Terror Experts Warn Of Increased Threat Due To Pakistan Crisis

November 6, 2007

If this is your first time visiting National Terror Alert you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. The National terror Alert feed features breaking news, alerts and bulletins on demand and it's free of charge..
You will only see this message on your first visit to the site. Thanks for visiting!

Terror experts and analysts are becoming increasingly concerned with the deepening crisis in Pakistan. Of primary concern is whether or not Pakistan President Musharraf can maintain control of the various factions and keep a tight grip on his country’s nuclear arsenal.

With increasing instability and al Qaeda poised to seize any opportunity, the risk of nuclear devices and other sophisticated weapons falling into terrorist hands is a very real possibility. You can safely assume that negotiating with al Qaeda or any other rouge elements inside Pakistan, should they actually acquire such weapons, would prove fruitless.

The United States must be prepared to act and act quickly. The question becomes how and when do we respond. Allowing al Qaeda to get their hands on nuclear weapons is simply not an option.

CBS News has more.

“If Pakistan were to deteriorate further, the control of those weapons would be up for grabs,” said Stephen Cohen of the Brookings Institute. “And we don’t want to see that happen.”

That could trigger an unthinkable cataclysm - if those weapons were taken by a rogue state or a terror group. And that’s the second worry. Al Qaeda is a re-invigorated enemy that’s poised to take advantage of the turmoil.

“It has to increase the threat against the U.S. because it gives al Qaeda precisely the breathing space, the opportunistic moment in time now that they will have now because of the distraction because of the instability in Pakistan,” said terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman of Georgetown University.

Top U.S. intelligence analysts say al Qaeda has re-established a central command inside “a safe haven” in the tribal regions of Pakistan - with top leaders continuing to train fresh recruits and plot new attacks.

Al Qaeda operatives, trained in Pakistan, have already launched numerous terror plots, including the suicide bombings of the London subway and the failed plans to blow up US bound airliners and strike U.S. targets in Germany.

In the early months after 9/11, Pakistan proved to be a strong ally, helping to capture top terrorists, including Sept. 11 attack plotter Ramzi Bin al-Shibh.

But, recent efforts by Pakistani troops to take out al Qaeda have failed. And with the Musharraf government now worried about its own survival, the fight against bin Laden’s forces is not its top priority.

“This might be an environment that al Qaeda might try to do something staged out of Pakistan, but directed toward the West,” said Former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center John Brennan, who is a CBS News Analyst.

U.S. security officials say they’re not hearing any increased “chatter” about new threats. But as the instability in Pakistan grows, so do their worries.

Source

Share and Enjoy: