Addressing the National Command Authority (NCA), Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that media reports suggest the possibility of sabotage and the existence of contingency plans to take over Pakistani nuclear assets. “Such nefarious designs shall be thwarted effectively by the armed forces with the full support of the people of Pakistan,” he asseverated. After in-depth consideration and evaluation, the Authority, inter alia, decided that Pakistan would continue to pursue its policy of credible minimum deterrence, as a responsible nuclear weapons state. The NCA expressed satisfaction at the security and safety of the strategic programmes and facilities, and expressed confidence in the operational readiness of the country’s strategic weapons. After similar statements from COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, it seems that both the civil and military leadership are on the same page so far as protecting the national interest is concerned.
After the attack on PNS Mehran, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen had expressed serious concerns about the security of Pakistani nuclear facilities amid growing militancy in the country. Likewise, Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony said: “Naturally, it is a concern not only for us, but for everybody.” In addition, the US and Western leaders have also expressed fears that Pakistan's nuclear weapons can fall into the hands of militants. All this, despite Pakistan’s repeated assurances that its nukes are in safe hands! What the NATO Chief had said was indeed reflective of a clearly defined US policy, articulated by American Generals, think-tanks, former members of its (US) administration to prove that Pakistan’s government and military cannot control the militants. That its nukes may land in terrorists’ hands, which will be dangerous for the region and the world at large.
Nevertheless, there is incontrovertible evidence that Baitullah Mehsud’s thugs had night goggles, which our military did not have until recently. And whatever is happening in FATA and Balochistan; attacks on the GHQ, Mehran Airbase and other security assets is part of the scripted plan by the enemies of Pakistan, who have made inroads into militants’ organisations. Already in 2006 a small group of US military experts and intelligence officials, convened in Washington for a classified war game, explored strategies for securing Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal if its political institutions and military safeguards began to fall apart. The group had examined various options and scenarios for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and, reportedly, considered questions: “How many troops might be required for a military intervention in Pakistan? Could Pakistani nuclear bunkers be isolated by saturating the surrounding areas with tens of thousands of high-powered mines, dropped from the air and packed with anti-tank and anti-personnel munitions?”
Surely, there is something sinister being played around Pakistan, and if one carefully analyses the statements issued some time back by former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visualising a situation beyond Pakistan’s existence, read along with US Generals’ conjectures, it is not difficult to understand Washington’s nefarious designs. On October 20, 2007, former Senator and now USA’s Vice President Joe Biden told ABC News: “Washington needs to put soldiers on the ground in Pakistan and invite the international community to join in…..We should be in there building democratic institutions.” But it looks like a tall order, as there is a possibility of China using veto to counter the overweening hubris of the superpower. There is a perception that in the event Pakistan withdraws from the war on terror, the US can then cobble together international force on the basis of concocted stories, lies and ruses the way it had done in the case of Iraq.
The US and western media had unleashed propaganda that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, stockpiles of biological and chemicals weapons, and had imported uranium from Nigeria. After destroying its infrastructure and killing thousands of Iraqis, it admitted that there were none. And the objective was to rid the Iraqis from dictator Saddam Hussein.
Anyhow, there are no two opinions that security of its nuclear assets is a top priority for Pakistan, and to guard against any untoward incident leading to security lapse would be a matter of life and death for the state. General Kayani had once warned that any miscalculation and misadventure directed against Pakistan’s nuclear assets would be dealt with full force irrespective of the consequences. This means that the nation is fully prepared to act aggressively against any force directed against these assets.
More so, recently, the Iranian President has also stated that the US is planning to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear assets. If this is true, then the US is playing a very dangerous game, as there are already three main flashpoints in the world - Palestine, Kashmir and Taiwan - having the ‘potential’ of triggering the Third World War. There are sinister designs against our nukes either to destroy them or create anarchic conditions in Pakistan and then move the UN for taking control of them. Such a situation would prove to be a catalyst as many regional and global powers would like to safeguard their interests. Russia and China may not like to see the Taliban’s hold on Afghanistan. But, at the same time, they would consider America’s permanent presence in the war-torn country as a direct threat to their interests in the region. Though Beijing is improving its relations with New Delhi, yet it would not lower its guard in the wake of US policy to contain it. But it is unlikely that India would take the risk of annihilation by going all-out against to protect American interests. It has to be said that with a dozen declared and undeclared nuclear states with credible delivery systems, no power or superpower would be safe, no matter what the distance is.
n The writer is a freelance columnist.
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