Iran and Iraq and 'Inconsistent' Intelligence

Two stories to keep you busy this weekend, dear reader (i.e. Mom.)

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Senators Debate Significance of Pentagon Report On Intelligence

By Walter Pincus and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 10, 2007; Page A01

Senate Democrats and Republicans disagreed yesterday over the meaning and importance of a Defense Department inspector general's conclusion that a Pentagon policy office produced and gave senior policymakers "alternative intelligence assessments on Iraq and Al Qaida relations" that were "inconsistent" with the intelligence community's consensus view in the lead-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
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and

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Iran will strike U.S. interests if attacked
By Jonathan S. Landay
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Iran's supreme leader ratcheted up tensions with the United States on Thursday, warning that his country would strike American interests around the world in retaliation for any U.S. strike on Iran.

At the same time, a senior Iranian diplomat said that his country was ready to participate in diplomatic efforts to reduce instability in the Middle East, including the sectarian bloodshed unleashed by the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The Iranian statements follow U.S. charges that Tehran is shipping weapons to Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq for attacks on American forces. U.S. and Iraqi forces have detained Iranian operatives in Iraq, and President Bush's dispatched a second aircraft carrier strike force and additional anti-missile batteries to the Persian Gulf.
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[edit]and one more:

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Target Iran: US able to strike in the spring

Despite denials, Pentagon plans for possible attack on nuclear sites are well advanced

Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Saturday February 10, 2007
The Guardian

US preparations for an air strike against Iran are at an advanced stage, in spite of repeated public denials by the Bush administration, according to informed sources in Washington.

The present military build-up in the Gulf would allow the US to mount an attack by the spring. But the sources said that if there was an attack, it was more likely next year, just before Mr Bush leaves office.

Neo-conservatives, particularly at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, are urging Mr Bush to open a new front against Iran. So too is the vice-president, Dick Cheney...