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Sen. Kirk: 2007 intel assessment of Iranian nuke problem a 'screw up'
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is sharply critical of the U.S. intelligence community for its role in a 2007 analysis that concluded Iran had suspended its nuclear-arms program.
A 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) stated that America’s 16 intelligence services agreed Tehran had stopped its nuclear weapons program. The same intelligence document estimated the program was frozen.
But late last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declared Iran has been working fast and furious on nuclear arms. In fact, the IAEA concluded the Iranian regime has never been closer to fielding the world’s deadliest weapons. So what should one make of that 2007 U.S. assessment?
At a Monday forum on Capitol Hill, Kirk was blunt, branding the NIE a “screw up.”
Kirk explained that he now views the infamous NIE as intended “to apologize by understating a threat” after, as many now say, “after overstating a threat.”
The senator revealed he has talked with the author of the 2007 intel assessment. “I could not be more dissatisfied with his work,” Krik said.
