Bush-Cheney Were Right--except They Weren't Right--and Nearly Took Us to Another War
ANALYSIS
A Blow to Bush's Tehran Policy
By Peter Baker and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, December 4, 2007; Page A01
President Bush got the world's attention this fall when he warned that a nuclear-armed Iran might lead to World War III. But his stark warning came at least a month or two after he had first been told about fresh indications that Iran had actually halted its nuclear weapons program.
The new intelligence report released yesterday not only undercut the administration's alarming rhetoric over Iran's nuclear ambitions but could also throttle Bush's effort to ratchet up international sanctions and take off the table the possibility of preemptive military action before the end of his presidency.
. . . But the White House said the report vindicated its concerns because it concluded that Iran did have a nuclear weapons program until halting it in 2003 and it showed that U.S.-led diplomatic pressure had succeeded in forcing Tehran's hand.
. . . Paul R. Pillar, a f…