No kidding, really? But Pakistan is our valued friend and ally! Just ask John Kerry!
“Nukes could be hijacked by radicals: Pak scientist,” from PTI, February 1 (thanks to Lookmann):
London: Increasing radicalisation within Pakistan’s military could lead to its nuclear weapons being hijacked by radical Islamists, a Pakistani scientist has warned.
“Safety and security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is of a major concern.
The growing radicalisation within the military, given attacks on its own internal bases, could lead to these nuclear weapons being hijacked by radical Islamists,” said Pervez Hoodbhoy, who was here for the London launch of his book ‘Confronting the Bomb’.
The nuclear physicist and defence analyst estimated Pakistan’s arsenal to be similar to India’s, at around 120-130 warheads….
“India and Pakistan have come close to nuclear war at least five times in 1987, 1990, during Kargil (1999), after the attack on the Indian Parliament (2001) and the Mumbai attacks in 2008.
Given the history of nuclear tension, we can’t afford to be passive on this issue. The fallout, from the blast itself to the radioactive effects, will be felt not just in the sub-continent but around the world,” he said.
“Confronting the Bomb: Pakistani & Indian Scientists Speak Out”, published by Oxford University Press and edited by Hoodbhoy, is a compilation of essays by scientists from both sides of the border.
It kicks off with the atomic age in India in 1974, followed by Pakistan and traces the furious nuclear race after the 1998 nuclear tests.
“Pakistan started developing its nuclear weapons only because India embarked on it. India has remained primary enemy. But to some extent that perception is changing, with Gen Kayani (Chief of Pakistani Army Staff) recently saying that Pakistan’s major challenge is the enemy within.
So there seems to be a doctrinal shift within the army but Kayani himself is under attack within the forces,” said Hoodbhoy, who admits receiving threats against his own life.
“Jihadists still operate within Pakistan and the state’s policy regarding Islamists has been a confused one,” added Hoodbhoy, a visiting professor in the physics department at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)….
It doesn’t really seem to be all that confused.