The Bush administration is tactful as always (NOT!). Libya agrees to desmantle its nuclear program, and what does the US do: flaunt it in front of journalists and the world. The US Energy Secretary, Spencer Abraham, led journalistspast wooden crates containing 22,680 kilograms of machine parts used for enriching uranium, at Oak Ridge, Tennesse. [The Oak Ridge complex is where the US developed enriched uranium and the original atomic bombs in World War II. What is the US going to do with all this Libyan material?] According to Abraham this is the "tip of the iceberg" of a vastly larger quantity of sensitive technology sold to Libya by a trading network headed by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Libya paid $US100 million ($135 million) for the nuclear components and bomb designs over two decades. Khan admitted this year that he sold such equipment to Libya, Iran and North Korea, but Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf immediately pardoned him [isn't that nice]

Libya is upset the United States has portrayed its nuclear disarmament as a victory in US nonproliferation efforts, saying it should be recognized as the fruit of international cooperation. "Libya was quite unhappy with this dog and pony show because it hurts them domestically (and) in the Arab world," said the Vienna-based official close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which is headquartered in the Austrian capital. "It looks like unilateral US disarmament of Libya, and Libya wants it recognized as disarmament under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and IAEA auspices," the official, who asked not to be named, told reporters in Washington. The head of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said his agency also deserved credit for disarming Libya, a process which is being performed under UN supervision.