THIS is with reference to Dr. Muhammad Reza Kazimi`s rebuttal (June 11).
Dr Kazimi is right, in part. During the period of the Pressler amendment enforcement, elements of the US government were just as guilty of `lying and misbehaving` as Pakistan was. He is correct to note that Senator John Glenn was also worried about India`s nuclear weapons programme.
Senator Glenn was what I call a `non-proliferation purist,` if you will. He and I both worried about the impact more nuclear weapons would have on mankind worldwide. However, the US has never given India the billions of dollars that we have poured into Pakistan over the last several decades. This aid was intended to support Pakistan`s precarious economy, but most of it was funnelled into its nuclear weapons programme.
Moreover, India`s nuclear programme is much more transparent than Pakistan`s and India does not have terrorists hiding in plain sight. These terrorists are a clear threat to the safety of Pakistan`s nuclear weapons and the safety of the South Asia region. If the Pressler amendment had continued to be enforced, Pm convinced that Pakistan would not have been able to afford to continue its nuclear weapons programme and the world today would be a safer place.
If the CIA did somehow instruct former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers to arrest Dr Khan, this would fit into the theme of my upcoming book saying that some elements of the US government wanted Pakistan to possess a nuclear weapon and worked against the Pressler amendment. The CIA was one of them.
