THE FOLLY OF ATTACKING IRAN: "The new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) has revealed the consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran abandoned nuclear weapons research in 2003 and has not restarted it. The NIE shows that European diplomatic efforts were successful in convincing Iran not to pursue nuclear weapons research (just as diplomacy has been successful in North Korea). Now that we know this, it is time for the U.S. to engage in real dialogue with Iran. Since we know that there is little risk Iran will develop a nuclear weapon soon, we know there is time to talk. However, despite the release of the NIE, the White House continues to hype the “danger” from Iran. Bush Administration officials continue to reject calls for real diplomacy with Iran."
Broken Spring? : Information Clearing House This is a sequel to my June 2011 article, ‘After the spring’, on the upheavals in the Arab world. It is an article that has been painful to write, because it brings bad tidings and offers a pessimistic analysis of the upheavals, at least in the short term, in a number of Arab countries. The outcomes and potential outcomes of these uprisings have also acquired new, very significant dimensions. These include a complex entanglement with the accelerated preparations for a possible attack on Iran, and a poisonous, sectarian aspect that could have the consequence of ripping Syria and the Middle East apart.
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