Pakistan and nuclear weapons (catch all)

[Entropy]

This editor saying this is not surprising. He manages the major mainstream right-wing media in Pakistan. He's previously said the only solution that will work in Kashmir is force and has justified pretty much any violent act toward that end.

[Jedburgh]

SWP, 23 Jun 09: Pakistan as a Nuclear Power: Nuclear Risks, Regional Conflicts and the Dominant Role of the Military

.....our study deals with three questions of overriding importance:

• How secure are Pakistan's nuclear weapons and nuclear facilities?

• How stable is the domestic political situation in Pakistan?

• What are the likely prospects for the Pakistan-India conflict?

[tequila]

Certainly not the first time this has been said. Both Indian and Pakistani presses stoke hardline nationalism for the most part.

This editor must have an attention problem. Given Pakistan's troubles in NWFP and FATA, to worry one whit about Kashmir right now is akin to one worrying over whether he fed his dog today when his child is drowning.

A good reminder that politics does not stop because the U.S. believes something is an emergency. Kashmir has been an obsession of Pakistani nationalism since its founding.

Remember that for most Punjabis, the NWFP and FATA are as far away mentally as Mississippi is from Oregon. Historically they are the most backward and isolated bits of the country, outside of perhaps Balochistan, and treated as more of a colonial possession than a constituent part of the country.

[slapout9]

Remember that for most Punjabis, the NWFP and FATA are as far away mentally as Mississippi is from Oregon.

A little culture shock going on there

[Ken White]

there are in Jackson and Hattiesburg combined. Only differences are that out west they don't eat catfish, aren't as polite and they talk funny...

[davidbfpo]

Just found this on a BBC website and may be of interest, let alone the opening tale that pakistan's nukes have been dispersed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/markurban/

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Pakistan's possession of nuclear weapons is an important aspect of her relations with friends and neighbours. One that some suspect is a clear and future danger if Pakistan changes course. In fact I heard a retired US diplomat on the BBC a month ago remark "Why do we pay so much attention to Iran, when Pakistan has nukes".

So here is an article by a UK-based analyst 'Pakistan, NATO, and tactical nuclear weapons: two of a kind?', which was spotted today:http://shashankjoshi.wordpress.com/2...two-of-a-kind/

In the opening:

The rationale for Pakistan’s use of such weapons is familiar to most, and often invokes NATO’s nuclear doctrine. It is worth understanding how exactly NATO’s nuclear thinking applies to Pakistan, and what this implies for how its arsenal might develop and how India might respond to this.

Near the end:

Whereas NATO was a multinational alliance with a variety of perspectives on where the nuclear threshold ought to lie, Pakistani decision-making – whatever its pathologies – is certainly simpler and more responsive. India cannot rely on Pakistani hesitation, even though it, India, would surely calibrate the level of force so as to make any Pakistani decision a difficult one.

If Pakistan does place increasing stress on limited nuclear options, and tactical nuclear weapons in particular, then understanding the differences from the NATO precedent – the ones discussed here, and plenty of others – will be as important as seeing the similarities.