Pakistan and Nuclear Weapons A Big Problem for the United States

As many of you know, I have written numerous times about the possibility of Pakistans nuclear arms falling into the hands of terrorists who plan on using them against the West.

Posts such as these:

Pakistans President Announces Nukes May Fall Into Terrorist Hands

Taliban May Already Hold Some Key Nuke Sites In Pakistan

Al-Qaeda Declares It Will Use Pakistan’s Nukes To Strike Unites States

(For more posts on this topic use the search box on the right)

Weather or not this actually happens is hard to say, but it is not something beyond the realm of possibility.

I am also a big long time fan of National Terror Alert, as they do an excellent job on reporting on some of these issues, and noticed the story on their site yesterday titled: Are Pakistans Nuclear Weapons Safe?

This post on their site points to the article Defending The Arsenal In an unstable Pakistan, can nuclear warheads be kept safe?

My personal views on this is that it is just a matter of time at this point. It could happen 2 weeks from now, or 5 years from now, but the pendulum is swinging in favor of the radicals at this point and they want nothing more than to get their hands on a nuclear weapon.

Make no mistake they are keeping their eyes on the prize, and we in the West are not doing enough to stop it from happening.

Read the articles linked in this post to get up to date on this issue.

Pakistans President Announces Nukes May Fall Into Terrorist Hands

I have been reporting on Disaster Preparedness Blog for a while about the possibility of nukes falling into the hands of radical extremists in Pakistan such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Today an Indian Newspaper is reporting that the President of Pakistan is stating that while the countries nuclear arsenal is in safe hands, the threat of them falling onto extremist hands is very real.

The Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari is also calling on the west for help in securing the democracy in Pakistan further stating that if democracy fails in their country, the nukes will surely fall into the possession of radicals.

To see my past stories on this please refer to these posts

Taliban May Already Hold Some Key Nuke Sites In Pakistan

Pakistain Near Collapse, Nukes Will Fall Into Terrorist Hands

For more on this story directly please refer to the reference blow.

Taliban 60 Miles From Pakistan Capital, Collapse Of Country May Be Imminent

Governments around the world are becoming concerned that the Pakistani capital Islamabad and the entire country will fall into Taliban hands.

This is a nightmare scenario that as far back as two years ago, many would have said impossible, that it could never happen.

However it seems the Pakistani civilian government seems almost blind to the threat, or worse yet almost seemingly welcoming the coming takeover by the Taliban.

In the past, which was only months ago, the new Pakistani government allowed for the Taliban control over the Swat valley under a peace agreement. However once the Taliban moved in and secured the area, the continued attacks against Pakistani police forces and are now approximately 60 miles from the capital.

I'm not sure if it will be months or years, but it looks to me that without NATO, or U.S. intervention which seems unlikely that Pakistan will fall into Taliban hands, and rule.

Recently the militants attacked a NATO convoy of tankers carrying fuel. Please see the AP video below and take note of what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says:

Here is another video on the topic from The New York Times:

Interesting News clip from France TV station:

I have written before about this see the posts here:

Taliban Make Comeback Inside Pakistan, Shari'a Law Imposed

Pakistan Near Collapse, Nukes Will Fall Into Terrorist Hands

Top Taliban Leader In Pakistan Claims Attack On Washington D.C. Will Come Soon, White House A Target

Baitullah Mehsud, the Taliban leader in Pakistan told the Associated Press by phone that:

"Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world."

The United States has placed a $5 Million bounty on Baitullah Mehsud, and has recently stepped up attacks attacks by unmanned drones inside Pakistan in the last several months.

Accorrding to the Taliban leasder in Pakistan the recent threat and attack on the police station in Pakistan is retaliation for the increased drone attacks from the United States.

Baitullah Mehsud mentioned the White House directy as one of the targets but did not mention any further specifics.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad declined to comment on the threat.

Taliban Make Comeback Inside Pakistan, Shari'a Law Imposed

The new fledgling government of Pakistan came to an agreement with Taliban fighters and is allowing the Taliban to impose Shari'a Law in the Swat Valley region of Pakistan.

In the agreement, the Pakistan government declared a truce with the Taliban and according to the Associated Press, gave the insurgents dominance in the Swat region by installing a strict regimen of Islamic law amenable to the militants' authority. The pact was spear headed by a hard-line cleric sent to the region to negotiate with the Taliban and persuade them to give up their arms.

In essence, whether or not Pakistan or other nations will admit it openly, this once again gives the Taliban their own territory, and government. With this territory located near Afghanistan, and within the northern territory of Pakistan near the heavily disputed region of Kashmir it presents a huge problem for western nations in the efforts to combat terrorism.

This is a clear set back for the United States, which has remained largely silent on the issue, and posses a direct national security threat on many levels,as it gives the Taliban an opertunuity to rule, and plan openly.

As spring looms in the northern hemisphere, and an increase in troops that are headed for Afghanistan there may well be some tough fighting ahead.

Either way, the stage has been set for the terrorists to effectively plan more attacks against the West from a protected position. Will an invasion of Pakistan happen next?