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Report: Saudis May Purchase Pakistani Atomic Bomb
The Times of Israel ^ | May 17, 2015, 5:24 pm | BY JUDAH ARI GROSS

Posted on 05/18/2015 11:54:46 AM PDT by drewh

Saudi Arabia has reached out to its ally Pakistan to acquire “off-the-shelf” atomic weapons as a nuclear arms race begins to shape up with Shiite rival Iran, US sources said.

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“For the Saudis the moment has come,” a former US defense official told the UK’s Sunday Times. “There has been a longstanding agreement in place with the Pakistanis and the House of Saud has now made the strategic decision to move forward.”

The anonymous former official said the US did not believe that “any actual weaponry has been transferred yet,” but declared that “the Saudis mean what they say and they will do what they say.”

Tensions between Tehran and the kingdom have grown in the past few months as Saudi Arabia stepped up its air campaign against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. King Salman of Saudi Arabia refused an invitation to attend a landmark summit hosted by US President Barack Obama last week, amid ongoing angst over US-led nuclear talks with Iran.

Former Saudi intelligence head Prince Turki bin Faisal expressed the kingdom’s desire for a nuclear weapon last month at the Asan Plenum, a conference held by the South Korean-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “Whatever the Iranians have, we will have, too,” he said, according to The New York Times.

Faisal also warned that the Iranian nuclear deal “opens the door to nuclear proliferation, not closes it, as was the initial intention.”

According to the Sunday Times report, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for decades. Saudi Arabia has given Pakistan billions of dollars in subsidized oil, while the latter has unofficially agreed to supply the Gulf state with nuclear warheads.

“Nuclear weapons programs are extremely expensive and there’s no question that a lot of the funding of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program was provided by Saudi Arabia,” Lord David Owen, who served as England’s foreign secretary from 1977-1979, told the weekly publication.

“Given their close relations and close military links, it’s long been assumed that if the Saudis wanted, they would call in a commitment, moral or otherwise, for Pakistan to supply them immediately with nuclear warheads,” he added.

However, the report added, Lt.Gen. Khalid Kidwai, who helped pioneer Pakistan’s nuclear program, denied that Pakistan had ever granted Saudi Arabia access to its nuclear technology.

The main concern shared by US and European officials was that if Saudi Arabia were to acquire an atomic weapon, it could spur other Sunni nations to follow suit.

An anonymous British military official also told The Sunday Times that Western military leaders “all assume the Saudis have made the decision to go nuclear.”

The official added, “The fear is that other Middle Eastern powers — Turkey and Egypt — may feel compelled to do the same and we will see a new, even more dangerous, arms race.”

This position was also mirrored by other, non-Saudi Gulf states at a summit last week between the US and several Arab countries. One unnamed Gulf state leader attending the Camp David summit told The New York Times, “We can’t sit back and be nowhere as Iran is allowed to retain much of its capability and amass its research.”


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 05/18/2015 11:54:46 AM PDT by drewh
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To: drewh

Nuts with Nukes.

What could possibly go wrong?

Thanks, 0bama!


2 posted on 05/18/2015 11:56:45 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie (we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that - Baltimore's Democrat Mayor)
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To: drewh

If this is true, our Muslim, bisexual, excuse for a President just opened up Pandora’s Box of nuclear prolifration in the Middle East.

Way to go, you community orghanizer P.O.S.

Millions will end up dead for this.


3 posted on 05/18/2015 11:58:11 AM PDT by wetgundog ("Extremism in the Defense of Liberty is No Vice" -AuH2O)
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To: Uncle Miltie

Obama 100% to blame for whatever happens.


4 posted on 05/18/2015 11:58:44 AM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (My Batting Average( 1,000) (GOPe is that easy to read))
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To: drewh

Let’s see... I’ll have two falafels and... ah... three 100 kiloton atomic bombs, please. Insh’a Allah!


5 posted on 05/18/2015 11:59:23 AM PDT by Steely Tom (Vote GOP for A Slower Handbasket)
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To: Steely Tom

Obama creates a Nuclear race in the Middle East he will go down as the worst President ever in history.


6 posted on 05/18/2015 12:00:42 PM PDT by scooby321
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To: scooby321
Obama creates a Nuclear race in the Middle East he will go down as the worst President ever in history.

I doubt it. They'll blame it on Republicans, or some other made-up boogieman.

7 posted on 05/18/2015 12:01:55 PM PDT by Steely Tom (Vote GOP for A Slower Handbasket)
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To: Steely Tom

Ah, yes.... Mullah’s Glowing Falafal platter.


8 posted on 05/18/2015 12:02:23 PM PDT by SpinnerWebb (IN-SAPORIBVS-SICVT-PVLLVM)
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To: scooby321

“Obama creates a Nuclear race in the Middle East he will go down as the worst President ever in history.”

And if not he will go down as...the worst president in the history of the United States of America.


9 posted on 05/18/2015 12:04:13 PM PDT by RipSawyer (Racism is racism, regardless of the race of the racist.)
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"Yes Sir!
Would you like Snickers Bar or Slurpee with that Nuke?
Lotto ticket?"


10 posted on 05/18/2015 12:06:51 PM PDT by shibumi ("Walk Through the Fire, Fly Through the Smoke")
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To: drewh

Daddy always says, “Money doesn’t spend itself”.


11 posted on 05/18/2015 12:09:24 PM PDT by McGruff (What did Hillary know and when did she know it?)
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To: drewh

....if it’s anything like the way they maintain their taxis.....be afraid......very afraid.


12 posted on 05/18/2015 12:10:07 PM PDT by spokeshave
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To: drewh

I know I’d trust the Paki’s (It’s a real working bomb, honest!).


13 posted on 05/18/2015 12:29:36 PM PDT by PTBAA
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To: drewh

I read a book back in the 1970’s about how the mideast would be the source of ww3. Something called Armageddon and that a son of Satan would be behind it.

Speaking of obama. He made all the moves one would if you wanted to start a massive nuclear war.


14 posted on 05/18/2015 12:57:11 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: drewh

Well, India gets the bomb............Pakis get the bomb.

Now, Iran gets the bomb..............the Saudis get the bomb.

Whaadidja expect????
Well, Barry and Barry’s boys are happy at least.


15 posted on 05/18/2015 2:56:21 PM PDT by Flintlock (Our soapbox is gone, the ballot box stolen--we're left with the bullet box now.)
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To: drewh

They will blow themselves up. Qatar will blame the Israelis. Then see what happens


16 posted on 05/18/2015 3:13:03 PM PDT by kvanbrunt2 (civil law: commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong Blackstone Commentaries I p44)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

More than one.

17 posted on 05/19/2015 4:52:25 AM PDT by SJackson (I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes)
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To: SJackson

You mean, they don’t believe Iran or Obama or even...drum roll...the great Vietnam war hero John Kerry?


18 posted on 05/19/2015 7:57:31 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (End the occupation. Annex today.)
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To: stephenjohnbanker

We’ll meet again...


19 posted on 05/19/2015 8:01:50 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (End the occupation. Annex today.)
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To: Eleutheria5

don’t know where...don’t know when


20 posted on 05/19/2015 8:14:38 AM PDT by bonfire
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