Oops

In the early days of Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update, Gilda Radner's character, Emily Litella, would regale us with a lecture against some perceived evil. Inevitably, she would turn out to have misunderstood a perfectly innocent remark (for instance, "Why is all this attention being paid to Soviet Jewelry?" when it was Soviet Jewry under discussion). At the climactic moment, anchorman Chevy Chase would interrupt to point out her error. To which, Ms. Litella would respond with her trademark, "Never mind."

I thought of Emily Litella yesterday, when the administration had to admit that--what do you know!--as best we can tell, the Iranians are NOT building nuclear weapons, after all.

The latest conclusion raises at least as many questions as it answers: were earlier intelligence estimates ginned up to support administration policy? Is the new estimate a reaction to the political tides that are turning strongly against another military adventure? Given the rampant misconduct of Bush, Cheney & Co. when it comes to national security, how can we trust that this NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) is the unvarnished professional opinion of our intelligence people, and that it was not adjusted for political ends?

And, finally, if this NIE is, indeed, the straight dope, the best judgment of our spies and analysts, what if it is wrong, nonetheless?