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Musharraf govt bought N-tech on the sly: US probe
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67261&spf=true ^ | LA Times-Washington Post

Posted on 03/27/2005 6:16:58 PM PST by Srirangan

Edited on 03/27/2005 6:20:30 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]

WASHINGTON, MARCH 27: A federal criminal investigation has uncovered evidence that the government of Pakistan has made clandestine purchases of US high-technology components for use in its nuclear weapons programme

(Excerpt) Read more at indianexpress.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: humayunkhan; nuclearblackmarket; pakistan; proliferation

1 posted on 03/27/2005 6:17:01 PM PST by Srirangan
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To: Srirangan

Our buddies, always right behind us ... so they can stick in in the first time we bend over ... and I am not talking about a knife.


2 posted on 03/27/2005 6:20:13 PM PST by usgator
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To: Srirangan

US was upset by this, so we punished them by selling them F-16s???


3 posted on 03/27/2005 6:20:34 PM PST by MindBender26 (Having my own CAR-15 meant never having to say I was sorry......)
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To: Srirangan

And this Humayan Khan guy is still alive?


4 posted on 03/27/2005 6:20:59 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all)
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To: usgator

Well, duh...


5 posted on 03/27/2005 6:22:01 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: Srirangan; CarrotAndStick; Gengis Khan; sukhoi-30mki

Maybe it would have been more efficient to just send Pakistan our own low-end nuclear weapons with special safeguards that only we could control. [/sarcasm]


6 posted on 03/27/2005 6:23:48 PM PST by risk
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To: Srirangan

the price you pay...

so are you Indian, Srirangan?
id est, do you not like the Pakistanis because of the Kashmir dispute?
no biggie, just asking.

sad that we dig a deeper hole by playing footsie...


7 posted on 03/27/2005 6:26:00 PM PST by ColdWarNavyVet_dirsup (it wasn't cold... 'specially not below the line of death ;-))
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To: MindBender26
"US was upset by this, so we punished them by selling them F-16s???"

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

8 posted on 03/27/2005 6:26:48 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: Srirangan

Just a misunderstanding. energy is needed to run the thousands of convenience stores that dot the country. Oil is of short supply so nuclear energy is the solution.


9 posted on 03/27/2005 6:27:49 PM PST by Brofholdonow
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To: MindBender26

"US was upset by this, so we punished them by selling them F-16s??? "

Fair chance they will be used against us some day.


10 posted on 03/27/2005 7:55:35 PM PST by OneTimeLurker
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To: Srirangan
"We must develop this atomic energy quite apart from war - indeed I think we must develop it for the purpose of using it for peaceful purposes. ... Of course, if we are compelled as a nation to use it for other purposes, possibly no pious sentiments of any of us will stop the nation from using it that way." Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

"In 1955 construction began on India's first reactor, the 1 MW Apsara research reactor, with British assistance. And in September 1955, after more than a year of negotiation, Canada agreed to supply India with a powerful research reactor - the 40 MW Canada-India Reactor (CIR). Under the Eisenhower Administration's "Atoms for Peace" program the US agreed to supply 21 tons of heavy water for this reactor in Februrary 1956, and the reactor was dubbed the Canada-India Reactor, U.S. or CIRUS (now commonly written as Cirus).

"The acquisition of Cirus was a watershed event in nuclear proliferation. Although the sale was made with the understanding that the reactor would only be used for peaceful purposes (the heavy water contract at least made this explicit), it occurred before any international policies were in place to regulate such technology transfers and no provision for inspections were made."

"The reactor was a design ideal for producing weapons-grade plutonium, and was also extraordinarily large for research purposes, being capable of manufacturing enough plutonium for one to two bombs a year. The acquisition of Cirus was specifically intended by India to provide herself with a weapons option and this reactor produced the plutonium used in India's first nuclear test in 1974; provided the design prototype for India's more powerful Dhruva plutonium production "research" reactor; and is directly responsible for producing nearly half of the weapons grade plutonium currently believed to be in India's stockpile.

India's Nuclear Weapons Program

11 posted on 03/27/2005 8:02:57 PM PST by Daaave ( I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it.)
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To: Daaave

" Delivery of the Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters to the Indian Air Force commenced on on June 22, 2002 when the first two examples left the Irkutsk factory on route for India on board a An-124. Of the 50 Aircraft ordered in 1998, an initial batch of ten will be delivered in 2002 with a further 22 following in two batches in 2003. Adding to the 18 basic Su-30s already in IAF service which are eight Su-30MK-1s delivered in 1997 at Lohegaon AFS which primarily air-superiority fighters fitted with mainly Russian avionics and ten Su-30Ks which had been cancelled by Indonesia delivered in 1999 will commence upgrade to Su-30MKI standard in 2004.

" While at the same time license production of 140 Su-30MKIs will begin by Hindustan Aeronautics. The deal combines license production with full technology transfer of 140 Su-30MKIs and 920 AL-31FP engines. The first Su-30MKIs from Nasik are to be delivered to the IAF in 2004-05, with production increasing to a peak of 10 aircraft per year from 2007-08 onward. Production is expected to stretch to 2017-18. Recent reports say that production may be upped to 12 airframes per year. The Su-30MKI is highly capable Multi-Role combat aircraft armed with the latest BVR air-to-air missiles and Kh-31, Kh-29 and Kh-59 air-to-surface missiles, state-of- the art avionics including phased-array radar from India, France, Israel and South Africa."

"The thrust-vector control capability and canards substantially increases its combat efficiency and maneuverability. The Su-30MKI 1,800 mile (2,900km0 un-refueled range is an important attribute for India, which allow it to conduct long-range high endurance combat operations. The First batch of 10 Su-30MKI aircraft were inducted into the Indian Air Force 20th Squadron at Lohagaon Air Base (Pune, Maharashtra, India) on September 27, 2002."

Indian Air Force

12 posted on 03/27/2005 8:15:47 PM PST by Daaave ( I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it.)
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To: Daaave

"India was one of the first users of the Mirage 2000 when 42 aircraft were received from France in the late 80's."

From the same link in post #12.

13 posted on 03/27/2005 8:27:11 PM PST by Daaave ( I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it.)
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To: Daaave

"The Indian Air Force operates around 40 Mig-29s, in 3 versions: MiG-29B Fulcrum-A, MiG-29S Fulcrum-C and MiG-29UB Fulcrum-B. The First IAF Mig-29 arrived in India in 1986."

From the same link in post #12.

14 posted on 03/27/2005 8:33:28 PM PST by Daaave ( I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it.)
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To: Daaave

"Saturday, March 26, 2005 - Fifteen years after blocking sales of F-16s to Pakistan due to its nuclear weapons program, the U.S. government approved the sale of 24 new F-16s to Pakistan. The aircraft are rumoured to be Block 52 models."

"Furthermore, the US has agreed to give the current PAF Block 15 F-16s the Mid-Life Update (MLU)."

"In 1990, the U.S. halted the production of a third & fourth batch of F-16s ordered by Pakistan, due to Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. 40 F-16A/B aircraft had been delivered under the Peace Gate I & II programs, however none of the Peace Gate III & IV aircraft were delivered."

U.S. agrees to sell new F-16s to Pakistan

An interview with Pakistani Air Force Squadron Leader Sameen Mazhar, about flying the F-16, at this link,

Squadron Leader Sameen Mazhar

15 posted on 03/27/2005 9:04:06 PM PST by Daaave ( I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it.)
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To: OneTimeLurker
"US was upset by this, so we punished them by selling them F-16s??? " Fair chance they will be used against us some day.

The U.S. has sold F-16s and other aircraft to Pakistan in the past. Reagan sold them F-16's. This is nothing new. Pakistan's Air Force currently has 32 F-16's. Pakistan's Air Force currently has over 700 planes. None of these planes have ever been used against us.

Meanwhile Pakistan is in the long process of stabalizing. The Kan network is being dismantled and the Taliban and Al Qaeda are being removed.

I think your assesment is wrong.

16 posted on 03/28/2005 6:38:48 PM PST by FreeReign
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