White House Knew of China's Nuclear Theft in 1995,
New York Times Reports
By Greg Quinn
Washington, June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Senior White House staff
knew China might have stolen nuclear weapons technology nearly a
year earlier than the has administration admitted to, The New
York Times said, citing unnamed current and former government
officials. Until now, the White House has left the impression
that it didn't learn of the problem until April 1996, but the
Energy Department told White House chief of Staff Leon Panetta in
July 1995, The Times reported. Another briefing was held in
November 1995 involving the CIA and national security adviser
Anthony Lake, but the investigation into the apparent theft
''languished, plagued for the next four years by what many
officials now describe as miscommunication, bureaucratic inertia
and outright bungling by several agencies,'' the paper reported.
A presidential commission found earlier this month that the
energy department, which oversees U.S. nuclear labs, is a place
where ''organizational disarray, managerial neglect, and a
culture of arrogance conspired to create an espionage scandal
waiting to happen.''
(NYT 06/27 A4 www.nytimes.com)
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