[TheMosco]

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea appears to have bought a complete nuclear weapon from either Pakistan or a former Soviet Union state, a South Korean newspaper said on Thursday quoting a source in Washington.

If this is true, so much for them being our friend.

So they interfered in us getting bin laden and now they are selling weapons to our enemies. Bush knows how to pick his friends...

haha, oops. i forgot to post the article:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=7452415

[Millennium]

I thought that North Korea was already building its own nuclear weapons; last I checked they claimed to have five of them. If they can build their own, then why buy one from Pakistan? For that matter, what does Pakistan have to say about this?

Something doesn't smell right here.

[Sherwin]

Easy test to check where it's from: Pakistani nukes usually have "Islamic Bomb" written down the side of them.

[TheMosco]

Originally posted by Millennium:
I thought that North Korea was already building its own nuclear weapons; last I checked they claimed to have five of them. If they can build their own, then why buy one from Pakistan? For that matter, what does Pakistan have to say about this?

Something doesn't smell right here.

Had I posted the article link, you might have been able to read this:

The purchase was apparently intended to avoid nuclear weapons testing that could be detected from the outside, the source was quoted as saying.

North Korea is believed to have one or two nuclear weapons and possibly more than eight.

[spacefreak]

The date of the alleged purchase would have added a nice touch to the article.

[MacGorilla]

Pakistan's "Father of the Bomb" ran a nuclear black market before he was caught and pardoned by Mushariff. That's a friend for you.

[chris v]

A staunch ally, that Pakistan is. And such a beacon of freedom and democracy.

[spacefreak]

Originally posted by MacGorilla:
Pakistan's "Father of the Bomb" ran a nuclear black market before he was caught and pardoned by Mushariff. That's a friend for you.

He was debriefed thoroughly, divulging precious information. That's the deal he made, and Pakistan/US/UK accepted.

I'd rather have information as to who, what, where, and how, and have him walk (and tracked, of course), then have the guy beheaded without revealing a thing.

[James L]

Why does this always come up? Doesn't America have almost 10,000 nuclear warheads still deployed? You would think THAT would be a concern too.

[Taliesin]

Originally posted by TheMosco:
If this is true, so much for them being our friend.

So they interfered in us getting bin laden and now they are selling weapons to our enemies. Bush knows how to pick his friends...

haha, oops. i forgot to post the article:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=7452415

Hey, I'm as excited over hearsay as anyone else, but at least be as exact as possible when telling about hearsay and note that the report said that North-Corea bought a nuke either from Pakistan or (!!) a former Soviet-Union-state. That's a whole world different from claiming that it was definetly Pakistan and tells us that there is much speculation included by the reporter.

Taliesin

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

from either Pakistan or a former Soviet Union state

Or from a used car salesman in Des Moines. In other words, it's more expedient to write up news stories before pesky things like all the relevant facts are actually known.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by James L:
Why does this always come up? Doesn't America have almost 10,000 nuclear warheads still deployed? You would think THAT would be a concern too.

It is, but that's a known danger to the world, with the only new developments being in regard to the madmen in charge of the arsenal.

[BoomStick]

Pakistan can't afford to sell off any nuclear weapons with India being such a superior force right on their border.

[spacefreak]

Originally posted by Taliesin:
Hey, I'm as excited over hearsay as anyone else, but at least be as exact as possible when telling about hearsay and note that the report said that North-Corea bought a nuke either from Pakistan or (!!) a former Soviet-Union-state. That's a whole world different from claiming that it was definetly Pakistan and tells us that there is much speculation included by the reporter.

I think the "when" question is important, too. I mean, was this 7 years ago? Last week?

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
It is, but that's a known danger to the world, with the only new developments being in regard to the madmen in charge of the arsenal.

[Ratm]

Originally posted by TheMosco:
If this is true, so much for them being our friend.

[ebuddy]

Smells to me like someone got their hands on the missing Russian nukes.

Maybe it was Pakistan. There are no "friends" on this globe. There never can be. The dynamic of man and dichotomy of ideals are too great and friendships on this level are rarely more than contractual agreements. We've lost more friends than this and it started well before our action in Iraq. What to do? I mean, ultimitely this is going to happen no matter what you do and is indicative of human nature.

[vmpaul]

Originally posted by spacefreak:
He was debriefed thoroughly, divulging precious information. That's the deal he made, and Pakistan/US/UK accepted.

I'd rather have information as to who, what, where, and how, and have him walk (and tracked, of course), then have the guy beheaded without revealing a thing.

Really? Thoroughly debriefed?

According to Pakistan's President Musharraf, he wasn't debriefed by anybody in this government. You must mean debriefed by Pakistani officials. Maybe even some of those same Pakistani officials who are suspected of secretly supporting Osama Bin Laden and his group. Boy, that sure gives one a lot of confidence, doesn't it?

Here's an excerpt from an article/interview(NYTimes Sept 25, 2004) with President Musharraf last Sept when he came to the United Nations to give a speech:

If a nuclear weapon destroys the U.S. Capitol in coming years, it will probably be based in part on Pakistani technology. The biggest challenge to civilization in recent years came not from Osama or Saddam Hussein but from Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb. Dr. Khan definitely sold nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, and, officials believe, to several more nations as well.

But, amazingly, eight months after Dr. Khan publicly confessed, we still don't know who the rest of his customers were. Mr. Musharraf acknowledged as much in an interview.

"I can't say surely that we have unearthed everything that he's done, but I think we have unearthed most of what he's done," Mr. Musharraf said. Translated, that means: I'm afraid you're eventually going to find out about other transactions that we're still trying to hide.

American intelligence experts haven't been able to interrogate Dr. Khan, and Mr. Musharraf claims that the U.S. has not even asked to do so. "Let me put the record straight: nobody asked us to be allowed to question him," Mr. Musharraf said.

President Bush apparently did not ask for that direct access at his meeting on Wednesday with Mr. Musharraf, and it's clear that the administration is not pressing the issue. Why? Because Mr. Bush in this election season has another priority: getting Mr. Musharraf to help catch Osama.

Unless he's pressed hard, Mr. Musharraf won't make Dr. Khan available. Dr. Khan is a Pakistani hero, and there'd be great outrage if so-called Yankee anti-Muslim crusaders were allowed to interrogate him. "There would be a very strong reaction," warned Ghafoor Ahmad, a senator and Islamic politician.

Again for emphasis: "Let me put the record straight: nobody asked us to be allowed to question him," Mr. Musharraf said.

Not debriefed by anyone in the US. The US has not even asked to question Khan. Oh yeah, this Administration is on top of everything.