Josh Marshall points out a discrepancy in a recent speech by John Bolton that adds to the list of “repeated, public mistatements, exaggerations and distortions of intelligence about Iran” offered by the Bush Administration:
… Bolton said that the Iranians told their German, French and British counterparts that they could produce enough uranium for a bomb within a year, and that they/’d do so if the Europeans didn/’t back down in their demands that the Iranians dismantle their nuclear program.
Marshall notes that the Washington Post and USA Today both suggest Bolton is repeating the story incorrectly:
The Post says, delicately, that “there were discrepancies between Bolton’s account and those of European and U.S. diplomats, who said that Iran/’s deputy negotiator, Hoseyn Moussavian, said Iran could start enriching uranium within a year, but it would take longer to enrich enough for a weapon.”
In a small note on page A4 in USA Today Barbara Slavin puts the point a little more squarely, saying that “two diplomats from two of the European countries at the Paris talks said they were unaware of such a threat. The diplomats … were not present at the talks but were briefed on them…”
I was on this, but e-mails and a telephone call to the Arms Control Association/’s Paul Kerr, my one stop shop for all states rogue, was met with deafening silence. This after I hunted down a little FBIS translation for the man.
You been called out, sucker.
(I am just kidding, he/’s working on deadline this week…)
