CNN January 05, 2005
SHOW: LOU DOBBS TONIGHT 6:00 PM EST
DOBBS: One that we all hope will be resolved soon for the benefit of everyone. Jamie McIntyre, thank you.
New evidence tonight, the spread of nuclear weapons around the world could be a much more serious problem than anyone has acknowledged. The International Atomic Energy Agency is now investigating reports that Egypt may have been conducting secret nuclear experiments.
Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The worry is Egypt has been running nuclear experiments and the IAEA has not reported it or discovered it.
Egypt's ambassador to the United States said today there is no secret Egyptian program and they are working with the IAEA.
The U.S. State Department said yesterday it does not know anything more than what's been reported in the press.
ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We don't have anything definitive or authoritative from the IAEA. I expect we'll be discussing these press reports with them.
PILGRIM: But experts worry if the reports prove true, it suggests a disturbing pattern.
HENRY SOKOLSKI, NONPROLIFERATION POLICY EDUCATION CENTER: The news suggests that earlier reports that Mr. Khan, the father of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program, who had sold so many things to North Korea and Iran, had made visits also to Egypt. So this could be lifting the carpet on a lot of nuclear dirt in the region.
PILGRIM: Iran has run uranium enrichment programs in secret for nearly two decade, and experts say a potential nuclear weapons program could be located around the Parchin complex about 20 miles south of Tehran. Today, Mohamed ElBaradei says they hope to gain access to that facility within weeks.
GORDON G. CHANG, NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION EXPERT: It's not just Iran. It's Iran in connection with Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Pakistan and China. It is a very serious combination of countries, and the problem is that we're really receiving too many reports of problems in Egypt and in the surrounding countries to think that this is all just coincidence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now North Korea remains the biggest nuclear threat in the world. But, recently, new countries have admitted to secret experiments, such as South Korea staying conducted plutonium and uranium experiments, didn't report them, however. Now nuclear experts say the work for the IAEA is becoming increasingly broad and difficult -- Lou.
DOBBS: And, of course, it's becoming increasingly threatening and -- in a far more dangerous world, and -- we're led to believe by the very agency that is responsible for conducting oversight. That is the IAEA.
PILGRIM: Well, nuclear experts we talked to today are very concerned, and they're doing a lot of the footwork on this piecing together little pieces of information and drawing conclusions that are never officially stated in any government agency.
DOBBS: And, of course, the question unasked here is: Where are U.S. intelligence agencies in all of this?
PILGRIM: We're just scratching the surface on this, Lou.
DOBBS: It is troubling to say the least.
Kitty, thank you very much.
Kitty Pilgrim.
North Korea has told people to be ready for a protracted war with the United States. The North Korean regime has issued orders how to stockpile weapons and how to use underground bunkers.
Tonight, there's new satellite imagery that shows the scale of North Korean military preparations for a possible war.
National Correspondent David Ensor reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The satellite pictures document North Korea's obsession with tunnels and underground facilities, like this air base with runways that run into tunnels under a mountain. The National Resources Defense Council team also used pictures taken from the shuttle.
But if the hidden bases made sense for North Korea when they were built, they are not save from today's American weapons.
JOHN PIKE, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: That might have worked back in the 1980s, but, with precision munitions today, the North Koreans have just narrowed down the number of aim points for our smart bombs.
ENSOR: And our D.C. scientists say the imagery suggests the earth-penetrating nuclear weapon the Bush administration wants to start research on would not be needed to stop North Korean underground weapons of any kind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, basically, if there's something hidden under a mountain, you just blow up the entrance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blow up the entrance. Yes.
ENSOR: The satellite pictures also show North Korea's nuclear weapons facilities. The biggest threat to South Korea, say the experts, would be a nuclear weapon on its capital Seoul dropped from an aircraft.
But the pictures show North Korea's Air Force and Navy are antiquated and decrepit -- 48 small submarines, some Russian-made MiG jets -- but, believe it or not, most of the transport aircraft are biplanes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: There were defense and intelligence officials in the audience today, and, once or twice, the presenters asked them to speak up if they knew something more from the much higher resolution imagery that the U.S. government has access to. They didn't speak up, but then, of course, that material is classified -- Lou.
DOBBS: David, thank you very much.
David Ensor.
Congressman Curt Weldon is about to lead a congressional delegation in North Korea. Later here, I'll be talking with Congressman Weldon about the magnitude of the North Korean military threat to this country and what the United States is doing to contain that threat.
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