The Axis Of Bad Intel: Administration Walks Back Claims That North Korea Was Enriching Uranium

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/01/nk-intel/


The Axis Of Bad Intel: Administration Walks Back Claims That North Korea Was Enriching Uranium

Articles in today’s Washington Post and New York Times raise questions about the accuracy of the Bush administration’s claims in 2002 that North Korea had a uranium enrichment program, a charge they used to justify breaking off negotiations.

In July 2004, then-Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly testified before Congress that North Korea was pursuing a uranium enrichment program. But just last week, Kelly’s successor — Christopher Hill — said that, in order to produce highly enriched uranium, “It would require a lot more equipment than we know that actually purchased.”

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this week, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) asked intelligence officials to comment on U.S. assessments of North Korean programs to enrich uranium. Joseph DeTrani, the DNI’s mission manager for North Korea walked back previous claims that North Korea had a uranium enrichment program:

Sir, we had high confidence. The assessment was with high confidence that, indeed, they were making acquisitions necessary for, if you will, a production-scale program. And we still have confidence that the program is in existence — at the mid-confidence level, yes, sir, absolutely.

The New York Times today explains what “mid-confidence level” means:

Under the intelligence agencies’ own definitions, that level “means the information is interpreted in various ways, we have alternative views” or it is not fully corroborated.

The story of the Bush administration’s handling of intelligence pertaining to North Korea’s nuclear program has received too little attention for an administration with little credibility on threat intelligence. The administration’s handling of the issue offers yet another reason why two-thirds of the American people do not trust its intelligence claims about threats to the United States.

- Pete Ogden and Mike Fuchs

[Gotitdone]

1. Whats your point?

Do you realize N. Korea has detonated a nuclear bomb?
Thats pretty damning evidence they do have a nuclear weapons program.

[seasat]

2. The point is obvious, they wouldn't have got to that point.

If Shrub inc hadn't suddenly cut off continuing the Clinton negotiations with N Korea based on weak intel that they were enriching uranium, N Korea wouldn't have restarted their heavy water reactor, processed their spent cores, and obtained the plutonium necessary to set off that bomb. Read the NY Time article. It show how badly Shrub Inc screwed that situation up and made the world a less safe place.

[lyonn]

6. I'm not even sure that the explosion was proven to be a nuke.

Remember it took days to confirm whether the instruments to detect such an explosion had actually been a nuke or a very large conventional weapon. It seems they concluded it was a nuke. Hummm

[seasat]

3. Here's a direct link to the NY Time article

U.S. Had Doubts on North Korean Uranium Drive (LINK).

If the intel is really as bad as they say, then this should be grounds for impeachment. You combine this with the Iraq war snow job and what they did is really beyond the pale evil. This article should be front page on the DU.

[babylonsister]

4. Thank you for that, seasat. nt

[Supersedeas]

8. Is there anything that these kooks are willing to lie about -- and yet the Press prints it w/out

verification.

[lyonn]

5. OK, will someone start impeachement hearings Now?

In 2002 bush started bashing N. Korea starting with his State of the Union address where he clumped N. Korea, Iran with Iraq in his Axis of Evil. Then shortly after that there was headline news how N. Korea had cheated on the agreement they had with Clinton. Bush enjoyed gloating saying Clinton was snookered and who would be stupid enough to believe NK. The story just got bigger with time and now.... barely any chatter on the MSM as to the real intelligence failure story, well, at least the NYT and a few others but nothing like the front page rant about N. Korea and their Big Bombs.

If this story doesn't tell all the sheeple to be very leary of any intelligence that this admin. spouts, not much will. And yes, Iran probably is quite a few years away from the Big Bomb, like maybe 12 to 15 years!

America seems to be in a state of Denial. What is our problem?

[FrenchieCat]

7. I'm ready.....

We are our own problem....busy with the beauty contest, the money chase and stuff. Whatever the Corporate media tells us to care about...that's what we care about!