Kayani not on board with Zardari's 'no-first-use' N-policy: WikiLeaks

[relativiti]

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Kayani not on board with Zardari's 'no-first-use' N-policy: WikiLeaks

Pakistan's powerful army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani does not support President Asif Ali Zardari's "no-first-use" nuclear policy, according to a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.

On February 19, 2009, just days ahead of General Kayani's week-long trip to America, Anne Patterson, who was the US ambassador to Pakistan wrote, "Although he has remained silent on the subject, Kayani does not support Zardari's statement last year to the Indian press that Pakistan would adopt a "no first use" policy on nuclear weapons." (Read: WikiLeaks cable)

She stressed, "Despite increasing financial constraints, we believe that the military is proceeding with an expansion of both its growing strategic weapons and missile programs. Pakistan's strategic assets are under the control of the secular military, which has implemented extensive physical, personnel and command and control safeguards."

Ms Patterson says her major concern is that someone working in a nuclear facility "could gradually smuggle enough fissile material out to eventually make a weapon."


The cable, sent just three months after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, makes multiple references to the Pakistani army and ISI's support to terror groups including the Lashkar. At one point, the Ambassador states, "Zardari and Gilani agree that Pakistan's biggest threat comes from a growing militant insurgency on the Pak-Afghan border. The military and ISI have not yet made that leap; they still view India as their principal threat and Afghanistan as strategic depth in a possible conflict with India. They continue to provide overt or tacit support for proxy forces (including the Haqqani group, Commander Nazir, Gulbaddin Hekmatyar, and Lashkar-e-Taiba) as a foreign policy tool."

She also writes that when General Kayani is in Washington, he must be told "that Pakistan's Army/ISI must stop overt or tacit support for militant proxies (Haqqani network, Commander Nazir, Lashkar-e-Taiba).... The single biggest message Kayani should hear in Washington is that this support must end. It is now counterproductive to Pakistan's own interests and directly conflicts with USG objectives in Afghanistan--where Haqqani is killing American soldiers and Afghan civilians--and the region--where Mumbai exposed the fruits of previous ISI policy to create Lashkar-e-Taiba and still threatens potential conflict between nuclear powers."

The cable also reveals that the Pakistani government was as worried then as it has been this week about how to handle the Public Relations aspect of US military operations violating Pakistan's sovereignty. "As recent media reports indicate, the U.S. has eliminated 10 of the top 20 Al Qaida operatives in Pakistan over the last year. However, the strikes have put increasing political pressure on the Pakistani government, which has struggled to explain why it is allowing an ally to violate its sovereignty. The GOP (Government of Pakistan) so far has denied recent media reports alleging that the U.S. is launching the strikes from bases in Pakistan," the cable states.

Source: Kayani not on board with Zardari's 'no-first-use' N-policy: WikiLeaks

[President Camacho]

May be Zardari is not as powerless and dumb as he is often portrayed.

[T-Rex]

May be Zardari is not as powerless and dumb as he is often portrayed.

To think that Zardari is stupid is a serious miscalculation. He knows what serves his personal interest and acts accordingly.

[GUNS-N- ROSES]

well its pretty interesting

[Najam Khan]

May be Zardari is not as powerless and dumb as he is often portrayed.

Mushraaf made President as Chairman NCA, when Mr.Z arrived no official NCA meeting was conducted for several months...until the change in policy, PM was given the authority.

Bottom line, Mr.Z hold no value in these matters...!

[satya245]

it really need guts,self-confidence and self-belief to declare "no first use" policy

[Patriot]

Sounds Good .

[satya245]

Sounds Good .

what sounds good?

[Pak_Sher]

Kayani not on board with Zardari's? Zardari who the incompetent President in the history of Pakistan, if that is the one, Kayani is 200% right.

[PAK defender]

wikileaks is a CIA operation just go to the original files of wikileaks .............its mass psyops.

[AstanoshKhan]

Why WikiLeaks always talks about Pakistan only and every news linked to Pakistan is one way or the other about Nuclear weapons? Why they don't talk something about Israel and their nuclear and war mongering thirst, USA - the lost nuclear warheads back in 2007, and their secrete missions and atrocities they had been performing to humanity for over a century now. They even talked about Imran Khan in WikiLeaks - seriously people have started believing whatever news comes out of wikileaks as a divine revelation. How much deception are we being fed with these days... sometimes I really want to unplug the switch off from this digital and e-life I am in.

[RazorMC]

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I remember Zardari's speech on a screen in India (shown on NDTV) after the Mumbai incident. That man said that Pakistan would move towards a no-first-use policy which was greeted by tremendous applause.
Silly thing to do if one has no understanding of anything other than black money and kala dhan.