It's Yet Another Pakistani Nuclear Anniversary Today

Dr. Hoodbhoy, Lemme congratulate u for the help u extended to IDPs. Ayaz Amir is another man of mettle not just of words but deeds as well.

Overall a good sane article. But the writer errs in the claim that India introduced nuclearization. This is nonsense because India doesn't need nuclear weapons to wipe the floor with Pakistan. It is always the weaker country that benefits from nuclear weapons. It is well known that Pakistan developed ambitions of acquiring nuclear weapons after the 1965 war and accelerated its development after the 1971 war. With or without India's test in 1974, they would have persevered. The war in Afghanistan enabled them to do it rather openly with the CIA not only looking the other way, but also protecting them from a premeptive attack from India that wanted to do an "Osirak" on them.

India's nuclear tests were a great way of bringing Pakistan out of the closet, since from a strategic viewpoint, no Indian general could ignore "rumours" and "hearsay" about the nuclear capability, and it would be disastrous to try to call the bluff and end up with a nuclear strike. Better to be out in the open, and with the guarantee of India's own ability for a massive retaliatory strike. India was sandwiched between a rogue weak state with defacto nuclear capability, and a rogue strong state (China) with nuclear capability. So 1998 was inevitable, and was strategically a smart thing. The smarter thing would have been for India in the intervening years to have proactively bombed Pakistani nuclear sites like Isreal did in Iraq, or may do in Iran, but not having done that, there was no other option. Bringing Pakistan into the open also opened the way for sanctions and made it more difficult for Western governments to look the other way as they had done previously. But that is all too little too late.

I find it amusing that most countries acquire weapons to protect themselves. Yet, in Pakistan, it appears that it is the weapons that need to be protected. Yesterday, there was a report of how 10,000 people were protecting the nukes. Every six months, some Pakistani leader has to assure their public (and now, the world) that the bums are safe. This never happens in any other country!

"Contrary to claims made in 1998, the bomb did not transform Pakistan into a technologically and scientifically advanced country."

Who made this claim? And which country has ever been transformed technologically and scientifically advanced by having nukes? Why should Pakistan be an exception?

"what have we gained from the bomb?"
What we have lost by possessing it either? You can still count a few gains over your fingertips, but what about the losses? Do our current woes have anything do with us being a nuclear state, or these problems wouldn't have been there if we were not nuclear?

" Some might ask, didn’t the bomb stop India from swallowing up Pakistan? First, an upward-mobile India has no reason to want an additional 170 million Muslims. Second, even if India wanted to, territorial conquest is impossible."
What stops you to think above the high-school mentality?
USA, USSR, UK, France, India...none had any threat of being engulfed by any country, so why they have it? So again, why Pakistan should be an exception?

What is the point of this whole article in the first place?

While I understand the author's principled opposition to nuclear weapons, I reject his assertion that science and technology in Pakistan has not advanced in the last decade.

Here is why:

1. According to Science Watch website that tracks science publications, citations of Pakistani research papers/publications are sharply up in multiple fields, ranging from engineering to computer science to material sciences and plant biology.

Source: http://sciencewatch.com/dr/rs/08sep-rs/

2. Over two dozen Pakistani scientists are working on the Large Hadron Collider; the grandest experiment in the history of Physics.

3. The US is importing UAVs designed and built in by Integrated Dynamics in Pakistan to protect America’s borders.

4. According to Menlo Park based oDesk, Pakistan is among the top outsourcing destinations because of the availability of large numbers of college graduates in engineering and technology. Pakistan ranks number one in value for money for developers and data entry and number two overall behind the Philippines where the cost of answering calls is about half of the cost in Pakistan. Pakistan is well ahead of India and just behind the number 1 ranked United States in customer satisfaction.

5. Number of universities and colleges in the country has grown dramatically in this decade. In Islamabad alone, where there was just one university in the 1970s, here's an incomplete list of colleges/universities:

1.Air University
2.COMSATS Institute of Information Technology
3.Bahria University
4.Allama Iqbal Open University
5.Al Huda University
6.Hamdard University
7.Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering
8.Federal Urdu University
9.National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences
10.National Defence University
11.Muhammad Ali Jinnah University
12.Iqra University
13.International Islamic University
14.Institute of Cost and Management Accounts of Pakistan
15.National University of Modern Languages
16.Shifa College of Medicines
17.SZABIST(Shaheed ZAB
18.Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences
19.Ripah International University
20.National University of Science and Technology
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Re #2 Fullyautomatix
"Every six months, some Pakistani leader has to assure their public (and now, the world) that the bums are safe. This never happens in any other country!"

...except in USA where a B-52 can make an interstate flight with live-nukes, with responsible authorities being unaware.

Perhaps Mr. Hoodbhoy is in a state of regret in his subconscious for not having contributed ANYTHING in Pakistan's nuclear program despite being the most educated nuclear physics person and left the ground to lesser educated scientists.

Re: # 5
Here's a piece you'd enjoy:

Pakistani nuclear weapons safety has been in the news lately. There are widespread concerns being expressed in the Western media about the possibility of Pakistani nukes falling in to the hands of Al-Qaeda or the Taliban or their alleged sympathizers. Even Mohamed El-Baradie of IAEA has chimed in on this issue. However, the Pakistani nukes are not the only ones making the news recently. The US nuclear weapons safety and handling procedures have also raised concerns, especially since the news of of a US Air Force B52 bomber loaded up with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles by mistake. What is even more alarming is the fact that the American B52 crew was not aware they were carrying nuclear weapons. This may sound like a "Man Bites Dog Story" but the Pakistanis have seized on this news and they are questioning the US right to raise alarm about Pakistani nuclear weapons safety, when in fact, it is the US whose procedures are more lax than Pakistan's. For example, the Pakistani nuclear warheads are kept separate from the missiles but the US nuclear warheads and missiles are always kept ready to launch at any moment, even though the Cold War has now been over for about two decades. Furthermore, it takes two levels of approval in the US versus three levels required in Pakistan. Pakistan's Gen Iqhman offered to provide technical advice and assistance to the United States on improving its nuclear weapons handling procedures. Here's the story from The Bulletin Online, a non-profit specializing in global security news and analysis:

A Pakistani view of U.S. nuclear weapons
By Hugh Gusterson | 5 February 2008
"The [U.S.] Air Force has made substantial changes in its handling of nuclear weapons in the wake of a B-52 flight last August during which the pilots and crew were unaware they were carrying six air-launched cruise missiles with nuclear warheads."
-- "Air Force Alters Rules for Handling of Nuclear Arms," Washington Post January 25, 2008.

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN, JANUARY 25--At a press conference in Islamabad today, Pakistani Brig. Gen. Atta M. Iqhman expressed concern about U.S. procedures for handling nuclear weapons. Iqhman, who oversees the safety and security of the Pakistani nuclear force, said that U.S. protocols for storing and handling nuclear weapons are inadequate. "In Pakistan, we store nuclear warheads separately from their delivery systems, and a nuclear warhead can only be activated if three separate officers agree," Iqhman said. "In the United States, almost 20 years after the end of the Cold War, nuclear weapons still sit atop missiles, on hair-trigger alert, and it only takes two launch-control officers to activate a nuclear weapon. The U.S. government has persistently ignored arms control experts around the world who have said they should at least de-alert their weapons."
Iqhman also questioned the adequacy of U.S. procedures for handling nuclear weapons. He expressed particular concern about the August 29, 2007, incident in which six nuclear weapons were accidentally loaded under the wing of a B-52 by workers who did not observe routine inspection procedures and thought they were attaching conventional weapons to the B-52. The flight navigator should have caught their mistake, but he neglected to inspect the weapons as required. For several hours the nuclear weapons were in the air without anyone's knowledge. "The United States needs to develop new protocols for storing and loading nuclear weapons, and it needs to do a better job of recruiting and training the personnel who handle them," Iqhman said.
Iqhman added the Pakistani government would be willing to offer technical advice and assistance to the United States on improving its nuclear weapons handling procedures. Speaking anonymously because of the issue's sensitivity, senior Pentagon officials said it is Washington's role to give, not receive, advice on nuclear weapons safety and surety issues.
Iqhman pointed out that the August 29 event was not an isolated incident; there have been at least 24 accidents involving nuclear weapons on U.S. planes. He mentioned a 1966 incident in which four nuclear weapons fell to the ground when two planes collided over Spain, as well as a 1968 fire that caused a plane to crash in Greenland with four hydrogen bombs aboard. In 1980, a Titan II missile in Arkansas exploded during maintenance, sending a nuclear warhead flying 600 feet through the air. In a remark that visibly annoyed a U.S. official present at the briefing, Iqhman described the U.S. nuclear arsenal as "an accident waiting to happen."
Jay Keuse of MSNBC News asked Iqhman if Pakistan was in any position to be lecturing other countries given Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan's record of selling nuclear technology to other countries. "All nuclear weapons states profess to oppose proliferation while helping select allies acquire nuclear weapons technology," Iqhman replied. "The United States helped Britain and France obtain the bomb; France helped the Israelis; and Russia helped China. And China," he added coyly, "is said by Western media sources to have helped Pakistan. So why can't Pakistan behave like everyone else?"
Iqhman's deputy, Col. Bom Zhalot also expressed concern about the temperament of the U.S. public, asking whether they had the maturity and self-restraint to be trusted with the ultimate weapon. "Their leaders lecture us on the sanctity of life, and their president believes that every embryo is sacred, but they are the only country to have used these terrible weapons--not just once, but twice. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the plane that bombed Hiroshima, said he never lost a night's sleep over killing 100,000 people, many of them women and children. That's scarcely human."
While Iqhman glared reproachfully at Zhalot for this rhetorical outburst, Zhalot continued: "We also worry that the U.S. commander-in-chief has confessed to having been an alcoholic. Here in Pakistan, alcohol is 'haram,' so this isn't a problem for us. Studies have also found that one-fifth of U.S. military personnel are heavy drinkers. How many of those have responsibility for nuclear weapons?"
John G. Libb of the Washington Times asked if Americans were wrong to be concerned about Pakistan's nuclear stockpile given the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan. Colonel Zhalot replied: "Millions of Americans believe that these are the last days and that they will be raptured to heaven at the end of the world. You have a president who describes Jesus as his favorite philosopher, and one of the last remaining candidates in your presidential primaries is a preacher who doesn't believe in evolution. Many Pakistanis worry that the United States is being taken over by religious extremists who believe that a nuclear holocaust will just put the true believers on a fast track to heaven. We worry about a nutcase U.S. president destroying the world to save it."
U.S. diplomats in Pakistan declined comment.

NOTE: THIS "PAKISTANI VIEW OF US NUCLEAR WEAPONS" BY HUGH GUSTERSON IS A PARODY OF PAKISTANI POSITION, A VERY INTERESTING PARODY INDEED, BUT NOT FAR FROM THE TRUTH.
THE DETAILS OF US NUKES MISHANDLING INCIDENTS ARE ACCURATE AND WELL DOCUMENTED ELSEWHERE. THE NEWS CONFERENCE ITSELF IS FAKE AND THE UNUSUAL PAKISTANI NAMES ATTA M. IQHMAN (ATOMIC MAN) AND BOM ZHALOT (BOMBS A LOT) ARE FICTITIOUS AND FUNNY.

Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Re #7 RiazHaq
WHAT ARE YOU???
You made such a detailed reply just three minutes after my comment! Even browsing, copying and pasting should take some time. Are you a robot or something? ;-)

Re: # 8
I wrote this post for my blog last year. Decided to cut/paste to share it with you!
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

What Paksitan has gained-

The foremost being that of being the "Light of Ummah" who are out to lead the march of ISLAM while protecting themselves and the Ghazis with the Nuclear Bomb.

Hindus have suffered the nuclear blackmail since last 10 years which has rpimarily been used to protect their Ghazis, Mujahideens and Islami terrorists.

Pakistani Islami nukes is a very succesful example of Islami terror mindset which uses the nuclear umbrella to protect itself from re-prisal from their Jehadi terror activities.

It is a mindset and PAkistani Islami supremacist egos get bloated at the mere thought of nukes ready to annihilate the kafirs!!

Allahu!!

masadi would like to respond to this miserable article:

PH writes "But today, with a large swathe of its territory lost to insurgents.."

Where is this moron getting his news from? And why is he repeating US propganda about north korea? and what kind of "rock solid" proof is it when you compare two countries with a different history? Why does the US/UK and the West get to have monopoly on anything? The dancing in the streets was when the US nuked Japan, so far no other country in the world has used nuclear weapons on human beings other than the US both directly in weapons and indirectly by dumping toxic nuclear waste in poor neighborhoods and around the globe in the Third World. If there is a miserable country in the world without a doubt, you know which one it is.... Don't waste time with this dumb f'cks articles.

masadi would also like to add that only a damn fool cannot look through this article and see that PH is voicing US propaganda and wants to fulfill the US's purpose to further enslave Pakistan to the West. May God damn his kind of sell outs who are on the CIA payroll and the sob should be fired from his job, if he is presenting "rock solid proof" using the flimsy analysis that he does. What kind of a sham scholarship is this? Is is beneath what even an average high school student can come up with, and my freshman/women students, they can out write this sob any day of the week.

RiazHaq (PAW) #5

{{Here's a piece you'd enjoy:}}

Mr. Haq,

I note that in the recent past you have quoted approvingly and at great length from Stephen Philip Cohen. Here is a passage from Cohen's The Idea of Pakistan which you'd enjoy. It concisely summarizes the provenance of Pakistan's nuclear arms capability and its effect on the nation's psyche:

“The weapons program ... had several important consequences. For one thing, it led the army to think of ways in which it could actively put pressure on India by interfering in Indian politics ... For another, both civilian and military officials put the nuclear program at the center of public propaganda, and a personality cult grew up around A Q Khan after his role was revealed in 1992. ... The belief grew, especially after 1990, that the nuclear program proved the greatness of Pakistan's science and technology, and that Pakistan had assumed its rightful place as the most advanced Muslim country. The bomb confirmed the sought-for image of Pakistan as combining Islam and technology, never mind that most of the technology was either stolen from a European nuclear facility or provided by China.

The nuclear program thus warped judgments about Pakistan's real strengths and weaknesses. The truth was that Pakistan's bomb program was a triumph of espionage and assistance from a friendly power, not the product of a technologically advanced state. For purposes of deterrence and war fighting the difference is unimportant, but in the context of Pakistan's deeper security, political, and social problems, the bomb made it possible to perpetuate the delusion that this was a technologically advanced country. Strategically, it enabled Pakistan to put off the day of reckoning with India, by providing the appearance of equality between the two states.

The bomb was thought of as a magic bullet that could resolve any problems. It even united Pakistanis politically as a symbol of defiance of both India and the West – if Pakistan could stand up to both forces and prevail, there was no limit to what the country could do. ..... In contrast, other new nuclear states such as China, Israel, and India, did not allow the bomb to change their basic strategies or to warp their domestic politics.�

(from the section entitled 'Nuclear Weapons and Pakistan's Identity', pp 80-81)

Re: # 13

What Cohen and Hoodbhoy don't want to talk about are the following facts:

1. The fear of nukes has prevented at least two, maybe three full-scale wars between India and Pakistan.

2. Pakistan would most likely not have pursued nukes and/or ballistic missile programs if India had not taken the lead and be first to test the bomb in 1974 and again in 1998.

3. Pakistan's ballistics missiles, even if tipped with conventional warheads, are a significant deterrent for India's misadventures into Pakistan.

4. As the Gusterson piece points out: "All nuclear weapons states profess to oppose proliferation while helping select allies acquire nuclear weapons technology," Iqhman replied. "The United States helped Britain and France obtain the bomb; France helped the Israelis; and Russia helped China. And China," he added coyly, "is said by Western media sources to have helped Pakistan. So why can't Pakistan behave like everyone else?"
Iqhman's deputy, Col. Bom Zhalot also expressed concern about the temperament of the U.S. public, asking whether they had the maturity and self-restraint to be trusted with the ultimate weapon. "Their leaders lecture us on the sanctity of life, and their president believes that every embryo is sacred, but they are the only country to have used these terrible weapons--not just once, but twice. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the plane that bombed Hiroshima, said he never lost a night's sleep over killing 100,000 people, many of them women and children. That's scarcely human."
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Dr. Hoodbhoy, you are a Pakistani patriot of the real type -- as distinct from the armchair closet jihadis who claim to uphold Pakistani banners while living in foreign lands! Bets of luck to your lot!

Hoodbhoy: for the nth time -

no nukes - india problem
nukes - india no problem

now do you get it??