Faryal Leghari (South Asia)
14 November 2009
The mood is dismissive. The tone of the rejoinders is tough. That is how the sentiment in Pakistan is beginning to shape up in face of the propaganda surrounding its strategic assets.
Nothing new, previous studies, analyses and worst-case hypothetical scenarios spawned by western think tanks, analysts and media have talked at length about the eventuality. Of how vulnerable Pakistan’s nuclear assets are to a possible extremist takeover and use against good old US of A, Israel and the rest of the infidel western capitals!!
The icing on the cake, however, was left to Seymour Hersh for his summarising the secret dealings between Washington and Islamabad in his recent article in The New Yorker. According to Hersh, this understanding pertains to a secret security arrangement ensuring the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in case of an attempted takeover.
The predominant theme running through the article: Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is vulnerable and faces dangers from (a) extremists, (b) radicals within the security establishment.
A Pulitzer Prize winning author Hersh may be, but here he is at best whipping up a frenzy of far-fetched and absurd conjectures. It is not surprising that strong rebuttals of these ‘revelations’ have been issued not only by Pakistan’s Foreign Office but by the Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee, General Tariq Majeed, also the guardian of the country’s strategic programme.
The so-called arrangement apparently being negotiated between the Obama administration and Islamabad is that a covet US team would immediately be despatched to defend Pakistan’s nuclear installations, in case of a threat. Such an arrangement is tantamount to allowing an outside state, “intrusive access” to what is a highly guarded national security programme.
Not only is the unspoken rule of totally prohibiting such access specific to Pakistan but is also adhered to by all nuclear states. No wonder that General Majeed not only refuted such a possibility, he said, that any engagement with other countries revolved around learning more about international best practices for security of the strategic assets based on, “Two clearly spelt out red lines—non intrusiveness and our right to choose and pick.” Reiterating full confidence in capability of the security apparatus to meet all conceivable challenges, General Majeed said that Pakistan did not see the need to negotiate with any other country to physically augment its security forces.
As for the Foreign Office, besides terming the alleged truths in the article as “baseless and misleading,” it went on to accuse Hersh of making several false and highly irresponsible unfounded claims. The author, however, has not only stood by his claims but has said that not one but several such covet teams have been prepared by Washington.
According to Hersh, one such team had actually flown to Dubai enroute to Islamabad earlier this year when they returned on discovering that it was a false alarm, allegedly triggered by the US embassy in Islamabad about a missing nuclear component. With the ‘sources’ of such vital information left unnamed, the furore created by this specific piece is understandable, given the Pakistani apprehensions about external states’ designs on its vital assets.
At first glance the article can be dismissed as a crafty attempt at a sinister patchwork scenario. Unravelling the myriad little ‘colourful’ patches however does not reveal much. If the intent was to up the ante in Islamabad it has done so with aplomb.
While last month’s attack on Pakistan Army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi was serious enough to merit due concern, it cannot be used to justify hypothetical scenarios of similar attacks on nuclear facilities. The security establishment possibly already envisions the worst case scenarios where non state actors can launch an attack on its strategic weapons: this entails dealing with possible infiltration of these sites by Taleban or likeminded extremist groups or a rebellion among the staff with extremist affiliations.
It is inconceivable to suppose that pre-emptive arrangements to meet such an eventuality have already not been put in place.
Apparently Pakistan has formulated layers of critical security around its nuclear weapons. Its only engagement with the US vis-a-vis its nuclear programme, entailed planning an accidental use risk reduction plan and nothing beyond that. What is astounding is to even suppose that Pakistan would allow US the coveted access it seeks.
The biggest fear among Pakistanis is of outside attempts to control its nuclear assets. It is hardly going to allow even marginal concession to the US or any third party to ever cross the red line.
While top US government officials including the president and secretary of state besides top military commanders have publicly reposed confidence in Pakistan’s security arrangements, other voices are hell-bent on giving credence to the wildest of such conspiracy theories. So can it be presumed that those voices reflect the real thinking in Washington?
The bottomline is that there is a yawning trust deficit between the US and Pakistan on two key issues: intelligence and nuclear. At the end of the day, Pakistan despite having successfully halted and reversed the infamous A Q proliferation network is left in the cold by its long time ally. On the other hand, India which being a non-signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is on equal footing with Pakistan, is rewarded with a civil nuclear energy deal. That of course does not take into account India’s clandestine channelling of its civilian nuclear programme, in the nascent and later stages of its ambitious nuclear agenda, into a robust military one.
It is time for Washington to realise the implications of its continuous follies. A time to regain the trust of its critical strategic ally, not erode the dwindling residue of goodwill. Has not Pakistan proven its capability in Swat and Waziristan, a fight more difficult than any US has ever faced; one that involves clearing the spill-over of the war in Afghanistan, and one in which its own people bear the brunt of war? It is time for America to reiterate its complete confidence in Pakistan and help it in its hour of difficulty, not aggravate the situation.
Faryal Leghari is KT’s Assistant Editor and can be reached at faryal@khaleejtimes.com
