India-Israel joint attack on Pakistan's nuke facility was possible: Barlow
What's the story
Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer Richard Barlow has revealed, in an interview with ANI, that there were plans for a joint operation between India and Israel to bomb Pakistan's Kahuta nuclear facility in the early 1980s. The plan was aimed at curbing Islamabad's nuclear ambitions. However, former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not approve of the operation, which Barlow now calls a "shame."
US stance
Barlow's views on Reagan's stance
Barlow, who was a counterproliferation officer during Pakistan's secret nuclear program in the 1980s, said that he had heard of the planned operation but was not involved as he was out of government at the time. He also opined that then-US President Ronald Reagan would have been against such an attack, especially if it came from Israel. "I think Reagan would have cut Menachem Begin's ba**s off if he did anything like that," Barlow said.
Aid blackmail
Pakistan's leverage over US for continued aid
Barlow also spoke about how Pakistan used its leverage over the United States to blackmail them into continuing aid flows. He said Munir Ahmad Khan, former head of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), warned US lawmakers that cutting off aid would affect cooperation on Afghanistan. The Kahuta facility, established under AQ Khan's direction, became central to Pakistan's pursuit of nuclear weapons and its first tests in 1998.
Proliferation network
US's role in Pakistan's nuclear proliferation
In his interview, Barlow also criticized the United States for ignoring Pakistan's proliferation network for decades. He alleged that the US administrations did nothing about Islamabad's nuclear dealings for over 20 years. The former CIA officer said that while Pakistan's initial drive to develop nuclear weapons was meant to counter India, it soon evolved into an "Islamic bomb" under Abdul Qadeer Khan.