Former CIA officer John Kiriakou has revealed that the US supplied thousands and thousands of {dollars} to Pakistan underneath former President Pervez Musharraf, in impact “buying” his cooperation.He additionally claimed that Musharraf handed over management of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to the US. “Once I was stationed in Pakistan in 2002, I used to be advised unofficially that the Pentagon managed the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, that Musharraf had turned management over to the US as a result of he was afraid of precisely what you simply described (nuclear weapons falling into terrorist palms),” Kiriakou advised information company ANI.Kiriakou additionally revealed that the US kept away from focusing on Abdul Qadeer Khan, the architect of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, after “direct intervention” by the Saudi authorities.
“A colleague of mine was coping with A Q Khan,” Kiriakou mentioned, as quoted by the ANI. “If we had taken the Israeli strategy, we might have simply killed him. He was straightforward sufficient to search out. We knew the place he lived. We knew how he spent his day. However he additionally had the assist of the Saudi authorities. And the Saudis got here to us and mentioned, ‘Please go away him alone. Please. We like A Q Khan. We’re working with A.Q. Khan. We’re near the Pakistanis…They named Faisalabad after King Faisal. Simply go away him alone.”Kiriakou referred to as this diplomatic strain a significant US coverage failure, describing it as a “mistake” by Washington. “This was a mistake that the US authorities made, not confronting A Q Khan head-on,” he mentioned.Khan was born in Bhopal in 1936, moved to Pakistan together with his household in 1952 after Partition, and died in Islamabad in 2021 on the age of 85.
‘US anticipated India to strike again after 2002, 2008 terror assaults’
Kiriakou mentioned the US had anticipated India to retaliate after the 2001 Parliament assault and 2008 Mumbai terror assaults, but it surely didn’t. “On the CIA we referred to as the Indian coverage strategic endurance. The Indian authorities would have been completely inside its rights to reply by placing Pakistan and so they did not. And I bear in mind on the White Home individuals had been saying, wow, the Indians are actually exhibiting a really mature international coverage right here. We anticipated the Indians to, to strike again and so they did not. And that saved the world from what may need been a nuclear trade. Proper? However India’s gotten to the purpose the place they can not threat strategic endurance being misunderstood as weak point. And they also needed to reply,” he mentioned.He added that Musharraf allowed the US to function freely. “Our relationships with the Pakistani authorities had been very, superb. It was Basic Pervez Musharraf on the time. And look, let’s be sincere right here. The US loves working with dictators. As a result of then you do not have to fret about public opinion and you do not have to fret concerning the media anymore. And so we basically simply bought Musharraf.”Kiriakou mentioned Musharraf allowed the US to function freely. “We gave thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of {dollars} in assist, whether or not it was army assist or financial growth assist. And we might meet with Musharraf repeatedly, a number of occasions every week. And basically he would allow us to do no matter we wished to do. Sure. However Musharraf additionally had his personal those that he wanted to cope with,” he mentioned.He added that Musharraf maintained the assist of the army whereas pretending to cooperate with the US on counterterrorism, however continued actions towards India. “He needed to hold the army blissful. And the army did not care about Al-Qaeda. They cared about India. And so to be able to hold the army blissful and hold among the extremists blissful, he needed to permit them to proceed this twin lifetime of pretending to cooperate with the Individuals on counterterrorism whereas committing terror towards India,” Kiriakou mentioned.