U.S. acknowledges gaps on NKorea nuclear program

[maddezmom]

22 Feb 2007 20:38:32 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday acknowledged gaps in its knowledge about the covert uranium enrichment program it has long accused Pyongyang of pursuing.

Chief U.S. negotiator Chris Hill said such a program, which could produce fuel for nuclear weapons, would require "a lot more equipment than we know that they have actually purchased" as well as "some considerable production techniques that we're not sure whether they have mastered."

He also raised the possibility that aluminum tubes the United States believes North Korea acquired for an enrichment program several years ago may have gone "somewhere else."

But Hill, speaking at the Brookings Institution, insisted "the North Koreans made certain purchases of equipment which is entirely consistent with a highly enriched uranium program."

A former U.S. official told Reuters the data gaps cited by Hill have existed since 2002 when the Bush administration first disclosed the enrichment program but this may be the first time they have been publicly acknowledged.

more:http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22458563.htm

[Eugene]

1. "aluminum tubes... may have gone 'somewhere else'"...?!?!

The Bushies being the Bushies, I don't like the sound of this.
Let me guess. That "somewhere else" is a certain country
next to Iraq, isn't it?

I sense a big "trust us" moment coming on. :(

It is plausible that North Korea abandoned enrichment in favor
of the plutonium-based bomb they tested. Buth those WMD's
must be out there somewhere even if we can't prove their
existence. :eyes: