Mission accomplished

If the writers of the NIE last year sought to give Iran a free diplomatic pass on its nuclear program, well it's "mission accomplished," then. According to today's New York Times, the newest draft resolution on Iran's nuclear program is

[. . .] far weaker than what the United States, Britain and France were seeking, and officials say their efforts to win support from Russia and China have been undercut by the release in Washington in December of a National Intelligence Estimate that said Iran had abandoned its nuclear arms program.

Experts theorized that the timing and content of the NIE was meant to insure that the diplomatic process -- and not airstrikes -- would be used to stop Iranian nuclear enrichment. Alas, they have taken the wind out of the diplomatic sails of Western powers looking to enforce and expand sanctions -- which the NIE itself implied would be useful in persuading Tehran. The Russians and Chinese now have boundless excuses to delay and water down any diplomatic effort against Iran. So thank you, American intelligence community, for helping stop the development of the Iranian nuclear bomb.