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2009-02-07 01:26:01
rdx-fx
...
+955|6895
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co … 03730.html

Article wrote:

Early yesterday, the Pakistani scientist at the center of one of history's worst nuclear scandals walked out of his Islamabad villa to declare his vindication after five years of house arrest. "The judgment, by the grace of God, is good," a smiling Abdul Qadeer Khan told a throng of reporters and TV crews.

Moments earlier, a Pakistani court had ordered the release of the metallurgist who had famously admitted selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Through years of legal limbo, Khan, 72, had never been charged, and now he never will be. "The so-called A.Q. Khan affair is a closed chapter," a Pakistani government spokesman said.
....
<more in article>
So, even with airtight non-coerced confessions and boatloads (literally) of evidence that they're selling stolen nuclear weapons tech to active terrorist supporters... they still get to walk free.

This, and the implications of it.. are sickening. In a very real sense.
This is a green-light for a major shitstorm.

We've blinked one too many times now.

Last edited by rdx-fx (2009-02-07 01:26:57)

2009-02-07 01:33:52
AussieReaper
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
+5,761|6456|what

rdx-fx wrote:

So, even with airtight non-coerced confessions and boatloads (literally) of evidence that they're selling stolen nuclear weapons tech to active terrorist supporters... they still get to walk free.
Well, after 5 years under house arrest. Let's keep this in the correct context.

Hopefully this guy will have a very close tab kept on his actions, I think he should have remained in prison for a much, much longer period.
https://i.imgur.com/maVpUMN.png
2009-02-07 01:56:21
KuSTaV
noice
+947|6815|Gold Coast
The CIA will not allow that man to 'walk free' as much as you'd think.

noice                                                                                                        https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/26774/awsmsanta.png
2009-02-07 04:20:53
ghettoperson
Member
+1,943|6953

This is the type of guy that the CIA should be assassinating.
2009-02-07 04:41:31
Little BaBy JESUS
m8
+394|6452|'straya

ghettoperson wrote:

This is the type of guy that the CIA should be assassinating.
Well im sure he will be dropping dead of "lead poisoning" any day now
2009-02-07 04:46:47
m3thod
All kiiiiiiiiinds of gainz
+2,197|6975|UK
I told my cousins in Kashmir this guy is an asshole.  They looked at me like i was an infidel
Blackbelts are just whitebelts who have never quit.
2009-02-07 05:18:10
Mekstizzle
WALKER
+3,611|6924|London, England
5 year house arrest and a pardon, for proliferating nuclear weapons. Only in that country
2009-02-07 13:29:58
Turquoise
O Canada
+1,596|6708|North Carolina
It's Pakistan, what do you expect?

The only reason we're allies with them is because their government is a lot more moderate in its leadership than many of its citizens are.  There's also a vast difference between the people of its major cities and the people in its rural areas.  The rural people are probably more inclined to like this guy, since they tend to be more religiously nutty and are less educated.

If nothing else, this is just a sign that Pakistan has a lot of progress yet to be made in terms of Westernization.
2009-02-07 13:43:31
rdx-fx
...
+955|6895

Turquoise wrote:

It's Pakistan, what do you expect?

The only reason we're allies with them is because their government is a lot more moderate in its leadership than many of its citizens are.  There's also a vast difference between the people of its major cities and the people in its rural areas.  The rural people are probably more inclined to like this guy, since they tend to be more religiously nutty and are less educated.

If nothing else, this is just a sign that Pakistan has a lot of progress yet to be made in terms of Westernization.
My concern is that this is a major indication that the middle east has wholesale shifted towards the other side.  If the wishy-washy have-it-both-ways two-faced Pakistani government is giving us this much of a major "Fuck You", then I'm not betting on the opinions of their less malleable neighbors.

Short version;
After enough anecdotal evidence, too many in the middle east have begun to believe the rhetoric that "America and the West are a paper tiger" and "our people have no stomach for a long fight".  If the Pakistani government is going this way too, it's a bellweather indicator that worse reversals are soon to follow.

Biden predicted that Obama would have a 'major test shortly after his election'.  Here it is.  Let's see how he plays it, if at all.


[For the shortest possible introduction to the history behind this, I suggest;
Ghost Wars - Steven Coll
The Nuclear Jihadist - Frantz & Collins]
The second is directly relevant, the first sets the regional stage and backstory.
2009-02-07 14:09:50
Kmar
Truth is my Bitch
+5,695|6904|132 and Bush

ghettoperson wrote:

This is the type of guy that the CIA should be assassinating.
Agree. Indiscriminately passing out nuclear secrets to anyone with a check book is a threat to the whole of humanity.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
2009-02-07 14:16:16
Kmar
Truth is my Bitch
+5,695|6904|132 and Bush

rdx-fx wrote:

[For the shortest possible introduction to the history behind this, I suggest;
Ghost Wars - Steven Coll
The Nuclear Jihadist - Frantz & Collins]
The second is directly relevant, the first sets the regional stage and backstory.
The bbc did a doc called nuclear walmart. Pretty good.

http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?pi … 0#p1091670
Xbone Stormsurgezz
2009-02-07 14:20:32
Turquoise
O Canada
+1,596|6708|North Carolina

rdx-fx wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

It's Pakistan, what do you expect?

The only reason we're allies with them is because their government is a lot more moderate in its leadership than many of its citizens are.  There's also a vast difference between the people of its major cities and the people in its rural areas.  The rural people are probably more inclined to like this guy, since they tend to be more religiously nutty and are less educated.

If nothing else, this is just a sign that Pakistan has a lot of progress yet to be made in terms of Westernization.
My concern is that this is a major indication that the middle east has wholesale shifted towards the other side.  If the wishy-washy have-it-both-ways two-faced Pakistani government is giving us this much of a major "Fuck You", then I'm not betting on the opinions of their less malleable neighbors.

Short version;
After enough anecdotal evidence, too many in the middle east have begun to believe the rhetoric that "America and the West are a paper tiger" and "our people have no stomach for a long fight".  If the Pakistani government is going this way too, it's a bellweather indicator that worse reversals are soon to follow.

Biden predicted that Obama would have a 'major test shortly after his election'.  Here it is.  Let's see how he plays it, if at all.


[For the shortest possible introduction to the history behind this, I suggest;
Ghost Wars - Steven Coll
The Nuclear Jihadist - Frantz & Collins]
The second is directly relevant, the first sets the regional stage and backstory.
Good points...  but even as tempting as wiping Pakistan off the map might be, we need to figure out some way of neutralizing the extremists in the more remote regions of Pakistan without committing to all out war with Pakistan.

Granted, it may come to that at some point.

I think a much greater threat to us is not the perception that we're too weak willed to commit to an all out war, but that we're the Great Satan that some people call us.  We must appeal to the more rational and educated people of Pakistan and find some way to convince them to let us help them weed out extremists in the rural areas.

At this point, it is obvious that their government is too weak to get the job done themselves.

Granted, if we do commit to all out war with Pakistan, we'll probably need to get India involved in helping us.
2009-02-07 14:36:39
rdx-fx
...
+955|6895

Turquoise wrote:

Good points...  but even as tempting as wiping Pakistan off the map might be, we need to figure out some way of neutralizing the extremists in the more remote regions of Pakistan without committing to all out war with Pakistan.

Granted, it may come to that at some point.

I think a much greater threat to us is not the perception that we're too weak willed to commit to an all out war, but that we're the Great Satan that some people call us.  We must appeal to the more rational and educated people of Pakistan and find some way to convince them to let us help them weed out extremists in the rural areas.

At this point, it is obvious that their government is too weak to get the job done themselves.

Granted, if we do commit to all out war with Pakistan, we'll probably need to get India involved in helping us.
Don't think we need to start a war with Pakistan.

If AQ Khan starts passing out nuke blueprints (anecdotally) to non-nation/state entities, the rest of the world needs to stand up together and clearly demonstrate that this isn't the way we want to go.

We could do it ourselves, but that'd be a pyrrhic victory at best.  To turn it into a solid 'win', we'd need to get at least Europe on board.  Better case is to get part of the middle east on board too.

Obama has enough of that 'new car smell' that he might be able to get Europe on-board for it, but only if he keeps his eyes on the ball.
This is his test.  If he sees it, deals with it brilliantly, and resolves it - it's a win.
If he completely misses it, pretends not to see it, and continues on blithely unaware - it's going to come back and bite his ass like the CIA Bin Laden pre-9/11 reports bit Bush.

 

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