(ITH) Intelligence snarl over North Korea

[salin]

Intelligence snarl over North Korea

David E. Sanger/NYT Tuesday, October 14, 2003


WASHINGTON New intelligence estimates that North Korea may have produced one or two nuclear weapons in recent months - or perhaps more - that have immersed the administration in another internal debate about the quality of intelligence information about illegal weapons.
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President George W. Bush is just days from embarking on his longest foray in Asia.
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Some of his advisers say it is possible that North Korea is telling the truth about having turned 8,000 nuclear fuel rods into enough weapons-grade plutonium for several warheads.
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Others, including more cautious intelligence analysts at the State Department, say there is still no proof, and plenty of incentive for the North Koreans to bluff.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency, in a series of confidential briefings, has taken a middle view: It has told Asian governments that North Korea has probably produced enough plutonium to make two new nuclear weapons, according to officials who took extensive notes on the briefings.

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