Comments about ‘Leaked diagram suggests Iran working on nuclear weapon three times more powerful than Hiroshima bomb’

In school, if I can't provide sources for my research paper, my professor will assume one of the following:
1) I may just be making the facts up and the original source doesn't exist.
2) The original source does exist, but either I'm too lazy to cite it or I want others to believe the ideas are my own
3) The original source exists, but I don't cite it because I know it will be immediately dismissed as it comes from an extremely biased source, and will not be seen as academically credible.

This story, which cannot provide sources (although we could make guesses about the country of origin) will no doubt appear in dozens of newspapers and news programs on TV, stoking fires of fear and apprehension, and causing many to believe that the U.S. should take pre-emptive action against a nation which may or may not have a weapon. The consequences of misinformation in my report about teenage obesity are minimal, and only affect my professor and me. As we witnessed in Iraq, the consequences of misinformation about weapons in other countries are costly and end in the loss of many lives.

Wise words, David King.

But in the meantime, this may be real opportunity for Energy Solutions. Perhaps they can offer to handle Iran's nuclear waste. For a small fee, of course.

This is real life, not a research paper. Iran's leader is a zealous madman who has publicly stated that he wants to destroy the US and Israel. We have knowledge that he is developing a massive bomb. This "leak" just makes things work and is something we had better take very seriously.

Academic professors have the luxury of cross referencing sources. Those that keep this nation safe don't have that luxury.

@WestGranger
The fact that this is real life and not a research paper is part of the point I was trying to make. This is serious. We need cool, deliberate, and rational thinking to prevail. An unsourced report from who knows where that may or may not contain information that is so politically charged does not add to rational or critical thinking but only assures more fear and suspicion.

Right, John. But shouldn't the intelligence community be working to cross reference sources and get it right?

Maybe if they had done so, President Cheney and his little buddy wouldn't have hauled us into the war in Iraq.

(Actually, the intelligence community did cross reference and tried hard to keep us out of there. But they were overruled.)

Israel leaked a diagram.

And this is news?