Thursday, December 27, 2007

Pakistan’s Nukes


As the chaos and riots rage on in the streets of Pakistan, one must wonder just who is in control of the nukes.

By de Andréa

There are nearly 10 million armed and well-supplied jihadists terrorists in Pakistan. The only thing keeping them from taking control of the fragile so-called Democratic government, is that they are not well organized. An Imam, Cleric or Mullah with enough power and notoriety could be standing between Peace and nuclear war.

The assassination of Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is creating great concern around the world over the country’s sizeable nuclear arsenal.

Pakistan is the only Muslim nation with nuclear weapons, and the fear is that with the country falling into political disarray following Bhutto’s death, Islamic terrorists will seek to take advantage of the situation and attempt get their hands on some of the country’s nuclear weapons. Pakistan reportedly has as many as 30 nuclear weapons.

Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at the end of a campaign rally, aides said. Even before her death, tensions were high in Pakistan, with many calling for the ouster of President Pervez Musharraf, who recently imposed emergency martial rule on the nation.

In November, Bhutto had said discontent was rising and the country resembled a “pressure cooker.”

Pakistan has already been implicated in the spread of nuclear technology. In 2004 Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, described as an “Islamic extremist” and “the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program,” admitted that he had sold nuclear technology to a number of foreign countries, including North Korea and Libya. Former FBI consultant Paul L. Williams wrote that evidence found in Afghanistan in 2001 indicated a link between Khan and al-Qaida as well.

The U.S. recently admitted that since the attacks of September 11, 2001, it has been helping Pakistan secure its nuclear weapons and the materials used to make them. Pakistan has welcomed this assistance.

The New York Times reported in November that over the past six years, the Bush administration has spent almost $100 million on a highly classified program to help Musharraf secure Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

There has been a growing armed terrorist insurgency in the areas bordering Afghanistan that has been spreading into Pakistan’s major cities. Moreover, with Bhutto’s death, turmoil in Pakistan is bound to increase.

While the U.S. has been watching Iran’s growing nuclear program, the threat of an Islamic Jihad in Pakistan has surreptitiously been an escalating reality.

The burning question is, will we have to abandon Iraq in order to head off a jihadists takeover of the Pakistani government and protect Pakistan’s nukes from falling into the hands of Al Qaida or Taliban. This may just be something like trying to juggle seven glass balls, a marginal feat at best.

One just might want to pray…a lot…

de Andréa

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