Chapter 7, Part 2 Summary

In 2002, the C.I.A. presented President Bush with information that Pakistan was sharing nuclear information with North Korea. This was supposedly done in exchange for North Korean missile technology. The C.I.A. presentation stated the Pakistan had sent prototype high-speed centrifuges (to enrich uranium) to North Korea. Pakistan also shared information on how to hide nuclear research from American satellites.

Bush had previously described North Korea as part of the "Axis of Evil," but he did not publicize the C.I.A. report showing a link between North Korea and his new ally, Pakistan. A Third World country proliferating nuclear weapons was considered a worst-case scenario by the arms community. The military assurance on MAD (mutual assured destruction), which had served in the cold war, simply did not apply to a fundamentalist nation. The U.S. challenged North Korea...