It's not the first time something like this has happened, either. Given the concern even within Pakistan about young officers aiding the Taliban, the fact that this one "only" made it to the first checkpoint is not a reliable indicator of the overall security of the facilities.
"Bomb hits outside suspected Pakistani nuclear-weapons site," by Saeed Shah for McClatchy Newspapers, October 23:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A suicide bomber attacked a suspected nuclear-weapons site Friday in Pakistan , raising fears about the security of the nuclear arsenal, while two other terrorist blasts made it another bloody day in the country's struggle against extremism.
Increasingly daring and sophisticated attacks by terrorists allied with al Qaida on some of Pakistan's most sensitive and best-protected installations have led to warnings that extremists could damage a nuclear facility or seize nuclear material.
Pakistan's nuclear sites are mostly in the northwest of the country, close to the capital, Islamabad , to keep them away from the border with archenemy India , but that places them close to Pakistani Taliban extremists, who are massed in the northwest. Al Qaida has made clear its ambitions to get hold of a nuclear bomb or knowledge of nuclear technology. Several other sites associated with Pakistan's nuclear weapons have been hit previously.
Pakistan is reeling from a wave of terrorist violence that's coincided with the launch of a U.S.-backed ground operation by the military against the country's al Qaida and Taliban heartland of South Waziristan , on the Afghan border.
A suicide attacker struck a checkpoint Friday morning on the boundary of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex , an air force base at Kamra, about 40 miles outside Islamabad , killing eight people, including two security personnel, and wounding 15.
"There were strict security arrangements, so he (the bomber) was intercepted at the first checkpost," local Police Chief Fakhar Sultan said.
Many of the attacks have been carried out in a deadly collaboration between Taliban extremists from the northwest and militants from Punjab, the country's most heavily populated province....
Prelude to a nightmare. The next attack may end up more successful with a lot of hostages and a handful of aircrafts armed with nuclear warheads, in control of the extremists!
The White House has assured us that there is no threat to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. I am sure Mr. Obama covered that issue in great depth, during his one face-to-face meeting with Gen. McCrystal.
\sarc off
What is the point of blowing yourself up at a nuclear weapons site? Surely he didn't think he could set off the nukes but if that was his objective and he succeeded, Pakistan would be blown off the map. That doesn't seem like a logical agenda. It's hard to tell what these people are thinking; they're all crazy.
Pakistan's nuclear sites are mostly in the northwest of the country, close to the capital, Islamabad , to keep them away from the border with archenemy India
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Yes, by all means--let's keep those nukes away from phantom "archenemy India"--if that means setting up nuclear sites right next to the law-less, fundamentalist North-West tribal areas, what problems could possibly result? sarc/off
more:
Pakistan is reeling from a wave of terrorist violence that's coincided with the launch of a U.S.-backed ground operation by the military against the country's al Qaida and Taliban heartland of South Waziristan , on the Afghan border.
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What rot. When Taliban Islamists were allowed by Pakistan to institute brutal Shari'ah rule in the Swat valley, Pakistan foolishly believed they would be satisfied with this appeasement.
Instead--as is so often the case with appeasement--the Taliban was emboldened, and sought to expand Shari'ah to neighboring regions. When Islamabad--belatedly--realized the threat, they finally decided to fight back against the Taliban.
These Jihad terrorist attacks are "revenge" for the Pakistani authorities finally acting to rein in the Taliban somewhat. The US is backing this endeavor (whether this proves prudent--given Pakistan's long history of ambivalence regarding Jihad is a separate issue).
The idea that the "U.S.-backed ground operation by the military" is *causing* terrorism is utterly false--it is, instead, a reaction to Jihad terrorism.
Agreed, these people are all crazy, but they're not stupid in their own warped sort of way. The intent is likely not to trigger the nukes, as nukes aren't chemically ignited like dynamite and require a more delicate triggering mechanism than a crude explosion. Their agenda is more likely political. They see the frenzy in the West induced by the possession of nukes by North Korea and the prospect of Iran obtaining them, and deduce that anything that drives us this crazy MUST be a good thing, and they want it, too.
It's unlikely that the Taliban and other cave dwellers have the necessary technical understanding themselves of what it takes to ignite a nuke. But the danger, I think, is that there are plenty of scientists in the larger Ummah who obtained their educations in nuclear physics and engineering in the West who DO know what to do, and would gladly offer to assist the Taliban in any effort to intimidate the West. The possession of nuclear weapons by terrorists of any stripe is a nightmare of unparalleled horror. But nuclear weapons in the hands of committed jihadis would cause a rupture in history of epic proportions. The Taliban sense this, and just can't wait to bring it on. In their minds, such as they possess, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I wonder if the coiner of the phrase "letting the nuclear genie out of the bottle" and those who use it now realize the irony of that phrase.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1222511/Muslim-student-18-banned-college-refuses-remove-burka.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8314091.stm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1222511/Muslim-student-18-banned-college-refuses-remove-burka.html
Actually, if the Jihadis do get their hands on one and set off a nuke, maybe that will wake up the US and India to the threat of Islam.