Comments on: A Bombing to Lose Some Sleep Over

By: Brij

Brij — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 02:39:08 +0000

Pakistan annouces more legal powers to National Command authority (NCA) that controls its nuclear arms as reported here in this news article

Musharraf tightens grip on nuclear arms "..The ordinance reinforces the NCA's "complete command and control" over all aspects of the nuclear program and grants the chairman "all the powers and functions of the authority.."

By: Divya

Divya — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:52:34 +0000

More on AQK aka Dr. Estragneglove. Ultra funny take on the issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wjNKqIffq4

By: DJ Drrrty Kazakh

DJ Drrrty Kazakh — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:55:00 +0000

-stan is the problem

Not Kazakhstan!

Kazakhstan greatest country in the world, all other countries are run by little girls.

By: Ardy

Ardy — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:09:44 +0000

Brij in #11. I just saw this comment after I posted #13. The book you link to is the one I was thinking of, couldn’t remember the name.

By: Brij

Brij — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:08:27 +0000

We have much bigger problem of this being happening in former Soviet Union countries, than Pakistan

Partly true, thats why a lot of American taxpayers money is being spent for this organization's programs including a dedicated non-proliferation graduate program to prevent nuclear terrorism

By: Ardy

Ardy — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:02:21 +0000

Even in the case of AQ Khan, the Pak govt. had to be complicit to a large extent.

To an extent yes, but not always to a large extent. The army was primarily more involved and the money for the project was coming from non budgetary sources (US, sale of technology, etc etc) at certain times, I think.

By: future

future — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:54:30 +0000

there are a myriad of terror groups that the pakistani establishment has fostered to kill indians, and since america has forced pakistan’s hand into limiting their activities, these groups are lashing back. this is their frankenstein, and this being pakistan, the world will fail to fully confront while india pays with the lives of its citizens and soldiers.

By: Brij

Brij — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:42:40 +0000

In Pakistan, is the line of authority strictly vertical or are there functionaries with greater influence over such a program than their official title would suggest?

The Conde' Nast article posted in the news tab is an excellent story of the reach of AQK within the Pak govt. Interestingly the American agencies knew of the program at an early stage but were waiting and watching for the right time. Recent book - Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons talks about this controversy. It appears that history and politics are created in what we don't know at every moment of our life.

By: KarmaByte

KarmaByte — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:41:50 +0000

We have much bigger problem of this being happening in former Soviet Union countries, than Pakistan.

-stan is the problem

By: muralimannered

muralimannered — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:29:20 +0000

So, how many folks are directly / indirectly involved in the Pakistani bomb? I dunno, but I betcha the number is at least half, if not much more so that the number involved directly / indirectly in the Manhattan project...

So there definitely are substantial material demands for a successful nuclear project, which in the past involved far more people and industries, but how many people within government are needed to get a weapons program going and sustain it? In Pakistan, is the line of authority strictly vertical or are there functionaries with greater influence over such a program than their official title would suggest?