Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=31&si=512360&issue_id=5269&printer=1 Expert warns of 'nightmare' nuclear scenario in Pakistan Thursday September 20th 2001 A LEADING authority on Pakistan's nuclear programme has given warning of a "nightmare scenario" in which a destabilised Pakistan lost control of its nuclear weapons to supporters of the Taliban. Any military action against Muslim terrorists within Afghanistan will have to take account of that, said George Perkovich, a nuclear weapons expert at the W Alton Jones Foundation in Charlottesville, Virginia, who has specialised in the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan. He dismissed any prospect that the present Government of Pakistan would use its nuclear armoury, but said that questions about the security of the weapons should be high on the agenda of the military planners "My guess would be that the US and the UK are thinking about that now," Mr Perkovich said. "If things go wrong, what do we do? Do we send commandos in to get the weapons and take them out in helicopters, like the last days in Saigon? Has this even been discussed with the Pakistanis? Militarily, Pakistan's nuclear weapons are its "crown jewels," but valuable as they may be for asserting national pride in the rivalry with India, they are of little use in the awkward diplomatic situation the Pakistani Government now faces. Mr Perkovich said that Pakistan has about two to three dozen potential nuclear weapons, all based on enriched uranium. Tests carried out in 1998 demonstrated that they work. Pakistan also has medium-range missiles capable of reaching targets in India, if no farther afield "In normal times, they keep the warheads separate from the missiles," he said, "and the fissile uranium -- the core of the weapon -- is not kept in the warhead, which consists of electronics and high explosives, but doesn't have the fissile core in it. It's all dressed up and nowhere to go." Assuming this is still true, it would make it much harder for those unfamiliar with the system to assemble the weapon and make it work. In addition to having the weapons disassembled and safely stored, he said that the Pakistanis will have given thought to how they would be evacuated in an emergency. "The most worrisome thing is the fissile core. That's easily moveable, which is both good and bad. It's bad because Saddam Hussein could make a bid for it, good because it means it could be put on a helicopter and taken out of harm's way." _______________________________ (c) 2001, The Irish Independent http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/ & http://www.unison.ie/ ===== "We're all downwinders!" Check out http://www.downwinders.org __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
