This Has Only Been A Test

Had this been a real alert, you would have been instructed to tune your radio to your emergency station."

Let us assume, that after some long and arduous thinking, I decided to give in to the argument that in 2001, President Bush may have intentionally exaggerated the intelligence reports that stated Iraq and Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction.

If the nay sayers really believe that President Bush "Lied" and he will always be a liar then why aren't they saying he is lying now with the new intelligence report that Iran has stopped their pursuit of building a nuclear weapon. If they continually claim that we cannot believe any intelligence data then, why should we believe it now?

In a recent article, the New York Times wrote, "Rarely, if ever, has a single intelligence report so completely, so suddenly, and so surprisingly altered a foreign policy debate here." A single report?

Prior to 9/11, there were hundreds of reports that went back to the early 1990's during the Clinton administration. These reports constantly corroborated the ones that came before them.

They were so powerful and the intelligence so convincing that in October 1998, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act (H.R.4655). This act gave him the authority to overthrow Suddam Hussein, even by using military assistance, if necessary.

In addition, the intelligence reports were not from one source; they were from our intelligence, Germany's, Great Britain's, Italy's, Russia, France, and Australia. With all this corroboration it was hard to deny the existence of WMD's in Iraq; especially when Suddam would not cooperate with the U.N. weapons inspectors. So with all this intelligence you have to wonder if Suddam Hussein was the only one telling the truth?

Everyone was fooled or were they? Were the weapons moved to Syria or some other clandestine location? We may never know.

However, the one thing we do know is the latest intelligence we see about Iran is from "one source."

The question is, has Iran fooled us and leading us into another decade of complacency that we experienced during the Clinton administration prior to 9/11?

If Iran did not have a weapons program and as they constantly insisted were only building nuclear power plants for energy, why did they repeatedly refuse to cooperate with the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency? Does that scenario sound familiar?

If they were only building nuclear power plants for peaceful energy production, why would they shut them down under international pressure?

The intelligence apparently came from notes that were obtained this past summer from deliberations of Iranian military officials that were involved in the nuclear weapons development program. Were these notes intentionally written and leaked in an attempt to throw us off? That is a thought I haven't heard the media address. They only keep saying that we were fooled in the past. However, we must be right this time. However, where is the corroboration?

The Corroboration is in the intelligence that Iran, despite what Ahmadinejad and the New York Times (who appears to believe the terrorists before our own administration) repeatedly stated, was building the bomb. It appears that the intelligence we uncovered shows that Iran by their own admission, whether their reports were planted or not, stopped production of a nuclear weapon of mass destruction.

Even if the reports are correct and Iran has ceased its production of nuclear weapons, the question still has to be asked. Why do they continue to enrich uranium if they have no plans to use it?

The answer is simple. Shutting down the production sites is the smallest step in building a nuclear weapons program. Once you have enriched uranium it only takes 30-60 days to assemble a weapon. So halting their program for assembly does not preclude them from seeking the bomb. By the time we find out they reinvigorated their program, it may be too late.

John Bolton, the former ambassador to the United Nations, said, "Iran's intentions would always remain a concern as long as it continues to enrich uranium."

What has this new revelation done? It has weakened international support for sanctions against Iran. Which once again raises questions about America's integrity with regard to its intelligence gathering?

Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and a number of other senators have expressed the hope that President Bush will open the door to dialogue with Iran just as we did with North Korea. Two things that Hagel and his comrades are missing in the equation are: First, President Ahmadinejad has stated repeatedly he has no interest in talking with us.

Secondly, North Korea only came to the table when we seized $25 million in counterfeit U.S. dollars secretly sequestered in an offshore bank. Once the world was told not to accept U.S. dollars from North Korea because they could be worthless, the sanctions remained in place and Kim Jon Il had two choices; come to the table or starve.

If the international community removes the sanctions from Iran and Iran gets back on their feet, how long will it be before they resume their nuclear program? Will they have the bomb before our intelligence ascertains it? In addition, if we do find out, who is going to believe us? - Especially in the wake of the liberal media lambasting our intelligence, when it does not go their way.

Recently, I attended a meeting that was addressed by James Woosley, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. His assessment of the Iranian situation is the same as mine. He did, however, add one more element that must be addressed. "Once Iran has the bomb, they are not going to test it in the deserts of Iran. They will test it in the cities of Israel and the United States."

So, if you are running to find shelter after hearing the big boom and seeing the big flash in the sky, don't stop to buy the New York Times on the way because it will only tell you, there is nothing to worry about. It is only a test.

And, that is my opinion.

Michael Solomon

Author of 'Where Did My America Go?"

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