The Two Best Things About the Latest NIE

The first best thing about the new NIE on Iran is the gnashing of teeth from apoplectic neo-kooks everywhere. I include in this bunch John Bolton, Freedom's Watch gang and of course the folks at the Weekly Standard and the Wall Street Journal editorial page. This group also includes hardliners in the Israeli government (Ehud Barak for example) who are basically suggesting that the report is wrong.

The second best thing is the news from several sources including Salon and ThinkProgress that the Decider knew about the NIE's conclusions back in August but still continued to insert World War III references in his speeches. Maybe that explains the giggles from the Prez whenever he talks about Armageddon. No seriously, this serves as a check for all of us skeptics out here that know these guys are just using fear of a nuclear Iran for political means. It also weakens any chance of the end of days crowd getting an invasion of Iran as a Christmas gift.

For a great laugh on the “other NIE” read today's Tom Friedman column in the NYT.