Apparently, some European neuroscientists have figured out how to do just that:

A team of world-leading neuroscientists has developed a powerful technique that allows them to look deep inside a person’s brain and read their intentions before they act.

The research breaks controversial new ground in scientists’ ability to probe people’s minds and eavesdrop on their thoughts, and raises serious ethical issues over how brain-reading technology may be used in the future.

The team used high-resolution brain scans to identify patterns of activity before translating them into meaningful thoughts, revealing what a person planned to do in the near future. It is the first time scientists have succeeded in reading intentions in this way.

Abracadabra: Perhaps all those American progressives can use the technique to figure out if John Edwards was just “pandering” at that conference in Herzliya when he made it plain that all options will be on the table against Iran. Of course, some progressives already claim to know that Edwards was pandering.

What an awesome tool this will be for politics, eh?