AQ Khan’s nuclear Wal-Mart

For those of you who were away on vacation in the summer, I'd like to remind you about this hearing that took place on June 27. It took place shortly after IISS rolled out its Nuclear Black Markets strategic dossier edited by Mark Fitzpatrick.

Specifically, it was joint hearing of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia and Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, House Foreign Affairs Committee. The subject was 'AQ Khan's Nuclear Wal-Mart: Out of Business or Under New Management?'

Other unknown smuggling networks evidently exist

A National Defense University report released earlier this month makes a connection between Khan-like networks and nuclear terrorism.

The report from the NDU's Center for Technology and National Security Policy found that global cooperation between law enforcement agencies and a coordinated nuclear detection network is needed if the world hopes to prevent terrorists from acquiring WMD material.

What about those “30 proliferating companies in Europe”?

Not to beat a dead horse, but I think this [Pakistan] Daily Times editorial nicely encapsulates the furore over Ms Bhutto's remarks about Dr Khan:

Dr Khan 1: Benazir Bhutto 0

If Benazir Bhutto was floating a trial balloon when she talked about allowing IAEA inspectors to question Dr Khan I think it safe to say the results are in. And it appears, to paraphrase Franklin D Roosevelt, the only thing Dr Khan has to fear is not Benazir Bhutto. Consider some of the subsequent reaction, courtesy of BBC Monitoring International Reports, September 27, 2007:

Chronicling Dr Khan

As you may have noted from previous posts I am, among other things, mightily impressed by the accomplishments of Dr Khan. In fact, to some degree I might even qualify as a fan, if not a groupie. There are times when it is hard waiting for the next Google news alert about him.

Still, I recognize that not everyone is as enamored by his history as I am. In fact, hard as it may be to believe, some people out there don't even know who he is. Gasp, the horror!

Khan and the IAEA

To follow up to the earlier posting today about Benazir Bhutto’s remarks yesterday, in which she said allow IAEA inspectors to question Abdul Qadeer Khan, I think it appropriate to cite some of what Mark Hibbs previously wrote, in this November 23 2007 Nucleonics Week article:

Questioning President Musharraf’s hero?

We wonder how Dr Khan feels about this. Even though it was Pakistani President Musharraf who relieved Dr Khan of his job and put him in house arrest in February 2004, Musharraff has always been protective of him. In the past, he said, He is my hero. He always was and still is, because he made Pakistan a nuclear power (Shopping For Bombs, p 214). That helps explain why Musharraf has steadfastly refused to allow Dr Khan to be interrogated by outsiders.

Dr Khan – Educator of the Year

Dr Khan is a man of many talents; not all of them appreciated. But it should be noted that he has done his part for the Pakistani educational system. In that regard we take our hats off to Ms Noreen Mushtaq D/O Mushtaq Ahmed. She is one of the three women who swept all top three positions in the Bachelor of Education (BEd) annual examination 2006, the result of which was announced by the University of Balochistan (UoB) Quetta this past Saturday. Ms Mushtaq is a student at the Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan College of Education in Quetta.