The greatest threat to the United States security

By Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter June 4, 2008 7:30 p.m. PDT

The wedding of terrorist and nuclear weapons is now the greatest threat to the United States, security. The U.S. tried to deter terrorists from gaining access to nuclear weapons through Pakistan. The results however of investigations into Pakistani nuclear black market and nuclear proliferation network demonstrates in stark terms the devastating consequences of nuclear proliferation by Al-Qaeda and Taliban who may now have access to state-controlled nuclear weapons according to an American/Pakistani who said, “I read it in a Pakistan newspaper during a recent visit to that country”.

U.S. Homeland Security web site claims that having excess to those bombs alone is not enough the terrorist must have delivery systems. These systems can consist of small suit case type nukes and dirty bombs to major delivery systems.

Pakistan has a powerful nuclear arsenal. According to published reports, Pakistan’s arsenal consists of approximately 100 nuclear bombs. These weapons have yields ranging from as little as 10 to as much as 100 kilotons the upper level is equivalent to the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

Jane’s on-line reports that Pakistan has three jet aircraft delivery systems in place-the F-16, provided by the U.S. the Mirage 5, provided by the French and finally the Q-5, the J-10 and jf-17 provided by the Chinese.

Pakistan has ballistic missiles provided by both China and North Korea. These missiles are known as the “Haft” and they have ranges from 100 miles to over 2500 miles. That means they can reach all of Afghanistan and much of India. Pakistan also has the Babur cruise missile which can be fired from Pakistan’s F-16s with a range of up to 1000 miles after it’s fired from the aircraft. The F-16,s range is unlimited when you consider Pakistan’s ability to re-fuel in med air. Last but not least is Pakistan’s Agosta-class submarines which with refueling capabilities it can be found anywhere in the world with nuclear weapons aboard.

The worrisome realities is the cozy relationships and links between some high ranking retired Pakistani military and intelligence officials and nuclear scientists to the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists. It is this relationship and the relationship the Taliban and al-Qaeda have with the tribal leaders in the mountains bordering Afghanistan that allow the terrorist to flourish and maintain this amassing safe haven and develop the contacts.

The reports claim U.S. and Pakistan policy has failed to prevent the penetration of the nuclear establishment over time by individuals sympathetic to the radical extremist goals which is and has been for some time to gain and possess nuclear weapons and use them against the west.

Despite Pakistan’s denials and arguments that its nuclear weapons are safely guarded, some experts now believe that it is a distinct possibility that some control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons has already fallen into the wrong hands.

Pakistan's regional security concerns have led it to acquire nuclear weapons in the face of persistent and often severe international penalties. After the 1964 Chinese nuclear test, then-Foreign Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto concluded India would also go nuclear and that Pakistan would have to follow in its footsteps. Pakistan's humiliating defeat in the 1971 war with India that resulted in the dismemberment of the country further convinced Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (by then President of the country) of Pakistan's need for a nuclear deterrent against India's conventional superiority. It was at this point that Bhutto decided Pakistan would secretly pursue a nuclear weapon program. India's 1974 nuclear test accelerated the Pakistani efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and by late 1975, Bhutto had placed metallurgist Abdul Qadeer Khan in charge of a clandestine effort to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons a very similar scenario that many believe is what is now taking place in the terrorist state of Iran.

Pakistan's nuclear program is driven primarily by Islamabad's perception that it needs to counter the Indian threat and, to a lesser extent, by its desire to establish itself as a major Islamic power.

Pakistan and China have had long-standing, strategic ties. China is Pakistan's largest defense supplier, and the Chinese view Pakistan as a useful counterweight to Indian power in the region. In the run-up to the Chinese President’s visit to Pakistan, media reports speculated that Beijing would sign a major nuclear energy cooperation agreement with Pakistan. The Chinese leader provided a general pledge of support to Pakistan's nuclear energy program. China has helped Pakistan build at least two nuclear reactors at the Chasma site in the Punjab Province and provided Pakistan with nuclear technology as far back as the 1970s. China also is helped Pakistan develop a deep sea port at Gwadar in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, near the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Pakistan;s halt to official support to the Taliban following 9/11 has helped to improve Pakistani-Iranian ties, and they are actively engaged in talks on developing an Iran-Pakistan-India oil and gas pipeline. This relationship between Pakistan and Iran concern many observers.

Former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet reported in his memoirs that A.Q. Khan rebuffed several approaches by Osama bin Laden for access to nuclear know-how, although it was not clear why. It could have been the scenario of nuclear Armageddon that could cause mass destruction and loss of life in his own country.

Although A.Q. Khan avoided engaging al-Qaeda on nuclear issues, earlier revelations about a group of former Pakistani military officials and nuclear scientists who met with Osama bin Laden around the time of 9/11 remind us of the continuing threat of the intersection of terrorism and nuclear weapons in Pakistan. On October 23, 2001, acting on an American request, Pakistani authorities detained Bashiruddin Mahmood and Abdul Majeed, two retired Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) officials. They had been involved in relief work in Afghanistan since their retirement from the PAEC in 1999 through a non-governmental organization (NGO) they established called Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN). In November 2001, the coalition forces found documents in Afghanistan relating to the UTN’s interest in biological weapons. This prompted Pakistani security forces to arrest seven members of the UTN's board, most of whom were retired Pakistani Army officials and nuclear scientists.

George Tenet speculates in his memoirs that UTN's contacts with the Taliban and al-Qaeda may have been supported by some elements within the Pakistani military and intelligence establishment. Tenet says Pakistani interrogations of the seven board members were initially insufficient. He further notes that despite CIA warnings to Pakistani officials about UTN's activities before 9/11, it was only when President Bush dispatched him to Pakistan in November 2001 following revelations of a meeting between Bin laden, al-Zawahiri, and UTN leaders that Musharraf took serious action.

Similar foot-dragging by the Pakistani authorities was evident in the case of the A.Q. Khan proliferation network. U.S. officials had repeatedly raised their concern about A.Q. Khan's activities with President Musharraf, but it was not until Washington provided indisputable proof of its knowledge of Khan's activities and threatened to go public with the information in late 2003 that Musharraf took direct action to halt Khan’s activities.

Sources:

Lisa A. Curtis The Heritage Foundation.

Jane’s on-line

Wikipedia

Pakistan open news accounts

CIA

DOD

India intelligence services