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[[Image:Bncjcfjuh.jpg|right|thumb|Condoleeza Rice]]Okay, you guys post every minor news story about Iran EXCEPT the fact that they aren'''Condoleezza Rice''' is t a real threat? Do you guys hate them for no reason? Because the 66th [[United States Secretary hatred of State]]a culture for no reason, and the first [[African-American]] woman to hold the post. Prior to assuming her duties military action against it as Secretary of Statesuch, she served as [[National Security Advisor]] to [[President]] [[George W. Bush]]. Her objective of transformational diplomacy is tocould be called terrorism! Anyone reading this, make an account, "work with our many partners around the world to build and sustain democraticcopy and paste it over every article you can! WASHINGTON - First Iraq, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people -- and conduct themselves responsibly in the international systemnow Iran." As she stated at her confirmation hearing, "we must use American diplomacy to help create The United States has operated under a balance cloud of power faulty intelligence in the world that favors freedomboth countries. And the time for diplomacy is now."<ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/hottopics/Condoleezza_Rice.shtml Condoleezza Rice]. Newsmax.</ref>ADVERTISEMENT

Dr. Rice earned her B. A. in [[politics|political]] [[science]] from the [[University of Denver]] in 1974 at age 19. The following yearWhere there once was certainty, she recieved her Mthere now is doubt.A. from the University of [[Notre Dame]]. She returned "We do not know whether it currently intends to the University of Denverdevelop nuclear weapons, where she was awarded " the Ph.D. in 1981. In addition to [[English]], she speaks [[Russian]], [[French]], [[German]], and [[Spanish]]new estimate said Monday.

Condoleeza was first an Assistant Professor at [[Stanford]] (1981–1987). She eventually earned tenureJust last month, becoming an Associate Professor (1987–1993)President Bush, then Professorat a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and later Provost.<ref>[http://www.forbes.com/2001/10/15/crice.html Provost].</ref> She was the first blacksaid, first woman "We talked about Iran and the youngest person desire to be Provost.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2002/black.history/stories/13.rice/index.html Hoover Institute].</ref> She was also a [[Hoover Institute]] fellow. Her primary expertise was work jointly to convince the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Warsaw Pact]] nationsIranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace. "

As ProvostMore ominously, DrBush told a news conference Oct. Rice balanced the budget17, even though "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the deficit was said knowledge necessary to be impossibly large, make a prediction which Rice happily proved wrong. <ref>[http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/1999/june9/rice-69.html Stanford University]nuclear weapon.</ref>"

== Career Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in Joint Chiefs and National Security Council ==order to make a nuclear weapon."

In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, Rice served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From 1989 to March 1991 she directed and also directed in a senior position, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council. She was also Special Assistant to the President of National Security Affairs. Rice was instrumental to help with developing Bush's and James Baker's policies to make full reunification of Germany. By 1990 she was already George H. W. Bush's principal advisor on the Soviet Union and one of his assistants for National Security Affairs. She impressed President [[George H.W. Bush]], so much, that he Adviser Stephen Hadley said to [[Gorbachev]] she the president made comments like those "tells me everything I know about because he was describing the [[Soviet Union]]threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him."[http://dir.salon.com/story/politics2000/feature/2000/03/20/rice/index.html]

After Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Rice returned to her teaching position at Stanford, although she consulted White House last Wednesday and briefed him on the former USSR for many. [[Pete Wilson]] appointed her to a bipartisan committee that had been formed to draw their new lines for voting. She was also in a Federal Advisory Committee on men and woman training in the Militaryfindings.

She The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was helping George Wforced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Bush for his victorious campaign for President in 2000, a later became a key advisor. She said in departure from the failed Clinton policies The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the 1990s and an articulation of a new factors behind Bush plan at the convention speech “...America's armed forces are not a global police forcedecision to invade Iraq. They are It since has been determined that Iraq did not the world's 911.”[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/elections/ricetext080100have weapons of mass destruction.htm]

On 2000, Rice was appointed National Security Advisor Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and no longer served at Stanford. She was the first woman ever country to serve in the position. Over 2001, Rice worked with CIA Director George Tenet almost daily another war based on terrorism and national security issuesflawed intelligence. "

In early 2003, former [[First Lady]] and now Senator [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] spoke of disarming [[Saddam Hussein]]: "I hope this is something that I have followed for administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a decade. If he were serious about disarming he would have been much more forthcoming...there is no accounting for the chemical and biological stocks.-vis Iran," DrReid said. Rice repeated these sentiments in an article in the ''[[New York Times]]'' entitled ''Why We Know Iraq Is Lying,'' "instead of implementing national initiatives The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to disarm, Iraq maintains institutions whose sole purpose is to thwart effectively address the work of the inspectorschallenges posed by Iran."[http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030123-1.html]

Leading up to In the 2004 U.S. Presidential electioncase of Iran, though, Rice campaigned for the incumbent president. She used this moment to state her belief White House has not dropped its suspicions that Saddam's government in Iraq contributed to the instability that produced the opportunity for Tehran could pursue a terrorist attack like the 9/11 attacks on America. At a Pittsburgh, she said "While Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the actual attacks on America, Saddam Hussein's Iraq was a part of the Middle East that was festering and unstable, [and] was part of the circumstances that created the problem on September 11nuclear bomb."

*Carnegie Corporation*Carnegie Endowment for International Peace*Charles Schwab Corporation*Chevron Corporation*Hewlett Packard*Rand Corporation*Transamerica Corporation*William and Flora Hewlett Foundation*KQED*JIn rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure.PImportantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program. Morgan Chase*University of Notre Dame*San Francisco Symphony*Center for New Generation*California and East Menlo Park*Vice President Boys and Girls Clubs of America of San Francisco*National Council for Soviet and East European Studies*Stanford Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition*Woodrow Wilson Center

*Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft (1995) *The Gorbachev Era (1986)*The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak ArmyWhile key facts have changed, 1948-1983: Uncertain Allegiance (1984)the administration's strategy has not.

{{DEFAULTSORT: Rice"It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict, Condoleeza}}" said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years."[[Category:Educators]][[category:Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer." ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration. WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States Government]]has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.==External links==ADVERTISEMENT*[http://wwwIn a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs.indepthinfo Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt.com/condoleezza"We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday. Compare that with what then-rice/indexNational Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January.shtml Biography "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons." Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of Condoleezza Rice]peace." More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon." Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him." Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings. The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence." "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran." In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb. Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said. In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program. "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said. While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not. The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs. "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution." Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran. "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years." Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer." ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration. WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.ADVERTISEMENT In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs. Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday. Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons." Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace." More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon." Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him." Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings. The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence." "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran." In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb. Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said. In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program. "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said. While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not. The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs. "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution." Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran. "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years." Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer." ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration. WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.ADVERTISEMENT In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs. Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday. Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons." Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace." More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon." Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him." Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings. The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence." "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran." In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb. Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said. In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program. "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said. While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not. The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs. "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution." Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran. "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years." Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer." ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration. WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.ADVERTISEMENT In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs. Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday. Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons." Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace." More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon." Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him." Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings. The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence." "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran." In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb. Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said. In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program. "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said. While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not. The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs. "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution." Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran. "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years." Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer." ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration. WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.ADVERTISEMENT In a bombshell intelligence assessment, the United States has backed away from its once-ironclad assertion that Tehran is intent on building nuclear bombs. Where there once was certainty, there now is doubt. "We do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," the new estimate said Monday. Compare that with what then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress in January. "Our assessment is that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons." Just last month, President Bush, at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said, "We talked about Iran and the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, for the sake of peace." More ominously, Bush told a news conference Oct. 17, "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." Asked then if he definitely believed that Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, Bush said, "Yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon." Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the president made comments like those "because he was describing the threat as the intelligence community itself had been describing the threat both publicly and in their briefings to him." Intelligence officials advised Bush several months ago that they were reevaluating their assessments about Iran. They came to the White House last Wednesday and briefed him on their new findings. The intelligence flip-flop recalled the embarrassing reversal that Bush was forced to make on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The conviction that Saddam Hussein had such weapons was one of the factors behind Bush's decision to invade Iraq. It since has been determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Democrats on Monday did not hesitate to suggest an Iran-Iraq comparison. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats had requested the new Iran assessment "so that the administration could not rush this Congress and the country to another war based on flawed intelligence." "I hope this administration reads this report carefully and appropriately adjusts its rhetoric and policy vis-a-vis Iran," Reid said. "The administration should begin this process by finally undertaking a diplomatic surge necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by Iran." In the case of Iran, though, the White House has not dropped its suspicions that Tehran could pursue a nuclear bomb. Iran continues to develop, test and deploy ballistic missiles, and its civilian uranium enrichment program is continuing. "It can readily use the same technology to produce weapons-grade uranium," Hadley said. In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program. "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the new estimate said. While key facts have changed, the administration's strategy has not. The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs. "The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure," Hadley said. "And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution." Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran. "It's a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict," said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This isn't the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years." Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program "is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq" where Bush believed that Iraq's pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that "suggests they can't take yes for an answer." ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — Terence Hunt has covered the White House for The Associated Press since the Reagan administration.