US, Israeli commandos preparing to deprive Pakistan of nukes
US fears coup against Musharraf
WASHINGTON: A special US unit is training with Israeli commandos to take out
Pakistan's nuclear weapons in case of a coup against President Pervez Musharraf,
the New Yorker magazine reported today, citing past and present government
officials.
The US force is training in the United States with members of Israel's Unit 262,
a commando team that has engaged in behind-the-lines operations including theft
and assasinations, according to the New Yorker.
The US unit, operating under Pentagon control with CIA assistance, specializes
in slipping undetected into foreign countries to find, and if necessary disarm,
nuclear weapons, the magazine reports.
US sources told the magazine that Pakistan has at least 24 nuclear warheads that
can be delivered by intermediate-range missiles and F-16 airplanes. However US
intelligence cannot be sure of the precise location of all of the Pakistani
warheads, officials said.
US regional experts quoted by the magazine say they doubt Musharraf's ability to
control the military and Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if there is a coup -- and
say dissident fundamentalists within the military might try to seize a nuclear
warhead.
One US intelligence officer expressed alarm over the recent questioning in
Pakistan of two retired Pakistani nuclear scientists with reported Taliban
connections, describing it as "the tip of a very serious iceberg."
The incident shows that pro-Taliban sentiment has overcome state loyalty among
Pakistani nuclear scientists, thought to be fiercely patriotic.
Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, has also had close ties with the Taliban in
the past and might still include many pro-Taliban elements, according to experts
interviewed by New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh.
A senior US military official told Hersh he was concerned about an uprising of
dissident ISI officers with access to nuclear storage sites.
A former US diplomat described the ISI as "a parallel government of its own,"
and a US intelligence officer said that allowing the ISI to be the US "eyes and
ears" in the region is "our biggest mistake."
Tuesday, November 6, 2001
HIGHLIGHTS
SEARCH
Enter a key word to search our archieves
NEWS ALERT
Enter your email address to subscribe news alert!!!
We Bridge the World for You!
© 2000 - 2001 The Balochistan Post. All rights reserved.
Your comments and suggestions are most welcome
Karl Carlile
Be free to visit the web site of the Communist Global Group at
http://homepage.eircom.net/~beprepared/
|