The US possibly wants Pakistan to agree, at least, to putting American permissive action links on our warheads,.
RAWALPINDI: Leading newspapers, at home and abroad, have republished Greg Miller’s report in the Washington Post. This report alleges that a major chunk of the US black budget will go on intense surveillance of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Always in the focus are our `loose nukes’, fragmented sympathies of those who guard our nuclear assets, and likely theft of nuclear materials or weapons. Why doesn’t the West tell us what more should we do to better guard our materials and arsenal?
The alleged surveillance is a response to US fears of nuclear-attacks-by-proxy scenarios. The US is quite efficient in identifying conventional sources of terrorism in the US and abroad through forensic evidence. Why is it not able to identify and punish sources of nuclear attack by proxy? US fears appear to be unfounded. Even if nuclear material are stolen, making an A-bomb will remain difficult. Putting together a nuclear weapon requires complex planning and coordination. Such an effort cannot remain secret. Isotopic fingerprints of a bomb could help trace fissile material back to the reactors, enrichment facilities, or uranium mines from which it was derived. Post-explosion material, even if minuscule, can provide information about its sources and processes. Each uranium mine has a peculiar ratio of uranium isotope. Composition of a weapon gives clues that can help reach the reactor that produced the weapon. Curious readers may refer to the International Security Summer 2013, Volume 38, Number 1 (Kier A. Leiber and Daryl G. Press, Why States Won’t Give Nuclear Weapons to Terrorists, pages 80, 85 and 100). The fact is that the mistrust is being used to pressure us into neutralising our nuclear programme. The US possibly wants Pakistan to agree, at least, to putting American permissive action links on our warheads, which are security devices for nuclear weapons whose purpose is to prevent unauthorised arming or detonation of the nuclear weapon.
Amjed Jaaved
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2013.
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