The CIA says the bad guys of the world, including Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Libya, are making steady progress in the development of offensive missile capabilities.
The Central Intelligence Agency’s most recent report to Congress, meanwhile, has painted an alarming picture of growing ballistic missile capabilities among American adversaries. The intelligence study, which covers international ballistic missile and WMD developments from January to June 2003, lists Iran, North Korea, Libya, and Syria as primary states of missile concern. Iran, the report states, has continued to receive assistance in missile “equipment, technology, and expertise” from China, North Korea and Russia. North Korea, meanwhile, has moved forward considerably in its long-range ballistic missile capabilities, and its “multiple-stage Taepo Dong-2—capable of reaching parts of the United States with a nuclear weapon-sized payload—may be ready for flight-testing.” With regard to Syria, the report cites evidence that Damascus is “developing longer-range missile programs such as a Scud D and possibly other variants with assistance from North Korea and Iran.”Posted by Alan at November 20, 2003 10:44 PMThe greatest strides in ballistic missile development during the first half of 2003, however, were made by Tripoli. “Libya continued to depend on foreign assistance—particularly from Serbian, Indian, Iranian, North Korean, and Chinese entities—for its ballistic missile development programs,” the report states. “Libya’s capability therefore may not still be limited to its Soviet-origin Scud-B missiles.” And, according to the CIA study, “with continued foreign assistance, Libya will likely achieve an MRBM capability—a long-desired goal—probably through direct purchase from North Korea or Iran.”
via the American Foreign Policy Council
Full unclassified report via the CIA, in html and pdf