Gerald Posner who wrote Why America Slept was on MSNBC last night with Keith Olberman. The issue was the news that Saudis were going to acquire nukes. Posner thinks that this was leaked as a warning to the Americans, to tell them, if they screw the relations and get too investigative, then Saudis will acquire them using petro dollars.
One country that will be happy to sell it would be Pakistan.
Concerns about Saudi plans to buy nuclear weapons were raised after Prince Sultan toured Pakistan's secret nuclear facilities in May 1999. The prince toured the Kahuta uranium enrichment plant and an adjacent factory where the Ghauri missile is assembled with Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and was briefed by A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan's atom bomb.
And this is a facility which even Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was not allowed to visit. Also Saudi Arabia had funded Pakistan's nuclear and missle program
Quoting reports, DIA's senior China analyst Thomas Woodrow said in a research paper that "Saudi Arabia has been involved in funding Pakistan's missile and nuclear program purchases from China, which has resulted in Pakistan becoming a nuclear weapon-producing and proliferating state". According to the paper, there was also a probability that Riyadh was "buying nuclear-capability from China through a proxy state with Pakistan serving as the cut-out."
So if Saudi Arabia wants to go nuclear, it will plain easy for them. Scary thought.
Comments (6)
One of the conspiracy theories floating around is that one of the reasons for the Iraq war was a U.S. strategic desire to move their troops out of Saudi Arabia, a clever covert move to "appease" local sentiments and lessen the ability of terrorist networks to recruit people. Indeed the initial, primary mission of Osama was to rid Saudi Arabia of American troops - and this has been achieved! Coincidence?
Posted by sumedh | September 27, 2003 3:10 PM
Posted on September 27, 2003 15:10
And as Niraj noted few days back, the countries where US is waging wars Afghanistan and Iraq border the real terrorist states.
Posted by JK | September 27, 2003 3:27 PM
Posted on September 27, 2003 15:27
You are not being serious. I am Pakistani, and am proud of it. I am equally proud to border such a great country as India. But you cannot say that we are "terrorists", JK. Sure the GOVERNMENT does things, but you all are being stereo-types and saying that we, the Pakistani PEOPLE, and the Saudi Arabian people, are terrorists. I've heard lots of people in Pakistan who want better relations with India- 90% of who I've heard. And now you are calling us "terrorists". If you have any questions on how the public thinks there, ask me. I've heard lots of criticism of Pakistan on this site, and I held my feelings inside. But now, you call us terrorists? How far will it go? If you keep this attitude, the relations won't improve at all- regular people like you and me can make a difference.
Posted by Danial | October 2, 2003 4:51 PM
Posted on October 2, 2003 16:51
You are not being serious. I am Pakistani, and am proud of it. I am equally proud to border such a great country as India. But you cannot say that we are "terrorists", JK. Sure the GOVERNMENT does things, but you all are being stereo-types and saying that we, the Pakistani PEOPLE, and the Saudi Arabian people, are terrorists. I've heard lots of people in Pakistan who want better relations with India- 90% of who I've heard. And now you are calling us "terrorists". If you have any questions on how the public thinks there, ask me. I've heard lots of criticism of Pakistan on this site, and I held my feelings inside. But now, you call us terrorists? How far will it go? If you keep this attitude, the relations won't improve at all- regular people like you and me can make a difference.
Posted by Danial | October 2, 2003 4:51 PM
Posted on October 2, 2003 16:51
Daniel, Unfortunately I don't think most Indians have the same feeling about Pakistan, that you have about India. What's the point if 90% of the people think they want peace with India ? You dont even have the power to choose a Government of your liking. Unless words translate to action, all this is meaningless.
Posted by JK | October 2, 2003 6:14 PM
Posted on October 2, 2003 18:14
Pakistanis are afraid to act out following the military coup of 1999. Musharraf could do things. And most media doesn't even put out proper news to Pakistanis, so some support Musharraf because they don't know what's really happening. And Pakistani Hindus aren't treated as bad as you think. One of my dad's best friends was a Hindu, and on Pakistani Hindu sites, people express their patriotism. Only some want to emigrate to India.
Posted by Danial | October 3, 2003 3:34 PM
Posted on October 3, 2003 15:34