US and Pakistan: Strange Coincidence of Nuke Stories

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/17/21733/280


Sat Nov 17, 2007 at 06:10:00 PM PST
Something extremely fishy is going on in the US-Pakistan negotiations.

The world press is reporting that when Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte visited with Pakistani President Musharraf Saturday, urging Musharraf to ease off the "state of emergency" and schedule elections under acceptable conditions, Musharraf responded with a threat. Essentially saying, "Nice world you've got there, be a shame if anything happened to it," Musharraf told Negroponte that if the Pakistani Army lost control of the government, nukes could get loose.

This is being reported in The Times of India and the UK Telegraph, for example, as a harsh and decisive rebuke of US interference in Musharraf's affairs.

LithiumCola's diary :: ::
However, there is something else going on. Just as word of this remarkable rebuke by Musharraf comes out, we read in The New York Times a new story. The United States, under a secret Bush plan, has been helping Pakistan secure its nuclear arsenal for years, with a hidden-budget supply of security equipment.

The fishy thing is that the New York Times has been sitting on this story for three years, at the request of the White House. But we read this sentence in the New York Times story, now: "Early this week, the White House withdrew its request that publication be withheld, though it was unwilling to discuss details of the program."

What is going on here?

Why would the White House release a hold on this secret information days before Musharraf's "unexpected" threat to Negroponte that a non-military controlled Pakistan might be unable to secure its nukes?

Is the White House setting-up a reason, in concert with Musharraf, to sustain the state of emergency in Pakistan? Or, on the other hand, is this some sort of move and counter-move by two genuinely adversarial parties, with nuclear weapons as the game pieces?

I'll run through the info.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/17/163718/912


Bush Loosened Nukes 11 Days After 911
by pat bunny
Wed Aug 17, 2005 at 01:37:18 PM PST
I am not a weapons of mass destruction expert. But, like many of those who frequent this blog, I know that ketchup is not vegetable.
There are probably some others here that know that the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism or GSAVE--formerly know as the War On Terror--is not about preventing the spread of extremism, nor limiting the reach of terror. Nor does it seem to be about stopping the spread of WMD.
What is the President's solution to stopping the spread of WMD? More specifically, what does he plan on doing about nuclear weapons proliferation? Because as I know that ketchup is not a vegetable, I also know that WMD are not something exclusive to Iraq.
For reasons too numerous to list in plain text on my 150 GB hard drive, I don't trust the President's word. I can only attempt to understand him by looking at his deeds, and it looks to me that what the Bush administration is engaged in should be known as WARGASM or We Are Reality: Global Arms Trade Metastasizing.

Let's look at nuclear weapons in Pakistan.


pat bunny's diary :: ::
Pakistan's weapons technology is based on the production of highly enriched uranium suitable for nuclear weapons, utilising indigenous uranium. It has at least one small centrifuge enrichment plant. In 1990 the US Administration cut off aid because it was unable to certify that Pakistan was not pursuing a policy of manufacturing nuclear weapons though this was relaxed late in 2001.
--World Nuclear Association, "Nuclear Power in India and Pakistan," March 2005

When in late 2001?

11 days after 9/11.

Here is the Presidential Determination authorized by Bush,
September 22, 2001.


Based on this Presidential Determination, this rule implements the lifting of these sanctions by removing section 742.16 of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), which sets forth the policy of denial for exports and reexports of items controlled for Nuclear Proliferation (NP) and Missile Technology (MT) reasons to India and Pakistan.

President Clinton implemented these sanctions in 1998. In response to the eleven nuclear tests carried out in May of 1998 by India and Pakistan, confirming their long-suspected potential in this area.

Why did Bush do this?
I have no happy thoughts

He is already suspected of being a puppet of the U.S., and this will reinforce that impression. It also reassures the rest of the world that if the worst happens and Pakistan collapses, there will not be loose nukes getting into the hands of the Taliban, etc.

I'm actually glad somebody aside from the ISI and the Pakistani military is keeping watch on the nukes, since those groups seem keen to sell the technology to anyone and everyone. Never thought I would approve of something this administration ever did!

It was meant to, but has the opposite effect if you think about it.

It humiliates those that have accepted the help, and provides strong motivation for not continuing to accept the help--both in therms of the institutions *and* the individuals involved. The fact that the US didn't have people on the ground, but provided information and money and materiel, will be lost in the shuffle in Pakistan; it's been lost here already, and most lost in the reporting there.

It also serves to embarrass the ISI and the Army. This makes removing Musharraf more likely, and further cooperation on this front less likely. Anything that weakens Musharraf at this point will only make FATA and the NWFP harder to negotiate a solution for; the preferred solution is negotiation, actual fighting is considered only to provide strength for further negotiations and serve as a threat of future enforcement should the terms of a settlement be ignored, and crushing the mullah-led uprising by force will be the last resort, whatever bluster the military shows. (As it us much of the fighting as been pin-point strikes, much to the dismay of Westerners who loathe wholesale slaughter when we do it but apparently want Musharraf to do it.)

Having the news come out that the program was already seriously behind schedule and displayed neither accountability nor transparency is hardly a confidence booster. Moreover, it says that anybody who has serious plans to try to snatch nuclear material has less to fear than they might otherwise have supposed.

The only upside I see for * and the NYT is primatily domestic, and certainly only "Western".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7100322.stm
<snip>
"Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair and credible elections," said John Negroponte, a day after meeting the Pakistani leader.

Gen Musharraf imposed emergency rule two weeks ago following growing opposition and unrest.

He has insisted it can only be lifted once the security situation improves.

Mr Negroponte, the US deputy secretary of state, said he had urged Gen Musharraf to stick to his pledge to step down as head of the army, and encouraged him to release political prisoners.
---------------------------
Mushie better write his will.