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| India-Pakistan | |||
| Nuke plans link Libyan bomb project to Abdul Qadeer Khan | |||
| 2004-02-04 | |||
| Twelve days ago, a 747 aircraft chartered by the United States government landed at Dulles Airport here carrying a single piece of precious cargo: a small box containing warhead designs that American officials believe were sold to Libya by the underground network linked to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the creator of the Pakistani bomb. The warhead designs were the first hard evidence that the secret network provided its customers with far more than just the technology to turn uranium into bomb fuel. Libyan officials have told investigators that they bought the blueprints from dealers who are part of that network, apparently for more than $50 million. Those blueprints, along with the capability to make enriched uranium, could have given the Libyans all the elements they needed to make a nuclear bomb. What the Libyans purchased, in the words of an American weapons expert who has reviewed the program in detail, was both the kitchen equipment "and the recipes." Experts familiar with the contents of the box say the designs closely resemble the warheads that China tested in the late 1960’s and passed on to Pakistan decades ago. American officials are still studying the designs flown out of Libya to determine whether, in fact, they are complete. There is no evidence, the officials say, that the Libyans actually produced the warheads, much less sufficient nuclear fuel. The Libyan nuclear program was just getting started, although Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said recently, "It was simply a matter of time." American officials emphasize that they have no evidence that the Pakistani government itself was aware of the sales, and they wave aside recent accusations by Mr. Khan’s allies that President Pervez Musharraf was himself aware of the transactions. But some experts inside and outside the government say it is difficult to believe that Pakistan’s nuclear secrets could have been exported without the knowledge of some in the military and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency, especially since some shipments were made on Pakistani military aircraft. Whoever was responsible, the warhead design appears now to have been a sought-after prize of the network of nuclear middlemen and parts producers that American officials say is being broken up, from Germany to Malaysia, and from Dubai to the Netherlands. "Ever since the Libya revelations last month, there have been a lot of detentions, and some arrests," one American official said Tuesday.
Inside the White House and across the Potomac at the Central Intelligence Agency, the documents from Libya have raised as many urgent questions as they have answered. American intelligence officials say they are uncertain who else possesses copies of the design, but they assume there are others. Obtaining the enriched uranium or the plutonium to make a bomb is more difficult than getting a workable bomb design, but their fear is that the network they are uncovering sold both. Investigators are also trying to determine whether the network of suppliers and experts sold a similar weapons design to North Korea.
According to American and European investigators, the network that supplied Libya was enormously complex, and not all the paths led directly back to the Khan laboratory. Centrifuge parts were made in Malaysia, and other parts were obtained in Germany and Japan. The Japanese last year seized critical equipment headed for North Korea, though they never announced it. But both the centrifuge designs and the bomb designs seized in Libya appear to have come from the same country, according to experts who have reviewed them. "My understanding is that it did come from Pakistan," said David Albright, a physicist and president of the Institute for Science and International Security here. Bush adminstration officials said Tuesday that they are waiting to see if Mr. Musharraf is willing to order his arrest, and face the wrath of Pakistani nationalists who regard Mr. Khan as a hero. Statements by Mr. Khan’s supporters already leave little doubt about the scientist’s strategy: if arrested, he appears ready to argue that the Pakistani leadership knew about his transaction at the highest levels. That would put the White House in a difficult position, because President Bush is attempting to support Mr. Musharraf, a critical ally in tracking down members of Al Qaeda, while forcing him to shut down what officials say was a widespread source of nuclear proliferation. The discoveries in Tripoli are causing intelligence agencies and investigators to revisit some older cases, including one involving Iraq — which documents suggest was offered nuclear technology before the start of the Persian Gulf war of 1991. Mr. Albright and his associate, Corey Hinderstein, have reviewed documents found at the farm of Hussein Kamel, Saddam Hussein’s son in law, after he defected from Iraq in 1995. Mr. Kamel told the C.I.A. that many of Mr. Hussein’s weapons had been destroyed — a statement that appears to be correct, in light of the findings of David A. Kay, the former chief American weapons inspector in Iraq. A memorandum found among Mr. Kamel’s papers, dated June 10, 1990, appeared to be a proposal from an unidentified middleman referring to offers "from the Pakistani scientist Dr. Abd-el-Qadeer Khard regarding the possibility of helping Iraq establish a project to enrich Uranium and manufacture a nuclear weapon."
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| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #19 Well you see Israel is not very big. Doesn't take too many nukes to turn Israel into glass. Well, Faisal, I think I know a lot more about nukes than you do. Because I do, I know you lose. Nukes generate one HELL of an Electro-Magnetic Pulse. As a result, you either have to shield each warhead (adds to dead weight, reduces throw weight), or you have to ensure that each one explodes at the very same nanosecond as the others, or you have to have them spaced far enough apart in arrival time not to be affected by the previous blast. That gives Israel time enough to retaliate - which means those nasty Masada missiles start raining down on Damascus, Beirut, Riyadh, Jedda, Mecca, Medina, Cairo, Aswan, and a few dozen other places. THOSE are all far enough spaced out that Israel doesn't have to worry about the timing problem. Oh, and there is this little thing called "time" that plays he$$ with nukes, too. You see, nuke material is radioactive. That means that there's particle decay taking place. Too much particle decay, and your weapon doesn't go boom, it kinda goes PFXXZZZZZZTTT, releases a lot of low-level radiation, and messes up a neighborhood or two. It takes constant maintenance and frequent re-manufacturing, usually in an excessively strict clean-room environment, or you've got a Chinese firecracker, not a nuclear weapon. Of course, all the Saudi princes in Europe, living high on the hog (literally), wining and dining, and enjoying all those European women, gambling at Monte Carlo - they may survive. They'll be instantly poor, but they'll survive. Where will your little a$$ be? |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-2-4 6:57:27 PM |
| #18 "pussy fart"??? LOL! That's, uh, brilliant for someone of your severely BTW, on topic, if Israel does someday become a sheet of glass, Muslim genocide immediately follows. Doesn't matter where you are, what skirt / burqa you hide behind or label or rock you hide under, someone will take your swarthy ass out. I assure you I will be there when we turn the lights out on Islam forever. So rant your best "It's the JOOOOOS fault!" rant, little one - and pray to your pip-squeak Little Mo that none of the various Mad Mullah Morons ever does get the chance to nuke Israel. Apparently you're too dense (leaded vapors, perhaps, emitted in those BF's?) to catch on to the fact that their continued survival is all that stands between you and your ilk's annihilation. Personally, I hope we just go ahead and pre-emptively wipe you out. Nothing personal, old boy, and all that rot, but you've been identified as a human pathogen and we only need to freeze a couple of samples for the Level IV guys at Ft Detrick... the rest of you are forfeit. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-4 6:19:19 PM |
| #17 It doesn't do the Muslims any good to destroy Israel. Their Judgement Day can't happen until they re-occupy the Holy Land (and the Prophet Jesus comes back to dish out Allah's justice). I don't think there is a Hadith justifying the total destruction of Jerusalem. If they go ahead and do it, then they're apostates for going against the will of Allah. |
| Posted by: floatinginspace 2004-2-4 2:45:26 PM |
| #16 Depending on which way the wind is blowing, what makes you think only Israel will suffer? But it also does take care of the Pali issue for the Arabs. Then they wouldn't have to be bothered by them. Hmmm, 2 for the price of 1, plus it's not like the surrounding countries really care about their people. Would be interesting if it did come to that, where their leaders would be when the button was pushed? Oh, wait, phrawnce. |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-2-4 2:38:15 PM |
| #15 So Faisal, read enough? Once you know that your potential foe has nuclear weapons, the tempation to hit first is very strong - you may be talking about national survival. For a country the size of Israel even more so. Read up on the "Sunday Punch" doctrine by Curtis le May, or "launch on warning" and of course MAD to see what new delights await todays up and coming newly nuclear armed nation. What about the Indo-Pak situation? three wars since independance (1947-48, 1965, and 1971). Lots and lots of rhetoric and a low intensity bleeding war in the Kashmir. They're not really friends. Once they both get nukes they do a lot of sabre-rattling, realise how close they are to armageddon, shit themselves and back off. Now, let's try that with Syria, Saudi and Egypt - three states known for their excellent diplomatic relations with Israel (sarcasm). If any of those countries get nuclear weapons, the status quo in the ME changes, and I'm betting it won't be in the Arab states favour. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2004-2-4 2:00:59 PM |
| #14 Well you see Israel is not very big. Doesn't take too many nukes to turn Israel into glass. Forget about the rest. You can keep on nuking whatever cities you want after that but the thing is that Israel will be history in case such an event ever occurs. .com you are a pussy fart --- that's all i can tell. I do agree with Shipman that a nuke in hands of any of these countries is too dangerous. |
| Posted by: Faisal 2004-2-4 1:56:20 PM |
| #13 "Man would sure be interesting to see Nukes in Syria, Saudi and Egypt ..." -would be interesting to see them blow themselves up. Those stupid idiots are too inept to launch one off effectively. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-2-4 12:32:50 PM |
| #12 Would you like your salad in a Roentgen Soupbowl, Faisal? Owning some of these little plutonium monsters is not just a power trip. With folks like the Mullahcrocy in Iran, making threats toward Israel, while rattling your missles could be your death warrant. I used to work out out at the Nevada Atomic Test Site. I can assure you that these weapons are not toys. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-2-4 11:38:31 AM |
| #11 Poor Faisal. Whatever he is, he suffers from cognitus interruptus - limited to one tiny thought at a time without regard to consequential realities. Also known as brain farts. The condition is often terminal. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-4 10:14:40 AM |
| #10 Pass enough nukes around the region and eventually one will end up hitting somewhere we love. We gotta squeeze'em hard this Spring! |
| Posted by: CobraCommander 2004-2-4 10:14:28 AM |
| #9 Spot on, Steve! We've got a special this week--with every 4 megatons, get 1 megaton free! Don't forget to order a side of our new, delicious bunker busting nukes, too! Offer void where prohibited. Please allow 30 minutes for delivery, or the next one is free. Guaranteed fresh and hot--very hot--or your money back! See ad in this Sunday's paper for details. |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-2-4 9:43:32 AM |
| #8 sure be interesting to see Nukes in Syria, Saudi and Egypt ... No problem, I'm sure we can arrange that. Do you want surface strikes or air bursts? How about we super size that order, no charge. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-2-4 9:22:32 AM |
| #7 "Nukes in Syria, Saudi and Egypt" And just what do you think would happen to these countrys if one of them decided to pop a nuke in Israel,Dear Faisal? I predict that: 1)Cairo would be radioactive rubble. 2)Damascus would be a sheet of radioactive glass. 3)Riyad would be a radioactive,smoking hole. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-2-4 9:20:54 AM |
| #6 Man would sure be interesting to see Nukes in Syria, Saudi and Egypt ... all around Israel. Children can't be allowed to play with matches Faisal. That's why every last one of those countries will be destroyed. Or don't you get that yet? |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2004-2-4 9:18:33 AM |
| #5 Does a nuclear blast count as the re-Islamification of Jerusalem? |
| Posted by: floatinginspace 2004-2-4 9:04:47 AM |
| #4 Only the Saudi's can afford 'em. The nukes also require a certain amount of maintenance..... |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-4 8:48:41 AM |
| #3 Man would sure be interesting to see Nukes in Syria, Saudi and Egypt ... all around Israel. |
| Posted by: Faisal 2004-2-4 8:13:06 AM |
| #2 No Paul, that may scare the children. Let the UN worry about all that. It's all Tits and Ass for now. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-2-4 12:51:11 AM |
| #1 With these revelations about Libya, Iran and North Koreas nuke programs, I wonder if it is time to take more seriously the reports of Pakistan and Saudi Arabiamaking a deal on sharing nuclear technology? |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-2-4 12:44:59 AM |