Musharraf made deal with U.S.

Posted By Blackfive

Remember Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan? He's the Father of the Islamic Bomb in Pakistan. He's the fabulous guy who set up the black market in nuke exports to Libya, North Korea and Iran (and who knows who else?).

Bobby Sr. sent me an Article published by the New Yorker today. It claims that the U.S. made a deal with General Musharaf, Pakistan's President, to not prosecute Dr. Khan in return for allowing U.S. troops inside Pakistans borders.

So, it appears that President Musharraf is allowing U.S. troops inside Pakistan, and supporting our efforts, in return for allowing him to get away with granting Dr. Khan a pardon for his crims. But that's not all...

THE DEAL
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
Why is Washington going easy on Pakistan’s nuclear black marketers?
Issue of 2004-03-08

<...>

According to past and present military and intelligence officials, however, Washington’s support for the pardon of Khan was predicated on what Musharraf has agreed to do next: look the other way as the U.S. hunts for Osama bin Laden in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan dominated by the forbidding Hindu Kush mountain range, where he is believed to be operating. American commanders have been eager for permission to conduct major sweeps in the Hindu Kush for some time, and Musharraf has repeatedly refused them. Now, with Musharraf’s agreement, the Administration has authorized a major spring offensive that will involve the movement of thousands of American troops.

Musharraf has proffered other help as well. A former senior intelligence official said to me, “Musharraf told us, ‘We’ve got guys inside. The people who provide fresh fruits and vegetables and herd the goats’” for bin Laden and his Al Qaeda followers. “It’s a quid pro quo: we’re going to get our troops inside Pakistan in return for not forcing Musharraf to deal with Khan.”

But do we already have troops inside Pakistan and what is the likelihood that we can remain on the ground there for any period of time?

Two former C.I.A. operatives with firsthand knowledge of the PakistanAfghanistan border areas said that the American assault, if it did take place, would confront enormous logistical problems. “It’s impenetrable,” said Robert Baer, who visited the Hindu Kush area in the early nineties, before he was assigned to lead the C.I.A.’s anti-Saddam operations in northern Iraq. “There are no roads, and you can’t get armor up there. This is where Alexander the Great lost an entire division. The Russians didn’t even bother to go up there. Everybody’s got a gun. That area is worse than Iraq.” Milton Bearden, who ran the C.I.A.’s operations in Afghanistan during the war with the Soviet Union, recounted, “I’ve been all through there. The Pashtun population in that belt has lived there longer than almost any other ethnic group has lived anywhere on earth.” He said, “Our intelligence has got to be better than it’s been. Anytime we go into something driven entirely by electoral politics, it doesn’t work out.”

One American intelligence consultant noted that American forces in Afghanistan have crossed into Pakistan in “hot pursuit” of Al Qaeda suspects in previous operations, with no complaints from the Pakistani leadership. If the American forces strike quickly and decisively against bin Laden from within Pakistan, he added, “Musharraf could say he gave no advance authorization. We can move in with so much force and firepower—with so much shock and awe—that we will be too fast for him.” The consultant said, “The question is, how deep into Pakistan can we pursue him?” He added, “Musharraf is in a very tough position.”

This is something that has worried me - we can't afford to lose Musharraf and we can't afford to allow nukes to get to the terrorists.

Robert Gallucci, a former United Nations weapons inspector who is now dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, calls A. Q. Khan “the Johnny Appleseed” of the nuclear-arms race. Gallucci, who is a consultant to the C.I.A. on proliferation issues, told me, “Bad as it is with Iran, North Korea, and Libya having nuclear-weapons material, the worst part is that they could transfer it to a non-state group. That’s the biggest concern, and the scariest thing about all this—that Pakistan could work with the worst terrorist groups on earth to build nuclear weapons. There’s nothing more important than stopping terrorist groups from getting nuclear weapons. The most dangerous country for the United States now is Pakistan, and second is Iran.” Gallucci went on, “We haven’t been this vulnerable since the British burned Washington in 1814.”

What is interesting here is that the reports of a Spring Offensive, of troops moving into Pakistan, of Task Force 121 moving into the Area of Operations seem a lot more plausible with Musharraf needing us now more than ever. Let's hope he can deliver on his "deal" and keep his head.

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Musharraf made deal with U.S.

Remember Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan? He's the Father of the Islamic Bomb in Pakistan. He's the fabulous guy who set up the black market in nuke exports to Libya, North Korea and Iran (and who knows who else?).

Bobby Sr. sent me an Article published by the New Yorker today. It claims that the U.S. made a deal with General Musharaf, Pakistan's President, to not prosecute Dr. Khan in return for allowing U.S. troops inside Pakistans borders.

So, it appears that President Musharraf is allowing U.S. troops inside Pakistan, and supporting our efforts, in return for allowing him to get away with granting Dr. Khan a pardon for his crims. But that's not all...

THE DEAL
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
Why is Washington going easy on Pakistan’s nuclear black marketers?
Issue of 2004-03-08

<...>

According to past and present military and intelligence officials, however, Washington’s support for the pardon of Khan was predicated on what Musharraf has agreed to do next: look the other way as the U.S. hunts for Osama bin Laden in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan dominated by the forbidding Hindu Kush mountain range, where he is believed to be operating. American commanders have been eager for permission to conduct major sweeps in the Hindu Kush for some time, and Musharraf has repeatedly refused them. Now, with Musharraf’s agreement, the Administration has authorized a major spring offensive that will involve the movement of thousands of American troops.

Musharraf has proffered other help as well. A former senior intelligence official said to me, “Musharraf told us, ‘We’ve got guys inside. The people who provide fresh fruits and vegetables and herd the goats’” for bin Laden and his Al Qaeda followers. “It’s a quid pro quo: we’re going to get our troops inside Pakistan in return for not forcing Musharraf to deal with Khan.”

But do we already have troops inside Pakistan and what is the likelihood that we can remain on the ground there for any period of time?

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» The Deal from The Argus
In my roundup post from the other day, I spent a lot of time on the deal to allow US troops into Pakistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden that is brought to light (but who didn't think it was [Read More]