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Let's see, we want to put pressure on North Korea concerning nuclear proliferation, but Pakistan is either complicit in or entirely responsible for the particular incident we want to use for this purpose.
Yeah, and Pakistan is our ally. They're doing such an, um, good job helping us find al-Qaeda leaders, we wouldn't want draw attention to the fact that A. Q. Khan is still running around.
So we'll lie about it. Lying about intelligence has always worked so well in the past, we'll do that.
Hmm, that didn't work very well, did it...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.
Well, isn't what we said a bit like saying that it was really the Nicaraguan Contras selling weapons to Iran back in the 80's?
No, of course not. Why would you say that?
The United States briefed allies on North Korea in late January and early February. Shortly afterward, administration officials, speaking to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, said North Korea had sold uranium hexafluoride to Libya. The officials said the briefing was arranged to share the information with China, South Korea and Japan ahead of a new round of hoped-for negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program.
But in recent days, two other U.S. officials said the briefings were hastily arranged after China and South Korea indicated they were considering bolting from six-party talks on North Korea.
Why did we use this incident anyway? Don't we have any better intelligence?
What difference does it make? We all know Kim Jong Il is evil.
Hey, at we least we had our story straight and told China and the press the same thing!
Credibility? We don' need no stinkin' credibility!Since Pakistan became a key U.S. ally in the hunt for al Qaeda leaders, the administration has not held President Pervez Musharraf accountable for actions taken by Khan while he was a member of Musharraf's cabinet and in charge of nuclear cooperation for the government.
"The administration is giving Pakistan a free ride when they don't deserve it and hurting U.S. interests at the same time," said Charles L. Pritchard, who was the Bush administration's special envoy for the North Korea talks until August 2003.
"As our allies get the full picture, it doesn't help our credibility with them," he said.
Why do I get the feeling that Musharraf probably has a big poster of Bush up in his office labelled: "SUCKA!"
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