Pakistan in Media

The News International, Pakistan
Monday, June 08, 2009

However, there is a direct and objective threat that is less visible or obvious; and one that we need to monitor carefully. The threat comes from inside, from radicals amongst the educated who are in a position to purloin nuclear material (as has happened elsewhere in the world it should be remembered, with radioactive material occasionally showing up on the black market) and have the skill-sets to weaponise it. It is long and well-enough known that Al Qaeda would like to obtain nuclear materials, the makings of a ‘dirty bomb’. The risk is that they have sympathizers and collaborators within both the offices of state and within wider society, people who are engineers, scientists, technicians and perhaps even those in high office who could and would support or facilitate Al Qaeda in its goals. Al Qaeda has the capacity to mount sophisticated infiltration operations. The radicalization of our youth in universities, some of them training for entry into the various fields of nuclear science is natural hunting-ground for extremists. They may not have the skills themselves to create a weapon, or easy access to the materials – but would like to become the new best friend of somebody who can. Close monitoring and inspection as well as regular security screenings will help to mitigate the threat, but it is unlikely to disappear. The longer that the radical agenda remain embedded in our society, the better the chances of a collaboration between it and present or future technocrats and scientists. The Taliban present no threat to our nuclear assets in purely military terms – but their ideas do.

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