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Banned
We have discussed a lot about ABCD's , FOB's , this and that. Discussion simply doesn't mean anything, at the end of the day Actions only can make difference, so please act if you wish to make a change and this is not difficult at all, doesn't cost anything and no sacrifices involved !!!!
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FOLKS PLEASE SEND THIS YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS AT www.congress.org. Type in your zip code and then cut and paste this to send it.
Aid to Nuclear Arms Bid May Be Recent
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 13, 2002; Page A01
The Bush administration has evidence that suggests Pakistan assisted
North Korea's covert nuclear weapons program as recently as three months
ago, much later than previously disclosed, according to sources in the
administration and on Capitol Hill.
While the administration has taken a hard line against North Korea,
demanding that it verify it has dismantled its efforts to enrich uranium
before U.S. officials engage in further discussions with the communist
state, it has taken a much softer tack against Pakistan. Publicly,
officials have suggested that if Pakistan, a key ally in the war against
terrorism, had provided help to North Korea in the past, it changed its
behavior after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington.
But in reality, U.S. officials say, the administration believes
Pakistan continued to trade nuclear technical knowledge, designs and possibly
material in exchange for missile parts up until this summer, when the
administration concluded North Korea was secretly trying to construct a
facility to enrich uranium for a bomb. Administration officials would
not discuss the extent of the evidence, but they said it involves highly
suspicious shipping trade.
"Let's put it this way: There were still shenanigans going on three
months ago," an administration official said. Intelligence officials who
have briefed members of Congress have also disclosed the
administration's concerns that Pakistan's illicit nuclear trade continued well into
this year.
Pakistan's involvement in North Korea's program has put the
administration in an extremely delicate position. Under U.S. law, if the president
determines that a country has delivered nuclear enrichment equipment,
material or technology without international safeguards, the United
States must suspend economic and military aid. Such sanctions were imposed
against Pakistan in 1979, but last year President Bush waived them and
other nuclear-related sanctions after the Pakistani government agreed
to help in the fight against al Qaeda and Afghanistan's Taliban militia
after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Rather than press Pakistan for a full accounting, U.S. officials said
they have noted the latest evidence -- which Pakistani officials have
argued is innocent -- and believe they have put Pakistan on notice that
future violations will not be tolerated. Intelligence officials plan to
closely scrutinize transactions between Pakistan and North Korea.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has personally guaranteed that
questionable transactions with North Korea will cease, and U.S. officials
believe he would like to halt the nuclear leakage. But they also
question whether he has full control of all entities that could be doing
business with North Korea. "In the end, we may find he is only partially
truthful," the official said.
Several experts said it will be difficult to understand the scope of
the North Korean program -- which by some estimates would not be
operational for several years -- unless the administration demands that
Pakistan disclose exactly what it might have provided to North Korea.
"We have asked North Korea to verifiably dismantle its nuclear
enrichment program," said Robert J. Einhorn, former assistant secretary of
state for nonproliferation in the Clinton and Bush administrations and now
a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"How will we know if North Korea has done that unless we know precisely
what Pakistan has transferred to North Korea?"
Pakistani officials publicly insist that they have not helped the North
Korean program in any way.
"No material, no technology ever has been exported to North Korea,"
said Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States.
"I can assure you there is no way we would underestimate the
seriousness of such an international breach."
Qazi said that while Pakistan has engaged in trade with North Korea,
"nobody can tell us if there is evidence, no one is challenging our word.
There is no smoking gun."
Last month, U.S. officials confronted North Korea with their conclusion
that it had a covert nuclear program. Then, North Korea unexpectedly
admitted it.
Pakistan produces highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, and U.S.
officials have long suspected that Pakistani nuclear scientists had
disturbing ties to the North Koreans.
In the face of Pakistan's vehement denials, U.S. officials have been
publicly anxious not to suggest that Musharraf, who seized power in 1999
in a bloodless coup, is anything but a close friend and ally.
Indeed, asked last month about reports that Pakistan provided
assistance to North Korea's program, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer did not
confirm the reports but noted: "Many things that people may have done
years before September 11th or some time before September 11th, have
changed. September 11th changed the world and it changed many nations'
behaviors along with it."
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has been careful publicly not to
suggest when Pakistan may have helped North Korea. Instead, he said that
as recently as last month, he spoke to Musharraf "about the need not to
assist North Korea in any way and have any kind of relationship with
North Korea now that would give them the wherewithal to develop those
kinds of weapons or the means to deliver them."
Powell said he purposely did not dwell on past behavior because "the
past is the past and there isn't a whole lot I can do about it. I'm more
concerned about what is going on now. We have a new relationship with
Pakistan."
Leonard Weiss, a former Senate staffer who specialized in
nonproliferation issues, said there is "no question" that, under a 1976 law known as
the Symington amendment, Pakistan would qualify for sanctions if it
aided North Korea's program. But he said that if officials decide not to
probe too deeply, "they avoid the political problem of having to give
them a waiver."
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOLKS PLEASE SEND THIS YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS AT www.congress.org. Type in your zip code and then cut and paste this to send it.
Aid to Nuclear Arms Bid May Be Recent
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 13, 2002; Page A01
The Bush administration has evidence that suggests Pakistan assisted
North Korea's covert nuclear weapons program as recently as three months
ago, much later than previously disclosed, according to sources in the
administration and on Capitol Hill.
While the administration has taken a hard line against North Korea,
demanding that it verify it has dismantled its efforts to enrich uranium
before U.S. officials engage in further discussions with the communist
state, it has taken a much softer tack against Pakistan. Publicly,
officials have suggested that if Pakistan, a key ally in the war against
terrorism, had provided help to North Korea in the past, it changed its
behavior after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington.
But in reality, U.S. officials say, the administration believes
Pakistan continued to trade nuclear technical knowledge, designs and possibly
material in exchange for missile parts up until this summer, when the
administration concluded North Korea was secretly trying to construct a
facility to enrich uranium for a bomb. Administration officials would
not discuss the extent of the evidence, but they said it involves highly
suspicious shipping trade.
"Let's put it this way: There were still shenanigans going on three
months ago," an administration official said. Intelligence officials who
have briefed members of Congress have also disclosed the
administration's concerns that Pakistan's illicit nuclear trade continued well into
this year.
Pakistan's involvement in North Korea's program has put the
administration in an extremely delicate position. Under U.S. law, if the president
determines that a country has delivered nuclear enrichment equipment,
material or technology without international safeguards, the United
States must suspend economic and military aid. Such sanctions were imposed
against Pakistan in 1979, but last year President Bush waived them and
other nuclear-related sanctions after the Pakistani government agreed
to help in the fight against al Qaeda and Afghanistan's Taliban militia
after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Rather than press Pakistan for a full accounting, U.S. officials said
they have noted the latest evidence -- which Pakistani officials have
argued is innocent -- and believe they have put Pakistan on notice that
future violations will not be tolerated. Intelligence officials plan to
closely scrutinize transactions between Pakistan and North Korea.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has personally guaranteed that
questionable transactions with North Korea will cease, and U.S. officials
believe he would like to halt the nuclear leakage. But they also
question whether he has full control of all entities that could be doing
business with North Korea. "In the end, we may find he is only partially
truthful," the official said.
Several experts said it will be difficult to understand the scope of
the North Korean program -- which by some estimates would not be
operational for several years -- unless the administration demands that
Pakistan disclose exactly what it might have provided to North Korea.
"We have asked North Korea to verifiably dismantle its nuclear
enrichment program," said Robert J. Einhorn, former assistant secretary of
state for nonproliferation in the Clinton and Bush administrations and now
a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"How will we know if North Korea has done that unless we know precisely
what Pakistan has transferred to North Korea?"
Pakistani officials publicly insist that they have not helped the North
Korean program in any way.
"No material, no technology ever has been exported to North Korea,"
said Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States.
"I can assure you there is no way we would underestimate the
seriousness of such an international breach."
Qazi said that while Pakistan has engaged in trade with North Korea,
"nobody can tell us if there is evidence, no one is challenging our word.
There is no smoking gun."
Last month, U.S. officials confronted North Korea with their conclusion
that it had a covert nuclear program. Then, North Korea unexpectedly
admitted it.
Pakistan produces highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, and U.S.
officials have long suspected that Pakistani nuclear scientists had
disturbing ties to the North Koreans.
In the face of Pakistan's vehement denials, U.S. officials have been
publicly anxious not to suggest that Musharraf, who seized power in 1999
in a bloodless coup, is anything but a close friend and ally.
Indeed, asked last month about reports that Pakistan provided
assistance to North Korea's program, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer did not
confirm the reports but noted: "Many things that people may have done
years before September 11th or some time before September 11th, have
changed. September 11th changed the world and it changed many nations'
behaviors along with it."
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has been careful publicly not to
suggest when Pakistan may have helped North Korea. Instead, he said that
as recently as last month, he spoke to Musharraf "about the need not to
assist North Korea in any way and have any kind of relationship with
North Korea now that would give them the wherewithal to develop those
kinds of weapons or the means to deliver them."
Powell said he purposely did not dwell on past behavior because "the
past is the past and there isn't a whole lot I can do about it. I'm more
concerned about what is going on now. We have a new relationship with
Pakistan."
Leonard Weiss, a former Senate staffer who specialized in
nonproliferation issues, said there is "no question" that, under a 1976 law known as
the Symington amendment, Pakistan would qualify for sanctions if it
aided North Korea's program. But he said that if officials decide not to
probe too deeply, "they avoid the political problem of having to give
them a waiver."
© 2002 The Washington Post Company