Doctored intel, Part II

The Bush administration denies that it distorted intelligence and misled Asian nations about North Korean sales of nuclear technology. Given the misuse of intelligence prior to invading Iraq and a lack of interest in finding out what went wrong, the administration hardly deserves the benefit of the doubt.

According to The Washington Post, administration representatives told South Korea, Japan and China -- our partners in talks to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear programs -- that U.S. intelligence agencies had discovered that Pyongyang sold uranium hexafluoride to Libya. That gas is required to manufacture weapons-grade uranium. Selling to a nonnuclear country would cement North Korea's status as a pariah state.

In fact, according to the Post, North Korea sold the gas to Pakistan, which already had a nuclear weapons program, and Pakistan then sold the material to Libya without North Korea's knowledge. The doctored intelligence was intended to get China, South Korea and Japan to increase pressure on North Korea. Instead, those partners are upset.

The administration also wanted to avoid embarrassing Pakistan, a prime ally in the effort to root out Al-Qaeda. There is increasing evidence, however, that coddling Pakistan hurts U.S. interests. While the Bush administration frets about North Korean damage to nonproliferation, Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan is now thought to have offered or sold dangerous nuclear technology to more dangerous countries than anyone in history.

Dr. Khan ran an underground network whose customers included Iran, Libya and North Korea. He is further suspected of dealing with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Moreover, there is evidence that Dr. Khan tried to sell nuclear technology to Saddam Hussein, who only turned him down out of fear that he was being set up by the United States. Out of deference to Pakistan, the Bush administration has accepted President Pervez Musharraf's decision to pardon Dr. Khan and let him retire in luxury. Worse, the United States has not been allowed to interrogate Dr. Khan to verify what his network sold and to whom -- information that could be crucial to preventing terrorists from setting off a dirty bomb.

The United States spreads bad intelligence on one hand and fails to collect good intelligence on the other. That combination won't stop terrorists or nuclear proliferation.