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2004-02-03 India-Pakistan

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Posted by Paul Moloney 2004-02-03 1:25:54 AM|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11130 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 From the WaPo article linked here:

Khan also said he supplied Iran and Libya with surplus, outmoded equipment from the laboratory that he knew would not provide either country with any near-term capability to enrich uranium.

"Dr. Khan is basically contesting the merit of the nuclear proliferation charges," the investigator said. "Throughout his debriefing, Dr. Khan kept challenging the perception that material found from the Libyan or Iranian programs would allow them to enrich uranium."

I smell baloney...

Posted by someone 2004-2-3 3:17:41 AM|| 2004-2-3 3:17:41 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 "Am I the only one suprised that no ex-Soviet scientists have turned up anywhere in all this?"
Nope. When the chemical and bio weapons that eventually come to light are backtracked, then I will fully expect to find some Sovs in those evidence chains. The fact that none have been implicated in the Khan nuke capers is surprising to me, too. Of course they are working dilligently in Iran at the moment...

So, um, where did Khan get his training? He sure as hell didn't "discover" the manufacturing process on his own. I haven't Googled Khan to the end to find out (yes, lazy - but lousy dialup connection is huge impediment, too) all of his details. Anybody got the scoop on where he picked up his training?

Posted by .com 2004-2-3 3:21:14 AM|| 2004-2-3 3:21:14 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Note for #2 .com

A Q Khan stole the designs for the centrifuges from the Netherlands arm of the URENCO enrichment consortium (during a badly controlled period of employment by that organisation). The Pakistani centrifuges are refinements and adaptations of late 1970s early 1980s era URENCO technology.

The fact that he was able to take what he had and actually build working centrifuges is actually sort of impressive.

Posted by Russell 2004-2-3 4:41:20 AM|| 2004-2-3 4:41:20 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Russell - Thanks! That's a good starting point for me to follow-up on. This man is, potentially, a major actor in history...

Not to quibble with you about Khan's "achievements" but as a programmer I'll say that it is at least 10x easier to incrementally improve upon a system than to create it from scratch. The nuke cook-book sequence for the trip from yellowcake to big boom is damned long and involved, not to mention the many steps that require extraordinary precision! He "acquired" much more than centrifuge designs - somewhere. But credit where due: he's a diabolical asshole.

In fact, Khan may eventually be judged, when the history books are written about this era (assuming PCism doesn't dumb it down to tripe and mankind survives it), one of the most dastardly and evil men ever born. Time will tell what damage he has done to civilization, but his asshole quotient exceeds his intelligence quotient by an astounding margin. He is OBL's peer in the category of human excrement. No matter who is the top turd, he's definitely one of the logs in that pile.

Posted by .com 2004-2-3 4:22:47 PM|| 2004-2-3 4:22:47 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 This man is, potentially, a major actor in history...

This sucker could turn out to be a nasty catalyst, a sort radioactive Tyfoid Mary, or a better yet a rat carrying a nuclear plague.

Posted by Shipman 2004-2-3 4:31:57 PM|| 2004-2-3 4:31:57 PM|| Front Page Top

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