I predict
"Having sold its integrity out many times for political reasons, most notably and recently for the disaster that is the war in Iraq, its reputation is decisively crushed."
I predict...CIA will be freshly stuffed with Cheney cronies & Mossad boys. They will build a fake case against Iran. USA will invade Iran. It will be yet another disaster. They will blame the CIA, and the cronies that Cheney put in there will put their hands up and accept blame on behalf of the CIA.
CIA: "We admit it, it was bad intelligence from us, we're sorry, we'll try harder next time".
Exactly the same as Iraq. Blame goes *down* and politicians know that to climb to the top, no blame must be allowed to stick to their shiny suits.
BTW, Ayatollah Khomeini is long dead, the hostage situation is long ago, Iran is a reliable supplier of oil and made previous attempts to settle disputes with the USA by discussion.
We have an obligation under the non proliferation treaty to help them make their nuclear reactors, and they'll need those reactors to pump out the heavy oil, and oil fields that pass their energy balance point.
So they want something and we want something, and that seems like a situation a competent negotiator could turn into a partnership.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
