Bill Roggio, who runs a great website, The Long War Journal, has been reporting for months on the steady increase in the power of the Pakistani Taliban, who are approaching the capital of Islamabad. What is most frightening is that the Taliban also are approaching Pakistani nuclear weapons storage areas:
The Taliban takeover of Haripur would put the Taliban on the doorstep of Islamabad and would also put two major nuclear facilities at risk.
Haripur borders the Margala Hills, a region in the Islamabad Capital Territory. Haripur also borders the Punjab districts of Attock and Rawalpindi.
Attock hosts two major nuclear facilities in Pakistan: the Wah Cantonment Ordnance Complex and the Kamra (Minhas) Airbase. The Wah Cantonment Ordnance Complex host three sites where nuclear weapons and components are stored and assembled and aircraft and missiles are modified for use in nuclear attacks. The nearby Kamra Airbase is thought to host attack aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Rawalpindi is the “garrison” city for Pakistan’s military. The city hosts the headquarters of the Army and Air Force, and several nuclear weapons research facilities are also located there.
As pointed out at Hot Air, it may be Time to start freaking out about Pakistan. Nuclear weapons or materials in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists such as the Taliban, with close ties to al–Qaeda, is everyone’s nightmare. We need Obama to succeed in this coming crisis.
What will we do if nuclear weapons or materials come into the hands of al–Qaeda’s allies? How will we know that those weapons or materials will not be turned over to al–Qaeda for use against us or our allies?
In such a scenario, I hope Obama has the courage to do whatever it takes to prevent al–Qaeda from obtaining or using nuclear weapons or material, regardless of what other countries think of us, theory, or future truth commissions.
UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that the Taliban have pulled back from the outskirts of Islamabad. I’ll believe it when Bill Roggio confirms it. Even a temporary pull-back does not remove the danger of nuclear weapons in a failing state.
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