NEW JERSEY, AUG 11 - The United States has full knowledge
about the location of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, but is not
certain who might start controlling the nuclear launch codes
and the weapons if President Gen Musharraf was killed or
overthrown.
In a news article published Friday, CNN cited three sources,
including military officers and intelligence community
analysts, who independently confirmed details of the most
recent U.S. intelligence assessment on how secure
Pakistan's nuclear weapons would be in the event President
Musharraf were replaced as the nation's leader.
According to CNN, citing its sources, the United States has
full knowledge about the location of Pakistan's nuclear
weapons, but the key questions, officials say, are what
would happen and who would control the weapons in the hours
after any change in government in case Musharraf were killed
or overthrown.
While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday dismissed
concerns regarding the safety of Pakistan’s strategic
nuclear assets, question has arisen, say some Pakistani
observers, as to how the US gained
full knowledge of the location, quantities and devices of
nuclear assets.
The ministry reacted to the story by merely
stating that, "Pakistan’s nuclear command and control
structures were not controlled by any single individual
(meaning Gen Musharraf) and had been institutionalized and
multi-layered to ensure safety and security at multiple
levels since 1998".
It did not address the "bombshell", i.e. U.S. knowledge of
Pakistan's nuclear locations. That's a red herring, a matter
of serious concern, said a U.S-based Pakistani analyst who
chose not to be named.
In the summer of 2006, while addressing an exclusive
briefing of Senate's Armed Services Committee, the current
chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Ehsanul
Haque had touted about utmost secrecy being maintained on
the location(s), quantity and type of nuclear devices.
According to the analyst, the US might have gained access to
such critical "national secrets" of Pakistan through a
mole in its nuclear establishment or it is plausible
that the government itself was made to provide these
information as part of the A Q Khan matter or in the overall
"war on terror" cooperative security arrangements.
It's important to remember that on September 13, 2001, two
days after World Trade Center attack, Islamabad
airport was shut down - allegedly because of threats against
Pakistan's strategic assets. On September 14, Islamabad
declared total support for the US: the airport was
immediately reopened. The ISI Chief at that time, Gen Mahmood Ahmad, remained in Washington until September 16 -
when the war on Afghanistan was finalized, and Pakistan was
firmly in the "with us" and not the "against us" column
- as
President Bush had matrixed his "war on terror".
Officials quoted by CNN said that Pakistan and its nuclear
weapons are always a high intelligence priority for the
United States and that the most recent assessment quoted by
the world's biggest news organization is part of a broader
review of the country's military and security situation.
U.S. analysts are also watching current Pakistani troop
movements closely "to see whether Gen Musharraf is making
any moves that could indicate he is about to impose
emergency measures", the news report said. It appears that
in recent weeks a large number of troops left the Kashmir
region to go to the tribal regions along the Afghan border,
the report added citing US officials.
Although President Musharraf ruled out the declaration of
emergency Thursday, the three sources told CNN that the
United States thinks he may still impose those measures.
These officials also said, while Gen Musharraf controls the
loyalty of the commanders and senior officials in charge of
the nuclear program, but those loyalties could shift at any
point.
(Therefore), "the United States is not certain who might
start controlling nuclear launch codes and weapons if that
shift in power were to happen".
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