The authors include this familiar canard: "Iran's claim that its nuclear program is for electricity production appears doubtful in light of its large oil and natural gas reserves," a point made recently also by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. But Rice and Fleitz either have selective memories or take us for fools. Back in 1976-with Gerald Ford president, Dick Cheney his chief of staff, Donald Rumsfeld secretary of defense, and Henry Kissinger national security adviser-the Ford administration bought the Shah's argument that Iran needed a nuclear program to meet its future energy requirements.
They persuaded a hesitant President Ford to offer Iran a deal that would have meant at least $6.4 billion for U.S. corporations like Westinghouse and General Electric, had not the Shah been unceremoniously ousted three years later. The offer included a reprocessing facility for a complete nuclear fuels cycle-essentially the same capability that the U.S., Israel, and other countries now insist Iran cannot be allowed to acquire. Cheney, too, has a selective memory. He noted early last year that since the Iranians are "already sitting on an awful lot of oil and gas. Nobody can figure why they need nuclear as well to generate energy."
The Current Hype on Iran
Hoekstra's release of this paper is no innocent caper. Rather it is another sign pointing in the direction of a US attack on Iran. Tehran is now being blamed not only for inciting Hezbollah but also for enhanced improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq that are killing and maiming US forces-not to mention Iran's nuclear development program.
There is yet another, more subtle disquieting note about the Fleitz-Hoekstra quasi-estimate. It bears the earmarks of a rushed job, with very little editorial scrubbing. There are misplaced modifiers, and verbs are given the option of agreeing in number (or not) with subject nouns.
One wag offered this as evidence the president may have taken a direct hand in the drafting. My guess is even more troubling. It seems to me possible that the Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal told Hoekstra to get the paper out sooner rather than later, as an aid to Americans in "recognizing Iran as a strategic threat." In the coming weeks, look for "mushroom clouds." They can come out of nowhere-as they did in September/October of 2002.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. A CIA analyst for 27 years, he is cofounder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
The original version of this article appeared on Truthout.com.
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