'F-16s plus Pak N-reactor equals disaster'

Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON: Asking the Bush Administration to scrap the sale of F-16s to Pakistan, a prominent lawmaker here has said the acquisition of the US-made fighter jets plus the plutonium reactor being built by Islamabad equals a 'catastrophe.'

"At any time this news (about Pakistan building a plutonium reactor at its Khushab nuclear plant) would be unwelcome," Gary Ackerman, the Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, said in a "Dear Colleague" letter.

The import of the story is truly alarming in the context of a pending sale by US of F-16 fighter-bombers, he said pointing to 'The Washington Post' piece about the dramatic expansion in Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

Despite assurances by the Bush Administration that these aircraft would not be misused or their technology transferred to other countries like China, "once these planes have been delivered to Pakistan, there is, in fact, absolutely nothing we can do to prevent misuse," the New York Democrat said in his letter.

"Based on history and strategic analysis, there is every reason to believe the contrary that these F-16s will be drafted for use as nuclear weapons delivery vehicles, and that they will be picked apart by potential adversaries to answer questions about our aviation capabilities."

"Help stop a catastrophe before it happens... and stop the sale of F-16s to Pakistan" the lawmaker, also a senior member in the House International Relations Committee, said.