US lawmaker seeks cap, roll-back of Pak Nuclear Weapons
All the US funded drama and chaos in Swat and rest of Pakistan was to get to Pakistani Nuclear Program in the first place! WASHINGTON: An influential US lawmaker who co-authored the so-called Nunn-Lugar Act to roll back the nuclear weapons program of former Soviet
Republics has asked that it be applied to Pakistan too amid unremitting concern in Washington over the security of the country's nuclear arsenal.
In a move that could spell the first formal US intervention in Pakistan's nuclear program, Republican Senator Richard Lugar on Thursday urged the Obama administration to "vigorously seek to expand our cooperation with Pakistan" under the Nunn-Lugar program, as US lawmakers and opinion leaders remained unconvinced by assurances by the country President Asif Ali Zardari that the nuclear arsenal will not fall into the hands of extremists.
In fact, Lugar went a step further, and invoking the recent Swine flu epidemic, recommended that cooperation with Pakistan under the program also include its biological weapons.
"In recent weeks the world has been gripped by the spread of the H1N1 virus. Imagine if the spread were intentional, not natural, and the virus's lethality had been artificially enhanced. Pakistan has many dangerous diseases and pathogens under its control. The Nunn-Lugar program can help secure the pathogen strains to ensure they do not fall into the wrong hands," Lugar said in a statement.
The Indiana Republican said the US must be "creative and dynamic" in its efforts to "help Islamabad safeguard weapons, materials and delivery systems that could pose a threat to the American people." The first step, he maintained, must be strong leadership by President Obama "to win President Zardari's political commitment, and that of General Kayani, head of Pakistan's military, to get Nunn-Lugar fully engaged in Pakistan sooner rather than later."
Lugar's remarks came despite strenuous efforts by the visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to convince US lawmakers, the administration, the think tanks and the media of the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in the face of galloping Talibanisation of the country. Zardari told reporters after meeting with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that "all of the responsible authorities" in and out of Pakistan "are availed of the situation" and he had "attested to the fact that our nuclear capability is in safe hands."
But Lugar, who was present at the meeting, declined to endorse Zardari's assurance and instead pressed the White House to act under the provisions of the Nunn-Lugar Act. The Obama administration itself has been ambivalent about the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, sometimes publicly buying into Islamabad's assurances, but privately expressing concern through officials.
Lugar's demand carries immense weight because he is also co-author (with Democrat John Kerry) of the Senate bill that is facilitating the $ 7.5 billion US aid over five years to Pakistan. If he is serious about applying Nunn-Lugar to Pakistan, he could use the aid carrot and stick to ensure that.
Initiated in 1991, the Nunn-Lugar Act established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to provide US funding and expertise in assisting safeguarding and dismantling nuclear, chemical and biological weapons stockpiles. It has deactivated more than 7,500 nuclear warheads, 2,000 missiles, and over 1,100 missile launchers in the former Soviet Republics of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The program, as originally envisaged, was restricted to the former Soviet Union, but in 2003 Lugar wrote legislation to expand its scope. "This authority can and should be used to expand significantly our cooperation with Pakistan in the nuclear arena as well as in other critical areas," Lugar said on Thursday.
In a move that could spell the first formal US intervention in Pakistan's nuclear program, Republican Senator Richard Lugar on Thursday urged the Obama administration to "vigorously seek to expand our cooperation with Pakistan" under the Nunn-Lugar program, as US lawmakers and opinion leaders remained unconvinced by assurances by the country President Asif Ali Zardari that the nuclear arsenal will not fall into the hands of extremists.
In fact, Lugar went a step further, and invoking the recent Swine flu epidemic, recommended that cooperation with Pakistan under the program also include its biological weapons.
"In recent weeks the world has been gripped by the spread of the H1N1 virus. Imagine if the spread were intentional, not natural, and the virus's lethality had been artificially enhanced. Pakistan has many dangerous diseases and pathogens under its control. The Nunn-Lugar program can help secure the pathogen strains to ensure they do not fall into the wrong hands," Lugar said in a statement.
The Indiana Republican said the US must be "creative and dynamic" in its efforts to "help Islamabad safeguard weapons, materials and delivery systems that could pose a threat to the American people." The first step, he maintained, must be strong leadership by President Obama "to win President Zardari's political commitment, and that of General Kayani, head of Pakistan's military, to get Nunn-Lugar fully engaged in Pakistan sooner rather than later."
Lugar's remarks came despite strenuous efforts by the visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to convince US lawmakers, the administration, the think tanks and the media of the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in the face of galloping Talibanisation of the country. Zardari told reporters after meeting with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that "all of the responsible authorities" in and out of Pakistan "are availed of the situation" and he had "attested to the fact that our nuclear capability is in safe hands."
But Lugar, who was present at the meeting, declined to endorse Zardari's assurance and instead pressed the White House to act under the provisions of the Nunn-Lugar Act. The Obama administration itself has been ambivalent about the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, sometimes publicly buying into Islamabad's assurances, but privately expressing concern through officials.
Lugar's demand carries immense weight because he is also co-author (with Democrat John Kerry) of the Senate bill that is facilitating the $ 7.5 billion US aid over five years to Pakistan. If he is serious about applying Nunn-Lugar to Pakistan, he could use the aid carrot and stick to ensure that.
Initiated in 1991, the Nunn-Lugar Act established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to provide US funding and expertise in assisting safeguarding and dismantling nuclear, chemical and biological weapons stockpiles. It has deactivated more than 7,500 nuclear warheads, 2,000 missiles, and over 1,100 missile launchers in the former Soviet Republics of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The program, as originally envisaged, was restricted to the former Soviet Union, but in 2003 Lugar wrote legislation to expand its scope. "This authority can and should be used to expand significantly our cooperation with Pakistan in the nuclear arena as well as in other critical areas," Lugar said on Thursday.
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