Norths missiles tied to Musharraf blunder KYODO ISLAMABAD A retired Pakistani nuclear scientist has claimed that former Pakistani leader Gen. Pervez Musharrafs 1999 military
adventurism in the Kargil region of divided Kashmir failed in part
because the North Korea-aided, nuclear-capable Ghauri missiles he
wanted to deploy then had a faulty guidance system. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the scientist said that during
the Kargil crisis of May-July 1999, Musharraf, who was then army
chief, wanted to deploy Ghauri missiles, but air went out of his
balloon when the top general in charge of the missile program told
him the missile had a faulty guidance system. Over a year earlier, on April 6, 1998, Pakistan had carried out what it
described as a successful first test of the intermediate-range ballistic
missile, developed by Khan Research Laboratory with North Korean
assistance. Even Musharraf, who witnessed that Ghauri launch as a local corps
commander, had been led to believe it was a success then, according
to the nuclear scientist, who until recently had long been closely
associated with the countrys nuclear and missile programs. The truth, he said, is that the ballistic missile failed to reach its
predesignated impact point in Pakistans southwestern province of
Baluchistan and its debris could not be found something that
would have undermined the missiles deterrent effect if it were
made public. Military experts and strategists have pondered why Musharraf,
immediately after he became chief of the army staff in October 1998,
began planning the ill-fated incursions across the volatile Line of
Control in disputed Kashmir, sparking the worst outbreak of fighting
since the India-Pakistan war of 1971 even though he knew Pakistan
could not prevail in an all-out conventional war with its neighbor. During the May-July 1999 conflict, the two sides fought a two-
month limited war in Kargil that led to over 1,200 fatalities and
added to fears of a nuclear showdown before then-U.S. President Bill
Clinton helped broker a ceasefire and Pakistani withdrawal. Musharrafs gamble in Kargil has since been interpreted by many as
an effort by Pakistan, aside from gaining a tactical advantage by
occupying dominating positions in the Kargil Heights, to test the
deterrence value of its nuclear weapons. The untold story, according to the scientist, is that Musharraf was
unaware of the Ghauri missiles faulty guidance system even as he
oversaw the covert occupation by Pakistan troops and mujahedeen
freedom fighters of the inhospitable, snowbound outposts in Kargil
that the Indian Army had vacated for the winter. He said Musharraf only learned the truth in March 1999 from Lt. Gen.
Zulfikar Khan, who then commanded the armys Combat Division. Musharraf then ordered another Ghauri test, which took place on
April 14, 1999, just three days after India tested its Agni-2
intermediate-range ballistic missile and several weeks before India
detected the extent of the Pakistani sides penetration in Kargil. But this test also failed, with the missile overflying its target and
falling across the border in the Sistan region of southeastern Iran, the
scientist said. It, too, was publicly declared a success, however. The scientists remarks were corroborated by two other nuclear
scientists and another knowledgeable source who confirmed that
the two missiles tested in 1998 and 1999 both failed to impact at
the predesignated points in Baluchistan. While Pakistan claimed the Ghauri missiles were designed and
produced indigenously, they were actually Nodong missiles supplied
by North Korea and re-engineered in Pakistan to extend their strike
range. The scientist claimed that after the second test, North Koreans were
invited to a meeting at army headquarters in Rawalpindi, where
they were confronted with the fault in their technology. The North Koreans started talking left and right but were told to
open their eyes and take care of the guidance system in their
Nodong missiles, said the scientist, who was privy to the meeting. Musharraf, he said, initially wanted to return the Nodong missiles to
North Korea, from which it had imported 40 in knocked down
condition in the mid-1990s. But then the Pakistan Atomic Energy
Commission undertook to replace the guidance with that of the
countrys Chinese-aided Shaheen missile, he said. Last Nov. 28, the improved version of Ghauri was test-fired and the
government true to form declared it a success. Soon afterward,
however, it was found to have exploded in midair and rained metal
debris over parts of Sindh Province. Pakistans disgraced nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, whose
laboratory develops nuclear warheads for Pakistans missiles,
concedes there was a row about the Ghauris accuracy. But he ridicules the assertion that Musharraf wanted to return them
over their faulty guidance system, saying, What difference does it
make if a nuclear-tipped missile falls 1 km left or right of the
predetermined impact point? Khan claims Musharraf merely sought to return them because
Pakistan had insufficient funds to pay back what it owed for them. The Kargil crisis happened in the wake of six nuclear tests carried out
by Pakistan in May 1998, which triggered sanctions against the
country and led a drastic fall in foreign exchange reserves. Pakistan suffered a serious military and diplomatic setback after
successful Indian military action and intense international pressure
forced it to unconditionally pull back behind the Line of Control as
part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. In his autobiography, published in 2006, Musharraf called it a myth
that the two sides had come to the brink of nuclear war during the
conflict and dismissed as preposterous speculation that Pakistan
was preparing for a possible nuclear strike on India then. I can also say with authority that in 1999 our nuclear capability
was not yet operational. Merely exploding a bomb does not mean
that you are operationally capable of deploying nuclear force in the
field and delivering a bomb across the border over a selected
target, he wrote. Critics of Musharrafs action often refer to the Kargil conflict as a
misadventure, saying it was badly conceived and executed, while
he wrongly assumed the world would sit back idly. Instead of considering the Kargil as a blunder, Musharraf, who has
been living in exile since quitting politics in 2008, claims it actually
brought the Kashmir issue back into international focus and helped
pave the way for a solution. However, tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors, which
have fought three wars since partition in 1947, two of them over
Kashmir, has remained high since the Kargil conflict. 0 comments What's this? ALSO ON THE JAPAN TIMES ONLINE Welfare payments to be slashed ¥74
billion to root out the comfortably poor Richard Good It is refreshing to see one government take a stand.
America still is using the welfare
system to e
In Japan, gun control is the norm and
discipline is rigid Ronald Orszag Jr This is nice and all but the second amendment in
the U.S. is not about hunting! It
was and is in pla
China could prove ultimate winner in
Afghanistan aj stevenstreets@ Your theory is contrary to what many
Americans believe - that the Al
Qaida attack was
North Korean threat: all rhetoric, or
reality? stephenreal I have no compunctions with nuking North
Korea off the face of the map
forever
rolling over and goi
and that attack was countered deliberately by PA.
The level of security that guards nukes should be same to the level of security guarding your naval bases.
