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| India-Pakistan |
| US eyes Pakistan's nuclear arsenal |
| 2007-11-14 |
| Same author as that of the Neo-Taliban article today. Note the quickly planned trip by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. To me this suggests the Paki-Abombs are really property of the Saudis. Any chance the bombs would be moved to Saudi for safety on top of the Saudi ICBMS? I just have so many questions about all of this and do not feel "warm and fuzzy" about any of it. First the Bhutto teaser lead-in KARACHI - Benazir Bhutto, just weeks after returning from years of exile to take part in the United States-sponsored master plan for her to share power with President General Pervez Musharraf, has launched a scathing attack on the general, demanding that he step down unconditionally. "It is time for him to go. He must quit as president," the former premier was quoted as saying on Tuesday from behind the barbed wire that is keeping her under house arrest at her residence in Lahore. Now the meat of the rant... US WANTS OUR BOMBS SECURE. The converse would be that they don't want their own bombs secure. That's really scary. The remarkable falling out between Bhutto and Musharraf since he declared a state of emergency nearly two weeks ago on the surface dashes all US hopes for a stable democratic government in Pakistan amenable to Washington's dictates in the "war on terror". Yet the seemingly calamitous developments - which have provoked widespread demonstrations against Musharraf's government - might in fact still fit into the US's grand scheme for the embattled country: to gain control of its nuclear weapons so they do not fall into the hands of Islamist fanatics. Interesting, no argument that we are conspiring to take the bombs rather a scream that we want to deprive loons and nutz of the bombs, and ergo since it is the Great Satan's will then the its bad so the loons deserve the bomb? Is that the point? Contacts close to the power circles in Pakistan told Asia Times Online that there is a feeling that the US is prepared to take "hurricane" measures to ensure the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal. The thinking goes that by changing horses and supporting Bhutto, the US could exploit the current unrest by dictating new terms to Pakistan in the "war on terror" and coerce it into allowing the US to safeguard its nuclear stockpile. A prime argument if there ever was on for a 4th world failed state not to be permitted anything US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is due to travel to Pakistan this week to meet with senior officials and call for free and fair elections, echoing Bhutto's stance. This ties into King Abdullah's complaint, further down the story, to the Pope about the past 150 years and absolute power. Islamabad is acutely aware of US concerns, and has taken the trouble to reassure Washington. "There were so many messages from the West through the media as well as directly that Pakistani weapons could be seized by Islamic extremists that our Foreign Office clarified [to the US] that our nuclear installations are so safe that they cannot even be monitored by American satellite, let alone that somebody sitting in a place like Tora Bora [in Afghanistan] could guess where they are," a contact told Asia Times Online. The boasts that the US can't even see their installations from space.... Really? Really? Are they betting the bank on that? Which bases in Saudi have the stored the majority of the bombs? Is this needed to be a "fact" due to the absolute power argument made to the Pope (later in article) Indeed, the US belief that it could in some way get its hands on Pakistan's "red" nuclear buttons, by exploiting unrest for which it is partly responsible, sends alarm bells ringing in Islamabad. "button's"? Plural? Interesting. Enter, therefore, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whom Musharraf is expected to meet "soon" in Riyadh for what the official Pakistani media describe as "important discussions". Musharraf aims to convey to the West - and to the US in particular - through King Abdullah that the Americans would never be allowed to fill any vacuum in Pakistan. Rather, chaos will play directly into the hands of the very militants and extremists the West fears so much and who have ever-growing bases just hours from the capital in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan. $220/bbl oil if we keep fixating on the shell game with the bombs? Is that Abdullah's game? In a similar manner, King Abdullah's recent groundbreaking visit to Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican was also aimed at warning the West of the dangers of its policies towards the Middle East and the Islamic world. Then we see a bunch of mumbo jumbo about the King laying down the line for the Pope.... Unfortunately this may not be mumbo-jumbo but rather a reflection of their world mis-views..... King Abdullah is no fundamentalist, but culturally he is deeply aware of the Arab tribal Islamic ethos in terms of which opponents are made aware of each other's ideas. Interesting phrasing of that sentence. Threatening phrasing in-fact. The monarch expressed his view to the pope that the Judeo-Christian frame of mind over the past 150 years has been a major stumbling block to world peace - especially in the Middle East - and the institution of the Catholic Church is supportive of it. The modern world must end? He elaborated that Muslim ruling elites are as a result becoming marginalized from their people and thus the masses could not be controlled. He demands the right to be a lord over all and complete control ergo the past must come back He clearly warned the pope to advise Western leaders that their policies would create an explosive situation in Palestine in the very near future and nobody, not even he (Abdullah), would be able to control it. Would Abdullah care to explain in detail what he knows about this explosion? It would help to nip it in the bud. Otherwise, he is equally guilty of conspiracy. Musharraf's meeting with Abdullah is a major milestone as it provides the opportunity for Washington to be persuaded against following a policy that pits Musharraf against Bhutto so that space is created for the Americans to meddle. Spin back to the entry teaser. Bhutto is bad. Following her call on Tuesday for Musharraf to step down, Bhutto spoke to cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and leaders of the opposition and even to the premier Islamic party, Jamaat-i-Islami, to sound them out on building a national opposition alliance with her Pakistan People's Party to oust Musharraf. Bhutto has previously called for Musharraf to step down as chief of the army, but she has never before insisted that he should not even be tolerated as a civilian president. A senior leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami told Asia Times Online that Bhutto was not simply making half-hearted efforts, she was very serious and committed to forming an opposition alliance to end the rule that Musharraf began when he staged a coup in October 1999. The tiger that the US is riding is becoming harder to dismount. Why are we back in the discussion? I thought our part was just stopping the rogue bomb? |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #6 See also WAFF.com/TOPIX > PAKISTAN: AMERICA'S NEXT BATTLEGROUND. If any nation needs invadin' soon, in order to save itself + America's WOT = "imperialist" global agenda, its PAKISTAN NOT IRAN??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-11-14 19:33 |
| #5 The House of Saud paid for Pakistan's nuke-jihad program. I have long suspected that the Sauds received some of the arsenal. |
| Posted by: Snetle tse Tung6618 2007-11-14 18:18 |
| #4 Great inline. Like to jump on that wagon: "..let alone that somebody sitting in a place like Tora Bora [in Afghanistan] could guess where they are," It isn't a guess if someone tells them where are. King Abdullah's recent groundbreaking visit to Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican was also aimed at warning the West of the dangers of its policies towards the Middle East and the Islamic world. Does that mean the writer thinks that the pope controls the governments of the west? What say you Protestants? Others? He elaborated that Muslim ruling elites are as a result becoming marginalized from their people and thus the masses could not be controlled. Not worried about a |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2007-11-14 17:35 |
| #3 Thrairt Oppressor of the Lichtensteiners6029 does not sound like a man prone to exaggeration. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-11-14 16:12 |
| #2 Useful inlines, 3dc. Did the vice president say such a thing as Thrairt Oppressor of the Lichtensteiners6029 suggests? I thought that was something Rantburgers only dreamt about. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-11-14 13:27 |
| #1 I'm not surprised that the Saudis are nervous. Didn't Cheney tell them if we got nuked Mecca would become glass? |
| Posted by: Thrairt Oppressor of the Lichtensteiners6029 2007-11-14 12:42 |