Deception: British Reporter Adrian Levy on How the United States Secretly Helped Pakistan Build Its Nuclear Arsenal

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

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"......Analysts suggest that the US is concerned over the rising threat of instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan and worried about the safety and security of the country's nuclear weapons. The New York Times revealed Sunday that the US has been using a $100 million dollar program to secretly help Pakistan guard its nuclear arsenal.

Adrian Levy is senior staff correspondent with the Guardian newspaper in the UK. He is the co-author of a new book on how Pakistan became a nuclear power. It's called "Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons." It discusses how five consecutive US administrations from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush have been complicit in building and protecting Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

Adrian Levy joins me now from London.....

AMY GOODMAN: Adrian Levy, you have written about how President Bush and General Musharraf had been very close and I want to wrap up with your revelation about how Pakistan has been encouraging the resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda and continues the nuclear black market.

ADRIAN LEVY: Absolutely. I think there is a false configuration coming out of the Pentagon which is that if Musharraf falls, the Islamists will take over and have their fingers on a nuclear trigger. This is a false argument put out in order to continue the client status of the Pakistan military with the U.S. military. In fact, if you analyze Musharraf's military record and look of his deeds rather than at the dogma, what you discover is the Pakistan military and Musharraf in particular, have been manipulating the Islamist faction......"