Veteran CIA man Ray McGovern today reminded us that Iran never tried to develop a nuclear weapon

How nice to see the dear man here ten days after he retired from Judging Freedom.

'All your audience knows the background of the Iranians are on record as not seeking a nuclear weapon. The CIA and othe reputable agencies when they were telling the truth reiterated that judgment since 2007 having said that Iran stopped working on a nuclear weapon at 2003. Okay. Were they working on a nuclear weapon before 2003?

'My best friend Gareth Porter, who wrote the book on this literally, says no. It was all from Israeli intelligence for God's sake. They persuaded the CIA to say, "Well, they could get a nuclear weapon in five years." That was 1990.

'In 1995, well, they could maybe get it in four or five years. It was laughable until this honest manager of intelligence came in. His name is Tom Fingar. He's from the State Department. He shepherded the estimate that was honest and said that Iran was not working on a nuclear weapon. That was 2007. Okay?Unanimous. All 16 intelligence agencies at the time expressed with high confidence and that there was no indication that they had resumed work since 2003.

'That was reiterated. I know this is tiresome for those who have heard it before, but isn't it important? every estimate and this is why I thought we wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The bathwater being the operations part of CIA, the baby being every now and then they got something right and prevented the war that Bush and Cheney planned on their way out in 2008. It's on the record. It's in Bush's memoir for God's sake. Okay. 

'So what I'm saying here is that up until this year, Tulsi Gabbard and others reiterated that judgment. This year, Tulsi waffled a little ... hoping to stay to stay in place. Of course, she got canned anyway.'