News Release

March 5, 2003

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Pakistan Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Cause for U.S. Concern
President Bush should also pressure Musharraf to crack down on al-Qaeda in Pakistan

WASHINGTON -- Although the United States has touted Pakistan as a "frontline ally" in the war on terrorism, the Pakistani government continues to support terrorist movements affiliated with al-Qaeda and has also played a significant role in advancing North Korea's nuclear program, according to a new Cato Institute report.

In "Extremist, Nuclear Pakistan: An Emerging Threat?" Subodh Atal, an independent foreign affairs analyst, argues that elements within Pakistan's military and its intelligence agency, the ISI, have engaged in active proliferation of nuclear weapons-related technology.

"U.S. policymakers need to be concerned about the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, the level of threat posed to that arsenal by al-Qaeda and related terrorist groups within Pakistan, the stability of Pakistan's regime, and the country's record on nuclear proliferation," writes Atal, adding that Pakistan, which has become the new command center for al-Qaeda, poses a greater threat to the U.S. than Iraq.

As President Bush has been pressuring Iraq to disarm while mulling military action against Hussein's regime, Bush has ignored the presence of al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, where they fled and re-established themselves following U.S. action in Afghanistan, Atal argues.

"This concentration of al-Qaeda presents the largest risk to U.S. national security because of the proximity of al-Qaeda and its sympathetic jihadi groups to power centers in nuclear Pakistan," says Atal.

Atal recommends that the United States pressure President Pervez Musharraf to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in the Northwest Frontier Province and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, where anti-U.S. jihadis are concentrated.

"It should warn Musharraf that, if Pakistan is unwilling or incapable of cleansing itself of its terrorist infrastructure, the U.S. military will take matters into its own hands and extend the anti-terrorism war into Pakistani territory," Atal writes.