Overview
- James Lawler alleges A Q Khan paid certain Pakistani generals and leaders while running a global nuclear smuggling enterprise, while noting this did not constitute official state policy.
- Lawler says Washington monitored Khan for years but was slow to recognize his outward proliferation, which included centrifuge designs, missile technology and a Chinese bomb blueprint.
- He describes covert CIA fronts that posed as suppliers to deliver sabotaged equipment to illicit programs, aiming to degrade centrifuge operations from within.
- Lawler recounts the interception of the BBC China freighter carrying large quantities of nuclear components to Libya, an episode he says helped drive Tripoli’s later disarmament.
- He says CIA Director George Tenet confronted Pervez Musharraf with evidence of Khan’s activities, prompting a furious reaction and contributing to Khan’s subsequent house arrest, while warning that an Iranian bomb could trigger a regional “nuclear pandemic.”