Misled on North Korea

Taken from Seattle Times 3.20.05, p. A14
By Dafna Linzer The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — In an effort to increase pressure on North Korea, the Bush administration told its Asian allies in briefings early this year that the North 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 the Bush administration's partner in the hunt for al-Qaida 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 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.
In an effort to repair the damage, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is traveling through East Asia trying to get the six-nation talks back on track.
The impasse is expected to dominate talks today in South Korea and then China, which wields the greatest influence with North Korea. A Rice aide said last night in Seoul that the major push of Rice's Asian visit is to persuade China to "squeeze the North."
The new details follow a string of controversies concerning the Bush administration's use of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction. In the run-up to the Iraq invasion in March 2003, the White House offered a public case against Iraq that concealed dissent on nearly every element of intelligence and included interpretations unsupported by the evidence.
The United States briefed allies on North Korea in late January and early last month. Two 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.
The talks have been seen as largely ineffectual, but the Bush administration, which refuses to meet bilaterally with North Korea, insists they are critical to curbing North Korea's nuclear program.
The White House declined to offer an official to comment by name about the new details concerning Pakistan. A prepared response attributed to a senior administration official said that the U.S. government "has provided allies with an accurate account of North Korea's nuclear proliferation activities."
Since Pakistan became a key U.S. ally in the hunt for al-Qaida leaders, the administration has not held President Pervez Musharraf accountable for actions taken by nuclear scientist Abdel Qadeer 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 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.
After news reports about the briefing appeared last month, North Korea announced that it possessed nuclear weapons and would not return to the talks.
Pritchard said North Korea's reaction was "absolutely linked" to the U.S. accusations.
The United States tried to persuade North Korea to return to the talks, without success. The North Korean leadership responded with conditions, including a demand that Rice apologize for calling it an "outpost of tyranny."
Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.