DES MOINES, IA-- New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson today released the following statement on the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran:
"This NIE tells us one of two things. Either the Bush-Cheney administration has been willfully misleading the American public on Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities or they are incompetent and were not aware of the consensus view of sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies until yesterday."
On October 17th, President Bush said: "If you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
Governor Richardson added: "The NIE underscores what I have been saying all along. The next President will have to use diplomacy to accomplish our goals and strengthen our interests around the world. I am the only candidate, Democrat or Republican, who has served as an Ambassador. I will be ready on day one to go toe-to-toe with the toughest leaders in the world."
Bill Richardson, Richardson Statement on National Intelligence Estimate on Iran Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/295319