The New York Times’ William Broad and The Washington Times’ Sara Carter and Eli Lake have much more. While the declaration doesn’t reveal any military secrets, it documents at great length and in great detail the United States’ civilian nuclear energy facilities. The top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, Kit Bond (R-Mo.), told Carter and Lake that the screw-up provided “a virtual treasure map for terrorists.” David Albright, one of the most respected nuclear-weapons experts in Washington, told both papers much the same thing. He explained to The Washington Times:

“The problem is there are a few places where it shows rooms inside of buildings where fissile material is located,” he said. Although terrorists still would have difficulty penetrating U.S. security to acquire the material, he said, the disclosure was potentially a violation of U.S. law.

It’s unclear how this all happened. The document lists the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on its cover sheet, but a committee spokeswoman told both papers that the committee had nothing to do with its publication. If I read this Bond quote from The Washington Times correctly — “Our best understanding is that this was sent to GPO by staffers of the House leader” — he’s blaming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and if so, it’s unclear what the basis for that is*. The foreign affairs committee spokeswoman, Lynne Weil, pledged an investigation; Bond’s staff is looking into the publication as well.

Aftergood told The New York Times that the disclosure is “a one-stop shop for information on U.S. nuclear programs.” Yet his organization, the Federation of American Scientists, still has the 267-page document on its Website.

Update: So as best I can understand, Bond is referring to the fact that the Speaker of the House appoints the House Parliamentarian (the link is a PDF), and it’s the Parliamentarian who delivered the declaration to the GPO.

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On to the meat: The first image features Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad standing at a podium, appearing to be giving a speech near a large poster of an ayatollah. A male announcer says, “Iran. Radical Islamic government.” The next picture is of a large banner on a wall that reads, “Don’t Forget to Say Death To America” — of course, they speak Farsi in Iran so it’s unlikely such a banner appears anywhere in Iran. A little artistic license on the part of the production company. “Known sponsors of terrorism,” the announcer continues, “Developing nuclear capabilities to [slight pause to imply "air quotes"] generate power, but threatening to destroy Israel.”

The viewer then sees Ahmadinejad with a lab coat-clad scientist in front of what looks like a missile. A picture of Sen. Barack Obama appears on screen, followed quickly by an image of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps soldiers and a jihadist holding a bazooka, –subtle, right? — as the announcer says:

Obama says Iran is a “tiny” country, “doesn’t pose a serious threat”.

Terrorism, destroying Israel, those aren’t “serious threats”?

Obama — dangerously unprepared to be president.

There it is — “dangerously unprepared to be president.” This is a significant step further than the the McCain campaign’s signature refrain that Obama is “not ready to lead.” The message to voters is that if we elect Obama, we are putting ourselves at risk. This doesn’t seem to be a far cry from Vice President Dick Cheney’s suggestion during the 2004 presidential campaign that a Democratic win would invite “devastating” terrorist attacks.

The Obama quote cited in the ad is pulled — not surprisingly, more than a little out of context — from a statement Obama made in Oregon in May. The McCain campaign helpfully includes the whole quote in the email announcement for the ad. Here it is, in context:

OBAMA: “Strong countries and strong presidents talk to their adversaries. That’s what Kennedy did with Khrushchev. That’s what Reagan did with Gorbachev. That’s what Nixon did with Mao. I mean think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuela — these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying we’re going to wipe you off the planet. And ultimately that direct engagement led to a series of measures that helped prevent nuclear war, and over time allowed the kind of opening that brought down the Berlin Wall. Now, that has to be the kind of approach that we take.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks, Pendelton, OR, 5/18/08)

Obama actually said Iran is tiny and poses a minor threat when “compared to the Soviet Union.” He goes on to say later that Iran’s military could never be any match for that of the United States. Here’s part of the rest of the quote:

And we should use that position of strength that we have to be bold enough to go ahead and listen. That doesn’t mean we agree with them on everything. We might not compromise on any issues, but at least we should find out other areas of potential common interest, and we can reduce some of the tensions that has caused us so many problems around the world.”

Obviously, according to the McCain campaign, that’s completely insane. Talking to adversaries doesn’t help Republicans win elections. But if history is any indicator — especially with two diplomacy-focused senators on the Democratic ticket — convincing voters that we may see a mushroom cloud in an American city if we elect the wrong candidate just might.