Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote
that : The real threat might come from Pakistan,could Pakistan be more of a
nuclear security threat to Israel than Iran, It’s worth considering because the
Pakistan possesses a fairly large nuclear arsenal.
He wrote that :
Five things you need to know regarding one of the world's fastest-growing
nuclear weapons programs. Welcome to
Pakistani Nuclear Weapons 101
" Pakistan’s Growing Arsenal "
" Pakistani Nukes a Major U.S. Intelligence Priority "
" Nukes Have Gotten Pakistan Into Trouble With the U.S "
" Pakistan Needs Nukes for its Defense "
" The Bottom Line "
A nuclear-armed Iran is the most pressing potential nuclear threat to Israel.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote that : The real threat might come from
Pakistan,could Pakistan be more of a nuclear security threat to Israel than
Iran, It’s worth considering because the Pakistan possesses a fairly large
nuclear arsenal. Over the years, President Barack Obama has expressed
reservations about the continuing growth and stability of Pakistan’s nuclear
weapons program. Only three months into his first term in April 2009, President
Obama voiced his concerns: “We have huge…national-security interests in making
sure that Pakistan is stable and that you don’t end up having a nuclear-armed
militant state.”
Here is why the United States likely continues to have those worries, nearly
seven years later:
There are thousands of nuclear weapons in the world today. According to the
latest count from the Federation of American Scientists, the five original
nuclear powers have a combined 15,465 nuclear weapons between them, most of
which are divided amongst the United States and Russia. Yet the fastest growing
nuclear arsenal in the world is not included in this number. While Pakistan has
a range of 100-120 nuclear weapons in its possession .. a figure that pales in
comparison to the United States or Russ .. Islamabad has devoted a tremendous
amount of its military budget to growing its arsenal and procuring the
associated delivery systems that are needed to launch them.More alarming than
Pakistan’s current stockpile is the projected growth of its arsenal over the
next decade. In a wide-ranging report for the Council on Foreign Relations,
professor Gregory D. Koblentz of George Mason University assessed that Pakistan
had enough highly enriched uranium to increase its stockpile to 200 nuclear
weapons by 2020 if fully utilized. Percentage wise, this would mean that the
Pakistani army would be projected to increase its nuclear weapons arsenal by
roughly sixty-seven percent over the next five years. In other words, Pakistan
could have as many nuclear weapons as the United Kingdom by 2020. Moreover,
Pakistan falls outside the purview of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.To
guarantee that they the ability to rapidly expand their stockpile, the Pakistani
military is investing in reprocessing plutonium in addition to enriching
uranium. In January 2015, the Institute for Science and International Security
reported that the Pakistanis opened up their fourth plutonium facility at
Khushab, which provides Islamabad with an additional channel to construct
nuclear bomb material in a relatively short period of time. “Its expansion
appears to be part of an effort to increase the production of weapons-grade
plutonium, “Allowing Pakistan to build a larger number of miniaturized
plutonium-based nuclear weapons that can complement its existing highly enriched
uranium nuclear weapons.” To say that the U.S. intelligence community is closely
monitoring thedevelopment of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program would be an
understatement. The U.S. government is doing more than just monitoring: they are
actively preparing for a terrible catastrophe and engaging Pakistani officials
in the hopes that they will stop pouring resources into the expansion of their
program. The last thing Washington wants or needs is a nuclear crisis flashpoint
in a dangerous and unpredictable region filled with an alphabet soup of Islamist
terrorist groups. The U.S. government has been trying to prevent such a crisis
scenario from occurring.2010 Wikileaks disclosures, we can glean how seriously
the State Department took the problem. In September 2009, on the margins of a
nuclear security meeting among the five permanent members of the United Nations
Security Council, Undersecretary for Arms Control Ellen Tauscher discussed with
China’s foreign minister about how intransigent Islamabad had been in
implementing the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT). In response to
Tauscher’s concerns, China’s representative agreed to discuss the treaty
problems with Islamabad directly.The prospect of Pakistan losing control of its
nuclear materials has been a persistent headache for the United States. It is a
scenario that military planners and intelligence officials have been planning
for even before the September 11, 2001 attacks. NBC News ran a long
investigative piece on U.S. plans to unilaterally secure Pakistan’s nuclear
arsenal if a situation erupted that would put U.S. interests at risk' whether it
included nuclear materials being stolen by a terrorist group; extremists
infiltrating the ranks of the Pakistani army or a quick escalation of violence
between Pakistan and India. The investigation found that “Pakistan’s weaponry
has been the subject of continuing discussions, scenarios, war games and
possibly even military exercises by U.S. intelligence and special operations
forces regarding so-called ‘snatch-and-grab’ operations.” The safety of
Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile remains a key action item for the U.S. intelligence
community today .. so much so that Pakistan-specific analytical cells were
created in order to address the lack of information that America’s intelligence
professionals were receiving about Islamabad’s proliferation
activities.Pakistan’s high enrichment of uranium is not a new problem — it has
complicated the U.S.-Pakistan bilateral relationship since the mid 1970’s, when
U.S. lawmakers first enacted a strict set of economic sanctions on Islamabad’s
nuclear weaponization activities. The 1977 Glenn amendment added to the Foreign
Assistance Act was the first of many congressional efforts to pressure Pakistan
(and any other non-nuclear weapons state not party to the NPT) to refrain from
conducting a nuclear explosive test. That legislation came in handy in May 1998,
when President Bill Clinton enacted sanctions on Pakistan in retaliation for a
nuclear test that occurred two weeks after India’s own testing (New Delhi was
also sanctioned at the time). Those sanctions prevented the U.S.from sending any
foreign assistance to Pakistan — a restriction that was eventually eased later
in the year under a new statute. All of the country-wide sanctions were in
addition to the numerous penalties on companies who violated U.S. arms control
export policies, which forbid corporations around the world from delivering
“material, equipment, or technology…to be used by Pakistan in the manufacture of
a nuclear explosive device.” Dealings between Washington and Islamabad were very
tense over the nuclear issue throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s.Pakistan likes to
fancy itself as a peer competitor to its historical rival India in the South
Asia region. India spent nearly $50 billion on modernizing and building up its
armed forces in 2014; Pakistan spent slightly more than $10 billion. And
that is why the Pakistani military views its nuclear weapons with such
importance. For Islamabad, ensuring that nuclear weapons of all types —
from stand-alone strategic weapons to tactical battlefield nukes — are primed
and ready for use in a short period of time is a way to keep a vastly more
powerful India in check. Unlike India, Islamabad has refused to accept a
“no first use” doctrine, meaning that the Pakistani army is authorized to
deploy nuclear weapons on the battlefield if the country’s national security is
seriously at risk from an Indian incursion. Keeping the nuclear stockpile
on stand-by is a way for the Pakistani Government to deter an India that is more
populated, wealthier and has more men in uniform.Despite all of the attempts
from the nuclear non-proliferation community, Pakistan will continue to develop
and strengthen its nuclear deterrent as long as the high brass in the Pakistani
military continues to have an India-centric mindset in its defense policy.In the
current environment, we all better get used to Pakistan becoming the
third-largest nuclear weapons state in the world.
(Note : Daniel R. DePetris is an analyst at Wikistrat, Inc., a geostrategic
consulting firm, and a freelance researcher. He has also written for CNN.com,
Small Wars Journal and The Diplomat).
" A lot of senior analysts says that :
" This is a heavily biased article, paid for by Indian Contribution and
supported by Bought up Congressmen in US Congress. It is India that presents
more danger due to at least 15 insurgencies that are trying to break up India
from within. Eventually India will be broken up into multiple countries within
next few decades, so its Nuclear facilities are more at stake that Pakistan's.
People need to worry about India's stockpile more than Pakistan's at this
point. "
" Kashmir was never Indian territory. But never mind, India will again soon
break up as 15 or more independent movement are very active in India smile
emoticon
"
" India killed Ghandi because he finally acknowledged Kashmir being Pakistani
part. India should worry about one third of those states who are vying for
independence despite tall claims of growing economy. These Hindu majority states
want to break away due to Dehli's stupid policies and economic disparity.One
Billion Indians (70 percent) live like animals...sleep almost hungry, relieve in
open air, has shanty living conditions...and are unhappy. Why India is spending
500 Billion dollars on defense. Should use the same money for economic
improvement rather than stupidly planning to fight a war with Pakistan and China
"
" Why Burn people in trains? India is terrorist & he Burnt dozens of Pakistanis
in Samjhota Express.. Why Terrorist Col of Indian Army and his terrorist
gang has not been hanged so far? Samjohta Express and Terrorist Stinky
Filthy Hindus who killed innocent Pakistanis. Meaningless BS means nothing "
" We need stupid enemies like yourself. for 68 years, Hindus had been wishing
Pakistan will go away. But it keeps going stronger even with all the terrorism
Hindus spread in Pakistan. Its india which will break away and implode...10 more
years..Its Hindus who stink low life junk. You live in Sewer of Universe called
india..that's
how world knows you.. Slum dogs..And YES...Pakistan is a stronger Military and
Nuclear power than India. Absolutely "
" India do not know the history of Pakistan's nuclear program or did not make an
effort to learn. India dismembered Pakistan in 1971 that eventually
created Bangladesh... Latest provocative statements coming from Indian cabinet
ministers re-validate Indian plans to overrun Pakistan. Indian military's cold
start doctrine
envisages slicing Pakistan into two pieces... Pakistan's needs nuclear weapons
for its survival "