U.S. Plans New Tool to Halt Spread Of Weapons

With the naming of a Syrian facility, Damascus, which is suspected of providing cover for insurgents in Iraq and targeting political foes in Lebanon, could take the place once reserved for Iraq alongside North Korea and Iran as members of what Bush referred to as an "axis of evil."

The Bush administration has sought to portray itself as leading the global fight against proliferators, and officials said they want to use the G-8 summit to highlight their successes. But the intelligence failings on Iraq may make it difficult to convince allies that U.S. information on the companies is solid enough for them to sign on to the program.

Washington began sharing details of the proposed plan this past weekend with Britain, France and Germany, which are in the middle of delicate negotiations with Iran. The Europeans are hoping incentives, not sanctions, will persuade Iran's newly elected leader to give up some of the country's nuclear capabilities.

Officials also said there are fears within the U.S. government as well that it could face legal challenges from targeted companies and that they would be hard-pressed to respond to them in court without revealing intelligence. "This whole thing is going to have to be based on good and reliable intelligence that will not lead to any litigation," one of the officials said. "That's why it is important to be thorough."

The United States targeted the assets of hundreds of individuals after the 2001 terrorist attacks in an effort that went virtually unchallenged in the courts, in part because some individuals were listed by aliases and others were on the run in Afghanistan or feared capture if they tried to reclaim financial holdings.

But public and private companies and banks in the United States, Europe and Asia are unlikely to sit back if their assets are frozen for legitimate business dealings.

Two U.S. officials with detailed knowledge of the decision-making behind the new strategy expressed confidence in the quality of intelligence on the eight companies. But they said the cases were not black and white, particularly because most of the companies deal in dual-use components, and the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency is running a huge part of the country's energy sector.

Researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.