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Topic Review (Newest First)
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| Mar 7th, 2004 04:11 PM | |
| mburbank |
Pakistan Knew of Nuclear Black Market By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer VIENNA, Austria - 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. Â* 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 (news - web sites), 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. |
| Mar 5th, 2004 03:32 PM | |
| mburbank |
I think Chimp read what IO wrote more carefully than you did. At least he made the joke. Yes, I absolutely think Invading Iraq is what Al Quaida counted on us doing. Yes, I think Al Quaida and Pakistn are working together. They were right up until 9/11, why wouldn't they still be? Yes, I think Mushariff barely controls Pakistan. There have been two assasination attempts. Yes, I think the nuclear black market was state sponsored by pakistan. I don't for an instant believe that a single acientist on his own arranged trade between Pakistan, Iraq, North Korea and Syria. Yes, I think we got something from Pakistan in return for not making a fuss when Kahn was pardoned. I don't believe our ;spring offensive' announcement coinciding with the pardon is coincidence. I'm not talking about an american city getting nuked. I am talking about a nuke waiting for us wherever we mass troops in Pakistan or Afghanistan prior to the offensive. Al Quaida is as mixed with Paksitan's government as it was with Afghanistan's. Did Americas millitary might or fear of what might happen in Afghanistan stop Al Quaida from 9/11, or the Taliban from refusing to give up Bin Laden directly afterwards? Al Quaida doesn't have the fears we expect people to have, they aren't worried about a state because they don't have one. The terrain of the border country between Afghanistan and Iraq is an ambushers wet dream, and it favors the smaller force in every way. The history of that region is a long list of the indigenous people giving empires a bloody nose and living to tell the tale. |
| Mar 4th, 2004 06:30 PM | |
| mesobe |
I think its a matter of this "good versus evil" mindset evryone has. If I was a developing country and I heard about a mammoth superpower invading countries under questionable reasons, Id probably want a few nukes too. If I was holding a rifle and I was standing opposite of another person holding a rife and he says "put down your rife", my first response would be "you put yours down first!" |
| Mar 4th, 2004 06:24 PM | |
| Perndog | The point is that some upstart country with its first nuke that feels like it's being trampled by the major powers may not be so hesitant to use its new toy. It's not a balance of power issue, it's a matter of not ever letting anyone blow up a US city, even if we could turn their entire country into volcanic glass afterward. |
| Mar 4th, 2004 05:53 PM | |
| mesobe |
people seem to forget the fact that the US HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS TOO. and most likely has more than anyone else on the planet combined. Iran is a threat because it is "on it way to creating one?" If a country's threat level is based on how many weapons it has, how much of a threat is the US to everyone else? |
| Mar 4th, 2004 05:02 PM | |
| phnompehn | So you think all of this Iraq stuff is just one big smokescreen? To keep us looking in the wrong place? |
| Mar 4th, 2004 04:43 PM | |
| AChimp |
 KHAAAAAAAAAAN!!! 
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| Mar 4th, 2004 03:59 PM | |
| DamnthatDavid |
Pakistan is a dangerous place, and I do slightly believe what you saying about Al Queda. But I'm not worried about Pakistan in a military prospective. Pakistan's biggest deterent is India. Those two have been at each other's throat for generations. And if it came to open war, Pakistans long range nuke arsenal is pathetic. Even worse then Saddam's missile capabilities. And any use of a Nuke would see quick retaliation from India. Even if the nuke was not aimed at them. |
| Mar 4th, 2004 03:45 PM | |
| mburbank |
FORGET IRAQ! Pakistan is the Most Major Threat to the US I've become convinced the Invading Iraq was exactly what Al Quaeda wanted us to do. Iraq had no WMD. Maybe we knew that, maybe we didn't. It doesn't matter. Al Quaeda exploited our greatest weakness, arrogance. A large portion of our military is now bogged down in Iraq. Iran is well on it's way to a nuclear weapon. Libya was well on it's way to a nuclear weapon. orth Korea probably has a nuclear weapon. What do all these countries have in common? Black market nuclear trading and networking revolving around dr. Kahn, tyhe father of the Pakistani Bomb. No one seriously believes Kahn acted without the knowledge of Pakistan's military and intelligence communities. Khan was in a position to know Iraq had no nuclear program, at least not through his network. Who funded major aspects of Al Quaeda through it's network of religous schools along the border with Afghanistan? Pakistan's intelligence service. We know now that while Iraq was not involved in Nuclear proliferation, all the other countries that were had help from Kahn. We haven't heard made a peep about the fact he was pardoned by Mushariff. Publicly we say we believe he acted all by himself and it's all over now. Why would we do something like that? What are we getting? Pakistans assistance. They're going to hand us Bin Laden just in time for the election. That's what they're telling us, and they do seem to be moving their army into the border hill country. And we are buying it. Because we're arrogant. Because we believe they would never dare act against us, teeny weeny little Pakistan. Haven't they proved that already by allying with us against Afghanistan? Crap. This is little Big Horn. The spring offensive in Afghanistan is a trap. Musharif will be dead by then if not sooner. Pakistan hasn't allowed us into the hill country. Why now? Becuase our troops will have to mass somewhere. And Pakistan has something Iraq didn't. Nuclear weapons. Think they wouldn't dare? What's Al Quaidas main short term goal? Terror and destabilization. They thrive in destabalized areas. Look how well they're doing in Iraq, a country they probably didn't even have a foothold in before we blew it apart. Nuking the army would almost certainly be followed by brutal, possibly nuclear retalliation. Pretty terrifying. Pretty chaotic. And since we announced our intentions for this spring, my guess is a loarge portion of Al Quaidas ops guys have been funnelled out of there through Pakistan already. I think that was their goal all long. With W. in the whitehouse they knew that if they hit us hard we'd turn on Iraq, a country that turns out to be strategically insignificant in the Nuclear Black Market. I'm not shitting about this. This is what I really think, my actual arm chair analysis. I think we are heading for a major disaster. I think our boastful 'bring 'em on' leader is being manipulated into a trap. I think Al Quaeda is playing him and has been since he was elected. |
