|
How the West summoned up a nuclear nightmare in Pakistan
By Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-ClarkGeneral Pervez Musharraf was surprised. Visiting New York for a session of the UN, the last thing the Pakistani president expected was to be confronted with evidence of his countrys secret sales of nuclear bomb technology and equipment to members of the axis of evil. Yet here on the polished wooden table of Musharrafs hotel suite, George Tenet, director of the CIA, was laying out a sheaf of incriminating evidence. There were intricate drawings of Pakistans P-1 uranium-enrich-ing centrifuge, with part numbers, dates and signatures. And there were details of the activities of Abdul Qadeer A Q Khan, the so-called Father of the Pakistani Bomb: his travels around the world, bank statements, even paperwork showing what his organisation had offered for sale and to which countries. A senior Musharraf aide described it disingenuously as the most embarrassing moment in the presidents life not because of the evidence but because he had felt Pakistan was on a long leash as it was integral to the Americans war on terror. It was only three months since President George W Bush had cancelled a $1 billion debt and instigated a new $3 billion military and economic assistance package for Pakistan. Now the leash was being wound in, but Musharraf got over his surprise. He moved on and thought, so be it. He was a survivor. Pakistan was a survivor. We would adapt to a new reality, a source said. But he was not going to confess all: Musharraf would play dumb until he ascertained what the US knew and whom we could blame. Posted by: john frum 2007-09-03 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=197885 |