Hopeful News On Iran Nukes

Iran has said they'll have nukes by this spring. The NYTimes says no. In a four-clicker, NYT reporters William Broad and David Sanger poke about globally for insight into when the Iran might really produce enough enriched uranium in their Isfastan plant to wipe Israel off the map.

Because they're the most likely target an Iranian nuke, the Israeli view is particularly interesting. They say it'll be five years before the Mullahs get their centrifuges to work and get their bomb.

NYT quotes American intelligence sources with a prediction of five to ten years.

It took the US three years. Pakistan and North Korea took about a decade. Iran's been at it for 20 years. NYT places the blame for Iran's slowness on the Mullah's wishy-washy attitudes about nukes, continuing centrifuge problems, and American efforts to make things difficult for the Tehradicals.

Evidence of this American pressure came again this week, with President Bush embracing the Indian nuke program but straight-arming the Pakistani effort. Our elimination of Pakistan's Abdul Qadeer Khan hurt Iran very deeply, and Bush signalled that we remember Pakistan's complicity in his vile business.

If we really do have five years -- and let's keep verifying their status and doing all we can to mess them up -- ther just might be enough time for the Iranian people to rise up against the Mad Mullahs.

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Related Tags: Iran, Mullahs, Nukes, Nuclear, Tehran, Khan