Posted on 02/12/2004 3:49:36 PM PST by quidnunc
The Pakistani situation continues to boil. The United States, on Feb. 10, said it has had intelligence about the activities of Pakistani nuclear scientists for several years, which it passed on to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
To be more precise, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters that the United States had passed on "pieces of information" to the Pakistanis.
The United States is, therefore, now in the process of trying to explain how it missed the nuclear-transfer program by stating it had at least some knowledge of the program that was passed to Musharraf, while strongly hinting it was aware of the whole thing. Musharraf, in the meantime, told the New York Times that the United States had not given him convincing proof, nor had it provided any evidence, of Abdul Qadeer Khan's activities until October 2003.
This is getting really strange. Why are the Americans and Pakistanis arguing over when Washington told Musharraf about the nuclear plot? Musharraf had to have known about Khan because, as general and president, he commands the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI; and the ISI was all over the Pakistani nuclear program.
It is inconceivable that the ISI was not aware of a plot by a group of scientists — all of whom were under constant surveillance by the agency and knew full well they were — to sell nuclear secrets around the world.
The United States has sprung a trap on Musharraf. It is not about what Washington told him or when; it is about the ISI.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
And at the same time they are inundating us with clip upon clip of Janet Jackson's nipple?!?!?!
Hmmm.
The purpose of the nuclear game is to force Musharraf into carrying out such a purge. The U.S. assertion that American intelligence informed Musharraf, and his argument that U.S. intel didn't give him any real evidence, is simply Washington turning up the heat a bit. It is also about Musharraf trying to pretend it doesn't hurt. Musharraf does not want to break up the ISI or get into a fight with the military. For one thing, it is not clear who would win a showdown if one occurred. For another thing, Musharraf would be left as an American puppet without any leverage. On the other hand, if he refuses to take responsibility for the situation, he is admitting that the Pakistani nuclear arsenal is not in his control - and that is not something India, Israel or the United States is going to tolerate.
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