Michelle Malkin » AQ Khan hints Pak government was behind his nuclear bazaar

AQ Khan hints Pak government was behind his nuclear bazaar

By see-dubya • April 8, 2008 07:38 AM

{Guest Post by See-Dubya}

If you don’t recognize A.Q. Khan’s name, you should. Hailed as a hero in Pakistan, he’s done more to put nuclear weapons in the hands of tyrants and terrorists than anyone alive. Pakistan, Iran, Libya, North Korea…maybe a few more we’ve missed, all got their nuke programs started with a little visit from Dr. Khan’s secret proliferation club.

Engineering, centrifuges, materials…it was one-stop shopping for atomic wannabes. Any of which could, by accident or design, leak one of their floor models to Al Qaeda or Hezbollah. And even though he’s been contained, the arms race he started continues:

Saudi Arabia most likely would develop nuclear weapons if Iran acquires them, according to a report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

High-level American diplomats in Riyadh with excellent access to Saudi decision-makers said an Iranian nuclear weapon frightens the Saudis “to their core” and would compel the Saudis to seek nuclear weapons, the report said. The American diplomats were not identified.

Turkey also would come under pressure to follow suit if Iran builds nuclear weapons in the next decade, said the report…

There has always been speculation that the Pakistani government was involved to some degree with Khan’s project. Well, now a comment Khan made to an AFP reporter, quoted in Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, adds some credence to that theory:

“I saved the country for the first time when I made Pakistan a nuclear nation and saved it again when I confessed and took the whole blame on myself,” Dr Khan told AFP in a telephone interview from his Islamabad villa late Sunday.
…

“Even Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (president of the PML-Q) and Mushahid Hussain (general secretary of the party that backs Musharraf) said I saved Pakistan by accepting the whole blame myself,” he added.

Is Khan saying he covered up Musharraf’s involvement in arming the Islamic world? Or was it Pakistan’s rogue intelligence service, the ISI, guiding him?

We don’t know the whole truth about what A.Q. Khan did and why he did it, because he’s been under house arrest since admitting his crime in 2004 and Musharraf has forbidden the CIA to interview him. Now there’s a chance he may be freed:

Members of the new government have indicated that they may consider freeing Dr Khan as they review Mr Musharraf’s policies over the past nine years and seek to roll back his powers.

Khan’s asking to be released himself. Well, if he is released, he should be extradited and face justice in the United States.

If a nuclear weapon goes off in Tokyo, Tel Aviv, or Chicago, it’s probably going to have Dr. Khan’s fingerprints on it. He has changed the world, and he should answer for it.

Posted in: Homeland Security, Islam, Terrorist attacks, Uncategorized

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#1

On April 8th, 2008 at 8:08 am, pickax411 said:

The world has for decades been sticking its head in the “reactor pool” trying to hide from the rush of countries working on the “A-Bomb”. My guess is that for every one A.Q. Khan there are two still shielded by their governments. It is time to place your bets on which city will become third in the list of locations that have been on the receiving end of a nuclear attack.
#2

On April 8th, 2008 at 8:15 am, 30 pcs of silver said:

High-level American diplomats in Riyadh with excellent access to Saudi decision-makers said an Iranian nuclear weapon frightens the Saudis “to their core” and would compel the Saudis to seek nuclear weapons, the report said. The American diplomats were not identified.

Will someone please inform them that they have nothing to fear but fear itself. The NIE indicated that Iran has stopped pursuing nuclear weapons and President Bush concluded in favor of the NIE. So, the Saudis can rest easy now. All is well.

/sarc
#3

On April 8th, 2008 at 9:35 am, ThackerAgency said:

And this is the problem with our CIA and state department considering Pakistan our ‘friend’. Saudi Arabia being our ‘friend’ is bad enough because they spread more terrorism than anyone. But we give Pakistan more money than any other country. That needs to stop. We should treat Pakistan like Iraq and go in to clean house.

Pakistan is only familiar with corruption in government. A government that will lie at any moment for any reason to gain an advantage. The state department is lucky nobody really cares or understands that country on the other side of the world.

But the credibility of the state department worldwide goes down the tubes because of our relationship with Pakistan. Pakistan is for the terrorists more than any other nation on the planet. If it is an us vs. them, Pakistan is definitely a them.

The world knows this. The world sees how we treat Pakistan. The world sees how Pakistan plays the US for fools and continues to get piles and piles of money all the while spitting in our faces. That doesn’t make us look strong to anyone. That doesn’t help our position internationally or garner respect among any government.

How we have treated Pakistan is widely viewed as the joke of the world. Why the government of the most powerful nation in the history of the world has allowed it to happen is one of the most tragic occurrences of the Bush administration.

AQ Khan is the figure-head. But he only does what the Pakistani government has allowed him to do.
#4

On April 8th, 2008 at 9:41 am, Brad said:

Kahn!

Sorry couldn’t help myself.
#5

On April 8th, 2008 at 10:08 am, Boomer said:

Saudi Arabia most likely would develop nuclear weapons if Iran acquires them, according to a report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Nothing scares me more than the radical Whabi muslims get their hands on weapons grade fissile material . The whack jobs are just crazy enough to start a nasty nuclear exchange in the gulf region provided Israel doesn’t take care of Iran first. I can’t get over the casual attitude of the Bush Administration over the potential nuclear arms race giving the nuclear genie to the lunatics of islam.
#6

On April 8th, 2008 at 2:20 pm, graysonret said:

I think we can safely assume that with the nuclear race going on, especially in third world countries, it is only a matter of time before some fool pushes the button. The question is…who and when. It may be this year, or 20 years, 50 years. Also, what will be our response? Will the Middle East end up, blowing itself to bits? I see more and more reasons why we need a “StarWars” program in place, and an effective one too. Hiding our heads in the sand, just won’t prevent it.
#7

On April 8th, 2008 at 2:50 pm, AlohaGuy said:

I must be getting grouchy in my old age. If I were Prez, someday, somewhere this man would hold a very fast, short meeting with a SEAL.
#8

On April 10th, 2008 at 11:19 am, NHMagenta said:

Anyone recall the late Ali Bhutto saying 40+ years ago something to the effect of “If India gets the Bomb, we too will have it even if we have to eat grass!”

When the “West” neglected to do anything beyond ineffective sanctions when India detonated a nuclear explosive in 73 or 74, that set the stage for Pak to go all-out to get the Bomb as well.

So if we were to extradite A Q Khan to the USA, what could he be charged with?
Since when do we have jurisdiction over
those who owe no loyalty to the USA?
A better place would be Holland where he stole trade secrets for the centrifuges used in U235 enrichment.