"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Pakistan Reveals It's Own Military Secrets Indicating They Are Afraid Of Taliban

No nation on Earth would reveal the secrets of their most powerful weapons-systems, unless they were deeply afraid of something. It could be they are deeply afraid that the United States will not trust the Pakistani government sovereignty over it's own terra firma.

But, considering the fact that it is very unlikely the United States has the stomach for a war with a nuclear nation at this point, I believe it is even worse than that.

I believe the Pakistani government fears for it's own sustained sovereignty. After all, this is a country which just 10 years ago, came to be ruled by a military coup. And, evidence has shown that many in the military and the ISI (Pakistani intelligence organization) do side with the Taliban over the duly-elected government.

While it is comforting that Pakistan has granted us this important information (which, I believe, we can assume to be the location and codes to it's nuclear arsenal, for any other kind of "assurance" would be no assurance at all), it is a frightening prospect that the government of what is arguably the third-most radicalized Islamic nation on Earth (behind only Saudi Arabia and Iran) are feeling so weak that they are willing to become even weaker in the eyes of the world, in order to hold onto power just a little bit longer.

Pakistan shares nuclear secrets


Pakistan’s senior civil and military officials are sharing tightly held information about the country’s nuclear weapons programme to western countries in a bid to allay fears about the security of warheads in the face of a Taliban advance. 


The unusual move highlights global concerns over the safety of up to 100 atomic bombs in Pakistan’s possession, as the country tries to repel Taliban militants that last week advanced to within 100km of Islamabad, the country’s capital. Pakistan is secretive about its nuclear programme, developed outside the nuclear non-proliferation treaty 

in an arms race with India. 


A senior western envoy in Islamabad said diplomats had been given assurances about the security in place for the weapons systems and also their distance from Taliban-held territory.


Pakistani officials presented this as a move to satisfy the west that its weapons would not fall into Taliban hands. “We have renewed our pledge to keep our nuclear weapons safe,” said a senior Pakistani official. The briefings were aimed, he said, at “reassuring” the international community that there were adequate safety measures “to keep a complete lid on our weapons”.


Last night, the Pakistani army claimed it had halted the latest Taliban incursion in the Buner district, 100km north-west of Islamabad, after two days of fighting. At dawn on Wednesday, the army, which has been accused in the west of failing to challenge the militants, airlifted troops behind Taliban lines and, it claimed, forced them to retreat.

Although the whereabouts of Pakistan’s weapons are secret, analysts say that some are placed far from the Indian border to allow Islamabad adequate response time in the event of an attack from its old enemy, and fellow nuclear power, India.



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