The Dangerous Nukes

Pakistan conducted its first nuclear weapon test in 1998, just after India tested its nukes for the second time. Six nuclear explosions were carried out in a remote area of Baluchistan after India carried out five nuclear explosions. And after that Pakistan just accelerated its production of nuclear weapons, and according to Natural Resources Defense Council, has eventually surpassed the number of nukes possessed by India. It estimates the warheads possessed by India to be between 80 and 100, while that of Pakistan to be between 90 and 110.

The US government has long been concerned about Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions. Most probably they are afraid that the nuclear technology could be ‘exported’ from Pakistan to Iran, or Pakistani nuclear arsenal could fall into the ‘wrong hands’. So, it’s in the best interest of the US government to eliminate Pakistan’s nukes or at least bring them under their own control. But few things are guarded in Pakistan with such agility and invincibility as its nuclear arsenal. Besides using force against a country armed with nukes and missiles with ranges long enough to hit all the US military targets in the region doesn’t sound convincing, but what if the guardians of the arsenal itself are proved to be incapable of guarding it. 

In the past few years, many events took place which directly affected the reputation of Pakistani armed forces, who are the sole guardians of Pakistani nuclear program. Let’s take a look at three major events chronologically:

GHQ Attack (October 10, 2009):

General Head Quarters of Pakistan Army was attacked by four to six terrorists. After heavy gunfight, SSG was called in for assistance, and they eliminated the terrorists, while it is said that two of them managed to escape, and six Pakistani soldiers died. This was a huge setback for the reputation of Pak Army. GHQ was considered to be the most difficult target for the terrorists. The attack convinced the people of Pakistan, and the whole world, that Pak Army isn’t that much strong now as it used to be in the past. 

Abbotabad Raid (May 2, 2011):

US SEALs landed in Abottabad, some kilometers from Pakistan Military Academy, and killed Osama Bin Laden who was hiding in a compound right inside the town. ISI and Pak Army were criticized by the whole world, and people of Pakistan were once again demoralized due to the incapability, or alleged contacts with the terrorists, of their security forces. There were only two possibilities, either ISI was not able to track the most wanted person on the planet who was hiding just some kilometers away from Pakistan military training facility, or they were themselves hiding him inside Pakistan. In both the cases Pakistanis were to lose faith in their security forces. Besides the Army was criticized for not intercepting the US helicopters that invaded the country without any permission or prior knowledge of the Pakistani government. Though many people around the world doubt whether the American forces actually killed Osama, or was it just a false operation conducted to make the world believe that Pakistani nukes can really fall into the ‘wrong hands’. There is lack of evidence that Osama was really killed, as there were no photos to show (except a pathetically photo shopped one) and the dead body was instantly thrown into the sea without showing it to the world. Still those who prefer to believe in ‘official statements’ don’t like to think that their president can ever lie to them. 

Mehran Base Attack (May 22, 2011):

More than ten terrorists stormed PNS Mehran Naval base in the port city of Karachi. According to Pakistani news channels, two P3-C Orion aircrafts were destroyed in the attack. Security forces regained the control of the base after 17 hours of fierce fighting in which some 12 soldiers lost their lives. This was yet another setback for the reputation of Pakistani security forces. 

There have been many other incidents which were relatively minor, but they also contributed in shattering the image of Pakistani military and eventually the Pakistani people lost confidence in their security forces (who in the past used to trust the forces blindly). Pak Army was criticized by the whole world for their incapability to secure some of the very crucial sites in the country. 

There have always been some indications of the presence of foreign elements in these incidents. The idea of some illiterate narrow minded terrorists planning such attacks is not convincing. These incidents, along with some other minor incidents, have led the Pakistani people and the whole world to believe that Pakistani forces aren’t really capable of defending their nukes, because they couldn’t even defend their own Head Quarters, and couldn’t track Bin Laden who was hiding right under their nose. The Army Chief needs to take some immediate steps to improve the reputation of the security forces, otherwise the days are near when Pakistan will be ‘defanged’. 

“We have accurate information that, in order to gain dominance over Pakistan and weaken the country's government and nation, the Americans want to sabotage Pakistan's nuclear facilities and pave the way for the US's extended presence and the weakening of the national governing of the people through the lever of the [United Nations] Security Council and some international organizations,” ~Mahmoud Ahmadinejad