Hillary proposes joint oversight of Pak nukes

[Nafees]

Source: AFP, Manchester

US White House hopeful Hillary Clinton late Saturday said she would propose a joint US-British team to oversee the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if she is elected president.

"So far as we know right now, the nuclear technology is considered secure, but there isn't any guarantee, especially given the political turmoil going on inside Pakistan," Clinton said during a Democratic debate here.

If elected president, the US senator said, "I would try to get (Pakistan Preisdent Pervez) Musharraf to share the security responsibility of the nuclear weapons with a delegation from the United States and, perhaps, Great Britain, so that there is some fail-safe."

The four Democratic candidates -- Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson and former senator John Edwards -- were scathing about President George W. Bush's policy towards Pakistan.

They said they were prepared to launch unilateral military strikes in the country if they detected an imminent threat or could pinpoint the location of al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.

"Here's an unstable leader, Musharraf, in a country with a serious radical -- violently radical element that could, under some circumstances, take over the government," warned Edwards.

"If they did, they would have control of a nuclear weapon. They could either use it, or they could turn it over to a terrorist organisation to be used against America or some of our allies."

Obama, who won the first Democratic White House nominating contest in Iowa on Thursday, reiterated his earlier stance that he would take action in Pakistan even if Islamabad is opposed, if there is strong intelligence on al-Qaeda there.

 

[salman nedian]

Ridiculous! Pakistanis would not allow this we will eat grass but will defend our nukes they are the assurance of our existence after 1971 tragedy.

 

[solid snake]

No, Hillary. No way.

 

[khanz]

dream on hilary dream on !

 

[Neo]

We should endorse the courtesy and send a team to USA in return, atleast we don't have nuclear armed bombers flying wild in our aerospace 'by mistake'.

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

People grow wiser with time but Hillary is being Stupid with Age!

 

[Spring Onion]

We should endorse the courtesy and send a team to USA in return, atleast we don't have nuclear armed bombers flying wild in our aerospace 'by mistake'.

NO dear Neo
First we need to send a dedicated Pakistani wife to USA to teach Hillary to learn first how to Protect her Husband from other women


lolz about the wild armed flying bombers well dear how naive of them that even a senior person from US here on this forum denied that.

 

[solid snake]

NO dear Neo
First we need to send a dedicated Pakistani wife to USA to teach Hillary to learn first how to Protect her Husband from other women

She only married Bill out of ambition anyway.

 

[mujahideen]

Why cant they get it through their thick heads our weapons are secure and they will never be able to lay their hand on our weapons.

 

[Vinod2070]

The presidential candidates seem to have fertile imagination and are not bound by what can really be done.

No responsible president would make such a statement. At least not publicly!

This is just to sound knowledgable and tough in foreign policy, I guess. This is becoming a critical factor in the elections and Pakistan has become a big issue there, it seems.

 

[blain2]

The less said the better about the comments and the one who made these comments...in any case, GoP has made its position crystal clear on the issue.

Islamabad says US military not welcome


ISLAMABAD, Jan 6: Pakistan reacted angrily on Sunday to reports that US President George W. Bush is considering covert military operations in the country’s volatile tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

“It is not up to the US administration, it is Pakistan’s government who is responsible for this country,” chief military spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad told AFP.

“There are no overt or covert US operations inside Pakistan. Such reports are baseless and we reject them.”

The New York Times reported on its website late Saturday that under a proposal being discussed in Washington, CIA operatives based in Afghanistan would be able to call on direct military support for counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan.

Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said the proposal called for giving Central Intelligence Agency agents broader powers to strike targets in Pakistan.

The new plan was reportedly discussed by Vice-President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security aides in the wake of the Dec 27 assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto.

President Musharraf had not been consulted, the paper claimed.

The military spokesman also dismissed comments from White House hopeful Hillary Clinton that she would propose a joint US-British team to oversee the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal if she was elected president.

“We do not require anybody’s assistance. We are fully capable of doing it on our own,” he said.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq on Sunday described the New York Times report as speculative but said any suggestion of US forces on its territory was unacceptable.

On Ms Clinton’s remarks about nuclear weapons, Mr Sadiq added: “It must be clearly understood that Pakistan alone is and will be responsible for the security of its nuclear assets.”

 

[Plasma]

She got told!


feeling the heat Mrs. Clinton?

 

[Neo]

Pakistan says won't let foreign troops on its soil ​

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan will not allow any country to conduct military operations on its territory, officials said on Monday, rejecting a report that said the United States was considering authorizing its forces to act in Pakistan.

The New York Times said on Sunday the U.S. government was considering expanding the authority of the CIA and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations in Pakistan.

The U.S. officials considering the move were concerned over intelligence reports that al Qaeda and the Taliban were more intent on destabilizing Pakistan, the newspaper said.

Pakistani government and military officials dismissed the report and said Pakistan would not permit any such action.

"Pakistan's position in the war on terror has been very clear -- that any action on Pakistani soil will be taken only by Pakistani forces and Pakistani security agencies," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq.

"No other country will be allowed to carry out operations in Pakistan. This has been conveyed at the highest level," he said.

Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad rejected the report as baseless, saying no U.S. military operations, overt of covert, were allowed.

Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border is a haven for al Qaeda and Taliban members who fled from Afghanistan when U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban weeks after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Pakistan's security forces have been fighting the militants since then, but its alliance with the United States is deeply unpopular among many Pakistanis.

Some Pakistanis support al Qaeda and the Taliban while others, while not supporting militancy, object to what they see as Pakistan doing the bidding of the United States.

Pakistan fears allowing foreign troops to operate on its territory along the Afghan border would incite a backlash among the fiercely independent Pashtun tribes living there.

U.S. MEETING

The New York Times, citing senior Bush administration sources, said U.S. officials met in the United States on Friday.

While no decision was made at the meeting, options under discussion included the CIA working with the U.S. military's Special Operations forces.

Among those reported at the meeting were Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Times said.

Several participants argued that the threat to President Pervez Musharraf's government was so acute that he and Pakistan's military leaders were likely to grant Washington more latitude, the Times said.

U.S. spokesmen declined to discuss the meeting but one official said the discussion reflected concern that a new al Qaeda haven was solidifying in parts of Pakistan and needed to be countered, the paper said.

While no new options had been formally presented by Washington to Musharraf, the newspaper said officials from the White House to the Pentagon saw an opening in Pakistan's changing political structure for Washington's expanding authority in the nuclear-armed country.

Bush administration aides said that Pakistani and U.S. officials shared concerns about a resurgent al Qaeda, and that U.S. diplomats and senior military officers had been working closely with Pakistani officials to strengthen Pakistan's counterterrorism operations, the newspaper said.

New options for expanded covert operations under consideration included loosening reins on the CIA so it could strike at targets in Pakistan, officials told the newspaper.

If the CIA were given wider latitude, it could call in military help or charge Special Operations forces to act under its authority, the Times said.

Any expanded U.S. operations by the CIA or Special Operations forces would be small and specifically tailored, military officials said.

(Editing by Robert Birsel and Alex Richardson)

Pakistan says won't let foreign troops on its soil - Yahoo! News

 

[ejaz007]

Before helping others US needs to clear the mess it created in Iraq and Afghanistan. Atleast Iraq had peace in Saddam's era. What they now have is bomb blasts and dead people.

 

[solid snake]

It's looking really bad for Hillary now. She is down 13% in New Hampshire's caucus. She even cried lol

MVlwH7-05Fk[/media] - Hillary Clinton Crying