The turbulent nation of Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden is
far more popular than George W. Bush, possesses a nuclear
arsenal built with technology from the United States and
Europe, and financed with the help of America’s allies in
the Muslim world. Its dictatorial president, Pervez
Musharraf, faces widespread civil opposition, and militant
extremists threaten his life every day. The nuclear weapons
programs in North Korea and Iran, as well as Libya’s
now-defunct atomic effort, relied heavily on expertise and
materials provided by the nuclear smuggling network headed
by Pakistan’s national hero, A.Q. Khan. The United States –
from Carter and Reagan, through Bush I, Clinton, and the
current president – and other Western governments knew all
along that Pakistan was first developing and then exporting
nuclear technology, yet consistently turned a blind eye in
order to gain Pakistan’s cooperation during the Cold War
and, more recently, in the war on terror. As a result of
this Faustian bargain, nuclear technology has been allowed
to spread far and wide, dramatically increasing the chances
that terrorists or unfriendly regimes will someday get their
hands on an atomic device.
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