Readers of this blog may have noticed that Yossi Melman and I, though we are both from Israel, often don't agree. But in this case, I would refer readers to Yossi's excellent post on the new US National Intelligence Estimate. I would only add that an "intelligence" report should not be held immune from scrutiny by the light of an even higher authority: common sense.

One does not need satellites, defectors, and spies to determine that Iran remains, as the same U.S. intelligence community testified in January, "determined to develop nuclear weapons - despite its international obligations and international pressure. It is continuing to pursue uranium enrichment and has shown more interest in protracting negotiations than reaching an acceptable diplomatic solution."

Even if one assumes that the discovery that Iran suspended its "military" nuclear program in 2003 is valid, this should not affect the consensus that U.S. intelligence judgment stated above. Nothing substantial has changed in Iran's behavior; what is new is the American national security system's decision to arbitrarily distinguish between Iran's "civilian" efforts to enrich uranium and the other two components of its bomb program: building missiles and assembling a weapon.

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The Question: After Benazir Bhutto's assassination on Thursday, what's next for Pakistan?

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto is yet another brutal peek into the world's future if the jihad threat is not confronted and defeated. Just as Syria routinely assassinates its democratic opponents in Lebanon, and just as Iraqi politicians and citizens fear for their lives while trying to escape a legacy of tyranny, we see how Islamo-fascists will stop at nothing to destroy their archenemies: democracy and freedom. We also see that no country or faith is safe from the jihadis and their favorite weapon, the suicide bomber, since they have no compunction at slaughtering fellow Muslims in a Muslim country.

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