Obituary: Munir Ahmad Khan

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Munir Ahmad Khan made his contribution to Pakistan.
He was not a hawk and history will be kinder to him because of it.
No comparisons are necessary here with A. Q. Khan.

Time moves on.

Munir Khan was not thrilled by Z.A. Bhutto`s tragic end. Many others felt the same way but could not stop the grim forces of history.
We can only share in the grief of the Khan family
now and thank Munir Khan for what he did do for
the country (AND possibly for what he did NOT do
at the time). He has my respect.

Ras

The writer of this obituary only has limited information, which causes him to underestimate Munir Khan`s contribution. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission remained in charge of the overall bomb programme, the numerous difficult steps before and after uranium enrichment. They built and exploded the device (see the article on this at http://www.pakdefencenews.org/piads/azam1.html). There is no getting around this fact.

Nor did Pakistan forego the plutonium route, the choice of every other country with a nuclear weapons because plutonium bombs are so much more powerful. We know this because of the recent disclosures about the Khushab plutonium production reactor. This was driven during Munir Khan`s 19 year tenure, and contradicts the writers strange aspersions on such a dedicated man`s patriotism.

The truth is that Munir Khan was very modest, and shied away from the counter-productive boasting of his rivals. He saw Pakistan`s strength as lying in more than having a bomb, equally dependent on a secure economic and political future and non-isolation in the world. I would suggest that future historians will see this much more clearly than do those today.

Probably, Munir Ahmad Khan will be remembered as the man who would not do a wrong thing even if it would cost him lost stature and disfavor from the rabid politicians at the highest level.
World needs such statesmen today.