Here's one of my favorites!:
“The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his ‘nuclear mujahideen’.... his nuclear holy warriors… Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof.... the smoking gun.... that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”
George W. Bush October 2002
He was right! He just had THE WRONG COUNTRY!
World Media Focuses on N. Korean Explosion
The media of the entire world reported Sunday on the large explosion that took place in North Korea¡¯s Kim Hyong-jik County, Ryanggang Province on Thursday. In particular, some foreign press focused their attentions on whether North Korea had conducted a nuclear test to mark North Korea¡¯s Sept. 9 foundation day, relaying news reports that a mushroom cloud had been witnessed.
As soon as AP put out a lead story on the incident, it immediately put out a follow up piece. Reuters reported Sunday that a large explosion took place in a North Korean region along the Sino-Korean border Thursday, and that the explosion was larger than the one that occurred at Ryongchon Station in April. Ahead of this, Japan¡¯s Kyodo News sent off an urgent dispatch at 11:27 a.m., while other global media like France¡¯s AFP all wired stories concerning the explosion.
In particular, major international media focused attention on the fact that the explosion took place on Sept. 9, North Korea¡¯s foundation day, and that a mushroom cloud had been witnessed.
AP and CNN didn¡¯t directly suggest that that the explosion had anything to do with a nuclear test, but said some experts were guessing that there was a possibility that North Korea had conducted a test related to its nuclear program to mark Sept. 9.
Meanwhile, the Internet edition of the New York Times reported Sunday that U.S. President George Bush and his high-ranking advisors had recently received a reliable intelligence report on North Korean moves that contained the opinions of some experts that North Korea was preparing to test its first nuclear device, quoting high-ranking officials familiar with the report. The paper said, however, that there were split opinions among intelligence organizations as to how to evaluate the importance of the new North Korean moves.
Intelligence experts who were skeptical of intelligence concerning Iraq¡¯s weapons of mass destruction told the NYT that they did not think North Korean activity over the last three weeks were necessarily signs that they were going to conduct a nuclear test. One high-ranking scientist familiar with nuclear intelligence said the new evidence was not conclusive, but potentially worrisome. In interviews with the NYT on Friday and Saturday, high-ranking officials did not release any specific information concerning confirmed recent moves by the North Koreans, but the paper said it appeared that some of the intelligence had come from satellites.
One official said recent North Korean moves represented a chain of believable signs that suggested they might be related to a nuclear test, and said the possibility that a nuclear test might be conducted within the next four weeks had increased greatly. The NYT said the North Korean moves included the movement of objects in a number of regions suspected of being nuclear test cities, including sites designated last year by intelligence bodies as places nuclear tests could be conducted.
Some officials said, moreover, that in the event that North Korea conducts a nuclear test, it might do so with the intention of influencing the U.S. presidential election, said the NYT.
url: english.chosun.com |
