Author: N.S. Rajaram
Publication:
Date:
General Musharraf has granted Dr.A.Q.
Khan a presidential pardon for taking all the blame for Pakistan's nuclear
proliferation activities spread over more than a decade. A few days earlier
there were reports that Khan would not go down without a fight and would
implicate high government officials including Musharraf. Several points
need to be raised.
1. It is a whitewash to claim that
Khan (and Pakistan) passed on nuclear 'secrets' to Libya, Iran and N. Korea.
What actually changed hands was nuclear materials and production equipment
including centrifuges.
2. It is another whitewash to name
only the three countries that had already been labeled the 'axis of evil'
by the U.S. Government. (This suggests U.S. involvement in deal more of
which later.) Of far greater concern is that these things could have ended
up in the hands of fundamentalist outfits based in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,
which for the real axis of evil though supported by the U.S.
3. Many including nuclear experts
have expressed the view that proliferation on this scale could not have
taken place without the active participation of the Pakistan Army and the
Government-- mostly one and the same.
This brings up the next and the
most basic point: Pakistani Governments and the Army have always been at
the beck and call of the United States, especial the CIA and the State
Department. Could such proliferation have taken place without U.S. involvement?
Is this the real reason that Khan
was granted presidential pardon with such unseemly haste? And is this the
reason that the U.S. came out defending Musharraf and the Pakistan Government
immediately after the news of Khan's admission broke out?
The US claims that it knows nothing
about Pakistan's (and Musharraf's) role in this massive proliferation exercise.
Is it believable that the CIA knew all about Saddam Hussain's weapons of
mass destruction but nothing about Pakistan's proliferation that goes back
at least to General Zia al-Haq, all of who coincidentally enjoyed U.S.
patronage?
Here is an alternative scenario:
Khan blackmails Musharraf who in turn blackmails the U.S.
SO, WHAT IS THE REAL AXIS OF EVIL?
U.S. -- PAKISTAN -- SAUDI ARABIA?