Let Us Think about Nukes

I thought but never thought as much as I did for this piece. The patriot in me is asking me to stay silent but the human in me has forced me to write this. 

Ever since the PNS Mehran attack almost everyone is convinced that the job was an inside job. The attack at the largest Naval Base of the country is no small affair. More so, the attack followed a similar attack at the heart of Pakistan's Security Structure on GHQ in April 2009. In between, the world's most wanted terrorist was killed in one of the largest cantonments in the country. These incidents raise serious considerations about Pakistan's capability to secure its strategic assets. What aggravates the matter is the fact that the threat comes from within. The world which already considered Pakistan a failed, rogue and volatile state seems even more convinced of dangers Pakistan poses. And what adds to world's fears is the fact that Pakistan possesses nuclear arsenal. Nuclear Arsenal in a fragile state, facing a threat from within and unable to secure its key military bases, should be the worst nightmare of anyone concerned about the world peace and concerned is the world. 

Post-unleashing of the enemy within, there are serious questions of perception and morality that have been raised vis-a-vis Pakistan's nukes and we as nation must consider and answer them honestly. If we have to live in the world as an integrated and responsible member of international community, we must ensure the world that our nukes will in no way become a threat to the world peace by falling into the hands of extremists or by being taken over by extremists. The cost of not acting to undo this perception will be mammoth financially, diplomatically and militarily. But perception is not my main concern.

My main concern is a moral imperative. If terrorists could infiltrate, through extensive inside support, the bastions of our security establishment, so can they in our nuclear installations. Our strategic assets have been infiltrated with personnel who are aligned with a certain "takfeeri" ideology. So it, now, is not impossible for nuclear assets to be attacked or infiltrated by militants. Nukes falling into the hands of terrorists should not be the concern of the west but of every human. We do not know where they are going to detonate them, in Karachi, in Lahore, in Mumbai, in Jerusalem, or in NYC or London. If there record is anything to go by they have killed 10 Pakistanis for every Westerner they killed. More so, no matter where the dirty bomb reaches, it is going to cause serious damage to thousands of people. And it is this realization that has made me speak.

If one does not speak realizing the imminent danger; if the worst happens, the blood of thousands will be on his/her hands. It is time we acknowledge the problem and try to deal with it. There can be solutions that can be considered to prevent this disaster.

First, of course, is a complete rollback. This might be a painful solution but will have the potential of winning us the most diplomatic leverage in this sorry state of ours. We can workout a security arrangement where major powers of the world, including US and China jointly take responsibility of our security interests sans nukes. When the nations acquire power organically, they start developing security might as well and so will we and so as a confident active nation, letting go nukes should not be end of world for us. Brazil, South Africa and Argentina gave up nukes and became stronger, we can too. But in case this option turns out to be a hard-sell, there is a second option too.

Second option is to keep the nuclear program but to put it under international safeguards for 8-10 years till we cleanse ourselves from within. This way, we will be able to preserve our nuclear arsenal. Knowing our deep distrust of United States, the international control could have significant Chinese leverage along with other global powers. This should satisfy concerns about western designs while protecting nukes from the hands of militants. 

Knowing our vulnerabilities, we do not know how much time we have. But we should seriously think of these questions. If a dirty bomb traced back to Pakistan blows anywhere in the world, the blood of thousands will be on our hands - on the hands of us all.