Reading AQ Khan's Alleged Letter On North Korea
10 July 2011
This purported North Korean letter combines two of CIA’s best targets: Pakistan’s nukes and Pakistan’s military in one fine shot. Langley couldn’t be happier. It wants to drag Dr. Khan and two Pakistani generals into an open discussion of how Pakistan’s nukes were financed. Pakistanis should not fall for the trap.
SPECIAL REPORT
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A letter from a North Korean official to Dr. A. Q. Khan was published by two major American newspapers, the Washington Post and the New York Times on 7 July 2011.
Far from being a surprise, the letter is part of a pattern, where CIA continues to doggedly pursue and scandalize Pakistan’s nuclear program. On 15 May 2011, CIA was probably behind another unusual story in the American magazine Newsweek, where satellite images of Pakistani nuclear reactors were published as evidence of ‘the world’s largest expanding nuclear program.’ The spin was meant to create global hype and alarm.
Another target that has picked up urgency in American eyes is Pakistani military.
US officials are trying to whip up anti-military sentiments in Pakistan.
This purported North Korean letter combines two of CIA’s favorite targets: Pakistan’s nukes and Pakistan’s military.
The first part deals with the apparent murder of the wife of the North Korean representative in Islamabad. Not much is known about this case in public. But curiously the author of the letter accuses ISI, along with CIA and South Korean intelligence, of orchestrating the murder. But the letter doesn’t explain how North Korea could enter into highly classified cooperation with a country whose spy agency is working against North Korean interests.
The second and third parts deal with payments and arrangements to place documents and other material on a North Korean plane departing Islamabad.
Even if this letter is authentic, it would be suicidal for Pakistani intelligence to reveal how it operates by explaining methods of receiving and making payments.
Putting such payments in writing also violates rules of secrecy. Even novices in the business of espionage and secret deals won’t make this kind of a mistake. The North Korean official whose signature appears on the document is a known intelligence old hand and will not be caught making this beginner’s mistake.
Moreover, the history of Pakistan’s nuclear program includes numerous instances where money exchanged hands in ways not vey dissimilar to the description in this letter. This is not unusual and is also true for the nuclear programs of Israel and India.
There is always the chance that some secret money would be skimmed by shady characters. This happens in underhand dealings. But most of the money generated to finance a nuclear program is normally pumped back into the system to pay for the expensive business of building nuclear weapons. This has been a rule of thumb in general, as the records of several nuclear-armed countries show.
Authentic or not, the release of this document has several objectives apart from the usual demonization of Pakistani nukes. It aims at stripping Pakistani military of any credibility in the eyes of Pakistani citizens. It also aims at forcing Pakistani military officials, especially those named in the letter and who are long retired, to openly discuss how finances were handled in building the Pakistani nuclear program. If this happens, the back and forth would reveal more secrets.
http://pak1stanfirst.com/pakistan/international-relations/pakistans-new-ally-russia.html
