Ahmadinejad Says Iran Has Become Nuclear. Why Does the White House Express Doubt?

Today Iranian President Ahmadinejad announced that "the Iranian nation has become nuclear," with the production of its first highly enriched uranium. However, at the White House, Obama Administration Press Secretary Robert Gibbs downplayed the significance of the announcement, stating "We do not believe they have the capability to enrich to the degree to which they now say they are enriching."

Is the White House dismissing the Iranian claim because it is indeed bogus, or is it because the Obama Administration wants to deflect criticism that its vaunted policy of engagement with the Iranian Islamist regime has proven completely bankrupt? While the Obama Administration has fiddled, setting and then repeatedly extending deadlines for implementation of sanctions, the mullahs have inexorably advanced their nuclear weapons development program. While Obama has equivocated regarding the Iranian dissidents, the mullahs have instituted ever greater repression, staging Stalin-like show trials and executing political opponents. Once again the Obama Administration attempts to wage diplomacy as a public relations exercise, with no substance, and therefore predictable results.