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Contradicting Intelligence On Iran's Nuclear Program

Floor Speech

By: Mark Kirk
By: Mark Kirk
Date: Oct. 1, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security

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Mr. KIRK. The United States revealed a secret underground uranium enrichment facility near Qom, Iran. U.S. officials told us they were carefully observing it for ``several years.'' But earlier this year, the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, provided written congressional testimony that the intelligence community has ``no evidence that Iran has yet made a decision to produce highly enriched uranium.''

There is a glaring contradiction between the administration's revelation and Blair's testimony. I urge Members to cosign the bipartisan Kirk-Berkley letter calling on Director Blair to account for contradictory testimony on the growing Iranian threat.

The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran downplaying the threat now appears to be a glaring Intelligence failure. According to the Wall Street Journal, the main authors of that NIE, Van Van Diepen, Tom Finger, and Ken Brill, should be accountable, too.

Congress should ensure that key officials get this right, especially on Iran.

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