1) Iran has a covert, underground nuclear enrichment facility, yet knowing this -- as the United States apparently has for years -- Obama has continued to insist that Iran might have a legitimate need for nuclear power ("Without going into specifics," Obama said this summer, "what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations.").
2) Iran discovered we were monitoring the facility on Obama's watch. How did this happen?
3) Obama's staff notes "They have cheated three times...And they have now been caught three times." They are so enthralled by their own purported omniscience that they can't appreciate the fact that Iran is no doubt breaking the rules and not getting caught at least some of the time.
I wonder when we will get a new NIE on Iran, given that some (though not all) elements of the administration cling to its conclusions as if they were based on the latest and greatest intelligence on Iran. The report is more than two years old, but if you ask Dennis Blair whether Iran has a nuclear weapons program he will point to that document and say that the IC consensus is no.
4) NBC also reports that "the site is 30 kilometers outside of Qum, Iran's holy city." Jennifer Rubin quotes an aide on the Hill: "Apparently, the Iranians forced their hand with the letter earlier in the week to the IAEA--but if Obama knew this for months and did not act with urgency, this is a major debacle." Of course it's obvious Obama hasn't acted with urgency, which is why members of Congress are going to be compelled to push even harder for sanctions.
The statement from Cantor:
"Iran is a real-time security threat to the United States, Israel, and our allies around the world. A nuclear Iran is closer than many thought it was yesterday, and the problem is getting worse by the day, not better.
"The existence of a second uranium enrichment facility not only undercuts the Administration's policy toward Iran, but leaves little doubt that terrorist nations are not to be trusted or negotiated with diplomatically. Congress should act immediately to give the President the tools he needs to implement sanctions on Iran by passing the bipartisan Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act."
And another from Mark Kirk:
The U.S., France and Britain announced today that Iran lied again, this time concealing the construction of an underground uranium enrichment facility outside Qum.
"It is time for the House to move the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194) to the floor next week. I introduced this sanctions plan four years ago because Iran depends on imported gasoline for up to 40 percent of its needs. A gasoline quarantine is the sanction that will actually work."
You have to think leading Dems like Lieberman and Berman will be out with pretty strong statements later today.
