by Rick Pearson
DES MOINES—Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Tuesday he was unfamiliar with the National Intelligence Estimate that reported that Iran had not had a program to develop nuclear weapons since 2003 and questioned the intelligence work behind it.
Asked by reporters if he had been briefed on the summary of the report, which was declassified and released Monday, Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, said "No." Informed of its content by reporters, he said he agreed with President Bush, who said that Iran remains a threat.
Huckabee's unfamiliarity with the NIE summary and his questioning of the conclusions reached by the 16 government agencies that prepared it could add to questions about whether the new GOP frontrunner in Iowa has the foreign affairs experience needed to serve as president—particular during a time of heightened Middle East tensions.
"I have a serious concern if they were to be able to weaponize nuclear material, and I think we all should," Huckabee said of Iran.
"I don't know where the intelligence is coming from that says that they suspended the program and how credible that is versus the news that they actually are expanding it," he said. "And then I've heard the last two weeks supposed reports that say that they are accelerating and could be having a reactor in a much shorter period of time than originally they thought."
Huckabee acknowledged that due to mistakes in intelligence over whether Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction, a major factor in the U.S. invasion, has created a higher standard of proof for any action against Iran.
"There's going to be a real anxiety for us to take any type of action without there being some very credible and almost irrefutable intelligence to validate our decision," he said. At the same time, Huckabee said its possible that the nation could show timidity toward taking action in Iran, if necessary, because of the failures of Iraq intelligence.
"That would be unfortunate if we actually knew we needed to take action but were fearful of doing so because of getting burned in the Iraq situation," he said. "That would be a serious challenge for us."







Comments
BY JOVE! It has finally hit me why people like Huck a Buck. Just think for a minute. Who is/was everybody's favorite cartoon character? Why, Dagwood Bumstead, of course! Look at Huck closely and you'll see the strong facial resemblance. And the behavior. Who cannot see how that blissful, blundering, awkwardness of Huck is very Dagwood? Could this be the very person America is looking for as comic relief from the heavy drama of the Bush years? I don't think so.
Posted by: GW | December 5, 2007 7:59 AM
he said he agreed with President Bush, who said that Iran remains a threat.
Duh!!!!Everybody agrees with that. So what. It's the way you "deal" with these issues that counts. Just like Iraq. Saddam could have been dealt with in a different manner, Afghanastan would have been won and his "beacon" would have been in place, and the volatility that this Iraq and Iran drum beating, has done nothing but drive the oil market to soaring levels. Thats not vision...thats a blunder!
Posted by: bill r. | December 5, 2007 8:55 AM
OK, so the administration (Cheney, Wolfowitz, Fieth) cherry-picks and twists the intelligence on the Iraq WMD NIE (remember the aluminum tubes) but the blame is placed on the intelligence community. Now the administration discounts this NIE because of the “faulty” previous one. If Huckabee is taking the same tack as Bush, then what will he use to determine the validity of any threat, his gut feeling? Or perhaps AIPAC (see below) Sorry, I don’t trust anyone that much!
It is interesting that Bush’s comments are similar to the ones from AIPAC (below)
AIPAC spokesman Josh Block told JTA that if anything, the report showed that Iran had advanced further than was publicly known.
"Far from acquitting Iran, the NIE reveals that Tehran continues to violate the international community's calls to end the pursuit of the fuel cycle and the ability to make highly enriched uranium, concludes that Iran has utilized and has at its disposal a hidden, secret second unacknowledged, unmonitored track for enriching bomb fuel, and has engaged in a nuclear weaponization program, an assessment never before made public by the American intelligence community," Block said. "All in all, it's a clarion call for additional and continued effort to pressure Iran economically and politically to end its illicit nuclear programs."
Posted by: Tom S. | December 5, 2007 9:11 AM
My comment is addressed to GW and all those other left wing liberals who are characterized by their venting out of both ends instead of using what's between their shoulders ( considering they have something up there to begin with )
The person who authorized this intelligence finding concerning Iran has ties to Sen. Chris Dodd ( commie ? ) who was responsible for blocking the nomination of John Bolton to become U.N. Amb. This author received this report through a senior european diplomat who got his information from a member of Iran's Revolutionary guard! You see if their is a " conspiracy " in this country its the democrats who are desperate enough to not only discredit the Bush administration at any length ( by the way, I am not 100% bush backer ) but are willing to sell this country out!
Posted by: Jim Lykins | December 5, 2007 11:48 AM
Jim Lykins:
Source of your rant, please.
And Newsmax and michellemalkin.com do not count as real sources.
"That would be unfortunate if we actually knew we needed to take action but were fearful of doing so because of getting burned in the Iraq situation," he said. "That would be a serious challenge for us."
So is Huckabee now saying that the war in Iraq was wrong to begin with?? Then why not call for an end to it?? Join your buddy Ron Paul!!
Posted by: BobinATL | December 5, 2007 12:52 PM
The person who authorized this intelligence finding concerning Iran has ties to Sen. Chris Dodd ( commie ? )
Posted by: Jim Lykins | December 5, 2007 11:48 AM
Your venting lost my attention at this line.
Posted by: bill r. | December 5, 2007 1:01 PM
For all you nuts that are looking hard to find a boogie man under your bed, OCD can be cured with medication. Iran can not attack the US or Isreal without being wiped off the map. The intelligence report is good news.
Posted by: pd | December 5, 2007 2:51 PM
Jim, I read your comments and all I can say is "Yawwnnnnnnnn"
Posted by: GW | December 5, 2007 2:53 PM
Would Republicans let Obama get away with not even being aware of or reading this NIE report? This crook Huckabee is in over his head.
Posted by: john | December 5, 2007 2:55 PM
And this year's Swamp Tinfoil Hat Award goes to Jim Lykins, who is saying that the new NIE is actually a nefarious lie propagated by Democrats to embarass the President. Because we all know Democrats control the Defense and Intelligence apparatus, right?
This narrowly beats out Don B's theory (wholeheartedly backslapped by resident loony righty John Dyslin) that Osama Bin Laden is actually dead, but President Bush can't get the word out because, get this, the "liberal media" won't give him the opportunity. 'Cause, you know, he's totally at the mercy of the media and can't make his own news, and cause, you know, its always been DEMOCRATS saying that Bin Laden is irrelevant and that we should go to Iraq before we finish off Bin Laden and REPUBLICANS saying how much they want to catch him and would never dare shift resources away from that fight to open an unrelated second front, and, you know, because having Bin Laden alive and well and presumably planning attacks is SO good for Democrats because... well, you lost me on that one.
The Republican motto 2008:
We have nothing to use but fear itself.
Posted by: Jones | December 5, 2007 4:21 PM
The more time that goes by the more future president Ron Paul veiws on foreign policy are looking inovative and way ahead of the curve. Many of his other veiws are just as just as progressive. Leaders should be allowed to lead and followers should just get in line behind them. The future will prove that Ron paul got it right long before the others on most of the issues facing this country.
Posted by: Aldell1 | December 6, 2007 1:25 PM