Pakistan Is Rapidly Adding Nuclear Arms, U.S. Says

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, during a Senate hearing on Thursday. Matthew Cavanaugh/European Pressphoto Agency

From New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress have been told in confidential briefings that Pakistan is rapidly adding to its nuclear arsenal even while racked by insurgency, raising questions on Capitol Hill about whether billions of dollars in proposed military aid might be diverted to Pakistan’s nuclear program.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed the assessment of the expanded arsenal in a one-word answer to a question on Thursday in the midst of lengthy Senate testimony. Sitting beside Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, he was asked whether he had seen evidence of an increase in the size of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal.

“Yes,” he said quickly, adding nothing, clearly cognizant of Pakistan’s sensitivity to any discussion about the country’s nuclear strategy or security.

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Update: U.S. Has Plan to Secure Pakistan Nukes if Country Falls to Taliban -- FOX News

My Comment: With a religious insurrection that is killing thousands and displacing millions .... the Pakistani Government believes that it is important to increase their nuclear weapons stockpile. This is wrong on so many levels.

As for the news that the U.S. has plans to secure Pakistan nukes if the country falls to the Taliban .... this is news that I am very skeptical about. We are talking about scores of installations, a nuclear stockpile that is not small, nuclear reactors and facilities to process nuclear material .... and the Taliban will permit the U.S. to walk in and take the time to dismantle everything and ship it out. Hmmmmm ..... I doubt that very much.

If the U.S. has a real plan .... we are talking about hundreds (if not thousands) of soldiers and nuclear specialists, and a transport infrastructure that has to be huge to transport these materials. No .... the U.S. does not have the means to do this regardless of what the Pentagon,the White House, and the Press is saying.