U.S. Accuses Pakistan Of Illegally Modifying American-Made Missiles

nytimes.com:

WASHINGTON -- The United States has accused Pakistan of illegally modifying American-made missiles to expand its capability to strike land targets, a potential threat to India, according to senior administration and Congressional officials.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[allknowingandseeing]

Americans had no choice but to pal around with the Pakistanis after 9/11. They knew of the Pakistani military and ISI training terrorists jihadis who wanted to destroy secular India, but chose to ignore it . It is not too late---U.S. should suspend all military supplies to Pakistan, 'cuz every single weapon will eventually be used against India---------a democracy and a friend.

[Strategy]

Watch Zaid Hamid's videos on you tube people!
That will tell you what a common man in 0akistan thinks about US !

[Lean2left]

why are you so scared of my comments

[Strategy]

What makes you think so? Is this Dr. Zaid Hamid himself? Well, who can argue with you??

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

Not just modifying. No doubt they must be reverse engineering the missiles as part of the modification process. That means our missile technology will be incorporated into their next-generation missiles.

Since they can manufacture at a small fraction of the American cost, we can expect Pakistan to become a military arms seller competitor.

[TJCole]

Great points WatchTV...you've got that right....also with Pakistan being ever less stable these are then delivery systems that could fall into the hands of the Taliban or even al-Qaeda someday and potentially reach parts of Europe as well eventually , if done to their longer range missiles...

Bush and Cheney also chose to sell highly sensitive nuclear technology to the U.A. E. who trading partner their largest being Iran...!

[dargay]

Pakistan has no need to modify Harpoons, they have access to much better technology, which comes from less bothersome countries than USA.

[parunach]

I guess that a lot of help that we gave other countries were misguided. This is due to our obsession with winning over the enemies that we always considered our enemies' enemy as our friend. That is simplistic and misguided. This has happened in so many countries. Pakistan is a derailed country that needs our help, but not with weapons. They asked us for providing them with our drones, something we have not given to some of our closest friends. They need to develop their economy and infrastructure first before coming to us for anything. Every mistake possible has been made, helping Taliban, nuclear weapons to dangerous countries, when is this going to stop?

[blutigeroo]

Pakistan was on the up before the Musharraf's lies were revealed to the public and they wanted him out and the Taliban took over part of the country. America and Pakistan have a very complex relationship; the whole Musharraf saga had a lot to do with Bush's threats (if you don't do as we say we will annihilate you like Iraq) and much more to do with Musharraf being two-faced with the Taliban. The whole SWAT valley war had a lot to do with America's (and NATO's) failure to help the Pakistani's secure the border (The Pakistani's repeatedly asked for this help) and the Pakistani's army's incompetence and willingness to assist the Taliban to some extent. America's policy towards Pakistan has backfired and Pakistan's policy towards America and the Taliban has backfired.
In short, we are in this together till the very end so you better get used to it.

[dargay]

Musharraf neither lied nor did Pakistan have a two-faced policy. The country had never faced a violent insurgency the likes of which it began to face in early 2006, and it took time for Pakistan to adapt. Musharraf survived multiple assasination attempts, so he was on the right track.

[Lean2left]

"Pakistan had taken the unusual step of agreeing to allow American officials to inspect the country’s Harpoon inventory to prove that it had not violated the law, a step that administration officials praised."

"Some experts are also skeptical of the American claims. Robert Hewson, editor of Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, a yearbook and Web-based data service, said the Harpoon missile did not have the necessary range for a land-attack missile, which would lend credibility to Pakistani claims that they are developing their own new missile. Moreover, he said, Pakistan already has more modern land-attack missiles that it developed itself or acquired from China.

“They’re beyond the need to reverse-engineer old U.S. kit,” Mr. Hewson said in a telephone interview. “They’re more sophisticated than that.” Mr. Hewson said the ship-to-shore missile that Pakistan was testing was part of a concerted effort to develop an array of conventional missiles that could be fired from the air, land or sea to address India’s much more formidable conventional missile arsenal. "

A lot of conflicting info in this article!!

[blutigeroo]

Yes, but if these unconfirmed reports are true I do not blame Pakistan for this move. Pakistan is the science centre of the Muslim world and what is in Pakistan's best interest is not in America's best interest. America needs to learn that all the countries in the world, be it the UK, Libya, Iran or Pakistan, are more interested in serving their best interest than America's.
I am pretty sure that, if given the chance, India would have done the exact same thing.

[mr101]

"Pakistan is the science centre of the Muslim world"

Far from it. Both Turkey and Iran have far better trained scientists, with tons of high quality publications to show for it. Pakistan built the nuclear bomb (using stolen technology (AQ Khan) and China's support, as China wants to bottle up India), and has been an active nuclear proliferator (along with China and N. Korea), but that by no means makes it a "science center." To the contrary, they are actually a near-failed state, and that's because, instead of building up their country (with educational infrastructure etc), their leaders expended the first 62 years of Pakistan's existence obsessing on breaking India's back (4 wars, coddling terrorists, and various nefarious activities by their ISI inside Inda to destabilize it.) They played the perfect India-wrecker for China (and other countries) and continue to do so. Shameful conduct by their leaders and fundamentalist/terrorist elements.

[mr101]

"Pakistan is the science centre of the Muslim world"

Not true, since, if you look at the top publications (by researchers with origins in Muslim countries) in science and math, the Turkish and the Iranians are apparently doing the best, and Pakistanis are nowhere to be found. Having the nuclear bomb doesn't make a county a "science center," you know.

Chidanand Rajghatta writes the following in TOI:
But Pakistan, it is famously said, does not even have the capability to make a tow-truck, let alone a missile. Its inventory is largely made of knock-offs of Chinese and North Korean missiles, and it now appears to have pilfered an American design to no great surprise.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/World/US/Pak-modified-Harpoon-to-direct-against-India-US/articleshow/4950648.cms

[gfgwgc]

We have a long history of unwittingly aiding and abetting our future enemies. When will we ever learn?

[blutigeroo]

We have a long history of turning our friends into enemies and it usually starts with a few people having the same sort of opinion as yours.

[govenor]

We need to push more weapons into south asia so we can make all the money we can before it is too late.

[Firbolg]

Hello, everyone.
I am a planet.
I live in the suburbs of the Milky Way galaxy.
Recently I became infected with what are called “humans” and its given me a fever.
Thankfully they are very nasty to each other.
They are also very clever and have discovered lots of ways of exterminating each other and, eventually, all of themselves.
I can’t wait.

[GoodFeathers]

Hello, everyone.
This is the planet again.
There is this one nasty virus called 'Firbog' who claims to speak for me. Ignore that virus.

[Lean2left]

whats with the hostility, there's nothing bad that he or she said?

[liberalbug]

You mean you buy missiles from the US and they come with rules? "Do Not Modify"--I think that would be rule numero uno when it comes to missiles, but then what the heck do I know?

[breakingpoint]

what a surprise.

[Lilith33]

A Q Kahn?

[LatteLiberals]

Why should we worry about what Pakinstan will do to India? If India was given half a chance they would destroy the US dollar and with it our economy.

Its time the United States stop spending billions of dollars of taxpaper money on helping nations that will cut us down as soon as they get a chance.

We need to stop all this military spending to protect our economy, and rebuild our nation.

The UN should be dealing with Afghanistan and the Taliban.

[ultracrepidarian]

More likely we will sell some weapons to India to counter these. It's just good business.

[hillpill]

This is the second time you're spelling Pakistan incorrectly. Get an education, and your economy will take care of itself.

[mr101]

Bad-mouthing India (on jobs and such) has become a favorite pastime for some, but the claims and charges are not borne in facts.

"If India was given half a chance they would destroy the US dollar and with it our economy."

Who told you that? It's China, which amassed 1 trillion and half in USD reserves (from whopping trade surpluses US allows them to rack up, year after year) that has been saber-rattling about ditching the dollar, with Russia as it's bosom buddy on it.

On US-India bilateral relationship: India has a relatively balanced bilateral trade relationship with the US, and they just signed up to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of nuclear reactors and supplies, airplanes, and military equipment from American companies such as Lockheed-Martin, Boeing etc. India has opened up its large and growing middle class markets to several American businesses (China controls access to its markets very tightly, and in general doesn't allow access unless there is some technology transfer and factories are built in China, employing, of course, Chinese workers.)

"Its time the United States stop spending billions of dollars of taxpaper money on helping nations that will cut us down as soon as they get a chance."

That's a fact-free and baseless accusation.

See here for some data and info: http://india-planet.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-ragging-india-on-jobs-is-grossly.html

[dmbraddy]

Well, duh. One lesson our arrogance and provincialism apparently prevent us from learning, is that other countries may actually believe their own national interests are aligned neither with ours nor with what we think their's should be.

[Tom Joad]

...the war-mongering U.S. MIC in concert with our beligerent government complain PAK modifies weapons we sell to them, but there is no moral hand-wringing about manufacturing and selling the weapons in the first place. Is that correct?