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India-Pakistan
Perv sez no N. Korea 'nuke deal'
2002-11-26
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says Pakistan has assured him it has not helped North Korea develop its nuclear weapons program in exchange for missile technology.
"No, no! Certainly not! Us? Pshaw! Never!"
Powell said he has warned Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that such contact between Islamabad and Pyongyang would be "improper, inappropriate and would have consequences."
Okay, you've been warned now...
Pakistan has strongly denied a recent report in the New York Times that North Korea supplied Islamabad with missile parts to allow Musharraf to build a nuclear missile arsenal capable of reaching "every strategic site in India." In exchange, Pakistan provided North Korea with many of the designs for gas centrifuges as well as much of the machinery needed to make highly enriched uranium, the Times reported. This would be used for the "country's latest nuclear weapons project, one intended to put at risk South Korea, Japan and 100,000 American troops in Northeast Asia," the article said.
Bad boy, Perv...
The Times said the two nations developed a "murky" quid-pro-quo relationship that continued even as the United States courted Pakistan in its anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan.
That's the killer right there. Prior to 9-11 — hand slap and a rolling of the eyes. After 9-11, they go on the poop list...
"He [Musharraf] has assured me on more than one occasion that there are no further contacts," Powell told reporters at the start of a two-day visit to Mexico City.
He also assured Powell that infiltration into Kashmir has stopped, too...
Powell's comment suggests there were contacts between North Korea and Pakistan in the past, though the secretary of state did not mention specific topics. He also dismissed claims the allegations of arms accord breaches could force sanctions against Pakistan from U.S. Congress. "Right now I have nothing presently that has been reported to me that I need to be looking at," Powell said.
"That doesn't say that there's no information that I don't want to see — yet."
"And with respect to the past, I don't know of anything that might be going on at the department that is relevant to any sanctions discussion with Congress," he said. "President Musharraf understands the seriousness of this issue," Powell added, stressing that conversations took place face-to-face as well as over the telephone.
So Perv knows that his poop's in the street, and only the fact that we have more important fish to fry at the moment is keeping us from going after his little beturbanned head. If he's really, really smart, he's going to start rounding up jihadis again and do another house-cleaning at ISI — they never seem to get all the loose cannons at a single go, do they?
Posted by:Fred Pruitt

#4  Unfortunately, when you get in bed with the Pakkies to fight the war on terrorism you get more than a good nights sleep (paraphasing the Gipper).
Posted by: Jack   2002-11-27 05:16:07  

#3  Yup, the KH-11 was supposed to be able to read the headline of a newspaper if the lighting was right. Bet they got the tailnumber of the Pak 130.
Posted by: Steve   2002-11-26 15:24:33  

#2  I don't think they ("they" referring to both the Paks and the NKors) realize just how good our intel collection can be when we have a specific target to watch.
Posted by: Fred   2002-11-26 14:51:52  

#1  Maybe this is what Powell doesn't want to see:
"According to the New York Times, US intelligence agencies have tracked a Pakistani cargo aircraft that landed at a North Korean airfield and was loaded with ballistic missile parts. American spy satellites recorded images of the American-built C-130 aircraft making the sortie in July, it said. American intelligence agencies watched silently as Pakistan's air fleet later made several sorties to North Korea, it added." Bet those photos made Perv's day.

Posted by: Steve   2002-11-26 14:41:44  

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