The Axis Of Bad Intel: Administration Walks Back Claims That North Korea Was Enriching Uranium
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 [North Korea has] 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 [HEU] 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
UPDATE: Josh Marshall calls it “a screw-up that staggers the mind.”
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Oh my God! Can I now, at this time, apply for diplomatic immunity from prosecution? I guess I’ll have to visit George in the Big House, or whatever “they” call it, these days.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:26 pmThis administration needs to just stop doing things, anything, just stop. Maybe actually govern for a change.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:26 pmI am sorry, but on this one I have to side with Bush being right. The proof is in the nuclear bomb that North Korea set off. Wasn’t that made using enriched Uranium? I am confused I guess.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:29 pm#3- As with most allegations, the proof is in the pudding. Korea set off a silly little bomb that could hardly do damage to a city half-block. It was all for show, because they are so eager to pee on thier territory and thump thier chest, just as we are. Remember the saying, “Bring it on?” I taught that to George when he was a little monkey.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:37 pmWhat I can’t understand is why one-third of the population still trusts this administration, particularly when it comes to national security.
Protecting American democracy should be rooted in protecting the U.S. Constitution, but this administration has torn our constitution to shreds with the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act.
It’s not surprising to learn that they may have been wrong (maybe even deceptive) about North Korea’s nuclear capabilities…
I just wonder how far the American people are willing to let this go. Will we reach a point where they won’t even have to try to lie to us?
March 1st, 2007 at 6:40 pmNK agrees to IAEA monitoring of plutonium sources, in exchange for fuel and trade considerations, etc.
BushCo screams NK has a secret HEU program and calls NK axis of evil and that we need to build a fantasy missile shield.
NK tells BushCo blow me, and in retribution kicks out inspectors and begins processing now unmonitored plutonium.
BushCo continues to screams how evil NK is over several years and refuses face to face talks with NK.
NK finally has enough plutonium to build several bombs, sets of a small one as a test.
BushCo finally agrees to fuel trade and begin talks on other trade issues, and now NK has the bomb.
Did I miss anything?
March 1st, 2007 at 6:44 pmthe entire strategic foundation of darth and the neocons is washing away like a sandcastle at high tide… when you characterize a country as part of an “axis of evil,†you’ve essentially painted yourself into a corner… it seems fairly hypocritical to engage with a country on which you’ve pasted that label, and, then, when you try and extricate yourself from that predicament, your defenders have to make ridiculous statements like this…
but, no matter how you slice it, you still have to come to grips with the truth…
heckuva job, darth… heckuva job, neocons…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
March 1st, 2007 at 6:46 pmOh yeah… after agreement is reached and NK now has nukes… we find out there may not have been a HEU program. Missed that part.
(sigh)
March 1st, 2007 at 6:46 pmI am confused I guess.
Comment by Spudge_Boy
Bushco was claiming that NK wouldn’t be able to build a bomb, they got it wrong.
From above:
March 1st, 2007 at 6:47 pmIn 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 [North Korea has] actually purchased.â€
#3
The bomb NK set off was made with Plutonium, not Uranium. It was the alleged enrichment of Uranium that caused the Bushies to scrap the Agreed Framework, which led to NK reopening their Plutonium research, which led to NK getting nukes.
TPM has a good explanation.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/012718.php
March 1st, 2007 at 6:49 pm‘Spudge_Boy’ posted:
“I am sorry, but on this one I have to side with Bush being right. The proof is in the nuclear bomb that North Korea set off. Wasn’t that made using enriched Uranium?”
No, it was plutonium.
The plutonium had been locked up under 24/7 video surveillance, until the Bushies violated the 1994 Agreed Framework, then the North Koreans constructed about a dozen nuclear weapons.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:53 pmEarlier today, I posted relevant information concerning the coercion of India to approve the fraudulent IAEA report which was used to justify the UNSC sanctions against Iran. Here again, the administration has seen to it that crucial intelligence has been falsified on-demand, but in this case forced other nations into complicity.
Where does it stop? Who will stop it?
http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/1456
March 1st, 2007 at 6:55 pmHere it is again (slightly expanded):
While Clinton was in office, North Korea (NK) agrees to IAEA monitoring of plutonium sources, in exchange for fuel and trade considerations from the US.
Bush comes into office, reneges on fuel deal citing “evidence†that NK has a secret highly-enriched uranium (HEU) production program, calls NK a part of the “axis of evil†and that we need to build a fantasy missile shield.
NK tells BushCo blow me, and in retribution kicks out the IAEA inspectors and begins processing the now unmonitored plutonium into bombs.
BushCo continues to scream how evil NK is over several years while refusing face to face talks with NK, calling Clinton’s agreed framework a disaster and appeasement to a madman.
NK finally has enough plutonium to build several bombs and sets off a small one as a test.
BushCo finally re-agrees to the fuel trade agreement he broke after Clinton left office, and begins talks on other trade issues.
We learn in the past few days that there may not have been an HEU production program in the first place and the intel may have been bad, wrong, and/or fraudulent, which prompted the negotiations to break off, and NK to kick out the IAEA which gave them unmonitored access to the plutonium they used to build the bomb.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:02 pmSo they were wrong on Iraq, wrong on North Korea, but we should trust them on Iran??
March 1st, 2007 at 7:14 pmBushCo finally re-agrees to the fuel trade agreement he broke after Clinton left office, and begins talks on other trade issues.
Comment by lestatdelc — March 1, 2007 @ 7:02 pm
Or, in neo-con parlance:
Pres Bush was against appeasing a madman, before he was for it. Flip-flop!
March 1st, 2007 at 7:14 pmOkay, my familiar refrain about Billy Kristol can now be applied to the entire Bush administration:
Why does anybody even listen to these people anymore?
Oh, yeah. Unlike Kristol, they actually still have real power. They just don’t have the skills or smarts to use it well.
They’re frickin’ dangerous.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:20 pmZetaTalk: Human Condition
Note: written July 5, 1995
The human condition, on Earth at this time, is deliberately one of confusion. We will examine several situations that may help to clarify the issues at play.
First, humans desire security. The human condition is insecure. From birth, or particularly at birth, the human is acutely aware of its insecure position. Nude, tiny, unable to navigate, utterly dependent on others. The human infant wants to dominate those it is dependent upon. It is natural for the human to want to dominate its environment. The human wants to control the climate, the seasons. Homes are structured to provide summer warmth year round. Food is grown or at least provided as though harvest season were year round. Storms have no effect, nor do catastrophes have effect. There is social security, the umbrella of government aid. Floods and hurricanes are but another reason to open the government coffers. All this is evidence that the human wants to dominate its environment.
Second, the desire to dominate goes outside of inanimate factors. The human wants to dominate the other humans in its vicinity. Starting with the infant’s desire to dominate its mother, all her attention, and on to the stage of public opinion, the human desires to be the focus of attention. The infant wants its cry to bring immediate attention. The adult want its comments to bring rapt attention from others in the conversation group. No difference. Those who can command attention will get their needs met – so goes the logic. The infant displaced by a younger sibling is insecure, as it is no longer the focus of attention.
Third, love comes into play. Love, or empathy, is something felt at an early age. Empathy is not an emotion reserved for the intelligent, sentient being alone. Love and empathy are felt by all forms of life, even plant life, to some degree. It is a factor of life. It is intrinsic to life. Love and empathy pull the human into a conflict situation with its desire for security, to be the center of attention. Decisions are made to share the spotlight, to share resources. These decisions vary greatly, among humans. Some humans consider others on the same plane as the self. Other humans rarely, if ever, consider others, and never on the same plane as the self.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:23 pmAhhhhhhh, okay.
I was confusin’ my “newclears”
I kinda figured Bush couldn’t be right. : )
March 1st, 2007 at 7:26 pm[...] Welcome Think Progress readers. If you believe that our suspicions about highly-enriched uranium all rest on [...]
March 1st, 2007 at 7:30 pmOOPS!
March 1st, 2007 at 7:33 pmNow we know why Ms. Spears gives her young (then not bald) fans such great advice to simply trust everything Chimpy McFlightsuit says. They both became huge “successes” by singing the same lame song… “Oops!… I Did It Again”
March 1st, 2007 at 7:54 pmAh Yes, CHIMPya, like J. Fred Muggs(tm), CAUGHT WITH HIS PANTS DOWN ONCE AGAIN! TOO BAD CHIMPya WASN’T CAUGHT WITH HIS PANTS DOWN ALONG WITH Karl Miss Piggy Rove and Gannon/Guckert in the white house and RECORDED FOR YouTube(tm) and MANY PHOTOS TAKEN OF THE TRIO!!!!!
March 1st, 2007 at 11:49 pmhttp://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3456
————————————————————–
War Resisters — Support the Troops Who Refuse to Fight
The Army has re-filed charges against Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq, following mistrial. Find out the latest developments in his case and how you can help.
It takes courage to say that you will not fight — especially if you are a soldier. As more members of the U.S. military step forward for peace, the peace movement must step forward to support them.
Large numbers are now refusing to serve: The Department of Defense estimates that there are about 8,000 AWOL service members. The GI Rights Hotline http://www.girights.objector.org/
(800-394-9544) is currently receiving about 3,000 calls a month.
March 1st, 2007 at 11:56 pmhttp://www.vcnv.org/project/the-occupation-project
The Occupation Project
THE OCCUPATION PROJECT is a new effort initiated by UFPJ member organization Voices for Creative Nonviolence. The plan is to unfold a campaign of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience aimed at ending the U.S. war in and occupation of Iraq. The campaign begins with occupations at the offices of Representatives and Senators who refuse to pledge to vote against additional war funding.
Several UFPJ member groups, including CodePink, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace, After Downing Street, and a host of local groups from North Carolina to Alaska are all involved in this effort. United for Peace and Justice, as a national coalition, has also endorsed The Occupation Project.
Your group can find out more about this initiative, including how you can get involved, by visiting their website. Or you can contact the organizers via phone at 773-878-3815 or via email, occupationproject at vcnv.org
—————————————————————–
And if you haven’t already:
Click here and sign Peace Action’s “No War with Iran!” petition today!
http://www.peace-action.org/Iranpetition.html
This petition to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice rejects any U.S. military action against Iran and demands direct negotiations. Copies will go to Chairs of the Senate
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:41 amAfter years of sanctions that denied North K’ medicine and food, not unlike those placed on Iraq, resulting in untold misery and death, they now say…”Nevermind.”
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:44 amKristol, the AEI, the Weekly standard are more dangerous than Iran, IraQ, and North Korea combined. These Neo-Cons deal in fantasy and mythology. They will destroy this country, people, count on it. they are the philosopher kings who are appointed to feed us noble lies because we cant’ possibly understand. What a bunch of Bulls%&t!!!
t-mac
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