Search

This article discusses the nuclear arms crisis between North Korea and the international community. After President Kim Jong II of North Korea successfully completed a nuclear bomb test, world leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush, are analyzing the political, economical and technological impact the test will have in the future. Terrorism concerns and risk management are also a concern. INSET: NUCLEAR WORLD.

How does a civil servant who has launched a major attack on the Bush presidency protect himself from what he has unleashed? Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism adviser to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush--who saw al-Qaeda expand under his watch, attack U.S. interests abroad and produce the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history--knew he couldn't pin the blame on his bosses if he didn't start by apologizing himself. Clarke, who quit his job at the National Security Council a year ago, would not have survived Washington's brutal ways in the service of three Presidents if he had not been a good politician. And last week he needed all the political skills he could muster for what he was about to do--direct a missile at the very fortress that so far has protected Bush's presidential advantage in this campaign season: the perception that, for all his faults, Bush has done everything he could to keep the country safe and managed the war on terrorism well. With all the dust flying around Clarke last week, the question ofwhether Washington appropriately handled the terrorist threat tended to get lost. That question is of course the one of greatest interest to the public in the wake of 9/11. In his strongest public statement, to 60 Minutes, Clarke said Bush "ignored" the terrorist threat before 9/11. To the commission he testified, more soberly, that, for the Administration, it was an "important issue but not an urgent issue." the end, the drama produced by Clarke in Washington was not about the last terrorist attack against the U.S. but about the next one. Since it began its work in early 2003, the commission has uncovered huge failings in the national-security system, including how even a presidential order can be misunderstood down the chain of command. But these dangers got lost in a high-stakes political showdown. Unless Washington can focus on them, someone may risk having to ask forgiveness again.

Discusses how weapons of mass destruction have yet to be found in Iraq. War against Iraq that was based on intelligence about banned arms; Argument of U.S. President George W. Bush in favor of a preemptive strike against Saddam Hussein; Experts who believe that weapons will not be found; U.S. officials who argue that weapons will eventually be found; Critics of British Prime Minister Tony Blair who feel that he overstated the case for war; Mistrust of the Iraqi intelligence; Roles of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon deputy Paul Wolfowitz; Possibility that the Defense Department overinterpreted threats posed by Iraq's stockpiles; Evaluation of the process of interpreting intelligence.

Focuses on the attention given to Syria by the United States. Allegations made by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush against Syria including the harboring of Iraqi leaders and sponsorship of terrorism; How the U.S. Congress introduced a bill that would cut ties to Syria; Goals of the U.S. rhetoric towards Syria; Impact of U.S. allegations throughout the Middle East with respect to anti-Americanism. INSET: THE CASE AGAINST SYRIA.

Reports on the attitude of the U.S. President George W. Bush administration regarding Syria, a country long designated a state sponsor of terrorism. Initiation of talks by the U.S. to join Syria in controlling the frontier; Meeting between U.S. officials and Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus; Past criticism of Syria by the U.S.

Discusses the pros and cons of Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi will be dismantling their weapons of mass destruction through an agreement with United States President George W. Bush. Effect that the dismantling of the weapons will have on intelligence officials unraveling the world of illicit-weapons supply; Terms of the agreement which calls for improved relations between Libya and Western countries; Effects that the Iraq War had on the decision by Libya to comply to the demands of the U.S.; Background of the beginning of the communications between Libya and the U.S. as the Iraq War began.

Reports that U.S. intelligence agencies are warning that Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group, may begin attacking U.S. citizens and facilities if a war with Iraq begins. Heightened concern that attacks may occur on U.S. military bases or in American gathering places in Israel and the Middle East; Condemning of U.S. ambitions to disarm Iraq by Hamas' spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin.