Making the Same Old Mistakes, Again

Here is an interview with Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the UN's IAEA responsible for monitoring Iraq's nuclear weapon program. ElBaradei was right about Iraq -- they didn't have an active weapons program -- and Bush ignored this fact. He now is telling us that Iran has a very low level nuclear weapons program that is not an immediate threat, and it is not clear that the Obama administration is listening:

Iran is not going to produce a nuclear weapon any time soon and the threat posed by its atomic program has been exaggerated, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said in a published interview.

The West suspects Iran wants to develop a nuclear weapons capability under the guise of a declared civilian atomic energy program. Tehran rejects the charge, saying its uranium enrichment program is a peaceful way to generate electricity.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said there was no concrete evidence that Tehran has an ongoing nuclear weapons program.

"But somehow, many people are talking about how Iran's nuclear program is the greatest threat to the world. In many ways, I think the threat has been hyped," he told the specialist Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

ElBaradei said there was concern about Iran's future nuclear intentions and that the Islamic Republic needs to be more transparent with the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog.

"But the idea that we'll wake up tomorrow and Iran will have a nuclear weapon is an idea that isn't supported by the facts as we have seen them so far," said ElBaradei, 67, who will step down in November after 12 years in office.

So, the question becomes will the US fail by making the same mistake again?