It is quite logical that any transfer of such sensitive material must have some sort of state sponsorship and moreover army sponsorship. The army maintains a very tight control over the nuclear and missile complexes and facilities and I find it highly improbable that AQ Khan could transfer even toilet paper without somebody in the chain of command noticing.
The North Korean transfer was a barter, It would be foolish to deny that. however the Iranian and Libyan transfers were motivated by a mix of financial gains and misguided pan Islamic dreams. Financially the money made from the transfers would have provided additional funding for KRL as it was competing for funds with PAEC and NDC. There is no doubt that in this transfer quite a few army officers were involved some of which might be quite senior which is why Musharraf made AQK the media scapegoat. Their motivation might be anything from financial gains as middlemen to helping fellow Muslims ala General Hameed Gul.
So.. did Pakistan assist in nuclear proliferation?
Am I responsible for condescending to nuclear proliferation?
The answer to the first is a yes and a no, since the proliferation was carried out by state actors but its was done without the knowledge of the state machinery itself. Ipso facto while there were dirty hands in the army and the scientific community of Pakistan; their acts went unnoticed by most of the ruling machinery. As to the fact that how is it possible considering all the control on the sensitive establishments and the ISI's strict check on them.
that is a mystery the doors of the ISI hold..or maybe it isn't.
Now.. whether I or the general Pakistani should feel embarrassed about us being involved in nuclear proliferation. The North Korean deal is nothing to be embarrassed about, It was a national crises. We needed a launch platform urgently and if this was the way to get it. so be it. the Chinese could not be involved as they refused to be implicated in this matter, however there was another pariah in the international scene who was willing to offer us a missile in return for nuclear enrichment technology. The deal was set up and in a certain freighter missile components arrived at Karachi port.The same way centrifuges "Magically" disappeared from KRL premises and landed in North Korea.
The Libyan and Iranian transfers are another matter, These we based on monetary gains and could have resulted in a severe imbalance of power even nuclear war in the middle east. To those who assume this confrontation to be between Arab nations and Israel they are sorely mistaken. The confrontation over this matter would have been amongst Muslim nations themselves.
It is a sad episode that our hard earned nuclear power would be distributed like cotton candy to anyone who offered money. An unforgivable sin for those involved in it and a stain on Pakistan's already shaky reputation.
Something that has cost us dearly that whenever we order any component that has any relation to the defense industry it is usually banned so we cannot order it again.
