Michael Ledeen’s November 29 screed in the National Review Online about the recent EU3 deal with Iran proves that it’s easy to make arguments when you can just invent facts. Some background: Iran agreed in October 2003 to stop its uranium enrichment activities, but there has been an ongoing dispute about the scope of that …
How Many Chinese Nuclear Weapons Redux 2
by | 2004-12-01 | No Comments
With Paul tackling the Iran issue today, I wanted to look at a popular issue for this blog—How many nuclear weapons does China have? My post shares a common theme with Paul’s systematic dismantling of Michael Ledeen—too many conservative pundits compensate for shallow knowledge by simply making up facts. In 1996, a Singapore University student, …
Word of the Day: "Geheimdienst"
by | 2004-11-30 | No Comments
Regarding the questionable story about Iranian tunneling attributed to an “intelligence service” (“Geheimdienst” in German), a colleague notes these sort of stories are sadly common in the German press. As evidence, he cites a recent story in Die Welt—attributed only to “Western intelligence services”—suggesting that Syrian units were operating in Darfur, using chemical weapons against …
Boucher Gets Pissed about Iran
by | 2004-11-30 | 1 Comment
The Booch has a temper. Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani suggested Iran had defeated U.S. efforts to win a referral of Iran to the UN Security Council. Asked about the comment, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher got testy with a reporter: QUESTION: Do you agree with Mr. Rohani’s characterization of what happened yesterday as …
