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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (48021)	3/12/2005 11:50:54 AM
From: malibuca	Respond to of 50167

Lies, Lies and more Lies! Latif posts the following: AQ, who is credited for creating Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, admitted last year to transferring nuclear technology to several foreign countries. He also confessed not informing the Pakistani government of his actions. Sheikh Rashid said it was an undeniable fact that AQ Khan had kept his activities secret from the government. He said the people of Pakistan must be told the truth about the transfer of nuclear technology from Pakistan. How very convenient to suggest that AQ was a rogue operator! Latif knows perfectly well that even in Pakistan, it is generally accepted that Khan was not - and could not - operate in a vacuum. The official line may be that the Government did not know but that is widely accepted in Pakistan as being nonsense. What is more the US is aware of this but expediency dictates that too much pressure should not be brought to bear on Musharraf since his help is needed in the war against terrorism. Here is the reality: "We have long held to the belief that Khan was not a rogue operator,” says Joseph Cirincione, director of the Nonproliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It is inconceivable that Khan conducted his vast, multinational business operations for two decades without the knowledge and support of military and political leaders. Khan himself says that one of the reasons for his trades was to finance the Pakistani missile program. He used military planes to ferry cargo from, and presumably to, North Korea. Khan was not a 'nonstate actor'. Cirincione said. "This was - and may still be - a state-sanctioned black market operation run by A.Q. Khan." he added. Khan "could not have functioned without some level of cooperation by Pakistani military personnel, who maintained tight security around the key nuclear facilities, and possibly civilian officials as well." the report says. Khan in a televised statement in February 2004 said he took full responsibility for the proliferation activities and said Islamabad "never ever" authorized them. Nevertheless, Musharraf the next day decided that Khan would not be prosecuted for any proliferation-related activities, the report says. The report also cites a February 2004 Washington Post story that Khan told a senior Pakistani investigator that Musharraf and other former army chiefs had known of and approved his work with North Korea.