Original Article: The Islamic Bomb
Note from Robert Spencer:
Bernard-Henri Levy writes in Opinion Journal (thanks to Jeffrey Imm) that Pakistan "--in the
shelter of its alliance with an America that is decidedly not counting inconsistencies--could furnish al
Qaeda with the means to take the ultimate step of its jihad." Indeed, it may
already have done so.
B.-H. Levy is at times a preening poseur; on Pakistan he is right. It is in the interest
of all non-Muslims to identify, and where possible guard themselves, Pakistan's nuclear capability.
Given the bloodcurdling statements of General Mirza Aslam about Jihad, given the past
record of endless duplicity, given Musharraf's own obvious involvement, the U.S. simply has
to recognize that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal must be neutralized, and this is far
more important than obtaining Pakistani "goodwill" and cooperation in picking up a few
hundred Taliban and Al Qaeda (who will be swiftly replaced by other Jihads)
in the Northwest Frontier or elsewhere. Those troops are trivial; the nuclear weapons
are not. America, India, and indeed those Pakistanis who want to prevent the
complete destruction of their own country, and their own futures (and Musharraf should
be made aware that there is NO future even for his own progeny
-- his son now being an accountant in Canton, Mass., here on American
suffrage -- if he refuses to collaborate. He should be read the riot
act, possibly by Rumsfeld himself. And he should also be told that if
he really wants to emulate Kemal Pasha Ataturk, he must make sure that
the Jihadis of Pakistan lack the nuclear wherewithal. There may even be a
few Pakistani generals who realize that they cannot guarantee the security of those
weapons, and that if they fall into the wrong hands, they too will
suffer the terrible retaaliation that will surely follow.
a challenge from 'Joseph':
is any state responsible enough to have nuclear weapons.....
Hugh's response:
A reply to "Joseph"--yes. Those countries which possess such weaponry and either use
them only in the most extreme situations (and sometimes not even then: Israel
refrained from using nuclear weapons in 1973, despite the surprise attack and its
endangered position). But more importantly, those states which are Muslim and, therefore, populated
by people large numbers of whom are inculcated with a hatred of all
non-Muslims, as part of their daily bread, are a danger. Israel's nuclear capacity
keeps it from being destroyed as an Infidel entity -- indeed, is the
only effective peacekeeper given that all treaties it makes with Muslim states be
broken by those states whenever possible (cf. the model of the Treaty of
al-Hudaibiyya, which REQUIRES all such treaties to be broken, by the Muslim side,
whenever possible); it is the only way to keep permanent peace between Muslim
Arabs and Israel (treaties, negotiations, and suchllike are silly). As for other countries,
we should worry about Pakistan's nuclear weapons, but not those in control of
Hindu India, worry about Indonesia trying to acquire such weapons, but not worry
one whit about Australia getting them.
The problem is Jihad --that is, the central tenets of Islam -- and
those who, even if they are not Muslims --e.g. Naim Ateek, Michel Sabbah,
and other "Christian" Palestinian Arabs -- whose deeds and words objectively promote the
Jihad.
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