Bush forgot to tell Congress that Pakistan’s nuclear program has ramped up and begun work on a plutonium bomb:
The Bush administration acknowledged yesterday that it had long known about Pakistan’s plans to build a large plutonium-production reactor, but it said the White House was working to dissuade Pakistan from using the plant to expand its nuclear arsenal.
[…] The reactor, which reportedly will be capable of producing enough plutonium for as many as 50 bombs each year, was brought to light on Sunday by independent analysts who spotted the partially completed plant in commercial-satellite photos. Snow said the administration had “known of these plans for some time.”
The acknowledgment came as arms-control experts and some in Congress expressed alarm about a possible escalation of South Asia’s arms race. Some also sharply criticized the administration for failing to disclose the existence of a facility that could influence an upcoming congressional debate over U.S. nuclear policy toward India and Pakistan.
“If either India or Pakistan starts increasing its nuclear arsenal, the other side will respond in kind,” said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-chairman of a House bipartisan task force on nonproliferation. “The Bush administration’s proposed nuclear deal with India is making that much more likely.”
So, why does Pakistan need 50+ plutonium bombs a year when a few is probably enough to keep India off the lawn? Maybe somebody can locate A.Q. Khan and ask him.
One has to wonder how Congress will react to this blatant disregard for its constitutional role in government. Will they convene hearings? Demand accountability? Ha ha, I made a funny. Of course the few who bother to respond will specter.
Pb
Um… “Pakistan has a right to defend herself”? Hey, it could be worse, at least they don’t already have 100-200 plutonium bombs, right?
srv
It would be a really bad thing for the public to know the things that our government knows and other countries know that our government knows.
The Other Steve
Hiding this? Hmm, interesting.
Suppose this has anything to do with the Bush Administration also trying to fast track a sale of F-16 fighters to Pakistan?
Naw… No way…
Mr Furious
And so it begins…
Nicely played.
The Other Steve
We don’t know what we don’t know, and we do know what we do know. Those who don’t know do know that they don’t know what we don’t know.
VidaLoca
The idea of turning “specter” into a verb is almost as appealing as the project of turning “santorum” into a noun…
Slide
I’m confused. Doesn’t this violate Dick Cheney’s One Percent Doctrine
Isn’t there at least one percent chance that Pakistan will be in the hands of Islamic Fundamentalists over the next 20 years or so? Do we really want this country to have the ability to create 50 nuclear weapons a year?
.
Pb
Slide,
It’s more like the
Pb
Heh. I screwed that up. As I was saying, it’s more like the ‘less than 1%’ doctrine, only used against ridiculously unlikely threats, at the expense of the likely ones.
sglover
Suppose this has anything to do with the Bush Administration also trying to fast track a sale of F-16 fighters to Pakistan?
I’m curious about how this interacts with the hands-off nuclear deal that President Fuckwit announced with India. In particular, I wonder if Fuckwit deep-sixed the intelligence about Pakistan, in order to dominate a one-week news cycle with stories of his foreign policy “accomplishment” in Delhi. This is what passes for strategic thinking with the worthless criminals who now run our government.
Jill
Slide and PB…the doctrine is really defined as “on the 1% chance that this fear-mongering will benefit the pResident and his party.”
Rusty Shackleford
Why aren’t we more worried about Bin Laden and Pakistan than we are? Everybody in the world knows that OBL is hiding in the frontier land in Pakistan near the Afghani border.
Is it a “if you nab OBL, ISI will pop Musharraf and give nukes to the Taliban” deal that were stuck with?
Tsulagi
Not to worry. Your ever vigilant CIC continues to be on top of things and has looked into the soul of Musharraf and the Pakistani nation. You know, the dictator and country who only a few short years ago officially recognized and supported the Taliban.
A.Q. Khan, who sold nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea among others? He’s like a rock star there.
If in a not too distant year there is an untidy event as the result of a big boom, you can be sure Condi will put it in proper perspective for us. Any present day PDB urging caution can be breezily dismissed. Condi: “Sure, the title of the briefing in big, bold block letters says ‘100 PLUTONIUM BOMBS WITHIN A NATION FULL OF ISLAMIC CRAZIES INCLUDING OSAMMA IS NOT FUCKING GOOD!’ But everyone knew that. We were tired of swatting flies.”
Andrew
This is pretty cool. We’re moving steadily towards the point where the US will have to launch nuclear weapons at someone (Pakistan, NK, etc.) or get nuked by some rogue elements. Or both!
As a long time fan of the Mad Max series, I welcome the coming post-apocalytic future. However, I would prefer zombie hordes to Master Blaster.
The Other Steve
Where’s Darrell to lament Bush giving technology to islamic nations?
The Other Steve
Wait. Actually… Isn’t this Clinton’s fault?
I mean the Pakistani nuke tests were in ’98 if I recall.
Krista
Pardon me as I edge further and further away from the border…
Pb
The Other Steve,
Not really, as usual.
Yeah, but a lot happened before then as well, going back to Bush I and even Reagan… By Bush II/Iraq standards, Reagan probably should have gone to war with Pakistan starting in 1980 or so when they didn’t have nukes, but by 1986-1988 or so it was way too late because they were already up to Iran/North Korea levels of possibly having/obtaining nukes.