Osg3 1/31/2012 15:59 INTEL

The Osgood File.  This is Dave Ross on the CBS Radio Network

The world is a dangerous place.  And if you want to know how dangerous, just drop in on a meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee:

CLAPPERB:

That’s James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, warning the Senators that Iran is close to having all the necessary ingredients for a nuclear weapon.  

And the trouble with nuclear weapons is that you merely have to LOOK like you might want to launch one … for a war to start.

More after this:

((SPOT))

It almost sounds like we’re being deliberately prepared for something.  Sunday on 60 minutes Defense Secretary Panetta said Iran could have a nuclear weapon ready a year from now – if it wanted to.

PANETTA.. Israeli.

And testifying yesterday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the CIA director, David Petraeus, emphasized the Israel factor:

PETRAEUS:

Some military experts worry that even before we have conclusive evidence of a bomb, Israel may decide that it can’t wait any longer, and try to bomb Iran’s nuclear plants.  That’s what it did to Iraq and Syria’s nuclear plants – and neither nation fired back.  But Iran is a little different.  Iran would fire back, possibly with a barrage of missiles, which would force Israel to defend itself, and ultimately WE would be obligated to defend Israel, which begins to sound a lot like another Mideast war.

And as we know wars are expensive, and weapons of mass destruction can be elusive, so it would be great if Intelligence Director Clapper could tell us for sure – is Iran making a real bomb or not??

CLAPPER…nuclear weapon:

That sounds a like a resounding …maybe.

The Osgood File.  Dave Ross on the CBS Radio Network