Foreign Policy In Focus

Oblivious to his status as the greatest nuclear thief in history, A.Q. Khan has started his own political party in Pakistan. 

There's only person who's less worthy of being referred to by cool initials than A.Q. Khan. That's Khalid Sheik Mohammed: KSM sounds way too familiar, creepy, even in its coziness.

Before interviewing him for a September 5 piece at Foreign Policy, Simon Henderson reminds us that

Abdul Qadeer Khan is the father of Pakistan's nuclear program -- and, according to Washington officialdom, the architect of the greatest violation to the nuclear non-proliferation regime that the world has ever seen. Starting in the 1980s and continuing for roughly two decades, the nuclear scientist oversaw the transfer of crucial nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea.

Why interview him now? It seems

… the controversial nuclear scientist is entering Pakistan's political arena. He recently announced the formation of the Movement for the Protection of Pakistan  … which he conceives as an organization that will back worthy candidates in the country's upcoming national assembly elections.

And why launch the party now? AQ Khan responds:

At the moment Pakistan is in an extremely precarious and dangerous condition - no law and order, widespread load shedding [planned rolling blackouts -- RW], a high crime rate. … In short, it has gone to the dogs thanks to our most incompetent and corrupt rulers and their Western patrons. … I can't simply sit back and see it destroyed. I feel that I must do something to try to save the situation,

In fairness, Khan claims to partly motivated by preventing the spread of anti-Islamist extremism. Khan said he is concerned about "target killing on religious, sectarian or provincial bases" (the plural of basis, that is). He adds:

I have noticed that Western countries are nervous about my Movement, possibly suspecting that I might be a fundamentalist or a jihadi. They forget that I studied in Europe, lived there for 15 years, have a foreign wife, have two daughters who studied in the UK and have two granddaughters studying abroad, one in the UK and one in the USA. … I seek … sanctity of our sovereignty, non-participation in mercenary activities or allowing our country to be used for terrorism, either from within or from outside.

To the West, Pakistan presents national-security concerns that can be distilled thusly: that it will use nuclear weapons on India, that it's a breeding ground of extremist Islamists, and that said extremists might seize the nuclear weapons. Asked about their safety, Khan -- never less than quoteworthy -- replies:

Pakistan's nuclear assets are as safe as President Obama's black box. Nobody can even steal a screw from them. … The world should worry about their own problems, not about ours.

That last statement does not bode well for his grasp on reality. Nor does this.

Nobody in Pakistan doubts my integrity, honesty, sincerity or patriotism. … Pakistani historians will remember me by the nickname they have given me: "Mohsin-e-Pakistan" (Saviour of Pakistan). 

His remarks can even be construed as delusional. He claims it's not national office he seeks.

I am just a guide -- some sort of Lee Kwan [sic] Yew, the former PM of Singapore, Mahathir [of Malaysia] or, hopefully, Mandela. 

Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew is known as the "founding father" of modern Singapore; Mahathir bin Mohamad was the prime minister under whom Malaysia experienced modernization and growth. Meanwhile the narcissism of comparing oneself to Nelson Mandela speaks for itself. 

India and Pakistan have completed talks in Islamabad, Pakistan on "confidence-building" measures (CBMs) toward their respective nuclear-weapons programs. (To this author, the term confidence-building often just signifies an attempt to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.) They agreed to renew agreements to reduce the risk of nuclear-weapons accidents and to notify each other in advance of ballistic missile tests. In other words, nothing to see here, move along.

Considering the enmity between the two states, it's no wonder that India and Pakistan continue to make even less substantive progress on nuclear disarmament than the United States and Russia. Further complicating the issue, a faction in Pakistan may have actually aided India in developing its nuclear program. Yes, you read that right.

Joshua Pollack, who can usually be found at Arms Control Wonk, explains in an article for Playboy titled The Secret Treachery of A.Q. Khan.

India’s enrichment program progressed slowly, but at some point before 1992 the Indians began experimenting with supercritical centrifuges, devices that can withstand very high rotational speeds. The program apparently continued to expand, with the Indians purchasing large quantities of supercritical centrifuge components from 1997 to 1999 and again from 2003 to 2006.  … Despite some changes, the design is recognizable to the trained eye: It almost mirrors … Pakistan’s P-2 centrifuge.

Centrifuge specs are not the only apparent link between India’s enrichment program and Khan’s operation. The cast of characters also overlaps, starting with Gerhard Wisser, a German living in South Africa [whose] engineering firm supplied. … India’s centrifuge program with specialized equipment, starting in the late 1980s. What else he … might have sold to the Indians remains unknown, but the timing is consistent with India’s earliest known work with supercritical centrifuges.

… Could Khan have been ignorant about Wisser’s dealings with India? … At first, Khan seems to have suggested [Lerch] was autonomous enough to supply both India and Pakistan without either side knowing. But Khan later [admitted,] "There is a strong probability that the Indian uranium enrichment program … could be a copy of the Pakistani centrifuge design.”

Khan's motivation for possibly trading nuclear know-how and technology with other states (Iran, North Korea, and Libya, for certain)? According to Pollack, to fund public works projects in Pakistan that would glorify his name.

If, directly or indirectly, AQ Khan aided the development of India's nuclear weapons, it parallels how Pakistan's ISI and military fund elements of the Taliban. Both could result in the eventual self-immolation of Pakistan.