Ominous news about our pseudo-ally, Pakistan — VOICES for REASON

He’s been denounced for his “heinous role as maestro of the world’s largest nuclear black market” and branded “the merchant of death,” but new, more alarming details have emerged in the dark story of A.Q. Khan. A Pakistani nuclear scientist, Khan was charged with illicitly trading nuclear technology. The standard account portrayed him as a rogue scientist out for his own gain and operating independently of the Pakistani regime. But now it appears he was a dutiful servant of the Pakistani regime (our purported ally).

A report in The Sunday Times of London suggests that, while selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, Khan was in fact under orders from his government. The report also suggests that, after 9/11, Pakistan sought to pin all blame on Khan in order to brush away its own “sins” and so more easily pass itself off as friendly to America. The newspaper’s allegations, if true, should prompt our leaders to revise their assessment of Pakistan. But will it?

It’s doubtful. Washington’s post-9/11 alliance with Pakistan was predicated on evading its record — which included the funding of Islamists in Afghanistan. (That’s what I argued in an op-ed from a while back.) Our leaders persist in shirking the need to pass moral judgment on Pakistan and guide our policy accordingly. What has been the response to the fact that Pakistan has at most gone through the motions of combating the jihadists on and within its borders (groups which in some cases it still supports)? We wag our finger, but continue sending it military aid.

Now it seems the evidence warrants a far lower moral judgment of Pakistan — far lower than many have been willing to recognize.

Graphic: WikiCommons