Micah Zenko

Politics, Power, and Preventive Action

Zenko covers the U.S. national security debate and offers insight on developments in international security and conflict prevention.

Iran’s Nuclear Program: What Intelligence Would Suffice?

by Micah Zenko Monday, January 9, 2012
A recent photograph of the suspected uranium-enrichment facility near Iran's holy city of Qom (Courtesy Reuters). A recent photograph of the suspected uranium-enrichment facility near Iran's holy city of Qom (Courtesy Reuters).

In August 2006, I wrote a piece for the Washington Post, “Share the Evidence on Iran,” which called on the George W. Bush administration to declassify the main findings of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program. As many aspects of Iran’s progress towards nuclear capability had already been selectively leaked to the media, I argued that “declassifying the key judgments and dissents would publicly establish the intelligence community opinion” and clarify erroneous judgments. Read more »

You Might Have Missed: Special Operations, Drones, and a No-Fly Zone on the Moon

by Micah Zenko Friday, January 6, 2012
The USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz in January 2012 (Courtesy Reuters). The USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz in January 2012 (Courtesy Reuters).

- Kimberly Dozier, “Spec-Ops troops study to be part-spy, part-gumshoe,” Miami Herald, January 3, 2012.

Major General Bennet Sacolick said he was shocked at how piecemeal intelligence gathering and sharing was up until a couple of years ago. Special operations units would know their area but had no established way to pass it on, he said, or any means for reaching out to the CIA to fill in information gaps. Read more »