Pakistan: Inside The Nuclear Closet

hoodbhoy is an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan agent of imperialists; very soon the rampaging mobs will demand his head too. He should worry about his own ass first that that of Musharaff`s.

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People were more concerned about infected chicken. In fact I`m sure the ``father of the bomb`` hasn`t had one for quite a while as well. And anyways, reports about the Chicken Flu in the press were a more interesting read than somber pieces about Dad`s woes and warning shots about atomic mobs.

rgds,
NfP

The article is a reproduction of information already available in various articles, usually of secondary nature. It is non suggestive as far as future policy options and courses of actions for Pakistan are concerned.

Neither do I accept that this is the biggest proliferation scam in history. What do we know of the massive cooperation that under went between Israel and India, USA and India, USSR and India, and efcourse the acquistion of the US weapons designs by USSR clandestinely. There are indications that Indians got the weapon designs from Israel and also a report that Israel did manage to explode a device of theirs through India, having lost the South African Option after the end of Apartheid. A lot of secondary information is available in the book ``Critical Mass``.

Yes I agree that Qadeer perhaps had nothing to do with the weapon designs, a fact I highlighted while responding to another article by Hoodboy, ``The Nuclear Noose``. As far as design are concerned, they are available on the net and books, to quite some accuracy. The book ``Critical Mass`` carries a lot of details too.

I would like the author to give more details on the likelyhood of proliferation through the use of Thorium route and the future of NPT/CTBT.

Thanx

Three FMs from Europe had an exclusive visit to Libya and then Iran and after these visits, we saw both Muslim brethren bowing to the wishes of US to open up their nuclear plants for inspection of IAEA. We have Collin Powel now in Islamabad, subsequently after separate visits of the French foreign minister and then Mr. Straw from England. What do you say about the potential change in the landscape, Mr. Hoodbhoy?

Ahsan

Interesting article.

It seems to make some good points. At the same time, one can detect a personal dislike (or rivalry) with Qadeer Khan, overshadowing the article. Perhaps because both the author and Qadeer Khan are in the same area of science.

I cannot imagine that this was the biggest case of proliferation ever. For starters, that statement cannot be substantiated, since proliferation cases usually do not get exposed. One could argue that this was the biggest case of proliferation, which was prosecuted.

China`s proliferation to Pakistan, itself, must be quite a bit higher than this case. Since Pakistan has already produced nukes and has missiles. However it is difficult to target China. USA`s proliferation to Israel must be much higher, considering the fact that Israel`s program is far more sophisticated than anything Pakistan (or India) possess. But who will target the USA. There is proliferation between India and Israel, including the visit of Kalam to Israel (I assume he visits Israel for nuclear reasons).

Pakistan`s mistake (though it is not illegal, since non-NPT countries can and do proliferate) is that it chose the wrong countries to proliferate to, or from. Perhaps under the banner of Ummah. It should now be clear that the Ummah will turn on Pakistan, the moment their own interests are stake. Pakistan should only have nuclear knowledge, ``exchanges`` with China; a country which no one can put pressure on.

There are a couple of issues that do need to be debated here, though:

- What else could Musharraf have done. I think he handled the issue with a lot of dexterity?

- Why is Qadeer Khan so popular amongst the people? Despite Hoodbhoy`s dislike for him, and assuming that Hoodbhoy is presenting this informaiton for the betterment of Pakistan, if tomorrow the govt. jailed Hoodbhoy, no one in Pakistan would be on the streets, even if Hoodbhoy was innocent. However, if the govt. jailed Qadeer, the whole country would be out on the street, even if Qadeer was guilty. Why?

- What was the actual extent of the proliferation? It could not have been as major as this article states, since the USA and Europe and Israel would have had a fit, if it was that large - with or without OBL?

- Why have the individuals of religious persuasion, kept their mouths shut on harm Iran and Libya have caused to Pakistan. Why is the MMA quiet? Why are the Urstruly`s quiet? This is the probably the biggest case of backstabbing one can think of in the history of the country. And it was done by member states of our illustrious Ummah. Yet not a single Ummatie seems to have any issue with that. Interestingly, North Korea, a non-Ummatie country, from which Pakistan may have gotten missiles, has not given any info on Pakistan.

..... everything that dr hoodbhoy says is probably true, but so what?.......... this is all history - where do you go from here?

............ even though i am a great supporter of the bomb, and think everyone should have one in their garage to ward off evil spirits, i do think this scandal could have been used by the poor civilians in pakistan to discredit the scourge in khaki ............ but no.... the politicians are too busy attending each other`s valimas and lining their pockets with handouts from the fauji foundation which runs the country ............ even the miserable mullahs, who are not real civilians since they are homicidal and suicidal members of al-lah`s army, didn`t seize this opportunity .............how difficult could it be to show that the generals were up to their sorry red-taped keesters in this proliferation business ?

......... as for proliferation itself, it is horse puckey!........ it is disgusting to see dr muhammad el-baredei (whatever?) running around trying to peek under every ayatollah`s gown to see if he is hiding something!.......... get a real job! .........does he actually think he can stop anyone from building a bomb in their basement if they really want to ?...........if the pathetic pakis, who can barely walk and chew maswak at the same time can do it, anyone can ............

............but, to start with, it is none of his business .........if pakistan had listened to this fool, the people of islamabad would be peeing in their pants everytime a truck blew a tire in the bazaar, thinking that the horrible hindoos had dropped the big one on aabpara ............at least now people can go to bed on an empty stomach knowing that they have a good chance of making it through the night even if they wake up hungry and with little prospects of a decent breakfast ............

......... as for aq khan, they should blow up his farm-house in bani galla and make him clean up the mess he has created around rawal lake ............ the man, in addition to being a fool and a nuclear proliferator, is an environmental terrorist ..........

#4

Ijaz Gul,

aap ke bade bhai-saheb Hamid-bhai kaise hain?

bongdongs #7

aap ke bhai dingdongs kaise hain?

#4 by ijaz_gul

I think DR. PH is raising two issues here and not just a matter of proliferation alone.
Dr. PH is basically pointing to the US complicty or somewhat negligence as some may put it, in the whole nuke export operation by Pakistan.

Dr. PH is pointing out that
1. There are more and bigger players in Pakistan proliferation issue then just Dr. AQK, and some scientist in the KR Labs.

2. Why is the US allowing Musharaf to limit the damage and save people involved in this saga?

But the final result of both questions is:
What is cooking here between the US and Pakistan?

I think that is where we need to concentrate instead of running on tandem about India or Israel as that is an entirely different issue.

Knowing what we know now, AQK was first removed from the Labs in early 2000.

“Yet when he removed Qadeer as head of the enrichment facility in late 2000, allegedly under US pressure, Musharraf did not order a thorough investigation;”-Dr. PH

If that happened in year 2000 then that was way before 9/11 and still the US was just happy with AQK removal from the Labs rather then a full scale enquiry. In fact, AQK was made a President’s advisor with full cabinet member privileges. In other countries this would be construed as promotion.

It seems now that the US had known all along or at least before year 2000 that some Pakistani scientist and others were involved in an enterprise that was marketing nukes to the willing.

In year 2000 or even before that Pakistan apparently was in the doghouse as for the US was concerned, still, the US silently allowed the Pak govt to just remove Dr. AQK from the position. The Pak govt never restricted him from any international travels or making deals with international black market, international mafia, or with some states such as Libya and Iran. The surprising element is that the US never raised the issue in public and was satisfied with the Administrative action Pakistan took.

There clearly is more here that meets the eye.

The reality is that in 1999-2000 Pakistan was being treated as an adversary by the US on nuke issue. Clinton had even declined to visit Pakistan and there was extreme pressure on Pakistan to sign both NPT and CTBT. Clinton effective humiliated Musharaf in public. All aid to Pakistan was suspended and for a certain period of time it was felt that the US would cut Pakistan off from all International support.

Now, what we have here. The US despite knowing that Pakistan was involved in illegal transfer of not only know how but the hardware itself, before year 2000, kept mum on the issue and was perfectly satisfied with just moving of AQK from one cushy position to another????

The way the US has behaved in this issue presently from Dec to Feb is strange too. As soon as Musharaf pardoned Dr. AQK, the US welcomed the decision and pretty much every senior member of the US admin, as pointed out by Dr. PH, took to the media in praising Musharaf and basically helped Musharaf in putting the whole thing in the deep freeze.

The US needs Osama and Pakistan cooperation is needed but it is not too difficult for the US to get in Pakistan areas or mount major surveillance of the area without Pakistan cooperation.

The criminal Army-scientist enterprise in Pakistan is not worth the protection it is getting from the US.

You can`t make a silk purse from a sow`s ear.

romair,

.......... a metallurgist is not in the same ``field of science`` as a physicist .......... didn`t they teach you that at risalpur??

..........as for your other silly question. ``Why is Qadeer Khan so popular amongst the people?``.......... osama bin laden is also very popular amongst the people, as was sultan rahi ........what does that tell you?......... some people just have bad taste..........

An AP report says:
``U.N. investigators are increasingly certain Pakistan government leaders knew the country`s top atomic scientist was supplying other nations with nuclear technology and designs, particularly North Korea, diplomats told The Associated Press.``

WHAT ARE THESE UN INVESTIGATORS SMOKING? THEY ARE STILL IN DOUBT? NO WONDER NUKE PROLIFERATION HAPPENED. THESE IDIOTS DON`T HAVE BALLS TO SAY THE OBVIOUS TRUTH.


AP: Pakistan Knew of Nuclear Black Market


Email this Story

Mar 7, 1:25 PM (ET)

By GEORGE JAHN


VIENNA, Austria (AP) - U.N. investigators are increasingly certain Pakistan government leaders knew the country`s top atomic scientist was supplying other nations with nuclear technology and designs, particularly North Korea, diplomats told The Associated Press.

While rogue nations were the main customers of the nuclear black market, sales of enriched uranium and warhead drawings have fed international fears that terrorists also could have bought weapons technology or material, the diplomats said.

The investigation has widened beyond Iran, Libya and North Korea - the identified customers of the network headed by Abdul Qadeer Khan - they said, speaking on condition of anonymity in a series of interviews.

The diplomats` assessment comes about half way through the probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency and western intelligence services into the Khan network, whose tentacles extended from Pakistan to Dubai, Malaysia, South Korea, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Britain, the Netherlands and beyond with potential ties to Syria, Turkey and Spain.

Investigators told AP they expect to complete the probe by June, eight months after U.S. officials confronted the Pakistani government with suspicions about Khan, setting into motion events that led the father of Islamabad`s nuclear program to confess last month.

Despite denials by the Pakistani government, investigators now are certain that some, if not all, of the country`s decision makers were aware of Khan`s dealings, especially with North Korea, which apparently helped Islamabad build missiles in exchange for aid with its nuclear arms program, said one diplomat.

``In all cases except Pakistan, we are sure there was no government involvement,`` he said. ``In Pakistan, it`s hard to believe all this happened under their noses and nobody knew about it.``

The diplomats didn`t say which parts of the Pakistani government might have known of Khan`s black market activity - military, political or both.

Andrew Koch, of Jane`s Defense Weekly, said he ran into evidence that senior military officers knew of Khan`s sideline four years ago when he attended a military technology exhibition in Karachi. There, the booth of A.Q. Khan`s Research Laboratories, complete with pamphlets offering uranium enrichment equipment, shared space with displays of electronics, anti-tank missiles and other items sold by the government defense industry, he said.

``I picked up the (Khan) brochures and I inquired whether everything inside was for sale and was told, `yes, of course, it all had government approval and was available for sale and export,``` he said from Washington.

Pakistan`s president, Pervez Musharraf, has insisted his government was not involved.

``The Pakistani government has never and will never proliferate,`` he told a meeting of world leaders in January in Davos, Switzerland, pledging to prosecute all ``anti-state`` elements found culpable.

But his pardon of Khan led to speculation the scientist agreed to keep silent on any government involvement in exchange for avoiding punishment.

Much of what was sold were expensive and high-tech uranium enrichment centrifuge components to Libya - which has confessed to trying to build weapons of mass destruction - and Iran, which denies such ambitions and says its enrichment plans are not for warheads but nuclear power.

Such equipment would be useless to terrorists lacking the space and expertise needed to set up thousands of centrifuges in series and repeatedly recycle isotopes until they were weapons grade. The tens of millions of dollars needed to buy the equipment might also be a deterrent.

But the diplomats identified two recent discoveries - traces of highly enriched uranium apparently of Russian origin found in Iran, and drawings of a nuclear warhead surrendered by Libya - as representing a potential fast track for terrorists looking to build a weapon.

The uranium apparently was sold by individuals in the black market and not by the Russian government and carried a signature typical of enrichment in the former Soviet Union, the diplomats said. While short of the 90 percent weapons level, it was enriched enough to make it suitable for a warhead with much less equipment and effort than needed to enrich natural uranium.

``We`re talking a couple of dozen centrifuges, as compared to about 1,000,`` said one diplomat.

The engineers` drawings of a nuclear weapon, now under IAEA seal in the United States, were of Chinese origin. The texts accompanying them were in both Chinese and English, some handwritten. China is widely assumed to have supplied much of the clandestine nuclear technology that Khan used to establish Pakistan as a nuclear power in 1998.

With such high-tech drawings and about 50 pounds of highly enriched uranium, nuclear experts associated with terrorist groups could make a crude warhead, said one diplomat.

``The simplest way to go about it is to get ready-made nuclear material and weapons design, and - from what`s been found in Iran and Libya - both seem to be available on the market,`` said another.

Investigators cannot say whether other countries - or groups - have the drawings.

Al-Qaida has shown an interest in acquiring nuclear weapons.

The U.S. federal indictment of Osama bin Laden charges that as far back as 1992 the al-Qaida leader ``and others known and unknown, made efforts to obtain the components of nuclear weapons.``

Bin Laden, in a November 2001 interview with a Pakistani journalist, boasted of having hidden such components ``as a deterrent.`` And in 1998, a Russian nuclear weapons design expert was investigated for allegedly working with the Taliban allies of bin Laden.

Another question is whether the Khan network supplied states other than Iran, Libya and North Korea. Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman of the Vienna-based IAEA, said answering that was the agency`s ``No. 1 priority.``

A possible suspect is Syria, which denies nuclear weapons ambitions. U.S. officials are divided on whether Syria constitutes a nuclear threat, with Undersecretary of State John Bolton at odds with senior intelligence officials who insist there`s no clear evidence implicating the country, diplomats told AP.

Several teams of Syrian experts spent time at Ranstad Mineral, a Swedish plant that extracted uranium for enrichment between 1997 and 2002. The IAEA confirmed sponsoring some visits, as part of Syria`s small-scale peaceful nuclear program. But Bengt Lillja, owner of the plant, said the Syrians paid several visits later on their own - and still later, Sweden`s nuclear watchdog agency ordered the plant shut down because of unspecified irregularities in the extraction process.

Experts suspect more covert manufacturing operations will be discovered beyond the centrifuge parts plants identified in Malaysia.

A factory in Turkey is being scrutinized, one diplomat familiar with the investigation said, but declined to go into details beyond suggesting the plant might also be making missile components.

David Albright, a former Iraq nuclear weapons inspector who runs the Institute for Science and International Security, also pointed to Turkey, saying, ``We know some components (to Libya) came out of there.``

A diplomat said a company in Spain also was under investigation.

romair as to your question about why the religious people have stayed silent on the fact that both libya and iran betrayed pakistan by mentioning our name to the inspoectors i can tell you that i for one was not surprised: throughout history shias (iran) have stabbed sunnis in the back when it has suited them and as for gaddafi the guy is a heretic who tried to write his own little green book mixing islam, socialising etc...

the only country we should exchange such weapons with is the Land of the Two Holy Sanctuaries...

agree 100% with urstruly bhai. the biggest threat to pakistan`s security are traitors like dr. pervez hoodbhoy. this article itself should be enough to have him convicted for treason. he should be made and example of by the pakistani government to deter any other agents in their midst.

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#8 by hamidm2 on March 7, 2004 8:58am PT
//.. where do you go from here? ..//

That`s easy actually. The Islamic Bomb is a dud. So you just move on.

Pakistan with nukes is like a Monkey with a razor. It gives the monkey a false feeling of strength and invinciblity. It thinks it can take on the 800-pound Gorilla in the neighborhood. Ultimately the monkey ends up in hurting itself.

Americans allowed the monkey arm itself. That was a big mistake.

Why do pakis need nukes anyway? No nukes .... no false feeling of strength ....hence no undue desire for the neighbors` properties .... and hence no threat from anybody .... hence no need of the nukes. It`s virtuous cycle.