In a telephone interview yesterday, Taliban spokesman Mullah Ehsanullah Ehsan rejected repeated concerns that his movement was a threat to Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, saying they had no intention of attacking the weapons.
The concerns are long-standing among US officials, and have only grown in the wake of the ease with which a handful of insurgents infiltrated the Karachi naval base. The US has suggested repeatedly that they were prepared to move against Pakistan’s arsenal to prevent it from being targeted by insurgents.
But Ehsan said the whole notion was entirely an American invention, and was simply a US excuse to pressure the Pakistani government into taking more action against the various Taliban factions in the country.
Ehsan, who was once the head of the Afghan Central Bank, couched most of his comments not in the usual religious Taliban rhetoric but appealed mostly to Pakistani nationalism, saying it was a shame that a nation that is the world’s only Muslim nuclear weapons state was bowing to US demands. Such tactics will likely appeal to Pakistan’s public, which is increasingly fed up with US intereference in their affairs.
They are foolish.
The only way to stop being attacked by America and its stooges is to ACQUIRE NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Just like we should have listened to OBL when he was TELLING us why he was doing the things he did, we need to be listening to the Taliban when they tell us they're not targeting Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Sure, it's easy to discount such statements as wartime misdirection but on the whole we need to pay more more attention what our opponents are saying- with the Taliban (and most Islamic groups, for that matter) they are very up-front and straightforward about their reasons for opposing us and in many cases HOW they are going to oppose us.
Besides, think about this: why would the Taliban, being the wily fighters they are, let themselves be lured into what is already certainly a trap laid by the US and/or their Pakistani loyalists? Surely there are US boots on the ground covertly watching Pakistani nuclear sites, ready to Call In The Boys if anything goes down- why would the Taliban be fooled into taking that sort of obvious bait?
Also, say the Taliban DID gain control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons- what then? If they don't launch everything right away, their efforts will be wasted when the full force of the USAF and Army comes down on them- and just because you have physical control of nuclear weapons this doesn't automatically mean you have access to control codes and triggers and all that- or even know how to target the things!
Taken as a whole, I'd listen to the Taliban on this. They have no reason to target nuclear facilities, and are certainly not blind as to their lack of the capability to DO anything with those weapons if they did have them under their control.
And think about this: the Taliban has not had nuclear weapons, or tanks, or drones, or an air force of any kind and STILL they have fought the US military to a standstill in Afghanistan. The Taliban doesn't need a crushing victory on the battlefield to win the war; all they need to do is to keep us in the field until we can't or won't fight any longer. They win just by surviving- and they will, make no mistake about it.
Do I support all of their views or methods? No, of course not. Do I support all of their views on how society should be organized? No, of course not. Do I respect them for the good works they sponsor for the common people of Afghanistan and Pakistan? Of course I do. Do I respect them as disciplined fighters and a formidable opponent? You bet I do.
That's short sighted. Don't they realize the US has plans for targeting those weapons? They won't let them fall into the hands of the Taliban, or anyone else they don't trust.
The Pakistanis are the ones who need to be most concerned. A denuclearized Pakistan, facing a nuclear power in India means bye-bye Kashmir, and, possibly, the end of Pakistan too.