al Qaeda, nuclear weapons, Iraq & Pakistan

[CollectiveInterest]

President Bush ordered Iraq invaded. But wouldn't it be more likely al Qaeda would get nuclear weapons from Pakistan?

1. Pakistan has nuclear weapons; Iraq didn't.
2. Pakistan's government collaberated with the Taliban and probably al Qaeda; Iraq didn't.
3. Pakistan has a history of changing governments through coups. The faction likely to oust Musharaf is close to the Taliban and probably al Qaeda. Iraq was stable before Bush ordered the invasion.

As a nuclear weapons non-proliferation strategy, did invading Iraq make sense?

[Silent Hunter]

Unsure. Iraq was planning to develop nukes and had cooperated with other ME terrorist groups (Al-Q is not the be-all and end-all of Islamic terrorism).

Pakistan's nukes are largely secure and Musharaf isn't that likely to fall any time soon.

I could have gone neither. They'd be more likely to get them from Central Asia.

[The Duke]

I'm not sure what your point is.  Invade Pakistan or something?  Idiotic.

[Silent Hunter]

Pakistan are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

[CollectiveInterest]

I'm not sure what your point is.  Invade Pakistan or something?  Idiotic.

I'm not saying the US should have invaded Pakistan.

But invading Iraq didn't make sense as part of a strategy to prevent terrorists from getting nuclear weapons.

[The Duke]

I'm not sure what your point is.  Invade Pakistan or something?  Idiotic.

I'm not saying the US should have invaded Pakistan.

But invading Iraq didn't make sense as part of a strategy to prevent terrorists from getting nuclear weapons.

It wasn't just about nukes, it was about all WMD.  Iraq was sitting on 500 tons of uranium that could turned into a dirty bomb.  There's your WMD.

[khirkhib]

[url]http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040522/news_1n22uranium.html[/ur]

Oh the low grade uranium in the facility that the UN had control of since 1991.

The uranium that could not be used to make a nuclear weapon.

The Uranium that was being dumped out by looters that were stealing its containers to boil water.

Do you think we should fly it out, should we have in 1991.  What do you suggest?

Read the article.

[CollectiveInterest]

So Pakistan should have been a higher foreign policy priority than Iraq?