NYT: State Dept counters latest bomb-Iran rumor:

“It’s always amazing that there are lots of anonymous sources out there who profess to know the inner will of officials in other countries, Israel or otherwise,” Mr. Casey said.
Another reporter had a question: “This apparently anonymous official also said that it’s possible that Iran would have enough enriched uranium by the end of the year for a nuclear bomb.”

Having reasoned with reporters, Mr. Casey turned to comedy. “You know, I need to find this guy, because apparently he’s an expert on the Israeli military, an expert on Iran and an expert on nuclear issues at the same time,” he said. “Let’s get him a Nobel Prize.”

ABC News, for its part, offered a follow-up article today that included doubts that war was on the horizon. Hirsch Goodman, a national security analyst in Tel Aviv, dismissed the story as “just the latest in the hype that has been generated in the last few weeks.”

Anonymous Pentagon sources are going to most visible media outlets in country - ABC, CBS, NYT -, to say looks like Israel is going to do it (when, far as I can tell, that's not true). Leaks to deter Israel from doing it, or, coordinated propaganda campaign aimed at getting Iran to the table?

Update: I'll just say, I've felt very intensely there's a Pentagon psy ops campaign underway (hence our little "Iran panic" forum), and some extremely credible journalists have been sucked into furthering it. ABC's Jonathan Karl, CBS's David Martin, etc. All of them being worked by presumably trusted or authoritative sources at the Pentagon to basically say Israel is about to do it, etc. when, as far as I can tell, that is just not true, but providing incredibly far reaching platforms to promote the intense sense that it might be.

My sense is the "they're going to do it" is largely coming from here, from the Pentagon - perhaps coordinated. But my sense also is they are not going to signal so hard before they are going to do it. This is signalling for another purpose.

Posted by Laura at July 1, 2008 03:20 PM