When the National Intelligence Estimate announced that, “We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons pro­gram,” it was the lead story in the nation’s biggest newspapers. But following congressional testimony from Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell that only the “least significant” parts of Iran’s nuclear program had been halted, the nation’s paper’s either did not mention Iran’s nuclear threat, or buried it deep in the story. McConnell’s retreat on the NIE’s conclusions validates many of the exact criticisms leveled against the report. Specifically … More