Quote:
Originally posted by Bob_Dobbs,
current bunker-buster bombs are sufficient to disable any bunker in existence. |
Disable, but not destroy.
However, I agree that a focus on new nuclear devices is misguided and dangerous. If proliferation continues, there
will be a nuclear confrontation and exchange in the future. When the "Might makes right" philosophy prevails, peaceful conflict resolution becomes less and less likely. Tyrants sense no need to justify their actions, injustice will do as well as justice.
On another note, why would the administration choose to attack
Iraq on charges of WMD when their ally,
Pakistan, was proliferating like crazy?
An article from before the US attack on Iraq from the Cato Institute:
http://www.cato.org/new/03-03/03-05-03r.html Quote:
March 5, 2003
Media Contact: (202) 789-5200
Pakistan Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Cause for U.S. Concern
President Bush should also pressure Musharraf to crack down on al-Qaeda in Pakistan
WASHINGTON -- Although the United States has touted Pakistan as a "frontline ally" in the war on terrorism, the Pakistani government continues to support terrorist movements affiliated with al-Qaeda and has also played a significant role in advancing North Korea's nuclear program, according to a new Cato Institute report.
In "Extremist, Nuclear Pakistan: An Emerging Threat?" Subodh Atal, an independent foreign affairs analyst, argues that elements within Pakistan's military and its intelligence agency, the ISI, have engaged in active proliferation of nuclear weapons-related technology.
"U.S. policymakers need to be concerned about the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, the level of threat posed to that arsenal by al-Qaeda and related terrorist groups within Pakistan, the stability of Pakistan's regime, and the country's record on nuclear proliferation," writes Atal, adding that Pakistan, which has become the new command center for al-Qaeda, poses a greater threat to the U.S. than Iraq.
As President Bush has been pressuring Iraq to disarm while mulling military action against Hussein's regime, Bush has ignored the presence of al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, where they fled and re-established themselves following U.S. action in Afghanistan, Atal argues.
"This concentration of al-Qaeda presents the largest risk to U.S. national security because of the proximity of al-Qaeda and its sympathetic jihadi groups to power centers in nuclear Pakistan," says Atal.
Atal recommends that the United States pressure President Pervez Musharraf to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in the Northwest Frontier Province and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, where anti-U.S. jihadis are concentrated.
"It should warn Musharraf that, if Pakistan is unwilling or incapable of cleansing itself of its terrorist infrastructure, the U.S. military will take matters into its own hands and extend the anti-terrorism war into Pakistani territory," Atal writes. |
The hidden agenda of the PNAC comes into focus.
Here is the current official spin, which is itself, worrisome from:
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040229190439....9.q5jl04vh.html Quote:
Pakistan proliferation unpunished so US troops could hunt bin Laden: report
WASHINGTON (AFP) Feb 29, 2004
The United States withheld criticism of Pakistan despite leaks of nuclear secrets to Libya and other countries, so long as US troops could launch a search for Osama bin Laden in the Islamic state, said a report released Sunday.
"It's a quid pro quo," a former senior intelligence official told New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh.
"We're going to get our troops inside Pakistan in return for not forcing (Pakistani leader Pervez) Musharraf to deal with (Pakistan's nuclear research director Abdul Qadeer) Khan," who admitted sharing nuclear secrets with US foes Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Musharraf pardoned Khan, who admitted "full responsibility" for the leaks and denied military involvement in his proliferation.
"One thing we know is that this was not a rogue operation," a Bush administration official told The New Yorker.
"Suppose (atom bomb inventor) Edward Teller had suddenly decided to spread nuclear technology and equipment around the world. Do you really think he could do that without the government knowing? How do you get missiles from North Korea to Pakistan? Do you think (Khan) shipped all the centrifuges by Federal Express?"
Hersh's article appeared in the issue of the New York weekly hitting newsstands Monday.
Washington said it had not pressured Islamabad for fear of politically weakening Musharraf, a much-needed ally in President George W. Bush's war on terror.
However, the amount of nuclear know-how Khan made available to hostile nations put the United States in jeopardy, experts told The New Yorker.
"We haven't been this vulnerable since the British burned Washington in 1814," former UN weapons inspector Robert Gallucci told The New Yorker. |
Musharraf, our ally, covering a massive proliferator. Oh, right. The War on Terror. Gotta have "allies" like him.