CIA Plays It Safe With Intelligence Estimate of Iran's Nuclear Program: They Didn't Want War Hawks in White House to Get Us Into Another War

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recently released a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear program and concluded that the Iranians had stopped their nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003 under international pressure.

This effectively took several options off the table for the Bush Administration, left the Israelis fuming, had the European Union both cheering and shaking their heads in confusion, and the Iranians crowing "See, we told you so." And Iran's neighbors are now very nervous too.

I think the CIA didn't want another statement coming out of its ranks that would be seized by the war hawks in Washington as George Tenet's "slam dunk" comment was in 2003, with regards to Saddam Hussein's possessing banned biochem weapons in the lead-up to the Iraq War. CIA definitely didn't want this Administration to launch another war based on incomplete or faulty information.

That's already happened once; and CIA was roasted alive. Now they're playing it safe when they should be aggressively pushing to get more people on the ground inside Iran. "We're kind of sure" WON'T cut it.

Tenet's New Book: Telling Everyone What He Should Have Said When He Was CIA Director

Former CIA Director George Tenet went on a media blitz over the weekend, promoting his new book which blasts the Bush Administration of how it handled 9/11, and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It looks like an exercise in shifting blame to others; most notably Vice-President Cheney.

For instance, he was very aggressive in his book and on his media blitz about his "slam dunk" comment being taken out of context with regards to Saddam Hussein's possessing chemical and biological weapons.

For someone in such an important position, such as the directorship of the Central Intelligence Agency, he should have been very wary about using a term like "slam dunk" in ANY context.

He had the ear of the President from 9/11 to the end of his tenure at CIA, and he should have gone after the incorrect political interpretation of his agency's intelligence data. But instead he played it safe and went with the flow, which helped to lock our nation's future with an Iraq that may not hold together. And by saying "went with the flow" I meant he didn't do enough to get around administrative roadblocks that were there.

And now he has a book deal, and is telling everyone what he should have been SCREAMING at Cheney, Rove, and the other hawks during those meetings. Too little, too late.

What a shame.

All This Talk of Sympathy for Libby in Jury Guarantees Some of the Convictions Will Be Overturned on Appeal

Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted on four of five counts against him, and a food fight has broken out between the left and right on whether or not he should be granted a Presidential pardon.

I have doubts it will get that far.

A number of the jurors who convicted Libby have virtually guaranteed that Libby will get an appeal. I predict that at least two of the convictions will be overturned; the reason why is that jurors have been expressing sympathy for Libby, saying that the convictions had nothing to do with the crime that started all of this: who outed the CIA operative?

One went on MSNBC and said "Pardon Libby."

That doesn't sound like a unanimous vote in the jury room to me. The defense will grab onto what's been said after the fact, and try to illustrate that there was confusion in that jury room.

The talk of a pardon is premature. The legal process needs time to sort all of this out.