Pushing Iran toward nuclear weapons

more stuff you don't hear from our thoroughly house-broken traditional media...

Two former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials who were directly involved in producing CIA estimates on Iran revealed in separate interviews with IPS that the National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) on Iran have consistently portrayed its concerns about the military threat posed by the United States as a central consideration in Tehran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.

Paul Pillar, who managed the writing of all NIEs on Iran from 2000 to 2005 as the national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia [...] said the dominant view of the intelligence community in the past three years has been that Iran would seek a nuclear weapons capability, but analysts have also considered that a willingness on the part of Washington to reassure Iran on its security fears would have a significant effect on Iranian policy.

Pillar said one of the things analysts have taken into account is Iran's May 2003 proposal to the Bush administration to negotiate on its nuclear option and its relationship with Hezbollah and other anti-Israel groups as well as its own security concerns.

"It was seen as an indicator of Iran's willingness to engage," he said.

it makes perfectly good sense... the 5-dollar, multi-syllable description of iran's reaction is "psychological reciprocity," meaning simply that people tend to react in ways that mirror how they're being treated... but, of course, such fundamental concepts of human interaction are not in the bushco repertoire...

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