919
Member
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2005
- Messages
- 9,361
- Reaction score
- 73
Bush Administration Lied About North Korea Intelligence
by Hunter
Sun Mar 20th, 2005 at 12:09:46 PST
U.S. Misled Allies About Nuclear Export
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 20, 2005; Page A01
In an effort to increase pressure on North Korea, the Bush administration told its Asian allies in briefings earlier this year that Pyongyang had exported nuclear material to Libya. That was a significant new charge, the first allegation that North Korea was helping to create a new nuclear weapons state.
But that is not what U.S. intelligence reported, according to two officials with detailed knowledge of the transaction. North Korea, according to the intelligence, had supplied uranium hexafluoride -- which can be enriched to weapons-grade uranium -- to Pakistan. It was Pakistan, a key U.S. ally with its own nuclear arsenal, that sold the material to Libya. The U.S. government had no evidence, the officials said, that North Korea knew of the second transaction.
Pakistan's role as both the buyer and the seller was concealed to cover up the part played by Washington's partner in the hunt for al Qaeda leaders, according to the officials, who discussed the issue on the condition of anonymity. In addition, a North Korea-Pakistan transfer would not have been news to the U.S. allies, which have known of such transfers for years and viewed them as a business matter between sovereign states.
The Bush administration's approach, intended to isolate North Korea, instead left allies increasingly doubtful as they began to learn that the briefings omitted essential details about the transaction, U.S. officials and foreign diplomats said in interviews. North Korea responded to public reports last month about the briefings by withdrawing from talks with its neighbors and the United States. In an effort to repair the damage, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is traveling through East Asia this weekend trying to get the six-nation talks back on track.
-------------------------------------------------------
Go read the article in its entirety. Now.
A nuclear North Korea is a serious problem. But if the United States is taking to flat-out lying to its allies about WMD intelligence -- yet again -- it's going to be an even worse problem down the road. It's hardly a secret that the U.S. has severely diminished credibility since Bush took office; the intentionally misleading Iraq War intelligence was the topper. If we're lying to our allies about intelligence, we have to expect that they are going to be increasingly wary of taking actions on our behalf based on what we tell them.
We're in talks to determine what to do about North Korea, a hostile and unstable power that is thought to possess both nuclear weapons and missiles with a range capable of hitting most of Asia, and perhaps western North America. We're bickering with our allies over what to do about Iranian nuclear efforts. It would help if we had some credibility in those negotiations. Instead, our allies are increasingly being asked to make a more troubling decision: is America lying?
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/3/20/15946/7287
by Hunter
Sun Mar 20th, 2005 at 12:09:46 PST
U.S. Misled Allies About Nuclear Export
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 20, 2005; Page A01
In an effort to increase pressure on North Korea, the Bush administration told its Asian allies in briefings earlier this year that Pyongyang had exported nuclear material to Libya. That was a significant new charge, the first allegation that North Korea was helping to create a new nuclear weapons state.
But that is not what U.S. intelligence reported, according to two officials with detailed knowledge of the transaction. North Korea, according to the intelligence, had supplied uranium hexafluoride -- which can be enriched to weapons-grade uranium -- to Pakistan. It was Pakistan, a key U.S. ally with its own nuclear arsenal, that sold the material to Libya. The U.S. government had no evidence, the officials said, that North Korea knew of the second transaction.
Pakistan's role as both the buyer and the seller was concealed to cover up the part played by Washington's partner in the hunt for al Qaeda leaders, according to the officials, who discussed the issue on the condition of anonymity. In addition, a North Korea-Pakistan transfer would not have been news to the U.S. allies, which have known of such transfers for years and viewed them as a business matter between sovereign states.
The Bush administration's approach, intended to isolate North Korea, instead left allies increasingly doubtful as they began to learn that the briefings omitted essential details about the transaction, U.S. officials and foreign diplomats said in interviews. North Korea responded to public reports last month about the briefings by withdrawing from talks with its neighbors and the United States. In an effort to repair the damage, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is traveling through East Asia this weekend trying to get the six-nation talks back on track.
-------------------------------------------------------
Go read the article in its entirety. Now.
A nuclear North Korea is a serious problem. But if the United States is taking to flat-out lying to its allies about WMD intelligence -- yet again -- it's going to be an even worse problem down the road. It's hardly a secret that the U.S. has severely diminished credibility since Bush took office; the intentionally misleading Iraq War intelligence was the topper. If we're lying to our allies about intelligence, we have to expect that they are going to be increasingly wary of taking actions on our behalf based on what we tell them.
We're in talks to determine what to do about North Korea, a hostile and unstable power that is thought to possess both nuclear weapons and missiles with a range capable of hitting most of Asia, and perhaps western North America. We're bickering with our allies over what to do about Iranian nuclear efforts. It would help if we had some credibility in those negotiations. Instead, our allies are increasingly being asked to make a more troubling decision: is America lying?
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/3/20/15946/7287
