Sunday, June 29, 2008

Good News For The Credulous

clipped from online.wsj.com
The extent to which Yongbyon's aggregate plutonium production has been
weaponized and concealed is one critical unresolved issue. Moreover, analysis of
the much-touted 18,000 pages of Yongbyon documentation previously turned over
has uncovered significant gaps in information, especially concerning the
reactor's early years of operation, that preclude making a truly accurate
calculation.

Ironically, the documents themselves are contaminated with
particles of highly enriched uranium, probably from that enrichment program
North Korea still denies. This program's extent is crucial, because if it is
production scope, the North will still have a route to fissile material no
matter what Yongbyon's ultimate fate, proving yet again that leveling those aged
facilities was a nonconcession.

The only good news is that there is little opportunity for the Bush
administration to make any further concessions in its waning days in office.