Iran: The Blair Nuke Project

In 1994, three film students travel into the woods to investigate the legend that is the Blair Witch. While the students were never seen again, their video footage turned up a year later. [I sense an odd parallel with Iran's take on the current U.S. intelligence threat assessment.]

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In the annual threat assessment to Congress on Thursday, U.S. intelligence director Dennis Blair blazed a new trail when he said, "I can say at this point that Iran is clearly developing all the components of a deliverable nuclear weapons program -- fissionable material, nuclear weaponizing capability and the means to deliver it."

Obama's nominee to serve as CIA director, Leon E. Panetta, also left little doubt about his view last week when he testified on Capitol Hill. "From all the information I've seen," Panetta said, "I think there is no question that they are seeking that capability." -- LA Times

Regardless, it appears that the Tehran Times, Iran's national newspaper, is lost in the woods -- or, at least, lost in translation.

U.S. intelligence reconfirms that Iran has no nuclear weapons program, the new U.S. intelligence director Dennis Blair said in an annual threat assessment to Congress on Thursday.

Sloppy reporting or Iran's wishful thinking?

Whatever the reason, please, someone bring a reputable interpreter to Iran when the U.S. begins to negotiate. The stakes have never been higher. Neither side can afford an unnecessary witch hunt.