ABSTRACT
The 2007 NIE on Iran was controversial with and condemned by many policymakers, but – in a not untypical irony – shown ultimately to be correct. The controversy stemmed more from form than substance and from the unexpected and unplanned declassification of the NIE’s key judgments. The latter decision by the Bush administration threw it into a politically charged public arena at the moment when Washington and others were hotly debating decisions regarding Iranian sanctions. There are many lessons in this but chief among them is that how you say something in intelligence is often as important as what you say.
