Good cop - bad cop or tactical disconnect?

The British government was warned more than two years ago that Iran had illegally acquired a missile system capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

According to the Times, the system was sold to Iran by a former senior member of the Ukrainian security service in a deal was brokered by an organised crime boss.

The Times says: Britain's policy of trying to use quiet diplomacy to curb the Iranian plans has been in stark contrast to the more bellicose rhetoric coming from America.

British ministers have never disclosed, however, that they were given warnings as long ago as 2004 that Iran had gone to the extent of covertly acquiring missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

They say the Ukrainians were supposed to have destroyed or transferred to Russia their share of the former Soviet nuclear arsenal. The Americans funded a massive disarmament project, but considerable amounts of weaponry are thought to have disappeared in the interim period.

Now I will grant that there is much we ordinary mortals simply aren't privy to, and who knew what when is often high on that list.

It's hard to believe that Blair, if he was actually briefed, would have held this information back from Bush Co.

That potential situation makes a potential, if ultimately doomed, 'good cop - bad cop' scenario look attractive.

On the other hand, given the increasingly weird political/intelligence dynamic within Britain and with their allies the disconnect can't be discounted either.

If British intel had a problem with the CIA et al there is plenty of historical precedent for vital information to be held back, even held back from a Prime Minister.

Given the high stakes in this game, and the looming consequences of failure vis a vis Iran, the revelations are at least interesting.

That there is a parallel universe inhabited by intel spooks and bureaucratic intrigue is hardly news. In fact the only time it becomes an issue is when those intrigues fail miserably and threaten the very security they claim to protect.