Why Is Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons Expansion Continuing At An Unrelenting Rapid Pace?

Zero Hedge: "Terrorist Theft" - Pakistan's Nukes Outpacing Projections In Uncertain Security Landscape

Pakistan is set to become the world's 5th largest nuclear weapons state according to an alarming new report which shows the country is set for rapid expansion of its arsenal over the next decade.

The report was issued by an independent nuclear arms monitoring group under the Federation of American Scientists called the Nuclear Information Project and demonstrates that US intelligence has consistently understated and failed to accurately assess Pakistan's future capabilities.

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WNU Editor: I am sure India is going to match this Pakistani nuclear weapons growth .... if not already.

Pakistan Successfully Tests A Ballistic Missile Capable Of Carrying Multiple Nuclear Warheads

VOA: Pakistan Tests Ballistic Missile Capable of Carrying Multiple Nuclear Warheads

SLAMABAD — Pakistan says it has successfully tested a surface-to-surface ballistic missile that is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and can hit targets with precision as far as 2,200 kilometers.

Tuesday’s maiden flight test of the Ababeel missile was announced by military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor. He said it “has the capability to engage multiple targets with high precision, defeating the enemy’s hostile radars.”

Earlier this month, Pakistan successfully tested for the first time a submarine-launched, nuclear-capable cruise missile with a range of 450 kilometers.

Officials say the "Babur-3" missile provides Pakistan with a secure second strike capability.

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More News On Pakistan Successfully Testing A Ballistic Missile Capable Of Carrying Multiple Nuclear Warheads

Pakistan test-fires long-range Ababeel missile -- UPI
Pakistan tests new nuclear-capable, multiple-warhead ballistic missile -- Kyodo/Japan Times
Pakistan conducts 1st test of ‘Ababeel’ nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile -- RT
Pakistan Tests New Ballistic Missile Capable of Carrying Multiple Nuclear Warheads -- The Diplomat
Pakistan tests its second nuclear-capable missile in a month amid Indian Ocean becomes 'nuclearization' -- Reuters
Pakistan tests new nuke-capable Ababeel ballistic missile designed to tear into Indian missile defence shield -- International Business Times

Pakistan Denies News Reports That Their Nukes Are Transported In Insecure Vans

Pakistan Rejects Reports Of Nuclear Insecurity -- Express Tribune/Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday dismissed an article in a US magazine that called it an “ally from hell” for Washington and raised questions about the safety of its nuclear arsenal and commitment to fighting militancy.

A statement from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs termed the cover story of The Atlantic’s December 2011 issue “pure fiction, baseless and motivated.”

“The surfacing of such campaigns is not something new. It is orchestrated by quarters that are inimical to Pakistan,” the statement said.

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Previous Post: Pakistan Carts It's Nuclear Weapons In Delivery Vans

My Comment: This is the same government that denied that Bin Laden was in their country. The sad fact is that the Pakistani government and their supporters are telling everyone to trust them and that the story of them transporting nukes in insecure vans is totally false. Sadly .... what they fail to realize is that in the eyes of the international community they lack credibility on issues that pertain to security (especially nuke security), and after the scandal of Dr AQ Khan selling nuke tech to rogue regimes like Gaddafi's (and Iran, and North Korea) .... zero credibility in my eyes.

Pakistan Carts It's Nuclear Weapons In Delivery Vans

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons capable of destroying entire cities are reportedly transported in delivery vans on congested and dangerous roads (AFP Photo / Adek Berry)

Pakistan Clandestinely Moving Its Nukes: Report -- Defense News/AFP

WASHINGTON - Pakistan has started moving its nuclear weapons in low-security vans on congested roads to hide them from U.S. spy agencies, making the weapons more vulnerable to theft by Islamist militants, two magazines reported Nov. 4.

The Atlantic and National Journal, in a joint report citing unnamed sources, wrote that the U.S. raid on May 2 that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden at his Pakistani compound reinforced Islamabad's longstanding fears that Washington could try to dismantle the country's nuclear arsenal.

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Update #1: Pakistan Carts Its Nukes Around In Delivery Vans -- Danger Room
Update #2: Deadly cargo: Concerns over Pakistan’s nuke security -- RT
Update $3: Pakistan: Nuclear Road Rage -- Time

My Comment: Unbelievable ... and probably very true.

Taliban Announce They Are Not Targeting Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal

Taliban Say They Won't Target Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal -- Wall Street Journal

ISLAMABAD—The Taliban has no plans to attack Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, its spokesman declared, as the militants kept up their campaign to avenge Osama bin Laden's death, ramming a pickup truck laden with explosives into a police station and killing six people.

A larger assault earlier this week by the Pakistan Taliban on a naval base renewed fears that Pakistan's sizable nuclear arsenal could be vulnerable. The Taliban's spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, dismissed those concerns Wednesday as America's "excuse" to pressure Pakistan's government into fighting the Taliban, who he portrayed as the country's true protectors.

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Update: Analysis: Is Pakistan attack a blueprint for nuclear base raid? -- Reuters

My Comment: Of course the Taliban are not targeting Pakistan's nuclear arsenal .... what they are targeting is the Pakistan state itself. But by targeting Pakistan with the aim of eventually taking over Pakistan .... well .... I am sure that also includes its nuclear weapons.

Pakistan's Nukes Within Terrorists' Reach?

From The CBS News:

CBS Evening News: Experts Say Taliban And Al Qaeda Sympathizers Remain Achilles Heel Of Country's Nuclear Complex

(CBS) While calling the rising tide of Taliban violence in Pakistan cause for grave concern, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs played down the nightmare scenario of terrorists taking control of that country's nuclear weapons.

"I don't think that's going to happen," said Adm. Mike Mullen. "I don't see that in any way imminent whatsoever at this particular point in time."

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The Nightmare Scenario For Ameria

Obama’s Worst Pakistan Nightmare
-- New York Times

TO GET TO THE HEADQUARTERS of the Strategic Plans Division, the branch of the Pakistani government charged with keeping the country’s growing arsenal of nuclear weapons away from insurgents trying to overrun the country, you must drive down a rutted, debris-strewn road at the edge of the Islamabad airport, dodging stray dogs and piles of uncollected garbage. Just past a small traffic circle, a tan stone gateway is manned by a lone, bored-looking guard loosely holding a rusting rifle. The gateway marks the entry to Chaklala Garrison, an old British cantonment from the days when officers of the Raj escaped the heat of Delhi for the cooler hills on the approaches to Afghanistan. Pass under the archway, and the poverty and clamor of modern Pakistan disappear.

Chaklala is a comfortable enclave for the country’s military and intelligence services. Inside the gates, officers in the army and the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, known as the ISI, live in trim houses with well-tended lawns. Business is conducted in long, low office buildings, with a bevy of well-pressed adjutants buzzing around. Deep inside the garrison lies the small compound for Strategic Plans, where Khalid Kidwai keeps the country’s nuclear keys. Now 58, Kidwai is a compact man who hides his arch sense of humor beneath a veil of caution, as if he were previewing each sentence to decide if it revealed too much. In the chaos of Pakistan, where the military, the intelligence services and an unstable collection of civilian leaders uneasily share power, he oversees a security structure intended to protect Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal from outsiders — Islamic militants, Qaeda scientists, Indian saboteurs and those American commando teams that Pakistanis imagine, with good reason, are waiting just over the horizon in Afghanistan, ready to seize their nuclear treasure if a national meltdown seems imminent.

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Previous BBC Article: Are Pakistan's nuclear weapons safe? -- BBC

My Comment: When it comes to nuclear weapons, one of the mantras that I always repeat to myself is the following ..... "trust but verify". Pakistan is saying trust us .... but they do not want to verify.

This is what makes this nightmare scenario so real .... Pakistan is in denial of its dangers and its consequences .... and it is when people are in denial that disasters occur. The selling of Pakistan nuclear secrets. The support of terrorist groups. The official denial that Al Qaeda leaders are in their country. Nothing that Pakistan is doing today instills confidence that the situation will not get worse.

The nightmare scenario is very real.

Pakistan Is In A Mess -- Nuclear Weapons Overseen By Officers With Links To The Taliban

The following article by Bill Roggio captures the sense of the mess that Pakistan is presently in.

Pakistani security forces have captured the leader of an al Qaeda suicide cell that was behind the attack on the Sargodha military base last fall. Ahsan al Haq and five cell members have been detained by Pakistani security forces in the city of Lahore.

Al Haq, a retired Pakistani Army major, "was said have been close to Afghan Muslim guerrilla commander Younis Khalis, who battled Soviet forces in the 1980s and later had links with the Taliban," Reuters reported. "Haq ran a militant training camp in Afghanistan during Taliban rule."

The Sargodha attack targeted a bus carrying military personnel on the air base. Eight were killed and 27 wounded in the strike. Four military officers were among those killed.

The Sargodha Air Force Base is a nuclear weapons and missile storage facility in central Punjab province. The Taliban and al Qaeda have conducted multiple strikes on or near Pakistani nuclear facilities, as well as against military and police facilities situated near nuclear facilities. There have been two suicide attacks at Sargodha since the summer of 2007.

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Belmont Club has a good follow-up here.

22 Dead In Pakistan Suicide Bomb Attack -- Times Online

Pakistan Turns On Its Islamic Radicals -- Strategy Page

My Comment: Pakistan is no longer a reliable ally. Unfortunately, the alternative to the present Pakistan government is even worse.