Must Reads: Pakistan Fears Osama-Style Raid on Its Nukes

Source: National JournalLast week’s U.S. raid into Pakistan is fueling one of the country’s most enduring—and potentially dangerous—conspiracy theories: that the U.S. has designs on Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and is prepared to send highly trained commandos into the country to seize control of the weapons.

The pervasive Pakistani belief that the U.S. would be willing and able to effectively steal the country’s nuclear weapons helps explain Islamabad’s surprisingly aggressive official response to the Navy SEAL assault that killed Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted terrorist.

Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the head of Pakistan's armed forces, released a blistering public statement late last week condemning the U.S. assault and warning that he would order his troops to use armed force against any American troops who entered Pakistan in the future in pursuit of other wanted militants.

Kayani’s statement also made explicit reference to his country’s nuclear arsenal, which he promised to fully defend against any potential American-led efforts to take control of the weapons.

More at: http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/fear-that-u-s-can-grab-nuclear-arsenal-heightens-pakistani-anger-20110509?page=1

And are their nukes that unsecured?

meaning: Gen. Ashfaq Kayani's friends?

gets the manpower and money to better protect their nuclear facilities.

I'm hold pretty close to isolationist status, but one of the best reasons I've been able to come up with in the last ten years for staying in Afghanistan is keeping an eye on their neighbor. From the beginning of our involvement I've seen so much corruption and lies coming from Islamabad that I believe those 100+ nukes are the most unstable destructive force on the planet.

In the whole world, if there were to be a spark that starts the nuclear holocaust I believe it'll be a launch against India. India has the means to retaliate, and things can accelerate quickly.

I recall how Condaleeza Rice dropped the ball when AQ Kahn sold the secrets to N Korea that allowed that country to develop their own weapon. At the time Musharaff got little more than a mild rebuke from the state department as Buxh chose to focus on Iraq and still considered Musharaff a trusted ally and friend. Bullshit. Musharaff promised to punish Kahn but did absolutely nothing.

In the years since, we've heard that Pakistan gave sanctuary near the Afghan border to alQaeda in exchange for a promise to leave Islamabad alone. I used to get so frustrated hearing the media parrot the state department saying bin Laden is in "the area between Pakistan and Afghanistan". There is no fucking "area" between the borders. It was, and still is, called "Pakistan".

Pakistan is yet another mess Buxh left for Obama to clean up.