judge, and Charles Robb, a former governor and senator from Virginia, had unrestricted access to the most senior people and sensitive documents of the intelligence agencies. The panel is also expected to criticise US intelligence on North Korea. But people who have been briefed about its conclusions said the record on Iran was particularly worrisome. One person said the panel characterised US intelligence on Iran as "scandalous", given the importance and relative openness of the country, compared with such an extreme case as North Korea. The revelations come as Iran threatens to break off negotiations with France, Britain and Germany if the three European Union heavyweights continue to insist Tehran abandon all sensitive atomic activities. Tehran says its nuclear program is intended solely to generate electricity and has rejected an EU demand that it terminate its uranium enrichment program, which could be used to produce fuel for nuclear power plants or atomic weapons. In a further sign of defiance, Iran's parliament on Tuesday added a clause to next year's budget bill obliging the Government to conduct studies of the feasibility of building nuclear power plants. The US demanded that possible action be considered against Iran after the latest developments. The New York Times, Reuters, Agence France-Presse ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
