George W. Bush Was Told In August That Iran Nuke Program May Be Suspended

December 7, 2007 -- Since the release of the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, the American people are asking themselves what did the Bush White House know and when did they know it? Despite being told to the contrary by President Bush himself Tuesday, CNN reports today that President Bush was told in August that Iran's nuclear program "may be suspended." Yet the President continued to mislead the American people on Iran's nuclear program with rhetoric about Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

Below are excerpts from CNN's report:

Bush told in August that Iran nuke program 'may be suspended'
By Ed Henry
CNN

"President Bush was told in August that Iran's nuclear weapons program 'may be suspended,' the White House said Wednesday, which seemingly contradicts the account of the meeting given by Bush Tuesday…Adm. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told Bush the new information might cause intelligence officials to change their assessment of the Iranian program, but said analysts needed to review the new data before making a final judgment,' White House press secretary Dana Perino said late Wednesday.

"The new account from Perino seems to contradict the president's version of his August conversation with McConnell and raised new questions about why Bush continued to warn the American public about a threat from Iran two months after being told a new assessment was in the works. In October, the president told reporters, "If you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be preventing [Iran] from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,"…

"The Bush administration has spent years warning that Iran's development of nuclear power plants and enriched uranium masked an effort to produce an atomic bomb. But in a reversal of a 2005 report, the National Intelligence Estimate released Monday concluded that Iran suspended nuclear weapons work in late 2003 and was unlikely to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb until at least 2010. Instead of focusing on that reversal, Bush has continued to stress that the report confirms long-standing suspicions that Iran had a nuclear weapons program in the first place…"

For the full article, click here: Link

Source: DNC

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