There’s a lot of media attention on the Iranian nuclear deal right now, due in part to the fact that the US Senate seems ready to derail the tentative agreement by placing additional economic sanctions on Iran. (Now is as good as any time to remind people that “bipartisanship,” so cherished by the pundit class, can be truly destructive.).
So the talk about new sanctions and the start of the actual nuclear deal next week has reporters talking–but not very carefully. On CBS Evening News (1/12/14), Major Garrett explained that “President Obama said this preliminary deal gives the West the best hope in a decade to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.”
And he added:
The next big step–persuading Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program entirely, the White House considers that no better than a 50/50 proposition.
As has been made clear many times, it has not been established that Iran actually has a weapons program. What the country has is a uranium enrichment program that is monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which routinely finds no evidence Iran is diverting its uranium stockpile for military use. In 2007, the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) found that Iran had most likely stopped any development of a weapons program in 2003.
But the working assumption in much of the corporate media coverage of Iran is that the country has the intention of developing nuclear weapons, and must be stopped by the US and other countries. Garrett’s comment about a “50/50” chance that the White House can get Iran to “abandon its nuclear weapons program entirely” is illustrative. That quote, from Obama last December, were not about actually about a weapons program; that was how Obama characterized a possible final deal on stopping Iran’s enrichment program.
The idea that Iran has a nuclear weapons program is based on speculation and hyperbole. Journalists should be careful to stick to the facts as they are known when discussing this issue, instead of treating suspicions and assumptions as facts.
CBS News seems determined to drive its reputation into the ground.
Hard to see how that will help it gain viewers in a competitive environment. Or is it merging with Faux News?
One myth
“The liberal media”
Propagates another
Can We Persuade CBS to Abandon Its Inaccurate Rhetoric on Iran?
That would be like Jar jar on speech therapy… MC Chris.
Even the current Canadian government of Harper Neo-Conservatives, more closely aligned with those hostile to Iran than anyone, stopped making this false claim after the facts proved there was no such program. Sadly, much of the Canadian press, however, has not …
If you believe President Obama about Iran, you probably believe him about Benghazi and the ACA.
It seems contrary what many want to believe -that most of our allies intel communities believe Iran is close to a weapon.They believe Iran is lying.If you spend any time reading Iranian rhetoric as printed daily -you will see that their have been literally millions of threats made.And that they have a consummate history of lying.Anyone who would believe anything they say is a fool.Their new leader admits to lying for years to slip Irans nuclear program past the noses of the world.Im not sure where one would ever arrive at a place where one would put trust in what their leaders say.I suppose after smoking a ton of welfare pot
I’ve stopped watching cbs evening news ever since faux transplant “major” garrett. who ever names their child with that name? It’s so presumptious of respect before ever having earned it. And I’ll same the same of Sargent Shriver – it purely non-partisan.
Michael e says governments lie. Really? How’d he get that idea? Maybe from our own govt? The fact is, Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program, as certified by the IAEA which has done regular intrusive inspections for many years now. A reasonably intelligent and fairly informed person knows that, and they also know that our client state, or “closest ally” who is the catalyst for all these threats of attacking Iran (with American armed forces’ lives being put on the line), has an arsenal of nuclear weapons itself and no one is allowed to check, least of all the IAEA. If I were Michael e, I’d be very worried about that instead.
@michael e: So how about a cite to a source for these “literally millions” of threats? Because I’m pretty sure you’re pulling this outta yer ass and not from things you say you read daily.
And if they lie about everything, why would you believe their threats? Pretty contradictory, isn’t it?
John there is actually a sight that innumerates Iranian written word threats against Israel and it does in fact run into the millions.But that data base aside….Simply go into the main newspapers in Iran and request a farsi to English translation.Not a day goes by without threats against Israel(and us).It will be…enlightening to say the least.As far as them working toward a bomb I hope you all are right and those who have zero faith in the Iranian words are wrong.What bothers me is if they say yes we have the bomb too many here will say……..well good for them.Why shouldnt they have it.never realizing that you just chucked your absolute faith in them in the trash,and came up smiling out of the goo.
@michael e: First off, the word is site, as in short for website, Doc. You’re so familiar with it but refuse to provide a link. Why would that be?
Second, googling “iran threats israel” leads me to the http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. While that site does extensively analyze Iran’s military threat, it does not detail the millions of threats you say are out there.
Third, I wonder what would happen if you took every western newspaper and analyzed it for “threats” against Iran? Think the number of articles and editorials might reach into the millions?
Fourth, between the US, Iran, and Israel, which country or countries have a history of conducting direct military action against other countries based on intelligence (or outright pretext) about WMD’s? Hint: it’s not Iran. I imagine Iran is legitimately worried about things like that, and considerations like that drive its threatening posture. It’s got the might of the US and Israel aimed squarely at it; if it doesn’t wanna roll over and play dead, it’s gotta adopt a belligerent stance.
Fifth, you still don’t explain the glaring contradiction about how Iranians are consummate liars and can’t be trusted, but we gotta take their “threats” seriously.
Sixth, I don’t know whether Iran wants a nuclear weapons program or not, but the fact that we’ve been told that they’ve been working on it for the past 20 years and they still don’t have one makes me question how serious they are about it. However, they know Israel has nuclear weapons and they could very well see their own nuclear weapon as necessary to insure that Israel can’t wipe them out. In addition, sanctions against Iran have had an economic effect and China needs more oil than it can get and is willing to pay or it. It’s somewhat plausible that Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at freeing up Iran’s sizable oil resources for sale to the Chinese, in order to improve Iran’s serious economic plight. I don’t know and neither do you.
John I know as friends,and colleagues, many Iranians.I have traveled to those parts of the world.I find them an educated population that among their young especially would love close relations with this country.The leadership does not represent them.The mullahs seldom go out in public.It is considered dangerous.Their voted(sic)reps are simple shills for the theocracy’s real rulers.If you have ever listened to what comes from their mouths…Well lets just say that kind of threatening language is NEVER used by us or our Allies.When I say they lie…..I mean the shills.Those who basically tell the truth are the real leaders.The Mullahs.And what they say is chilling to the bone.They hope to bring on the return of the 12th imam .This will mean first the destruction of the world.It will begin when the Iranian people light a sea of fire on the great satan and her little satan(Israel) when they least expect it.Then the Mullahs and their people will be the first to enter paradise as the world is set alight.And the 12th shall return.In all of Obamas nonsense- I have never heard that kind of prose.If that makes you warm and cuddly inside more power to you.My iranian friends feel very differently.They hope and pray for these certifiable madmen to be thrown down.