11.   American officials acknowledge that they are impatient with the squabbling over who will lead the new agencies and how they will work.

12.   American officials acknowledged a great reluctance to release people who could be involved with terrorism and said that the FBI was working hard to complete the checks.

13.   Although Philippine officials acknowledge that their country has been a haven for groups linked to bin Laden, the question is whether it remains one.

14.   Although North Korea later acceded to the nuclear accord, Pentagon officials acknowledged that they have little insight as to who is actually running the country.

15.   Although Iowa has been trending Republican in recent years, even top GOP officials acknowledge that Dole is running behind Clinton here.

16.   Although the elected officials acknowledged those figures, they said the solutions were not easy to find.

17.   American officials acknowledge that Washington, for its own national interests, cannot simply walk away from efforts to reach a wider peace in the Middle East.

18.   American officials also acknowledged that they had also lost track of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the former Taliban leader who is believed to be somewhere in central Afghanistan.

19.   American official acknowledge that there is no possibility of agricultural exports offsetting the huge US trade deficit with Japan.

20.   American officials acknowledge that it took a long time to deal with the problem, but insist that their diplomacy was successful.