Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Quick Hits IV: Are Pakistan's Nukes Safe?

Is the pope Catholic? Does a bear shit in the woods? Nobody's nukes are safe, but the estimated 80 to 100 warheads in the Pakistani arsenal are especially problematic after Taliban hit teams penetrated the national army's main headquarters and held it in a bloody day-long standoff, attacked police installations in two cities and shot dead a general.

All four incidents stink of the Taliban clearly having inside information, but insofar as the are-they-safe issue is concerned, its not what these terrorists might do but what might happen were there to be a mutiny from within Pakistan's porous military.

Even more worrisome is that Pakistani officials seem to put a lot less weight on placating anxious American officials than the Americans do.

No comments: