The criminal activities of Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of the Pakistani or "Muslim" bomb, read more and more like a doomsday thriller

National Review, March 8, 2004

* The criminal activities of Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of the Pakistani or "Muslim" bomb, read more and more like a doomsday thriller. James Bond, where are you? First he purloined designs for the nuclear weapons. Then he set up a purchasing system for parts (including centrifuges) so exaggerated that he could sell off the surpluses.

Finally he found partners for a manufacturing and trading network abroad, in order to smuggle parts and raw materials to his clients in Iran, Libya, and North Korea. All sorts of middlemen cooperated in Germany, England, Malaysia, Dubai--and they are now maintaining vociferously and unconvincingly that their hands are clean. Dr. Khan became one of the richest men in Pakistan, and made no attempt to hide it. Rumors that he was making his personal fortune by proliferating nuclear technology have been circulating in Pakistan for years. It was an open secret, for instance, that air force planes were being used to transport materials and missiles. President Musharraf claims to have heard nothing until recently, but now that Pakistan has been caught red-handed he's become rather sheepish about it. Of course it's difficult to proceed against someone held to be a national hero, the Father of the Muslim bomb, no less--but was it strictly necessary to pardon Dr. Khan within 24 hours? And of course President Bush can't push too hard while Musharraf helps fight the Islamists. But this contribution to the world's instability isn't going to pass any day soon.