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US special unit 'stands by to steal atomic warheads'
The Telegraph UK ^ | 10/2/9/01 | Ben Fenton

Posted on 10/28/2001 5:56:40 PM PST by vrwc54

An elite American military unit is preparing for possible incursion into Pakistan in order to steal its nuclear weapons arsenal, it is reported today.

The special forces unit is training with Israel's most trusted anti-terrorist unit, and would be called into action in the event that Gen Pervaiz Musharraf lost power in Pakistan, the New Yorker magazine said.

The CIA believes that Pakistani army officers sympathetic to the Taliban could pose a threat to Gen Musharraf, and that some of the country's estimated 24 nuclear warheads could be stolen by renegades within Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI.

Seymour Hersch, a journalist whose reporting on the post-September 11 crisis has been broadly accurate so far, said that members of Israel's Unit 262, or Sayeret Matkal, came to America soon after the attacks and have been training with Pentagon special forces.

Mr Hersch quoted a "senior military officer" as confirming that intense planning was going on for the "exfiltration" - theft - of warheads. But there are doubts about whether the CIA - or any other intelligence agency - knows the exact location of Pakistan's warheads, which were first tested, to the surprise of American intelligence agencies, in 1998.

The fear that Gen Musharraf could lose control of the country and some or all of the warheads is based on the close links between the ISI and the Taliban. Last week, the Pakistani president dismissed such concerns.

"We have an excellent command-and-control system which we have evolved, and there is no question of their falling into the hands of any fundamentalists," Gen Musharraf said. Pakistan is thought to have a number of intermediate-range missiles to carry its warheads as well as using F-16 fighter-bombers.

There are a number of possible targets for the use of these weapons by renegades sympathetic to the Islamic extremists in Afghanistan. These include India, itself a nuclear power, or the four American aircraft carriers and British vessels currently cruising off Pakistan's coastline as bases for air and commando attacks on the Taliban and al-Qa'eda.



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To: KQQL
I bet this story is true.

I also bet there is a boomer lurking in the Indian Ocean with an SLBM already programmed with the target coordinates in Pakistan . . . "just in case."

41 posted on 10/28/2001 6:57:47 PM PST by Stefan Stackhouse
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To: vrwc54
They are right of coarse...As Zog states we will have contingency plans for (almost) all options. It doesn't mean action is imminant. Perhaps this is just to assure the british that in case of trouble we will devote much effort to assuring their safety from a crude nuke from Pakistan launched via scud-b or c.
42 posted on 10/28/2001 7:07:05 PM PST by Dosa26
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To: zog
Dang, I've lived through-out the entire cold war and thought that I may get out of this world without being killed by a nuke. Now, I wonder again. (Born in 1943)
43 posted on 10/28/2001 7:08:11 PM PST by blam
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To: NeoCrusade
I bet India knows where the Pakistani nukes are hidden. But maybe we think for India to go in would be too provocative.

I think there's a good chance Israel knows too.

44 posted on 10/28/2001 7:14:10 PM PST by aristeides
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To: zog
zog, I'll take Door # 3.
45 posted on 10/28/2001 7:15:42 PM PST by JusticeLives
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To: vrwc54
If this story is true, whoever leaked it and whoever published it should be indicted for treason.
46 posted on 10/28/2001 7:17:59 PM PST by yooper
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To: JusticeLives
Shiite, a nazi USA/Brittania is something I hope to never see. Fearsome to behold, who can stand against it?
47 posted on 10/28/2001 7:21:14 PM PST by Dosa26
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To: meridia
Yeah, he's an interesting guy. His tongue is tied in the middle and loose at both ends.
48 posted on 10/28/2001 7:29:28 PM PST by keri
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To: vrwc54
Sounds like the spooks are getting as overheated as the jehadi.
49 posted on 10/28/2001 7:38:16 PM PST by George W. Bush
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To: vrwc54
A good idea! Do it now!
50 posted on 10/28/2001 7:41:57 PM PST by Eternal_Bear
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To: one_particular_harbour
No Sheeeiiit, I though no military postings on this site, some freeper this guy is!
51 posted on 10/28/2001 8:31:13 PM PST by ILuvRonnieRaygun
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To: Republic of Texas
MAYBE we should establish a new "NONCOMBATANT'S" war job . . . unarmed weapons carrier on the front lines. . . Or mine clearer with minimal technology. . . . or parachute checker . . . by experience . . . . or biological weapons vaccination volunteer tester . . . .
52 posted on 10/29/2001 6:39:39 PM PST by Quix
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To: Quix
Great idea. Or just a bio-weapons tester.

"Ok boys, if that reporter turns purple and drops dead, put your Hazmat suits on!"

53 posted on 10/29/2001 6:45:01 PM PST by Republic of Texas
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