- NEW YORK (PRNewswire)
- In case of an uprising in Pakistan or if President Pervez Musharraf is
overthrown by forces friendly to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, U.S.
Marines aboard the U.S.S. Peleliu could be sent in to safeguard the country's
nuclear weapons and materials to keep them away from bin Laden, Newsweek
reports in the current issue. Sources tell Newsweek that Musharraf has
strengthened security at Pakistan's nuclear facilities since September
11, and his foreign minister, Abdul Sattar, insisted that the nuclear weapons
were ``under foolproof custodial controls.'' The government, however, recently
detained two scientists who played key roles in the development of Pakistan's
nuclear weapons -- and turned out to be Taliban supporters. In theory,
they could offer inside knowledge of the Pakistani nuclear program -- security
procedures, the number and location of warheads and the names of current
staff members who might be sympathetic to Al Qaeda, reports National Security
Correspondent John Barry in the November 12 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands
Monday, November 5).
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- In a separate article, Barry and Moscow Bureau Chief
Christian Caryl report that U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently
called in about a dozen Washington political consultants, among them Michael
Deaver and Jody Powell, for what one described as a ``gut check'' on how
the public perceives the war's progress. One Pentagon insider says the
White House is putting ``relentless pressure'' on military planners for
quick results.
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- Part of the aim of the U.S. attacks is to spur defections
from Taliban ranks. Yet last week, 1,200 Pakistanis crossed the border
on Thursday alone, despite the fact that Musharraf had officially banned
Pakistanis from helping the Taliban. Musharraf is worried, according to
a source familiar with his thinking, that the White House is fighting a
foreign war according to its own domestic political imperatives. He thinks
the bombing started too soon, without sufficient political preparation
for a post-Taliban Afghanistan, Newsweek reports. He also believes the
Northern Alliance would need months of training and equipping before they
could amount to a serious fighting force.
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- Newsweek also reports that the Bush administration has
formed the Coalition Information Centers, created to wage a propaganda
war against bin Laden, headed by Bush's top adviser Karen Hughes. Last
Thursday, Newsweek has learned, the White House learned that bin Laden
was going to release a taped message. Hughes ordered her deputy Jim Wilkinson
to draft a response. Christopher Ross, a former U.S. ambassador to Syria,
translated the rebuttal into Arabic and delivered it from Al Jazeera's
Washington bureau, reports White House Correspondent Martha Brant.
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- Read Newsweek's news releases at http://www.Newsweek.MSNBC.com
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