To the editor:

There has been much noise about the latest National Intelligence Estimate, particularly the conclusion that Iran suspended their nuclear weapons program in 2003. The majority want to point to this and claim that the Iranians are peaceable folks and that the big bad United States is overreacting. Permit me to suggest a somewhat different interpretation.

According to the NIE, the Iranians were indeed working on a nuclear weapon program up to 2003. We must ask ourselves why Iran ended its nuclear program. The supposition is that international pressure led them to do so. To date, only three countries have terminated their programs in a public and transparent manner: Libya, South Africa and North Korea. All three have permitted inspectors to verify the terminations. Iran has not done so. This alone should be somewhat suspicious.

However, there may be a simpler reason for Iran having stopped work on their nuclear weapons program. One can do all the simulation testing one wants on a weapon design, but eventually one must actually build one. To do this, one must have the requisite materials. In this case one must have fissionable materials, materials such as highly enriched uranium or plutonium. It is entirely plausible that the Iranians suspended work until they could acquire the necessary fissionable materials. I note, with interest, that the Iranian enrichment program seemed to kick into high gear about the time they allegedly suspended their program.

Now isn’t that a curious coincidence.

Brent Garner,

Lawrence