“This problem will not be discussed in public”
I do intend to return to my planned series on Matt Bai and the Serious People. But for now, David Sanger asks a question that really needs to be asked: what is going to happen to Pakistan’s nukes? Before I look at the answer Sanger offers, let me point to this one line in the story.
“It’s a very professional military,†said a senior American officialwho is trying to manage the crisis and insisted on anonymity becausethe White House has said this problem will not be discussed in public.“But the truth is, we don’t know how many of the safeguards areinstitutionalized, and how many are dependent on Musharraf’s guys.†[my emphasis]
Understand: the threat that Al Qaeda could get nukes was the single most important driving force behind the Iraq war. And now, because BushCo has seen fit to put Cheney in charge of its Pakistan policy, and Cheney has seen fit to make a spokesperson one of the main architects of that policy, there is a very real possibility that our "ally" Pakistan will provide nukes to the guys that hit us on 9/11. And the White House’s response is to dictate that, "this problem will not be discussed in public."
All the more reason to discuss it in public, I say.
And Sanger’s discussion is none too optimistic.